Reclaiming Russiagate on a Rainy Day

Just a nasty cold wet day, maybe I can get this done before Skye insists I take her out for a walk around the neighborhood.

Two day ago, Sundance at CTH posted U.S. Attorney John Durham Announces His Departure from Office, No Details of Special Counsel Role Continuing, pointing out, as he has before that technically, John Durham was not qualified to be a special counsel because he was also currently a US Attorney. 

However, here’s the issue… under DOJ regulations [28 cfr 600] a special counsel must come from “outside government“; so did John Durham resign his position prior to the appointment, or has Bill Barr just given the appearance of a special counsel appointment while knowing the legal validity of it will collapse upon challenge?

 But clarifying this, Chuck Ross at Da Caller reports John Durham To Step Down As US Attorney, Will Continue Investigation Origins Of ‘Russiagate’ and ET, John Durham Announces Resignation as US Attorney, Will Continue Role as Special Counsel. Good, because there's plenty to investigate still, and good knows the O'Biden administration DOJ ain't gonna jump right on it. Sundance, JoeBama Put The Gang Back Together Inside The DOJ – John Carlin Returns as Acting Deputy AG

John Carlin was the assistant attorney general and head of the National Security Division inside the DOJ when efforts against the Trump campaign and incoming administration were underway. John CarIin was previously chief of staff to FBI Director Robert Mueller.

In September of 2016 Carlin manipulated the FISA court by misleading them on the Section 702 certifications. Carlin never informed the court of FBI contractors having access to the NSA database and exporting the search results to unknown actors. The FBI was using the database to monitor 2016 political campaigns and political opposition.

John Solomon at JTN, Once-secret FBI informant reports reveal wider-ranging operation to spy on Trump campaign

The now-declassified operational handling reports for FBI confidential human source Stefan Halper — codenamed "Mitch" — provide an unprecedented window both into the tactics used by the bureau to probe the Trump campaign and the wide dragnet that was cast to target numerous high-level officials inside the GOP campaign just weeks before Americans chose their next president in the November 2016 election.

Among the revelations, the memos make clear that:

• Almost immediately after the FBI opened a Russia collusion probe on July 31, 2016 narrowly focused on the foreign lobbying of a single Trump campaign aide named George Papadopoulos, agents pressed Halper for information on more than a half dozen other figures, including future Attorney General Jeff Sessions, foreign policy adviser Sam Clovis, campaign chairman Paul Manafort, economic adviser Peter Navarro, future National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and campaign adviser Carter Page.
• Halper provided significant exculpatory evidence to the FBI — including transcripts of conversations he recorded of targeted Trump advisers providing statements of innocence — that was never disclosed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that approved a year of surveillance targeting the Trump campaign, and specifically Page.
• While current FBI Director Chris Wray has insisted the bureau did not engage in spying on the Trump campaign, Halper's taskings include many of the tradecraft tactics of espionage, including the creation of a fake cover story (he wanted a job at the Trump campaign), secret recordings, providing background on targets, suggested questions to ask and even contact information for potential targets.

But the memos' most explosive revelations are the sheer breadth of the FBI's insufficiently predicated dragnet targeting the Trump campaign, and the agents' clearly stated purpose of thwarting any Trump campaign effort to get dirt from Russia that could hurt his Democratic rival.

Matt Margolis at PJ Media,  Dem Senator Says It’s a ‘Conspiracy Theory’ to Say Dems Were Out to Get Trump From Beginning. It's one of the least controversial aspects of all this; many of them were quite public and explicit about it from the day he won the election. But if you repeat a lie often enough. . . .  At Am Con, The Lies Aren’t Secret "Thanks to friendly courts, the Deep State continues to avoid accountability, triumphant at home and abroad."

The Logan Act must be tested: Fox, John Kerry meetings with Iran and Michael Flynn talks with Russian officials: Two different treatments? Jazz Shaw at Hot Hair, Did Biden And Kerry Undermine Trump’s Relations With Iran? Absolutely. Tyler O'Neil at PJ Media, Former Obama Staff Colluded With Iran to Undermine Trump. Insty, LOGAN ACT! Report: Biden Team Members Including John Kerry Colluded With Iran to Undermine Trump. . . .Earlier: Gen. Flynn Never Violated Logan Act, But John Kerry Violated It Often.

Sophie Mann at JTN, Congressional Republicans request FBI briefing on Swalwell's connections to Chinese spy "Swalwell remains seated on several committees that are regularly briefed on top secret information pertaining to American national security." So sleeping with the enemy is bad?

The Peacock's Carol C. Lam  whines Trump's tax documents are with New York prosecutors. But the clock is ticking. Market Watch, Manhattan prosecutor obtains copies of Trump tax records after long fight. If even a digit leaks, Cy Vance Jr. needs to go to jail. They're fishing for a crime.