Tag Archives: Lawfare

Mar 28 2026

Institutional Fear and the Excavation of the Rabbit Hole


Posted originally on CTH on March 27, 2026 | Sundance |

I shared with readers last year that if CTH felt confident DC engagement would lead to positive results, I would take you on the journey.  Having spent so many years inside the rabbit holes of the DC intel matrix, We The People deserve to fully understand just how this corrupt system operates.  Well, as promised….

When you mention sensitive intelligence and the whereabouts of corrupt evidence that could expose the state of our weakened Republic, one of the first things you notice is that almost everyone in DC is afraid—both personally and institutionally—to acknowledge it.

The Deep State relies on this fear.

You can find this fear promoted in the words of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer when he said in January 2017, “when you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday to get back at ya.”

Schumer said this two weeks before Donald Trump first took office, aiming to drive home a key point – the DC intelligence system is built to go after anyone who threatens the interests of those overseeing it. Basically, if you try to take on DC corruption, there are guards in place ready to take you down.

President Trump, you, me and all Americans spent the next several years watching that dynamic play out in real time.

After a long stretch of exhausting research, endless digging, and getting lost in the rabbit holes created by the IC, you eventually figure out how to face the fear they stir up. The real issue isn’t the fear held by those providing the information—it’s the fear carried by those who receive it and are tasked with acting on it.

Taking on the intelligence community requires two key things. First, a fearless person in a position of authority who can stand strong against the intense manipulation they may unleash. Second, a strategy that makes telling the truth a personal mission.

The IC have a pattern in their targeting; they repeat previously successful tactics.  An effective strategy -to get beyond the fear and gain support from the Executive- is to predict how the IC will eventually target them if they take no action.

In the example of retrieving and making public the Inspector General Michael Atkinson transcript as a datapoint to expose the IC corruption, the strategy was to reinforce how intelligence community would use the same approach to target IC leadership, if no sunlight is provided.

In essence, if you don’t go see what they did, review the past event, put it into the context of what it means, well, they will repeat that attack against you.

This might not get the person in power to take immediate action; after all, the information provider is basically predicting something that would be remarkable for them to encounter if it happened.  The only thing the information provider can do is to tell the location of the evidence, emphasize why it is important and then predict what will happen if the underlying corrupt activity is not exposed.

Thankfully, the “Seven Ways from Sunday” group are predictable.

Corrupt officials control us by manipulating our love of country; so, we must expose them by using their predictable hatred of it against them.

What followed a few months later was an IC targeting operation that was essentially a duplication of what took place before.  Suddenly, the previous reference point takes on an entirely new perspective.  Yes, it becomes personal:

[SOURCE]

That’s the backstory.

♦ Additionally, last year you might remember that DNI Tulsi Gabbard moved the National Intelligence Council (NIC) out of the CIA.  This was done specifically because the covert nature of the CIA was used by the NIC members to manufacture political intelligence.

Any resulting NIC analysis, much of which was fraudulently shaped by politics, could not be easily challenged because the covert nature of the CIA protected the authors (analysts) and their constructs.

Both Eric Ciaramella and Julia Gurganus worked inside the CIA on the NIC analysis that framed John Brennan’s Russian Interference narrative in January 2017, known as the fraudulent Intelligence Community Assessment. Eric Ciaramella was also the anonymous CIA whistleblower in 2019 for the impeachment effort.

The opaque nature of the CIA was used by NIC analysts as a fabrication tool, one of the “ways” Chuck Schumer described.

When DNI Gabbard and CIA Director Ratcliffe worked together to remove the NIC from the CIA, the bad actors within the IC game lost a strategic and political narrative tool.

The Intelligence Community embeds were angry and started leaking stuff to allies in media (WSJ, WaPo, Politico and NYT). The goal was to undermine Tulsi Gabbard at every step, using every resource and doing whatever it took.

However, DNI Gabbard stayed on mission despite the IC trying to also penetrate the concentric circles around the Office of The President with their bulls**t narratives.

♦ Last point, the current “Trump supporters” who try to undermine ODNI Tulsi Gabbard are either: (1) brutally naïve, (2) easily manipulated, or (3) working intentionally to retain the Intelligence Community control system that DNI Gabbard is dutifully deconstructing.  A shockingly large number of popular voices are part of group three.

Think about it in very commonsense terms.

DNI Gabbard is digging, declassifying and releasing information that exposes what very bad people have done against President Trump and our nation. The outcomes of her patriotic activity flow steadily from her office.  Everyone can see them.  So, what exactly are the motives of those who want to undermine Tulsi Gabbard?

Keep it simple, don’t reconcile bad behavior.

From 2020: “A new Democratic-aligned political action committee advised by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is planning to deploy technology originally developed to counter Islamic State propaganda in service of a domestic political goal” …..“The group, Defeat Disinfo, will use artificial intelligence and network analysis to map discussion of [opposition] claims on social media. It will seek to intervene by identifying the most popular counter-narratives and boosting them through a network of more than 3.4 million influencers across the country — in some cases paying users with large followings to take sides against [their opposition].”…

[…] The initiative reflects fears within the Democratic Party that Trump’s unwavering digital army may help sustain him … as it has through past controversies, even as the economy craters … and Trump suffers in the polls.  “It’s often said campaigns are a battle of ideas, but they’re really a battle of narratives,” said David Eichenbaum, a Democratic media consultant who is a senior adviser to the PAC. “Today those narratives spread quickly online.” (source)

Mar 27 2026

Cross Silo Information Sharing Has Begun Within the “Russiagate” Accountability Process


Posted originally on CTH on March 26, 2026 | Sundance

Washington DC uses a system of decades-long constructed silos to control and ultimately hide information adverse to the interests of the DC system itself.  Put another way, people within our government have constructed layers of systems to hide the corruption that takes place.

This silo system is challenging to understand; but thankfully many more people have started to comprehend how it works. The constitutional separation of power mechanisms has been weaponized by the corrupt actors, as we outlined in the example yesterday of Adam Schiff hiding the transcript of ICIG Michael Atkinson.

All of us have been frustrated to hear politicians in the legislative branch talk about “sending criminal referrals” to the Dept of Justice, and yet nothing happens.  Part of this is created by ‘stakeholder equities’, specific ownership of the underlying documents that do not accompany the referral (locked in a non-compliant silo).  The intelligence community is notorious for classifying and hiding the evidence of wrongdoing.

Without the direct and specific evidence, and without an aligned intent from the receiver, the referral itself is more of a legislative fundraising narrative than an actionable event.  A pitch without a catcher, and sometimes even without a ball.

You are not alone in your frustration.  However, you might remember CTH providing a very specific outline of how a key position within government could be used to change things.  {GO DEEP} The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, shutting down the IC from hiding evidence is key.  An honest and truthful arbiter of intelligence is a paradigm shift in the DC system; it is also a threat.

With Executive Branch DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassifying purposefully hidden intelligence equities, in combination with the Legislative Branch providing source material from their own silo equities, what you get is an unimpeded flow of information to the Dept of Justice.

Two pipes of information, legislatively authorized and intelligence declassified, joining together in a single stream of actionable evidence flowing unimpeded to the DOJ.  This is the worst-case scenario for corrupt DC entities who hide within the silo system.  From my perspective, this information flow is now in place.

A review of historic ‘Spygate and Russiagate’ activity is taking place in Florida with a grand jury led by U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones. We are now seeing reports of information flows in both directions from DC to Florida, and from Florida to DC.

Requests from Quinones, intermediate transfers at DOJ, prompt responses from legislative silos and returns after review -if needed- from DNI.

This is a very positive indication toward some form of accountability. However, there is also an institutional muscle memory that is annoying. It would be better if politicians dropped their historic fundraising approach when discussing evidence of corrupt activity. It would be better overall if they just kept their mouth shut.

On the topic of prior targeting of Donald Trump, when you hear the term “sent to the DOJ” you can reasonably be certain that means sent to Florida and USAO Jason Quinones.

Old habits are hard to break, cue the video:

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There is a very small reliable group of lawyers within the Dept of Justice, when considering the scale and scope of the challenges and cases they are assigned.

Obama and Biden had 12 years of importing ideological lawyers into Main Justice and the various U.S. Attorney Offices.  None of their lawyers are reliable.

The blue state fraud investigations were obviously starting to bog down the limited resources of the DOJ.  Division of labor introduces Vice-President JD Vance to act as a subject-matter-specific Attorney General and USAO Colin Macdonald on fraud enforcement/prosecution.

Treasury Dept financial crimes lawyers are tracing money, domestic and foreign, while supporting both Main Justice and the Fraud Task Force.

This keeps AG Pam Bondi and DAG Todd Blanche focused on defending Trump policy, deportation and immigration removal efforts, election integrity issues and matters of national security (criminal gang elements).

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones remains unaffected and on task in Florida.

The silo system is made up, in part, of: The National Security Council (10+ desks, 15 staff/analysts per), the National Security Advisor to the Office of the President, the Dept of Justice National Security Division [DOJ-NSD (foreign review section, counterintelligence export control section, cyber section, counterterrorism section)], Central Intelligence Agency [(CIA), National Intelligence Council, Directorate of Analysis], Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI (Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism, WMD Directorate, Directorate of Intelligence, Cyber)], the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [ODNI (Requirements, Analysis, Collection, National Counterterrorism Center, Mission Managers)], the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Dept of Defense [DoD, (Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, Industrial, International)], the National Security Agency [NSA (Operations, Technology, Cyber], and many more.

Each agency/office a silo, with distinct sub-silos; each with equity stakes in the information they gather, review and analyze; ultimately attributing classification level and intersecting analysis with each other agency as mission aligned.

Sound ridiculous?  It probably is, yet we’ve merely scratched the surface of the IC networks and information flows that swirl around the Office of the President.

Now do you see why DNI Tulsi Gabbard is important?

Literally hundreds of embeds -across multiple silos- have been removed from the aggregate apparatus.  The National Security Council has been taken apart, staff removed, desks shuttered.  The National Intelligence Council was removed from the CIA with personnel fired.  The Directorate of Analysis is now openly confronted.  The ICIG is once again a watchdog.

These actions create optimism that substantive change is possible. Simultaneously, with the corrupt behavior removed from the system, these actions lay the groundwork for honest and deliberate cross-silo information sharing.  However, much more work lies ahead.

Mar 26 2026

Big News – House Intel Committee Releases Hidden Transcript of Inspector General Michael Atkinson


Posted originally on CTH on March 25, 2026 | Sundance

For the past several years I have been advocating for ‘sunlight as the best disinfectant.’ Since September of 2025 I have been working through a painfully slow and convoluted process to share research, assist truth tellers and guide those who have the authority to deliver the sunlight. Today, I can happily report on progress.

In 2019 an impeachment effort against President Trump was triggered when a member of the National Security Council named Alexander Vindman coordinated with a member of the National Intelligence Council named Eric Ciaramella to fabricate a false claim that President Trump leveraged his power and authority to demand Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy release information on Joe and Hunter Biden’s corrupt financial dealings in Ukraine.

At the time of the 2019 impeachment construct Eric Ciaramella was working for the CIA as an analyst within the National Intelligence Council (NIC).

Two years prior to the 2019 impeachment construct, in January 2017, the same CIA analyst, Eric Ciaramella, had worked on the fraudulent Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) at the behest of CIA Director John Brennan.

[SIDEBAR: In 2025 Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, working with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, removed the NIC from inside the CIA.  To provide greater overall transparency within the intelligence community, the National Intelligence Council was moved into the purview of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)].

Key point: Eric Ciaramella was one of the key analysts who constructed the fraudulent ‘Russian interference ICA’ (2017) and later the fraudulent impeachment effort (2019).  Eric Ciaramella became the “anonymous CIA whistleblower” in the 2019 impeachment effort.

Before 2019, CIA analysts weren’t allowed to anonymously make claims against political officials. Because of the sensitive information they handled, any allegation of wrongdoing based on intelligence had to be made with their name attached.

Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson changed or modified the ICIG rules permitting Ciaramella to remain anonymous and make a claim that ultimately led to an impeachment effort.

Eric Ciaramella allegedly fabricated intelligence information, shared it with Congress and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), and then remained anonymous. HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff was said to have assisted him.

On October 4, 2019, as part of the House impeachment inquiry, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson gave closed-door testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) as part of their impeachment investigation. One of the key questions to ICIG Atkinson surrounded the authority of his office changing the CIA whistleblower rules that permitted Eric Ciaramella to remain anonymous.

During later questioning by then-Congressman John Ratcliffe, as part of the House impeachment effort, it came to light that Inspector General Michael Atkinson testified CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella, the anonymous ‘whistleblower’, had lied about key details when questioned by Atkinson. WATCH VIDEO: 

[The look on Dan Goldman’s face during that questioning was both priceless and insufferable. John Ratcliffe is now CIA Director]

Because the anonymous whistleblower complaint by Ciaramella was the cornerstone of the impeachment effort, Chairman Adam Schiff sealed the transcript of ICIG Atkinson testimony, classifying it under the guise of national security interests and burying it in the HPSCI control system.

It’s worth reemphasizing that Eric Ciaramella was both the analyst behind the disputed 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment for Director Brennan and, later in 2019, involved in the contested impeachment effort. Both operations involved impeding and targeting President Donald Trump.

If congress, or more importantly the American public, had known CIA Analyst Eric Ciaramella was both the key author of the fraudulent 2016 ICA and the later 2019 CIA complaint, it’s doubtful any impeachment effort would have moved forward.

Inside the Intelligence Community oversight system, the Ciaramella connection to both IC operations could have been made.  His anonymity as a whistleblower served a purpose.  [DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s 2025 decision to remove the National Intelligence Council from behind the curtain of the CIA is additionally supported with this hindsight.]

The transcript of Inspector General Michael Atkinson’s testimony becomes a key document to release because at its core we know that Atkinson testified that Ciaramella lied.  The Ciaramella lie is at the heart of the impeachment attempt.

Don’t get lost in the details or the politics of this.  When you peel back all the layers of DC, at its epicenter this was an operation to impeach a sitting President that came from within the CIA, and it almost succeeded. {GO DEEP}

When a top administration intelligence official, holding what I believe to be the best possibility of making a difference, reached out, I began the assist by citing specific documents that would reveal a much bigger story.  The Atkinson transcript was one of those documents.

I have outlined how the silo system is constructed to intentionally impede or stop review. Adam Schiff isn’t stupid. He knew what he was doing and how to use the separation of powers for his purposes.  The executive branch would not easily be able to reach into the legislative branch and extract information.  That’s why then HPSCI Chairman, Impeachment Chairman and now Senator Adam Schiff buried the Atkinson transcript in the vault of the House Intelligence Committee.

The process.

♦ First, you need a republican President in the White House √. Second, you need an aligned Intelligence Community DNI √, and third you need a Republican controlled HPSCI √:

[¹] • To extract the transcript the Executive would first need to understand its value. • Then the Executive would need to know where it was. • Then the Executive would need a qualified stakeholder, with appropriate clearances, to request to review the transcript in the HPSCI secure compartmented intelligence facility (scif).  • If the HPSCI approved, the Executive would be given an appointment date to read it (no notes, no copying, just reading).  • Then, after reading, the Executive stakeholder would then need to request the HPSCI Chair and Ranking Member for a classified copy.  • The Chair and Ranking Member would need to agree to the value of the sunlight on the Legislative Branch controlled information. • To get a copy the entire House Intelligence Committee would need to vote on the release to the Executive.  • The vote would need to be scheduled on the committee calendar.  • A HPSCI vote would then take place:

[SOURCE]

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held a business meeting to consider multiple Committee actions. During the business meeting, the Committee voted in favor of releasing two transcripts from 2019 hearings with the former Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson. The hearings were held to examine Atkinson’s role in an alleged whistleblower complaint, which ultimately led to Democrats’ first impeachment efforts against President Trump in December 2019. One transcript would be released to the ODNI for classification review, and then subsequently released to the public by the Committee with the second unclassified transcript.

“The great deal of widespread speculation about the Atkinson classified hearing transcript is indicative of the American people’s complete and warranted mistrust of the Intelligence Community,” said Chairman Crawford. “In far too many instances, the IC hides behind the veil of overclassification. Sometimes sunlight is the best disinfectant. As part of the Committee’s continued effort to balance the transparency the American people deserve and the need to protect sensitive national security information, we hope that the release of these transcripts allows the American people to make their own determinations. As Chairman, I remain committed to ensuring this Committee, where possible, is transparent as the IC works to rebuild trust with the American people.”

The transcripts will be posted on the Committee website once they undergo the standard classification review with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  (source)

The HPSCI has voted to release the Atkinson Transcript.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard will now walk the unhidden transcript through the declassification process. The fastest way is through President Trump’s office.   Hopefully the redactions will be minimal.  Then we will all get to see it.

This has been a long, frustrating and complicated process – but we have succeeded.

[SUPPORT The Ongoing CTH Effort HERE]

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[¹] FINAL POINT: You can tell this is a long arduous process. However, once the process begins, you’ll note that certain tripwires are crossed, and people in/around DC find out what you are doing.  Yes, DC ‘interests’ realized months ago that Tulsi Gabbard was on the trail of this transcript.

Now do the recent attacks against DNI Tulsi Gabbard gain context?

Mar 25 2026

Senators Grassley and Johnson Release FBI Surveillance Subpoena on Kash Patel, Potentially Used for Control Leverage


Posted originally on CTH on March 24, 2026 | Sundance

Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson released 30 pages of documents today outlining how the Jack Smith investigation “Arctic Frost” was used to capture records of former Trump administration officials [SEE HERE].

In addition to information showing how Jack Smith was collaborating and strategizing with DC Judge James Boasberg in advance of the subpoena submissions, literally strategizing how best to target Donald Trump, there is something even more interesting in the release.

Many people have wondered why FBI Director Kash Patel seems compromised since he took office.  Well, the FBI subpoena into then civilian Kash Patel, highlights the extent of the FBI operation as they gathered background intelligence that could be used for blackmail and leverage over the eventual FBI Director.

[Source pdf page 28]

As noted by Hans Manche: “It didn’t just ask for Kash Patel’s phone records, it asked for everything he did from 2020 to 2023. Just to name a few, they requested all usernames and screen names, every address and email, complete billing and payment details including credit card and bank account numbers, every device ID, and a full log of every call, text, and voicemail showing who was contacted, when, and for how long. They also obtained all internet session data, including the exact IP addresses. So, this wasn’t just about who Kash called. It was basically a complete view of his entire life, mapping his daily routines, travel, relationships, finances, and even tracking the specific hardware he used. In short, they got a full digital shadow of his life.”

Yep, that’s how the FBI operates.

That’s how the FBI establishes leverage against anyone they view against their interests.

Now does the activity of FBI Director Kash Patel look a little differently with hindsight?

Here’s the part where the internal DOJ discussions reveal the Jack Smith prosecution team coordinating and strategizing with DC Circuit Court Judge James Boasberg and Judge Beryl Howell:

In March 2023, when I wrote the outline about Judge Boasberg being the corrupt DC judge who broke the constitutional restrictions on executive privilege, which technically forced Mike Pence to turn over his notes and testify to James Smith and the DC grand jury, I said at the time, “The entire judicial system is corrupt, soup to nuts, all of it.”  I was not using hyperbole.

This is the same Judge Boasberg who sat as presiding judge on the FISA court.  The same Judge Boasberg who gave FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith a slap on the wrist for manufacturing evidence used in the Carter Page FISA application that defrauded the court.  The same Judge Boasberg who appointed former DOJ-NSD head Mary McCord as amicus curiae advisor to the court, after she knowingly and fraudulently submitted the FISA application to the court.

Four years ago, while Judge Boasberg was on the FISA Court, I warned about the implications of all these interconnected judicial dots.  The entire DC federal bench is compromised.  The entire judiciary of the FISA Court process is compromised.  The entire federal judicial system is compromised.  Then we witnessed the stunning scale and scope of that same DC judicial corruption in the fraudulent case against President Donald Trump.

Former FISA Court Presiding Judge James Boasberg is no longer on the FISC.  However, he continues to advance the interests of the DC Deep State with rulings specifically tailored to protect the national security state.  [Boasberg Background Here]

Boasberg, an ally of SSCI Chairman Mark Warner, has intercepted several cases that brought sunlight upon the corrupt DC system.  In each case Boasberg ruled in favor of maintaining the corruption, including his willfully blind support of the FBI searching NSA databases to conduct illegal surveillance of Americans, and including Boasberg’s personal appointment of Mary McCord to run defense on behalf of the corrupt DOJ main office.  Keep in mind, Mary McCord’s husband Sheldon Snook was working for Supreme Court justice John Roberts.

Here’s the Arctic Frost HEARING:

Mar 21 2026

Grassley Releases Evidence of Manipulated Political Targeting within Mueller Probe Via FBI Whistleblower Report


Posted originally on CTH on March 20, 2026 | Sundance

Let me start by saying there is a lot of misleading information circling current events, some of it by what CTH considers very dubious alt-right voices.   I suggest just to be leery of “exclusive” insider information.  There are motives and angles that are not obvious and would not be comfortable for those who follow events closely.

[As an example, the election/voting information -connected to the Intelligence Community- and recently outlined by John Solomon, is not new.  What Solomon is rehashing is the background information exposed by Catherine Englebrecht and True the Vote surrounding Chinese involvement in prior elections (Konnech etc.).  Englebrecht gave the FBI the data, the FBI buried it and eventually targeted Englebrecht.  The hidden data and FBI conduct is now resurfacing.]

As a result of datamining the FBI ‘prohibited access’ records Chuck Grassley has released an FD-302 from an FBI agent who was on the Mueller team and became a whistleblower about the motives and agenda of the Mueller participants. [SEE HERE]

One of the stories surfacing surrounds one of the Mueller targets, Walid Phares.   [SEE HERE]

Walid Phares was the 5th target within the Weissmann/Mueller probe who were using Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) violations as targeting mechanisms.

The other four were Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.

♦ Why Phares?  This is a little complicated but become straightforward once you get it.

One of the first things President Obama did when he took office was to travel to Cairo, Egypt, give a speech to the Islamic world and trigger what later became known as the “Arab Spring.”  Obama was an ideological ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, which positioned him in alignment with Qatar, Iran, Turkey and various factions of the more extremist Muslim community.  The Muslim Brotherhood is political Islam.

Trying to keep it short, essentially Walid Phares was on the opposite side of that ideology.  He was a critic of the Brotherhood, and a supporter of the person who eventually shut down the Arab Spring uprisings, Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi.

After success in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya, President Obama was furious when Army General al-Sisi stepped up and removed Muslim Brotherhood aligned Mohammed Morsi in Egypt.  That military uprising stopped the Arab Spring, and it stalled out thereafter.

Obama’s efforts to give increased power and voice to the Muslim Brotherhood was essentially stopped by Sisi, and that made anyone on the stability side of Islam an enemy of Obama.  Without Egypt, Team Obama couldn’t trigger Syria – they did get extremism to expand via ISIS, but the coalition of Arab states al-Sisi put together pushed back on the extremists.

That’s the Muslim ideological part of the issue, and we could write a dozen deep articles about all of the ancillary issues within it.  However, for the sake of reader time, we’ll just jump forward to the other, perhaps more important, issue.

Walid Phares was an advisor to Donald Trump, helping him to connect to middle east moderate Arab leaders like al-Sisi and frame policies to end the extremism aspect.

As a policy advisor Phares saw the structural flaws in the Obama Iran-deal and, more importantly, Phares saw the outline of a financial relationship that intersected with Obama policy.

The Obama Iran deal involved the U.S. dropping sanctions, feeding billions of dollars back to Iran (via Qatar) as part of the incentive for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to “eliminate Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”  At least that was the forward face of the policy goal.

However, in the background there was a semi-opaque quid-pro-quo where Obama would transfer sanctioned funds back to Iran and then Iran would send a portion of the funds back to the Obama network.  The problem was the return funds were contingent upon the success of the Iran deal.

By advising President Trump against the Iran deal, Walid Phares was essentially putting a stop to the quid-pro-quo that was contingent upon the deal’s success.  In the bigger picture, that made Phares a target and the Weissmann-Mueller probe was the mechanism to target him, using FARA as the weapon.

[SIDEBAR – In a collaborative relationship between the Senate and the State Department, U.S. senators write foreign aid policy, rules and regulations thereby creating the financing mechanisms to transmit U.S. funds (think USAID).  Those same senators then received a portion of the funds laundered back through their various “institutes” and business connections to the foreign government offices. Example Ukraine [Burisma to Biden] or The McCain Institute.

The U.S. State Dept. served as a distribution network for the authorization of the money laundering by granting DC conflict waivers, approvals for financing (think Clinton Global Initiative), and permission slips for the payment of foreign money.   The officials within the State Dept. take a slice of the overall payments through a system of “indulgence fees”, junkets, gifts, expense payments from foreign dignitaries, and payments back to leadership pacs and structured political institutes.

If anyone gets too close to revealing or interrupting this process, they become a target of the apparatus.  By all accounts, President Trump was considered an existential threat to this entire process. – END SIDEBAR]

President Obama was ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood (time spent in Pakistan as a young man), that made him sympathetic to Iran (Valerie Jarrett), and simultaneously team Obama had a financial motive.

The Mueller investigation was used by Obama-era officials, deep state embeds and eventually FBI investigators as a mechanism to block President Trump from executing a divergent foreign policy.  The primary policy to protect was the Iran deal.

It’s a similar process in various foreign policy outcomes:

President Obama was positioned to make money from the Iran deal.

Vice President Biden was similarly positioned to make money from Ukraine.

Hillary Clinton (CGI) would make money from Haiti.

Donald Trump was a disruption to all of those ideological and financial constructs.  President Trump would and did carry an entirely new foreign policy.  This would result in ideological diminishment for the former policy teams, and financial loses for the former beneficiaries.

WASHINGTON – Carter Page wasn’t the only adviser from Trump’s first campaign wiretapped by the FBI. Walid Phares was electronically monitored for a 12-month period between 2017 and 2018, according to the Washington-based FBI agent who was assigned to investigate him as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia collusion probe.

As in Page’s case, the bureau withheld evidence exonerating Phares from the court to secure surveillance authorization, according to newly declassified FBI documents.

“I had no idea any of this was happening,” Phares told RealClearInvestigations in an exclusive interview Wednesday night. “This is shocking because they told my lawyer that I was only a ‘witness’ and that they just needed some information.”

“But these were huge abuses that I can see now,” he added. Phares said he intends to sue the FBI and Justice Department for damages.

The 68-year-old Lebanese-American scholar said case agents and prosecutors grilled him for months, questioned his employer, and even went after his bank records. As a result, he said he lost his job at a university, his livelihood, and even his bank accounts and credit card after Wells Fargo cancelled them.

“It was like a disaster for me financially and physically,” he said. “I also lost my Fox News contract” as an expert on terrorism and the Middle East, which he had held since 2007.

Phares was not hired by the Trump administration, even though he had been expected to land a high-level foreign policy position. “They scared the agencies from me so I would have problems with (obtaining) a security clearance,” he said.

Investigators could find “nothing” criminal on Phares during their probe, according to the lead case agent, and in fact, they concluded he was “honest.” Yet Mueller’s team continued to secretly spy on Phares – without providing the powerful federal spy court any of the exculpatory evidence that could clear Phares as required by law.

The agent told investigators in a separate 2020 internal FBI review that “there were no corroborating facts that tied Crosswind [the codename for Phares’ case] to certain facts that we thought were originally true,” according to a transcript of his testimony, released after more than five years of concealment.

He added that “nothing” collected from Phares’ communications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants, including phone messages and emails, “aided the investigation other than to prove the target was being honest with investigators,” who had interviewed him repeatedly.

Nonetheless, the FBI continued monitoring Phares as part of a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) investigation. He was never charged with any violations of the act. (read more)

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosensten gave testimony to the Senate in June of 2020 {LINK}.  Within Rosenstein’s election year and little covered testimony, he revealed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his main deputy Andrew Weissmann were completely in charge of Main Justice at the DOJ during the time the special counsel investigation was happening.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions was recused, and DAG Rosenstein was in charge of how much power and authority Mueller and Weissmann’s team held in the DOJ.

Rosenstein testified the special counsel had full control over everything and anything related to Trump-Russia, including the Carter Page FISA application the special counsel had re-submitted for the third renewal on June 29, 2017.

Anything that remotely touched the Trump-Russia investigation was completely and unilaterally controlled by Mueller and Weissmann, including any ancillary investigation that would come as an outcome from anything to do with Trump-Russia

Rosenstein also testified he deferred everything to Mueller/Weissmann and never challenged any of their requests for expanded investigative scope or authority.  Rosenstein felt the special counsel was in charge, and anything they wanted – they got.  As Deputy AG Rosenstein said all the special counsel operations were part of their investigative authority, and he felt he had no place in questioning, challenging or refusing anything related to their investigative authority.

Mueller/Weissmann had full control.

Feb 26 2026

A Name From The Past – FBI Raids Home of Alberto Carvalho


Posted originally on CTH on February 25, 2026 | Sundance

If you were with CTH when I did the deep dive into the Miami-Dade School Police Department and Miami-Dade School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, you will likely remember how corrupt and sketchy he was. {SEARCH TOOL}

Carvalho was tightly aligned with the Obama/Biden administration, the “my brothers keeper” program and the Dade/Broward County “Promise Program” where high school kids who committed felonies were directed away from the criminal justice system and instead given school punishments (suspensions etc.).

I spent months fighting corrupt Miami-Dade officials and getting transcripts from internal police investigators who admitted to the corruption within the program. It was jaw-dropping.

Well, Carvalho left Miami-Dade and went to work in Los Angeles. Now this appears:

BREAKING: FBI LA confirms they are currently executing search warrants at two addresses, which a separate federal law enforcement source tells Fox News are the home and office of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. LAUSD is the 2nd biggest school district in the country.

We are told the underlying affidavit in support of the search warrant is under seal, so it’s unclear what potential wrongdoing Carvalho may be suspected of. More as we get it. {SOURCE}

In 2013 an investigation into the Miami-Dade School Police Department (M-DSPD) uncovered several police officers, and School Resource Officers, admitting to breaking the law because they were instructed to do so by M-DSPD Police Chief Charles Hurley.  During the investigation, Chief Hurley admitted to giving the police officers instructions to hide criminal conduct by students, because of specific demands by School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. Trayvon Martin was a beneficiary of the program.

Alberto Carvalho is a very well connected political figure among Democrats.  [Carvalho also has a zipper problem] It was Carvalho’s program to use the police to inflate statistical improvements in schools that eventually led to neighboring Broward County doing the same thing in 2013. That led to the Parkland school shooting.

Feb 19 2026

Two-Hour Meeting in Geneva Between U.S., Ukraine and Russia Negotiators Ends with Not much Progress


Posted originally on CTH on February 18, 2026 | Sundance

The U.S. mediating team met with Ukraine and Russia negotiators for the second day in Geneva, Switzerland.  Unfortunately, despite the high praise and customary diplomatic niceties spoken, there was not much progress.

There was, however, a rather remarkable accusation hurled by Russian media about uninvited British officials going to Geneva in order to conduct surveillance of the negotiations. Apparently, this is part of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to retain maximum involvement and influence.

STEVE WITKOFF – “Today, at President Trump’s direction, the United States moderated a third set of trilateral discussions with Ukraine and Russia. Thank you to the Swiss Confederation for being gracious hosts for today’s meetings.

President Trump’s success in bringing both sides of this war together has brought about meaningful progress, and we are proud to work under his leadership to stop the killing in this terrible conflict. Both parties agreed to update their respective leaders and continue working towards a deal.” (source)

RUSTEM UMEROV (UKRAINE) – “In Geneva, the second day of trilateral negotiations has begun.

Consultations are taking place in working groups by areas within the political and military tracks. We are working on clarifying the parameters and mechanisms of the decisions discussed yesterday.

We are focused on substantive work. We will provide additional information on the results.” (source)

VIDEO BELOW Between Piers Morgan and Volodymyr Zelenskyy:

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introduction and monologue
02:14 President Zelensky on the latest developments in Ukraine
08:13 Zelensky on breaking news over the trilateral meeting in Geneva
10:30 Zelensky: ‘We need European representatives’
14:50 Would Ukraine ever concede any territory for the Russians?
20:40 Zelensky’s view over Russia’s red lines involving NATO
25:55 Bill Clinton on dealing with Putin
35:19 Zelensky: “I don’t need all this historical shit!”
37:12 Would Zelensky authorise forces to kill Putin?
41:40 Zelensky on his relationship with America
46:57 Piers asks Zelensky is he trusts President Trump
50:04 Zelensky on the possibility of having free and fair elections following a 2-month ceasefire
53:54 Zelensky being voted the world’s favourite leader
01:03:00 Zelensky on Russia in the Winter Paralympics: “I don’t want to say it’s about money but it’s a dirty decision”
01:07:05 Zelensky on his relationship with his family
01:11:00 Piers’ monologue following his interview with President Zelensky

Feb 19 2026

Strong Possibility of SCOTUS Ruling on President Trump IEEPA Tariffs – Friday, Tuesday or Wednesday


Posted originally on CTH on February 18, 2026 | Sundance 

The high court has indicated it will be releasing opinions on one or more of the previously argued cases on Friday February 20, Tuesday Feb 24, or Wednesday Feb 25.  The decision over tariffs triggered by President Trump using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is one of the decisions now considered highly likely to surface.

If the decision doesn’t come this Friday, a rather interesting situation unfolds.  The following week falls into the Tuesday Feb 24 State of the Union address.

Typically, several Supreme Court justices sit in front row of the House floor during the speech.  The decision could be released on the morning of the speech, or justices could actually sit in the audience – knowing the outcome and the morning after the State of the Union address, the ruling could be released.

Now, there is a possibility the ruling will not come out in this cycle, but that is diminishing possibility considering the length of time the Supreme Court has sat on this opinion.

The court knows the importance of this decision, and they obviously know the State of the Union speech is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday the 24th.  This will be an interesting dynamic to watch unfold.

Feb 18 2026

Disinformation Board Member Jennifer Daskal Appointed as FISA Court Advisor


Posted originally on CTH on February 17, 2026 | Sundance 

A good catch by Chuck Ross at WFB drawing attention to the latest Amici curiae appointed to the FISA Court.

Adding to a string of leftist ‘advisors to the court’ Jennifer Daskal has been appointed by FISA Court Presiding Judge Anthony Trenga.

Daskal was the Biden administration principal deputy general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security who launched the Disinformation Governance Board (Ministry of Truth) ultimately led by Nina Jankowicz.

Jennifer Daskal’s career has centers around controlling information from a leftist perspective and was one of the core officials who used the term dis-mis-mal-information to censor speech on social media platforms around COVID-19 and the vaccination protocol.

Daskal’s reach and control into big tech and social media is well documented. Appointing her as an advisor to the FISA court is troubling as she has joined Amy Jeffress, appointed amicus curiae in 2015 (Biden’s personal attorney), David Kris, a 2016 amicus curiae selection (denied Carter Page FISA application contained fabrications), and the infamous Mary McCord appointed amicus curiae in 2021 (sits at the center of every stop-Trump operation).

Washington Free Beacon – A Biden administration official who launched the Disinformation Governance Board and served as co-chair of the so-called Ministry of Truth has been appointed to advise the powerful Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, prompting concerns from some Republican lawmakers.

The presiding judges of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review appointed Jennifer Daskal on Feb. 1 to serve as amicus curiae for the court. Amici curiae, known as “friends of the court,” advise judges on legal issues related to foreign surveillance warrants in national security cases. Daskal served as acting principal deputy general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security under Biden. In that role, she drafted the charter for the Disinformation Governance Board, according to a Jan. 31, 2022 memo. (read more)

[SOURCE]

Feb 14 2026

Vice President JD Vance Discusses Epstein Files and Political Consquences


Posted originally on CTH on February 13, 2026 | Sundance

Holding an impromptu press conference, Vice-President JD Vance gives an impromptu press conference flying back to the USA.  Vance was asked about the latest revelations in the Epstein files and for his opinion about the political consequences the files represent.  WATCH:

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