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Introduction by The Editor: I don't understand the whole story yet, but this page is a collection of news articles and timely opinions about the matter. Related pages: Background, overview and recap articles: (Scroll down for timely news, or click here.) "There is not a single substantive piece of information in the [Steele] dossier that has ever been corroborated". John Durham testified today about the Steele Dossier, funded by the Hillary Clinton Campaign and Democratic National Committee: "There is not a single substantive piece of information in the dossier that has ever been corroborated by the FBI, or to my knowledge anyone else." [Tweet with video clip] She got away with it. The Steele Dossier was manipulated by James Comey, then Director of the FBI, by Democrats, the media, and others in The Resistance to paralyze the Trump administration and to put the nation through years of investigations. She's truly a despicable character, her whole miserable political life. Recent History Suggests FBI Involvement in January 6. Remember Christopher Steele? The author of the infamous 2016 "dossier" was an impeccably credentialed former British intelligence officer who, we were assured, had the goods on Donald Trump's ties to Russia. [...] While Steele was being paid by the Clinton team and DNC in 2016, Comey's FBI was paying the British citizen for his Trump-Russia collusion sleuthing. Further, Steele had easy access to the upper echelons of Barack Obama's State Department, top staffers to both Republican and Democratic senators, and the C-suites of corporate newsrooms. The central figure in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, a sting operation intended to discredit Trump's presidential campaign and then sabotage his presidency, was an FBI asset and Democratic flack disguised as a respected international business consultant. His dossier was garbage, no evidence of collusion was found, and the FISA court later determined the FBI's applications, which relied almost exclusively on it, were illegal. Worse Than Watergate, Part 3. Let's set this in context. The Hillary Clinton campaign, through the Perkins, Coie law firm, hired a company called Fusion GPS to gather information about Trump's supposed connections to the Russian government. Fusion hired former British spy Christopher Steele to gather the information, which became the "Steele dossier," some three dozen memos that alleged all sorts of connections between Trump, his campaign, and Moscow. Steele's primary "sub-source" for the information in the dossier was Igor Danchenko, whom the FBI had been investigating because it believed Danchenko was a Russian spy. The Crossfire Hurricane investigation, during which the FBI falsified surveillance warrant applications against Trump campaign officials and pursued people such as one-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and innocents such as Carter Page and Gen. Michael Flynn, lasted until then-deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to continue the investigation. Mueller's two-year investigation found no evidence of conspiracy or collusion by Trump or his campaign with the Russian government. Shocked and despondent at Mueller's failure to find such evidence, the Democrats' (and the media's) irrational hatred of Trump led congressional Dems to their ridiculous impeachment of him in January. The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this scandal is worse than Watergate by orders of magnitude. People active on the federal payroll conspired to attempt the overthrow of the Trump administration before Trump had even taken office. The infamous "Steele dossier" was commissioned by a company called Fusion GPS, hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign to dig up dirt on Donald Trump and call it opposition research. Literally, a couple of guys getting drunk in a bar made up a bunch of absurd, salacious nonsense [...] that only a mindless twit would ever believe. Fortunately, the conspirators could count on John McCain to get a copy of this farcical "research" document and pass it along to James Comey at the FBI, who was more than happy to knowingly receive utter garbage in the form of uncorroborated opposition research from a political campaign and then turn around and use it as the foundation to spy on President-Elect Donald Trump. Anti-Trump Fraternity and NeverTrump Sorority Collude in Impeachment Scam. [Scroll down] Remember when "the dossier" first surfaced? That was supposed to be one of those "bombshells" that was going to precipitate a tipping point and start the walls closing in. But then it turned out that the dossier was just lurid gossip without any foundation. It also turned out that it was opposition gossip (I won't say "research"), commissioned and paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. But we were still being asked to take it seriously, just as we were asked to take Peter Strzok and Lisa Page seriously as impartial investigators even though they entertained themselves by larding their love-texts to each other with wild anti-Trump imprecations and fantasies about an "insurance policy" that either would prevent his election or assure his removal in case the worst happened. The thing to remember is that we were never meant to hear about Strzok or Page. Neither were we meant to know about the FISA warrants against Carter Page and others. Politicized Government Servants: Bruce Ohr and the Steele Dossier. The following facts are not disputed: Fusion GPS was a consulting firm hired through counsel (Marc Elias) by the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee to research possible connections between Donald Trump and Russian operatives. Fusion GPS hired Steele (who was also paid in part by the FBI) to write the document, which was then provided by Ohr to the FBI and the Operation Crossfire Hurricane team to use against Page and the POTUS. Additionally, Ohr's wife Nellie was an independent contractor for Fusion GPS, and she and its founder Glenn Simpson routinely conveyed material to her husband. Ohr deliberately avoided informing his superiors and the Department of these dealings. Liberals have poo-pooed this partisan corruption as inconsequential. The BBC dismissed Ohr's deceptions to his own Department, averring that the fact that Ohr recorded Steele's opinions "somewhat [undercuts] the accusation of rampant bias within the department, given that a truly compromised individual wouldn't jot that sort of thing down." Au contraire — his very deliberate subterfuge and bias are evidenced by the fact that he "jotted that sort of thing down," then surreptitiously delivered said jottings to other agencies, making himself a material witness in the process. That doesn't "undercut" accusations of bias — it proves it beyond any question. What Hillary and Obama Actually Did. In sum: Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party paid a foreign agent to collect or manufacture damaging information about the Republican candidate for president, information that was sourced from the Russian government. The subsequent propaganda file was used to surveil members of the Trump campaign, illegally, as NSA and British assets were also used to spy on those associated with Clinton's political rival, and as human intelligence assets were deployed in an attempt to entrap Trump advisers and members of his staff. No Outrage Over Democrat Ties to Foreign Election Interference. In 2016, the Clinton campaign and DNC used Perkins Coie, a politically connected and influential law firm, as a pass-through to pay Fusion GPS for opposition research related to Donald Trump. Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson in turn hired Christopher Steele, a British operative who once worked for the U.K.'s version of the CIA. Steele is a British citizen, also known as a "foreigner." At the same time, Steele was working as an FBI informant for the Obama Justice Department and representing Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch close to Russian President Vladmir Putin, in legal matters before the U.S. government. The former British spy allegedly leveraged his Russian contacts to help compile a series of opposition research memos, commonly known as the "dossier," for Fusion. Steele anonymously referred to several Kremlin-linked individuals in the dossier; notes recently disclosed from an Obama State Department official revealed that Steele claimed two of his sources were a former Russian intelligence chief and a Putin aide. The Left's hypocrisy knows no bounds. The Steele dossier was phonied up by a foreign national, Steele, and the rest of the setup involved the help of several other Western intel assets from the U.K., Italy, and Australia. Together with their partners in crime within our FBI and CIA, they had quite an operation going. So arrogant and drunk on power, they were certain they could take down the president they decided was an interloper, not a member of their elite club. But they got caught. The Steele dossier was so poorly written that legitimate CIA and FBI agents say no professional intelligence officer would have fallen for it for one minute. But it was used as "evidence" to begin surveilling the Trump family, friends, Cabinet members, and acquaintances. Hundreds of innocent civilians were unmasked and spied upon in search of a crime. Embarrassing: It Seems Even The British Knew The Trump Dossier Was Trash — in 2017. The Trump dossier was a piece of political opposition research compiled by ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele. The Democrats and the Clinton campaign bankrolled it. The mission was simple. Find dirt on Donald Trump and he used sources that are still active in the Kremlin. Sounds like Clinton-Russia collusion, but that's a whole other tale. Even from the beginning of this fiasco, the document's credibility was suspect. It's loaded with salacious tales about Trump that are pretty much straight trash in the sense that they're false at face value. It's why no other outlet decided to publish the document in full, except BuzzFeed because they have no standards. This document is reportedly the insurance policy that fired FBI Agent Peter Strzok, former bureau lawyer Lisa Page, and disgraced FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe may have been referring to in texts between Strzok and Page with whom he was having an extramarital affair. It was also used to secure a FISA spy warrant against former foreign policy adviser Carter Page. Sally Yates -vs- Michael Flynn. After the November 8th, 2016, election everyone within the Obama network associated with the Trump surveillance operation was at risk. This is the impetus for the "Muh Russia" collusion-conspiracy narrative that was used as a mitigating shield. Within a few days after the election ODNI James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan began pushing the Russia election interference narrative in the media. Without notifying anyone, NSA Director Mike Rogers went to Trump tower on November 18th, 2016. Despite his compartmentalization it appears Rogers identified the NSA database abuse as the likely underpinning for some form of political surveillance. By mid-December 2016 the Obama administration was deploying a full-court-press using their media allies to promote the Russia conspiracy. However, despite their public proclamations Clapper and Brennan were refusing to give any specifics to congress. Reconciling 'Spygate' With The 'Soft Coup'. There have been a great many questions surrounding the activity that took place in 2017 after President Trump took office and how politicians and officials coordinated an apparent 'soft coup' attempt to remove President Trump. Questions around DAG Rod Rosenstein, Andrew McCabe, James Comey and the larger intelligence community (to include the Gang-of-Eight) surrounding the Trump administration. Many of those questions can be reconciled with a review of the predicate. There are five phases in the evolution of 'Spygate' into the 'Soft Coup'; to reconcile the latter, which extends to today, a full review provides the clarity. New Details Reinforce That The FBI Used Fake Pretexts To Start Investigating Trump. The evidence continues to mount that during the Obama administration, the FBI used George Papadopoulos as a prop to legitimize launching its investigation into the Donald Trump campaign. While the FBI claimed it initiated Crossfire Hurricane on July 31, 2016 in response to reports that Russian-linked individuals told Papadopoulos the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton, that story seemed shaky from the start. Since then, text and email messages between former MI6 spy and Fusion GPS dossier author Christopher Steele and twice-demoted Department of Justice attorney Bruce Ohr raised the possibility that information Steele fed the FBI through Ohr was the true justification for the the FBI targeting the Trump campaign. A Wednesday tweet from Carter Page gives further credence to the suggestion that the Hillary Clinton campaign-funded Steele dossier served as the basis for the FBI's interest in the Trump campaign. Post-Midterm Meltdowns. CNN has sued the president and his entourage for revoking Jim Acosta's White House press pass. This is the perfect illustration of the presumptuousness of the fake news press. This description "fake news" was furnished by the president when CNN took the Steele dossier public and asked the president if he had participated in a festival of urination by a group of prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room because the Obamas had slept there. In those early days of the administration, Wolf Blitzer claimed immense enterprise by CNN to unearth the dossier (that the Democratic National Committee, which paid for it, was shopping desperately to the media). CNN elaborately portrayed this now infamous hack-job as the work of an eminent retired British espionage official. After Acosta attempted to filibuster the president's post-midterm press conference and engage him in debate, the revocation of Acosta's pass was an appropriate measure. CNN has many other accredited representatives and could nominate a replacement, but the network's media director, Brian Stelter, a foaming-at-the-mouth Trump-hater, instead has sued the president. Burying the Other Russia Story. Over 18 months of reviewing tens of thousands of documents and interviewing every relevant witness, no Senate or House Committee has unearthed evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the presidential election. If Special Counsel Robert Mueller has found more, he hasn't made it public. But House investigators have uncovered details of a Democratic scheme to prod the FBI to investigate the Trump campaign. We now know that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee hired Fusion GPS, which hired an intelligence-gun-for-hire, Christopher Steele, to write a "dossier" on Donald Trump's supposed links to Russia. Mr. Steele fed that document to the FBI, even as he secretly alerted the media to the FBI probe that Team Clinton had helped to initiate. Fusion, the oppo-research firm, was also supplying its dossier info to senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, whose wife, Nellie, worked for Fusion. Fake bombs are not bombs. Fake news is fake news. The American left to this day is unable to accept the results of the 2016 election. So certain that their candidate would prevail, they have suffered a psychotic break from which they have not recovered. Every sentient being now knows that it was Hillary, the DNC, the FBI, the DOJ, and the NSA that collaborated to prevent Trump from becoming president. She and they fabricated the "dossier," planted spies in the Trump campaign, falsified FISA warrants, and leaked to the media. Their plan was a Deep State coup like nothing else in U.S. history. Fake News: Two Case Studies. [Scroll down] The Russia hoax is a product of the Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. They worked through Glenn Simpson and his opposition research firm Fusion GPS. Since the campaign Simpson and Fusion GPS have continued to retail the Russia hoax with the financial support of a Democratic outfit called the Penn Quarter Group, run by former Dianne Feinstein staffer Dan Jones. Fusion GPS is a firm that does opposition research for hire. Glenn Simpson is the former Wall Street Journal investigative reporter who is a principal and co-founder of the firm. Simpson's work for the Clinton campaign and the DNC took place with funds laundered by the Perkins Coie law firm — a cutout that was to guard against the disclosure of the source of the work. We weren't supposed to know. Simpson hired former British intelligence official Christopher Steele to lend him a hand with his Russian sources. We weren't supposed to know. Simpson and Fusion GPS have continued to peddle the Russia hoax to Congress and the media. Fusion GPS Operator Glenn Simpson Refuses To Testify to Congress; Chairman Goodlatte Issues Subpoena. Fusion GPS is a political research firm and network of political operatives who sell their mercenary services to anyone willing to pay. Fusion has resources inside and outside government and the capability to exploit FBI and NSA databases containing information about U.S. citizens. Fusion then uses a secondary network of media outlets who they pay to write articles shaped for their purposes. Fusion GPS is operated by Glenn Simpson. In April 2016 Hillary Clinton hired Fusion GPS to target her presidential campaign opponent, Donald Trump. Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson then assigned Russian expert and CIA research analyst Nellie Ohr to the Trump project. At the time Nellie Ohr's husband, Bruce Ohr, was the #4 ranking official inside the DOJ National Security Division. Simultaneous to Nellie Ohr's assignment, Fusion GPS also sub-contracted with Christopher Steele for additional material and internal collaboration with Mrs. Ohr. Save Yourself, Mr. President. Mr. Trump gripes about coverups that have kept the American people in the dark about the bad behavior of FBI agents and Justice Department officials during the 2016 election. The question is: Why should anyone lift a finger to help him when he refuses to help himself by taking the one step — declassifying documents sought by Congress — that would clear up whether our most powerful intelligence and law-enforcement agencies were in fact working to deny him the presidency? Mr. Trump has legitimate beefs here. His attorney general is weak because of a crippling recusal. The FBI and Justice do continue to slow-walk documents under subpoena from Congress. And what we have learned about the fishy behavior of high-ranking actors — from the FBI's Mr. Strzok to the Justice Department's Bruce Ohr — does suggest the investigators ought themselves to be investigated. What would the intelligence community's 'insurance policy' against Trump look like? [Scroll down] He would have to be marginalized at every turn. Strategies would encompass politics, the courts, opposition research and the media. He'd have to become mired in lawsuits, distracted by allegations, riddled with calls for impeachment, hounded by investigations. His election must be portrayed as the illegitimate result of a criminal or un-American conspiracy. To accomplish this, bad actors in the intel community could step up use of surveillance tools as a weapon to look for dirt on Trump before his inauguration. They could rely on dubious political opposition research to secretly argue for wiretaps, plant one or more spies in the Trump campaign, then leak to the press a mix of true and false stories to create a sense of chaos. Gregg Jarrett: 'Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax' [is] a Scheme to Clear Hillary, [and] Undo [the 2016] Election. Fox News Channel legal analyst Gregg Jarrett [...] said, "There was scheme to clear Hillary Clinton and frame Donald Trump. Top officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice were threatened by Trump; this guy is going to come in there and drain the swamp, and that threatened their jobs and their positions. There is nothing that will motivate people more than power forfeited, so people like James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Andy McCabe, people at the Department of Justice decided that they were going to clear Hillary Clinton of the many crimes she surely committed. To do that, they had to twist the facts and contort the law." How Hillary Clinton used the anti-Trump Russia dossier during the campaign. The Clinton campaign received a steady flow of briefings on its paid-for Christopher Steele dossier, whose unverified Trump-Russia collusion charges made their way into election news stories and Clinton talking points. The dossier emerged again as a Washington hot topic in recent days with the release of four FBI applications to a judge to spy on a Donald Trump volunteer. The petition's evidence to convince the judge was largely based on the dossier. With the application's release, President Trump took to Twitter to declare the 35-pages a "Clinton campaign document." Some pundits and a fact-checkers asserted that the Clinton campaign never used Mr. Steele's Russia charges. A check of the public record shows otherwise, although the campaign never specifically cited the dossier by name. As the Wiseguys Turn: McCabe, Comey, and the FBI Boys. [W]hat began as an investigation into Russian "collusion" on the part of the Trump campaign and perhaps the president himself, is now steadily being revealed as the sham byproduct of the fixed-fight "probe" of the Clinton email "matter" that allowed the former secretary of state to head into the 2016 election "cleared" of any wrongdoing by the Obama "justice" department. Vengeful over her surprising loss, the Woman Scorned and her cronies in the former administration and the intelligence community then concocted the "collusion" narrative, obligingly peddled to the public by the Democrat-controlled media, to strangle the Trump presidency in its cradle. And they almost got away with it. The Collapse of the Collusion Narrative. The early righteousness of the anti-Trump lynch-mob was deflated when the Steele dossier was revealed as defamatory lies assembled and paid for by the Clinton campaign. The feeble effort at claiming a boozy conversation between a very junior member of the Trump campaign team and a former Australian politician (who had secured $25 million of Australian government money for the Clinton Foundation) as the source of the investigation has crumbled. The origins were earlier, and Christopher Steele and prominent members of the FBI and CIA shopped his inane and scatological dossier around the media to incite the misplaced belief that there were multiple disinterested sources for its contents. Bombshell: More Obama admin[istration] spies attempted to insert [them]selves into [the] Trump campaign. The eye-opening disclosure came at the end of a highly informative discussion with Carter Page about his interactions with Stefan Halper, the informant already believed to have pumped members of the campaign for information. For some reason, after identifying Halper by name on air, Fox News has reverted to the practice of keeping his name secret, at least for the moment. Halper evidently was quite a charmer, according to Carter Page. Yet Halper also is believed to have planted with George Papadopoulos (whom he also paid $3,000 for a "research paper") the information about Russia having hacked DNC emails, which information Papadopoulos then revealed to Australia's ambassador to Great Britain (called the "high commissioner" among Commonwealth countries), who then fed it to the FBI to justify the FISA warrant. Either Hillary Clinton Broke Federal Election Laws or Our Election Laws Are Broken. As The Washington Post reported in October 2017, during the 2016 election cycle, the Democratic National Committee and Hillary for America paid a combined $9.2 million to law firm Perkins Coie. The chair of Perkins Coie's Political Law Group is Marc Elias, the general counsel of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The Post reported and Perkins Coie later confirmed that Elias paid at least some of this money to political research firm Fusion GPS, which hired Christopher Steele, a former British spy, to create the now infamous "Russian Dossier." The dossier claims to present evidence Donald Trump colluded with Russian agents to win the 2016 election, among other salacious accusations. It was later used, along with other material, by the FBI to obtain a FISA warrant to wiretap Carter Page. The production of the dossier arguably sparked a chain of events leading to the firing of Comey and the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, so its creation cannot be understated. A Hillary Clinton dirty trick from A to Z. Hillary wanted to spread a false narrative about how Donald Trump was owned by the Russians, that he was in Putin's pocket, and she needed 'evidence' to be supplied, but that 'evidence could NOT have her fingerprints on it where people could see it. What we have here in this case is 'information laundering' rather than money laundering. Hillary & her cronies invented the allegations that became known as 'The Steele Dossier', then hired Fusion GPS to 'find' the allegatons as a result of their 'research'. To make the laundering of the allegations look plausible, Hillary used her State Department flunkies to hand off the Trump/Russia info to Fusion GPS so Glenn Simpson & Chris Steele could begin planting it all throughout the US news media. After a year of digging... The Anti-Trump Effort Backfires. No one following the Russian-collusion and related dramas should be in any doubt about the steady flow of the balance of damaging evidence away from Trump and on to his accusers. It is clear that the hierarchy of the FBI and analogues in the Justice Department and intelligence services, horrified at the thought of a Trump victory though confident it would not occur, took liberties — in the soft treatment of Hillary Clinton's email and uranium problems, and in abetting the Clinton campaign's effort to smear Trump with the Russian-collusion argument. Worse Than Watergate? Is Obama Like Nixon — Only More So? Just as Nixon used campaign operatives to spy on the opposition party, Barack Obama administration-era Democrats did likewise — except they employed actual government investigatory agencies to do it. As a pretext, the allegation holds, they used that aforementioned dossier, a compilation of reports by shadowy ex-British spy Christopher Steele, who used uncorroborated information provided, ironically, by anonymous Russian sources. Everybody Knows. [Scroll down] The FBI, the DOJ, all the top-tier unaccountables, forgot that the deplorables existed and never doubted that Hillary Clinton could buy and lie her way into the presidency. It was her turn. Still, it can't hurt to wiretap the opposing campaign. Besides, it's so much fun to do whatever you want. It was Woodstock for the D.C. unaccountables. The top DOJ-FBI administrators, meaning people who were not competent enough to be real agents and lawyers, had the time of their lives playing cops and spies. Hillary's $12 million passed through Nellie Ohr at Fusion GPS. Her husband, Assistant Attorney General Bruce Ohr, met with Christopher Steele, the cover-story author of the [...] dossier on Trump. Ohr, who still works at the Justice Department, reported all the fun to Sally Yates. Everybody came out to play. McCabe spied; Comey danced and lied; John McCain lent a hand. Strzok and Page were special beaux, they took their meetings without their clothes. Rethinking Watergate. During the Watergate scandal, a courageous and activist federal judge, John Sirica, did not believe phony stories that the original burglars had acted on their own. He helped to gain their cooperation and confessions — and he forced the Nixon administration to hand over tapes of private presidential conversations. But there is no such judge now. The judiciary is on the other side of the equation. Apparently, compliant FISA court judges asked few questions when they approved FBI and Department of Justice requests to snoop on an American citizen — on the basis of Clinton's purchased oppositional research dossier and news stories that were birthed by the dossier. Nor did FISA judges apparently bother to ask the FBI and DOJ officials whether they trusted the very author of the dossier, Christopher Steele — who had been earlier fired by the FBI for lying. Nor have judges yet investigated whether defendants were either indicted or coerced into confessions by the FBI's use of improperly obtained surveillance. Tying All The Loose Threads Together. There are so many threads of information surrounding the 2016 operation to conduct political surveillance on the Trump campaign by various officials and offices within corrupt structures of government it's easy to get lost. However, if we take all the various bits of information and placing them together a more clear picture emerges. The First Attempted Coup D'etat in America's History. Lou Dobbs had this to say about the effort to destroy Trump: The double standard is more than that by a long measure. This is an effort to subvert the administration of President Donald Trump. It is nothing less. It is an effort by the Deep State to roll over a duly elected president and a legitimate government and to break the will of the American people. This is no longer about Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, this is about a full-on assault by the left, the Democratic party to absolutely carry out a coup d'etat against President Trump. "Collusion
against Trump" timeline. It's easy to find timelines that detail Trump-Russia collusion developments.
[Examples omitted for brevity.] On the other side, evidence has emerged in the past year that makes it clear there were
organized efforts to collude against candidate Donald Trump — and then President Trump. For example: What Constitutes Treason. [Scroll down] These surveillance results were then illegally disseminated to the media, who willingly spread the disinformation far and wide to the entire world. What was the goal? To subvert the Constitution, the lawful transfer of power from one administration to the next. Having failed, the conspirators then tried to undermine the sovereign, the president, through accusations and investigations, assisted by a foreign enemy. The phony dossier, described by former FBI director James Comey as "salacious and unverified," created with the assistance of the Russian government, served as the basis of spying on a political candidate and campaign. Post-election, the losing candidate, "within twenty-four hours of her concession speech," cooked up a scheme to blame her loss on Russian interference. The Russians did indeed meddle, mostly after the election — not to affect the election outcome, but to sow discord within America, as the recent Mueller indictments described. They were assisted by the Deep-Staters within the FBI and DOJ, altering testimony, leaking classified information, conspiring to "kill the sovereign or overthrow the government." Not literally kill, but to cripple the president via false information, leading to his impeachment and removal from office. All this is not to leave out the U.S. media, willing and eager participants in Russian propaganda and meddling, co-conspirators in the coup against the duly elected leader of the country. The Paradoxes of the Mueller Investigation. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 13 Russian nationals for allegedly conspiring to sow confusion in the 2016 presidential election. The chance of extraditing any of the accused from Vladimir Putin's Russia is zero. Some of the Russians' Keystone Cops efforts to disrupt the election favored Donald Trump (as well as Bernie Sanders). Yet Mueller's team made it clear that the Russians neither colluded with any U.S. citizens nor had any material effect on the election's outcome. But from here on out, there will be ironies, paradoxes, and unintended consequences with just about everything Mueller does. Is it now time to prosecute foreigners for attempting to interfere with a U.S. election? If so, then surely Christopher Steele, the author of the Fusion GPS dossier, is far more culpable and vulnerable than the 13 bumbling Russians. On Russia, Democrats Try To Rewrite History. These days there are numerous reports, likely leaked from the former president's defenders, claiming that Obama was secretly and vigorously dealing with these attacks from Moscow. His defenders like to point out that the president expelled Russian diplomats and closed two of their diplomatic facilities. Obama did so only after the DNC hacks, and only after there was tremendous political pressure from the Hillary camp. The evidence that Obama thought Russian meddling was a big deal before it was politically expedient is nonexistent. Dossier's 10 core collusion accusations remain unverified 20 months later. Republicans say the FBI abused the court process by using the partisan charges to obtain four wiretap warrants against the other campaign. They say the bureau has yet to confirm any charge. As the dossier today takes on even more importance, The Washington Times identified Mr. Steele's 10 core collusion accusations. The analysis includes the charges' status, 20 months after Mr. Steele first contacted the FBI and urged the prosecution of President Trump. Peeling back the layers of Hillary Clinton's deceit. [Scroll down] It increasingly appears that the Clinton machine was the secret, original source of virtually all the allegations about Trump and Russia that led to the FBI investigation. In addition, the campaign and its associates, including Steele, were behind the explosion of anonymously sourced media reports during the fall of 2016 about that investigation. Thus, the Democratic nominee paid for and created allegations against her Republican opponent, gave them to law enforcement, then tipped friendly media to the investigation. And it is almost certain FBI agents supporting Clinton were among the anonymous sources. In fact, the Clinton connections are so fundamental that there probably would not have been an FBI investigation without her involvement. That makes hers a brazen work of political genius — and perhaps the dirtiest dirty trick ever played in presidential history. Following her manipulation of the party operation to thwart Bernie Sanders in the primary, Clinton is revealed as relentlessly ruthless in her quest to be president. The only thing that went wrong is that she lost the election. And based on what we know now, her claims about Trump were false. Convinced of a Hillary Victory, They Thought Nobody Would Ever Know. An administration siccing the surveillance state on the opposition party's presidential candidate based on dubious reports compiled by the favored presidential candidate's campaign ranks as a terribly reckless strategy risking the future freedom of its architects for their future power, no? "Not if you think you will win the election and no one will ever find out," an animated Joseph diGenova tells The American Spectator. "That's why they did it. They thought she would win and no one would ever find out." Stuck on Stupid. [Scroll down] There are seventeen memos from Steele that are laughably stupid. Wasn't one of them capable of seeing how stupid that dossier looked? Just one? Apparently not. All the evidence shows they used that totally made up "dossier" to start spying on every Trump associate possible. They actually went to the FISA court and presented this, as James Comey apparently called it, "salacious and unverified dossier" as proof for a warrant to spy on most of the Trump inner circle. Was the FISA judge asleep? Apparently so. Many times. Was James Comey asleep? No, he got stuck on stupid. What explains the FBI's deep faith in Trump dossier author Christopher Steele? One of the most remarkable takeaways from the new documents released in the Trump-Russia investigation is the degree to which FBI officials were determined to believe dossier author Christopher Steele — even after it became clear he had lied to them. In their drive to win a warrant to wiretap sometime Trump volunteer Carter Page — along with Paul Manafort, one of only two Trump figures known to be wiretapped in the investigation — the bureau rested most of its case on Steele's information, and the officials who filed the warrant application seemed resolved to believe Steele even after his credibility came into question. The new document is the (mostly) unredacted version of the criminal referral of Steele sent to the Justice Department by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and subcommittee chairman Lindsey Graham. Like the earlier House Intelligence Committee memo, the Grassley-Graham referral shows that the FBI focused extensively on the dossier in its effort to convince the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court to give permission to wiretap Page. The FBI warrant application "relied heavily" on the dossier, according to the referral, and "the bulk of the application consists of allegations against Page that were disclosed to the FBI by Mr. Steele and are also outlined in the Steele dossier." Biased FBI and DOJ Officials Broke The Law And Tried To Decide The Election. There can be no question, at this point, that certain higher ups in the FBI and the DOJ did not want Hillary to be indicted and did not want Donald Trump to become President. Those efforts were not entirely independent of each other. Below is a timeline of events — abbreviated though it is — that makes it rather plain that the FBI and DOJ were not investigating potential crimes objectively. Indeed, they were committing crimes during the process in aid of their preferred outcomes. The Ticking Memo. Apparently, no FBI or DOJ officials informed the court over the duration of these various requests that a) the dossier was paid for by the Clinton campaign, b) the FBI in turn apparently paid to obtain it, c) supporting news stories used to substantiate the dossier were the result of deliberately leaking the same document to seed stories in media organizations, or d) a DOJ official both met the author of the dossier and informed the FBI that he was a biased source — but either did not inform other DOJ and FBI officials that his own spouse was a collaborator who worked on the dossier, or such knowledge was known to DOJ and FBI officials but not passed on at some point to the FISA judge, apparently because the court might not have otherwise approved of the request or might have acted to revoke prior requests. [...] If all this is not a scandal — then the following protocols are now considered permissible in American electoral practice and constitutional jurisprudence: An incumbent administration can freely use the FBI and the DOJ to favor one side in a presidential election, by buying its opposition research against the other candidate, using its own prestige to authenticate such a third-party oppositional dossier, and then using it to obtain court-ordered wiretaps on American citizens employed by a candidate's campaign — and do so by deliberately misleading the court about the origins and authors of the dossier that was used to obtain the warrants. Fusion GPS Could Have Been Trying To Buy Access To DOJ With Payments To Official's Wife. Fusion GPS, a firm paid by Hillary Clinton's campaign, was paying the wife of a senior Department of Justice official as part of its efforts to gather opposition research on Trump, and the official then brought that research to the FBI — raising the question of to what extent the firm may have been attempting to pay for heightened access to the criminal justice system, and whether they would have hired her absent her spousal connection. A declassified memo said Bruce "Ohr's wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife's opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs' relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the" court when it was used to obtain a surveillance warrant. Bruce Ohr was deputy associate attorney general until December. House investigators determined that he met personally with Glenn Simpson, Fusion GPS' founder. And three cheers for Devin Nunes. Now we are starting to get a look at a conspiracy so immense it can scarcely be believed. The media, the Democrat National Committee, a genuinely brain dead FISA judge, and now the media over and over again are shown to be working night and day to destroy the constitutional system of government. The media, apparently believing it is above the law (and I guess it is), has been working hand in glove with the HRC campaign to ensure that the GenSec of the Democrat/MSM Party could not lose the election of November 2016. Yet somehow, the GenSec, Madame Mao, Jing Qing (or however [...] it's spelled) lost to a man who should never in a million years come even close to winning. So now the DNC/MSM coalition has had to go into the highest possible gear to cover up the failed conspiracy against the nation. Instead of trying to get the big news out, the DNC/MSM apparatus worked like demons to bottle up the news. But now the news is out: The DNC/MSM Gang illegally spied on Trump. They didn't use a bunch of burglars at the Watergate. They used the courts and they succeeded. The Left no longer cares about civil rights. The FBI and DOJ used an unverified bit of political opposition research funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee as their "probable cause" to spy on an American citizen. And their "affirmation" or "oath" conveniently left out the fact that this "evidence" was opposition research funded by the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Yet the Democrats and their publicists in the news media are treating this clear violation of the Fourth Amendment as a "nothing burger." They don't care about civil rights. So long as you are a political opponent, your civil rights no longer apply. Intelligence Recognizes Presidential Authority — A Case of Too Little, Too Late. The FBI's top leadership — whose careers, business dealings, politics, marriages and extramarital affairs intertwine — invested itself incompetently and illegally into the 2016 election campaign against Donald Trump. In part to cover itself, it launched the so-called "Russia probe." Its members are personally, deeply interested in keeping the public from seeing the documents concerning these activities. They raised the familiar shield: release would compromise the sources and methods of national security. The House of Representatives' Republican majority wanted the documents made public, issued a subpoena for them, and was prepared to jail senior FBI for contempt had they not complied with it. The House compromised, being satisfied by viewing them and making a summary, which it has voted to make public. House Democrats have their own version of secret intelligence summary. The so-far unsubstantiated anti-Trump dossier includes a claim that Trump was vulnerable to blackmail because the Kremlin had video of him frolicking with prostitutes in Moscow. The Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign paid for the dossier's research and preparation, using a law firm as a go-between for a contract with an investigative research firm called Fusion GPS. The former British spy who gathered the dossier's raw intelligence from his Russian contacts ultimately contacted the FBI. The Republican memo is, in part, a distillation of what federal law enforcement did with it, according to Capitol Hill sources. One of Fusion GPS's employees is married to Bruce Ohr, who was then a senior Justice Department official. Ohr was later reprimanded and reassigned after the DOJ determined that he had met with the firm's co-founder and the spy. What Is The Steele Dossier? The Steele Dossier was a hastily cobbled together justification for two things: [#1] to justify the spying on Trump's campaign team PRIOR to Mike Rogers shutting down NSA SIGINT database mining for Trump Team comms up to April, 2016. [#2] to justify RESTARTING intelligence community intercepts of Trump campaign/transition team comms by proffering the dossier to the FISA Court by claiming Trump team members were foreign agents serving Russia. We don't know exactly when FBI subcontractors began to be used by the DOJ/FBI Hillary/Obama/DNC nexus to mine the NSA SIGINT database for Trump campaign team comms & then to submit Sec. 702 unmasking requests to reveal the names of Trump team members in the intel incercepts. What we DO know is that in April 2016, NSA director Mike Rogers was made aware of the fact there were an unusually high number of Section 702 unmasking requests being made that were coming through the FBI. Is Media Response to Obama's "Operation Cassandra Scandal" a Precursor For Response to FBI/DOJ "Operation Trump"? In 2016 senior leadership within the Obama FBI and Department of Justice, with direct and provable ties straight to the White House, planned and conducted a targeted political operation against a presidential candidate by weaponizing the intelligence community against Donald Trump. Using sketchy, intentionally misleading and false information provided to a U.S. District Court Judge, the Obama FBI and DOJ colluded to present an application for wiretaps and surveillance authority to the FISA court; subsequently, they used a FISA warrant as part of an exhaustive counterintelligence operation against their political opposition. This is no longer some pie-in-the-sky conspiracy. There is massive evidence, including statements from the co-conspirators, that highlights this exact operation in detail. REPORT: Obama Administration Weaponized Trump Dossier — This Explains It All. Tablet has done some investigation into Obama launching an investigation into the Trump campaign. [...] They started with a Facebook post from June 24, 2017 by Mary Jacoby, the wife of Glenn Simpson, the former Wall Street Journal reporter who started Fusion GPS. She boasted that her husband was not getting the credit he should get for the dossier. Careful what you wish for. "It's come to my attention that some people still don't realize what Glenn's role was in exposing Putin's control of Donald Trump," she wrote on Facebook. "Let's be clear. Glenn conducted the investigation. Glenn hired Chris Steele. Chris Steele worked for Glenn." Chris Steele's name as an intel agent may have added more to the dossier than what Steele actually did to help compile it. I'm more concerned with players such as the Ohrs. Bruce Ohr dealt with Simpson and he was a senior Justice Department official who has since been demoted. His wife, Nellir Ohr, is a Russian so-called expert hired by Fusion GPS to research and compile the Russian dossier. She's more of an amateur it turns out. Not everything they found was bogus by the way. They dug up stuff on Manafort that carries credible weight. It's when they got to Trump that either things were made up or the Russians planted misinformation. If Libs Were Smart They Would Push for Mueller Firing Himself Now. This dossier was compiled by Christopher Steele and sold to the Clinton Campaign as opposition research by Fusion GPS. McCabe stonewalled the HIC on this matter but couldn't point to anything in the dossier that the FBI verified to be true other than publicly-known knowledge of Carter Page visiting Moscow in 2016. And the last time I checked (as least for now) visiting Moscow is not a crime. Neither is what Michael Flynn did a crime either, but let's not bring facts in to dash the hope of the terminally insane. McCabe has to stonewall on this issue otherwise he and the rest of the FBI are guilty of acting on behalf of Hillary Clinton to assist in spying on her political opponent. Because that's where all of this leads if people would take their ideological blinders off for five seconds and look at what we actually know as opposed to what we 'just know to be true.' Everyone involved in this sordid affair should be tried for espionage and treason. The Trump-Russia 'Dossier' Scandal Deepens. When the existence of the now-discredited dossier first came to light, it was described simply as information compiled by a former British intelligence operative with a high degree of credibility in the spy community. The fact that a two-page summary had been presented to Trump and President Obama in early January lent it still more credibility. As one news outlet put it, the dossier was "credible enough to warrant inclusion of their claims in the highly classified report on Russian interference in the presidential campaign." From that point on, it was treated as an authoritative report pointing to Trump's collusion with Russians to meddle in the U.S. election. It was only much later — and long after its phony claims had been seared into the public's consciousness — that the truth about this dossier started to emerge. And everything that we've learned since has seriously undermined its credibility, while raising troubling questions about how the FBI and the Justice Department under Obama used it. The most explosive revelation was that the dossier was bought and paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, a fact that the Clinton campaign took pains to hide, that Clinton officials lied about, and that Fusion GPS refused to reveal on its own. It wasn't an intelligence report at all. It was a political hit job paid for by Trump's opponent. There is No Truth Commission in L'Affaire Russe. On Thursday, Benjamin Wittes published his assessment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's Dec. 13 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. [...] Rosenstein did two notable things in his testimony. First, he unequivocally stated that there has been no activity justifying firing the special counsel for cause. He also went to great lengths to explain why Bob Mueller is uniquely suited to lead this investigation, and outlined, for anyone who doesn't already know it, Mueller's extensive prosecutorial and leadership experience, as well as his lifelong dedication to public service. [...] Second, Rosenstein affirmed his own authority over the special counsel's investigation, and revealed that he is regularly exercising that authority. For those who might think that Rosenstein appointed the special counsel and then has allowed Mueller to operate wholly independently in a way that could expand the scope of the investigation without oversight, Rosenstein's testimony rebuffed that theory. The Criminal Conspiracy of the Century: "Makes Watergate look like a third-rate burglary". As Fox News has reported, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe has rescheduled his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee with the Justice Department telling the network that it was due to a "routine scheduling error." More likely it is due to the need for everyone to get their stories straight as the details of the fix that was in for Hillary Clinton are being, er... unmasked and the details of the deep state coup against President Trump bubble to the surface from the depths of the swamp: [...] "McCabe has an Ohr problem," one congressional source said. McCabe has many problems and is at the heart of the criminal conspiracy to protect Hillary and unseat President Trump. The "Ohr problem" relates to Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie and their connections to Fusion GPS, the firm paid indirectly by the Clinton campaign and the DNC to work with former British spy Christopher Steele and Russian sources to put together a fake dossier likely used by the FBI to fraudulently obtain FISA surveillance warrants on Team Trump. We Should Care About What Happened to Carter Page. The former Trump aide's reputation has been ruined — not by a conviction, not by any charges, but by a warrant that was supposed to be secret. #Russiagate: The Second Time as Farce... or Tragedy? Indeed, the more one considers all the players in this unbelievably bizarre saga, [...] not to mention the half-dozen or so other nameless people who mysteriously disappeared from the DOJ in recent days, the more it seems the only sane person in the entire demented charade [...] is Devin Nunes. Want to know why there are so many redactions in all those FBI/DOJ documents [...] ? It's only 1% security but 99% humiliation. Forget "sources and methods." They are so ashamed of themselves they don't dare tell the truth. The Media Changed More Votes Than the Russians. The government that meddled the most in the election was our own. Instead of exposing that interference, the media facilitated it. Journalists served as conduits for criminal leaks from Obama administration officials eager to defame Trump. Instead of exposing Hillary's dirty tricksters, the media took briefings from them. Countless stories about Trump's alleged foreign connections appeared during the campaign. Meanwhile, reporters were Skyping with Christopher Steele, a cynical British ex-spy Hillary hired to smear Trump. Imagine Trump paying a foreigner $168,000 to frame Hillary, who then holds press briefings on his "dossier" before the election. The press would have reported that immediately as a dirty trick of epic proportions. But for Hillary's hired gun, they stayed mum and several turned into his stenographers. Yahoo's Michael Isikoff passed Steele off as a "well-placed Western intelligence source." Robert Mueller's Russian Election Interference Indictments: This subsection is now located here. Memos, counter-memos, dossiers, "insurance policies," and competing reports: Donald Trump is SUING ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele over his infamous 'dirty dossier'. Donald Trump is suing a former MI6 officer and the intelligence consultancy he founded, High Court records show. The former US president is bringing a data protection claim against Orbis Business Intelligence and its founder Christopher Steele, who previously ran the Secret Intelligence Service's Russia desk. According to a court order published on Thursday, a two-day hearing in Mr Trump's legal action is set to start on October 16, which is thought to be the first hearing in the claim. The Durham Report: Did the FBI Offer Russia $1 Million To Frame Donald Trump? According to John Durham's report, FBI agents traveled to Rome in early October and offered Christopher Steele $1 million for evidence corroborating his allegations that the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign had been compromised by the Russian government. How did the Bureau expect the British ex-spy to verify his claims when the only people who could provide documentary or physical evidence to support his memos would be from Donald Trump's circle, or Russian officials and other figures close to Vladimir Putin? Steele didn't have any access to Trump's people but what about the Russians? Did he know anyone from Putin's world? Indeed, he did. Steele worked for a Russian businessman famously connected to Putin, Oleg Deripaska. In July 2016, the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team opened a full investigation on the Trump campaign in order to use one of the US government's most intrusive surveillance tools — a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant — to spy on Hillary Clinton's rival. The FBI wanted to know if the Trump campaign had an October Surprise planned for Clinton and to see if there was dirt for the Clinton campaign to use as its own October Surprise against Trump. In September, Crossfire Hurricane's FISA application was rejected and with the election less than two months away, the clock was running. Steele's reports had finally arrived, but the FBI was worried that wouldn't be enough. After all, they were garbage. No serious intelligence or law enforcement professional could take Steele's memos seriously. Durham Report Is [Bad], So Where Are All The Indictments? Just for the record, this is far worse than Watergate. And that ended Richard Nixon's presidency, even though he neither planned nor approved of the break-ins against the Democratic Party offices in the famed Watergate Hotel. What will the perpetrators of this crime get? The FBI launched its now-infamous "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation of alleged Russian "influence" on the Trump campaign in July 2016. The premise for the investigation was a "dossier" of information from former British spy Christopher Steele that implicated Donald Trump and several of his supporters as being improperly influenced by Russia's government. The only problem: The dossier was found to be false, "misinformation" of the worst kind, but nonetheless reported as the "truth" by nearly all mainstream media outlets. 'No One Is Above the Law'? Don't You Believe It. Hillary Clinton's infamous Steele dossier scandal is parallel to the Trump charge, but stronger. She paid a legal firm to hire a former spy to dig up dirt on her political opponent. And she counted it as a legal expense on the books, which is precisely what Trump's indictment apparently is about — except hers really was about the campaign, whereas Trump's remains unclear. The only thing that can be said in her defense is that she laundered it through one more level. Main Trump-Russia Dossier Source Acquitted of Lying to FBI. Igor Danchenko, a primary contributor to the Trump-Russia dossier, has been acquitted of lying to the FBI regarding his sources for some claims in the document. After nearly ten hours of deliberation, the jury declared the source, an analyst who compiled the bulk of the dossier drafted by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele and which alleged collusion between former president Trump's 2016 campaign and Moscow, not guilty on all charges. Danchenko was accused of having made false statements regarding the sources of some information that he provided to a U.K. investigative firm in 2017 that was later passed to the FBI. Special counsel John Durham originally charged the Russian national with five counts of lying to the intelligence agency but one was tossed out Friday. Danchenko's case is expected to be the last connected to Durham's three-year investigation into the origins of the FBI's probe into the alleged Russiagate scandal. Will James Comey and Robert Mueller Be Prosecuted for Lies John Durham Uncovered? While special counsel John Durham's prosecution of Steele dossier source Igor Danchenko appears to be headed toward acquittal, Durham has used the trial to make public a number of revelations that cast the entire Trump-Russia collusion narrative in a fresh light. Most prominently, Durham revealed that on Oct. 3, 2016, the FBI had offered dossier author Christopher Steele up to $1 million to provide any information, physical evidence, or documentary evidence that could back up the claims in his dossier. But despite the huge reward on offer, Steele did not provide any such information. Crucially, despite Steele's failure to back up his dossier, a mere 18 days later the FBI proceeded to obtain a FISA warrant against Trump 2016 presidential campaign adviser Carter Page. In its application to the FISA court, the FBI used the Steele dossier — specifically, its claim that Page was acting as an agent of Russia — as evidence. Durham's In-Your-Face Danchenko Gambit. This trial was not really about Danchenko at all. It was about the FBI, the Department of Justice, and, finally, the Mueller investigation. "The evidence in this trial will show that the Steele dossier would cause the FBI to engage in troubling conduct that would ultimately result in the extended surveillance of the United States Citizens," said Keilty. That conduct, the trial revealed, included offering Christopher Steele what amounted to a million-dollar bribe to corroborate his infamous dossier, paying Danchenko to be a confidential human source (CHS) after he proved to be a serial liar, and basing a multi-year persecution of President Trump on information the FBI had every reason to believe was bunk. The attempted bribe, revealed on Day One of the trial, should have stopped the presses. Specifically, Durham asked FBI supervisor Brian Auten what the FBI offered Steele for "corroborative information." Said Auten, "Mr. Steele was offered anywhere up to a million dollars for any information, documentary, physical evidence, anything of that sort which could help to prove the allegations." This offer reeks of desperation. Danchenko Trial, Clinton Campaign Operative Admits on Witness Stand He Fabricated Evidence for Danchenko to Pass Along to Dossier Author Chris Steele. As the third day of the trial of Igor Danchenko took place a Clinton campaign operative named Charles Dolan was called to the witness stand to explain his relationship to the accused fabricator of information used within the Christopher Steele dossier. Charles Dolan has deep ties to the Democrat party. He has been a long-term advisor to Hillary Clinton, served as state chairman of Bill Clinton's 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns, and was a key player in Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Dolan is an operative within the larger democrat machinery, a leftist version of Karl Rove. Dolan was also a source for the Steele Dossier by providing information to Igor Danchenko who then sent the information to Chris Steele for inclusion in the Trump-dirt Steele Dossier. The FBI Ordered Informant Igor Danchenko to Erase All Evidence from His Phone of His Role in Their Attempted Coup of President Trump. In June 2020 TGP broke the story that the Primary Sub-Source (PSS) for the Steele dossier was Igor Danchenko — the individual behind most of the made-up lies in the Steele dossier. Danchenko was American-based not Russian-based. Danchenko is the one individual those looking into the Trump-Russia collusion fraud wanted to identify — the PSS — the individual who was behind the material amount of Steele dossier lies. At least two sources on the Internet had come to this conclusion by Sunday night. The Deep State kept Danchenko's name hidden for nearly four years. Danchenko's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case against their client. Buried inside the filing are several statements that are absolutely devastating for the Stasi-FBI. Dem operative admits under oath he lied about Team Trump in Steele dossier. Democratic operative Charles Dolan Jr. testified Thursday that he lied to Igor Danchenko in 2016 when he claimed to have information from a GOP insider about why Paul Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign. The false claim actually had been pulled from a cable news talking head, Mr. Dolan said at the federal trial of Mr. Danchenko, a Russian analyst who was the primary subsource for the so-called Steele dossier. The accusation ultimately found its way into that salacious unverified dossier of anti-Trump accusations compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele and attributed to "an American political figure associated with Donald Trump." Durham Trial: [the] 'Salacious and Unverified' Trump-Russia Dossier Story [was] Too Juicy for FBI to Check. An FBI intelligence analyst testifying in the special counsel probe by John Durham says he never really checked the fake story about the so-called "Steele dossier" in the Trump Russia collusion hoax — including the infamous and non-existent "pee tape" — and assumed FBI sources were telling the truth. This, even though the FBI offered a $1 million payday to verify it (it went uncollected), proving the FBI knew it was "salacious and unverified" in the words of former FBI chief James Comey. But knowing that, the FBI used the dossier against Donald Trump anyway and lied to the nation's top spy court to get a warrant to spy on his campaign. Utter proof the FBI framed Trump and shielded Hunter Biden. Igor Danchenko is on trial, but so is the FBI. That is the theme of Russiagate special counsel John Durham's prosecution of Danchenko, heading into its third day of trial in Alexandria, Va., federal court. Danchenko is charged with five counts of lying to the FBI about two of his sources for what became the infamous "Steele dossier" — a compilation of faux intelligence reports, mainly authored by former British spy Christopher Steele, that portrayed the GOP's then-presidential candidate, Donald Trump, as a clandestine agent of Russia. Danchenko was Steele's principal source. In essence, Durham accuses him of (a) concealing from the FBI that he was getting some information about the Trump campaign from Clinton political ally Charles Dolan and (b) falsely claiming he received explosive information from Sergei Millian, a Belarusian American tangentially associated with Trump, alleging the GOP candidate was in a "conspiracy of cooperation" with the Kremlin. FBI Put Key Dossier Source on Payroll in Apparent Effort to Conceal Dossier Fabrications. Special counsel John Durham filed a pre-trial motion in limine on Sept. 13 in his false statements case against Igor Danchenko, the primary sub-source of Christopher Steele's dossier on Donald Trump. Danchenko, who is charged with five counts of lying to the FBI about his sources for the dossier, had earlier filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. Epoch Times PhotoMotions in limine are routine motions that are used to determine what evidence may and may not be used at trial. Danchenko's trial is scheduled to begin next month. However, Durham's motion is anything but routine and contains a series of stunning revelations about Danchenko. Perhaps the most stunning disclosure is that Danchenko was given confidential human source (CHS) status by the FBI in March 2017. Notably, this was after Danchenko had disowned the Steele dossier in a January 2017 FBI interview, having admitted that it was based on gossip and rumors. Given the admission, there was no legitimate reason to extend the protections of CHS status to Danchenko, who no longer had any bona fide value to the FBI's investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion. In fact, the FBI's investigation ought to have ended as soon as Danchenko disclosed the true provenance of Steele's reporting. The FBI Paid For Russian Disinformation To Frame Trump. The FBI put a contributor to the Hillary Clinton campaign's Donald Trump smear dossier on FBI payroll as a confidential human source after investigating Igor Danchenko for allegedly spying for the Russian government, revealed Special Counsel John Durham in a court filing unsealed by a Virginia federal court yesterday. The filing contains this bombshell and seven other significant details about the Democrat-led plot to use U.S. intelligence agencies to deny Americans the results of their choice for president in 2016. The FBI made Danchenko a confidential human source, providing him and the FBI's use of him "national security" cover, in March 2017 and terminated that designation in October 2020, according to the court filing unsealed on Sept. 13. Danchenko is the originator of the false claim trumpeted all over global media that Donald Trump told prostitutes to pee on beds the Obamas had slept in in a Russian hotel. The FBI knew RussiaGate was a lie — but hid that truth. Declassified for Durham's probe, a March 2017 memo prepared by Lisa Page for FBI head James Comey's meeting with Congress' "Gang of Eight" — the bipartisan House and Senate leaders who oversee the most classified stuff — was a total cook-up job. It advised Comey to present accusations that Trump's campaign chair Paul Manafort and foreign policy adviser Carter Page were working with the Russian government as coming from a confidential Russia-based source with real intel-community chops. In fact, the FBI had already established that the root source was US-based former Brookings flunky Igor Danchenko's utterly speculative gossip with an ex-girlfriend and a Democratic Party hack. That, plus publicly reported info, was all Christopher Steele (a retired British spy who doesn't even speak Russian) ever had to back up his "dossier." And the FBI knew it since at least January 2017, when it interviewed Danchenko. The Shameful Six: Never listen to these people again. [#3] Christopher Steele just announced that Vladimir Putin is dying, which likely means he'll live to 100. That's because Steele's record of pitching "intel" that lib-world wants to hear is unrivaled. Steele, after all, whipped up an eponymous dossier on Trump's alleged misdeeds in Russia — now revealed to be no more than junior-high-level gossip between PR hacks — as a covert political op for Clinton World. He then saw it translated into bogus "scoops" by major media institutions. Steele, more than anyone else, made stagy histrionics and outright lying acceptable as long as they help advance the left's political aims. The Steele dossier's tawdry, absurd and fake 'sources'. We've known for some time, thanks to the efforts of special counsel John Durham, that the Steele dossier was a Clinton-camp fabrication. Now we know why the allegations it contained were so lurid, clumsy and (to anyone with an iota of sense) obviously fake. A Wall Street Journal deep dive reveals that Steele's central charges were based on idle gossip. Not from intel-community insiders with vast source networks. No: from a trio of unremarkable hacks with zero insight into covert affairs, whose only real connections were to Clinton World. What an embarrassment for the countless reporters and TV personalities who talked up this tawdry nonsense from total outsiders as a democracy-saving scoop. And for the FBI, which took Steele so seriously. 'Steele dossier' key source on Trump was shocked at 'fake news': report. A key source of the material in the largely discredited "Steele dossier" against former President Donald Trump was stunned to find out that gossip he shared wound up in the hands of the FBI, according to a new report. Veteran public relations executive Charles "Chuck" Dolan Jr. appeared shocked by the contents of the infamous dossier when it was published by BuzzFeed shortly before Trump's inauguration, some of his associates told the Wall Street Journal. Dolan — a longtime ally of both Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton — even sent an email denouncing the dossier just hours after it was posted online, according to the Journal. "I'm hoping that this is exposed as fake news," he reportedly wrote. Rand Paul devours Mayorkas on disinformation. Actor James Woods thoroughly enjoyed Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tearing into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the formation of a newly-announced Orwellian "Disinformation Governance Board," comparing it to a lion dining on a gazelle. [Tweet] "You say your new disinformation board is going to help the public with disinformation," he told Mayorkas referring to what is being seen as a "Ministry of Truth" by many. "You claim it is not going to be about domestic, it is going to be about foreigners. Those evil Russians." "Here's my question: The FBI concludes that the Steele dossier was full of Russian disinformation. CNN propagated this disinformation gladly for years and years. The difference between your opinion and our opinion is that no matter how despicable it is that CNN propagated this disinformation, I wouldn't lecture them, I wouldn't put it on a government website that CNN is wrong for propagating disinformation," Paul continued. The verdict is in: the Trump slandering is a pack of lies. In case you need more proof that the conspiracy theory about Donald Trump that obsessed the press and congressional Democrats for four years was made up by Hillary Clinton and her campaign, here comes another piece of evidence: John Durham reveals that the "A secret Trump server is communicating with a Russian bank" claim is bunk. In a new filing, Durham reveals that the CIA concluded that cellphone data and Internet traffic provided by Clinton attorney Michael Sussmann was "not technically plausible" and "user created." Just like the Christopher Steele dossier, they made it all up. Wish the CIA could have told us that. Robert Mueller said as much, yet many on the left continued to ignore his absolution, just as they will likely ignore or paper over the special counsel's conclusions. Clinton's team invented a story, forged evidence, and then presented it to the FBI and CIA as if it was something worth pursuing, derailing a presidency for years. Hillary Clinton Campaign Pays $113,000 FEC Fine in Admission of Guilt for Producing Steele Dossier. The DNC and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign agreed to pay $113,000 to settle a Federal Election Commission investigation into whether they violated campaign finance law. That is according to documents sent Tuesday [3/29/2022] to the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, which had filed an administrative complaint in 2018 accusing the Democrats of misreporting payments made to a law firm during the 2016 campaign to obscure the spending[.] The Editor says... Finally: Finding Holds DNC and Hillary Clinton Campaign Accountable for Dossier Hoax. We may be in uncharted territory here. After everything that the Clintons have done in their lives, there's finally an official finding that is holding them accountable. I'm not sure that I ever thought I would see the day, but here we are — and it's a significant finding on behalf of the truth. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has fined the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign for lying about th [sic] funding behind the Steele dossier that they used to try to spread the Russia collusion hoax. The dossier was then used to smear Donald Trump and fuel an FBI investigation that surveilled the Trump team. There probably has not been anything in history that has been so wrong and so damaging to the country against a political opponent. Scoop: FEC fines DNC and Clinton for Trump dossier hoax. The Federal Election Commission has fined the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for lying about the funding of the infamous, and discredited, Russian "dossier" used in a smear attempt against Donald Trump weeks before he shocked the world with his 2016 presidential victory. The election agency said that Clinton and the DNC violated strict rules on describing expenditures of payments funneled to the opposition research firm Fusion GPS through their law firm. Trump celebrates as FEC fines Hillary Clinton and the DNC over the way it paid firm to produce the Steele dossier. Former Donald Trump on Wednesday accused his 2016 opponent of trying to 'illegally destroy' his campaign after it emerged that regulators had fined Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee of failing to properly disclose spending on the controversial Steele dossier. Trump used the findings to repeat his attacks on a slew of enemies that he listed in a lawsuit last week. Payments by the Clinton campaign and the D.N.C. to a law firm, he said, were 'a guise to hire numerous companies, all of whom are now named defendants in my lawsuit, to try and take down and illegally destroy your favorite president, me,' he said in an emailed statement Durham to produce 'large volume' of classified discovery in Steele dossier source case. The Justice Department plans to produce a "large volume" of classified materials this week in the Russiagate case against the main source for British ex-spy Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier. Special counsel John Durham made the assertion in a filing Tuesday asking a judge for a deadline extension for the production of classified discovery in accordance with the Classified Information Procedures Act, a law that establishes procedures for protecting classified information in criminal cases. Durham pinned the need for a delay on agency personnel being involved in matters related to Russia's war in Ukraine. Conspirators in Their Own Words. For nearly five years anyone who objected that the partisan Christopher Steele and his "dossier" were fraudulent, that Glenn Simpson's Fusion GPS was a paid opposition hit team, and their joint birthing of "Trump-Russia collusion" was a myth, was smeared as a denialist or conspiracist. But examine what has transpired since 2016. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 22-month investigation found nothing. Mueller in congressional testimony was either addled or disingenuous. He even claimed he knew nothing of Fusion GPS or the dossier, the twin catalysts for his own investigation. The more Mueller meandered, the more it was clear that his henchman, partisan lawyer Andrew Weissmann, had hijacked the left-wing "All-Star" and "Dream Team" of lawyers and was running the charade. The more the Left boasted of the legal eagles set to tear apart Trump, the more glaring their failure to find any such evidence supporting their conspiracies. Christopher Steele, once the object of left-wing adulation who sought to warp the 2016 election by leaking his smears, is now a pariah. Indeed, he is relegated to the clown-like status of a Michael Avenatti. Steele has testified to what we already knew: He has no notes or sources to substantiate his ludicrous file. SpyGate 101: A Primer On The Russia Collusion Hoax's Years-long Plot To Take Down Trump. As Special Counsel John Durham continues to expose more details of the "SpyGate" or "Russia collusion" scandal, it can be difficult for any apolitical, non-news-junkie member of the public to grasp the ongoing developments. After all, for more than five years, the corrupt legacy media has refused to report on scandal or done so with a slanted portrayal of the facts. So most Americans remain unaware of the Democrats' years-long duplicity that sought to destroy first candidate and then President Donald Trump. Add to that reality the overlapping conspiracies and sprawling cast of characters involved, and it can be difficult to follow the story. That the scandal is dense, however, does not mean it should be ignored. To the contrary, the duplicity must not be disregarded because what Trump's political enemies tried to accomplish over the course of five years represents the biggest threat our constitutional republic has seen in the last century. The Editor says... Eyes turn to Hillary Clinton, not Trump in the Russiagate scandal. Russiagate, the collective delusion that Donald Trump was secretly a Russian agent aided and abetted by the Kremlin, the topic of uncountable inches of Washington Post and New York Times copy and the entire prime-time lineup of MSNBC, was a dirty trick by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Not just part of it. All of it. One of the most diabolical, successful misinformation campaigns ever concocted. We already knew that the Steele dossier was garbage. Christopher Steele was paid indirectly by the Clinton campaign to dig up dirt, which he did by turning to other Clinton operatives, laundering every outlandish rumor about Trump he could find into an "investigative" document. He shopped it to the FBI, which couldn't verify his sources or any of his stories, but the agency dragged out the investigation to cast maximum suspicion on the new president. In the meantime, Steele found willing accomplices in the media to push his propaganda. The dupes at BuzzFeed even decided to print the whole pack of lies, with the flimsy rationale of "Well, why not?" Fusion GPS Didn't Only Work on Steele Dossier, They Worked on Nearly Every Key Anti-Trump Narrative Coming from DOJ and Mueller Gang. A document provided in a D.C. court case against Fusion GPS shows that the company was involved in much more than the garbage Steele Dossier behind the Trump-Russia hoax. The company was also behind the Alfa Bank, Carter Page, Papadopoulos, Manafort, and the Trump family lies and smears as well. Little did we know that associating Fusion GPS with the Steele Dossier was actually short-changing the company's efforts to harass and take down the President of the United States, Donald Trump. This company did much more than that. A document uncovered in a court case in D.C. with Fusion GPS shows that the company was working on nearly every piece of information eventually used by the Mueller gang to take down President Trump. Durham Investigation of Obamagate Expands. Special Counsel John Durham is not yet finished with his investigation into the Obamagate scandal, and a new report says his efforts have expanded. According to recent court filings, Durham has gained access to a significant amount of FBI internal affairs files in his effort to uncover the Obama administration's maneuvers to promote bogus allegations against Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Team Obama's disingenuous investigation of the anti-Trump allegations, called Crossfire Hurricane, relied on the discredited Christopher Steele dossier, which was paid for by party activists. What Did Clinton Know and When Did She Know It? The Russiagate Evidence Builds. As indictments and new court filings indicate that Special Counsel John Durham is investigating Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for feeding false reports to the FBI to incriminate Donald Trump and his advisers as Kremlin agents, Clinton's role in the burgeoning scandal remains elusive. What did she know and when did she know it? Top officials involved in her campaign have repeatedly claimed, some under oath, that they and the candidate were unaware of the foundation of their disinformation campaign: the 35-page collection of now debunked claims of Trump/Russia collusion known as the Steele dossier. Even though her campaign helped pay for the dossier, they claim she only read it after BuzzFeed News published it in 2017. But court documents, behind-the-scenes video footage and recently surfaced evidence reveal that Clinton and her top campaign advisers were much more involved in the more than $1 million operation to dredge up dirt on Trump and Russia than they have let on. Will the Arrogance of the FBI Ever End? FBI misconduct in "political cases" against Republicans goes back at least five years to the "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation, when the FBI accused then-candidate Donald Trump of "colluding" with "the Russians" to steal the 2016 election. The FBI used the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to grab electronic communications of the top people in the Trump campaign and later the Trump administration. There is now a controversy as to whether Crossfire Hurricane was started because of the now infamous Steele Dossier from former MI6 agent Christopher Steele. It alleged ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. In December 2019, DoJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz reported to Congress that he concluded that the Steele Dossier "played no role in the Crossfire Hurricane opening," although the FBI did make some use of it. Durham's Investigation: Incriminating Inference in the FBI's Empty Russiagate Predication. But why avoid Steele's work? Steele has told investigators, per his contemporaneous notes, that he had told Gaeta that "Democratic Party associates" were paying him, and the "ultimate client" was the Clinton campaign. Another FBI field office learned that the "Democratic National Committee" and one other individual were commissioning the Steele work. On August 2, according to the Horowitz report, four members of the Crossfire Hurricane team, including Strzok, were so informed. Yet the FBI never told FISC of this sponsorship in any of the four FISA applications, a highly material fact that should have been disclosed. Perhaps even more chilling, the FBI knew that Simpson, Steele, and sub-sources were a rogues' gallery of Russian spies, agents, and oligarchic retainers. Simpson was working at the time for the Russian oligarchic Katsyv family and Prevezon Holdings in a huge Magnitsky Act case, along with Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, she of the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting imbroglio. Steele was the main intelligence advisor, since 2010, for one of Putin's closest allies, oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Primary sub-source Igor Danchenko had been investigated as a Russian spy and had worked for Steele and Deripaska for years. Da Please — stop the coup porn. In a recent Washington Post op-ed, three retired generals, Paul Eaton, Antonio Taguba, and Steven Anderson warn of a supposedly impending coup should Donald Trump be elected in 2024. The column seemed strangely timed to coincide with a storm of recent Democratic talking points that a re-elected Trump, or even a Republican sweep of the 2022 midterms, would spell a virtual end of democracy. Ironies abound. [...] The three retired generals say nothing about the Russia collusion hoax in which Obama administration officials at the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the CIA helped to seed a fake dossier — paid for by candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Ex-British intelligence operative Christopher Steele's made-up opposition research was designed first to derail Trump's campaign, then to disable his transition and finally sabotage his presidency. All that seems rather coup-like. In truth, coups were regularly discussed during the last four years — but only in the context of a by-any-means-necessary way of deposing Donald Trump extralegally before his term ran out. It's official: Durham is investigating the Clinton Campaign. Igor Danchenko, the primary subsource of Christopher Steele, was arrested on November 3, 2021 for giving multiple false statements to federal officials during his 2017 interviews with the FBI. These included lies about Danchenko's sources, his travels to Russia, and his falsified contacts with Sergei Millian. [...] Notably, Special Counsel John Durham alleges that one of Danchenko's real "sources" was Charles Dolan, Jr. (perhaps first identified by Aaron Mate), who served in various leadership positions to elect Bill Clinton in the 1992 and 1996 campaigns and was an advisor to Hillary Clinton in her 2016 campaign for president. With Dolan's involvement, the obvious question becomes whether he was the intermediary between the Clinton Campaign and Danchenko. After all, we know that the Hillary Clinton Campaign paid for the Steele dossiers and the work by Fusion GPS. This was arranged through their attorneys (and the DNC attorneys) at Perkins Coie — notably Mark Elias and Michael Sussmann. Elias left the firm this summer. Sussmann was indicted in September 2021 by Special Counsel Durham for giving false statements relating to the Alfa Bank/Trump hoax. Igor Danchenko [is] Now Represented by Hillary Clinton Lawyers. In a court filing today [12/20/2021] by Special Counsel John Durham[,] it's noted that previously indicted Igor Danchenko, the primary sub-source for Christopher Steele's fraudulent dossier against Donald Trump, is now represented by the same lawyers representing Hillary Clinton's legal interests. John Durham is asking the court to evaluate the legal conflicts: [...] Why would the legal firm representing Hillary Clinton (to the Durham probe) step-in to represent Igor Danchenko in his criminal indictment? The only logical reason would be for Danchenko to represent a legal risk to the interests of Hillary Clinton, likely through the direct association between Hillary Clinton and Charles Dolan, Danchenko's collaborator and the liaison to Chris Steele from the Clinton campaign. As a result of the Durham indictment, we know Igor Danchenko was working closely with Democrat Party public relations executive Charles Dolan to funnel the fabricated source material to Chris Steele. The Clinton team's communication and contact with Charles Dolan would represent a legal risk to Hillary Clinton. Putin's propaganda coup. For decades, Moscow has sought to weaken the United States by sowing discord among Americans and undermining public trust in democracy. But the past few years have given Russian mischief-makers the biggest return on investment since the Cold War. And contrary to the ubiquitous narrative blasted across the media wires nightly, Donald Trump and his administration were only part of the story. Indeed, the most consequential conduit for Vladimir Putin's objectives were those public men and women in the media and government who supercharged and disseminated the most extreme conspiracy theories, including those contained in the infamous and discredited Steele dossier as well as the supposition that Trump was a literal Manchurian candidate controlled by a hostile foreign power. So dismayed by Trump's 2016 election victory, these useful idiots enthusiastically injected these toxins into the body politic, betraying the public's trust in its institutions in the process. This latter point is likely to leave lasting damage. Special counsel John Durham's recent arrest of Igor Danchenko, who once had been employed as a Russian analyst by the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank, brings the once-blurry picture into sharper focus. Journalist-Authors Isikoff, Corn Also Fell For Danchenko's Mythical Dossier Source. After Special Counsel John Durham last month charged the primary source of the Steele dossier with lying to investigators about a Trump supporter providing its most explosive allegations, some high-profile journalists who made a connection between the supporter, Sergei Millian, and the dossier have retracted their published reporting. But others have resisted doing so — including Yahoo News' Michael Isikoff and Mother Jones' David Corn, who co-authored a book erroneously linking Millian to the dossier. [...] Corn, the Washington bureau chief for the leftist political magazine Mother Jones, and Isikoff, the chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News, were among the first journalists to press the Steele dossier in the media, starting in the fall of 2016. Why the Russiagate Scandal Outranks the Rest. Russiagate is the biggest scandal in American history. Nothing comes close in size, scope or harm to the republic than the years-long effort to cripple Donald Trump's presidency by claiming he conspired with an enemy state to steal the 2016 election and then do its bidding as commander-in-chief. Its notorious predecessors — L'Affaire Lewinsky, Iran-Contra, Watergate, Teapot Dome, [...] — involved relatively small numbers of malefactors engaged in specific acts of illegality and corruption (we still don't know who, if anyone, planned the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol)[.] Russiagate, by contrast, is a vast conspiracy involving innumerable powerful forces, including the Democratic Party, NeverTrump Republicans, the Obama administration, the FBI, Department of Justice and the nation's most prestigious news outlets. Russia hoax whitewash era begins (2). The Clinton presidential campaign's fabrication of the Russia hoax is the dirtiest trick in American political history. Beginning with Glenn Simpson/Fusion GPS and the Perkins Coie law firm, it enlisted co-conspirators in the Obama Department of Justice, the FBI, and the mainstream media. The principals are not only still at large, they have achieved high office, wealth, riches, and Pulitzer Prizes. They will never be brought to justice. They won't even break a sweat. We were never meant to be clued in. As the veil of the fraud was pierced by Rep. Devin Nunes and others including, most recently, John Durham, we now have a good handle on the con. It is almost unbelievable. It is also an inexhaustibly rich subject. The Weissmann Sub-Dossier Surfaces. Clinton legal consigliere Andrew Weissmann came out with his memoirs of Team Mueller in book form in September of 2020. The book is somewhat ambiguously titled: "Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation." No doubt Weissmann knew what he meant by that, although my point of view would be that where the law ended is where the Mueller investigation began. Meaning, the Mueller investigation began when any predication for a legitimate investigation of Trump ended. Revelations regarding Igor Danchenko, in John Durham's indictment, lend powerful support to that interpretation (which I've maintained from the beginning). [...] At any rate, the reason for going into all this is that Weissmann's book has surfaced again, in the context of a NYT FOIA suit. Here Comes the Limited Hangout. [Scroll down] The Clinton campaign's lawyers hired Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, co-founders of the D.C. political communications firm Fusion GPS to distribute the dossier to the media. After Steele's ostensible primary source for the dossier was indicted for lying to the FBI last month, Fusion GPS' media clients have been trying to put room between themselves and Steele's counterfeit memos by arguing that the dossier never actually mattered. Nonetheless, the Russiagate faithful still maintain that the dossier's wholesale untruthfulness doesn't affect its essential underlying truth, which is ostensibly corroborated in endless numbers of other places — this type of logic is generally known as "cargo-culting." Cordoning off the dossier to preserve the collusion story is a standard part of the Russiagate playbook. Four years ago, when the narrative started to unravel once congressional investigators discovered the dossier had been funded by the Clinton campaign, The New York Times published a story [...] showing that the Trump-Russia investigation wasn't based on the dossier after all. Rather, the story claimed, the investigation had been opened in July 2016 because a foreign official told American law enforcement officials that a Trump aide had been told by another foreign national that the Russians had Clinton's emails. Here Comes the Limited Hangout. In September, John Durham, the special counsel investigating the origins of the FBI's Russia probe, charged Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann with lying to the FBI. In September 2016, Sussmann, a former Justice Department official, passed reports to the bureau that were meant to incriminate the Trump circle by claiming evidence of links between the Trump organization and a Russian bank. Sussmann had told the FBI he was not acting on behalf of a client, but records Durham obtained from Sussmann's law firm, Perkins Coie, showed he was billing the Clinton campaign for drawing up the reports and for the meeting itself. Last month, charges were brought against Igor Danchenko, the former Brookings Institution analyst who was ostensibly the primary source for Christopher Steele's notorious "dossier," which served as the legal foundation for the Russiagate conspiracy theory within the FBI. Danchenko was indicted for lying to the FBI, on five counts, with a maximum sentence of five years for each count. Lack of accountability for Steele dossier coverage shows media collusion. Axios says there's a media "reckoning" over coverage of the Steele dossier after the partisan oppo document's primary source was charged with lying to the FBI. "It's one of the most egregious journalistic errors in modern history," writes Sara Fischer, "and the media's response to its own mistakes has so far been tepid." "Tepid" is a nice way of putting it. While The Washington Post "corrected" some of its discredited dossier reporting, removing portions connecting former President Donald Trump to Russia, there has been virtually no other accountability. And, really, it's become modus operandi for news organizations to "correct" stories in which the entire premise is false. Any sort of "reckoning" would mean a retraction, followed by investigative deep dives, not only reporting the problems with the story themselves but outing the fraudulent sources who participated in the deception. It's all about the narrative — facts [notwithstanding]. Meanwhile, last week, we learned that the Department of Justice had indicted one Igor Danchenko, a Russia analyst who worked with Christopher Steele on the infamous Steele dossier — a collection of bizarre misinformation about Trump treated as blockbuster material by the media. Danchenko, it is alleged, concealed that one of his informational sources was a Democratic Party operative close with the Clinton family. This means that Steele, at the behest of Hillary Clinton's hired guns at Fusion GPS, gathered false information from Clinton allies, and laundered it into a report — and then Clinton's team handed the Steele report over to the FBI, which promptly used it as the basis for a FISA warrant against Carter Page, a member of the Trump campaign. The Clinton campaign then used the FBI investigation of Team Trump as a campaign point. The media, of course, went right along with all of this. When the Steele dossier went public, members of the media treated it as though it were verified and credible. As Bill Grueskin, former academic dean at Columbia Journalism School, writes, "some reporters simply didn't like or trust Mr. Trump and didn't want to appear to be on his side." Dirty tricks by Clintons shaped liberal opinion and news coverage of Trump for years. In 2016, the law firm Perkins Coie, representing Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee, hired former MI6 intelligence officer Christopher Steele to gather opposition research against Donald Trump regarding his supposed clandestine ties to Russia. Russian national Igor Danchenko, who worked for Steele, fabricated and passed to Steele lurid rumors about Trump, some of which he might have fabricated himself, others of which came from Clinton operatives such as Charles Dolan. These Clinton-originated rumors were intended to make it seem like Trump was closely tied to the Russian government and possibly also being blackmailed by Russian intelligence for genuinely gross behavior with prostitutes. Steele went on to launder Danchenko's fabrications back into the United States through the now-infamous Steele dossier, intended to resemble an intelligence document with reputable sourcing. But it was still just the Clinton campaign's product — not only bought and paid for by the Clinton campaign but also a regurgitation of rumors started by its own operatives. Within federal law enforcement, these Clinton-originated lies took on a life of their own. Even though the FBI had been long familiar with Steele and stopped using him as a source of information, agents, some of them partisans with axes to grind, used this information. It became their justification for the unprecedented surveillance of the Trump campaign through a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Agents knowingly lied in order to get judges to keep the investigation alive. After Steele source indictment, will Durham charge FBI agents? As John Durham's investigation takes shape, the question of whether the special counsel will charge anyone else at the FBI looms large. [...] DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded in December 2019 that Steele's dossier played a "central and essential" role in the FBI's effort to obtain wiretap orders against former Trump campaign associate Carter Page. The DOJ watchdog determined the FBI's investigation was filled with serious missteps and concealed potentially exculpatory information from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, criticizing the bureau for at least 17 "significant errors and omissions," particularly its reliance upon Steele. The FBI knew Steele had an anti-Trump bias, his dossier was flawed, and he was receiving funding from Clinton and the DNC, but it didn't specifically tell the FISA court. So far, Durham has obtained a single guilty plea from ex-FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith for editing a FISA filing fraudulently to state Page was "not a source" for the CIA. Why The Left Always Projects. [Scroll down] Remember, it was Team Hillary, after the 2016 election, that rounded up celebrities to cut commercials urging the electors not to honor their states' popular votes. Then we went to the surrogate Jill Stein's lawsuits challenging voting machine counting. And finally, during the transition and Trump presidency, Hillary bragged of the new maquis "Resistance" that spread her fake Steele-Clinton dossier throughout the State Department, FBI, CIA, and Justice Department. There is a slight chance that John Durham may eventually work his way up to this largely illegal effort — from Hillary's minions to those in her inner circle. As far as the charge of Russian collusion itself, both the Left and Hillary, Inc. always knew that in comparison to their own Clinton and Obama years (e.g., the red plastic reset button, the prohibition of offensive weapons sales to Ukraine, the anti-drilling agenda in the United States, the snoring while Putin gobbled up Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and the "tell Vladimir to wait till after the election" hot mic Obama moment), the Left had for years insidiously appeased Putin. Charles Dolan's Involvement in Dossier Means DOJ, FBI Withheld Information: Kash Patel. The revelation that Democratic operative Charles Dolan was one of the sources for the dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele shows the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) withheld information from congressional investigators, Kash Patel said Friday [11/12/2021]. "I'm the lead Russia guy, and I had never heard of this guy," Patel said. "It means, to me, the FBI, DOJ under Rod Rosenstein withheld information that was critical to the Russiagate investigation that we were running in 2017, 2018. And who knows what else they've left out?" Patel was an investigator for the House Intelligence Committee. He was speaking on "Kash's Corner," a program he hosts on EpochTV. Rosenstein was deputy attorney general under former President Donald Trump and appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the Trump-Russia collusion theories. Igor Danchenko, Steele's primary sub-source, was charged last week with making false statements to federal investigators. One of the counts stems from Danchenko denying he spoke with a person dubbed "PR-Executive-1" in the federal indictment. That person is Charles Dolan, his lawyer confirmed to The Epoch Times. Trump Dossier Coverage 'One of the Most Egregious Journalistic Errors' in History, Admits Corporate Media. Axios, one of the leading D.C.-based corporate media outlets, has admitted that reporting surrounding the now infamous Trump-Steele dossier was "one of the most egregious journalistic errors in modern history," in an article slamming news-media colleagues for the years of fake news reporting. "...[T]he media's response to its own mistakes has so far been tepid," wrote Sara Fischer on Sunday morning, as it becomes increasingly clear to the nation's journalistic class that not only were they willingly duped for years, but that they have made almost no efforts to correct their outright falsehoods. WaPo walkback: Paper yanks chunks of stories based on discredited Steele dossier. The Washington Post on Friday took the unusual step of correcting and retracting portions of two articles, published in 2017 and 2019, that relied on the now-discredited, Trump-bashing Steele dossier. Sally Buzbee, the executive editor for the Washington Post, revealed the newspaper was unable to stand by the accuracy of their reporting regarding source Sergei Millian — former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce — noting the recent indictment filed by Special Counsel John Durham this month. Anatomy of the Clinton Hit Job. Christopher Steele and his ludicrous so-called dossier "lie" at the heart of the Clinton hit job. BuzzFeed posted Steele's dossier memos online here on January 10, 2017. I thought from my first time through it that the dossier was absurd on its face. With the exposure of the players and Steele's phony sources, we learn that it was worse than absurd, but it was certainly that too. The avid participation of the press in the Clinton fraud orchestrated by the Clinton players cannot be overstated. Danchenko Indictment: How Dossier Non-Source Sergei Millian Was Framed. In January 2017, Igor Danchenko, a primary source for the Steele dossier, told FBI officials in a debriefing that one of his sources for derogatory information about Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia was merely an anonymous voice on the other end of a phone call that lasted 10-15 minutes. The voice, Danchenko claimed, was someone he assumed to be Sergei Millian, an immigrant from Belarus, president and founder of an organization called the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. As thin as that sourcing sounds, the truth appears to be worse. According to a new criminal indictment, Danchenko lied to FBI agents: There was no voice and there was no phone call. The Russian national made it all up. Adam Schiff's disgraceful legacy. The most recent indictment by Special Counsel John Durham has fully exposed the notorious Steele dossier as nothing more than a collection of lies designed to drive the phony narrative that former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia. But beyond Hillary Clinton and her cronies who invented and disseminated the hoax, there were plenty of other remorseless liars who contributed to the fiction. The most flagrant huckster of hysteria was Rep. Adam Schiff, the highest ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. He was instrumental in fueling the feeding frenzy over the dossier fabricated by ex-British spy, Christopher Steele. Schiff promoted it and defended it in hundreds of televised appearances. Discredited anti-Trump Steele dossier was embraced by liberal media: Here are five of the biggest offenders. Special Counsel John Durham's investigation into the Trump-Russia probe has further discredited the infamous Steele dossier, which provided the roadmap for the liberal media to paint the former president as compromised by the Kremlin and even a possible sexual deviant. Durham indicted Russian national Igor Danchenko, who is believed to be the sub-source for former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier. The scandalous dossier — funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign through law firm Perkins Coie — provided the liberal media with countless anti-Trump headlines, cable news segments and helped set the tone for years of daily, feverish Russiagate coverage. The Rewriting of History Begins After Bombshell Steele Dossier Revelations. Over the last two weeks, the Steele Dossier, which was pushed for years as a credible source of dirt on Donald Trump, has been completely discredited. While it's been obvious for a long time that the dossier was unverified and full of false conspiracy theories, John Durham's indictment has given us an eye into exactly how the sausage was made and put the last nail in the coffin. Igor Danchenko, now indicted for lying multiple times to the FBI, was the chief source for Christopher Steele, but it was a Hillary Clinton operative who actually fed Danchenko many of the salacious claims. And with those revelations have come the ritual rewriting of history. The Washington Post has begun to delete parts of past articles that discussed the Steele Dossier. Democrats who probed Russian interference and hyped Steele dossier [are] silent after Danchenko indictment. Democrats who probed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections and touted the Steele dossier are now quiet following the indictment of Igor Danchenko, the primary sub-source of the dossier's contents, for making false statements to the FBI. Fox News sought comment on Danchenko's indictment from seven Democratic members who sat on the House Intelligence Committee during its Russia probe and promoted or defended the dossier, including Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, Joaquin Castro, Mike Quigley, Jackie Speier, André Carson and Jim Himes. None of their offices responded. Schiff was confronted over the dossier but refused to address the issue head-on. None of the other Democrats appears to have addressed Danchenko's indictment despite previously hyping the anti-Trump report. The Sussmann and Danchenko Indictments By John Durham Show The Mueller Investigation Was Always A Charade. The two recent indictments obtained by Special Counsel John Durham combine to reveal that the Mueller Special Counsel Office was created, at least in part, to keep hidden the role of the Clinton Campaign and Democrat operatives in the Trump-Russia Hoax. Michael Sussmann, a high profile attorney working for the Clinton Campaign, and Igor Danchenko, the "Primary Sub-source for the Christopher Steele Reports, are charged with lying to the FBI at moments in time, and as to specific subjects about which truthful answers would have exposed the involvement of the Clinton Campaign in the operation to falsely smear GOP candidate and later President Donald Trump. We Are Finally Uncovering the Center of the Scandal of the Steele Dossier. Remember, it took more than a year before we learned that the dossier was not a dossier, i.e., a collection of basically verified information about a subject, but merely opposition "research," i.e., completely unsubstantiated stories, covertly paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Thousands of news stories were published about the Steele Dossier. Journalists picked over its every allegation, pretending to weigh each charge and track down every outlandish story. The entire apparat of the FBI, aided by our so-called "intelligence" agencies wheeled into action. Poor, doddering Robert Mueller, who claimed at a Congressional hearing not to be familiar with "Fusion GPS," the group that siphoned money from the Clinton campaign, via the Perkins Coie law firm, to Steele, was the titular head of an investigation that lasted for well nigh two years. Mueller's extended inquiry, which came up with no evidence of collusion between Donald Trump and the Russians, cost the American taxpayers some 40 million dollars. Nobody at the FBI Was Fooled by Clinton Campaign's Private Operatives. The Brennan notes, coupled with an investigative referral sent to the FBI, make clear that all the top Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI officials involved in accepting fake evidence from private operatives during the course of the 2016 presidential campaign knew they were being approached by people associated with the Clinton campaign. These federal officials then started investigations of the Trump campaign and applied for federal surveillance warrants on Trump associates based on this fake information. The documentary evidence speaks very loudly and very clearly: None of these people at the federal agencies were fooled by either the fake Steele dossier or the fake Alfa-Bank documents. Not one of them. James Comey, Peter Strzok, and Andrew McCabe, to just name three of the top people involved, knew all along who these operatives approaching them with these fake hoaxes were really working for. They had been alerted in July 2016 about what Clinton's campaign was preparing to do. And then both Comey and Strzok were alerted again in September of 2016 when they received the investigative referral from the CIA. Yet despite this, Comey and Strzok went ahead and took the Steele dossier from the Clinton campaign's operatives and made use of it for a federal surveillance warrant in late October of 2016. Hillary's Russian Dossier and Other Legal and Media Travesties. It has taken far too long for the Department of Justice to reveal the underpinnings of the phony Trump-Russian collusion story, a story in which Clinton associates and contractors fobbed off shoddy opposition research as "intelligence" to a credulous and corrupt FBI and press. But this week, we are finally getting to the genesis. We know now that the FBI was not duped, but knew the truth — that the Dossier which the press had trumpeted as proof of the collusion was a complete lie, and yet kept the public in the dark about it. We know also that the factual underpinnings of the Dossier were created by a Russian national (Igor Danchenko) who was introduced to a Clinton associate and Democratic operative (Charles Dolan) who himself for years had represented Russian interests. We know the two men were introduced to each other by Fiona Hill, a "Russian expert for the National Security Council" under Trump who just happened to testify against the President in the phony unrelated Ukrainian impeachment case, and that she also introduced Danchenko to Christopher Steele, opposition researcher for hire and author of the fabricated Dossier. Deep meaning of the Danchenko case. In the scheme of things the indictment handed up by an Eastern District of Virginia grand jury against Igor Danchenko this past Thursday may be small potatoes, but the case is significant. [...] Danchenko is a Russian national who held down a perch at the Brookings Institution in years past, from 2005-2010. He was Christopher Steele's most important source of the fabrications in the so-called Steele Dossier. Danchenko allegedly relied in part on one Charles Dolan for his fabrications. Dolan was a long-time Democratic Party operative in the Clinton circle of Bill and Hillary Clinton. He is the indictment's PR Executive-1. Dolan himself seems to have thought that Danchenko worked for the the Russian intelligence agency FSB. At Brookings Fiona Hill — the Trump administration NSC official who promoted Trump's impeachment — connected Danchenko with Steele. She also connected Danchenko with Dolan. You can make this stuff up, but it lacks verisimilitude. Hillary's Russian Dossier and Other Legal and Media Travesties. [Scroll down] Even the testimony of the witnesses called by the bumbling prosecutors of Kyle Rittenhouse are making a strong case that the defendant acted in accord with recognized law on self-defense the middle of a violent riot. The best coverage is by Andrew F. Branca at Legal Insurrection: [...] In the Rittenhouse case, too, the FBI apparently has mud on its face. It had taken high overhead thermal image video of the incident which fact it did not until recently disclose to the defense and which it now claims is missing. Durham's latest indictment: More lines drawn to Clinton's campaign. [Igor] Danchenko, 43, was a key figure in the compilation of the infamous Steele dossier that led to the now discredited investigation of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential race. But Danchenko, a Russian emigre living in the U.S., seems unlikely to be the Durham investigation's apex defendant. In fact, Durham describes him at points more like a shill than a spy, an "investigator" who was fed what to report by Clinton operatives such as [Charles] Dolan. Durham is known as a methodical, apolitical and unrelenting prosecutor. Thus far, his work seems to betray a belief that the FBI got played by the Clinton campaign to investigate the Trump team. The question is whether Durham really wants to indict just the figurative tail if he can get the whole dog — a question that now may weigh heavily on a number of Washington figures, just as it did following Durham's indictment in September of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann. Our mostly complicit, compliant, sycophant press has no concern about facts, only Democrat power. The basic story of the 2016 election is that the corrupt, criminal, unlikable Hillary and the DNC couldn't run on their record or unpopular leftist Democrat policies, so they needed to destroy Trump. They clearly couldn't dig up enough truthful dirt, so they set out to create pure fiction. They paid a foreign national, a Trump-hater, over $10 million to create a dossier full of pure lies. They funneled the money through Democrat operatives at a private law firm. They committed fraud when they signed documents to the FEC saying these payments were for legal fees. No one at the Hillary campaign or DNC was punished for the fraud because no one cared. They were also supporting Hillary. The swamp is deep. Then these lies were spread throughout the media and throughout the corrupt Obama-Biden administration to destroy Trump and his associates. The lies were obvious, yet no one cared. All they cared about was electing and protecting Hillary. Dishonest people working at the FBI used these fictitious documents in lies to the FISA court as they set out to spy on and entrap anyone associated with Trump. Clinton Operative Linked to Steele Dossier Did Not Disclose Work for Russia to Justice Department. The Clinton operative who provided information for the infamous Steele dossier worked for years for the Russian government and its state-owned gas giant Gazprom, though his activities are not disclosed in foreign agent filings with the Department of Justice. Charles Dolan, a longtime Democratic operative and public-relations maven, worked as a senior consultant for the Russian government from 2006 to 2014 and in 2016 had extensive contacts with high-level Russian officials, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday by Special Counsel John Durham. Dolan in 2016 also fed information to Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst who served as the primary source for Christopher Steele, a former British spy who investigated Donald Trump on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. During the years he worked for Russia, Dolan was not registered with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, according to a review of government records. Inside the Clinton dossier and the con behind the Russiagate scandal. The nation argued for five years over the infamous Steele dossier, the document on which the FBI relied to investigate Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. It should have been called the Clinton dossier. Special counsel John Durham this week obtained an indictment of Igor Danchenko, a Russian who provided information for the dossier. Danchenko is charged with lying to the FBI, but the bigger story of the indictment is Democrats' central role in every aspect of the dossier and the FBI investigation. Never forget the original claim. According to the FBI, Democrats and the media, Trump harbored secret and nefarious ties with Russia. We knew that because — as Mother Jones explained in a 2016 article that became the reigning storyline — Christopher Steele was a "credible source with a proven record of providing reliable, sensitive and important information to the US government." He had come across "troubling" evidence of Trump collusion and brought it to US law enforcement. Steele Dossier Source Arrested As Part of Durham Probe Into Russia Collusion Hoax. A key figure in the Russia collusion hoax was arrested on Thursday [11/4/2021] in Special Counsel John Durham's years-long investigation into the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation, which weaponized the Democrats' opposition research into former president Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. According to the New York Times, Igor Danchenko, the primary researcher behind the now debunked and discredited Steele dossier, has been arrested under sealed indictment. Danchenko worked for Steele's firm, Orbis Business International, which subcontracted to notorious opposition research firm, Fusion GPS. The Democrat law firm Perkins Coie, which was working for the Hillary Clinton campaign, hired Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on then-candidate Trump. Lawyer: 'PR Executive 1' in Durham Indictment Is Former Democratic Party Campaigner. A lawyer on Thursday [11/4/2021] confirmed that Washington-based communications executive Charles Dolan Jr. is the individual referred to as "PR Executive-1" in special counsel John Durham's indictment against Russia analyst Igor Danchenko, which was unsealed earlier this week. The grand jury indictment of Dachenko alleges that he lied when he told the FBI that he never communicated with a public relations executive who had been active in the Democratic Party about claims in a dossier issued by former UK spy Christopher Steele. Although the public relations executive, or "PR Executive-1," is never named in the indictment, Dolan's lawyer Ralph Martin told The Epoch Times on Friday that his client is the person in question. "Chuck understands and appreciates your interest," Martin told The Epoch Times, confirming reports on Thursday about Dolan's identity. Why Durham's latest indictment paints the FBI as a victim of Democrat operatives. [Scroll down] But the FBI was not a victim but a participant. That is clearly shown by the DOJ's Inspector General's report. Despite their investigation they became active participants in pursuing Trump despite knowing the dossier and the Alfa bank Materials were nonsense. In fact, they use the dossier to get their FISA warrants. The FBI let the public believe that there was substance to the dossier and the Alfa bank allegations. The only reason that Durham portrays the FBI as misled is to state a cause of action against the liars: defrauding the federal government, causing resources to be expended based on a fraud. The Igor Danchenko Indictment. John Durham has another scalp. On November 3, 2021, Igor Danchenko — Christopher Steele's primary subsource — was arrested by federal authorities. Now we have his indictment. Danchenko has been charged with false statements to federal officials during his 2017 interviews with the FBI. According to the indictment, Danchenko lied about his contacts with "Russians," his travels to Russia, and the identity of his sources. (Those are just some of the lies.) [...] For purposes of background on the second charge, Danchenko alleged he received a call from from Russian reporter/businessman Sergei Millian alleging a Trump/Russia conspiracy. Millian has long-denied placing this call. This call was important because it was the basis, in part, of the FISA warrants against Carter Page. Durham's investigation revealed Danchenko "never received such a phone call or such information from" Millian. Steele's main dossier source arrested in Durham investigation. The alleged main source for British ex-spy Christopher Steele's discredited anti-Trump dossier was arrested on Thursday [11/4/2021] as part of special counsel John Durham's criminal inquiry into the origins and conduct of the Trump-Russia investigation. Igor Danchenko, a Russian-born lawyer who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, was taken into custody by federal law enforcement after being hit with charges in a newly-unsealed indictment obtained by Durham's office. The special counsel's office said Danchenko had been charged "with five counts of making false statements to the FBI" that Durham for claims he made about the sources used in providing information to Steele for his "Company Reports," which became the dossier. The indictment was returned on Wednesday, and Danchenko is slated to appear before a magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Virginia Thursday afternoon. Steele Dossier Primary Subsource, Igor Danchenko, Arrested on Five Counts of Lying to FBI — Danchenko Was Working With Democrat Campaign Official. The primary subsource for the Christopher Steele dossier was a guy named Igor Danchenko. According to several investigations of the dossier, Chris Steele attributes most of the information within the dossier to Danchenko. John Durham has just arrested Igor Danchenko [...] In essence, Chris Steele put a bunch of Danchenko garbage inside his dossier, and his dossier was used to get the Carter Page FISA warrant to conduct surveillance against the Trump campaign (October 21, 2016). Danchenko then disavowed the veracity of all the information he provided during FBI interviews in January, February and March 2017; but the FBI ignored the Danchenko statements and used the dossier for two more FISA renewals in April and June 2017. Durham charges Steele dossier sub-source with five counts of making false statements to the FBI. Federal agents arrested the primary sub-source who contributed to the unverified anti-Trump dossier Thursday [11/4/2021] as part of Special Counsel John Durham's investigations into the origins of the probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Igor Danchenko's arrest is linked to a federal grand jury indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Durham is charging Danchenko, a Russian citizen residing in Virginia, with five counts of making false statements to the FBI. The charges stemmed from statements Danchenko made relating to the sources he used in providing information to an investigative firm in the United Kingdom. Danchenko is scheduled to make his first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa C. Buchanan Thursday afternoon. The arrest of the man behind the phony dossier underscores the many lies of the Russia hoax. It has been a long time coming. But that is how reckonings sometimes happen. The fabulist behind the discredited anti-Trump dossier was taken into custody by federal authorities Thursday as Special Counsel John Durham continues to build his case against those who manufactured and propagated the phony Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Igor Danchenko was charged in a criminal indictment with five counts of lying to the FBI about the sources he used for the bogus information he delivered to former British spy Christopher Steele that comprised the bulk of his dossier. But we already know a great deal about the man who was hired by the disgraced Steele to smear Donald Trump with false accusations of crimes he did not commit. John Durham Needs to Look Toward Mary McCord. When the Carter Page FISA application was originally assembled by the FBI and DOJ, there was initial hesitancy from within the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) about submitting the application, because it did not have enough citations in evidence (the infamous 'Woods File'). That's why the Steele Dossier ultimately became important. It was the Steele Dossier that provided the push, the legal cover needed for the DOJ-NSD to submit the application for a Title-1 surveillance warrant against the campaign of Donald J. Trump. When the application was finally assembled for submission to the FISA court, the head of the DOJ-NSD was John Carlin. Carlin quit working for the DOJ-NSD in late September 2016 just before the final application was submitted (October 21, 2016). John Carlin was replaced by Deputy Asst. Attorney General, Mary McCord. Anybody remember that Fiona Hill had Joe Biden's blurb on her big book about Putin? Hill is a former researcher for the Eurasia Foundation which is bankrolled by George Soros and had been pals with Steele dossier creator Christopher Steele, calling him merely her U.K. intelligence counterpart in House testimony during her previous work for the Bush and Obama administrations. Reports suggest they were a lot closer than that. Turns out that the Steele connection was far from her only one in her deep-state plots against President Trump. She's also the person the now-indicted Danchenko has called his "mentor." Based on the Durham indictment, it was likely Hill who introduced Danchenko to one Charles Dolan, the Democrat public relations operative who worked to assemble the Steele dossier and who was named as PR Executive 1 in the Durham indictment. Igor Danchenko Arrested as Part of Durham Investigation. The office of Special Counsel John Durham has confirmed that Igor Danchenko, a key source for British ex-spy Christopher Steele, has been arrested. This is the third arrest by Durham who is moving toward the prosecution stage of his investigation into the origins of the Russian collusion scandal. Durham is variously described as either painfully methodical or positively glacial as a prosecutor. But he is widely credited with being a dogged and absolutely apolitical prosecutor. Danchenko's arrest is a seismic development and confirmed Durham is far from done with his investigation. Washington was recently rocked by the indictment of Michael Sussman, former counsel for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, for his alleged role in spreading a false Russia conspiracy theory. Now Danchenko is being charged with five counts of making false statements. Danchenko is widely referenced as the sub-source for former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele for his controversial dossier. Arrest illustrates how the Steele dossier was a political dirty trick orchestrated by Hillary Clinton. Special counsel John Durham's indictment of Igor Danchenko, the principal source for the bogus Steele dossier used by the FBI as a basis for the Trump-Russia investigation, further illustrates that Durham has his sights set on the Clinton campaign. Danchenko has been charged with five counts of lying to the FBI in interviews during 2017, as the bureau struggled in futility to verify outlandish allegations that Donald Trump and his campaign were clandestine agents of the Kremlin. Those allegations were compiled in the so-called Steele dossier, which the FBI relied on in obtaining surveillance warrants from a secret federal court. Special counsel John Durham's investigators arrest analyst behind Steele dossier which claimed Donald Trump had been compromised by Russian intelligence. A key source who provided information to British ex-spy Christopher Steele for his 'dirty dossier' of allegations against Donald Trump has been arrested in the US. Igor Danchenko, a Russian-born analyst living in the United States, was arrested on Thursday by federal agents assigned to John H. Durham's special counsel inquiry into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, according to the New York Times. Danchenko was the primary researcher for Steele's dossier alleging that Trump's 2016 presidential campaign conspired with Russia in a covert operation to beat Hillary Clinton. Steele's defense of dossier collides with an avalanche of evidence to the contrary. Christopher Steele, the former British spy whose dossier fed both a media and law enforcement frenzy over now-discredited allegations that Donald Trump colluded with Russia, has resurfaced in a media documentary to argue his work for Hillary Clinton's campaign law firm was professional and well-sourced. "I stand by the work we did, the sources that we had, and the professionalism which we applied to it," Steele told ABC News host George Stephanopoulos in an interview aired Sunday that was part of a larger documentary released Monday on Hulu. Steele's defense, however, flies in the face of an avalanche evidence — some of it offered by his lawyer and his friends and his own primary intelligence source — that he had not corroborated much of the intelligence he gave to the FBI during the 2016 election and that he suffered from strong anti-Trump biases. Steele was terminated by the FBI as a confidential human source on Nov. 1, 2016 for leaking, and his work has been widely discredited and criticized by several subsequent investigations. His own legal team has also claimed Steele failed to aggressively validate the allegations he penned. FBI raids $15million D.C. mansion of Russian oligarch and Putin ally Oleg Deripaska. Homes linked to Russian oil tycoon Oleg Deripaska in New York and Washington were searched by the FBI on Monday, stemming from sanctions imposed on him in 2018. Images of FBI agents surrounding the Washington, DC residence connected to Deripaska, a close Putin ally who has been linked to Paul Manafort and Christopher Steele, were first reported by NBC late Monday morning. The action was court-ordered, and FBI spokesperson told multiple outlets. FBI Raids Today Have the Left All Excited but It May Offer More for Those on Right. There was an FBI raid in Washington, D.C and another in NYC that had everyone talking today — on the homes related to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, often termed a close associate of Vladimir Putin. The FBI didn't explain what the raids were in relation to beyond a spokesperson saying that they were conducting "law enforcement activity at the home" on the "basis of two court orders, connected to U.S. sanctions." She also noted that the houses do not belong to Mr. Deripaska but to relatives of Mr. Deripaska. So it's possible that the raids didn't have anything to do with Deripaska at all and/or they're about whether he's trying to evade sanctions. [...] But the raids immediately had the folks on the left all excited because they only know of Deripaska as having a connection to Paul Manafort. They were speculating that this is somehow related to Manafort. FBI Raids DC Home of Oleg Deripaska, Chris Steele's Former Employer and Central Player in Corrupt FBI Operation Against Donald Trump. It is an unfortunate situation to see Oleg Deripaska receiving the Julian Assange treatment. Yes, that is exactly what is happening today as the institutionally corrupt FBI and DOJ attempt to throw a bag over Deripaska, in order to cover up their previous operations. That said, Oleg Deripaska is not stupid, he knows these players and knows exactly what game the corrupt U.S. officials are playing. [...] It is not coincidental: (1) the collective media apparatus brought Chris Steele out of hiding for an ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos, and a rehabilitation of his Dossier effort; then (2) the intelligence apparatus began scrubbing the Dossier from public downloads; then (3) the FBI apparatus notifies the media in advance and shows up to raid the home of a central participant in the Dossier story line. Christopher Steele: Product of Corrupt FBI. ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos has produced a documentary featuring Christopher Steele, the man responsible for the so-called dossier bearing his name. [P]romotional clips hinted that, far from a hard-hitting interview exposing Steele for the charlatan he is, Stephanopoulos gave Steele a chance to spin his story ahead of possible new indictments related to John Durham's inquiry into the Trump-Russia election collusion hoax. Rather than depict Steele accurately, Stephanopoulos and ABC News social media interns repeatedly describe Steele as an "ex-British spy" or "former intelligence officer" even though Steele left MI6, the UKs version of the CIA, in 2009 to start a consulting business. (That same year, Steele presented a report on Russia to President Obama.) Steele's now-discredited dossier, which Stephanopoulos tries to portray as "raw intelligence," was the basis not just for the entire Russian collusion hoax but also served as key evidence to support four illicit FISA applications to obtain warrants to spy on Donald Trump and his associates. To Save America, Durham Must Reveal the Whole Russiagate Story and Punish the Guilty. A bit more information has emerged from the John Durham investigation into Russiagate (or "Spygate," as it is known hereabouts). This is due to what is likely a leak from one or more of the targets to their loyal propagandists at CNN. (In the article, the reporters do their best to downgrade the scandal they fanned for years as no more than a trivial "dirty trick" that all campaigns do. There's a well-known word for that adapted into the English language.) The import of these leaks is usually to soften the impact on the target(s), but it also gives us another indication Durham is still active. In this instance, more subpoenas have been issued, including some to Perkins Coie. That's the Democratic National Committee's and Hillary Clinton's law firm that only a few weeks ago defenestrated — for reasons unspecified, but we can guess — one of Hillary's principal lawyers, Mark Elias. The other Clinton campaign lawyer, Michael Sussman, has already been charged with lying to the FBI on the matter of alleged Trump links to the Russian Alpha Bank, ties that turned out to be non-existent. This time, however, we learned that "Tech Executive-1" in the Sussman indictment is Rodney Joffe, a rather distinguished cybersecurity expert, but not in this case because he was apparently involved with the same attempted deception. What Happens When We Find Justice Isn't Blind? Premised upon the risible Steele dossier and other bogus documents and government leaks crafted to abet Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Democrats responded to her defeat by concocting a conspiracy that Donald Trump had colluded with Russian authoritarian Vladimir Putin to steal the 2016 election. Equally inane and insane, this leftist temper tantrum has been going on five years and counting — an unhinged attempt to destroy the legitimacy of the 2016 election and, thus, the presidency of Donald Trump. In league with and abetted by their co-conspiring leftist media supplicants and sycophants, the Democrats subversively weaponized the police and surveillance powers of the state to promote the Russiagate collusion lie. Each day, the dinosaur and social media were riven by new "bombshell" allegations, each more outlandish and, ultimately, erroneous than the last. A special counsel and his Clinton supporting crew were appointed to get to the bottom of a crime that was devised as a campaign smear by ... the Clinton campaign. Dirty Deeds Done Not Cheap. In 2015 the law firm Perkins Coie, which also represented the Democratic National Committee was hired by the Hillary Clinton Campaign. Early the following year it hired Fusion GPS to perform opposition research for the campaign. Fusion GPS provided the now debunked Steele dossier which alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. For the services performed during the campaign, the DNC paid the firm $5.6 million and the Clinton campaign paid them $3.6 million. Fresh proof the Russiagate 'scandal' was created by the Hillary Clinton campaign. A federal grand jury on Thursday [9/16/2021] handed up an indictment requested by special counsel John Durham — and it's fresh proof that the entire Russiagate "scandal" was manufactured by Hillary Clinton's campaign. Durham, the federal prosecutor tasked with investigating the origins of the investigation, is targeting lawyer Michael Sussmann for lying about his client when he met with an agent to share dubious suspicions of a link between the Trump Organization and Kremlin-connected Alfa Bank. The FBI later disproved the claim during the endless Russiagate investigation, as special counsel Robert Mueller's team found itself unable to verify anything from the much-hyped allegations after two years of work. Sussmann's in trouble because he told the agent he had no client in the matter, then later in a 2017 deposition told Congress he did it on behalf of an unnamed client and cybersecurity expert. Sussmann wasn't on that account — but his firm, Perkins Coie, reportedly billed his hours working on Alfa Bank to the Clinton campaign. It looks like Fusion GPS is panicking over being forced to disclose communications as Russiagate was being hatched. The writer who calls himself Techno Fog has been following closely the libel lawsuit launched by Alfa Bank's owners against Fusion GPS over its accusations that the bank had engaged in "bribery, extortion, and interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election." Remember Alfa Bank? Anyone might be forgiven for imagining that the Russia Hoax is over and done with. But it's not. And Techno Fog has a very interesting article to remind us of that fact. As you may recall, during the final month or two of the 2016 election campaign, outlandish accusations were leveled against Alfa Bank. The basic idea was that a Russian bank, Alfa Bank, was laundering money on behalf of Donald Trump, money that the Putin regime was paying Trump as their supposed agent. These outlandish accusations came from the Hillary campaign and its oppo research branch — in other words, Fusion GPS (remember?), Glenn Simpson, and shady Clinton campaign lawyers. The whole story quickly collapsed under the weight of its own absurdity, after a brief flurry of excitement ginned up in the Dem media proxy outlets. Even oppo research stories require some minimal factual content, and this story lacked the bare minimum. Apparently the Clinton campaign thought the whole thing would be water over the dam, but Alfa bank had other ideas. Why is a Fusion GPS attorney risking sanctions? In 2017, the owners of Alfa Bank (we'll call them Alfa Bank for the purposes of this article) sued Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson for their publication of false statements accusing Alfa Bank of "bribery, extortion, and interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election." As a reminder, it was Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson who, along with others, created and spread bogus Trump/Russia dossiers to government officials and the media. This was then used to justify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance warrants on Carter Page to spy on Page those associated with President Trump. We previously reported that Alfa Bank filed a motion to compel, asking the Court to require Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson to produce documents withheld as privileged. These documents included communications with Glenn Simpson and others concerning the false Alfa Bank allegations. Affidavits Raise More Questions About FBI's Role in Trump Probe. Affidavits filed in a federal court on June 21 raise crucial questions about the FBI's role in the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's efforts to vilify her opponent, Donald Trump, as a Russian agent. The FBI obtained a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on the Trump team based on a dossier of memos alleging Trump's ties to Russia that was filed by Clinton campaign contractor Christopher Steele. But the newly released court documents suggest the FBI may have helped shape the anti-Trump plot at its origins. The affidavits are the latest revelation to come from the ongoing defamation suit that the owners of Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest commercial bank, have brought against Fusion GPS, the communications firm that hired Steele to compile Trump — Russia reports on behalf of the Clinton campaign. In one of Steele's memos, Alfa-Bank principals Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and German Khan are alleged to have engaged in corrupt practices. Two Grifters and a Dossier: The cumulation of evidence suggests Christopher Steele was a complete phony. Like many who ordered Barry Meier's new book, "Spooked," I was uninterested in his complaint about corporate spies peddling information to journalists. It still falls to reporters to do their own jobs properly. I wanted to find out what he learned about the origins of the Steele dossier. Mr. Meier, a retired New York Times reporter, does not blow any lids off but he makes it harder not to see that the vital and indispensable element of Christopher Steele's method — and Glenn Simpson's method — was flagrant, out-and-out pretense about who Mr. Steele's sources were. He didn't have any meaningful sources; the implication that he was tapping a network from his years as a British operative or was actively developing and assessing new sources appears to be entirely misleading. It's time to say that just asking anybody with a Russian surname to say something bad about Donald Trump and Russia is not the same as developing "intelligence." NY Times 'Limited Hangout' on Steele Dossier Spares Obama. [Scroll down] In April 2016, the Clinton campaign and DNC hired Fusion GPS to share its Russian dirt on Trump with the media. Leading from behind as was his wont, Obama was never so far behind that he could not see what was to come. From time to time he showed his hand, starting with an April 2016 appearance on a Fox News Sunday morning show with Chris Wallace. When asked about Hillary Clinton's nonsecure email system, Obama opined, "She has acknowledged — that there's a carelessness, in terms of managing emails, that she... recognizes." That conceded, he added, "I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized America's national security." Hillary was Obama's chosen successor. He was confident his secrets of state would be safe with her. If she were indicted for her apparent crime, the White House could easily fall into enemy hands. If James Comey and his colleagues were uncertain of Obama's will before that appearance, they no longer were. DOJ Hires Top Russia Hoaxer Who Justified Illegal FISA Warrants. The Department of Justice has hired former NSA attorney and top Russia hoaxer Susan Hennessey to work in the National Security Division. She announced the news on her Twitter feed Monday morning after deleting a number of tweets. [...] In her previous writing and media appearances, Hennessey pushed the Steele dossier, which was used by the FBI to illegally spy on the Trump campaign in 2016. Steele is a foreign spy who was paid by the Clinton campaign to put the dossier together, during which he used Russian and other elicit sources. One of the Worst Russian Collusion Hoaxers Just Got Hired by the DOJ. In another move proving that there is no justice in Washington, one of the worst Russian collusion hoaxers of the Donald Trump era has been hired by the Department of Justice. Susan Hennessy, who was still fluffing the Steele Dossier well after its demise, will now work for the National Security Division. Hennessey was also a chief opposer of the highly successful strike to kill Qasem Soleimani, jumping into action to condemn the intelligence behind the raid. Later, Iran's Javad Zarif would admit the attack was devastating for the terrorist nation. Alleged second Steele dossier on Trump emerges in British media as John Durham closes in. Word of a second anti-Trump dossier by British ex-spy Christopher Steele emerged this week in British media following significant developments in the so-called "Russiagate" controversy. A report by the Telegraph, citing sources who were not named or described, said Steele kept feeding raw intelligence about former President Donald Trump to the FBI during the Trump administration, longer than was previously asserted, through his company, Orbis Business Intelligence. This adds a new wrinkle to what the public has been told about Steele, a former MI6 agent whose first dossier on Trump has been largely discredited, weeks after it was reported that special counsel John Durham used a subpoena to obtain documents a Washington, D.C., think tank related to its employment of a Russian researcher who served as a main source for Steele in his research about Trump. Billionaire-Backed Operative Kept Funding Steele, Fusion GPS in 2019, Even After Dossier's Credibility Crumbled. A former staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) continued to pay large sums of money in 2019 to former British spy Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS, the firm that retained Steele for work on a Hillary Clinton-funded misinformation dossier, even as the credibility of both Steele and the claims in his dossier evaporated. The Democracy Integrity Project (TDIP), a nonprofit operated by former Feinstein staffer Daniel Jones, paid $1,222,714 in 2019 to Bean LLC., the shell company that controls Fusion GPS, and $700,000 to Walsingham Partners Ltd., a British company co-owned by Steele, according to a tax filing. Jones continued to fund the firms despite revelations in 2018 and 2019 that severely undermined the credibility of the dossier and its author. The dossier, compiled in 2016, contained bombastic allegations about then-candidate Donald Trump and Russia — none of which remain proven to this day, and some of which have been outright debunked. Durham Subpoenaed Liberal Think Tank As Part Of Probe Into Steele Dossier: Report. Federal prosecutor John Durham recently subpoenaed a prominent foreign policy think tank as part of his investigation into the Steele dossier, the New York Times reported Monday. According to The New York Times, Durham subpoenaed the Brookings Institution for records related to Igor Danchenko, a former analyst at the think tank who was the primary source for dossier author Christopher Steele. [...] Durham, who is serving as a special counsel, is conducting a broad but vague investigation into several aspects of the intelligence gathering activities against the Trump campaign. Much of the investigation has followed up in revelations from a Justice Department inspector general's report which said that the FBI made 17 "significant" errors and omissions in applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Carter Page. John Durham Deploys Records Subpoena Against Brookings Institute For Steele Dossier Primary Source, Igor Danchenko. The New York Times writes a story about John Durham issuing subpoenas to the Brookings Institute for records of Igor Danchenko's work there. Danchenko was Chris Steele's primary sub-source for the infamous Steele Dossier. The material provided by Danchenko to Steele was described as unsubstantiated "gossip", "rumor", "hearsay" and innuendo by Danchenko himself after he was questioned by the FBI. [...] In essence Chris Steele put a bunch of garbage inside his dossier, and his dossier was used to get the Carter Page FISA warrant to conduct surveillance against the Trump campaign (October 21, 2016). Danchenko then disavowed the veracity of all the information he provided during FBI interviews in January, February and March 2017; but the FBI ignored the Danchenko discussion and used the dossier for two more FISA renewals in April and June 2017. John Durham scrutinizes Steele dossier source through Brookings Institution subpoena: Report. Special counsel John Durham is reportedly scrutinizing British ex-spy Christopher Steele's main source for his discredited dossier, using a subpoena to obtain documents from the Brookings Institution related to its employment of Igor Danchenko, a researcher who visited Russia in 2016 as he worked for the ex-MI6 agent. The New York Times reported on Monday, citing "people familiar with the investigation," that Durham "has keyed in on the FBI's handling of a notorious dossier of political opposition research both before and after the bureau started using it to obtain court permission to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser." The outlet said Durham obtained records from the left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C., related to Danchenko, who worked for the organization from 2005 to 2010 as a Russia researcher but is best known as the main source for Steele's discredited Trump-Russia dossier in 2016. Meet the Russiagate Prober Who Couldn't Verify Anything in the Steele Dossier Yet Said Nothing for Years. For the past four years, Democrats and the Washington media have suspended disbelief about the Steele dossier's credibility by arguing that some Russia allegations against Donald Trump and his advisers have been corroborated and therefore the most explosive charges may also be true. But recently declassified secret testimony by the FBI official in charge of corroborating the dossier blows up that narrative. The top analyst assigned to the FBI's Russia "collusion" case, codenamed Crossfire Hurricane, admitted under oath that neither he nor his team of half a dozen intelligence analysts could confirm any of the allegations in the dossier — including ones the FBI nonetheless included in several warrant applications as evidence to establish legal grounds to electronically monitor a former Trump adviser for almost a year. FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten made the admission under questioning by staff investigators for the Senate Judiciary Committee during closed-door testimony in October. The Legends of Our Fall. [Scroll down] Christopher Steele was a Trump-hating, washed-up British spy, who was a pathological prevaricator. His "dossier" remains unproven and, in places, on even a first reading is demonstrably absurd. Any "collusion" likely was Steele's own gullibility in believing Russian sourced fantasies. It was Hillary Clinton who hired Steele to do opposition research on her opponent Donald Trump. She disguised her payments through the three firewalls of the DNC, the Perkins Coie law firm, and Fusion GPS. When pressed to put up or shut up, Steele claimed he no longer had his notes and documentation. The FBI had fired him and considered him unreliable — but not without utility, given his anti-Trump venom and his vestigial high-level contacts. Smoking gun: Comey told Clapper FBI unable to 'sufficiently corroborate' Steele — then signed FISA. The very day in January 2017 that then-FBI Director James Comey signed a FISA surveillance warrant application declaring content from Christopher Steele's dossier had been "verified," he wrote President Obama's outgoing intelligence community chief with a very different assessment of the British spy's intelligence on Russia collusion, a newly released memo shows. "We are not able to sufficiently corroborate the reporting," Comey wrote in a Jan. 12, 2017 email to then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that was declassified and made public through an open records lawsuit by the Southeastern Legal Foundation. The memo recounts an internal debate inside the U.S. intelligence community during one of the most delicate moments in the FBI's then six-month old Crossfire Hurricane probe. Gaetz: New Comey email indicates FBI, DOJ conspired to 'dislodge' Trump from White House. Rep. Matt Gaetz said Monday [2/15/2021] that a newly uncovered email indicates that former FBI Director James Comey made a conscious effort to "dislodge" then-incoming President Donald Trump from office. In an interview with Fox News, the Florida Republican and staunch Trump ally responded to a report by Just the News which provided details of communications between Comey and then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper regarding the validity of the infamous "dossier" produced by former British spy and FBI asset Christopher Steele. 'A Trap?' Clinton's Russia collusion research started much earlier, made Steele nervous. Efforts by Hillary Clinton supporters to craft the Russia collusion narrative to vilify Donald Trump began earlier than previously reported and eventually involved an "indiscreet" effort to buy foreign video footage that made even dossier author Christopher Steele uncomfortable, according to newly declassified FBI memos. Steele's own account to FBI agents in September 2017, obtained by Just the News, provides the clearest proof to date that Team Clinton built the now-debunked Trump-Russia storyline to distract from her own scandals over Russia money and mishandled classified secrets on her private email server. Steele himself even admitted part of his motive for leaking the Russia collusion story in fall 2016 was to counteract the lingering email scandal he feared was hurting Clinton's chances of winning the election. He also pinpointed the earliest known research designed to tie Trump to a Russian plot ultimately proven not to exist. Newly Released FBI Interview with Christopher Steele Proves Russia Hoax was all About Defeating Donald Trump. In the final hours of his Administration, Pres. Trump has ordered the declassification and release of documents related to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation conducted by the FBI into alleged links between Pres. Trump, members of his 2016 Campaign staff, and individuals connected to the Russian Government — the Russian Hoax Investigation. Clinton associate wrote anti-Trump dossier in 2016 claiming he had Russian FSB source. Evidence released by the Senate this month reveals that longtime Hillary Clinton associate Cody Shearer received anti-Trump dirt in 2016 from a Russian intelligence source and got it into the hands of the FBI through the ex-British spy Christopher Steele. Shearer's claim that his information came from a Russian FSB source, experts say, should have alerted senior US officials that the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign's ties Russia was compromised by its sources, Clinton surrogates and alleged Russian spies. The documents also indicate the State Department played a much larger role than previously reported in shaping the media narrative, and eventually the official Obama administration intelligence assessment that Vladimir Putin wanted Trump to win in 2016, lawmakers said. How Big Could The Alfa Bank Hoax Turn Out To Be? The last time we referenced the Alfa Bank hoax — Alfa Bank Redux — Starring John Durham! — I pointed out that the importance of the fact that Durham is pursuing the Alfa Bank Hoax angle with grand jury subpoenas lies in where that inquiry leads: Straight to the Clinton and, now, the Biden campaigns and organizations: [...] ["]The Alfa Bank hoax 'dossier' memo was written up by Christopher Steele at the express direction of Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann and Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson. Sussmann then took the story directly to the FBI — to a friend of his, James Baker, who happened to be FBI General Counsel, i.e., Comey's top lawyer. Knowing Sussmann as he did, Baker also knew that this hoax story was coming straight from the Clinton campaign. Add that background to the involvement of Daniel Jones and Jake Sullivan in the Alfa Bank hoax (see above), along with the fact that James Baker has long been believed to be cooperating with Durham and we come to this: Durham's conspiracy net is attempting to catch some of the biggest fish in the Dem hierarchy, central figures in both the Clinton and now the Biden campaigns.["] FBI relied on reports from Yahoo, Mother Jones in attempt to corroborate Steele dossier, document shows. The FBI relied on news reports from Yahoo and Mother Jones in an attempt to corroborate allegations put forth in the salacious and unverified dossier authored by ex-British intelligence agent Christophere Steele, according to a newly-declassified document obtained by Fox News. Fox News obtained the document, which spans over 94 pages, and was declassified by the FBI on Oct. 8, as part of the latest directive from President Trump to declassify all documents related to the Trump-Russia investigation. The document, according to sources familiar, was used in an effort to figure out which Steele allegations the bureau could corroborate. The now-declassified spreadsheet further revealed that the bureau had little corroboration of the claims included in the dossier. The Fragments of a Civilization. Piece by piece, our civilization is beginning to disassemble. And the agents of fragmentation are as obvious as the efforts to conceal them are frantic. In nonchalant fashion, we learned last week from newly released government documents that Hillary Clinton's campaign team cooked up the Trump-Russia collusion hoax as a way of diverting attention from her own ongoing embarrassing email scandals. Clinton, through three firewalls, paid foreign ex-spy Christopher Steele to create a bogus smear-Trump dossier. Steele, who had no data on, or information about any such collusion, apparently drew largely on fabrications dreamed up by a former Russian spy working at the liberal Brookings Institution. The convoluted conspiracy baffled even the sneaky Russians, who were confused when they got wind of it — possibly through the direct participation of one of their own assets. Did we then spend millions of dollars on Robert Mueller's nearly two-year investigation, a wild goose chase consuming millions of collective media hours hyping fantasies, and paralyzing an administration for three years — all for Hillary Clinton's machinations, the apparent true and only Russian colluder? CBS Obtains 94-Page Outline Showing FBI and Chris Steele Collaborative Use of Media Reporting. CBS News Catherine Herridge has obtained a 94-page spread sheet (pdf here) showing dates of media reports, dates of Steele reports on the same material, and the FBI effort to verify or validate the circular process. In essence this is evidence of the process we initially shared almost three years ago; only now we know the names. Former SSCI staffer Dan Jones, former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson, and Simpson's crew at Fusion-GPS, pitched and planted phony Trump-Russia evidence with the media and simultaneously gave those fake points to Chris Steele to supplement the dossier. Using the same method of Ezra Klein's "JournOList" replication, Dan Jones and Fusion-GPS paid the journalists to run the stories. Rigged: The Chairman of the Presidential Debate Commission is Co-Founder of "Color Revolution" Org Linked to Steele Dossier and More. From the failed Chris Wallace-Biden tag-team attempt against Trump, to biased moderator Susan Page's shrill interruptions of Vice President Pence, to the Presidential Debate Commission's ridiculous and politically motivated effort to force a "virtual debate" on Biden's behalf, patriotic Americans have caught on to the fact that there is something deeply unfair about the presidential debates. This clear bias has justifiably led many observers to wonder what is wrong with the Presidential Debate Commission. Just yesterday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany called out the Commission directly: [Tweet] Kayleigh's characterization of the Commission is of course correct. However, its corruption and bias goes beyond the simple fact that it's in the tank for Joe Biden. The nominally Republican Chairman of Presidential Debate Commission, Frank Fahrenkopf, is both a co-founder and current board member of the International Republican Institute (IRI), a top "Color Revolution" propaganda outfit. The IRI was run by Never Trump neoconservative John McCain for decades. It is closely linked to the thoroughly discredited Steele Dossier at the center of the Russia Hoax. Hypocrisy: Democrat Attempts To Discredit John Ratcliffe Letter Reveal Double Standard. [Scroll down] Recall the falsified evidence, errors, and omissions in the FISA warrants against Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton's campaign commissioned Fusion GPS to obtain opposition research on Trump. Fusion hired Christopher Steele, an Ex-British intelligence officer, who put together a shoddy report now known as the Steele Dossier, which confirmed salacious and unconfirmed allegations that Russia had dirt on Trump. Forty-one days before the election, Yahoo! News published an article based on the Steele Dossier, as its author had been one of the many journalists briefed by Steele on his dubious findings. Was Russia Probe The Most Corrupt U.S. Investigation Ever? The revelation that the main sub-source for the Trump Dossier paid for by the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign was a Russian agent who was once designated a "national security threat" boggles the mind. It means FBI officials, the Obama White House and the Clinton campaign knowingly and fraudulently conspired to use foreign disinformation and taxpayer funds for the political purpose of destroying Donald Trump. Declassified documents requested by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham show the "primary" sub-source for the Trump dossier created by former British spy Christopher Steele was earlier actively investigated by the FBI. The source, an employee at a "prominent U.S. think tank," first contacted the Russian embassy and Russian intelligence agents in 2006. In 2009, the sub-source offered two different people with close ties to an Obama administration foreign policy adviser money in exchange for classified information. That's called espionage. Senate Judiciary chair Lindsey Graham releases new details about source of Steele dossier. The primary sub-source for the Steele dossier was the subject of an earlier counterintelligence investigation by the FBI, and those facts were known to the Crossfire Hurricane team as early as December 2016, according to newly released records from the Justice Department that were first reported by CBS News. The timing matters because the dossier was first used two months earlier, in October 2016, to help secure a surveillance warrant for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, and then used in three subsequent surveillance renewals. "Between May 2009 and March 2011, the FBI maintained an investigation into the individual who later would be identified as Christopher Steele's Primary Sub-source," the two page FBI memo states. Dossier Source Was a Suspected Russian Spy, and the FBI Knew It When It Spied on Carter Page. The FBI long suspected that a major source for Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier was a Russian spy, according to newly declassified documents. In other words, the bureau knowingly relied on the word of a suspected Russian spy to spy on a Trump campaign aide wrongly smeared as a Russian spy: Carter Page. Republicans seized on the disclosure. Rep. Devin Nunes told RealClearInvestigations: "The revelations are further proof of what we already knew — that the Democrats, and only the Democrats, colluded with Russians to swing the 2016 election." The material declassified by Attorney General William Barr shows that as far back as 2009 the FBI was investigating as a potential Russian intelligence operative the Brookings Institution researcher who in 2016 would become the dossier's "primary sub-source." FBI Docs: Primary Sub-Source for Steele Was Suspected Russian Agent and 'Threat to National Security'. The "primary sub-source" for the Steele dossier was suspected of being a possible Russian agent and a "threat to national security," according to newly declassified FBI documents. Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) announced the revelations on Thursday after the Justice Department declassified a footnote of the DOJ Inspector General Report on FISA abuse by the FBI. That report focused on efforts by FBI agents to obtain FISA warrants to surveil Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page, and concluded that two applications to renew such warrants were not valid because of "material misstatements and omission" of evidence. Lindsey Graham: "the primary source for the Steele dossier was likely a Russian agent". Quite a bit of attention today to a release of information by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham. However, missed in most reviews is a duplicitous motive for Graham to claim "the primary source for the Steele dossier was likely a Russian agent." In essence, Graham is promoting a defense previously explored by James Comey that investigative elements of the FBI were duped by a Russian disinformation campaign; and as a consequence their investigative efforts were done under the most honorable of motives, but they were just tricked by Russians. Ergo, see the Russians did interfere in the election. That's the justification narrative, and now Lindsey Graham has positioned everyone to support it; because the alternative is the DOJ and FBI knew it was Russia-centric and were coordinating to achieve a goal provided by the use of that disinformation campaign as purposefully fed by Chris Steele. Graham Calls New Revelations 'Most Stunning [...]' to Date. We now know that Christopher Steele's sub-source for his discredited dossier was a suspected Russian spy who the FBI believed was a "threat to national security" and the target of an FBI counter-intelligence probe from 2009 to 2011, according to declassified information provided by Attorney General William Barr to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC). We also know the FBI learned the sub-source was the target of its counter-intelligence investigation in December 2016 and knowingly hid that information from the FISA courts while continuing its surveillance on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, who the FBI accused of being a Russian agent. Source of Steele dossier was investigated by FBI for Russian contacts, Barr says. The primary "source" of the anti-Trump dossier authored by ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele was the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation from 2009 to 2011 for suspected contact with Russian intelligence officers, Fox News has learned. Attorney General Bill Barr penned a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Thursday responding to requests as part of the panel's review into the origins of the Russia probe. "In connection with your Committee's investigation of these matters and ongoing hearings, you have been asking us to accelerate this process and to provide any additional information relating to the reliability of the work of Christopher Steele and the so-called 'Steele dossier,' as long as its release would not compromise U.S. Attorney John Durham's ongoing criminal investigation," Barr wrote. Supposedly Reliable Steele Acted 'Crazy,' His FBI Handler Says: 'People's Ears Were Bleeding.'. "Crazy" was the term the FBI agent used to describe the behavior of Christopher Steele, author of the now-debunked Trump-Russia dossier. "I've seen crazy source-related stuff in 20 years in New York and this was one of the craziest," the veteran agent testified to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Nevertheless, the FBI continued to rely on Steele's allegations — that Donald Trump and his team were conspiring with Russians who possessed compromising information — to justify its surveillance of the Trump campaign. Without evidence to verify Steele's claims, the FBI fell back on its assertion that the former British intelligence agent was reliable. The previously unreported testimony of FBI agent Michael Gaeta is found on page 900 of the fifth and final volume of the Senate committee's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The mysterious destruction of evidence related to Steele's dossier, State Department contacts. Earlier this year, the infamous dossier author Christopher Steele revealed he had destroyed nearly all the records detailing his dirt-digging on Donald Trump and Russia. "They no longer exist," Steele told a British court. Now comes word that Steele's primary and longtime contact inside the Obama State Department, Jonathan Winer, also destroyed records of the former British MI6 agent's contacts inside that federal agency, including many of the 100-plus unsolicited intelligence reports Steele provided the Obama administration. "I destroyed them, and I basically destroyed all the correspondence I had with him," Winer is quoted as saying in a little noticed passage of the Senate Intelligence Committee's final report on the Russia collusion scandal. Winer apparently destroyed the records at Steele's request, the report said. Strzok Says Steele Dossier Was 'A Problem' For The Trump-Russia Probe. Former FBI official Peter Strzok said in an interview published Friday [9/4/2020] that the Steele dossier was a "problem" for the Trump-Russia probe because it sent investigators off "on a series of wild goose chases." "The report was very typical of information that the FBI often receives. It comes from several sources, including some suspect sources. Some of it is bullshit, and some of it is rumor, and some of it is disinformation," Strzok told The Atlantic. "From our perspective," Strzok said of the dossier, "some of it was a distraction." Strzok's comments mark one of the strongest public critiques to date from an FBI official regarding the dossier, which was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. The media and those who want to curry favor with the media have a dual agenda. Every left-wing radical who thinks of himself as a "journalist" with his camera phone and Twitter account knows the pathway to success and a mainstream media job: first, you create a crisis of whatever size possible. Perhaps it's about race or #MeToo or some obscure LGBTQ matter; ideally, it involves all three of those things. Promote it no matter what the facts may be. Then attack the Right and Fox News for it, regardless of the truth. It worked phenomenally well for Ben Smith, the former editor of Buzzfeed who rode his lies and misinformation all the way to a cushy job with the New York Times. Recall that Smith while at Buzzfeed published the now fully discredited Steele dossier that is at the center of the Russian collusion fairy tale, now the subject of no less than three different investigations by U.S. attorneys offices around the country. The Steele Dossier Was "Plan B". When the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz released his bombshell report last December, it explained in exhaustive detail how former FBI Director James Comey's agency had perpetrated a massive fraud on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. They did this in order to obtain a legal warrant to spy on the Trump presidential campaign, and then upon the incoming administration itself after President Trump and his appointees assumed their official offices. The mainstream media did it's best to downplay what Horowitz found. What Horowitz did with his explosive FISA Abuse Report, was establish the legitimate basis for what became US Attorney John Durham's RussiaGate Hoax investigation. Without Horowitz first releasing that report, we simply would not understand a lot of what Durham has been doing. Even though a lot of people do not accept this, it is nonetheless true: The basis for Horowitz's FISA investigation was established by none other than the Mueller Special Counsel. Key Russian Collusion Hoaxer And Dossier Peddler At Obama's State Dept. Worked For Sanctioned Russian Oligarch. Jonathan Winer, a former top aide to Secretary of State John Kerry who was a key conduit for disseminating the discredited Steele dossier in the U.S. government, worked as a lobbyist for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in years preceding the Russiagate affair. This revelation raises new questions about Russian efforts to influence American foreign policy — far afield from any Kremlin efforts to favor Donald Trump. Winer's connection to Deripaska came to light through last week's release of the fifth and final volume of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. The Senate report also found that at different times ex-British spy Christopher Steele had worked for the powerful oligarch with ties to President Vladimir Putin, and sent scores of reports from his intelligence firm on to Winer, who admitted to the panel destroying many of them before leaving the State Department. Further, the Senate developed evidence that Glenn Simpson — whose company Fusion GPS contracted with Steele for the dossier — also did work for Deripaska. Simpson denied that, telling senators, "I don't think I've knowingly had any contact with his organization." The Steele dossier may be the Kremlin's greatest propaganda triumph. BuzzFeed News's decision three years ago to publish the now-discredited Steele dossier was not just a major breach of journalistic ethics. It appears it was also one of the most significant, if not the most significant propaganda victories for Moscow. The dossier, a deeply flawed work of opposition research funded by the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, almost certainly contained a great deal of Kremlin disinformation, according to a report released this week by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Yet it was that same dossier (named for its author, former British spy Christopher Steele) that the FBI relied on to secure authorization from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to spy on one-time Trump campaign aide Carter Page. As if it were not already bad enough that a U.S. intelligence agency relied on likely Russian agitprop to spy on a presidential campaign, BuzzFeed News also took the unprecedented step in 2017 of publishing the 35-page Steele dossier in its entirety, dumping directly into the public square what appears to be largely a work of Kremlin fiction. Ex-State Department Official 'Destroyed' Records At Request Of Christopher Steele. A former State Department official told the Senate Intelligence Committee he destroyed records in January 2017 at the request of former British spy Christopher Steele, according to a report released on Tuesday [8/18/2020]. Jonathan Winer, who served as special envoy to Libya through early 2017, was Steele's contact at the State Department. He arranged a meeting for Steele in October 2016 with another State Department official at Foggy Bottom to share findings from a dossier of research he had compiled on Donald Trump. The Senate Intelligence Committee interviewed Winer twice about his contacts with Steele and his handling of the dossier, on July 10, 2017 and April 18, 2018. According to the Senate report, Winer disclosed that he destroyed reports that Steele had sent him over the years. The Senate report also says that Winer failed to reveal when asked in his first interview with the committee that he had arranged the meeting for Steele at the State Department months earlier. GOP chairman subpoenas former Obama official linked to Steele dossier. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has subpoenaed a former State Department official linked to the controversial research dossier about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. A source confirmed to The Hill on Thursday that Johnson had issued a subpoena for Jonathan Winer, a former State Department employee. Johnson had warned earlier this month that he was preparing to compel Winer's testimony as part of the panel's ongoing investigations. Winer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But he is the first person to be subpoenaed by Johnson as part of a broad investigation spanning the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations including digging into the so-called Steele dossier. Did The FBI Mislead The Senate Intelligence Committee On The Steele Dossier? The Media Is Not Interested. The latest information comes from the Senate Intelligence Committee which released a declassified briefing report to the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2018 on the Steele dossier's Primary Sub-source. It is hard to read the document linked below and not conclude that the FBI misled the Congress on the subject. This occurred after the FBI misled the FISA court, including the submission of falsified documents to continue the surveillance. The statement that most stands out from the briefing is that the Primary Sub-source "did not cite any significant concerns with the way his reporting was characterized in the dossier to the extent he could identify it." Keep in mind that this is a statement made in 2018. FBI agents had already warned that dossier author Christopher Steele may have been used by Russian intelligence to plant false information to disrupt the election. Indeed, Steele's allegations were quickly discredited by the FBI. In 2017, key agents were aware that the basis for the FISA applications were dubious and likely false. Yet it continued the investigation, and then someone leaked its existence to the media. Democrats planted false stories in effort to derail Biden investigations, Grassley says. One of the longest serving members of Congress in a scathing speech on Wednesday accused Democrats of resorting to dirty tricks in order to derail investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden's dealings with Ukraine. "This is the behavior of cowards. And it has to stop," Sen. Chuck Grassley declared. Democrats have accused two leading senators of engaging in disinformation, while in truth the accusers are engaging in disinformation, said Grassley, R-Iowa, in his speech to lawmakers. Citing investigations being led by himself and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Grassley highlighted important revelations, among them that parts of the infamous anti-Trump document, the Steele Dossier, were based on Russian disinformation. Media Silent As Christopher Steele 'Hero' 'Spymaster' Narrative Crumbles. It turns out Christopher Steele wasn't 007. For years, the media assured Americans that the dossier alleging treasonous collusion between Donald Trump and Russia was based on the scrupulous work of a mastermind British ex-spy and his vast network of credible and well-connected sources spread throughout Europe. It wasn't true. Steele did not personally collect any of the factual information in his reports. The "vast network" was instead a "social circle" of an American-based former Brookings Institute junior staffer, recently identified for the first time as Igor Danchenko. The friends didn't have well-documented claims so much as rumors, drunken gossip, and outright brainstorming, conjecture, and speculation. Even that information was "multiple layers of hearsay upon hearsay" before it got to Steele, who then hyperbolically overstated it. And the damning claims of "collusion" appear to have been scandalously misattributed or invented out of whole cloth. 'Unmasking' Steele dossier source: Was confidentiality ever part of the deal? The news that Christopher Steele's primary subsource of information for the Steele dossier has been identified shed new light on the role of sources in high-profile FBI investigations and what confidentiality means to them. On July 25, the New York Times reported, based on information from his attorney, that Russia-trained attorney Igor Danchenko was this source for Steele. Danchenko said he provided Steele with information from his own network of sources about then-candidate Donald Trump's alleged contact with Russians in the run-up to the 2016 election. Danchenko claims the FBI violated a confidentiality agreement with him and that information released in a previously-classified, 57-page FBI report contributed to his identification. He claims he is now in danger. So who does the FBI consider to be a source, and what does that actually mean? Revelation of Steele's primary source triggers focus on think tank tied to Clinton, Biden. The revelation that Christopher Steele's primary sub-source for his dossier was an American resident tied to a liberal think tank close to the Obama administration has triggered new investigative interest. The identification of Igor Danchenko as Steele's subsource — reported by Real Clear Investigations and then confirmed by Danchenko's lawyer to the New York Times — means Steele's dossier relied on someone who wasn't based in Russia despite claims to the contrary by the FBI. Sidney Blumenthal blunders in attack on GOP senator, requiring factual correction. An article by journalist and Democratic political operative Sidney Blumenthal critical of GOP Sen. Ron Johnson has been amended to remove a sentence that stated the Washington Free Beacon was involved in hiring Steele dossier author Christopher Steele, following an inquiry by Just the News. The now deleted sentence in the JustSecurity.org story reads: "Steele was in fact initially hired by the conservative website The Free Beacon and paid by Republican donor Paul Singer to help the Jeb Bush campaign." The FBI relied heavily on the now-discredited dossier by Steele, a former British intelligence officer, to get a surveillance warrant to spy on former Trump aide Carter Page. FBI Interview of Christopher Steele's Primary Sub-Source Was To Prepare for Him To Work Directly With Crossfire Hurricane Team. If you haven't seen this story yet by Paul Sperry at RealClearInvestigations it is worth your time. I'm going to return to the subject of Igor Danchenko a few times in the days ahead, but here I want to address just some of the issues that jumped out at me from Sperry's story, and the story in the New York Times on Saturday claiming that Danchenko was promised confidentiality by the FBI when he agreed to be interviewed about his work for Steele in the weeks following the publication of the Steele Dossier by Buzzfeed in early January 2017. Meet the Steele Dossier's 'Primary Subsource': Fabulist Russian at Democrat Think Tank Whose Boozy Past the FBI Ignored. The mysterious "Primary Subsource" that Christopher Steele has long hidden behind to defend his discredited Trump-Russia dossier is a former Brookings Institution analyst — Igor "Iggy" Danchenko, a Russian national whose past includes criminal convictions and other personal baggage ignored by the FBI in vetting him and the information he fed to Steele, according to congressional sources and records obtained by RealClearInvestigations. Agents continued to use the dossier as grounds to investigate President Trump and put his advisers under counter-espionage surveillance. The 42-year-old Danchenko, who was hired by Steele in 2016 to deploy a network of sources to dig up dirt on Trump and Russia for the Hillary Clinton campaign, was arrested, jailed and convicted years earlier on multiple public drunkenness and disorderly conduct charges in the Washington area and ordered to undergo substance-abuse and mental-health counseling, according to criminal records. Brookings Institution: A Key Collusion Collaborator. In December 2018, a well-regarded left-leaning think tank published a 4,500-word defense of the Steele dossier, the document central to the government's charge that Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with the Kremlin to influence the outcome of the presidential election. Lawfare, a project of the Brookings Institution, defended the dossier as "a collection of raw intelligence" that was similar to forms used by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to transcribe information obtained by witnesses. "The dossier holds up well over time, and none of it, to our knowledge, has been disproven," wrote Chuck Rosenberg and Sarah Grant in a judgement that did not hold up well over time. "The Mueller investigation has clearly produced public records that confirm pieces of the dossier. And even where the details are not exact, the general thrust of Steele's reporting seems credible in light of what we now know about extensive contacts between numerous individuals associated with the Trump campaign and Russian government officials." Trump Posed Risk to U.K., Ex-Spy Steele Tells Dossier Trial. The former British spy who wrote the so-called Steele Dossier told a British court that U.S. President Donald Trump may have posed a serious risk to U.K. national security. The information recorded in a pre-election memo into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election produced by his firm, Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd., "had important national security implications for the U.K., as well as the U.S.," Christopher Steele said in a court filing for a London libel trial. The Steele dossier paid for by Clinton, DNC was not Russian disinformation, it was British disinformation — from Steele. The intelligence in the dossier by former British spy Christopher Steele, paid for by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign, was not from a well-placed source in the Russian government, but a paid-for employee of Steele's firm, Orbis, who disputed the findings of the dossier when they were published on Jan. 10, 2017 by Buzzfeed. This, from the bombshell now declassified Jan. 24, 2017 interview by the FBI with the sub-source that was only undertaken two weeks after the false allegations against President Donald Trump and his campaign — that they were Russian agents who had helped Moscow hack the DNC and put its emails onto Wikileaks — became public. Those allegations were debunked by none other than former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but he never included the sub-source interview in his March 2019 report. That would not come until later from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in Dec. 2019 when he summarized the interview, which has now been declassified by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The 'Primary Subsource's' Guide to Russiagate, as Told to the FBI. Much of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Donald Trump was built on the premise that Christopher Steele and his dossier were to be believed. This even though, early on, Steele's claims failed to bear scrutiny. Just how far off the claims were became clear when the FBI interviewed Steele's "Primary Subsource" over three days beginning on Feb. 9, 2017. Notes taken by FBI agents of those interviews were released by the Senate Judiciary Committee Friday afternoon [7/17/2020]. The Primary Subsource was in reality Steele's sole source, a long-time Russian-speaking contractor for the former British spy's company, Orbis Business Intelligence. In turn, the Primary Subsource had a group of friends in Russia. All of their names remain redacted. From the FBI interviews it becomes clear that the Primary Subsource and his friends peddled warmed-over rumors and laughable gossip that Steele dressed up as formal intelligence memos. Remember the Steele dossier? [Thread reader] Now that its been thoroughly discredited, anyone care for a trip down memory lane about how folks on the left & in the media hyped it up because it made Trump look bad? Media told America FBI had proof of collusion as bureau was realizing it had nothing. Despite what The New York Times and Washington Post were loudly reporting in early 2017, the FBI had failed to find any evidence of Trump-Russia "collusion" — and indeed had found that the central source of those claims was a joke. This is a key takeaway from the Justice Department's latest release of documents from the FBI's investigation. One shocker is the summary of the long FBI interview that January with the "Primary Subsource" for the infamous Steele dossier — indeed, about the only source. The Primary Sub-Source for Steele Dossier Identified — Igor Danchenko. In November 2019, the star witness for the Democrat Representative Adam Schiff's impeachment show trial was announced. Her name was Fiona Hill. Today we've uncovered that Hill is a close associate of the Primary Sub-Source (PSS) for the Steele dossier — Igor Danchenko — the individual behind most all the lies in the Steele dossier. No wonder Hill saw the Steele dossier before it was released. Her associate created it. Grenell: Documents Will Show Intel Officials Who Warned About Steele Dossier Were Ignored. Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence, said Wednesday that U.S. intelligence officials who expressed doubts early in the Trump-Russia investigation about the infamous Steele dossier were ignored. In an interview on Newsmax TV, Grenell said that documents that have yet to be released will show that career intelligence officials pointed to red flags about the dossier, which the FBI used in its investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. British Judge: FBI Knew "Ultimate Client" for Steele Dossier Was Hillary. A British judge has helped unravel the origin of the Russia Collusion Hoax by proving the FBI knew the notorious Steele Dossier, which the agency used to apply for permission to spy on the Trump presidential campaign, was a political hit job ordered up by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The finding is significant, reporter John Solomon wrote of the judge's remarks, because it validates Attorney General Bill Barr's allegations that the FBI misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court in seeking approval of the surveillance. Misleading the court was a crime, but the judge's lengthy ruling in a defamation judgement against Steele invites a question: Did Hillary Clinton commit the misdeed of which she accused Trump, i.e., soliciting foreign interference to win the election. British court rules against Christopher Steele, orders damages paid to businessmen named in dossier. A British judge ruled Wednesday that Christopher Steele violated a data privacy law by failing to check the accuracy of information in his infamous dossier, ordering the former spy's firm to pay damages to two businessmen he wrongly accused of making illicit payments in Russia. Justice Mark Warby of the High Court of England and Wales ordered Steele's firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, to pay a modest 18,000 English pounds — about $22,596 in American currency — each to Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman as compensation for a violation of Britain's Data Protection Act 1998. British Court Rules Against Christopher Steele In Dossier Lawsuit, Orders Ex-Spy To Pay Russian Bankers. A British judge on Wednesday [7/8/2020] ordered former British spy Christopher Steele to pay damages to two Russian bankers he accused in the infamous Trump dossier of having illicit ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ruling, handed down by Sir Mark Warby, a justice on the High Court of England and Wales, marks Steele's first loss in a dossier-related lawsuit. FBI Refuses To Disclose Records On Source Who Undermined Steele Dossier. The FBI is refusing to release documents related to the primary source for dossier author Christopher Steele, saying in response to a public records request that the information is classified and risks identifying a confidential FBI source. The source, whose identity remains a mystery, holds key information that could shed light on apparent inaccuracies in Steele's dossier, which the FBI cited extensively in applications for surveillance orders against Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The decision, which the FBI made in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Daily Caller News Foundation, comes as Republican lawmakers have increasingly accused the FBI and its director, Christopher Wray, of withholding documents relevant to the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. FBI picked most outlandish anti-Trump dossier claims for official U.S.-Russia report. A newly declassified intelligence document underscores the FBI's absolute commitment to the discredited Christopher Steele dossier even to the point of providing the CIA its most damaging allegations against then-President-elect Trump. The document is Annex A to the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. The FBI had obtained Mr. Steele's dossier in September. Its top officials, including Director James B. Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, began to press the CIA and other agencies to include the paper in the ICA. As a compromise, CIA officials agreed to accept a synopsis — Annex A. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified the document last week. The dossier was funded by the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. Government investigations have discredited its dozen or so anti-Trump claims. Primary Steele Dossier Source Remains Elusive Six Months After Scathing Watchdog Report. The identity of the primary source for Christopher Steele remains elusive six months after the Justice Department inspector general's report revealed that the individual disputed key allegations in former British spy's salacious dossier. The source, referred to as "Primary Sub-Source" in the watchdog report, is likely key to unraveling exactly how Steele came to peddle inaccurate information regarding Donald Trump and the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia. But the Justice Department, FBI, and Steele have all withheld key details about the source. Sen. Graham refuses to let FISA abuse get pinned on low-level FBI staff: 'I believe it goes to the very top'. Sen. Lindsey Graham says that he plans on calling former FBI Director James Comey and former deputy director Andrew McCabe to testify before his Senate Judiciary Committee, because he doubts they were unaware the dossier compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele had been debunked before it was used to get a FISA warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. After former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein denied having knowledge of any altered documents or that the Steele dossier had been disavowed beforehand, McCabe responded by saying that Rosenstein's claim that he was misled by him or anyone else at the FBI "are completely false." Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that he wants to press McCabe on his knowledge regarding the FBI's interview with Steele's sub-source, who denied the information in the dossier. 'Somebody cooked up the plot': The hunt for the origins of the Russia collusion narrative. Armed with subpoenas, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., want to interrogate a slew of Obama-era intelligence and law enforcement officials hoping to identify who invented and sustained the bogus Russia collusion narrative that hampered Donald Trump's early presidency. And while Graham and Johnson aren't exactly Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, they and their GOP cohorts have a theory worthy of a Tom Clancy novel-turned-movie: The Russia collusion investigation was really a plot by an outgoing administration to thwart the new president. "What we had was a very quiet insurrection that took place," Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican, told Just the News on Thursday as she described the theory of Senate investigators. "And there were probably dozens of people at DOJ and FBI that knew what was going on. Useless Senate Republicans [are] No Match for the 'Bums of Steele'. The letter, signed by one of the most powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill and addressed to Fusion GPS, indicated the jig was up. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) asked Glenn Simpson, Fusion's co-owner, 13 questions about his involvement with the so-called Steele dossier and ties to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. "When political opposition research becomes the basis for law enforcement or intelligence efforts, it raises substantial questions about the independence of law enforcement and intelligence from politics," Grassley wrote. The letter showed that Senate Republicans were aware Christopher Steele was a paid operative working on behalf of Trump's Democratic enemies inside and outside the government. [...] In other words, Republicans knew at that point the whole dossier-fueled collusion storyline was a massive scam. Obamagate: Of Course It Comes Back to Obama's Narcissism. [Scroll down] And don't forget Hillary, the creator of the Russia collusion hoax narrative. After her ignominious fit-throwing evening where she didn't have the decency to face her supporters, she immediately began a string of confabulation to justify her loss. She had to find a boogey man to avoid any blame for a winnable election. It was her DNC and her dossier, via John McCain to the FBI, that got the ball officially rolling. Fusion GPS (former reporters who had lots of media connections), the FBI and DOJ, and, we learned this week, President Obama himself all knew about this nonsense because of their surveillance of Flynn. John McCain was just either the willing dupe or was in on the drive to destabilize the Trump presidency at the beginning. The Left Is What It Once Loathed. [Scroll down] The Steele dossier? It has been discredited. Now the author confesses that he destroyed evidence from his "sources" such as they ever were. Even the anti-Trump FBI fired him as a contracting source of information. No matter. Steele nevertheless was praised by the Left for speaking truth to power. If collusion is defined as hiring foreigners to work with Russians to warp a U.S. election, then Christopher Steele is your man — and Hillary Clinton your ground zero. Steele is a British subject, who was hired by Clinton — albeit through the protective tripartite firewall of Fusion GPS, Perkins-Coie law firm, and the DNC — to use foreign and mostly Russian rumors and hearsay to find dirt on her political opponent. And after she lost the election, her fraudulent opposition research dossier was shopped about by the U.S. government, whose various agencies used it to attempt first to destroy Donald Trump's presidential transition and then his presidency. Testimony states both Hillary Clinton and then-Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice knew of paid dossier research. New information suggests failed 2016 Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the Democrat National Committee and the Obama administration all knowingly played a role in the production and dissemination of the since-debunked Steele dossier. The information concerns Perkins Coie, the law firm that was hired by Clinton and the DNC in 2016 for reasons that remain in dispute. The firm wound up hiring the opposition research firm Fusion GPS to conduct research on then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Fusion GPS then hired Christopher Steele, the man responsible for the smear-laden Steele dossier, to perform the actual digging. Is Trump warning us of a big break about the Steele Dossier's origins? While Obama was famous for saying that he first learned about the many scandals in his administration through media reports, Trump is no Obama, which matters for a couple of reasons. First, this is not a Trump scandal, so Trump's not creating a smokescreen. Second, only a credulous person would believe that Trump is not already well-versed about the details of Podesta's testimony. This means that when Trump sent out the following tweet, he was telling Americans to pay close attention: [...] Dossier Author Told John McCain Aide Of Unfounded Michael Flynn Affair Rumor. Christopher Steele told a longtime aide to John McCain in 2016 that he believed Michael Flynn was having an extramarital affair with a Russian woman, showing for the first time that the former British spy peddled an unsubstantiated rumor that later appeared in the media and made its way to the FBI. Steele shared the allegation with David Kramer, a longtime associate of McCain's, according to a transcript of Kramer's House Intelligence Committee testimony released Thursday [5/7/2020]. Kramer met with Steele in London in November 2016 at McCain's direction to discuss Steele's work on the Trump dossier. Kramer later gave the salacious document to a reporter from BuzzFeed News. Steele Gave New Details About Clinton Ally's Interest In The Dossier. Former British spy Christopher Steele testified in March that a longtime ally of the Clintons contacted him in summer 2016 about his investigation into Donald Trump after learning about it from one or more Obama administration officials. Strobe Talbott, the former president of the Brookings Institution, contacted him in the months leading up to the 2016 election inquiring about an investigation he was conducting at the time into Trump's possible ties to Russia, Steele said in a sworn deposition on March 18. "I remember taking a phone call from him, your Lordship, earlier in the summer, in which he said that he was aware that I had — he spoke in fairly cryptic terms, but he was aware that we had material of relevance to the US election," Steele testified of Talbott, who served as deputy secretary of state in the Clinton administration. Steele reveals he believes Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice knew about his anti-Trump research. The documents underlying his now infamous Russian dossier are long since destroyed, but Christopher Steele's recollections of his political opposition research on President Trump nearly four years later are poised to create new heartburn for Democrats. Steele recently testified in a British court that he believed both then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and then-Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice were aware of his dossier research as it was going on in summer 2016. The testimony makes his most direct link yet between his Russia collusion research and the top of the Clinton campaign and Obama White House. Dossier Author Christopher Steele Had Previously Undisclosed Meetings With Lawyers For DNC, Clinton Campaign. A lawyer representing the DNC and Clinton campaign provided Christopher Steele with information in 2016 regarding an alleged secret communications channel between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, the former spy told a British court last month. That now-debunked tip, from Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussmann, set off a chain of events that led to Steele publishing a Sept. 14, 2016 memo accusing the founders of the bank, Alfa Bank, of having "illicit" ties to Vladimir Putin, according to a court transcript obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Chris Steele "Wiped" All Of His Notes — The Trump-Russia Dossier was a COMPLETE SCAM — Used by FBI and DOJ to Remove Trump! In 2017 our very first reaction to the Steele dossier on January 11, 2017 was that it was completely farcical and filled with complete lies. [...] Now today we find out the entire dossier was completely made up. And the dossier author Christopher Steele admitted he destroyed his notes and "wiped" his computer. Former MI-6 operative Christopher Steele says his anti-Trump dossier records [have been] destroyed. Christopher Steele says his computer records for research to write a Democratic Party-financed anti-Donald Trump dossier no longer exist. He made the disclosure in a deposition last month for a law suit brought by three Russian oligarchs who own Alfa Bank, the country's largest commercial bank. Mr. Steele, in his 35-page dossier that accused President Trump of leading a Russian conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 election, linked the three bankers to the Kremlin computer hacking and social media war against Hillary Clinton. Reference material:  Black's Law Dictionary, 1991, page 1401. Major Media Outlets Fail To Expose Bombshell Evidence Showing Dodgy Dossier Was Russian Disinformation. Many main stream media outlets and cable networks have failed to correct their record of misinformation they delivered to the American people regarding President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, even after evidence continues to surface showing that the dodgy dossier compiled by a former British spy was Russian lies. Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. Chuck Grassley's urging to have acting Director of National Intelligence Rick Grenell and Attorney General William Barr declassify footnotes in Inspector General Michael Horowitz's December report on the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation, cleared any speculation that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia. Devin Nunes: 'Obama's dossier' a subject of criminal referral to Justice Department. A top Republican said a criminal referral sent to the Justice Department last year relates to the 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russian election interference. Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, spoke about the assessment on Tuesday after the Senate intelligence panel released its 158-page bipartisan report defending the assessment that was released in the waning days of the Obama administration. The California congressman told Fox Business host Lou Dobbs that it was "suspect" the U.S. Intelligence Community put it together in a matter of several weeks, at the behest of former President Barack Obama. Understanding The Russian Disinformation Defense — As Predicted in 2018. Various mainstream media reports have discussed the latest declassification releases by saying the releases show the Steele Dossier was infected with "Russian Disinformation". The framework of this "Russia disinformation" defense narrative is completely and utterly false. The fabrications within the Steele Dossier assembly of lies, came almost exclusively from operatives in and outside government associated with the Clinton campaign; and a dedicated group of purposeful allies in the intelligence community; who were attempting to weaponize intelligence, even false intelligence for similar political purposes. However, that said, in 2018 CTH outlined this exact defense and why they would deploy it. Devin Nunes: GOP investigators 'laser-focused' on information CIA gave to FBI in 2016. House Intelligence Committee Republicans are "laser-focused" on investigating information the CIA gave to the FBI in 2016, according to ranking member Devin Nunes. For the first time, the California congressman described in great detail the next steps of a broad congressional inquiry into possible misconduct during the Russia investigation, which he said includes scrutiny of three "dossiers" and questions about three Russian Americans. All of this follows the declassification of key documents over the past couple weeks, including footnotes showing the FBI was warned British ex-spy Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier was likely influenced by Russian disinformation and yet continued to use it, and Nunes's pledge to send more criminal referrals to the Justice Department. Was Trump the Only One in Washington Innocent of Russian Collusion? Catherine Herridge confirmed recently that the FBI ignored warnings that the primary evidence used in securing a FISA warrant against Carter Page, Christopher's Steele's "dossier," is unreliable "Russian disinformation." Herridge is as fine an investigative reporter as they come, but my gut reaction was, "Haven't we known that for years now?" Then reality smacked me in the face, and I remembered: we're still pretending as a country that Barack Obama's FBI and CIA didn't work with Fusion GPS, Hillary Clinton, and the Democrat party to frame Donald Trump as an agent of the Russian government. I suppose the longer the attempted coup against the president has endured, the easier it is to forget that the U.S. government has done everything in its power to cover up the criminality of its intelligence agencies and preferred political players, while obfuscating the public record with a steady stream of disinformation from the corporate news. The Russians did it — Revised Version. For three years, the left has been peddling the story that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election in collaboration with the Trump campaign, with the ridiculous Steele Dossier cited as the proof. Now, the Party Line has shifted. The Russians still did it, says the new line, possibly working with the Clinton campaign, only they fed disinformation to the gullible Christopher Steele, who than helped deceive the innocents at the CIA and the FBI. So if these agencies spent three years conducting a sham investigation that hamstrung the American Presidency and embittered political relations — well, it was still the Russian's fault. Colluding with Russia: Christopher Steele sued by Russian oligarchs named in anti-Trump dossier. Three Russian oligarchs are suing former British spy Christopher Steele for naming them in his dubious, anti-Trump, Democratic Party-funded dossier. DailyMail.com reports banker Peter Aven, billionaire financier Mikhail Fridman and oil tycoon German Khan have denied Steele's claims and filed suit in London court. The dossier was used by the Obama administration to advance its claim that the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the election. After two years of investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller debunked the dossier's main claims and could verify none of them. DOJ's FISA report contradicts claims by Dems, media figures that surveillance rules were strictly observed. New findings by the Justice Department inspector general that the FBI has repeatedly violated surveillance rules stood in stark contrast to the years of assurances from top Democrats and media commentators that bureau scrupulously handled Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants — and prompted Republican lawmakers to caution that the FBI seemingly believes it has "carte blanche to routinely erode the liberties of Americans without proper justification." The DOJ watchdog identified critical errors in every FBI wiretap application that it audited as part of the fallout from the bureau's heavily flawed investigation into former Trump advisor Carter Page, who was surveilled in part because of a largely discredited dossier funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). An FBI lawyer in that case even falsified a CIA email submitted to the FISA court in order to make Page's communications with Russians appear nefarious, the DOJ inspector general found; and the DOJ has concluded that the Page warrant was legally improper. FBI in Rome shared highly classified material to Steele — It's illegal. Real Clear Investigations' (RCI) Eric Felten discovered a footnote buried in the DOJ Inspector General's December report on FISA abuses. It revealed that an FBI team in Rome revealed some of the "most closely held secrets" to the former British spy and dossier author Christopher Steele. This took place at a meeting on October 3, 2016, one month before the election. Steele was even paid $15,000 to keep him cooperating. Report: FBI Handed Over Classified Information To Spy Christopher Steele. Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovered that FBI agents shared extensive classified materials with former British spy Christopher Steele, despite knowing the Democratic National Committee was paying Steele and that Hillary Clinton herself was aware of Steele's research, according to a new report by Eric Felten at RealClearInvestigations. FBI agents met with Steele in Rome just a month before the 2016 election, where they gave him a "general overview" of Crossfire Hurricane as well as details of the cases against Trump campaign staffers Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn. In addition to the intel, Steele was compensated $15,000 by the FBI for attending the three-hour meeting. Buried in IG Report: How an FBI Team in Rome Gave Steele Highly Guarded Secrets. A month before the 2016 presidential election, the FBI met Christopher Steele in Rome and apparently unlawfully shared with the foreign opposition researcher some of the bureau's most closely held secrets, according to unpublicized disclosures in the recent Justice Department Inspector General report on abuses of federal surveillance powers. What's more, Steele, the former British spy who compiled the "dossier" of conspiracy theories for the Hillary Clinton campaign, was promised $15,000 to attend the briefing by FBI agents eager to maintain his cooperation in their Trump-Russia collusion investigation codenamed Crossfire Hurricane. That investigation was so closely guarded that only a handful of top officials and agents at the FBI were allowed to know about it. 'False claims': Christopher Steele stands by dossier after Trump attacks. Christopher Steele waded back into American politics on Friday [2/7/2020] as the British ex-spy's private investigative firm rebuked criticism from President Trump and defended the Trump-Russia dossier. [...] During a lengthy impeachment acquittal victory-lap speech at the White House yesterday, Trump repeatedly criticized what he saw as politically motivated investigations against him. The president harshly criticized Steele, whose salacious and unverified dossier was used extensively by the FBI and the Department of Justice to obtain surveillance warrants against Trump campaign associate Carter Page. Top British spy report: 'Strong possibility' that anti-Trump dossier was completely fabricated. A British author who specializes in espionage raised serious doubts about former MI6 officer Christopher Steele's salacious dossier, which was included in the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into President Trump's 2016 campaign. Rupert Allason, a former member of Parliament whose pen name is Nigel West, conducted a forensic analysis of Steele's work, which made stunning allegations about coordination between Trump's camp and Russia. He came away "stunned" by what he viewed to be a poor job by a former intelligence officer whom he once considered to be a friend. "There is ... a strong possibility that all Steele's material has been fabricated," Allason wrote in a report obtained by the British newspaper Sunday Times. The Deep State Tapestry of Deceit is Beginning to Unravel. The plot was simple. The Obama administration, in 2016 and before, wanted to preordain the 2016 electoral outcome. What better way to do this than to spy on the rival presidential campaign? Since spying is illegal, a pretense was needed. That's where the Steele Dossier came in. The DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, and top Obama administration officials colluded with multiple foreign governments to fabricate opposition research on the Trump campaign alleging treasonous activities. This allowed the FBI to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, and likely others as well. The Obama administration colluded with foreign governments to influence an election. How ironic that this is exactly what President Trump was impeached for, and why he is a "dictator" and an "existential threat to democracy". Adam Schiff's history of inaccuracies, conspiracy theories follows him to Senate floor. On Jan. 10, 2017, BuzzFeed posted the Christopher Steele dossier, which made a dozen felony charges against Mr. Trump and his allies. A month later, The New York Times reported that the intelligence community owned a year's worth of phone records and intercepts between the Trump campaign and Kremlin intelligence. The dossier allegations and Times story were both false. The next month, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence convened the first major hearing into Russia's interference in the 2016 election by computer hacking and social media warfare. A key question was whether the Trump campaign was a witting ally. It was in that media glare that Mr. Schiff began making a series of conspiracy claims as he sat on a committee that is supposed to deal in facts. The Steele Dossier Bacillus. In 2016, Hillary Clinton presidential candidate hired an ex-intelligence officer and foreign national, British subject Christopher Steele, to use Russian sources to find dirt ("opposition research") on her then political opponent Donald Trump. So much for the worry about "foreign interference" in U.S. elections. The public would take years to learn of the funding sources of Steele, because Clinton camouflaged her role through three firewalls: the Democratic National Committee; the Perkins-Coie legal firm; and Glenn Simpson's Fusion GPS opposition-research firm. Steele had collected rumor and gossip from mostly Russian sources in an effort to tar Trump as a Russian colluder and asset. We know now that his sources were either bogus or deliberately warped by Steele himself. The FISA Court Is Complicit In The FBI Abuses It's Raising Cain Over. From this paragraph we know that the FISA court was expressly told that neither Christopher Steele nor his primary sub-source were the actual sources of the information included in the FISA applications. Instead, the FISA applications made clear that Steele and his primary sub-source were repeating information other individuals told them. And it appears from this passage that the only additional information provided to the court concerned a sub-source's "position" or "access to the information" on which he was reporting. Further, there appears to be no assertion in the FISA applications that the sub-sources were reliable. (Even if the FISA applications professed the reliability of sub-sources, "courts hold that conclusory statements that informants are 'believed to be reliable sources,' 'standing alone without any supporting factual information, merit absolutely no weight and that information obtained from a reliable source must be treated as information obtained from an informant of unknown reliability.'") Instead, the FISA applications focused on Steele's supposed reliability. But as a legal matter, that is not enough: Even though the probable cause threshold is low, "an untested, unidentified informant's second-hand report" does not "clear the bar." Documents Show Senior Kerry Aide Used Private Email to Send Steele Reports to State Department Colleagues. Eleven pages of State Department documents released on Jan. 7 in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch show that Jonathan Winer, an assistant to then-Secretary of State John Kerry, used his private email address to convey information he received from former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to top U.S. diplomatic officials. "I will send them to her [his assistant, Nina Miller] from my non-State email account, not copying myself," Winer said in response to a December 2014 email from Paul Jones, principal deputy assistant secretary for European Affairs. Jones wanted Winer to use the State Department's secure email system, known informally as the "high side," to transmit reports from Steele's firm, Orbis Business Intelligence. A crime still in progress. Crime in Progress is, inadvertently, the cruelest book ever written about the American media. Its authors, Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, are the two former Wall Street Journal reporters who founded the DC-based consultancy Fusion GPS. In 2016, the Hillary Clinton campaign paid them to use their former media colleagues to push a conspiracy theory smearing her Republican opponent, Donald Trump. The crime is still in progress. To help top-notch journalists market the fantasy that one of the world's most familiar faces was a secret Russian spy, Fusion GPS co-ordinated with the FBI to forge a series of 'intelligence reports'. They attributed these lurid memos to a down-on-his-luck Brit, a former spy named Christopher Steele. The interested punters included some of the biggest names in the business: the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the New Yorker, even Yahoo! News. Eventually, they all endorsed Steele's 'dossier'. McCain apparently funneled Steele data to Comey. We've now learned that after Steele was fired by the FBI as a source due to unreliability John McCain apparently funneled that Steele data to Mr. Comey. This was not, as previously reported, a singular event: The IG report documents that McCain passed five additional reports that the FBI had not previously seen from Steele to Comey, all of which were sourced through Fusion GPS which is the firm that Hillary Clinton hired to dig up dirt on Trump. While McCain may not have known that Steele had been fired Comey certainly did. Folks, partisan and political animus is nothing new, as I've repeatedly reported. However, to use the gun-toting federal police force as a means to unlawfully tamper with evidence, commit perjury before a court in order to obtain surveillance warrants and for Comey to apparently circumvent the fact that the FBI had previously found Steele unreliable and had fired him by means of obtaining further information via John McCain is outrageous. IG Report Reveals Steele Funneled Claims Through John McCain After FBI Dropped Him. Late Senator John McCain provided disgraced former FBI chief James Comey with five separate reports from Christopher Steele that the FBI didn't previously possess related to unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Russia and President Trump's 2016 campaign, the Justice Department's recent Inspector General report revealed. There have long been questions about why it was necessary for McCain to pass Steele's anti-Trump dossier to Comey on December 9, 2016, several weeks after the November 2016 presidential election. By then, Steele had already met numerous times with FBI agents to provide them with his controversial reports. The FBI's Darkest Hour. One can imagine the unspoken question hanging in the darkness during the January 2017 ride back to the airport. A small gaggle of FBI agents had just concluded their long-overdue interview with Christopher Steele's primary sub-source. The silence must have been deafening. Steele had tried to conceal his source from the FBI. [...] When presented one last opportunity to do the right thing, the FBI instead pushed harder for their now-discredited hypothesis justifying the investigation. [...] From this point on, the FBI's participation in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax became willful and intentional. This is the FBI's darkest hour. The next time the FBI prepared a warrant renewal application, it misrepresented the interview to make it appear as though the source confirmed Steele's fairytale. It wasn't a mistake. It was a deliberate defrauding of a court. DOJ IG Blows Up Steele Dossier Upheld By The Media. Earlier this month, the Justice Department inspector general released a long-anticipated report on the FBI's FISA abuses of four warrants used to conduct surveillance on the Trump campaign. One of the major revelations to emerge from the report was the confirmation that the sources from the discredited Steele Dossier were relied upon to re-issue the warrants from the FISA courts to continue its deep-state operations. FBI officials knew as early as January of 2017 that the sources were providing junk intelligence and did not include that information in their warrant applications. The media however, spent years defending the credibility of the Steele Dossier in peddling the Russia hoax. FISA Court Committed a Fraud upon America. Presiding judge Rosemary Collyer, having returned from her vacation on Mars and just in time for her retirement, has demanded of the FBI revised procedures to ensure that the multiple frauds committed upon the court, including inclusion of fraudulent material, omission of exculpatory information, and the deliberate alteration of documents to mislead the court. It was farcical to hear her, in the face of multiple felonies in a Deep State plot bordering on sedition, suggest that revised procedures for the handling and submitting of FISA applications is the answer to our chief law enforcement agency's attempt to overthrow a sitting president of the United States. Did she just wake up? Where has she been? Back on February 2, 2018, a House Intelligence Committee memo, written when it was chaired by the now vindicated Rep. Devin Nunes, detailed the phoniness and falsification of the data used in the first and subsequent FISA warrants based primarily on the fraudulent Steele dossier. [The] FBI's wiretap of Trump campaign [was] triggered by [an] anonymous call. The Justice Department's report on the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane probe is the first official account of sources relied on by Christopher Steele to write a dossier that damaged President Trump, energized the FBI and ultimately proved to be untrue. The Justice Department inspector general's report shows that an anonymous phone call with a Steele source provided the unverified conspiracy theory to trigger a Trump campaign wiretap. Mr. Steele talked to the FBI but refused to reveal his murky network. But the FBI was able to locate his "primary sub-source." After interviewing the Moscow-based person three times in 2017, the results "raised significant questions about the reliability of the Steele election reporting," the IG report said. IG Report Reveals Previously Unknown FBI Investigation Of Alleged Dossier Source. The FBI opened up a counterintelligence investigation in October 2016 against a Belarusian-American businessman who Christopher Steele said was an unwitting source for his infamous anti-Trump dossier, according to a newly unredacted version of a Justice Department inspector general's report. The FBI failed to disclose the investigation against the alleged source — called Person 1 in the report — to Justice Department attorney and in applications submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) surveillance warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Flashback: CNN's Jim Sciutto Defended Steele Dossier More Than Anybody. Perhaps more than any other journalist, CNN's Jim Sciutto has championed the Steele dossier, asserting in news articles and on-air segments that the FBI had verified central parts of the salacious document, and that the bureau would have corroborated the information before using it in applications for surveillance warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Sciutto reported Feb. 10, 2017, that U.S. officials had "corroborated some" parts of the dossier. He insisted Dec. 26, 2017, in a broadcast that the FBI would have corroborated information in the report before using it to spy on Page. Crossfire Hurricane Team Didn't Know About Steele's Work For A Russian Oligarch, DOJ Report Says. The FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team turned over every rock to find out whether members of the Trump campaign were working with Russians in 2016, but failed to discover that Christopher Steele, the FBI's primary source for claims of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, was himself working for a Russian oligarch, according to the Justice Department inspector general's report. FBI and Justice Department officials told the inspector general (IG) that investigators would have wanted to assess Steele's link to the oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, in order to determine if it had an impact on Steele's dossier. The Hidden Hand. [Scroll down] This pattern of often clumsy manipulation of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation is everywhere in the record. It is at the heart, for instance, of the entire Christopher Steele narrative. Shortly after Crossfire Hurricane is initiated, Steele, a former British intelligence officer, appears to provide a dossier, actually multiple files, concerning alleged connections between Donald Trump and his campaign and the Kremlin. The dossier also includes a number of gratuitously salacious allegations concerning President Trump and Russian prostitutes, which likely says more about Steele and the way his mind works than anything else. Steele is working for a law firm employed by Fusion GPS, which is in effect, an extension of Hillary Clinton's campaign. He is in Washington, DC frequently. He has a wide range of contacts at senior levels on multiple continents. He has had contact of some kind with the FBI for years. Here's the likely whistleblower — and the questions he should answer. In the middle of Russia fever, the liberal press took a hectoring tone to any outlet that showed a glimmer of doubt. How dare any journalist not believe that President Trump is an agent of Vladimir Putin! Who would question the upstanding virtues of the FBI? Of course, we now know that the conspiracy theories were wrong. There was no Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. And, moreover, the inspector general report proves that the FBI trampled over civil liberties and common sense in pursuit of the case. While idle conversation during a meeting with George Papadopoulos and an Australian official may have sparked the inquiry, Crossfire Hurricane, it was only because of outlandish gossip in a Democrat-funded opposition report, the Steele Dossier, that the FBI was able to land a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Even as the agency found that Steele's sources did not back up the dossier, that facts did not back up the dossier, they continued the red scare. Brennan Lied About Not Including Steele Dossier In Intelligence Community Assessment On 2016 Russian Election Interference. The new report from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirmed former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress about whether the dossier authored by Christopher Steele was used in the Obama administration's Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). The ICA, a report conducted by intelligence officials in 2016 on Russian election interference, was used to brief President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump in January 2017. According to the IG report, there was significant discussion by top intelligence officials as to whether the unverified Steele dossier should be included in the main body of the ICA report, summarized in an appendix, or even included at all. DOJ Watchdog Puts Final Nail In Steele Dossier's Coffin. A Justice Department watchdog's report released Monday [12/9/2019] definitively debunked one of the Steele dossier's most pervasive allegations of collusion, while severely undermining other hair-raising claims about Donald Trump and former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The report is unsparing of both Christopher Steele, the dossier author, and the FBI's handling of the salacious document. It paints a picture of Steele, a former British spy, as an eager gun-for-hire encumbered with a poor sense of judgment. The FBI, while absolved of a top-down, politically-motivated conspiracy to take down Trump, failed to verify any of Steele's allegations, and also omitted key pieces of information that contradicted the dossier. FBI Failed to Inform FISA Court that Steele Dossier was Unreliable: Report. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's yet unpublished draft report found that the FBI did not inform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the controversial Steele dossier, cited in applications to spy on Page, was unreliable, according to the Washington Post. The dossier was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele who was investigating Donald Trump for an opposition research firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign. The dossier purported to show connections between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The FBI found Steele's information about a Russian government connection to be dubious but declined to mention as much in the later applications to the FISA court for warrants to surveil Page. Fusion GPS Founders Admit Dossier Was Not a 'Finished Product'. In their new book, Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, co-founders of the controversial Fusion GPS opposition research outfit, admit their firm's infamous anti-Trump dossier was not a "finished product." Yet that same dossier reportedly served as a roadmap for the FBI's investigation into unsubstantiated and unproven allegations of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. And, according to a Republican House Intelligence Committee memo, the dossier authored by ex-British spy Christopher Steele served as part of the basis for FBI warrant requests under James Comey to conduct surveillance on Carter Page, who served as a tangential adviser to Trump's campaign. Fusion GPS Chiefs Spin Hard Before the Horowitz Report. There are a few bombshells tucked in the new book authored by Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, co-owners of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm responsible for the most infamous dossier in American political history. Here's one that — as far as I know — hasn't been disclosed until now: Before Fusion hired Christopher Steele in 2016 to produce his sketchy dossier on Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Steele hired Fusion to help him with a client at odds with a key figure in the Trump camp. The London-based operative, misleadingly portrayed in the press as a mere former British intelligence officer, needed help investigating the Trump advisor for his client. The campaign advisor? Paul Manafort. Steele's client? Vladimir Putin-tied oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Media Hypes Fusion GPS Founders as Victims. It's a little like the proverbial child killing its parents and throwing itself on the mercy of the court because he's now an orphan, but, with the wheels of Barr-Durham-Horowitz justice inexorably turning on them, there are Fusion GPS founders, Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, on a media book tour claiming they are the victims of right-wing vengeance for their role in orchestrating a criminal fraud upon the FISA court and a coup against a sitting president of the United States. ICIG Michael Atkinson Altered Whistleblower Forms to Allow for CIA Leaker — His Wife Just Happens to be Connected to Russian Collusion Hoaxer — Fusion GPS. Another day, another Deep State participant outed. ICIG Michael Atkinson altered the whistleblower form to allow for second-hand information, which allowed suspected Schiff whistleblower Eric Ciaramella to present a bogus accusation on the President. Atkinson also oversaw the FBI lovers who altered the FISA warrant. This will soon be reported in the DOJ IG's FISA Abuse report. Today we point out that Atkinson's wife is connected to Fusion GPS. Ex-spy Christopher Steele accused Comey of 'treasonous' intervention in 2016 election. Former British spy Christopher Steele described FBI Director James Comey's October 2016 letter to Congress about Hillary Clinton's emails as "unconscionable. Treasonous, really," according to a new book. At the time, Steele, 55, a former MI6 officer, was working for opposition research company Fusion GPS to investigate connections between Donald Trump, then the 2016 GOP presidential nominee. At the same time, he was a confidential informant for the FBI. His fury over Comey's intervention, which he believed damaged Clinton while concealing what the FBI knew about Trump, prompted him to push for what became known as the "Steele dossier" in the public domain. New Fusion GPS Info Confirms The Special Counsel Probe Was A Hit Job. In April, when the special counsel's report on Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election was released to the public, a glaring omission quickly made clear indicating Robert Mueller was either incompetent or a political hack. As I wrote at the time: "Not once in the 448-page tome does Mueller mention an investigation into whether Russia interfered with the U.S. presidential election by feeding dossier author Christopher Steele misinformation." Today's release of Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch's book on the Steele dossier, "Crime in Progress: Inside the Steele Dossier and the Fusion GPS Investigation of Donald Trump," has put the former MI6's collection of anti-Trump memoranda back in the news. The renewed focus on the Steele dossier are cementing the case that the special counsel probe served as a taxpayer-funded political hit on President Trump and not a true investigation into Russia's election interference. Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson Claims He was Tricked by Russian Operative Natalia Veselnitskaya. It would appear U.S. Attorney John Durham digging into the origin of the 'vast Russian collusion-conspiracy' has the founders of Fusion-GPS getting twitchy. The "Mamet Principle"of pretending not to know things was on full display today during a Meet the Press interview with Fusion founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch. For obvious reasons fellow traveler Chuck Todd avoided the most damning lines of questioning including why they hired Nellie Ohr, why Simpson lied to the House intelligence committee, and why Glenn Simpson invoked the fifth amendment in refusing to testify to the House Judiciary Committee. Fiona Hill Says Longtime Clinton Crony Showed Her Steele Dossier Before It Was Published. Fiona Hill, who served as a top Russia adviser to President Donald Trump, testified at an impeachment hearing Thursday that a longtime Clinton insider showed her a copy of the Steele dossier a day before it was published by BuzzFeed News. Hill testified that Strobe Talbott, the former president of the Brookings Institution, shared the salacious document with her on Jan. 9, 2017. At the time, Hill was a director at Brookings, a left-of-center foreign policy think tank. She joined the Trump White House in early 2017 as senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council. Fiona Hill Worked with Christopher Steele, Author of Russia 'Dossier'. Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council (NSC) official who is testifying in Thursday's impeachment inquiry, admitted in her closed-door deposition to having worked with Russia "dossier" author Christopher Steele. Steele, a former British spy, was hired by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS to find dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump. The firm was paid by Trump's political opponents, particularly the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. His "dossier" produced a slew of unsubstantiated, salacious accusations, some of them were proven false outright. But the FBI used it to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign associates. Demonization of Nunes Is a Window Into Our Times. Much of what we now know about the unethical and often illegal behavior of the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, and Department of Justice emerged due to the efforts of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Its chairman during its stunning disclosures has been Representative Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), who in turn has been constantly demonized for his efforts. [...] Prior to the committee's work, we did not know that the FBI and Justice Department used unverified information from the Steele dossier to obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing for the surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Without the committee's disclosures, Americans would not have had any idea that Bruce Ohr, who once ranked fourth in the Department of Justice hierarchy, coordinated opposition research on Trump with Steele, the FBI, and Fusion GPS. Ohr took this unethical step because his wife was working for Fusion GPS — a fact that was withheld on federal disclosure forms. Rep. Devin Nunes Tosses Some Grenades That Frag Democrats. Mark Levin interviewed Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on his Sunday night program, "Life, Liberty and Levin," on the Fox News Channel. He made a few statements during that interview that need to be propagated everywhere! The Democrats have been attacking Nunes since early 2017 when his committee began to disclose major "irregularities" by the Democrat National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign in funding the still-unverified "Russian dossier." [...] These facts turned Rep. Nunes into the Democrats' "public enemy Number One," and he has been targeted and smeared by Democrats and their lickspittle media as each subsequent disclosure about Democrat/Obama Administration wrong-doing was made public. Impeachment Witness Undercut Steele Dossier In Bombshell Testimony. A former White House official who Democrats consider a key witness in their impeachment inquiry told lawmakers in October that she believed Russians likely planted disinformation about President Donald Trump with dossier author Christopher Steele. Fiona Hill, who served as the White House's top adviser on Russia affairs until July, told lawmakers she was "shocked" to find out that Steele, a former MI6 officer, was the author of the dossier. That's in large part because when she had met with Steele in the years leading up to his dossier work, he was "constantly try to drum up business." Andrew McCabe Flatly Refuses To Discuss FBI Verification Of The Steele Dossier. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe refused to say Wednesday [10/30/2019] what parts of the Steele dossier the FBI verified before using the salacious document in surveillance warrant applications to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. McCabe, a CNN analyst, appeared on a panel with former CIA officials John Brennan, John McLaughlin and Michael Morell to discuss the intelligence community's role in the 2020 election. Lee Stranahan On The Clinton State Department Crony Origin Of The Russian Collusion Hoax. Here's an interesting thread by Lee Stranahan on how Clinton cronies at the State Department were building the Russian Collusion hoax story back in early 2016, before Fusion GPS hired Steele to assemble the fake dossier. The Madness of Progressive Projection. Mueller found no proof that Trump colluded with Russian officials. But to come to such a conclusion, by needs he had to ignore all the evidence leading to an open and shut case, that Hillary Clinton used three firewalls — the Democratic National Committee, the Perkins Coie legal firm, and Fusion GPS opposition research team — to hide her payments to British national Christopher Steele, an admitted Trump-hater, who hired Russian fabricators to find dirt on Trump, and then created a mostly mythical "dossier" on Clinton's opponent. In turn, the dossier was seeded among fellow traveler Trump haters in the DOJ, FBI, DNI, and CIA like Bruce Ohr, John Brennan, James Clapper, James Comey, and Andrew McCabe. These partisan allies of the Democrats working in government made sure that it was leaked to the media before the 2016 election. Fitton believes 'ALL materials in bogus Russia dossier were product of CIA disinformation'. Tom Fitton, head of Judicial Watch, the organization that President Trump should name to replace the do-nothing-to-anyone-involved-in-Spygate Justice Department, told Fox Business Network on Friday that he believes there is no actual "Russian intelligence" in the bogus dossier. In fact, he believes when all is said and done, Americans will discover that the entire document was the product of "recycled misinformation" materials contributed by that anti-Trump asshole, John Brennan, and his CIA. Anti-Trump dossier played role in launching probe, contrary to Comey, FBI claims. Evidence suggests that the discredited, Democratic Party-financed dossier landed at FBI headquarters weeks before the bureau officially started the Trump-Russia investigation on July 31, 2016. The Justice Department's John Durham has been investigating the central question of how the Trump-Russia probe began. Dossier timing is one of Mr. Durham's key concerns. The FBI hierarchy has said it officially started investigating Trump campaign aides free of any dossier presence. An examination of available testimony by The Washington Times shows evidence to the contrary. Maria Bartiromo Outlines The Architect of "Spygate" and "Crossfire Hurricane", CIA Director John Brennan. Among all media personalities Maria Bartiromo easily has the most comprehensive grasp of the 2016 operation against President Trump. During two interviews today Bartiromo outlines the evidence that leads directly to the person at the origination point, former CIA Director John Brennan. First, here's a mash-up of the two interviews (Senator Graham and John Solomon) where Bartiromo asks the same question. [Video clip] New evidence shows why Steele, the Ohrs and TSA workers never should have become DOJ sources. One of the inevitable outcomes of the Russia case will be that the Department of Justice (DOJ) almost certainly will need internal reforms. The first reform is the most obvious, given the unraveling of the Russia collusion narrative: a new set of rules governing when the FBI can investigate or spy on a First Amendment-protected political campaign during an election. The FBI never should have been allowed to sustain a counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump's campaign based on hearsay from Australian diplomat Alexander Downer, who helped to arrange a $25 million Australian government donation to the Clinton Foundation, and on a "minimally" verified dossier written by British spy Christopher Steele, who was working on the Hillary Clinton opposition-research team. FBI Memo: Obama State Dept. [was] In Communication with Dossier Producer Fusion GPS. Victoria Nuland, a former Hillary Clinton associate who served as a senior official in John Kerry's State Department, was in communication with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, according to a newly released FBI document. The controversial Fusion GPS opposition research firm infamously produced the Christopher Steele dossier alleging now debunked Russian collision charges and was paid for its anti-Trump work by Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Revealing the systemic coup between Bruce Ohr and Christopher Steele. July congressional hearings reveal that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's team conducted a two-day interview in London with British ex-spy Christopher Steele. Thus beginning to unpeel the onion on DOJ abuse of powers. Steele is the author of the unsubstantiated and salacious dossier attacking President Trump, creating the Russia Hoax. The truth is coming home to roost. The facts emerging are that Steele's anti-Trump bias was well known at or about the November 2016 presidential election. Despite the many red flags, the DOJ, including operative Bruce Ohr's bias, the initial FISA applications did rely on the dossier. A dossier that holds no truth. Trump dossier author feared Congressional investigations, Bruce Ohr 302s show. Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy who compiled the salacious anti-Trump dossier that sparked the Russia investigation, feared congressional inquiries, according to new documents released Thursday night [8/8/2019]. The surprising revelation was the most interesting detail among the 34 pages of FBI agent interview notes with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr. Known as 302s, the notes document FBI agents' interviews with Mr. Ohr. In May 2017, Mr. Ohr told the agents Mr. Steele was "worried" about the upcoming Senate testimony of then-FBI Director James B. Comey. What ails the US Press? [Scroll down] The subhead to the column puts it this way: "The media's lack of interest in the Steele dossier amounts to collusion in a coverup." The lack of journalistic interest calls for an explanation. Laziness, stupidity, herd mentality, and partisanship all seem to have something to do with the utter lack of interest in what it's all about, although any one of these factors all by itself may be enough to explain it. FBI's spreadsheet puts a stake through the heart of Steele's dossier. Some in the news media have tried in recent days to rekindle their long-lost love affair with former MI6 agent Christopher Steele and his now infamous dossier. The main trigger was a lengthy interview in June with the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general, which some news outlets suggested meant U.S. officials have found Steele, the former Hillary Clinton-backed political muckraker, to be believable. "Investigators ultimately found Steele's testimony credible and even surprising," Politico crowed. The Washington Post went even further, suggesting Steele's assistance to the inspector general might "undermine Trumpworld's alt-narrative" that the Russia-collusion investigation was flawed. Lawsuit Outs Reporter Ellen Ratner as Source for Seth Rich Information. Businessman Ed Butowsky filed a lawsuit on Monday that outed FOX News reporter Ellen Ratner was his source for the Seth Rich information. [...] The more I've reviewed the Seth Rich case, the more I'm convinced of its central role in the whole Russian Collusion Hoax. I believe DNC officials knew that the emails would become public as the result of an internal leak, and they knew that the emails would be very damaging, so they attempted to turn the tables by pointing fingers at Donald Trump and the Russians. Lawsuit Claims Julian Assange Confirmed DNC Emails Received From Seth Rich — Not a Russian Hack. A rather stunning report from Gateway Pundit outlines information contained within a lawsuit filing. The lawsuit, filed by Businessman Ed Butowsky, alleges Wikileaks founder Julian Assange confirmed to Fox News analyst Ellen Ratner that the DNC leaked emails were received from Seth Rich and his brother Aaron. The details contained within the lawsuit filing are stunning. If this information is true and accurate, the DOJ claim of a Russian hack — based on assertions by DNC contractor, Crowdstrike — would be entirely false. Additionally the DC murder of Seth Rich would hold a far more alarming motive. Trump dossier author Steele gets 16-hour DOJ grilling. Christopher Steele, the former British spy behind the infamous "dossier" on President Donald Trump's ties to Russia, was interviewed for 16 hours in June by the Justice Department's internal watchdog, according to two people familiar with the matter. The interview is part of an ongoing investigation that the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, has been conducting for the past year. Specifically, Horowitz has been examining the FBI's efforts to surveil a one-time Trump campaign adviser based in part on information from Steele, an ex-British MI6 agent who had worked with the bureau as a confidential source since 2010. IG Horowitz Investigators Interviewed Chris Steele June 3rd. Comey FBI apologist, Fusion GPS co-conspirator and Lawfare Alliance media narrative engineer, Natasha Bertrand, has an outline published today on the background interview of dossier author Christopher Steele. From within the article, beyond the sympathetic propaganda, some overarching details are interesting: [#1] As expected Mr. Steele would only talk to OIG investigators from Horowitz's office; Steele would not speak to speak to U.S. Attorney John Durham. [#2] The interview took place at the same time President Trump traveled to the U.K (June 3rd-5th) for a state visit. [...] [#3] The interview(s) took place over two days for a total of sixteen hours of conversation. CIA Prepares The Blame The Consultant Excuse For Screwing The Pooch With The Steele Dossier. Just a couple of weeks ago I posted about what seems to be an incipient outburst of fecal incontinence at the CIA dealing with anything that happened to touch the Steele Dossier, that shameful, manufactured collection of fables that was used to develop the pretext for the Mueller investigation and whose major bureaucratic patron was former CIA director, and hopefully felon-in-waiting, John Brennan. In that post, the CIA's go-to guy at the Washington Post tries to paint a picture of Joseph Mifsud, the guy who someone dragged hapless George Papadopoulos into the affair and tried to paint him as a conduit between the Trump campaign and Moscow, as someone who any reasonable person could mistake for a Russian agent of influence, so long as no one really bothered to look. Oleg Deripaska Confirms He Was Employing Chris Steele in 2016, While Dossier Was Being Assembled. A new John Solomon article today [7/2/2019], based on an interview with Russian Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, is essentially confirming a May 2018 article where it was presumed that Oleg had hired Christopher Steele at the same time Steele was working with Nellie Ohr and Fusion GPS to write the Trump dossier. [...] Was the DOJ/FBI trying to use Deripaska to frame candidate Donald Trump? Was this part of their 2016 insurance policy? John Solomon reports that Deripaska wanted to testify to congress in 2017, without any immunity request, but was rebuked. Who blocked his testimony? Russian oligarch's story could spell trouble for Team Mueller. Sometimes it is the quiet, elusive ones who come back to haunt you. And for ex-special prosecutor Robert Mueller, one of those might be a Russian billionaire named Oleg Deripaska. The oligarch who once controlled Russia's largest aluminum empire has been an international man of intrigue in the now-completed and disproven Trump collusion investigation. Deripaska was a disaffected former business client of Donald Trump's fallen campaign chairman Paul Manafort. He also was a legal research client of Trump-hating, Clinton-aiding British spy Christopher Steele. In his spare time, he was an occasional friendly cooperator with the FBI and its fired deputy director, Andrew McCabe. Democrats' New Favorite Word to Bludgeon Trump: 'Ethical'. Every few months, progressives shift their attack, introducing or recycling one theme after another. First, it was "collusion." Then, it was "obstruction." Now the word is "ethical." Apparently, it's not ethical to pick up the phone and listen when someone calls you. Even if you intend to call the FBI if there's something wrong. Obviously, the Clinton campaign went far beyond that when it paid for the services of a foreign national to compile the dirty dossier on the president. But it's not just the Steele dossier. Charges of involvement by Obama's FBI, CIA, and Justice Department, if substantiated, will amount to the worst political conspiracy in our history. The list of those involved will be long, and it could stretch from Peter Strzok and Lisa Page at the bottom all the way up to Biden and Obama at the top. That sort of conspiracy, involving top federal agency and department heads and perhaps the president and vice president himself, would go so far beyond "unethical" as to make an ethics charge seem laughable. Dossier 2.0 — Mueller's 'Black Cash' Ledger. More evidence of the deceitful and arguably illegal actions by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller has popped up, this time regarding Paul Manafort's "black cash ledger" allegedly documenting criminal financial moves on his part and it parallels the criminality of the use of the Steele Dossier by the FBI to lie to the FISA court to authorize the surveillance of Team Trump and help launch Mueller's failed Russia collusion probe. Robert Mueller has not been honest with the American people either about the alleged Manafort ledger, mentioned in his final report, and used to justify military-style pre-dawn raid on Manafort's home and offices with more force than was used at Benghazi. Obama Accepted Unsolicited Intelligence From A Foreign Source During 2016 Election. It's amazing, the gaslighting effort the Left is deploying on this front. It's not shocking because Hillary Clinton did it. The Clinton campaign hired Fusion GPS, who then hired ex-MI6 spook Christopher Steele to compile the document known as the Trump dossier; Democrats footed the bill for this operation. The dossier was trash. The Mueller report debunked it, but at the time, it was a political opposition research document. It also cited sources still active in the Kremlin. And this information, shoddy and unverified, was used to secure a FISA spy warrant against Carter Page, a former foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign. So, no, accepting dirt on your opponent from a foreign source did happen. It does happen. And even Obama accepted unsolicited advice from a foreign source during the 2016 election relating to Trump-Russia collusion. Hope Hicks slams 'chaos' created by Steele dossier in testimony before House Dems; WH blocks dozens of questions. The transcript of Wednesday's interview served as a preview of a court battle that Democrats have said is certain. The Trump administration declared Hicks was "absolutely immune" from discussing her time working at the White House because of separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. During the interview, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told White House lawyers who blocked Hicks from answering questions that the immunity assertion was "absolute nonsense as a matter of law." FBI, warned early and often that Manafort file might be fake, used it anyway. When the final chapter of the Russia collusion caper is written, it is likely two seminal documents the FBI used to justify investigating Donald Trump's 2016 campaign will turn out to be bunk. And the behavior of FBI agents and federal prosecutors who promoted that faulty evidence may disturb us more than we now know. The first, the Christopher Steele dossier, has received enormous attention. And the more scrutiny it receives, the more its truthfulness wanes. Its credibility has declined so much that many now openly question how the FBI used it to support a surveillance warrant against the Trump campaign in October 2016. Who Were the Mueller Report's Hired Guns? Special Counsel Robert Mueller spent more than $732,000 on outside contractors, including private investigators and researchers, records show, but his office refuses to say who they were. While it's not unusual for special government offices to outsource for services such as computer support, Mueller also hired contractors to compile "investigative reports" and other "information." The arrangement has led congressional investigators, government watchdog groups and others to speculate that the private investigators and researchers who worked for the special counsel's office might have included Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS, the private research firm that hired Steele to produce the Russia collusion dossier for the Clinton campaign. Fusion GPS Best Bud At CNN Runs Interference For Bogus Steele Dossier. After President Trump commented on the idea of receiving "foreign dirt" on an opponent on Thursday, cable news pundits fully dedicated themselves to moving the goal posts for what constitutes colluding with a foreign adversary. On "At This Hour With Kate Bolduan," CNN reporter Evan Perez simultaneously downplayed the significance of the Steele dossier and failed to explain which 2016 campaign had actually paid a foreign adversary for opposition research (spoiler: it was the Hillary Clinton campaign). Perez seemed to conclude that Trump's hypothetical comments are much worse than the actual effect the Steele dossier had on the 2016 election because the dossier was written by someone connected to U.S. ally Great Britain, and because it was obtained by the FBI. New Emails Show Obama State Department's Role in Anti-Trump Coup Cabal. John Kerry, President Obama's secretary of state, seems to be having trouble staying within the legal bounds of the Logan Act, so it's not surprising that his State Department lieutenants were getting their hands dirty in the conspiracy to bring down Donald Trump. We now received more evidence of this anti-Trump conspiracy. With The Daily Caller News Foundation, we just released 16 pages of documents revealing senior State Obama officials — Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Special Coordinator for Libya Jonathan Winer — coordinated with incoming House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer's (D-MD) national security advisor, Daniel Silverberg, to work on Russia dossier information provided by Christopher Steele. Steele was surreptitiously paid by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to create the infamous anti-Trump dossier used to justify a series of FISA spy warrants targeting Carter Page. Winer is a former Obama State Department deputy assistant secretary who was implicated in working with Steele and Clinton associate Sidney Blumenthal to circulate the anti-Trump dossier. Top Hoyer Aide Coordinated Steele Dossier Work With Key Obama State Department Officials. Daniel Silverberg, then-House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer's national security adviser, coordinated "work on Russia dossier materials provided by Christopher Steele" with Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Special Envoy for Libya Jonathan Winer, according to newly released documents made public June 12 by Judicial Watch. A series of emails between Sept. 26, 2016, and Dec. 10, 2016, demonstrate that Winer shared "Russia-related information" he obtained from Steele — whom he described as his "old O friend" — with Nuland, who then shared it with Silverberg. Another Media-Fueled Collusion Narrative Falls Apart. In order to legitimize the dossier's dubious claims, the media characterized [Christopher] Steele as an objective player in the nascent Russian collusion plotline, a former British intelligence officer leveraging his long-time Kremlin connections to root out a corrupt scheme between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to steal an American election. His work was a profile in courage, we were told; he was a highly-regarded compatriot in America's fight to make sure our new president was not in fact a covert Russian stooge. But now that Steele faces questioning by a federal prosecutor assigned to investigate the corrupt origins of the FBI's probe into the Trump campaign, it's obvious that the early hype about Steele was just one more example of the media's complicity in the Russian collusion coup. Steele's Shoddy Dossier. Could former Obama-administration intelligence chiefs run any faster from the Steele dossier? "Pseudo-intelligence," scoffs former national intelligence director James Clapper in his new memoir — after having arranged for the dossier to be included in a briefing of then-president-elect Trump, ensuring it would be published by the media. John Brennan, the former CIA director, belittles the dossier as uncorroborated reporting never refined into an authentic intelligence-agency product — and hopes we don't notice his behind-the-scenes stoking of the dossier's explosive allegations during the 2016 campaign. "Salacious and unverified," sniffs former FBI director James Comey — after his bureau repeatedly relied on the dossier to obtain surveillance warrants from a federal court. Emails Place Dossier Author Steele a Step Closer to Clintons. Former British spy Christopher Steele, author of the infamous anti-Trump dossier bearing his name, was introduced by a key State Department aide to top executives of a firm founded by President Bill Clinton's former White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty, according to documents made public on June 10 by Judicial Watch. [...] Steele worked for the Fusion GPS opposition research firm and was paid for the "salacious and unverified" dossier indirectly by the 2016 presidential campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which she then controlled through a cut-out, the Perkins Coie law firm that specializes in representing Democratic Party committees, candidates, and officials. "These documents show that Fusion GPS and Clinton spy Christopher Steele had a close relationship with the Obama State Department," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Christopher Steele [is] reportedly worried about becoming the fall-guy for Russia hoax. Now that he apparently has made a deal to speak with US investigators about his "dossier" (purchased with DNC and Hillary campaign monies) that was used to mislead a FISA Court into allowing domestic spying on US citizens, former British spy Christopher Steele is letting a buddy at the New York Times know that he is nervous about becoming a fall-guy. [...] For his own sake, I hope Steele has some real dirt to offer on the higher-ups in MI-6, the CIA, and the FBI. I am pretty sure that US Attorney Durham is more interested in them than he is in Steele. Looks like Christopher Steele has cut a deal and will turn state's evidence on Russia Hoax prosecutions. I don't think it is a coincidence that just as President Trump is in the U.K., we suddenly learn that "dossier" author Christopher Steele has agreed to be questioned by U.S. authorities. [...] I have all along believed that part of President Trump's mission in the U.K. was winning over British support for fully outing the role of its intelligence services in the Russia Hoax. He would have to guarantee that the overall relationship will remain sound even if highly embarrassing facts come to light. Hillary Clinton: Architect of the Coup. [W]e had this piece yesterday [6/3/2019] from the Federalist by Mr. H. A. Goodman, and [...] His point basically was (without rehashing the whole thing) that every bit of everything we know or think we know — every news item, every little bit of information that fed this narrative the past two years or three now, that Trump colluded with Russia — came not from American intelligence, not from British intelligence. It didn't come from FBI intelligence. It came from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Every bit of it, because 95% of it was the Steele dossier, which she commissioned and paid for. She arranged it. She and her campaign paid a bunch of people who then arranged for the Papadopoulos story to happen. But it was all Hillary Clinton's stuff. Law enforcement, media changed standards for Trump. Steele's unfounded accusations — that there was a years-long "well-developed conspiracy" between Trump and Russia, that Trump accepted "a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin," and that Russian spies taped Trump watching prostitutes perform a kinky sex act in a Moscow hotel room in 2013 — circulated throughout law enforcement and political circles starting in the summer of 2016. That just happened to be the time the Clinton campaign and some in the media began accusing Trump of "colluding" with Russia to gain an advantage in the election. Top Clinton staff received updates on Steele's material. Then, they accused Trump of collusion. FBI investigators, who also had the dossier, were trying to confirm it. They failed. Without evidence to prove any of the dossier's most serious allegations, a new standard of proof emerged: The allegations were legitimate because they had not been proven untrue. Christopher Steele is Reportedly Nervous About Talking to U.S. Investigators. Christopher Steele is "acutely concerned" that he's going to be "thrown under the bus" after he speaks to investigators about his role in the Russia collusion hoax, according to New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg. The British spy-turned political operative-turned FBI informant has reportedly agreed to talk to United States investigators about his salacious and unverified anti-Trump dossier and is set to be interviewed in London within weeks. Did Brits warn about Steele's credibility, before Mueller's probe? Congress has evidence. One of the deepest, darkest secrets of Russiagate soon may be unmasked. Even President Trump may be surprised. Multiple witnesses have told Congress that, a week before Trump's inauguration in January 2017, Britain's top national security official sent a private communique to the incoming administration, addressing his country's participation in the counterintelligence probe into the now-debunked Trump-Russia election collusion. Most significantly, then-British national security adviser Sir Mark Lyall Grant claimed in the memo, hand-delivered to incoming U.S. national security adviser Mike Flynn's team, that the British government lacked confidence in the credibility of former MI6 spy Christopher Steele's Russia collusion evidence, according to congressional investigators who interviewed witnesses familiar with the memo. Was Brennan's 'Intelligence Bombshell' the Steele Dossier? The dossier was, of course, generated by the Fusion GPS firm — principally, by British spy-turned-hack-for-hire Christopher Steele and journalist-turned-fabulist Glenn Simpson. The dossier is a slipshod, unverified opposition-research screed, sponsored by the Clinton campaign and the DNC. [...] Suffice it to say that the Obama-administration officials involved in pushing the dossier are running for the hills to distance themselves from it, particularly after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report effectively rejected it. Most prominent in this regard is former CIA director John Brennan. Brennan is as hyper-political an intelligence official as we have ever had. And when called on his excesses, such as the CIA's spying on the Senate during his watch, his default mode is to misrepresent what was done and then frustrate the investigative process. On the dossier, he is playing to type. Colluders, Obstructionists, Leakers, and Other Projectionists. The facts are not in dispute. Using the three firewalls of the Democratic National Committee, the Perkins Coie law firm, and Glenn Simpson's Fusion GPS, the Clinton campaign paid a foreign national, British subject Christopher Steele, to compile a smear dossier against Clinton's then-opponent, Donald J. Trump. Steele then bought Russian and Russian-related sources to produce supposed dirt on Trump. None of these Russian-generated smears would ever be verified. In fact, almost immediately most slurs proved to be outright lies and completely made up in their details — if not the stuff of a Russian disinformation campaign. The Dossier: Trump declassification order causes Deep State panic. Late Thursday, the president issued a declassification order to Attorney General William Barr, granting him the authority to declassify any information concerning the Obama administration's surveillance activities during the 2016 election. The declassification order will hopefully provide more clarity on the Obama intelligence chiefs' efforts to thwart then-candidate Trump's presidential aspirations, in addition to the FBI's and CIA's rogue surveillance operations and abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) processes. Obama Appointees in the Communist Orbit. The Obama administration colluded with Rusian agents who produced the Steele Dossier. It was paid for by Clinton, but it was Obama's minions at the FBI, CIA and White House who weaponized this soviet disinformation against President Trump. We are all victims of the Obama cabal's collusion with Russia — President Trump's voters and all Americans who believe in our free and fair election process. The Wolves Turn on Each Other. James Clapper, John Brennan, and James Comey are now all accusing one another of being culpable for inserting the unverified dossier, the font of the effort to destroy Trump, into a presidential intelligence assessment — as if suddenly and mysteriously the prior seeding of the Steele dossier is now seen as a bad thing. And how did the dossier transmogrify from being passed around the Obama Administration as a supposedly top-secret and devastating condemnation of candidate and then president-elect Trump to a rank embarrassment of ridiculous stories and fibs? Given the narratives of the last three years, and the protestations that the dossier was accurate or at least was not proven to be unproven, why are these former officials arguing at all? Did not implanting the dossier into the presidential briefing give it the necessary imprimatur that allowed the serial leaks to the press at least to be passed on to the public and thereby apprise the people of the existential danger that they faced? Christopher Steele's Dossier 'Sources' Were Confirmed Agents Of Russia. Christopher Steele told a State Department official a former Russian spy chief Vyacheslav Trubnikov and a top Kremlin adviser Vladislav Surkov were involved in an operation to collect compromising information on Donald Trump. This is proof positive the Trump dossier was nothing more than Russian propaganda, a product of Democratic Party and Clinton Campaign collision, and lies the Obama Administration and FBI used to secure illegal FISA warrants. Nine Reasons James Comey Might Be in Real Legal Jeopardy. [#3] The FBI's FISA warrant, which allowed Comey's investigation to wiretap a Trump campaign staffer, and by extension, the Trump campaign, was primarily based on the Steele Dossier, which Comey knew was 1) "salacious" and "unverified," 2) a product of the Clinton campaign and Democrat National Committee, and 3) put together by Christopher Steele, a foreign national and hyper-partisan who we now know was desperate to destroy Trump's campaign. [...] This abuse of power and dishonesty would be bad enough concerning an average citizen, but because this abuse was targeted at an ongoing presidential campaign, it was an abuse against every citizen in this country — all of us. Dispute erupts over whether Brennan, Comey pushed Steele dossier, as DOJ probe into misconduct begins. A high-level dispute over which senior government officials pushed the unverified Steele dossier amid efforts to surveil the Trump campaign has broken out into the open again, after it emerged that Attorney General William Barr appointed a U.S. attorney to examine the origins of the Russia investigation and determine if the FBI and DOJ's actions were "lawful and appropriate." Sources familiar with the records told Fox News that a late-2016 email chain indicated then-FBI Director James Comey told bureau subordinates that then-CIA Director John Brennan insisted the dossier be included in the intelligence community assessment on Russian interference, known as the ICA. Fusion GPS' Nellie Ohr Deleted Emails From DOJ About Russia, What Else Did She Delete? Government watchdog Judicial Watch revealed Thursday that Nellie Ohr, who was hired by Fusion GPS to look into members of the Trump family during the 2016 presidential election, deleted a number of official emails from her husband Bruce Ohr. Ohr works at the Department of Justice and was demoted from a senior position after failing to disclose his links to Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS, in partnership with the Clinton campaign, was behind the bogus dossier about President Trump. The Editor says... More about Bruce Ohr and/or Nellie Ohr. State Department's red flag on Steele went to a senior FBI man well before FISA warrant. In all Washington investigations, the essential questions become who knew it and when did they know it. In the case of FBI informant Christopher Steele and the credibility of his now-disproven Russia collusion allegations against Donald Trump, we have some important clarity: Government officials confirm that an October 2016 email revealing that Steele met with State Department officials — a breach of protocol for an informant if it was unauthorized — was sent to an FBI counterintelligence supervisor. Why was FBI so wrong in Trump-Russia wiretap warrant. A huge controversy erupted last year when President Trump declassified parts of the FBI's secret request to wiretap former Trump campaign volunteer foreign policy adviser Carter Page. Defenders and critics of the president argued over whether the October 2016 warrant application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court relied extensively on the so-called Steele dossier, which was a collection of anti-Trump allegations compiled by the former British spy Christopher Steele on behalf of the Hillary Clinton campaign. GOP investigators say classified docs will expose misuse of Steele dossier. Top Republicans talked up classified documents on Sunday they believe will root out FBI misconduct in the early stages of the Trump-Russia investigation. Over the past few days, GOP lawmakers demanded answers about when the FBI was informed about British ex-spy Christopher Steele's "political motivations" before his unverified dossier was used to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The FBI Blatantly Lied About Christopher Steele to the FISA Court. New information has come out related to how Christopher Steele was presented to the FISA court and it's not good for the FBI. This relates to the warrants sought against Carter Page, who turned out to be absolutely none of the things he was accused of being. As we now know, the majority of the evidence presented in those warrants was based on the dumpster fire that is the Steele dossier, which was full of unverified nonsense. It's actually easier to say what's true in the dossier than to point out all the falsities. You end up talking a lot less that way. There was no justification for using such a garbage piece of raw intelligence to pursue a FISA warrant against a U.S. citizen. The Hill has the details of how Steele was falsely described to the FISA judge. This was just given to the DOJ Inspector General this week and more is likely to emerge. Mark Meadows: FBI 'Well Aware the Dossier Was a Lie' Before Moving to Spy on Trump Campaign. A newly-uncovered document suggests that the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ), including the FBI, was "well aware" that foreign agent Christopher Steele was trying to interfere in the 2016 presidential election with disinformation — and yet still used his materials to spy on American citizens and the Trump campaign, according to Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). "[O]fficials at the FBI and (Department of Justice) DOJ were well aware the dossier was a lie — from very early on in the process all the way to when they made the conscious decision to include it in a FISA application," Meadows said Tuesday [5/7/2019] in a statement to The Hill's John Solomon. "The fact that Christopher Steele and his partisan research document were treated in any way seriously by our Intelligence Community leaders amounts to malpractice." Solomon/Meadows — FBI Was Notified of Sketchy Steele Dossier Info in Advance of FISA Application. [Scroll down] Fusion GPS was not hired in April 2016 to research Donald Trump. The intelligence community was already doing surveillance and spy operations. They already knew everything about the Trump campaign. The Obama intelligence community needed Fusion GPS to give them a justification for pre-existing surveillance operations. Fusion fulfilled that objective by contracting for the Steele Dossier. That's why the FBI, and later the Mueller team, were/are so strongly committed to, and defending, the formation of the Steele Dossier and its dubious content. Once they had the dossier in hand the FBI proceeded forward for an ex post facto FISA warrant. FBI's Steele story falls apart: False intel and media contacts were flagged before FISA. The FBI's sworn story to a federal court about its asset, Christopher Steele, is fraying faster than a $5 souvenir T-shirt bought at a tourist trap. Newly unearthed memos show a high-ranking government official who met with Steele in October 2016 determined some of the Donald Trump dirt that Steele was simultaneously digging up for the FBI and for Hillary Clinton's campaign was inaccurate, and likely leaked to the media. The concerns were flagged in a typed memo and in handwritten notes taken by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec on Oct. 11, 2016. Her observations were recorded exactly 10 days before the FBI used Steele and his infamous dossier to justify securing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and the campaign's contacts with Russia in search of a now debunked collusion theory. Current DOJ and FBI Officials Hide State Dept. Email Outlining Political Motive of Chris Steele. John Solomon has a new article at The Hill centered around this email from State Department official Kathleen Kavalec after her October 11, 2016, interaction with dossier author Christopher Steele. The substantive point of the article is how the email proves the political motives of Steele two weeks prior to the FBI/DOJ seeking a FISA application using his work product, the dossier. Despite knowing the bias motive, the FBI/DOJ persisted in using the dossier for a Title-1 FISA warrant against U.S. person Carter Page on October 21, 2016. Steele's stunning pre-FISA confession: Informant needed to air Trump dirt before election. If ever there were an admission that taints the FBI's secret warrant to surveil Donald Trump's campaign, it sat buried for more than 2½ years in the files of a high-ranking State Department official. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec's written account of her Oct. 11, 2016, meeting with FBI informant Christopher Steele shows the Hillary Clinton campaign-funded British intelligence operative admitted that his research was political and facing an Election Day deadline. New Emails Conclusively Show Fusion GPS Head Glenn Simpson Lied To Congress. Credit to Sean Davis over at The Federalist for pointing this out yesterday evening [5/1/2019]. Judicial Watch has obtained new emails which conclusively show that Fusion GPS head Glenn Simpson did in fact lie to Congress. Listen to Joe diGenova. [Scroll down] On April 24, 2019, diGenova appeared on the Ingraham Angle and made his most explosive predictions yet. [...] What follows below is a partial transcript of his remarks starting at 27 seconds into the broadcast. It has been evident from day one that there was a brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton illegally, and then, if she lost the election, to frame Donald Trump. This [Steele] dossier was a knowing part of that. It was created by Hillary Clinton. It was created knowingly by [former CIA Director] John Brennan as part of a scheme to do everything they could to harm Donald Trump. The problem for Brennan and [former Director of National Intelligence] Clapper and [former FBI Director] Comey and [former FBI General Counsel] Baker and all of them now is, is that the FISA Court has already communicated with the Justice Department about its findings. And their findings are that from more than four years before the election of Donald Trump, there was an illegal spying operation going on by FBI [private] contractors — four of them — to steal personal information, electronic information about Americans and to use it against the Republican Party. The Real Issue is Years of Obama-era Surveillance and Political Spy Operations. If you read the Weissmann/Mueller report carefully one aspect stands out strongly; the Mueller investigation was fully committed to The Steele Dossier. An inordinate amount of the report is focused on justifying their investigative validity and purpose in looking at the claims within the Steele Dossier. Repeatedly, the investigative unit references their mandate based around the Steele Dossier, and the mid-summer 2016 origin of the FBI counterintelligence operation. Why? Why was/is Crossfire Hurricane (July '16) and the Steele Dossier (Oct. '16) so important to the principle intelligence apparatus, and the Mueller team ('17, '18, '19)? For some Dems, breaking up with dossier is hard to do. The Steele dossier, that collection of incendiary allegations against Donald Trump compiled for the Hillary Clinton campaign by the former British spy Christopher Steele, was already widely discredited before the release of the Mueller report. Now, the report has hammered a few additional nails in the dossier's coffin. Adam Schiff Is Finally Pressed On The Steele Dossier — He Doesn't Want To Talk About It. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff refused to commit Sunday to investigating whether the Steele dossier is the product of Russian disinformation, a theory that has gained traction in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report. In an interview with Fox's Chris Wallace, Schiff largely refused to discuss the dossier, a remarkable shift for the Democrat, who endorsed Steele's unverified allegations about Trump associates during a public House Intelligence Committee hearing just over two years ago. Schiff favorably cited dossier author Christopher Steele by name six times during his opening remarks at an Intelligence Committee hearing on March 20, 2017. NYT Finally Acknowledges That Steele Dossier Might Not Be That Factual. The salacious and uncorroborated "dossier" compiled by ex-British Intelligence officer Christopher Steele was used by the media to justify its endless attacks on President Donald Trump and accuse him of treason. The dossier was never anything more than opposition research paid for by Fusion GPS — and not even good opposition research at that. Steele reported rumors and gossip, including some Internet comments, to bolster his report. What wasn't corroborated was downright debunked by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, including the allegations that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen went to Prague to meet with Russians. FBI Was Still Assessing Christopher Steele's 'Reliability' Even After Using Dossier to Obtain Spy Warrant. An FBI lawyer told Congress last year that investigators were assessing the reliability of Christopher Steele as of late November 2016, a month after the bureau cited the former spy's anti-Trump dossier to obtain a warrant to snoop on Carter Page. Sally Moyer, an attorney in the FBI general counsel's office, described a meeting held at FBI headquarters on Nov. 21, 2016 with Bruce Ohr, a Justice Department official who has long known Steele, a former British spy. A month before that meeting, on Oct. 21, 2016, the FBI obtained its first of four FISA warrants against Page, a former Trump campaign adviser. Hold Hillary Clinton Accountable for Russiagate. The Russian conspiracy theory was invented by the Clinton campaign. It was used as a pretext for spying on Trump associates. And then became an argument for invalidating the results of the 2016 election. And while the Republicans and Democrats tore each other apart over Russiagate, Hillary Clinton sipped her chardonnays and spent the evenings cackling madly at the TV while watching Washington D.C. burn. The Russiagate conspiracy theory had multiple purposes. The most cynical one was exempting Hillary and her Clintonworlders from any of the blame for the election defeat. Invoking Russia was also an effort to create an election issue that Clinton, a former Secretary of State, could claim expertise on. It would also neatly counter Trump's focus on Islamic terrorists and on China with a Cold War boogeyman. Firms Tied To Fusion GPS, Christopher Steele Were Paid $3.8 Million By Soros-Backed Group. A nonprofit group partially funded by billionaire activist George Soros paid firms tied to Fusion GPS and dossier author Christopher Steele more than $3.8 million in 2017 to provide research and analysis to "government entities," according to IRS filings. The payments made by The Democracy Integrity Project are more than three times what the DNC and the Clinton campaign paid Fusion GPS and Steele during the 2016 presidential campaign to investigate Donald Trump's possible ties to Russia. Rand Paul Explains His Text That Former CIA Director John Brennan Pushed Steele Dossier. Rand Paul appears on Fox and Friends to explain why he now believes that John Brennan was the Obama-era official who helped create and then push the Steele Dossier into the bloodstream of the intelligence community. This links back to Brennan in July 2016. [Video clip] Trump will release the FISA warrants. With the Mueller report in, President Donald John Trump is about to lay the trump card down. Sean Hannity asked him on national TV whether he plans to release the FISA warrants that allowed the Obama administration to spy on him. "I do, I have plans to declassify and release. I have plans to absolutely release. I have some very talented people working for me, lawyers, and they really didn't want me to do it early on. ... A lot of people wanted me to do it a long time ago. I'm glad I didn't do it. We got a great result without having to do it, but we will. One of the reasons that my lawyers didn't want me to do it, is they said, if I do it, they'll call it a form of obstruction," our president said. The documents should be a hoot, based on the nonsense that was in the Russian dossier. Rand Paul: 'Source' says John Brennan pushed discredited Steele dossier. Citing a "high-level source," Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul charged in a bombshell Twitter post late Wednesday that anti-Trump ex-CIA Director John Brennan "insisted that the unverified and fake Steele dossier" be included in a classified intelligence community report on Russian interference in the 2016 elections — a decision that ultimately lent credibility to the dossier and may have played a key role in fomenting unfounded fears of Russia collusion for two years. Paul called on Brennan to testify under oath immediately, as Republicans continue to aggressively seek out the origins of the collusion narrative. Fox News had not independently verified Paul's source, and Brennan has not replied to Fox News' requests for comment. The Steele Dossier, Hillary Clinton's Malignant Gift to America. For all of their other accomplishments, the Clintons are leaving American public life with a legacy of lies and lawlessness. Bill Clinton's shameless behavior, perjury, and obstruction of justice led to his impeachment. Hillary's serial deceptions and her grotesque mishandling of classified information led to her defeat. The dossier, however, in its sheer negative impact on American public life, may be her most infamous "achievement." Years later, Trump dossier still frustrates verification efforts. Last August, House investigators interviewed FBI deputy assistant director Jonathan Moffa about the Trump dossier, the collection of sensational allegations about Donald Trump and Russia compiled for Democrats during the 2016 campaign by the former British spy Christopher Steele. Republican lawyers had a simple question. Had the FBI confirmed any of the claims in the dossier? Moffa's response set a new standard for non-answers. Sperry Outlines the Post-Election Effort of Dan Jones To Continue The "Vast Russian Narrative". It was previously noted how Senator Dianne Feinstein abdicated her position as Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a Gang-of-Eight member, following the 2016 election. Senator Feinstein's top aide was Daniel Jones; who, following the election, continued funding Christopher Steele and the Russia Conspiracy narrative. Paul Sperry has done some great follow-up research into Jones' group, The Democracy Integrity Project; and how the team continued to collaborate with journalists, pushing the Russia Conspiracy, from January 2017 through to today. Devin Nunes Confirms Central "Spygate" Element: Chris Steele Did NOT Write the Dossier. The one consistent discovery that CTH has been hammering home over a year-and-a-half, is that Chris Steele did not write the dossier. The information within the dossier was a collection of old research by Glenn Simpson and Mary Jacoby at Fusion-GPS; in combination with new research, claims and details provided by Nellie Ohr. Our 2017/2018 research has always shown the collaborative files of Simpson and Ohr were then laundered by contracting British intelligence analyst Christopher Steele, with some effort of secondary validation, and assembly into a formal intelligence product that could be pushed into the U.S. intelligence community. The 'push' included contacts with media, Dept of State, and politicians like John McCain. Christopher Steele admitted using posts by 'random individuals' on CNN website to back up Trump dossier. Former British spy Christopher Steele admitted that he relied on an unverified report on a CNN website for part of the "Trump dossier," which was used as a basis for the FBI's investigation into Trump. According to deposition transcripts released this week, Steele said last year he used a 2009 report he found on CNN's iReport website and said he wasn't aware that submissions to that site are posted by members of the public and are not checked for accuracy. A web archive from July 29, 2009 shows that CNN described the site in this manner: "iReport.com is a user-generated site. That means the stories submitted by users are not edited, fact-checked, or screened before they post." Steele admits he used posts from 'random individuals' on CNN website for Trump dossier. The dossier that launched several investigations into Donald Trump and his presidential campaign was based, in part, on posts from "random individuals" from a CNN website that allows the public to publish unverified information. Christopher Steele made the admission in a deposition given in connection with a lawsuit against the dossier. The judge released portions of the deposition this week. Old CNN website was source of unvetted 'random' info used by author of anti-Trump dossier, docs reveal. Former British spy Christopher Steele confessed that he used an unverified report submitted to a CNN website, where "random individuals" can post information, for his salacious anti-Trump dossier. Steele made the awkward revelation during a deposition last year in a case involving Russian entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev, who claims his companies Webzilla and XBT Holdings were defamed by Steele after the dossier was published by BuzzFeed. Court files reveal role of McCain, aide in spreading anti-Trump dossier. Newly unsealed court filings show the office of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., shared with the FBI and a host of media outlets the unverified dossier that alleged the Russians had compromising information on now-President Trump. McCain had denied being the source for BuzzFeed after it published the dossier, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, but had acknowledged giving it to the FBI. In a newly unsealed declaration from September, former senior counterintelligence FBI agent Bill Priestap confirmed that the FBI received a copy of the first 33 pages of the dossier in December 2016 from McCain. Explosive Lisa Page Testimony: Dossier Timeline Contradictions And DOJ Interference. Testimony provided to Congress from former FBI lawyer Lisa Page reveals contradictions as to when she learned about former British spy Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier, sheds light on the "insurance policy" and exposes the Obama Justice Department's decision not to charge Hillary Clinton with allegedly violating the Espionage Act. Page's testimony, which was delivered behind closed doors last July before a joint task force of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, reveals the internal machinations between senior bureau leadership and the DOJ. Basically, her testimony adds more depth to what happened during the critical months during the FBI's investigation into President Trump's election campaign and the bureau's "Midyear Exam" investigation into Clinton. Intriguing Implication Within Nellie Ohr Testimony: Nellie Ohr Approached Glenn Simpson for a Job in Sept 2015? The implication here is that Nellie Ohr approached Fusion-GPS owner Glenn Simpson for a job; essentially to work on political opposition research files Fusion-GPS was assembling in 2015. This is distinctly different from Glenn Simpson seeking out Nellie Ohr, and opens the entire background to larger ramifications. Our research has always indicated that Nellie's work product was transmitted to Christopher Steele as part of an intelligence laundry process. Chris Steele laundered Nellie's information, provided second verification where possible, formatted into an official intelligence file, and returned that file, now named the Steele Dossier, to the FBI. Never What? Why did DOJ and FBI officials seek surveillance on American citizens without fully apprising a FISA court that the basis for such requests was an unverified dossier, compiled by a retired foreign national, who purchased unverified Russian sources, who himself had been fired from the FBI as a consultant, who was paid by the Clinton campaign, albeit stealthily through two firewalls, and who was the circular source for news accounts used to substantiate the dossier? What business does the FBI have communicating with an informant prying into an ongoing presidential campaign? Why exactly did U.N. ambassador Samantha Power, mostly in her last year in office, make more than 260 requests to unmask the names of American citizens surveilled by the U.S. government (some of them mysteriously leaked) and then claim, under oath, that she, in fact, did not herself make those requests but that someone (unidentified) made them "in her name"? DOJ Official's Testimony Highlights Why One GOP Lawmaker Believes Glenn Simpson Faces 'Real Legal Jeopardy'. [Bruce] Ohr's testimony, a transcript of which was published Friday [3/8/2019], also confirms reports that Simpson was the source of a heavily disputed allegation about conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell. Ohr told lawmakers in an Aug. 28, 2018 hearing that he met Simpson prior to the 2016 election to discuss information gathered by Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier. That conflicts with Simpson's testimony to the House Intelligence Committee that he met Ohr only after the election and at Ohr's request. Ohr also revealed Simpson provided him during a meeting in December 2016 with a seemingly false lead about Mitchell that ended up in a news article published in 2018. Adam Schiff Proven A Liar As The Bruce Ohr Transcript Is Released. One of the weapons the 'deep state' has been using to protect itself and its allies is the use of classification and redaction to prevent the public from learning exactly what transpired in the process whereby an opposition research document paid for by the Clinton campaign and compiled by a man with deep ties to officials in Putin's Russia was repackaged and deodorized and pawned off on the intelligence community, the FBI, and feckless, credulous judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as legitimate intelligence product. Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has made the case time and again that redactions are being used to obscure wrongdoing and not to protect sources and methods. Fusion GPS Founder Had Contact With State Department Official During 2016 Campaign. One of the co-founders of the opposition research firm that commissioned the Steele dossier was in contact with a State Department official in the days before a news article was published laying out allegations contained in the salacious anti-Trump report. Emails obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation show that Glenn Simpson, an executive at Fusion GPS, contacted Jonathan Winer, who then served as State's special envoy for Libya, on Sept. 19 and Sept. 22, 2016. That was days ahead of the publication of a Yahoo! News article that was the first story to cite information gathered by Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier. Devin Nunes sniffing out 'chain of custody' of dossier and Clinton ties with 32-person list. The House Intelligence Committee's top Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes, has a tall list of people he still wants to interview about the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton, and the Russian interference. The list of 32 names has been submitted to the Democratic majority of the panel, and includes the likes of Sidney Blumenthal, a key Clinton ally, former Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan, and Robby Mook, Clinton's 2016 campaign chairman. Nunes said Sunday [3/3/2019] it is imperative to speak with them because of their ties to the infamous Trump dossier, which contained compromising, yet unverified claims about President Trump's ties to Russia. Compiled in 2016, the research effort was conducted by ex-British spy Christopher Steele and was funded in part by Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The Resistance is Everything They Accuse Trump of Being. The fictitious dossier, written by a foreign spy citing unnamed Russian intelligence sources, was deployed to smear Trump. When the dossier failed to defeat him, it was used to justify endless investigations, congressional hearings, and ominous news coverage that hobbled his presidency, wrecked his efforts to improve relations with Russia and greatly diminished voters' confidence in our democracy. Only after this witch-hunt was set in motion was it revealed that the bogus dossier was a product of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Adam Schiff has collusion problems of his own. The Russia story, of course, got its start during Hillary Clinton's failed presidential campaign. Robby Mook, John Podesta, and the rest of the Clinton brain trust did everything they could to sell Americans on it, even paying a group of "consultants" working for Fusion GPS, including a former spy and the wife of a high-ranking DOJ official, to write a "dossier" on then-candidate Trump. Clinton's team failed to place the dossier, with its lurid and incredible claims, in the media before election 2016. But they did later offer its supposed evidence of collusion with Russia as their excuse for losing to Trump. It ultimately didn't work, as the American people saw through it. The Nellie Ohr Dossier. A John Solomon article today [2/20/2019] points out the circumstances of Fusion-GPS contractor Nellie Ohr delivering a memory stick to her DOJ husband Bruce Ohr, who then turned around and gave it to the FBI team. The memory stick contained Nellie's Trump-Russia research files. As Solomon writes: "The way Ohr described it, his wife's research was like an additional dossier assembled from Fusion GPS research to augment what Steele was separately providing the FBI." However, Solomon stops short of explaining the full story. John Solomon's Revelation Of A Third Dossier Is The Latest Sign The Assault Against Trump Has Reached A Tipping Point. In physics, a tipping point refers to the point at which an object is no longer balanced, and adding a small amount of weight can cause it to topple. In general, a tipping point is defined as the "point at which a series of small changes or incidents becomes significant enough to cause a larger, more important change or the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place." In every conflict, there comes a time, usually following a string of heavy losses, when the despair lifts and the outlook brightens and hope returns. It doesn't mean that the fight is over. In WWII, D-Day was the tipping point, but the Allies still had to endure the Battle of the Bulge. But it does signal the beginning of the end. 7 Big Takeaways From Andrew McCabe's Planned Coup: Much Of This Seems Like A Cover-up. The fact that a shoddy, misspelled, Russian-sourced document paid for by Hillary Clinton tricked America's "top intelligence officials" is embarrassing. It shows the utter stupidity of many of our so-called elites. But it also opens up the FBI and DOJ to serious reforms, or even opens up these top FBI and DOJ officials, who signed off on spying on the Trump campaign, to potential criminal prosecution. Even McCabe's action of ensuring the investigation would go on if he was fired should be seen in this light. That explains much of what has gone on since November 2016. Since the election, these partisans have implemented a sophisticated media leak campaign to generate hysteria, and now that seems to be collapsing. Doesn't the media always remind us that the cover-up is usually what gets you, not the original crime? As a side note, what happens to the left-of-center media's ratings and subscriptions if (or when) all this Russia stuff goes away? Donald Trump Busts Adam Schiff for Hanging Out with Fusion GPS Founder In Aspen. President Donald Trump ridiculed House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff Friday [2/8/2019] for reports that he spent time with Fusion GPS Founder Glenn Simpson in Aspen. "Now we find out that Adam Schiff was spending time together in Aspen with Glenn Simpson of GPS Fusion, who wrote the fake and discredited Dossier, even though Simpson was testifying before Schiff," Trump wrote on Twitter, citing a report by writer John Solomon in a column for The Hill. Lou Dobbs and John Solomon Discuss Adam Schiff Meeting With Fusion GPS. In February and March 2017 House Speaker Paul Ryan forced HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes to step aside from leading the house intelligence committee investigation because Nunes went to the White House SCIF to review executive office documents giving the possible impression of a conflicted relationship with the White House. In February 2019 HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff is outlined as having inappropriate contact with a witness testifying to the house intelligence committee; however, it is virtually guaranteed House Speaker Pelosi will not make a similar demand. John Solomon: Adam Schiff and Glenn Simpson Held Undisclosed Meeting Last Year, Raising Concern Inside House Intel Committee. The new Chairman of the House Intel Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) had an undisclosed meeting with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson last July at a security conference in Aspen. In other words, Congressman Adam Schiff was colluding with Russia-dossier-Hillary Clinton-waterboy Glenn Simpson at the height of the Russiagate cover-up. Award winning investigative journalist John Solomon reported that there are photographs of Adam Schiff, in sport coat and open-neck dress shirt, and Glenn Simpson, wearing casual attire. Shouldn't Adam Schiff recuse himself from Russia probe now that he's been caught hobnobbing with Fusion GPS? House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, who's vowed a kitchen sink-style investigation against President Trump (now that no Russian collusion has been found), has been caught in photographs taken at the Aspen security conference last year with none other than Hillary Clinton's bought-and-paid-for smear artist Glenn Simpson, chairman of Fusion GPS. CNN's Jake Tapper Thought Buzzfeed Publishing Trump Dossier 'Damaged Its Impact,' Emails Reveal. Buzzfeed's unethical publishing of an unverified dossier alleging numerous salacious acts committed by President Donald Trump angered CNN anchor Jake Tapper. Emails released as part of a lawsuit reveal the CNN anchor told Buzzfeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith that publishing the document "makes the story less serious and credible" and "damaged its impact," according to a review of the emails by The Daily Caller's Chuck Ross. So, reporting on the unverified document from the angle that the president-elect was briefed on it was fine, but publishing the unverified document "damaged its impact." Trump: Here Are New Key Findings About 'Russia Collusion' Media Is Ignoring. In a series of tweets Thursday and Friday, President Trump brought some attention to revelations about "Russia collusion" he suggested the media was deliberately failing to report: The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday [2/7/2019] that after a nearly two-year investigation, they'd found no evidence of "collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia." While there's no evidence of collusion, a curious incident related to the investigation has come to light: The Democrat heading up the collusion investigation in the House was caught hanging out with the head of Fusion GPS, the oppo research firm hired by the Democrats that produced the infamous, still "unverified" Steele dossier. Investigators had '50/50' chance of securing FISA warrant for Trump aide without dossier: testimony. The chances of securing a 2016 surveillance warrant for a Trump campaign aide were "50/50" without the controversial anti-Trump "dossier," according to testimony in newly confirmed congressional transcripts. The October testimony from senior FBI lawyer Sally Moyer to House investigators appers to underscore how critical the dossier — funded by the Democratic Party and Clinton campaign — was in obtaining the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant, and appears to conflict with Democratic assertions that the dossier played a limited role in the process. FISA shocker: DOJ official warned Steele dossier was connected to Clinton, might be biased. When the annals of mistakes and abuses in the FBI's Russia investigation are finally written, Bruce Ohr almost certainly will be the No. 1 witness, according to my sources. The then-senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official briefed both senior FBI and DOJ officials in summer 2016 about Christopher Steele's Russia dossier, explicitly cautioning that the British intelligence operative's work was opposition research connected to Hillary Clinton's campaign and might be biased. Ohr's briefings, in July and August 2016, included the deputy director of the FBI, a top lawyer for then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and a Justice official who later would become the top deputy to special counsel Robert Mueller. Report: Top FBI, DOJ Officials Knew Early On That Steele Dossier Was Clinton-Connected Oppo Research. In a heated exchange with CNN's Chris Cuomo Wednesday night [1/16/2019], President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the Trump team decided six weeks ago to stop answering questions from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, given the "very disturbing" way Mueller's team has conducted itself. Among other concerns, Giuliani pointed to a new report involving Andrew Weissmann, one of Mueller's top deputies. The report says Weissmann was among the senior FBI and Justice Department officials who knew early on — before the FISA court got involved — that the Steele dossier was opposition research connected to the Clinton campaign. Yet that opposition research was used to get a FISA warrant on Carter Page, someone loosely connected to the Trump campaign; and the FISA court reportedly was never told about the dossier's Clinton connection. FBI Russia investigation was always about Trump. The investigation commenced during the 2016 campaign by the Obama administration — the Justice Department and the FBI — was always about Donald Trump. We have to remember: The FBI believed the Steele dossier — the collection of faux intelligence reports compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, who was ultimately working for the Hillary Clinton campaign. The Justice Department on four occasions brought surveillance applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), in which the FBI swore that it believed the dossier allegations. Ostensibly, the surveillance application targeted Carter Page. But Page was just a side issue. The dossier was principally about Trump — not Page, not Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, or other Trump associates referred to by Steele. The Steele dossier was planned as Hillary's insurance policy. It's been over a year since the highly damaging text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and his paramour, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, were revealed to the American public. The correspondence showed two senior Justice Department officials engaged in the most petty, vitriolic political diatribes while making decisions on the most sensitive investigations of the 2016 political season. Their hatred toward then-candidate Donald Trump as well as their contempt for his supporters gave reasonable observers every reason to question whether the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the counterintelligence investigation into alleged Russian influence in the Trump campaign (Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page played key roles in both inquiries) were handled in a fair, unbiased and judicious manner. New Documents Suggest The Steele Dossier Was A Deliberate Setup For Trump. A trove of recently released documents sheds further light on the scope and logistics of the information operation designed to sabotage an American election. Players include the press, political operatives from both parties, and law enforcement and intelligence officials. Their instrument was the Steele dossier, first introduced to the American public two years ago. A collection of reports compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, the dossier is now engraved in contemporary U.S. history. First marketed as bedrock evidence that Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election, the dossier's legitimacy took a hit after reports showed the Hillary Clinton campaign paid for the work. Dossier fails the test of time; Trump-Russia collusion claims now called 'likely false'. Yahoo News' Michael Isikoff, an early public conduit for Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier, now says the former British spy's sensational Russia collusion charges lack apparent evidence and are "likely false." [...] As reported by the Daily Caller, Mr. Isikoff this month told Mediaite columnist John Ziegler: "When you actually get into the details of the Steele dossier, the specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, and in fact, there is good grounds to think that some of the more sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false." FBI and DOJ Used Phony Unverified Steele Dossier to Spy on Trump; Shutdown Uncovers Multiple Illegalities with its Use. It looks like the corrupt DOJ and FBI leadership who attempted to stop the Trump campaign from winning the 2016 election may have overstepped their legal duties in more than one way. They first obtained the bogus dossier from the Clinton team in an illegal fashion and then used it to obtain a warrant to spy on the Trump team. Speaker Ryan's Legacy: He Betrayed the President. Speaker Ryan has never supported the President and said from the time of the Billy Bush tapes that he would not. He has been true to his word. Look at what we have found out about his prior knowledge of the fake dossier. Never once did he try to address the legitimacy of the Russia-Trump 'dossier', so named to make it seem like intelligence instead of Hillary's opposition research and propaganda. Hillary's campaign and her DNC created this dossier. It was then pushed to the media to damage or destroy the President. Also selling it at the time was his chief of staff Jim Burks and John McCain's chief of staff, a Democrat, David Kramer. Kramer is the one who fed it to BuzzFeed. Paul Ryan's Chief of Staff Jim Burks knew about the dossier from the beginning, but they DENIED IT. He knew before the President knew and never alerted him. Here are the Most Egregious Fake News Stories of 2018. [#5] Media still Blaming Republicans for Steele dossier: CNN's Jim Sciutto, MSNBC's Katy Tur, and MSNBC's Ari Melber were all responsible for falsely claiming that Never-Trump Republicans were responsible for initial funding of the salacious Steele dossier. Washington Free Beacon founder Paul Singer did pay Fusion GPS for standard opposition research, however, he stopped paying Fusion GPS well before they contracted Christopher Steele to create the dossier. That research was paid for solely by the DNC and the Clinton campaign. This falsehood has been shared so many times that even former FBI director James Comey has repeated it. The Steele Dossier and the perils of political insurance policies. The wonderful thing about insurance is that you can cover just about anything, so long as you are prepared to pay the premium. [...] But what about an election? According to former British spy Christopher Steele, that was precisely the concern of the Clinton campaign when it paid him and research firm Fusion GPS to compile his controversial dossier on Donald Trump. Despite being widely declared the shoo-in for the White House, the Clinton campaign wanted insurance — and Steele and Fusion were there, as one insurer famously says, "like a good neighbor." Steele was recently called for a deposition in London in a defamation action filed by three Russian bankers for allegedly false claims in the dossier. Steele's statements included some surprising admissions, particularly regarding the purpose of his contract with the U.S. law firm of Perkins Coie. Was the Russia Conspiracy Hillary Clinton's Doomsday Scenario? The Steele dossier, a document produced by Christopher Steele at the behest of the Clinton campaign is ground zero for the Russia conspiracy theory that is tearing apart the country. Even the Mueller investigation has its ultimate roots in the eavesdropping carried out by the Obama administration using the dossier as evidence and the dubious and unverified claims made by Steele in the dossier. But why did the Clinton campaign ever set out to create such a document? John McCain Associate Gave Dossier to Buzzfeed. A longtime associate of late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain provided a copy of the infamous Steele dossier to BuzzFeed News, according to an explosive court filing released Wednesday [12/19/2018]. David Kramer, a former State Department official who was an executive at the McCain Institute, met on Dec. 29, 2016 with BuzzFeed reporter Ken Bensinger, according to a filing submitted Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro. Christopher Steele Says He Was Hired To Help 'Challenge The Validity Of The Outcome' Of 2016 election. In other words, it was collusion, an 'attack on democracy' and a preemptive coup all in one. Christopher Steele says he was hired to help 'challenge the validity of the outcome' of the 2016 election. First off, let's remind all of the people who are going to claim that the Washington Free Beacon originally hired FusionGPS to do opposition research on Donald Trump that they ended that relationship well before Christopher Steele was hired to compile a fake dossier on then-candidate Trump, so put that tired talking point away. We also know that both the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC were the ones who paid for the Steele dossier through the law firm Perkins Coie. And now, thanks to a defamation lawsuit brought by three Russian bankers, we have Steele on record saying that "he was hired by a Democratic law firm in preparation for Hillary Clinton challenging the results of the 2016 presidential election," the Washington Times reports. Christopher Steele: I Was Hired to Help Hillary Clinton Challenge the 2016 Election Results. Christopher Steele, the former British spy who prepared the Russia "dossier" that has led to more than two years of investigations into President Donald Trump's campaign, has told a London court that he was hired to provide a basis to challenge the legitimacy of the 2016 presidential election in the event that Trump won. Reporter who broke news of Steele dossier used to surveil ex-Trump aide calls its claims largely 'false'. The salacious and unverified opposition research dossier cited by the FBI as its main justification to surveil a top Trump aide contains many claims that are "likely false," according to the Yahoo News reporter who was among the first to break the news of the dossier's existence. Michael Isikoff's statements on John Ziegler's Free Speech Broadcasting podcast came a day before Michael Cohen adviser Lanny Davis reiterated that Cohen has never been to Prague — where, according to the dossier, he traveled to arrange a payment to Russian hackers during the 2016 presidential campaign. The dossier was created by British ex-spy Christopher Steele and funded by the firm Fusion GPS — which was retained by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Comey Continues To Falsely Claim That Republicans Started Steele Dossier. Former FBI Director James Comey falsely claimed throughout two recently congressional interviews that Republicans were the initial backers of the infamous Steele dossier, which alleges a vast conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian government to influence the 2016 election. Comey claimed twice in an interview Monday with the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees that Republicans initially commissioned the work of Christopher Steele, the former British spy behind the dossier. He made similar claims twice more in an interview with the same committees on Dec. 7. Emails Reveal Obama Admin's Push To Create Russia Scandal Hours Before Trump's Inauguration. Close observers know that the Operation Crossfire Hurricane strategy surfaced during the 2016 presidential election and continued well into Trump's presidency, with General Michael Flynn getting snared in a Peter Strzok/Sally Yates ambush play in the early days of the Trump White House. Now, Team Obama's documented effort to cook up the Russia story before Trump's inauguration emboldens a narrative already proved by text messages involving Obama official James Clapper: the Obama people actually thought they could stop Trump from getting sworn in. FBI's Declassification of Dossier Summary Shows Comey Lied About the Most Vital Fact of All. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request by a Politico reporter and the James Madison Project, the FBI released a summary of the Steel Dossier used by James Comey to brief Trump on January 6, 2017. News of this briefing was intentionally leaked to the media (likely by Obama's Director of National Intelligence James Clapper) which gave them the "green light" to publish the story four days later. The document, which is over 80% redacted, can be viewed [elsew]here. It's surprising that Politico would request and then publish this information because it indicates that Trump was not informed of the identity of those who had commissioned and paid for the dossier. The report shows only that the information was collected "on behalf of private clients." The most striking takeaway from the summary is that the FBI Director met with the incoming President and knowingly omitted the most vital fact of all, that Hillary Clinton and the DNC bought and paid for this "research." FBI Releases Heavily Redacted Russia Dossier Document Comey Used to Brief Trump, Obama. Late Friday night [12/14/2018], the FBI released a heavily redacted Christopher Steele document that James Comey used to brief then-President elect Donald Trump and former President Obama. The document, first obtained by Politico through a FOIA lawsuit, shows the FBI describing Steele as an "FBI source" who was working for "private clients," which is a flat out lie being that he was working for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the DNC. I Know Nothing! Jim Comey Didn't Care Where the Dossier Came From. The manner in which James Comey ran the Federal Bureau of Investigations was incompetent, or he's a liar. There doesn't seem to be any other explanation for his performance. The collusion/conspiracy probe began after illicit unmasking, and no one has delved into that in any serious way. It shouldn't come as a surprise. We found out on Thursday the obstruction of justice probe into former FBI director Jim Comey's firing began to rein in the President. That was BEFORE Rosenstein hired Robert Mueller as special counsel. The dossier, in particular, has been a source of concern since it played an important role in the Russia-Trump investigation. Comey and the FISA Warrant Hillary Bought. James Comey uncorked the whopper earlier this year that he still "didn't know for a fact" Hillary Clinton financed the infamous dossier of Christopher Steele — an epic lie reminiscent of his denial, leaked through James Clapper and other stooges, that the FBI spied on Trump Tower, even as warrants to spy on Trump Tower sat on his desk! Comey is set to meet with Congress on Friday, testimony sure to be riddled with the weaseliest of evasions. According to the Hill's John Solomon, House Republicans are aware of emails showing that the FBI and Justice Department knew [very] well that the FISA application to spy on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page rested on partisan and flawed opposition research purchased by the Democrats. The House Republicans are calling on Trump to declassify those e-mails. Grassley Accuses Fusion GPS Founder Of Giving 'Extremely Misleading' Testimony. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is drawing parallels between the false testimony that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen gave to Congress in 2017 and the "extremely misleading" statements made by the founder of the firm that commissioned the infamous Steele dossier. "I hope that the Justice Department is handling all these instances of false statements to Congress with the same level of seriousness they treated Mr. Cohen's," Grassley, an Iowa Republican, wrote Monday in a letter to Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Cohen pleaded guilty on Nov. 29 in the special counsel's investigation to lying to Congress in 2017 about the extent of his attempts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen admitted he lied about how long he worked on the project, which was ultimately scuttled in June 2016. Grassley: Fusion GPS Founder CEO Glenn Simpson Lied In Senate Testimony. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Monday that Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee staff about whether his infamous firm continued to investigate Donald Trump after the 2016 election. In a letter to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Grassley stated that Simpson told committee staff in 2017 that he stopped probing now-President Trump and his associates' connections to Russian officials after the 2016 presidential election because he "had no client after the election." Judicial Watch Sues for Records of FBI Meetings with Clinton-DNC Law Firm, Perkins Coie in 2016. Judicial Watch announced today [12/3/2018] that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice seeking records of all meetings in 2016 between former FBI General Counsel James Baker and the Perkins Coie law firm. The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) reportedly paid Fusion GPS to create the "salacious and unverified" Clinton-DNC anti-Trump dossier. NeverTrump Clings To Russia Collusion Conspiracy Theory Despite Lack Of Evidence. The NeverTrump movement has gone from pushing allegations that Donald Trump treasonously colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election from its rightful owner Hillary Clinton, to pretending that his attempts at business deals in Russia, which were legal and the subject of widespread reporting during the election, are evidence of unspecified crimes. The main barrier to the Russia-Trump collusion theory — an information operation that was secretly bought and paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, spread by a compliant media, and weaponized by the highest levels of federal agencies — is the lack of evidence for it. But that lack of evidence hasn't been much of an obstacle for either the so-called mainstream media or the leaders of the NeverTrump movement. Victor Davis Hanson: We Haven't Had A Legal Accounting Of Comey, Brennan & Clapper And It's Coming. Columnist and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson said the verdict is "not out" for the Obama-era DOJ officials after their use of the infamous Russian dossier. Davis noted 8 to 10 FBI officials have been retired or reassigned or facing indictment. Hanson also warned Wednesday night it's "not over" former FBI director James Comey, former CIA director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper because the dossier, put together by a foreign national, was used to open investigations and get FISA warrants. Questions grow about FBI vetting of Christopher Steele's Russia expertise. In February 2016, as Christopher Steele's Russia-related contacts with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI were ramping up, the former British spy emailed some intelligence reports from his Orbis security company to a potential private-sector client. The documents were labeled "Orbis Russian Leadership Reporting," and the cover email made a most provocative claim: Russian leader Vladimir Putin might be losing his grip on power. The Ultimate Fake News. Fake news is a serious problem in our political life. I'm not referring to a pathetically small number of Facebook ads bought by Russian provocateurs. I'm talking about the fake news that was paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee; fabricated by Democratic Party-allied consultants; propagated by the FBI and the CIA; promoted by the broadcast networks, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press; trumpeted by pretty much every senior elected Democrat; and kept alive by the appalling Robert Mueller. The claim that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to "steal" the 2016 presidential election is the great fake news of our time. How successful have the Democrats been in propagating that myth? [A recent] survey by The Economist and YouGov suggests that they have been successful beyond their wildest dreams. Soros Has Given $1 Million to Group Linked To Fusion GPS For Trump-Russia Investigation. George Soros, the billionaire financier who supports numerous progressive causes, has provided $1 million in funding for a nonprofit group that works closely with Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that commissioned the infamous Steele dossier. Soros is considering providing more funding for the group, the Democracy Integrity Project, according to The New York Times. The Democracy Integrity Project, which was founded in January 2017 by Daniel Jones, a former Democratic staffer on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has worked with Fusion GPS and dossier author Christopher Steele to investigate Russian interference in American elections. The group has also investigated President Donald Trump's possible links to Russia. Victoria Nuland Can't Keep Her Steele Story Straight. Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland made a bombshell admission Wednesday at an otherwise quiet hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She admitted that during the waning days of the 2016 election, the Obama State Department hosted ex-British-spy Christopher Steele to give a secret briefing to select staff on his anti-Trump dossier. This was not information that had been offered up voluntarily by any of Steele's friends at the State Department. For example, it seems likely that then-special envoy Jonathan Winer knew about the Steele briefing that has now been revealed. And yet when he penned a self-justificatory op-ed in the Washington Post about his Steele ties, any mention of the briefing is strangely missing. Winer admitted to meeting one-on-one with Steele to see the dossier; he admitted to writing up a two-page condensed version of Steele's opus and giving it to Nuland; he admitted to meeting his old friend (and Clinton crony) Sidney Blumenthal who showed him dossier-like materials from notorious Clinton crank Cody Shearer. And yet, though he was the man in the middle of dossier activities at State, Winer never mentioned that his pal Steele made it to Foggy Bottom — in person — to tell his dossier tales. Fusion GPS Founder Glenn Simpson in "Real Legal Jeopardy" Over His Conflicting Testimony: GOP Lawmaker. A Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee said Sunday that Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson is "in real legal jeopardy" over inconsistent testimony that he gave to Congress regarding his work on the infamous Steele dossier. "I'm not surprised that Glenn Simpson is taking the Fifth," Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe said in a Fox News interview on Sunday [10/14/2018]. "He probably should. He's in real legal jeopardy. Very clearly someone is not telling the truth," he added. The Russia Hoax As Contingency Plan. [Scroll down] After all, an election is one thing, but the inauguration of a new president doesn't take place for two and a half months afterwards. Time enough to throw a whole smorgasbord of crackpot theories at Trump, and see whether any of it would stick! But the key to it all, right from the start, was the Russia Hoax: [...] The Russia Hoax was already in place, for use when needed, capable of adaptation to fits the circumstances. From campaign talking points to soft coup contingency plan was but a short step. Trump, Declassification, and Leverage. The state of play is this: the congressional investigation has progressed to the point that it's clear beyond cavil that the entire Russia narrative is, in fact, a hoax and fraud — both on the American people in general and on our legal system. This is to say real criminal liability exists for the key players who developed the plot against Trump. Lawyer with ties to Hillary Clinton, DNC reportedly gave FBI documents on Russia meddling. A lawyer with ties to the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign passed on documents about Russian election meddling to the FBI's general counsel during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a report Thursday. James Baker, who was formerly the top lawyer at the FBI, told congressional investigators about the exchange in a closed-door deposition on Wednesday [10/3/2018], the Daily Caller reported. Mr. Baker said he received the documents as well as computer storage devices on Russian hacking from Michael Sussmann, an attorney with Perkins Coie. George Soros Funded Fusion GPS, His Spokesman Confirms. George Soros has indirectly funded Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm behind the infamous Steele dossier, a spokesman for the billionaire financier has acknowledged. Michael Vachon, the Soros aide, told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius that Soros provided a grant to a nonprofit group called the Democracy Integrity Project. That organization, which was formed in 2017 by Daniel Jones, a former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer for Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, paid Fusion GPS as a contractor to continue an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Christopher Steele's allegations are really just clickbait. Democrats' leaks from last week's testimony by Justice Department official Bruce Ohr brought the anti-Trump allegations of British ex-spy Christopher Steele back into the headlines, which makes it worth noting just how little Steele knows. It's not just that Steele compiled that infamous "dossier" as opposition research for the Beltway smear merchants of Fusion GPS — with the bills paid by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party. No: It's that Steele didn't even do much, and possibly most, of the actual research. FISC didn't have a hearing to issue the Title I warrant, to spy on Carter Page. Why? It wasn't the FISC that issued the warrant, in the first place. IMO it was Loretta Lynch (AG). Is that the smoking gun in the FISA application? FISA Court States No Hearings Conducted Before Issuing Title-1 Warrant. Well this is troubling on many levels. According to a responsive filing from the FISA Court, there wasn't any hearing on the sketchy FISA application submitted by the DOJ/FBI to conduct FISA Title-1 surveillance on Carter Page. Even more disturbing, according to the secret court, it is customary to just accept and review the FISA applications as presented without judicial inquiry into the content. How a Little-Known FBI Unit Helped to Disseminate the Steele Dossier. A little-known FBI unit played an outsized role in allowing controversial claims by a former MI6 Spy about Donald Trump to reach the highest levels of the FBI and State Department. The Eurasian Organized Crime Unit, which at the time was headed by Michael Gaeta, specializes in investigating criminal groups from Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine. Gaeta, an FBI agent and Assistant Legal Attaché at the US Embassy in Rome, has known the former spy, Christopher Steele — who authored the controversial dossier on then-candidate Donald Trump — since at least 2010, when Steele provided assistance in the FBI's investigation into the FIFA Corruption scandal over concerns Russia might have been engaging in bribery to host the 2018 World Cup. Email Logs Reveal Correspondence Between Clinton Associate, Fusion GPS, and Russians at Trump Tower Meeting. Attorney Edward Lieberman, whose late wife Evelyn served as Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, exchanged numerous emails with the co-founder of the controversial Fusion GPS firm and Russian participants in the infamous June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting, documentation provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee shows. The correspondence, part of a series of exhibits provided to Senate investigators and reviewed by Breitbart News, took place in the weeks leading up to the Trump Tower meeting. Jim Jordan on Deep State Dossier-Spying Scandal: "This is the Biggest Abuse of Power I Have Ever Seen". Rep. jim Jordan (R-OH) joined Lou Dobbs on Tuesday to discuss the deep state corruption and the upcoming election. Jordan started off the conservation telling Lou Dobbs Congress should go back to Congress next week and pass funding for the Trump border wall. Jim Jordan and the Freedom Caucus led the efforts to investigate the FBI-DOJ corruption during the 2016 election. Lanny Davis admits he was source for CNN's Trump Tower story, lied about it on air. Michael Cohen's attorney has acknowledged being an anonymous source for the disputed CNN Trump Tower story and also admitted lying on TV about his involvement. Lanny Davistold BuzzFeed News on Monday evening that he was a source for the story claiming that President Trump had personal prior knowledge of a controversial Trump Tower meeting with Russians — a story the Cohen camp has since repudiated. "I made a mistake," Mr. Davis said. Lanny Davis Admits He Was Source for CNN's Debunked Trump Tower Story; CNN Not Backing Down. Lanny Davis, attorney for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, told Buzzfeed on Monday [8/27/2018] that he was a source for CNN's article last month claiming that Cohen would tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that President Trump knew about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian purportedly offering information on Hillary Clinton. Since CNN's article published, Davis has admitted to the Washington Post, CNN's Anderson Cooper, and now Buzzfeed that he actually has no such knowledge of Cohen knowing such a thing. He also said he regretted lying about it on CNN's air last week. The Press Abets a Coverup. The two biggest shoes are yet to drop in the 2016 investigations. We still don't know the origins and back story of the intercepted Russian intelligence document that was pivotal in James Comey's unprecedented, ill-advised and possibly decisive (according to numerous Democratic and independent election analysts) interventions in the presidential race. Depending on what report you credit, the information was false, it was planted by the Russians, or it accurately indicated an illegal conspiracy to obstruct justice by the Clinton campaign and Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch. If it was a Russian fabrication, then Mr. Comey was spoofed by the Kremlin into his improper intervention in the race. If the parties to the incepted exchange were simply misinformed, it's hard to understand Mr. Comey's reason for intervening. Presumably some of the questions are answered in a still-secret annex to the inspector general's report that criticized Mr. Comey's performance, but even that won't tell us everything we need to know. The Story of Ohr and More. Reputable accounts reveal that former associate deputy attorney general Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie (an undisclosed employee of GPS Fusion) continued to receive reports from Christopher Steele, author of the now discredited dossier. They did so after Steele was terminated as an FBI source because of Steele's leaks to the press and lying to the agency about them. Ohr and his DOJ and FBI cohorts in this stove-piping operation apparently "operated outside the chain of command, misled their bosses (and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) and concealed evidence from Congressional oversight committees." And they did this work even after Trump was elected and inaugurated. The evidence to date suggests that Rod Rosenstein, who is tasked with supervising Robert Mueller and his team, was kept in the dark about Ohr's continued work with Steele when he signed the last FISA warrant application, post inauguration, in June 2017. Steele dossier pushers lay low after Lanny Davis bombshell. For nearly 20 months, the allegations made in the infamous Steele dossier have hung like a cloud over the Trump administration and several of his former advisers. The salacious 35-page document has become Exhibit A in President Donald Trump critics' conspiracy theory that the campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. Numerous news outlets, pundits and lawmakers have also pushed the theory. But the dossier arguably suffered its heaviest blow on Wednesday [8/22/2018] after Clinton-connected lawyer Lanny Davis emphatically denied one of the document's most intriguing allegations. Obama DOJ Wrote Phony Trump Dossier — Kevin Shipp. CIA whistleblower Kevin Shipp says the next revelation that will come to light will be that Bruce Ohr, who was the fourth highest ranking official in the Obama Justice Department (DOJ), wrote the now infamous phony Trump Dossier which was used to apply for fraudulent federal wiretaps (with the FISA Court) to spy on Trump. Shipp, who is a former CIA Officer with a high security clearance, explains, "It all started from the fake dossier which led eventually to the appointment of Robert Mueller (Special Prosecutor) and the entire foundation is based on a falsity. ... I understand the next revocation of security clearance is probably going to be Bruce Ohr because he crafted the fake dossier with Christopher Steele, and he may even have written the thing. [...]" From One Psychodrama to Another. [Scroll down] Do not expect that the latest revelation about Bruce Ohr, the fourth-ranking official in the Obama Department of Justice, is news either. Ohr, we just learned, after the 2016 election, kept a secret backchannel open with the FBI's discredited foreign informant Christopher Steele, author of the anti-Trump dossier commissioned by Hillary Clinton, on which Ohr's own wife worked. Apparently, Ohr and the FBI wanted to ensure that more of Steele's salacious gossip and dirt could still find the light of day — after the FBI had officially fired Steele for lying. In other words, a top Department of Justice attorney was still busy trying to undermine a sitting president with discredited gossip paid for by defeated candidate Hillary Clinton. Bruce Ohr and the anti-Trump activities of Obama officials — what will his testimony reveal? More information will be revealed about the Obama administration's anti-Trump political opposition research efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign when demoted Justice Department official Bruce Ohr testifies before members of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees Aug. 28 in a closed-door session. Ohr was an associate deputy attorney general in the Obama administration before his questionable actions led to his demotion. His testimony should provide the latest peek behind the curtain at the inner workings of the Deep State. Perhaps most significantly is what Ohr can tell members of the House committees about the political opposition research by his wife, Nellie Ohr. Important Ruling! FBI Must Reveal Efforts to Verify the Steele Dossier. In light of the declassification and the release of the Nunes and Schiff Memoranda, Judge Mehta has reversed his prior decision and is rejecting the FBI's refusal to confirm or deny the existence of records reflecting an attempt to verify the two-page synopsis allegations from the Steele Dossier. A Washington DC judge ruled that the FBI must respond to a FOIA request for documents concerning the bureau's efforts to verify the controversial Steele dossier before it was used as the foundation of a FISA surveillance warrant application and subsequent renewals. They must give the documents to Judicial Watch. DOJ official Bruce Ohr communicated with Trump dossier author Steele after FBI cut ties: report. Long after the FBI cut ties with former British spy and Trump dossier author Christopher Steele, senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr continued to maintain extensive contact with him, according to newly reported emails. The emails, first reported by The Hill, reveal Steele even continued to send information to Ohr after the election. The FBI "suspended and then terminated" Steele as a source in early November 2016 for what the bureau defined as "the most serious of violations" — an "unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI," according to a House Republican memo earlier this year. The FBI reportedly told Steele at the time he could no longer "operate to obtain any intelligence whatsoever on behalf of the FBI." Bruce Ohr May Have Broken More Than The Law By Pushing His Wife's Opposition Research To The FBI. A review of publicly available information causes a reasonable person to wonder whether Bruce Ohr broke the law by promoting his wife's anti-Trump research to the FBI when he was working at the Justice Department. The law prohibits public officials from involvement in matters in which their spouse has a financial interest. The question is, Did Ohr "personally and substantially" participate in a particular matter in which his spouse had a "financial interest" while he was employed by the Justice Department as the assistant attorney general? What Was Bruce Ohr Doing? The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department have continued to insist they did nothing wrong in their Trump-Russia investigation. This week should finally bring an end to that claim, given the clear evidence of malfeasance via the use of Bruce Ohr. Mr. Ohr was until last year associate deputy attorney general. He began feeding information to the FBI from dossier author Christopher Steele in late 2016 — after the FBI had terminated Mr. Steele as a confidential informant for violating the bureau's rules. He also collected dirt from Glenn Simpson, cofounder of Fusion GPS, the opposition-research firm that worked for Hillary Clinton's campaign and employed Mr. Steele. Altogether, the FBI pumped Mr. Ohr for information at least a dozen times, debriefs that remain in classified 302 forms. DOJ's Bruce Ohr wrote Christopher Steele was 'very concerned about Comey's firing — afraid they will be exposed'. A collection of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr's emails, texts and handwritten notes, reviewed by Fox News, reveals that he was deeply connected to the unverified Steele dossier as well as its author and, during the presidential election campaign, the alleged government surveillance abuses involving a Trump campaign official. The dossier, which was used by federal officials to justify the surveillance of a top Trump aide, Carter Page, was created by Fusion GPS and paid for by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee. President Trump Tweets: Oleg's Story — Yes, The Russians Were Involved In The 2016 Election. In the past several days the name Oleg Deripaska has resurfaced, this time with some more attention. Oleg Deripaska, is a Russian billionaire and is likely much more of a central figure than previously discussed. Byron York previously outlined new documents showing the communication between Trump Dossier author Christopher Steele and DOJ official Bruce Ohr. Within the early 2016 discussions, Chris Steele appeared to be advocating to Bruce Ohr on behalf of Oleg Deripaska who was banned from travel into the U.S. by the State Department. Criminal John Brennan Walked the Junk Dossier Over to Harry Reid to Start the Spygate Scandal — Should Be Jailed. [On 8/15/2018, Dan] Bongino described how former CIA Director John Brennan maneuvered Congress and the FBI to launch the most corrupt and criminal spying activity in the history of the United States. Just How Reliable Was Christopher Steele? In the Carter Page FISA application, the FBI presents material from the "dossier" without referencing it as an actual document. Rather, it presents material from the "dossier" as reporting provided by Christopher Steele as "Source #1." The concealing of source identities is usual in FISA applications. To make up for this secrecy in the interest of security, at least in theory, the FBI provides characterizations of its sources as well as specific facts that vouch for the reliability of the sources in question, to provide the FISC judge with a factual basis upon which to assess the case for granting a FISA order. Since we know the person who is supposed to have been behind the Carter Page FISA application, it seems reasonable to inquire: just how reliable was Christopher Steele? New Info Indicates Clinton-Funded Oppo Research Launched FBI's Trump Investigation. In three articles for The Hill last week, investigative journalist John Solomon revealed previously undisclosed text and email discussions between former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr and former MI6 agent and Spygate dossier author Christopher Steele. Solomon's reporting also uncovered notes Ohr took summarizing discussions he had with Steele's boss at Fusion GPS, Glenn Simpson, about the Russia "collusion" investigation. In isolation, the details revealed in Solomon's must-read exposés are troubling. But when considered in conjunction with information related to the Russia investigation the government previously released, this new information is potentially devastating, because it indicates that, notwithstanding claims to the contrary, the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched operation Crossfire Hurricane based on Steele's Clinton-funded opposition research. Media Conspiracy Theories About Devin Nunes Are Getting Out Of Control. [Scroll down] The campaign was run by Fusion GPS, which specializes in spreading information into the media. Fusion GPS principal Glenn Simpson and British ex-spy-for-hire Christopher Steele secretly met with myriad media companies during the campaign and after the election to spread their dramatic tales claiming that Trump campaign affiliates were working hand-in-hand with Russian operatives, and that the Russians had compromising information on President Trump. They also got the information — which they claimed came from Kremlin operatives and other Russians with ties to Vladimir Putin — into the U.S. government to secure widespread spying on the Trump campaign. Literally nothing of significance alleged in the information campaign has been proven to be true. Massive Efforts Made to Hide Nellie Ohr's Involvement in 'Spygate'. As the details behind the Spygate scandal are uncovered, the connections to former President Obama are unearthed. According to Zero Hedge, the head of opposition research firm Fusion GPS admitted in December 2017 in a court filing that his firm paid the wife of a senior Justice Department official to help dig up damaging information on then-candidate Donald Trump. How Were Bruce and Nellie Ohr, Christopher Steele, and Fusion GPS Plotting? [Scroll down] Bruce Ohr remains Organized Crime Task Force director. Until his dossier-related demotion, he was the fourth-ranked official at DOJ. The House Intelligence Committee memo released by Chairman Devin Nunes on February 2 says that Nellie Ohr was "employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump" and that Bruce Ohr passed along the results of that research, which was paid for by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign, to the FBI. The "salacious and unverified" dossier was used to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance warrant to spy on Carter Page. Fusion GPS Founder Shared 'False Story' About GOP Lawyer in Meeting With DOJ'S Bruce Ohr. Veteran GOP lawyer Cleta Mitchell suddenly found her name mixed up in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The first public mention of Mitchell came in a March 13 report released by Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The report listed Mitchell, a partner at the firm Foley & Lardner, as one of the "individuals or groups who were involved in or may have knowledge of third-party political outreach from the Kremlin to the Trump campaign." How a senior DOJ official helped Dem researchers on Trump-Russia case. Hundreds of pages of previously unreported emails and memos provide the clearest evidence yet that a research firm, hired by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to find dirt on and defeat Donald Trump, worked early and often with the FBI, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official and the intelligence community during the 2016 presidential election and the early days of Trump's presidency. Fusion GPS's work and its involvement with several FBI officials have been well reported. But a close review of these new documents shows just how closely Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, who reported to Obama-era Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, maintained contact with Fusion — and, in particular, its primary source, former British spy Christopher Steele — before, during and after the election. The Bruce Ohr & Christopher Steele Conversations. Bruce Ohr's relationship with Christopher Steele via texts and emails has been thrust into the spotlight recently. The texts and emails are between Ohr and Steele but involve other parties as well. Descriptions of the major parties are listed further below. Ohr has been described as a long-time friend of Steele with a relationship going back to at least 2006 (this includes Ohr's wife Nellie). Worth noting, Adam Waldman represented both Oleg Deripaska and Sergey Lavrov. More newly discovered is Waldman's representation of Christopher Steele and Julian Assange. NY Times and Washington Post Censor Latest Spygate Revelations. Bruce Ohr was once one of the most powerful officials at the Obama Department of Justice. He reported to Sally Yates, who reported to Attorney General Loretta Lynch. His downfall began when he became involved in a brazen attempt to fix — and, later, overturn — a presidential election. While the details have been hazy around Ohr's involvement in the attempted coup, we do know he was demoted and reassigned multiple times. He now appears to be in the DOJ equivalent of Siberia. Why? Nellie Ohr Looks Like a Stalinist or At Least an Apologist. Communist expert Diane West has written volumes on communism and she has a startling fact to share. FBI agent Bruce Ohr's wife Nellie Ohr isn't simply a Communist sympathizer, she's a Stalin apologist, perhaps worse. Sketchy FBI honcho Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie, an employee of Fusion GPS, appear to have collaborated with a British spy named Christopher Steele on the dossier that was used to frame the President. As if that isn't enough, Ms. West unearthed some of Nellie's frightening views. Bruce and Nellie Ohr. Bruce Ohr, the former Associate Deputy Attorney General who served as the fourth-highest ranking official in the Justice Department, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on August 28th, 2018, to answer questions regarding his connections to anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS. According to Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., Ohr had over sixty contacts with Christopher Steele going as far back as January of 2016. More Suspicions Confirmed: Glenn Simpson Lied During Congressional Testimony. The original Glenn Simpson conflict was actually noted on February 2nd, 2018, when HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes released the House memo outlining the conflicting statements between Glenn Simpson's testimony, Christopher Steele, and the evidence of Bruce Ohr notes reviewed by congressional investigators. However, until recently the public never had the actual Ohr notes. Exposed: the Deep State's Authorship and Publication of the Dossier. The Internet is full of information, some of it not well researched or considered, but every now and then a star appears on the horizon. To my mind the new star is Yaacov Apelbaum, who, using his considerable technical skills, has produced a masterpiece of well-documented analysis underscoring the nonsensical and partisan nature of the Mueller operation. [...] It's lengthy and detailed and on a lovely Sunday in summer you may not want to study it completely, but if this subject is of interest to you, I strongly suggest you bookmark the article and study it at your leisure.
Did Fusion GPS's Anti-Trump Researcher Avoid Surveillance With A Ham Radio? [Scroll down] That brings us to Nellie Ohr, holder of amateur radio call sign KM4UDZ. Ohr graduated from Harvard University in 1983 with a degree in history and Russian literature. She studied in the Soviet Union in 1989 and obtained a PhD in Russian history in 1990. [...] It is apparent that, between her own professional experience and her marriage to a top DOJ official, she was well aware of the ability of the National Security Agency to intercept and store every communication on the Internet. Did this knowledge have anything to do with her mid-life decision to become a ham radio operator and communicate outside cyberspace? [...] On May 23, 2016, she received a technician-level amateur radio license. The timing is significant. The presidential campaign was underway and she and her employer, Fusion GPS, were digging for dirt in Russia to use against Trump. Given her cybersecurity knowledge, was Nellie Ohr hoping to use non-cyber short wave communications to hide her participation in that nefarious effort from the NSA? Call Sign "KM4UDZ"-Keystone to the Steele Dossier!. The person holding call-sign KM4UDZ Ham Radio License, is very central to ObamaGate. Nellie Ohr holds that specific Ham Radio ID and is a key person in today's unfolding Crossfire Hurricane/FISA political scandals. [...] Some of Nellie Ohr's foremost characteristics are, a big Stalin apologist, fluent in Russian, Ph.D. in Russian History, former CIA Analyst, Ham Radio fame, Fusion GPS Russian expert, and theorized real co-author of the Christopher Steele Trump-Russian Dossier. Judicial Watch Sues DOJ for Communications Between Ohr, Steele & Fusion GPS. Judicial Watch is suing the Department of Justice for access to communications related to the infamous anti-Trump dossier. The conservative watchdog group is seeking various records related to former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, his wife Nellie Ohr, dossier author Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS. In a statement, Judicial Watch said it sued because the Justice Department failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in May. Key Spygate Conspirator — DOJ's Bruce Ohr — to Appear Before Congress Later This Month. The Department of Justice official whose wife worked for dossier firm Fusion GPS and maintained close contact with dossier author Christopher Steele will appear for an interview before members of two congressional committees later in August. North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, a member of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, announced on Twitter that Bruce Ohr will appear on Aug. 28 "to answer why he had 60+ contacts with dossier author, Chris Steele, as far back as January 2016." "He owes the American public the full truth," Meadows said of Ohr, a career Justice Department official. A source with knowledge of the plans tells The Daily Caller News Foundation that Ohr will appear before members of the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees for a closed-door interview. Oleg's Story: Yes, The Russians Were Involved in The 2016 Election. In the past several days a name has resurfaced, only this time with some more attention than in prior reports. The name is Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who is likely much more of a central figure than previously explained. Papadopoulos, Mifsud & Manafort Coincidences. Initially, I viewed Papadopoulos as nothing more than a pawn in a much larger game — an easy target for Obama's Intelligence Agencies. But as new information and a continuation of ever-increasing coincidences came forth, I began to reassess that position. I don't have enough information to be certain of anything. But I'm far from convinced that Papadopoulos was simply an innocent victim of events. There are a number of things that bother me about Papadopoulos' story. GOP chairman readies Steele dossier subpoenas. The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is readying subpoenas for people connected to the controversial "Steele" dossier, sources tell The Hill. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is preparing subpoenas for Justice Department (DOJ) official Bruce Ohr, his wife Nellie Ohr and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, according to two congressional sources familiar with the matter. Glenn Simpson's Claims About His Interactions With Bruce Ohr Don't Add Up. Newly released Department of Justice records appear to conflict with testimony that Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson gave to Congress in 2017 about the timeline of his interactions with top DOJ official Bruce Ohr. Simpson claimed in testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Nov. 14 that he did not have contact with any FBI or DOJ officials regarding the infamous Steele dossier until after the 2016 election. But Ohr's emails, which have been provided to Congress, show that he and Simpson were in contact as early as August 2016. Bob Goodlatte to subpoena DOJ, FBI officials and Fusion GPS co-founder. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., is expected to subpoena Justice Department and FBI officials, as well as the founder of Fusion GPS, in the coming week for at least one upcoming hearing on British spy Christopher Steele's dossier about President Trump, according to a report published Thursday evening [8/9/2018]. Among those Goodlatte is preparing to call in are Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, former DOJ official Bruce Ohr, and Ohr's wife Nellie, who worked for Simpson's company. More Communication Between Chris Steele and Bruce Ohr is "Leaked"? There's something about the construct of these releases that just doesn't pass the proverbial sniff test. John Solomon, Sara Carter, and Byron York, each writing articles from what appears to be the same sourcing and reference framework; however, each being very opaque in describing their sourcing and context. The transparent lack of providing the sourcing context (who is providing the information/documents and why are they providing it), for their seemingly coordinated articles has the historic hallmark of controlled narrative distribution. Emails show 2016 links among Steele, Ohr, Simpson — with Russian oligarch in background. Emails in 2016 between former British spy Christopher Steele and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr suggest Steele was deeply concerned about the legal status of a Putin-linked Russian oligarch, and at times seemed to be advocating on the oligarch's behalf, in the same time period Steele worked on collecting the Russia-related allegations against Donald Trump that came to be known as the Trump dossier. The emails show Steele and Ohr were in frequent contact, that they intermingled talk about Steele's research and the oligarch's affairs, and that Glenn Simpson, head of the dirt-digging group Fusion GPS that hired Steele to compile the dossier, was also part of the ongoing conversation. Never Forget the Brennan-Brit Plot to Nail Trump. It cannot be repeated enough that the Mueller probe into foreign collusion was itself the product of foreign collusion. Starting even before Trump entered the presidential race, Obama's CIA director John Brennan was colluding with foreign spies to collect unverified information about Trumpworld. In 2014, Stefan Halper, the long-in-the-tooth CIA asset whom the FBI would later run into the Trump campaign to entrap Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, had passed to Brennan, via Halper's friends in British intelligence, some bizarre tattle-tale about alleged coziness between Michael Flynn and a Russian historian at Cambridge University. Long before Flynn joined the Trump campaign in early 2016, Brennan and British intelligence were spying on him. That the CIA and FBI turned to Halper to set traps for him and others in the Trump campaign makes perfect sense. Halper was in on Spygate's ground floor. Bloating himself for years on the American taxpayer's dime, Halper couldn't resist serving as a dual asset for the CIA/FBI and British intelligence. The Clinton campaign sought dirt on Trump from Russian officials. Where's the outrage? So far, "Exhibit A" against President Trump is the meeting Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort had with a group of Russians claiming to have dirt on Hillary Clinton. [...] But as bad as the Trump Tower meeting was, it took place at the request of the Russians. They were the ones who approached the Trump campaign, not the other way around. By contrast, the Clinton campaign proactively sought dirt on Trump from Russian government sources. They did it through cutouts. In April 2016, Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias retained opposition research firm Fusion GPS to compile incriminating information on Trump. Fusion GPS in turn hired Christopher Steele, a former British MI6 operative with sources among Russian government officials. The result was the salacious dossier, whose sources included "a senior Russian Foreign Ministry figure" and "a former top level intelligence officer still active in the Kremlin." Steele's work was paid for by Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. That means a paid agent of the Clinton campaign approached Russian officials for damaging material on Trump. It's Suspicious That The FBI And DOJ Didn't Check Into Christopher Steele's Leaks To The Press. Here's a hypothetical question for journalists: Let's say you managed to convince the translator in the room during the President Trump-Vladimir Putin meeting to speak to you, and you only, on the condition of anonymity, and you're in the midst of writing an explosive, exclusive story for your publication. As you're writing, you look up to see BREAKING NEWS on CNN, and listen as Wolf Blitzer reports the story you're writing, with the exact fly-on-the-wall detail you received from your "exclusive" source. So what's your first move? Would you assume CNN must've convinced the Russian translator to talk to them and move on with your story without taking any action, or would you call your source to figure out where that CNN information came from? If your source denied talking to CNN, would you believe him and move on, or would you do whatever you could to determine whether you can trust this source on such an important matter? You'd want to know the answer to that question before proceeding, would you not? No end in sight: Russia dossier investigation enters third year. Two years ago on July 31, 2016, the FBI took the momentous step of opening a counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Today, it shows no signs of ending. Why didn't [the] FBI tell [the FISA] court about Christopher Steele bias? There has been bitter debate about the release of a heavily-redacted version of the FBI's application for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap onetime Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page. The debate centers on whether the FBI gave the FISA court judges enough information to assess the anti-Trump motives of the people behind the Steele dossier. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., set off the argument last February, with the release of the so-called Nunes memo. In the memo, Nunes wrote, "Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele's efforts." Non-profit Files FEC Complaint Against Clinton Campaign, DNC over Dossier. The non-profit Coolidge Reagan Foundation on Thursday filed a Federal Election Complaint against Hillary Clinton's campaign, the Democratic National Committee, their law firm Perkins Coie, and Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy that authored the "pee dossier," for violating campaign finance laws. The non-profit charged that those parties hid payments made to and received by Fusion GPS, the firm that hired Steele to produce the dossier, in violation of finance laws. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of colluding with foreigners, when in reality it was the Democrats who colluded with foreigners, the non-profit charged. Did FBI get bamboozled by multiple versions of Trump dossier? Like dandelions in an untreated lawn, the now infamous Russian dossier apparently multiplied in numbers — and emissaries delivering it to the FBI — the closer Donald Trump got to the White House. We know from public testimony that dossier author and former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele shared his findings with the FBI in summer and fall 2016 before he was terminated as a confidential source for inappropriate media contacts. And we learned that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) provided a copy to the FBI after the November 2016 election — out of a sense of duty, his office says. Notes on the IG Report. [#1] It is important to remember that the IG has not looked into the FBI's "Russia investigation," including its continuance by Bob Mueller, and today's report does not specifically address issues raised by the FBI's and DOJ's handling of that matter. However, some of the same people were involved in both investigations, and the IG has disclosed limited materials relating, at least in part, to the Russia investigation. At this point, they are some of the most interesting aspects of the report. But such disclosures are incidental and non-systematic. There could be a great deal more where they came from. Byron York: Key Claims in December NY Times Trump-Russia-Papadopoulos Story Are False. On Friday evening [6/1/2018], Fox News's Martha MacCallum interviewed Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York and during that interview's second half, the pair discussed new information which contradicts key contentions about "How the (Trump)-Russia inquiry began" made in a December New York Times story. That story claimed that the investigation began as a result of a May 2016 "heavy drinking" meeting between low-level Donald Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and Alexander Downer, Australia's top diplomat in Great Britain. That December 30 Times story, involving six of its journalists, is based entirely on four anonymous "current and former American and foreign officials" who supposedly had "direct knowledge of the Australians' role" (strangely plural, despite the fact that Downer was the only named Australian involved in the story). It appeared just as the Obama-era FBI and Department of Justice were coming under fire for appearing up to that point to have relied primarily, if not solely, on the unproven allegations contained in the infamous Steele dossier as the basis for opening its investigation into alleged Russia-Trump campaign collusion. Grassley: Fusion GPS Founder Gave 'Extremely Misleading' Testimony About Trump Work. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is accusing Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson of giving "extremely misleading" statements, if not telling "outright lies," during Senate testimony in 2017. Simpson may have lied when he denied working for clients to investigate President Donald Trump after the 2016 election, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a May 24 letter made public on Tuesday. Fusion GPS, which Simpson started in 2011, worked for the Clinton campaign and DNC to investigate Trump's possible ties to Russia. The opposition research firm hired former British spy Christopher Steele, who would go on to write a dossier alleging Trump's campaign colluded with the Kremlin. Obama Admin Officials Coordinated Set Up Of Trump, New Evidence Suggests. The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released new emails on Monday night that allegedly show that Obama administration officials coordinated with each other to help CNN run a damaging story on President-elect Donald Trump based on salacious and unverified information contained in a politically-motivated dossier financed by Trump's political enemies. The emails, obtained by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), show that the Obama-era officials used coded language to refer to the Steele dossier. Russian dossier shows our spies are lousy. Bumbling Bob Mueller's witch hunt is showing the federal system of spies and prosecutors is incompetent. Among other things, Mueller indicted a company that did not exist during the time covered in the indictment. I realize that prosecutors can indict a ham sandwich, but he indicted an imaginary one. While the abuse of power is an outrage, the level of incompetence of America's spies and the FBI is stunning. Sen. Ron Johnson Sends Letter to FBI — Discovers Secret Deep State "Sensitive Matter Team" Behind Phony Dossier. Explosive new e-mails show FBI brass discussed dossier briefing details with CNN. Senator Johnson accused the FBI of having a "sensitive matter team" as reference by FBI Chief of Staff Jim Rybicki in an January 6, 2017 email to unspecified recipients. Johnson wants to know the members of the "sensitive matter team" who were aware of the phony dossier used to spy on candidate Trump. E-mails Show FBI Brass Discussed Dossier Briefing Details With CNN. Newly revealed e-mails show that former Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) deputy director Andrew McCabe was keenly aware of CNN's internal understanding of a secret briefing about the infamous Steele dossier, days before CNN published any stories on the matter. The e-mails, which were obtained by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), also reveal that top officials used coded language to refer to the salacious and unverified allegations made by Steele. Former FBI director James Comey briefed then-President-Elect Donald Trump on January 6, 2017, on at least one unproven allegation contained in Steele's dossier, which was jointly funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. CNN broke the story about the dossier briefing on January 10, 2017, touching off a firestorm of hysteria that culminated in not just the firing of Comey by Trump, but the eventual appointment of Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Robert Mueller. Stormy Daniels' crowdfunding raises transparency questions. Stormy Daniels has raised nearly a half-million dollars to fund her lawsuit against President Donald Trump, relying on contributions from a crowdfunding site. Her lawyer has repeatedly pointed to the public site as evidence that he and his client aren't bankrolled by Trump's political foes. But the truth is, no one knows precisely who is funding the effort. Second Russia Dossier: The Author Hired and Directed by Clinton. It's been rumored to exist, but with the FBI and Democrats circling the wagons to protect themselves they have all but shut down access to it. Now we have information about a second Russia dossier — this one authored by Cody Shearer. The memo is on its way from Representative David Nunes (Rep-CA), the chairman of the House intelligence committee — that's really the only way we have been able to confirm the document even exists is because of Republicans on this committee. As they did with the Steele Dossier, Democrats and the FBI are doing everything they can to stop Nunes from revealing the inner workings of his committee. This second memo by Nunes is said to reveal how the House intelligence committee has expanded its focus to purported abuses by John Kerry's State Department and a second Trump-Russia dossier. Mueller Told Trump Legal Team the President Cannot Be Indicted. [Scroll down] In July of 2016, the FBI began its counterintelligence investigation into the matter. This probe cited the Trump dossier, a piece of partisan campaign literature compiled by former MI6 spook Christopher Steele, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democrats. The Clinton camp contracted Fusion GPS, who then hired Steele to dig up dirt on Trump. The Left was bracing for collusion to be confirmed. They wanted all the nastiness to come out in order to stop Trump. The Resistance waited in eager anticipation of something devastating, something impeachable to drop. Nothing ever did. It was an endless string of nothing burgers. Now, we're being told that Special Counsel Robert Meuller, who took over the investigation in May, told the president's legal team that Trump cannot be indicted; citing a DOJ memo that stated it would be an unconstitutional act, preventing the executive from efficiently carrying out its duties. Two Colleagues Contradict Brennan's Denial of Reliance on Dossier. Former CIA Director John Brennan's insistence that the salacious and unverified Steele dossier was not part of the official Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 election is being contradicted by two top former officials. Recently retired National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers stated in a classified letter to Congress that the Clinton campaign-funded memos did factor into the ICA. And James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence under President Obama, conceded in a recent CNN interview that the assessment was based on "some of the substantive content of the dossier." Without elaborating, he maintained that "we were able to corroborate" certain allegations. State of the Resistance. [Scroll down] As we wait hopefully for such a moment, I declare the opening front-runners for next year's Pulitzer Prizes: Tucker Carlson, Mollie Hemingway, and Mark Penn. The first three have declared cogently and forcefully that Comey's briefing of the president-elect on the Steele dossier was a "set-up," so that Clapper, the director of the National Intelligence Agency, could leak it to CNN (his future employer), lie to Congress about it as he had about other things, and smear the incoming president with all the spurious defamations that Comey had himself told Trump were "salacious and unverifiable." Collusion, Anyone? [Scroll down] Contrast that with the collusion of Obama officials with the Clinton campaign-financed Christophe Steele/Fusion GPS dossier alleging Trump ties with Russians. Comey and the Justice Department used it, without divulging who paid for it, to get a FISA warrant to surveil former Trump campaign operative Carter Page's future and past communications — the "wiretap" Trump was derided for mentioning. Similarly, when Comey informed Trump in January 2017 of the contents of the then-unpublished Steele dossier, he didn't reveal that the Clinton campaign had paid for it. Asked on his iatrogenic book tour why not, he blandly said he didn't know. And maybe he doesn't actually realize he was employing J. Edgar Hoover-like tactics to keep his job. Maybe. In any case, after he was fired, he immediately sent four of his internal memos, at least one of them classified, to a law professor friend to leak them to the press, with the intent of getting a special counsel appointed — who turned out to be his longtime friend and ally Robert Mueller. Unpacking the Other Clinton-Linked Russia Dossier. A copy of the little-publicized second dossier in the Trump-Russia affair, acquired by RealClearInvestigations, raises new questions about the origins of the Trump investigation, particularly about the role of Clinton partisans and the extent to which the two dossiers may have been coordinated or complementary operations. The second dossier — two reports compiled by Cody Shearer, an ex-journalist and longtime Clinton operative — echoes many of the lurid and still unsubstantiated claims made in the Steele dossier, and is receiving new scrutiny. Over the weekend, Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a TV interview that his panel is shifting its focus concerning the genesis of the Russia investigation from the FBI to the State Department. This probe will include the Shearer dossier. Comey Debunks Steele Dossier. [Scroll down] This is also interesting. The FBI had already used the dossier to justify spying on Trump associates and it would seem odd that the FBI would use a document for something so significant, using the full force of the government to spy on an American citizen, without trying to verify everything in the file. After all, if there was clear proof that parts of the dossier were lies, more evidence would be required to prove that other parts, like the ones used in the FISA warrant application, were correct. This is just speculation, but was Comey really saying that, given the personalities involved, if the FBI attempted to verify the charges, there would be leaks designed to cast Trump in a bad light? If not, why shouldn't the FBI investigate all parts of a document that they used to get an authorization to spy on an American citizen? Was The Mueller "Investigation" Actually Created By The Russians? It's Starting To Look That Way. There's mounting evidence to suggest the near-entirety of the Robert Mueller investigation is actually a perfectly executed Russian government chaos operation that would never have been possible without the help of current leaders in Congress and multiple members of the former Obama administration. Scandal Questions Never Asked, Much Less Answered. Had Hillary Clinton won the election, would we now even know of a Fusion GPS dossier? Would assorted miscreants such as Andrew McCabe, Bruce Ohr, Lisa Page, Glenn Simpson, Christopher Steele, or Peter Strzok now be under a cloud of suspicion? Or would they instead have been quietly lionized by a President Clinton grateful for noble services in the shadows rendered during the campaign? Trump Rips Mueller Investigation. He's Right. As we and many others have pointed out many times, there is no proper predicate for Mueller's purported investigation. There was never a crime in the first place. Mueller was improperly given a general mandate to poke around and see if he could find someone to indict, for anything, or worse yet, trick someone into committing an indictable offense. The Mueller investigation is a final insult to the rule of law that was bequeathed to us, in effect, by the outgoing, corrupt Obama administration. Press failed to prepare us for this. Michael Horowitz, the inspector general that Obama blew off as irrelevant, has the goods on these people. They spied on Trump. They destroyed incriminating evidence against Hillary. They did what[ever] they pleased without any respect to the law or tradition. Now they have tried cover their tracks with this Fake Russian dossier. Nine Major Problems with James Comey's Involvement with the Trump Hoax Dossier. [Scroll down] Contrary to the rebuttal's characterization, this paragraph is a far cry from informing the court that the dossier utilized in the FISA warrant was paid for by Trump's primary political opponents, namely Clinton and the DNC. Also, the general mention of "a U.S.-based law firm" does not identify to the FISA court the actual firm, Perkins Coie, which is known for its representation of Clinton and the DNC. Further, informing the FISA court about "an identified U.S. person" who hired Steele fails to actually identify that U.S. person as Glenn Simpson, founder of the controversial Fusion GPS. Peter Strzok Had Personal Relationship With Recused Judge In Michael Flynn Case. Newly discovered text messages obtained by The Federalist reveal two key federal law enforcement officials conspired to meet with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) judge who presided over the federal case against Michael Flynn. The judge, Rudolph Contreras, was recused from handling the case just days after accepting the guilty plea of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser who was charged with making false statements to federal investigators. Obama aide started Christopher Steele-FBI alliance. A senior Obama State Department official gave the green light to an FBI agent in 2016 to meet with dossier writer Christopher Steele, a new book says. The two met at Mr. Steele's London office, touching off a relationship that would fuel the ongoing investigation into possible Donald Trump-Russia election collusion that shows no sign of ending. Mr. Steele's sensational charge that prompted an FBI wiretap on Trump volunteer Carter Page was sourced to the girlfriend of an unidentified Kremlin figure, according to the book. Republicans have roundly criticized the bureau for relying on the unverified, Democratic Party-financed dossier to ask a judge to approve a year of surveillance in 2016 and 2017. Book Provides New Details About Major Steele Dossier Source. During the 2016 presidential campaign, the founder of the opposition research firm behind the Steele dossier tipped a major news network off to Sergei Millian, a Belarus-born businessman who has been identified as a source for the salacious claims made in the dossier. Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, provided the tip to ABC News despite having doubts about the veracity of Millian's claims about President Donald Trump. It's Time For Mueller To Come Clean: Is There Any Evidence Of Trump-Russia Collusion Or Not? A House Intelligence Committee report says investigators found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to meddle in the presidential election. It's time for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to say whether he's found anything, either. Back Channel To Christopher Steele Goes On The Record About Senate Testimony. An American lawyer who served as a back channel between dossier author Christopher Steele and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner is opening up about explosive testimony he gave to a Senate committee late last year. Adam Waldman said that during an appearance before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) on Nov. 3, he relayed information about possible links between billionaire activist George Soros and Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that commissioned the dossier. Waldman said he received the information in a March 16 meeting he had with Daniel J. Jones, a consultant and former staffer to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. 14 Month Investigation Concludes There Was No Trump-Russia "Collusion". The Russians figured Hillary Clinton would win the election — and preferred her by all accounts, given her willingness to sell out American interests to the highest bidder (Exhibits A and B being the the China-Loral missile deal and Uranium One, respectivey). Their only interest was in sowing discord, which — thanks to the #TheResistance, Hollywood, and the rest of the National Social Democrat Party — they did. In fact, the only evidence of collusion with Russia we have seen this far implicates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the rest of the Democrat-Media Complex. House Republicans end Russia probe in Trump's favor, breaking with U.S. intelligence and enraging Democrats. Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee abruptly ended their investigation into Russian election meddling on Monday [3/12/2018] because they fdclaim there's no evidence that the Kremlin tried to get Donald Trump elected, breaking with the U.S. intelligence community's unanimous conclusion. Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.), who oversees the House probe, also charged that his committee has found no proof that Trump's campaign colluded with the Russian government, even as special counsel Robert Mueller is expanding his investigation and actively pursues criminal charges against at least four associates of the President. Documents Link Putin's 'Favorite' Oligarch and Obama Official Who Aided Author of Anti-Trump Dossier. Jonathan M. Winer, the Obama State Department official who acknowledged regularly interfacing and exchanging information with the author of the largely discredited 35-page anti-Trump dossier, signed disclosure forms for his former firm to represent a Russian billionaire known as Russian President Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarch. The detail, being brought to light herein, may raise immediate questions about the origins of the dossier. The oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, had a reported business dispute with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, is closely tied to Putin and has long been viewed as pushing Russian national interests. House Intelligence Committee Concludes: No Collusion. The House Intelligence Committee has completed its investigation into Russia's activities in connection with the 2016 election and released, this afternoon, a one-page summary of its findings. A full report will follow in a few weeks. Byron York reports that the committee's main conclusion is that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians. House Intel releases verdict in Russia probe: No collusion. The House Intelligence Committee has released findings from its upcoming report on the Trump-Russia affair — and its main conclusion is that it has discovered no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. "We have found no evidence of collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians," the committee said in a one-page summary of its findings released Monday afternoon [3/12/2018]. In addition, the committee took issue with the intelligence community assessment of Russian motivations in the 2016 election. George Soros, liberal megadonor, is bankrolling Fusion GPS, claims Russian billionaire. A Russian billionaire writes that George Soros, a major financier of liberal causes, is funding Fusion GPS, the firm that orchestrated the Christopher Steele dossier. If true, it is possible that Fusion GPS's ongoing anti-Trump investigations have not only been funded by the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton campaign, but also by currency trader Soros. He recently pledged $18 billion to a cast of liberal groups and causes. Chairman Nunes Reveals Fusion GPS Connection to Obama White House. In December last year we learned about Nellie Ohr working for Fusion GPS and channeling Clinton/Steele 'dossier' information to her husband Bruce Ohr who worked in the DOJ National Security Division. Today [3/10/2018] Fox News is revealing that Fusion-GPS #2 man-in-charge, Neil King Jr., was/is married to President Obama's White House Policy Adviser, Shailagh Murray; who was also Joe Biden's Deputy-Chief-of-Staff. House Republicans expand dossier probe, seek info from Obama officials. House Republicans are expanding their investigation of the Trump dossier, seeking answers from Obama administration officials including a former staffer for Vice President Joe Biden whose husband works for the firm behind the controversial document, Fox News has learned. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Fox News that Shailagh Murray, who was Biden's former deputy chief of staff and communications director before serving as a senior adviser to President Obama, will be sent a questionnaire Friday [3/9/2018]. Firm Behind Dirty Dossier Linked Directly to Senior Obama Adviser. Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence are seeking information about the Steele dossier from a former Obama administration official who is married to an employee of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that commissioned the dossier. The committee, chaired by GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of California, issued questionnaires Friday to around a dozen former President Barack Obama's administration officials. The Daily Caller News Foundation is told that one of the letters was sent to Shailagh Murray, a former journalist who served as senior adviser to Obama and as former Vice President Joe Biden's deputy chief of staff. Ex-British Spy Knew Who Funded Dossier; FBI Told Secret Court Something Different. Former British spy Christopher Steele was informed months after accepting the job to compile a dossier on then-candidate Donald J. Trump that the Hillary Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee were paying the bills but that's not what the FBI told the secret FISA court when it sought a warrant to spy on one of Trump's campaign volunteers. This bit of explosive information was revealed in an expose on Steele by The New Yorker's Jane Mayer but the implications for the FBI are profound. Why? Because the bureau explicitly stated in its Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Application to the secret court that Steele was unaware of who backed Fusion GPS, the firm which hired him, for the research. Steele, however, claimed in the expose titled Christopher Steele, The Man Behind the Trump Dossier that he did know who was paying his bill. House Intelligence Committee Investigation Turns to John Kerry, State Department. The House Select Committee on Intelligence is now investigating former Secretary of State John F. Kerry's possible role into the unverified dossier paid for by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton Campaign, this reporter has learned. [...] For more than a month, the committee has been in its second phase of investigations focused on former Obama State Department officials and their role in either transmitting information or using information provided by a former British spy and investigator Christopher Steele. Steele was hired by embattled research firm Fusion GPS, also under several congressional and Senate investigations. But it was in February when questions surfaced regarding Kerry's possible involvement or knowledge of the dossier. DOJ Is Sued For Records Of Official Linked To Dossier. The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch is suing the Department of Justice for records regarding Bruce Ohr, the recently-demoted DOJ official who met with dossier author Christopher Steele prior to the 2016 election. Judicial Watch seeks records of Ohr's contacts with Steele as well as with employees of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that commissioned the dossier. Fusion worked during the presidential campaign for the Clinton campaign and DNC. Ohr's links to Steele and Fusion GPS are one of the strangest wrinkles in the saga over the salacious and unverified dossier. Devin Nunes Drops A MOAB On The Russia Investigation, Claims There Is Evidence Of Collusion. Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California shared some startling news about the Russia investigation Saturday, claiming there was clear evidence of collusion on Fox News' "Cavuto Live." Nunes said he welcomes more investigators to look into Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court abuses and said he is glad the Inspector General is getting involved. "We have a media that pretty much refuses to cover this issue at all. We have serious abuses that occurred in the FISA court against the Trump campaign," Nunes said. "We continue to get facts. We will bring those facts forward as we see them." Schiff Concedes There Is Still No Proof Of Trump-Russia Collusion. Rep. Adam Schiff conceded Thursday [3/1/2018] there is still no evidence President Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia to win the election, and made a point of distancing himself from any charges of treason against the president. Schiff has been driving the Trump-Russia collusion narrative on behalf of his party for months from his seat on the House Intelligence Committee, claiming recently he has seen "more than circumstantial" evidence of collusion. But he offered nothing substantial to back up his claim when pressed on "The View" to get specific, and acknowledged hard proof of collusion may never materialize, even after an intensive and months-long investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Mexicollusion. The Schiff memo emerged at last on Saturday [2/24/2018] and President Trump called it a "total political and legal bust." That charge was "ridiculous," David French of National Review told Fox News, urging former FBI boss Robert Mueller to dig deeper and wider. While Democrats also support Mueller's probe, they have been working three shifts to curtail the real investigation of 2016 election interference. President Trump estimated that three to five million illegals had caused him to lose the popular vote, which Hillary Clinton carried by 2.8 million votes. Could any of those votes have been fraudulent? After all, actual illegal voters would be more influential than any string of Facebook ads. Trump duly launched the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity headed by vice president Mike Pence and Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach. Trouble was, Democrats such as California's secretary of state Alex Padilla locked up the data. Russia Scandal: Dem 'Rebuttal' Memo Backfires, Confirms Abuses In Trump Probe. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., promised that a memo drafted by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee would refute charges raised in an earlier Republican memo about FBI and DOJ abuses in the Trump/Russia investigation. Instead, the Democrats' memo ended up confirming several key accusations. Worse Than Watergate: Part 3 — The Schiff Memo. On Saturday [2/24/2018], Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released his memorandum in an attempt to rebut the Republican memorandum that HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) released on February 2. As I wrote on February 5, the Nunes memo describes the FBI's and the Department of Justice's abuses of their law enforcement powers to spy on the Trump campaign and its advisors during and after the 2016 election. The Schiff memo is cleverly written, making several assertions by which it attempts to confuse and misinform on the issues. It flails and fails in Schiff's effort to discredit the principal findings of the Nunes memo. The Democrats' Deeply Deceptive Memo. The Democrats' deeply dishonest rebuttal to the congressional report on the Obama administration's abuses of surveillance authority came out on the weekend as the House intel chief seemed to threaten to abolish the secret court that granted the abusive requests. There is "clear evidence" that Democrats are trying to cover up their involvement in a massive plot to undermine the electoral process and that they colluded with parts of the government, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said mid-afternoon Saturday [2/24/2018] from the main stage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington, D.C. "We're not going to have the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court] much longer if the [Justice Department] and FBI continue to obfuscate like that." The Schiff Memo Harms Democrats More Than It Helps Them. Maybe Adam Schiff has more of a sense of humor than I'd have given him credit for. The House Intelligence Committee's ranking Democrat begins his long-awaited memo — the minority response to the Nunes memo that was penned by staffers of the committee's Republican majority — by slamming Chairman Devin Nunes's unconscionable "risk of public exposure of sensitive sources and methods for no legitimate purpose." The Schiff memo, which has been delayed for weeks because the FBI objected to its gratuitous effort to publicize highly classified intelligence, including methods and sources, then proceeds to tell its tale through what appear to be scores of blacked-out redactions of information Schiff pushed to expose. Assessing the new Democratic intel memo. In sum, it appears that of the four bullet points listed by Democrats to support the most important assertion in their memo, three would not be sufficient to win a warrant on Page, and the fourth is — yes — the unconfirmed allegations in the dossier. Democrats say the FISA warrant application made just "narrow" use of the dossier, while Republicans say the application made extensive use of the dossier. (And not just Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, but also the Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducted a separate investigation and concluded the dossier's allegations made up "the bulk" of the application.) We won't know who is right definitively until the application is released to the public, but it seems hard to believe a warrant would have been approved absent the dossier's allegations. Adam Schiff Admits To December 2017 Leak of False Information During Intelligence Committee Hearing. Let's see if any MSM realize the importance of this little admission. Nunes: Dem Memo Doesn't Prove Anything, Counter-Memo Supports Concerns Of FISA Abuses. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee doesn't think Democrats really wanted their counter-memo to be made public, saying it only bolsters the GOP's argument. On Sunday [2/25/2018], Congressman Devin Nunes said the memo doesn't answer key questions like why the court wasn't notified the Clinton campaign and Democrats paid for the dossier. Democrats released a redacted memo on Saturday in response to the Republican-drafted memo, alleging FISA abuses by the FBI and DOJ used to spy on former Trump campaign aid Carter Page. What The Democrats Left Out Of Their Memo. The Democratic memo omitted several key points. The Democratic memo ignored Republicans' contention that former FBI Deputy Director Andy McCabe testified in December that the FISA warrant would not have been sought without the infamous dossier, which was commissioned by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). McCabe's testimony was a key point in the Republican memo. Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell claimed earlier this month that Republicans had mischaracterized McCabe's testimony. However, Democrats declined to directly refute that claim in their own memo. Is 'Collusion with Russia' Over? As President Trump's champions emphasize, what is most notable about this array of allegations is an omission: Nowhere has the special counsel charged any kind of criminal collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Of course, "collusion with Russia" was the suspicion — or, skeptics would counter, the carefully crafted political narrative — that launched the Mueller investigation. So has the collusion theory been abandoned? Chairman Devin Nunes and HPSCI Rebuttal to Points Within Adam Schiff Minority Memo. The majority members of the House Intelligence Committee present a point-and-counterpoint rebuttal to the construct of the HPSCI minority memo. Adam Schiff's big nothingburger. What we are seeing here is a weak rebuttal to the carefully investigated and verified facts of the Republican memo, created by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, which really did shift the Beltway on its axis. Nunes established that unmaskings had occurred way above the scope of the narrow legal exception; that the Steele dossier was the knowingly false basis of the FBI to seek a FISA warrant to spy on Trump, through Carter Page, and the safeguards to Americans from America's spy agencies were appallingly violated, by both the judge and the federal investigators, who incidently, were rabidly anti-Trump in their little lovebird text exchanges. What is the Democrats' rebuttal to Nunes' memo? 5 things to know about the document. The House Intelligence Committee on Saturday officially released the Democratic rebuttal to the controversial GOP memo that purported to show improper use of surveillance by the FBI and Justice Department during the 2016 presidential campaign. The news comes after the White House told Democratic lawmakers on Feb. 9 to revise their rebuttal memo regarding the Russia investigation, saying that the document required certain redactions before it can be made public. Earlier this month, Trump made public a memo written by Republicans on the committee that detailed alleged surveillance abuses by the FBI and the Justice Department in its probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump stirred controversy with his assertion that the memo "totally vindicates" him of any wrongdoing. House Intelligence Committee releases Dem rebuttal to GOP FISA memo. The Democratic memo was voted out of committee earlier this month but was ordered to be redrafted after the White House demanded that sensitive information be stripped out before the document be made public. The Justice Department and FBI claimed the initial draft would reveal information about sources and methods, ongoing investigations, and other sensitive information. Democrats used the memo to counter claims in the GOP memo released this month that the FBI and DOJ relied on a Democrat-funded anti-Trump dossier to ask the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a warrant to monitor Trump adviser Carter Page. Deconstructing The Schiff Memo: From the First Bullet, a Litany of Lies and Disinformation. The ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), one Adam Schiff, has released a rebuttal to the majority's 4-page memo on surveillance abuses by the Obama DOJ and FBI. Schiff's 10-page memo is redacted in a few sections — likely an intentional disclosure of sources and methods that required some redactions — but the underlying message is clear. The abuse of FISA surveillance was legit, above board, nothing to see here, move along, peons. But, thanks to the Timeline of Treason, we can easily find the contradictions, fabrications, and propaganda woven throughout the Schiff document. Let's start with the very first bullet: [...] Chairman Nunes CRUSHES Schiff's Memo With Point by Point Refutation. On Saturday, Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee released their rebuttal to the Nunes memo. The counter-memo claims "FBI and DOJ officials did not 'abuse' the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign." [...] House Intel Committee Chairman Nunes responded to the Dem spin memo on Saturday [2/24/2018] in an official statement. Yet another way Obama's spies apparently exploited the Trump 'dossier'. The much-hyped Obama intelligence report that determined "Vladimir Putin ordered" Hillary Clinton's campaign emails hacked and leaked "to help Trump's chances of victory" has been accepted as gospel among DC punditry and given the investigations besieging the Trump presidency their legs. To date, no evidence has publicly emerged to corroborate the report, and the reason may have a lot to do with that sketchy dossier bought and paid for by Clinton. Suspiciously, Barack Obama's Intelligence Community Assessment matches the main allegations leveled by the Clinton-paid dossier on Trump, which wormed its way into intelligence channels, in addition to the FBI, Justice Department and State Department, during the 2016 campaign. In fact, the shady dossier makes exactly the same claim — that Putin personally "ordered" the cyberattacks on the Clinton campaign and leaked embarrassing emails to "bolster Trump," as part of "an aggressive Trump support operation." Like Obama's ICA, Clinton's dossier provides no concrete evidence to back up the claim. House Intelligence Committee Staff Begin Reviewing Political Construct of IC Joint Analysis Report. Ever since the sketchy "Russian Malicious Cyber Activity — Joint Analysis Report" was originally released late December 2016 we identified the construct as a mostly political intelligence document which seemed to be created to justify a Russian narrative. As time went on, and as the Clinton-Steele dossier was revealed, the 17 agency Intelligence Community Assessment (another name for the JAR) grew even weaker. In late October 2017 former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper admitted the Clinton-Steele dossier was part of the Joint Analysis Report. Eventually, our research indicated the dossier and the intelligence report were likely the underlying evidence behind the FISA Title-1 application for surveillance on Carter Page and by extension the Trump campaign. Well, our independent suspicions appears to be exactly what House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes is currently investigating. McCain aide took the Fifth Amendment on role in Steele Dossier. More threads are unraveling in what may be the biggest political scandal in history: the use of intelligence agencies to spy on a rival-party presidential campaign and then unseat a duly elected president. The blowback from the Steele dossier, the multi-million-dollar operation of the Hillary campaign and the DNC, may reach all the way to Trump-haters in the GOP. The Steele dossier scandal's tentacles are reaching all the way to Trumpophobic John McCain, via a close associate of his. The longtime aide to Senator McCain who flew to England to get a copy of the Steele dossier and speed it along to the FBI in 2016 has clammed up and asserted his right to avoid self-incrimination. Mueller Still Relying on Discredited Steele Dossier. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is continuing to use a controversial 35-page dossier financed by the Democratic National Committee and the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign as a "road map" for investigative leads, sources familiar with his investigation say. Mueller's team has also used information gleaned from surveillance court-approved wiretaps on former Trump adviser Carter Page that were secured by citing material in the dossier, the sources say. And a detail previously reported last fall — that Mueller's investigators traveled overseas last year to debrief the dossier's London-based author, Christopher Steele, a former British spy — takes on a new cast with the disclosure this month that FBI agents abruptly stopped using Steele as an informant in late 2016 after concluding that he had lied to them. Clinton Political Mischief Emerges as Key Tale In an Astounding Drama. It is both dismal and amusing to see the rationalizations of the diehard Kremlin collusionists after Robert Mueller's spurious indictment of the 13 Russians who will never encounter the vagaries of United States justice. The charge of conspiring against the United States is nonsense, and the whole ambiance of the investigation now is that of a phantom consolation prize for the absence of a crime, a victim, or a culprit, all amplified by the hollow sanctimony of an official America that has meddled countless times in the elections of other countries (usually for the general good of the Western alliance). The desperation of the Trump impeachers is piquant: This indictment doesn't cover hacking — where might that lead? And the fact that Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein said, "This indictment refers to no Americans," and that it contains no allegation of affecting the election result or of collusion by Americans, may mean that perhaps another indictment will. Nellie Ohr: Woman in the Middle. To one side of Ohr, there is the Fusion GPS team, including fellow contractor Christopher Steele. To the other, there is husband Bruce Ohr, who, until his "dossier"-related demotion, was No. 4 man at the Department of Justice, and a key contact there for Steele. As central as Nellie Ohr's placement is, her role in the creation of the "dossier" remains undefined. [...] Still, relevant facts have emerged. These include Nellie Ohr's study in the USSR in 1989; her fluency in Russian and Ph.D. in Russian history in 1990; a 2010 CIA affiliation, which practically makes her former MI6 agent Steele's "opposite number"; and the extremely curious detail, harkening back to earlier eras of spycraft, that on May 23, 2016, around the time she came on board Fusion GPS, Nellie Ohr applied for a ham radio operator's license. Notably, the "dossier" men in her life have tried to shield Ohr from public scrutiny, even at professional risk. Make the Deep State Pay — It's the Only Way. There is precious little, if not nothing, that average citizens can do to act against the Deep State actors who have foisted the staggeringly disgraceful Russiagate witch-and-scavenger hunt upon the American people. However, the Democratic Party, and concomitantly, the Leftist "mainstream" media, can and must be made to pay. The ballot box is the only way to deliver the payback. Obviously, I'm not addressing the undeniable aspect of Russian interference. Who didn't know that? I'm talking about delivering a sound ideological and electoral shellacking to every politician, every unhinged Leftist comedian, and every newsmedia personality that has hung a partisan hat on the ridiculous notion that Mr. Trump colluded with Vladimir Putin to circumvent Hillary Clinton's election and secure the Oval Office. Devin Nunes Submits Questions To Obama Officials About Clinton-Steele Dossier. You might remember from a recent interview with HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes how the Chairman was appreciative of State Department Jonathan Winer's op-ed in the Washington Post regarding his role in promoting the Clinton-Steele Dossier... Well, today Chairman Nunes follows that trail and submits a letter to several members of the Obama administration inquiring as to their participation and knowledge. The chairman has sent a series of questions about the sketchy Clinton-Steele dossier on Donald Trump to a number of current and former government officials. Unfortunately, the committee letter does not specify to whom Nunes sent the questions, however according to Byron York there are more than 20 recipients. Still Lacking Evidence Of Collusion, Democrats Move The Goalposts. Lacking any evidence of collusion between President Trump and the Russian operatives who meddled in the 2016 campaign, Democrats are now attempting to re-define "collusion" in order to declare Trump guilty of it. When Democrats first raised the collusion accusations after the election, they suggested that the Trump campaign had been in direct cahoots with the Russian hackers who stole emails from Clinton campaign chair John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee, before later distributing them to WikiLeaks. "It's very much unknown whether there was collusion," Podesta said in December 2016, referring to Russia's hacking of the emails. That same month, then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid claimed to have "no doubt" that the Trump campaign was involved with the Russian hacking efforts during the campaign. Nunes Wants Answers From Ex-Obama Officials: When Did You Learn Dossier Was Paid for by Democrats? House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told Fox News on Tuesday that he has "ten simple questions" to ask Obama administration official relating to the Steele dossier, a salacious and unsubstantiated opposition research document paid for by the Democrat Party and the Clinton campaign. "We sent out a questionnaire today," Nunes told Fox News's Tucker Carlson Tuesday night. "And we're asking several former and current officials to answer ten simple questions. "And these are questions that the public not only should know and have a right to know, but I think they want to know — and that is, simple questions like, when did you learn about the dossier? When did you learn that it was paid for by the Democrats? When did you learn that this was a political piece? House Republicans launch 'Phase 2' of Trump dossier probe. House Intelligence Committee Republicans have launched "Phase 2" of their probe into the origins of the unverified anti-Trump dossier, firing off an inquiry to a host of current and former officials — including former FBI Director James Comey. In a letter obtained by Fox News, committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., posed a string of dossier-related questions to current and former intelligence, law enforcement and State Department officials. He specifically wants to know when they learned the document was funded by Democratic sources, and how it was used to obtain one or more surveillance warrants at the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. In the Feb. 20-dated letter, Nunes even threatened to issue subpoenas. Is A Former Feinstein Staffer Running Fusion GPS's Post-Election Steele Dossier Operation? New evidence suggests that a former top staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) may be directing the post-election efforts of Fusion GPS, a Democrat-linked political opposition research firm, to vindicate a series of memos alleging illegal collusion between the Donald Trump campaign and Russian officials. Congressional documents and recently leaked texts between Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and a registered foreign agent for a Russian aluminum oligarch indicate that Daniel J. Jones is intimately involved with ongoing efforts to retroactively validate a series of salacious and unverified memos produced by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent, and Fusion GPS. The dossier, which declassified documents show was used as a basis for securing secret wiretaps on Trump campaign affiliates, was reportedly jointly funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Secret surveillance court puts pressure on DOJ over Carter Page warrant records. The head of a top secret surveillance court, in an unusual letter to GOP lawmakers, seemed to put pressure on the Justice Department to consider releasing documents related to the 2016 surveillance warrant granted against a Trump campaign aide. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) was responding to requests from the House Intelligence and House Judiciary committees for transcripts of hearings and other documents related to the applications to spy on Trump aide Carter Page. Nunes Memo Details Weaponization of FISA Court for Political Advantage. On Friday [2/2/2018], the much anticipated "Nunes Memo" was finally released to the general public. Disobedient Media previously reported on the push to prevent the memo from being released. While there is much contained in the four pages, the most glaring issue contained in the memo is the FBI's willful concealment of pertinent details of which they were required by law to turn over to the FISA court when seeking the initial surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former volunteer foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign. Federal Judge Deals Heavy Blow To Fusion GPS In Dossier-Related Lawsuit. A Trump-appointed federal judge said Friday that he will not recuse himself from a lawsuit related to the Steele dossier. Trevor McFadden, a judge in Washington, D.C., issued the ruling in response to a recusal request submitted last month by Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that commissioned the dossier. Fusion sought McFadden's recusal as part of an attempt to avoid complying with a subpoena issued by a Russian businessman who is suing BuzzFeed News for publishing the unverified dossier. The businessman, Aleksej Gubarev, seeks depositions and documents from Fusion GPS as part of the lawsuit. Sharyl Attkisson Interviews Devin Nunes. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Devin Nunes sat down for an interview with Sharyl Attkisson for Full Measure News. They discussed the HPSCI Russia probe, the FISA Court abuse and the ongoing investigative reviews of corruption within the DOJ and FBI. CIA Argues The Public Can't See Classified Information It Has Already Given To Favored Reporters. Intelligence officials can selectively release classified information to trusted journalists while withholding the same information from other citizens who request it through open records laws, CIA lawyers argued Wednesday [2/14/2018]. In a motion filed in New York federal court, the CIA claimed that limited disclosures to reporters do not waive national security exemptions to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies frequently deny records requests on the basis of protecting sensitive national security information, one of nine exemptions written into the federal FOIA law. What Democrats' bleatings about "national security" are really hiding. Before the Nunes memo was released, Democrats, the media and its intelligence sources insisted that it would undermine national security, reveal tradecraft secrets and even get agents killed. Senator Cory Booker warned that it might be treasonously "endangering fellow Americans in the intelligence community." It was, but not in the way that he meant. The memo didn't have anything resembling classified information it. Neither did the Grassley-Graham criminal referral which was heavily redacted to screen out all the "classified information." What did the classified information consist of? The Grassley-Graham criminal referral went through two FBI redactions. Julie Kelly at American Greatness compared the two versions to see what was hidden. DNC Refused To Comply With Dossier-Related Subpoena, So BuzzFeed Sued. BuzzFeed News sued the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Tuesday [2/13/2018] to force the release of information that the news outlet hopes will help it defend against a lawsuit related to the Steele dossier. BuzzFeed is seeking digital information that could shed light on the cyber attacks against the DNC during the presidential campaign. The news outlet faces three separate lawsuits related to its publication of the dossier, which was written by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by the Clinton campaign and DNC. Where is Adam Schiff's Memo? According to ranking member Adam Schiff his declassification request was critically important, immediately necessary, vital to the larger understanding, intensely important to get released, etc. Well, where is it? Schiff: We're not going to revise Democratic memo. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday night that members of his party won't revise their countermemo, despite requests from the White House to do so. "We're not going to make any revisions to it. The only question is what redactions will be made. And obviously we'd like to keep those to a minimum," Schiff told reporters. "The White House has a different interest. I think their interest is in redacting anything that doesn't reflect well on the White House," Schiff added. Ex-Prosecutor Reveals Real Reason Schiff Memo Blocked: People at FBI & DOJ Are Under "Criminal Investigation". The Trump administration announced last week that they would not release the Schiff memo unless national security and law enforcement concerns were met. [...] Does this mean Rosenstein, McCabe and Comey are under criminal investigation? On January 29th Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA) dropped a bombshell in a press conference. Schiff revealed House Intel Committee Republicans opened an investigation into the DOJ and FBI. Former Officials Give Conflicting Accounts of Kerry State Dept's Handling of Trump Hoax Dossier. Seeming discrepancies between the claims of two former officials in John Kerry's State Department about actions taken involving the infamous, 35-page largely discredited anti-Trump dossier raise immediate questions about the State Department's possible role in the sordid affair. The dossier, which contains wild and unproven claims about Trump's campaign and Russia, was authored by ex-British spy Christopher Steele on behalf of the controversial Fusion GPS firm and was paid for by Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Did Devin Nunes obstruct justice? What a dangerous question to ask. For a year, some of us have questioned calls for the prosecution of President Trump for obstruction of justice. Every ill-conceived statement or tweet by Trump is proclaimed as "smoking gun" evidence of this seemingly catch-all crime. As the "resistance" to Trump grew, so did the expansion of the interpretation of the crime. It became increasingly more difficult to determine what is not obstruction than what is a crime. Memo 'Reporting' Proves the American Media are Part of the Democrat Party. The massive failure that is the liberal media's reporting of Republican Devin Nunes' FISA memo is a crashing mess for helping inform the American people of the news, but it is helpful for proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the national "news" media is merely an adjunct of the Democrat Party and are not to be trusted on any level. Outside of Fox News, nearly every talking head on TV has been proclaiming the memo released last Friday to be a nothing burger and they made this pronouncement even before seeing it. This means their proclamations of being "right" that the memo was meaningless are not evidence of being correct, but evidence that they are merely celebrating their uninformed and previously decided conclusion. In other words, they say they are right just because they felt they were going to BE right, regardless of anything actually in the memo. The Liar's Paradox on Steroids. Susan Rice's Email Documents a Lie By James Comey. Former National Security Adviser and world-champion liar Susan Rice received a nice letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday. The subject was a rather strange email that Rice sent to herself at 12:15 p.m. on January 20, 2017. Minutes before Donald Trump took the oath of office she sent herself a most curious email. It demonstrates two things. First, that Barack Obama was giving instructions to members of his administration who were being held over on how to deal with the Trump administration. Second, that James Comey is a liar if we are to believe Susan Rice who is certified liar. If you'll recall, the Sunday following the Benghazi attack, by which time the Obama administration knew full well who was behind the attack, Susan Rice appeared on all five major Sunday shows and blamed a bogus YouTube video. Senator Chuck Grassley Questions Susan Rice About 'Unusual' Documentary Letter to Herself. [Scroll down] Senator Grassley is not asking questions he doesn't already know the answers to. Grassley and Nunes are now beginning to draw the upper part of the administration into the matrices of the conspiracy. Secretary of State John Kerry; CIA Director John Brennan; ODNI James Clapper; Attorney General Loretta Lynch; AAG Sally Yates; DAAG John P Carlin (DOJ-NSD), DAAG Mary McCord (DOJ-NSD); Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe and FBI Director James Comey are inherently wound-up in the larger plan. Chairman Grassley is simply expanding the net. All narrative collapses eventually lead to President Obama's involvement. Susan Rice's Strange Email: Note To Self, We Did Nothing Wrong. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham released an email by Susan Rice to Susan Rice that seemed odd in both its timing and content. Fifteen minutes after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States Susan Rice, who had just become the former National Security Adviser sent out her last email using her official White House email account. It was strange email, about a meeting fifteen days before regarding Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, whose attendees included Rice, the POTUS, the SCHMOTUS Joe Biden, former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates[.] The strange part of the email was that its purpose seemed to be to get on the record that the Obama administration did nothing wrong in the Russia investigation. She noted repeatedly how Obama emphasized during the meeting on Russian that he wanted every aspect of the issue handled "by the book." Susan Rice: Take a Memo to Susan Rice. Ah, some of the nearest and dearest names of the recently departed administration have the strangest habit of popping back into the news in the most peculiar ways. Like, in an email. Take Susan "Served With Honor and Distinction" Rice, former National Security Adviser to President Obama and proud public purveyor of memorable whoppers. She's back in the headlines again this afternoon because a crusty old Republican senator and his sidekick read the materials presented to their committee. When they did, they noticed something "unusual": [...] Like Rats from a Sinking Ship: Comey vs. Rice Edition. For your consideration, a letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee to one Susan "Benghazi" Rice. Perhaps this pathetic attempt was Rice's own form of an 'insurance policy'. Hmmm: Susan Rice Sent An Email To Herself On Inauguration Day Memorializing A Chat Between Obama And Comey On Russiagate. Note the date and time: January 20, 2017, 12:15 p.m. Trump had just been sworn in as president minutes before. Was Susan Rice commiserating with friends while he took the oath of office? Ruminating on the legacy of the Obama years? Planning her next career move? Texting angrily to someone about how much she hates Trump? Getting plastered? Nope, she was thinking about Russiagate, intently enough that she wanted to get something down on the record where she knew the National Archives would record it about a meeting that had been held more than two weeks before. In her final moments as a White House employee, this is what Susan Rice was focused on. Senators flag 'unusual' Susan Rice email on Russia probe from Inauguration Day. Ex-national security adviser Susan Rice sent an "unusual email" to herself the day President Trump was sworn into office documenting former President Barack Obama's guidance at a high-level meeting about how law enforcement should investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race, two Republican senators said Monday [2/12/2018]. According to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Lindsey Graham, the partially unclassified email was sent by Rice on Jan. 20, 2017 — and appears to document a Jan. 5 meeting that included Obama, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, then-Vice President Joe Biden and Rice. More about Susan Rice. Confessions Of A Congressional Staffer: Forget the Nunes Memo & Focus On Grassley-Graham. [Scroll down] I don't want to lose anyone in the weeds here but what the head of the FBI testified to before the Senate was that he basically took Carter Page at his word and ignored all of the other bias that was swirling around Page which would normally have made him someone clearly not worthy to be used as justification for making a FISA warrant request. There is really only one credible explanation for this — Carter Page was hired to create something that was used as justification to provide legal cover for what was a highly illegal surveillance program against the opposition candidate of a sitting President of the United States. James Comey attempted to explain this all away by basically saying, "We believed Carter Page because Carter Page assured us he was believable." And please don't forget that through all of this, James Comey and the other high-ranking FBI officials involved (some who still remain at the FBI) neglected to inform the FISA Court of the Clinton campaign's direct involvement in the Trump Dossier, Fusion GPS, etc. (The Clinton campaign was Fusion GPS's most important client at the time.) This deception links them all together in a vast collusion of conspiracy. From James Comey to John Kerry, to Hillary Clinton, to Barack Obama — they were all in on it. Every [last] one of them. Executive Branch Responds To Minority Legislative Branch Declassification Request. The minority members (Democrats) of the House Intelligence Committee, ie the legislative branch, submitted a 10-page memo for declassification by the executive branch. The comensurate process involves the National Security Council, Office of Legal Counsel and all executive agencies within the national security apparatus (CIA, NSA, ODNI, State Dept., DoD, FBI, DOJ) to review the request prior to declassification approval. Apparently the U.S. Department of Justice — National Security Division, and Federal Bureau of Investigation — Intelligence operations, do not approve of the current submission without redactions: [...] Grassley-Graham Memo Affirms Nunes Memo — Media Yawns. If a Republican administration had used unverifiable hearsay from a patently suspect agent of the Republican presidential candidate to gull the FISA court into granting a warrant to spy on an associate of the Democratic nominee's campaign, it would be covered as the greatest political scandal in a half-century. Instead, it was the other way around. The Grassley-Graham memo corroborates the claims in the Nunes memo: The Obama Justice Department and FBI used anonymously sourced, Clinton-campaign generated innuendo to convince the FISA court to issue surveillance warrants against Carter Page, and in doing so, they concealed the Clinton campaign's role. Trump orders revisions to Dems' FISA rebuttal memo, halting release. The White House on Friday told Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee to redraft their rebuttal to a controversial GOP memo alleging government surveillance abuse during the 2016 campaign, saying sensitive details need to be stripped out before the document can be made public. The message was sent to the committee Friday in a letter from White House Counsel Don McGahn. "Although the president is inclined to declassify the February 5th Memorandum, because the Memorandum contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages, he is unable to do so at this time," McGahn wrote. WSJ Columnist: Why is the Media Ignoring the Real Bombshell FISA Memo? Three possibilities: (1) The GOP hyped the Nunes memo, which quickly became the center of this whole firestorm — replete with counter-memos, FBI objections, etc. The press followed the spotlight. (2) As we've been saying, there are so many complex pieces of this larger puzzle, following the plot is difficult. It's not just news consumers wondering, "which memo is this now?" — it's many of the people trying to cover this drama, too. The document in question here is a second, less redacted, version of a Senate memo that few people have even heard of. (3) The Senate memo, produced by non-bomb-throwers Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham, is substantially more disruptive to the Democrats' narrative than the Nunes document. And the press generally prefers Democratic narratives to Republican ones because most journalists are liberals. Dems set Trump trap? Source says FISA rebuttal memo loaded with sensitive details. The Democratic rebuttal to a highly publicized GOP memo alleging government surveillance abuse is filled with sensitive details, a source told Fox News — claiming this was done intentionally to pressure the White House to either block the memo's release or significantly redact it. The claim comes after the House Intelligence Committee voted Monday to approve the release of the Democratic document. Scheming, speculation behind scenes as Democrats push intel memo. This time last week, there was growing tumult in Washington over the memo produced by House Intelligence Committee Republicans alleging "FISA abuse" in the Trump-Russia investigation. There were dire warnings that the release of the GOP memo would endanger national security, that doing so would be "extraordinarily reckless" without proper FBI and Justice Department review, and that the FBI had "grave concerns" about "material omissions of fact" that would "fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." The GOP memo survived a starkly partisan process in the Intelligence Committee. Republicans voted unanimously to make it public, while Democrats voted unanimously against making it public. It was released last Friday with President Trump's approval. Now, another memo is in the pipeline, this one produced by the committee's Democratic minority, and things are much quieter. The Other Secret Dossier. Last week, the Guardian reported the FBI is looking at a second Trump "dossier," in addition to the one compiled by former British spook Christopher Steele at the behest of the Clinton campaign. The second dossier is allegedly compiled by Cody Shearer. "One source with knowledge of the inquiry said the fact the FBI was still working on [the 'Shearer dossier'] suggested investigators had taken an aspect of it seriously," notes the Guardian. "It raises the possibility that parts of the Steele dossier, which has been derided by Trump's supporters, may have been corroborated by Shearer's research, or could still be." The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand is now confirming that a "memo" written by Shearer does exist and she has personally reviewed it. It contains a "a range of allegations concerning the president's personal behavior and financial transactions." She does not specify what those allegations are. Bertrand further reports that Jonathan Winer, the Obama State Department's special envoy to Libya, and former John Kerry aide, was the go-between for Shearer and Steele while he was working at the State Department. The Senate releases 'Memo 2.0,' and it should scare you. Hot on the heels of the House memo exposing deep state corruption comes an equally explosive document from the Senate that shows the story behind the phony dossier is even worse than you thought. Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham have released a heavily redacted, yet very revealing copy of their criminal referral against ex-British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the dubious dossier we now know was parlayed into a FISA warrant by Trump-hating operatives at the Justice Department. FBI Director Chris Wray Declassifies Large Portions of Grassley Memo. Last Friday [2/2/2018] Chairman Grassley asked FBI Director Chris Wray to remove the prior redactions and declassify the underlying supportive documents; known as the "Grassley Memo". FBI Director Wray did not remove all redactions; but did remove most. [...] The question is: did the FBI submit the FISA application under false pretenses? Did the FBI actually know Christopher Steele was shopping the dossier to the media prior to their FISA court submission? MSM eagerly collaborating with Schiff-created memo redaction fake controversy. We are in the midst of a classic example of collaboration between Democrats and the mainstream media. The operation is aimed at directing public attention away from the serious and historic Obama administration abuses uncovered by Chairman Nunes: nothing short of spying on a rival presidential campaign using the NSA's universal surveillance of electronic communications. The mechanism is the manufacturing a fake controversy enabling readers and viewers to discount the evidence. As most AT readers already know, strong suspicions exist that the Adam Schiff-drafted 10-page memo, intended to "rebut" the 4 page Nunes memo, was salted with references to sensitive intelligence "sources and methods" that would have to be redacted in order to protect future intelligence-gathering capabilities. This was done in order to be able to scream that the rebuttal was being blocked. Timely news and commentary up to and including the four-page Nunes memo: CIA Brennan Might Have to Answer for Perjury, Planning a Coup. Devin Nunes plans to investigate former CIA director John Brennan and he is in jeopardy for possibly committing perjury. There is also the coup he promoted. Devin Nunes plans to release more information and more memos. The next one will expose corruption in the State Department. The Department was integral to launching the FBI Trump-Russia probe. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and all their minions routinely lied and there was never any accountability. It was a big joke. All Brennan had to say when he lied under oath to Congress was the administration's intelligence services might have spied on Americans "unwittingly". If he is investigated for perjury, they will find it. Brennan was very involved in the dissemination of the dossier under illicit circumstances. Exclusive: CIA Ex-Director Brennan's Perjury Peril. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes next plans to investigate the role former CIA Director John Brennan and other Obama intelligence officials played in promoting the salacious and unverified Steele dossier on Donald Trump — including whether Brennan perjured himself in public testimony about it. In his May 2017 testimony before the intelligence panel, Brennan emphatically denied the dossier factored into the intelligence community's publicly released conclusion last year that Russia meddled in the 2016 election "to help Trump's chances of victory." 2017: State Department Spox: "The Steele Dossier Was Never Used for FISA Application". Now that Chairman Devin Nunes, Chuck Grassley and the key players themselves, have discovered and admitted the U.S. State Department was heavily involved in passing along Clinton opposition research to Chris Steele to create the "Clinton-Steele Dossier", it's interesting to look at how the former State Department spokesperson — in place during all the events — responded last year when the Clinton-Steele Dossier was thought to be part of the underlying evidence for the DOJ/FBI FISA application. Former State Department spokesperson Marie Harf, a person in direct and continuous contact with all the principle agents during the 2016 information flow, was confronted in July 2017 and adamantly denied the dossier was part of the FISA application. [Video clip] The Fake National Security Behind Obama's Watergate. Before the Nunes memo was released, Democrats, the media and its intelligence sources insisted that it would undermine national security, reveal tradecraft secrets and even get agents killed. Senator Cory Booker warned that it might be treasonously "endangering fellow Americans in the intelligence community." It was, but not in the way that he meant. The memo didn't have anything resembling classified information it. Neither did the Grassley-Graham criminal referral which was heavily redacted to screen out all the "classified information." What did the classified information consist of? The Grassley-Graham criminal referral went through two FBI redactions. Julie Kelly at American Greatness compared the two versions to see what was hidden. Most of the redactions in the first version, that were exposed in the second version, involved the problems with the FISA warrant application's reliance on Christopher Steele. The references to the FISA warrant, which is classified, allowed figures in the FBI to redact it. But none of the references reveal anything damaging to our national security. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner texted with Russian oligarch lobbyist in effort to contact dossier author Christopher Steele. Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been leading a congressional investigation into President Trump's alleged ties to Russia, had extensive contact last year with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch who was offering Warner access to former British spy and dossier author Christopher Steele, according to text messages obtained exclusively by Fox News. Russian Collusion Confirmed — With Democrats. And the CIA. The New York Times confirms someone was paying off the Russians. Tiny problem: It wasn't Trump, it was the CIA. Endgame: The Top 4 Clinton Dossier "Coincidences". At least four separate coincidences have emerged as the public learns more information about the unverified Steele dossier and how it was crafted. The origin story of the 35-page document was pretty simple at the outset. Fusion GPS, which was investigating then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, hired former British spy Christopher Steele to write the dossier. But as more details about the dossier trickle out into the public forum, connections have surfaced that raise questions about how information made its way into the salacious document. Feds Scrambled to Redact Information Showing Top Secret Spy Abuse. Federal authorities scrambled to redact and keep classified key information revealing major abuses of the U.S. surveillance apparatus that targeted President Donald Trump's associates in the lead up to the 2016 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation who said the latest information corroborates findings recently made public by House Intelligence Committee officials. [...] The new criminal referral issued by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Lindsay Graham, both Senate Judiciary Committee members, calls for a formal investigation into Christopher Steele, the one-time British spy who compiled the dossier on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Washington Post Met Twice with Hoax Dossier Author Christopher Steele During 2016 Election. The Washington Post for the first time detailed two meetings the newspaper reported it held with former British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous, largely discredited 35-page anti-Trump dossier. At least one of the meetings was also attended by Glenn R. Simpson, co-founder of the controversial opposition research firm Fusion GPS. The meetings took place in September and October of 2016. Kerry associate played middleman for Hillary agents' smut and dossier's Christopher Steele. A former State Department official has confirmed that he played middleman in relaying anti-Trump smut from two Hillary Clinton operatives to dossier writer Christopher Steele who passed it to the FBI. It is a further thickening of the plot by Democratic Party agents to get unverified dossier material into the news media and the Obama Justice Department before election day Nov. 8. Jonathan M. Winer, who was former secretary state John Kerry's special envoy to Libya and his Senate adviser, disclosed the the [sic] behind-the-scenes get-Trump operation in a Washington Post op-ed. I Should Know: Dems' Intel Abuse Is Reminiscent of My Work for Ceausescu. Seen from my vantage point, the four-page FISA abuse memo authored by Rep. Devin Nunes is proof that former president Barack Obama and Democratic Party leaders wanted to transform the U.S. into a Russian-style intelligence dictatorship — and the FBI into a KGB-style instrument for rewriting American history by smearing its capitalist politicians. Strzok Complained Of 'Material Misrepresentations' In FISA Application. One of Peter Strzok's text messages shows the embattled FBI agent complaining about a case in which "material misrepresentations" were made to obtain a spy warrant in the FISA Court. The exchange occurred on Oct. 16, 2015, well before Strzok was tapped to lead the investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential campaign. But it sheds some light on the FISA process, which is at the center of a partisan debate because of the FBI and Justice Department's use of the unverified Steele dossier to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Democrats Want To Turn America Into Russia. The Democrats have a bold plan for fighting Russia. Accuse Republicans of treason, eavesdrop on their conversations and send them to jail. Overturn the outcome of a free election because that it had been tampered with by "foreign interests." Demand that tech companies censor dissenting media outlets spreading "fake news" to protect "democracy". Good work, comrades. The bold plan is to fight Russia by... becoming Russia. State surveillance, endless investigations and locking up political opponents under the guise of fighting foreign influences is how Vladimir Putin does business. It's how they do it in Turkey, Venezuela and Iran. But these days it's how the Dems do it too. Cody Shearer's Role in Hillary's Dirty Dossier. Hillary Clinton has a long history of hiring private investigators to harass opponents. She famously unleashed San Francisco PI Jack Palladino on Gennifer Flowers. So it is not at all surprising to find one of these dirt-diggers at the center of the scandal around the bogus dossier she paid ex-British spy Christopher Steele to assemble. It turns out that Steele, whose credentials the media insists are so impeccable, served as a conduit between the FBI and Cody Shearer, one of Hillary's scummiest hatchet men. That alone shatters Steele's much-vaunted "credibility." In years past, Shearer served the Clintons as an extinguisher of sex scandals. In 2016, he helped Hillary try to create one. Criminal Referral Confirms Nunes Memo's Explosive Claims Of FISA Abuse. A criminal referral from top Senate investigators confirms explosive charges in last week's House Intelligence Committee memo regarding abuse of surveillance authorities at the FBI and Department of Justice. It also reveals a host of problems arising from the bureau's cooperation with foreign investigator Christopher Steele, who was working on behalf of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The eight-page memo from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) includes underlying evidence to support the claims. Fake News Flashback: CNN Declared Trump 'Bonkers' for Saying Clinton, Dems Behind Dossier. Writing for the far-left CNN back in October, Chris Cillizza declared President Donald Trump "bonkers" and "crazy" for suggesting what turned out to be 100 percent true: that the Democrats, Hillary Clinton, the FBI, and Russia, were all behind what is known as the "Russian dossier." Author of Yahoo News Article Used to Obtain FISA Warrant on Trump Campaign Was Secretly Working With DNC. An email published by WikiLeaks reveals that Michael Isikoff, whose article for Yahoo News based on the debunked "Steele dossier" was used to obtain a FISA warrant against Carter Page from the Trump campaign, was secretly working with the Democratic National Committee. WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange tweeted the link to the email on Wednesday afternoon [2/7/2018]. 'Scrupulous' Obama in 2016 Claimed, 'I Do Not Talk to FBI Directors About Pending Investigations'. Former President Obama once insisted that there was "a strict line" that prevented him from getting involved in pending investigations, but did he sometimes cross that line? U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released additional Strzok/Page text messages on Wednesday [2/7/2018] as part of a majority staff report titled "The Clinton Email Scandal And The FBI's Investigation Of It.["] One text causing raised eyebrows today seems to implicate the president: "potus wants to know everything we're doing," former FBI lawyer Lisa Page texted to her paramour, then-FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, on Sept. 2, 2016. She said that she had just been in a meeting to discuss "TPs for D" (talking points for the director, i.e. FBI Director James Comey) to brief the president on their investigation. The rabidly anti-Trump Strzok played a key role in the Clinton email and Russia investigations. Carter Page: The Dodgy Dossier Was A Political Stunt And False. A former Trump campaign adviser at the center of the discredited dossier said everything he has seen so far is ridiculous. In an interview Tuesday [2/6/2018], Carter Page said there was "no basis" for the FBI's surveillance of him, which he believes violated the constitution. Trey Gowdy Just Dropped The Bomb On the Steele Dossier and It's About to Explode! Representative Trey Gowdy has now implied that Hillary Clinton ally Sidney Blumenthal fed information to Christopher Steele who authored the Dossier that was the basis for the Russia probe[.] Politico reported: Rep. Trey Gowdy heavily implied on Tuesday that longtime Clinton friend Sidney Blumenthal fed information that was leaked to former British spy Christopher Steele. During an interview on Fox News, Gowdy was asked by Fox News' Martha MacCallum about whether "weeks before the election, somebody in the Obama State Department was feeding information from a foreign source to Christopher Steele." MacCallum had previously asked a question on whether Gowdy knew anything about "a source who gave an unnamed associate of Hillary and Bill Clinton who then gave information to an unnamed official in the Obama state department who then gave the information to Steele." Dems blasting Nunes memo once urged FISA court transparency. Congressional Democrats have blasted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and President Trump for releasing a memo detailing alleged government surveillance abuse — but just a few years ago, the same Democrats called for more transparency from the secret court process in question. Notably, ranking Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff — who fought the release of the GOP-backed memo and described it as a danger to national security — made a 2013 appearance on Russian television news station RT calling for transparency in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act system. Trey Gowdy Strongly Implies Sidney Blumenthal Was A Source For Steele's Anti-Trump Dossier. Outgoing Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) strongly implied to Fox News host Martha MacCallum Tuesday evening that Clinton confidant, Sidney Blumenthal, was a source for Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier. [...] In a letter released Monday [2/5/2018], Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suggested Clinton contacts fed information to former British spy and dossier author Christopher Steele. Hillary's Attempt to Steele the Election. The media, in its frenzy to normalize left-wing political espionage, says simultaneously of the Nunes memo: there is nothing to see in it, but don't look. The intensity of the media's attacks on a Republican is always in proportion to the degree to which he is impeding one of its causes. The doggedness of Nunes — his refusal to let a politicized FBI and Justice Department stonewall his committee — has thrown considerable light on the real scandal of 2016: not that Trump colluded with the Russians to win but that the Obama administration colluded with Hillary to defeat him. One government most certainly did meddle in the election — ours. In desperate denial mode, the media will talk about everything but the fact that the United States government was spying on one campaign by using opposition research from the other, all while hoodwinking FISA court judges and leaking to the press about its politicized investigation. Where the bodies are buried. NSLs [National Security Letters] are issued when a petitioning agency wants access to the specific electronic records of an individual (emails, texts, phone call data) held by a business through whom the communications were made or by which they were facilitated. While FISA warrants are issued in the hundreds each year — between 1200-1600 generally — NSLs are issued in the tens of thousands, and do not need to be tied to a pre-existing FISA warrant but can stand on their own. [...] The FISA warrants and their attending applications are the cemeteries if you will, but the NSLs are the graves, and graves are where you find bodies. Carter Page claimed in 2008 that he had worked on the Bill Clinton transition team 1992-3. There are many possibilities to explain this. The simplest would be that Page was and remains a hustler, anxious to affiliate himself with whoever gains the presidency, that he is no ideologue, but more of an influence-peddler. This does not rule him out of being a spy but it also raises question as to whether — if the spy suspicions have any validity — he had any nefarious influence on the Clintons. Remember that Bill Clinton spent time in Moscow as a young man, a trip whose funding and implications have never been adequately explained. But what if Page were an agent of the Clinton Machine, who "volunteered" with the Trump transition team in order to implicate Trump in the plot that began the morning after the 2016 election, when the excuse of "Russian interference" was first cooked up by Hillary's advisors. That can't be ruled out either. Criminal referral backs up Nunes on dossier claims, as Dems push rebuttal memo. A newly released version of GOP senators' criminal referral for Trump dossier author Christopher Steele appears to support key claims from the controversial memo on alleged surveillance abuse released last week by House Republicans and the White House. That memo, commissioned by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., continues to fuel a firestorm on Capitol Hill, where Democrats are pushing for the release of their own counter-memo. A central point of dispute is the Nunes document's claim that the salacious, anti-Trump dossier was crucial to the FBI's efforts to seek a surveillance warrant for a Trump associate and that the applications omitted the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign's funding for the research via Glenn Simpson's Fusion GPS firm — which hired Steele. Mark Levin on FISA Memo Revelations: 'Hillary Clinton Paid for a Warrant — That's the Easiest Way to Put It'. Monday [2/5/2018] on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," conservative talker Mark Levin laid out his case arguing the release of a FISA memo by the House Intelligence Committee last week raised questions about the previous administration. That included some of those holdovers involved in the day-to-day operations of the Department of Justice, including Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller. Levin argued those were the questions that should be asked and summed up the circumstances as 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton having "paid for a warrant." Intel Memo Mystery: John McCain Pushed 'Pee' Dossier to FBI Months After Feds Already Used It to Gain FISA Warrant. Last week's release of a four-page House Intelligence Committee memo alleging abuse of surveillance authority provides details that raise new questions about Sen. John McCain's role in delivering the infamous, largely discredited 35-page dossier on President Donald Trump and Russia to the U.S. intelligence community under Barack Obama's administration. The Nunes Memo and the Death of American Journalism. The country's liberal establishment has joined ranks in dismissing the memo. It has attacked its veracity, portraying it as a conscious effort to mislead the American people on FBI and Justice Department efforts to get a surveillance order on a U.S. citizen connected to Donald Trump's presidential campaign. This intense spin was on full display even before the memo was released, and then reached full flower afterward. This was not surprising. The hysteria reflects a recent development in American politics whereby disturbing facts and suspicions, if they contradict the embraced narrative, are simply ignored or dismissed as combatants hammer away from their usual scripts. The Overwhelming Odds a FISA Warrant Would Have Been Issued on Page Even Without the Dossier. The Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) was passed in 1978. Since then, more than 35,000 FISA warrants have been issued. Only 12 requests to the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Court (FISC) have been denied. That makes the odds pretty good that a request from the FBI for a FISA warrant to spy on former Trump volunteer Carter Page would have been granted regardless of the anti-Trump bias in the bureau and the questionable provenance of the Steele Dossier. Indeed, as this Wall Street Journal article points out, the FISA courts are often asked to issue a warrant on tainted or biased information. The Editor says... Chuck Grassley Memo Comes Next — Question Surrounds FBI Knowledge of Steele Shopping Dossier To Media. Democrats, media, and the aggregate DOJ/FBI intelligence community are finally seeing accountability. With the HPSCI memo now in the rear-view mirror, and the content in the bloodstream of the U.S. electorate, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is next. Toward the end of December, the FBI provided the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, with FBI investigative documents (likely FD-302's) from their contacts with Christopher Steele. Sara Carter: Deep State Is "Terrified" Of The Second Anti-Trump Dossier That's Coming Out. Investigative journalist Sara Carter went on FOX and Friends on Sunday morning [2/4/2018] to discuss the explosive FISA memo that was released on Friday. Sara Carter says Deep State is "terrified" of the second bogus dossier that is coming out. Nunes: House panel looking at State Dept. involvement in Russia probe. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) revealed Friday that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee would examine other agencies, including the State Department, after releasing a controversial memo alleging surveillance abuses. Speaking on Fox News just hours after Republicans on the committee released a memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ), Nunes said the panel was moving to "phase two" of its investigation. "We are in the middle of what I call phase two of our investigation, which involves other departments, specifically the State Department and some of the involvement that they had in this," Nunes said. Nunes: More Memos Are Coming. Devin Nunes [...] tells TWS [The Weekly Standard] that his investigation will produce more reports, but he will release the information in a traditional manner. "This was phase one. That resulted with a memo designed to go public. There's not plans of additional classified information that would come forward through the same 11G process. The investigation is ongoing, I'm not sure anything would necessitate that." "We will use our standard process for any additional information that needs to be made public. We were forced to use the 11G process because DOJ and FBI wouldn't investigate themselves." The Nunes Memo Should Be Just the Start. The Nunes memo has been released and America's national security has not, as far as we can tell, been irreparably harmed. The campaign waged against the memo as a grave threat to America's intelligence operations appears completely absurd in light of its contents. Part of the bureaucratic objection at the FBI to releasing the memo — and to giving the House Intelligence Committee the material it's based on — was clearly that it contained information embarrassing to the FBI. The memo was always going to labor under unrealistic expectations. It couldn't possibly live up to its advance billing from Sean Hannity and Co. that it was Watergate and the Lindbergh-baby kidnapping all wrapped into one. But it adds to our understanding of the beginnings of the Russia investigation and raises questions about its provenance. Don't Rock the Boat. [Scroll down] If the FBI truly believed Trump was a Russian agent with a chance of becoming President of the United States stopping him would be worth the exposure of almost any number of intelligence assets. Now law enforcement is embarked on an investigation which if successful would nullify an election with incalculable results. To paraphrase Jeh Johnson they are now doing what they didn't want to do. 'By making the statement of collusion we are, in and of itself, now challenging the integrity of the election process itself.' Even taken on its own terms the Mueller investigation is an attempt to push the the toothpaste back into the tube after the last administration had allowed it to be pressed out. Chuck Grassley Gives FBI Director Wray Until Tomorrow To Declassify His Memo — (Redacted Memo Included). [Scroll down] Nice laundry system you got there, huh? Turning unfounded gossip and accusations into officially sounding intelligence information. This is a similar pattern to how the Clinton campaign fed opposition research to the DOJ: Fusion GPS (Glenn Simpson) opposition research, to Nellie Ohr (Fusion Employee), to her husband DOJ Deputy Attorney Bruce Ohr, to Christopher Steele, to media leaks and back to the FBI to validate ongoing efforts. More information laundry. Opposition research become intelligence information. Explosion over the Washington Swamp. On Friday morning [2/2/2018], President Trump declassified the memo prepared by the Intelligence Committee of the House. This document was originally marked "Top Secret." Of course, there is nothing new for the inquisitive reader in this memo. Everything that is described there has long been widely discussed in America. But none of the participants in these discussions have ever had any evidence. Now this evidence, gathered during the closed sessions of the Intelligence Committee, has become public. Clinton associates fed information to Trump dossier author Steele, memo says. Clinton associates were "feeding" allegations to former British spy Christopher Steele at the same time he was compiling the controversial anti-Trump dossier paid for by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign, according to an unclassified memo from senior Senate Republicans who recently made a criminal referral. Those Republicans, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had asked the Justice Department in January to investigate Steele based on evidence they say suggests he lied to the FBI about his contacts with the media (a violation of 18 USC 1001) — or the FBI misrepresented Steele's statements. Did Clinton Associates And Obama State Dept. Feed Info To Steele? First, the Democrats and their apologists raised the specter of a national security crisis if the House Intelligence Committee memo on the discredited Christopher Steele anti-Trump "dossier," used in part to justify the surveillance warrant, were made public. Then, when the memo was made public, they claimed, in the words of California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu, that it was a "nothing burger." Hillary Clinton Desperately Tries to Distract From FISA Memo Media Firestorm — Fails Miserably. The FISA abuse memo has dominated the media since it was released last Friday. [...] Hillary has not said a word about the memo; she subtly hinted Monday the document was merely a scapegoat for Trump's camp. Hillary is desperate to distract from one of the biggest scandals to ever rock D.C. Hillary's phony Russia dossier is her dirtiest political trick to date. A fraudulent dossier she paid millions of dollars for was used to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on her political opponent during a presidential campaign. How Corrupt Are We? My Post-Memo Musings. It is scary to think that a salacious (and mendacious) anti-Trump dossier was put together with Clinton money, then details from that false document were leaked to the media, then those media reports were used to get the FISA warrant — if this is the accurate narrative. If true, is this any better than what takes place in some corrupt, Third World regime? Is this any better than overt bribes to influence the outcome of elections or to secure verdicts from a judge? And how mired have we become in bureaucratic red tape? How difficult has it become to get anything done without having to jump through endless legal and governmental hoops? Carter Page: Who is he and how is he linked to Trump? As the investigation into Russia's involvement in the 2016 election continues, investigators are looking for information from one of President Trump's former campaign advisers, Carter Page. Page, who was a foreign policy adviser to Trump when he was a candidate, was asked by congressional investigators to turn over records pertaining to Russian contacts and communications over seven years. In March 2016 Carter Page Was an FBI Employee — In October 2016 FBI Told FISA Court He's a Spy. In 2013 Carter Page was working as an "under-cover employee" (UCE) of the FBI, helping them to build a case against "Evgeny Buryakov". In March 2016 Carter Page remained their informant pre-trial leading to a pleading of guilty from Buryakov. Here Comes The Dems' Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown. The intensity of the hysterical spin before and after the memo's release has revealed the depths of anxiety over the chickens of corruption coming home to roost. Shrieks of "nuance" and "context" are desperate attempts to drown out the bad news. "How dare you!" protestations of the "professional integrity" and "sterling character" of political appointees and rank careerists in the intelligence agencies are pleas to the voters to pay no attention to the blue-state man behind the curtain. Equally duplicitous as the Dems' desperate misdirection is the squealing about damaging national security or intelligence gathering methods or vulnerable spies or the Constitution. But we know the FBI wanted to redact the names only to shield the possibly guilty men and women. None of the contents of the memo exposed intelligence-gathering techniques or undercover agents. And since when have progressives cared about the integrity of the Constitution? The Media are Just as Complicit In The DOJ Corruption and FISA Abuse. The media engagements with the parties swirling around the Clinton-Steele Dossier and DOJ corruption are so pervasive they cannot currently report on the story without exposing their own duplicity. Michael Isikoff found that reality yesterday [2/2/2018] when he discovered his reporting was being used by the FBI. Dan Bongino: Obamagate is the 'most consequential political scandal' in US history. CRTV's Dan Bongino filled in as the host of the Mark Levin Show Thursday evening [2/1/2018] to break down his thesis that the Obama surveillance abuse is the "most consequential political scandal in the history of the United States." The former Secret Service agent briefed listeners on what he referred to as "Obamagate," going through what has unfolded over the course of the presidential campaign. "Obama spied on Trump. His team did spy on Trump," Bongino reminded listeners. "None of that is in dispute." 'Not just criminal': GOP Rep. calls for 'treason' charges against officials after FISA memo's release. The release of the Nunes memo on Friday, after it was declassified by the White House, has already given rise to its fair share of hyperbole and demonization on both sides of the aisle. Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona is certain that the 4-page memo, part of a reportedly fifty page document, shows "clear and convincing evidence of treason." "The full-throated adoption of this illegal misconduct and abuse of FISA by James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein is not just criminal but constitutes treason," Gosar wrote in a statement. Rep. Gaetz: FISA Memo Shows Mueller Probe Was Based on 'False, Rotten Premise'. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has been one of the most vocal congressmen in pushing for the release of the memo, which some House Republicans have claimed contains "disturbing" information on how FISA surveillance was used to target the Trump campaign. Exceptional Work by Sharyl Attkisson — Did FBI Violate Woods Procedures? The biggest of all bigger story aspects to the HPSCI Memo, in all coverage, has been overlooked by all Main Stream Media. The Department of Justice FBI FISA request was for "Title I" surveillance authority. This is not some innocuous request for metadata exploration — the FBI said American citizen Carter Page was a "foreign agent of a hostile foreign government"; the FBI was calling Carter Page a spy. Rep. Trey Gowdy: FBI concealed Clinton role in Steele dossier. The House's top investigator on Sunday said the FBI failed to notify a surveillance court that it was relying on material backed by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign when it asked to snoop on a former adviser to the Trump campaign. Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican, also said judges wouldn't have authorized and repeatedly renewed a warrant to spy on the former campaign aide, Carter Page, if it hadn't been for the material in that very dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. Gowdy Attacks Dems For Focusing On Whats Not The Memo Instead Of What Is. GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina dismissed Democrats' criticisms of the recently released Republican memo detailing surveillance abuse within the FBI and Department of Justice, during an interview Sunday on "Face The Nation." "I get that Adam Schiff and others are worried about what's not in my memo," Gowdy said on "Face The Nation." "I wish that they were equally concerned about what's not in the FISA application" Who Really Created The Trump Dossier? The campaign against Trump is unprecedented because of the scale of the abuses. The collusion between Obama government officials and Clinton campaign personnel transformed opposition research into a license for surveillance on the political opposition. A conspiracy theory from the Clinton campaign became leverage for delegitimizing and trying to reverse the results of an election. And the conspiracy theory that elements of the FBI loyal to the Democrats relied upon to attack Trump originated from the deepest sewer in Clintonworld that had been covertly smearing political enemies for decades. Flashback: Chris Cillizza Called Trump 'Bonkers' For Saying Clinton And FBI Were Behind Dossier. CNN's Chris Cillizza called President Donald Trump and his followers "bonkers" and "crazy" last year for believing the FBI and the Clinton campaign were involved in the now-infamous Steele dossier. Cillizza chastised Trump and his cadre of followers in October of last year for suggesting and supporting the idea that Democrats and elements inside the FBI were involved in funding the dossier. He called them conspiracy theorists at the time. Jim Jordan Discusses FBI Using Steele Dossier to Gain "Title I" FISA Approval. Representative Jim Jordan appears on Fox News with Ed Henry to discuss the ramifications of the FBI using the "Clinton-Steele dossier" to secure "Title I" surveillance authority through the FISA court system. Title I FISA approval is made with the implicit understanding the FBI is presenting factual and irrefutable evidence that the American citizen targeted, Carter Page, is operating as a foreign agent on behalf of a foreign government. 16 Bombshells In The Nunes Memo The Media Do Not Want You To Know About. [#3] It should be noted that the FISA court was set up to stop foreign terrorists. The fact that the FBI and DOJ would use this court to not only wiretap an American but to wiretap a presidential campaign belies belief. [...] [#16] Much of the "salacious and unverified" material in the dossier came from the Russians. In other words, those disgusting dossier lies about Trump's personal behavior came from Russian operatives. So there is no question that it was the Clinton campaign, Democrats, Steele, the FBI, and DOJ who colluded with the Russians to rig a presidential election. What the MSM is Hoping You Ignore About FISA Memo Is More Than Dangerous, It's Terrifying. The memo is exactly what all of the voices on the Right were shouting about and reporting on for a year. We were called "conspiracy theorists" and were labeled tinfoil hat-wearing fools by the mainstream media — and yet we were right. What the memo did, and what the fallout will expand upon, is expose the FBI, DNC, DOJ, and the MSM for the deceptive, manipulative forces that they are. The mainstream media colluded with the DNC who were colluding with the FBI and CLINTON is at the center of it all. These supposedly neutral government agencies acted and functioned as wings and branches of the DNC under the Obama administration and now they're a deeply entrenched machine that's proved difficult to break up. Heads need to roll and a restructuring of all these departments needs to be seen if any restoration of trust in our government is to happen. FISA Abuse Memo Proves The Need For An Independent Investigation. Democrats are right. The validity of the 2016 presidential contest is in question. Until we get to the bottom of what the FBI was up to during the election, questions about it will fester and further degrade trust in the institution. The notion peddled by Democrats over the past few days, that releasing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes's memo would irreparably damage national security, has been proven absurd. There's no reason the public shouldn't have an accounting of what went on. The Memo Reveals The Coup Against America. The Democrats and the media spent a week lying to the American people about the "memo." The memo was full of "classified information" and releasing" it would expose "our spying methods." By "our," they didn't mean American spying methods. They meant Obama's spying methods. A former White House Ethics Lawyer claimed that the Nunes memo would undermine "national security." On MSNBC, Senator Chris Van Hollen threatened that if the memo is released, the FBI and DOJ "will refuse to share information with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees." Senator Cory Booker howled that releasing the memo was "treasonous" and might be "revealing sources and methods" and even "endangering fellow Americans in the intelligence community." The memo isn't treasonous. It reveals a treasonous effort by the Democrats to use our intelligence agencies to rig an election and overturn the will of the voters. Why the FISA memo could lead to perjury convictions of Comey & Co.. The 2018 Groundhog Day release of the Nunes FISA memo was preceded by partisan and establishment objections that its disclosure would somehow jeopardize ... something. The contents of the memo now show the objections by anti-Trump forces in this historic matter were certainly a case where they "doth protest too much." J. Marsolo explains why FISA warrant procurers James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, Rod Rosenstein, and Dana Boente have reason to be nervous: [...] "Remember these three names" as Obama-gate scandal unfolds. The Obama administration illegally acquired a warrant to spy upon a US citizen working for the Trump for President Campaign. [Video clip] The Editor says... Comey Unhinged — for Good Reason. The Nunes Memo confirms that the basis for the FISA warrants to spy on Trump associates was the Steele "dossier," paid for by the DNC and Hillary Clinton. The Memo reveals that the FBI also paid for it. The persons who signed the FISA applications are James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, Rod Rosenstein, and Dana Boente. The Memo confirms that the political origins of the Steele Dossier, that it was bought and paid for by Hillary and the DNC, were not disclosed to the FISA court. The legal standard for a search warrant was stated by the Supreme Court in Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108 (164). Nunes tells Fox News memo was released out of public obligation. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told Fox News on Friday [2/2/2018] that the memo alleging intelligence abuse during an investigation into the 2016 presidential campaign was released out of "an obligation to the American people." He also said there's "damning" evidence that the courts were misled in an attempt to surveil a Trump campaign member. Appearing on "Special Report," Nunes told Fox News' Bret Baier that the motivation behind releasing the memo was protecting the rights of American citizens[.] "I have an obligation to the American people when we see FISA abuse," Nunes said. "These are secret courts that exist to target for foreigners, for catching terrorists, for catching people who might be bad actors and the American citizens that are represented before this court have to be protected, and the only place that can protect them is the U.S. Congress when abuses do occur." Democrats melt down over Nunes memo and enter the Upside Down. The Democratic Media Complex is once again suffering hysterics, pulling out its hair and screaming over the release of the House Republican report, aka "the memo." The memo alleges abuses by top officials of the FBI and the Justice Department in their investigation of President Donald Trump and suspected Russian collusion. Democrats are furious and say the memo is incomplete, full of lies and half-truths, and they're busy telling their followers not to read the memo, while heaping hate on one of the authors, House Intelligence Committee chairman U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes. Democrats, the FBI and the Justice Department argued that the memo should not be made public, because it endangered national security. But after reading it, those claims appear to be nonsense. Worse Than Watergate. What we now know: [#1] The FBI's case to the FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court was based almost entirely upon a partisan hit-job bought and paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. [...] [#2] Ohr's wife was one of just seven employees at FusionGPS, the firm that was paying Christopher Steele. The personal financial relationship between the Ohrs and the dossier was concealed from the court. [#3] The FBI could not corroborate the information in the Steele dossier, calling it only "minimally corroborated" but did not disclose this fact to the FISA Court thus leading it to believe that the information in the dossier was either FBI work-product or that it had been independently corroborated by the FBI. Neither was true. [...] [#6] Comey lied to the president about the investigation while he was FBI director. Mark Levin, the Nunes memo, and the Praetorian Guard media. It is an indisputable fact that the Obama administration obtained a FISA court warrant and surveilled the Trump campaign and members of the Trump transition team. We now know, thanks to the work of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., on the House Intelligence Committee, that not only was a FISA warrant obtained to spy on the Trump campaign during the election, but also that the warrant was obtained with unsubstantiated information provided by politically motivated actors and that the shady source of the information was concealed from the court. The memorandum put together by Rep. Nunes summarizing his committee investigation's findings shows that the FBI and the DOJ misrepresented to the FISA court the grounds for a warrant to surveil Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page. There Are Four Explosive Revelations in FISA Memo That Have Not Leaked. On Tucker Carlson Tonight Thursday evening [2/1/2018], the Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel said the FBI launched "a counterintelligence probe into an active presidential campaign. Normally the bar for that would have to be very, very high. So if we find out that in fact even — I'm sorry — half of it, or a third of it, or a bit of it was based on partisan research from another campaign, or manufactured news that came from that campaign? That is highly troubling!" Fox News political commentator Monica Crowley made another key point on Thursday: "This is the first of several memos," Crowley said on Fox Business. "As bad as bad as this memo might be, my understanding is that there is worse coming down the pike." Memo confirms Obama's corruption. This, sir, is no Watergate; it is 10 times worse. The Obama Scandal is the abuse of power by a president and his operatives to undermine the election — and then to sabotage the regime change. The release of the memo confirms the former. We have known about the latter for a long time. In a nutshell: GOP case: FBI probe based on tainted evidence linked to Clinton. Congressional Republicans are seeking to make the case that the FBI's investigation into President Trump's campaign and possible collusion with Russia was based on flawed or politically tainted evidence connected to partisans loyal to Hillary Clinton. The House Intelligence Committee memo spearheaded by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that is the talk of Washington will be at the center of the argument. The release of that four-page memo is expected as early as Friday [2/2/2018]. Another document — an eight-page criminal referral filed with the Justice Department by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — is also part of the GOP case. 'The Memo' Isn't What Staunch Trump Defenders — or Haters — Want It To Be. Here's what the memo is not: It is not a total nothingburger, the mere release of which poses a grave threat to our intelligence-gathering capabilities or national security. Nor is it a 'smoking gun' that either proves gross wrongdoing at the FBI, or undermines the integrity of Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation. Tip of The Iceberg. For several years the U.S. justice department has maintained an attitude of non-accountability within its ranks. The Obama years elevated that attitude and provided multiple examples of a DOJ gone rogue. A complicit media enables that attitude by engineering a false narrative the U.S. Justice Department was/is an independent fourth branch of government; unaccountable to congress and entirely separate from the executive branch. The House Intelligence Memo is simply using the example of currently known FISA abuse to open the door and show the U.S. electorate how corrupt this unaccountable institution has become. Behind that door are very uncomfortable realities for all of those who constructed the weaponized agency; and also those who have benefited from it. House memo states disputed dossier was key to FBI's FISA warrant to surveil members of Team Trump. Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released the memo Friday. The White House responded by saying the memo "raises serious concerns about the integrity of decisions made at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and the FBI to use the government's most intrusive surveillance tools against American citizens." GOP releases memo suggesting FBI anti-Trump bias. The document recounts the series of events in 2016 that launched the Justice Department's investigation into Russian election hacking and possible connections to the Trump campaign. According to the document, FBI investigators relied heavily on a dossier from British intelligence officer Christopher Steele when they authorized surveillance of people connected to Trump. The Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign paid Steele $160,000 to compile derogatory information about Trump and his relationship with Russian officials, according to the Republican memo. Source: FISA Memo Says FBI Used Dossier To Spy On Trump Associate. "In this case, because Democrats are trying to continue to smear Trump, they've got a special prosecutor looking into an allegation that may be built completely on a bed of lies, and again, getting out all the facts whether it's a short memo or underlying facts," California Rep. Darrell Issa told The Daily Caller Wednesday [2/1/2018]. "It has the fingerprints all over it of being a dirty trick, not opposition research, but creation of false opposition research, in other words — things that didn't happen. And then spreading it," said Issa. House Intelligence memo released: What it says. The FBI and Justice Department mounted a monthslong effort to keep the information outlined in the memo out of the House Intelligence Committee's hands. Only the threat of contempt charges and other forms of pressure forced the FBI and Justice to give up the material. Once Intelligence Committee leaders and staff compiled some of that information into the memo, the FBI and Justice Department, supported by Capitol Hill Democrats, mounted a ferocious campaign of opposition, saying the release of the memo would endanger national security and the rule of law. But Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., never wavered in his determination to make the information available to the public. A Never-Trump Press in Near Panic. "All the News That's Fit to Print" proclaims the masthead of The New York Times. "Democracy Dies in Darkness," echoes The Washington Post. "The people have a right to know," the professors at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism hammered into us in 1962. "Trust the people," we were admonished. Explain then this hysteria, this panic in the press over the release of a four-page memo detailing one congressional committee's rendering of how Trump-hate spawned an FBI investigation of Republican candidate and President Donald Trump. What is the press corps afraid of? For it has not ceased keening and caterwauling that this memo must not see the light of day. Do the media not trust the people? Can Americans not handle the truth? What the House Intelligence Committee Memo Says. The Intelligence Committee memo obviously outlines a major scandal that indicts principal figures in the FBI, including James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein, unless the latter two officials were unaware of the fraud that was being perpetrated on the federal court. Whether some of those involved should go to prison would require a careful examination of relevant federal statutes. The memo leaves much unsaid. The timing is unclear, at least to me. It sounds as though the FBI continued to renew its FISA warrant long after it had terminated its relationship with Steele and knew, or should have known, that his information was bogus. Why? Did the FBI tell the FISA court in these renewal applications that it had terminated its relationship with Steele, or that it had been unable to corroborate his claims? Presumably not. Also, we don't know what was done with the information that was collected about Carter Page — and, of course, about anyone with whom he communicated. This is where the enormous number of "unmasking" requests by Obama officials like Susan Rice come in. Memo Update: James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, Dana Boente, Rod Rosenstein... and Barack Obama. [Scroll down] Hovering over this as well is the Clinton campaign. Hillary Clinton is said to already taken measures to insulate herself via several layers (staffers). She will claim total ignorance of Fusion GPS's actions (and remember, Fusion GPS is also tied directly to Mr. Obama and the DNC) staff involvement in the false dossier, and/or what Obama administration officials then did with said dossier. That is where things get much stickier for Mr. Obama. All it will take is one high-ranking official to turn on him and the rickety pile of deception could come tumbling down. Make no mistake — threats have been made to maintain silence. Threats that involve business, family, whatever is necessary to protect the Obama Machine. House Intel Memo Shows Just How Politicized The Obama Administration Had Become. The memo is out, and it's bad. Is shows, unequivocally, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation used political opposition research paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign to get a secret court warrant to spy on a Trump campaign member. It also shows that the FBI omitted vital information in its warrant request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. Namely, the FBI kept asking for warrant renewals (FISA wiretapping permission expires after 90 days) without telling the court the FBI itself had dismissed Christopher Steele, who generated the opposition research, for lying to the FBI and leaking his relationship with the agency to the press. Both are not only unethical but likely illegal. Carter Page Says He's Updating Lawsuits Thanks To FISA Memo's Release. Carter Page was a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign and a central figure in this FISA memo war and the ongoing narrative of Russia collusion. We now know that the Trump dossier, which was really a partisan opposition research document funded by the Clinton campaign, was used as the basis to secure a FISA warrant against Page. Former MI6 operative Christopher Steele compiled the document. Research firm Fusion GPS, which had been retained for their services by the Clinton campaign, contracted him. This was a Democrat-funded venture. Full stop. It was also largely uncorroborated. A shoddy document that was really partisan opposition research from a presidential campaign was used by the FBI/DOJ to secure a warrant to spy on the opposing side. Democracy's Highest Crime and Misdemeanor. Every week brings new revelations and details about a cabal in the federal government whose actions border on both sedition and conspiracy. The evidence suggests that specific high level officials in the Justice Department and the FBI colluded to violate the law in unprecedented ways for the singular purpose of subverting the will of the people both before and after the 2016 election. The United States is now at a defining moment. Will there be a restoration of the rule of law, or will Washington's elite continue to give cover and a pass to fellow members of the Ruling Class (a descriptive phrase coined in these pages by Angelo Codevilla)? The question: Is there sufficient decency and courage in the midst of Washington's swamp to compel the pursuit of justice wherever in the Ruling Class it leads and then to prosecute the lawbreakers — whomever they are? Stunning Admission: James Clapper Admits Steele Dossier Was Used For FISA Surveillance "Extension". In a stunning admission to CNN's Jake Tapper Wednesday [1/31/2018], former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper admitted the Steele dossier was used for an extension of FISA surveillance. "As I understand it, this was simply an extension of the original FISA request. Meaning that, or implying, that apparently, there was information that was considered valuable that was being obtained, via the initial FISA request," Clapper told Tapper. Naming Names Is Mandatory in the House Intelligence Memo. No one is beyond the law, especially those who are pledged to uphold it. They deserve special scrutiny. That is why, particularly now, the FBI must take its medicine and allow the House Intelligence Committee to publish the Republican memo intact — with names named. If the memo is incorrect, inaccurate, or unfair, those who wrote and backed it will pay the price. If it is correct, those named have things to answer for. Systems must be fixed. An organization must be repaired — and quickly. If the FBI was suborned for partisan purposes, it is an atrocity well beyond Watergate. We live in an era when human privacy is essentially extinct. Unless you stay entirely off the grid — and few in the modern world can do that — you are a fool to think your communications, and indeed movements, are not being monitored. It's been that way for some time. News and commentary - before the release of the four-page Nunes Memo: Last Stand Of The Custer DOJ/FBI: A final attempt to prevent Americans from seeing The Memo. The FBI issued a statement earlier today [1/31/2018] stating — wait for it — they don't want the American people to view evidence of criminality by leaders in their agency and the DOJ. Their story has changed from possibly compromising sources and methods — which is patently absured given what we know about the modern surveillance state — to the fact that "they haven't had enough time to review it". [...] Given how much we already know about the unlawful actions of the Obama DOJ and FBI, my suggestion is simple. Release the memo and let the leadership in the DOJ and FBI outline any "omissions of fact" that could absolve them of crimes. My guess is that they won't be able to do so. WSJ Columnist Tells Us What To Look For In The FISA Memo. The four-page document alleging egregious abuses in government surveillance is now public with no redactions. Prior to its release, it was something of a Pickett's Charge for the Department of Justice and the FBI. The told The House Intelligence Committee that releasing the memo would be reckless, possibly detrimental to national security. After stonewalling Congress on multiple document requests relating to the Trump dossier and Fusion GPS, they had the temerity to ask if they could review it. Congress refused, though FBI Director Christopher Wray reviewed it last Sunday, with two senior FBI officials saying there were no factual errors in the document. FBI to Trump White House: Please Block The FISA Memo That Could Expose Us For Spying On You. The four-page memo is seen by some as a document that could offer clarity over whether the FBI used the shoddy Trump dossier compiled by former MI6 operative Christopher Steele, whose was contracted by research firm Fusion GPS — which was given money for this opposition research project by the Hillary campaign. It wasn't corroborated and on top of that, Steele is said to have given the FBI another dossier compiled by a Clinton political operative, Cody Shearer, which also wasn't verified. So, did the FBI/DOJ secure FISA warrants on members of the Trump campaign by presenting before the court unverified documents? FBI officials review surveillance memo, could not cite 'any factual inaccuracies': source. Two senior FBI officials have now reviewed a controversial Republican staff memo alleging abuses of government surveillance programs during the 2016 presidential campaign, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News — adding that the officials "could not point to any factual inaccuracies." The two officials — one from the bureau's counterintelligence division and the other from the legal division — followed up after an initial review of the memo during a rare Sunday trip to Capitol Hill by FBI Director Christopher Wray. Whoopsie: James Clapper States "Clinton-Steele Dossier" Was Used for FISA Surveillance "Extension". Gotta love the professionally obtuse former DNI James Clapper. As much as he is a stuttering doofus, and therein showcases his political value for the former administration; and to the extent that Clapper has previously stated there was no attempt by the DOJ/FBI to gain a FISA authorized approval for surveillance on any Trump campaign officials: "none that I'm aware of"; ...it is always valuable to listen to Clapper because he has a tendency to, well, to let slip stuff that makes the black hats cringe. GOP Rejects Adam Schiff's Last-Ditch Effort to Block Memo's Release. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) made a last-minute effort Wednesday evening to block the release of a highly-anticipated House Intelligence Committee memorandum that is expected to allege that the Obama administration abused the federal government's surveillance powers to spy on Donald Trump's political campaign. The committee voted along party lines on Monday to release the memorandum to the public, subject to final approval by the president. Wyden Threatens To Release Other Classified Info If Nunes Intel Memo Is Released. Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden threatened Wednesday to release sensitive and classified information if the House Intelligence Committee's majority memo is released to the public. "If this memo comes out, I have a long list of less sensitive, but still classified, information that the American people deserve to see," he tweeted to his followers. Wyden spokesman Keith Chu disputed the Oregon Democrat was threatening to release anything telling the Daily Caller in an e-mail statement, "You've misread Sen. Wyden's tweet. Wyden is pledging to ramp up his 17-year fight to stop government from abusing the classification system through secret law. Please read his whole thread or ask before making wild accusations." Trump Approves Release Of FISA Memo. President Donald Trump has approved the release of a classified memo compiled by House Republicans on the intelligence committee, clearing the way for its release Friday, multiple outlets report. The document allegedly contains proof that some of the top officials in the Obama-era national security establishment abused their authority to obtain surveillance warrants on members of the Trump 2016 campaign. Leak War: Explaining Five New Developments in the Never-Ending Memo/Investigations Firestorm. [Scroll down] If the goal is to get to the bottom of Russia's involvement in our election, which it ought to be, knocking on some doors at Fusion feels like a no-brainer. They're the Democratic oppo research group that hired Christopher Steele, who compiled the dodgy anti-Trump dossier (paid for by the Clinton campaign and DNC) that is at least tangentially related to almost every Trump-linked controversy and battle mentioned in this post. In assembling his file, Steele reportedly leaned on high-ranking... Russian officials. We also know that the Russian lawyer (alleged to be a Kremlin cut-out) who attended that fateful meeting with Don Jr, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort also met with the founder of Fusion GPS, both beforehand and afterwards, on that very day. And she brought Fusion-furnished documents to the meeting. GOP Rep: FISA Memo Will Show How Obama Officials, Hillary Clinton and DNC Weaponized FBI to Target Political Adversaries. The Deep State and FBI are in overdrive to prevent the FISA memo from being released to the public. In a last ditch effort, the FBI is pulling out all the stops to either delay the release, delegitimize the memo or redact names from the document. Devin Nunes to FBI: 'No surprise' to see FBI and DOJ's 'spurious objections' to allowing public to see FISA memo. The clash between House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and the FBI continued to simmer on Wednesday when the California Republican said that once "the truth gets out" about the classified memo his staff put together, "we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again." In a statement, Nunes said it is "no surprise" to see the FBI and Department of Justice "issue spurious objections to allowing the American people to see information related to surveillance abuses at these agencies." FBI has 'grave concerns' about 'omissions' in surveillance memo. The FBI said Wednesday [1/31/2018] that the bureau has "grave concerns" about the classified memo that purportedly reveals government surveillance abuses, but White House Chief of Staff John Kelly says it is going public, anyway. "With regard to the House Intelligence Committee's memorandum, the FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it," the FBI said in a statement. "As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." Ryan: 'There May Have Been Malfeasance... at the FBI'; 'Legitimate Questions' About FISA Abuses. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday listed four points in defense of his fellow Republicans on the House intelligence committee, following their vote yesterday to publicly release a classified memo about the way the FISA process was used in the Trump-Russia investigation. House Intel votes to make Nunes memo public. The House Intelligence Committee on Monday evening voted to make public a GOP-crafted memo alleging what some Republicans say are "shocking" surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice (DOJ). At the same time, the committee voted against making public a Democrat-drafted countermemo. While the panel voted to release that memo to the entire House, Republicans expressed concern that publicly releasing the minority memo would damage sensitive intelligence sources and methods, according to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee's ranking member. House Intel votes to release controversial surveillance memo to the public. The House Intelligence Committee on Monday evening voted to release a classified memo circulating in Congress that purportedly reveals government surveillance abuses. The vote was announced to reporters by California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, who called it a "very sad day, I think, in the history of this committee." The motion passed on a party-line basis, he said. President Trump now has five days to decide whether he has any objections before the memo can be publicly released. If FISA Abuse is not dealt with harshly, the entire American form of government is in jeopardy. Our entire system of being a Constitutional Republic is based on the orderly, REAL transfer of power between political parties after voters have their say in elections. All you need is ONE party deciding one time to use the power of the federal gov't to suppress it's [sic] political opponents & the entire American system of self governance through honest, free elections is in mortal danger. There is no way people in the federal gov't can 'accidentally' weaponize it's [sic] law enforcement & intelligence gathering powers against political opponents. There are numerous safeguards in place to prevent this. ALL those safeguards would have to be subverted. This is why people who have read the #FisaAbuseMemo are so absolutely terrified by what they are seeing in it. This was deliberate. People who knew what they were doing subverted every safeguard & weaponized our federal agencies against American citizens based on politics. 'Dossier' firm says U.S. senator's leaks endanger its employees. The research firm behind the so-called Trump "dossier" accused U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Monday [1/29/2018] of endangering its employees by ignoring "multiple" requests not to publicly disclose their names. Critically important: FISA, the NSA, and the 4th Amendment. Did the Obama administration illegally use its power in multiple ways to access NSA intercepts so that it could gain intelligence on — and kneecap — Trump's administration? If so, then this is a scandal that dwarfs everything that happened during Watergate and highlights the real danger to our republic flowing from government abuse of NSA's capabilities. With luck, we'll very soon read the House Intelligence Committee's four-page document summarizing its investigation into alleged FISA abuses and the Trump-Russia collusion. If we're very lucky, that document will have attached to it the declassified intelligence and court documents supporting its contentions. Guessing at FISA Redactions: Well, this is certainly an interesting coincidence. I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is the greatest scandal in American history. These are police state tactics, plain and simple. Unless all of these traitors are held to account, the future of the American republic is at risk. The Week Ahead Promises an Awful Lot. It's not a certainty, but various sources have been predicting that by the middle of next week the long-awaited purported bombshell 4-page "FISA memo" (#ReleaseTheMemo) that reportedly outs the dirty players in President Obama's administration who conspired to take down President Trump, will be released. To head it off, the Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media have been casting the memo as a flawed partisan Republican document whose purpose is to deflect attention from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. Democrats opposed to releasing the memo also insist that it has the potential of harming government intelligence agencies and compromising national security. Secret FISA Memo Will Be Redacted When Released. Millions already knew that the FBI was a sewer of sabotage and lies long before House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes began teasing the public about the contents of so-called "Secret Memo". They're the ones who knew that the FBI had become the rogue intel arm of the Deep State working feverishly to overturn the results of Election 2016. FBI agents like Peter Strzok and his love interest Lisa Page are a dime a dozen. Toilets: The FBI, Department of Justice and the Guggenheim. We're still waiting for the release of the four-page memo prepared by Congressman Devin Nunes on the investigation into the FBI and DOJ's skullduggery in the "collusion" investigation, which his colleagues who have read it describe as "troubling" "shocking" "deeply disturbing." From what we are seeing in the publicly released communications of some of the participants, it is not far-fetched to consider that sedition charges may be in the works. WSJ Columnist: FBI/DOJ Are Trying To Drop A Depth Charge On Trump, House GOP In FISA Memo Fight. The four-page document details alleged abuses that are said to be akin to the activities of the KGB. Some lawmakers said it could lead to deep changes within the DOJ. Democrats have pushed back saying it's a political stunt, aimed at undermining the credibility of the FBI. There's speculation that the Obama administration used the unverified Trump dossier as the basis to secure FISA warrants to spy on members of the Trump campaign and transition team. The dossier was funded by the Hillary campaign. They hired Fusion GPS, a research firm, who in turn contracted an ex-MI6 operative to get information on Donald Trump. In all, it's a lucrative opposition research file, most of which cannot be corroborated. The DOJ has been adamant that they review the memo before it's release to prevent a reckless disclosure of information. The House GOP response has pretty much been to tell the DOJ/FBI to shove it. They're not allowing them to read the memo. What To Expect From The House Intel Memo On Surveillance Abuse. [Scroll down] There is no question that the allegations in the document are a big deal. However, the perception of the significance of the report will vary. For people who know a lot about the Russia investigation and how it was operated, it may seem more significant than to those who are not as up-to-speed on the complicated details. People who have a high tolerance for surveillance or aggressive law enforcement may be more excusing of abuses than others. And people with strong feelings about Trump — either pro or con — may find it difficult to set aside those feelings as they evaluate the facts regarding the Department of Justice and FBI's handling of their extensive powers. FISA Memo Leaked, Comey, Rosenstein, McCabe Named. The Obama administration has created an enduring legacy of incompetence and treason. Plagued by bureaucratic holdovers and the slowest federal appointment process in history, President Trump still employs many radical democrats in some of the highest positions of the state. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has been specifically named within the memo drafted by the House Intelligence Committee. Gowdy: Everything in the FISA Abuse Memo I Got from the FBI. GOWDY: "It tells me, and I'll say this with a broken heart, that the law enforcement agency that I have tremendous respect for and that I worked with for 16 years had some bad apples in really important positions of trust and responsibility, and their bias overcame their objectivity. I don't know how much damage they did, it's really not my job to prove that — that's Michael Horowitz and Jeff Sessions' job to find out how much damage these two agents and others did. But I care a lot about the Department of Justice and the F.B.I. and it breaks my heart that we are having to have this conversation about two agents that only wanted to get the president. They didn't have any answers in clearing him." Comey, Rosenstein, McCabe All Named In FISA Memo, First Leak Reveals. A bombshell four-page "FISA memo" alleging egregious surveillance abuse by the FBI, DOJ and Obama administration, specifically names FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, according to the Daily Beast. [...] Along with the four-page memo, Congressional investigators learned from a new batch of text messages between anti-Trump FBI investigators that several individuals within the Department of Justice and the FBI may have come together in the "immediate aftermath" of the 2016 election to undermine President Trump, according to Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) who has reviewed the texts. This is particularly interesting since the memo allegedly names Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — who created Robert Mueller's special counsel after former FBI Director James Comey was fired. Schiff Overflowing. [Democratic Rep. Adam] Schiff was the perfect counterpart to [Glenn] Simpson. Like an-old fashioned analysand on the couch, Simpson wanted to free associate about Russia and Russians and Putin and loose threads in the collusion illusion that Simpson himself has fostered, and Schiff wanted nothing more than to sit at Simpson's feet. The substance of the Steele/GPS Fusion dossier that has given rise to the hysteria in which we have been engulfed for the past year-plus all but disappeared in the haze. DOJ warns Devin Nunes against 'extraordinarily reckless'release of memo on alleged FISA abuses. The Department of Justice warned House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes against releasing a memo that allegedly details results of an investigation into abuses by the department and FBI in its use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, calling it "extraordinarily reckless." In a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner that was sent to the California Republican on Wednesday, Stephen Boyd, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, wrote that "it would be extraordinarily reckless for the Committee to disclose such information publicly without giving the Department and the FBI the opportunity to review the memorandum and to advise the HPSCI [the House intelligence committee] of the risk of harm to national security and to ongoing investigations that could come from public release." The Clamor over the Nunes 'FISA Abuse' Memo. [Scroll down] The Justice Department and the FBI are reportedly angry that, after they complied with the Intelligence Committee's demand that they make classified and investigative materials available for inspection, Nunes will not permit the FBI to inspect his memo summarizing that information before moving to disclose it. The irony here is rich. These executive-branch agencies did not cooperatively comply with congressional investigators; they stonewalled for five months. To this day they are stonewalling: Just this weekend, they belatedly fessed up that the FBI had failed to preserve five months' worth of text messages — something they had to have known for months. An American who impeded a federal investigation the way federal investigators are impeding congressional investigations would swiftly find himself in legal jeopardy. Moreover, it is not like the Justice Department and FBI did Nunes a favor and are thus in a position to impose conditions; Congress is entitled to the information it has sought in its oversight capacity. Top Democrat Says Explosive FISA Memo is "Sloppy and Careless" — Then Admits He Hasn't Read It. There is a massive scandal brewing at the top ranks of America's premier law enforcement agency. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) prepared a four-page explosive memo recently, based on classified material that purportedly lays out what the FBI and others did to corrupt the 2016 election. According to Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) and others, the memo is "deeply disturbing." Schiff Hits the Fan. Sen. Dianne Feinstein gets to release the testimony of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson due to a head cold but it takes a vote of the House Intelligence Committee and presidential approval to release the memo detailing the FBI and DOJ collusion to overthrow the President of the United States. I have a suggestion — vote to release the memo, send a copy to President Trump and have him read it during the State of the Union. Isn't this supposed to be the government of the people, by the people, and for the people? So why are the people kept in the dark about the attempted overthrow of their government? Our representatives can see the memo but the people they represent can't? Tucker Carlson Drops A Truth Bomb On The Mainstream Media. Tucker Carlson shamed the mainstream media for no longer serving as watchdogs and for failing to speak truth to power, Wednesday [1/24/2018] on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight." Carlson discussed a classified memo detailing surveillance practices used by former President Barack Obama's administration, to spy on President Donald Trump's campaign. Carlson accused liberals of using Russia as an excuse to keep the memo secret and said the press has been complicit in hiding the truth. Chairmen Nunes & Gowdy Plot Releasing Supporting Documents With Explosive FISA Memo. According to the Washington Examiner's Byron York, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) huddled together Saturday [1/20/2018] to discuss a "never-before-used procedure" for releasing the "shocking" FISA abuse memo. Rep. Paul Gosar on #ReleaseTheMemo: Obama's 'Weaponization' of DOJ and Intelligence Services Links to Fast and Furious, IRS, and Benghazi Scandal. "If you don't think the unmasking has something to do with the weaponization of our Department of Justice and our intelligence services, think again," said Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), suggesting that the Obama administration had weaponized the executive branch in pursuit of partisan political purposes. Did The Obama Administration Abuse FISA To Spy On The Trump Campaign? We'll Have To Wait 19 Days. Last week, we reported that a four-page memo about alleged FISA abuses was made public to the entire House. Almost 200 members have read it. It details abuses so egregious that some lawmakers say could lead to drastic changes at the FBI and Department of Justice. Some have linked the alleged abuses to that of the KGB. The debate now is whether to make this memo public. Senate Intelligence Committee Member Regarding #ReleaseTheMemo: "For Sake Of National Security This Must Never See The Light Of Day". A senator who was described by sources as a member of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee is said to have implored their fellow SIC members earlier this week that the now-infamous memo said to outline rampant surveillance abuses by the FBI against private citizens, including but not limited to, attempts to subvert the 2016 Election in favor of Hillary Clinton, must, in the interest of national security, "...never see the light of day." It should also be noted that this senator is said to be "very close" to the Obama Machine. "It has been my experience that whenever a leader — whether elected, anointed or media-appointed — does not want you to see something, that's probably the time when you should go out of your way to see it." The Continued Creation of The "Fall Guy" Bill Priestap — John Brennan Edition. [Scroll down] In the aftermath of the election, all of the players were paying close attention to what each of their colleagues was saying. Obviously John Brennan realized people were focusing on Comey's March 20th admission to congress that the FBI intentionally kept congress in the dark during the construct of the Trump-Russia counter-intel narrative. Congress was kept in the dark during this (July 2016-November 2016) operation because the surveillance relied on innuendo, rumor, gossip etc, the "Clinton/Steele Dossier". The unlawful operation needed the cover of a FISA Court approval; in the aftermath of the election the investigation itself morphed into a political need; the substance was non-existent and immaterial in relation to the creation of a narrative and to provide cover. The Fusion Affair, Weaponizing Government Spying. There are daily revelations showing rampant government corruption in the bureau's counterintelligence division and the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. Among these is startling fact the FBI did not allocate its own agents to scour the information collected through the NSA under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This is the program through which our government collects every communication sent by every citizen all the time. The reason this is not seen as a violation of our constitutional rights is because this data is theoretically protected from abuse through a system that limits access to agencies critical to our national security and, beyond those, only by warrants acquired through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It looks like the 'James Bond' behind the dossier let a Putin pawn do all the work. Virtually all of the credibility of the so-called Steele dossier — and the Trump-Russia collusion narrative and investigations it spawned — hinges on Christopher Steele's vaunted reputation as a former British intelligence agent who spied on Moscow and still maintains a network of sources inside the Kremlin. But now we are finding out from newly released transcripts that he never even set foot inside Russia to compile his dossier, and that he relied instead on an ex-journalist-turned-p.r. consultant to do much of his investigating there. In fact, this non-intelligence figure may be his main "Russian source" of information. GOP Lawmaker: "Absolutely" the FISA Memo IS THE SMOKING GUN. On Saturday [1/20/2018] Rep. Dave Joyce announced that the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSIC) had launched the process to release the explosive FBI-FISA-Russia classified memo. Rep. Adam Schiff, election transparency crusader, does NOT want to Release The Memo. California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff has been among the leading voices on the Left calling for full transparency about the 2016 election so the American people can know exactly what happened. However, the transparency Schiff has called for apparently only applies to anything that might fit the Democrats' "Trump/Russia collusion" narrative. As far as the classified memo that has shocked Republicans in Congress by documenting alleged surveillance abuses, Schiff is saying "not so fast": Dem Rep Adam Schiff Says FISA Memo Should Stay Secret Because Americans Won't Understand It. Democratic Rep Adam Schiff told CNN on Saturday the much-hyped FISA memo which Republicans say shows "KGB" level corruption on the part of the Department of Justice should stay secret because American's don't have enough context to understand it. Also posted under Liberals think you're stupid. House Intelligence Committee Will Vote To Release FISA Corruption Memo. According to Representative Dave Joyce (R-OH14) the House Intelligence Committee will hold a vote on the release of the four-page Nunes memo that reveals systemic corruption within the DOJ and FBI; including the unlawful use of FISA-702(16)(17) data searches which were part of an elaborate DOJ-FBI surveillance program on the political campaign of Donald Trump. Washington: City of Hate. Yes, after more than a year of "Russia, Russia, Russia", it's all coming down — or may be coming down — to a memo to the House Intelligence Committee. Only we're not supposed to see it — that and all the attendant documents, emails and texts that prove or disprove its contents. Was a forged document by a sleazy coterie of wretched political attack dogs actually used by our government to justify spying on U.S. citizens and upending a presidential campaign? Inquiring — or normal human — minds should want know. Yet you and I, the people of this country, are not permitted to see things only the denizens of Washington can see. Hidden in a SCIF somewhere, they alone determine what is permissible for our untrained eyes. They release information about Russia — and everything else — only when they see fit. And then they redact said information to such an extent most government documents resemble Rorschach tests once they are published. Your guess is as good as mine what's in them. A Bombshell House Intelligence report exposing extensive FISA abuse could lead to the removal of senior government officials. A review of a classified document outlining what is described as extensive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse was made available to all House members Thursday [1/18/2018] and the revelations could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, several sources with knowledge of the document stated. These sources say the report is "explosive," stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates. The House Intelligence Committee passed the motion along party lines Thursday to make the classified report alleging extensive 'FISA Abuse' related to the controversial dossier available to all House members. Amid shutdown, House GOP shows intense interest in Trump dossier memo. Of course the government shutdown is topic No. 1 on Capitol Hill this weekend; that's why lawmakers, normally spread across the country in their states and districts, are in Washington on a Saturday and Sunday. But in the House of Representatives, concern about the shutdown is nearly matched by interest in something else: the memo, produced by Republicans on the Intelligence Committee, detailing so-called "FISA abuse" in connection with the Trump dossier and the larger Trump-Russia affair. A steady stream of lawmakers, almost all of them Republicans, has been visiting a secure room in the Capitol, where they are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement before reading the four-page memo. So far, more than 180 out of 241 GOP members of the House have read the document. That is an extraordinary level of interest, given that there is a government shutdown going on. Up To 200 Members Of Congress Have Read The Memo And NO LEAKS = Devastating To Dems. Word is as many as 200 members of Congress have now reviewed what some are calling a "shaking the foundation of our democracy" memo that links high-placed figures within both the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton campaign, the DNC, Deep State, and Establishment Media in an attempt to subvert the 2016 Election. It was never "Russian Collusion." It was our own government/the Obama administration/Deep State, attempting to choose the next president — Hillary Clinton. Fusion GPS Founder: FBI May Have Paid Expenses for Anti-Trump Dossier Author. Glenn R. Simpson, the co-founder of the controversial opposition research firm Fusion GPS, stated in testimony it "makes sense" to him that the FBI paid for a trip to Rome by the former British spy who was contracted by Simpson's company to produce the largely discredited 35-page anti-Trump dossier. Fusion GPS hired Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent, to do the work cited in the anti-Trump dossier. Last July, Steele reportedly traveled to Rome, where he met with an FBI contact to supply the agency with the anti-Trump dossier and other information he found during the course of his anti-Trump work. Steele's dossier reportedly served as some of the basis for the FBI's investigation into Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and unsubstantiated claims of coordination with Russia. House panel releases Glenn Simpson testimony transcript. The co-founder of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS told the House Intelligence Committee this past November that "people were arrested or died mysteriously" after the existence of the now-infamous "Trump-Russia dossier" was made public. However, Glenn Simpson did not say whether those affected actually contributed information to the unverified dossier, which was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and which BuzzFeed published in January of last year. "I do believe there was a bit of an old-fashioned purge," Simpson told the committee, before adding, "to my knowledge, it wasn't anyone that helped us. I think it was more likely people who were taking the opportunity to settle scores or were falsely accused ... and/or were sources of the U.S. Intelligence Community, not us." Secret (for now) memo may blow the lid off FISA warrant and Mueller investigation. Conservative hearts are aflutter, thanks to a memo that has been made available to members of the House of Representatives (if they go to a secure room and read it). According to several members, there is finally hope of documenting the cabal that appears to have deceived the FISA Court with the Steele dossier to obtain a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign, and then launched special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the bogus "collusion" charges, morphing into the Lavrentiy Beria strategy of "show me the man, and I'll find you the crime." According to some members who have seen it, heads may roll, and people may end up in prison. McCain Associate Who Handled Dossier Asks Judge To Seal Deposition. An associate of Arizona Sen. John McCain's who handled the dossier is asking a federal judge to block the release of a videotape and transcript of a deposition he recently gave in a lawsuit related to the salacious document. David Kramer, a former State Department official and former director at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, filed a motion in federal court in Florida asking a judge for a protective order to block the public release of his deposition. Kramer was deposed last month by lawyers for a Russian businessman suing BuzzFeed News for publishing the dossier. The lawyers for the businessman, Aleksej Gubarev, are interested in Kramer because he is one of just a few people known to have handled the dossier after it was completed by former British spy Christopher Steele and before its Jan. 10, 2017 publication. 5 Things to Know About Fusion GPS's Sordid Past. On Tuesday [1/16/2018], Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the transcript of Glenn Simpson's interview with congressional investigators last August. The investigation centered on the Trump-Russia dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and potentially used by the Obama administration to secure FISA surveillance on officials in the Donald Trump campaign. Fusion GPS has a long sordid history of twisting the truth to attack political opponents, and Trump is merely the latest victim. Here's How The NYT's Latest Russian Collusion Theory Was Ripped Apart. The Steele Dossier is suspected to be what prompted a FISA warrant and the cryptic "insurance" policy that was referenced in texting exchange between Peter Strzok and his mistress Lisa Page, a bureau lawyer. Strzok was part of the FBI's investigations into Hillary's emails and signed off on this current Russia probe. He was removed from the investigation last summer once Special Counsel Robert Mueller learned of the texts, of which there are 10,000 between Strzok and Page between August of 2015 and December of 2016. Did Christopher Steele Write His Dossier, or Did a Russian Associate? Christopher Steele, or "Chris Steele," as he bylined his reporting, attended Cambridge University and wrote for the student publication, Varsity. At Cambridge, he also served as president of the Cambridge Union Society, a debating club. Contemporaries remember him as an "avowedly [l]eft-wing student with CND credentials." CND is shorthand for "Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament," a British organization that was particularly active when Steele arrived at Cambridge in the early 1980s. At the time, MI5 monitored CND for its reported communist ties. As the British Guardian observed in an article on Steele, "Cambridge had produced some of MI6's most talented cold war officials. A few of them, it turned out — to great embarrassment — had secret second jobs with the KGB." But this is a story for another day. The story for today is how a Cambridge journalist and debater could write a sentence like the following: [...] Simpson Admits Fusion GPS Went to the Press to Salvage Hillary's Campaign. [Glenn] Simpson appeared before the House Intelligence Committee, in response to a subpoena, on November 8, 2017. At that time, his lawyer indicated that he would not answer questions, but rather would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The Fifth Amendment does not give a witness carte blanche to say that it would be more convenient for him not to answer questions. It is a constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. To invoke it, a witness must allege that if he were to answer questions on a certain topic, his answers may tend to show that he is guilty of a crime. What crime did Glenn Simpson commit, or at least arguably commit, in connection with Fusion GPS's absurd "investigation" of Donald Trump, and his later publicizing of the results of that investigation? We don't know. House Intelligence Committee Votes To Reveal "The Big Ugly". The House Intelligence Committee voted today to allow all congressional members to view a summary report of classified documents behind the "Clinton Dossier". As Byron York writes in the Washington Examiner: "At the committee's meeting Thursday morning [1/18/2018], Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., offered a motion to allow all House members to review a brief report prepared by the Republican majority summarizing the panel's investigation into what GOP members call 'FISA abuse.'" This Defense Of FBI's Handling Of The Steele Dossier Is One Of The Weakest Yet. [Scroll down] The dossier has been driving news coverage of Russia since it was legitimized via a leak to major media a year ago. The dossier alleges treasonous collusion between Donald Trump and Russia. It includes salacious details. It was written by someone who journalists and intelligence officials said was a credible ex-spy. And it was allegedly used by the FBI, even though it was a Clinton campaign document. But more than a year after it became public, none of its significant claims have been verified. In recent weeks, some journalists and other critics of President Trump have been downplaying its importance as a centerpiece of the FBI's investigation. Others are trying to rehabilitate it and the shady opposition researchers who have run its messaging campaign. The most important recent talking point, for some reason, is that it wasn't used to launch an investigation into Trump and his associates. Thirty Questions and One Answer: "Because Laura Ingraham Wouldn't Shut Up". Where did this story originate, and why did the entity who released the story wish the public to know about it? Why did an anonymous somebody tell the media Peter Strzok was the FBI agent who interviewed General Michael Flynn, three days before Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators? Why was it important to anonymous *somebodies* that we know about Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI lawyer Lisa Page. Why was it important for people inside the intelligence community to tell the public, anonymously, that Lisa Page and Peter Strzok were conspiring to assist Hillary Clinton and eliminate candidate Donald Trump? Why was it important for the public to know that Agent Peter Strzok and Attorney Lisa Page changed the wording on the FBI talking points that James Comey used to exonerate candidate Hillary Clinton? Who, inside the intelligence community, was pushing out that information? Fusion GPS Founder Admits He Didn't Believe Trump Was 'Suitable' to be President While Compiling Hoax Dossier. In testimony released publicly last week, Glenn R. Simpson, the co-founder of the controversial opposition research firm Fusion GPS conceded that he opposed Donald Trump's presidential candidacy and that his negative opinions of the politician may have "entered" into his "thinking." Fusion GPS compiled the infamous, largely discredited 35-page dossier accusing Trump and his presidential campaign of ties with Russia. Clinton Corruption Update: It's All One Scandal. Several Clinton scandals, and revelations from the ill-conceived Russia investigation, have been converging into a single scandal for months. With the Peter Strzok/Fusion GPS revelations, there's no longer any gap between the various Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration unmasking scandals: it's all one, big swampy scandal, with some of the same players showing up again and again, and Hillary Clinton is involved up to her chin. Strzok, in case you hadn't heard, is the FBI agent dismissed from Robert Mueller's Russia probe. His text messages reveal that he's a dedicated Trump hater. Hillary Clinton confidant was interviewed by FBI in connection to the salacious dossier. A close friend, advisor and confidant of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was allegedly interviewed by the FBI in connection with the controversial dossier that was used 'in part' as evidence by the bureau to obtain a warrant to investigate members of President Trump's campaign team, according to several sources who spoke to this reporter. Sidney Blumenthal, a former journalist and a close friend of Clinton, was interviewed by the FBI in 2016 regarding the dossier that alleged Trump colluded with Russia, the sources stated. Department of Justice officials, however, declined to comment on Blumenthal or the dossier. FBI officials declined to comment. "The Clinton Dossier". Time, further questioning, and a host of inherent contradictions will eventually bring more sunlight upon the authorship of "The Dossier". Additionally, how it was used by the DOJ/FBI in gaining FISA-702 query and upstream data surveillance approvals, what the media calls "FISA Warrants", is soon to reach sunlight. It's unavoidable. In addition to the absurd claims debunked within the dossier, a significantly under-discussed aspect is the actual authorship. Fusion GPS claims Christopher Steele wrote the memos which were assembled into the "Clinton Dossier". However, there are numerous mistakes within the documents which no intelligence expert would ever make; including the repeated misspelling of the Russian "Alfa" bank. House Panel Will Release Fusion GPS Founder's Testimony Transcript. The House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously on Thursday [1/18/2018] to release a transcript of Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson's testimony before the panel last November. The transcript could be released later Thursday, a source told The Daily Beast. California Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the committee, scheduled a vote earlier this week after the top Democrat on the panel, California Rep. Adam Schiff, called for the release of the transcript. Fusion GPS continues research on Trump amid growing concern for Congressional Committees. The controversial research firm Fusion GPS is still investigating alleged ties between President Trump's 2016 election campaign and Russia, according to several sources who spoke to this reporter. What's not known is who is paying for the continuing research? Fusion GPS officials could not be reached immediately for comment. In October, the Washington Post revealed that Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign paid the now embattled research firm Fusion GPS to fund the research into the dossier. Marc E. Elias, who was a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC allegedly retained Fusion GPS, but the campaign failed to disclose those payments on its finance records. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican and Chairman of the National Security Subcommittee, sent a letter last week to House Speaker Paul Ryan, asking him to direct Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes , R-CA to declassify documents given to the committee related to the dossier. He asked Nunes to utilize the process known as Rule X to make the documents available to the American people and said Fusion GPS's continuing research into President Trump should be investigated. Report: FBI Agent Shared Russia Probe Information With Christopher Steele. An FBI agent shared the name of former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos with Trump dossier author Christopher Steele during a meeting in early October 2016. That new bit of information was revealed in a column published Wednesday [1/17/2018] by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. Ignatius reports that Steele, a former MI6 agent, met with an old FBI contact in Rome around Oct. 1, 2016 to share findings from his investigation into Donald Trump's and the Trump campaign's associations with the Russian government. "At this meeting, the FBI official asked Steele if he had ever heard of Papadopoulos," reports Ignatius, who cited an official familiar with the meeting as his source. Did DOJ's Fusion GPS Man Shut Down Hezbollah Drug Investigation? This is a potential collision of two major recent scandals. [#1] Bruce Ohr, a top DOJ official, met with Fusion GPS people. And Fusion GPS hired his wife to go after Trump. Fusion GPS is the smear firm which the Hillary campaign used to create the dossier accusing Trump of Russian collusion. The dossier was then funneled into the DOJ and FBI. And was potentially used to justify illegal eavesdropping on Trump officials by Obama officials. Not to mention the current Mueller coup. [#2] We recently learned that Obama Inc. had shut down investigations targeting Iranian terror, including an investigation that would have gone after Hezbollah and its drug smuggling schemes. Trump dossier probes now include possible State Department involvement. Congressional investigations into the Trump dossier have so far been focused on the FBI and Justice Department. They still are, but now investigators are also looking into a possible Obama State Department role in the collection and dissemination of sensational and still-unverified allegations against candidate Donald Trump gathered by a former British spy working for the Hillary Clinton campaign. In addition to having contacts in the Obama Justice Department and FBI, that former spy, Christopher Steele, was also well-connected with the Obama State Department. A book published in November by a correspondent at the Guardian, "Collusion: Secret meetings, dirty money, and how Russia helped Donald Trump win," noted that Steele's 2010 work on the World Cup soccer corruption investigation won him the trust not only of the FBI, but the State Department as well. Congress Takes 3-Prong Approach To Surround Corrupt Intelligence and Justice Officials. There is an interesting dynamic unfolding with White Hats and Black Hats amid the story of how political forces within the DOJ and FBI conspired with Clinton allies in the 2016 presidential election, ie. "The Trump Operation". [...] There are two central components: First, corruption within the DOJ and FBI that included their use of unlawful use of FISA-702 exploits; and second, how that intelligence information was extracted, passed along to those outside government, repackaged, and reconstituted into the "Steele Dossier". The finished, albeit sketchy, intelligence was later returned to the FBI to request lawful FISA court surveillance authority. It is a circle of "intelligence laundering". Confusing Dossier Chaff with Wheat. [Scroll down] We do not yet know who these independent contractors were who were allowed to riffle through the NSA database, or why the FBI shared the results with them. Nor can we imagine why the FBI even hired outside contractors for such work. But the supposition is that these independent contractors were Fusion GPS, a dirt-digging opposition research firm paid by Hillary Clinton and apparently President Obama (through hired counsel), and even the FBI or others subcontracted by them were working in league with them. Should that prove true, we have the worst political scandal in U.S. history: a weaponization of our law enforcement agencies to assist one candidate and destroy her opponent. The Current Evolving Clinton (Democrats Writ Large) Defense. Following the narrative: Patriotic Hillary Clinton did her civic duty by informing her sources inside the FBI of the Russian claims, and both her and her DOJ/FBI unit went about a process of investigation to save America from Trump. This approach, they believe, protects them from being the origin of the fraudulent Russian Conspiracy Narrative. And positions them as unsuspecting victims to the intelligence manipulation of Russia. Of course to take this approach, Clinton, the FBI and DOJ have to admit that Mueller's investigation was based on a fraud. [Which it was, but for other reasons.] Which they hope will also get them away from their current "Dossier" problem. Fusion GPS founder told Senate investigators the FBI had a source in Trump's network. The head of the research firm behind a dossier of allegations against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump told congressional investigators that someone inside Trump's network had also provided the FBI with information during the 2016 campaign, according to a newly released transcript, a claim quickly disputed by people close to the investigation into Russian interference in the election. Glenn R. Simpson, a founder of the research firm Fusion GPS, spoke to investigators with the Senate Judiciary Committee for 10 hours in August. As the partisan fight over Russian interference in the 2016 election has intensified, Simpson has urged that his testimony be released, and a copy of the transcript was made public Tuesday [1/9/2018]. Update: The Trump dossier's credibility is collapsing. No sooner did Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, unilaterally release the testimony of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson than liberals and their advocates in the media were claiming victory. Look, they argued, the Donald Trump investigation was completely justified because the infamous "dossier," according to Simpson, had been corroborated by the FBI. It was a dramatic moment. Also, as far as we know, untrue. Bombshell Document Dump: Fusion GPS was Paid by Clinton Campaign and FBI to Turn 2016 Election. This is the biggest scandal in American history, in which the Obama administration, the Hillary campaign, and corrupt leaders in the Department of Justice tried to change the outcome of a presidential election. And they still lost. The DOJ and FBI Worked With Fusion GPS on "Operation Trump". Following the released transcript of Fusion-GPS Co-Founder Glenn Simpson's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Senator Dianne Feinstein, several media outlets have begun questioning the relationship between the FBI investigators, Glenn Simpson and dossier author Christopher Steele. What we have discovered highlights the answer to those relationship questions; and also answers a host of other questions, including: Did the FBI pay Christopher Steele? Yes, but now how media has stated. Was the FBI connected to the creation of the Steele Dossier? Yes, but again, not the way the media is currently outlining. The Democrats Have a "Dossier" Problem, and It Will Not Go Away. Journalist Kimberley A. Strassel is one of the few mainstream journalists writing about the collaborative 2016 DOJ/FBI "Trump Operation" with a sense of what is to come. Strassel likely understands where the story is going, and appears to have a solid grasp on the evidence trail, yet necessarily writes cautiously — the stakes are indeed quite high. Today [1/12/2018] Strassel writes about the need for the Democrats to rehabilitate the Steele Dossier because the alternative origin, the truthful origin to the counterintelligence operation over the campaign of candidate Donald Trump, is a stunning political risk. Two weeks ago the New York Times narrative said the Steele Dossier was nothing, irrelevant, and had nothing to do with the FBI beginning "Operation Trump". Today, mysteriously, Democrats embrace the Steele Dossier as they justify the DOJ/FBI counterintelligence and surveillance operation over an opposing political candidate. Nunes charges 'abuse' of government surveillance by FBI and Justice officials. House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes told Republican colleagues in two closed-door meetings this week he has seen evidence that shows clear "abuse" of government surveillance programs by FBI and Justice Department officials, according to three sources familiar with the conversations, raising more questions about whether the controversial anti-Trump dossier was used by the Obama administration to authorize surveillance of advisers to President Trump. The California Republican made his comments in private meetings with GOP colleagues as he tried to round up votes in favor of renewing a key section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as Section 702, which eventually passed in the House on Thursday [1/11/2018]. Feinstein Confirms Fusion GPS Lawyers Asked For Release Of Testimony Transcript. California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein told The Daily Caller that Fusion GPS lawyers asked her to release company co-founder Glenn Simpson's testimony transcript. She released the testimony Tuesday [1/9/2018] before consulting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, which she told TheDC she regrets. Feinstein is the top Democrat on the committee. "We were written to by the lawyers of the company asking that it be released, and the reason, of course, is because it has been used by rumor and innuendo and falsity so much that the time came for people to see exactly what was said," Feinstein said. Clinton's dodgy dossier is way worse than Watergate. This Fusion GPS hoax is going to be a bigger political scandal than Watergate. Think about it — Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid big bucks to the dirty tricksters at Fusion GPS to concoct an utterly bogus anti-Trump "dossier." Hillary's 35-page smear was then handed off to corrupt FBI agents and DOJ employees who were themselves accepting money from either Clinton cronies or the smear artists at Fusion GPS, who by the way were also being paid by the Russians at the same time. And then the crooked FBI took Hillary's fake dossier to a secret federal court and used it to obtain a warrant to spy on Clinton's opponent Donald Trump and his associates during the 2016 presidential campaign. In his wildest dreams, Richard Nixon never imagined setting up a police state this corrupt. Was Seth Rich Killed over the Steele Dossier? Whoa! Somebody's already been killed as the result of the dossier put together by former British spy Christopher Steele from questionable Russian sources and paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC, and possibly used by the FBI to obtain FISA warrants to spy on the campaign of Hillary's opponent, Donald J. Trump? As shocking as this revelation may be, it dovetails nicely with fear expressed for her safety by former DNC chair Donna Brazile. In a stunning interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos about her new book, Hacks, Brazile made cryptic references to murdered DNC I.T. staffer Seth Rich and revealed that afterward, she took the precautions one takes when one fears for his life. So far, speculation about the unsolved murder of Seth Rich have been dismissed as right-wing conspiracy theories, but Brazile's references to him in the light of all that has come out about WikiLeaks, the Fusion GPS dossier, and Hillary's purchase of the DNC that rigged the primaries against Bernie Sanders may be a missing piece of this whole puzzle. Notes on the Simpson transcript. [Glenn] Simpson was threatened with a subpoena. Instead he appeared voluntarily under a written understanding regarding the parameters of the interview. He was not placed under oath. Rather, he was reminded that false statement to Congress are punishable under federal law. He was represented by counsel during the interview. Republican and Democratic committee lawyers took alternate one-hour turns questioning Simpson. The transcript is of interest because of Simpson's role in retaining British former MI6 man Christopher Steele and procuring his preparation of the memos that make up the Steele Dossier for the Clinton campaign. The memos feature salacious allegations from anonymous Russian sources regarding Donald Trump and the Trump campaign. We want to know whether the Steele Dossier was used by the FBI to support FISA applications for warrants that led to FBI surveillance on the Trump presidential campaign. Glenn Simpson Knows Nothing, Apparently. Taken as a whole, Simpson's statement is interesting, if you like that sort of thing. But it contains no earth-shaking revelations, and is consistent with what I believe to be true: that a Republican presidential contender, followed by the Clinton campaign and the DNC, paid Fusion GPS to try to dig up dirt on Donald Trump; that Fusion hired Christopher Steele to see what he could find in Russia; that Steele either concocted fables or was happy to pass on claims from anonymous (maybe non-existent) sources, some of which have proven indisputably false, while others are unverified; and that Simpson and Steele tried to help Hillary Clinton win the election by peddling their false stories to numerous left-leaning news outlets, and by trying to stimulate an FBI investigation, which they urged reporters to ask the FBI about. It is a sordid story, and one that deserves unequivocal condemnation from all points on the political spectrum. Report: FBI Used Unverified Anti-Trump Dossier to Obtain FISA Warrant. The FBI used the unverified anti-Trump dossier alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians to obtain the warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court (FISA), investigative journalist Sara Carter reported Wednesday [1/10/2018]. Representatives of four committees — the House Intelligence Committee, Senate Intelligence Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and Senate Judiciary Committee — have been able to examine FISA documents in a secure room at the Justice Department, according to the Washington Examiner's Byron York. Confirmation: DOJ and FBI Used "Steele Dossier" for Application To FISA Court for Search Authority on Trump Campaign. It can be difficult to see through the wording to understand the accurate story. Sara Carter and Fox News are both confirming the DOJ and FBI used the Steele Dossier to get FISA-702 Data Surveillance Authority allowing them to spy on Trump campaign officials. In the latest developments, as reported by Sara Carter and Fox News, the DOJ and FBI used the sketchy 'Steele Dossier' as the foundation for their FISA application. Yes, Congress has seen Trump-Russia secret court surveillance documents. Now what? One of the most contentious issues surrounding the Trump dossier is the question of whether the FBI used unverified material from the dossier — a Clinton campaign opposition research product — to apply for permission to spy on Americans. Investigators from both House and Senate have long wanted to see any FISA applications (that is, spying requests filed with the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court) that dealt with the Trump-Russia affair. Now, they have seen them. Sources on both Capitol Hill and in the executive branch have confirmed that representatives of four committees — the House Intelligence Committee, Senate Intelligence Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and Senate Judiciary Committee — have had the opportunity to examine FISA documents in a secure room at the Justice Department. They were not allowed to take the documents out of the room or to copy them, but they could make notes. They thus know the answer to the was-the-dossier-used-for-spying question. Senator Dianne Feinstein Releases Transcript of Glenn Simpson Fusion-GPS Testimony. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the leading minority member of the 2016 Gang of Eight (intelligence oversight) when she previously held Vice-Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the full transcript of the Judiciary Committee interview with Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson. The transcript was released over the objections of Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley who is investigating the role of Fusion-GPS and their "Steele Dossier" in the 2016 DOJ/FBI surveillance operation of presidential candidate Donald Trump. Dianne Feinstein Says A 'Bad Cold' May Have 'Slowed Down' Her Mental Faculties. Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein suggested a "bad cold" may have impaired her mental faculties and caused her to release Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee without telling committee chairman Chuck Grassley. Feinstein published Simpson's testimony on Tuesday, catching Republicans by surprise. Simpson's testimony, taken during August of last year, covered his firm's role in producing the infamous anti-Trump dossier for the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. Feinstein, 84, expressed regret on Wednesday for keeping Sen. Grassley in the dark, and suggested it was because of a "bad cold." Report: Dianne Feinstein Says Someone 'Pressured' Her To Release Fusion GPS Transcripts, Backtracks. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) appears to have made a startling revelation about why she released the Fusion GPS transcripts on Tuesday [1/9/2018] — she was "pressured" to do so. The revelation came from CNN Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju, who tweeted: "FEINSTEIN says she's sorry to Grassley for not giving him a headsup about the release of the Fusion GPS transcript. 'I meant to tell him, and I didn't have a chance to tell him, and that concerns me,' she told us. 'I just got pressured, and I didn't do it.'" FBI Agents Appear to Have Actively, Systematically Planted Stories to Take Down the President. On Tuesday's [1/9/2018] edition of "The Story with Martha MacCallum," Republican Congressman from Ohio, Jim Jordan explained that the text messages released by John Solomon show that "the FBI was actively planning in a systemic way" to plant stories in the Wall Street Journal and other places to trigger an investigation that would drag on and eventually, they hoped, bring down the Trump presidency. This was likely the "insurance policy" discussed by Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. What Jordan found most interesting about the Simpson testimony released by Senator Feinstein was that "Glenn Simpson said Christopher Steele told him the FBI had another source. How did Christopher Steele know that? Did the FBI tell him? If they did, why is the FBI telling Christopher Steele, the guy who was paid by Fusion who was paid by the Clinton campaign, why is the FBI telling Christopher Steele they got another source on this whole Russia investigation? I think that is interesting and something we need to get to the bottom of." A Political Battle Over Dossiers, FISA Warrants and Surveillance, Clouds A Much Bigger Story. There is a lot of news amid national headlines but there is only one story. Unfortunately, that story is a complex multidimensional matrix of politics, law enforcement corruption, the DC swamp, and vested interests attempting to hide and manipulate facts, i.e., The Russian Election/Collusion Story. What I am going to introduce today is how the 2016 FISA-702(16)(17) data and surveillance activity issues; and the 2016 FISA Court applications for surveillance and search warrants; and the Christopher Steele (Fusion GPS) Russian Dossier; and the individual actions by DOJ, FBI and IC officials; all connect within the targeted political weaponization of government. Congressional investigators are still trying to determine what the "CF article" reference means. So now we know that FBI Attorney, and legal aide to Andrew "Andy" McCabe, Lisa Page was also a leaker. Which makes sense for a few reasons. [#1] Because the Washington Post is the primary outlet for IC leaks. The New York Times is their secondary outlet. Also [#2] Because Lisa Page was an active participant, and openly partisan ideologue, inside the DOJ/FBI investigative unit working to protect Hillary Clinton. And [#3] Because the substantive issue within the story at the time was anger by the Clinton Camp, against Comey, for announcing the re-opening of the Clinton email investigation. What that individual series of text messages from Lisa Page highlights is how far she was willing to go to shape DOJ/FBI investigative action to the benefit of her favorite political candidate. Lisa Page and Peter Strzok were not only willing to manipulate their official investigative duty to the benefit of Hillary Clinton, but they were also willing to leak information to the media in an effort to shape the narrative around their investigative duties. Grim dossier claim spurs speculation about possible Russian rubout. A bombshell revelation made public Tuesday [1/9/2018] that "somebody's already been killed" as a result of the publication of an unconfirmed anti-Trump dossier has sparked speculation that it was a reference to an ex-KGB agent mysteriously found dead in his car a year ago in Moscow. The attorney for Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson told Senate investigators in a 300-page testimony transcript released Tuesday that a murder had been carried out as a result of the publication of an unverified and salacious dossier about Donald Trump. Trump blasts "Sneaky Dianne Feinstein," says release of testimony was "possibly illegal". President Trump expressed outrage Wednesday at Sen. Dianne Feinstein who defied Republicans and released testimony a day earlier from an interview with the co-founder of Fusion GPS, the firm that commissioned a dossier of allegations about Mr. Trump's ties to Russia. Mr. Trump claimed on Twitter that the California Democrat has stated on "numerous occasions" that no collusion took place between his presidential campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. He said that her decision to release testimony was "possibly illegal." Trump lawyer files defamation suits against BuzzFeed, Fusion GPS over Russia dossier. Michael Cohen, one of President Trump's personal attorneys, filed a "defamation action" Tuesday against BuzzFeed News and its editor-in-chief over allegations about him that were published in the now-infamous "Trump-Russia dossier" compiled by a former British spy. Cohen also filed a federal defamation lawsuit against Fusion GPS, the research firm that hired former MI6 agent Christopher Steele to compile the dossier. "[I am] collateral damage in a U.S. political operation — conducted by [Fusion GPS] — that has nothing to do with [me]," Cohen's filing said. House Chairman Asks Paul Ryan To Declassify All DOJ And FBI 'Trump Dossier' Docs. Florida GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis asked Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Tuesday [1/9/2018] to declassify all of the Department of Justice and FBI's Trump dossier files, The Caller News Foundation has learned. DeSantis, the chairman of the House Oversight subcommittee on National Security, formally asked Ryan in a letter to invoke Rule X in order to declassify all documents obtained by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Under House rules, the speaker of the House acts as an ex-officio member of any select committee, which includes the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Under Rule X, the speaker along with a majority vote by the committee can allow for the disclosure of "any information in its possession after a determination by the select committee that the public interest would be served by such disclosure." Lawyer: 'Somebody's already been killed' over Trump dossier. A lawyer for the founder of Fusion GPS, the research firm behind a controversial dossier on Donald Trump, told Senate investigators that "somebody's already been killed" after it was published, according to a transcript of the testimony released on Tuesday [1/9/2018]. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in August 2017, Glenn Simpson was questioned about whether he tried to "assess the credibility" of sources behind information uncovered by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent who compiled the dossier. "Yes, but I'm not going to get into sourcing information," Simpson said. Asked again what "steps he took to verify their credibility," Simpson declined to answer. Fusion GPS Testimony Shows FBI Believed Dossier Without Verification. Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) may have tried to discredit Republican scrutiny of Fusion GPS and its dossier's role in the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign, but could have ended up justifying it instead. Feinstein — against the wishes of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — on Tuesday morning released the full transcript of an interview in August with Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS, the firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to dig up dirt on Trump's ties with Russia. Fusion GPS Admits They Used John McCain to Pass Anti-Trump Dossier to Obama-Era Intel Agencies. The founders of the controversial opposition research firm Fusion GPS admitted that they helped the researcher hired to compile the infamous, largely discredited 35-page dossier on President Donald Trump to share the document with Sen. John McCain. The goal of providing the dossier to McCain, the Fusion GPS founders explained, was to pass the information contained in the questionable document to the U.S. intelligence community under the Obama administration. The disclosure raises questions about whether McCain knew that the information he delivered to the intelligence community was actually an opposition document reportedly funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. House Intel Committee Has Received All Docs On Trump Dossier From DOJ, FBI. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence members gained access to all Department of Justice and FBI documents it possesses on the Trump dossier, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. The committee was able to review Friday [1/5/2018] all FBI and DOJ documents on the Trump dossier, former MI-6 British agent Christopher Steele who authored the dossier, and Fusion GPS, the political opposition firm that hired Steele. DOJ also provided any Obama administration applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court based on the dossier, which could approve the surveillance of the Trump transition team or Trump associates, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case. The information could serve as a key breakthrough in the committee's investigation of Steele, Fusion GPS and the Russians who influenced the dossiers' contents. Criminal Charges For The British Spy Of Dossier Infamy? The freelancing foreign spy who concocted the discredited Fusion GPS dossier to undermine President Trump may soon get his comeuppance now that senators are demanding a criminal investigation into his 2016 election shenanigans. The criminal referral comes as Michael Wolff's gossipy book [...] debuts as a bestseller, causing outrage and consternation in the nation's capital. Wolff admits he cannot vouch for the accuracy of much of the book in which he makes incredible claims. Wolff said in an interview that "100 percent of the people around" Trump, "senior advisers, family members, every single one of them, questions his intelligence and fitness for office." Trump himself tweeted the book is "full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don't exist" and accused Wolff of using his former White House chief strategist, whom the president derided as "Sloppy Steve Bannon," to promote sales of the book. The Senators' Criminal Referral of Dossier Author Steele. The referral at issue suggests that Steele may have provided false statements to the FBI — the same violation of section 1001 of the federal penal code to which Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos have pled guilty in the Mueller investigation. Specifically, the senators cite "statements the Committee has reason to believe Mr. Steele made regarding his distribution of information contained in the dossier." Now, as we consider this, let's bear in mind that we do not know what is in the classified memo that accompanies the letter. We don't know the substance of the statements to which Grassley and Graham refer. We do not know, for example, whether Steele told the FBI he was not speaking with the media about what he was reporting to the bureau. That assertion, if made, would seem contradicted by the fact that Steele did speak with the media about his reports. That said, let's consider the timeline. [...] House Committee Receives Fusion GPS's Bank Records. The bank for Fusion GPS gave the House Intelligence Committee dozens of the opposition research firm's financial records on Friday, a federal judge said. The exchange puts an end to a dramatic court fight over the Trump dossier firm's bank records, which the House panel sought through a subpoena issued in October. Judge Richard Leon on Thursday [1/4/2018] ruled against Fusion GPS which had asked for a temporary restraining order to prevent its bank, TD Bank, from complying with the committee's subpoena. Author of False "Trump Dossier" Refererred To DOJ For Criminal Activity. Ah, another remarkable and far more important bit of news that the Establishment Media is ignoring in favor of 24/7 anti-Trump bashing. Christopher Steele, the primary author of the infamous "Trump Dossier" which was used as justification by the Obama White House to initiate illegal surveillance on the Trump campaign and which has direct ties to high-ranking officials from both political parties (including, but not limited to, the Obama White House) and the Deep State, has just been referred to the Department of Justice for a potential criminal violation. One Bluff Called: Senators Graham and Grassley Send Criminal Referral To DOJ. In a brilliant move of strategery, Senate Judiciary Chairman, Chuck Grassley, and Senate Judiciary member, Lindsey Graham, send a criminal referral of Christopher Steele to the DOJ for investigation. But things are not what they seem. Today [1/5/2018] Senators Grassley and Graham sent a letter of criminal referral to the Department of Justice, based on information — provided by the FBI — their investigation has uncovered. However, the actual motive for the criminal referral is not exactly what it appears. Democrats' dishonest scramble to disown the Trump 'dossier'. Democrats have been quoting from the infamous anti-Trump "Steele dossier" as if it were gospel, but now that Hillary Clinton has been revealed as its paymaster and a Hillary-friendly FBI is under investigation for possibly launching the Trump-Russia "collusion" probe under its false pretenses, they are suddenly in full retreat from it. Their credibility is in tatters along with the discredited document. Rep. Adam Schiff, who's led the Democrats' "collusion" inquisition as vice chair of the House Intelligence Committee, fully embraced the dossier from the moment the panel kicked off a public hearing in March with then-FBI Director James Comey. The California Dem eagerly read into the record its unfounded criminal accusations against Trump campaign advisers. Since then, Schiff has dramatically changed his tune to one of caution and even regret: "I certainly would have liked to know who paid for it earlier." The Obama FBI: They're With Her. It was the summer of an election year. The official odds all favored Hillary. But a failed FISA request had already been made. And the real insurance was still coming. Its policies would include a second successful FISA request, the Steele dossier, the mass unmasking of Trump officials and the Mueller witch hunt. The insurance still hasn't paid off, but the men and women behind the coup are betting that it will. FBI Text Messages Suggest Senior Agents Were Sources Of Trump Dossier Leaks. The more we learn, the more the deluge of classified leaks about the totally irrelevant Trump dossier become explicable. The Hill reports today on an overview of the 300+ text messages between former number two guy in the FBI's counterintelligence operation, Peter Strzok, and his paramour, FBI attorney, and friend of Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page. Strzok and Page, you'll recall, were assigned to Mueller's investigation. The were removed when it was revealed they were sending anti-Trump/pro-Hillary text messages to each other on their government smartphones. Strzok is the guy who made an ominous reference to having an "insurance policy" to keep Trump from being elected. Strzok is the guy who interviewed Mike Flynn. These texts aren't conclusive but they strongly suggest that both Strzok and Page were leaking information to the media. Walls Close In Around DOJ and FBI "Small Group" Participants. Several stories broke yesterday [1/4/2018]: [#1] Senator Ron Johnson gains copies of the manipulated/edited FBI small group "talking points" that exonerated Hillary Clinton despite overwhelming evidence. Johnson is a Senate Judiciary Committee member and remains focused on those specifics. [#2] Senator Chuck Grassley has identified that former FBI Director James Comey leaked classified FBI information to the media to gain political leverage. Additional questions are now raised by the Senate Judiciary Chairman. [#3] The FBI has begun a new review of the Clinton Foundation pay-to-play network during Hillary Clinton's tenure at the State Dept. Investigators are questioning the people within the Clinton foundation about actions taken as a result of donations to the foundation. [#4] A federal judge has ruled that Fusion GPS must turn over it's [sic] bank records to the House Intelligence Committee. Including records of financial payments to journalists and media outlets to push the Christopher Steele "Dossier" story. What the Trump dossier criminal referral means. There's been a lot of confusion about the decision by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and crime subcommittee chairman Lindsey Graham to refer Christopher Steele, author of the Trump dossier, to the Justice Department for a possible criminal investigation. The two senators sent a brief letter Thursday to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and FBI director Christopher Wray. The letter, which was unclassified and released to the public Friday [1/5/2018], was a cover letter for what Grassley and Graham called a "classified memorandum related to certain communications between Christopher Steele and multiple U.S. news outlets regarding the so-called 'Trump dossier' that Mr. Steele compiled on behalf of Fusion GPS for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and also provided to the FBI." It's time to investigate Fusion GPS's dirt-diggers, possible collusion with feds to derail Trump's campaign. Late Wednesday [1/3/2018], the Justice Department and FBI stopped their four-month old stonewall of subpoenas from Congress for documents and witnesses related to the Steele dossier, the infamous compilation of unverified and salacious material alleging President Trump had improper dealings with Russia. All of the material will now apparently be turned over. The House Intelligence Committee had demanded that the Justice Department and FBI explain how they came to become involved with former British spy Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier after being paid by Fusion GPS. The company is a notorious Washington opposition research firm that in turn was paid to dig up dirt on Donald Trump by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee. DOJ Blows Past Deadline to Turn Over Documents to Congress on Dossier. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is blasting the Department of Justice and FBI after officials ignored congressional subpoenas and blew threw a deadline to turn over documents related to the infamous Fusion GPS dossier. In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Nunes points out that not only did DOJ mislead his Committee about the existense of documents, they also unlawfully failed to comply with congressional requests. Latest Reports of FBI/DOJ Counterintelligence Operation Give Evelyn Farkas Statements New Light. In the past six weeks a stunning amount of evidence has been accumulating that shows how the Obama Administration weaponized the FBI and DOJ and launched a political campaign spying operation into candidate Donald Trump. There have been daily revelations showing a considerable collaboration between the White House, Hillary Clinton, the DNC, Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson; his wife Mary Jacoby, DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr and his wife Fusion GPS employee Nellie Ohr, Russian Dossier author Christopher Steele, FBI agent Peter Strzok and his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page; and the highest levels of officials within the FBI, including Chief Legal Counsel James Baker and FBI Asst. Director Andrew McCabe. All of the evidence points in one transparently obvious direction; toward a 2016 collaborative effort structured to use a counterintelligence operation to conduct wiretaps and surveillance on the presidential campaign of candidate Donald Trump. Senator Lindsey Graham Just Confirmed The Steele Dossier Was Used For 2016 FISA Warrant. Senator Lindsey Graham just confirmed the sketchy Steele Dossier was used to get the wiretap and surveillance warrant from the FISA court. Brian Kilmead understood what he was hearing was serious, but didn't quite catch the specific gravity of it. [Video clip] This is critical and important because the specific use of the Steele Dossier underpins the BIG UGLY and exposes the entire top-tier apparatus of the FBI Counterintelligence Division (Peter Strzok, Bill Priestap, James Baker, Andrew McCabe) and the DOJ National Security Division (John Carlin, Stuart Evans, Mary McCord and Sally Yates), as well as DOJ Bruce Ohr and FBI lawyer Lisa Page directly to "conspiracy" charges. The Dossiad. The Steele/Trump dossier gave critical support to claims of Russian collusion with the Trump presidential campaign. It seems to have served as the predicate for the FBI counterintelligence investigation of Trump campaign associates. Then FBI Director James Comey briefed President Trump on the contents of the dossier before his inauguration in January. BuzzFeed posted the dossier online. When President Trump fired Comey, Comey engineered the appointment of his friend Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to continue the counterintelligence investigation, now including everything Trump. NOTE: Though he capably plays a straight talking G-Man on television, Comey is one sophisticated operator. Did the FBI really fall for the Steele dossier's 'dezinformatsiya'? Senator Lindsey Graham may have spilled the beans in saying the Russian-sourced Steele dossier, with its lascivious tales about a pre-presidential Donald Trump, was used by the leftist leadership at the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a pretext to get a 2016 FISA warrant against the presidential candidate. [...] With the Steele dossier exposed as a load of hooey, it shows that the FBI had political motivations all along, or else they fell for a classic Russian disinformation operation, neither of which makes the agency look good. Having political motivations should be enough to get some of them fired. So to defend themselves, they are claiming that the dossier was real. This makes them look colossally incompetent. GOP lawmaker: FBI, DOJ officials 'should be held in contempt' if dossier docs not turned over. A Republican lawmaker says top officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice "should be held in contempt" of Congress if they don't hand over documents related to an anti-Trump dossier to the House Intelligence Committee. "I think if they don't produce those documents on the third of January, they should be held in contempt," Florida Rep. Francis Rooney said Saturday on Fox News' "America's News Headquarters." House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has previously said he has instructed committee staff to begin drawing up a contempt of Congress resolution for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray unless the committee's demands for records are met. Nunes blasts DOJ, FBI for 'failure' to produce records relating to anti-Trump dossier. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is blasting the Department of Justice and the FBI for its "failure to fully produce" documents related to an anti-Trump dossier, saying "at this point it seems the DOJ and FBI need to be investigating themselves." In a Thursday [12/28/2017] letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein obtained by Fox News, Nunes expressed frustration that information and witnesses subpoenaed by the committee in August related to the so-called Steele dossier had not yet been turned over. The salacious dossier includes unverified allegations about President Trump's connections with Russia that he has denied. FBI Still Considers Dossier Credible. The FBI admits the Left's electoral collusion conspiracy theory is unsubstantiated but still refuses to distance itself from the discredited Russia propaganda dossier Democrats paid Fusion GPS to create to undermine President Trump's candidacy. Testifying behind closed doors in Congress the week before Christmas, embattled FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe reportedly "declined to criticize the dossier's 35 pages of salacious and criminal charges against Donald Trump and his aides, but he said it remains largely unverified, according to a source familiar with ongoing congressional inquiries." Top FBI official linked to reporter who broke Trump dossier story. House Republicans are investigating contact between the FBI's top lawyer and a Mother Jones reporter in the weeks before the left-leaning outlet broke the first news story about the existence of a disputed dossier alleging ties between President Donald Trump and the Kremlin, according to two congressional GOP sources who described documents linking the two men. The GOP sources said the documents — made available recently to lawmakers by the Department of Justice — revealed that James Baker, the FBI's general counsel, communicated with Mother Jones reporter David Corn in the weeks leading up to the November 2016 election. Corn was the first to report the existence of the dossier on Oct. 31 and that it was compiled by a former high-level western spy. McCabe draws blank on Democrats' funding of Trump dossier, new subpoenas planned. Congressional investigators tell Fox News that Tuesday's seven-hour interrogation of Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe contained numerous conflicts with the testimony of previous witnesses, prompting the Republican majority staff of the House Intelligence Committee to decide to issue fresh subpoenas next week on Justice Department and FBI personnel. While HPSCI staff would not confirm who will be summoned for testimony, all indications point to demoted DOJ official Bruce G. Ohr and FBI General Counsel James A. Baker, who accompanied McCabe, along with other lawyers, to Tuesday's HPSCI session. Eight Hours of Questioning — FBI Asst. Director McCabe Loses Dossier Memory, Brings Full Contingent of FBI Lawyers. FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe faced about eight hours of questioning behind closed doors during the House Intelligence Committee yesterday. Unlike prior HPSCI closed hearings remarkably there were no leaks; which would generally indicate the content was adverse to the interests of Democrat party investigators within the hearing. From scant reporting it appears the questioning surrounded potential conflicts of interest and anti-Trump bias amid the entire cabal of FBI officials. Frustrated lawmakers pressed FBI's McCabe for answers on Trump dossier. They got nothing. There are some important things the public doesn't know about the so-called "Trump dossier," such as whether the FBI used information from the dossier to win court permission to spy on Americans. But the most important question about the dossier is the simplest: Is it true? In a seven-hour interview with the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe repeatedly declined to answer whether the bureau has been able to verify the substantive allegations in the dossier, or even to identify a substantive allegation that has been corroborated, according to sources familiar with the questioning. McCabe's Transparent Motive For a Lost Dossier Memory. In plain language the "Trump Project" was a joint 2016 FBI & DOJ counterintelligence operation to conduct wiretaps and surveillance upon the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. [...] Those who have been walking the deep weeds have a pretty strong understanding of Deputy FBI Director Andrew "Andy" McCabe's risk profile and his role in the 2016 "Trump Project". The Rosen report earlier today [12/20/2017] — based on investigators within the House Intelligence Committee — states McCabe has lost his memory around the timeline for the FBI's FISA application and the Christoper Steele Russian Dossier as evidence therein. If it can be shown the Steele Dossier was part of the underlying evidence within the FISA warrant (Sept./Oct. 2016), allowing wiretaps and surveillance of candidate Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the foundation for a conspiracy becomes evident. If McCabe was aware of the origin, financing and use of the Steele Dossier in obtaining a FISA warrant, his exposure to a criminal conspiracy increases exponentially. Understanding how Deputy McCabe's risk profile increases in direct proportion to his attachment to the Steele Dossier explains his memory lapses, obfuscations and testimony toward his knowledge therein. The Editor says... Was the Steele Dossier Used to Obtain a FISA Warrant Against Trump's Campaign? While urging that we have disclosure (with all due care to protect intelligence methods and sources), I have presumed that the FBI and DOJ would never fraudulently present the FISA court with fanciful claims attributed to anonymous Russian sources as if they were a refined product of U.S. intelligence collection and analysis. This, after all, is a "dossier" that former FBI director James Comey dismissed as "salacious and unverified" in Senate testimony just six months ago. When a court is asked for a warrant, the government must provide the judge with a basis to believe the information proffered is credible — by vouching that the source has been reliable in the past, by corroborating the information offered, or both. If Comey adjudged Steele's information unverified in June 2017, it had to have been unverified ten months earlier. That's when the FBI and Justice Department obtained a FISA warrant for Carter Page, who had been loosely described as a Trump campaign adviser. Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton: 'The FBI's Turned into a KGB-Type Operation'. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton argued on Fox News Wednesday evening that the FBI has been turned into a KBG-type operation that might need to be shut down. Fitton was was on Fox News @Night with Shannon Bream to discuss one of the latest troubling revelations to come out of the Department of Justice amid Special Counsel Mueller's investigation into Russia's influence in the 2016 U.S. election. According to Fox News, "Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, acknowledged in a court document that his company hired the wife of a Justice Department official to help investigate then-candidate Donald Trump last year." Faced with libel lawsuit, dossier drafter Christopher Steele hedges on linking Trump to Russia. Christopher Steele, the former British spy who fueled an ongoing investigation into President Trump's administration, was a lot more confident of his charges when he wrote his now-notorious 2016 dossier than he is today in defending it in a libel lawsuit. While Mr. Steele stated matter-of-factly in his dossier that collusion between Mr. Trump and the Russian government took place, he called it only "possible" months later in court filings. While he confidently referred to "trusted" sources inside the Kremlin, in court he referred to the dossier's "limited intelligence." Dubious Trump dossier peddler Fusion GPS now complaining about news leaks. Fusion GPS, the master of anonymous leaks to Washington's media establishment, now is complaining about news leaks against it. In a running court battle with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a Fusion lawyer and a company partner complained to U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon that issues discussed in private have reached the press. Mr. Nunes, California Republican, is investigating the opposition research firm's role in trying to prove Trump-Russia collusion. He has signed subpoenas for Fusion's bank records and wants more. One press leak was the identity of TD Bank. "Now, I don't have proof," attorney Steven M. Salky of Zuckerman Spaeder told Judge Leon at a recent hearing. "I'm never going to be able to have proof, your honor, as to how Fox News got that information or how the Washington Examiner got the information from the bank, but I'm pretty confident that it wasn't from Fusion or the bank." Strzok talked about having an 'insurance policy' to prevent Trump from winning in 2016. One of the texts that has been uncovered in the 10k mother load of texts between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page is big one that suggests Strzok had an 'insurance policy' to prevent Trump from winning the election: [...] The obvious question is whether or not this 'insurance policy' was in fact the anti-Trump dossier. Wife of DOJ Deputy Was Fusion GPS Employee, CIA Research Aid, and Applied for HAM Radio License Month After Contracting MI6 Agent Christopher Steele. A month after Hillary Clinton hired Fusion GPS (April 2016) to sub-contract retired British MI6 agent Christopher Steele to write the opposition research report "the Trump Russia Dossier", Fusion GPS employee Nellie Ohr applied for a HAM radio license (May 23rd 2016); a communication tool that would allow Nellie Ohr and Christopher Steele the ability to communicate outside the normal risk of communication intercepts. Keeping in mind, both Bruce and Nellie Ohr's subject matter skill-set within the DOJ would provide them with a comprehensive understanding of how to network and communicate with international actors outside the traditional risk of communication intercepts. In short, Mrs. Nelli Ohr would know that using HAM radio frequencies would be a way to avoid the risk of U.S. intelligence intercepts on her communications. One Mueller-Investigation Coincidence Too Many. Something has gone terribly wrong with the Mueller investigation. The investigation is venturing well beyond the original mandate of rooting out evidence of Russian collusion. Indeed, the word "collusion" is now rarely invoked at all. It has given way to its successor, "obstruction." The latter likely will soon beget yet another catchphrase to justify the next iteration of the investigations. There seems far less special investigatory concern with the far more likely Russian collusion in the matters of the origins and dissemination of the Fusion GPS/Steele dossier, and its possible role in the Obama-administration gambit of improper or illegal surveilling, unmasking, and leaking of the names of American citizens. Wife of demoted DOJ official worked for firm behind anti-Trump dossier. A senior Justice Department official demoted last week for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump "dossier" had even closer ties to Fusion GPS, the firm responsible for the incendiary document, than have been disclosed, Fox News has confirmed: The official's wife worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 election. Contacted by Fox News, investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm last year. Justice Dept. lawyer who met with dubious Trump dossier author to be hauled before Congress. The House Intelligence Committee plans to compel testimony from a career Justice Department attorney who met during the election campaign with the writer of the infamous unverified Trump-Russia dossier. The committee has learned that Bruce Ohr, an associate attorney general, not only spoke with dossier writer Christopher Steele but also met after the election with Glenn Simpson, whose Fusion GPS hired Mr. Steele with Democratic Party money. So why did Democrats have to create a false document to destroy Trump? Opposition research must have started as soon as, if not before, Donald Trump announced he was running for president. [...] The research must not have produced enough trash, or else why would the DNC and Hillary have paid Fusion GPS so handsomely to create what is clearly a false document? Fusion GPS trafficked the document to the Justice Department and intelligence officials. They obviously had seen how many intelligence officials had been willing to lie, especially James Clapper and John Brennan, and had seen how the Justice Department had protected the Obama Administration and especially Hillary and her aides no matter what they did. It was obvious that they were not "independent." The Justice Department and intelligence officials in turn used the fake dossier to justify spying on Trump officials and to open an investigation on supposed Russian collusion. Of course this was fake also because if they would have ever been concerned about Russian collusion they would have also investigated and spied on Hillary. But they didn't. Top DOJ official demoted amid probe of contacts with Trump dossier firm. A senior Justice Department official was demoted this week amid an ongoing investigation into his contacts with the opposition research firm responsible for the anti-Trump "dossier," the department confirmed to Fox News. Until Wednesday morning [12/6/2017], Bruce G. Ohr held two titles at DOJ: associate deputy attorney general, a post that placed him four doors down from his boss, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein; and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a program described by the department as "the centerpiece of the attorney general's drug strategy." Ex-CIA Analyst: Trump Should Just Pardon 'Everyone'. A former CIA analyst who now advises from his post as senior vice president for policy and programs at the Center for Security Policy says the "Russian investigation" is just a bunch of fabrications — and President Donald Trump should just pardon anyone involved and be done with it. Fred Fleitz appeared on Fox News this week to explain his inside-the-Beltway take on the so-called Russian "dossier" about Donald Trump, Robert Mueller's agenda and more. Latest revelations make the entire 'collusion' probe look like a partisan hit. So Peter Strzok wasn't just a top investigator for special counsel Robert Mueller until he was axed for anti-Trump and pro-Clinton bias: He was also a major player in the Hillary email probe and the FBI work that led to the "collusion" investigation. And Mueller and the FBI both dragged their feet on sharing key info about all this with Congress. Including the news that Strzok was the one who changed then-FBI chief Jim Comey's draft language on Clinton's use of that private server from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless" in the final version. That's huge, because the statute specifies that gross negligence in the handling of classified info is itself a crime, whatever the intent — though Comey declared that Clinton shouldn't face prosecution precisely because she had no "intent" to break the law. Strzok also conducted the FBI interviews of Clinton and her top aides, Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, in the email probe. More, he was reportedly one of the major FBI figures urging investigations on the basis of the "Steele dossier" of Russian-sourced scurrilous anti-Trump allegations, which we now know was commissioned by the Clinton campaign. Following the Trump-Russia Dossier Money. Unsealed bank records appear to reinforce the claim that Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign bought and paid for the sensational [...] dossier that used anonymous sources to smear President Trump by falsely linking him to Russia. The dossier is the salacious, 35-page report commissioned by Democrat-aligned opposition research firm Fusion GPS. The statements in the partisan hit job were compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and published by BuzzFeed. One claim was that Donald Trump hired prostitutes to urinate on a bed. The dossier was just one of many particularly outrageous dirty tricks Clinton's campaign to undercut her opponent's campaign during the 2016 election cycle. Clinton also personally authorized the illicit efforts of socialist felon Bob Creamer and organizer Scott Foval who fomented violence at Trump campaign rallies, as James O'Keefe's Project Veritas group revealed in undercover videos. President Trump and his defenders have repeatedly suggested Democrats, Russia, or the FBI — or all three — may have helped fund the infamous document dump. FBI has not verified Trump dossier. FBI and Justice Department officials have told congressional investigators in recent days that they have not been able to verify or corroborate the substantive allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign outlined in the Trump dossier. The FBI received the first installment of the dossier in July 2016. It received later installments as they were written at the height of the presidential campaign, which means the bureau has had more than a year to investigate the allegations in the document. The dossier was financed by the Hillary Clinton campaign and compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. The dirtiest trick. Now we know that the Trump Dossier was commissioned by the Clinton presidential campaign in mid-2016 through the Perkins Coie law firm. Perkins Coie's Marc Elias served as counsel to the Clinton campaign. He called on the GPS Fusion firm to do a number on Donald Trump with the services of former British MI6 man Christopher Steele. If we take his work at face value, Steele consulted with a few friends of Vladimir Putin for some old fashioned Soviet-style disinformation courtesy of Putin himself. Here we had the effectual "collusion" of a presidential campaign with the Russians, though it has somehow escaped the scrutiny of American law enforcement authorities. In her Wall Street Journal column "Lifting the Steele curtain" this past Friday Kim Strassel called the dossier "one of the dirtiest tricks in U.S. political history." At the heart of her column she focused on the shrewdly evil introduction of the dossier during the campaign. There is nothing normal about the Fusion GPS dossier. Yes, opposition research is part of campaigns. It's just that Fusion GPS's dossier was not opposition research. Opposition research is based on fact, from voting records, court records and public statements, to tax returns and business relationships. Fusion GPS's dossier, on the other hand, was misinformation. It was not opposition research because it was not based on fact. Honeypot: Was the Trump Camp's Meeting With Russian Lawyer All a Clinton Set-Up? This week's bombshell — that the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign financed former British spy Christopher Steele's salacious dossier allegedly connecting Donald Trump and Russia — may suggest something even more devious. The dossier was compiled by the notorious firm Fusion GPS, which also worked for Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, the very woman who met with Donald Trump Jr. in a meeting deemed pivotal to the case for Trump-Russia "collusion." The Fusion GPS connection raises a supremely interesting question: Did the Clinton campaign actually orchestrate the meeting between Trump campaign officials and Veselnitskaya? Is the entire Trump-Russia collusion narrative the result of a Clinton set-up? Axios' Revolting Bid to Rehabilitate Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS's procured Trump dossier is in the news because it's fake, the product of climbing in bed with Russian agents feeding disinformation from abroad. And it's so fake, the purveyors had trouble shopping it around to reporters, until a meeting with then-FBI Director James Comey was arranged with the dossier, so that the news of the meeting could be reported instead. The one news outfit that ran the phony dossier, without confirming any of it, Buzzfeed, is in deep doo-doo with the lawyers for it now. Other agencies, such as CNN's Jake Tapper, focused on reporting the meeting rather than the sordid, mendacious contents of the dossier itself, via leaks. The Russian collusion narrative is falling apart. There will be many embarrassed politicians in the near future. Well, it seems that things are falling apart, the center is not holding. There are those on the left who will not abandon the "dossier" fiasco. As late as Oct. 7, 2017 the Guardian described it as "one of the most explosive documents in modern political history." This "dossier" was an obvious fraud and no one in the intelligence community believed otherwise. [...] This batch of memos had circulated through the media and intel community for months when BuzzFeed published the full document in January 2017. As long as it was not public, it could be vaguely referred to in order to support the charge that Trump was owned by the Russians. Once it was published, it became obvious that it was a fraud. This is revealed on the first page. No experienced intelligence officer would classify a Sensitive Source as Confidential. If he did he would be looking for a new job or possibly be behind bars. Thanks to the Clinton/DNC revelation about the 'Trump dossier,' Robert Mueller can stop investigating Trump. In a court of law when it is discovered that evidence has been contaminated or a witness is lying, that evidence is thrown out and a jury is instructed to ignore the witness testimony. As new bombshell revelations prove the infamous "Trump dossier" was bought-and-paid-for by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, the document that launched the Russian collusion investigation against President Trump must accordingly be thrown out. In light of the newest charge that the DNC and the Clinton campaign may have broken a dozen federal election laws with the document, special counsel Robert Mueller has no choice but to dismiss the Trump investigation. Implausible Deniability. [Scroll down] In much the same way, I believe, Russian agents working for the Clintons and the DNC through Fusion GPS and its hireling Christopher Steele provided fake information in a dossier which the FBI (headed by James Comey) and the Department of Justice (headed by Loretta Lynch ) used to craft an affidavit to obtain a FISA warrant authorizing electronic surveillance on people connected, however tangentially, to the Trump campaign. This, after previous such warrants had — and this is unusual — been turned down by the FISA court. Then-president Obama allowed the surveilled communications to be widely circulated throughout the government, so that the names of the targets caught up in the surveillance and their communications were thus widely available for leaking, and were leaked. [...] The DNC, Hillary campaign and Obama Administration used former British intelligence agent Fusion GPS' Christopher Steele as an interface to create deniability, allowing them, in effect, to launder the dossier and create a pretext for snooping on Trump and publicizing whatever dirt they might dig up on his campaign no matter how incredible the sources and product. WSJ To Mueller After Dossier Exposé: Resign. "Strip out the middlemen," the Wall Street Journal's editors argue this morning, "and it appears that Democrats paid for Russians to compile wild allegations about a US presidential candidate." The editorial demands a "full investigation" into the FBI's activities during the previous presidential cycle, saying that collusion may have taken place — only in a completely different direction than previously thought. No, The "Russian Dossier" Did Not Begin With GOP it Began With Clinton, The DNC and the FBI. There is a tremendous amount of obfuscation coming from democrats after the revelation that Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid Fusion GPS to contract Christoper Steele to create the now infamous "Dossier". One of the most significant falsehoods is that the dossier origins began with an unknown GOP entity within the primary. This narrative is entirely false. The "Russian Dossier" did not begin assembly until after it was commissioned by Hillary Clinton and the DNC (June 2016). Prior to that Fusion GPS was simply doing opposition research on behalf of a Trump opponent (stopped April 2016). Here Are The 10 Most Important Reported Claims About The Steele Dossier On Russia. [#2] No, the Russian dossier was not initially funded by Republicans [...] There is no evidence that a Republican donor or Republican campaign was ever involved with the Russian dossier. Fusion GPS claimed to reporters (though they did not provide evidence) that a Republican funded separate opposition research on Trump, dealing with his business interests. But as the Washington Post itself reports, the dossier did not exist until after the Democrats hired Fusion GPS. The Fusion GPS paternity test. According to the Washington Post, the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee gave birth to the salacious "Trump Dossier," compiled by the Washington-based research firm of Fusion GPS and a former British spy. The Clinton campaign and the DNC funded the operation. And that dossier, now properly seen as opposition research, served as the launching pad for the federal investigations into Russia's role in the 2016 elections. It also served as fuel for media snark around the Trump/Russia collusion story that has dominated political news since Clinton lost her election. Gotcha! Hillary Behind Fake Russian Dossier on Trump. In a report on Tuesday [10/24/2017] from Adam Entous, Devlin Barrett and Rosalind Helderman, the [Washington Post] claimed the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-infamous dossier containing allegations about Donald Trump's connections to Russia. According to the links outlined by the Post, Marc Elias, a lawyer for the Hillary Clinton campaign and the party, hired Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, for the "research." Then Fusion hired Christopher Steele, a former British agent who has ties to the FBI and others, to write it up. The report said Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, long linked to President Obama, hired Fusion in 2016 "on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC." Tom Cotton: 'You Can't Give Any Credibility' To The Trump Dossier. A Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee cast doubt on the so-called Trump dossier on Monday, saying that he has yet to see evidence that the salacious document is credible. The Republican, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, also suggested that the dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, could have been financed either by a Democratic supporter of Hillary Clinton or by Russia's intelligence services. In dossier probe, Fusion GPS asks court to stop House from seeing bank records. On the same day, Oct. 4, that the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed three employees of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS to testify in the Trump dossier investigation, the committee also subpoenaed TD Bank for Fusion's bank records. Now, according to a source familiar with the situation, Fusion has asked a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., judge to prevent the bank from complying with the subpoena. The move comes just days after two of those three Fusion employees asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination rather than answer questions about the dossier. A third subpoenaed Fusion employee, founder Glenn Simpson, has not yet appeared before the House. Fusion GPS officials take the Fifth in Trump dossier interview on Capitol Hill. Two top officials at the political research firm behind a salacious dossier alleging various Russian connections to President Trump's campaign invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday [10/18/2017]. Fusion GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch and top lieutenant Thomas Catan were subpoenaed to appear before the committee in a closed-door session on Wednesday but asserted their right not to testify, a source close to the matter told Fox News. Fritsch and Catan took the Fifth on every question posed by committee members. Another co-founder, Glenn Simpson, is under subpoena for a later date. Trump dossier firm's 'smear' tactics unveiled. The self-described "strategic intelligence" firm Fusion GPS that was behind the controversial anti-Trump dossier has a track record of intimidation and smear tactics, according to congressional testimony and the firsthand account of a London-based Venezuelan journalist who said he was labeled a "pedophile," "extortionist" and "drug trafficker" after criticizing one of Fusion's clients. "I believe that Fusion GPS's business is to do basically whatever the paymasters tell them to do," Alek Boyd, the Venezuelan journalist, told Fox News in his first American TV interview. "They are particularly good at spreading misinformation, disinformation and smears." Fusion GPS to House: We'll take Fifth rather than testify on Trump dossier. On Oct. 4, the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm at the center of the Trump dossier affair. On Monday [10/16/2017], the company told the House what it can do with its subpoena. Fusion GPS chief Glenn Simpson and two others will "invoke their constitutional privileges not to testify," Simpson's lawyers told the committee in a letter. The panel shouldn't even bother to call Simpson to the hearing room, the lawyers said, because he won't answer their questions under any circumstances. It seems unlikely the House will grant that request. If Simpson and two other GPS officials are going to assert their right against self-incrimination, lawmakers, or at least the majority Republican lawmakers on the committee, will want to hear it first-hand. The Steele Dossier Is Still Absurd. It is with great reluctance that I must take issue with my very esteemed friend Andy McCarthy, in this case with his treatment of the Steele Dossier, which makes a lot of sensational allegations against President Trump of compromising past relations with Russia and its leaders. The dossier is named after retired British MI-6 Russian specialist Christopher Steele, was compiled initially at the request of the shady political-interference and espionage operation Fusion GPS, was paid for by anti-Trump Republicans, and then, after Trump had secured the Republican nomination, was financed by the Clinton campaign. Why is the FBI stonewalling congressional subpoenas on the Fusion GPS 'Trump Dossier'? Could the story behind the "Trump dossier" be the Rosetta Stone of Russian manipulation of our electoral process in 2016? There is a strong and justifiable suspicion that the dossier was the critical bit of evidence that persuaded the FISA Court to reverse itself and permit monitoring of American associates of Donald Trump. The dossier was originally begun as an opposition research project for Republican rivals of Trump, then funded by Democrats, and allegedly finally funded by the FBI. We already know that some of the wild accusations in it were demonstrably false. The House Intelligence Committee long has been looking into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and so far, it has come up with nothing. As in zero specific evidence. This was admitted by no less than Rep. Jackie Spier, a veteran Democrat member of the House of Representatives. [Video clip] Showdown looms over Trump dossier; FBI misses third deadline to turn over subpoenaed documents. A third deadline has now passed for the FBI and Justice Department to give the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed documents related to the Trump dossier. And for a third time, the bureau has not produced the material. The dossier is a collection of what former FBI Director James Comey called "salacious and unverified" allegations of collusion between Russia and Trump campaign figures in the 2016 campaign. The Russia allegations were compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who was commissioned by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which is thought to have been paid for the work by wealthy supporters of Hillary Clinton. Here's Everything We Know So Far About The Trump Dossier. The uncorroborated dossier of opposition research about Donald Trump has become a key document in the investigation over whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during the presidential campaign last year. Democrats have insisted that many claims made in the dossier, written by former British spy Christopher Steele, have been proven accurate. Republican lawmakers say otherwise, leading to a standoff between the two sides over the 35-page document, published by BuzzFeed News on Jan. 10. Here is what we know about the salacious document. [...] Gowdy Wonders If Democrats Are 'Fearful' Trump Dossier Is 'A Piece Of Fiction'. Democrats are "fearful" that the Trump dossier is "a piece of fiction," one that the FBI used to form the basis of its investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government. That's one theory that South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy is proposing for why Democrats are pushing back so hard against a GOP effort to get answers about the dossier from the FBI and Justice Department. In an interview with The Daily Caller, the House Intelligence Committee member addressed claims from his Democratic colleagues and some in the media that he and his fellow Republicans are attempting to discredit the dossier and its author, former British spy Christopher Steele, in order to help Trump. House committee subpoenas FBI, Justice over Trump dossier. In the most significant escalation yet in the wrangling between Congress and the FBI over the Trump dossier, the House Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed the bureau and the Justice Department for documents relating to the dossier, the FBI's relationship with dossier author Christopher Steele, and the bureau's possible role in supporting what began as an opposition research project against candidate Donald Trump in the final months of last year's presidential campaign. The subpoenas are an indication of growing frustration inside the committee over the FBI and Justice Department's lack of cooperation in the Trump-Russia investigation. Standoff brews between Senate, FBI over Trump dossier. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley and the committee's ranking Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, want to interview two high-ranking FBI officials about some key aspects of the bureau's role in the Trump-Russia investigation — the Trump dossier, the firing of James Comey, and more. But the FBI doesn't want those officials to talk — even though the Judiciary Committee has oversight responsibility for the FBI, and even though the request is bipartisan, and even though there appears to be no conflict with the ongoing Trump-Russia investigation conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. A standoff could be developing. FBI fights public release of Trump dossier info. Senate investigators have had problems getting the FBI to reveal information about the Trump dossier. They're not the only ones. Outside groups filing Freedom of Information Act requests are running up against a stone wall when it comes to the dossier. On March 8, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request for documents regarding the bureau's contacts with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who dug for dirt in Russia on candidate Donald Trump in the months before the 2016 presidential election. Steele's effort was commissioned by the oppo research firm Fusion GPS, which at the time was being paid by still-unidentified Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton. Just weeks before the election, the FBI reportedly agreed to support Steele's oppo project — an extraordinary action in the midst of a campaign which Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said raised "questions about the FBI's independence from politics." Trump attorney delivers point-by-point rebuttal of 'totally false' dossier. One of the key figures named in the unverified anti-Trump dossier has delivered a point-by-point rebuttal shooting down more than a dozen allegations contained in its pages. Fox News obtained a letter to the House Intelligence Committee sent Aug. 14 by the attorney representing Michael Cohen, who has served as President Trump's personal attorney. In it, he discredits the 35-page dossier, noting that without the "sensational allegations" contained in the document, Cohen "would not be involved" in the committee's Russia probe. "We have not uncovered a single document that would in any way corroborate the Dossier's allegations regarding Mr. Cohen, nor do we believe that any such document exists," Cohen's attorney, Stephen Ryan, wrote in the letter. Next stop for Trump dossier probe: the FBI. In late July, the Justice Department refused a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee — a bipartisan, joint request from Chairman Charles Grassley and Ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein — to make two top FBI officials available for an interview in the committee's investigation of the Trump dossier and other matters related to the Trump-Russia affair. Citing the Mueller special prosecutor investigation, Justice stated "confidentiality" and the "sensitivity of information relating to pending matters" made it impossible for the two officials, Carl Ghattas and James Rybicki, to talk to the Senate committee that oversees the FBI. Grassley and Feinstein are still trying — they sent another, more strongly worded, request last Friday [8/25/2017]. Trump dossier mystery deepens. On Wednesday, not long after I posted the story, "Republicans skeptical about origin of Trump dossier," I got a note from a friend who had been thinking about the claim that a wealthy GOP donor started the infamous Trump dossier. I had reported that the Republican operatives who ran against Donald Trump — the managers of the Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich campaigns — had not only not heard of any GOP-funded oppo project but did not believe one existed. Neither did some of the NeverTrump activists working outside the campaigns to try to stop the GOP front-runner. Ex-British spy behind Trump dossier hands sources to feds. The former British spy behind a salacious dossier linking President Trump to Russia has reportedly handed over the names of his sources to the FBI. Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent, met with federal agents to disclose how he obtained the unconfirmed information included in his report, according to ABC News. Fusion GPS On The Hot Seat In Closed Senate Judiciary Hearing. Too bad C-SPAN won't carry the testimony of Glenn Simpson, the former Wall Street Journal reporter who launched the oppo research firm Fusion GPS. Simpson finds himself at the center of the Russia scandal, thanks to a discredited dossier about Donald Trump that got floated after the election. Now Chuck Grassley wants to get to the bottom of the dossier, who ordered it, who paid for it, and what its purpose was, and he'll get his chance in a closed session today [8/22/2017]. Republicans
skeptical about origin of Trump dossier. The Trump dossier is one of the most important and least understood
elements of the Trump-Russia affair. It is important not just because its allegations are, as former FBI director James
Comey said, "salacious and unverified," but because it: Why Some U.S. Ex-Spies Don't Buy the Russia Story. In 2003, when a number of former intelligence professionals formed a group to protest the way intelligence was bent to accuse Iraq of producing weapons of mass destruction, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote a sympathetic column quoting the group's members. In 2017, you won't read about this same group's latest campaign in the big U.S. newspapers. The Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) have been investigating the now conventional wisdom that last year's leaks of Democratic National Committee files were the result of Russian hacks. What they found instead is evidence to the contrary. What if the Trump-Russia collusion narrative was actually a Russian disinformation campaign? What if the discredited Fusion GPS dossier that was used against then-candidate for president Donald Trump in 2016 to tie him to Russia was actually an elaborate disinformation campaign whose roots lie none other than in Moscow? That's what the Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel wants to know in light of testimony last week by William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, who says his work on Russian sanctions in 2012 resulted in a similar disinformation campaign against him by Fusion GPS. Browder suggested that Fusion's work violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, although he stopped short of suggesting that the Trump-Russia collusion dossier — penned by former Mi6 agent Christopher Steele — was the work of Russia as well. Democrats intentionally used disinformation from Russia to attack Trump, campaign aides. While the liberal news media hunts for evidence of Trump-Russia collusion, the public record shows that Democrats have willfully used Moscow disinformation to influence the presidential election against Donald Trump and attack his administration. The disinformation came in the form of a Russian-fed dossier written by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele. It contains a series of unverified criminal charges against Mr. Trump's campaign aides, such as coordinating Moscow's hacking of Democratic Party computers. Some Democrats have widely circulated the discredited information. Mr. Steele was paid by the Democrat-funded opposition research firm Fusion GPS with money from a Hillary Clinton backer. Fusion GPS distributed the dossier among Democrats and journalists. Americans Need To Know More About Fusion GPS, Stat. For nearly five months, the firm Fusion GPS, hired by Democrats to research and write an "intelligence report" that the most senior members of the Obama administration circulated widely last summer and fall, has been stonewalling a U.S. Senate committee investigation. That "report," many believe, was the basis for charges of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. So why are they being allowed to stonewall? In February, Sen. Chuck Grassley sent questions to Fusion GPS about the dossier and the firm's role in the scandal, and was rebuffed. The firm claimed it would not answer questions due to attorney-client privilege and First Amendment rights. He later asked the Department of Justice to investigate the firm's ties to Russian clients. The Real Russia-Gate Scandal. The real Russian disinformation has been the notorious "Trump Dossier," which has been serving as the "roadmap" for the FBI. Weeks after Accuracy in Media exposed the nature of this phony document in a three-part series, "The Final Truth About the Trump Dossier," Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., has stumbled upon the truth, saying the dossier smells like a Russian plant. Our verdict was that the dossier compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele was part of a Russian effort, financed by Hillary Clinton donors, to smear Trump. That's what the evidence shows. In his column, "The Trump-Russia Story Starts Making Sense," Jenkins writes that it is likely that Steele "was the semi-witting vehicle for Russian rumors designed expressly to undermine Mr. Trump..." Thank you, Mr. Jenkins, for confirming what we have been saying all along. How John Brennan and Some Brits Tried to Tip the Election to Hillary. Christopher Steele is the former British spy who compiled the "garbage" dossier on Trump-Russia ties, as Bob Woodward put it. That garbage dossier was cravenly and opaquely hyped by the American press until BuzzFeed released it, at which point the public could see its transparently ludicrous and uncorroborated contents. The release of the dossier exposed the vague, heavy-breathing allusions to it by CNN and the "intelligence community" as nothing more than an idiotic smear against Trump. Steele had been zealously working to blow up Trump's candidacy. Such was his anti-Trump fervor that he furnished his late-hit services to the Democrats for free. According to a story planted in the United Kingdom's Independent, "at the end he was working without pay." 
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