Former foreign policy adviser to President Trump Carter Page discusses the breaking reports of FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith altering documents in the 2016 Russia probe to gain a FISA Title-1 surveillance warrant on him and the Trump campaign.

As an outcome of the ridiculous wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former FBI Agent Peter Strzok, the DOJ provides the internal Office of Professional Responsibility report as part of their responsive filing.
The OPR report is the culmination of a two-month long internal investigation conducted in 2018. The OPR report contains several embarrassing details, including new text messages, about Peter Strzok during his FBI employment. The report is only public because it is part of a filing connected to his public lawsuit.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Here’s the report:
[scribd id=435752237 key=key-XgzGu1GsbpQb1PiB5BEl mode=scroll]
After Strzok was suspended and removed from his position, FBI Agent David Archey assumed the lead role in the Mueller investigation, August 2018.

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.

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.

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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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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When former FBI ‘small group’ members Andrew McCabe, James Baker, Mike Kortan, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were working on their political operation to protect Hillary Clinton and remove Donald Trump they had three specific journalists (narrative engineers) atop their speed dials.

Texts, emails, and documents released over the past three years showed that whenever the small group wanted to leak they preferred: Devlin Barrett, Robert Costa and Matt Zapotosky at the Washington Post.  [Example – source, pg 5]
So when we see Barrett, Costa and Zapotosky getting the gang back together to write about the upcoming IG report, it is worth reviewing their carefully engineered narrative. [All emphasis mine]

(Via Washington Post) Justice Department officials are trying to release in the coming weeks a potentially explosive inspector general report about the FBI’s investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign, according to multiple people familiar with the effort.

Interesting start to the expository: “trying to release“; the implication here is somewhat of an internal struggle between two opposing forces.  Those who are defending the deep state, and by extension the small group, and those attempting sunlight.
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WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT – Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack sends a letter to Flynn’s defense team today containing a stunning, almost impossible to comprehend, admission of a mistake central to the claims of the prosecution.  In March 2018 the FBI presented notes taken by agents Pientka and Strzok, now they say they made a ‘mistake’.
For almost two years the DOJ misidentified, misattributed, and never corrected that the authors of the Flynn interview notes were actually reversed.  All of the notes attributed to FBI Agent Peter Strzok actually were taken by FBI Agent Joseph Pientka, and vice-versa:

(LINK)

What kind of f**kery is this?  The DOJ never confirmed the authorship of the FBI notes that are central to the FD-302, upon which the entire prosecution claim of Flynn lying to investigators is based? …Seriously?
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In the case against Lt. General Michael Flynn, his lawyer Sidney Powell previously filed a motion to compel (MTC) Brady material from the prosecution (here).  Because the MTC raised stunning, potentially game-changing, legal and ethical issues the prosecution requested the opportunity to file a surreptitious reply to the court; a “surreply”. (here)
Judge Sullivan directed the prosecution to file their surreply, and then granted the defense the opportunity to file a sur-surreply, a response to the prosecution’s last argument. Today Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell filed that response (full pdf below).

Having read thousands, perhaps tens-of-thousands, of legal filings, motions and court documents presenting arguments of material consequence, this sur-surreply to the arguments of the prosecution is artful in its succinct intent of getting to the nub of it.
What makes this articulate reply to the court so effective, in addition to the declared truth within it, is how it is written to both Judge Emmet Sullivan and the public.  This is a motion deserving of a read by anyone who has followed the travesty of the Flynn inquisition in detail or in summary. Do not cheat yourself out of the enjoyment; read it.
The response to the prosecution argument cuts through the chaff and countermeasures and identifies the ridiculous and necessary schemes played by the prosecution, starting with their preposterous position that Flynn’s plea did not require the government to provide exculpatory, Brady, evidence.  Page One:
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Rumor in the DC grapevine is that a few weeks ago Tashina Gauhar was quietly removed from her position as lawyer for the DOJ National Security Division (in charge of FISA applications).  This removal happened immediately after IG Michael Horowitz submitted his first draft report to Attorney General Bill Barr for classification review.   Ms. Gauhar now reportedly works for Boeing.
If confirmed, Gauhar’s exit in advance of the IG report could indicate helpful participation, or DOJ Main Justice may be providing cover to protect Tash Gauhar as they did with SSCI Security Director James Wolfe.  Keep eyes on a swivel, here’s why:
♦ On March 2nd, 2017, Tashina “Tash” Gauhar was one of a small group of DOJ officials who participated in a conversation that led to the recusal of Jeff Sessions from anything related to the 2016 election.  This recusal included the ongoing FBI counterintelligence investigation known as Crossfire Hurricane, later picked up (May 17th) by Robert Mueller.
Immediately following this meeting, AG Jeff Sessions announced his recusal.

The attendees for the recusal decision-making meeting (see above schedule) included Sessions’ chief of staff Jody Hunt; Criminal Chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Jim Crowell; Acting Deputy AG, ¹Dana Boente; Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) in the Department of Justice National Security Division Tash Gauhar (FISA lawyer); and Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott Schools.
[Note: Tash Gauhar was lawyer for FBI Clinton case; and Scott Schools was part of drafting Clinton exoneration letter.]
This was the Main Justice group who influenced Jeff Sessions to recuse.
Now, fast-forward to May, 2017:
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