"Operation Crossfire" (named by the FBI after the Rolling Stones song 'Jumping Jack Flash') , the Obama administration plan to use the intelligence agencies to bring down candidate Trump, and then President Trump is now being shredded by the crosswinds of an angry right wing hurricane. Molly Hemingway at the Federalist "10 Key Takeaways From The New York Times’ Error-Ridden Defense Of FBI Spying On Trump Campaign" "1. FBI Officials Admit They Spied On Trump Campaign" . . . George Neumayr at the Spectator "Crossfire Hurricane: Category Five Political Espionage"
But make no mistake about it: that the FBI and the CIA, on little more than the say-so of a virulent Trump hater like Brennan, were meeting to spy on the campaign of Hillary’s opponent makes Watergate look like a tenth-rate burglary. Nixon, at his most Machiavellian, wouldn’t have thought to form a “working group at Langley” against McGovern. But Obama, via Brennan, did the equivalent for Hillary.Andrew McCarthy: ‘Probably No Doubt’ FBI Had Snitch in Trump Campaign. Kimberley Strassel: Was Trump’s Campaign ‘Set Up’? At some point, the Russia investigation became political. How early was it?
Which brings us to timing. It’s long been known that Mr. Steele went to the FBI in early July to talk about the dossier, and that’s the first known intersection of the strands. But given the oddity and timing of those U.K. interactions concerning Messrs. Page and Papadopoulos, and given the history of some of the people involved in arranging them, some wonder if the two strands were converging earlier than anyone has admitted. The Intelligence Committee subpoena is designed to sort all this out: Who was pulling the strings, and what was the goal? Information? Or entrapment?Ann Althouse echos Donald Trump: "If so, this is bigger than Watergate!" Ace goes there: Chuck Ross: Stefan Halper, a US/UK Dual Citizen with CIA and MI-6 Ties, Tried to Cultivate Relationships With Both Page and Papadoplous, During the Campaign, and Then After It
Total Speculation: It occurs to me that a possiblity here is that that Halper was hired by Jeb Bush, given that he used to run political spying ops for George Bush, Sr.Ann Althouse also gives the NYT/FBI excuse: "Counterintelligence investigations can take years, but if the Russian government had influence over the Trump campaign, the F.B.I. wanted to know quickly." Eric Wemple at WaPo: New York Times acknowledges it buried the lead in pre-election Russia-Trump story Rand Paul keeps asking a reasonable question: I Want To Know What Haspel Knows About The Surveillance Of The Trump Campaign, If CIA Was Involved. Too late, she's confirmed.
If true, this could explain the varying claims about "Republicans starting the dossier." No, Republicans didn't start the dossier per se in this hypothetical scenario, but Jeb Bush's man in London Stephan Halper began the spying operation and would have served as one of the first sources to Christopher Steele.
In "In The Mailbox: 05.17.18" Wombat-socho shares: Don Surber: Obama Spied On You, Too, Mitt, JustOneMinute: Jumpin’ Jim Comey, He’s A Gas Gas Gas,
Stacy McCain: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas!
Yeah, Trump was ridiculed as paranoid for claiming that the Obama administration had spied on his campaign, and now that he’s been proven right, the anti-Trump media are pretending that this revelation is inconsequential. But of course, they’re in the “fake news” business.My question, what does Rod Rosenstein know, and when did he know it?
On the one year anniversary of Mueller's probe:
Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction. The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2018
How a year of Mueller's Trump-Russia investigation drowned out the news “The Mueller investigation really boils down the partisan approach of cable news,” But for Democrats and their media enablers: Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia investigation is a year old. Too soon to 'wrap it up.' Politico takes a peek Inside Mueller’s FBI team. A waste of talent.
Sen. Blumenthal: Rudy Giuliani's wrong, Trump can be indicted In the limited sense that they're making up the rules as they go along.Samuel Chamberlain atFox News: Giuliani says Mueller 'has all the facts ... and he has nothing' on Trump. Joe Hoft at Gateway Pundit: Giuliani Puts the Corrupt Mueller Team on Notice: “We’re Ready to Rip Them Apart if that’s What They Want!” Rowan Scarborough at The Washington Times: Mueller agrees to narrow scope of questions in bid to interview Trump
Mr. Giuliani told The Washington Times that Mr. Mueller’s team displayed a good-faith effort during a Wednesday meeting that might result in an interview in July and a final Mueller report by Labor Day.But more Rudy: Giuliani: We'd be 'laughing stock of lawyers' if we let Trump testify
“He’s eliminated a lot of subjects that would have indicated he was fishing,” Mr. Giuliani told The Times on Thursday. “He’s eliminated those, and he’s into a much more relevant area where we know the answers and we know the answers really can’t be effectively contradicted.”
Robert Mueller's case against the Russians isn't going too well, as we saw yesterday: Robert Mueller’s Latest Courtroom Stunt May Cost The Taxpayers Plenty
Right now, the Concord case is on the verge of being dismissed. The defense is challenging the constitutionality of how Mueller interpreted on of the laws Concord is alleged to have violated. If that happens, then something else might happen,too. The US taxpayers may be on the hook for Concord’s lawyers fees and expenses.What does he care? It's not his money. The FBI paid $4.6 million for his mistake with Steven Hatfill, and he never apologized. Backing down, Mueller team gives judge unredacted memo on Russia mandate:
The 1997 Hyde Amendment allows the court to order the federal government to pay attorneys fees and costs “where the court finds that the position of the United States was ‘vexatious, frivolous, or in bad faith.'” If the Concord indictment is found insufficient, or the case is dismissed for other reasons, then the Mueller teams’ refusal to respond to discover, and when they do respond it is calculated to be abusive, especially when the case looks like it brought with no intent of ever trying it, then we’re well into making a case that the prosecution is “vexatious, frivolous, or in bad faith.”
Ellis requested the full memo in order to judge Manafort's argument that the Mueller investigation has exceeded the scope of its legal authority by investigating Manafort's personal business dealings. Manafort argues those dealings are unrelated to Mueller's probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.You'd think if it were clear, he'd have given it up initially. Manafort's former son-in-law cuts plea deal, to cooperate with government - sources Mueller's propensity to go after family members to get leverage is despicable. Let's imagine if the Trump administration were to go after Chelsea Clinton for the fake charity Clinton Foundation.
The judge questioned prosecutors at a May 4 court hearing as to why they were interested in Manafort's financial dealings, arguing that Mueller's attorneys "don't really care" about the charges of bank fraud and tax fraud that they brought against Manafort.
The IG Horowitz report on Doj/FBI misconduct in the Clinton investigation is about to come out and the IG Has Found Possible Violations Of Law In FBI/DOJ Handling Of Clinton Investigation and Ace asks the obvious question, Will New IG Report Make Criminal Referrals?
Note that this report is only about the FBI's/DOJ's handling of the Hillary email "matter." (Always say "matter," never say "criminal investigation" -- as Comey's boss lady ordered, and as he dutifully obeyed.)While the Michael Cohen "matter" seems to be sideshow, the question of who, and why his bank records were leaked is a serious legal matter. Who Leaked the Cohen Bank Report? It May Not Be Secret for Long
The investigation into the FBI's/DOJ's handling of the Trump investigation was only ordered in March and that investigation will take additional months, I figure.
Anyone who gains access to the government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network database of bank-generated suspicious activity reports, known as SARs, leaves an audit trail, they explained. So whoever searched for FinCEN reports filed against personal or business accounts associated with Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, left a digital record that is almost certainly under review.The ostensible excuse given to Rowan Farrow by the anonymous leaker was the disappearance of the Cohen's transactions from the data base: Leaker of Michael Cohen’s financial records makes another explosive accusation which he'she thought was evidence of a cover up, but it appears more likely it was an official action by the Mueller/Southern District of New York prosecutors: On Second Thought: Michael Cohen’s Records Might Not Be Missing From Treasury Database, Just “Restricted”
Once the information became public through news reports, the Treasury Department’s inspector general began an inquiry into the suspected leak.
FinCEN spox statement in light of New Yorker story on suspicious activity reports (per @ShimonPro): "Under longstanding procedures, FinCEN will limit access to certain SARs when requested by law enforcement authorities in connection with an ongoing investigation." pic.twitter.com/yyvIxRgkYK— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) May 17, 2018
Will the leaker be jailed? My bet is that he/she will be protected by "The Deep State."
Avenatti: I’m Vetting Two More Women Who Say They’re Under Hush-Money Agreements With Trump CNN told us it was OK for the President of the United States to be sex maniac, and we took them at their word. We just don't care. The Television Event Of A Lifetime: The Avenatti & Scaramucci Show No thank you; I'll stick with something more realistic, like the Black List or Blindspot.
And speaking of Stormy Daniels (is Michael Avenetti really about Stormy Daniels at all?), imagine my disappointment when I heard Stormy Daniels will not perform with naked Trump statue in Oregon
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