Reclaiming Time for Russiagate

One week seems to be about the right length of time these days, not enough material for daily use, too much if you skip a week.

From Chuck Ross at Da Caller, ‘Adam Schiff Took The Bait’: Top Russiagate Investigator Explains GOP Strategy Behind The ‘Nunes Memo’

“Adam Schiff took the bait and put so much more information in his memo than we did in ours, because we knew we would be able to use that information later and prove how wrong they were. It would just take a little bit of time,” Patel said in an interview for The Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders.”

We saw that interview last week, but it worth pointing out Sleazy Adam's escapades over again. From Greg Piper at JTN, Judge skeptical of Schiff's argument for keeping impeachment phone subpoenas secret

Todd Tatelman, principal deputy general counsel for the House of Representatives, argued that the Constitution's "speech or debate clause" shields the committee from being dragged into court to divulge the scope of its subpoenas.

"What's your authority for what you just said?" Judge Karen Henderson responded. "I have not found any case that upholds the speech or debate clause immunity with regard to the common law right of access" to public records. Tatelman admitted he didn't know of any.

The judge also found it "noteworthy," if not "ironic," that Tatelman justified hiding the subpoenas to protect the privacy of irrelevant individuals whose personal information could be exposed. Judicial Watch's entire case is about the committee claiming an "unlimited" power to invade the privacy of individuals, Henderson said.

Da Caller, Brother, Sister-In-Law Of Michael Flynn Sue CNN Over QAnon Reporting and  Da  Wire, Michael Flynn’s Family Files $75 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN  

Flynn’s brother and sister-in-law, Jack and Leslie Flynn, sued the network in U.S. District Court in New York City for allegedly portraying them and their family as supporters of QAnon, an online conspiracy theory. The Flynns claimed that CNN deceptively edited footage in a Feb. 4 segment on the conspiracy to implicate the Flynn family, according to the Daily Beast. 

Filed under suits I want to see succeed. John Solomon at JTN, FBI had doubts about Russia informant's allegation that helped prompt Mike Flynn probe "Stefan Halper's story of Flynn trip with Russian woman deemed 'not plausible … not accurate.'" If Stefan Halper is not sent to jail, a miscarriage of justice will have occurred. I hope Durham is looking at his efforts on behalf of the Clinton campaign. 

Speaking of Durham, Sundance at CTH, President Trump Asks a Question, Frustrated Trump demands to know if Special Counsel Durham is still 'living' "Where’s Durham? Is he a living, breathing human being? Will there ever be a Durham report?' Trump said" (Fox) and Da Caller, ‘Is He A Living, Breathing Human Being?’: Trump Wants To Know Where John Durham Is . A good question. A better one is whether or not the Harris/Biden administration will allow it to continue, and if it does, will it make any report public?

Also from John Solomon, DOJ 'unlikely' to represent FBI officials sued by Carter Page for misconduct in Russia case "James Comey and a current FBI analyst have already hired their own private lawyers for civil case after DOJ informs them they are on their own."

The Justice Department has informed current and former FBI officials sued by Russia probe target Carter Page that it is unlikely to represent them in the civil case, signaling they will need to get private lawyers, according to new court filings.

At least two defendants — fired FBI Director James Comey and current FBI intelligence analyst Brian Auten — have already hired private counsel and notified the presiding judge in the case of their representation.

Ordinarily, DOJ represents its employees sued by civilians over their official duties. But court records show the Justice Department has not committed to doing so in this case and told the court as recently as last week it "does not currently represent any of the individual capacity defendants" and needs time to sort through complex issues about whether it should assist in their defense.

"The Department of Justice must determine, among other things, whether the employee defendants reasonably appear to have acted in the scope of employment … whether their representation is in the interest of the United States … and whether legal or factual conflicts exist among the various defendants such that representation of all by the same attorney would be inappropriate," Justice lawyers argued in a motion dated March 15.
. . .
"On March 15, 2021, Mr. Auten was informed that it was unlikely that DOJ would be able to represent any of the individual Defendants in this matter, including Mr. Auten," the new court filing. "On the same date, Mr. Auten requested that the undersigned attorneys of the law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP act as counsel of record on his behalf in this matter."

 At Bongino, Sen. Grassley Demands DOJ File Charges Against Women That Falsely Accused Brett Kavanaugh. I'm sure we can count on Merrick Garland to get right on that.