Tag Archives: Chuck Grassley

Nov 12 2018

Comprehending The DOJ/FBI Administrative State Battle…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 11, 2018 by sundance

There is a significant issue of understanding and comprehension that must be addressed for anyone interested in actually learning about what is happening, and what has happened.

The issue surrounds recusal.

Effective March 2nd, 2017, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was recused from any involvement in DOJ issues, investigations and decision-making, that surrounded the “Russia Probe” or “Russia Investigation”.  FULL STOP.

Setting aside the for/against argument around the decision by Sessions, the resusal meant that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was recused from any involvement in the Mueller investigation.  FULL STOP.

Within this dynamic DAG Rod Rosenstein was/is the central DOJ decision-maker for anything surrounding the Mueller investigation and larger Russia investigation. FULL STOP.

Does that make sense?

If yes, continue….

On August 4th, 2017, AG Jeff Sessions and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats made an announcement they were initiating a “Classified Intelligence Leak Task Force.” [DOJ LINK]

The “just don’t do it” program, as launched by an obviously angered Sessions, included three measures. They were:

♦First, I directed my Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein—whose district in Maryland encompassed the NSA headquarters and who has personally led these kinds of investigations— and FBI Director Christopher Wray to oversee all classified leak investigations and actively monitor the progress of each and every case.

♦Second, I directed the National Security Division and U.S. Attorneys to prioritize cases involving unauthorized disclosures. The Department will not hesitate to bring lawful and appropriate criminal charges against those who abuse the nation’s trust.

♦Third, as I said, we tripled the number of active leak investigations. In response, the FBI has increased resources devoted to leak cases and created a new counterintelligence unit to manage these cases. Simultaneously, the Department is reviewing policies that impact leak investigations.

The DC-based intelligence leaking community was put on notice.

Does that make sense?

If yes, continue….

As a result of that August 4, 2017, announcement we discover an effort by the DOJ and ODNI to launch a task force to track down the leakers within the intelligence apparatus who have been revealing unauthorized, often ‘classified, information to the media.

Later, we discover in hindsight, that in October 2017, not coincidentally when AG Jeff Sessions hires Matthew Whitaker as his chief-of-staff, the leak task force, as part of ONE of their investigative reviews, zeros-in on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

As a result of that singular FBI/DOJ/ODNI investigation into the SSCI, the head SSCI security official James Wolfe was identified as a leaker of classified information. [Indictment Available Here which has all the details]

Are you familiar?

If yes, continue….

When you review this specific SSCI investigation; and overlay the outcome therein (Wolfe); against the backdrop of the Sessions recusal; this is what you discover:

For the leak task force objectives, Sessions is involved, briefed.

As the leak task force focuses in on the SSCI Sessions is still involved, briefed.

When the leak task force identifies the specific evidence of what was leaked; ie. the FISA Application against Carter Page – which is part of the Russia Investigation; *NOW* Jeff Sessions is removed; no longer briefed.

*NOW* the recusal firewall is crossed.

Do you see how that works?

If yes, continue….

When the leaking by James Wolfe is discovered to be information specifically related to the FBI and DOJ Counterintelligence Operation (the Russia investigation); the resulting evidence now causes the decision-making to jump from AG Jeff Sessions, to DAG Rod Rosenstein.  (Sessions is now in his recusal bubble)

Does that make sense?

This is an example of how the recusal firewall works.  This example is specifically focused on a factual classified leak investigation within the DOJ and FBI.   The most important part of this example is to show how the decision-making oversight shifts from Jeff Sessions to Rod Rosenstein just by the nature of the evidence within the events.

I cannot emphasize enough how important this distinction is; because it is the source of mountains of misunderstanding, misinformation, and disinformation.  If you don’t understand how the recusal issues impacted the events of the past 18 months you are going to be completely lost as I expand on some stunning revelations.

This understanding of “resusal” may seem like a small and common sense issue; but more than 80% (estimated) of people following the DOJ and FBI corruption story don’t understand it.   However, when you understand it the role of, and previous action by, Matthew Whitaker and Rod Rosenstein makes almost immediate sense.

Overseeing the leak investigations was part of AG Jeff Sessions office; that specifically would include his chief-of-staff Matthew Whitaker.  However, as soon as one of those leak investigations crossed the recusal firewall, all subsequent action is then decided by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

I must ask again, before I can expand further, if readers understand this dynamic?

Please answer in the comments section.

Thanks

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TheLastRefuge @TheLastRefuge2

IMHO one of the more *consequential* background objectives of Whitaker has nothing to do with Mueller; and more to do with Horowitz. As in: stopping a DOJ/FBI administrative state officials from doing what they did with the prior IG report (June ’18) on DOJ/FBI bias & misconduct.

Nov 12 2018

Sunday Talks: Michael Mukasey Defends Administrative State – States: Whitaker Must Recuse Himself…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 11, 2018 by

Pay close attention.  WARNING: There is a battle within the administrative state that most of you are aware of.  Within this interview; and amid the larger conversation; the critical question to ask yourself is:

Is Rod Rosenstein working for the cause of justice; or is he an entrenched ideologue put in place to defend the interests of the administrative state?

President Trump’s appointment of Matt Whitaker as acting attorney general sparks outrage from Democrats, collaborative media and all professional administrative state advocates; who say he should recuse himself from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.  Here’s reaction from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Nov 11 2018

Countermeasures and Questions…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 10, 2018 by

Contextual Background HERE and Background HERE

♦Adverse Action:  On March 15th, 2017 ODNI Dan Coats was confirmed.  On March 16th, 2017 the ODNI instructed the FISA court clerk to provide him with the Carter Page FISA application (not the DOJ file version); which was delivered March 17th, 2017 to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). [It was immediately leaked]

Question: Who would likely be in a position to request, demand or influence the ODNI to produce the FISA application?  Most sensible, valid and likely answer would be: Gang-of-Eight oversight SSCI Chair Richard Burr/Vice-Chair Mark Warner.

♦Countermeasure: On April 26th, 2017, ODNI Dan Coats publicly releases a 99-page FISC opinion on systemic DOJ and FBI FISA-702(16)(17) abuse.

Question: Why?  Why make the Rosemary Collyer report public?  No-one was looking for it, and the statutory oversight of the report is the House Judiciary/House Intelligence.

♦Adverse Action:  On November 30th, 2017, Michael Flynn accepted a plea deal with Robert Mueller; under very sketchy circumstances.

♦Countermeasure: Immediately thereafter, December 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd, and more on the 4th, a public release of Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages; information about their removal(s); along with information about Bruce Ohr (demotion 1) and wife Nellie Ohr connection to Fusion-GPS.

Question: Where did that initial mass push of information come from?  Who released it? Why did they release it?

♦Adverse Action: Early February, 2018, media and democrats attack HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes over process for releasing “Nunes Memo”.

♦Countermeasure: February 9th, 2018, text messages between Senator Mark Warner and Lobbyist/Lawyer Adam Waldman, revealing conversations and intentions for secret contact with Christopher Steele are released to the public.

Question:  Who released them?  Who made them public? How do we find out about it? Why were they made public?

♦Adverse Action: June, 2018, DOJ outlines evidence of extensive document leaking from Senate Security Official James Wolfe.  However, indictment downplays charges against James Wolfe, despite severity of cited and evidenced unlawful activity.

♦Countermeasure: July, 2018, Public FISA application release.  Including a singularly unredacted FISC clerk date stamp (March 17th) within the release.  That stamp connects the details of the Wolfe indictment evidence to the FISA court submission to the SSCI.

Question(s):  #1. Why release the Carter Page FISA application at all?  No-one was looking for it. The FISC isn’t foia-able; it was the easiest document to keep hidden under national security grounds; yet, it just appeared and was released.  Why?  Who released it?

#2. With all other dates redacted, why not redact the one date that connects the FISA to the Wolfe leak?  Who made the decision to leave that key date visible?

♦Adverse Action:  June 14, 2018, FBI downplays IG report on bias within institution. FBI Director Christopher Wray announces “no evidence of bias” in Clinton investigation.

♦Countermeasure: Release of the FISA application (July 21, 2018).

Question: Again, who released the FISA application?  Why?

.

.

In short, what has always been puzzling; and in the bigger picture visible; is that the institutions are protecting themselves with “Adverse Action”. However, immediately following each adverse action, we see a mysterious countermeasure of sunlight from an unknown origin. And we never stop to ask: where does the sunlight comes from?

  • How do we find out about the Mark Warner text messages?
  • Who publicly released the Carter Page FISA application?
  • Where did the four day flood of information (Dec 1st – 4th, 2017) about Lisa Page and Peter Strzok come from?
  • Who released that Page/Strzok information to the media?  Why?
  • Who made the decision not to indict James Wolfe for leaking classified information?
  • Who made the decision NOT TO redact the key FISC clerk stamp?
  • Where is all of this “unofficial” evidence coming from?

We gleefully chew over all the details, but in the bigger picture – where is/was all of this public information, the countermeasures, the evidence that exposes the corruption, coming from?

….And oddly, there’s never been a visible sign any effort was made to stop the public countermeasure outflow.

More later.

Nov 10 2018

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz Discusses Broward County Election Fraud….


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 9, 2018 by

Unfortunately, this Broward County ballot issue is not likely to end well.  Broward County Supervisor of Elections (SoE) Brenda Snipes doesn’t really care what anyone thinks of her corrupt ballot manufacturing processes.  She has a history of doing it, and she is never held accountable.

Nov 10 2018

Snorkel Extensions…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on November 9, 2018 by

Apologies.  I’m so far into the deep swamp of significantly consequential research I needed to purchase snorkel extensions.  Unfortunately, right now it is impossible to share; and I’m more likely to hand it off to a more, well, prominent voice – who is extremely interested, completely up-to-speed, and perfectly positioned to reach out and confirm.  What I can  share is that it seems likely, after more than a year of trying to understand/follow a never discussed background information network adverse to the administrative state, I’ve finally found the source; the source of more than a years worth of breadcrumbs…

…He was hired as Sessions chief of staff in October 2017…

If I am correct, and believe me my cynicism is off-the-charts when it comes to motives and intents, we are close to forcing sunlight upon much bigger aspects of the last three years of FBI and DOJ institutional corruption that crosses over BOTH President Obama and President Trump’s administrations.

There has been a silent, almost invisible, battle.  On one side you have an unified force of executive branch and legislative branch officials (across both political parties), intent on preserving federal institutions; and willing to go beyond legal and constitutional limits to protect those institutions by intentionally hiding systemic and institutional corruption.  And on the other side there is a sub-level of patriots who have been engaged in countermeasures for each corrupt activity; and it is all about to become very public.

Nov 9 2018

Global Warming Agenda to Create Authoritarian Government


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Nov 9, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

Back in 1996, the former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev expressed the real truth behind the Global Warming agenda. He said that using climate alarmism could advance the socialist Marxist objectives to restore the power of government. He said: “The threat of environmental crisis will be the international disaster key to unlock the New World Order.” Essentially, this was revealing what I have encountered many times. You create an emergency and then convince the people they MUST surrender more freedom to be safe. What Gorbachev was sayings was, in reality, a path to restoring the U.S.S.R.’s economic and political power.

Those in power always seek more power because they really cannot control the economy nor society. It is the same reason why the bankers always fail is their attempted manipulation. Just as we are now finally reading about bribes that were paid by people at Goldman Sachs to those in Malaysia, they have been allegedly bribing officials around the world to manipulate markets. Even the allegations they made about me that I manipulated the world economy because they lost pointing the finger at me and our model saying I had too much influence after they lost on the whole Russian manipulation back in 1998. This is their mindset. They believe that they can remain in control by expanding power.

To expand power over the general public, they need a crisis. Previously, it was the cold war to keep us frightened and looking to government to protect us. First, it was the Red Scare and communists were everywhere so they launched investigations called the McCarthy Hearings. Then as a child in school, we had drills for a nuclear attack and were told to hide under our desks, as if that would really do something.  When Russia fell, they needed some new threat and then 911 was produced. Then we suddenly needed TSA, Homeland Security, and we could not wire $3,000 to anyone anywhere without an explanation – WHY?

Now they are using Global Warming to expand their power. They want control and more taxes. It is a process that historically never ends until society, which is passive aggressive, suddenly snaps and we end up with revolution and the entire cycle begins once again. Those to take power in a revolution may have had good intentions at first, but the lure of power leads them to follow the very same path once again.

Nov 7 2018

Dinesh D’Souza LIVE at Texas A&M


Streamed live on Oct 23, 2018

This Reagan White House policy veteran and nationally renowned filmmaker has plenty to share about what lies ahead for America, and he is taking campuses around the country by storm with his “#FakeHistory Debunked” lecture series, a politically incorrect conversation about what truly makes America great. Dinesh is uniquely qualified to speak on this—he grew up in a country ruled by gangs with little to no hope of social advancement and came to America in pursuit of the American Dream, something that no other country can lay claim to. Young America’s Foundation engages with students across the country to inspire them with the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values. YAF is the principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement and introduces hundreds of thousands of young Americans to these principles every year, most of whom have never heard the arguments for freedom and personal responsibility before.
Nov 7 2018

The Midterm Elections


Armstrong Economic Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Nov 7, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

The computer was correct. There was no Blue Wave. The real interesting aspect is it appears we may have a Bearish Reversal elected in the Senate for the Democrats. While the Democrats won the House, they did not elect any Bullish Reversal and in fact, they may have continued the downtrend with winning control, but with a lower high once again.

The one thing that is ABSOLUTELY guaranteed is there will be ZERO cooperation and everything will become even more obstructive now so we can expect the economy to decline going into the 2020 turning point on the ECM. The Democrats have vowed to seek impeachment and they will now have subpoena power to obstruct Trump and this will bring a swift end to Draining the Swamp.  While impeachment is not likely, they will do the same as they just did in the Kavanaugh hearings and throw whatever allegations they can hope someone will believe them as they did before. They have vowed to force the release of Trump’s tax returns. All of this will be designed to make the 2020 Presidential elections far worse than any in the past.

So expect nothing but obstruction. Running the government is no longer a priority. This is just going to be a grudge match from here on out and that is what the model has been projecting. Nothing but Panic Cycycle and Directional Changes in politics and our models on 3rd party activity will constantly rise into 2024 and more and more people begin to see that the political situation has become hopeless.

Many races are too close to call. So we will wait for the final numbers and update later when we have them.

Nov 6 2018

Should the Women who Made Knowingly False Statement in the Kavanaugh Hearing Be Criminally Prosecuted?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Nov 6, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

Sen. Chuck Grassley has asked the FBI to investigate another person he says made false claims against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Previously, an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh by multiple women found that there were no witnesses that could provide any evidence to substantiate any of their claims. They even questioned three witnesses Christine Blasey Ford claimed were present in the house when Kavanaugh allegedly threw her on a bed and sexually assaulted her sometime in the 1980s. Nobody could collaborate with Ford’s accusations.

Grassley had also requested that the FBI investigate accuser Julie Swetnick and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, who also represents porn star Stormy Daniels in her allegations against President Trump. Swetnick’s credibility was questioned after an ex-boyfriend came forward and said “she exaggerated everything” and had even threatened to kill his unborn child. Once again, no evidence could be found to support her claims. Swetnick also had made inconsistent statements in various television interviews and then simply refused to speak with committee investigators. Senator Grassley wrote to the FBI laying it out quite clearly:

“Indeed, the evidence appears to support the position that Julie Swetnick and Mr. Avenatti criminally conspired to make materially false statements to the Committee and obstruct the Committee’s investigation.”

It is stunning that the Democrats were willing to put these forward just to create a political firestorm. They put forward allegation involving incidents in three states. Nobody could find any evidence to support any of the allegations. Grassley has also requested that the FBI investigate Judy Munro-Leighton, who anonymously claimed Kavanaugh slapped her and forced her to perform oral sex on him. She had written a letter claiming to be in California but made a mistake using an email they were able to trace and found she lied about that and was a fervent Democrat living in Kentucky. She had contacted the committee claiming she wrote an anonymous letter accusing the judge of sexual misconduct. When investigators went after her, she suddenly recanted the authorship and admitted that she never even knew Kavanaugh. She excused herself claiming it was just a “ploy” to “get attention” and had never met Justice Kavanaugh. She had stated that Kavanaugh and a friend raped her.

This is now the fourth request made by Grassley to the FBI to investigate those involved in the controversial Kavanaugh proceedings which were not just watched intensely in the United States, but it dominated the news in Canada as well. He is demanding that they investigate Julie Swetnick, who accused Kavanaugh of drunken behavior and sexual assault, and her lawyer Michael Avenatti who has publicly stated he was looking to run for president in 2020.

Grassley is demanding charges in reality which are serious and carry 5 years in prison per count for making false allegations which not just diverted resources causing millions of dollars of expenditures, but they led to an international embarrassment of the nation. Yet this has exposed the raw hatred that also exists in some aspects of the gender war than a portion of people seem to be involved in. Mix in politics, and we end up with a real mess and this entire incident, if NOT prosecuted, will become the new standard and nobody will ever seek any post if there we have lost all sense of civility. There were just far too many people who believed the women only because they were women regardless of what they said. That is a very dangerous position in politics.

Nov 6 2018

Our Political Nightmare


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Nov 6, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

 

As we go into the elections tomorrow, this campaign has revealed the great political divide that once it has been exploited, there is no putting it back. A Democratic win in the House guarantees that this political divide will only get wider and deeper. They cannot actually pass anything without both the White House and the Senate, so what this would do would simply become more outrageous partisanship. That means NOTHING will actually take place that would be good for the nation for the real agenda will be to appear obstructive to win the presidency in 2020.

The Kavanaugh hearings have been a disgrace. Munro-Leighton, one of the false accusers, admitted she wrote the email after seeing the “Jane Doe” letter in news reports. She said she claimed to be Jane Doe so the letter would gain attention, “I was angry and I sent it out,” the woman told investigators. This reflects the problem. People willing to say whatever it takes to just defeat the other side. How has it come down to this?

The Democrats are warning that the midterm elections undermine the future of our democracy unless President Trump’s “authoritarian” instincts are curtailed. The only means of any authoritarian actions has always been the privilege to issue executive orders by a president. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who confiscated gold with an executive order back in 1933. It was John F. Kennedy who removed silver from the coins with an executive order. Both were Democrats. Indeed, of the recent presidents, it was Bill Clinton who issued the highest number of non-Democratic authoritarian orders than any president in history.

  • George HW Bush 166
  • Bill Clinton 364
  • George W. Bush 291
  • Barack Obama 276

Then we have the Republicans who argue that the nation’s sovereignty is at risk if Democrats prevail. Both sides are focused on domestic power because the economy is doing well and there are no explosive international issues that are pressing. This has become an election of fear mongering. Either way, this is just part of the shift from Public to Private and in the mix of this is nothing but political corruption. This will be the backdrop of what is to come into 2032. We will simply see this Great Political Divide continue to get worse and it is no longer about what is good for the nation – it is just a barroom fight between two people drunk with power. Even if the Republicans were to keep the House, we will simply see blood in the streets and the great divide will become the equivalent of a nuclear blast.

We live in a world of false hopes. The United States is by NO MEANS a democracy. The perpetual corruption of the American political system is by design. The United States was founded as a republic, NOT a democracy. As Alexander Hamilton and James Madison made clear in the Federalist Papers, that the very essence of the nation was to be a “republic” for the deliberate purpose of denying the people any direct right to actually rule. I have warned that the structure of the European Union adopted the same idea but went even further where nobody in the European Commission ever stands for any election. Hamilton and Madison did not trust the people. Just read the Federalist Papers #63 written by Madison. He emphasized:

In the most pure democracies of Greece, many of the executive functions were performed, not by the people themselves, but by officers elected by the people, and REPRESENTING the people in their EXECUTIVE capacity.

Prior to the reform of Solon, Athens was governed by nine Archons, annually ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE AT LARGE. The degree of power delegated to them seems to be left in great obscurity. Subsequent to that period, we find an assembly, first of four, and afterwards of six hundred members, annually ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE; and PARTIALLY representing them in their LEGISLATIVE capacity, since they were not only associated with the people in the function of making laws, but had the exclusive right of originating legislative propositions to the people. The senate of Carthage, also, whatever might be its power, or the duration of its appointment, appears to have been ELECTIVE by the suffrages of the people. Similar instances might be traced in most, if not all the popular governments of antiquity.

Lastly, in Sparta we meet with the Ephori, and in Rome with the Tribunes; two bodies, small indeed in numbers, but annually ELECTED BY THE WHOLE BODY OF THE PEOPLE, and considered as the REPRESENTATIVES of the people, almost in their PLENIPOTENTIARY capacity. The Cosmi of Crete were also annually ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE, and have been considered by some authors as an institution analogous to those of Sparta and Rome, with this difference only, that in the election of that representative body the right of suffrage was communicated to a part only of the people.

From these facts, to which many others might be added, it is clear that the principle of representation was neither unknown to the ancients nor wholly overlooked in their political constitutions. The true distinction between these and the American governments, lies IN THE TOTAL EXCLUSION OF THE PEOPLE, IN THEIR COLLECTIVE CAPACITY, from any share in the LATTER, and not in the TOTAL EXCLUSION OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE from the administration of the FORMER. The distinction, however, thus qualified, must be admitted to leave a most advantageous superiority in favor of the United States. But to insure to this advantage its full effect, we must be careful not to separate it from the other advantage, of an extensive territory. For it cannot be believed, that any form of representative government could have succeeded within the narrow limits occupied by the democracies of Greece.

(FEDERALIST No. 63. The Senate Continued For the Independent Journal. Saturday, March 1, 1788) MADISON

Hamilton and Madison deliberately designed the political system that those in power would take popular views of the people and they would be translated into public policy through the election of representatives “whose wisdom may,” in Madison’s words, “best discern the true interest of their country.” That indeed radically curtailed the idea of We the People and deliberately made it that the people could only influence the government at best indirectly. This was no accident. So we have political parties deliberately exploiting hatred to prevent the people from ever figuring out that they are looked down upon and seen as fools from behind the curtain.

Let us hope that this hatred that is brewing does not manifest as it did the final days of the Roman Republic when both sides hated each other as they do today. That is when there emerged the Cataline Conspiracy which was a rumored plot against those who were elected and were to enter office on January 1st, 65BC. Supposedly, Catiline, incensed because he was not allowed to stand for the consulship, conspired with Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso and the former consuls-designate to slaughter many of the Senators and the new Consuls the day they assumed office and appoint themselves.