Roger Stone Convicted on All Seven Counts – Sentencing in February, Faces 20 Years in Federal Prison…

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.

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"Small Group" Complains IG Horowitz is Not Permitting Written Rebuttals During Principal Review Phase…

The usurping group of FBI and DOJ officials we have called “the small group” have an established set of media operatives and outlets aligned to assist their narrative.  Tonight Devlin Barrett (Lisa Page and Peter Strzok’s favorite narrative engineer) publishes a report in the Washington Post highlighting their concerns.

According to the WaPo Inspector General Michael Horowitz is not allowing the ‘small group’ to provide written rebuttals to the IG report on FISA abuse during their principal reviews.  The outline by Devlin on behalf of the group also confirms our timeline.

(Via Washington Post) The Justice Department Inspector General’s office has told witnesses who are set to review draft sections of its long-awaited report on the FBI investigation of President Trump’s 2016 campaign that they will not be allowed to submit written feedback — one in a series of unusual restrictions that some fear could make the final document less accurate, people familiar with the matter said.

As is the case in most inspector general probes, witnesses are being invited to review draft sections of the report and offer comments and corrections, the people said. But — unlike most cases — they are being told those comments must be conveyed only verbally, the people said.

Desperation or Strategy? – Pelosi and Schiff Hiring More Lawfare Members for Impeachment Effort…

After the 2018 mid-terms, and in preparation for the “impeachment” strategy, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler hired Lawfare group members to become House committee staff.

In 2018 Chairman Adam Schiff hired former SDNY U.S. Attorney Daniel Goldman (link).  You probably saw Goldman doing the questioning for Schiff during the first public impeachment hearing (above).  Meanwhile Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler hired Obama Administration lawyer Norm Eisen and criminal defense attorney Barry Berke (link).
However, with a horrible start to the impeachment construct; an outcome of day-one hearings where State Department officials George Kent and Bill Taylor provided no baseline for the impeachment narrative to build upon; Pelosi and Schiff are going outside for more legal assistance.  Per Chad Pergram:

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Ukraine State Dept. Experts Clueless – Senator Grassley Asked DOJ to Investigate Ukraine in 2017…

During the impeachment hearing today State Department officials George Kent and Bill Taylor both stated they never heard of any claims of Ukrainian political interference in the 2016 U.S. election.  Additionally, both claimed to have no knowledge of any U.S. investigation that might overlap with Ukraine.
When pressed with specifically cited reports about DNC operatives engaging with Ukraine government officials to gather opposition research against candidate Donald Trump, both Mr. Kent and Ambassador Taylor denied any knowledge of the outlined reporting.

However, what everyone in the media –and on Capitol Hill– seems to forget is a letter in July, 2017 [LINK HERE], written by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley to Dept. of Justice Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, specifically outlining 2016 election interference by Ukrainian government officials; and specifically asking for an U.S. DOJ investigation therein:
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The Silence of The Shams – "Some Witness Reviews Still Being Negotiated"…

The Washington Post jumps-in to the Horowitz ‘principal review’ timeline adding that some of the opportunities for witnesses to review the final draft report are “still being negotiated”, likely by the attorney’s for the principals.
Take all reporting on this two-week review phase with a grain of salt. Despite the NDA’s there will be a rush to control the narrative.  “People familiar with the matter” will start popping up in the Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Buzzfeed and CNN.
There is likely to be a flood of spin from the PR teams behind each principal outlined in the report.  Lawyers for James Comey and Andrew McCabe will be using every angle of Lawfare imaginable to attempt to shape their clients image within the report.

Lawyers, Lawfare legal teams, and DC-based PR consultants for Sally Yates, John Carlin, Mary McCord, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Hillary Clinton, James Baker, Michael Kortan, Rod Rosenstein, Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann, Chris Steele, Glen Simpson, Nellie Ohr, Bruce Ohr, John Brennan, James Clapper and many more will all be working at courtroom rates to control any report damage for their clients.
The Obama administration will be working in the background, while Fusion-GPS takes in fees and pays their primary journalists and narrative engineers premium rates for column inches that protect their client interests.  This is one big confab of interests all positioning to control any negative impressions and highlight their magnanimous patriotic activity.
Watch and we will see full deployment of the justification defense and “outrage trap“.  After all, according to their predictable defenses, there was evidence, even if slight, that President Trump was a Russian asset belonging to Vladimir Putin…. it had to be taken seriously, etc.  Even the Republicans in congress were alarmed.
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Finally – AP Confirms Horowitz Report "Principal Review Phase" Underway – "Invitations" For Witnesses and Lawyers……

We finally have confirmation of a procedural process that allows us to anticipate the timing for public release of the FISA report from Inspector General Horowitz.

According to the Associated Press:

The Justice Department’s watchdog is nearing the release of its report on the early stages of the FBI’s Russia investigation, a document likely to revive debate about a politically charged probe that shadowed President Donald Trump’s administration from the outset.

The inspector general in recent days has invited witnesses and their lawyers who were interviewed for the report to review portions of a draft this week and next, a critical final step toward making the document public, according to multiple people familiar with the process who insisted on anonymity to discuss it.

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Senator Burr: "Senate Impeachment Trial Will Last 6 to 8 weeks"…

It looks like the House impeachment is now a foregone conclusion.  To wit the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) Chairman Richard Burr has announced the schedule outline for the upcoming Senate Impeachment Trial.
The trial of President Trump will run from 12:30pm to 6:30pm Monday through Saturday and will last approximately six to eight weeks:

Generally it appears the SSCI is positioning for a conclusion of a guilty verdict where President Trump will be removed from office and President Mike Pence will select Nikki Haley as his vice-presidential candidate for 2020. [Hence the book and MAGA narrative]
Senate Chairman Richard Burr’s forward-lean into the impeachment process takes us back to something previously outlined when it seemed like this was the preferred direction for the professional political class.

…A branch of the United States government (Legislative) is attempting a coup against the leader of another branch of government (Executive); by using the Senate Intelligence Committee and designated corrupt agents within the executive branch cabinet.

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Dirty Business – ICIG Atkinson Receives Ethics Complaint Against CIA 'Whistleblower', Goes to Schiff Basement for Talks…

ICIG Michael Atkinson is the link that connects Spygate to the Schiff Impeachment Effort

Chad Pergram noted that Intelligence Community Inspector General (IGIC) Michael Atkinson was spotted today going into HPSCI Chairman Schiffs’ basement bunker for discussions with the impeachment inquisitors.

This is interesting because it was reported today that ICIG Atkinson has now received an ethics complaint about a GoFundMe account set up by the CIA ‘whistleblower’ attorney, Mark S. Zaid, to finance the ongoing efforts of CIA operative Eric Ciaramella.
The dirty dealing is getting thick.  Attorney Mark Zaid has claimed to be working pro-bono for his CIA client.  Meanwhile Adam Schiff is threatening anyone and everyone about keeping the CIA client hidden and anonymous; and the media is all-in with efforts to support the protection.  A narrative created by a CIA operative favorable to the coup.
So what exactly is this current $228,000 for? (goal $300k) And who is this group “Values United” who is organizing it?  That’s where the letter to ICIG Atkinson comes in:
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Senator Grassley Questions "What the Game Is" With IG Report?…

Senator Chuck Grassley has questions:

There is a background story happening in DC where re-authorization of the USA Freedom Act is needed prior to expiration on December 15th. Techno Fog points out the bulk NSA data collection and FISA(702) surveillance programs are part of this reauthorization.
On November 6th, the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the reauthorization.  “Senators expressed their displeasure Wednesday with the Trump administration’s inability to answer questions about the National Security Agency’s collection of data records” (link). Which begs the question:

Is the current Inspector General report on FISA abuse being delayed due to the need for congress to reauthorize the very same programs the IG is about to criticize?

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Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on DACA Case Tomorrow…

Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case: “DHS -vs- Regents of University of California“, also known as the DACA case: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.  DACA was instituted by a President Obama ‘executive action’, not an ‘executive order’.
The Obama Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) did not fully support the constitutional framework around the effort to protect a sub-set of illegal aliens; and therefore the originating presidential action was not an official ‘executive order’, a technicality that could end up as part of the argument(s).  The same issue existed within DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Arrivals), and was ruled unconstitutional by a divided SCOTUS.
Amy Howe at SCOTUS Blog has a great encapsulation of the case and current status:

In 2012, the Obama administration established a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allows undocumented young adults who came to the United States as children to apply for protection from deportation.

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