Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss his committee investigation into what the U.S. intelligence apparatus was doing during the 2016 election, transition, and first two years of President Trump’s tenure in office.
It’s a good interview, and chairman Johnson outlines additional subpoenas that his committee is submitting to compel testimony and gain documents. However, it’s now mid-June 2020.
I’m reposting a prior research outline below because something odd is happening in the background of this story. I’m not sure what it is, but there are small -seemingly disconnected- issues surfacing, that might tie back to this much bigger and purposefully avoided story. I have learned to trust my instincts on this.
♦One – The FISA reauthorization legislation was dropped by Nancy Pelosi and all media conversation immediately vaporized.
♦Two – Crowdstrike is very concerned about this story every time it surfaces.
♦Three – If you understand the scale and scope of surveillance… does that explain the behavior of some people today [legislative (politicians), judiciary (judges), Pentagon (military)].
With the release of recent transcripts and the declassification of material from within the IG report on the Carter Page FISA, there is a common misconception about how the intelligence apparatus began investigating the Trump campaign. In this outline we hope to provide some deep source material that will explain the origin, and specifically why the those inside the Intelligence Community began using Confidential Human Sources.
During the time-frame of December 2015 through April 2016 the NSA database was being exploited by contractors within the intelligence community doing unauthorized searches.
On March 9, 2016, oversight personnel doing a review of FBI system access were alerted to thousands of unauthorized search queries of specific U.S. persons within the NSA database.
NSA Director Mike Rogers was made aware.
Subsequently NSA Director Rogers initiated a full compliance review of the system to identify who was doing the searches; & what searches were being conducted.
On April 18, 2016, following the preliminary audit results, Director Rogers shut down all FBI contractor access to the database after he learned FISA-702 “about”(17) and “to/from”(16) search queries were being done without authorization. Thus begins the first discovery of a much bigger background story.
When you compile the timeline with the people involved; and the specific wording of the resulting review, which was then delivered to the FISA court; and overlay the activity that was taking place in the GOP primary; what we discover is a process where the metadata collected by the NSA was being searched for political opposition research and surveillance.
Additionally, tens-of-thousands of searches were identified by the FISA court as likely extending much further than the compliance review period: “while the government reports it is unable to provide a reliable estimate of the non compliant queries since 2012, there is no apparent reason to believe the November 2015 [to] April 2016 period coincided with an unusually high error rate”.
In short, during the Obama administration the NSA database was continually used to conduct surveillance. This is the critical point that leads to understanding the origin of “Spygate”, as it unfolded in the Spring and Summer of 2016.
It was the discovery of the database exploitation and the removal of access as a surveillance tool that created their initial problem. Here’s how we can tell.
Initially in December 2015 there were 17 GOP candidates and all needed to be researched.
However, when Donald Trump won New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina the field was significantly whittled. Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Carson remained.
On Super Tuesday, March 2, 2016, Donald Trump won seven states (VT, AR, VA, GA, AL, TN, MA) it was then clear that Trump was the GOP frontrunner with momentum to become the presumptive nominee. On March 5th, Trump won Kentucky and Louisiana; and on March 8th Trump won Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii.
The next day, March 9th, NSA security alerts warned internal oversight personnel that something sketchy was going on.
This timing is not coincidental. As FISA Judge Rosemary Collyer later wrote in her report, “many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.” Put another way: attributes belonging to a specific individual(s) were being targeted and queried, unlawfully. Given what was later discovered, it seems obvious the primary search target, over multiple date ranges, was Donald Trump.
There were tens-of-thousands of unauthorized search queries; and as Judge Collyer stated in her report, there is no reason to believe the 85% non compliant rate was any different from the abuse of the NSA database going back to 2012.
As you will see below the NSA database was how political surveillance was being conducted during Obama’s second term in office. However, when the system was flagged, and when NSA Director Mike Rogers shut down “contractor” access to the system, the system users needed to develop another way to get access.
Mike Rogers shuts down access on April 18, 2016. On April 19, 2016, Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson’s wife, Mary Jacoby visits the White House. Immediately thereafter, the DNC and Clinton campaign contract Fusion GPS… who then hire Christopher Steele.
Knowing it was federal “contractors”, outside government with access to the system, doing the unauthorized searches, the question becomes: who were the contractors?
The possibilities are quite vast. Essentially anyone the FBI or intelligence apparatus was using could have participated. Crowdstrike was a known FBI contractor; they were also contracted by the DNC. Shawn Henry was the former head of the FBI office in DC and is now the head of Crowdstrike; a rather dubious contractor for the government and a politically connected data security and forensic company.
James Comey’s special friend Daniel Richman was an unpaid FBI “special employee” with security access to the database. Nellie Ohr began working for Fusion-GPS on the Trump project in November 2015 and she was a CIA contractor; and it’s entirely likely Glenn Simpson or people within his Fusion-GPS network were also contractors for the intelligence community.
Remember the Sharyl Attkisson computer intrusions? It’s all part of this same network; Attkisson even names Shawn Henry as a defendant in her ongoing lawsuit.
All of the aforementioned names, and so many more, held a political agenda in 2016.
It seems likely if the NSA flags were never triggered then the contracted system users would have continued exploiting the NSA database for political opposition research; which would then be funneled to the Clinton team. However, once the unauthorized flags were triggered, the system users (including those inside the official intelligence apparatus) needed to find another back-door to continue… Again, the timing becomes transparent.
Immediately after NSA flags were raised March 9th; the same intelligence agencies began using confidential human sources (CHS’s) to run into the Trump campaign. By activating intelligence assets like Joseph Mifsud and Stefan Halper the IC (CIA, FBI) and system users had now created an authorized way to continue the same political surveillance operations.
When Donald Trump hired Paul Manafort on March 28, 2016, it was a perfect scenario for those doing the surveillance. Manafort was a known entity to the FBI and was previously under investigation. Paul Manafort’s entry into the Trump orbit was perfect for Glenn Simpson to sell his prior research on Manafort as a Trump-Russia collusion script two weeks later.
The shift from “unauthorized exploitation of the NSA database” to legally authorized exploitation of the NSA database was now in place. This was how they continued the political surveillance. This is the confluence of events that originated “spygate”, or what officially blossomed into the FBI investigation known as “Crossfire Hurricane” on July 31.
If the NSA flags were never raised; and if Director Rogers had never initiated the compliance audit; and if the political contractors were never blocked from access to the database; they would never have needed to create a legal back-door, a justification to retain the surveillance. The political operatives/contractors would have just continued the targeted metadata exploitation.
Once they created the surveillance door, Fusion-GPS was then needed to get the FBI known commodity of Chris Steele activated as a pipeline. Into that pipeline all system users pushed opposition research. However, one mistake from the NSA database extraction during an “about” query shows up as a New Yorker named Michael Cohen in Prague.
That misinterpreted data from a FISA-702 “about query” is then piped to Steele and turns up inside the dossier; it was the wrong Michael Cohen. It wasn’t Trump’s lawyer, it was an art dealer from New York City with the same name; the same “identifier”.
A DEEP DIVE – How Did It Work?
Start by reviewing the established record from the 99-page FISC opinion rendered by Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer on April 26, 2017. Review the details within the FISC opinion.
I would strongly urge everyone to read the FISC report (full pdf below) because Judge Collyer outlines how the DOJ, which includes the FBI, had an “institutional lack of candor” in responses to the FISA court. In essence, the Obama administration was continually lying to the FISA court about their activity, and the rate of fourth amendment violations for illegal searches and seizures of U.S. persons’ private information for multiple years.
Unfortunately, due to intelligence terminology Judge Collyer’s brief and ruling is not an easy read for anyone unfamiliar with the FISA processes. That complexity also helps the media avoid discussing it; and as a result most Americans have no idea the scale and scope of the Obama-era surveillance issues. So we’ll try to break down the language.
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For the sake of brevity and common understanding CTH will highlight the most pertinent segments showing just how systemic and troublesome the unlawful electronic surveillance was.
Early in 2016 NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers was alerted of a significant uptick in FISA-702(17) “About” queries using the FBI/NSA database that holds all metadata records on every form of electronic communication.
The NSA compliance officer alerted Admiral Mike Rogers who then initiated a full compliance audit on/around March 9th, 2016, for the period of November 1st, 2015, through May 1st, 2016.
While the audit was ongoing, due to the severity of the results that were identified, Admiral Mike Rogers stopped anyone from using the 702(17) “about query” option, and went to the extraordinary step of blocking all FBI contractor access to the database on April 18, 2016(keep these dates in mind).
The key takeaway from these first paragraphs is how the search query results were exported from the NSA database to users who were not authorized to see the material. The FBI contractors were conducting searches and then removing, or ‘exporting’, the results. Later on, the FBI said all of the exported material was deleted.
Searching the highly classified NSA database is essentially a function of filling out search boxes to identify the user-initiated search parameter and get a return on the search result.
♦ FISA-702(16) is a search of the system returning a U.S. person (“702”); and the “16” is a check box to initiate a search based on “To and From“. Example, if you put in a date and a phone number and check “16” as the search parameter the user will get the returns on everything “To and From” that identified phone number for the specific date. Calls, texts, contacts etc. Including results for the inbound and outbound contacts.
♦ FISA-702(17) is a search of the system returning a U.S. person (702); and the “17” is a check box to initiate a search based on everything “About” the search qualifier. Example, if you put a date and a phone number and check “17” as the search parameter the user will get the returns of everything about that phone. Calls, texts, contacts, geolocation (or gps results), account information, user, service provider etc. As a result, 702(17) can actually be used to locate where the phone (and user) was located on a specific date or sequentially over a specific period of time which is simply a matter of changing the date parameters.
And that’s just from a phone number.
Search an ip address “about” and read all data into that server; put in an email address and gain everything about that account. Or use the electronic address of a GPS enabled vehicle (about) and you can withdraw more electronic data and monitor in real time. Search a credit card number and get everything about the account including what was purchased, where, when, etc. Search a bank account number, get everything about transactions and electronic records etc. Just about anything and everything can be electronically searched; everything has an electronic ‘identifier’.
The search parameter is only limited by the originating field filled out. Names, places, numbers, addresses, etc. By using the “About” parameter there may be thousands or millions of returns. Imagine if you put “@realdonaldtrump” into the search parameter? You could extract all following accounts who interacted on Twitter, or Facebook etc. You are only limited by your imagination and the scale of the electronic connectivity.
As you can see below, on March 9th, 2016, internal auditors noted the FBI was sharing “raw FISA information, including but not limited to Section 702-acquired information”.
In plain English the raw search returns were being shared with unknown entities without any attempt to “minimize” or redact the results. The person(s) attached to the results were named and obvious. There was no effort to hide their identity or protect their 4th amendment rights of privacy; and database access was from the FBI network:
But what’s the scale here? This is where the story really lies.
Read this next excerpt carefully.
The operators were searching “U.S Persons”. The review of November 1, 2015, to May 1, 2016, showed “eighty-five percent of those queries” were unlawful or “non compliant”.
85% !! “representing [redacted number]”.
We can tell from the space of the redaction the number of searches were between 10,000 and 99,999 [six digits]. If we take the middle number of 50,000 – a non compliant rate of 85 percent means 42,500 unlawful searches out of 50,000.
The [six digit] amount (more than 10,000, less than 99,999), and 85% error rate, was captured in a six month period, November 2015 to April 2016.
Also notice this very important quote: “many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.” This tells us the system users were searching the same phone number, email address, electronic identifier, repeatedly over different dates. The same people were being repeatedly queried.
Specific person(s) were being tracked/monitored.
Additionally, notice the last quote: “while the government reports it is unable to provide a reliable estimate of” these non lawful searches “since 2012, there is no apparent reason to believe the November 2015 [to] April 2016 coincided with an unusually high error rate”.
That means the 85% unlawful FISA-702(16)(17) database abuse has likely been happening since 2012.
2012 is an important date in this database abuse because a network of specific interests is assembled that also shows up in 2016/2017:
Who wanted NSA Director Mike Rogers fired in 2016? Brennan, Clapper and Carter.
And finally, who wrote and signed-off-on the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment and then lied about the use of the Steele Dossier? The same John Brennan, and James Clapper along with James Comey.
Tens of thousands of searches over four years (since 2012), and 85% of them are illegal. The results were extracted for?…. (I believe this is all political opposition use; and I’ll explain why momentarily.)
OK, that’s the stunning scale; but who was involved?
Private contractors with access to “raw FISA information that went well beyond what was necessary to respond to FBI’s requests“:
And as noted, the contractor access was finally halted on April 18th, 2016.
[Coincidentally (or likely not), the wife of Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson, Mary Jacoby, goes to the White House the very next day on April 19th, 2016.]
None of this is conspiracy theory.
All of this is laid out inside this 99-page opinion from FISC Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer who also noted that none of this FISA abuse was accidental in a footnote on page 87: “deliberate decisionmaking“:
This specific footnote, if declassified, could be a key. Note the phrase: “([redacted] access to FBI systems was the subject of an interagency memorandum of understanding entered into [redacted])”, this sentence has the potential to expose an internal decision; withheld from congress and the FISA court by the Obama administration; that outlines a process for access and distribution of surveillance data.
Note: “no notice of this practice was given to the FISC until 2016“, that is important.
Summary: The FISA court identified and quantified tens-of-thousands of search queries of the NSA/FBI database using the FISA-702(16)(17) system. The database was repeatedly used by persons with contractor access who unlawfully searched and extracted the raw results without redacting the information and shared it with an unknown number of entities.
The outlined process certainly points toward a political spying and surveillance operation; and we are not the only one to think that’s what this system is being used for.
Back in 2017 when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was working to reauthorize the FISA legislation, Nunes wrote a letter to ODNI Dan Coats about this specific issue:
SIDEBAR: To solve the issue, well, actually attempt to ensure it never happened again, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers eventually took away the “About” query option permanently in 2017. NSA Director Rogers said the abuse was so inherent there was no way to stop it except to remove the process completely. [SEE HERE] Additionally, the NSA database operates as a function of the Pentagon, so the Trump administration went one step further. On his last day as NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers -together with ODNI Dan Coats- put U.S. cyber-command, the database steward, fully into the U.S. military as a full combatant command. [SEE HERE] Unfortunately it didn’t work as shown by the 2018 FISC opinion rendered by FISC Judge James Boasberg [SEE HERE]
There is little doubt the FISA-702(16)(17) database system was used by Obama-era officials, from 2012 through April 2016, as a way to spy on their political opposition.
Quite simply there is no other intellectually honest explanation for the scale and volume of database abuse that was taking place; and keep in mind these searches were all ruled to be unlawful. Searches for repeated persons over a period time that were not authorized.
When we reconcile what was taking place and who was involved, then the actions of the exact same principle participants take on a jaw-dropping amount of clarity.
All of the action taken by CIA Director Brennan, FBI Director Comey, ODNI Clapper and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter make sense. Including their effort to get NSA Director Mike Rogers fired.
Everything after March 9th, 2016, had a dual purpose: (1) done to cover up the weaponization of the FISA database. [Explained Here] Spygate, Russia-Gate, the Steele Dossier, and even the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (drawn from the dossier and signed by the above) were needed to create a cover-story and protect themselves from discovery of this four year weaponization, political surveillance and unlawful spying. Even the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel makes sense; he was FBI Director when this began. And (2) they needed to keep the surveillance going.
The beginning decision to use FISA(702) as a domestic surveillance and political spy mechanism appears to have started in/around 2012. Perhaps sometime shortly before the 2012 presidential election and before John Brennan left the White House and moved to CIA. However, there was an earlier version of data assembly that preceded this effort.
Political spying 1.0 was actually the weaponization of the IRS. This is where the term “Secret Research Project” originated as a description from the Obama team. It involved the U.S. Department of Justice under Eric Holder and the FBI under Robert Mueller. It never made sense why Eric Holder requested over 1 million tax records via CD ROM, until overlaying the timeline of the FISA abuse:
The IRS sent the FBI “21 disks constituting a 1.1 million page database of information from 501(c)(4) tax exempt organizations, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” The transaction occurred in October 2010 (link)
Why disks? Why send a stack of DISKS to the DOJ and FBI when there’s a pre-existing financial crimes unit within the IRS. All of the evidence within this sketchy operation came directly to the surface in early spring 2012.
The IRS scandal was never really about the IRS, it was always about the DOJ asking the IRS for the database of information. That is why it was transparently a conflict when the same DOJ was tasked with investigating the DOJ/IRS scandal. Additionally, Obama sent his chief-of-staff Jack Lew to become Treasury Secretary; effectively placing an ally to oversee/cover-up any issues. As Treasury Secretary Lew did just that.
Lesson Learned – It would appear the Obama administration learned a lesson from attempting to gather a large opposition research database operation inside a functioning organization large enough to have some good people that might blow the whistle.
The timeline reflects a few months after realizing the “Secret Research Project” was now worthless (June 2012), they focused more deliberately on a smaller network within the intelligence apparatus and began weaponizing the FBI/NSA database. If our hunch is correct, that is what will be visible in footnote #69:
Fusion GPS was not hired in April 2016 to research Donald Trump. As shown in the evidence provided by the FISC, the intelligence community was already doing surveillance and spy operations. The Obama administration already knew everything about the Trump campaign, and were monitoring everything by exploiting the FISA database.
However, after the NSA alerts in/around March 9th, 2016, and particularly after the April 18th shutdown of contractor access, the Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to create a legal albeit ex post facto justification for the pre-existing surveillance and spy operations. Fusion GPS gave them that justification in the Steele Dossier.
That’s why the FBI small group, which later transitioned into the Mueller team, were so strongly committed to and defending the formation of the Steele Dossier and its dubious content.
The Steele Dossier, an outcome of the Fusion contract, contains two purposes: (1) the cover-story and justification for the pre-existing surveillance operation (protect Obama); and (2) facilitate the FBI counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign (assist Clinton).
An insurance policy would be needed. The Steele Dossier becomes the investigative virus the FBI wanted inside the system. To get the virus into official status, they used the FISA application as the delivery method and injected it into Carter Page. The FBI already knew Carter Page; essentially Carter Page was irrelevant, what they needed was the FISA warrant and the Dossier in the system {Go Deep}.
The Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to give them a plausible justification for already existing surveillance and spy operations. Fusion-GPS gave them that justification and evidence for a FISA warrant with the Steele Dossier.
Ultimately that’s why the Steele Dossier was so important; without it, the FBI would not have a tool that Mueller needed to continue the investigation of President Trump. In essence by renewing the FISA application, despite them knowing the underlying dossier was junk, the FBI was keeping the surveillance gateway open for Team Mueller to exploit later on.
Was the Peter Strzok created “EC” that initiated Crossfire Hurricane really just a massive effort to cover-up the Obama-era surveillance network? {Go Deep} Is that underlying surveillance network the real threat explaining why Michael Flynn had to be removed?
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In this video Rogers explains how he was notified of what was happening and what he did after the notification.
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Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell discusses his prior approach toward declassifying documents behind the Obama administration’s efforts to disrupt the incoming Trump administration.
As Grenell notes the prior administration was politically focused on targeting Donald Trump and weaponizing the intelligence apparatus to disrupt the Trump administration. Grenell discusses the over-classification of documents as a tool to hide intentional wrongdoing and corrupt intent.
It’s worth noting the interview is heavily edited; which, given Ms. Bartiromo’s granular insight on the issues, may indicate some of the conversation extended beyond what would be comfortable for the current investigation to be seen in public. (Just a hunch).
This is a little lengthy of a discussion, but it touches upon something very relevant to this election cycle. Author Diana West discusses a network and pattern of ideology within the modern pentagon leadership, and how a worldview is threatened by President Trump. The interview and discussion is below.
The conversation necessarily gets in the weeds and is filled with unique insight into a very complex alignment. However, in the big picture it’s not difficult to figure out why the Pentagon would be opposed to Trump. During the campaign and early administration President Trump’s expressed foreign policy was viewed by NATO alliance members as a threat. The same type of perspective applies internally to the U.S. military.
President Trump’s preferred use of economic warfare makes the Pentagon’s role diminished. Instead of punching North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, President Trump hits the checkbook of Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping. The primary has become the contingency. The value of James Mattis replaced by the effectiveness of Robert Lighthizer. JC Milley isn’t in the planning room; Milley’s been replaced by Wilbur Ross (until he’s needed).
In the Trump era the President is telling the Pentagon where and when to position; and asks them for ‘contingency’ preparation. Decades of Pentagon-centric foreign policy is lessened by an entirely new geopolitical approach based on economic strategy.
Take away power, or worse yet, stop using military power, and the leaders within the system start to sense their institution becoming functionally obsolescent. Overlay this military view upon pre-existing ideological differences and the situation gets worse.
CTH touched on this last year when we noted how the Pentagon, specifically the joint chiefs, never took any action when Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman positioned himself as an opponent to President Trump’s policy perspective. The pentagon left Vindman on assignment to the NSC even after Vindman attempted to take-down President Trump.
Another example was Joint Chief Chairman Milley, and the visit Pompeo and Milley took to Mar-a-Lago in December, where they were informing President Trump of military strikes in Syria and Iraq *after* they took place. [Background Here] [Background Here].
Yet another related example was Navy Secretary Richard Spencer threatening President Trump and attempting to extort him into inaction over the disciplinary plans against the SEAL commando, Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher.
All of these examples paint a picture of a Pentagon operating outside the chain-of-command and civilian oversight.
Unfortunately, like all other issues in the era of hyper-polarization, normally democrats would be alarmed about military leadership going rogue with their own agenda; however, as long as their agenda is anti-Trump, the political-left is now okay with it.
Recently democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden was openly asking the U.S. military to initiate a coup against President Trump. The media didn’t bat an eyelash… The traditional checks-and-balances, things that keep us stable, are seriously getting sketchy.
Ms. West takes a deeper look at the internal ideology within the Pentagon and then notes the tentacles that extend beyond the military into the Brookings Institute and Lawfare agencies. The larger assembly of the resistance movement becomes visible. WATCH:
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I. ENTER JOHN GLEESON, STAGE LEFT
Judge Sullivan asks Gleeson for Ruling
When the Justice Dept. informed Fed Judge Emmet Sullivan of Gen Flynn’s case prosecutorial abuse, ordering dismissal, Sullivan flipped the script, claiming DOJ had no absolute right to dismiss. Instead, Sullivan invited retired Fed .Judge John Gleeson (who had just excoriated DOJ over Flynn’s dismissal by op-ed) to rule on Flynn). So Gleeson filed an amicus brief employing sophistry and anti-Trump outrage, calling Flynn’s dismissal, “Preposterous,” “Corrupt,” and a “Gross abuse of power.” And yet neither Gleeson, nor Sullivan seem bothered by the case’s 900 pound gorilla – Federal misconduct.
Mueller’s Flynn Case Can’t Die
The real issue? The Left can’t bless Flynn’s dismissal, for if he was railroaded at the start of the Russia hoax, then the entire “collusion” was contrived. Further, Sullivan knew of the Flynn problems and looked the other way to help the left. Gleeson is described as a Clark Kent of law with “Unimpeachable Character,” Echos of tainted hoax-lord Bob Mueller, anyone?.
Leftists Claim Intellectual/ Moral Superiority
These dodgy maneuvers highlight the most bombastic claims of leftism. Liberals claim intellectual and moral superiority over any opposition. The clear implication here is Trump, AG Barr and department are ethically obtuse, unable to grasp the monstrous illegality in freeing Flynn, or too dumb to know.
Trump’s Friends Get No Due Process
Gleeson claims the DOJ acted corruptly protecting Trump’s friend and employee, Gen. Flynn, stating: “the instant the Executive Branch filed a criminal charge against Flynn, it forfeited the right to implicate this Court in the dismissal of that charge simply because Flynn is a friend and political ally of the President.” Is it true Flynn gave up the right to protest abuse or error when he took a plea from Trump’s legal system? Does that even make sense? Wow. In an interview, Judge Gleeson speaks of the need for “Milk of Human Kindness,” in sentencing. But where is his empathy now? Or did Flynn simply commit the mortal sin of being Trump’s ally?
So Gleeson believes if the state lies to Gen. Flynn, it’s immaterial. What matters is whether Flynn lied to the state. And if he did, he must be punished, period. More problematic for Gleeson, is evidence tampering. So could the Feds prove their case in a regular trial? Probably not. Most shocking is neither Gleeson nor Sullivan have a problem with this.
Due Process Supersedes
A colossal problem for Gleeson and Sullivan is Flynn was not afforded Due Process from the very beginning. A desire to punish Trump’s “friend” Flynn doesn’t excuse the state from not informing him he was under investigation, could stay silent, leave, or get an attorney, and needed a Miranda warning. In fact, had Flynn known he was a subject of investigation as were his rights, he would have never been prosecuted because the entire FBI casual conversation was a setup to entrap Flynn, which no attorney would allow. Yet, it’s sad Gleeson drags Trump into his argument. Is being friends with Trump a sin?
Guilt “Already Adjudicated”
Further, when Gleeson states Flynn’s guilt was already “adjudicated”, he’s confusing a positive law understanding for the proper remedy—a natural law analysis taking into account all elements of the case. So Gleeson either doesn’t understand the importance of the Natural Law/ Due Process clause in assessing the case, or more likely, he’s pretending it doesn’t matter since “its already been adjudicated.” Yet, if all cases had this standard, where the only thing that mattered was having “already been adjudicated,” you could close down all courts of appeal.
Fruit of Poison Tree
The main problem here is that Flynn’s supposed lies don’t cure earlier FBI wrongdoing. This is what’s known as the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. Generally, information gained illegally by police can’t be used for prosecution. This applies for Flynn because the FBI never told him he was under investigation and so can challenge so-called “lies.” Flynn claims during a casual FBI conversation he was going off memory without preparation and couldn’t recall everything he said to Russian Kislyak – so he had no intent to deceive.
Sullivan’s Deus Ex Machina
Of course, the real purpose of Gleeson’s entry is to act as a deus ex machina (a tool used by ancient playwrights to solve storyline problems). Instead of stating his own opinion, Sullivan has Gleeson do so, since he already outlined this in an op-ed. So Sullivan takes the scrutiny off himself while preserving his position. Yet he knows his position lacks, explaining hiring his own lawyer for the case.
Gleeson Leftism
Sullivan is apparently a leftist and Gleeson is also a man of the Left, appointed by Bill Clinton. According to Powerline, retired Gleeson was:
A left-wing judge whose attitude towards crime depends on the identity of the alleged criminal. He favored leniency for street criminals but, favors toughness for political enemies… Also, Gleeson has no appreciation of the distinction between judge and advocate. Thus he was always the perfect candidate to advise Judge Sullivan, who clearly wants to advocate in the Flynn case.
Gleeson actually secretly advocated for defendants as a judge! He’s in the “Marshall Project,” meant to “create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system.”
Ultimately, as a good leftist, Gleeson answers to another authority, but not Natural Law. It’s built from the tears and aspirations of Social Justice. If both Sullivan and Gleeson trample upon the rules and spirit of American jurisprudence, that’s okay. The methods of socialism are antinomian, or lawless. These judges take comfort knowing, even risking exposure, they serve a higher order they know is the only salvation and heaven this world will ever offer: global Marxism.
DOJ Spokesperson Kerri Kupec is interviewed by Liz MacDonald to discuss today’s DC Circuit Court hearing in the Flynn case. As Ms. Kupec notes there are several irregularities in the case stemming first-and-foremost from a decision by Judge Emett Sullivan refusing to accept an unopposed motion by both the DOJ and Flynn defense to drop the case.
HPSCI Ranking Member Devin Nunes has an interview on OAN news to discuss FBI legal counsel Dana Boente and his exit from the FBI this month. As Nunes notes Mr. Boente is at the center of an information flow which put him in a position to know the underlying evidence. As an outcome of that position Boente is either a participant or a witness to corruption at the highest levels of the DOJ.
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In prior positions as U.S. Attorney for Virginia; and while leading the DOJ National Security Division; and then later shifting to the FBI as chief legal counsel under Chris Wray; Dana Boente was at the epicenter of corrupt intent and malign activity toward the Trump administration.
It is easiest to capture the full background content in this sequence:
♦June 2019 – Devin Nunes threatens criminal referrals for Dana Boente and Chris Wray – This background highlights Boente as a very bad actor [SEE HERE].
♦April 24, 2020 – Boente and Wray try to block release of Flynn documents. AG Bill Bar intervenes. This is the Flynn firetruck story, that ties to the release of the July 2018 letter from the DOJ-NSD and FBI to the FISA court. [SEE HERE]
♦April 26, 2020 – CTH Open Letter to Bill Barr – Outlines the corruption of Boente and Wray in the long-view and how it all comes together. [SEE HERE]
My educated hunch is the July 12, 2018, letter from the DOJ/FBI that was fraught with false information and purposeful lies to the FISA court, is really the issue that DOJ Bill Barr could not avoid. The lies within the letter are just too brutally obvious, and contrast heavily against revelations coming from the outside USAO’s that Barr has brought in to review all of the prior DOJ and FBI activity.
Why do I think that’s the final straw? Because if you take that moment in time and start working backward what you find is demonstrable and provable evidence that Dana Boente was one of the original Trump-era officials who participated in protecting “spygate” and using his support of the Mueller investigation as an internal weapon. Remember, all the corrupt FBI players on Mueller’s team reported to Boente, including David Archey.
Dana Boente is enmeshed in all of it: the Wolfe case and cover-up, the Assange case and cover-up, and the hiding of documents in the Flynn case and cover-up. Boente’s role as a manipulative fixer to protect the ongoing corrupt action of the Mueller probe was exactly why FBI Director Chris Wray hired him.
Taking out Boente now exposes the complicit nature of FBI Director Chris Wray; who, it appears, AG Bill Barr is being forced -by new discoveries- to leave Wray naked to his enemies.
In a June 2019 interview Nunes said “someone at the FBI” appears to have been “determined to hide” then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec’s notes from both the FISA court and Congress. Our research identified that “someone” as Dana Boente a year before the Nunes remarks. [I even said ‘bookmark this and prove me wrong]
If you followed closely, and accept that Rosenstein was part of the problem, then you see how FBI Director Christopher Wray came into office; and, more importantly how/why Wray selected former DOJ-NSD head Dana Boente to shift from main justice to be legal counsel for the FBI. ~ CONTINUE READING
After listening to oral arguments in the DC Circuit Court for the Flynn petition for a Writ of Mandamus (appeals court intervention); it seems very likely the panel of three judges will deny the Flynn defense and DOJ request, here’s why….
For the past decade CTH has been accurate in predicting these judicial events based on one overarching principle. The issues at hand are political arguments being made in the sphere of legal proceedings. As a consequence, all judicial proceeding continue -regardless of legal merit- until such time as they run into the final barrier of legal standing.
This same principle played out in the George Zimmerman case (Trayvon Martin). This same principle played out in the Baltimore Six case (Freddie Gray). A modified version of this principle played out in the Darren Wilson case (Michael Brown).
In the assembly of each prosecution there was no legal basis for the underlying case to proceed into the judicial branch, and yet those proceedings continued. They continued because the case travel is based on politics, not law. This is the essence of Lawfare.
As soon as the political runway of the case runs-out; then, and only then, does the case itself run into the law, and the case collapses. The Michael Flynn case is still on the political runway; and the DC Circuit will not intervene as long as the runway still exists.
Again, these are political cases being tried in the judiciary. Most lawyers who review these cases, and follow the underlying aspects, continually view the activity through the wrong prism, because they do not accept that politics is the driving force. Not law, politics.
In each example, based on the fortitude of the defendant; which assumes the pressure is withstood and acquiescence to a plea does not happen; there does -eventually- come a time when statutory law and the underlying factual evidence is confronted. When those end-of-runway moments are reached, the cases collapse on their lack of merit because they were built upon false political foundations. Notice it is only at the moment the political runway terminates that we find ourselves witnessing the legal collapse.
Thus we saw George Zimmerman found not-guilty because the underlying case was devoid of merit and built upon political fraud. Thus we saw the Baltimore Six found not-guilty and remaining cases dispatched because the underlying case(s) were devoid of merit and the public evidence was built upon political fraud. Thus we saw a Grand Jury no-true bill finding in the Darren Wilson case because it was devoid of merit and the underlying (public) evidence was built upon political fraud. Same. Same. Same.
In the oral arguments today the DC Circuit panel recognized there was still a great deal of political runway to travel as they questioned why they should intervene prior to a ruling by Judge Emett Sullivan on the unopposed motion to dismiss.
Behind their arguments, unspoken but visible, was a familiar position. There is still distance on the political runway before Sullivan’s July 16, 2020, District Court hearing and ultimately a ruling on the unopposed DOJ and Defense standing motion for dismissal.
Judge Sullivan’s lawyer, Beth A. Wilkinson, argued Judge Sullivan’s request for an amicus briefing is moot to the interests of superior court intervention because the DC Circuit cannot evaluate Judge Sullivan’s intent until after he issues his ruling on the unopposed motion to dismiss. That argument is what the panel wanted; that’s what the panel needed; that’s what the panel received. Thus, there’s plenty of political runway yet to be traveled.
Each of these political cases has a similar, perhaps identical, trajectory. Each case seems to use the same airport; albeit with different lengths of runway; and each case travels that runway regardless of merit or legal standing for the underlying case.
Standing on the sidelines, viewing cases through the prism of the rule-of-law, while watching cases traveling on the runway of politics is frustrating. Accepting the political motives of each case will lower blood pressure and save energy for the moment that really does matter, when the political runway is exhausted and legal statutes and principles do indeed apply.
Until the moment the value of politics expires, all judicial activity is an exercise in futility…. unless a target happens to come across a judge who will not support the politics of it (ie. Judge Andrew Hanen), but that is increasingly rare.
As long as a superior court judge, or panel of judges, can find a scintilla of legal space to justify political continuance, they will. After two decades of this political metastasis, and despite the efforts of some lower courts trying to block it, even the U.S. supreme court is now infected.
If you find yourself as a target for one of these political cases, don’t hire a lawyer well versed in the legal aspects of your case; start first with a lawyer well versed in politics. One that is not afraid to take your case loud and public.
In the case against Michael T. Flynn the DC Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments this morning for a petition for Writ of Mandamus. Circuit Court Judges: ²Karen Henderson, ¹Robert Wilkins and Neomi Rao are presiding Judges.
Arguing before the court: Flynn defense attorney Ms. Sidney Powell; Mr. Jeffrey Wall, deputy US solicitor general argued for the government representing the position of the DOJ; and Ms. Beth A. Wilkinson representing the position of Judge Emmet Sullivan.
AUDIO of the Hearing Below:
¹Judge Robert Wilkins is politically adverse to the interests of the DOJ/Defense and wants to deny the petition for intervention. Judge Wilkins fabricates and manufacturers an irrelevant hypothetical example based on race to highlight his intent. [See @44:48]
²Behind the arguments of Judge Karen Henderson; it is visible she wants to deny the DOJ/Defense petition based on PC concerns that Judge Emett Sullivan is a black jurist. [See @1:00:37]
Prediction: The defense petition for the Writ of Mandamus will be denied (2-1); based, mostly on activist political intentions of Henderson and Wilkins. However, there is an outside possibility for a limiting Mandamus ruling, where the DC Circuit Court will put limits on Judge Sullivan’s efforts to probe the motives of the DOJ.
The July 16th hearing with Judge Sullivan will almost certainly take place.
QUESTION: Is the rioting and social injustice taking place not the failure of Barak Obama? Or is was his failure part of the cause of this? I am not trying to deflect from the police consistently getting away with murder, they should all be locked up for their crimes.
Maybe putting it all on Barak isn’t correct either but it seems odd to me that these types of murders caught on camera, go unpunished. How does this get solved?
P
ANSWER: The system is just so corrupt it is hard to see where to begin. We do not have a government of “We the People,” and such a system cannot exist without term limits. As soon as you have career politicians, they will NEVER side with the people. We are the great unwashed to be exploited and ruled. The two things I see are (1) term limits; 2 years and out, and (2) no person working for the government should EVER have any position of qualified immunity. The Supreme Court established Qualified Immunity in 1982 which is precisely the opposite of how they treat the people. If you violate a law you did not know in “good faith” that is not a defense. The courts hold it is your OBLIGATION to know every law they pass for hundreds of years that remain on the books. You cannot present a defense of acting in “good faith,” but those in government can do so against the people. This is morally wrong and totally unethical.
The Supreme Court claims that to do their job, government employees need to be shielded from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably. Yet those in government can rape us, kills us, and torture us with absolute immunity. In Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982) the Supreme Court held:
Government officials whose special functions or constitutional status requires complete protection from suits for damages — including certain officials of the Executive Branch, such as prosecutors and similar officials, see Butz v. Economou, 438 U. S. 478, and the President, Nixon v. Fitzgerald, ante p. 457 U. S. 731 — are entitled to the defense of absolute immunity. However, executive officials in general are usually entitled to only qualified or good faith immunity. The recognition of a qualified immunity defense for high executives reflects an attempt to balance competing values: not only the importance of a damages remedy to protect the rights of citizens, but also the need to protect officials who are required to exercise discretion and the related public interest in encouraging the vigorous exercise of official authority. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U. S. 232. Federal officials seeking absolute immunity from personal liability for unconstitutional conduct must bear the burden of showing that public policy requires an exemption of that scope. Pp. 457 U. S. 806-808.
There should be NO basis whatsoever for any such immunity, for the government is NOT the sovereign of the nation. The people are. The Supreme Court stated in LEGAL TENDER CASES, 110 U.S. 421 (1884) (also referred to as Julliard v Greenman), “There is no such thing as a power of inherent sovereignty in the government of the United States. It is a government of delegated powers, supreme within its prescribed sphere, but powerless outside of it. In this country, sovereignty resides in the people, and congress can exercise no power which they have not, by their constitution, entrusted to it; all else is withheld.”
The Supreme Cout held that the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land and binds every forum whether it derives its authority from a state or from the United States Cook v Moffat, 46 US 295 (1847). “It may be regarded as settled that the Constitution of the United States is the only source of power authorizing action by any branch of the Federal government.” Dorr v US, 195 US 138, 140 (1904).
There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that grants any immunity to government officials against the people. NONE!!!! To create such immunity by the Supreme Court is contrary to the Constitution and since it lacks such a source of power, it is void. All protests should be directed at the Supreme Court. They have protected government contrary to the Constitution.
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