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.

Russiagate: Pardon Me Boy

 The pardons are the peak subject:  WSJ,  Trump’s Weissmann Pardons

Mr. Weissmann is the former deputy to special counsel Robert Mueller on the Russia collusion probe. He’s a Democratic partisan who can be seen even now on MSNBC suggesting that Mr. Trump obstructed justice in the probe that never turned up evidence of collusion. He and his fellow prosecutors spent two years, with the full resources of the federal government, trying to prove a case that didn’t exist.

Instead they indicted individuals in the Trump orbit of crimes unrelated to their main purpose. They pursued Paul Manafort on a foreign-lobbying statute that is rarely enforced and then turned up evidence of tax fraud. They coerced George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan into copping pleas on a single count of making false statements. Roger Stone was convicted of obstructing a Congressional investigation.

Mr, Manafort’s tax offenses are serious crimes, and that’s how a jury saw them. He and Mr. Stone, former business partners, have long been political scoundrels of the type Mr. Trump likes to have around him. But there’s no doubt they were targeted not for their specific offenses but because they associated with Mr. Trump. Prosecutors were out to get Mr. Trump—many of them still are—and they were happy to take down others in the hope they would have evidence against the President

Political clemency will inevitably follow political prosecutions.

But the Peter Baker at NYT  (at YaHoo) whines For a Defeated President, Pardons as an Expression of Grievance. Matt Vespa at Town Hall, Liberal Reporter's Take on Some of Trump's Pardons Are Bound to Trigger Progressives.

People of disreputable character can be said to have been "victimized" by overzealous, ill-founded prosecutions. Occurs on a regular basis. This just happened to be a high profile example that was mindlessly cheered on by the media/activist class for short-term political reasons https://t.co/0bIHlVCagI

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 24, 2020

NPR whines Shock And Dismay After Trump Pardons Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians, but as Jazz Shaw at Hot Reminds us Ho, Ho, Ho. NY Governor Gives Christmas Pardons, Commutations To Illegal Aliens, Murderers, but that's different because reasons! Brian Darling at Town Hall argues President’s Pardon Power Is Broad and Should be Used Liberally I agree. 

Yougov at Hot Air, Poll: Americans Are Divided On Whether A President Can Pardon Himself. I'm shocked, shocked that Americans are divided. Just wait until Joe Biden needs a pardon.

And how are our pardon alumni coming along? Mediaite, Roger Stone Says He’s Going To Sue Bill Barr and Justice Department For $25M After Trump Pardon. Good luck, Roger. John Solomon at JTN says George Papadopoulos wants to know if FBI spied on conversation with Fox News executive. Of course they did, silly!

In a wide-ranging interview with Just the News after his pardon, Papadopoulos said he was troubled by a text message recently released by the Justice Department. In the message, the FBI's lead Russia case agent Peter Strzok appears to be told there is audio of Papadopoulos talking to a Fox News vice president.

In the text, Papadopoulos is referred to by his FBI codename, "Typhoon."

"I know you're not point on this anymore, but typhoon got a call from the VP at Fox News yesterday, who advised that the government was conducting 'checks' on him a few months back," the Jan. 12, 2016 text message from an unidentified FBI employee to Strzok reads.

"I haven't listened to the exact audio, but i'm guess[ing] that's the FARA checks that we did with DOJ on our 4 main guys; especially given the article that you pushed yesterday," the text message added.

From the Canadian Freepers,  Gen. Michael Flynn—Will the American Republic Survive?--Part Two

WSJ, Can Snowden Bamboozle Trump? He stole American security secrets. His allies cajole the President for a pardon. No, he betrayed his country. On the other hand, I don't see why Julian Assange isn't treated like any other unfriendly journolist. 

From Breitbart, Maxine Waters is still fighting the last war, Waters: Trump Is ‘Compromised’ by Putin — We Have to ‘Rely on Biden’ to Stand Up to Russia and China. Biden can't stand up to China from their pockets. And I don't expect him to stand up to Russia (or Iran or North Korea) either. 

Linked as Blog of the Day at Pirate's Cove If All You See.... Thanks, Teach!

Russiagate: POTUS Pardons Papadop

 And others. Fox, President Trump grants several high-profile pardons

President Trump issued full pardons to 15 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional five people, the White House announced Tuesday.


Included in the list are Duncan Hunter, a former GOP congressman from California, Chris Collins, a former GOP representative from New York and Trump campaign advisor George Papadapoulous.

The pardons and commutations came at the recommendation of Trump allies in Congress and in the media, and at the recommendation of Alice Johnson, whose sentence was commuted at the request of Kim Kardashian.

Papadapoulous had been convicted of making false statements during the Mueller investigation.

He was sentenced to 14 days in prison and a $9,500 fine for lying to the FBI during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, after he pleaded guilty to misleading federal investigators about his meetings with Russia-connected Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud.

The White House said Tuesday Papadapoulous had been charged with a "process-related crime" even though "Mueller stated in his report that he found no evidence of collusion in connection with Russia’s attempts to interfere in the election."

Alex van der Zwaan, who also pleaded guilty to lying to Mueller investigators and was sentenced to 30 days in prison, received a pardon from the president.

I'm fully on board with the Papadop pardon. Papadop had already served his sentence, so the pardon restores his non-felon status. It will be even sweeter if Andy Weissman whines about it. I don't have much opinion on van der Zwaan, but any poke in the eye to the Weissman is worthy. John Sexton at Hot Air, Trump Grants Clemency To 20 Including A Pardon For George Papadopoulos “Today’s pardon helps correct the wrong that Mueller’s team inflicted on so many people.”Mairead McArdle at NR, Trump Pardons Campaign Advisers, Blackwater Contractors. At CTH, sundance makes the case for A Reason To Pardon Julian Assange. I could live with that. I've never understood the difference between Assange publishing US govt secrets and CBS (say as an example) publishing US govt. secrets. I'd like to hear what he has to offer regarding the DNC leaks too. He claims he can proved they didn't come from Russia. 

Fox, Special counsel Durham investigation 'making good progress,' Barr says "Source tells Fox News that Durham is now 'frequently' working out of Washington, DC" I don't want good progress; I want good results. From Da Wire, AG Barr Gives Update On Durham Probe: ‘Group of People’ Attempted To ‘Topple’ Trump Admin. He's been steadfast on this, if nothing else.

Mr. Barr describes an overarching objective of ensuring that there is “one standard of justice.” That, he says, is why he appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate the FBI’s 2016 Crossfire Hurricane probe. “Of course the Russians did bad things in the election,” he says. “But the idea that this was done with the collusion of the Trump campaign — there was never any evidence. It was entirely made up.” The country deserved to know how the world’s premier law-enforcement agency came to target and spy on a presidential campaign.

Mr. Barr says Mr. Durham’s appointment should not have been necessary. Mr. Mueller’s investigation should have exposed FBI malfeasance. Instead, “the Mueller team seems to have been ready to blindly accept anything fed to it by the system,” Mr. Barr says, adding that this “is exactly what DOJ should not be.”

But, as Chuck Ross notes at Da Caller, AG Barr Sees No Evidence Of CIA Wrongdoing In Trump-Russia Probe. NewsMax, Brennan Calls Durham Investigation 'Trolling,' Mocks Barr. I'm not as big a man as Barr; I'd put him in jail for being an ass, not to mention perjury. 

"If there was no basis for this, why was I interviewed by Mr. Durham for eight hours? Bill Barr used to complain about he didn't see the predication for the FBI investigation into Trump engagements with the Russians. What was the predication of this Durham investigation?

The should have used the rack. Ed Timperlake at Am Think says The Attorney General cannot exonerate the CIA. No evidence is not the same as exoneration. But I want to know if the CIA had anything to do with the Mysterious Mr. Mifsud. 

My point is simple: The CIA is a large security-compartmented organization and by design often does not symbolically want the left hand to know what the right hand is doing.

For the AG to wander into that hall of mirrors and make a grand lasting statement about CIA staying in its lane and not “spying” on candidate and then-President Donald Trump is preposterous on the merits.

Before the historical record sets to concrete, for the AG to say that the CIA stayed in their lane, a penalty flag must be thrown that such a blanket denial by AG Barr is factually illogical, not supportable by even the recent the historic record, and should not be allowed to stand.

Thomas Farnan at TNP on  The Banality Of Bill Barr. Lloyd Billingsly at Front Page, Deep State Strike Force

Speaking of SES and Deep State, Fox, Nunes calls for new criminal referral over Peter Stzrok texts and Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, Strzok said Steele dossier was meant to 'influence' and not just 'inform' in September 2016. Sundance has Sunday Talks, Devin Nunes Outlines the Common Sense Explanations Behind Current Issues Video embargoed by Fox.

On the Spygate story Nunes points to the recently released text messages from Lisa Page and Peter Strzok and states a criminal referral for the treatment of George Papadopoulos should be forthcoming.

From AOL (they still exist?) Chris Christie says Michael Flynn 'never belongs anywhere near the White House'. Which may be proof he does. 

Andrea Widberg at Am Think thinks Overstock’s colorful founder has tales to tell about the Russia hoax. I do too. 

And last, Tristan Justice at Da Fed informs us that Tech Billionaire Reid Hoffman Funded Legal Firm For Spygate Linchpin Fusion GPS

Russiagate: Forgotten but Not Gone

It's been a few days, so I should clear out the bin. New releases of Peter Strzok emails dig him incrementally deeper into the scandal, but don't cause massive shock. Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, New Strzok text spurs debate about how FBI began Trump-Russia investigations in 2016

Strzok sent a message to then-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was having an affair, on July 28, 2016, three days before Crossfire Hurricane was opened, saying that there were “three things I want to talk to you about,” including a yet-redacted matter and “our open CI [counterintelligence] investigations relating to Trump’s Russia connections.”

President Trump tweeted on Friday that “the Russia Hoax becomes an even bigger lie!” in response to the Federalist’s Sean Davis saying, “Surprise! The FBI has been lying for years about when it started investigating Trump in 2016.” Strzok tweeted that the claims were “untrue,” that “the investigation opened July 31,” and that “199 criminal charges followed.”

It was not immediately clear to whom Strzok may have been referring to in his July 2016 message, which was among dozens of FBI communications declassified by the DOJ and released this week by Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley in their investigation of the Trump-Russia investigators. Horowitz’s December 2019 report said that “two of the four Crossfire Hurricane subjects” wrapped into the Trump-Russia investigation by the FBI in August 2016 “were already the subjects of other existing federal investigations.”

Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Peter Strzok’s Declassified Messages Give Insider View Of FBI’s Trump Campaign Probe

The declassified documents also show that Strzok was provided with real-time updates as FBI agents or undercover sources were meeting with Trump campaign advisers Carter Page and George Papaodpoulos, who were early targets of the investigation.

Nice Deb at Am Great:  Newly Declassified Texts Messages Reveal that the FBI Spied on Fox News During Crossfire Hurricane Investigation

FBI officials spied on a Fox News executive in early 2017 as part of the corrupt Crossfire Hurricane investigation that targeted President Trump and his associates, newly declassified messages reveal.

Internal FBI messages from fired FBI agent Peter Strzok—released by Senate Republicans on Thursday—reveal that the Bureau surveilled and recorded a phone call between former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and an unnamed vice president at Fox News weeks before President Trump was inaugurated.

Curiously, there never appears to have been a FISA warrant on Papadopoulos, so if he was wire tapped, there must have been a "national security letter" invoked.  Which means James Comey, in this case. 

NSLs typically contain a nondisclosure requirement forbidding the recipient of an NSL from disclosing that the FBI had requested the information. The nondisclosure provision must be authorized by the Director of the FBI, and only after he or she certifies "that otherwise there may result a danger to the national security of the United States; interference with a criminal, counterterrorism, or counterintelligence investigation; interference with diplomatic relations; or danger to the life or physical safety of any person." Moreover, a recipient of the NSL may still challenge the nondisclosure provision in federal court.

Tristan Justice at Da Fed, FBI Spied On Fox News, Recorded Phone Call Between Fox Exec And George Papadopoulos, New Texts Show. Ace, Released Texts Prove Obama Also Used "Russia Collusion" Hoax a Pretext to Spy on... Fox News. To be fair, it doesn't sound like Fox was a target of the spying, just an incidental capture while surveilling Page.

Kimberly Strassel at the paywalled WSJ sat down with AJ William Barr for three hours. William Barr: ‘One Standard of Justice’

He reminds me why he took the job in the first place: “The Department of Justice was being used as a political weapon” by a “willful if small group of people,” who used the claim of collusion with Russia in an attempt to “topple an administration,” he says. “Someone had to make sure that the power of the department stopped being abused and that there was accountability for what had happened.” Mr. Barr largely succeeded, in the process filling a vacuum of political oversight, reimposing norms, and resisting partisan critics on both sides.

Mr. Barr describes an overarching objective of ensuring that there is “one standard of justice.” That, he says, is why he appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate the FBI’s 2016 Crossfire Hurricane probe. “Of course the Russians did bad things in the election,” he says. “But the idea that this was done with the collusion of the Trump campaign—there was never any evidence. It was entirely made up.” The country deserved to know how the world’s premier law-enforcement agency came to target and spy on a presidential campaign. . . .

Apparently, one of the things he said was that Durham had cleared the CIA of illegal acts in the Russiagate scandal. To bad, I was looking forward to James Clapper being frog marched to jail. 

Sundance at CTH wants help assembling a list of things to be declassified, We Need A Reckoning – Crowdsourcing Request, What Do You Want To See Declassified. More, rather than less, please.

The Peacock, White House counsel's office warned Trump not to fire Chris Wray "Attorneys have fretted that by firing the FBI director, Trump could be putting himself in jeopardy." What are they going to do, impeach him?

“I wouldn’t take anything off the table in coming weeks,” the senior administration official said of personnel changes, as well as presidential pardons. The official said to expect “some more fairly significant terminations in the national security or intelligence community.”

Breitbart,  Biden’s DOE Pick Jennifer Granholm Spent Years Pushing Russia Conspiracy Theories It might be hard to find a Democrat that didn't.

TNP, Project Veritas Releases Clinton State Dept-Assange Call Recording (with Audio) "In the audio, Assange can be heard warning U.S. authorities about impending classified leaks." I still don't understand the difference between Assange collecting and publishing US secrets, and Woodward and Bernstein or other main-stream journalists. 

PM, Reports that Pentagon puts a sudden stop to Biden transition briefings refuted by Acting Defense Secretary

At the WaPoo, Ken Gormley wants that If Trump pardons himself, Biden should un-pardon him. I think Trump should pardon Hunter, but leave Joe swinging in the breeze.

And then, there's Swallowsall:

House Republicans Call For Swalwell's Removal From Intelligence Committee Over Relations With Chinese Spy

WATCH: Sen. Rand Paul to Rep. Eric Swalwell: 'Just resign' | The Post Millennial

McCarthy gets FBI briefing on Swalwell: 'He should not be on Intel' committee | Fox News

McCarthy: FBI Stonewalling on Briefing on Swalwell's Reported Spy Ties

Rep. McCarthy gets FBI briefing on Rep. Swalwell: 'He should not be on Intel'

Kevin McCarthy Discusses Finally Receiving FBI Briefing on Eric Swalwell Compromise With Chinese Spies - The Last RefugeThe Last Refuge

Daines: Swalwell 'Needs to Get in Front of a Congressional Committee'

Ace of Spades HQ Former DNC Spokesman Brad Woodhouse Says the House Should Give the Congressional Medal of Honor to Eric Swalwell for Adulterously Fucking a Chinese Whore/Spy

Some Post-Ginsburg Russiagate

Not very much. Did Justice Ginsburg give up the ghost so the chattering classes would have something to fight about other than the Durham report?

Olivia Beavers atop Da Hill, From Chuck Ross at Da Caller, House Democrats Ramp Up Effort To Thwart Durham Probe, Call For ‘Emergency Investigation’

The Democratic chairs of four House committees asked the Justice Department’s internal watchdog on Friday to open an “emergency investigation” into U.S. Attorney John Durham’s probe of the Obama administration’s Trump-related intelligence activities.

“We write to ask that you open an emergency investigation into whether U.S. Attorney General William Barr, U.S. Attorney John Durham, and other Department of Justice political appointees are following DOJ’s longstanding policy to avoid taking official actions or other steps that could improperly influence the upcoming presidential election,” the Democrats wrote to Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department inspector general.

The letter was signed by Reps. Jerry Nadler, Adam Schiff, Zoe Lofgren and Carolyn Maloney, who lead the House Judiciary, Intelligence, House Administration and Oversight Committees, respectively.

Top Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence 

The Democrats noted that a DOJ manual says neither the agency nor its personnel may confirm or comment on ongoing investigations before charges are publicly filed, and that a memo from the agency says that “prosecutors may never select the timing of investigative steps or criminal charges for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.”

They also pointed to a previous report in 2018 authored by Barr where he said law enforcement and prosecutorial activities must be avoided when close to an election, “typically within 60 or 90 days of Election Day.”


In urging Horowitz to examine the matter, they claim Barr has changed this view on these policies, citing an interview earlier this year with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

“I think in its core, the idea is you don’t go after candidates. You don’t indict candidates or perhaps someone that’s sufficiently close to a candidate, that it’s essentially the same, you know, within a certain number of days before an election. But you know, as I say, I don’t think any of the people whose actions are under review by Durham fall into that category,” Barr said during the interview in April.

Please note that by taking issue with theses investigations, the Democrats are admitting, in effect, that the DOJ and FBI (and perhaps other agencies as well, see below) personnel were acting on behalf of the Democrats. Sure, let's have another 3 year investigation. 

Also from Chuck Ross, John Brennan Suggests Republicans Are Scared To Invite Him To Public Hearing

Republicans have long questioned what role, if any, Brennan played in collecting intelligence on Trump associates in 2016. Brennan told the House Intelligence Committee on May 23, 2017 that he provided the FBI with information on contacts between Trump associates and Russians, though he did not provide any details about the intelligence.

“I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign,” Brennan testified at the time.

U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a broad investigation of various Trump-related issues, interviewed Brennan last month as part of his inquiry. Brennan has said that Durham told him he was not a target of the investigation, which so far led the prosecution of a former FBI attorney, Kevin Clinesmith, who worked on the Crossfire Hurricane team.

JD Gordon, a former Trump advisor opines at Da Caller, ‘Lock ‘Em Up’ Politics Will Destroy America

During a speech for Hillsdale College on Sept. 16th, Barr noted that its career prosecutors can “sometimes become headhunters” who fuel the “criminalization of politics.” Alarmingly, he said “I see it everyday.”

Though he didn’t name names or cite cases, there’s a straight line to Russiagate.

A 30-something FBI lawyer named Kevin Clinesmith pled guilty last month to altering a government e-mail in order to improperly obtain a FISA Warrant against Carter Page, thereby gaining a window of surveillance into the Trump Campaign. Similarly young DOJ prosecutors, Jonathan Kravis, Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed and Michael Marando resigned en masse from the February trial of longtime Trump associate Roger Stone after Barr rebuked their grossly excessive 7-9 year recommended sentence for a 67-year-old, first-time, non-violent offender.

Barr compared the situation to school children: “Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool, but it’s no way to run a federal agency.” Wow.

About the FBI, he said: “These people are agents of the Attorney General. As I say, FBI Agents, whose agent do you think you are?”

It’s a good thing he’s speaking up, because ‘Lock ‘Em Up’ Politics could destroy America.

In principle, I agree with Barr and Gordon. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the persecutions of Flynn, Papadopuolos, Roger Stone and Paul Manafort (although, yeah, he probably cheated on his taxes), the Democrats don't, and they won't until and unless some of their agents are treated in a similar manner, they are unlikely to come to the table and agree.

Not a Lotta Russiagate

But more than I thought. Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx explains how Peter Strzok's claim about Russia investigation origins is contradicted by Mueller and DOJ inspector general

Fired FBI special agent Peter Strzok’s latest claims about the events leading to the bureau’s opening of the Trump-Russia investigation are contradicted by the timelines presented in reports by special counsel Robert Mueller and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

It's very odd that national outlets have permitted Strzok to continue the fantasy of how the fraudulent FARA case known as "Crossfire hurricane" launched in July when BOTH Durham and Barr have publicly refuted it months ago. Getting it right will be the biggest story this century

— George Papadopoulos (@GeorgePapa19) September 7, 2020

In a new interview ahead of the release of his book, Strzok claimed that Australian diplomat Alexander Downer was spurred to inform the U.S. government about a May 2016 conversation he had in a London wine bar with George Papadopoulos, in which the Trump campaign associate mentioned that Russia might have dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after hearing Donald Trump’s controversial July 2016 comment: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” But Mueller and Horowitz concluded that Australia informed the United States of this conversation on July 26, 2016, which is one day before Trump’s press conference comments about Russia.

I have no doubt, however, that Trump's comments pissed off Strzok and his colleagues, and spurred them to greater efforts to take down Trump. Also remember, Strzok was an interface between the FBI and the CIA:

DEVELOPING: Investigators have learned that Obama CIA Director John Brennan ran a secret task force out of Langley with its own separate budget to investigate Trump campaign and alleged ties to Russia. Task force set up before FBI officially launched its own probe on 07/31/16

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) September 8, 2020

At AmThink, Monica Showalter dumps on Strzok's comments that all the errors in the FISA warrants occurred because the agents were being overworked: A pitifully 'overworked' FBI lovebird

This is downright comical.

If the agents were overworked, most likely a warrant that should have been done would not have been done. Some bad guy would have escaped. That's the nature of overwork.

In his case, they were busy beavers, issuing warrants that shouldn't have been issued. That takes extra work, an industrious amount of work; it's got to be exhausting spying on extra people you're not allowed to spy on in addition to the ones you are.

The whole claim falls apart right there.

But in Strzok's case, the idiocy builds when one recognizes what he did spend his time on: texting with his illicit girlfriend at the time, Lisa Page, and leaving a vast trail of evidence from it. According to this AP report, it was 19,000 text messages. He spent so much time texting that it's a miracle if he could do anything else.

And it wasn't just lovebird stuff; it was politics stuff, conniving with Page about an "insurance policy" to ensure that Trump would never be president, along with plenty of time for asides, such as that comment he made on Walmart shoppers, whom Strzok said he could just smell their fealty to Trump from.

The real question was whether he did anything but text in his über-sensitive counterintelligence job. Based on those texts alone, he had to have been overworked — on his love affair.

As for the excuse-making for the faulty FISA warrants, give us a break.

The Venn diagram of journos who bought and peddled the Iraq WMD hoax, the Rolling Stone UVA rape hoax, the Russian collusion hoax, the Covington hoax, the Kavanaugh hoax, the Ukraine hoax, and the latest Atlantic hoax is a single circle. Take note of who’s inside it.

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 4, 2020

Video proof of @JoeBiden walking away from the concerns of our Veterans.

This isn’t an anonymous hit - this is video proof. https://t.co/dScJf3FkiD

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) September 6, 2020

Hannity, BIDEN BOMBSHELL: New Documentary Explores ‘The Bidens’ Chinese Secrets’. Breitbart, Gordon Chang: China Seems ‘to Be Favoring Joe Biden’ in Presidential Election. They paid for the tool. They damn well intend to use it.

Laboring Through Russiagate

Not a lot, but more than there should be. Sundace at CTH was productive yesterday. Let's start with Sunday Talks – Trey Gowdy Doesn’t Foresee DOJ Probe Delivering any Legal Accountability for FBI Misconduct…

Within the interview Gowdy notes he does not expect to see any legal consequences as an outcome of the John Durham investigation beyond the current pleading by former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith. While Gowdy can be an insufferable voice at times, on this issue and given the nature of the current political calendar, he would appear to be correct.

Gowdy asks the question about where everything started. In the earlier interview with Peter Strzok (CBS), the FBI justification (current narrative) was pointed back to George Papadopoulos and his thin gruel conversation with Australian diplomat Alexander Downer.

At this point the corrupt DC elements appear to have successfully ran out the clock for 2020; and that is very frustrating from the position of two-tiers of justice.

However, that said there is a possibility more focus on the special counsel operation could lead to some rather eye-opening information. The public needs to know how corrupt the special counsel investigation was; what their exact intents and purposes were; and there is ample evidence mounting.

And, There Never Was a “Woods File” Underpinning The Carter Page FISA Application – Here’s How We Know…

CONCLUSION: Taking all the above into proper context, when the office of inspector general announced on March 28, 2018, that he was going to review all four of the Carter Page FISA applications; no doubt the office of the special counsel, Andrew Weissmann; who was previously the DOJ-NSD FARA targeting coordinator; moved swiftly to create the appearance of a Woods File where none previously existed. That led to the Woods Procedure justification as stated by the IG.

There never was a Woods File. The FBI and DOJ relied upon the Chris Steele Dossier as the evidence to support the FISA application. Chris Steele was identified as a Confidential Human Source, and his dossier was qualified as a replacement for the Woods File.

That’s exactly what happened. I guarantee it.

And, CBS Interviews Peter Strzok To Set Defensive Narrative…

That said, in a heavily edited interview with former FBI Agent Peter Strzok, CBS once again attempts to shape a defensive narrative to cloud the truth of the DOJ and FBI intents within the 2016 election. You’ll note this interview is actually very light on broadcasting the actual interview statements by Peter Strzok because: (a) Strzok has legal risk from any statement; and (b) the intent of this interview is shaping a defensive narrative.

This interview is frustrating on many levels. First, because it shows how the absence of accountability by current DOJ officials has led to Strzok’s brazen ability to lie publicly. Strzok has no fear in his appearance and is shamefully blame-casting and pushing a justification that is completely devoid from truth.

Secondly, this interview is a direct result of AG Barr failing to aggressively hold these former FBI officials accountable for intentional wrongdoing and purposeful corruption. There is no excuse.

Which opens the door to a whole bunch of articles regarding Strzoks recent outings, and book. Many are from MSM outlets and are, of course, remarkably gentle. A sampling. Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Peter Strzok Defends FBI Against FISA Abuse Allegations, Says Agents Were ‘Overworked’. Fox, Peter Strzok says mistakes in FISA applications were due to agents being 'overworked' - "Strzok said the mistakes and failures found in the IG report were not improper." Insty replies, SORRY DUDE, BUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING WITH LISA PAGE WASN’T WORK: Peter Strzok says mistakes in FISA applications were due to agents being ‘overworked.’ Or hell, maybe it was work for both of you, I’ve seen your pictures.

Charles Lozado at WaPoo whines He investigated Clinton and Trump. Then the Justice Department turned on him. Politico, Peter Strzok would like to clear a few things up. But for sheer irony, there's nothing like this from NPR, Peter Strzok, Notorious Ex-G-Man, Explains Himself And Takes Aim At Trump

"One of the harshest realities that special agents must accept is learning to live with the knowledge that someone's misdeed may not be punished," Strzok writes. "This is a bitter pill to swallow, as every FBI agent I know is motivated by a profound desire to pursue justice. In this world, bad people sometimes get away with bad things. Some particularly thoughtful senior agents in Boston tried to convey that hard fact, but I wouldn't feel the full weight of that lesson until the end of my career."

 Liars gonna lie, AP, Cohen memoir casts him as ‘star witness’ against Trump

Russiagate: Strzok Strzikes Back

Apparently Peter Strzok wasn't happy with how his 15 minutes of fame went. He's back in the news as he promotes a book. WaPoo, FBI pondered whether Trump was ‘a Manchurian candidate elected,’ former agent alleges in new book. I guess he forgets the part about telling his illicit love Lisa Page that he was reluctant to get into the Special Counsel's persecution because he thought 'there’s no big there there'

Former FBI agent Peter Strzok alleges in a new book that investigators came to believe it was “conceivable, if unlikely” that Russia was secretly controlling President Trump after he took office — a full-fledged “Manchurian candidate” installed as America’s commander in chief.

In the book, “Compromised,” Strzok describes how the FBI had to consider “whether the man about to be inaugurated was willing to place his or Russia’s interests above those of American citizens,” and if and how agents could investigate that. Strzok opened the FBI’s 2016 investigation into whether Trump’s campaign had coordinated with the Kremlin to help his election and later was involved in investigating Trump personally. He was ultimately removed from the case over private text messages disparaging of the president.

“We certainly had evidence that this was the case: that Trump, while gleefully wreaking havoc on America’s political institutions and norms, was pulling his punches when it came to our historic adversary, Russia,” Strzok writes. “Given what we knew or had cause to suspect about Trump’s compromising behavior in the weeks, months, and years leading up to the election, moreover, it also seemed conceivable, if unlikely, that Moscow had indeed pulled off the most stunning intelligence achievement in human history: secretly controlling the president of the United States — a Manchurian candidate elected.”

It is definitely not the mission of the FBI to enforce "America’s political institutions and norms."

Chuck Ross catches this admission, ‘Wild Goose Chases’: Strzok Says Steele Dossier Was ‘A Problem’ For The Trump-Russia Probe. It was a problems because it was a pack of lies that should have been buried, and they knew that quickly, but it was an opportunity to investigate the President. Guess which path the chose.

“The report was very typical of information that the FBI often receives. It comes from several sources, including some suspect sources. Some of it is bullshit, and some of it is rumor, and some of it is disinformation,” Strzok told The Atlantic.

“From our perspective,” Strzok said of the dossier, “some of it was a distraction.”
. . .
“The Steele report was a problem for the investigation, because it sent people off on a series of wild-goose chases. That problem got worse after it was published by BuzzFeed,” he told The Atlantic.

“So some people have sought to use the weaknesses of the Steele reporting to try and cast aspersions against the entirety of the FBI’s massive investigation. These efforts have been very disingenuous, very distorting, and very successful.”

And all your fault. Meaning in History reports Peter Strzok Talks To Anne Applebaum. Hilarity Ensues.

It's actually not even an interview in any traditional sense. It's more of a Trump-Hate venting session. Normally if a journalist interviews a controversial figure, the journalist will push and challenge the interview subject. Strzok is someone who was fired by the FBI after he helped launch unpredicated investigations into a presidential campaign using opposition research from the other campaign, then obtained FISA warrants that everyone who knows anything--Michael Horowitz at OIG, Bill Barr at DoJ, the FISA court judges--understands were fraudulent. He's now awaiting indictment and prosecution. In any normal world that would qualify Strzok as controversial, but not in the alternate reality inhabited by Applebaum and The Atlantic.

Well, there is the possibility that The Atlantic simply doesn't care about its reputation and is willing to sacrifice its credibility in an effort to stop what's beginning to look like a Trump re-election juggernaut.

So, instead of posing challenging, probing questions, Applebaum tosses out one debunked conspiracy theory after another. Strzok fields them, agrees, then tosses out one of his own, and so it goes--back and forth. Improbable as it would be in a normal interview, the two agree on everything, and it all comes down to: Orange Man Bad. Also Mean, because Strzok is gonna get prosecuted.

You can actually get the drift of it right from the title: ‘Who’s Putting These Ideas in His Head?’ Trump is afflicted with Wrongthink--bad ideas, ideas that no right thinking person could possibly hold. That's a dead giveaway, according to Strzok, that Trump has been "compromised" by the Russians. They're blackmailing him. Here's how that works.
. . .

From Margot Cleveland at Da Fed, Mifsud Notes Provide More Proof Crossfire Hurricane Was An Excuse To Spy On Trump

Yet, as Horowitz noted in his report on FISA abuse, the Crossfire Hurricane team failed to inform the FISA court of Mifsud’s denials. Equally troubling was Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s efforts to paint Mifsud as a Russian agent, even though the evidence did not support that premise.

The 302 summary of Mifsud’s interview also suggests Mueller’s team played fast and loose with the truth in the sentencing memorandum it filed in the Papadopoulos criminal case. Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI concerning Mifsud during one of several interviews they conducted. In the sentencing memorandum filed with the court in Papadopoulos’ case, the special counsel’s team represented to the court:

[T]he defendant’s lies to the FBI in January 2017 impeded the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Most immediately, those statements substantially hindered investigators’ ability to effectively question the Professor when the FBI located him in Washington, D.C. approximately two weeks after the defendant’s January 27, 2017 interview. The defendant’s lies undermined investigators’ ability to challenge the Professor or potentially detain or arrest him while he was still in the United States. The government understands that the Professor left the United States on February 11, 2017 and he has not returned to the United States since then. The defendant’s lies also hindered the government’s ability to discover who else may have known or been told about the Russians possessing ‘dirt’ on Clinton.
Had the defendant told the FBI the truth when he was interviewed in January 2017, the FBI could have quickly taken numerous investigative steps to help determine, for example, how and where the Professor obtained the information, why the Professor provided the information to the defendant, and what the defendant did with the information after receiving it.

But, as the 302 statement makes clear, Mifsud outrightly denied having any advanced knowledge of Russians’ possession of the DNC emails and he told the agents he “did not make any offers or proffer any information to Papadopoulos.” Instead, Papadopoulos must have misunderstood their conversation about cyber security, Mifsud maintained.

Given Mifsud’s denials, nothing Papadopoulos said to the FBI could have impeded the FBI’s investigation into the tip supposedly given to Papadopoulos about the Russians’ dirt on Hillary. Of course, if the FBI were being honest, it would also have to admit it had no real investigation into that supposed tip about Russian dirt—that was merely a pretext to spy on the Trump campaign. Mifsud’s 302 is yet more proof of that reality.

Sundance at CTH has but one contribution today: 2019 FISC Report and Opinion Released – Full pdf and links…

A rather odd situation all things considered. A FISA Court opinion, based on 702 modifications and submissions to the court from the DOJ, dated December 6, 2019, has been released to the public (release date Sept. 4, 2020) [pdf link].
. . .
I’m slowly going through the 2019 report/opinion because often prior reports (the redacted stuff) are reconciled in new releases. Example: One previously held back component is this new admission about NCTC exploits . . .

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air (VIP) admits Meddling Russians (And The IRA) Guilty Of Doing What Most Americans Do, but that on the whole they're drowned out in the noise of American politics.

A new spate of breathless reports in the MSM informs us that Boris Badenov, er… I mean Vladimir Putin and his network of internet nasties are up to their old tricks again, this time with the help of other foreign terrorist organizations. They’re looking to “meddle” in the United States election this November. That’s a pretty serious charge, so we’d best look into it. Are they hacking into our newfangled electronic voting machines? Awakening some of their deep moles to steal ballots from people’s mailboxes? Bribing people to vote for Trump in exchange for cash payments?

Disappointingly… no. But what they are doing is posting things on social media. Sometimes they do this in the guise of American groups or individuals, spreading disinformation or biased hot takes on controversial subjects. The chief topic where they’re seeking to foment unrest and divisiveness in the United States is the subject of racial unrest. Of course, if they can do a better job of that than the actual American factions debating this subject here at home it will be impressive indeed. . . .

If it's on Facebook, I believe it, don't you?

From the convicted liar (and WaPoo) In new book, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen describes alleged episodes of racism and says president likes how Putin runs Russia.

From Capital Research, Bannon Charges Show the “Other” Donor Intent Problem

Assuming the government’s allegations are substantially accurate, Bannon and company’s scheme is a double fiasco for the conservative movement. First, the supporters of We Build the Wall were (presumably) largely ordinary conservative supporters. The campaign originated on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe. Among the people the group allegedly ripped off was an eight-year-old kid who contributed money from a hot chocolate stand. The people who gave to the campaign deserved to have their money go toward helping build a border wall, however that was to happen, because that is what they were sold. Instead, it allegedly went to support Steve Bannon’s and his codefendants’ personal lifestyles.

The second fiasco is similar: Every wasted (or stolen) dollar on the conservative ideological side is more harmful than a wasted dollar on the left-progressive side. As Capital Research Center has demonstrated, the advocacy world on the Left is substantially larger than that on the Right. Money on the Right, whether from small donors or from institutions with professional staff to vet recipients, simply must go farther in right-of-center advocacy than money in left-of-center advocacy.

Left-progressive advocacy has numerous institutional advantages. O’Sullivan’s Law (“All organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing.”) does not fully cover the ability of left-progressive management to redirect an institution to support progressivism. As the history of the Pew Charitable Trusts shows, a sufficiently “creative” management can move an explicitly right-wing group to the left. The people who typically work for nonprofit groups, like communications people throughout business and civic life, tend to lean left. And I would be remiss to fail to note that some major left-progressive institutions such as labor unions can even compel people to fund them.

Conservative groups do not have those luxuries. Whatever portion of the reported $25 million raised by We Build the Wall that did not go toward supporting immigration enforcement was a loss of resources that conservatives can ill afford. And that’s before anyone who supported the We Build the Wall effort decides never to support a legitimate advocacy or policy campaign again because “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

I am simply unwilling to assume that any prosecutions that emanates from the SDNY that smacks of politics is legitimate.

Russiagate: The Mysterious Mr. Mifsud Back in the Mix

But first, some cleanup on Gen. Michael Flynn. Grant Baker at AmThink, The Continued Frameup of General Flynn and from Sundance at CTH, Jack Cashill Discusses Flynn Targeting Contrast Against Obama’s Agenda and Current Challenge For DOJ and AG Bill Barr…

And onto the Mysterious Mr. Mifsud, and the recent release of the FBI's 302 from his interview. They didn't seem to treat him as a foreign agent (they probably knew he was on their side) and questioned him very gently. Da Wire, Central Figure In Russia-Collusion Narrative Said He Never Offered Any Russian ‘Dirt’ On Hillary Clinton, FBI Interview Reveals. Fox, Mysterious Maltese professor denied making offer to Papadopoulos, new docs show

Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious Maltese professor who ex-FBI Director James Comey referred to as a “Russian agent” in an op-ed, denied any advance knowledge that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton and told investigators he never made any offers to George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign strategist, according to newly released FBI documents.

Mifsud, who is considered to be something of an international man of mystery, has studied law and diplomacy in London and Rome and was believed to have had contacts with key Russian officials. He met with Papadopoulos in 2016 at Link Campus University in Rome and then in London.

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation stated that Mifsud was the person who told Papadopoulos in April 2016 that Russians had “dirt” in the form of emails on Hillary Clinton that could damage her chances of becoming president.

Twitter user Techno Fog posted the FBI's "302" interview summary on Mifsud and pointed out that the 59-year-old professor told investigators he had “no advance knowledge Russia was in possession of emails from the Democratic National Committee and, therefore, did not make any offers or proffer any information” to Papadopoulos.

Sundance, Maltese Professor Joseph Mifsud FBI Interview Notes Released….

A narrative, pushed through a series of FBI leaks in 2017 outlining Mifsud as a Russian entity, was at the center of how the media justified the FBI targeting the Trump campaign for colluding with Russia. Later the special counsel used FBI conversations with Papadopoulos to claim he was less than honest about his contacts with Mifsud.

However, the actual FBI interview notes with Mifsud on February 10, 2017, show a remarkably different story.
. . .
The release of the Mifsud interview notes highlights the casual lack of importance the FBI seemed to be placing on the Russian “hacking” of the DNC or Clinton emails. Additionally, there is absolutely no evidence the FBI considered Mifsud a “Russian asset” as outlined by former FBI Director James Comey. Indeed the entire thing just gets more sketchy.

This FBI interview with Mifsud appears to be more of an approach at justifying a pre-existing investigation. Perhaps best viewed as a ‘going-through-the-paces’ approach to defend the thin gruel pretense for the Trump surveillance of the prior year.

The FBI based the legality and justification of their Trump campaign investigation on a rumor of a conversation shared by Australian Ambassador Alexander Downer as he recalled George Papadopoulos referencing this contact with Mifsud. The information from Downer came through unofficial channels connected to the State Department and was passed along to the FBI.

From the casual lack of inquiry it appears s the FBI interviewers knew the origination story was very thin and did not want to add aspects that would undermine the original justification. Instead, they eventually handed the entire mess over to the special counsel where Andrew Weissmann and crew used these thin threads to piece together a fabrication that would advance the political opposition to President Trump.

 And the star-crossed lovers? Judicial Watch, New Strzok-Page Emails Show FBI Investigated President Trump’s Tweets Critical of Obama and FBI

“These astonishing emails, which have been hidden for years, show the Comey FBI was investigating President Trump over his critical tweets of the agency and Obama’s spying abuse and misconduct,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These emails also show that Comey was intimately involved with illegal and dishonest FISA spy op against President Trump. Where is Durham?”

Chuck Ross at Da Caller, ‘That Worries Me’: Peter Strzok Expressed Concern In Email About Scrutiny Of Trump-Russia Probe . And the events have proved he should have.

'Adam Mill' at Da Fed has 3 Pieces Of Recycled Collusion Garbage In The Senate Intelligence Report. "Lie 1: Manafort Endangered U.S. Security by Feeding Information to the Russian Government . . . Lie 2: The Trump Tower Meeting Was a Product of Russian Intelligence . . . Lie 3 The Trump Campaign Used Roger Stone to Get Advance Knowledge of WikiLeaks Dumps . . . "

Paul Goldberg at Newsthud, Deep State Corruption: Ukrainian US Embassy ‘Monitored’ Trump Jr. And Others, Created An ‘Enemies List’ and From Wes Walker and Jeff Dunetz at Da Lid, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Had Embassy Staff Monitor Social Media Of Pro-Trump Americans

During the Ukraine hoax, when people outside the government exposing the truth about the Democratic-party created scandal, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and her embassy staff were monitoring the social media of prominent pro-Trump Americans. The list included Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rudy Guiliani, Dan Bongino, Sebastian Gorka, John Solomon, Jack Posobiec, Ryan Saavedra, Sara A. Carter, Donald Trump Jr., Michael McFaul, Lou Dobbs, and Pamela Geller.

It was a Democrat CYA that sprang up when people started sniffing around too close to where the bodies were buried. Remember the phone call? Trump dared to ask whether there was any truth to Biden’s boasting about getting a Ukrainian official fired and whether there was anything about it that smacked of corruption.

For one thing, certain corrupt characters in Ukraine figured prominently in the Spygate scandal, even providing another bogus accusatory document — informally known as the ‘black ledger’ — that prompted the investigation forcing Trump’s campaign manager to step down in the middle of his campaign.

Sundance, We are The People We Have Been Waiting For… and  Brennan Transmits His Durham Briefing to the Crew…

Ten days ago former CIA Director John Brennan was interviewed by the investigative unit led by John Durham.

Two days ago Brennan told the “small group” of politicians and corrupt Obama officials what his official line to those Durham investigators was.

Brennan tells his allies this through an Op-Ed published in the Washington Post.

The motive, intent and purpose is the same as Dianne Feinstein’s leak of the Glenn Simpson testimony… get all messaging on the same page. . . .

Rich Cromwell at Da Fed, Did Impeachment Happen, Or Did I Imagine It? For some reasons, Democrats seem to have pushed it to the back. I wonder why?

Chris White at Da Caller, Russian Troll Farm Behind 2016 Ruse Hires Left-Wing American Writers, Creates Fake News Site To Target Voters: Report. Well, there's an abundance of them, and they're cheap.

Victory Girls, Hunter Biden, Chinese Dealings Need Investigating. WaFreeBee, Hunter Biden Holds Stake in Chinese Company Sanctioned for Human-Rights Abuses

Hunter Biden holds a stake in a Chinese surveillance company that is under U.S. sanctions for human-rights violations, complicating his father Joe Biden’s campaign promise to crack down on American businesses with financial ties to China’s humanitarian abuses.

Bohai Harvest RST Shanghai Equity, an investment firm that Hunter Biden owns a stake in, initially invested in Megvii, a sanctioned Chinese tech company that specializes in facial recognition software, in 2017, according to the company’s website. The firm holds a nearly 2 percent stake in Megvii through two holding companies, according to a prospectus filed by Megvii as part of its application for a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange last year.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce added Megvii to its list of sanctioned entities that were "implicated in human-rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups."

Breitbart, Court Blocks Release of Trump Tax Returns amid Latest Appeal, NYPo, Appeals court agrees to delay release of Trump’s tax returns

Russiagate: Judge Sullivan Stalls

To pick up from yesterday when it was revealed that the Appeals court rejects Flynn effort to force judge to drop case immediately (Jerry Dunleavy, WaEx), today we find Judge Sullivan taking all the time he wants about getting to a solution. Or, as Margot Cleveland at Da Fed puts it, D.C. Court Endorses Continued Legal Harassment Of Michael Flynn

Where things go from here, however, is unclear, and Flynn’s legal team has not yet decided on its course of action. Flynn could seek review by the Supreme Court, but strategically he is likely better off waiting for Sullivan to rule on the motion to dismiss — something the D.C. Circuit said they “trust and expect” will happen with “appropriate dispatch.”

Flynn, though, has already waited long enough for justice. And justice delayed is justice denied.

Fox, Gregg Jarrett: In Flynn case, DC circuit court plays a silly game of legal dodgeball

The D.C. Circuit suggested that it is within the realm of possibility that Sullivan might actually dismiss the case, however improbable that may seem given his conduct.
If Sullivan refuses to drop the case, the court stated that Flynn would then be able to present the very same arguments in a direct appeal after sentencing.

In other words, the higher court played a silly game of legal “dodgeball.” They found a way to duck making a decision on the merits, and simply deferred the case pending Sullivan’s final ruling.

This is unfortunate and underscores the legal maxim that “justice delayed is justice denied.”

And there is some movement, Sundance at CTH, Maximum Antagonism – Judge Sullivan Files Order Dragging Out Flynn Case Past Election…

The minute order filed by Judge Emmet Sullivan outlines a protracted time-frame for the next sequence of events in the case against Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn:
. . .
As noted in the order, Sullivan is now telling the DOJ and Flynn defense to file a joint status report outlining their “recommendation for further proceedings” by September 21, 2020. From there a briefing schedule which will require both parties to respond to Sullivan’s personal amicus (Gleeson), and additionally respond jointly to any other amicus not ordered by the court. Lastly, Sullivan is requesting three dates for oral arguments.

In essence, despite his ability to quickly convene the parties to settle all matters before the court; which includes the unopposed motion by the DOJ and defense to drop the case; Sullivan intends to drag this case out as long as possible and use the amicus as a tool forcing responses from both parties (DOJ and Flynn). So much for the “quick dispatch” outlined within the DC Circuit opinion, this case is going on for several more months.

I predict that if becomes clear Trump will win the election, Sullivan will drop the case like a hot potato.

Brian Cates at UncoverDC, The Steele Dossier Was “Plan B”

It’s been noticed by some SpyGate researchers and investigative reporters that it seemed strange after focusing so much attention on Papadopoulos, sending an OCONUS lure at him, and recording him several times over a few months, that in late September the FBI suddenly shifts its gears and focuses on Carter Page, seeming to do so once they decided to make use of the Steele dossier as the basis for their surveillance warrant.

This is because while Carter Page shows up several times in the Steele dossier, George Papadopoulos does not.

The original plan was never to resort to using a paid political operative of the Hillary Clinton campaign selling often non-verifiable hearsay to the agency as a confidential human source [CHS, or informant]. This only happened after the surreptitious recording strategy failed.

All those involved knew the claims advanced by Steele in his dossier would not stand up to any real scrutiny, and indeed, they haven’t.

And so here we are now, after the first Durham indictment dropped, waiting to see who goes next as this massive and ever-growing scandal continues to build.

Sara Carter, Carter Page’s FISA Related ‘Woods File’ Docs Disappeared, Was It ‘Malice Or Incompetence’. It doesn't have to be "or." It can be both. The "Crossfire Hurricane" team was unusual in that it was run of the the "7th floor," the high muckety mucks  who administered the FBI, rather than at a field office, where working FBI agents live. Administrators are often not that good at doing the tasks they administrate. See "The Peter Principle"

The malfeasance ran deep and straight to the top of the bureau. Attorney General Barr and Durham shouldn’t leave any stone unturned and expose what happened to the American public.

There is no way that a file of that significance can go missing in an investigation into a Presidential campaign and then a President of the United States.

The next question we should be asking is “why didn’t anyone know until now?”

A reappearance of the Mysterious Mr. Mifsud. A thread from Techno Fog -  Whoa - the Joseph Mifsud 302 is out.

Mifsud said he had no advance knowledge Russia had DNC emails and did not make any offer to Papadopoulos
And there is a post-interview email from Mifsud to FBI yet to be released 🤔
A very short interview for a purported "Russian agent"

Mueller's Report played-up Mifsud's "connections to Russia."
At the interview, the FBI didn't bother to ask many questions about those "connections."
No follow-up questions about emails.
Now we can see why there were zero references to the Mifsud 302 in Mueller's Report.

Mueller allegation: @GeorgePapa19 "lies" about if he was w/ Trump campaign during Mifsud meeting impeded their ability to question Mifsud.
The problem: Mifsud himself told the FBI that George was w/ Trump campaign when they met.

One last thing - the Special Counsel's dishonesty to the court.
Representation: @GeorgePapa19 prevented FBI from getting to the bottom of the Mifsud story.
Reality: the FBI asked few questions of Mifsud, was getting emails from Mifsud, and chose to not follow-up with Mifsud.

It's becoming clearer and clearer that the "Special" Counsel was set up to get Trump, and finding no Russian collusion, they tried "Obstruction of Justice", and even then they couldn't bend the frame to make it really fit, although they tried mighty hard.

Sundance, Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot: AG Bill Barr Announces Intent to Codify, Permanently, a Two-Tiered Justice System for FISA…. I get his point, but I agree with Barr that we probably need special protections for FISA abuse against political enemies. This requires the AG to go along. That's probably enough in a Republican administration . . .

John Solomon at JTN, CIA conduct during Russia assessment may be next boomerang in probe of investigators "DNI hints new declassification coming soon. Some want it to be a congressional complaint to the CIA inspector general questioning the Obama intelligence assessment on Russian intentions."

By his own admission, ex-CIA Director John Brennan chafed at being questioned earlier this month by federal prosecutor John Durham about the Obama administration's intelligence assessment that Russia’s meddling in 2016 election was designed to help Donald Trump.

Brennan "questioned why the analytic tradecraft and the findings of the ICA are being scrutinized by the Department of Justice, especially since they have been validated by the Mueller Report and the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Review," a statement issued by his spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

The answer, according to multiple officials familiar with the evidence, is that the House intelligence committee in 2018 sent a secret report to the CIA inspector general that called into question the tradecraft used in the Brennan-led assessment.

Specifically, the officials said, it highlighted dissent and doubts by some intelligence community analysts about Vladimir Putin's intentions in intervening in the 2016 election. Some believed it was to help Trump; others believed it was simply to sow chaos without picking a winner, and still others saw evidence Putin might have preferred Hillary Clinton, the officials said.

In other words, an assessment that was portrayed as unanimous when it was made public in early January 2017 was anything but at the analyst level, according to Fred Fleitz, a longtime intelligence officer who was briefed on the House intelligence committee's concerns when he served as chief of staff in the National Security Council.

"When I was briefed on the House Intelligence Committee report on the January 2017 ICA, I was told that John Brennan politicized this assessment by excluding credible intelligence that the Russians wanted Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 election and ordered weak intelligence included that Russia wanted Trump to win, Fleitz told Just the News.

"I also was told that Brennan took both actions over the objections of CIA analysts. I am concerned about what happened to these analysts and worry that they may have been subjected to retaliation by CIA management," he added. "These analysts are true whistleblowers, and they should come to the congressional intelligence committees to tell their stories and set the record straight on the ICA."

Related, at WaPoo  John Brennan whines Trump will suffocate the intelligence community to get reelected, right after the proof emerges that he did exactly that to try to elect Hillary. Liberals always project.

Dan Chaitin at WaEx, What we know about CNN host Chris Cuomo's 'shocking' conversation with Michael Cohen revealed by Tucker Carlson. That they're both scummy bottom feeders? But we already knew that.

Tucker Carlson aired a tape recording between CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Michael Cohen on his show tonight. In it, Cuomo complains about media questioning him over sexual misconduct allegations. pic.twitter.com/Gj4Pj8GlJn

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 2, 2020