Russiagate Regaining Strength

Two big issues today. First, the Exculpatory Papadopoulos Transcript – FBI Surveillance Wire – Declassified and Released…, (Sundance at CTH) and what it shows is what we expected it to: Ace: Catherine Herridge: Formerly Redacted Footnotes of Mueller Report Show that Agents Assessed the Steele Dossier as False and Likely Planted by Russian Intelligence. So the whole Mueller nightmare was based on Russian disinformation purchased by the Clinton campaign/DNC, and sold (literally) to FBI, and transmitted to the public by a Democrat friendly media.

#FISA Developing @CBSNews obtains April 2 letter responding to @SenRonJohnson and @ChuckGrassley over four key footnotes IG Horowitz FISA report. Three declassified with minimal redactions, and fourth footnote blacked out citing “unique and significant concerns. Specifically,

— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) April 10, 2020

From Chuck Ross at Da Caller, EXCLUSIVE: ‘Crossfire Typhoon’: Here Is A 171-Page Transcript Of Ex-Trump Aide’s Secret Conversation With An FBI Informant

The transcript shows that Papadopoulos repeatedly denied that the Trump campaign was working with Russia to hack and release emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign. He also dismissed allegations circulating at the time that the Russian government was behind the hacks.

“That’s all bullshit,” Papadopoulos told the source after he brought up the topic of Russia’s possible interests in helping the Trump campaign.

The FBI had for three months before the interaction been investigating whether the Trump campaign was conspiring with the Russian government to influence the election. The bureau opened “Crossfire Hurricane,” the code name for the probe, on July 31, 2016 after receiving a tip from the Australian government related to Papadopoulos.

Papadopoulos is referred to as “Crossfire Typhoon” in the FBI transcript, which was declassified on April 1.

The FBI used multiple undercover sources in the investigation, including at least two who met with Papadopoulos. Stefan Halper, a former Cambridge professor, met with and secretly recorded Papadopoulos and Carter Page, another Trump campaign aide, prior to the election.

Halper approached Papadopoulos on Sept. 2, 2016 to invite the young Trump associate to London under the guise of discussing a research project regarding energy issues. During their visit, Halper tried to pry loose information from Papadopoulos related to Russia. Papadopoulos repeatedly denied involvement in Russia’s hacking efforts.

So they ambushed him at an airport, and interrogated him for hours until they created an inconsistency in dates they could use to charge him with lying to the FBI, then threatened to break him financially if he didn't plead guilty. Someone needs to go to jail, and it's not Papdop. Vicotria Taft PJ Media, BREAKING: FBI Knew Before Mueller Probe That Hillary's Steele Dossier Was Russian Disinformation

More outrageously is the fact that this information was known to the FBI's top brass and Hillary Clinton's muckrakers, Fusion GPS, in October thru December of 2016 — months before Robert Mueller was assigned to investigate RussiaGate, according to CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge:
. . .
Declassified footnotes to a Justice Department inspector general report show that the Federal Bureau of Investigation team investigating members of the Trump campaign received classified reports in 2017 identifying key pieces of the Steele dossier as products of a Russian disinformation campaign. This might be only the tip of the iceberg because other recently declassified information demonstrates that even more disinformation may have been planted in Christopher Steele’s reporting.

Let that sink in. The FBI knew that at least some of its evidence against the Trump campaign, and maybe more, was likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign—evidence from a source that was “central and essential” for getting the first FISA warrant. It isn’t clear what if anything the FBI did to determine whether their investigation was based in substantial part on Russian disinformation.

John Sexton at Hot Air, Crossfire Hurricane Team Knew Steele Dossier Likely Contained ‘Russian Disinformation’ and Curt at Flopping Aces, FBI Had Evidence That Anti-Trump Dossier Contained Russian Intel Disinformation, Declassified Footnotes Show

Sundance at CTH, Footnote Declassification Highlights Ongoing DOJ Cover-Up Operations…

Everyone seems to be overlooking the obvious… Why were these footnotes classified four months ago when the report came out? Who classified them? There are no protected “sources or methods”; and the only reason for the redactions was to protect the corrupt interests of the DOJ.

With that said, I find no reason to celebrate the un-redaction of redacted information that should never have been classified in the first place. Factually, the information revealed by the footnote declassification was already well known. Worse still, the interpretation of the information within the footnotes is propaganda, purposeful ‘misinformation’.

Additionally, if these declassified footnotes are an example of a new DOJ shift to allow sunlight; as in: some newly discovered interest in truthfulness; then why are the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages still redacted? Why is the Susan Rice memo on inauguration day still redacted? And, more importantly, more tellingly, why is the DOJ still hiding the ‘scope memos’ that authorized Mueller’s investigation?

Nope. What was released today was an example of the state moving in a very specific way to protect itself. I’ll explain after we first review what happened today. . .

That interpretation is also pure nonsense. Here it is again:

[…] The footnotes reveal that, beginning early on and continuing throughout the FBI’s Russia investigation, FBI officials learned critical information streams that flowed to the dossier were likely tainted with Russian Intelligence disinformation. But the FBI aggressively advanced the probe anyway, ignoring internal oversight mechanisms and neglecting to flag the material credibility concerns for a secret court. Despite later intelligence reports that key elements of the FBI’s evidence were the result of Russian infiltration to undermine U.S. foreign relations, the FBI still pushed forward with its probe. (more)

That is not just a wrong interpretation; it is an intentionally wrong interpretation.

That interpretation comes from interests of the U.S. government, all sides; and it is intended to help protect and insulate the institutions of U.S. government.

The truth is the CIA and FBI worked to plant disinformation in the Steele dossier. The CIA/FBI did not get duped by Russian Disinformation. The CIA/FBI knowingly and willfully solicited Russian disinformation to be channeled to Chris Steele.

The current DOJ, current FBI, and current political class (both parties), do not want to reveal that U.S. intelligence agencies worked with Russian actors to seed disinformation into the Steele Dossier that could then be laundered and returned to the U.S. intelligence apparatus for exploitation – via political surveillance – using FISA.

And as long as we're citing sundance, on to the next topic, the various revelations by Bill Barr to Laura Ingraham. AG Bill Barr Discusses: The Firing of IG Atkinson, The Ongoing Durham Investigation, and Current FISA Abuse Issues – Video and Transcript…



News Thud, Bill Barr Puts Comey On Notice, Accuses FBI Of “Sabotaging Presidency, Greatest Travesty In US History”, Breitbart, Barr: Trump ‘Did the Right Thing in Removing Atkinson’,

Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 04.10.20 the Weasel Zippers notes that AG Barr Says Evidence From Durham Investigation “Far More Troubling” Than Mistakes Or Sloppiness and  Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, Barr says evidence from Durham investigation is ‘far more troubling’ than mistakes or sloppiness

Capt. Ed at Hot Air, Barr: Durham’s Focused On Indictments, Not A Report.  Ace, AG Bill Barr: John Durham Isn't Writing a Report, He's Writing Indictments



Da Wire, AG Barr Dunks On MSNBC; Gives Update On Durham Criminal Investigation

Barr made the remarks after Fox News’ Laura Ingraham played a montage of the MSNBC employees complaining about the Department of Justice’s recent actions against drug cartels.

“Well, it might come as a surprise to some of these people that the federal government, the Justice Department specifically, has 115,000 people who are dedicated to protecting the public safety, including preventing narcotics trafficking, and we’re actually able to do more than one thing at a time, and we’re handling different kinds of cases,” Barr said. “Maybe fraud is not on the top of their mind, but we still police fraud. … It’s very interesting because drugs kill 70,000 Americans a year, 70,000 a year. And it’s poison, and we have to make sure that during this period, the cartels are not taking advantage of the United States and pumping this poison up into the United States.”

The WaPoo managed to sneak this one onto the second page of today's paper: Justice Dept. finds material errors in two 2019 FISA applications in counterintelligence cases

In Horowitz’s recent memorandum, he said it was too early to say whether the new errors he had found were material, a legal term used to describe facts so central to the matter that they could have affected the court’s finding of probable cause to surveil a FISA target.

In the new Justice Department filing submitted last week and released in redacted form this week, the agency said its 2019 accuracy reviews of FISA applications found material errors in two applications, both counterintelligence cases. One application contained two material errors, while the other omitted material facts, according to the filing, which said the department has not completed its assessment of accuracy reviews for the year.

“In both of these cases, the Government reported these errors and omissions to the Court and assessed that, notwithstanding these errors or omissions, probable cause existed to find that the targets were acting as an agent of a foreign power,” the filing said.

and tried to push the point that it was just sloppiness,  not malign intent that caused them to create so many errors and omissions in the Carter Page FISA warrants. Embrace the  healing power of "and".