Russiagate - cc: China

Two big stories for today. First, Hillary wasn't just sending her emails back and forth through an unsecured server in her bathroom and other odd places, she was unknowingly sending them all to China, thanks to a little piece of code implanted in her server. Da Caller: China Hacked Clinton’s Private Email Server:

A Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington, D.C., area hacked Hillary Clinton’s private server throughout her term as secretary of state and obtained nearly all her emails, two sources briefed on the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Chinese firm obtained Clinton’s emails in real time as she sent and received communications and documents through her personal server, according to the sources, who said the hacking was conducted as part of an intelligence operation.

The Chinese wrote code that was embedded in the server, which was kept in Clinton’s residence in upstate New York. The code generated an instant “courtesy copy” for nearly all of her emails and forwarded them to the Chinese company, according to the sources.
. . .
“When [the ICIG] did a very deep dive, they found in the actual metadata — the data which is at the header and footer of all the emails — that a copy, a ‘courtesy copy,’ was being sent to a third party and that third party was a known Chinese public company that was involved in collecting intelligence for China,” the former intelligence officer told TheDCNF.

Ace reacts:  A Chinese-Owned Company Hacked Hillary Clinton's Homebrew Server Throughout Her Tenure as Secretary of State, Stealing Almost All of Her Emails; FBI Ignored. Guilty as hell, free as a bird.  Ed Morrissey at Hot Air: Did China Get The Complete Set Of Hillary E-Mails After All?

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given the amateurish nature of the Clinton home network. It seems likely that China wasn’t the only entity that would have attempted to penetrate her communications, nor the only entity that succeeded. There have already been reports that Russia attempted to hack her system, which means that the knowledge of it was more widespread abroad than it was in Washington, at least until the House Select Committee on Benghazi finally exposed Hillary’s use of a secret system to avoid oversight on her operations at the State Department.

 Story #2 is Bruce Ohr testifying to the house committee. Ace: Congressmen Gaetz and Issa on Bruce Ohr's Testimony: Either He's Lying, or Glenn Simpson and Lisa Page Are Lying

They didn't say what the discrepancies were about. I know one discrepancy, which has already been widely noted by outlets not called "The Weekly Standard," is Glenn Simpson's claim he never spoke to Bruce Ohr until after the election, while records indicate them speaking at least as early as August 2016.

But as to the other discrepancies and the discrepancy with Lisa Page's claims, I don't know.

Put them all in the Congressional holding cells until you can sort it out. On Bret Baier's show last night, Congressman Meadows said there were "memory gaps" in Ohr's testimony.

Earlier in the week, an FBI Agent Told Congress That the Bureau Leaked Stories to the Press, and Would Then Use Press Write-Ups as "Independent" Sources to Justify FISA Warrants, which seems to be more ore less precisely what happened with the Steel Dossier.

An FBI special agent told Congress earlier in August that the bureau has used leaked news stories as justifications to obtain surveillance warrants against American citizens, a source familiar with the testimony tells The Daily Caller News Foundation.
During a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees on Friday, Special Agent Jonathan Moffa told congressional investigators that the FBI and Justice Department have leaked stories to the press and then used them to obtain warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
"He more or less admitted that the FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info to the press and then used stories from the press as justifications for FISA warrants," a source who took part in Moffa's interview told TheDCNF.

More or less admitted. Keep that in mind, because there's a correction/clarification to the original reporting that pushes heavily on that "more or less" admitted claim.

"Tyler Durnden" Meadows: "We've Learned NEW Information" Suggesting FBI/DOJ Leaked To Press, Used Articles To Obtain FISA Warrants but The FBI pushed back:

But an FBI official disputed the claims about Moffa’s testimony, and TheDCNF’s source is acknowledging that he did not explicitly say that the FBI has leaked information to the press that is later used to obtain FISAs.

The initial claims about Moffa’s testimony are “just not true,” the FBI official told TheDCNF.

Meadows clarified his comments in a statement to TheDCNF.“Jonathan Moffa made it clear to the committee the FBI routinely uses media reports to corroborate analytic work product,” he said. “We have emails and texts plainly showing the FBI leaks to the media, raising major red flags. If FBI executives want the American people to believe they haven’t used leaks to their advantage, they are not being honest.”

The thing is, while it may be a crime for a citizen to lie to the FBI, it is not a crime for the FBI to lie to citizens. It's just a tactic.  Sara Carter: Whistleblower Exposes Key Player in FBI Russia Probe: “It was all a Set-up”. It's all there, Carter Page, Halper, Papado, and the Mysterious Mr. Mifsud. Jeff Carlson: Case of Adam Lovinger: How Security Clearances of Trump Officials Are Politicized. Allahpundit: John Brennan: Quite Frankly, I’m Not Sure That My Security Clearance Has Been Revoked. So I guess you didn't need it that badly anyway.

And speaking of perjury traps, the Dersh thinks Robert Mueller's team may try to subpoena Trump to appear before the grand jury. Not exactly a novel thought perfesssor.

Having lost "big league" with the no defense strategy, Paul Manafort's defense team is taking the novel approach of putting one on next time, which means they need another week to prepare. Law and Crime: Manafort’s Defense Hints at Major Strategy Change for Second Trial. And things that make you go hmmm: One-Time Paul Manafort Banker Robbed of iPad, Briefcase in Mysterious Overnight Break-in at His NYC Penthouse and Paul Manafort reportedly sought a plea deal with Mueller to prevent his second trial from going forward but apparently he hasn't got enough goods on Trump to get a deal.

Tom Maguire at Just One Minute on Lanny Davis

Just don't call CNN 'Fake News'. Lanny Davis - Mr. Incredible - "unintentionally misspoke" when he claimed Trump fixer Michael Cohen was a witness to Trump Sr. getting advance word of the notorious Trump Tower meeting.

Dammit, I'm fresh out of bridges to sell. Town Hall:  Check Your Sources: CNN's Cohen-Russia-Trump Tower Meeting Story Just Blew Up In Their Faces Glenn Greenwald: CNN, Credibly Accused of Lying to its Audience About a Key Claim in its Blockbuster Cohen Story, Refuses to Comment

Only one of two things can be true here, and either is extremely significant: (1) CNN deliberately lied to its audience about Davis refusing to comment on the story when, in fact, Davis was one of the anonymous sources on which the CNN report depended, and CNN claimed Davis refused to comment in order to hide Davis’ identity as one of their anonymous sources; or (2) Davis is lying now to BuzzFeed when he confessed to having been one of CNN’s sources for the story.

And CNN wonders why Trump holds them up for ridicule? Via Wombat-socho's: In The Mailbox: 08.28.18, Da Tech Guy reminds us It Ain't Watergate:

Watergate centered on the illegal activities of Nixon and his aides while they were working for the government.

The Mueller investigation has focused on activities BEFORE Trump took office.

The Watergate activities included bugging the offices of political opponents and people Nixon or his cronies thought were suspicious. Nixon and his close aides also ordered investigations of activist groups and political figures, using the FBI, the CIA, and the IRS as political weapons.

The White House recording system also gave investigators evidence of a conspiracy in the conspirators’ own voices.

The scandal also resulted in the indictment of 69 people, with trials or pleas resulting in 48 being found guilty, many of whom were top Nixon officials. These included top aides John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman, former Attorneys General John Mitchell and Robert Kleindienst, White House Counsel John Dean, and myriad other government officials.

So far, the Mueller investigation has indicted four former Trump advisers, 26 Russian nationals, three Russian companies, one California man, and one London-based lawyer.

That includes one, repeat, one Trump administration official: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

So far, the only possible link to President Trump is whether he paid hush money to two hookers. Remember another president who actually had sex in the Oval Office?

Stormy doing well by doing good

John Sexton:  Trump Seeks Dismissal Of Stormy Daniels’ Lawsuit Citing Free Speech

You’re probably aware that Stormy Daniels filed a defamation lawsuit against President Trump back in April. Yesterday, attorneys representing President Trump sought to have that lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that the president was exercising his right to free speech. Reuters reports:

In Monday’s motion, Trump’s lawyers said the lawsuit was “designed to chill the president’s free speech rights on matters of public concern.” They cited a law in Daniels’ home state of Texas requiring that such a lawsuit be dismissed unless Daniels could provide “clear and specific evidence” for her claims, which they said she had failed to do.
They also said that Daniels had not been harmed, and had instead “capitalized” on the dispute with a nationwide tour of strip clubs “for which she admittedly is being paid at least four times her normal appearance fee.”

Whew, I thought I'd never get through all that.