Russiagate in Absentia

Gone fishing (again), but I found these sitting in the digital cooler before I left.

Is any one shocked that James Comey and Wife Donated Nearly $20K to Democrats This Year (WaFreeBee)? They might want save that for the defense fund.

Another shock, Democratic FEC Chief Supported Russia-NRA Campaign Finance Probe Based Solely On ‘Vague’ News Article from Chuck Ross at Da Caller.

The chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission said Friday she supported investigating possible Russian funding for the National Rifle Association based solely on an anonymously-sourced McClatchy article.

McClatchy published the article January 18, 2018. Reporters Greg Gordon and Peter Stone reported the FBI was investigating whether Alexander Torshin, the former deputy governor of Russia’s central bank, had funneled millions of dollars to the NRA in order to help the Trump campaign.

Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson made a similar allegation in a December 2016 meeting with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, according to FBI documents released earlier this month.

 From sundance at CTH, Maria Bartiromo Outlines The Architect of “Spygate” and “Crossfire Hurricane”, CIA Director John Brennan…

Former CIA Director John Brennan lies at the heart of the intelligence community decision to weaponize against Donald Trump. In this outline I will provide supporting evidence for Bartiromo’s assertion, which I suspect has already led to a criminal referral to U.S. Attorney John Durham by HPSCI Ranking Member Devin Nunes. . . .

Gateway,  HUGE!… MUELLER TEAM LIED! Attorney for Joseph Mifsud Confirms He is Western Intelligence Operative — And NOT a Russian Operative Quoting John Solomon above:

Well, I interviewed Mr. Mifsud’s lawyer the other day, Stefan Rowe, and he told me and also provided me some deposition evidence to both Congress and myself that his client was being directed and long worked with Western intelligence. And he was being directed specifically, he was asked to connect George Papadopoulos to Russia, meaning it was an operation, some form of intelligence operation. That was the lawyer’s own words for this. If that’s the case that means the flash point the started the whole investigation was in fact manufactured from the beginning.

Russiagate: Rosenstein in Relief

The WaPoo has another long article about Rod Rosenstein, and the Mueller investigation, which is pretty favoerable to Rod, ‘I can land the plane’: How Rosenstein tried to mollify Trump, protect Mueller and save his job

Rod J. Rosenstein, again, was in danger of losing his job. The New York Times had just reported that — in the heated days after James B. Comey was fired as FBI director — the deputy attorney general had suggested wearing a wire to surreptitiously record President Trump. Now Trump, traveling in New York, was on the phone, eager for an explanation.

Rosenstein — who, by one account, had gotten teary-eyed just before the call in a meeting with Trump’s chief of staff — sought to defuse the volatile situation and assure the president he was on his team, according to people familiar with matter. He criticized the Times report, published in late September, and blamed it on former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, whose recollections formed its basis. Then he talked about special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and told the president he would make sure Trump was treated fairly, people familiar with the conversation said.

“I give the investigation credibility,” Rosenstein said, according to an administration official with knowledge of what was said during the call. “I can land the plane.”

And he did. It wasn't a pretty landing, and pieces fell off the plane all the way down, and they still haven't cleaned up the mess and figured out what went wrong, but he did land it. The jury is still out on Rod in my mind. Not in this one, Jay Lafimer at AmThink, Did Mueller jump or was he pushed?

Mueller and his team of rabid anti-Trumpers had every incentive to keep going indefinitely.  The very existence of the Mueller investigation cast a cloud over the Trump presidency.  Like every other effort from the #NeverTrump Swamp, they were seeking to hamstring Trump at every turn.  Having an ongoing investigation was a valuable weapon in the anti-Trump arsenal.  Why give it up?

The idea that Mueller somehow ran out of things to investigate doesn't hold water.  Mueller and his team knew over a year ago (if not on day one) that there was no Trump/Russia connection.  Mueller could have continued to chum the water by looking into Trump's finances or picked a few other minor players on the Trump team to harass and torture with nighttime SWAT team raids and long stints in solitary confinement.  They spent the last year doing just that.

And crucially, keeping the Mueller Investigation open gave the Swamp denizens in the FBI and CIA a legal rationale to deny access to documents that would uncover their spying on the Trump campaign.  As long as Mueller was working, all those pesky requests from congressional investigators like Devin Nunes could be stonewalled.  The Mueller investigation was the best defense that Swampgate had.
. . .
No, there was some other reason.  My guess is the Horowitz Report.  This may be wishful thinking, but there are whispers that the Horowitz Report will be a very damning document, finally revealing the details of Swampgate — how the Obama administration weaponized the FBI, the CIA, and other intelligence agencies to spy on the Trump campaign and undermine the Trump Presidency with a made-up Russia narrative.

If so, the Horowitz Report would destroy Mueller's credibility and that of the Russia investigation once and for all.  And knowing it was about to drop would give Mueller every incentive to finish up his own report and get it out fast before the proverbial s--- hit the fan.  Realizing his time is now limited, Mueller raced to publish his report now, while still unsullied by other charges.

Byron York, WaEx, When did Mueller know there was no collusion? At some point, the Mueller investigation seems to have morphed into an attempt to goad Trump into an overt act of obstruction. And Rosenstein was, at least nominally, his boss. Sundance at CTH, Rosenstein, Wray, NYT and WaPo Remind Everyone Devastating Impact of 2016 Russian Interference… Sundance has a list of potential avenues for investigation. Democrats would not be thrilled.

♦ Release the August 2nd, 2017, two-page scope memo provided by DAG Rod Rosenstein to special counsel Robert Mueller to advance the fraudulent Trump investigation, and initiate the more purposeful obstruction of justice investigation. Also Release the October 20th, 2017, second scope memo recently discovered. The Scope Memos are keys to unlocking the underlying spy/surveillance cover-up. [SEE HERE and SEE HERE]

Via The Stream,  BREAKING NEWS: FISA Court Says FBI Lied to Them, Illegally Spied. I hope this is for real. I've been wondering if we'd ever hear from the FISA court about their being gas lighted by the FBI/DOJ.

According to diGenova, and here is the tremendous breaking news: The FISA court has been looking into abuses of the FISA system and has communicated with the Justice Department about its findings. Their chief judge has already determined that for more than four years before the election of Donald Trump, there was an illegal spying operation (yes, spying — and, yes, illegal) going on by four FBI contractors to break the law to steal personal electronic information about American citizens and to use it against the Republican Party.

It might be good to go back and read that last sentence again, slowly, and let it sink in.

Curt at Flopping Aces has assembled Russian ‘Collusion’s’ Greatest Hits, which among other things highlights Rods conflicts:

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein replaced Attorney General Jeff Sessions on all oversight of matters relating to “Russian collusion” on the theory that, unlike Sessions, the Obama-era Justice Department official was nonpartisan, not conflicted, and thus could decide whether to appoint a special counsel, and, if so, whom.

Yet Rosenstein himself had himself signed one of the FISA warrant extensions that continued surveillance of former Trump campaign Carter Page, a fact of some importance to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s subsequent investigation. Rosenstein, in fact, appointed Mueller, who was a longtime associate who had worked with him on prior investigations. Rosenstein had also drafted the memo justifying Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, which directly led to Mueller’s appointment.

Rosenstein would then meet with Comey’s replacement, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, allegedly, to discuss the possibility of removing the elected President Trump on grounds under the 25th Amendment that he was mentally unfit. Rosenstein’s angst, apparently, arose because Trump had taken Rosenstein’s own advice to fire Comey, which had in turn prompted McCabe to launch new investigations, which Rosenstein, again apparently, then sort of joined—in theory then to investigate in circular fashion himself?

Grouchy Old Cripple, Ronsday – Collusion Delusion At least I think he's talking about Rosenstein: "Please Ron don’t give them any good advice. We don’t want them to come to their senses. We want the American people to see just how wacko the Dims are." Power Line, Who Was Colluding With Whom?

Insty, DO TELL: Michael Isikoff: Media Should Have Had ‘More Skepticism’ About Steele Dossier.

“We knew that Steele compiled it, but that Steele did not hear these allegations himself. Somebody else heard them from others and then passed them along. That’s third-hand stuff, which is not usually the kind you want for publishing.” Unless you’re desperate to run anything negative about Trump. This is the picture of reckless disregard.

In this morning's WaPoo, "head" fact check Glenn Kessler writes what he purports to be  What the Steele dossier said vs. what the Mueller report said

Defenders of the dossier say its overall message — that Russia wanted to help Trump win the election, in part to sow discord in the United States — has been validated by the Mueller report. Detractors say many of the details have been proved false or remain unverified.

In other words, "fake but accurate" is close enough. WaPoo also reports YouTube recommended a Russian media site thousands of times for analysis of Mueller’s report, a watchdog group says.

Sundance at CTH, Vice-President Mike Pence: “This is an outrage” On Claims of FBI Considering Seeding Spies to His Staff… But don't you dare call it spying. Fox, Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing: J'accuse: Donald Trump is Alfred Dreyfus. "It took Dreyfus 12 years to get exoneration and an apology from the French government. How long will it take Donald Trump?"

Understand the objection to Trump saying "enemy of the people." But why is it then OK to blithely call someone a "collaborator." Seems similarly loaded. https://t.co/HsV1MLOTMM

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) April 26, 2019

PJ Media, Former Obama Advisor: Investigating Origins of Russia Probe 'Waste of Time,' 'They Will Find Nothing' But think of all the fun we can have probing you for a couple of years!

Da Caller, Brennan Says He’s ‘Absolutely’ Willing To Testify To Congress To Rebut Trump’s ‘Coup’ Claims  RCP, John Brennan: Trump's Accusations About Attempted CIA Coup Are "Sociopathic Ramblings" and Flopping Aces' Dr. John, John Brennan “absolutely willing” to lie about his coup attempt to depose Trump. Why not; he's done it before and got away with it. Dr. John also compares James Comey with Lori Loughlin. At least Lori's ignorance of the law is plausible. And she's still kind cute, that's worth something.

Always an asshole, but when he's right, he's right, Bill Maher Accuses Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of ‘Stalking’ Trump, and Stacy McCain utters Three Scary Words, “President Eric Swalwell”

Maria Butina

WaPoo, Maria Butina, Russian who conspired to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups, sentenced to 18 months. With credit for time already served, and immediate deportation upon release. It's interesting that it took Mueller to start to enforce FARA:

Butina, 30, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring with a senior Russian official to access the National Rifle Association and other groups without registering with the U.S. Justice Department from 2015 until she was arrested and detained in July.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the District of Columbia credited Butina with the more than nine months she already has served in jail and granted a request to expedite her deportation after she completes her sentence.

Butina’s networking efforts, facilitation of a visit to Russia by NRA leaders and other actions “were all used to establish back channel lines of communication to advance Russian interests. The conduct was sophisticated and penetrated deep into political organizations,” Chutkan said.

While possibly legal otherwise, it was because Butina failed to register with the U.S. attorney general that her actions “were so dangerous and constituted a threat to our democracy,” by denying U.S. authorities and targeted groups the opportunity to respond “at a time when the Russian government was working to interfere in and affect the American electoral process,” the judge said.
. . .
Butina admitted to working as an undeclared agent of a foreign government, but she did not admit to and was not charged with espionage.

Yeah, maybe, but I think it was an attempt to smear the NRA, and show that the Mueller team really cared about Russia and not just getting Trump. It's sad that we're resorting to show trials.

A Massive Trove of Russiagate Gold

So much here it's hard to know where to start, but let's go with reactions to the New York Times story which alleged the FBI opened a counter intelligence probe of the President for firing James Comey. Red State: Why Did The FBI Launch An Unapproved Investigation Of President Trump?. The article blames McCabe protecting his job, but I would push it back on Obama. Moon of Alabama: The Trump-Russia Scam - How Obama Enabled The FBI To Spy On Trump. Daniel Chaitin at WaEx, Devin Nunes: Counterintelligence bombshell shows FBI leaders 'had no real evidence against the Trump team'

"This is yet more evidence that FBI leaders actually had no real evidence against the Trump team," Nunes said in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner's Byron York. "Instead, they were simply trying to undermine a president they didn't like and avenge Comey's firing. By relying on the Steele dossier — a fraudulent document funded by Democrats and based on Russia sources — FBI leaders were either complicit or too oblivious to notice they were being used in a disinformation operation by the Democratic Party and Russian operatives."

Fox, Newt Gingrich: Reported FBI probe of Trump was led by anti-Trump fanatics who betrayed Constitution

The extraordinary story published Friday night in The New York Times headlined “F.B.I. Opened Inquiry into Whether Trump was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia” tells us how deeply sick the Washington establishment has become.

A group of bureaucrats – elected by no one – sat in a room and decided they would investigate the new president of the United States for possible treason. Let me repeat: treason. This is, after all, the implication of this investigation.

This group of bureaucrats reports to no one in elected authority. In a Justice Department where employees gave 97 percent of their presidential campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton, the hostility toward – and fear of – newly elected President Trump was deep.

The senior members of the Justice Department (all promoted under the Obama administration) were clearly prepared to go all-out to repudiate the verdict of the American people in the 2016 election. . . .

Daniel Greenfield at Front Page: NY Times: Counterintelligence Investigation Was Payback for Trump Firing Comey.  Ace: FBI's Pretext for Opening an Investigation Into Trump? The Theory (Quite Possibly Championed by James Comey) That Putin Called Trump to Tell Him "Fire That Son-of-a-Bitch Patriot and Righteous Beacon James Comey!!!"

Hey -- you don't know for certain that it didn't happen that way until you investigate, riiiiight?

Can't wait to hear about the results for the similar investigation into Obama for saying on a hot mic that he would deal more generously with Russia after the election, when he had "more flexibility."

Wrong, because the counterintelligence investigated long before Trump won the election. It started with Brennan trying to sabotage Trump during the campaign. However, it intensified and turned into the Mueller probe after Trump fired Comey. Flopping Aces' Dr John Comey’s FBI became the Stasi and staged a coup against Trump. The FBI is inherently one or two steps away from becoming Stasi. They need a brushback pitch every few years to keep them in their lane. Now is the time. At Breitbart, Joel Pollak: Time to Scrap the FBI and Start Over. Maybe. It could be a little harsh, there are a lot of good people at the FBI, but scrap the name and the upper levels.

CNN: Transcripts detail how FBI debated whether Trump was 'following directions' of Russia

Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who was dismissed from Mueller's team and later fired over anti-Trump text messages, texted Page in the hours after Comey's firing and said: "We need to open the case we've been waiting on now while Andy is acting," a reference to then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

So, yes, it was in the wings before Trump fired Comey.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air: Trump: “I Never Worked For Russia,” And The Question Is A “Disgrace”, settling the question once and for all, right?

As is often the case, Trump crystallizes it all with a tweet: "They got caught spying on my campaign and then called it an investigation" is a great line. Powerline: Are you sure Alger done it this way?

Roger Kimball: Watergate by Any Other Name

Familiarity, it is said, breeds contempt. It also breeds indifference. For almost three years now, the intelligence services and police apparatus of the deep state have worked tirelessly to undermine Donald Trump. Beginning sometime in the late winter of 2016, when Trump’s presidential campaign was showing unexpected signs of strength, John Brennan—the Communist-voting apparatchik turned media mouthpiece whom it pleased Barack Obama to appoint as director of the CIA—began ringing alarm bells about Trump’s possible relations with the Kremlin. His concern was based on two things. One was a report, spurious as it turned out, about “contacts between Russian officials and U.S. persons that raised concerns in my mind about whether or not those individuals were cooperating with the Russians.” The other was that brittle sense of entitlement, fired by paranoia, that membership in the higher echelons of the deep state’s nomenklatura breeds. . . .

Well, now we have the pushback to pushback. Apparently, a memo went out from Bezos' WaPoo to quick, write some more article about how bad Trump is and that collusion is real, or at least could be. Sorry if you can't read them, but I couldn't possibly quote them all, and wouldn't want to.Never Trumper Max Boot: Here are 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset. 19; he forgot the Russian dressing. Annie Applesauce, The Trump-Putin revelations tell us what we knew all along. That we hates Trump. Jennifer Rubin, It’s undeniable: Trump and the Russians are locked at the hip, in your mind. Asha Rangappa? The FBI can’t neutralize a security threat if the president is the threat. Greg Sargent, Trump talked up Russia during now-revealed secret Moscow project talks and Trump is doing immense damage. He has a hidden helper. Paul Waldman, Why the Russia scandal will define the next two years of Trump’s presidency. More Rubin: No president has ever been asked: Are you a Russian agent?. The editorial bored, Trump’s denials about his business ties in Russia are not credible. Whew! All those bonuses are going to tax the dwindling Bezos fortune!

Not to be out done Carl Bernstein tells CNN that the Draft of Mueller's final report says Trump helped Putin 'destabilize' the US (Daniel Chaitin, WaEx). Comey buddy Benjamin Wittes: at the Atlantic. The Chain Reaction That Began When Trump Fired James Comey Is Speeding Up. Tom Nichols at USA Today, All signs point the same way: Vladimir Putin has compromising information on Donald Trump.

C. Mitchell Shaw: Whistleblower, New American, Obama-era Deep State Surveillance Program Spied on Trump, Judges, Others implicates Mueller in the spying prior to the 2016 election.

As part of what President Trump has repeatedly called a “witch hunt,” the Obama administration collected confidential data on Trump and others, according to freedom activist lawyer Larry Klayman, who is also the founder of both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch.

Klayman’s claim is not new. In fact, it is not even really his claim. It comes from his client, former NSA and CIA contractor Dennis Montgomery, who “left the NSA and CIA with 47 hard drives and over 600 million pages of information, much of which is classified,” showing “the spy agencies were engaged for years in systematic illegal surveillance on prominent Americans, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, other justices, 156 judges, prominent businessmen such as Donald Trump” and Larry Klayman himself, according to a an op-ed piece written by Klayman in March 2017. The purpose of that illegal Deep State surveillance — Klayman surmises — is “for potential coercion, blackmail or other nefarious purposes.” . . .

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.14.19, the Victory Girls: Lisa Page & The FBI – The Gift That Keeps On Giving

During her testimony, Page said her role was to “bridge the gap and transition between what we as a team knew and the evidence that we had gathered to date on the collusion investigation and sort of imparting that knowledge to the new special counsel team.”

Read that carefully. She was to help in the “sort of imparting” of knowledge to the new special counsel team. While you might be inclined to say she simply misspoke and didn’t mean they weren’t being completely honest with the new team or not giving over all the evidence they had gathered, remember this: she was the FBI’s assistant general counsel. She has been trained to consider her words carefully before speaking. Was this her being unclear or was it a slip of the tongue?

Page reiterated the talking point we’ve heard so many times, claiming there was and is no bias against Trump. However, she did admit the FBI put more emphasis on the Trump investigation than it did into looking at HRC.

It's clear now that the Mueller investigation is the "official" child of the illegal ops run by the intelligence agencies against Trump and the campaign. Page and Strzok were there to provide the continuity. Noah Feldman at Bloomberg: Rosenstein Bent the Rules to Protect Mueller — and It Worked - The deputy attorney general should have recused himself at least twice, but didn’t, and stood up to Trump in the process. and he says that like it's a good thing.

Insty: MICHAEL WALSH: FOR REAL ‘RUSSIAN COLLUSION,’ LOOK TO THE DEMOCRATS. - Dalton Trumbo, Paul Robeson, I.F. Stone, and Ted Kennedy could not be reached for comment.

UPDATE: “All right, I’m getting into this late because I thought it was a joke. Do Dems believe Trump was born in Russia and sent here or did they flip him here as a teen in military school or did he flip himself at age 70 because the Communist light bulb went off?” — Dennis Miller.

At Da Hill, Dems zero in on Trump and Russia and WSJ, Democrats Promise Probe of Trump Meetings With Putin. Never-Trumper David Frum, Subpoena the Interpreter It's not like he promised more flexibility with them after his re-election or anything. Matthew Walter: The 5 most likely Trump impeachment scenarios. The Show Trial must go on! CNN: Cruz: People outside DC are not concerned with Russia investigation. Well, some of us are, apparently.

"There is an incredible divide between Washington and the rest of the country when it comes to Bob Mueller and the Russia investigation," Cruz said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "The mainstream media, Washington, is obsessed with it. And when you get outside the Beltway, I don't find anybody concerned with this at all."

Hot Air reads NYT because you cannot:  Trump Says He Alone Can Do It. His AG Nominee Usually Agrees.

Mr. Barr’s argument derived from his broad view of executive power: The Constitution, he claimed, does not permit Congress to make it a crime for the president to exercise his executive powers corruptly — even if he were to fire a subordinate, pardon someone or use what Mr. Barr termed his “complete authority to start or stop a law enforcement proceeding” to cover up crimes by himself or his associates.

The claim that the framers of the Constitution empowered presidents to impede investigations for corrupt ends goes too far, many legal scholars say. But Supreme Court precedents offer few definitive guideposts, giving the attorney general broad latitude.

Edd Morrissey at Hot Air: Barr: “Vitally Important” To Let Mueller Finish His Investigation. Yes, sadly if you end it prematurely, democrats will whine forever. But Allahpundit: I Support William Barr For Attorney General, Says … Joe Biden. Us old white guys need to stick together. I stand by my prediction of zero Democrat votes, just on the asshole principle.

CNN, Trump's legal team rebuffed request for Mueller interview in recent weeks. Why would anyone in their right mind talk to Mueller's crew voluntarily after he's shown time and time again, if you don't say what he wants, they hang a perjury charge on you? A little off the main line but Margot Cleveland at Da Federalist points out Missing Key Documents About Alleged Misconduct By Robert Mueller’s Lead Prosecutor. Just a lucky coincidence?

Rosenstein planning a parting gift to Trump or just bureaucrats empowering fellow bureaucrats?  John Solomon at Da Hill Rosenstein, DOJ exploring ways to more easily spy on journalists

For months now, the Department of Justice (DOJ) quietly has been working on a revision to its guidelines governing how, when and why prosecutors can obtain the records of journalists, particularly in leak cases.

The work has been supervised by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s office, especially since former Attorney General Jeff Sessions departed, but is not wrapped up.

The effort has the potential to touch off a First Amendment debate with a press corps that already has high degrees of distrust of and disfunction with the Trump administration.

Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker is aware of the effort but has not been given a final recommendation. Sources close to Whitaker say he will await final judgment but, in recent days, has developed reservations about proceeding with the plan.

“After a lengthy period of turmoil and regular criticism from President Trump, DOJ has enjoyed a period of calm normalcy that has put employees’ focus back on their work and not the next tweet. Matt doesn’t want to disrupt that unless a strong legal case can be made,” a source close to the acting AG told me.

Betsy Woodruff at Da Beast: Kremlin Blessed Russia’s NRA Operation, U.S. Intel Report Says. But sadly, U.S. Intel has a long history of being political, and wrong. Sometimes both simultaneously, leaving room for doubt which the Kremlin can exploit. Althouse: "'Well, well, well,' went the general line in the Russian media, 'look what we have here.'"

I guess that's a pretty rough translation, printed in "Fake News as ‘Moral Imperative’? Democrats’ Alabama Move Hints at Ugly 2020" by Jim Rutenberg in the NYT. The Russian media, we're told, "were downright gleeful over new reports that a group of Democrats had used online disinformation in the campaign against Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama in 2017."

Their reaction was understandable, given the news that American political operatives had tried the same kind of troll operations that United States intelligence officials believe the Russian government used in an attempt to swing the 2016 presidential election to Donald J. Trump.
The Russian news outlet Sputnik jumped on the news, saying last week that the Alabama operation “seems to cast Democrats’ Russiagate accusations into further doubt.”

From the Atlantic  Imagine the Stormy Daniels Scandal in Any Other Presidency - It’s mind-boggling to think what would have happened had Barack Obama or George W. Bush paid off a porn actress to cover up an alleged affair.. Why not reach back a little further to Bill Clinton, LBJ or JFK? We know what happened, the media actively colluded to cover it up.

Whew, I was beginning to think I'd never get through it.

Russiagate Today

So what's new? The Russians arrested an American ex-marine, Paul Whelan, who was visiting Russia for a friend's wedding, on charges of espionage. Reasonable people, and people at CNN have suggested that this is Putin's payback for the arrest and detention of Maria Butina for acting as a Russian agent (lobbyist). NPR: U.S. Ambassador Visits American Who Was Arrested In Russia On Suspicion Of Spying. Fox: As US ambassador meets with American accused of Moscow spying, specifics on his arrest are sought . Vox: Russia detained an American for espionage. Here’s what we know.

Whelan’s detainment comes about two weeks after 30-year-old Russian national Maria Butina, who was arrested on charges of conspiracy and acting as an agent of a foreign government in July 2018, admitted to participating in a campaign backed by Russian officials to secretly influence US politics, including trying to sway the Republican Party to be more receptive to Russia. Some experts have speculated that Whelan’s arrest may be an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to retaliate.

Whelan could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted for spying. But the details of his arrest, and Russia’s motivations or justification for detaining him, are still unclear. Here’s what we know so far.

The Peacock, Former CIA officers doubt American arrested in Russia was a spy. And we know former CIA officers never lie.

Is this a brush back pitch by Putin? It seems likely to me. The arrest and prosecution of Butina always seemed like a stretch; accused of lobbying, not American politicians particularly, but American lobbyists (the NRA). It would be easy for the Kremlin to find some American who, by talking to some official, could be could be accused of a similar "crime". In my somewhat libertarian world, there would be no restrictions on lobbying on first amendment grounds, even by legally admitted foreign nationals. Talk is cheap and should be.

One amusing thing that came out of Whelan's arrest was how CNN Asks Brother Of Detained American About His Anti-CNN Posts On Social Media:

Camerota asked Whelan about posts his brother made on a Russian social media platform, where he called CNN “fake news.”

“There are some strange elements of your brother’s story,” Camerota said, describing a social media post where Paul Whelan was drinking coffee and watching CNN with the caption, “Just drinking coffee and watching fake news.”

Camerota continued, “Now, I’m not taking this personally that he’s pictured with CNN, but I just am wondering is this a statement on his part somehow?”

A bewildered David Whelan responded that he does not care about his brother’s social media and he just wants his brother home safe. “I don’t know what’s on his page,” Whelan said, “I don’t follow him on social media other than Twitter, which is where I am. I don’t know what he was intending by those photos.”

Thought crime. Speaking of fake news, Glenn Greenwald at the Intercept reminds us Five Weeks After The Guardian’s Viral Blockbuster Assange-Manafort Scoop, No Evidence Has Emerged — Just Stonewalling

The U.S media has become very adept at outrage rituals whenever they are denounced as “fake news.” They should spend some time trying to become as skilled in figuring out why such attacks resonate for so many.

Lee Smith at Da Federalist: New Documents Suggest The Steele Dossier Was A Deliberate Setup For Trump. I think that's understating it.

For a man expecting himself to be indicted, he seems to be handling it very well. From Page 6, Roger Stone finds time for best- and worst-dressed list amid scandal

Stone — known as much for his Richard Nixon tattoo as his expensive bespoke suits — took over for the dearly departed, acid-penned Richard Blackwell 13 years ago. Mr. Blackwell, as he was known, a fashion designer and critic, was famous for such annual lists.

Stone’s list on the conservative Daily Caller website gives “best” marks to Melania Trump, “the most chic and well-dressed first lady since Jackie Kennedy,” Kit Harington, David Beckham, Jeanine Pirro, Kaia Gerber, Van Jones, Dr. Keith Ablow, Steve Carell and Harry Styles.

But Stone seems more inspired as he excoriates the worst dressed.

On Lena Dunham: “The homeless bag lady you avoid on the streets of NYC has a better eye for style.”

Steve Bannon: “How many ways can you say slovenly? Bannon looks like he chases down hobos for their clothes.”

Mark Zuckerberg: “How can a guy this rich look this bad? He clearly spends all his time figuring out how to censor non-liberals on Facebook and no time thinking about his fashion choices. The hoodies and T-shirts are from hunger.”

Beto O’Rourke: “America’s progressive boy wonder . . . Dweeby, washed-out and always swimming in whatever he lands on.”

Michael Cohen: “The [former] Trump Organization lawyer dresses like the outer-[borough] gangster he talks like. The good news: He won’t need civilian clothes after pleading guilty to multiple counts.”

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 Ramblin' On

Roger Stone and Kristin Davis

Politico thinks that once the midterms are done, Mueller's going to come out guns blazing against Roger Stone: Week 76: Is Mueller About to Roll Out the Barrels?

The only safe bet to make for the post-quiet period would be Mueller’s indictment of Roger Stone, something Stone himself has been predicting since at least August. He has claimed that he was probably the unnamed Donald Trump associate who was described in an earlier Mueller indictment as communicating with Russian hacker “Guccifer 2.0.” Stone, who once famously predicted on Twitter on August 21, 2016, that “it will soon be Podesta’s time in the barrel,” has denied any wrongdoing.

This week, Stone’s long-running denial that he had ever discussed WikiLeaks with Trump campaign officials unraveled as the New York Times reported on an email exchange between Stone and Steve Bannon in which Stone “presented himself to Trump campaign officials ... as a conduit of inside information from WikiLeaks, Russia’s chosen repository for documents hacked from Democratic computers.”

Stone took petulant umbrage in the pages of the Daily Caller, denying any advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans. “What I am guilty of is using publicly available information and a solid tip to bluff, posture, hype and punk Democrats on Twitter. This is called ‘politics.’ It’s not illegal,” Stone wrote.

Good luck, Roger, but it looks like it will soon be your time in the barrel.

Roger Stone represented himself as something he might not have been? Federal offense! Show me the proof.  I still say, as a private citizen, Stone had the right to talk to anyone about anything. He was not part of the Trump campaign. If he'd called himself a journalist instead of political operative, he would be totally in the clear.

Maria Butina, superspy

At Da Beast, Betsy Woodruff reports how Senate Intelligence Wants Documents on NRA’s Russia Trip

The Senate intelligence committee has asked the National Rifle Association to provide documents on its connections to Russia—including documents related to a 2015 trip some of its top leaders made to Moscow. That’s according to two sources briefed on the committee’s activities.

The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spokespersons for Sen. Richard Burr, the intelligence committee chair, and Sen. Mark Warner, the panel’s ranking member, declined to comment on the record.

The NRA’s Russia connections have drawn growing public scrutiny after a key figure in Russian outreach to the powerful gun lobby, Maria Butina, was indicted in July on charges of being an undeclared Russian operative connected to the country’s intelligence apparatus. Butina sought to use guns as a lever to tilt the Republican Party in a pro-Kremlin direction, creating a political firestorm for the NRA in the wake of her arrest. The intelligence committee’s document request is just one part of the aftermath.

Butina, whose Russian political patron Alexander Torshin is a senior figure in the country’s powerful central bank, ran a Russian gun-rights organization called the Right to Bear Arms. In December 2015, the group sponsored an NRA delegation to come to Moscow for a week. NRA dignitaries also met with another influential Russian, the former deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin. Torshin subsequently came under U.S. sanctions; Rogozin had been under sanctions since 2014.

Former NRA President David Keene and soon-to-be president Peter Brownell were both on the trip. Accompanying them were Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, NRA donors Jim Gregory and Arnold and Hilary Goldschlager, and Jim Liberatore, the president and CEO of the Outdoor Channel.

Other than Butina not registering as a lobbyist, a crime so common that actually enforcing it would nearly clear the streets of downtown DC, I don't see any crimes here, certainly not on the part of the NRA.

From Dan Bongino, The George Papadopoulos Interview You’ve Been Waiting For



If you have the time, you should really listen to this. It's pretty clear Papadop was set up six ways to Sunday, and barely avoided going to jail on a financial crime that Halper, Mifsud, and Downer set him up for, by giving him cash abroad just in excess of the amount that would trigger a crime if he brought it home with him. I'd really like to find out who provided the cash, because at least Halper and Mifsud aren't giving away their own money.

This week the Wombat has returned, along with "Late NIght With Rule 5 Sunday: Nurse! Nurse!" (gic) and FMJRA 2.0: Back In The Saddle.

Russiagate Today

An odd mix; I guess the weekend had lots of hanging chads or something

According to the AP Manafort trial to focus on lavish lifestyle, not collusion. As Instapundit notes: The Mountain has Labored and Brought Forth a Mouse . . .  Hmm. Is the Dowager Empress of Chappaqua living a “lavish lifestyle?”

Jurors are expected to see photographs of his Mercedes-Benz and of his Hampton property putting green and swimming pool. There’s likely to be testimony, too, about tailored Beverly Hills clothing, high-end antiques, rugs and art and New York Yankees seasons tickets.

The luxurious lifestyle was funded by Manafort’s political consulting for the pro-Russian Ukrainian political party of Viktor Yanukovych, who was deposed as Ukraine’s president in 2014.

Lawyers have tangled over how much jurors will hear of his overseas political work, particularly about his ties to Russia and other wealthy political figures.

At a recent hearing, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who will preside over the trial, warned prosecutors to restrain themselves, noting the current “antipathy” toward Russia and how “most people in this country don’t distinguish between Ukrainians and Russians.” He said he would not tolerate any pictures of Manafort and others “at a cocktail party with scantily clad women,” if they exist.

Prosecutor Greg Andres reassured the judge that “there will be no pictures of scantily clad women, period,” nor photographs of Russian flags.

“I don’t anticipate that a government witness will utter the word ‘Russia,’” Andres said.

So now it's illegal to live life better than a government drone? Well, that may well work with a D.C. or NOVA jury. Damn, I wanted to see those scantily clad women, too.

Old Prosecutors Speaking Frankly by Clarice Feldman at the American Thinker:

About once a year the Society of Old Prosecutors meets in a private libation spot the name of which I am honor bound not to disclose. We met to discuss the week’s events and, as long as I don’t name the participants, I was given permission to share some of the talk. (Given the mad-dog operations of the Special Counsel some feared that to publicly state their views they’d be subject to midnight FBI raids with their nightgown-garbed wives rousted from bed and felt up by armed agents, or all their assets seized and their private correspondence unrelated to anything handed over to Democratic spinners like Lanny Davis to be megaphoned on CNN.)

Lawyer 1: The President is denying his former lawyer Cohen’s claim that he approved the meeting in Trump Tower. Funny that meeting, isn’t it? I mean, why did Loretta Lynch allow Natasha Veselnitskaya to have a special visa to enter the country and why did Natasha choose as her translator Anatoli Samochornov, who for over a decade was a U.S. State Department Translator?’ I’ve handled far weaker entrapment cases.

Lawyer 2: Funnier yet, the meeting was ostensibly to discuss Russian orphan adoption issues. But even if it had been to hear the dirt Russia had on Hillary, when and why and how would it be unusual or illegal for a campaign to want to hear dirt on a competitor? I mean, get real -- Hillary paid for the Dossier which was confected by an anti-Trump former UK spy whose sources were all Russian. Not since I read Alice in Wonderland as a kid, have I seen such an upside down universe.

Lawyer 3: Now speaking of the Dossier, how much longer will the FISC continue in operation after having rubberstamped over and again widespread spying on a political campaign based on the most idiotic of warrants? I cannot imagine a regular court granting these and FISC was, we were told by most (but not the late Robert Bork) that it would provide greater protections for citizens against unwarranted privacy intrusions. . . .

At NewsBusters: NBC’s New Anti-NRA Attack Line: They’re Infiltrated By the Russians! We knew that was coming. Another Instaquip: MAN, THE LEFTIES AT NBC TURNED INTO THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY SO SLOWLY, I HARDLY EVEN NOTICED. This may well be Putin's intention.



DAMN son! Sharyl Attkisson takes TROLL defending John Brennan APART in EPIC point-by-point tweet

They say it *is* a "witch hunt." Looking back, this (to me) seems to explain in a big picture sense a lot about we have seen w/bad actors in govt. intel agencies misusing intel tools to surveil reporters, political enemies, citizens. https://t.co/2XPBv9P3Hy pic.twitter.com/qf3TUrM6Gx

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) July 28, 2018

1. Stratfor is an intel agency that works for govt. 2. ok 3. Not according to intel sources who've proven trustworthy 4. ? 5. Right but doesn't mean they should violate constitution and law to spy not them or the journalists who report on them 6. The govt intel agency used it.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) July 28, 2018

Indicted Senate Staffer James Wolfe Leaked a 2017 Copy of Full FISA Warrant Against Carter Page to Reporter Ali Watkins… (Sundance, CTH)

Note the FISA application (original first application) is 83 pages, with a blank page. That’s 82 pages total.

Note page #6 of the Wolfe indictment: “82 text messages” corresponds with James Wolfe texting 82 images of the FISA application to Ali Watkins. Wolfe likely took pictures of each application page and sent them to Ms. Watkins.
. . .
Important to note: depending on how the FISA copy was processed by the DOJ(?), and considering this was to the Senate Intel Committee, it is likely the SSCI copy was not heavily redacted (if at all).

♦Yes, that means reporter Ali Watkins (Buzzfeed then New York Times) has had a copy of the original FISA application against Carter Page since March 17th, 2017.

♦Yes, that also means the U.S. DOJ has known since December 15th, 2017, that SSCI Chief Staffer James Wolfe leaked the FISA application to the media in March 2017.

♦Yes, that also means the U.S. DOJ has known the media has been holding a copy of the original FISA application since March 17th, 2017.

The Curious Case of James Wolfe Continues… Sundance at CTH makes the case that James Wolfe, the Congressional Security chief recently indicted for lying to the FBI probably leaked a doctored copy of the unredacted Carter Page FISA application to the his girl friend and NYT reporter, Ali Watkins. A false date on the doctored application was used to catch him in the act.

Some key things about this leak:

1. It is highly likely there were no redactions in the copy Wolfe leaked to the media.
2. It is highly likely Wolfe was caught in a leak hunt, and the copy given to him included a specific, and intentionally wrong, internal date using October 19th as the origination date for FISA application approval. (The actual date was Oct 21st).
3. The October 19th date then shows up in subsequent media reports which were based on the leak. The New York Times and Washington Post used the wrong date; the concentric reporting of the NYT and WaPo spread the wrong date like a virus.
4. However, despite overwhelming and easy to prove evidence against him, Wolfe was never charged with the Carter Page FISA leak. The DOJ/FBI have him dead-to-rights on that leak, but he was charged with the more disingenuous crime of lying to the FBI.

 Much more here: Wolfe’s Indictment, Media Leaks & the Page FISA Application

Brett Samuels at Da Hill: Trump lashes out at Mueller for alleged conflicts of interest

Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to President Trump, including the fact that we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship, I turned him down to head the FBI (one day before appointment as S.C.) & Comey is his close friend..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018

Trump has alleged on multiple occasions via Twitter that Mueller has unspecified conflicts of interest, however, Sunday's tweet marks the first time he's elaborated beyond such accusations. The president seemingly confirmed a New York Times report from January that said Trump attempted to fire Mueller in June 2017 over alleged conflicts of interest.

The Times reported that Trump listed three conflicts he believed should disqualify Mueller: A dispute over fees at Trump’s National Golf Club in Virginia, his interview for FBI director before being named special counsel, and Mueller’s previous employment at a law firm that represents Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump reportedly backed off his demand after White House counsel Don McGahn refused Trump’s order and threatened to quit. Multiple reports indicated Trump interviewed Mueller for the vacancy, but it's unclear if Trump turned him down for the position before he was named special counsel in May 2017.

Trump's accusations about Mueller's alleged conflicts of interest came amid a string of tweets in which he claimed the special counsel's team is filled with Democrats.

John Bowden at Da Hill: GOP lawmaker: 'Nobody’s going to be surprised' if Trump approved Russia meeting

“If he’s proven to have not told the whole truth about the fact that campaigns look for dirt, and if someone offers it, you listen to them, nobody’s going to be surprised,” Issa told Cavuto. “There are some things in politics that you just take for granted.”

Allahpundit: Chris Wallace: So What If Trump Knew About Don Jr’s Meeting With The Russian Lawyer?

And even the meeting itself – while it certainly doesn’t seem praise-worthy that American political candidates or their team would be meeting with a Russian lawyer to try to get dirt on Hillary Clinton that was being offered to them – that falls a long way from any hint of collusion between Trump and the Kremlin.”

The Dersh at Breitbart: Dershowitz: Even if Cohen’s Claims Are True, ‘It’s Not a Crime’ – It’s ‘A Political Problem’

“I think the big picture is that even if everything he says is true, it’s not a crime. … Even if the president actively sought material dirt on Hillary Clinton, terrible thing, but even if he sought it, but the dirt had already been gathered, and he wasn’t asking them to hack the DNC or do anything criminal, that would not be a crime. It would show, quote, perhaps collusion, but there’s nothing in the federal code that makes collusion itself a crime.”

Giuliani says experts think 'someone messed' with Cohen tape

According to Giuliani, analysts say the public audio is a “tape of a tape,” and because of that, they are unable to determine if Cohen cut off the recording in the room, in real time, or altered and/or erased parts of it at a later date.

“Since we don’t have the original, we asked for it,” Giuliani said. “Our expert analysis is done until we get the raw copy, which we are seeking.”

Giuliani speculated that the chances of success for obtaining the raw tape are narrow.