The specificity here is pretty damning.  The FBI released a stunning admission today admitting they received prior a specific warning about Broward County Nikolas Cruz and his threats to carry out a school shooting.  The FBI took no action.

WASHINGTON DC FBI – On January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI’s Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him. The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting.

Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken.

We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said:

“We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public. It’s up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly.

“We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy. All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it.”  (link)

The backdrop of this admission is especially troublesome as the FBI previously also admitted they were forewarned about the Tsarnaev brothers in the Boston Marathon Bombing 2013 and did nothing; and perhaps even more disturbing was the prior warning about the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooter Omar Mateen.

[…] Mateen’s background, however, was checked again by G4S in 2013 after the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office requested he be removed from the St. Lucie County Courthouse patrol after he allegedly made derogatory comments to a deputy.

A deputy at the courthouse mentioned the Middle East to Mateen, who reacted by threatening the deputy, said Sheriff Ken Mascara, who attended the Wednesday night meeting at the community’s Island Club.

“Omar became very agitated and made a comment that he could have al-Qaida kill my employee and his family,” Mascara said Wednesday. “If that wasn’t bad enough, he followed it up with very disturbing comments about women and followed it up with very disturbing comments about Jews and then went on to say that the Fort Hood shooter was justified in his actions.”

The FBI launched an investigation into Mateen after Sheriff’s Office officials reported the incident to the agency. As part of its investigation, the FBI examined Mateen’s travel history, phone records, acquaintances and even planted a confidential informant in the courthouse to “lure Omar into some kind of act and Omar did not bite,” Mascara said. The FBI concluded Mateen was not a threat after that, Mascara said.  (read more)

Obviously the apparatus of the bureaucracy within the FBI needs a top-down review and re-focus.

WHITE HOUSE – Earlier today, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced indictments against 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities for meddling in the 2016 Presidential election, which began in 2014 before the President declared his candidacy. President Donald J. Trump has been fully briefed on this matter and is glad to see the Special Counsel’s investigation further indicates—that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump campaign and Russia and that the outcome of the election was not changed or affected.

President Trump says, “it is more important than ever before to come together as Americans. We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion, discord, and rancor to be successful. It’s time we stop the outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories, which only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions. We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections.” (read more)

There is a particular transparency in timing as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announces indictments from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ‘Russian Interference in U.S. Election‘ investigation on the same day as the FBI is forced to admit they made massive mistakes from reports against the Parkland Florida school shooter.

The thirteen indictments are based on very weak structure. Here’s the DOJ Announcement; and here is Rod Rosenstein’s press conference. Specific wording is used tactically to generate maximum value; however, when you peel back the onion skin and look at the actual indictment itself (full pdf below) there’s not much ‘there’ there:

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The indictment itself is full of fluff and clearly presents itself as political posturing.  The Mueller investigation had to find something, anything; and what they came up with reflects how little substance exists.  This is one of those examples where it pays to read the actual indictment; and contrast the facts laid out against the method of salesmanship and parseltongue. It is not a difficult read – even Boris and Natasha could do it.

Example: “unwitting Trump campaign official” is really  – A single New York volunteer campaign worker agreed to give some signs to a pro-Trump rally.

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/371682469/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-V5DvZrJBotkjuts8SlvA

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Mitt Romney made it official this morning, he is running for the Senate seat currently held by retiring Orrin Hatch.

FUBAR.

Mittens confirmed his plans Friday in an online video. Romney is the epicenter of anti-MAGA and has continued to be a favored son of the GOPe chamber of commerce republican apparatus. A failed presidential candidate with a severely vindictive disposition cloaked in parseltonue and decepticon skin.

Unfortunately, Romney is considered a heavy favorite for the Senate seat held by Orrin Hatch.

Sharyl Attkisson is a five-time Emmy Award winner and recipient of the Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting.  Mrs. Attkisson has also authored two New York Times bestsellers: “The Smear” and “Stonewalled.” – WEBSITE HERE

Additionally Mrs. Attkisson hosts the Sunday national TV news program “Full Measure,” which focuses on investigative and accountability reporting.  Was the effort to focus America’s attention on the idea of “fake news” itself a propaganda effort?  Sharyl Attkisson did some digging.  WATCH:

Moments ago FISA Court Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer responded to the requests from the House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte. (full pdf’s below – #1 and #2)

There are nuances in each response specific to the statutory roles of each Chairman and the specific requests made by each committee.  Reflected in Judge Collyer’s responses is a need for careful consideration of each unique request.

♦House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes holds primary oversight authority over the aggregate Intelligence Community (IC).  Chairman Nunes has requested the transcripts from the FISA Court during the DOJ/FBI Title-1 surveillance application over their target, U.S. person Carter Page.

♦House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte holds primary oversight authority over the Department of Justice -including the FISA court- and has requested the actual FISA Title-1 application as submitted by the DOJ/FBI for surveillance of Carter Page.

Judge Collyer responds to both legislative branch chairman from the position of “never previously receiving such requests.” There are separation of power challenges, but also an understanding inherent in the response to Chairman Goodlatte of the unique statutory oversight his committee holds.

The Legislative Branch created the FISA Court system; however, the secret court resides in the Judicial Branch.  Judge Collyer is taking both requests under consideration and asks both Chairman to consider seeking relief from the Executive Branch with requests directly to the DOJ for the majority of the information they seek.

However, there is an underlying issue not being discussed within the communication – yet visible in the corner amid their engagement. That issue is the possibility the DOJ may have modified the FISA documents within its possession in an effort to hide from congress the trail of a conspiracy against a presidential candidate and an incoming administration.

In essence, the FISA documents held by the court *may not be* identical to the FISA documents released by the Department of Justice. Chairman Goodlatte is seeking to rule out that possibility.

Here are the responses.

To Chairman Nunes (seeking transcript):

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/371621778/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-orIgdZtFsfC6XRS0nvon

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To Chairman Goodlatte (seeking documents):

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/371622097/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-3bXJwf8DD1DQhLmpteZA

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As a reminder (for context and discussion).  The only people who have actually seen the FISA Title-1 Application are:

♦The officials in the DOJ and/or FBI who assembled it.  Those people are unknown but presumed to be from the DOJ – National Security Division. (Possibly: John P Carlin, Mary McCord or similar).

♦The presiding FISC judge who approved the application. (Possibly: Judge Rudolph Contreras – though no concrete evidence therein).

♦The three congressional representatives who have viewed the application as presented by the DOJ for the construction of the various memos:

•HPSCI member Trey Gowdy;
•HPSCI ranking member Adam Schiff;
•and House Judiciary Chairman ¹Bob Goodlatte.

¹Chairman Goodlatte has viewed the FISA application as presented by the DOJ and is requesting to see the same application as presented by the FISA court.