Russiagate: Reclaiming My Time

OK, enough stalling. I've had enough coffee that I'm twitching. Let's clean this bin!

Dan Chaitin recounts how DOJ releases financial activity report on Durham special counsel investigation. I think they want to remind everyone it's costing money and yielding no tangible results. ET has an Infographic Timeline of the Durham Investigation (right). Also from Dan Chaitin, DOJ's 'relentless pursuit' has Andrew McCabe talking about John Durham. Any investigation that is discomfiting Andy McCabe is doing God's work in my view. He's got a lot of gall complaining. 

Jack Cashill at Am Think thinks about Barack Obama’s Parallel Russian Universe in a book review of Edward-Isaac Dovere's new bestseller, Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump. "Although no great fan of Barack Obama, Dovere accepts uncritically Team Obama’s collective amnesia about the Russian collusion plot." Jordan Davidson at Da Fed features GOP Legislators who Demand DOJ Answer For Russia Hoaxer Susan Hennessey’s Appointment. But according to Matt Margolis at PJ Media, Trump Wants DNC and Hillary Campaign Held Accountable For Bogus Russian Collusion Witch Hunt. LI, Robert Mueller to Teach Class on Mueller Investigation “Mueller will teach the course alongside Aaron Zebley, Jim Quarles and Andrew Goldstein, all of whom worked with him during the investigation.” At least they'll be able to nudge him awake when he dozes off. 

Gen. Michael Flynn is back still in the news as Market Watch (among others) claims Ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn says Myanmar-like coup ‘should happen’ in U.S. The video seems clear enough, but of course, Allah Pundit whines about Mike Flynn: I wasn't calling for a Myanmar-style military coup and Dan Chaitin reports  "Michael Flynn denies saying Myanmar-like coup 'should' happen in United States" (Dan Chaitin)

"For all the fake news 'journalists': Let me be VERY CLEAR — There is NO reason whatsoever for any coup in America, and I do not and have not at any time called for any action of that sort. Any reporting of any other belief by me is a boldface fabrication based on twisted reporting at a lively panel at a conference of Patriotic Americans who love this country, just as I do. I am no stranger to media manipulating my words and therefore let me repeat my response to a question asked at the conference: There is no reason it (a coup) should happen here (in America)," Flynn said on Sunday.

Sidney Powell, an attorney who has represented Flynn, also said Flynn did not endorse "any act of violence or any military insurrection" and claimed the media had "grossly distorted" his comments, according to CNN.

 And Matt Lewis at Da Beast warns Flynn’s Coup Talk Is a Warning About the MAGA Violence Ahead. Why does the left condone massive violence on the behalf of leftist causes but warm about barely existent right-wing violence? The Political Insider, Michael Flynn Tells Public ‘Don’t Feel Sorry For Me – Feel Sorry For Our Country, Feel Sorry For Our President’

Jonathon Mosely at Am Think thinks New York Prosecutors are Screaming at the Sky, while at Da Caller, Greg Price reports ‘They Are Searching For A Crime’: Donald Trump Jr. Says New York Attorney General Is Persecuting Her Political Enemies. That was clear when she made prosecuting Donald Trump one of her campaign promises. 

Capt. Ed at Hot Hair seems miffed that 

Karen McDougal

FEC socks Nat'l Enquirer parent with $187K penalty over McDougal "catch and kill" -- but passes on Trump

The Federal Election Commission has fined the National Enquirer’s parent company $187,500 for “knowingly and willfully” violating election law by making a payment in 2016 to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model (NSFW) who said she had an affair with former president Donald Trump years before he was elected.

The decision came in response to a complaint made more than three years ago by the nonprofit government watchdog group Common Cause, which was notified of the FEC’s findings Tuesday.

The group had alleged that the company’s $150,000 payment to McDougal months before the 2016 election was effectively an illegal in-kind corporate contribution to Trump’s presidential campaign. The payment allegedly benefited Trump’s campaign by suppressing McDougal’s story of an alleged relationship with Trump before voters went to the polls.

That ruling seems pretty obvious in retrospect. American Media, now known as A360Media, admitted in a 2018 negotiation with the Department of Justice that the move was intended to help Trump out in the election. Former employees of AMI leaked information that the company had done this in the past with other celebrity friends of former CEO David Pecker, but this time it put the company afoul of election laws.Now do Facebook, Google and Twitter on Hunter's Laptop, not that a $150,00 fine would seem anything more than a licensing requirement. And at Da Caller, Stormy Daniels Says She ‘Would Love Nothing More Than’ To Testify Against Trump.

Stormy Daniels

I can't tell you happy I am that Karen and Stormy (NSFW) are back in the news.

“I have not been called to testify yet, but I’ve been very forthcoming since the beginning of all this that I would love nothing more than my day in court and to give a deposition and to provide whatever evidence that they need from me,” the adult film star told CNN’s John Berman on “New Day.”

“I mean, I have all the original forms and emails and wire transcripts and all of that stuff, and I’m happy to turn it over to anybody who needs it, honestly,” Daniels added.

AP rages that  Fed lawyers say  Trump not liable for ‘crude’ remarks at accuser. Capt. Ed at Hot Hair VIP, Biden DoJ to court: We should take over for Trump in defamation case. Kimberly Wehle at the Bulwark wonders Why Is the Biden Justice Department Lawyering on Trump’s Behalf in the E. Jean Carroll Case? Because Biden has his own groping accusations. 

From Michael Ginsberg at Da Caller, Newly Released Audio Reportedly Shows Giuliani Pressuring Ukraine To Announce A Biden Investigation. I fail to see the problem. Biden is a crook.

During the call, conducted between Giuliani, then-Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker, and Ukraine government official Andriy Yermak, Giuliani presses for an investigation into then-Democratic front-runner Joe Biden. The partial recording released by CNN does not completely match up with a partial transcript of the call published by Buzzfeed News in April 2021. That partial transcript was reportedly produced by Ukrainian officials.

“All we need from the President is to say, ‘I’m going to put an honest prosecutor in charge, he’s going to investigate, and dig up the evidence that presently exists and is there any other evidence about involvement of the 2016 election, and then the Biden thing has to be run out.’ I don’t know if it’s true or not. I mean, I see him bragging about it on television. And to me as a lawyer, that sounds like a bribe. Someone in Ukraine has got to take that seriously,” Giuliani says in the partially released CNN recording.

Similarly, I fail to see the problem here,  Capt. Ed, NYT: Trump-era DoJ secretly subpoenaed communications records of Schiff, Swalwell. Sauce for the goose and all. Eric Lendrum at Am Great, Trump Justice Department Had Previously Been Investigating House Democrats for Corruption. The Western Journal, Biden's DOJ Announces It Is Opening a Probe of Trump's DOJ 'Adam Mill' at Am Great, Business and Hypocrisy As Usual for Media on Latest Spying Story "The message, “It was the Trump Justice Department,” is exactly the kind of deep state PR message that deflects blame. There never was a “Trump Justice Department.”" He has a point there. Politico whines that Barr distances himself from Trump-era subpoenas of Democratic lawmakers. But Peter Strzok knew the truth, Wa Free Bee, Anti-Trump FBI Agent Suspected Top Democrats of Leaking Sensitive Information, "Peter Strzok texts show the Trump administration was not alone in suspecting Democrats." But at Hot Hair, Capt. Ed catches Politico in the admission that  Leak prosecutor no "Barr crony" after all.

Readers of the New York Times may have been shocked to read their report on the Trump-era Department of Justice’s secret search warrants on communications of members of Congress. Friends and colleagues of federal prosecutor Osmar Benvenuto were even more shocked to find him characterized as a “crony” of then-AG William Barr. The New Jersey Democrat got tapped for the job over his own misgivings, not because he knew Barr but because Barr had been told that Benvenuto was a tough, action-oriented independent thinker within the DoJ.

This recasting of Benvenuto’s background by Politico’s Josh Gerstein puts an entirely different light on Barr’s actions last year:

Associates said Osmar Benvenuto, 39, had misgivings about taking the assignment because he feared he might be seen as tarnished by the work given the perceived politicization of the Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr, but the New Jersey-based career prosecutor ultimately decided to accept the job after friends counseled him to do so.

Several of Benvenuto’s friends and mentors said they found it utterly implausible that he would have taken on a political mission for the Trump administration. For one thing, Benvenuto is registered to vote in New Jersey as a Democrat and previously registered as a Democrat in New York City.

At least two of Benvenuto’s friends spoke on the record to Gerstein about their shock at the way the NYT story characterized him. One called the effort to cast Benvenuto as a Barr “stooge … just outrageous.”

Arkancide? Twitchy, Just keeps HAPPENING: ABC reporter Christopher Sign who exposed Bill Clinton/Loretta Lynch tarmac scandal dies of apparent suicide. Dan Chaitin at WaEx reports Reporter who broke story on Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting found dead

The journalist who broke the story about the controversial 2016 tarmac meeting between former President Bill Clinton and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch was found dead Saturday morning, according to police.

The body of 45-year-old Christopher Sign, a news anchor for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, was discovered by Hoover police and fire personnel at around 8 a.m. following a 911 call about a person down in a residence in Alabama, according to AL.com.

Hoover police Lt. Keith Czeskleba said Sign's death is being investigated as a suicide, the report added.

 I wonder how many bullets he fired into the back of his own head?

Steaming Through Russiagate

9 AM and it's already 86 F with 84% relative humidity here. Headed for the mid-90s again.

Are we being set up for another Charlie Brown football kick? From Da Hill, House gears up for Mueller testimony, and from the AP, something we already knew, Democrats questioning Robert Mueller to focus on obstruction, because that Russian collusion chocolate cake turned out to be shit. WaPoo,  Democrats hope Mueller testimony will put bright spotlight on Trump’s efforts to derail investigation. You mean that investigation into something that never happened? The Peacock, Mueller hearings to highlight 'shocking evidence of criminal misconduct' by Trump, Democrats say. They've been saying that a long time, and never coming up with the goods, too. But Devin Nunes (CNS News) says 'I Really Expect the Worst' When Mueller Testifies. His colleagues never disappoint to disappoint.

"Mueller, when he walked in the door, knew there was no evidence of collusion and conspiracy, and they knew the only thing they had on obstruction of justice was Comey's memos. I mean, Comey illegally leaked those memos to the press, and for what? In order to try to get a special counsel...which he admitted," Nunes said.

"So sitting with this open for two years, to me, I think people should look at this as an obstruction of justice trap, and then you can go through for the $40 million that we spent on this report, there are so many holes in this report. It was heavy on rhetoric and I'll would say it kind of read like a bad Russian spy novel."

And they didn't even get paid by the page, which by the way, comes out to roughly $100,000/per page. Not bad for government work, really. Conrad Black at AmGreat calls Shame on Robert Mueller—Again

Mueller packed his investigative team with notorious Democratic partisans. Andrew Weissman, who had cooked his share of Republicans already, and attended Hillary Clinton’s victory party the night she lost to Trump, took over the actual work. He and many of those he recruited had just finished white-washing Clinton—on to the tarring-and-feathering of her opponent. Mueller, never a martyr to the work ethic, despite the Democratic media’s wall-to-wall effort to spin him as a war hero Republican, flawless FBI director, and a rail-splitting confessant to the chopping of the cherry tree, left the direction of the investigation to Weissman and his gang, all of them desperate to destroy the president. Perish the thought of any of this pusillanimous bourgeois rubbish about impartiality! Trump was an interloper and he had to be sent packing with such finality that no one would dare interrupt the self-enriching slumbers of the political class for at least another century.

Trump managed the considerable feat of tough-talking as he resisted the depredations of a partisan witch-hunt while completely cooperating and leaving the investigators no ground to allege obstruction. This was the tactically correct response to what instantly was a difficult position. Trump had erroneously promoted an apparently qualified U.S. senator and former prosecutor, Jeff Sessions, as attorney general. Sessions immediately recused himself on all Russian matters and sat like a great eunuch-toad leaving the president whom he served practically defenseless while this rampaging lynch mob ransacked his personal, corporate, campaign, and presidential records. The Strzok-Page text messages indicate that the Mueller team ascertained quite quickly that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and in fact, no nominee of any serious party to the presidency of the United States in its history would ever have partaken of such an evil and preposterous enterprise.

From early on, Mueller’s game was obstruction. He piled demands on the president, required sworn testimony over several days from the White House counsel (who should have immunity in respect of his chief client). The president’s tactic of talking tough while furnishing everything asked by the special counsel got him through the midterm elections.

But it's tough when your case relies on people like this, Mueller witness George Nader charged with transporting 14-year-old boy for sex, child porn. WaPoo, George Nader indicted on child sex transportation charges. Lots of innuendo about Trump in the article, zero evidence.

From 90 Miles from Tyranny, Latest Development In Flynn Case Proves Special Counsel Was A Cover For Taking Down Trump as a way of introducing Margot Cleveland's article in Da Fed, Latest Development In Flynn Case Proves Special Counsel Was A Cover For Taking Down Trump. It's a very detailed article, hard to extract a simple quote from, but well worth the read.

In what appears to be a clear case of revenge, the intelligence community handed off their supposed intel on Flynn, knowing neither Flynn nor Rafiekian could adequately counter it because it was classified, and all Rafiekian’s attorneys would likely get would be a lousy one-sentence summary of the “multiple independent pieces of information.” That one-sentence summary would be made public and implicate Flynn in a criminal conspiracy.

After receiving this notice, Rafiekian’s attorneys argued to the court that the recently disclosed evidence is quite clearly Brady evidence and that “if Mr. Rafiekian is convicted without his counsel having access to this exculpatory evidence, we believe it will go right to the heart of his due process and confrontation rights.” But, as of yet, the court has refused to provide Rafiekian access to the intel (in a classified setting, of course).

There is no good excuse for intelligence agencies to have withheld this information from the special counsel team. There was a very bad excuse for it, though: The intelligence community knew the special counsel probe was a sham designed to take down a president and any other enemies of the deep-state status quo.

Flynn clearly fit the bill. Once he agreed to plead guilty and cooperated, that was good enough for the intelligence community. Their goal was accomplished, and the fact that Mueller had also been charged with investigating Rafiekian and Alptekin was of no matter.

Breitbart,  Federal Prosecutors Won’t Bring Additional Charges in Trump Campaign Finance Probe, but

. . . Alan Dershowitz repeatedly argued there was never actually a case against President Trump. “The president doesn’t break the law if, as a candidate, he contributes to his own campaign. So if he gave $1 million to two women as hush money, there would be in crime. If he directed his lawyer to do it, and he would compensate the lawyer, he’s committed no crime,” he explained to MSNBC last year. “The only crime is if a third-party, namely, Cohen, on his own, contributed to a campaign, that would be a campaign contribution. So it is a catch-22 for the prosecution. if they claim that the president authorized him to do it or directed him to do it, it is not a crime for anybody. If Cohen did it on his own, then it is a crime for Cohen but not the president.”

But WaPoo has clearly not given up hope that they can tarnish Hope Hicks reputation in this. Hope Hicks was not involved in discussions to pay Stormy Daniels hush money, her attorney says

On Thursday, a federal judge in New York unsealed FBI documents from spring 2018, shortly before agents raided Cohen’s home, office and hotel room.

In the documents, FBI agents laid out evidence they had gathered indicating that Cohen had made an illegal campaign contribution when he arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels.

Stormy Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford

In an affidavit, an FBI agent wrote that Cohen exchanged calls, text messages and emails with an attorney for Daniels — who is also known as Stephanie Clifford — as well as executives for the National Enquirer, Trump and members of Trump’s inner circle, as he negotiated the payment in October 2016.

“Based on the timing of these calls, and the content of the text messages, I believe that at least some of these communications concerned the need to prevent Clifford from going public,” the agent wrote.

Karen McDougal

Some of the communications occurred in the immediate wake of an Oct. 7, 2016, report published by The Washington Post about a recording in which Trump could be heard referring to women in vulgar terms, which became a moment of crisis for the campaign.

According to the affidavit, phone records show that Hicks called Cohen the following evening; 16 seconds into the call, records show that Trump joined the call, which continued for an additional four minutes.

The Cohen-Trump-Hicks call was followed by calls that evening among Cohen, National Enquirer executives and Hicks.

When Hicks testified before the House Judiciary Committee last month, she said she was “never present” at a time when Cohen and Trump discussed Daniels. She also said she “had no knowledge of Stormy Daniels” during the campaign other than that she had heard her name mentioned as possibly “shopping stories around.”

So, their evidence consists of the fact that Trump, Hicks and Cohen communicated on the same day? It's not like these people don't spend all day on the phone. And besides, as Dersh noted, and SDNY reluctantly concluded, it was not illegal for Trump to do. But the USA Today tries to keep hope alive with Prosecutors weighed DOJ policy blocking indictment of a sitting president in closing Trump hush-money probe. So it wasn't a crime, but if it was a crime we would be unable to do anything about it? Sounds like a great excuse for a investigation. Besides, it only says they considered it, not that they considered it determinative. And boy is Andy Weissman pissed.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Victoria Baldessara and FMJRA 2.0: Kryptonite on time and within budget at The Other McCain.

Some Russiagate While We Wait Out the Snowstorm

Winter Storm Gia, as the Weather Channel has named it, arrived in earnest around dark last night, after teasing us with a few flakes in mid afternoon. When I got up to put the coffee on this morning, it looks like about 8 inches of crystalline global warming on the deck, and the radar suggests it's not letting up any time soon. So, I've got the first cup of coffee in me, and it's time to deal with the accumulated Russiagate.

Repercussions of the New York Times article justifying the FBI opening an investigation of President Trump after the firing of FBI Director Comey continue. Twitchy has an interesting series of tweets from Byron York: ‘J. Edgar Hoover-style’: Byron York questions if the NYT article ‘is about Trump, or about FBI malfeasance?’

Investigation result: 'No evidence has emerged publicly that Mr. Trump was secretly in contact with or took direction from Russian government officials.' Is NYT story about Trump, or about FBI malfeasance? 4/4 End. https://t.co/L8U5rPbJup

— Byron York (@ByronYork) January 12, 2019

Skye has her precious snow patch back!

Chuck Ross: EXCLUSIVE: Transcripts of Lisa Page’s Closed-Door Testimonies Provide New Revelations in Spygate Scandal

Lisa Page, a former top attorney at the FBI, told Congress she believed it was neither appropriate nor necessary for two of Hillary Clinton’s aides to accompany the former secretary of state in an interview she gave as part of the email investigation.

“I would agree with you that it is not typically appropriate or operationally necessary to have fact witnesses attend the interview,” Page told lawmakers during a closed-door interview in July 2018, highlights of which were published by The Epoch Times on Friday.

Page was answering questions about the FBI’s handling of the investigation into whether Clinton mishandled classified information by using a private email server while at the State Department. Clinton was interviewed by the FBI as part of the investigation on July 2, 2016, three days before then-FBI Director James Comey announced he would be recommending that Clinton be charged in the case.

Clinton was flanked by a team of attorneys in the interview, including Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson. Both lawyers were also witnesses in the FBI’s probe, having been interviewed multiple times separately by FBI agents about their handling of Clinton’s classified emails.

Read it all for some scary stuff. The DOJ was totally in the tank for Clinton, and the FBI only slightly less so from Page's perspective. At CTH, Sundance read the testimony, and focuses on how Leaked Lisa Page Testimonial Transcripts on CIA Brennan Angle, Confirms Likelihood of Dossier Origination….. Short answer, he thinks it helps establish that Nellie Ohr wrote most of the Steele Dossier while working for Fusion GPS, and alleges that she was illegally getting data from the NSA in the process. Read it all, and weep for our Republic.

Nellie Ohr was, is, and will always be, the factual author of the material inside the Steele Dossier. Notably Nellie Ohr refused to testify to the joint house committee citing spousal privilege as the excuse to avoid questioning.

Nellie Ohr, a CIA contract employee, is at the epicenter of the Steele Dossier; and as a result she is the person who created the basis for all of the FISA surveillance warrants that exploited the dossier for approval.

Russian collusion? I got yer Russian collusion right here:

Was the FBI aware of Fusion GPS’s pro-Russia lobbying efforts and ties to Rinat Akhmetshin? Were they aware that Fusion’s lobbying efforts coincided with the creation of the Trump/Russia dossier?
Flashback —> https://t.co/sp4NNwYPix pic.twitter.com/amEOZWv3aW

— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) January 12, 2019

Tom Maguire at Just One Minute on Drinking The Haterade At The FBI

OK, wow - the NY Times tells us that after Comey was fired the FBI complemented their criminal investigation of Trump with a counterintelligence probe. No reporting on whether the FBI sought, or found probable cause for, FISA warrants for folks other than Carter Page.

Why the revelation? Who knows? But a Trump-philic spin would be that Team Mueller is shifting the goalposts and trying to let The Resistance down gently. Note this deeply buried explanation of the two types of investigations:

The F.B.I. conducts two types of inquiries, criminal and counterintelligence investigations. Unlike criminal investigations, which are typically aimed at solving a crime and can result in arrests and convictions, counterintelligence inquiries are generally fact-finding missions to understand what a foreign power is doing and to stop any anti-American activity, like thefts of United States government secrets or covert efforts to influence policy. In most cases, the investigations are carried out quietly, sometimes for years. Often, they result in no arrests.

No arrests, no indictments, just a deeper understanding - well, that might cover the last two years. Hard news for The Resistance, if that is where this is headed.

PILING ON: Paul Mirengoff unloads.

NYPo:Trump rages about FBI’s reported probe into Comey firing as well he should.

“Wow, just learned in the Failing New York Times that the corrupt former leaders of the FBI, almost all fired or forced to leave the agency for some very bad reasons, opened up an investigation on me, for no reason & with no proof, after I fired Lyin’ James Comey, a total sleaze!” the president tweeted.

“Funny thing about James Comey,” he continued. “Everybody wanted him fired, Republican and Democrat alike. After the rigged & botched Crooked Hillary investigation, where she was interviewed on July 4th Weekend, not recorded or sworn in, and where she said she didn’t know anything (a lie).”

He gave The Post a shoutout in a subsequent tweet: “the FBI was in complete turmoil (see N.Y. Post) because of Comey’s poor leadership and the way he handled the Clinton mess (not to mention his usurpation of powers from the Justice Department). My firing of James Comey was a great day for America.”

The tweet echoed Trump’s April 2018 assertion — “I did you a great favor when I fired this guy” — at a rally in Michigan. “He was a Crooked Cop,” Saturday’s tweetstorm concluded, “who is being totally protected by his best friend, Bob Mueller, & the 13 Angry Democrats – leaking machines who have NO interest in going after the Real Collusion (and much more) by Crooked Hillary Clinton, her Campaign, and the Democratic National Committee. Just Watch!”

The Friday report in the Times said in addition to probing whether Trump was working for Moscow, the FBI investigation was meant to examine whether Comey’s firing amounted to obstruction of justice. Special Counsel Robert Mueller subsequently incorporated the probe into his own investigation, the Times reported.

The Washington Post resents that Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration because they don't get any leaks that way.

Karen McDougal

CNN: Michael Cohen's big day may not be about Russia Of course it's not about Russia. It's about placing a frame around Trump for the non-crime of paying blackmail to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Speaking of which, Stormy Daniels, Avenatti To Attend Michael Cohen’s Congressional Testimony. No word on whether Stormy will pay for her seat by giving Elijah Cummings, Chairman of the Oversight Committee, a lap dance. Meanwhile, Judge Poised to Force Michael Avenatti to Open Books in Divorce Case - Stormy Daniels’ lawyer claims he has paid his ex-wife what he owes, but she says he's behind $1.7 million in child and spousal support. What a fine, upstanding Democrat!

The Washington Monthly: The House Foreign Affairs Committee Will Aggressively Investigate Trump. I guess that means Trump has ended the threat from terrorisn, right?

Picked up by Pirate's Cove as the Blog Post of the Day in If All You See… . Thanks Teach! (She's lovely isn't she?)

Rainy Day Russiagate

Another rainy day. According to the weather people, today's rain pushed the year's total over previous records on both the DC and Baltimore area, so I presume it did here too. First off, from Ace: Whoa: Mueller Tells Judge in Mike Flynn Case to Go F*** Himself, Refusing to Deliver The Original Notes of the Flynn Interview As He Was Ordered To Do

Mueller was ordered to turn over all notes of the Flynn interview and the orginal 302 filed by Strzok and Pientka. That is an interesting 302, because, of course, it has been reported that the interviewing witnesses said that Flynn did not offer any deception.

But then seven months later, when Mueller's looking prosecute Trump, a new 302 gets written that says Flynn did lie?

And Mueller continues defying a judge, refusing to turn over the original, despite being specifically ordered to produce it?

I don't think this calls for a sentence of no time to be served; I think this calls for a striking of Flynn's plea deal and a statement that Flynn has no longer pled guilty and is now officially just innocent.

You cannot tell a fucking judge to go fuck himself.

And you would not do so, unless you had real crimes of your own to cover up.

More Via Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.14.18 American Power has Checking Robert Mueller

From Kim Strassel, at WSJ:

The whole thing stinks of entrapment, though the curious question was how the Flynn defense team got the details. The court filing refers to a McCabe memo written the day of the 2017 meeting, as well as an FBI summary—known as a 302—of the Flynn interview. These are among documents congressional Republicans have been fighting to obtain for more than a year, only to be stonewalled by the Justice Department. Now we know why the department didn’t want them public.
They have come to light thanks to a man who knows well how men like Messrs. Mueller and Comey operate: Judge Sullivan. He sits on the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, and as he wrote for the Journal last year, he got a “wake-up call” in 2008 while overseeing the trial of then-Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. Judge Sullivan ultimately assigned a lawyer to investigate Justice Department misconduct.
The investigator’s report found prosecutors had engaged in deliberate and repeated ethical violations, withholding key evidence from the defense. It also excoriated the FBI for failing to write up 302s and for omitting key facts from those it did write. The head of the FBI was Mr. Mueller...

Still more.

My guess is that the draft 302s no longer exists because Andrew Weissman (who has been on the team longer than Mueller) ordered them destroyed, as also happened in the Ted Stevens prosecution and Andrew Weismann's Enron prosecution. Margot Cleveland at Da Federalist: The Federal Judge Overseeing Michael Flynn’s Sentencing Just Dropped A Major Bombshell

The earlier version(s) of the 302s will either support or contradict Comey’s testimony. Same with McCabe’s January 24, 2017 memorandum. The latter will prove particularly interesting given the conflict between Comey’s latest testimony and that of McCabe, who served as deputy director of the FBI at the time. In an executive session of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, McCabe acknowledged “the two people who interviewed [Flynn] didn’t think he was lying, . . .”

Of course, this all assumes that the special counsel’s office still has copies of the initial 302s created, which might not be the case given that when Mueller’s “pitbull,” Andrew Weissmann, led the Enron Task Force, his team, among other things, systematically destroyed draft 302s.

I'd dismiss the Flynn charges with prejudice, and order the Mueller team not to go after him or his family on any other charges.

Also from the Wombat, The Geller Reportbrings us Obama’s FBI Paid More On Russian Dirt & Fake News In The 2016 Election Than The Russians, Power Line: Flynn’s Fate, and Weasel Zippers: Obama Administration Reportedly Gave Classified Info To Senators For Use Against Trump.

USA Today: Robert Mueller: No 'coercion' in Michael Flynn FBI interview; urges court to reject attempt to downplay crime. From the Trump-hating WaPoo, Special counsel rejects suggestion by Flynn’s attorneys that he was misled in FBI interview, because of course he does.

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III wrote Friday that he continued to support little or no prison time for Flynn. But he and his prosecutors vigorously pushed backed against the idea raised by Flynn’s defense attorneys that he was caught unawares by FBI agents. And they argued that his lies to Vice President Pence and others were a “material” part of a national security investigation.

“The Court should reject the defendant’s attempt to minimize the seriousness of those false statements to the FBI,” prosecutors wrote in a memo filed ahead of Flynn’s scheduled sentencing next week. “Nothing about the way the interview was arranged or conducted caused the defendant to make false statements to the FBI.”

How does he know? He wasn't their supervisor at the time. That was Lyin' Jim Comey. Fox: Comey admits decision to send FBI agents to interview Flynn was not standard

Asked to describe how two FBI agents ended up at the White House to interview Flynn in January 2017, Comey, speaking to MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace during a forum discussion Sunday, said flatly: “I sent them.”

Comey went on to acknowledge the way the interview was set up – not through the White House counsel’s office, but arranged directly with Flynn – was not standard practice. He called it “something I probably wouldn't have done or maybe gotten away with in a more … organized administration.”

Describing how it is usually done, Comey said, “If the FBI wanted to send agents into the White House itself to interview a senior official, you would work through the White House counsel, and there would be discussions and approvals and who would be there.”

Recalling his decision to bypass those steps, Comey said, “I thought: ‘It’s early enough, let’s just send a couple guys over.’”

Remember, Mueller was appointed by Rosenstein as a result of the firestorm after Comey was fired, prompted by memos leaked by Comey.  Washington Free Beacon, Harrington: Flynn’s ‘Only Crime’ Was ‘Going to Work for a Republican President’

"In the Russia matter, I don't think the Cohen revelation and sentencing did too much to advance the narrative. He is going to prison for tax evasion," Harrington said. "But on the Flynn matter, I think we have a lot more questions on the double standard that the FBI took in handling and going scorched earth after Trump but [using] kid gloves with Hillary Clinton. And I think Flynn's only crime here was going to work for a Republican president because you had [former FBI Deputy Director Andrew] McCabe, who himself was fired for lying to investigators, encouraging Flynn to not have a lawyer, basically setting him up."

The Future of Capitalism, RBG to the Defense of Flynn. She just isn't aware of it:

As the plea agreement of President Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, attracts renewed attention this week because of Judge Emmet G. Sullivan's skepticism (Emmet means "truth" in Hebrew), it's worth mentioning that the federal crime to which Flynn pleaded guilty, Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1001, is one that has been on our radar screen since the February 24, 2004, New York Sun editorial Martha Stewart and the Law.

That provision of the criminal code provides for a fine or up to five years in prison for anyone who "knowingly and willfully" makes any materially false statement or representation "in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States." That New York Sun editorial said:

a liberal Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg... in a concurring opinion in the 1996 Supreme Court case Brogan v. United States, warned of "the sweeping generality" of Section 1001's language.
Justice Ginsburg wrote: "The prospect remains that an overzealous prosecutor or investigator — aware that a person has committed some suspicious acts, but unable to make a criminal case — will create a crime by surprising the suspect, asking about those acts, and receiving a false denial."...
Justice Ginsburg wrote, "the Department of Justice has long noted its reluctance to approve §1001 indictments for simple false denials made to investigators."

Ginsburg warned that the law's "encompassing formulation arms Government agents with authority not simply to apprehend lawbreakers, but to generate felonies, crimes of a kind that only a Government officer could prompt."

Twitchy: WOW: Judicial Watch report on when & how Dems’ ‘Russiagate’ narrative spread looks BAD for the Obama admin

BREAKING: Judicial Watch released two sets of heavily redacted State Department docs showing classified info was researched & disseminated to multiple U.S. Senators by the Obama Admin immediately prior to President @realDonaldTrump’s inauguration. (1/5)https://t.co/xDjkqlDImP

— Judicial Watch 🔎 (@JudicialWatch) December 14, 2018

Mystery Mueller mayhem at a Washington court. Somebody is resisting, but it isn't clear who. WaPoo: Mueller’s treatment of cooperating witnesses suggests end of Russia investigation may be near. Pretty much all his cooperating witnesses have been convicted of perjury. It's going to be hard to put them on a stand.

In the cases of Cohen, former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Mueller has proceeded to the sentencing of each without first making him testify at trial against others.

That’s at odds with the common practice of prosecutors — which is to hold the stick of a tougher prison sentence over defendants until they have completed all of their cooperation, particularly any public testimony.

While the recent legal action has led to speculation that prosecutors are narrowing in on the president in anticipation of more criminal charges, Mueller’s sentencing timeline suggests a different outcome to some legal experts — that the accounts of those cooperating witnesses will appear in a written report, not in court.

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to crimes in August and November. On Dec. 12, a federal judge sentenced him to three years in prison. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)

Cooperators “usually go last,” said Robert Ray, a former independent counsel on the Whitewater investigation.

The sentencing of those Mueller defendants “suggests to me that whatever those individuals have done for the special counsel investigation, there is no further use for them,” Ray said. “If there were any contemplation of using them at trial, you would sentence them later. And the only conclusion I can draw from all that is that we are nearing the end.”

Jeffrey Toobin at Da New Yorker:  Adam Schiff’s Plans to Obliterate Trump’s Red Line. I think Shiff's friends and family need a good scrutiny too. Maybe three or four undercover FBI agents need to tempt him with some illegal act, like a stolen fake copy of Trumps tax returns. Speaking of which, George Papadopoulos, I’m Running For Congress. I'd support him. He was naive, but now he really knows how the dirty work is done.

AP: Michael Cohen claims Trump knew hush money payments wrong. There's wrong, and there's illegal. Notice that he was still lawyer enough not to say he told Trump it was illegal (which is debatable). It's wrong to cheat on your wife. It's illegal to lie to Congress about it. Rich Lowry at NyPo, Sorry, but hush-money payments won’t send Trump to prison despite democrats fever dreams.

Instpundit has two interesting points.

Cheap tricks are what they have.

Allahpundit: Giuliani On The Unreported Karen McDougal Payoff: Even If This Was A Crime, It Wasn’t A Big Crime "

“Nobody got killed, nobody got robbed… This was not a big crime,” Giuliani told The Daily Beast on Wednesday. He added, sardonically, “I think in two weeks they’ll start with parking tickets that haven’t been paid.”

They're way past that. Now they're trying to pin hiring undocumented illegal alien housemaids by low level people in the Trump organization on him. Also: Orrin Hatch: I Regret Saying That I Don’t Care About The Allegations Against Trump. Priorities, son.

Kyle Smith at NRO: Hero to Zero: The Rise and Fall of Michael Avenatti But if it weren't for Michael, we wouldn't have Stormy Daniels (NSFW)  or Mareli Miniutti (NSFW) to talk about!

Marie Butina

And fresh from today's WaPo: In filing intended to be under seal, U.S. prosecutors ask to transport Maria Butina, possibly to testify at grand jury

U.S. prosecutors on Friday asked a federal judge for permission to move Maria Butina to and from jail for ongoing interviews, including potentially to testify before a grand jury, in a filing intended to be sealed that appeared on the public docket for her case.

Butina, 30, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian government to infiltrate the National Rifle Association and the wider conservative movement to set up back-channel communications with leading Republicans around the time of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

As part of her plea deal, she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

In a seven-page document filed Friday afternoon to a judge, prosecutors said they were making their travel request under seal because disclosing Butina’s movements from Alexandria City Jail, where she has been held since July, “may jeopardize defendant’s safety and may jeopardize the ongoing investigation.”

"Nice witness you have there. It would be a shame if anything happened to her."

The main point of the Butina prosecution is to cast a cloud over the NRA. If they prosecuted the "crime" of being an unregistered foreign lobbyist in the Washington DC metro area, they'd have to kick all the crack dealers out of jail to make room.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Merry Christmas! and FMJRA 2.0: Sunday Morning Coming Down ready for your digital pleasure.

Russiagate: Cohen Gets Three Year in the Clink

DOJ SDNY: Michael Cohen Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison

Between 2012 and 2016, COHEN concealed more than $4 million in personal income from the Internal Revenue Service, avoiding more than $1.3 million in income tax. COHEN also made false statements to a federally insured financial institution to obtain a $500,000 home equity loan. Finally, in 2016, COHEN made or caused two separate payments to women to ensure that they did not publicly disclose their alleged affairs with a presidential candidate in advance of the election. In one instance, COHEN caused American Media, Inc. (“AMI”), which was identified in previous court filings as “Corporation-1,” to make a $150,000 payment to one woman; in the other, COHEN made a $130,000 payment to another woman through an LLC he incorporated for the purpose of making the payment. COHEN was reimbursed for the latter payment in monthly installments disguised as payments for legal services performed pursuant to a retainer, when in fact no such retainer existed. COHEN made or caused both of these payments in order to influence the 2016 election and did so in coordination with one or more members of the campaign.

In addition to the sentence of imprisonment, Judge Pauley also ordered COHEN, 52, of New York, New York, to pay a fine of $50,000, to forfeit $500,000, to pay $1,393,858 in restitution to the IRS, and to pay a mandatory $800 special assessment. Separately, COHEN was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and to pay a $100 special assessment in the case brought by the SCO. COHEN was also sentenced to concurrent three-year terms of supervised release in both cases, to follow his term of imprisonment.

The Peacock, Michael Cohen gets 3 years, says Trump's 'dirty deeds' led him to 'choose darkness' and Trump's ex-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen sentenced to 3 years in prison after admitting 'blind loyalty' led him to cover up president's 'dirty deeds'. He needs a better writer. Courthouse News Service:

Cohen lashed out at what he called Trump’s self-interested campaign of “character assassination.”

“Not only is it improper, it creates a false sense that the president can weigh in on the outcomes of judicial proceedings that implicate him,” the lawyer added.

Ace: SDNY Attorney's Office Press Release: We Got AMI to Admit, In Exchange for Immunity, That They Paid off MacDougal for Her Story With the Specific Intent of Avoiding Disclosures During the Campaign, and In Coordination with Trump At NR, Bradley A Smith Bradley A. Smith, (a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission). Michael Cohen Pled Guilty to Something That Is Not a Crime

Further clinching the case, in writing its implementing regulations for the statute, the Federal Election Commission specifically rejected a proposal that an expense could be considered a campaign expenditure if it were merely “primarily related to the candidate’s campaign.” This was done specifically to prevent candidates from claiming that things that benefitted them personally were done because they would also benefit the campaign. And with that in mind, it is worth noting Mr. Cohen’s sentencing statement, in which he writes that he “felt obligated to assist [Trump], on [Trump’s] instruction, to attempt to prevent Woman-1 and Woman-2 from disseminating narratives that would adversely affect the Campaign and cause personal embarrassment to Client-1 and his family.” (Emphasis in original.)

Certainly Mr. Trump had many valid, non-electoral reasons for trying to keep these allegations quiet, most notably family harmony, protecting family members (especially his young son, Baron), and preserving his future viability as a television personality in case he lost the election. Indeed, it is quite probable that many of those now baying for Trump’s scalp for illegal campaign contributions would be leading a charge to prosecute Trump for illegal “personal use” of campaign funds had he made the payments from his campaign treasury.

Finally, by ignoring these other parts of the statute and its implementing regulations (which carry the force of law), the prosecutors attempt to make the “for the purpose of influencing any election” language a subjective test that would, but for the plea bargain, be decided by a jury. But that is incorrect. The test is intended as an objective test of campaign-related expenditures. Renting campaign office space, printing bumper stickers and yard signs, hiring campaign staff, paying for polling, and buying broadcast ads are all obligations that exist for the purpose of influencing an election. Paying hush money to silence allegations of decade-old affairs is not.

When faced with the vague, sweepingly broad “for the purpose of influencing any election” language, the Supreme Court has consistently restricted its reach to brightly defined rules. For example, in determining whether a public message was an “expenditure” made “for the purpose of influencing any election,” it has construed the later phrase to apply only to messages “expressly advocating” the election or defeat of a candidate, such as “vote for,” “vote against,” “defeat,” “re-elect,” and the like, or to other clearly defined messages that are the “functional equivalent” of that express advocacy.

In short, Michael Cohen is pleading guilty to something that isn’t a crime. Of course, people will do that when a zealous prosecutor is threatening them with decades in prison. But his admissions are not binding on President Trump, and Trump should fight these charges ferociously.

Via Wombat-socho's In The Mailbox: 12.12.18, EBL, Michael Cohen gets three years, but wants to still help out Prosecutors?

MCCARTHY: Ordinarily, if a prosecutor had plans for a big case that was upcoming, the last thing you would do is let a cooperator get sentenced. What you want is the cooperator to testify first at the big trial and then sentence, because the testimony is going to be the most important part of the cooperation. That obviously didn’t happen here. It hasn’t happened, really, with any of Mueller’s cooperators, which leads you to think he doesn’t have anything very big coming down the pike. Cause you wouldn’t let these guys get sentenced first. You’d make them testify first.

But if it sticks, Reveal the Congressional Hush Fund Hypocrites ( also from Wombat-socho's In The Mailbox: 12.12.18)

We also know that none of the beneficiaries of this slush fund has been threatened with indictment and incarceration for campaign finance violations since suppressing such information, as Rep. Nadler puts it, amounts to committing a fraud on the American people using their own money.

How many of Trump's accusers are guilty of the very infraction they accuse him of?  How many defended the practice and fought to keep it secret and escape accountability with the voters? In Trump's case, Professor Alan Dershowitz points out, if he was using his own money to contribute to his own campaign, there is no crime:

Every payment by the Federal Government (and there have been many) made to a staffer or anyone else to hush up is to protect a Congresspersons next election. Let's see them all.

American Greatness: Mueller’s Collusion Hoax Collapses. Time to stress perjury traps and unsubstantiated campaign violations. American Greatness: Crime and Innuendo At 538  What Trump’s Attorney General Pick Could Mean For The Mueller Investigation. Suffice it to say, they're not thrilled.

Barr is sure to face questions about these comments at his confirmation hearings.1 It’s hard to know, though, how he might affect Mueller’s work. Some prominent legal experts have said they think that Barr is unlikely to stymie Mueller — regardless of his personal feelings about the legitimacy of the probe — because of his respect for institutional norms. But he is also known for a broad view of executive power, which may mean he has a limited view of whether a prosecutor can, for example, subpoena the president.

The Flynn Affair: Byron York, WaEx: Memo: FBI recommended Michael Flynn not have lawyer present during interview, did not warn of false statement consequences

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who arranged the bureau's interview with then-national security adviser Michael Flynn at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017 — the interview that ultimately led to Flynn's guilty plea on one count of making false statements — suggested Flynn not have a lawyer present at the session, according to newly-filed court documents. In addition, FBI officials, along with the two agents who interviewed Flynn, decided specifically not to warn him that there would be penalties for making false statements because the agents wanted to ensure that Flynn was "relaxed" during the session.

The new information, drawn from McCabe's account of events plus the FBI agents' writeup of the interview — the so-called 302 report — is contained in a sentencing memo filed Tuesday by Flynn's defense team.

Citing McCabe's account, the sentencing memo says that shortly after noon on Jan. 24 — the fourth day of the new Trump administration — McCabe called Flynn on a secure phone in Flynn's West Wing office. The two men discussed business briefly and then McCabe said that he "felt that we needed to have two of our agents sit down" with Flynn to discuss Flynn's talks with Russian officials during the presidential transition.

McCabe, by his own account, urged Flynn to talk to the agents alone, without a lawyer present. "I explained that I thought the quickest way to get this done was to have a conversation between [Flynn] and the agents only," McCabe wrote. "I further stated that if LTG Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House counsel for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice. [Flynn] stated that this would not be necessary and agreed to meet with the agents without any additional participants."

Within two hours, the agents were in Flynn's office. According to the 302 report quoted in the Flynn sentencing document, the agents said Flynn was "relaxed and jocular" and offered the agents "a little tour" of his part of the White House.

"The agents did not provide Gen. Flynn with a warning of the penalties for making a false statement under 18 U.S.C. 1001 before, during, or after the interview," the Flynn memo says. According to the 302, before the interview, McCabe and other FBI officials "decided the agents would not warn Flynn that it was a crime to lie during an FBI interview because they wanted Flynn to be relaxed, and they were concerned that giving the warnings might adversely affect the rapport."

The agents had, of course, seen transcripts of Flynn's wiretapped conversations with Russian then-ambassador Sergey Kislyak. "Before the interview, FBI officials had also decided that if 'Flynn said he did not remember something they knew he said, they would use the exact words Flynn used ... to try to refresh his recollection. If Flynn still would not confirm what he said ... they would not confront him or talk him through it,'" the Flynn memo says, citing the FBI 302.
. . .
The message of the sentencing memo is clear: Flynn, his lawyers suggest, was surprised, rushed, not warned of the context or seriousness of the questioning, and discouraged from having a lawyer present.

So they already knew what he said; they were just trying to catch him in a contradiction so they could charge him with perjury. Note that McCabe and one of the interviewing agents, Peter Strzok, have been fired from the FBI. Sundance at CTH: Flynn Sentencing Memo Outlines the Set-up Created by Andrew McCabe…. Instapundit with the short quip: IT’S LIKE THE WHOLE THING WAS SOME SORT OF ENTRAPMENT SCHEME. Cronus titan at Althouse: At the Wednesday Café...

I read the pleadings in the Flynn case. The government's sentencing memo paints Flynn as cooperative and helpful but never says what the lie is, just a vague reference to a conversation with the Russian ambassador. The Flynn memo, however, paints a picture of out of control FBI and DoJ. It was an obvious perjury trap (there was nothing to ask since they had wiretapped Flynn), and McCabe (who comes across as a real dirtball) lulled him into a false sense of security by telling Flynn a lawyer was not necessary, decided that Flynn would not be told it was an official interrogation, and the FBI agents would pretend that they were allies of Flynn in counter-terrorism. The conversation was not memorialized until August 2017, 8 months after the interview a 4 months after Mueller's appointment. The government does not contest any of this. Judging from the pleadings, the government is kind of proud they pulled this off. It is hard to imagine more unethical and immoral behavior.

The good news is the judge ordered the government to produce the documents, including any drafts, meaning the judge has concerns too. Here's to hoping the judge orders ahearing to get ot the bottom of these shenanigans

Flynn's treatment should outrage us all. If they can do this to him, they can do it to anybody. If I were the judge I'd toss the conviction. JOM: Three years for Cohen. Is there a pardon in his future?  Now is as good a time as any to introduce you the Dov Fischer's Draft for Trump’s Speech Pardoning All But One of Mueller’s Victims

I have looked carefully at each situation where someone has pleaded guilty or otherwise been convicted of perjury as a result of the Mueller Investigation. In each case, I am persuaded they never would have had this problem had they not been associated with me. This is a very important point, and I want to emphasize it: Mueller sent Americans a message that “If you associate with a certain political candidate whom we do not favor, then we will hunt you down, set up perjury traps, bankrupt you with the need to mortgage your home to pay extraordinarily expensive legal fees to defend yourself from baseless charges, and ultimately we still will lock you up.”

I believe this poses the gravest of threats to our democracy. Today it is those who supported the Trump Presidency who were hounded and trapped into perjury. Another time, it might be volunteers for an unpopular Democrat candidate who get hounded into perjuring themselves and going to prison. This threat to our democracy will scare away many from working for legitimate candidates of major parties, fearing they may be hounded and tricked into lying, and get sent away to prison, if they back the losing candidate or even the winner who gets on the wrong side of intelligence officials who have voted for communists like Gus Hall.

As a result, now that the Mueller Investigation has ended, all evidence has been propounded, discovered and produced for review. So now that all the fact-finding is done, I hereby announce, pursuant to the authority extended to me by our Founding Fathers in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution — [that the President] “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States”— that I hereby grant a complete and absolute pardon to each and every person who entered any plea of guilty for telling the Mueller Team anything short of what their truth was. You all are pardoned. You should not have lied, but you never would have been put into the perjury trap in the first place if not for your political association with me. Therefore, because all your convictions are fruit of the Special Prosecutor’s poisonous tree, you all are pardoned.
. . .
That leaves only one criminal unaddressed, Mr. Michael “Cash Cab” Cohen, formerly one of my many attorneys but the only one who secretly recorded me and who-knows-how-many-other of his clients. I do not know much about the taxi medallion business. I wish him well.

NYT, if you can read it: Would Indicting Trump Be Constitutional? "Yes, it would be. But that question is a distraction from the principal objective of the Russia investigation."  WaEx: Mark Levin: Rule barring indicting presidents can't be defied. Guess who gets the ultimate word on the rule... Washington Free Beacon: Trump: ‘The People Would Revolt’ If I Was Impeached. In the eyes of the Washington elite, the Trump people have always been revolting. Ba dump. The almost always sensible Megan McCardle, now at WaPo Who’s most at risk from the Russia investigation? It just might be the Democrats.

Fox: Prosecutors want 2-year prison term for ex-Senate Intel staffer James Wolfe in leak case. WaT: Senators seek leniency for James Wolfe, ex-staffer who leaked, lied to FBI. Can you guess who? Da Caller headline gives it away: Clapper, Feinstein Ask For Leniency For Senate Staffer Implicated In Leaking Probe

Former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper wrote a letter asking for leniency for the Senate Intelligence Committee’s former security director who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contact with a reporter.

James Wolfe “lied to FBI agents in a December 2017 interview in connection with the FBI’s probe of leaks of information regarding the activities of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to various reporters,” his lawyer wrote. “It is a decision, along with his breaking his marital vows and violating his former employer’s rules regarding contacts with the media, that he deeply regrets.”

Clapper submitted a handwritten letter to the judge supporting Wolfe, saying “knowing Jim as I do, I know this whole experience — and its exposure in the media — has been very traumatic for him already. I would hope the court would consider his long and faithful service, as well as what he has endured so far — in sentencing and would recommend minimal confinement.”

Republican intelligence committee chairman Richard Burr and with Democratic ranking member Dianne Feinstein also wrote to “seek leniency in the sentencing of Mr. James Wolfe … we do not seek to diminish the seriousness of the allegations against Jim, nor diminish the significance of misleading federal agents … but we ask that the totality of his service and career be taken into consideration.”

Wolfe, as you might recall clearly leaked a Senate copy of the FISA warrant against Carter Page to his favorite reporter/floozy NYT's Ali Watkins. And the Feds only charged him with a little lie about it. Funny how they never revealed any of the parts that the Republicans want unclassified.

Jeff Carlson, Epoch Times: Comey’s Testimony: Truth or Lies? All the best lies have enough truth around them to conceal them. Sudden onset Alzheimer's,  GOP rep on Comey: 'I never recall him not being able to answer a question'.

"He has, I think, almost a photographic memory. He has a great capacity for detail," King said on Fox News. "So it’s hard for me to believe that all those questions, he was unable to answer, didn't recall, didn’t remember, so again, I don’t want to be judging his motives, but I’m very, very skeptical of that.

"I was not in the room, but I’m skeptical that a person of his ability and his legal ability was unable to remember the answers to all those questions," he added.