Last night Chairman Devin Nunes appeared on Fox News to discuss the release of the OIG report and investigation into fired Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Additionally Chairman Nunes discusses his request for the immediate release of five memos written by former FBI Director James Comey.
A flood of DOJ/FBI moves, leaks and details this week highlight the desperation of an aligned group of Obama officials and ideologues which began with the FBI raid on the offices and home of Michael Cohen. All of the subsequent activity is connected.
This week began with a dramatic early-morning raid on the home, office and hotel room of a sitting U.S. president’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. The week ended in equally dramatic fashion, in a packed courtroom, following numerous media leaks from New York U.S. Attorneys and FBI investigators about the content of their Cohen raid. In the big picture all of this week’s activity appears related to a coordinated propaganda strategy.
Looking up from the granules, we can see a clear and comprehensive plan to flood the zone with propaganda narratives to distract, dilute and obfuscate.
If we look at the big picture the stylistic content of the James Comey book; the timing of the release; the timing of the raid on Cohen; the leaks of scraped material from the raid to the media; all of this falls into a pattern. A strategy that was originally outlined by James Comey’s friend back in October of 2016. SEE HERE. We knew the DOJ/FBI raid on Cohen was likely a larger strategy to gather opposition research.
With the OIG reports coming rapidly to a conclusion, and with the IG reports being so detailed in their fact-outline, the “small group” is at an inflection point where their risk is growing. A larger awakening is taking place.
Knowing the connection between the FBI, DOJ-NSD, Fusion-GPS, Clinton Campaign and Christopher Steele political activity in 2016, we also pondered if the larger motive behind the raid might be connected to the use of DOJ and FBI databases to conduct searches on political opposition, and the need to hide therein.
In a letter from Michael Horowitz to Senator Chuck Grassley (full pdf below) the DOJ Inspector General informs congress of multiple investigations, and multiple releases. The primary OIG investigation into the FBI and DOJ politicization will be released in May:
In the ¹footnote Horowitz outlines the Andrew McCabe report was a secondary investigative outcome of the initial investigation, and the supplemental FISA investigation will result in an additional release unattached to the primary.
The OIG report on former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is devastating to the “small group” and not just for what it outlines, but also for what it doesn’t provide.
There are bound to be multiple reports and discussions which will flow from an outcome of the content therein. However, here’s some of the ‘big picture’ takeaways for those who have followed the very granular details.
One of the more pertinent issues – it is now demonstrably proven that Andrew McCabe lied to FBI investigators, on several occasions, and also that he lied to the Inspector General. Note the criminally important factor here is: “lied to FBI investigators”.
On page #29, there’s some very specific and interesting details that deserve to be highlighted (emphasis mine).
We concluded that McCabe lacked candor during his OIG audio-recorded interview under oath on July 28, 2017, when he falsely stated that: (a) he was not aware of Special Counsel being authorized to speak to reporters around October 30 and (b) he did not know, because he was out of town, “where [Special Counsel] was or what she was doing” during the relevant time period. (pdf link)
It is not just the next few paragraphs that outline the scope of the attempted duplicity and fraud by McCabe, but also the footnotes.
Remember, we know specifically from congressional evidence, provided by the FBI investigative unit, the FBI took custody of the initial batch of text message between DOJ-FBI Special Counsel Lisa Page and Peter Strzok on July 22nd, 2017. It is clear those text messages were provided by Lisa Page to clear up the contradiction between her truthful statements and the lies told earlier by Andrew McCabe.
Earlier today I wrote on Twitter: “The raid on Michael Cohen’s home and office was gov. directed political opposition research. The FBI/DOJ officials who carried out the raid will leak the content to media to damage POTUS & engineer narratives for election(s). That was the intent of the raid.”
Allow me to provide the fact-based argument behind that statement. Beginning with a very basic baseline fact:
You can call it a soft-coup, or you can call it politicization of the DOJ and FBI, but the end result is the same – the intentional effort to manipulate, influence, and ultimately subvert an election for the presidency of the United States.
It is an inarguable reality that ideologues within the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation used their positions to conduct a political operation against the candidacy of President Trump. There is currently an Office of Inspector General investigation by Michael Horowitz to discover the scale of that basic truth.
The ongoing OIG investigation has already released some of the investigative evidence proving the motives of the participants. Additionally, through records and releases stemming from outside the OIG investigation, it is a fact the intelligence apparatus within the national security divisions of the DOJ and FBI used their databases to conduct unlawful searches of political opposition; and allowed ‘contractors‘ to do the same.
These clear facts exist regardless of opinion or sentiment therein.
Oh, heck yes. This is exactly what we have been talking about. In an interview with Neil Cavuto, Senator Rand Paul shares his opinion that President Trump should respond to the coordinated political attacks by FBI and DOJ operatives by declassifying the information underneath all their shenanigans.
Good advice. Without interfering with the IG Horowitz and parallel Proseuctor John Huber approach, President Trump should immediately begin declassifying the documents surrounding the FISA abuse scandal.
Start by declassifying the 99-page opinion of FISA Court Presiding Judge, Rosemary Collyer. Remove all the redactions and let us see who the FBI/DOJ officials were allowing to have access to the NSA database to conduct searches. Then declassify the full FISA Title-1 surveillance application used by the FBI and DOJ against U.S. person Carter Page.
If these releases of information create a need for prosecution of the people, entities and former officials behind the documents, then so be it. These documents are unrelated to the issues of the FBI conduct review of IG Horowitz, and extend outside the DOJ. WATCH:
Last night House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes threatened to impeach FBI Director Christopher Wray and Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, if not granted access to review the two-page intelligence community origination document that kicked-off the 2016 FBI counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump.
Today Rosenstein and Wray allowed Chairman Nunes and Trey Gowdy to review the origination document, also known as the “electronic communication” (EC). House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes issued the following statement today:
“After numerous unfulfilled requests for an Electronic Communication (EC) related to the opening of the FBI’s Russia counterintelligence probe, Chairman Trey Gowdy and I met this afternoon with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. During the meeting, we were finally given access to a version of the EC that contained the information necessary to advance the Committee’s ongoing investigation of the Department of Justice and FBI. Although the subpoenas issued by this Committee in August 2017 remain in effect, I’d like to thank Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein for his cooperation today.” (link)
The two-page electronic communication (EC) is essentially the intelligence report from CIA Director John Brennan, that started the FBI Counterintelligence Operation against the campaign of Donald Trump.
U.S. Attorney John Lausch appears on Fox and Friends morning show to discuss the ongoing issue of releasing documents to congress yet retain integrity of potential criminal evidence that may be used in future proceedings.
Lausch notes the FBI two-page document that initiated the 2016 FBI counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump is not under his authority to release.
During an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner today U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed a response letter he received from FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Senator Paul inquired with the FBI Director about whether reassigned FBI Agent Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI Attorney Lisa Page still retained their Top Secret FBI clearances.
According to Senator Paul, the FBI director would not respond to specific agent inquiry, however, Wray did affirm that all existing FBI officials retain Top Secret clearances.
In essence, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, despite being removed from investigative authority over their role in the political efforts to target President Trump, retain employment within the DOJ/FBI apparatus in an unknown capacity and thereby their clearances.
This information by Rand Paul dovetails into an increasingly obvious storyline where Lisa Page and Peter Strzok remain employed because they are cooperating with the internal investigation by Inspector General Michael Horowitz and parallel federal prosecutor John Huber.
Giddy up… HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes says either FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein give him the “electronic communication” (EC) documents (initiated the counterintelligence operation against candidate Trump in July 2016) or congress will hold an impeachment vote.
FBI Director Wray and DOJ Deputy Rosenstein have until tomorrow night.
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*Important Note* The person would know everything there is about this July 2016 EC is FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap.