The Mueller investigation was cited to President Trump, by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, as a specific reason not to declassify certain documents. Here’s a link to the General Principles of declassification [SEE HERE] Yes, the President can declassify anything; however, there is a process that must be followed.

With the completion of the Mueller investigation, it would appear that President Trump could now declassify the documents as requested by congress on September 6th, 2018. Additionally, after the original declassification request, there were other documents added to the list. Perhaps it is worthwhile remembering what those declassification documents are:
♦ The first item(s) is/are the Carter Page FISA applications (including specifically pages 10-12 and 17-34 and relevant footnotes). This request was modified to include the last 22 pages of the third renewal of the FISA application (dated July 2016).
(more…)
Fox News ran a special report on the Mueller investigation concluding with several key interviews. ♦Devin Nunes discusses the recent revelations around the McCabe text messages, and material he wants to see declassified, along with his intent to submit several criminal referrals. ♦David Bosse discusses the political ramifications of the Mueller probe. ♦Gregg Jarrett discusses the issues within the DOJ and FBI. ♦Alan Dershowitz discusses the FISA court and possible abuse.
(more…)
According to most media reporting AG William Barr is meeting with Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein today and reviewing the completed Mueller report. At the end of this review, according to statute, AG Barr will commission a “Principle Conclusion” summary report that he will deliver to congress. As of 4:00pm EST, the White House has not been privately briefed on the Mueller findings.

The summary report from AGBarr will be given to House and Senate judiciary oversight committees before wider dissemination. The Chair of the House Judiciary Committee is Jerry Nadler (ranking member Doug Collins); the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is Lindsey Graham (Vice-Chair Dianne Feinstein). AG William Barr may also brief those committees, or he may assign DAG Rosenstein to the briefing.
Depending on conversations between the DOJ and congressional leadership, there’s also a possibility of a more extensive briefing covering details within the Mueller investigation. However, that briefing would likely be reserved for the intelligence oversight group known as the “Gang of Eight”: Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Adam Schiff, Devin Nunes, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Richard Burr and Mark Warner.
Due to the politics surrounding the Barr report, it is likely the White House will be given the Principle Conclusion Summary around the same time as congress. The White House (executive branch) may also be able to review the full underlying documentation behind the summary…. that’s likely where the political fight for the ‘narrative’ will take place.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi tipped her hand at the Democrat approach during a strategy meeting today. According to early reporting Pelosi will refuse to attend any ‘Gang of Eight’ briefing and will demand the full investigative file be declassified:
(more…)
Not a Tick-Tock
All day long, even before the Mueller news broke, Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge has really been leaning-forward, giving insight into the pending Inspector General report by OIG Michael Horowitz. Herridge is one of those reporters who is careful not to get out in front of her skis. Ms. Herridge is not a book-selling member of the tick-tock community of pundits.

We noted earlier how the specific emphasis of Ms. Herridge seemed to indicate the Horowitz report was closer to the surface of completion than previously thought.
Immediately after the Mueller news broke (around 5pm EST), Herridge filed her first live report providing details of the Mueller report. Within that first report Herridge stated she was previously bound to “confidences” until the Mueller probe was complete.
In subsequent reporting we begin to see what those confidences are, and how they connect to her exclusive reporting on text messages between Andrew McCabe and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
Ms. Herridge is strongly emphasizing a few key points that need additional emphasis:
(more…)
With a few exceptions CTH is not a big fan of expecting congressional letters to deliver results and information. However, that said, I hope this is one of the exceptions.
Representatives Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows send a letter (full pdf below) to Attorney General William Barr wanting to know what is the status of the criminal referral for fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
The referral was made April 19th, 2018, approximately five days after the OIG published their report outlining McCabe’s lies.


The McCabe criminal referral was made to Jessie K. Liu (above right), the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who is also a member of the Attorney General Advisory Council (AGAC). According to reporting from last year there was a grand jury impaneled in/around July 2018.
Grand Jury testimony and activity is generally kept quiet; there have been no leaks and no public activity noted in the past eight months. However, Mr. McCabe has recently been highly visible on his book tour. Adding to speculation the grand jury may no longer exist, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu is expected to be nominated to the #3 spot at the DOJ.
Given the distance from the original McCabe grand jury investigation (8 months); and accepting the current high-profile book tour by Andrew McCabe; and considering Ms. Liu is soon to exit as U.S. Attorney for DC; it would appear Mr. Jordan and Mr. Meadows are inquiring about whether or not the legal issues around McCabe still remain.
(more…)
On the same day that polls show Americans increasingly see through the false premise of the Mueller investigation, and now agree that it’s a ‘witch hunt’, President Trump tweeted out a video segment from Tucker Carlson’s opening monologue. The video is below. The topic is how the Russia Hoax was pushed on the U.S. electorate:
(more…)
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the reasoning and sequencing of congressional transcript releases highlighting the FBI and DOJ officials who participated in the political weaponization of their offices.
According to Representative Collins there will be more releases of congressional transcripts timed and sequenced to tell the details behind a very complex story.
(more…)
Earlier today President Donald Trump tweeted his support for the full and transparent release of a final report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller:

Interestingly President Trump notes a discussion with “leadership”, presumably Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, advocating they too should support the transparency of the release. Obviously, from the position of President Trump, there is no ‘there’ there behind the years-long Russia Collusion claim that originated the appointment of the special counsel.
President Trump then went on to outline the reason behind his support for full transparency; which highlights his frustration with a weaponized and highly charged political Special Counsel appointment.
(more…)

The one consistent discovery that CTH has been hammering home over a year-and-a-half, is that Chris Steele did not write the dossier. The information within the dossier was a collection of old research by Glenn Simpson and Mary Jacoby at Fusion-GPS; in combination with new research, claims and details provided by Nellie Ohr.
Our 2017/2018 research has always shown the collaborative files of Simpson and Ohr were then laundered by contracting British intelligence analyst Christopher Steele, with some effort of secondary validation, and assembly into a formal intelligence product that could be pushed into the U.S. intelligence community. The ‘push‘ included contacts with media, Dept of State, and politicians like John McCain.
Ranking member of the HPSCI Devin Nunes outlined to Sean Hannity he too has come to this conclusion. [Listen, pay attention to @02:00]
(more…)
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham challenges Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to amend his Mueller report resolution and permit adding the appointment of a Special Counsel to look into the numerous 2016 election abuses by the DOJ and FBI.
Chuck Schumer says ‘go spit‘. Graham stands back up and says: ‘thank you‘ but he shall endeavor to investigate the issues with, or without, Democrat support.
.
(more…)