Devin Nunes appears with Lou Dobbs to discuss the recent list of Obama-era officials who unmasked NSA intercepts of Michael Flynn talking to foreign government officials. Rep. Nunes reminds the audience that Flynn is only one person within a much larger group of Trump transition team members who were under surveillance by Team Obama.
Fox News analyst Andrew McCarthy discusses the order by Judge Sullivan allowing amicus briefs from third-parties prior to issuing a ruling in the Flynn case. As McCarthy notes Sullivan is allowing an anti-Trump therapy session within his legal proceedings.
Senator Grassley sends a letter (pdf here) thanking AG Bill Barr and DNI Richard Grenell for the declassified documents produced so far. With the DOJ deciding to drop the Flynn prosecution Grassley notes there are three more buckets of classified documents he would like to see declassified and presented soon:
(1) The Flynn/Kislyak transcript. (2) The Susan Rice Memo to file. (3) The original and mysteriously missing Flynn 302 authored by FBI agent Joe Pientka. [Grassley Press]
Within the letter Senator Grassley notes he previously requested the release of these documents from former DAG Rod Rosenstein; who refused to submit them and made excuses to congressional oversight.
In response to Judge Emmet Sullivan announcing a delay in Flynn ruling to allow third party amicus briefs to be filed with the court, Michael Flynn’s defense counsel files a motion in opposition. [Cloud pdf Here] Embed pdf below
In opposition to the delay Attorney Sidney Powell notes Judge Sullivan’s earlier ruling of December 20, 2017, disallowing amicus briefs in this case.
There has been a shift; it’s subtle, it’s nuanced, but it’s there. Against the revelations that Ric Grenell has declassified multiple component parts of weaponized intelligence used against candidate, President-elect and President Trump; and with the unmasking data as only one part of that larger component grouping; DOJ Spokesperson Kerri Kupec says: “what happened to candidate Trump was one of the greatest political injustices in history.”
While AG Bill Barr doesn’t need to sign-off on the specific wording by the DOJ spox, the overarching public statement would never be articulated without institutional approval. The AG cannot make public comments that are too strong, but authorizing the spokesperson to articulate the position is one way to accomplish the same. WATCH:
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Insufferably Martha MacCallum ‘pretends not to know’ the distinction in intelligence equity; she asks the same question repeatedly. The answer is clear. DNI Ric Grenell has presented one component group of intelligence data, the identity of the unmaskers and who they unmasked, to the DOJ. The DNI retains ownership and can release.
Now the purpose of the leaked conference call, aka instructions, from former President Barack Obama come into play. In a very unusual move today Michael Flynn’s judge, Emmet Sullivan, enters an order granting outside parties the time to enter amicus briefs (friend of the court) to assist in guiding the court; a briefing schedule to follow.
…”Given the posture of the case the court anticipates individuals and organizations will seek leave to file amicus briefs” …
It looks like the judge wants to give former DOJ employees (2,000 signatures on letter) an opportunity to publicly undermine and undercut the position of the DOJ in moving to dismiss the charges. Infuriating, remarkable and transparently political.
Judge Sullivan even cited famously political Judge Amy Berman Jackson, a subtle hat/tip to President Obama’s recent May 8th instructions. Sullivan’s order can put to rest any contemplation of him holding corrupt prosecutor Brandon Van Grack to account; and only further delays removing the sword of damocles from atop Lt. General Michael Flynn.
The transparent purpose of allowing public comment, specifically from the Lawfare resistance group, is to undermine the DOJ and further create a political narrative around AG Bill Barr. However, on the positive side this might stir Barr to release even more damaging information to counter the political efforts of Judge Sullivan. Quite remarkable.
The great Lou Dobbs interviews Flynn’s exceptional defense lawyer, Sidney Powell, about the ongoing revelations directly and indirectly connected to the case against her client.
Ms. Powell is not only Flynn’s lawyer, but she’s one of the few people who put the picture together early and recognized President Obama’s surveillance state included the weaponization of the NSA database. Now that revelations are quickly surfacing, Powell is in a strong position to help people see how the dots connect over multiple years. WATCH:
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Note: This interview took place prior to the recent order by Judge Sullivan delaying his decision and granting political allies time to petition the court and undermine the DOJ.
After Acting DNI Richard “Ric” Grenell delivered a volume of declassified intelligence records to Attorney General Bill Barr it was reported that Grenell delivered a file showing the intelligence unmaskers from the Obama administration; pending Barr release.
Today ABC is reporting from senior DOJ officials “”we do not intend to release the [unmasking] list” that Grenell brought over to the building last week.”
Considering the content of the files likely delivered to AG Barr it is worth remaining patient. No-one is more cynical than me about DOJ hiding stuff; but this ain’t that.
The declassified documents are not a DOJ equity, they are a DNI equity, the DNI can release them. For the DOJ the declassified documents are evidence.
Kevin Corke and Adam Housley are both reporting the documents delivered by Grenell extend beyond unmasking; their reporting makes sense. The bigger topic is political surveillance. The surveillance encompassed numerous intelligence equities.
It appears we are about to find out if one of my long-standing theories about surveillance of Michael Flynn is correct. Flynn was not “unmasked”, because he was the direct target.
For three years the official media account of how the intelligence community gained the transcript of incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn talking to Ambassador Sergey Kisliyak on December 29th, 2016, surrounded “incidental collection” as a result of contact with an agent of a foreign power.
Meaning the Flynn call was picked up as the U.S. intelligence apparatus was conducting surveillance on Russian Ambassador Kisliyak.
If this version of events were accurate (it’s not), it would fall under FISA-702 collection: the monitoring of a foreign agent (Kislyak) who has contact with a U.S. person (Flynn).
In order to review the identity of the U.S. person, a process called ‘unmasking’, a 702 submission must be made. As NSA Director Rogers said: that submission, the unmasking, leaves a paper/electronic trail. However, I do not think that is what happened, here’s why:
Back in 2017 Senator Lindsey Graham questioned former DAG Sally Yates and former DNI James Clapper. Within the questioning, Sally Yates tipped her hand. There was never an unmasking of Flynn because Flynn was a target; it was not incidental collection. WATCH:
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Sally Yates doesn’t directly say Flynn was a target, but by now we all know he was a target of the FBI investigation. As a result of Flynn being the actual target he would be directly identified within the intelligence documents because the investigation would be about him, and not incidental. But there’s more…
Representatives Jim Jordan and Andy Biggs tear the bark off the Obamagate scandal; including culpable republicans who participated in the DC coup effort.
Appearing with Lou Dobbs on Fox Business, Jim Jordan rips through the timeline early in the interview to expose how it was impossible for all of the activity to be happening without former President Obama being a participant. WATCH:
