Everything is disconnected until somebody connects it.

On February 9, 2018, the DOJ released a batch of captured text messages between Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chairman Mark Warner and the lawyer for Christopher Steele, Adam Waldman.

At the time the texts were released the media narrative surrounded the top-line story that Senator Warner was having back channel discussions to communicate with the author of the now famous Trump dossier, Chris Steele. However, no-one seemed to wonder why these messages were captured, and even more curiously why they were released.

Immediately following the release, SSCI member Marco Rubio, the current acting chairman of the same committee, rushed to defend the covert communication of Vice-Chair Warner.  According to Rubio the vice-chair did previously inform the committee of his intent to contact Steele.  The media quickly used Rubio’s defense to dismiss the controversy.  Nothing to see here… nothing to see here… and that was that.

Except it wasn’t.

Not even close.

While the issue may have quickly been downplayed by a water-carrying media, the looming question sat in the corner of the room like an unattended 800lb gorilla.

Why were Senator Warner’s text messages even captured in the first place?

Who captured them?

… and then, lastly, if there really was no ‘there‘ there, and everything was appropriate; and given the nature of this being sold as merely private nothing-burger communication valid for the purposes of SSCI investigative inquiry; well, then why were they released?

The answers to those questions took a long time to solve, but they are solved; and while it is prudent to withhold some of the granular aspects behind the puzzle solving, you deserve to know the answers.

The FBI captured the text messages when Senator Mark Warner was under investigation.

[The content of the Mark Warner text messages is a whole ‘nuther kettle-o-fish, which is not pertinent to our understanding of this specific aspect: what was going on at the time.]

To begin lets just focus on a sequence of events and then fill in the back-story.

First, the mysterious Mark Warner texts were released on February 9, 2018.

Exactly, four days later there was something else released from the DOJ that directly ties to the Warner capture.

On February 13, 2018, the DOJ sent a letter to journalist Ms. Ali Watkins, now working at the New York Times, providing a statutory notification that the content of her electronic communication, emails and cell phone records -including text messages and images- were captured as part of an ongoing FBI investigation. [Source Link]

That FBI investigation surrounded leaks from within the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).  Notice the date for the search warrant February 1, 2017, to July 31, 2017. Notice also this is the same time-frame of Senator Warner’s text message capture.

The SSCI leaks were eventually tracked to Security Director James Wolfe who was leaking classified intelligence to journalist Ali Watkins and others.  Wolfe leaked the FISA application to Ali Watkins on March 17, 2017.

What we discover from the DOJ indictment of Security Director Wolfe, which was unsealed on June 8, 2018, is that the grand jury was seated on May 3rd.

This timeline means prior to May, 2018,  the FBI investigators transferred their investigative files over to Main Justice.

From there DOJ lawyers would initiate grand jury proceedings based on that evidence.

The transfer of the investigative file included the intercepted Wolfe text messages, the intercepted incoming messages from Ms. Watkins phones; and the investigative file also included the Mark Warner text messages.

That’s the how and why the Warner texts were captured.

But why were the Senator Warner messages released?

The answer to that question goes back to the same reason the DOJ released the Carter Page FISA application in July 21, 2018.  The special counsel crew initiated the Warner release through Rod Rosenstein (same as the FISA application, different auspices).  Rosenstein then transferred the Warner texts to the House intel committee; and they were made public.

There was not classification issue.  Any release was going to be a public release. The resistance priority was diluting any damage from the discovery of their capture; and it worked, no-one stopped to question the foundational issue: why were they captured?

The text messages were released and Ms. Ali Watkins was simultaneously notified because the special counsel resistance unit inside Main Justice became aware of the evidence.  It was not until the FBI evidence was transferred from FBI to DOJ when the resistance unit could do anything about it.

Remember, the special counsel was protecting and defending the FISA application.  The FISA was released under the guise of FOIA fulfillment (NYT and Judicial Watch); the Warner texts were released under the guise of fulfillment to congress; both releases purposeful and strategic.

The FBI finalized most of their investigation of the Wolfe leak, which included information related to Mark Warner’s involvement, and sent the evidence to main justice in/around February. 

February of 2018 is when the Mueller special counsel resistance unit started informing their outside allies how to prepare.  The Warner text release was preemptive, and it was done before the grand jury was seated in May 2018 to hear and see that evidence.

The resistance unit within Mueller’s special counsel was essentially notifying their allies what to prepare for; how to prepare for it; and simultaneously dilute the severely damaging information that was discovered and prop up the narrative behind the FISA.

Ultimately they succeeded.  The resistance unit was able to block the biggest story of political corruption in recent history.

The vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, an intelligence community gang of eight oversight member, instructed the SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to leak the Top Secret Carter Page FISA application on March 17, 2017.  {Go Deep}

When Ali Watkins was notified of the search warrant in February 2018, she was then working for the New York Times.

Ms. Watkins gained the job at the New York Times by possessing the top secret FISA application.  Text messages between Watkins and Wolfe contain Wolfe noting his important role in advancing Ms. Watkin’s career.

The New York Times received and began exploiting the FISA application in March 2017 while simultaneously writing articles that President Trump, nor any member of his campaign, was never under surveillance.  They lied.

After receiving the leak the Times then sent a FOIA request for a legal copy of the FISA application which they already possessed unlawfully.  This was an attempt to diffuse their illegal possession of the same, albeit unredacted, document.

Everything is disconnected, until someone connects it.

Adam Waldman (left), Oleg Deripaska (right)