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Last week, the Washington Examiner reported that a former Democrat staffer who fled the country to Pakistan after being accused of fraud has struck a deal with authorities to return to the U.S. and face charges. Following the report, Rep. Trent Franks suggested that her stunning decision to return might portend very badly for Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

To understand why, one must first understand former IT aide Hina Alvi’s connection to Wasserman Schultz. In 2004, the Democrat representative hired Alvi’s husband, Imran Awan, to work for her. Over time, many of his friends and family members, including Alvi, wound up also earning positions as aides and staffers for other Capitol Hill Democrats.

Fast forward to February of this year, when reports emerged that Awan, Alvi and their friends and family were under investigation for “stealing equipment from members’ offices without their knowledge and committing serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network, according to multiple sources briefed on the investigation,” Politico reported.

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A month later, Alvi fled the country. Two months after that, authorities arrested her husband as he too tried to leave, but on an entirely separate set of charges. It turned out that both Alvi and Awan were also suspected of bank fraud.

This brings us to Franks, the Texas Republican, who predicted during a discussion with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs last week that the only reason Alvi would have agreed to return is because she’s working on a broader immunity deal in return for damaging information on Wasserman Schultz.

That would mean major problems for the Democrat Party, considering Wasserman Schultz was the party’s chairwoman until being forced out last summer in the scandal over rigging the primary contest for Hillary Clinton.

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“I don’t want to talk out of school here, but I think you’re going to see some revelations that are going to be pretty profound,” Franks said. “The fact that this wife is coming back from Pakistan and is willing to face charges, as it were, I think there is a good chance she is going to reach some type of immunity to tell a larger story here that is going to be pretty disturbing to the American people.”

“I would just predict that this is going to be a very significant story and people should fasten their seat belts on this one,” he added.

Listen:

VIDEO

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Wasserman Schultz’s odd behavior over the past couple of months certainly suggests she’s been desperate to keep Alvi and Awan loyal to her to keep them from revealing something to the authorities that could incriminate her.

But there have been indications that Awan is ready to cooperate with authorities, if he’s not already cooperating. The Daily Caller reported last week that a laptop computer found in a former phone booth in the House Rayburn Building in April may have been planted for police to find by Awan himself.

Along with the computer, according to The Daily Caller, were “a Pakistani ID card, copies of Awan’s driver’s license and congressional ID badge, and letters to the U.S. attorney. Police also found notes in a composition notebook marked ‘attorney-client privilege.’”

The laptop also had the username “RepDWS,” according to The Daily Caller.

Wasserman Schultz tried to get the laptop back from the Capitol Police, even warning during a televised hearing in May that there would be “consequences” for the police for continuing to hold onto equipment that belonged to the office of a House member who was not under any investigation. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa refused, however, noting that the laptop was linked to a criminal suspect — Awan.

As The Daily Caller pointed out, Awan might have wanted the laptop in police hands the whole time:

“The circumstances of the laptop’s appearance described in the police report suggest Wasserman Schultz was trying to keep the police from reviewing a laptop that Awan himself may have wanted them to find,” The Daily Caller reported. “The former phone booth room where police found the items is small, and there was no obvious reason to enter it.”

If the laptop were indeed deliberately planted by Awan so authorities would find it, it could well mean he intends to cooperate in an investigation that could implicate Wasserman Schultz. And the fact that his wife, Alvi, has chosen to return to the United States despite legal danger suggests she may be on the verge of exposing Wasserman Schultz’ secrets in exchange for an immunity deal.

The Trump adminsitration could have sought to extradite her, of course. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf wrote in his book “In the Line of Fire” that the country extradited 369 terror suspects to the United States after 9/11, though human rights activists claimed that many of those people were innocent and essentially sold to the U.S. by a cynical Pakistani government, according to CBS.

However, Pakistan can make an extradition difficult. The Islamabad High Court, for example, recently barred the extradition of a bombing suspect to the United States, where the man’s father claimed the suspect would be subject to the Trump administration’s “biased and prejudiced policy toward Muslims,” according to the Associated Press.

So, Alvi is coming back for a reason, and chances are she got a deal to do it. And with all of that, anything’s possible. One thing is certain, though, there’s a major crisis looming for the Democrat Party on Capitol Hill over this case, and even the arrest or other legal trouble for Rep. Wasserman Schultz is possible.

Nothing else makes sense. Why on earth would Alvi leave the comfort of her home in Pakistan to return to a country that could very well be seeking to toss her into prison?

H/T Zero Hedge

Please share this story on Facebook and Twitter and let us know what you think about Rep. Trent Franks’ theory.

The full lineup of former Breitbart News Senior Editor Milo Yiannopoulos’ Free Speech Week at UC Berkeley has been revealed.

The list now includes columnist Katie Hopkins, author and journalist Mike Cernovich, professor Jordan Peterson, political scientist Charles Murray, former Google employee James Damore, Blackwater Founder Erik Prince, street artist SABO, The Gateway Pundit’s White House Correspondent Lucian Wintrich, journalist Chadwick Moore, author Michael Malice, Breitbart London Editor and author Raheem Kassam, activist and journalist Ariana Rowlands, author Lisa De Pasquale, political commentator Heather Mac Donald, Fox News analyst Monica Crowley, and congressional candidate Stelian Onufrei.

Free Speech Week will also reportedly include performances from Joy Villa and former Pussycat Dolls member Kaya Jones.

The newly announced additions are on top of the previously revealed speakers, which include Breitbart News Executive Chairman and former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon, Breitbart News Editor-In-Chief Alex Marlow, author and commentator Ann Coulter, writer David Horowitz, commentator and activist Pamela Geller, and Milo himself.

The speakers will be split into four days, each with a different theme.

• Sunday, September 24 will be “Feminism Awareness Day” and will feature Miss Elaine, Lucian Wintrich, Lisa De Pasquale, Chadwick Moore, and Milo.
• Monday, September 25 will be “Zuck 2020” and will feature Heather Mac Donald, Monica Crowley, SABO, Professor Jordan Peterson, and James Damore, with a debate moderated by Milo.
• Tuesday, September 26 will be “Islamic Peace and Tolerance Day” and will feature Michael Malice, Raheem Kassam, Katie Hopkins, Erik Prince, Pamela Geller, David Horowitz, and Milo.
• Wednesday, September 27 will be “Mario Savio is Dead” and will feature Mike Cernovich, Charles Murray, Ariana Rowlands, Stelion Onufrei, Alex Marlow, Milo, Steve Bannon, and Ann Coulter.

“Our plan was to slowly release the names of our confirmed speakers over the next two weeks, but the reaction to our announcements of Steve Bannon and Ann Coulter was so huge that we decided to put out the full list,” declared Milo in a press release. “We still have plenty of surprises coming though! Berkeley Free Speech Week will be an amazing experience for people of all viewpoints to come together in a festival environment and freely exchange ideas.”

On Wednesday, Milo claimed UC Berkeley administrators were trying to spread fear and uncertainty surrounding the event.

In a post on Facebook, Milo dismissed rumors that the event would not go forward, declaring, “UC Berkeley assistant vice chancellor Dan Mogulof is spreading rumors that Free Speech Week might be canceled. Ignore him, it’s fake news.”

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While McDonald’s may be one of the most popular fast-food restaurants in the United States, many people still complain about their experiences at the restaurant — often about their interactions with the people who work there.

A user on Reddit claiming to be a McDonald’s worker recently came forward with an eyebrow-raising accusation, the U.K. Daily Mail reported.

The user, who went by the screen name “ExperiMENTALbunny” wrote that as a worker at McDonald’s he was instructed to “pinch” the cartons of fries to reduce the number that went in, and one customer actually called him out on that.

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“I worked at McDonald’s and they taught me how to pinch the fry carton just right while putting the fries into them so that it looked full, but actually wasn’t,” he wrote.

“I only had 1 customer call me out on it. He shook the fries out into his bag and poured them back into the fry carton himself and it only filled up half way, so I had to give him more fries. I was impressed and embarrassed. It’s been 7 years and I can still see his face,” he continued.

Well, I suppose that’s one way to test to see if McDonald’s is cheating you on your fries. Several other people commented on the post, claiming that they too had been asked to cheat people out of their fries.

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There is no way to actually verify that what these people are claiming is true, but this controversy has gained so much attention that McDonald’s actually released a statement pushing back against the allegations.

“We believe these claims to be fictional, there are no ‘secret tricks’ and we have strict operational procedures in place to ensure that fry portions are not under-filled,” said the statement.

“Without a verified source we are unable to investigate this further. Our employees work hard to ensure our customers have the best experience possible in our restaurants, and we strongly refute any claims that suggest otherwise,” the statement read.

I suppose that everyone could start dumping their fries out and putting them back in the cartoons to test if McDonald’s is indeed cheating them on fries, but I personally don’t see that verification method taking off anytime soon — particularly with the drive-thru crowd.

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H/T Tribunist

Share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know if you have ever heard of something like this at McDonald’s.

The sports-themed restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings may have a bit of a public relations problem on its hands after word seeped out about the disgraceful conduct of one of its employees on Monday.

During the Monday Night Football game which kicked off on the 16^th anniversary of the day when Radical Islam attacked America and killed thousands of people on our own soil, a BWW location in California (where else?) muted the Star-Spangled Banner before kickoff.

This censorship is consistent with the ongoing jihad by the radical left to cleanse and rearrange American history. The problem is that these sleeper agents like the chain’s employee are now starting to act out as lone wolves.

This is a truly disgraceful story which has been completely IGNORED by the mainstream media which continues to refuse to try to exert any control over the Frankenstein monster that they created.

#BUFFALO WILD #WINGS #Silences National Anthem… https://t.co/hMbSshXBW9

— Drudge Report (@drudgeheadlines) September 14, 2017

Via CBS Los Angeles “Customers Outraged After Buffalo Wild Wings Employee Silences National Anthem”:

The National Anthem is the focus of controversy again, this time at a bar in Riverside County.

Customers at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Eastvale say an employee refused to let them hear the anthem before an NFL game Monday night – which happened to be the 16th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

A customer who identified herself as Lori said the employee refused to play the sound of the anthem for one game, but played it for the game before.

When he was asked why, the employee — who was not identified – said the anthem is too controversial, and it was company policy not to play it.

“No one understood what was so controversial. It’s 9/11, it’s a sporting event, why is it controversial?” she said.

The answer is that the national anthem SHOULDN’T be controversial and it wasn’t until the NFL and the media enabled a scruffy-assed, malcontent NFL backup quarterback who was already on his way out of the league to become some sort of a messianic figure.

Buffalo Wild Wings has since apologized but decent patriotic Americans should spend their money elsewhere if they want to gnaw on chicken wings and swill beer while watching sporting events unless the chain is willing to cough up some sort of compensation – like a dozen FREE wings to everyone during next week’s Monday Night Football game.

And when it all comes down to it, those who can’t deal with the playing of the national anthem should get the fuck out of this country and go live in a society more compatible with their values, perhaps Iran would be a better fit.

North Korea’s latest round of belligerent rhetoric comes from the amusingly named Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a Pyongyang propaganda outfit that threatened genocide against Japan, continental devastation for the United States, and ruination for the U.N. Security Council in its Thursday dispatch.

Few other “peace committees” manage to squeeze so much nuclear annihilation into a single communique.

“The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us,” the committee declared, in a statement released to North Korea’s KCNA news agency and transcribed by Reuters. “Juche” is the grim state ideology of North Korea.

“Let’s reduce the U.S. mainland into ashes and darkness. Let’s vent our spite with mobilization of all retaliation means which have been prepared till now,” the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee continued. This was followed by a suggestion that America should be “beaten to death like a rabid dog” for its “heinous sanctions resolution” against peace-loving North Korea.

As for the U.N. Security Council, its latest vote in favor of sanctions against North Korea makes it a “tool of evil” filled with “money-bribed” puppets of the United States in the KAPPC’s opinion. The statement called for the Security Council to be broken up.

Reuters dryly notes that the Japanese stock market showed little sign of reacting to Pyongyang’s latest threats, seeming much more concerned with China’s latest lackluster economic report. The Chinese economy is slipping after a first-quarter peak, which might have some bearing on how Beijing responds to calls from the U.S. and U.N. to exert pressure against North Korea. The most recent demand, made by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday, is for China to rein in North Korea by choking off its oil supply.

The Japanese government did officially respond to North Korea’s belligerence, however, with spokesman Yoshihide Suga denouncing the KAPPC statement as “extremely provocative and egregious.”

“It is something that markedly heightens regional tension and is absolutely unacceptable,” said Suga.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, currently on a visit to India, released a joint statement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging North Korea to “abandon nuclear and ballistic missile development and refrain from any provocative act.”

The statement also stressed “the importance of holding accountable all parties that have supported North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs,” which has been widely interpreted as a veiled reference to India’s arch-rival Pakistan.

The Japanese military believes North Korea is preparing for another provocative missile test, by moving a launch pad large enough to handle an ICBM into position on Wednesday morning. The test would likely involve one of the new Hwasong-14 missiles, which dictator Kim Jong-un has claimed is able to reach any target in the world.

Susan Rice admitted to lawmakers last week that she unmasked Trump transition team officials even though earlier this year she denied knowing anything about it.

Rice was asked by PBS Newshour‘s Judy Woodruff on March 22 about allegations that Trump transition officials were swept up in surveillance of foreigners at the end of the Obama administration.

“I know nothing about this,” Rice had said at the time.

However, last week, she told the House intelligence committee that she had unmasked Trump transition team members in order to understand why the Emrati crown prince was visiting New York late last year, according to a CNN report.

She said the Obama administration “felt misled” by the United Arab Emirates, who had not mentioned that the crown prince was visiting the country.

Rice’s admission also showed that Trump transition team members were indeed caught up in surveillance of a foreign target, confirming President Trump’s suspicions that his transition team was being surveilled.

The foreign target in this case was apparently the Emiratis, who call themselves “close friends and strong allies” with the U.S. on its Washington, D.C., website.

Rice’s justification—feeling misled—was nowhere near a hypothetical scenario Rice laid out for a reason to unmask during an MSNBC interview on April 4.

During that April interview, Rice laid out a hypothetical scenario of a foreign agent attempting to buy bomb-making materials from a U.S. citizen.

“Is this some kook sitting in his living room communicating via the internet, offering to sell something he doesn’t have? Or is it a serious person or company or entity with the ability to provide that technology perhaps to an adversary? That would be an example of a case where knowing who the U.S. person was, was necessary to assess the information,” Rice said.

An unnamed senior Middle East official told CNN that the UAE did not “mislead” the Obama administration about the crown prince’s visit, but acknowledged not telling the US government about it in advance.

The official told CNN the meeting took place on December 15, and was “simply an effort to build a relationship with senior members of the Trump team who would be working in the administration to share assessments of the region.”

“The meeting was about ascertaining the Trump team’s view of the region and sharing the UAE’s view of the region and what the US role should be,” the official told CNN. “No one was coming in to sell anything or arrange anything.”

Sources told CNN that the crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, met with several top Trump officials including Michael Flynn, the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and his top strategist Steve Bannon.

CNN noted that the meeting took place before an effort by the UAE to faciliate a “back-channel communication” between Russia and the incoming administration.

Sources told CNN that the discussion focused on a range of issues, including Iran, Yemen and the Mideast peace process, but that opening up a back-channel with Russia was not discussed.

The alleged back-channel meeting set up by the UAE was at the Seychelles Island between Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and an “associate of Vladimir Putin.”

The purpose of the meeting was reportedly an effort by the UAE to persuade Russia to curtail its relationship with Iran.

The senior Middle East official told CNN that Prince was not discussed at the Trump Tower meeting, and Prince has said himself he was there for business.

Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) told CNN that he did not hear anything to believe that Rice did anything “illegal.”

Unmasking is not illegal, although leaking unmasked names are illegal. Intelligence involving Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn was leaked to the Washington Post earlier this year, and it is not yet publicly known who leaked it.