The Dregs of Russiagate

A little popped up yesterday; nothing really exciting, but, at least it keeps it going:

Chuck Ross at Da Caller finds Grassley Presses Pentagon Think Tank Over Relationship With ‘Spygate’ Professor

Sen. Chuck Grassley pressed the Pentagon’s internal think tank, the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), on Thursday for details about its relationship with Stefan Halper, the former professor who served as a confidential source for the FBI during its probe of the Trump campaign. “When I began to review Stefan Halper’s contracting work for ONA, something didn’t look right,” Grassley, the president pro tempore, said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Grassley began asking ONA in 2019 to explain its relationship with Halper, a former University of Cambridge professor who worked alongside the former head of MI6 at the storied British college. Grassley’s inquiry spurred the Defense Department’s inspector general to audit Halper’s work for ONA, which produces reports about long-term military strategy in hotspots across the globe.

Records uncovered by The Daily Caller News Foundation in March 2018 showed that ONA paid Halper more than $1 million from 2012 through 2017, a period which spanned Halper’s undercover work for the FBI. During the 2016 campaign, an FBI confidential human source identified as Halper met with and secretly recorded Trump campaign aides Carter Page, George Papadopoulos and Sam Clovis.

Halper contacted Papadopoulos in September 2016 with an offer to fly the Trump aide to London and to pay him $3,000 to write a report on energy issues in the Middle East. Papadopoulos and some supporters of President Trump have questioned whether ONA’s payments to Halper were used as cover for his work for the FBI. No evidence has been produced to confirm that theory, but the Trump supporters have noted the similarities between Halper’s offer to Papadopoulos and other research projects Halper did for ONA.

So, basically, the DOD paid Halper to help set up Trump associates, including Gen. Flynn, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos so the FBI could investigate them on behalf of the Clinton campaign. Got it.

From Rusty Weiss And Jeff Dunetz at Da Lid, Chicken munching House Democrat Submits Resolution to Impeach Attorney General Bill Barr. They have the votes. So they will. Dan Chaitin at WaEx, 'They're afraid': Jim Jordan says Democrats want to impeach Barr because John Durham will find 'spying' We've already found the spying, now we need Durham to try somebody for it

Democrats may be trying to hinder U.S. Attorney John Durham's inquiry into the Russia investigation, according to a top House Republican.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the ranking member on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, said that a resolution signed by Rep. Eric Swalwell and dozens of other Democrats seeking an investigation into whether Attorney General William Barr should be impeached is a byproduct of their fear of what Durham may find.

"The thing that scares [Swalwell] about Bill Barr is this investigation he has tasked John Durham to complete," Jordan told Fox News this week. "And Mr. Barr said it is going to be done sometime this summer."

The Ohio Republican said that Democrats first got spooked when Barr testified to Congress in April 2019 and said he believes "" on President Trump's 2016 campaign.

"They're afraid of what that might show, mainly the spying that took place. And that's what set these folks off," Jordan said. "When Bill Barr first testified, Martha, after he was confirmed, he used the word 'spying,' and the Democrats went crazy. But he used that word because that's exactly what they did."

You know your over the target when your catching flak as Politico whines ‘Like yelling squirrel': White House goes after media over Russia bounty story

Yahoo! Epstein accusers praise prosecutor who stepped in after Trump sacked predecessor Berman and the rest of SDNY didn't seem to willing to spend the time trying to get to the bottom of the Epstein/Clinton matter when they could chase Trump instead.

Geoffrey Berman, the outgoing US attorney for the Southern District of New York, had presided over a long inquiry which had seen him make a series of high profile public statements about the Duke of York, including that the duke was offering "zero co-operation".

On June 20, Mr Trump ejected Mr Berman and Ms Strauss, 72, his deputy, took over his cases.

Her decision to move quickly in the Jeffrey Epstein case drew plaudits from women who have accused the late financier, and questions over why the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell had not happened sooner.

Maria Farmer, who made the first criminal complaint against Epstein in 1996, wrote on Twitter: "Strauss is doing what Berman wouldn't, his job!" When asked about the timing of the arrest, Ms Strauss said: "That was when we were able and prepared to move to arrest her."

And while Roger Stone is getting ready to get tossed in jail for lying to Congress, Russiagate alum Michael Cohen is enjoying his respite thanks to the WuFlu, Chuck Ross, Michael Cohen, Who Was Released To House Arrest Over COVID Fears, Is Spotted Dining At NYC Restaurant and NYPo, Michael Cohen caught at NYC restaurant — and it could land him back in prison 

Michael Cohen could soon be back to chowing down in a prison cafeteria.
The recently sprung jailbird was caught by The Post dining out on Manhattan’s Upper East Side — and the meal may cost him his freedom, legal experts said Friday.

Exclusive photos show President Trump’s former personal lawyer seated at a sidewalk table outside Le Bilboquet, a French restaurant around the corner from his Park Avenue apartment, on Thursday night.

Cohen, his wife, Laura, and another couple spent about an hour chatting before they became the last patrons to leave around 11:30 p.m.

At the time, staffers were preparing to close the eatery, where the “signature” dish of Cajun chicken costs $36 and a “New York Prime” steak is $55.