Tag Archives: Spygate

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

A Reminder and Note of Appreciation


Posted originally on CTH on March 25, 2026 | Sundance 

I have posted this a few times. Each time serves a purpose. [SEE HERE] Here’s a friendly reminder to those who use CTH as a reference resource and research library.

CTH was founded because everyone seemed more comfortable pretending about the journey than admitting our predictable destination.  From the outset, and with a long view of the challenges we would face, I have repeatedly stated that everything on this website would be free for the taking.

The truth has no agenda; it just sits there -out there somewhere- waiting to be discovered. Our feelings about it are irrelevant to its existence. The core of our assembly is to look deeply at uncomfortable things, then accept them as they are and not as we would wish/pretend them to be.

We are in the middle of a fully Orwellian information control operation.  A DHS reconfiguration of the U.S. information communication network as we know it has already taken place. Every day people are discovering more ramifications.

As a direct result, the voices who put accurate context to our national challenge are targets; they are being siloed, and AI was/is designed to assist in this purpose.

Information is being categorized according to definitions by people who do not have good intents.  The blocking, censorship and categorization of information is intended to stop any/all information averse to the interests of a few powerful interests.

Now, perhaps people see why the CTH ‘free information’ cornerstone was set. The truth has no agenda!

Everything you read and review upon these pages is free for the taking.

Anyone, for any reason, can take any content I produce and use it to advance the honest effort of providing raw unfiltered truth to their audience.  Everything is available for use free, without any attribution or citation if necessary. 

All that I provide is free and can be modified, changed, enhanced in part or whole to meet your needs. Images, writing, research, analysis, all of it is provided, along with no expectation of citation or attribution dependent on your motives and intents.

Make the words your own; use them in part or modify to make a more intelligent or comprehensive outline. All the accompanying graphics are available to use as would suit your interests.

Heck, many people can write stuff a lot better than my calloused hands.

Importantly, all the research is cited and verifiable.  This includes all the pdf files, government documents, FOIA outcomes and uploads to the SCRIBD account.   Take anything you want; thanks, sincerely, but no need to ask permission.  [Ex. FBI ARTICLE]

We are not going to save this republic by demanding or restricting information via self-important perspectives on citation or attribution. I simply do not care about such issues. Make it your own in whatever manner or format fits your interests.

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 I’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.

This creates optimism that substantive change is possible. However, much more work lies ahead.

We maintain the voluminous reference library as a documented resource for everyone.  Please accept this thankful reminder with the expressed intent.

If you are brave enough to stand in front of the furnace, you have my full and unwavering support and appreciation.  You are simply considered my brother or sister.  It’s ok, just take it. Anything provided here at CTH is yours to take, whole or in part and make it your own.

This is how we ensure our small contribution to a much larger awakening.

Effective solutions require brutally accurate understanding.

…”There is no such thing as “disinformation” or “misinformation”.  There is only information you accept and information you do not accept.  You were not born with a requirement to believe everything you are told; rather, you were born with a brain that allows you to process the information you receive and make independent decisions.”… 

I will always work earnestly to be deserving of your fellowship. As new visitors attest every day, the fellowship in this commenting community is unique, aligned with a loving God, prayerful, insightful, articulate, intelligent and yes, funny.  I love you guys.

With humble appreciation and the warmest of regards,

Sundance

Remember, we are inside every facility, every institution, every meeting, every moment of their existence – and we notice everything. We are there when they do not expect, and we melt away before they notice our appearance. We see what they hide, we hear what they whisper, we decipher their codes, and we understand the complexity they create in their effort to conceal. We go to the places we know they will travel.  We have allies and resources inside the core of their machinery. We understand what and why everything is being constructed, and we share all the information we discover.  The truth isn’t mean; it’s just The Truth.  ~ Sundance

Mar 26 2026

President Trump Supports an 18-Month FISA(702) Reauthorization


Posted originally on CTH on March 25, 2026 | Sundance

With a heavy sigh and a great deal of resignation, while understanding how the prior open border issue compounded things, CTH had already mentally accepted that FISA (702) reauthorization was going to happen.

I don’t like it at all, but I understand it.

That said, I would prefer to see the FISA (702) reauthorization leveraged toward passage of the SAVE America Act, at least that way we get something out of it.

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have been working to pass a clean extension of FISA Section 702, a Law that was passed many years ago by Congress to collect Intelligence on Foreigners and Noncitizens.

When used properly, FISA is an effective tool to keep Americans safe. For these reasons, I have called for a clean 18-month extension, HOWEVER, the Critical and Common-Sense Reforms that were made in the last Reauthorization of FISA must remain intact to protect the American People from abuses.

Nobody understands this better than me, as I was a victim of the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation’s History, by Radical Left Lunatics who lied to the FISA Court to spy on my 2016 Presidential Campaign in their attempt to RIG the Election in favor of Crooked Hillary Clinton.

That is why, since the first day of my already Historic Second Term, my Administration has worked tirelessly to ensure these Reforms are being aggressively executed at every level of the Executive Branch to keep Americans safe, while protecting their sacred Civil Liberties guaranteed by our Great Constitution.

With the ongoing successful Military activities against the Terrorist Iranian Regime, it is more important than ever that we remain vigilant, PROTECT our Homeland, Troops, and Diplomats stationed abroad, and maintain our ability to quickly stop bad actors seeking to cause harm to our People and our Country.

The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military. I have spoken to many Generals about this, and they consider it vital. Not one said, even tacitly, that they can do without it — especially right now with our brilliant Military Operation in Iran. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter!

~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

CTH is relatively sure the military component surrounding FISA-702 relates to the advanced AI system target tracking that is currently active as part of the Palantir surveillance software suite.

Let’s get all of these illegal aliens the heck out of our country, and then maybe we can have a discussion about returning to a more constitutional approach that doesn’t include the ability of government to interface with privately created electronic metadata.

Hey, a guy can hope, no?

Ouch, I Haz FISA Accept… 

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 22 2026

Robert Mueller is Dead


Posted originally on CTH on March 21, 2026 | Sundance 

The Clinton exoneration FBI Team became the Trump investigation FBI Team (Crossfire Hurricane) – which then became the Robert Mueller FBI Team (exact same people, plus some additions) – which then became the J6 Investigation FBI Team (exact same people, plus some additions) – which then became the Jack Smith FBI Team (same exact people).  Not only was it one long continuum, but it was also the EXACT SAME PEOPLE.

Before there was the obvious cognitive decline of Joe Biden, there was the obvious cognitive incapacity of Robert Mueller.  However, both acuity compromises were ignored because the agenda the figureheads represented was more important than their obvious compromise.  We talked about it throughout the special counsel timeframe that held his name.

Robert Mueller was a figurehead with no structural input or control over the Trump-Russia special counsel probe.  Factually, Andrew Weissmann was in control over the special counsel investigation, albeit with daily support from the entire Lawfare network.  President Trump’s notice about Robert Mueller’s death is understandable:

[SOURCE]

I’ve always said to pay attention to the people in Washington DC, specifically the republicans, who claimed Robert Mueller was an honorable figure.  As soon as you hear that sentiment, you know that is a corrupt conniving bastard speaking.

Everyone in Washington DC knew what the role of Robert Mueller was during the first-term administration of Donald Trump.  No one in Washington DC did not know.  Anyone who says the Mueller motive was to investigate Trump-Russia is a deceptive liar.  They all knew what the goal of Mueller was.

The 2017 Mueller Timeline:

♦Sunday May 14th – James Comey transmitted copies of Memos 2, 4, and 6, and a partially redacted copy of Memo 7 to Patrick Fitzgerald, who was one of Comey’s personal attorneys.  Fitzgerald received the email and PDF attachment from Comey at 2:27 p.m. on May 14, 2017, per the IG report.

♦Monday May 15th, McCabe states he and Rosenstein conferred again about the Special Counsel approach. McCabe: “I brought the matter up with him again after the weekend.”

On this same day was when James Rybicki called SSA Whistleblower to notify him of Comey’s memos. The memos were “stored” in a “reception area” and in locked drawers in James Rybicki’s office.

♦Tuesday May 16th – Per the IG report: “On the morning of May 16, Comey took digital photographs of both pages of Memo 4 with his personal cell phone. Comey then sent both photographs, via text message, to his special government employee, Daniel Richman.  Richman’a job was to use the memo to leak to media.

Back in Main Justice at 12:30pm Rod Rosenstein, Andrew McCabe, Jim Crowell and Tashina Guahar are all part of this meeting.  I should note that alternate documentary evidence, gathered over the years, supports the content of this McCabe memo.  Including texts between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok:

[Sidebar: pay attention to the redactions; they were placed by DOJ officials in an effort to protect Rod Rosenstein for his duplicity in: (A) running the Mueller sting operation at the white house on the same day; (B) the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, which was pre-determined before the Oval Office meeting.]

While McCabe was writing this afternoon memo, still May 16th, Rod Rosenstein took Robert Mueller to the ¹White House for a meeting in the oval office with President Trump and VP Mike Pence.

After six prior days of phone calls, emails and in person meetings, this visit to the White House was clearly Rod Rosenstein introducing Robert Mueller to the target of the investigation.  Rosenstein already knew he was going to appoint Mueller; and Mueller, along with the small group in the FBI, already knew Mueller was going to be appointed.

Later that night (May 16th), following the Mueller visit, there was a debriefing session back at Main Justice.  This evening meeting appears to be Lisa Page, Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe; along with Tashina Gauhar again taking notes.

♦ Wednesday May 17th, 2017:  Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe go to brief the congressional “Gang-of-Eight”: Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Devin Nunes, Adam Schiff, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Richard Burr and Mark Warner.

… […] “On the afternoon of May 17, Rosenstein and I sat at the end of a long conference table in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol. We were there to brief the so-called Gang of Eight—the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Rosenstein had, I knew, made a decision to appoint a special counsel in the Russia case.”

[…] “After reminding the committee of how the investigation began, I told them of additional steps we had taken. Then Rod took over and announced that he had appointed a special counsel to pursue the Russia investigation, and that the special counsel was Robert Mueller.” (link)

Immediately following this May 17, 2017, Go8 briefing, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein notified the public of the special counsel appointment.

According to President Trump’s Attorney John Dowd, the White House was stunned by the decision. [Link] Coincidentally, AG Jeff Sessions was in the oval office for unrelated business when White House counsel Don McGahn came in and informed the group.

Jeff Sessions immediately offered his resignation, and Sessions’ chief-of-staff Jody Hunt went back to the Main Justice office to ask Rosenstein what the hell was going on.

Resources/Citations:
FOIA Info – McCabe Memos
FOIA Info – Archey Declarations
Timeline

RUSSIAGATE – THEY HAD NOTHING – This investigative ‘small group’ were the people inside Main Justice (DOJ) and FBI headquarters who redacted the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages; removed messages and communication antithetical to their goals; kept key documents and information away from congress; stalled any effort to expose the unlawful aspects of “SpyGate’ and the fraudulent foundation behind the Carter Page FISA application; and undermined any adverse discoveries in the leak investigations (ex. James Wolfe).

The DOJ/FBI investigative small group didn’t change when Mueller arrived, they just reorganized the focus of their effort based on lawfare leadership from Andrew Weissmann and new objectives.  Those same people who created the Trump-Russia collusion/conspiracy case of 2016, evolved into creating the Trump obstructing justice case of 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Everything Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein were doing in late 2017 and throughout 2018 was intended to drag-out the Russia conspiracy narrative as long as possible. There was really no Trump-Russia investigation taking place.

It was always the “obstruction” investigation that could lead to the desired result by Mueller’s team of taking down President Trump through evidence that would help Pelosi and Nadler achieve impeachment.  The “obstruction case” was the entirety of the case they were trying to make from May 2017 through to March 2019.

SPYGATE – Just as the New York Times reported, in its final days in office, the Obama Administration expanded the power of the National Security Agency (NSA) to share globally intercepted personal communication with the government’s 16 other intelligence agencies before applying any privacy protections.

The new rules were issued under section 2.3 of Executive Order #12333 after approval by two Obama Administration officials: Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of National Intelligence Director, James Clapper.

The new rules, which were issued in an unclassified document titled: “Procedures for the Availability or Dissemination of Raw Signals Intelligence Information by the National Security Agency (NSA),” significantly relaxed longstanding limits on what the NSA may do with the information gathered by its most powerful surveillance operations.

These operations remain as largely unregulated by American wiretapping laws. Surveillances include collecting satellite transmissions, phone calls, and emails that cross network switches abroad, and messages between people abroad that cross domestic network switches.

The changes initiated by the Obama Administration in its waning days empowered far more government agents and officials to search through raw intelligence data. As a direct consequence of the change in policy, that the prospect of intel leaks grew exponentially.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch signed the new rules permitting the NSA to disseminate raw signals intelligence information on January 3, 2017 after Director of National Intelligence James Clapper signed them on December 15, 2016.

The targeting of Donald Trump required surveillance and spying.

The surveillance of Donald Trump never stopped.

The aspect that changed was the team extracting the information.  Hence, (FBI) Raw NSA extraction => (FBI) Crossfire Hurricane => (FBI) Robert Mueller => (FBI) Impeachment => (FBI) Mar-a-Lago Raid => (FBI) Jack Smith.

My Thoughts…. Robert Mueller spent the last 8 years of his life slowly sliding into a very dark place.  He lost his ability to think, he lost his ability to communicate, he lost his ability to take care of himself, he lost his ability to walk, he lost all joy and happiness, he lost his ability to live.  His family was also dragged into a very dark and depressing place while they awaited his end-of-life process.  It wasn’t a fast death. That sounds like hell.

[FOOTNOTE: I have always wondered why no journalist has ever asked President Trump about the meeting with Robert Mueller, organized by Rod Rosenstein on the day before the special counsel was appointed.  How did Trump feel about Rosenstein when he realized the meeting with Mueller was a ¹set up? (or did he realize it?).]

Mar 21 2026

Michael Caputo Outlines Ongoing Targeting from DOJ and FBI with Suggestion to Tear Down the Institutions


Posted originally on CTH on March 20, 2026 | Sundance

Michael Caputo was interviewed by Catherine Herridge as he outlines all of the FBI targeting and DOJ harassment that took place in the past several years.  This is a very interesting interview. WATCH:

00:35 Michael Caputo: Biden Era FBI ‘Surveilled’ Dozens of Trump Associates
01:28 Caputo Says He Was Targeted Over His Investigation into Bidens and Anti-Weaponization Initiative
02:12 How Did the Biden-Era Investigation Continue Under AG Bondi?
03:10 Google Alert: FBI Subpoenaed His Records
04:29 Caputo Says He Was Working in Same DOJ Building as DOJ Investigation Targeting Him
06:00 August 2024 Susie Wiles Calls with Shocking News
06:40 Before 2024 Presidential Election, FBI Laid A Trap?


07:58 Federal Warrant Wanted Information About Caputo’s State of Mind
09:30 FBI Should Be Shattered: ‘Russia, Russia, Russia All Over Again’
10:42 FBI File: Caputo Called A Radical Traditionalist Catholic (RTC)
11:30 Caputo ‘Had To Go To The Highest Authority’ To Get Case Closed
12:44 Russia Gate Cost Caputo’s Family Everything
13:55 Threats To Caputo And Family
16:10 Accountability For RussiaGate
18:00 If Democrats Win Mid-Terms: Weaponization Will Increase 10x
19:50 Caputo: Task Force For Americans Who Were Harmed By Weaponization
20:50 Response to Critics Who Say Caputo Sees Conspiracies
21:43 Independent Journalism

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.

Mar 21 2026

Bagman and Enabler of ‘Spygate’ and ‘Russiagate’ Receives Subpoena from Florida ‘Conspiracy’ Investigative Grand Jury


Posted originally on CTH on March 20, 2026 | Sundance

In the next few days, much more about the overall investigative review underway in Florida will begin to surface.  The review has been led by USAO Jason A. Reding Quiñones, a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida.

As with all investigations containing multiple players and actors, the first investigative information is extracted from testimony by those furthest away from the principals, yet closest to the granular details of the events being reviewed.  The questioning then goes upstream, using information collected to assembly more specific questions as the principal players are approached.

The widest concentric circles are questioned first. Then, using the responses and investigative information from that circle, the questioning and inquiry goes to the next inner circle of participants.  The information is assembled, and more pointed questions are then targeted to the next inner circle; the process continues until the core is questioned.

Beginning with the end in mind, the biggest challenge is knowing what the correct questions are to ask of those who were closest to the corrupt activity (the outer circle). Background research is critical – CTH of value. From those pointed questions you get answers.  Then, next level of more specific questions get focus, and so on, and so on.

FLORIDA – Former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in connection with a wide-ranging investigation being run by a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Florida, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News on Thursday.

The probe, which focuses on an earlier investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and other prosecutions related to President Donald Trump, is being led by Jason A. Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. The sprawling probe has been dubbed a “grand conspiracy” investigation by Trump allies.

An attorney for Comey did not have an immediate comment, while Quiñones’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (read more)

Please remember, there are two distinct and different aspects to the overall conspiracy and timeline.

There was surveillance of the 2016 Republican candidates by contractors working on behalf of the FBI who was institutionally collaborating with the Clinton campaign; that is known as “Spygate.”   There was then an FBI operation to target and eliminate the threat represented by the 2016 GOP primary winner, Donald Trump; that is known as “Russiagate.”

‘Spygate’ and ‘Russiagate’ are two distinctly different corrupt pathways that eventually merged due to common interests.

The Mueller investigation, an extension of Crossfire Hurricane (Russiagate) was used by Obama-era politicians and internal government officials as a mechanism to block President Trump from executing a divergent foreign policy.  The primary policy of focus was to protect the Iran deal.

Based on mounting evidence, a pattern in other international activities and U.S. participants, the Obama-Clinton-Kerry Iranian deal likely included a mechanism for return payments to U.S. officials following the release of billions in frozen Iranian asset funds and the loosening of sanctions – (ie. pallets of cash).  Qatar was the mediator/broker.

However, it is speculated, perhaps being currently evidenced, that return payments to the Obama team contained a timing mechanism and the quid-pro-quo payments were stopped after President Trump withdrew from the Iran deal and re-instituted sanctions.

Thus, a much larger background context exists for why the totality of the U.S. government and Intelligence Community opposed President Donald Trump.   Is it all about the money? Time will tell.  Current events may not be coincidental.

♦ September 2015 – Billionaire Paul Singer contracts with Glenn Simpson and Fusion GPS for opposition research on candidate Donald Trump during 2016 GOP presidential primary.  Simpson prior work during time at Wall Street journal serves as reference.

♦ November 2015 – Simpson hires Nellie Ohr to assist on Trump project.  Ohr was CIA open-source analyst.  Revelations by NSA compliance officer in April 2016 point to November 2015 as origin of multiple unauthorized searches of NSA database.

♦ December 2015 – Mrs. Ohr contacts Christopher Steele, submitting data for cross-reference with sources and seeking collaboration on Trump project. Ohr using ham radio license as independent operator.

♦ January – March 2016 – GOP Presidential primary ongoing.  Candidate Donald Trump wins majority of primary delegates from all early state contests.  Momentum for Donald Trump becomes significant.  Cruz, Kasich, Rubio final group along with Trump.  Late March, Paul Singer contacts Glenn Simpson to cancel opposition research. NSA compliance officer notifies NSA Director Mike Rogers about unauthorized use of database by “contractors.”  Rogers asks for full review.

♦ April 2016 – April 16, 2016, NSA compliance officer reports to Director Rogers of approximately 10,000 database searches, using “same identifiers” over “multiple dates.” Rogers responds by shutting down contractor access and blocking all FISA-702(17) “about” queries.  April 17, 2016, Glenn Simpson wife, Mary Jacoby, visits White House.  Glenn Simpson pitches preassembled oppo-research file on Trump to Clinton Team.  Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann takes over payments and signs contract with Fusion for continued work.

♦ May/June 2016 – Chris Steele constructing dossier on Donald Trump, submissions returned to Fusion GPS, Nellie Ohr and husband Bruce Ohr, #4 in DOJ-NSD.  External contacts made to Trump orbit by foreign officials from Australia (Downer), U.K (Mifsud) and Cyprus.  Trump campaign continues presidential primary victories. Trump enlists Paul Manafort as delegate manager for upcoming RNC convention.

♦ July 2016 – FBI opens official investigation of Trump for Russia collusion, predicated on contact from Australian Ambassador about non-existent claim Trump group receiving Clinton/DNC emails from Russian hackers.  Attempted FISA application rejected.

♦ August 2016 – CIA Director John Brennan informs Harry Reid of Clinton oppo-research effort known colloquially as Trump-Russia.  Former Acting CIA Director Mike Morrell, long time Clinton ally, publishes article in New York Times claiming Russians want Trump victory.   Hillary proclaims vast Russian conspiracy theory.

♦ September 2016 – Director Brennan directly informs White House, President Obama, Susan Rice, Lisa Monaco of Clinton oppo-research effort known colloquially as Trump-Russia.  Fusion GPS, Glenn Simpson and Michael Sussmann identified as sources for organizing oppo-research Steele Dossier.

♦ October 2016 – Steele Dossier assembly used by DOJ-NSD in FISA application against Trump campaign official Carter Page.  Through April 2016, FBI used Carter Page as undercover employee in case against Russian Evgeny Buryakov; now October 2016, FBI claims Carter Page is official “agent of a foreign government” to gain FISA warrant.  Steele Dossier serves as replacement for Woods File supporting Title-1 search warrant.

♦ November 2016 – Donald Trump wins 2016 presidential election defeating Hillary Clinton and stunning world.  Clinton campaign blames Russians for her loss. Accuses Trump of colluding with Russia.   Trump campaign and transition team now under Title-1 full counterintelligence surveillance by FBI via Page FISA warrant.

♦ December 2016 – Joint Analysis Report released by intelligence community, claiming Russians were involved in attempting to influence 2016 election.  All Trump campaign and transition members under full physical and electronic surveillance. All communication intercepted.  Officially FBI Director James Comey denies President-elect Trump under investigation.

♦ January 2017 – Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) released by Obama administration claiming confidence Russia had attempted to interfere in the 2016 election.  Sanctions imposed by Obama; Russian diplomatic corps expelled.   FISA surveillance warrant resubmitted with no new context and renewed by FISC without question.

♦ February 2017 – National Security Advisor Michael Flynn under fire for talking to Russian ambassador in December during Christmas holiday.  Flynn wrongly accused of discussing possible policy changes and not to worry about Obama sanctions. Full court press by FBI and DOJ to leak information to media about Trump under FBI counterintelligence investigation.  James Comey leaks information to friend, Columbia University Professor Daniel Richman as intermediary to media.  Washington Post publish article citing FBI intercept of Flynn-Kislyak phone call.

♦ March 2017 – • On 16th HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes releases information to public about Obama presidential daily briefing containing information about Trump-Russia collusion investigation and surveillance of Trump campaign by FBI. First public indications that “wires were actually tapped.”  • On 17th copy of FISA application delivered from FISA Court to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice-Chairman Mark Warner. Shortly after 4pm, Warner instructs SSCI Security Director James Wolfe to leak the FISA application to media.  Wolfe transmits 82 pictures to Politico journalist Ali Watkins via encrypted phone images [FISA application 83 pages with one blank page].  FISA application returned to courier FBI Agent Brian Dugan.  • March 20th, James Comey testifies to HPSCI during open hearing admitting for first time publicly that President Trump, and his entire administration, is under official FBI counterintelligence investigation.  Comey claims no information previously given to congressional oversight due to “sensitivity of the matter.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions forced to recuse.

♦ April 2017 – Absent AG, and without confirmed DAG, interim and acting DAG Dana Boente receives request for FISA renewal from FBI Director James Comey.  On same day FISA application is renewed for second time, journalist Ali Watkins -having ownership of illegal and leaked unredacted FISA application- writes first details of FISA application, then transfers employment to New York Times for senior role in Trump-Russia reporting. FBI continues leaking details of investigation to media. Mid April Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein arrives to take all responsibilities related to AG Sessions recusal.

♦ May 2017 – Early May, Deputy AG Rosenstein has phone call with FBI Director James Comey, “What do you want me to do – wear a wire?”   Mid-May, Rosenstein takes former FBI Director Robert Mueller to White House for oval office meeting with President Trump.  Next morning Mueller returns to White House to pick up cell phone he accidentally left in Oval Office. Later in afternoon, President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey. Following day Rosenstein talks to Mueller (3X) and coordinates meeting.  Robert Mueller appointed Special Counsel; Mueller chief deputy Andrew Weissmann assumes organization of investigation.

♦ June 2017 – Weissmann assembles Crossfire Hurricane team into Special Counsel.  WFO FBI Agent Brian Dugan begins to suspect SSCI leak of FISA application based on media reporting.  Agent Dugan requests and receives first warrant for cell phone records of SSCI Security Director Wolfe and NYT journalist Ali Watkins.  June 29th Andrew Weissmann requests renewal of Carter Page FISA warrant to continue surveillance of administration.  Application renewed.

♦ July 2017 – While conducting investigation of internal FBI conduct during Clinton email investigation, Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovers inappropriate activity within FBI investigative team.  Horowitz informs DAG Rosenstein and SC Robert Mueller about Lisa Page and Peter Strzok compromise.  Weissmann removes Page and Strzok to avoid scrutiny by OIG of special counsel team.  President Trump White House Counsel Don McGahn discovers all 2016/2017 transition team emails, phone records, electronic communications and devices have been given to Andrew Weissmann by General Services Administration as requested by the FISA authority carried by special counsel.

♦ August 2017 – DAG Rod Rosenstein officially expands Special Counsel investigative scope as requested by Andrew Weissmann to include five specific targets: Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos and Walid Phares [targeting angle = FARA violations, per DOJ-NSD authority] Mr. Phares organized interview between Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abel Fattah al-Sisi during 2016 campaign.  FISA surveillance authority used to collect evidence of financial transactions, banking records, travel, communication and full Title-1 counterintelligence operations deployed against targets.

♦ September 2017 – FBI Agent Brian Dugan conducting surveillance of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and communication between SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner and Chris Steele representative Adam Waldman.  Dugan intercepts Waldman side of conversation for investigative file.  Weissmann and 18 lawyers, 50 FBI agents and 200 staff continue Trump targeting operations, continue full Title-1 authorized FISA surveillance, and outline cases against Manafort (financial crimes/FARA), Flynn (FARA), and Papadopoulos (lying to investigators).

♦ October 2017 – FISA search warrant used by Mueller/Weissmann special counsel expires.  Weissmann requests expanded scope memo from Rosenstein to target Michael Flynn Jr for use against his father, Michael Flynn.  Cases against Manafort and Papadopoulos ongoing.  Media 24/7 with Trump-Russia collusion.  Meanwhile, FBI Agent Brian Dugan first approaches SSCI Security Director James Wolfe about FISA leak and media contacts.  Agent Dugan forced by USAO Jessie Liu to inform SSCI Chair Burr and SSCI Vice-Chair Warner about ongoing leak investigation.

♦ November 2017 – All prior surveillance and assembled evidence used via Title-1 search warrant authority, in combination with FARA and threats against Mike Flynn Jr, used to coerce a guilty plea by Michael Flynn (Nov 31).   House Intelligence Committee now seeking to review FISA warrant, DOJ and FBI denying access.  Political debate between Chairman Devin Nunes and ranking member Adam Schiff ongoing.

♦ December 2017 – AFTER securing Flynn guilty plea, immediately first reports of Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages released.  Within days, Bruce Ohr identified, demoted twice, former Crossfire Hurricane investigation now being scrutinized.  Nellie Ohr’s name surfaces.  Chris Steele and Fusion GPS now being reviewed with increased suspicion.  Testimony to Senate by Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson “accidentally” leaked by SSCI member Dianne Feinstein (keep stories straight, motive).   Nunes memo -vs- Schiff memo battle for media narrative.  Internal details of prior FBI targeting operation begin to surface with evidence showing sketchy behavior.  FBI Agent Brian Dugan confronts SSCI Security Director James Wolfe with evidence against him, Wolfe admits to leaks.  SSCI fire Wolfe.

♦ January 2018 – Apex for Special Counsel.  Brian Dugan assembles file against Wolfe submits for grand jury indictment. Due to file touching on Trump-Russia issues, Wolfe criminal activity file submitted to Special Counsel Weissmann for review.  Nunes memo released and discussed.

♦ February 2018 – Text messages between SSCI Vice-Chair Warner and Chris Steele layer Adam Waldman surface. Andrew Weissmann organizes a press conference for Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to conduct, announcing indictments of 17 Russians and entities for 2016 election interference; this is timed as Trump departs for summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

♦ March 2018 – Public begins to absorb totality of FBI (mis)conduct in the Trump targeting operation.  The information war is in full swing.  Narrative battles are throughout media.

♦ April 2018 – Leaks of the FISA application against Carter Page now under scrutiny.  A criminal referral from OIG toward FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for lying to INSD investigators about his media leaks.

♦ June 2018 – The criminal indictment of SSCI Security Director James Wolfe unsealed and made public.

♦ July 2018 – The DOJ informs the FISC that despite issues surfacing about the predicate of the FISA warrant they authorized against Carter Page for being an agent of a foreign power, everything was ok.  A week later, the DOJ then releases to the public the first FISA Title-1 search warrant ever seen, …

…the publicly released version of the FISA application is the exact copy of FISA that was contained in the FBI evidence file against James Wolfe.  The same exact document hand carried from the FISC to the SSCI on March 17, 2017, was the copy released by the DOJ in July 2018 – not the DOJ-NSD copy.  How did that happen?

♦ December 2018 – Despite the DOJ refusing to indict James Wolfe for leaking the Top-Secret Compartmented Intelligence Carter Page FISA application, and after the guilty plea was entered for lying to investigators, and while the Judge was considering Wolfe’s sentencing, in December of 2018, after the midterm election and under penalty of perjury, the USAO in Washington DC swears to the Judge in the case that James Wolfe leaked the FISA application.

Cover up much?

Mar 20 2026

A Very Interesting Denial of FISA-702 Abuse by FBI Director Kash Patel Surrounding President Donald J Trump


Posted originally on CTH on March 19, 2026 | Sundance

During congressional testimony today, Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw, a man who is leaving congress at the end of this term having lost his primary race, took the opportunity to question FBI Director Kash Patel about FISA-702.

As most are aware the reauthorization of FISA-702 has a deadline if mid-April this year, and there is a great deal of background debate surrounding it.  Apparently, Dan Crenshaw wants to ensure the renewal is successful.

Crenshaw begins his defense by asking a very specific question to FBI Director Kash Patel about President Trump’s Crossfire Hurricane targeted and whether FISA-702 was related to that investigation.  Here it is important to remember that the NSA database was exploited in 2016 (Spygate) that ended with the Title-1 FISA warrant (Russiagate).

Both are correct in that FISA-702 was not the legal underpinning for the Carter Page FISA warrant, ultimately targeting Donald Trump.  However, conveniently omitted in the questioning is the original surveillance of the 2016 GOP candidates from November 2015 through April 2016 that did involve exploitation of the database under the justification that FISA-702 creates.  WATCH:

These are not “myths” Mr Crenshaw.  You are both correct that there is no “authority granted under 702” to conduct surveillance.  However, in 2016 conducting surveillance using 702 as a justification is what took place.

The collection of American citizen metadata does factually take place. At this point no-one denies it.

That data is then stored in a searchable database, a library of U.S. citizen data colloquially known as the “NSA database”.

Within the NSA database that metadata collection creates, there is a process to search it based on “identifiers.”

The collection of data, the database itself, as well as the search functioning therein, is part of the toolbox for FISA-702 surveillance.

The historic problem is not that “authorities granted under FISA-702” were/are used to conduct surveillance; but rather the search of the NSA collection database was done, illegally and frequently, for non-authorized reasons. The capability to conduct those search queries is maintained by justifying the need for FISA-702.

The historic searches and domestic surveillance were done by exploiting the NSA database, for a reason and purpose that is not authorized and has nothing to do with FISA-702. THAT’S THE PROBLEM.

The existence of the U.S. citizen data itself creates the opportunity to search it. The legal justification to search that database is done under the auspices of FISA-702; however, that’s not the issue. The issue is that searches of the NSA database are done by government officials and government contractors for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with FISA-702.

As a consequence, it’s the collection that creates the problem. Not the legal process for searching it. As long as the database exists there will be unlawful intrusions into it for domestic and/or political surveillance.

If FISA-702 did not exist, the quasi-constitutional justification for the wholesale collection of U.S. citizen metadata no longer exists. It really is that simple.

There is ZERO justification for the capture of U.S. citizen data by the government. The capture itself violates the Fourth Amendment. The only way the government can justify the capture of U.S. Citizen data is if there is some quasi-constitutional or national security reason for it.

Take away “702”, and the data collection collapses; ANY “incidental” search of the database then loses any plausible legal justification. 702 is the camel’s nose under the tent.

Only one case has ever pushed into the sphere of challenging this unconstitutional exploitation. A 2025 decision in the U.S. v. Hasbajrami case in Brooklyn, New York, where Eastern District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall identified the misuse of FISA-702 “backdoor searches” regarding defendant, Agron Hasbajrami.

Hasbajrami plead guilty to charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization, alleging that he intended to travel to the Federally Administered Tribal Area of Pakistan, where he expected to join a terrorist organization, receive training, and ultimately fight against U.S. forces and others in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, after his guilty plea, while he is serving time in prison, prosecutors admitted some of the evidence against him came as a result of privacy violations, unlawful FISA-702 searches.

Hasbajrami sought to have the evidence against him thrown out on 4th amendment grounds (fruit of the poisoned tree) and withdraw his guilty plea. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Hasbarjami’s blanket evidence suppression motion for the exclusion of all FISA Section 702 collection in his case but did not weigh in on whether the warrantless Section 702 database queries were constitutional, instead remanding the case back to Judge Hall for a review of that question.

Judge DeArchy Hall received the case again and reviewed all of the government motions against the request to suppress the evidence.  What results is a very well-constructed explanation and opinion of how FISA-702 was misused in the case [SEE 60-pg Opinion HERE].

The judge determined that U.S. government officials did factually violate the technical rules and procedures for the use of FISA-702 searches, and the DOJ should have gone to court to obtain a warrant to look at Hasbajrami’s private communication.

In essence, yes, the 4th amendment protections of Hasbajrami were violated.  However, the issue of overturning the resulting evidence becomes a matter of legal distinction.

The defendant, who admitted guilt (twice) did not claim the evidence was a result of misuse or a wrongful approach in searching the NSA’s library, from which FISA-702 search results are determined (a structural flaw in the defense motion).  Instead, the defendant filed a suppression motion on the issue of his 4th amendment rights being violated.

The judge opinion holds that the FBI’s Section 702 queries violated the Fourth Amendment; however, the court ultimately denied the defendant’s motion to suppress the resulting evidence on separate grounds.

The value in the ruling by Judge Hall, is a few fold:

First, it is an excellent review of the FISA-702 origin and all of the constitutional arguments that surround the controversial law.

Second, the ruling clearly shows that FISA-702 searches are currently being used unlawfully and continually by government officials.

Third, the ruling clearly shows how “backdoor” 702 searches are violations of the Fourth Amendment. [Albeit in this case, of no value to the argument put forth by Hasbajrami.]

[SEE CASE RULING HERE]

The ruling essentially underpins the reality that government officials are using their access to the complete library within the NSA collection and storage database to conduct searches of U.S. communication that removes the constitutional protections of the 4th amendment.

Mr Agron Hasbajrami was ensnared by this surveillance process and admitted his guilt thereafter.

However, the issue is not Hasbajrami’s intent, or even his guilt.  The issue that surrounds us is this constant surveillance state and the tens-of-millions of searches that are done on the private papers of American citizens.

In essence we have a domestic surveillance state looking for suspect people who are operating against the interests of government.

Mr. Hasbajrami was caught wanting to join a terrorist organization.  However, as we have witnessed in the cold and brutal reality of the J6 roundup, a “terrorist organization” may well be defined as your local “patriot group” or “parent’s advisory committee.”

Back to Patel’s testimony.  By obfuscating the use of FISA-702 in Crossfire Hurricane, Patel is focusing on the Title-1 surveillance warrant that created “Russiagate” and entirely ignoring the targeting of Donald Trump that took place in 2015 and 2016 through the contractor exploitation of the NSA database; that’s “Spygate.”

Patel and Crenshaw, much like the entire DC apparatus, need to ignore the Obama-era surveillance system, the political exploitation of the NSA database, in order to ensure they can hang onto the FISA-702 tool.

If the general public realized all of their data was stored on searchable government databases, they would likely reject it.  However, the rejection of the data storage would eliminate the ability to search it under the sketchy justification of 702.