Podcasts about state rex tillerson

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a major overhaul of the State Department, including dissolving offices and positions in the department, aimed at cutting bureaucratic decisions and programs that the administration doesn't agree with. Critics say it will weaken efforts to combat extremism, encourage human-rights and to shine light on war crimes. Secretary Rubio says the changes will greatly empower our diplomats and help them refocus on U.S. interests around the world. FOX's Ryan Schmelz speaks with Rich Edson, senior national correspondent for the FOX News Channel, who says these changes were first planned in President Trump's first term under then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a major overhaul of the State Department, including dissolving offices and positions in the department, aimed at cutting bureaucratic decisions and programs that the administration doesn't agree with. Critics say it will weaken efforts to combat extremism, encourage human-rights and to shine light on war crimes. Secretary Rubio says the changes will greatly empower our diplomats and help them refocus on U.S. interests around the world. FOX's Ryan Schmelz speaks with Rich Edson, senior national correspondent for the FOX News Channel, who says these changes were first planned in President Trump's first term under then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a major overhaul of the State Department, including dissolving offices and positions in the department, aimed at cutting bureaucratic decisions and programs that the administration doesn't agree with. Critics say it will weaken efforts to combat extremism, encourage human-rights and to shine light on war crimes. Secretary Rubio says the changes will greatly empower our diplomats and help them refocus on U.S. interests around the world. FOX's Ryan Schmelz speaks with Rich Edson, senior national correspondent for the FOX News Channel, who says these changes were first planned in President Trump's first term under then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul Dragu is senior editor at The New American. He is an award-winning reporter and host of The New American Daily. He is writer of Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty and Purpose. As Jim noted early in the broadcast, many of us recognize that America has been in decline for many years. The size of government, regulations, federal control over the population, spending, the cost of goods/services and other facets have increased. Then there's the capitulation to the ideas of world government-related entities. There's the weaponization of the Justice Department, the escalation of the LGBTQ+ agenda and DEI. The noose has also been tightening on our vast energy resources. This course simply isn't sustainable. So on November 5th, 2024, the majority of the nation spoke in favor of changing this scenario. Paul has just released an article expressing this titled: Rebirth of the Nation: How to Restore America.In this interview, Paul begins with an honest assessment of the first Trump administration where he explains how Trump had some individuals around him who didn't share the 'America First' agenda. He cited people such as former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster. There were even people in the White House who were writing op ed pieces in the New York Times saying, "I am the resistance!" Now that we have a new Trump administration, the hope is that he's learned from his earlier mistakes. However, there's still much that needs to be changed. Listen in as Paul discusses other factors including:The fall of the legacy media.The need of an American renaissance/rebirth of policies.

Paul Dragu is senior editor at The New American. He is an award-winning reporter and host of The New American Daily. He is writer of Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty and Purpose. As Jim noted early in the broadcast, many of us recognize that America has been in decline for many years. The size of government, regulations, federal control over the population, spending, the cost of goods/services and other facets have increased. Then there's the capitulation to the ideas of world government-related entities. There's the weaponization of the Justice Department, the escalation of the LGBTQ+ agenda and DEI. The noose has also been tightening on our vast energy resources. This course simply isn't sustainable. So on November 5th, 2024, the majority of the nation spoke in favor of changing this scenario. Paul has just released an article expressing this titled: Rebirth of the Nation: How to Restore America.In this interview, Paul begins with an honest assessment of the first Trump administration where he explains how Trump had some individuals around him who didn't share the 'America First' agenda. He cited people such as former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster. There were even people in the White House who were writing op ed pieces in the New York Times saying, "I am the resistance!" Now that we have a new Trump administration, the hope is that he's learned from his earlier mistakes. However, there's still much that needs to be changed. Listen in as Paul discusses other factors including:The fall of the legacy media.The need of an American renaissance/rebirth of policies.

On today's show, Issa Amro will discuss the present and future of Gaza and the West Bank. GUEST OVERVIEW: Issa Amro is a Palestinian activist based in Hebron, West Bank. He co-founded and served as the coordinator of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements from 2007 to 2018. Amro advocates for nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience to address the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories. In 2010, he was named "human rights defender of the year in Palestine" by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed concerns about his safety due to harassment from Israeli soldiers and settlers and a series of arbitrary arrests. Currently, Amro faces 18 charges in an Israeli military court. In May 2017, Bernie Sanders, along with three U.S. senators and 32 congressmen, wrote to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging Israeli authorities to reconsider the charges against Amro.

Fall is here. With the change over from summer comes the continued changing threat environment. Join the team as they break down some issues and emerging risks.  Your CiCP team discusses some recent conferences they have attended (including the recent Mexican Close Protection gathering and the Sam Houston State. Critical Infrastructure Thought Leaders' Conference) breeches at high-profile events, and how using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles for designing event security plans could be helpful. They also discuss Russia/Ukraine and the unfolding Israeli - Hamas war.   All this and a discussion about the upcoming IPSB Close Protection Conference's keynote speaker, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Join the team this December at the CPC - IPSB's Close Protection Conference Join the conversation at protectiontalk@outlook.com

In this episode of Law, disrupted, John is joined by Michael Schachter, Partner and Co-Chair of the White-Collar Defense Practice Group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.  Michael has an unparalleled record of victories in some of the most high-profile criminal trials in the United States. Describing Michael in 2022, Chambers USA stated, "The things he can do in a courtroom are magical.”  Together John and Michael discuss the high-profile defense verdict Michael obtained in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of client Tom Barrack, founder of the global investment firm Colony Capital.John opens the conversation by asking Michael about the background of the charges against Mr. Barrack. Michael explains that Mr. Barrack had served as the chair of the Inauguration Committee for former President Trump. In the course of the numerous investigations of the former president's affairs, the Inauguration Committee was examined thoroughly with no findings of wrongdoing. However, this brought Mr. Barrack under the government's scrutiny.The charges ultimately brought against Mr. Barrack alleged that he acted as an agent of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without notifying the Department of Justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 951, obstructed justice, and made false statements to federal agents when they interviewed him. Michael explains that the allegations about acting as an agent of the UAE arose from meetings Mr. Barrack had with the UAE's National Security Advisor and the Crown Prince. Michael explains that Section 951 prosecutions are generally reserved for espionage cases, whereas lobbying cases, such as this one, are usually prosecuted under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). Prosecutions under FARA require the government to prove that the defendant knew of the registration requirement for foreign lobbyists. Michael speculates that the government proceeded under Section 951 to avoid having to prove this element.The conversation then turns to the evidence presented at trial. Michael explains that the government built its case primarily on text messages and emails taken out of context, particularly a text message in which Mr. Barrack discussed a proposal that he become a special envoy to the Middle East. In that text, Mr. Barrack suggested that if he had such a role, it would benefit the UAE. Michael explains that at trial, he has able to show that Mr. Barrack affirmatively declined the special envoy role. Michael also called former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to testify about a conversation in which Mr. Barrack spoke against the actions of the UAE in a dispute it was having with Qatar. John then moves the conversation to Michael's use of cross-examination during the prosecution's case to establish his own themes with the jury. Michael describes how the defense team used the cross-examination of an expert called to testify that the UAE was not a good ally to the U.S. to prove that it really was. Michael also recounts how the defense used the cross-examination of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who previously headed Exxon, to show that it made good business sense for the head of a global large global business, such as Colony Capital, to meet with members of royal families in the Middle East who are often key business decision-makers. Finally, Michael and John discuss the possible impacts this case might have on government policy. Michael suggests that the case might convince the government to return to a more restrained approach to prosecutions under Section 951, confining them to espionage cases as in the past. He also suggests that the cross-examination of the FBI agents at trial might lead the FBI to record their interviews rather than relying on an antiquated process of relying entirely on one agent making handwritten notes as their only record of the interview.

Kelly Bjorklund joins The Greek Current to discuss her latest piece in Foreign Policy on the trial against Turkey's Halkbank for helping Iran evade US sanctions and President Trump's repeated attempts to shield Halkbank and Turkey's President Erdogan from paying any penalty. We also look at her in-depth interview with former Secretary of State Tillerson on his former boss, the state of the world, and the challenges facing the Biden administration.Kelly Bjorklund is a writer for Foreign Policy Magazine. You can read her piece on Halkbank and her interview with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson here:Trump's Inexplicable Crusade to Help Iran Evade Sanctions‘We're in a Worse Place Today Than We Were Before He Came In'You can read the articles we discuss on The Daily Roundup here: Ankara seeking to impose talks agendaHouse Impeaches Trump A 2nd Time, Citing Insurrection At U.S. CapitolHouse impeaches Trump for 'incitement of insurrection'Trump impeached after Capitol riot; historic second charge

Woodward book reveals Mattis call for "collective action” against President Trump. The Duran: Episode 671. Via Revolver News (https://www.revolver.news/2020/09/democrats-military-coup/)... The first red flag is buried in Bob Woodward's latest book on the Trump Administration, Rage. According to the book, former Defense Secretary James Mattis spent much of his tenure in office plotting to undermine the elected leader who appointed him. The book documents private grumblings, periods of exasperation and wrestling about whether to quit among the so-called adults of the Trump orbit: Mattis, [then Director of National Intelligence Dan] Coats and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Mattis quietly went to Washington National Cathedral to pray about his concern for the nation's fate under Trump's command and, according to Woodward, told Coats, “There may come a time when we have to take collective action” since Trump is “dangerous. He's unfit.” [Washington Post] The Post glances over this incident quickly, treating it as just one more example of a disgruntled senior Trump official. But it is far more than that. This is the top defense official in the United States, himself a former general, discussing “collective action” against the president with a top intelligence official. “Collective action” could take many forms, perhaps a concerted effort to invoke the 25th Amendment and have the president declared incapacitated and removed. This would be a coup, and it would be motivated not by Trump's incapacity, which is just a fig leaf, but by political disagreements. #Trump #Mattis #USelections #TheDuran *** The Patriot Beacon #1 Tactical Flashlight on the Market Link: https://www.patrioticlegacy.com/product/patriot-flashlight/ Coupon code: Duran20

As a career foreign service officer, Elizabeth Shackelford was seen as a rising star in the US State Department, a recipient of the Barbara Watson Award for Consular Excellence. But in 2017 she resigned from public service, publishing a stinging indictment of a letter which brought to light the extraordinary mismanagement and strategic drift under then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. In Shackelford's new book, "The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age," she takes the reader inside the collapse of the U.S. diplomatic effort in South Sudan, which had fallen into a pernicious civil war with Washington left backing a murderous dictator. "The role of diplomacy in our national security toolbox has really been downgraded and diminished in recent years, really over the past 20 years as the military's role has become the primary tool we are using," says Shackelford. "We aren't just ineffective. We're counterproductive." Shackelford says that the picture of the coronavirus pandemic would be entirely different if we were leading with diplomacy. "It is costing Americans dearly that we are not integrated with the global response," she says. "We would be well-coordinated with our European and Asian allies in terms of the supplies we need and how we manage things like our totally intertwined economies and trade. But instead, we've really cut off all those opportunities."

The Washington Post's DC bureau chief Philip Rucker discusses his new book A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America.  He shares stories from White House insiders about the time President Trump tried to overturn the Foreign Corrupt Practices act so American businesses could bribe foreign governments, the time Trump wanted to turn a profit on the US military by turning our troops into a mercenary force, and the Pentagon meeting when Trump called his decorated generals a bunch of "babies and losers."  Phil discusses the falling out between the President and his former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, how some world leaders have tried to turn Trump against his own advisors, and how the most powerful leader in the world solicited other heads of state for the Nobel Prize.  Plus we talk about Impeachment, Trump tweets, Bolton, Mueller, and more. Order A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America on Amazon, Audible or wherever books are sold.  You can read more by Philip Rucker in The Washington Post and follow him on twitter at @philliprucker.  Today's episode was sponsored by Online Trading Academy and Native deodorant and toothpaste.

Darren and Jack discuss these topics:Bolivia's elected president Evo Morales is forced out of office in a right wing military coup over lithium mining.The United States tried to stifle Morales' power as early as 2001.Demonstrators marched in Buenos Aires, Argentina against the coup and in support of Morales and the legitimately elected government.The Chilean government has agreed to write a new constitution in the wake of widespread protests.Where are the protests in the United States? Darren and Jack join the growing chorus of voices asking that very question.A federal court ruled that the U.S. government may no longer violate the 4th Amendment rights of international travelers by engaging in searches of smartphones and laptops at airports and other ports of entry without suspicion.The Trump impeachment hearings proceed.The Ohio House passed a bill allowing student answers to be scientifically wrong due to religious beliefs.In her new book, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley claimed that former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attempted to recruit her to help subvert Trump's wishes because they were "trying to save the country."Kentucky governor Matt Bevin (R) finally conceded the election to Andy Beshear (D).Colorado saw a large drop in abortions because of easy access to birth control.And the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that White House senior policy advisor Steven Miller wrote emails obsessing over white supremacy and the Confederacy.

Welcome to the Democrat Impeachment week. The democrats are now taking this whole impeachment circus to the public. Now that they have coached all of the witnesses behind closed doors. They are ready for the Republicans and the rest of us to hear what these witnesses have to say. Adam Schiff and other democrat House members are still trying to do everything they can to prevent questioning the actual whistleblower. If this whistleblower is credible, enters whistleblower protection’s dinner should be no reason why Pres. Trump, for any of the Republicans, should be able to question this whistleblower. Adam Schift said, questioning the whistleblower is redundant and unnecessary. This only means that the House Democrats already have the verdict about what is going to take place in this whole impeachment process. Pres. Trump, according to the House Democrats, is guilty on all accounts.Nikki Haley is in the news about her new book, and of course, the entire Left is upset with some of the information that she has put in it. She called out former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and forever White House Chief of Staff John Kelly when they tried to get her to join the Deep State and help with the Coup against President Trump.Support: www.infowarsstore.comWatch uncensored: www.BANNED.VIDEOSubscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/will-johnson

Longtime ExxonMobil CEO and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testified in a case pitting the company against the state of New York. ExxonMobil faces civil charges of defrauding investors by funding climate denial, even as its own scientists studied the climate impacts of fossil fuel extraction.

Howie and Emily Jashinsky, of the 'Federalist', discuss the escalating feud between President Trump and Democrats, how the media propped up Michael Avenatti while knowing his true nature and President Trump former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson trade insults. Follow Howie on Twitter: @HowardKurtz Follow Emily Jashinsky on Twitter: @emiljashinky For more #MediaBuzz click here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Mowers is only 29, but the top Trump adviser has a long record of experience in rough-and-tumble politics. The former top aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talks about why he decided to join the Trump campaign, his behind-the-scenes work with Secretaries of State Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, and his assessment of the president's re-election chances. Matt also talks about his testimony for the prosecution in the infamous Bridgegate trial, and his thoughts on former colleagues who were sentenced to jail for their role in the scandal.  

Find “Trump, Inc.” wherever you get your podcasts. This week’s episode examines the intersection of money, presidential access and security, and the push and pull between government spending and private profits at Mar-a-Lago. In April 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate and club, for a two-day summit. While Xi and his delegation stayed at a nearby hotel, Trump and his advisers stayed at the peach-colored, waterfront resort. That evening, Trump and a dozen of his closest advisers hosted Xi and the Chinese delegation in an ornate dining room where they ate Dover sole and New York strip steak. Those sorts of lavish, formal gatherings are expected for a major bilateral summit. But then there are less formal events. At some point later that evening, a group repaired to Mar-a-Lago’s Library Bar, a wood-paneled study with a portrait of Trump in tennis whites (titled “The Visionary”) hanging nearby. The group asked the bartender to leave the room so it “could speak confidentially,” according to an email written by Mar-a-Lago’s catering director, Brooke Watson. // View note The Secret Service guarded the door, according to the email. The bartender wasn’t allowed to return. And members of the group began pouring themselves drinks. No one paid. Six days later, on April 13, Mar-a-Lago created a bill for those drinks, tallying $838 worth of alcohol plus a 20% service charge. It covered 54 drinks (making for an average price of $18.62 each) of premium liquor: Chopin vodka, Patron and Don Julio Blanco tequilas and Woodford Reserve bourbon. Watson’s email did not specify how many people consumed the alcohol or who the participants were. (It stated that she “was told” the participants included then-strategist Steve Bannon and then-deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin. Bannon, who has said he stopped drinking years ago, said he didn’t drink at Mar-a-Lago and didn’t recall the episode. Hagin did not respond to requests for comment.) // View note The bill was sent to the State Department, which objected to covering it. It was then forwarded to the White House, which paid the tab. The unusual cocktail hour underscores a unique push and pull in the current administration: Donald Trump’s White House pays a bill and Donald Trump’s club reaps the revenue. (It’s unclear if the White House asked any of those drinking to reimburse the government; the White House declined to comment.) The premium liquor costs are only the beginning of government spending at Mar-a-Lago that emerges in hundreds of pages of receipts and email correspondence between Trump Organization employees and staffers for the State Department, which oversees presidential diplomatic travel and works with the Secret Service and White House. The emails show that the president’s company refused to agree to what was essentially a bulk-purchase agreement with the federal government, and that it charged the maximum allowable federal rate for hotel rooms. The Trump Organization could be obstinate when it came to rates for, say, function rooms at Mar-a-Lago, a problem that was eased when the president signed a law lifting the maximum “micro-purchase” the government can make.   The emails have been released as part of an ongoing lawsuit between the nonprofit Property of the People, a Washington-based transparency group, and the federal government. Property of the People provided the emails and receipts to ProPublica and we, in turn, have added them to our tracker of government spending at Trump-owned properties for our interactive graphic Paying the President. (The State Department is expected to release an additional 1,800 pages of records as part of the lawsuit, which was filed under the Freedom of Information Act.) In response to questions from ProPublica, the State Department asked for and received the documents described in this article. State Department officials promised a detailed response, but then declined comment. The documents reveal the intersection between Trump’s conflicting interests. The emails show that “Mar-a-Lago wanted to have the government money without the government rules,” said Charles Tiefer, a law professor at the University of Baltimore who served on the congressionally chartered Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. A few months after Trump’s inauguration, the State Department proposed a contract that would pay $200,000 for all room costs for federal employees who stay at Mar-a-Lago over the first term of his presidency. But Mar-a-Lago rejected the government's proposal. Instead, Trump’s resort bills the government the maximum permitted by federal rules: 300% of the government’s per diem rate, which works out to $546 per night. Mar-a-Lago rejected the proposed flat-fee arrangement, according to the emails, because of concerns the club’s lawyers had about the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, which governs federal purchases and is overseen by contracting officers. FAR seeks to promote competition and maintain “the public’s trust.” The emails suggest the Trump Organization was worried that the lack of competitive bidding could run afoul of federal rules, among other concerns. A State Department staffer wrote in May 2017 that Mar-a-Lago’s attorneys brought up federal “small business set-aside” requirements, which set strict rules for sole-source government bids for small businesses. The State Department staffer wrote that Mar-a-Lago’s “concerns are based on their general lack of knowledge on the applicability of the FAR regulations.” // View note Mar-a-Lago and the Trump Organization did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment. Since Mar-a-Lago wouldn’t agree to a bulk contract, the State Department had to go to Plan B. When it came to the meeting with China’s president, for example, the agency had to go into some contortions to make Mar-a-Lago’s $546 nightly room rate square with its rules on competitive bidding, given that there are other less expensive hotels nearby. At least 16 staffers stayed at the Hampton Inn in West Palm Beach; at least eight stayed at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn; and four others stayed at the Tideline Ocean Resort & Spa, where the press pool also stayed, according to a hotel manifest obtained through the FOIA lawsuit. The government-negotiated rates at those establishments ranged from $195 to $305 per night. // View note (At least 24 White House and federal staffers stayed at Mar-a-Lago during the Xi visit. They included then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; then-chief of staff Reince Priebus; then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; then-National Economic Council adviser Gary Cohn; and other advisers, past and present, such as Bannon, Hope Hicks, Stephen Miller and Sean Spicer.) // View note The State Department also broke with protocol regarding taxpayer-funded travel and applied for a Citibank travel card just for Mar-a-Lago visits. Meanwhile, other problems emerged: • Mar-a-Lago can’t process charges over $10,000, which led to problems when the club split bills and charged the government card for multiple transactions, emails show. // View note • Mar-a-Lago refused government requests to waive the costs of its "function room” for press and other official meetings in April 2017, leading to a near-violation of a $3,500 government spending cap. Last year, Trump signed a law that lifted that cap, known as the “micro-purchase threshold,” from $3,500 to $10,000. The law does not appear to have been aimed at facilitating spending at Mar-a-Lago, but it allows the club to avoid additional government contracting rules when charging sums below $10,000. • In one instance, after the government was charged more than $3,500 for conference space at Mar-a-Lago, it asked the Trump Organization for a 10% discount so that it wouldn’t violate the micro-purchase threshold. Mar-a-Lago relented, but only after months of haggling. // View note In the emails, the director of presidential travel support, Michael Dobbs, frequently described the creation of a charge card unique to Mar-a-Lago as a “headache.”   // View note As Steve Schooner, a professor of government contracting law at George Washington University, put it, “The fact that we have a State Department contracting officer saying this is a headache is a reminder that, but for the relationship with President Trump, this would not be a contract the government would be having. That's a problem." Many of the expenses incurred by White House staff are arranged and paid for by the White House’s Office of Administration. These expenses are not required to be made public. The same goes for Secret Service spending to protect the president on such visits. (The Government Accountability Office released a report last month evaluating spending at Mar-a-Lago in February and March 2017 and found that a total of $60,000 was spent at the hotel during four trips; the figure ran to $13.6 million when costs for plane travel, secret service, security and other logistics were included.) The State Department payments, and its work on behalf of the White House and other traveling staff, are considered public records. Between 2015 and June of 2018, at least $16.1 million has poured into Trump Organization-managed and branded hotels, golf courses and restaurants from his campaign, Republican organizations and government agencies. Because Trump’s business empire is overseen by a trust of which he is the sole beneficiary, he profits from these hotel stays, banquet hall rentals and meals. Federal spending rules don't specifically address agency-level spending on alcohol that is directly invoiced to the government, as occurred with the $1,000 bar tab at Mar-a-Lago. The State Department and the White House have had exemptions included in their appropriations legislation to allow for alcohol purchases. Individual government employees are not permitted to use charge cards for "improper" purposes, such as alcohol, and federal per diem rules allow for charges for breakfast, lunch, dinner and related tips and taxes but specifically exclude alcoholic drinks. Six government contracting experts said Mar-a-Lago may be violating rules requiring competitive bids. They argue that Mar-a-Lago’s practice of invoicing meeting spaces, hotel stays and meals separately is a way to get around federal spending rules. “Mar-a-Lago didn’t want to compete, they wanted to sneak around the requirements, and charge much higher prices than the competition,” said Tiefer, who served as deputy general counsel with the House of Representatives for 11 years. “It’s not the first time in history that vendors have tried to get around the rules by charging individual components. This is familiar to every contracting officer. And it’s wrong. It’s not just a technicality. It’s not a game. The only safeguard the public has against the Trumps swallowing up all the government business is at least minimal competition.” Several experts contend the State Department is exploiting loopholes in government spending rules to facilitate official gatherings at Mar-a-Lago. “It’s one of the biggest fears coming true, that they are bending over backwards to help the Trump Organization,” said Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project On Government Oversight. “I'm frustrated the State Department would exploit the system to bill Uncle Sam and the taxpayers. To have the government bicker to get a 10% discount shows the Trump Organization isn't putting the American public first. It's a worst-case scenario when it comes to conflicts of interest, with the president and his children putting themselves and profits ahead of the public." ### “Trump, Inc.” is exploring whether the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is still enforcing consumer financial laws and holding companies accountable. We want to hear from people who work at the agency or left recently (particularly those familiar with enforcement actions, supervisory exams and areas such as payday lending and debt collection). We’re also hoping to hear from consumers and companies who have interacted with the bureau in recent years. To find out more, click here.  “Trump, Inc.” is a production of WNYC Studios and ProPublica. Support our work by visiting donate.propublica.org or by becoming a supporting member of WNYC. Subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Late on a Thursday evening in February 2017, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for his first visit with President Donald Trump. A few hours earlier, the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s Boeing 737, which is so large it can seat 149 people, touched down at Reagan National Airport after a flight from Las Vegas. Adelson dined that night at the White House with Trump, Jared Kushner and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Adelson and his wife, Miriam, were among Trump’s biggest benefactors, writing checks for $20 million in the campaign and pitching in an additional $5 million for the inaugural festivities. Adelson was in town to see the Japanese prime minister about a much greater sum of money. Japan, after years of acrimonious public debate, has legalized casinos. For more than a decade, Adelson and his company, Las Vegas Sands, have sought to build a multibillion-dollar casino resort there. He has called expanding to the country, one of the world’s last major untapped markets, the “holy grail.” Nearly every major casino company in the world is competing to secure one of a limited number of licenses to enter a market worth up to $25 billion per year. “This opportunity won’t come along again, potentially ever,” said Kahlil Philander, an academic who studies the industry. The morning after his White House dinner, Adelson attended a breakfast in Washington with Abe and a small group of American CEOs, including two others from the casino industry. Adelson and the other executives raised the casino issue with Abe, according to an attendee. Adelson had a potent ally in his quest: the new president of the United States. Following the business breakfast, Abe had a meeting with Trump before boarding Air Force One for a weekend at Mar-a-Lago. The two heads of state dined with Patriots owner Bob Kraft and golfed at Trump National Jupiter Golf Club with the South African golfer Ernie Els. During a meeting at Mar-a-Lago that weekend, Trump raised Adelson’s casino bid to Abe, according to two people briefed on the meeting. The Japanese side was surprised. “It was totally brought up out of the blue,” according to one of the people briefed on the exchange. “They were a little incredulous that he would be so brazen.” After Trump told Abe he should strongly consider Las Vegas Sands for a license, “Abe didn’t really respond, and said thank you for the information,” this person said. Trump also mentioned at least one other casino operator. Accounts differ on whether it was MGM or Wynn Resorts, then run by Trump donor and then-Republican National Committee finance chairman Steve Wynn. The Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported the president also mentioned MGM and Abe instructed an aide who was present to jot down the names of both companies. Questioned about the meeting, Abe said in remarks before the Japanese legislature in July that Trump had not passed on requests from casino companies but did not deny that the topic had come up. The president raising a top donor’s personal business interests directly with a foreign head of state would violate longstanding norms. “That should be nowhere near the agenda of senior officials,” said Brian Harding, a Japan expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “U.S.-Japan relations is about the security of the Asia-Pacific, China and economic issues.” Adelson has told his shareholders to expect good news. On a recent earnings call, Adelson cited unnamed insiders as saying Sands’ efforts to win a place in the Japanese market will pay off. “The estimates by people who know, say they know, whom we believe they know, say that we're in the No. 1 pole position,” he said. After decades as a major Republican donor, Adelson is known as an ideological figure, motivated by his desire to influence U.S. policy to help Israel. “I’m a one-issue person. That issue is Israel,” he said last year.  On that issue — Israel — Trump has delivered. The administration has slashed funding for aid to Palestinian refugees and scrapped the Iran nuclear deal. Attending the recent opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, Adelson seemed to almost weep with joy, according to an attendee. But his reputation as an Israel advocate has obscured a through-line in his career: He has used his political access to push his financial self-interest. Not only has Trump touted Sands’ interests in Japan, but his administration also installed an executive from the casino industry in a top position in the U.S. embassy in Tokyo. Adelson’s influence reverberates through this administration. Cabinet-level officials jump when he calls. One who displeased him was replaced. He has helped a friend’s company get a research deal with the Environmental Protection Agency. And Adelson has already received a windfall from Trump’s new tax law, which particularly favored companies like Las Vegas Sands. The company estimated the benefit of the law at $1.2 billion. Adelson’s influence is not absolute: His company’s casinos in Macau are vulnerable in Trump’s trade war with China, which controls the former Portuguese colony near Hong Kong. If the Chinese government chose to retaliate by targeting Macau, where Sands has several large properties, it could hurt Adelson’s bottom line. So far, there’s no evidence that has happened. The White House declined to comment on Adelson. The Japanese Embassy in Washington declined to comment. Sands spokesman Ron Reese declined to answer detailed questions but said in a statement: “The gaming industry has long sought the opportunity to enter the Japan market. Gaming companies have spent significant resources there on that effort and Las Vegas Sands is no exception.” Reese added: “If our company has any advantage it would be because of our significant Asian operating experience and our unique convention-based business model. Any suggestion we are favored for some other reason is not based on the reality of the process in Japan or the integrity of the officials involved in it.” With a fortune estimated at $35 billion, Adelson is the 21st-richest person in the world, according to Forbes. In August, when he celebrated his 85th birthday in Las Vegas, the party stretched over four days. Adelson covered guests’ expenses. A 92-year-old Tony Bennett and the Israeli winner of Eurovision performed for the festivities. He is slowing down physically; stricken by neuropathy, he uses a motorized scooter to get around and often stands up with the help of a bodyguard. He fell and broke three ribs while on a ferry from Macau to Hong Kong last November. Yet Adelson has spent the Trump era hustling to expand his gambling empire. With Trump occupying the White House, Adelson has found the greatest political ally he’s ever had. “I would put Adelson at the very top of the list of both access and influence in the Trump administration,” said Craig Holman of the watchdog group Public Citizen. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I’ve been studying money in politics for 40 years.” ***** Adelson grew up poor in Boston, the son of a cabdriver with a sixth-grade education. According to his wife, Adelson was beaten up as a kid for being Jewish. A serial entrepreneur who has started or acquired more than 50 different businesses, he had already made and lost his first fortune by the late 1960s, when he was in his mid-30s. It took him until the mid-1990s to become extraordinarily rich. In 1995, he sold the pioneering computer trade show Comdex to the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank for $800 million. He entered the gambling business in earnest when his Venetian casino resort opened in 1999 in Las Vegas. With its gondola rides on faux canals, it was inspired by his honeymoon to Venice with Miriam, who is 12 years younger than Adelson. It’s been said that Trump is a poor person’s idea of a rich person. Adelson could be thought of as Trump’s idea of a rich person. A family friend recalls Sheldon and Miriam’s two sons, who are now in college, getting picked up from school in stretch Hummer limousines and his home being so large it was stocked with Segway transporters to get around. A Las Vegas TV station found a few years ago that, amid a drought, Adelson’s palatial home a short drive from the Vegas Strip had used nearly 8 million gallons of water in a year, enough for 55 average homes. Adelson will rattle off his precise wealth based on the fluctuation of Las Vegas Sands’ share price, said his friend the New York investor Michael Steinhardt. “He’s very sensitive to his net worth,” Steinhardt said. Trump entered the casino business several years before Adelson. In the early 1990s, both eyed Eilat in southern Israel as a potential casino site. Neither built there. Adelson “didn’t have a whole lot of respect for Trump when Trump was operating casinos. He was dismissive of Trump,” recalled one former Las Vegas Sands official. In an interview in the late ’90s, Adelson lumped Trump with Wynn: “Both of these gentlemen have very big egos,” Adelson said. “Well, the world doesn't really care about their egos.” Today, in his rare public appearances, Adelson has a grandfatherly affect. He likes to refer to himself as “Self” (“I said to myself, ‘Self …’”). He makes Borscht Belt jokes about his short stature: “A friend of mine says, ‘You’re the tallest guy in the world.’ I said, ‘How do you figure that?’ He says, ‘When you stand on your wallet.’” By the early 2000s, Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands had surpassed Trump’s casino operations. While Trump was getting bogged down in Atlantic City, Adelson’s properties thrived. When Macau opened up a local gambling monopoly, Adelson bested a crowded field that included Trump to win a license. Today, Macau accounts for more than half of Las Vegas Sands’ roughly $13 billion in annual revenue. Trump’s casinos went bankrupt, and now he is out of the industry entirely. By the mid-2000s, Trump was playing the role of business tycoon on his reality show, “The Apprentice.” Meanwhile, Adelson aggressively expanded his empire in Macau and later in Singapore. His company’s Moshe Safdie-designed Marina Bay Sands property there, with its rooftop infinity pool, featured prominently in the recent hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” While their business trajectories diverged, Adelson and Trump have long shared a willingness to sue critics, enemies and business associates. Multiple people said they were too afraid of lawsuits to speak on the record for this story. In 1989, after the Nevada Gaming Control Board conducted a background investigation of Adelson, it found he had already been personally involved in around 100 civil lawsuits, according to the book “License to Steal,” a history of the agency. That included matters as small as a $600 contractual dispute with a Boston hospital. The lawsuits have continued even as Adelson became so rich the amounts of money at stake hardly mattered. In one case, Adelson was unhappy with the quality of construction on one of his beachfront Malibu, California, properties and pursued a legal dispute with the contractor for more than seven years, going through a lengthy series of appeals and cases in different courts. Adelson sued a Wall Street Journal reporter for libel over a single phrase — a description of him as “foul-mouthed” — and fought the case for four years before it was settled, with the story unchanged. In a particularly bitter case in Massachusetts Superior Court in the 1990s, his sons from his first marriage accused him of cheating them out of money. Adelson prevailed. Adelson rarely speaks to the media any more, with occasional exceptions for friendly business journalists or on stage at conferences, usually interviewed by people to whom he has given a great deal of money. “He keeps a very tight inner circle,” said a casino industry executive who has known Adelson for decades. Adelson declined to comment for this story. ******* Adelson once told a reporter of entering the casino business late in life, “I loved being an outsider.” For nearly a decade he played that role in presidential politics, bankrolling the opposition to the Obama administration. As with some of his early entrepreneurial forays, he dumped money for little return, his political picks going bust. In 2008, he backed Rudy Giuliani. As America’s Mayor faded, he came on board late with the John McCain campaign. In 2012, he almost single-handedly funded Newt Gingrich’s candidacy. Gingrich spent a few weeks atop the polls before his candidacy collapsed. Adelson became a late adopter of Mitt Romney. In 2016, the Adelsons didn’t officially endorse a candidate for months. Trump used Adelson as a foil, an example of the well-heeled donors who wielded outsized influence in Washington. “Sheldon or whoever — you could say Koch. I could name them all. They’re all friends of mine, every one of them. I know all of them. They have pretty much total control over the candidate,” Trump said on Fox News in October 2015. “Nobody controls me but the American public.” In a pointed tweet that month, Trump said: “Sheldon Adelson is looking to give big dollars to [Marco] Rubio because he feels he can mold him into his perfect little puppet. I agree!” Despite Trump’s barbs, Adelson had grown curious about the candidate and called his friend Steinhardt, who founded the Birthright program that sends young Jews on free trips to Israel. Adelson is now the program’s largest funder. “I called Kushner and I said Sheldon would like to meet your father-in-law,” Steinhardt recalled. “Kushner was excited.” Trump got on a plane to Las Vegas. “Sheldon has strong views when it comes to the Jewish people; Trump recognized that, and a marriage was formed.” Trump and his son-in-law Kushner courted Adelson privately, meeting several times in New York and Las Vegas. “Having Orthodox Jews like Jared and Ivanka next to him and so many common people in interest gave a level of comfort to Sheldon,” said Ronn Torossian, a New York public relations executive who knows both men. “Someone who lets their kid marry an Orthodox Jew and then become Orthodox is probably going to stand pretty damn close to Israel.” Miriam Adelson, a physician born and raised in what became Israel, is said to be an equal partner in Sheldon Adelson’s political decisions. He has said the interests of the Jewish state are at the center of his worldview, and his views align with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-of-center approach to Iran and Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Adelson suggested in 2014 that Israel doesn’t need to be a democracy. “I think God didn’t say anything about democracy,” Adelson said. “He didn’t talk about Israel remaining as a democratic state.” On a trip to the country several years ago, on the eve of his young son’s bar mitzvah, Adelson said, “Hopefully he’ll come back; his hobby is shooting. He’ll come back and be a sniper for the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. On domestic issues, Adelson is more Chamber of Commerce Republican than movement conservative or Trumpian populist. He is pro-choice and has called for work permits and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a position sharply at odds with Trump’s. While the Koch brothers, his fellow Republican megadonors, have evinced concern over trade policy and distaste for Trump, Adelson has proved flexible, putting aside any qualms about Trump’s business acumen or ideological misgivings. In May 2016, he declared in a Washington Post op-ed that he was endorsing Trump. He wrote that Trump represented “a CEO success story that exemplifies the American spirit of determination, commitment to cause and business stewardship.” The Adelsons came through with $20 million in donations to the pro-Trump super PAC, part of at least $83 million in donations to Republicans. By the time of the October 2016 release of the Access Hollywood tape featuring Trump bragging about sexual assault, Adelson was among his staunchest supporters. “Sheldon Adelson had Donald Trump's back,” said Steve Bannon in a speech last year, speaking of the time after the scandal broke. “He was there.” In December 2016, Adelson donated $5 million to the Trump inaugural festivities. The Adelsons had better seats at Trump’s inauguration than many Cabinet secretaries. The whole family, including their two college-age sons, came to Washington for the celebration. One of his sons posted a picture on Instagram of the event with the hashtag #HuckFillary. The investment paid off in access and in financial returns. Adelson has met with Trump or visited the White House at least six times since Trump’s election victory. The two speak regularly. Adelson has also had access to others in the White House. He met privately with Vice President Mike Pence before Pence gave a speech at Adelson’s Venetian resort in Las Vegas last year. “He just calls the president all the time. Donald Trump takes Sheldon Adelson’s calls,” said Alan Dershowitz, who has done legal work for Adelson and advised Trump. Adelson’s tens of millions in donations to Trump have already been paid back many times over by the new tax law. While all corporations benefited from the lower tax rate in the new law, many incurred an extra bill in the transition because profits overseas were hit with a one-time tax. But not Sands. Adelson’s company hired lobbyists to press Trump’s Treasury Department and Congress on provisions that would help companies like Sands that paid high taxes abroad, according to public filings and tax experts. The lobbying effort appears to have worked. After Trump signed the tax overhaul into law in December, Las Vegas Sands recorded a benefit from the new law the company estimated at $1.2 billion. The Adelson family owns 55 percent of Las Vegas Sands, which is publicly traded, according to filings. The Treasury Department didn’t respond to requests for comment. Now as Trump and the Republican Party face a reckoning in the midterm elections in November, they have once again turned to Adelson. He has given at least $55 million so far. ***** In 2014, Adelson told an interviewer he was not interested in building a dynasty. “I want my legacy to be that I helped out humankind,” he said, underscoring his family’s considerable donations to medical research. But he gives no indication of sticking to a quiet life of philanthropy. In the last four years, he has used the Sands’ fleet of private jets, assiduously meeting with world leaders and seeking to build new casinos in Japan, Korea and Brazil. He is closest in Japan. Japan has been considering lifting its ban on casinos for years, in spite of majority opposition in polls from a public that is wary of the social problems that might result. A huge de facto gambling industry of the pinball-like game pachinko has long existed in the country, historically associated with organized crime and seedy parlors filled with cigarette-smoking men. Opposition to allowing casinos is so heated that a brawl broke out in the Japanese legislature this summer. But lawmakers have moved forward on legalizing casinos and crafted regulations that hew to Adelson’s wishes. “Japan is considered the next big market. Sheldon looks at it that way,” said a former Sands official. Adelson envisions building a $10 billion “integrated resort,” which in industry parlance refers to a large complex featuring a casino with hotels, entertainment venues, restaurants and shopping malls. The new Japanese law allows for just three licenses to build casinos in cities around the country, effectively granting valuable local monopolies. At least 13 companies, including giants like MGM and Genting, are vying for a license. Even though Sands is already a strong contender because of its size and its successful resort in Singapore, some observers in Japan believe Adelson’s relationship with Trump has helped move Las Vegas Sands closer to the multibillion-dollar prize. Just a week after the U.S. election, Prime Minister Abe arrived at Trump Tower, becoming the first foreign leader to meet with the president-elect. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were also there. Abe presented Trump with a gilded $3,800 golf driver. Few know the details of what the Trumps and Abe discussed at the meeting. In a break with protocol, Trump’s transition team sidelined the State Department, whose Japan experts were never briefed on what was said. “There was a great deal of frustration,” said one State Department official. “There was zero communication from anyone on Trump’s team.” In another sign of Adelson’s direct access to the incoming president and ties with Japan, he secured a coveted Trump Tower meeting a few weeks later for an old friend, the Japanese billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son. Son’s company, SoftBank, had bought Adelson’s computer trade show business in the 1990s. A few years ago, Adelson named Son as a potential partner in his casino resort plans in Japan. Son’s SoftBank, for its part, owns Sprint, which has long wanted to merge with T-Mobile but needs a green light from the Trump administration. A beaming Son emerged from the meeting in the lobby of Trump Tower with the president-elect and promised $50 billion in investments in the U.S. When Trump won the election in November 2016, the casino bill had been stalled in the Japanese Diet. One month after the Trump-Abe meeting, in an unexpected move in mid-December, Abe’s ruling coalition pushed through landmark legislation authorizing casinos, with specific regulations to be ironed out later. There was minimal debate on the controversial bill, and it passed at the very end of an extraordinary session of the legislature. “That was a surprise to a lot of stakeholders,” said one former Sands executive who still works in the industry. Some observers suspect the timing was not a coincidence. “After Trump won the election in 2016, the Abe government’s efforts to pass the casino bill shifted into high gear,” said Yoichi Torihata, a professor at Shizuoka University and opponent of the casino law. On a Las Vegas Sands earnings call a few days after Trump’s inauguration, Adelson touted that Abe had visited the company’s casino resort complex in Singapore. “He was very impressed with it,” Adelson said. Days later, Adelson attended the February breakfast with Abe in Washington, after which the prime minister went on to Mar-a-Lago, where the president raised Las Vegas Sands. A week after that, Adelson flew to Japan and met with the secretary general of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo. The casino business is one of the most regulated industries in the world, and Adelson has always sought political allies. To enter the business in 1989, he hired the former governor of Nevada to represent him before the state’s gaming commission. In 2001, according to court testimony reported in the New Yorker, Adelson intervened with then-House Majority Whip Rep. Tom DeLay, to whom he was a major donor, at the behest of a Chinese official over a proposed House resolution that was critical of the country’s human rights record. At the time, Las Vegas Sands was seeking entry into the Macau market. The resolution died, which Adelson attributed to factors other than his intervention, according to the magazine. In 2015, he purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the state’s largest newspaper, which then published a lengthy investigative series on one of Adelson’s longtime rivals, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which runs a convention center that competes with Adelson’s. (The paper said Adelson had no influence over its coverage.) In Japan, Las Vegas Sands’ efforts have accelerated in the last year. Adelson returned to the country in September 2017, visiting top officials in Osaka, a possible casino site. In a show of star power in October, Sands flew in David Beckham and the Eagles’ Joe Walsh for a press conference at the Palace Hotel Tokyo. Beckham waxed enthusiastic about his love of sea urchin and declared, "Las Vegas Sands is creating fabulous resorts all around the world, and their scale and vision are impressive.” Adelson appears emboldened. When he was in Osaka last fall, he publicly criticized a proposal under consideration to cap the total amount of floor space devoted to casinos in the resorts that have been legalized. In July, the Japanese Diet passed a bill with more details on what casinos will look like and laying out the bidding process. The absolute limit on casino floor area had been dropped from the legislation. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has made an unusual personnel move that could help advance pro-gambling interests. The new U.S. ambassador, an early Trump campaign supporter and Tennessee businessman named William Hagerty, hired as his senior adviser an American executive working on casino issues for the Japanese company SEGA Sammy. Joseph Schmelzeis left his role as senior adviser on global government and industry affairs for the company in February to join the U.S. Embassy. (He has not worked for Sands.) A State Department spokesperson said that embassy officials had communicated with Sands as part of “routine” meetings and advice provided to members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. The spokesperson said that “Schmelzeis is not participating in any matter related to integrated resorts or Las Vegas Sands.”  Japanese opposition politicians have seized on the Adelson-Trump-Abe nexus. One, Tetsuya Shiokawa, said this year that he believes Trump has been the unseen force behind why Abe’s party has “tailor-made the [casino] bill to suit foreign investors like Adelson.” In the next stage of the process, casino companies will complete their bids with Japanese localities. ****** Adelson’s influence has spread across the Trump administration. In August 2017, the Zionist Organization of America, to which the Adelsons are major donors, launched a campaign against National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. ZOA chief Mort Klein charged McMaster “clearly has animus toward Israel.” Adelson said he was convinced to support the attack on McMaster after Adelson spoke with Safra Catz, the Israeli-born CEO of Oracle, who “enlightened me quite a bit” about McMaster, according to an email Klein later released to the media. Adelson pressed Trump to appoint the hawkish John Bolton to a high position, The New York Times reported. In March, Trump fired McMaster and replaced him with Bolton. The president and other cabinet officials also clashed with McMaster on policy and style issues. For Scott Pruitt, the former EPA administrator known as an ally of industry, courting Adelson meant developing a keen interest in an unlikely topic: technology that generates clean water from air. An obscure Israeli startup called Watergen makes machines that resemble air conditioners and, with enough electricity, can pull potable water from the air. Adelson doesn’t have a stake in the company, but he is old friends with the Israeli-Georgian billionaire who owns the firm, Mikhael Mirilashvili, according to the head of Watergen’s U.S. operation, Yehuda Kaploun. Adelson first encountered the technology on a trip to Israel, Kaploun said. Dershowitz is also on the company’s board. Just weeks after being confirmed, Pruitt met with Watergen executives at Adelson’s request. Pruitt promptly mobilized dozens of EPA officials to ink a research deal under which the agency would study Watergen’s technology. EPA officials immediately began voicing concerns about the request, according to hundreds of previously unreported emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. They argued that the then-EPA chief was violating regular procedures. Pruitt, according to one email, asked that staffers explore “on an expedited time frame” whether a deal could be done “without the typical contracting requirements.” Other emails described the matter as “very time sensitive” and having “high Administrator interest.” A veteran scientist at the agency warned that the “technology has been around for decades,” adding that the agency should not be “focusing on a single vendor, in this case Watergen.” Officials said that Watergen’s technology was not unique, noting there were as many as 70 different suppliers on the market with products using the same concept. Notes from a meeting said the agency “does not currently have the expertise or staff to evaluate these technologies.” Agency lawyers “seemed scared” about the arrangement, according to an internal text exchange. The EPA didn’t respond to requests for comment. Watergen got its research deal. It’s not known how much money the agency has spent on the project. The technology was shipped to a lab in Cincinnati, and Watergen said the government will produce a report on its study. Pruitt planned to unveil the deal on a trip to Israel, which was also planned with the assistance of Adelson, The Washington Post reported. But amid multiple scandals, the trip never happened. Other parts of the Trump administration have also been friendly to Watergen. Over the summer, Mirilashvili attended the U.S. Embassy in Israel’s Fourth of July party, where he was photographed grinning and sipping water next to one of the company’s machines on display. Kaploun said U.S. Ambassador David Friedman’s staff assisted the company to help highlight its technology.  A State Department spokesperson said Watergen was one of many private sponsors of the embassy party and was “subject to rigorous vetting.” The embassy is now considering leasing or buying a Watergen unit as part of a “routine procurement action,” the spokesperson said. A Mirilashvili spokesman said in a statement that Adelson and Mirilashvili “have no business ties with each other.” The spokesman added that Adelson had been briefed on the company’s technology by Watergen engineers and “Adelson has also expressed an interest in the ability of this Israeli technology to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans who are affected by water pollution.” ***** Even as the casino business looks promising in Japan, China has been a potential trouble spot for Adelson. Few businesses are as vulnerable to geopolitical winds as Adelson’s. The majority of Sands’ value derives from its properties in Macau. It is the world’s gambling capital, and China’s central government controls it. “Sheldon Adelson highly values direct engagement in Beijing,” a 2009 State Department cable released by WikiLeaks says, “especially given the impact of Beijing's visa policies on the company's growing mass market operations in Macau.” At times, Sands’ aggressive efforts in China crossed legal lines. On Jan. 19, 2017, the day before Trump took office, the Justice Department announced Sands was paying a nearly $7 million fine to settle a longstanding investigation into whether it violated a U.S. anti-bribery statute in China. The case revealed that Sands paid roughly $60 million to a consultant who “advertised his political connections with [People’s Republic of China] government officials” and that some of the payments “had no discernible legitimate business purpose.” Part of the work involved an effort by Sands to acquire a professional basketball team in the country to promote its casinos. The DOJ said Sands fully cooperated in the investigation and fixed its compliance problems. A year and a half into the Trump administration, Adelson has a bigger problem than the Justice Department investigation: Trump’s trade war against Beijing has put Sands’ business in Macau at risk. Sands’ right to operate expires in a few years. Beijing could throttle the flow of money and people from the mainland to Macau. Sands and the other foreign operators in Macau “now sit on a geopolitical fault line. Their Macau concessions can therefore be on the line,” said a report from the Hong Kong business consultancy Steve Vickers & Associates. A former Sands board member, George Koo, wrote a column in the Asia Times newspaper in April warning that Beijing could undercut the Macau market by legalizing casinos in the southern island province of Hainan. “A major blow in the trade war would be for China to allow Hainan to become a gambling destination and divert visitors who would otherwise be visiting Macau,” Koo wrote. “As one of Trump’s principal supporters, it’s undoubtedly a good time for Mr. Adelson to have a private conversation with the president.” It’s not clear if Adelson has had that conversation. According to The Associated Press, Adelson was present for a discussion of China policy at the dinner he attended with Trump at the White House in February 2017. In September, Trump escalated his trade war with China. He raised tariffs on $200 billion Chinese imports. China retaliated with tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. products. Adelson has said privately that if he can be helpful in any way he would volunteer himself to do whatever is asked for either side of the equation — the U.S. or China, according to a person who has spoken to him. ****** Torossian, the public relations executive, calls Adelson “this generation’s Rothschild” for his support of Israel. In early May, the Adelsons gave $30 million to the super PAC that is seeking to keep Republican control of the House for the remainder of Trump’s term. A few days later, Trump announced he was killing the Iran nuclear deal, a target of Adelson’s and the Netanyahu government’s for years. The following day, Adelson met with the president at the White House. Five days later, Adelson was in Israel for another landmark, the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem marked a major shift in U.S. foreign policy, long eschewed by presidents of both parties. Besides dealing a major blow to Palestinian claims on part of the city, which are recognized by most of the world, it was the culmination of a more than 20-year project of the Adelsons. Sheldon and Miriam personally lobbied for the move on Capitol Hill as far back as 1995. In an audience dotted with yarmulkes and MAGA-red hats, the Adelsons were in the front now, next to Netanyahu and his wife, the Kushners and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. A beaming Miriam, wearing a dress featuring an illustration of the Jerusalem skyline, filmed the event with her phone. She wrote a first-person account of the ceremony that was co-published on the front page of the two newspapers the Adelsons own, Israel Hayom and the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “The embassy opening is a crowning moment for U.S. foreign policy and for our president, Donald Trump. Just over a year into his first term, he has re-enshrined the United States as the standard-bearer of moral clarity and courage in a world that too often feels adrift.” Adelson paid for the official delegation of Guatemala, the only other country to move its embassy, to travel to Israel. “Sheldon told me that any country that wants to move its embassy to Jerusalem, he’ll fly them in — the president and everyone — for the opening,” said Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce CEO Duvi Honig, who was in attendance. Klein, the Zionist Organization of America president, was also there. The Adelsons, he said, “were glowing with a serene happiness like I’ve never seen them. Sheldon “said to me, ‘President Trump promised he would do this and he did it.’ And he almost became emotional. ‘And look, Mort, he did it.’

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Barbara Leaf speaks with host Michael Morell about the importance of diplomacy, the state of governance in the Middle East, and the path forward for Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Palestine. Leaf, who spent over three decades at the Department of State overseeing some of the most challenging diplomatic missions in the Middle East, explains why the United States has a "binding interest" in the region and why successful partnerships are critical to national security. She also tells Morell why she believes former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's tenure marked a period of "extraordinary destructiveness" at the State Department, and what she hopes his successor, Mike Pompeo, will do to help it recover.

The Saudi kingdom cuts ties with Canada after criticism from Ottawa. Is Justin Trudeau interfering in Saudi affairs? Or is the Crown Prince manufacturing a crisis? Also, the Intercept has reported that former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prevented Saudi and Emirati troops from invading Qatar last year, at the start of the Gulf's diplomatic crisis. It's suggested that Tillerson's actions may have cost him his job. And Portugal's prime minister says his country's biggest refugee 'problem' is that it isn't attracting more of them. But for those who do come, why aren't they staying?

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a constitutional rights lawyer and the executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, and Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemecist.net.The Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday heard testimony from social media and technology experts, who said companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter must do more to prevent the spread of misinformation and propaganda. But where does one draw the line between that and freedom of speech? Are Americans in danger of losing their civil liberties? Thursday’s “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, Paul Wright, the founder and Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), joins the show. The Intercept reported today that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired thanks to pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Tillerson had intervened to mediate those countries’ dispute with neighboring Qatar. Saudi Arabia had intended to invade and conquer Qatar with UAE help. Brian and John speak with Ali al-Ahmed, the director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs. The Trump Administration this morning announced that it was freezing fuel efficiency requirements for all cars and trucks through 2026 as part of a dramatic rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations. The announcement comes on the heels of a weakening of air and water quality regulations. Fred Magdoff, professor emeritus of plant and soil science at the University of Vermont and the co-author of “What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism,” joins the show. Israel has blocked the delivery of fuel and gasoline to the besieged Gaza Strip, saying that it was in retaliation for Palestinians setting fire to Israeli land with flaming kites. Only cooking gas, wheat, and flour will be allowed into Gaza until further notice. Dan Cohen, a journalist and filmmaker whose work is at KillingGaza.com, joins Brian and John. Pope Francis announced this morning that the death penalty is inadmissible under any circumstances and that the church will work toward its abolition around the world. The announcement marks an evolution of the Catholic Church’s official view of the death penalty that began under Pope John Paul II in 1978. Gregory Joseph, communications director at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, joins the show.The Trump Administration has imposed sanctions on the Justice and Interior Ministers of Turkey in retaliation for the continued incarceration of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Brunson was arrested two years ago and charged with espionage for preaching. He has yet to go on trial. Turkish President Erdogan said the move will jeopardize longstanding US-Turkish relations and that Ankara will consider retaliatory sanctions. Brian and John speak with Max Zirngast, an independent writer studying philosophy and political science in Vienna and Ankara.

Thousands protest gun violence at the Capitol during Austin's March for Our Lives event on Saturday. Also: Student Government votes in support of renaming Robert Lee Moore Hall, named after a racist former mathematics professor. And after his boot from the white house, could soon-to-be former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson become the next UT system chancellor? All of that and more on this week's Daily Texan Newscast.

United States President Trump fires National Security adviser HR McMaster and replaces him with former un ambassador* John Bolton; on the heels of firing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this move has many around the globe concerned the Donald Trump will cause War because Bolton has never met a war he does not like; the president also levied tariffs on all Chinese Imports sending the stock markets around the globe into chaos; erstwhile former Playboy Playmate, Karen McDougal sits down with CNN's Anderson Cooper to discuss her affair with the president of the United States; German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared beleaguered and Her speech ballon to pressure to deport migrants; who will stop Russia and Vladimir Putin? the ambush in Niger that killed for Green Berets must be investigated by Congress! ♪Moody's Mood For Love/ Teo Licks♪by Amy Winehouse appears courtesy of Island Records

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was returning from a 5-nation tour of the African continent when President Donald Trump fired him via Twitter. J. Peter Pham, Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives and Director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, and Jennifer Cooke, Director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, talk with host Carol Castiel about the state of US-Africa relations in the aftermath of Tillerson's trip and touch on political developments in Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa and Kenya.

Join us this week we feature the Vanilla Orange Daiquiri libation and discuss the firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump visit to his proposed border wall and the affair claims by Stormy Daniels and others and the national school walkouts following the Parkland shooting.

When President Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Twitter, he used the same tweet to name current CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his choice to fill the top job at the State Department and current Deputy CIA Director Gina Haspel to step up into Pompeo’s role. Haspel’s nomination raised questions on both sides of the aisle because of her involvement in running a CIA black site in Thailand. Many members of the intelligence community defended Haspel and many senators have not raised serious objections to her nomination. However, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is actively and vocally opposing Haspel’s nomination. The senator said the reports of her conduct at the CIA black site makes her unacceptable as a candidate to run the CIA. Senator Paul joins Michael and Rick to explain why he thinks Haspel isn't suitable for the job. Eric Bolling, a former Fox News host and popular conservative political commentator, lost his son to an accidental overdose. He has since become one of the leading voices in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Mr. Bolling talks to the guys about the president’s recently-unveiled plan to combat the opioid epidemic and makes a personal plea for how we can all can get involved and help.

Join us this week we feature the Vanilla Orange Daiquiri libation and discuss the firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Trump visit to his proposed border wall and the affair claims by Stormy Daniels and others and the national school walkouts following the Parkland shooting.

This week on Live From America Podcast, hosts Noam and Hatem explore the intricacies of North Korea. They start with the big announcement of the opening of the new Comedy Cellar in Las Vegas and a quick discussion about the comedy business. Then they discuss President Donald Trump decision to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and nominating CIA Director Mike Pompeo. The conversation got heated when they discussed the history of Gina Haspel, President Trump's choice for new CIA director, who would be the first woman to run the nation's premier spy agency, but her role in the agency's torture of terrorism suspects and the destruction of key evidence more than a decade ago could affect the nomination. They also argue about the need for torture and waterboarding. Then they discuss the secrets, stories, and misconceptions about living in North Korea. This week's guests are: Michael Malice who is a New York City-based ghostwriter, author, columnist, and media personality. Malice is the co-author of books with D. L. Hughley, Matt Hughes, Michael Fazio, and others. He is the co-creator and founding editor of the humor blog Overheard in New York. He is the author of Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il, and a regular columnist at Observer. Since 2014, Malice has been a regular guest on the Fox News and Fox Business Network shows The Independents, Kennedy, Red Eye, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and The Story with Martha MacCallum. He's a regular guest on The Tom Woods Show podcast, and has recently appeared on The Alex Jones Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, as well as The Rubin Report. On June 6, 2017, Malice joined Compound Media, on which he hosts a weekly show on Wednesdays titled "YOUR WELCOME". Also on the show comedians Lou Perez and Comedian Boris Khaykin from "we the Internet TV." Watch more episodes and clips at: http://www.livefromamericapodcast.com Email the show at LiveFromAmerica@ComedyCellar.com Produced by the comedy cellar and rethink production and hosted by Noam Dworman and Hatem Gabr.

Another adult leaves the room in the Trump White House as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is given the (historically accurate) royal tweet-ment and guillotined out of office. This week: -Rexit (though we all wish it were Wexit, because really,... Read More ›

Alex Pierson speaks with writer and private investor Charles Ortel about U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's departure and what this means for the Trump White House. 

Help support the show! - http://www.patreon.com/dailyinternet   #5 - China is cracking down on pollution like never before, with new green policies so hard-hitting and extensive they can be felt across the world.   #4 - Adolescent cannabis use is associated with increased risk of psychosis   #3 - Winner of $560 Million Powerball Can Keep Her Name Private, Judge Rules   #2 - Alabama sheriff who arrested man who criticized him pockets $750k in jail food funds, buys $740k beach house   #1 - Trump sacks Rex Tillerson as state secretary President Trump Fires Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, To Be Replaced By CIA Director Mike Pompeo   Nathan - 'Nightcrawler' Writer/Director's Netflix Horror Film Will Star Jake Gyllenhaal & Amazing Supporting Cast   Schwahn - House Intelligence Committee Ends Investigation, Finds No Collusion With Russia   Connect with us:   Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/dailyinternet   Website: http://mjolnir.media/ireadit Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/ireaditcast   Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ireadit YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZXcQHg5RGMinTm5_yLOGVg   Instagram: https://instagram.com/ireaditcast Twitter: http://twitter.com/ireaditcast   E-mail: feedback.ireadit@gmail.com Voicemail: (508)-738-2278   Michael Schwahn: @schwahnmichael Nathan Wood: @bimmenstein

President Trump announced via Twitter this morning that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is out and will be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

Israeli man killed in West Bank stabbing attack An Israeli man has just been pronounced dead following a stabbing attack in the West Bank. Israeli Defense forces are launching a manhunt around the Ariel community. Israel legalizes outpost of Slain Rabbi Cabinet leaders in the Israeli government have just voted unanimously to legalize the Havat Gilad outpost in the West Bank. This outpost was the home of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, a father of six who was murdered by Palestinian Terrorists in a drive-by shooting last month. 3. A twisted love story? A Palestinian man has been convicted of murdering his pregnant lover, a religious, married, Jewish woman from a Jewish community in the West Bank. P.M. orders closer look at offshore Gaza island Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar Ilan University speaking at ILTV Studio about the humanitarian crisis in the strip and the idea Yisreal Katz has come up with to try to solve it. 5. Rwanda & Uganda accused of torturing Refugees The Israeli government has just informed nearly twenty thousand African Asylum Seekers that they have been slated for deportation to a third party African country, shocking new reports say these countries are accused of torturing Refugees. 6. Israel named in secret I.S.-monitoring pact Thousands of former foot-soldiers for the Terror group are now making their way back to their home countries, and Israel may be involved in a secret coalition with twenty other countries to monitor and track these former soldiers. Cleansing the diseases from our hands Max Simonovsky, Founder & CEO Of Soapy speaking at ILTV Studio about the new Israeli company, soapy, that develops all new sanitation system. U.S. & Argentina join forces against Hezbollah Looks like the United States is teaming up with Argentina to help cut off Hezbollah's funds coming from Latin America. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has just made the announcement with Argentina's Foreign Minister in Buenos Aires. 9. Great location, but tough Landlord A gorgeous one-and-a-half-bedroom apartment just opened up in a prime location in Tel Aviv, and it is owned by the very own Russian President Putin. Remember your wedding like never before Ori Chayun, Wedding and Adventure Photographer speaking at ILTV Studio about why couples are so anxious while organizing their weddings, and showing an insight into some of the photographs. 11. Threatened by women? too bad Israeli researchers have just scientifically proven that men with sexist views, especially as they apply to women, are statistically far more likely to have unsatisfying relationships. Eagles snag Super Bowl upset Sorry Patriots fans, but it looks like the Eagles have just snagged their spot in Super Bowl history, scoring a forty-one to thirty-three point victory against new England, this is the Eagles' first Super Bowl win in the team's. Hebrew word Of The Day: ALOOF | אלוף = CHAMPION Learn a New Hebrew word every day. Today's word is "Aloof" which means "Champion" The Weather Forecast The winter heat-wave is expected to continue tonight and tomorrow, with partly cloudy skies and a low tonight of fifty-six, or thirteen degrees Celsius. The high tomorrow should be around seventy-four, or twenty-three degrees Celsius. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Jonathan Ferro spoke with Paul Dobson, Team leader for Bloomberg's Markets Live blog in London and Cameron Crise, Macro Strategist for Bloomberg, about OPEC, the London Stock Exchange's fight with TCI Fund Management, and Trump nominating Marvin Goodfriend to the Federal Reserve.u0010Jonathan also spoke with David Wilson, Markets Live Blogger and Stocks Editor for Bloomberg and Cameron Crise, Macro Strategist for Bloomberg, about tax overhaul, the possible replacement of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and the week ahead.

This year has seen North Korea test more than 20 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles. North Korean state-run media and American experts now claim that much of the United States is in range for a nuclear strike. The rhetoric between the United States and North Korea has been harsh, yet US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has indicated the US is willing to come to the table for talks with North Korea if the country abandons its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Can North Korea be persuaded to abandon its nuclear weapons program? What is the best path forward to promote peace and stability on the Korean peninsula?

The 007-meets-the-X-Files adventures in Cuba continue. Last week the US Department of State recalled non-emergency personnel and families home from the embassy in Havana, citing injuries and illness among 21 people—“hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues, and difficulty sleeping” according to a statement from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Those 21 people weren't just cultural attaches.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton joined Dan and Amy to talk about media reports of a rift between President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and also shared initial reactions to the mass shooting in Las Vegas. CNN Senior Economist Stephen Moore joined Dan and Amy with reaction to President Trump's proposal for tax reform as the debate begins in Congress. Plus, National Review Editor Rich Lowry joined Dan and Amy to talk about the politicization of the aftermath of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A big policy hole opened up at the State Department earlier this summer with the departure of cyber policy coordinator Christopher Painter. Now, under Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, there are thoughts of eliminating the position. Cameron Kerry, a former Commerce Department general counsel, and now a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation, told Federal Drive with Tom Temin State should be enhancing the position, not getting rid of it.

“Our troops will fight to win," President Donald Trump said Monday night in his first first prime-time broadcast on a single policy issue. "We will fight to win. From now on, victory will have a clear definition.” Yet, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to concede in public remarks the following day, the reality on the ground is not one that appears to present any possible clear victory. In this week's TrumpWatch, Rod Nordland speaks to Jesse from Kabul, Afghanistan (where he is the New York Times bureau chief) about his recent article "What an Afghanistan Victory Looks Like Under the Trump Plan."

“Our troops will fight to win," President Donald Trump said Monday night in his first first prime-time broadcast on a single policy issue. "We will fight to win. From now on, victory will have a clear definition.” Yet, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to concede in public remarks the following day, the reality on the ground is not one that appears to present any possible clear victory. In this week's TrumpWatch, Rod Nordland speaks to Jesse from Kabul, Afghanistan (where he is the New York Times bureau chief) about his recent article "What an Afghanistan Victory Looks Like Under the Trump Plan."

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speak following Trump-Putin meeting

1. Netanyahu Condemns Virginia Baseball Shooting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sharing his well wishes for a fast recovery with the victims of yesterday's Virginia shooting attack where Congressman Steve Scalise and four others were shot. #Virginia #SteveScalise ____________________ 2. U.S. Sec. Of State Stands By Claim On P.A. Terror Subsidies US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stands by his claims that the Palestinian Authority is ending its practice of paying compensation to convicted terrorists even despite denials from among high ranking members of the Palestinian Authority. #Tillerson #PA ____________________ 3. NGO'S Demand Israel Turn Gaza's Lights Back On In a statement sent to Israel's Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, the human rights groups are warning of a ‘total collapse' in Gaza, should Israel continue with the plan to reduce power in the strip by roughly 40%. #Mandelblit #NGO #Gaza ____________________ 4. What To Expect From Gaza's Power Crisis Dr. Martin Sherman, Director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies speaking at ILTV studio to discuss the subject of Gaza's energy crisis. #MartinSherman ____________________ 5. Knesset Testimony: Hospitals Sold Children's Organs To U.S. Some disturbing documents were revealed to the Knesset pointing to a covert organ trade between U.S. medical researchers and Israeli hospitals in the 1950's. Most of the organs came from Yemenite children. #Knesset #Organs ____________________ 6. Publishing House Of Former Prime Minister Raided Today The Yediot Achronot publishing house of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is now in prison for corruption, was raided for copies of Olmert's autobiography that may contain classified material. #YediotAchronot #Raid #Olmert ____________________ 7. Plans To Build 14,000 Palestinian Housing Units In Area C Prime Minister Netanyahu is planning to build 14,000 new housing units in the West Bank for the Palestinians living in the Arab-Israeli city of Qalqilya, in area C. #Netanyahu #Housing ____________________ 8. Modern Language Association Passes Anti-Boycott Resolution The Modern Language Association; or MLA has officially ratified a policy saying they will not boycott Israel. #MLA #Boycott ____________________ 9. Revolutionizing Bone-Graft Technology Forever Ohad Schwartz, CO and Co-Founder of CoreBone speaking at ILTV studio about the Israeli start up CoreBone that found a new way to generate bone grafting material using coral. #OhadSchwartz ____________________ 10. P.M. In Greece For Trilateral Summit With Greece And Cyprus Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is in Greece to participate in a trilateral summit between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus. #Netanyahu #Greece ____________________ 11. Israeli Author David Grossman Wins Man-Booker Prize An Israeli author, David Grossman, has just been announced as the winner of the prestigious man booker international prize, making him the first Israeli ever to win the award. #DavidGrossman ____________________ 12. New Pictures Of Grand Mufti And Nazis Up For Auction The Kedem Auction house has published six previously unseen photos of the religious and political leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, in Nazi Germany. The grand mufti of Jerusalem was known to associate with Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler. #Auction #Mufti #Nazi ____________________ 13. Israeli Researchers Find New Inscriptions In Ancient Pottery Researchers at Tel Aviv University have made a startling new discovery about a pottery shard dating back to the time of Jeremiah. The historical value of the discovery is not just in the documentation of Judean diets and supply lines, it's also linguistic. #Pottery #Inscription ____________________ 14. Hebrew word Of The Day, CHERES | חרס = CERAMIC Learn a new Hebrew word every day. Today's word is "cheres" which means "ceramic" #Learnhebrew #Hebrewwordofday #Iltvhebrewwordofday _____________________ 15. The Weather Forecast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The hot ticket in D.C., a test for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the Middle East and more in today's Playbook Audio Briefing.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson holds news conference with Russian leaders.

Is President Trump surrounding himself with Globalists and Democrats? Why are so many long-term, die-hard Trump-supporters feeling "on edge" at the moment? Callers weigh in with varied perspectives. We listen to a reassuring Secretary of State Rex Tillerson outline the Syrian situation, and we hear John McCain clash with Sen. Rand Paul -- once again -- regarding American involvement in the Middle East. Meanwhile, as Hillary Clinton describes her "invade the world, invite the world" approach to foreign policy, we note a prominent Syrian Refugee's criticisms of CNN, as he personally thanks Trump and states he doesn't want to leave Syria for America. Maybe the "travel ban" is not such a big deal for refugees after all? Meanwhile, terrorism comes to Stockholm, Sweden and open borders European leaders offer their predictable cliches of condolence. But might Angela Merkel, Jean-Claude Juncker and Francois Hollande be culpable in such attacks? Also, we review the Obama Administration's history of "spying" on Trump, with the disgraced Susan Rice now at the center of a burgeoning scandal. Worse than Watergate? With Listener Calls & Music via Johnny Paycheck, Paul McCartney, AC/DC, Kenny Chesney and Reba McEntire.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Help support the show! - http://ww.patreon.com/dailyinternet   #10 - Goldman Sachs confirms London jobs will move to EU in first stage of Brexit reshuffle   #9 - Man jailed indefinitely for refusing to decrypt hard drives loses appeal   #8 - A new kind of doctor's office charges a monthly fee and doesn't take insurance — and it could be the future of medicine   #7 - 20 year old horse washed away in NZ floodwaters returns home 13 days later, virtually unscathed.   #6 - Subway advertises for ‘Apprentice Sandwich Artists' to be paid just £3.50 per hour: Union slams fast food chain for 'exploiting' young workers   #5 - Trump signs bill authorizing NASA funding, Mars exploration   #4 - PLEASE help find my missing friend. She's been gone for almost a week, with no confirmed sightings   #3 - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip an April 5-6 meeting of NATO foreign ministers for a U.S. visit by the Chinese president and will travel to Russia later in the month, U.S. officials said on Monday, a step allies may see as putting Moscow's concerns ahead of theirs   #2 - Ukrainians officials have now confirmed that Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort laundered illegal payments from the pro-Putin party.   #1 - FBI director James Comey admits under oath that he hates the Patriots       Follow us on Social: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ireadit Instagram: https://instagram.com/ireaditcast Twitter: http://twitter.com/ireaditcast E-mail: feedback.ireadit@gmail.com   Voicemail: (508)-738-2278   Michael Schwahn: @schwahnmichael Nathan Wood: @bimmenstein "Music" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Admiral James Stavridis, the dean of Tufts University's Fletcher School, says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's decision to skip April's NATO meeting is a violation of "diplomacy 101." William Rhodes, president and CEO of William Rhodes Global Advisors, says the banking culture needs to improve to restore trust in banking. Paul Quinsee, JPMorgan's global head of equities, says revenue growth and currency movements will help profit growth this year in Europe. Finally, Neil Shearing, Capital Economics' chief emerging markets economist, says the strength of the Mexican peso and other emerging market currencies has been surprising. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Who Rules America? The Beltway Swamp now in full rebellion against the American people. The Radicalized Ruling Class clings to power in the Era of Trump. Have our Civil Servants become Civil Tyrants? The Deep State scalps National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, as the Media cheers their Orwellian tactics. Did the Big Brother treatment of Flynn offer reasons --or excuses -- for his dismissal? Additional scalps forthcoming? Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cleans out the Seventh Floor of the State Department. With Listener Calls & Music via Saint Etienne, the Bellamy Brothers, Kelly Willis and Giacomo Puccini's Nessun Dorma.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.