***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[had pants]

 

[pmatic]

 

[aepps20]

Just need to keep focused on GOTV efforts. Hopefully Reid’s trades union apparatus brings Nevada home.

 

[gry60]

Wargames

Israel feared legal trouble over US advocacy efforts, leaked files suggest

Exclusive: officials concerned by foreign agent law proposed creation of American nonprofit to avoid scrutiny

www.theguardian.com

The Israeli government sought legal advice on a US federal law requiring the disclosure of foreign-backed lobbying campaigns, out of concern that mounting enforcement of the law could ensnare American groups working in coordination with the Israeli government, leaked documents reviewed by the Guardian suggest.

A legal strategy memo dated July 2018 noted that compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara) would damage the reputation of several American groups that receive funding and direction from Israel, and force them to meet onerous transparency requirements. A separate memo noted that donors would not want to fund groups registered under Fara.

Fara requires people working on behalf of a foreign government to register as foreign agents with the US justice department.

In listing reasons for avoiding Fara, the memo says that the law compels registrants to “flag any piece of ‘propaganda’ that is distributed to two or more parties in the US, with a disclaimer stating that it was delivered by a foreign agent and then submit a copy of the ‘propaganda’ to the US Department of Justice within 48 hours”.

To prevent Fara registration, and the stigma and scrutiny associated with it, the legal advisers suggested channeling funds through a third-party American nonprofit.

Liat Glazer, then a legal adviser to Israel’s ministry of strategic affairs, writes that even though the nonprofit would not be formally managed from Israel, “we will have means of supervision and management” – for example, through grant-making and “informal coordination mechanisms” including “oral meetings and updates”.

The document notes advice from senior Israeli advisors who assert that “donors are not interested in donating to groups registered under Fara”. The memo recommended creating a new American nonprofit which Kela Shlomo/Concert could funnel money through, thereby providing distance between US nonprofits and the Israeli government – though the head of the nonprofit would also serve in Kela Shlomo’s leadership.

It also notes potential downsides of creating such an American intermediary: both weaker Israeli government control, and a mechanism that could be interpreted for what it was: an attempt to sidestep Fara.

The documents reference concerns on the part of US groups over triggering Fara enforcement, concerns that officials say hindered their ability to conduct advocacy in the US.

In 2018, the news outlet the Forward reported that several Jewish American organizations had rejected funding from Concert due to concerns over Fara risk.

In Glazer’s December 2019 email, she noted that if it became public that Israel sought legal advice on Fara, this could “raise claims that the state of Israel wants to unacceptably interfere in US matters and spark a public debate on a sensitive issue in Israel-US relations”.

 

[gry60]

Brig Gen Sima Vaknin-Gill, a former intelligence officer and former chief military censor for the Israel Defense Forces who was intimately involved in the creation of Kela Shlomo, was copied on many of the emails and named in key documents concerning how to avoid Fara.

Vaknin-Gill is now a board member of the Kansas-based nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement (Cam). Cam was set up one year after the ministry of strategic affairs, where Vaknin-Gill was director-general, proposed its strategy to mitigate Fara risk by setting up an American nonprofit funded by Concert.

Former foreign intelligence officer working in an "American" non-profit to influence American sentiment on Israel. Not suspicious at all...

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[kdawg]

So now we’re getting to the “women are too emotional to be Commander in Chief” attacks. Remind me how many women have started wars?

 

[pmatic]

 

[Cashflow]

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[kdawg]

Interesting choice of rug there Laura.

 

[dragicon]

We all know that crowd is AI generated and much smaller than the video depicts.

 

[05fordgt]

What venue is this at? I've seen a more packed arena at Monster Jam.

 

[05fordgt]

Sue this mother ******* piece of **** into oblivion!!

 

[Mister Meaner]

 

[05fordgt]

Interesting choice of rug there Laura.

You should see the comments. All the MAGAs are fine with her walking on a flag rug. I'm not up on the whole rules and such but isn't it disrespectful to wear the flag or anything that has flag like decor for clothing or other items?

 

[kdawg]

You should see the comments. All the MAGAs are fine with her walking on a flag rug. I'm not up on the whole rules and such but isn't it disrespectful to wear the flag or anything that has flag like decor for clothing or other items?

Yeah, it’s one of those things that people will say - and not that long ago they would follow the code most of the time - but now they love to drape themselves in flag gear and don’t see any problem.

As consistent as always I suppose.

 

[pmatic]

This is genius.

 

[Nike Jordan]

Why is a "billionaire" begging for money?

 

[IATT]

 

[T Lo Sweater]

What venue is this at? I've seen a more packed arena at Monster Jam.

This was at some place at Wilkes-barre not too far from my crib. He couldn’t even fill up the 8k seat capacity and he has supporters out here too b

 

[biggie62]

This was at some place at Wilkes-barre not too far from my crib. He couldn’t even fill up the 8k seat capacity and he has supporters out here too b

Can confirm as my family has a vacation home close by to there and when we would drive back home or around the area I would see so many maga flags.