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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The transcripts of the closed-door deposition of Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland were released today by the Lawfare impeachment organizers and Adam Schiff.   Both pdf’s are below; however, first it is worth reestablishing a bigger, more important, context.

In the fall of 2016, long before the term “spygate” reached the lexicon of political followers, CTH research discovered the background use and weaponization of the intelligence apparatus.  This was before the November 2016 election. We didn’t exactly know who was involved, but we outlined what appeared to be a coordinated effort amid the intelligence community, current and former officials, politicians (both parties), and media.
Immediately after the November election, when CTH noted NSA Director Mike Rogers unscheduled visit to Trump Tower & the immediate moving of the Trump transition team, our review took on a more narrowed focus.  It was at that point when CTH outlined a simplistic 30,000 ft. explanation ‘black hat’ and ‘white hat‘ ops. [I regret those terms]
In the year that followed, CTH was blasted for outlining what appeared to be a planned, organized, and very concerted effort within a network of DC interests, to conduct spy and surveillance operations against candidate Trump, president-elect Trump and President Trump. We were labeled conspiracy theorists by both sides of the political spectrum.
We outlined how the Evelyn Farkas’ inadvertent admissions on MSNBC spoke to a coordinated effort that no-one was paying attention to.  However, it wasn’t until March 20th, 2017, when James Comey testified before the HPSCI and took an unanticipated series of questions from then freshman representative Elise Stefanik, and CTH outlined the specifics behind the admissions made by the FBI Director, that people started to realize what we had been saying for the past six months was indeed structurally evident.
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Journalist and author Lee Smith sits down for a lengthy interview with Jan Jekielek about his new book “The Plot Against The President”:

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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HPSCI ranking member Devin Nunes discusses the new Lee Smith book “The Plot Against The President” and how Fusion-GPS used distribution of protodossiers to the media prior to the assembly by Fusion contractor Christopher Steele.
One of the more remarkable aspects to the political weaponization of the intelligence apparatus was the complicity of specific journalists and specific outlets to advance the Russian collusion-conspiracy narrative.

In 2016 the creative leftists behind the Clinton campaign developed a campaign conspiracy theory that Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump were conspiring to stop Hillary from ascending to her birthright, the presidency.

In 2017 a sketchy fellow within the U.S. Department of Justice, Rod Rosenstein, fueled the Cinton conspiracy by appointing a panel of Hillary sycophants to investigate the collusion.
In the most embarrassing episode in U.S. government history, more than twenty lawyers, fifty FBI agents, and a host of administrative enablers were assigned to the case.  A muttering semi-cogent former FBI official in the twilight of his cognitive capabilities was brought-in to give credibility. Leftist media proclaimed the assembly: a dream team.
Spending tens-of-millions of taxpayer funds, for two years the crew dispatched themselves across the globe to track down the trail of Vladimir and Donald’s grand plan for planetary conquest.  As customary, the leftist media never paused to look at the abject stupidity of it…. and so it continued.
At the end of the multi-year, multi-continent endeavor, the crew reassembled in Washington DC to debrief their findings and write a report about their jaw-dropping discoveries.  Unfortunately for the transfixed media the million-man-hour probe found nothing.  Their final report showed: no collusion, no conspiracy.
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Today the DOJ files their surreply to the game-changing Flynn motion to compel Brady material filed by defense attorney Sidney Powell (full pdf below).  Within the DOJ filing the prosecution generally makes four arguments:

1. The government had no legal obligation to provide exculpatory Brady material prior to the plea agreement (Nov 30th, 2017).
2. After the plea agreement the government had no legal obligation to provide exculpatory Brady material that was not directly related to the evidence about the charge of Flynn lying to investigators during the January 24th, 2017, interview.
3. The government uses odd language to claim a draft of the Flynn interview report (FD-302) does not exist prior to their Feb 10th construct: “Even if an earlier draft of the [302] once existed, there is no reason to believe it would materially differ” from the agents’ notes.  Sounds sketchy, like they know an earlier draft does likely exist.
4. The government severely understates the conflict of interest created by the DOJ using the leverage of an incorrectly completed FARA submission to pressure the Flynn plea.

Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell will now be allowed to file a sur-surreply to the position of the DOJ prosecutors.
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Lee Smith has a new book about “The Plot Against The President” that is selling like hot-cakes.  Today he appeared with Maria Bartiromo to discuss how the ongoing impeachment effort is actually just another step on the removal continuum.

HPSCI Ranking Member Devin Nunes sits down for a lengthy interview with Jan Jekielek to discuss Spygate and the House investigation of the 2016 election known as “Objective Medusa”, the committee investigation that yielded the Nunes memo.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy weighs in on the latest developments within the Michael Flynn case.   As McCarthy points out, if Judge Sullivan doesn’t accept the defense position of gross misconduct by the prosecution; and if Sullivan does not dismiss the case; Flynn could end up on a worse position than the prior plea agreement.
Additionally McCarthy discusses the potential risks present for John Brennan, James Clapper and James Comey; and then goes in to his perspective on the impeachment inquiry.