Monday, October 7, 2019

Some Rousing Russiagate

Good news, if true, Ratcliffe: DOJ Inspector General's Report On FISA Abuse Will Be Released Friday; Need Schiff Under Oath (RCP), Powerline follows up with WHY SCHIFF? Because Nancy trusts him, even though he's a proven liar. Barr And Durham Cast A Wide Net In Reviewing The Russia Inquiry, NYT cited at Hot Air, and their not very happy about it. I wonder why. Newsbusters, The Times and Post Push Spygate Cover-Up With Barr Attacks Dan Sobieski at AmThink, Brennan Hears Barr's 'Chilling' Footsteps
It is laughable for Brennan to be concerned about “the hand of politics” since it was his intelligence community that meddled in the 2016 elections in ways a foreign adversary such as Russia could only dream of and attempted to overthrow a duly elected president. And where did the Ukraine whistleblower come from? John Brennan’s CIA.
WaPoo has a huge thinly disguised hit piece on Barr in today's paper Barr’s review of Russia investigation wins Trump’s favor. Those facing scrutiny suspect he’s chasing conspiracy theories. (30 day pass to WaPoo)

Hmmm, amazing if true. How 20yr Counterintelligence Asset Carter Page Mopped Up Peter Strzok’s “Leak Strategy”

Also Newsbusters, Judicial Watch Posts Rod Rosenstein's Secret Emails with Flattering Reporters. It's not Rod's fault that they're such suck ups.

Herr Perfessor at LI, Michael Avenatti puts attorney fee lien on Stormy Daniels strip club arrest settlement. If ever a couple deserved each other, it's this pair. 

I’ve met a lot of whistleblowers, in both the public and private sector. Many end up broke, living in hotels, defamed, (often) divorced, and lucky if they have any kind of job. One I knew got turned down for a waitressing job because her previous employer wouldn’t vouch for her. She had little kids.

The common thread in whistleblower stories is loneliness. Typically the employer has direct control over their ability to pursue another job in their profession. Many end up reviled as traitors, thieves, and liars. They often discover after going public that their loved ones have a limited appetite for sharing the ignominy. In virtually all cases, they end up having to start over, both personally and professionally.

With that in mind, let’s look at what we know about the first “whistleblower” in Ukrainegate:

  • He or she is a “CIA officer detailed to the White House”;
  • The account is at best partially based upon the CIA officer’s own experience, made up substantially by information from “more than a half dozen U.S. officials” and the “private accounts” of “my colleagues”;
  • “He or she” was instantly celebrated as a whistleblower by news networks and major newspapers.

That last detail caught the eye of Kiriakou, a former CIA Counterterrorism official who blew the whistle on the agency’s torture program.
. . .
When Kiriakou first saw the “whistleblower complaint,” his immediate reaction was to wonder what kind of “CIA officer” the person in question was. “If you spend a career in the CIA, you see all kinds of subterfuge and lies and crime,” he says. “This person went through a whole career and this is the thing he objects to?”
It's a little dated but Ed Rollins wants Intel Chiefs to Explain Who Signed Off On Inserting CIA Agent Into WH (RCP). My impression is that the "wb" was not in the Trump White House very long, if at all, and was relying on friends still inside, including the second "wb" ABC, 2nd whistleblower comes forward after speaking with IG: Attorney. Anyone shocked that he/she/it is being represented by the same "lawfare" associated lawyers? Power Line, A second “whistleblower” may be coming forth. Does it matter?
At this point, though, I’m not sure it matters much how many whistleblower complaints will be filed. The whistle has been blown and the second whistleblower has been interviewed by the intelligence community IG. I assume that he (or she) eventually will also be interviewed by House Democrats whether he “comes forward” or not. So will other key players in the intelligence community and the State Department.

The inquiry into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine now has a life of its own, to say the least. It will be investigated the same way it would be if the allegations of wrongdoing originated from a source other than a whistleblower.

Thus, it no longer really matters, for purposes of figuring out what happened, whether the original whistleblower had first hand knowledge of events, whether he got certain things wrong, whether he actually has official whistleblower status, or what his motive was.

Chuck Ross of the Daily Caller points out that “an additional whistleblower is also likely to fuel Trump allies’ criticism that the complaints are part of an orchestrated attack on the president.” I assume this whole thing is an orchestrated attack on the president.
Like the Kavannaugh attack, the first couple of tales add to the story, but after a thousand or so, they start to subtract. Herr Perfessor again First Ukraine Whistleblower falling apart, so media inventing a Second Whistleblower
The New York Times is continuing the tradition of the Russia collusion media frenzy, where every few days a new media “bombshell” was launched, only to be revealed as a dud. By the time the bombshell was debunked, a new media bombshell was launched, hence a new news cycle.
Dr. John, Flopping Aces, Schiff plotted with the whistleblower to overthrow Trump
Adam Schiff is a scumbag. That’s it. There’s no other way to describe him. He is the worst low life dirtbag I can remember since Teddy Kennedy drowning a woman.


Sundance at CTH Why all the Outrage? – President Trump Tweets The Heart of the Matter – A DC Tradition of Selling Influence for Personal Financial Gain… He's threatening their business model.

Althouse get distracted with "Phony as a horse"... is that an expression? Or is this just a stray inside joke for "Family Feud" fans?
Oh, dear! I'm so distractable, stopping in the middle of a sentence (in "The Hunter Biden story is a troubling tale of privilege" (WaPo)):
For all his barking and hucksterism, Rudy Giuliani is having limited success drawing the gullible into his sideshow tent. But the fact that Giuliani’s spectacle involving the Biden family is as phony as a horse...
I'm off chatting about it and laughing and googling "phony as a horse" — which is all about "Family Feud" to my immense delight — but I finally come back...
The Independent Sentinal reports on Adam Schiff’s Ukrainian Oligarch Friend. Why does everybody but me have one?

Sundance at CTH follows the Sunday talk shows so you don't have to, with interesting videos at Rudy Giuliani: Media “Deliberately” Covering-Up Joe Biden Selling Public Office…, Sunday Talks: Jim Jordan -vs- George Stephanopoulos…, Sunday Talks: NBC’s Chuck Todd Goes Bananas During Spastic Effort to Protect The Swamp…, and Sunday Talks: Rep. Chris Stewart -vs- Chris Wallace…

AmThink, A new GOP comes out swinging
One example can be found in the confrontation between Indiana congressman Jim Banks and NPR's Michel Martin this past Wednesday. Martin was fulfilling NPR's unwritten charter of putting the wildest fringe leftist thinking into comfortable terms to make it acceptable to the denizens of the suburbs. Banks, a freshman representative who saw service in Afghanistan, wasn't having any.

Martin was attempting to put across the accepted narrative about the Trump/Zelensky call — that Trump asked the Ukrainian president for dirt on Biden as a "favor," that he immediately turned the conversation to Hunter Biden, that there was a "quid pro quo," and so on, all backed up by her claim that she had the transcript "in front of her."

Banks immediately cut to the chase on that, shutting down Martin with a single line: "... read the part of the transcript that would indict the president on high crimes and misdemeanors."

Of course, Martin could do no such thing, and despite some further word games, that was the end of it, leaving myriads of NPR listeners clutching their worry beads in shock and alarm.

At WaPoo, Joe Biden: Trump won’t destroy me, and he won’t destroy my family. From where I sit, he's doing a pretty good job.

Karen Townsend, Hot Air, Trump: Hey, That Call To Zelensky Was Rick Perry’s Idea
Is Trump throwing Perry under the bus to deflect attention away from himself? It’s unclear at this point because the story comes from unnamed sources. How many times have we seen reporting about Trump from anti-Trump sources and later found the reporting to be incorrect? It happens consistently and it has made Trump supporters very cynical about these stories. You can see in the reporting that Trump’s quote from the call is described as “something to the effect of” which means it isn’t a specific quote. So, here we are again. The press is running with a story that is unflattering to President Trump but not naming names.
And finally, doing impeachment nonsense linkwise:

Is It Ever OK for a President to Ask a Foreign Country to Investigate a Political Rival? - POLITICO Magazine. Turns out it's an old tradition.
For House Democrats, impeachment probe widens the divide they hoped to bridge - WaPoo
The Pre-Impeachment of Donald Trump Never Stopped - Roger L. Simon. The plans to impeach Trump predate his presidency.
Sudden-death playoffs - Fred Barnes, WaEx
Juan Williams: Democrats must keep their eyes on impeachment prize - TheHill at least he's honest about his intentions.
Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "The great Scam is being revealed!… " Well, yeah, but then they've been being revealed for some time.
Sunday Talks: Senator Lindsey Graham Discusses Impeachment by “Anonymous” Complaint… - The Last Refuge. It will make for an interesting Senate trial.
Finally – John Ratcliffe Explains Why Pelosi’s “Impeachment Inquiry” is Being Run From House Intel Instead of House Judiciary… - The Last Refuge
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