Durham Delivers - Danchenko Indicted

Igor Danchenko, you may recall is the Russian national, sometimes employed by the ultra-liberal Brookings Institution, who provided most of the evidence in the Steele Dossier given to the FBI, which was released to the press and widely touted by liberal media outlets and politicians as proof that Donald Trump colluded with the Russians to get elected and was compromised by some scurrilous information in the hands of the Russians and used by the FBI/DOJ to obtain a FISA warrant on Carter Page to spy on the Trump campaign and administration. The dossier itself has been completely discredited, and Danchenko has told the FBI that the stories were largely without merit, being the result of stories Russian friends drinking. 

Now, Special Counsel John Durham's grand jury has indicted him on charges of lying to the FBI, asserting that stories Danchenko attributed to Russian drinking buddies, were in, in fact, fed to him by a Clinton factotum, Charles Dolan. 

WaPoo reluctantly admits Igor Danchenko arrested, charged with lying to FBI about information in Steele dossier. 

A 2019 report by the Justice Department inspector general found major problems with the accuracy of Danchenko’s information. But the 39-page indictment unveiled Thursday paints a more detailed picture of claims that were allegedly built on exaggerations, rumors and outright lies. The indictment is likely to buttress Republican charges that Democrats and FBI agents intentionally or accidentally turned cheap partisan smears into a high-stakes national security investigation of a sitting president.

The indictment also suggests Danchenko may have lied to Steele and others about where he was getting his information. Some of the material came from a Democratic Party operative with long-standing ties to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to the charges, rather than well-connected Russians with insight into the Kremlin.

From NR, Main Steele Dossier Researcher Arrested in Durham Probe. Vicky Taft at PJ Media,  Durham Indictment: Trump 'Dossier' Starts With Hillary PR Guy Who Worked With Man He Thought Was Russian FSB Agent.  John Solomon at JTN, New court documents detail alleged web of lies used to fabricate Steele Dossier, frame Trump, "Civil, criminal case records create portrait of how Igor Danchenko allegedly misled America as primary source for Christopher Steele dossier." Sundance at CTH, Steele Dossier Primary Subsource, Igor Danchenko, Arrested on Five Counts of Lying to FBI – Danchenko Was Working With Democrat Campaign Official. Ace, in all red caps and with a flaming skull, GOVERNMENT ARRESTS IGOR DANSCHENKO, "PRIMARY SUB-SOURCE" FOR CHRISTOPHER STEELE'S FAKE "DOSSIER", and with three flaming skulls, Danchenko Indictment: Source For Steele "Dossier" Claims Was Not Russian Officials. It Was... A HILLARY CLINTON POLITICAL OPERATIVE 

Did Hillary Clinton know about these rumors and direct the operative to pass them to Danchenko, so they could be laundered as "Russian tips"?

It seems bizarre to even suggest she didn't know. She loved conspiracy theories. She paid Sidney Blumenthal to spin conspiracy theories for her.

Twitchy,  WaPo fact-checker says Durham’s ‘stunning indictment’ means ‘Christopher Steele’s sources were really bad’ (then it gets awkward). Also from Vicky Taft, Woman Who Testified Against Trump Also Introduced Authors of Fake Russian 'Dossier' to Each Other. Gee, What Are the Odds ... ?. Fiona Hill. Andrea Widburg at Am Think thinks The latest Durham indictment is a big one. Maybe. John Sexton at Haut Hair cites Eli Lake: The Danchenko indictment shows the Democratic Party manipulated the FBI, but we knew that. Dan Chaitin at WaEx, Trump White House aide says Durham indictment puts 'deep state' plot on Hillary Clinton's doorstep. Of course she knew; but it will get hard to find people to testify to that. Nobody wants to shoot themselves twice in the head. George Parry at Am Spec, 

But these are only the latest developments. Since the last time I summarize Russiagate, Matt Margolis at PJ Media was wondering, Are More Obamagate Charges Coming? Clearly, the answer was yes. Dan Chaitin reported that Attorney general: John Durham remains empowered. "Let me just say first about the money," Garland replied. "We’re now in a new fiscal year, and as everyone knows, Mr. Durham is continuing. So I think you can readily assume that his budget has been approved." Yep. Also, Devin Nunes warns 'future of this country' hinges on Durham indictments and Ratcliffe says 1,000 intel documents given to Durham support more charges.

Regarding Durham's indictment of DNC/Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussman, George Parry  at Am Spec calls it John Durham’s Salad Shooter "Knowingingly (sic) concocting a fake narrative to fool the FBI and CIA is going to affect many Hillary Clinton campaign players, special counsel John Durham has let it be known in discovery." Also,  John Durham and the Amazing Disappearing DNC Hack, "Evidence grows that the alleged Russian hacking of the DNC server in 2016 was an inside job"  and John Durham and the Steele Dossier, "Indicted Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann shrewdly set in motion the use of Christopher Steele of dossier infamy to spread word of supposed Trump–Russia collusion." From Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, Durham unloads thousands of documents to Sussmann defense, and  Strzok attacks Durham indictment against Sussmann and 'chilling effect' on FISAs. Taking flak, that's how you know you're over the target. Paul Sperry at Da Fed says  Durham Investigates Pentagon Contractors Who Helped Clinton Campaign Plot Russia Hoax,  "Prosecutors are investigating whether cybersecurity contractors abused security clearances to feed the FBI false information linking Donald Trump to Russia." George Parry again, from ET, Exclusive: Poll Shows Independent Voters Want Durham to Probe Biden Aide, Jake Sullivan, who has been in it all up to his neck. But sundance singles out another target, John Durham Needs to Look Toward Mary McCord, who is now working for the Jan. 6 kangaroo committee. 

Of course, with Durham taking aim at the Steele Dossier, it's no shock that Democrats and the media (but I redund) are trying to rehabilitate Christopher Steele and his notorious dossier. Spectator World, The name’s Steele, Chris Steele, "The discredited British spy is set to be interviewed Monday by George Stephanopoulos."  ABC, Confronting his critics, Christopher Steele defends controversial dossier in first major interview. John Sexton at Haut Hair, Christopher Steele still defending the accuracy of his dossier, even the pee tape.  Dr, John at Flopping Aces, The Steele interview timing is no coincidence.  Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, Christopher Steele comes ‘out of the shadows’ for Stephanopoulos interview and Christopher Steele stands by discredited anti-Trump dossier claims about Michael Cohen in Prague and 'pee tape.' Tristan Justice at Da Fed, ABC News Documentary Fails To Rehab Debunked Steele Dossier At Center Of Russian Collusion Hoax. John Solomon at JTN, Steele's defense of dossier collides with an avalanche of evidence to the contrary. "Even statements by Steele's lawyers, his main source and his friends undercut his claim about the "professionalism" of his now-infamous dossier." Sundance, Chris Steele Clings to Fabricated Stories of Cohen in Prague and Trump-Russia Pee Tapes. Debra Saunders at AM Spec, Steele Dossier: The Lie Told Around the World, Again, "Christopher Steele’s bogus smear of Donald Trump served its purposes and it continues to." George Neumayr at Am Spec, Christopher Steele, the Foreigner Who Interfered in Our Election "He is one threat to democracy that the ruling class can overlook." JTN, Soros-tied group met with FBI during Russia collusion probe, hired Christopher Steele "Democracy Integrity Project founder Dan Jones testifies about extensive contacts with Clinton campaign-tied figures, including Michael Sussmann and Glenn Simpson."

On the Alfa Bank hoax, in which John Durham has already indicted Clinton layer  John Sussman, Margot Cleveland thinks Special Counsel Filing Reveals More About Alfa Bank Conspiracy Theory and Paul Sperry at RCI, Clinton Campaign Spread Alfa Bank Ruse Throughout Obama Admin to Press Trump-Russia Probe “The Clinton machine flooded the FBI with pressure from a number of angles until investigations of Trump were opened and reopened,” said one of the briefed sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive law enforcement matter. "The deception was wide-ranging." and Aaron Mate at RCI, Coming Into Focus: Hillary's Secretive, Russiagate-Flogging Pair of Super-Lawyers. Reagan Reese at Da Fed reports Anti-Corruption Group Seeks Senate Ethics Probe Of Debunked Alfa Bank-Trump Server Research. Good luck. Vicky Taft at PJ Media claims It Gets Worse: Look Who Worked Together to Frame Donald Trump With Fake Russia Hoax, George Soros and John McCain, to name two. 

WaPoo reports Ex-FBI leader Andrew McCabe wins back pension in Justice Dept. settlement after he was fired under Trump. A fine example of sue and settle. Jordan Davidson at Da Fed, Biden Administration Awards Disgraced Russia Collusion Hoaxer Andrew McCabe With $200K Pension. John Sexton at Haut Hair, Andrew McCabe gets his pension back despite IG finding that he 'lacked candor' under oath, the crime of lying to the FBI, when someone other than a Democrat does it. Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, Merrick Garland says DOJ stands by conclusion Andrew McCabe lied despite reversing his firing and Byron York's Daily Memo: DOJ memory holes Andrew McCabe wrongdoing.

BPR, Longtime Clinton Global Initiative co-chair arrested for securities fraud and felony theft and WJ, Longtime Clinton Operative Charged with Felonies, Arrest Warrant Issued. The Clinton Crime family. 

Elder abuse identified. Fox, Schiff 'heartbroken' by Mueller's decline during Russia probe: 'This was not the Bob Mueller I knew', "'I would not have pursued his testimony with such vigor,' Schiff wrote in new book." Dan Chaitin at WaEx, Schiff 'can't answer' whether cognitive decline disqualified Mueller from leading Russia investigation. Well, if it doesn't disqualify Joe Biden. . . . Althouse, "By all rights, Russiagate should be dead as a serious news story. But as the Real Time episode showed, 'collusion' is still alive for some..." "... and the bulk of the case essentially rests now upon the characterization of one person from the above passage as a Russian agent: a former aide to Paul Manafort named Konstantin Kilimnik...."

Dan Chaitin, Schiff reveals assurance from FBI director under Trump "FBI Director Christopher Wray assured Rep. Adam Schiff he would resign before being pressured into "something that wasn't right" under former President Donald Trump, the congressman claims in a new book." Wray didn't resign, ergo everything was right under Trump. QED. From Natalia Mittelstadt at JTN. Ethics watchdog wants probe of possible improper gift to Senate panel chasing Trump-Russia hoax "The request concerns an almost 700-page report provided to the Senate Armed Services Committee at no cost by an outside group." Sundance, The Modern Weaponization of Our National Security System Is The Lasting Legacy of Barack Obama and Eric Holder. Matt Taibbi, Yes, Virginia, There is a Deep State, "A major untold story of the Trump era has been the political comeback of the CIA, NSA, and FBI, who thanks to an ingenious marketing campaign now enjoy widespread support among young liberals."  Theodore Roosevelt Malloch at Am Great claims to know How to End the Deep State: 

First, restrict all government employees to five-year contracts, renewable only twice. For the military this should be 20 years and out, no exceptions. Then put measures into place that all these bureaucrats, appointees, and congressional staffers are not allowed to lobby or ever work for any government contractor or firm that has such contracts.

Second, impose term limits on Congress. Five two-year terms in the House; and, two six-year terms in the Senate. Likewise, no elected officials can ever lobby Congress or serve on the board or as an employee of any firm that does business with the government. Ironclad. The U.S. Congress, like the New Hampshire Legislature, should only be allowed to sit 45 days a year. This will make it a less than full-time assignment and allow all politicians to be part-time and return to their respective Mount Vernons. It will be a people’s republic.

And finally, the budget of the CIA and all other intelligence agencies, including most importantly, the FBI and NSA, should be cut over three years by 20 percent a year. This would work to rein in their excesses and limit their ability to thwart the democratic process.

Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx reports FBI raids DC home of Putin-allied Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Sundance, FBI Raids DC Home of Oleg Deripaska, Chris Steele’s Former Employer and Central Player in Corrupt FBI Operation Against Donald Trump. Margot Cleveland at Da Fed explains why she thinks the FBI Raid On Oleg Deripaska Is Bad For Russia Collusion Hoaxers, Not Trump, "Deripaska may well be the player that proves the downfall of Steele."

And some miscellaneous: sundance, The Fourth Branch of U.S. Government Targeted Julian Assange For Kidnapping or Assassination in 2017, A Transparently Obvious Motive Being Overlooked. A little tinfoily. 

Julian Assange was not a threat to Donald Trump, but he was a threat to those who attempted to stop Donald Trump.  In 2017, the DC system was reacting to a presidency they did not control.  As an outcome, the Office of the President was being managed and influenced by some with ulterior motives.

Also,  Tucker Carlson Interviews General Michael Flynn – The Biggest Target of The Fourth Branch of Government

Dan Chaitin at WaEx Clinton aide Huma Abedin blasts Comey for 'decision to play God' during 2016 election. Shocked, I'm shocked. 

Russiagate, Rerereclaiming My Time

It's been a while, and there's been a reasonable amount of material caught in the drain. Let's check it out.

From Kash's Korner at ET, More Indictments Are Coming; Unraveling the Origins of the Russia Collusion Hoax

“When you issue an indictment for lying to the FBI, like they did [Michael] Sussmann, it’s two to five pages max. It’s unheard of to be 27 pages. So why put all that information out there?” It’s “the biggest signal that more is coming,” says Kash Patel.

I've heard that argument before. I hope it's right.  Kash Patel to Newsmax: Durham's Subpoenas Show He's Following the Money. And the money flowed from the Clinton campaign through Perkins Coie to Steel and his phony sources, Nellie Ohr and lots of other malefactors. At Da Blaze, Special Counsel John Durham investigating Pentagon cybersecurity contractors in Russiagate origins probe, and Per Paul Sperry at RCI, Durham Probes Pentagon Computer Contractors in Anti-Trump Conspiracy

Durham is investigating whether they were involved in a scheme to misuse sensitive, nonpublic Internet data, which they had access to through their government contracts, to dredge up derogatory information on Trump on behalf of the Clinton campaign in 2016 and again in 2017, sources say — political dirt that sent FBI investigators on a wild goose chase. Prosecutors are also investigating whether some of the data presented to the FBI was faked or forged.

George Perry at Am Spec speculates about  John Durham and the Mysterious DNC Email Hack "If as is likely the DNC’s server wasn’t hacked by the Russians, who was behind the inside job and why?" You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!

Why would the DNC, the purported victim of a crime, refuse to fully cooperate with law enforcement in solving that crime? Was it hiding something? Was it afraid the server’s contents would discredit the Russia-hacking story? Why, instead of full and complete cooperation with the FBI, was the DNC having CrowdStrike and Perkins Coie run the investigation and, in effect, filter and control the flow of information regarding the server’s contents to the FBI?

The answers to those questions began to emerge thanks to an article in the August 8, 2017 issue of the Nation. By no means a pro-Trump publication, the Nation published an exhaustive report about an exacting forensic investigation of the DNC hack by the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), an organization of former CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, and military intelligence officers, technical experts, and analysts.
. . .
VIPS concluded that the DNC data were not hacked by the Russians or anyone else accessing the server over the internet. Instead, the data were downloaded by means of a thumb drive or similar portable storage device physically attached to the DNC server.

How was this determined? The time stamps contained in the released computer files’ metadata established that at 6:45 P.M. on July 5, 2016, 1,976 megabytes (not megabits) of data were downloaded from the DNC’s server. This took 87 seconds, which means the transfer rate was 22.7 megabytes per second, a speed, according to VIPS, that “is much faster than what is physically possible with a hack.” Such a speed could be accomplished only by direct connection of a portable storage device to the server. Accordingly, VIPS concluded that the DNC data theft was an inside job by someone with physical access to the server.

VIPS also found that, if there had been a hack, the NSA would have a record of it that could quickly be retrieved and produced. But no such evidence has been forthcoming. Can this be because no hack occurred?

Roger L. Simon. To Save America, Durham Must Reveal The Whole Russiagate Story And Punish the Guilty. Unfortunately, I still doubt Durham's ability get get convictions in a DC or NoVa courtroom. Still, airing the facts would be helpful. Watch Merrick Garland suppress that.

HE recites the facts that show Efforts to Spread Trump Russia Hoax Went Beyond FBI, CIA to Senate. McCain and Romney were up to their necks in them. Paul Sperry at Am Great, Biden Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Tied to Alleged 2016 Clinton Scheme to Co-Opt the CIA and FBI to Tar Trump, "The ties between Joe Biden and Jake Sullivan, the White House Security Adviser now indicted by John Durham’s grand jury." I don't see where Sullivan was actually "indicted" in court. But he should be.

From NYPo, Ex-NSC official admits it unlikely Russia had blackmail info on Trump. Fiona Hill. 

Kaelen Deese at WaEx, Adam Schiff claims Robert Mueller suffering 'heartbreaking' cognitive decline. Yep, it was elder abuse to put him up on the stand in front of Congress. Not to mention the Andy Weissman and his cohorts were actually running the operation. More at the Western Journal, Schiff Knew Mueller Was Suffering from Cognitive Decline, Decided to Dumb Down Questions Instead of Dismissing Him. Even with simple questions, he didn't seem to have the answers they were looking for.

JC Adams at PJ Media, The Mob Attacking Trump's Lawyer Is More Dangerous Than Anything John Eastman Is Accused of Doing. His crime? Defending the, in their minds) indefensible. 

Re-Revisiting Russiagate

I'm going to take this relatively slow day in election nonsense as an opportunity to clear out the Russiagate bin, quite a lot of which has been held in the digital fridge since before the inauguration of his fraudulency, China Joe Biden and is starting to grow green fuzz. 

Breaking 911, Trump Declassifies ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ Documents. Cutie Pavlich at Town Hall,  Trump Declassifies Crossfire Hurricane Documents. Chuck Ross at Da Caller informs us Trump Declassifies Russia Investigation Documents, Says He Accepted FBI Request To Keep Some Secret while according to John Solomon at JTN, Trump formally declassifies Russia documents over objections of FBI "Trump says he approved materials in a foot-tall binder of FBI documents "be declassified to the maximum extent possible." Of course there are secrets that need protection, but the FBI tends to overprotect, particularly when something could hurt their image, so I'm glad he took a nuanced stance on this. First revelation? From Jon Solomon again, 'A Trap?' Clinton's Russia collusion research started much earlier, made Steele nervous,"First dossier written in April 2016, efforts included buying possible foreign video footage, declassified FBI memos state." Shearer and Blumenthal at work.

Efforts by Hillary Clinton supporters to craft the Russia collusion narrative to vilify Donald Trump began earlier than previously reported and eventually involved an "indiscreet" effort to buy foreign video footage that made even dossier author Christopher Steele uncomfortable, according to newly declassified FBI memos.

Steele's own account to FBI agents in September 2017, obtained by Just the News, provides the clearest proof to date that Team Clinton built the now-debunked Trump-Russia storyline to distract from her own scandals over Russia money and mishandled classified secrets on her private email server.

Steele himself even admitted part of his motive for leaking the Russia collusion story in fall 2016 was to counteract the lingering email scandal he feared was hurting Clinton's chances of winning the election. He also pinpointed the earliest known research designed to tie Trump to a Russian plot ultimately proven not to exist.

Also, from Chuck Ross,  Trump Impeachment Witness Was Key Link Between Christopher Steele And His Dossier Source, FBI Notes Say

Fiona Hill, a top Russia expert in the Trump administration, was the person who introduced former British spy Christopher Steele to a former think tank analyst who would serve as the primary source for an infamous dossier he compiled on President Donald Trump, according to newly declassified FBI notes.

Ashe Schow at Da Wire, Federal Investigators Find No Wrongdoing In Leak Of Michael Flynn’s Phone Calls To Washington Post. It's still not clear to me whether this means they didn't find the leaker, (because we're pretty sure we know who it was), or that the decided it wasn't criminal for a leaker to leak that information. If it's the latter, we have right to be pissed. Yeah, the latter:

An investigation was opened into whether Obama officials illegally leaked Flynn’s classified phone call to the press. The investigation, code-named Operation Echo, was apparently closed recently without any consequences, The New York Times reported.

“Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington investigated whether the disclosures came from former Obama administration officials who had access to sensitive information about the phone calls, according to two people familiar with the investigation. The investigators ultimately found no wrongdoing, one of the people said,” the outlet wrote.

The leak of Flynn’s phone call may still be under investigation by special counsel John Durham, however.

Well, it's the NYT, so they can't be trusted to tell the truth. Chuck Ross again, Grassley Wants To Know How DOJ Found ‘No Wrongdoing’ In Michael Flynn Leak Probe. Because they didn't try very hard?

I guess Vlad's stopped picking up the phone when she calls; Clinton: I would love to see if Trump 'was talking to Putin the day that the insurgents invaded our Capitol' Ex-Republican Capt. Ed again, House Oversight Chair To FBI: Time For A “Robust Investigation” To Find The Russians Running Parler, Or Something. The new Administration will find a Russian under every bed.

Jordan Davidson at Da Fed, Rand Paul: I’m Not Going To Listen To Comey, He Should Be In Prison. Unlike most Senators, he's right more often than he's wrong.

Capt. Ed at Hot Air, Biden Decides To Stick With Wray At FBI. One can see why, he's never been one to release a secret that hurt the Democrats. Besides, aren't the new rules that you can impeach a Preznit for firing an FBI Director? However, it appears Gina Haspel is out at the CIA, Forbes, CIA Director Gina Haspel Announces Resignation

President-elect Joe Biden has named William Burns, a deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, as his pick for CIA director, however, it’s currently unclear who will serve in the role until a new director is confirmed by the Senate.

All I know is that she wasn't as bad a John Brennan; but that's a low bar. David Harsanyi at Creator's, It's John Brennan's Authoritarianism That Threatens Democracy. WSJ, Military Intelligence Agency Says It Monitored U.S. Cellphone Movements Without Warrant "DIA says it buys commercially available geolocation data and has used it five times in recent years for authorized investigations" Probably legal, but unsavory.

Trump pardoned some people and since everything Trump ever did was wrong, people are upset, Fox, Trump pardons Steve Bannon, Lil Wayne, dozens of others; also commutes sentences "Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was among 70 to have sentence commuted" I was disappointed he didn't pardon Hunter Biden.

Russiagate Declassification

 Declassification is the heart of a great percentage of the stories today. Chuck Ross at Da Caller is still looking at how CIA Documents Stir Debate Over Alleged Clinton Plan To Link Trump To Russia. Gateway Pundit notes that President Trump Authorizes Total Declassification of All Documents Related to Spygate, Hillary Email Scandal – WITH NO REDACTIONS. We'll see. But the President doesn't have much left to lose. Sharyl Attkisson from JTN reports FBI, CIA continue to stonewall on Russia probe, key Senate chairmen say. Chuck Ross, Senators Say CIA Director Is Withholding Trump-Russia Intel  Of course they are. Trump will have to send armed marshals into the Hoover building and Langley to get the goods. I'd support it. 

I've been pushing FBI for transparency on Russiagate for yrs We now kno CIA was part of info gathering but CIA won't even talk to me on phone AMERICANS DESERVE ANSWERS!! Yesterday Senator Johnson & I renewed call for CIA docs Transpency brings accountability

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 8, 2020

John Solomon, JTN, What Russia declassification looks like when bureaucrats get involved: a big black blob. At least we know the people involved. John also has a (long) list  of the The 40 key Russia documents President Trump must still declassify

1. Documents showing all the requests made by Obama administration officials to unmask the overseas phone calls of Trump campaign, transition and family members from the beginning of the 2016 election through Inauguration Day 2017. These records have been declassified by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe but have been awaiting Attorney General William Barr's permission for release, officials told Just the News.
2. The FBI interview reports of Igor Danchenko, the man identified as the primary sub-source for the Christopher Steele dossier, and any intelligence community documents raising concerns since 2008 that Danchenko had contacts with Russian intelligence.
3. Any and all documents gathered during the Justice Department inspector general's office interviews with Christopher Steele, including any notes or documents he turned over concerning his interactions with the FBI and any interview reports, synopses or transcripts. . . .

Jerry Dunleavy, WaEx, John Ratcliffe provides 1,000 pages of materials in response to John Durham documents request  and from Lloyd Billingsley at Front Page, Turning the Tables on Democrats’ Russia Hoax

From the 1920s to 1984, the Russians ran candidates in U.S. elections. In 1976, their candidate for president was Gus Hall, a dutiful Stalinist, and a college student named John Brennan voted for him. In a free country like the USA, that was Brennan’s right, but there is no right to a job with the CIA. Anybody who voted for the candidate of the Communist Party USA, founded and maintained by Soviet Russia, should not even get in the door. Brennan not only got hired but in 2013 came to run the place.

Also, it appears that John Durham has opened an investigation of a new old aspect of Russiagate. Remember the charges that Trump and Russia was swapping information via computer through Alfa Bank, which IG Horowitz debunked as being spam being sent between two computers. Ace, Report: Durham Using Grand Jury to Investigate Origins of Contrived Alfa Bank Conspiracy Theory

This was the conspiracy theory that a computer at Trump Tower was sending secret messages to Moscow.

It was completely fake. As usual. 

Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Report: Durham Using Grand Jury To Investigate Debunked Trump-Russia Allegation

The U.S. attorney investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe is seeking grand jury testimony from a group of computer scientists behind a since-debunked allegation that Donald Trump’s real estate company had covert computer contacts with a Russian bank, according to a report.

The New Yorker reports that John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, has contacted the scientists in recent weeks seeking their testimony.

According to the magazine, investigators have told potential witnesses they are investigating whether two pseudonymous computer experts gave false information to the U.S. government regarding a covert communications channel between the Russian bank, Alfa Bank, and the Trump Organization.

Hillary Clinton emphasized the allegation of a possible link between Trump and Alfa Bank when it appeared in the press days before the 2016 election.

At CTH, Sundance provides a slightly deeper dive, Evidence Surfaces of John Durham Grand Jury – Team Following Deep State Rabbit Hole Leading to SSCI Effort…

A very important article was written yesterday in the New Yorker [SEE HERE]. While the topic of the article spotlights the ridiculous conspiracy theory surrounding Alfa bank, and the insufferable nonsense about Trump Tower servers having contact -electronic touch signals- with servers from the Russian banking organization, there are aspects to the story that show where the Durham probe has been forced to travel.

Within the article –which everyone should read– some names are very important. The article is framed around defending the New Yorker’s previous reporting on the Alfa Bank conspiracy theory, so the intent of the article is defensive. However, the events being described in the article, and more importantly the people being outlined in the article, are accurate. Especially Daniel Jones and his lawyer William Taylor; and the connection of both to Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson.

According to the article there are two parallel efforts underway to untangle the background of how the false Alfa Bank story was originated. One effort is a set of civil lawsuits by the owners of Alfa bank against those who created the fraudulent story that flowed through Fusion GPS, into Chris Steele’s dossier, into the FBI, and ultimately into the Buzzfeed reporting therein. The owners of the bank are taking all of these entities into court and demanding discovery of sources who framed/created the false impression.

The second outlined effort is a set of subpoenas for some of the same names to appear before a grand jury being run by the John Durham probe. The witnesses are lawyered-up and attempting to avoid the grand jury subpoenas.

Part of the New Yorker story is constructed around wondering if the Alfa Bank team is working with the Durham team. That is a false narrative created for political deflection only. However, the article outlines factual evidence of the Durham grand jury; and by knowing what issues are being explored we can see -in advance- where this trail is going.

Good News Pause: John Durham has a grand jury impaneled and is issuing subpoenas.

I think this also gives Durham the opportunity to go after some people who aren't protected by the various arms of the deep state. 

 At Bloomberg, via the Bozeman Chronic, Chris Strohm whines that Trump presses Barr to target political enemies while Justice Department stays mute. Get back to me after we get to the bottom of Russiagate. 

From JTN John Solomon reports on Mike Flynn seeks to remove judge overseeing case, alleging bias

In the new motion, the defense lawyers argued that Sullivan met the standard for dismissal or recusal because he created the appearance of bias "when he actively litigated against General Flynn" in the appeals court.

"He has since far exceeded it – rising to the level of demonstrating actual bias," the lawyers wrote, citing Sullivan's comments during last week's hearing. "The court’s contempt and disdain for the defense was palpable throughout the hearing on September 29, 2020, including when defense counsel made an oral motion for his immediate disqualification, which he refused to allow even to be fully stated for the record."

Tristan Justice at Da Fed,  FBI Is Stonewalling Congressional Oversight On Hunter Biden. Of course they are. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.08.20,The Geller Report reports Joe Biden is The Subject Of Federal Criminal Investigations Into His Role In Spygate And Activities In Ukraine,

BREAKING: Joe Biden is the subject of an active federal criminal investigation into his role in the counterintelligence investigation directed @ the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, incl the former vice president's activities in Ukraine.Ukrainian witnesses are cooperating

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) October 7, 2020

If so, the FBI's reticence is warranted, not that it would stop them from leaking against Trump.

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

Russiagate Cleanup in Progress

Mostly cleanup today, with continuing coverage of the revelation that former CIA director John Brennan briefed Preznit Obama on Russian intel suggesting that the Hillary campaign, and Hillary personally was starting the rumors that Trump was in bed with the Russians, as a way of deflecting from the Hillary email scandal. It seems quite likely the Russians got said intel by reading it directly off Hillary's unsecure, homebuilt email server, along with every other foreign intelligence service that cared to. The real scandal is that after briefing Obama, the intelligence services "Crossfire Fusion cell"  (a CIA, FBI and NSA operation) investigated Trump, not Hillary for colluding with foreigners in election interference, quite likely with the Obama/Biden administration's eager encouragement. John Hinderacker at Power Line considers this in What Obama Knew, and When He Knew It. 

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Brennan’s notes is their date (assuming July 28 is correct). According to the intelligence report, Hillary Clinton approved the plot to smear Trump with the Russia collusion fiction on July 26. Just two days later, the head of the CIA, the FBI Director, the National Security Adviser, the President’s Chief of Staff and the President himself met, presumably in the Oval Office, to discuss the intelligence. The report, picked up by spying on the Russians, who I take it were spying on Hillary, was obviously top priority and was taken seriously by the intelligence community, in the person of Brennan.

Given the prominence that the Russia hoax gained over the ensuing months, there must have been other conversations about it involving Obama and top administration officials. To my recollection, we have only seen the notes from one such meeting. One wonders, too: did anyone from the Obama administration ask Hillary Clinton about her alleged plan to smear Donald Trump? If so, it seems that no record survives; or, at least, no such record has become public.

Of course we know Clinton campaign was publicly linking Trump to Russian hacking. On 7/24/16 NYT reported the accusation was 'emerging as a theme of Mrs. Clinton's campaign.' https://t.co/HL6AMmUNpJ

— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 7, 2020

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.07.20 (Evening Edition), Nice Deb at AmGreat, Brennan Personally Briefed Obama on Clinton Campaign’s Russia Collusion Operation in 2016,  Greg Jarrett at Fox,  'Russia hoax' was lie created by Hillary Clinton and one of the dirtiest political tricks ever. Yep. Also, BOMBSHELL: Clinton Allegedly Approved Russiagate Falsehood As Distraction From Email Scandal.  Tyler O'Neil at PJ Media New Evidence Bolsters Claim Hillary Clinton Stirred Up a Trump-Russia Scandal to Distract From Emails. Behind the Black, CIA in 2016 briefed Obama on Clinton campaign false Trump/Russian collusion claim.

 Via Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.07.20 (Afternoon Edition), Twitchy has EBL with John Brennan Deserves To Be In Prison and Twitchy: Democrats & Media Are Due For A Reckoning Over The Russia Collusion Narrative – And Drew Holden’s Just The Man To Deliver It

🧵Thread🧵

At some point, we need to have a reckoning about the ways that Dems & the media pushed the “Russian collusion” narrative - absent any evidence - and how they’ve refused to revisit it as the narrative has fallen apart.

Just in case you’ve forgotten how bad it was👇

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) October 7, 2020

Althouse cites Jonathon Turley in "Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Tuesday declassified notes of former CIA Director John Brennan showing that he briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton’s alleged 'plan'..."

"... to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia as 'a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.' My interest in this story is not simply the serious underlying allegation but the lack of coverage by major networks or media outlets.... [T]he responses from Clinton allies have not addressed the substance of the document before simply dismissed any inquiries.... If these notes have been fabricated or misrepresented, it would show a breathtaking effort to lie to the voters before the election. If these notes are genuine, it would indicate that the FBI was aware of an effort by the Democratic presidential candidate to tag Trump with a Russian collusion scandal. We know that Clinton’s campaign funded the Steele dossier and that Steele shopped the dossier with the media to try to generate coverage to influence the election.... It seems that journalism is suspended until the election when reporters might be allowed a modicum of curiosity into such stories."

Writes Jonathan Turley.

Andy McCarthy at NR, New Files Highlight Brennan’s Role Promoting Clinton’s Russia Collusion Narrative

To summarize what happened here, in late July 2016, at precisely the time our spy services learned that Russian intelligence was saying Hillary Clinton was scheming to blame the DNC hacking on a Trump-Russia conspiracy, the FBI formally opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation — on the theory that the Trump campaign may have conspired in Russia’s hacking of the DNC emails.

And in September 2016, around the time Brennan was nudging Reid to pressure Comey to aggressively investigate a possible Trump-Russia conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 election, the CIA was formally providing the FBI with a memo outlining that Clinton (who was expected to be the next president) wanted Trump investigated for conspiring with Russian hackers to interfere in the 2016 election — which, conveniently, could distract the voters’ attention from her own email scandal. This was information the FBI already had but, according to Reid, was not acting on.

Within days of getting the CIA memo, the FBI began preparations to apply to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a warrant to monitor Carter Page. After describing the July publication of DNC emails which it accused Russia of hacking, the bureau’s FISA warrant application stated: “The FBI believes that the Russian Government’s efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with [Donald Trump’s] campaign.” 

The CIA did not want the FBI to investigate Hillary Clinton. The CIA — with the Obama White House and Reid in the loop — wanted the FBI to act on Hillary Clinton’s unfounded allegation that Donald Trump had conspired with Russia to hack the DNC. And the FBI willingly obliged. Because it had no actual evidence implicating Trump in Russia’s cyberespionage operations, the FBI had to rely on the Clinton campaign-sponsored Steele dossier, which either made up that allegation out of whole cloth or based it on disinformation from a “primary subsource” who, it turns out, the FBI suspected was a Russian asset.

Astonishing.

Fiona Hill (remember her? she was the one spying on Americans from her embassy in Kiev), whines at the NYT, The Biggest Risk to This Election Is Not Russia. It’s Us.

Switching themes to Trump/Ratcliffes continued declassification of damning data, from the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.07.20 (Evening Edition), The Geller Report: Trump Authorizes Declassification Of All Russia Collusion & Hillary E-Mail Probe Documents. Chuck Ross at Da Caller covers it in Intel Chief Sends 1,000 Pages Of Documents To Justice Department For Durham Probe, giving Durham yet another excuse not to do anything before the election. Sundance at CTH  has  President Trump Tweet-Storm: Reauthorizes Declassification of all Documents  but wonders Will This Time Make A Difference?…, Also Fred Fleitz Discusses Ratcliffe Declassification, Durham Probe and Ongoing Intel Issues…

 

And some slight motion on the Flynn Persecution, as Sidney Powell officially moves to have Judge Sullivan for bias. John Sexton at Hot Air, Flynn’s Lawyer Seeks To Have Judge Sullivan Recuse Himself From The Case.  Also from the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.07.20 (Evening Edition), Jordan Davidson at Da Fed, Flynn Defense Team Moves To Disqualify And Remove Judge Sullivan From Trial For Anti-Flynn Prejudice, Unethical Behavior

In court documents released Wednesday, Flynn’s lawyers allege that Sullivan “cast an intolerable cloud of partiality over his subsequent judicial conduct” and “risk[ed] undermining the public’s confidence in the judicial process” by exhibiting unethical judicial behavior.

“Here, there can be no question that this judge has created the appearance of bias that mandates his disqualification,” the motion says.

Flynn’s lawyers argue that Sullivan is litigating against Flynn despite his judicial position, and violating the impartiality he is sworn to protect.

“[A]ll that must be demonstrated to compel recusal,” then, is “a showing of an appearance of bias … sufficient to permit the average citizen reasonably to question a judge’s impartiality,” the motion states.

Flynn’s hearing on Sept. 29 alone, the defense says, demonstrated the court’s “contempt and disdain” for Flynn. It was in that hearing that the legal team first motioned for Sullivan’s “immediate disqualification,” which he refused to allow to be fully stated for the record.

“It was apparent that the court was desperate to find something wrong,” the defense team notes.

It was in this hearing that the D.C. Circuit Court denied Flynn’s petition for a writ of mandamus that would have forced Sullivan to drop Flynn’s charges, which he previously refused to dismiss after the Department of Justice had filed to drop the charges.

The defense team also alleges that Sullivan “echoed” corporate mainstream narratives from NBC News’s Rachel Maddow and an opinion editorial in the Washington Post by former judge John Gleeson in his handling of the case.

“It was improper for the court to allow extra-judicial media commentary to affect his conduct,” the document states.

Sundance has a Heads up – More Flynn Exculpatory Information Likely Today… "Clinesmith (?) notes released (see below)" Apparently the group was exploring the use of FARA against Flynn (and family), and not liking their chances. Also, USAO Jensen Provides Flynn Defense With Meeting Notes from DOJ-NSD and FBI Meeting Day After Flynn Interview…

As noted they discussed the “Logan Act” yet found there was no reasonable way to use it and Flynn’s contact with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, during the transition, was normal.

FBI Legal Counsel James Baker asked how could you prosecute Flynn for a 1001 violation (lying to FBI officials) when you couldn’t prosecute any underlying crime because the contact with Kislyak was normal. 
. . .
They knew all along they were investigating a nothingburger. That’s why they took no action from January until the special counsel came along in May and took the FARA approach in June as pressure to get Flynn to plea to a lie he never made. It was all a set up.

 Also, Sidney Powell Talks to Liz Mac About New Evidence of Obama Intel Community Targeting Her Client…

Megan Fox at PJ Media, Christopher Wray and FBI Under Fire for Excessive Redactions and Slow-Walking Release of Declassified Docs and  Christopher Wray Holds Press Conference to Project Confidence in Corrupt FBI No One Trusts

I don’t appreciate the CYA strategy that Wray is using here, do you? Where are the documents, Wray? Why are they all blacked out? Why are you actively disobeying the president’s order and keeping this information from the people? While Wray blathers about this wonderful “American justice” that the terrorists will face, we are all still waiting for justice to fall on the FBI actors who conspired to tank a presidential nominee through election interference, illegal spying, using foreign spies to set up a political trap, and helping the Democrat candidate to spread lies about her opponent. We want those people to face justice. Lisa Page, Peter Strozk, James Comey, and now Wray, among others, are the ones who should face the American justice system.

Not one member of the media, including Fox News, asked Director Wray about his role in the hideously over-redacted documents. It figures. 

Burisma admits to bribing Joe Biden with a lump sum payment of around $900,000 USD in a Ukrainian criminal court today.

US Media: *crickets*

— Mike Coudrey (@MichaelCoudrey) October 5, 2020

Russiagate: The Senate Reviews Hunter's Excellent Adventure

And as you might expect, they think it sucked. Starting with several links from Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.23.20. First, from Am Great Shock Senate Report Finds Hunter Biden Ties To Red China, Russia, & Human Trafficking. What, no cocaine? 

OUT TODAY: Report with @chuckgrassley found millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions between Hunter Biden & his associates and foreign individuals, including the wife of the former mayor of Moscow. https://t.co/R1MxQ4xGKP

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) September 23, 2020

Senate investigators found “potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals.” The millions of dollars in “questionable financial transactions” include the wife of the former mayor of Moscow as well as individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Legal Insurrection: Obama Admin Knew Hunter Biden’s Burisma Position “Interfered With Execution” Of Ukraine Policy, but no doubt, Lt. Col. Vindmin was OK with that.

#Burisma NOW: 87 page, joint report from @ChuckGrassley + @SenRonJohnson investigates potential conflict of interests involving Hunter Biden. Central Finding: Hunter Biden's position on Burisma "was problematic" + "did interfere" with the execution of Obama-era Ukraine policy pic.twitter.com/BDrUV241sK

— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) September 23, 2020

Tristan Justice at Da Fed get to the point, Senate Report Accuses Hunter Biden Of Paying For Hookers Who May Have Been Trafficked. Jack Crowe at NR, Senate Report Details Hunter Biden’s Extensive Foreign Business Dealings — and Obama Officials’ Efforts to Ignore Them. At Da Wire, Hunter Biden Received Millions From Wife Of Ex-Moscow Mayor, Paid Suspects Allegedly Tied To Trafficking, Had Contacts With Individuals Linked To Chinese Military, Senate Report Alleges. Sundance at CTH, Senate Releases Damning Report of Hunter Biden Foreign Payments and Influence Sales – Money, Hookers and Bribes…. Ace, COLLUSION: Senate Report Finds That Hunter Biden Took Money from Wife of Former Moscow Mayor, Paid Off Women Connected to Human Trafficking, Had Contacts With the Chinese Military

We finally have proof of an American taking money from sketchy Russians but it’s Hunter Biden, not the Trump family. Another example of how the Democrats always use projection to accuse others of what they’re actually guilty of.

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) September 23, 2020

Trump campaign statement on Senate report on Hunter Biden. 

“The Senate investigation’s explosive new revelations about the Biden family profiting from Russia, China and other foreign sources while Joe Biden was vice president amount to stunning levels of corruption and breathtaking breaches of America’s national security. While Biden was vice president, his son Hunter received a $3.5 million wire transfer from the billionaire wife of the former mayor of Moscow, individuals who are undoubtedly connected to Vladimir Putin. Chinese nationals also lavished Hunter and other members of the Biden family with money, giving Hunter and Biden’s brother James credit cards for a $100,000 international shopping spree. But the mysterious $142,300 wire transfer from a Kazakhstan businessman through a Latvian bank and a company in Singapore has to take the cake. These bombshells are in addition to new information regarding Hunter’s sweetheart gig on the board of a corrupt Ukrainian gas company that bribed a Ukrainian prosecutor.

“Page 17 of this report reveals that Joe Biden flat out lied when he said he had never spoken with Hunter about his foreign business dealings. After a State Department official raised concerns with Vice President Biden about it in the West Wing of the White House, Biden spoke with Hunter about it and Hunter contacted the official.

“For what possible reason could all of these foreign countries and entities be shoveling money at people named Biden, if not to influence official U.S. policy? American journalists have a responsibility to relentlessly question Joe Biden about all of this, in detail, and to call out his attempts to cover up this potentially criminal activity. Regardless of whether Biden is forced to face the music, this is further evidence that if Joe Biden wins, China and many other foreign interests with a financial stake in the Biden family win too.”

John Solomon at JTN, A year after impeachment, Hunter Biden's Ukraine activities come home to roost.

Democrats won't be able to easily dismiss the concerns politically because Obama-era State Department officials have admitted in testimony that the Bidens' behavior created the appearance of a conflict of interest that directly undercut U.S. efforts to fight endemic corruption in Ukraine.

But the bigger concern the report is expected to raise is whether U.S. officials during the Obama-Biden era turned a blind eye to red flags about what was going on at Burisma and with Hunter Biden and his business dealings.

Oh, I have faith in Democrat's ability to turn a blind eye and dismiss these findings. New York Times, Republican Inquiry Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Biden and called it a Russian disinformation campaign. WaPoo, GOP Senate report on Biden son alleges conflict of interest,  GOP senators’ report calls Hunter Biden’s board position with Ukraine firm ‘problematic’ but doesn’t show it changed U.S. policy and  GOP’s Hunter Biden report doesn’t back up Trump’s actual conspiracy theory — or anything close to it  Twitchy, ‘Absolute ghoul’: CNN’s head of strategic communications gets nasty over (lack of) Hunter Biden coverage, and from NYPo, ‘I’m not gonna respond to that’: Biden snaps at reporter asking about son

And in non-Hunter news, Natalie Winters at the National Pulse writes that Soros-Linked Impeachment Witness Fiona Hill Echoes Calls For ‘Electoral Commission’

While speaking at CNN’s Citizen Conference, Hill, who also served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs on the National Security Council in the Trump administration, offered support for Coat’s proposition of a “bipartisan election commission.”

Coats, a solidly establishment Republican and perennial Trump critic, called for the commission via a New York Times op-ed, “What’s at Stake in This Election? The American Democratic Experiment.”

In the nearly 900-word op-ed, Coats proposed a “supremely high-level bipartisan and nonpartisan commission to oversee the election,” confirming the predictions of National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam, who remarked on the War Room: Pandemic podcast that the establishment will float an “electoral commission” to adjudicate the 2020 election . . .

No doubt packed with rabid anti-Trump Democrats, and never-Trump Republicans. 

From NYT, but cited at Hot Air, White House Accused Of Intervening To Block Bolton’s Book For Political Reasons, and if true (dubious given that it's the NYT), I'm OK with it. Bolton shouldn't be writing it now.

Russiagate: Lay Down Sally

No need to leave so soon.  Still talking about Sally Yates testimony. Breitbart, Sally Yates Testifies that Joe Biden Was at Oval Office Meeting on Michael Flynn, but she doesn't remember him saying much; maybe he was just sniffing her hair.

She confirmed that Biden was there, but could not confirm whether he had brought up the Logan Act. “I don’t remember the Vice President saying much of anything,” she said. She said no formal decision had been made about investigating Flynn for violating the rarely-enforced Logan Act, though she said that she had been skeptical about the idea at the time.

Other important points in Yates’s testimony included:

– Yates testified that she would not sign the warrant application to the FISA court on Carter Page, knowing what she knows today. She acknowledged that the warrant, and the application for its renewal (both of which she had signed), had misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, given that the FBI relied on the “Steele dossier.” However, she said she had trusted the FBI’s analysis — even though she knew something of the dossier’s political origins.
– Yates misstated several facts about the Michael Flynn case and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Yates claimed falsely that Flynn had lied to FBI agents — a conclusion very much in doubt, given new evidence. She also claimed falsely that he pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI; in fact, he only pleaded guilty once. And she claimed, falsely, that Flynn tried to “neuter” Obama administration sanctions on Russia; in fact, he asked Russia not to escalate. In addition, she testified George Papadopoulos had been a Russian intelligence asset — a false claim she had to walk back.
– Yates could not explain why she believed there was a “legitimate” reason for investigating Flynn even after FBI agents recommended dropping the case on January 4, 2017. Yates testified that she believed the FBI agents who made that recommendation had not yet seen the transcripts of Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak, but there is no evidence to substantiate that claim. (The reason the agents actually gave at the time: FBI leadership wanted the case to continue.) . . .

Prosecute her for lying to Congress; fair is fair after all. News Thud, Senator Hawley ain’t buying what Sally Yates is selling… Sundance has the whole interrogation at Senator Hawley Comes Closest….

In the questioning of former DAG Sally Yates, only Senator Josh Hawley came close to identifying the edges of the issues with Yates responses. What we see from the overall questioning is what I shared with y’all last week . . .

Also, Richard Grenell Discusses Yates Testimony: “She got away with questioning yesterday”…



Remember, if you hate Ric Grenell, you're homophobic.

Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Grassley Says Senate Democrats Acting Like ‘Cowards,’ Ignoring Evidence Of Russian Disinformation In Dossier

Sen. Chuck Grassley accused Senate Democrats in a fiery speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday of behaving like “cowards” by accusing him of falling victim to a Russian disinformation campaign regarding Joe Biden, while ignoring allegations that Russian intelligence operatives planted false information in the Democrat-funded Steele dossier.

“Truth be told, the Democrats should know a thing or two about Russian disinformation,” Grassley said in his speech.

“The Steele Dossier is the very definition of election interference, yet we hear no objections from Democrats,” he continued, adding that “Democrats got duped into falsely accusing their political rivals of doing the very thing they were actually complicit in.”

Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.06.20 (Afternoon Edition) The Geller Report features Obama Spying “Beyond What Anyone Thought Possible” and  Josh Hammer catches more projection at NYPo ‘Spying’ charges against Trump couldn’t be more absurd.

Tristan Justice at DaFed has 3 Things To Know About The Steele Dossier’s Primary Sub-Source

1. There’s No Steele Dossier Without The Sub-Source' . . .
2. Steele Exaggerated Sub-Source Claims . . .
3. Early FBI Sub-Source Interviews Were Clear Grounds To End Crossfire Hurricane . . .

Andrea Widburg at AmThink, It looks as if this Fall's hit show will be called ‘Obamagate’, Good, decent TV is getting a little thin. Paul Sperry at RCI, Ex-Colleagues See Durham Dropping Bombshells Before Labor Day

"Under oath, do you commit to not releasing any report by Mr. Durham before the November election?” Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) asked Barr, citing longstanding Justice Department policy not to announce new developments in politically sensitive cases before an election.

“No,” the attorney general curtly replied.
. . .
During last week’s House hearing, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., asked Barr if he would be able to "right this wrong” against Trump before the election.

“I really can’t predict that,” the attorney general answered. "John Durham is looking at all these matters. COVID did delay that action for a while. But he's working very diligently.”

Added Barr: "Justice is not something you can order up on a schedule like you're ordering a pizza.”

McClintock warned Barr that if he is succeeded by a Biden appointee, Durham’s investigation will simply go away.

"I understand your concern,” Barr sighed.

Sundance is  Considering the Durham Timeline…

Hopefully Mr XXXXX and Durham will deliver on behalf of AG Barr and the American people. However, if they don’t address the dual justice system -mid August- then things will be even bigger and even uglier.

Stephan Kruiser, PJ Media,  The Morning Briefing: Mainstream Media Hacks Are the Root of Most American Woes. That may be a bit of an overstatement, but it's true that

American media hacks spent years as the chief propagandists for the Russian collusion myth simply because they were in an extreme fit of pique over the fact that they couldn’t get Hillary Clinton elected president. It was the first time their power had been rejected on a large scale.

Despite that defeat, they still remain a powerful influence in narrative-shaping. Their power may be diminishing, but they can still do damage to freedom, democracy, and the overall American way of life.

A Trump impeachment witness cashes the check; NYPo, Trump impeachment witness Fiona Hill gets book deal and at Da Caller, Trump Impeachment Witness’ Book About ‘Polarized’ America To Be Released In 2021, Publisher Says.

From the Western Journal, Michael Flynn issues a call to arms: Exclusive from Gen. Flynn: This Is My Letter to America

We are witnessing a vicious assault by enemies of all that is good, and our president is having to act in ways unprecedented in decades, maybe centuries.

The biblical nature of good versus evil cannot be discounted as we examine what is happening on the streets of America.

It’s Marxism in the form of antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement versus our very capable and very underappreciated law enforcement professionals, the vast majority of whom are fighting to provide us safe and secure homes, streets and communities.

When the destiny of the United States is at stake, and it is, the very future of the entire world is threatened. . .

Despite his personal woes, inflicted on him by vicious Obama partisans, he keeps his eye on the big picture.

Russiagate: Steele Primary Subsource Outed

The identification of Igor Danchenko, a Russian ex-pat who works (or worked) for the Brookings Institution, had friendly relations with Fiona Hill, and was prosecuted by Rod Rosenstein for drunk and disorderly conduct, as Christopher Steele's primary source for the infamous Steele Dossier is still getting, excuse me, let's make that garnering attention. Chuck Ross at Da Caller, A Russia Analyst Living In The US Has Been Identified As Christopher Steele’s Primary Dossier Source.

Althouse, who reads the NYT so you don't have to, notes that the "[Igor] Danchenko’s identity is noteworthy because it further calls into question the credibility of the [Steele] dossier.", in an article titled "The F.B.I. Pledged to Keep a Source Anonymous. Trump Allies Aided His Unmasking/After a Russia expert who had collected research on Donald Trump for a disputed dossier agreed to tell the F.B.I. what he knew about it, law enforcement officials declassified a road map to identifying him" (NYT). It takes a lot of gall for the NYT to complain about leaks. But they have a lot of gall. And the Steele Dossier had no credibility left to lose.

Stacy McCain, ‘An Expert in Russian Politics’

That’s how the New York Times describes Igor Danchenko in an article complaining that “Trump allies” revealed Danchenko’s identity as a source for the infamous Steele dossier, which was the basis of the “Russian collusion” hoax. It seems, however, that the main thing Danchenko is an “expert” about is getting drunk. Danchenko is an immigrant who worked for a while as a “research analyst” for the Brookings Institute, and while he was there managed to get arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, as Paul Sperry reports:

The Russian-born Danchenko, who was living in the U.S. on a work visa, was released from jail on the condition he undergo drug testing and “participate in a program of substance abuse therapy and counseling,” as well as “mental health counseling,” the records show.

The guy is not even an American citizen or a green-card legal resident, but is living here on a work visa? And this is the guy that the Brookings Institute recommended to help Steele dig up dirt about Trump in Russia? Oh, there’s a tangled network of connections, but here’s the big payoff:

As a former member of Britain’s secret intelligence service, Steele hadn’t traveled to Russia in decades and apparently had no useful sources there. So he relied entirely on Danchenko and his supposed “network of subsources,” which to its chagrin, the FBI discovered was nothing more than a “social circle.”
It soon became clear over their three days of debriefing him at the FBI’s Washington field office — held just days after Trump was sworn into office — that any Russian insights he may have had were strictly academic.
Danchenko confessed he had no inside line to the Kremlin and was “clueless” when Steele hired him in March 2016 to investigate ties between Russia and Trump and his campaign manager.

Mark Tapscott at Insty,  MEET IGGY DANCHENKO, THE STEELE DOSSIER’S ‘PRIMARY SUBSOURCE:’

Paul Sperry of RealCearInvestigations has a stunningly detailed description of Danchenko, a Russian in the U.S. on a work visa, and his long connections to Christopher Steele, as well as the significant role played by the Brookings Institution’s Strobe Talbot, in funneling the Steele Dossier to the State Department.

Bottomline: The Democratic side of the Washington Establishment was up to its collective neck in the effort to discredit Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton as President. When that effort blew up on election day, the discrediting campaign became both an attempt to subvert Trump’s presidency and a defensive coverup of the whole rotten, subversive conspiracy.

Sperry’s fine work should be read in conjunction with the Julie Kelly piece for American Greatness that Glenn linked late yesterday that comprehensively lays out the Brookings role in the conspiracy.

Some interesting posts from a new blog called I Found the Primary Subsource . . .  "This is the story of how the primary sub source was uncovered with no traditional journalist being involved."

Democrat line changes from Nobody spied on Trump, that's crazy talk to Rep. Swalwell on new information showing FBI spied on Trump: 'They were right to do it'.  "'I hope they do it if a Democratic candidate ever does that with any country,' Swalwell says." The only people colluding with the Russians were the Democrats. KT McFarland, herself caught up in the resulting Mueller investigation, begs to disagree, KT McFarland: 'Simply Extraordinary' That FBI Used Briefing to Spy

"It turns out those briefings were not really to warn the Trump administration about other people spying on them," said McFarland on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "They were covers, They were excuses, for the FBI to spy on us. That's the most egregious abuse of power that I've seen in a long time."

McFarland said that when she was with the administration, she often set up defensive briefings for the National Security Council and the White House staff to warn about potential issues concerning spying and how to watch out for the dangers. Such briefings, she said, were not held to gather information on people attending them.

Trump has long maintained that the Obama administration was spying on him, and McFarland pointed out that the officials with that administration "all took notes" of their activities, partly because they thought they could "blame the boss" if they got caught and partly because they never thought their actions would be revealed.

"This is not anonymous sources leaking; these are actual documents and pieces of paper, text messages, and emails," she said. "They are starting to be released from midlevel people. My question is, once those documents are released, it usually indicates that the Justice Department is done with them ... maybe it's an indication that other heads will fall soon."

John Solomon at JTN, FBI recorded Trump questions on Russia during first counterintelligence briefing

The extraordinary notes confirm information first divulged last December by the Justice Department inspector general that the Comey FBI used the August 2016 briefing as a way of sizing up then-candidate Trump and Flynn in the Russia case and gathering evidence against them.

Memos associated with the meeting show since-fired Agent Peter Strzok and departed FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith were involved in approving the effort by Pientka to use the briefing as an investigative tool instead of just an educational baseline intelligence meeting. Clinesmith was accused in the IG report of altering a key document in the Russia case and has left the bureau, though he has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Pientka's summary memo of the briefing shows the extent to which the FBI was gathering or seeking evidence against Trump and Flynn and likely will bolster claims by Republicans that the bureau was "spying" on Trump when it should have been giving the future president a defensive briefing about Russians seeking influence in the United States.

Clinesmith went on to forge evidence to keep the FISA warrants flowing.

Scott Johnson at Power Line, When the FBI Spied on Trump.

We have yet to get any idea of the “intelligence” obtained by the FBI pursuant to the four FISA warrants obtained on the basis of the fraudulent Clinton campaign and DNC-funded Steele Dossier. One can only wonder how deeply the surveillance let the FBI burrow into the Trump campaign and presidency.

The newly declassified documents further the biggest scandal in American political history, though you’d never know it from the silence of the media organs that brought us the Russia hoax over the past four years. They too are part of the scandal.

Sundance is revisiting the past to try to make connections in A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To The Coffee Shop… and Coffee Talk…. and points a finger squarely at "Tash" Tashina Gauhar, who apparently managed the Mueller investigation for Rod Rosenstein, who admitted:

According to those with direct knowledge, when Jeff Sessions recused (fire-walled) from anything to do with the special counsel in ’17, ’18, ’19, Rod Rosenstein “should have” held oversight. However, in his Senate Judiciary testimony of June 3, 2020, Rosenstein admitted that he conducted no oversight over the Mueller probe.

Rosenstein’s justification was he did not feel it was his position to question their “investigative processes“, later saying “everything was an investigative process“, ergo anything the special counsel was doing was considered valid; nothing was questioned, and Rosenstein felt it was his position to “facilitate” the Mueller team.

This is a key point: The special counsel took over Main Justice.

Which begs the question….. If Rosenstein was providing everything; who was managing the daily events inside Main Justice while the SC events were ongoing? Who was the internal coordinator for the legal and investigative crew? Who was the bridge? Answer:

Tash Gauhar. Her testimony to the Senate, if it happens, could prove interesting.

From Da Caller, Trump Tells Hannity He’d Consider Pardoning Those Convicted In The Mueller Investigation. That's OK with me, though he might think twice about Manafort, whose tax crimes would probably have not been prosecuted if it weren't for the Mueller investigation.

So this is fair, right? Greg Jarrett? The Heat Is ON: Biden Campaign Goes On Defense Over Senate Burisma Investigation "A Senate committee investigation into Burisma is eyeing subpoenas of advisers to the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential candidate"

The former vice president’s campaign has largely remained quiet on the matter until a memo was released Tuesday by Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield. The memo made personal attacks against the panel Chairman who heads the Homeland Security Committee, Ron Johnson. The memo suggested the Wisconsin Republican could be “party to a foreign influence operation” and suggested he was “worsening the coronavirus crisis” by investigating Burisma.

Apparently, his sole qualification for office is that he was not in power when the WuFlu emerged from China.

Two systems of justice: NYPo, Michael Cohen back home in NYC pad after release from prison. Now compare to Roger Stone.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. Linked by EBL in Die Walküre 🎭, Ernani 🎭, Carole King: The First Day Of August, Rusalka 🎭🌕🧜🏻‍♀️, Uncle Tom: The Movie 🎥🎬, Shayna Leigh: Goodbye July, Il Trovatore 🎭, Misty Boyce: Goodbye July, Rigoletto 🎭, Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All 🎙️😎, Julie London: Sleigh Ride in July, Tosca 🎭, Guy On A Buffalo and Hassie Harrison, Lucia di Lammermoor 🎭, Olivia de Havilland, RIP 😢 and Jhené Aiko: July.