The People’s President delivering buckets of fun. During a refueling stop in Alaska, en route to Japan, President Trump greets a standing group of smiling troops at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson… “I figured I might as well get out of the plane.” [Video]
Repost by Request – Considering the upcoming declassification window…between Trump’s state visit in Japan (5/25 – 5/28) and the state visit with the U.K (6/3 – 6/5).
Bucket Five – Intelligence documents that were presented to the Gang of Eight in 2016 that pertain to the FISA application used against U.S. person Carter Page; including all exculpatory intelligence documents that may not have been presented to the FISA Court. Presumably this would include the recently revealed State Dept Kavalac email; and the FBI transcripts from wiretaps of George Papadopoulos (also listed in Carter Page FISA).
Now that we have significant research files on the 2015 and 2016 political surveillance program; which includes the trail evident within the Weissmann/Mueller report; in combination with the Obama-era DOJ “secret research project” (their words, not mine); we are able to overlay the entire objective and gain a full understanding of how political surveillance was conducted over a period of approximately four to six years.
This is why there’s panic.
Working with a timeline, but also referencing origination material in 2015/2016 – CTH hopes to show how the program operated. This explains an evolution from The IRS Files in 2010 to the FISA Files in 2016.
More importantly, research indicates the modern political exploitation of the NSA database, for weaponized intelligence surveillance of politicians, began mid 2012.
The FISA-702 database extraction process, and utilization of the protections within the smaller intelligence community, was the primary process. We start by reviewing the established record from the 99-page FISC opinion rendered by Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer on April 26th, 2017; and explain the details within the FISC opinion.
I would strongly urge everyone to read the FISC report (full pdf below) because Judge Collyer outlines how the DOJ, which includes the FBI, had an “institutional lack of candor” in responses to the FISA court. In essence, the Obama administration was continually lying to the court about their activity, and the rate of fourth amendment violations for illegal searches and seizures of U.S. persons’ private information for multiple years.
Unfortunately, due to intelligence terminology Judge Collyer’s brief and ruling is not an easy read for anyone unfamiliar with the FISA processes outlined. The complexity also helps the media avoid discussing, and as a result most Americans have no idea the scale and scope of the issues. So we’ll try to break down the language.
.For the sake of brevity and common understanding CTH will highlight the most pertinent segments showing just how systemic and troublesome the unlawful electronic surveillance was.
Early in 2016 NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers was alerted of a significant uptick in FISA-702(17) “About” queries using the FBI/NSA database that holds all metadata records on every form of electronic communication.
The NSA compliance officer alerted Admiral Mike Rogers who then initiated a full compliance audit on/around March 9th, 2016, for the period of November 1st, 2015, through May 1st, 2016.
While the audit was ongoing, due to the severity of the results that were identified, Admiral Mike Rogers stopped anyone from using the 702(17) “about query” option, and went to the extraordinary step of blocking all FBI contractor access to the database on April 18, 2016(keep these dates in mind).
The key takeaway from these first paragraphs is how the search query results were exported from the NSA database to users who were not authorized to see the material. The FBI contractors were conducting searches and then removing, or ‘exporting’, the results. Later on, the FBI said all of the exported material was deleted.
Searching the highly classified NSA database is essentially a function of filling out search boxes to identify the user-initiated search parameter and get a return on the search result.
FISA-702(16) is a search of the system returning a U.S. person (“702”); and the “16” is a check box to initiate a search based on “To and From“. Example, if you put in a date and a phone number and check “16” as the search parameter the user will get the returns on everything “To and From” that identified phone number for the specific date. Calls, texts, contacts etc. Including results for the inbound and outbound contacts.
FISA-702(17) is a search of the system returning a U.S. person (702); and the “17” is a check box to initiate a search based on everything “About” the search qualifier. Example, if you put a date and a phone number and check “17” as the search parameter the user will get the returns of everything about that phone. Calls, texts, contacts, geolocation (or gps results), account information, user, service provider etc. As a result, 702(17) can actually be used to locate where the phone (and user) was located on a specific date or sequentially over a specific period of time which is simply a matter of changing the date parameters.
And that’s just from a phone number.
Search an ip address “about” and read all data into that server; put in an email address and gain everything about that account. Or use the electronic address of a GPS enabled vehicle (about) and you can withdraw more electronic data and monitor in real time. Search a credit card number and get everything about the account including what was purchased, where, when, etc. Search a bank account number, get everything about transactions and electronic records etc. Just about anything and everything can be electronically searched; everything has an electronic ‘identifier’.
The search parameter is only limited by the originating field filled out. Names, places, numbers, addresses, etc. By using the “About” parameter there may be thousands or millions of returns. Imagine if you put “@realdonaldtrump” into the search parameter? You could extract all following accounts who interacted on Twitter, or Facebook etc. You are only limited by your imagination and the scale of the electronic connectivity.
As you can see below, on March 9th, 2016, internal auditors noted the FBI was sharing “raw FISA information, including but not limited to Section 702-acquired information”.
In plain English the raw search returns were being shared with unknown entities without any attempt to “minimize” or redact the results. The person(s) attached to the results were named and obvious. There was no effort to hide their identity or protect their 4th amendment rights of privacy:
But what’s the scale here? This is where the story really lies.
Read this next excerpt carefully.
The operators were searching “U.S Persons”. The review of November 1, 2015, to May 1, 2016, showed “eighty-five percent of those queries” were unlawful or “non compliant”.
We can tell from the space of the redaction the number of searches were between 1,000 and 9,999 [five digits]. If we take the middle number of 5,000 – that means 4,250 unlawful searches out of 5,000.
The [five digit] amount (more than 1,000, less than 10,000), and 85% error rate, was captured in a six month period.
Also notice this very important quote: “many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.” So they were searching the same phone number, email address, electronic “identifier”, or people, repeatedly over different dates. Specific people were being tracked/monitored.
Additionally, notice the last quote: “while the government reports it is unable to provide a reliable estimate of” these non lawful searches “since 2012, there is no apparent reason to believe the November 2015 [to] April 2016 coincided with an unusually high error rate”.
That means the 85% unlawful FISA-702(16)(17) database abuse has likely been happening since 2012. (Again, remember that date, 2012) Who was FBI Director? Who was his chief-of-staff? Who was CIA Director? ODNI? etc. Remember, the NSA is inside the Pentagon (Defense Dept) command structure. Who was Defense Secretary? And finally, who wrote and signed-off-on the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment?
Tens of thousands of searches over four years (since 2012), and 85% of them are illegal. The results were extracted for?…. (I believe this is all political opposition use; and I’ll explain why momentarily.)
OK, that’s the stunning scale; but who was involved?
Private contractors with access to “raw FISA information that went well beyond what was necessary to respond to FBI’s requests“:
And as noted, the contractor access was finally halted on April 18th, 2016.
[Coincidentally (or not), the wife of Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson, Mary Jacoby, goes to the White House the next day on April 19th, 2016.]
None of this is conspiracy theory.
All of this is laid out inside this 99-page opinion from FISC Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer who also noted that none of this FISA abuse was accidental in a footnote on page 87: “deliberate decisionmaking“:
This specific footnote, if declassified, would be key. Note the phrase: “([redacted] access to FBI systems was the subject of an interagency memorandum of understanding entered into [redacted])”, this sentence has the potential to expose an internal decision; withheld from congress and the FISA court by the Obama administration; that outlines a process for access and distribution of surveillance data.
Note: “no notice of this practice was given to the FISC until 2016“, that is important.
Summary of this aspect: The FISA court identified and quantified tens-of-thousands of search queries of the NSA/FBI database using the FISA-702(16)(17) system. The database was repeatedly used by persons with contractor access who unlawfully searched and extracted the raw results without redacting the information and shared it with an unknown number of entities.
The outlined process certainly points toward a political spying and surveillance operation; and we are not the only one to think that’s what this system is being used for.
Back in 2017 when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was working to reauthorize the FISA legislation, Nunes wrote a letter to ODNI Dan Coats about this specific issue:
SIDEBAR: To solve the issue, well, actually attempt to ensure it never happened again, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers eventually took away the “About” query option permanently in 2017. NSA Director Rogers said the abuse was so inherent there was no way to stop it except to remove the process completely. [SEE HERE] Additionally, the NSA database operates as a function of the Pentagon, so the Trump administration went one step further. On his last day as NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers -together with ODNI Dan Coats- put U.S. cyber-command, the database steward, fully into the U.S. military as a full combatant command. [SEE HERE]
There is little doubt the FISA-702(16)(17) database system was used by Obama-era officials, from 2012 through April 2016, as a way to spy on their political opposition. Quite simply there is no other intellectually honest explanation for the scale and volume of database abuse that was taking place.
When we reconcile what was taking place and who was involved, then the actions of the exact same principle participants take on a jaw-dropping amount of clarity.
All of the action taken by CIA Director Brennan, FBI Director Comey, ODNI Clapper and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter make sense. Including their effort to get NSA Director Mike Rogers fired.
Everything after March 9th, 2016, was done to cover up the weaponization of the FISA database. [Explained Here] Spygate, Russia-Gate, the Steele Dossier, and even the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (drawn from the dossier and signed by the above) were needed to create a cover-story and protect themselves from discovery of this four year weaponization, political surveillance and unlawful spying. Even the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel makes sense; he was FBI Director when this began.
The beginning decision to use FISA(702) as a domestic surveillance and political spy mechanism appears to have started in/around 2012. Perhaps sometime shortly before the 2012 presidential election and before John Brennan left the White House and moved to CIA. However, there was an earlier version of data assembly that preceded this effort.
Political spying 1.0 was actually the weaponization of the IRS. This is where the term “Secret Research Project” originated as a description from the Obama team. It involved the U.S. Department of Justice under Eric Holder and the FBI under Robert Mueller. It never made sense why Eric Holder requested over 1 million tax records via CD ROM, until overlaying the timeline of the FISA abuse:
The IRS sent the FBI “21 disks constituting a 1.1 million page database of information from 501(c)(4) tax exempt organizations, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” The transaction occurred in October 2010 (link)
Why disks? Why send a stack of DISKS to the DOJ and FBI when there’s a pre-existing financial crimes unit within the IRS. All of the evidence within this sketchy operation came directly to the surface in early spring 2012.
The IRS scandal was never really about the IRS, it was always about the DOJ asking the IRS for the database of information. That is why it was transparently a conflict when the same DOJ was tasked with investigating the DOJ/IRS scandal. Additionally, Obama sent his chief-of-staff Jack Lew to become Treasury Secretary; effectively placing an ally to oversee/cover-up any issues. As Treasury Secretary Lew did just that.
Lesson Learned – It would appear the Obama administration learned a lesson from attempting to gather a large opposition research database operation inside a functioning organization large enough to have some good people that might blow the whistle.
The timeline reflects a few months after realizing the “Secret Research Project” was now worthless (June 2012), they focused more deliberately on a smaller network within the intelligence apparatus and began weaponizing the FBI/NSA database. If our hunch is correct, that is what will be visible in footnote #69:
Fusion GPS was not hired in April 2016 to research Donald Trump. As shown in the evidence provided by the FISC, the intelligence community was already doing surveillance and spy operations. The Obama administration already knew everything about the Trump campaign, and were monitoring everything by exploiting the FISA database.
However, after the NSA alerts in/around March 9th, 2016, and particularly after the April 18th shutdown of contractor access, the Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to create a legal albeit ex post facto justification for the pre-existing surveillance and spy operations. Fusion GPS gave them that justification in the Steele Dossier.
That’s why the FBI small group, which later transitioned into the Mueller team, are so strongly committed to and defending the formation of the Steele Dossier and its dubious content. The Steele Dossier contains the cover-story and justification for the pre-existing surveillance operation.
During a rather innocuous podcast discussion panel April 12th, 2019, 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.
If Sekulow is accurate, this adds additional context to the actions of the FBI in the aftermath of Admiral Mike Rogers and an increased urgency in gaining legal justification for surveillance and spy operation unlawfully taking place. A valid FISA warrant would help the FBI cover-up the surveillance. The likely targets were Manafort, Flynn and Papadopoulos…. but it appears the DOJ/FBI were rebuked.
These FISC denials would then initiate institutional panic dependent on the election outcome. An insurance policy would be needed. The Steele Dossier becomes the investigative virus the FBI wanted inside the system. To get the virus into official status, they used the FISA application as the delivery method and injected it into Carter Page. The FBI already knew Carter Page; essentially Carter Page was irrelevant, what they needed was the FISA warrant and the Dossier in the system {Go Deep}.
Fusion GPS was not hired to research Trump, the intelligence community was already doing surveillance and spy operations. The intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to give them a plausible justification for already existing surveillance and spy operations.
Fusion-GPS gave them the justification they needed for a FISA warrant with the Steele Dossier. Ultimately that’s why the Steele Dossier is so important; without it, the DOJ and FBI are naked with their FISA-702 abuse as outlined by John Ratcliffe.
No-one really knows the extent of the current documents and/or information that may be subject to the AG Bill Barr declassification. However, this is the original list as outlined in September 2018, and the agencies who would be involved in the declassification process:
♦ President Trump can prove the July 31st, 2016, Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence operation originated from a scheme within the intelligence apparatus by exposing the preceding CIA operation that created the originating “Electronic Communication” memo. Declassify that two-page “EC” document that Brennan gave to Comey. [The trail is found within the Weissmann report and the use of Alexander Downer – SEE HERE]
♦ Release and declassify all of the Comey memos that document the investigative steps taken by the FBI as an outcome of the operation coordinated by CIA Director John Brennan in early 2016. [The trail was memorialized by James Comey – SEE HERE]
♦ Reveal the November 2015 through April 2016 FISA-702 search query abuse by declassifying the April 2017 court opinion written by FISC Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer. Show the FBI contractors behind the 85% fraudulent search queries. [Crowdstrike? Fusion-GPS? Nellie Ohr? Daniel Richman?] This was a weaponized surveillance and domestic political spying operation. [The trail was laid down in specific detail by Judge Collyer – SEE HERE]
♦ Subpoena former DOJ-NSD (National Security Division) head John Carlin, or haul him in front of a grand jury, and get his testimony about why he hid the abuse from the FISA court in October 2016; why the DOJ-NSD rushed the Carter Page application to beat NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers to the FISA court; and why Carlin quit immediately thereafter.
♦ Prove the Carter Page FISA application (October 2016) was fraudulent and based on deceptions to the FISA Court. Declassify the entire document, and release the transcripts of those who signed the application(s); and/or depose those who have not yet testified. The creation of the Steele Dossier was the cover-up operation. [SEE HERE]
♦ Release all of the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages without redactions. Let sunlight pour in on the actual conversation(s) that were taking place when Crossfire Hurricane (July ’16) and the FISA Application (Oct ’16) were taking place. The current redactions were made by the people who weaponized the intelligence system for political surveillance and spy operation. This is why Page and Strzok texts are redacted!
♦ Release all of Bruce Ohr 302’s, FBI notes from interviews and debriefing sessions, and other relevant documents associated with the interviews of Bruce Ohr and his internal communications. Including exculpatory evidence that Bruce Ohr may have shared with FBI Agent Joseph Pientka. [And get a deposition from this Pientka fella] Bruce Ohr is the courier, carrying information from those outside to those on the inside.
♦ Release the August 2nd, 2017, two-page scope memo provided by DAG Rod Rosenstein to special counsel Robert Mueller to advance the fraudulent Trump investigation, and initiate the more purposeful obstruction of justice investigation. Also Release the October 20th, 2017, second scope memo recently discovered. The Scope Memos are keys to unlocking the underlying spy/surveillance cover-up. [SEE HERE and SEE HERE]
The day after President Trump authorized AG Bill Barr to declassify documents relating to 2016 political activity by the intelligence apparatus, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler appeared to almost collapse when he slumped and said he was not well as he sat beside New York mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference.
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The 71-year-old congressman was put on a stretcher and taken to a waiting ambulance for transfer to a local hospital. A representative for Nadler told NBC4 News he was ‘responsive and receiving a check-up.’ He was taken to the hospital for medical attention and later tweeted that he was ‘feeling much better.’ Media Report
British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she will be resigning from office, effective June 7th, immediately following the state visit by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In an emotional statement in front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister made her announcement. Bowing to the inevitable, Theresa May announced she will step down as U.K. Conservative Party leader in two weeks, admitting defeat in her attempt to take Britain out of the European Union and sparking a contest to replace her as prime minister.
Chopper pressers are the best pressers. As President Trump and First Lady Melania depart the White House for Japan, the president paused for an impromptu presser with the White House press pool. [Video and rough draft transcript below]
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[Rough Transcript] […] A — I’m very transparent, so as you know I declassified everything, everything they want, I put it under the auspices of the attorney general. He’s going to be in charge of it. He’s a great gentleman and a highly respected man, so everything that they need is declassified and they’ll able to see how the hoax or witch hunt started and why it started.
It was an attempted coup, an attempted take-down of the president of the United States it should never ever happen to anybody else so it’s very important. People have been asking me to declassify for a long period of time, I decided to do it, and they’ll learn a lot. I hope it’s going to be nice perhaps it won’t be.
Q — inaudible
A — The Middle East, we’re going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective, and uh, some very talented people are going to the Middle East now and we’ll see how, we’ll see what happens. It’ll be about 1500 people.
Q — inaudible
A — Yeah that’s possible, but I do believe you can’t go down two tracks. If you look at Judiciary if you look at what’s going on, all they talk about in the House is this. I’d like to talk about lowering drug prices, which I’ve done better than any president ever. We had a year this year as you know drug prices went down first time in 51 years. I’d like to talk about. Because with Congress you can get it down 40 and 50 percent. But I can’t do that when all they want to do is try and do a redo of the Mueller report. They were very unhappy with the Mueller report, they want to do a redo of the Mueller report. It’s over there is no redo they lost. It was very clear. There was no collusion, there was no obstruction, so there’s no redo.
Q — could Drs be forced to perform gender reassignment surgery ?
A — [hard to hear, either “what do you think’ or ‘we’ll see’]
Q — about Theresa may
A — I feel badly for Theresa. I like her very much. She’s a good woman. She worked very hard. She’s very smart. She decided to do something that some people were surprised at, some people weren’t, it’s of the good of her country. But I like her very much. In fact I’ll be seeing her in 2 weeks.
Q — why are you considering pardoning war criminals, and does that endanger our troops?
A — we’re looking at a lot of different pardons for a lot of different people. Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard, long, you know we teach ’em how to be great fighters. You know when they fight sometimes they get really treated very unfairly so we’re going to take a look at it, I haven’t done anything yet I haven’t made any decisions. There’s 2 or 3 of them right now. It’s a little bit controversial. It’s very possible that I’ll let the trials go on and I’ll make my decision after the trial.
Q – Michael Avenatti?
A — I wish him a lot of luck.
Q- Theresa May and Five-Eyes?
A — I may very well talk to her about that yeah. There’s word and rumor that the FBI and others were involved, CIA were involved, with the UK having to do with the Russian hoax and I may very well able to talk to her about that yes.
Q — Nancy Pelosi?
A — Well I don’t know about the videos, I can tell you, what I need here is to help the country. That’s why I did this. Our country is doing unbelievably well. We have the best economy we’ve probably ever had. We have the best job numbers we’ve ever had. We have the best unemployment numbers we’ve ever had. With all of the unemployment numbers that’s what I’m all about. I don’t think they can go down 2 tracks.
I want to get drug prices down. I want to get things like if you look at infrastructure and others, I want to get a lot of things done. I don’t think they’re capable of going down two tracks. I think they can only do one thing or the other. So let em finish the one. What I don’t think is right is you do a redo. They were very unhappy with the m report. No collusion, no obstruction, no nothing. They’re very unhappy, they’re angry about it. They have to get over their anger, they have to get over their — wait a minute. They have to get over their anger and they have to get in to infrastructure, drug prices and things like that. Because they want to do a redo. Even the fact that they’re asking bob Mueller to testify. He just gave them a 434 page report which says no collusion, which leads to absolutely no obstruction he just gave that report. Why does he have to testify? That’s ridiculous. They want to get onto drug prices, lowering them, we can cut em by 50 or 60 percent. The one thing I’m v proud of also on drug prices I brought it down first time in 51 years that drug prices went down. But if I can work with congress we can cut 50 percent and more off drug prices. I can work with these people… I can absolutely work.
Q — about Nancy Pelosi
This shows how fake you are. When you say a personal attack. Did you hear what she said about me long before I went after her? Did you hear? She made horrible statements, she knows they’re not true, she said terrible things, so I just responded in kind. Look, you think Nancy’s the same as she was? She’s not. Maybe we could all say that. But I think, I think, frankly I think right now we are I’m only speaking for myself I wanna do whats good for the country I think Nancy Pelosi is not helping this country, I think the democrats are obstructionist, they’re hurting our country very very badly. We can pass so many different bills right now but all they want to do is investigate because they failed with Robert Mueller, the Mueller report.
They want to try to get a do-over of the Mueller report. It doesn’t work that way. And just so you know I was the most transparent and am transparent president in history. We gave 500 witnesses, I allowed attorneys to testify in front of bob Mueller. 2500 subpoenas, 1,400,000 pages of documents, we gave it… and then we get a great result and they say oh this is terrible, let’s do it over again. You can’t do it. The country doesn’t have that kind of time.
We’re gonna say. As you know I declassified I guess potentially millions of pages of documents I don’t know what it is I have no idea but I want to be transparent. Everybody wanted me to declassify I’ve done it. And you could almost say he’s the trustee, he’s a highly respected man. Our AG is in charge. Let’s see what he finds. But we have documents now that I have declassified for the purpose of the AG he can then show them to the public, do whatever he wants to do with them, but you have to get down to what happened. Because what happened is a tremendous blight on our country. What happened, the investigation, they tried to do a take-down and you can’t do that. Let me just tell you this should never ever happened to another president again.
Q- what message do you want to spend to military families who are concerned about you sending troops to the Middle East?
A — I think ti’s going to be very good in the Middle East. Iran has been very as you know they stage terror all over the world. They’re a much different country now than when I first got here. When I first got here, they were in 14 different locations fighting. Right now I don’t think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don’t think they want to fight with us. But they cannot have nuclear weapons and under the Obama horrible agreement they would have had nuclear weapons within 5 or 6 years . They can’t have nuclear weapons and they understand that.
Q – why should people trust the AG to select what’s declassified? Even Robert Mueller expressed concerns…
A — the question is so false and so phony. Let me explain to you something. Th AG is one of the most respected ppl in this country and he has been for a long period of time. He’s going to look at a lot of documents. Some he might find interesting, maybe he’ll find none interesting, but for over a year people have asked me to declassify. So what I’ve done is, I’ve declassified everything.
He can look and I hope he looks at the UK, and I hope he looks at Australia, and I hope he looks at Ukraine, I hope he looks at everything, because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country, it’s the greatest hoax, excuse me, excuse me, it’s the greatest hoax probably in the history of our country and somebody has to get to the bottom of it. We’ll see. But for a [long] period of time they’ve wanted me to declassify it and I did.
Q – is this about getting payback?
A — This is about finding out what happened. I won an election. I own it easily. 306 to 223. I won it pretty easily. And I’ll tell you what this is all about what happened and when did it happen because this was an attempted take-down of the president of the United States and we have to find out why did somebody write a text message, two lovers, that if she loses we have an insurance policy? An insurance policy to take down the president? We’re going to find out what happened and why it happened. Let me just tell you, I don’t care about payback, I think it’s very important for our country to find out what happened.
Q — are you worried that these investigations are hurting your re election chances?
A — I don’t know, my poll numbers are very good, you don’t like to report em but I guess we have a 48 today, we have a 51. We have very good poll numbers considering. Now I have to tell you, if you people would give straight news I’d be at 70, I’d be maybe at 75. But you don’t give straight news, you give fake news. With fake news I’m still winning the election. But if you gave serious, good news, the way your’e supposed to, I’d probably be at 70 or 75 based on the economy alone.
Q — on Modi
A — I just spoke to prime minister Modi and I gave him my warmest regards and congratulations. I just spoke to pm Modi minutes ago and I just conveyed congratulations on behalf of our country, myself and everybody. He had a great election when he’s a fine friend of mine, we have a v good relationship with India.
Q — are you being protected by William Barr?
A – No I just want somebody that’s going to be fair. I think William Barr is the most respected man, one of the most respected men doing what he does in our whole country. I just want him to be fair. I don’t want him to be for me or for anybody else, I just want him to be fair and that’s what he is and we’re going to find out what this yields but I will tell you declassifying, people have wanted men to do it for a long time. I think it’s v important to do and basically what are we doing? We’re exposing everything. We’re being, a word that you like, transparent. We’re being ultimately we’re being transparent and that what’s it’s about. Again, this should never ever happen in our country again.
Thank you very much.
Now that President Trump has officially designated the Declassification Memorandum we can review the specifics for process, content and timing. Our previous research led to a set of expectations for the directive. Now, that we have the directive in hand, we gain increased clarity of purpose.
♦ First, President Trump has assigned ownership of the Directive to U.S. Attorney General William Barr. This part was predictable because the purpose of declassification would be to facilitate a DOJ review of how the intelligence apparatus was used in the 2016 election.
Additionally, because the DOJ review encompasses intelligence systems potentially weaponized in 2016 for political purposes and intents, President Trump carries: (a) declassification authority; but also: (b) an inherent conflict. In this DOJ endeavor candidate Trump would have been the target of corrupt agency activity; and therefore would be considered the target/victim if weaponization were affirmed by evidence.
To avoid the conflict President Trump designates the U.S. Attorney General as arbiter and decision-maker for the purposes of declassifying evidence within the investigation:
…”The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information.” (link)
Additionally, AG Bill Barr does not need to assemble the intelligence product for approval by the executive (Trump). Instead the office of the president is granting the AG full unilateral decision-making as to each product being considered for declassification.
This is a huge amount of trust from the President to the Attorney General, and a big responsibility for William Barr:
[Sec 2] …”With respect to any matter classified under Executive Order 13526 of December 29, 2009 (Classified National Security Information), the Attorney General may, by applying the standard set forth in either section 3.1(a) or section 3.1(d) of Executive Order 13526, declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence that relates to the Attorney General’s review referred to in section 1 of this memorandum.” (read more)
The position-designate slightly works around custom insofar as the intelligence hub, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Dan Coats), is given conference – but the decision making is designated to the Attorney General (Bill Barr).
Essentially the DNI will be following the instructions of the AG for this Memorandum. This is slightly unusual; but given the purpose, necessary and expected.
♦ Secondly, following protocol, the Memorandum is specific to the agencies carrying the documentation that will be reviewed by the Attorney General: The Secretary of State (Pompeo); the Secretary of Treasury (Mnuchin); the Secretary of Defense (Shanahan); the Secretary of Energy (Perry); the Secretary of Homeland Security (McAleenan); the Director of National Intelligence (Coats); the Director of the CIA (Haspel), and the Attorney General himself (Barr).
The agencies give insight into the intelligence product (ie. evidence) being reviewed. The Treasury and Energy agency was surprisingly notable:
Considering the purpose of the Memorandum: “The Attorney General is currently conducting a review of intelligence activities relating to the campaigns in the 2016 Presidential election and certain related matters“… The appearance of Treasury and Energy would indicate the pre-existence of investigative evidence; that would be subject to ongoing DOJ review; and potentially be part of ongoing proceedings.
Potential target issues could include: (1) an investigation of Uranium One; (2) an investigation of the Clinton Foundation; and, (3) an investigation of matters related to payments to Iran.
Treasury would come into play with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); which was part of the Uranium One process and also included the Dept. of Energy. Additional related matters could include George Papadopoulos $10k (Treasury); and The Clinton Foundation. [Obviously this is supposition, but there are not too many alternate investigative pathways for intelligence within Treasury and Energy.]
The absence of FBI in the memorandum designation is not unusual as the FBI is an internal agency of the DOJ where Barr already has supervision and decision-making authority.
However, that said, one does have to wonder where current FBI Director Christopher Wray, current Deputy Director David Bowditch and current FBI legal counsel Dana Boente line-up within the DOJ investigation itself.
♦ Third, within the memorandum the President does not allow AG Bill Barr to delegate authority. However, all agencies are required to respond to Barr’s authority.
The purpose of the Declassification Directive also appears to permit the DOJ Inspector General to include classified material in the body of the upcoming report on FISA abuse; this memorandum is granting AG Bill Barr the autonomy to make that decision and declassify that content.
♦ Lastly, regarding the timing of release…. While the purpose of the authority is to empower AG Bill Barr to collect, process and declassify intelligence product that is part of the DOJ investigative review, this does not preclude the public release of intelligence information in advance of the IG report on potential FISA abuse.
Much of the intelligence information may be collected external to the IG review parameters (FISA process), and may be released independently as part of stand-alone declassification that pertains to weaponized DOJ, FBI and CIA political activity.
Ultimately the decision to release, and the timing therein, is now in the hands of U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
The British voted yesterday for members to the European Parliament. The official announcement of results will not come out until Sunday because the EU vote window is 5/23 through 5/26 (and heaven-forbid the pesky Brits would influence the continent).
That said, initial media “surveys” and “exit polling” reflect the Brexit Party crushed traditional party-lines and gained around one-third of total vote support.
A Survation poll for the Daily Mail shows Mr Farage’s Brexit Party well ahead in the European elections on 31 per cent, trailed by Labour on 23, the Conservatives on 14 and the Lib Dems on 12 (link)
For a political movement only six weeks old; and a likelihood the surveys and exit polls are sandbagged; the results by Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party are remarkable.
The results are so good it is also likely Prime Minister Theresa May will announce her decision to resign her post; with a request for delayed exit (irony) so she doesn’t suffer the embarrassment of a President Trump state visit simultaneous to her being voted out of office (irony x 2).
The odds-on favorite to become Prime Minister is Boris Johnson.
(Via Daily Mail) […] Theresa May will today clear the way for Britain to have a new prime minister by the summer.
Allies said that – barring a last-minute change of heart – she will announce plans this morning to step aside as Conservative Party leader next month.
Mrs May will begin the day with a meeting with the Tories’ backbench shop steward Sir Graham Brady to discuss the exact timetable for her departure.
She is then expected to address the nation from Downing Street to explain why she is leaving ‘the job I love’ before she has realised her ambition of leading Britain out of the European Union.
Mrs May is expected to try to delay the start of the Tory leadership race until the week beginning June 10, to allow her to host Donald Trump’s state visit without the indignity of her MPs voting on her successor at the same time. (read more)
Funny, how that happens….
“See you soon”…
The policy director of a UK charity that “campaigns to increase happiness” was fired after calling for Brexit leader Nigel Farage to be doused in acid. The battle between the left and right is really getting intense. Happy City UK’s Ruth Townsley commented on Nigel Farage being assaulted while walking in Newcastle where someone threw a milkshake at him. She tweeted: “Great that milkshakes have become a thing when it comes to racists in our midst. I’d prefer acid but milkshakes will do for now.” It is so interesting how they hurl labels of “racist” to justify violence when the entire issue of refugees is about religion and not a race
Prime Minister Theresa May could be forced to leave Downing Street by late June if she does not deliver a Brexit deal. Conservative Party sources are letting it be known that unless it becomes clear by the end of May that her plan stands a chance of being approved, she may be compelled to leave for the good of the country. They have already voted against changing the party rules that would allow another no-confidence vote this summer ahead of December.
PM May survived a no-confidence vote last December. However, they may change those rules if she fails again in May. Downing Street has set June 30 as its new deadline for a Brexit deal in the Commons. She could remove the divisive border clause in the hope MPs vote for it and send a new message to Brussels that it must be axed or changed if Britain is to leave the EU. Why she seems to prefer sacrificing her own country to the demands of Brussels leaves many in a desperate position.
Prime Minister May has been under pressure to renegotiate with the European Union by Conservative Brexiteers. EU negotiators have insisted that the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened. Many called for her resignation from angry Brexiteers after a six-month extension deal was agreed at an emergency EU council meeting in Brussels. The delay until Halloween, with a ‘review’ in June, was a compromise solution. It was France who declined an extension for Britain.
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