In the opening moments of a speech to the Federalist Society Attorney General Jeff Sessions broke the ice with a little Russian humor:
Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) frustratingly questions his good friend Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the standard for the DOJ to appoint a special counsel and/or investigate the brutally obvious legal issues/implications surrounding the “Steele Dossier”, the Clinton campaign and the weaponization of the intelligence community (FBI) to undermine political opposition (Trump).
Things could get a whole lot more interesting if Kimberley Strassel is correct in her research and analysis of how the Clinton Campaign paid for the creation of the “Steele Dossier”, pushed it to the FBI, and then used their influence to generate media coverage of it. There’s a lot more questions to be asked; a lot more.
Former ODNI James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan, appear with Jake Tapper to defend themselves against President Trump calling them out as political hacks yesterday. Together they attempt round #3 of couples grief therapy while selling their nonsense. Oh, how they both think we have forgotten – we haven’t.
As you watch James Clapper read his teleprompter, and yes, he’s reading from prepared script because he’s a useful idiot (see: 02:28 for confirmation), it should be noted that President Obama blamed James Clapper for the “rise of ISIS“. Additionally it should be noted that Clapper previously admitted to lying to congress about ‘spying on Americans’.
John Brennan is even worse. Earlier in the year Brennan contradicted Comey and stated he told congress and the FBI about Russian activity AFTER Comey testified he didn’t. Go figure. Then again, earlier in his career Brennan admitted to hacking into the State Department in 2008 to review/modify candidate Obama’s passport records; six years later, following an Inspector General report, Brennan was forced to admit and apologize to the Senate Intelligence Committee for using the CIA to spy on congress.
How Brennan was never prosecuted for those crimes is a question never answered. Then again, he’s defending the weaponized FBI so there’s that quid-pro-quo angle to digest. I digress:
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Last year against the backdrop of President Obama’s sanctions announcement against Russia, we closely reviewed the “Russian Malicious Cyber Activity – Joint Analysis Report”. This December 2016 intelligence report (actual document below) is the report where the media talking points “17 intelligence agencies agreed” and the Russian “hacking of the election” began.
The report was released to coincide with President Obama kicking out Russian diplomats as punishment for the content therein. Everyone talks about this report, yet almost no-one talking about it has actually read it. WE HAVE.
President Obama’s administration released the ‘Joint Analysis Report’ which various politicians and media claimed to outline details of Russia’s involvement hacking into targeted data, computer systems, and political networks during the election.
Except it doesn’t.
Not even a little.
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Curiouser and curiouser… An interesting development amid the various swampy happenings both domestically and internationally. With Robert Mueller focusing on foreign interest lobbying efforts within Washington DC; and amid Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confronting corruption within the financing of foreign political influence; Podesta CEO Kimberley Fritts announces she is leaving to form her own firm.
Considering that Mrs. Fritts previously announced her intention of remaining at the Podesta group and rebranding the lobbying firm, sans Tony Podesta, questions arise as to what might have made Fritts change her mind.
(Via Politico) Kimberley Fritts, the longtime chief executive of the Podesta Group, is leaving the firm to start her own lobbying shop, according to three Podesta Group staffers.
The role of Fusion GPS as an active participant in the 2016 election is growing in scale amid yet another report showing the scope of their involvement.
Two weeks ago the DNC and Clinton Campaign teams were forced to admit they hired Fusion GPS to engage in political activity and research against presidential candidate Trump. That’s sketchy. Then last week we discovered that Fusion GPS head, Glenn Simpson, actually met with Russian operative Natalia Veselnitskaya immediately prior to her visit to Trump Tower and immediately after. That’s beyond sketchy. Now we discover Glenn Simpson actually wrote the material that Natalia Veselnitskava used to pitch herself into a meeting with Don Trump Jr. Wait,… what…
Yes, we are now in “ludicrous mode“. It’s no longer a surprise why Glenn Simpson’s lawyers are trying desperately to keep him from a congressional subpoena. Clinton Lawyers, Perkins Coie, acknowledged they paid $1.02 million to Fusion for research related to candidate Donald Trump. However, the entire story now looks like the DNC and Clinton camp hired Fusion GPS to construct negative material, not “discover” it.
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Yesterday the first indicators of a longer pattern of violence and anti-social behavior began to emerge. Today some of the space between those details begins to fill in. The gunman’s violent past includes: animal abuse, domestic violence and a history of stalking.
Texas gunman Devin Patrick Kelley, killed 26 people and wounded dozens more during his rampage at the Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church, and yesterday we began to discover his disturbing past including a year spent in military prison.
Today media reports are digging deeper and show the reason Kelley spent a year in prison was for abusing his wife and breaking the skull of his infant son. According to the Air Force, in 2012 while Kelley was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico in he was charged with “assault on his spouse and assault on their child.”
Retired Colonel Don Christensen, who was the lead Air Force prosecutor during the case, said:
“[Kelley] assaulted his stepson severely enough that he fractured his skull, and he also assaulted his wife. He plead to intentionally doing it.”
After Kelley spent a year in prison, he was kicked out of the military with a “bad conduct” discharge; similar to, but just a notch below, the more well-known dishonorable discharge.
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Interesting video interview below. Texan Johnnie Langendorff arrived at the intersection near the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs and witnessed a good Samaritan (neighbor) returning rifle fire with the church shooter Devin Patrick Kelley.
As shooter Kelley attempted to escape the area, together Langendorff and the armed good Samaritan gave chase in Johnnie’s truck.
TEXAS – Summer Caddel said her boyfriend, Johnnie Langendorff, called her moments after the shooting at First Baptist Church and told her that he saw a gunfight between the shooter and a neighbor, who was returning fire.
Langendorff then told Caddel the suspect — identified at Devin Kelley — then got into an SUV and drove away, and the two gave chase. (read more)
Interestingly an earlier report from the Daily Caller today outlines the attorneys for Fusion GPS fighting Congressman Devin Nunes to hide their payments to journalists and media.
That legal battle is interesting when conspicuously contrast as the backdrop for this CNN interview between Anderson Cooper and former Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook. In the interview Mook admits to paying for the research conducted by Fusion GPS that ultimately became a contract with Christoper Steele for the infamous “Russian Dossier”. However, Mook is visibly concerned about the downstream connection to Steele.
If you don’t think the Clinton campaign is worried about their connection to the Fusion GPS story, well, just watch this interview. More specifically notice at the 02:00 point of the interview when Mook removes his (non media) earpiece. Mook is getting instructions and cues on this interview from an earpiece that IS NOT CNN equipment. WATCH: