The response by Democratic Party officials range from over-the-top to hysterical.
“Donald Trump has surrendered his constitutional responsibility as Commander-in-Chief by releasing Nunes’ unredacted, classified memo. His decision undermines our national security and is a bouquet to his friend Putin.”
— Tweet by Representative Nancy Peolsi (D-CA), minority leader.
Similarly Chuck Schumer:
“It’s clear that Chairman Nunes will seemingly stop at nothing to undermine the rule of law & interfere with the Russia probe. He’s been willing to carry the White House’s water, attack our law enforcement and intelligence officials, & now to mislead his House colleagues. If Speaker Ryan cares about the integrity of the House or the rule of law, he will put an end to this charade once & for all.
Even retired from the political scene Biden voiced his indignation (and that means that he feel the treat to himself personally or to Obama administration as whole):
During an interview with CNN on Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden stated that President Trump “is doing everything that Putin ever wanted” by attacking the FBI and the president is “a joke.”
Why neoliberal MSM (see for example ) lied to American public that publishing of the memo will put United States in mortal danger? :
When Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes announced he was going public with it, the Democrats and their Republican Never-Trump allies said it meant the national security of the United States would be put in mortal danger. They trotted out the old “sources and methods” argument, which, it turned out, did not apply to the memo – because it just laid out the bare facts, and revealed neither sources nor methods. (Unless one is talking about the political methodology of the FBI scam, which involved sneaking, peaking, and then leaking).
And why they all changed on a dime after the release? The same is true for neoliberal MSM which changed their position 180 degrees and tried to downplay the significance of the memo. Now all of them claim the memo was a "nothingburger". See for example The Nunes Memo Will Cripple the House Intelligence Committee's Work - The Atlantic
The infamous #memo has finally been #released—and landed with a flop and a fizzle. Far from the “worse than Watergate” scandal we were promised, the overwhelming consensus of informed commentators has been that the document prepared by staff for Representative Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, not only failed to unearth any real impropriety in the investigation of former Trump adviser Carter Page, but may have accidentally bolstered its legitimacy.
Sold as explosive documentation of a “worse than Watergate” scandal, the Nunes memo’s chief contention was that the FBI’s application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a wiretap order targeting Page after he left the Trump campaign relied on a now-infamous “dossier,” funded by the Democratic National Committee, by way of the firm Fusion GPS, and that the application failed to disclose the dossier’s origin to the surveillance court. But the warrant had been renewed three times—once by Trump’s own Justice Department appointees—and law-enforcement sources claim that the judge had been, contra the memo, informed of the dossier author’s political slant. Even the memo itself acknowledged the Russia investigation had begun with a different Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos—not the dossier.
I do not know the answer. But there are two plausible hypothesis:
- The memo undermines Mueller investigation by suggesting that Russiagate was an FBI designed falsification based on discredited Steele
memo directed against Trump first as the candidate and then as POTUS. The very notion that Trump team surveillance was initiated
based on the outright fabrication is the real scandal. That is why DemoRats were going
apoplectic. It is damn difficult now to sink Trump in procedural and legalistic BS once
the Memo is nailed to the doors of a "cathedral". As such Nunes memo can be viewed as a blow for the color revolution against Trump.
Not a knockdown or knockout, just a blow. Diminishing its chances for success. Which is so dear to the
DemoRats hearts. Pro-Trump camp interpreted this memo as a direct legitimization of Mueller instigation as well as
Mueller impartiality (and by extension Rosenstein, which many want to be not only fired by tried in the count of law for contempt
of the count). Typical sentiment was well expressed by John Nolte noted in his article
16 Bombshells in the
Nunes Memo the Media Do Not Want You to Know About ( Breitbart, Feb 3, 2018):
All of this dishonesty occurred under Comey, the man our media now hold up as a living saint, a man so desperate to destroy Trump, he not only oversaw some of those committing the above abuses, he leaked potentially classified information to the news media in order to see a Special Prosecutor appointed against Trump, which his pal, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, immediately did.
- The memo might led to legal troubles (including possible change of contempt of the count) for several highly place officials at FBI, CIA, State Department, and Department of Justice. This list includes Comey, Brennan, Clapper and Rosenstein. that inserts with the previous item becuase now the idea of "gambit of appointment of special prosecutor is also a pretty plausible hypothesis:
Jack -> The Twisted Genius ... , 06 February 2018 at 02:26 PMTTGIn your comment #34 you note the DNI claim of Russian interference in the election. That is not the issue here. The issue here is the narrative sold by Clapper, Brennan, Hillary Clinton and the media that Trump colluded with the Russian government to steal the presidential election . And the related issue of surveillance of the Trump campaign.
That and the firing of Comey is the core basis for the appointment of Mueller. Comey claimed he was fired for investigating the Trump collusion, which lead to ginned up hysteria.
Why is everyone conflating Russian interference in the election with the allegations of Trump's collusion with the Russian government? They are two different matters. The question that needs to be answered is if the latter allegations and the subsequent FBI investigation of Trump and his campaign were based on legitimate evidence or for partisan political purposes?
It seems to me that you too are conflating these two matters. What exactly is your position on the collusion allegations and the law enforcement and IC narrative on that matter? Why are the DOJ and FBI obstructing the Congressional investigation into the activities of the FBI, DOJ and the IC relating to their investigation of Trump and his campaign? The Nunes memo and the evidence it is based on is about the FBI and DOJ investigation of the Trump campaign. It has nothing to do with if Russia interfered in our election. In fact other than the DNI report there has been no evidence presented by the IC validating the claim of Russian interference.
If we have to have a more sane discussion and not talk past each other, IMO, we must separate the two issues of Russian interference from Trump's collusion allegation and the resultant IC/law enforcement investigation.
Memo doe not contain much new information. most of the information continued were known and it just corroborated it on "official level". I believe any US adversary has much more detailed information about this matter, if it has value to them so . According to Philip Giraldi (Unz.com, February 6, 2018):
As a former intelligence officer, the first thing I noticed was that the claim by Democrats on the Committee that the memo’s release amounted to “treason” and would compromise classified information does not hold water. I could identify nothing in the memo that was even plausibly damaging to national security, though it might be argued that writing down anything about the activity and operation of the FISA court is ipso facto a compromise of secrets. It is a view that I would dispute because the memo does not actually expose any ongoing investigations or place in danger law enforcement officials. It is one of those fake security arguments that go something like “It is secret because it is secret.”
In other words it is clearly not an exploded bomb that decimated DemoRats chances in midterm elections. Revelations are far less earth shattering than the Edward Snowden revelations of 2013 exposing the NSA’s espionage network (Biggest Nunes Memo Revelations Have Little To Do With Its Content – Consortiumnews)
“Now it is clear to all,” WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange tweeted. “The claims about how the ‘Nunes’ memo would destroy ‘national security’ were lies. Classification stickers are used by bureaucrats trying to obtain ‘political security’ for their cronies.” “One effect of the memo – it’s an example of how extensively we overclassify information,” wrote National Review’s David French. “I’m highly dubious that any information disclosed threatens national security in any way, shape, or form. I’d be willing to bet the Dem response is similarly harmless. Release it.”
Indeed, both the FBI and high-profile Democrats have been claiming that the memo’s unredacted release would pose a national security threat, with California Congressman (and virulent Russiagater) Eric Swalwell going so far to call it “brainwashing.” A CNN panelist wandered completely off the paddock and suggested that yesterday may have been America’s last day as a democracy. Why were they all flipping out so hysterically over a release of information that plainly poses no threat to the American people? In addition to Assange’s assertion that government secrecy has far less to do with national security than political security (a claim he has made before which seems to be proving correct time and time again), there’s the jarring question posed by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie: “who made the decision to withhold evidence of FISA abuse until after Congress voted to renew FISA program?”
... ... ...
Even the FISA court is aware of FBI inventiveness. In 2002 it identified 75 false or misleading claims made by Bureau officers and some officials have been blocked from testifying before the court due to their having provided false witness.
...the astute blogger Publius Tacitus has correctly observed that some senior FBI and DOJ officials who signed off on misleading or fraudulent applications concealing the antecedents of the so-called Steele Dossier to the FISC are now facing possible contempt-of-court charges that would include prison sentences. They include James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, Dana Boente and Rob Rosenstein.
...But it is also intriguing to consider what is missing from the document. As it is focused on the FBI and DOJ, there is no speculation about the possible role of senior intelligence officials CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Michael Isikoff reported in September 2016 that the two men were involved in obtaining information on Page and it has also been suggested that Brennan sought and obtained raw intelligence from British, Polish, Dutch and Estonian intelligence services, which apparently was then passed on to the Bureau and might have motivated James Comey to proceed with his investigation of the Trump associates. One has to consider that Brennan and Clapper, drawing on intelligence resources and connections, might have helped the FBI build a fabricated case against Trump.
Philip Giraldi suggested that the memo also implies interference of foreign intelligence services in the USA elections, which provided surveillance of Trump for Democratic Party as they have direct access to NSA capabilities, replaying Watergate on a higher technical level:
Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, speculated on how he had been “…led to believe that maybe even the Democratic Party, whatever element of it, approached John Brennan at the CIA, maybe even the former president of the United States. And John Brennan, not wanting his fingerprints to be on anything, went to his colleague in London GCHQ, MI-6 and essentially said, ‘Give me anything you’ve got.’ And he got something and he turned it over to the DNC or someone like that. And what he got was GCHQ MI-6s tapes of conversations of the Trump administration perhaps, even the President himself. It’s really kind of strange, at least to me, they let the head of that organization go, fired him about the same this was brewing up. So I’m not one to defend Trump, but in this case he might be right.”
Wilkerson is referring to the highly unusual abrupt resignation of Robert Hannigan, the Director of Britain’s version of the National Security Agency (NSA), referred to by the acronym GCHQ, which took place on January 23rd of last year. The British Official Secrets Act has meant that there was at that time little speculation in the U.K. media about the move, but some observers have wondered if it is somehow connected to possible collaboration with U.S. intelligence officers over Donald Trump. That remains an area of inquiry that has hardly been looked at, perhaps because the thought that the country’s top national security agencies were involved in a something like a grand conspiracy to subvert an election is still something that Congress would prefer not to consider.
Which makes Dems’ frantic efforts to prevent anyone from reading it bizarre, unless they mean a fiasco or serious damage to Mueller investigation. It also put the key figure in launching this witch hunt -- Rosenstein in real danger (Latimes, Feb 2, 2018)
In addition to his tweet Friday criticizing the “top leadership” of the Justice Department,” he refused to say whether he still had confidence in the man who hired and supervises Mueller — Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, a Trump appointee who played a role in continuing the surveillance of Page. "You figure that one out," the president told reporters.
...On Friday, Democrats in Congress sent a letter warning Trump that firing either Rosenstein or Mueller "could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night Massacre," when Richard Nixon fired the Watergate special prosecutor in 1973.
That's why they cried that its release would undermine the rule of law. why make such bizarre claims. After Nunes memo Mueller investigation is de-facto neutered as there serious issues with credibility of Rosenstein and Mueller as well as methods used previously by FBI to dig dirt on Trump. And their behaviour after the release of the memo confirms this hypothesis. It is always make sense to use British press as the source of anti-Trump information as they are probably better informed and have better writers ;-). Here is BBC take on the subject ( bbc.com, Feb 3, 2018):
Senior Democrats have warned President Donald Trump not to use a controversial memo as a "pretext" to fire the special counsel investigating alleged Russian involvement in the US election. They warned that such action could trigger a constitutional crisis not seen since the Nixon era.
The memo, written by Republicans, accuses the FBI of abusing its powers. President Trump approved the declassification of the memo and said it revealed a disgraceful story.
It accuses the FBI and the justice department of using an unsubstantiated and Democratic-funded report to obtain the warrant that gave permission to spy on an aide to Mr Trump.
Democrats said the release of the memo was aimed at disrupting investigations into alleged links between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. President Trump has consistently denied any such collusion. The FBI had warned against the memo's release and said key facts had been omitted.... ... ...
But the memo accuses the FBI and the justice department of using unsubstantiated evidence to obtain the October 2016 warrant. It says that they did not tell the authorities their claim to the warrant was partially based on a dossier funded in part by the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton. It also says that the author of that dossier, a former British intelligence agent called Christopher Steele, told a senior justice department official that he was "desperate" that Donald Trump should not win the vote.
.... ... ...
Mr Trump said a lot of people should be "ashamed of themselves" when asked about its contents. Media caption"I think it's terrible...I think it's a disgrace", Trump said of the controversial memo. Earlier on Friday the president accused top officials of politicising FBI and justice department investigations to damage his Republican party.
Devin Nunes, who commissioned the memo, has said it shows "serious violations" of public trust and he hopes it will trigger reforms. Mr Page said he would use the memo in upcoming legal action against the justice department.
Another bizarre moment is that it was released AFTER the debates over the reauthorization of FISA surveillance which resulted in unconditional bipartisan approval last month. And the very surveillance practices alleged to have been abused in this hotly controversial memo are the same which were approved both the House and the Senate, including the same people who insisted on the release of the memo.
Another hypothesis is that the kicking, screaming, wailing and gnashing of teeth by DemoRats makes sense if we assume that the memo represents direct threat to the neoliberal "deep state", which usurped real political power from elected officials, making them little more the puppets on scheme. While such hypothesis can be found in some articles about the event, it is extremely weak and in unsupported by the facts on the ground (Consortiumnews):
The term “deep state” does not mean “Democrats and Never-Trumpers” as Republican pundits would have you believe, nor does the term refer to any kind of weird, unverifiable conspiracy theory. The deep state is in fact not a conspiracy theory at all, but simply a concept used in political analysis for discussing the undeniable fact that unelected power structures exist in America, and that they tend to form alliances and work together in some sense.
There is no denying the fact that plutocrats, intelligence agencies, defense agencies and the mass media are both powerful and unelected, and there is no denying the fact that there are many convoluted and often conflicting alliances between them. All that can be debated is the manner and extent to which this is happening.
The deep state is America’s permanent government, the U.S. power structures that Americans don’t elect. These power structures plainly have a vested interest in keeping America’s Orwellian surveillance structures in place, as evidenced by the intelligence community’s menacingly urgent demand for FISA renewal back in December. If there’s any thread to be pulled that really could make waves in the way Official Washington (hat tip to the late Robert Parry) operates, it is in the plot holes between the bipartisan scramble toward unconditional surveillance renewal and the highly partisan battle over exposing the abuse of those very powers.
If we’re going to see a gap in the bars of our cages, that’s a great place to keep our eyes trained, so keep watching. Watch what happens in a partisan war where both parties have a simultaneous interest in revealing as little of the game as possible and exposing the other party. Things could get very interesting.
The whole idea of secret courts, whose very existence is also secret, should be utterly disgusting to any who respect the US constitution. Existence of such courts is the clearest and the most comprehensive proofs that the USA is neither a democracy, not republic but "inverted totalitarism" regime as Professor Sheldon Wolin observed in his grodbreaking book. Citizens separated from our privacy and therefore not a free people. They are slaves of the state.
So even oligarchic democracy (democracy for the top 1%) no longer works in the USA.
Was Christopher Steele a paid asset of FBI?
Will Christopher Steele Be
Charged in the UK as a Spy?
We all remember that Christopher Steele went into hiding after the release of the memo and then after just three months suddenly reemerged. So he has concerns about his life. Such behaviour suggest that there might be something is wrong with his loyalties to his native country. And it might be that during those three month some high level negotiation between Brits and FBI were held.
The blog Sic Semper Tyrannis provided an an interesting analysis of the fact that FBI was adamantly against the release of the memo and an interesting phase in the Nunes memo "Steele was suspended and then TERMINATED AS AN FBI SOURCE.":
Do you want to know why the FBI continued to insist that the Nunes' memo not be declassified and released to the public? The answer is right there on page 2, (see 1b) in the discussion about what was excluded from the application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court:The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of-and paid by-the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information.
I believe that the part in bold is what the FBI wanted out of the memo because it exposes the uncomfortable fact that Christopher Steele was (and had been for some time) a paid asset of the FBI. That is huge news. In other words, Steele was not a mere consultant or sub-contractor for the FBI. He was being paid to provide information/intelligence to the FBI. There are two classes of FBI "informants." One is serving as a "criminal informant" and the other is as an "intelligence asset." Information from "criminal informants" can be used in a U.S. judicial proceeding and the informant called as a witness. Getting money under that circumstance can be problematic because the source's credibility can be impeached by defense counsel, who can argue that the testimony is purloined.
You do not have to worry about that with an "intelligence asset." In that case the priority is protecting the identity of the source. The fact that Steele had been on the FBI payroll for a while sheds new light on Glen Simpson's testimony (which was leaked by Senator Feinstein) to the U.S. Senate. Simpson testified that Steele told him in late September 2016 that the FBI wanted to meet him in Rome to discuss the dossier. That struck me initially as quite odd. If Steele was just acting as an average "foreign" citizen who was trying to help the FBI then he could easily have met with the Bureau in London. That city hosts the largest number of FBI agents in the world outside of the U.S. But Steele was asked to go meet in Rome. That's what you do when you are meeting an intelligence asset that the Brits do not know about.
Also
The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of-and paid by-the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information.
I believe that the part in bold is what the FBI wanted out of the memo because it exposes the uncomfortable fact that Christopher Steele was (and had been for some time) a paid asset of the FBI. That is huge news. In other words, Steele was not a mere consultant or sub-contractor for the FBI. He was being paid to provide information/intelligence to the FBI. There are two classes of FBI "informants." One is serving as a "criminal informant" and the other is as an "intelligence asset." Information from "criminal informants" can be used in a U.S. judicial proceeding and the informant called as a witness. Getting money under that circumstance can be problematic because the source's credibility can be impeached by defense counsel, who can argue that the testimony is purloined.
You do not have to worry about that with an "intelligence asset." In that case the priority is protecting the identity of the source. The fact that Steele had been on the FBI payroll for a while sheds new light on Glen Simpson's testimony (which was leaked by Senator Feinstein) to the U.S. Senate. Simpson testified that Steele told him in late September 2016 that the FBI wanted to meet him in Rome to discuss the dossier. That struck me initially as quite odd. If Steele was just acting as an average "foreign" citizen who was trying to help the FBI then he could easily have met with the Bureau in London. That city hosts the largest number of FBI agents in the world outside of the U.S. But Steele was asked to go meet in Rome. That's what you do when you are meeting an intelligence asset that the Brits do not know about.
That is the problem.
The United States and Great Britain have had a long standing "understanding" or informal agreement to not recruit each others intelligence and law enforcement personnel as intelligence assets. I chatted yesterday with an old intelligence hand (a U.S. person) who was approached by British MI 6 during a TDY to London. My friend rejected the come on and reported the approach to the CIA Chief of Station (aka COS). The COS was angry with the Brits. They were not supposed to do that, nor are we. But sometimes a target is so attractive that very high level permissions to break the agreements are given.
The real irony here is that the Schiff memo is likely to compound the problem for Steele because it is likely to highlight Steele's prior activities on behalf of the Bureau that predate the 2016 election cycle (remember, Steele was hired by Fusion GPS in June 2016). This is the issue that had FBI Director Wray's panties in a knot. When you sign up a foreign source you vow to protect them. When you expose such a source you make it more difficult to recruit new sources.
There may be another twist to this. Was Steele actually operating as an FBI intel asset with the secret knowledge of the Brits? In other words, was he a double agent or an agent of influence? One way to tell will be watching the reaction of the U.K. authorities now that they know that Steele was a paid FBI informant. Imagine the outrage here if one of the former CIA or FBI talking heads that are appearing on punditry circuit was exposed as someone getting paid by the Russian version of the FBI or CIA. It would be ugly.
Several commenters offered additional thought on this complex issue:
Sylvia 1 said...This is from an interview in Politico with Victoria Nuland. It seems Mr. Steele was accustomed to dropping by the State Department--and did so in the Summer of 2016 with news of "Russian interference" Since he was already a paid asset of the FBI wouldn't hey have also known of his "work" by then. This may be relevant to the issue of what caused the FBI to open a counter intelligence investigation in July 2016 -- Mr. Steele/Fusion GPS or a drunken Papadopolus?
"In the interview, Nuland said she was familiar with Steele’s work through regular reports he had passed on to her office over the previous several years dealing with political maneuverings in Russia and Ukraine. When presented by an intermediary with the startling information about “linkages” between Trump and Russia that summer, “what I did was say that this is about U.S. politics,” Nuland recounted, “and not the business of the State Department, and certainly not the business of a career employee who is subject to the Hatch Act, which requires that you stay out of politics. So, my advice to those who were interfacing with him was that he should get this information to the FBI, and that they could evaluate whether they thought it was credible.”"
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/05/global-politico-victoria-nuland-obama-216937
wisedupearly Ceo said...robt willmann , 06 February 2018 at 03:33 PMIf Steele has been spying on the Brits on behalf of the FBI then he's gone. If he was working his old contacts for non-Brit intel after retiring is that a crime? Hopefully Steele would not approach active assets. Not sure how the spook world sees it.
To make the dossier watertight Steele would have to select believable contacts that could have supplied the information supposedly fed to him by Clinton. Or to put it the other way round, Clinton would have to know what contacts Steele had to generate the "dirt" to match the contacts. Feasible? Likely?
Still waiting for Gowdy to state that the warrant was issued illegally.
Well, the House Intel Committee memo, Republican version, says on page 2, lines 7-8:"Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign [etc.]..."
That is pretty clear: "Steele was a longtime FBI source ...." How long, one might wonder?
Joe100,
Carter Page does appear to be a little odd. He enthusiastically shows up for multiple television interviews grinning quite a bit and seemingly without a care in the world.
The memo has obviously been edited down. The first neon sign I saw was on page 1: "The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC". A FISA order must be renewed every 90 days. Four times 90 is 360 days. Day one was 21 October 2016, the memo tells us. Donald Trump was elected president on 8 November 2016. He was sworn in on 20 January 2017. Carter Page was under surveillance until October 2017, a little over three months ago. On what grounds? Who was he talking to or communicating with, other than the hosts of television shows?
The memo creates the impression that the Steele paper was used in each of the four FISA applications, but that is not completely clear.
Furthermore, the memo clearly says that James Comey signed three FISA applications in question and Andrew McCabe signed one. But when it comes to the Justice Department lawyers, the language gets vague: Sally Yates, Dana Boente, and Rod Rosenstein "each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ". Why not say the exact number each one signed? Is the memo talking only about the four Carter Page applications or other additional applications with respect to the DOJ lawyers?
Could Carter Page also have been a FBI accomplice ?
In view of this whole Russiagate story, one starts not only suspect "Russians under each bad" but also "false flag operation under each bad". In a comment at Sic Semper Tyrannis blog a commenter with nick "blue peacock" suggested that Page activities in Moscow might be a false flag operation to get Trump.
blue peacock said...
RC , 05 February 2018 at 11:16 PMPT, TTG, et al
Could Carter Page too have been a FBI accomplice? It wouldn't be too far fetched if he was sent to be a volunteer in the Trump campaign to gain retroactive authorization on the surveillance of the campaign. Maybe that's why they had to resort to the Fusion GPS dossier in their FISA Title I warrant application.
The DOJ/FBI seem to be rather desperate to hide something. That's the only explanation I can see for their stalling and obstruction tactics here. This notion of creating a precedent for disclosure seems like a red herring to me.
The Conservative Treehouse had a revelation today about another FBI undercover agent.blue peacock said in reply to The Twisted Genius ... , 06 February 2018 at 01:17 AMTurns out the Carter Page, who the FBI certified as a Russian Spy to the FISA court in October 2016, was an undercover FBI agent used to trap and act as state witness in a trial against a real spy between 2013 and May 2016.
You better believe the FISA court was not told that Carter Page was a trusted FBI undercover operative -- until he became a VEHICLE to spy on the whole Trump Campaign, in October 2016 and three subsequent times at 90-day intervals.
TTGEric Newhill , 06 February 2018 at 09:06 AMI understand what you're saying and would agree that would normally be how its done. Wearing a wire. But...I am speculating that Carter Page was used to get a FISA warrant specifically to gain retroactive authorization of earlier surveillance on some members of the Trump team. My speculation is that surveillance on Team Trump began earlier without any warrants leading to FISA violations that Admiral Rogers discovered in April 2016. Carter Page was the perfect accomplice to cover their surveillance tracks by getting the FISA Title I warrant in October 2016 on him and consequently every one he was in contact with.
My contention that "setting a precedent" is a red herring is because the IC routinely disclose sources and methods when it serves their interest. For example I believe recalling Col. Lang writing that the IC disclosed we had decrypted secure communications of the Russian ambassador, apparently to nail Gen. Flynn. So, hiding behind precedence is precisely to prevent disclosure of malfeasance. It is like Clapper denying under oath that there is no mass surveillance. IMO, disclosing the FISA application may implicate Comey, Yates, Rosenstein, et al. and that's the only reason why they are stalling. Just like the hysteria from Comey and Brennan prior to the release of the Nunes memo. And why they redact so much from the Grassley memo. There are no sources and methods in any of these memos.
wisedup,Joe100 , 06 February 2018 at 10:04 AMI posted a comment a little past my "good until" hour last night. I erroneously stated how much Page was allegedly offered, Sechin, to end sanctions. Still, it was an eye raising amount of $. I think it strained credibility.
Why Page? I think it's all about perception management; putting a fig leaf on the coup for the public's sake. Goes like this. Trump was getting bashed for allegedly knowing nothing about foreign policy and not having a team. This was especially damaging compared to Clinton, who had been Sec State. Trump has his people quickly look everywhere for people and organize as many "advisors" as possible (more perception management). Then he fires back at critiques that he has all kinds of advisors. Page had a PhD, Naval Academy grad. That looked good. Page Makes the team Trump list.
The FBI has been circling, waiting for something to seize upon to damage Trump on Clinton's behalf. Bingo!
Calls are made and Steele is directed to include inflammatory "intel" on Page and Page+Trump in his reports. He does. It is possible that FBI did not fully realize at the time that Page and Trump never talk. Poor Page. Everyone uses him and no one takes him seriously.
I am getting really confused here. According to then NYT (via a "former intelligence officer") Carter Page was the FBI Undercover Employee (UCE-1) in the Buryakov case (2013) and that (apparently according to court records) he continued to support the case through March 2016.Cvillereader said in reply to turcopolier ... , 06 February 2018 at 12:28 PMSo how does this (if accurate and ten description of UCE-1 certainly fits Page) relate to an October 2016 FISA warrant on him??
For details see: https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/02/05/in-march-2016-carter-page-was-an-fbi-employee-in-october-2016-fbi-told-fisa-court-hes-a-spy/#more-145498
I would not exclude the possibility that Page, as well as Manafort and Papadopoulos, were plants. The previous FBI case that Page was involved with did not end until May 2016, which I think is after he became involved with the Trump campaign. Manafort and Papadopoulos both have connections to shady figures in Ukraine.And now we are beginning to hear that Victoria Nuland May have steered Steele toward the FBI. I have no doubt that Obama's State Department might have been concerned about damaging information held by Putin on its activities.
"Steele dossier as Clinton's insurance" revelations
Careful reading on Nunes memo suggest that the allegation is actually worse than just payments from Clinton to Steele. It is also that the Clinton campaign was feeding Steele information on Trump and members of his team.
Presumably, if Clinton had made the allegations against Trump, it wouldn't have been taken seriously. However, having the allegations routed through Steele and then appearing as intelligence gathered by his impeccable personage would cause the allegations to be taken seriously and to be used for warrants and so on and so forth.
Clinton paying Steele is very bad. Clinton feeding Steele information to be included in his "dossier" is much worse. The FBI failing to disclose either during the warrant application is catastrophic for democracy.
Is it true? I bet it is. This doesn't feel like empty grandstanding by the Rs and Trump. It doesn't feel like a desperately flailing counter attack either. It does feel like the Ds and the borg are on their heals at this point.
We will know soon enough when underlying detail is released. OTOH, maybe we never will. Depends on the Rs' strategy. They may seek to up the pressure to the point where their enemies see the rope awaiting their necks; at which point they deal. Some Ds and borgs step down/retire, some are sacrificed to satisfy the public's need for justice to be done, others may stay around, but must concede things of value to the Rs (content of and passing of bills amongst those things?). Then again, maybe the entire swamp just gets drained in the course of a righteous crusade.
I find the resistance to the concept of a coup attempt to be interesting. It's like they think demons that drove Cassius and Brutus got locked in hell, permanently, 2,000 years
As Philip Giraldi noted The Nunes Memo Needs More Work, by Philip Giraldi - The Unz Review
Even the evidence about the critically important Steele Dossier provided by the memo is somewhat ambiguous, particularly as the document suggests that Steele was a paid and fully controlled “intelligence source” of the Bureau and must have been acting under FBI direction. His meeting with a Legatt Officer in Rome at the insistence of the Bureau also suggests that he was cooperating without authorization from his former employer MI6, which could mean trouble down the road for Steele.
Beyond that there is some confusion. One source, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, said, but has since recanted, that the dossier was essential to the FISC request while another Assistant FBI Director Bill Priestap saying its allegations were in their “infancy” of being corroborated. That would seem to suggest that the Bureau deliberately used an unvetted Steele report of questionable provenance to make a case to surveil an American citizen under FISA, but is that really true? Indeed, it appears that the Democrats will concede that the dossier was used but it was only a “small and insignificant” part of the case. But if that was not so and the Republican allegation is basically correct, it would be devastating as the dossier was, in FBI Director James Comey’s judgment, “salacious.” And we do not know, of course, what the Bureau had developed on Page independently, which is no doubt what its counter-offensive and that of the Democrats will also focus on, a response which, incidentally, could reveal actual secrets relating to intelligence sources and methods.
"Mutually assured destruction" type of equilibrium probably is now reached by Trump part of oligarchy and Clinton/Obama neoliberals and that represents a new political reality in the USA
Slash and burn style of US politics reached a new level with the launch of anti-Trump color revolution by the intelligence agencies along with elements of Deep state in the Department of justice and the State Department.
Two groups of the US oligarchy fighting in pro-Trump and anti-Trump camps now have information on each other that assure destruction of other side if released in full. Biggest Nunes Memo Revelations Have Little To Do With Its Content – Consortiumnews
welshTerrier2 , February 3, 2018 at 8:28 am
Annie , February 3, 2018 at 1:02 pmFor more than a generation, the term "mutually assured destruction" was used to suggest that neither the US nor the Soviet Union would use a nuclear weapon against the other because it would result in their own annihilation. Less understood, was that the term also applied to the collusion by both parties needed to obscure the Deep State from public view.
It's delightful to see the truth oozing through the cracks.
welshTerrier2 , February 3, 2018 at 1:22 pmInstead of referring to it as the Deep State, why not call it for what it is, the National Security State, and it's meddled in the democratic process all the way back to the McCarthy era and has helped to de-democratize this country. The highly flawed Steele dossier was not only used by " one presidential campaign to get permission to spy on another " which is indeed significant, but it has also been used to escalate a new cold war.
Annie , February 3, 2018 at 3:52 pmI'm fine with either label. I prefer Deep State because much of what is done has nothing to do with "national" security. Many of their activities focus on providing "security" to selected corporate interests and their largest shareholders.
Deep State, at least to me, connotes a degree of secrecy not to protect the national interest but rather to hide their deeds and objectives from the American people. Worse, they use assassinations, false flag projects and leaking lies to their media friends to "manufacture consent".
Allowing them to hide behind a "national security" title seems to only further their objectives.
Joe Tedesky , February 3, 2018 at 10:57 pmYeah, but it's the National Security State that has overturned governments, slaughtered millions, and mostly to protect corporate interests and push our hegemonic agenda. I have no personal objection to the term, since I know what you're talking about, but when people reference the Deep State to others who know little politically, and that's most, they think you're a conspiracy theorist.
Skip Scott , February 4, 2018 at 8:35 amAnnie I had to post this link here, because if you watch the Real News interview of Coleen Rowley and Max Blumenthal, you will here Max refer to the Deep State as he would prefer to call it the National Security State as well. Listen to what Rowley and Blumenthal have to say.
I think the "National Security State" is really a servant of the so-called "Deep State". They are the enforcers of the economic model upon which the Deep State oligarchs thrive. They include the bankers and the western backed multi-national corporations. The MSM propaganda/entertainment network is another branch of the service of the Deep State.
What Nunes memo tells us about cyberspace false flag operations and the use by the intelligence agances of US neoliberal MSM to create an arbitrary witch hunt
Everybody understood that the system is pretty well rigged on federal level and there two levels of justice -- one for neoliberal "masters of the universe" who are by-and-large above the law, and another for shmucks. That's not a news. The news is the level of sophistication is escaping the changes and use of the accusation of hacking falsified via false flag operation as a new smokescreen to pass the blame to selected scapegoat.
Here we see very successful efforts to unleash Neo-McCarthyism campaign and put all the blame for Hillary defeat on Russians, which later was extended into the color revolution against Trump of falsified changed of Russia collision. Few people understand the US MSM is just a propaganda department of the US intelligence agencies and do their bidding. The fact that at some point CIA controlled major journalists was known from Church commission hearings. And there was some backlash. But now the situation reversed and due to the regime to total surveillance their capability to dictate the agenda far exceed the level that was in the past.
moreover, now CIA cyberwarriors can cook any accusation using their "technical capabilities" and spread is using subservant MSM in a matter of days creating the wave of hate which far exceed what was described in famous dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell. Refuting those "cooked" intrusions (which are a new and very nasty form of false flag operations) is difficult what when (and if) it is done, typically it is too late. As Hermann Goering said (Hermann Goering War Games):
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”
— Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
... ... ...
Paradoxically while the value of cyberspace for offensive operations against adversaries is unclear, it is clear that it has tremendous potential for conducting false flag operations serving as a pretext for real wars, or some "Show trials" of dissidents in best Stalin traditions. and witch hunt against Trump is a just form of Show Trials in a court of public opinion.
Everything can be forged in cyberspace -- source of attack, attack methods. Fake personalities like Guccifer 2.0 can be created to support the accusations. Sky is the limit for false flag operations in cyberspace. Steele dossier in this sense is old school falsification. It is "DNC hack" that is the harbinger of things to come.
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Sky is the limit for false flag operations in cyberspace. Steele dossier in this sense is old school falsification. It is "DNC hack" that is the harbinger of things to come. |
We may feel uneasy by the idea that people now could be so easily manipulated into sacrificing themselves in wars at the whims of the neoliberal elite, but perhaps we can be more concerned (and maybe even scared) at the thought that the capabilities to deceive us are now greater not less that it was before. Much greater. They now really can create "artificial reality" using MSM.
In any case capabilities of intelligence agencies to hatch and then inject into MSM "DNC hack style disinformation" to blackmail a major political figure using a "cyberspace" false flag operation are now enormous. Even POTUS can be the target of such blackmail. In this sense the current Russiagate hysteria makes Joseph McCartney like a pretty uninventive, even somewhat dull guy with very limited capabilities to frame his victims ;-) Recently even Nunes was accused (with impunity) to be a Russian agent. This is "communists under each bed" type of witch hunt on a new level.
Now we know that Russiagate was initially the criminal plot to exonerate Hillary and derail Sanders campaign hatched by intelligence community in cooperation with connected members of Clinton campaign like John Podesta (who as a former WH chief of staff has deep connections to "intelligence community".) Intelligence agencies and journalists connected with intelligence services were recruited and the well planned obfuscation campaign started. which later morphed into color regulation against Trump (typical for color revolution charges of rigged election were replaced by accusation of "collision" with foreign power.) All this was done with full cooperation and eager participation of NYT, WaPo, CNN. MSNBC and other neoliberal outlets. As the result in May 2016 a Special Prosecutor was appointed to take care of Trump removal.
Sanders did not have the courage to switch to alternative Open Convention to get a nomination from Democratic Party. He was so aftraid (or was threatened, the meaning of his visit with Obama is not known) that he chose to betray his voters and support Hillary. So with the help of neoliberal MSM a brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton from a clear violation of the law (with regard to the way she handled classified information with her private email server; absolutely a crime, absolutely a felony) did succeed. In this sense Russiagate is in reality FBI-gate.
It is an established fact that Comey and the senior DOJ officials conducted a fake criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton. Following none of the regular rules, gave her every break in the book, immunized all kinds of people, allowed the destruction of evidence, no grand jury, no subpoenas, no search warrant. That was not an investigation, that was a Potemkin village. It was a farce.
DOJ should convene grand jury to indict the major players (whose in high positions in DOJ and FBI should be fired). If like torturers in Bush II era will not be brought to justice this is just another sign that the USA is neither a republic not a democracy.
Unfortunately Trump while a good tactician, is not strategic thinker on any level. He might have some courage which allowed him to fire Comey, and then tell that truth to American people that this firing is about "Russiagate". But you need more that courage to take on "deep state". You need to have a plan. You need to have a coalition. And we do not know if Trump was threatened or not (see Chuck Schumer remark above.) He should address the nation from Oval Office and tell that FBI story can only be believed by people with IQ below 70. And that DOJ should immediately appoint a Special Prosecutor investigating this matter. But this will most probably just a fantasy.
Summarizing we can say that "FISA memo" is a testimony of tremendous personal courage of Nunes (note that one neoliberal MSM jerk already accused him being a Russian spy). He did tremendous job driven by noble motives of restoring justice. And his memo undermined the Color revolution against Trump by making Mueller position more vulnerable as he is clearly a member of the gang of FBI Mayberry Machiavellians. It also put Rosenstein into defensive position. But this is an uphill battle and he might lose at the end of the date. The neoliberal swamp is way too powerful and can consume even such courageous people as Nunes.
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NEWS CONTENTS
- 20200417* Declassified Horowitz Footnotes Show Obama Officials Knew Steele Dossier Was Russian Disinfo Designed To Target Trump Zero He ( Apr 17, 2020 , www.zerohedge.com ) [Recommended]
- 20200129 : Top GOP Senators Say Horowitz Report Misled Public, Demand AG Barr Declassify Some Footnotes ( Jan 29, 2020 , www.zerohedge.com )
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- 20191214 : Meadows reacts to IG report: 'Doesn't get any more damning than this' ( Dec 14, 2019 , www.youtube.com )
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- 20191211 : Why Brennan and his team have all lawyered up ( Dec 11, 2019 , www.zerohedge.com )
- 20191211 : Not Steele dossier, but FBI/CIA/MI6 operation of George Papadopoulos entrapment was the real star of Russiagate ( Dec 11, 2019 , www.theatlantic.com )
- 20191210 : Horowitz Report Is Triumph For FISA Abuse 'Whistleblower' Devin Nunes WSJ's Kim Strassel ( Dec 10, 2019 , www.zerohedge.com )
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- 20180206 : If events continue to unfold in the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee as I think they will in exposing a palace coup attempt on the President ( Feb 06, 2018 , www.unz.com )
- 20180205 : Russiagate scandal approaches its implosion point by Alexander Mercouris ( Feb 05, 2018 , theduran.com )
- 20180205 : Rampant abuse and possible contempt of Court what you need to know about the GOP memo by Alexander Mercouris ( Feb 05, 2018 , theduran.com )
- 20180205 : Adam Schiff's collusion with oligarch, Ukrainian arms dealer, exposed ( Feb 05, 2018 , theduran.com )
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- 20180131 : FBI FISA fiasco would end up in further polarization of the country along the Party lines ( Jan 31, 2018 , consortiumnews.com )
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Old News ;-)
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[Apr 17, 2020] Declassified Horowitz Footnotes Show Obama Officials Knew Steele Dossier Was Russian Disinfo Designed To Target Trump Zero He
Highly recommended!
Notable quotes:
"... Authored by Sara Carter via SaraACarter.com, ..."
"... "Having reviewed the matter, and having consulted the heads of the relevant Intelligence Community elements, I have declassified the enclosed footnotes." ..."
"... , and that they were the product of RIS (Russian Intelligence Services) ..."
Apr 17, 2020 | www.zerohedge.com
Authored by Sara Carter via SaraACarter.com,
Systemic FBI Effort To Legitimize Steele and Use His Information To Target POTUS
Newly declassified footnotes from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz's December FBI report reveals that senior Obama officials, including members of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team knew the dossier compiled by a former British spy during the 2016 election was Russian disinformation to target President Donald Trump.
Further, the partially declassified footnotes reveal that those senior intelligence officials were aware of the disinformation when they included the dossier in the Obama administration's Intelligence Communities Assessment (ICA).
As important, the footnotes reveal that there had been a request to validate information collected by British spy Christopher Steele as far back as 2015, and that there was concern among members of the FBI and intelligence community about his reliability. Those concerns were brushed aside by members of the Crossfire Hurricane team in their pursuit against the Trump campaign officials, according to sources who spoke to this reporter and the footnotes.
The explosive footnotes were partially declassified and made public Wednesday, after a lengthy review by the Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell's office. Grenell sent the letter Wednesday releasing the documents to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and Sen. Ron Johnson, R- Wisconsin, both who requested the declassification.
"Having reviewed the matter, and having consulted the heads of the relevant Intelligence Community elements, I have declassified the enclosed footnotes." Grenell consulted with DOJ Attorney General William Barr on the declassification of the documents.
Grassley and Johnson released a statement late Wednesday stating "as we can see from these now-declassified footnotes in the IG's report, Russian intelligence was aware of the dossier before the FBI even began its investigation and the FBI had reports in hand that their central piece of evidence was most likely tainted with Russian disinformation."
The Footnotes"Thanks to Attorney General Barr's and Acting Director Grenell's declassification of the footnotes, we know the FBI's justification to target an American Citizen was riddled with significant flaws," the Senator stated. "Inspector General Michael Horowitz and his team did what neither the FBI nor Special Counsel Mueller cared to do: examine and investigate corruption at the FBI, the sources of the Steele dossier, how it was disseminated, and reporting that it contained Russian disinformation."
A U.S. Official familiar with the investigation into the FBI told this reporter that the footnotes "clearly show that the FBI team was or should have had been aware that the Russian Intelligence Services was trying to influence Steele's reporting in the summer of 2016, and that there were some preferences for Hillary; and that this RIS [Russian Intelligence Services] sourced information being fed to Steele was designed to hurt Trump."
The official noted these new revelations also "undermines the ICA on Russian Interference and the intent to help Trump. It undermines the FISA warrants and there should not have been a Mueller investigation."
https://www.scribd.com/embeds/456702034/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-FfQY6LojXtyOnkGw6OiJ
Russian's Appeared To Have Preferred ClintonThe footnotes also reveal a startling fact that go against Brennan's assessment that Russia was vying for Trump, when in fact, the Russians appeared to be hopeful of a Clinton presidency.
Steele's Lies"The FBI received information in June, 2017 which revealed that, among other things, there were personal and business ties between the sub-source and Steele's Primary Sub-source, contacts between the sub-source and an individual in the Russian Presidential Administration in June/July 2016 [redacted] and the sub source voicing strong support for candidate Clinton in the 2016 U.S. election. The Supervisory Intel Analyst told us that the FBI did not have a Section 702 vicarage on any other Steele sub-source."
The complete four pages of the partially redacted footnotes paint a clear picture of the alleged malfeasance committed by former FBI Director James Comey, former DNI James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, who were all aware of the concerns regarding the information supplied by former British spy Christopher Steele in the dossier. Steele, who was hired by the private embattled research firm Fusion GPS, was paid for his work through the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. The FBI also paid for Steele's work before ending its confidential source relationship with him but then used Obama DOJ Official Bruce Ohr as a go between to continue obtaining information from the former spy.
In footnote 205, for instance, payment documents show that Steele lied about not being a Confidential Human Source.
"During his time as an FBI CHS, Steele received a total of $95,000 from the FBI," the footnote states. "We reviewed the FBI paperwork for those payments, each of which required Steele's Signed acknowledgement. On each document, of which there were eight, was the caption 'CHS payment' and 'CHS Payment Name.' A signature page was missing for one of the payments."
Footnote 350In footnote 350, Horowitz describes the questionable Russian disinformation and the FBI's reliance on the information to target the Trump campaign as an attempt to build a narrative that campaign officials colluded with Russia. Further, the timeline reveals that Comey, Brennan and Clapper were aware of the disinformation by Russian intelligence when they briefed then President-elect Trump in January, 2017 on the Steele dossier.
"[redacted] In addition to the information in Steele's Delta file documenting Steele's frequent contacts with representatives for multiple Russian oligarchs, we identified reporting the Crossfire Hurricane team received from [redacted] indicating the potential for Russian disinformation influencing Steele' election reporting," stated the partially declassified footnote 350. "A January 12, 2017 report relayed information from [redacted] outlining an inaccuracy in a limited subset of Steele's reporting about the activities of Michael Cohen. The [redacted] stated that it did not have high confidence in this subset of Steele's reporting and assessed that the referenced subset was part of a Russian disinformation campaign to denigrate U.S. foreign relations.
A second report from the same [redacted] five days later stated that a person named in the limited subset of Steele's reporting had denied representations in the reporting and the [redacted] assessed that the person's denials were truthful. A USIC report dated February 27, 2017, contained information about an individual with reported connections to Trump and Russia who claimed that the public reporting about the details of Trump's sexual activities in Moscow during a trip in 2013 were false , and that they were the product of RIS (Russian Intelligence Services) 'infiltrate[ing] a source into the network' of a [redacted] who compiled a dossier of that individual on Trump's activities. The [redacted] noted that it had no information indicating that the individual had special access to RIS activities or information," according to the partially declassified footnote.
Looming QuestionsAnother concern regarding Steele's unusual activity is found in footnote 210, which states "as we discuss in Chapter Six, members of the Crossfire Hurricane Team were unaware of Steele's connections to Russian Oligarch 1."
The question remains that "Steele's unusual activity with 10 oligarch's led the FBI to seek a validation review in 2015 but one was not started until 2017," said the U.S. Official to this reporter. "Why not? Was Crossfire Hurricane aware of these concerns? Was the court made aware of these concerns? Didn't the numerous notes about sub sources and sources having links or close ties to Russian intelligence so why didn't this set off alarm bells?"
More alarming, it's clear, Supervisory Intelligence Agent Jonathan Moffa says in June 17, that he was not aware of reports that Russian Intelligence Services was aware of Steele's election reporting and influence efforts.
"However, he should have been given the reporting by UCIS" which the U.S. Official says, goes back to summer 2016.
Footnote 342 makes it clear that "in late January, 2017, a member of the Crossfire Hurricane team received information [redacted] that RIS [Russian Intelligence Services] may have targeted Orbis."
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[Jan 29, 2020] Top GOP Senators Say Horowitz Report Misled Public, Demand AG Barr Declassify Some Footnotes
Jan 29, 2020 | www.zerohedge.com
Top GOP Senators Say Horowitz Report "Misled Public", Demand AG Barr Declassify Some Footnotes by Tyler Durden Tue, 01/28/2020 - 21:35 0 SHARES Authored by Sara Carter via SaraACarter.com,
Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee have formerly requested that Attorney General William Barr declassify four footnotes in Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report on the FBI's FISA abuse investigation. The letter states that the classified footnotes contradict information in Horowitz's report that appears to have misled the public.
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent the classified letter Tuesday evening and questioned the contradiction between the footnotes and what was made public by Horowitz's team regarding the bureau's Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
However, the Senator's did not disclose what section of the December FISA report contradicts the footnotes in their findings.
The Senator's state in their letter to Barr that certain sections of Horowitz's report on the FBI are misleading the public.
Part of the classified letter, which was obtained by SaraACarter.com states:
"We have reviewed the findings of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) with regard to the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation, and we are deeply concerned about certain information that remains classified ," the letter states.
"Specifically, we are concerned that certain sections of the public version of the report are misleading because they are contradicted by relevant and probative classified information redacted in four footnotes.
This classified information is significant not only because it contradicts key statements in a section of the report , but also because it provides insight essential for an accurate evaluation of the entire investigation.
The American people have a right to know what is contained within these four footnotes and, without that knowledge, they will not have a full picture as to what happened during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. "
Johnson and Grassley's office noted that "for maximum public transparency, the senators wrote a separate unclassified cover letter to describe their request."
Full text of the unclassified letter to Barr below:
Tags Politics
dustinwind , 1 hour ago link
MadelynMarie , 1 hour ago linkI wonder what kind of back room deals are going on right now that got the establishment working so hard to make sure the people are distracted from?
The impeachment is a giant nothing burger considering democrats lack the votes and any reasonable person knows that Barr was destined to return a giant nothing burger from the beginning so there must be something important the establishment wants to keep hidden by keeping these nothing burgers alive and in our faces.
GreatSunnyDays , 1 hour ago linkDidn't NeoCon puppet Trump order Barr to declass the Russia hoax docs?? Then deep state/CIA Barr and dirty corrupt DOJ turned everything around on Trump, and said Barr was ordered to determine IF anything needed to be declassified, which means, it will NEVER HAPPEN!!!
Trump had leverage over the domestic/global swamp when he held the thread of declassification over their heads, but once he ordered Barr to do it, and Barr turned it around on him, he lost all of his leverage/power. More here on leverage and declassification:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/10/trump_declassification_and_leverage.html
ScratInTheHat , 1 hour ago link.Horowitz discredited himself in an earlier report and Congress testimony when he said "there was no bias in the FBI's efforts to surveil Trump"
He's a Democrat. Wanna know why some businesses fail? They let 'qualified' but sabotaging people stay around.
Governments can fail too. Looks like Horowitz has proven once again he's not neutral. I actually emailed the White House, I believe after he testifyied in that hearing, to get rid of him. Barr is likewise useless in terms of protecting the government and citizens from the deep state.
SRV , 1 hour ago linkThe US government is for the US government. The system protects the system! It does not matter who it looks like is running it because the system is running the system and the system is covering for everyone in the system that needs to be protected to protect the system.
If they were Democrats the footnotes would already be splashed all over the front page of today's NYTs
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[Jan 01, 2020] Is FBI unredeemably corrupted?
Jan 01, 2020 | www.moonofalabama.org
Paul Damascene , Dec 28 2019 22:58 utc | 36
FBI unredeemably corrupted...?I think some my still hold out the hope or expectation that the DOJ will get to the bottom of national-security state malfeasance, beginning with FBI.
Kim Strassel of the WSJ quite pointedly asks why there was so little interest at the FIS court in the Nunez memo, which the IG report now bears out. Covering for malfeasance might just be the FISC's job one.
Now, a similarly gimlet-eyed view of the FBI, as arguably beyond saving ...
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[Dec 19, 2019] Horowitz put the telescope to his blind eye, its an old deep state trick that Lord Nelson used in an illegal war that the British mythologize about
Dec 19, 2019 | www.moonofalabama.org
uncle tungsten , Dec 19 2019 6:17 utc | 81
evilempire #40Horowitz put the telescope to his blind eye, its an old deep state trick that Lord Nelson used in an illegal war that the British mythologize about. IMO Horowitz is a whitewash man and there most likely will be questions that Durham will be asking Priestap IF that is the Giuliani plan. Wont hold my breath though. Trump seems to be acting MAD as hell but then so do wrestlers in their fake as fake can be.
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[Dec 19, 2019] Priestap has testified that he inherited operation crossfire hurricane. But Horowitz's finding that there was no bias in opening the investigation was almost exclusively based on finding no bias in Priestap
Dec 19, 2019 | www.moonofalabama.org
evilempire , Dec 18 2019 23:48 utc | 40
There is one glaring contradiction that I did not see addressed in the Horowitz hearing. Priestap has testified that he inherited (page 14 of the pdf) operation crossfire hurricane. If he inherited the investigation then how could he have played any role in opening crossfire hurricane? Yet in the FISA report, Horowitz's finding that there was no bias in opening the investigation was almost exclusively based on finding no bias in Priestap. I have not seen this contradiction addressed anywhere.
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[Dec 19, 2019] Senate hearings give impression that the whole sordid, nasty conspiracy seems on the verge of being exposed, maybe as high as Obama himself, although he is just a puppet himself
Dec 19, 2019 | www.moonofalabama.org
evilempire , Dec 18 2019 22:32 utc | 28
If anyone was watching The Horowitz hearing in the senate today it would be hard to conclude that RussiaGate and Ukrainegate will not have serious consequences going forward.The whole sordid, nasty conspiracy seems on the verge of being exposed, maybe as high as Obama himself, although he is just a puppet himself, and indictments are sure to follow. I don't see how anyone could think that this will not be catastrophic for the democratic party.
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[Dec 14, 2019] FBI EXPOSED: Lindsey Graham DETAILS Massive FBI Bias Against President Trump
Dec 14, 2019 | www.youtube.com
FOX 10 Phoenix 722K subscribers The U.S. attorney who is conducting a wide-ranging investigation of the origins of the Trump-Russia probe released a rare statement Monday saying he disagrees with conclusions of the so-called FISA report -- after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found in that review that the probe's launch largely complied with DOJ and FBI policies. "Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report's conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened," U.S. Attorney John Durham said in a statement. Horowitz released his report Monday saying his investigators found no intentional misconduct or political bias surrounding efforts to launch that 2016 probe and to seek a highly controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the early months of the investigation. Still, it found that there were "significant concerns with how certain aspects of the investigation were conducted and supervised." "I have the utmost respect for the mission of the Office of Inspector General and the comprehensive work that went into the report prepared by Mr. Horowitz and his staff," Durham said. "However, our investigation is not limited to developing information from within component parts of the Justice Department. Our investigation has included developing information from other persons and entities, both in the U.S. and outside of the U.S." As Horowitz has conducted his review of DOJ actions during the Russia probe, Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, has also been conducting a wider inquiry into alleged misconduct and alleged improper government surveillance on the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Fox News reported in October that Durham's ongoing probe has transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation. Meanwhile, Attorney General William Barr ripped the FBI's "intrusive" investigation after the release of Horowitz's review, saying it was launched based on the "thinnest of suspicions." "The Inspector General's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken," Barr said in a statement. Barr expressed frustration that the FBI continued investigating the Trump campaign, even as "exculpatory" information came to the light.
Are See , 2 days agoWhen the FBI lies to a court it's called an "Irregularity" When you or I lie to a court, it's called "Perjury" and we go to jail.
Terry R , 2 days agoThe history of FBI and DOJ lying and legal abuse is much older than Trump. Read Sidney Powell's LICENSED TO LIE. Been going on since at least the Enron prosecutions. And judges are just as much to blame.
Guitarguts63 , 2 days agoThis is what we get for having so many lawyers in office.
Liam Daniels , 2 days ago16 minutes and 30 seconds in should be labeled as treason
Geena Gador , 2 days agoThe evidence is glaring. Indictments need to be handed out or else this is a mockery of justice
sethgabel , 2 days agoTalk is cheap. DO something to bring justice to the perpetrators.
SWFL Motorsports Fan , 2 days agoPage and Strzok conversation is more like insurgency than pillow talk.
Wynette Greer , 2 days agoThank God for: Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Doug Collins, Jim Jordan, and Louie Gohmert to represent our country in this mess to shed light on whats been going on. Drain the swamp in Washington!
Lillie Holmes , 2 days agoThe CIA are just as corrupt as the FBI , they have even more power to abuse !
Karlyn Pinson , 2 days agoWOW all the investigations they did on Trump was just to set him up, James Comey should be arrested
Arlene Duran , 2 days agoHOROWITZ'S IS A DEEP STATE SWAMP RAT. FIRE HIM
Michael Carr , 2 days agoCNN should be sued and barred from all angles of media. Dangerous very very dangerous situation.
Crystal kellim , 1 day agoAnd the tax payers of the United States spent 40 million dollars investigating Trump because of the Steele Dossier. Terrible, just awful.
Why aren't Lisa page and stroke in cuffs by NOW, this is conspiracy, treasonous behavior.... biased and they think they are above Americans.
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[Dec 14, 2019] Meadows reacts to IG report: 'Doesn't get any more damning than this'
Dec 14, 2019 | www.youtube.com
Tim Burton , 4 days agoThe dems slandered Barr and Durham but not Horowitz, now we know why .
SwapPart, LLC , 4 days agoGraham running cover for the Deep-State and directing us to low-level offenders NOT obama/hillary/DNC and their FAILED CoupD'etat's
William Bailey , 4 days agoHorowitz is just afraid of being added to the Clinton's body count.
Rice Family , 4 days ago (edited)Well folks there you have it. The deep state investigated themselves and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
It's insane to say there were "17 material omissions, miss-representations (lies) and errors" - but no evidence of bias. This is like accidentally shooting someone 17 times.
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[Dec 13, 2019] The Inspector General's Report on 2016 FBI Spying Reveals a Scandal of Historic Magnitude: Not Only for the FBI but Also the U.S. Media by Glenn Greenwald
Notable quotes:
"... a single American ..."
Dec 12, 2019 | theintercept.com
Just as was true when the Mueller investigation closed without a single American being charged with criminally conspiring with Russia over the 2016 election, Wednesday's issuance of the long-waited report from the Department of Justice's Inspector General reveals that years of major claims and narratives from the U.S. media were utter frauds .Before evaluating the media component of this scandal, the FBI's gross abuse of its power – its serial deceit – is so grave and manifest that it requires little effort to demonstrate it. In sum, the IG Report documents multiple instances in which the FBI – in order to convince a FISA court to allow it spy on former Trump campaign operative Carter Page during the 2016 election – manipulated documents, concealed crucial exonerating evidence, and touted what it knew were unreliable if not outright false claims.
If you don't consider FBI lying, concealment of evidence, and manipulation of documents in order to spy on a U.S. citizen in the middle of a presidential campaign to be a major scandal, what is? But none of this is aberrational: the FBI still has its headquarters in a building named after J. Edgar Hoover – who constantly blackmailed elected officials with dossiers and tried to blackmail Martin Luther King into killing himself – because that's what these security state agencies are. They are out-of-control, virtually unlimited police state factions that lie, abuse their spying and law enforcement powers, and subvert democracy and civic and political freedoms as a matter of course.
In this case, no rational person should allow standard partisan bickering to distort or hide this severe FBI corruption. The IG Report leaves no doubt about it. It's brimming with proof of FBI subterfuge and deceit, all in service of persuading a FISA court of something that was not true: that U.S. citizen and former Trump campaign official Carter Page was an agent of the Russian government and therefore needed to have his communications surveilled.
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[Dec 11, 2019] Why Brennan and his team have all lawyered up
Dec 11, 2019 | www.zerohedge.com
LEEPERMAX , 2 minutes ago link
BOTH the AG and federal prosecutor Durham REJECT the findings. Durham has the ability to conduct a criminal investigation that Horowitz did not. Given this, the IG found evidence to criminally refer FBI officials and campaign spies.
-- GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS (@GEORGEPAPA19) DECEMBER 9, 2019
Remember: the Durham probe became a CRIMINAL investigation as soon as he left Rome with information on Mifsud. IG said he wasn't working for the FBI. Leaves only one other option: CIA, and why Brennan and his team have all lawyered up. Bye bye, Brennan.
-- GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS (@GEORGEPAPA19) DECEMBER 9, 2019
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[Dec 11, 2019] Not Steele dossier, but FBI/CIA/MI6 operation of George Papadopoulos entrapment was the real star of Russiagate
This is selective quotes from anti-Trump of neocon author. The general tone of the article is completely different from presented quotes.
Notable quotes:
"... ..."This was an overthrow of government, this was an attempted overthrow -- and a lot of people were in on it," Trump declared , while Barr insisted , in a more lawyerly fashion, "The Inspector General's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken." ..."
Dec 11, 2019 | www.theatlantic.com
The report confirmed that the Russia investigation originated, as has been previously reported, with the Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos bragging to an Australian diplomat about Russia possessing "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, which the IG determined "was sufficient to predicate the investigation." The widespread conservative belief that the investigation began because of the dubious claims in the Steele dossier was false. "Steele's reports played no role" in the opening of the Russia investigation, the report found, because FBI officials were not "aware of Steele's election reporting until weeks later."
...The IG also "did not find any records" that Joseph Mifsud, the professor who told Papadopoulos the Russians had obtained "dirt" on Clinton, was an FBI informant sent to entrap him.
...Page "did not play a role in the decision to open" the Russia investigation, and that Strzok was "was not the sole, or even the highest-level, decision maker as to any of those matters."
...the IG did determine that the Page FISA application was "inaccurate, incomplete, or unsupported by appropriate documentation," which misled the court as to the credibility of the FBI's evidence when seeking authority to surveil Page.
..."This was an overthrow of government, this was an attempted overthrow -- and a lot of people were in on it," Trump declared , while Barr insisted , in a more lawyerly fashion, "The Inspector General's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken."
Adam Serwer is a staff writer at The Atlantic , where he covers politics.
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[Dec 10, 2019] Horowitz Report Is Triumph For FISA Abuse 'Whistleblower' Devin Nunes WSJ's Kim Strassel
Dec 10, 2019 | www.zerohedge.com
12/10/2019
In her usual succinct and clarifying manner, The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley Strassel took to Twitter overnight to summarize the farcical findings within the Horowitz Report (and Barr and Durham's responses).
In sixteen short tweets , Strassel destroyed the spin while elucidating the key findings of the Horowitz report (emphasis ours):
Yup, IG said FBI hit threshold for opening an investigation. But also goes out of its way to note what a "low threshold" this is.
Durham's statement made clear he will provide more info for Americans to make a judgment on reasonableness.
The report is triumph for former House Intel Chair Devin Nunes, who first blew the whistle on FISA abuse. The report confirms all the elements of the February 2018 Nunes memo, which said dossier was as an "essential" part of applications, and FBI withheld info from FISA court
Conversely, the report is an excoriation of Adam Schiff and his "memo" of Feb 2018.
That doc stated that "FBI and DOJ officials did NOT abuse the [FISA] process" or "omit material information."
Also claimed FBI didn't much rely on dossier.
In fact, IG report says dossier played "central and essential role" in getting FISA warrants.
Schiff had access to same documents as Nunes, yet chose to misinform the public. This is the guy who just ran impeachment proceedings.
The Report is a devastating indictment of Steele, Fusion GPS and the "dossier."
Report finds that about the only thing FBI ever corroborated in that doc were publicly available times, places, title names. Ouch.
IG finds 17 separate problems with FISA court submissions, including FBI's overstatement of Steele's credentials. Also the failure to provide court with exculpatory evidence and issues with Steele's sources and additional info it got about Steele's credibility.
Every one of these "issues" is a story all on its own.
Example: The FBI had tapes of Page and Papadopoulos making statements that were inconsistent with FBI's own collusion theories. They did not provide these to the FISA court.
Another example: FBI later got info from professional contacts with Steele who said he suffered from "lack of self awareness, poor judgement" and "pursued people" with "no intelligence value." FBI also did not tell the court about these credibility concerns.
And this: FBI failed to tell Court that Page was approved as an "operational contact" for another U.S. agency, and "candidly" reported his interactions with a Russian intel officer. FBI instead used that Russian interaction against Page, with no exculpatory detail.
Overall, IG was so concerned by these "extensive compliance failures" that is has now initiated additional "oversight" to assess how FBI in general complies with "policies that seek to protect the civil liberties of U.S. persons."
The Report also expressed concerns about FBI's failure to present any of these issues to DOJ higher ups; its ongoing contacts with Steele after he was fired for talking to media; and its use of spies against the campaign without any DOJ input.
Remember Comey telling us it was no big deal who paid for dossier?
Turns out it was a big deal in FBI/DOJ, where one lawyer (Stuart Evans) expressed "concerns" it had been funded by Clinton/DNC. Because of his "consistent inquiries" we go that convoluted footnote.
IG also slaps FBI for using what was supposed to be a baseline briefing for the Trump campaign of foreign intelligence threats as a surreptitious opportunity to investigate Flynn .
Strassel's last point is perhaps the most important for those on the left claiming "vindication"...
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Please enter a valid email Thank you for subscribing! Something went wrong. Please refresh and try again.When IG says he found no "documentary" evidence of bias, he means just that: He didn't find smoking gun email that says "let's take out Trump."
And it isn't his job to guess at the motivations of FBI employees.
Instead... He straightforwardly lays out facts.
Those facts produce a pattern of FBI playing the FISA Court--overstating some info, omitting other info, cherrypicking details.
Americans can look at totality and make their own judgment as to "why" FBI behaved in such a manner.
Finally, intriguing just how many people at the FBI don't remember anything about anything. Highly convenient.
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[Dec 09, 2019] Everything was nice and proper: No political bias by the FBI. No "mole" in the White House. No abuse of FBI powers. This was an attempted overthrow of the President
Dec 09, 2019 | www.zerohedge.com
slightlyskeptical , 3 minutes ago link
Cassandra.Hermes , 4 minutes ago link"The report concludes that despite nearly everybody investigating President Trump hating him - and that evidence was fabricated by at least one FBI attorney, and that they misrepresented Christopher Steele's credentials, none of their bias 'tainted' the investigation , and the underlying process was sound."
Who investigating major criminal acts actually likes the perp? It was such a juvenile argument from day 1.
I bet the truth is stretched a bit in just about every subpoena issued, not just FISA ones. It is the nature of things, since you are trying to obtain evidence of crimes that are currently unproven but suspected. As such all subpoena's are issued based on the perception of guilt and not any actual proof of that guilt. This was a non-starter from the beginning.
spiderman5968 , 5 minutes ago linkSteele said he had visited Ivanka Trump at Trump Tower and had been "friendly" with her for "some years". He described their relationship as "personal". The former British government spy had even given her a "family tartan from Scotland" as a present, the report quoted him as saying.
morethan1 , 1 minute ago linkHorowitz's report is mostly meaningless.
It all comes down to the Barr/Durham investigation and indictments that follow.
Will they indict the top dogs (Comey, Clapper, Clinton, Brennan, Rosenstein, Obama, Strokz, Page, Ohr, McCabe, Yates, Priestap, etc.) and make the long-needed changes to Fed Gov't or indict just a bunch of low-level "Fall Guys" in the alphabet agencies to try to make the public release some steam and then drop it all like a hot potato and keep the Deep State intact.???
If REAL justice isn't served up at that point gov't as we know it will collapse as America descends into anarchy and lawlessness.
The political class and mainstream media needs to be purged and the U.S. Constitution fully restored.
teolawki , 7 minutes ago linkUnfortunately, NOTHING will happen. I've seen this movie before.
JoeTurner , 11 minutes ago linkNot 'tainted' by political bias. Bullfuckingshit!
As I stated not that long ago. You cannot have a corrupt FBI without a corrupt DOJ. And you cannot have a corrupt agency without a corrupt IG. Period. Remember the IRS IG clearing Lois Lerner? Hmmm?
PopeRatzo , 12 minutes ago linkhttps://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1204144525578518528
General Flynn had to be targeted by Deep State because he was the ultimate whistleblower
JoeTurner , 12 minutes ago linkThe only crimes committed were by the Trump campaign and administration. Try to pay attention. Do you need a list of Trump associates who are either in jail or have been convicted and are on their way to jail?
Meanwhile, Hillary's laughing it up with Howard Stern.
It must suck to be you.
Ophiuchus , 9 minutes ago linkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipI-uHKizbg&feature=youtu.be
Wow, even fake news NBC is pooping themselves over FISA mishandling. I predict whiplash with how fast the fake news, drive-by media throws Comey, Clapper and Brennan under the bus to protect Hillary and Obongo.
Don't bet on anyone taking a fall. All animals are equal, but some animals, especially pigs, are more equal than others.
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[Dec 04, 2019] Barr rejects key finding in report on Russia probe: that the FBI had enough intelligence to initiate an investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016.
Dec 04, 2019 | www.nakedcapitalism.com
"Barr rejects key finding in report on Russia probe: report" [ The Hill ].
"People familiar with the matter told The Post that Barr said he does not agree with the report's finding that the FBI had enough intelligence to initiate an investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016.
The long-awaited report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is expected to be made public in a week. But a draft is being discussed behind the scenes, and the attorney general reportedly is not persuaded that the FBI investigation was justified.
The draft report is now being finalized and shown to the witnesses and offices investigated by Horowitz.
People familiar with the matter told the newspaper that Barr believes information from other agencies such as the CIA could change Horowitz's finding that the investigation was warranted."
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[Aug 21, 2019] Solomon If Trump Declassifies These 10 Documents, Democrats Are Doomed
Highly recommended!
They are afraid to admin that a color revolution was launched to depose Trump after the elections of 2016. Essentially a coup d'état by intelligence agencies and Clinton wing of Democratic Party.
Notable quotes:
"... The 53 House Intel interviews. House Intelligence interviewed many key players in the Russia probe and asked the DNI to declassify those interviews nearly a year ago, after sending the transcripts for review last November. There are several big reveals, I'm told, including the first evidence that a lawyer tied to the Democratic National Committee had Russia-related contacts at the CIA. ..."
"... The Stefan Halper documents. It has been widely reported that European-based American academic Stefan Halper and a young assistant, Azra Turk, worked as FBI sources . ..."
"... Page/Papadopoulos exculpatory statements. Another of Nunes' five buckets, these documents purport to show what the two Trump aides were recorded telling undercover assets or captured in intercepts insisting on their innocence. Papadopoulos told me he told an FBI undercover source in September 2016 that the Trump campaign was not trying to obtain hacked Clinton documents from Russia and considered doing so to be treason. ..."
"... The 'Gang of Eight' briefing materials. These were a series of classified briefings and briefing books the FBI and DOJ provided key leaders in Congress in the summer of 2018 that identify shortcomings in the Russia collusion narrative. ..."
"... The Steele spreadsheet. I wrote recently that the FBI kept a spreadsheet on the accuracy and reliability of every claim in the Steele dossier. According to my sources, it showed as much as 90 percent of the claims could not be corroborated, were debunked or turned out to be open-source internet rumors. ..."
"... The Steele interview. It has been reported, and confirmed, that the DOJ's inspector general (IG) interviewed the former British intelligence operative for as long as 16 hours about his contacts with the FBI while working with Clinton's opposition research firm, Fusion GPS. It is clear from documents already forced into the public view by lawsuits that Steele admitted in the fall of 2016 that he was desperate to defeat Trump ..."
"... The redacted sections of the third FISA renewal application. This was the last of four FISA warrants targeting the Trump campaign; it was renewed in June 2017 after special counsel Robert Mueller 's probe had started, and signed by then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein . It is the one FISA application that House Republicans have repeatedly asked to be released, and I'm told the big reveal in the currently redacted sections of the application is that it contained both misleading information and evidence of intrusive tactics used by the U.S. government to infiltrate Trump's orbit. ..."
"... Records of allies' assistance. Multiple sources have said a handful of U.S. allies overseas – possibly Great Britain, Australia and Italy – were asked to assist FBI efforts to check on Trump connections to Russia. ..."
"... Attorney General Bill Barr's recent comments that "the use of foreign intelligence capabilities and counterintelligence capabilities against an American political campaign, to me, is unprecedented and it's a serious red line that's been crossed." ..."
Aug 21, 2019 | www.zerohedge.com
As the Russiagate circus attempts to quietly disappear over the horizon, with Democrats preferring to shift the anti-Trump narrative back to "racist", "white supremacist", "xenophobe", and the mainstream media ready to squawk "recession"; the Trump administration may have a few more cards up its sleeve before anyone claims the higher ground in this farce we call an election campaign.
As The Hill's John Solomon details, in September 2018 that President Trump told my Hill.TV colleague Buck Sexton and me that he would order the release of all classified documents showing what the FBI, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other U.S. intelligence agencies may have done wrong in the Russia probe.
And while it's been almost a year since then, of feet-dragging and cajoling and deep-state-fighting, we wonder, given Solomon's revelations below, if the president is getting ready to play his 'Trump' card.
Here are the documents that Solomon believes have the greatest chance of rocking Washington, if declassified:
1.) Christopher Steele 's confidential human source reports at the FBI. These documents, known in bureau parlance as 1023 reports, show exactly what transpired each time Steele and his FBI handlers met in the summer and fall of 2016 to discuss his anti-Trump dossier. The big reveal, my sources say, could be the first evidence that the FBI shared sensitive information with Steele, such as the existence of the classified Crossfire Hurricane operation targeting the Trump campaign. It would be a huge discovery if the FBI fed Trump-Russia intel to Steele in the midst of an election, especially when his ultimate opposition-research client was Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The FBI has released only one or two of these reports under FOIA lawsuits and they were 100 percent redacted. The American public deserves better.
2.) The 53 House Intel interviews. House Intelligence interviewed many key players in the Russia probe and asked the DNI to declassify those interviews nearly a year ago, after sending the transcripts for review last November. There are several big reveals, I'm told, including the first evidence that a lawyer tied to the Democratic National Committee had Russia-related contacts at the CIA.
3.) The Stefan Halper documents. It has been widely reported that European-based American academic Stefan Halper and a young assistant, Azra Turk, worked as FBI sources . We know for sure that one or both had contact with targeted Trump aides like Carter Page and George Papadopoulos at the end of the election. My sources tell me there may be other documents showing Halper continued working his way to the top of Trump's transition and administration, eventually reaching senior advisers like Peter Navarro inside the White House in summer 2017. These documents would show what intelligence agencies worked with Halper, who directed his activity, how much he was paid and how long his contacts with Trump officials were directed by the U.S. government's Russia probe.
4.) The October 2016 FBI email chain. This is a key document identified by Rep. Nunes and his investigators. My sources say it will show exactly what concerns the FBI knew about and discussed with DOJ about using Steele's dossier and other evidence to support a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant targeting the Trump campaign in October 2016. If those concerns weren't shared with FISA judges who approved the warrant, there could be major repercussions.
5.) Page/Papadopoulos exculpatory statements. Another of Nunes' five buckets, these documents purport to show what the two Trump aides were recorded telling undercover assets or captured in intercepts insisting on their innocence. Papadopoulos told me he told an FBI undercover source in September 2016 that the Trump campaign was not trying to obtain hacked Clinton documents from Russia and considered doing so to be treason. If he made that statement with the FBI monitoring, and it was not disclosed to the FISA court, it could be another case of FBI or DOJ misconduct.
6.) The 'Gang of Eight' briefing materials. These were a series of classified briefings and briefing books the FBI and DOJ provided key leaders in Congress in the summer of 2018 that identify shortcomings in the Russia collusion narrative. Of all the documents congressional leaders were shown, this is most frequently cited to me in private as having changed the minds of lawmakers who weren't initially convinced of FISA abuses or FBI irregularities.
7.) The Steele spreadsheet. I wrote recently that the FBI kept a spreadsheet on the accuracy and reliability of every claim in the Steele dossier. According to my sources, it showed as much as 90 percent of the claims could not be corroborated, were debunked or turned out to be open-source internet rumors. Given Steele's own effort to leak intel in his dossier to the media before Election Day, the public deserves to see the FBI's final analysis of his credibility. A document I reviewed recently showed the FBI described Steele's information as only "minimally corroborated" and the bureau's confidence in him as "medium."
8.) The Steele interview. It has been reported, and confirmed, that the DOJ's inspector general (IG) interviewed the former British intelligence operative for as long as 16 hours about his contacts with the FBI while working with Clinton's opposition research firm, Fusion GPS. It is clear from documents already forced into the public view by lawsuits that Steele admitted in the fall of 2016 that he was desperate to defeat Trump , had a political deadline to make his dirt public, was working for the DNC/Clinton campaign and was leaking to the news media. If he told that to the FBI and it wasn't disclosed to the FISA court, there could be serious repercussions.
9.) The redacted sections of the third FISA renewal application. This was the last of four FISA warrants targeting the Trump campaign; it was renewed in June 2017 after special counsel Robert Mueller 's probe had started, and signed by then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein . It is the one FISA application that House Republicans have repeatedly asked to be released, and I'm told the big reveal in the currently redacted sections of the application is that it contained both misleading information and evidence of intrusive tactics used by the U.S. government to infiltrate Trump's orbit.
10.) Records of allies' assistance. Multiple sources have said a handful of U.S. allies overseas – possibly Great Britain, Australia and Italy – were asked to assist FBI efforts to check on Trump connections to Russia. Members of Congress have searched recently for some key contact documents with British intelligence . My sources say these documents might help explain Attorney General Bill Barr's recent comments that "the use of foreign intelligence capabilities and counterintelligence capabilities against an American political campaign, to me, is unprecedented and it's a serious red line that's been crossed."
These documents, when declassified, would show more completely how a routine counterintelligence probe was hijacked to turn the most awesome spy powers in America against a presidential nominee in what was essentially a political dirty trick orchestrated by Democrats.
rahrog , 2 minutes ago link
LibertyVibe , 3 minutes ago linkAmerica's Ruling Class is laughing at all you fools still falling for the Rs v Ds scam.
Stupid people lose.
Lord Raglan , 5 minutes ago linkI disagree with Solomon. Nothing will "doom" the swamp unless the righteous few are willing to indict, prosecute and carry out sentencing for the guilty. Exposing the guilty accomplishes nothing, because anyone paying attention already knows of their crimes. Those who want to believe lies will still believe them after the truth comes out.
It's ALL A WASTE OF TIME unless we follow through.TheFQ , 16 minutes ago linkWhere's all the other, earlier docs Trump was going to declassify? Just wondering..............
benb , 12 minutes ago linkDoes anyone see a pattern here after the 2009 Tea Party movement began?
2009 - Republicans: "If we win back the House, we can accomplish our agenda."
2011 - Republicans: "If we win back the Senate, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: After winning back the House)
2012 - Republicans: "If we win back the Senate, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: 2 YEARS After winning back the House)
2013 - Republicans: "If we win back the Presidency, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: 1 YEAR after winning back the House and the Senate)
2014 - Republicans: "If we win back the Presidency, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: 2 YEARS after winning back the House and the Senate)
2015 - Republicans: "If we win back the Presidency, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: 3 YEARS after winning back the House and the Senate)
2016 - Republicans: "If we win back the Presidency, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: 4 YEARS after winning back the House and the Senate)
2017 - Republicans: "Now that we've won back the Presidency, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: After winning back the House 6 YEARS AGO and the Senate 4 YEARS AGO)
2018 - Republicans: "Now that we've won back the Presidency, we can accomplish our agenda." (NOTE: After winning back the House 7 YEARS AGO and the Senate 5 YEARS AGO)
2019 - John Solomon - "If Trump Declassifies These 10 Documents, Democrats Are Doomed"
I hate to say it, but I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, JOHN.
ALL WE HAVE HEARD OVER THE COURSE OF THIS DECADE IS "IF THIS HAPPENS...THEN THEY ARE DOOMED / WE CAN ACCOMPLISH OUR AGENDA / YADDA YADDA YADDA.
WHEN THE FOLLOWING ARE FOUND GUILTY OF TREASON, THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL I BELIEVE YOU:
- CLINTONS
- OBAMA
- BIDEN
- KERRY
- BRENNAN
- CLAPPER
- COMEY
- MCCABE
- MUELLER
- WEISSMAN
- STRZOK
- RICE
- POWERS
- LYNCH
- YATES
- ET AL
WHY ARE THESE TREASONOUS, VILE, CORRUPT CRIMINALS NOT INDICTED FOR TREASON?
WTF?
FFS...
enfield0916 , 36 minutes ago linkWHY ARE THESE TREASONOUS, VILE, CORRUPT CRIMINALS NOT INDICTED FOR TREASON?
Because the people doing the indicting are in on it.
As if there's any major philosophical difference between the Librtads and Zionist Cocksuckvatives.
Both sides use the .gov agencies to subvert and ignore the Constitution whenever possible. Best example is WikiLeaks and how each party wished Assange would just go away when he revealed damaging information about both sides on multiple occasions.
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[May 11, 2019] Nunes Memo Details Weaponization of FISA Court for Political Advantage by Elizabeth Lea Vos
Highly recommended!
The public's tax dollars were spent on creating fake "evidence" to tie Trump with Russia, a false narrative that put the planet at heightened risk for nuclear war, for the sake of the Clinton's hurt feelings.
Notable quotes:
"... In other words, the public's tax dollars were spent on creating fake "evidence" to tie Trump with Russia, a false narrative that put the planet at heightened risk for nuclear war, for the sake of the Clinton's hurt feelings. ..."
"... Even more interesting is the close relationship Isikoff had with the DNC during the 2016 Presidential election. According to an email from the DNC released by Wikileaks , Isikoff attended the "Open World Society's forum" as the guest of DNC official Ali Chalupa. In the email, Chalupa states that she was invited to the forum to speak specifically about Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump. Chalupa goes on to state that she has been working with Isikoff for the past few weeks and that at the event, she was able to get him "connected him to the Ukrainians." She adds: ..."
"... "I invited Michael Isikoff whom I've been working with for the past few weeks and connected him to the Ukrainians. More offline tomorrow since there is a big Trump component you and Lauren need to be aware of that will hit in next few weeks and something I'm working on you should be aware of." ..."
Feb 05, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
On Friday, the much anticipated "Nunes Memo" was finally released to the general public. Disobedient Media previously reported on the push to prevent the memo from being released. While there is much contained in the four pages, the most glaring issue contained in the memo is the FBI's willful concealment of pertinent details of which they were required by law to turn over to the FISA court when seeking the initial surveillance warrant on Carter Page , a former volunteer foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign.
According to the memo, former director James Comey signed three FISA applications on behalf of the FBI. Additionally, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, former Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente, and acting Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, each signed one or more applications on behalf of the DOJ.
Under 50 U.S.C. § 1805(d)(1) , a FISA order on an American citizen must be renewed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) every 90 days. In order to protect the rights of Americans, each subsequent renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause. This means that the in order to be granted a renewal, the government is required to produce all material and relevant facts to the court, including any information which may be potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application.
On four separate occasions the Obama administration essentially claimed before the FISA court that Page had betrayed his country by working for a hostile foreign nation, and therefore it was necessary that the government violate his Fourth Amendment rights. However, in this case, the government purposely withheld relevant information from the government not once, but four separate times.
According to the memo, at no time during the initial application process for the warrant to surveil Page, or in any of the three renewals of that application, did the government disclose to the FISA Court the nature of their relationship with Christopher Steele, his relationship with the Democratic National Committee (DNC), or his relationship with the Clinton campaign. Instead, the memo simply, yet vaguely states that, "Steele was working for a named U.S. person."
Instead, the government purposefully withheld information from the court that the "dossier" compiled by Steele was done so on behalf of the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign. It was further withheld from the court that the DNC had paid Steele over $160,000 for his work in compiling this "dossier", and that the money was funneled to Steele through the law firm Perkins Coie, which represents both the Hillary Clinton campaign as well as the DNC in legal matters. According to the National Review , the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid at least $9.1 million to Perkins Coie from mid-2015 to late 2016.
The government further held from the court the fact that the FBI had authorized payments to Steele. According to the New York Post , in October 2016 the FBI contracted to pay Steele $50,000 to "help corroborate the dirt on Trump."
In March of 2017, CNN also reported that the FBI had entered into an arrangement with Steele, whereby they agreed to cover all of his expenses.
While it is extremely disconcerting that the government willfully concealed the existence of their financial relationship with Steele, a foreign national, what is more troubling is the fact that the government used tax payer dollars to do so. In other words, every single American who did not vote for Hillary Clinton, whether they voted for Trump or a third party candidate or did not vote at all – were forced to finance the Clinton campaign-funded opposition research.
In other words, the public's tax dollars were spent on creating fake "evidence" to tie Trump with Russia, a false narrative that put the planet at heightened risk for nuclear war, for the sake of the Clinton's hurt feelings.
Why the media refuses to mention or cover this fact, this author does not know. But this is an extremely important fact that every American, whether left, right, up, down, should remember, as it is the perfect example of the corruption which exists within our tax payer-funded institutions, which we are told to have nothing but the utmost respect for.
According to the memo, in an effort to corroborate Steele's dossier, the FBI extensively cited a September 23, 2016, Yahoo News article by Michael Isikoff, titled " U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin ", which focuses on Page's July 2016 trip to Moscow. However, when presenting this article to the court the FBI falsely assessed that Steele did not provide this information directly to Isikoff. Meaning that the FBI was aware that the article they presented to the court was not corroborating evidence from a separate source, because the information in the article was provided to Isikoff by Steele himself. In fact, as the memo points out, Steele himself has stated in British court filings that in September 2016 he met with Yahoo News , as well as several other outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the New Yorker.
What's more, in an article published on January 12, 2017, Isikoff reports on a story by the Wall Street Journal in which Christopher Steele is identified as the author of the infamous dossier, and even notes that Steele was an " FBI asset ". However, what is most striking about this article is the fact that despite receiving the underline information which served as the basis for his own article in September, Isikoff pretends have not known that Steele was the source of the dossier.
Even more interesting is the close relationship Isikoff had with the DNC during the 2016 Presidential election. According to an email from the DNC released by Wikileaks , Isikoff attended the "Open World Society's forum" as the guest of DNC official Ali Chalupa. In the email, Chalupa states that she was invited to the forum to speak specifically about Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump. Chalupa goes on to state that she has been working with Isikoff for the past few weeks and that at the event, she was able to get him "connected him to the Ukrainians." She adds:
"I invited Michael Isikoff whom I've been working with for the past few weeks and connected him to the Ukrainians. More offline tomorrow since there is a big Trump component you and Lauren need to be aware of that will hit in next few weeks and something I'm working on you should be aware of."
According to the memo, Steele's relationship with the FBI as a source continued until late October 2016, when he was terminated for what the FBI defines as the most serious violations, "an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI". This unauthorized disclosure occurred in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn, the reporter who broke the infamous Mitt Romney "47 Percent" story.
Again, the FBI did not notify the court that Steele was leaking information to media outlets, or that he was terminated by the FBI after doing so for the second time.
Before and after his termination, Steele maintained contact with then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, whose wife, Nellie Ohr, was employed by Fusion GPS. Ohr would later tell the FBI in an interview in September 2016, that Steele had stated that he, "was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president."
Lastly, the memo also reveals that the Steele dossier was so crucial to the investigation, that Deputy Director McCabe testified in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information. This admission by the former Deputy Director is damning, as it proves that, if it were not for the Clinton campaign and DNC funded dossier created by a foreign national, there would have been no surveillance of Page, and ultimately there would have never been a special counsel appointed.
At the end of the day, every American, regardless of their position on the political spectrum, should be worried about the fact that the FBI and DOJ sought and were granted a warrant to spy on an opposing political campaign based on a document that the FBI itself had neither verified or corroborated. If the FISA court does in fact employ strict "safeguards" and procedures in order to ensure that the rights of American citizens are not being systematically violated, how is it that the FBI and DOJ were able to obtain a surveillance warrant based on unverified allegations? And why did Congress overwhelmingly vote to reauthorize Section 702? Vote up! 15 Vote down! 0
VWAndy Feb 4, 2018 4:18 PM Permalink
IvannaHumpalot Feb 4, 2018 6:36 PM PermalinkThis whole ball of wax should be in the public hands. Straight up clear cut case for a real civilian grand jury. As far removed from the government control as possible. Its a corruption issue. Nobody in government has clean hands.
Rex Andrus Feb 4, 2018 6:39 PM PermalinkThis is a problem because across the 5-eyes intel agencies are being given extra-judicial powers to do basically whatever they want without oversight and without legal boundaries. This assumes the agencies will never become politicised, and that no individual within the agencies will ever have an axe to grind against an ex, or a petty hatred to pursue, or political agendas of their own. What FISA-gate shows is that this is clearly not the case. We need the reimposition of free speech, transparency and of civilian rule of government.
Only an informed public can really be in charge of its elected government. We need to be in charge again because civilians are fast being kettled into a snare where we have no say in the decisions that our governments take. It's being decided by the deep state bureaucracy
Joebloinvestor Feb 4, 2018 6:55 PM PermalinkStart thinking about how, at the grass roots level, to catch them red handed stealing this election.
Rex Andrus Feb 4, 2018 7:04 PM PermalinkNo action(s) from the FISA court about being deceived shows we are all fucked.
Bondo Feb 4, 2018 7:17 PM Permalinkhttps://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/7v7avg/i_find_you_guilty_o
Reaper Feb 4, 2018 8:07 PM Permalinktrump needs to appoint a special prosecutor outside of the swamp to investigate the fbi/doj. at this point, I trust Judge Judy more than anyone in dc
Northern Flicker Feb 4, 2018 8:28 PM PermalinkWho protects us from our FBI protectors? The power to lie in court with impunity makes Kangaroo courts our system
Arctic Frost Feb 4, 2018 9:23 PM PermalinkIt's a joke the FBI didn't want the memo released to protect their methods and sources.. no wonder, they just make things up.
WHY DID CONGRESS OVERWHELMINGLY VOTE TO REAUTHORIZE SECTION 702?
bh2 Feb 5, 2018 12:21 AM Permalink
cwsuisse Feb 5, 2018 1:36 AM PermalinkThe word "assess" is a spook term of art which means they are either "guessing" or "lying", depending on context.
The FBI can't be considered to be a trustworthy institution.
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[Apr 07, 2019] Nunes The Russian Collusion Hoax Meets An Unbelievbable End
Highly recommended!
Notable quotes:
"... Nice group shot of the three stooges. The most dishonest, disloyal, dipshitted psychopaths a country should never have to endure. ..."
"... The likelihood of anyone being convicted let alone indicted is rather slim. Why? These people know where too many dead bodies are buried. ..."
"... There is an understanding in their circles that certain individuals on both sides of the spectrum are bulletproof. You can't run such a large criminal enterprise without it being this way. Why else would Mueller not talk to Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Steele, the heads of Fusion GPS, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr., the promoter who set that up, etc., etc. ..."
"... This whole ordeal was meant to die an uneventful death. It's unlikely Barr will act on any recommendations from Nunes becuase it would start a partisan war that would snare GOP never Trumpers too. It's how Washington works. Like Carlin says - it's a great big club and you ain't in it. They are, and they don't do time. ..."
Apr 07, 2019 | www.zerohedge.com
Authored by Rep. Devin Nunes, op-ed via The Washington Examiner,
As the Russia collusion hoax hurtles toward its demise, it's important to consider how this destructive information operation rampaged through vital American institutions for more than two years , and what can be done to stop such a damaging episode from recurring.
While the hoax was fueled by a wide array of false accusations, misleading leaks of ostensibly classified information, and bad-faith investigative actions by government officials, one vital element was indispensable to the overall operation: the Steele dossier.
<Funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democrat National Committee, which hid their payments from disclosure by funneling them through the law firm Perkins Coie, the dossier was a collection of false and often absurd accusations of collusion between Trump associates and Russian officials. These allegations, which relied heavily on Russian sources cultivated by Christopher Steele, were spoon-fed to Trump opponents in the U.S. government, including officials in law enforcement and intelligence.
The efforts to feed the dossier's allegations into top levels of the U.S. government, particularly intelligence agencies, were championed by Steele, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, and various intermediaries. These allegations were given directly to the FBI and Justice Department, while similar allegations were fed into the State Department by long-time Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal.
Their efforts were remarkably effective. Officials within the FBI and DOJ, whether knowingly or unintentionally, provided essential support to the hoax conspirators, bypassing normal procedures and steering the information away from those who would view it critically. The dossier soon metastasized within the government, was cloaked in secrecy, and evaded serious scrutiny.
High-ranking officials such as then-FBI general counsel James Baker and then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr were among those whose actions advanced the hoax. Ohr, one of the most senior officials within the DOJ, took the unprecedented step of providing to Steele a back door into the FBI investigation. This enabled the former British spy to continue to feed information to investigators, even though he had been terminated by the FBI for leaking to the press and was no longer a valid source. Even worse, Ohr directly briefed Andrew Weissmann and Zainab Ahmad, two DOJ officials who were later assigned to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. In short, the investigation was marked by glaring irregularities that would normally be deemed intolerable.
According to Ohr's congressional testimony, he told top-level FBI officials as early as August or September 2016 that Steele was biased against Trump, that Steele's work was connected to the Clinton campaign, and that Steele's material was of questionable reliability. Steele himself confirmed that last point in a British court case in which he acknowledged his allegations included unverified information. Yet even after this revelation, intelligence leaders continued to cite the Steele dossier in applications to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
It is astonishing that intelligence leaders did not immediately recognize they were being manipulated in an information operation or understand the danger that the dossier could contain deliberate disinformation from Steele's Russian sources . In fact, it is impossible to believe in light of everything we now know about the FBI's conduct of this investigation, including the astounding level of anti-Trump animus shown by high-level FBI figures like Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, as well as the inspector general's discovery of a shocking number of leaks by FBI officials.
It's now clear that top intelligence officials were perfectly well aware of the dubiousness of the dossier, but they embraced it anyway because it justified actions they wanted to take - turning the full force of our intelligence agencies first against a political candidate and then against a sitting president.
The hoax itself was a gift to our nation's adversaries, most notably Russia. The abuse of intelligence for political purposes is insidious in any democracy. It undermines trust in democratic institutions, and it damages the reputation of the brave men and women who are working to keep us safe. This unethical conduct has had major repercussions on America's body politic, creating a yearslong political crisis whose full effects remain to be seen.
Having extensively investigated this abuse, House Intelligence Committee Republicans will soon be submitting criminal referrals on numerous individuals involved in these matters.
These people must be held to account to prevent similar abuses from occurring in the future. The men and women of our intelligence community perform an essential service defending American national security, and their ability to carry out their mission cannot be compromised by biased actors who seek to transform the intelligence agencies into weapons of political warfare.
-320 for Money , 2 hours ago link
Real Estate Guru , 2 hours ago linkNice group shot of the three stooges. The most dishonest, disloyal, dipshitted psychopaths a country should never have to endure.
I certainly do not know the cure for all the nations ills, but these 3 ***** could do more by dying than they ever did by living.
Fall on your swords swine, save a smidgen of face, you are a disgrace.
Jackprong , 4 hours ago linkAll 3 of them have been confirmed to by lying through their teeth by their own people. They are all going down. We just need the Mueller report to come out to get the ball rolling. Can't do it before the report comes out as they would call it obstruction. So we wait another 9 days, or less, according to AG Barr.
papageorgeo , 5 hours ago linkCould be, PapaGeorge. Maybe this time it's different because it could be argued that the TPTB don't want Trump pulling the same thing on the DNC--and get away with it like the Usual Suspects just did. In legal terms, a bar has been set. BARR? Get it? Buwhahahahahahahahahha!!!
The likelihood of anyone being convicted let alone indicted is rather slim. Why? These people know where too many dead bodies are buried. There is an understanding in their circles that certain individuals on both sides of the spectrum are bulletproof. You can't run such a large criminal enterprise without it being this way. Why else would Mueller not talk to Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Steele, the heads of Fusion GPS, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr., the promoter who set that up, etc., etc.
This whole ordeal was meant to die an uneventful death. It's unlikely Barr will act on any recommendations from Nunes becuase it would start a partisan war that would snare GOP never Trumpers too. It's how Washington works. Like Carlin says - it's a great big club and you ain't in it. They are, and they don't do time
Fred box , 5 hours ago linkThe likelihood of anyone being convicted let alone indicted is rather slim. Why? These people know where too many dead bodies are buried.
There is an understanding in their circles that certain individuals on both sides of the spectrum are bulletproof. You can't run such a large criminal enterprise without it being this way. Why else would Mueller not talk to Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Steele, the heads of Fusion GPS, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr., the promoter who set that up, etc., etc.
This whole ordeal was meant to die an uneventful death. It's unlikely Barr will act on any recommendations from Nunes becuase it would start a partisan war that would snare GOP never Trumpers too. It's how Washington works. Like Carlin says - it's a great big club and you ain't in it. They are, and they don't do time.
<<<House Intelligence Committee Republicans will soon be submitting criminal referrals on numerous individuals involved in these matters<<< We shall see now, won't we? I won't believe this, till I see It!
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[Aug 14, 2018] Trump may need to step in, declassify documents, House Intel Committee Chair Nunes says
Aug 12, 2018 | www.legitgov.org
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said on Sunday President Trump may need to step in and declassify documents related to the Russia investigation. "I think he really has no choice because...You're going to end up with a situation with half of America, including many, almost nearly every Republican member of Congress, who will have zero confidence in the Department of Justice and FBI and that just can't be," Nunes, R-Calif., told "Sunday Morning Futures."Trump said in a tweet Saturday that he "may have to get involved," since the FBI isn't providing texts from Andrew McCabe, the agency's former deputy director, to conservative government activist group Judicial Watch.
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[Jun 17, 2018] We Had Whistleblowers Nunes Reveals Good FBI Agents Tipped Off Congress About Comey Team
Jun 17, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) revealed that in late September 2016, "Good FBI agents" stepped forward as whistleblowers to tell them about additional Hillary Clinton emails "sitting" on Anthony Weiner's laptop.
"I've never actually said this before," said Nunes. " We had whistleblowers that came to us in late September of 2016 who talked to us about this laptop sitting up in New York that had additional emails on it." In other words, the New York FBI "rebelled" - as Rudy Giuliani puts it - which former FBI Director James Comey tried to quash, twice .
The FBI sat on the revelation that previously unknown emails from Hillary Clinton's private server were recovered on the laptop of sex-crimes convict Anthony Weiner for just under a month, according to a review by the Department of Justice's Inspector General.
The stated rationale was to prioritize the Russia investigation, which was a decision made by Peter Strzok, a top FBI agent involved in both investigations and who texted his lover that he would "stop" Donald Trump from becoming president . - Daily Caller
Appearing Friday on Fox and Friends , Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said that FBI agents in the New York office "rebelled" and "had a revolution" which Comey could not keep quiet - forcing him to reopen the Clinton email investigation.
" The agents in the NY office - we all know this, rebelled. They had a revolution. And Comey made two attempts to quiet them down and then realized "I can't do that, I'm gonna look terrible here. If she gets elected I'll look terrible, if she doesn't.." -Rudy Giuliani
Recall that the DOJ Inspector General found that Andrew McCabe lied about leaking a self-serving story to Devlin Barrett of the Wall Street Journal that he was not stalling (or "slow walking") the Hillary Clinton email investigation at a time in which McCabe had come under fire for his wife taking a $467,500 campaign contribution from Clinton
proxypal, Terry McAuliffe.Last month we reported that "rank and file" FBI agents want Congress to subpoena them so that they can step forward and reveal dirt on Comey and McCabe , reports the Daily Caller , citing three active field agents and former federal prosecutor Joe DiGenova.
" There are agents all over this country who love the bureau and are sickened by [James] Comey's behavior and [Andrew] McCabe and [Eric] Holder and [Loretta] Lynch and the thugs like [John] Brennan –who despise the fact that the bureau was used as a tool of political intelligence by the Obama administration thugs," former federal prosecutor Joe DiGenova told The Daily Caller Tuesday.
" They are just waiting for a chance to come forward and testify ." -Joe diGenova
DiGenova - a veteran D.C. attorney who President Trump initially wanted to hire to represent him in the Mueller probe - only to have to step aside due to conflicts , has maintained contact with "rank and file" FBI agents as well as a counterintelligence consultant who interviewed an active special agent in the FBI's Washington Field Office (WFO) - producing a transcript reviewed by The Caller .
These agents prefer to be subpoenaed to becoming an official government whistleblower , since they fear political and professional backlash, the former Trump administration official explained to TheDC.
More than just Hillary's emails...
The FBI's whistleblowers didn't stop Weiner's laptop... In March of 2017, House Speaker Paul Ryan said that Rep. Nunes revealed to him that a "whistleblower type person" had stepped forward with information about the surveillance of the Trump campaign .
"He had told me that a whistleblower type person had given him some information that was new, that spoke to the last administration and part of this investigation," Ryan said in late March.
"What Chairman Nunes said was he came into possession of new information he thought was valuable to this investigation and he was going to go and inform people about it."
The week before Ryan made these statements, Nunes revealed that an unidentified source showed him evidence that the U.S. intelligence community "incidentally surveilled" Trump's transition team before inauguration day.
Of course, we now know it goes much, much deeper. As Rudy Giuliani also said on Friday:
Let's look at it this way ... Peter Strzok was running the Hillary investigation. That's a total fix . That's a closed-book now, total fix. Comey should go to jail for that. And Strzok. But then what does Comey do? He takes Strzok - who wanted to get Trump in any way possible - he puts him in charge of the Russia investigation .
How come they're not finding any evidence of collusion? Because the President didn't do anything wrong and he's being investigated corruptly.
A higher loyalty indeed... Vote up! 4 Vote down! 0
Scipio Africanuz -> VWAndy Sat, 06/16/2018 - 15:10 Permalink
MK13 -> I woke up Sat, 06/16/2018 - 14:37 PermalinkThis is what you get under imperium, under a Republic, it's almost impossible! Patriots will stand up, and answer to their pedigree but under imperium, integrity is the first virtue to wither, after that the other virtues quickly atrophy.
Let us my friends, determine with every fiber of our being, fight to RESTORE THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC!!!...
oncemore1 Sat, 06/16/2018 - 14:07 PermalinkUS gov is trying to have a cake and it eat too - aka blow up certain parts of FIB/CIA without destroying credibility of US.gov.
It's a political comedy show, enjoy it.
MadHatt -> oncemore1 Sat, 06/16/2018 - 14:20 PermalinkDrump is an idiot.
Why are those people still with DOJ and with FBI?
Stupid Trump.
otschelnik Sat, 06/16/2018 - 14:07 PermalinkWho?
James Comey? James Baker? Lisa Page? Mike Kortan? Josh Campbell? David Laufman? John Carlin? Sally Yates? Mary McCord? Rachel Brand? Andrew McCabe?
These cant be the people you are referring to, as they are no longer employed.
Assuming others are stupid and refusing to look up what you are talking about is ironically funny.
Pollygotacracker -> roadhazard Sat, 06/16/2018 - 14:10 PermalinkLooking retrospectively I always thought that it was uncanny how the Trump campaign parted with Carter Page and then Paul Manafort,brought in Kellyanne Conway. They seemed to be dodging bullets.
SergeA.Storms -> VWAndy Sat, 06/16/2018 - 18:53 PermalinkNunes, Desantis, Jordan, and Gaetz are the only halfway decent guys in the Congress.
99% are not cops, most wouldn't even make it as a cop. They are lawyers, accountants, statisticians, analysts and scientists with a basic gun qualification. They have a lot of cool forensic things at their disposal and in some instances can be helpful in a major investigation. Real cops (like the NYPD investigators that caught the Weiner laptop fiasco and preserved the evidence) don't need the FBI other than to access some of their whiz-bang shit. They'll talk for hours over a two minute task. The rest in higher echelons is politics, dirty politics.
That said. My biggest complaint is the lack of action taken by the 'concerned agents'. Horseshit, cops get arrested 'in house' for stupid shit they've done and the info doesn't get printed because in local areas it can ruin families. This by no means infers light treatment, for example DUI (misdemeanor level in CA) will get you all the aspects of a first DUI that any citizen gets, plus 30-60 days off with no pay, a 'work improvement contract' for a year or two, and a stint in a dry out center. You will possibly keep your job. Repeat offense, fired. Embezzlement, fires, lying in an investigation, fired with a Brady Jacket. Domestic Violence, fired. The Thin Blue Line is just that, 'thin'. If you think the old days of saying nothing still exists or a partner will cover you, your not living in modern times. No one will risk their pension for your sorry ass. You'll be advised by old dogs, don't be a dumbass, dumbass.
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[May 18, 2018] IG Horowitz Finds FBI, DOJ Broke Law In Clinton Probe, Refers To Prosecutor For Criminal Charges
Notable quotes:
"... On July 27, 2017 the House Judiciary Committee called on the DOJ to appoint a Special Counsel, detailing their concerns in 14 questions pertaining to "actions taken by previously public figures like Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." ..."
"... On September 26, 2017 , The House Judiciary Committee repeated their call to the DOJ for a special counsel, pointing out that former FBI Director James Comey lied to Congress when he said that he decided not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton until after she was interviewed, when in fact Comey had drafted her exoneration before said interview. ..."
"... And now, the OIG report can tie all of this together - as it will solidify requests by Congressional committees, while also satisfying a legal requirement for the Department of Justice to impartially appoint a Special Counsel. ..."
"... Who cares how many task forces, special prosecutors, grand juries, commissions, or other crap they throw at this black hole of corruption? We all know the score. The best we can hope for is that the liberals and neo-cons are embarrassed enough to crawl under a rock for awhile, and it slows down implementation of their Orwellian agenda for a few years. ..."
May 18, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
As we reported on Thursday , a long-awaited report by the Department of Justice's internal watchdog into the Hillary Clinton email investigation has moved into its final phase, as the DOJ notified multiple subjects mentioned in the document that they can privately review it by week's end, and will have a "few days" to craft any response to criticism contained within the report, according to the Wall Street Journal .
Those invited to review the report were told they would have to sign nondisclosure agreements in order to read it , people familiar with the matter said. They are expected to have a few days to craft a response to any criticism in the report, which will then be incorporated in the final version to be released in coming weeks . - WSJ
Now, journalist Paul Sperry reports that " IG Horowitz has found "reasonable grounds" for believing there has been a violation of federal criminal law in the FBI/DOJ's handling of the Clinton investigation/s and has referred his findings of potential criminal misconduct to Huber for possible criminal prosecution ."
Who is Huber?
As we reported in March , Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed John Huber - Utah's top federal prosecutor, to be paired with IG Horowitz to investigate the multitude of accusations of FBI misconduct surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement came one day after Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirmed that he will also be investigating allegations of FBI FISA abuse .
While Huber's appointment fell short of the second special counsel demanded by Congressional investigators and concerned citizens alike, his appointment and subsequent pairing with Horowitz is notable - as many have pointed out that the Inspector General is significantly limited in his abilities to investigate. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) noted in March " the IG's office does not have authority to compel witness interviews, including from past employees, so its investigation will be limited in scope in comparison to a Special Counsel investigation ,"
Sessions' pairing of Horowitz with Huber keeps the investigation under the DOJ's roof and out of the hands of an independent investigator .
***
Who is Horowitz?
In January, we profiled Michael Horowitz based on thorough research assembled by independent investigators. For those who think the upcoming OIG report is just going to be "all part of the show" - take pause; there's a good chance this is an actual happening, so you may want to read up on the man whose year-long investigation may lead to criminal charges against those involved.
In short - Horowitz went to war with the Obama Administration to restore the OIG's powers - and didn't get them back until Trump took office.
Horowitz was appointed head of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in April, 2012 - after the Obama administration hobbled the OIG's investigative powers in 2011 during the "Fast and Furious" scandal. The changes forced the various Inspectors General for all government agencies to request information while conducting investigations, as opposed to the authority to demand it. This allowed Holder (and other agency heads) to bog down OIG requests in bureaucratic red tape, and in some cases, deny them outright.
What did Horowitz do? As one twitter commentators puts it, he went to war ...
In March of 2015, Horowitz's office prepared a report for Congress titled Open and Unimplemented IG Recommendations . It laid the Obama Admin bare before Congress - illustrating among other things how the administration was wasting tens-of-billions of dollars by ignoring the recommendations made by the OIG.
After several attempts by congress to restore the OIG's investigative powers, Rep. Jason Chaffetz successfully introduced H.R.6450 - the Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2016 - signed by a defeated lame duck President Obama into law on December 16th, 2016 , cementing an alliance between Horrowitz and both houses of Congress .
1) Due to the Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2016, the OIG has access to all of the information that the target agency possesses. This not only includes their internal documentation and data, but also that which the agency externally collected and documented.
TrumpSoldier (@DaveNYviii) January 3, 2018See here for a complete overview of the OIG's new and restored powers. And while the public won't get to see classified details of the OIG report, Mr. Horowitz is also big on public disclosure:
Horowitz's efforts to roll back Eric Holder's restrictions on the OIG sealed the working relationship between Congress and the Inspector General's ofice, and they most certainly appear to be on the same page. Moreover, FBI Director Christopher Wray seems to be on the same page
Here's a preview:
https://twitter.com/DaveNYviii/status/939074607352614912
Which brings us back to the OIG report expected by Congress a week from Monday.
On January 12 of last year, Inspector Horowitz announced an OIG investigation based on " requests from numerous Chairmen and Ranking Members of Congressional oversight committees, various organizations (such as Judicial Watch?), and members of the public ."
The initial focus ranged from the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation, to whether or not Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe should have been recused from the investigation (ostensibly over $700,000 his wife's campaign took from Clinton crony Terry McAuliffe around the time of the email investigation), to potential collusion with the Clinton campaign and the timing of various FOIA releases. Which brings us back to the OIG report expected by Congress a week from Monday.
On July 27, 2017 the House Judiciary Committee called on the DOJ to appoint a Special Counsel, detailing their concerns in 14 questions pertaining to "actions taken by previously public figures like Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."
The questions range from Loretta Lynch directing Mr. Comey to mislead the American people on the nature of the Clinton investigation, Secretary Clinton's mishandling of classified information and the (mis)handling of her email investigation by the FBI, the DOJ's failure to empanel a grand jury to investigate Clinton, and questions about the Clinton Foundation, Uranium One, and whether the FBI relied on the "Trump-Russia" dossier created by Fusion GPS.
On September 26, 2017 , The House Judiciary Committee repeated their call to the DOJ for a special counsel, pointing out that former FBI Director James Comey lied to Congress when he said that he decided not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton until after she was interviewed, when in fact Comey had drafted her exoneration before said interview.
And now, the OIG report can tie all of this together - as it will solidify requests by Congressional committees, while also satisfying a legal requirement for the Department of Justice to impartially appoint a Special Counsel.
As illustrated below by TrumpSoldier , the report will go from the Office of the Inspector General to both investigative committees of Congress, along with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and is expected within weeks .
Once congress has reviewed the OIG report, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will use it to supplement their investigations , which will result in hearings with the end goal of requesting or demanding a Special Counsel investigation. The DOJ can appoint a Special Counsel at any point, or wait for Congress to demand one. If a request for a Special Counsel is ignored, Congress can pass legislation to force an the appointment.
And while the DOJ could act on the OIG report and investigate / prosecute themselves without a Special Counsel, it is highly unlikely that Congress would stand for that given the subjects of the investigation.
After the report's completion, the DOJ will weigh in on it. Their comments are key. As TrumpSoldier points out in his analysis, the DOJ can take various actions regarding " Policy, personnel, procedures, and re-opening of investigations. In short, just about everything (Immunity agreements can also be rescinded). "
Meanwhile, recent events appear to correspond with bullet points in both the original OIG investigation letter and the 7/27/2017 letter forwarded to the Inspector General:
... ... ...
With the wheels set in motion last week seemingly align with Congressional requests and the OIG mandate, and the upcoming OIG report likely to serve as a foundational opinion, the DOJ will finally be empowered to move forward with an impartially appointed Special Counsel.
IntercoursetheEU -> Shitonya Serfs Thu, 05/17/2018 - 14:41 Permalink
nmewn -> putaipan Thu, 05/17/2018 - 19:21 Permalink"To save his presidency, Trump must expose a host of criminally cunning Deep State political operatives as enemies to the Constitution, including John Brennan, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and Robert Mueller - as well as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton."
Killing the Deep State , Dr Jerome Corsi, PhD., p xi
nmewn -> IridiumRebel Fri, 05/18/2018 - 06:19 PermalinkI've been more than upfront about my philosophy. I have said on more than one occasion that progs will rue the day they drove a New Yorker like Trump even further to the right.
Now you see it in his actions from the judiciary to bureaucracy destruction to (pick any) and...as I often cite... some old dead white guy once said ..."First they came for the ___ and I did not speak out. Then they came for..."
Now I advocate for progs to swim in their own deadly juices, without a moment's hesitation on my part, without any furtive look back, without remorse or any compassion whatsover.
Forward! ...I think is what they said, welcome to the Death Star ;-)
G-R-U-N-T -> Newspeaktogo Thu, 05/17/2018 - 21:06 PermalinkAbsolutely.
There have been (and are) plenty on "our side"...Boehner, Cantor, McCain, Romney and the thinly disguised "social democrat" Bill Kristol just to name several off the top of my head but the thing is, they always have to hide what they really are from us until rooted out.
That's what I try to point out to "our friends" on the left all the time, for example, there was never any doubt that Chris Dodd, Bwaney Fwank and Chuck Schumer were (and are) in Wall Streets back pocket. But for any prog to openly admit that is to sign some sort of personal death warrant, to be ostracized, blacklisted and harassed out of "the liberal community" so, they bite their tongue & say nothing...knowing what the truth really is.
Hell, they even named a "financial reform bill" after Dodd & Frank...LMAO!!!
It's just the dripping hypocrisy that gets me.
For another example, they knew what was going on with Weinstein, Lauer, Spacey, Rose etal but as long as the cash flowed and they towed-the-prog-BS-line outwardly, they gladly looked the other way and in the end...The Oprah...gives a speech in front of them (as they bark & clap like trained seals) about...Jim Crow?
Jim Crow?!...lol...one has nothing to do with the other Oprah! The perps & enablers are sitting right there in front of you!
It's just friggin surreal sometimes.
Gardentoolnumber5 -> BigSwingingJohnson Thu, 05/17/2018 - 18:50 Permalink"After the report's completion, the DOJ will weigh in on it. Their comments are key. As TrumpSoldier points out in his analysis, the DOJ can take various actions regarding " Policy, personnel, procedures, and re-opening of investigations. In short, just about everything (Immunity agreements can also be rescinded). "
Rescind Immunity, absolutely damn right, put them ALL under oath and on the stand! This is huge! Indeed this goes all the way to the top, would like to see Obama and the 'career criminal' testify under oath explaining how their tribe conspired to frame Trump and the American people.
Hell, put them on trial in a military court for Treason, what's the punishment for Treason these days???
Also would like to see Kerry get fried under the 'Logan Act'!
jin187 -> IridiumRebel Fri, 05/18/2018 - 05:33 PermalinkAs are half of their fellow travelers in the GOP. Neocon liars. Talk small constitutional govt then vote for war. Those two are direct opposites, war and small govt. The liars must be exposed and removed. The Never Trumpers have outed themselves but many are hiding in plain sight proclaiming they support the President. It appears they have manipulated Trump into an aggressive stance against Russia with their anti Russia hysteria. Time will tell. The bank and armament industries must be removed from any kind of influence within our govt. Most of these are run by big govt collectivists aka communists/globalists.
NO ONE IS GOING TO JAIL OVER THIS.
Who cares how many task forces, special prosecutors, grand juries, commissions, or other crap they throw at this black hole of corruption? We all know the score. The best we can hope for is that the liberals and neo-cons are embarrassed enough to crawl under a rock for awhile, and it slows down implementation of their Orwellian agenda for a few years.
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[Apr 22, 2018] It looks like the conspiracy around the smearing of Trump by the Obama administration is slowly coming out.
Apr 22, 2018 | turcopolier.typepad.com
Devin Nunes said today that after reviewing the electronic communication that launched the counter intelligence investigation of Trump there was no evidence that warranted this investigation. It is also interesting that Comey memorialized his discussions with Trump but did not do that with others. His memos note that he only informed Trump on the salacious part of the FusionGPS dossier and not the other parts. It looks like the conspiracy around the smearing of Trump by the Obama administration is slowly coming out.Jack , 3 hours agoIt's getting closer to Brennan.https://spectator.org/confi...
"An article in the Guardian last week provides more confirmation that John Brennan was the American progenitor of political espionage aimed at defeating Donald Trump. One side did collude with foreign powers to tip the election -- Hillary's."
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[Apr 22, 2018] No Official Intel Used To Launch Russia Probe According To Controversial DOJ Document Nunes
Apr 22, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
After waiting eight months for the DOJ to turn over the "electronic communication" (EC) - the document which the FBI used to launch the original counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) told Fox News that upon review - the EC reveals that no intelligence was used to launch the probe .
Nunes also touched on the fact that Hillary Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal pushed anti-Trump memos to the Obama State Department , written by Clinton "hatchet man" Cody Shearer and passed to Jonathan Winer, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.
Nunes noted that no intelligence was shared with the U.S. from any of the members of the "Five Eyes" agreement - that being Canada, the UK, Australia , New Zealand and the USA." We now know that there was no official intelligence that was used to start this investigation. We know that Sidney Blumenthal and others were pushing information into the State Department . So we're trying to piece all that together and that's why we continue to look at the State Department ," Nunes told Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures."
" We are not supposed to spy on each other's citizens, and it's worked well ," he said. "And it continues to work well. And we know it's working well because there was no intelligence that passed through the Five Eyes channels to our government . And that's why we had to see that original communication ."
This is relevant because the FBI says that the Trump investigation was kicked off after Australian diplomat Alexander Downer told the FBI that Trump campaign associate George Papadopoulos drunkenly admitted in a London pub that the Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The New York Times reported last December that " Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts , according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians' role."
This was clearly not true according to the EC, which states that no intelligence passed through Five Eyes official channels.
Many have also raised questions over the fact that Alexander Downer, the source of the intelligence which launched the Trump investigation (and not through official channels) is absolutely a friend of the Clintons .
According to information provided by Australian policeman-turned investigative journalist, Michael Smith - the Clinton Foundation received some $88 million from Australian taxpayers between 2006 and 2014, reaching its peak in 2012-2013 - which was coincidentally (we're sure) Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's last year in office. Smith names several key figures in his complaints of malfeasance, including Bill and Hillary Clinton and Alexander Downer .
The materials Smith gave to the FBI concern the MOU between the Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDs Initiative (CHAI) and the Australian government.
Smith claims the foundation received a " $25M financial advantage dishonestly obtained by deception " as a result of actions by Bill Clinton and Downer, who was then Australia's minister of foreign affairs.
Also included in the Smith materials are evidence he believes shows " corrupt October 2006 backdating of false tender advertisements purporting to advertise the availability of a $15 million contract to provide HIV/AIDS services in Papua New Guinea on behalf of the Australian government after an agreement was already in place to pay the Clinton Foundation and/or associates."- Lifezette
And during the various Russia probes, Congressional investigators weren't told about Downer's connection to the Clinton Foundation .
State Department in the Crosshairs"Republicans say they are concerned the new information means nearly all of the early evidence the FBI used to justify its election-year probe of Trump came from sources supportive of the Clintons, including the controversial Steele dossier," reports The Hill .
"The Clintons' tentacles go everywhere. So, that's why it's important," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) chairman of a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee. " We continue to get new information every week it seems that sort of underscores the fact that the FBI hasn't been square with us. "
Nunes then told Fox' s Maria Bartiromo that the House Intel Committee is now honing in on the State Department due to signs of "major irregularities " in how the alleged Papadopoulos comments reached U.S. intelligence agencies.
"We know a little bit about that because of what some of the State Department officials themselves have said about that," Nunes said, adding that "We have to make sure that our agencies talk and they work out problems. We have to make sure that they don't spy on either Americans citizens or that we're not spying on British citizens."
Still, Nunes doesn't know whether former secretary of state, and then-Democratic challenger to Trump in the election, was pulling the strings of the investigation launched against her political opponent. However, he said it is known that two long-time Clinton associates – including Sidney Blumenthal – were "actively" giving information to the State Department, which "was somehow making its way to the FBI." - Fox Business
Meanwhile, as we reported in February , a former official in President Obama's State Department has confirmed a claim by the Senate Judiciary Committee, that former British spy Christopher Steele and Hillary Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal gave him intelligence reports claiming that President Trump had been compromised by the Russians.
Jonathan Winer, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, confirmed the Judiciary Committee's claims in an op-ed for the Washington Post titled "Devin Nunes is investigating me: Here's the Truth."
"While talking about that hacking, Blumenthal and I discussed Steele's reports. He showed me notes gathered by a journalist I did not know, Cody Shearer, that alleged the Russians had compromising information on Trump of a sexual and financial nature," writes Winer.
In September 2016, Steele and I met in Washington and discussed the information now known as the "dossier." Steele's sources suggested that the Kremlin not only had been behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign but also had compromised Trump and developed ties with his associates and campaign.
Winer's op-ed corroborates the series of events outlined in a criminal referral for Steele issued by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), which asks the DOJ to investigate Steele for allegedly lying to the FBI about his contacts with the media.
Winer then gave Steele various anti-Trump memos from Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal, which originated with Clinton "hatchet man" Cody Shearer . Winer claims he didn't think Steele would share the Clinton-sourced information with anyone else in the government.
Comey Memos" But I learned later that Steele did share them -- with the FBI, after the FBI asked him to provide everything he had on allegations relating to Trump, his campaign and Russian interference in U.S. elections ," Winer writes.
Nunes then said that the release of the Comey memos was significant in that they would seem to exonerate President Trump of collusion.
The mainstream media and the dems have been running around talking about collusion, collusion, collusion. when they realized there was no collusion, they moved on to obstruction of justice, obstruction of justice, obstruction of justice.
" Once you read all of the Comey memos, it becomes Exhibit A in the defense that there was no obstruction of justice ."
The Chairman also noted that the Comey memos reveal Trump actually wanted his campaign investigated, telling Bartiromo " when you have the President of the US saying "Look, investigate all of my people. If anyone in my campaign was colluding with the Russians, I wanna know and they need to be brought to justice, " Adding "Something of that nature is in the Comey memos."
Nunes also pointed out that Comey and Andrew McCabe are probably both in quite a bit of trouble:
Nunes: When you match up Mr. Comey's memos with what's in his book, with the interviews that he's giving I think he's got a lot of problems coming in the future as it relates to what the IG is looking at into his behavior during the Clinton email investigation.
Bartiromo: What kind of problems? We know that the IG has recommended criminal charges against his former deputy Andrew McCabe.
Nunes: " His lawyer has said no, Mr. Comey is lying - is essentially what Mr. McCabe is saying , that Comey did give him the right to go to the press... Clearly the IG believed Mr. Comey that he did not give Mr. McCabe the ability to go to the press .
Nunes then went into Comey's conduct - positing that the former FBI Director "laundered" classified memos to a friend, who leaked them to the New York Times - and that others may have received them as well .
The memos that he wrote - the seven memos that he wrote on President Trump, noting that Comey hadn't written memos on anyone else - four of them were classified. He decided to then launder them to a friend, who leaked them to the New York Times . If those memos contained classified information, he purposely did that, he purposely leaked them to get a Special Counsel started after he was fired. He leaked pieces of these, so we need to figure out exactly what is it he leaked. Who did he give these memos to? Was it just the friend that leaked them to the New York Times, or were there others? I believe there were others , I believe these Comey memos were actually given to several people - that contained classified information. The irony is - the very thing that Mr. Comey cleared Mrs. Clinton of .
All of that said - whether or not the noose is actually tightening around anyone's neck is up to the DOJ, as they can simply ignore the various criminal referrals made against McCabe and others. What can't be denied, at this point, is that both the Mueller investigation and the original counterintelligence investigation launched against Donald Trump and his campaign - and the complicit narrative-shaping performed by the MSM - appear to have been a highly coordinated effort to prevent Hillary Clinton from losing the White House.
Trump advisors Joe diGenova and Alan Dershowitz discussed just Hannity Saturday - with Dershowitz somehow coming to the conclusion that the entirety of the ongoing against Trump are nothing more than coincidence.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/qpWqYXVNn4k
Cognitive Dissonance Sun, 04/22/2018 - 16:31 Permalink
A wonderful example of how strong the programming is within us is the fact we must constantly tell ourselves the matrix is an illusion.
The primary purpose of 'official' propaganda is to compel those who oppose it to constantly assert that the propaganda is false.
The secondary purpose is to let everyone know if you want employment within the matrix you're going to need to sing the same tune, regardless how ridiculous it might be.
This is the official tune. Now sing you motherfuckers....sing for your supper.
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[Mar 28, 2018] Inspector General Confirms Probe Of FBI s Criminal FISA Warrant Abuse To Spy On Trump
Mar 28, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
The DOJ's Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced Wednesday that he is expanding his internal investigation into alleged FBI abuses surrounding Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications - and will be examining their relationship with former MI6 spy Christopher Steele. The announcement follows several requests from lawmakers and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
"The OIG will initiate a review that will examine the Justice Department's and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's compliance with legal requirements, and with applicable DOJ and FBI policies and procedures, in applications filed with the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) relating to a certain U.S. person," the statement reads.
It should be noted that the OIG's current investigation and upcoming report - which led to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's firing, is focused on the agency's handling of the Clinton email investigation. This new probe will focus on FISA abuse and surveillance of the Trump campaign.
On March 1, House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) wrote in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the FBI may have violated criminal statutes, as well as its own strict internal procedures by using unverified information to obtain a surveillance warrant on onetime Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.
Nunes referred to the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), which states that the "accuracy of information contained within FISA applications is of utmost importance... Only documented and verified information may be used to support FBI applications to the court."
A "FISA memo" released in February by the House Intel Committee (which has since closed its Russia investigation), points to FBI's use of the salacious and unverified "Steele Dossier" funded by the Clinton Campaign and the DNC.
"Former and current DOJ and FBI leadership have confirmed to the committee that unverified information from the Steele dossier comprised an essential part of the FISA applications related to Carter Page," Nunes wrote in his March 1 letter.
Meanwhile, a February 28 letter from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) requested that IG Horowitz "conduct a comprehensive review of potential improper political influence, misconduct, or mismanagement" in relation to the FBI's handling of counterintelligence and criminal investigations of the Trump campaign prior to the appointment of Robert Mueller.
Steele in the crosshairs
The OIG letter also notes "As part of this examination, the OIG also will review information that was known to the DOJ and the FBI at the time the applications were filed from or about an alleged FBI confidential source."
The source, in this case, is Christopher Steele.
The House Intel Committe's "FISA memo" alleges that the political origins of the dossier - paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) - were not disclosed to the clandestine court that signed off on the warrant request, as DOJ officials knew Steele was being paid by democrats. Moreover, officials at the DOJ and FBI signed one warrant, and three renewals against Carter Page.
Considering that much of the Steele dossier came from a collaboration with high level Kremlin officials (a collusion if you will), Horowitz will be connecting dots that allegedly go from the Clinton campaign directly to the Kremlin.
Although the contents of the dossier were unable to be corroborated, the FBI told the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court that Steele's reputation was solid - and used a Yahoo News article written by Michael Isikoff to support the FISA application. The Isikoff article, however, contained information provided by Steele. In other words, the FBI made it appear to the FISA court that two separate sources supported their application, when in fact they both came from Steele.
(interestingly, Isikoff also wrote a hit piece to discredit an undercover FBI informant who testified to Congress last week about millions of dollars in bribes routed to the Clinton Foundation by Russian nuclear officials. Small world!)
So despite the FBI refusing to pay Steele $50,000 when he couldn't verify the dossier's claims, they still used it - in conjunction with a Steele sourced Yahoo! article to spy on a Trump campaign associate. And to make up for the fact that the underlying FISA claims were unverified, they "vouched" for Steele's reputation instead.
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[Mar 07, 2018] The New Surveillance State and the Old Perjury Trap by Peter Van Buren
Notable quotes:
"... " Incidental collection " is the claimed inadvertent or accidental monitoring of Americans' communications under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. Incidental collection exists alongside court-approved warranted surveillance authorized on a specific individual. But for incidental collection, no probable cause is needed, no warrant is needed, and no court or judge is involved. It just gets vacuumed up. ..."
"... While exactly how many Americans have their communications monitored this way is unknown , we know these Republican Trump supporters and staffers were caught up in surveillance authorized by a Democratic administration (no evidence of incidental surveillance of the Clinton campaign exists). Election-time claims that the Obama administration wasn't " wiretapping " Trump were disingenuous. They in fact gathered an unprecedented level of inside information. How was it used? ..."
"... Incidental collection nailed Michael Flynn : the NSA was ostensibly not surveilling Flynn, just listening in on the Russian ambassador as the two spoke. The embarrassing intercept formed the basis for Flynn's firing as Trump's national security advisor, his guilty plea for perjury, and very possibly his "game-changing" testimony against others. ..."
"... Washington Post ..."
"... Washington Post ..."
Mar 07, 2018 | www.theamericanconservative.com
A significant number of Trump's people were electronically monitored by a Democratic administration -- many "by accident." We now know that a significant number of people affiliated with Donald Trump were surveilled during and after the 2016 campaign, some under warrants, some via "inadvertent" or accidental surveillance. That surveillance is now being used against these individuals in perjury cases, particularly to press them to testify against others, and will likely form the basis of Robert Mueller's eventual action against the president himself.How did the surveillance state become so fully entrenched in the American political process? Better yet, how did we let it happen?
The role pervasive surveillance plays in politics today has been grossly underreported. Set aside what you think about the Trump presidency for a moment and focus instead on the new paradigm for how politics and justice work inside the surveillance state.
" Incidental collection " is the claimed inadvertent or accidental monitoring of Americans' communications under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. Incidental collection exists alongside court-approved warranted surveillance authorized on a specific individual. But for incidental collection, no probable cause is needed, no warrant is needed, and no court or judge is involved. It just gets vacuumed up.
While exactly how many Americans have their communications monitored this way is unknown , we know these Republican Trump supporters and staffers were caught up in surveillance authorized by a Democratic administration (no evidence of incidental surveillance of the Clinton campaign exists). Election-time claims that the Obama administration wasn't " wiretapping " Trump were disingenuous. They in fact gathered an unprecedented level of inside information. How was it used?
Incidental collection nailed Michael Flynn : the NSA was ostensibly not surveilling Flynn, just listening in on the Russian ambassador as the two spoke. The embarrassing intercept formed the basis for Flynn's firing as Trump's national security advisor, his guilty plea for perjury, and very possibly his "game-changing" testimony against others.
Jeff Sessions was similarly incidentally surveilled, as was former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon , whose conversations were picked up as part of a FISA warrant issued against Trump associate Carter Page . Paul Manafort and Richard Gates were also the subjects of FISA-warranted surveillance: they were surveilled in 2014, the case was dropped for lack of evidence, and then they were re-surveilled after they joined the Trump team and became more interesting to the state.
Officials on the National Security Council revealed that Trump himself may also have been swept up in the surveillance of foreign targets. Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, claims multiple communications by Trump transition staff were inadvertently picked up. Trump officials were monitored by British GCHQ with the information shared with their NSA partners. Some reports claim that after a criminal warrant was denied to look into whether or not Trump Tower servers were communicating with a Russian bank, a FISA warrant was issued.
How much information the White House may have acquired on Trump's political strategy, as well as the full story of what might have been done with that information, will never be known. We do know that the director of national intelligence Dan Coats saw enough after he took office to specify that the "intelligence community may not engage in political activity, including dissemination of U.S. person identities to the White House, for the purpose of affecting the political process of the United States."
Coats likely had in mind the use of unmasking by the Obama administration. Identities of U.S. persons picked up inadvertently by surveillance are supposed to be masked, hidden from most users of the data. However, a select group of officials, including political appointees in the White House, can unmask and include names if they believe it is important to understanding the intelligence, or to show evidence of a crime.
Former Obama national security advisor Susan Rice told House investigators in at least one instance she unmasked the identities of Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner , and Steve Bannon. Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power , also made a number of unmasking requests in her final year in office.
But no one knows who unmasked Flynn in his conversations with the Russian ambassador. That and the subsequent leaking of what was said were used not only to snare Flynn in a perjury trap, but also to force him out of government. Prior to the leak that took Flynn down, Obama holdover and then-acting attorney general Sally Yates warned Trump that Flynn could be blackmailed by Moscow for lying about his calls. When Trump didn't immediately fire Flynn, the unmasked surveillance was leaked by a "senior government official" (likely Yates ) to the Washington Post . The disclosure pressured the administration to dump Flynn.
Similar leaks were used to try to pressure Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign, though they only resulted in him recusing himself from the Russiagate investigation. Following James Comey's firing, that recusal ultimately opened the door for the appointment of Special Counsel Mueller.
A highly classified leak was used to help marginalize Jared Kushner. The Washington Post , based on leaked intercepts, claimed foreign officials' from four countries spoke of exploiting Kushner's economic vulnerabilities to push him into acting against the United States. If the story is true, the leakers passed on data revealing sources and methods; those foreign officials now know that, however they communicated their thoughts about Kushner, the NSA was listening. Access to that level of information and the power to expose it is not a rank-and-file action. One analyst described the matter as "the Deep State takes out the White House's Dark Clown Prince."
Pervasive surveillance has shown its power perhaps most significantly in creating perjury traps to manufacture indictments to pressure people to testify against others.
Trump associate George Papadopoulos lied to the FBI about several meetings concerning Clinton's emails. The FBI knew about the meetings, " propelled in part by intelligence from other friendly governments, including the British and Dutch." The feds asked him questions solely in the hope that Papadopoulos would commit perjury, even though there was nothing shown to be criminal about the meetings themselves. Now guilty of a crime, the FBI will use the promise of a light punishment to press Papadopoulos into testifying against others.
There is a common thread here of using surveillance to create a process crime out of a non-material lie (the FBI already knew) where no underlying crime of turpitude exists (the meetings were legal). That this is then used to press someone to testify in an investigation that will have a significant political impact seems undemocratic -- yet it appears to be a primary tool Mueller is using.
This is a far cry from a traditional plea deal, giving someone a light sentence for actual crimes so that they will testify against others. Mueller should know. He famously allowed Mafia hitman Sammy the Bull to escape more serious punishment for 19 first-degree murders in return for testimony against John Gotti. No need to manufacture a perjury trap; the pile of bodies that never saw justice did the trick.
Don't be lured into thinking the ends justify the means, that whatever it takes to purge Trump is acceptable. Say what you want about Flynn, Kushner, et al, what matters most is the dark process being used. The arrival of pervasive surveillance as a political weapon is a harbinger that should chill Americans to their cores.
Peter Van Buren, a 24-year State Department veteran, is the author of We Meant Well : How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People and Hooper's War : A Novel of WWII Japan. He tweets @WeMeantWell. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR
SteveM March 6, 2018 at 10:13 pm
Al Boehnlein , says: March 6, 2018 at 10:24 pmPervasive surveillance has shown its power perhaps most significantly in creating perjury traps to manufacture indictments to pressure people to testify against others.
Key advice: Never talk to a cop. Never trust an agent of the Security State. They may still wreck your life, but at least you won't make it easy for them.
Are you really arguing that using surveillance on foreign agents and spies to catch and compel traders to testify against each other is bad????? Isn't that the way it is usually done?Joe , says: March 6, 2018 at 11:18 pmThey do have the option of telling the truth.Bruce Heilbrunn , says: March 6, 2018 at 11:31 pmIt is extremely easy to avoid a perjury trap: don't tell lies. And don't tell me the government has no right to investigate what could be treason by the president and his staff. I know how you love Trump and Russia.Clean Up Crew , says: March 7, 2018 at 12:06 amI voted for Trump but now I'm completely disgusted with his failures and betrayals and won't vote for him again.connecticut farmer , says: March 7, 2018 at 8:13 amSetting that aside, it's starting to look to me like the Hillary campaign and allies in the Obama federal bureaucracy were spying on the Trump campaign.
They fully expected Hillary to win and therefore to be able to cover up what they were doing.
But then they lost, and now they're ginning up the Russia/national security angle to blow smoke over what's starting to look like the worst campaign skullduggery since Nixon and Watergate.
It needs to be investigated, and if there's any fire there, vigorously prosecuted. I don't give a damn about Trump anymore, but I give a damn about our democracy and system of government, and if it turns out that some government filth was spying on Trump's campaign, I want them arrested, prosecuted, and thrown in the darkest, dirtiest hole in our prison system. We can't have that kind of s***.
Reading this raises the following question: At what point does soft-core totalitarianism morph into hard-core totalitarianism?Peter Van Buren , says: March 7, 2018 at 10:40 amIf I see one more variation on "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" in a comment my brain will explode. Anyone who writes that kind of thing ("Well maybe they shouldn't lie") is missing the point: our political process was surveilled and no one can control what happens to information gathered. Even if you think it good to "take down" Trump, the process will exist past him to be aimed at a future candidate you support.SteveJ , says: March 7, 2018 at 10:58 amconnecticut farmer , says: March 7, 2018 at 11:12 am"It is extremely easy to avoid a perjury trap: don't tell lies."Even if true, do you think it is fair for Flynn to be hit with felony charges for his "less than candid answers" with regard to politically and diplomatically sensitive phone calls to the Russian ambassador after the elections were over?
Thaomas , says: March 7, 2018 at 11:36 am"if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear"Sound familiar? The Fifties. When the so-called McCarthyites were peddling this line–to howls of derision from the Left.
Republicans created this mess in their desire to make "security" a partisan issue after 9/11. If they now regret it and wish to undo the mess, more power to them!MM , says: March 7, 2018 at 11:49 amPeter: "If I see one more variation on 'if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear' in a comment my brain will explode."Gerard , says: March 7, 2018 at 11:50 amThe Left used to be vociferously in favor of privacy rights. I took note during the Obama years that it really only mattered for abortion and library books, nothing beyond that.
But a thought experiment: How many progressives, for that matter how many Black and Hispanic Americans would be comfortable with the following government requirements:
– Federal, state, and local law enforcement have your name and current address on file at all times.
– Federal, state, and local law enforcement have a key to your home at all times.
– Federal, state, and local law enforcement have a tracking device on your car or your person at all times.If you have nothing to hide, you should have no objections to any of those requirements.
Any takers?
[[It is extremely easy to avoid a perjury trap: don't tell lies.]]kimp , says: March 7, 2018 at 12:01 pmEven easier: Be a Democrat, preferably the Party's presidential candidate, and then it doesn't matter whether you tell lies or commit felonies because the corrupt Deep State-lib-Dem-media alliance will hold you safely above the law.
Even in the midst of all of this, the ongoing ability to continue to spy on our own citizens was recently voted on and passed overwhelmingly, with large bipartisan support. Save your crocodile tears now.Will Harrington , says: March 7, 2018 at 12:37 pmBruce Heilbrunnmark_be , says: March 7, 2018 at 1:30 pmRussia is not an enemy of the United States despite all the hoopla about how eeeevil they are, we are not at war. Treason is not on the table unless you, you know, amend the constitution, or abandon it, or something.
@MM: apart from the key to your house (and even that might be questionable if you have certain "smart" appliances), you are describing Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, and/or Microsoft. Adding Federal Government to that list isn't as much of a jump as you seem to believe.BobS , says: March 7, 2018 at 1:32 pm"The arrival of pervasive surveillance as a political weapon is a harbinger that should chill Americans to their cores."MM , says: March 7, 2018 at 2:15 pmThankfully J. Edgar Hoover practiced his job with restraint.
That being said, while there is certainly a need for improvement of the FISA program (sadly, the 'principled' Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy, Matt Gaetz, et al., missed their opportunity in January when they voted for reauthorization), those individuals caught in the web "by accident" were regularly communicating with targets of legitimately obtained warrants. It was their choice to subsequently lie.
With respect to their "unmasking", it doesn't seem unreasonable that policy makers in the White House should have knowledge of their identity (even in the politicized environment of a presidential campaign), especially when there's the taint of influence of an adversarial government and/or organized crime on a potential POTUS.BobS: "Especially when there's the taint of influence of an adversarial government and/or organized crime on a potential POTUS."MM , says: March 7, 2018 at 2:18 pmHow about an actual POTUS?
Can it be presumed the DOJ and FBI had President Obama under similar surveillance?
mark_be: "Adding Federal Government to that list isn't as much of a jump as you seem to believe."Youknowho , says: March 7, 2018 at 2:20 pmNo, federal, state, and local *law enforcement*, that's what I put forth
Are you comfortable with that leap, personally? You know, jumping over probable cause and due process?
It is amazing how many law and order Conservatives start screaming about abuses of power, and targeting specific people when they are the ones at the receiving end.b. , says: March 7, 2018 at 2:21 pmAs a rule, if they did defended the police when the subject was racial profiling, they get to shut up on the subject now.
(Maybe they SHOULD team up with Black Lives Matter..)
We have come a long way from the reactionary and authoritarian chants of "if you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide" in the lead-up and then wake of the sarcastically name PATRIOT Act.MM , says: March 7, 2018 at 2:23 pmSurveillance and monitoring are, like all other "national securities" spending, primarily profit extraction driven public-private "partnerships", but the major point here always was "if you build it, they will use it".
That, too, is the foundational criticism driving Global Zero and the insistence that Article IV of the Non-Proliferation Treaty be honored by all signatory nuclear powers.
The basic principle of any evolutionary stable open society based on checks and balances is that no self-inflating institutions and power centers are permissible – whether that is inbred, networked multi-generational wealth, incorporated power such as financial institutions, or specific government institutions, such as the military, the "intelligence" agencies etc.
Of course, the whole idea of having secret courts applying secret law in secret decisions without adversary parties, and no mandatory disclosure after the fact, is also fundamentally incompatible with the idea of transparency and accountability, without which free speech and elections are little more than a travelling circus and a vehicle for advertising profit.
mark_be: Sorry, I meant to include fingerprints and DNA samples in that list of items for all levels of law enforcement to retain on file on every American.Youknowho , says: March 7, 2018 at 2:24 pmHow does that sound to you?
@Will Harrington:MM , says: March 7, 2018 at 2:53 pmAny government whose interests clash with ours must be considered a potential enemy – not enough to go to war, of course, but to be wary of what steps they may take to protect their interests and thwart ours.
As for Russia, alas, she is known for playing very dirty. Before there was a KGB, there was an Okhrana, among whose achievements was the writing and disemination of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Anyone who thinks that because they are no longer communists they Russians are nice guys lives in a fool's paradise
YKW: "As a rule, if they did defended the police when the subject was racial profiling, they get to shut up on the subject now."There is no such rule in a free society. People are within their rights to be as hypocritical and inconsistent as they like.
But if there were such a rule, where are the civil libertarians in the Democratic Party? Why aren't they castigating DOJ abuse of power in the previous administration?
Why are neoconservatives and Bush era creeps like Brennan, Clapper, and Hayden darlings of the Left?
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[Feb 19, 2018] Nunes FBI and DOJ Perps Could Be Put on Trial by Ray McGovern
Highly recommended!
Nunes chances to bring perpetrators to justice are close to zero. The Deep State controls the Washington, DC and can withstand sporadic attacks.
It is an extremly courageous of Devin Nunes to give this interview.
Notable quotes:
"... Throwing down the gauntlet on alleged abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the Department of Justice and the FBI, House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) stated that there could be legal consequences for officials who may have misled the FISA court. "If they need to be put on trial, we will put them on trial," he said. "The reason Congress exists is to oversee these agencies that we created." ..."
"... Nunes took this highly unusual, no-holds-barred stance during an interview with Emmy-award winning investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson , which aired on Sunday. ..."
"... He unapologetically averred that, yes, a criminal trial might well be the outcome. "DOJ and FBI are not above the law," he stated emphatically. "If they are committing abuse before a secret court getting warrants on American citizens, you're darn right that we're going to put them on trial." ..."
"... The stakes are very high. Current and former senior officials -- and not only from DOJ and FBI, but from other agencies like the CIA and NSA, whom documents and testimony show were involved in providing faulty information to justify a FISA warrant to monitor former Trump campaign official Carter Page -- may suddenly find themselves in considerable legal jeopardy. Like, felony territory. ..."
"... On the other hand, the presumptive perps have not run into a chairman like Nunes in four decades, since Congressmen Lucien Nedzi (D-Mich.), Otis Pike (D-NY), and Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho) ran tough, explosive hearings on the abuses of a previous generation deep state, including massive domestic spying revealed by quintessential investigative reporter Seymour Hersh in December 1974. (Actually, this is largely why the congressional intelligence oversight committees were later established, and why the FISA law was passed in 1978.) ..."
"... At this point, one is tempted to say plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ..."
"... One glaring sign of the media's unwillingness to displease corporate masters and Official Washington is the harsh reality that Hersh's most recent explosive investigations, using his large array of government sources to explore front-burner issues, have not been able to find a home in any English-speaking newspaper or journal. ..."
"... On this point, Nunes said, "In the last administration they were unmasking hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of Americans' names. They were unmasking for what I would say, for lack of a better definition, were for political purposes." ..."
"... It is real courageous of Devin Nunes to give this interview. It is not only the accountability to law that is at stake in U.S., but the Whole World is imperiled with what happens in Washington. But as many have written before in comments about this complete moral collapse of the Entire West, I am afraid, it is all going to be swept under the rug. We have to just keep the fingers crossed. ..."
"... I have never seen such media bias against a sitting president in my lifetime, not even against Richard Nixon when they at least practiced decorum and feigned objectivity even if they were secretly cheering on his demise. I will reiterate here that I do not champion the man but rather due process under our constitution, which has been made a travesty from the moment of Clinton's loss at the polls. ..."
"... I completely agree with you Realist. I am not Trump's fan or supporter of his agenda, in fact, in many things quite the opposite of it. However, he raised some very valid points about the the domestic economy and other issues, and about the need to stop interventions in foreign countries, and getting along Russia, and the need to rebuild country's manufacturing system again. He was duly elected by the people, and he should have been given the support to pursue what he promised. But it did not happen. ..."
"... Although it's being done for the wrong reasons, I am nevertheless looking forward to seeing our out-of-control intelligence agencies being put in their place. If I were president and my party controlled both houses of Congress, you'd better believe I'd be looking to dismantle the national surveillance state and reduce the military budget to a "mere" $250 billion annually. ..."
"... The post 9-11 wars of aggression, massive surveillance, torture and other war crimes were sold to the American public as only to be inflicted on foreigners, i.e. "we fight them over there so we don't fight them here." But the blowback has now turned America's schools, malls, workplaces, concerts and churches into war zones and little by little, the disinformation ops, "regime change" know-how and other accoutrements of perpetual war (the fool's errand of gaining full spectrum dominance over the rest of the world) have been turned inward on the American people, including powerful American officials themselves. So it would seem to be a good thing that some politicians like Nunes have finally seen the light exactly as Frank Church did -- only when they themselves began to reap the negative consequences of what they thought would only negatively impact other, lesser people. ..."
"... But there is more to it, as some have pointed out in comments above, there are some intra-party quarrels going on in Washington to take the upper hand. Regarding foreign policy, National Security State and surveillance, and other such issues, both parties are joined at the hip. ..."
"... It is instructive to read the comments on any NYT article on this subject. The comments are clearly written by intelligent, well-educated individuals – who parrot the Deep State's anti-Russian propaganda as if they were the dumbest of the "Better dead than Red!" 50s McCarthyites. ..."
"... The new McCarthyites are actually stupider and more authoritarian than their sad fore-bearers, because they could pierce the Deep States lies with 30 minutes of online research, but they prefer tribalism and ignorance, instead. ..."
"... Trump started going head to head with the intel folks, but has backed down a lot now. Let's hope Nunes et al hang in there and keep the pressure on these despicable criminals who hide behind governmental powers. ..."
"... Somehow I don't think Nunes or his committee is capable of reigning in Frankenstein. His "constitutuents"" are not likely to allow it and although the monster was pieced together from many body parts its instincts for self-preservation are formidable. Nevertheless, I would applaud anyone who makes the effort. ..."
"... Note that after saying the Russians are indicted for interfering in the election, and spending 5 minutes on this, at the 5 minute 20 second mark Rosenstein says there is no evidence that the Russians had any affect [sic] on the election! So what we have is the Deputy Attorney General of the United States announcing an indictment for which he says there is no evidence! ..."
"... In the world of cypher espionage I have no knowledge, but if Russia does hang out in it well then I'm sure the U.S. is already there to do what it must to defend it's cypher security. So that's a wash, but this insane Russia-Gate distraction was originally a way to deflect attention from Hillary & Debbie's putting the screws to Socialist Sanders . then Russia-Gate became a MSM driven coup to oust Trump from his Electoral won presidential office. ..."
"... Impossible to get the whole Gorgon's head, anyway, in such a corrupt system as we have ..."
"... Ray, do you think Trump has made a deal: he'll allow escalations against Russia, and in return the Deep State will leave him alone? If so, does that portend that this will fizzle out? ..."
"... While the shiny ball, smoke and mirrors psychological operation known as "Russiagate" has begun running on fumes before the gas tank finally runs dry, the major revelation of the Clinton WikiLeaks emails describing Saudi/Qatari financing of ISIS drops further down the memory hole. There's nothing like success ..."
Feb 19, 2018 | consortiumnews.com
House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes has stated that "DOJ and FBI are not above the law," and could face legal consequences for alleged abuses of the FISA court, reports Ray McGovern.
Throwing down the gauntlet on alleged abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the Department of Justice and the FBI, House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) stated that there could be legal consequences for officials who may have misled the FISA court. "If they need to be put on trial, we will put them on trial," he said. "The reason Congress exists is to oversee these agencies that we created."
Nunes took this highly unusual, no-holds-barred stance during an interview with Emmy-award winning investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson , which aired on Sunday.
Attkisson said she had invited both Nunes and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) but that only Nunes agreed. She asked him about Schiff's charge that Nunes' goal was "to put the FBI and DOJ on trial." What followed was very atypical bluntness -- candor normally considered quite unacceptable in polite circles of the Washington Establishment.
Rather than play the diplomat and disavow what Schiff contended was Nunes' goal, Nunes said, in effect, let the chips fall where they may. He unapologetically averred that, yes, a criminal trial might well be the outcome. "DOJ and FBI are not above the law," he stated emphatically. "If they are committing abuse before a secret court getting warrants on American citizens, you're darn right that we're going to put them on trial."
Die Is Cast
The stakes are very high. Current and former senior officials -- and not only from DOJ and FBI, but from other agencies like the CIA and NSA, whom documents and testimony show were involved in providing faulty information to justify a FISA warrant to monitor former Trump campaign official Carter Page -- may suddenly find themselves in considerable legal jeopardy. Like, felony territory.
This was not supposed to happen. Mrs. Clinton was a shoo-in, remember? Back when the FISA surveillance warrant of Page was obtained, just weeks before the November 2016 election, there seemed to be no need to hide tracks, because, even if these extracurricular activities were discovered, the perps would have looked forward to award certificates rather than legal problems under a Trump presidency.
Thus, the knives will be coming out. Mostly because the mainstream media will make a major effort -- together with Schiff-mates in the Democratic Party -- to marginalize Nunes, those who find themselves in jeopardy can be expected to push back strongly.
If past is precedent, they will be confident that, with their powerful allies within the FBI/DOJ/CIA "Deep State" they will be able to counter Nunes and show him and the other congressional investigation committee chairs, where the power lies. The conventional wisdom is that Nunes and the others have bit off far more than they can chew. And the odds do not favor folks, including oversight committee chairs, who buck the system.
Staying Power
On the other hand, the presumptive perps have not run into a chairman like Nunes in four decades, since Congressmen Lucien Nedzi (D-Mich.), Otis Pike (D-NY), and Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho) ran tough, explosive hearings on the abuses of a previous generation deep state, including massive domestic spying revealed by quintessential investigative reporter Seymour Hersh in December 1974. (Actually, this is largely why the congressional intelligence oversight committees were later established, and why the FISA law was passed in 1978.)
At this point, one is tempted to say plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose -- or the more things change, the more they stay the same -- but that would be only half correct in this context. Yes, scoundrels will always take liberties with the law to spy on others. But the huge difference today is that mainstream media have no room for those who uncover government crimes and abuse. And this will be a major impediment to efforts by Nunes and other committee chairs to inform the public.
One glaring sign of the media's unwillingness to displease corporate masters and Official Washington is the harsh reality that Hersh's most recent explosive investigations, using his large array of government sources to explore front-burner issues, have not been able to find a home in any English-speaking newspaper or journal. In a sense, this provides what might be called a "confidence-building" factor, giving some assurance to deep-state perps that they will be able to ride this out, and that congressional committee chairs will once again learn to know their (subservient) place.
Much will depend on whether top DOJ and FBI officials can bring themselves to reverse course and give priority to the oath they took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. This should not be too much to hope for, but it will require uncommon courage in facing up honestly to the major misdeeds appear to have occurred -- and letting the chips fall where they may. Besides, it would be the right thing to do.
Nunes is projecting calm confidence that once he and Trey Gowdey (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Oversight Committee, release documentary evidence showing what their investigations have turned up, it will be hard for DOJ and FBI officials to dissimulate.
In Other News
In the interview with Attkisson, Nunes covered a number of other significant issues:
The committee is closing down its investigation into possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign; no evidence of collusion was found. The apparently widespread practice of "unmasking" the identities of Americans under surveillance. On this point, Nunes said, "In the last administration they were unmasking hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of Americans' names. They were unmasking for what I would say, for lack of a better definition, were for political purposes." Asked about Schiff's criticism that Nunes behaved improperly on what he called the "midnight run to the White House," Nunes responded that the stories were untrue. "Well, most of the time I ignore political nonsense in this town," he said. "What I will say is that all of those stories were totally fake from the beginning."Not since Watergate has there been so high a degree of political tension here in Washington but the stakes for our Republic are even higher this time. Assuming abuse of FISA court procedures is documented and those responsible for playing fast and loose with the required justification for legal warrants are not held to account, the division of powers enshrined in the Constitution will be in peril.
A denouement of some kind can be expected in the coming months. Stay tuned.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Savior in inner-city Washington. He was a CIA analyst for 27 years and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
Skip Scott , February 19, 2018 at 9:38 am
Bob Van Noy , February 19, 2018 at 12:51 pmThanks Ray for another great article. One can only hope that Nunes is successful. However, like you say, the MSM is now complicit with the "Deep State", so the fight for justice becomes much harder. One also has to remember Schumer's "six ways from Sunday" applies equally to the congress as it does to the president. I hardly ever watch TV news, but recently I've been subjected to it, and I've seen a deluge of fluff pieces on our so-called Intelligence Agencies. I would love to see Trump give a speech (instead of a tweet) directly to the American people letting them know what rascals like Brennan, Clapper, et al have been up to.
Dave P. , February 19, 2018 at 2:29 pmThis may be the best broadcast tv journalism in many years, read Sharyl Attkisson's story, "Stonewalled" (I will link the commentary page to that book for thorough readers). And thank you Nat, Ray McGovern & CN
Abbybwood , February 19, 2018 at 3:54 pmAn excellent and very timely article by Ray McGovern. Lawlessness, greed, complete subservience to Wall Street Finance and other Powers, insanity, and utter inhumanity prevails in present day Ruling Establishment in Washington. Obama, "the hope and change" Con Artist for whose election, being democrats we worked so hard in 2008 turned to be the biggest perpetrator of this lawlessness and responsible for fanning the flames still further in starting a new Cold War.
It is real courageous of Devin Nunes to give this interview. It is not only the accountability to law that is at stake in U.S., but the Whole World is imperiled with what happens in Washington. But as many have written before in comments about this complete moral collapse of the Entire West, I am afraid, it is all going to be swept under the rug. We have to just keep the fingers crossed.
Howard Dean just said yesterday that Nunes and people like him belong in jail. Now can you believe it, how low these so called liberal democrats have come to? Looking at the pictures of Adam Schiff, Howard Dean, and others in their company, I literally feel sick in the stomach. And one asks the essential question: "did not their parents teach them any honesty or moral principles in young age?".
Sam F , February 19, 2018 at 10:36 pmBut what he said is very confusing. First he says that Congress has no way to prosecute the DOJ/FBI for wrong doing then at the end he says Congress will need to prosecute the DOJ/FBI if necessary. Either Congress has the ability to prosecute the DOJ/FBI and issue indictments and set up Grand Juries or they don't.
Somebody needs to find out, Constitutionally, what the solution is when the DOJ/FBI at the highest levels become the criminals. WHO has the power to indict/convict these individuals??
Annie , February 19, 2018 at 3:20 pmA special prosecutor (Mueller's position) is appointed by the Pres or AG.
Realist , February 19, 2018 at 5:02 pmFrom what I've heard expressed by a few FBI people, you don't come before a court, but a judge, one person, and they are known to rubber stamp almost everything. So they should be investigated too.
Dave P. , February 19, 2018 at 7:56 pmI have never seen such media bias against a sitting president in my lifetime, not even against Richard Nixon when they at least practiced decorum and feigned objectivity even if they were secretly cheering on his demise. I will reiterate here that I do not champion the man but rather due process under our constitution, which has been made a travesty from the moment of Clinton's loss at the polls.
Sam F , February 19, 2018 at 10:41 pmI completely agree with you Realist. I am not Trump's fan or supporter of his agenda, in fact, in many things quite the opposite of it. However, he raised some very valid points about the the domestic economy and other issues, and about the need to stop interventions in foreign countries, and getting along Russia, and the need to rebuild country's manufacturing system again. He was duly elected by the people, and he should have been given the support to pursue what he promised. But it did not happen. We would not know now what he actually wanted to accomplish.
Michael , February 19, 2018 at 10:00 amYes, neither party nor the mass media shows concern for the Constitution or for the people. As the propaganda agency, the mass media are primarily responsible. The zionist/WallSt/MIC oligarchy have consolidated control over mass media, secret agencies, and elections, but not without factions.
Joe Tedesky , February 19, 2018 at 11:09 amAlthough it's being done for the wrong reasons, I am nevertheless looking forward to seeing our out-of-control intelligence agencies being put in their place. If I were president and my party controlled both houses of Congress, you'd better believe I'd be looking to dismantle the national surveillance state and reduce the military budget to a "mere" $250 billion annually.
Coleen Rowley , February 19, 2018 at 3:27 pmMichael I hear ya. Yes, there is a civil war of sorts going on in DC, and yes it would be a wonderful thing to rid our bureaucracy of all the slim that is in it, but taking Jiminy Cricket's good advice to heart would be so much more fruitful to if you and I would only sing;
'When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you"Now that song will be stuck in my head all day .got any Journey? Joe
BobS , February 19, 2018 at 4:50 pmIt's true that people generally do not care when bad practices, policies or violence is inflicted on others and not on themselves. Of course that's stupid because it's just a matter of time before "blowback" occurs (as the CIA euphemistically labeled how doing unto others eventually boomerangs back on perpetrators). Going back to the Church Committee and how that bit of accountability finally happened, it only got off the ground when Frank Church and other Senators found THEMSELVES in the crosshairs of FBI Cointelpro; CIA's "CHAOS" and NSA's "Minaret" surveillance. http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/09/25/secret-cold-war-documents-reveal-nsa-spied-on-senators/ (To this day, only 7 of the 1000 or so Americans targeted by the NSA during the Vietnam War have been discovered but their identities are telling.)
The post 9-11 wars of aggression, massive surveillance, torture and other war crimes were sold to the American public as only to be inflicted on foreigners, i.e. "we fight them over there so we don't fight them here." But the blowback has now turned America's schools, malls, workplaces, concerts and churches into war zones and little by little, the disinformation ops, "regime change" know-how and other accoutrements of perpetual war (the fool's errand of gaining full spectrum dominance over the rest of the world) have been turned inward on the American people, including powerful American officials themselves. So it would seem to be a good thing that some politicians like Nunes have finally seen the light exactly as Frank Church did -- only when they themselves began to reap the negative consequences of what they thought would only negatively impact other, lesser people.
Gregory Herr , February 19, 2018 at 7:30 pm" the blowback has now turned America's schools, malls, workplaces, concerts and churches into war zones"
"blowback" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, if you're referring specifically to "post 9-11 wars of aggression, massive surveillance, torture and other war crimes". Whenever the incidents have had a political agenda attached, it's more often than not been of the domestic right-wing variety. And of course, all of them have been facilitated by easy civilian access to hardware that was originally developed by the military (ours and the Soviets) to efficiently kill/incapacitate large numbers of enemy fighters.
Sam F , February 19, 2018 at 10:54 pmBobS fails to understand that blowback encapsulates more than "revenge". "Forever war" and all Colleen mentions that goes with it has had societal impact because violence is glorified as a "solution" and feelings of suspicion and antagonism become part of the dark undertow.
Annie , February 19, 2018 at 4:23 pmWell said, Colleen. Let us hope that Nunes is not merely acting the part. I wonder whether the greatest secrets of domestic spying are now so compartmentalized and controlled that only those most dependent upon their agency could blow the whistle.
Dave P. , February 19, 2018 at 4:52 pmThis is not to be compared to spying on citizens, which is unacceptable, but they tried to undermine a presidency, whether you like Trump or not, and at the same time it allowed them to push their cold war agenda. I remember Clinton's campaign manager coming out right after the e-mail dump that said the Russians did it. And didn't Obama send a lot of those Russian ambassadors packing? They should be investigated, as should the FISA court itself. Perhaps if Trump didn't have this charge of colluding with Russia he might have been able to be more diplomatic on that score. Now, they made sure he would never be getting along with Russia. What they have now is a bunch of Russians acting on their own that allegedly interfered in our elections and created political discord, which is absurd, since the democrats are mainly responsible for this nonsense, as is the FBI and DOJ. I was a democrat, but no more.
Gregory Herr , February 19, 2018 at 7:42 pmAnnie, you are right on that. However, Coleen Rowely has also made some very good observations in her comments. But there is more to it, as some have pointed out in comments above, there are some intra-party quarrels going on in Washington to take the upper hand. Regarding foreign policy, National Security State and surveillance, and other such issues, both parties are joined at the hip.
Virginia , February 19, 2018 at 10:34 amI wouldn't completely discount the idea that Nunes' sense of responsibility has been activated by being a close witness to what is blatant wrongdoing. But then my cynicism is still tempered by the belief that sometimes people are compelled to do what's right just because it's what's right. Silly me.
Abbybwood , February 19, 2018 at 4:03 pmMe, too, Michael, to " dismantle the national surveillance state and reduce the military budget to a 'mere' $250 billion annually."
Thanks to Ray McGovern for another good article with link to interview. Good to hear they will finally be closing the Mueller investigation (Nunes was straightforward about that, no there there) and will likely be investigating the FBI and DOJ.
Applause goes to David Nunes. Keep up the good work.
Pandas4peace , February 19, 2018 at 10:24 amBut I see where Trump asked for nearly one TRILLION dollars for the military and got it.
Cherrycoke , February 19, 2018 at 11:57 amWhere can we get access to Seymour Hersh's "recent explosive investigations" even if they are written in German?
Ray McGovern , February 19, 2018 at 12:11 pmhttps://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html
There is more at the bottom of the page.
mike k , February 19, 2018 at 2:54 pmTry this link: http://raymcgovern.com/?s=hersh+welt or simply search on consortiumnews.com webpage.
ray
Ray McGovern , February 19, 2018 at 9:35 pm"On June 25th 2017 the German newspaper, Welt, published the latest piece by Seymour Hersh, countering the "mainstream" narrative around the April 4th 2017 Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack in Syria."
David Otness , February 19, 2018 at 5:37 pmRanney,
Please have a look at this: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/06/25/intel-behind-trumps-syria-attack-questioned/
Consortiumnews.com publishes and comments on everything Pulitzer Prize winning Sy Hersh does. The problem is that he is BANNED from English-language pubs -- simply banned and even kept off erstwhile "liberal" TV and radio programs. Amy Goodman, for example, has ALWAYS had Sy on when he had a new story until this one. She would not touch it; these days prefers to go with the "White Helmets" of this world. O Tempora, O Mores. Sad.
So, in sum, the problem is a very basic one. Sy does not publish until he has nailed down every significant detail and, since he is so well plugged in with many longtime, trusted sources to sift through, that takes a while for a bit story -- as all of them are. And when he is ready to publish, he hears folks whisper "Leper" as he gets close to an editorial office. It really IS that bad. We owe the op-ed editor at die Welt our thanks.
Btw: The Consortiumnews.com main page has a SEARCH button that I find very handy. Try to search on Seymour Hersh. Same goes for easily searchable raymcgovern.com, my website.
Ray
Ray McGovern , February 19, 2018 at 9:51 pmThe London Review of Books has been publishing Hersh's work. That's one source.
Kim Dixon , February 19, 2018 at 10:32 amDavid,
Not for his latest of last June. See explanation of LRB cave in at: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/06/25/intel-behind-trumps-syria-attack-questioned/
The ostracizing of Sy Hersh is a major -- if highly depressing -- story in and of itself. But he is irrepressible. I do not think he is going to silently steal away any time soon.
Ray McGovern
Lois Gagnon , February 19, 2018 at 1:01 pmCan anyone imagine the Neocon WashPo, or the NYT (or CBS, or CNN, or ) committing actual journalism, as this story progresses?
That, and the DNC's commitment to the DNC to the Russia Did It!™ canard, will ensure that real revelations go nowhere.
It is instructive to read the comments on any NYT article on this subject. The comments are clearly written by intelligent, well-educated individuals – who parrot the Deep State's anti-Russian propaganda as if they were the dumbest of the "Better dead than Red!" 50s McCarthyites.
The new McCarthyites are actually stupider and more authoritarian than their sad fore-bearers, because they could pierce the Deep States lies with 30 minutes of online research, but they prefer tribalism and ignorance, instead.
Nancy , February 19, 2018 at 2:47 pmYou got that right! I live in the 5 college area in Massachusetts. Plenty of those types around here playing activists. They fit your description. I can't stand to be in the same room with any of them. They may as well be from Mars.
mike k , February 19, 2018 at 10:35 amI agree. The average working person has more common sense than the so-called intelligent, educated class. I suspect their views reflect the fact that they are very comfortable, financially, with the status quo, and don't want any real change.
BobH , February 19, 2018 at 10:52 amTrump started going head to head with the intel folks, but has backed down a lot now. Let's hope Nunes et al hang in there and keep the pressure on these despicable criminals who hide behind governmental powers. When you allow people to do whatever they want in secret with no oversight, you can expect them to abuse their power. The basic question all this leads to is "who is running this country and making crucial decisions about war and peace, or fascism and democracy"?
BobH , February 19, 2018 at 6:43 pmSomehow I don't think Nunes or his committee is capable of reigning in Frankenstein. His "constitutuents"" are not likely to allow it and although the monster was pieced together from many body parts its instincts for self-preservation are formidable. Nevertheless, I would applaud anyone who makes the effort.
Bob Van Noy , February 19, 2018 at 7:11 pmHere's where Mueller's investigation didn't go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-2_Bc_7Pos
Joe Tedesky , February 19, 2018 at 10:58 amThanks BobH, that's an excellent rant, thanks for passing it along.
Joe Tedesky , February 19, 2018 at 11:29 amThe only way any trail that Nunes could even begin to make magically appear to happen before our weary eyes will happen only, and I say only, will appear because it will be good for tv ratings. Enforcing Constitutional law, I mean who does that anymore? Why today in our nation's capital we have congressional people asking the opposite of what Ben Franklin warned us good citizens about as the swamp critters are saying, 'Constitution how can we lose it'. You know this Ray that these crooks and crookettes in DC think that the U.S. Constitution is so passé and so anciently colonial that they hear Jefferson saying, 'ignore this stupid document, I was drunk with Adams and Franklin when I wrote it. It was all a big mistake.' Or something like that, but Constitutional law we don't need no stink'n Constitutional law, now get back to your part time work. (Whip cracking sound)
Hey Ray this whole fiasco does what is most important in this new American century, this fiasco is entertaining and the ratings are going through the roof so with that what more could a red blooded good American ask for now pass the tv remote.
blimbax , February 19, 2018 at 9:21 pmPaul Craig Roberts may have nailed this thing: https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/02/18/cbs-contradicts-muellers-report/
Joe Tedesky , February 19, 2018 at 10:25 pmPaul Craig Roberts wrote,
Note that after saying the Russians are indicted for interfering in the election, and spending 5 minutes on this, at the 5 minute 20 second mark Rosenstein says there is no evidence that the Russians had any affect [sic] on the election! So what we have is the Deputy Attorney General of the United States announcing an indictment for which he says there is no evidence!
If we take Roberts' statement at face value, he may have inadvertenly mischaracterized Rosenstein's statement. According to Roberts, Rosenstein said there is no evidence of an effect on the election, but it does not follow from that that Rosenstein is saying that there is no evidence of interference. There may have been "interference" that had no impact. And, of course, there is the question, just what is meant by "interference" in this context?
I share the frustration many commenters have about the entire "Russiagate" narrative, but I think it is important to be careful in how we evaluate these statements. It may all be a "nothinburger," but it is important to describe things carefully and correctly. Otherwise, one ends up inadvertently setting up a straw man for someone else to knock down.
Joe Tedesky , February 19, 2018 at 11:59 amI share the stress you do blimblax that you and all who stay on this Russia-Gate pay-ops suffer, but the way this crooked nail investigation has been going, mostly distorted by the press coverage, your argument about the interpretation of Rosenstein's words to the general public will be like splitting hairs with bald people . they just won't get it, and why, because I'm not sure the vast amount of Americans get it now. They got turned off along time ago back when the FBI didn't produce Trump performing his much heard about Steele Dossier acclaimed Water Sports in his Moscow Obama's Presidential Suite sick, yes, but it's the truth. No pictures, no believe you.
Personally I have never doubted any Russian influence in the way of statements, or essays, but this contribution of opinion is to be expected from any well thinking country, or nation if you'd rather of the world. Plus the Russians spending wasn't even close to any real fraction of what both U.S. Presidential candidate spend on their campaigns, get real.
In the world of cypher espionage I have no knowledge, but if Russia does hang out in it well then I'm sure the U.S. is already there to do what it must to defend it's cypher security. So that's a wash, but this insane Russia-Gate distraction was originally a way to deflect attention from Hillary & Debbie's putting the screws to Socialist Sanders . then Russia-Gate became a MSM driven coup to oust Trump from his Electoral won presidential office.
We could argue to how Trump,should be questioned, or even brought up on impeachment charges, but not for this particular Russia interference into our so well guarded American democracy. In fact we Americans don't need any Russian help at bringing our American democracy down, because we Americans already did that with the Patriot Act as among a few many other things. Joe
SocraticGadfly , February 19, 2018 at 1:35 pmHere is a rant by Charles Hugh Smith: http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2018/02/russian-meddling-gagging-on-irony.html
Joe Tedesky , February 19, 2018 at 2:14 pmNeither Dems nor GOP truly care about the First Amendment. Ray won't write about that. I have, re the Mueller indictments: http://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2018/02/internet-research-agency-butt-hurt.html
Bill , February 19, 2018 at 11:48 amThat was a terrific read, and so is this: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/02/mueller-indictement-the-russian-influence-is-a-commercial-marketing-scheme.html#more
Enjoy. Joe
Lois Gagnon , February 19, 2018 at 4:17 pmSomehow many Democrats are convinced that the FBI/DOJ did nothing wrong with regards to the FISA warrants. And they're still convinced that Trump colluded with Putin. Nothing will change their minds, it's hopeless.
Jessika , February 19, 2018 at 11:55 amIt is indeed surreal to watch people who classify themselves as the left undermining the left by supporting the very agencies whose sole purpose from their inception is to destroy the left.
As David William Pear put it at OpEd News, "I don't think even Orwell has a scene like this: anti-authoritarian dissidents endorse more authoritarian means to weed out authoritarians resulting in authoritarians having more control to weed out dissidents."
I have a headache.
BobS , February 19, 2018 at 11:58 amThe Deep State is very, very deep, and we're "Knee Deep in the Big Muddy" (Pete Seeger). Anybody knows the US Deep State was thoroughly entrenched by Reagan's time. It's overdue not to let this deep state corruption harden to concrete. I support neither party until there is a course correction, and Nunes makes valid points in support of a correction. Thanks, Ray.
Joe Tedesky , February 19, 2018 at 12:01 pmThin skinned too, eh Ray?
You're right, of course- Russia analysts at the CIA did stellar work in the 1980s.SocraticGadfly , February 19, 2018 at 1:34 pmNo BobS it's you with your thickhead that doesn't get it. Keep it up BobS, because eventually you are going to say something funny. Take care. Joe
Charles Misfeldt , February 19, 2018 at 11:58 amRay continues to engage in two-siderism. He ignores digging into legit critiques of Mueller, as I have. http://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2018/02/internet-research-agency-butt-hurt.html
BobS , February 19, 2018 at 1:09 pmWill Nunes or any conservative go after the thousands of illegal acts perpetrated by conservatives??? NO! Nunes, along with every conservative traitor in America (republican or democrat) needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The conservative agenda is not moral or constitutional.
Deniz , February 19, 2018 at 1:58 pmConsidering their disregard for law as well as their worship of authoritarianism (exercised against the proper targets, of course), I'd say it's more than "self-enrichment" that drives conservatives, both ancient and modern.
BobS , February 19, 2018 at 2:09 pmPerhaps that is an issue, but I am unclear precisely what is wrong in Nunes position that he is relying on Gowdy, an undeniably sharp, precise, prosecutor, to review the examined material. Watching both Nunes and Gowdy in sessions, I would have probably, and gladly, made the same decision. It also make sense politically that they cover for each other, one person is expendable and takes the heat – Nunes, while the other – Gowdy, an upward star of the party, who probably ran the whole investigation anyway, keeps his hands clean.
Deniz , February 19, 2018 at 2:32 pmThe always partisan "upward star" Trey 'BENGHAZI!!!' Gowdy announced his retirement from congress last month due to his being "sick of hyper-partisanship". And let me show you this bridge I'm selling
Deniz , February 19, 2018 at 5:34 pmIn fact, I would greatly enjoy a discussion on weapons transfers from Libya to Erdogan to Al – Qaeda via Clinton. This is actually one of my favorite topics. So have it.
Jessika , February 19, 2018 at 12:07 pmSo what is your argument, that we should be loyal to our crime family and not theirs?
Or do you think Hillary, "We came, we saw, he died" or Mueller, of nothing to see here on 9/11 notoriety are the sort of people we should be defending.
Antiwar7 , February 19, 2018 at 12:35 pmImpossible to get the whole Gorgon's head, anyway, in such a corrupt system as we have. Why else are we in such a mess? Both GOP and Democrats have not served the people, so we should therefore give up trying to address any abuse?
Gregory Herr , February 19, 2018 at 8:14 pmRay, do you think Trump has made a deal: he'll allow escalations against Russia, and in return the Deep State will leave him alone? If so, does that portend that this will fizzle out?
Jerry Alatalo , February 19, 2018 at 3:50 pmSo you are privy to the briefings in question. Just because Reagan bloated the military budget doesn't mean he was being fed false intelligence by McGovern.
On the other hand, it is well publicized that Cheney twisted arms at Langley and Tenet obliged and Rummy worked the Iraq angle as well. We also had the Downing Street Memo and the Powell fiasco and Valerie Plame. Ray was right to be indignant.
Drew Hunkins , February 19, 2018 at 3:59 pmWhile the shiny ball, smoke and mirrors psychological operation known as "Russiagate" has begun running on fumes before the gas tank finally runs dry, the major revelation of the Clinton WikiLeaks emails describing Saudi/Qatari financing of ISIS drops further down the memory hole. There's nothing like success
Paul E. Merrell, J.D. , February 19, 2018 at 5:59 pmGood point Mr. Alatalo. The Saudi-Zio Terror Network gets away with murder, literally and figuratively and of course the Saudi-Zio Terror Network NEVER, EVER interferes in ANY elections in the United States, no never.
(sarcasm)
Bob Van Noy , February 19, 2018 at 7:18 pmRelated news: Kim Dotcom: "Let Me Assure You, The DNC Hack Wasn't Even A Hack", https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-18/kim-dotcom-let-me-assure-you-dnc-hack-wasnt-even-hack (Kim Dot Com claims personal knowledge on who took the DNC emails (Seth Rich) and his lawyers wrote to Mueller twice, offering his testimony, but never heard back from Mueller).
Stop Bush and Clinton , February 19, 2018 at 7:34 pmThank you Paul E. Merrell, J.D. I have been convinced from the beginning of all of this that this was the line to Wikileaks. Now if we could only get a real investigation into Seth's murder.
"We found that they broke a vast number of laws, did surveillance of a competitor with a warrant based on fake evidence, all adding up to treason worse than Watergate. But we think that no reasonable prosecutor would file charges .." -- The FBI
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[Feb 14, 2018] Recused Judge in Flynn Prosecution Served on FISA Court
Highly recommended!
Feb 14, 2018 | www.unz.com
Clyde, February 14, 2018 at 11:20 am GMT
@Ozymandias"It's worth noting that intentionally deceiving a federal judge is a felony."
It's also worth noting that sometimes the judge is in on it.For the Trump Admin surveillance warrants the FISA judge was probably Contreras. So goes the rumor. He was probably in on it or halfway in on it. All the major players in DC know each other and trade favors.
And Gen Mike Flynn is in the process of getting his case dismissed. The only thing left to determine is how much the Federales will have to reimburse him for his lawyers fees, which are a million plus.
FISA Judge Rudolph Contreras EXPOSED – twitter.com
Rudolph Contreras was the FISA Judge who issued a warrant to spy on Carter Page because of a Yahoo News article and a Phony Probably have already. He needs to go
Recused Judge in Flynn Prosecution Served on FISA Court
https://www.infowars.com/recused-judge-in-flynn-prosecution-served… ;
Did Judge Contreras OK electronic surveillance of Recused Judge in Flynn Prosecution Served on FISA Court Did Judge Contreras OK electronic surveillance of
Federal FISA Judge Recuses Himself From Michael Flynn Case
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/12/07/federal-fisa-judge… ;
Blows the whole FISA Court to hell in a hand basket and Judge Contreras is getting the hell out of dodge. This a helluva mess for the FISA Court and it's victims. Rule 5. Authority of the Judges. (b) Referring Matters to Other Judges.
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[Feb 14, 2018] The Anti-Trump Coup by Michael S. Rozeff
Highly recommended!
Notable quotes:
"... One objective is to keep in place an anti-Russian policy. The coup's instigators want to prevent Trump from letting up on the pressure (sanctions) on Russia and from cooperating with Russia. The coup forces are all anti-Russia, and that serves to unite them. A second objective is to maintain the positions, power, and influence of the coup's seekers. ..."
"... This is a "seed crystal" coup. The model for the seed crystal coup is the Watergate scandal. The operational goal is to crystallize and solidify the disunited Trump opposition into a movement that has irresistible momentum. In much the same way that seed crystals can accelerate a phase change from liquid to solid, the coup perpetrators introduce reports, accusations, and leaks over time in order to create the impression that a widening scandal is occurring. Each component has no merit but the media accept them at face value and provide publicity that creates new adherents and coherence among the anti-Trump forces. The anti-Trump forces are anxious to replicate the success in getting Nixon to resign. ..."
"... The anti-Trump media are critical in this effort. The anti-Trump media keep up a drumbeat of anti-Trump reporting. They slant the news, manufacture stories, repeat them and create fake news. ..."
"... The media must paint Russia and Putin as enemies for this propaganda effort to succeed. The media provide a focal point that coordinates the coup's backers even if they never sit down and conspire with one another. Everyone can observe the media stories and through that the effects of their anti-Trump leaks, reports, and innuendos. This allows them to plan their next moves. ..."
"... Social media have played a role in uprisings during the Arab Spring. The same thing can happen in America. There is a host of groups who are anti-Trump on grounds other than Russia. They can coordinate through social media. These groups seek to de-legitimize Trump so as to maintain items on their agenda. Aides to Hillary Clinton's failed campaign are now piling on to the effort. ..."
"... Positing a coup attempt is the simplest and most comprehensive hypothesis that ties together and explains a host of known facts that we know have occurred. Being a model of events, it is imperfect; but it's better than no model because it still helps us to understand what's going on. We are not seeing a train of unconnected events that just happen to be anti-Trump. It is easier to understand it as a concerted effort going on to emasculate the Trump presidency and possibly see him replaced; and that effort is centered in the CIA. ..."
"... The second victim of the coup is Michael T. Flynn, who resigned as Trump's National Security Advisor after only three weeks in that post. Leaks of tapped phone calls showed that intelligence operatives were behind this shark attack ..."
"... Mainly, unnamed intelligence officials and operatives who are in the CIA or recently retired from such. A number of media outfits are exceptionally active in propagating negative headlines and stories about Trump and his administration. Elements of other intelligence agencies and departments of government are possibly involved. We do not know the names of those operating against Trump, and this is a weakness of the coup hypothesis. ..."
Feb 21, 2017 | www.lewrockwell.com
Q. Will the coup succeed in removing Trump from office?
A. Not in its present form. It is currently destined to fail because the investigating agencies and enemies of Trump haven't found a smoking gun against him on the basis of Russian ties or influence. No one can prove that Trump is being controlled by Putin, and so he won't resign for that reason. The coup will peter out unless it comes up with new and more explosive anti-Trump material that's not obviously specious or doubtful as much of the current material is. Furthermore, Trump hasn't yet counterattacked and he has plenty of ammunition.
Q. What are the objectives of the coup?
A. One objective is to keep in place an anti-Russian policy. The coup's instigators want to prevent Trump from letting up on the pressure (sanctions) on Russia and from cooperating with Russia. The coup forces are all anti-Russia, and that serves to unite them. A second objective is to maintain the positions, power, and influence of the coup's seekers.
Q. How is the coup being conducted?
A. This is a "seed crystal" coup. The model for the seed crystal coup is the Watergate scandal. The operational goal is to crystallize and solidify the disunited Trump opposition into a movement that has irresistible momentum. In much the same way that seed crystals can accelerate a phase change from liquid to solid, the coup perpetrators introduce reports, accusations, and leaks over time in order to create the impression that a widening scandal is occurring. Each component has no merit but the media accept them at face value and provide publicity that creates new adherents and coherence among the anti-Trump forces. The anti-Trump forces are anxious to replicate the success in getting Nixon to resign.
Q. What is the role of the establishment media in the coup?
A. The anti-Trump media are critical in this effort. The anti-Trump media keep up a drumbeat of anti-Trump reporting. They slant the news, manufacture stories, repeat them and create fake news. They try to convince the public that the coup's promoters are on the side of the angels (as in protecting national security and the election system's purity) and Trump is on the side of the devils (as in making concessions to a dangerous foe and being too respectful to Putin). The media must paint Russia and Putin as enemies for this propaganda effort to succeed. The media provide a focal point that coordinates the coup's backers even if they never sit down and conspire with one another. Everyone can observe the media stories and through that the effects of their anti-Trump leaks, reports, and innuendos. This allows them to plan their next moves.
Q. What is the role of social media in the coup attempt?
A. Social media have played a role in uprisings during the Arab Spring. The same thing can happen in America. There is a host of groups who are anti-Trump on grounds other than Russia. They can coordinate through social media. These groups seek to de-legitimize Trump so as to maintain items on their agenda. Aides to Hillary Clinton's failed campaign are now piling on to the effort.
These groups are distinct from the coup's perpetrators. They might launch a coup attempt of their own or they may become a front line of the existing coup, that is, merge with it as a force to reckon with that Trump has to address.
Q. How do you answer those who deny that there is an ongoing coup attempt?
A. Positing a coup attempt is the simplest and most comprehensive hypothesis that ties together and explains a host of known facts that we know have occurred. Being a model of events, it is imperfect; but it's better than no model because it still helps us to understand what's going on. We are not seeing a train of unconnected events that just happen to be anti-Trump. It is easier to understand it as a concerted effort going on to emasculate the Trump presidency and possibly see him replaced; and that effort is centered in the CIA.
The people behind the coup are operating partly openly and partly covertly. They are not so far using military means or physically threatening means so that the coup is not clearly recognizable as such. They are more like sharks circling their intended victims, with each one being hungry and attacking its own, as opposed to making pre-arranged attacks. Their coordination is achieved through publicity and a common goal.
We can see these attacks, and they show a pattern, a common goal and a recognizable origin, primarily among U.S. intelligence agencies, especially the CIA.
Q. What attacks are you referring to?
A. The first victim was Paul Manafort who resigned in mid-August 2016 as Trump's campaign chairman. His lobbying efforts on behalf of the ousted head of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych, resulted in a dirt campaign against him. That attack stemmed from anti-Russian sources in Ukraine whom the U.S. government supports. Attacks from foreign origins conceal their true U.S. origins. They are a sign of a CIA operation behind the scenes.
The second victim of the coup is Michael T. Flynn, who resigned as Trump's National Security Advisor after only three weeks in that post. Leaks of tapped phone calls showed that intelligence operatives were behind this shark attack .
Q. Who is behind the coup attempt ?
A. Mainly, unnamed intelligence officials and operatives who are in the CIA or recently retired from such. A number of media outfits are exceptionally active in propagating negative headlines and stories about Trump and his administration. Elements of other intelligence agencies and departments of government are possibly involved. We do not know the names of those operating against Trump, and this is a weakness of the coup hypothesis.
... ... ...
Michael S. Rozeff [ send him mail ] is a retired Professor of Finance living in East Amherst, New York. He is the author of the free e-book Essays on American Empire: Liberty vs. Domination and the free e-book The U.S. Constitution and Money: Corruption and Decline .
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[Feb 14, 2018] The FBI and the President – Mutual Manipulation by James Petras
Highly recommended!
Notable quotes:
"... The liberals and Democrats and their allies in the FBI, political police and other elements of the security state apparatus were deeply involved in an attempt to implicate Russian government officials in a plot to manipulate US public opinion on Trump's behalf and corrupt the outcome of the election. However, the FBI, the Justice Department and Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller have produced no evidence of collusion linking the Russian government to a campaign to undermine Hillary Clinton's candidacy in favor of Trump. This is despite thousands of interviews and threats of long prison sentences against former Trump campaign advisers. Instead, they focus their attack on Trump's early campaign promise to find common ground in improving economic and diplomatic ties between the US and Russia, especially in confronting jihadi terrorists. ..."
"... The liberal-progressive FBI cohort turned into rabid Russia-bashers demanding that Trump take a highly aggressive stance against Moscow, while systematically eliminating his military and security advisors who expressed anti-confrontation sentiments. In the spirit of a Joe McCarthy, the liberal-left launched hysterical attacks on any and every Trump campaign adviser who had spoken to, dined with or exchanged eyebrows with any and all Russians! ..."
"... The conversion of liberalism to the pursuit of political purges is unprecedented. Their collective amnesia about the long-term, large-scale involvement by the FBI in the worst criminal violations of democratic values is reprehensible. The FBI's anti-communist crusade led to the purge of thousands of trade unionists from the mid-1940's onward, decimating the AFL-CIO. They blacklisted actors, screen writers, artists, teachers, university academics, researchers, scientists, journalists and civil rights leaders as part of their sweeping purge of civil society. ..."
"... President Trump has pursued an agenda mirroring the police state operations of the FBI – only on a global scale. Trump's violation of international law includes collaboration and support for Saudi Arabia's tyrannical invasion and destruction of the sovereign nation of Yemen; intensified aid and support for Israel's ethnic war against the Palestinian people; severe sanctions and threatened nuclear first-strike against North Korea (DPRK); increased deployment of US special forces in collaboration with the jihadi terrorist war to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria; coup-mongering, sabotage, sanctions and economic blockade of Venezuela; NATO missile and nuclear encirclement of Russia; and the growing naval threats against China ..."
"... Domestically, Trump's response to the FBI's blackmail has been to replace the original political leadership with his own version; to expand and increase the police state powers against immigrants; to increase the powers of the major tech companies to police and intensify work-place exploitation and the invasion of citizens' privacy; to expand the unleash the power of state agents to torture suspects and to saturate all public events, celebrations and activities with open displays of jingoism and militarism with the goal of creating pro-war public opinion. ..."
"... Even the fight within the two-headed reactionary party of the US oligarchy has had a positive effect. Each side is hell-bent on exposing the state-sponsored crimes of the other. In an unprecedented and historic sense, the US and world public is witness to the spies, lies and crimes of the leadership and elite on prime time and on the wide screen. We head in two directions. In one direction, there are the threats of nuclear war, economic collapse, environmental disasters and a full blown police state. In the other direction, there is the demise of empire, a revived and renewed civil society rooted in a participatory economy and a renewed moral order ..."
Feb 09, 2018 | www.unz.com
Few government organizations have been engaged in violation of the US citizens' constitutional rights for as long a time and against as many individuals as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Seldom has there been greater collusion in the perpetration of crimes against civil liberties, electoral freedom and free and lawful expression as what has taken place between the FBI and the US Justice Department.
In the past, the FBI and Justice Department secured the enthusiastic support and public acclaim from the conservative members of the US Congress, members of the judiciary at all levels and the mass media. The leading liberal voices, public figures, educators, intellectuals and progressive dissenters opposing the FBI and their witch-hunting tactics were all from the left. Today, the right and the left have changed places: The most powerful voices endorsing the FBI and the Justice Department's fabrications, and abuse of constitutional rights are on the left, the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and famous liberal media corporations and public opinion makers.
The recently published Congressional memo, authored by Congressman Devin Nunes, provides ample proof that the FBI spied on Trump campaign workers with the intent to undermine the Republican candidate and sabotage his bid for the presidency. Private sector investigators, hired by Trump's rival Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, worked with pro-Clinton operatives within the FBI and Justice Department to violate the national electoral process while flouting rules governing wiretaps on US citizens. This was done with the approval of the sitting Democratic President Barack Obama.
The liberals and Democrats and their allies in the FBI, political police and other elements of the security state apparatus were deeply involved in an attempt to implicate Russian government officials in a plot to manipulate US public opinion on Trump's behalf and corrupt the outcome of the election. However, the FBI, the Justice Department and Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller have produced no evidence of collusion linking the Russian government to a campaign to undermine Hillary Clinton's candidacy in favor of Trump. This is despite thousands of interviews and threats of long prison sentences against former Trump campaign advisers. Instead, they focus their attack on Trump's early campaign promise to find common ground in improving economic and diplomatic ties between the US and Russia, especially in confronting jihadi terrorists.
The liberal-progressive FBI cohort turned into rabid Russia-bashers demanding that Trump take a highly aggressive stance against Moscow, while systematically eliminating his military and security advisors who expressed anti-confrontation sentiments. In the spirit of a Joe McCarthy, the liberal-left launched hysterical attacks on any and every Trump campaign adviser who had spoken to, dined with or exchanged eyebrows with any and all Russians!
The conversion of liberalism to the pursuit of political purges is unprecedented. Their collective amnesia about the long-term, large-scale involvement by the FBI in the worst criminal violations of democratic values is reprehensible. The FBI's anti-communist crusade led to the purge of thousands of trade unionists from the mid-1940's onward, decimating the AFL-CIO. They blacklisted actors, screen writers, artists, teachers, university academics, researchers, scientists, journalists and civil rights leaders as part of their sweeping purge of civil society.
The FBI investigated the private lives of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, even threatening their family members. They illegally spied on and infiltrated civil liberties organizations, and used provocateurs and spies in anti-war groups. Individuals lives were destroyed, some were driven to suicide; important popular American organizations were undermined to the detriment of millions. This has been its focus since its beginning and continues with the current fabrication of anti-Russian propaganda and investigations.
President Trump: Victim and Executor
President Trump has pursued an agenda mirroring the police state operations of the FBI – only on a global scale. Trump's violation of international law includes collaboration and support for Saudi Arabia's tyrannical invasion and destruction of the sovereign nation of Yemen; intensified aid and support for Israel's ethnic war against the Palestinian people; severe sanctions and threatened nuclear first-strike against North Korea (DPRK); increased deployment of US special forces in collaboration with the jihadi terrorist war to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria; coup-mongering, sabotage, sanctions and economic blockade of Venezuela; NATO missile and nuclear encirclement of Russia; and the growing naval threats against China .
Domestically, Trump's response to the FBI's blackmail has been to replace the original political leadership with his own version; to expand and increase the police state powers against immigrants; to increase the powers of the major tech companies to police and intensify work-place exploitation and the invasion of citizens' privacy; to expand the unleash the power of state agents to torture suspects and to saturate all public events, celebrations and activities with open displays of jingoism and militarism with the goal of creating pro-war public opinion.
In a word: From the right to the left there are no political options to choose from among the two ruling political parties. Popular political movements and mass demonstrations have risen up against Trump with clear justification, but have since dissolved and been absorbed. They came together from diverse sectors: Women against sexual abuse and workplace humiliation; African-Americans against police impunity and violence; and immigrants against mass expulsion and harassment. They staged mass demonstrations and then declined as their 'anti-Trump' animus was frustrated by the liberal-democrats hell-bent on pursuing the Russian connection.
In the face of the national-political debacle local and regional movements became the vehicle to support the struggles. Women organized at some workplaces and gained better protection of their rights; African-Americans vividly documented and published video evidence of the systematic brutal violation of their rights by the police state and effectively acted to restrain local police violence in a few localities; immigrant workers and especially their children gained broad public sympathy and allies within religious and political organizations; and anti-Trump movements combined with critics of the liberal/democrat apparatus to build broader movements and especially oppose growing war-fever.
Abroad, bi-partisan wars have failed to defeat independent state and mass popular resistance struggles for national sovereignty everywhere – from North Korea, Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Venezuela and beyond.
Even the fight within the two-headed reactionary party of the US oligarchy has had a positive effect. Each side is hell-bent on exposing the state-sponsored crimes of the other. In an unprecedented and historic sense, the US and world public is witness to the spies, lies and crimes of the leadership and elite on prime time and on the wide screen. We head in two directions. In one direction, there are the threats of nuclear war, economic collapse, environmental disasters and a full blown police state. In the other direction, there is the demise of empire, a revived and renewed civil society rooted in a participatory economy and a renewed moral order .
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[Feb 11, 2018] What the FBI-FISA Memo Really Tells Us About Our Government by Ron Paul
Notable quotes:
"... First, the memo demonstrates that there is a "deep state" that does not want things like elections to threaten its existence. Candidate Trump's repeated promises to get along with Russia and to re-assess NATO so many years after the end of the Cold War were threatening to a Washington that depends on creating enemies to sustain the fear needed to justify a trillion dollar yearly military budget. ..."
"... Imagine if candidate Trump had kept his campaign promises when he became President. Without the "Russia threat" and without the "China threat" and without the need to dump billions into NATO, we might actually have reaped a "peace dividend" more than a quarter century after the end of the Cold War. That would have starved the war-promoting military-industrial complex and its network of pro-war "think tanks" that populate the Washington Beltway area. ..."
"... Second, the memo shows us that neither Republicans nor Democrats really care that much about surveillance abuse when average Americans are the victims. It is clear that the FISA abuse detailed in the memo was well known to Republicans like House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes before the memo was actually released. It was likely also well known by Democrats in the House. But both parties suppressed this evidence of FBI abuse of the FISA process until after the FISA Amendments Act could be re-authorized. They didn't want Americans to know how corrupt the surveillance system really is and how the US has become far too much like East Germany. That might cause more Americans to call up their Representatives and demand that the FISA mass surveillance amendment be allowed to sunset. ..."
"... Finally, hawks on both sides of the aisle in Congress used "Russia-gate" as an excuse to build animosity toward Russia among average Americans. They knew from the classified information that there was no basis for their claims that the Trump Administration was put into office with Moscow's assistance, but they played along because it served their real goal of keeping the US on war footing and keeping the gravy train rolling. ..."
Feb 11, 2018 | www.unz.com
February 5, 2018 600 Words 10 Comments Reply
The release of the House Intelligence Committee's memo on the FBI's abuse of the FISA process set off a partisan firestorm. The Democrats warned us beforehand that declassifying the memo would be the end the world as we know it. It was reckless to allow Americans to see this classified material, they said. Agents in the field could be harmed, sources and methods would be compromised, they claimed.
Republicans who had seen the memo claimed that it was far worse than Watergate. They said that mass firings would begin immediately after it became public. They said that the criminality of US government agencies exposed by the memo would shock Americans.
Then it was released and the world did not end. FBI agents have thus far not been fired. Seeing "classified" material did not terrify us, but rather it demonstrated clearly that information is kept from us by claiming it is "classified."
In the end, both sides got it wrong. Here's what the memo really shows us:
First, the memo demonstrates that there is a "deep state" that does not want things like elections to threaten its existence. Candidate Trump's repeated promises to get along with Russia and to re-assess NATO so many years after the end of the Cold War were threatening to a Washington that depends on creating enemies to sustain the fear needed to justify a trillion dollar yearly military budget.
Imagine if candidate Trump had kept his campaign promises when he became President. Without the "Russia threat" and without the "China threat" and without the need to dump billions into NATO, we might actually have reaped a "peace dividend" more than a quarter century after the end of the Cold War. That would have starved the war-promoting military-industrial complex and its network of pro-war "think tanks" that populate the Washington Beltway area.
Second, the memo shows us that neither Republicans nor Democrats really care that much about surveillance abuse when average Americans are the victims. It is clear that the FISA abuse detailed in the memo was well known to Republicans like House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes before the memo was actually released. It was likely also well known by Democrats in the House. But both parties suppressed this evidence of FBI abuse of the FISA process until after the FISA Amendments Act could be re-authorized. They didn't want Americans to know how corrupt the surveillance system really is and how the US has become far too much like East Germany. That might cause more Americans to call up their Representatives and demand that the FISA mass surveillance amendment be allowed to sunset.
Ironically, Chairman Nunes was the biggest cheerleader for the extension of the FISA Amendments even as he knew how terribly the FISA process had been abused!
Finally, hawks on both sides of the aisle in Congress used "Russia-gate" as an excuse to build animosity toward Russia among average Americans. They knew from the classified information that there was no basis for their claims that the Trump Administration was put into office with Moscow's assistance, but they played along because it served their real goal of keeping the US on war footing and keeping the gravy train rolling.
But don't worry: the neocons in both parties will soon find another excuse to keep us terrified and ready to flush away a trillion dollars a year on military spending and continue our arguments and new "Cold War" with Russia.
In the meantime, be skeptical of both parties. With few exceptions they are not protecting liberty but promoting its opposite.
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[Feb 08, 2018] The Nunes Memo and the Death of American Journalism
Notable quotes:
"... Here's the real deal: FISA, the notion of what is essentially a Federal secret police force, most of our post-9-11 infrastructure and our pathetic lack of regulation of information technology has been a problem built by both parties for decades. ..."
Feb 08, 2018 | www.theamericanconservative.com
BCZ February 6, 2018 at 3:40 am
We know that FISA knew the dossier was politically motivated and unconfirmed. Even Nunes acknowledges this . now.And this is the issue, and the irony of this article. 'Wasn't it nice before journalists stopped reporting and pushing narratives?' Yes, it was narrative pusher.
Here's the real deal: FISA, the notion of what is essentially a Federal secret police force, most of our post-9-11 infrastructure and our pathetic lack of regulation of information technology has been a problem built by both parties for decades. I find it literally impossible that the most scandal free 'weak kneed' administration was doing anything other than business as usual in this increasingly dystopian context .
. but now here comes the GOP to try to turn this in to a partisan weapon, and journalists like you to help them do it increasing division over an issue that should be the people versus the elites into democrats versus republicans.
And, frankly that was so blatantly the intent given the manner this whole thing has been handled that only a true hack wouldn't note it in the context of an article like this.
But here's the thing I think deep down you are just too blind to acknowledge that all this security apparatus, tough on terror, 'freedom-isn't-free-but-I'll-sell-it-for-a-security-from-attacks-less-likely-than-lightning-strikes' cowardice is the problem.
OF COURSE FISA'S BEING ABUSED (along with the whole intelligence apparatus) it was custom designed by decades of elites to be so!
What fits the facts more? That the FBI simultaneously conspired to help, and then hurt the Clinton campaign, all the while saying that they are all just doing their jobs .
Or
That they were just doing their jobs, and this kind of stuff happens all the time.
I'm going door number two.
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[Feb 07, 2018] Bad People Lied To A Kangaroo Court - Americans Can Handle The Truth!
Feb 07, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
Authored by Robert Gore via Straight Line Logic blog,
The bigger issue is FISA's evisceration of the Fourth Amendment.
Due to the sensitive nature of foreign intelligence activity, FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] submissions (including renewals) before the FISC [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court] are classified. As such, the public's confidence in the integrity of the FISA process depends on the court's ability to hold the government to the highest standard -- particularly as it relates to surveillance of American citizens. However, the FISC's rigor in protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90-day renewals of surveillance orders, is necessarily dependent on the government's production to the court of all material and relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant information was omitted.
House Intelligence Committee FISA Memorandum, 1/18/18, Declassified 2/2/18
It's hard to read the above without laughing. The only people who think that the government in a non-adversarial, secret, non-reviewable judicial proceeding will produce "all material and relevant facts," including "information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application," are those pathetically deluded souls who believe that when rules, regulations, and laws are promulgated everyone complies, including the government that promulgated them. They're always shocked when reality proves otherwise.
The rest of us might want to consider what it took for this exposure of potential government wrongdoing before the FISC. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) pressed for months and was forced to threaten subpoenas before the Department of Justice and the FBI turned over the evidence upon which its memorandum is based.
If this wasn't such a high-profile partisan battle, impinging on the presidency, that effort never would have been made. Had Hillary Clinton been elected or Democrats controlled Congress, none of this would have seen the light of day. The intelligence agencies and the FBI can rest assured, it will be business as usual before the FISC : non-adversarial, secret, non-reviewable proceedings in which they can allege, unchallenged, pretty much anything they want, their surveillance requests rubber-stamped by the court (historically it's approved over 99 percent of all requests). It is a measure of President Trump's contempt for civil liberties that he just signed a reauthorization of the FISA law that was used to infringe his civil liberties. The reauthorization expands the government's surveillance and bulk data capture of Americans' personal information pursuant to general warrants that do not "require probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." (Fourth Amendment, US Bill of Rights).
Most importantly, the reauthorization " would permit the use of evidence of crimes in federal court even when it is discovered during mass surveillance authorized by general warrants ." Trump will overlook that little infringement of his rights in the interests of expanding his access to information and the power implicit in such access. He pursues power and is quite proficient at it. Civil liberties can be a real hindrance.
Incidentally, the HIC released its memo to Congress after FISA was reauthorized. HIC Republicans favored that reauthorization, despite what they have alleged about nefarious activities before the FISC. Their memo might have changed some votes. Anybody think the timing was a coincidence?
The FISC enables the government to end run Americans' Fourth Amendment rights. The HIC memo is a tree, FISA's destruction of civil liberties the forest. Investigations, possibly indictments, trials, and convictions, will grind on for years and provide plenty of grist for plenty of commentators' mills. The investigations will eventually wind down, but FISA may be forever. Comey and the Clintons might be in jail, but we all could be, based on evidence obtained without probable cause via general warrants, the government's data gathering rubber-stamped by its kangaroo court.
As for the HIC's memo, it's a fine piece of legal craftsmanship, although it's not a legal document per se. It confines itself to one matter: the DOJ and FBI's request for a probable cause order -- and three subsequent renewals -- authorizing electronic surveillance of Trump campaign volunteer advisor Carter Page.
In the understated, cautious style that is the hallmark of competent legal investigatory work, the memo makes a prima facie case that certain individuals broke various laws. While the evidence underlying conclusions about various DOJ and FBI officials' misrepresentations and omissions to the FISC, their biases, and ties to Fusion GPS has not been made public, there is almost certainly an ample evidentiary basis for those conclusions.
That evidence, the Democrats' "counter-memo" and their evidence, and the FISA application and renewals should all be released to the public. The classified information isn't protecting vital state secrets; it's protecting officials from embarrassment and possible criminal charges. The American people are smarter and more honorable than those arguing for continuing secrecy; they can handle the truth.
It's been claimed that the HIC memo plays into Russia's or Putin's hands, or that US intelligence capabilities have been or could be irreparably damaged if information was released, without explaining how those consequences could flow. An unfortunate aspect of the American establishment is that it seals itself off from hostile questions in adversarial settings. Never underestimate the power of a question. It would only take one or two to demonstrate that intelligence flunkies, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, John McCain, and a host of media commentators are either lying through their teeth or have no idea what they're talking about.
Speaking of big issues, the biggest issue of them all, unsustainable global debt, made an unbidden appearance last week as bond yields broke long-term trend lines to the upside and stocks gave way to the downside. Possible subversion of a duly elected president and even FISA's evisceration of the Fourth Amendment may amount to playing on the beach as the tsunami rolls in. You can't do much about what's going on in Washington. For the tsunami, on the other hand, you can move to higher ground if you have not already done so. Vote up! 2 Vote down! 1
Neochrome Feb 6, 2018 10:59 PM Permalink
Raisin Hail Feb 6, 2018 11:19 PM Permalink"The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) pressed for months and was forced to threaten subpoenas before the Department of Justice and the FBI turned over the evidence upon which its memorandum is based."
Keep digging. Let's see who ends up in the hole.
I said before, Russia, Russia, Russia is a Red Herring, and the longer Democrats focus on it better for Republicans. On the other hand, there is some serious dirt on "shadow government" being uncovered.
hanekhw Feb 6, 2018 11:23 PM PermalinkSo how about the FISA Judge who agreed to the Justice Departments request to surveille a staffer or volunteer at one of the major political campaigns? Did it never enter his mind that he was helping one political party harm the other? Where is the judge now? Contempt of court anyone? A referral for perjury?... but to whom? Seriously this guy was not only born at night seems it was last night also. Main problem is too many secrets. At this point it is clear to me that any benefit to our country by protecting" sources and methods" is greatly outweighed by the corrosive effect of a lying government trying to cover it's ass. Start declassifing now and do not stop!
MusicIsYou Feb 6, 2018 11:24 PM PermalinkPeople want to achieve high office for the political teflon that permits rape and pillage at a formerly unprecedented scale. Our modern 'system' resembles more the golden court of a Kublai Khan than the hallowed halls of a philosopher King.
FreeEarCandy Feb 6, 2018 11:43 PM PermalinkHaha the Bill of Rights hasn't existed except in writing ever since for sure the War Between the States and even before. How about the Whiskey Rebellion, nope, the Bill of Rights didn't exist then either. They only exist in your imagination. It's not that Americans can't handle the truth as much as they just live in imaginary land.
It is a measure of President Trump's contempt for civil liberties that he just signed a reauthorization of the FISA law that was used to infringe his civil liberties. The reauthorization expands the government's surveillance and bulk data capture of Americans' personal information pursuant to general warrants that do not "require probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." (Fourth Amendment, US Bill of Rights).
Yes it do. You see the real constitutional crisis is that you cannot have a bill of rights if one cannot get along with ones neighbors. Tensions abroad bring on the need of secrecy...
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[Feb 07, 2018] Are we going to get from Nunes a smoking memo on the FBI's investigation of Hillary's email?
Notable quotes:
"... Much of what followed may be doubling down on and covering up earlier crimes. ..."
Feb 07, 2018 | www.unz.com
densa , February 7, 2018 at 12:55 am GMT
Are we going to get a smoking memo on the FBI's investigation of Hillary's email?Remember, none of this would be happening without her private server and mishandled classified info. Her candidacy should have been ended early on. The FBI's investigation seemed nonstandard to say the least.
Much of what followed may be doubling down on and covering up earlier crimes.
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[Feb 06, 2018] Hillary Clinton Paid for a FISA Warrant - That's the Easiest Way to Put It
Look like republicans want to send "Russiagate ball" on the DemoRats side of the political tennis court ;-). They decided to asset the meme about bad Russians undemining US election and just want to prove that it is DemoRats who collided with Russians.
Notable quotes:
"... Partial transcript as follows: ..."
"... Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant. That's the easiest way we can put it. ..."
"... So, the senior level of the FBI tried to interfere with this election as well. This is why it's such a big deal. Now, I know Republicans are bending over backwards saying this has nothing to do with Mueller. This has everything to do with Mueller. ..."
"... But I want to get back to Barack Obama. It's his FBI, his Department of Justice, his State Department, his candidate. I cannot believe for a minute that the National Security Council didn't know about this. ..."
Feb 06, 2018 | www.breitbart.com
Originally from Mark Levin on FISA Memo Revelations 'Hillary Clinton Paid for a Warrant - That's the Easiest Way to Put It' - BreitbartLevin argued those were the questions that should be asked and summed up the circumstances as 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton having "paid for a warrant."
Partial transcript as follows:
This is bad. Let me tell you a couple of things here. Now we know why [Adam] Schiff and the rest of them are fighting so hard. Now we know why the left-wing praetorian guard Democrat media are fighting so hard, trashing [Devin] Nunes, me, you, and others. Let's walk through this quickly. Who are they trying to protect? Hillary Clinton. Sean, who else are they trying to protect? Barack Obama. His name never comes up.
So, let me help everybody with this. Loretta Lynch knew about these FISA warrants. [Sally] Yates, the deputy attorney general, the extensions Rod Rosenstein, now the deputy attorney general. He knew. FBI Director [James] Comey, Deputy Director [Andrew] McCabe, [Peter] Strzok, the head of counterintelligence, [Lisa] Page -- his girlfriend.
Who else would know these FISA applications and warrants? Let me tell you a little secret. These are counterintelligence efforts. You have to assume the National Security Council and the White House knew. Why would the FBI, Justice Department, keep that from the National Security Director in the White House? Why would they keep it from the deputy director in the White House?
So why would be left out of the president's daily intelligence briefing? Which I mentioned in March Congress also needs to get a hold of. I am telling you, we're looking at the FBI, we're looking at the Department of Justice, we are not looking at all at the White House. Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant. That's the easiest way we can put it. Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians. But it appears the FBI at the seniormost levels colluded with the Russians, too. Whether it was witting or unwitting, it doesn't matter. That's a fact.
So, the senior level of the FBI tried to interfere with this election as well. This is why it's such a big deal. Now, I know Republicans are bending over backwards saying this has nothing to do with Mueller. This has everything to do with Mueller.
It has everything to do with Mueller because it transitions from the counterintelligence investigation into a criminal investigation after Comey, of all things, confesses of all things to being a leaker. And Mueller -- Mueller is the former FBI director. Those are his people. That is his environment. He's not out there as some independent force.
But I want to get back to Barack Obama. It's his FBI, his Department of Justice, his State Department, his candidate. I cannot believe for a minute that the National Security Council didn't know about this.
And to show you how elaborate this is, now that more information is coming out, we haven't even gotten to the incidental collection of intelligence on people, including, by the way, [Jeff] Sessions when he met with and spoke with the Russian ambassador, Michael Flynn when he spoke to the Russian ambassador, the unmasking and leaking of his name, the record number of unmasking of American citizens in the Trump world and so forth and so on.
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[Feb 06, 2018] Democrat Adam Schiff Fell for Russian Prankster Spoof Promising Compromising Dirt on Donald Trump
Feb 06, 2018 | www.breitbart.com
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), fell for a spoof by Russian pranksters who promised in a call with the top House Democrat to furnish him with"kompromat"–compromising dirt–on President Donald Trump.
Schiff found the early 2017 call with the Russian pranksters, who posed as Ukrainian leaders, "productive," one of his staffers wrote in an email to the Russians-posing-as-Ukrainians with whom he was communicating. Now, after getting caught in the media by reports in the Atlantic magazine and the U.K. Daily Mail newspaper -- as well as audio of the call appearing on YouTube -- a Schiff spokesperson claims the powerful Democrat congressman thought the call was "bogus" from the beginning. But that's not what the record shows.
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO OF ADAM SCHIFF WITH RUSSIAN PRANKSTERS:
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[Feb 06, 2018] Ex-DNI Clapper calls Nunes memo a 'blatant political act'
Feb 06, 2018 | www.cnn.com
"Transparency is a great thing, but let's be factual and objective about it, and this clearly is a pretty blatant political act," Clapper said on CNN's "New Day." The former intelligence leader said the FBI did the right thing by "trying to defend themselves" against the allegations in the memo. The FBI released a public statement Wednesday warning the agency has "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
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[Feb 06, 2018] If events continue to unfold in the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee as I think they will in exposing a palace coup attempt on the President
Notable quotes:
"... In one of her more "colorful" moments with her staff, it is reported that she was unhappy with her staff's preparation of her for one of her debates and she said something to the effect that if they lose this election it'll put a noose around all of their necks. When she says something like that in private to her own staff, I can't help but wonder how deep she was in this coup attempt herself. ..."
"... Americans have come very close to living in a KGB and Stasi ruled country ..."
"... Lets be joyful. This investigation of Trump will last longer than I love Luci, and Carrol Burnet show, put together. Not so entertaining but still show is a show. ..."
Feb 06, 2018 | www.unz.com
Longfisher , February 6, 2018 at 5:39 pm GMT
If events continue to unfold in the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee as I think they will in exposing a palace coup attempt on the President then the Trump supporters' perceptions of the Democrats, the Deep State and Hillary Clinton, in particular, will be vindicated.Ilyana_Rozumova , February 6, 2018 at 5:40 pm GMTLuckily, there's more time between now and the mid-terms to get this all out in the open, unlike the minimal amount of time that existed in the Fall of 2016 and before the election and despite the many emerging indications at that time that the intelligence community and the Department of State were in the bag for Clinton.
It is my belief that Trump's support will be shored up, rather than diminished, by the exposure of this attempted coup. And, I think it will have far-reaching consequences for all the entities who engaged in its formulation and execution.
Indeed, some of those consequences are already being felt. Take a look at this Washington Post editorial where the omission of the DNC and Hillary paying for the Steele Dossier is predicted to have a chilling effect on the relationship between the FISA court and the FBI https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin… ; IS PUBLISHED ON THE WASHINGTON POST FRONT PAGE, AMAZINGLY ENOUGH.
In one of her more "colorful" moments with her staff, it is reported that she was unhappy with her staff's preparation of her for one of her debates and she said something to the effect that if they lose this election it'll put a noose around all of their necks. When she says something like that in private to her own staff, I can't help but wonder how deep she was in this coup attempt herself.
I do know for certain that my ambivalent, dislike-of-Clinton motivated support of Trump has now been solidified and will continue to be strengthened as these developments and disclosures continue. Americans have come very close to living in a KGB and Stasi ruled country and taking that into consideration tolerating an oaf like Trump who's willing to fight the government is absolutely more than enough for me.
Hell, I might take a break from my business and actively campaign for the GOP in the upcoming midterms, something I'd never had considered before the FISA -FBI disclosures. I don't want the Democrats to gain power as they've been exposed as a threat to our freedoms to elect the leaders we want.
Lets be joyful. This investigation of Trump will last longer than I love Luci, and Carrol Burnet show, put together. Not so entertaining but still show is a show.
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[Feb 05, 2018] Russiagate scandal approaches its implosion point by Alexander Mercouris
Feb 05, 2018 | theduran.com
Allegedly the US attorney who represented the Justice Department when the application for this FISA warrant was presented to the FISA court, and who did not provide the FISA court with the information that it came from the Trump Dossier which the Democrats had paid for, was none other than Rod Rosenstein, who is now the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and who was the Justice Department official who appointed Robert Mueller Special Counsel to investigate the Russiagate collusion allegations which are based on the Trump Dossier.
If this is true then I must say that Rosenstein's position looks to me untenable, and I think he will have to resign.
Though I do not know whether legally speaking Rosenstein is caught in a conflict of interest – my guess is that he is – I cannot imagine that the Republicans in Congress will tolerate his remaining in overall charge of the Russiagate inquiry after such a revelation, and I cannot see Rosenstein remaining Deputy Attorney General if he is stripped of his power to supervise Mueller's inquiry.
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[Feb 05, 2018] Rampant abuse and possible contempt of Court what you need to know about the GOP memo by Alexander Mercouris
Notable quotes:
"... Briefly, what the GOP memorandum says is that in the case of Carter Page due process was not followed, and that gross violations of his civil and constitutional rights happened in consequence. ..."
"... represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses ..."
Feb 05, 2018 | theduran.com
Contrary to what some are saying , the GOP memorandum most definitely is a legal analysis or document and it is one which is written by a lawyer. That means that it must be read as a legal analysis or document, and it is to misunderstand it if it is read in any other way.
The lawyer in question who wrote it is Representative Trey Gowdy, a former Federal Prosecutor, who as Representative Devin Nunes has explained, was the member of the House Intelligence Committee who along with some of the Committee's staff actually examined and researched the Justice Department's files and who wrote the greater part of the GOP memorandum.
Any trial lawyer would instantly recognise the GOP memorandum's phrasing and language as those of a trial lawyer, and the observations it makes on the gross violations of legal procedure which took place are very much those which a trial lawyer would be expected to make.
In fact the GOP memorandum reads to me very much like a written submission that a trial lawyer might be expected to make to an appeal Court in a case where a conviction had been wrongly obtained following gross breaches of due process (see below).
Calling the GOP memorandum the 'Nunes memorandum' is therefore wrong. If it is to be called by any other name than 'the GOP memorandum' (which is what I shall call it) then it should be called the 'Gowdy memorandum'.
Representative Nunes did make some additions to the GOP memorandum just before it was published. Again it is obvious to a lawyer what they are, and I shall come to them shortly.
Purpose of GOP memorandum: exposing gross breaches of due process
Secondly, the GOP memorandum is concerned with one issue only, which is the gross violations of due process which it says took place in the application for the surveillance warrant against Carter Page.
It is not concerned with the truth or falsity of the Russiagate collusion allegations or the propriety or otherwise of Special Counsel Mueller's investigation.
Due process is the means whereby a Defendant is given a fair hearing by the Court with the rules of procedure and evidence properly observed, so that the Court can decide the case justly.
Briefly, what the GOP memorandum says is that in the case of Carter Page due process was not followed, and that gross violations of his civil and constitutional rights happened in consequence.
The GOP memorandum makes this purpose completely clear in its preamble:
Our findings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process.
(bold italics added)
The GOP memorandum is not concerned with the truth or falsehood of the Russiagate collusion allegations or the propriety or otherwise of Special Counsel Mueller's investigation, though its findings obviously touch on those issues.
Lawyers' duty to act in good faith and not to mislead the Court
Before proceeding further it is necessary to say that the overriding duty of lawyers is to the Court, and that they must never intentionally mislead the Court.
It is not only a grave abuse for them to do so, but it is actually the criminal offence of contempt of Court.
The duty of lawyers – who are officers of the Court – to act at all times in good faith when addressing the Court is an essential part of due process.
Needless to say the lawyers' duty not to mislead the Court becomes greater still if the proceedings are conducted in secret with the Defendant not informed of the proceedings and not represented or present at the hearing during which the proceedings are decided.
At that point the lawyer's duty is not only to provide the Court with all the information which supports the application the lawyer is making, but also to provide the Court with all the information which might cause the Court to decide that the Order sought against the Defendant should not be made.
DoJ/FBI breached duty to act in good faith and not to mislead Court when applying for FISA surveillance warrant against Carter Page
What the GOP memorandum says is that this duty the Justice Department's and the FBI's lawyers owe to the FISA Court was not only not observed in the case of Carter Page but was on the contrary flagrantly and utterly breached. The wording of the GOP memorandum on this point is unambiguous
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[Feb 05, 2018] Adam Schiff's collusion with oligarch, Ukrainian arms dealer, exposed
Notable quotes:
"... When in doubt follow the money. Congressman Schiff's well documented Putin obsession may have something to do with his billionaire, military complex, oligarch patron from Ukraine. ..."
Feb 05, 2018 | theduran.com
What drives Adam Schiff's never ending Russia hysteria?
When in doubt follow the money. Congressman Schiff's well documented Putin obsession may have something to do with his billionaire, military complex, oligarch patron from Ukraine.
In a Zerohedge post yesterday, chronicling the latest Adam Schiff idiocy, where the Democrat Congressman spoke to a crowd at the University of Pennsylvania, declaring Russian ads promoted the Second Amendment during the 2016 election "so we will kill each other" commenter AlaricBalth linked some interesting information on Schiff's underlying motivation behind his Russia hysteria
Adam Schiff is an owned hatchet man of Ukrainian arms dealer Igor Pasternak. Schiff's anti-Russian narrative is carefully orchestrated by his Ukrainian handlers
https://mobile.twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/843864725062664197
"TASTE OF UKRAINE RECEPTION for Adam Schiff"
http://politicalpartytime.org/party/34974/
Pasternak, who was raised and educated in Ukraine before immigrating to the United States, is a passionate promoter of Ukrainian culture and business. He has been active in both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. to support increased bilateral ties between the two countries and has been especially active building awareness of Ukraine's strategic economic importance among Members of Congress. Since political protests broke out across Ukraine in late 2013, Pasternak has worked to personally inform and educate Members of Congress about the geostrategic importance of Ukraine to European and US security.
Jack Posobiec tweeted in March 2017 on Schiff's connection to Pasternak and George Soros
Hi @RepAdamSchiff! Why did Soros-tied Ukraninan Arms Dealer Igor Pasternak hold a fundraiser for you? #ComeyHearing
Hi @RepAdamSchiff ! Why did Soros-tied Ukraninan Arms Dealer Igor Pasternak hold a fundraiser for you? #ComeyHearing pic.twitter.com/Z1ouDINW1d
-- Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 20, 2017
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[Feb 05, 2018] Maria Bartiromo blasts James Comey as The King of Weasels. Twitter erupts is agreement (Video)
Notable quotes:
"... ames Kallstrom (a former FBI Assistant Director) who at the 13.10 minute mark calls James Comey "The King of Weasels"... ..."
Feb 05, 2018 | theduran.com
James Comey gets destroyed on social media for replying to FISA memo with "that's it?"
That s it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.
-- James Comey (@Comey) February 2, 2018FBI Director James Comey was crushed by Fox News Maria Bartiromo for infamously replying with a "that's it?" tweet after the FISA memo was released.
Here is Bartiromo discussing the FISA memo release with a panel that included J ames Kallstrom (a former FBI Assistant Director) who at the 13.10 minute mark calls James Comey "The King of Weasels"...
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[Feb 05, 2018] The Nunes memo shows Republicans buy their own conspiracy theories by Walter Shapiro
Remember this is Guadian: a stalwart NeverTrumpers outlet with the history of huge pro-Hillary bias. And also pro-MI6 and Stele dossier bias. So Guardian conserns should be interepreted as strong point s of the Nunes memo. And probably the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein should be fired for creation Muller witch hunt.
Feb 05, 2018 | www.theguardian.com
All this raises the question of why Nunes, the Republican majority on the House intelligence committee, Paul Ryan and Trump were so willing to go to war with the FBI over a cap-gun memo. We even have hyper-ventilating Republican congressmen shouting "treason".
The glib answer is that this a pretext for Trump to fire Mueller and the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein. But Mueller is never mentioned in the Nunes memo and Rosenstein makes only a cameo appearance. More attention is devoted to articles by journalists David Corn (Mother Jones) and Mike Isikoff (Yahoo News).
Perhaps a more convincing answer is that we have reached that alarming moment when right-wing Republicans actually believe the conspiracy theories peddled by the likes of Sean Hannity on Fox News, who claims the memo reveals an "attempted coup" against Donald Trump plotted by the "Deep State". At least, the original fabricator of the Piltdown man knew that it was all a hoax.
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[Feb 05, 2018] For all I know this entire affair is a 'faction fight' between two factions of the Us neoliberal oligarchy
Notable quotes:
"... You have to give Nunes (and Trump) a great deal of credit here for political manipulation. They knew the media was entirely Killaried, not to mention completely suborned by the IC, so they strung out a simple summary of the facts long enough to turn it into political intrigue (using the bizarre American government method of classifying everything, and hiding uncomfortable truths behind the ruse of protecting 'national security'), and thus preventing the media from completely dismissing it as partisan bullshit (which the 'journalists' would have done had the memo been released when it was produced). The Democrats and the media are only left with the claim that this is old news – we already knew that! – which of course means that they accept that it is fundamentally true. ..."
"... I think we should wait on proclaiming Trump the worst president we ever had, since he has not completed his full term in office. Let's see how many wars, how much death and destruction he imposes on the world, as did Bush/Cheney , which made it possible for Obama to go forward with his own wars. And by all means let us not forget the party he represents, and whose agenda he must follow. ..."
"... That Tax Bill he passed was a decades-long dream of Speaker Paul Ryan. That being said, I hate his policies, but then again the Republican party has never been my cup of tea, and at this point neither are the Democrats. ..."
Feb 05, 2018 | consortiumnews.com
Zachary Smith , February 3, 2018 at 2:04 pm
Annie , February 3, 2018 at 4:51 pmI do not think all the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee -- even those who may be motivated by a overriding desire to protect the worst president the U.S. has ever seen -- would have voted to approve that part of the Nunez memo ABSENT DOCUMENTARY PROOF THAT THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT TOOK PLACE.
On this point I disagree. I'll grant that you know vastly more about 'intelligence' stuff than myself, but the ability of Congressmen to act like a herd of sheep cannot be overestimated. Personally, I'm waiting for more details. More "leaks". Quite possibly this is round 1 in a series of revelations. I like what the xymphora blogger wrote about this:
You have to give Nunes (and Trump) a great deal of credit here for political manipulation. They knew the media was entirely Killaried, not to mention completely suborned by the IC, so they strung out a simple summary of the facts long enough to turn it into political intrigue (using the bizarre American government method of classifying everything, and hiding uncomfortable truths behind the ruse of protecting 'national security'), and thus preventing the media from completely dismissing it as partisan bullshit (which the 'journalists' would have done had the memo been released when it was produced). The Democrats and the media are only left with the claim that this is old news – we already knew that! – which of course means that they accept that it is fundamentally true.
For all I know this entire affair is a 'faction fight' between elements of the Powers That Be, and we're getting only such information they figure is needed to alter our opinions.
Zachary I think we should wait on proclaiming Trump the worst president we ever had, since he has not completed his full term in office. Let's see how many wars, how much death and destruction he imposes on the world, as did Bush/Cheney , which made it possible for Obama to go forward with his own wars. And by all means let us not forget the party he represents, and whose agenda he must follow.
That Tax Bill he passed was a decades-long dream of Speaker Paul Ryan. That being said, I hate his policies, but then again the Republican party has never been my cup of tea, and at this point neither are the Democrats.
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[Feb 04, 2018] T>he term mutually assured destruction is not applicable the poitical stalmate if the strucgle for power between two groups of oligarchs who fight for power under Tramp and neverTrump banners: Mueller investigation now is parcially neutralized.
Feb 04, 2018 | consortiumnews.com
welshTerrier2 , February 3, 2018 at 8:28 am
Annie , February 3, 2018 at 1:02 pmFor more than a generation, the term "mutually assured destruction" was used to suggest that neither the US nor the Soviet Union would use a nuclear weapon against the other because it would result in their own annihilation.
Less understood, was that the term also applied to the collusion by both parties needed to obscure the Deep State from public view.
It's delightful to see the truth oozing through the cracks.
welshTerrier2 , February 3, 2018 at 1:22 pmInstead of referring to it as the Deep State, why not call it for what it is, the National Security State, and it's meddled in the democratic process all the way back to the McCarthy era and has helped to de-democratize this country. The highly flawed Steele dossier was not only used by " one presidential campaign to get permission to spy on another " which is indeed significant, but it has also been used to escalate a new cold war.
Annie , February 3, 2018 at 3:52 pmI'm fine with either label. I prefer Deep State because much of what is done has nothing to do with "national" security. Many of their activities focus on providing "security" to selected corporate interests and their largest shareholders.
Deep State, at least to me, connotes a degree of secrecy not to protect the national interest but rather to hide their deeds and objectives from the American people. Worse, they use assassinations, false flag projects and leaking lies to their media friends to "manufacture consent".
Allowing them to hide behind a "national security" title seems to only further their objectives.
Joe Tedesky , February 3, 2018 at 10:57 pmYeah, but it's the National Security State that has overturned governments, slaughtered millions, and mostly to protect corporate interests and push our hegemonic agenda. I have no personal objection to the term, since I know what you're talking about, but when people reference the Deep State to others who know little politically, and that's most, they think you're a conspiracy theorist.
Skip Scott , February 4, 2018 at 8:35 amAnnie I had to post this link here, because if you watch the Real News interview of Coleen Rowley and Max Blumenthal, you will here Max refer to the Deep State as he would prefer to call it the National Security State as well. Listen to what Rowley and Blumenthal have to say.
I think the "National Security State" is really a servant of the so-called "Deep State". They are the enforcers of the economic model upon which the Deep State oligarchs thrive. They include the bankers and the western backed multi-national corporations. The MSM propaganda/entertainment network is another branch of the service of the Deep State.
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[Feb 04, 2018] Rod Rosenstein Reportedly Threatened Nunes, House Intel Members With Subpoena Report Zero Hedge
Notable quotes:
"... I can tell you a congressional source tells me that Rod Rosenstein in a meeting three weeks ago threatened Chairman Nunes and members of Congress he was going to subpoena their texts and messages because he was tired of dealing with the intel committee. That's threats and intimidation and retaliation. - Greg Jarrett ..."
"... Rosenstein was named in the four-page FISA memo as both signing off on one or more FISA applications on behalf of the DOJ, and working closely with then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr - who was demoted for failing to reveal his ties to the author of the infamous 35-page "Trump-Russia" dossier. ..."
"... The only reason there isn't a Special Prosecutor appointed is because Rod Rosenstein is one of the Felons. He will block all attempts for Justice to be done, since he's Guilty as Hell. ..."
Feb 04, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to subpoena the "texts and messages" of House Intel Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and other members of Congress, according to legal analyst Greg Jarrett.
I can tell you a congressional source tells me that Rod Rosenstein in a meeting three weeks ago threatened Chairman Nunes and members of Congress he was going to subpoena their texts and messages because he was tired of dealing with the intel committee. That's threats and intimidation and retaliation. - Greg Jarrett
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/embed/bcHYbVTzq2I?start=1289
Rosenstein was named in the four-page FISA memo as both signing off on one or more FISA applications on behalf of the DOJ, and working closely with then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr - who was demoted for failing to reveal his ties to the author of the infamous 35-page "Trump-Russia" dossier.
Moments after the announcement that the memo was declassified, Trump spoke to reporters and was asked if the memo makes it more likely that he will fire Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, to which Trump responded:
... ... ...The First Rule Feb 3, 2018 5:11 PM Permalink
Hugh_Jorgan -> The First Rule Feb 3, 2018 5:12 PM PermalinkThe only reason there isn't a Special Prosecutor appointed is because Rod Rosenstein is one of the Felons. He will block all attempts for Justice to be done, since he's Guilty as Hell.
The people named in this memo committed Perjury, Obstruction of Justice, and in some cases perhaps Treason.
But nothing will happen, since these people are Above the Law.
This arrogant, evil, clown; Rosenstein. He needs to be behind bars for good.
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[Feb 04, 2018] With FBI statement on memo, Christopher Wray could now be in the president s crosshairs by Matt Zapotosky
Feb 04, 2018 | www.washingtonpost.com
The FBI thrust its low-key director squarely into the public eye and potentially into the crosshairs of the president Wednesday when it issued a statement declaring the bureau had "grave concerns" with a not-yet-public GOP memo that questions the basis to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray had privately warned the White House against releasing the memo, but as it became clearer Wednesday that his entreaties were likely to be rejected, his agency issued a terse two-paragraph message laying bare its worries about the document.
"With regard to the House Intelligence Committee's memorandum, the FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it," the statement said. "As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
... ... ...
Nunes said in a statement: "Having stonewalled Congress' demands for information for nearly a year, it's no surprise to see the FBI and DOJ issue spurious objections to allowing the American people to see information related to surveillance abuses at these agencies. The FBI is intimately familiar with 'material omissions' with respect to their presentations to both Congress and the courts, and they are welcome to make public, to the greatest extent possible, all the information they have on these abuses."
I tully 2 days ago
This is what happens when the FBI does the legwork for the Hillary Clinton campaign.
zardos3 2 days ago
Senator Chuck Schumer warned Trump not to mess with America's intelligence services because they would ruin him if he did.
Wait a minute. Is that part of our intelligence services' job descriptions?
That's right, it isn't. Instead that would be an assault on our Constitution & democratic processes.
But isn't that what Nunes is saying happened?
Thanks for the warning, Chuck. It looks like it's time for a major overhaul of our intelligence services.
Bobby Cullari 2 days ago
Christopher Wray could quit? OMG! Let's hide the truth from the American people to make Christopher Wray happy! The fake news media is suddenly against the truth exposed.
Once again you show your true colors. As for Christopher Wray, quit! NOBODY CARES!zardos3 2 days ago (Edited)
In his book, "All Out War: The Plot to Destroy Trump," author Ed Klein said that a highly reliable source informed him that his source was at a meeting where Obama authorized the FBI & Justice Department to abuse our FISA system.
zardos3 2 days ago (Edited)
Chris Wray appears to be a combination of Inspector Clouseau & Bozo the Clown. He either agrees with what the rogues in the FBI did or else he's way in over his head.
Wray should have looked into this long ago (assuming he had the capability of investigating & comprehending what happened); he should have gotten rid of any bad actors; he should have prosecuted any persons in the Bureau that violated the law; & he should have restored the FBI to the honorable & faithful public servant it was intended to be.
Instead, he appears to be either manipulated by, or faithful to, the rogues in government that ran amok & likely committed criminal acts in the process.
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[Feb 04, 2018] I m sure at some point they ll circle back around to Adam Schiff s mysterious 7.8 million dollar meet greets with Ukrainian arms dealers too
Feb 04, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
nmewn -> Cognitive Dissonance Feb 3, 2018 9:15 AM Permalink
Cognitive Dissonance -> nmewn Feb 3, 2018 9:19 AM PermalinkI'm sure at some point they'll circle back around to Adam Schiff's mysterious 7.8 million dollar meet & greets with Ukrainian arms dealers too.
Just give it time ;-)
nmewn -> Cognitive Dissonance Feb 3, 2018 9:22 AM PermalinkGive the man a break. Chartering big comfortable airplanes is really really expensive.
Really, it is.
BandGap -> nmewn Feb 3, 2018 9:39 AM Permalinklol...yeah, a man's gotta think about his future retirement ya know!
Works out better if "others" pay for it ;-)
New_Meat -> nmewn Feb 3, 2018 9:56 AM PermalinkAnd his human trafficking activities in the Hollywood area.
Miss Expectations -> nmewn Feb 3, 2018 10:52 AM Permalinkaaaaaaand enter Stage Left: Victoria Nuland!
or this (See Adam Schiff photo) sex pervert stuff...
Allegations in Death of Sex Worker Plague Influential West Hollywood Political Insiderhttp://www.wehotimes.com/allegations-death-sex-worker-plaque-influentia
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[Feb 04, 2018] An Organized Effort By Republicans To Obstruct Democrats Draft Talking Points To Refute FISA Memo
Feb 04, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted on Saturday morning that the FISA memo had "totally vindicated" him - despite the "Russian Witch Hunt" continuing.
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
This memo totally vindicates "Trump" in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!
9:40 AM-Feb 3, 2018Trump then quotes a Wall Street Journal article which says "the FBI became a tool of anti-Trump political actors.
• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
"The four page memo released Friday reports the disturbing fact about how the FBI and FISA appear to have been used to influence the 2016 election and its aftermath....The FBI failed to inform the FISA court that the Clinton campaign had funded the dossier....the FBI became....
7:40 PM-Feb 3, 2018• Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
...a tool of anti-Trump political actors. This is unacceptable in a democracy and ought to alarm anyone who wants the FBI to be a nonpartisan enforcer of the law....The FBI wasn't straight with Congress, as it hid most of these facts from investigators." Wall Street Journal
7:53 PM-Feb 3, 2018Some have suggested that Trump is now contemplating firing Rosenstein while give Mueller 30 days to present all evidence gathered thus far before shutting down his probe, although that move is sure to be met with renewed claims by Democrats that Trump will launch a constitutional crisis should he interfere in the probe in any way.
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[Feb 04, 2018] Consider what would motivate Hillary/Obama and their minions to try to take out Trump after losing the election: their efforts to setup Trump for an obstruction of justice charge for an invented crime (colluding with Russia)
Feb 04, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
MoreFreedom -> Cognitive Dissonance Feb 3, 2018 1:30 PM Permalink
Consider what would motivate Hillary/Obama and their minions in the government to try to take out Trump after losing the election. They are potentially committing treason via their efforts to setup Trump for an obstruction of justice charge for a supposed crime (colluding with Russia) that isn't on the books, isn't illegal, and for which no evidence (other than the made up dossier that was illegally used to obtain a FISA warrant, and that doesn't include the surveillance of foreign communications with Trump people that was spread around among Obama supporters) exists, and which didn't happen.
I'd bet that Putin's hackers (great hackers according to Obama/Hillary) did get Hillary's emails, including the 20 with Obama suspiciously using an alias, and used them to blackmail Obama and Hillary into appeasement and flexibility.
Obama did promise Russian President Medvedev that he'd "have more flexibility after the [2012] election" on a hot microphone, begging the question of what flexibility did he give before and why? The circumstantial evidence of Obama's appeasement for Russia's allies (help Syria fighting ISIS, a great deal for Iran leaving US prisoners in its jails, doing nothing significant regarding the Crimea invasion) and the sale of US uranium while keeping the Russian bribery and extortion in the US to obtain it hidden from the CIFUS committee, strongly suggests they were blackmailed.
Why did the Russian ambassador visit Obama's White House 22 times? Search the internet for "Hillary Putin photos" and you'll see him whispering in her ear, she freaking out, and him laughing just like he told her he had her emails with some of the details so she knew. There's probably other actions Obama took for Russia's interests.
Thus, to keep this treason covered up, they had to cover up her email server crimes, ensure she won the election, and to get rid of Trump via a fake obstruction of justice charge, to keep it covered up.
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[Feb 03, 2018] NBC obtained dem rebuttal letter to Nunes memo
You need to listed the interview to understand comments.
Notable quotes:
"... Two Wings Of The Same Dragon: President Bush Plans To Vote For Hillary Clinton ..."
"... Oh sure, it's a hard first minute or two, what with your whole worldview likely to be rocked to its core as you come to realize that you've been embarrassingly duped, played like a cheap violin ..."
"... The corruption part is easy to understand. The part I do not understand, is exactly how in the fuck Strzok, Ohr and McCabe, etc. are still getting a government paycheck. ..."
"... "State Department" = Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ..."
"... "We are in the middle of what I call phase two of our investigation, which involves other departments, specifically the State Department and some of the involvement that they had in this," said Nunes. ..."
"... The question is how fucking wide was this warrant is they were spying on the Trump campaign and the Trump Administration AFTER the subject of the warrant was already GONE from the campaign when the initial warrant was issued. ..."
"... Page may have been an easier target due to a trip to Russia. But once they hook into him they effectively hook into his networks ..."
"... We bought dirt from some folks. We used it to lie to some folks. To spy on some folks. Who were trying to win an election against some folks. Who were our folks ..."
"... "Between 2014 and 2016, Steele authored more than a hundred reports on Russia and Ukraine. These were written for a private client but shared widely within the State Department and sent up to Secretary of State John Kerry and to Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland , who was in charge of the U.S. response to the Ukraine crisis..." ..."
"... Excellent - except that Nuland wasn't responding to the Ukraine crisis. She started the whole thing. Thousands killed. Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up! ..."
Feb 03, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
SHADEWELL Feb 3, 2018 4:12 PM Permalink
ruffhouse Feb 3, 2018 4:34 PM PermalinkAmazingly NBC obtained dem rebuttal letter to Nunes memo
hanekhw Feb 3, 2018 4:52 PM PermalinkTwo Wings Of The Same Dragon: President Bush Plans To Vote For Hillary Clinton |
You need to put down whatever GOP supplied crack pipe you may have been regularly smoking and/or put down the Republican/Democrat, Left/Right paradigm tinted glasses you've been viewing the world through and just take a sec to look at the real world as it actually is .
Oh sure, it's a hard first minute or two, what with your whole worldview likely to be rocked to its core as you come to realize that you've been embarrassingly duped, played like a cheap violin, and spun like a top for years (likely decades for many of you) by your favorite talk show hosts, politicians, entertainers, and even many of your favorite pastors, but that's how detox works.
Bopper09 Feb 3, 2018 5:07 PM PermalinkWell, the Clinton Crime family IS one of the most experienced money launderers on the planet so the evidence showing their involvement will be difficult, if not impossible to obtain.
BUT
Based on motive they were the ones who would gain and taking a page from the Dems own playbook hammering them with accusations should be enough to convince the world it was them.
grekko Feb 3, 2018 5:48 PM PermalinkThe corruption part is easy to understand. The part I do not understand, is exactly how in the fuck Strzok, Ohr and McCabe, etc. are still getting a government paycheck. If this isn't enough reason to fire them, then how exactly are they ever going to be fired? Will they simply just be 'demoted' to Guantonamo? The fucking absurdity is beyond belief. Does Clinton still have access to government servers?
thebigunit Feb 3, 2018 6:24 PM PermalinkDue to the speed of Jeff Sessions and the DOJ, it could take until we all die of old age. Perhaps we need to start the pressure ourselves. Call your congressman, call your Senator, petition the WH, start a Twitter feed like #WeWantJustice or #HangEmHigh or #DOJFBItreason. It worked with #ReleaseTheMemo.
Let's help Trump get started draining the swamp. Start a little fire under Jeff's butt.
Bad_Sushi Feb 3, 2018 7:07 PM Permalink"State Department" = Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
"We are in the middle of what I call phase two of our investigation, which involves other departments, specifically the State Department and some of the involvement that they had in this," said Nunes.
moobra -> Bad_Sushi Feb 3, 2018 7:35 PM PermalinkI have a question about this warrant and how it relates to the POTUS. The warrant is on Carter Page, Carter Page left the Trump campaign in September of 2016.
The first FISA warrant on Page was issued in October 2016 and three subsequent renewals would have it active as late as November 2017.
The question is how fucking wide was this warrant is they were spying on the Trump campaign and the Trump Administration AFTER the subject of the warrant was already GONE from the campaign when the initial warrant was issued.
IOW, just WTF is going on here? The answer seems obvious, it was a coup attempt using Carter Page as an excuse.
So was the FISA warrant issued on Page or Candidate Trump?
SRV -> moobra Feb 3, 2018 7:40 PM PermalinkPage may have been an easier target due to a trip to Russia. But once they hook into him they effectively hook into his networks and it's ALL useful.
moobra Feb 3, 2018 7:32 PM PermalinkCorrect (it's a he btw)... they then get anyone he talks to in Trump Tower
Never One Roach Feb 3, 2018 8:20 PM PermalinkWe bought dirt from some folks. We used it to lie to some folks. To spy on some folks. Who were trying to win an election against some folks. Who were our folks
David Wooten Feb 3, 2018 9:04 PM PermalinkMy rough guess is at least 80% of the State dept needs to be replaced. All Obama appointees should be fired effective immediately. All pro-terrorist employees should also be fired. Pakistanis and others whose "roots" are from terrorist ancestries should get a very close examination since they may not exactly be loyal to America.
"Between 2014 and 2016, Steele authored more than a hundred reports on Russia and Ukraine. These were written for a private client but shared widely within the State Department and sent up to Secretary of State John Kerry and to Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland , who was in charge of the U.S. response to the Ukraine crisis..."
Excellent - except that Nuland wasn't responding to the Ukraine crisis. She started the whole thing. Thousands killed. Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up!
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[Feb 03, 2018] When FBI
Notable quotes:
"... The question is how fucking wide was this warrant is they were spying on the Trump campaign and the Trump Administration AFTER the subject of the warrant was already GONE from the campaign when the initial warrant was issued. ..."
Feb 03, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
Bad_Sushi Feb 3, 2018 7:07 PM Permalink
moobra -> Bad_Sushi Feb 3, 2018 7:35 PM PermalinkI have a question about this warrant and how it relates to the POTUS. The warrant is on Carter Page, Carter Page left the Trump campaign in September of 2016.
The first FISA warrant on Page was issued in October 2016 and three subsequent renewals would have it active as late as November 2017.
The question is how fucking wide was this warrant is they were spying on the Trump campaign and the Trump Administration AFTER the subject of the warrant was already GONE from the campaign when the initial warrant was issued.
IOW, just WTF is going on here? The answer seems obvious, it was a coup attempt using Carter Page as an excuse.
So was the FISA warrant issued on Page or Candidate Trump?
SRV -> moobra Feb 3, 2018 7:40 PM PermalinkPage may have been an easier target due to a trip to russia. But once they hook into her they effectively hook into her networks and it's ALL useful.
Correct (it's a he btw)... they then get anyone he talks to in Trump Tower
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[Feb 03, 2018] The FISA Memo, Obama, And The Election that Almost Was not by Tom Luongo
Highly recommended!
Notable quotes:
"... Then Bruce Ohr, the spouse of Nellie Ohr, who has a background in anti-narcotics and the anti-drug agenda at the Dept. of Justice, he all of a sudden starts meeting with Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele, and he valets this fake dossier, paid for by the DNC, into the Dept. of Justice. ..."
"... The Dept. of Justice and the FBI then use the fake dossier as a basis for a FISA warrant to spy on American citizens. And the reason you know that is because of Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, the same Andrew McCabe whose wife got $700,000 from the closest allies of the Clinton family. Andrew McCabe testifies that there never would have been a FISA warrant, but for the dossier. ..."
"... Then the FISA warrant is in process, it is being sought. To validate the fake dossier, the Dept. of Justice and FBI use an article written by Mr. Isikoff of Yahoo News to be the validating information for the dossier. What's the problem with that? Christopher Steele is the very person who planted the article at Yahoo News. So you've got a fake dossier, paid for by the Democratic Party, served into the process by the spouse of someone hired, functionally, by the Democratic Party, and then validated by a news article planted by the very author of the dossier. It is outrageous, but it gets worse from there. ..."
"... No matter what happens, the FBI needs to be revamped. It cannot be a political organization that has zombies planted in it's organization ready to destroy the next POTUS because of party politics. Since J. Edgar Hoover and COINTELPRO, the FBI has been a law unto itself. ..."
Feb 03, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
"Round up the usual suspects," will be as far as the Democrats will be willing to go in the wake of the FISA memo's release. There is nothing in that memo that anyone following the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation doesn't already know.All the memo does is corroborate the bread crumbs left behind by a drip feed of leaks, counter-leaks and good ol' fashioned investigative journalism. Since the memo is based on actual evidence that the FBI admits is real but will not allow us to see, the memo itself can be taken as fact.
The FBI has the evidence. They've showed it to the House Intelligence Committee. Both agree on the facts. So, by extension, the memo is all the evidence we need.
Put that in your DNC-scripted talking point pipe and blow it out your ass.
Conclusions MatterNow that the timeline and paper trail have been determined the real implications of the memo and its facts can be discussed. I'm no longer interested in the game of cut and thrust to stop the truth from coming out.
I'm only interested now in the conclusions we can draw from the memo itself.
And those conclusions are chilling.
The out-going Obama administration, at the highest levels in coordination with the media, conspired to create news stories that supported a FISA warrant based on politically-motivated opposition research to undermine the newly-elected President of the United States.
Moreover, it knowingly omitted material facts to the court not once, but four times, to keep that surveillance warrant open in service of this operation. A warrant the FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe, testified under oath to Congress that was key to its issuance.
They knew the dossier on Trump, compiled by Michael Steele, was unverifiable. They hid its origin and motivation from the court. The information from this warrant and the details of the dossier were used to move public opinion and Congress into supporting Robert Mueller's investigation.
But, to what end? To disgrace and force from office the President of the United States. Thus, these people, and the leadership of the Democratic Party, President Obama himself and Hillary Clinton's staff all conspired to criminally disenfranchise more than 60 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump.
To say that this is bigger than Watergate is like calling World War II a minor kerfuffle.
What About the Voters!?Think about this for one second and you know what I'm saying.
All of these people are guilty, at a minimum of corruption, conspiracy and fraud. I'm no legal scholar, so I'm sure the list of offenses is longer than one of Hillary Clinton's tirades after someone criticized her latest pantsuit atrocity.
This ultimately opens all of these organizations up to the biggest civil rights class action lawsuit in the history of this country. The Obama administration and the Democratic Party used opposition research to paint a false narrative of corruption in the Oval Office to discredit the election.
How many riots and street demonstrations did we see in 2017 as outraged and triggered liberals ran around smashing in windows and beating people up because of their delusion based on a lie?
How many hours of lost productivity did the country suffer because of FBI complicity in an operation to overturn a legal election?
How many millions in property damage? Destroyed careers?
What about the direct victims of this disgusting display of government corruption taken to its logical conclusion?
Why is Michael Flynn nearly bankrupt after being hounded by Mueller for months only to get a nothing guilty plea on the thinnest of procedural offenses? When the corruption is this venal isn't it our right under the Constitution to petition our government for a redress of grievances? Who do we sue?
Because there's material harm here and someone should be held responsible. This began under Obama's watch. He set this whole process in motion. High ranking members of his cabinet are directly implicated by the facts in the memo.
And the memo is just the beginning of the discovery phase of this very public trial.
Government on TrialBut, I want more than that. I want it all out in the open. And I want those responsible, those for whom the titles, salaries, benefits and power we bestow on them to do our work, to stand up and be accountable. And if they are too venal, feckless and narcissistic to admit these things, then we'll drag them through the most embarrassing of show trials.
And that means stripping them of their wealth, power and privilege. It means turning off their house organs in the media; outing the enablers, leakers, trolls and spooks. It means releasing everything, unredacted, in the name of national security. It means reminding them of just how much all of that depends on our consent, not theirs. Because if we don't demand these things, then next time there won't even be the pretense of an election.
political junkie -> gatorengineer Feb 3, 2018 9:28 PM Permalink
Chupacabra-322 -> Slippery Slope Feb 3, 2018 8:57 PM PermalinkWe don't need to 'sway' a single D. We need to jail a good many of them.
This memo is not the only one. Sen Grassley has one coming next week... will add more butthurt. After Grassley memo comes one from Goodlatte... then comes the report from the IG Horowitz (remember the 1.4 m pgs release recently? remember he has been working for over a year with some 400 employees? Hired by Hussein, but like all IGs in his admin hamstringed to do ANYTHING. A tsunami of indictments are coming. Hang on, enjoy the ride.
Any 'bloodshed' will come from the crazed Dem/Clintonites/Soro paid Antifa idiots - who have already proved they are violent and against free speech unless it is what they believe.
POTUS is taking care - going for the roots - any red-blooded American would be doing the same. Justice is coming. to the Fake News also...
One of We -> Chupacabra-322 Feb 3, 2018 9:15 PM Permalink@ Slippery,
February 2, 2018: Memo Special Edition
The memo is as troubling as expected, here's a disturbing summary . Listen now.
http://www.bongino.com/february-2-2018-memo-special-edition/
Obamagate is the most significant political scandal of our lifetimes .
This piece lays out the role of the fake Trump dossier in the investigation against the Trump team.
Are the Obama Hillary emails coming out soon? This could be the next bombshell.
Getting a FISA warrant isn't easy, here's an excellent piece that explains the process .
Former Obama administration Director of National Intelligence keeps stepping on himself and changing his story .
http://www.bongino.com/february-2-2018-ep-647-the-entire-house-of-cards-is-coming-down/
One of We -> Chupacabra-322 Feb 3, 2018 9:57 PM PermalinkThe details of the FISA warrants should be interesting to say the least. Can you imagine if Meuller has realtime access to bulk data collection on Trump to this day? Did the warrant allow bugs in the WH, Mar Lago, Camp David, AF1, etc?
One of my main beefs with Trump is his support for illegal surveillance and a bigger police state. Hopefully the experience of Trump's family being in the crosshairs of the illegal spying will get his mind right.
DavyRoySixPack Feb 3, 2018 8:55 PM PermalinkViewing the FISA warrant shenanigans with the context that all the bad actors counted on "Madame President" making it all go away after she was sworn in is key. I don't imagine most of them have had a good night's sleep since Nov.5 2016. That they have run through their playbook to the point they trot out Bobby Kennedy's grandson to give the bolshevik response to Trump's SOTU in a bald face threat to POTUS is shocking and one would have to assume the only round left in the cylinder is assassination. If Schumer looked at me the way he was looking at POTUS during the SOTU I would be glad I usually have a sidearm.
WillyGroper -> DuneCreature Feb 3, 2018 9:33 PM PermalinkWithout Congress, nothing happens. Stalemate. Swept under the rug. Stalling, new investigations..... but nothing will happen.
Looks like they won. I don't see any outrage anywhere , ... where it matters .....
Nope, looks like facts are not needed here ....
MuffDiver69 Feb 3, 2018 8:55 PM PermalinkLisa Barsoomian
Mrs. Lisa Barsoomian is an attorney; but most importantly is that she is the wife of Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice. Prior to that, he served as the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. Surely you don't want to read about that, therefore check out the 5 facts we found about Mrs. Barsoomian Rosenstein
50-year-old Mrs. Barsoomian was born on January 15, 1968. She is the daughter of Armenian immigrants. Together they have two beautiful daughters; Julie, 18, and Allison, 15.
She graduated from Georgetown Law. Moreover, according to reports, she represented Hillary Clinton, between 1991 to 2017; she also represented Bill Clinton, James Comey, Barack Obama, Kathleen Sebellius and Robert Muller. Furthermore, Lisa Barsoomian Rosenstein works for R. Craig Lawrence.
R. Craig Lawrence helped seal Obama's college records to prevent inquiry into his application for full scholarship as a foreign exchange student.
Dilluminati Feb 3, 2018 8:55 PM PermalinkThis is a situation the FBI, DOJ, Democrats and media literally don't want more info in the public eye. The charade was tailored made to bash and trash the President for two years now. Putin's Puppet was used in the first debate and all being scripted by Steele and idiots like FBI Strzok and his horse toothed slut... Carter Page is the one to watch ... he has been destroyed reputation wise and yet not one interview with Mueller or FBI ...
Jackprong Feb 3, 2018 9:44 PM PermalinkWe can all have our own opinions but not or own facts! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH3_-TdoNkQ
Here is a congressmen on the committee telling you the facts! https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/02/02/rep_matt_gaetz_react
REP. MATT GAETZ: Here's what we know now as a consequence of this memo: The Democratic National Committee gave money to the Perkins Law Firm, the Perkins Law Firm then paid the company Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS then hired Nellie Ohr, the wife of Bruce Ohr, who is a senior official at the Justice Dept, and they hired Christopher Steele, who went and wrote this fake dossier. Then Bruce Ohr, the spouse of Nellie Ohr, who has a background in anti-narcotics and the anti-drug agenda at the Dept. of Justice, he all of a sudden starts meeting with Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele, and he valets this fake dossier, paid for by the DNC, into the Dept. of Justice.
The Dept. of Justice and the FBI then use the fake dossier as a basis for a FISA warrant to spy on American citizens. And the reason you know that is because of Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, the same Andrew McCabe whose wife got $700,000 from the closest allies of the Clinton family. Andrew McCabe testifies that there never would have been a FISA warrant, but for the dossier.
The dossier is the cause of the FISA warrant, that is from Andrew McCabe, no friend of Donald Trump.
Then the FISA warrant is in process, it is being sought. To validate the fake dossier, the Dept. of Justice and FBI use an article written by Mr. Isikoff of Yahoo News to be the validating information for the dossier. What's the problem with that? Christopher Steele is the very person who planted the article at Yahoo News. So you've got a fake dossier, paid for by the Democratic Party, served into the process by the spouse of someone hired, functionally, by the Democratic Party, and then validated by a news article planted by the very author of the dossier. It is outrageous, but it gets worse from there.
The FBI the learns that Mr. Steele has been leaking information to the media. so despite the fact that the FBI has authorized payments to Mr. Steele, they then don't render payment to Christopher Steele. now, do they go on and alert the court that that has happened? Absolutely not. The FISA warrant has to be reauthorized every 90 days, and it is reauthorized multiple times with the signatures on it of the senior officials of the Dept. of Justice all based on a lie. All based on completely false information that has to be validated by the authors of the originally false information.
That's what is so outrageous about this. Not only the original lies and the original application for the FISA warrant, but the reauthorizations and the proof that this entire narrative is built on a rotten foundation.
So in the coming days and weeks, we're going to be seeking to excersize our oversight authority, and Democrats will continue to do what they've always done, attack Chairman Devin Nunes, attack me, attack those of us who are trying to get information in front of the American people about the basis of these claims.
We're going to keep telling the truth, because this is rotten, and this can never happen again in the U.S.A.
You'll be hearing from me soon, thanks for tuning in.
So ERGO and in conclusion it takes a ridiculous cunt or a cocksucker to still believe that this isn't an abuse of power by the top officials at the FBI!
There is no longer an excuse for being a cocksucker or a ridiculous stupid cunt!
No matter what happens, the FBI needs to be revamped. It cannot be a political organization that has zombies planted in it's organization ready to destroy the next POTUS because of party politics. Since J. Edgar Hoover and COINTELPRO, the FBI has been a law unto itself.
In 1989, the U. S. Navy battleship USS Iowa experienced a gun turret explosion that killed the gun crew operating the 16 inch gun. The Naval Investigative Service (NIS) was deployed to determine what happened. Instead of conducting a proper investigation of problem solving for a root cause of the explosion, the NIS agency came up with a zany story of a crewmember setting off the explosion over an alleged spurned male love affair, et al.
The investigation had to be taken over and handled by a different team while NIS was dismantled by the Navy under Congressional directive.
The NIS had become sloppy and an unprofessional organization, rotten to the core. The new NCIS was launched to replace NIS. The gun turret explosion root cause was determined by a team at Pax river whereby it was learned that a misalignment of canisters created the explosion. In summary, the FBI needs to become the Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Congress must be a Watch Dog and make this happen immediately.
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[Feb 03, 2018] CIA, FBI Agents Respond To Nunes' Memo
Notable quotes:
"... From what Michael Isikoff reported in September 2016 it appears that the CIA and the Director of National Intelligence (as well as the FBI) are implicated in spreading the disinformation about Trump and Russia. ..."
"... U.S. intelligence officials are seeking to determine whether an American businessman identified by Donald Trump as one of his foreign policy advisers has opened up private communications with senior Russian officials -- including talks about the possible lifting of economic sanctions if the Republican nominee becomes president, according to multiple sources who have been briefed on the issue. ..."
"... But U.S. officials have since received intelligence reports that during that same three-day trip, Page met with Igor Sechin, a longtime Putin associate and former Russian deputy prime minister who is now the executive chairman of Rosneft, Russian's leading oil company, a well-placed Western intelligence source tells Yahoo News ..."
"... Who were the "intelligence officials" briefing the select members of the House and Senate? That will be one of the next shoes to drop. We are likely to learn in the coming days that John Brennan and Jim Clapper were also trying to help the FBI build a fallacious case against Trump, adds Tacitus. ..."
Feb 03, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
We already noted the opposing perspectives of those in the media with regard the Nunes' memo as being on the one hand "a nothing-burger" and on the other "we have never ever in history seen anything like this."
And we have heard from current ("talk is cheap... keep calm and tackle hard") and former ("dishonest and misleading" ) heads of The FBI.
But now we get to hear from the rank-and-file of America's intelligence agencies and, once again, the perspectives could not be further apart...
First, as The Hill reports, a former FBI agent says in a new op-ed that he has left the nation's top law enforcement agency due to the "relentless" attacks on the bureau from critics such as President Trump and congressional Republicans.
In an op-ed for The New York Times , former supervisory special agent Josh Campbell wrote that "political attacks on the bureau must stop."
" After more than a decade of service, which included investigating terrorism, working to rescue kidnapping victims overseas and being special assistant to the director, I am reluctantly turning in my badge and leaving an organization I love. " Campbell wrote.
"Why? So I can join the growing chorus of people who believe that the relentless attacks on the bureau undermine not just America's premier law enforcement agency but also the nation's security," he continued.
"My resignation is painful, but the alternative of remaining quiet while the bureau is tarnished for political gain is impossible."
Campbell also defended the agency's involvement in the events described in the memo, which alleges the FBI and Department of Justice abused their surveillance powers.
"[E]very statement of fact included in an affidavit for foreign intelligence collection must withstand the scrutiny of at least 10 people in the Department of Justice hierarchy before it is reviewed by an independent court," he wrote.
Campbell goes on to argue it would be "disingenuous" for Republicans to argue that the FBI is "plotting from within" against Trump or in favor of his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, despite text messages between FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page seeming to confirm Strzok's political bias against Trump.
"These political attacks on the bureau must stop. If those critics of the agency persuade the public that the FBI cannot be trusted, they will also have succeeded in making our nation less safe," he said.
Campbell's op-ed comes after the publication Friday of Nunes' memo allegedly detailing abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by the FBI.
However, another former intelligence agency operative saw things very differently.
Ray McGovern, 27-year veteran of the CIA and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), exclaims the newly released "Nunes Memo" reveals felony wrongdoing by top members of the FBI and DOJ for misrepresenting evidence to obtain a FISA warrant and may implicate other intelligence officials .
The long-awaited House Intelligence Committee report made public today identifies current and former top officials of the FBI and the Department of Justice as guilty of the felony of misrepresenting evidence required to obtain a court warrant before surveilling American citizens. The target was candidate Donald Trump's adviser Carter Page.
The main points of what is widely known as the "Nunes Memo," after the House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), have been nicely summarized by blogger Publius Tacitus , who noted that the following very senior officials are now liable for contempt-of-court charges; namely, the current and former members of the FBI and the Department of Justice who signed off on fraudulent applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court: James Comey, Andy McCabe, Sally Yates, Dana Boente and Rob Rosenstein. The following is Publius Tacitus's summary of the main points:
- The dubious but celebrated Steele Dossier played a critical role in obtaining approval from the FISA court to carry out surveillance of Carter Page according to former FBI Deputy Director Andy McCabe.
- Christopher Steele was getting paid by the DNC and the FBI for the same information.
- No one at the FBI or the DOJ disclosed to the court that the Steele dossier was paid for by an opposition political campaign.
- The first FISA warrant was obtained on October 21, 2016 based on a story written by Michael Isikoff for Yahoo News based on information he received directly from Christopher Steele -- the FBI did not disclose in the FISA application that Steele was the original source of the information.
- Christopher Steele was a long-standing FBI "source" but was terminated as a source after telling Mother Jones reporter David Corn that he had a relationship with the FBI.
- The FBI signers of the FISA applications/renewals were James Comey (three times) and Andrew McCabe.
- The DOJ signers of the FISA applications/renewals were Sally Yates, Dana Boente and Rod Rosenstein.
- Even after Steele was terminated by the FBI, he remained in contact with Deputy Attorney General Bruce Our, whose wife worked for FUSION GPS, a contractor that was deeply involved with the Steele dossier.
From what Michael Isikoff reported in September 2016 it appears that the CIA and the Director of National Intelligence (as well as the FBI) are implicated in spreading the disinformation about Trump and Russia. Isikoff wrote:
"U.S. intelligence officials are seeking to determine whether an American businessman identified by Donald Trump as one of his foreign policy advisers has opened up private communications with senior Russian officials -- including talks about the possible lifting of economic sanctions if the Republican nominee becomes president, according to multiple sources who have been briefed on the issue. [ ]
"But U.S. officials have since received intelligence reports that during that same three-day trip, Page met with Igor Sechin, a longtime Putin associate and former Russian deputy prime minister who is now the executive chairman of Rosneft, Russian's leading oil company, a well-placed Western intelligence source tells Yahoo News."
Who were the "intelligence officials" briefing the select members of the House and Senate? That will be one of the next shoes to drop. We are likely to learn in the coming days that John Brennan and Jim Clapper were also trying to help the FBI build a fallacious case against Trump, adds Tacitus.
Indeed, Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has already indicated that his disclosures in the Nunes Memo represent just "one piece of a probably much larger mosaic of what went on."
The Media Will Determine What Comes Next
As for Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, it is now abundantly clear why he went to ridiculous lengths, as did the entire Democratic congressional leadership, to block or impugn the House Intelligence Committee report.
Until the mid-December revelations of the text messages between FBI lovers Peter Strzok and Lisa Page turned Russia-gate into FBI/DOJ-gate, Schiff had been riding high, often hiding behind what he said "he could not tell" the rest of us.
With the media, including what used to be the progressive media, fully supporting the likes of Adam Schiff, and the FBI/CIA/NSA deep state likely to pull out all the stops, the die is now cast. We are in for a highly interesting time over the next months.
* * *
So - which is it? Crime of the century, or political grandstanding, or both?
auricle -> Truther Feb 3, 2018 4:28 PM Permalink
MagicHandPuppet -> auricle Feb 3, 2018 4:34 PM PermalinkIf you are complicit in the FBI's wrongdoing and don't want to the FBI to be held accountable or criticised then you should quit or be fired. Right now the FBI should be interviewing leadership to see where they stand on reform and letting those go that are status quo thinkers.
Baron von Bud -> MagicHandPuppet Feb 3, 2018 4:41 PM PermalinkFBI "special agent" Josh Campbell is yet another reason why I no longer trust the FBI. Clearly, he has no problem with specific superiors of his undermining the Constitution of the United States in order to provide political favors to Hillary Clinton while usurping the Republic's election process, which I thought, for some reason, they each swore an oath to protect and defend from enemies foreign AND domestic.
The agents should be loyal to their oath, the Constitution and the Republic - the people whose rights they ostensibly protect; not loyal to the agency itself, the agency's "reputation", or the agency's politically appointed superiors while these superiors commit TREASON.
This is not about the FBI or DOJ, you moron. This is about law and order - and the individuals who are supposed to respect and protect our republic and its Constitution, but who turned out to be traitors that conspired against it for political favors.
BaBaBouy -> Baron von Bud Feb 3, 2018 4:51 PM PermalinkI lost confidence with the fbi after jfk, mlk, waco, ruby ridge, and 9/11. I mean, fool me once shame on you, fool me 20 times and why would I trust you.
Creative_Destruct -> BaBaBouy Feb 3, 2018 5:14 PM Permalink"" Former-CIA: "Nunes' memo reveals felony wrongdoing by top members of the FBI and DOJ ..." ""
Why Is Mewler Investigation still Continuing ? ? ?
SWRichmond -> Creative_Destruct Feb 3, 2018 5:20 PM Permalink" These political attacks on the bureau must stop. If those critics of the agency persuade the public that the FBI cannot be trusted, they will also have succeeded in making our nation less safe," he said.
When the INTERNAL politicking of the holier-than-thou Bureau is stopped, THEN the investigations into the Bureau and appropriate actions to stop such political bias and political weaponization can stop.
Problem: how can we EVER be sure the Deep-Dark State has been successfully checked?
The Alarmist -> espirit Feb 3, 2018 6:02 PM PermalinkConvincing the country that the FBI cannot be trusted will ultimately make the country more safe.
But thanks for this glance into the insular world of the smart people who get to make decisions for everyone else. Secretly. Behind the scenes. Without the Public's knowledge. Because you know we are the smart people. And you f****** deplorables don't get to know what we do. That's how it is and that's how we like it so piss off.
And by the way when I evacuate my office I'm taking my picture of Lavrenti Beria with me.
Fuck you you sack of shit.
2Blondboys -> Creative_Destruct Feb 3, 2018 5:53 PM PermalinkSo, FBI & DOJ leadership are doing bad things, but we're not supposed to criticise them because their wrongdoing is for best interests of the country. Got it. Why didn't they just tell us up front that the Constitution and Rule of Law are superseded.
Bastiat -> Creative_Destruct Feb 3, 2018 6:06 PM PermalinkSo once again it is a national security issue. The FBI and all intelligence agencies cannot be reformed nor scrutinized. The deep state like Schiff, Graham, and buddy McCain are pushing back hard. This quitter agent should quit. He certainly is too weak.
Chupacabra-322 -> Bastiat Feb 3, 2018 6:56 PM Permalink"These political attacks on the Bureau must stop . . . at least until I'm no longer an agent and can plead the 5th.
justyouwait -> MagicHandPuppet Feb 3, 2018 4:58 PM Permalink"Former-CIA: "Nunes' memo reveals felony wrongdoing by top members of the FBI and DOJ ..."
The Pure Evil War Criminal Treasonous Seditious Psychopaths at the CIA under Brennan was ground Zero for the Criminal Intelligence Psychological Operation.
Thee Arrogance among these Criminals is revolting
The First Rule -> MagicHandPuppet Feb 3, 2018 5:04 PM PermalinkCorrect it is about law & order. Also, Campbell claims a FISA application has to go through about 10 levels of hierarchy before being brought forth. Maybe, maybe not. When the top guns at both FBI & DoJ are involved it only needs a few signatures. The final few. This could easily have been run by the people named.
This guy is either running away or running cover.
P4K -> MagicHandPuppet Feb 3, 2018 5:14 PM Permalink"If those critics of the agency persuade the public that the FBI cannot be trusted"
NewsFlash: The FBI CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
Their Leaders committed Perjury, Obstruction of Justice and Treason.
The only reason there isn't a Special Prosecutor appointed is because Rod Rosenstein is one of the Felons. He will block all attempts for Justice to be done, since he's Guilty as Hell.
alexcojones -> Mr. Universe Feb 3, 2018 4:40 PM PermalinkThe idea that we all look up to and revere the FBI leadership is ridiculous. For most of its history, the FBI has been led by corrupt, paranoid, politically motivated hacks who think they are above the law.
The following directors of the FBI have been forced to resign or fired for breaking laws/regulations:
1) Bielaski (detained citizens without warrants),
2)Burns (Teapot Dome scandal--spied on and spread lies about Senator Wheeler),
3) Hoover (spied on civil rights activists, tried to blackmail almost every President with secret surveillance, obstructed/fixed conclusion of Warren Commission investigation, known cross-dresser)
4) Gray (Destroyed Watergate files),
5) William Sessions (Used FBI resources for home remodel),
6) Comey (knowingly signed misleading FISA warrant request to spy on Trump campaign officials, used NSA wiretapping to unmask General Flynn and trap him in a purjury charge, covered-up gross negligence crimes of Hillary Clinton).
Ray McGovern - VIPS - former CIA, has been arrested a lot of times. Speaking up and out against the Deep State got him arrested. Bravo Ray for speaking out again.
Ray McGovern dragged out of Hillary Clinton "Freedom Speech
Police Brutalize Ray McGovern as Hillary Clinton Talks Free Speech
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[Feb 03, 2018] A Never-Trump Press in Near Panic by Pat Buchanan
Notable quotes:
"... In mid-2016, James Comey and an FBI cabal, including Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, lead investigator Peter Strzok and his FBI paramour Lisa Page, decided Clinton must not be indicted in the server scandal, as that would make Trump president. ..."
Feb 03, 2018 | www.unz.com
"All the News That's Fit to Print" proclaims the masthead of The New York Times. "Democracy Dies in Darkness," echoes The Washington Post.
"The people have a right to know," the professors at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism hammered into us in 1962. "Trust the people," we were admonished.
Explain then this hysteria, this panic in the press over the release of a four-page memo detailing one congressional committee's rendering of how Trump-hate spawned an FBI investigation of Republican candidate and President Donald Trump.
What is the press corps afraid of? For it has not ceased keening and caterwauling that this memo must not see the light of day.
Do the media not trust the people? Can Americans not handle the truth?
Is this the same press corps that celebrates "The Post," lionizing Kay Graham for publishing the Pentagon Papers, top-secret documents charging the "Best and the Brightest" of the JFK-LBJ era with lying us into Vietnam?
Why are the media demanding a "safe space" for us all, so we will not be harmed by reading or hearing what the memo says?
Security secrets will be compromised, we are warned.
Really? Would the House Intelligence Committee majority vote to expose secrets that merit protection? Would Speaker Paul Ryan and White House chief of staff Gen. John Kelly, who have read and approved the release of the memo, go along with that?
Is Gen. Kelly not a proven patriot, many times over?
The committee's ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff, who earlier warned of a threat to national security, now seems ready to settle for equal time. If the majority memo is released, says Schiff, the minority version of events should be released.
Schiff is right. It should be, along with the backup behind both.
This week, however, FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein slipped into the White House to plead with Kelly to keep the Republican memo secret. Wednesday, both went public to warn the White House against doing what Trump said he was going to do.
This is defiant insubordination. And it is not unfair to ask if Rosenstein and Wray are more alarmed about some threat to the national security than they are about the exposure of misconduct in their own agencies.
The memo is to be released Friday. Leaks suggest what it contends:
That the Russiagate investigation of Trump was propelled by a "dossier" of lies and unproven allegations of squalid conduct in Moscow and Trumpian collusion with Russia.
Who prepared the dossier?
The leading dirt-diver hired by the Clinton campaign, former British spy Christopher Steele. In accumulating his Russian dirt, Steele was spoon-fed by old comrades in the Kremlin's security apparatus.
Not only did the FBI use this dirt to launch a full investigation of Trump, the bureau apparently used it to convince a FISA court judge to give the FBI a warrant to surveil and wiretap the Trump campaign.
If true, the highest levels of the FBI colluded with a British spy digging dirt for Hillary to ruin the opposition candidate, and, having failed, to bring down an elected president.
Is this not something we have a right to know? Should it be covered up to protect those at the FBI who may have engaged in something like this?
"Now they are investigating the investigators!" comes the wail of the media. Well, yes, they are, and, from the evidence, about time.
In this divided capital, there are warring narratives.
The first is that Trump was compromised by the Russians and colluded with them to hack the DNC and Clinton campaign to destroy her candidacy. After 18 months, the FBI and Robert Mueller probes have failed to demonstrate this.
The second narrative is now ascendant. It is this:
In mid-2016, James Comey and an FBI cabal, including Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, lead investigator Peter Strzok and his FBI paramour Lisa Page, decided Clinton must not be indicted in the server scandal, as that would make Trump president.
So they colluded and put the fix in.
This alleged conspiracy is being investigated by the FBI inspector general. His findings may explain last week's sudden resignation of McCabe and last summer's ouster of Strzok from the Mueller probe.
If true, this conspiracy to give Hillary a pass on her "gross negligence" in handling secrets, and take down Trump based on dirt dug up by hirelings of the Clinton campaign would make the Watergate break-in appear by comparison to be a prank.
Here we may have hit the reason for the panic in the media.
Trump-haters in the press may be terrified that the memo may credibly demonstrate that the "Deplorables" were right, that the elite media have been had, that they were exploited and used by the "deep state," that they let their detestation of Trump so blind them to reality that they made fools of themselves, and that they credited with high nobility a major conspiracy to overthrow an elected president of the United States.
Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of a new book, "Nixon's White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever."
Copyright 2018 Creators.com.
Alfa158 , February 2, 2018 at 6:09 am GMT
Mr. Buchanan gives the media too much credit for sincerity and good will. The elite media was not had, were not exploited, or used, and are not blind to reality. They are loyal soldiers of the deep state. The Russia narrative is a willful deception on their part in an effort to reverse an election, or at least obstruct the Trump agenda. They know what is real, what is not, and what they want in the end.The Alarmist , February 2, 2018 at 9:36 am GMTWorkingClass , February 2, 2018 at 11:23 am GMT"What is the press corps afraid of? For it has not ceased keening and caterwauling that this memo must not see the light of day .
FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein slipped into the White House to plead with Kelly to keep the Republican memo secret. Wednesday, both went public to warn the White House against doing what Trump said he was going to do."
Cockroaches scurrying as the lights go on.
The corporate media are enemies of the people.
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[Feb 03, 2018] Memo: Democrats Made Up Evidence Enabled Eavesdropping On Trump Campaign
It was not only that Steele memo enabled eavesdropping. More troubling fact that FBI considered both Trump and Sanders as insurgents and was adamant to squash them and ensure Hillary victory. In other word it tried to play the role of kingmaker.
Notable quotes:
"... The former British spy Steele had been hired by the Democratic Party via Fusion GPS to dig up dirt about Donald Trump. He came back with a package of "reports" which alleged that Trump was "colluding" with Russia or even a puppet of Putin. The content of the reports is hilarious and so obviously made up that one wonders how anyone could have treated it seriously. ..."
"... Getting a FISA warrant on Carter Page meant that all his communication with the Trump campaign was effectively under surveillance of the Obama administration. While Page was no longer an official member of the campaign at the time of the warrant it is likely that he had kept contact. All internal communication that Page had access to was thereby also accessible for at least some people who tried to prevent a Trump election victory. ..."
"... One may (like me) dislike Trump and the Republican party and all they stand for. But this looks like an extremely dirty play by the Democrats and by the Obama administration far outside of any decency and fairness. The Steele dossier is obviously made up partisan nonsense. To the use it for such a FISA warrant was against the most basic rules of a democratic system. It probably broke several laws. ..."
Feb 03, 2018 | www.moonofalabama.org
Over the last month political enemies of U.S. President Trump and the FBI and Justice Department have desperately tried to prevent the publishing of a memo written by the Republican controlled House Intelligence Committee.
The memo (pdf) describes parts of the process that let to court sanctioned spying on the Trump campaign. The key points of the memo that was just published:
* The Steele dossier formed an essential part of the initial and all three renewal FISA applications against Carter Page.* Andrew McCabe confirmed that no FISA warrant would have been sought from the FISA Court without the Steele dossier information.
* The political origins of the Steele dossier were known to senior DOJ and FBI officials, but excluded from the FISA applications.
* DOJ official Bruce Ohr met with Steele beginning in the summer of 2016 and relayed to DOJ information about Steele's bias. Steele told Ohr that he, Steele, was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected president and was passionate about him not becoming president.
If the above memo proves to be correct one can conclude that a Democratic front organization created "evidence" that was then used by the FBI and the Obama Justice Department to get FISA warrants to spy on someone with intimate contacts into the Trump campaign.
The Democrats as well as the FBI have done their utmost to keep this secret.
Carter Page was a relative low ranking volunteer advisor of the Trump campaign with some business contacts to Russia. He had officially left the campaign shortly before the above FISA warrant was requested.
Andrew McCabe was an FBI assistant director. A few month earlier his wife ran for a Virginia State Senate seat with the help of $700,000 she had received from Clinton allies.
The wife of DOJ official Bruce Ohr worked for Fusion GPS, the outlet hired by the Democrats to find Trump dirt. Fusion GPS hired the former British agent Steele.
The former British spy Steele had been hired by the Democratic Party via Fusion GPS to dig up dirt about Donald Trump. He came back with a package of "reports" which alleged that Trump was "colluding" with Russia or even a puppet of Putin. The content of the reports is hilarious and so obviously made up that one wonders how anyone could have treated it seriously.
Getting a FISA warrant on Carter Page meant that all his communication with the Trump campaign was effectively under surveillance of the Obama administration. While Page was no longer an official member of the campaign at the time of the warrant it is likely that he had kept contact. All internal communication that Page had access to was thereby also accessible for at least some people who tried to prevent a Trump election victory.
One must wonder if the FISA warrant and eavesdropping on Page was the only one related to the Trump campaign.
One may (like me) dislike Trump and the Republican party and all they stand for. But this looks like an extremely dirty play by the Democrats and by the Obama administration far outside of any decency and fairness. The Steele dossier is obviously made up partisan nonsense. To the use it for such a FISA warrant was against the most basic rules of a democratic system. It probably broke several laws.
There are still many questions: What was, exactly, the result of the surveillance of Carter Page and the Trump campaign? Who was getting these results - officially and unofficially? How were they used?
I am pretty sure now that more heads of those involved will role. Some of the people who arranged the scheme, and some of those who tried to cover it up, may go to jail.
If Trump and the Republicans play this right they have practically won the next elections.
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[Feb 03, 2018] FISA Memo Released Here s What It Says
Comey, McCabe, Rosenstein ... they disgraced the FBI and DOJ and should be punished. Likely many others.
Feb 03, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo News article by Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page's July 2016 trip to Moscow. This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News -- and several other outlets -- in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele's initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington D.C. in 2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed.
The memo continues revealing more information about Steele and his clear political bias:
Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations -- an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn.
Steele's numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling -- maintaining confidentiality -- and demonstrated that Steele had become a less than reliable source for the FBI.
3) Before and after Steele was terminated as a source , he maintained contact with DOJ via then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr , a senior DOJ official who worked closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. Shortly after the election, the FBI began interviewing Ohr, documenting his communications with Steele. For example, in September 2016, Steele admitted to Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he "was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president." This clear evidence of Steele's bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files -- but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications.
During this same time period, Ohr's wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife's opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs' relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC.
* * *
After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele's reporting as only minimally corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was - according to his June 2017 testimony - "salacious and unverified." While the FISA application relied on Steele's past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations . Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information .
The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos. The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel's Office to FBI Human Resources for improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton, whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also reflect extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an "insurance" policy against President Trump's election.
The bottom line: as noted earlier, if found that there was clear undisclosed bias in the launch of surveillance of Trump's team, then Mueller's probe - whose findings would be the result of a flawed FISA warrant - would be null and void, leave space for Trump to fire the special prosecutor or Rod Rosenstein.
Incidentally, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump suggested the document shows political bias at the FBI that tainted the probe into whether his campaign cooperated with Russia's election meddling.
"I think it's a disgrace," Trump said of the alleged bias. "A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves."
The decision cleared the way for the House Intelligence Committee to release the memo, which it did shortly after noon. "It was declassified and let's see what happens," Trump said. White House made no redactions to the document. overturned in court.
* * *
To recap, here are the key points disclosed in the memo, as summarized by the Washington Exmainer which has an early unclassified version of the memo:
- The Steele dossier formed an essential part of the intial and all three renewal FISA applications against Carter Page.
- Andrew McCabe confirmed that no FISA warrant would have been sought from the FISA Court without the Steele dossier information.
- The political origins of the Steele dossier were known to senior DOJ and FBI officials, but excluded from the FISA applications.
- DOJ official Bruce Ohr met with Steele beginning in the summer of 2016 and relayed to DOJ information about Steele's bias. Steele told Ohr that he, Steele, was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected president and was passionate about him not becoming president .
As a reminder, the FBI and Justice Department mounted a months-long effort to keep the information outlined in the memo out of the House Intelligence Committee's hands. Only the threat of contempt charges and other forms of pressure forced the FBI and Justice to give up the material.
Once Intelligence Committee leaders and staff compiled some of that information into the memo, the FBI and Justice Department, supported by Capitol Hill Democrats, mounted a ferocious campaign of opposition, saying release of the memo would endanger national security and the rule of law.
But Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes never wavered in his determination to make the information available to the public. President Trump agreed, and, as required by House rules, gave his approval for release.
Finally, the memo released today does not represent the sum total of what House investigators have learned in their review of the FBI and Justice Department Trump-Russia investigation. That means the fight over the memo could be replayed in the future when the Intelligence Committee decides to release more information.
Gerrilea -> gatorengineer Feb 2, 2018 1:54 PM Permalink
Baron von Bud -> The Alarmist Feb 2, 2018 1:34 PM PermalinkHon, it's criminal conspiracy. They knowingly used a fake "dossier" as evidence to get a judge to issue surveillance warrants against innocent Americans based on political ideology.
The memo is based on facts. What we don't know is how many were "revised" out to protect methods or investigators.
U.S.C. Title 18, Chapter 19 prohibits conspiracies to defraud the United States, conspiracies to impede or injure an officer, and conspiracies to commit violent crimes. However, conspiracy is prohibited in several other federal statutes. It is important to note that an actual crime is not necessary to prosecute a conspiracy case – only the stated intent to break the law.
Jim in MN -> Baron von Bud Feb 2, 2018 1:41 PM PermalinkI just finished reading the document. It's not inflammatory in the least; strictly dry and factual.
The FBI is required to avoid any appearance of political partisanship. The memo shows intent to deceive the fisa court by the highest levels of the fbi and doj. This is a big deal because that court is supposed to protect the American people against government abuse - you and me. I don't know what legal recourse is necessary or appropriate against the transgressors but I know a conspiracy when I see one. At the least, Rosenstein will have to go. Mueller's investigation is terminated and charges against Flynn are dropped; "fruit of the poisoned tree". McCain was neck deep in it.
The civil service professionals under the political appointees are supposed to keep the system honest. Hard for the president or congress to terminate them. In this case they failed to do their duty and conspired.
Remember, this is just the dossier report. They also conspired to let Hillary walk free on her emails and her taking bribes from the Russians - $150 million into her pocket while Sect of State. That's big. They acted criminally.
My opinion: Comey, McCabe, Rosenstein ... they disgraced the fbi and doj and should be punished. Likely many others.
verumcuibono -> Jim in MN Feb 2, 2018 2:28 PM PermalinkOK. Call ya and raise ya.
Next question: Who RAN these operations?
Hint: NOT the FBI.
Think Bigger. Much, Much Bigger.
True but irrelevant. Nothing above Congress/FBI/DOJ is real or tangible, from a sovereign perspective. They are the front for TPTB. This ENTIRE theater serves one purpose - to stir up public opinion and to pose threats from one faction against another and jostle for position. There will be several fall guys and that might be it.
Now, in context with what else Trump has on his plate, this could carry some weight. We'll see. Here's a pretty good list:
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[Feb 02, 2018] RPI's Daniel McAdams on Congressional memo alleging FBI abused spying powers
Feb 02, 2018 | ronpaulinstitute.org
Now that the memo is out, what does it mean? RPI's Daniel McAdams is on RT to point out that while the memo shows how the FISA system has been abused by the FBI and the rest of the government, the real issue is that the FISA process is always abused. And the same Members pointing to the abuse in this particular case were aware of the abuse even as they voted to re-authorize Section 702 of the FISA Amendments act. There's plenty of hypocrisy to go around on this. And with the release of this memo, will the "Russiagate" fantasy finally be consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs? Don't count on it...
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[Feb 02, 2018] What's in that FISA Memo
Pretty interesting video.
Feb 02, 2018 | www.youtube.com
Published on Jan 20, 2018
#ReleaseTheMemo
The public deserves to know about the massive crimes of our Government. President Trump dropped intel to the people via QAnon about the FISA memo that details the corruption. This is an overview of the contents found in that memo.Currently, Q's newest intel drops can be found here:
https://8ch.net/greatawakening/res/1....This video is based specifically on Research gathered from
First Last 1 week ago Don't forget after the memo scapegoat drama, the majority of the crooks will still be in the same positions doing the same stuff. Don't be fooled to think everything has been cleaned up
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[Feb 02, 2018] Lying, Spying, and Hiding by Andrew P. Napolitano
Notable quotes:
"... FISA is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which was written to enable the federal government to spy on foreign agents here and abroad. Using absurd and paranoid logic, the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which only hears the government's lawyers, has morphed "foreign intelligence surveillance" into undifferentiated bulk surveillance of all Americans. ..."
"... The use of raw intelligence data by the NSA or the FBI for political purposes or to manipulate those in government is as serious a threat to popular government – to personal liberty in a free society – as has ever occurred in America since Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which punished speech critical of the government. ..."
"... The government works for us; we should not tolerate its treating us as children. When raw intelligence data is capable of differing interpretations and is relevant to a public dispute – about, for example, whether the NSA and the FBI are trustworthy, whether FISA should even exist, whether spying on everyone all the time keeps us safe and whether the Constitution even permits this – the raw data should be released to the American public. ..."
Feb 01, 2018 | original.antiwar.com
I have argued for a few weeks now that House Intelligence Committee members have committed misconduct in office by concealing evidence of spying abuses by the National Security Agency and the FBI. They did this by sitting on a four-page memo that summarizes the abuse of raw intelligence data while Congress was debating a massive expansion of FISA.FISA is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which was written to enable the federal government to spy on foreign agents here and abroad. Using absurd and paranoid logic, the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which only hears the government's lawyers, has morphed "foreign intelligence surveillance" into undifferentiated bulk surveillance of all Americans.
Undifferentiated bulk surveillance is the governmental acquisition of fiber-optic data stored and transmitted by nearly everyone in America. This includes all telephone conversations, text messages and emails, as well as all medical, legal and financial records.
Ignorant of the hot potato on which the House Intelligence Committee had been sitting, Congress recently passed and President Donald Trump signed a vast expansion of spying authorities – an expansion that authorizes legislatively the domestic spying that judges were authorizing on everyone in the U.S. without individual suspicion of wrongdoing or probable cause of crime; an expansion that passed in the Senate with no votes to spare; an expansion that evades and avoids the Fourth Amendment; an expansion that the president signed into law the day before we all learned of the House Intelligence Committee memo.
The FISA expansion would never have passed the Senate had the House Intelligence Committee memo and the data on which it is based come to light seven days sooner than it did. Why should 22 members of a House committee keep their 500-plus congressional colleagues in the dark about domestic spying abuses while those colleagues were debating the very subject matter of domestic spying and voting to expand the power of those who have abused it?
The answer to this lies in the nature of the intelligence community today and the influence it has on elected officials in the government. By the judicious, personalized and secret revelation of data, both good and bad – here is what we know about your enemies, and here is what we know about you – the NSA shows its might to the legislators who supposedly regulate it. In reality, the NSA regulates them.
This is but one facet of the deep state – the unseen parts of the government that are not authorized by the Constitution and that never change, no matter which party controls the legislative or executive branch. This time, they almost blew it. If just one conscientious senator had changed her or his vote on the FISA expansion – had that senator known of the NSA and FBI abuses of FISA concealed by the House Intelligence Committee – the expansion would have failed.
Nevertheless, the evidence on which the committee members sat is essentially a Republican-written summary of raw intelligence data. Earlier this week, the Democrats on the committee authored their version – based, they say, on the same raw intelligence data as was used in writing the Republican version. But the House Intelligence Committee, made up of 13 Republicans and nine Democrats, voted to release only the Republican-written memo.
Late last week, when it became apparent that the Republican memo would soon be released, the Department of Justice publicly contradicted President Trump by advising the leadership of the House Intelligence Committee in very strong terms that the memo should not be released to the public.
It soon became apparent that, notwithstanding the DOJ admonition, no one in the DOJ had actually seen the memo. So FBI Director Chris Wray made a secret, hurried trip to the House Intelligence Committee's vault last Sunday afternoon to view the memo. When asked by the folks who showed it to him whether it contains secret or top-secret material, he couldn't or wouldn't say. But he apparently saw in the memo the name of the No. 2 person at the FBI, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, as one of the abusers of spying authority. That triggered McCabe's summary departure from the FBI the next day, after a career of 30 years.
The abuse summarized in the Republican memo apparently spans the last year of the Obama administration and the first year of the Trump administration. If it comes through as advertised, it will show the deep state using the government's powers for petty or political or ideological reasons.
The use of raw intelligence data by the NSA or the FBI for political purposes or to manipulate those in government is as serious a threat to popular government – to personal liberty in a free society – as has ever occurred in America since Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which punished speech critical of the government.
What's going on here?
The government works for us; we should not tolerate its treating us as children. When raw intelligence data is capable of differing interpretations and is relevant to a public dispute – about, for example, whether the NSA and the FBI are trustworthy, whether FISA should even exist, whether spying on everyone all the time keeps us safe and whether the Constitution even permits this – the raw data should be released to the American public.
Where is the personal courage on the House Intelligence Committee? Where is the patriotism? Where is the fidelity to the Constitution? The government exists by our consent. It derives its powers from us. We have a right to know what it has done in our names, who broke our trust, who knew about it, who looked the other way and why and by whom all this was intentionally hidden until after Congress voted to expand FISA.
Everyone in government takes an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. How many take it meaningfully and seriously?
Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel. Judge Napolitano has written seven books on the US Constitution. The most recent is Suicide Pact: The Radical Expansion of Presidential Powers and the Lethal Threat to American Liberty . To find out more about Judge Napolitano and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com .
COPYRIGHT 2016 ANDREW P. NAPOLITANO – DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
Read more by Andrew P. Napolitano
- A Conspiracy of Silence Assaults Privacy – January 24th, 2018
- Did Donald Trump Change His Mind on Domestic Spying? – January 17th, 2018
- Congress Plotting To Cut a Hole in the 4th Amendment, Again – January 10th, 2018
- Yes, the Constitution Applies to the New York Bomber – December 13th, 2017
- If You Can't Change Your Mind, Change the Subject – August 24th, 2017
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[Feb 02, 2018] Read the Nunes Memo, Annotated
Reaction of "voices of the swamp" WaPo and NYT show considerable correlation and similar talking points. Both annoted Nunes memo and both tries to conflate it with Schiff memo to limit the damage, despite the fact that Schiff memo is unpublished ( The Nunes Memo vs. the Schiff Memo - Video - NYTimes.com )
Looks like Comey tried to use Steele dossier as a wedge to intimidate Trump.
Notable quotes:
"... then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein ..."
"... material and relevant information was omitted ..."
"... a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele's efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials. ..."
"... This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. ..."
"... Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News -- and several other outlets -- in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele's initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington D.C. in 2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed. ..."
"... Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations -- an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn. ..."
"... Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about those contacts. ..."
"... Steele's numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling -- maintaining confidentiality -- and demonstrated that Steele had become a less than reliable source for the FBI. ..."
"... Before and after Steele was terminated as a source, he maintained contact with DOJ via then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, a senior DOJ official who worked closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. ..."
"... This clear evidence of Steele's bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files -- but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications. ..."
"... During this same time period, Ohr's wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife's opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs' relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC. ..."
"... After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele's reporting as only minimally corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was -- according to his June 2017 testimony -- "salacious and unverified." ..."
"... While the FISA application relied on Steele's past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations. Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information. ..."
"... The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos . ..."
"... The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel's Office to FBI Human Resources for improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton, whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also reflect extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe ..."
Feb 02, 2018 | www.nytimes.com
The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. As required by statute (50 U.S.C. §1805(d)(1)), a FISA order on an American citizen must be renewed by the FISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause. Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications in question on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. Then-DAG Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ.
... However, the FISC's rigor in protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90-day renewals of surveillance orders, is necessarily dependent on the government's production to the court of all material and relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant information was omitted .
1) The "dossier" compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump's ties to Russia.a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele's efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials.
b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named U.S. person, but does not name Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson, who was paid by a U.S. law firm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOJ at the time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier). The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of -- and paid by -- the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information.
2) The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo News article by Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page's July 2016 trip to Moscow. This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News .
Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News -- and several other outlets -- in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele's initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington D.C. in 2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed.
The court filing referenced here took place on May 18, 2017, long after the initial application and at least the first renewal application.a) Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations -- an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn.
Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with Yahoo and other outlets in September -- before the Page application was submitted to the FISC in October -- but Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about those contacts.
b) Steele's numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling -- maintaining confidentiality -- and demonstrated that Steele had become a less than reliable source for the FBI.
3) Before and after Steele was terminated as a source, he maintained contact with DOJ via then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, a senior DOJ official who worked closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. Shortly after the election, the FBI began interviewing Ohr, documenting his communications with Steele. For example, in September 2016, Steele admitted to Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he "was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president." This clear evidence of Steele's bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files -- but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications.
a) During this same time period, Ohr's wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife's opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs' relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC.
4) According to the head of the FBI's counterintelligence division, Assistant Director Bill Priestap, corroboration of the Steele dossier was in its "infancy" at the time of the initial Page FISA application. After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele's reporting as only minimally corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was -- according to his June 2017 testimony -- "salacious and unverified."
While the FISA application relied on Steele's past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations. Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information.
5) The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos .
The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel's Office to FBI Human Resources for improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton, whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also reflect extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe
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[Feb 02, 2018] Explainer what is the Republican memo about and is it telling the truth South China Morning Post
If the Trump investigation was started for political purposes the validity of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's continuing probe is really under huge question.
Feb 02, 2018 | www.scmp.com
A newly released memo – crafted by House Republicans and released with the blessing of US President Donald Trump – accuses the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) of misleading a judge so it could spy on a Trump campaign adviser for its Russia probe.
Democrats say the memo could be used as a pretext to fire people involved in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which would precipitate a "constitutional crisis".
Here's what the memo says, why it matters, and what's known about whether it's accurate
Read the Republican memo on 'FBI con' that Dems say could lead to a constitutional crisis
The dossierThe claim: Republicans assert that officials relied primarily on an unverified dossier prepared by former British spy Christopher Steele to obtain a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser on Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
"Deputy Director McCabe testified before the committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information," the memo said, referring to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who stepped down from that job earlier this week.
Democrats fear the memo is a pretext to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (pictured on Monday), who appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the alleged Trump-Russia collusion, and replace him wiht someone who can stall the probe. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
Why it would matter: Republicans on the House Intelligence panel say the investigation into possible collusion between Trump associates and Russia is tainted because it was instigated amid anti-Trump bias in the Justice Department and the FBI during the Obama administration.
A key question is what evidence was used to secure warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court (FISC) resulting in wiretaps on Trump associates, including Page.
The dossier is filled with unverified allegations about Trump's connections to Russia, some of them salacious.
Explainer: Why Washington is at war over Russia probe memoIs it true? The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant concerning Page remains classified, but warrant applications are lengthy documents that often run to 60-80 pages where officials need to show "probable cause" that the target is a foreign power or an agent of one.
Obtaining a FISA warrant to spy on a US citizen requires multiple levels of review that on average involves 10 government officials, according to a former US national security official.
Democrats on the House Intelligence panel issued a statement Friday saying "the investigation would persist on the basis of wholly independent evidence had Christopher Steele never entered the picture."
Page – who denies wrongdoing and said he welcomes release of the memo – was on the FBI's radar long before the dossier: In 2013, Russian spies tried to recruit him, according to an FBI criminal complaint filed in 2015.
President Donald Trump (pictured on Friday) says Congress will do what it wants with the claims in the memo; there are fears it will be used to fire people in the Russia probe. Photo: AP Opposition research
The claim: The FBI and Justice Department didn't provide all the facts to the FISA court when applying for the warrant on Page, including who paid for the dossier referenced in the application.
Trump's political opponents, including Hillary Clinton, paid more than $160,000 to the opposition-research firm Fusion GPS, which produced the dossier, the memo notes.
Trump attacks FBI for politicising probes ahead of memo release"Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele's efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials," the memo said.
Why it would matter: House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes has argued that the FBI improperly used political opposition research as the basis to obtain surveillance on a presidential candidate's team.
Some Republicans have suggested that if the Trump investigation was started for political purposes, it calls into question the validity of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's continuing probe.
Representative Devin Nunes, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the overseer of the memo, is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: Getty Images North America via AFP
Is it true? Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson told Congress that Steele showed it to the FBI because he thought potential crimes were being committed.
If the FBI intentionally omitted that information from a warrant, it could anger the FISA court judges, but it's not clear it would affect the underlying investigation.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee said the Republican Party description of the warrant application is "not accurate" and contains "serious mischaracterisations" that are laid out in a still-classified Democratic memo.
Trump's feud with the Justice Department hinges on FBI memo releaseFor one thing, the Page warrant was renewed three times, steps that the former US official said would have required the Justice Department to show the FISA court that useful intelligence has been obtained and an extension is needed.
Political biasThe claim: The memo contends FBI and Justice Department officials were biased against Trump early on in the Russia investigation, well before Mueller's appointment in May 2017.
Republican lawmakers and Trump have questioned the role played by McCabe because his wife received Democratic funding in an unsuccessful campaign for the Virginia state Senate in 2015.
The memo also notes that the wife of another senior Justice Department official, Bruce Ohr, "was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump."
Andrew McCabe (seen in May 2017), who stepped down as FBI deputy director earlier this week, has been accused of being biased in his investigation. Photo: Washington Post photo by Jahi Chikwendiu
Why it would matter: Questions of bias inside the FBI are already being investigated by the Justice Department's inspector general, who is examining its handling of the probe into Clinton's email practices and the actions of some agents on the Trump probe. His findings may be damaging to the agency.
The takeaway: The FBI is traditionally a Republican-friendly institution, and former director James Comey's handling of the Clinton probe is widely believed to have helped Trump win the White House.
When it comes to Mueller, Republican leaders on both sides of Capitol Hill have said repeatedly they have confidence in the special counsel and want the investigation to continue.
Carter PageThe claim: The Republican memo focuses almost entirely on the FISA warrants for Page, describing him as a "volunteer adviser" in the Trump campaign and suggesting his civil liberties were violated.
Why it would matter: The dossier compiled by Steele, the former British spy, portrayed Page as an intermediary in the Trump campaign's "well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between them and the Russian leadership."
White House officials and former Trump campaign aides have dismissed him as someone who walked in the door at Trump Tower and volunteered to help when the insurgent campaign lacked foreign policy advisers.
Page made a trip to Russia during the 2016 campaign, but Trump campaign advisers have said they shrugged off his offers to brief the candidate.
Carter Page makes a presentation titled 'Departing from Hypocrisy: Potential Strategies in the Era of Global Economic Stagnation, Security Threats and Fake News' during his visit to Moscow, Russia, on December 12, 2016. The Republican memo says the FBI and DOJ misled a judge when applying for a warrant to spy on him. Photo: TASS/Abaca Press/TNS
Is it true? Aside from the debate over Page's role in the FBI's surveillance efforts, he may prove a footnote in the history of the Russian meddling investigation, although Democrats on the House Intelligence panel said the FBI had "good reason" to be concerned about his activities.
Already, Mueller has secured indictments against former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates for alleged money-laundering.
He's also won agreements to cooperate from Michael Flynn, Trump's initial national security adviser, and George Papadopoulos, another of the little-known foreign policy advisers who volunteered for Trump's campaign.
Rosenstein's RoleThe claim: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein approved at least one of the FBI's applications to extend surveillance of Page even though the original request was based on tainted information.
Why it would matter: Rosenstein, a veteran federal prosecutor, has overseen the Russia investigation since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself in March 2017 over Trump's objections. Rosenstein named Mueller as special counsel that May.
Is it true? The memo doesn't allege any wrongdoing by Rosenstein, who is mentioned only twice. Democrats say they doubt Trump would dare to fire Mueller but have speculated the president might seize on the Republican memo to oust Rosenstein in the hope that his successor would rein in the probe.
"The White House knows it would face a firestorm if it fired Bob Mueller," Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, told reporters.
"If Rod Rosenstein is fired and someone else takes his place, that is a yes man for the president. Then, they can limit Bob Mueller's investigation in ways we will never see." This Week in Asia Get updates direct to your inbox By registering you agree to our T&Cs & Privacy Policy
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[Jan 31, 2018] FBI FISA fiasco would end up in further polarization of the country along the Party lines
Russiagate will be partially discredited, and that's good. A couple of heads too closely connected to Steele Dossier might roll. McCabe is the first and hopefully not the last. But to expect more then that is probably way too optimistic. even Trump might remain under fire as forces which played "appointment of the Special Prosecutor gambit" are probably more numerous and powerful to be discard by firing Rosenstein and Mueller. It is doubtful that the "Deep State" will allow Nunes to inflict much damage. The effect probably will be superficial and more on the propaganda site.
Notable quotes:
"... Mike, you meant the way the DNC changed the dialogue away from the content -- the substance -- of the Hillary-Posesta emails to "Russia hacking the DNC and giving their emails to wikileaks." ..."
Jan 31, 2018 | consortiumnews.com
Joe Tedesky , January 30, 2018 at 12:45 pm
Virginia , January 30, 2018 at 1:02 pmAbout a week ago Realist and I surmised so much, that this FBI FISA fiasco would end up as just another left vs right divide.
See how Oliver Stone is defending Robert Parry's good name up against PropOrNot. https://www.rt.com/usa/417383-oliver-stone-tributes-parry/
Realist , January 31, 2018 at 12:20 amOoops, Mike, you meant the way the DNC changed the dialogue away from the content -- the substance -- of the Hillary-Posesta emails to "Russia hacking the DNC and giving their emails to wikileaks." Yea, you meant that, right? Of course, neither the Dems nor Reps (nor Trump) have a monopoly on lying, but there are degrees, and degrees of damages.
Yes, Joe, it is disgusting how they insist on demonizing a good man only days after his death. I am depressed. Oliver Stones' defense of this exemplary human being in the RT piece is greatly appreciated. I'm sure he will become a bigger target himself now.
Why are most of the highest profile combatants on both sides of the issues in this clash of cultures throwbacks to the 1960's? Mostly guys in their 70's and late 60's. When will the younger generations, who represent the deep future, stand up and be counted? Right now the most likely president as of January 20th, 2021, will be from among Trump, Clinton, Biden, Kerry or Bernie Sanders, if you believe the media, everyone of whom will be in their mid-to-late 70's.
Younger readers here, I'm not talking about you. But, if you can, get involved in the political process to replace these dinosaurs. I'll be hanging with the pterodactyls myself by then, since I'm in the same cohort.
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[Jan 31, 2018] As publication of GOP memo looms panic grips Washington
Notable quotes:
"... In imperial Rome when a plot against the emperor failed the plotters were expected to fall on their swords. It will be interesting to see whether the same holds true in Washington. ..."
Jan 31, 2018 | theduran.com
To which all I can is that all this comes ill from an agency and a newspaper which ever since the start of the Russiagate scandal have been leaking and publishing a deluge of classified material in order to discredit the President and his officials.
The New York Times article incidentally confirms that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is named in the GOP memorandum, and was one of the Justice Department officials who submitted applications for surveillance warrants to the FISA court which were based on material drawn from the Trump Dossier, but who apparently did not disclose to the FISA court that the material was drawn from the Trump Dossier, which was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The New York Times article also confirms that these FISA warrants were obtained in order to mount surveillance of Carter Page. Apparently Rosenstein was involved in an application to renew one of these warrants as recently as the spring of 2017 ie. after he was appointed Deputy Attorney General of the United States.
The New York Times article speaks of a last ditch attempt by Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray to stop publication of the GOP memorandum on Monday
Mr. Wray made a last-ditch effort on Monday, going to the White House with the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, to try to persuade the White House to stop the release of the memo. They spoke to John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, but were unsuccessful.
In the meantime hysteria amongst the Democrats and the media has been rising to panic levels, with preposterous claims that no less a person than Devin Nunes, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, has also been compromised by the Russians and is working on their behalf.
This bizarre exchange between MSNBC panelist John Heilemann and Democrat Senator Chris Murphy has to be seen to be believed
Heilemann : Is it possible that the Republican chairman of the House Intel Committee has been compromised by the Russians? Is it possible that we actually have a Russian agent running the House Intel Committee on the Republican side?
Murphy : I-I-I-I hope that's not the case. I certainly have no information to suggest that it is .
Heilemann : Doesn't his behavior speak of that, though? I mean, I'm not the first person who's raised this. He's behaving like someone who's been compromised, and there are people in the intelligence community and others with great expertise in this area who look at him and say, 'That guy's been compromised.
When I discussed all this yesterday I also predicted that in an effort to keep Russiagate alive the media would start churning out a non stop succession of 'non news' stories and red herrings.
We got a classic example of that yesterday with a story in the Guardian of yet another 'second Trump Dossier' which supposedly corroborates the actual Trump Dossier.
The Guardian article announcing the existence of this 'second Trump Dossier' – which incidentally is the first article by the Guardian to acknowledge the existence of the GOP memorandum – is clearly sourced from the FBI, and makes the following claims about it
... ... ...
Already – even before it is published – the GOP memorandum has inflicted its first casualty in the person of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whose resignation was confirmed on Monday. Apparently his name also appears in the GOP memorandum, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, after reading it on Sunday, demanded and got his resignation immediately.
The panic and hysteria in Washington as publication of the GOP memorandum looms suggests more casualties may follow.
In imperial Rome when a plot against the emperor failed the plotters were expected to fall on their swords. It will be interesting to see whether the same holds true in Washington.
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[Jan 31, 2018] Adam Schiff FISA Memo Could Lead To Firings Of Mueller, Rosenstein
Notable quotes:
"... "Public demand for Mueller and Rosenstein to be fired" The dems won't have to worry to much about that issue because 80% of the public isn't following this story at all and truly does not give a shit about any of it. ..."
"... I've said before no matter what is revealed it is not going to cause the kind of public outrage that many may expect it would or even should. Elements within the FBI being exposed as duplicitous, politically motivated, lying, anti democratic and working against the current president as elected by the people will be met with little more than passing apathy by the public at large. ..."
"... Adam Schiff: FISA Memo Could Lead To Firings Of Mueller, Rosenstein. My response: GOOD!!! Let justice be served!!!!! By the way, Q-ANON notes predict this outcome!!!! ..."
Jan 31, 2018 | www.zerohedge.com
Stocks are red. Trey Gowdy is abruptly retiring from Congress. Everybody is laughing at what looks like drool dribbling from the edge of Joe Kennedy's mouth during his rebuttal to last night's State of the Union.
And along comes Reuters, dropping a bombshell headline that, if accurate, could shift the narrative of the multiple investigations involving Russia and obstruction of justice.
Reuters quoted Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intel Committee, who believes the contents of the four-page memo about allegedly egregious FBI abuses of FISA set for public release in the next several days, could lead to the firing of Special Counsel Bob Mueller, or more likely Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein.
- TOP DEMOCRAT ON U.S. HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE SAYS REPUBLICAN MEMO SETS STAGE FOR POSSIBLE FIRING OF SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER OR MORE LIKELY DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL ROSENSTEIN
And:
- U.S. HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN NUNES SAYS "NO SURPRISE" TO SEE THE FBI AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ISSUE "SPURIOUS OBJECTIONS" TO REPUBLICAN MEMO -STATEMENT
Now the question of course is whether this is a statement of fact - in other words the FISA memo contains cause for termination - or a smoke screen to claim that Mueller's firing is only made possible by the "political act" that is the imminent release of the FISA memo.
* * *
In an amusing coincidence, Gowdy's remarks from a Tuesday morning appearance on Fox & Friends now seem eerily prophetic...https://www.youtube.com/embed/2eyJVyhrWRE
REP. TREY GOWDY (R-SC): My Democratic colleagues didn't want us to find this information. They did everything they could to keep us from finding this information. I think it will be embarrassing to Adam Schiff once people realize the extent to which he went to keep them from learning any of this. That would be the embarrassment...
I mean, going to court to help Fusion GPS so we can't find out they paid for the dossier, and that they were working for the DNC. That's a pretty big step to go to court to try to keep the American people from learning something. So, if it were up to Adam Schiff, you wouldn't know about Hillary Clinton's email. You wouldn't know about the server. You wouldn't know about the dossier. I do find it ironic that he has his own memo right now because if it were up to him, we wouldn't know any of it.
* * *
In response to the FBI's "rare public statement" claiming the contents of the memo distort the truth, House Intel Chairman Devin Nunes, Schiff's Republican counterpart and primary antagonist on the committee, has responded with his own statement dismissing the FBI's "spurious objections."
Sir Edge -> The Dreadnought Jan 31, 2018 3:13 PM PermalinkPure Evil -> The_Juggernaut Jan 31, 2018 3:23 PM Permalink(((Rosenstein)))... Will NOT be missed... Tick... Tock...
Shitonya Serfs -> Pure Evil Jan 31, 2018 3:31 PM PermalinkWait. No! Mueller' not finished yet not finding any Trump Russian collusion. Can't we give the guy more time to dangle at the end of his rope?
marcusfenix -> SWRichmond Jan 31, 2018 6:14 PM PermalinkTrump should just tweet today: Any low-/mid-level agent who comes forward in the next 24 hours, gets immunity; after that whoever gets caught in the churn goes to Leavenworth or firing squad.
Giant Meteor -> marcusfenix Jan 31, 2018 6:29 PM Permalink"Public demand for Mueller and Rosenstein to be fired" The dems won't have to worry to much about that issue because 80% of the public isn't following this story at all and truly does not give a shit about any of it.
I've said before no matter what is revealed it is not going to cause the kind of public outrage that many may expect it would or even should. Elements within the FBI being exposed as duplicitous, politically motivated, lying, anti democratic and working against the current president as elected by the people will be met with little more than passing apathy by the public at large.
You can see that happening already, at least I can, everyone I talk to, even those who voted for him and have been vocaly supportive since have no idea about any of this. Ask them about it and all you get are blank stares in return.
The majority of the the US populace has not been paying attention and they are not about to start now. The other group absolutely hates him so it's not going to matter to them if senior FBI agents were working against him or not, if the anti trump crowd gives any time to this drama it will be to nominate these agents for some kind of medal.
Of course the MSM will continue to do its job by downplaying, deflecting and distorting the issues this raises about the FBI as a whole, as will the FBI itself blaming a few rouge elements while accepting no responsibility and we will be right back to business as usual in no time.
So in short between large scale public apathy and disengagement in regards to this issue and trump along with a media machine that will take advantage of that I don't see the dems being all hurt by this bas they will just quietly disengage themselves and let the public memory hole the entire affair.
GUS100CORRINA -> Jim in MN Jan 31, 2018 4:47 PM Permalink"I've said before no matter what is revealed it is not going to cause the kind of public outrage that many may expect it would or even should."
Agreed. It is called multi generational conditioning .. direct correlation with the great dumbing down, bread, circuses and the like, or running in circles on the hamster wheel will do. 24/7 opinion op ed "news" , lightening fast "reporting" or mis-reporting in real time, and also the weekend newsie dump. That is why the same folks, usual suspects are able to pull the same tricks, over, and over, and over again ..
By the time the horse dejour is rode to death, kicked repeatedly when down .. and all the various players jockey for fame and their 2 minutes of talking points, the thing is so entirely convoluted, the larger balance of the entirely desensitized citzenry fails to even notice, or care. Look honey, they're kickin that dead horse again.
Adam Schiff: FISA Memo Could Lead To Firings Of Mueller, Rosenstein. My response: GOOD!!! Let justice be served!!!!! By the way, Q-ANON notes predict this outcome!!!!
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[Jan 31, 2018] Rep. Peter King says secret memo will show serious improper behavior
President Donald Trump has told aides he wants a memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools released as quickly as possible
Notable quotes:
"... Following the intelligence committee's vote, Trump has five days to approve the memo's release. Sources told CNN that the president hoped to see the document made public shortly after his State of the Union speech Tuesday evening. ..."
Jan 31, 2018 | www.yahoo.com
King, who is a member of the GOP-led House Intelligence Committee, filed a motion Monday to release the memo. The memo was compiled by the committee's chairman, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, and his staff. It reportedly details misconduct by the FBI and the Department of Justice in the investigation into alleged collusion between the Russian government and Trump's campaign during the 2016 election.
The committee approved King's motion over the objections of Democratic members...
Following the intelligence committee's vote, Trump has five days to approve the memo's release. Sources told CNN that the president hoped to see the document made public shortly after his State of the Union speech Tuesday evening. The Republican-led committee blocked the release of a competing memo compiled by its Democratic members.
Beyond The Pale, 16 hr ago
It doesn't matter which side it concerns or affects if it details "serious improper behavior at high levels" then it should be released and put out in the open. Let the truth be known and if criminal acts were committed they will receive appropriate judgment!
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