Tag Archives: Weaponization of the FBI

Apr 12 2018

President Trump Signs Law to Target On-Line Sex Trafficking…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 11, 2018 by

H.R. 1865, the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017,” which makes it a Federal crime to own, manage, or operate a website with the intent to promote or facilitate prostitution. [Summary Details]

[Transcript] 11:08 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for being with us today as we sign this crucial legislation to combat online sex trafficking and bring criminals to justice.

And the people behind me have been working on this long and hard. That’s political, as well as some of our great citizens. And we appreciate it.

I want to thank House Majority Leader McCarthy. Kevin, thank you very much. Senator Portman. Senator Portman? Thank you very much, Senator. I know you two have really been working along with Congresswoman Wagner, Congresswoman Walters — thank you very much; great job — and all of the members from both parties who worked tirelessly to pass the Fight of the Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017. So we have an official name: Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act.

REPRESENTATIVE WAGNER: FOSTA.

THE PRESIDENT: Sounds good, right?

REPRESENTATIVE WAGNER: FOSTA. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: You, did you work hard. (Laughter.) I also want to thank Governor Kenneth Mapp of Michigan [the U.S. Virgin Islands]. And we have — where’s Kenneth? Kenneth.

GOVERNOR MAPP: Right here.

THE PRESIDENT: Hi, Kenneth.

GOVERNOR MAPP: How are you doing, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: We got you all straightened out on that beautiful island, right? (Laughter.)

GOVERNOR MAPP: Yes, thank you so much.

THE PRESIDENT: Governor Kenneth Mapp and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who has been so great in so many ways. And good luck with your race.

SCHUETTE: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: And I think Dick Blumenthal is here. I saw Dick. So thank you very much for coming. I appreciate it very much.

SENATOR BLUMENTHAL: Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: And the rest of the people are much more important because they’re not politicians. Right? (Laughter.) And, Bill — Bill Schuette, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Most importantly, I want to thank the survivors and families who join us today. I’m signing this bill in your honor. And we are all together — politicians, both Republican and Democrat — signing this and representing this to you in your honor. So thank you all very much. We very much appreciate it. You’re very brave. (Applause.)

You’ve endured what no person on Earth should ever have to endure, and we are going to do everything in our power to make sure that traffickers are brought to a swift and firm justice. And I’ve heard statistics where trafficking in the world is more now than it ever has been ever in the history of the world. And you wouldn’t believe that with, you know, modern-day everything. But they use modern-day better than law enforcement can use modern-day, whether it’s the Internet or anything else. And you wouldn’t believe that. But trafficking, it’s probably worse today than at any time in history.

So I want to thank you for your courage, and thank you for helping survivors across our country. And you are not alone. You are not alone. And this is a very important day. If we work together, we can get the criminal traffickers off our streets and off of the Internet. We can bring safety and hope to every community across the country, and we can create a culture that respects the dignity of every child of God.

So I just want to thank everybody for being here. And I think what we’ll do is I’d love to have a few of you make statements. Kevin, maybe we start with you.

MAJORITY LEADER MCCARTHY: Well, first I want to thank you. And I want to thank all the survivors. We would not be here today if it wasn’t for your courage. And the difference that this is already making — we’ve tried for 10 years to get this bill through. You just achieved something we haven’t been able to do because, of the hundreds of thousands of children who are trafficked, 70 percent of them are online. And because of what you’re doing today, that’s already shut down. Eighty-seven percent of that is already shut down.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s fantastic.

MAJORITY LEADER MCCARTHY: You are saving lives.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Kevin. That’s so nice. And I have to give credit to Ivanka Trump. She’s here someplace. (Applause.) She’s been a great representative, I will say.

MAJORITY LEADER MCCARTHY: At the very beginning of your administration, she put a meeting together of all of us over there — the start of making this happen.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s true. Thank you, Ivanka, very much.

Rob, would you like to say something?

SENATOR PORTMAN: Mr. President, you’re correct about Ivanka. (Laughter.) Early on, she sent some personal tweets out which were very helpful to us, at a time when, to be frank, many people thought we couldn’t get here. There were people who believed that this was not the appropriate way to go, and we instead persevered, with the help of all these survivors with us today.

They kept saying, “You know, it’s unbelievable” — as you just said — “that trafficking could be increasing in this country, in this century.” And yet, it has been. And all the experts say it’s because of the Internet. So we had to deal with this issue.

And there was a federal law, unbelievably, that actually gave these websites immunity, that shielded them from prosecution or from these victims and survivors you see here being able to have their day in court. And so, they persevered.

And by signing this today, Mr. President, you will make a huge difference in the lives of so many women, girls, boys going forward. And I want to thank you for that and, again, thank the survivors who are here because they’re the ones who led this fight.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s true. That’s so true.

Dick?

SENATOR BLUMENTHAL: I want to thank my partner, Rob Portman. It was really a partnership in the Senate, and the bipartisanship on this issue really can provide a model for the country of how we can work together and do anything if we are together.

And I just want to add my thanks to the survivors. I’ve been working on this issue for more than a decade. And they said it literally couldn’t be done because we couldn’t overcome the power and the wealth of the folks who had a vested interest in that statute that was protecting the online traffickers. But with your help, your courage, your strength, we did it. Thank you.

MAJORITY LEADER MCCARTHY: Mr. President, it was Ann and Mimi who put this bill together to make it get to your desk, too.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Well, say something. (Laughter.)

REPRESENTATIVE WALTERS: First of all, thank you to all the survivors. You have a lot of courage. It’s difficult to come forward, and we couldn’t have done this without you.

I come from Orange County, California, and last year there was a sex trafficking ring that was uncovered. As you said, didn’t know it could happen in my backyard, and it is everywhere. And I became much more involved once I found out what had happened. So I am so honored to be here today. I’m so glad that we’re now going to hold those accountable who are hurting people.

THE PRESIDENT: Really great work. We appreciate it.

REPRESENTATIVE WAGNER: H.R. 1865, Mr. President, FOSTA.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s right.

REPRESENTATIVE WAGNER: We are so excited. And this is landmark legislation that is truly, as the Leader said, going to save lives, and it already is. I received a text message from the Manhattan DA last night that said we have already shut down 87 percent — 87 percent — of the online sex trafficking ads out there. And we’re after the remaining 13 percent.

It’s amazing what this is going to do to give prosecutors, the Department of Justice, state and local district attorneys the ability to go after and shut down these websites and put people behind bars, give victims the justice they deserve, and to actually go to the heart of the Communications Decency Act and make sure that the courts know, that the public knows, that survivors know that it was never Congress’s intention, through CDA, to make a red-light district out of the Internet. If it’s a crime offline, it’s a crime online. And we are grateful to your leadership, Mr. President, and to Ivanka who has really led the charge in helping us bring this together.

THE PRESIDENT: Great job. Thank you very much. And I didn’t know you were going to be here. You have to say — you have been so good to us. (Laughter.) I didn’t know she was going to be here. Now I’m happy.

REPRESENTATIVE FOX: Well, I just want to say, Mr. President, that we have the Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the jurisdiction of the Education Workforce Committee, and we want to highlight that too. Just as Congresswoman Wagner has talked about what’s been happening, there is a resource there of the federal government, and we want people to go to that and to pay attention to it and use the center when necessary.

But hopefully, of course, we’d like to see that be able to go away because we wouldn’t have exploited children.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. That would be nice.

REPRESENTATIVE FOX: Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.

MAZZIO: So, Mr. President, we have a survivor. This is M.A. She was the first person to sue Backpage in 2010 and she elbowed me and would like to say something.

REPRESENTATIVE WAGNER: From Ferguson, Missouri.

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely.

M.A.: I am not a survivor. I am M.A. It’s about damn time. (Laughter and applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Bill, say something?

SCHUETTE: The credit goes to the survivors, Mr. President. Because of the leadership in Congress, and your signature, as Attorney General of Michigan, it will give me and others attorneys general and county prosecutors the ability to shut down these bad actors, the Craigslist, the Backpage. And so this is a monumental day. Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Bill. Thank you.

SCHUETTE: My pleasure. You bet.

THE PRESIDENT: I’d love to have you say something.

REPRESENTATIVE WAGNER: Yvonne, please. She lost her daughter, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: I know that, and I heard, and it’s very special. And we’d love to have to you say a few words.

AMBROSE: I don’t want to cry in front of you, Mr. President. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

AMBROSE: This is so important to all of us, and I thank you, Mr. President, so much for signing this bill into law. It means so much to our family. To lose your child who has been trafficked, which is modern-day slavery in our country, and to get that call on Christmas Eve that your one daughter, your oldest child has been brutally murdered because she said, “no”, because she did not want to be a part of this, is the worst thing.

Unfortunately, my daughter was not the first person whom this has happened to. And thanks to you and everyone here, hopefully there won’t be many more after her that have to endure this pain. The pain that has brought on my family is unimaginable.

So I thank you, Mr. President. I thank you all to the survivors and my husband for everything that you guys have done.

THE PRESIDENT: How old was your daughter?

AMBROSE: She was 16.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, boy. We’re with you 1000 percent, okay?

AMBROSE: Thank you so much.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Very brave to be here.

AMBROSE: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Would anybody want to say anything? Anybody else? Anybody? Please.

SVENGARDE: Mr. President, I’d just like to thank you on behalf of my family as well. My daughter was trafficked at the age of 15. And by signing this, like Yvonne said, hopefully there won’t be too many more.

And I would like to thank all the representatives in the bipartisan leadership that it took to get this across the finish line and onto your desk.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. They really worked hard. Thank you. This was a tough one, but it was something that we got done. And it shouldn’t have been tough.

REPRESENTATIVE WAGNER: Right. That’s right.

THE PRESIDENT: It’s even tough politically, if you can believe that. But we got it done. Right, Kevin?

MAJORITY LEADER MCCARTHY: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: So this is in honor of your daughter, okay? This is very important. I think we may have to give you the pen. (Laughter.)

AMBROSE: Thank you, Mr. President.

(The bill is signed.)

AMBROSE: Thank you. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I want to thank everybody. This is my great honor. I will say, the political people around the desk, every one of them — Democrat and Republican — have worked very hard. And it was surprisingly difficult. You would think it would be easy, but it was much more difficult than any of us would have assumed because people have reasons. But I personally don’t understand those reasons. This should not have been as hard and it shouldn’t have taken as long. It’s been many years in the making.

So on behalf of everybody, and just in honor of your daughter and all of the folks behind me, I want to thank you and I want to really congratulate you. This is a great piece of legislation. It’s going to make a tremendous difference.

AMBROSE: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.

AMBROSE: Thank you so much, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: And we have some extra pens, all right? (Laughter and applause.) Thank you all very much everybody.

END

Apr 12 2018

Former Key Defense Intelligence Agency Official Resurfaces in AG Jeff Sessions Top Staff…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 11, 2018 by

Do not get so caught up watching the granules moving at our feet that we forget to look up and notice the landscape is shifting….

A key DIA official from within the White House National Security Council has resurfaced today as reports show Ezra Cohen-Watnick has been hired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to assist on issues surrounding counterintelligence and counterterrorism.

WASHINGTON — A former American intelligence official who came under intense scrutiny during a stint at the White House last year is returning to government as the national security adviser to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to a person familiar with the decision.

The official, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, will play an important role at the Justice Department, advising Mr. Sessions on counterintelligence and counterterrorism.  (NYT Link)

Before getting to the big picture of Cohen-Watnick, let’s look at a few recent granules which at first might seem disconnected – but they are not.

♦U.S. Attorney John Lausch was brought on by AG Jeff Sessions to coordinate investigative document releases to congressional oversight.  Specifically, Lausch has been assigned as the point of contact for discussion with congress. This move keeps Federal DOJ Prosecutor John Huber (IG Horowitz’s investigative partner) away from political engagement, and allows Huber to continue culling through potentially criminal evidence without political concerns.

Earlier today Lausch was asked about the two-page “electronic communication” (EC) letter that initiated the 2016 FBI Counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump and his campaign officials.  The “EC” relates to the origin of the surveillance conducted by the corrupt DOJ-NSD and FBI officials; and ties directly to the abuse of FISA(702((16)(17) search abuses – and later to the issues of a fraudulent, potentially criminally misrepresented, FISA Title-1 surveillance application by those same officials.

In responding to the questioning, Attorney Lausch stated the EC document, and as a consequence the FISA documents, are not under his authority for review and release.  So the DOJ has carved out the FISA and EC issues from the investigative releases to congress.

This distinction is important.

♦Remember, previously the Eastern District of Virginia attorney, Dana Boente, was identified as being a problem for the ‘small group’ of co-conspirators during their activity. Following the firing of AAG Sally Yates, April 2017, Boente was put in charge of the DOJ National Security Division.  Acting Attorney General Boente granted IG Horowitz previously denied access to oversight within the DOJ-NSD.  After Jeff Sessions confirmation Boente remained in charge of the DOJ-NSD.

Near the end of 2017 Dana Boente left Main Justice and then resurfaced late in January 2018 when FBI chief legal counsel James Baker was outlined as being a key participant in the 2015, 2016, 2017 anti-trump operation.  Baker was removed from all responsibilities  and replaced with Boente.  Mr. Boente remains the current chief legal counsel of the FBI serving under Christopher Wray.

♦The Head of the FBI Counterintelligence Unit is E.W. “Bill” Priestap.  In ’15, ’16, and 2017 Priestap was Peter Strzok’s boss.  Text messages between Andrew McCabe’s former office lawyer, Lisa Page, and FBI Agent Peter Strzok, during the DOJ/FBI operations against candidate Trump, showed multiple examples of the ‘small group’ working around Priestap.

FBI Agent Peter Strzok was even promoted to #2 without Priestap’s prior knowledge.

On March 20th, 2017, when FBI Director James Comey was asked by congress why he did not inform oversight -as required- about the 2016 counterintelligence operation against candidate Trump, James Comey stated the decision not to inform congress was recommended by his FBI Director of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap.

There is also evidence from Priestap’s statements to investigative officials that contradicts FBI, DOJ-NSD and intelligence community leadership, McCabe, Comey, Brennan (CIA) and Clapper (ODNI); in that the source documents (Clinton/Steele Dossier) for the October 2016 FISA surveillance application were not vetted at the time they were used.

On January 30th, 2018, after Chairman Nunes personally took FBI Director Christopher Wray to view his HPSCI “FISA Memo”, and prior to the House Intel Committee vote to release the memo the next evening, FBI Director Christopher Wray sent a Main Justice official and a “counterintelligence official” to view the content. According to Catherine Herridge reporting: those officials: “could not point to any factual inaccuracies.”

Mr. Bill Priestap, has given statements to ongoing FBI investigators and remains the head of FBI Counterintelligence today.  [Absolutely no change in status, role or responsibility]

♦Responding to the initial results of an NSA FISA audit – on April 28th, 2016, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers shut down the DOJ-NSD and FBI access to the NSA database based on 702(16) “about” search inquiries.  When the full audit was completed, October 2016, Admiral Rogers informed the FISC court of serious FISA search violations, breaches, extraction of raw intelligence information and misrepresentations by FBI and DOJ officials to the FISA court.

(source link)

In April 2017, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, declassified and released a substantive portion of the 99-page response from the FISA court. The FISC reviewed the DOJ-NSD and FBI FISA misrepresentations and the NSA compliance audit reports provided by NSA Director dmiral Mike Rogers.

On June 7th, 2017, Admiral Mike Rogers informed congress the NSA deleted all of the results of those unlawful FISA(702) searches, but also stated he directed “all audit logs of the activity to be preserved/retained”.  (ie. the NSA preserved the evidence of conduct)

♦Early April this month: (Via The Hill) […] Attorney General Jeff Sessions quietly tapped Prosecutor John Huber — apparently last fall — to work in tandem with the Justice Department’s inspector general to determine whether allegations of abuse at the FBI and the Justice Department merit investigation. […]  The Justice Department has declined to comment on his budget or what Sessions meant when he said that Huber is working “in cooperation” with Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Horowitz’s office also declined to comment.

♦Back to Today’s News – The IG Horowitz and Prosecutor Huber investigation is ongoing; the FBI has Dana Boente as chief legal counsel; Bill Priestap remains in place as head of Counterintelligence; and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions has added former DIA official Ezra Cohen-Watnick to “advise Mr. Sessions on counterintelligence” matters.

2017: […] “Washington got its first real look at Cohen-Watnick when he was identified as one of two White House sources who provided House Intelligence chairman Devin Nunes with evidence that former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the “unmasking” of the names of Trump associates in intelligence documents.” (Atlantic – link)

I think everyone can see how each of these moves and shifts relates to the larger matters at hand.  It is obvious Mr. Cohen-Watnick is part of the dynamic to capture all those who participated in the scheme to destroy the Trump presidency.

You can call it a soft-coup, or you can call it politicization of the DOJ and FBI, but the end result is the same – the intentional effort to manipulate, influence, and ultimately subvert an election for the presidency of the United States.  ~SD

Apr 12 2018

Access Granted – DOJ Gives Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy and HPSCI Leadership Access To Intelligence Origination Documents…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 11, 2018 by

Last night House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes threatened to impeach FBI Director Christopher Wray and Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, if not granted access to review the two-page intelligence community origination document that kicked-off the 2016 FBI counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump.

Today Rosenstein and Wray allowed Chairman Nunes and Trey Gowdy to review the origination document, also known as the “electronic communication” (EC).  House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes issued the following statement today:

“After numerous unfulfilled requests for an Electronic Communication (EC) related to the opening of the FBI’s Russia counterintelligence probe, Chairman Trey Gowdy and I met this afternoon with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. During the meeting, we were finally given access to a version of the EC that contained the information necessary to advance the Committee’s ongoing investigation of the Department of Justice and FBI. Although the subpoenas issued by this Committee in August 2017 remain in effect, I’d like to thank Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein for his cooperation today.”   (link)

The two-page electronic communication (EC) is essentially the intelligence report from CIA Director John Brennan, that started the FBI Counterintelligence Operation against the campaign of Donald Trump.

From The Hill: […] According to a Justice Department official, the remaining redactions in the document are “narrowly tailored to protect the name of a foreign country and the name of a foreign agent.” Specifics have been replaced with identifiers like “foreign official” and “foreign government,” the official said.

“These words must remain redacted after determining that revealing the words could harm the national security of the American people by undermining the trust we have with this foreign nation,” the official continued, adding that they appear “only a limited number of times, and do no obstruct the underlying meaning of the document.” (link)

However, thanks to leaks from John Brennan (CIA) and James Clapper (ODNI) to the New York Times we already know the ridiculous content of the redactions.  The “foreign nation” was Australia, and the “foreign agent” was Alexander Downer.

WASHINGTON — During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.

About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.

Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role.

The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the F.B.I. to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Trump’s associates conspired.

If Mr. Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. and is now a cooperating witness, was the improbable match that set off a blaze that has consumed the first year of the Trump administration, his saga is also a tale of the Trump campaign in miniature. He was brash, boastful and underqualified, yet he exceeded expectations. And, like the campaign itself, he proved to be a tantalizing target for a Russian influence operation.

The information that Mr. Papadopoulos gave to the Australians answers one of the lingering mysteries of the past year: What so alarmed American officials to provoke the F.B.I. to open a counterintelligence investigationinto the Trump campaign months before the presidential election?

It was not, as Mr. Trump and other politicians have alleged, a dossier compiled by a former British spy hired by a rival campaign. Instead, it was firsthand information from one of America’s closest intelligence allies.  (link)

The New York Times leak was specifically structured around the CIA “electronic communication”.  However, the story within the origination document is abject nonsense.

♦If Papadopoulos having a conversation in a London bar in May 2016 was the origination of the FBI counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign. Then why did the FBI wait until January 15th 2017 to talk to Papadopoulos for the first time?

♦Further, if a Papadopolous conversation in May 2016 was the origin, the source material, of the FBI counterintelligence operation, then why was the FBI denied a FISA application in June/July 2016?

The far more realistic review says George Papadopoulos talking in May 2016, is likely about this open and public information from April 2016 about Guccifer hacking Hillary Clinton email [LINK].

The intelligence community “EC” was an excuse to start an FBI counterintelligence operation against the candidacy of Donald Trump. The true intent of the counterintel-op was to provide a cover-story for the DOJand FBI “small group” political opposition research and surveillance that was already ongoing.

We’ve previously debunked this Origination Story HERE

 

Apr 12 2018

U.S. Attorney John Lausch Discusses DOJ Responsive Document Release…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 11, 2018 by

U.S. Attorney John Lausch appears on Fox and Friends morning show to discuss the ongoing issue of releasing documents to congress yet retain integrity of potential criminal evidence that may be used in future proceedings.

Lausch notes the FBI two-page document that initiated the 2016 FBI counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump is not under his authority to release.

Apr 12 2018

Senator Rand Paul Confirms Peter Strzok and Lisa Page Retain FBI Top Secret Security Clearances…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 11, 2018 by

During an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner today U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed a response letter he received from FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Senator Paul inquired with the FBI Director about whether reassigned FBI Agent Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI Attorney Lisa Page still retained their Top Secret FBI clearances.

According to Senator Paul, the FBI director would not respond to specific agent inquiry, however, Wray did affirm that all existing FBI officials retain Top Secret clearances.

In essence, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, despite being removed from investigative authority over their role in the political efforts to target President Trump, retain employment within the DOJ/FBI apparatus in an unknown capacity and thereby their clearances.

This information by Rand Paul dovetails into an increasingly obvious storyline where Lisa Page and Peter Strzok remain employed because they are cooperating with the internal investigation by Inspector General Michael Horowitz and parallel federal prosecutor John Huber.

Previously we identified Strzok and Page as part of a group of five key FBI and DOJ officials who were at the center of the corrupt operations and remain inside the organization.

In addition to Page and Strzok, former FBI chief legal counsel James Baker and former DOJ-NSD Deputy Bruce Ohr have been removed from their roles yet still remain inside the FBI and DOJ respectively. Those four are joined by the FBI Asst. Director in charge of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap.  However, despite Priestap’s centrality to the 2015/2016 corrupt FBI activity -including the Trump operation- Priestap remains untouched.

After FBI Asst Director Andrew McCabe was fired the subsequent information revealed what happened inside the group.  McCabe lied to FBI and IG investigators about his coordinating leaks to media. McCabe’s story conflicted with the account of his office attorney, Lisa Page.  {Go Deep}

To validate the truthfulness of her position Lisa Page provided FBI investigators with access to her text messages which showed conversations about McCabe directing leaks by Page and FBI communications Director Michael Kortan.  After the Page messages confirmed her version of the events; eventually McCabe admitted to misleading investigators.

Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, James Baker and Bruce Ohr have all been removed from responsibilities within the DOJ and FBI yet all still remain inside the organization.  FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap, who was Peter Strzok’s’ boss throughout the corrupt group activity, remains in his role today.

Apr 11 2018

Guns, Knives, Facebook and Free Speech


Apr 11 2018

Devin Nunes Delivers 24 Hour Ultimatum: Wray and Rosenstein Deliver EC Origination Documents or Impeachment Vote…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 10, 2018 by

Giddy up…  HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes says either FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein give him the “electronic communication” (EC) documents (initiated the counterintelligence operation against candidate Trump in July 2016) or congress will hold an impeachment vote.

FBI Director Wray and DOJ Deputy Rosenstein have until tomorrow night.

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*Important Note* The person would know everything there is about this July 2016 EC is FBI Director of Counterintelligence Bill Priestap.

Apr 11 2018

Representative Matt Gaetz is Exactly Right – BIG PICTURE: DOJ Covering FISA Abuse…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 10, 2018 by

Representative Matt Gaetz sent out a tweet today that is absolutely accurate.  You can call it a soft-coup, or you can call it politicization of the DOJ and FBI, but the end result is the same – the intentional effort to manipulate, influence, and ultimately subvert an election for the presidency of the United States…. and that’s what the DOJ is trying to hide.

If you peel the skin off the onion, and get down to the substantive core issue that represents the biggest risk to the entire collective group who worked to subvert the 2016 presidential election, you get to the FISA-702(16)(17) and Title-1 surveillance abuse that was carried out by the Obama Intelligence Community, DOJ-NSD and the FBI.

The actions taken by ‘inside’ government officials and ‘outside’ ideological cohorts is exactly what all of their collective “resistance” activity is about.  Attacking the Office of the Presidency is a strategy to keep sunlight from their previous action.

When we absorb the full scope and scale of the political effort from inside and outside government, then we understand everything happening.  Additionally, I would strongly suggest this is also where Attorney General Sessions is going wrong.

To understand the dynamic it becomes important to separate the FISA/FISC issues from the other issues within the IG Horowitz and Prosecutor Huber investigations.

Inspector General Horowitz, and parallel prosecutor John Huber are deep inside investigations into:

•Clinton email, manipulated DOJ/FBI investigations with predetermined outcomes; •unlawful and coordinated media leaks by DOJ/FBI officials; •false testimony by DOJ/FBI officials to congress and under oath to the IG; •manipulated and potentially falsified FBI 302 investigative reports; •Willful corruption by Asst Director Andrew McCabe and Director James Comey, etc…. and all the myriad of attached scandals.

However, where Attorney General Jeff Sessions is allowing a big mistake is within the FISA-702(16)(17) issues and the fraudulent FISA Title-1 Application used against U.S. person Carter Page.  The FISA issues need to be culled from the politicization issues within the FBI and DOJ-NSD and handled on their own.

There’s no reason to wait on releasing information already outlined in the 99 page opinion of FISA Court Judge Rosemary Collyer which documents the FBI and DOJ abuse:

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/349542716/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-72P5FzpI44KMOuOPZrt1

Additionally, there is no valid reason to keep the FISA Title-1 application used against Carter Page secret.  The DOJ (Jeff Sessions) can declassify this stuff immediately.

The time for handkerchiefs and perfumed manners is over.  This evidence exists in bold typeface regardless of opinion of it.  Release the evidence.  If the content of these documents leads to discoveries of a DOJ and FBI plot to subvert the constitution, then so be it…. lets get down to brass tacks.

If the outcome leads to a need for a specific set of investigations and possible prosecutions, then do it.  Carve out the FISA scandal. None of the FISA issues need to impact the ongoing work of IG Horowitz and Prosecutor Huber who can continue moving forward on all the investigative matters surrounding the internal politicization outcomes of the FBI and DOJ.

Carve out the FISA specifics, put sunlight upon the documents and let’s roll.

Here’s the full three-part video series: Why – How – Who?

“WHY” – The first video highlights the historic backdrop of DOJ/FBI FISA court abuses:

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“HOW” – The second video highlights the specific example of how the DOJ and FBI used false information to the FISA Court to secure a fraudulent ‘Title-1’ surveillance warrant:

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“WHO” – The third video highlights who the primary players were within the scheme:

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Apr 11 2018

Mueller – the Secret Agent of the Deep State?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law

Re-Posted Apr 11, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

Robert Mueller’s team are the one who destroyed Arthur Anderson. When the firm finally got to the Supreme Court, they overruled Mueller’s team for what they had done was unconstitutional. Well, they are back at it. This time they are once again acting unconstitutionally and destroying the Attorney-Client Privilege. They think they are slick and going after Trump’s lawyer for paying a hooker to keep quiet. What they are really trying to do is see if Trump paid the $130,000 payoff. This is clearly a vendetta for this has nothing to do with Russia preventing their chosen leader Hillary from ruling the world.

Mueller is part of the Deep State and he is now running lose with the power to destroy the country going far beyond the intended investigation. This is who they operate in the Department of Just Us. If they cannot prove a case against someone for what they thought they did, then comes phase two – prosecute them on anything else they can find. The mindset is that nobody is innocent – they just lack the evidence to prove they were right all along. So they then prosecute people for anything else they can find.

In the United States, the rule of law is one of the worst in the world despite the propaganda they fill children’s head with equal protection and justice for all. There are only privileges against testifying that are limited to your clergy–penitent privilege, spouse, and your lawyer. They routinely will torture your family and threaten your children with contempt imprisonment if they refuse to testify against a parent or a parent against their own child. The US government comes before God and family. There are no ethics or morality when you look into the eyes of a prosecutor like Muller. They are just inhuman people who see themselves as God and jury.

If you are divorced, then there is no longer a spouse privilege.  The Supreme Court refused to take a case in 2015 where a priest could be forced to testify against someone confessing their sins. The Louisiana Supreme Court refused to recognize any clergy–penitent privilege. The hatred of religion among many Democrats was exposed in the email leaks during the campaign. Hillary’s staff said Catholics are “severely backwards” and further demeaned them saying they don’t know “what the hell they’re talking about.”Then you have Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi who recently said: “They pray in church on Sunday and then prey on people the rest of the week.”

It is no wonder why Mueller is doing what he is doing. Mueller wanted to be a prosecutor when he left law school. He was rejected and joined the San Francisco firm of Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro out of law school. He later became an assistant US Attorney (prosecutor). Mueller joined the DOJ in 1989 and spearheaded the prosecution of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, which many saw as a cover-up since Noriega was working with drugs and the CIA. Then Mueller took charge of the DOJ’s criminal division in 1990, where he oversaw the Lockerbie bombing case and formed the agency’s first cyber-dedicated unit. He then returned to private practice in 1993 as a partner at Hale and Dorr to make some serious money. After lining his pockets based on influence, which is why such firms hire former prosecutors. Mueller lover prosecuting people. Perhaps he gets a rush from going after people. He then returned to the DOJ taking on a lower-level job in the homicide division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in 1995. He quickly advanced to the chief of homicide and then move to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California from 1998 to early 2001. He then took the position of deputy attorney general for George Bush. That is when he worked hand-in-hand with Ashcroft and denied prosecutors any credit for their work unless someone goes to jail.

What he has done with Trump’s lawyer is no different from what the Louisiana Supreme Court did commanding a priest must reveal what people say in confession. They can already turn parents against children or the other way around and a divorce eliminates any privilege. No doubt, they will even use separation agreements for that one as well. So what is left? It is starting to look like you cannot talk to anyone about anything and you better just pray silently in the backyard. There is nothing left with any respect whatsoever. This is the true definition of absolute tyranny. Mueller protected the Deep State in the Noriega case. It looks like he is the main secret agent of the Deep State in all-out war against the Trump Administration.

Apr 10 2018

U.S. Attorney John Lausch Discusses His Role in Document Production…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 10, 2018 by

The motives behind this interview are transparent.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions is attempting to push back against growing opinion he has lost control of the DOJ, and more specifically the rogue elements within it.

Functionally, and by sheer weight of visible outcomes, there are influential embeds within the apparatus of the DOJ continuing their effort to undermine the effort of the President.

Amid the AG effort to restore higher principles and standards, ie. removing the politicization, the usurping Main Justice agents are taking advantage.  The ‘small group’ is  seemingly running amok – unchecked in their objective to undermine the office of the President; and operating independently, brazenly, regardless of DOJ leadership.

In hindsight this appears to have been the plan of the ‘small group’ all along.  Hiding behind color of law and the Mueller investigation as a cover and excuse to continue the ideological efforts of “The Resistance.”   AG Sessions has not been able to stop, stall or disrupt their ongoing activity.  Team Mueller is simply better than Team Sessions, and they operate as an insurgency.  Sessions, is now marginalized and getting his ass kicked by his own department.  There is a transparent lack of urgency/ability to correct this.

The Attorney General simply appears weak, ineffective and inept.

Jeff Sessions has become a caricature.  Throwing gasoline on the fire, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has targeted the personal attorney of the President.

The patient support AG Sessions held in the court of public opinion has now evaporated.  The lack of a sense of urgency from his office only generates super-fuel for the feeble-Sessions narrative as his defenders are ridiculed.

To counter the collapse, AG Sessions is sending out DOJ representatives in an attempt to deliver a message of action.  DOJ spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores yesterday and U.S. Attorney John Lausch today.

Fox News Bret Baier interviews federal prosecutor John Lausch who is in charge of getting sensitive Justice Department documents to lawmakers investigating alleged FBI and DOJ bias.

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(Link)

Did you get that part?

EMPHASIS: “documents include grand jury material, the disclosure of which is prohibited by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), classified information, and information about unrelated and ongoing investigations that must be redacted in order to preserve the integrity of other investigations and to avoid the *appearance of political influence* in criminal prosecutions.”

A federal prosecutor should not be meeting with congress to discuss the substance or strategy of any ongoing prosecutions. The DOJ (AG Sessions) does not want John Huber in the position of talking to congress.

Putting another, unrelated US Attorney in charge of the submissions to congress makes sense. Presumably, Lausch has been briefed by Sessions as to the sort of material he should withhold or redact, but keeping Huber away from congress makes sense. Heck, it’s critical.

Likely U.S. Attorney John Huber has been given the green light to move forward with prosecutions. This is a unique situation, and the information requested by Goodlatte and Nunes creates a need to produce documents (oversight), and also distance prosecutor Huber from the politics.

The appointment of John Lausch is an indicator the DOJ is now moving more in step with the expectations of the President; and the demands for prudent enforcement of federal criminal law.

The only reason to assign a second US Attorney to the document production side of this is to create a point of contact for congress to explain why certain redactions will be required on a forward basis.

Congress has a right to conduct oversight, as has been underscored by many of House committee leaders in recent weeks. However, this announcement will freak out the potential criminal targets of this investigation. Now they know it’s serious, and DOJ is removing politics.

Try to THINK without EMOTION. The only reason for the additional congressional contact is that prosecutor Huber (& others) are involved in much more than a “review” of the IG report. Of course, this move lines-up with what has been obvious for many months now.

Just the sheer process of an ordinarily complex Office of Inspector General report with the inherent investigative fact-audit, draft-report review, reference fact-check, preliminary draft vetting, and subsequent final draft review and audit is exhaustive in itself.

Now imagine overlaying that report process atop each of the topics behind millions of pages of gathered evidence, thousands of pages of testimony and witness statements, on multiple investigative issues – all surrounding the FBI and DOJ-NSD conduct. Each of these aspects is an investigation unto itself:

•Clinton email, manipulated investigations with predetermined outcomes; •unlawful and coordinated media leaks; •false testimony to FBI, congress and under oath to IG; •manipulated FBI 302 reports; •Willful corruption by AD-Andrew McCabe, D-Comey etc.. and if that’s not complex enough to report about…. overlay the •issues with the FISA court; •false presentations; •source material (Steele Dossier); and well, see the picture…. this is massive and complex.

The reason to assign a second US Attorney John Lausch to the document production is to create a point of contact for congress, and protect prosecutor Huber moving forward. Certain criminal evidence redactions will be required on a forward basis.