FBI Hits Dead End in Trump-Russia Link Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on-going inquiry of allegations regarding Donald Trumps’ connection with the Russians hit a dead end. The agency also launched multiple investigations involving Trump’s supporters to establish if there is any connection. However, the FBI found no criminal connection between the two parties.

Law enforcement agencies involved in the Democratic organization hacking incident speculate that Russian spies were involved in creating turmoil in the 2016 election. However, according to the intelligence officials, the Russian spies are not helping a specific candidate.

Furthermore, the US government blames top-level Russian officials in organizing intricate hacking incidents on the Democratic groups. Subsequently, the group released the confidential information online.

In spite of the allegations, the US government did not formally charge the Russian government of rigging the election. The US also turned silent on the issue of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta’s hacked emails. Likewise, the US kept quiet on the detected voter’s registration hacked databases.

Democrats Protest

The FBI did not disclose any information on its investigation regarding Trump’s Russian tie connection in his campaign.

Sure enough, Democrats protested, citing unfair treatment. The FBI recently released information about their separate email probe about Clinton’s use of private email when she was still the Secretary of State. The agency announced the details of their investigation within the final days of the election campaign.

The newly discovered email surfaced when authorities were doing another investigation. Law enforcement seized a laptop for their investigation of Anthony Weiner, the former New York Representative and the dishonored husband of Huma Abedin. Abedin serves as Clinton’s longtime aide.

Weiner was accused of a sexual misconduct involving a 15-year-old teenager and the laptop may serve as evidence in the case. It, coincidentally contains emails from Clinton.

Intricate web of controversies

According to a CNN report, Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was accused of having connections with pro-Putin personalities in Ukraine. A year into the investigation, the FBI stopped short when the case implicated other lobbying firms in Washington.

The investigation covered the Podesta Group owned by Tony Podesta, brother of John Podesta for having political ties with Ukraine.

Moreover, FBI scrutinized appointments of Trump’s former adviser, Carter page in individuals in Russia who are under US sanctions. The source of the information came from the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid who made a public letter sent to the FBI. Democrats convinced of the notion that Russia is trying to rig the election challenged the idea of the conspiracy.

Page, on the other hand, denied all allegations and blamed democrats in mentioning the concern. In a CNN interview, Page said, “most of the accusations that have come have been sort of a downward circle … bouncing back and forth between media accounts and stories that are planted … by the Clinton campaign against me.”

A longer FBI investigation of six years, implicated a Trump supporter, Roger Stone in partaking email hacks relating to WikiLeaks. According to democrats, Stone conspired with Julian Assange of WikiLeaks to hacked emails from their party officials.

Stone denied accusations of conspiring with WikiLeaks, but said he has “back-channel communications with WikiLeaks”. In his defense, he added, “They certainly don’t clear or tell me in advance what they’re going to do”.

Leaked emails

Thanks to WikiLeaks, Podesta’s private email leaked for more than three weeks. Russia and WikiLeaks denied any corroboration with the Podesta’s leaked email. But a security firm discovered a link to the same Russian hackers who cracked into DNC using a phishing email.

The First Amendment protections hinder the FBI and Justice Department investigation. Because the newly formed organization obtains and distributes information, just like WikiLeaks only they handle hacked information. Also, WikiLeaks declines to say their sources, making it even harder for the FBI to discern their connection with the Russians.

The Senior Democrat Adam Schiff said that one would have turned a blind eye as not to notice Russia’s action. The California representative added to the House Intelligence Committee that the Russians are “trying to help one side over the other”.

Shiff pointed out that “The leaks speak for themselves. They are uniformly damaging Clinton, not Trump. And it’s an effort to damage one candidate’s campaign and American democracy.”

Democrats suspect FBI Director, James Comey for political motivation against them since he released new details regarding Clinton’s email server probe. Contrary to some media reports, Comey did not mention Russia assisting email hacks for the election.

The FBI cautiously handles the probe with diligence as not to compromise any cases leading to other investigations. When the details about Russia was made public, Comey and other top FBI cyber officials opposed the move.

The White House also reserved its silence on the issue because of the election and to show equality for both parties. The testimonies against Russia originated from Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

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Obamacare: Obama’s Parting Legacy

President Barrack Obama will soon end his term but his legacy will remain long after he’s gone.

This week, the administration announced a huge rate hike on affordable healthcare premium in the US, and this reflects a failure to the government’s responsibility in managing the cost and access to healthcare.

Obamacare is now littered with issues that need to be fixed, including rising premiums and deductibles, slow enrollment process, and an increasing number of people pulling out of ACA marketplace. All of these issues will be the next administration’s responsibility whether to fix or replace it.

Republican Stand on Obamacare

Trump castigated Obamacare on his recent speech, He promised to ‘repeal and replace it’ than saying how he would deal with the crisis over access and cost. He does not have any health reform highlighted in his campaigns.

In his statement on Tuesday, Trump said, “My first day in office, I’m going to ask Congress to put a bill on my desk getting rid of this disastrous law and replacing it with reforms that expand choice, freedom, and affordability,”

“Hillary Clinton wants to double down on Obamacare and make it even worse. She wants to put the government totally in charge of your health care.” He added.

Meanwhile, Clinton shows a more concrete plan over the Republican candidate.

In her statement, she said “The President and I have talked about it,” Clinton told WHCQ Radio in Florida on Tuesday. “We’re going to get co-pays and premiums and deductibles down. We’re going to tackle prescription drug costs. And we can do that without ripping away the insurance that people now have.”

Clinton’s plan is to increase competition among insurance companies to improve choices for Obamacare customers. This move will improve public’s option for better health care, regulate rising drug prices, and provide tax relief for out of pocket expenses. Her campaign team committed that Clinton’s administration would tackle diseases likeAlzheimer’s, autism, drug abuse, viruses such as Zika, and to improve urban and rural health infrastructure.

Political Agenda

Hillary Clinton, former first lady and New York senator has been in the political healthcare scene for years.

Obamacare’s problem is complex, and Clinton’s broad knowledge about the issue won’t solve it. Due to this, she would need the help and support of the congress, getting support from the Democratic seat sufficient enough to dominate GOP. This political fight to fix Obamacare will be tough.

Republican Congressmen who have voted 50 times to stop the law are not likely to cooperate to fix it. Even Democratic Senators who are up for re-election in 2018 may prolong the issue until the election.

On the other hand, Donald Trump is committed to repealing the individual mandate and modify the laws that prohibit the sale of health insurance. Furthermore, the laws should allow people to pay their insurance premiums from tax returns.

He will promote individual Health Savings Accounts that would allow patients’ access to imported drugs overseas. Hence, prices would go down.

Republican Rep. Chris Collins told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer last Tuesday that he thinks Trump would adopt the health care plan made by House Speaker Paul Ryan during a Republican conference.

He added, “It is my understanding that Mr. Trump has seen that plan and what he is talking about … is in fact a better way, a replacement plan.”

Obamacare hike

The White House released a statement on Monday that premiums for the benchmark plan will rise by 22% next year.

Trump thinks he can use this new issue to bring down Clinton who recently leads most polls. He told reporters last Tuesday at his golf resort in Florida, “It’s blowing up all over the country.” He is committed to replacing Obamacare with something less expensive.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee recently released a video of Katie McGinty. The Pennsylvania Democrat said Democrats should be “proud of” Obamacare.

“Is Shady Katie still proud of Obamacare?” the NRSC released asked.

Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann also added, “cheers and hollers for the Obamacare disaster,” referring to Democrat Patty Judge.

Jay Carney is a former White House press secretary who spent hours defending Obamacare. He admitted that the law was not as popular as what the President expected. However, voters should give Clinton credit for trying to repair it.

Carney said on CNN’s New Day, “Is it something … that’s going to change the election? No, it’s not.”

“Remember, the opportunity Republicans had to use Obamacare against the Democrats and win the White House was in 2012. Mitt Romney, a far more credible candidate for president of the United States from the Republican Party, you know, beat us hard over the head with Obamacare.”

“And guess what,” Carney added.

“The American people re-elected President Obama.”

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Las Vegas Newspaper Grants Donald Trump First Major Endorsement

Las Vegas Review-Journal endorsed the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday. The endorsement will give the real estate mogul his much-needed boost in one of the electoral battleground.

The latest ABC News tracking poll showed that Trump is 12 points behind Clinton. The endorsement came as a perfect timing for Trump to gain more votes.

However, it raised the eyebrows of some political analysts.

Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate, and billionaire bought the Review-Journal late last year. He is known as a supporter of Trump and a longtime Republican benefactor.

The editorial said that even though the Republican candidate, Trump is “flawed” they still prefer him over the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.

The endorsement stated, “Mr. Trump’s impulsiveness and overheated rhetoric alienate many voters. He has trouble dealing with critics and would be wise to discover the power of humility.”

Lesser Evil

In an excerpt from the editorial, “But neither candidate will ever be called to the dais to accept an award for moral probity and character.” The editorial continued based on what they thought of Clinton, “and we are already distressingly familiar with the Clinton way, which involves turning public service into an orgy of influence peddling and entitlement designed to line their own pockets — precisely what a disgruntled electorate now rises up to protest.”

Furthermore, the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote that a Clinton led government “would indulge the worst instincts of the authoritarian left and continue to swell the bloated regulatory state while running the nation deeper into the red in pursuit of ‘free’ college and health care.”

Breaking Pages

Clinton also had newspaper endorsements herself. She was the first ever Democrat endorsed by The Arizona Republic, a break from their time-honored tradition. The Dallas Morning News also gave their first Democrat endorsement since 1940. Other newspapers gave Clinton their notable editorial endorsement like Cincinnati Enquirer, which the last Democrat it supported was Woodrow Wilson.

Meanwhile, until Sunday, Trump’s biggest newspaper endorsements were the Santa Barbara, California, News-Press and St. Joseph, Mo., News-Press.

The Review-Journal’s editorial page said, “Mr. Trump represents neither the danger his critics claim nor the magic elixir many of his supporters crave”. The statement was based on rumors that the paper dreaded the “fear-mongering” Trump.

It continued, “But he promises to be a source of disruption and discomfort to the privileged, back-scratching political elites for whom the nation’s strength and solvency have become subservient to power’s pursuit and preservation.”

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