Russiagate: Rushing Into Impeachment

Are you ready for another week? Clarice at AmThink is still Waiting for Horowitz

We are told the long-awaited report from Inspector General Michael Horowitz will be made on December 9, and two days later on December 11 he will publicly testify about it. In the meantime, you might want to copy and study this incredible analysis by Yaacov Apelbaum. In my view, he did more to connect the web of anti-Trump plotters than anyone before or since.

Of course, Apelbaum is not the only non-governmental investigator into the foreign interference in our 2016 election. This week Andrew C. McCarthy’s book, Ball of Collusion, on the plot against the President was reviewed by Spengler (David Goldman), who offers up his own view of the reasons why our “a cabal of spies with the support of the major media,” worked to subvert our Constitution and nullify the election of Donald Trump.

I'm prepared for the Horowitz report to be a bit of let down; DOJ people are very reluctant to attempt to go after their fellows; it's too much like cannibalism. But I do expect a lot of negative material about FBI and DOJ folk to come out. At Doug Ross, DOJ Response to Peter Strzok Opens a Whole Can of Whoop-Ass on Comey, McCabe and the Lovers. Well deserved whoop-ass I believe. Meanwhile, a concentrated effort to rehabilitate Lisa Page's reputation is underway, with Da Beast's article, Lisa Page Speaks: ‘There’s No Fathomable Way I Have Committed Any Crime at All’. That's probably what Michael Cohen and Roger Stone thought, too. I think her sins were mostly venal. She was a violent anti-Trump (and Trump supporters) bigot, but that's not illegal. Acting on it in certain ways is. I don't really know if she crossed the line. Gateway Pundit, FBI Lovebird and Trump-Hater Lisa Page Insists She’s Non-Partisan – But Her Twitter Page Tells a Different Story Twitter does tend to bring out the worst in people. Sundance at CTH, Questions Answered – FBI Resistance Lawyer Lisa Page Takes Center Stage to Play Victim Card…

When you read the article it jumps out at you. The victim narrative is from the exact same acting coaches hired by the FBI and used by Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford; it’s a little spooky how both Ms. Ford and Ms. Page could sound so identical, until you realize the same FBI and media people have constructed both victim storyboards.

Ms. Page decries what she has seen happen to her beloved FBI, that as she said “she grew up in“. Now, if that institutional attachment sounds a little over-the-top considering a grown woman started at the FBI in 2013 and resigned in 2018, well, it helps to remember this is the Public Relations advice from the DC-based FBI committee.

The DOJ/FBI ‘above the law’ crowd of beach friends assemble in the Lawfare conference room; look at the latest storyboards and plan the Lisa Page marketing, advertising and branding campaign. The resulting media strategy started tonight . . .

Liz Vaughn at Red State, Dan Bongino Deconstructs Latest NY Times Attempt to Sterilize IG Report and Makes a Stunning Connection

Bongino has been telling his viewers for a long time that the FBI knew in January 2017 that the dossier was bogus because they had interviewed several of his sources. However, this has never been corroborated. Goldman’s article admits the FBI “interviewed some of Steele’s sources in January 2017 and found that their information differed somewhat from his dossier.” Bongino says:

We’ve been told for a long time that Steele wrote the dossier. Steele had worked for the FBI before. He was a credible source and it allowed them to sell it to the FISA judge. Fusion GPS’ Glenn Simpson’s wife indicated that Simpson played a large role in writing the document. (She made this claim in a now-deleted Facebook post.)

Bongino discusses the role of Stephan Halper in the dossier. We know that Halper was paid $1 million through Office of Net Assessment records. And that he spoke to Steele. Where did Halper get his information? Was Halper “double-dipping” and receiving money from other people too? Like the Russians?

Adam Mill at AmGreat writes of The Rise of America’s ‘Putin-ized’ Intelligence Community. We're not a police state yet, but we're surely trending that direction. Another day and the FBI finds more irregular emails from Hillary Clinton. Only six years.

An unrolled  thread on the suspected whistleblower Ciaramella, a career CIA analyst, was Ukraine director on the NSC toward the end of the Obama administration. He worked under both Joe Biden and John Brennan reporting directly to Susan Rice through Charles Kupchan who had extensive ties with Clinton acolyte Sydney Blumenthal. . . .

And another one, This whole thing with this Ukraine phone call boils down to pretty simple stuff. And when all is told and the truth comes out completely this is how I think it played out. 

Alexander Vindman was listening in on the call between Trump & Zelensky. He hears where Trump is wanting the investigation into the 2016 election. Vindman knows what went on with the Ukraine or at least has a good understanding of what went on.
He tells his buddy, the guy he replaced on the National Security Council, Eric Ciaramella, let's him know what he heard Trump say and how he wanted Zelensky and hs investigators to work with Barr, and that Zelensky agreed they wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Ciaramella, who was directly involved in the 2016 interference along with Chalupa, Marie Yovanovitch, Victoria Nuland, and all the Ukraine actors.
Ciaramella panics and runs to his friends, who were newly hired by Schiff to get leaks from those still left behind in the White House NSC. Ciaramella runs and tells Abigail Grace & Sean Misko what he was told about the phone call with Zelensky.

They began to panic, because they are all involved in the 2016 interference. . . .

OAN EXCLUSIVE With Rudy Giuliani: Ukrainian Witnesses Destroy Schiff’s Case. Still waiting for it. But they're not going down without a fight, from the Guardian, Legal storm clouds gather over Rudy Giuliani, America's tarnished mayor

A couple from The Last Tradition, Sen. Kennedy claims former Ukraine leader 'actively' worked with Hillary Clinton in 2016, followed by Red Baiting? NBC host Chuck Todd blasts GOP Sen. Kennedy for 'spreading Vladimir Putin's lies' after he claimed ex-Ukrainian president Poroshenko 'worked' for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. Debunked has become the new Democrat mantra when challenged with facts that differ from their agenda.

In impeachment follies, Intelligence Committee to begin circulating draft Ukraine report Monday

Also, the Trump team has announced it won't bother to send lawyers to at least the first part of Fat Jerry's Kangaroo Court, where he finds several constitutional "scholars" willing to support impeachment. ABC, Trump, lawyers won’t participate in upcoming impeachment hearing, on Da Hill, READ: White House's letter to Nadler saying it won't participate in impeachment hearing and Politico, White House won’t take part in first House Judiciary impeachment hearing "“It is too late to cure the profound procedural deficiencies that have tainted this entire inquiry,” his counsel said." Breitbart, White House Refuses to Participate in Jerry Nadler’s Impeachment Inquiry. Now, in my mind, the lawyers ought to show up just to throw sand in the gears, and make it clear that the process is rigged from the start.
From RCP David Brooks sadly exclaims Given Current Impeachment Poll Numbers, "I'm Not Sure What Will Have Been Achieved"



From Faux, Tuckah! Democrats have lost the Trump impeachment war. Even Adam Schiff knows it

How’d that happen? Take a close look at the numbers and it’s obvious how it happened. Independent voters were asked to rank 11 issues in order of their importance. First on the list was fiscal health. Seventy-four percent of independent voters said that the budget deficit was their main concern. Seventy-two percent said health care was the main concern. Seventy percent said infrastructure. Pretty conventional.

This is what happens when you let Jeff Zucker run your political party. You start to imagine that CNN's primetime lineup somehow speaks for America, rather than for a tiny, out of touch little part of it.

Impeachment? That came in dead last, 11 out of 11. Only 37 percent of independents thought it was a priority -- at all. By a margin of 3 to 1 -- and this is hilarious -- independents said that impeachment was more important to politicians and to the media than it was to them.

At AmSpec, Rabbi Fischer, The Cataclysmic Disaster the Impeachment Democrats Have Overlooked  "One is reminded of Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese WWII sergeant, still holding out for the emperor in 1972, and all the others who still refused to concede Japan’s WWII defeat into the 1980s and beyond." Betsy McCaughey, RCP,  Don't Impeach Trump. He Puts America, Not Ukraine, First. Yep. But Chris Cilliza at his second home at CNN.  The impeachment process is starting to get very real. What was that Cilliza quote again? Oh yeah,  "This is Cillizza-level inanity.". NYPo editors, Democrats’ ugly Christmas present to the nation. Used socks and dirty underwear. Althouse, "Do you think the Democrats need to rush impeachment (as they’re currently doing)? I don't."

Says Mickey Kaus. He observes that Democrats say they need to rush to get out of the way of the primaries, to keep people from getting tired of it, and — assuming it's hurting the Democratic Party — to limit the damage. But too bad if the Senators in the race have a bit more trouble campaigning...

Diogenes Middle Finger, Impeachment Theater Allows Americans a Glimpse of the Unseen Unelected Who Actually Rule Over Us, Instead of Just the Minor Functionaries We Get to Vote For.

American voters have been introduced to the idea that the elected President of the United States can be accused of "undermining" foreign policy determined by the permanent bureaucracy, which spends billions of our tax dollars but is not even slightly interested in our input.

We've been told top bureaucrats who supposedly serve at the pleasure of the president are actually entitled to their jobs and firing them is a crime, with the president presumed guilty unless he can prove he had an acceptable reason for terminating or reassigning them.

We've learned that Made Men of the bureaucratic empire and its political wing, the Democrat Party, cannot be investigated for corruption unless the most exquisite preliminary rituals are followed and the investigators can demonstrate the absolute purity of their intentions. . . .

News Max, Joe Lieberman: Impeachment of Trump 'Most Partisan of All'  At USA Today, Uh huh! 'Unsavory,' not impeachable: Democratic lawmaker explains why he opposes removing Trump. But your taste may vary.

"My job isn’t really to like or dislike him," he said in an interview with USA TODAY in his office on Capitol Hill. "My job is to exact as much goodwill and help for my district and for this nation and for this world that I possibly can while he’s president.”

Da Caller, Top Republican On Judiciary Committee Reveals GOP’s ‘Foremost Witness’ In Impeachment Hearings, Adam Schiff.  Allah Pundit (Hot Air) whines  GOP Ranking Member: The First Witness We’ll Call To Testify On Impeachment Before The Judiciary Committee Is Adam Schiff

Let me rephrase: The first witness they’ll attempt to call is Adam Schiff. The wrinkle in Doug Collins’s plan is that the rules passed by the House for the Judiciary phase of the impeachment process are similar to the rules for the phase that was conducted by Schiff’s committee. Nothing happens without Democratic approval:

Sundance watches the Sunday talks so you can sleep in: Sunday Talks: Andy Biggs Discusses Heavily Rushed Impeachment Schedule…



and Sunday Talks: Doug Collins -vs- Chris Wallace… "House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins appears on Fox News to debate the insufferable gatekeeper of the swamp, Chris Wallace."



Da Caller, Collins Fires Back At Nadler Deadline, Slams ‘Hurried And Partisan’ Impeachment

Satisfying nobody, at Don Elliott at AmSpec,  How the Great Impeachment Debacle of 2020 Can Be Avoided "Why the House should censure rather than impeach."

Scott Wong on Da Hill, Schiff for Preznit? Adam Schiff's star rises with impeachment hearings. Gg me with a spoon.

The California Democrat’s eyes became moist and his bottom lip quivered as he invoked the late Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who unexpectedly died last month in the middle of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.