Posted originally on The Conservative tree house on January 18, 2021 by Sundance

Within recently released transcripts of documents by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham there is a deposition by FBI Supervisory Special Agent 1, Joseph Pientka.

SSA Pientka has always been a little bit of an enigma because his name, exclusively, has been redacted from every official government document within the full investigation of DOJ and FBI misconduct.  Even in tangential court documents (Flynn), related to Joseph Pientka and Peter Strzok’s investigative collaboration, Pientka is ALWAYS redacted from everything.   The system in DC essentially ‘ghosted’ him in all things.  Now, the nature of that motive is surfacing.

If the recent Senate transcripts are an indication of SSA Pientka’s side of the stories, it would appear the testimony and truthfulness of Pientka’s statements would be adverse to the interests of EVERYONE who framed the Trump-Russia narrative.

Within his testimony; and if we accept it is likely consistent with internal investigative statements to the IG and others; it appears Pientka realized the activity of the FBI was intentionally taken to hide the truth of how intelligence was weaponized against the Trump administration.

Joseph Pientka wanted to investigate Chris Steele in November of 2016 because he knew something was sketchy.  Following the use of Chris Steele to get the FISA warrant on Carter Page -and by extension the Trump administration- Pientka wanted to explore the motives of Steele and the contacts he was using to push his narrative.  That’s where FBI Director of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap, steps in and stops Pientka.

“I recognized the significance of his reporting, the use in a FISA application. I had questions about our intel validation was ongoing in the Counterintelligence Division, and all of that contributed to my professional disagreement.”

[…] “My request was to the FBI director of intelligence for them to do what is considered an enhanced validation review, something outside and independent of the Counterintelligence Division.”

Pientka said that he was told that the enhanced review was “turned off” at Priestap’s direction, which led him to request a transfer off of the Crossfire Hurricane team.

“I had a professional disagreement with stopping the enhanced validation review,” Pientka said.

“This was a concern that you were so passionate about that it made you terminate your association with the case, the team, and go back to the Washington Field Office?” a Senate staffer asked Pientka.

“It was,” he replied.  [Daily Caller, Chuck Ross]

Pientka wanted to explore the motives of Steele and the contacts he was using to push his narrative.  FBI Director of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap, steps-in and stops Pientka.

Bill Priestap did not want SSA Pientka to do a deep dive on Steele’s objectives, and as a result Pientka asked to leave the Trump-Russia investigation.  Quite simply Pientka didn’t want anything to do with it… or what the FBI “Crossfire Hurricane” team was doing.

Supervisory Special Agent Joseph Pientka III was first identified by Senator Chuck Grassley in May of 2018 as the second FBI agent involved in the 2017 interview of Lt. General Michael Flynn.

Frustrated by the FBI stonewalling his Senate inquiry, Chairman Grassley dropped the revelation publicly on May 11th, 2018, in a letter to the FBI.

[…] the Committee’s oversight interest in the underlying documents requested more than a year ago now outweighs any legitimate executive branch interest in withholding it. So too does the Committee’s interest in learning the FBI agents’ actual assessments of their interview of Lt. Gen. Flynn, particularly given the apparent contradiction between what then Directory Comey told us in March 2017 and what he now claims.

[…] In addition, please make Special Agent Joe Pientka available for a transcribed interview with Committee staff no later than one week following the production of the requested documents… (link)

The FBI never produced Supervisory Special Agent (SSA-1) Joe Pientka for Chairman Grassley’s committee, and the conflict between the Senate Judiciary Committee and the FBI was never reconciled.  (The DOJ/FBI made it to the safety of the mid-term election.)

Additionally, every single document containing information about the investigative activity of FBI agent Pientka has kept his name redacted.  Not a single DOJ/FBI document has ever included his name.

However, around two months after Grassley outed his identity; we discover from the Inspector General that the DOJ-NSD (National Security Division) admitted to the FISA court that Agent Pientka was significantly less than forthcoming with “factual omissions” in the Title-1 surveillance application he assembled against Carter Page.

While the IG report doesn’t name SSA-1 as Joseph Pientka, all documentary evidence supported that Pientka was indeed SSA-1.  [This was also confirmed by Fox News reporter Gregg Jarrett writing an article about SSA-1 Pientka, and by Jarrett being contacted by the FBI as soon as he outed the agent.]

In addition to the Flynn interview, the Inspector General Report notes the importance of SSA-1 as he pertains to the FISA application.

FBI Supervisory Agent Pientka’s lies and omissions to the FISC were material – and made under penalty of perjury. He knew the dossier was fraudulent. He knew about witness denials. In short, Pientka was willfully blind to the court about the FISA application’s accuracy.


After the FISA Court was notified in about the issues (July 2018), and before the IG report outlining the conduct of SSA1 was complete (Dec. 9, 2019)… sometime in mid 2019 Joseph Pientka was promoted by FBI Director Christopher Wray and transferred to the San Francisco FBI Field Office

Pientka bailed out and went to work in the San Francisco Field Office.  The DC insiders then worked to keep Pientka far away, and put into place a network operation to keep him hidden.  Even his arrival at the San Francisco Field Office was scrubbed after CTH noted there was a brief mention of his new position:  BEFORE:

AFTER:

If the current statements made by Pientka had been made public, there is a strong likelihood the entire Trump-Russia narrative would have collapsed.

Throughout 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, SSA1 Pientka was in position to bring a lot of sunlight to the corrupt intents of the DOJ, FBI and the Robert Mueller team.

It now appears that after Joseph Pientka realized the FISA application was fraudulent; and after he notified the FBI and Mueller Team he was not willing to go along with the fraud and corrupt intent; he was ostracized and shipped to San Francisco.

From the testimony he gave on Tuesday August 27, 2020.  He was still there…

Just like FBI Special Agent in Charge, Brian Dugan (ie. the James Wolfe investigation), there are FBI agents who could destroy the network of corruption that was taking place within the DOJ and FBI from 2015 (Strzok et al) though 2019 (Mueller et al).   This is not up for debate.

Keep in mind, as a personal commitment to the truth; and out of an abundance of granting the benefit of the doubt to the Department of Justice; I have personally walked through lead John Durham investigator, William Aldenberg, on the location of each of these potential whistle-blowers and the evidence they possess.

Both FBI SSA Joseph Pientka and FBI SSIC Brian Dugan hold information that is ultimately connected to the larger operations… which also touches deeply into the Senate Intelligence Committee motive and the Mueller probe motive.  The information is silo’d  and segmented, but CTH pulled each part out of the individual compartments and handed it to William Aldenberg (John Durham’s lead investigator).

To date, nothing has been done…

Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Jan 18, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Jan 18, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

Republicans Aren’t Real People. Brandon Vestal

Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Jan 17, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Do you see major volatility with the inauguration?

FG

ANSWER: We can see that volatility will rise this week for the 20th, it still does not seem to be the major turning point that the week of the 4th has been probably with hindsight.  We do see a rise in volatility this coming week, but the trend was clearly made the week of the 4th. More significantly, it appears that indeed the Republican Party will split for the “establishment” thinks they can get it back to normal by impeaching Trump to be lapdogs of the Democrats in hopes of getting a few table scraps. They are basically traitors to the people for they want the swamp to continue and will never defend the Constitution.

What is grossly being misunderstood is that somehow this is just “Trumpism” whereby Trump did not create this movement of anti-establishment. It has been festering for some time and even the rise of the Tea Party within the Republicans was the most recent beginning. The mainstream media cannot see their nose in front of their face and they are contributing to what will emerge as a civil war. When the courts REFUSED to listen and they would not allow any investigation of the election, then they are shutting off any “civil” solution and they are inciting violence. Courts are there to provide a civil resolution. The blood will be on the hands of Chief Justice Roberts as the blood of the Civil War was on the hands of Chief Justice Taney.

For 2022, we will see utter chaos for the Democrats, which have a much wider collation of diverse groups, will also splinter. So the 2022 election will be total chaos. The Democrats are still in a bear market constantly making lower highs despite the fact that they control all three – White House, Senate, and House. In total, their hold dropped to 50.4% on a combined level. This is what makes this election so serious. The Democrats do not have a mandate and to change the very core of the United States will only invite civil war.

Therefore, our model highlighted the week of the 4th as the real turning point. The inauguration appears to be merely the culmination of that trend. Nevertheless, the wall they have constructed around the Capitol may last beyond the inauguration because they realize they have only a 50.4% majority, and the more they move toward the World Economic Forum’s Build Back Better Agenda 2030, the more even conservative Democrats will abandon their party as well. The Democrats seem to be taking advice from Venezuela. Surround the Capitol with the Military to protect them.

Posted originally on the Conservative Tree House on January 17, 2021 by Sundance

Former acting Director of National Intelligence, Richard “Ric” Grenell, appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the people behind the Biden administration and what ideological motives lay behind the selections.

Additionally, Grenell discusses the massive moves by Big Tech to target political opposition and the underlying, unified, objectives behind media, big tech and political operatives.

Posted originally on The Conservative Tree House on January 17, 2021 by Sundance

Maria Bartiromo questions Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham about why he never subpoenaed James Comey, Andrew McCabe and various ‘spygate’ operatives [SEE 05:15 Point of Video].  Graham punts the question using the DC two-step to put the responsibility in the lap of John Durham… complete nonsense.

Posted originally on The Conservative Tree house on January 16, 2021 by Sundance

Think about it carefully…. 25,000 troops needed at the U.S. Capitol to install the Biden administration.  How many armed soldiers do you need at the inauguration of the “most popular Presidential candidate in American history after the most secure election in history?”

WASHINGTON DC – As many as 25,000 National Guard troops will be in Washington, D.C., for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next week, the Army confirmed on Friday.

The Defense Department authorized up to 25,000 service members — an increase of 5,000 from numbers confirmed earlier this week — to support the “federal law enforcement mission and security preparations” in the inauguration, as led by the Secret Service, according to an Army statement.

“Our National Guard soldiers and airmen are set around the city to protect our nation’s Capital,” National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson said in the statement. (read)

The scale of the usurpation of the United States government is staggering to contemplate.  We have less troops in Afghanistan assisting with the implementation of democracy amid a failed foreign nation, than we do in the United States center of democracy.

The effort needed to install the Biden administration is staggering.  The images in Washington DC to pull-off that installation are stunning and heartbreaking.

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Sundance

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee finalizes a report [pdf available here] with evidence of Joe and Hunter Biden conducting financial deals with foreign governments.  The report outlines how the Biden family sold access to government policy for personal financial benefit.

[Embed pdf Below] Considering the scale of evidence showing massive conflicts of interest, it is quite astounding that Joe Biden is currently ‘president-elect’…

Hsgac Finance Report Final by The Conservative Treehouse

Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Jan 15, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

I have endeavored to provide only reliable information. My sources are real, not imaginary conjuring up plots where Trump will invoke the Insurrection Act and even arrest Pence. The last time that was invoked was in 1992 by George H.W. Bush during the unrest in Los Angeles after the acquittal of police officers who beat Rodney King. It is not likely that he could have invoked it to arrest Pelosi, Schumer, or Pence. Claims that “this is not a drill” are just so bogus I cannot imagine why people make up this stuff or they are deliberately being fed disinformation to inspire violence. There will probably be such a military uprising in the years ahead – but not now. I warned back on November 20, 2020, that I did not think Trump would win. This election has been rigged and the impeachment is also being rigged as well. They may think they are undermining Trump, but all they are doing is confirming the corruption runs deep in Washington. It’s not a swamp – it’s an ocean.

Before the 2016 election, I wrote on October 12, 2016, “It will NEVER be the same after this election.”  Trump raised a fraction of the money that Hillary did yet he beat her. That election proved something very important beyond money cannot buy the presidency that Michael Bloomberg never got. This was the beginning of what people called – “Trumpism.” I wrote before that 2016 election:

“This battle is really the PEOPLE v CAPITOL HILL. It is a shame it has to be Trump leading the charge. Hillary has raised $516.6M with almost 30% coming from Super Pacs. Trump has raised only $168.2M with only 1% from Super Pacs. About 99% of donations to Trump come from small people. Hillary has the bankers, lobbyists, and hedge funds. Don’t you even bother to ask why? The world behind the curtain is an all out war against Trump. Even the top three media outlets have instructed their employees to “destroy” Trump. This is also the end of the press. They have lost all credibility. It’s over! We should just turn out the light!”

On August 23, 2018, I warned that behind the curtain, there were Republicans who hated Trump because he was not one of them. It was John McCain who worked with Hillary to hand Comey the notorious dossier she paid to have made to win the election. You had direct deceit within the Republican ranks against Trump because he was not a career politician.

“Those who think this is about supporting or opposing Trump for some political philosophy are plain gullible. There is so much more here going on behind the curtain. Those in power still REFUSE to accept that Trump was elected as a vote against THEM. We just saw the same thing in New York with the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Democrats are shocked she won but they too wrongly look at her victory as it must mean they want more socialism instead of looking at it as a vote against career politicians. The same is happening everywhere from Malaysia to Italy. It is just time for a major change because the system does not work anymore regardless if we have a Republican or Democrat in the White House – nothing changes.”

I have warned that the Republicans may split because they failed to understand what they see as “Trumpism” existed long before Trump. It has been a growing philosophy of distrust and discontent which over the course of decades has manifested a bipartisan populist undercurrent that stretches back through Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, Barry Goldwater, George Wallace, Huey Long, William Jennings Bryan, and even Andrew Jackson – the people against the establishment.

The London FT did a piece on “populism” and how all the politicians were frightened that they could be thrown out after Trump won in 2016. As the FT said, populism “horrified” the global political elite because they feared losing power! They hate democracy for why should these uneducated stupid people be able to vote them out of office – God forbid!

So what is going on with this Impeachment Sequel? Why did 10 Republicans vote for it in the House? There is the rise of “Washingtonism” which I define as Career Politicians Only need apply! The real goal here is very sinister and it is all about stopping Trump from running again in 2024. If he is impeached in the Senate, then he cannot run again if the Senate also votes on that issue. The Constitution allows a convicted felon to be a member of Congress, even if in prison. The only way to prevent Trump from running again is to impeach him and take a second vote to bar him from ever holding office again. Mitch McConnel in the Senate needs 17 Republicans to join the Democrats in order to obtain two-thirds majority to convict Trump. The whispers behind the curtain are that McConnel is lobbying to get 18 so nobody has to be that 17th vote.

But since the president was impeached by the House, if he is convicted by the Senate, Trump would be stripped from the post-presidency benefits provided by the Former Presidents Act of 1958. Trump will lose his $200,000/year pension, $1 million a year travel fund, and taxpayer subsidies to pay for office space and staff. He would still receive security, however, thanks to a 2013 amendment to the law, which provides presidents and spouses (unless they remarry) with Secret Service protection for life. Even if Mitch McConnel orchestrates a Senate vote to remove Trump, that would not prohibit him from running in 2024 by itself. The Senate could ban Trump from becoming president ever again, but it would have to hold an additional vote on this question. Make no mistake about it. The “established” politicians in Washington who have been there for decades want Trump banned from ever running again and that is both Republican and Democrat.

This is clearly a political attempt to prevent Trump from running again. These self-centered career politicians really think that removing Trump will end populism. They cannot imagine why the people would want anything different. What Pelosi has done is a clear abuse of her power. If we look at the Constitutional Convention with respect to the “intent” behind the phrase which will be required by the Supreme Court to interpret if Trump appeals, which he should, then the choice of words describing the grounds for impeachment are controlling.

Only after much debate over the definition of grounds for impeachment did we arrive that the phase High Crime and Misdemeanors (see SOURCE). The first problem they have is that whatever the president says, as a member of Congress, is protected speech. A member of Congress cannot be sued for calling Facebook anti-American or a low criminal. Secondly, the question nobody wants to answer is did Trump tell the people to storm the Capitol? If you invited friends over and one of them got in an argument with your neighbor and killed them, does that make you guilty of murder? Obviously not unless you instructed them to kill them. They obviously are stretching here for the very concerns Thomas Jefferson raised during the debates.

The English practice of impeachment was different and more criminal in nature. Impeachment was the device to remove from office one who abused his office or misbehaved but who was protected by the King. The penalties included fines, imprisonment, or even death. By contrast, the American impeachment process is remedial, not penal, and was limited to the removal from office and disqualification to hold future office.

The phrasing is clearly derived directly from the English practice. On June 2, 1787, the framers adopted a provision that the executive should “be removable on impeachment & conviction of mal-practice or neglect of duty.”* The Committee of Detail reported as grounds “Treason (or) Bribery or Corruption.” The Committee of Eleven reduced the phrase to “Treason, or bribery.” On September 8th, Mason objected to this limitation, observing that the term did not encompass all the conduct that should be grounds for removal; he, therefore, proposed to add “or maladministration” following “bribery.” Upon Madison’s objection that “[s]o vague a term will be equivalent to a tenure during pleasure of the Senate,” Mason suggested “other high crimes & misdemeanors,” which was adopted without further recorded debate.

The phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” in this context of impeaching a president indeed has an ancient English history. It appears first during the impeachment of the Earl of Suffolk in 1388. Treason is defined in the Constitution, however, bribery is not defined yet it had a clear common law meaning and was covered by statute. Nevertheless, the phrase “High crimes and misdemeanors” remains vague and is undefined. Given its undefined nature would imply under common law that it was conduct which did not constitute a criminal offense. Interestingly, the law is all about wordsmithing. Here, the very use of the word “other” links “high crimes and misdemeanors” with “treason” and “bribery” which implies it does embrace only serious conduct that is included with the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Additionally, the very use of the word “high” also was restricting the phrase to imply a serious crime.

Debate prior to the adoption of the phrase and comments were concerned about the President and upon what grounds should he ever be removed. During the First Congress’s “removal” debate, James Madison maintained that the wanton dismissal of meritorious officers would be an act of maladministration that would render the President subject to impeachment. Furthermore, reading the various comments during the ratifying conventions, suggest that there was to be a limitation of the term to criminal, if not serious criminal behavior.

If we read this commentary objectively, Trump did not order the people to storm the Capitol building and evidence exists that the police opened the doors. What Pelosi is doing is abusing her own power. Speaker Pelosi spoke with General Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about making certain President Trump couldn’t launch a nuke. She also suggested they remove the President with a military coup. Sources also said she asked for marines to be sent to Capitol Hill on the 20th and disrespected both the capitol police and the National Guard calling them weekend warriors. Pelosi had no constitutional authority and that call was a violation of the separation of powers by seeking to inject herself into an executive-branch military decision. If Trump was “unhinged” than Pence would have invoked the 25th Amendment if it ever came to such a bizarre reality.

What is much more concerning here is that Pelosi, Schumer, and McConnel are looking at a means to prevent Trump from both running against and to divorce him from the Republican Party. This in itself shows tremendous arrogance. They still refuse to accept the fact that people voted for Trump not because he was some fantastic guy, but because they were against career politicians. This is the real coup and I have warned it is not exclusively coming from the Democrats. They are abusing the power of impeachment and history is not going to look favorably upon their actions here in 2021. The exploitation of the Black Lives Movement and the Democrats telling the police to stand down followed by imprisoning Trump supporters for 10 years for taking just a selfie is already starting to fuel racism in the nation and in the military. The double standards support by Pelosi will be seen as a very serious turning point in the United States with hindsight.

SOURCE: Farrand’s Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 is one of the great scholarly works of the early twentieth century. Farrand’s work gathered the documentary records of the Constitutional Convention.