Cleaning Up Russiagate Loose Ends

Lots of news today, but one matter got settled for good. James Wolfe, former Senate Intelligence Committee security director, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in their probe of leaks from the Congress. WaPo: Former Senate intelligence aide pleads guilty to lying about contact with reporter

A former veteran Senate Intelligence Committee security director pleaded guilty Monday to lying to FBI agents about his contact with a reporter during a federal leak investigation, and also admitted lying about speaking with three other reporters.

James A. Wolfe, 57, pleaded guilty to one count of lying about using encrypted messaging in October 2017 to tell “Reporter #3” about a subpoena issued by the committee.

“Reporter #3” was not named in court or court filings. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss two other counts related to interactions Wolfe was accused of having with three other reporters. One of those reporters, the context of the indictment indicates, was Ali Watkins of the New York Times, who had been in a relationship with Wolfe and whose email and phone records were later subpoenaed by the Justice Department.

 WaEx: James Wolfe, former Senate staffer charged in leak probe, pleads guilty

James Wolfe, the former security head for the Senate Intelligence Committee, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of lying to the FBI about his contacts with journalists.

Wolfe had been charged this summer with three such counts, but pleaded guilty to one count in exchange for avoiding a trial, according to an agreement he reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Sentencing his scheduled for Dec. 20, and he could face as much as five years in prison.

Wolfe, 57, once dated Ali Watkins, a New York Times reporter who rose to fame covering national security issues for Congress.

As found in Wombat-socho's In The Mailbox: 10.16.18, The Victory Girls catch Politico in the act of whitewashing:

In the “one for us” column as well, someone besides a Trump associate has finally been nailed for leaking. And, according to Politico:

The guilty plea could ease tensions between President Donald Trump and the Justice Department. For more than a year, Trump has been pressing for a crackdown on leaks, particularly those related to the investigations that have most angered the president — criminal and congressional probes into his campaign’s alleged ties to Russia.

They do a particularly nice job of white washing the leaking. They’ve “angered” the President. Not that they’re patently illegal and unfair, you know. They make Trump “angry” and so the only reason to stop them. Pathetic.

I have high hopes that this is the start of the unmasking of the hierarchy. Andrew McCabe’s case just had a doc dump this afternoon, and specific mention is made of his “leaking.”

As you may recall, Wolfe was reasonably accused of having leaked the unredacted FISA warrant for Carter page to the his girl friend, Ali Watkins. Senate Aide Was In Contact With Reporter Who Broke Carter Page FISA Story , although he has only been charged (and pleaded guilty) to lying to the FBI about his activities. Sundance at CTH: Senate Security Staffer and Media Leaker James Wolfe Pleads Guilty To One Count of Lying to FBI Investigators….

Damn this is frustrating. Sorry folks, but this absolutely confirms the ongoing corruption within the DOJ that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is allowing. This is a Trump administration cover-up. The DOJ has issued a press release [SEE HERE] outlining a plea agreement with Mr. Wolfe where all charges are dropped except a single count of lying to investigators.

Here is the 10-page plea agreement [Cloud pdf Link Here and SCRIBD pdf Link Here]

Senate Security Chief James Wolfe was given a plea deal by the DOJ allowing him to plead guilty to a single count of lying to federal authorities, and avoiding all other consequences.

The DOJ never openly admitted that Wolfe leaked the 83 Page FISA application on March 17th, 2017 from the Senate Intelligence Committee; and the media have never admitted to receiving it. This pleading today covers-up the entire scheme and throws a blanket over massive and consequential downstream ramifications to the Senate Intelligence Committee and U.S. Media that will now remain hidden. FUBAR !

Related: Carter Page Sues DNC And Its Law Firm Over The Steele Dossier. Filed under lawsuits I hope will succeed.

Former Trump campaign associate Carter Page filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against the Democratic National Committee and its law firm, which commissioned the infamous Steele dossier. Page filed the suit in federal court in Oklahoma against the DNC, the law firm, Perkins Coie, and two of its partners, Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann.

Perkins Coie, which also represented the Hillary Clinton campaign, is the firm that hired Fusion GPS, the opposition researcher that investigated Donald Trump’s links to Russia. Elias was Perkins Coie’s main contact to Fusion GPS, which was founded by three former Wall Street Journal reporters.

As part of the $1 million project, Fusion GPS hired former British spy Christopher Steele to conduct the investigation. The result was a 35-page dossier full of allegations that the Kremlin is blackmailing Trump and that the Trump campaign conspired with Russian operatives to influence the election. (RELATED: Here Is How Much The DNC And Clinton Campaign Paid For The Trump Dossier)

Page, an energy consultant, features prominently in the dossier, though he vehemently denies its allegations.

But lying to the FBI doesn't always earn you a trip to the pokey: Senior FBI Official Lied About Accepting Sports Tickets From Reporters

A senior FBI official accepted tickets to sporting events from reporters and initially lied about it to government investigators, according to a report released Tuesday.

The conduct of the FBI official, who has not been identified, violated federal regulations that prohibit federal employees from accepting gifts from journalists and other “prohibited sources.”
. . .
The official, who retired from the FBI during the investigation, will not be referred for prosecution, the OIG said.

The text messages showed that the FBI official “accepted two tickets to a professional sports game as a gift from a television news correspondent who regularly covered the FBI and DOJ, in violation of federal regulations,” according to the OIG report.

Maybe he turned state's evidence on Andy McCabe: FBI: McCabe interviewed over media leak in 2017. Hmmm.

Sundance at CTH: Jim Jordan Discusses AG Jeff Sessions, and Also Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson Pleading the Fifth…



Daniel Chaitin, WaEx: Top FBI lawyer's explosive deposition was 'cut short', Jim Jordan says

Another leak from the Mueller team? Bloomberg: Mueller Ready to Deliver Key Findings in His Trump Probe, Sources Say

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to issue findings on core aspects of his Russia probe soon after the November midterm elections as he faces intensifying pressure to produce more indictments or shut down his investigation, according to two U.S. officials.

Specifically, Mueller is close to rendering judgment on two of the most explosive aspects of his inquiry: whether there were clear incidents of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and whether the president took any actions that constitute obstruction of justice, according to one of the officials, who asked not to be identified speaking about the investigation.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Mueller’s findings would be made public if he doesn’t secure unsealed indictments. The regulations governing Mueller’s probe stipulate that he can present his findings only to his boss, who is currently Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The regulations give a special counsel’s supervisor some discretion in deciding what is relayed to Congress and what is publicly released.

Read this one in full about the lie that went twice around the world . . . John Solomon at Da Hill:  Move over ‘grassy knoll,’ the Trump-Russia bank tale joins unproven conspiracies list. Another Clinton/DNC hit job.

John Sexton at Hot Air reads the NYT so you don't have to. NY Times: The Attorney’s Fees Stormy Daniels Has To Pay Are Not Going To Be ‘Insignificant’. I hope Avenatti pays his fair share. And never-Trumper AllahPundit at Hot Air: Great Moments In Presidential Decorum: The Ballad Of Don And Horseface. We didn't vote for him for his great decorum. We voted for him because he fights tooth and nail, and isn't afraid to get dirty.

AllahPundit also has I’m Available And Willing To Campaign Against Trump And The GOP, Says … Michael Cohen. With friends like that. . . At the WaEx: Trump: Cohen provided ‘totally false’ testimony in plea deal. No prosecutor would ever do that, would they?