Tag Archives: Spygate

Apr 3 2026

Bondi’s Replacement is Important, But Not as Important as Perceived


Posted originally on CTH on April 2, 2026 | Sundance

In a two-week period right after the 2024 election, the most energy expended by the transition team putting a cabinet together was toward Main Justice or the Dept of Justice.  As a consequence, those around Lutnick and Wiles spent an incredible amount of time thinking about the Attorney General pick.

Following an insider discussion, I spoke with several people about positions and appointments, focused on pointing out that the transition’s priorities were misplaced. The AG needed to be someone with exceptional moral character, capable of gathering information and presenting it for public consumption, with the option of supporting criminal referrals if necessary.

The Attorney General wasn’t going to be the tip of the spear in any operation to confront the Deep State, because if Main Justice wanted to confront Lawfare they needed to confront the Intelligence Community first.  The IC controls all of the activity within the Dept of Justice.

Read that again for emphasis.  For the issues of greatest importance, the Intelligence Community controls all of the activity within Main Justice.  The IC is in control of the source material.  The IC is above the DOJ.  If you don’t strategize a confrontation with the IC first, it doesn’t matter what you do with the Dept of Justice.

The best example I could reference at the time was the Mar-a-Lago documents case and Judge Aileen Cannon.  In that example the Executive branch was targeting Trump through the DOJ/FBI, and representing the Judicial branch Judge Cannon was the firewall ensuring the appropriate administration of justice.

Trump’s defense, through Cannon, pushed back against the DOJ (Jack Smith) while Smith leveraged all his Lawfare tools back against Cannon.  You might remember the “classified document” issue went to the 11th CCA.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the government position that any documents defined as “classified” by the executive branch that claimed, “national security,” should not be disclosed to the defendant, Trump.  The 11th CCA said when it comes to matters of national security, the judicial branch must defer to the determinations of the executive.

Basically, if the intelligence community decides certain information is tied to national security and labels it as classified for the DOJ, that decision can’t be challenged. The U.S. Supreme Court has backed this view. As a result, when it comes to national security issues, the judicial branch has to defer to the executive, giving the IC significant control over the DOJ.

If you drag former CIA Director John Brennan into court and Brennan’s lawyers argue ‘national security’ as a defense against indictment, inquiry or questioning, it’s not the DOJ (Attorney General) who matters – it’s the ‘national security’ determination of the Intelligence Community (Tulsi Gabbard) who controls the outcome.

Over and over, I kept emphasizing this point.  If you want to hold the Spygate/Russiagate folks accountable, it’s not going to be the DOJ who matter; not directly.  It is the Intelligence Community that matters.

If you seek accountability, and if you want to stop Lawfare from exploiting the silo defenses, it’s the IC that matters; not the Dept of Justice.  The transition team was putting emphasis on the wrong syllable.  Remember, my emphasis was on the need for institutional accountability on Spygate and Russiagate, and the DOJ is a tool toward the goal but not the ultimate weapon.

♦ Secondly, and specifically because of this issue, if you don’t confront the IC bad actors directly, if you don’t disassemble their power structures, you are going to end up with Main Justice in a constant position of defense, because the DOJ is downstream from the determinations of the Intelligence Community.

Yes, it’s a screwed-up system.  Yes, it’s entirely part of the built-out silo defenses.  But also yes, if you don’t approach it by beginning with the end in mind, then you get into a battle with Lawfare without the correct strategy.  All of these accountability issues touch on ‘national security,’ and that national security will be weaponized as a defense.

Frustrated with my inability to convince, I wrote something in real time that I am going to repost below. Perhaps a revisit now will stimulate a new perspective.

The Attorney General and Main Justice are very important to the establishment of successful domestic policy, deportation objectives, immigration enforcement, criminal investigations, drug trafficking and human smuggling interdictions, election reform, law enforcement, civil order and constitutional protection.  But for the sake of accountability, it is the ODNI and CIA Director who really matters.

Nov 11, 2024 – Yes, folks in the transition, I get it.

I totally understand why you approach the weaponization of government as a cancer treatment, and the Dept of Justice is the silo of focus for you to target with the harshest Stage-4 metastatic chemo.

I completely understand why, during this phase, all of your efforts have to be on aggressive treatment.  Main Justice carries the badges, and it is only Main Justice that can prosecute corruption.  I get it. I understand.  However, the cancerous lesion, that first moment when the compromised cells began to die and replicate, will not lead to an origination in the DOJ.

So far, every pathologist who has reviewed the diagnostic biopsy has called this a ‘cancer of unknown primary origin’ or abbreviated a CUP. Having backlight this cell structure for many years, I call tell you with confidence the accurate origin is the United States Intelligence Community.

Please, begin all Term-2 treatment options with this diagnosis in mind.

Please pay attention to the silo structure.

Notice in this first short video how Mary McCord positions the power structure of the DOJ-NSD silo in deference to the Intelligence Community (IC).

This is a critical path within the next step to American’s “great awakening.” In the past we have outlined how the DOJ-NSD weaponizes their Lawfare by using “National Security Information,” or what the insiders call “NSI.”

As an outcome of the way our checks and balances have been modified against our interests, the judicial branch has repeatedly deferred to the DOJ around the issue of “national security.” In fact, if the DOJ labels any Lawfare approach as a national security matter the subsequent evidence therein, the NSI (even when not seen) is accepted by the judicial branch without question. The judicial branch defers to the executive on all matters defined by the executive as “national security.”

This is the area of exploit being discussed by Mary McCord in this segment below. However, PLEASE NOTICE there is an apparatus that can supersede the DOJ-NSD’s ability to weaponize Nat Sec Information, that’s the power of the intelligence apparatus. WATCH:

Do not brush off this important reveal by the foremost voice in exploiting the targeting systems granted by the Intelligence Community.

Mary McCord is telling us the IC is in charge of “the information” that is then weaponized in the lawfare approach.

McCord notes how she and Andrew Weissmann navigate through the process of using National Security Information (NSI) as they move toward their target; the most common reference is their political opposition, Donald J Trump.

The DOJ has to ask the IC for permission to engage.

The IC gives the DOJ-NSD the targeting system; without it, nothing happens.

If you remove Main Justice as a weapon, you are treating a symptom – not the disease itself.  You still have not removed the origin of the cancer, the Intelligence Community.

McCord background:

If there is one Lawfare operative who has escaped scrutiny for her corrupt endeavors, it would be Mary McCord. More than any other Lawfare operative within Main Justice, Mary McCord sits at the center of every table in the manufacturing of cases against Donald Trump. {GO DEEP} Mary McCord’s husband is Sheldon Snook; he was the right hand to the legal counsel of Chief Justice John Roberts when the Dobbs decision was leaked.

When the Carter Page FISA application was originally assembled by the FBI and DOJ, there was initial hesitancy from within the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) about submitting the application, because it did not have enough citations in evidence (the infamous ‘Woods File’).  That’s why the Steele Dossier ultimately became important.  It was the Steele Dossier that provided the push, the legal cover needed for the DOJ-NSD to submit the application for a Title-1 surveillance warrant against the campaign of Donald J. Trump.

When the application was finally assembled for submission to the FISA court, the head of the DOJ-NSD was John Carlin.  Carlin quit working for the DOJ-NSD in late September 2016 just before the final application was submitted (October 21,2016).  John Carlin was replaced by Deputy Asst. Attorney General, Mary McCord.

♦ When the FISA application was finally submitted (approved by Sally Yates and James Comey), it was Mary McCord who did the actual process of filing the application and gaining the Title-1 surveillance warrant.

A few months later, February 2017, with Donald Trump now in office as President, it was Mary McCord who went with Deputy AG Sally Yates to the White House to confront White House legal counsel Don McGahn over the Michael Flynn interview with FBI agents.  The surveillance of Flynn’s calls was presumably done under the auspices and legal authority of the FISA application Mary McCord previously was in charge of submitting.

♦ At the time the Carter Page application was filed (October 21, 2016), Mary McCord’s chief legal counsel inside the office was a DOJ-NSD lawyer named Michael Atkinson.  In his role as the legal counsel for the DOJ-NSD, it was Atkinson’s job to review and audit all FISA applications submitted from inside the DOJ.  Essentially, Atkinson was the DOJ internal compliance officer in charge of making sure all FISA applications were correctly assembled and documented.

♦ When the anonymous CIA whistleblower complaint was filed against President Trump for the issues of the Ukraine call with President Zelensky, the Intelligence Community Inspector General had to change the rules for the complaint to allow an anonymous submission.  Prior to this change, all intelligence whistleblowers had to put their name on the complaint.  It was this 2019 IGIC who changed the rules.  Who was the Intelligence Community Inspector General?  Michael Atkinson.

When ICIG Michael Atkinson turned over the newly authorized anonymous whistleblower complaint to the joint House Intelligence and Judiciary Committee (Schiff and Nadler chairs), who did Michael Atkinson give the complaint to?  Mary McCord.

Yes, after she left main justice, Mary McCord took the job of working for Chairman Jerry Nadler and Chairman Adam Schiff as the chief legal advisor inside the investigation that led to the construction of articles of impeachment.   As a consequence, Mary McCord received the newly permitted anonymous whistleblower complaint from her old office colleague Michael Atkinson.

♦ During his investigation of the Carter Page application, Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovered an intentional lie inside the Carter Page FISA application (directly related to the ‘Woods File’), which his team eventually tracked to FBI counterintelligence division lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith.  Eventually Clinesmith was criminally charged with fabricating evidence (changed wording on an email) in order to intentionally falsify the underlying evidence in the FISA submission.

When John Durham took the Clinesmith indictment to court, the judge in the case was James Boasberg.

♦ In addition to being a DC criminal judge, James Boasberg is also a FISA court judge who signed-off on one of the renewals for the FISA application that was submitted using fraudulent evidence fabricated by Kevin Clinesmith.  In essence, now the presiding judge over the FISA court, Boasberg was the FISC judge who was tricked by Clinesmith, and now the criminal court judge in charge of determining Clinesmith’s legal outcome.  Judge Boasberg eventually sentenced Clinesmith to 6 months probation.

As an outcome of continued FISA application fraud and wrongdoing by the FBI, in their exploitation of searches of the NSA database, Presiding FISC Judge James Boasberg appointed an amici curiae advisor to the court who would monitor the DOJ-NSD submissions and ongoing FBI activities.

Who did James Boasberg select as a FISA court amicus?  Mary McCord.

♦ SUMMARY:  Mary McCord submitted the original false FISA application to the court using the demonstrably false Dossier.  Mary McCord participated in the framing of Michael Flynn.  Mary McCord worked with ICIG Michael Atkinson to create a fraudulent whistleblower complaint against President Trump; and Mary McCord used that manipulated complaint to assemble articles of impeachment on behalf of the joint House Intel and Judiciary Committee.  Mary McCord then took up a defensive position inside the FISA court to protect the DOJ and FBI from sunlight upon all the aforementioned corrupt activity.

You can clearly see how Mary McCord would be a person of interest if anyone was going to start digging into corruption internally within the FBI, DOJ or DOJ-NSD.

What happened next….

November 3, 2021 – In Washington DC – “Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and the House Jan. 6 Select Committee has tapped Mary McCord, who once ran the Justice Department’s National Security Division, for representation in its fight to obtain former President Donald Trump’s White House records. (read more)

That’s the context; now I want to go back a little.

First, when did Mary McCord become “amicus” to the FISA court?  ANSWER: When the court (Boasberg) discovered IG Michael Horowitz was investigating the fraudulent FISA application.  In essence, the FISA Court appointed the person who submitted the fraudulent filing, to advise on any ramifications from the fraudulent filing.  See how that works?

Now, let’s go deeper….

When Mary McCord went to the White House with Sally Yates to talk to white house counsel Don McGhan about the Flynn call with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, and the subsequent CBS interview with VP Pence, where Pence’s denial of any wrongdoing took place, the background narrative in the attack against Flynn was the Logan Act.

The construct of the Logan Act narrative was pure Lawfare, and DAG Sally Yates with Acting NSD AAG Mary McCord were the architects.

Why was the DOJ National Security Division concerned with a conflict between what Pence said on CBS and what Flynn said about his conversations with Kislyak?

This is where a big mental reset is needed.  Flynn did nothing wrong. The incoming National Security Advisor can say anything he wants with the Russian ambassador, short of giving away classified details of any national security issue.  In December of 2016, if Michael Flynn wanted to say Obama was an a**hole, and the Trump administration disagreed with everything he ever did, the incoming NSA was free to do so.  There was simply nothing wrong with that conversation – regardless of content.

So, why were McCord and Yates so determined to make an issue in media and in confrontation with the White House?  Why did the DOJ-NSD even care?  This is the part that people overlooked when the media narrative was driving the news cycle.  People got too stuck in the weeds and didn’t ask the right questions.

Some entity, we discover later was the FBI counterintelligence division, was monitoring Flynn’s calls.  They transcribed a copy of the call between Flynn and Kislyak, and that became known as the “Flynn Cuts” as described within internal documents, and later statements.

After the Flynn/Kislyak conversation was leaked to the media, Obama asked ODNI Clapper how that call got leaked.  Clapper went to the FBI on 1/4/17 and asked FBI Director James Comey.  Comey gave Clapper a copy of the Flynn Cuts which Clapper then took back to the White House to explain to Obama.

Obama’s White House counsel went bananas, because Clapper had just walked directly into the Oval Office with proof the Obama administration was monitoring the incoming National Security Advisor.

Obama’s plausible deniability of the Trump surveillance was lost as soon as Clapper walked in with the written transcript.

That was the motive for the 1/5/17 Susan Rice memo, and the reason for Obama to emphasize “buy the book” three times.

It wasn’t that Obama didn’t know already; the problem was that a document trail now existed (likely a CYA from Comey) that took away Obama’s plausible deniability of knowledge.

The January 5th meeting documented by Susan Rice was quickly organized to mitigate this issue.

Knowing the Flynn Cuts were created simultaneously with the phone call, and knowing how it was quickly decided to use the Logan Act as a narrative against Flynn and Trump, we can be very sure both McCord and Yates had read that transcript before they went to the White House.  [Again, this is the entire purpose of them going to the White House to confront McGhan with their manufactured concerns.]

So, when it comes to ‘who leaked’ the reality of the Flynn/Kislyak call to the media, the entire predicate for the Logan Act violation – in hindsight – I would bet a donut it was Mary McCord.

But wait, there’s more…. 

Now we go back to McCord’s husband, Sheldon Snook.

Sheldon was working for the counsel to John Roberts.  The counsel to the Chief Justice has one job, to review the legal implications of issues before the court and advise Justice John Roberts.  The counsel to the Chief Justice knows everything happening in the court and is the sounding board for any legal issues impacting the Supreme Court.

In his position as the right hand of the counsel to the chief justice, Sheldon Snook would know everything happening inside the court.

At the time, there was nothing bigger inside the court than the Alito opinion known as the Dobb’s Decision – the returning of abortion law to the states.  Without any doubt, the counsel to Chief Justice Roberts would have that decision at the forefront of his advice and counsel.  By extension, this puts the actual written Alito opinion in the orbit of Sheldon Snook.

After the Supreme Court launched a heavily publicized internal investigation into the leaking of the Dobbs decision (Alito opinion), something interesting happened.  Sheldon Snook left his position.   If you look at the timing of the leak, the investigation and the Sheldon Snook exit, the circumstantial evidence looms large.

Of course, given the extremely high stakes, the institutional crisis with the public discovering the office of the legal counsel to the Chief Justice likely leaked the decision, such an outcome would be catastrophic for the institutional credibility.  In essence, it would be Robert’s office who leaked the opinion to the media.

If you were Chief Justice John Roberts and desperately needed to protect the integrity of the court, making sure such a thermonuclear discovery was never identified would be paramount.  Under the auspices of motive, Sheldon Snook would exit quietly.  Which is exactly what happened.

The timeline holds the key.

Remember the stories of the J6 investigative staff all going to work for Jack Smith on the investigation of Donald Trump?   Well, Mary McCord was a member of that team [citation]; all indications are that her background efforts continue today as a quiet member of the Special Counsel team that is still attacking Donald Trump.

To give you an idea of the scope of influence of Mary McCord as a key functionary, consider what we can document.

♦ McCord submitted the fraudulent FISA application to spy on Trump campaign.

♦ McCord created the “Logan Act” claim used against Michael Flynn and then went with Sally Yates to confront the White House.

♦ McCord then left the DOJ and went to work for Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler.

♦ McCord organized the CIA rule changes with Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.

♦ McCord led and organized the impeachment effort, in the background, using the evidence she helped create.

♦ McCord joined the FISA Court to protect against DOJ IG Michael Horowitz newly gained NSD oversight and FISA review.

♦ McCord joined the J6 Committee helping to create all the lawfare angles they deployed.

♦ McCord then coordinated with DA Fani Willis in Georgia.

♦ McCord is working with Special Counsel Jack Smith to prosecute Trump.

In short, Mary McCord is the lawfare string that winds through every legal ‘stop Trump’ effort, and her primary partner in this endeavor is Andrew Weissmann.  In this next video segment, notice what the “how to use that” quote is referencing.

.

Mary McCord is telling us who orchestrates their efforts.

It’s not Jack Smith, any more than it was Robert Mueller.

Mary McCord, Jack Smith, Andrew Weissman, Robert Mueller, etc. are/were simply the front men.

♦ Who assembled the 2016 “Russian Malicious Cyber Activity – Joint Analysis Report”? […] “The US intelligence community has concluded that a hack-and-release of Democratic Party and Clinton staff emails was designed to put Trump — a political neophyte who has praised Putin — into the Oval Office.”

♦ Who were the heads of the 17 intelligence agencies who backed Hillary Clinton in 2016?

♦ Who were the 51 names from the IC who said the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation in 2020?

♦ Who are the 60 IC professionals who said Kamala Harris was stronger for National Security?

There’s the backlight picture provided by an accurate pathological diagnosis.

I hope President Donald Trump uses the absolute power of his office to appoint key people who will carry his constitutional, plenary and absolute authority.

The National Security Advisor doesn’t need confirmation for a reason.  Use the NatSec Advisor to target the origin of the cancer. Use the DNI to deconstruct the Intelligence Community silo system.

You did not make Tom Homan DHS Secretary because you knew in that role, he would have been weaker on securing the border and carrying out deportations. Great call.  Now apply that same level of thinking to the National Security Advisor and ODNI.

Have the NatSec Advisor and Director of National Intelligence secure the Intelligence Community with the same level of ferocity you expect Homan to carry out on the border.  Have the NatSec Advisor and ODNI carry the same deportation expectation inwardly, into every silo that makes up the 17 intelligence agencies and purge them just like the criminal aliens.  The “Six Ways from Sunday” cartel are far more dangerous.

Destroy the lies.  Get rid of the liars.

Get rid of the system control agents who isolate the Office of the President.

Make the Office of the President Great Again.

Mar 30 2026

Sunday Talks – Devin Nunes and Peter Schweizer Discuss Comey, Brennan Subpoenas and Florida Grand Jury


Posted originally on CTH on March 29, 2026 | sundance

Former House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes and author Peter Schweizer appear on Fox News, Sunday Morning Futures, to discuss the latest developments as former FBI Director James Comey and Former CIA Director John Brennan have received subpoenas for testimony in a Florida grand jury.

Much of this discussion focuses on the former Russiagate issue and plays heavily on the desire of Trump supporters to finally see accountability for the corrupt activity that took place in 2016, 2017 and beyond.  Mrs Bartiromo has covered the background details extensively in the past.  WATCH:

.

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:

.

.

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]

.

[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.