RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
Oct. 27 to Nov.2, 2019

Featured Investigation
The Beltway's 'Whistleblower' Furor
Obsesses Over One Name

The name of the government official said to be the so-called "whistleblower" is an open secret in Washington. But in a departure from the capital's normally leak-happy ways, that name has been suppressed, repeated only in closed, Democrat-run impeachmentdepositions and other private venues. Until now. The name is Eric Ciaramella, Paul Sperry reports for RealClearInvestigations.

RealClearInvestigations disclosed the name because of the public's interest in learning details of an effort to remove a sitting president from office. And Sperry finds that the 33-year-oldCiaramellahas anti-Trump and pro-Democrat political leanings only hinted at in previous disclosures.

As Sperry reports:

• Ciaramella (pronounced char-a-MEL-ah) is a registered Democrat held over from the Obama WhiteHouse, a Ukraine expert who previously worked with former Vice President Joe Biden and former CIA DirectorJohn Brennan, a vocal critic of Trump.
• He had to leave his National Security Council posting in the White House's West Wing in mid-2017 because "he was accused of working against Trump and leaking against Trump," said a former NSC official.
• Before filing his complaint, Ciaramella huddled for "guidance" with the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who recently hired on former NSC allies of Ciaramella.
• Ciaramella worked with Alexandra Chalupa, a Democratic National Committee operative who dug up dirt on the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.

Trump supporters blame "corrupt" and "biased" media for the conspiracy of silence around the official, accusing them of trying to shield the "whistleblower" from justified scrutiny about his political motives. Democrats say outing him would run afoul of the whistleblower protection act - a disputed assertion - and expose him and his family to danger.

Read Full Article

The Trump Investigations: Top Articles

Divided House Endorses Trump Impeachment Inquiry, New York Times
NSC Official Morrison: Nothing IllegalInTrump-ZelenskyCall, Federalist
NSC Official Morrison: I Back Envoy's Quid Pro Quo Account,Washington Post
AP Reporters Pushed FBI to ProsecuteManafort, Breitbart
State Dept. Probing 'Deep State' Targeting of Trump Iran Aide,Free Beacon
Sen. Biden, Hunter's Lobbying Intersected Twice, Washington Examiner
Hapless Ransom Crew Hacked Trump's Inaugural, Wall Street Journal
3 Excerpts: 'The PlotAgainstthe President', Lee Smith, Hachette Book Group

Other Noteworthy Articles and Series

A CIA-Backed Militia Targeted Clinics in Afghanistan
The Intercept
Afghan militia units backed, trained and directed by the CIA are rolling into villages at night and leaving a trail of death and destruction, this article reports. The units are "responsible for extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, indiscriminate airstrikes, attacks on medicalfacilities, and other violations of international humanitarian law or the laws of war," said PatriciaGossman, associate Asia director for Human Rights Watch. Many witnesses to night raids say they deliberately target civilians. In response to detailed questions from The Intercept, CIA Press Secretary Timothy Barrett said that the agency "conducts its global operations in accordance with law and under a robust system of oversight. The Taliban does not operate with any similar rules and — even worse — conducts an extensive propaganda campaign to discredit those who support the legitimate Afghanistan government."

Nevada: 80's Junk Bond King Eyes Tax Break for Poor
New York Times
Junk bond king Michael Milken has been trying to rehabilitate his image - while still making lots of money - since he was released from prison in the early 1990s ago for insider trading. He may have crossed the line between good works and profit-seeking in the efforts of a think tank he funds, the Milken Institute, this article reports. It has pushed the government to interpreta tax breakpassed in 2017intended to encourage investment in distressed neighborhoods("opportunity zones")in ways that would benefit Michael Milken. In one case, it reports, Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin, directly intervened in a way that benefited Milken, his longtime friend.A separate storyfromProPublicareports that a wealthy Trump donor - Quicken loans founder Dan Gilbert - may have used undue influence to get property he owns in Detroit designated an opportunity zone.

Texas: Captured by Coal (Parts 1-3)
Texas Tribune & Grist
Government officials with ties to industry have helped mining companies throughout Texas avoid penalties and minimize their responsibilities for restoring damaged and polluted lands. A yearlong investigation by the Texas Tribune and the Grist also found that top officials at the Railroad Commission's Surface Mining and Reclamation Division overruled staff on several occasions when they identified problems with mining companies' proposed reclamation plans, or when they flagged violations. Instead, the Railroad Commission has increasingly allowed companies to do the bare minimum when cleaning up their mining sites, saving the companies millions of dollars. As a result, according to this multi-part series, there are potentially thousands of acres across Texas contaminated with toxic chemicals, which can leach into the groundwater and soil and endanger people's health.

Reports of Forced, State-Sanctioned Organ Harvesting in China
Fox News
Evidence is growing that the organs of members of marginalized groups detained in Chinese prisons and labor camps are unwillingly harvested.The most affected group is a spiritual minority, the Falun Gong, who have been persecuted for adhering to a Buddhist-centric religious philosophy grounded in meditation and compassion. Citing a growing transplant industry already worth more than $1 billion, and after a year sifting evidence, a panel of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China concluded: "Forced organ harvesting has been committed for years, and Falun Gong practitioners have been one - and probably the main - source of organ supply."

In Yemeni Town, Extortion, Rape and Torture of Migrants
Associated Press
Hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing East Africa in hopes of making it to Europe are being sidetracked in Yemen as the European Union insists other countries do more to stem the flow. Some of these migrants are raped and tortured by brutal human traffickers known by the Arabic nickname Abdul-Qawi— which means Worshipper of the Strong.In the coastal village ofRasal-Ara, this article reports, "nearly every migrant who lands here is imprisoned in hidden compounds while their families are shaken down for money. … They are subjected to daily torments ranging from beatings and rapes to starvation, their screams drowned out by the noise of generators or cars or simply lost in the desert." One humanitarian worker is quoted as saying, "Out of every thousand, 800 disappear in the lockups."

Cops Use a Cheap and Unreliable Drug Test to Arrest People
Vice
Police across the country have arrested people on drug charges using variants of a shoddy $2 test that mistakes bird poop for cocaine, glazed donut crumbs for methamphetamine, and vitamins for oxycodone.In all those cases, the possession or drug trafficking charges were eventually dropped after police sent the "drug" samples to a state lab that returned more conclusive results. The original tests, known as presumptive field tests, have a history of being almost laughably wrong — if they weren't putting people behind bars, even temporarily. As a result, innocent people may be spooked into taking a plea deal instead of risking a longer sentence at trial.And if they can't afford their bail, they'll languish in jail as they decide whether to take a guilty plea or wait on better test results.

Lori Loughlin Case Exposes Plea Deals as State Pressure
Reason
The "Varsity Blues" college scandal - in which wealthy parents allegedly paid to get their children into school - shed a harsh light on the college admission process. Now it is also revealing troubling yet common practices of prosecutors. This article reports that many accused parents took plea deals because prosecutors told them they would face more serious charges if they did not. Indeed, accused parents who insist on their innocence and reject deals - including former "Full House" star Lori Loughlin- have been slapped with new charges. "This behavior by federal prosecutors is both common and a frustrating subversion of the criminal justice process," the article says. "Despite our constitutional right to a trial, a full 97 percent of all criminal cases are resolved with plea deals, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)."

West Virginia: Space Alien Studies Bar WiFi in This Town
Popular Mechanics
Green Bank, West Virginia, is the modern-day version of Brigadoon. In this misty town nestled in theAlleghenymountains, there is no cell phone serviceand wi-fiis illegal. Also banned aresatellite TV, electronic tire pressure systems, cars with hotspots, smart refrigerators, video doorbells, Bluetooth headphones, app-powered Nikes,ortoothbrushes that use wireless technology to give you a better smile.It's all in the name of science. For Green Bank is home tosome ofthe world's most powerful telescopesthat have helped discoverblack holes, pulsars, radiation belts, and gravitational waves. Just recently, researchershereuncovered the most massive neutron star ever detected. But to do this crucial work, compromises have to be made. "The signals we detect from space are extremely faint," saysHarshalGupta, the National Science Foundation program officer for the Green Bank Observatory. "A source of close-by, man-made radio frequency can completely overwhelm these very faint signals from space." Still, some of the roughly 8,500 residentsare more connected than they should be. No word if any of them are named Uncle Martin.