As a reminder John Ratcliffe is one of only four members of congress who has reviewed all of the classified documents that surrounds the current background for the Inspector General report on FISA abuse.  That said, the quoted comment from Ratcliffe, while it will be overlooked by most, is the first visible sign reconciling a fundamental challenge previously highlighted.
In the 2018 IG report on FBI conduct in the 2016 election, the IG stated there was no evidence of any FBI activity being taken for political intents.  Yes, there was a tremendous amount of politically motivated evidence noted within the report; but the top-line statement by Horowitz was counter to the underlying evidence.
A year ago that led us to ask: how could the IG outline political motives in the FISA investigation, if he previously stated there was no politically motivated action by the FBI?
The statement today by Rep. John Ratcliffe seems to speak to this issue.  The implication within the words is that the evidence is so overwhelming the IG has few options.

(more…)

Former Vice-President Joe Biden doesn’t necessarily write his tweets.  The political careerists within his campaign are the ones who construct his messaging; however, the content is an accurate representation of where Biden stands on the specific issue:

(Tweet Link)

The Joe Biden campaign objective is to delegitimize President Trump.  Aside from the reality that Biden has just positioned himself outside the mainstream military, his position serves purposefully in using the military as a political weapon.
Politicizing the military is the same sentiment behind the impeachment crew instructing Lt. Col Alexander Vindman to wear his uniform for an impeachment hearing.  Same goals; same intents; same purpose.  {Go Deep}
(more…)

Representative Doug Collins appears with Maria Bartiromo and points out a position on FISA reauthorization that is hopefully carried by the majority of Republicans.  Collins states an approach where he, perhaps others, would advance a “short-term” FISA extension pending a full review of the upcoming FISA report from Inspector General Michael Horowitz, prior to any longer term reauthorization.
FISA-702 authority, bulk U.S. person metadata collection, storage and surveillance, is set to terminally expire December 15th.  The last FISC report from Judge Boasberg stated that all violations of FISA law are still ongoing and there have been no substantive corrections by the intelligence community to fix the abuse issues. The Judge Boasberg report was written in September of 2018 but not released (redacted) until last month. {Go Deep}
The Intelligence Community (writ large), the FBI and the DOJ are all seeking a permanent reauthorization.  In my humble opinion this FISA reauthorization is the cornerstone motive for an IG report delay.  There is an alignment of interests.

.
We know what the FBI and “contractors” were doing in 2016; and given how invested the intelligence community is within the current stop-trump operations (writ large); and given the political stakes for the intelligence community; well, would there be a reason they would just stop electronic surveillance in January 2017 when President Trump was inaugurated?
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein authorized Mueller to investigate the Steele Dossier in the second scope memo (August 2017). If my suspicions are accurate, the reason Mueller wanted the dossier included would be to maintain Mueller’s investigation as a counterintelligence operation. [An extension of Crossfire Hurricane] More importantly, as a result, all previous FBI exploits using FISA(702) database searches would be authorized.
(more…)

Representative Jim Jordan appears on CBS Face The Nation to discuss the ongoing impeachment fiasco. Ms. Brennan struggles to define a new journalistic concept for “first-hand” information as she claims David Holmes, who claims to have overheard half of a phone conversation that two other people were having, is a “first-hand” witness.
Jordan points out that Ms. Brennan is quoting from a seal transcript given to her by Adam Schiff that has not been released. [Video and Transcript Below]

.
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re back now with Republican Congressman Jim Jordan. Good morning to you.
REPRESENTATIVE JIM JORDAN: Morning. Good to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It’s good to have you here in person. And- and before we get going, the cut above your eye. You didn’t get into a fistfight. This was just a run in–
REP. JORDAN: No I- I- I got between Adam Schiff and a camera. How bout that? No, actually, it’s somewhat embarrassing. But the door to the Intelligence Committee hearing room–
(more…)

House Democrats on Saturday released the transcripts of closed-door testimony from Jennifer Williams and Tim Morrison (both pdf’s linked below).

House Link Williams – House Link Morrison

The first transcript is from career foreign service officer and Vice President Pence staffer Jennifer Williams.
The House did not need to subpoena Williams who was willing to deliver testimony to the impeachment committee with support from the Vice-President.
Ms. Williams was among the officials actually on the July 25th call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. She is also one of the only witnesses who has testified with firsthand knowledge of the exchange.
Interestingly Ms. Williams, a senior staffer for Vice-President Pence, delivered testimony that later had to be modified.
Keeping in mind that Jennifer Williams was actually on the call with Trump and Zelensky, it is curious that Ms. Williams originally testified that President Trump brought up the company Burisma during the call… only later having to modify her testimony to state that it was Zelensky who brought up the company.  A curious mistake all things considered.
Ms. Williams delivered her testimony on November 7th. Ms. Williams corrected her testimony on November 11th. Ms. Williams is the Senior Advisor to Vice-President Pence.
(more…)

On March 20th, 2017, New York Representative Elise Stefanik first made a name for herself when she questioned FBI Director James Comey about why he purposefully did not inform congressional oversight, Gang-of-Eight, about the FBI investigation of candidate Donald Trump in 2016.   Ms. Stefanik caught Comey off-guard and his only response, albeit stuttered, was: “because of the sensitivity of the matter?”  {LINK}

Fast forward to November 15th, 2019, yesterday, and Rep. Stefanik again showed her acumen when she asked Ambassador Yovanovitch to reconcile her opening statement about not ever discussing Hunter Biden or Burisma against evidence Ms. Yovanovitch previously admitting to an extensive briefing session specifically about Hunter Biden and Burisma.  Once again, Stefanik caught a political operative in their network of lies. {LINK}
Having watched events closely it is obvious Elise Stefanik is a smart young representative with serious skills to see through the chaff, countermeasures and false narratives advanced by political left.
Hence, as if on cue, the entire apparatus of the political left began attacking their #1 new enemy.  Today the unholy alliance of corrupt political operatives and the allied media went on the attack.
(more…)

Amid increased calls from House Republicans to force the testimony of the CIA “whistleblower”, today the Washington Post, the primary outlet for CIA misinformation and public relations, began shaping the “whistle-blower” as a hero.
Because the overall effort involves multiple parts of the deep state apparatus, to see through the construction it is important to note which media outlet holds equity for agency talking points within the coup.  The Washington Post is primary PR for the CIA and IC writ large. The New York Times is primary PR for the FBI; and CNN is primary PR for the State Dept.  This pattern has been consistent throughout.

Over time it has become clear the first confidential human source for the CIA Ukraine dossier, written by CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella and also known as the “Whistleblower report”, is Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman a Ukraine expert inside the National Security Council on assignment from the Dept of Defense intelligence unit.
Within his deposition the ideology of Lt. Col Vindman is clear. Vindman’s mission focus was/is to shape U.S. policy toward Ukraine (and by extension NATO) regardless of the actual policy view of President Trump.  Within his deposition Vindman admitted to giving countermanding instructions to his Ukraine counterpart two weeks after understanding opposite policy objectives from his commander-in-chief.
During his deposition Lt Col Vindman also admitted -with considerable angst and attempts to deflect from his legal advisors provided by the Dept. of Defense- that he was intentionally usurping the chain of command in an effort to follow his own ideological agenda; and perhaps that of his DoD leadership.
(more…)

Representative Elise Stefanik brought to light interesting information today surrounding how the Obama administration was concerned about issues surrounding Vice-President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his connection to a corrupt Ukraine company Burisma.  This revelation directly contradicted the Yovanovitch opening statement.
During questioning Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch admitted the Obama White House spent time briefing her on how to respond to congress if questions about Hunter Biden and Burisma were raised.  This testimony highlights the concerns by the Obama administration about a clear issue with the Biden family and corrupt Ukraine interests.

.
This admission by former Ambassador Yovanovitch directly contradicted her testimony that was made only minutes before the admission.  From her opening statement:

[Yovanovitch Opening Statement November 15th, Page #8]

(more…)

Following a week-long trial a federal jury in Washington, D.C., has convicted Roger Stone, 67, on five felony counts of lying to investigators, one of obstructing a congressional probe and one of witness tampering. Sentencing will be February 6th, 2020.  [Article]

Judge Berman Jackson has kept the gag order on Roger Stone barring him from discussing his conviction until he is remanded to federal prison next year.

(more…)

The preferred impeachment narrative amid Democrat party leadership surrounds creating articles of impeachment that are based on constitutional principles, not hard-line partisan politics.  However, with the latest shift by Speaker Pelosi to focus on the word “bribery” it is now discovered the reason for the impeachment change was a political focus-group:

(Washington Post Article Link)

By focus-group testing the impeachment design the Democrats are admitting the entirety of their construct is based on political motives and intents.
Focus-group polling and testing was the preeminent approach for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election campaign.  Candidate Clinton used the focus groups to test each of the talking points used by her campaign.  It would appear that same approach is now being applied to Speaker Pelosi’s impeachment effort.
(more…)