The Post It Note 10/6/18

News from the note…

A round up of the day’s news that might be of interest to you.

This is an OPEN THREAD,  folks. Chat about any of the stories listed, share links to stories that caught your eye today, and generally have a good time discussing whatever you want.

Pompeo and Abe vow unified stance ahead of North Korea visit

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would raise the issue of abductions as well as nuclear and missile concerns on behalf of Japan when he meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Sunday.

Pompeo and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed Saturday to work together as they posed for photojournalists in Tokyo before their bilateral meeting.

Pompeo said he wanted “a fully coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if we are going to be successful in denuclearizing North Korea.”

Abe expressed his gratitude and said he “highly valued” the fact that Pompeo came to visit Japan right before his visit to Pyongyang. “I would like to have thorough coordination with you on our respective policies towards North Korea,” he said.

CNN

Feds seek 4-year-plus sentence for FBI agent in leak case

Federal prosecutors are seeking a sentence of more than four years in prison for a former FBI agent who admitted disclosing classified terrorist-profiling guidelines to the media, but the agent’s defense lawyers argue he should get no prison time at all.

Ex-agent Terry Albury is set to be sentenced in Minneapolis later this month after pleading guilty in April to two felony charges: illegal transmission of national security information and illegal retention of such data.

The 16-year bureau veteran admitted sending information to the online news outlet The Intercept about the FBI’s procedures for handling sources in terrorism investigations, but he contended that his disclosure was an act of conscience prompted by deep concerns about the bureau’s interactions with minority communities.

In a court filing Thursday, prosecutors said the fact they found dozens more classified documents at Albury’s home belies the notion that he was acting out of some altruistic motive. The prosecution didn’t offer an alternative theory for Albury’s motivations, but suggested some vendetta against the FBI or the U.S. government.

Politico

Interpol asks China for information on its missing president

Interpol said Saturday it has made a formal request to China for information about the agency’s missing president, a senior Chinese security official who seemingly vanished while on a trip home.

The Lyon-based international police agency said it used law enforcement channels to submit its request to China about the status of Meng Hongwei. Its statement said the agency “looks forward to an official response from China’s authorities to address concerns over the president’s well-being,”


China, in the midst of a weeklong holiday, has yet to comment on the 64-year-old security official’s disappearance. Calls and faxed questions to the foreign and public security ministries went unanswered.

Meng’s wife says she hasn’t heard from him since he left the French city of Lyon at the end of September. France has launched its own investigation. French authorities say he boarded a plane and arrived in China but his subsequent whereabouts are unknown.

In addition to his Interpol post, Meng is also a vice minister for public security in China.

AP

Turkey investigates disappearance of Saudi journalist, vows to find him

Turkish prosecutors have begun investigating the disappearance of prominent Saudi commentator Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing for four days after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and Ankara has vowed to uncover his whereabouts.


Khashoggi, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Washington for the past year fearing retribution for his critical views on Saudi policies, entered the consulate on Tuesday to secure documentation for his forthcoming marriage, according to his fiancée, who waited outside. He has not been heard of since.

Since then, Turkish and Saudi officials have offered conflicting accounts of his disappearance, with Ankara saying there was no evidence that he had left the diplomatic mission and Riyadh saying he exited the premises the same day.

On Friday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saudi authorities would allow Turkey to search the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul for Khashoggi.

Human rights groups have called on Saudi Arabia to verify Khashoggi’s whereabouts. Human Rights Watch called on Turkey to deepen its investigation into the case, saying if Saudi Arabia had detained Khashoggi without acknowledging it, his detention would constitute an enforced disappearance.

Reuters

Update


Melania Trump on tweets: I’ve told my husband to put down the phone

First lady Melania Trump said Saturday that she doesn’t always agree with things her husband writes on Twitter, joking she has asked him before to put down his phone.

“I don’t always agree with what he tweets and I tell him that, I give him my honest opinion and honest advice,” Trump told reporters in Egypt during her tour of Africa, her first solo trip as first lady. “Sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn’t.”

“I have my own voice and my opinions and it’s very important for me that I express what I feel,” she added.

When pressed if she was trying to “scare” President Trump into being more polite or sensitive, the first lady responded, “No, I tell him my opinions, what I believe, and in some of them maybe we don’t agree.”

“I’m not elected, he’s the president.”

When asked by reporters if she had ever requested that her husband to put his phone down, the first lady laughed and responded “yes.”

The Hill


From the “Questions You Didn’t Even Know You Had” File

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