RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week September 2 toSeptember 8 Featured Investigation Congressional sources tellRealClearInvestigationsthat the FBI withheld exculpatory evidence in the four FISA warrants it submitted to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page as a potential Russian agent. Paul Sperry reports: The FBI omitted from its application to spy on Carter Page the fact that Russian spies had dismissed the former Trump campaign adviser as unreliable - or as one put it, an "idiot" - and therefore unworthy of recruiting, according to congressional sources who have seen the unredacted document. … The FBI was aware of Russians' skepticism that Page knew anything of value or was a significant player because the bureau had recorded them voicing such doubts in a wiretap, from an earlier espionage case involving three Russian spies working undercover for the Kremlin in New York. The FBI cited that 2013 case, minus the disparagement of Page, in its applications to the FISA court. They have been made public only in redacted form, professing evidence that Page was "recruited" by Russian intelligence and had "coordinated" with the Russian government. But "that's a mischaracterization of the facts in the case," a congressional source said. Sperry also quotes former FBI officials who said such "material misrepresentations" violate bureau procedures and quite possible worse. Read Full Article The Trump Investigations: Top Articles I Am Part of the ResistanceInsidethe Trump Administration, New York Times 'Crazytown': Woodward Book on Trump Presidency, Washington Post Papadopoulos Gets 14 Days, and It's a Waste of $28 Million, Trump Says, CBS News Ohr's Secret Efforts in Russia Probe Suggest Earlier Origins, The Hill Anatomy of a Fusion Smear, Wall Street Journal Grand Jury Investigating Former FBI No. 2 McCabe, Washington Post Mueller,Comey, and Deep State's Rescue of Sandy Berger, AmericanThinker Other Noteworthy Articles and Series Multiple States Start Probes of Priest Sex Abuse New York Times Attorneys general across the United States are taking a newly aggressive stance in investigating sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, opening investigations into malfeasance, and issuing subpoenas for documents. In the three weeks since the release of a report detailing the abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests in Pennsylvania, the attorneys general of Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico have also said they will investigate sex abuse by Catholic priests. Investigations are also under way in New York and New Jersey. Elevated Lead Levels in Schools' Drinking Water Across U.S. Wall Street Journal Schools in multiple states are tearing out water fountains and old faucets after finding elevated levels of lead in their drinking water. Last week, for example, the Detroit public school system shut off water across the district, before its 47,000 students started school on Tuesday, after finding higher-than-expected levels of lead or copper at some schools. Officials said schools would pass out bottled water until new water coolers arrived. A July report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 43% of school districts it surveyed had tested for lead in 2016 or 2017. Of those, about 37% showed elevated lead in drinking water, as defined by the districts. Administration Rejected Report Downplaying Refugee Threat NBC More public airing of private disagreements in the Trump administration: Three former senior officials (is anyone not a senior official?) told NBC that AttorneyGeneralJeff Sessions and others haveconsistently sought to exaggerate the potential security threat posed by refugees and dismissed an intelligence assessment last yearshowing that refugeesdid not present a significant threat to the U.S.A spokesperson for Sessions said he disagrees with that view. Alex Jones, Others Find Refuge in Facebook's Private Groups New York Times Is Alex Jones going private? This story reports that Jones and "other large-scale purveyors of inflammatory speech" have found ways to work around temporary Facebook bans on their public pages - like continuing to publish in private groups. The Times reports that "several private Facebook groups devoted toQAnon, a sprawling pro-Trump conspiracy theory, have thousands of members. Regional chapters of the Proud Boys, a right-wing nationalist group that Twitter suspended last month for its ‘violent extremist' nature, maintain private Facebook group." The article does not report whether left-wing hate groups are pursuing a similar strategy. Paltrow's Goop to Pay $145K Over Claims for Vaginal Eggs People Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle company Goop has agreed to pay a $145,000 settlement for "misleading" claims about the effectiveness of three of its products: the Jade Egg and Rose Quartz Egg — which Goop advises inserting into the vaginato increase sexual energy and pleasure— and its Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend, which it said would help prevent depression. New York: Troubled Rural School's Alarming Death Rate New York Times The death toll is clear: 101 graduates - all under the age of 50 and the vast majority under 40 - all of whom attended a small boarding school for troubled kids in upstate New York. The root causes are a little blurry, though. This article suggests the deaths are rooted in the drug and alcohol abuse and other behavioral issues that led their parents to send them to the now shuttered Family Foundation School, as well as the cruel treatment many received there. Why Haven't We Cured the Common Cold Yet? Scientific American There is no cure for the common cold because it's not so common. At least 160 different strains of rhinovirus can make our eyes water and noses run, which means that "cracking the cold isn't so much looking for one solution to one problem as it is trying to design a master key to open hundreds of different locks at once. " But, this story reports, researchers may be getting closer. |