A few hours ago the DOJ released five memos to congress from the files of fired FBI Director James Comey.  The total number of memos and emails is uncertain, presumably seven, however the DOJ released five (full pdf below).

Several of the emails and memos are sent to the Former FBI chief legal counsel James Baker (now a cooperating witness with IG Horowitz and Federal Prosecutor Huber); and/or Comey’s chief-of-staff James Rybicki (he resigned after the Page/Strzok texts surfaced).   The publicly released versions contain redactions due to their classified nature:

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/376855452/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-OzRxMFpl7rNk07sKZZlv

Fired FBI Director James Comey appears on CNN for an interview with Jake Tapper and states [@03:20] he doesn’t know how many memos he may have written? …What?

We can see the growing legal risk to James Comey by the severity of his professional obfuscation.  Despite flooding the media with interviews the overall Comey book tour is a significant narrative fail; he will find few defenders during an indictment.

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Institutional media quickly noted the public opinion shift on Comey as the American people’s BS-meter pegged Comey as condescending and self-interested.  Politically democrats are not attempting to utilize Comey because he’s a known toxic commodity. Comey is left drowning in his own sanctimony, and his lack of self-awareness is pathetic.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani previously served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  Mr. Giuliani told the Washington Post:

“I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,” Giuliani said in an interview.

Guiliani joining team to negotiate exit of Special Counsel Robert Mueller is confirmation of earlier analysis on Mueller “referee” intent. The investigative and indictment balance was always between Hillary Clinton allies and President Donald Trump.

Robert Mueller was recruited by Clinton and Washington DC allies and those within the small group; and was/is generally facilitating the investigation of Trump as leverage.

If you look at Robert Mueller from the position of trying to protect his cherished Deep State institutions from horrible Trump swamp draining…. things begin to take a more accurate context. The only way for Mueller to protect his Swamp Allies and Institutions, was to generate leverage against Trump.

Having established only political leverage, nothing factually unlawful or illegal, the Mueller investigation begins to dry up. Leverage diminishes.

Without direct leverage against President Trump, Team Mueller moved to position leverage against those Trump cares about… that’s a secondary approach; but the secondary leverage approach is fraught with public noting Mueller is on a “witch hunt”… the investigation into outlying Trump allies becomes transparent in motive. Support for Mueller erodes amid independent-minded people.

Enter Rudy Giuliani, a political and legal Subject Matter Expert – with direct knowledge of evidence held by NYPD and NY FBI field office of gross criminal conduct by Hillary Clinton. (Weiner Laptop etc) Buried by SDNY Clinton Allies.

With Special Counsel Mueller having exhausted most of his investigative leverage, Giuliani enters to negotiate Mueller’s exit and discuss his team’s path of retreat and image face-saving.

The discussion from Mueller’s perspective will not center around Trump, but rather center around how much risk to Hillary Clinton, and by extension political allies within FBI and DOJ – including Obama White House, Mueller will permit.

Mueller will be looking to protect the interests of Obama, Clinton, Lynch, Comey, Brennan, Clapper, etc. and negotiating degrees of risk to the institutions each represents. This is the political horsetrading phase. The leverage cards held by each participant are laid on the table for discussion. Low leverage officials will be sacrificed by Mueller to protect those holding more leverage.

Giuliani is a well qualified person to present the Trump administration position within these negotiations. They are essentially negotiating who faces criminal prosecution and who doesn’t.

Ultimately protecting Obama and Clinton will be of higher importance to Mueller. If Mueller doesn’t protect Clinton, he knows her team will destroy everyone if she goes down. That scorched earth approach is a historic part of Team Clinton’s leverage. The stronger the evidence is against Clinton the more people Mueller will have to give up to protect her. The stronger the evidence against the corrupt institutions, the bigger the officials Mueller will have to sacrifice to save them.

Negotiating all this with Robert Mueller will likely be Rudy Giuliani’s primary job.

Likely the general public will never know the ultimate deal decisions. We will only be able to gauge the scale of corruption by the officials Mueller agrees to sacrifice.

Led by Representative Ron DeSantis congress has sent a criminal referral letter (full pdf below) to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Federal Prosecutor John Huber.

The identified targets of the referral include: •former FBI Director James Comey; •former Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe; •former Attorney General Loretta Lynch; •former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; •current FBI Agent Peter Strzok; and •current DOJ Attorney Lisa Page (former Special Counsel to Andrew McCabe).

The identified reasoning for each of the referrals is outlined in the letter below.  However, the risk to James Comey is not simply contained within the letter, but also contained within the non-discussed fact that FBI chief-legal-counsel James Baker is a cooperating witness for IG Horowitz and Huber.

One of the lesser discussed aspects to the ongoing investigative overview is how a few key people, with direct and specific knowledge of the events that took place within the FBI and DOJ activity, remain inside the institutions as they are being investigated.

Those key DOJ and FBI officials have been removed from their position, yet remain inside with no identified or explained responsibility.

Peter Strzok (FBI), Lisa Page (DOJ/FBI), Bruce Ohr (DOJ) and James Baker (FBI) are still employed. Insofar as they are within the DOJ/FBI system it’s more than highly likely they are being retained for their cooperation in exchange for some form of immunity.

Other identified co-conspirators left their positions as soon as the IG discoveries began hitting the headlines in December ’17, and January ’18.

Those who quit include, but not limited to:  James Comey’s chief-of-staff, James Rybicki (resigned); FBI Director of Communications Michael Kortan (resigned); DOJ-NSD Asst Attorney David Laufman (resigned).  Each of those officials was named and outlined within the Page/Strzok text messages as a key participant, and quit as soon as the scope of the internal Inspection Division (INSD) investigative material was identified by media.

Prior to the IG/INSD release, other resignations were earlier: DOJ-NSD head Mary McCord (April ’17) and DOJ-NSD head John Carlin (Oct 16).

Dana Boente, the current FBI chief legal counsel was inside Main Justice and specifically inside the DOJ-NSD apparatus the entire time the 2015, 2016 and 2017 political schemes were happening.  Therefore Boente has the full scope of understanding and dirt on Sally Yates, John Carlin, Mary McCord et al.  Boente’s understanding obviously bolstered by DOJ-NSD Deputy Attorney Bruce Ohr, who, not coincidentally, is also removed from position but still remains employed.

Mr. Boente’s understanding of the DOJ-NSD activity, and the sentiment of the “small group” toward him, is represented by the actions they all took to try and diminish Boente during the transitional phase between the Obama and Trump administrations.

However, regarding the current congressional criminal referral of James Comey, the key element of risk is FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker.  Baker was a central figure connecting the activity of both Comey and McCabe to the officials underneath that were carrying out the agenda.

To repeat, James Baker was removed from his responsibilities (replaced by Boente) but he remains employed in some function within the FBI.  It’s almost a guarantee Baker is only there because he’s cooperating in exchange for a “deal” of some form.

Lastly, the issue of James Comey’s memos is a trending item, but there’s an angle being missed by most.  James Comey and Andrew McCabe both leaked to the media.

The self-interested leaking by Andrew McCabe clearly outlined in the recent IG report, originates with contradictory statements from McCabe’s appointed lawyer at the time, Lisa Page.

The self-interested leaking by James Comey about his “loyalty” conversation with President Trump will likely surface with statements from Comey’s chief legal counsel, James Baker.  There’s a clear parallel, and James Baker is still inside the FBI (doing something).

Here’s the referral:

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/376738736/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-FFZ6Rq14NwApiGZkM0Q6

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U.S. Attorney John Lausch had previously explained his specific role is to coordinate document production from the DOJ-OIG with specific focus on evidence documents that pertain to the “original” Horowitz investigation path.  That only includes documents pertaining to the politicization of the DOJ/FBI relating to the Clinton investigation.

U.S. Prosecutor John Huber is paralleling IG Horowitz on all investigative findings that fall into potentially criminal conduct.  The evidence being culled into the Huber files are not going to congress because they are potentially evidence in ongoing criminal cases.  The Huber evidence contains grand jury material and evidence of likely criminal conduct.

Yesterday, in response to congressional committee demand by Chairman Goodlatte (Judiciary), Chairman Nunes (Intel) and Chairman Gowdy (Oversight), for the memos written by James Comey, some of which were leaked to media, Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has asked for additional time for DOJ review.

According to Gregg Re:

“Department officials are consulting with the relevant parties … one or more of the memos may relate to an ongoing investigation, may contained classified information, and may report confidential Presidential communications, so we have a legal duty to evaluate the consequences of providing access to them,” he wrote. (link)

There is some speculation Rosenstein’s notation of memos relating “to an ongoing investigation” would indicate James Comey’s legal risk might be: (1) part of the discussion; and (2) part of the criminal evidence in the larger review by John Huber.

In January, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Rod Rosenstein inquiring whether James Comey had improperly leaked classified memos to his friend Daniel Richman.

“According to press reports, Professor Daniel Richman of Columbia Law School stated that Mr. Comey provided him four of the seven memoranda and encouraged him to “detail [Comey’s] memos to the press,’” Grassley wrote.

“If it’s true that Professor Richman had four of the seven memos, then in light of the fact that four of the seven memos the Committee reviewed are classified, it would appear that at least one memo the former FBI director gave Professor Richman contained classified information,” the letter continued.

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/376672425/content?start_page=1&view_mode=&access_key=key-y7Q0ysQQ8zPlmUilVwjp

A month after Senator Grassley requested the information from Rod Rosenstein about which memo’s James Comey sent to his friend Professor Richman, a FISA judge blocked the release of those memos to the public. {Reminder Here}

I still have the nagging unanswered question: How was Richman the source for the May 11th, 2017, New York Times “loyalty story”, if Daniel Richman didn’t have the Comey memos until May 16th?

So, you see…. there might be a very good reason for Prosecutor Huber to want to keep those Comey memos as “criminal evidence.”  One reason is the leaking of classified information by Comey; another is the conflict with Richman leaking a story he did not initially have the memo to support.

PS.  Bill Priestap is working. (Yesterday):

Terry J. Albury, a former Special Agent of the FBI, pleaded guilty today in the District of Minnesota in connection with his unauthorized disclosure and retention of classified national defense information.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick foar the Eastern District of Virginia, and Assistant Director Bill Priestap of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division announced the plea. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright.

[…] “Mr. Albury was entrusted by the FBI with a security clearance, which included a responsibility to protect classified national defense information. Instead, he knowingly disclosed that material to someone not authorized to receive it,” said Assistant Director Priestap. “The FBI will work tirelessly to bring to justice those who would expose America’s secrets. Today, as the result of the hard work of dedicated special agents, analysts, and prosecutors, Mr. Albury has taken responsibility for his illegal action.”  (link)

There was a possibility widely discussed and debated a year ago, where President Trump’s geopolitical doctrine of using economic leverage for national security would create the “leverage” for a denuclearized North Korea.  And eventually the “economic” value for a unified Korean peninsular.

Seven months ago we wrote:  “Turning rockets into ploughshares is a good strategy.”

Stunningly today, a significant step in that direction is being outlined.

(Via CNBC) North and South Korea are in talks to announce a permanent end to the officially declared military conflict between the two countries, daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed South Korean official.

Ahead of a summit next week between North Korean premier Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, lawmakers from the neighboring states were thought to be negotiating the details of a joint statement that could outline an end to the confrontation.

Kim and Moon could also discuss returning the heavily fortified demilitarized zone separating them to its original state, the newspaper said.

Pyongyang and Seoul have technically been at war since the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended with a truce — and not a peace treaty. Geopolitical tensions have occasionally flared up since the armistice, although to date both countries have managed to avoid another devastating conflict.

A successful summit between the Koreas later this month could help pave the way for a meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump. The U.S. president and North Korean leader are poised to hold talks in late May or June, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). (link)

What a stunning change in positions by all parties in less than a year.  A year ago the international media were waxing philosophical predictions about a nuclear war with North Korea.  Today peace has never been more close…

The Media will never credit President Donald J Trump,..

…but history will remember.

An interesting release from the spokesperson for Robert Mueller comes against the backdrop of the renewed ‘Michael Cohen travel to Prague’ story being pushed by Fusion-GPS and Glenn Simpson.

According to the Washington Times via Robert Mueller:

“What I have been telling all reporters is that many stories about our investigation have been inaccurate,” the Mueller spokesperson said. “Be very cautious about any source that claims to have knowledge about our investigation and dig deep into what they claim before reporting on it. If another outlet reports something, don’t run with it unless you have your own sourcing to back it up.” (read more)

The issue stems from last weeks McClatchy story where a reporter claimed Mueller had evidence of Michael Cohen traveling to Prague.  That trip is an unproven intelligence point cited by Fusion-GPS in the ‘Steele Dosser’.

The more interesting aspect is deeper within the Washington Times article:

The supposed Cohen Prague trip has been pushed to reporters and government investigators by Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, which paid Mr. Steele. Fusion has long-standing relationships with Washington’s powerful news outlets such as CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times.

Accepting that Glenn Simpson and Fusion-GPS are the primary sources continuing to push the Cohen/Prague story we find increased likelihood of their motive; they need the Cohen story to be real, because a mistake on this issue is a risk.

The risk is due to the mistake in the dossier happening as an outcome of Fusion-GPS having extracted this raw intelligence point as a result of their unlawful access to NSA and FBI databases.

The risk to the ‘small group’ -on this specific issue- is very real.

The Occam’s Razor explanation behind the false travel story of candidate Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, and how the flaw ended up in the Steele Dossier, is a simple one.

Research showed the simplest explanation is the most likely.  All of the points that lead to the simple explanation are generally well known truths.

♦We know the Steele Dossier contains content that was not exclusive to Christopher Steele.  ♦We know Fusion GPS held proprietary ownership of the Steele Dossier content.  ♦We know that FBI contractors, likely Fusion entities were using unlawful FBI FISA-702 searches to conduct political opposition research. ♦NSA Director Mike Rogers shut them down in April 2016. ♦In May 2016 Fusion hired Nellie Ohr.  ♦Nellie’s husband, Bruce Ohr, worked inside the DOJ-NSD and had database access. ♦We reasonably know that Nellie Ohr provided much of the research for the dossier content. ♦We also know the story of Michael Cohen traveling to Prague is inside the Steele Dossier; and we know the story is false – It was the wrong Michael Cohen.

Occams Razor:  One of the dubious FBI FISA-702 search subjects was Michael Cohen; and that turned up a “raw data” result for a Michael Cohen traveling to Prague.

That’s how a false Michael Cohen story got into the dossier.

A FISA-702 raw data search “about query” gave a return on Michael Cohen, the wrong “Michael Cohen”. That raw data was given to Fusion-GPS who put that inaccurate raw data into the compiled opposition research dossier.   That’s how it got in there.

The conspiring crew ran DOJ/FBI FISA-702 searches on “Michael Cohen Travel”, and simply got the wrong guy.  Amid complex stories, the simplest explanation is almost always the most accurate.

Unfortunately for the scheme team, this *mistake* puts another connection between: •the unlawful use of the DOJ/FBI FISA search access; •the people who gained custody of that raw data; •and how false information was used in the finished document, the Steele Dossier.  This is NOW tangible evidence to connect the scheme.

Michael Cohen is suing Fusion-GPS and Buzzfeed.  His lawsuit will force FusionGPS to outline where they got the fraudulent information.

Within the Cohen -vs- FusionGPS lawsuit there exists a very reasonable -and accurate- risk to the intelligence surveillance operatives who made the mistake.  Arguably that mistake could link the use of FBI and NSA database searches to the intelligence laundry scheme between the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS, Nellie Ohr and the Christopher Steele Dossier.

Interesting radio interview earlier this morning with Joe diGenova on WMAL.  Mr. diGenova discusses his review of the James Comey interview and at 12:30 of the audio he enlarges the discussion of Scooter Libby with an interesting perspective of Trey Gowdy.

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Don’t forget the Office of Inspector General Horowitz, 39-page report on Andrew McCabe, is only the first of multiple OIG reports that will soon be released. The main report will cover the overall politicization of the Clinton investigation(s) by the DOJ and FBI; and the FISA court abuse by those same officials will follow thereafter.

The Federal Judge, Kimba Wood, who is making decisions in the case against President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen, is the same person who officiated George Soros wedding. Go figure.

Today Judge Kimba Wood demanded, in open court, that attorney Michael Cohen state -on the record- the names of his clients….. Then, moments later, in a decision about the seized records taken by the FBI during their raid last week, Judge Wood demanded all of the Cohen records be transferred into a federal database so they could be searched, reviewed, categorized and then leaked more efficiently to the media.

Explain to me again how the Mueller investigation is NOT political opposition research?

New York – […] U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood said in hearings Friday and Monday that if Cohen wanted the court to declare that some of his files were protected because of attorney confidentiality rules, he would have to divulge the names of the clients he’s worked with since the 2016 election.

With Cohen by their side on Monday, lawyers initially resisted revealing the name of the third client for privacy reasons, saying it would be embarrassing for the client.

But Wood pressed on.

“I understand he doesn’t want his name out there, but that’s not enough under the law,” she said.

When the name was announced, there were gasps and some laughter in a courtroom packed with journalists. A few of them raced from the courtroom.

[…]  Wood adjourned the hearing Monday, rejecting Hendon’s request for a temporary restraining order on the grounds that it was too early for such an objection. As a first step, the judge said the government should put the documents in a searchable database to determine which should come under review. Prosecutors said they expected they could determine by midweek how fast they can accomplish that.  (read more)

Businessman Donald Trump had the audacity to think an ordinary citizen would be allowed to run for the office of the Presidency… and for that offense, all efforts of the professional political class will be deployed to ensure his incorrect thinking is eliminated.