FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019

Volume 6, Number 72

EIR Daily Alert Service

P.O. Box 17390, Washington, DC 20041-0390

• Three Men Have the Evidence, and London Is in Cover-Up Mode
• Julian Assange Arrested by U.K. Police, Threatened With Extradition to the U.S.
• Mnuchin Reports China-U.S. Trade Talks Advance
• Pompeo Wants New START Treat Due in 2021 To Include China
• Pelosi Approached Trump For Them To Work Together on Infrastructure
• European Central Bank Is Keeping the Mone Printer Running
• Italy’s Professor Rinaldi Warns of Eurozone Collapse in Sputnik Interview
• UN Africa Official Cites Belt and Road as ‘One of World’s Biggest Growth and Development Initiatives
• ‘International Chamber of Commerce Head Denton Lauds BRI As Important Policy Initiative
• World’s First Floating Nuclear Power Plant To Produce Power by Year End in Far East Russia
• Israeli Beresheet Spacecraft Makes Crash Landing on Moon
• Sudan Is Undergoing Tumultuous Leadership Changes, as President Bashir Removed and Arrested

EDITORIAL

Three Men Have the Evidence, and London Is in Cover-Up Mode

April 11 (EIRNS)—As far as is known, there are just three men who have conclusive evidence that the Russians did not hack the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2016, and are willing to put it forward. Even after the collapse of the “Russia collusion” hoax, when Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation was unable to find any collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, the still-surviving lie that Russia hacked the DNC, and gave the hacked data to WikiLeaks, is still central to the British Empire’s intention to pit the U.S. against Russia.

One of the three is former National Security Agency Technical Director William Binney, who has marshalled all the known forensic evidence to show that the data were taken over the DNC’s own network rather than through the internet, so that it was an insider “leak” or the like, rather than a hack. Then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Binney at President Donald Trump’s request in October 2017, but never followed up that interview, and continued to insist that Russia had hacked the DNC. Binney was never interviewed by investigators subsequently, or asked to testify before Congress.

Binney’s investigation remains the only known investigation based on forensic evidence, in large part because the FBI inexplicably failed to impound the DNC servers after the alleged hack, as President Trump has often pointed out.

LaRouche PAC interviewed William Binney today: See, “Bill Binney on the Arrest of Julian Assange.”

The second of the three men, with conclusive evidence, is United Kingdom’s former Ambassador Craig Murray, a friend of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange.  Murray told Britain’s Guardian on Dec. 10, 2016, that the CIA claim that Russia hacked the DNC emails was “bullshit.” Murray said, “I know who leaked them.” He went on, “I’ve met the person who leaked them, and they are certainly not Russian, and it’s an insider.  It’s a leak, not a hack; the two are different things.” Murray still maintains this today, but has never been called to testify to investigators or to Congress.

The third man is Assange himself, who told then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) at their meeting in mid-August 2017 that “I have physical proof that the Russians did not give me this….” Rohrabacher wanted to discuss this with President Trump, but he was sidelined. And neither Congress nor investigators have interviewed Assange either. Assange went on to tell the Congressman, “I have physical proof that I would be very happy to provide once I can leave the Ecuadorian Embassy without being arrested.”

But wait—wasn’t he just dragged out of that embassy by British police and arrested this morning?  Couldn’t this have something to do with it?

Indeed it does. After the collapse of Russiagate and the beginning of Attorney General William Barr’s ongoing investigation of that hoax and its origins, London is in deep cover-up mode.  Even though the U.S. has asked that Assange be extradited to face a hokey “conspiracy” charge in the Eastern District of Virginia, the operation to force him out of asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy has British, not U.S. fingerprints all over it.  Still, many U.S. hard-liners are passionate against Assange; at a minimum, London hopes to muddy the waters to keep the truth from coming out. Let’s get it out!

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Julian Assange Arrested by U.K. Police, Threatened with Extradition to the U.S.

April 11 (EIRNS)—WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested today in London after the government of Ecuador revoked asylum under various pretexts. The U.S. Justice Department has asked for extradition, accusing Assange of having conspired with Chelsea Manning in leaking classified papers on the Iraq War.

President Donald Trump, however, told journalists: “I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It’s not my thing. And I know there was something having to do with Julian Assange. I’ve been seeing what was happening with Assange.”

Lawyers’ associations throughout the world protested against the arrest. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on Ecuador’s decision to revoke Assange’s asylum. “The hand of ‘democracy’ squeezes the throat of freedom,” she wrote on her Facebook page, according to Moscow Times.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted: “The DOJ says part of what Assange did to justify his prosecution—beyond allegedly helping Manning get the documents—is he encouraged Manning to get more docs for him to publish. Journalists do this with sources constantly: it’s the criminalization of journalism.”

Edward Snowden tweeted: “The weakness of the U.S. charge against Assange is shocking. The allegation he tried (and failed?) to help crack a password during their world-famous reporting has been public for nearly a decade: it is the count Obama’s DOJ refused to charge, saying it endangered journalism.”

Mnuchin Reports China-U.S. Trade Talks Advance

April 11 (EIRNS)—Speaking on CNBC television on April 10, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States and China have largely agreed on a mechanism to police any trade agreement they reach, including establishing new “enforcement offices,” Reuters reported. Labeling it as a “breakthrough,” South China Morning Postpointed out that the enforcement mechanism and the establishment of the offices have been major hurdles to an accord between the two nations, with China concerned that checks on its policies by U.S. officials would be an infringement of sovereignty. “But the agreement will also allow China to monitor U.S. behavior, a reciprocal concession which analysts said showed determination from both sides to reach a trade deal,” SCMP wrote.

Mnuchin said he had a productive phone conversation with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He on the night of April 9, with another conversation planned for today. “We’ve pretty much agreed on an enforcement mechanism; we’ve agreed that both sides will establish enforcement offices that will deal with the ongoing matters,” Mnuchin told CNBC. The Chinese Commerce Ministry today confirmed that senior trade negotiators from both countries discussed the remaining issues in a phone call following the last round of talks in Washington, Reuters reported.

Pompeo Wants New START Treaty Due in 2021 To Include China

April 11 (EIRNS)—At a Senate hearing on April 10, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested the Trump Administration wants to include China in the new START treaty. The existing treaty, which is due to expire in 2021, caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and reduces that of U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles. China is estimated to have only about 280 nuclear warheads, far fewer than the 1,550 cap imposed by the treaty, The Hill reported.

“We need to make sure we’ve got all of the parties that are relevant as a component of this as well,” Pompeo said. “Other countries besides Russia and China. It may be that we can’t get there. It may be that we end up working with the Russians on this. But if we’re talking about a nuclear capacity, nuclear capability that presents risk to the United States, it’s very different today in the world than it was,” he said, reported The Hill. Pompeo also told the Senators that Russia is largely in compliance with the New START nuclear arms control treaty with the United States. “Both the Russians and the United States have been compliant. We’re at the very beginning of conversations about renewing that. If we can get the deal right, if we can make sure it fits 2021 and beyond, President Trump has made very clear that if we can get a good solid arms control agreement, we ought to get on,” Pompeo said.

Pelosi Approached Trump for Them To Work Together on Infrastructure

April 11 (EIRNS)—Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi asked President Donald Trump over the phone April 4, about having a meeting to discuss working together on an infrastructure package, she told Associated Press in an interview yesterday.

After talking with Trump, Pelosi said she thinks the President may be willing to do more than he has put on the table. Trump’s latest budget proposed $200 billion in in federal dollars that could be leveraged with private capital to cover the difference. “I don’t think the President is wedded to that proposal,” she told AP. “It’s too small.”

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

European Central Bank Is Keeping the Money Printer Running

April 11 (EIRNS)—At the European Central Bank press conference April 10, ECB President Mario Draghi announced that the board has decided to keep rates at zero for the entirety of 2019. He also said the ECB is studying whether to reduce costs for the banks by reducing the negative rate on ECB deposits. The ECB balance sheet is expanding despite the reduction of quantitative easing. Last month it increased by €3.8 billion. It means that the volume of QE reinvestments is higher than incomes. The balance sheet is now at €4,699.6 billions, i.e. 40.6% of the Eurozone GDP.

A larger injection of liquidity is scheduled for next autumn, with the “targeted longer-term refinancing operation” (TLRO). Details on the pricing will be communicated in one of the next ECB board meetings, Draghi said. Draghi was whistling past the graveyard, saying that the ECB has “plenty of instruments” still to intervene in monetary policy.

Despite the evidence of a collapse of bank profits due to zero/negative rates, Draghi claimed that it is not that profits are falling, but that costs are too high. Banks “quarrel about negative deposit rates as being one of the causes of their lack of profitability,” Draghi said, but costs are too high because they have too much manpower employed. “Part of the structural weakness is caused by this overcapacity in banking, which is not overcapacity in the production of credit, it’s overcapacity in terms of the number of people, the number of branches, costs,” Draghi said, urging the need for “consolidation,” i.e., triage in the number of banks and laying off manpower.

Italy’s Professor Rinaldi Warns of Eurozone Collapse in Sputnik Interview

April 11 (EIRNS)—Prof. Antonio Maria Rinaldi, Italian economist who is rumored to be a Lega candidate for the European Parliament elections, was interviewed by Sputnik Italy on March 31, and an English translation run by Sputnik International today was reproduced in China Daily under the headline “Real Challenge: Will Italy Leave the Eurozone or Will the Eurozone Fall Apart?”

“According to the professor, if Europeans succeed in changing the bloc’s financial system through democratic means and national economies are again brought into focus instead of vested interests of multinational corporations, then the situation will take a favorable turn.

“ ‘If this does not happen, then Italy will find itself in acute crisis and will be forced to leave the Eurozone,’ he suggested….

“ ‘The euro system is based on price stability, near-panic control over inflation, the strict financial accountability of governments and a balanced budget, which is regarded as a prerequisite for economic growth.’

“For its part, Italy was used to a different model, which was largely influenced by Keynesianism and allowed the government to interfere in the country’s economy, the academic noted.

“ ‘In the EU, any assistance from the state is prohibited,’ Rinaldi highlighted. ‘Therefore, we can no longer count on the state to correct the situation; the government can no longer intervene to fix a problem. The euro system rules are used as a “stick” for those countries that do not comply with them, and Italians know this perfectly well….’

“ ‘It is necessary that countries once again have the opportunity to adjust their economies,’ he opined. ‘Now it is impossible. This is really a problem. No one dares say that we are moving in the wrong direction.’

“The professor did not rule out that the Eurozone may one day collapse if the European national elites fail to find a way to correct the euro system. At the same time, he presumed that there should be a mechanism allowing the EU member states to pull out of the Eurozone in a coordinated fashion….”

Professor Rinaldi was among the 217 prominent signers on a petition crafted by MoviSol (the LaRouche movement in Italy) for reinstatement of Glass-Steagall banking separation, which petition was brought last November to U.S. Congress members by Member of the European Parliament Marco Zanni, the Lega party’s foreign policy spokesman. Signers also include members of Italy’s Conte government.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

UN Africa Official Cites Belt and Road as ‘One of World’s Biggest Growth and Development Initiatives’

April 11 (EIRNS)—In an interview with Xinhua published on April 10, Vera Songwe, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), hailed the role that the China-created Belt and Road Initiative would play in addressing Africa’s problems in infrastructure and job creation. She told Xinhua that the BRI will positively affect hundreds of millions of people in different countries, while it helps Africa develop infrastructure connectivity of varied types and creates job opportunities that are pressing issues on the continent.

“This (BRI) is probably one of the biggest growth and development initiatives that we have in the world,” the UN official said, stressing that the BRI is essential to the continent. She believes that the initiative, in which many African countries are participating, is particularly important because “infrastructure today is one of the necessary requirements for Africa’s growth,” Xinhua reported.

International Chamber of Commerce Head Denton Lauds BRI As Important Policy Initiative

April 11 (EIRNS)—The Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce John W.H. Denton stressed the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative this week. Talking to China.org.cn today on the sidelines of the ICC Banking Commission, meeting in Beijing on April 8-11, Denton said, “The Belt and Road Initiative is one of the most important policy initiatives to have emerged in China in the last 20 years, and we want to make certain that it is both effective and sustainable.”

He said that the ICC is also engaged in the BRI to ensure that it benefits not only China, but the participating economies as well. Denton said the Belt and Road should not be seen as a political or foreign policy tool, but rather an economic development tool to support the economic growth of all participating parties, reported China.org.cn.

The ICC, based in Paris, is labeled as the largest, most representative business organization in the world, with 6 million members spread over 100 countries. In 2016, it received observer status at the UN.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

World’s First Floating Nuclear Power Plant To Produce Power by Year End in Far East Russia

April 11 (EIRNS)—Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s first floating nuclear power station, will begin supplying its first kilowatts to the power grid of Chukotka in 2019, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said in an interview with TASS at the International Arctic Forum in St. Petersburg this week. “We still have about 1.5-2 months to test the operation of the power station, and closer to fall, the safety regulations will be sent to Pevek in Chukotka. Before the end of this yearAkademik Lomonosov will be connected to the coastal infrastructure and will even start sending [the] first kilowatts to Pevek. We have no doubt that we will do it by the end of the year,” he said.

In the Arctic port town of Pevek, where the plant will be moored, at times the air temperatures drop to ˗50° Centigrade.

The 70 MW plant, built by the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, will be handed over to its developer, the state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, in July, TASS said.

Russia has not made public any large-scale production plan for such floating power plants which could serve as a part of the small modular reactor uptick seen around the world. Small modular reactors, or SMRs, are factory-built units with fewer parts, designed to be installed underground with passive cooling systems that the industry says are inherently safe. These SMRs are now in an advanced stage of development. The worldwide market for such reactors is expected to reach $100 billion by 2035, according to the Nuclear Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization based in Paris.

(See EIR April 12, 2019: “Recognition of Small Modular Reactors’ Role in the Coming World Is Increasing, But Is that Enough?”)

Israeli Beresheet Spacecraft Makes Crash Landing on Moon

April 11 (EIRNS)—During its 15-minute descent from Lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon today, the small Israeli Beresheet lander had problems communicating with mission control, and finally suffered an engine failure. Unable to slow down for a soft landing, it crashed into the Moon. The Beresheet was the first privately funded spacecraft sent to the Moon.

Israel became the seventh country to orbit the Moon. And if the team can raise the funds, they will undoubtedly try again. The photographs of the far side of the Moon, taken last week after the Beresheet mission achieved Lunar orbit, were transmitted successfully, and are scientifically and aesthetically beautiful.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Sudan Is Undergoing Tumultuous Leadership Changes, as President Bashir Removed and Arrested

April 11 (EIRNS)—After months of street demonstrations across the country, particularly severe in the capital city of Khartoum, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has been removed from power and arrested today, according to the country’s defense minister. Speaking on state television, Awad Ibn Ouf declared a three-month state of emergency and said the army had decided to oversee a two-year transitional period followed by election, BBC News reported.

TASS reported that more than 100 people from the Sudanese President al-Bashir’s team have been detained, including both incumbent and former top officials, such as head of the Republican Guard and former Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, leader of the ruling National Congress party Ahmed Haroun, as well as former First Vice President Ali Osman Taha.

Al-Bashir, who is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, is close to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who also promotes the Brotherhood. Following al-Bashir’s removal today, Turkish President Erdogan has called for national reconciliation and peace in Sudan. “A crisis in Sudan after a military coup against Omar al-Bashir should be overcome peacefully through national conciliation,” President Erdogan said, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“It is my most important wish that Sudan will survive this process on the basis of national reconciliation and peace,” Erdogan said at a joint press conference with Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, Hurriyet reported.

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