Russiagate Delayed is Not Russiagate Denied

Had a bunch in the digital fridge that I didn't do yesterday morning for obvious reasons, and collected a few more last night:

Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx on how Ex-FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleads guilty in Durham investigation

Andrew Weissmann, the Mueller “pit bull” who has been critical of Durham and U.S. Attorney General William Barr and who misrepresented an element of the special counsel’s congressional testimony during an appearance on MSNBC this week, had fired off multiple Twitter threads seeking to undermine the possible plea deal, but to no avail.

Judge Rosemary Collyer, then the presiding judge over the FISA court, ordered an FBI review of every FISA filing that Clinesmith had ever touched following the release of DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s December report on the FBI's Russia investigation. The FISA court criticized the FBI's handling of the Page applications as "antithetical to the heightened duty of candor described above" and demanded corrective action from the bureau.

From 'shipwreckedcrew' at Red State, on why Former FBI Attorney Kevin Clinesmith Made Andrew Weissmann’s Nightmares Come True By Pleading Guilty

This should be an abject lesson in why readers should NOT TRUST ANDREW WEISSMAN on anything. Weissmann has been all over Twitter making legally INACCURATE statements about what Clinesmith would need to admit for a guilty plea to be valid to the charge as filed by Durham. Weissmann has repeatedly stated that the substance of the email must be false — in other words, he has claimed that the law requires proof that Carter Page was a source of information for the CIA, which would be contrary to the substance of the email as altered by Clinesmith after he inserted the four words “is not a source” in reference to that issue.

That is NOT THE LAW on a “false writings” charge, Weissman knows that is not the law, so Weissmann’s repeated claims on Twitter that such evidence is necessary tells you everything you need to know about the ethics of Andrew Weissman.

He’s the same guy who was reversed 9-0 by the Supreme Court after he convinced a federal judge to instruct the jury in the prosecution of Big 5 accounting firm Arthur Anderson that they could convict the company of “obstruction of justice” even if no one in Arthur Anderson had any reason to believe that following an established company policy was wrong.

He’s the same guy who pushed for “obstruction of justice” theories of liability against a President connected to that President firing an FBI Director when the President has unfettered authority to do just that.

I’m 100% confident in my speculation that Weissmann also pushed to indict President Trump in contravention of existing DOJ policy that a sitting President cannot be indicted, and only had to relent by virtue of the fact that Rod Rosenstein told the SCO that they could not violate existing DOJ policy because that limitation is written into the regulations upon which the Special Counsel was appointed.

Weissmann has yet to make a single “positive” reference on Twitter to Donald Trump, William Barr, or John Durham. He is as partisan as one can be. The idea that anyone would ever describe him “nonpartisan” in his role as a key member of Mueller’s SCO is now comical. He was always a partisan, and his target was always Donald Trump.

Sundance at CTH explains how UPDATED: Sketchy Business – Clinesmith Agreement Structured to Avoid Scrutiny Upon Special Counsel…

AG Bill Barr has known since December 9, 2019, about Kevin Clinesmith’s felony forgery when OIG Inspector General Michael Horowitz made a criminal referral for the discovery. Why delay the indictment until August 20, 2020. This thing reeks of another institutional preservation approach. What I suspect is that Barr does not want to touch any material that contacts the Weissmann/Mueller special counsel… however, what took place under the Weissmann/Mueller special counsel is actually more corrupt than any activity that preceded it.

What I also strongly suspect is that Bill Barr is using his oft stated “I will not allow the DOJ to be political” as a crutch in his preservation approach. If nothing from the world or sphere of politics is allowed to enter the world or sphere of the DOJ then what is supposed to happen with all those years of congressional evidence gathering?

If my suspicions are correct; and keep in mind I have made first hand contact with the Durham investigators to confirm their intense alignment with Barr’s directive; then nothing from any embargoed political silo will ever be prosecuted regardless of how it percolates out.

If you read all the material you will see there is clearly no arrangement for Kevin Clinesmith to have provided any other evidence to the DOJ. This is a one-and-done move just like James Wolfe. The parallels are very similar.

I don't doubt that Barr is motivated more strongly to protect DOJ's (and by extension Mueller's) reputation than to exact vengeance on the various malefactors still in government.

From Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Ex-State Department Official ‘Destroyed’ Records At Request Of Christopher Steele It seems to be a calling card of Hillary Clinton's work that a lot of it needs to be deleted or hidden. Sounds like Winer needs to be prosecuted for destroying government records.

“After Steele’s memos were published in the press in January 2017, Steele asked Winer to make note of having them, then either destroy all the earlier reports Steele had sent the Department of State or return them to Steele, out of concern that someone would be able to reconstruct his source network,” the Senate report says.

The report quotes Winer saying: “So I destroyed them, and I basically destroyed all the correspondence I had with him.”

Steele appeared to be on a deletion spree at the time he made his request that Winer scrub his records.

The Durham team has interviewed former CIA Director John Brennan, and he has apparently been told he is not a target for prosecution, yet. Sundance, Brennan Spox Delivers Statement Following 8 Hr Discussion With Durham Investigative Unit…. Well, there's still time, but not much maybe. Roger L. Simon at ET, ‘No Justice! No Peace!’—On Russiagate, the Right May Have to Steal From the Left

You don’t have to be Tolstoy or even John Grisham to imagine what’s going on behind the scenes all over Washington now, lawyers with clients whose surnames begin with a B, C, M, S, and P … and probably others we don’t know about … counseling them to be cool and keep their mouths shut, at least until Nov. 3.

Biden will be elected then, and all will go away. Poof—no more investigations! No Bill Barr. No Durham. They will be vestigial lame ducks. Impotent. Who knows—maybe even Andrew Weissmann will be attorney general this time? Happy elitist days are here again!

Many links on Steve Bannon's arrest and charges on misusing funds donated to help build the wall. Vicky Taft, PJ Media, Bannon Indicted, Arrested by NY Feds for Alleged Defrauding Donors to 'We Build the Wall' Group. Althouse, "Steve Bannon, 'We Build The Wall' organizers arrested, charged with defrauding donors." Fox News reports. AllahPundit at Hot Air VIP, Trump On Bannon’s Indictment: I Never Liked The Idea Of A Private Outfit Trying To Build The Wall. Fox, Steve Bannon pleads not guilty after indictment in 'We Build the Wall' case. Sundance, Steve Bannon and Three Organizers of “We Build The Wall” Indicted by DOJ: Wire Fraud and Money Laundering….

Quick response, "now do the Clinton Foundation." Longer response. This doesn't make much sense, Bannon is a very rich man and has no need to rip off a charitable cause. But then, neither do the Clinton's and they still do it. And do you trust anything from the Southern District of New York to be non-partisan?

NYPo, Federal judge rejects Trump’s bid to hide tax returns from Manhattan DA "Hours after the ruling was handed down, Trump’s lawyers filed an emergency appeal of the decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals."

Courtesy of Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.21.20 from the Shark Tank: Roger Stone Warns Of Extensive Voter Fraud, Praises Laura Loomer

When asked about mail-in balloting, Stone commented that “if the election were held today, I would be very concerned about the level of voter fraud I think is going to be across the board, across the country.”

He expressed that this would negatively affect Trump’s reelection bid, and he pointed out some reasons as to why this is the case.

“The growing internet censorship of Trump allies and supporters in social media is in preparation for this election,” he shared, adding that “the fake reporting by the mainstream media” also looks to damage the Trump presidency.

 Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and linkfest.