Margot Cleveland has an interesting article in The Federalist today outlining how the DOJ (Mueller) investigation of Christopher Steele was dropped [READ HERE]. Essentially the article outlines how Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley sent a criminal referral of Chris Steele to Rosenstein/Mueller in January 2018; however the case was used as a shield to ward-off FOIA inquiry, but the case was never actually pursued – and eventually dropped.

At the time of the 2018 referral CTH noted the Grassley/Graham referral was not what it appeared [See Here]. Additionally, with hindsight and a greater understanding of the Mueller team corruption, we can see how this specific referral hits the center of the FBI intent around their Russia collusion-conspiracy.
The issue surrounds the October 2016 Carter Page FISA application and how the Steele Dossier was used therein.
When the stories first broke about the Steele Dossier being the majority of the FBI evidence (December 2017), the FBI investigators were claiming they were never aware of Chris Steele shopping his dossier to the media. However, at the same time Glenn Simpson was testifying to congress that the FBI knew Chris Steele was shopping the dossier.
SIDE NOTE: The need for everyone to see what Fusion-GPS (Glenn Simpson) was saying is the reason why Dianne Feinstein “accidentally” released the Simpson transcript (remember, she had a cold). Feinstein released the transcript five days after the Graham/Grassley referral. Democrats knew everyone needed to be on the same page and reading from the same manuscript. I digress…
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Well, he called them out. President Trump knew if he supported a program to resettle illegal aliens in sanctuary cities, the hypocrisy of the left would come out… and boy was he right.
The champion for Hollywood’s far-left resistance movement, actress and singer Cher, jumps into action and sends the ultimate NIMBY (not in my back yard) message:
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Ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Doug Collins, discusses the latest developments in the 2016 presidential election surveillance and spying scandal known as “spygate”. Rep. Collins has been releasing transcripts that show how the CIA, DOJ and FBI collaborated in an effort to derail the Trump campaign; and then use the intelligence community to fabricate a Russian conspiracy-collusion justification.
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This is infuriating…. Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda is charged with attempted homicide after throwing a random five-year-old boy from the third level of the Mall of America. How does Reuters present the story:
(Reuters Tweet – Story)
The Minnesota Mall of America is well known for danger and violence due to its proximity to a large Muslim population near Minneapolis. However, it is not politically correct to talk about it openly…. thus Reuters pulls out the cultural Marxist headline transcriber. Ridiculous.
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During a rather innocuous podcast discussion panel yesterday, one of President Trump’s personal lawyers Jay Sekulow mentioned the FBI had three FISA applications denied by the FISA court in 2016. [Podcast Here – Note comment at 25:05] The denials were always suspected; however, until now no-one in/around the administration has ever confirmed.
Jay Sekulow did not expand on his statement and did not explain where the information was derived from; however, if accurate this may explain the backstory to why FISA Judge Rudolph Contreras was recused. This issue has been nagging many people since the recusal notation in December 2017.

On November 30th, 2017, Mike Flynn signed a guilty plea; ostensibly admitting lying to investigators. The plea was accepted by Judge Rudolph Contreras; who is also a FISA court judge. Six days later, December 7th, 2017, Judge Contreras “was recused” from the case without explanation.
(Reuters) The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge presiding over the criminal case for President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has been recused from handling the case, a court spokeswoman said on Thursday. (read more)
The only two significant things that happened between the initial Mike Flynn plea hearing and the recusal from Judge Contreras was:
#1) The stories about anti-Trump FBI Agent Peter Strzok and his involvement with Fusion-GPS and Christopher Steele (keep this in mind as it pertains to FISC presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer); and
#2) FBI Director Chris Wray appearing before the House Judicial Committee and hearing Representative Jim Jordan demand to see the 2016 FISA application.
In fact, Judge Contreras was recused only a few hours after that House Judicial Committee hearing. The story was memory-holed into the concentric whirlpool of nothingness. However, if what Jay Sekulow describes is true, and one of the denied FISA applications was against Mike Flynn, some of the issues reconcile.
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President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani appears on Fox News today to outline the case for a spying and surveillance conspiracy against candidate Trump; and then later the same group moved to frame president-elect and President Trump for the non existent crime of collusion.
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Bloomberg News has an interesting story today describing remarks delivered by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. According to Jennifer Jacobs the DAG told the audience at a private Metropolitian Club lunch the Mueller Report will highlight the primary investigative focus of “Russian Cyber Crimes”.

If this report is accurate, and CTH believes it is, this goes a long way to explaining why U.K. authorities moved now to throw a bag over Julian Assange. First the report:
(Bloomberg) Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report describes Russian cybercrimes during the 2016 election.
The report, which is expected to be released soon, will clear up questions about the Russian campaign to interfere in the election President Donald Trump won, Rosenstein said in a speech given to a private group at the Metropolitan Club of Washington, according to three people in attendance.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London today and taken to the Westminster Magistrates Court where he was charged with skipping bail. [Details Here] Assange will likely spend 12 months in British jail while pending extradition to the U.S. for crimes related to the Chelsea Manning classified information leak – also outlined in a U.S. indictment unsealed today (full pdf below)
In the U.S. Assange is charged with a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for his role in assisting Manning. [DOJ Press Release Here] The simultaneous operation to remove Assange, charge and hold on the bail violation, and unseal the U.S. indictment, appears to be a coordinated effort by the U.S. and U.K. government. Holding Assange for the bail violation allows U.S. authorities the time needed for the criminal extradition process.
That said, the issues with Assange and how they related to British and American interests is a multi-layered story with various ramifications for both governments.
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Wow, CPL is having a very bad day. [Details Here] The scale of the new grand jury indictments against Avenatti for his alleged criminal behavior is clear; if convicted on all counts he could spend 335 years in prison.
Attorney Michael Avenatti has been charged in a 36-count federal indictment alleging he stole millions of dollars from clients, did not pay his taxes, committed bank fraud and lied in bankruptcy proceedings.
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DOJ Details on Avenatti Indictment HERE
Boy howdy this video snippet of Maxine Waters is apropos of the bizarre results we get when voters put democrats in office. Ms. Maxine is Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee. In 2010, as part of the Obamcare law, the U.S. federal government took over all federal student loans. Apparently Chairwoman Waters was unaware of this….
WATCH:
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Quite incredible those banking executives didn’t start laughing. Strong self control.
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