You Will Anyway: There goes another one

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

There goes another one

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sigal Mandelker, the U.S. Treasury official who oversaw the Trump administration's aggressive use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool, has resigned to return to the private sector, the U.S. Treasury secretary said on Wednesday.

KFGO

And only a month ago Max Blumenthal published an article on her: Meet the militantly pro-Israel Trump official directing the economic war on Iran. Funny there was no mention of her quitting, but he didn't interview Mandelker herself.

However, Blumenthal brings up an issue that might have something to do with her timing:

Mandelker was reportedly involved in brokering the infamous Florida deal that allowed the wealthy child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to avoid federal charges.

The Gray Zone

Hmmmmmm. When Trump went to the White House, he brought the swamp with him. So many of them are connected in just a few scams, sleazy deals and crimes.

There's also some question about Mandelker's citizenship, with reports that she's a dual citizen and, while her government bio says she was born in Chicago, there are also rumors she was born in Israel.

The Treasury Department did not respond to questions from The Grayzone about Mandelker’s citizenship status. It would be unusual for a US official to obtain a security clearance while maintaining dual citizenship, however, Mandelker’s former colleague at the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, was reportedly born an Israeli citizen.

[...]

Whatever her citizenship status is, Mandelker has made no secret of her desire to advance the geopolitical imperatives of “our great partner, Israel.”

Her sanctions blacklist is broadening by the day, resulting in even former US national security officials being visited by the FBI for their participation in an Iranian media event.

Well, it's broadening no longer. Somebody else will have to take that up.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

GUILDENSTERN: But we don't know what's going on, or what to do with ourselves. We don't know how to act.

PLAYER: Act natural. You know why you're here at least.

GUILDENSTERN: We only know what we're told, and that's little enough. And for all we know it isn't even true.

PLAYER: For all anyone knows, nothing is. Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true. It's the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn't make any difference so long as it is honoured. One acts on assumptions.

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GUILDENSTERN : We act on scraps of information... sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from instinct.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.