May 28, 2019
Excellent video of President Trump and First Lady Melania returning to the White House following a three-day state visit in Japan. The video is even better if you play “Ride of the Valkyries” in the background:
Tag Archives: UniParty
Christopher Steele Refuses to be Questioned by DOJ Investigator John Durham…
May 28, 2019
Reuters is reporting the DNC paid Dossier author, Christopher Steele, is refusing to be questioned by DOJ investigator John Durham. This follows a pattern of Chris Steele refusing to talk to congress and also refusing to talk to Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Obviously, he has multiple somethings to hide….
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The former British spy who produced a dossier describing alleged links between Donald Trump and Russia will not cooperate with a prosecutor assigned by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to review how the investigations of Trump and his 2016 election campaign began, a source with knowledge of the situation said.
Christopher Steele, a former Russia expert for the British spy agency MI6, will not answer questions from prosecutor John Durham, named by Barr to examine the origins of the investigations into Trump and his campaign team, said the source close to Steele’s London-based private investigation firm, Orbis Business Intelligence.
Trump has given Barr broad authority to declassify intelligence materials related to the investigations. Last week Trump ordered the heads of U.S. spy and law enforcement agencies to cooperate with Durham. (read more)
MAGAnomics – Consumer Confidence Jumps in May – Main Street Defies Wall St…
May 28, 2019
Despite the professional doomsayer predictions from the professional financial class of Wall Street investment punditry, Main Street is upbeat and consumer confidence is strong.
Tariff-Man Winning
“Consumer Confidence posted another gain in May and is now back to levels seen last Fall when the Index was hovering near 18-year highs,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The increase in the Present Situation Index was driven primarily by employment gains.
Consumers expect the economy to continue growing at a solid pace in the short-term, and despite weak retail sales in April, these high levels of confidence suggest no significant pullback in consumer spending in the months ahead.” (more)
Never is the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street more visible than in the predictions -vs- reality for the growing/strengthening American middle-class.
The professional financial punditry can’t explain it. Flummoxed academics run around bumping into walls amid economic numbers that continue to defy expectations. All caused by a simple return to common sense ‘America First’ MAGAnomics.
Low unemployment (3.6%); wages growing (+3.2%); inflation stable (1.6%). These measures all have a cumulative impact on paycheck-to-paycheck Americans. Prices for durable goods are stable and wage growth is exceeding inflation. That means more disposable income in the middle-class…DUH. Which, when combined with the increased pay from lower middle-class tax rates, is exactly the intended outcome of MAGAnomics.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumer confidence jumped in May as households grew more upbeat about the labor market, suggesting the economy remained on solid ground despite signs that activity was slowing after being temporarily boosted by exports and a build-up of inventories.
The surge in confidence reported by the Conference Board on Tuesday came despite an escalation in tensions in the 10-month trade war between the United States and China, which sparked a sharp sell-off on Wall Street. It mirrors strength exhibited by another sentiment surveys in the middle of this month. (more)
The “Secret Research Project” – an IRS List, an NSA Database, and Resulting “Files” on Americans…
May 28, 2019
A carefully redacted footnote within a report by FISA Court Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer has always appeared to be a clue to a domestic surveillance program. Now details behind the redactions tell a concerning story.
A brief refresher is needed for those new to the story. In April 2017 Judge Collyer wrote a highly critical FISA Court opinion following discoveries by Director Admiral Rogers of government contractors accessing the NSA database, and extracting illegal search results from the electronic records of every American.
The scale of abuse was incredible [SEE HERE] and the surveillance issues had been covered up for years. Collyer cited the Obama administration as having “an institutional lack of candor” in their responses to her and the FISA court. The judge focused her criticism after a review of the period 2012 through April 2016.
Using the non-compliant admissions by NSA Director Mike Rogers and the results of the compliance audit, Judge Collyer used the period of November 2015 through April 2016 to gauge the scale of abuse at 85 percent. Eighty-five percent of all database search queries were unlawful, and she extended her analysis to say:
“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 period coincided with an unusually high error rate”.
Also this very important:
“many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.”
Eight-five percent of all use/extraction of the NSA database was unlawful; and they were searching many of the same Americans (“identifier”), repeatedly, over different dates. This means specific Americans were being targeted, tracked and monitored… unlawfully.
Within the 99-page opinion from Judge Rosemary Collyer she noted none of this FISA-702 database abuse was accidental. In a key footnote on page 87: Collyer outlined the years of unlawful violations was the result of “deliberate decisionmaking“:
This specific footnote, is key to peeling back the onion.
Note the phrase: “([redacted] access to FBI systems was the subject of an interagency memorandum of understanding entered into [redacted])”. This sentence exposes an internal decision; withheld from congress and the FISA court by the Obama administration; and outlines a process for access and distribution of surveillance data. Note: “no notice of this practice was given to the FISC until 2016“.
We feel confident we’ve now found the source of the “memorandum of understanding” that lies at the heart of the issue [Raw Doc Guidelines].
In March 2012 the Obama administration through Attorney General Eric Holder made changes to the exploitation of intelligence databases as noted in this Wall Street Journal article later in the year:
(December 2012 – WSJ) Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.
Not everyone was on board. “This is a sea change in the way that the government interacts with the general public,” Mary Ellen Callahan, chief privacy officer of the Department of Homeland Security, argued in the meeting, according to people familiar with the discussions.
A week later, the attorney general signed the changes into effect.
The rules now allow the little-known National Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for possible criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them. That is a departure from past practice, which barred the agency from storing information about ordinary Americans unless a person was a terror suspect or related to an investigation.
Now, NCTC can copy entire government databases—flight records, casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and many others. The agency has new authority to keep data about innocent U.S. citizens for up to five years, and to analyze it for suspicious patterns of behavior. Previously, both were prohibited. Data about Americans “reasonably believed to constitute terrorism information” may be permanently retained.
The changes also allow databases of U.S. civilian information to be given to foreign governments for analysis of their own. In effect, U.S. and foreign governments would be using the information to look for clues that people might commit future crimes. (more)
The 2012 changes, instituted by Eric Holder, permitted files of specific Americans to be generated under the auspices of potential terror threats. The NSA databases could be exploited by the National Counterterrorism Center to extract content that would be contained within these files on targeted Americans.
Keep in mind this is early 2012, John Brennan is Deputy National Security Advisor and Asst. to President Obama for Homeland Security.
When Attorney General Eric Holder empowered the National Counterterrorism Center with this new authority, the office assigned to the data-collection was the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC). The founder of the TTIC was John Brennan:
On 1 May 2003, the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) opened its doors. Led by its first Director, John Brennan, TTIC filled its ranks with approximately three dozen detailees from across the US Government (USG) and was mandated to integrate CT capabilities and missions across the government. (link)
Also note the date of this DOJ Memorandum is March 2012:
Under the new rules issued in March, the National Counterterrorism Center, known as NCTC, can obtain almost any database the government collects that it says is “reasonably believed” to contain “terrorism information.” (link)
The March 2012 date is right before the IRS scandal hit the headlines.
The IRS targeting scandal 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 spring 2012.
Here’s how it looks:
♦ In 2010 Eric Holder asked the IRS to send him the records of 501(c) non profit groups and individuals representing conservative voters. [LINK] Lois Lerner sent the DOJ 1.1 million pages of 501(c)(4) tax filing data. Including a very specific set of “33 Schedule B attachment files”. The Schedule B’s were specific to Large Conservative 501(c)(4) groups operating and organized to oppose the agenda of President Obama. The Schedule B’s include the donor lists of specific people and sub-groups attached to the 501(c)(4).
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)
♦ In 2012 Eric Holder authorizes the use of government databases to search records of Americans and assemble “files” on potential targets. [Link] “The agency has new authority to keep data about innocent U.S. citizens for up to five years, and to analyze it for suspicious patterns of behavior.”
♦ In the period of 2012 through April 2016, According to FISA Judge Rosemary Collyer, there were tens of thousands of illegal (“non-compliant”) search queries of the NSA database targeting Americans. The search results were unlawfully “extracted” to unknown entities. Eighty-five out of every hundred searches were illegal (85% non-compliant rate).
Consider purposeful actions, as a political targeting operation, by weaponizing the systems of government. Steps:
- First, identify the targets (IRS Database).
- Second, research the targets (NSA Database).
- Third assemble files on the targets (DOJ Authorization).
- Fourth use the files to leverage/destroy your opposition.
We now have evidence of the first three steps; and my hunch is if we apply hindsight a lot of unusual activity will now make sense. We have been living inside the fourth step for a few years. We noticed the consequences… but we only had suspicions, until now.
Fusion GPS was not hired to research Trump, the intelligence community was already doing surveillance and spy operations. The intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to give them a plausible justification for already existing surveillance and spy operations.
Fusion-GPS gave the Obama administration the justification they needed for a FISA warrant with the Steele Dossier. Ultimately that’s why the Steele Dossier is so important; without it, the DOJ and FBI are naked with their surveillance and database abuse.
At 12:15pm on January 20th, 2017, Obama’s outgoing National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote a memo-to-self. Many people have called this her “CYA” memo, from the position that Susan Rice was protecting herself from consequences if the scheme against President Trump was discovered. Here’s the email:
On January 5, following a briefing by IC leadership on Russian hacking during the 2016 Presidential election, President Obama had a brief follow-on conversation with FBI Director Jim Comey and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in the Oval Office. Vice President Biden and I were also present.
President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities “by the book“.
The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book.
From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.
[Redacted Classified Section of Unknown length]
The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would.
Susan Rice ~ (pdf link)
Joe diGenova Discusses Declassification and Origin of Obama Political Surveillance Operation…
May 27, 2019
Former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia, Joe diGenova, discusses the declassification of intelligence documents relating to political surveillance; and the origin of the database abuses outlined by FISC Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer…
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With President Trump returning from Japan tomorrow (5/28); and with the upcoming state visit to the U.K. coming June 3rd; a declassification “window of opportunity” opens between this Wednesday 5/29 and Saturday 6/2.
Given last weeks visit to Main Justice by congressman Mark Meadows; and considering the visit was specifically to review unredacted Page-Strzok-McCabe messages; it could be surmised the first series of declassified documents might be those communiques. Additionally, John Solomon has stated “Bucket Five” is likely the first release prior to the IG report:
Bucket Five – Intelligence documents that were presented to the Gang of Eight in 2016 that pertain to the FISA application used against U.S. person Carter Page; including all exculpatory intelligence documents that may not have been presented to the FISA Court. Presumably this would include the recently revealed State Dept Kavalac email; and the FBI transcripts from wiretaps of George Papadopoulos (also listed in Carter Page FISA).
Now that we have significant research files on the 2015 and 2016 political surveillance program; which includes the trail evident within the Weissmann/Mueller report; in combination with the Obama-era DOJ “secret research project” (their words, not mine); we are able to overlay the entire objective and gain a full understanding of how political surveillance was conducted over a period of approximately four to six years.
This is likely why there is institutional panic.
Working with a timeline, but also referencing origination material in 2015/2016 – CTH has tried to show how the program operated. The exploitation of government collected information explains an evolution from the IRS Files in 2010 to the FISA Files in 2016.
More importantly, research indicates the modern political exploitation of the NSA database, for weaponized intelligence surveillance of politicians, began mid 2012.
The FISA-702 database extraction process, and utilization of the protections within the smaller intelligence community, was the primary process. We start by reviewing the established record from the 99-page FISC opinion rendered by Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer on April 26th, 2017; and explain 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 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 outlined. The complexity also helps the media avoid discussing, and as a result most Americans have no idea the scale and scope of the 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 to a significant uptick in FISA-702(17) “About” queries; these are searches using the FBI/NSA database that holds all metadata records on every form of electronic communication.
The NSA compliance officer alerted NSA Director 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).
Here are some significant segments:
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:
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 1,000 and 9,999 [five digits]. If we take the middle number of 5,000 – that means 4,250 unlawful searches out of 5,000.
The [five digit] amount (more than 1,000, less than 10,000), and 85% error rate, was captured in a six month period.
Also notice this very important quote: “many of these non-compliant queries involved the use of the same identifiers over different date ranges.” So they were searching the same phone number, email address, electronic “identifier”, or people, repeatedly over different dates. Specific people 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. (Again, remember that date, 2012) Who was FBI Director? Who was his chief-of-staff? Who was CIA Director? ODNI? etc. Remember, the NSA is inside the Pentagon (Defense Dept) command structure. Who was Defense Secretary? And finally, who wrote and signed-off-on the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment?
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 not), the wife of Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson, Mary Jacoby, goes to the White House the 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, would be 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.
Now, consider this footnote, and then reference THIS from 2012:
December 17, 2012
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States
United States Department of Justice
Washington, DC 20530
Dear General Holder:
Recently, the “Wall Street Journal” (WSJ) reported you granted the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) new powers to store dossiers on United States citizens, even if said citizens are not suspected of any criminal activity.
With these new powers, the NCTC would have the ability to copy entire government databases holding information on flight records, casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students, as well as other data.
The WSJ goes on to report the new rules allow the NCTC to keep data about innocent United States citizens for up to five years and to analyze it for suspicious patterns of behavior. Previously, both were prohibited.
If the WSJ report is accurate, these new powers represent a sweeping departure from past practices, which barred the NCTC from storing information about ordinary Americans unless a person was a terror suspect or the information sought was related to an investigation.
If the WSJ report is accurate, it raises numerous concerns and questions. As elected Representatives and members of the House Judiciary Committee, we are concerned such sweeping, fundamental changes would be made to existing policy without public input and Congressional approval. Changes, which fundamentally alter the relationship between the government and the governed, should only be made with input from the people by and through their elected Representatives. (more)
Summary of this aspect: 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, surveillance, and file-building 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]
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.
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, was 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.
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:
Additionally, Matt Gaetz appears to have seen “a memo held in the Congressional Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) that contained previously-undisclosed information involving the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ).” [LINK] Which sounds like the MOU in the footnote, and the memo that Trey Gowdy and Jason Chaffetz inquired about.
How this all comes together in 2019
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, are so strongly committed to and defending the formation of the Steele Dossier and its dubious content. The Steele Dossier contains the cover-story and justification for the pre-existing surveillance operation.
During a rather innocuous podcast discussion panel April 12th, 2019, one of President Trump’s personal lawyers Jay Sekulow mentioned the FBI had three FISA applications denied by the FISA court in 2016. [Podcast Here – Note comment at 25:05] The denials were always suspected; however, until now no-one in/around the administration has ever confirmed.
If Sekulow is accurate, this adds additional context to the actions of the FBI in the aftermath of Admiral Mike Rogers and an increased urgency in gaining legal justification for surveillance and spy operation unlawfully taking place. A valid FISA warrant would help the FBI cover-up the surveillance. The likely targets were Manafort, Flynn and Papadopoulos…. but it appears the DOJ/FBI were rebuked.
These FISC denials would then initiate institutional panic dependent on the election outcome. 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}.
Fusion GPS was not hired to research Trump, the intelligence community was already doing surveillance and spy operations. The intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to give them a plausible justification for already existing surveillance and spy operations.
Fusion-GPS gave them the justification they needed for a FISA warrant with the Steele Dossier. Ultimately that’s why the Steele Dossier is so important; without it, the DOJ and FBI are naked with their FISA-702 abuse as outlined by John Ratcliffe.
No-one really knows the extent of the current documents and/or information that may be subject to the AG Bill Barr declassification. However, this is the original list as outlined in September 2018, and the agencies who would be involved in the declassification process:
- All versions of the Carter Page FISA applications (DOJ) (DoS) (FBI) (ODNI).
- All of the Bruce Ohr 302’s filled out by the FBI. (FBI) (ODNI)
- All of Bruce Ohr’s emails (FBI) (DOJ) (CIA) (ODNI), and supportive documents and material provided by Bruce Ohr to the FBI. (FBI)
- All relevant documents pertaining to the supportive material within the FISA application. (FBI) (DOJ-NSD ) (DoS) (CIA) (DNI) (NSA) (ODNI);
- All intelligence documents that were presented to the Gang of Eight in 2016 that pertain to the FISA application used against U.S. person Carter Page; including all exculpatory intelligence documents that may not have been presented to the FISA Court. (CIA) (FBI) (DOJ) (ODNI) (DoS) (NSA)
- All unredacted text messages and email content between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok on all devices. (FBI) (DOJ) (DOJ-NSD) (ODNI)
- The originating CIA “EC” or two-page electronic communication from former CIA Director John Brennan to FBI Director James Comey that started Operation Crossfire Hurricane in July 2016. (CIA) (FBI) (ODNI)
♦ President Trump can prove the July 31st, 2016, Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence operation originated from a scheme within the intelligence apparatus by exposing the preceding CIA operation that created the originating “Electronic Communication” memo. Declassify that two-page “EC” document that Brennan gave to Comey. [The trail is found within the Weissmann report and the use of Alexander Downer – SEE HERE]
♦ Release and declassify all of the Comey memos that document the investigative steps taken by the FBI as an outcome of the operation coordinated by CIA Director John Brennan in early 2016. [The trail was memorialized by James Comey – SEE HERE]
♦ Reveal the November 2015 through April 2016 FISA-702 search query abuse by declassifying the April 2017 court opinion written by FISC Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer. Show the FBI contractors behind the 85% fraudulent search queries. [Crowdstrike? Fusion-GPS? Nellie Ohr? Daniel Richman?] This was a weaponized surveillance and domestic political spying operation. [The trail was laid down in specific detail by Judge Collyer – SEE HERE]
♦ Subpoena former DOJ-NSD (National Security Division) head John Carlin, or haul him in front of a grand jury, and get his testimony about why he hid the abuse from the FISA court in October 2016; why the DOJ-NSD rushed the Carter Page application to beat NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers to the FISA court; and why Carlin quit immediately thereafter.
♦ Prove the Carter Page FISA application (October 2016) was fraudulent and based on deceptions to the FISA Court. Declassify the entire document, and release the transcripts of those who signed the application(s); and/or depose those who have not yet testified. The creation of the Steele Dossier was the cover-up operation. [SEE HERE]
♦ Release all of the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages without redactions. Let sunlight pour in on the actual conversation(s) that were taking place when Crossfire Hurricane (July ’16) and the FISA Application (Oct ’16) were taking place. The current redactions were made by the people who weaponized the intelligence system for political surveillance and spy operation. This is why Page and Strzok texts are redacted!
♦ Release all of Bruce Ohr 302’s, FBI notes from interviews and debriefing sessions, and other relevant documents associated with the interviews of Bruce Ohr and his internal communications. Including exculpatory evidence that Bruce Ohr may have shared with FBI Agent Joseph Pientka. [And get a deposition from this Pientka fella] Bruce Ohr is the courier, carrying information from those outside to those on the inside.
♦ Release the August 2nd, 2017, two-page scope memo provided by DAG Rod Rosenstein to special counsel Robert Mueller to advance the fraudulent Trump investigation, and initiate the more purposeful obstruction of justice investigation. Also Release the October 20th, 2017, second scope memo recently discovered. The Scope Memos are keys to unlocking the underlying spy/surveillance cover-up. [SEE HERE and SEE HERE]
Day #3 Schedule – President Trump State Visit to Japan….
May 27, 2019
Tokyo Japan is 13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern timezone. As a result, much of the diplomatic activity for the final day of the state visit happens in the late night hours.
Today is the final day of the official visit which included the first state visit hosted by the Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to celebrate the new imperial era of “Reiwa”.
The visit has been a resounding success for Japan and the United States of America.
Today, the President and First Lady will honor the military. Specifically and purposefully the President will showcase the strategic U.S-Japan military alliance, and deliver remarks to commemorate Memorial Day. At the conclusion of events the President and First Lady will bid farewell to our good friends in Japan.
9:15am (Tokyo) / 8:15pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY participate in a Farewell Call with Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, Tokyo, Japan
9:35am (Tokyo) / 8:35pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart the Palace Hotel en route to the Hardy Barracks Landing Zone, Tokyo, Japan
9:45am (Tokyo) / 8:45pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at the Hardy Barracks Landing Zone, Tokyo, Japan
9:55am (Tokyo) / 8:55pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Hardy Barracks Landing Zone en route to JS Kaga Landing Zone, Tokyo, Japan [JS Kaga (DDH-184) is a helicopter carrier (officially classified by Japan as a helicopter destroyer) and the second constructed ship in the Izumo class of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF)]
10:20am (Tokyo) / 9:20pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at JS Kaga Landing Zone, JS Kaga
10:20am (Tokyo) / 9:20pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY visit JS Kaga with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, JS Kaga
10:45am (Tokyo) / 9:45pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart JS Kaga Landing Zone en route to USS WASP Landing Zone
10:55am (Tokyo) / 9:55pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at USS WASP Landing Zone, USS WASP [USS Wasp (LHD-1) is a United States Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship, and the lead ship of her class.]
11:00am (Tokyo) / 10:00pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY participate in a Memorial Day address to the troops aboard USS WASP, USS WASP [Likely Broadcast Live]
12:05pm (Tokyo) / 11:05pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart USS WASP Landing Zone en route to Haneda Airport, USS WASP
12:20pm (Tokyo) / 11:20pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan
12:30pm (Tokyo) / 11:30pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Tokyo, Japan, en route to Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Japan
2:15pm (Tuesday, U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Joint Base Andrews, Joint Base Andrews
2:25pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Joint Base Andrews en route to the White House, Joint Base Andrews
2:35pm (U.S. EDT) THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at the White House, South Lawn
~ Japan State Visit Concluded ~
I will say without reservation, the bond between both nations has grown closer than ever before in our history. President Trump and Prime Minister Abe have also expressed a very visible geopolitical and strategic economic alliance.
The nature of the Trump-Abe engagement over the past several days extends far beyond trade and regional politics. Through deliberate and open messaging each nation has affirmed the principles of sovereign respect, the value of freedom, and a purposeful Indo-Pacific alliance. The entire region was paying close attention. This is big stuff.
This was a very consequential visit for the region.
Without directly noting the purpose of confronting communist China, the joint-alliance message was very clear. Remarkable things will begin happening as a result of this purposeful strategy; and by extension the Southeast Asia region of allies will benefit.
This commitment to joint values, including trade and commerce, will enhance the scale of respectful influence; and a successful outcome will produce prosperity in Japan and in the United States.
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Canada Begins First Steps Toward USMCA Ratification….
May 27, 2019
Chrystia Freeland has presented the initial procedural process for the Canadian Parliament to take up a bill to pass the USMCA. However, the Canadian window is short, if they don’t ratify the trade pact by the end of June, the Canadian parliament will go into legislative recess until after the general elections October 21st, 2019.
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada took a first step toward ratifying the new North American trade agreement on Monday just three days ahead of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to Ottawa to discuss the passage of the treaty.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland presented what is known as a “ways and means motion” to the House of Commons, which opens the way for the formal presentation of a bill.
The United States struck deals on May 17 to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, removing a major obstacle to legislative approval of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the trilateral trade deal to replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. (read more)
It will be interesting to watch what happens. Factually and ideologically, throughout the entire trade discussion, the Trudeau administration has put anti-Trump politics ahead of the Canadian economy. The economic stagnation in Canada is a direct result.
On-one-hand Princess Freeland and Prince Sparkle Socks need to get their economy back on track; however, that means proceeding with ratification of the USMCA which is against their ideological interests.
On-the-other-hand Freeland and Trudeau do not want to support President Trump in any manner or form. The hatred of Trump is palpable and visible. Their hatred of Trump, and public pronouncements therein, is also part of their re-election strategy. They want to run for re-election using the “orange-man-bad” resistance approach.
However, with the scale of investment withdrawal from Canada if they don’t ratify the USMCA Trudeau won’t have much of an economy left to manage…. And that becomes a problem for Justin/Freeland and their ideological best friend Nancy Pelosi.
After all the 2017 and 2018 shenanigans pulled by Freeland and Trudeau; and specifically after their G7 stunt last year; President Trump is essentially done with them – I doubt President Trump would even take a call from Justin from Canada. And forget about USTR Robert Lighthizer…. he’s a thousand times more angry than Trump.
The U.S. relationship with Canada is fundamentally fractured, destroyed, unrecoverable, so long as Trudeau/Freeland are present and pushing their elitist, globalist, multinational agenda. The relationship is so bad, if a hostile nation was to threaten Canada, it would take some convincing to get President Trump to express any intent to defend.
As a consequence, once Trump arrives back in DC (Tuesday night) Vice President Mike Pence will go to Canada on May 30th to act as an emissary.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want to give Trump a win. Trudeau and Freeland don’t want to give Trump a win. However, if Trudeau and Freeland don’t quickly ratify the USMCA they’re screwed come October (elections). As a result, ratification in Canada will put Pelosi in a pressured pickle…. and would likely lead to the U.S. House taking up similar ratification.
Amid all the chaos, there’s an apex predator guy who thrives in the fray. His world-leading economy is firing on twenty-trillion cylinders…. and he’s lining up tankers of boost.
Funny that.
President Trump and First Lady Melania Attend Imperial Palace State Dinner Hosted by Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako…
May 27, 2019
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump become the first guests of Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Imperial Palace.
The formal state dinner is the first of the era of Reiwa and intended to highlight an even stronger bond and alliance between the United States and Japan. The formal dinner included toasts from each nation and the Imperial Household Orchestra playing the ceremonial anthems of both nations.
The dinner menu: •First Course – Consommé a la Royale, •Second Course – Turbot a la Meunière Sauce Tomate, •Third Course – Cote de Boeuf Rotie, •Fourth Course – Salade de Saison, •Fifth Course – Glace Mont Fuji, •Sixth Course – Dessert of melon and grapes.
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During remarks by U.S. President Trump he called the unique relationship between the United State and Japan a “treasured alliance” and quoted ancient Japanese poetry.
“It also reminds us that in times of change, we can take comfort in our inherited traditions. In the fifth book of the Manyoshu where the term Reiwa originates, the writings of two poets offer important insights.”
Potential and possibilities of spring.
“The second poem, a good friend of the first reminds us of our solemn responsibilities to family and future generations. Both are beautiful lessons passed down from ancient wisdom. Today we embrace the limitless potential before us.
We also remember that our lives [are] a rich inheritance, that we must pass onto our children just as the sons and daughters of Japan … In the spirit of beautiful harmony may we celebrate the many possibilities, and may we protect the cherished bond. Thank you and our very best wishes to you, the imperial family and all of Japan for a peaceful and prosperous reiwa era.”
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“In the spirit of beautiful harmony may we celebrate the many possibilities, and may we protect the cherished bond. Thank you and our very best wishes to you, the imperial family and all of Japan for a peaceful and prosperous Reiwa era.”
Perfect!
President Trump and Prime Minister Abe Hold Joint Press Conference…
May 27, 2019
A fascinating press conference from the standpoint of President Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s united position toward the dynamic of North Korea.
It is obvious that Trump and Abe have a strategy for the next step in engagement with Chairman Kim Jong-un. Notice how PM Abe gives prepared remarks specifically about direct talks, face-to-face talks, with Chairman Kim, facilitated by President Trump opening the door:
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Obviously President Trump trusts Prime Minister Abe as a strategic ally; and a big component of this state visit is the two leaders coordinating regional security issues. China confronted/contained, and simultaneously both partners working on the hostage rescue of Chairman Kim is incredibly consequential.
The strategic value of this state visit is much more than surface appearances.
President Trump Memorial Day Address – USS Wasp, 10:00pm Livestream…
May 27, 2019
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will be visiting U.S. service members stationed aboard the U.S.S. WASP today as part of their Memorial Day remembrance. The President is scheduled to deliver remarks at 10:00pm EDT:
UPDATE: Video Added
White House Livestream – RSBN Livestream Link – GST Livestream Link
U.S. Forces Japan@USForcesJapanA huge crowd of Marines and Sailors are ready for the arrival of their Commander in Chief @POTUS @realDonaldTrump aboard the @USSWaspLHD1Catch it here LIVE at 1100 JKT
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