It was noted –and reported– yesterday that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes sent a letter (full pdf below) to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.  Nunes is demanding un-redacted FBI documents surrounding the origination of the July 2016 counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump, and the FISA application stemming from within the FBI investigation.

The issue(s) surrounding the declassification of the FISA application and subsequent FISA warrant against Carter Page are not new.  The new aspect within the Nunes demand relates to a request for the intelligence community “electronic communication” (EC) that kicked off the initial FBI counterintelligence op.  Within that new line of inquiry the subject of interest is ultimately former CIA Director John Brennan.

However, there are issues here; serious issues. There are VERY valid reasons why the FBI (Wray) and DOJ (Rosenstein) would push back against HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes.  It’s complicated, and we’ll try to unpack.

Begin by noting on page two of the Nunes request, Paragraph #3, something all media writing about the Nunes demand seem to overlook.  Screengrab below:

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When reviewing new information against the backdrop of existing information it is important not to get so caught up in the weeds that you miss the obvious.  This is the important aspect to a new information release from Robert Mueller.

Overnight last night Special Counsel Robert Mueller released an attachment as part of a responsive court pleading.   The attachment was a previously unknown letter from Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to Robert Mueller outlining the specific authority of his investigative appointment.  The letter from Rosenstein to Mueller is dated August 2nd, 2017.

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There are several elements to break down, and one of the best ways to review the information is to first ask “why”?

• Question #1) Why did Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein deliver a non-public outline of investigative authority to Mueller on August 2nd, 2017?
• Question #2) Why would Robert Mueller be seeking a signed more specific outline of his investigative authority on August 2nd, 2017; a full three months after he was assigned the role of Special Counsel?
• Question #3) Why would Robert Mueller need to redact the content of an official outline of his investigative instructions from the Asst. Attorney General?

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Sara Carter has a new ‘exclusive’ report from congressional sources who are sharing new text messages with her surrounding the timeline of the Justice Department’s National Security Division compiling the FISA Title-1 application that was eventually authorized to conduct FBI surveillance on Carter Page and the Trump Campaign.

A note of caution within the story as outlined by Carter, there’s some granular details -subject to interpretation- that she appears to be misconstruing. Additionally, it is important for emphasis to remember the Main Justice side of the scandal stems from rogue officials within the DOJ national Security Division [DOJ-NSD].

According to Carter, Peter Strzok was expressing frustration about the FISA application being challenged. DOJ Attorney Lisa Page, assigned to Andrew McCabe by the DOJ ‘small group’ leadership, was explaining to Strzok who, how and where the slowdown was coming from.

Sara Carter – […] Text messages obtained by investigators reveal that FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok and his colleague Lisa Page were discussing the FBI’s difficulty in obtaining the warrant to spy on Carter Page, who worked for a short stint with the Trump campaign. The FBI obtained its first warrant to spy on Page on Oct. 19, 2016, and there would be three subsequent renewals every 90 days for the warrant on Mr. Page.

[…] In one of the September 2016 text message chains, Strzok tells Lisa Page about an argument that occurred with former DOJ prosecutor David Laufman. Laufman, who was then chief of the DOJ’s National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, oversaw the probe into former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, as well as the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Laufman left the DOJ earlier this year citing personal reasons for leaving his post, according to news reports.

Here’s where Sara Carter gets “BOMBSHELL” sideways:

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Victor Davis Hanson appears on Fox Business with Lou Dobbs for an excellent interview on the topic of DOJ and FBI political corruption.  In the first response from Mr. Hanson he instinctively and accurately outlines the scale of the challenge that was/is faced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Mr. Hanson frames the context of the myriad of issues very well, and as such represents himself as one of the few big-picture-brains who really gets it.  Hanson gets the totality of it… all of it.   Everyone should pay attention to how Hanson is able to look at the specific examples and details, and yet remain at the 30,000/ft level… Rare skill:

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Expanding below:

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This is a common question I receive:  “How do you square Mueller in all this?”

Well, there’s a good reason why I don’t discuss him.  The bigger picture is not about Mueller, he’s irrelevant.   Yeah, I know, my perspective runs 180° counter to the common refrain within exhaustive discussions expending energy upon myriad of articles about the ridiculous “Trump Russia Collusion” stories.  Funnily enough, that’s why.

CTH doesn’t log research to convince anyone of anything. Why expend energy on a task that’s exhaustive?  Robert Mueller is not the issue; he never has been.  He’s no more relevant to the actions within the Special Counsel team than anyone else.  Mueller is a DC figurehead, intended to give a name and possible face to an organization that selected him.

That’s the key point everyone misses.  Robert Mueller didn’t appoint or select a team of lawyers and investigators…. the previously assembled team of lawyers and investigators selected him.  Within that PROFOUND difference is the reason I ignore him.

The corrupt second tier DOJ/FBI officials, the lesser known names behind Loretta Lynch, James Comey, Sally Yates and Andrew McCabe, are the actual DOJ and FBI officials who carried out ‘Operation Trump’.  The “small group of co-conspirators” (as I prefer to call them for accuracy), are not political appointees; this specific crew was about 25 to 30 ideologically-minded career officials behind the prior political appointees.

If you want to understand the “small group” or Scheme Team, don’t look at the person at the top of this dynamic (Mueller), look at who assembled the Special Counsel team.  That would be former FBI Chief-Legal-Counsel James Baker, not Robert Mueller.

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It is important anyone interested in the FBI and DOJ investigation take the time to digest the details within Attorney General Jeff Sessions notification letter to congress outlining his previous appointment of U.S Attorney John Huber to parallel Inspector General Michael Horowitz as a prosecutor.

Do not trust the pundit filtration of content, take the time to read it yourself.

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Absorbing the DOJ has a long-standing criminal investigation will likely create anxiety for those committed to an irrational intolerance of Attorney General Jeff Sessions; but the substance remains evident regardless of sentiment.

The Bigger Picture – If we accept the historic context for DOJ official communication stemming from the IG investigation, it would appear the notification letter is timed with the conclusion of investigative evidence collection. As such, the timing is safe for the DOJ to reveal the name of the prosecutor many previously refused to believe existed.

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In response to a litany of congressional requests demanding a second ‘special counsel’, Attorney General Jeff Sessions previously told media (largely ignored) he appointed a prosecutor from “outside DC” to look at all the issues surrounding the corrupt FBI and DOJ:

MARCH 8th, 2018 – “Well, I have great respect for Mr. Gowdy and Chairman Goodlatte, and we are going to consider seriously their recommendations. I have appointed a person outside of Washington, many years in the Department of Justice to look at all the allegations that the House Judiciary Committee members sent to us; and we’re conducting that investigation.

Also I am well aware we have a responsibility to insure the integrity of the FISA process, we’re not afraid to look at that. The inspector general, some think that our inspector general is not very strong; but he has almost 500, employees, most of which are lawyers and prosecutors; and they are looking at the FISA process. We must make sure that it’s done properly, and we’re going to do that. And I’ll consider their request.” (link w/video)

Despite AG Sessions repeated assurances that he had already assigned a DOJ prosecutor to work with IG Michael Horowitz, on the myriad of issues surrounding corruption within the FBI and DOJ – to include the FISA court abuses, congressional voices kept demanding a second special counsel.

Continuing the drumbeat, last night HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes restated the political demand for another Special Counsel.  Today AG Jeff Sessions reveals the name of the prosecutor assigned to the task, John Huber from Utah, included in a letter to congress.

Washington (CNN) Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed Thursday that Utah’s top federal prosecutor, John Huber, has been examining a cluster of Republican-driven accusations against the FBI and has decided that no second special counsel is needed — at least for now.

Huber has been looking into allegations that the FBI abused its powers in surveilling a former Trump campaign adviser, and more should have been done to investigate Hillary Clinton’s ties to a Russian nuclear energy agency, but his identity had remained a secret.

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Curious timing.  One day after the Department of Justice announced felony charges against FBI Agent Terry J. Albury for leaking confidential information to the media, fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe launches a legal defense fund.

(Reuters Story Link)

Andrew McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and DAG Rod Rosenstein on the recommendation from the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility.  The recommendation followed an Inspector General referral which outlined how deputy McCabe had constructed leaks to the media, and instructed his team (Mike Kortan, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page etc.) to contact media outlets, feeding them information in an effort to shape the stories of financial connections between McCabe’s family and Hillary Clinton.

When confronted by the IG about his involvement leaking stories to the media, Andrew McCabe lied.  His initial denial, in the face of overwhelming evidence provided by the cohorts he instructed, prompted the IG referral to the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility.  The OPR recommended McCabe’s termination to DAG Rod Rosenstein.

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DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz has released a public statement stating the OIG intention to investigate the fraudulent FBI FISA Title-1 surveillance application submitted to the court against U.S. person Carter Page; and the surrounding issues of the FBI using Christopher Steele to underwrite their evidence therein:

(OIG link)

There are likely to be voices wondering why this OIG investigative avenue is only just now being announced and/or explored.  However, a careful review and reminder of the process explains what is happening.

Inspector General Horowitz initial investigation focused on the politicization of the FBI and DOJ surrounding the Clinton investigation.  However, that original announcement also included the disclaimer that he would follow “other issues that may arise”.   To say there were “other issues”, that indeed did “arise”, would be the understatement of the decade.

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A lot of under-the-radar action happening today surrounding the upcoming DOJ Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz report.

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte called Inspector General Michael Horowitz earlier today to discuss the content of the subpoena he recently sent to the DOJ demanding investigative records related to the ongoing IG internal review and report.

Simultaneous to this oversight discussion, and related to the content therein, FBI Director Christopher Wray released a public statement announcing additional FBI staff resources committed to fulfillment of Chairman Goodlatte’s request.

FBI – As the Director of the FBI, I am committed to ensuring that the Bureau is being transparent and responsive to legitimate congressional requests.

Up until today, we have dedicated 27 FBI staff to review the records that are potentially responsive to Chairman Goodlatte’s requests. The actual number of documents responsive to this request is likely in the thousands. Regardless, I agree that the current pace of production is too slow.

Accordingly, I am doubling the number of assigned FBI staff, for a total of 54, to cover two shifts per day from 8 a.m. to midnight to expedite completion of this project. (link)

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz has ‘at least’ 1.2 million documents gathered as part of his fourteen month investigation into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.

Included within the exhaustive evidence is the total transcript of text messages between FBI Agent Peter Strzok and FBI Attorney Lisa Page extending almost two years. Some of those text messages were previously released to congressional oversight committees and have structured much of the media storyline and investigative pathways for three congressional committees.  However, only a small portion of those texts were actually release so far.

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