Some Russiagate before Breakfast?

Oh my goodness, where does it all come from? Bloomberg, Mueller's Final Report Will Ignite an Epic War Over Disclosure. Ignite? There's already one raging.

Red State, Hillary Firms Her Kung Fu Grip; If The Mueller Investigation Ends, Will Anything Change? For Anyone? Her lust for power is something amazing, the way a python swallowing a pig is amazing.

Ross Douhat offers a somewhat conservatives look at The State of Russiagate: How the Steele dossier’s scenarios look after Michael Cohen’s testimony from NYT. It hasn't aged well.

While retaining an official agnosticism, my sense after Cohen’s testimony is that the odds are as low as they’ve been since this whole affair started, and the increasing likelihood is that the Steele dossier was, in fact, as Trump’s defenders have long described it — a narrative primarily grounded in Russian disinformation.

From Sundance at CTH, Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows Inform AG William Barr of Compromise Within Mueller Probe…

Representatives Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows send a letter (full pdf below) to AG William Barr questioning the independence of two members of the Mueller team, Zainab Ahmad and Andrew Weissmann.

Both Weissmann and Ahmad were involved in contacts and discussions with DOJ official Bruce Ohr as he transferred the Clinton/Steele dossier from his wife, Nellie Ohr, and from Fusion GPS into the FBI to advance a political investigation targeting Donald Trump.

The weren't selected by Mueller, they helped select Mueller to be the pretty face of their already existing ugly investigation. Also from CTH, Sunday Talks: Jim Jordan -vs- Chuck Todd…



Daniel Chaitin at WaEx cites Devin Nunes sniffing out 'chain of custody' of dossier and Clinton ties with 32-person list. Alas, the time to have done that was when he was in the majority.

The list of 32 names has been submitted to the Democratic majority of the panel, and includes the likes of Sidney Blumenthal, a key Clinton ally, former Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan, and Robby Mook, Clinton's 2016 campaign chairman.

Nunes said Sunday it is imperative to speak with them because of their ties to the infamous Trump dossier, which contained compromising, yet unverified claims about President Trump's ties to Russia. Compiled in 2016, the research effort was conducted by ex-British spy Christopher Steele and was funded in part by Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

John Solomon at Da Hill: Forgetting Hanssen scandal's failures: FBI saw agent's affair as security risk but took little action. Strzok's boss, Bill Priestap was warned about the Strzok/Page affair, but did little more than warn them not to get caught (by anyone else).

“I also spoke to both Pete and Lisa about it,” Priestap added. “I felt I owed it to them. Lisa did not report to me but I felt that they ought to be aware of what was being said.”

What follows next is unbelievable. But before reading Priestap’s words, it’s essential to note that he considered an extramarital affair a security risk, yet treated his interactions with the two FBI agents as a courtesy notification rather than confronting them to see if it was true.

“I didn’t ask them if it is true, but they needed to know that that impression was out there,” Priestap explained. “And I don’t remember my exact words. But what I was trying to communicate is, ‘This better not interfere with things,’ if you know what I mean. Like, to me, the mission is everything. And so we all have our personal lives, what have you. I’m not the morality police.”

Lawmakers were dismayed and followed up. “But that behavior would make them vulnerable to an intelligence service?” one asked.

“In my opinion, yes,” Priestap answered.

So did he raise the vulnerability issue with Strzok and Page?

“No,” Priestap answered. “Because, again, I didn’t know for certain it was going on and I didn’t ask them whether it was going on. And I also felt, to a comment earlier, that they knew darn well that if that was going on, that potentially makes them vulnerable.”

The Peacock THINKS Mueller report and Trump-Russia investigation must push Congress to protect future special counsels. And we need a permanent FBI/DOJ group to investigate crimes by the media too, don't you think?

Bug-eyed Adam is still shouting about the "meeting" Schiff claims there's already 'direct evidence' of collusion by Trump campaign from Da Hill.

Sara Carter reports that Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows refer Michael Cohen to DOJ for alleged perjury, but the DOJ prosecute lying to Congress only when it's part of their agenda.

An ambiguous headline from WaPo, Lawmakers exploring possible pardon talks involving Michael Cohen. They want to know if Trump offered a pardon to Michael in exchange for favorable testimony? Apparently not.

Daniel Chaitin at WaEx again, Trump says Michael Cohen hearing may have sabotaged North Korea summit. Well it certainly wasn't timed to help, that's for sure. David Dorsen at USA Today, Michael Cohen only flipped because he got caught. That's all we can expect in the Trump era. I get why Trump had a slimy lawyer. He developed real estate in NY, and had to deal with corrupt politicians, corrupt unions, and mobsters.

Judiciary Chair Nadler: It’s Very Clear That Trump Has Obstructed Justice

BREAKING: @GStephanopoulos: "Do you think the president obstructed justice?"

House judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler: "Yes, I do. It's very clear that the president obstructed justice" https://t.co/YaWpzth66u pic.twitter.com/m7TiPwAKyo

— ABC News (@ABC) March 3, 2019

If acting in ways you don't like consists of "obstruction of justice." Reuters, U.S. House panel launches probe into possible obstruction by Trump. Still dwelling on Comey's firing. ABC: Over 60 Trump-related documents to be requested from WH, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler says. Fortunately the Obama administration established the precedent of refusing to honor subpoenas.