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Trump: inner cities run by Democrats are more dangerous than war zones The Guardian / August 22, 2016 Donald Trump veered off the teleprompter on Monday night to claim that “inner cities run by the Democrats” were more dangerous than countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republican nominee was meant to be delivering a scripted speech calling for Hillary Clinton be investigated by a special prosecutor. However, once again he veered off message in an attempt to appeal to minority voters in apocalyptic terms. “You can go to war zones in countries that we are fighting and it is safer than living in some of our inner cities that are run by the Democrats,” Trump said. The Republican nominee also promised if elected, “we’ll get rid of the crime. You’ll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Now, you walk down the street, you get shot.” Trump has made increased appeals for support from African Americans in recent days. Despite that, a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed Trump receiving the support of only 1% of African American voters, a historically low total. The poll did have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%. Trump has repeatedly argued that African American voters should support him in the past week, saying: “What have you got to lose?” In contrast, Trump has railed against what he called “the bigotry of Hillary Clinton, who sees people of color only as votes and not as human beings worthy of a better future”. The intended focus of the Republican nominee’s message on Monday was his call for a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton’s leadership of the state department. Trump claimed that the FBI and Department of Justice could not be trusted to investigate “Hillary Clinton’s crimes”. The FBI in July decided not to pursue criminal charges against Clinton for her use of an unsecured private email server while secretary of state. However, in doing so, FBI Director James Comey rebuked Clinton for the “extremely careless” way in which she handled her emails. In the speech, Trump also said he was “fighting for peaceful regime change in our country” and warned gravely of potential election fraud. “You got to go out and watch. You know what I’m talking about.” Trump has long made unsubstantiated claims about “a rigged election” and warned of in-person voter fraud recently at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. However, an exhaustive investigation of in-person voter fraud in the United States found only 31 cases since 2000 out of more than 1 billion ballots cast. Trump spoke in the blue collar city of Akron, Ohio. The Buckeye State has 18 electoral votes, and no Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. According to data complied by Real Clear Politics, Clinton has not trailed in a single statewide poll of Ohio since April. However, despite these sagging poll numbers and cryptic warnings about election fraud, Trump was still confident of victory: “I just get the feeling that we’re going to win in a landslide.”

Emails reveal how foundation donors got access to Clinton and her close aides at State Dept. The Washington Post / August 22, 2016 A sports executive who was a major donor to the Clinton Foundation and whose firm paid Bill Clinton millions of dollars in consulting fees wanted help getting a visa for a British soccer player with a criminal past. The crown prince of Bahrain, whose government gave more than $50,000 to the Clintons’ charity and who participated in its glitzy annual conference, wanted a last-minute meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. U2 rocker and philanthropist Bono, also a regular at foundation events, wanted high-level help broadcasting a live link to the International Space Station during concerts. In each case, according to emails released Monday from Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state, the requests were directed to Clinton’s deputy chief of staff and confidante, Huma Abedin, who engaged with other top aides and sometimes Clinton herself about how to respond. The emails show that, in these and similar cases, the donors did not always get what they wanted, particularly when they sought anything more than a meeting. But the exchanges, among 725 pages of correspondence from Abedin disclosed as part of a lawsuit by the conservative group Judicial Watch, illustrate the way the Clintons’ international network of friends and donors was able to get access to Hillary Clinton and her inner circle during her tenure running the State Department. The release of the correspondence follows previous disclosures of internal emails showing a similar pattern of access for foundation contributors, and it comes as Republicans allege that Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, used her perch in the Obama administration to trade favors for donations. Clinton and the foundation have vigorously denied the charge. The disclosures also cast new doubts on Clinton’s past claim that she turned over all her work-related email from her private server to the State Department for eventual release to the public. Judicial Watch said Monday’s release from Abedin’s inbox included 20 previously undisclosed exchanges with Clinton that were not included in the approximately 55,000 pages of correspondence the former secretary gave to State. Also Monday, the State Department said the FBI had turned over nearly 15,000 emails and other documents that investigators discovered during a probe of Clinton’s email setup that she had not previously returned to State. Clinton has said about 30,000 personal emails were deleted from the server. The FBI batch includes emails and attachments that were sent directly to or from Clinton, or that were part of email chains. FBI Director James B. Comey has said there is no evidence that emails were purposefully deleted with an intent to conceal them, and a State Department spokesman said Monday that some of the records included emails that were purely personal. It is not clear when the documents discovered by the FBI will become public, but attorneys for the State Department and Judicial Watch are negotiating a release that is likely to begin before the election and continue long after. Josh Schwerin, a Clinton campaign spokesman, said in a statement Monday that Judicial Watch is a “right-wing organization that has been going after the Clintons since the 1990s” and that the group is “distorting facts to make utterly false attacks.” “No matter how this group tries to mischaracterize these documents, the fact remains that Hillary Clinton never took action as Secretary of State because of donations to the Clinton Foundation,” he said. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday that there is “no clear sign” donors received access for their contributions. The emails released Monday showed how requests from donors would often come through Doug Band, a longtime Bill Clinton aide who helped create the foundation, with Abedin as a primary point of contact. Band declined to comment on the newly released emails, and attorneys for Abedin did not respond to a request for comment. There is no indication from the emails that Abedin intervened on behalf of Casey Wasserman, an L.A. sports executive who in 2009 asked Band for help getting a visa for a British soccer star trying to visit Las Vegas. Band indicated that the office of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) had already declined to help, given the player’s criminal record. A Boxer spokesman described the request to her office as “routine” but one with that Boxer did not assist, “given the facts of the case.” “Makes me nervous to get involved but I’ll ask,” Abedin wrote to Band in May 2009 after he forwarded to her an email from Wasserman. Band responded: “then dont.” Wasserman’s charitable foundation has given the Clinton Foundation between $5 million and $10 million. In 2009 and 2010, his investment company paid Bill Clinton $3.13 million in consulting fees. A spokeswoman for Wasserman said the businessman never contacted Bill Clinton on the matter and the visa was never granted. Band and Abedin also responded dismissively when asked if they had any ideas on how to help Bono get his space station transmission: “No clue,” they each responded in turn. The appeal appears to have had more success in the case of Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain. In June 2009, Band emailed Abedin that the prince would be in Washington for two days and was seeking a meeting with Hillary Clinton. “Good friend of ours,” he added. Abedin responded that the prince had already requested a meeting “through normal channels” but that Clinton had been hesitant to commit. Two days later, Abedin followed up with Band to let him know that a meeting with the prince had been set. “If u see him, let him know. We have reached out thru official channels,” she wrote to Band. Bahrain has a spotty human rights record but full relations with the U.S. government. In a statement, the court of the crown prince said his participation at a 2005 foundation event “happened years before and was wholly unrelated to any meeting with Secretary Clinton,” adding that the prince is deputy head of state of an American ally and so he often meets with U.S. officials. The new disclosures come as the Clinton Foundation and its international network of powerful donors have returned to the forefront of the presidential campaign. On Monday, Bill Clinton sent an email to foundation staff and supporters outlining new steps and offering a defense of the foundation’s accomplishments. He wrote that the foundation would stop accepting corporate and foreign donations if Hillary Clinton was elected and that he would step down from the charity’s board, along with the board of a related Boston-based health organization. While he said his role would change, “the work itself should continue because so many people are committed to it and so many more are relying on it.” The announcements did little to quell Republican attacks. The GOP nominee, Donald Trump, on Monday called for the foundation to be shut down altogether, describing the charity as “the most corrupt enterprise in political history.” The newly released emails underscored the central role played by Abedin, a top adviser to Clinton’s campaign who has been working for her since Clinton’s time as first lady. When S. Daniel Abraham, a major Democratic donor who had also given to the foundation, was visiting Washington in May 2009 and wanted to see Clinton, the emails showed that he placed a call to Abedin. “Do u want me to try and fit him in tomorrow?” Abedin emailed Clinton, who appeared to indicate in her response that she was willing to make time. Abraham said in an interview Monday that he talked with Clinton about the Middle East and that his status as a donor had nothing to do with his ability to secure time with the secretary. “It was about the issue that I have worked hard on for many, many years, Israeli-Palestinian peace,” he said. “I have been friendly with the Clintons since their White House days. As far as I am concerned it was all good. She never asked me for anything.” Longtime Clinton friend and fundraiser Maureen White wrote Abedin in July 2009, saying that she would be in Washington three days later. “Would she have any time to spare?” White wrote. “Yes I’ll make it work,” Abedin responded. White went on to serve in the State Department under Clinton. White said she and her husband, Steven Rattner, gave $31,000 to the foundation before 2009 and $25,000 to the foundation in 2012. White said that she did not remember the specific exchange but that she has met often with Clinton as a longtime supporter and has worked on refugee and humanitarian issues in several capacities in and out of government. “Usually when I told Huma I wanted to meet with Hillary Clinton, Huma made it happen,” White said. In another email exchange, Democratic donor and activist Joyce Aboussie of St. Louis wrote to Abedin requesting a meeting between Clinton and a top executive of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy, one of the world’s largest coal producers. “Huma, I need your help now to intervene please,” Aboussie wrote in June 2009. “We need this meeting with Secretary Clinton, who has been there now for nearly six months. This is, by the way, my first request.” Abedin responded: “We are working on it and I hope we can make something work . . . we have to work through the beauracracy [sic] here.” It is not clear whether the meeting took place. Neither Peabody officials nor Aboussie, who donated between $100,000 and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation, responded to requests for comment.

Prospect of Trump win threatens to put US Asian pivot in a spin The Financial Times / August 23, 2016 Asia faces a redrawing of the geopolitical order if Republican Donald Trump becomes US president — a prospect that scares Washington’s allies while handing a gift to China, its principal rival. Tokyo and Seoul braced for change after the US elections, with some in the region fearing that even a Hillary Clinton win could herald unwelcome shifts. That includes bigger defence bills and the likely demise of President Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which pointedly excludes China. But it is a Trump presidency, which would herald a strong new strain of isolationist politics, that stands to wreak more damage over Asia, a continent of emerging superpowers such as China, home to more than half the world’s population and target of Obama’s Asian “pivot”. A group of Republican foreign policy experts sounded the alarm last week. “We especially fear a Trump presidency’s impact on America’s future in Asia where China’s influence in the region, now the global economy’s centre of gravity, grows apace with its power,” they wrote. “Should Trump become president and put his nostrums into practice, Asia’s response will be prompt and epochal,” the Republican advisers added. “Asia’s big or small countries will be forced to tilt towards . . . the Chinese. Some of them may move quickly to seek security in a new proliferation of nuclear weapons.” Chinese nationalists now see China usurping the US as the pre-eminent power in the region in less than a decade, should Trump win the election and follow through on his “you pay up or we pull out” ultimatum to Seoul and Tokyo. “If Trump distances the US from its allies, particularly Japan, objectively that can be a good thing for China’s strategic position,” says Shi Yinhong, an international affairs specialist at Renmin University in Beijing. Beijing has recently chafed at the Obama administration’s endorsement of an international tribunal ruling that dismissed almost all of its expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea — and the deployment of a missile defence system that Washington and Seoul say is aimed at defending South Korea from North Korea, not Beijing. Kuni Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat and expert on the Japan-US security treaty, says that “the dark side has awakened in the US” — a reference to blue-collar and middle-class angst about globalisation, inequality and immigration. These forces have produced a strong strand of “neo-isolationism” in the US of a type that the Japanese find especially troubling. “Whether Trump is elected or not, this dark side will continue to run in US politics and could make it more inward-looking,” he says. “That could raise the incentives for a US president to request additional burden-sharing on security — not only from Japan but [also] South Korea and even Nato allies.” Kim Ji-yoon at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul agrees that “whoever becomes president, it is inevitable that South Korea will have to bear more costs to sustain the [US] alliance”. In China the ruling Communist party has also learnt over the years that US presidential candidates tend to say one thing during an election campaign and do the opposite after they are in the Oval Office. Campaigning for the White House just three years after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Mrs Clinton’s husband railed against the “butchers of Beijing”. But by the end of his second term Bill Clinton had helped lay the foundations for China’s rise as an economic and military power by agreeing to its accession to the World Trade Organisation. Prof Shi at Renmin University notes that Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton are likely to take tougher stances than the Obama administration on territorial issues in the South China Sea — something US allies in the region would welcome — but adopt more protectionist trade policies. Their stance on trade is likely to cause short-term problems for Beijing but has already delivered at least one windfall — the likely demise of the TPP, the economic complement to Obama’s military pivot towards the region. Both Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton have expressed strong opposition to the TPP, which Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong calls a “litmus test of [US] credibility and seriousness of purpose” in the Asia-Pacific region. Asian analysts also generally believe that the US government’s institutional checks and balances will grant at least a short-term buffer against any dramatic realignment of regional power. “Even with Trump’s unpredictability and the power of the presidency, the current system of alliances wouldn’t be shaken by him alone,” says Min Jeong-hun at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul. “Congress, his cabinet and public opinion are all likely to play an important role in [regional] diplomacy.” Xie Tao, a US expert at Beijing Foreign Studies University, agrees that a sudden withdrawal of US military forces from South Korea and Japan is a “fantasy”. “If he really does that, half a century’s work by the US in Asia would vanish like smoke and ashes,” Prof Xie said. “Congress and all sorts of interest groups would strongly oppose it.”

Trump’s Empire: A Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties The New York Times / August 20, 2016 On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has sold himself as a businessman who has made billions of dollars and is beholden to no one. But an investigation by The New York Times into the financial maze of Trump’s real estate holdings in the United States reveals that companies he owns have at least $650 million in debt — twice the amount than can be gleaned from public filings he has made as part of his bid for the White House. The Times’s inquiry also found that Trump’s fortunes depend deeply on a wide array of financial backers, including one he has cited in attacks during his campaign. For example, an office building on Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, of which Trump is part owner, carries a $950 million loan. Among the lenders: the Bank of China, one of the largest banks in a country that Trump has railed against as an economic foe of the United States, and Goldman Sachs, a financial institution he has said controls Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, after it paid her $675,000 in speaking fees. Real estate projects often involve complex ownership and mortgage structures. And given Trump’s long real estate career in the United States and abroad, as well as his claim that his personal wealth exceeds $10 billion, it is safe to say that no previous major party presidential nominee has had finances nearly as complicated. As president, Trump would have substantial sway over monetary and tax policy, as well as the power to make appointments that would directly affect his own financial empire. He would also wield influence over legislative issues that could have a significant impact on his net worth, and would have official dealings with countries in which he has business interests. Yet The Times’s examination underscored how much of Trump’s business remains shrouded in mystery. He has declined to disclose his tax returns or allow an independent valuation of his assets. Earlier in the campaign, Trump submitted a 104-page federal financial disclosure form. It said his businesses owed at least $315 million to a relatively small group of lenders and listed ties to more than 500 limited liability companies. Though he answered the questions, the form appears to have been designed for candidates with simpler finances than his, and did not require disclosure of portions of his business activities. Beyond finding that companies owned by Trump had debts of at least $650 million, The Times discovered that a substantial portion of his wealth is tied up in three passive partnerships that owe an additional $2 billion to a string of lenders, including those that hold the loan on the Avenue of the Americas building. If those loans were to go into default, Trump would not be held liable, the Trump Organization said. The value of his investments, however, would certainly sink. Trump has said that if he were elected president, his children would be likely to run his company. Many presidents, to avoid any appearance of a conflict, have placed their holdings in blind trusts, which typically involves selling the original asset, and replacing it with different assets unknown to the seller. Trump’s children seem unlikely to pursue that option. Richard W. Painter, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota and, from 2005 to 2007, the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, compared Trump to Henry M. Paulson Jr., a former chief executive of Goldman Sachs whom Bush appointed as Treasury secretary. Professor Painter advised Paulson on his decision to sell his Goldman Sachs shares, saying it was clear that Paulson could not simply have placed that stock in trust and pretended it did not exist. If Trump were to use a blind trust, the professor said, it would be “like putting a gold watch in a box and pretending you don’t know it is in there.” ‘We Overdisclosed’ “I am the king of debt,” Trump once said on CNN. “I love debt.” But in his career, debt has sometimes gotten the better of him, leading to at least four business bankruptcies. He is, however, quick to stress that these days his companies have very little debt. Trump indicated in the financial disclosure form he filed in connection with this campaign that he was worth at least $1.5 billion, and has said publicly that the figure is actually greater than $10 billion. Recent estimates by Forbes and Fortune magazines and Bloomberg have put his worth at less than $5 billion. To gain a better understanding of Trump’s holdings and debt, The Times engaged RedVision Systems, a national property information firm, to search publicly available data on more than 30 properties in the United States. The Times identified these assets through Federal Election Commission filings, information provided by the Trump Organization and records, such as filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The search covered thousands of pages of public information, including loan documents, land leases and property deeds. It concentrated on Trump’s commercial holdings, including office towers, golf courses, a vineyard in Virginia and even an industrial building in South Carolina that he ended up with after a troubled business venture involving Donald Trump Jr. The inquiry also examined some of Trump’s residential properties, including his penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue and a house he owns in Beverly Hills, Calif. The examination did not include Trump’s dealings outside the United States. That Trump seems to have so much less debt on his disclosure form than what The Times found is not his fault, but rather a function of what the form asks candidates to list and how. The form, released by the Federal Election Commission, asks that candidates list assets and debts not in precise numbers, but in ranges that top out at $50 million — appropriate for most candidates, but not for Trump. Through its examination, The Times was able to discern the amount of debt taken out on each property, and its ownership structure. At 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, a limited liability company, or L.L.C., controlled by Trump holds the ground lease — the lease for the land on which the building stands. In 2015, Trump borrowed $160 million from Ladder Capital, a small New York firm, using that long-term lease as collateral. On his financial disclosure form that debt is listed as valued at more than $50 million. Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, said that Trump could have left the liability section on the form blank, because federal law requires that presidential candidates disclose personal liabilities, not corporate debt. Trump, he said, has no personal debt. “We overdisclosed,” Weisselberg said, explaining that it was decided that when a Trump company owned 100 percent of a property, all of the associated debt would be disclosed, something that he said went beyond what the law required. Filing Taken at ‘Face Value’ For properties where a Trump company owned less than 100 percent of a building, Weisselberg said, those debts were not disclosed. Trump, for example, has a 50 percent stake in the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. In 2010, the company that owns the hotel refinanced a $190 million loan, according to Real Capital Analytics, a commercial real estate data and analytics firm. Weisselberg said that a Trump entity was responsible for half the debt, and that all but $6.4 million of the loan had been paid off. The Times found three other instances in which Trump had an ownership interest in a building but did not disclose the debt associated with it. In all three cases, Trump had passive investments in limited liability companies that had borrowed significant amounts of money. One of these investments involves an office tower at 1290 Avenue of Americas, near Rockefeller Center. In a typically complex deal, loan documents show that four lenders — German American Capital, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank; UBS Real Estate Securities; Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company; and Bank of China — agreed in November 2012 to lend $950 million to the three companies that own the building. Those companies, obscurely named HWA 1290 III LLC, HWA 1290 IV LLC and HWA 1290 V LLC, are owned by three other companies in which Trump has stakes. Ultimately, through his investments, Trump is a 30 percent owner of the building, records show. Vornado Realty Trust owns the other 70 percent and is the controlling partner. A similar ownership structure is in place at 555 California Street in San Francisco, formerly the Bank of America Center. There, Pacific Life Insurance Company and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company lent $600 million in 2011 to a limited liability company of which Vornado owns 70 percent and Trump owns 30 percent. Green Street Advisors, a real estate research firm, estimates the combined value of the two buildings to be about $3.7 billion. On a smaller scale, Trump also has a 4 percent partnership interest in a company that has an interest in a large Brooklyn housing complex, and owes roughly $410 million to Wells Fargo, according to Bloomberg data. The full terms of Trump’s limited partnerships are not known. The current value of the loans connected to them is roughly $1.95 billion, according to various public documents. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, said that neither Trump nor the company were responsible for the debt associated with the limited partnerships. Still, as with all of the properties in which Trump holds an interest, the value of the buildings as well as the terms and magnitude of their debt could have a major impact on his personal fortune. Trump, Weisselberg added, was liable for a “small percentage of the corporate debt” listed on the federal filing but would not elaborate. Other instances in which Trump could be personally responsible can be found in public filings. He guaranteed as much as $26 million for the loan taken out against his land lease at 40 Wall Street, money the lender could take if certain things went wrong. The United States Office of Government Ethics, which reviewed Trump’s financial filing before the F.E.C. released it, said it does not comment on submissions by individual candidates. The agency’s procedures for staff members reviewing presidential submissions, a copy of which was obtained by The Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, say the Office of Government Ethics does not audit reports for accuracy. “Disclosures are to be taken at ‘face value’ as correct, unless there is a patent omission or ambiguity or the official has independent knowledge of matters outside the report,” the procedures say. A Web of Investments Tracing the ownership of many of Trump’s buildings can be a complicated task. Sometimes he owns a building and the land underneath it; sometimes, he holds a partial interest or just the commercial portion of a property. And in some cases, the identities of his business partners are obscured behind limited liability companies — raising the prospect of a president with unknown business ties. At 40 Wall Street, Trump does not own even a sliver of the actual land; his long-term ground lease gives him the right to improve and manage the building. The land is owned by two limited liability companies; Trump pays the two entities a total of $1.6 million a year for the ground lease, according to documents filed with the S.E.C. The majority owner, 40 Wall Street Holdings Corporation, owns 80 percent of the land; New Scandic Wall Limited Partnership owns the rest, according to public documents. New Scandic Wall Limited Partnership’s chief executive is Joachim Ferdinand von Grumme-Douglas, a businessman based in Europe, according to these documents. The people behind 40 Wall Street Holdings are harder to identify. For years, Germany’s Hinneberg family, which made its fortune in the shipping industry, controlled the property through a company called 40 Wall Limited Partnership. In late 2014, their interest in the land was transferred to a new company, 40 Wall Street Holdings. The Times was not able to identify the owner or owners of this company, and the Trump Organization declined to comment. Trump has long-term ground leases on several other properties, including a golf course in New York’s Hudson Valley and retail space in Midtown Manhattan. Private owners are also behind these leases, their identities sometimes obscured by L.L.C.s. Trump’s status in these situations is indicated by the word tenant, which is listed under his signature on many of the relevant documents. Trump also holds a ground lease on the almost-completed Trump International Hotel in the Old Post Office building in Washington, a few blocks from the White House. The federal government, which owns the land, gave a 60-year lease to Trump Old Post Office, a limited liability company controlled by Trump and members of his family. In return, the government receives a minimum of $3 million a year from the company. Weisselberg said that despite his holdings, Trump should not be held to the same standards that might apply to the heads of companies in highly regulated industries. “If you take away all the fancy stuff and so on and so forth, and the five-star ratings, you are basically down to a closely held family-run business that is fundamentally different from IBM or Exxon,” Weisselberg said, quoting from an email he had received from Donald F. McGahn, a lawyer and former chairman of the F.E.C. who advised Trump on his federal filing. McGahn did not return calls for comment. Others disagree. Trump’s opaque portfolio of business ties makes him potentially vulnerable to the demands of banks, and to business people in the United States and abroad, said Professor Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer. “The success of his empire depends on an ability to get credit, to get loans extended to his business entities,” he said. “And we simply don’t know a lot about his financial dealings, here or around the world.” Related reading - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/20/us/elections/donald-trump-owns-and-owes-debt-properties.html

Trump calls for special prosecutor to investigate Clinton Foundation Reuters / August 22, 2016 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged the Justice Department on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if donors to the Clinton Foundation got special treatment from the State Department when it was run by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump made the appeal at a rally before thousands of cheering supporters in Akron, Ohio, as he tries to rebound from a slide in national opinion polls with little more than two months to go until the Nov. 8 election. Trump accused former President Bill Clinton and his wife of turning the Clinton Foundation charity into a "pay-for-play" scheme in which wealthy donors, foreign and domestic, got favors from the State Department during Hillary Clinton's 2009-2013 tenure as the country's top diplomat. Trump faulted both the Justice Department and FBI for not indicting Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. FBI Director James Comey cited her careless handling of classified emails but opted not to prosecutor her. "The Justice Department is required to appoint a special prosecutor because it has proved to be, sadly, a political arm of the White House," Trump said. "Nobody has ever seen anything like it before." Trump's appeal came the same day a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, released 725 pages of State Department documents, including some it said were examples of preferential treatment provided to donors at the request of former Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band. Trump's call for an independent investigation followed an announcement by the Clinton Foundation that it would no longer accept foreign donations should Clinton be elected president. The Clinton campaign fired back at Trump, saying the foundation had already laid out "the unprecedented steps the charity will take if Hillary Clinton becomes president." Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement that Trump "needs to come clean with voters about his complex network" of businesses that are in debt to big banks, including the state-owned Bank of China, after a New York Times report on the subject. "Donald Trump should stop hiding behind fake excuses and release his tax returns and immediately disclose the full extent of his business interests," Podesta said.

Volkswagen Truck & Bus / August 16, 2016 Volkswagen Truck & Bus has received a 30 unit order for Constellation 25.420 6x2 tractors, Constellation 17.280 6x2 rigids and Worker 17.230 4x2 rigids from refuse hauler Estre Ambiental (www.estre.com.br). Aracaju, Brazil-based Estre Ambiental has one of the largest refuse truck fleets in Brazil. "Volkswagen’s trucks are the best available for meeting the tough demands of the refuse industry. They offer the robustness required for this severe application," said Estre Ambiental Operations Manager Sergio Toledo. With a GCW ratting of 53 metric tons, the ten new 420 horsepower Cummins ISL 9 powered Constellation 25.420 6x2 tractors will run on average 7,000 kilometers a month in waste transfer service. Modern 16-speed V-Tronic AMT transmissions combine the low maintenance cost of a manual transmission with the ease of automatic gear shifting, providing comfort, increased driver productivity and greater economy in operation. Twenty Constellation 17.280 and Worker 17.230 “Compactor” Series trucks, factory-built with Planalto refuse bodies (www.planaltoindustria.com.br), will operate about 3,500 kilometers a month. Offering high productivity and up-time paired with low operating cost, Volkswagen’s purpose-designed “Compactor” range of refuse trucks uniquely provide operators with a bumper-to-bumper factory warranty. "The waste collection is undoubtedly an operation that requires constant improvement. And we are attentive to customer needs to propose constant innovative solutions, tailored and reflect the profitability of the business, "said Volkswagen Truck & Bus Vice President of Sales Ricardo Alouche. Related reading: https://www.man-la.com/produtos-volkswagen/modelo/vocacionais-11/compactor-70 https://www.man-la.com/produtos-volkswagen/modelos/constellation-7/cavalo-mecanico-8 .

Transport Engineer / August 23, 2016 Waitrose has praised Gray & Adams for its ability to turn groundbreaking designs into real-world trailers, developing the retailer’s Ultra low carbon semi-trailers. The retailer has just ordered more of the aerodynamic ‘boat-tail’ trailers, after achieving targeted fuel savings with its earlier orders. Waitrose has long specified its Gray & Adams trailers (www.gray-adams.com) with features such as large radius panel cappings and side skirts to reduce drag. However, through parent company John Lewis Partnership’s participation in the government’s Low-Carbon Truck Trial programme, and with input from Cambridge University, the retailer has developed a trailer that takes environmental compatibility to another level. The academics conducted wind tunnel research, focusing on the aerodynamics beneath and around the rear of the trailer, as well as between the trailer and the tractor unit. They proposed modifications designed to cut aerodynamic drag by 14% which, they predicted, would deliver fuel savings of 7%. The recommendations included: a tapered ‘boat tail’ on the upper rear of the trailer; tapered sidewalls at the rear; a lowered overall vehicle height; a smooth underside, open at the back, to help air flow out from beneath; and an air management kit for the tractor, matched closely to the trailer with minimal gaps. To be economically viable the ‘boat tail’ design had to ensure no loss of cargo space, while the new trailer also had to be compatible with Waitrose’s loading bays and existing equipment. Simon Gray, vehicle engineering manager for John Lewis Partnership, says: “It’s all very well having a nice set of drawings, but you then have to make it work in the real world. Gray & Adams did a good job of that. “We sat down with the manufacturer and worked our way through it. I recall one problem relating to reversing the trailer onto the bay. It meant we had to amend the original aerodynamic design to accommodate the loading dock infrastructure, but we were able to do so without compromising the optimum boat-tail angle. “This was a typical case in point – whenever an issue arose, Gray & Adams would come up with an alternative suggestion, which we’d then take back to the guys at Cambridge University to get their views. So it was very much a three-way collaboration, with the aim of getting the best possible result.” Rather than lowering the door height, the boat-tail taper was achieved by reducing insulation at the rear of the trailer, where ambient products tend to be carried and temperature control is therefore less critical. This meant there was no adverse effect on carrying capacity, and no cages were lost. Meanwhile, the trailer side skirts that cover half the wheels were designed with a hinged mechanism for easy access to the underbody and wheels. Waitrose commissioned its first handful of Ultra low carbon trailers in 2014. Built at Gray & Adams’ Fraserburgh headquarters, these were followed by more substantial orders in 2015 and again in 2016. “We’ve fine-tuned the specification along the way but the basic concept has been a success since day one,” confirmed Gray. “The trailers are delivering the 7% improvement in fuel efficiency that we’d anticipated, and this is over our standard trailers which are themselves of a low drag design. “The 7% improvement translates into an annual per vehicle saving of around 2,800 litres of fuel, and a reduction in the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere each year of more than 7,000 tonnes. It also means that we will recoup the increased capital cost of each trailer within two years. “Given that we envisage a 10-year life for our trailers, these are highly cost effective as well as environmentally beneficial.” Waitrose has also ordered a number of specialised twin-deck trailers from Gray & Adams this year. .

Lo and behold, Volvo has removed the revised 2017 powertrain video, as it did the original one.

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Heavy Duty Trucking / August 22, 2016 Peterbilt is making available the Bendix Wingman Fusion driver assistance system and a new integrated Softek NXT suspension and steer axle system from Hendrickson on its Model 579 and 567 trucks. Bendix Wingman Fusion incorporates such safety solutions as lane departure warning, enhanced colission mitigation and in-lane object recognition to the Peterbilt over-the-road and vocational truck models. The Wingman Fusion system gathers input from radar, video, multiple sensors and the braking system to create a detailed in-cab picture of the vehicle’s environment. Using the data from these active systems, the vehicle is able to alert drivers to potentially dangerous situations and can even react autonomously in certain situations. The system is currently available for order through Peterbilt dealers. “Peterbilt is a safety leader and we’re pleased to strengthen that position by offering the most effective, comprehensive safety system available, Bendix Wingman Fusion,” said Robert Woodall, Peterbilt assistant general manager of sales and marketing. Hendrickson's Softek integrated monoleaf suspension and steer axle system is designed to save weight compared to traditional two-leaf spring and I-beam axle systems, to benefit fuel-conscious applications such as tankers and bulk haulers. The Softek NXT system combines the Steertek NXT 12,500-pound-rated axle and the monoleaf spring technology with an integrated knuckle design. It highlights a new, integrated clamp group and monoleaf spring design which are key design features for enhanced ride and handling characteristics. The patented clamp group design also provides greater weight savings and reduced part count compared to previous designs. The design also simplifies the kingpin bushing serviceability and includes a new double lip seal to further improve bushing life, which can improve uptime. The 12,500-pound-rated system is available now for order through Peterbilt dealers. The 13,200-pound-rated axle will become available for order by the end of the year. "Peterbilt is pleased to strengthen our weight-saving leadership by offering this exclusive, lightweight suspension and axle system,” said Woodall. “This is an exciting addition to our portfolio of lightweight options for the vocational and long-haul segments.” Related reading - http://www.hendrickson-intl.com/Truck/On-Highway/SOFTEK-NXT . .

From a distance, I'm guessing you have a bad injector. If your local Mack dealer has some experienced Mid-Liner technicians (old hands), you should take it to them.

The Washington Post / August 22, 2016 The FBI’s year-long investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server uncovered 14,900 emails and documents from her time as secretary of state that had not been disclosed by her attorneys, and a federal judge on Monday pressed the State Department to begin releasing emails sooner than mid-October as it planned. Justice Department lawyers said last week that the State Department would review and turn over Clinton’s work-related emails to a conservative legal group. The records are among “tens of thousands” of documents found by the FBI in its probe and turned over to the State Department, Justice Department attorney Lisa Ann Olson said Monday in court. The 14,900 Clinton documents are nearly 50 percent more than the roughly 30,000 emails that Clinton’s lawyers deemed work-related and returned to the department in December 2014. Lawyers for the State Department and Judicial Watch, the legal group, are negotiating a plan for the release of the emails in a civil public records lawsuit before U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington. Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said the group was pleased that Boasberg rejected the department’s proposal to begin releasing documents weekly on Oct. 14, ordering it instead to prioritize Clinton’s emails and to return to court Sept. 22 with a new plan. “We’re pleased the court accelerated the State Department’s timing,” Fitton said. “We’re trying to work with the State Department here, but let’s be clear: The State Department has slow-walked and stonewalled the release of these records. They’ve had many of them since July 25 ... and not one record has yet been released, and we don’t understand why that’s the case.” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the agency previously agreed voluntarily to hand over emails sent or received by Clinton in her official capacity as secretary from 2009 to 2013 but that tens of thousands of documents would have to be “carefully appraised at State” to separate official records from personal ones. “State has not yet had the opportunity to complete a review of the documents to determine whether they are agency records or if they are duplicative of documents State has already produced through the Freedom of Information Act,” Toner said. “We cannot comment further as this matter is in ongoing litigation.” Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in May 2015 after disclosures that Clinton had exclusively used a personal email server while secretary of state. Judicial Watch had sought all emails sent or received by Clinton at the State Department in a request made under the federal Freedom of Information Act, which covers the release of public records. Monday’s hearing comes seven weeks after the Justice Department closed a criminal investigation without charges into the handling of classified material in Clinton’s email setup, which FBI Director James B. Comey called “extremely careless.” On Aug. 5, the FBI completed transferring what Comey said were several thousand previously undisclosed work-related Clinton emails that the FBI found in its investigation for the State Department to review and make public. Government lawyers until now had given no details about how many emails the FBI found or when the full set would be released. It is unclear how many documents might be attachments, duplicates or exempt from release for privacy or legal reasons. Government lawyers disclosed last week that the FBI has turned over eight computer discs of information: one including emails and attachments that were sent directly to or from Clinton, or to or from her at some point in an email chain, and were not previously turned over by her lawyers; a second with classified documents; another with emails returned by Clinton; and five containing materials from other people retrieved by the FBI. The 14,900 documents at issue now come from the first disc, Fitton said. In announcing the FBI’s findings in July, Comey said investigators found no evidence that the emails it found “were intentionally deleted in an effort to conceal them.” Like many users, Clinton periodically deleted emails, or they were purged when devices were changed. Clinton’s lawyers also may have deleted some of the emails as “personal,” Comey said, noting their review relied on header information and search terms, not a line-by-line reading as the FBI conducted.

August 23 6:40 PM GMT (7:40 PM CET)

Paul, call your local Mack Australia dealer and ask for a 184QS39301A. We also used that same latch assembly on the MC and MR for many years after the Cruise-Liner was discontinued. If they aren't helpful, try calling Mack Australia directly at 1300 69 6225.

ST-KT / August 22, 2016 600hp Tonar-45252 will depart from Moscow to Siberia for diamonds Specialty manufacturer Tonar (http://www.tonar.info/en/) has introduced a new tipper trailer to meet the needs of customer ALROSA in Siberia. The new model 95405 trailer is designed to carry 117 metric tons of rock over long distances. The 45252 tractor is equipped with a 600-hprsepower 18.9-liter 6-cylinder in-line turbodiesel Cummins QSK19-C600, and 7-speed Allison 4700 automatic transmission fitted with a retarder. The tractor’s front suspension is pneumatic-hydraulic. Size 14.00R25 tires have a load capacity index of 170. Photo gallery: http://st-kt.ru/articles/tonar-otpravlyaetsya-za-almazami http://www.gruzovikpress.ru/article/9057-noviy-mnogozvenniy-tyagach-tonar-45252-pritsep-tonar-95405-vnedorojnogo-gabarita-iz-gubino-dlya-alrosa/

Truckstop TV / August 18, 2016 .

Transport Engineer / August 19, 2016 Temperature-controlled transport business Bedworth Haulage has taken delivery of four Mercedes-Benz Actros tractors and, after just three months of operation, is reporting weekly fuel savings of up to £190 per vehicle. Supplied by Midlands Truck & Van and on an operating lease through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, the Coventry-based operator’s new additions are Actros 2551 units, powered by second-generation 510bhp engines and fitted with Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC) systems. Bedworth’s Ian Thacker says the new trucks are already returning 10.5 mpg or more – 2 mpg ahead of other vehicles on his fleet – “and I’d like to think that as they loosen up the fuel figures will get even better,” he adds. The Actros have GigaSpace cabs, with roof-mounted light bars and chrome highlights, and the interior spec includes leather upholstery and fridges. Bedworth Haulage’s 34-strong tractor fleet includes three other marques, as well as five more Actros GigaSpace models with Euro 5 engines. The first of these, also a 2551, entered service early in 2013, and was followed later that year by a quartet of 450bhp Actros 2545 variants. Thacker says: “The big disparity in fuel efficiency is partly explained by the fact that while our Mercedes-Benz trucks are powered by 12.8-litre straight-six engines, the majority of our Swedish trucks have big V8s. “Even allowing for this, though, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Actros is the most economical truck on the market right now… and by a wide margin. “Our Euro 5 Actros have always been comfortably ahead of the rest, but with these second-generation Euro 6 models, Mercedes-Benz has raised its game by another big notch.” The new Actros, he adds, are delivering an extra half a mile per gallon over their predecessors: “Our trucks typically cover 3,000 km a week and the total bill for last week alone was £33,000, so savings of this magnitude are very welcome.” The operator is also a fan of Mercedes-Benz FleetBoard telematics, which it fits not only to its Actros but also to other makes of truck, describing it as “simple to use” and providing “a wealth of invaluable data”. .

Transport Engineer / August 19, 2016 Norton’s Hiab Services, of Manchester, has taken delivery of its first Volvo vehicle, a Volvo FH-540 6x4 tractor. Key to the deal was Volvo’s ability to include a 10-tonne front axle rating on the 44-tonne gcw tractor, supplied by dealer Thomas Hardie Commercials. Norton’s Hiab Services moves a variety of self-escorted wide loads, from wind turbines to machinery as well as site accommodation and welfare cabins for construction companies. The FH’s fully stabilised and ballasted specification includes an additional pair of hydraulically operated stabiliser legs, mounted on a ‘NATO beam’ extension to the front of the chassis. This means it can be used both as a versatile crane truck (able to work with its 17.7m Dennison extending trailer), or solo, as a replacement for the lightweight crane carriers that are often used to service city centre construction sites. To do this, the truck is equipped with a 62-tonne/metre Hiab XS 622 EP-6 HiPro crane. According to Norton’s Hiab Services Paul Eddisford, the fitment of the front of chassis extension and the additional stabiliser legs, means that the FH can slew 360 degrees and has the ability to lift and crane 5 tonne at 10 metres, over the cab and over the rear of the chassis. “Although we operate at 44 tonnes GCW, rather than under STGO regulations, we had a specific need for a truck with a 10-tonne front axle rating,” he explains. “Only Volvo were able to supply a tractor unit, that wasn’t a specialist heavy haulage vehicle, with a 10-tonne front axle to assist in the ability to achieve the lifting capabilities via the front stabilising legs, working over the front of the cab.” The Hiab crane on the Volvo FH is mounted on a full length chassis frame mounted cradle. The chassis itself also contains a full length insert to aid rigidity. As the truck is fitted with a sliding fifth wheel which is mounted on a cradle on top of the Hiab crane cradle, coupling height is 1450mm. The chassis is ballasted with steel plate, which is welded to the Hiab frame for its full length behind the crane. In addition, a huge steel ballast box is fitted to the rear of the chassis. Chassis packaging of air, fuel and AdBlue tanks has been carefully engineered by Volvo Trucks to accommodate the crane and the ballast box. Careful positioning of the ‘NATO beam’ has ensured that the AEBS radar is unimpeded and works as normal. The FH is ADR registered for when it delivers bunded fuel tanks to sites. Remote operation of the crane is made possible via Hiab’s ruggedised Space 5000 remote control hand held terminal which, among other things, displays percentage loadings of the crane at all outreach stages. .

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Commercial Motor TV - sponsored by DAF Trucks / August 19, 2016 .

A 19-pound 5-year-old died of an overdose The Washington Post / August 13, 2016 At the time of his death in May, the 5-year-old weighed just 19 pounds — less than half the weight of an average boy his age. The cause of death was a drug overdose. Specifically, officials said this week, the sickly boy died after his parents medicated him with OxyContin. Charles Burks, 45, and Jennifer Burks, 40, of Endicott, N.Y., are facing second-degree manslaughter charges for their son’s death. Investigators say the couple gave the boy crushed OxyContin, a highly addictive prescription opioid painkiller that ultimately killed him. Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell said the boy was in need of specialized care and had developmental and medical problems. His parents, Cornwell said, “took it upon themselves to self-medicate the child.” “The parents failed to get the proper treatment for the child in a timely manner,” Cornwell said. The prosecutor declined to elaborate on what kind of medical problems the child had, other than saying he was severely underweight. Police responded to the couple’s house on May 7 after receiving a medical call. The boy was then taken to the hospital. The couple abruptly left New York within a month of their son’s death, traveling to North Carolina, where they lived at a campsite. Investigators received a tip from a police officer at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, that Charles and Jennifer Burks visited someone at the hospital. The Burks later drove back to New York for an unrelated matter, and were arrested and arraigned Thursday. Officials did not say whether the boy was still alive when he was taken to the hospital in May. It also remains unclear whether his parents were at home when police were called, or whether one or both of them had prescriptions for OxyContin. As is customary in Broome County, the case will be heard by a grand jury, which will then decide on the appropriate charges. The charges may be different or the same as the original manslaughter charges, the prosecutor said. A second-degree manslaughter charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Cornwell said the couple has other children, though all of them are adults. He refused to say whether they have a history with Child Protective Services. Records, however, show that Charles Burks is registered as a sex offender in New York and North Carolina. He was convicted of third-degree rape of a 15-year-old girl in 1998 in Broome County. .

Toddler who died a ‘painful, horrible death’ was placed in a freezer The Washington Post / August 7, 2016 A New York mother is facing a first-degree manslaughter charge in the death of her baby girl whose body was “extremely cold.” Officials suspect the 15-month-old was placed in a freezer. Police received a 911 call at about 5:30 a.m. Friday from an apartment in Mount Vernon, New York. Officials said 15-month-old Samia Yusef may have been dead for several hours when police found her. She was pronounced dead a half-hour later. “It was a gruesome discovery that shocked even our most senior officers on the job,” Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Ronald Fatigate said. A felony complaint states that Samia’s mother, Dasia Bartee, 26, struck the child in the back “six to seven times” with a closed fist to stop her from crying. She suffered significant injuries to her face, a lumbar fracture and internal bleeding. The crime happened just after 10 p.m. Thursday. “This child clearly died a painful, horrible death,” said Westchester Assistant District Attorney Karen Herbert. Prosecutors recommended that Bartee be held on $1 million bail, but a Mount Vernon city court judge set her bail at $50,000. Her defense attorney told the judge she had no criminal record. Westchester Assistant District Attorney Karen Herbert said Bartee had an “extensive” history with Child Protective Services. Two other children who were in the apartment when the incident happened were not harmed. Authorities said they have been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. “No child, no infant, no toddler should be subjected to that type of violence,” said Mayor Richard Thomas. .