Showing posts with label Gordan Sondland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gordan Sondland. Show all posts

Friday, November 22, 2019

Larry the Billionaire Episode 38 Into Deep Water


                Larry was visiting the city he grew up in, Cleveland Ohio.  While he was there, he met up with his high school girlfriend who was a nurse at the Cleveland Clinic.  Larry would never bring this up to her but he vividly remembered when Tatiana was contemplating what to pursue in college, she was between being a teacher or nurse.  Larry recommended nurse because of one incident when he was about to make a turn but couldn’t see if there was oncoming cars because of parked cars on the side.  His solution to this was to gun the car around the turn.  As he did, he slammed the break as a car came speeding towards him.  The car passed, in what Larry perceived, as inches from his car.  The experience shook him up so much that he froze.  In the corner of his eye, he could see Tatiana turn to him to scold him but after seeing how shaken up he was, she instead put her hands on his back and soothingly said, “It’s okay Larry, we’re alright”

                What happened next, Larry describes as one of the only times in his life he felt he didn’t have control over his body.  He could feel knots in his shoulder and back unwind as they dropped about two inches.  A calm consumed his body and he made the turn composed.  Reminiscent of Daniel Larusso in Karate Kid when Mr. Miagi cured his shoulder, Larry interrogated Tatiana as to how she did that.  He then told her she should be a nurse because she has a very soothing and medicinal touch.  They are now meeting up to watch the Ukraine hearings as Tatiana is Ukrainian.  As the hearing concludes, Devin Nunes declares, “For those of you at home, it’s time to change the channel, turn down the volume and hide the kids; put them to bed.  I yield my time to Mr. Schiff for story time hour.”

                Larry bursts out laughing and actually keels over.  Tatiana chuckles and asks, “Are you going to be able to pull through?”

                After a while, Larry stops laughing and Tatiana poses, “Isn’t it sad that something as serious as an impeachment hearing is relegated to a comedy routine?”

                “Did you listen to the witnesses this week?  It was a comedy routine.  If there was anything serious or to the phone call, then maybe the Republicans would take it seriously but it was clearly a waste of America’s time and tax money.”

                “Well, Sondland did admit that it was a quid pro quo.”

                “Actually, he said he presumed it was.  He later admitted that aid was not tied to investigating Biden and there was no quid pro quo and when he called Trump. Trump said he wanted nothing, he just wanted Ukrainian President Zelensky to do the right thing and do what he ran on.”

                “Yea, then he admitted that Zelensky ran on fighting corruption so the presumption should have been that Trump wanted Zelensky to fight corruption.”

                “Well, you’re Ukrainian. Do you have any specific insight in this?”

                “Nope, but I do like that the president isn’t pro-Russia.”

                “Well, yea you’re western Ukrainian so you hate Russians.”

                “You don’t have to be Ukrainian to see it for what it was.  Our congressman Mike Turner really put the nail in the coffin.”

                “Well, we did record it. Let’s rewind that.”

                Tatiana rolled her eyes but let him do it.  There was Mike Turner asking about a link between security link and opening investigations that Sondland mentioned in the opening statement.  Turner inquires, “Noone on this planet told you that President Donald Trump was tying aid to these investigations.  Is that correct?”

                Sondland responds, “Yes”

Turner: “So you really have no testimony today that ties President Trump to a scheme to withhold aid from Ukraine In exchange for these investigations?”

                 “Other than my own presumption”

                “Which is nothing….Made up testimony is when I presume it.”

                Tatiana turns off the TV and transitions, “Do you still overpay for regular women to fuck you?”

                “I do”

                “Well, I may have someone for you.”

                “Oh yea?”

                “Yea, she’s a resident.  Cute as a button.  About 5’4”, long black hair.  She’s Greek like you and she’s got big breasts and a nice round butt.  She’s got a little bit of a gut so it’s not the ridiculously unproportioned hourglass shape that a lot of you Greeks have.”

                “How old?”

                “Mid to late 20s, I never really asked.”

                “Is she cool?”

                “Yea, and all our doctors are forced to get STD testing so I can vouch that she’s clean.”

                “What does she want?”

                “You’ll see.  I want you to be surprised.  I’ll set it up.”

                “Alright then.”

                A couple days later, Tatiana invites Larry to her house.  As he comes over, he sees the girl and Larry introduces himself, “Hi I’m Larry.”

                “I’m Despina” she says with the kind of smile that’s full of perfectly straight pearly white teeth and melts men. 

                “Nice to meet you.”

                “Likewise, we were just talking about the impeachment hearings.”

                “That debacle?”

                “Yea, I can’t really figure out why Sondland completely contradicted himself.”

                “Well he tried to play both sides of the story.”

                “Well, Sondland owns a bunch of hotels and is relatively wealthy.  Liberals have been threatening his family and picketing his hotels for saying that Trump didn’t have a quid pro quo in the closed hearings.”

                “How did they even know about that?”

                “Schiff leaked it and then the Republicans leaked the counter.  He just wanted to appease the mob but not commit perjury.”

                “Yea, Representative Tucker exposed CNN for their false headline.”

                “The funny thing is CNN wasn’t even the worst of it.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “The AP printed that Trump contradicted Sondland’s testimony when he said that Sondland testified that during their phone call, President Trump told Sondland that he wanted nothing.  It was actually CNN that tweeted back to them that what they said was false in that Sondland did testify to that.  You know it’s bad when you attack the President and CNN calls you out for lying.”

                “Or maybe they’re just not fake news like the President says.”

                “Oh, no they are.  Telling the truth once doesn’t make you honest.”

                “Well, I can see where your bias lies.”

                “Yup; the facts”

                “Anyway!” interrupted Tatiana, “We were going to watch Tanked”

                “Do you like that show?” Despina asked Larry

                “Actually I do.”

                As they sit and watch the show, during a commercial, Despina announces, “I do think it was ridiculous by the Republicans to try to out the whistleblower.  I mean his anonymity is protected by law.”

                “Actually it’s not.  Despite what that sleazy liar Schiff claims, the whistleblower has no statutory right to privacy and anonymity.  The only protection is from being fired, punished, denied a promotion in any way due to his actions.”

                “Really?”

                “Yea, the only protection is from the ICIG”

                “Who’s that?”

                “The Intelligence Community Inspector General, basically the guy you should blow the whistle to.  Anyone else, including the president, is fair game.”

                “It would be interesting how non-biased people saw it.”

                “Obviously, I’m biased but aren’t you non-biased?”

                “Yea, and I wasn’t too impressed.”

                “Well, here are some polls to tell you you’re not in the minority.  53% of Wisconsin voters oppose impeachment now.  Two weeks ago, the MU poll had support for impeachment at 44%; now it’s down to 40%.”

                “I’ve never heard of the MU poll and who cares about Wisconsin?”

                “Well, it’s a swing state but fine let’s go to Morning Consult.  They found that among independents, support for impeachment dropped 10 points in the last two weeks and is now at 40%.”

                “Well, I can see that but they were really trying to damage Trump for the 2020 election.”

                “According to Gallup, they failed in that endeavor too as President Trump’s approval ratings have ticked up since Schiff began impeachment hearings.”

                “There really is no silver lining for the Democrats then is there?”

                “Nope”

                “Alright”

                They finished watching the show and Tatiana realizes that they want to talk about the hearings.  Despina pronounces, “I thought of something else.  Did anyone ask about the validity of what Trump thinks about the allegations of Ukrainian corruption?”

                Tatiana uttered, “Yea, I can speak to this”

                “I’m all ears”

                “So, I looked at Ukrainian newspapers and Ukraine has widened their probe against the Burisma founder.”

                “To what?”

                “Apparently he embezzled money from state funds.”

                Larry chimed in, “Like, a lot of money?”

                “The equivalent of $ 33 million that belonged to Ukraine’s central bank.”

                “What about Hunter Biden?”

                “Apparently Zlochevsky, Burisma’s CEO, laundered 16 million dollars to Hunter Biden that they’re looking into.”

                “Yea, now that there are no Democrats to tell Ukraine who to prosecute and who not to, they are free to look into all this.”

                Despina fired back, “Holmes testified that there was no do-not-prosecute list.”

                Tatiana responded, “Yea but he lied.  The former ambassador Yovanovich & George Kent admitted it in their testimony.  Kent acknowledged that he signed a letter pressuring Ukrainians not to look into AnTAC”

                Larry remarked, “Which is a George Soros group and we all know how much money he gives to the Democrats.”

                “The big thing is that they pressured them not to look into Yuriy Luschenko, who was Nellie Ohr’s source”

                “Nellie Ohr works for Fusion GPS, which drafted the dossier that started the Russian collusion hoax.” Larry offered

                Confused, Despina retorted, “I thought Holmes said Lutsenko retracted the story that he was pressured.”

                Larry fired back, “Another lie.”

                Despina looked back at Tatiana who nodded and piled on, “Even the New York Times admitted that.”

                “And while all this was going on, President Trump flipped the 11th circuit court, which covers Florida.  It is now Republican.”

                Despina replied, “Yea, I haven’t really been following that but he does have a Republican majority Senate so might as well make use of it.  What about Fiona Hill?”

                “Ehh, saying that the Ukrainians meddling in the 2016 election was a fictional narrative is ridiculous.  Politico even wrote an article entitled “Efforts by Ukraine to sabotage Trump backfires.”

                Tatiana exclaims, “Anyway, let’s go back to less serious topics.  What did you think of ‘Tanked’ Larry?”

                Larry shrugs his shoulders, “I’ve seen it before.  I like the show.  They got cool fish tanks.”

                Despina smiled and cried out, “I love that show.  It would be so cool to have one.  I mean, normal fish tanks are boring but if I could get a personal one with exotic fish, it would be amazing.”

                With that statement, Larry figured out why he was invited and what she was getting at.  He grinned and expressed, “What would you be willing to do for one?”

                Despina’s eyes got wide and she clammed up.  She timidly mumbled, “I don’t know, I mean, even If I become a doctor, I’ll never be able to afford one of those.  They’re ridiculously expensive. That’s why all the people on there are celebrities with oodles of money.”

                “Yea, but you’re pretty enough to get some billionaire to buy one for you.”

                “I didn’t study my ass off and go through medical school and currently am killing myself in residency just to marry a man and be taken care of.”

                “Who said anything about marry?  Just for one night.”

                “It would be nice to come home from these 30 hour shifts to some cool fish.”

                “There you go.  You don’t want to wait.  While you’re still in residency, you could get someone to do it and then you got a cool fish tank.”

                “Well, if I got the offer, then maybe I’d think about it” Despina declared with a sly smile and a look to say it was a ridiculous scenario

                “I’m not really talking hypothetically, I’m making you that offer.”

                Despina’s eyes widened and she turned to Tatiana who gave her a guilty look and shrugged her shoulders as if to apologetically confess that’s why she invited them there.”

                “When do I have to decide?”

                “As long as you want.  I don’t want to pressure you.  Either you’re willing to do it or you’re not.”

                “Can we discuss this over dinner?”

                “Yea, absolutely”

                “Let me sleep on it.”

                “So, we’ll meet tomorrow for dinner?”

                “Yea, sure.”

                Larry uses that as his cue to leave and he does.  He knows that Despina is going to ask Tatiana a lot of questions about him and whatever Tatiana says is going to influence Despina’s decision. 

                As Tatiana was very complementary, Despina decides she’ll have dinner with him.  The next day, Larry calls her and they agree to dinner.  As they sit down, Despina expresses, “I don’t want to talk about the proposal.  I got more questions about Ukraine.”

                “Alright”

                “You said that they meddled.  How so?”

                “A bunch of ways.  The Ukrainian ministers openly attacked Trump and called him a clown because he said he would contemplate recognizing Crimea as Russians since the people live there believe themselves to be Russian.”

                “Is that true?”

                “Yes, but that doesn’t make it right.  History has proven that the ministers were wrong.  Unlike Obama, President Trump gave military aid to Ukraine.  He still hasn’t recognized Crimea as Russia and he put more sanctions on Russia so he’s not as pro-Russia as the Ukraine ministers thought he was.”
                “They’re just giving their opinion.”

                “Well, the Russian meddling was based on Facebook posts so op-ed pieces should qualify.  Even if you don’t believe that though, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, made a statement that President’s Trump position on Crimea was troubling to Ukraine and Kiev doesn’t want it.”

                “Again, just someone posting his opinion in a paper.”

                “A Ukraine Parliamentarian named Leschenko gave the black ledger to DNC operative Alexandra Chalupa.  The black ledger was a hoax document used to take down Manafort, who was President Trump’s campaign manager.  That was a direct attack from Ukraine government officials against President Trump since they thought he was Pro-Russian.”

                “Is that the guy Tatiana was saying was the source for Nellie Ohr and Fusion GPS?”

                “Yes”

                “Now, you’re making a good point about Ukraine meddling.”

                “Just to pile on, Ukraine’s president at the time Porochenko had a meeting set up with Alexandra Chalupa to discuss how to take down Manafort by linking him to the pro-Russian candidate he just beat named Yanukovych.” 

                “I think you just convinced me.  There’s a lot of people in Ukraine’s government, including the president, attacking the campaign manager for Trump.”

                “Yup”

                “Alright, let’s talk about other things.”

                They change topics and have a nice dinner.  At the end, Despina asserted, “About your offer.  I’ll do it.”

                “Alright, let’s go back to my hotel.”

                “Yea, okay”

                Larry stops by at a liquor store and gets a small bottle of tequila, salt and lemon slices.  They go back to Larry’s hotel and Larry takes off his clothes and Despina does the same.  - Despina wrapped her arms around Larry’s neck kissing him on the mouth.  They made out as they meandered over to the bed.  Despina lied down on her back and Larry placed a condom over his erect penis.  Despina had her legs straight up in front of Larry and Larry threw his upper body against them pushing them back towards Despina’s head as he lunged himself behind her vaginal walls.  He rocked back and forth with Despina’s legs following his progress while his hands reached around her legs and played with her breasts.  Larry then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet.  He turned her around and bent her over the table with the contents for a tequila shot.  He placed his hands on each of her butt cheek and squeezed hard as he eased himself into her penetrating her birth canal from the rear.  He humped her as he squeezed her butt pushing her hips against the table as he drove himself into her.  Despina said, “Man, you really like my ass.  Maybe your covering something up.” as she smiled at the end.

            Larry smiled and pulled out. He grabbed lubrication from the table and doused the area where Despina’s butt cheeks met with it.  Larry said, “See where your big mouth is going to get you” as he jerked his penis into her buttocks. 

He reached around and fondled her breasts and kissed her neck.  Despina grinded her hips surrendering to Larry.  Larry swept her legs and wrapped them around his waist followed by picking up her upper body.  Despina reached around and grabbed the back of Larry’s neck holding herself upright as Larry used his right hand to fondle her breasts and his right to feel the path from her cervix toward the womb stopping at the G spot.  As he was doing so, he used his thumb to stimulate the clitoris and surrounding area.  Despina climaxed and Larry switched hands.  When Despina let out a guttural scream again, he let her down, pulled out of her anus and slammed himself back into her vagina.  He hoisted her up in the same manner as his hands returned to their original tasks.  This time Despina’s screaming came quicker as he switched hands again.  He twisted his body to face the bed and dropped Despina unceremoniously to the bed face down.  He rolled her over to find her smiling widely.  Larry looked at her lustfully and mounted her undercutting her hamstrings with his arms bringing her knees to his shoulders.  He shoved her legs behind her head and pinned them down as she pummeled his way deep inside her.  Despina moaned with delight and Larry pulled out and, since Despina’s waist was in the air exposing her anus, he drilled her rectum once again with his penis.  Larry caressed her legs with his hands and kissed her lips, breasts and neck.

            After a bit, Larry picked up Despina and she dropped her legs to wrap them around his waist with her arms around his neck kissing him.  Larry carried her to the shower and turned the water on.  He grabbed soap and covered Despina’s body in it.  Despina jumped up and wrapped her limbs around Larry once again as he pinned her against the wall with his hands being squished between her butt and the wall.  His tongue was passionately working its way against Despina’s in her mouth.  His mouth dropped to her breasts and Despina protruded her breasts into his face.  Larry’s face buried in her breasts as semen shot out of his shaft trying to make its way into Despina but was held back by the condom.  As his body tensed up, Despina realized what was happening and was disappointed that it was over. 

                Larry walks to the bed and lies down panting.  Despina’s breath is a little heavy but it wouldn’t be considered panting.  She remarks, “I think you’re against Democrats.  Let me ask what you think about Sanders and that we’re all going to be dead in eight years.”

                “This is like the 214th time they’ve made this claim in the last 100 years.  All the timelines have been wrong and they keep moving the goalposts.”

                “They got to be right eventually.”

                “Maybe, but if people really believed this then why is waterfront property still really expensive?”

                “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.”

                “You buy property to appreciate over time.  You’re really going to pay millions of dollars for something that’s going to be under water in eight years?”

                “Well, they don’t believe it.”

                “Everything is based on supply and demand.  If a majority of people believed this, as global warmists claim, then nobody would want it.  With the decrease demand, there would be a lower price.”

                “I’m not sure.”

                “How about this?  If there’s going to be a massive draught, how come farmers aren’t selling their farmland?  It’s going to be worthless in eight years, so get out while you can.”

                “Farmers are generally conservative.”

                “San Francisco, probably the most liberal city in the country, sold bonds.  When you sell bonds, you have to disclose all the risks associated with them.  Nowhere in the risks is that the whole city may be under water in eight years so they’re not going to be able to pay them back.

                “You really thought a lot about this.”

                “I think a lot about everything.”

                “Alright fine, no Bernie what about Kamala Harris.”

                “it was just weird when she was bragging about how she’s a fighter because she took on Kavanaugh, Bill Barr and Jeff Session so she can take on Trump.”

                “Yea, Trump is a little bit more of a formidable opponent than those three.”

                “Not just that, but she lost all three battles.  All three of those people got confirmed.  She failed.”

                Despina looks to the side and then up.  “See, that’s why I agreed.  You’re not just some dumbass that throws his money around; you actually are fun to talk to and are smart.”

                “Thank you, I like talking to you too.”

                “I hate to bring this up but…..”

                “What kind of tank do you want?”

                “Well, I’m going to let them decide the fish in one tank but I want a predator tank with Oscars and piranhas and stuff.  The other will just be exotic fish.”

                “Alright”

                Despina lies next to Larry and snuggles with him.  Larry obliges and falls asleep quickly.  The next day, Despina gets dressed and leaves.  She calls professional custom tank makers to appraise what she wants.  She agrees on a design that’s personal to her and gets her fish.  Larry picks up the bill and pays it.  After that, he had no interaction with Despina, which is what she wanted because with the long hours at the hospital she really had no time for anything else. 

 

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Fanis the Bodyguard Episode 26 Another Missed Nail in the Coffin


                Fanis and his cousin and employer Kera are in Kera’s flat in London, England.  Kera travels the world trading in Chinese artifacts, which is odd considering she is an American of Greek descent.  She hired Fanis as her bodyguard because it’s the closest person she could trust to give her life for her.  As they were family, they teased each other a lot.  Fanis was a big fan of Donald Trump so Kera would hype up the mainstream media’s relentless assaults on Trump with Fanis.  She calls out, “Oh, the Democrats finally have Trump now; this is a nail in the coffin.”

                Theo chuckled, “How many times have they said that now?  I’m losing track”

                “Probably the same amount of times you’ve had bombshells and explosive new evidence about the deep state.”

                “Except mine never get debunked and discredited.”

                “Still, nothing happens.”

                “Because of said deep state”

                “And round and round we go.”

                “What’s your big news?”

                “Bill Taylor is testifying on Capitol Hill and they say that what he informed them of was damning”

                “The Sarge of Ukraine?  We already know it’s not damning because we have the transcript of the call.  Even if he says that President Trump threatened Ukraine, we know he’s lying.”

                “That’s not what we’re getting”

                “Then he perjured himself.  That’s probably why they didn’t let the Republicans in because they know they’d call him out on it.”

                “Call him out on what?”

                “Besides perjury?”

                “Yes, besides that.”

                “That it’s common knowledge that Bill Taylor worked closely with Marie Yavanovitch so has an axe to grind considering Trump recalled her for talking shit about him abroad.”

                “Just because they work together, doesn’t mean they like each other.”

                “True, but it’s well documented that they do.  Then you have the texts between him and US ambassador to the EU Sondland.  When Taylor told him that he thought it was crazy that Trump would threaten to hold back military aid unless they open an investigation, Sondland told him straight up he was wrong.  President Trump never offered a quid pro quo and even offered to have Taylor call him so he could set him straight.”

                “Well Taylor addressed that.  He called Sondland a Trump loyalist”

                “How is that addressing it?  Taylor is a Trump-hater so I’ll throw it right back at him.”

                “The text came five hours later.”

                “Who cares?  Maybe he called President Zelensky.  Maybe he was in a meeting and couldn’t talk.  Maybe he took a nap.  Why does that time stamp matter?”

                “Look, I don’t know”

                “That’s why I’m educating you.  Taylor and the Whistle blower have a lot of common.  They both admit they have no firsthand knowledge of what they accuse Trump of.  Therefore, both rely on hearsay at best but probably just fabrication.  They also love using the adjective ‘crazy’ to describe their opinion of the quid pro quo that never happened.  Kind of like they are in cahoots.”

                “Extortion is bad.  Can we at least agree to that?”

                “Yea but that’s irrelevant.  It wasn’t extortion.”

                “Right?  Because it wasn’t in the transcript and it’s impossible they spoke before the phone call.” Kera laced her comment in sarcasm

                “That’s what the claim was.  I’m holding them on what they said.  Just like I hold the Ukrainians accountable when they claim they didn’t know military aid was being delayed until August.  Remember, the phone call was in July.”

                “They could be covering for Trump”

                “Yes, anyone who supports Trump is lying but anyone against him is telling the truth” It was Fanis’ turn to be sarcastic. 

                “Whatever, I don’t care.  We got to go. Pack your things.”

                “Just answer me how you extort someone that doesn’t know what you’re threatening or what the threat is?”

                “We’re leaving.”

                “Fine, where are we going?”

                “Slovakia”

                “Alright.”

                They pack quickly and board the plane to head to Bratislava, Slovakia.  On the plane, Kera opines, “So much has happened with Trump that I don’t even know how all this started.”

                “They pretend it’s when Joseph Mifsud offered to give Trump campaign member George Papadopoulos dirt on Hillary.”

                “Right, he talked to that Russian spy.”

                “It was an entrapment attempt.  Mifsud is linked to western intelligence assets.  They only did it so that the Australians could pull it out later.  In this case, Alexander Downer.”

                “That’s ridiculous”

                “The guy was a professor at the link campus in London.  He’s Maltese; Malta is right by Italy, which is a western ally.”

                “Would you agree that if he’s a Russian agent, then it’s collusion”

                “I would agree it’s evidence but not open and shut.  Will you agree that if he’s a western asset, then it’s an entrapment sting?”

                “Fine.  You said he was a professor in London. The two biggest surveillance countries; China and England, I have very high ranking ties to.  I’ll shake some trees just to shut you up.  I hate how you think you’re never wrong.  This isn’t fake news okay? These are connections I have that I will personally vouch for.”

                “You don’t trust anybody”

                “I didn’t say I trusted them, I said I vouch for them.  Do we have a deal?  If they tell you something that you don’t want to hear, you have to accept it okay?”

                “Well, don’t tell them what to tell me.”

                “I won’t”

                “I guess if I’m telling you to believe Sondland when he told Taylor he was wrong, I have to believe you if your sources tell me I’m wrong or else I’m just like Taylor.”

                Kera giggled, “Excellent, so we agree?”

                “Yes, we agree”

                They land in Bratislava and check into the hotel.  Bratislava is a small city on the Danube.  There are frequent ferries to Vienna that only take an hour.  The waterfront is built up with a lot of restaurants and shops.  Throughout the city, there are playful statues such as people leaning on benches or coming out of sewers.  Kera and Fanis tour the 1st century castle, which is a plain white building so isn’t too impressive.  There is a warrior gate and interesting things in the old city.  They stumble upon a museum of crimes and victims of communism.  Luckily they came on a Thursday since that’s the only day the museum is open.  It is a surreal exhibit highlighting the terror communism caused in Slovakia.  Kera and Fanis found it interesting because Slovakia isn’t normally covered in depth in school.  Basically, people, know that it used to be combined with the Czech Republic to be Czechoslovakia and Hitler attacked and conquered it.  Outside of that, there’s not much people know. 

                They get some Bratwursts as Eastern Europe all praise themselves for their sidewalk vendors selling blood sausages or Bratwurst or other names.  To Fanis, they’re all glorified hot dogs and they taste that way too.  He’s never been too impressed.  They go to a café and drink a couple local beers before heading back to the hotel and resting for business the next day.  Bratislava is a small city so can be seen in a day and they had. 

                The next day, Fanis and Kera head towards her meeting to broker the exchange of artifacts for money.  Fanis doesn’t really concern himself with what is being traded, he just makes sure that nobody tried to hurt Kera.  The exchange goes off without a hitch and Kera walks out with a bag of cash. 

                They decide to get something to eat and sit at a restaurant.  They make small talk and then pay the bill enjoying their carnivorous meal as Slovakian cuisine is rich in meat.  While trying to hail a cab, a stocky man with a buzz cut grabs Fanis by the back of his neck and slams his head into a fountain.  With the other hand he grabs Kera’s arm and barks, “Give me the bag.”

                Kera is holding the bag in the arm he’s not grabbing and she squirms but the man’s hands are large enough to go around her bicep and his grip is strong.  She screams at him but one look around makes her realize that nobody is going to help her.

                Fanis is struggling but knows that he’s in trouble.  He relaxes his body so that he’s not focused on someone trying to drown him.  This allows his mind to think what to do.  It wasn’t very scientific but he slid his foot and nudged the man’s right foot.  Fanis then searched for the other one.  This allowed him to know the position of his two legs.  He positioned his foot in between and kicked up.  Fanis’ leg drove into his attacker’s scrotum causing him to let go of both Kera and Fanis.  Fanis rises up and takes a much needed breath.  With it, he coughs out, “Kera run”

                Kera does exactly that.  The attacker recovers quickly and grabs Fanis by the throat and throws him into a bench with enough force to break the back of the bench.  The man stalks behind him and clenches his fists slamming them against Fanis’ midsection.  He grabs Fanis by the throat and asks, “Where is she staying?”

                Fanis struggles but blurts out, “Fuck you.”

                The attacker drags Fanis off the bench and he unceremoniously falls on the ground.  Fanis rolls onto his back and the attempted robber pins him down with his right leg.  Fanis kicks his right leg into the knee of the leg not on this chest.  The attacker stumbled and stepped off of Fanis chest to hold his body up.  Fanis drove his heel into the knee of the other leg and quickly kicked the side of the knee.  The Slovak bent over to grab Fanis but Fanis drove his left knee into the attacker’s temple.  As the attacker backed up, Fanis wrapped his leg around one of his shins so he couldn’t step back and instead he fell back to a seated position.  Fanis then drove another leg into the attacker’s face before getting to his feet.  The attacker recovered quickly and drove his shoulder into Fanis solar plexus driving him back.  At the last second, Fanis shifted his body weight to turn the attacker around and Fanis sandwiched him against the wall.  The attacker punched Fanis across the face.  Fanis spun back and smacked his fist against the attacker’s face.  The Slovak headbutted Fanis and backed him up.  As the attacker was winding up for a hay maker, Fanis shot his hand up and grabbed the Slovak by the throat.  Fanis yanked his arm towards him bringing his opponent with him and driving his midsection into his knee.  The would-be thief dropped to his knees and Fanis, maintaining his grip on the neck and slammed the attacker’s face into Fanis’ knee repeatedly.  It didn’t take long for his body to go limp but Fanis continued his strikes.  Finally, he let go as the man collapsed face down in a crimson pool of his own blood.

                Fanis stumbled away and hailed a cab surprised it stopped considering that he was bloodied.  He told the driver to go to a place near the hotel just in case someone questioned him later.  Fanis made his way to the room where Kera was waiting.  Fanis immediately went into the bathroom and lied in the tub.  Kera turned on the sink and wet a towel and catered to Fanis’ cuts.  After the bleeding stopped, Fanis accepted some frozen food that Kera had bought to put on his fists.  This was becoming a habit but Fanis never asked why they were attacked so often.   The next day, they got on a plane and headed back to London.  When in London, Kera and Fanis went to a nondescript government building near Hyde Park.  They were escorted into a room where they met with an elderly gentlemen.  He greeted Kera first with a hug and cheek to cheek kiss, which is common everywhere in Europe except England.  Fanis thought nothing of it and shook the man’s hand. He introduced himself as Colin and offered them a seat.  Kera and Fanis sat down and Colin started, “I was asked by Kera to let you know what I could dig up on a Joseph Mifsud”

                Fanis replied, “Everyone has been asking where he’s been.  He’s pretty famous given the whole Russian collusion hoax in America.”

                “Yes, but I’m here to tell you what British intelligence knows.  If you go to the press, which Kera has assured me you won’t, I will deny everything.”

                “Understood.” Fanis remarked realizing now why they were searched on the way in.  The guard seemed unconcerned with weapons but wanted to ensure they weren’t wearing a recording device. 

                “In fact, I’m going to need your mobile phones.”

                Both Kera and Fanis handed them over.  He put them in a bag and then took them to a different room.  He started, “We have evidence that Mr. MIfsud has been to Russia.”

                Kera glared at Fanis with a devilish grin but Fanis remained stoic.  He retorted, “So have a lot of people.  What did he do there?”

                “Well not much.  As it turns out, he only talks about knowing important Russians in order to boosts his own credibility amongst his students at Cambridge’s Link Campus.”

                Fanis nodded, “So he’s not a Russian asset.”

                “If he is a Russian spy, he’s a very good one.  I have focused on things that have happened since he met with your countrymen George Papadopoulos”

                Fanis was unsure if he was talking about George being Greek like Fanis and Kera were or that they were Americans.  It could even be both but decided not to ask.  “He’s been disappeared since then from what I understand”

                “Not in the slightest.  In May 2017, Mifsud spoke in Riyadh on a panel with the United States defense Secretary Ash Carter.”

                Kera snapped back, “That’s Saudi Arabia.  They’re not really our friends.  Russia has a big hand in the Middle East.”

                Colin calmly rejoined, “I would agree with you but if he was a Russian asset, there would have been a damage assessment done and I have been unable to locate one.”

                Fanis smiled, which did little to make his cut up face look any better but Colin hadn’t reacted and Fanis wasn’t shy about it.  “Please continue, it seems like you have a lot more.”

                “Indeed I do.  Mifsud is also in pictures with NATO military personnel including retired American and British intelligence officers, French officials at the Elysee Palace and State Department on the States’ Capitol Hill.”

                “He gets around and I presume still no damage assessments.” Fanis commented

                “Yes.  I thought perhaps that we may have turned him so I did look at before his meeting.”

                “More of the same?”

                “He was the panel chairman on April 3, 2013 at London Academy of Diplomacy.  The US Embassy hosted a Gala he attended for a networking reception in which embassy personnel attended.  He was also on the panel for the London Center of International Law Practice on 11/25/14.  As many know, he was a professor at the Link Campus in Cambridge with American CIA operative Stefan Halper up until his famous meeting with Papadopoulos.”

                Kera inquired, “What was he a professor of?”

                “Middle Eastern studies and he is seen with many Middle Eastern intelligence officials to boost credibility.”

                “The FBI interviewed him on Capitol Hill in February 2017.  I always wondered if they knew he meddled with our elections and was a Russian asset, why did we let him go home?”

                “He was at the Capitol to discuss transatlantic leadership at “Strategic Dialouge” which is associated with a non-profit US State Department partner named Global Ties US.”

                “I’m noticing a pattern of British and the United States.”

                “There is just one piece of intelligence that doesn’t seem to fit.  Taken as a whole, I don’t believe it possible that Mifsud is a Russian spy but there is one interesting piece of information.”

                Fanis asked, “What’s that?”

                “The FBI asked Papadopoulos to wear a wire to record his conversation with Mifsud.  Why would they do that if Mifsud was a plant to entrap Papadopoulos and, by extension, the Trump campaign?”

                Fanis took a deep breath and Kera glared at him with a smile as she was given a silver lining as everything else destroyed her argument.  One look at her cousin, though, and she knew that he had an explanation.  “I think this is similar to what is coming out now?”

                “What’s that?”

                “Well, former congressman Trey Gawdy talks about how he saw troubling classified things highlighting the malfeasance of the intelligence community as they tried to get a FISA warrant.  Gawdy specifically tells people to check the e-mails between FBI director Comey and CIA director John Brennan.  Given that Brennan has had no problem throwing Comey and the FBI under the bus, I don’t think they like each other.  I think those texts are of an argument between the two. “

                “How does this have to do with Mifsud and Papadopoulos?” Colin interrupted.

                “I’m getting there.  When FBI lawyer and lead investigator Strzok’s mistress was testifying under oath, she seemed surprised that Brennan and the CIA got the information that was in the FISA from Christopher Steele.  We have her texts with Strzok saying they needed to scrub the list of confidential informants.  That is slang for making sure the identities of their informants aren’t the same ones as the CIA.  Why else do this if you didn’t suspect that what you thought was corroborating evidence, was actually the same information from the same source?  Page could hardly hide her shock, even in the transcript it comes out, when she learns the CIA briefed the Gang of 8 on Capitol Hill about the Steele information in August 2016.  Brennan had always claimed he hadn’t seen it till December but he was talking about things only in that dossier in August.  With Page’s overt shock and Comey and Brennan at each other’s throats, I’m thinking that the FBI wasn’t aware of the entrapment of Papadopoulos and Trump.  They asked him to wear a wire because they knew he has a lot of British contacts and Steele was British so they may learn something.”

                Colin and Kera stew on this for a moment.  Colin finally breaks the silence and quietly utters, “That does fit because the second time the FBI interviewed Papadopoulos, they were no longer interested in Mifsud.  According to your story, that would mean someone told him by then so he was already in the know.”

                Fanis merely nodded.  As there was no more information to exchange, they shook hands and Fanis thanked him for his hospitality.  On the way back to the flat, Fanis didn’t gloat but he could see the disappointment and anger on Kera’s face that she had lost a contest she set up.  There was tension when they got back and Fanis knew to just leave her alone until she got over it.  To be honest, the implications of what he learned took the thrill of victory in a debate with his cousin.  America was really going through a soft coup.  Elizabeth Warren has already talked about issuing massive fines if people try to renounce their citizenship.  Perhaps Fanis should become a British citizen just in case President Trump doesn’t win re-election.  The left is dangerous and irrational.  There’s no telling what they’re going to do to America both if they win or if they lose.  The last three years has been a massive hissy fit with the biggest forms of unprofessionalism ever seen in government since America’s founding.  There was one Democrat that beat a Republican with a cane but, for the most part, nothing else could compare to politics today.  The world ran on an American engine.  If the left succeeds in destroying America, then the ramifications on the world will be dire.

                All these thoughts were in the back of Fanis’ head.  In the forefront, however, was getting some rest so that his body could heal and he did just that.