The big revelation in the Sussmann trial -- John Durham's second, and most high-profile, prosecution -- is that Hillary Clinton herself authorized the leak of the campaign's Alfa Bank conspiracy theory to the media. The theory claimed Trump was colluding with Russia via the bank. It was based on data that the campaign had mined via Sussmann -- though they had no reason to know it was credible. They hoped the FBI, or the media, would be able to authenticate it.
The leak, which apparently resulted in stories at Slate and the New York Times, was aimed at creating an "October surprise" against Trump, who was trailing badly in the polls at the time Sussmann, Marc Elias, Jake Sullivan, and others came up with the scheme -- though by the time the story hit the media, Hillary had suffered an "October surprise" of her own, with James Comey announcing that he was reopening the investigation into her email server.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/fbi-russia-election-donald-trump.html
The question is: why did Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who led a two-year investigation into the broader "Russia collusion" conspiracy theory, fail to find evidence of Hillary Clinton's role? Why didn't Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz find it, and why did he conclude that while political bias may have played a role later, the start of the inquiry was basically fine?
The revelation of this fact alone justifies the establishment of the Special Counsel. Clearly the DOJ -- not Mueller, with a team of partisan prosecutors; not the IG, appointed by Barack Obama; and not the rank-and-file agents, who included people like anti-Trump crusader Peter Strzok -- was incapable of handling this entire issue. Without Durham, we would not know that Hillary Clinton was personally responsible for one of the most pernicious lies in American history -- one the American media eagerly peddled to the public.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
