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.

If This Election Lasts More Than 4 Hours, See a Doctor

It's pretty clear by now that the SmartMatic/Dominion vote counting machines and election tabulating software used in more than half the states was designed by foreign malefactors with cheating in mind. The only real question is if the people who bought it and installed it were aware of these capabilities and used them to alter votes in the presidential election. From Sundance at CTH, Sidney Powell Outlines Affidavit Showing Purpose of SmartMatic Voting System to Control Elections…

Elamerican, Dominion, the Foreign Software Company with a Controversial Background Deciding American Elections. This US cable released by Wilikeaks is particularly chilling. The Manila Times, 2016, Never again! …to Smartmatic

John Oltman quoting Eric Coomer. Does anyone have the original quote by Coomer?? https://t.co/tMhCIdjTbP

— CulturalHusbandry (@APhilosophae) November 16, 2020

Jeff Carlson at ET, Dominion Part of Council That Disputed Election Integrity Concerns in DHS Statement

3) What the agency failed to disclose, however, is that Dominion Voting Systems, along with Smartmatic, is a member of CISA’s Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council - one of the two entities that authored the statement put out by CISA.

— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) November 17, 2020

Sic Semper Tyrannis, Unraveling the Deep State Coup

The U.S. Army did not conduct a raid in Germany on either Sctyl or Dominion offices or servers. They are foreign nationals and we must operate in accordance with German law. Moreover, the U.S. Army does not have law enforcement powers with respect to such entities.

So what happened? I am reliably informed that a unit under the command of USEUCOM (i.e., United States European Command) did in fact conduct an operation to take control of computer servers. But these servers belong to the CIA, not Dominion or Sctyl. The U.S. military has full authority to do this because any CIA activity in the European theater is being conducted using military cover. In other words, CIA officers would be identified to the German government (and anyone else asking) as military employees or consultants.

Such an operation would have been carried out with U.S. law enforcement present to take custody of the evidence. That means that the evidence will be under the control of the Department of Justice through US Attorneys and can be used in court or other judicial proceedings.

This is not the first time that a military unit attached to EUCOM has compelled a CIA computer facility to hand over evidence. A dear friend of mine (a retired DEA officer) told me about an incident where he entered a CIA facility in Frankfurt backed up by the US Army to get info the CIA was withholding (this took place in the 1980s).

I also have confirmed what Jim Hoft reported the other night–the CIA’s Gina Haspel was not informed in advance of this operation. Based on this fact, I think it is correct that action was taken in Germany on territory under U.S. control and that a CIA facility was targeted.

I also have learned that FBI Director Christopher Wray was excluded from this operation. Wray, more than Haspel, has been working aggressively to undermine and sabotage Donald Trump. This means that some other U.S. law enforcement agency (e.g., US Marshals, DEA, Secret Service, etc) had the lead in collecting the evidence.

Sidney Powell is a serious lawyer. She is not going to make a false claim. Period. She embodies honesty and integrity. Given her recent statements on Maria Bartoromo and Lou Dobbs and Eric Bolling, she clearly knows that evidence is being collected that will prove beyond reasonable doubt (i.e., the type of evidence required to obtain a criminal conviction) that the CIA had some sort of nefarious relationship with Dominion Software and that Dominion Software was being used abroad and in the United States to conduct voter fraud.

I fully expect CIA officials to argue they had no idea that Dominion was engaged in such nefarious activity. Their denial carries as much weight as the claim by Captain Louis Renault in the iconic scene in Casablanca . . .

Newsmax,  Rudy Giuliani: 'Dominion Shouldn't Be Counting Votes Anywhere'. Sundance, Sunday Talks: Rudy Giuliani Discusses Ballot Fraud Evidence Discovered – “We Have Proof I Can’t Disclose Yet”… 

 

An interesting video, I Bought a Voting Machine Online … Then Hacked It. 

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air, Trump Campaign Rejects Claim They Dropped Key Portion Of PA Lawsuit. Twitchy, Federal judge in Pennsylvania refuses to delay today’s hearing after the Trump campaign’s lawyers withdrew from the case

Jeff Reynolds at PJ Media, Citing 'Overwhelming and Widespread' Irregularities, True the Vote Sues Michigan to Challenge Election, Calls for Quick Action 

Beth Baumann at Town Hall, 'Three Wrong Counts In Three Minutes': Georgia Recount Auditor Says Things Aren't Adding Up, Alex Nitzberg at JTN, Attorney Lin Wood lodges lawsuit seeking to block certification of Georgia election results. Capt. Ed at Hot Air, CNN Panel: Here’s Why Stacey Abrams’ Refusal To Concede Was More Virtuous Than Trump’s. Newsbusters, DISSENT! Mary Katherine Ham Whips CNN for Hypocrisy Over Trump vs. Stacey Abrams

In Wisconsin, Disability Service Coordinator Blows Whistle on Vote Fraud in Group Homes

The Clark County Commission just threw out an election that represents almost 1/6 of the total votes cast in Clark County because there were too many “discrepancies” to be sure that that the results in that election can be certain. 153K votes in this election. https://t.co/kqO1cBwnYH

— Adam Paul Laxalt (@AdamLaxalt) November 16, 2020

Debunked? Capt. Ed, Too Bad To Check: Did Nevada Really Throw Out An Election Over 153,000 Bad Ballots?

Some explanation from Carrie Sheffield at JTN, Recount vs. audit: Which is more precise? And could either change election outcome?

Vodka Pundit, Insanity Wrap #88: Hillary Clinton Was Still Disputing Election Results, Three Years Later, From Red State, Mark Levin Puts Obama on Blast for Criticizing Trump's Refusal to Concede: 'Don't You Damn Lecture Us', and at ET, Dershowitz: Trump May Seek to Deny Biden 270 Electoral Votes, Put Election in Congress. Yeah, that works too. 

Yesterday's Morning Rant at Ace's, 

At this point, I don't think the courts, even SCOTUS, are going to overturn the election. I know that Sidney Powell says she's about the release "the kraken" and the amount of evidence the president's legal team has amassed is like getting it from a firehouse, but I don't think this matters, ultimately. No matter how big her kraken is, nor how voluminous is the output from her hose, the judges are simply not going to make any decision that is going to result in flipping any states that have already been called for Biden. Not even for a "do over" because there is no getting around the constitutional deadlines.

And I'd guess that Ms. Powell and Mrs. Giuliani know this already. That's why I don't think that some kind of last-ditch appeal to SCOTUS is their game plan. All of this evidence they're collecting is not for SCOTUS, it is for state legislatures.

Because "president-elect" Joe Biden is not yet "president-elect". And he will not be "president-elect" until each of the 50 states certify their electors. And that's where the kraken will really be released. Because the evidence that isn't good enough for the courts might be good enough to have an effect at the state level. I did not bookmark a link to this, but the Speaker of the (State) House in Pennsylvania, a Republican, stated that there would be no certification of Pennsylvania's electors without an audit, not just a recount, of that state's votes from the election. Also, two GOP lawmakers in Michigan are also demanding an audit before that state's electors are certified.

But this won't flip any states, either. I don't expect states to award electors to Trump. But what I think is going to happen is that the Trump legal team will make all of the evidences freely available to any state legislature which might want to have a look at it. Because Trump can argue that they really need to look at the evidence with an open mind before they make any decision.

I believe that the evidence will be enough to give some legislatures second thoughts, so that they simply will not certify any electors at all. If there are enough states that balk, "president elect" Biden's won't get the necessary 270 votes to win. Of course, neither will Trump, which is why the election will then be thrown to Congress.

In such a situation, the constitution requires the president to be chosen by the House and the Vice President by the Senate. In the House, each state gets a single vote. Currently, the congressional delegations are split something like 28-23 in favor of the GOP. Assuming the Georgia senate run-off elections favor the GOP, Mike Pence will be elected Vice President.

And great will be the wailing of the Democrats. They'll curse and and weep and gnash their teeth and shriek about stolen votes and fraud and cheating, and etc., and we'll just tell them "welcome to the party, pal."

But my point is, I think this is the path to victory is Donald Trump's best bet -- and the one that his legal team is angling for.

Lots more election linkage at The Wombats In The Mailbox: 11.16.20, Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog's Election Fraud Update for November 16, 2020 and of course JJ Sefton's The Morning Report - 11/17/20.

Russigate - Late But Not Forgotten

Politico whines that Senate Republicans urge Trump to keep Gina Haspel atop CIA Which in itself is a good reason to do it." The spy chief has drawn the president’s ire amid her refusal to carry out some of his demands related to the Russia investigation." 

At American Mind, in Kamikaze Trump, "Horatius Cocles" has a good list of final acts for Trump, whether or not he stays in office: 

End the wars, Fire the generals, Appoint a special counsel to investigate Biden corruption, Fill the bench, Declassify, Finalize the rules, Burrow the political appointees and Pardon Hillary Clinton: This troll is worth it just for the lols.

Bonchie at Red State reports another savior fails us, Durham Investigation Closing Down Without Indictments, Scared of Biden Blowback

A source familiar with Durham’s ongoing investigation of the bogus Russian collusion operation tells @FDRLST: “Durham isn’t doing anything. Dropping his investigations. He’s worried about blowback from Biden. What an absolute disgrace.”

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 15, 2020

Unfortunately, it appears Durham successfully ran out the clock. What many have suspected for a long time appears to be true, namely that no one will be held accountable for the corruption of the Trump-Russia investigation. The Federalist, who has covered this saga better than any other news outlet out there, is now reporting that Durham is looking to close up shop, fearing that an incoming Biden administration will retaliate.

Keep in mind that Durham had a near open and shut case against Andrew McCabe, who had admitted multiple times to having lied to the FBI. Instead of pursing that, the DOJ decided not to prosecute. They also failed to act on a criminal referral of James Comey. In the end, the bureaucracy made sure to protect the bureaucracy. This was always about saving face for these agencies, not actually seeking justice.

For many of us this isn’t a surprise. I sourced on Durham a long time ago, seeing the constant excuses for why he hadn’t delivered yet as making less and less sense as time went on. I know a lot of RedState’s readers were in the same place, though there was perhaps some twinkle of hope that things would shift.

Ace, Durham Is Dropping His Investigation, Fearing Reprisal Prosecutions by Biden "This is what a coup looks like."

Sundance at CTH, Senator Grassley Questions DOJ About Chinese Influence Over Hunter and Jim Biden… If Durham is any example of DOJ, they will not be particularly forthcoming. TNP, Trump Bans American Investment In Chinese Military Proxies, Violated By Hunter Biden. Hey, cocaine and hookers don't buy themselves. Gleen Grenwalt, Biden, the Media and CIA Labeled the Hunter Biden Emails "Russian Disinformation." There is Still No Evidence.

Congressman Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and, not coincidentally, the single most shameless pathological liar in the U.S. Congress by a good margin, appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer on October 16 to discuss The New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s emails. The CNN host asked him a rhetorical question embedded with baseless assumptions: “does it surprise you at all that this information Rudy Giuliani is peddling very well could be connected to some sort of Russian government disinformation campaign?”

Schiff stated definitively that it is: “we know that this whole smear on Joe Biden comes from the Kremlin,” adding: “clearly, the origins of this whole smear are from the Kremlin, and the President is only too happy to have Kremlin help in amplifying it.” Referencing Trump’s promotion of The New York Post reporting while at his White House desk, Schiff said: “there it is in the Oval Office: another wonderful propaganda coup for Vladimir Putin, seeing the President of the United States holding up a newspaper promoting Kremlin propaganda.”

Schiff, as he usually does when he moves his mouth, was lying: exploiting CNN’s notorious willingness to allow Democratic officials to spread disinformation over its airwaves without the slightest challenge. Schiff claimed certainty about something for which there was and still is no evidence: that the Russians played a role in the procurement and publication of the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop.

As he also usually does when he publicly lies, Schiff was merely echoing the propaganda of current and former operatives of the CIA and other arms of the intelligence community who abuse their power to interfere in U.S. domestic politics: the very factions over which the Intelligence Committee run by Schiff is supposed to exercise oversight supervision, not serve as their parrot. During the same week as Schiff’s CNN appearance, as Politico reported, “more than 50 former senior intelligence officials signed on to a letter outlining their belief that the recent disclosure of emails allegedly belonging to Joe Biden’s son ‘has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.’”
. . .
With these ex-CIA officials and their servant Adam Schiff disseminating this narrative into U.S. public, both the Biden campaign and their captive media outlets began asserting this rank speculation as truth. They did so despite the fact that even the intelligence officials were cautious enough to acknowledge: “We want to emphasize that … we do not have evidence of Russian involvement” — a rather crucial fact that numerous outlets omitted when laundering this CIA propaganda and which the Biden campaign and Adam Schiff completely ignored when treating the claims as proven truth.

And, only tangentially Russiagate, but perhaps the most concerning and angering: Sundance, The Treehouse is Deplatformed…

One week after the 2020 presidential election, The Conservative Treehouse received the following notification:

…”given the incompatibility between your site’s content and our terms, you need to find a new hosting provider and must migrate the site by Wednesday, December 2nd.

What does this mean? It means CTH is being kicked-off the WordPress website hosting platform because the content of our research and discussion does not align with the ideology of those who define what is acceptable speech and what is not.

What was our violation? After ten years of brutally honest discussion, opinion, deep research and crowdsourcing work -with undeniable citations on the events we outline- there is no cited violation of any term of service because CTH has never violated one.

The WordPress company is not explaining the reason for deplatforming because there is no justifiable reason for it. At the same time, they are bold in their position. Perhaps this is the most alarming part; and everyone should pay attention. They don’t care.

Truthful assembly is now the risk. CTH is now too big; with a site reach of 500,000 to a million unique readers each day; and with well over 200,000 subscribers; our assembly is too large, too influential, and presents a risk… we guard the flickering flame.

Ten years of work assembling a library of factual citations and explanations of those discoveries, positions CTH to be a leading force in the rebel alliance push-back. [Heck, that’s why this place was started… that was our purpose: “The Truth Has No Agenda.”] However, that also makes us a target; hence the deplatforming.

Accepting -at its core- this move is all about politics, this is yet another reference point in the tenuous nature of where we stand. There’s no hate-speech on this website; there’s no graphic, violent, foul or abusive speech here. The ‘content‘ of the Treehouse is the same discussion that happens around your kitchen table or back porch discussion with friends. We would never cheapen or insult that conversation with vulgarity because that’s not who we are… because that’s not who our nation is. So consider this next part very carefully…

The ‘content’ is not compatible with WordPress, the world’s largest website and blog hosting service. The content within the largest blog on that global platform is what has become troublesome. “The content”.

The content on these pages is simply an ongoing discussion about freedom with criticism against any political party or entity that diminishes it. Apparently, immediately after the 2020 election, that discussion became problematic. After writing about the COVID-19 agenda,…the notification: the website will be removed.

Let that settle in…. friends and adversaries alike. Think very hard about what exactly is being represented by these actions. That’s the bad news.

I've cited Sundance many times in both the Russiagate and the election , and read many more of his articles. I have never seen anything I would find likely to violate any terms of  service, although, of course I've never read Word Press' terms of service. Will Google Blogger be next?

Enough Russiagate to Shake a Stick At

A few items have accumulated during the election hysteria, but I haven't had time to post it, what with my busy dog walking schedule and all, but it looks like it's gonna rain all day, so I might as well clean the digital cupboard. 

So, did you hear Andy McCabe lied testified to the Senate yesterday? Sundance has the videos. Andrew McCabe Testifies to Senate Judiciary Committee – Livestream. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get around to listening to it today. The WaPoo has it's usual slanted story, McCabe reiterates FBI believed ‘the president might himself pose a danger to national security’. Yep, he and his squeeze, Lisa Page, who really hated Trump just happened to think he was a danger to their jobs national security.

Republicans sought to press McCabe on some of the detailed decisions that the bureau made in the case — though McCabe said that he did not have a perfect memory or awareness of the topics of some of their inquiries, and that the FBI had denied him the opportunity to review his notes from that period. McCabe, who authorized the investigation into Trump for possible obstruction, was fired from the bureau in March 2018 over allegations he had misled investigators exploring a media disclosure; he is suing over the termination.

The committee’s chairman, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), pressed McCabe in particular about intelligence recently declassified by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, indicating that Hillary Clinton had approved a plan to try to tie the hacking of Democratic emails by Russia to the Trump campaign and that information was passed from the CIA to the FBI. Ratcliffe has indicated that the intelligence was not verified and that it was not clear whether it reflected “exaggeration or fabrication” by Russia. Democrats noted it would also not be a crime to make negative allegations against an opponent.

Asked how many agents the bureau had assigned to examine the information, McCabe responded he was “not aware that any agents were assigned to investigate,” before being interrupted. He noted the information went to Comey and another FBI agent. Graham expressed frustration that the bureau had moved aggressively to investigate Trump but not explored that tip.

“You can’t live in a country where they take a CIA lead and put it in the garbage can . . . that’s got to stop. You can’t have two standards,” Graham said.

Sundance,  Donald Trump Jr: “Declassify Everything”…. Althouse cites serial leaker of classified information David Ignatius who says anonymous sources tell him, "President Trump’s senior military and intelligence officials have been warning him strongly against declassifying information about Russia..." Gina Haspel. Sundance again, Key Nunes Aide, Kash Patel, Named Acting Defense Secretary Chief of Staff… and General Michael Flynn Provides Insight/Advice on Current Election Dynamic…

And speaking of Flynn, Obama Official Ben Rhodes Admits Biden Camp is Already Working With Foreign Leaders: Exactly What Flynn Did (Green Glenwalt) and Dan Bongino, Joe Biden Already Violating the Logan Act, but MSN thinks Biden’s DOJ Must Determine Whether Trump Should Be Prosecuted. 

Breitbart, Hunter (Finally) Breaks Cover: Takes Center Stage to Applaud Joe and Politico How 'Obamagate' and Hunter’s 'laptop from hell' fizzled. Because the MSM did their considerable best to ignore and/or sink it. 

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

Russiagate: Judge Barrett Comfirmed, Sworn In

Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Just had to throw that one in. Confirmed 52-48, with all Democrats and Susan Collins voting no, and almost immediately took the constitutional oath from  Justice Thomas. She will take the oath of office later today at the court from Justice Roberts. Stuff it, Chuck! 

So where were we? Ah yes, Margot Cleveland at Da Fed says Lesley Stahl Is Wrong And Trump Is Right: The Obama Administration Spied On The Trump Campaign, but we knew that. But it's important to keep it out there because the Democrats and the press (but I redund) are trying to write a false history. 'Adam Mill' at Am Great thinks Dangerous Spygate Denials Show Intelligence Now Controls Media

Did the Obama Administration spy on the Trump campaign? Close followers of the Russia collusion hoax consider this a settled question: Yes, of course they did. The evidence is abundant. Yet when Trump makes this claim to the public, the “fact checkers” pounce to rewrite history.

In May 2019, Attorney General Bill Barr commented on the definition of spying: “I think spying is a good English word that in fact doesn’t have synonyms because it is the broadest word incorporating really all forms of covert intelligence collection.” But are we really doing this? Do we have to go back over the list to re-educate “journalists” in the post journalism environment? Apparently we do.

Bear in mind that we’re still not privy to everything the Obama Administration did. But we know enough based on publicly-available information to fact-check the fact checkers. Below is a partial list of clearly-established examples of Trump being spied upon by our own government. . . 

There's nothing new in the list, but it's a useful reminder. 

Chris Farrell at Gatestone asks Why Does Barr Let Wray Lie and Flout the Law? In my view, it's because Barr is an institutionalist. The DOJ uber alles, he'll tolerate a lot not to upset the whole applecart. He's been good to Trump, better than Sessions by far, but not Ric Grenell or John Ratcliffe good.

Fox, Trump could remove Wray as FBI Director if reelected: sources. He could do a lot of things, but this is one thing he should do. Wray is past his use by date. At Hot Air, AllahPundit whines that Trump Planning To Fire Chris Wray, Mark Esper, Gina Haspel If He Wins

I don’t understand why there’s a caveat, “if he wins.” Why wouldn’t he also fire them if he loses? 

For a normal politician, the answer would be, “Because he’ll be out of office in less than three months. Why decapitate important agencies — law enforcement, the military, intelligence — when you won’t get to fill those vacancies?”

But Trump isn’t a normal politician. The moment he’s no longer accountable to voters, he’ll be free to indulge his petulance by punishing deputies whom he believes contributed to his defeat because they refused to weaponize their official powers against his political enemies. Wray’s sin is not announcing an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden in the closing days of the campaign. Haspel’s sin was opposing declassification of Russian intelligence on Hillary Clinton for fear that it was unreliable and might reveal sources and methods. Esper’s sin was regretting Trump’s Lafayette Park stunt and resisting his attempts to send regular troops into the streets against rioters under the Insurrection Act.

Ace, Rumor: Trump to Fire FBI Head Christopher Wray, CIA Head (and Brennan Protege) Gina Haspel, and Defense Secretary Mike Esper If He Wins Reelection

Good.

There was a story that went 'round about the insubordinate Jim Mattis.

The story was this: Trump told Matthis to prepare an orderly withdrawal from Afganistan. He gave Matthis six months to plan it.

Jim Mattis did not plan it. He intended to keep the troops there, forever, against the President's intentions. He figured he would just stall Trump indefinitely.

Trump was displeased that Mattis had no plans to get out of Afghanistan, so he told Mattis, "I want a plan in a few months to get out of Afghanistan."

A few months later, Trump asked about the plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Once again, Mattis -- insubordinately, and unconstitionally -- gave Trump the stall, telling him the plans weren't finished yet.

Trump then ordered the draw down of troops in Afghanistan, and Mattis and all of his cronies whined that it was "disorderly" and that they were not following an organized plan for withdrawal.

They ran the same fucking bullshit with the withdrawal from the Iran nuke agreement.

These people think they should be running the country -- but they don't want to go through the process of having their affairs, with both women and boys, examined.

So they just unconstitutionally seize power.

And then they whine to the press when the president seizes back his legal, constitutional authority to make the foreign policy of the United States. 

NEW: A senior administration official tells @CBSNews POTUS has soured on CIA Director Haspel for "failing to execute his national security priorities” + frustration over the pace of declassifying records related to Russia probe, among other issues. The SAO said need to protect

— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) October 26, 2020

Christian Datoc at Da Caller, If Trump Wins Reelection, These Top Administration Officials Could Likely End Up On The Chopping Block

Fox News reported Monday, however, that while Trump does intend to fire Wray immediately if he wins reelection, Haspel’s job is safe for now.

“Haspel isn’t going anywhere,” one administration official told Fox. “POTUS has a good relationship with her.”

I don't know enough about Haspel to know if she's playing straight or not, but being a Brennan acolyte is not a strong recommendation. Presumably the President will know.

Sundance has the video, Former Acting DNI Richard Grenell Discusses Replacements for FBI and CIA Director in Second Term…

Chuck Ross at Da Caller reports that Russian Bankers Seek Deposition Of Steele Dossier Source Igor Danchenko

Lawyers for a trio of Russian bankers asked a federal judge on Friday to order Igor Danchenko, the primary source for the Steele dossier, to appear for a deposition regarding his work on the salacious document.

The lawyers, who represent Alfa Bank, said in a court filing on Friday that Danchenko had rejected a subpoena to appear voluntarily for a deposition in a lawsuit against Fusion GPS, which commissioned the infamous dossier on behalf of the Clinton campaign and DNC.

The Alfa Bank owners, German Khan, Peter Aven and Mikhail Fridman, are suing Fusion GPS for defamation over one of the memos from Christopher Steele’s 35-page dossier. Fusion GPS hired Steele in June 2016 to investigate Donald Trump’s possible ties to Russia.

In a memo dated Sept. 14, 2016, Steele alleged that the owners of the bank had bribed Russian president Vladimir Putin. (RELATED: FBI Investigated Igor Danchenko As A Possible Russian Spy)

Steele has said that he relied on only one source — identified in July as Danchenko — to collect information on Trump, members of the Trump campaign, and Russian government officials’ election meddling efforts.

The owners of Alfa Bank have vehemently denied the allegation that they have bribed Putin. In addition to their lawsuit against Fusion GPS, they have sued Steele in London, where he is based.

It's far more likely that the bankers were squeezed by Putin. 

Russiagate: CIA, Haspel in the Crosshairs

I'm starting out with the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.05.20, Sean Davis at Da Fed presents Intel Sources: CIA Director Gina Haspel Banking On Trump Loss To Keep Russiagate Documents Hidden. 

“It’s far more important for Haspel to block any embarrassment of herself or her agency than to have full transparency and accountability,” another senior intelligence official told The Federalist. “She’s just hoping she can get past the election so the documents will never come out.”

“This is not a source protection issue, it’s an embarrassment issue,” the intelligence official added.

Officials also accused Haspel of repeatedly lying to the White House about the status of documents that are in the pipeline for declassification and release. These officials said that Haspel has consistently provided baseless excuses for her failure to produce certain documents, falsely claiming that she can’t physically locate documents, or that her agency doesn’t technically own them and therefore cannot release them.

“Haspel has repeatedly lied to the president about the status of documents to be declassified,” one intelligence community source said. “She will claim they don’t know where they are, or which agency technically owns them, and then we’ll find out she had them the entire time and just didn’t want them to see the light of day.”

“The frustration with Haspel is reaching nuclear levels,” one official said, noting that White House and top U.S. intelligence community officials have been taken aback by the ferocity of Haspel’s refusal to release documents.

 Prompting John Hinderacker at Power Line to ask Is the CIA Still Covering Up? 

The first rule of bureaucracy is that officials in any agency will prioritize protecting their organization over any other objective. It seems to be a rule of human nature.

“Haspel and [FBI Director Christopher] Wray both want Trump to lose, because it’s the only chance they have of keeping their jobs,” one senior intelligence official told The Federalist. “They’re banking on Biden winning and keeping them where they are.”

I find this sadly plausible. Why have the CIA and, especially, the FBI not cleaned house, given what we now know about malfeasance in those agencies during the Obama administration and the first years of the Trump administration? Well, to be fair, the top level of the FBI is pretty well cleared out. But how about the CIA?

Chris Farrel at Gatestone,  CIA Director Haspel and the Anti-Trump Conspirators

What is most interesting is the timing of Gina Haspel's last tour as London Station Chief -- from 2014 to early 2017. That is the same timeframe (specifically, the late summer of 2016) when the FBI approached foreign policy academic and "utility government operative" Stefan Halper to begin the operation targeting Carter Page and George Papadopoulos in an FBI-designed foreign counterintelligence operation, against Team Trump, to be launched in Cambridge, England.

The CIA Station Chief is the top intelligence official in any given country. The FBI must inform the Station Chief of what they planned to do and get Station Chief approval. The FBI hates that, but those are the rules. Because the various intelligence agencies are sensitive, they do not use the word "approved." Instead, they use the word "coordinated." Jargon aside, nothing would have happened without Haspel's okay.

That carried forward to a more sophisticated and aggressive plan to carry out a soft coup against President Trump. People around President Trump were prosecuted and/or had their lives destroyed based on a scheme of U.S. government lies. Who appears to have been "in on it" from Day One? Gina Haspel.

The FBI is not allowed to penetrate and subvert a presidential campaign. Executive Order 12333, Section 2.9, "Undisclosed Participation in Organizations in the United States," prohibits it in plain language... That legal prohibition is the reason the FBI felt the need to manufacture a "foreign counterintelligence threat" in the UK and then "import" the investigation back into the United States.

Therefore, a big hmmm... to this one from Matt Palumbo at Bongino, President Trump Working on Declassifying “Spygate” Documents From Hospital. Could this be Gena's secrets getting ready to come out? Also, from Chuck Ross at Da Caller, Trump Working On Declassification Of Intel Documents From Hospital, Chief Of Staff Says

Scott Johnson at Power Line discusses Devin Nunes threat: Time to shut down the agencies

We haven’t yet gotten to the bottom of the biggest political scandal in American history and, if Joe Biden is elected president, we never will. That Biden himself was a guilty actor in the underlying events is of approximately no interest to the media adjunct of the Democratic Party that itself played the role of a protagonist in the scandal.

Sundance at CTH notes U.S. Attorney Responsible for Obama Unmasking Investigation Abruptly Resigns… It may mean nothing, but it may be some significant carbuncle getting ready to pop.

Well, this is interesting…. very interesting…

U.S. Attorney John Bash, from the Western District of Texas, was given the responsibility by AG Barr of looking into the illegal unmasking by Obama-era officials in July of this year. Not only the illegal unmasking of General Flynn, but more extensive unmasking. Today Bash announced his abrupt resignation. “Abrupt” because he announced today, and he leaves on Friday. However, he does say he informed Barr last month . . .

I dug this up from the recent past at Red State, from Stu Cvrk, Political Implications of No Durham Indictments Before 3 Nov

There are good reasons for Durham delaying indictments: Mueller SCO criminality and direct Clinton ties to Spygate.

Durham is almost certainly pursuing conspiracy and RICO charges against the Spygate conspirators and their funders.

The political implications of deferring indictments until after 3 November could actually favor the President.

As a chaser, a lack of indictments does not preclude a guilty plea or two before 3 November. That’s entirely possible, too.

Charles Ortel at Am Think thinks James Comey and Robert Mueller have Massive Clinton Foundation Problems. I don't think Mueller is in any danger; Comey on the other hand . . .

For almost 18 years, Comey and Mueller have been covering for powerful Republicans and Democrats, letting serious crimes go unpunished. Many of these involved fake charities that operate internationally, including the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

These are perfect conduits to trade donations for influence, especially for foreign governments who, in theory, are barred from investing in U.S. politicians.

We are approaching a "put up or shut up" moment, where President Trump must deliver on the most important campaign promise he made in closing arguments during the 2016 campaign: that justice would finally be administered to each American, without fear or favor.

This hard deadline is not Nov. 3, 2020 but 13 days later when many Clinton charities must file I.R.S. returns that are complete and truthful. None can do so, yet each must.

John Solomon at JTN,  State Dept. officials told they broke law by monitoring Americans during Ukraine scandal. Also, suck it up, sit through the ads to watch the video.

State Department officials were explicitly ordered in spring 2019 to stop tracking 13 prominent Americans' social media accounts for information about the Joe Biden-Ukraine scandal because the monitoring violated federal law, according to emails that were originally redacted to hide the concerns from the American public.

"We are barred by law from actively monitoring the accounts of American citizens in aggregate — and particularly from identifying and monitoring individual, selected accounts," a State Department official wrote in an April 1, 2019 email to officials in Washington and the U.S. embassy in Kiev

The unredacted emails, obtained by Just the News, raise new questions about the accuracy of State Department officials' testimony during President Trump's impeachment proceedings. They also provide a window into how the department used redactions in a Freedom of Information Act case to hide the potentially explosive information just weeks before Election Day 2020.

The emails show State Department officials under Trump openly worried a year before the 2020 election that the emerging storyline that Vice President Joe Biden may have engaged in a conflict of interest by presiding over Ukraine policy while his son worked for a corrupt Ukrainian gas company might prove to be "the mother load [sic] and main thread to play out, possibly thru Nov. 2020."

The illegal monitoring was, in fact, ordered specifically to counter that narrative as well as another storyline that involved the liberal megadonor George Soros, the newly unredacted passages of the emails show.
. . .
After a protracted legal fight, the State Department released memos to the group last month confirming the embassy did in fact monitor the accounts of 13 Americans, including Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Lou Dobbs, the president's son Don Jr., his lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as this reporter, whose articles in The Hill first shined a light on the Bidens' possible conflict of interests in Ukraine.

Brianna Kraemer at JTN, Former Trump adviser Page wants McCabe subpoenaed to testify before Senate. Yep.

Jed Babbin at Am Spec, Worse Than Watergate, Part 3 "Just how much worse was confirmed last week — but unlike in Watergate, the perps this time will likely get away with it."

She’s old, obsolete, and irrelevant, but when you search for who’s at the bottom of almost any political corruption, Hillary Clinton always manages to slither back into the spotlight. The September 29 letter from Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham is only the latest example.

The letter makes three points:

• That in July 2016, U.S. intelligence, deriving its facts from Russian intelligence we obtained, had reason to believe that Hillary Clinton had personally approved a campaign plan to tie her opponent, Donald Trump, to Russian President Putin and Russian interception of Democratic National Committee emails. (The letter says that the intelligence community didn’t know the accuracy of the allegation.)
• That Obama’s CIA Director John Brennan briefed Obama and other national security officials on the Clinton plan. That Brennan did so was contained in handwritten notes written by Brennan, saying that the briefing to Obama was on “alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.”
• Because it believed the allegation against Clinton was both credible and serious, on September 7, 2019, U.S. intelligence officials asked the FBI to investigate Clinton’s plan to vilify Trump. That request went to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.

Instead of investigating Clinton’s scheme, Comey and FBI deputy Director Andrew McCabe — probably at Obama’s direction — buried it under the infamous “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into Trump and his 2016 campaign that was already under way.

And the attempts to derail Trump  by the NY AG continue, at WaEx, New York attorney general will depose Eric Trump for Trump Organization investigation

Eric Trump's deposition is part of an investigation concerning whether the Trump Organization received tax benefits by improperly inflating the value of its assets. James filed legal action in August revealing an investigation that focuses on the years prior to President Trump's time in office. A court filing said the investigation began in March 2019 after longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified in Congress. At the time, Cohen said that the president had used self-reported "Statements of Financial Condition" to augment the value of his properties and mislead lenders and insurers," according to the Washington Post.

In September, Eric Trump derided the investigation, claiming that the New York attorney general's "targeting of my family violates every ethical rule she was elected to protect." He called the investigation "an anti-Trump fishing expedition that she promised during her campaign."

So far, the track record of prosecutors against Trump family have been pitiful. It seems they must know better than to commit crimes

Russiagate in the Time of the Plague

Not a lot of Russiagate today, almost certainly because, as Stacy McCain, for one, relates Trump Tests Positive for COVID-19 (along with the first Lady and Hope Hicks), and all the press is following the shiny new object. My best wishes to the first family, as well as all afflicted with the virus. I know that The Donald will get the world's best care and treatment, all while being the world's worst patient. Enough, that news isn't hard to come by.

With the help of the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.02.20 (Afternoon Edition), Jeff Dunetz at Da Lid discusses reports that the CIA Director Blocking Declassification Of Key Russiagate Docuemnts:

I am getting tired of this. It’s long past the time the American people are told the truth about Russiagate. “Federalist” co-founder Sean Davis reports that CIA Director Gina Haspel is personally blocking the release of documents that will show “what actually happened” with Russiagate. What the heck is Gina Haspel thinking? Why block these documents from being made public? Who is she attempting to protect?

I think it's pretty well known that John Brennan was Gina's mentor and protector at the CIA. That said, agencies will often go to extreme lengths to bury facts that put the institution in a bad light. We've seen a lot of that in Russia/Spygate. Past time for Trump or Barr to step in and shine some sunlight on the critters living in the swamp. See also Chuck Ross at Da Caller who reports FBI Cites ‘Law Enforcement Proceedings’ To Block Release Of Disciplinary Records Of Trump Probe Investigators. And then if and when those 'law enforcement proceedings' fail to go beyond accusations, will they be reported?

Is this something? Ace reports Rumor Mill: Someone On Mueller's Team Has Flipped and Is Now Cooperating With Durham

I can't verify much of that, but I'm not much of a researcher. If it's not on pages 1 to 3 of google returns, I don't know about it. There does seem to be a John Basham who was formerly the mayor pro-tem of Reno. Anyway, here is what he claims:

@JohnBasham

RUMINT: Talk From Many DC Lawyers Saying One Of Special Counsel Robert #Mueller's Prosecutors Has "FLIPPED" & Is Now Cooperating With US Attorney John #Durham's Investigation Into The Origins Of #RussiaCollusion Investigation. A Single Name Is Being Repeated...Developing...

Former cop John Cardillo says he's also heard something big:
@johncardillo

Can't say why without betraying a confidence, but I just had a BIG restoration of faith moment in AG Barr and Durham.

The actual reportage goes to 'shipwreckedcrew' at Red State, who I admire, but doesn't have a whole lot more to add, BREAKING: DC Legal Circles Rumor Says Member of Mueller’s Prosecution Team Has “Flipped” for Durham

This rumor follows on the heels of the release last week of records showing several members of the Special Counsel’s Office “wiped” their SCO-issued cell phones clean on one or more occasions.

In his book, which was released two days ago, Andrew Weissmann covers this question, writing that Jeannie Rhee cautioned everyone that everything they committed to writing during their work for the SCO would be subject to a later “investigation of the investigators” that was sure to follow, based on her years of experience working in Washington, D.C.

JUST SPECULATING, but Weissmann has been agitated almost from the moment he took to Twitter a few months ago over the investigation being conducted by Durham and AG Barr. But his agitation went into overdrive when U.S. Attorney Jensen began looking at the SCO’s handling of the prosecution of General Flynn.

It cannot be overlooked that, while most of the more senior DOJ “veterans” on the SCO went to lucrative careers in private practice after departing, several of the younger members of the SCO returned to positions in the Department of Justice. That means they have been subject to potential investigation by internal DOJ disciplinary offices like the Inspector General or Office of Professional Responsibility. Issues like “wiping” their SCO- issued phones without authorization, likely in violation of DOJ policy, might not mean much to Andrew Weissmann and Jeannie Rhee, but for younger attorneys still in DOJ like Brandon Van Grack, Aaron Zelinsky, and Adam Jed, their DOJ careers might hang in the balance — and potentially their licenses to practice law. It is possible they were directed or encouraged to take some actions they now regret, or for which they are now vulnerable to leverage by Durham or other government investigators.

I think it's a well established fact by now that the Mueller investigation was more about finding any or creating some possible crime by Donald Trump (and bagging some associates along the way, for process crimes created by the investigation if need be) as way of removing, or at least hobbling him, and not about getting to the bottom of "Russian collusion", which they knew was a non-starter from the get-go. If a few of the Mueller team committed process crimes along the way (I'm thinking of Weissmann in particular, but all the phone destroyer in general are suspect), they deserve the stocks. 

At Am Great, Nice Deb reports on how a Former FBI Official Proposes ‘Bipartisan Commission’ to Vet Presidential Candidates Like Trump

“We got this wrong, and this can’t happen again,” said Frank Figliuzzi, who was briefly the assistant director of the FBI under President Obama.

During a discussion on MSNBC about Trump’s taxes Thursday morning, Figliuzzi opined that the president’s supposedly dire financial situation made him “vulnerable” to certain entities like {{{Russia}}}.

“He is the most vulnerable president in our history in terms of compromise and potential exposure to those who want to help him dig out of this financial pit in return for a price,” Figliuzzi said. “And that’s where the national security problem comes in.”

The former G-man added—without evidence—that the president was “entangled with Russia and the former Soviet Block,” therefore he was potentially involved with Russian organized crime figures too.

“We need to have a national discussion about how we vet a presidential candidate,” Figliozzi declared. “We screwed this up.”

He suggested that the media in 2016 didn’t dig “deeply enough” to find dirt on Trump, and added “it’s time to have a discussion about a bipartisan committee that demands tax returns. Make that a requirement.”

Figliozzi said the task of the committee would be to expose “financial pictures”of the candidates.

A republic, if we can keep it. And speaking of financial entanglements, John Solomon at JTN, Just before Obama left office, U.S. officials feared Hunter Biden firm in Ukraine paid second bribe

Twenty-two days before President Obama left office, the U.S. ambassador to Kiev wrote top officials in Washington that she feared Burisma Holdings had made a second bribe to Ukrainian officials — shortly before a corruption probe against Hunter Biden's natural gas employer was abruptly closed before Donald Trump took office.

The concerns are detailed in new memos belatedly released to Just the News under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State Department. The suit was brought on behalf of the news organization by the public interest law firm the Southeastern Legal Foundation.

 And a National Pulse EXCLUSIVE: Biden Transition Team Member Worked With CCP Officials For Over A Decade 

[Suzy] George, who joined the transition team in early September, was a principal at the consulting behemoth for over a decade, from 2001 to 2014.On its tab, “Market Assessment and Entry Strategies,” for example, the group boasts of helping “a solar energy company’s consideration of various Chinese provinces as a location for a significant new facility.”

The group also helps American companies comply with the Chinese Communist Party’s business diktats, detailing how ASG assisted a company enter the Chinese market with a caveat: strictly adhering to the Chinese Communist Party’s rules.

Specifically, ASG touts how it helped a U.S. corporate “align” with Chinese “government goals”:

“We then arranged meetings for company executives with key stakeholders in the resort sector to deliver messages demonstrating our client’s commitment to China, and its alignment with government tourism goals.”

In one instance, ASG bragged of it “leveraging” a U.S. Cabinet Secretary visiting China to help advance a business deal:

WaFreeBee,  Biden the Preferred Dem on China Trade Policy, Chinese State-Owned Firm Says. But we're quite sure that they won't interfere in our election on behalf of Joe Biden, because, unlike Russia, they're moral. /sarc

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

Russiagate: Comey in the Crossfire

Yesterday, James Comey former, and fired Director of the FBI was called to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (2.0). I caught quite bit of his testimony live in between walks and other chores, thanks to this link from Sundance at CTH. FBI Director James Comey Testifies to Senate Judiciary Committee – 10:00am Livestream…. Comey was every bit the weasel you would expect from someone who has reached a pinnacle in the Federal bureaucracy as Republicans tried to challenge him on the foundation and conduct of the effort to get Trump, sometimes called Crossfire Hurricane, while Democrats lofted softballs designed to allow him to pontificate on how bad the orange man is. Comey claims opening the investigation based the the vague allegations from Downing about George Papadopoulos was justified, and denied knowing virtually anything about the abuses that clearly occurred. Even though he signed off on multiple FISA warrants based on flawed sources and sometimes dishonest testimony from high ranking government officials, he's says he's not responsible for their actions. Some lowlights:

PJ Media, Liveblog, Former FBI Director James Comey Faces the Senate Judiciary Committee. WaEx, Mike Lee to James Comey: 'You don’t seem to know anything about this investigation that you ran.' 'Shipwreckedcrew' at Red State finds Comey Denials of Key Facts In FBI Investigation of Crossfire Hurricane are Not Worthy of Belief. John Sexton at Hot Air, Comey Doesn’t Recall Anything About The Referral For Investigation Mentioned In DNI Ratcliffe’s Letter. His memory was on par with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden's. Jeff Mordock, WaT, Comey refuses to address allegations Hillary Clinton conjured Trump-Russia scandal and Kennedy to Comey: You are an 'equal opportunity egotist,' 'tried to screw both Trump and Clinton'.  Kennedy is always good for a laugh. Breitbart, James Comey Denies that Joe Biden Brought Up Logan Act in Michael Flynn Case. It appears to be the one thing he can "remember", I wonder why? CNS News, Sen. Cruz to Former FBI Director Comey: Under Oath, Who's Telling the Truth, You or McCabe?. They're both experienced liars, so take anything either says with a salt lick. Sophia Mann at JTN, catches him the admission Comey accepts responsibility for implications of Horowitz report, 'this reflects on me entirely', except somehow he never really does. 

During an exchange between Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) and former FBI Director James Comey during Wednesday's Senate Judiciary hearing on Crossfire Hurricane, Sasse, typically an ardent defender of the FBI, called the Horowitz report "not just saddening and infuriating," but "also really embarrassing."

"I think I share your reaction Senator Sasse," said Comey. "It's embarrassing, it's sloppy. There's no indication that people were doing bad things on purpose, but that doesn't mean it's not embarrassing."

"But doesn't that point to you [as Director]," responded Sasse. "You were the leader ... isn't the Horowitz report chiefly an indictment of you personally?" asked the senator.

"This reflects on me entirely," said Comey. "I'm not looking to shirk responsibility."

"How is it possible that the FISA process is that bad?" asked Sasse. "Where were you?"

"Given that they found problems in every FISA application, what we thought was a good thing, was actually a bad thing ... responsibility was diffused instead of concentrated into individual human beings," said former Director Comey.

"When does it become obvious that the people in charge of Crossfire Hurricane had a deep-seated bias against Trump?" asked Graham following the Sases-Comey exchange. "What kind of system is it that the FBI director has no clue about the most important investigation maybe in the history of the FBI. If you want to believe that and just write this off, I think you do so at your own peril."

"Every one of the 17 material omissions was against President Trump and against the campaign. They weren't random, they were politically oriented against the president they were trying to take down," said Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), underscoring the points made by Graham.

But  the star of the show goes to Josh Hawley, Megan Fox at PJ Media has the (longish) clip, Josh Hawley Exposes James Comey Under Oath... and It's FIRE

That stings. Yes, one wonders why they make the FBI director sign off on FISA warrants, if he accepts no responsibility for it's contents. More Comey related links, not specifically related to his testimony, PJ Media, Comey 'Cleared' Clinton's Email Scandal Before She Allegedly Triggered Russiagate. Why Would She Do It?. Stupid question. It was a campaign ploy. Sundance, The FBI Knew in December 2016 Steele’s Primary Sub-Source Was a Suspected Russian Spy – Did James Comey Know?…

On one of the topics of Comey's testimony, John Ratcliffe's recently declassified information showing Russian intelligence showing that the Hillary campaign cooked up the whole Russia hoax to deflect attention from her ongoing email scandal. Chuck Ross at Da Caller, US Intel Flagged Alleged Clinton Campaign Plan To Link Trump To Russian Hacking, Intel Chief Says. M Dowling at the Independent Sentinel, Timeline: How Hillary introduced Americans to the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

We already knew from a UK court resolving a lawsuit that the Clinton Campaign arranged for former MI6 Christopher Steele to create a dossier in May 2016 that the FBI knew was false in July 2016.

Steele was hired by Hillary through Fusion to “investigate” Trump-Russia, election interference in early May 2016. That was three months before the “official” FBI Trump-Russia investigation which was supposedly started after Downer-Papadopolous tip-off. . .

 Ashe Schow at Da Wire, HYPOCRISY: Democrat Attempts To Discredit John Ratcliffe Letter Reveal Double Standard. Hypocrisy in politics? Why, I never . . . 'Streiff' at Red State, DNI John Ratcliffe Takes Unprecedented Step of Slapping Down #FakeNews Claim About Russia Hoax Letter

Here's the moment on July 24th, 2016, when Robby Mook planted the Russia collusion hoax. This is what started it all. As we just learned from @DNI_Ratcliffe, this was immediately followed by Hillary pushing the fabricated scandal that Trump was working with Russia. pic.twitter.com/mRlLtk2CJ4

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) September 29, 2020

The irony is that the Russians more likely than not knew that the entire Russia hoax was nonsense because they had created it.

We know, for instance, that the primary sub source for master spy Christopher Steele was suspected of being a Russian agent. There has been at least one report that he attempted to acquire classified information, offering money in exchange. Over two years ago, I pointed out that there was a much greater chance that the Steele dossier was a Russian operation than anything else. See The Steele Memo Is Much More Likely Russian Dezinformatsiya Than It is Intelligence. As it turned out, I was not alone in suspecting this to be the case. At least one reporter who actively pushed the hoax thought the same. See If This New York Times Reporter Suspected the Dossier Was a Fraud Why Is He Only Reporting on It Now.

A newly developing story, from Red State, Federalist's Sean Davis: CIA Director Haspel Personally Blocking Declassification Of Documents That Will Reveal Truth About Russiagate 

More at Da Wire, CIA Director Gina Haspel Blocking Declassifying Critical Documents Related To Russia Investigation, Report Says Haspel is a Brennen protege. Paul Sperry at AmGreat reminds us of the Secret Report: How CIA’s Brennan Overruled Dissenting Analysts Who Concluded Russia Favored Hillary

And onto the ongoing persecution of Gen. Michael Flynn. John Solomon at JTN,  Flynn defense to confront judge in bid to get Russia charge dismissed, Flynn lawyer tells judge she asked Trump not to pardon his national security adviser. BPR, Flynn’s attorney files to remove judge after his ‘appalling’ comments: Is this a third-world country?  John Leonard at AmThink, Emmet Sullivan’s Kangaroo Court, and and for some well predicated speculation, 'shipwreckedcrew' at Red State makes a prediction in My Take on Yesterday’s Hearing on DOJ Motion to Dismiss Prosecution of Gen. Michael Flynn.

But in the end, I think he will say he’s deeply skeptical of reasons and motives offered by DOJ, and he believes their legal analysis on “materiality” is not correct or persuasive. He will not agree that the Fokker Services case dictates the outcome here, but it only guides the decision which is his to make. Taking all that into consideration, he will claim he would be justified in denying the motion on its merits, BUT considerations of “separation of powers” lead him to conclude, IN THIS CASE, he should exercise his discretion by granting the order, but without prejudice. That way if it is later discovered by new DOJ leadership that the dismissal was politically motivated, it can be refiled.

I think he will take this course because if he does not, then the case will either move back to the Appeals Court, or he’ll need to take up Gen. Flynn’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. If it goes back to the Appeals Court he faces uncertainty. The only thing the Appeals Court said when it returned the case to him is that he could have a hearing and decide the motion. There was no suggestion in the text of the opinion that the Appeals Court judges were sympathetic to his views or the views expressed by Judge Gleeson on the merits of DOJ’s motion.

If the Appeals Court were to reverse him, it would undo all he would have accomplished by dismissing the case but only after a lengthy explanation for why he could not dismiss it. All his work could evaporate.

Alternatively, if the motion to withdraw is refiled, that opens up the entire problem of having to go through the conflict of interest/ineffective assistance claims regarding the Covington & Burling attorneys representing Gen. Flynn before Sidney Powell, and how much Special Counsel Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack knew about that — but never raised it with the Court.

Those attorneys will have to testify in any such hearing with regard to the legal advice they gave Gen. Flynn. In order to do so, Sidney Powell is entitled in discovery to all materials that might be relevant to their testimony about Gen. Flynn and his case.

That material would include internal communications within the Covington & Burley law firm about General Flynn and his case. That firm has MANY attorneys with past connections to DOJ and the Obama Administration, including former Attorney General Eric Holder. I suspect Covington & Burling does not want that material released to Sidney Powell to use in a public hearing on Gen. Flynn’s motion to withdraw his plea.

Judge Sullivan understands the “end game” here is not just a quick sentencing of Gen. Flynn if he denies the motion to dismiss. It will be much more complicated, and more “dirty” than that.

So, my prediction is he will grant the motion but do so without prejudice in an “over-the-top” Opinion that declares the effort by DOJ to be a political favor to Pres. Trump.

 Poor Robert Mueller, having to defend himself from charges by Andy Weissman that he wasn't aggressive enough in his pursuit of the bad orange man's perfidy. Chuck Ross at Da Caller, ‘Disappointing’: Mueller Defends Trump Probe Against Criticism From One Of His Own Prosecutors and Jerry Dunleavy at WaEx, Without 'favor or fear': Mueller defends Russia investigation against criticism by Andrew Weissmann.

“It is not surprising that members of the Special Counsel’s Office did not always agree, but it is disappointing to hear criticism of our team based on incomplete information,” Mueller said in a rare public statement first obtained by the Washington Post.

“When important decisions had to be made, I made them. I did so as I have always done, without any interest in currying favor or fear of the consequences. I stand by those decisions and by the conclusions of our investigation," Mueller said. The former special counsel also his team knew “that our work would be scrutinized from all sides,” but he believed they made the correct calls.

 Also from Chuck Ross, Trump Goes After Joe Biden Over Son’s Role At Ukrainian Energy Firm, $3.5 Million Wire Payment and Virginia Kruta from Da Caller, ‘I’ll Call It Out’: CNN’s John King Says Hunter Biden Is ‘A Swamp Creature’. When you've offended CNN's sensibilities . . .

“The former vice president, Dan, went on to say he hopes it’s not about either family — the Trump family or the Biden family — but it’s about the two candidates and their policies,” King said, turning to his guest, The Washington Post’s Dan Balz.

“But Hunter Biden, in many ways, is a weakness for the former vice president because of his work,” King continued. “He was a — I’ll call it out — he’s a swamp creature, like many people, trading on his family name to make money around the world. But the way the president handled that, did he, as Dana notes, actually give the vice president a way to come at that from a different perspective?”