Russiagate, Use It Or Lose It

If I don't get this stuff out soon, I never will. Why does it matter? Peder Zane at RCW explains Why The Russiagate Scandal Outranks Every Other In History. An unholy alliance between an opposition political party, the mass of the bureaucratic state (especially the intelligence agencies) and the media, who all conspired to try to block a President from being elected, and when he beat them and won the election, to attempt to oust him. John O'Connor at Am Great, The Russiagate Probe: ‘Clean Gene’ or ‘Dirty Harry’?, " The much-ballyhooed “Russian collusion” probe, as it was pursued after Trump was elected, was simply a “perjury trap” investigation, a specialty of the unctuous James Comey. " Ned Ryun at Am Great, The Praetorian Guard of the Administrative State, "The FBI and Justice Department should cease to exist in their current forms, if they should even exist at all." Dan Chaitin at WaEx, Mark Meadows says DOJ tried to redact Russiagate materials 'minutes' before Biden sworn in. Mediaite is really pissed that Trump Brags to Mark Levin He Stayed in Office Four Years Because He Fired James Comey

As for the media, as Margot Cleveland at Da Fed notes, The Corrupt Media Did Not Fall For The Russia Collusion Hoax. They Were Part Of It and Corporate Media’s Systemic Corruption Is Far Worse Than Chris Cuomo’s Coverup For His Brother. Mark Judge at Stream, ‘Reporting the Controversy’ — How the Corrupt Media Creates Fake News. He has experienced it personally. Aaron Mate' at RCI, Five Trump-Russia 'Collusion' Corrections We Need From the Media Now -- Just for Starters: "Falsehood No. 1: Michael Flynn Discussed Sanctions With Russia and Lied About It, Falsehood No. 2: Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence, Falsehood No. 3: George Papadopoulos's Night of Heavy Drinking' With the Australian Envoy, Falsehood No. 4: Russia Launched a Sweeping Interference Campaign That Posed a ‘National Security Threat' and Falsehood No. 5: The Justice Department Pulled Its Punches on Trump. Ed Sherdlu at Am Think thinks The New York Times still hasn’t apologized for its Russia Hoax coverage. No, and they never will. 

And then the Democrats, who directed and paid for the hoax. Robert Spencer at PJ Media, Irony On Steroids: Hillary Laments People Not Being Held Accountable for Their Actions. Mediaite scandalized when Stephen Miller Says ‘Criminal’ Hillary Clinton Is the ‘Single Biggest Purveyor of Disinformation in the History of Our Country’. For a non-media person, she's surely in the top 5. Daniel Greenfield at Front Page documents how Schumer, Who Accused Trump of Russian Collusion, is Getting Paid by Putin. "Schumer, along with a number of other top Democrats, is a beneficiary of campaign contributions from top Democrat fundraiser Vincent Roberti whose lobbying firm was paid over $8.5 million by Nord Stream 2 which is owned by Putin's state-run Gazprom energy monopoly." Eli Lake, The Resistance Liar, "Review of 'Midnight in Washington' by Adam Schiff."

David Keltz at Am Great writes 2021 Was the Year of Vindication for Trump "One by one, the lies of the past five years are being exposed." And the coverup continues, David Frum at the Slantic, The new Trump-Russia denialists. Jonathon Rauch, The Real Hoax "There is ample evidence that Trump colluded with Russia. Here’s how he convinced people otherwise." Seth Barret Tillman has a take down of Frum at The Reform Club, Letter to the Editor responding to David Frum’s ‘It Wasn’t a Hoax’

Frum’s position amounts to this: If you express the wrong political views in public—by which he means, political views he disagrees with—that is a reason for the government to investigate you. Frum is not embarrassed by his position. Millions of Americans agree with Frum. He and they are entirely wrong. And the continuing viability of American and Western democracy depends on changing the hearts and minds of those millions.

Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx does some heavy lifting in exposing The many Russian links to the operatives behind the Steele dossier. WaPoo whines Steele dossier sources, methods face new scrutiny after indictment of key figure, "The indictment of Igor Danchenko, a key source for the report on Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, has sharpened focus on the work by ex-British spy Christopher Steele." They're trying desperately to cover his ass. Tristan Justice at Da Fed reports that a Soros-Funded ‘Disinformation’ Group Paid Nearly $1 Million More To Creators Of Steele Dossier Disinformation Operation. Fox, New York Times mocked for claiming debunked Steele dossier a 'distraction' from the real Russia investigation, "Mollie Hemingway tweeted, 'Give it up, hoaxers. Your credibility: gone.'" Paul Sperry at RCI writes Journalist-Authors Isikoff, Corn Also Fell For Danchenko's Mythical Dossier Source. They weren't fooled, they were complicit. At Haut Hair, John Sexton cites WaPoo's Erik Wemple: Brian Stelter and CNN aren't taking much responsibility for their embrace of the Steele dossier. Again, complicit. But according to NewsBusters, former Clinton lead flak George Stuffinenvelopes is going to brazen it out, Really? Stephanopoulos Rejects Notion ABC Hyped Bogus Steele Dossier.

According to Jordan Boyd at Da Fed, Grassley Warns Durham: ‘Don’t Take Your Eye Off Government Misconduct’ Jerry Dunleavy, John Durham says evidence shows Michael Sussmann lied when pushing Trump-Russia claims. John Sexton at Haut Hair, Additional evidence supports Durham's indictment of Michael Sussmann. But ex-Federal Prosecutor Andy McCarthy at NR, cited at Haut Hair, worries Is Durham's case against Michael Sussman collapsing? Any case against a high level Democrat in the DC metro area is a tough row to hoe. Witness, as Paul Sperry notes DC Bar Restores Convicted FBI Russiagate Forger to ‘Good Standing’ Amid Irregularities and Leniency. Convicted felon Kevin Clinesmith good enough for D.C. Sophie Mann at JTN, DC bar restores status of convicted ex-FBI lawyer who deceived the FISA court during Russia probe, "Typically, a case like Kevin Clinesmith's would end in disbarment, but not this time."

At the Wa Free Bee, Jake Sullivan’s Wife Faces Growing Calls for Recusal From Durham Probe, "Margaret Goodlander serves as counsel to AG Merrick Garland, who oversees the probe". Nothing to see here, move on!

Sundance has some interesting inside baseball, About That Yahoo Article on Ali Watkins and James Wolfe and WaEx reports Michael Cohen sues Trump for 'retaliatory confinement' to prevent book publication. I'm not impressed.

Election 2020: NSA Attempts Damage Control

We're still talking about how a Whistleblower Comes Forward to Tell Fox News Host What the NSA Is Allegedly Doing To Him (Matt Vespa, Town Hall). Mediaite is skeptical,  Tucker Carlson Claims the NSA is Monitoring His Communications ‘In an Attempt to Take This Show Off the Air’ and finds people who agree. AllahPundit at Hot Hair is also a doubter, Will Fox's news division investigate Tucker's claim that the NSA is preparing to leak his private communications? This will unrefurbish his conservative credentials. Virginia Kruta at Da Caller notes  the Psaki Refuses To Answer Question On Tucker Carlson’s Spying Claim: The NSA ‘Focuses On Foreign Threats’. That's the theory, anyway. Even NCIS doesn't think that's true. And we know from Russiagate that countless counter examples exist. NT, BREAKING: Tucker responds to NSA who is spying on him 

"We made a very straightforward claim: NSA has read my private emails without my permission... Tonight's statement from the NSA does not deny that instead it comes with this non-sequitur: Tucker Carlson has never been an intel target."

Also at Da Caller, NSA Responds To Tucker Carlson, Claims He ‘Has Never Been An Intelligence Target’

Carlson responded to the NSA’s statement on his show Tuesday night. He said he was “glad to know” that he wasn’t an “intelligence target” but still asked if the Biden administration had read his personal emails. The Fox News host said he spoke to NSA officials directly and they “refused to explain why they couldn’t answer that simple question.”

Sundance at CTH, NSA Responds to Tucker Carlson Claim of Surveillance, The Generic and Very Political Non-Denial Should Alarm Everyone

Techno Fog noted something most of us would also note {SEE HERE} the NSA statement is an obtuse non-denial. However, there’s a lot more in that statement that should alarm everyone. I don’t know if I can cover it all here; this is actually serendipitous for a larger framework article I have been working on. But here’s some top-line initial reactions.

First, notice the time of the tweet message. Exactly 8:00pm to coincide with the beginning of Tucker Carlson’s broadcast. That’s typical political operative snark, which wouldn’t be too surprising if it were not the fact this is from the actual National Security Agency.

Many people in/around the intelligence apparatus have noted and confirmed to me that most of the modern human resources, within the working analytical part of the intelligence apparatus, are immature, solitary and emotionally stunted individuals. Accepting things as they directly appear, this subtle snark is actual confirmation.

Second, “Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the agency“, is akin to the NSA previously saying none of the 17 Republican candidates in the 2016 presidential race were “officially” targets of metadata surveillance; the surveillance just happened because, well, it was rogue contractors from our partner agency (FBI) using the facilitation of the NSA database for their opposition research. Oh, well, if that’s all it was… and not official NSA conduct… then, well, okay, move along. Or something.

And could this be related? Top Pentagon Cyber Official Probed Over Disclosure Concerns

Katie Arrington, chief information security officer for the Pentagon’s acquisition and sustainment office, was informed May 11 that “her security clearance for access to classified information is being suspended” as “a result of a reported Unauthorized Disclosure of Classified Information and subsequent removal of access by the National Security Agency,” according to a memo made available to Bloomberg News.
. . .
Arrington is a former two-term Republican state representative from South Carolina who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2018 that emphasized her private-sector cyber experience. She was brought into the Pentagon in 2019 under the category of “Highly Qualified Expert” and later competed for and attained the nonpartisan Senior Executive Service status, Zaid said.

As I noted yesterday, Insty notes Matt Margolis at PJ Media: Did Maricopa County Officials Just Accidentally Admit Voting Machines Can Be Compromised? It sure seems that way. At Da Caller, Maricopa County Scrapping Voting Machines Used In GOP Audit and ET, Arizona’s Maricopa County Will Replace All Voting Machines After Audit. But we were assured the machines were tamper proof! It must be the GOP cooties.

And speaking of funny business with elections, via In The Mailbox: 06.29.21, the Weasel Zippers are amused  NYC Mayoral Candidate Raises Concerns After 100,000 Votes “Suddenly Appear”. Thomas Lifson at Am Think thinks the NY mayor’s race is in ‘chaos’ as 135,000 extra votes show up. AllahPundit want to Stop the steal: NYC mayoral frontrunner hints at election chicanery as lead slips during ranked-choice voting count. But the mystery was solved when it was discovered that BOE botched NYC mayoral primary results by including ‘test’ run (NYPo) and NYT notes (cited at Hot Hair) that NYC mayor's race in chaos after elections board counts 135,000 test ballots. Oops! These things happen. But of course, they never happen to Republicans! NYPo Ed Board calls New York’s Board of Elections a travesty. Insty catches some Democrat hypocrisy on the issue in PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS . . .

At Da Wire, Another Unarmed Trump-Supporting Grandma Charged In Jan 6 Capitol Breach. 'Shipwreckedcrew' at Red State explains The Emerging Reality Is the Biden Justice Department Will Charge Everyone It Can Identify for Capitol Protests

That means that anyone who attended the January 6 protest and went inside the Capitol, but has not yet been charged, will wake up every morning until the statute of limitations expires and wonder, “Will today be the day the Democrat Justice Department arrests me because I protested the election of Joe Biden?”

The argument could be made that, having opted to go down this path early on, the Democrat Justice Department needs to continue to identify and bring charges simply as a matter of even-handedness. Suspects whose identity has been harder to come by should not benefit by avoiding prosecution compared to individuals who the FBI was able to identify in the days and weeks that followed January 6.

While that might be true, the heavy-handed policy of “no exceptions” which is being followed only ensures that the damage to the country created by political divisions which exist will only get worse. It is a statement by the Biden Administration that it intends to criminalize to the greatest extent allowed by law the sentiment following the 2020 election that the outcome was not legitimate.

More significantly, it is a legitimate basis upon which the segment of the population who politically oppose the Biden Administration can reasonably claim the Administration is employing the criminal justice system to delegitimize that political opposition by declaring it to be based in criminality.

In today's Morning Report at Ace's JJ Sefton noted another violent protest just occurred in Washington DC, and nobody cared, because it was left wing: 

First up, one wonders whether or not Titty Caca Ocasio-Cortez had such severe flashbacks from January 6th that they caused Malig-Nancy Pelosi to soil her 18-Million-Year Girdle:

A group calling themselves "Sunrise Movement" created what some people might deem an insurrection. Fortunately, none were wearing MAGA hats so no unarmed protestors were shot by mystery guards. Dozens were supposedly arrested . . .

. . . New York's uber-progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman just couldn't pass up a chance to do some race-baiting, and graciously dropped an "F" bomb to let us know he means it:

"They occupy our streets. They mass incarcerate us, but they leave us food insecure, in transportation deserts, and our buildings and schools falling apart. Fuck that!" Bowman said at the event while speaking about the history of discrimination against black people. "We've got to go big, and take it to another level. And this is our moment. This is the moment" . . .

. . . Sunrise Movement is allegedly funded by Comrade George Soros. They blocked all 10 entrances to the White House and bellowed their demands. No reports of tear gas, pepper spray, firearms, or batons being used on the potential green panther insurrectionists.

Meanwhile, dozens of decent, G-d-fearing people who showed up to the Capitol to lawfully protest the certification of a stolen national election are languishing in jails and having their lives destroyed by what amounts to an American Gestapo of the DoJ/FBI as punishment for daring to object to the overthrow of the former United States of America.

Tyler O'Neil at PJ Media, GOP Calls Democrats' Bluff on the Capitol Riot Good luck with that. 

Last Thursday, Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), David Joyce (R-Ohio), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), and Van Taylor (R-Texas) introduced legislation to investigate the involvement of antifa in the nationwide riots of 2020.

“Last year, organized cells of criminals hijacked overwhelmingly peaceful protests and used the legitimate grievances of others as cover to commit horrific acts of violence,” Mace said in a statement. “They caused billions of dollars in property damage and attacked law enforcement officers and innocent bystanders in cities across the country.”

“These riots often caused the most harm to the marginalized communities the criminals claimed to represent,” Mace added. “Antifa bands represent the same threat to our nation posed by other terrorist groups. We must do all we can to understand and neutralize this dangerous movement before more are harmed.”

Sundance, President Trump Spokesperson Liz Harrington Responds to Bill Barr Recent Statements 

From atop Da Hill, Pence faces fierce resistance from GOP's pro-Trump base “He’s never going to run for president and be successful" and I'm OK with that. Pence is a nice enough guy, but he's not presidential material.

More properly Russiagate, but fitting in with the election theme of two levels of justice, from Ace, Kevin Clinesmith, the Corrupt FBI Lawyer Who Forged Documents to Frame an Innocent Man, May Get His Law License Back on July 19

A Ruling Class judge first gave this corrupt government official, who forged a document in order to frame a man, then entered that forgery into evidence in a FISA hearing, no jail time at all. The judge's excuse? Well, this criminal lost his job. And might lose his law license. Isn't that punishment enough?

"[He] lost his job, and his government service is what has given his life much of its meaning," Boasberg said Friday. "He was also earning $150,000 a year and who knows where the earnings go now. He may be disbarred or suspended from the practice of law, you may never be able to work in the national security field again. These are substantial penalties."

I think the average street criminal would be surprised to learn that losing your job due to a crime, and maybe losing your Ruling Class Credential of a law license, is punishment enough.

And now -- about that losing his law license part. He lost it for just one year. The suspension is dated retroactively to August 2020.

And now he'll petition to have it reinstated.

The Government Clique really looks out for its own, doesn't it?

But, keep those Grandmas in jail, they're threats! 

Russiagate Reanimated

 Like a zombie. It's been a while but it's worth reminding ourselves of the worse scandal in American government ever:

Bill Maher now admits Russiagate was 'reported erroneously' after years of pushing Trump collusion narrative | Fox News

‘LOL. Perfect’! Thread on CNN’s new WH national security reporter speaks volumes – twitchy.com

Jordan, Biggs demand answers from FBI on 'widespread' FISA violations after declassified FISC opinion | Fox News

Declassified FISA Court Opinion for 2020 Shows Even More Warrantless FBI Abuses of NSA Database Including Search Queries for Government Officials and Victims - The Last Refuge

It's Official, The FISA Court is Compromised - Presiding Judge James Boasberg Hires Former DOJ-NSD Head, Mary McCord, as Amici Curiae to Advise The Court - The Last Refuge

Alleged second Steele dossier on Trump emerges in British media as John Durham closes in | Washington Examiner

Following court order, FBI uses classic Friday document dump to release heavily redacted files on the death of Seth Rich - American Thinker

BOMBSHELL: FBI Admits Someone Could Have Paid For Seth Rich's Murder

Connecting The Dots | Transterrestrial Musings

The Deep State Targets Matt Gaetz › American Greatness

Government Official Who Approved Improper Spying On Trump Staffer Tapped For Spy Court Advisory Role | The Daily Caller

The Bizarre Afterlife of a Christine Blasey Ford Booster | The Stream

John Kerry Undermined Trump in Unapproved Iran Talks, Former Security Adviser Says

Federal Judge Slams Barr, DOJ As ‘Disingenuous’ While Ordering Release Of Mueller Report Memo | The Daily Caller

More Government Spying and Lying, by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano | Creators Syndicate

Trump Justice Department secretly obtained Post reporters’ phone records – HotAir

Trump Celebrates FEC Dropping Their Case Against Him by Katie Pavlich

Catching Up on Russiagate

I warned that Russiagate was likely to be an almost dead issue after China Joe's inauguration, and that seems to be bearing out. Some revelations since our last chapter.

John Solomon, a Russigate stalwart, at his own site JTN reports Smoking gun: Comey told Clapper FBI unable to 'sufficiently corroborate' Steele — then signed FISA "In January 2017 email to intel chief coughed up under court order, the former FBI director contradicted sworn avowal to FISA court that Steele dossier was verified." So what's the point of having the high muckety mucks sign off on this stuff if there are no sanctions when they ignore the warning signs?  But, I'm not shocked. Also from Solomon, Twenty days of infamy: the January 2017 red flags the FBI blew past on Russia collusion "Declassified memos details evidence that devastated FBI theories on Trump ... but did not stop the probe." Gellar, Comey email reveals FBI, DOJ made ‘premeditated effort to dislodge’ President Trump from office. To be fair, that's Matt Gaetz' conclusion, but it certainly seems to be true.  Comey, in particular, should go to jail for insurrection. But it ain't likely, 

At Am Great, Lloyd Billingsley takes on Chief Justice James Boasberg? who all but left Kevin Clinesmith off the hook for perpetrating a fraud on the FISA Court that he heads.

The FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page, Boasberg explained, would have been approved even without Clinesmith’s “misstatement.” Judge Boasberg ought to know.

In 2014, John Roberts appointed Boasberg to the FISA court, and since January 2020, Boasberg has served as presiding judge of the FISA court. That body holds a distinct advantage over the U.S. Supreme Court, which operates in public, with rulings and opinions endlessly analyzed. None of that for the FISA court, but the Clinesmith case briefly lifted the robes.

Boasberg knew the court would have approved the warrant on CIA asset Carter Page without Clinesmith’s falsification. So Boasberg doubtless signed off on it. He then slipped back into his circuit court robe and let Clinesmith off with a gentle tap on the wrist. This ruling has no parallel on the U.S. Supreme Court.

It's long past time to reform the FISA process, but that is also unlikely to happen with Democrats in charge. More likely they'll go all in with domestic surveillance after the Capitol incursion.

Matt Margolis at PJ Media, Merrick Garland Won’t Promise to Protect Durham Investigation

Garland made the stunning statement in response to questions from Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

“If confirmed, will you commit to providing special counsel Durham with the staff, resources, funds, and time needed to thoroughly complete the investigation?” asked Grassley.

“So, senator, I don’t have any information about the investigation as I sit here today, and another one of the very first things I’m going to have to do is speak with Mr. Durham and figure out how his investigation is going,” replied Garland. “I understand that he has been permitted to remain in his position, and sitting here today, I have no reason to think that that was not the correct decision.”

Grassley followed up by asking if Durham would only be removed “for cause.”

“I would have to have an opportunity to talk with him,” Garland responded. “I have not had that opportunity. As I said, I don’t have any reason, from what I know now, which is really very little, to make any determination on that ground. But I don’t have any reason to think that he should not remain in place.”

Garland also refused to commit to releasing the report to the public.

“I am a great believer in transparency. I would, though, have to talk with Mr. Durham and understand the nature of what he’s been doing and the nature of the report. But I am very much committed to transparency and to explaining Justice Department decision-making.”

So, he's hedging. Bill Barr promised to protect Mueller, and did so.

And sometimes, the system works. Da Caller, Paul Manafort Can’t Be Prosecuted In New York Because Of Double Jeopardy, Court Rules

John Sexton at Hot Air reports  Ghislaine Maxwell Confirmed The Existence Of Tapes Of Trump And Clinton, but not what's on them. It seems clear that Epstein was running a black mail/protection racket. And Ghislaine didn't kill herself. Yet. 

Also at Da Caller, Goon On Goon Violence: Michael Avenatti And Michael Cohen Go At It. Can we issue them both poisoned weapons?

Russiagate Still Clinging to Life

Lloyd Billingsley at Front Page would like to introduce you to  the DC Judge Who Let the FBI Criminal Off Light?

Carter Page might expect the judge to lecture Clinesmith about the lawyer about sullying the reputation of the FBI and DOJ, and betraying the federal government that employed him to uphold the law. None of that for District of Columbia judge James Boasberg. He opted for leniency because the allegedly remorseful Clinesmith had suffered by losing his job and “standing in the eye of a media hurricane.” It was a curious choice of words for the Obama appointee.

“Crossfire Hurricane” was the name of the FBI-DOJ covert operation against candidate and President Trump. And as it turns out, according to official sources, since 2014 Boasberg has served as the presiding judge of United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.”

That detail failed to turn up in news reports on Clinesmith’s slap on the wrist, which was much less than three to six month prison sentence sought by special counsel John Durham. After appointment by attorney general William Barr in May, 2019, Durham has failed to bring any criminal charges against major “Crossfire Hurricane” players James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and others.

With the tap on the wrist for Clinesmith, Boasberg sends the message loud and clear. The DOJ and FBI may conduct covert operations against a duly elected president of the United States, violating federal law and abusing the FISA process, and avoid all prosecution. For 74 million Trump supporters, that is bad news going forward.

Sundance at CTH had Devin Nunes and Kash Patel Discussing Kevin Clinesmith’s Light Sentence For Lying to FISA Court, but Fox News took it down. At Am Great, And They Got Away With It

Clinesmith did not act in a vacuum. As I noted in August, Clinesmith made sure his superiors knew exactly what he was doing before doctoring the false evidence for the consumption of the FISA court. His attorney told us, “Mr. Clinesmith had provided the unchanged C.I.A. email to Crossfire Hurricane agents and the Justice Department lawyer drafting the original wiretap application.”

Rosenstein personally oversaw the application and the team that sought to continue the spying that began in July 2016. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Clinesmith’s leverage over powerful Justice Department co-conspirators coincided with a farcically light non-prison penalty for the most serious and easily proven criminal behavior by the get-Trump deep state.

No wonder he was one of the few Trump appointees who was on Joe's  "keeper" list. Paul Sperry

TOP SECRET: FBI Director Christopher Wray is covering up, er, classifying at top levels, all documents referring to the "Crossfire Hurricane Fusion Center." He won't let Congress know what it was, where it was based or who was assigned to it.

Sundance, Declassification and The DeceptiCon Agenda

A Question presented:

“Why do you think Trump didn’t do much in the last three months including declassifying stuff?“

The answer is simple, yet politically complex. President Trump’s cabinet, specifically those cabinet members feeling a greater responsibility to protect their institutions, would not comply with any executive office requests to declassify material. . . .

 Also Systemic Contingencies – The Need For Bill Barr’s Positioning Revealed, 2018 and Systemic Contingencies – They All Knew – Lessons From Spygate About Severity of DC Corruption

Robert Mueller had two goals as special counsel. Goal #1 was to continue the fraudulent DOJ/FBI “Stop Trump” operation initiated by James Comey, Andrew McCabe and their crew technically named Crossfire Hurricane. Goal #2 was to bury the illegal action; to create the cover-up needed for everything that took place in the “Stop Trump” operation.

It is the second goal that most people never reconciled; however, it is also that second goal that’s the most important. Everyone in DC knew Mueller’s objective. Every person in every branch of government and every federal agency knew Mueller’s real purpose.

Which is definitely not what Robert Mueller himself told Chuck Rosenberg, reported by Dan Chaitin at WaEx, Robert Mueller reveals why he became special counsel

News Max, Prosecution of Comey Reportedly 'Unlikely' After Durham Probe. Too bad. That sends a bad message.

WaPoo, Manhattan district attorney considering prosecuting Stephen Bannon following his pardon by Trump in federal fraud case. Going scorched earth, of course. If Republicans ever get control again, I hope they remember.

PM, WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel says retail investors are 'Russian disruptors' in response to GameStop stock market saga, Ace, Fatass TV Clown Jimmy Kimmel Claims That WallStreetBets Redditors are "Russian Disruptors" "How the Establishment's Gollums and Wormtongues scramble to the defense of their Dark Lords."

An explanation frequently invoked by Eric Swallowell, Woe is he! Media shed light on what Eric Swalwell had to contend with ‘after being unwittingly linked to a Chinese spy’ You might think sleeping with the enemy was a bad thing.

There is a colleague of mine who sent a tweet out just attacking me, and I texted him and I said, “Really?” He called me, and he was like, “Hey bro! How you doing, man?” I’m like, “How am I doing? You just sent out a tweet attacking me. Why are you doing this?” He goes, “I didn’t know I sent a tweet.” I’m like, “What do you mean you don’t know you sent a tweet?” He said, “Oh, let me check on that.” He called me back, “Oh, my staff sent it.”

I said, “Well, take it down. Why don’t you call me if you have questions?” He goes, “Well, I don’t think you did anything wrong. You did exactly what you’re supposed to do.” I said, “Well, then take down the tweet, don’t be a part of this feeding frenzy.” He’s like, “It’s coming down, I swear.” He texts me, “Just talked to them, it’s coming down.” But he didn’t take it down, so I called him again, and he goes, “Hey man, so my staff said that this is the best performing tweet we’ve had. And I’m not going to say anything else. If I’m asked about this publicly, I’m going to say you did the right thing. But if we take it down, it will be so obvious.” I’m like, That’s courage around here?

Russiagate: Mueller Probe Lawyer Clinesmith Gets Wrist Slap for Falsifying FISA Warrant

Time to clean up again, and this is the precipitating story. Fox:  Ex-FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith given probation after guilty plea in John Durham probe

Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months probation and 400 hours of community service Friday after pleading guilty to making a false statement in the first criminal case arising from Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

Clinesmith in August pleaded guilty to "one count of making a false statement within both the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the U.S. government, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000."

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia James Boasberg on Friday during Clinesmith's sentencing hearing said Clinesmith had suffered by losing his job and standing in the eye of a media hurricane.

Boasberg gave him 12 months probation, 400 hours of community service, and no fine.

Government prosecutors had been asking for Clinesmith to spend several months in jail, but Clinesmith's defense had been advocating for probation only.

Curiously, Boasberg is also head of the FISA court, the august body that Clinesmith defrauded. One would think he would be more concerned with government lawyers making up the opposite of the truth (can you call that a mere lie?) in order to maintain surveillance on an innocent US citizen. WaPoo, of course is pro-Clinesmith, Ex-FBI lawyer avoids prison after admitting he doctored email in investigation of Trump’s 2016 campaign

But Boasberg also said he agreed with a prior finding by the Justice Department Inspector General that Clinesmith and other FBI officials’ actions were not motivated by political bias, and he believed Clinesmith’s contention that he thought, genuinely but wrongly, the information he was inserting into the email was accurate. On top of his probation sentence, Boasberg ordered Clinesmith to perform 400 hours of community service.

That's just bullshit.  

The case against Clinesmith is the first and only criminal allegation to arise from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the FBI’s Russia case, and it has become a political lightning rod.

Clinesmith’s lawyers have argued altering the email was a mistake meant to save Clinesmith time and personal embarrassment. But former president Donald Trump and his political allies have highlighted the case as part of their allegations that the bureau was biased and seeking to undermine Trump with the investigation that explored possible ties between Russia and his campaign. The case was ultimately taken over by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

. . .

Prosecutor Anthony Scarpelli said in court that Clinesmith’s conduct was “more egregious” than that of George Papadopoulos, whose offhand remark in a London bar in May 2016 helped trigger the Russia investigation and who later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. He was sentenced to 14 days in prison.

Sundance at CTH, FBI Lawyer Who Doctored False Information to FISA Court Gets 12 Months Probation, 400 Hrs Community Service and No Fine

We suspected that Kevin Clinesmith was going to get the James Wolfe leniency treatment, not only because the DOJ (Main Justice) wanted to avoid highlighting the severity of his criminal conduct, but rather -more specifically- because that criminal conduct took place under the direction of the Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissman special counsel (June 29, 2017)…. And that is what has happened. It is all corrupt as hell…. all of it.

Bryan Preston, PJ Media, Government Agent Whose Altered Email Enabled the Russia Hoax Won't Spend a Day in Jail or Pay Any Fine. Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Ex-FBI Lawyer Receives Probation For Altering Email About Carter Page, from John Sexton at Hot Air VIP, FBI Attorney Who Altered Email About Carter Page’s Work With The CIA Will Get Probation, although why you would go through a paywall to get it instead of getting it from Ace for free is beyond me, in red bold italic type (with a flaming skull, Kevin Clinesmith, the Corrupt FBI Lawyer Who Forged Documents to Frame an Innocent Man, Gets... NO JAIL TIME, HAS TO PAY A HUNDRED DOLLAR FINE

And Paul Sperry at RCP, DC Fails To Disbar Anti-Trump FBI Lawyer Despite Guilty Plea. He's only a felon after all, good enough for DC. Also, New Evidence Implicates FBI Higher-Ups in Dishonesty of Anti-Trump Lawyer, I would be shocked, shocked, if Andy McCabe, Lisa Page or Peter Strzok had anything to do with this. I would point out this would totally destroy his "I didn't know what I was doing" defense the the judge apparently bought. Ace, Paul Sperry: New Evidence Suggests That Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page Might Have Been Complicit In Kevin Clinesmith's Criminal Forgery of Documents to Frame Carter Page Of course, none of this means anything any longer now that Biden is President. 

Generally, I'm in favor of leniency in first offenses, but I take issue with this one, because it was a government actor, acting against a helpless citizen who had no recourse at the time. I hope Carter Page sues the crap out of him in a friendly jurisdiction (Washington DC won't work).

Sundance attempts to convey his Understanding the Institutional Protection Racket Via Congress, Main Justice DOJ, FBI and FISA Court

And a ton of miscellaneous links of varying significance:

FBI Used ‘Ghosts’ To Track Trump Advisor Carter Page In 2016 | The Daily Caller

Declassified memos detail effort to get McCabe to step aside in Russia probe over conflict | Just The News

Obstruction boomerang: FBI knew DOJ was preparing to fire Comey long before Trump ordered it | Just The News

Christopher Steele Defended ‘Good Friend’ Ivanka Trump, FBI Notes Show | The Daily Caller

Star Impeachment Witness Lied About Her Contacts With Christopher Steele

Grassley wants answers on DOJ closing Flynn call leak investigation

Trump Declassified Memos Prove FBI Gave Clinton Campaign Pass on Foreign Donors | Gregg Jarrett

Michael Flynn Shot Down ‘Ridiculous’ Allegations Of Improper Contact With Russian Academic That Were Floated By Intelligence Operatives | The Daily Caller

"Retired" Enquirer chief still protecting Trump – HotAir

Gap in Trump's pardon could allow DOJ to prosecute Bannon anyway – HotAir

Eric Swalwell Again Dodges Questions About Contacts With Chinese Spy | The Daily Caller

Declassified! The Russia informant transcript the FBI didn't want Americans to see | Just The News

Giuliani in Ukraine: Kyiv's leaders, long silent, find some tales to share - The Washington Post

House Republicans seek Penn records for foreign financial ties to Biden Center | The College Fix

Russiagate: Mueller Lawyer Begs for Leniency

Time has come for the sentencing of Kevin Clinesmith, the Mueller team lawyer who altered an email from the CIA which named Carter Page as a CIA source on Russia to say that Page was not a source and passed it to an FBI agent to be included in a FISA warrant. The crime was found by IG Horowitz, and was a slam dunk for US Prosecutor John Durham.

Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, John Durham and ex-FBI lawyer duel over prison sentence for FISA email deception

Newly appointed special counsel John Durham and fired FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith filed dueling court filings on Thursday, with the former Crossfire Hurricane attorney trying to dodge any jail time and the federal prosecutor asking the court to sentence him to up to six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to FISA email deception.

Clinesmith, who worked on the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server and on the FBI’s Trump-Russia inquiry as well as special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, admitted in August that he falsified a document during the bureau’s efforts to renew Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authority to wiretap Carter Page, who had been a foreign policy adviser to now-President Trump's 2016 campaign. Clinesmith fraudulently edited a CIA email in 2017 to state that Page was “not a source” for the agency when the CIA had told the bureau on multiple occasions that Page had been an “operational contact” for them.

“As a licensed attorney and an officer of the Court, the defendant took an oath, was bound by professional and ethical obligations, and should have been well-aware of this duty of candor ... His deceptive conduct ... was antithetical to the duty of candor and eroded the FISC’s confidence in the accuracy of all previous FISA applications worked on by the defendant,” Durham wrote on Thursday, adding, “The defendant’s conduct also undermined the integrity of the FISA process and struck at the very core of what the FISC fundamentally relies on in reviewing FISA applications.”

“The government respectfully submits that a sentence of incarceration that is at least between the middle and upper end of the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range is appropriate and warranted,” Durham said. “This case is outside the heartland of typical cases under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 [false statements], and such a sentence would reflect the seriousness of the offense.”

In a filing that included more than 55 letters of support from Clinesmith’s family, friends, and colleagues, his lawyer argued for leniency.

“Kevin Clinesmith made a grievous mistake. By altering a colleague’s email, he cut a corner in a job that required far better of him. He failed to live up to the FBI’s and his own high standards of conduct. And he committed a crime. Kevin pled guilty and accepts full responsibility. He deeply regrets his conduct and apologizes to all those who have been affected — including his former colleagues, the FBI, the DOJ, the Court, the public, and his family,” Clinesmith’s lawyer said.

Clinesmith’s lawyer said his client “knew the original email did not contain those additional words, and he knew that the agent would, upon receiving the forwarded email, believe that it did.”

“Significantly, however, Kevin did not knowingly lie about the relationship between Individual #1 and the other government agency. When Kevin informed the agent (and others) that Individual #1 was not a source, he genuinely believed he was conveying accurate information,” Clinesmith’s lawyer also contended. “Kevin’s reputation has been ruined, his professional career is in shambles, and he has been unable to support his family financially at a time when he and his wife are expecting their first child. While he has nobody but himself to blame for those consequences, they are, in conjunction with a non-custodial sentence, a just punishment for Kevin’s critical lapse in judgment.” He requested probation and community service.

Clinesmith will be sentenced by the presiding judge on Dec. 10.

Curiously, or perhaps not, the presiding judge is "Jeb" Boasberg, who also the  Presiding Judge of the FISA Court. Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Durham Seeks Jail Time For Ex-FBI Lawyer Who Altered CIA Email About Carter Page. Much like Insty, SORRY, I’M UNMOVED. FBI lawyer who lied to surveil Trump aide asks judge to spare him from prison. I don't necessarily want to see Clinesmith in jail, but I do want to see a heavy penalty as an example.  Loss of his law license  at the minimum, and a heavy financial penalty, to repay DOJ  for time and trouble in the investigation and prosecution and especially to repay Carter Page for his legal costs, and reputational and financial losses.

In other Durham related news, high praise to William Barr from never-Trumper Benjamin Wittes, who said Barr’s Appointment Of Durham Was ‘Devilishly Clever’ (John Sexton at Hot Air)

The more I study what Attorney General Bill Barr did in his secret October order naming the Connecticut U.S. attorney as a special counsel, the more devilishly clever it seems—and the bigger the pickle it creates for Barr’s successor. This, presumably, is Barr’s intention. Untangling this knot is going to take no small amount of diplomacy, lawyering and finesse. And a false move in any of several directions could create a real mess.

But just to be sure,  ‘Non-Negotiable’: GOP Senators Say Biden’s Pick For Attorney General Must Preserve Durham Probe (Chick Ross at Da Caller). Better win at least one of those Georgia seats. 

Neal Katyal at NYT whines I Wrote the Special Counsel Rules. Barr Has Abused Them.

Alex Nitzberg at JTN Director of National Intelligence says he has given 'thousands of documents to John Durham', Sundance at CTH, DNI John Ratcliffe States He Has Produced Thousands of Declassified Documents For Special Counsel John Durham to Use. Let's hope he uses them well. But as Ratcliffe warns,  We can't declassify all of Russiagate's secrets (Jerry Dunleavy, WaEx). But we can declassify a lot more. 

Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Senate Committees Release A Treasure Trove Of Trump-Russia Documents. C'mon! Give us the juicy stuff!

And no longer in legal jeopardy, Gen. Michael Flynn is free to talk. PM, WATCH: General Flynn explains how he was targeted by Obama's intel community to Dan Bongino

Also from Sundance, Lou Dobbs Interviews Michael Flynn

And a Duh! story from the Victory Girls, Yes, CNN Did Bury The Hunter Biden Story. I think Trump should troll Biden by preemptively pardoning Hunter Biden.

Russiagate still Festering

Not too shockingly, most of today's items are still related to the themes from the past couple of days, the new release of documents from the DOJ via the Flynn defense team, which show the upper echelon of the FBI eager to get Trump and hurt Flynn as a means to do so, and the revelations by Lindsey Graham 2.0 that the main source for the stories in the Steele dossier was a suspected Russian spy, the FBI knew it, and didn't bother to inform the FISA court.

Chuck Ross at Da Caller, FBI Failed To Tell Surveillance Court About Investigation Of Primary Dossier Source, Senator Says

Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, formally notified James Boasberg, the judge presiding over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) about the information in a letter on Thursday.

“This letter, and the attached summary, details what appear to be further failures on the part of the FBI to fully inform the court of all of the facts related to the probable cause determination for the Carter Page FISA applications,” Graham wrote.

“I feel that it is my duty to alert the court to this information so that it can consider it as part of its ongoing review of this matter.”

Eric Felten, RCP, Dossier Source Was a Suspected Russian Spy, and the FBI Knew It When It Spied on Carter Page

From Fox, Gregg Jarrett: Stunning revelations expose FBI’s Trump probe as dirtiest political trick in US history

It was always a witch hunt designed to “get Trump.” Collusion was an illusion invented by a suspected Russian spy but zealously embraced by malevolent actors at the FBI and later by scheming prosecutors on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team of partisans.

These are the stunning revelations contained in two sets of newly declassified documents that pull back the curtain on the Russia Hoax, the dirtiest political trick in American history.

In testimony that is corroborated by records, FBI Special Agent William J. Barnett has exposed how the bureau’s collusion investigation of Donald Trump was based on nothing more than “supposition on supposition” and devoid of any credible evidence.

Assigned to lead the bureau’s original investigation into former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Barnett came to realize that the case against Flynn was being engineered or manipulated as way to damage President Trump. Flynn, whose life and livelihood were ruined, became collateral damage.

FBI investigators, who concluded there was no plausible case against Flynn, were ignored. Instead of closing the investigation down, the critical decision to move forward was made “top- down.” Then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who had a contentious past relationship with Flynn, was calling the shots. The retired three-star Army general didn’t stand a chance.

GOP.com, Democrats' Russian farce update

#Durham Full Story: Primary sub-source for Steele dossier was subject of 2009 FBI counterintelligence case + those facts known to Crossfire Hurricane team Dec 2016 + more warnings dossier credibility Jan 2017 + dossier still used for 3 renewals. @CBSNews https://t.co/DPl9v6uwxl

— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) September 25, 2020

Follow that thread. . . . Scott Adams (of Dilbert Fame) comes around to the notion that it was an outright coup attempt in Episode 1135 Scott Adams: Details on the Coup Plotters Emerge, BLM Focuses on Revenge Over Solutions, Hacking Voter Brains. You can skip the "simultaneous sip" and go straight to the heart by going to 7 minutes into the podcast.

At the paywalled ET, Roger L. Simon exclaims Basta! Time to Dismantle the FBI, but Insty has a big excerpt. from which I will excerpt.

Most recently, it has been revealed the sub-source for the Steele Dossier—the guy Christopher Steele relied upon for his vile lies—had already been investigated by the FBI as, of all things, a Russian agent, making the Dossier itself likely deliberate Russian disinformation that was accepted by the FBI anyway because… well… by any means necessary. (The shameless liars at Mueller’s operation claimed the Russians favored Trump, which is ludicrous given this revelation plus the content of the Dossier.)

It’s amazing it took three years for us to learn this.

But Sean H. evidently made one, I regret to say serious, mistake, probably because he’s basically a nice guy from a law enforcement family. He insisted all along that the problems in the FBI were only at the top, the so-called “Seventh Floor,” the domain of Comey, Strzok, McCabe, and the others.

Unfortunately, no. Also just revealed after three years are 302s (near-contemporaneous notes made after an interview) and texts that show lower-ranking FBI agents too were aware of the malfeasances that were occurring in the early stages of the Michael Flynn case.

In fact these agents were so alarmed they were considering professional liability insurance lest they be sued for the dishonest—one could even say treasonous— activities in which they were being forced to participate.

Frankly, I never imagined a FBI agent could even buy such insurance. The implications are unpatriotic on their face. But live and learn.

From Da Hill, Liberal Federal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept.

James Herbert, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said he was compelled to issue the stunning rebuke Thursday over concerns Barr was politicizing the Justice Department.

"While I am a federal prosecutor, I am writing to express my own views, clearly not those of the department, on a matter that should concern all citizens: the unprecedented politicization of the office of the attorney general," Herbert wrote in The Boston Globe. "The attorney general acts as though his job is to serve only the political interests of Donald J. Trump. This is a dangerous abuse of power."

Herbert cited Barr’s summary of former special counsel Robert Mueller's report downplaying its findings in the Russia investigation and remarks echoing debunked claims from President Trump over concerns about widespread fraud in mail-in ballots to argue that the attorney general is using the DOJ to further the White House’s political interests.

“William Barr has done the president’s bidding at every turn. For 30 years I have been proud to say I work for the Department of Justice, but the current attorney general has brought shame on the department he purports to lead,” Herbert wrote.

Well, the AG works for the President. I suppose he objected when Eric Holder did what Barack told him to do?

Herbert said he was inspired to speak out after Barr gave a speech earlier this month at Hillsdale College, a conservative Michigan institution. The attorney raised eyebrows in the speech by claiming virtual absolute power within his agency.

“What exactly am I interfering with? Under the law, all prosecutorial power is invested in the attorney general,” Barr said in the speech at Hillsdale College in response to claims he was interfering in cases involving Trump associates.

“Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool, but it is no way to run a federal agency,” he said.

And then, there's the Biden crime family. Seamus Bruner at JTN, Senate exposes a rogues' gallery of shady foreign associates behind Hunter Biden's lucrative deals. Matt Vespa at Town Hall, This Is Probably Why Joe Biden Called It A Day Before 10 AM Yesterday...And Hunter Might Be the Reason.

If anything, this is a time when Joe should be out there talking about SCOTUS and of all things, paying his respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Democratic base isn’t enthused by him. This is an issue that could gin up support. Look, I’m not complaining. Keep the bunker mentality going, Joe. Battleground states are only trending more towards Trump.

Yet, there could be another reason. The liberal media, which acted as the Biden rapid response team, says he’s doing debate preparation. Yes, the first debate is next Tuesday, but I think we’re forgetting the disastrous interview Joe recently had with Axios. Yeah, Hunter Biden was brought up by Mike Allen, the site’s co-founder. Joe didn’t handle it well.

This interview is a disaster for Joe Biden.pic.twitter.com/oxqfWVRLgM

— The First (@TheFirstonTV) September 23, 2020

I mean come on! 

Miranda Devine, NYPo, Liberal media’s pass on sloppy Joe and scandalous Hunter Biden

The witness protection of Joe Biden by the media is starting to look like election interference.

Exhibit A: The Senate interim report released Wednesday detailing millions of dollars Joe Biden’s son Hunter received from corrupt foreign oligarchs and companies while his father was vice president.

Despite its obvious news value, the report immediately was pilloried by influential media outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post as “inconclusive” partisan echoing of Russian propaganda.

“Republican Inquiry Finds No ­Evidence of Wrongdoing by Biden,” was the Times’ headline.

“GOP’s Hunter Biden report doesn’t back up Trump’s actual conspiracy theory — or anything close to it,” said The Washington Post.

“GOP senators’ anti-Biden report repackages old claims” was another typical headline dismissing the ­report, this from Politico.

Yet there are new and damning allegations in the report about Hunter’s ability to leverage his father’s position as vice president into riches for himself and his friends.

The old allegations were damning enough, anyway, despite the fact they have been flushed down the memory hole. Take Hunter’s $50,000 monthly payment for sitting on the board of Ukrainian natural-gas firm Burisma Holdings, despite no relevant experience and a history of drug problems, at a time when his father was in charge of US policy toward Ukraine.

But here’s just one of the new revelations: Hunter received a $3.5 million wire transfer in 2014 from Elena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of Moscow, and a billionaire friend of Vladimir Putin.

Now that’s real Russian collusion.

Moving on With Russiagate

More or less continuing where we left off yesterday, via Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.25.20, Sean Davis and Mollie Hemingway at Da Fed present ‘Get Trump’: FBI Whistleblower On Mueller Team Details Real Reason Flynn Was Targeted

FBI Special Agent William Barnett told Department of Justice (DOJ) investigators that the handling of the probes troubled him so much that he threatened to quit working on it in one case, and threatened to go to the Inspector General in another. According to the summary of Barnett’s interview, he said there was never any basis for the bizarre “collusion” theory the agency and the special counsel relentlessly pursued, to the point that agents made jokes about how they could take any piece of information and claim it was evidence of collusion. He said the Special Counsel Office (SCO) pursued Flynn simply as a means to “get Trump” and viewed FBI investigators as a “speed bump” slowing down the work of the attorneys leading the inquisition.

Capt Ed at Hot Air, FBI Agent: Mueller Team Had A “Get Trump” Attitude On Case Built On “Supposition Upon Supposition”. Show me the man, I'll show you the crime Weissman. 'Shipwreckedcrew at Red State, FBI Agent in Charge of General Flynn Investigation Thought It Was a Joke and Was to “Get Trump”

The final comment is about Andrew Weissmann. Barnett said it always seemed like someone at the SCO had a story about how some particular episode was going to be proven out and establish the collusion between Trump and the Russians, but every time the claimed episode ended up not being true or leading only to a dead end. He recalled Weissmann claiming that evidence about a meeting on a yacht off Greece would be the key to proving the quid pro quo between Trump and the Russians, only to have the story about the yacht turn out to not be substantiated.

Dr. John at Flopping Aces, FBI whistleblower – Mueller and Weissman were out to “get Trump”. Behind the Black, It WAS a coup attempt

They all knew there was no evidence against Flynn, and to get his conviction required blackmail against him as well as the faking of evidence, both of which were done. Those acts by the way are outright crimes.

Next we learn that, according to a high-ranking FBI investigator, the investigation run by Robert Mueller into collusion by Trump and Russians knew there was no evidence at all, but had an agenda to “get Trump.”

Reinforcing this agent’s claim is the revelation, also this week, that Mueller investigators illegally wiped more than two dozen phones clean of data to prevent the inspector general from reviewing them. These lawyers thus consciously obstructed justice by destroying evidence. That is another crime, by the way.

Finally, the most important story of all. It appears that the only source of information justifying all the FISA warrants and the Mueller investigation into the so-called Trump collusion with the Russians came from a source whom the FBI had previously investigated as a Russian spy.

Sundance at CTH posts that the  Flynn Family Releases Statement Following Documentary Evidence of FBI, DOJ and Special Counsel Abusive Intent…. But will Judge Sullivan do the right thing?

And a reminder from Fox that the Source of Steele dossier was investigated by FBI for Russian contacts, Barr says. Mary Chastain at LI, FBI Suspected Primary Sub-Source for Steele Dossier was Russian Agent, ‘Threat to National Security’. Also via Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.25.20, theVictory Girls: Crossfire Hurricane Team Knew Steele Dossier Was Bogus. Ace, Revealed: Christopher Steele's Primary Subsource Was Branded a National Security Threat in 2009 and Was Subject of a Counterintelligence Investigation And the Crossfire Hurricane Team Knew This

And of course -- they failed to inform the FISA court (or note it in any intelligence assessment) that Steele's primary source for his Pee Pee Prostitutes story and various other claims was a man arrested on multiple occasions for public drunkenness and disorderly behavior, and on top of all that -- just might have been a RUSSIAN ASSET HIMSELF.

They knew all this.

They concealed all this.

They are criminals and should be in prison.

Question: Did Andrew Weissman know this and choose to keep it out of the "Mueller" report...?

To investigate if Trump colluded w Russia, the FBI relied on info, paid for by the Clinton campaign, based on a source suspected by the FBI of being a Russian agent. The FBI then hid from the FISA court who paid for the info and the fact the source might be a foreign agent. https://t.co/rRueRG5gSH

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 25, 2020

Paul Sperry at RCI, Secret Report: How CIA's Brennan Overruled Dissenting Analysts Who Concluded Russia Favored Hillary

Former CIA Director John Brennan personally edited a crucial section of the intelligence report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and assigned a political ally to take a lead role in writing it after career analysts disputed Brennan's take that Russian leader Vladimir Putin intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump clinch the White House, according to two senior U.S. intelligence officials who have seen classified materials detailing Brennan’s role in drafting the document.

The explosive conclusion Brennan inserted into the report was used to help justify continuing the Trump-Russia “collusion” investigation, which had been launched by the FBI in 2016. It was picked up after the election by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who in the end found no proof that Trump or his campaign conspired with Moscow.

The Obama administration publicly released a declassified version of the report — known as the "Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent Elections (ICA)” — just two weeks before Trump took office, casting a cloud of suspicion over his presidency. Democrats and national media have cited the report to suggest Russia influenced the 2016 outcome and warn that Putin is likely meddling again to reelect Trump.

The ICA is a key focus of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s ongoing investigation into the origins of the “collusion” probe. He wants to know if the intelligence findings were juiced for political purposes.

RealClearInvestigations has learned that one of the CIA operatives who helped Brennan draft the ICA, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, financially supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign and is a close colleague of Eric Ciaramella, identified last year by RCI as the Democratic national security “whistleblower" whose complaint led to Trump’s impeachment, ending in Senate acquittal in January.

The two officials said Brennan, who openly supported Clinton during the campaign, excluded conflicting evidence about Putin’s motives from the report, despite objections from some intelligence analysts who argued Putin counted on Clinton winning the election and viewed Trump as a “wild card.”

The dissenting analysts found that Moscow preferred Clinton because it judged she would work with its leaders, whereas it worried Trump would be too unpredictable. As secretary of state, Clinton tried to “reset” relations with Moscow to move them to a more positive and cooperative stage, while Trump campaigned on expanding the U.S. military, which Moscow perceived as a threat.

Zero Hedge, Secret Report Exposes CIA's Brennan Overruled Dissenting Analysts Who Concluded Russia Favored Hillary. Ace, in red font, with a flaming head, Suppressed House Intel Report: Analysts Believed That Russia Favored Hillary Clinton in 2016. But John Brennan, Ultra Clinton Partisan, Overruled This Conclusion and Inserted His Own Partisan Narrative. 

We're gonna need a bigger rope.

This is a House Intelligence report which was locked in a literal safe by Adam Schiff.

Why it's almost as if The Democrats Fought Against A Peaceful Transfer Of Power In 2016 (Jeff Dunetz at the Lid).

The Wapoo finally gets around to noticing the new revelations with Justice Dept. disclosures cast fresh doubt on Trump-Russia investigation, and handle it as a case of "Rethuglicans Pounce."

The Justice Department has released a pair of documents casting fresh doubt on the judgment of senior law enforcement officials who investigated possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016, showing that one of the FBI case agents thought prosecutors were out to “get Trump” and that a key source of allegations against the president had been previously investigated as a possible Russian asset.

The disclosures come as President Trump and his allies await the results of an investigation by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham into how U.S. intelligence agencies examined Russian election interference four years ago. Instead, Thursday night saw one disclosure made to Congress and another made to the courts.

It’s still uncertain whether Durham will issue any findings before Election Day, but the two releases may serve a similar purpose: providing fresh ammunition for conservatives’ arguments that the FBI’s pursuit of the president was unfair and unfounded.

Also from WaPoo, Mueller prosecutor’s testimony about Roger Stone disputed by supervisors

Although the extent of the dispute is unknown, the supervisors’ account is notable because Zelinsky conceded to lawmakers that he did not discuss the Stone case directly with Barr, Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen or then-acting U.S. attorney Tim Shea. Rather, he said, it was his supervisors who explained why the department was “treating Roger Stone differently from everyone else.”

Also via Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.25.20, American Greatness' Christopher Gage goes on about Hunter Biden’s Millions. I don't blame Hunter. It's hard to pay for hookers and coke without some help from Dad. 

From Da Wire, DOJ Investigating How FBI Handled Allegations Of Clinton Foundation Corruption, Report Says. It's not just about time. It way late.

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