This is interesting…. During the final question of his press conference President Trump forcefully outlined the names of key former administration officials who participated in the effort to remove him.

It would be an extreme long-shot if these two documented events were not analogous.

Senator Lindsay Graham asked today {Go Deep} who was the FBI official who delivered a set of false talking points to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) on February 14,2018?

Now we look within the SSCI Russian Active Measures Report… [Page #10, Footnote #25]

[Source Document – Page #10, fn #25]

[Hat Tip DebateJudge] On the same day the false FBI talking points were used, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was briefing the SSCI.  Way too coincidental.  It seems almost certain McCabe was the one intentionally misleading the SSCI.

McCabe may have had someone with him, but records clearly indicate, despite his status of announcing his resignation on 1/29/18, Andrew McCabe was clearly at the SSCI on February 14, 2018 

UPDATE: TheWarEconomy Confirms (via supplemental)

Andrew McCabe (FBI) and Scott Schools (Main Justice) were at SSCI Feb 14, 2018.

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We have a saying in the south: ‘hang around a one-legged man long enough and eventually you’re gonna start limping‘.  This interview is an example of how that cuts through the BS, spin and political chaff and countermeasures.  Steven Schrage should be trusted as far as you can spit into a hurricane – which is to say, not at all.

First, in an article to accompany his media effort, Schrage waxes philosophical and woefully about how his years-long good friend and phd supervisor, Stephan Halper, the one-legged character in the metaphor, turned out to be a politically motivated snake and spy.  Oh, but all the years previous this wasn’t noticed?  Not buying it.

Second, Schrage sat and watched Michael Flynn and Svetlana Lokhova get raked over the coals for three+ years only now, right now, to find his conscience bothered by his participation in assisting the lies pushed by his friend against them?  Isn’t that convenient timing?… Yeah, sure. I might have been born at night, but I wasn’t born last night.

Third, Schrage notes he was interviewed by John Durham. Horsepucky. Durham doesn’t interview anyone; someone else does, someone very specific; and the fact that Schrage has no clue who that person is implies an aspect to the side-show he now presents as total nonsense.  In short, this is a distraction story…. Look over there…. shiny things.

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I’ve watched and researched these intelligence characters for so long their M.O. screams like visible strings on marionettes. And yes, once you see the strings it’s impossible to return to a time when you did not see them. This interview is a purposeful ruse.

[His article here]

I also do not fault Matt Taibbi or Maria Bartiromo for falling for it.

Devin Nunes was right about Schrage a YEAR AGO:

[…] What you have there is, you have an American citizen, somebody who’s long been involved in politics, and the guy’s name is Steven Schrage. Now, knows that the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, the FBI, we want to talk to anyone and everyone who was dealing with Carter Page and other Trump associates, especially in early 2016.

Schrage is the one who invited Carter Page to this event. Schrage is the one who organized this event. So — but instead of coming forward, a guy who’s been involved in politics for this long doesn’t come forward? I want to know, did he know about the Steele dossier at that time? When did he find out about the Steele dossier? Did he have control of the Steele dossier at any time? Did he give it to anyone?

Those are the types of things that Steven Schrage needs to come clean on, because, you know, look, maybe he was just a guy working for minimum wage sweeping the floors around Cambridge. I highly doubt it.

And the fact that he hasn’t come forward in two-and-a-half years is highly suspect. Now, when you look at the other Brits that were involved there, Maria, if you — this also ties in with General Flynn, because these Brits were the ones who went public and said — specifically, Christopher Andrew said that General Flynn had a Russian girlfriend.  (more)

Nice try…

Do not misinterpret anger for defeatism.  Truth is the fuel for cold anger, and it’s time everyone begins accepting some painful truths.

What some have called “Spygate” is not a frozen moment in time or a set of dates on a calendar with a beginning and an end.  Spygate was the originating process to ensure the DC system did not experience the disruption carried by Donald John Trump; but it was only the originating process….

….The process of opposition against Donald Trump is a continuum.

Those who use DC for influence and affluence control the mechanisms within the self-actuating system. This includes both Democrats and Republicans as they both feed from the same trough.  In the effort to remove Donald Trump, both wings of the uniparty bird were aligned with an identical purpose; Democrats carrying out their effort openly, and the republican elements operating covertly as to retain the DC premise.

Specifically, one of the common flaws that many make is thinking the Mueller special counsel was an outcome of an action by President Trump when he fired former FBI Director James Comey.  This is false.  The special counsel process was a continuum in the effort to remove the threat that Donald Trump represented back in the early primary days of 2016.  The system, writ large, was aligned with this purpose.

In October 2016 Deputy Attorney General John Carlin, in charge of the National Security Division of the DOJ bailed out of the effort after misleading the FISA court on their surveillance activity and setting up the introduction of the FISA warrant against Carter Page.  Carlin was replaced by a more committed traveler/ideologue named Mary McCord.

With Mary McCord in place to continue the DOJ-NSD aspects to the resistance and removal effort, the DOJ and FBI simply continued the process after the November 2016 election.  Internally all of the officials, essentially lawyers, within the DOJ-NSD were carrying out the removal objective and cleverly attempting to cover their tracks.

We see the creation in plausible deniability with the use of Bruce Ohr as a bridge between the politically corrupt DOJ-NSD and the politically corrupt FBI.  Ohr was carrying the messages from outside the system (Chris Steele) into the system. This was his function.

Everyone knew what Ohr’s mission was.  Anyone today, like Sally Yates, who claims they had no idea what the #4 official was doing is simply lying.  That is part of the plausible deniability part. It was set up that way.  Everyone knew what to expect, everyone knew the goals and objectives and every part of the process was compartmentalized to create these functional denials in case anything went sideways; or if the objective failed.

Andrew Weissmann was inside this DOJ-NSD system and he was a primary participant in transferring the spygate operation into the special counsel.  Again, it’s one long continuum.  Tashina Gauhar was the internal tool who had the objective to facilitate the effort and block any DOJ leadership effort that might disrupt the goal.  She too did her job very well.

This is where it must be accepted the DOJ-NSD was the legal side of the usurpation effort.  Everyone at the top three levels inside the system was participating.  Some of them are still there despite the primary agents leaving.

The special counsel then became the continuation of the process.  Once in place it was the special counsel who ran the show from Main Justice.  Additional operatives were brought in to coordinate the plan.  Pictured group below:

No action took place inside Main Justice that was not controlled by this group. Nothing.

When congress was battling for information, it was the special counsel who held control. Nothing was ever released without the special counsel releasing it.  Nothing was ever redacted, removed, or hidden without this group doing the functional work to control it.

This is critical because too many people have failed to accept that any information released from Main Justice was purposefully released as part of a strategy.  An example of that control is the release of the Carter Page FISA application in July 2018.  This is the group who released it.

When ever anyone was asking who was redacting the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages, it was this group.  They also removed some.

This group also controlled what Inspector General Michael Horowitz was allowed to review as part of any of his investigative inquiries.  Everything was labeled as part of the special counsel investigation…. that’s how they justified and got away with it.

Simultaneously this group was leaking to their friends and allies in the media to frame narratives beneficial to their effort.  The media were willing to assist their friends; and indeed, they are friends.  They run in the same circles, attend the same parties, go to the same functions and meet both personally and professionally.  This is the network.

To understand or expose the largest part of the corruption that exists within DC you need a thread, a fulcrum example to share that exposes how this allied network operates. That example is best evidenced, irrefutably, within the story of how Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Security Director James Wolfe was caught facilitating the objectives.

Wolfe was caught by an external investigator from the FBI Washington Field Office named Brian Dugan.  While the special counsel likely knew the periphery of what the Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) was doing (a leak investigation), it was not until the complete investigative file was turned over to the special counsel in January 2018 when the special counsel group grasped the totality of the issues involved.

Immediately the special counsel group formed an attack plan because the outcome of Dugan’s investigation was toxic to their interests in the early part of 2018.   The special counsel stripped the investigative file of the details damaging to their ongoing corrupt effort.  They could not allow the public to know the FISA application was in the hands of their media allies since March of 2017.  This story cuts to the heart of corrupt activity.

What the special counsel team did in order to protect their activity is incredible.  Only someone as arrogant and Machiavellian as Andrew Weissmann could have planned to carry out this scheme.   That’s why he is currently attacking – it’s fear.

The background of the Wolfe story is the thread that lays the corrupt special counsel activity naked to sunlight; and the Wolfe story exposes just how the process from early 2016 all the way through the impeachment effort of August 2019 was put together.  The ramifications are so significant that when you become aware of the Wolfe story everything reconciles.

Nothing is circumstantial, everything is exposed with direct evidence sworn under oath and subject to perjury.   Dig this story hard and everything reconciles.

Yes, FISA abuse is a big deal; yes, crossfire hurricane is a big deal; yes, the Carter Page FISA application is a big deal; yes, the Chris Steele aspect is a big deal; but in the final analysis that’s only the beginning of the effort.  Look at what the special counsel was doing from May 2017 to April 2019 and the scale of the effort is stunning.

Corrupt Republicans and Democrats worked together; the legislative branch worked in coordination with usurping elements inside the executive branch; the intelligence apparatus and the State Dept worked to assist both the legislative branch and the usurping agents inside the DOJ-NSD and Main Justice.

….And, worst of all, none of it could have been carried out if there was not someone very close to President Trump, someone very much participating with the effort, who was whispering in his ear about making appointments that were specifically designed to allow the effort to continue.

Who recommended ODNI Coats? Who recommended DOJ-NSD head lawyer Michael Atkinson, the top FISA review authority and counsel to the head of the NSD, transfer from the NSD to become Intelligence Community Inspector General? Both recommendations had purpose; look at what ICIG Atkinson did with NSC operative Alexander Vindman? These internal actions were not accidental.

That’s ugly.

That’s the truth.

That’s where cold anger gives way to righteous fury.

…and believe me DC is petrified of that story.

Richard ‘Ric’ Grenell appears with Liz MacDonald to discuss yesterday’s testimony by former Deputy AG Sally Yates.  Notice in the Yates testimony she defends the NSD lawyers; that would be David Laufman and Michael Atkinson, both part of the coup.

Grenell points to Yates effort in setting up the ridiculous case against Michael Flynn vis-a-vis the definition of “sanctions”.   Grenell notes the issues with Yates and then shifts to the issues with Susan Rice and connects the dots to VP Biden and how the overall administration was weaponizing against the incoming Trump team.

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On a semi-related note, today was simply an excellent day. The bridge between ‘phase-1’ and ‘phase-2’ has been identified and is blown away by the material. Good stuff. Be of good cheer.

In the questioning of former DAG Sally Yates, only Senator Josh Hawley came close to identifying the edges of the issues with Yates responses. What we see from the overall questioning is what I shared with y’all last week.

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The term “delicate balance” has been used so much it now generates a gag reflex. Every conversation begins with: “understanding all the issues are entwined in a precarious delicate balance”… and then the nudge-nudge, wink-wink, non verbal communication of interpreting between the lines starts. After a while of playing this game the frustration is enough to make you an expert at turning billiard ball into a stress ball. Annoying as heck.

When I share that most officials, staff and investigators are genuinely clueless, I do mean they are genuinely clueless. This includes FBI and Main Justice officials. Thus the important reason for actually getting on planes, meeting people, looking in their eyes, watching their inflection and seeing their responses.

I know the difference when a person is using the Mamet Principle and pretends not to know…. believe me, most of these people are genuinely clueless – they are not pretending. They are more concerned with who is getting the bigger muffin from the taxpayer provided snack bar. They care far less about what middle-America thinks about their lack of corrective action on corrupt issues they are comfortable working with/in/around all day. (more)

The issue(s) surround the aggregate investigation of candidate, president-elect and President Donald Trump.  Those who participated in the soft-coup and ongoing impeachment effort would like nothing more than to discuss all of the DOJ and FBI actions they took when faced with the possibility that Vladimir Putin had installed a Russian asset in the White House.

All of the outrage about lying to the president-elect; hiding information from the president-elect/President; planting spies in the White House; placing bugs and seeking wiretaps and surveillance on the administration etc.  All of what is known, and buckets more action that is unknown – all of which will stir up jaw-dropping outrage, is exactly the narrative that benefits the DOJ/FBI and intelligence group.

The group would love to stir up the outrage into a frothing boil of shock and awe only so they can openly admit everything, and say: “yeah, so what?”  “What we faced was unprecedented; remember, the Russians attempted to influence the election; there was evidence Trump was participating…. What else were we supposed to do?”  Etc.

(FBI Declarations about Comey Memos)

The FBI, DOJ, ODNI, CIA and intelligence officials were intentionally not being direct and honest with President Trump and key members of his new administration. Obviously their lack of honesty was a serious issue, and in some cases had serious ramifications.  They were trapping President Trump inside the corrupt apparatus that they controlled.

The Mueller special counsel was the insurance policy.

The expressed finding by Robert Mueller’s two-year probe of ‘no Trump-Russia collusion, no Trump-Russia conspiracy, and no Trump-Russia obstruction’ has led to some hindsight reviews where anger surfaces about the now visible deception. However, there is a trap laid here and the resistance are hoping outraged voices will walk straight into it.

At 12:15pm on January 20th, 2017, Obama’s outgoing National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote a memo-to-self. Many people have called this her “CYA” (cover your ass) memo, from the position that Susan Rice was protecting herself from consequences if the scheme against President Trump was discovered. Here’s the email:

This is a justification memo, written by an outgoing National Security Advisor Susan Rice to document why there have been multiple false and misleading statements given to the incoming President Trump and all of his officials.

This is not a “CYA” memo, this is a justification memo for use AFTER the Trump-Russia collusion/conspiracy narrative collapsed; if the impeachment effort failed.

The “By The Book” aspect refers to President Obama and Susan Rice being told by CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, that President Trump was the subject of an active counterintelligence investigation to determine if he was under the influence of the Russian government.

Even the timing of the memo, written 15 minutes prior to the end of the Obama administration, is ex-post-facto useful as evidence of the author’s intent.

Put aside the nonsense aspect to the origination of the investigation for a moment; that part doesn’t apply here…. Accept their position ‘as if’ it is substantive.

We are talking about Brennan, Comey, Clapper and Yates telling President Obama and NSA Susan Rice that President-elect Trump is under a counterintelligence investigation where the suspicion is that Donald J Trump is an agent of a foreign power.

Under that auspices (fraudulent though it may be) the incoming President is a counterintelligence investigation target. A potentially compromised Russian asset. Under this auspices all of the officials would be permitted to lie and mislead their target, so long as they did so “By The Book.”

That’s their justification for a lengthy series of lies and false statements.

That’s why FBI Director James Comey can lie to the President and tell him he’s not the target of the ongoing Russia investigation. That’s the justification for keeping the accusations inside the Steele Dossier (remember, the Dossier is evidence) from the President-elect. That’s the justification for all of the officials to lie to President Trump, and even mislead the media if needed.

The Susan Rice email is one big Justification Letter; setting the stage for all of the participants to have a plausible reason for lies to anyone and everyone.

Call out John Brennan for telling Harry Reid about the Steele Dossier during his gang-of-eight briefing, but not telling Go8 member Devin Nunes about it. Brennan escapes by saying Nunes was on the Trump transition team; and briefing a conflicted politician on the dossier would have compromised the FBI investigation. See how that works?

Call out James Comey for lying to President-elect Trump during the January 6th Trump Tower meeting…. Comey escapes by saying Trump was a target of the FBI investigation for potential compromise as a Russian asset; informing the target of the evidence against him would have compromised the investigation. See how that works?

Every lie, every omission, every false and/or misleading statement, must first be filtered through the “By The Book” prism of Trump being considered a Russian asset. This is the justification trap democrats are waiting to exploit for maximum damage and diminishment of counter attack.

The “By the Book” justification, where every action could have been taken because Trump might have been an actual Russian operative, is the weapon under the camouflage tarp as the radical left lures-in their political opposition. They shrug their shoulders and say in condescending voice: ‘well, we didn’t know; we had to be prudent‘, etc.

The ‘By-the-Book’ framework is based on a false-premise; but the action, just about any action, taken to mislead (even undermine) the incoming administration is excusable under this carefully crafted justification memo. That’s exactly why Susan Rice wrote it; and each of the participating members knows they can use it, when needed.

The way to get around the legal and political defense inside this justification memo is to ignore the activity of those protected by it and go directly to the origin of how they created that false premise in the first place.

In short, avoid the “justification trap” by ignoring the downstream activity (stemming as a result of the fraudulent origin), and focus on revealing the origin of the fraud.

The special counsel team authorized and released the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages to the public in December 2017.  It was a very smart Mueller team using a laser pointer to get their political opposition chasing remote controlled rabbits.  The special counsel team controlled the remote.

The special counsel team took control over and then filtered the FBI investigative file of FBI Washington Field Office Supervisory Special Agent, Brian Dugan.  The special counsel removed the evidence that James Wolfe leaked the FISA application on March 17th, 2017.

The special counsel team released the Adam Waldman text message capture to the SSCI as a head’s up after likely informing SSCI Vice-Chairman Mark Warner it was coming.  On February 9, 2018, Warner had his pre-scripted defense in place.  It appears Warner gave the Go8 the text documents knowing it would be leaked to media.  Smart maneuver.

The special counsel team informed the FISA court on July 12, 2018, the predicate for the Carter Page FISA application was still valid.  They lied.   They did this because they planned to release another segment of SSA Dugan’s file to the public to water down the issue.  Nine days after telling the FISC the application was valid, on July 21, 2018, the special counsel used the guise of a FOIA release to put the Dugan FISA equity into the public consciousness.  What we know as the Carter Page FISA application was/is actually SSA Dugan’s work product.  Again, this was from his investigative file.

The special counsel released Dugan’s work product (FBI equity), while simultaneously redacting the dates on the copy they released.  It was the special counsel who redacted the dates.  They had to do this because Dugan’s FISA copy had incorrect dates as seeded to capture the leak by SSCI Security Director James Wolfe.

Every public release of information from May 2017 through April 11, 2019, came from the special counsel.  Neither Main Justice (AG Sessions) nor the FBI (Wray) released anything.  The special counsel were releasing information in a controlled method and withholding other documents detrimental to their purpose of framing President Trump.

HPSCI ranking member Devin Nunes appears on Fox News with Liz MacDonald to discuss the testimony of former Deputy AG Sally Yates.