What Is Nunes' FISA memo? 6 Things To Know About The Secret Document (Now Declassified)

Kaitlyn Schallhorn at Fox News offers a piece on the Nunes memo.

The controversial memo purportedly detailing federal surveillance abuses was declassified and released Friday following approval by President Trump.

The memo, put together by House Republicans, shows improper surveillance techniques used by the Department of Justice and the FBI in the Russia investigation, GOP lawmakers said.

Democrats have dismissed the memo, arguing that it was selectively edited by Republicans to push a narrative that the Russia investigation is biased against the president.

Here’s what we know about the memo and its connection to the Russia investigation.

So what is this memo?

The four-page memo, put together by the staff of House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., reveals improper use of surveillance by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Russia investigation, GOP lawmakers said.

The memo did “raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process,” it said.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/02/02/what-is-nunes-fisa-memo-6-things-to-know-about-secret-document.html 

Joey Merlino Faces Chief Accuser In Federal Court

Fox 29 Philadelphia’s Dave Schratwieser caught reputed Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss Joseph Merlino on his way to court in New York.

Mob boss Joey Merlino is on trial in a Federal courtroom in New York.

The 55—year-old is charged in a multi-million-dollar health care fraud scheme and off shore gambling.

He faced his chief accuser February 1, FBI informant J.R. Rubeo, armed with secretly recorded audio and video tapes.

 “How’s things? Good. How ya feeling? Good,” Merlino told FOX 29’s Dave Schratwieser.

Philadelphia mob boss Joey Merlino walked into a Federal court in lower Manhattan Thursday, bouncing back from heart problems and engaged in the fight of his life. Facing the FBI informant who’s looking to take him down.

You can watch the video news clip and read the rest of the piece via the below:

http://www.fox29.com/news/joey-merlino-faces-chief-accuser-in-federal-court 

Philly Mob Boss Recorded Talking About How 'Easy' It Is To Whack Someone

The New York Post offers a piece on the racketeering trial of Joseph Merlino in New York.

Jurors sitting on the racketeering trial of Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Merlino got a primer on getting whacked Thursday, as they heard recordings of a 2014 chat in which the mafioso yaks about how effortless it is to take a life.

“Listen, it’s easy to kill somebody,” proclaimed the mafioso, known as “Skinny Joey,” in secretly recorded audio played during testimony by Genovese associate-turned-rat John Rubeo.

“It’s simple,” the 55-year-old mobster explained matter-of-factly. “Get in the car and shoot you in the f—ing head and you’re dead.”

The chilling statement was made during a gangster tete-a-tete between Merlino, Rubeo and alleged Genovese family capo Eugene “Rooster” O’Nofrio.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://nypost.com/2018/02/01/mob-boss-recorded-talking-about-how-easy-it-is-to-whack-someone/ 

How 'Fat Leonard' Infiltrated The US Navy's Floating Headquarters In Asia

The Stars and Stripes offers Craig Whitlock’s piece on the Fat Leonard U.S. Navy bribery scandal and the 7^th Fleet Flagship, the USS Blue Ridge (seen in the above photo).

As the flagship for the Navy's 7th Fleet, the USS Blue Ridge plays a critical role in national security by overseeing all U.S. maritime operations in Asia and the western Pacific. The venerable warship is the Navy's second-oldest active-duty vessel and has survived the Vietnam War, the Cold War and tensions with China and North Korea.

  

But there is one foreign threat against which the Blue Ridge proved utterly defenseless for many years: a 6-foot-3, 350-pound tugboat owner known as "Fat Leonard."

In a case that ranks as the worst corruption scandal in Navy history, the Justice Department has charged 15 officers and one enlisted sailor who served on the Blue Ridge with taking bribes from or lying about their ties to Leonard Glenn Francis (seen in the below photo), a Singapore-based tycoon who held lucrative contracts to service Navy ships and submarines in Asian ports.

For the better part of a decade, as part of a massive scam to defraud the Navy, Francis systematically infiltrated the Blue Ridge to a degree that is only now coming into focus, more than four years after the defense contractor's arrest, according to the documents from federal court and the Navy, as well as interviews with Navy officials and associates of Francis.

Prosecutors say nine sailors from the 7th Fleet flagship leaked classified information about ship movements and other secrets to Francis, a Malaysian citizen, making the Blue Ridge perhaps the most widely compromised U.S. military headquarters of the modern era. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.stripes.com/news/navy/how-fat-leonard-infiltrated-the-us-navy-s-floating-headquarters-in-asia-1.509519 

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Fat Leonard scandal via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/03/my-piece-on-fat-leonard-us-navy-bribery.html 

Attorney General Issues National Slavery And Human Trafficking Prevention Month Proclamation

Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued the following proclamation commemorating National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month:

“Human trafficking is a nationwide public health and civil rights crisis. Its victims are everywhere: at truck stops, in cities, in rural areas, and in suburbs, and who now total an unconscionable 25 million victims globally according to some estimates. That means 25 million human beings—parents, siblings, and children—have been coerced into a commercial sex act, forced into labor, or exploited because they desperately seek a better life. It is a priority of the Department of Justice to combat this depraved and predatory behavior through swift and aggressive enforcement of our nation’s laws to bring traffickers to justice and restore the lives of victims and survivors.

“The Justice Department’s U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), other federal agencies, and our state, local, and tribal partners, are on the front lines, leading our shared fight against human trafficking in all its forms.  These entities are supported by the Department’s Civil Rights Division which is home to a team of dedicated investigators and prosecutors—the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit (the HTPU)—tasked with bringing human traffickers to justice and vindicating the rights of their victims. Additionally, the Department’s Criminal Division includes the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), which is committed to harnessing expertise in attacking the technological and systemic challenges that are involved in the sexual exploitation of minors, as well as other specialized prosecution teams who bring expertise in organized crime and money laundering.

“Our efforts have produced high-impact prosecutions to dismantle transnational organized human trafficking enterprises, have launched interagency anti-trafficking initiatives with unprecedented momentum, and have vindicated the rights and freedoms of countless victims and survivors.

“These efforts resulted in the conviction of nearly 500 defendants in trafficking cases in fiscal year 2017, and making $47 million available to help trafficking survivors.  Last fall, the FBI—along with state and local task forces and international law enforcement partners—recovered 84 minors and arrested 120 traffickers, as part a single week-long operation. However, we are keenly aware that many challenges lie ahead and we are committed to taking our efforts to the next level.

“In his Presidential Proclamation, President Trump asked us to ‘recommit ourselves to eradicating the evil of enslavement’ and to ‘pledge to do all in our power to end the horrific practice of human trafficking.’ In the spirit of the President’s request, the Justice Department is hosting a Human Trafficking Summit in Washington, D.C. on February 2, 2018, two days before Super Bowl LII.  The Super Bowl provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the surge in commercial sex activity around major sporting events, and of our commitment to finding and protecting sex trafficking victims who are at risk of being compelled, coerced, or exploited as minors in that context.

“The Human Trafficking Summit will be led by Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand and will convene law enforcement, victim support organizations, and the business community to focus on enhancing the strong partnerships behind all successful anti-trafficking efforts and identifying opportunities to increase collaboration and coordination as we take on new challenges.

“There is no room in a civilized society for those who choose to violate an individual’s rights and freedoms by subjecting them to any form of human trafficking. To those that still make that choice: make no mistake, the Justice Department will use every lawful tool to uncover your illegal activity and bring you to justice.” 

FBI Spent $25K To Lure Mobsters Into Fancy Italian Dinner Trap

The New York Post offers a piece on the FBI luring mobsters to a gangland dinner.

They’d gladly pick up that tab again.

The FBI spent $25,000 to lure 20 wiseguys to a gangland “Last Supper” — complete with a mob turncoat in the role of Judas — and later arrested them all.

FBI Special Agent William Inzerillo revealed the spaghetti setup Wednesday under cross-examination at the racketeering trial of reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, who was among the hoods that stuffed their faces at the “Cosa Nostra Christmas party” in The Bronx.

“We supplied the money. We paid for the party. Over 20 people attended the party, and we paid for all of them,” Inzerillo testified in Manhattan federal court.

Nearly all of the mafiosi who gorged themselves on such house specialties as gnocchi Bolognese and fettuccine matriciana at Pasquale’s Rigoletto on Arthur Avenue later got busted during a massive roundup of 46 mobsters in 2016, a source familiar with the case told The Post.

They included the eatery’s namesake owner, reputed Genovese crime-family capo Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello, Merlino and reputed acting Genovese capo Eugene “Rooster” O’Nofrio.

The Dec. 8, 2014, bash marked the only time the trio — who the feds say were key figures in a massive, multi-crime-family racketeering scheme — were together during the feds’ five-year investigation.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://nypost.com/2018/01/31/fbi-spent-20k-on-fancy-italian-dinner-to-lure-mobsters-into-trap/ 

Gangster Claims Accused Philly Mobster Was An Instrumental Player Despite His Insistence He’s Left It Behind

The New York Daily News reports on the racketeering trial of reputed Philadelphia Cosa Nostra crime boss Joseph Merlino.

Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino’s courtroom claim that he gave up his role as Philly’s leading mob boss didn’t carry much weight with Wednesday’s witness.

John Rubeo, an admitted gangster who worked with the Genovese family, testified in Manhattan Federal Court that Merlino was always a major underworld player — despite his attorneys’ claims he’d left the game for good.

Federal authorities say that Merlino, 55, helped orchestrate a criminal enterprise that ran from Springfield, Mass. to South Florida.

The crime boss was arrested in August 2016 in a sweep that nabbed some four dozen alleged mobsters.

Merlino’s lawyers have sought to paint the reputed gangster as a man with a serious gambling problem who was only talking to Rubeo about borrowing cash.

After Merlino got out of federal lock up in 2011 — when he did time on different charges — he decamped to South Florida rather than return to Philadelphia, his lawyers said.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gangster-claims-accused-philly-mobster-instrumental-player-article-1.3791363