# News & Current Events > U.S. Political News >  Fraud Upon the FISA Court Confirmed

## goldenequity

continued from here: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...ia-and-the-FBI

=====================

*FRAUD upon the COURT* 

*Confirmation: DOJ and FBI Used “Steele Dossier” for Application To FISA Court for Search Authority on Trump Campaign…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com...n/#more-144424*

Don't miss it: This is a very concise and thorough article on HOW 
the *entire* system was 'played' (not JUST FISA) and what Nunes has discovered.




Sara Carter and Fox News are both confirming the DOJ and FBI used the Steele Dossier to get FISA-702 Data Surveillance Authority 
allowing them to spy on Trump campaign officials.

In the latest developments, as reported by Sara Carter and Fox News, 
*the DOJ and FBI used the sketchy ‘Steele Dossier’ as the foundation for their FISA application*.

(and they KNEW it was all bullshiit when they did it.. not just ONCE (it was denied by court) but *TWICE*.. dropping it in Obama's lap to PUSH it through FISA court. What's (so far) LOST in media/congressional reporting is not JUST the FBI's role... but the CIA's collusion as well. They *(CIA) were the GENESIS*.)




-------

*What you need to know:*

A warrant implies advanced judicial approval to begin surveillance and collecting emails and phone calls etc. 
 Like a traditional Title III DOJ / law enforcement search warrant. *But that’s not how FISA-702 works*.

The FISA database, run by the NSA hub, *already holds all the information*, all the emails, texts, phone calls etc. 
The information already exists in a database. There are two steps to access the database of information:

♦Step One is to *“Query” the database* for your subject.  
That search needs a factual legal reason to take place; *like an ongoing investigation*. (this is where the ABUSE happens. )  

That search then returns an outcome, a set of information based on the “query” parameters.  
If the user gets a positive response to the “query” then Yes, the database holds information related to what they are looking for.  Remember, *there has to be a preexisting investigation* to do the query.

♦Step Two is to *“Open” the data set*.  
*That’s the step that needs a “search warrant” to be legal.* 
That second step, the ‘looking at the information’ is where an approval from the FISA court is needed.  
The investigator must fill out a FISA application and go to the FISA Court for approval. 
In order to get a FISA Court approval the investigator must show a valid reason for the search.

*Example* (not real):

•Step One: The DOJ/FBI official puts “Jared Kushner” into the search query.  This generates a number of responses. Perhaps his emails, phone call logs, actual intercepted recordings of his calls, or text messages, etc. (everything the NSA hub captures “about” Jared Kushner). There has to be a valid investigative reason in this step.  An investigation of Jared Kushner must be underway.

•Step Two: The DOJ/FBI official then quarantines the returned information and applies to the FISA Court for permission to review it.  The FBI/DOJ official has to tell the court why they want to look, ie. the FISA application. The FISA court grants the application and gives the FBI/DOJ official the approval. The application must have a legal basis as presented to the court – similar to that needed for a search warrant.

In 2016 NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers noted there were numerous FISA-702(17) unauthorized “About Queries” being conducted by the intelligence community.  These are queries that did not have an underlying investigation to support their taking place.













What Americans don't know (and Media isn't saying)

►The 'Trump' Dossier Fraud is merely a *SAMPLE* of what goes on every day in the....

*'Fusion' Centers*

This 'about Query' scam is NOT 'shut down'... (as the article maintains)
in fact... it is the basis for the police state known as JTTF/FBI/FUSION CENTERS for reprisals and intimidation programs on americans.
George describes...

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## goldenequity

Understand this:
They want us to believe that 'money' launched the dossier.
Wrong.
The background was ALREADY created. Done.
THEN given to Steele/Fusion GPS to 'market'.

It wasn't 'commissioned'... it was simply *SOLD* (DNC was a 'duped' CUSTOMER)
Who better to 'blame' if the whole thing went South?

It's the criminal network operating at the helms of power in Government agencies protecting ITSELF...
THROWING false 'bread crumbs' out... like 'DNC,DNC,DNC'/'RUSSIA,RUSSIA,RUSSIA'/'HEZBOLLAH,HEZBOLLAH,HEZBOLLAH'
and STONEWALLING (meta data 'redactions') via the (current) Justice Department...
trying to keep the House Intel Committee and Senate Justice investigations
from drilling down to the core.

I believe Trump thinks it can all be taken care of 'internally' to keep the sheep 'calm'.
Over my dead body.

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## Jamesiv1

It's like everything the Trump haters have been doing since Day 1 is a mountain of total bullsh*t.

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## goldenequity

*Cassandra* 


Politico
*Sessions creates team to focus on Hezbollah financing and drugs
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...ah-team-336396*
(Hezbollah Hezbollah Hezbollah) (Obama Obama Obama)





This is (still) 'surface' reporting.
When will we get to 'what lies beneath?'
When?

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## goldenequity

*Uranium Ratline:* first domino


*George was way ahead of the curve on this one*.. 

October 21st, 2017 to be exact 
*@ 6:25* he FIRST mentions 'Lambert'




He literally 'dug' the name up by his own research... then did the background... 
tracked him down to a distillery he owns in Maryland, 
then visited and spoke w/ the guy and his wife a month ago and taped it...

*George predicted the guy might get thrown under the bus.*
Well...
He was. Today.


*Mark Lambert Indicted



https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/forme...elated-foreign
https://truepundit.com/feds-file-fir...ing-kickbacks/
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/ne...897cbf1d5.html*





This is what McCabe and Mueller & 'friends' always do and have ALWAYS done.. 
they throw an expendable, compromised underling under the bus to take the hit. 
(or use em/suicide em.. or 'lean' on them for 'donations' or 'votes' or 'favors' or name it.)

He's (of course) 'guilty'... but he HAS a 'story' to tell.
Will he be 'gag ordered' like Manafort by the court?
Will he 'plea' down the charges in exchange for SILENCE?

It's just another brick on a very full load and more bricks are coming.
There's simply too much to 'quash'. Fun times ahead.





Now.. because of all the incredible work done by the *crowdsourced* documentation.. (kudos to 911bodysnatchers.. she did all the transcriptions)
*It becomes SIMPLE* to 'catch up' (for you, for journalists, for lawyers, for Congressmen, anyone... to unravel the pieces)

If you want to explore this uranium ratline further via George... 
here is a link to all the hits on *'Lambert'* both vids and transcripts
https://www.reddit.com/r/TruthLeaks/...restrict_sr=on

Try *'Transportation Logistics'* for even more...
https://www.reddit.com/r/TruthLeaks/...elevance&t=all

and *'Tenex'*
https://www.reddit.com/r/TruthLeaks/...elevance&t=all

**You can use Cntrl 'F' to launch 'Find' and highlight where in the transcripts you find the word(s)

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## goldenequity

*George expanding/linking Cassandra with Uranium One...* 
(pushing out the connections to Session's task force team.. they don't miss an episode either.  )





*'Q' sez 'Hi'/Shout Out to George* (that's better than a Pulitzer  )

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## goldenequity

> Understand this:
> They want us to believe that 'money' launched the dossier.
> Wrong.
> *The background was ALREADY created. Done.*
> THEN given to Steele/Fusion GPS to 'market'.
> 
> It wasn't 'commissioned'... it was simply *SOLD* (DNC was a 'duped' CUSTOMER)
> Who better to 'blame' if the whole thing went South?
> 
> ...


George wants the core. 



*TRUE GENISIS*


George continues to trace the CIA initiated 'footsteps' that ended up being 'packaged' and 'sold' as the 'the dossier'...

*Smoking Gun* (if this doc is authenticated)
With a newly disclosed GCHQ document corroborating the contact meetings between
US CIA Director *John Brennan* and UK/GCHQ Director*Robert Hannigan*



George fits together the timeline sequences of what then transpired consequent to that meeting.




Pay attention to Susan Rice footage. This is her/CIA covering their ass... and Nunes KNOWS it.
This is them USING the 'Foreign Intelligence loophole' by employing the UK GS4 operatives on US soil...
to 'legalize' the domestic surveillance on Trump et al *LONG* before the FISA actions.





==========

Congressman Ron DeSantis Discusses Request To Ryan For Declassification of Dossier Documents…




Watch it. You can see how far behind the curve the 'public' is (still) being mushroomed and slow footed.
Amazing ain't it.

=========

This is a pretty good write-up published today
*#FusionCollusion – Congress Takes 3-Prong Approach To Surround Corrupt Intelligence and Justice Officials…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com...s/#more-144547*

excellent summation of the dossier 'published parts'...
but
it's still only half the story and half the players.

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## goldenequity

*Uranium One*
more Uranium One breadcrumbs from George....





Beyond Mark Lambert.... 
Is *Pavel Kroupnik* the next Uranium One domino? (to get to Meuller, McCabe, Rosenstein, Comey)
(Pavel Kroupnik runs US Enrichment Corp.) (Lambert married Roman Kroupnik's daughter)







*Nellie & Uranium?*
Did Nellie Ohr have an Iridium Phone?




Is the Uranium ratline now using *Spacex* (Iridium) *Payloads* to install their *own* (independent) Global Transport Tracking System? 
(duplicating/replacing/obviating the 'need' for smuggling by using the US Naval Intelligence system)
By using the Aireon payloads, *Harris* (another CIA cutout company) created the *Exact View RT system* (to monitor/catalog Air & Sea traffic)



*Unraveling The Ratline as a Business*


*How to 'Optimize' The Five Fingers of Uranium - HEU, EU, LEU, DU, W* 








*Congressional CYA: "I Was Mis-Led!"*

Since 'exposed'...  the yellow cake operations were quickly suicided.. aka Trucking and Ore Reduction
and now comes the mad scramble in Western States Political Circles (Co-Conspirators)
to claim 'innocence'.

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## goldenequity



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## TER

> This is how it will break down. There will be calls from McCain and others that the sacred offices of the  FBI & DOJ must be spared from the public outcry. In other words, don't expect any memo. 
> 
> I wish some renegade HoR member would release it illegally, just for amusement.


The President has the authority to declassify it.  That is the trump card in his hand.

This memo will be released, and the world will see who the criminals are and where the real collusion is.

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## phill4paul

> The President has the authority to declassify it.  That is the trump card in his hand.
> 
> This memo will be released, and the world will see who the criminals are and where the real collusion is.


  Why hasn't it been?

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## Swordsmyth

> Of course we remain reliant upon God.  That goes without saying.
> 
> I think we shall see some big things happening in the VERY near future.  Be optimistic!  The satanist are on the run!  The pedophiles are now the prey!  The swamp has already started to be drained... build the case, get all the ducks in the row, and then round them up.  This is a war and requires strategy and timing.
> 
>  By the end of this year, the swamp will be drained significantly.  For this we should praise God.


I want you to be correct but nothing ever happened about the Roy Moore voter fraud that was supposed to be some kind of trap set by Sessions.

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## TER

> Why hasn't it been?


He is against an entire machine, with the weight of trillions of dollars behind it and the entire mainstream media and online social website industrial complexes (twitter, Facebook) against him.

It has to come out because of the outcry of the people.  By the representatives of the people.  By the House intelligence Committee. That is the most effective way and must be first attempted because the fallout will be huge.

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## TER

> I want you to be correct but nothing ever happened about the Roy Moore voter fraud that was supposed to be some kind of trap set by Sessions.


Don’t be so sure.  The DHS is now involved.  They don’t need to get the State’s permission to get the voter data.

This is all going to plan.  It will play out in the coming months as we approach the midterms...

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## Gaddafi Duck

> Why hasn't it been?


Because Trump is incredibly shrewd. I know people like to think they're smarter than him, but he's an incredibly sharp individual. If I were in his shoes, I would have declassified and dumped all of this months ago--however, he's playing it much better. He's having a "hands-off" approach to this. That way his critics cannot have anything to point to him ceasing the investigation into him. He knows he cannot directly fire Mueller without that starting impeachment proceedings. So, he's having Congress do the work for him. Methodically, the truth is coming out and is grinding away at the Democrats' narrative. Memos are coming out gradually that are neutering the Mueller investigation.

Many people ridicule Jeff Sessions for his impotence. I differ. I think he's behind the scenes disarming the Deep State. He made the mistake by hastily recusing himself, but perhaps in the long-run it was for the best. 

I've always thought Trump was either incredibly smart or incredibly lucky because many things seem to break his way. Remember, this guy not only beat Hillary Clinton with Obama spying on his campaign, but he bested 16 or 17 other of the top Republicans in the primaries with the RNC rigging it. I think he's very shrewd---I think it's waaaay too coincidental that Rosenstein appointed Mueller, and based on the talk around this FISA memo, Rosenstein will be fired (and may go to jail), and based on the IG report about Uranium One, Mueller will be implicated. This story is way too perfect to be coincidental---I have to think Trump is having a hand in all of this behind the scenes with Jeff Sessions. 

The brilliance of Trump is that he keeps his opponents from getting their footing and keeps them guessing. To everyone else, he seems volatile and changes his mind every 2 minutes when in reality he doesn't. He just makes you THINK he does. So you spend more time thinking about his position than yours. Time after time his opponents fall into this trap. And people refuse to give him credit because to them it's insulting to think he is that smart...and yet, he's the President of the United States. That's not easy to do given he was accused of everything under the sun and STILL won.

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## TER

> Because Trump is incredibly shrewd. I know people like to think they're smarter than him, but he's an incredibly sharp individual. If I were in his shoes, I would have declassified and dumped all of this months ago--however, he's playing it much better. He's having a "hands-off" approach to this. That way his critics cannot have anything to point to him ceasing the investigation into him. He knows he cannot directly fire Mueller without that starting impeachment proceedings. So, he's having Congress do the work for him. Methodically, the truth is coming out and is grinding away at the Democrats' narrative. Memos are coming out gradually that are neutering the Mueller investigation.
> 
> Many people ridicule Jeff Sessions for his impotence. I differ. I think he's behind the scenes disarming the Deep State. He made the mistake by hastily recusing himself, but perhaps in the long-run it was for the best. 
> 
> I've always thought Trump was either incredibly smart or incredibly lucky because many things seem to break his way. Remember, this guy not only beat Hillary Clinton with Obama spying on his campaign, but he bested 16 or 17 other of the top Republicans in the primaries with the RNC rigging it. I think he's very shrewd---I think it's waaaay too coincidental that Rosenstein appointed Mueller, and based on the talk around this FISA memo, Rosenstein will be fired, and based on the IG report about Uranium One, Mueller will be implicated. This story is way too perfect to be coincidental---I have to think Trump is having a hand in all of this behind the scenes with Jeff Sessions.


Very observant.

And Mueller has been promised a pardon and is playing ball now for the white hats.

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## dannno

> The swamp has already started to be drained... build the case, get all the ducks in the row, and then round them up.  This is a war and requires strategy and timing.


But Trump said he would drain the swamp on the first day in office!!




(Actually, no he didn't)

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## Gaddafi Duck

> Don’t be so sure.  The DHS is now involved.  They don’t need to get the State’s permission to get the voter data.
> 
> This is all going to plan.  It will play out in the coming months as we approach the midterms...


Yep, I think DACA was punted to 2018 to put pressure on RINOs and make the primaries about immigration. It then makes Democrats look ridiculous they want amnesty for illegals to appease their Leftist base. There won't be a DACA deal, which will encourage even further Leftist Democrats to run, which won't win in a 2018 general vs. a Republican.

Also, I think drawing out the misery in the scandals Congress/IG is looking into is going to be a cold shower on Democrats. They're very arrogant at the moment, and I think 2018 may go completely the other direction from what people are anticipating.

----------


## TER



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## TER

> Yep, I think DACA was punted to 2018 to put pressure on RINOs and make the primaries about immigration. It then makes Democrats look ridiculous they want amnesty for illegals to appease their Leftist base. There won't be a DACA deal, which will encourage even further Leftist Democrats to run, which won't win in a 2018 general vs. a Republican.
> 
> Also, I think drawing out the misery in the scandals Congress/IG is looking into is going to be a cold shower on Democrats. They're very arrogant at the moment, and I think 2018 may go completely the other direction from what people are anticipating.


I am anticipating a GOP landslide in November.  The democrats are leaderless, have lost any meaningful focus as a party, have pitted themselves against the blue collared workers and whites in general, and will be crippled by the scandals which will be revealed in full in the course of this year.  

I don’t think we see a Democrat majority in the House for a long time...

----------


## TER

Also, the most corrupt politicians from both sides have lost their funding from the Saudis.  The fake resistance parties like Antifa have also lost significant funding (bye bye Soros).  The Rothschilds are on the run.  The puppet strings are being cut and that is why a record amount are not seeking re election or being forced out because of “sexual misconduct” (read: we have the goods on you, go out with sexual misconduct or we will expose your more serious sins (treason) to the world).

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## TER

http://thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01/...ive-fisa-memo/

*BREAKING=> It’s Official! Ten GOP Lawmakers Petition Chairman Nunes to Release Classified and Explosive FISA Memo #ReleaseTheMemo*

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## timosman

..

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## Valli6

If this is really so bad, why didn't they release it before voting to reauthorize FISA?

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## TER

What do you mean?

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## goldenequity

> If this is really so bad, why didn't they release it before voting to reauthorize FISA?


That of course is a great question... we can only guess.
Most of us will guess the same thing. 

What may still be interesting to watch:
Trump STILL has to sign the extension into law... and
I think he will... but
the timing of the memo release (if very soon)
will cause the eyes and minds of the Nation (and select anti 702 voices)
to turn directly to and challenge Truimp to NOT sign it.
That would be fun.

==========

too late..

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## FSP-Rebel



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## TER



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## TER

> *FBI Mysteriously Loses Five Months of Text Messages Between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page
> https://theconservativetreehouse.com...and-lisa-page/
> http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/21/fb...i-trump-texts/*
> 
> 
> 
> a disclosure by top FBI officials that text messages between Strzok and Page have gone missing.
> 
> According to information relayed to Senator Ron Johnson, the period of time the FBI has lost 
> ...


Nothing is ever truly deleted/erased

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## goldenequity

> *FBI Mysteriously “Loses” Five Months of Text Messages Between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page…
> https://theconservativetreehouse.com...and-lisa-page/
> http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/21/fb...i-trump-texts/*

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## Zippyjuan

> 


Except they aren't releasing the memo.  WikiLeaks is offering $1 million for a copy (what, their hackers aren't good enough to get one?)  

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/954185054430924801

It is real- they just don't want people to see what it actually says- might be different from what they claim it does. (though Republicans also wrote the memo- including Nunes). 




> Even the most plugged-in news consumer could be forgiven for thinking the classified memo is *an executive branch document that exposes wrongdoing within the Justice Department and the FBI. It isnt.* 
> 
> The document, which alleges abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the FBIs quiet counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign in the final months of the 2016 election, was actually compiled by Republican staffers on the House Intelligence Committee. That committee voted along partisan lines this week to allow any member of Congress to take a peek at the document themselves. Republican members soon flocked to a secure room to read the memo *written by their allies*  and then ran to tell the press about it.





> Is there actually a new bombshell in the report? Its possible. But the motives and track records of the Republican lawmakers behind the media blitz surrounding the memo suggest there may be less to it than they claim.
> 
> Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who chairs the committee that cooked up the document, had been the public face of the GOP push to undermine the Mueller probe, although hed taken a backseat as of late. *Last year, Nunes was involved in an embarrassing episode in which he briefed President Trump on information he received from a source he wouldnt name. It later turned out hed met that person on White House grounds*.

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## TER

How about this Zippy.

If they don’t release the memo in the next two months, I will never post on this site again.

If they do release the memo in the next two months, you will never post on this site again.

Deal?

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## TER

Uh, Zippy, would you like to shake on it?

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## Zippyjuan

> Uh, Zippy, would you like to shake on it?


Politicians are too darned unpredictable to be worth betting on.  Who would have thought that Nixon would go to China?  Or that Trump would, well, have dinner with China?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b01d91b25446b5




> Some conservatives have urged caution, worrying that Republicans are *overhyping a secret document*. Republicans “should not oversell” the report, conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt wrote. Over at the conservative blog Hot Air, Ed Morrissey wondered if it was* a “set-up for a let-down.”* He argued the memo should be released, but warned conservatives to “not go all-in on it until we have a chance to see it for ourselves. In the meantime,* remember that most things that seem too good to be true usually are.*”

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## TER

> Politicians are too darned unpredictable to be worth betting on.  Who would have thought that Nixon would go to China?  Or that Trump would, well, have dinner with China?


Please enlighten us as to why you are here.

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## goldenequity

What you (really) need to understand...
is that the continuing 'obstruction' within agency circles, intelligence circles and DOJ...
is *not* about 'partisanship' or 'trump revenge' syndrome.

Sure. They were all pro-Hillary/anti-Trump... *but WHY???*
Because of some progressive ethic or liberal ethos?
Don't make me laugh. They didn't & don't give a rat's ass.

We know EXACTLY why... and we know (more) of 'what' they are (still) *trying to 'protect'*.
It sure as HELL isn't the 'democratic ideals' of the Obama admin, Chuck Schumer or Adam Schiff.

*It's a crime enterprise.* 
It's theft at it's very root.
and (I'm convinced/starting to understand) the TAP root is Uranium.
The theft and piracy in that single element FAR transcends 'Uranium One' by decades.

It's the perfect commodity... radioactive gold. 
A quarter pound of simple 'LOW enriched' is $8M. 
'Highly' enriched is much, much more.

Best of all....
You have to have 'color of law' to even go NEAR it... never mind 'lead suits' hahaha.
It's perfect.

What if someone were to tell you..
that the '20% to Russia' Uranium One 'deal' was being done to try and BACKFILL
Uranium LONG since stolen..... 
to 'quietly' try and REPLACE missing stock piles of uranium...

Ha! It gives an entirely new meaning to the word 'depleted' uranium.

*But wait! There's More!* 

Put a small chunk 'on top' and transport it. To/From US ports.
What could you (also) put 'underneath' it?
*ans:* ANYTHING that would fit.
See where we're going with this????

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## timosman

> What you (really) need to understand...
> is that the continuing 'obstruction' within agency circles, intelligence circles and DOJ...
> is *not* about 'partisanship' or 'trump revenge' syndrome.
> 
> Sure. They were all pro-Hillary/anti-Trump... *but WHY???*
> Because of some progressive ethic or liberal ethos?
> Don't make me laugh. They didn't & don't give a rat's ass.
> 
> We know EXACTLY why... and we know (more) of 'what' they are (still) *trying to 'protect'*.
> ...



You have to admit these whores are cheap. I wonder if they use it in their defense - well, we $#@!ed up the entire country many times over, but we only got a few millions for ourselves out of it. Are you still mad?

----------


## goldenequity

> You have to admit these whores are cheap. I wonder if they use it in their defense - well, we $#@!ed up the entire country many times over, but we only got a few millions for ourselves out of it. Are you still mad?


hahaha... yes. we're VERY mad. 
and don't get this wrong... I'm only talking about a 'tap root'... all the other 'roots' and entrepreneurial spin offs are still there... 'secrets', sex, drugs, weapons etc. etc.
The 'whole thing' is what's at stake for these parasites... and yes Virginia, that includes sloppy steve.

----------


## goldenequity

> *But wait! There's More!* 
> 
> Put a small chunk 'on top' and transport it. To/From US ports.
> What could you (also) put 'underneath' it?
> *ans:* ANYTHING that would fit.
> See where we're going with this????

----------


## goldenequity

*Question:* Guess who the World's top producer of Uranium is?




January 16, 2017
*Trump welcomes Kazakhstan president to White House
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-...o-white-house/*




(*Kazakhstan* climbed to the top position on the uranium production ranking in 2009 with almost 28% of the total world’s output, 
then 33% in 2010, 
rising to *41%* in 2014)

========


Jan. 10, 2017
World’s top uranium producer Kazakhstan *to cut output by 10%*
http://www.mining.com/worlds-top-ura...-output-by-10/
(they're not stupid...)

WAPO
August 29, 2017
*A uranium bank just opened in Kazakhstan
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.657277a65d7d*



The International Atomic Energy Agency’s low-enriched uranium bank, opened Tuesday in Kazakhstan.

The Washington-based non-profit provided the initial funding for the bank 
courtesy of a $50 million investment from American billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

The agency, which will run the “bank” independently of any country, (oh.. thank goodness!  )
will *purchase and store*..... 
(U235)*low-enriched uranium, fuel for civilian reactors* 
but not an ingredient for nuclear weapons. (ya just gotta spin it up to U238  )



Think 'gold' instead of Uranium.

----------


## goldenequity

*Did you KNOW:* You can 'reverse' HIGHLY back to LOW?

It's called 'down blending'.

*Why* would you do that?

Same reason you would 'cut' PURE Heroin with lactose or powdered sugar....
it creates *MORE* of it to sell.

*Uranium Christmas*

1991: When the Soviet Union was being sold off by the pound... 
Russian oligarchs were being created over night.
Should I fill in the blanks 4 you?
U238/HIGHLY was being moved around the globe like candy.


==========

►Guess which *agency* is tasked with *all* Uranium 'security' in the US? (since 1992 +/-)

The FBI  (hello Bob, Andy)

►Guess who is tasked with monitoring the 'transport' of all US Uranium worldwide?

NASA

►Guess who is the biggest 'customer' (by far) in the United States for Uranium?

Navy

►Guess where the 'creation' of the CIA came from?

Naval Intelligence (hello steve)

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## Swordsmyth

> *FBI Mysteriously Loses Five Months of Text Messages Between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page
> https://theconservativetreehouse.com...and-lisa-page/
> http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/21/fb...i-trump-texts/*
> 
> 
> 
> a disclosure by top FBI officials that text messages between Strzok and Page have gone missing.
> 
> According to information relayed to Senator Ron Johnson, the period of time the FBI has lost 
> ...


*FBI Says 5 Months Of Texts "Lost," Yet IG Horowitz Says His Office Received Them In August*https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-22/whos-lying-fbi-says-5-months-texts-lost-yet-ig-horowitz-says-his-office-received

----------


## enhanced_deficit

Is this same material that is supposedly in the explosive memo that is not being released to public? 

If so, as noted elsewhere this could be potentially very good news for Trump and respected WH advisor Jared Kushner as this could negate the very basis of witchhunt "Russia gate" scandal.


Quote:
If the claims being made about this memo are factual, that could undermine the very basis for Mueller investigation ?

IF that turned out to be the case, then all the secondary gates/scandals linked to/stemmed from original "Russia gate" (such as Israel-Flynn gate,  Bannon claimed Kushner money laundering gate, latest Peggy Peterson-Michael Cohen gate etc) would also become moot?

This would be huge news if  confirmed.

----------


## goldenequity

With the above background in mind.. we can (also) turn attention to this...



*Gulftainer - Port Canaveral*  (A 'greased' 35 year no-bid no-vetting lease on American soil to... you won't believe it.  )



Published on Jan 18, 2018






►https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy....r_12-23-16.pdf



==================

►http://www.breitbart.com/national-se...ort-canaveral/
►https://www.1776channel.com/2017/11/...sile-exporter/
►http://www.themaritimestandard.com/g...siness-summit/
►https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2006/2/17/187920/-
►http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS...port.security/
►https://www.thebusinessyear.com/shar...ters/interview
►https://www.menaherald.com/en/money/...s-supply-chain
►https://alsharqi.co/sharjah-business-summit-2017/
►https://www.realclearpolitics.com/vi..._one_deal.html
►►►http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/24/po...-uranium-deal/
►https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2...-can-detect-m/
►https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_R...ilroad_map.png
►►►http://theamericanreport.org/2016/09...mb-mastermind/
►http://www.sharjahupdate.com/tag/gulftainer/
►https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g...90L06020130122

***Credit:* Zeeda Andrews For this Research.

----------


## AuH20



----------


## AuH20

Hmmmm.




> In the meantime, some Republican senators are curious about the memo’s contents.
> 
> *Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made an effort to gain access to the memo, but was rejected, his spokesman, Sergio Gor, confirmed to the Washington Examiner on Saturday.*

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Hmmmm.


Source?

it sounds like they know he will see to it that it gets out one way or another and they want to keep that power.

----------


## goldenequity

thanx to    @DamianTV for the heads up...

FOX has scrubbed the source material for the *OP* (Sara Carter piece as well)
*
Here is the source article:* (see 4 yourself  )

The critical importance of Sarah''s piece as well as the FOX video interviewing Sarah...
was laying out how the 'about query' scam was (and IS) being run.

That is a VITAL understanding... not for the dossier (only)..
but exactly HOW agents and agencies are and have been using it 
to set up 'color of law' sting operations on deep state targets across the country
using the Fusion centers and JTTF.

----------


## Swordsmyth

*DOJ Begins Probe Of 'Missing' Anti-Trump FBI Texts, "Will Leave No Stone Unturned"*https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-22/doj-begins-probe-missing-fbi-texts-will-leave-no-stone-unturned

----------


## goldenequity

another 'slight' check on executive power is now gone....
*
House Spending Bill Changes Law to Let Trump Administration Secretly Shift Intelligence Money
https://theintercept.com/2018/01/17/...ligence-money/*

----------


## FSP-Rebel



----------


## AZJoe

*Rand Paul Petition:*

Last week, just after Congress passed its phony FISA reform bill  that really gave MORE power to our spying government  a bombshell dropped.  there were massive abuses of the FISA program.  and there is vital evidence of this currently in the House Intelligence Committee.

You, me and all of the American people deserve to find out whats in these memos detailing the abuses by the FBI, Department of Justice and others, exposing countless Americans to warrantless searches and other violations. 

Congress needs to hear from YOU today. Please join the RELEASE THE MEMO movement today, and let Congress know they cant keep secret what your government has been doing to innocent Americans.
Add Your Name

Theyre so worried about whats in these documents they wont even let ME  a sitting US Senator with clearance  see them. 

We know they unmasked Americans citizens. We know they listened in to political campaigns. We know theyre now claiming theyre Missing all sorts of text messages and documents showing their bias and outrageous actions. 
Lets force them to RELEASE THE MEMO ..
Add Your Name


*ACLJ Petition:*

the deep state has been willing to violate federal law.  Now a new bombshell memo is sending shockwaves through Capitol Hill  a four-page memo in the House Intelligence Committee details unthinkable FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) abuses 
Nearly every Member of Congress who has seen this report has been remarkably shocked.   The American people must see this document. We deserve the truth.  call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask for your Member of Congress, and urge them to release the document today.

----------


## goldenequity

I haven't found the 99 page document yet by FISA Judge Rudy Contreras... 
not sure if this accompanied his recusal from the Flynn case? I want to read it.
Please post if you find it.




*BACKGROUND*

----------


## goldenequity

George gets a call....

----------


## timosman

Gowdy says it ain't so, showing his true colors:

----------


## goldenequity

Thanks 4 posting this Timo.
It's clear Gowdy has sold out by defending the 'institution' (no matter what)
This interview is laughable (though I enjoyed the end)

In the first MINUTE it's an OBVIOUS lie.
He's establishing the narrative that out of 30,000 men and women
with their daily 'hands' on that much POWER
only 5 FIVE!.... no.. make that 2 TWO! are corrupted????
USA! USA! USA! 

He is coating the 'system' with so much 'butter'
... like we're all supposed to IGNORE that fact
that the BREAD really DOES have MOLD on it.
I consider him a very sincere but very CONFUSED individual.

I could go into a whole discourse on Judgement vs Mercy...
it's EXACTLY where and what is 'troubling' Trey Gowdy.

Sooner or Later we will get to what lies 'beneath' the dossier.
The operation was ALREADY in play LONG before Christopher Steele/Simpson/Fusion GPS.
It was (as we know) not the FBI (alone).

remember: It wasn't MONEY, the DNC nor McCain that 'launched' what became the 'dossier'.
They were 'customers'.... they BOUGHT it; they didn't COMMISSION it.
*THAT* lie continues to be regurgitated by ALL media (including FOX).
It's being used as 'cover' for what lies beneath.

It was Brennan, US/CIA and UK/GCHQ/G4S 
who were ALREADY busy doing clandestine surveillance on American soil trying to get 'dirt'
and organize the entrapment/sting. 
Papadapolous was THEIR man.

We KNOW they each REGULARLY hand off TERABYTES 
of bulk, domestic Vault 7/Snowden type 'data collection' 
to each other (to skirt each others 'domestic' spying laws)
to then be taken apart and analyzed 'offshore', condensed/assembled
and then 'onshored' as useable 'reports'.

Look Ma... NO FISA!

McCabe is Brennan's protege.. he's been an inside man for the CIA throughout his career.
He's corrupt as HELL covered in blood and dirt.
*We lay Lavoy Finicum's body at your feet Andy.* 

I can't WAIT till we get past the 'political weaponization' angle...
The continual focus on 'HOW' and 'WHAT' they did...
and never touching on the 'WHY' (Uranium/Greed/ratlines/Clinton Foundation etc.)
We'll get there.

----------


## Jan2017

It is significant - if true - that the very first FISA warrant application was rejected 
without some DNC/Clinton manufactured false affidavit to push it through as insurance for the election outcome,
done by an FBI director !



from about 0:23 mark on ...



> "dangerous precedent that's been established by the FBI.
> James Comey and the FBI attempted to get a FISA warrant in the summer of 2016. They were not successful. 
> They then moved in October by adding to their request the Steele dossier. Then they get a FISA warrant.
> Then it was renewed a day before the inauguration and then renewed subsequently again."


Comey tweets about "weasels and liars" on Friday . . .

----------


## goldenequity

> *It is significant* - if true - that the very first FISA warrant application was rejected 
> without some DNC/Clinton manufactured false affidavit to push it through as insurance for the election outcome,
> done by an FBI director !


Yes it is. *AND* via *Alexandra Chalupa* incident we know it was PURPOSELY 'dropped' into Obama's lap 
(who then no longer could claim 'clean hands'/no 'knowledge') to gain/manufacture further 'credibility' 
to FURTHER 'pressure' the FISA court on it's re-submission.

----------


## seapilot

> Thanks 4 posting this Timo.
> It's clear Gowdy has sold out by defending the 'institution' (no matter what)
> This interview is laughable (though I enjoyed the end)
> 
> In the first MINUTE it's an OBVIOUS lie.
> He's establishing the narrative that out of 30,000 men and women
> with their daily 'hands' on that much POWER
> only 5 FIVE!.... no.. make that 2 TWO! are corrupted????
> USA! USA! USA! 
> ...


Interesting that Gowdy is not seeking reelection. Maybe he is smart enough to understand its time to jump off a sinking ship.

----------


## dannno

> Interesting that Gowdy is not seeking reelection. Maybe he is smart enough to understand its time to jump off a sinking ship.


He is self-draining.

----------


## Madison320

> Things are about to get real bad for Democrats.
> 
> I will be increasing my bet that Republicans hold the house in 2018.


If interest rates keep rising and the Dow keeps sinking we're going to get QE4 and $10 a gallon gas. Nobody will remember this memo.

----------


## goldenequity

It's like he's reading our thread.. hahaha

I can't think of a better emphasis on just what's been said on this very page.
The 'collusion' coverup and ABUSE by the intelligence agencies and law enforcement/justice.

Here you can watch in one setting 
both 
Director Mueller (FBI) and Director Clapper (DNI) 
playing cat and mouse with oversight questioning.





(The first part of the video concerns George's 4 lawsuits that he's doing in his 'spare' time. hahaha
I don't discuss them on this thread... yet. Let's see if he can get standing first.
Interestingly... It's going to be Judge Contreras that hears the lawsuit(s).
Ring any bells???)

----------


## Brian4Liberty

> Interesting that Gowdy is not seeking reelection. Maybe he is smart enough to understand its time to jump off a sinking ship.


He is looking for his next job, and he wants to make it perfectly clear that he stands with the establishment and the system.

----------


## Cleaner44

> If interest rates keep rising and the Dow keeps sinking we're going to get QE4 and $10 a gallon gas. Nobody will remember this memo.


True. By the same token if more people are getting raises and doing well financially, nobody will care about anything that Democrats whine about.

----------


## Schifference

> He is looking for his next job, and he wants to make it perfectly clear that he stands with the establishment and the system.


I would think his time and publicity gained from his time in Congress will bolster his private sector demand.

----------


## seapilot

> He is looking for his next job, and he wants to make it perfectly clear that he stands with the establishment and the system.


Here is something interesting to note about Gowdy leaving. He is THE ONLY PERSON that was allowed on the Republican side to see the FISA warrants in question that were written in the memo. He understands the implications.

 He also said that this would not harm the Mueller investigation.  Why would he say that? My guess is he does not want to be the one that gets blamed for lighting the fuse.

----------


## Jan2017

> He is THE ONLY PERSON that was allowed on the Republican side to see the FISA warrants in question 
> that were written in the memo. He understands the implications.
> 
>  He also said that this would not harm the Mueller investigation.  Why would he say that?
>  My guess is he does not want to be the one that gets blamed for lighting the fuse.


Fuse lit . . . about to clear the tower.

----------


## goldenequity

George (imo) has *not* yet read *the article outing/proving Carter Page as an FBI operative in 2013*....

and yet
he posts a completely on TARGET vid this morning discussing EXACTLY that. Amazing. amazing.
behold:

----------


## goldenequity

*Senior Executive Service* (SES) (just say Stazi... it's easier.)



more great info for the white hats.....
as George performs a 'spinal tap' on a 10,000 strong centerpiece of the 'swamp'.




*
Senior Executive Service (SES)*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior...ited_States%29





You might have to replay this several times in order to fathom exactly the magnitude of what he is describing here.

This is a program of 'political appointees' simply INSERTED at the TOP of gov't orgs in cities across the country.
(actually the world.. the 2nd logo above is the Foreign Service SES)

Exactly like the Executive branch/State Department's appointee pay-to-play 'ambassadors' system....
except
this is a *DOMESTIC* 'internal' chain of command of political appointees....
owing 'allegiance' to their 'benefactors'... but on government payroll w/ $200,000 salaries.
Hillary 'grew' the program from 1,000 to 10,000.

So think 'ambassadors'. Centralized. Immediately 'in charge' of 'local' operations. 10,000 'cells'.

*The question then is:* Ambassadors for WHOM/WHAT?


Like Geo says: This was/is a very, very BAD idea.

----------


## Schifference



----------


## goldenequity

*"You're not serious... not possible!!"*

----------


## Swordsmyth

On Friday, Judge Emmet Sullivan issued an order in _United States v. Flynn_ that,  while widely unnoticed, reveals something fascinating: A motion by  Michael Flynn to withdraw his guilty plea based on government misconduct  is likely in the works.
 Just a week ago, and thus before Sullivan quietly directed Special  Counsel Robert Mueller’s team to provide Flynn’s attorneys “any  exculpatory evidence,” Washington Examiner columnist Byron York detailed the oddities of Flynn’s case. The next day, former assistant U.S. attorney and _National Review_ contributing editor Andrew McCarthy connected more of the questionable dots. York added even more details  a couple of days later. Together these articles provide the backdrop  necessary to understand the significance of Sullivan’s order on Friday.


*Why Bombshells Are Likely Ahead* With  a protective order in place, Flynn’s attorneys should start receiving  the required disclosures from the special counsel’s office. There is  reason to believe these will include some bombshells.
 First, we know from the recently released GOP House Intelligence  Committee memo and the Grassley-Graham criminal referral of Christopher  Steele, the FBI and DOJ withheld significant (and material, in my view)  information in seeking a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)  warrant to conduct surveillance on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page.  There is cause  to believe the FISA court was connected to the criminal charge filed  against Flynn because Contreras, who recused less than a week after  accepting Flynn’s guilty plea, “is one of just three FISA court judges  who sits in the District of Columbia, where it is likely the  Trump-Russia FISA warrants were sought.”
 Was other evidence withheld, either from the FISA court or from  Flynn’s attorneys in negotiating a plea? Again, there is reason to  believe so, given the players involved and the facts already uncovered.
 Remember, the special counsel charged Flynn with lying to FBI agents  on January 24. While the charge did not identify the FBI agents  involved, we know that Peter Strzok conducted the January interview that  eventually led to the criminal case against Flynn. Strzok formed a part  of Mueller’s team until he was removed following the discovery of  hostile text messages concerning Trump, including a planned “insurance  policy” should Trump win the White House.
 Obama  political holdover Sally Yates’ involvement in the case raises  additional concerns. While Strzok and Mueller initially indicated they  believed Flynn had been truthful, Yates, while serving as acting  attorney general, had directed Strzok to interview Flynn and had pushed  for charges against Flynn under the Logan Act. Another member of  Mueller’s team, Andrew Weissmann, is likewise suspect given his praise for Yates’ refusal to defend Trump’s travel ban. Weissmann remains a part of the special counsel’s team, notwithstanding calls for his ouster.
 Mueller must now provide Flynn all exculpatory evidence:  Significantly, if the information is favorable to Flynn but the special  counsel’s office believes it is immaterial, government attorneys must  nonetheless provide the evidence to Sullivan to allow him to make the  call. In other words, Mueller’s team cannot unilaterally decide what  evidence matters, as the Department of Justice did in applying to the  FISA court for a surveillance warrant on Page while withholding the key  fact that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee paid for  information crucial to the application.
*This Whole Thing Could Bring further Abuse to Light* No one knows yet what the evidence will show. However, there are  enough shady characters involved to believe there will be something of  significance. Then what?
 Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor and author of “Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice,” writes  that Flynn should withdraw his guilty plea and suggests that Sullivan,  as “the country’s premier jurist experienced in the abuses of our  Department of Justice, . . . is the best person to confront the  egregious government misconduct that has led to and been perpetrated by  the Mueller-Weissmann ‘investigation’ and to right the injustices that  have arisen from it.”
 Friday’s  order suggests Sullivan is ready to do just that. That order consisted  of an updated standing order detailing the government’s obligations  under _Brady_. On the surface, Friday’s order seems  inconsequential, but in comparing the December 12, 2017, version to the  February 16, 2018, version, one substantive change stood out.
 It was subtle, but significant given the posture of this case: The  revised version added one sentence specifying that the government’s  obligation to produce evidence material either to the defendant’s guilt  or punishment “includes producing, during plea negotiations, any  exculpatory evidence in the government’s possession.”

More at: http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/19/...al-corruption/

----------


## goldenequity

@Swordsmyth
If the DoJ suddenly 'drops' the Flynn case... it is BECAUSE they want to *hide* the 'exculpatory' documents/disclosures.
This is very, very, very common... 
indeed, another very common tactic is to purposefully 'taint' proceedings so a case is then declared a mistrial by the judge.
They do this to hide their own 'set-ups' and illegal 'stings' when things aren't going 'slam-dunk' in court. Think Bundy.
I will watch for it.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> @Swordsmyth
> If the DoJ suddenly 'drops' the Flynn case... it is BECAUSE they want to *hide* the 'exculpatory' documents/disclosures.
> This is very, very, very common... 
> indeed, another very common tactic is to purposefully 'taint' proceedings so a case is then declared a mistrial by the judge.
> They do this to hide their own 'set-ups' and illegal 'stings' when things aren't going 'slam-dunk' in court. Think Bundy.
> I will watch for it.


They have an infinite number of tricks for every occasion.

----------


## Swordsmyth

*McCain associate invokes Fifth Amendment on Trump dossier sources: report*http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/375205-mccain-associate-invokes-fifth-amendment-on-trump-dossier

----------


## timosman

> They have an infinite number of tricks for every occasion.


The tricks aren't that good. We just let them get away with murder.

----------


## acptulsa

> *McCain associate invokes Fifth Amendment on Trump dossier sources: report*http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/375205-mccain-associate-invokes-fifth-amendment-on-trump-dossier





> Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) had wanted to speak with Kramer about his visit to London in November 2016, during which he met with the author of the dossier, former British spy Christopher Steele. According to court filings, he met with Steele at McCain's request, to view “the pre-election memoranda on a confidential basis."
> Kramer then traveled back to the U.S. and gave copies of the memos to McCain, who then turned the documents over to the FBI. 
> 
> The committee interviewed Kramer last month prior to issuing a subpoena for him. 
> 
> The dossier was created by opposition research firm Fusion GPS and funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign.


So, the crime was meeting with a British spy?  Stealing a copy of something funded by the Clinton campaign?  Showing it to McCain?

What is the crime that allows him to hide behind the Fifth?

----------


## Swordsmyth

> So, the crime was meeting with a British spy?  Stealing a copy of something funded by the Clinton campaign?  Showing it to McCain?
> 
> What is the crime that allows him to hide behind the Fifth?


Treason?

----------


## acptulsa

> Treason?


So, if meeting with the spy and looking at the report is treason, what is hiring the spy and commissioning the report?

No, I doubt that's it.  It sounds good.  I'd like to see Hilldawg trade her pantsuist for an orange jumpsuit.  But it's probably more like industrial espionage.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Suspiciously, Barack Obama’s Intelligence Community Assessment  matches the main allegations leveled by the Clinton-paid dossier on  Trump, which wormed its way into intelligence channels, in addition to the FBI, Justice Department and State Department, during the 2016 campaign.
 In fact, the shady dossier makes exactly the same claim — that Putin  personally “ordered” the cyberattacks on the Clinton campaign and leaked  embarrassing e-mails to “bolster Trump,” as part of “an aggressive  Trump support operation.” Like Obama’s ICA, Clinton’s dossier provides  no concrete evidence to back up the claim.
 After learning Obama Justice and FBI officials relied heavily on  unsubstantiated rumors in the dossier to wiretap a Trump adviser during  the election, congressional leaders now suspect the dossier also  informed Obama intelligence officials who compiled the ICA.
 The report was released Jan. 6, 2017 — the same day intelligence  officials attached a written summary of the dossier to a highly  classified Russia briefing they gave Obama about the dossier, and the  day after Obama held a secret White House meeting to discuss the dossier  with his national-security adviser and FBI director.
 Staff investigators for GOP Rep. Devin Nunes’ intelligence committee,  for one, are now going over “every word” of the ICA — including  classified footnotes — to see if any of the analysis was pre-cooked  based on the dossier. On Tuesday, Nunes sent letters to Obama intel  officials responsible for the report. He demanded former top spook John  Brennan and intel czar James Clapper provide answers about how they used  the dossier in intel reports and when they learned the Clinton camp  paid for it.

More at: https://nypost.com/2018/02/22/yet-an...trump-dossier/

----------


## goldenequity

Buried in this thread is much material about the Uranium crime ring... answering the question of *WHY* all the FISA/Election gate.

So..
picking up from *here*

we now find another loose thread in the Uranium tapestry:




*AQ Khan / Abdul Qadeer Khan* Father of Pakistan Nukes since 1971



A. Q. Khan, is a Pakistani former nuclear physicist and a metallurgical engineer,
founded the uranium enrichment program for Pakistan's atomic bomb project. 
Khan founded and established the Kahuta Research Laboratories in 1976, 
serving as both its senior scientist and Director-General until he retired in 2001.

*Lots of Background*





*BBC China:* In October 2003 the ship was diverted to Italy while carrying gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment to Libya.

*Libyan Nuke Program Was CIA-MI6 Sting Op*
“Then, in early October 2003, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Italy interdicted the ‘BBC China,’ a German ship destined for Libya that the Americans had been tracking for nearly a year.

A U.S. intelligence official informed the Libyans that the five 40-foot containers marked used machine parts that were offloaded from the ship contained thousands of centrifuge parts to enrich uranium, manufactured in Malaysia by the A.Q. Khan network,”





►http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/wo...hron-khan.html
►http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/wo...s-network.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

The FBI may have violated criminal statutes, as  well as its own strict internal procedures, by using unverified  information during the 2016 election to obtain a surveillance warrant on  onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page, the chairman of the House  Intelligence Committee charged Thursday in a letter obtained by Fox  News.
                                                                                                                                                                                          House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI)  Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., wrote in his letter to Attorney General  Jeff Sessions that “in this instance, it’s clear that basic operating  guidance was violated.”
                                                                                                                                     Nunes cited the Domestic Investigations and Operations  Guide (DIOG), which was created by the bureau and approved by the  Justice Department, to say he believed the FBI violated procedures  requiring verified and documented evidence in applications to the  Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
                                                         		 					                                                                                                       An Oct. 2011 version of the operations guide 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.”
                                                                                                                                     The guidance also states that information in a FISA application must be “thoroughly vetted and confirmed.”
Nunes to Sessions: FBI may have violated criminal statutes in Carter Page FISA application 

Nunes listed five criminal statutes that were possibly violated,  including conspiracy, obstruction of justice, contempt of court. It also  cites statutes that make it a crime to willfully deprive a person of a  right protected by the Constitution and another preventing unauthorized  electronic surveillance.
                                                                                                                                     In the letter, Nunes asks Sessions whether these  protocols requiring verified information have changed, and if not, what  steps the DOJ or FBI taken to hold officials behind the Page application  accountable.
                                                                                                                                     The letter is carbon copied to FBI Director Christopher Wray and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...rter-page.html

----------


## goldenequity

another part of the crime ring...
Scaramucci and Bannon both played the role of 'brokers', overseeing the Wall Street 'investments'
for Naval Intelligence connected players looking to 'parley' their profits from the transport & logistics of the ops...
either by 'looking the other way' or by active participation in 'tracking' using the tools at their disposal.




*DARK WEAPONS* (smuggling ops/contractors like Skybridge, Chemring and Purple Shovels)

*http://www.purpleshovel.com/
https://skybridgetactical.com/
http://www.chemring.co.uk/*

March 1, 2017
*Scaramucci Says He Fears John Kelly Will Thwart SkyBridge Sale
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...of-staff-kelly*



> Accuses Kelly of blocking him from meeting with Trump
> 
> Scaramucci says he now fears Kelly will thwart his bid to sell his stake in SkyBridge Capital to China’s HNA Group Co. 
> The sale has been stuck at CIFIUS Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which reviews foreign acquisitions of domestic businesses for security risks.
> 
> Scaramucci claims Kelly has been blocking his access to the president. 
> He said he was prevented from attending a gathering Trump went to with business executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos. 
> He also said he was blocked after having been invited to a meeting at the White House with a top Trump aide.

----------


## Swordsmyth

In a _Daily Caller_ op-ed calling the Russian meddling narrative a "false public manipulation," Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska claims that Daniel Jones - _a former FBI investigator, Feinstein staffer and now a Fusion GPS operative_ - told the Russian Oligarch's lawyer in March, 2017 that Fusion GPS was funded by "*a group of Silicon Valley billionaires and George Soros.*"

Of note, Deripaska's lawyer, D.C. lobbyist Adam Waldman, *recommended Jones to investigate and verify the claims from the Fusion GPS anti-Trump dossier*  assembled by former UK spy Christopher Steele. Waldman was also an  intermediary between Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Steele in trying to  arrange a meeting - which suggests that Waldman, Jones, Steele and  Fusion GPS are all connected. 
  Deripaska describes the ongoing "Russia narrative" as nothing more  than a scandal manufactured by the deep state. "Wagging the dog costs  money," writes Deripaska. "So, who is the “funding mechanism” of this  “shadowy government?”" Why,* none other than billionaire financier George Soros*, according to Daniel Jones - as relayed to Congressional investigators by Deripaska's attorney Adam Waldman: 
 [O]n March 16, 2017, *Daniel Jones — himself a team member of  Fusion GPS, self-described former FBI agent and, as we now know from the  media, an ex-Feinstein staffer — met with my lawyer, Adam Waldman, and  described Fusion as a “shadow media organization helping the  government,” funded by a “group of Silicon Valley billionaires and  George Soros.”* My lawyer testified these facts to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Nov. 3. *Mr. Soros is, not coincidentally, also the funder of two “ethics watchdog” NGOs* (Democracy 21 and CREW) attacking Rep. Nunes’ committee memo. -_Oleg Deripaska_Jones currently runs the Penn Quarter Group, a "research and investigative advisory" firm whose *website was registered in April of 2016, days before Steele delivered his first in a series of Trump-Russia memos*. Jones began tweeting out articles suggesting illicit ties between the Trump campaign and Russia as early as 2017.
  As The Federalist's Sean Davis reported last  month, Congressional documents and leaked texts between Sen. Mark  Warner (D-VA) and Deripaska's attorney Adam Waldman reveal that Jones is  "*intimately involved with ongoing efforts to retroactively validate"* the Steele / Fusion GPS memos. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...s-funded-soros

----------


## Swordsmyth

In a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Graham and Grassley, along with  Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), wrote that “a  special counsel is needed to work with the inspector general to  independently gather the facts and make prosecutorial decisions, if any  are merited.”
 Graham said that he believes the Clinton email probe was "shoddily  done," with conflicts of interest and political bias that may have given  Clinton a pass.
  "The FBI and the Department of Justice were corrupt, in  my view, when it came to handling the email investigation of Clinton,"  Graham said, adding that they also "abused" the FISA warrant application  process.
The senators on Thursday also released a February letter  from Grassley and Graham to the Justice Department’s inspector general  asking that he work with a second special counsel to investigate the DOJ  and FBI’s request for a FISA warrant against a Trump campaign adviser.

More at: http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/03/1...d-fisa-process

----------


## Swordsmyth

Christopher Steele, was ordered by an English court  Friday to appear for a videotaped deposition in London to be used as  trial testimony in ongoing civil litigation against Buzzfeed for  publishing the unverified dossier.                                                                                                                                                                                          Evan Fray-Witzer, a Boston-based  attorney representing Russian tech tycoon Aleksej Gubarev, told Fox  News, “We’re thrilled that the English Court has ordered Mr. Steele to  sit for his deposition.  It was always amazing to us that he could talk  as freely as he has to reporters around the world about the dossier, yet  refuse to sit for a deposition about the same topics.” 

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...ish-court.html

----------


## goldenequity

> *Senior Executive Service* (SES) (just say Stazi... it's easier.)
> 
> 
> 
> more great info for the white hats.....
> as George performs a 'spinal tap' on a 10,000 strong centerpiece of the 'swamp'.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well... this is annoying... not even ONE shout out to George (who 'broke' this story.)
Typical.
I've seen it time and again. (sigh)

Never the less... A good dialog between 'a' Thomas Paine (True Pundit?) and Michael McKibben that describes SES.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlRIxkVTyeA
(comments worth reading)

----------


## timosman

https://www.urbandictionary.com/defi...erm=Mendenhall




> To mount someone from behind while they are in the fetal position on the ground. After the deed is complete, you roll them over and see the humiliation in their eyes. This is best accomplished in front of a large audience.


This sounds ridiculous. I would expect at most you would be asked to perform a bj.

----------


## goldenequity

*Prequel – Reminder of The ‘Big Picture’ in Summary…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com...y/#more-147085*

(if you've got the patience... Sundance does a good job of connecting the timing and linkages, work-arounds by the scheme team.. 
the 'who' and 'how'... from Nellie Ohr to Samantha Power.... he outlines the connections.... what caused what and why.)

----------


## goldenequity

> Well... this is annoying... not even ONE shout out to George (who 'broke' this story.)
> Typical.
> I've seen it time and again. (sigh)


*George is going to get fameized.* Good!  (at 6'8" he should have no trouble becoming a media GIANT)

Day 149.1. Peter Duke - Biographer of the Alt-Right
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_V2_PyyvmM

Day 149.2. Senate Outdoes House With Steele Questions? 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U76Y5QnjsQ 

Day 149.3 Meet Peter Duke - Culture Wars Through a Camera Lens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNggxrLnIzk

Day 149.6. Peter Duke Zoolander Shoot 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x96_OPARzCw

----------


## goldenequity

*500 Day Summary Complete Through March 2018* 




PURE GOLD

----------


## goldenequity

*SES 'Exposed' is now going viral*  (deserves its own thread)

----------


## Swordsmyth

After he escaped from  Al Qaeda in Syria, American photojournalist Matt Schrier investigated  his own kidnapping and uncovered what he describes as a pattern of  "betrayal" by FBI agents handling his case.                                                                                                                                                                                          Schrier is now asking hard questions  of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who now leads the special counsel  Russia probe, and former FBI Director James Comey who was fired by  President Trump in May 2017.
                                                                                                                                     "Not every FBI agent is bad.  Some are very good  people," Schrier told Fox News. "But the ones that are bad need to be  weeded out. And the ones who let them be bad, and who turn their head,  need to be exposed."
                                                         		 					                                                                                                       In an exclusive cable interview that first aired Monday on "The Story" with Martha MacCallum,  Schrier went in depth, sharing emails, financial records and formal  letters of complaint, which backed up allegations that after he was  taken hostage in 2012, the FBI monitored his accounts as Al Qaeda  terrorists used his money to buy at least a dozen computers and tablets.
                                                                                                                                     While he was tortured and held by al Nusra, the brutal  Al Qaeda franchise in Syria, Schrier claimed the FBI put intelligence  gathering ahead of his personal security, hoping to track the computers  and tablets to learn more about Al Qaeda recruits and future plots.  After his harrowing escape, Schrier started demanding answers from the  FBI, which at the time of his kidnapping was led by Mueller.  


Since his return to the U.S. in mid-2013, Schrier shared documents  with Fox News and expalined, "I faxed-- I emailed them, probably between  my mother and my father and me, between 50 and 100 complaints."
                                                                                                                                                                       Comey took over from Mueller in September 2013, and  Schrier said the stonewalling continued. "I was emailing him questions. I  was forwarding him all these emails. I was demanding answers from him,"  Schrier said. "And I never got anything back."
                                                                                                                                     Schrier said he has been unable to obtain credit cards  or open new bank accounts because Al Qaeda stole his identify and  passwords. Unable to get a lease for an apartment, Schrier said his FBI  case manager suggested he temporarily live in a New York City homeless  shelter. 
                                                                                                                                     "I just got clean clothes without bed bugs. I don't  want to go through a situation where I have to deal with lice and bed  bugs again. Like, no thank you."

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...rayed-him.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Justice Department Inspector General Michael  Horowitz announced Wednesday he will review potential Foreign  Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses by both the Justice  Department and the FBI, following requests from Congress and Attorney  General Jeff Sessions.


                                                                                                                                     The Office of the Inspector General released a statement Wednesday outlining the start of the review.
                                                                                                                                     “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 obtained by Fox News read. “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.”
                                  			                                 		                                                                                                  Video                              
*Sexton: DOJ has been trying to hide information about FISA*                                                     The OIG statement added that Horowitz also would  “review the DOJ’s and FBI’s relationship and communications with the  alleged source as they relate to the FISC applications.”
                                                                                                                                     The statement continued, “If circumstances warrant, the  OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the  course of the review.”

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...y-doj-fbi.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Newly uncovered text messages between FBI officials  Peter Strzok and Lisa Page suggest a possible coordination between  high-ranking officials at the Obama White House, CIA, FBI, Justice  Department and former Senate Democratic leadership in the early stages  of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign  and Russia, according to GOP congressional investigators on Wednesday.
                                                                                                                                                                                          The investigators say the information  provided to Fox News “strongly” suggests coordination between former  President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, then-Senate  Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and CIA Director John Brennan — which they  say would “contradict” the Obama administration’s public stance about  its hand in the process.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...stigators.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

A great article: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/...dnc-fbi-media/

----------


## pcosmar

opps,, wrong thread.

----------


## Swordsmyth

House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes  (R-Calif.) is demanding the original FBI document that outlines the  bureau's reasoning for opening a counterintelligence investigation into  the 2016 Trump campaign's alleged connections to Russia. 
His  deadline for the DOJ and FBI to provide the unredacted document is April  11. In a letter sent Wednesday to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Nunes threatened to take legal action if the agencies do not comply, noting that the committee issued subpoenas in August that "remain in force."
According  to Nunes, the previous response to his request was a "heavily redacted  version" of the document, which Nunes called "unsatisfactory."



Nunes  also requested unrestricted access to four Federal Intelligence  Surveillance Act (FISA) applications the DOJ used to obtain a warrant to  spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Paige.  

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/38...-investigation

----------


## Jan2017

McCabe and Rybicki need jail - excuse me, correction . . .  i mean serious prison time . . .

Sessions HAS to have frozen their passports already.

----------


## Jamesiv1

> A great article: https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/...dnc-fbi-media/


That article is fake news.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> That article is fake news.


It isn't perfect but it is useful.

----------


## Jamesiv1

> It isn't perfect but it is useful.


I'm just being ornery. Messing w ya

----------


## Swordsmyth

> I'm just being ornery. Messing w ya

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday agreed to allow additional  access by the House Intelligence Committee to view four surveillance  applications, calling it an "extraordinary accommodation."
The DOJ  said in a letter to the committee that it will allow all members of  both the House and Senate Intelligence committees private access to view  the classified documents at the Justice Department, emphasizing "unique  facts and circumstances."

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/38...access-to-fisa




The Justice Department failed to meet an initial  deadline to give the House Judiciary Committee 1.2 million documents  related to the charging decisions in the Hillary Clinton email  investigation, possible abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance  Act and the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility's recommendation  to fire former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
                                                                                                                                                                                          A Republican Judiciary Committee aide  told Fox News late Thursday that the Justice Department had "not yet"  complied with the March 22 subpoena issued by committee chairman Rep.  Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. The aide added that the committee was "working with  officials at DOJ to take immediate steps to comply with the subpoena  and produce documents to the Committee."
                                                                                                                                     A Justice Department official confirmed to Fox News that the department was "in ongoing communication with Chairman Goodlatte."

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...oundation.html

----------


## Swordsmyth



----------


## Swordsmyth

*As criticism mounts for its delay in turning over documents  detailing FBI investigations surrounding the 2016 presidential election  to separate House and Senate Committees, the Department of Justice has  invited committee members to review the files at its headquarters.*
 Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd sent a letter late Friday  to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes inviting  congressman and senators to privately view the documents.
 “The Department considers this an extraordinary accommodation based  on unique facts and circumstances,” Mr. Boyd wrote. “We are also  extending this review opportunity o members of the Senate Select  Committee on Intelligence and the Department will be in contact to  arrange appropriate review sessions in the near future.” 

More at: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ators-clinton/

----------


## goldenequity

> *As criticism mounts for its delay in turning over documents  detailing FBI investigations surrounding the 2016 presidential election  to separate House and Senate Committees, the Department of Justice has  invited committee members to review the files at its headquarters.*
>  Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd sent a letter late Friday  to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes inviting  congressman and senators to privately view the documents.
>  “The Department considers this an extraordinary accommodation based  on unique facts and circumstances,” Mr. Boyd wrote. “We are also  extending this review opportunity o members of the Senate Select  Committee on Intelligence and the Department will be in contact to  arrange appropriate review sessions in the near future.” 
> 
> More at: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ators-clinton/


screw him.  give us the 1.3M emails/texts/docs to STUDY AND DISSECT. You have stalled CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT for more than a year.
You
are
in
con
tempt!

----------


## timosman

> screw him.  give us the 1.3M emails/texts/docs to STUDY AND DISSECT. You have stalled CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT for more than a year.
> You
> are
> in
> con
> tempt!


If you can stall it for so long it does not seem like an oversight. Even if it says CONGRESSIONAL. 

Oh, wait ....




> *o·ver·sight*, _noun_
> 1. an unintentional failure to notice or do something.
> "he said his failure to pay for the tickets was an oversight"
> synonyms:	mistake, error, omission, lapse, slip, blunder; More
> 
> 2. the action of overseeing something.
> "effective oversight of the financial reporting process"


Maybe it needs to be clarified for the members of congress?

----------


## goldenequity

House Considers Impeaching Rosenstein for Delaying and Not Providing Documents Requested by Oversight Committees

----------


## Swordsmyth

//

----------


## Swordsmyth

*NewsAlertHQ*‏ @*NewsAlertHQ* 









                     Fox News airs a graphic of people who are "waiting to be raided"  1) Hillary #*Clinton* 2) Bill #*Clinton* 3) James #*Comey........*



Pic at: https://twitter.com/NewsAlertHQ/stat...80881482928128

----------


## goldenequity

Devin Nunes Delivers 24 Hour Ultimatum: Wray and Rosenstein Deliver EC Origination Documents or Impeachment Vote




Nunes says either FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein give him the “electronic communication” (EC) documents 
(initiated the counterintelligence operation against candidate Trump in July 2016) 
or congress will hold an impeachment vote.

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/SaraCarterDC/sta...45872241020929

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Senator Rand Paul*‏Verified account @*RandPaul* 









                     BREAKING: FBI admits that @*realDonaldTrump* haters still have Top Secret security clearances which allows them to access sensitive private information!

https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/984136953502330881

----------


## Swordsmyth



----------


## Swordsmyth

Chairman Nunes said in a statement via House Intel website:
   “After numerous unfulfilled requests for an Electronic Communication  (EC) related to the opening of the FBI’s Russia counterintelligence  probe, Chairman Trey Gowdy and I met this afternoon with Deputy Attorney  General Rod Rosenstein. During the meeting, we were finally given  access to a version of the EC that contained the information necessary  to advance the Committee’s ongoing investigation of the Department of  Justice and FBI. Although the subpoenas issued by this Committee in  August 2017 remain in effect, I’d like to thank Deputy Attorney General  Rosenstein for his cooperation today.”

The 2-page document known as the “Electronic Communication” is what  launched the investigation into the Trump-Russia collusion probe.
 Nunes told Sara Carter the  “Electronic Communication”  is a central piece of information necessary  to their ongoing investigation into the FBI and related matters.

More at: http://thegatewaypundit.com/2018/04/...ontent=2219018

----------


## goldenequity

Just preceeding the 'Criminal Referral' to the Justice Department on Comey, Hillary, McCabe et al... by 11 congressmen making today's headline...

was this article by True Pundit the day before...
*CONFIRMING*
what we knew months ago.
We know MORE than this (*much more*)... but hey
it's a start:

The primary confirmation? 
It was *ALL* being done/started as a US/UK op *LONG* before FBI/Fusion GPS/DNC
Brennan Brennan Brennan. 

Read it for yourself.

April 17, 2018
*FEDS DROP BOMBSHELL: Comey & Lynch Colluded with Clinton Campaign to Entrap, Wiretap Trump; Illegal Scheme Involved Entire U.S. Intel Community
https://truepundit.com/feds-drop-bom...tel-community/*

----------


## Swordsmyth

Interesting document:

https://www.oversight.gov/sites/defa...nts_Public.pdf

----------


## Swordsmyth

After  months of resisting, the Justice Department has provided Congress with  copies of several memos written by former FBI Director James Comey.The  move comes as House Republicans have escalated criticism of the  department, threatening to subpoena the documents and questioning  officials. In a letter sent to three Republican House committee chairmen  Thursday evening, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote that  the department is sending a classified version of the memos and an  unclassified version. The department released Boyd's letter publicly but  did not release the memos.

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/justice-d...-politics.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Supposed Comey Memos have Leaked Online:

https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...y-s-memos.html

Related:


                          Apr 19 2018 20:11:51 (EST)
                           Q                            !xowAT4Z3VQ
ID: eb1842
1107913 
NEW

>>1107523
Memos are FAKE.
Guided by LL/+3 CLAS.
Think SC.
All written same time.
Q

----------


## Swordsmyth

House lawmakers are zeroing in on a meeting that German chancellor  Angela Merkel held with President Obama at a key moment as one of the  FISA warrants against Trump was set to expire. Lawmakers are aware of  the role of foreign governments in collaborating with U.S. intelligence  agencies in the Trump investigation as recently as 2017. Germany provided information beginning in 2015 to aide British spies  and the Obama administration in compiling the Christopher Steele  “dossier.”
 Obama had been called out by the _Drudge Report_ for visiting  foreign leaders in Europe in the spring of 2017 right before President  Trump visited those leaders in Europe. It turns out that one of those  Obama meetings is now under scrutiny on Capitol Hill.
 Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein gave a redacted document to  Rep. Devin Nunes, showing two major redactions about the creation of the  Trump “Dossier” and the launch of FISA warrants and Robert Mueller’s  investigation during the 2016 campaign. *The redactions were: “the name of a country and the name of a foreign agent who supplied information.”

*
*Now we know: the country is Germany and the foreign agent was  either Angela Merkel or someone who worked for Angela Merkel in foreign  intelligence.*
 The redacted sections will be referencing one of the European  countries and agents that share SIGINT (signal intelligence) to US  Intelligence,” says Chuck Marler, a longtime agent of the FBI Special  Surveillance Group under Robert Mueller, who is an official whistleblower in this case.
 SIGINT countries were involved in sharing information that helped the Christopher Steele dossier to come together. The Guardian reported in an amazingly under-covered article:  “Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western  agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner  circle and Russians, sources said. The European countries that passed on  electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included *Germany*,  Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying  alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also  relayed material, one source said.”
 So Germany helped build the dossier. When does Merkel re-emerge in this picture?
 “Fast forward to April/May 2017, roughly the same time the fourth and  final FISA warrant was running out (because the Carter Page story was  determined false). Rosenstein and McCabe were in desperate need of  renewed help from intelligence to keep the Russian Collusion narrative  alive,” Marler reports.
 “Well they weren’t going to get help from the CIA because Pompeo was  now CIA Director and wouldn’t help with a faux collusion narrative. In  comes Obama to the rescue. He meets with Merkel in private (the US no  longer monitored her communications because of the previous mishap) to  beg for some more Sigint information to keep the collusion narrative  alive. Conveniently he meets her hours prior to Trump’s meeting and his  stay in her heavily monitored territory.”

More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/exclus...a-trump-probe/

----------


## Swordsmyth

In response to the Comey memos, Congressional Committee chairs Devin Nunes (R-CA), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Trey Gowdy (R-SC) *fired off a scathing rebuke*, in which they made it abundantly clear that *the  Mueller investigation is a farce based on yet another example of the  FBI using a flimsy document to launch a politically  motivated investigation*.

  "*These memos are significant for both what is in them and what is not*," begins the joint statement, which goes on to completely dress down the FBI and James Comey: 

Former Director Comey's memos show *the President made  clear he wanted allegations of collusion, coordination, and conspiracy  between his campaign and Russia fully investigated*.

The memos also made clear the ‘cloud’ President Trump  wanted lifted was not the Russian interference in the 2016 election  cloud, rather it was the salacious, unsubstantiated allegations related  to personal conduct leveled in the dossier.

*The memos also show former Director Comey never wrote that he felt obstructed or threatened.* "*he never once mentioned the most relevant fact of all, which was whether he felt obstructed in his investigation*."

The memos also make certain what has become increasingly  clear of late: former Director Comey has at least two different  standards in his interactions with others. *He chose not to  memorialize conversations with President Obama, Attorney General Lynch,  Secretary Clinton, Andrew McCabe or others, but he immediately began to  memorialize conversations with President Trump*. It is significant former *Director  Comey made no effort to memorialize conversations with former Attorney  General Lynch despite concerns apparently significant enough to warrant  his unprecedented appropriation of the charging decision away from her  and the Department of Justice in July of 2016*.These memos also lay bare the notion that former Director Comey is not motivated by animus. *He  was willing to work for someone he deemed morally unsuited for office,  capable of lying, requiring of personal loyalty, worthy of impeachment,  and sharing the traits of a mob boss*. Former Director Comey was willing to overlook all of the aforementioned characteristics *in order to keep his job. In his eyes, the real crime was his own firing*.

The memos show *Comey was blind to biases within the FBI and had terrible judgment with respect to his deputy Andrew McCabe*. On multiple occasions he, in his own words, defended the character of McCabe after President Trump questioned McCabe.

Finally, former *Director Comey leaked at least one  of these memos for the stated purpose of spurring the appointment of  Special Counsel, yet he took no steps to spur the appointment of Special  Counsel when he had significant concerns about the objectivity of the  Department of Justice under Attorney General Loretta Lynch.*

"As we have consistently said, *rather than making a  criminal case for obstruction or interference with an ongoing  investigation, these memos would be Defense Exhibit A should such a  charge be made*."
In response to the memo's release, President Trump exclaimed over Twitter:
_"James Comey Memos just out and show clearly that there was NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION."_ adding "*Also, he leaked classified information. WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continue?"*
 James Comey Memos just out and show  clearly that there was NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION. Also, he leaked  classified information. WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continue?
 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018Then again, given that the Special Counsel has gone from  investigating whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia -  to raiding Trump's lawyer over documents related to paying off a porn  star, perhaps Mueller's probe is getting a bit long in the tooth...

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...memos-released

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general is now conducting  an investigation into classification issues concerning the "Comey memos"  leaked to the _New York Times_ by former FBI Director James Comey.

  Sources tell the _Wall St. Journal_ that at least two of the  memos which Comey leaked to his "good friend," Columbia Law Professor  Daniel Richman, contained information that officials now consider  classified - prompting the review by the Office of the Inspector  General, headed by Michael Horowitz. 
 Of those two memos, Mr. Comey himself redacted elements of one that  he knew to be classified to protect secrets before he handed the  documents over to his friend. He determined at the time that another  memo contained no classified information, but *after he left the  Federal Bureau of Investigation, bureau officials upgraded it to  “confidential,” the lowest level of classification*. -_WSJ_Comey told Congressional investigators that he considered the memos  to be personal rather than government documents. The memos - leaked  through Richman, were a major catalyst in Deputy Attorney General Rod  Rosenstein's decision to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as  special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 US  election.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ied-info-leaks

----------


## Swordsmyth



----------


## Swordsmyth

The Republican chairmen of the House Judiciary  Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee  announced Monday that the Justice Department has agreed to provide them  with documents related to the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's  private email server.

                                                                                                                                                                                          The deal was struck after Reps. Bob  Goodlatte, R-Va., and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., met this month with the U.S.  attorney, John Lausch, who has been selected to respond to Republican  demands for documents.

                                                                                                                                     "We look forward to reviewing the information to better  understand the decisions made by the Department of Justice in 2016 and  2017," Goodlatte and Gowdy said in a joint statement. "Congress has a  constitutional responsibility to preserve the integrity of our justice  system by ensuring transparency and accountability of actions taken."

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...documents.html

----------


## goldenequity

> The Republican chairmen of the House Judiciary  Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee  announced Monday that the Justice Department has agreed to provide them  with documents related to the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's  private email server.
> 
>                                                                                                                                                                                           The deal was struck after Reps. Bob  Goodlatte, R-Va., and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., met this month with the U.S.  attorney, John Lausch, who has been selected to respond to Republican  demands for documents.
> 
>                                                                                                                                      "We look forward to reviewing the information to better  understand the decisions made by the Department of Justice in 2016 and  2017," Goodlatte and Gowdy said in a joint statement. "Congress has a  constitutional responsibility to preserve the integrity of our justice  system by ensuring transparency and accountability of actions taken."
> 
> More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...documents.html


complete bullshiit. This isn't 'compliance' and isn't transparency and accountability. 
2 pairs of eyeballs and 1.2 million documents is window dressing and no substitute for scrutiny and forensic examination.
Unelected 'Team Mueller' gets unlimited time, unlimited money and unlimited scope.
'Team America' gets this nonsense. It's crap.

----------


## Swordsmyth



----------


## Swordsmyth

*Columbia Professor Comey Leaked Classified Memos To Claims He was Secret Undercover Squirrel for FBI*The Columbia law professor James Comey used as a  go-between last year to leak the contents of sensitive memos to the  media confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday that he previously worked as a  “special government employee” (SGE) for Comey’s FBI on an unpaid basis.
The  professor, Daniel Richman, confirmed the special status in response to  an inquiry from Fox News, while referring other questions, including on  the scope of his work, to the FBI.
“I did indeed have SGE status with the Bureau (for no pay),” Richman wrote in an email.
Richman  emerged last year as the former FBI director’s contact for leaking  memos documenting his private discussions with President Trump – memos  that are now the subject of an inspector general review over the  presence of classified material. Sources familiar  with Richman’s status at the FBI told Fox News that he was assigned to  “special projects” by Comey, and had a security clearance as well  as badge access to the building. Richman’s status was the subject of  a Memorandum of Understanding.
Lawmakers are only beginning to  raise questions about Richman’s status. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Fox  News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” said the  information about Richman and his special FBI status first emerged  during closed-door testimony by Comey’s former chief of staff James  Rybicki before the House oversight and judiciary committees.
“[D]uring  that deposition, it was brought out that Daniel Richman, the guy who  information was leaked through to The New York Times, had this special  status called special government employee status, where he could sort of  come and go in the FBI,” Jordan said. He said he could not speak to the  significance, but “it seems kind of interesting that the guy who Comey  leaks to is a good friend, who had this sort of unfettered access into  the FBI.”
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., also raised questions about the status.
These  two stooges think this helps Comey? Nope. Now Comey's pal is on the  hook too. He had better protection as a professor who didn't know the  Memos were classified. Now he is co-conspirator. Morons. https://t.co/klCJfigOqC
— Thomas Paine (@Thomas1774Paine) April 25, 2018READ MORE

https://truepundit.com/columbia-prof...irrel-for-fbi/

----------


## Swordsmyth

The revelation that former CIA Director John Brennan made a secret trip  to Moscow in March 2016, meeting with the Russian Federal Security  Service (today’s version of the Soviet KGB), has heightened speculation  that Brennan may have been a key figure behind the Trump-Russian  collusion story.

The _American Thinker_, in a story on Brennan's’s secret trip to  Russia, believes that it is a real possibility that “John Brennan  himself colluded with the Russians to help Hillary win to guarantee his  continued tenure as CIA director,” noting that the dossier compiled by  former British spy Christopher Steele “was used by Brennan and others as  a pretext for a Trump investigation bonanza.”

More at: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew...ollusion-story

----------


## goldenequity

> The revelation that former CIA Director John Brennan made a secret trip  to Moscow in March 2016, meeting with the Russian Federal Security  Service (today’s version of the Soviet KGB), has heightened speculation  that Brennan may have been a key figure behind the Trump-Russian  collusion story.
> 
> The _American Thinker_, in a story on Brennan's’s secret trip to  Russia, believes that it is a real possibility that “John Brennan  himself colluded with the Russians to help Hillary win to guarantee his  continued tenure as CIA director,” noting that the dossier compiled by  former British spy Christopher Steele “was used by Brennan and others as  a pretext for a Trump investigation bonanza.”
> 
> More at: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew...ollusion-story


This is just more fuel to add onto Brennan's ALREADY documented collusion with Ex-GCHQ Chief *Robert Hannigan* 
to initiate what BECAME the 'dossier'.
*Here's an up to date litany:*

April 9, 2018 by Jeff Carlson, CFA 
*John Brennan’s Role in the FBI’s Trump-Russia Investigation
https://www.themarketswork.com/2018/...investigation/*

It's the same crime ring that spans the globe, in every major country and in every agency you can think of... Russia included.

----------


## TER

This timeline will be in history books.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Buried within a newly declassified congressional report on Russian meddling  in the 2016 U.S. elections is a shocking revelation: former Director of  National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper not only leaked information  about the infamous Steele dossier and high-level government briefings  about it to CNN, he also may have lied to Congress about the matter.

 In one of the findings within the 253-page report, the House  intelligence committee wrote that Clapper leaked details of a dossier  briefing given to then-President-elect Donald Trump to CNN’s Jake  Tapper, lied to Congress about the leak, and was rewarded with a CNN  contract a few months later.


“Clapper flatly denied ‘discussing[ing] the dossier [compiled by  Steele] or any other intelligence related to Russia hacking of the 2016  election with journalists,'” the committee found.
 When asked directly whether he had ever discussed the dossier with  any journalists, Clapper replied that he had not, according to a  transcript of the proceedings:
MR. ROONEY: Did you discuss the dossier or any other  intelligence related to Russia hacking of the 2016 election with  journalists?

MR. CLAPPER: No.The former DNI later changed his story after he was confronted specifically about his communications with Jake Tapper of CNN.
 “Clapper subsequently acknowledged discussing the ‘dossier with CNN  journalist Jake Tapper,’ and admitted that he might have spoken with  other journalists about the same topic,” the report continued.  “Clapper’s discussion with Tapper took place in early January 2017,  around the time IC leaders briefed President Obama and President-elect  Trump, on ‘the Christopher Steele information,’ a two-page summary of  which was ‘enclosed in’ the highly-classified version of the ICA,” or  intelligence community assessment.
 The briefing of Trump by U.S. intelligence chiefs was held on January 6. CNN published its story on the briefing, based on anonymous leaks from “two national security officials,” on January 10. BuzzFeed published the full dossier, which was jointly funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, minutes after the CNN story was published.

 The revelation that Clapper was responsible for leaking details of  both the dossier and briefings to two presidents on the matter is  significant, because former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)  director James Comey wrote in one of four memos that he leaked  that the briefing of Trump on salacious and unverified allegations from  the dossier was necessary because “CNN had them and were looking for a  news hook.”
 The congressional report on Russian interference noted that it was  this very briefing of Trump that multiple media organizations used as an  excuse to publish the unverified dossier.

More at: http://thefederalist.com/2018/04/27/...ier-leaks-cnn/

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Justice department has finally produced 49 pages comprising around 300 previously "missing"  text messages sent between two anti-Trump FBI employees in charge of  investigating him. The messages, sent between FBI special agent Peter  Strzok and FBI counsel Lisa Page, who were also having an extramarital  affair together, span the period between December 16, 2016 and May 23,  2017.
  As the _Daily Caller_ reports,  many of the messages are in shorthand and out of context. Congressional  investigators will be sifting through them and piecing them together  with previously released text messages to see if there is further  evidence of political bias from two people acting in roles which  required the utmost impartiality.

Interestingly, one of the text messages refers to *opening "a case we've been waiting on" and doing it "now while Andy is acting."*  
 New texts between Strzok and Page  show their dismay at the firing of Comey & in the immediate  aftermath of his firing on May 9, 2017, Strzok texted: "We need to open  the case we've been waiting on now while Andy is acting." What case was  he referring to? https://t.co/2R7EU92LIv pic.twitter.com/1tHiYKrgSi
 — Nick Short  (@PoliticalShort) April 27, 2018Another text shows Strzok's concern over former Director of National  Intelligence (DNI) and FBI employee Sally Yates all playing into the  "there should be an unmasking request/record" for incidental collection  incorrect narrative."
 #breaking Strozk and Page texts confirm ‘incidental collection’ was an INCORRECT NARRATIVE. pic.twitter.com/ig1qXEpgAk
 — steviewires (@steviedeadlocks) April 27, 2018Independent investigator George Webb (Sweigert), who is notably suing  Andrew McCabe, Hillary Clinton, Fusion GPS, Debbie Wasserman Schultz,  Huma Abedin, Anthony Weiner, the Awan family and John Podesta - notes  that *there are only two texts per day in today's release, vs. 12 texts per day in prior releases -* implying that the DOJ is withholding texts. 
 Metadata on Strzok-Page email doesn’t add up. Twelve texts a day down to two a day during the coup? pic.twitter.com/JUZw0RSIxJ
 — TruthLeaks (@GeorgWebb) April 27, 2018More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-over-congress

----------


## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

*The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has pushed back the  estimated completion date of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)  request for documents pertaining to its communications with the security  firm that examined the Democratic National Committee’s hacked servers  to October.*
 The Washington Free Beacon submitted the FOIA request in July 2017  with the FBI seeking all communication between the bureau and  CrowdStrike, Inc., the California-based cyber security firm that  examined the DNC’s servers following the infiltration that led to the  release of John Podesta’s emails. The FBI said in December the documents  should be available by March.
 The FBI, which was never granted access to the DNC’s servers for  inspection, instead relied on the third-party firm that was brought in  by the DNC for information regarding the compromised network who  concluded that Russia was behind the hack.

More at: http://freebeacon.com/issues/fbi-del...d-dnc-servers/

----------


## TheCount

> This timeline will be in history books.


Should Trump's presidential library include the pee tape?

----------


## timosman

> *The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has pushed back the  estimated completion date of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)  request for documents pertaining to its communications with the security  firm that examined the Democratic National Committee’s hacked servers  to October.*
>  The Washington Free Beacon submitted the FOIA request in July 2017  with the FBI seeking all communication between the bureau and  CrowdStrike, Inc., the California-based cyber security firm that  examined the DNC’s servers following the infiltration that led to the  release of John Podesta’s emails. The FBI said in December the documents  should be available by March.
>  The FBI, which was never granted access to the DNC’s servers for  inspection, instead relied on the third-party firm that was brought in  by the DNC for information regarding the compromised network who  concluded that Russia was behind the hack.
> 
> More at: http://freebeacon.com/issues/fbi-del...d-dnc-servers/



Am I the only one to whom FBI looks like a bunch of incompetent schmucks unable to prosecute anybody? How do they ever get anything done?

----------


## unknown

Doesnt FISA rubber stamp damn near everything regardless?

----------


## Swordsmyth

Conservative House allies of President Donald Trump  have drafted articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General  Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the ongoing special counsel probe, setting  up a possible GOP showdown over the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The  document, which was obtained by The Washington Post, underscores the  growing chasm between congressional Republican leaders, who have  maintained for months that Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be allowed to proceed, and rank-and-file GOP lawmakers who have repeatedly battled the Justice Department during the past year.
The draft articles, which one of its authors called a "last resort," would be unlikely to garner significant support in Congress.  But it could serve as a provocative political weapon for conservatives  in their standoff with Mueller and the Justice Department.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus  - led by Rep. Mark Meadow, R-N.C., a Trump confidant - finalized the  draft in recent days. It came after weeks of disputes with Rosenstein  over the Justice Department's response to congressional requests for  documents about the decisions and behavior of federal law-enforcement  officials working on the Russia investigation and other federal probes,  including the investigation into 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's email server.
                Meadows  acknowledged the draft in an interview Monday, calling the one-page  document "a last resort option, if the Department of Justice fails to  respond" for his requests for more information.
"My frustrations  about their inability to respond to simple requests could warrant  further action," Meadows said, adding that many of his colleagues are  nearing a breaking point with Rosenstein.

More at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...430-story.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Deputy  Attorney General Rod Rosenstein pushed back against his House  Republican critics on Tuesday, warning that the Justice Department is  "not going to be extorted" amid threats that he could be impeached."There  have been people who have been making threats privately and publicly  against me for quite some time, and I think they should understand by  now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted," Rosenstein  said at an event at the Newseum in Washington.

More at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/polit...NN+-+Politics)

----------


## Swordsmyth

The special counsel's office wants two more months before it looks toward sentencing former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and is cooperating in the Russia probe."Due  to the status of the special counsel's investigation, the parties do  not believe that this matter is ready to be scheduled for a sentencing  hearing at this time," Robert Mueller's prosecutors and Flynn's lawyers  told the DC federal court on Tuesday.
Flynn pleaded guilty five months ago. Prosecutors have previously delayed scheduling his sentencing.

More at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/polit...NN+-+Politics)

----------


## Swordsmyth

A judge sharply questioned whether Special Counsel Robert Mueller  overstepped his authority by charging Paul Manafort with crimes  unrelated to Russian election interference while also suggesting that  the onetime Trump campaign chairman was indicted to coerce his  cooperation against the president.
U.S.  District Judge T. S. Ellis III expressed deep skepticism Friday about  whether Mueller went too far in signing a bank- and tax-fraud indictment  against Manafort. Ellis questioned how Mueller could prosecute  financial crimes dating back a decade without charging Manafort for his  election activities.
“I  don’t see how this indictment has anything to do with anything the  special prosecutor is authorized to investigate,” Ellis said at a  hearing on a motion by Manafort to dismiss the case. The hearing ended  without a ruling, and Ellis didn’t say when he would decide the matter  in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.
                  The judge’s unusually provocative remarks and questions don’t  necessarily indicate how he will rule, but they put Mueller’s team on  the defensive. The special counsel’s office was given two weeks to  deliver an unredacted version of a Justice Department memo authorizing  Mueller’s work.
A  dismissal would be a blow to Mueller as he faces political attacks by  President Donald Trump, congressional Republicans and conservative  media. Still, Manafort faces an indictment in Washington on charges that  he laundered millions of dollars and failed to register as a foreign  agent of Ukraine.


Ellis said it appeared that prosecutors were using the indictment of  Manafort to pressure him to cooperate against Trump. Manafort, 69, has  pleaded not guilty and disputes Mueller’s assertion that he violated  U.S. laws when he worked for a decade as a political consultant for  pro-Russian groups in Ukraine.
“You don’t really care about Mr.  Manafort’s bank fraud,” Ellis told four prosecutors working for Mueller.  “You really care about what information he might give you about Mr.  Trump and what might lead to his impeachment or prosecution.”
Manafort  attorney Kevin Downing argued that Mueller overstepped his May 2017  appointment order, which directed him to pursue links between Russia and  the Trump campaign, as well as “any matter that arose or may arise  directly” from the investigation. He said that Mueller improperly took  over existing Justice Department investigations into Manafort without  adequately explaining what connection it had to the Russia probe.

At the hearing, Justice Department attorney Michael Dreeben argued that  Mueller acted properly and always consulted with Deputy Attorney General  Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the investigation, about the steps he  was taking. He pointed to an Aug. 2 memo that said Manafort may have  “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government  officials” to interfere in the election, and that he illegally handled  payments he got from the pro-Russian Ukrainian government.


Most of the three-page memo is blacked out, and Dreeben said it  wasn’t necessary to share the rest of it because it didn’t relate to  Manafort. But Ellis ordered that prosecutors give him the full memo  within two weeks, saying he’ll determine whether the explanation of why  Manafort was under investigation is adequate.
Mueller’s office  took over an investigation of Manafort that had been conducted by  prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Ellis sits. The  judge appeared impatient with Dreeben, who has argued more than 100  cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Ellis repeatedly interrupted  Dreeben as he pressed for an explanation of Mueller’s authority.
“It  covers bank fraud in 2005 and 2007?” Ellis said. “Tell me how. How does  that have to do with links or coordination with Russia and Trump?”
Dreeben  said the investigations were “folded together with our overall  examination of Mr. Manafort’s conduct,” and he was indicted based on  information developed by Mueller as they followed the trail of money  that left Ukraine.
“This indictment didn’t arise from your investigation,” Ellis said. “It arose from the pre-existing investigation.”

More at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-his-authority

----------


## Swordsmyth

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes  is blasting the FBI and Department of Justice for “excessive and sloppy  redactions” amid efforts to unseal a redacted section having to do with  the FBI’s interview of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 
                                                                                                                                                                                          “The excessive and sloppy redactions  applied to the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia report deny the  American people the opportunity to know and understand the report’s full  findings and conclusions,” Nunes told Fox News.
                                                                                                                                     A key section of the report concludes FBI agents “did  not detect any deception during Flynn’s interview” despite his eventual  guilty plea in the special counsel’s Russia probe for making false  statements.
                                                         		 					                                                                                                       A source familiar with the House Intelligence report  told Fox News that heavily redacted sections on pages 53 and 54 back up  the report’s conclusion about Flynn, and the source challenged former  FBI Director James Comey’s public statements on the issue.
                                                                                                                                     In his interview last week on Fox News’ “Special  Report,” Comey denied that he ever told lawmakers his FBI agents didn’t  believe Flynn intentionally lied.
                                                                                                                                     “No, I saw that in the media,” Comey said. “Someone misunderstood something I said. I didn’t believe that and didn’t say that.”
                                                                                                                                                                       The House Intelligence Committee report, which was  disputed by Democrats and released over their objections, provides  virtually no public information to back up its conclusion about Flynn’s  interactions with the agents – as most of the section explaining that  finding is redacted.


“The deliberate withholding of this vital information from the public  is inexplicable and intolerable,” Nunes said. “Protecting executive  branch officials and agencies from embarrassment is not a valid reason  to hide information and will not be accepted by Congress.”
                                                                                                                                     Speaking to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson after the report’s  release, Nunes said it was impossible for Comey to know what  investigators found because so many sections were blacked out. 
                                                                                                                                     “Mr. Comey probably never read our report, likely  because the Department of Justice and FBI redacted so much of it, that  if you go online and try to read our report, you’ll see that much of it  you can’t even read,” Nunes said. “So he doesn’t know what we have.”

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...n-mystery.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s widely  anticipated testimony next week before the House Oversight Committee has  been postponed, as the Justice Department IG has pursued new leads in  his review of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, according to a  congressional letter and sources familiar with the matter. 
                                                                                                                                                                                          “It is of the utmost importance that  your review be as fulsome, complete and unimpeded as possible,” Rep.  Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of the committee, wrote in a recent  letter to Horowitz obtained by Fox News.
                                                                                                                                     Horowitz was scheduled to appear before the committee  on May 8. But Gowdy told Horowitz he wants to reschedule his testimony  “as close to the day the report is finalized as is practicable.”
                                                         		 					                                                                                                       Gowdy said the decision to postpone is based on “the representations” in an April 23 letter from Horowitz.


The developments suggest Horowitz is still working to complete his  review of the FBI and DOJ's handling of the Clinton case. Sources  familiar with the review have told Fox News that Horowitz has continued  to pursue new leads and witnesses in recent weeks.  
                                                                                                                                     During a speech Friday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he expects Horowitz’s review will be finalized soon.
                                                                                                                                                                       “Within the next few weeks, I anticipate that our  inspector general will complete a comprehensive, fair and nonpartisan  report that answers many questions about how the Department of Justice  handled a high-profile investigation during the last presidential  campaign,” Rosenstein said. “We will learn from it, and our Department  will do better in the future.”

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...tics+-+Text%29

----------


## Swordsmyth

Two  FBI officials who have faced scrutiny in recent months resigned from  the bureau on Friday, sources familiar with their departures have  confirmed to CNN.Lisa  Page, who served as an FBI lawyer and close adviser to former Deputy  Director Andrew McCabe, voluntarily resigned Friday, a source close to  Page told CNN. 
Page came under increasing attack after her text messages with FBI special agent Peter Strzok  criticizing President Donald Trump came to light last winter. She  briefly served on special counsel Robert Mueller's team last summer  before returning to her duties at the FBI.
The text messages between Strzok and her became fodder for the President and Republican lawmakers who leveled accusations that some members of the FBI working on the Russia probe are biased against Trump. 
James  A. Baker, the former general counsel for the FBI and one of former FBI  Director James Comey's closest advisers, also resigned Friday, according  to a source familiar with Baker's departure. A second source familiar  with Baker's thinking said his departure was unrelated to Page's  resignation and that hers came as a surprise to him.

More at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/polit...-+Top+Stories)

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Two  FBI officials who have faced scrutiny in recent months resigned from  the bureau on Friday, sources familiar with their departures have  confirmed to CNN.Lisa  Page, who served as an FBI lawyer and close adviser to former Deputy  Director Andrew McCabe, voluntarily resigned Friday, a source close to  Page told CNN. 
> Page came under increasing attack after her text messages with FBI special agent Peter Strzok  criticizing President Donald Trump came to light last winter. She  briefly served on special counsel Robert Mueller's team last summer  before returning to her duties at the FBI.
> The text messages between Strzok and her became fodder for the President and Republican lawmakers who leveled accusations that some members of the FBI working on the Russia probe are biased against Trump. 
> James  A. Baker, the former general counsel for the FBI and one of former FBI  Director James Comey's closest advisers, also resigned Friday, according  to a source familiar with Baker's departure. A second source familiar  with Baker's thinking said his departure was unrelated to Page's  resignation and that hers came as a surprise to him.
> 
> More at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/polit...-+Top+Stories)


May 4 2018 20:47:29 (EST)
                            Q                           !2jsTvXXmXs
64

                       Justice_1.jpg 


 	 		 			 			 				                          Apr 27 2018 22:40:01 (EST)
                            Q                           !xowAT4Z3VQ
ID: 5086f0
1218147

                                                                                  Focus only on the FBI *[for now]*.
Jim Rybicki, chief of staff and senior counselor - FIRED.
James Baker, general counsel - FIRED.
Andrew McCabe, deputy director - FIRED.
James Comey, director - FIRED.
Bill Priestap, Head of Counterintelligence and Strzok’s boss - Cooperating witness *[power removed]*.
Peter Strzok, Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence - cooperating witness *[power removed]*.
Lisa Page, attorney with the FBI's Office of the General Counsel - cooperating witness *[power removed]*.
Conspiracy?
Think about the above.
Only the above.
Get the picture?
Q 			 		


*
[Updated]*
James Baker - FIRED [reported today - resigned *[false]]* / removed Jan/FIRED 4.21
Lisa Page - FIRED [reported today - resigned *[false]]*
Testimony received. 
Tracking_y.
*[Added]*
Mike Kortan, FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs - FIRED *[cooperating under 'resigned' title]*
Josh Campbell, Special Assistant to James Comey - FIRED
*[DOJ]*
David Laufman, Chief of the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section *[NAT SEC - HRC email invest]* - FIRED/FORCE
John Carlin, Assistant Attorney General – Head of DOJ’s National Security Division - FIRED/FORCE
Sally Yates, Deputy Attorney General & Acting Attorney General - FIRED
Mary McCord, Acting Assistant Attorney General – Acting Head of DOJ’s National Security Division - FIRED/FORCE
Bruce Ohr, Associate Deputy Attorney General – Demoted 2x - cooperating witness *[power removed]*
Rachel Brand, Associate Attorney General – No. 3 official behind Deputy AG Rosenstein - FIRED/FORCE
Cross against House/Senate resignations/final term announcements + CEO departures.
CONSPIRACY?
FAKE NEWS?
THE SWAMP IS BEING DRAINED.
TRUST THE PLAN.
JUSTICE.
Q

----------


## Swordsmyth

Lawyers for the company accused of funding Russia’s election  interference trolls are demanding that special counsel Robert Mueller  turn over reams of information, including the identities of informants,  details of any electronic surveillance, and a list of “each and every  instance” since 1945 in which the U.S. “engaged in operations to  interfere with elections and political processes in any foreign  country.”

More at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia...les?yptr=yahoo

----------


## Swordsmyth

Special  counsel Robert Mueller's office appears to be in an early stalemate in  its efforts to bring a criminal case against Russians allegedly involved  in Moscow's efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. Although  one Russian company indicted by Mueller in February, Concord Management  and Consulting, has US attorneys and a court hearing scheduled, the  special counsel's team hasn't been able to reach the company or its  co-defendants. 
The  Russian government's top legal office wouldn't accept paperwork from US  law enforcement in the case, and the company has already hit back at  Mueller by demanding more evidence and information.
The  tit-for-tat was revealed in a court filing Friday when Mueller's  prosecutors asked to reschedule a hearing about the criminal case  against 13 Russians and associated companies, who allegedly influenced  the election using social media. The hearing was set for May 9.
The  situation shows how difficult it will be for Mueller to bring Russians  to justice for allegedly interfering in the 2016 election.
The  prosecutors said in Friday's filing that they don't know whether one of  the companies indicted alongside the Russians was served with a summons  in the case.
Mueller's team has  tried to reach the Russians, first with the summons delivered to the  office of the prosecutor general of Russia on March 20. They have also  tried to reach the Russians through the power of international treaties.  The Russian law enforcement office declined to accept the summonses, US  prosecutors said.  
"To the  government's knowledge, no further steps have been taken within Russia  to effectuate service," prosecutors told the judge in DC federal court  on Friday.

More at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/polit...NN+-+Politics)

----------


## Swordsmyth

*The FBI is refusing to pursue work-related text messages and emails sent on the personal devices of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page*  - the FBI "lovebirds" discovered to harbor extreme political bias for  Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump while actively involved in  cases against each candidate during the 2016 US election. Clinton was of  course exonerated by the FBI despite overwhelming evidence of criminal  conduct, while Trump's entire presidency has been tainted by the spectre  of unproven Russian collusion.

  Over 50,000 text messages between Strzok and Page were discovered by  the Department of Justice's internal watchdog, the Office of Inspector  General (OIG), leading to their removal from special counsel Robert  Mueller's Russia investigation - which has since devolved into trying to  embarrass the President over allegedly paying a porn star not to  discuss consensual sex. Of note, Page *tendered her resignation* on Friday.
  In a Wednesday letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director  Christopher Wray said that the FBI was not "obligated" to collect all  communications between employees, and would not be pursuing  communications Strzok and Page sent to each other on their personal  devices.

  In response, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) *went nuclear* - reminding Wray in a Friday letter cc'd to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that "*Although,  as your letter notes, the FBI is not "obligated" to collect all  communications between employees, it is obligated to collect and  preserve federal records."* 
  Grassley goes on to note that previously released text messages between Strzok and Page "*show  substantial reason to believe government work was performed on  non-government systems during the course of a high-profile  investigation,"* and that those communications could prove vital to the Committee's investigation.
 The work-related communications on nongovernment systems *could shed more light on how the FBI handled the Clinton investigation and would constitute federal records* that the FBI would be obligated to retrieve and preserve under the Federal Records Act. -_Sen. Grassley to FBI Director Wray_The letter then provides several examples *in which Strzok and Page explicitly referred to exchanging work-related information over their personal devices.*
  "For example, in two text messages Strzok said to Page:"
 *Gmailed you two drafts of what I’m thinking of sending Bill*, would appreciate your thoughts. Second (more recent) is updated so you can skip the first.
  ...
  Yep. Sent something to your gmail, *work-related*. Think I’m going to pull here and send to Kortan…."In another text message, Strzok and Page appear to use the encrypted  iMessage application on their personal Apple devices to discuss  work-related material:"
 Strzok: *Want to imsg it to me, or want to do it in person?*
  Page: It’s not that sensitive.
  Strzok: Ok. *You can imsg just for convenience of typing*, too, if you want
  ...
  Strzok: And I have no good, awful, sh*tty terrible (work) news. *I can’t say it here, and you can’t share with Andy (yet)*. I’m upset.
  Page: *Can you share it on imsg?*
  Strzok: *Yes just sent[.]8*Grassley then excoriates the FBI - comparing Strzok and Page's use of  personal devices for work purposes to Hillary Clinton's mishandling of  classified information on her personal server *- which Strzok and Page were investigating*. 
  "Under 18 U.S.C. § 2071, it is illegal to willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove, or destroy a federal record. *Secretary  Clinton alienated thousands of federal records when she used a  nongovernment server and email for official work, many of which were  deleted rather than returned to the State Department when the Department  requested them. Ironically, as FBI employees tasked with  investigating Clinton’s similar conduct, Strzok and Page appear to have  used nongovernment systems for official work as well.* This  Committee has yet to receive a satisfactory explanation as to why the  FBI apparently let Secretary Clinton off the hook for multiple § 2071  violations. *It is disturbing that even at this late date, and  with all the litigation surrounding Secretary Clinton’s use of a private  email server for official business, the FBI seems similarly  uninterested in even attempting to retrieve federal records of its own  employees that appear to have been alienated as well*."
  Grassley then asks three questions of Wray, noting that he expects the response to be *unclassified:*

*Why has the FBI not requested from Ms. Page or Mr.  Strzok any official work-related material from their personal devices  and email accounts?**Why has the FBI not conducted searches of non-FBI-issued communications devices or non-FBI email accounts* associated with Mr. Strzok or Ms. Page for official work-related material?The FBI’s May 3, 2018, response letter also failed to answer  questions 1-5, 8, and 11. Please provide answers and the requested  documentation by the deadline.




More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...y-goes-nuclear

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Lawyers for the company accused of funding Russia’s election  interference trolls are demanding that special counsel Robert Mueller  turn over reams of information, including the identities of informants,  details of any electronic surveillance, and a list of “each and every  instance” since 1945 in which the U.S. “engaged in operations to  interfere with elections and political processes in any foreign  country.”
> 
> More at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia...les?yptr=yahoo


_Politico'_s Gerstein notes that by defending against the charges, “*Concord  could force prosecutors to turn over discovery about how the case was  assembled as well as evidence that might undermine the prosecution’s  theories*.”
  In a mad scramble to put the brakes on the case, *Mueller's team tried to say that Concord never formally accepted the court summons related to the case*, wrapping themselves in a "cloud of confusion" as _Powerline_ puts  it. “Until the Court has an opportunity to determine if Concord was  properly served, it would be inadvisable to conduct an initial  appearance and arraignment at which important rights will be  communicated and a plea entertained.”
*The Russians hit back against Mueller's attempt to delay* - filing a response on Friday to let the court know that “*[Concord]  voluntarily appeared through counsel as provided for in [the Federal  Rules of Criminal Procedure], and further intends to enter a plea of not  guilty*. [Concord] has not sought a limited appearance nor has it moved to quash the summons. As such, *the briefing sought by the Special Counsel’s motion is pettifoggery.*”

*And the Judge agreed*...
 A federal judge has *rejected special counsel Robert Mueller’s  request to delay the first court hearing in a criminal case charging  three Russian companies and 13 Russian citizens* with using social media and other means to foment strife among Americans in advance of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
  In a brief order Saturday evening, *U.S. District Court Judge  Dabney Friedrich offered no explanation for her decision to deny a  request prosecutors made Friday to put off the scheduled Wednesday  arraignment for Concord Management and Consulting, one of the three  firms charged in the case*. -PoliticoIn other words, Mueller was just denied the opportunity to kick the  can down the road, and will likely be forced to produce the requested  evidence *or withdraw the indictment*, potentially jeopardizing the PR aspect of the entire "Trump collusion" probe.  

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...play-out-court

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## Swordsmyth

*House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes said  Sunday he will be pushing to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in  contempt this week for not complying with a subpoena.*
 .@DevinNunes: We have to move quickly to hold AG Jeff Sessions in contempt, and that’s what I’m going to press for this week pic.twitter.com/QsPdcrVSwq
 — FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 6, 2018The California Republican said his committee sent a letter requesting  classified information regarding its probe into FISA abuses and  counterintelligence investigations, including the targeting of Americans  like former Trump campaign official Carter Page, but it was ignored.
 After attempting to subpoena the classified information last week, Mr. Nunes discovered the Justice Department will not comply.
 “We have to move quickly to hold the Attorney General of the United  States in contempt and that’s what I want to press for this week,” Mr.  Nunes told Fox News on Sunday.

More at: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ions-contempt/

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## Swordsmyth

FBI  and national intelligence officials warned the White House last week  that information requested by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes  could put a top-secret intelligence source at risk, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.The  Post, citing multiple individuals familiar with the interaction and the  role of the intelligence source, reported that top White House  officials, with President Donald Trump's approval, opted to support a  decision to withhold the information and were persuaded that handing  over Department of Justice documents "could risk lives by potentially  exposing the source." The newspaper reported that the person is a US  citizen who has been a source of intelligence to both the CIA and the  FBI.  
According to the  report, "information developed by the intelligence source" has been  turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, though it  is not known whether Trump was aware of that fact. 

More at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/09/polit...-+Most+Recent)

----------


## Swordsmyth

House  Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and fellow GOP committee  member Trey Gowdy have been invited to the Justice Department for a  classified briefing Thursday about the latest document request related  to the Russia investigation, according to a source with knowledge of the  matter.Talks  between the Justice Department and Nunes have been intensifying over the  last day as the two sides try to cut a deal and avoid a standoff that  could lead to House Republicans ultimately pursuing contempt charges  against Attorney General Jeff Sessions. 
The  White House, which has thus far sided with the Justice Department over  Nunes, has also been involved in the talks, multiple sources say. Deputy  Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and another top Justice Department  official were seen leaving the White House on Tuesday evening.
Nunes and Rosenstein also discussed the matter over the phone Tuesday evening, according to sources briefed on the matter. 

More at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/09/polit...-+Most+Recent)

----------


## Swordsmyth

A government watchdog group released new emails  on Thursday that revealed former FBI Director James Comey seemingly  coordinated his testimony last year before the Senate Intelligence  Committee with special counsel Robert Mueller.
 Top-level FBI  officials advised Comey to "consult" with Mueller before testifying in  front of any congressional committees regarding the Trump administration  firing him as FBI Director and alleged Russian meddling in the 2016  presidential election. Journalist Sara Carter notes:
 It  is the first time evidence reveals there was coordination between the  Special Counsel and Comey in the long drawn out controversial Mueller  investigation. Shortly after Comey was fired, his then Chief of Staff James  Rybicki sent an email to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI Deputy  Director David L. Bowdich, former FBI General Counsel James A. Baker,  and others that said:
 Please see a DRAFT response to Director Comey (below). I will hold pending further direction….
 Director:
 In  response to your emails below we have consulted with executive  management here, including the General Counsel, and recommend the  following:

That your counsel convey any acceptance or declinations to invitations to testify directly to the Committees.That your counsel consult with Special Counsel Mueller to determine the timing of any such testimony and,The  Office of General Counsel stands ready to discuss with you in  consultation with the Department of Justice and the Special Counsel,  institutional privileges or prerogatives that may be presented by any  such testimony.Judicial Watch reported that  sources have indicated that Comey's "opening statement and subsequent  testimony were coordinated with Mueller."
 Comey revealed at the  hearing that he intentionally leaked his memos that allegedly documented  his interactions with Trump, which contained classified information so  that a special counsel would be appointed.

 "I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter," Comey said  during his testimony. "Didn't do it myself for a variety of reasons. I  asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a  special counsel. I asked a close friend to do it."
 Weighing in on the newly released emails, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton slammed Comey for his actions.
 "These  documents show that James Comey, who was fired by the president,  nevertheless had easy, friendly access to the FBI as he prepped his  infamous anti-Trump testimony to the Senate," Fitton said. "This  collusion led to Comey’s attacking President Trump and misusing FBI  records as part of a vendetta against the president."

https://www.dailywire.com/news/30491...&utm_content=1

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## Swordsmyth

On Tuesday, the _Washington Post_ reported that Nunes was denied access to the information on the grounds that it "*could risk lives by potentially exposing the source, a U.S. citizen who has provided intelligence to the CIA and FBI.*"
  After the White House caved to Rosenstein and Nunes was barred from seeing the documents, it also emerged that *this same intelligence had already been shared with Special Counsel Robert Mueller* as part of his investigation into alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 US election.
  On Wednesday afternoon, however, news emerged that Nunes and House  Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) would receive a classified Thursday briefing at the DOJ on the documents. This is, to put it lightly, incredibly significant.
*Why? Because it appears that the FBI may have had a mole embedded in the Trump campaign*. 
  In a bombshell op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Kimberly Strassel  shares a few key insights about recent developments. Perhaps we should  start with the ending and let you take it from there. Needless to say  Strassel's claims, if true, would have wide ranging implications for the  CIA, FBI, DOJ and former Obama administration officials.
*Strassel concludes:* 
 *"I believe I know the name of the informant, but my  intelligence sources did not provide it to me and refuse to confirm it.  It would therefore be irresponsible to publish it."*_Authored by Kimberley Strassel, op-ed via The Wall Street Journal,_
*About That FBI ‘Source’*
  Did the bureau engage in outright spying against the 2016 Trump campaign?
  The Department of Justice lost its latest battle with Congress  Thursday when it allowed House Intelligence Committee members to view  classified documents about a top-secret intelligence source that was  part of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign. Even without  official confirmation of that source’s name, the news so far holds some  stunning implications.
  Among them is that the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of  Investigation outright hid critical information from a congressional  investigation. In a Thursday press conference, Speaker Paul Ryan bluntly  noted that Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes’s request for details on  this secret source was “wholly appropriate,” “completely within the  scope” of the committee’s long-running FBI investigation, and “something  that probably should have been answered a while ago.” Translation: The  department knew full well it should have turned this material over to  congressional investigators last year, but instead deliberately  concealed it.
  House investigators nonetheless sniffed out a name, and Mr. Nunes in  recent weeks issued a letter and a subpoena demanding more details.  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s response was to double  down—accusing the House of “extortion” and delivering a speech in which  he claimed that “declining to open the FBI’s files to review” is a  constitutional “duty.” Justice asked the White House to back its  stonewall. And it even began spinning that daddy of all superspook  arguments—that revealing any detail about this particular asset could  result in “loss of human lives.”
  This is desperation, and it strongly suggests that whatever is in these files is going to prove very uncomfortable to the FBI.
  The bureau already has some explaining to do. Thanks to the  Washington Post’s unnamed law-enforcement leakers, we know Mr. Nunes’s  request deals with a “top secret intelligence source” of the FBI and  CIA, who is a U.S. citizen and who was involved in the Russia collusion  probe. When government agencies refer to sources, they mean people who  appear to be average citizens but use their profession or contacts to  spy for the agency. Ergo, we might take this to mean that the FBI  secretly had a person on the payroll who used his or her non-FBI  credentials to interact in some capacity with the Trump campaign.
  This would amount to spying, and it is hugely disconcerting. It would  also be a major escalation from the electronic surveillance we already  knew about, which was bad enough. Obama political appointees rampantly  “unmasked” Trump campaign officials to monitor their conversations,  while the FBI played dirty with its surveillance warrant against Carter  Page, failing to tell the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that  its supporting information came from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Now  we find it may have also been rolling out human intelligence, John Le  Carré style, to infiltrate the Trump campaign.
  Which would lead to another big question for the FBI: When? The  bureau has been doggedly sticking with its story that a tip in July 2016  about the drunken ramblings of George Papadopoulos launched its  counterintelligence probe. Still, the players in this affair—the FBI,  former Director Jim Comey, the Steele dossier authors—have been  suspiciously vague on the key moments leading up to that launch date.  When precisely was the Steele dossier delivered to the FBI? When  precisely did the Papadopoulos information come in?
And to the point, when precisely was this human source operating?  Because if it was prior to that infamous Papadopoulos tip, then the FBI  isn’t being straight. It would mean the bureau was spying on the Trump  campaign prior to that moment. And that in turn would mean that the FBI  had been spurred to act on the basis of something other than a junior  campaign aide’s loose lips.
  We also know that among the Justice Department’s stated reasons for  not complying with the Nunes subpoena was its worry that to do so might  damage international relationships. This suggests the “source” may be  overseas, have ties to foreign intelligence, or both. That’s notable,  given the highly suspicious role foreigners have played in this  escapade. It was an Australian diplomat who reported the Papadopoulos  conversation. Dossier author Christopher Steele is British, used to work  for MI6, and retains ties to that spy agency as well as to a network of  former spooks. It was a former British diplomat who tipped off Sen.  John McCain to the dossier. How this “top secret” source fits into this  puzzle could matter deeply.
  I believe I know the name of the informant, but my intelligence  sources did not provide it to me and refuse to confirm it. It would  therefore be irresponsible to publish it. But what is clear is that  we’ve barely scratched the surface of the FBI’s 2016 behavior, and the  country will never get the straight story until President Trump moves to  declassify everything possible. It’s time to rip off the Band-Aid.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...trump-campaign

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Paul Sperry made another titillating tweet Friday morning, in which he writes:*
  "DEVELOPING: A major new front is opening in the political espionage  scandal. In summer 2016, Brennan with his FBI liaison Strzok, along with  help from Kerry @ State, were trying to set *Russian espionage traps* for minor players in the Trump campaign through cultivated intel assets"

 DEVELOPING: A major new front is  opening in the political espionage scandal. In summer 2016, Brennan with  his FBI liaison Strzok, along with help from Kerry @ State, were trying  to set Russian espionage traps for minor players in the Trump campaign  through cultivated intel assets
 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) May 11, 2018As we reported in March,  Nunes and the House Intelligence Committee was investigating the Obama  State Department under John Kerry for its involvement in the  dissemination of the unverified "Steele Dossier," along with a second  anti-Trump dossier written by Clinton confidant Cody Shearer. Nunes  referred to this as "Phase 2" of his committee's probe into Russian  influence in the 2016 US election. 
  Nunes is also investigating whether former CIA director John Brennan  perjured himself during Congressional testimony about the Steele  Dossier. As Paul Sperry wrote in February:
 In his May 2017 testimony before the intelligence panel, *Brennan  emphatically denied the dossier factored into the intelligence  community’s publicly released conclusion last year that Russia meddled  in the 2016 election* “to help Trump’s chances of victory.”
*Brennan also swore that he did not know who commissioned the anti-Trump research document*  (excerpt here), even though senior national security and  counterintelligence officials at the Justice Department and FBI knew the  previous year that the dossier was funded by the Hillary Clinton  campaign. -_RealClear Investigations_So, if Sperry's tweet is correct, *the Obama State department, CIA, and FBI conspired to set "Russian espionage traps" for minor players in the Trump campaign*, _and_ the FBI had a *mole within the Trump campaign*, that giant sucking sound you might hear is nothing short of the US Intelligence community starting to implode.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-hunt-fbi-mole

----------


## Swordsmyth

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote Friday to the FBI  and Department of Justice, pushing the agencies for answers about the  interview of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, citing an  “apparently contradiction” between what former FBI Director James Comey  said to the committee, and what he has said since.

Grassley’s letter requests transcripts of intercepted calls, any FBI  summaries, the FBI agents notes of their interview with Flynn by May 25.  It also requests an interview with one of the agents who conducted the  interview with Flynn.
                                                                                                                                     Grassley says that due to the guilty plea, “the  Committee’s oversight interest in the underlying documents requested  more than a year ago now outweighs any legitimate executive branch  interest in withholding it.” 

                                                                                                                                     “So too does the Committee’s interest in learning the  FBI agents’ actual assessments of their interview of Lt. Gen. Flynn,  particularly given the apparent contradiction between what  then-Directory Comey told us in March 2017 and what he now claims,” he  says.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...tics+-+Text%29

----------


## Swordsmyth

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is getting to the bottom of things, and *some think he's laying out a path to exonerate former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn* - who pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI over his contacts with former Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
  It has been suggested that the FBI set Flynn up, and his admission of  guilt could have been to avoid sure financial ruin trying to fight the  Special Counsel. Others say Flynn was protecting his son, Michael Flynn  Jr., who served as his father's aide for his consulting company, Flynn  Intel Group.

  In a very direct Friday letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod  Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Grassley gets straight to  the point - going after former FBI Director Comey's blatant  contradiction between what he told *two* Congressional committees - which was that the FBI agents who interviewed Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn *"saw nothing that led them to believe [he] was lying."* - and what Comey told _Fox News_ host Bret Baier - the complete opposite of his Congressional testimony.
  Grassley's letter reads: 
 Director Comey specifically told us during that briefing that the FBI  agents who interviewed Lt. General Michael Flynn, “saw nothing that led  them to believe [he was] lying.” Our own Committee staff’s notes  indicate that Mr. Comey said the “agents saw no change in his demeanor  or tone that would say he was being untruthful.”  *Contrary to his public statements during his current book tour denying any memory of those comments*, then-Director *Comey led us to believe*  during that briefing that the agents who interviewed Flynn did not  believe he intentionally lied about his conversation with the Ambassador  and *that the Justice Department was unlikely to prosecute him for false statements made in that interview*. Now compare to what Comey said on _Fox_ while promoting his book, _A Higher Loyalty_: 
 *Baier*: Did you tell lawmakers that *FBI agents didn't believe former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was lying intentionally to investigators*?
*Comey*: *No*. And I saw that in the media. I don't know what - maybe someone misunderstood something I said.* I didn't believe that, and didn't say that.*Grassley's Friday letter also notes that "*The Department has withheld the Flynn-related documents since our initial bipartisan request last year*," referring to the FBI's materials from the Flynn interview. 
  Then comes the bottom line: 
 "*the Committee’s oversight interest in the underlying  documents requested more than a year ago now outweighs any legitimate  executive branch interest in withholding it*. *So too  does the Committee’s interest in learning the FBI agents’ actual  assessments of their interview of Lt. Gen. Flynn, particularly given the  apparent contradiction between what then-Directory [sic] Comey told us  in March 2017 and what he now claims."*In other words, *the DOJ is out of excuses* - and in  light of the Comey contradictions - including the fact that he gave  Congress the impression Flynn wasn't going to be prosecuted, *it's clear that the DOJ has been hiding key facts that would significantly weaken the Flynn case.*  
  Grassley then *demands* the following no later than *May 25, 2018*: 
 1. "The information requested in our February 15, 2017 letter, *including the transcripts of the reportedly intercepted calls and any FBI reports summarizing them*; and"
  2. *The FBI agents’ 302s memorializing their interview of Flynn and 1A supporting docs, including the agents’ notes.**Then it gets really interesting*
  Grassley demands *a transcribed interview with Special Agent Joe Pientka - who he reveals to be the second FBI agent that interviewed Flynn.* Prior  to Friday, it was only known that (Trump-hating) Special Agent Peter  Strzok was in the Flynn interview, while Pientka's name was kept  nonpublic. 
  Pientka can now testify to *whether or not McCabe had him alter his 302 form*, which would send things nuclear.  Given the DOJ's stonewalling to this point, it will be interesting to  see how they respond to Grassley's new demands. Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein  has likened Congressional efforts to pry information from the agency  "extortion." 
*Clues to piece things together*
  Speaking to the suggestion that the 302 forms were altered is an analysis by Sundance of _Conservative Tree House_, who says "it's likely Chairman Grassley outed the name [Pientka's] for a reason." (h/t _American Thinker)_
 Regarding the "widely held belief" that  Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe told the FBI agents (Strzok and  Pientka) to shape their FBI reports of the interview (FD-302's) to  assist a "Flynn lied" narrative…. evidence of that is within the most recent text messages between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok:
  ♦January 23, 2017, the day before the Flynn interview, Lisa Page  says: "I can feel my heart beating harder, I'm so stressed about all the  ways THIS has the potential to go fully off the rails." Weird!
  ♦Strzok replies: "I know. I just talked with John, we're getting  together as soon as I get in to finish that write up for Andy (MCCABE)  this morning." Strzok agrees with Page about being stressed that "THIS"  could go off the rails…(Strzok's meeting w Flynn the next day)
  ♦Why would Page & Strzok be stressed about "THIS" potentially going off the rails if everything was by the book?
  BECAUSE IT WASN'T!
  It was a conspiracy to entrap *Gen Mike Flynn*. All Strzok needed was an excuse to speak w Flynn. Everything in the 302 was likely fabricated.
  ♦February 14th, 2017, there is another note about the FBI reports filed from the interview.
  Peter Strzok asks Lisa Page if FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is OK with his report: "Also, is Andy good with F-302?"
  Lisa Page replies: "Launch on F 302".
  And he reminds us that previously, on September 10, 2016, Strzok  texted about withholding 302s that he called "VERY inflammatory"
*"is Andy good with F-302?" Strzok asks page,* weeks  after they're stressing out about something going "off the  rails."  While not conclusive evidence that the 302's were altered, at  least points to some sort of crisis management within the agency in  relation to recent events. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...lynn-302-forms

----------


## Swordsmyth

But there’s one episode even  Mueller’s former law enforcement comrades — and independent ethicists —  acknowledge raises legitimate legal issues and a possible conflict of  interest in his overseeing the Russia election probe.

In 2009, when Mueller ran the FBI, the bureau asked Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska  to spend millions of his own dollars funding an FBI-supervised  operation to rescue a retired FBI agent, Robert Levinson, captured in  Iran while working for the CIA in 2007. 
Yes,  that’s the same Deripaska who has surfaced in Mueller’s current  investigation and who was recently sanctioned by the Trump  administration.

The  Levinson mission is confirmed by more than a dozen participants inside  and outside the FBI, including Deripaska, his lawyer, the Levinson  family and a retired agent who supervised the case. Mueller was kept  apprised of the operation, officials told me.
Some aspects of Deripaska’s help were chronicled in a 2016 book by reporter Barry Maier, but sources provide extensive new information about his role.

They  said FBI agents courted Deripaska in 2009 in a series of secret hotel  meetings in Paris, Vienna, Budapest and Washington. Agents persuaded the  aluminum industry magnate to underwrite the mission. The Russian  billionaire insisted the operation neither involve nor harm his  homeland. 

“We knew he was  paying for his team helping us, and that probably ran into the  millions,” a U.S. official involved in the operation confirmed.

One agent who helped court Deripaska was Andrew McCabe, the recently fired FBI deputy director who played a seminal role starting the Trump-Russia case, multiple sources confirm. 

Deripaska’s  lawyer says the Russian ultimately spent $25 million assembling a  private search and rescue team that worked with Iranian contacts under  the FBI’s watchful eye. Photos and videos indicating Levinson was alive  were uncovered.

Then in  fall 2010, the operation secured an offer to free Levinson. The deal was  scuttled, however, when the State Department become uncomfortable with  Iran’s terms, according to Deripaska’s lawyer and the Levinson family.

FBI officials confirmed State hampered their efforts.

“We  tried to turn over every stone we could to rescue Bob, but every time  we started to get close, the State Department seemed to always get in  the way,” said Robyn Gritz, the retired agent who supervised the  Levinson case in 2009, when Deripaska first cooperated, but who left for  another position in 2010 before the Iranian offer arrived. “I kept  Director Mueller and Deputy Director Pistole informed of the various  efforts and operations, and they offered to intervene with State, if  necessary.”

FBI officials  ended the operation in 2011, concerned that Deripaska’s Iranian contacts  couldn’t deliver with all the U.S. infighting. Levinson was never  found; his whereabouts remain a mystery, 11 years after he disappeared.

“Deripaska’s  efforts came very close to success,” said David McGee, a former federal  prosecutor who represents Levinson’s family. “We were told at one point  that the terms of Levinson’s release had been agreed to by Iran and the  U.S. and included a statement by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointing a finger away from Iran. At the last minute Secretary Clinton decided not to make the agreed-on statement.”

The  State Department declined comment, and a spokesman for Clinton did not  offer comment. Mueller’s spokesman, Peter Carr, declined to answer  questions. As did McCabe.

The  FBI had three reasons for choosing Deripaska for a mission worthy of a  spy novel. First, his aluminum empire had business in Iran. Second, the  FBI wanted a foreigner to fund the operation because spending money in  Iran might violate U.S. sanctions and other laws. Third, agents knew  Deripaska had been banished since 2006 from the United States by State  over reports he had ties to organized crime and other nefarious  activities. He denies the allegations, and nothing was ever proven in  court.

The FBI rewarded  Deripaska for his help. In Fall 2009, according to U.S. entry records,  Deripaska visited Washington on a rare law enforcement parole visa. And  since 2011 he has been granted entry at least eight times on a  diplomatic passport, even though he doesn’t work for the Russian Foreign  Ministry.

Former FBI officials confirm they arranged the access. 

Deripaska  said in a statement through Adam Waldman, his American lawyer, that FBI  agents told him State’s reasons for blocking his U.S. visa were “merely  a pretext.” 

“The FBI said  they had undertaken a careful background check, and if there was any  validity to the State Department smears, they would not have reached out  to me for assistance,” the Russian said.

Then, over the past two years, evidence emerged tying him to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, the first defendant charged by Mueller’s Russia probe with money laundering and illegal lobbying.

Deripaska  once hired Manafort as a political adviser and invested money with him  in a business venture that went bad. Deripaska sued Manafort, alleging  he stole money.

Mueller’s indictment of Manafort makes no mention of Deripaska, even though prosecutors have evidence that Manafort contemplated inviting his old Russian client  for a 2016 Trump campaign briefing. Deripaska said he never got the  invite and investigators have found no evidence it occurred. There’s no  public evidence Deripaska had anything to do with election meddling.

The U.S. government in April imposed sanctions on Deripaska,  one of several prominent Russians targeted to punish Vladimir Putin —  using the same sort of allegations that State used from 2006 to 2009.  Yet, between those two episodes, Deripaska seemed good enough for the  FBI to ask him to fund that multimillion-dollar rescue mission and  to  allow him into the country eight times.

I  was alerted to Deripaska’s past FBI relationship by U.S. officials who  wondered whether the Russian’s conspicuous absence from Mueller’s  indictments might be related to his FBI work.

They aren’t the only ones.

Harvard  law professor Alan Dershowitz told me he believes Mueller has a  conflict of interest because his FBI previously accepted financial help  from a Russian that is, at the very least, a witness in the current  probe.

“The real question  becomes whether it was proper to leave him (Deripaska) out of the  Manafort indictment, and whether that omission was to avoid the kind of  transparency that is really required by the law,” Dershowitz said.

Melanie  Sloan, a former Clinton Justice Department lawyer and longtime ethics  watchdog, told me a “far more significant issue” is whether the earlier  FBI operation was even legal: “It’s possible the bureau’s arrangement  with Mr. Deripaska violated the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the  government from accepting voluntary services.”   

George  Washington University constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley  agreed: “If the operation with Deripaska contravened federal law, this  figure could be viewed as a potential embarrassment for Mueller. The  question is whether he could implicate Mueller in an impropriety.” 

More at: http://thehill.com/opinion/white-hou...ssian-oligarch

----------


## Swordsmyth

This week, one of the Russian companies accused by Special Counsel  Robert Mueller of funding a conspiracy to meddle in the 2016 U.S.  presidential election was *revealed in court to not have existed during the time period alleged by Mueller's team of prosecutors*, according to a lawyer representing the defendant.

  U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey asked Eric Dubelier, one of  two lawyers representing the accused Russian company, Concord Management  and Consulting LLC, if he was representing a third company listed in  Mueller's indictment.
 _"What about Concord Catering?"_ Harvey asked Dubelier.
_"The government makes an allegation that there's some  association. I don't mean for you to – do you represent them, or not,  today? And are we arraigning them as well?"_
  "We're not," Dubelier responded.
*"And the reason for that, Your Honor, is I think we're  dealing with a situation of the government having indicted the  proverbial ham sandwich."*
*"That company didn't exist as a legal entity during the time period alleged by the government,"* Dubelier continued.
  "If at some later time they show me that it did exist, we would  probably represent them. But for purposes of today, no, we do not."The term "indict a ham sandwich" is believed to have originated from a 1985 report in the New York Daily News when  New York Chief Judge Sol Wachtler told the news publication that  government prosecutors have so much influence over grand juries that  they could get them to "indict a ham sandwich."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ranscripts-say

----------


## timosman

At least we know the system works - a ham sandwich can be indicted. Actual perpetrators - not so much.

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Wall Street Journal continues to counter the liberal mainstream media's anti-Trump-ness  with today's op-ed from Steven Calabresi, who served as a special  assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese (1985-87) and a law clerk to  Justice Antonin Scalia (1987-88). Calabresi proclaims that Mueller's  investigation has crossed the legal line, explaining that_ it's unconstitutional under 'Morrison vs Olson' - the decision, not the dissent..._

_Via The Wall Street Journal,_
  Judge T.S. Ellis has expressed skepticism about the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.* “What we don’t want in this country is... anyone with unfettered power,”* Judge  Ellis, who is to preside over the trial of former Trump campaign  manager Paul Manafort, told prosecutor Deputy Solicitor General Michael  Dreeben May 4.* “So it’s unlikely you’re going to persuade me that the special prosecutor has unlimited powers.”*
  Judge Ellis is right to be skeptical. *Mr. Mueller’s investigation has crossed a constitutional line, for reasons the U.S. Supreme Court made clear in the 1988 case Morrison v. Olson.*  That case is best known for Justice Antonin Scalia’s powerful lone  dissent arguing that the post-Watergate independent counsel statute was  unconstitutional. But *Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s opinion  for the court, while upholding the statute, set forth limits that the  Mueller investigation has exceeded.*
  At issue is the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which provides that* “principal officers” must be appointed by the president with the Senate’s consent*.  Rehnquist wrote that independent counsel Alexia Morrison qualified as  an “inferior officer,” not subject to the appointment process, because  her office was “limited in jurisdiction” to “certain federal officials  suspected of certain serious federal crimes.”
  Mr. Mueller, in contrast, is investigating a large number of people  and has already charged defendants with many different kinds of crimes,  including - as in Mr. Manafort’s case - ones unrelated to any  collaboration between the Trump campaign and Russia. *That’s too much power for an inferior officer to have.* Only  a principal officer, such as a U.S. attorney, can behave the way Mr.  Mueller is behaving. Mr. Mueller is much more powerful today than any of  the 96 U.S. attorneys. *He is behaving like a principal officer.*
*Rehnquist’s majority opinion has never been overturned.* In _Edmund v. U.S._ and in _Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Oversight Board,_ the  justices said that an officer cannot be inferior unless he has a boss -  as Mr. Mueller does in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who  appointed him. But that’s not a sufficient condition. *As a  principal officer, Mr. Rosenstein could legally have brought all the  indictments Mr. Mueller has. But he may not delegate that authority to  Mr. Mueller,* any more than President Trump could delegate his veto power to Mr. Rosenstein.

*The Framers struggled long and hard over the Appointments  Clause. For better or worse, they arrived at the process of presidential  nomination with senatorial consent.* The Justice Department’s  Office of Legal Counsel should confirm the analysis set forth above in a  legal opinion to guide Mr. Rosenstein in the exercise of his duties.  Judge Ellis should dismiss the indictment against Mr. Manafort on  Appointments Clause grounds._ All other defendants Mr.  Mueller charges, and witnesses he subpoenas, should challenge the  constitutionality of his actions on Appointments Clause grounds._



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ses-legal-line

----------


## Swordsmyth

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office is trying to block an  investigation into how anonymously sourced accounts of their  investigation leaked to the media, *claiming the leaks don't amount to evidence of illegal grand jury leaks* - which could just as easily come from defense attorneys in the Paul Manafort case or others outside the investigation, reports _Politico._
__
  Mueller's team has asked a federal judge in Virginia to turn down a  request for a hearing on the leaks, requested by attorneys  representing former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
  “*Manafort’s speculative claim of improper conduct falls far  short of the showing necessary to warrant a hearing on potential  violations of [a grand jury secrecy rule] or of his constitutional  rights*,” prosecutors wrote. “*A pretrial hearing on alleged government leaks*, which would itself generate publicity on the very matters that Manafort finds prejudicial, *is unwarranted*.”
 Manafort, who is facing separate criminal cases brought by Mueller in federal court in Washington and Alexandria, Virginia, *filed  a motion late last month complaining that he was unfairly attacked in a  flurry of news reports that appeared to be based on illegal leaks of  grand jury secrets and classified information*.
  In the motion, filed with U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III, *Manafort’s defense said the release of sensitive details about the investigation threatened his ability to get a fair trial*. -_Politico_“By their actions, it is self-evident that the objective of these  government sources was to create unfair prejudice against Mr. Manafort  and thereby deprive him of his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights,”  attorneys Kevin Downing and Thomas Zehnle wrote. “The government’s  investigation, and the criminal charges that ultimately resulted from  it, are the epitome of a party seeking to decide a case in the press and  not the courtroom.”
_Politico_ posits that whether or not Manafort's claim has legal merit, his claim that the leaks have hurt his case *"could bolster his chances of winning a pardon from President Donald Trump,* who has railed against leaks he alleges have emerged from the Mueller investigation." 
  Mueller's team, on the other hand, says that there's no reason to  believe the news accounts identified by Manafort's defense team came  from prosecutors or investigators leaking information that came from a  grand jury.
  “*He cites ten articles, none of which purports to disclose grand jury information*,”  prosecutors wrote in the filing. “Many of the matters reported, if  accurate, would have been known to the defense, to witnesses who were  interviewed or subpoenaed for documents, or to other investigators  examining overlapping issues.”
  Mueller's team suggests *that the leaks could have come from members of Congress or their aides*. 
  “*Multiple accounts note that Manafort was also the subject of ongoing congressional investigations*,” Mueller’s team noted. “References to ‘officials’ or ‘American officials’ in the reports … *could thus be to people who are not subject to [grand jury secrecy] restrictions.*”
  In other words - "Don't look into this, it could have been _anyone_" - including someone on Manafort's team. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-counsel-leaks

----------


## Swordsmyth

Congressional investigators are reviewing 2017 testimony by Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson, who said that "*a human source from inside the Trump organization*" had "*decided to pick up the phone and report something*" to the FBI. 

  Fusion GPS is a Democrat-linked opposition research firm which  produced the infamous anti-Trump "Steele Dossier," compiled from a  series of memos provided by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele and paid  for in part by the Clinton campaign.
  Simpson told Congressional investigators on August 22 that *Steele told him the FBI had corroborated parts of his dossier with "a human source from inside the Trump organization*." 
  As the _Daily Caller_'s  Chuck Ross notes, Fusion's allies quickly began to backpedal from  Simpson's statement, telling news outlets that there was no mole...
 "Instead, he was referring to George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign  adviser whose encounter with an Australian diplomat in May 2016 was  reportedly the catalyst for the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation.  The diplomat, Alexander Downer, reportedly claimed that Papadopoulos  discussed Russian dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton." -_Daily Caller_*That's all out the window now*... 
  In light of last week's bombshell that the DOJ was forced to hand over intelligence to House Intel Committee Chair Devin Nunes which points to a *mole within the Trump campaign,* both House and Senate oversight panels are taking a fresh look at Simpson's testimony about that "human source." 
  In other words - *did Steele tell Simpson about the FBI's alleged mole in the Trump campaign?*
 Was a secret source placed inside the Trump campaign and feeding information to the FBI? @DevinNunes breaks down how we got here pic.twitter.com/NIaspYidtY
 — FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 15, 2018Simpson's lawyer said in a January letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that his initial testimony was accurate.
  Mr. Simpson stands by his testimony,” said Joshua Levy, Fusion's  attorney in the January 18 letter. Levy had been asked in a January 11  letter whether Simpson’s testimony about the whistleblower (and now  potential mole) within the Trump campaign was a mischaracterization, as  news reports claimed.
  “*Glenn Simpson said that in what was closed testimony. Then it became public*.  Now he’s confirmed that he was telling Congress the truth, which is  probably a good idea,” California Rep. Devin Nunes said on “Fox &  Friends” Tuesday. “We believe he was telling the truth. And what we’re  trying to do is get the documents to figure out — did they actually  have, what methods were used to open this counter intelligence  investigation?” 
  “*I think if the campaign was somehow set up, I think that would be a problem*. Right? If they were somehow meetings that occurred and all of this was a setup,” Nunes said, adding. “*Because we have yet to see any credible evidence or intelligence that led to the opening of this investigation*.”

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...rumps-campaign

----------


## TheCount

Oh good; Zerohedge.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Oh good; Zerohedge.


Oh good; The Vampire.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Two former colleagues of ex-CIA Director John Brennan *have  contradicted his claim that the unverified "Steele Dossier" was not part  of the US Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian  interference in the 2016 election*, reports Paul Sperry of _RealClear Investigations_.

  Central to the controversy is a statement by recently retired  National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers, who stated in a  classified letter to Congress that *the anti-Trump memos which made up the dossier did factor in to the IC assessment -* which  was reinforced in a CNN interview by James Clapper, former Director of  National Intelligence who said that the assessment was based on "some of  the substantive content of the dossier," and that the IC was "able to  corroborate" certain dossier allegations. 
 In a March 5, 2018, letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Adm. *Rogers  informed the committee that a two-page summary of the dossier —  described as “the Christopher Steele information” — was “added” as an  “appendix to the ICA draft,”* and that consideration of that appendix was “part of the overall ICA review/approval process.”
*His skepticism of the dossier may explain why the NSA parted  company with other intelligence agencies and cast doubt on one of its  crucial conclusions*: *that Vladimir Putin personally ordered a cyberattack on Hillary Clinton’s campaign to help Donald Trump win the White House.* -_RealClear Investigations_What's more, *Brennan was feeding some of the dossier material to President Obama and passing it off as credible*, reports Sperry.
 “*Brennan put some of the dossier material into the PDB  [presidential daily briefing] for Obama and described it as coming from a  ‘credible source,’ which is how they viewed Steele,”* said the source familiar with the House investigation. "*But they never corroborated his sources.*” -_RCI_
 I'll just leave this here 

3/5/18: Retiring NSA Director Mike Rogers sends classified letter to HPSCI Chair @DevinNunes: https://t.co/bVqEifcStv

4/19/18: @DevinNunes reveals publicly the DJT-Russia investigation wasn't started with "official" intel: https://t.co/xn8R0ctsKB pic.twitter.com/0ymBlGhg2a
 — Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 15, 2018(Of note, some suspect Rogers warned Trump that he was being spied on  shortly after the 2016 US election. You can read that analysis *here*.)

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...radicting-2017

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Justice Department said Tuesday it responded to  demands from Capitol Hill Republicans to turn over documents about  former FBI Director James Comey's law professor friend who last year  released contents of Comey’s memos to the media.
                                                                                                                                                                                          DOJ officials told Fox News the  response was transmitted to Capitol Hill, but it was not immediately  clear what the response was.
                                                                                                                                     The House Oversight Committee told Fox News it did not  receive any documents from the DOJ, but did receive a verbal response  and expected to get the documents by Thursday. 

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...tics+-+Text%29

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to  question top Obama administration intelligence officials behind closed  doors on Wednesday on their explosive assessment that officially accused  Russia of meddling in the 2016 presidential election to boost  then-candidate Donald Trump.
                                                                                                                                                                                          The committee, led by Chairman  Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., invited  former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Central  Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, former National Security  Agenda Director Michael Rogers (who retired earlier this year) and  former FBI Director James Comey.
*DOCUMENTS SUGGEST POSSIBLE COORDINATION BETWEEN CIA, FBI, OBAMA WH AND DEM OFFICIALS EARLY IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE: INVESTIGATORS*
                                                         		 					                                                                                                       Comey, though, plans to skip the closed-door session Wednesday due to a “previously scheduled engagement,” his attorney said.
 		            “This gives staff the month of  August in all likelihood to wrap up our investigation and for staff to  work intensely while we’re out of here and not getting in their hair."
 					 		   				- Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. 					 			                                                                  Comey, who was fired last May, has been on a media  blitz in recent weeks promoting his memoir, “A Higher Loyalty,” in which  he is highly critical of now-President Trump.
                                                                                                                                     Burr and Warner, who are leading the panel in  investigating Russian meddling and coordination with Trump campaign  associates in the 2016 presidential election, hope to wrap up their  probe by the end of summer.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...tics+-+Text%29

----------


## Swordsmyth

Attorneys for an alleged component of Russian trolling efforts during  the 2016 presidential election are demanding that special counsel *Robert Mueller*  be forced to reveal the grand jury instructions used in count one of  the government’s indictment against Concord Management and Consulting  LLC. The nine-page motion (plus supporting documents) filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia relies upon Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e)(3)(E)(ii) which provides:
The court may authorize disclosure—at a time, in a  manner, and subject to any other conditions that it directs—of a  grand-jury matter…at the request of a defendant who shows that a ground  may exist to dismiss the indictment because of a matter that occurred  before the grand jury.
The motion further specifies that Concord Management is requesting a  private “inspection of the legal instructions provided to the grand jury  regarding Count One of the Indictment…in order to determine whether the  instructions provided could support a motion to dismiss Count One of  the Indictment.”
 Concord’s argument is that Mueller failed to include a necessary  knowledge requirement in count one of the indictment against Concord  Management and other Russian entities and therefore, may need to be  dismissed. (A knowledge requirement refers to intent or knowledge of  criminal wrongdoing. Thus, an allegedly offending party would have  knowledge of the criminality they’re alleged to have engaged in.)  The  motion notes, “violations of the relevant federal campaign laws and  foreign agent registration requirements administered by the DOJ and the  FEC require the defendant to have acted ‘willfully,’ a word that does  not appear anywhere in Count One of the Indictment.”


The motion continues, “As such, Count One of the Indictment appears  to be facially invalid because it fails to charge an essential element  of the offense of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impairing,  obstructing and defeating the functions of the FEC and the DOJ, that is,  that the Defendant acted willfully, in this case meaning that Defendant  was aware of the FEC and FARA requirements, agreed to violate those  requirements, and ultimately acted with intent to violate those  requirements.”
 Concord Management’s Monday motion contains at least one reference to  U.S. case law where similar indictments were dismissed because they  failed to adequately track statutory language. In other words, Concord  Management is arguing that Mueller and his army of attorneys charged  Concord Management (and other Russian entities) with a vague-sounding  “crime” that isn’t actually a crime.
 In fact, Concord Management’s motion explicitly says as much,  claiming, “[T]he DOJ never brought any case like the instant Indictment,  that is, an alleged conspiracy by a foreign corporation to ‘interfere’  in a Presidential election by allegedly funding free speech. The obvious  reason for this is that no such crime exists in the federal criminal  code.”

More at: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile...y-instruction/

----------


## goldenequity

I Hereby Demand DOJ Docs

----------


## Raginfridus

wrong topic

----------


## enhanced_deficit

*Are POTUS' Patriotic  stances being used against him?*


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkZkgR0cEa0

----------


## timosman

> Just how many were there?


Officially there are 17, so 25?

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Officially there are 17, so 25?


I'm talking about agents infiltrated into Trump's campaign.

----------


## timosman

> I'm talking about agents infiltrated into Trump's campaign.


You think it's less than 25?

----------


## Swordsmyth

> You think it's less than 25?


I have no idea, where are you getting your numbers?

----------


## timosman

> I have no idea, where are you getting your numbers?


Just a guess.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Officially there are 17, so 25?





> Just a guess.


I meant your "official" number, or is that your "official" guess?

----------


## timosman

> I meant your "official" number, or is that your "official" guess?


My official guess is 25. 17 is the number of intelligence agencies in US.

----------


## timosman



----------


## goldenequity

> Hamburger Halper.


Halper Goes 'Missing'

----------


## milgram

> 


Details are murky under scrutiny

https://www.dailywire.com/news/30960...-ryan-saavedra

----------


## Swordsmyth

The FBI has sent or plans to send letters to Peter Strzok and Lisa  Page "asking them to preserve agency records on their personal accounts  and personal devices and requesting confirmation that they are doing  so," according to the conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch.
 The FBI informed Judicial Watch they would be making the request as a  result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in which the watchdog  was seeking thousands of pages of documents on the personal devices of  the pair which could include emails, chats, text messages, and travel  documents.

More at: http://freebeacon.com/issues/fbi-ask...sonal-devices/

----------


## Swordsmyth

Disobedient Media recently reported on discoveries made by the Forensicator in their report, Media Mishaps: Early Guccifer 2 Coverage.  In our previous coverage of the Forensicator's work, we discussed the  essential role played by the media in ensuring that the Guccifer 2.0  persona received wide recognition by successfully linking Guccifer 2.0’s  documents with the DNC’s claims that Russian state-sponsored hackers  had breached their servers.
This  report will focus on an unreported story:  After the fact, the DNC  quietly changed an important theme in their Russian hacking narrative.  Initially, the DNC passively supported the notion that Guccifer 2.0  stole a copy of a Trump opposition report by penetrating the DNC at the  behest of the Russian state. Then over a year later, an un-named ex-DNC  official tells us that this document in fact came from Podesta’s emails,  not the DNC. This single statement by a DNC official invalidated the  circumstantial evidence that had been used to support the DNC’s Russian  hacking claims, and represents a groundbreaking contradiction that has  gone unobserved by establishment press outlets. 
This  report will also discuss numerous mistakes made by various legacy press  outlets in their obsessive focus on the Russian hacking narrative and  their rush to judgment in the matter.
*A Late (and Quiet) Change in the DNC Russian Hacking Narrative*
In  November 2017, the DNC changed their Russian hacking narrative via  their proxies in the legacy media.  The Associated Press published, _Inside story: How Russians hacked the Democrats’ emails_; *they  cite an anonymous former DNC official who asserts that Guccifer 2.0’s  first document (the Trump opposition report) did not originate in the  DNC as initially reported.* The importance of this contradiction,  combined with earlier allegations of hacking the DNC made by Guccifer  2.0, cannot be overstated.
The Associated Press wrote in November 2017:
_“…There  were signs of dishonesty from the start. The first document Guccifer  2.0 published on June 15 came not from the DNC as advertised but from  Podesta’s inbox, according to a former DNC official who spoke on  condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the  press.”_
By  classifying Guccifer 2.0’s claim to have obtained the Trump Opposition  Report through a breach of the DNC as a sign of dishonesty, _the Associated Press uses the Guccifer 2.0 persona’s widely held claim as an example of contradiction with their new version of the 'official' Russian hacking narrative._  In so doing, the AP makes the hacking allegations entirely nebulous: a  fantasy narrative that can be neither proven nor disproven but easily  edited and rearranged when convenient. Incredibly, *the AP’s article  also contradicts the claims made by the DNC themselves, and so-called  papers of record, including the Washington Post.* 
By returning to the genesis of the Russian hacking narrative, we find that the AP's November report runs contrary to the DNC's initial claims, as reported by The Washington Post, in an article titled, _Russian Government Hackers Penetrated DNC, Stole Opposition Research On_ _Trump_.  When reviewing this early history of the matter, it becomes clear that  it is logically impossible to separate the Guccifer 2.0 persona from the  allegations of a Kremlin-backed hack of the DNC. Critical statements in  that initial report by the Washington Post are highlighted below for emphasis:
_“Russian  government hackers penetrated the computer network of the Democratic  National Committee and gained access to the entire database of  opposition research on GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump,  according to committee officials and security experts who responded to  the breach…

…[Fancy Bear] broke into the network in late April and targeted the  opposition research files. It was this breach that set off the alarm.  The hackers stole two files,[Shawn] Henry said.”_
By  taking this later (2017) stance, the Associated Press contradicts the  "official" Russian hacking narrative involving Guccifer 2.0 (as implied  by the DNC’s own security firm) and which had, until that point, been  characterized by the corporate press as Russian-hacking-gospel-truth. By  seamlessly excising Guccifer 2.0 from culpability within a new timeline  of events, the Associated Press makes the entire hacking story a  fantasy narrative that can be neither proven nor disproven but must not  be questioned.
The Forensicator explained to Disobedient Media:
_"Investigators  would have been able to rapidly determine if there were textual  differences between Guccifer 2.0’s document and the DNC’s. If there were  no textual differences, an initial determination might have been  difficult, because Guccifer 2.0 went to some trouble to obscure internal  metadata, known as Revision Save ID’s (RSID’s), which can be used to  uniquely identify sections of text that have been changed and added into  a Word document. However, when the Podesta emails were published in  October 2016, investigators should have been able to source Guccifer  2.0’s document to the Podesta emails quickly. They would have been able  to do this before the 2016 election, a full year ahead of the AP  report."_ [Emphasis Added]
The  Forensicator then referred this author to a table in his report,  depicting the metadata for Podesta’s version of the Trump opposition  report:

As  we can see, the document was saved by Tony Carrk, who worked as  Research Director for Hillary for America at the time. This document was  attached to this Podesta email.

The Forensicator continued, saying: _"We  can see that Mr. Carrk made some change that took less than one minute  to complete. If investigators compared Carrk’s version of the document  to the original DNC document, they should have been able to quickly  determine that Guccifer 2’s document is sourced from Podesta’s emails  and not directly from the DNC.  For this, an RSID correlation would have  probably been telling."_

Why did the DNC, their security consultant firm Crowdstrike, and government investigators wait so long to tell us that *Guccifer 2.0 did not obtain their copy of the Trump opposition report directly from the DNC?* Why did Crowdstrike tell the Washington Post that the opposition report files had been stolen specifically from the DNC network if that were not the case?

The legacy press chorus had initially linked Guccifer 2.0’s first  document, and the “Russian fingerprints” therein to the Trump opposition  report that the DNC claimed to have been stolen by Russian  state-sponsored hackers. What prompted them to change their story,  contradicting not only Guccifer 2.0 but the DNC themselves? Should we  now assess the DNC’s claim that the document had been taken by Russian  hackers to be untrue? 

_Ultimately, it is the DNC’s claim that  they were breached by Russian hackers, who stole the Trump opposition  report, which directly belies their allegation - because the document  did not come from the DNC, but from John Podesta’s emails._
Is  it possible that Mueller’s investigation may have taken a closer look  into the origin of Guccifer 2.0’s initial document, realizing that it  was sourced from Podesta’s email?  The DNC and government investigators  may have then decided that the best way to obscure the resulting  contradictory evidence was by letting it quietly leak via a “former DNC  official who spoke on the condition of anonymity,” in the November 2017  article published by the Associated Press.
Given  the repeated contradictions from the DNC and corporate media in their  description of Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential race,  how can the public be expected to believe that their other claims have  any legitimacy whatsoever?

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...it-hacking-dnc

----------


## milgram

Andrew Napolitano has been strangely pro-DOJ throughout all of this. After Comey testified, Nap was gasping with Shepard Smith at the idea that Trump obstructed somethingorother. Here's a video from today where he gushes about Mueller, says Congress should not be requesting documents, etc.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Andrew Napolitano has been strangely pro-DOJ throughout all of this. After Comey testified, Nap was gasping with Shepard Smith at the idea that Trump obstructed somethingorother. Here's a video from today where he gushes about Mueller, says Congress should not be requesting documents, etc.


Judge Swamp outed himself as controlled opposition over Russiagate, it is just that important to them that they are burning up all their assets.
They never thought she would lose.
These people are stupid, Maxine stupid.

----------


## milgram

> Judge Swamp outed himself as controlled opposition over Russiagate


Ha ha, what did he say about Russiagate?

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Ha ha, what did he say about Russiagate?


Fox New’s Judge Andrew Napolitano warned Monday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions's firing on Friday of former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe could be seen as “obstruction of justice.”
Napolitano said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" Monday that he viewed McCabe’s firing as “vindictive” and “reckless.”
“Andrew  McCabe is more likely than not to be a witness against the  Attorney  General’s boss, the president of the United States,”  Napolitano said. “I  think that firing him in that environment could  very well be determined  to diminish his effectiveness as a witness.  What’s that called,  obstruction of justice.”



“I don’t know if Bob Mueller wants to go there, but that’s the argument,” he added.

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/media/37...ion-of-justice


 http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/12/1...-against-trump

                                                         Some Republican lawmakers have seized on a trove of damning text  messages as evidence that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia  investigation is biased against President Trump.

Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano doesn't think so.

The text messages were exchanged between two FBI officials who worked on  Mueller’s Russia probe, and they reveal the agents expressing a steady  stream of anti-Trump, pro-Hillary Clinton sentiments.

"The issue is not: do FBI agents have political opinions and can they  express them? The answer to that is yes and yes," Napolitano said on  "Outnumbered Overtime." "The issue is: do those political opinions in  any way influence the outcome of their investigation?"

He pointed out that the FBI has procedures in place to prevent that from happening.

"FBI agents operate in pairs, whatever the two discover has to be  reviewed by five others, whatever the five have reviewed and decided is  credible has to be reviewed by Justice Department lawyers," Napolitano  explained.

He noted that the only final decisions that have been made in Mueller's  investigation are to indict former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort  and his aide Rick Gates and to accept two guilty pleas from former  National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign  foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.

Napolitano said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein painted a "very  credible" picture in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee  when he said it's too early to determine if any individual's political  opinion affected the outcome of the investigation, because the outcome  hasn't been reached yet.

In the meantime, Napolitano said he's not worried about the text messages.

"FBI agents are not choirboys or choirgirls. They are strong-willed  people with strong opinions like the rest of us," he said. "None of this  surprises me."                      



http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/12/0...ustice-charges

*Judge Nap: Feinstein Is 'Correct' on Potential Obstruction of Justice Case Against Trump*

On "Fox & Friends" this morning, Alan Dershowitz disputed claims  from some Democrats that Special Counsel Robert Mueller could build an  obstruction of justice case against President Donald Trump.

Dershowitz said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was incorrect when she  argued that Trump obstructed the FBI investigation into possible  collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia by asking former  FBI Director James Comey to end the investigation into Michael Flynn and  also by later firing Comey.

Dershowitz said a president cannot be charged with obstruction for merely exercising his constitutional authority.

On "America's Newsroom," Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano came down on the side of Feinstein.

"I respect Professor Dershowitz greatly.* I do not know Sen. Feinstein, but she, in my view, is correct here,"* he told Bill Hemmer. 

He said that if Trump asked Comey to end the investigation into Flynn  for a non-corrupt purpose - such as if he felt sympathy for his former  national security adviser or he wanted the bureau to use its resources  on more important matters - it's not obstruction.

*However, if Trump did it for a corrupt purpose - such as trying to  protect himself or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, from what Flynn might  say - then it is obstruction and there is no presidential immunity,  Napolitano said.*

"Obstruction of justice is a crime no matter who commits it, if done for  a corrupt purpose. It's also an impeachable offense," he said, adding  that the charge is "intentionally not easy to prove" for a prosecutor.

Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said  Sunday on "Meet the Press" that she believes an obstruction of justice  case is forming.

"The Judiciary Committee has an investigation going as well and it  involves obstruction of justice and I think what we're beginning to see  is the putting together of a case of obstruction of justice,” she said. 

"I see it in the hyper-frenetic attitude of the White House, the comments every day, the continual tweets.*  And I see it most importantly in what happened with the firing of  Director Comey, and it is my belief that that is directly because he did  not agree to ‘lift the cloud’ of the Russia investigation. That’s  obstruction of justice."




**Napolitano: Mueller did not wrongly obtain Trump team emails*

https://www.yahoo.com/news/napolitan...143230179.html




*Fox News’ Judge Napolitano Says Trump Jr-Russia Meeting Merits Criminal Investigation (Video)*

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/fox-news-ju...202307669.html



 http://theweek.com/speedreads/704572...been-dishonest

Fox   News' Judge Napolitano argues Comey's testimony illustrates a  'credible  and compelling argument' that Trump has been dishonest

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## milgram

Crazy, I hadn't seen all those.  I don't know why he's taking these positions.   I was looking back at his written columns which are equally nonsensical whenever he addresses this topic. He thought Mueller's indictment of the Russian Facebook trolls was a monumental accomplishment.

http://www.unz.com/anapolitano/mueller-in-hot-pursuit/

*Mueller in Hot Pursuit*




> Special counsel Robert Muellers efforts to uncover the Russian interference are not a hoax or a witch hunt as President Trump has argued. They are serious and professional efforts that have now borne fruit. But Mueller was not appointed until after the election  after the Russians ran unchecked through our computer systems and the American marketplaces of ideas.





> That leaves a question: Why would Mueller seek indictments of folks he knows he cannot prosecute? He did so for a few reasons. One was to reveal the scope of the unlawful activity that he has found. The American people are entitled to know what went on under our noses and who knew about this and looked the other way. As well, this indictment gives credibility to Muellers work.
> 
> The other reason for the indictment is to smoke out any American collaborators. He has identified American collaborators, but not by proper name, and the Department of Justice has said  not in the indictment, in which case it would be bound by what it says, but in a press statement, which binds no one  that the American collaborators were unwitting dupes of the Russians. My guess is that Muellers American targets are under electronic and visual surveillance and that he is listening to their (premature) sighs of relief.





> This is not the end of these indictments related to the 2016 election. It is the beginning.

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## Swordsmyth

FBI informant Stefan Halper, who infiltrated the Trump campaign for  the FBI during the 2016 election for the purposes of espionage, said  that Russians had infiltrated the University of Cambridge where he works  - *allegations which those involved say are "false" and "absurd."* 
  Halper made the "false allegations" in December 2016 about a Russian  co-worker based on her interactions with former national security  adviser Michael Flynn at a February 2014 Cambridge Intelligence Seminar  (CIS) - while Flynn was President Obama's Director of the Defense  Intelligence Agency (DIA). 
 A historian and Russian intelligence researcher at Cambridge,  Svetlana Lokhova, told TheDCNF that Halper is behind allegations made  about her and Flynn during the retired general’s visit to Cambridge in  2014, when he served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. -_Daily Caller_“Stef Halper, who is currently under [Department of Justice]  investigation for his activities, has been revealed by [The New York  Times] as the source of the false allegations about me and General  Flynn,” said Lokhova, a British citizen who was born in Russia.
  Halper told the _Financial Times_ that he was quitting the CIS due to "unacceptable Russian influence on the group," which as the _Daily Caller_ notes,  "The evidence of Russian penetration was scant, with news reports  citing a nearly $2,700 contribution to CIS from a Russia-based company  called Veruscript."
 _Peter Martland, Stefan Halper_ _and__ Christopher Andrew_ Here's what we know about Stefan  Halper's past claims about Russian infiltration. "He sees a Red under  every bed," is what one source told me. https://t.co/w5yvSCgSzq @dailycaller
 — Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) May 24, 2018 Prof Andrew, whose books on the KGB are among the most exhaustive on  the history of Russian information warfare as well as the infamous  Cambridge spy ring of the 1930s, *said the suggestion of a Russian covert operation to compromise the seminar was “absurd”*.
*The seminar is “entirely unclassified”* Prof Andrew pointed out, adding that the new Journal of Intelligence and Terrorism was not formally affiliated to the gathering.
  The seminar, established by Christopher Andrew, the official  historian of MI5 and former chairman of the history faculty at the  university,* is one of the most respected networks in its field.* -_FT_

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...idge-involving

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## FvS

Remember when Napolitano got suspended March 2017?  My theory is that  the only way he could keep his job was to become what we are seeing  now.  I don't think he likes Trump anyway because I'm pretty sure  Napolitano is an open border extremist.  There's been enough evidence to  cast doubt on the notion that Russia hacked the DNC's emails.  But  let's say it's true.  Let's say Trump offered Russia political favors in  exchange for the hack.  Does anyone here wish Trump had been indicted  before the election and Hillary had won?  I don't know if the Republic  could have survived a Hillary presidency, and if Trump gets taken down,  we'll probably see a Democrat president in 2020.  The deep state does  not play by the rules.  So, to Napolitano, I say, "Choose your battles  better."

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## Swordsmyth

A recent article by George Neumayr in _The American Spectator_ provides  an excellent forensic dig into the earliest stages of the US  Intelligence Community's surveillance of people in Trump's orbit - and  makes clear something that many pointing to a politicized "witch hunt"  have long suspected; the Obama DOJ/FBI began looking into "Trumpworld"  and the Russians *long before the official timeline would suggest*. 
  Moreover, the operation was conducted in close coordination with  foreign counterparts, primarily the United Kingdom and Australia, but  primarily the former. 
 All of this raises plenty of questions, but one conclusion about this epic fiasco requires no spying:* the fingerprints of the British are all over it*. -American Spectator Here is George Neumayer explaining, how the *"roots of Obamagate become clearer"* originally published in The American Spectator.
  * * *
  Even before the first Republican primary, a London-to-Langley spy  ring had begun to form against Donald Trump. British spies sent to CIA  director John Brennan in late 2015 alleged intelligence on contacts  between Trumpworld and the Russians, according to the Guardian.
  Here’s the crucial paragraph in the story:
 GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions”  between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian  agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was  passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they  added.Notice it doesn’t say the “Trump campaign” but “figures connected to  Trump.” One of those figures was Michael Flynn, who didn’t join the  campaign until February 2016. But Brennan and British intelligence had  already started spying on him, drawing upon sham intelligence from  Stefan Halper, a long-in-the-tooth CIA asset teaching at Cambridge  University whom Brennan and Jim Comey would later send to infiltrate the  Trump campaign’s ranks.
  It appears that Halper had won Brennan’s confidence with a false  report about Flynn in 2014 — a reported sighting of Flynn at Cambridge  University talking too cozily with a Russian historian. Halper had  passed this absurdly simpleminded tattle to a British spy who in turn  gave it to Brennan, as one can deduce from this euphemistic account in  the New York Times about Halper as the “informant”:
 The informant also had contacts with Mr. Flynn, the retired Army  general who was Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser. The two met  in February 2014, when Mr. Flynn was running the Defense Intelligence  Agency and attended the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar, an academic  forum for former spies and researchers that meets a few times a year.
  According to people familiar with Mr. Flynn’s visit to the  intelligence seminar, the source was alarmed by the general’s apparent  closeness with a Russian woman who was also in attendance. The concern  was strong enough that it prompted another person to pass on a warning  to the American authorities that Mr. Flynn could be compromised by  Russian intelligence, according to two people familiar with the matter  [italics added].Again, that’s early 2014 and a file on Flynn is already sitting on  Brennan’s desk. In 2015, as word of Flynn’s interest in the Trump  campaign spreads, the London-to-Langley spy ring fattens the file with  more alarmist dreck — that Flynn had gone to a Russian Television gala  and so forth. By February 2016, when it is reported that he has joined  the Trump campaign as an adviser, the spy ring moves into more concerted  action.
  It had also extended its radar to Carter Page, George Papadopoulos,  and Paul Manafort. Peter Strzok, the FBI’s liaison to Brennan, could  have already clued Brennan in to Page and Manafort (both were already  known to the FBI from previous cases), but Brennan needed British  intelligence for Papadopoulos and it delivered. Either through human or  electronic intelligence (or both), it reported back to Brennan the young  campaign volunteer’s meetings in Italy and London with Professor Joseph  Mifsud, whose simultaneous ties to British intelligence and Russia are  well known.
  The stench of entrapment that hangs over this part of the story is  unmistakable, and the spy ring’s treatment of Papadopoulos looks flat  out cruel. Every figure who plays a key role in tripping him up —  Mifsud, the Australian diplomat Alexander Downer, and Stefan Halper —  has ties to British intelligence.
  David Ignatius, who is the Washington Post’s stenographer for John  Brennan, dropped a wonderful crumb in his passive-aggressive column  about Stefan Halper this week — “Stefan Halper is just another  middleman.” A middleman between whom? The answer is British intelligence  and Brennan/Comey. As if to punctuate this point, Ignatius — after  belittling Halper as a gossipy academic who is no “James Bond,” a sign  that his handlers will burn him and profess ignorance of his entrapping  methods (when this happens, remember Comey’s “tightly regulated” tweet) —  turns to a “former British intelligence officer” to vouch for Halper’s  credibility. This unnamed former British intelligence officer adopts a  very knowing, almost proprietary, tone, as if to acknowledge that the  spying on the Trump campaign was a British-American venture from the  start. Ignatius writes, “A former British intelligence officer who knows  Halper well describes him as ‘an intensely loyal and trusted U.S.  citizen [who was] asked by the Bureau to look into some disconcerting  contacts’ between Russians and Americans.”
  “Intensely loyal and trusted,” “asked by the Bureau” — how would he  know? These are the insiderish phrases of a handler or fellow member of  the ring.
  The size of the London-Langley spy ring isn’t known but its existence  is no longer in doubt. In light of it, Obama State Department official  Evelyn Farkas’s bragging bears reexamination. It is obvious that gossip  about the transatlantic ring had spilled out to State Department circles  and other Obama orbits, generating chatter even from a relatively minor  figure like Farkas (who may have just been repeating what she had heard  at a cocktail party after she left the administration):
 I had a fear that somehow that information would disappear with the  senior people who left. So it would be hidden away in the bureaucracy,  and that the Trump folks if they found out how we knew what we knew  about the Trump folks, the Trump staff’s dealings with Russians, that  they would try to compromise those sources and methods, meaning we would  no longer have access to that intelligence. So I became very worried  because not enough was coming out into the open and I knew there was  more.Whispers of the ring’s work had picked up by the time Brennan had  formed his “inter-agency taskforce” at Langley and Comey’s official  probe began. Brennan was presiding over a “turf-crossing operation that  could feed the White House information,” as revealingly put by Michael  Isikoff and David Corn in Russian Roulette. The operation also crossed  an ocean, placing a central scene of the spying in London as the ring  oafishly built its file.
  What started in late 2015 with promise ended in panic, with British  sources for the alleged Trump-Russia collusion going silent or  mysteriously disappearing. A few days after Trump’s inauguration, the  director of GCHQ, Robert Hannigan, abruptly resigned, prompting the  Guardian to wonder if the sudden resignation was related to “British  concerns over shared intelligence with the US.” All of this raises  plenty of questions, but one conclusion about this epic fiasco requires  no spying: the fingerprints of the British are all over it.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...become-clearer

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## Swordsmyth

In his final report in a three-part series, _Guccifer 2’s West Coast Fingerprint_, *the  Forensicator discovers evidence that at least one operator behind the  Guccifer 2.0 persona worked from the West Coast of the United States.*

  The Forensicator’s earlier findings stated that Guccifer 2.0’s NGP-VAN files were accessed locally on the East Coast, and in another analysis they  suggested that a file published by Guccifer 2.0 was created in the  Central time zone of the United States. Most recently, a former DNC  official refuted the DNC’s initial  allegations that Trump opposition files had been ex-filtrated from the  DNC by Russian state-sponsored operatives.
  So, if Guccifer 2.0’s role was negated by the statements of the DNC’s own former “official” in a 2017 report by the Associated Press,  why do we now return our attention to the Guccifer 2.0 persona, as we  reflect on the last section of new findings from the Forensicator?
  The answer: Despite almost two years having passed since the appearance of the Guccifer 2.0 persona, legacy media is  still trotting out the shambling corpse of Guccifer 2.0 to revive the  legitimacy of the Russian hacking narrative. In other words, it is  necessary to hammer the final nail into the coffin of the Guccifer 2.0  persona.
  As previously noted, In his final report in a three-part series, the Forensicator discusses  concrete evidence that at least one operator behind the Guccifer 2.0  persona worked from the West Coast of the United States. He writes:
 _“Finally, we look at one particular Word document that Guccifer 2  uploaded, which had “track changes” enabled. From the tracking metadata  we deduce the timezone offset in effect when Guccifer 2 made that  change — we reach a surprising conclusion: The document was likely saved by Guccifer 2 on the West Coast, US.”_The Forensicator spends the first part of his report evaluating  indications that Guccifer 2.0 may have operated out of Russia.  Ultimately, the Forensicator discards those tentative results. He  emphatically notes:
 _“The PDT finding draws into question the premise that Guccifer 2  was operating out of Russia, or any other region that would have had  GMT+3 timezone offsets in force. Essentially, the Pacific Timezone finding invalidates the GMT+3 timezone findings previously described.”_The Forensicator’s new West Coast finding is not the first evidence  to indicate that operators behind the Guccifer 2.0 persona were based in  the US. Nine months ago, Disobedient Media, reported on the Forensicator’s analysis,  which showed (among other things) that Guccifer 2.0’s “ngpvan” archive  was created on the East Coast. While that report received the vast  majority of attention from the public and legacy media, Disobedient Media later reported on another analysis done by the Forensicator, which  found that a file published by Guccifer 2.0 (on a different occasion)  was probably created in the Central Timezone of the US.
  Adding to all of this, UK based analyst and independent journalist Adam Carter presented  his own analysis which also showed that the Guccifer 2.0 Twitter  persona interacted on a schedule which was best explained by having been  based within the United States.

  The chart above shows a box which spans regular working hours. It  indicates that unless Guccifer 2.0 worked the night shift, they were  likely working out of the US. Though this last data point is  circumstantial, it is corroborated by the previously discussed pieces of  independently verifiable hard evidence described by the Forensicator.
  When taking all of these separate pieces into account, one observes a  convergence of evidence that multiple US-based operators were behind  the Guccifer 2.0 persona and its publications. This is incredibly  significant because it is based on multiple pieces of concrete data; it  does not rely on “anonymous sources within the government,” nor  contractors hired by the DNC. As a result, much of the prior legacy  press coverage of Guccifer 2.0 as a Russia-based agent can be readily  debunked.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ion-made-usa-0

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## Swordsmyth

Speaking with Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday, Solomon also revealed  that the FBI began spying on the Trump campaign weeks or even months  before they had a formal predicate required to use sources:
And that’s very important. The rules say you can’t use  sources until you have a predicated investigation. The predication is  July 31st, 2016. My sources and documents that I’ll be able to make  public tomorrow will show that there were contacts going on by people  identified as informers, informants, people who provided information  begin much, much earlier than July 31st.

More at: https://www.infowars.com/report-obam...rump-campaign/

----------


## Swordsmyth

But on top of all of the problems the FBI and DOJ are facing over  this fiasco, there is the salient fact that the FBI’s own Domestic  Investigations and Operations Guide makes it clear that Halper should  never have been assigned to spy on the campaign for the FBI. As the _Washington Times_ is reporting:
 Mr. Halper was a “confidential human  source,” an official category of spy that is regulated by the FBI’s  domestic investigations directive. The FBI completed an updated document  in 2013 and posted online a redacted version in 2016.
 Human sources are regulated under a  program called “Otherwise Illegal Activity,” or OIA. It is called  “otherwise illegal” because spying on Americans would be against the law  if, as the policy says, the spying is “engaged in by a person acting  without authorization.”
 The guidebook is clear that OIA must be authorized before being  undertaken and that there are clear criteria which must be met for that  authorization to be given. That criteria includes the proviso that OIA  can be conducted only “in limited circumstances” to obtain information  and “when that information or evidence is not reasonably available  without participation in the OIA.”
 It is evident that the bar for embedding a spy into the political  campaign of Donald Trump was not met; it is also clear that someone in  the Obama administration must have authorized Halper to conduct OIA  against the campaign. So, with all of the liberal mainstream media’s  claims to the contrary notwithstanding, President Trump was spot-on when  he accused the Obama administration of spying on him.
 And while Clapper (in his appearance on the _View_) and other  Deep State operatives and Democrats have attempted to spin the placement  of Halper in the campaign as an attempt to protect the campaign from  Russian meddling, the facts are against them. The _Washington Times_  quotes President Trump’s former defense counsel, John Dowd, as saying  that the FBI had a duty to notify, not spy on, Team Trump. “If you are  concerned that the Russians are trying to penetrate a campaign or meddle  with the election campaign process, you include the candidates and  their top security professionals in that effort,” he said.
 Former (and currently disgraced) FBI Director James Comey as good as  verified Halper’s role, as well, while attempting the same old Deep  State spin, tweeting, “Facts matter. The FBI’s use of Confidential Human  Sources (the actual term) is tightly regulated and essential to  protecting the country. Attacks on the FBI and lying about its work will  do lasting damage to our country. How will Republicans explain this to  their grandchildren?”

More at: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew...ses-deep-state

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## Swordsmyth

*It is now coming to light that the FBI was setting up Trump ever since he became a likely presidential nominee.* In late 2015, Brennan embraced a false tip from Estonia that Putin was seeking to support Trump financially,  and brought Comey into an ‘intra-agency” group targeting Trump. On  March 21, 2016, candidate Trump met with The Washington Post editorial  board, which asked about his foreign policy credentials. To bolster his  team’s strength, perhaps inflationarily, he named lowly, clueless  hangers-on George Papadopoulos and Carter Page as part of his team with  Russian experience — literally true, but nonetheless a strenuous  stretch. It was then that the entrapping forces of Comey, Clapper, and  Brennan, partisans all, went to work.
  Approaches were made by “confidential human source”  intermediaries to Papadopoulos, Page, Trump aides Sam Clovis and  Michael Caputo, and likely others, to induce interest in Russian-hacked  emails. The DOJ Number Four, Bruce Ohr, whose wife Nellie Ohr was behind  the Steele Dossier, himself met with Christopher Steele.
  A member of Comey’s team travelled to England around May 2016, well  before the now-asserted start of the collusion investigation, presumably  to speak with either or both Steele and confidential informants.*  It is impossible to believe that Comey was not behind all this and,  indeed, he now defends “confidential human sources” as being both  necessary and in grave danger, as if being run behind the former Iron  Curtain and marked for execution.*
  One question to be asked is why Comey felt the need to question  Papadopoulos with an undisclosed spy, using entrapping questions, when  an identified FBI agent could have done the same job, at least the parts  that constituted legitimate inquiry about Russian activity. The answer  is, of course, that an identified FBI agent would serve, appropriately  so, as a warning, not as a trap. Indeed, Comey and the team twice  decided not to provide the usual “defensive briefing” given to innocent _compromat_targets. Apparently these partisans were more interested in entrapment than in patriotic assistance.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...d-nixon-failed

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## Swordsmyth

FBI Counterintelligence chief, Bill Priestap, will sit down for a  closed-door session with lawmakers on Tuesday, according to John Solomon  of _The Hill_.

  Priestap will be answering questions about the Hillary Clinton email  case as well as the counterintelligence operation on the Trump campaign  - *both of which he oversaw*. Priestap was the direct  supervisor of Peter Strzok - the FBI agent whose anti-Trump /  pro-Clinton bias was revealed after 50,000 text messages to his  FBI-attorney mistress, Lisa Page, were discovered by the DOJ's Inspector  General, Michael Horowitz. 
  All accounts say that Priestap is a *cooperating witness*.  In other words, if there's one person who can confirm that the FBI  counterintelligence operation on the Trump campaign was politically  motivated - or that malfeasance occurred during the process, it's Bill  Priestap.

  Note how excited Solomon looks breaking the news of Priestap's testimony...
 Solomon: "I think tomorrow is going to be a pivotal day. I think  Congress is going to learn a lot of new information tomorrow during  these interviews." 
  Dobbs: He is going to be speaking candidly about his employer, the  FBI, and those who were running the agency during that period.
  Solomon: He was very high up. Had a bird's-eye view of everything that went on in both of these investigations.  #DrainTheSwamp - @Jsolomonreports:  FBI Spy Chief Bill Preistap to testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow about  Clinton Email Scandal & Russia “Collusion.” PLUS IG report 400+  pages long – That’s a lot of James Comey. @realDonaldTrump #MAGA #TrumpTrain #Dobbs pic.twitter.com/mfpYEr1q5I
 — Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) June 5, 2018While the session will be closed-door, we imagine leaks will be  forthcoming as seems to be standard operating procedure these days. 
  Just who is Bill Priestap really? _The Conservative Treehouse_ presented an in-depth analysis in February. We recommend reading this before deciding on what size popcorn to buy: 
  ***
_The game is over. The jig is up. Victory is certain... the  trench was ignited... the enemy funneled themselves into the valley...  all bait was taken… everything from here on out is simply mopping up the  details.  All suspicions confirmed._
_Why has Devin Nunes been so confident?  Why did all GOP HPSCI members happily allow the Democrats to create a 10-page narrative?  All questions are answered._
_Fughettaboudit._
  House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence member Chris Stewart appeared on Fox News with Judge Jeanine Pirro, and* didn’t want to “make news” or spill the beans, but the unstated, between-the-lines, discussion was as subtle as a brick* through a window.  Judge Jeannie has been on the cusp of this for a few weeks.
*Listen carefully around 2:30*, Judge Jeanine hits the bulls-eye; and listen to* how Chris Stewart talks about not wanting to make news and is unsure what he can say on this...*





_...Bill Priestap is cooperating._
  When you understand how central *E.W. “Bill” Priestap* was to the entire 2016/2017 ‘_Russian Conspiracy Operation_‘,* the absence of his name, amid all others, created a curiosity.*  I wrote a twitter thread about  him last year and wrote about him extensively, because it seemed  unfathomable his name has not been a part of any of the recent  story-lines.

*E.W. “Bill” Priestap is the head of the FBI Counterintelligence operation.*   He was FBI Agent Peter Strozk’s direct boss.  If anyone in congress  really wanted to know if the FBI paid for the Christopher Steele  Dossier, Bill Priestap is the guy who would know everything about  everything.
  FBI Asst. Director in charge of Counterintelligence *Bill Priestap* was the immediate supervisor of FBI Counterintelligence Deputy Peter Strzok.
*Bill Priestap is #1. Before getting demoted Peter Strzok was #2.*
  The investigation into candidate Donald Trump was a  counterintelligence operation. That operation began in July 2016. Bill  Priestap would have been in charge of that, along with all other, FBI  counterintelligence operations.
  FBI Deputy Peter Strzok was specifically in charge of the Trump  counterintel op. However, Strzok would be reporting to Bill Priestap on  every detail and couldn’t (according to structure anyway) make a move  without Priestap approval.
  On March 20th 2017 congressional testimony, James Comey was asked why  the FBI Director did not inform congressional oversight about the  counterintelligence operation that began in July 2016.
  FBI Director Comey said he did not tell congressional oversight he  was investigating presidential candidate Donald Trump because the  Director of Counterintelligence suggested he not do so. *Very important  detail.*
  I cannot emphasize this enough. **VERY* important detail*. Again, notice how Comey doesn’t use Priestap’s actual name, but refers to his position and title. Again, watch [Prompted]





*FBI Director James Comey was caught entirely off guard by  that first three minutes of that questioning. He simply didn’t  anticipate it.*
  Oversight protocol requires the FBI Director to tell the  congressional intelligence “Gang of Eight” of any counterintelligence  operations. The Go8 has oversight into these ops at the highest level of  classification.  In July 2016 the time the operation began, oversight  was the responsibility of this group, the Gang of Eight:

  Obviously, based on what we have learned since March 2017, and what  has surfaced recently, we can all see why the FBI would want to keep it  hidden that they were running a counterintelligence operation against a  presidential candidate.   After all, as FBI Agent Peter Strzok said it  in his text messages, it was an “insurance policy”.
REMINDER – FBI Agent Strzok to FBI Attorney Page:

 "I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s  office that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t  take that risk.* It’s like an insurance policy* in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”*So there we have FBI Director James Comey telling congress on  March 20th, 2017, that the reason he didn’t inform the statutory  oversight “Gang of Eight” was because Bill Priestap (Director of  Counterintelligence) recommended he didn’t do it.*
  Apparently, according to Comey, Bill Priestap carries a great deal of  influence if he could get his boss to NOT perform a statutory  obligation simply by recommending he doesn’t do it.
*Then again, Comey’s blame-casting there is really called creating a “fall guy”.*  FBI  Director James Comey was ducking responsibility in March 2017 by  blaming FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap for not  informing congress of the operation that began in July 2016. (9 months  prior).
  At that moment, that very specific moment during that March 20th  hearing, anyone who watches these hearings closely could see FBI  Director James Comey was attempting to create his own exit from being  ensnared in the consequences from the wiretapping and surveillance  operation of candidate Trump, President-elect Trump, and eventually  President Donald Trump.
*In essence, Bill Priestap was James Comey’s fall guy*.   We knew it at the time that Bill Priestap would likely see this the  same way.  The guy would have too much to lose by allowing James Comey  to set him up.
  Immediately there was motive for Bill Priestap to flip and become the  primary source to reveal the hidden machinations.  Why should he take  the fall for the operation when there were multiple people around the  upper-levels of leadership who carried out the operation.
*Our suspicions were continually confirmed because there was  NO MENTION of Bill Priestap in any future revelations of the scheme  team, despite his centrality to all of it.*
  Bill Priestap would have needed to authorize Peter Strzok to engage  with Christopher Steele over the “Russian Dosssier”; Bill Priestap would  have needed to approve of the underlying investigative process used for  both FISA applications (June 2016, and Oct 21st 2016). Bill Priestap  would be the person to approve of arranging, paying, or reimbursing,  Christopher Steele for the Russian Dossier used in their  counterintelligence operation and subsequent FISA application.
  Without Bill Priestap involved, approvals, etc. the entire  Russian/Trump Counterintelligence operation just doesn’t happen. Heck,  James Comey’s own March 20th testimony in that regard is concrete  evidence of Priestap’s importance.
*Everyone around Bill Priestap, above and below, were caught inside the investigative net.*
 Above him: James Comey, Andrew McCabe and James Baker. 
  Below him: Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Jim Rybicki, Trisha Beth Anderson and Mike Kortan. 
  Parallel to Priestap in main justice his peer John P Carlin resigned,  Sally Yates fired, Mary McCord quit, Bruce Ohr was busted twice, and  most recently Dave Laufman resigned.  All of them caught in the  investigative net…. Only Bill Priestap remained, quietly invisible –  still in position.The reason was obvious.
  Likely Bill Priestap made the decision after James Comey’s testimony  on March 20th, 2017, when he realized what was coming.  Priestap is  well-off financially; he has too much to lose.  He and his wife, Sabina  Menschel, live a comfortable life in a $3.8 million DC home; she comes  from a family of money.
  While ideologically Bill and Sabina are aligned with Clinton support,  and their circle of family and friends likely lean toward more liberal  friends; no-one in his position would willingly allow themselves to be  the scape-goat for the unlawful action that was happening around them.
_Bill Priestap had too much to lose… and for what?_
  With all of that in mind, there is essentially no-way the  participating members inside the small group can escape their  accountability with Mr. Bill Priestap cooperating with the investigative  authorities.

  Now it all makes sense.  Devin Nunes interviewed Bill Priestap and  Jim Rybicki prior to putting the memo process into place.  Rybicki quit,  Priestap went back to work.

*Bill Priestap remains the Asst. FBI Director in charge of counterintelligence operations.*
  It’s over.
  I don’t want to see this guy, or his family, compromised.  This is  probably the last I am ever going to write about him unless it’s in the  media bloodstream. I can’t fathom the gauntlet of hatred and threats he  is likely to face from the media and his former political social network  if they recognize what’s going on.  *BP is Deep-Throat x infinity… nuf said.*
  The rest of this entire enterprise is just joyfully dragging out the  timing of the investigative releases in order to inflict maximum  political pain upon the party of those who will attempt to excuse the  inexcusable.
  Then comes the OIG Horowitz report.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...estify-tuesday

----------


## Swordsmyth

Peter Strzok, the FBI counterintelligence agent pulled off Special  Counsel Robert Mueller's probe last year for sending anti-Trump /  pro-Clinton text messages to his "lovebird" FBI mistress, *played a more central role than previously known in both the Russia and Hillary Clinton investigations*, a lawmaker told _Fox News_ on Tuesday. 

  The assessment of Strzok's involvement comes after six hours of  closed-door interviews with FBI espionage chief Bill Priestap, along  with an analysis of "recent records." 
 Colleague Catherine Herridge rpts a  mbrs familiar w/Hse closed-door i-view w/FBI espionage chief Bill  Priestap has been cooperative. But says FBI Agent Strzok played an more  central role than previously known in Clinton email/Russia  investigations beyond Strzok/Page text messages
 — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 5, 2018 Priestap was interviewed Tuesday as part of an ongoing joint  investigation by the House Judiciary and Oversight committees. Priestap  was Strzok's supervisor and oversaw both the Russia and Clinton  investigations.
  The lawmaker described Strzok as a very cooperative witness, but  added that unanswered questions remained about Priestap's overseas  travel. One line of questioning Tuesday concerned a trip to London by  Priestap in May 2016 and whether it was connected to the Russia case.
  The trip was referenced by Strzok in a May 4, 2016 text message to  FBI lawyer Lisa Page that said "Bill" would be "back from London next  week." -Fox NewsStrzok emailed Priestap on January 30, 2016 along with another  colleague to express dismay about statements made by former White House  Press Secretary Josh Earnest claiming that Hillary Clinton was not the  target of the FBI probe into her use of a private server while she was  Secretary of State. 
 "Below not helpful," Strzok wrote. *"Certainly the WH is going  to do whatever it wants, but there is a line they need to hold with  regard to the appearance of non-interference."*We also learned in May that Peter Strzok went on a *secret trip to London* in  the summer of 2016 to meet with Australian ambassador, Alexander  Downer, to describe his meeting with Trump campaign advisor, George  Papadopoulos. The FBI kept details of the operation secret from most of  the DOJ - with "only about five Justice Department officials" aware of  the full scope of the case. 
 It was an assignment so secretive  that Peter Strzok giddily texted his side piece about it on an unsecured  line. It's also weird for NYT to characterize the meeting as "not yet  reported" seeing as how Strzok's texts about it have been out for  months. https://t.co/lbvTZksLJr pic.twitter.com/QSA7TedpTM
 — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 16, 2018 Fearful of leaks, they kept details from political appointees across  the street at the Justice Department. Peter Strzok, a senior F.B.I.  agent, explained in a text that Justice Department officials would find  it too “tasty” to resist sharing. “I’m not worried about our side,” he  wrote. -_NYT_And in what appears to reveal *Strzok's own doubts over the case right after he returned from London*, a text message he sent to his mistress, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, reads _"I cannot believe we are seriously looking at these allegations and the pervasive connections."_
  Strzok was reassigned to the FBI's Human Resources department  following the discovery of over 50,000 text messages sent between he and  Page, many of which showed overt bias towards Hillary Clinton and  against Donald Trump. While Strzok remains on the FBI's payroll, Lisa  Page resigned in May to "pursue other opportunities." 
  Congressional investigators will interview two other FBI officials  later in the month; Michael Steinbach - former head of the agency's  national security division, and Steinbach's predecessor, John Giacalone.  Furthermore, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz - whose highly  anticipated report on FBI misconduct is reportedly going to come any  day, is also expected to brief lawmakers.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...clinton-russia

----------


## timosman

The "lovebirds" narrative is bull$#@!. They are hiding something.

----------


## TheCount

Confirmed!

----------


## Swordsmyth

Democratic  congressional leaders are asking the Justice Department and FBI for  assurances that they won't brief President Donald Trump on classified  information related to the origins of the FBI investigation into  Russia's election meddling.
In  a letter Tuesday, the Democrats demand to know by next Monday whether  the agencies have briefed Trump, his aides or his lawyers on the  information. A small group of lawmakers were briefed last month.
Trump  lawyer Rudy Giuliani has said he expects access to the information. The  Democrats say that would be "a terrible abuse of power" and set a  dangerous precedent.
The  letter was signed by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate  Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the top Democrats on the House and  Senate intelligence panels, Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Mark Warner.

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/latest-tr...-politics.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General has found  that former FBI Director James Comey defied authority at various times  while leading the bureau, according to a new report.
ABC News  reported on Monday that sources claim that the DOJ's internal watchdog  "explicitly used the word 'insubordinate' to describe Comey's behavior."
 The  report also reportedly "rebuked" former Attorney General Loretta Lynch "  for her handling of the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton's  personal email server."

More at: https://www.dailywire.com/news/31541...&utm_content=1

----------


## Swordsmyth

Special Counsel Robert Mueller threatened to charge former Trump  campaign adviser George Papadopoulos as an unregistered agent of Israel,  according to his wife.

  Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos, an Italian attorney who married  Papadopoulos roughly 90 days ago, claimed that Mueller had evidence her  husband had worked on behalf of Israel without registering as a foreign  agent during his time as an energy consultant, and prior to joining the  Trump campaign. The claim was made in interviews with the _Daily Caller_ and the _Washington Post_ - where Simona also said George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty *to avoid the Israel-linked charges*.
  “I know he doesn’t have anything to do with Russia,” she told _The Post_. “*We know he was under scrutiny because of his ties to Israel, not his ties to Russia. So what’s this about*?”
 In October 2015, Papadopoulos wrote a column for the Israeli  publication Haaretz entitled “Natural Gas Isn’t Just about Israel.” He  also attended a series of energy conferences in Israel, including one  held in April 2016, just days after he was named to Trump’s campaign,  according to Israeli media accounts.
  During those years, *he became acquainted with Eli Groner, who has served since 2015 as a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.* -WaPoSimona's new claims are vastly different than what she said in  January before she and George married - when she suggested to the _Washington Post_ that  Papadopoulos would be remembered like John Dean, the former White House  counsel who flipped on Nixon's administration and became a key  witness. 
  “There’s a lot to come,” she said then. “He was the first one to break a hole on all of this.”
  On Tuesday, however, her tune had changed - saying  that her earlier comments were misinterpreted and that she and George  had reassessed events after learning that Cambridge professor Stefan  Halper had been conducting espionage on the Trump campaign for the FBI.  Halper hired Papadopoulos to write an energy paper in London in the fall  of 2016, paying him $3,000 for his efforts.

  “*George took responsibility for lying to the FBI and cooperated with the government. Cooperating doesn’t mean following an agenda*,” she said. “Cooperating doesn’t mean against the president. . . . It means cooperating with the truth.” 
  Simona says George has been wronged and deserves a pardon from President Trump - that *he is “a victim, honestly,” who "made a mistake. He pleaded guilty for that mistake. It would make sense for the president to pardon him.”*
  Before joining the Trump campaign in March 2016 as a foreign policy  advisor, George Papadopoulos lived in London, working as a researcher  for the Hudson Institute think tank, and later as an independent energy  consultant. Despite his work on Israel, Cyprus and Greece while at the  Hudson Institute, *a person familiar with the Institute told the Washington Post that nobody from the Special Counsel's office has ever contacted them regarding Papadopoulos's work there*. 
  Meanwhile, it was Papadopoulos' May 10 alleged "drunken barroom admission"  to former Australian diplomat Alexander Downer that the Russians had  information which "could be damaging" to Hillary Clinton.  Papadopolous was originally told of the allged Russian plot *two weeks earlier on April 26,* by Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud (missing since October 2017) *- whose organization George Papadopoulos met his wife through*.
*Which brings us to an interesting thread*...
  Noting that Papadopoulos and his new wife met on LinkedIn, Twitter user @rising_serpent makes the case that *some* *things just aren't adding up*. The 27-part tweetstorm is condensed underneath the first post: 
 1. Fiction is truly anemic compared to the rich tapestry of the bizarre that we are privy to in daily life: consider this:
Simona Mangiante first connected with Papadopoulos on LinkedIn after Papadopoulos noticed they shared a mutual connection.
 — Rising serpent (@rising_serpent) June 6, 20182. *That connection was* *Joseph Mifsud*,  a most mysterious former Maltese government official who ran an  institute called the London Centre of International Law Practice in  Britain. THE Joseph Mifsud now made infamous by her husbands indictment  by Robert Muller.
  3. Mangiante, started working at the organization after meeting  Mifsud while she was employed at European Parliament in Brussels.  Papadopoulos, who had worked for Mifsud’s organization as well, *reached out to say he liked her profile picture.*
  (article: _George Papadopoulos, his bride-to-be, and the Russia-linked ‘professor’ who brought them together_)
  4. Mangiante left the London Centre of International law after three months,* after concluding the law office was “a facade for something else.”* But the two continued to talk over the Internet, before meeting in person for the first time in New York in spring 2017.
  5. *Mangiante was introduced to Mifsud in 2012 by Gianni  Pittella, a well-known Italian MEP who in 2014 became president of the  Socialists and Progressive Democrats group*. “I always saw Mifsud with Pittella,” So, Mangiante knew Mifsud for many years before she did Papadopoulos
  6. Mangiante worked for 2 European parliament officials, Mairead  McGuinness, a vice-president & McGuinness’s Italian predecessor  Roberta Angelilli. She was also admin to home affairs committee under  Martin Schulz, then a German MEP & now leader of Germany’s Social  Democrats
  7. *So Mangiante moved within the corridors of power within Europe's Italian Democrats & German social democrats.*  When her contract expired, Pittella suggested she go work for Mifsud in  London who offered her a job in 2016 at the London Centre of  International Law Practice
  8. in September 2016, Mangiante received a message on the LinkedIn  social network from George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos had worked at the  same London Center of International law centre briefly before joining  Trump’s campaign. That was the beginning of their acquaintance.
  9. It appears that Mangiante started her job around September 2016,  the same time as she started corresponding with Papadopoulos. Mangiante  was not happy with her work in London.
  (article: _The boss, the boyfriend and the FBI: the Italian woman in the eye of the Trump-Russia inquiry)_
  10. The entire institution seemed “fake”, “artificial”, with Mifsud  interested solely in organising political meetings. “I didn’t smell a  culture of academia" Mifsud’s diplomatic activity, *Mangiante now believes, was a facade. “I never met any Russians there”*
  11. *Mangiante quit her post there after three months*,  in November 2016. In the meantime, Mangiante’s romance with George  began. After several unsuccessful efforts to get together in London,  they met in March 2017 in New York. They hit it off, began dating and  fell in love
  12. Prior to meeting Mangiante, FBI had interviewed Papadopoulos Jan  2017 in connection with the collusion investigation. Papadopoulos gave  federal agents a false account of his meetings with Mifsud. So he  deleted his Facebook account and changed his cellphone number.
  13. *So almost 3 months prior to Papadopoulos actually meeting  Mangiante he was already in the crosshairs of FBI, he was deleting  facebook, changing phone numbers and like James Bond, was actively  romancing a beautiful woman. Plausibility check # 1, what do you think* ?
  14. On the day Papadopoulos pleaded guilty, Mangiante was at her  boyfriend’s family home in Chicago. There was a ring at the door. A  casually dressed man informed her that he was a federal agent. He was  serving her with a subpoena from Mueller.
  15. Mangiante decided not to hire a lawyer after discovering they cost $800 an hour.* She turned up alone at Chicago FBI headquarters.*  the FBI was interested in her relationship with Papadopoulos. Was it  genuine? “They asked: “Do you love him?” “Yes”. They replied: ‘He is  lucky’”
  16. *Plausibility check # 2. Do you think about how much  lawyers cost when the FBI tells you that your boyfriend is chin deep in  legal manure and you may be too?* Stormy Daniels gets a lawyer for free, but someone being investigated by the FBI thinks about a lawyers cost?
  17. March 2016 Papadopoulous learned he would be Trumps foreign  policy advisors, he ended up meeting Mifusud on March 14 2016 while he  was traveling in Italy (where Mangiante was, coincidentally). Important:  He met Mifsud first in Italy, see indictment (click here)
  18. Mifusd's interest is piqued when he learned that Papadopoulos was going to be involved with the Trump campaign. *They meet again subsequently in London on March 24th 2016 when Mifusd was accompanied by the "Putins niece" Olga Vinogradova*, who like Mifsud has now disappeared.
  19. *Papadopoulos met Mifusd again on April 24th 2016 for  breakfast at a London hotel. This is the first time that Mifsud tells  him he knows the Russians have "dirt" on Hillary*. Mind you the DNC leaks weren't published till June/July 2016. Important point right there.
  20. That DNC was hacked by the Russians remains a matter of great  contention and those with exquisite expertise in cybersecurity don't  agree with the assertion that Russians hacked it. Remember the only  people that conducted the investigation into the hack were CrowdStrike
  21. Now we turn the bizarre dial to 11, *why did Papadopoulos say to Mangiante when he was looking at her LinkedIn profile that they worked for the same company?* Two things wrong with this: I couldn't find any evidence that Paps worked for the London center of international law
  22. and *if he did, he would have known Mifsud from his work, so the whole theory of his being introduced to Mifusd falls flat.*
  23. The BIG question: *by the time Papadopoulos began  corresponding with Mangiante in Sept 2016, he was a part of the Trump  Campaign, what was he looking at LinkedIn profiles of people working at  the London center of international law for? What am I missing here?* 
  24. I have more questions than answers, but *the timeline just doesn't add up*,  there is a lot missing here apart from my functioning neuronal  circuitry. All of this is important in the context of Mangiante's recent  media blitz and her asking for Trump to pardon Papadopoulos.
  25. Feel free to add to what I have just outlined. Things are not  only a little askew here but seems that we are seeing this whole matter  askance and many facts are obscured by layers of hearsay disguised as  factual information. -fin.
  26. Addendum: *anybody else find it most peculiar that  Mangiante worked for Italian and German social democrats? Especially now  that we know that MI6 (Downer/Steele/Halper) were probably involved  with the genesis of the Steele dossier?*
  27. *Mifusud appears to be more aligned with the UK than he is with the Russians*, Mangiante herself said so. Also she has since dialed down her touting of her husbands role in the Trump campaign, why?
  Questions? An even deeper analysis into Papadopoulos and Mifsud can be found here.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...e-papadopoulos

----------


## goldenequity

Looks like obvious State supported immunity and cloaking is set into place
protecting the entire 40 year crime syndicate.... all of it. Uranium etc.  
Gossipy 'electiongate news' will dribble on and take all the heat off the real malignancy.

Congrats to all who stayed with the people's investigation and people's indictment.
It was not an exercise in futility.
We know a lot more about who and where the embedded levers of corruption are.
The country is worse than we ever knew or thought.
It hasn't stopped.
















the Awan delays...





a rant from 911bodysnatcher....




> Andrew McCabe Shouldn't be given Criminal Immunity. 
> He had 6+ months to come forward. 
> We the Citizen Journalists, Congress, Judicial Watch, Others did ALL THE Discovery That He Thinks He Could Leverage Now, But We Don't Need His Testimony. Instead, Prosecute Him To The Fullest Extent The Law Allows.
> 
> We don't need the testimony of Mr. "first-we-$#@!-Flynn-then-we-$#@!-Trump."
> 
> Citizen Journalists and alt media like 
> George Webb, 
> Charles Ortel, 
> ...







*A Panicked Andrew McCabe Begs for Immunity from Prison, Gets Roundhoused by Single Twitter Thread Uncovering His Scheme
https://truepundit.com/a-panicked-an...ng-his-scheme/*




> 1.
> So McCabe wants immunity? For what? you might ask. Well, let's take a look.
> 
> 2.
> FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe wants immunity in exchange for testimony related to a Justice Department IG's referral for possible prosecution, ahead of a congressional hearing on the handling of the Clinton email probe.
> McCabe asks for immunity ahead of congressional hearing on handling of Clinton case
> Ousted FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is seeking immunity in exchange for his testimony related to a Justice Department watchdog’s referral for possible prosecution, ahead of a congressional heari…
> http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...ail-probe.html
> 
> ...






*Edward Snowden: "The People Are Still Powerless... But Now They're Aware"
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...w-theyre-aware*

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Department of Justice is planning to show senior lawmakers  several highly-classified documents in an additional briefing on the  FBI's use of a spy as part of a counterintelligence operation on the  Trump campaign, _Politico_ reports.

  A senior DOJ official said that the so-called "Gang of Eight" will  have an opportunity next Monday or Tuesday to review the additional  documents which were not furnished during a high-level classified  briefing in May. 
 "*The Department and FBI are prepared to brief members on certain questions specifically raised by the Speaker and other members*," the DOJ official said. "*The  Department will also provide the documents that were available for  review but not inspected by the members at the previous briefing along with some additional material*." -PoliticoThe group includes Reps Devin Nunes (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA),  Richard Burr (R-NC), Mark Warner (D-VA), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Nancy Pelosi  (D-CA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). 
  Paul Ryan and Trey Gowdy have notably said that the FBI's use of  Halper to spy was appropriate, while President Trump has labeled the  affair "spygate."
 SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!
 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) hit back on _Fox News_ Wednesday evening, saying “*There  is no defense today for Paul Ryan siding with the FBI and Department of  Justice against those of us in the Congress fighting for transparency  and accountability.*”  "*We need the speaker to be an institutionalist for the Congress, not to be a defender of the deep state,*" he added.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...gate-informant

----------


## goldenequity

> *Paul Ryan and Trey Gowdy have notably said that the FBI's use of  Halper to spy was appropriate*, while President Trump has labeled the  affair "spygate."
>  SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!
>  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018

----------


## Swordsmyth

A recently unmasked FBI agent who worked on the Clinton email  investigation and exchanged anti-Trump text messages with her FBI lover  and other colleagues has been pictured for the first time by the _Daily Mail_. 
 Sally Moyer, 44, *who texted 'f**k Trump,' called President Trump's voters 'retarded' and vowed to quit 'on the spot' if he won the election*, was seen leaving her home early Friday morning wearing a floral top and dark pants. 
  She shook her head and declined to discuss the controversy with a  DailyMail.com reporter, and ducked quickly into her nearby car in the  rain without an umbrella before driving off. -Daily Mail
  Moyer - an attorney and registered Democrat identified in the  Inspector General's report as "Agent 5" is a veritable goldmine of hate,  who had been working for the FBI since at least September of 2006.
  When Moyer sent the texts, she was on the "filter team" for the  Clinton email investigation - a group of FBI officials tasked with  determining whether information obtained by the FBI is considered  "privileged" or if it can be used in the investigation - *also known as a* *taint team*.
 Moyer exchanged most of the messages with another FBI agent who  worked on the Clinton investigation, identified as 'Agent 1' in the  report.
*Moyer and Agent 1 were in a romantic relationship at the time, and the two have since married*, according the report. Agent 1's name is being withheld. -Daily MailSome of Moyer's greatest hits:

"$#@! Trump""screw you trump""She [Hillary] better win... otherwise *i'm gonna be walking around with both of my guns.*"Moyer also called Ohio Trump supporters "retarded"


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ton-taint-team


What a loser.

----------


## timosman

> after the FBI agent would not commit to a date.


Always playing mofos.

----------


## timosman

> What a loser.


She worked for FBI?

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Justice Department this week gave House  Republicans some of the documents they seek related to the Russia  election-meddling investigation and Hillary Clinton email probe -- after  lawmakers threatened to hold officials in contempt for stonewalling.
                                                                                                                                                                                          House Oversight Committee Chairman  Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said on "Fox News Sunday" that House Speaker Paul  Ryan, R-Wis., had warned that “there’s going to be action on the floor  of the House this week if FBI and DOJ do not comply with our subpoena  request.”


The House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee had  requested more than a million documents from the FBI and DOJ related to  the Clinton investigation and surveillance of members of the Trump  campaign during the 2016 presidential campaign.
                                                                                                                                     But a spokesperson for Ryan told The Associated Press  on Saturday that the department had partially complied with the  subpoenas and had turned over more than a thousand new documents.
                                                                                                                                     "Our efforts have resulted in the committees finally  getting access to information that was sought months ago, but some  important requests remain to be completed," the spokesperson, AshLee  Strong, said in a statement Saturday.  "Additional time has been  requested for the outstanding items, and based on our understanding of  the process we believe that request is reasonable. We expect the  department to meet its full obligations to the two committees."
                                                                                                                                                                       House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes,  R-Calif., who has been a central figure in requesting the documents, was  provided a classified letter about whether the FBI used “confidential  human sources” before it started its investigation in Russia ties to the  Trump campaign.


AP reported that the DOJ is also working to provide documents related  to former British spy Christopher Steele, who was behind the lurid and  unverified anti-Trump dossier, which Republicans say was used to obtain  the FISA warrant.
                                                                                                                                     Acting Assistant Deputy Director Jill Tyson said that  the FBI staff would be working through the weekend to keep production of  documents moving forward, according to Politico.  She also said that Nunes had asked for conversation transcripts between  sources and Trump campaign officials -- that request was forwarded to  National Intelligence Director Dan Coats.
                                                                                                                                     The partial fulfillment of the request is likely to  soothe what was at one point an escalating standoff between House  Republicans and department officials.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...na-threat.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

The corporate media is reporting intrepid crusader Robert Mueller is  preparing to do a Pontius Pilate on his special council investigation of  Russia and the Trump campaign. 
  According to WaPo, Mueller has* beefed up his team with a number of prosecutors* and the job of prosecuting Russian nationals for supposedly influencing the 2016 election will be fobbed off on them.
 _“The Post reports that the new hires are the first indication of Mueller preparing for the end of his investigation,”_ WaPo reported.*The Trump component is in the process of performing a disappearing act in slow motion.* The investigation petered out months ago. Democrats continued to pound on it. Because it’s all they have. *The establishment Resistance run by Pelosi and Schumer is treading water and looking toward the midterms.* 

  It’s like simple math. _There is no evidence Trump or his  associates colluded with Putin and the Russians to somehow - through the  exaggerated influence of social media - throw the election in his  favor._ 
  This nonsense was dispelled early on. 
*It’s true. Enterprising Russians ran a lucrative clickbait scheme on social media - just like hundreds of other entrepreneurs.*  It took the the Democrats - fresh off a humiliating defeat to a casino  and real estate windbag - to make up a fantasy deserving of a novel  discount bin.  
*Establishment Dems counted on the corporate media to whip up  the required hysteria and frenzy among already hysterical and frenzied  liberals.* Many apparently sought trauma counseling after the election. 
  Even with the media lavishing coverage on the Mueller investigation,  it has failed to do much of anything except get Paul Manafort, Michael  Cohen, and others in trouble - not for working under Putin’s direction  to get the MAGA candidate elected, but for alleged bank fraud and  violation of campaign finance laws. 
  This is pretty routine stuff in Washington.
*Mueller doesn’t have a case and he knows it.* Now he will *save face* by passing off the investigation to underlings. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ation-was-over

----------


## Swordsmyth

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes  (R-Calif.) is demanding the Justice Department tell him by Monday  evening whether the FBI used confidential informants “against” members  or associates of the Trump campaign.
Nunes, in a Sunday letter, also asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein whether he or FBI Director Christopher Wray is “responsible for compliance with the Committee’s subpoenas.”
Nunes is  giving Rosenstein until 5 p.m. on Monday to provide the requested  information, the latest in a string of deadlines he has placed on the  Justice Department.

More at: http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...-fbi-informant

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Justice Department on Monday declined to answer  requests by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes,  R-Calif., for more information about the reported use of FBI informants  while investigating President Trump's 2016 campaign.
                                                                                                                                                                                          Nunes had given Deputy Attorney  General Rod Rosenstein until 5 p.m. ET to say whether the FBI had used  "informants against members or associates of the Trump campaign and if  so, how many informants were used and how much money was spent on their  activities?"
                                                                                                                                     In his response to Nunes, Assistant Attorney General  Stephen Boyd said: "Many of your requests relate to documents and  information regarding issues surrounding confidential human sources that  are solely in the custody and control of the FBI."
                                                         		 					                                                                                                       "The FBI retains and has the ability to produce the  documents requested in a manner consistent with its obligation to  protect confidential human sources and methods," Boyd added.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...nformants.html

----------


## Jan2017

*EXCLUSIVE: This is the FBI agent who worked on Hillary Clinton probe, labeled Trump supporters 'retarded' and texted 'f**k Trump' to her colleague lover - seen for the first time since her identity was revealed after release of IG report

*Sally Moyer, 44, was named as the FBI agent who traded anti-Trump texts that were seen in the 568-page inspector general report released last Friday

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-revealed.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

*The House Judiciary Committee approved for the first time a  resolution Tuesday demanding that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  turn over all requested documents* regarding the FBI’s handling  of the Russia investigation during the presidential election after  seven days or face possible impeachment or contempt.
  The decision to move forward with the resolution came after a year of  battles with the Justice Department and FBI to turn over requested  documents. *The committee voted on party lines 15-11 to pass the  resolution directing Rosenstein to comply within the next seven days or  face the consequences.*

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio,  who has been one of the lawmakers at the frontlines of the committee’s  investigation, said the resolution is the result of the frustration felt  among lawmakers conducting oversight. He noted that it will be up to  House Republican leaders to decide whether or not to take it to the full  House for a vote.
 *“If they don’t comply with the resolution they know the remedies the House has, contempt and impeachment,”* said Jordan.
*“If we don’t get that information entitled to us, everybody knows that we’ll do what we have to do to get it done.”*Jordan and Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., were the  authors of the resolution. Both members have criticized Rosenstein and  the FBI for failing to deliver documents. House Intelligence Committee  Chairman Devin Nunes, R-CA, has also been fighting the Justice  Department for documents and* has threatened as well to hold Rosenstein in contempt or impeachment if they are not produced.*

_U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC)_
*The resolution does not include a penalty but Jordan noted  that the lawmakers are prepared to file impeachment or contempt against  Rosenstein.* The resolution is expected to sit on the House floor until members return from their break after the next week.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ng-dojfbi-docs

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is refusing to release intercepted  material alleging that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch conspired  with the Clinton campaign in a deal to rig the Clinton email  investigation, reports Paul Sperry of RealClear Investigations. 
 The information remains so secret that Justice Department Inspector  General Michael Horowitz had to censor it from his recently released  500-plus-page report on the FBI’s investigation of Clinton, and even  withhold it from Congress.Not even members of Congress with top secret security clearance have  been allowed to see the unverified accounts intercepted from presumed  Russian sources *in which the head of the Democratic National  Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, allegedly implicates the Clinton  campaign and Lynch in the scheme*.

  “It is remarkable how this Justice Department is protecting the  corruption of the Obama Justice Department,” notes Tom Fitton  of Judicial Watch, which is suing the DOJ for the material.
  Wasserman Schultz, Lynch and Clinton have denied the allegations and characterized them as Russian disinformation. 
 True or false, the material is consequential because it appears to  have influenced former FBI Director James B. Comey’s decision to break  with bureau protocols because he didn’t trust Lynch. In his recent book,  Comey said he took the reins in the Clinton email probe, announcing  Clinton should not be indicted, because of a “development still unknown  to the American public” that “cast serious doubt” on Lynch’s credibility  – clearly the intercepted material.
*If the material documents an authentic exchange between Lynch  and a Clinton aide, it would appear to be strong evidence that the  Obama administration put partisan political considerations ahead of its  duty to enforce the law*. -RealClear InvestigationsThen again, if the intercepts are fabricated, it would constitute  Russia's most tangible success in influencing the 2016 U.S. election -  since Comey may not have gone around Lynch cleared Clinton during his  July 2016 press conference - nor would he have likely publicly announced  the reopening of the investigation right before the election - an act  Clinton and her allies blame for her stunning loss to Donald Trump. 
  The secret intelligence document *purports to show that Lynch told the Clinton campaign she would keep the FBI email investigation on a short leash*  - a suggestion included in the Inspector General's original draft, but  relegated to a classified appendix in the official report *and entirely blanked out*. 
 What is known, based on press leaks and a letter Senate Judiciary  Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent Lynch, is that in March 2016, *the  FBI received a batch of hacked documents from U.S. intelligence  agencies that had access to stolen emails stored on Russian networks*. One of the intercepted documents revealed *an  alleged email from then-DNC Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz to an  operative working for billionaire Democratic fundraiser George Soros*. *It  claimed Lynch had assured the Clinton campaign that investigators and  prosecutors would go easy on the presumptive Democratic presidential  nominee regarding her use of a private email server* while serving as secretary of state. Lynch allegedly made the promise directly to Clinton political director Amanda Renteria. -RealClear Investigations“T*he information was classified at such a high level by the  intelligence community that it limited even the members [of Congress]  who can see it, as well as the staffs*,” Horowitz explained last  week during congressional testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary  Committee, which has oversight authority over Justice and the FBI.
 Congressional sources told RealClearInvestigations *the material is classified "TS/SCI," which stands for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information*. -RealClear InvestigationsHorowitz said that he has asked Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein and FBI  Director Christopher Wray to work with the CIA and Office of the  Director of National Intelligence to figure out if the intercepted  material can be rewritten to allow congress to see it. Once  appropriately redacted to protect "sources and methods," said Horowitz,  he hopes that members of congress can then go to the secure reading room  in the basement of the Capitol Building, called the "tank," and view  the materials. 
  “We very much want the committee to see this information,” Horowitz said.
  For some strange reason, CNN, WaPo and the New York Times have  uncritically taken Lynch, Clinton and Wasserman Schultz's denials at  face value, dismissing the compromising information as possibly fake and  unreliable. Horowitz even quotes non-FBI "witnesses" in his report  describing the secret information as "objectively false." 
*FBI Sandbagging*
  While the FBI apparently took the intercept seriously, it never  interviewed anyone named in it until Clinton's email case was closed by  Comey in July 2016. In August, the FBI informally quizzed Lynch about  the allegations - while Comey also reportedly confronted the former AG  and was told to leave her office.
 Comey said he had doubts about Lynch’s independence as early as  September 2015 when she called him into her office and asked him to  minimize the probe by calling it “a matter” instead of an  “investigation,” which aligned with Clinton campaign talking points.  Then, just days before FBI agents interviewed Clinton in July 2016,  Lynch privately met with former President Bill Clinton on her government  plane while it was parked on an airport tarmac in Phoenix. In a text  message that has since been brought to light, the lead investigators on  the case, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, made clear at the time their  understanding that Lynch knew that “no charges will be brought” against  Clinton.
*Renteria, the Clinton campaign official, who ran for governor  of California but failed to secure a top-two spot in the primary,  insists the intelligence citing her was disinformation created by  Russian officials to dupe Americans and create discord and turmoil  during the election*.  -RealClear Investigations The FBI and Washington Post have  both investigated this and concluded that the story-line has no basis in  reality. It was simply made up by the Russians.
 — Amanda Renteria (@AmandaRenteria) June 18, 2018While Lynch has never been directly asked under oath by Congress  about the allegation - she swore in a July 2016 session in front of the  House Judiciary Committee "I have not spoken to anyone on either the  [Clinton] campaign or transition or any staff members affiliated with  them." 
  Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says he'll issue a subpoena for Lynch,  but the panel's top Democrat Dianne Feinstein (CA) has to agree to it  per committee rules. Grassley also said he would be open to exploring  immunity for Comey's former #2, Andrew McCabe.

  Feinstein may be hesitant to sign on, as she says she thinks Comey  acted in good faith - which means she thinks Congress shouldn't have a  crack at questioning a key figure in the largest political scandal in  modern history.
  "While I disagree with his actions, I have seen no evidence that Mr.  Comey acted in bad faith or that he lied about any of his actions," said  Feinstein during a Monday Judiciary panel hearing. Former Feinstein  staffer and FBI investigator Dan Jones, meanwhile, *continues to work with* *Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS on a $50 million investigation* privately funded by *George Soros* and other "wealthy donors" to continue the investigation into Donald Trump.
  Of interest, Amanda Renteria is also former Feinstein staffer. Also recall that Feinstein leaked Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson's Congressional testimony in January.
  Lynch was dinged in the IG report over an "ambiguous" incomplete  recusal from the Clinton email "matter" despite a clandestine 30-minute  "tarmac" meeting with Bill Clinton *one week before the FBI exonerated Hillary Clinton*.
  Interesting how a "dossier" full of falsehoods about Trump not only  released to the public, but was used by the FBI as part of an espionage  operation on the Trump campaign - while an intercepted communication  from Russia is suddenly classified as so top-secret that even members of  Congressional intelligence oversight committees can't see it.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ecret-deal-rig

----------


## Swordsmyth

Peter Strzok, the FBI counterintelligence agent removed from Special  Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation over anti-Trump bias,  appeared before a closed door session in front of two House committees  on Wednesday, where he tried to explain anti-Trump text exchanges with  his FBI mistress as "*Just an intimate conversation between intimate friends,*" according to Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, quoting Strzok's description of the controversial messages.

  While Jackson Lee gladly accepted Strzok's answer, Republican Mark Meadows of North Carolina wasn't buying it: 
 While Jackson Lee said she believed Strzok’s account that his  “intimate” messages didn’t reflect political bias in his work,  Republican Representative Mark Meadows said, “*None of my concerns about political bias have been alleviated based on what I’ve heard so far*.” -Bloomberg“*If you have intimate personal conversations between two  people, that normally would show the intent more so than perhaps  something that would be said out in public*,” said Meadows.
  Meadows said that some of the questions on Wednesday revolved around  "who knew what when - and what was the genesis of the Russia collusion  investigation," into Trump's campaign. 
  Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) wasn't buying it either, as Sara Carter details: "*It was a waste—Strzok is full of it and he kept hiding behind [the] classified information excuse."*
  Others had similarly disappointed reactions: Freedom Caucus &  Judiciary Committee member, Matt Gaetz (R-FL) attended today’s  deposition and reacted to Strzok’s testimony, telling the Sean Hannity  Radio Show, that “… I am shocked at the lack of curiosity with Robert  Mueller. I mean Sean, if you were in Mueller’s shoes, and you had found  these text messages, I would think that you would want to ask whether or  not they impacted the investigative decisions that were made, whether  there was bias, whether there was contact with other members of the FBI  regarding the investigation and where it was going and who was making  the critical judgment calls,” the Florida Congressman said. “*I  just cannot believe the lack of curiosity on the part of Robert Mueller.  It was the strongest reaction I had today from Peter Strzok’s  testimony.”*
** * * 

*More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ng-closed-door

----------


## Swordsmyth

A House Republican says he didn’t mean to imply that both FBI  investigators he unmasked by name in a congressional hearing were among  five unidentified agents cited for pro-Clinton, anti-Trump bias by the  Justice Department inspector general in his recently released report on the Clinton email investigation.
 IG Michael Horowitz said he did not name the politically biased  investigators in his report because the FBI said they worked in  counterintelligence and requested he protect their identities.
 However, Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, who heads a House Oversight  subcommittee, argued the FBI was wrong to ask Horowitz to conceal their  identities, because not all of them work in counterintelligence.
 “But they don’t work in counterintelligence,” said in a June 19  exchange with Horowitz. “If that’s the reason the FBI is giving, they’re  giving you false information, because they work for the general  counsel.”
 Meadows then named Kevin Clinesmith and Sally Moyer as two examples,  and his staff later confirmed they were among the five unidentified FBI  investigators in the IG report.
 Dozens of media outlets reported the names, including the Post. However, Moyer’s lawyer insists she is not one of the biased five and “has not been referred for investigation.”
 Adding to the confusion is that Moyer, who does work in the general  counsel’s office, is mentioned throughout the IG report as a senior FBI  investigator on the Clinton probe who made key and controversial  decisions in the case. Clinesmith, who in fact was referred by Horowitz  for bias review, worked as a second, more junior lawyer on Moyer’s team.
 Clinesmith is “FBI Attorney 2” in the report, while Moyer is, in  fact, “FBI Attorney 1,” which is not listed as one of the agents or  lawyers cited for bias or referred for investigation.
 Meadows’ office says it regrets the “misinterpretation.”

More at: https://nypost.com/2018/06/27/sally-...report-on-fbi/

----------


## Swordsmyth

The House on Thursday passed  a resolution demanding the Department of Justice (DOJ) hand over  sensitive documents, in the process delivering a final warning shot to  senior officials before conservatives move ahead with more aggressive  action against the department.
In a  226-183 vote, lawmakers approved the messaging measure, which calls on  the DOJ to turn over all of the documents House Republicans have  requested related to the FBI's handling of investigations during the  2016 presidential election.
The  party-line vote, with one Republican voting present, puts the entire  conference on the record in the escalating feud between the DOJ and  House Republicans, who have been fighting for months for access to a  trove of highly sensitive documents.

While  the resolution is not enforceable, Republicans say they wanted to send a  clear message to the DOJ and are vowing to impeach or hold senior  officials in contempt of Congress if they don’t comply with their  document request.

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/39...-doj-documents

----------


## Swordsmyth

Facing a grilling during the House Committee on the Judiciary hearing this morning, Deputy Attorney General Rod*  Rosenstein refused to say whether or not any member of the Obama  administration tried to undermine President Donald Trump’s campaign* leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

 *“What did the DOJ or FBI do in terms of collecting  information, spying, or surveillance on the Trump campaign be it via  Stefan Halper or anybody else working on behalf of the agencies?”* GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida asked Rosenstein during a House Committee on the Judiciary hearing Thursday.
  “As you know, congressman, *I’m not permitted to discuss  classified information in an open setting but I can assure you we are  working with oversight committees and producing all relevant evidence to  allow them to answer those questions*,” Rosenstein answered.
  Unsatisfied with Rosenstein’s response, DeSantis pressed him once again.
 “Let me ask you this, then, did the Obama administration, anybody in  the administration direct anybody, Halper or anybody, to make contact  with anyone associated with the Trump campaign?” DeSantis asked.
  “*As I said, congressman, appreciate the — I understand your interest, I’m not permitted to discuss classified information*,” Rosenstein said.


Rosenstein used the same argument as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of  the Justice Department's fiercest critics, repeatedly asked *questions  centering on whether federal officials began collecting intelligence on  the Trump campaign and Russia before launching its investigation in  July 2016.*
 *“Did any investigative activity regarding the Trump campaign and Russia occur before July 31, 2016?”* Gaetz  asked, noting this is the date the FBI initiated its  counterintelligence investigation, according to the Democratic memo  produced by the House Intelligence Committee.
  “Congressman, as you know, *we are dealing with the Intelligence Committee on that issue* and Chairman [Devin] Nunes met with Director Wray and me. I received the same briefing that he received so *I  do not know any additional information beyond what he knows about that  and I’m not able to produce any information beyond what the FBI has told  me*,” Rosenstein replied.Gaetz also asked whether Rosenstein knew of any payments to collect  intelligence on the Trump campaign before the FBI launched its probe.
 _“No, but keep in mind I wasn’t there. I only know the information we’ve obtained from the FBI records,”_ Rosenstein replied.But, as The Hill reports, Rep. DeSantis was not done and suggested later in his questioning that *Rosenstein should recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation*,  pointing to the fact the deputy attorney general himself wrote the memo  to President Trump recommending former FBI Director James Comey be  fired.
 *“They talk about the Mueller investigation. It’s really the  Rosenstein investigation. You appointed Mueller. You’re supervising  Mueller, and it’s supposedly about collusion between Trump’s campaign  and Russia and obstruction of justice,”* DeSantis said.
  “But you wrote the memo saying that Comey should be fired and you  signed the FISA extension for Carter Page. So, my question is to you, it  seems like you should be recused from this more so than [Attorney  General] Jeff Sessions just because you were involved in making  decisions affecting both prongs of this investigation,” DeSantis  continued. “Why haven’t you done that?”Rosenstein responded he would recuse himself if “it were appropriate.”
 *“Congressman, I can assure you that if it were appropriate for me to recuse, I would be more than happy to do so,”* Rosenstein said. *“But, it’s my responsibility to do it.”*DeSantis drilled down, emphasizing that Mueller is said to be  investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president in the  Comey firing. While press reports have indicated that the special  counsel is looking into possible obstruction of justice, officials have  not spoken publicly about the lines of inquiry in the probe.  
 _“I am not commenting on what is under investigation by  the Mueller probe and to the best of my knowledge, neither is Mr.  Mueller,”_ Rosenstein said.More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...trump-campaign

----------


## Swordsmyth

*House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is calling  for 17 current and former FBI and Justice Department employees to  testify on Capitol Hill about alleged government surveillance on the  2016 Trump campaign.*
 The list includes former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI agent  Peter Strzok and others who may “have relevant information.”
 Nunes is requesting that the joint task force of the Oversight and  Judiciary Committees interview the staffers because The House  Intelligence Committee doesn’t have direct oversight over the FBI and  DOJ.


“For the sake of transparency and to keep the American people as  fully informed as possible about these matters, the task force should  consider interviewing these individuals in an open setting,” Nunes wrote  in the letter. 
The request comes days after Strzok testified in secret to  Congress about his anti-Trump text messages sent during the Clinton  email investigation leading up to the 2016 election. 
The full list of 17 officials can be found below: 
-Trisha Anderson, DOJ lawyer
-James Baker, former FBI general counsel
-Gregory Brower, former FBI congressional liaison
-John Carlin, former head of the DOJ’s national security division
-Kevin Clinesmith, FBI lawyer
-Tashina Gauhar, DOJ official
-David Laufman, former head of DOJ’s counterintelligence division
-Andrew McCabe, former FBI deputy director
-Mary McCord, former DOJ lawyer
-Jonathan Moffa, FBI official
-Sally Moyer, FBI lawyer
-Bruce Ohr, former associate deputy attorney general
-Lisa Page, former FBI lawyer
-Joseph Pientka, FBI agent
-E.W. “Bill” Priestap, assistant director of the FBI counterintelligence division
-Peter Strzok, FBI agent
-George Toscas, DOJ official 

More at: https://www.infowars.com/nunes-calls...rnment-spying/

----------


## Swordsmyth

Another swamp creature exposes himself:


Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said Friday that impeachment "should be on the table" if President Trump or one of his appointees ends special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference prematurely.
Shapiro,  the founder and co-editor of The Daily Wire, appeared on HBO's "Real  Time With Bill Maher," where he said he doesn't believe Trump colluded  with Russia in the 2016 election. Shapiro said he's waiting to see  evidence suggest otherwise.


Maher argued that Republicans don’t want any type of incriminating  report to come out in the special counsel's investigation, which is why  they've accused Mueller of bias and have recently ratcheted up their  attacks on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation.
Shapiro said attacks on Rosenstein  are less concerning, since Mueller could still be left to do his job  under a different deputy attorney general. However, he said, if  Rosenstein's hypothetical replacement ended the probe, it would be a  problem.
"If he throws it in the trash or quashes the Mueller investigation then, yes, impeachment should be on the table," Shapiro said.

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/media/39...-investigation

----------


## Swordsmyth

A federal judge has approved a request to tightly control how evidence is shared with a Russian company accused of funding an Internet trolling operation to mislead American voters in the 2016 election.
 The  dispute over how to protect sensitive materials from disclosure had  threatened to stall prosecution of the sole defendant to appear in court  to face charges in the indictment of Russian entities under special  counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
 U.S. District  Judge Dabney L. Friedrich of the District of Columbia said Friday that  federal prosecutors gave “ample good cause” that identifying sources in  the probe could tip off Russian intelligence and other foreign services  to ongoing national security investigations and undermine efforts to  protect future elections from similar interference.
 Friedrich barred the U.S.-based attorneys for Concord Management and Consulting, which was indicted in February  along with 13 Russian individuals and two other companies from sharing  sensitive case materials from any foreign national without court  approval.
 Concord  denies the allegations, and its attorneys said it was critical that  their defense strategy include co-defendant Yevgeniy Viktorovich  Prigozhin, a catering magnate known as “Putin’s chef” because of his  ties to Russian President Vladi*mir Putin.
 Prigozhin  and Concord were hit with U.S. sanctions over Russia’s occupation of  Crimea and military actions in Ukraine in 2016, and they were hit again  this March based on “malicious cyber-enabled activities.”
 In  a seven-page opinion, Friedrich ruled, “Concord’s right to prepare and  present a full defense at trial does not depend on Prigozhin having  access to sensitive discovery materials, at least not at this early  stage of the prosecution.”
 The judge said the issue could be revisited after a trial date is set.


Friedrich barred any individual or entity,  including Prigozhin or any other foreign national other than Concord’s  defense team with the Reed Smith law firm, from accessing sensitive  materials without her approval. Sensitive data, the order said, must be  stored in a U.S. office of the firm, reviewed only when a designated  firm employee is present and “not disclosed, transported or transmitted  outside of the United States.”
 Friedrich said  Concord’s attorneys may later ask to disclose sensitive evidence at its  offices to others, including potential witnesses, their counsel and  defense team vendors, by submitting their names outside of the presence  of prosecutors to an independent, court-appointed “firewall attorney”  nominated by the U.S. government, who could alert the judge to any  government concerns.

More at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.341994be2a92

----------


## Swordsmyth

A stunning revelation buried deep inside Department of Justice  inspector general Michael Horowitz’s report on the FBI’s Hillary Clinton  email investigation suggests the controversial June 2016 tarmac meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton was coordinated.
 If true, it blows a hole in the narrative Lynch and Clinton have  maintained for two years. Lynch claimed the “social” meeting was  spontaneous and the two discussed grandchildren.

 The meeting was extremely controversial at the time because it came  just days before then-FBI Director James Comey announced the FBI would  not recommend criminal charges against Clinton for using a private email  server while secretary of state.
*What does Horowitz’s report say?* The report states  that the DOJ department of public affairs supervisor traveling with  Lynch told internal DOJ investigators that Clinton’s Secret Service  detail contacted Lynch’s security detail ahead of time to arrange the  meeting. 
 Clinton’s plane was parked next to Lynch’s, the report revealed, or about just 20 to 30 yards away. 
 Clinton told investigators he only learned the plane next to his was  Lynch’s after being briefed by his staff. He claimed he then debated  whether or not he should “say hello” and “shake hands with the Attorney  General.”
 Page 203 of the report states:
 The OPA Supervisor said that he later learned that former President  Clinton’s Secret Service detail had contacted Lynch’s FBI security  detail and let them know that the former President wanted to meet with  Lynch. Although Lynch’s staff was supposed to receive notice of such  requests, witnesses told us that they were not informed of the request  from former President Clinton.In addition, Lynch revealed to DOJ investigators she was not social  with the Clintons and had never met with either one of them prior to the  tarmac meetings.
 Both Clinton and Lynch denied discussing nefarious subjects, such as  the DOJ’s Clinton investigation, known as “Midyear,” or any other  matters involving the Clintons’ public life. They both maintained the  conversation was lighthearted and personal.
 The report goes on to detail that Lynch’s staff — who were waiting  outside the plane in a staff van — felt “blindsided” and “shocked” Lynch  would meet with the former president.
 Finally, it was Lynch’s senior counselor who broke up the meeting  when she realized it would become extremely problematic if the media  learned Lynch had just met with the the husband of a subject in a major  investigation. The senior counselor said she could not recall what she  heard when she entered the plane but said Lynch appeared “uncomfortable  and wanted the meeting to be done.”
 According to the report, the meeting between Lynch and Clinton lasted about 20 minutes.


https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/0...mpression=true

----------


## Jan2017

Why is Strzok still employed by the *FIB* ?

June 19, 2018
*FBI Agent Peter Strzok, author of anti-Trump text messages, escorted out of bureau headquarters but still employed: Lawyer*
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/19/fbis...-building.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is  calling for 10 government officials who served at the State Department  or White House during the Obama administration to testify in Congress  about the Russia probe as he investigates possible government  surveillance abuse during the 2016 election.
                                                                                                                                                                                          In a Monday letter to a pair of  congressional committees, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes,  R-Calif., asked the Oversight and Judiciary Committees to take steps to  interview former State Department officials Elizabeth Dibble, Jonathan  Finer, Kathleen Kavalec, Lewis Lukens, Victoria Nuland, Thomas Williams  and Jonathan Winer, as well as former Obama White House officials Jake  Sullivan, Colin Kahl and Shailagh Murray.
                                                                                                                                     Dibble, the former deputy chief of mission at the U.S.  embassy in London, a city where other figures in the Russia  investigation were operating.
Great to see DCM Elizabeth Dibble @BarackObama speech today @USAinUK @USAinNI asking about @Y_Influencers pic.twitter.com/fIabY0upAN
— Conor Houston (@ConorHoustonNI) April 23, 2016                                                  Winer, a former Obama State Department official, has acknowledged he had regular contact with ex-British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the controversial anti-Trump dossier.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...tics+-+Text%29

----------


## Swordsmyth

A top aide to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is reportedly planning on stepping down from his position. 
NPR reported on Tuesday that Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott Schools will leave the Department of Justice (DOJ).

NPR  notes that Schools's departure comes after he played a critical role in  some of the Justice Department's most important recent decisions.  Schools reportedly recommended that then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe be dismissed for his "lack of candor" in an internal probe. 

He also received regular briefings from special counsel Robert Mueller about the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/395333-t...ep-down-report

----------


## Swordsmyth

Embattled FBI agent Peter Strzok has been subpoenaed by two powerful  House committees to testify in public at a joint hearing slated for 10  a.m. on July 10. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ting-cold-feet

----------


## Swordsmyth

Mueller delayed sentencing of Michael Flynn last week.
*Today  Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered a status hearing for July 10, 2018 at  10 AM with Robert Mueller’s prosecutors and Michael Flynn.* Mr. Flynn is being ordered to attend the hearing.
 Via Techno Fog.
 This is big: in response to today’s motion, the  Court has, on its own, set the matter for a status hearing. General  Flynn will be in attendance.
 July 10. Mark your calendars. pic.twitter.com/oeuuOKR9O9
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) July 2, 2018 Likely subject matter:
 Why did the Special Counsel secure a plea deal in December of 2017 when it wouldn’t be ready for sentencing in August of 2018?

 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) July 2, 2018

More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ontent=2260527

----------


## Swordsmyth

During a closed-door interview on June 27, former FBI official Peter  Strzok downplayed his role in obtaining surveillance warrants to spy on  former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
 The Daily Beast reported that  Strzok, the former deputy chief of counterintelligence, claimed in the  interview that he had no substantive input on drafting or securing  Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants used to spy on  Page, an energy consultant who left the Trump team in September 2016.
 Strzok also denied providing evidence for the FISAs, the first of which was granted on Oct. 21, 2016.
 A  Republican in the June 27 interview confirmed that Strzok, who oversaw  the Russian investigation, denied having a direct role in the FISA  process. But the Republican was also incredulous at Strzok’s suggestion  that he had little to do with the spy warrants obtained against Page. *(RELATED: Goodlatte: FBI Lawyers Instructed Strzok Not To Answer ‘Many, Many’ Questions)*
   A new report appears to justify the Republican’s skepticism.
 The Hill’s John Solomon is reporting that Strzok exchanged emails with FBI attorney Lisa Page regarding the Carter Page surveillance.
 Strzok  and Lisa Page exchanged numerous anti-Trump text messages during their  work on the Russia probe, which was codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane.” In  one Aug. 8, 2016 message, Strzok told Page that “we’ll stop” Trump from  becoming president.
 Strzok, who was the FBI’s top investigator on  Crossfire Hurricane, sent an email with the subject line “Crossfire  FISA” to Lisa Page discussing a set of talking points aimed at getting  then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to push the Department of Justice  (DOJ) to approve a surveillance warrant against Carter Page, according  to The Hill.
  “At a minimum, that keeps the hurry the F up pressure on him,” Strzok emailed Lisa Page on Oct. 14, 2016, according to The Hill.
 Strzok  also commented on a letter that Carter Page sent to then-FBI Director  Jim Comey offering to meet with the FBI to discuss allegations made  against him in a Yahoo! News article published on Sept. 23, 2016.
 “At  a minimum, the letter provides us a pretext to interview,” Strzok wrote  to Lisa Page, with whom he was having an affair, on Sept. 26, 2016.

More at: http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/06/pe...&utm_content=1

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## Swordsmyth

House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) has been a* busy man.* 
  In a Thursday letter to two fellow GOP chairmen, Nunes referred 15  people connected to the Russia investigation to testify in an "open  setting." Many of those on the list are tied directly to Hillary  Clinton, Fusion GPS and the infamous "Steele dossier" - a collection of  17 memos full of compromising yet unverified claims about President  Trump's ties to Russia.

  The names on the list include Sidney Blumenthal, Fusion GPS founders  Glenn Simpson and Thomas Catan, Perkins Coie attorney Marc Elias, and  former FBI agent and Feinstein staffer Daniel Jones, *who is spearheading a $50 million Soros-funded effort to continue the Trump-Russia investigation with Fusion GPS and Steele*. 
  The Steele dossier was compiled by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele  on behalf of opposition research firm Fusion GPS, and was funded in part  by Hillary Clinton and the DNC. 
  The Thursday letter to GOP House Chairmen Trey Gowdy and Bob Goodlatte is the *third sent by Nunes in recent days* referring  people to Congressional panels in what appears to be a massive  expansion of the "SpyGate" probe into the FBI/DOJ counterintelligence  operation against the Trump campaign surrounding the 2016 US election.  
  All together, Nunes has referred *42 people* to Gowdy  and Goodlatte - highlighting that the individuals likely fall under the  scope of their joint task force. Moreover, he's not about to let them  wiggle out of testimony.
  "They can plead the Fifth," Nunes told _Fox News_ host Laura  Ingraham. "This isn't going to be like the documents where we've had to  continue to fight with the Justice Department in order to have access to  documents. This is much different. These are all American citizens.  They will, if they do not agree to appear under oath, and testify, then  they will be subpoenaed. That I could tell you for sure."
*What is Nunes up to?*  As the _Washington Examiner_'s Byron York notes, Nunes is up to something. 
 The short version is that the investigation is expanding to the two  additional committees, even as Nunes devotes his own committee's  resources to learning whether the FBI used informants against the 2016  Trump campaign and, if so, how many, when, and how much money was spent  on the project. 
  ...
  In the last week Nunes has sent three letters to Goodlatte and Gowdy,  each recommending a number of people that the task force should  interview. *The first letter focused on current and former officials of the Justice Department and FBI*, 17 in all, whose actions formed the focus of the first phase of Nunes' investigation, on the Trump dossier. *The second letter focused on current and former officials of the State Department and some other agencies*, 10 in all, whose role in the dossier and other matters formed the second part of Nunes' probe. *And the third letter focused on people outside of government*, 15 in all, whose names have popped up throughout the investigation. -Washington ExaminerSo Nunes has sent three letters encircling three specific categories  of individuals involved in the Trump-Russia investigation in some way or  another, and has recommended that either Judiciary or Oversight  committees interview each person. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-dozens-public

----------


## Swordsmyth

It did not take long for Heinrich Himmler lookalike, Rod Rosenstein  to get even with Rep. Jim Jordan's hard-line questioning during the  House Judiciary Committee hearing recently, where Jordan and Rosenstein got into a heated discussion over Rosenstein's refusal to turn over political sensitive documents on Robert Mueller's investigation.
 Just days later, Rep. Jim Jordan was named by Ohio State wrestler  Mike DiSabato as having known about the alleged abuse of athletes by Dr.  Richard Strauss, who was the team physician from the mid-1970s to the  late 1990s, an accusation Jordan quickly denied.
 Jordan, who was the assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State from 1986  to 1994, says he had no knowledge of abuses during that time.
 Anyone with an IQ above moron can see that this accusation involving  Jordan in this 20-year-old incident is payback from Rosenstein over Rep.  Jordan's hard-line demand for evidence. Even something that should be  more alarming to the American people is the distinct probability that  Rosenstein is digging up dirt on every Representative who is demanding  proof from him.

More at: https://freedomoutpost.com/rod-rosen...s-of-congress/

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Justice Department and the FBI have failed to meet deadlines for  the delivery of specific documents about FBI activities prior to the  official investigation into Russian meddling, reports _Fox News_ citing a "source close to the discussions."   
  “The DOJ gave the committee some, but not all, of the outstanding documents, so *they are not in compliance*,” an Intelligence Committee spokesperson told _Fox_.
  If DOJ records reveal that the FBI was actively working against the Trump campaign prior to events which _officially_ precipitated  Operation Crossfire Hurricane - especially during the period in which  they engaged informant Stefan Halper to conduct espionage on multiple  Trump aides, it will have wide ranging implications on the FBI's version  of how the counterintelligence operation began. Without the documents,  congressional investigators won't be able to piece together the timeline  of events, or whether the FBI followed agency protocols during that  period. 
  While FBI headquarters authorized the official counterintelligence operation on July 31, 2016 - John Solomon of _The Hill_ reported in June that efforts to spy on and possibly entrap Trump campaign aides began much earlier. 
 The bridge to the Russia investigation wasn’t erected in Moscow during the summer of the 2016 election.
  It originated earlier, 1,700 miles away *in London*, where *foreign  figures contacted Trump campaign advisers and provided the FBI with  hearsay allegations of Trump-Russia collusion, bureau documents* and  interviews of government insiders reveal. These contacts in spring 2016  — some from trusted intelligence sources, others from Hillary Clinton  supporters — occurred well before FBI headquarters authorized an  official counterintelligence investigation on July 31, 2016. -The HillAnother red flag from _The Hill_ was noted by retired  assistant FBI director for intelligence, Kevin Brock, who supervised an  agency update to their longstanding bureau rules governing the use of  sources while working under then-director Robert Mueller. *These  rules prohibit the FBI from directing a human source to perform  espionage on an American until a formal investigation has been opened -  paperwork and all.* 
 Brock sees oddities in how the Russia case began. “*These types of investigations aren’t normally run by assistant directors and deputy directors at headquarters*,” he told me. “All that happens normally in a field office, but that isn’t the case here and so *it becomes a red flag.* *Congress would have legitimate oversight interests* in the conditions and timing of the targeting of a confidential human source against a U.S. person.” -The HillThe records were requested by three House GOP committee chairmen;  Trey Gowdy on Oversight, Devin Nunes from Intelligence and Bob Goodlatte  on Judiciary - while the Friday deadline was set by a House resolution  after a subpoenas and letters issued as far back as August of last year  failed to do the trick. 

 The source said House staffers -- who reviewed records Thursday at  the Justice Department (DOJ) because lawmakers were out of town for the  holiday recess -- concluded that Justice and the FBI have still not  provided information and records about FBI activities before the  investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections officially  opened on July 31 of that year. -Fox News"*The House Judiciary Committee has been in contact daily with  the Justice Department to ensure they produce all the documents  subpoenaed by the committee earlier this year*," said a  Republican aide to the House Judiciary Committee. "The Justice  Department has produced more documents over the past weeks and has  requested more time to produce additional documents. This request seems  to be reasonable, and we expect the department to comply with the terms  of the subpoena.”
  Last weekend a Justice Department official emphasized that the FBI  and DOJ had advised both chambers' intelligence committees that records  previously limited to congress's "Gang of Eight" were now available to  the rest of congress and cleared staff. They were originally reported to  have included documents concerning the FBI's use of informants during  the election. 
  "*What put this in motion? And of course, was what put this into motion*,  was something that is politically motivated, or was it based on legit  law enforcement evidence?" said former George W. Bush Deputy Assistant  Attorney General Thomas Dupree. "Based on hearing and the back-and-forth  we have seen over the last few months, *we are in an extremely  unusual, and in my view disturbing, situation, where the has been a  complete breakdown and a fracture of trust*."

  Meanwhile, the face of the noncompliant DOJ is none other than Deputy  Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - who recommended former FBI Director  Jim Comey's firing, appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and signed  off on at least one FISA warrant renewal for Trump campaign aide Carter  Page. 
  That said, Fox notes that "those who have worked with Rosenstein emphasize he is in a difficult position *because it is not routine to provide records from ongoing investigations*."

We're kind of beyond what's routine... 


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-investigation

----------


## TheCount

Oh good, Zerohedge.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Oh good, Zerohedge.


Oh good, no argument.

----------


## Swordsmyth

*It’s obvious to anyone paying attention that Jim Jordan is on the rise.* Already a member of the Freedom Caucus, his name has been thrown around by many for the next Speaker of the House. Jordan has also led the charge against the corruption at the FBI and DOJ – known for many heated debates in hearings.
*To note, the University opened an investigation* into  the accusations that Dr. Richard Strauss – who died in 2005 – abused  students when he was the doctor for the wrestling team during his tenure  from the mid-70’s to late 90’s* back in April. The timing of Jordan’s name being thrown into the mess is not the only suspect element regarding this scandal…*
*Enter Perkins Coie, the firm heavily involved in the investigation into whether or not Russia influenced the 2016 Presidential election.* When DNC servers were hacked, Perkins Coie did not go to authorities with proof of the hack but instead hired Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity firm with ties to Hillary Clinton, to investigate the breach.
*As FMShooter reported back in 2017:*
 On top of all of this, *Crowdstrike was the only one to come to a conclusion on the “Russia” conspiracy.* The FBI never even inspected the hacked DNC servers and simply went off of Crowdstrike’s conclusion that Russian hackers _did_ infiltrate DNC servers *when there is absolutely no proof behind their claim*.Perkins Coie also sits at the center of the FISA abuse scandal. The Steele dossierwas the first piece of evidence used in FISA warrants to surveil former Trump team member, Carter Page. *Both the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee helped fund research into the Steele dossier through Perkins Coie – the very same law firm that is now looking into the accusations against Strauss and Jim Jordan.*
*For proof, OpenSecrets has Perkins Coie’s major contributions laid bare.*  Of course,* the DNC tops the list with Hillary For America, Obama for America, and Priorities USA Action – David Brock’s former PAC* – also making appearances; along with many other high-profile Democratic fundraising efforts. 

*Notably, Perkins Coie was hired by OSU to investigate the accusations less than a month after the University shut down their office that helped sexual-assault victims.* In a statement, OSU said:
 *To date, Perkins Coie has interviewed more than 150 former  students and witnesses and is engaged in further investigative efforts.* Ohio  State has shared all additional information that has come to the  attention of the university with the independent investigators whose  work is ongoing.*This isn’t even mentioning the shaky history of Jordan’s accusers, raising questions about their authenticity.*  One of the accusers, Mike DiSabato is *being accused by the widow of a marine for intimidating and bullying her over a memorial fund set up in her husband’s name. Another accuser served time in prison for a $1.8 million fraud scheme.*
*While OSU did notify local police and prosecutors, it’s  strange that they immediately selected a law firm (and stranger that it  was Perkins Coie) instead of letting police handle the investigation.* Perkins  Coie has no power to convene a grand jury or bring charges of perjury;  nor do they have police powers or are able to compel someone to testify.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...jordan-steeped

----------


## Swordsmyth

Chris2 Free This                     Sat, 07/07/2018 - 22:42    Permalink                              Jordan was on TV saying his son wrestles for Ohio state, his nephews wrestle for the Badgers.
 His nephew was killed last night in a freak car accident. 8pm went off the road into a ditch, over corrected and rolled.





I would not be surprised if it wasn't really an accident.

----------


## NorthCarolinaLiberty

> Oh good, Zerohedge.



Oh good; an extreme progressive!

Cha Ching!$$$$$$

----------


## Swordsmyth

Former FBI attorney Lisa Page, whose text messages with FBI  agent Peter Strzok became a flashpoint amid allegations of anti-Trump  bias at the bureau, will not appear for interviews on Wednesday  with House lawmakers, her lawyer said.
Page's lawyer said in a  statement obtained by Politico that she will not comply with a  congressional subpoena to testify before the House Judiciary and the  Oversight and Government Reform Committees.


House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) blasted Page's announcement in a statement Tuesday night, accusing the former FBI lawyer of having "something to hide."
"She  has known for months that the House Judiciary Committee has sought her  testimony as part of our joint investigation with the Oversight  Committee into decisions made by the Justice Department in 2016, and she  has no excuse for her failure to appear," Goodlatte wrote.
“We  will use all tools at our disposal to obtain her testimony. Americans  across the country are alarmed at the bias exhibited by top officials at  the Justice Department and FBI, and it is imperative Congress conduct  vigorous oversight to ensure that never happens again.”

More at: http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...akers-attorney

----------


## Swordsmyth

Conservative lawmakers in the House are preparing to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Politico reported Friday.
Sources  told the publication that conservatives have been preparing to have  Rosenstein impeached for weeks over allegations that he’s held up their  investigation into FBI agents who some lawmakers say are biased against President Trump.
House Freedom Caucus leaders Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are leading the effort, and the impeachment document could be filed as soon as Monday, according to Politico.

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...in-soon-report

----------


## Swordsmyth

The White House has rebuffed concerns  among American intelligence and law enforcement officials and ordered  that more lawmakers be given access to classified information about an  informant the F.B.I. used in 2016 to investigate possible ties between  the Trump campaign and Russia, according to two American officials with  knowledge of the decision.Both the  director of national intelligence and the director of the F.B.I. tried  to keep the classified documents tightly restricted, fearing that a  broader dissemination of operational reports and other sensitive  material could lead to more leaks of detailed information about the role  of the confidential F.B.I. informant.
Some  American officials believe, in fact, the reason the White House made  the decision was to provide political ammunition to President Trump’s  Republican allies who have argued — without any evidence — that the  F.B.I. investigation was opened in July 2016 as an effort to keep Mr.  Trump from becoming president.
The White House declined to comment.
The  F.B.I. files about the informant will now be available to all members  of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, instead of to just a  group of congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight. It is unclear  whether Mr. Trump or a lower-level White House official authorized the  move.

More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/u...informant.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

GOP lawmakers were pleased with former FBI attorney Lisa Page's  Friday closed-door interview with select House committee members - in  sharp contrast to her former FBI co-worker and lover Peter Strzok's  Thursday testimony which was mostly a ten-hourtrain wreck.

*After just five hours, a "cooperative" and "credible" Page answered many questions Strzok didn't*, according to Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) as reported by _Politico_'s Kyle Cheney_,_ in large part because FBI attorneys present at the session backed off and let her answer more questions. 
 Rep. Ratcliffe says Lisa PAGE  answered many questions Strzok didn’t and that lawmakers learned a lot  of new information. He declined to provide any other details.
 — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 13, 2018Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) - one of Page's harshest critics leading up  to her appearance, said that her cooperation "speaks well of her"  according to _The Hill_. 
 “We certainly learned additional things today, but *I can tell  you that the last thing anyone wants to be is falsely accused and her  willingness to cooperate today speaks well of her*" -Rep. Mark Meadows Remarkably, we learned new  information today suggesting the DOJ had not notified Lisa Page of  Congress' outstanding interview requests for over 7 months now. The  DOJ/FBI appear to be continuing their efforts to keep material facts,  and perhaps even witnesses, from Congress.
 — Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) July 13, 2018 Rep. MEADOWS says Page was able to  answer more than Strzok because the FBI counsel was less intrusive and  seemed more permissive.

Republicans seem far more pleased with her testimony than Strzok’s. Meadows/Gaetz/Ratcliffe all say they learned good new info.
 — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 13, 2018 Meadows: Lisa Page is a very  credible witness..she’s doing her best to help us find the truth and I  think in ways she’snbeen falsely accused of not being willing to  cooperate. We've learned.. evidence..that would suggest that she’s been  willing to help in a spirit of transparency
 — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 14, 2018Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said that Page's testimony heightened his  concern over whether the FBI was driving towards a "desired outcome" in  its Russ'a probe.
 Rep. Gaetz says the questions Lisa  Page answered — but Strzok would not — heighten his concern about  whether the FBI was driving toward a “desired outcome” in its Russia  probe.

He said FBI counsel was still there and at times intervened to prevent her from answering.
 — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 13, 2018Gaetz also questioned the presence of FBI attorneys during the private testimony.
  “Lisa Page is not an FBI employee, but the FBI was here providing  counsel and giving her direction as to which questions to answer or not  answer and there is a question as to the propriety of that before the  House,” Gaetz said, according to the Hill.
 But he said he also found Page to be “more credible” than Strzok, the New York Post reported.  
  “I didn’t agree with her characterization of every text message and  every piece of evidence,” Gaetz said as he left the House hearing. “But  we did not see the smug attitude from Lisa Page that we saw from Peter  Strzok.” -Fox NewsThe three GOP lawmakers wouldn't say whether what Page shared during  her closed door appearance was consistent with Strzok's Thursday  session, they _did_ get new information. 
 All three, though, declined to say  whether her testimony was consistent with Strzok’s. They got *new* info  but not necessarily inconsistent testimony.
 — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 13, 2018And while special agent Peter Strzok freaked people out with his Devil's Advocate performance on  Thursday, Lisa Page now appears poised to redeem herself through  honesty and transparency. Who knows, maybe watching her former  side-piece do _this_ freaked her out too: 
 Completely real. I personally  recorded it from my tv. I was so shocked when I saw it and played it  back. I only cut the first part of the arguing. This is the full  recording I captured. I couldn’t believe it. pic.twitter.com/fL3Ji16qP1
 — Holly Bowie (@Hollybowie) July 13, 2018Note Page's depiction in the media has gone from this:

  To this:




More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...outcome-russia

----------


## jkr

> So,, is anything changing other than ownership of resources.
> 
> can I expect that the "do not detain" order has been lifted?
> 
> Can I buy a gun yet?


Can u print 1?

----------


## Swordsmyth

As we sift through the ashes of Thursday's dumpster-fire  Congressional hearing with still employed FBI agent Peter Strzok, Luke  Rosiak of the _Daily Caller_ plucked out a key exchange between  Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tx) and Strzok which revealed a yet-unknown  bombshell about the Clinton email case.
*Nearly all of Hillary Clinton's emails on her homebrew server went to a foreign entity that isn't Russia.* When  this was discovered by the Intelligence Community Inspector General  (ICIG), IG Chuck McCullough sent his investigator Frank Ruckner and an  attorney *to notify Strzok along with three other people* *about the "anomaly."*

  Four separate attempts were also made to notify DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz to brief him on the *massive security breach*,  however Horowitz "never returned the call." Recall that  Horowitz concluded last month that despite Strzok's extreme bias towards  Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump - none of it translated to  Strzok's work at the FBI. 
  In other words; *Strzok, while investigating Clinton's email server, completely ignored the fact that most of Clinton's emails were sent to a foreign entity -* while IG Horowitz simply didn't want to know about it.  
 The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found an “anomaly  on Hillary Clinton’s emails going through their private server, and  when they had done the forensic analysis, they found that her emails, *every single one except four, over 30,000*,  were going to an address that was not on the distribution list,”  Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas said during a hearing with FBI  official Peter Strzok. -Daily CallerGohmert continued; “*It was going to an unauthorized source that was a foreign entity unrelated to Russia.*”
    Strzok admitted to meeting with Ruckner but said he couldn't remember the "specific" content of their discussion. 
  “The forensic examination was done by the ICIG and they can document that,” Gohmert said, “but *you were given that information and you did nothing with it*.”
  Meanwhile, “Mr. Horowitz got a call four times from someone wanting  to brief him about this, and he never returned the call,” Gohmert said  - and Horowitz wouldn't return the call. 
  And while Peter Strzok couldn't remember the specifics of his meeting  with the IG about the giant "foreign entity" bombshell, he texted this  to his mistress Lisa Page when the IG discovered the "(C)"  classification on several of Clinton's emails - something the FBI  overlooked: 
 *“Holy cow ... if the FBI missed this, what else was missed?*  … Remind me to tell you to flag for Andy [redacted] emails we (actually  ICIG) found that have portion marks (C) on a couple of paras. DoJ was  Very Concerned about this.” 30,000+ Hillary Clinton emails were sent to an unauthorized foreign entity, not #RussianHacking

Obama was one of 13 individuals who sent AT LEAST 100 emails to Hillary

At least 100 Obama emails are in the hands of a foreign entity  Where's the outrage?https://t.co/lDld6WLFDh https://t.co/puODFRM9En
 — Katica (@GOPPollAnalyst) July 14, 2018*Internal Pushback* 
  In November of 2017, IG McCullough - an Obama appointee - revealed to _Fox News_ that he received pushback when he tried to tell former DNI James Clapper about _the foreign entity which had Clinton's emails_ and other anomalies. 
  Instead of being embraced for trying to expose an illegal act, *seven senators* including Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca) wrote a letter acusing him of politicizing the issue. 
 McCullough on @HillaryClinton emails: "Even if the information isn't marked properly when it's disseminated, it's still classified." #Tucker pic.twitter.com/b3E7qH0zvz
 — Fox News (@FoxNews) November 29, 2017"It's absolutely irrelevant whether something is marked classified, it is the character of the information," he said.
 McCullough said that from that point forward, he received only  criticism and an "adversarial posture" from Congress when he tried to  rectify the situation.
  "I expected to be embraced and protected," he said, adding that a  Hill staffer "chided" him for failing to consider the "political  consequences" of the information he was blowing the whistle on. -Fox News*That other Clinton whistleblower...*
  Meanwhile, a mostly overlooked facet of the Clinton email investigation was unearthed from the official "FBI Vault" by Twitter researcher Katica (@GOPPollAnalyst) in November and updated on July 10 which somehow never made it into the Inspector General's report on the FBI's handling of the Clinton email investigation. 
  In January, 2016 *a former State department official walked  into the FBI with what they felt was smoking gun evidence in the  Clinton email investigation which was so sensitive he wouldn't talk about it unless it was in a SCIF* (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility). 
 Former DoS guy walks into the FBI  & asks if they got his package. Wants to be sure the task force for  HRCs case gets the evidence. Says he can't talk about the content but  will in a SCIF.  No idea who he is. Part 6; pgs 11-12.

UPDATE: HIS LETTER  https://t.co/ntwUYSwsIq pic.twitter.com/yuWe0qpaf4
 — Katica (@GOPPollAnalyst) July 10, 2018Accompanying the evidence, the whistleblower wrote a letter to former  FBI Director James Comey describing Hillary Clinton's mishandling of  clearly marked classified material. *Comey ignored it* - which led the whistleblower to file a complaint that *Peter Strzok and FBI agent Jonathan Moffa were CC'd on*.
 Random: This FBI entry has always  intrigued me. Former SoS guy just walks into the FBI & asks if they  got his package. Wants to be sure the task force for HRCs case gets the  evidence. Says he can't talk about the content.  No idea who he is.
Part 6; pgs 11-12 pic.twitter.com/rEsV7LgA4T
 — Katica (@GOPPollAnalyst) November 20, 2017Some highlights from his letter to Comey: 

"*The evidence I am providing, along with what you have already acquired, should lead to convictions for the many people involved*.""America needs its Attorney General to show us that no employee of  the United States Government is above its system of law and justice.""Since I am avoiding any classified information in this statement, I  will not expand on this issue further in this letter. I am prepared to  discuss this issue in much greater depth in a properly secured location  and with those agents having certain TS/SCI clearances and an FBI letter  showing need to know."
The whistleblower describes how there's no way Clinton couldn't have known certain emails were marked "classified." 
 "During the time that Hillary Rodham Clinton served as Secretary of  State, the Department of State (DOS) produced a daily document  classified at the Secret level... 
  ...Each of these daily classified documents began each paragraph with  the actual classification of the information contained in the  paragraph...
  ...An investigation that compares the emails found on the private  server or emails used by the Secretary will show the actual  classification any text which appears to be both in the Hillary emails  and in the daily classified document produced by her official office...
*"Upon learning of this situation and listening to her saying  that the information in these emails were not classified at the time  they were written, I make reference to the above paragraph about the  daily classified document summarizing issues presented to her on a daily  basis."* The Whistleblower also goes on to explain that he couldn't find a  sensitive communiqué between Clinton and the American Ambassador in  Honduras on the internal State Department archive, and suspected that it  was due to being sent over her private email server.
 FBI Vault, Part 23; pages 121-132 - Here are two pages of the letter, but read the whole thing though.

Former Secretary of State employee letter to James @comey regarding evidence against Hillary Clinton.https://t.co/EKYQ63u288 pic.twitter.com/IN6yE3ViNg
 — Katica (@GOPPollAnalyst) July 8, 2018To review; 

*Strzok knew that most of Hillary Clinton's emails were in the hands of a foreign entity**He also knew that a whistleblower from the State Department  tried delivering significant evidence in the Clinton email  investigation which went nowhere**The FBI, and Comey in particular, ignored this whistleblower's evidence*
So given that we now have at least two major bombshells that the FBI sat on, we revisit the case of *CIA whistleblower Dennis Montgomery -* who similarly walked into the Washington D.C. FBI field office in 2015 with *47 hard drives and 600 million pages of information* he says proves that President Trump and others were victims of mass surveillance, according to _NewsMax_. 
 Under grants of immunity, which I obtained through Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Curtis, *Montgomery  produced the hard drives and later was interviewed under oath in a  secure room at the FBI Field Office in the District of Columbia*. There he laid out how *persons  like then-businessman Donald Trump were illegally spied upon by  Clapper, Brennan, and the spy agencies of the Obama administration*.
  Montgomery left the NSA and CIA with *47 hard drives and over 600 million pages of information*,  much of which is classified, and sought to come forward legally as a  whistleblower to appropriate government entities, including  congressional intelligence committees, to expose that the spy agencies  were engaged for years in *systematic illegal surveillance on prominent Americans, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court*, other justices, 156 judges, prominent businessmen such as Donald Trump, and even yours truly. *Working  side by side with Obama's former Director of National Intelligence  (DIA), James Clapper, and Obama's former Director of the CIA, John  Brennan, Montgomery witnessed “up close and personal” this “Orwellian  Big Brother” intrusion on privacy*, likely for potential coercion, blackmail or other nefarious purposes. 
  He even claimed that these spy agencies had *manipulated voting in Florida during the 2008 presidential election*, which illegal tampering resulted in helping Obama to win the White House. -_NewsMax_In March of 2017, Montgomery and his attorney Larry Klayman of _Freedom Watch_  traveled to D.C. to meet with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Devin  Nunes in the hopes that he would ask Comey about the evidence - only to  be "blown off" by the Chairman. 
  It seems like we have some serious issues to revisit as a country.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-he-completely

----------


## pcosmar

> Can u print 1?


"I" am fully capable of carving one from scrap iron.

as yet it is not "legal"  to do so.

I CAN but, I May Not.

----------


## Swordsmyth

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called Monday on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review allegations that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to subpoena phone records and documents from a House Intelligence Committee staffer.
Jordan  and Meadows noted multiple reports saying Rosenstein had criticized  committee members and staff for sending written document requests, with  one aide saying the deputy attorney general’s threats were "downright  chilling" following a meeting in January. 
"This notion Mr.  Rosenstein threatened to use his official investigative powers as Deputy  Attorney General to retaliate against rank-and-file staff members for  sending written oversight requests raises concerns he has abused his  authority in the context of this investigation," they wrote in their  letter to DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz.


News  reports had indicated Rosenstein planned to call on the House general  counsel to conduct an internal investigation on congressional staffers'  "conduct" this week.

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/39...in-allegations

----------


## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

The Department of Justice late Friday released via the FBI's FOIA Vault a redacted copy of the Carter Page FISA warrant application and several renewals, which *accuse Page of being a Russian spy*, as summarized by the _New York Times_ - which obtained a copy of the materials through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.
  Of note, in the nearly two years since the application was filed,  Page hasn't been charged with any of the allegations contained  within it.
  The previously top-secret document is *the first such release by the DOJ in the 40 years since the surveillance law was enacted.* In  April, the DOJ said they were "processing for potential redaction and  release certain [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] materials  related to Carter Page,” after watchdog group _Judicial Watch_ and several other organizations filed similar lawsuits.

  The application reads in part: 
 *Identity of the target* The target of this application is Carter W. Page, a U.S. person, *and an agent of a foreign power, described in detail below*.""*The F.B.I. believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government,*” the warrant application continues. 
 A line was then redacted, and then it picked up with “*undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law*. Mr. Page is a former foreign policy adviser to a candidate for U.S. president.” -NYTThe document then concludes that Page was allegedly "*collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government*," which they viewed as probably cause to spy on him - and again, which Page has never been charged with.

  Page - who has *repeatedly denied being a Russian spy*,  said in April that the FISA application was "beyond words," and a  "Joke," while claiming that he has never served as an agent for a  foreign government. *We would also note that he hasn't been charged as one*. 
  He would later be targeted by FBI informant Stefan Halper, who formed  a relationship with Page and several other Trump aides as part of the  Obama administration's active counterintelligence operation on the Trump  campaign. 


Among those who signed the FISA applicaition were: James Comey, John  Kerry, Andrew McCabe, John Brennan, James Clapper and Susan Rice.



_Read the full 412 page FISA application below (pdf link)

_More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...sa-application

----------


## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) says he is tabling his efforts to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  after having several meetings with Republican leadership, stating  that he would instead pursue contempt if the Justice Department (DOJ)  does not turn over documents Congress is seeking. 
While the  impeachment option remains on the table, Meadows told reporters Thursday  he now hopes it will be a contempt process rather than impeachment. 

More at: http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...contempt-after

----------


## Swordsmyth

Opposition research firm Fusion GPS was dealt a major blow on Tuesday when the a federal judge in a lawsuit against _BuzzFeed_ ordered them to answer a wide-ranging series of questions on the infamous Steele dossier, reports the _Daily Caller_'s Chuck Ross. 

 U.S. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro issued the decision Tuesday  in a defamation lawsuit a Russian tech executive filed against BuzzFeed  News, which published the dossier on Jan. 10, 2017.
  The trial is scheduled to begin in Miami in November.
  Ungaro ruled that *attorneys for the executive, Aleksej  Gubarev, can ask Fusion GPS representatives in a deposition about the  firm’s dossier clients*, *its efforts to verify the  dossier, its decision to hire dossier author Christopher Steele and its  interactions with government officials and media outlets*, including BuzzFeed. -Daily Caller“This ruling gave us everything that we had hoped for,” Evan  Fray-Witzer, a lawyer for Gubarev, told The Daily Caller News Foundation  - adding “*After a year of trying everything they could think of  to avoid being deposed, Fusion is finally going to have to sit down and  answer our questions*."

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...steele-dossier

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## Swordsmyth

Rep. Jim Jordan  (R-Ohio) said on Sunday that if the Department of Justice doesn’t hand  over documents that Congress has requested, he and other lawmakers will  force a vote on the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
“If  they don’t give us the information that we, as a separate and equal  branch of government are entitled to have in order to get answers for  the American people, then we will actually call to vote for the  impeachment of Rod Rosenstein,” Jordan told radio host John Catsimatidis in an interview on AM 970 in New York.

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/39...peachment-vote

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## Swordsmyth

https:_//_http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/i...r_Apr_2017.pdf

----------


## Swordsmyth

Did the Central Intelligence Agency lead the Federal Bureau of  Investigation down a rabbit hole in the counterintelligence  investigation of            Donald Trump’s            2016 presidential campaign?
 Although the FBI’s case  officially began July 31, 2016, there had been investigative activity  before that date.            John Brennan’s            CIA might have directed activity in Britain, which could be a  problem because of longstanding agreements that the U.S. will not  conduct intelligence operations there. It would explain why the FBI  continues to stonewall Congress as to the inquiry’s origin.
                       Further, what we know about the case’s origin does not meet  the threshold required by the attorney general guidelines for opening a  counterintelligence case. That standard requires “predicate  information,” or “articulable facts.”

More at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-ar...ing-1533078662

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## Swordsmyth

Anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok insisted on  preserving his security clearance and powers he held as a deputy  assistant director at the agency before joining Special Counsel Robert  Mueller’s team, newly released emails show.
                                                                                                                                                                                          The emails, acquired by the  conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, reveal that Strzok’s supervisor  agreed to make him a “floating” deputy who would be able to approve  national security letters and declassify documents – all while working  on the Mueller team investigating the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion  with the Russian government.
                                                                                                                                     “Broadly, I need to be able to act at least in the  capacity of my old CD [counterintelligence division] DAD [deputy  assistant director] job – approve NSLs [national security letters],  conduct [redacted] declassify information, [redacted] agent travel,  requisitions, etc. Of those, the most problematic and one of the most  essential is declassification authority,” Strzok wrote in an email to Bill Priestap, FBI counterintelligence chief, dated July 13, 2017.


Priestap wrote back a few days later, saying his request was  approved: “In answer to your initial question, while assigned to the  special counsel’s office, you will retain your CD DAD authorities to  include declassification authority.”
                                                                                                                                     “Assuming the 7th floor approves, you will remain on  CD’s books as a fourth (floating) DAD. When you move on from your DAD  position, your DAD slot will revert back to HRD [human resources  department],” he added.


Strzok's insistence on keeping the declassification authority raises  concerns whether such authority gave the Mueller investigation special  capabilities to target President Trump.
                                                                                                                                                                       “It sure did,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told  Fox News. “Strzok wouldn't have asked for it if he didn't think it'd be  useful in his new job.”
                                                                                                                                     “He wanted the authority to issue national security  letters, which essentially are secret requests for information that fall  short of needing court approval,” Fitton continued. “He also wanted –  and he said this was ‘essential,’ which is very unusual – he wanted the  ability to declassify information. He wanted to keep that ability.”

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...ails-show.html

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## Swordsmyth

In the last 48 hours, the FBI has released two caches of documents  through their "FBI Vault" website related to the 2016 US election.  One sheds light on the agency's relationship with Christopher Steele,  while the other reveals that disgraced agent Peter Strzok waited until  after the 2016 election to have Anthony Weiner's laptop analyzed for  hacking. 

The 71-page release of _heavily_ redacted records concerning former MI6 spy Christopher Steele reveals that *he was paid by the agency over an unknown period of time - at least 11 times during 2016*, and that *Steele was admonished by the agency for unknown reasons in February, 2016*. 
  An example of the heavily redacted forms noting Steele's payments as well as his admonishment: 


  Steele compiled the infamous and largely unverified "Steele Dossier,"  which was funded in part by the Clinton campaign and used by the FBI as  a foundational document to apply for a surveillance warrant on Trump  associate Carter Page. The records were released in response to a  Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by watchdog  organization Judicial Watch. 
  What's already known is that the FBI offered to pay Steele $50,000 if he could verify the claims in his dossier - and ultimately did not pay him for that specific deliverable. 
 Mr. Steele met his F.B.I. contact in Rome in early October [2016],  bringing a stack of new intelligence reports. One, dated Sept. 14, said  that Mr. Putin was facing “fallout” over his apparent involvement in the  D.N.C. hack and was receiving “conflicting advice” on what to do.
*The agent said that if Mr. Steele could get solid corroboration of his reports, the F.B.I. would pay him $50,000 for his efforts*, according to two people familiar with the offer. *Ultimately, he was not paid*. -NYT*Strzok sat on Weiner laptop*
**
  Another FBI vault release under the "Hillary Clinton" files (Part 24 of 24) reveals that disgraced counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok waited until *November 9th, 2016* to  submit the hard drive from what is believed to be Anthony Weiner's  laptop to the FBI's forensics team to investigate whether the device had  been hacked - *something they told a Judge was a concern to justify their October 30 search warrant application.* 

  It's already known that the FBI sat on the Weiner laptop, which the agency knew contained Clinton emails as early as September 28, 2016,  yet former FBI Director James Comey wasn't briefed on the newfound  emails until October 27, 2016. The FBI famously analyzed 350,000 emails  and 344,000 blackberry communications in just a few days (Oct. 30 - Nov.  5, 2016). 
  However as the _Conservative Treehouse_ and others have noted, *Strzok waited until November 9 - one day after Hillary Clinton's loss, to submit the laptop's hard drive to the forensics team*. 
  Via the _Conservative Treehouse:_ 

  From this page (15): The day after the 2016 election Peter Strzok is  asking the FBI forensics data lab to run an intrusion analysis of Huma  Abedin’s laptop hard drive.

  From This Page (16):  The day after the 2016 election specific instructions to look for “evidence of intrusion."
  Item 4.4: *“List any previous efforts to analyze this evidence”:  “None”*

  In other words, the FBI told a judge that hacking was a concern in  their October 30 warrant, yet waited until after the election to  investigate whether there were any intrusions. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...t-weiner-probe

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## timosman

> In other words, the FBI told a judge that hacking was a concern in  their October 30 warrant, yet waited until after the election to  investigate whether there were any intrusions.


Nothing to see here. They were probably busy doing other, higher priority things. FBI is generally short staffed and good agents are hard to find.

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## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

After months of dribbling out incomplete document requests made by  frustrated GOP lawmakers, President Trump may be about to override  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and use his presidential  authority to declassify several caches of information related to the  DOJ/FBI's ongoing Trump-Russia counterintelligence operation, according  to former _IBD_ Bureau Chief Paul Sperry. 
  Sperry tweeted on Sunday that President Trump may declassify: *20 redacted pages of a June, 2017 FISA renewal*, "*and possibly" 63 pages of emails and notes between "Ohr & Steele," and FD-302 summaries of 12 interviews -* In  reference to twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr and/or his wife  Nellie, both of whom were working with opposition research firm Fusion  GPS to investigate Trump. 
 Look this month for POTUS to declassify ...

-- 20 redacted pages of June 2017 FISA renewal

... and possibly ...

-- 63 pages of emails and notes b/t Ohr & Steele

-- FD-302 summaries of 12 FBI interviews w/ Ohr re Steele

... and watch Dems and media toadies become apoplectic
 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 5, 2018
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...sa-docs-report

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## AuH20

The old man is knee deep in it!

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## Swordsmyth

*Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch  attended a hearing in federal court this week after the Justice  Department failed to respond to a December 12, 2017, FOIA request  seeking records on oppo research firm Fusion GPS.*
 

 The Justice Department argued that it is unable to produce the requested records due to “technical issues.”
 Where else have we heard this before?
*Judicial Watch is seeking the following from the DOJ:*
 
All records of contact or communication, including but not  limited to emails, text messages, and instant chats, between DOJ  officials in the Attorney General’s Office and Fusion GPS employee or  contractor Nellie Ohr.
The time frame for the requested records is January 1, 2015, to the present.
 On June 14, 2018, Judge Walton ordered the Justice Department, which had been resisting Judicial Watch’s FOIA request, to “immediately commence its search for responsive records and produce responsive records…”
 Additionally, Judge Walton previously criticized the Justice Department, saying:
 I think if it’s been almost, since December when the initial request  was made more should have been done by now. And it seems to me if you  have someone who’s going to come into office and they say they’re going  to be a disrupter, that they should appreciate there’s going to be a lot  of FOIA requests and therefore, should gear up to deal with those  requests. So I’m not real sympathetic to the position that you have  limited staff and therefore, you can’t comply with these requests. So I  think you’re going to have to get some more people.On August 14, the DOJ wrote a letter to  Judicial Watch claiming that searches were conducted up through  December 2017, and no responsive records were located. The DOJ also  claims that it has experienced “technical issues which may have affected  the searches.”

While at this time we have no indication that records  responsive to your request will be located, we cannot provide you with a  final response to your request until the technical issues are resolved.  [Office of Information Policy] has been working closely with our  electronic search support team to resolve these issues and to re-run  searches as appropriate to ensure that no records were missed in the  original searches. We anticipate issuing an additional response to you  in one month.*President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton said he’s suspicious after the DOJ blamed a glitch.*
 The FBI previously blamed a glitch for ‘lost’ text messages between FBI lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
 The DOJ also previously claimed a “glitch” was to blame for the missing documents related to the Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting.
 Uh-oh! DOJ tells court it ran into "glitch" searching for Fusion GPS records. Color me suspicious. Another email gap? @JudicialWatch @RealDonaldTrump https://t.co/hWYXqNROb8 pic.twitter.com/rSnWGEcTEx
 — Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) August 23, 2018


https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ontent=2282492

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## timosman

This is getting ridiculous.

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## Swordsmyth

*Earlier this year Dirty Cop Rod Rosenstein made the decision  to turn over the Michael Cohen case to attorneys in the Southern  District of New York.  Rosenstein did this to ensure that the witch hunt  against President Trump continued if President Trump shut down the junk  Mueller investigation.*
 

 Rosenstein signed the 4th FISA court request to spy on President  Trump despite knowing the request was based on a the Fusion-GPS dossier,  a Democrat-funded oppo research project that was NEVER fact-checked.
*Trump appointed attorney Geoffrey Berman recused himself from the investigation into Michael Cohen.*
*Rod Rosenstein approved the early morning raid of Michael Cohen’s residence.  Geoffrey Berman was not involved in the decision to raid Cohen’s residence.**Rosenstein approved Mueller’s referral to Geoffrey  Berman on Monday, April 9th.  Rosenstein ordered raids on Cohen’s  residence the following day.   It is not clear why or when Berman  recused himself from the investigation.* 
*Wired sources claims that Rosenstein ordered Berman to recuse himself.*

 JUST IN: Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein ordered  Trump-appointed US attorney Geoffrey Berman to recuse himself from  Michael Cohen case,  letting Democrat holdovers of anti-Trump Preet  Bharara pursue the case – NYP
 — Wired Sources (@WiredSources) August 26, 2018Wired Sources got this information from a _New York Post_ article by* Michael Goodwin*.
The US attorney Trump appointed for that outpost,  Geoffrey Berman, reportedly was ordered to recuse himself by Deputy  Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, leaving the office staffed mostly by  holdovers from Preet Bharara’s tenure.

More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ontent=2282739

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## Swordsmyth

Halper, who assisted the FBI in the Russia investigation, appears to  also have significant ties to the Russian government, as well as sources  connected directly to President Vladimir Putin.

Halper, along with Dearlove, left the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar  in December 2016, saying they were concerned about Russian influence.  Halper had told reporters at the time that it was due to “unacceptable  Russian influence.”
 Ironically, documents obtained by SaraACarter.com  suggest that Halper also had invited senior Russian intelligence  officials to co-teach his course on several occasions and, according to  news reports, also accepted money to finance the course from a top  Russian oligarch with ties to Putin.
 Several course syllabi from 2012 and 2015 obtained by this outlet  reveal Hapler had invited and co-taught his course on intelligence with  the former Director of Russian Intelligence Gen. Vladimir I. Trubnikov.
 On May 4, 2012, the course syllabus states, “Ambassador Vladimir I.  Trubnikov will comment on the challenges faced while directing the  Foreign Intelligence Service, his tenure as Ambassador to India,  President Putin and the likely course of Russia’s relations with Britain  and the U.S.”
 In May 2015, Trubnikov returned to teach with Halper at his seminar  in Cambridge on “current relations between the Russian Federation and  the West.” Other notable intelligence experts attended the event in  2015, including Major Gen.Peter Williams, a former British commander of  the mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany.
 Halper’s partner in the seminar, Cambridge Professor Neil Kent has  also espoused better relations with Russia and Putin in his writings and  told Russia Today in a 2014 interview that “everyone is attacking and  demonizing Russia.” According to Kent’s biography, he was a professor  from 2002 to 2012 at Russia’s St. Petersburg State Academic Institute.
 Even more interesting are reports from the British Media outlet, The  Financial Times, that state Halper received funds for the Cambridge  seminar from Russian billionaire Andrey Cheglakov, who has close ties to  Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cheglakov also funded Veruscript  in 2016, which raised the suspicion of Dearlove and those connected to  the seminar. Veruscript, a publisher for a Russian academic journal, was  suspected by MI6 of being a front for Russian intelligence. Kent also  happened to be the editor and chief of the journal. He published the  inaugural article in the journal “The Journal of Intelligence and  Terrorism”  blaming the West for the Russian invasion into Crimea but  the journal closed down due to their suspicions.
 Dearlove was also concerned “that Russia may be seeking to use the  seminar as an impeccably credentialed platform to covertly steer debate  and opinion on high-level sensitive defense and security topics,”  according to the Financial Times sources.
  A former senior intelligence  official told this news outlet, “It’s all smoke and mirrors. Halper was  well aware when he was bringing in Trubnikov in 2012 that the Russian’s  were already there at his invitation. The FBI uses Halper to get more  information on Trump aides but it’s Halper who has the real connection  to Russia.”

More at: https://saraacarter.com/whistleblowe...-all-a-set-up/

----------


## Anti Globalist

We need to get rid of FISA courts.

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## Swordsmyth

*Comey not only lied about the FBI reviewing all 694,000  emails on laptop, he also stated to Congress that ‘they’ believed that  the FBI needed a warrant to search the Weiner laptop.* 
 This was no doubt something conjured up by the corrpt leaders of the  DOJ and FBI as rationale for the delay in reviewing the emails.
*The fact is, the FBI had already looked at the Weiner emails nearly a month before in September. *  *The FBI didn’t need a warrant to look at the emails – they already had looked at the emails! *  *According to the IG report on the Hillary Email scandal, the Weiner emails were reviewed on September 26, 2016, by a certified case agent*
*The FBI case agent looked at the Weiner emails a month  before Comey stated that the FBI needed a warrant to review the Weiner  laptop. * More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...&utm_content=1

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## Swordsmyth

*Clinton fixer and Trump hater, Peter Strzok was the FBI agent  who actually hand-picked the 3,000 emails from the 700,000 email  tranche to be examined.*
 “Peter Strzok, the disgraced agent who was in charge of this Mid-Year  investigation–he actually personally hand-picked the 3,000 email sample  and with 2 other investigators and they went through them all  supposedly…” Sperry said on FOX News’ Ingraham Angle.


Comey told Congress in a sworn testimony that “thanks to the wizardry  of our technology,” the FBI was able to delete the majority of messages  as “duplicates” of emails they had already examined. FBI agents then  toiled “night after night after night” to examine the remaining emails.
 NOT TRUE. Comey’s protege Peter Strzok hand-picked the 3,000 emails  to make sure it looked like there was nothing classified or  incriminating in the bulk of emails.
 Thanks to Judicial Watch, we know at least 18 emails found on Weiner’s laptop contained classified information including the name of a CIA official.

More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...&utm_content=1

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## Swordsmyth

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) dropped a late-night  bombshell on Monday suggesting there's evidence that the FBI and DOJ  rigged their own FISA spy warrants by leaking information to the press,  then using the resultant articles to obtain court authorization to  surveil targets. 

  "We've learned NEW information suggesting our suspicions are true: *FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info to the press, and then used those same press stories as a separate source to justify FISA's*," tweeted Meadows. 
 We've learned NEW information  suggesting our suspicions are true: FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info  to the press, and then used those same press stories as a separate  source to justify FISA's

Unreal. Tomorrow's Bruce Ohr interview is even more critical. Did he ever do this?
 — Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) August 28, 2018Until now, we've known that the creator of the so-called Steele  Dossier, former UK spy Christopher Steele, leaked information directly  to _Yahoo! News_ journalist Michael Isikoff - whose article became a supporting piece of evidence in the FBI's FISA warrant application and subsequent renewals for Trump adviser Carter Page. 
  So while we've known that Steele seeded Isikoff with information from  his dubious dossier, and that the FBI then used both Steele's dossier  and Isikoff's Steele-inspired article to game the FISA system, *Rep.  Mark Meadows now says that the FBI/DOJ directly leaked information to  the press, which they then used for the same type of FISA scheme.*
  Strong evidence was discovered in January suggesting that former FBI employee Lisa Page leaked privileged information to Devlin Barrett, formerly of the _Wall Street Journal_ and now with the _Washington Post_. Whether any of Barrett's reporting was subsequently used to obtain a FISA warrant is unknown. 

  Meanwhile, Rep. Meadows's Monday night tweet comes hours before  twice-demoted DOJ employee Bruce Ohr is set to give closed-door  testimony to the House Oversight Committee. Ohr was caught lying  about his involvement with opposition research firm Fusion GPS  co-founder Glenn Simpson - who employed Steele. Ohr's CIA-linked wife, Nellie, was also  employed by Fusion as part of the firm's anti-Trump efforts, and had ongoing communications with the ex-UK spy, Christopher Steele as well. 
 - Bruce Ohr's wife, Nellie, worked for the firm hired by the Clinton campaign to write the dossier
- Bruce Ohr gave the dossier to the FBI
- The FBI then used the same dossier to spy on the Trump campaign

When he comes to Congress tomorrow, Bruce Ohr has explaining to do
 — Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) August 27, 2018House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy vowed that Tuesday's Ohr testimony would "*get  to the bottom of what he did, why he did it, who he did it in concert  with, whether he had the permission of the supervisors at the Department  of Justice."* 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...es-obtain-fisa

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## Swordsmyth

*Twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr arrived at Capitol Hill Tuesday  morning for a closed-door grilling from House Oversight and House  Judiciary members over his contacts with dossier author Christopher  Steele.* Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told reporters there are discrepancies between  Bruce Ohr’s testimony and the testimony given by former FBI lawyer Lisa  Page and Fusion GPS’s Glenn Simpson.
 GOP lawmakers said Tuesday afternoon that Bruce Ohr was being cooperative and answering questions at the closed-door deposition.
 ‘Ohr is not refusing to answer questions,’ Congressman Meadows said to reporters.
*FOX News Catherine Herridge*: Amid closed door  interview w/DoJ official Bruce Ohr, GOP NC Rep Meadows says the FBI knew  there were “credibility” issues surrounding the dossier before it was  used to secure the first FISA warrant in late October 2016.

 From colleague Catherine Herridge. Amid closed  door interview w/DoJ official Bruce Ohr, GOP NC Rep Meadows says the FBI  knew there were "credibility" issues surrounding the dossier before it  was used to secure the first FISA warrant in late October 2016.
 — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 28, 2018*FOX News Catherine Herridge*: GOP FL Rep Matt Gaetz  at Bruce Ohr deposition. Gaetz says there are conflicts w/Ohr’s  testimony alongside FBI lawyer Lisa Page & Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson  about handling of evidence & timing. Gaetz wants the 3 to testify  together to deconflict
 From colleague Catherine Herridge. GOP FL Rep  Matt Gaetz at Bruce Ohr deposition. Gaetz says there are conflicts  w/Ohr's testimony alongside FBI lawyer Lisa Page & Fusion GPS Glenn  Simpson about handling of evidence & timing. Gaetz wants the 3 to  testify together to deconflict
 — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 28, 2018*FOX News Catherine Herridge*: Reps Meadows, Gaetz  & Issa say DoJ’s Bruce ohr is being cooperative answering questions  at deposition. Meadows says Ohr’s memory was “imperfect” about key  events, adding Ohr is not refusing to answer questions.
 From colleague Catherine Herridge. She rpts Reps  Meadows, Gaetz & Issa say DoJ's Bruce ohr is being cooperative  answering questions at deposition. Meadows says Ohr's memory was  "imperfect" about key events, adding Ohr is not refusing to answer  questions.
 — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 28, 2018

More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ontent=2283885

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## Swordsmyth

> *Twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr arrived at Capitol Hill Tuesday  morning for a closed-door grilling from House Oversight and House  Judiciary members over his contacts with dossier author Christopher  Steele.*
> 
>  Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told reporters there are discrepancies between  Bruce Ohr’s testimony and the testimony given by former FBI lawyer Lisa  Page and Fusion GPS’s Glenn Simpson.
>  GOP lawmakers said Tuesday afternoon that Bruce Ohr was being cooperative and answering questions at the closed-door deposition.
>  ‘Ohr is not refusing to answer questions,’ Congressman Meadows said to reporters.
> *FOX News Catherine Herridge*: Amid closed door  interview w/DoJ official Bruce Ohr, GOP NC Rep Meadows says the FBI knew  there were “credibility” issues surrounding the dossier before it was  used to secure the first FISA warrant in late October 2016.
>  From colleague Catherine Herridge. Amid closed  door interview w/DoJ official Bruce Ohr, GOP NC Rep Meadows says the FBI  knew there were "credibility" issues surrounding the dossier before it  was used to secure the first FISA warrant in late October 2016.
>  — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 28, 2018*FOX News Catherine Herridge*: GOP FL Rep Matt Gaetz  at Bruce Ohr deposition. Gaetz says there are conflicts w/Ohr’s  testimony alongside FBI lawyer Lisa Page & Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson  about handling of evidence & timing. Gaetz wants the 3 to testify  together to deconflict From colleague Catherine Herridge. GOP FL Rep  Matt Gaetz at Bruce Ohr deposition. Gaetz says there are conflicts  w/Ohr's testimony alongside FBI lawyer Lisa Page & Fusion GPS Glenn  Simpson about handling of evidence & timing. Gaetz wants the 3 to  testify together to deconflict
>  — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 28, 2018*FOX News Catherine Herridge*: Reps Meadows, Gaetz  & Issa say DoJ’s Bruce ohr is being cooperative answering questions  at deposition. Meadows says Ohr’s memory was “imperfect” about key  events, adding Ohr is not refusing to answer questions. From colleague Catherine Herridge. She rpts Reps  Meadows, Gaetz & Issa say DoJ's Bruce ohr is being cooperative  answering questions at deposition. Meadows says Ohr's memory was  "imperfect" about key events, adding Ohr is not refusing to answer  questions.
> ...


Senior Justice Department  official, Bruce Ohr testified Tuesday that prior to obtaining the  Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on short-term Trump  campaign volunteer, Carter Page, the FBI was aware that former British  spy and anti-Trump dossier author, Christopher Steele was biased against  then-candidate Trump. He also stated that the FBI knew that his wife,  Nellie Ohr was working for Fusion GPS, the now-embattled research firm  which was hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC to compile  the dossier with Steele. This, according to Congressional sources with  direct knowledge of Ohr’s closed-door deposition.
     Ohr stated during his hours-long testimony that the FBI failed to  disclose this pertinent information to the nation’s secret Foreign  Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) when it sought an application to  spy on Page. The FBI also failed to disclose that when it sought the  application, it was using senior Justice Department official, Bruce Ohr  as a cut-out for a source the bureau had terminated.
 Ohr had also communicated with senior members of the FBI, including  former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI attorney Lisa Page, and former  FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, at the bureau but stated that his  superiors at the Justice Department were not aware that he was being  used as a source for the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign,  according to sources who spoke to SaraACarter.com.
 “When it comes to the dossier, the hours of testimony from Bruce Ohr  only further confirm how wrong the FBI operated,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH)  told this news outlet. Jordan would not give details on the testimony  but stated that Ohr’s deposition was a necessary part of the  investigation and getting to the truth.

More at: https://saraacarter.com/bruce-ohr-fb...n-carter-page/

----------


## Swordsmyth



----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...54816046329856

----------


## Swordsmyth

*This week documents from Papadopoulos’s indictment were  released.  They show a sleazy effort by the Deep State to hold the young  man to information that only the Deep State knew, because they were  spying on him and used him as a tool they could easily set up.*
 Techno Fog outlines the Mueller team’s crooked work in a series of tweets –

 How the corrupt Special Counsel (Mueller) is prosecuting George Papadopoulos for giving statements that turned out to be true.
 Here’s what George said: Joseph Mifsud was “talking up connections” and “BS’ing.”
 The indictment called that a false statement. pic.twitter.com/K14WcbENNL
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 4, 2018Mueller had major problems with Papadopoulos because he told the truth –
 Mueller’s problem: the statement of @GeorgePapa19 proved to be true.
 As the indictment explains, the Russian woman set forth by Mifsud “was not in fact a relative of President Putin.”
 And they had no access to the Russian Ambassador. pic.twitter.com/Oe5svxGL4c
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 4, 2018So Mueller instead focused on young George’s ‘state of mind’ [i.e. perjury trap] –
 Now go to the Special Counsel’s sentencing memo: there’s nothing about whether @GeorgePapa19 was correct. Instead, they focus on his state of mind.
 In Mueller’s world, it’s a crime to tell the truth if you think the truth is a lie. pic.twitter.com/6FrV3l1AAQ
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 4, 2018Mueller then said the young George interfered with the Mueller gang’s  effort to interview Mifsud [who most now believe was a spy used to try  and set up young George] –
 Speaking of lies (and @ProfMJCleveland has covered some of this) – how about this doozy: @GeorgePapa19 undermined the FBI’s ability to question or “potentially detain” Mifsud. pic.twitter.com/zh7FiAt75V
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 4, 2018But this was just another Mueller lie –
 Mifsud was in the US for a State Dept-funded event from 2/8/17 to 2/11/17.
 The FBI questioned him on the same day he flew out (2/11/17).
 The FBI chose not to do the interview on 2/8/17 and corroborate Mifsud’s claims with @GeorgePapa19
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 4, 2018More on Mueller’s lies regarding spy Mifsud –
 Mueller also claimed that GP “hindered the govt’s  ability to discovery who else may have known” about Russians having  dirt on HRC.
 The problem is that fn.2 of the Gov’t Memo reveals the FBI knew of the “dirt” on HRC before they interviewed Mifsud. pic.twitter.com/GUxLk1vrT2
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 5, 2018FBI thugs ask George four different questions in a row –
 Finally, something else troubling. FBI Agents asked 4 different questions in a row to Papadopoulos. (See pic.)
 He responded with a “No.”
 Special Counsel calls that a “false claim.” But it was a true statement to the 4th question. pic.twitter.com/rtRaPLUpcB
 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 5, 2018*Because Mueller believes Deep  State’s spy Mifsud is somebody – he charges young George with lying to  the court when he disagreed!*
 This wasn’t the only time young George was set up. In August the Daily Caller reported –
Buried at the bottom of a court document Special Counsel  Robert Mueller filed Friday is a reference to a mysterious $10,000 cash  payment given to George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser  who has been charged with giving false statements to the FBI.
 On the final page of a memo  recommending that Papadopoulos serve up to six months in jail, Mueller  said that Papadopoulos told investigators about $10,000 in cash that he  received from a foreign national who he suspected to be a foreign spy. The Daily Caller identified the individual in Mueller’s indictment –
While Mueller’s court filing makes no other reference to  the individual, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned that a man  named Charles Tawil gave Papadopoulos $10,000 during a meeting in an  Israeli hotel room in July 2017. 

 However, the Conservative Treehouse was able to connect Tawil to the CIA/FBI via WikiLeaks –
Charles Tawil, the guy who reached out to Papadopoulos in  Greece; and who ultimately gave Papadopoulos $10,000 in cash; was a  previous intelligence asset of the CIA and FBI. SEE WIKILEAKS Cables (circa 2006): Paragraph #8, note:
 “These undisclosed sources told Zuma that  American citizens (not connected with the U.S. Government) were  involved. This in part, coincides with another Embassy contact, *Charles Tawil (protect)*,  who told our Economic Counselor on November 29 that Zuma had received  information from the mother of the King of Swaziland about CIA attempts  to kill Zuma using poisoned clothes from the FBI” (link)
*Who was the FBI Director in 2006?* Why, Robert Mueller of course.The Conservative Treehouse points out that Papadopoulos was no doubt set up by Mueller in 2017 by his spy Tawil –
The $10k payment to Papadopoulos was almost guaranteed to be a sting operation; a set-up.
 Federal agents were waiting for Papadopoulos at the airport upon his  arrival and re-entry into the U.S. If Mr. Papadopoulos had carried that  $10k into the U.S. without declaring a U.S. treasury filing, the FBI/DOJ  would have nailed him on a treasury violation.
 Bringing $10,000 (or more) cash into the U.S., without reporting, is  major trouble; add into that aspect the likelihood the set-up included  use of an intelligence asset, and the issue can be compounded into _laundering money_. That’s just the type of leverage Robert Mueller was looking for.*How many spies and lies did Mueller use to set up innocent  individuals like Papadopoulos and General Mike Flynn? It’s clear,  Mueller and his gang are the real criminals.* 









More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...&utm_content=1

----------


## timosman



----------


## timosman

http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...ct-may-be-dead




> 09/07/18
> 
> The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday raised the prospect that the London-based professor who told former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton may be dead.
> 
> DNC lawyers wrote in court filings Friday that Joseph Mifsud, who spoke to Papadopoulos during the 2016 presidential election, "is missing and may be deceased," Bloomberg News reported. The lawyers did not elaborate.
> 
> The DNC stood by its claim in a statement to The Hill on Friday. The committee indicated that an investigator had been used to find Mifsud, who has been missing for months, and was told the Maltese professor may be dead.
> 
> The DNC's counsel has attempted to serve Mifsud for months and has been unable to locate or contact him. In addition, public reports have said he has disappeared and hasn't been seen for months," DNC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.
> ...

----------


## Swordsmyth

> http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...ct-may-be-dead


I hope so.

----------


## timosman

> I hope so.


It'd be nice if he could testify.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> It'd be nice if he could testify.


True but I'd be satisfied if he really was dead.

----------


## timosman

> True but I'd be satisfied if he really was dead.


Another one in Hillary's collection.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Newly released text messages and  documents obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform  Committee reveal that senior members of the FBI and Department of  Justice led a coordinated effort to leak unverified information to the  press regarding alleged collusion with Russia to damage President Donald  Trump’s administration, according to a letter sent by the committee to  the DOJ Monday.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, sent the letter to Deputy Attorney General  Rod Rosenstein saying a “review of the new documents raises grave  concerns regarding an apparent systemic culture of media leaking by  high-ranking officials at the FBI and DOJ related to ongoing  investigations.”
    The review of the documents  suggests that the FBI and DOJ coordinated efforts to get information to  the press that would potentially be “harmful to President Trump’s  administration.” Those leaks pertained to information regarding the  Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant used to spy on  short-term campaign volunteer Carter Page.
 The letter lists several examples:

April 10, 2017: (former FBI Special Agent) Peter Strzok contacts  (former FBI Attorney) Lisa Page to discuss a “media leak strategy.”  Specifically, the text says: “I had literally just gone to find this  phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with  DOJ before you go.”April 12, 2017: Peter Strzok congratulates Lisa Page on a job well  done while referring to two derogatory articles about Carter Page. In  the text, Strzok warns Page two articles are coming out, one which is  “worse” than the other about Lisa’s “namesake”.” Strzok added: “Well  done, Page.”
 The letter notes the troubling nature of the text messages.

Meadows, who is also Chairman of the Freedom Caucus, is also  demanding that the DOJ turn over more emails and text messages of other  senior DOJ and FBI officials.
 “In light of the new information, our task force is requesting to  review text messages, emails, and written communication form FBI and DOJ  officials Stu Evans, Mike Kortan, and Joe Pientka between June 2016 to  June 2017,” said Meadows in the letter. “To be clear, we are not  suggesting wrongdoing on the part of Evans, Kortan, and Pientka- and, in  fact, previously reviewed documents suggest that some of these  individuals may share the committees’ same concerns.”
 “However, these additional documents, with an emphasis on  communication between the aforementioned individuals and Peter Strzok,  Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, Bruce Ohr, and Andrew Weissmann, would provide  critical insight into the backdrop of the Russia investigation.”
     Pientka, a Special Agent in the  FBI’s Russia division, interviewed former National Security Advisor  Michael Flynn in early 2017 with Strzok at the White House.
 So far, the FBI has not granted the committee’s permission to  subpoena Pientka, who was the only other FBI agent to interview Flynn.

In March this news outlet also revealed that Weissmann, a top  prosecutor on the Mueller team, had met with reporters from the  Associated Press in April 2017 just one day before their explosive story on Paul Manafort’s dealings with Ukraine officials.
 According to sources familiar with the meeting, the reporters had  promised to share documents and other information gleaned from their own  investigation with the Justice Department.


At the time of the meeting, Weissmann was head of the Justice  Department’s fraud division. He was the most senior member of the  Justice Department to join the special counsel in May.
 The AP meeting arranged by Weissmann came to light in a letter sent  to Justice Department Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein from House  Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-CA, late last year,  requesting specific FBI and DOJ documentation related to the  controversial Fusion GPS dossier that alleged collusion between the  Trump campaign and Russia.
 That meeting with the AP was attended by three different litigating  offices. Two employees from the U.S. Justice Department and the other  representative was from the U.S. Attorney’s office, according to the  sources. FBI agents also attended the meeting, law enforcement sources  confirmed.
 According to sources, the FBI agents in attendance filed a complaint  about Weissmann and the meeting with the DOJ fearing his arrangement of  such a meeting would hurt the investigation.

More at: https://saraacarter.com/new-texts-re...-damage-trump/

----------


## Swordsmyth

Past and present U.S. officials say the template for the leak  campaign can be traced back to the Obama administration’s efforts to  sell the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which made the press reliant on  background conversations and favorable leaks from government officials.  Obama adviser Ben Rhodes told the New York Times in 2016 that “we  created an echo chamber” that “helped retail the administration’s  narrative.”
 “That same configuration,” said Michael Doran, a senior official in  the George W. Bush White House, “the press, political operatives, newly  minted experts, social media validators—was repurposed to target Trump,  his campaign, transition team, then the presidency.” The echo chamber’s  primary instrument in attacking the current White House said Doran, “is  the Russia collusion narrative.”
 RCI has found that the anti-Trump leaks fall into two broad  categories or phases. Initially, the leaking was an offensive operation  aimed at disrupting Trump’s agenda, especially through leaks alleging  connections between his campaign and the Russians. Its early successes  included leaks of highly classified material that led to the firing of  National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and the recusal of Attorney  General Jeff Sessions from overseeing that probe.
 The second phase – which began  roughly a year into the Trump administration – has been more defensive,  pushing back against congressional oversight committees that had  uncovered irregularities in the FBI’s investigation of Trump. This phase  has been marked by the willingness of press outlets to run stories  backing off earlier reported leaks that proved to be deeply misleading –  including the roots of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign  and the relationship between Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr and the  opposition research firm that produced a central document of that probe,  the largely discredited “Steele dossier.”
 This second phase has also included articles and opinion pieces –  some written by journalists who have published classified information –  dismissing suspicions of an orchestrated campaign against Trump as, to  use the phrase invoked in a recent New Yorker article, a “conspiracy  theory.”

“Former Obama officials and their press allies can call it a ‘conspiracy  theory’ or whatever they want,” a senior U.S. official — familiar with  how Obama holdovers and the media jointly targeted Trump figures — told  RCI. “But they can’t say it’s not true that former Obama officials were  furiously leaking to keep people close to Trump out of the White House.”

More at: https://saraacarter.com/how-anti-tru...se-to-defense/

----------


## Swordsmyth

New text messages between ex-FBI employees Peter  Strzok and Lisa Page reveal others were "leaking like mad" in the run-up  to the Trump-Russia collusion probe, according to new communications  between the former lovers obtained exclusively by Fox News. 
                                                                                                                                                                                          A lengthy exchange dated Dec. 15, 2016 appears to reveal a potential leak operation for “political” purposes.
                                                                                                                                     “Oh, remind me to tell you tomorrow about the times doing a story about the rnc hacks,” Page texted Strzok.


“And more than they already did? I told you Quinn told me they pulling out all the stops on some story…” Strzok replied.
                                                                                                                                     A source told Fox News “Quinn” could be referring to  Richard Quinn, who served as the chief of the Media and Investigative  Publicity Section in the Office of Public Affairs. Quinn could not be  reached for comment.
                                                                                                                                     Strzok again replied: “Think our sisters have begun  leaking like mad. Scorned and worried, and political, they’re kicking  into overdrive.”
                                                                                                                                                                       In one passage, Strzok apparently misreads a reference to "rnc" as "mc," and then, realizing his error, blames "old man eyes."
                                                                                                                                     It is unclear at this point to whom Strzok was referring when he used the term “sisters.”


Retired FBI special agent and former FBI national spokesman John  Iannarelli told Fox News it could be a reference to another government  agency.
                                                                                                                                     “Sisters is an odd phrase to use,” Iannarelli told Fox  News Wednesday. “It could be any intelligence agency or any other  federal law enforcement agency. The FBI works with all of them because,  post 9/11, it’s all about cooperation and sharing.”
                                                                                                                                     There are 17 agencies in the Intelligence Community,  including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,  the National Security Agency, and the FBI.
                                                                                                                                     The “leaking like mad” text came on the same day that  several news outlets reported that U.S. intelligence officials said they  were convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved, and approved Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
                                                                                                                                     Days before, The New York Times published an article titled “Russian Hackers Acted to Aid Trump in Election, U.S. Says,” citing "senior administration officials."
                                                                                                                                     A story published by The New York Times weeks, on Jan. 10, 2017,  suggested that Russian hackers “gained limited access” to the  Republican National Committee. Jan. 10, 2017 is also the same day  BuzzFeed News published the infamous anti-Trump dossier. 
                                                                                                                                     Following the text about “sisters leaking,” Strzok wrote to Page:
                                                                                                                                     “And we need to talk more about putting C reporting in our submission. They’re going to declassify all of it…”
                                                                                                                                     Page replied: “I know. But they’re going to declassify their stuff, how do we withhold…”
                                                                                                                                     “We will get extraordinary questions. What we did what  we’re doing. Just want to ensure everyone is good with it and has  thought thru all implications,” Strzok wrote. “CD should bring it up  with the DD.”


A source told Fox News that “C” is likely in reference to classified  information, whereas “CD” is Cyber Division, and DD could refer to  former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
                                                                                                                                     McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in  March for making an unauthorized disclosure to the news media, and  "lacked candor" under oath on multiple occassions. 
                                                                                                                                     It is unclear what “submission” Strzok and Page were referring to.
                                                                                                                                     A source told Fox News that the messages were part of a  newly released batch of Strzok-Page communications from Justice  Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, uncovered as part of his  investigation into the start of the FBI’s Russia investigation.

More at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...sia-probe.html

----------


## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

Newly revealed text messages between former FBI agent Peter Strzok  and former FBI attorney Lisa Page reveal that Strzok wanted to use CNN's  report on the infamous "Steele Dossier" to justify interviewing people  in the Trump-Russia investigation, reports _CNN_. 

  "*Sitting with Bill watching CNN. A TON more out*," Strzok texted to Page on Jan. 10, 2017, following CNN's report. 
  "Hey let me know when you can talk. *We’re discussing whether, now that this is out, we use it as a pretext to go interview some people*," Strzok continued. 
  Recall that CNN used the (leaked) fact that former FBI Director James  Comey had briefed then-President-Elect Donald Trump on a two-page  summary of the Steele Dossier to justify printing their January report. 
  This is a troubling development in light of a *May report* that the FBI knew that CNN was "*close to going forward*" with the Steele Dossier story, and that "*The trigger for them is they know the material was discussed,*" clearly indicating active communications between CNN and the FBI. 
  Weeks later, as the _Daily Caller_'s  Chuck Ross notes, the FBI approached former Trump campaign adviser  George Papadopoulos "under the guise of interviewing him about his  contacts with an alleged source for the dossier." 
  In short, knowledge of the Comey-Trump briefing was leaked to CNN,  CNN printed the story, Strzok wanted to use it as a pretext to interview  people in the Trump-Russia investigation, and weeks later George  Papadopoulos became ensnared in their investigation. 
  And when one considers that we learned of an FBI "media leak strategy" this week, it suggests* pervasive  collusion between Obama-era intelligence agencies and the MSM to  defeat, and then smear Donald Trump after he had won the election. 
*

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ort-leaked-cnn

----------


## timosman

Is Strzok a psychopath?

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Is Strzok a psychopath?


He may be possessed.

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/realTRUMPERLAND/...49645548347397

----------


## Swordsmyth

House  Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and House Oversight  Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) sent interview requests to former  FBI Director James Comey, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates,Politico reported on Tuesday.
Requests were also issued to Glenn Simpson, whose research firm Fusion GPS was behind the Trump-Russia dossier, and former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who was recently sentenced to two weeks behind bars for lying to the FBI. 

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/house-rep...094422031.html

----------


## TER

Thanks for the work put into this thread Swordsmyth.  It has been one hell of a ride so far.  Enjoying the show!

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Thanks for the work put into this thread Swordsmyth.  It has been one hell of a ride so far.  Enjoying the show!


My pleasure.

----------


## Swordsmyth

The House Intelligence Committee on Friday voted to release 53  transcripts related to the panel's Trump-Russia investigation, reports _The Hill_, "*teeing up a massive document dump ahead of the November midterm elections.*" 

  The transcripts will include testimony from several current and former key members of Trump's orbit, including *Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump Jr., Roger Stone and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.* 
  Also included will be interviews with former Obama administration  officials such as former Director of National Intelligence, James  Clapper as well as former deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.  The transcripts — 53 in total — will not immediately be released but  will now go to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for a  classification review, which could take days or weeks to complete.
  The documents are poised to revive discussion about the House panel’s  Russia investigation, which dramatically broke down into partisan  infighting and culminated in Republicans moving to end the probe in a  party-line vote last March. Democrats have accused the GOP leaders of  ending the probe prematurely. -The HillHouse GOP released a report on their findings in April which found no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ia-transcripts

----------


## Swordsmyth

Roughly nine months after Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein testified before  the House Judiciary Committee that he would not fire Special Counsel  Robert Mueller without "good reason", House Republicans are again moving  to haul him in for questioning following a steady drumbeat of pressure  that has intensified over the past week. This comes after they said they would subpoena the memos themselves late Thursday.

  According to the Washington Post,  Rosenstein will be called back to Capitol Hill to testify, and if he  refuses, the House will subpoena him, said Rep. Mark Meadows, who  tweeted Friday that GOP leadership had agreed on a plan.
 Leadership has agreed to call Rod  Rosenstein before Congress, for a closed door hearing with our panel  investigating, so he can explain his alleged comments on "wiring"  POTUS--as well as other inconsistent statements.

If Mr. Rosenstein fails to show up, we will subpoena him.
 — Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) September 28, 2018The calls for Rosenstein's testimony have intensified since the New  York Times published a bombshell story last Friday alleging that  Rosenstein tried to organize an attempt to oust President Trump via the 25th amendment, and that he had suggested surreptitiously recording the president. *However,  the story, which was drawn from memos allegedly taken by former FBI  Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, has been disputed by some people who  attended a meeting with McCabe and Rosie the day before Mueller's  appointment was announced.* Since then, reports about  Rosenstein's imminent firing/resignation have proven false, as Trump has  said he wants to hear Rosenstein's side of the story. The two, who met  briefly Thursday, will meet again next week. 
  A spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that the  Judiciary Committee "is calling the shots" and that "we support the  Judiciary Chairman."

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...t-mccabe-memos

----------


## Swordsmyth

Despite the staggering revelations regarding his pre-Mueller probe conduct that came to light a week ago, *Rod Rosenstein looks set to keep his job - for now, at least.*  But while President Trump has insisted that he doesn't believe the  report - which alleges that Rosenstein tried to recruit cabinet members  for a palace coup and even suggested surreptitiously taping Trump in the  Oval Office - the truth of the matter may soon be exposed thanks to  House Oversight Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, who on Thursday  formally subpoenaed the DOJ to obtain copies of the incriminating memos,  and other related materials, purportedly penned by former Deputy FBI  Director Andrew McCabe. The NYT and other news outlets cited the memos  as the original source for their story, though none of them actually  obtained physical copies of the document - instead, they relied on  "descriptions" of the memos' content conveyed by third parties who had  reportedly seen them.
  According to Fox News, *Goodlatte  sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday notifying him  of the subpoena, which was issued as part of a joint investigation with  House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy.* Goodlatte is  giving the DOJ - which has been notoriously reluctant to comply with  Congressional subpoenas during the Trump era - a deadline of Oct. 4 to  comply. The initial Times report claimed that McCabe had left copies of  his memos at the FBI after he was fired earlier this year.
 *"Given the Department’s ongoing delays and/or refusal to  produce these documents, I am left with no choice but to issue the  enclosed subpoena to compel their production,"* Goodlatte wrote to Sessions.In addition to requesting all documents and communications pertaining  to the memos, Goodlatte also subpoenaed the file  on the first FISA  Court application requesting a wiretapping warrant on Trump Campaign  advisor Carter Page, a warrant that was at the heart of the Obama  Administration's suspected conspiracy to wiretap and investigate the  presidential nominee of its rival party, according to the Washington Examiner.  


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...eins-attempted

----------


## Swordsmyth

Deputy  Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has agreed to speak privately with  lawmakers following reports that he had discussed secretly recording  President Donald Trump.A  person familiar with the situation said Rosenstein agreed to the  meeting during a call Thursday evening with the House Judiciary  Committee chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte. The Virginia Republican said  Friday he was working out details with the Justice Department for a  closed-door session.
"There  are many questions we have for Mr. Rosenstein, including questions  about allegations made against him in a recent news article," Goodlatte  said in a statement. We need to get to the bottom of these very serious  claims."

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/rosenstei...-politics.html

----------


## osan

Isn't the FISA court a fraud upon the American people?

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-conte...8_Subpoena.pdf

----------


## Swordsmyth

Q
                            !!mG7VJxZNCI
                                          No.325 
 
Oct 3 2018 16:57:26 (EST)              NEW                                                                                                                                    Q
                            !!mG7VJxZNCI
                                         No.324 
 
Oct 3 2018 16:32:38 (EST)              NEW                                                                                
>>267

Did James Baker just testify behind closed doors *[RR]* & *[JC]* coordinated to appoint Mueller?
What a wonderful day.

Q

>>324

James Baker closed door testimony today + previous to IG / GJ statements > sealed > timed re: Sessions subpoena tomorrow?
If Sessions is recused from Russia probe *[prevented rec of related docs / info / etc]* how can Sessions learn *[RR]* conflicts re: Russia probe? 
Per subpoena to Sessions - Schedule 1 - 'McCabe Memos'.
https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-conte...8_Subpoena.pdf
'McCabe Memos' = SOURCE DOCS for NYT article re: *[RR]* "wear a wire" - 25th amendment?
Enjoy the show!

Q

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Q
>                             !!mG7VJxZNCI
>                                           No.325 
>  
> Oct 3 2018 16:57:26 (EST)              NEW                                                            Q
>                             !!mG7VJxZNCI
>                                          No.324 
>  
> Oct 3 2018 16:32:38 (EST)              NEW                                                                                
> ...


James Baker, a former top FBI lawyer, told congressional investigators on Wednesday that *the Russia probe was handled in an "abnormal fashion" and was rife with "political bias"* according to _Fox News_, citing two Republican lawmakers present for the closed-door deposition. 

  "Some of the things that were shared were explosive in nature," Rep.  Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told Fox News. "This witness confirmed that things  were done in an abnormal fashion. That's extremely troubling."
 Meadows claimed the "abnormal" handling of the probe into alleged  coordination between Russian officials and the Trump presidential  campaign was "a reflection of inherent bias that seems to be evident in  certain circles." The FBI agent who opened the Russia case, Peter  Strzok, FBI lawyer Lisa Page and others sent politically charged texts,  and have since left the bureau. -Fox NewsBaker, who worked closely with former FBI Director James Comey, left the bureau earlier this year. 
  Lawmakers did not provide any specifics about the interview, citing a  confidentiality agreement signed with Baker and his attorneys, however  they said that he was cooperative and forthcoming about the beginnings  of the Russia probe in 2016, as well as the FISA surveillance warrant  application to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 

 "During the time that the FBI was putting -- that DOJ and FBI were  putting together the FISA (surveillance warrant) during the time prior  to the election -- there was another source giving information directly  to the FBI, which we found the source to be pretty explosive," said Rep.  Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
  Meadows and Jordan would not elaborate on the source, or answer  questions about whether the source was a reporter. They did stress that  the source who provided information to the FBI’s Russia case was not  previously known to congressional investigators. -Fox NewsAccording to _Fox_, Baker "is at the heart of surveillance  abuse allegations, and his deposition lays the groundwork for next  week's planned closed-door interview with Deputy Attorney General Rod  Rosenstein." 
  As the FBI's top lawyer, *baker helped secure the FISA warrant on Page, along with three subsequent renewals*. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...rife-political

----------


## Swordsmyth

> James Baker, a former top FBI lawyer, told congressional investigators on Wednesday that *the Russia probe was handled in an "abnormal fashion" and was rife with "political bias"* according to _Fox News_, citing two Republican lawmakers present for the closed-door deposition. 
> 
>   "Some of the things that were shared were explosive in nature," Rep.  Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told Fox News. "This witness confirmed that things  were done in an abnormal fashion. That's extremely troubling." Meadows claimed the "abnormal" handling of the probe into alleged  coordination between Russian officials and the Trump presidential  campaign was "a reflection of inherent bias that seems to be evident in  certain circles." The FBI agent who opened the Russia case, Peter  Strzok, FBI lawyer Lisa Page and others sent politically charged texts,  and have since left the bureau. -Fox NewsBaker, who worked closely with former FBI Director James Comey, left the bureau earlier this year. 
>   Lawmakers did not provide any specifics about the interview, citing a  confidentiality agreement signed with Baker and his attorneys, however  they said that he was cooperative and forthcoming about the beginnings  of the Russia probe in 2016, as well as the FISA surveillance warrant  application to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 
>  "During the time that the FBI was putting -- that DOJ and FBI were  putting together the FISA (surveillance warrant) during the time prior  to the election -- there was another source giving information directly  to the FBI, which we found the source to be pretty explosive," said Rep.  Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
>   Meadows and Jordan would not elaborate on the source, or answer  questions about whether the source was a reporter. They did stress that  the source who provided information to the FBI’s Russia case was not  previously known to congressional investigators. -Fox NewsAccording to _Fox_, Baker "is at the heart of surveillance  abuse allegations, and his deposition lays the groundwork for next  week's planned closed-door interview with Deputy Attorney General Rod  Rosenstein." 
>   As the FBI's top lawyer, *baker helped secure the FISA warrant on Page, along with three subsequent renewals*. 
> 
> More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...rife-political


                                        Q
                            !!mG7VJxZNCI
                                         No.327 
 
Oct 3 2018 21:29:00 (EST)              NEW                                                                                           
>>324

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top...aign-lawmakers
Read carefully.
Sessions tomorrow *[doc related]*
Justice K confirmation *[weekend]*
*[RR]* next week *[probe-not update]*
Follow the pattern.
>>>RED OCTOBER<<<

Q

----------


## Swordsmyth

Stefan Halper, the college professor turned FBI spy on the Trump campaign, was paid $244,000 by the Pentagon to write a Russia-China study in 2015 and 2016.
Mr. Halper  boasted a heady list of foreign policy specialists. On Pages 7 and 8 of  the 300-plus-page analysis are the names of 43 “advisors and  consultants” such as former CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and David  Shambaugh, a China scholar at George Washington University.
But a spot check by The Washington Times revealed that neither man contributed to nor had heard of the study, titled “The Russia-China Relationship: The Impact on the United States’ Security Interests.”
“No memory of project or person,” Mr. Hayden told The Times.
Mr. Shambaugh: “No, I was not an adviser to his study.”
Listing such esteemed individuals would convey a well-connected Pentagon contractor able to network with Washington’s establishment.
Mr. Halper submitted the study to James Baker, director of the Pentagon’s  secretive office of net assessment, in September 2016. That same month,  he won another study contract at nearly double the money, bringing his  total awards under Mr. Baker to $656,000.
This was around the time Mr. Halper served as a paid “confidential human source.” He worked for the FBI  to penetrate the Trump campaign by striking up contact with at least  two national security volunteers: George Papadopoulos and Carter Page. Mr. Halper’s mission was to find out whether they played a role in Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.
Mr. Halper  resides in Great Falls, Virginia, and in England. He taught at the  University of Cambridge and is in a consultancy partnership with Richard  Dearlove, former head of the British spy service MI6. He has staged  intelligence seminars at Cambridge and invited Mr. Page, who visited  Moscow in July 2016 to deliver a public speech at a university.
Mr. Halper’s Russia-China  report, Page 7, is headed, “Consultants and Advisors. The following  consultants and advisors contributed to the analysis within this study.”
The  list comprises two pages in alphabetical order. It is an impressive  collection of college professors and former ambassadors, White House  national security staffers and people inside the intelligence community.
As a representative sample, The Times contacted 15 of the 43 listed consultants and advisers. Ten replied via email:
⦁  Mr. Hayden, retired Air Force general, CIA director and National  Security Agency chief: “No memory of project or person. Quick search of  calendar and email shows nothing. I was at Cambridge in Nov 2009 as a  guest of Richard Dearlove. For three or four days. I guess I could have  met Harper then. I could’ve met with him there or elsewhere but do not  have any memory of it. Clearly not an intense interaction in any case.”
⦁  Jonathan Haslam, Princeton professor and noted scholar on the history  of the Soviet Union: “I was never asked to participate in this study and  I would not have agreed to do so anyway. I find it troubling that I am  listed in a study that I never participated in. And that some kind of  payment may have been allocated to my name that I never received. I was  asked to participate in a study of Russia  and Afghanistan, probably back in 2013/14, but Stef failed to agree to  the remuneration I wished for, so I dropped out. The pay was far too low  for my expertise. I knew from working in DC in the mid-eighties how  much specialist academic researchers for Andrew Marshall at the OSD  usually got.’
⦁ Robert Goldberg, an analyst at The Scowcroft Group: “I do not recall being a source for Halper on his China-Russia study.”
⦁  David Shambaugh, political science professor and director of the China  Policy Program at George Washington University: “No, I was not an  advisor to his study. Have never communicated with him in my life.”
⦁  Lee Edwards, a political biographer and historian based at The Heritage  Foundation: “I have no recollection of the study which is outside my  area at Heritage.”
⦁ Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Peking University in Beijing: “‘Consult’ is a very strong word for my contribution. Halper  is generous to include me at the same level as the rest of the group. I  submitted a chapter to a book related to a DoD project he was running  called ‘China 2030’ … and he may have used that chapter to help him understand China’s economic prospects. Aside from that, I can’t say I otherwise contributed to ‘The Russia-China relationship’ project, and in fact, until this email, was not even aware of it.”
⦁ Hans van de Ven, a professor at Cambridge University, where Mr. Halper has taught: “I know Stefan  and I have had lunch with him several times here in Cambridge. But I  don’t recall this report. Of course, advisor is a very broad category.”
⦁  Gilbert Rozman, professor emeritus at Princeton and editor of an  Indo-Pacific journal: “I met with the author and shared my views.”
⦁ Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations: A spokesman said, “He remembers meeting with Mr. Halper in 2016 and having a conversation with him, but does not recall and has no record of officially advising him on the Russia-China relationship.”
⦁  Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations: A  spokesman said he doesn’t recall whether he contributed or not.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is also on Mr. Halper’s roll.


More at: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...study-lists-c/

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## Swordsmyth

Congressional investigators have confirmed that a top FBI  official met with Democratic Party lawyers to talk about allegations of  Donald Trump-Russia collusion weeks before the 2016 election, and before  the bureau secured a search warrant targeting Trump’s campaign.
Former  FBI general counsel James Baker met during the 2016 season with at  least one attorney from Perkins Coie, the Democratic National  Committee’s private law firm.
That’s the firm used by the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign to secretly pay research firm  Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence  operative, to compile a dossier of uncorroborated raw intelligence  alleging Trump and Moscow were colluding to hijack the presidential  election.
The dossier, though mostly unverified, was then used by the FBI  as the main evidence seeking a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act  (FISA) warrant targeting the Trump campaign in the final days of the  campaign.
The revelation was confirmed both in  contemporaneous evidence and testimony secured by a joint investigation  by Republicans on the House Judiciary and Government Oversight  committees, my source tells me.
It means the FBI had  good reason to suspect the dossier was connected to the DNC’s main law  firm and was the product of a Democratic opposition-research effort to  defeat Trump — yet failed to disclose that information to the FISA court  in October 2016, when the bureau applied for a FISA warrant to surveil  Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
“This is a bombshell  that unequivocally shows the real collusion was between the FBI and  Donald Trump’s opposition — the DNC, Hillary and a Trump-hating British  intel officer — to hijack the election, rather than some conspiracy  between Putin and Trump,” a knowledgeable source told me.

More at: https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/40...dossier-before

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## Valli6

Odd - The headline is "*Collusion bombshell: DNC lawyers met with FBI on Russia allegations before surveillance warrant*, it's even posted in red, yet theirs no mention of it on their front page! Also there's no comments section for this story.
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/40...dossier-before

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## Swordsmyth

George Soros funded Fusion GPS by making a grant to a  Fusion GPS contractor while the Glenn Simpson-founded opposition  research firm was engaged in the tactics responsible for the discredited  Christopher Steele dossier against President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post reported:
 Deripaska wrote in a March 2018 op-ed in the Daily Caller  about “unholy alliances” between Fusion GPS and the Justice Department.  Deripaska added that an associate of Fusion GPS had told Waldman in  March 2017 that the organization was partly funded by liberal  billionaire George Soros, another bogeyman for Trump supporters and  Russia. Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson declined to comment for this  article. Soros’s spokesman, Michael Vachon, told me that Soros hadn’t  funded Fusion GPS directly but had made a grant to the Democracy  Integrity Project, which used Fusion GPS as a contractor.

More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/george...ed-fusion-gps/

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## Swordsmyth

The deadly helicopter crash  that downed Natalia Veselnitskaya’s associate underscores the  high-stakes tension surrounding the Fusion GPS scandal as President  Trump looks to consolidate his federal government power. Progressive billionaire George Soros’ spokesman confirmed to the _Washington Post_  that Soros funded the Democratic Integrity Project, a contractor for  Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm responsible for the discredited  Christopher Steele dossier. Now the Obama administration is implicated  alongside Soros.
 The Russian lawyer *Natalia Veselnitskaya* who set up  Don Trump Jr. for a meeting in Trump Tower as part of a Fusion GPS plot  was operating out of the Washington offices of Cozen O’Connor, a law  firm run by anti-Trump former Obama administration official *Howard Schweitzer*, whose super PAC donated to Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential election.
 Veselnitskaya’s work from the Cozen O’Connor office provides more  evidence of a Democrat and establishment Republican effort to set up the  Trump campaign for a future Russian collusion case. Veselnitskaya was  allowed into the United States by the Obama Department of Justice while  the former Obama official who runs Cozen O’Connor publicly warned  then-candidate Trump that if he became president he would be  investigated by the DOJ for contacts with foreign leaders. Veselnitskaya  reportedly had dinner meetings with Fusion GPS chief Glenn Simpson the day before she met in Trump Tower and also the day after she went inside Trump Tower.


Big League Politics has confirmed that a Cozen O’Connor partner who  lives in the same apartment building as James Comey’s friend Daniel  Richman — who leaked classified information to the press on Comey’s  behalf — spoke with Richman during the period that Comey and the Fusion  GPS team were trying to obtain FISA warrants on Trump Tower.

*“Yes, he is my neighbor,” Amy Wenzel, a partner at  Cozen O’Connor, confirmed in a phone conversation with Big League  Politics, confirming that they spoke. They live near each other in a  Brooklyn high-rise.*



Russian and U.S. citizen Rinat Akhmetshin, a Soviet military veteran,  was present at Veselnitskaya’s meeting with Don Jr. in Trump Tower  after leading a lobbying push supposedly to repeal the Magnitsky Act.  Akhmestshin is believed by insiders to be linked to Russian government  intelligence, a fact that the Washington Post seized on when reporting  that he met with Don Jr. and Jared Kushner in Trump Tower. A nonprofit  group focused on promoting Akhmetshin and Veselnitskaya’s cause to  lawmakers actually hired Cozen O’Connor, which the law firm confirms.
The Washington Post reported (emphasis added):


“In the spring of 2016, as the presidential race was heating  up, Akhmetshin and lobbyists he hired sought meetings on Capitol Hill to  make their case against the sanctions law. Akhmetshin hired former  Democratic congressman Ron Dellums, along with a team of lobbyists *from the law firm of Cozen O’Connor.*
 Steve Pruitt, a business colleague speaking on Dellums’s behalf, said  his involvement was brief and ended when he determined that Congress  was unlikely to change the law.
 In June, after visiting Trump Tower in New York, Veselnitskaya came to Washington to lend a hand in the lobbying effort.
*She attended a meeting of the team at the downtown offices of Cozen O’Connor*,  where she spoke at length in Russian about the issues but confused many  in the room, who had not been told previously about her involvement,  according to several participants.”
_Washington Post passage ends_
 Cozen O’Connor managing partner Howard Schweitzer is listed here on a  DOJ form from an investigation into the breaking of lobbying laws by  Russians trying to repeal the Magnitsky Act — which was just a front to  get Russians in the room with Don Jr. We know now that Natalia  Veselnitskaya was actually operating out of the Cozen O’Connor offices.

 Schweitzer worked as general counsel  for the Export-Import Bank under George W. Bush and was chief operating  officer of the TARP bailout program under both Bush and Obama from  2008-2009.
 “In October 2008, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appointed Howard  as the first COO of TARP. In this position, Howard led program execution  and built the TARP infrastructure. He served as a key point person  regarding the financial crisis through the presidential transition and  continued to serve as TARP COO under Secretary Timothy Geithner until  August 2009,” reads Schweitzer’s Cozen O’Connor bio.
 “He served as chief operating officer of the TARP in the George W.  Bush and Obama administrations,” reads Schweitzer’s bio for a Politico  piece he wrote in August 2016 headlined “7 Reasons Why Trump Would Hate Being President.”
 Schweitzer’s virulently anti-Trump piece for Politico tries to make  the case that Trump was “sabotaging his own bid for the White House.”  Schweitzer said that if Trump became president then “He’ll be  investigated to death” by Congress and the Justice Department for his  business dealings and “relationships with foreign leaders.”
 The narrative was being set.
 The Philadelphia-based Cozen O’Connor law firm also has a political action committee that donated to Hillary Clinton  during the 2016 presidential election, in addition to Jeb Bush, Chris  Christie, John Kasich, and Martin O’Malley. In the 2018 election cycle,  the Cozen O’Connor PAC donated more money to Hillary Clinton’s dormant campaign.
 Here is Veselnitskaya seated behind Obama ambassador to Russia Mike  McFaul at a June 2016 congressional hearing focused on Russia.
 Cozen O’Connor’s connections to the anti-Trump “Operation Crossfire  Hurricane” plot are wide-ranging, and show up in unexpected places.
 James Comey’s friend, Columbia University professor Daniel Richman,  leaked classified information that Comey gave him. During this leaking  period, Richman was apartment-building neighbors with a partner at the  Cozen O’Connor law firm that strategized with Fusion GPS operative  Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian plant who set up Don Jr. in Trump  Tower.
 Veselnitskaya and Fusion GPS, led by Glenn Simpson, were part of John  Brennan and Peter Strzok’s CIA-led “Operation Crossfire Hurricane” plot  aimed at President Donald Trump and the Trump campaign.
 The Washington Post’s release of Trump Tower documents shows the  crowd surrounding non-sexual honeypot Natalia Veselnitskaya. The crowd  of conspirators knew they were damaging Trump by setting up the meeting.
 The Post confirms British-citizen music promoter Rob Goldstone’s  testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which he described the  conspirators’ push to get the meeting despite the fact that they knew it  would create trouble for the Trump campaign.
The Post reports:
 “Rob Goldstone told the committee that his client, the Russian pop  star and developer Emin Agalarov, had insisted he help set up the  meeting between President Trump’s son and the lawyer during the campaign  to pass along material on Clinton, overriding Goldstone’s own warnings  that the meeting would be a bad idea.
 “He said, ‘it doesn’t matter. You just have to get the meeting,’ ” Goldstone, a British citizen, testified.
 The intensity with which Agalarov and his father, the billionaire  Aras Agalarov, sought the Trump Tower meeting, which has become a key  point of scrutiny for congressional inquiries and special counsel Robert  S. Mueller III, was revealed in more than 2,500 pages of congressional  testimony and exhibits released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on  Wednesday morning.”
_Washington Post passage ends_
 Natalia Veselnitskaya is also inextricably linked to the case against Paul Manafort.
 The Russian attorney partner of Paul Manafort who was named as a  defendant in new Robert Mueller charges is also linked to the Russian  spy Natalia Vesenilskaya, who attended a meeting with Don Trump Jr. and  Jared Kushner in Trump Tower.
 According to Mueller’s new charges, Manafort’s Russian partner  Konstantin Kilimnik tried to intimidate or coerce witnesses in  Manafort’s upcoming money laundering trial. That puts Konstantin  Kilimnik at the center of the Mueller effort to find obstruction of  justice in Trump-World (Mueller is giving himself until September 1 to  try to find obstruction of justice, after finding no Russian collusion  involving Trump).
So who is Konstantine Kilimnik? It turns out that Kilimnik is linked to  Veselnitskaya, the Fusion GPS agent, according to Senate documents.

More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/obama-...ington-office/

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## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

Don’t tell former FBI general counsel James Baker that those now-infamous discussions about secretly recording President Trump and using the tapes to remove him from office were a joke.
He  apparently doesn’t believe it. And he held quite the vantage point — he  was on the inside of the bureau’s leadership in May 2017, when the  discussions occurred.
Baker told Congress last week that his boss — then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe  — was dead serious about the idea of surreptitiously recording the 45th  president and using the evidence to make the case that Trump should be  removed from office, according to my sources.
Baker told lawmakers he wasn’t in the meeting McCabe had with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  in which the subject came up. But he did have firsthand conversations  with McCabe and the FBI lawyer assigned to McCabe, Lisa Page, about the  issue.
“As far as Baker was concerned, this was a real  plan being discussed,” said a source directly familiar with the  congressional investigation. “It was no laughing matter for the FBI.”
Word of Baker’s testimony surfaced just days before Rosenstein was set to be interviewed in private on Thursday by House Judiciary Committee lawmakers.

More at: https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-amer...ump-not-a-joke

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## Swordsmyth

A Democratic senator outsourced parts of the investigation into  possible Trump-Russia collusion to a former Senate staffer with links to  George Soros and Fusion GPS, according to a New Yorker report.
 The New Yorker reports the  unidentified senator contacted Daniel Jones, a former Senate  Intelligence Committee staffer, around March 2017 to review data  regarding a possible link between the computer servers of the Trump  Organization and a Russian bank called Alfa Bank.
 Jones, who  worked under California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein when she  chaired the intelligence panel, had just formed a non-profit group  called the Democracy Integrity Project. The organization worked closely  with Fusion GPS and former British spy Christopher Steele, the tag-team  duo that produced the Democrat-funded dossier accusing the Trump  campaign of colluding with the Kremlin.
 Jones’s operation was  also funded by a small group of billionaires, including left-wing  philanthropist George Soros. Jones told the FBI in March 2017 that  between 7 and 10 billionaires had put up $50 million to continue an  investigation into Russian meddling in elections. *(RELATED: Cabal Of Wealthy Donors Secretly Financing $50 Million Trump-Russia Investigation)*
  Jones  also told the FBI that he had secured the services of Steele and Fusion  GPS “to continue exposing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S.  Presidential election.”
 The goal was to provide the information to lawmakers, the press and the FBI, he said.
 Allegations about Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization first surfaced in an Oct. 31, 2016, article published  by Slate’s Franklin Foer. The article alleged that servers for the two  companies were secretly communicating with each other, possibly as part  of a back-channel communications system related to the election.
 The  article received heavy criticism from cybersecurity experts and tech  reporters who said the server communications appeared to have an  innocent explanation, such as spam or mass marketing email traffic.
  According  to The New Yorker, a handful of Democrats pursued the Alfa Bank theory.  One was Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate  Intelligence panel. A second Democratic senator was also exploring the  angle, and approached Jones.
 According to The New Yorker, Jones,  who also runs a consulting firm called the Penn Quarter Group, hired two  teams of computer scientists to analyze web traffic from the Alfa Bank  and Trump Organization servers. The experts, who have held top  cybersecurity jobs in the White House, Pentagon and intelligence  services, were unable to definitively say that the server communications  were part of a back-channel communications system with the Trump  campaign. But according to The New Yorker, they believe the server  communications could still have been part of a nefarious operation, as  initially described in the Slate article.
 But The New Yorker  article also raises questions about why Democrats would seek out Jones  to conduct an investigation into the servers’ activities.
 Details  of Jones’s operation were first revealed by Adam Waldman, a U.S.-based  lawyer for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. A close ally of Russian  President Vladimir Putin, Deripaska had also previously hired Steele for  work on a legal case. Steele had been in communication with Department  of Justice official Bruce Ohr regarding Deripaska’s visa to the U.S. The New York Times has reported that Steele and Ohr were part of a U.S. government operation aimed at flipping Deripaska.
 Waldman  told both The Daily Caller News Foundation as well as the Senate  Intelligence Committee that he met with Jones on March 17, 2017.
 During  the meeting, Jones told Waldman that Soros was one of the financiers of  the Democracy Integrity Project’s investigation. He also said that  Fusion GPS was involved. A spokesman for Soros recently confirmed Soros’s involvement,  telling Washington Post columnist David Ignatius that Soros indirectly  funded Fusion GPS through the Democracy Integrity Project.
 Jones also suggested to Waldman that his team of investigators was behind several anti-Trump news articles.
 “Our team helped with this,” Jones said in one message to Waldman seen by TheDCNF. The link was to a March 17, 2017, Reuters article about Russians investing over $100 million in Trump properties in Florida.
 Jones also sent Waldman a link to a March 20, 2017, article at  McClatchy, which reported that federal investigators were looking into  whether right-wing news sites like Breitbart and InfoWars played a part  in Russia’s election-oriented cyber operations.
 For his part,  Foer, the Slate reporter, appears to have received the Alfa Bank  information from a lawyer from the firm that hired Fusion GPS on behalf  of the Clinton campaign and DNC.
 According to a report released  in April by the House Intelligence Committee, Michael Sussmann, a  partner at the firm Perkins Coie, told then-FBI general counsel James Baker about the Alfa Bank server activities. *(RELATED: Top FBI Official Met With DNC Lawyer On Russia Prior To 2016 Election)*
 The  House report also says “around the same time as his meeting with FBI,  [redacted] shared the information with journalists, including [redacted]  of Slate, who published an article at the end of October.”

https://dailycaller.com/2018/10/08/t...os-fusion-gps/

----------


## AZJoe



----------


## Swordsmyth

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will not appear in front of  the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday to discuss reports that he  wanted to secretly record President Trump and then use the recordings to  remove him from office under the 25th Amendment, reports the _Daily Caller_'s Chuck Ross, citing an anonymous House Judiciary Committee aide, and later confirmed by _CNN_.

  Rosenstein said he was joking when he made the comments to former FBI  Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI attorney Lisa Page, however that  claim has been refuted by the FBI's former top attorney. 
  "We have many questions for Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and expect answers to those questions. *There is not at this time a confirmed date for a potential meeting*," the aide told the _Caller_. 
  "*Don’t think he is coming*," added one Republican lawmaker on Wednesday. 
 The same lawmaker told TheDCNF on Tuesday that Rosenstein was likely  to testify before the House Judiciary and House Oversight &  Government Reform Committees to answer questions about claims he  discussed wearing a wire during his interactions with Trump.
  Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus had called on  Rosenstein to testify about his remarks, which were first reported by  The New York Times on Sept. 21.
  The conservative lawmakers, including North Carolina Rep. Mark  Meadows and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, have been staunch critics of  Rosenstein because of his failure to respond to requests for documents  related to the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe. -Daily CallerOn Tuesday we reported that the FBI's former top attorney, James  Baker, told Congressional investigators last week that Rosenstein wasn't  joking about taping Trump. 


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...stimony-report

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## Swordsmyth

*First Rosenstein was a no-show for a Thursday interview with GOP lawmakers, now Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson is refusing to testify to the House Judiciary Committee.* GOP lawmakers were seeking more testimony from Glenn Simpson to iron things out after Bruce Ohr gave a conflicted testimony to Congress in August.



Nellie Ohr also refused to testify and it is being reported GOP lawmakers are gearing up to issue her a subpoena to compel a testimony.
*On Thursday night Catherine Herridge on FOX News reported that  Simpson likely lied under oath. Simpson told Congress he did not have  contact with Bruce Ohr before the election. Bruce Ohr’s communications  tell a different story.
Maybe that’s why Simpson won’t show up?* *Freedom Caucus members Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) slammed Glenn Simpson Thursday evening.*
*MEADOWS*: Rod Rosenstein doesn’t show today. Now  Fusion’s Glenn Simpson reportedly takes the Fifth. At some point, we  have to realize: the problem has never been President Trump. The problem  is the coordinated effort to undermine him… and those who will stop at  nothing to cover it up.
 Rod Rosenstein doesn’t show today. Now Fusion's Glenn Simpson reportedly takes the Fifth.
 At some point, we have to realize: the problem has never been  President Trump. The problem is the coordinated effort to undermine him…  and those who will stop at nothing to cover it up. https://t.co/KtE3b00Ki8
 — Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) October 11, 2018*JORDAN*: You know we’re getting close when first Rosenstein is a no-show, and now Glenn Simpson is taking the 5th.
 You know we’re getting close when first Rosenstein is a no-show, and now Glenn Simpson is taking the 5th.
https://t.co/TB0Obje9jq
 — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 11, 2018


More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...na-to-testify/

Hat Tip: Thoughtomator

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## AZJoe



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## Swordsmyth

*The noose appears to be tightening* further around  the law-less behaviors of the Obama administration in their frantic  efforts to protect former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from  lawsuits seeking information about former Secretary of State Hillary  Clinton's private email server and her handling of the 2012 terrorist  attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

_As Fox News reports_, the transparency group *Judicial Watch initially sued the State Department in 2014, seeking information about the response to the Benghazi attack* after the government didn't respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Other *parallel lawsuits by Judicial Watch are probing issues like Clinton's server*, whose existence was revealed during the course of the litigation.
*The State Department had immediately moved to dismiss*  Judicial Watch's first lawsuit, but U.S. District Court Judge Royce  Lamberth (who was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan)  denied the request to dismiss the lawsuit at the time, and on Friday, he  said he was* happy he did, charging that State Department officials had intentionally misled him* because other key documents, including those on Clinton's email server, had not in fact been produced.
 "It was clear to me that at the time that I ruled initially, that *false statements were made to me by career State Department officials*, and it became more clear through discovery that *the information that I was provided was clearly false regarding the adequacy of the search* and this – what we now know turned out to be the Secretary’s email system."
  "I don’t know the details of what kind of IG inquiry there was into why these* career officials at the State Department would have filed false affidavits* with me. I don’t know the details of why the Justice Department lawyers did not know* false affidavits were being filed* with me, but* I was very relieved that I did not accept them* and that I allowed limited discovery into what had happened."In a somewhat stunningly frank exchange with Justice Department lawyer Robert Prince, the judge pressed the issue, *accusing Prince of using "doublespeak" and "playing the same word games [Clinton] played."*
 *That "was not true,"* the judge said, referring to  the State Department's assurances in a sworn declaration that it had  searched all relevant documents.
*"It was a lie."*Additionally,  Fox notes that Judge *Lamberth  said he was "shocked" and "dumbfounded" when he learned that FBI had  granted immunity to former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills* during its investigation into the use of Clinton's server, according to a court transcript of his remarks.
 "I had myself found that Cheryl Mills had committed perjury and lied  under oath in a published opinion I had issued in a Judicial Watch case  where *I found her unworthy of belief, and I was quite shocked to find out she had been given immunity* in — by the Justice Department in the Hillary Clinton email case."On Friday, Lamberth said *he did not know Mills had been granted immunity until he "read the IG report* and learned that and that she had accompanied [Clinton] to her interview."

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...y-email-server

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## Swordsmyth

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) on Thursday called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to resign "immediately."
“I think at this particular point, Rod Rosenstein’s  priorities are misplaced. His unwillingness to come before Congress and  allow us to conduct proper congressional oversight, along with the  other information that we’ve learned over the last week or so, would  indicate that Rosenstein has not displayed the candor of which would  support one’s theory of actually believing that he has been open and  honest in all regards," Meadows told reporters.
"So  with that, I think that it’s time that Rod Rosenstein steps down. He  should do so immediately and in doing that, I think it would serve the  country well, it would serve this president well," he added.
The comments marked Meadows's most explicit call yet for Rosenstein's resignation. House Freedom Caucus members had previously said Rosenstein should either testify before Congress or resign from his post.

More at: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...gn-immediately

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## Swordsmyth

The Department of Justice admitted in a Friday court filing that the FBI used more than one "Confidential Human Source," (also known as informants, or *spies*) to infiltrate the Trump campaign through former adviser Carter Page, reports the _Daily Caller_. 
  “The FBI has protected information that would identify the identities of *other confidential sources*  who provided information or intelligence to the FBI” as well as  “information provided by those sources,” wrote David M. Hardy, the head  of the FBI’s Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS), in court papers submitted Friday.
 Hardy and Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys submitted the filings  in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for the  FBI’s four applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)  warrants against Page. The DOJ released heavily redacted copies of the  four FISA warrant applications on June 20, but USA Today reporter Brad  Heath has sued for full copies of the documents. -_Daily Caller_Included in Hardy's declaration is an acknowledgement that the FBI's  spies were in addition to the UK's Christopher Steele - a former MI6  operative who assembled the controversial and largely unproven "Steel  Dossier" which the DOJ/FBI used to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on  Page. 

The DOJ says it redacted information in order to protect the identity of  their confidential sources, which "includes nonpublic information about  and provided by Christopher Steele," reads the filing, "*as well as information about and provided by other confidential sources*, all of whom were provided express assurances of confidentiality." 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...trump-campaign

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## Swordsmyth

A Washington federal judge on Thursday ordered special counsel Robert  Mueller's team to clarify election meddling claims lodged against a  Russian company operated by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian  President Vladimir Putin, according to _Bloomberg_. 
  Concord Management and Consulting, LLC. - one of three businesses  indicted by Mueller in February along with 13 individuals for election  meddling, surprised the special counsel in April when they actually  showed up in court to fight the charges. Mueller's team tried to delay  Concord from entering the case, arguing that thee Russian company not  been properly served, however Judge Dabney Friedrich denied the request -  effectively telling prosecutors 'well, they're here.' 

  Concord was accused in the indictment of supporting the Internet  Research Agency (IRA), a Russian 'troll farm' accused of trying to  influence the 2016 US election. 
  On Thursday, Judge Freidrich asked Mueller's prosecutors if she  should assume they aren't accusing Concord of violating US laws  applicable to election expenditures and failure to register as a foreign  agent. 
  Concord has asked Dabney to throw out the charges - claiming that  Mueller's office fabricated a crime, and that there is no law against  interfering in elections. 
 According to the judge’s request for clarification, the Justice Department has argued that it doesn’t have to show that Concord had a legal duty to report its expenditures to the Federal Election Commission.  Rather, the allegation is that the company knowingly engaged in  deceptive acts that precluded the FEC, or the Justice Department, from  ascertaining whether they had broken the law. -BloombergOn Monday, Friedrich raised questions over whether the special  counsel's office could prove a key element of their case - saying that  it was "hard to see" how allegations of Russian influence were intended  to interfere with US government operations vs. simply "confusing  voters," reports _law.com_.
 During a 90-minute hearing, Friedrich questioned prosecutor Jonathan  Kravis about how the government would be able to show the Russian  defendants were aware of the Justice Department and FEC’s functions and  then deliberately sought to skirt them.
  “*You still have to show knowledge of the agencies and what they do. How do you do that?*” Friedrich asked.
  Kravis, a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, *argued  that the government needed only to show that Concord Management and the  other defendants were generally aware that the U.S. government  “regulates and monitors” foreign participation in American politics*.  That awareness, Kravis said, could be inferred from the Russians’  alleged creation of fake social media accounts that appeared to be run  by U.S. citizens and “computer infrastructure” intended to mask the  Russian origin of the influence operation.
  “*That is deception that is directed at a higher level*,” Kravis said. Kravis appeared in court with *Michael Dreeben*, a top Justice Department appellate lawyer on detail to the special counsel’s office. -_law.com_Concord pleaded not guilty in May. Their attorney, Eric Dubelier - a  partner at Reed Smith, has described the election meddling charges as  "make believe," arguing on Monday that Mueller's indictment against  Concord "doesn't charge a crime." 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ddled-election

----------


## Swordsmyth

The top lawmakers on the House Judiciary and  Oversight and Government Reform Committees plan to interview Deputy  Attorney General Rod Rosenstein next week about reports that he once  suggested wearing a "wire" to secretly record President Trump and  discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the  president from office.
Judiciary Chairman Bob  Goodlatte, R-Va., and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman  Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., announced late Thursday that they and the top  Democrats on both committees would interview Rosenstein on Oct. 24.  Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus will be left out of the  meeting.
Goodlatte  and Gowdy added that the interview will be held in a secure room and  that a transcript will be released after the intelligence community  reviews it for classified information.
Goodlatte said last month  that "there are many questions we have for Mr. Rosenstein, including  questions about allegations made against him in a recent news article.  We need to get to the bottom of these very serious claims."

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hou...t-wire-comment

----------


## Swordsmyth

While applying for a FISA warrant on Trump Campaign aide Carter Page,  the FBI failed to include the fact that George Papadopoulos - another  adviser, vehemently denied that the Trump Campaign was involved in the  hacking and release of Hillary Clinton's emails, reports _The Hill_'s John Solomon. 
  While being pumped for information by FBI spy and Cambridge Professor  Stefan Halper, Papadopoulos said that colluding with Russia would be  "treason," and that he had nothing to do with it. 

 “He was there to probe me on the behest of somebody else,”  Papadopoulos told me in an interview this week, recalling the Halper  meeting. “He said something along the lines of, ‘Oh, it’s great that  Russia is helping you and your campaign, right George?’”
  Papadopoulos said Halper also suggested the Trump campaign was involved in the hacking and release of Hillary Clinton’s emails that summer. “*I  think I told him something along the lines of, ‘I have no idea what the  hell you are talking about. What you are talking about is treason. And I  have nothing to do with that, so stop bothering me about it,’*” Papadopoulos recalled. -_The Hill_Papadopoulos will testify this week behind closed doors in front of two House panels. 
  According to Solomon's sources who have seen the FISA warrant and its three renewals, the FBI *failed to mention Papadopoulos's denial,* which  Solomon describes as "an omission of exculpatory evidence that GOP  critics in Congress are likely to cite as having misled the court." 
  Another source, meanwhile, tells Solomon that the FBI has at least  one transcript which calls the Trump campaign's collusion with Russia  into question - specifically citing information pertaining  to Papadopoulos.

Mifsud seed[ed] the information, Downer says Papadopoulos  admitted it in a drunken state, and then undercover spy Stefan Halper  pumped him for information about it - all in an attempt by the Obama  administration and others to dig up (or fabricate) dirt on the Trump  campaign. 

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...undercover-spy

----------


## Swordsmyth

Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos  said Friday he’s considering withdrawing his plea deal with special  counsel Robert Mueller after learning “certain information” during an  interview with House Republicans on Thursday.
“Given  certain information that I learned just yesterday – that I can't  publicly disclose right now – I'm actually even considering withdrawing  my agreement I have come to with the government,” Papadopoulos told “Fox  and Friends” Friday morning.

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/gma/papadopoul...151005419.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Special counsel Robert Mueller  is churning in uncharted legal waters as he tries to nail a Russian  firm for bankrolling Moscow’s deceptive social media invasion into the  2016 election.
It is not only Concord Management and Consulting LLC’s attorney saying this. Defense attorney Eric Dubelier said in court that Mr. Mueller created a “make-believe crime” and that the “real Justice Department” would never have brought such an indictment.
U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich also is expressing doubts about Mr. Mueller’s unique prosecutorial adventure, though she is not saying she will dismiss the charges, as Mr. Dubelier has requested.
A review of the transcript of an Oct. 15 hearing shows the judge’s reservations. She said of Mr. Mueller’s team, “They’ve got a heavy burden at trial to prove that knowledge.” She was referring to awareness that Concord knowingly defrauded the Federal Election Commission, the Justice Department and the State Department.
“I will give you, Mr. Dubelier, this is an unprecedented case, for sure,” the judge said.
The  attorney had argued that there is no specific federal law against  interfering in a U.S. election. He said there are no previous  prosecutions on defrauding the FEC by using fake social media personas.
“And I agree, at trial, if this case survives, they’re going to have to show that Concord and others conspired and had the specific intent to defraud,” Judge Friedrich said.
When prosecutor Jonathan I. Kravis argued that Concord is aware that the U.S. enforces election regulations, Judge Friedrich  said, “It’s hard to see how not revealing identities at political  rallies and not revealing identities on social media, how that is  evidence of intent to interfere with a U.S. government function as  opposed to confuse voters.”


Mr. Dubelier’s argument: There is no evidence in the indictment of willful intent; that is, that Concord  knew the functions of the FEC and violated them. Proving willful intent  is required under federal conspiracy to defraud law, or Section 371.
“There  is no law or regulation requiring that any such speech be accurate or  truthful or that any U.S. or foreign person truthfully or accurately  identify herself or himself when engaging in such speech,” he said.  “When it comes to political speech, one is free to pretend to be  whomever he or she wants to be and to say whatever he or she wants to  say.”
He said that what Mr. Mueller  wants the judge to do, in effect, is regulate the internet. This would  mean that any American who conceals his or her identity and puts out  disputed information could face federal criminal charges.
“If this  goes to ‘You have to tell the truth on the internet in a political  campaign,’ every politician in the United States would be in prison,” Mr. Dubelier said.
The  FEC law bans foreign contributions to U.S. federal campaigns, and it  restricts the roles that foreigners can play for candidates. But it does  not forbid foreigners from engaging in political debates.
The indictment alleges that fraud occurred when Concord bought computer server space in the U.S. to hide the trolls’ home base in Russia.
“So what?” Mr. Dubelier  said. “People do that every day. That’s not illegal. It’s not illegal.  There’s no law that says you can’t do that. … They want to be able to  regulate what people say on the internet.”


Mr. Dubelier blasted Mr. Mueller for veering away from Justice Department standards to find a way to bring charges.
“That’s  why in this case this special counsel made up a crime to fit the facts  that they have,” he said. “And that’s the fundamental danger with the  entire special counsel concept, that they operate outside the parameters  of the Department of Justice in a way that is absolutely inconsistent with the consistent behavior of the Department of Justice in these cases for the past 30 years.”
Mr.  Kravis is a white-collar crime specialist who works for the U.S.  attorney in the District of Columbia and was brought onto the Mueller  team to handle the Concord case.

He  defended the indictment by telling the judge that to prove a conspiracy  to defraud the U.S., there doesn’t need to be an underlying law.

More at: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ult-prosecute/




> He  defended the indictment by telling the judge that to prove a conspiracy  to defraud the U.S., there doesn’t need to be an underlying law.


LOL

----------


## Swordsmyth



----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/GeorgePapa19/sta...04187255062528

----------


## Swordsmyth

A string of emails quietly requested by House Republicans for  declassification by President Trump may be the smoking gun that the FBI  and DOJ committed egregious abuses of the Foreign Intelligence  Surveillance Act (FISA), according to _The Hill_'s John Solomon. 

  The email exchanges - kept from Congressional investigators for over  two years, "included then-FBI Director James Comey, key FBI  investigators in the Russia probe and lawyers in the DOJ’s national  security division," according to the report - and took place in early to  mid-October of 2016, prior to the FBI successfully securing a FISA  warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. 
 The email exchanges show the FBI was aware — before it secured the now-infamous warrant — that *there were intelligence community concerns about the reliability of the main evidence used to support it: the Christopher Steele dossier.*
  The exchanges also indicate *FBI officials were aware that Steele*, the former MI6 British intelligence operative then working as a confidential human source for the bureau, *had contacts with news media reporters before the FISA warrant was secured*. -The HillTwo weeks after the FBI secured the FISA warrant using the Steele  Dossier, Steele was fired by the FBI on November 1, 2016 for  inappropriate communications with the news media. 
  Also withheld from both Congress and the general public until _months later_ is  the fact that Steele had been paid by Fusion GPS - an opposition  research firm hired by Hillary Clinton and the DNC to dig up dirt on  Donald Trump. Moreover, Steele absolutely hated Donald Trump. 
  And as Solomon notes; "If the FBI knew of his media contacts and the  concerns about the reliability of his dossier before seeking the  warrant, it would constitute a *serious breach of FISA regulations* and the trust that the FISA court places in the FBI."
 That’s because the FBI has an obligation to certify to the court  before it approves FISA warrants that its evidence is verified, and to  alert the judges to any flaws in its evidence or information that  suggest the target might be innocent. -The Hill*The FBI, however, went to extreme lengths** to convince the FISA judge that Steele ("Source #1"), was reliable* when  they could not verify the unsubstantiated claims in his dossier - while  also having to explain why they still trusted his information after  having terminated Steele's contract over inappropriate disclosures he  made to the media.
 "Not withstanding Source1's reason for conducting the research into Candidate1's ties to Russia, *based on Source1's previous reporting history with the FBI, whereby Source1 provided reliable information to the FBI, the FBI believes Source 1s reporting herein to be credible*"  On top of that, Bill Priestap told  Congress that corroboration of the dossier was in its "infancy" when  FISAs were being granted. An FBI unit found dossier was only "minimally"  corroborated.
 — Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) July 22, 2018Of course, none of this mattered to the FBI - which painted Carter  Page in the most criminal light possible, as intended, in order to  convince the FISA judge to grant the warrant.In order to reinforce their argument, the FBI presented various claims from the dossier as facts, such as "*The FBI learned* that Page met with at least two Russian officials" - when in fact that was simply another unverified claim from the dossier.
*It* *flat out accuses Page of being a Russian spy* who  was recruited by the Kremlin, which sought to "undermine and influence  the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S.  criminal law," the application reads.
 ALERT: The declassified FBI warrant  application attests to secret FISA court that "THE FBI LEARNED that  Page met with at least two Russian officials during the trip,"as if FBI  learned this independently,when in fact it's clear it relied on  Clinton-paid dossier for the information
 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) July 22, 2018 FBI represented to a federal judge  that investigators knew for certain that Carter Page met w/ Igor Sechin  and Diveykin. Except, the FISA app acknowledges this intel came from  Steele dossier. And FBI has acknowledged dossier was not verifieid. https://t.co/7ZstgwlVOh pic.twitter.com/NDYvBIhXB0
 — Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) July 21, 2018Another approach used to beef up the FISA application's curb appeal was *circular evidence,* via  the inclusion of a letter from Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry  Reid (NV) to former FBI Director James Comey, citing information  Reid got from John Brennan, *which was in turn from the Clinton-funded dossier*. 
 BREAKING: FBI's FISA warrant  actually cites as "evidence" to spy on Carter Page/Trump campaign  "Senate Minority Leader" Harry Reid's 2016 letter to Comey citing  information he got from John Brennan who got it from the Clinton dossier  -- talk about circular evidence!
 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) July 22, 2018Meanwhile - current and former members of the US intelligence  community continue to hinge their theories of Trump-Russia collusion on  the Steele Dossier, despite Comey admitting that it was "salacious" and  "unverified" during sworn testimony. 
 Most intelligence officials, such as former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper,  have embraced the concerns laid out in the Steele dossier of possible —  but still unproven — collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
  Yet, 10 months after the probe started and a month after Robert Mueller was named special counsel in the Russia probe, Comey cast doubt on the the Steele dossier, calling it “unverified” and “salacious” in sworn testimony before Congress.
  Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page further corroborated Comey’s concerns in recent testimony before  House lawmakers, revealing that the FBI had not corroborated the  collusion charges by May 2017, despite nine months of exhaustive  counterintelligence investigation. -The HillCongressional investigators *now want to question Comey* about  the October email string and whether it contributed to his assessment.  According to Solomon, the newly requested email chain "provides the most  direct evidence that the bureau, and possibly the DOJ*, had reasons to doubt the Steele dossier before the FISA warrant was secured*." 
  "If these documents are released, the American public will have clear  and convincing evidence to see the FISA warrant that escalated the  Russia probe just before Election Day was flawed and the judges [were]  misled," one source told Solomon. 
  What's more, House GOP investigators now have a growing pile of evidence that some of the information inserted into *a fourth and final application for the FISA - signed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein*, was suspect - as evidence by hints by House Intelligence Committee member Devin Nunes (R-CA) on _Fox News_'s Sean Hannity TV show November 20. Nunes said that the declassification of the requested documents will "*give finality to everyone who wants to know what their government did to a political campaign*."
  As Solomon bluntly puts it: 
 The bureau, under a Democratic-controlled Justice Department, *sought a warrant to spy on the duly nominated GOP candidate for president in the final weeks of the 2016 election*, *based on evidence that was generated under a contract paid by his political opponent.*
  That evidence, the Steele dossier, *was not fully vetted by the bureau and was deemed unverified months after the warrant was issued*.
  At least one news article was used in the FISA warrant to bolster the dossier as independent corroboration when, it fact, *it was traced to a news organization that had been in contact with Steele*, creating a high likelihood it was circular intelligence reporting.
  And the entire warrant, the FBI’s own document shows, was being rushed to approval by two agents who hated Trump and stated in their own texts that they wanted to “stop” the Republican from becoming president.No wonder Comey wanted a public testimony - where he wouldn't have to discuss any of this. 


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...cation-solomon

----------


## Swordsmyth

Speaking to the press outside of the proceedings, House Republicans  indicated to reporters that they were unhappy with Comey's answers and  may attempt to bring him back another day. 
 After the questioning was underway, some Republicans signaled they  were unhappy with Comey’s level of cooperation. California Rep. Darrell  Issa said *Comey had two lawyers in the room, his personal lawyer  and a lawyer from the Justice Department. He said the department lawyer  repeatedly instructed Comey not to answer “a great many questions that  are clearly items at the core of our investigation.”*
  Issa suggested *the committee might bring Comey back because he wasn’t answering questions*.  Two other Republicans, Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mark Meadows of  North Carolina, also suggested they might need a second session with  Comey if they didn’t finish their interview by a late afternoon  deadline. -_AP_


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...door-testimony

----------


## phill4paul

Bring Comey and his personal lairyer back in. Tell the Justice Department attorney that he wasn't invited and to take a hike.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Sentencing for Gen. Mike Flynn is less than two weeks away but  tempers have been brewing for a year by the Flynn family who has largely  remained silent, waiting for sentencing.
Do not expect that silence to continue.
And on Friday, Joespeh Flynn took Washington Post ‘columnist’ and Deep-State robot David Ignatius to the woodshed.

Expect Joesph Flynn, brother of Mike Flynn, and the entire Flynn clan to become much more vocal in the coming months.
That includes Mike Flynn.
And expect this to get messy.

David Ignatius, another smug elitist leftie journo from WAPO has the audacity to condescendingly opine on @GenFlynn as if he knows him personally. Guess what, @IgnatiusPost.he doesn't know you and could give two $#@!s about your opinion. What we do know is that you are
— Joseph J. Flynn ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@JosephJFlynn1) December 7, 2018an  accomplice to a crime, that of unmasking and leaking the private comms  of a US citizen. There is ample evidence that you were willfully  involved in this crime along with your friends in the Obama Admin (  RIce, Brennan, Clapper and others). Call it journalism,? We call
— Joseph J. Flynn ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@JosephJFlynn1) December 7, 2018it  sedition against a duly elected President and his incoming National  Security Advisor. Never know when YOU may be called to testify under  oath about who leaked this information.. don't underestimate the Shanty  Irish, we have long memories….@BarbaraRedgate @realDonaldTrump
— Joseph J. Flynn ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@JosephJFlynn1) December 7, 2018



https://truepundit.com/flynn-drops-t...against-trump/

----------


## Swordsmyth

An investigation referred to Justice Department  prosecutors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year into  possible criminal activity by Clinton-linked Washington insider Tony  Podesta and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig is heating up,  according to a new report that underscores federal authorities'  increasing enforcement of laws governing foreign business relationships.
The  inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta -- a Democratic lobbyist  and co-founder of the onetime lobbying powerhouse known as the Podesta  Group -- but also on Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman from Minnesota.
The  probes had been quiet for months since Mueller referred them to  authorities in New York City because they fell outside his mandate of  determining whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia.
But  in a flurry of new activity, Justice Department prosecutors in the last  several weeks have begun interviewing witnesses and contacting lawyers  to schedule additional questioning related to the Podesta Group and  Mercury Public Affairs, people familiar with the inquiry  anonymously told the Associated Press.

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mue...into-high-gear

----------


## Swordsmyth

Former FBI Director James Comey said he will return  for more questioning on Capitol Hill later this month, as President  Trump ripped into him for apparently declining to answer certain  questions on the advice of his attorneys during Friday’s closed-door  session.
Comey, who spent Friday testifying  before House lawmakers, told reporters his return visit will likely come  the “week after next.”

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jam...x-fbi-director

----------


## Swordsmyth

*House Committees Release James Comey Transcript*

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/filthy_liberals/...92036329975808

----------


## AZJoe

*Robert Mueller Intentionally Destroys Evidence in  Active Investigation.*

[Seem like a proper time to appoint special counsel to investigate Mueller's crimes]

The Justice Department's internal watchdog revealed on Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller's office scrubbed all of the data from FBI agent Peter Strzok's iPhone, while his FBI mistress Lisa Page's phone had been scrubbed by a different department, according to a comprehensive report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) ...

Meanwhile, *the OIG recovered approximately newly found 19,000 Strzok-Page texts from their Galaxy S5 phones*. The messages span a "gap" in text messages between December 15, 2016 and May 17, 2017. ...

----------


## Schifference

> *Robert Mueller Intentionally Destroys Evidence in  Active Investigation.*
> 
> [Seem like a proper time to appoint special counsel to investigate Mueller's crimes]
> 
> The Justice Department's internal watchdog revealed on Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller's office scrubbed all of the data from FBI agent Peter Strzok's iPhone, while his FBI mistress Lisa Page's phone had been scrubbed by a different department, according to a comprehensive report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) ...
> 
> Meanwhile, *the OIG recovered approximately newly found 19,000 Strzok-Page texts from their Galaxy S5 phones*. The messages span a "gap" in text messages between December 15, 2016 and May 17, 2017. ...


I am sure it was just a careless mistake with no criminal intent.

----------


## Swordsmyth

A federal court judge ruled Thursday against letting the ongoing  partial government shutdown delay conservative author and conspiracy  theorist Jerome Corsi’s lawsuit accusing special counsel Robert Mueller of “illegal and unconstitutional surveillance” and leaking to the media.
                                                                                                                     Senior U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon denied a motion to stay sought by the Department of Justice, rejecting the government’s request to postpone a court hearing in Mr. Corsi’s case over the partial shutdown that started Saturday.
                                                                                                                     The hearing “shall take place as scheduled,” Judge Leon ordered from D.C. federal court.

Mr. Corsi, 72, applauded the ruling a series of Twitter posts.
                                                                                                                     “I plan to be in court,” he tweeted.
                                                                                                                     A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment on the judge’s order.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Lawyers for the Justice Department requested the stay on Wednesday, potentially delaying next week’s court date indefinitely.
                                                                                                                     “The Department does not know when funding will be  restored by Congress,” James Gilligan, acting director of the federal  programs branch of the Justice Department’s civil division, wrote in the motion. “Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice  attorneys are generally prohibited from working, even on a voluntary  basis, except in very limited circumstances,” Mr. Gilligan added,  including “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the  protection of property.”
Mr. Corsi’s lawyer, conservative watchdog Larry Klayman, cried foul in a response filed in court within hours.
                                                                                                                                                             “Defendants’ motion is, in practice, proffered  tactically for delay,” argued Mr. Klayman. “Indeed, the so called  ‘government shutdown’ is only partial, and Defendants Robert Mueller and the Office of the Special Counsel, which is an integral part of the U.S. Department of Justice,  is excepted in any event. Thus, Special Counsel Mueller’s prosecutors  and legal counsel can, at a minimum, be present at the hearing on  January 3, 2019.”
                                                                                               “Furthermore, it is highly doubtful that U.S. Department of Justice  attorneys are actually prohibited from working,” Mr. Klayman continued.  “By counsel for Defendants’ own admission, any furlough does not apply  across the board and is not applicable in compelling circumstances,” Mr.  Klayman wrote.

More at: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ome-corsi-law/

----------


## Swordsmyth

A conservative watchdog group on Thursday sued the Department of  Justice (DOJ) for failing to disclose the security costs of the special  counsel team investigating the 2016 campaign activities of President  Donald Trump.
  Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group based in Washington,  D.C., filed the lawsuit in its ongoing efforts to get records related to  the security detail for special counsel Robert Mueller.


“The Justice Department, the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller’s  [team] continue to operate as if they are above the law,” Judicial  Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
  “The American people have a right to know how much taxpayer  money is being thrown at Mueller’s massive investigation. Judicial  Watch has never before seen this level of secrecy surrounding the  operation of a special or independent counsel.”
 Judicial Watch is arguing that it filed the lawsuit in response to  the department’s failing to respond adequately to its Freedom of  Information Act (FOIA) request from March 19.

More at: https://www.lifezette.com/2018/12/do...ecurity-costs/

----------


## Swordsmyth

The mainstream press is now asking questions about the validity of  Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s investigation into President Donald  J. Trump for “Russian collusion” in the 2016 election.
 “What if the president is right that the “Russian collusion”  investigation really is a hoax waged by a witches brew of political foes  to derail his administration?” the _Boston Herald_ asked in a Sunday piece.
 The reason for the _Herald’s_ questioning? It is an  incontrovertible fact that Judge Roy Moore was set up to look like a  Russian dupe during his Senate race against Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) who  eventually eked out a victory.


Now, _The_ _Herald_ is rightly questioning whether  former FBI Director James Comey, who initially opened the investigation  into Trump, did so with political motivations.
 The paper said:
It doesn’t take a sleuth to see the similarities between  what happened in Alabama and the origins of the ongoing special counsel  investigation. For starters the Trump-hating FBI — led by James Comey —  didn’t even bother to obtain the DNC server that Americans were told was  hacked by the Russians. What proof do U.S. intelligence agencies have  that John Podesta’s emails weren’t hacked by another foreign government  and/or individuals who gave them to Wikileaks?
 None — if you never bothered to analyze the server.
 Voters would be naive to believe anything Comey’s FBI’s tells us when  it used a “salacious and unverified” dossier paid for by the Clinton  campaign and the Democratic National Committee to spy on political  opponents. A discredited dossier fabricated by Russian informants and an  ex-British spy who was fired by the FBI for lying.
 Not exactly confidence building. 
Furthermore, it is key to remember that the investigation into “Russian meddling” was opened by Comey’s FBI in July of 2016,  right during the heart of the election campaign, and was predicated on  the idea that a Russian hacker compromised Hillary Clinton’s private  email server in an effort to bolster the Trump campaign by exposing her  “gross recklessness,” as Comey would later say. This served a dual  purpose: cast doubt on then-candidate Trump and, if he won, serve as a  giant sideshow after his election. It has certainly done that.
_The modus operandi in the 2016 ‘Russian meddling” scheme and the operation against Judge Moore are almost identical._ 
 Finally, after two full years of investigating, the Mueller  investigation has turned up zero evidence of “collusion” between Trump  and the Russians.
 Is “Russian collusion” just another dirty trick in the Democratic Party playbook?

More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/boston...rump-campaign/

----------


## Swordsmyth

Deep State conspirator Michael Isikoff’s years-long operations to  frame Robert Mueller’s political enemies are coming to light — including  bombshell details about his complicity in a plot to target Bush  official Scooter Libby with a fraudulent special counsel investigation  that Mueller’s FBI knew to be fraudulent.
 When the Deep State needs a Special Counsel to protect its friends and punish its enemies, it looks for a willing journalist to help get it done. One is named Michael Isikoff. 
 When the Swamp needed to protect Hillary Clinton and hurt Donald Trump, they fed Isikoff the phony Steele Dossier that Clinton paid for to frame Trump. 
 It kicked off the plot that, today, is widely known as Russiagate. 


In what was a journalistic obelisk to fake news, on September 23, 2016 Isikoff’s article entitled “U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin” posted on _Yahoo.com_.

Then, to round out the cycle of deceit, corrupt officials at the FBI and DoJ used Isikoff’s “news report” to obtain FISA warrants authorizing spying on the Trump Campaign. 
 In the world of fake journalism, it’s called circular reporting. 
 Sometimes also called “false confirmation,” circular reporting happens when a piece of information is credited to multiple sources but, in reality, only comes from one source. And when that single source, alleged as credible, is found to be incredible the reporter is guilty of circular reporting. In the Steele Dossier case, Isikoff’s circular reporting was used to authorize the illegal surveillance of a Presidential candidate, plus to justify the unconstitutional appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In other words: A twofer. 
 In similar fashion, Isikoff’s deceptive reporting played a key role in the earlier Deep State operation known as Plamegate. Like Russiagate, it involved Deep State actors Robert Mueller and James Comey. 
 One example of Isikoff’s misleading reporting in the Plamegate hoax came on September 6, 2006 when Isikoff broke the following story: “THE MAN WHO SAID TOO MUCH.”


Isikoff wrote: “Armitage’s  admission led to a flurry of anxious phone calls and meetings that day  at the State Department. (Days earlier, the Justice Department had  launched a criminal investigation into the Plame leak after the CIA  informed officials there that she was an undercover officer.) Within  hours, William Howard Taft IV, the State Department’s legal adviser,  notified a senior Justice official that Armitage had information  relevant to the case. The next day, a team of FBI agents and Justice  prosecutors investigating the leak questioned the deputy secretary.  Armitage acknowledged that he had passed along to Novak information  contained in a classified State Department memo: that Wilson’s wife  worked on weapons-of-mass-destruction issues at the CIA. (The memo made  no reference to her undercover status.) Armitage had met with Novak in  his State Department office on July 8, 2003–just days before Novak  published his first piece identifying Plame. Powell, Armitage and Taft,  the only three officials at the State Department who knew the story,  never breathed a word of it publicly and Armitage’s role remained  secret.”
 Isikoff excluded this crucial fact: When Armitage confessed to FBI and DoJ officials that he was Robert Novak’s source, those  officials asked Armitage, Secretary of State Colin Powell and the Legal  Adviser to the Department of State William H. Taft to tell no one about  Armitage’s confession. Although they were under no obligation to comply, the three agreed to remain silent.
 Our source for this initial silencing of the three is Taft. Taft was, Isikoff claimed, the source for his reporting on September 6, 2006. 
 Isikoff’s omission of the initial  silencing by FBI and DoJ officials in 2003 was replaced by his reporting  that Patrick Fitzgerald silenced Armitage about three months later  after Comey had appointed Fitzgerald as Special Counsel. 
 Consequently, by altering the silencing timeline, Isikoff omitted the initial complicity of Department of State and Department of Justice officials in the appointment of a Special Counsel tasked to find a leaker who confessed three months earlier.
 When James Comey appointed Patrick Fitzgerald three months after Armitage confessed, Comey said Fitzgerald’s mission was to find the criminal leaker. 
 But that wasn’t true. Just as in Russiagate, the role of the Deep State Special Counsel was not to search for a criminal, but to search for a crime and person(s) to indict. In other words – hunt for scalps. 
 Isikoff helped create the false narrative of a mission to find the “leaker” who outed Valerie Plame; then, when that narrative no longer was needed, he shifted the storyline toward the prosecution of Scooter Libby for having allegedly lied to the FBI. 
 Both Plamegate and Russiagate are long-running, bait-and-switch operations aided by duplicitous journalism. They illustrate how Deep State journalism rolls. 

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/exclus...ies-for-years/

----------


## Swordsmyth

Yes, the Pentagon did give a classified briefing to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in May 2017, but then it declined the senator’s impassioned plea three months later to make some of that briefing information public.
“It  appears the public release of this information would not pose any  ongoing risk to national security. Moreover, the declassification would  be in the public interest, and is in the interest of fairness to Lt.  Gen. Flynn,” Grassley wrote in August 2017.
Were the information Grassley requested made public, America would have learned this, according to my sources:

Before Flynn made his infamous December 2015 trip to Moscow — as a retired general and then-adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign — he alerted his former employer, the DIA.

He then attended a “defensive” or “protective” briefing before he ever sat alongside Vladimir Putin at the Russia Today (RT) dinner, or before he talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The  briefing educated and sensitized Flynn to possible efforts by his  Russian host to compromise the former high-ranking defense official and  prepared him for conversations in which he could potentially extract  intelligence for U.S. agencies such as the DIA.

When  Flynn returned from Moscow, he spent time briefing intelligence  officials on what he learned during the Moscow contacts. Between two and  nine intelligence officials attended the various meetings with Flynn  about the RT event, and the information was moderately useful, about  what one would expect from a public event, according to my sources.
DIA spokesman James Kudla on Wednesday declined comment about Flynn.
Rather  than a diplomatic embarrassment bordering on treason, Flynn’s conduct  at the RT event provided some modest benefit to the U.S. intelligence  community, something that many former military and intelligence officers  continue to offer their country after retirement when they keep  security clearances.
It’s important to wind back many months to  where the Russia collusion narrative started and the media frenzy-driven  suggestion that Flynn may have been on a mission to compromise  America’s security and endanger this great republic when he visited  Moscow.
Would the central character in a Russian election hijack  plot actually self-disclose his trip in advance? And then sit through a  briefing on how to avoid being compromised by his foreign hosts? And  then come back to America and be debriefed by U.S intelligence officers  about who and what he saw?
And would a prosecutor recommend little or no prison time for a former general if that former military leader truly had compromised national security?
Highly unlikely.

More at: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-ho...el-kept-secret

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## Swordsmyth

Evidence is now circulating among lawmakers in Washington that makes  the case that Obama administration intelligence officials John Brennan  and James Clapper hacked FISA court judge Reggie Walton in addition to  Supreme Court Justice John Roberts.
 Big League Politics’ expose  on the alleged Roberts hack has rocked the corridors of power. Now, we  have more information coming to light about the FISA court — which infamously held no hearings  regarding the fraudulent FISA warrant applications to surveil Carter  Page and by extension other members of President Trump’s team. And  there’s more: James Comey’s henchmen at the FBI are proven to have  covered it up. 

Tapes released by Federal Judge G. Murray Snow — preserved on a Whistleblower Soundcloud page  — show real estate billionaire Timothy Blixseth explaining Brennan and  Clapper’s surveillance program to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and  detective Mike Zullo. The existence of this surveillance program has  been corroborated by Wikileaks’ “Vault 7” release and by the public comments of former CIA and NSA contractor Dennis Montgomery, who says he worked on the program for Brennan and Clapper.
 Montgomery has gone public with his claims exposing how the program  was used to spy on President Donald Trump when he was a private citizen.  Montgomery has gained immunity and desperately wants House Intelligence  Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes or other lawmakers to call him to testify  about what he knows.


On the explosive tapes, Blixseth walks Arpaio and Zullo through the  details of the program on a computer screen. At one point, the three  begin pulling up specific names of targeted individuals.

“You know who that guy is? That’s the head of the FISA court they hacked into, Reggie Walton,” Blixseth tells the investigators.
 “John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, was hacked,” Blixseth tells Arpaio and Zullo.


LISTEN TO THE TAPE HERE (18:00 Minute Mark)
 Insiders have always been skeptical of Roberts’ motives for siding  with President Obama on the 2012 Obamacare case. While there’s still no  available evidence that Roberts was blackmailed, the allegation that he  was “hacked” by Obama officials provides some more context into the  justice’s controversial career.
 As Big League Politics reported,  former FBI director James Comey seized and buried volumes of  information that demonstrated this wide-ranging government surveillance  operation targeting Donald Trump before he became president.


Larry Klayman, attorney for former NSA and CIA contractor and  whistleblower Dennis Montgomery, delivered to the FBI 47 hard drives and  data amounting to more than 600 million pages of documentation on the  surveillance scheme. Then-FBI director James Comey’s general counsel  James Baker took the data into his possession, according to multiple  sources. But despite possessing Montgomery’s bombshell whistleblower  revelations, Comey never acted on or publicized the information.
 Additionally, Comey’s former firm Lockheed Martin granted entry to  Montgomery to one of its facilities to help him work on the alleged mass  surveillance program, which was allegedly overseen by Obama  administration officials John Brennan and James Clapper and specifically  targeted Trump.
 “This guy showed me 900 million phone calls. And I see myself in there. I see people I know. *I see Donald Trump in there a zillion times*, and Bloomberg is in there,” Blixseth said on the tape, referring to information that Montgomery allegedly showed him.
 “We don’t have any comment,” the FBI told Big League Politics when questioned about the existence of the program.
 “I provided to the FBI seventeen businesses of Donald Trump,  including the Trump Tower, the Trump leasing programs, all of these  different programs, and including Trump himself and the various family  members that had been wiretapped under these programs,” Montgomery said  in a recent interview. “There has been a wiretap on Trump for years.”
 “I started by going to Maricopa County and showing that Sheriff  Arpaio himself was wiretapped under the Obama administration,” the  whistleblower said.
 “I was a CIA contractor both under John Brennan and under James  Clapper and these individuals were running domestic surveillance  programs in the United States collecting information on Americans. This  isn’t political. They were collecting information on Republicans and  Democrats. But they collected everything they could find. Bank accounts,  phone numbers, chats, emails, and they collected a massive amount of it  under the Obama administration,” Montgomery said.

More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/eviden...covered-it-up/

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Now, quite possibly the US-UK “special relationship” has suffered serious damage and could be at its lowest ebb ever,* which  will have tremendous consequences for the UK's position in the world  going forward outside of the European Union. The relationship and  alliance has *always meant far more to London* than to  Washington DC. But in so heavily involving the British intelligence  services in interfering in the 2016 US Presidential election directly  working against the Republican candidate Donald Trump and in favour of  the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton,* the British State may just have crossed a red line to far in the mind of President Donald Trump.*

  There has been much banging on about Russian interference in the 2016  US Presidential election. This of course is never spoken of in the  context that various American and British Governments have not only  covertly interfered and intervened directly in other countries internal  democratic elections and political systems such as the case with the  British Conservative Government of John Major attempting to help the Republican Bush 1992 campaign against Bill Clinton, but also overtly, such as was the case with Iran after WWII. *However,  the more one learns of the extent of the British intelligence state's  involvement in the 2016 US Presidential election working in favour of  Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the more one begins to see that an  argument can be mounted that the level of British State intervention in  the 2016 US Presidential election to help tip the balance in favour of  one candidate against the other is unprecedented.*
  Such is the case of one British political 'activist' by the name of Simon Bracey-Lane who  mysteriously worked as an activist for the Bernie Sanders 2016  Presidential campaign and a very strange organisation called The  Institute of Statecraft which runs something spuriously called the  'Integrity Initiative'. _The Institute for Statecraft and its Integrity Initiative is a front for the British Government's intelligence services_.  It is funded largely by the British Foreign Office and NATO  Governments. It came into being in 2015 long before Donald Trump was  ever perceived to be a serious candidate for the White House and its  sole purpose is to continue in that most ridiculous and backwards 'Cold  War' mentality of smearing all things Russian and smearing anyone who  takes a positive interest and positive perspective on Russia and the  great Russian people.
  It would seem *Bracey-Lane was an agent of the British  Government on a mission to collect up data on Bernie Sanders, the chief  rival for the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton back in 2016 and  then in all likelihood pass such data to the 2016 Clinton Campaign.*  The British Government at the time at made it known it wanted Hillary  Clinton elected President. Senator Sanders was of course a left wing  firebrand, the closest American politics gets to having a socialist, who  was lukewarm towards Israel and intent on revolutionising American  domestic and international policy to take it in a more progressive and  liberal internationalist direction. Sanders wanted to reform the bloated  US defence budget and military-industrial complex and attempt to tone  down aggressive impulses in American foreign policy. With a little extra  push in a few primaries and caucus he might well have secured the  Democratic Party nomination.
  This involvement by the British State in the internal political  affairs of the United States is disconcerting. Not only did the British  State intervene extensively in the 2016 US Presidential election to tip  the balance towards the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, it has at  the same time being displaying a deeply ingrained prejudice and bigotry  against all things Russian.

This British Government front called the Institute for Statecraft and its 'Integrity Initiative' was *launched  in 2015 by the British Government as a secret operation to propagate  anti-Russia propaganda into the western media stream and create  generally an aggressively hostile anti-Russian media narrative*,  for what purpose and to what end only the British Government and those  who hold such severe and obsessive anti-Russian opinions can answer.
  The Institute for Statecraft and its 'Integrity Initiative' programs  where designed to smear anyone who does not follow the anti-Russia line.  The Steele dossier which has been of such great help to the Robert  Mueller Special Counsel Investigation was also a largely a British  Government operation but seems to have actually emanated from this  Institute for Statecraft mission. The 'Integrity Initiative' builds  'cluster' or contact groups of trusted journalists, military personal,  academics and lobbyists within foreign countries. These people get  alerts via social media to take anti-Russian action when the British  State perceives a need.
*It would seem there are some at the very highest levels of  the British State who would like nothing more than to start an all out  war against Russia, which would be the gravest strategic and human  mistake probably made since the last monster thought he could achieve  such a diabolical scheme circa 1941*. And perhaps there are some  at the top of the EU who have never forgiven nor gotten over that it  was Russia that was the main liberator of the European continent against  the German Nazi Third Reich and it was Russia who was the principle and  superior opponent against the Wehrmacht.
  Yet the fact of the matter is as per usual when the English are involved they generally end up causing more damage than good.*  All these anti-Russian efforts by the British State and involvement in  the internal affairs of American politics such as infiltrating the  Bernie Sanders campaign and gathering up a dossier on Donald Trump has  ironically and paradoxically served to actually weaken to its worst  level the US-UK 'special relationship'.* Quite possibly US-UK  relations are at their lowest point. The management of the President of  the United States' visit to the UK was a public relations disaster for  the British Government of Theresa May and Mr. Trump has made it quite  clear he has little time for the British Prime Minister, openly  attacking her handling of the Brexit negotiations, openly pining for  Boris Johnson to replace her and openly stating that a US-UK Free Trade  Agreement post-Brexit is not a certainty. Also President Trump has  little time for Britain's defence establishment and its pathetic and  ridiculous Henry Jackson Society so-called Defence Secretary Gavin  Williamson. President Trump cannot stand pip squeaks like Gavin  Williamson and that is why Trump kept the entire British Government in  the dark about his troop pull outs in Syria and Afghanistan.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...k-relationship


*IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
* *The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
* When  in the Course of human events it becomes necessary   for one people to  dissolve the political bands which have connected   them with another and  to assume among the powers of the earth, the   separate and equal station  to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's   God entitle them.........











*Daniel 7:4*

  “The first _was_ like a *lion*, and  had  *eagle's wings*: I beheld till *the wings thereof were plucked*, and it  was  lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and  a  man's heart was given to it.” 

King James Version (KJV)

----------


## Swordsmyth

A  top federal prosecutor in Utah is continuing to investigate allegations  that the FBI abused its powers in surveilling a former Trump campaign  adviser and should have done more to investigate the Clinton Foundation,  according to a source familiar with the matter. While  the Justice Department has not publicly commented on the investigation  in almost a year, the source said acting Attorney General Matthew  Whitaker told former Attorney General Ed Meese during a breakfast  meeting in Washington on Wednesday that US Attorney John Huber is  continuing his investigation into the wide-ranging allegations. 
The meeting was first reported by the AP. 
The  source said that Whitaker did not provide Meese with any details on  Huber's work or his findings -- but this is the most recent indication  from senior Justice Department leadership that Huber's work is still  ongoing. 
The source could not confirm who first raised the issue at the meeting or why it was being discussed. 

More at: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/polit...fbi/index.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Former FISA court judge Reggie Walton is now under scrutiny due to  evidence that Obama administration officials John Brennan and James  Clapper hacked into Walton’s phone records in addition to the phone  records of Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and President Donald Trump  before Trump ran for office. *(READ: Evidence of the Walton Hack, and How Comey Covered It Up).*
 Now we know that Walton has been on the bench in multiple fraudulent  Deep State operations, including the Scooter Libby case, which also  involved some of the main figures from the anti-Trump Operation  Crossfire Hurricane plot. In the Libby case, then-deputy attorney  general Comey appointed a special counsel to investigate the Valerie  Plame leak even though it was already well known that former Under  Secretary of State Marc Grossman was the leaker of Plame’s identity, not  Libby, according to sources and documented evidence. Then-attorney  general John Ashcroft recused himself in the Libby case so that Comey  could take over the Plame-Gate investigation.
 Walton was involved in the following operations:

Walton was the judge who helped to silence Robert Mueller  whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, an FBI translator who sought to expose  Mueller’s illegal wiretapping programs. Edmonds contested her firing  from the FBI, but Walton dismissed her contest in 2004, prompting an  appeal in which Edmonds was represented by the ACLU.Edmonds  wanted to testify at the Scooter Libby trial, meeting with Libby’s  lawyers late at night at the Willard hotel, but Libby never ended up  calling her to testify.Reggie Walton was the judge in Scooter Libby’s trial, in which Libby was found guilty. Walton sentenced Libby in 2007 to 30 months in prison and a quarter-million dollar fine.
 That’s quite the resume for a man whose private conversations were  monitored by Brennan and Clapper, according to evidence that forms the  basis of a whistleblower case in Washington, D.C.


More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/exclus...ey-operations/

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## Swordsmyth

As Big League Politics accurately reported, lover Lisa Page belted  out a few show tunes during her behind-closed-doors testimony with House  Republicans including gentlemen from the Freedom Caucus.
Jeff  Carlson of The Epoch Times has now obtained bombshell transcripts from  the Page testimony, and highlights the following “key points”:

Brennan was aware of the so-called Steele dossier in early August  2016…he included information regarding the dossier in a briefing given  to then-Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.).The FBI appears to have considered investigating President Trump for  obstruction of justice both before and after FBI Director James Comey  was fired.Page says the DOJ refused to pursue “gross-negligence” charges  against Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server to send  classified information.FBI agent Michael Gaeta, head of the Eurasian Crime Squad, who  received the dossier from former MI6 spy Steele in July 2016 is referred  to in the transcript as Steele’s handler.The FBI maintained a previously unknown verification file for the  Steele dossier. Congressional investigators did not previously know of  its existence.John Carlin, the head of the DOJ’s National Security Division, was  kept abreast of the FBI’s investigative activities through contact with  then-Deputy FBI Director McCabe.Page worked directly for DOJ official Bruce Ohr for at least five years and had met his wife, Nellie, once.The role of FBI Agent Jonathan Moffa and DOJ official George Toscas may have been greater than initially assumed.
_Epoch Times passage ends_


More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/lovely...like-a-canary/

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## Swordsmyth

The Russian lawyer who played a key role in the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Trump campaign officials,  including Donald Trump Jr., tells Yahoo News she won’t return to the  United States to face charges that she lied in an unrelated court case. 
She  also said she would be willing to speak with special counsel Robert  Mueller for his investigation, but she hasn’t been asked.
In  a phone interview conducted with Yahoo News, Natalia Veselnitskaya  calmly but insistently denied the charges, and said she would use “all  methods” to defend herself, but would do so from Russia, where she lives  with her four children, and would not come to the United States.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/russian-lawye...193429528.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Russia on Friday demanded an explanation from the United States about  charges brought against a Russian lawyer who attended a June 2016  meeting at Trump Tower who was this week charged in a separate case.

Speaking at a weekly news conference, Russian Foreign Ministry  spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it had become a habit in the United  States to open criminal against Russians based on vague claims.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/moscow-demand...091840312.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

Andrew Weissmann, the lead prosecutor for Special Counsel Robert  Mueller, has a history of questionable conduct. But the full extent of  Weissmann’s alleged prosecutorial misconduct is unclear because some of  the most serious charges were hidden behind redactions and secreted in  sealed court filings.
 Two months ago I sued to have these records released,  but late Friday federal Judge Sim Lake’s case manager confirmed that  several of the sought-after documents are missing from the court record.


In early November, Houston attorney Kevin Fulton of the Fulton Law  Group filed a motion in a Texas federal court to unseal and unredact  court records related to claimed prosecutorial misconduct by Weissmann  during the latter’s stint as the head of the Enron Task Force.
 In a joint motion to dismiss the criminal charges filed against them,  four individuals connected to the Enron collapse alleged that Weissmann  had improperly threatened witnesses to keep them from speaking with  defense lawyers. In support of their motion, the defendants included an  email Weissmann had sent to the lawyer of a “critical witness.” What  exactly Weissmann said, though, is unclear, as the brief redacted the  details:

 Even if cause originally existed to keep the content of this email  secret, with the underlying criminal cases now complete, there is no  longer a basis to hide the details from the public. Thus, my motion to  unredact the public record asked Judge Lake, who had presided over the  criminal cases, to release unredacted copies of several court filings,  most significantly the joint motion to dismiss, which included this  email and other relevant details.


Over the holidays, though, the court entered an “amended notice,”  announcing that after “a full and exhaustive” search by the clerk,  certain court filings “were unrecoverable in their original or  un-redacted form,” including the unredacted copy of the joint motion to  dismiss and the supporting memorandum. Also missing from the court  record was the government’s unredacted response to this motion, which  likely would have included the full text—or relevant portions—of the  Weissmann email.
 Additionally, in the amended notice the court stated that it could  not find in the case records the unredacted copy of the declaration made  by Michael Tigar, an expert witness who averred that in his 40 years of  experience trying criminal cases in state and federal courts, he had  never seen such “unfair pressures brought to bear on the adversary  system in a single case.” Several of Tigar’s other conclusions, however,  were hidden behind redactions.

 Finally, the court stated that “Docket Entry No. 568: Sealed  Document” was missing from the record. But the subject matter of that  sealed document is completely unknown because the public docket does not  even list Docket Entry 568.

 Upon learning that these documents were missing, Fulton’s firm  contacted the court to request that the clerk, if he had not yet done  so, contact the clerks of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the  U.S. Supreme Court. After all, the underlying Enron cases involved  multiple defendants and several trips to the Fifth Circuit and Supreme  Court. When a case is appealed, the record is transmitted to the higher  court, then later returned to the district court. So it seemed  reasonable to think that during one of the trips back and forth, the  relevant portions of the record were inadvertently retained by the  appellate court.
 However, late Friday it became clear that the records are gone for  good, when Judge Lake’s case manager informed the Fulton Law Group that  in addition to conducting a “full and exhaustive search of the Houston  Division’s records,” search requests had been “made with the Supreme  Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the National Archives,”  and those four records were unrecoverable.
 The Department of Justice also does not have copies of the records,  having told Judge Lake after conducting its own review that it was  unable to locate physical or electronic copies of the records. The DOJ  then moved for access to the court’s records, which Judge Lake granted.


Efforts to obtain the remaining documents continue, though: By the  end of January the DOJ must respond to the motion to unredact the  records that haven’t gone missing. The remaining documents, however, are  unlikely to provide additional insight into Weissmann’s questionable  conduct in the Enron case, which I previously detailed at length here.
 Consequently, Weissmann will likely remain Mueller’s “pit bull,”  because without the missing documents prompting a public outcry, nothing  is likely to change—especially since Mueller led the FBI at the time  of the Enron prosecutions and was surely well aware of Weissmann’s  modus operandi when he brought him on board as his lead prosecutor. It  is facts like these that lead many on the right to question the  integrity of the special counsel probe.

More at: http://thefederalist.com/2019/01/14/...ad-prosecutor/

----------


## Swordsmyth

House Republicans revealed that the FBI's former top lawyer, James  Baker, has been under active federal investigation for leaking  information to the media. 

  A Monday letter from GOP Reps. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows to  Connecticut US attorney John Durham asks for an update on the leak  probe. The investigation was revealed to Jordan and Meadows during  Congressional investigations, when Baker's attorney, Daniel Levin,  refused to let him answer lawmakers' questions. 
  "I’m sorry, I’m going to cut – not let him answer these questions  right now," Levin interjected when Jordan asked about Baker's  interactions with reporters. 
  "*You may or may not know, he’s been the subject of a leak  investigation which is still – a criminal leak investigation that’s  still active at the Justice Department*," Levin continued. 
  Meadows cut in, asking "You’re saying he’s under criminal  investigation? That’s why you’re not letting him answer?" to which Levin  replied "Yes." 
  While the subject of the media leaks is unknown, a confidential source told the _Daily Caller_'s Chuck Ross that the leak investigation is a nothingburger. 
  "I’m 100 percent confident they did not find any wrongdoing," said  the source, adding that the investigation discussed during the hearing  "is not a new or reopened investigation" separate of the one reported in  December 2017 by the _Washington Post_. 
 *Levin’s exchange with Republicans followed after Baker  discussed interactions he had with Mother Jones reporter David Corn, who  met with dossier author Christopher Steele prior to the 2016 election.*
  It is unclear what alleged leak Baker was under investigated for. A spokesman for Durham declined comment.
  Jordan then asked Baker whether reporters Franklin Foer and Michael  Isikoff ever reached out to him. Both of the journalists reported  stories about the Russia investigation. Isikoff, who co-authored a book  with Corn, also met with Steele prior to the 2016 election.
  Levin blocked the line of inquiry about reporter contacts, saying: “*I’m not going to have him answer any questions as asking about any interactions with the press*.” -Daily CallerIn July of 2017, _Circa_ reported  that Baker was under investigation for a leak of classified information  pertaining to technology Yahoo Inc. possessed to collect upstream  data. 


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ctive-criminal

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## Swordsmyth

In what Judicial Watch describes as a *"major victory for accountability,"*  a federal judge ruled Tuesday that former national security  adviser Susan Rice and former deputy national security adviser Ben  Rhodes *must answer written questions about the State  Department's response to the deadly 2012 terror attack in Benghazi,  Libya, as part of an ongoing legal battle over whether Hillary Clinton  sought to deliberately evade public record laws* by using a private email server while secretary of state.

_As Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain reports,_ the judge's order amounts to approval of a discovery plan he ordered last month. In that ruling, Lamberth wrote that *Clinton's use of a private email account was "one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency"* and said the response of the State and Justice Departments* "smacks of outrageous misconduct."*
Judicial Watch announced last night that United States District *Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that discovery can begin in Hillary Clinton’s email scandal.* Obama  administration senior State Department officials, lawyers, and Clinton  aides will now be deposed under oath. Senior officials -* including Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, Jacob Sullivan, and FBI official E.W. Priestap* -  will now have to answer Judicial Watch’s written questions under oath.  The court rejected the DOJ and State Department’s objections to Judicial  Watch’s court-ordered discovery plan. _(The court, in ordering a discovery plan last month, ruledthat the Clinton email system was “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.”)_
  Judicial Watch’s discovery will seek answers to:

 	Whether Clinton intentionally attempted to evade the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by using a non-government email system; 	whether the State Department’s efforts to settle this case beginning in late 2014 amounted to bad faith; and 	whether the State Department adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request.
*Discovery is scheduled to be completed within 120 days.* The  court will hold a post-discovery hearing to determine if Judicial Watch  may also depose additional witnesses, including Clinton and her former  Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills.


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...d-over-clinton

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## Swordsmyth

The Justice Department was fully aware that the notorious Steele Dossier  was connected to Hillary Clinton and might be biased - a crucial detail  which was omitted just weeks later from the Foreign Intelligence  Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant used to spy on the Trump campaign,  reports John Solomon of _The Hill. 

_
According to Solomon's sources - which have proven impeccable, the  former #4 Department of Justice (DOJ) official, Bruce Ohr - who had _extensive_ contact with Steele, briefed "both senior FBI and DOJ officials in summer 2016 about Christopher Steele's Russia dossier, *explicitly  cautioning that the British intelligence operative's work was  opposition research connected to Hillary Clinton's campaign and might be  biased.*" 
 Ohr’s activities, chronicled in handwritten notes and congressional testimony I gleaned from sources, provide the most damning evidence to date that *FBI  and DOJ officials may have misled federal judges in October 2016 in  their zeal to obtain the warrant targeting Trump adviser Carter Page  just weeks before Election Day.* -_The Hill_Ohr's activities *also contradict a key argument made by House Democrats in their attempts to downplay the significance of the Steele Dossier*;  that the FBI claimed it was "unaware of any derogatory information"  about Steele, and that the former MI6 operative was "never advised ...  as to the motivation behind the research." The FBI further "speculates"  that those who hired Steele were "likely looking for information to  discredit" Trump's campaing. 
*There was no "speculation" going on by the FBI. Thanks to Ohr's warning, they absolutely knew about Steele's bias against Trump while working for a Clinton-funded project to gather harmful opposition research on him.* 
 Ohr had firsthand knowledge about the motive and the client: He had just met with Steele on July 30, 2016, and *Ohr’s wife, Nellie, worked for Fusion GPS, the same firm employing Steele.*
  “I certainly told the FBI that Fusion GPS was working with, doing opposition research on Donald Trump,” Ohr told congressional investigators, adding that he warned the FBI that Steele expressed bias during their conversations.
  “*I provided information to the FBI when I thought Christopher Steele was, as I said, desperate that Trump not be elected*,” he added. “*So, yes, of course I provided that to the FBI*.” -_The Hill_When lawmakers pressed Ohr as to why he would volunteer that  information to the FBI, he answered "In case there might be any kind of  bias or anything like that," adding later "So when I provided it to the  FBI, I tried to be clear that this is source information, I don’t know  how reliable it is. You’re going to have to check it out and be aware."
  Ohr also says he told the FBI that his wife and Steele were working  for Fusion GPS - the same firm hired by the Clinton campaign through  intermediary law firm Perkins Coie, and that they were conduction  Trump-Russia research at the behest of Clinton's camp.


"These guys were hired by somebody relating to, who’s related to the  Clinton campaign and be aware," Ohr told lawmakers, explaining how he  warned the bureau. 
  Perkins Coie eventually admitted to paying Fusion GPS, *disguising the payments as legal bills when it was in fact opposition research*. 
  When Ohr was asked if he knew of any connection between the Steele Dossier and the DNC, *he said he thought the project was really connected to the Clinton campaign,* saying:  "I didn’t know they were employed by the DNC but I certainly said yes  that they were working for, you know, they were somehow working,  associated with the Clinton campaign." 
  "I also told the FBI that my wife worked for Fusion GPS or was a contractor for GPS, Fusion GPS," he added. 
 *Ohr divulged his first contact with the FBI was on July 31, 2016, when he reached out to then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI attorney Lisa Page.* He then was referred to the agents working Russia counterintelligence, including Peter Strzok, the now-fired agent who played a central role in starting the Trump collusion probe.
  But Ohr’s contacts about the Steele dossier weren’t limited to the  FBI. He said in August 2016 — nearly two months before the FISA warrant  was issued — that he was asked to conduct a briefing for senior Justice  officials.
*Those he briefed included Andrew Weissmann, then the head of  DOJ’s fraud section; Bruce Swartz, longtime head of DOJ’s international  operations, and Zainab Ahmad, an accomplished terrorism prosecutor* who, at the time, was assigned to work with Lynch as a senior counselor.
*Ahmad and Weissmann would go on to work for Mueller*, the special prosecutor overseeing the Russia probe. -_The Hill_In early 2018, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee sought  to downplay Ohr's connections to Steele during their investigation -  insisiting Ohr only notified the FBI about Steele _after_ Steele was fired by the FBI in November 2016 for improper contacts with the media. 
The memo from House Democrats  - led by Rep. Adam Schiff's (D-CA), says that Ohr's contact with the  FBI only began "weeks after the election and more than a month after the  Court approved the initial FISA application."
  Ohr's testimony refutes Schiff's memo, *making clear he was in contact with FBI and DOJ officials long before the FISA warrant or the 2016 US election*. 
  Not only that, *"Ohr explicitly told the FBI that Steele was desperate to defeat the man he was investigating and was biased,"* according to Solomon, and the FBI didn't have to guess as to Steele's motives.
 The Hill article is a powerful  piece of evidence that the Mueller investigation is the illegitimate  offspring of a prior investigation based on a phony dossier paid for by  the DNC. This was never revealed in false affidavits presented to FISA  court. Mueller’s people implicated.
 — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) January 17, 2019

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ton-connection

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## Swordsmyth

A former top FBI lawyer acknowledged he was  personally involved in the warrant application to surveil then-Trump  campaign aide Carter Page and confirmed other "unusual" steps taken in  the FBI’s Russia probe in 2016, during a closed-door congressional interview.
“I was aware of the [Russia] investigation,” James Baker  told House investigators in October. Fox News has confirmed details of  the transcript which is still under government review before its public  release.
Baker  said he was briefed on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)  warrant “as time went by” and recalled how he got involved early in the  process. The warrant relied heavily on the unverified anti-Trump  dossier, which was financed by the Democratic National Committee and the  Hillary Clinton campaign via the law firm Perkins Coie.
“I don't  want to see it at the end, like when it is about to go to the director  [for] certification, because then it is hard to make changes  then," Baker told House investigators when Republicans controlled the  chamber. "So I wanted to see it when it was gelled enough but before it  went through the process and before it went to the director. I wanted to  see it and I wanted to read it because I knew it was sensitive."
Fox  News confirmed the Baker transcript also includes the following  exchange with investigators regarding his involvement in the  surveillance application: 
Question: "So that is why you took the abnormal or unusual step in this particular situation because it was sensitive?"
Baker: "Yes."
Question: "So you actually got involved because you want to make sure that, what?"
Baker: "I wanted to make sure that we were filing something that would adhere to the law and stand up over time."


Baker also told lawmakers, as part of the joint investigations by the  House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, that it was not routine for  him to get involved personally in such matters.
"I did not ... at  that point in time when I was at the FBI ... almost all of the FISA  applications did not go through me," he said.
Fox News first reported  last fall that Baker said his contact with a top lawyer working with  the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign in late 2016 --  as federal investigators prepared the surveillance warrant -- also was  unusual.
Baker said Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussmann initiated  contact with him and provided documents, describing the contact with  the private lawyer as unusual and the “only time it happened.”

Since then, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee  Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., formally requested further information  from the FBI about the contact. Further, conservative watchdog Judicial Watch  launched a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in December against "the  Department of Justice seeking records of all meetings in 2016 between  former FBI General Counsel James Baker and the Perkins Coie law firm."

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/for...anscript-shows

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## Swordsmyth

In April last year, Disobedient Media broke coverage of the* British involvement in the Trump-Russia collusion narrative,* asking why _All Russiagate Roads Lead To London_, via the quasi-scholar Joseph Mifsud and others.
  The issue was also raised by WikiLeaks's Julian Assange, just days before the Ecuadorian government silenced him last March. Assange's Twitter thread cited research by Chris Blackburn, who spoke with Disobedient Media on multiple occasions covering Joseph Mifsud's ties to British intelligence figures and organizations, as well as his links to Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign, the FBI, CIA and the private cyber-security firm Crowdstrike.
  We return, now, to this issue and specifically the research of Chris Blackburn, to* place the final nail in the coffin of the Trump-Russia collusion charade.*  Blackburn's insights are incredible not only because they return us to  the earliest reporting on the role of British intelligence figures in  manufacturing the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, but because they  also implicate members of Mueller's investigation. What we are left with  is an indication of collusion between factions of the US and UK  intelligence community in fabricating evidence of Trump-Russia  collusion: a scandal that would have rocked the legacy press to its  core, if Western establishment-backed media had a spine.
  In Disobedient Media's previous coverage of Blackburn's work, he described his experience in intelligence:
 “I’ve been involved in numerous investigations that involve counter-intelligence techniques in the past. I used to work for the 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism,  one of the biggest tort actions in American history. I helped build a  profile of Osama bin Laden’s financial and political network, which was  slightly different to the one that had been built by the CIA’s Alec Station,  a dedicated task force which was focused on Osama bin Laden and  Al-Qaeda. Alec Station designed its profile to hunt Osama bin Laden and  disrupt his network. I thought it was flawed. It had failed to take into  account Osama’s historical links to Pakistan’s main political parties  or that he was the figurehead for a couple of organizations, not just  Al-Qaeda.”
  “I also ran a few conferences for US intelligence leaders during the  Bush administration. After the 9/11 Commission published its report into  the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon it created a  public outreach program. The US National Intelligence Conference and  Exposition (Intelcon)  was one of the avenues it used. I was responsible for creating the  ‘View from Abroad’ track. We had guidance from former Senator Slade  Gorton and Jamie Gorelick, who both sat on the 9/11 Commission. We got  leaders such as Sir John Chilcot and Baroness Pauline Neville Jones to  come and help share their experiences on how the US would be able to  heal the rifts after 9/11.”
  “The US intelligence community was suffering from severe turf wars  and firewalls, which were hampering counter-terrorism efforts. They were  concentrating on undermining each other rather than tackling terrorism.  I had mainly concentrated on the Middle East, but in 2003 I switched my  focus to terrorism in South Asia.”*Counter Terrorism, Not Counter Intelligence, Sparked Probe*  In an article published by The Telegraph last November, the paper acknowledged the following:
 "It forces the spotlight on whether the UK played a role in the FBI's  investigation launched before the 2016 presidential election into Trump  campaign ties to the Kremlin... Mr. Trump’s allies and former advisers  are raising questions about the UK’s role in the start of the probe,  given many of the key figures and meetings were located in Britain...  One former top White House adviser to Mr. Trump made similar  insinuations, telling this newspaper: “You know the Brits are up to  their neck." The source added on the Page wiretap application: *“I  think that stuff is going to implicate MI5 and MI6 in a bunch of  activities they don't want to be implicated in, along with FBI,  counter-terrorism and the CIA.*" [Emphasis Added]The article cites George  Papadopoulos, who asked why the "British intelligence apparatus was  weaponized against Trump and his advisers." Papadopoulos has also  addressed the issue at length via Twitter. In response to the  Telegraph's coverage of the issue, Chris Blackburn wrote via Twitter:
 "The Telegraph story on Trump Russia acknowledges that activities  involving counter-terrorism are at the heart of the scandal...not  counter-intelligence. If the [London Centre for International Law  Practice] was British state, not private, some Commonwealth countries  are going to be seriously pissed off."Blackburn spoke with Disobedient Media, saying:
 "If you factor in the dreadful reporting to discredit Joseph Mifsud  and leaks, it is pretty clear something rather strange happened to  George Papadopoulos during the campaign while he was shuttling around  Europe and the Middle East. He was working with people who have  intelligence links at the London Centre of International Law Practice. A  recent article in The Telegraph also  alludes to MI5, MI6, and CIA using counter-terrorism assets which would  tie into the London Centre of International Law Practice (LCILP), and  its sister organizations, doing counter-terrorism work for the  Australian, UK and US governments. They quote anonymous officials who  believe that their *intelligence agencies used counter-terrorism personnel to kick start the investigation/scandal."* [Emphasis Added]Blackburn discussed this differentiation with Disobedient Media:
 "Counter-terrorism is obviously involved in more kinetic, violent  political actions-concerning mass casualty events, bombings,  assassinations, poisonings, and hacking. But, the lines are blurring  between them. Counter-intelligence cases have been known to stretch for  decades- often relying on nothing more than paranoia and suspicion to  fuel investigations. Counter-terrorism is also a broader discipline as  it involves tactical elements like hostage rescue, crime scene  investigations, and explosive specialists. Counter-Terrorism is a  collaborative effort with counter-terrorism officers working closely  with local and regional police forces and civic organizations. There is  also a wider academic field around countering violent, and radical  ideology which promotes terrorism and insurgencies. Cybersecurity has  become the third major discipline in intelligence. The London Center of  International Law Practice, the mysterious intelligence company that _employed both Papadopoulos and Mifsud,_ had also been working in that area."Continuing, Blackburn pinpointed the significance of defining  counter-terrorism as the starting point of the investigation, saying:  "It shows that there is a high probability that intelligence was  deliberately abused to make Papadopoulos' activities look like they were  something else. As counter-terrorism and counterintelligence are close  in tactics and methods, it would seem that they were used because they  share the same skill sets - covert evidence gathering and deception.  It's basically sleight of hand. A piece of theatre would be more  precise. However, we don't know if the FBI knew it was real or  make-believe. It's more likely that the CIA played the FBI with the help  of close allies who were suspicious and frightened of a Trump  presidency."
*Mueller's Team And Joseph Mifsud* Zainab Ahmad, a member of Mueller's legal team, is the former Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. As pointed out by Blackburn, Ahmad attended a Global Center on Cooperative Security event in 2017. In recent days, Blackburn wrote via Twitter:
 *"Zainab Ahmad is a major player in the Russiagate scandal at the DOJ. Does she work for SC Mueller?* She was at a GCCS event in May 2017. Arvinder Sambei, a co-director of the [London Centre of International Law Practice], *worked with Joseph Mifsud, [George Papadopoulos] and [Simona Mangiante]. She's a GCCS consultant."*Blackburn told this author:
 *"Zainab Ahmad was one of the first DOJ prosecutors to have seen the Steele dossier.*  In May 2017, she attended a counter-terrorism conference in New York  with the Global Center on Cooperative Security (GCCS), an organization  which Joseph Mifsud, the alleged Russian spy, had been working within  London and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia."




 

"Richard Barrett, the Former Chief of Counter-Terrorism at MI6,  Britain's foreign intelligence department traveled with Mifsud to Saudi  Arabia to give a talk on terrorism in 2017. Ex-CIA officers, US Defense,  and US Treasury officials were also there. The London Centre of  International Law Practice's relationship to the Global Center had been  established in 2014. The Global Center on Cooperative Security made  Martin Polaine and Arvinder Sambei consultants, they then became  directors at the London Centre of International Law Practice."

  "The Global Center on Cooperative Security's first major UK  conference was at Joseph Mifsud's London Academy of Diplomacy (LAD).  Mifsud then followed Arvinder Sambei and Nagi Idris over to the London  Centre of International Law Practice. Sources have told me that Mifsud  was moonlighting as a specialist on counter-terrorism and Islamism while  working at LAD which explains why he went to work in counter-terrorism  after LAD folded."
*"I don't think it's a coincidence that Global Center on  Cooperative Security is connected to various elements that popped up in  the Papadopoulos case. The fact that a prosecutor on Mueller's team was  at Global Center before Mueller was appointed as special counsel is also  troubling."*Days ago, The Hill reported  on Congressional testimony by Bruce Ohr, revealing that when served as a  DOJ official, he warned FBI and DOJ figures that the Steele dossier was  problematic and linked to the Clintons. Critically, The Hill writes:
 "Those he briefed included Andrew Weissmann, then the head of DOJ’s  fraud section; Bruce Swartz, longtime head of DOJ’s international  operations, and *Zainab Ahmad*, an accomplished terrorism  prosecutor who, at the time, was assigned to work with Lynch as a  senior counselor. Ahmad and Weissmann would go on to work for Mueller,  the special prosecutor overseeing the Russia probe." [Emphasis Added]*This point is essential, as it not only describes Ahmad's  role in Mueller's team but places her at a crucial pre-investigation  meeting.*
  Last year, Blackburn noted the connection between Mifsud and Arvinder Sambei,  writing: "LCILP director and FBI counsel, works with Mike Smith at the  Global Center. They ran joint counter-terrorism conferences and training  with Mifsud's London Academy. Sambei then brought Mifsud over to the  [London Centre of International Law Practice]. [Global Center works with  Aussies, UK and US State too."
  Sambei has been described elsewhere  as a "Former practising barrister, Senior Crown Prosecutor with the  Crown Prosecution Service of England & Wales, and Legal Adviser at  the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), Ministry of Defence." [British  spelling has been retained]



*That Sambei has been so thoroughly linked to organizations  where Mifsud was a central figure is yet another cause of suspicion  regarding allegations that Joseph Mifsud was a shadowy, unknown Russian  agent until the summer of 2016*. She is also a direct link between Robert Mueller and Mifsud.
  Blackburn wrote via Twitter: "Arvinder Sambei helped to organize LCILP's counter-terrorism and corruption events. *She used her contacts in the US to bring in Middle Eastern government officials that were seen to be vulnerable to graft.*  Lisa Osofsky, former FBI Deputy General Counsel, was working with her."  Below, Arvinder is pictured at a London Centre of International Law  Practice (LCILP) event.



As Chris Blackburn told this author:
 "*Mifsud and Papadopoulos's co-director Arvinder Sambei was  also the former FBI British counsel working 9/11 cases for Robert  Mueller.* She also runs a consultancy which deals with Special  Investigative Measure (SIMs) which is just a posh description for covert  espionage and evidence gathering. She has worked for major intelligence  and national law agencies in the past. She wore two hats as a director  of London Centre and a consultant for the Global Center on Cooperative  Security (GCCS), a counter-terrorism think tank which is sponsored by  the Australia, Canada, UK and US governments. Alexander Downer's former  Chief of Staff while at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and  Trade now works for the Global Center. Mifsud was also due to meet with  Australian private intelligence figures in Adelaide in March 2016. So.  Australia is certainly a major focus for the investigation." [Emphasis  Added]Below, former FBI Deputy General Counsel Lisa Osofsky is pictured at a London Centre for International Law Practice event. Osofsky also served as the Money Laundering Reporting Officer with Goldman Sachs International. Since 2018, she has served as the Director of the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO).



*An Embarrassment For John Brennan?* Disobedient Media previously  reported that Robert Hannigan, then head of British spy agency GCHQ,  flew to Washington DC to share ‘director-to-director’ level intelligence  with then-CIA Chief John Brennan in the summer of 2016. This writer  noted that "The Guardian reported  Hannigan's announcement that he would step down from his leadership  position with the agency just three days after the inauguration of  President Trump, on 23 January 2017. Jane Mayer, in her profile of  Christopher Steele published in the New Yorker, also  noted that Hannigan had flown to Washington D.C. to personally brief  the then-CIA Director John Brennan on alleged communications between the  Trump campaign and Moscow. What is so curious about this briefing “deemed so sensitive it was handled at director-level” is  why Hannigan was talking director-to-director to the CIA and not Mike  Rogers at the NSA, GCHQ’s Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partner."
  Blackburn told Disobedient Media:
 *"Former Congressman Trey Gowdy, who has seen most of the  information gathered by Congress from the intelligence community  concerning the Russia investigation, said that if President Trump were  to declassify files and present the truth to the American public, it  would "embarrass John Brennan."*  I think that is pretty concrete for me, but it's not definitive. I know  the polarization and spin in Washington has become perverse, but that  statement is pretty specific for me. If Brennan is involved, it is most  probably through Papadopoulos who sparked off the 'official'  investigation at the FBI. He also made sure the Steele dossier was  spread through the US government."Blackburn added: "Chris Steele was also working on FIFA projects, and  a source has told me that he was working to investigate the Russian and  Qatari World Cup bids. The London Centre of International Law Practice  has been working with Majed Garoub, the former Saudi legal  representative of FIFA, the world governing body for soccer. He's also  been working against the Qatari bid. Steele likes to get paid twice for  his investigations."
 *"Mifsud has also been associated with Prince Turki the former  Saudi intelligence chief, Mifsud and the London Academy of Diplomacy  used to train Saudi diplomats and intelligence figures while Turki was  the Saudi Ambassador to London.* Turki is a close friend of Bill  Clinton and John Brennan. Nawaf Obaid was also courting Mifsud and  tried to get him a cushy job working with CNN's Freedom Project at Link  Campus in Rome. He also knows John Brennan. Intelligence agencies like  to give out professional gifts like this plum academic position for  completing missions. In the US, it is widely known that intelligence  agencies gift the children of assets to get them into prestigious Ivy  League schools."At minimum, we can surmise that Mifsud was not a Russian agent, but  was an asset of Western intelligence agencies. We are left with the  impression that the Mifsud saga served as a ploy, whether he  participated knowingly or not.* It seems reasonable to conclude that the gambit was initially developed with participation of John Brennan and UK intelligence.* Following this, Mueller inherited and developed the Mifsud narrative thread into the collusion soap opera we know today.

_Ultimately, we are faced with the reality that British  and US interests worked together to fabricate a collusion scandal to  subvert a US Presidency, and in doing so, intentionally raised tensions  between the West and a nuclear-armed power._


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...suds-network-0

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## AZJoe

Trump quotes Judge Andrew Napolitano on FBI corruption -

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## TER

thank you for keeping us informed of what is going on with this topic.  Sure as heck the mainstream media doesn’t want to talk about it.

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## Swordsmyth

A member of the Ukrainian parliament accused in his home country of  interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was identified in  congressional testimony in October as a source for opposition research  firm Fusion GPS.

Nellie Ohr, a former contractor for the Washington, D.C.-based Fusion  GPS, testified on Oct. 19 that Serhiy Leshchenko, a former  investigative journalist turned Ukrainian lawmaker, was a source for  Fusion GPS during the 2016 campaign.
“I  recall … they were mentioning someone named Serhiy Leshchenko, a  Ukrainian,” Ohr said when asked who Fusion GPS’s sources were, according  to portions of Ohr’s testimony confirmed by The Daily Caller News  Foundation.
Ohr, whose husband is Justice Department official Bruce Ohr,  testified that she was not aware of Leshchenko’s source information,  but that she knew he was providing information to Fusion GPS, where she  worked between late 2015 and the 2016 election.


“His source information I am not aware of,” Nellie Ohr testified.
“You were just aware that he was a source of –” one lawmaker began to ask.
 
“Yes,” Nellie Ohr interjected.
“ Glenn Simpson? Or was it a source of or both?” the lawmaker asked.
“I’m  not aware of a difference between them, just a source of Fusion GPS,”  said Nellie Ohr, a Russia linguist who previously worked for the CIA’s  open source research unit, Open Source Works.
Nellie Ohr did not  describe the Leshchenko-Fusion GPS source relationship in greater  detail, so it is not clear whether the Ukrainian lawmaker was paid, how  he transmitted information to Fusion or who at the firm he maintained  contact with.
Nellie Ohr did not testify whether she handled  information from Leshchenko or if she provided it to her husband, who  served as associate deputy attorney general and director of the Justice  Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Fusion  GPS did not reply to a list of detailed questions about Leshchenko. One  of the firm’s co-founders, Tom Catan, replied “Strictly FYI” in an  email, copying others at Fusion GPS. He did not answer follow-up  questions.

More at: https://truepundit.com/nellie-ohr-uk...on-gps-source/

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## Swordsmyth

Trisha Anderson, the principal deputy general counsel for the FBI and  head of the bureau’s National Security and Cyber Law Branch, signed off  on an application for a warrant to spy on former Trump campaign adviser  Carter Page—before the application went to FBI Director James  Comey—despite not having read it, she said.
 Anderson, whose division was also assigned the Mid-Year Exam—the  FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server—was  responsible for legal oversight of the FBI’s Foreign Intelligence  Surveillance Act (FISA) applications process, and provided a final  sign-off before FISA applications were sent to the FBI director level.  Anderson, who supervised the FBI attorneys involved in FISA  applications, characterized her role as being “involved at a supervisory  level within the legal chain of command.”
 Although she did not voluntarily reveal the information, she admitted  during questioning that she was the individual responsible at the  senior executive service (SES) level for signing off on the original  Carter Page FISA application:
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “You had mentioned  earlier that all FISAs have to be signed off, have an approver at an SES  level. In OGC? Or is that anywhere inside the FBI?”
*Ms. Anderson:* “In NSLB, in my particular branch.”
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “In NSLB?”
*Ms. Anderson:* “Yeah. Uh-huh.”
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “Okay. Who was that SES approver for the Carter Page FISA?”
*Ms. Anderson:* “My best recollection is that I was for the initiation.”In  her Aug. 31, 2018, testimony, a transcript of which was reviewed for  this article, Anderson described her role in the FISA process as “a  backstop” whereby she would serve as “a last check in the process to  ensure that all necessary elements of the FISA package were present and  that it met the basic requirements of probable cause.”
 However, there appears to be significant latitude in the “backstop”  review process. According to Anderson, the Department of Justice (DOJ)  attached a “cover note” that identified potential issues, if any, for  her to review with every FISA application. If no issues were identified  by the DOJ, then according to Anderson, there would be no need for her  to read the FISA application:
*Ms. Anderson:* “[So] there typically  would be a cover note that would summarize the FISA. That cover note is  generated by DOJ. And because of the time pressures involved and the  sort of very-last-stop-in-the-process nature of the review, the SES  review, that’s done, I wouldn’t read a FISA unless there were some sort  of issue that was identified based on the cover note.”
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “You are, though, reviewing for the sufficiency of probable cause –”
*Ms. Anderson:* “After many people have reviewed that  assessment. And so, as I mentioned, this was essentially a backstop to  all of the other processes and the rigor that had been applied by DOJ  attorneys and by FBI investigative and legal personnel.”Despite the FISA application’s politicized nature and obvious  sensitivity, it appears that no issues were identified in relation to  it, as Anderson testified that she had not read the application, only  the DOJ cover note:
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “Does that mean you read the FISA –”
*Ms. Anderson:* “No.”
 …
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “Okay. So you did not read the  FISA, but you would’ve been familiar then with at least part of the FISA  with regard to the legal predication for probable cause in the FISA in  order to be able to sign it?”
*Ms. Anderson:* “I would be familiar based on the cover note, yes.”
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “On the cover note. Okay. So –”
*Ms. Anderson:* “In the case of the Carter Page FISA, I was generally familiar with the facts of the application –”
*Mr. Breitenbach:* “Okay.”
*Ms. Anderson:* “– before I signed that cover note.”Anderson claimed that in the case of the Page FISA, her approval was  “more administrative in nature” because “all necessary approvals,  including up through and including the leadership of the FBI and the  leadership of the Department” had been obtained by the time the Page  FISA came to her desk for sign-off.


Anderson admitted that the Page FISA process was handled outside of  normal procedures, receiving early approvals from leadership officials  at both the FBI and DOJ—including Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and  Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates—prior to the document reaching her  desk:
*Ms. Anderson:* “In this particular case,  I’m drawing a distinction because my boss and my boss’ boss had already  reviewed and approved this application. And, in fact, the Deputy  Attorney General, who had the authority to sign the application, to be  the substantive approver on the FISA application itself, had approved  the application. And that typically would not have been the case before I  did that.  Before, I would usually sign the cover note on the FISA  application.
 “So this one was handled a little bit differently in that sense, in  that it received very high-level review and approvals — informal, oral  approvals — before it ever came to me for signature. And so, in this  particular case, I wouldn’t view it as my role to second-guess that  substantive approval that had already been given by the Deputy Director  and by the Deputy Attorney General in this particular instance.”Normally, the applications would be presented to Anderson for  sign-off and then sent to the FBI director, before being sent to the DOJ  for final approval by either the attorney general, deputy attorney  general, or assistant attorney general for the National Security  Division.
 When asked to describe the attention the FISA application received  from FBI and DOJ leadership, Anderson testified that the “Deputy  Director was involved in reviewing the FISA line by line. The Deputy  Attorney General over on the DOJ side of the street was similarly  involved, as I understood, reviewing the FISA application line by line.”
 Anderson  later appeared to soften her characterization of McCabe’s level of  review, noting that “[t]he Deputy Director read it, as I understood.”
 Notably, during McCabe’s testimony before the House Judiciary and  Oversight committees, with Anderson acting as his FBI attorney, McCabe’s  review of the Page FISA was not addressed at any time.
 In particular, Anderson singled out the involvement of her former  boss, FBI General Counsel James Baker, in the Page FISA review process.  Anderson described Baker as “one of the Nation’s leading experts on  FISA…one of the best people you could possibly consult about what was  contained within the FISA application.”
 Anderson, while defending her handling of the Page FISA signing,  claimed that Baker had “personally reviewed and made edits to the FISA.”
 However,  according to Baker’s Oct. 3, 2018, testimony, he had only read a small  portion of the Page FISA and specifically did not review the underlying  Woods Procedure file, which provided documentation for the accuracy of  facts represented in the FISA application:
*Rep. Meadows:* “And did you read the whole Carter Page FISA application?”
*James Baker:* “I — my recollection is that I read the factual part of the initiation of the Carter Page FISA. I am not going to say I read –“Baker clarified that by “factual part” he meant that he had only read  the probable cause section of the Page FISA. He also testified that he  had asked Anderson to personally notify him when the Page FISA began  “moving through the system.” Baker noted that he did not believe he  reviewed the final document, stating “the final would not necessarily  have to come to me for approval.”
 Contrary to Anderson’s claim, Baker said that he was primarily  relying on briefings from his staff, which presumably would have  included Anderson in her role as head of the National Security and  Cyberlaw Branch—the specific legal division within the FBI that was  responsible for the Page FISA:
 “[W]hatever briefing I received from my folks about what was in the  application, my assessment was that the information that we were  providing was adequate and consistent, it was adequate to put the FISA  court on notice of the important information that it needed to know, and  we were doing so in way that was consistent with our practice with the  FISA court that I have been involved with for 20 years.”
 During  his testimony, Baker admitted that disclosures regarding the role of  DOJ official Bruce Ohr and his wife, Nellie, had been unknown to him at  the time of the Page FISA application. Ohr was passing on information  from Steele, and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, to the FBI.
 Baker also testified that this information, had he known of it at the  time, would have been subject to further consideration for inclusion in  the FISA application:
*Rep. Ratcliffe:* “But you agree with me,  generally speaking, that if the number four person at the Department of  Justice and his wife both play roles with respect to the creation of a  piece of evidence, that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court  should have been apprised of that fact.”
*James Baker:* “If they played a role in the creation  of it, and that’s how it came to the Bureau, then that seems like  something that at least — again, I would like to know more details about  it, but it seems like something that should have been evaluated about  whether it should go into the FISA application or not. I would have —  what you say concerns me and I would like to know more about it.”


More at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/senior...t_2793879.html

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...67361713704960

----------


## kona

What an insane interview. McCabe went kamikaze on Trump and Rosenstein...100% kamikaze. He did not look good at all.

My favorite part:

60M: "What was it specifically that caused you to launch the counterintelligence investigation?"

McCabe: "It's many of those same concerns, that cause us to be concerned about a national security threat. And the idea is, if the President committed obstruction of justice, fired the director of the FBI, to negatively impact or shut down our investigation of Russia's maligned activity, and possibly in support of his campaign, as a counterintelligence investigator, you have to ask yourself, why would a President of the United States do that?"

That's a great one for Seneca, Socrates, and Plato to ponder. Why would an innocent man ever maintain their innocence?

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...88256848007173

----------


## Swordsmyth

Feinstein and Soros tied to dark money group which dumped $2 million into the dossier

----------


## Swordsmyth

Democrat Chairman of House  Oversight committee said Cohen will get a pass for lying to the  committee – no referral to DOJ will go out

----------


## Swordsmyth

Nellie Ohr’s testimony confirms she worked for CIA

----------


## Swordsmyth

President Donald Trump’s campaign was *never given a defensive briefing by the FBI, despite mounting concerns* that Russians were allegedly trying to penetrate the campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

  In testimony provided by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, along with others, it is the key finding that won’t bode well for the FBI and DOJ. *It also raises significant questions regarding the treatment of Hillary Clinton’s campaign* and  whether she ever received ‘defensive briefings’ in detail from the  bureau. Lynch’s testimony is still not public but has been reviewed by  SaraACarter.com.
  The defensive briefing, after all, is a procedure that is often given  to presidential candidates, elected officials and even U.S. businesses  that have either been unwittingly approached by foreign actors attempting to gain trust and befriend those in position of influence.
  The briefing allows the government to protect the candidates,  specifically if there is substantial information or knowledge to suggest  that someone has targeted an unwitting American for information.*  If the FBI or intelligence agencies suspect foreign adversaries may be  trying to penetrate a presidential campaign, as those FBI and DOJ  sources suggested in testimony to lawmakers, it would then be required  to warn those affected*, a senior former intelligence official told SaraACarter.com.
  Why? Because foreign adversaries like China and Russia for example,  and even allies, will attempt to glean information – or favor – from  unwitting persons with access to senior level officials. The access can  assist those nation’s own national interest or provide access for  intelligence collection.
*In the case of Trump, the FBI gave only a general  counterintelligence briefing but did not provide information to the  campaign that the FBI believed there were specific counterintelligence  threats.* For example, the FBI’s concern over campaign advisors  George Papadopolous, Carter Page and then concerns over former national  security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
 “It is an essential task of the FBI and the intelligence community to  give a defensive briefing to a presidential candidate when a foreign  adversary is attempting to penetrate or make contact with someone in the  campaign,” said a former senior intelligence official.
*“If the FBI and DOJ were so concerned about Carter Page and  (George) Papadopolous why didn’t they brief Trump when he became a  candidate? The fact that they didn’t is very revealing. If they gave  defensive briefing to the Clinton campaign then I think we have the  answer.”*Bruce Ohr’s 268-page  testimony, released last week by Georgia Rep. Doug Collins reveals the  machinations of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and the  players involved. Ohr’s testimony coupled with testimony provided by  former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, which has not been released  but reviewed by this reporter, along with former FBI General Counsel  James Baker’s testimony reveals a startling fact: everyone appeared to  say they were concerned the Russian’s were penetrating the Trump  campaign but no one at the DOJ or FBI authorized a defensive briefing.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...nsive-briefing

----------


## Swordsmyth

Q                           
!!mG7VJxZNCI
ID: b35117 
No.5681490 
 
Mar 14 2019 14:02:17 (EST)

 https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/40...before-mueller
Remember this important FACT.
IF THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF RUSSIA COLLUSION, WHAT GROUNDS DID DAG *[ROD ROSENSTEIN]* HAVE TO APPOINT *[MUELLER]*?
*[RR]* OFFERED TO WEAR A WIRE TO ENTRAP THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN ATTEMPT TO INVOKE THE 25TH AMENDMENT?
Q

----------


## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/RepDougCollins/s...81620711739394

----------


## Swordsmyth

> When did lying become a sport?


Amateur or professional?

----------


## timosman

> Amateur or professional?


Let's not split hairs.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Let's not split hairs.


Amateur lying has been a sport since people could talk, professional lying started at the same time as politics.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Hillary, again, gets away and off free. While Mike Flynn was  investigated for similar matters and ended up pleading out in federal  court.
Welcome to The Swamp.
Again.
A newly unearthed batch of heavily redacted, classified emails from Hillary Clinton’s personal  email server revealed that the former secretary of state discussed  establishing a “private, 100% off-the-record” back channel to Israeli  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that one of her top aides warned  her that she was in “danger” of being “savaged by Jewish organizations,  in the Jewish press and among the phalanx of neoconservative media” as a  result of political machinations by “Bibi and the Jewish leadership.”
The  files came from a trove of 72,000 documents the FBI recovered from  Hillary Clinton and turned over to the State Department in 2017. The FBI  sat on the emails for over a year and during the time frame Flynn was  being investigated, DOJ officials told True Pundit.


Additionally, according to the email dump, Clinton chatted with  former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair about foreign policy before she  was sworn in, aided the application of at least one State Department  applicant who was connected to her daughter, Chelsea, and apparently met  with Putin-aligned Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili before he  became prime minister on a staunchly pro-Russian platform — and with reported help from a Russian interference operation.  Ivanishvili pointedly did not criticize Putin during his campaign,  despite Putin’s invasion of Georgia years earlier — and in 2012,  Ivanishvili made headlines for refusing to meet with Clinton unless it was a one-on-one sitdown.
Democrats  have long criticized former Trump National Security Adviser Michael  Flynn for speaking with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before  Trump had been inaugurated, saying the contacts may have violated an  obscure 1799 law called the Logan Act, which ostensibly bars private  citizens from negotiating with foreign powers on behalf of the U.S.  without authorization. The provision has never been invoked in a  prosecution, and historians have suggested the law made more sense in an  era without the instant communications technology that would enable a  foreign power to recognize whether U.S. representatives are formally  affiliated with the U.S. government.
 
Yet Hillary did the same thing and faced no federal charges.
READ MORE

https://truepundit.com/new-classifie...milar-offense/

----------


## timosman

https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/s...26379586838529

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/RepDougCollins/s...56323008708608

----------


## Swordsmyth

Horowitz’s FISA abuse investigation may be finished by May or June

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/stat...44947038330880

----------


## timosman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWsvZuiPyTI




> Apr 22, 2019
> 
> Trey Guowdy and Ratcliffe were the only Republicans to see the the evidence behind the FISA warrants to spy on Trump campaign operatives.  Ratcliffe told former Rep. Jason Chaffetz that Comey, Sally Yates, McCabe and Rod Rosenstein all posted in big bold letters "verified application" all in capitals.  So Comey and Yates and everyone who signed the FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign all verified what was in the warrant... And they all knew it was created by a Trump hater and paid for by Hillary Clinton.

----------


## Swordsmyth

“Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United  Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016  Trump Presidential Campaign.” @OANN WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!
 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2019

----------


## ATruepatriot

> Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United  Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016  Trump Presidential Campaign. @OANN WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!
>   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2019


Wow... Did Trump just endorse OANN? 

GOODBYE FOX!

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Wow... Did Trump just endorse OANN? 
> 
> GOODBYE FOX!


Maybe Tucker can move to OANN.

----------


## timosman

> “Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United  Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016  Trump Presidential Campaign.” @OANN WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!
>  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2019


Post #774

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Post #774


LOL

----------


## ATruepatriot

> Maybe Tucker can move to OANN.


If they don't jump on this opportunity with some quick marketing no matter what it costs they would be fools. This is their window of opportunity to blow FOX out of the water. FOX has gone left and folks are looking for more reliability and less wishy washy.

----------


## Swordsmyth

As Donald Trump  began his meteoric rise to the presidency, the Obama White House  summoned Ukrainian authorities to Washington to coordinate ongoing  anti-corruption efforts inside Russia’s most critical neighbor.
The  January 2016 gathering, confirmed by multiple participants and  contemporaneous memos, brought some of Ukraine’s top corruption  prosecutors and investigators face to face with members of former  President Obama’s National Security Council (NSC), the FBI, State  Department and Department of Justice (DOJ).


The agenda suggested the purpose was training and coordination. But  Ukrainian participants said it didn’t take long — during the meetings  and afterward — to realize the Americans’ objectives included two  politically hot investigations: one that touched Vice President Joe Biden’s family and one that involved a lobbying firm linked closely to then-candidate Trump.
U.S.  officials “kept talking about how important it was that all of our  anti-corruption efforts be united,” said Andrii Telizhenko, then a  political officer in the Ukraine embassy in Washington tasked with  organizing the meeting. 
Telizhenko, who no longer works for the  Ukraine embassy, said U.S. officials volunteered during the meetings —  one of which was held in the White House’s Old Executive Office Building  — that they had an interest in reviving a closed investigation into  payments to U.S. figures from Ukraine’s Russia-backed Party of Regions.
That 2014 investigation was led by the FBI and focused heavily on GOP lobbyist Paul Manafort, whose firm long had been tied to Trump through his partner and Trump pal, Roger Stone.
Agents  interviewed Manafort in 2014 about whether he received undeclared  payments from the party of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych,  an ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and whether he engaged in improper foreign lobbying.
The FBI shut down the case without charging Manafort.
Telizhenko  said he couldn’t remember whether Manafort was mentioned during the  January 2016 meeting. But he and other attendees recalled DOJ officials  asking investigators from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) if they could help locate new evidence about the Party of Regions’ payments and its dealings with Americans.
“It  was definitely the case that led to the charges against Manafort and  the leak to U.S. media during the 2016 election,” he said.


That makes the January 2016 meeting one of the earliest documented  efforts to build the now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion narrative and  one of the first to involve the Obama administration’s intervention.
Spokespeople  for the NSC, DOJ and FBI declined to comment. A representative for  former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice did not return emails  seeking comment.
Nazar Kholodnytskyy, Ukraine’s chief  anti-corruption prosecutor, told me he attended some but not all of the  January 2016 Washington meetings and couldn’t remember the specific  cases, if any, that were discussed.
But he said he soon saw evidence in Ukraine of political meddling in the U.S. election.  Kholodnytskyy said the key evidence against Manafort — a ledger showing  payments from the Party of Regions — was known to Ukrainian authorities  since 2014 but was suddenly released in May 2016 by the U.S.-friendly  NABU, after Manafort was named Trump’s campaign chairman: “Somebody kept  this black ledger secret for two years and then showed it to the public  and the U.S. media. It was extremely suspicious.”
Kholodnytskyy  said he explicitly instructed NABU investigators who were working with  American authorities not to share the ledger with the media. “Look,  Manafort’s case is one of the cases that hurt me a lot,” he said.
“I  ordered the detectives to give nothing to the mass media considering  this case. Instead, they had broken my order and published themselves  these one or two pages of this black ledger regarding Paul Manafort.
“For  me it was the first call that something was going wrong and that there  is some external influence in this case. And there is some other  interests in this case not in the interest of the investigation and a  fair trial,” he added.
Kostiantyn Kulyk, deputy head of the  Ukraine prosecutor general’s international affairs office, said that,  shortly after Ukrainian authorities returned from the Washington  meeting, there was a clear message about helping the Americans with the  Party of the Regions case.
“Yes, there was a lot of talking about needing help and then the ledger just appeared in public,” he recalled.
Kulyk said Ukrainian authorities had evidence that other Western figures,  such as former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig, also received  money from Yanukovych’s party. But the Americans weren’t interested:  “They just discussed Manafort. This was all and only what they wanted.  Nobody else.”
Manafort joined Trump’s campaign on March 29, 2016, and then was promoted to campaign chairman on May 19, 2016.  
NABU  leaked the existence of the ledgers on May 29, 2016. Later that summer,  it told U.S. media the ledgers showed payments to Manafort, a  revelation that forced him to resign from the campaign in August 2016.
A Ukrainian court in December concluded  NABU’s release of the ledger was an illegal attempt to influence the  U.S. election. And a member of Ukraine’s parliament has released a  recording of a NABU official saying the agency released the ledger to  help Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
The other case raised at the January 2016 meeting, he said, involved Burisma Holdings,  a Ukrainian energy company under investigation in Ukraine for improper  foreign transfers of money. At the time, Burisma allegedly was paying  then-Vice President Joe Biden’s  son, Hunter, as both a board member and a consultant. More than $3  million flowed from Ukraine to an American firm tied to Hunter Biden in  2014-15, bank records show.
Telizhenko  said U.S. officials told the Ukrainians they would prefer that Kiev  drop the Burisma probe and allow the FBI to take it over. The Ukrainians  did not agree. But then Joe Biden pressured Ukrainian President Petro  Poroshenko to fire Ukraine’s chief prosecutor in March 2016, as I previously reported. The Burisma case was transferred to NABU, then shut down.

Telizhenko’s claim that the DOJ reopened its Manafort probe as the  2016 election ramped up is supported by the DOJ’s own documents,  including communications involving Associate Attorney General Bruce Ohr,  his wife, Nellie, and ex-British spy Christopher Steele.
Nellie  Ohr and Steele worked in 2016 for the research firm, Fusion GPS, that  was hired by Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee  (DNC) to find Russia dirt on Trump. Steele wrote the famous dossier for  Fusion that the FBI used to gain a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign.  Nellie Ohr admitted to Congress that she routed Russia dirt on Trump  from Fusion to the DOJ through her husband during the election.
DOJ  emails show Nellie Ohr on May 30, 2016, directly alerted her husband  and two DOJ prosecutors specializing in international crimes to the  discovery of the “black ledger” documents that led to Manafort’s  prosecution.
“Reported Trove of documents on Ukrainian Party of Regions’ Black Cashbox,” Nellie Ohr wrote to her husband and federal prosecutors Lisa Holtyn and Joseph Wheatley, attaching a news article on the announcement of NABU’s release of the documents.
Bruce  Ohr and Steele worked on their own effort to get dirt on Manafort from a  Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, who had a soured business  relationship with him. Deripaska was “almost ready to talk” to U.S.  government officials regarding the money that “Manafort stole,” Bruce  Ohr wrote in notes from his conversations with Steele.
The efforts eventually led to a September 2016 meeting in which the FBI asked Deripaska if he could help prove Manafort was helping Trump collude with Russia. Deripaska laughed off the notion as preposterous.
Previously, Politico reported  that the Ukraine Embassy in Washington assisted Clinton’s campaign  through a DNC contractor. The Ukraine Embassy acknowledges it got  requests for assistance from the DNC staffer to find dirt on Manafort  but denies it provided any improper assistance.
Now we have more  concrete evidence that the larger Ukrainian government also was being  pressed by the Obama administration to help build the Russia collusion  narrative. And that onion is only beginning to be peeled.
But what  is already confirmed by Ukrainians looks a lot more like assertive  collusion with a foreign power than anything detailed in the Mueller report.

More at: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-ho...ssia-collusion

----------


## Swordsmyth

Senior Republican chairmen submitted a letter Thursday to Department  of Justice Attorney General William Barr revealing new texts from former  FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok to his paramour FBI Attorney Lisa Page  showing the pair had discussed attempts to recruit sources within the  White House to allegedly spy on the Trump administration.
  Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and Senate  Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson revealed the  information in a three page letter. The texts had been obtained by  SaraACarter.com Tuesday and information regarding the possible attempt  to recruit White House sources had been divulged by several sources to  this news site last week.

*The texts and sources reveal that Strzok had one significant  contact within the White House – Vice President Mike Pence’s Chief of  Staff Joshua Pitcock, whose wife was working as an analyst for Strzok on  the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server.*  A senior White House official told this news site that Pitcock’s wife  recused herself from the Clinton investigation as soon as Pence and  Trump became the Republican nominees in July 2016. A senior law  enforcement official also told SaraACarter.com that Pitcock’s wife no  longer worked under Strzok after she recused herself from the Clinton  investigation.
  However, the text messages uncovered from November, 2016 and have  left questions lingering about the relationship between Strzok, Pitcock  and his wife among congressional investigators and lawmakers.
 “The course of our oversight work we have reviewed certain text  messages that may show potential attempts by the FBI to conduct  surveillance of President-elect Trump’s transition team,” the letter  states. “In text messages exchanged between former FBI Special Agent  Peter Strzok and former FBI Attorney Lisa Page, the two discussed the  possibility of developing “potential relationships” at a November 2016  FBI briefing for presidential transition team staff. Specifically, it  appears they discussed sending “the CI guy” to assess an unnamed person  ‘demeanor’ but were concerned because it might be unusual for him to  attend.”The Senators are investigating if any “of these communications, and  the precise purpose of any attempts to ‘develop relationships’ with  Trump or VP Mike Pence transition team staff are not immediately clear.”
 *“Were these efforts done to gain better communication between  the respective parties, or were the briefings used as intelligence  gathering operations?* Further, did any such surveillance  activities continue beyond the inauguration, and in the event they did,  were those activities subject to proper predication,” the letter states.
*“Any improper FBI surveillance activities that were conducted  before or after the 2016 election must be brought to light and properly  addressed.”**The Texts* _A few weeks after the presidential election, Mr. Strzok and Ms.  Page discussed the logistics for the briefing. Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page  said the following:_
 *Strzok:* Talking with Bill. Do we want Joe to go with Evanina instead of Charli for a variety of reasons?
  (Strzok is referring to former FBI Assistant Director of  Counterintelligence division Bill Priestap. ‘Joe is referencing FBI  Special Agent Joe Pientka, who interviewed former National Security  Advisor Michael Flynn in January, 2017. And Evanina is in reference to  William Evanina, National Counterintelligence and Security Center.)
*Page:* Hmm. Not sure. Would it be unusual to have [sic] show up again? Maybe another agent from the team?
*Strzok:* Or, he’s “the CI guy.” Same.might [sic] make  sense. He can assess if there [sic] are any news [sic] Qs, or different  demeanor. If Katie’s husband is there, he can see if there are people  we can develop for potential relationships
*Page:* Should I ask Andy about it? Or Bill (Priestap)  want to reach out for Andy (McCabe)?Strzok: I told him I’m sure we  could ask you to make the swap if we thought it.*FBI Seeks Sources In White House*  There was one major connection in the White House. *According  to documents, White House sources and the FBI one of FBI’s top  counterintelligence analysts who was personally working for former FBI  Special Agent Strzok had a spouse working directly for Vice President  Mike Pence.*
  The White House and the FBI told this news site that she had recused  herself from the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private  server and working for Strzok as soon as Pence and Trump announced they  were the candidates for the party.
  The FBI asked that her name be kept private as not to reveal her  identity. Her identity, however is revealed in the texts below. But this  news site is withholding her last name for security reasons.
*An FBI Intelligence analyst named Katherine, is married to  Joshua Pitcock. Katherine’s name is different from her husbands. Pitcock  worked for Pence as his Chief of Staff from January, 2017 until he  resigned in August, 2017.*
  Prior to accepting his then new role at the White House, he had  served as a senior Trump campaign official and long time aide to Pence.
  Katherine had been detailed to Strzok and according to sources was  one of the top analysts in the investigation into Hillary Clinton,  according to federal law enforcement sources and U.S. officials.
  Strzok was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team in 2017  and then fired from the FBI in August, 2018. He was fired after an  extensive review by Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s office into the  FBI’s handling of the Clinton investigation and was removed from  Mueller’s team after the IG discovered his anti-Trump text messages to  his paramour former FBI Attorney Lisa Page.
  A senior White House official told SaraACarter.com that it is “our  understanding that as soon as the President and Vice President accepted  the nomination, she recused herself for the entire time after they were  officially the nominees from anything that would have spill over to the  White House.”
*FBI officials could not immediately respond for comment.*  Trump announced Pence as his pick on July 15, 2016. They officially  became nominees on July 21, 2016 at the Republican convention. This  means, Katherine was working on the Russia investigation with Strzok  prior to that time frame. Strzok’s direct involvement and actions during  the investigation will more than likely lead to criminal charges, a  source with knowledge told SaraACarter.com.
  A former senior intelligence official who spoke to this news-site  said “my concern about this is the potential for information to flow  from her to her husband to spin any information that the Vice President  may or may not have heard during that time frame.” The former  intelligence source said the connection raises questions regarding  information that may have moved from the FBI into the vice president’s  orbit “regarding former (National Security Advisor Michael Flynn),” they  added.
  The senior White House official responded saying, “she was recused  from that investigation before he was ever sworn into office. That  didn’t happen.”
  However, *“the texts leave many questions unanswered and appear to show that Strzok was in communication with Pitcock on some level,”* the intelligence official added.
  During the time Pitcock served as chief of staff, Flynn became the  highest profile target of the now debunked investigation into the  campaign.
  In the letter Grassley and Johnson refer to Barr’s testimony “during  your April 10, 2019, testimony before a Senate Appropriations  Subcommittee, you stated that you are looking into the ‘genesis and  conduct of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign during  2016.’ You further stated that ‘spying did occur,’ and that you believe  it is your obligation to look into the question of whether surveillance  activities by the Federal Bureau of lnvestigation (FBI) or other  intelligence agencies were adequately predicated.”
_“We share your concerns about these activities, and are  troubled by the apparent unauthorized disclosures of surveillance  efforts and other classified information during the same time period,”_ the Chairmen state in the letter. “We bring to your attention information that may assist your review.
*Page Two of The Letter* 
*Questions for Attorney General Barr April 25, 2019* 	Please describe the nature and extent o f your review o f FBI  surveillance o f the Trump Campaign, President-elect Trump’s transition  staff, Vice President- elect Pence’s transition staff, President Trump’s  staff, and Vice President Pence’s staff, including your efforts to  determine whether that surveillance was adequately predicated. 	How many counter-intelligence briefings were provided to the Trump  and Pence transition staffs prior to Inauguration Day? Please list the  dates, all agencies involved, and each official that represented those  agencies at the briefings. 	Many of the FBI employees involved in these activities are no longer  employed by the federal government. How will your review obtain  information needed from these individuals? 	Will you commit to providing the results of your review once completed? 	What steps have you taken to investigate whether DOJ or FBI  officials hadunauthorized contacts with the media during the Russia  investigation?
We anticipate that your written reply and most responsive  documents will be unclassified. Please send all unclassified material  directly to each Committee. In keeping with the requirements of  Executive Order 13526, if any of the responsive documents do contain  classified information, please segregate all unclassified material  within the classified documents, provide all unclassified information  directly to each Committee, and provide a classified addendum to the  Office of Senate Security. Although our Committees comply with all laws  and regulations governing the handling of classified information, they  are not bound, absent prior agreement, by any handling restrictions.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ces-spy-bureau

----------


## enhanced_deficit

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?486499

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?486164

----------


## Swordsmyth

The Reed Smith lawyers defending a Russian company indicted in the  special counsel investigation are pushing to have U.S. Attorney General  William Barr and Robert Mueller III held in contempt over the release of  a redacted version of the special counsel’s report last week.

Lawyers  for Concord Management and Consulting asked U.S. District Judge Dabney  Friedrich of the District of Columbia to order the government to show  cause as to why Barr and Mueller shouldn’t be held in contempt for  violating a local criminal rule. Reed Smith argued in its Thursday filing  that the release of the 448-page report interfered with Concord’s right  to a fair trial by “releasing prohibited information and opinions  regarding the guilt of the accused.”

“The practical effect of the  broadside by AG Barr and SC Mueller on Concord was to advise the world  (including potential jurors) that the allegations in the indictment are  true and that the defendants in this case were operating as part of a  Russian-government led interference campaign expressly linked to the  allegations in_ United States v. Netyksho_,” Reed Smith partner Eric Dubelier said in the filing. “This despite the fact that the indictment contains no such allegation.”

“Moreover,  the statements of AG Barr and the report authored by SC Mueller are  devoid of the demonstrably provable fact that of the nearly 4 million  documents produced in discovery to date there is not a single document  to indicate that the defendants were aware of the Federal Election  Campaign Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” Dubelier added.

The  filing notes that Reed Smith partner Katherine Seikaly also requested a  federal prosecutor handling the case in March to disclose any  exculpatory material.

“With respect to your email dated March 12,  2019, the government is not aware of any exculpatory evidence,”  Jonathan Kravis, an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., wrote  back, according to the filing. “As Concord has noted in its filings,  including its motion to dismiss for failure to state an offense under 18  USC 371, the absence of certain information from the target accounts  (such as information reflecting an awareness of the requirements of the  Federal Election Campaign Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act)  could be viewed as exculpatory.”

More at: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/reed-...023226923.html

----------


## timosman

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/...a-coup-1290343




> 04/26/2019
> 
> President Donald Trump on Thursday called the FBI probe into his 2016 campaign and subsequent investigations into Russian election meddling an attempted overthrow" of his administration.
> 
> This was a coup, Trump told host Sean Hannity on Fox News Hannity in his first interview since the Mueller report's release. This was an attempted overthrow of the United States government.
> 
> Trump insisted that special counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election had gone hog wild to find something about the administration which obviously wasn't there.
> 
> Trump repeatedly said the 448-page Mueller report, a redacted version of which was released last week, proved no collusion and obstruction. He called the investigation a one-sided witch hunt by angry Democrats who are very serious Trump haters.
> ...

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/stat...26715023761408

----------


## Swordsmyth

High-level intelligence sources tell _Big League Politics_ that a Facebook account  matching the description of the FBI’s Trump campaign spy posted in  2014, long before the anti-Trump “Operation Crossfire Hurricane” plot  was reportedly put in motion.
 “Azra Turk” was the FBI spy who worked with Stefan Halper to set up Trump campaign adviser George Papapdoupolus, the _New York Times_ finally confirms. “Azra Turk,” supposedly from Istanbul, is a beautiful blonde woman according to intel sources.
 The “Azra Turk” account has only two posts from October 2014, and a  photograph of a blonde woman concealing her face. The account, which has  no friends to show, only likes pages belonging to two individuals:  Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump.






https://bigleaguepolitics.com/dummy-...ld-and-ivanka/

----------


## Swordsmyth

A good article by Conservative Treehouse  on how FBI got access to NSA’s domestic database, they unofficially  merged with CIA through secret Memoranda of Understandings offering CIA  full access to everything FBI had access to, and how this gave John  Brennan’s CIA, with its foreign charter, the ability to dig through  NSA’s domestic databases for purposes of spying on Obama’s political  opposition among America’s citizens. Also interesting is how Sally Yates  unilaterally told the DOJ Inspector General that DOJ was not going to  allow any oversight of the domestic intelligence program. There is a  reason they had to deny all oversight. This thing was so illegal it was  radioactive.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Remember when Maxine Waters revealed that Barack Obama possessed a _“kind of database that no-one has ever seen before,”_ with _“information about everything, on every individual.”_

----------


## Swordsmyth

Susan Rice ordered spreadsheets be made up of all of Candidate Donald Trump’s legal phone calls.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Ukrainian embassy confirms DNC contractor sought Trump dirt in 2016.

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/stat...63147574968323

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Obama Campaign Hired Fusion GPS to Investigate Romney*

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Obama Campaign Hired Fusion GPS to Investigate Romney*

----------


## Swordsmyth

Not a single Democrat has bothered to go and look at the less redacted version of the Mueller report available to Congress

----------


## Swordsmyth

DEVELOPING: Congressional investigators are  looking into "a number of false statements" made by Mueller in Volume I  of his report where he misrepresented the underlying evidence ostensibly  to mirror the FBI's stated pretext for opening investigations on Trump  campaign figures
 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) May 7, 2019 



MYSTERY: Mueller Report states Joseph Mifsud  interviewed Feb 10 2017. Yet no citation of an FBI 302 for interview.  Mueller also states he has docs proving Mifsud made "false" statements  to investigators. Yet he never prosecuted him for lying like Papa-D. Why  was Mifsud protected?

 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) May 7, 2019

----------


## Swordsmyth

According to newly unearthed memos which were retroactively classified by the DOJ, *a  high-ranking government official who met with Christopher Steele in  October 2016 determined that information in the Trump-Russia dossier was  inaccurate*, and likely leaked to the media, according to _The Hill_'s John Solomon. 

  Ten days before the FBI used the now-discredited dossier to apply for  a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump  campaign aide Carter Page, Steele met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of  State Kathleen Kavalec, who took handwritten notes of the encounter.
  Steele told Kavalec that Russia had a "technical/human operation run  out of Moscow targeting the election," which recruited US emigres to "do  hacking and recruiting. Steele added that "Payments to those recruited  are made out of the Russian consulate in Miami." 
*Except that's a lie -* as Kavalec debunked the assertion in a bracketed comment: "*It is important to note that there is no Russian consulate in Miami.*"
 Kavalec, two days later and well before the FISA warrant was issued,  forwarded her typed summary to other government officials. The State  Department has redacted the names and agencies of everyone she alerted.
  But *it is almost certain the FBI knew of Steele's contact with State and his partisan motive*.  That's because former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says  she instructed her staff to send the information they got from Steele  to the bureau immediately and to cease contact with the informer because  "this is about U.S. politics, and not the work of — not the business of  the State Department, and certainly not the business of a career  employee who is subject to the Hatch Act." -_The Hill_*What makes this particularly damning* is that the FBI swore on October 21, 2016 to the FISA judges that *Steele's "reporting has been corroborated and used in criminal proceedings,"* and that *the FBI deemed him to be "reliable" and was "unaware of any derogatory information*  pertaining" to the former British spy who was working for Fusion GPS -  the firm paid by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to come up with dirt  on Donald Trump. 



As we noted yesterday based on an earlier _Hill_ report on the Kavalec-Steele notes, Steele was flagged for *admitting that his research was political and facing an Election Day deadline, as his client was** "keen to see this information come to light prior to November 8."*
 Notes and testimony from senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr make clear Steele admitted early on that he was “desperate” to get Trump defeated in  the election, was working in some capacity for the GOP candidate’s  opponent, and considered his intelligence raw and untested. Ohr  testified that he alerted FBI and other senior Justice officials to  these concerns in August 2016. -_The Hill_ “This British Spy, Christopher Steele, tried so hard to get this (the Fake Dossier) out before the Election. Why?” @kilmeade @foxandfriends
 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2019Kavalec also flagged several places in her notes in which she suspected that *Steele might be leaking information to the press*. 
  "June — reporting started," she wrote. "NYT and WP have," she added,  in an apparent reference to The New York Times and The Washington Post.
  She then quoted Steele as indicating that he was "managing" four  priorities — "Client needs, FBI, WashPo/NYT, source protection," - a  clear indication that *media outreach was part of his job.* 
 Those same notes suggest Steele spun some wild theories to State,  including one that the Russians had a “plant in DNC” and had assembled  an “HRC dossier,” apparent references to the Democratic National  Committee and Clinton.
  She expounded in her typed memo. “The Russians have succeeded in placing an agent inside the DNC,” she quoted Steele as saying.
  Steele offered Kavalec other wild information that easily could have  been debunked before the FISA application — and eventually was, in many  cases, after the media reported the allegations — including that:

Trump lawyer Michael Cohen traveled to Prague to meet with Russians;Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort owed the Russians $100  million and was the “go-between” from Russian President Vladimir Putin  to Trump;Trump adviser Carter Page met with a senior Russian businessman tied to Putin;The Russians secretly communicated with Trump through a computer system. -_The Hill_Those rumors were debunked by Special counsel Robert Mueller's April  report, despite barely mentioning Steele and a passing reference to his  infamous dossier being "unverified." 
*Except that the FBI's FISA request from October 2016 - which  relied almost entirely on Steele's work - was marked "verified  application" prior to the FBI's submission to the court.* 
  Eventually, Steele was fired to the FBI for leaking to the media *and then lying about it* - however that happend _after the FISA warrant was approved -_ and according to _The Hill_, the court was not notified about it until a few months later, well after the election. 
  In short, the FBI undoubtedly lied to their teeth to the FISA court  in order to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page and the Trump  campaign. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...sa-application

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/stat...88146672332801

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## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/stat...20454985293824

----------


## Swordsmyth

Michael Flynn  was under FBI investigation earlier than previously thought, according  to a little-noticed section in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report —  and the former national security adviser's brother told Fox News  exclusively this week that the revelation suggested a long-running,  high-level effort to "trip him up" and "trap" him.Buried in the second volume of the Mueller report  was a mention of an existing FBI investigation of Flynn "based on his  relationship with the Russian government," which predated Flynn's phone  calls during the presidential transition in December 2016 with  then-Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak that ultimately led to his  termination for lying.

 It was previously thought that Flynn’s communications with Kislyak —  picked up by the U.S. intelligence community — made the FBI suspicious,  sparking the Flynn probe.
According to Mueller's report,  "members of the intelligence community were surprised by Russia's  decision not to retaliate in response to the sanctions. When analyzing  Russia's response, they became aware of Flynn's discussion of sanctions  with Kislyak. Previously, the FBI had opened an investigation of Flynn  based on his relationship with the Russian government. Flynn's contacts  with Kislyak became a key component of that investigation."


After Fox News reported on the development Friday morning, President  Trump questioned, in a tweet, why he wasn't briefed on the probe in 2016  "so that I could make a change?"
That section of the report  cites interviews, documented in witness reports known as FBI "302s,"  with former acting assistant attorney general Mary McCord, who helped  steer the Russia probe, and former FBI director James Comey.
"It was an absolute surprise when the Mueller report came out," Flynn's brother Joe told Fox News.
He  said his brother "went through 19 sessions with the special counsel —  approximately 90 hours of torturous interviews — and this never came up  the entire time. And you would have thought it would have, and they  would have maybe focused on that, but it didn't come up at all."
The  special counsel's disclosure also sheds new light on a cryptic passage  in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence's report on Russian interference  released last year. The report said Comey, in closed-door  testimony, indicated there was an open case on Flynn — which was about  to be closed, until Flynn's calls with the Russian ambassador.
"Director  Comey testified that he authorized the closure of the CI  [counter-intelligence] investigation into General Flynn by late December  2016; however, the investigation was kept open due to the public  discrepancy surrounding General Flynn's communications with Ambassador  Kislyak," the report said. "Deputy Director [Andrew] McCabe stated that,  'We really had not substantiated anything particularly significant  against General Flynn,' but did not recall that a closure of the CI  investigation was imminent."
The same Republican report found  there was no briefing to warn the Trump campaign that a senior figure  like Flynn was under investigation.
"The Trump campaign was not  notified that members of the campaign were potential counterintelligence  concerns," even though such a defensive briefing would not have been  unusual, the report said.
"The Trump campaign," the report  continued, "did not receive a general counterintelligence briefing until  August 2016, and even then, it was never specifically notified about  [George] Papadopoulos, [Carter] Page, [Paul] Manafort or General Flynn's  Russia ties."
James Trusty, a 27-year Justice Department veteran  who worked in the criminal division and served as chief of the organized  crime section, told Fox News the wording in the Mueller report likely  indicated the existence of an underreported investigation.
"It  looks pretty clear to me that the use of the word 'previously' is  suggesting an independent investigation, but there's always room for a  little fog of war," Trusty said. "I think there was probably some other  investigation; whether a dormant one, or a big one, a little one, we  don't know, but it looks like there was something else out there."
Flynn's brother said the passage backed up the family's long-held concerns.
"Because  of his vocal criticism of the Obama administration and specifically the  intelligence community which he came out of, my suspicion is that they  were doing everything they could to trip him up and to trap him," Joe  Flynn told Fox News.
The Obama administration fired Flynn as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)  in 2014.
The  Mueller report's statement concerning Flynn's Russian government  contacts may have referred to a 2015 dinner in Moscow, in which Flynn  sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was paid $45,000 for a  speech.
But Joe Flynn said his brother, who had led military intelligence, had kept colleagues in the loop.
"He  did participate in an event where he made a speech over in Moscow,"  Flynn said. "But he briefed the DIA prior to that and he briefed the DIA  after that. He maintained his top-secret security clearance right up  until the point. He resigned from his job as national security adviser.  So if there was a big problem with what his actions were, why wouldn't  they have revoked his security clearance and told him that there's an  issue here?"

More at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...cid=spartanntp

----------


## Swordsmyth

Some think the bogus Dossier we see today is even more bogus, with several pages removed and replaced with some different pages

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Michael Flynn  was under FBI investigation earlier than previously thought, according  to a little-noticed section in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report —  and the former national security adviser's brother told Fox News  exclusively this week that the revelation suggested a long-running,  high-level effort to "trip him up" and "trap" him.Buried in the second volume of the Mueller report  was a mention of an existing FBI investigation of Flynn "based on his  relationship with the Russian government," which predated Flynn's phone  calls during the presidential transition in December 2016 with  then-Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak that ultimately led to his  termination for lying.
> 
>  It was previously thought that Flynn’s communications with Kislyak —  picked up by the U.S. intelligence community — made the FBI suspicious,  sparking the Flynn probe.
> According to Mueller's report,  "members of the intelligence community were surprised by Russia's  decision not to retaliate in response to the sanctions. When analyzing  Russia's response, they became aware of Flynn's discussion of sanctions  with Kislyak. Previously, the FBI had opened an investigation of Flynn  based on his relationship with the Russian government. Flynn's contacts  with Kislyak became a key component of that investigation."
> 
> 
> After Fox News reported on the development Friday morning, President  Trump questioned, in a tweet, why he wasn't briefed on the probe in 2016  "so that I could make a change?"
> That section of the report  cites interviews, documented in witness reports known as FBI "302s,"  with former acting assistant attorney general Mary McCord, who helped  steer the Russia probe, and former FBI director James Comey.
> "It was an absolute surprise when the Mueller report came out," Flynn's brother Joe told Fox News.
> ...


https://twitter.com/almostjingo/stat...30783339753472

----------


## Swordsmyth

BREAKING: First batch of POTUS declassification  said to include FBI  docs of recorded conversations exculpating  Papapopoulos &  Page–prior to FBI going for FISA warrant based on  their alleged  conspiracy.Papadopoulos says Halper & Downer both  tried to record  him w their cell phones
 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) May 24, 2019

----------


## Swordsmyth

DC  Clothesline covers Obama and Brennan’s surveillance program called “The  Hammer,” which was doing to millions of Americans what was done to  Donald Trump

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## Swordsmyth

*The Obama Use of FISA-702 as a Domestic Political Surveillance Program*

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## Swordsmyth

And another Hammer article at The American Report

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Former Vice President Joe Biden was reportedly one of the few Obama  administration officials who participated in secretive meetings during  the early stages of the Obama-era intelligence community’s initial  operations regarding suspected Russian interference in the 2016  presidential campaign.* That tidbit was contained deep inside a 7,700-plus word _Washington Post_ article published  June 23, 2017 in which the newspaper also detailed the highly  compartmentalized nature of the original Russia interference  investigation and the manner in which other U.S. intelligence agencies  were deliberately kept in the dark.  Part of the efforts eventually  involved unsubstantiated and ultimately discredited charges made by the  Christopher Steele dossier that Trump campaign officials were colluding  with Russia.
 Biden’s largely unreported role in the initial Obama administration  meetings on the matter of Russian interference could spark further  questions now that Attorney General William Barr has appointed a U.S.  attorney to investigate the origins of the Russia collusion claims.
 Only last week, Barr commented that the intelligence community’s  early handling of the Russia investigation may itself raise  questions.  He noted that it was first handled at a “very senior level”  and then by a “small group.”
 In an interview on Fox News, Barr stated:
The thing that’s interesting about this is that this was  handled at a very senior level of these departments. It wasn’t handled  in the ordinary way that investigations or counterintelligence  activities are conducted. It was sort of an ad hoc, small group — and  most of these people are no longer with the FBI or the CIA or the other  agencies involved. I think there’s a misconception out there that we  know a lot about what happened. The fact of the matter is, Bob Mueller  did not look at the government’s activities.The lengthy _Washington Post_ article from  2017 detailed the closed circle of Obama administration officials who  were involved in overseeing the initial efforts related to the Russia  investigation — a circle than was narrowly widened to include Biden,  according to the newspaper report.
 According to the newspaper, in the summer of 2016, CIA Director John  Brennan convened a “secret task force at CIA headquarters composed of  several dozen analysts and officers from the CIA, the NSA and the FBI.”
_The Post_ described the unit as so secretive it functioned as  a “sealed compartment” hidden even from the rest of the U.S.  intelligence community; a unit whose workers were all made to sign  additional non-disclosure forms.
 The unit reported to top officials, the newspaper documented:
They worked exclusively for two groups of “customers,”  officials said. The first was Obama and fewer than 14 senior officials  in government. The second was a team of operations specialists at the  CIA, NSA and FBI who took direction from the task force on where to aim  their subsequent efforts to collect more intelligence on Russia.The number of Obama administration officials who were allowed access to the Russia intelligence was also highly limited, _The Post_ reported.  At first only four senior officials were involved, and not Biden. Those  officials were CIA Directir John Brennan, Director of National  Intelligence James Clapper, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and then-FBI  Director James Comey. Their aides were all barred from attending the  initial meetings, _The Post_ stated.
 The circle of those who attended the secretive meetings on the matter soon widened to include Biden, _The Post_ reported (emphasis added):
The secrecy extended into the White House.
 Rice and White House homeland-security adviser Lisa Monaco convened  meetings in the Situation Room to weigh the mounting evidence of Russian  interference and generate options for how to respond. At first, only  four senior security officials were allowed to attend: Brennan, Clapper,  Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and FBI Director James B. Comey.  Aides ordinarily allowed entry as “plus-ones” were barred.
*Gradually, the circle widened to include Vice President Biden and others.*  Agendas sent to Cabinet secretaries — including John F. Kerry at the  State Department and Ashton B. Carter at the Pentagon — arrived in  envelopes that subordinates were not supposed to open. Sometimes the  agendas were withheld until participants had taken their seats in the  Situation Room.Adding another layer of secrecy, the newspaper reported that when the  closed Cabinet sessions on Russia began in the White House Situation  Room in August, the video feed from the main room was cut off during the  meetings.
 The feed, which allows only for video and not audio, is usually kept on so that senior aides can see when a meeting takes place.
 The paper reported:
The blacked-out screens were seen as an ominous sign  among lower-level White House officials who were largely kept in the  dark about the Russia deliberations even as they were tasked with  generating options for retaliation against Moscow.It was not clear what went on inside those meetings and how many  included Biden’s participation.  The meetings progressed during the  period that the Steele dossier was reported to the FBI.


Last year, meanwhile, Biden publically defended the Obama  administration’s handling of the Russia probe amid accusations that the  Obama White House didn’t do enough and waited until after the election  to make the Russia interference charges public.
 “I’m sure I’m leaving stuff out,” Biden said  last January at a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. “The  bottom line was it was tricky as hell. It’s easy to say now, well maybe  we should have said more. But I’ll ask you a rhetorical question — can  you imagine if the President of the United States called a press  conference in October … and said, ‘Tell you what, the Russians are  trying to interfere with our elections and we have to do something about  it.’ What do you think would have happened?”
 Trump, however, previously suggested Obama’s not being forceful enough on the matter was politically motivated.

More at: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...-russia-probe/

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## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/BreakingNLive/st...53183641751552

----------


## Swordsmyth

A  ruling by FISA Court Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer finds that 85% of  NSA database requests under FISA section 702 authority at the DOJ were  illegal or noncompliant. From the article – _“Judge Collyer has  ordered that the court be provided the names of every person targeted by  the spying.  Additionally, information on the content of every query  entered into the NSA surveillance database. Once those names are made  public, and they will be, a firestorm will erupt over the depth and  corruption of the Obama White House abuse of the intelligence agencies  and political processes.”_

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/sta...49187161927680

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## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/dsamuelsohn/stat...95961374384128

----------


## Swordsmyth

The State Department has confirmed that it has “issued 23 violations  and 7 infractions incidents” pertaining to the Hillary Clinton email  scandal. Hillary Clinton used a private non-secure email server during  her tenure at the State Department, did not notify her own Department  that she was using a private server, continued using technology that she  was warned had been breached overseas, and deleted more than 30,000  emails before her associates smashed and destroyed her gadgetry.
The State Department’s letter to Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, ahead of a full September report, notes:
“Consistent with longstanding policy, the Department does  not release the names of current or former employees participating in  the security incident program. However, in the spirit of cooperation,  the Department can share with you certain information about the status  of the ongoing review. To this point, the Department has assessed  culpability to 15 individuals, some of whom were culpable in multiple  security incidents. DS has issued 23 violations and 7 infractions  incidents under 12 FAM 550. This number will likely change as the review  progresses,” Assistant Secretary of Bureau of Legislative Affairs Mary  Elizabeth Taylor wrote.


More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/boom-s...il-violations/

----------


## Swordsmyth

Trump tells Hannity DOJ is looking into “The Ultimate,” whether his personal phone calls were monitored

----------


## Swordsmyth

Just  when you thought the Steele dossier was the only piece of "garbage"  intel the FBI relied on in its efforts against the Trump campaign, _The Hill_'s  John Solomon reveals that Ukrainian officials thought Paul Manafort's  "black cash ledger" was likely a fake which should not be relied on. 

  The ledger, which was reported in 2016 and resulted in Manafort's  resignation from the Trump campaign, purported to show $12.7 million in  undisclosed cash payments designated for Manafort from former Ukrainian  President Viktor Yanukovych's political party between 2007 and 2012. 
*The FBI relied on this ledger to obtain search warrant affidavits  "months after the feds were warned repeatedly that the document couldn't  be trusted and was likely a fake,"* according to Solomon, who cites documents and over a dozen interviews. 
 For example, Ukraine’s top anticorruption prosecutor, Nazar  Kholodnytsky, told me he warned the U.S. State Department’s law  enforcement liaison and multiple FBI agents in late summer 2016 that  Ukrainian authorities who recovered the ledger believed it likely was a  fraud. -_The Hill_"*It was not to be considered a document of Manafort. It was  not authenticated. And at that time it should not be used in any way to  bring accusations against anybody*," said Kholodnytsky, who says he told FBI agents the same thing. 
  Manafort's Ukranian business partner, Konstantin Kilimnik - *a longtime State Department informant* - told the US government that the ledger was *probably a fake* shortly after an August 2016 article about it appeared in the _New York Times_. 
  Kilimnik said in an August 2016 email to a senior US official that  Manafort "could not have possibly taken large amounts of cash across  three borders. It was always a different arrangement — payments were in  wire transfers to his companies, which is not a violation," adding "I  have some questions about this black cash stuff, because those published  records do not make sense. The timeframe doesn’t match anything related  to payments made to Manafort. … It does not match my records. All fees  Manafort got were wires, not cash."
     What's more, *Mueller's team and the FBI had copies of Kilimnik's warning* according to the report. 
  Solomon points out that the FBI may have violated its own rules by  knowingly submitting false or suspect evidence in a federal court  proceeding. According to the FBI operating manual, "To establish  probable cause, the affiant must demonstrate a basis for knowledge and  belief that the facts are true." 
*WTF?*
  While neither Mueller nor the FBI cited the actual ledger, *they cited media reports about it*, and relied on those stories as sources.
 For example, agents mentioned the ledger in an affidavit supporting  a July 2017 search warrant for Manafort’s house, citing it as one of  the reasons the FBI resurrected the criminal case against Manafort.
  “On August 19, 2016, *after public reports regarding  connections between Manafort, Ukraine and Russia — including an alleged  ‘black ledger’ of off-the-book payments from the Party of Regions to  Manafort* — Manafort left his post as chairman of the Trump Campaign,” the July 25, 2017, FBI agent’s affidavit stated.
  Three months later, the FBI went further in arguing probable cause for  a search warrant for Manafort’s bank records, citing a specific article  about the ledger as evidence Manafort was paid to perform U.S. lobbying  work for the Ukrainians.
  “The April 12, 2017, *Associated Press article reported*  that DMI [Manafort’s company] records showed at least two payments were  made to DMI that correspond to payments in the 'black ledger,' ” an FBI  agent wrote in a footnote to the affidavit. -_The Hill_According to liberal law professor, Alan Dershowitz, *citing news articles is almost never done*. "They are supposed to cite the primary evidence and not secondary evidence," he said, adding "*It  sounds to me like a fraud on the court, possibly a willful and  deliberate fraud that should have consequences for both the court and  the attorneys’ bar*." 
  What's more, Solomon reports that both the FBI agent cited in the the _AP_ article failed to disclose to FBI officials and DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissman - later Mueller's 'legal pit bull' - that he *met with the AP reporters the day before the story was published*, and that he assisted with the story. 
  According to FBI records of the April 11, 2017 meeting,  the AP reporters "were advised that they appeared to have a good  understanding of Manafort’s business dealings" in Ukraine. 
 So, essentially, the FBI cited a leak that the government had  facilitated and then used it to support the black ledger evidence, even  though it had been clearly warned about the document.
  Secondly, the FBI was told the ledger claimed to show cash payments to Manafort when, in fact, *agents had been told since 2014 that Manafort received money only by bank wire*s, mostly routed through the island of Cyprus, memos show. 
  During the 2014 investigation, Manafort and his partner Richard Gates  voluntarily identified for FBI agents tens of millions of dollars they  received from Ukrainian and Russian sources and the shell companies and  banks that wired the money. “Gates stated that the amounts they received  would match the amounts they invoiced for services. Gates added they  were always paid late, and in tranches,” FBI memos I obtained show. -_The Hill_*The best evidence that the FBI knew the black ledger was a sham?* They never presented it in Manafort's trial. 
  On Wednesday night, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) told Solomon that he is  asking the DOJ's Inspector General to investigate the Manafort  warrants, *including media leaks and whether evidence exists that the government knew the black ledger was unreliable evidence*. 
  Manafort was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison by two different judges  on eight charges of tax and bank fraud, and admitted to ten more  charges related to work in Ukraine. 



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...-might-be-fake

----------


## Swordsmyth

Rosenstein  crafted a third scope memo for Mueller, and nobody knows what was in  it, meaning Mueller was told to investigate something else that has been  kept entirely secret

----------


## Swordsmyth

Deep State FBI was giving Candidate Trump different briefings than Candidate Clinton

----------


## Swordsmyth

Strzok manipulated the search warrant for Weiner’s laptop to protect Hillary

----------


## Swordsmyth

Former FBI director James Comey had a white binder marked “Clinton  Emails” in his office on May 16, 2017, a few days after he was fired, as  the Department of Justice was trying to get back the items in Comey’s  office safe.
 The State Department and FBI also possessed a “Datto” backup email  device for Hillary Clinton’s private email server, which a judge ordered  released. Michael Bekesha, who waged the Datto case for Judicial Watch,  tells Big League Politics that the State Department is “still  processing the FBI investigative file,” even though Datto contents were  ordered released by last September.
 Bekesha said it is possible that the State Department has not  searched the device, which they received from Comey’s FBI, noting, “They  have not yet identified the location of all the records that they  reviewed and produced.”
 Comey got busted by the DOJ for hiding his “Clinton Emails” binder  after he got fired from the FBI, as Big League Politics exclusively  reported.


The FBI officially released the DOJ’s “Inventory” Receipt for Property documents listing the stuff Comey had in his office safe.
 Look below at Inventory Item #17, which originally said “TOP SECRET,”  then that marking was crossed out. In its final form, it says:
 ‘White Binder – CLINTON EMAILS’




Meanwhile, the Datto backup device was storing Clinton emails that  the Clintons did not want stored, and Platte River Networks did NOT  thoroughly encrypt Clinton’s emails on the server, as the Clintons  demanded, according to an FBI report:



More at: https://bigleaguepolitics.com/comey-...-email-device/

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## timosman



----------


## Swordsmyth

By         Jay Sekulow

Stunning new information just released by the  American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) shows that the Obama  administration stepped up efforts – just days before President Trump took office – to undermine Trump and his administration.

The  ACLJ, where I serve as chief counsel, has obtained records that show  the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, under Director James Clapper,  eagerly pushed to get new procedures as part of an anti-Trump effort.  The procedures increased access to raw signals intelligence before the  conclusion of the Obama administration, just days before President Trump  was inaugurated.
By  greatly expanding access to classified information by unelected,  unaccountable bureaucrats, the Obama administration paved the way for a  shadow government to leak classified information – endangering our  national security and severely jeopardizing the integrity and reputation  of our critical national security apparatus – in an attempt to  undermine President Trump.


The documents also reveal that Robert Litt, who worked in the Office  of the Director of National Intelligence, told the Office of the  Undersecretary of Defense’s Director of Intelligence Strategy, Policy,  & Integration: “Really want to get this done ... and so does the Boss.” Presumably “the Boss” is a reference to Director Clapper.  
And documents the ACLJ received  that were produced by the National Security Agency show that NSA  officials discussed that they “could have a signature from the AG as  early as this week, certainly prior to the 20th of Jan.” In other words,  certainly before President Trump’s inauguration. 


As part of the ACLJ’s Government Accountability Project and Freedom  of Information Act practice, we uncovered key information about the  embedded “resistance” operating within our government. 
In this particular instance, it concerned us when we heard that, according to The New York Times,  “in its final days, the Obama administration has expanded the power of  the National Security Agency to share globally intercepted personal  communications with the government’s 16 other intelligence agencies  before applying privacy protections.”
On December 15, 2016 – after  President Trump’s election – Director of National Intelligence Clapper  executed a document titled “Procedures for the Availability or  Dissemination of Raw Signals Intelligence Information by the National  Security Agency Under Section 2.3 of Executive Order 12333.” 
On  January 3, 2017 – just days before President Trump’s inauguration –  then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch executed the document, indicating  her approval.
According to The New York Times, “the new rules  significantly relax longstanding limits on what the N.S.A. may do with  the information gathered by its most powerful surveillance operations.”

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jay-...osed-documents

----------


## Swordsmyth

Evidence indicates Flynn was under an active FISA Warrant during the Trump transition

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/SaraCarterDC/sta...27962647527425

----------


## Swordsmyth

At the Daily Wire,  Ryan Saavedra postulates a breakthrough in DOJ Inspector General  Michael Horowitz’s investigation into alleged FISA abuse against the  Trump campaign. Saavedra reports that “at least one witness has started  to cooperate in the investigation.” Fox News also reports that an Obama  administration official has flipped.
 Saavedra suggests that the official most likely to be cooperating  with Horowitz’s investigation (which in turn, as I understand it, is  collaborating with the Durham probe that was ordered by Attorney General  William Barr) is Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec.
 We wrote about Kavalec’s role in the Russiagate investigation in May.  The relevant point is that Kavalec knew that Christopher Steele’s  Hillary-financed “dossier” on Donald Trump was a fraud in early October  2016, _before_ the Department of Justice misled the FISA court in order to get a surveillance order on Carter Page:
In her typed summary, Kavalec wrote that Steele told her  the Russians had constructed a “technical/human operation run out of  Moscow targeting the election” that recruited emigres in the United  States to “do hacking and recruiting.”
 She quoted Steele as saying, “Payments to those recruited are made  out of the Russian Consulate in Miami,” according to a copy of her  summary memo obtained under open records litigation by the conservative  group Citizens United. Kavalec bluntly debunked that assertion in a  bracketed comment: “It is important to note that there is no Russian  consulate in Miami.”Kavalec also pointed out that Steele was politically motivated, as  demonstrated by his Election Day deadline. (No surprise there, since  Hillary Clinton was his client.) Kavalec passed her concerns about  Steele’s good faith up the chain of command–again, _before_ DOJ’s  FISA application, which swore that Steele was “reliable” and claimed,  falsely, that DOJ was “unaware of any derogatory information pertaining”  to him. 

More at: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archiv...os-flipped.php

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...70600407924736

----------


## Swordsmyth

*THE UPDATED LIST: 130 Times the FBI, DOJ and/or  Mueller Gang “Deviated from Standard Practice” or Committed Crimes in  Efforts to Exonerate Hillary and Indict President Trump*

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Gohmert Exposes Cozy Mueller/Comey Relationship That Made Comey $6 Million Man At Lockheed*

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Transcripts obtained from the FBI in a request for information show  that James Rybicki, the former FBI Chief of Staff under James Comey,  testified that the Russia Conspiracy sham came from Obama’s White House  in October 2016*

----------


## Swordsmyth

The ACLJ has just obtained previously  unreleased documents related to the Clinton investigation and immunity  agreements given to top Clinton aids. These agreements reveal that James  Comey’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Loretta Lynch’s  Department of Justice (DOJ) granted immunity to Hillary Clinton’s aids  and lawyers, Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson, from prosecution for  anything found on their laptops violating *multiple felony  criminal statutes governing the mishandling of classified information  and/or the removal or destruction of records, including Espionage Act  provisions.* Further, the DOJ and FBI also agreed to evade  the statutory requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by  purporting to deem the contents of the laptops as not under DOJ or FBI  “custody or control.”
These laptops  were critical to any meaningful investigation of Hillary Clinton’s  handling of classified emails and records. According to the DOJ  Inspector General, who identified these as the “culling laptops,” “[a]ll  62,320 emails pulled from the Clinton servers were stored at one time  on these laptops.” Having taken control of these laptops, agreeing to  severely limit its searches, agreeing to unlawfully shield the laptops  from FOIA, then agreeing to dispose of the laptops, it appears the Comey  FBI and Lynch DOJ did everything in their power to protect Clinton’s  senior aids and lawyers from both criminal liability _and_ public scrutiny.
While these immunity agreements and related news have been publicly discussed to some extent, the ACLJ has now obtained _the actual documents_ so the public may see and judge them accordingly.


According to the DOJ’s immunity agreement with Mills:
As  we have advised you, we consider Cheryl Mills to be a witness based on  the information gathered to date in this investigation. We understand  that Cheryl Mills is willing to voluntarily provide the Mills Laptop to  the Federal Bureau of Investigation, if the United States agrees not to  use any information directly obtained from the Mills Laptop in any  prosecution of Cheryl Mills for the mishandling of classified  information and/or the removal or destruction of records as described  below.And, according to the immunity agreement:
To that end, it is hereby agreed as follows:

That, subject to the terms of consent _set forth in a separate letter to the Department of Justice_  dated June 10, 2016, Cheryl Mills will voluntarily produce the Mills  Laptop to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its review and  analysis.That no information directly obtained from the Mills  Laptop will be used against your client in any prosecution under 18  U.S.C. § 793(e) and/or (f); 18 U.S.C. § 1924; and/or 18 U.S.C. § 2071.That  no other promises, agreements, or understandings exist between the  parties except as set forth in this agreement, and no modification of  this agreement shall have effect unless executed in writing by the  parties.The agreement was then executed by Cheryl Mills. The immunity agreement with Samuelson reads the same.
*Mills and Samuelson Were Granted Immunity From Prosecution Under Multiple Felony Statutes for Anything Found on Their Laptops.**The Espionage Act*.  The first criminal statute as to which Mills and Samuelson were  expressly granted immunity are felony provisions of the Espionage Act,  found at 18 U.S.C. § 793(e). The immunity agreements arguable would also  cover the Espionage Act’s provision concerning conspiracy to violate  the Act, under 18 U.S.C. § 793(g).
_To  summarize, these Espionage Act sections makes it a felony for a person  with unauthorized access or possession to convey the information to an  unauthorized person, or for a person with authorized possession to  negligently allow it to be removed from its proper place, delivered to  anyone in violation of his trust, lost, stolen, or destroyed; or failing  to promptly report such an act_.
*Removal of Classified Information by Public Officers and Employees*. The next criminal statute as to which Mills and Samuelson were granted immunity is a felony statute found at 18 U.S.C. § 1924.
_To  summarize, this criminal statute makes it a felony for a government  officer or employee to, knowingly and without authority, remove  classified information with the intent to retain the information at an  unauthorized location_.
*Records and Reports*. Mills and Samuelson were also granted express immunity from prosecution under both subsections of 18 U.S.C. § 2071.
_To  summarize, this criminal statute makes it a felony for a person to  willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove, or destroy a government record  or document, or where someone has custody of any such record, they  willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove, falsify or destroy it.  Further, a person convicted of doing the latter “shall forfeit and be  disqualified from holding any office under the United States.”_
*The  ACLJ Obtained the Second Immunity Agreement Letters Originally  Withheld, Which Show the DOJ/FBI Agreed to Evade FOIA and to Dispose of  the Culling Laptops.*Importantly,  in item #1 of both the Mills and Samuelson immunity agreements obtained  by the ACLJ earlier this year, the DOJ NSD referenced and incorporated  the terms of a “separate letter” of the same date (June 10, 2016)  containing the “terms of consent” to which the FBI/DOJ agreed to comply.  These second letters were not initially provided to the ACLJ.
We are pleased to report that, as a result of our continued negotiations and efforts in this case, _we have now secured those_ _two__ separate_ _letters__ the DOJ had thus far withheld._
These  two separate letters walk through the specific terms of Mills’ and  Samuelson’s agreements with the DOJ in exchange for them voluntarily  handing over their culling laptops – the laptops they used to delete  Hillary’s emails and on which the Clinton Team used BleachBit.
*The DOJ/FBI Expressly Attempted to Evade FOIA’s Requirements.*_In these letters, we learn that the DOJ attempted to circumvent its statutory obligation to comply with the FOIA_:
In  voluntarily providing the Device, Cheryl Mills does not relinquish  ownership or control over the Device, except for the FBI’s limited  investigative use as specified by this agreement. _The FBI does not  assert custody and control over the Device or its contents for any other  purpose, including any requests made pursuant to the Freedom of  Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552_.The  terms “custody and control” is a FOIA term of art. So, in other words,  the DOJ/FBI purported or attempted to agree itself out of the  requirements of FOIA, so that nothing on Mills’ or Samuelson’s culling  laptops would be subject to FOIA. This agreement is particularly  noteworthy given what former FBI lawyer Lisa Page told the DOJ Office of Inspector General:
_[T]hese are the State Department’s records_.  And if the Secretary in the first place had actually followed normal  protocol, every single one of these emails, whether personal or  work-related would have been in the State Department’s possession, and  there would be no attorney-client discussions happening with respect to  the sort of this material.In  other words, the DOJ voluntarily agreed to refuse to comply with the  requirements of FOIA as to documents that were clearly within the  purview of FOIA requests and had otherwise been prevented from being  FOIA’d by being stored on Clinton’s private server.
This  attempt to evade complying with the FOIA is especially troubling given  the next fact revealed in these newly obtained documents.
*The DOJ/FBI Agreed to “Dispose” of Mills’ and Samuelson’s “Culling Laptops.”*
_The_ _DOJ agreed that the FBI would “dispose” of Mills’ and Samuelson’s laptops after the search_. According to the agreement:
As  soon as the investigation is completed, and to the extent consistent  with all FBI policies and applicable laws, including the Federal Records  Act, _the FBI will dispose of the Device and any printed or electronic materials resulting from your search_.In  other words, after agreeing to limit its search of Mills’ laptop to (1)  only a certain method of searching; (2) only for certain email-related  files; and, (3) only files created within a certain time-frame, the  DOJ/FBI agreed to dispose of the laptop – meaning anything else  embarrassing, negative or potentially implicating on the laptop –  including official State Department records – would be destroyed and  never be exposed.
The DOJ Inspector  General had discussed the disposal agreement in his report about the  irregularities in fired-FBI Director Jim Comey’s investigation of  Hillary Clinton, _but now the ACLJ has obtained the actual letters confirming the DOJ agreed the laptops would be disposed of by Comey’s FBI_.
According to the DOJ OIG, access to these “culling laptops” – the ones on which the Clinton Team used “BleachBit”:
was  particularly important to ensure the completeness of the investigation.  All 62,320 emails pulled from the Clinton servers were stored at one  time on these laptops, so access to the laptops offered the possibility  of reconstructing a large number of the deleted emails through digital  forensics.These documents  are especially relevant given “the thousands of pages of testimony”  released by congressional committees in the past few months “about how  the bureau handled the probe into Clinton’s use of a private server to  send classified government emails” – and the headlines that testimony is  generating. Portions of that testimony reveal “the intricate role of  the DOJ in attempting to limit the FBI’s ability to gain access to  laptops belonging to two Clinton confidants Cheryl Mills and Heather  Samuelson.”
The documents received by  the ACLJ confirm our earlier report – more than a year ago – that, based  on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation and interviews:
[T]he  DOJ entered into “highly unusual” immunity agreements with key  witnesses in the investigation, including Cheryl Mills (Clinton’s top  aide) and Heather Samuelson (the aide tasked with going through the  Clinton emails and deciding which should be made public and which  deleted). It is reported that Mills and Samuelson agreed to allow the  agency access to their computers in exchange for immunity – i.e. DOJ’s  assurances that the findings of those searches would not be used against  them.


More at: https://aclj.org/government-corrupti...th-federal-law

----------


## Swordsmyth

*BOOM: James Comey is Under Investigation – John Huber Investigating Comey Memos – Memos Possibly to be Released This Week…*

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Secret McCabe Texts With MI-5 Counterpart Emerge, Spotlighting UK's Early Role In 'Russiagate'*

----------


## Swordsmyth

*BREAKING: Unbelievable! Deep State FBI Helped Hillary Clinton Erase and Bleachbit Data Off Laptops and Hammer Phones*

----------


## Swordsmyth



----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/stat...28982742114304

----------


## Swordsmyth

*General Flynn has a real fighter in his attorney Sidney Powell and  she is rightfully demanding the Mueller gang be held in contempt.   Powell is right no matter what the far left New York Times‘ ‘Russia Collusion’ reporters say.* General Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell filed a BOMBSHELL motion in his case on Friday night per investigative reporter *Will Chamberlain*  from Human Events.  The Deep State Mueller gang are finally being outed  for the crooks that they are and the crimes they committed by Flynn’s  attorney Sidney Powell:
 

  First, some basic background: "Brady violations"  are when prosecutors fail to disclose evidence that could be favorable  to the defense. 
 This is indispensable to due process, for pretty obvious reasons: if  prosecutors can hide evidence they can get unjust convictions/pleas. pic.twitter.com/15o4Ts1Zuc
 — Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) September 1, 2019Mueller’s goons withheld Brady material which is not shock since they  did the same back in the 2000’s in their Enron related cases as noted  in Powell’s “_License to Lie_“.
*Powell argues that the Deep State Mueller gang led by the  most corrupt DOJ attorney in US history, Andrew Weissmann, withheld  information pertinent to their case:*










 Powell makes a SHOCKING accusation: that  prosecutors Brandon Van Grack and Zainab Ahmad, under the direction of  Andrew Weissmann,
 "affirmatively suppressed evidence that destroyed the credibility of  their primary witness [and] impugned their entire case against @GenFlynn." pic.twitter.com/FI2o3Hz3bJ
 — Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) September 1, 2019The Mueller – Weissmann gang tried to slip in some documents in some  late reporting that were very important to the case and yet they claimed  they were no big deal:
 Note – it's pretty much impossible for outside observers to determine who's right in this case – yet.@SidneyPowell1  filed an accompanying motion under seal, laying out the specific Brady  violations, because the relevant evidence was produced under a  protective order. pic.twitter.com/oznFQ1l208
 — Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) September 1, 2019


More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...cked-off-case/

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Former FBI employees Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, the once  romantically-linked duo infamous for their anti-Trump text messages,  conducted the initial agency review of disgraced ex-FBI chief James  Comey’s memos to determine whether the documents contained any  potentially classified information.* Working on the initial classification review with Page and Strzok was  another member of Comey’s inner circle, James A. Baker, the former FBI  general counsel.
 Those details were contained inside the report released last Thursday by the Justice Department’s inspector-general.
   The IG report related that Strzok characterized himself, Page, Baker,  and the Unit Chief of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Law Unit in the  FBI’s Office of General Counsel as a “logical subset to sit and go  through” Comey’s memos memorializing his conversations with Trump to  determine classification.
 Strzok told the FBI that it made sense that this team conducted the  initial classification review because the members had a lot of “history  and experience of working investigations relating to … the disclosure of  classified information,” including the FBI’s Clinton email  investigation.
 That would be the same Clinton email investigation that became the subject of a separate 500-plus page IG report in June 2018 that was highly critical of actions taken by Comey and his team.
  The IG report described an  extraordinary system of communication set up between Page and former  deputy director Andrew McCabe that bypassed the ordinary chain of  command to communicate important information about the agency’s probe of  Clinton’s email server. The method of communication involved Strzok,  who was romantically involved with Page, sending information on the  Clinton probe to McCabe through Page, the previous IG report found.
 Meanwhile, the IG’s latest report released last Thursday documented  that Page, Baker, Strzok and an unnamed legal Unit Chief conducted the  first stage of the classification review for Comey’s memos. The final  determination was made by Bill Priestap, then the chief of the FBI’s  counterintelligence division following the legal review conducted by  Page, Baker and Strzok. Priestap was also involved in the FBI’s Clinton  email investigation.
 Baker, Page, Strzok and Priestap were also among the small group of  people who received Comey’s memos after Comey had written them and  before he was fired as FBI director, the IG report relates.
 The report states:
McCabe told the OIG that he believed Comey was trying to  limit knowledge about Comey’s communications with Trump to a very, very  small group” of close advisors. McCabe said he thought Comey “didn’t  want these [Memos] floating around and…widely distributed.”
 McCabe’s Special Counsel Lisa Page told the OIG that she thought  Comey’s “objective in keeping the [number of] people exposed to [the  Memos] incredibly small was an effort to insulate the core team, who was  doing the Russian investigation,…from knowing any of this, so that it  didn’t, ultimately, impact…their investigative steps….”Baker explained to the IG how their review of Comey’s memos differed from the normal classification process:
Baker and the Unit Chief told the OIG that their  classification review for the Memos differed from the FBI’s normal  process, which usually involves sending documents out to the agency  whose equities are at issue for their classification determination. One  of the Unit Chief’s subordinates, an Assistant General Counsel in the  Counterintelligence Law Branch who participated in the classification  review for Memo 2, told the OIG that “[g]iven the urgency of how quick  they were looking at doing the … classification review” the Memos were  not referred for State Department input. Instead, where the equities at  issue belonged to the State Department, the FBI personnel involved in  the classification review told us that they relied on their experiences  in the Clinton email case and their familiarity with what the State  Department classified in her emails, and used that to determine whether  specific statements by the President about foreign leaders were  classified.The IG report further reveals the process taken during the initial  review in which meetings were held and sections of Comey’s memos were  debated, yet not a single one of the participants kept notes documenting  the classification process.

More at: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...-comeys-memos/

----------


## Swordsmyth

President Trump tweets about  the importance of the DOJ declassifying the material that will show  just how horridly corrupt the DOJ and FBI was.  Trump wants  transparency:

 Former FBI Director James Comey tweets a response to Christopher Wray, David Bowditch and Dana Boente telling them to keep up the fight, and “stay true”:


https://theconservativetreehouse.com...-it-stay-true/

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Trump Attorney Jay Sekulow posted a tweet on Monday alleging fired  FBI Director James Comey may have colluded with the Clinton lawyers to  circumvent federal law.*  Did Comey's FBI collude with Clinton's lawyers to circumvent federal law? We have the documents that tell the story. https://t.co/2cR4K08dgY
 — Jay Sekulow (@JaySekulow) September 3, 2019Jay Sekulow alleges the FBI may have been colluding with Hillary Clinton’s lawyers.
 

 *Sekulow also reported on the second FBI operative Jordan Rae Kelly  who replaced Comey spy Anthony Ferrante who was placed into White House  to spy for the FBI against the Trump administration.* *FBI oprerative Jordan Rae Kelly took over for Ferrante and gave him  access inside the Trump White House after he left government to work for  Buzzfeed.* Via the ACLJ report:
What’s also disturbing is that, according to that same  report: “Between the election and April 2017, when Ferrante finally left  the White House, the Trump NSC division supervisor was not allowed to  get rid of Ferrante.” In other words, Comey tried to ensure that the  White House had no authority to remove Ferrante. Somehow the director of  the FBI superseded the authority of the President of the United States,  implanting an unremovable agent.
 To make matters worse, the reports indicate that *“Ferrante  was replaced in the White House by another FBI official, Jordan Rae  Kelly, who signed security logs for Ferrante to enter the White House  while he was contracted by BuzzFeed. Kelly left the White House last  year and also joined FTI Consulting”* – the same firm Ferrante works for.
 This is too big to be ignored. James Comey  is in big trouble. This behavior cannot be allowed in a constitutional  republic. We need to get to the bottom of this, but we don’t know what  information this spy was passing along.
 The American people deserve to know the  truth. And today we’re taking legal action to find out. We’ve just  submitted FOIA requests to the FBI and the DOJ demanding allrecords,  including emails, memorandums, briefs, electronic messages, etc.,  pertaining to this spy Ferrante’s time within the White House and  beyond. Specifically, we are requesting records and emails between or  about Comey and Ferrante and others. We are also demanding records  related to this spying effort and what we call Comey’s circle of  corruption. These are Comey’s closest advisors including: FBI General  Counsel James Baker; Deputy Director/Acting Director Andrew McCabe;  Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, McCabe’s  Deputy Counsel, Lisa Page; and Comey’s Chief of Staff, James Rybicki,  David Bowdich (Director’s Office – DO), Michael Steinbach (Director’s  Office – DO), Trisha Anderson (OGC), E.W. Bill Priestap  (Counterintelligence Division – CD), and Jonathan Moffa  (Counterintelligence Division – CD). Finally, we are requesting “*All of James Comey’s emails* from April 1, 2016, to May 31, 2017.”
 We will find out exactly what Comey was up to and bring it to light.
 Jordan Rae Kelly currently works for FTI Consulting with Anthony Ferrante.


https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/201...ureau-in-2017/

----------


## Swordsmyth

It didn’t take long for a jury to dispense with one of the few cases  from the special counsel investigation into Russiagate to make it to  trial. A few minutes ago, the jurors acquitted Greg Craig of violations of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) and allegations that he deliberately misled investigators:


Former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig was  acquitted Wednesday of giving false information to federal authorities  about his work on behalf of the Ukrainian government amid a new  crackdown on illicit foreign influence.
 The case against Craig, a high-powered Washington lawyer, was one of a  handful of investigations that grew out of special counsel Robert  Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
 Craig was acquitted after more than two weeks of testimony followed  by less than five hours of deliberation. Craig faced trial in federal  court for falsifying and concealing information about his work for the  government of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. Americans  who work on behalf of foreign governments within the United States are  required to register with the Justice Department.It looked like Mueller and the Department of Justice had a case against Craig,  at least on paper. Craig and his firm Skadden Arps worked with the  Russia-friendly government in Ukraine at the time, as did Paul Manafort  and Rick Gates. They hired Craig and his law firm to conduct a “review”  of the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko to push back against the commonly held  perception that it was a political hit job. The report noted that  Tymoshenko’s rights had been violated but that the evidence supported a  conviction anyway, and Craig later leaked the report to the New York Times.


The purpose of that leak was one of the key points of Craig’s trial.  Prosecutors argued that he leaked it to the Times to promote the Viktor  Yanukovych government’s propaganda against Tymoshenko, and therefore  acted illegally as a foreign agent. Prosecutors also alleged that Craig  concealed the fact that his efforts were funded by Russia-friendly  oligarch and Yanukovych crony Viktor Pinchuk, who gave $4 million to  Skadden Arps. (Skadden Arps settled its case for $4.6 million.)  However, Craig argued that he leaked it to make sure the _derogatory_ information about the Yanokovych government got out:
Craig has insisted that he never lied to or sought to  mislead the government and that he genuinely did not believe he needed  to register as a foreign agent. The argument is based in part on what  Craig contended was an acrimonious and distrustful relationship with  Manafort and with a firm Ukraine hired to publicize the report, FTI  Consulting.
 Craig’s defense alleged that the relationship grew so strained that  in dealing with Sanger and other journalists, he was trying to  counteract or preempt an aggressive spin job Manafort was overseeing to  make the report sound like a ringing endorsement of the controversial  prosecution of Tymoshenko.Looks like the jury bought Craig’s explanation — or at least thought  it was one reasonable explanation. It’s unclear why prosecutors thought  it _wouldn’t_ be.
 That makes Mueller/DoJ 2-1 on FARA trials out of the Russiagate  probe, but one of the wins comes with an asterisk. The DoJ had a premade  case on Manafort long before the 2016 election, which Mueller revived  in order to pressure Manafort and Gates into flipping on Donald Trump.  It turned out that they didn’t have any dirt to dish, but Mueller’s team  still scored easy wins on the case. They also convicted Bijan Rafekian  in July, a former partner of Michael Flynn, who is presently appealing  the verdict.
 The Washington Post’s Spencer Hsu writes that this might force Congress to revamp FARA:
The acquittal marks a high-profile setback for a Justice  Department crackdown on foreign lobbying in the United States, exposing  flaws in a difficult prosecution that was handed off among several  offices before Craig’s April indictment. Before the trial began, a judge  dismissed a count against Craig directly involving the registration  requirements, saying the rules seemed vague as applied to Craig’s  circumstances.
 The verdict is likely to stir debate over whether to clarify or  strengthen provisions of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which  requires Americans paid by foreign governments or politicians to  influence U.S. policy or opinion to register with the Justice  Department.Maybe, but perhaps a big part of this was the fact that the DoJ has  only recently taken this 80-year-old law seriously. It’s tough to expect  juries to do the same, especially in an instance where there’s no other  apparent fraud alleged.

More at: https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morri...ra-case-craig/

----------


## devil21

Another page of fraud!





ahem



> Just-us will be served. Some animals are more equal.


https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oannes

----------


## Brian4Liberty

> Another page of fraud!
> 
> ahem
> 
> https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oannes





> Oannes, in Mesopotamian mythology, an amphibious being who taught mankind wisdom.


You think you the acronym for One America News Network was intentional? Certainly possible. 

If so, just a clever way to say they are bringing wisdom, or a secret message to people practicing an ancient Babylonian religion?

----------


## devil21

> You think you the acronym for One America News Network was intentional? Certainly possible.


Absolutely intentional.




> If so, just a clever way to say they are bringing wisdom, or a secret message to people practicing an ancient Babylonian religion?


A secret message of "wink and nod".  Wisdom, in this context, means knowing more than the stupid sheep that believe the soap operas and how to direct them using media.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> You think you the acronym for One America News Network was intentional? Certainly possible. 
> 
> If so, just a clever way to say they are bringing wisdom, or a secret message to people practicing an ancient Babylonian religion?


You can't trust or be certain of anyone, it could be the innocent interpretation or the darker one.

You have to filter everything for yourself.

----------


## Swordsmyth

*FBI Never Searched Pervert Weiner’s Laptop Until After the 2016 Election – Weiner’s iPad and iPhone Are Now Missing!*

----------


## Swordsmyth

*Fusion GPS Bank Records Show Payments From Clinton Campaign & DNC*

----------


## Swordsmyth

*A bombshell revelation was barely noticed at National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s hearing  Tuesday, when his counsel revealed in court the existence of a Justice  Department memo from Jan. 30, 2017 exonerating Flynn of any collusion  with Russia*.

*The memo, which has still not been made available to Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell, is part of a litany of Brady material she is demanding from prosecutors.*  The memo is currently under protective order and Powell is working with  prosecutors to get it disclosed, SaraACarter.com has learned.
  U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan presided  over the hearing Tuesday  and set a tentative Dec. 18 sentencing date.  He told the prosecution and defense that the sentencing date could be  moved depending on the outcome of requests for Brady material requested  by Powell and how the case will unfold in the upcoming months. Sullivan  also noted during the hearing that the Brady order takes precedence over  the plea agreement.
  Powell will likely seek to have case dismissed for ‘egregious’ prosecutorial misconduct and withholding of exculpatory material.


*Comey’s Memos Vs DOJ Jan. 2017 Flynn Memo*   Comey said in one of his most significant memos chronicling his Feb.  14, 2017 meeting at the Oval Office with Trump, which was the day after  Trump had fired Flynn, that Trump asked everyone but Comey to leave the  room, and told him he wanted to “talk about Mike Flynn.” Flynn was fired  at the time over controversy that arose from a classified information  leaked to the Washington Post regarding his conversations by phone in  December, 2016 with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The story  stated that Flynn had discussed the sanctions with Kislyak. *However,  Comey later admitted that the FBI agents he sent to interview Flynn  didn’t believe he was lying about his conversation with the former  ambassador.*
  According to Comey’s memo Trump said:
 _ “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”_Comey suggested that Trump’s request was inappropriate, accusing him  of obstructing justice by asking him to drop Flynn’s case. He used this  as a pretense to leak his memos and put the nation through more than two  years of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel, which in the end found no  evidence of a conspiracy with Russia. As for obstruction, Attorney  General William Barr and then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  concluded that there was no obstruction based on the evidence gathered  by Mueller’s team.
*However, if Comey would have advised Trump of the Jan. 30  memo it would have cleared up any unfounded lies that Flynn had in any  way colluded or conspired with Russia.*
  If and when this memo is made public, the ongoing narrative  continuing to be pushed by those former Obama officials, as well as,  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff who continues to push  for hearings on obstruction will be squashed.
*It looks like Comey, who would have been fully aware of this memo, has a lot of explaining to do.*


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/...during-hearing

----------


## Swordsmyth

U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu has recommended moving forward with charges against CNN contributor Andrew McCabe, Fox News has learned, as the Justice Department rejects a last-ditch appeal from the former top FBI official.

McCabe  -- the former deputy and acting director of the FBI -- appealed the  decision of the U.S. attorney for Washington all the way up to Jeffrey  Rosen, the deputy attorney general, but he rejected that request,  according to a person familiar with the situation.


The potential charges relate to DOJ inspector general findings against him regarding misleading statements concerning a Hillary Clinton-related investigation.
A  source close to McCabe’s legal team said they received an email from  the Department of Justice which said, "The Department rejected your  appeal of the United States Attorney’s Office’s decision in this matter.  Any further inquiries should be directed to the United States  Attorney’s Office."

More at:  https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-...t-ditch-appeal

----------


## Swordsmyth

A former analyst for the FBI admitted  Tuesday to copying the private emails of a conservative conspiracy  theorist and sharing them with his superiors while his wife, who got  herself hired on with the investigator, offered them to the press.  This is the same Conservative “conspiracy theorist” who was looking into  the Seth Rich murder, and an ex-Marine he hired as an assistant lured  him to a hotel parking garage with a promise of additional information  and then tried to kill him. Before that he  was attacked and doused with some sort of liquid by somebody else I  assume was trying to kill him, in a case I don’t think was ever solved. Notice,  he had two employees working for him, one eventually tried to kill him  out of the blue, and the other was the wife of an FBI contractor who was  pulling all his emails – and she and her husband who were targeting  Burkman *were his neighbors*. FBI contractors just happened to move in next door and weasel into a job working for him.

----------


## timosman

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj...torney-general





> The Justice Departments inspector general told lawmakers Friday his team is nearing completion of its long-awaited review of alleged surveillance abuses by the DOJ and FBI in the course of the Russia investigation, saying they have submitted a draft report to the attorney general and are finalizing the report ahead of its public release.
> 
> We have now begun the process of finalizing our report by providing a draft of our factual findings to the department and the FBI for classification determination and marking, Michael Horowitz wrote in a Friday letter to several House and Senate committees. This step is consistent with our process for reports such as this one that involve classified material.
> 
> Attorney General Bill Barr has received the draft report from Horowitz and will begin the process of reviewing it, according to a source familiar with the situation. The inspector general said his team has reviewed over one million records and conducted over 100 interviews, including several of witnesses who only recently agreed to be interviewed.
> 
> Horowitz and his investigators have probed how the infamous, anti-Trump dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele was used to secure the original surveillance warrant for former Trump aide Carter Page in October 2016, as well as for three renewals. Horowitzs team has questioned why the FBI considered Steele a credible source, and why the bureau seemed to use news reports to bolster Steeles credibility.
> 
> Horowitz indicated that once the Justice Department and the FBI send back a marked document relating to classified material, his team will proceed with our usual process for preparing final draft public and classified reports, and ensuring that appropriate reviews occur for accuracy and comment purposes.
> ...

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/stat...42545072676864

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## dannno

> Sure, sure.
> 
> Bunch of fake news reality show nonsense.


Epstein was arrested, and that is going to lead to a flood of arrests very soon, you can see the latest about the FBI investigation in the Epstein thread. It is happening.

George Soros was indicted and put under arrest a few days ago. 

The Vatican was raided just in the last couple of days. 

And you think you are going to see this stuff happening on the fakestream news?????  LOL

----------


## devil21

> Epstein was arrested, and that is going to lead to a flood of arrests very soon, you can see the latest about the FBI investigation in the Epstein thread. It is happening.
> 
> George Soros was indicted and put under arrest a few days ago. 
> 
> The Vatican was raided just in the last couple of days. 
> 
> And you think you are going to see this stuff happening on the fakestream news?????  LOL


I can't find anything about a Soros arrest except for random blog posts, which have been happening yearly since at least _2001_.  Fake news click-bait.  Soros isn't even a real person lol.  He's a manufactured cut-out boogeyman, real name Georgy Schwartz.

The Vatican raid is interesting but their crimes always end up with a token fall guy and then back to business as usual.  Worth watching I guess but we've seen this movie before.

Epstein was released, death faked and is living overseas with a new identity.

----------


## dannno

> I can't find anything about a Soros arrest except for random blog posts, which have been happening yearly since at least _2001_.  Fake news click-bait.  Soros isn't even a real person lol.  He's a manufactured cut-out boogeyman, real name Georgy Schwartz.
> 
> The Vatican raid is interesting but their crimes always end up with a token fall guy and then back to business as usual.  Worth watching I guess but we've seen this movie before.


Yes, his original name was George Schwartz, but either way he has been arrested. This isn't coming from a random blog post, this is coming from a Navy intel source who has been making accurate predictions for months. He spelled out what was in the Trump phone call transcript the day before it was released to the public. You don't have to trust him, but I am paying very close attention to him as he clearly has connections. 





> Epstein was released, death faked and is living overseas with a new identity.


Epstein is still in custody, he was taken into witness protection and the funniest part was that his death was faked and they framed the Clintons in the court of public opinion.

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## Anti Globalist

If Epstein is living overseas with a new identity, he better have gotten some kind of plastic surgery done to his face else hes runs the risk of somebody recognizing him.

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## dannno

> If Epstein is living overseas with a new identity, he better have gotten some kind of plastic surgery done to his face else hes runs the risk of somebody recognizing him.


Or he could just pretend to be Ted Danson.

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## TheCount

> Epstein was arrested, and that is going to lead to a flood of arrests very soon, you can see the latest about the FBI investigation in the Epstein thread. It is happening.
> 
> George Soros was indicted and put under arrest a few days ago. 
> 
> The Vatican was raided just in the last couple of days.


Sounds legit.

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## devil21

> Yes, his original name was George Schwartz, but either way he has been arrested. This isn't coming from a random blog post, this is coming from a Navy intel source who has been making accurate predictions for months. He spelled out what was in the Trump phone call transcript the day before it was released to the public. You don't have to trust him, but I am paying very close attention to him as he clearly has connections.


K.  And the head of ISIS has been killed about 24 times.  Cuz news.




> Epstein is still in custody, he was taken into witness protection and the funniest part was that his death was faked and they framed the Clintons in the court of public opinion.


Is there a difference?

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## dannno

> K.  And the head of ISIS has been killed about 24 times.  Cuz news.


This is news from a credible source.





> Is there a difference?


Ya, in one case a bunch of satanic pedophiles who run our governments, banks and corporations get away with it, and in this case they go to jail.

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## devil21

> Ya, in one case a bunch of satanic pedophiles who run our governments, banks and corporations get away with it, and in this case they go to jail.


You mean like all the people who have gone to jail over the "FISA Court Fraud", as described in this years old 40 page thread?  How many of them are in jail?  ZERO.  Nothing will happen and the simple reason is that the people you claim are going to jail are not subject to the statutes because they know how the legal system really works in this country.  Put plainly, "laws" (read: statutes, _rules_) are for the dumb "citizen" sheep.

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## Swordsmyth

Fraudster  Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham has refused to call any hearings on Deep  State, FBI, CIA, Spygate, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, Mueller, Stefan  Halper, George Papadopoulos, Tom Fitton, Sidney Powell, Joe diGenova,  John Brennan, James Comey, Chris Wray, etc.

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## devil21

SS posting more bs.^^^^^  

Why does Lindsey Graham need to call hearings for anything to happen?  Congress is not a law enforcement agency.  More passing the blame around for why nothing will happen to the swamp.

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## Swordsmyth

> SS posting more bs.^^^^^  
> 
> Why does Lindsey Graham need to call hearings for anything to happen?  Congress is not a law enforcement agency.  More passing the blame around for why nothing will happen to the swamp.


It's coming and now Graham will probably get caught in the net too, he had his chance to defect to the right side but he blew it.

Impeachment is a weak attempt to avoid what is coming.

----------


## Swordsmyth

So is John Brennan backpedaling or having some sort of mea culpa?  Admitting he ‘may have relied on bad info’ for his attacks on President  Trump … 
Pardon our French but man, this guy is such a jacka*s. 
 If one of our top ex-intel officials says he got fooled by "bad info"… what does that say about the intel community structure? #EasilyFooled #CirculatingBadInfohttps://t.co/C7BUuGuPBU 
— Sharyl Attkisson️*♂️ (@SharylAttkisson) October 8, 2019From The New York Post: 
Former head of the CIA John Brennan admitted on  Monday that he may have relied on “bad information” for his relentless  attacks on President Trump. 
Brennan — who once warned that “our Nation’s future is at stake” —  told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he may have been misled on the extent  of Trump’s connections to Russia. 
“Well, I don’t know if I received bad information but I think I  suspected there was more than there actually was,” Brennan said. “I am  relieved that it’s been determined there was not a criminal conspiracy  with the Russian government over our election.”He’s relieved. 
Sure he is. 
Wonder if this has anything to do with Durham interviewing him here soon. Hrm. 

More at: https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2019/1...a-connections/

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## Swordsmyth

*FBI Use Of Foreign-Surveillance Tool Violated Privacy Rights: FISA Court*

----------


## UWDude

James Clapper is beginning to crack, blaming his actions on following the orders of Obama:
"just following orders"

https://www.redstate.com/elizabeth-v...bama-told-act/




> This is very big news because its the first time a member of the deep state has admitted that President Obama was not only aware of the investigation, but was issuing orders to his team. What were we supposed to have doneblown off what the then commander-in-chief, President Obama, told us to do? And, as if we missed it the first time, he says it again. Its kind of disconcerting now to be investigated for, you know having done our duty and done what we were told to do by the president.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> James Clapper is beginning to crack, blaming his actions on following the orders of Obama:
> "just following orders"
> 
> https://www.redstate.com/elizabeth-v...bama-told-act/


I guess Brennan forgot to tell him that he is no longer innocent once he's been accused.

----------


## buck000

> This is very big news because it’s the first time a member of the deep state has admitted that President Obama was not only aware of the investigation, but was issuing orders to his team. “What were we supposed to have done…blown off what the then commander-in-chief, President Obama, told us to do?” And, as if we missed it the first time, he says it again. “It’s kind of disconcerting now to be investigated for, you know having done our duty and done what we were told to do by the president.”


"Done his duty"   He could have been a ... what' s the word? ... whistleblower... you know, a _real_ one.

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/Techno_Fog/statu...11806174081024

----------


## Swordsmyth

*FBI Entrapped Flynn With Manipulated Evidence As Clapper Allegedly Issued 'Kill Shot' Order: Court Docs*

----------


## devil21

> Can we agree on the problem first... just maybe?


Probably not, since the problem is extra-judicial secret courts that sprang from the phony War on Terror in the first place, not merely actions by said court.  The mere existence of the court is the real problem.  Not to mention the rabbit hole about who the NSA _really_ works for....see my sig.

In completely unrelated news, AG Barr unveils the "Pre-Crime Program".  I'm sure more secret courts won't spring out of that scary $#@! either.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/willia...rogram/262504/

Get it through your head.  These people WANT this stuff.  This thread is full of what's called "limited hang outs".  Exposing mostly bs "corruption" by the usual suspects while the real corruption and the real agenda (total information awareness and control) goes unmentioned.  A big soap opera that quite obviously never amounts to anything except the next episode of the soap opera.

----------


## Swordsmyth

Deep State used ‘criminal conspiracy’ to stop Flynn’s audit of intelligence agencies

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/Thomas1774Paine/...05111620247552

----------


## Brian4Liberty

Remember that time when the Awan gang worked for Debbie Wasserman-Schulz, and they hacked most of Congress, stole equipment and information, give the info to a Muslim extremist foreign government, and DWS’s top lieutenant Xavier Becerra got rid of a key server in his office that was evidence, and tried to pass off a fake server, and then they all went to prison?

Neither do I.

----------


## dannno



----------


## Swordsmyth

*Statement by Attorney General William P. Barr on the  Inspector General's Report of the Review of Four FISA Applications and  Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation*               Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:
  "Nothing is more important than the credibility and integrity of the  FBI and the Department of Justice.  That is why we must hold our  investigators and prosecutors to the highest ethical and professional  standards.  The Inspector General’s investigation has provided critical  transparency and accountability, and his work is a credit to the  Department of Justice.  I would like to thank the Inspector General and  his team.
  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.  It is also clear that, from its inception, the  evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory.   Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for  the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump’s  administration.  In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of  Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted  critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or  ignored information negating the reliability of their principal source.   The Inspector General found the explanations given for these actions  unsatisfactory.  While most of the misconduct identified by the  Inspector General was committed in 2016 and 2017 by a small group of  now-former FBI officials, the malfeasance and misfeasance detailed in  the Inspector General’s report reflects a clear abuse of the FISA  process.
  FISA is an essential tool for the protection of the safety of the  American people.  The Department of Justice and the FBI are committed to  taking whatever steps are necessary to rectify the abuses that occurred  and to ensure the integrity of the FISA process going forward.
  No one is more dismayed about the handling of these FISA applications  than Director Wray.  I have full confidence in Director Wray and his  team at the FBI, as well as the thousands of dedicated line agents who  work tirelessly to protect our country.  I thank the Director for the  comprehensive set of proposed reforms he is announcing today, and I look  forward to working with him to implement these and any other  appropriate measures.
  With respect to DOJ personnel discussed in the report, the Department  will follow all appropriate processes and procedures, including as to  any potential disciplinary action."






https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/state...view-four-fisa

----------


## Swordsmyth

https://twitter.com/jennfranconews/s...07082175148032

----------


## Swordsmyth

President Trump called out FBI Director Christopher Wray on Saturday morning for his weak response to FISA abuse and the illegal spying on Trump’s 2016 campaign.
 FBI Director Chris Wray announced that the FBI’s response to the  agency’s FISA Abuse and the criminal spying on the Trump campaign will  result in extra training.
 He sent out out a training video.
 And no one will be disciplined for the criminal acts.
 This is unacceptable!
 President Trump called out Wray and asked him if any of the “dirty  cops” are going to pay the price for the fraud they committed.

*TRUMP*:  “FBI Director apologizes for FISA Errors (of which there were far to  many to be a coincidence!).” @foxNews Chris, what about all of the lives  that were ruined because of the so-called “errors?” Are these “dirty  cops” going to pay a big price for the fraud they committed?
 “FBI Director apologizes for FISA Errors (of which there were far to many to be a coincidence!).” January 11, 2020Even worse, Judge Boasberg, the presiding FISA judge who was appointed by Obama announced in an order  that he has appointed Obama-era national security leader at the DOJ  David S. Kris as amicus counsel to review the reforms the FBI will be  making to its FISA application process.

More at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/202...llegal-spying/

----------


## devil21

So no mass arrests here either????  42 pages of FISA fraudin' and I all got was a training video?

----------


## Swordsmyth

> So no mass arrests here either????  42 pages of FISA fraudin' and I all got was a training video?


If it didn't worry you then you wouldn't feel compelled to post about it.

----------


## devil21

> If it didn't worry you then you wouldn't feel compelled to post about it.


I just like making fun of the people that think anything actually will change while Orange Julius Caesar is at the helm.

What's left of the mass arrests promises?  Clinton Foundation: Nope.  FISA: Nope.

----------


## Swordsmyth

> I just like making fun of the people that think anything actually will change while Orange Julius Caesar is at the helm.
> 
> What's left of the mass arrests promises?  Clinton Foundation: Nope.  FISA: Nope.


It's all coming.

If you didn't care you'd ignore it until it happened.

----------


## timosman

> It's all coming.
> 
> If you didn't care you'd ignore it until it happened.


but if it is not coming then we are $#@!ed ...  4 more years

----------


## Swordsmyth

> but if it is not coming then we are $#@!ed ...  4 more years


If it's not coming then what has already happened makes no sense.

----------


## timosman

> If it's not coming then what has already happened makes no sense.


Zippy, the taxman disagrees. Zippy is a professor in government's public relations school. He secretly finances all their expenses so he can study them. Recently he did something to the owner role and then $#@! started breaking loose. Rumor says Zippy was very rude to him.

----------


## timosman

_Last edited?_ LOL

----------


## Swordsmyth

> Zippy, the taxman disagrees. Zippy is a professor in government's public relations school. He secretly finances all their expenses so he can study them. Recently he did something to the owner role and then $#@! started breaking loose. Rumor says Zippy was very rude to him.


What does that mean?

----------


## timosman

> What does that mean?


Josh doesn't give a $#@! about me, Zippy on the other hand ...

----------


## Swordsmyth

*DOJ: Surveillance Of Carter Page Based On Insufficient Evidence, No Probable Cause*     

                            "This could have *huge implications* for every case brought by Mueller."

----------


## Swordsmyth

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.

*

Full text of the unclassified letter to Barr below:


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/...eclassify-some

----------


## Brian4Liberty

> Just-us will be served. Some animals are more equal.





> We investigated ourselves and found no evidence of wrong doing. Procedures were followed. Move along, nothing to see here.


Shocked! Shocked I tell you.




> DOJ drops case against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe
> 
> The Justice Department has decided to abandon its efforts to seek criminal charges against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according to his attorneys.
> ...
> https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...-mccabe-115251

----------


## dannno

McCabe will face justice




> They only dropped the investigation into McCabe arising from Horowitz' 2018 referral, this has nothing to do with Durham's investigation which is not over.

----------


## Valli6

Is it possible that McCabe has 'flipped'?

----------


## dannno

> Is it possible that McCabe has 'flipped'?


Yes, he did some deal making, but he will still face charges.

----------


## timosman

https://twitter.com/USobusted/status...65726144548870

----------

