A more detailed post is going to come out later this morning highlighting what we know of the current positioning and status of the DOJ, as we move ever closer to execution of ‘phase-2’, a full public briefing and delivery mechanism.  However, in the interim something to keep in mind…

Almost no-one that I talked to in Washington DC, media, congress or research staffers in either the House or Senate ever bothered to actually watch Rod Rosenstein’s June testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.   Yes, you read that correctly.  If you are counting on DOJ, Barr or Durham, keep this factoid in mind…  Approximately 9 out of 10 beltway people have absolutely no idea what Rosenstein said.  This includes all chief-of-staff’s for most GOP senators, and every single House and Senate staffer (including Senior Staff) assigned to assist the congressional investigations…  Let that sink in as you watch this.

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This video is another fine snippet by our friend John Spiropoulos. Think about how this would play-out if mainstream media, including the tick-tock club, were paying attention.

The former Deputy Attorney General, a man who AG Bill Barr has praised vociferously, testifies two months ago that the Steele Dossier IS NOT in the FISA application to spy on Team Trump. As Spiropoulos outlines, contrast that position with what the Inspector General and the documents already said. This is what we are up against.

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One of the biggest mistakes many people have made in their evaluation of Rod Rosenstein is separating him from the Special Counsel investigation run by Robert Mueller’s team of resistance lawyers. The reality is Rosenstein was always a willing active participant and co-dependent enabler.  [Thread Here]

Support for this foundational understanding comes forward yesterday as the former Deputy Attorney General showcases his support for an op-ed presumably written by Robert Mueller.

[Op-Ed Here]

[*Authorship is tenuous at best, and more likely written by Weissmann or Zelby (Lawfare) on behalf of Mueller] But for now, focus on Rosenstein.

Notice how Rosenstein positions his current advocacy as part of the Mueller team. This is critical; and unfortunately everyone keeps missing it. Rosenstein did the same thing in his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

When you stand back it becomes clear, Rosenstein viewed his role with the special counsel as participatory. He was Deputy AG not only as DAG, but also there as a functionary – to facilitate the needs of the special counsel investigation.

This outlook, specifically Rosenstein’s internal definition of his role and responsibility, is why the special counsel was able to essentially take over Main Justice during the two year investigation. Rosenstein took NO ACTION that was not approved by his teammates.

This becomes key.

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Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard “Ric” Grenell appears on Newsmax TV to discuss his perspectives on the concerted effort of former Obama officials to disrupt the incoming administration of President Donald Trump.

As noted by Grenell the Obama team intentionally coordinated a resistance operation against the incoming administration, while their allies in remaining institutions workd furiously on a false Trump-Russia narrative to undercut President Trump.

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Apparently stall tactics are all the rage amid a political judiciary that is collapsing from a quickly metastasizing cancer inside the third branch of government.

Today the Supreme court blocked in part, and punted in part, on three cases related to the resistance effort to gain the private financial records of President Trump.  The bottom line is that none of the decisions today will likely be resolved before the November election.

♦ In the Trump -v- Vance case, a subpoena by a Manhattan district attorney, the justices (by a vote of 7-2) rejected the president’s claim that he is immune from state grand jury proceedings while he is in office. However, the decision in that case does not mean  financial records the grand jury seeks will be turned over.  As Amy Howe notes: “the court sent the case back to the trial court and agreed that the president could still argue that complying with this subpoena would interfere with his ability to do his job.”

This was the case outcome that likely frustrated President Trump the most because it forces him to continue fighting, and spending, against Lawfare resistance activists in state courts as accusations are brought by politically motivated state prosecutors.

♦ In the Trump -v- Mazars case, which is a combination of two rolled-up cases combining different legislative efforts (congressional subpoenas) to gain Trump’s financial records, the justices (again 7-2) sent the combined cases back to lower courts after highlighting that legislative subpoenas must be made for a “valid legislative purpose” not for law enforcement.  This aspect is based on the clear separation of powers in the constitution.

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House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler appears with for an interview by furrowed brow to discuss his upcoming use of former DOJ lawyers John W. Elias and Aaron S.J. Zelinsky  as designated “whistleblowers” to give testimony against AG Bill Barr this week.

Zelinsky and Elias are being brought in to testify about their recommendation(s) for a nine-year prison sentence for Roger Stone & AG Bill Barr reducing that recommendation.  The purpose of the Zelinsky/Elias move was specifically to get the AG to intervene.  It was all a set up from the start; purposeful Lawfare.  A resistance strategy, executed.

Within the interview Nadler outlines his hope that recently dismissed USAO Geoffrey Berman would join the crew of DOJ resistance members who would align against the current AG.  However, Nadler retreats from any position that would actually target Bill Barr for impeachment proceedings.  The reason is transparently obvious, Nadler recognizes any impeachment effort would serve as a mechanism for Barr to point out the gross level of corrupt political agendas within the former employees.  WATCH:

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By using his committee to attack Bill Barr, chairman Nadler positions himself to impugn the Attorney General as a defensive strategy against any sunlight from the ongoing “outside” USAO investigations, which includes John Durham.   However, Nadler doesn’t want to provide a platform where Barr can use those attacks to trigger his releases.

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Officially it’s being called a “resignation” according to the Associated Press.  However, all the right Lawfare “beach friends” are going bananas as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, is being replaced.  [DOJ Announcement Here]

According to the DOJ release Berman is being replaced by the nomination of Jay Clayton, currently the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Additionally, “Craig Carpenito, currently the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, will serve as the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, while the Senate is considering Jay Clayton’s nomination.”

(Via AP) […] Geoffrey S. Berman is stepping down as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. The office is one of the nation’s premiere districts, trying major mob cases and terror cases over the years.

It was unclear why Berman was leaving his position after serving more than two years. The announcement was made late Friday and came after Barr visited New York City to meet with local police officials. And Trump is nominating the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission to the job, a lawyer with virutally no experience as a federal prosecutor. (link)

UPDATE: USAO Geoffrey Berman is refusing to leave:

Well, there we have it.  That explains things; Jeffrey Berman is a member of the Lawfare resistance, a “beach friend” per se…

It’s worth keeping in mind that Berman’s office was the lead in several high profile cases assembled by Robert Mueller.  Additionally, AG Barr brought in five+ outside U.S. attorney’s to review all of the Mueller cases as an outcome of the FISA court order to conduct a sequestration review of any/all evidence that might have been used as an outcome of the fraudulently obtained Carter Page FISA warrant.

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The notoriously political DOJ lawyer who was assigned to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, has joined notoriously political DOJ lawyer Andrew Weissmann as a paid MSNBC analyst. The media are not even pretending any more.

Laughably, the media assembly of highly partisan DOJ and FBI officials continues.

However, apparently the left-wing media does not think the American electorate will see all of these political operatives, gathering under one collective presence, as an indication of their extreme bias and political intent.  They have no credibility left to burn.

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John Bash, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, has been assigned to assist USAO John Durham in the investigation of corrupt and malign activity by former USIC,  DOJ and FBI officials.  USAO Bash is in addition to USAO Jeff Jensen who is reviewing activity specifically as it pertains to General Michael Flynn.

John Bash is assigned to review the scale and severity of overall Obama-era unmasking to identify if laws were broken, and or if downstream leakers can be identified.

Tonight Sean Hannity invites Justice Dept. Spokesperson Kerri Kupec onto his television show so she could listen to him talk about it.  Within the interview: “the attorney general determined that certain aspects of unmasking needed to be reviewed separately as a support to John Durham’s investigation,” Ms. Kupec said. WATCH:

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Within an interesting interview conducted by Jan Jekielek of Epoch Times, former AAG Matt Whitaker confirms what CTH long suspected. The Mueller investigation was used by corrupt interests within the special counsel’s office to threaten any/all executive branch and congressional officials with “obstruction of justice” charges if they revealed any exculpatory or counter-narrative information during the Mueller probe.

Whitaker describes this as the “obstruction of justice trap.”

Essentially, this approach confirms the second-prong purpose of the Mueller investigation itself. First, use the special counsel in 2017, 2018 and into the beginning of 2019, as a shield (hide information); and secondly a weapon (threats) against any entity who would reveal the background intelligence that undercut the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.

We know President Trump was threatened by Rod Rosenstein not to declassify any information in September of 2018 or the Mueller investigation would use that act as evidence of obstruction. Whitaker confirms that same approach was applied toward any executive branch officer who would reveal or release information to congress during the tenure of the special counsel; even within the DOJ and including the attorney general.

This is how the Mueller probe was weaponized to mislead the American people.

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CTH wants details.  Details on the process of this testimony from Rod Rosenstein; how it will be structured, how much time the committee will allow; who is questioning, Skype or in-person? Why are details important? Because CTH has enough questions to take more than a full day just from our independent research.

Additionally, Rosenstein is at the epicenter of the ‘insurance policy’ phase of the coup against President Trump.  If the intent of Graham is to provide both transparency or a cover-up, former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein is who you’d start with on both fronts.

According to numerous media reports Rod Rosenstein is scheduled to be the first witness to testify before Senator Lindsey Graham’s Judiciary Committee.

We have over two dozen documented contacts between Rosenstein and Robert Mueller before the special counsel was launched.  The first contact was a phone call the morning after former FBI Director James Comey was fired.  Literally hours after Comey was fired, based -in part- on a letter written by the former DAG recommending the firing, Rosenstein was coordinating the appointment of the special counsel to investigate President Trump.

You could spend several hours of inquiry into just that part of the decision-making process alone; without even touching the ramifications of his role in the Carter Page FISA applications and what came next.   Rosenstein was also the principle influence agent in 2018 who told President Trump not to declassify any documents requested by congress or POTUS would be facilitating an ‘obstruction’ charge against the office of the President.

Yeah, Rosenstein has a lot to answer for.

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