Unresolved Russiagate: Why is the FBI Burning Their Own Spy?

It's like something out of "Burn Notice." The question on everybody's mind today is "Why Is The FBI Outing Stefan Halper As Their Informant In The Trump Campaign?". I mean, Rod Rosenstein went to the mat to keep from revealing that fact to Congress, although it was already pretty well established.

This is just insane. The FBI and Department of Justice has been fighting tooth and nail to not tell Congress the identity of the informant they used to gather intelligence on the Trump campaign. And their allies in Congress and elsewhere have chimed in with all manner of ridiculous and bullsh** threats directed at Devin Nunes…though not at Trey Gowdy who is working with Nunes to identify this FBI source. A reflexively leftwing law professor (but I repeat myself) made this astonishing statement tonight:

Dear @DevinNunes:

Just a friendly note to remind you that leaking the identity of an FBI informant in the context of a foreign counterintelligence investigation is a felony in violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982:https://t.co/Ohppx9jBLK pic.twitter.com/kludMTWVED

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 19, 2018

This is just stupid. The law clearly defines who it covers as employees of an intelligence agency. This does not cover informants or sources and intelligence agencies are forbidden by law from collecting information on US persons. And the very idea that the Department of Justice is going to okay a grand jury investigation and indictment of a member of Congress when the FBI has leaked the same information to multiple media outlets is simply insane.

The ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee made a similar threat today:
. . .
Today, the FBI and Justice go back the the leak well and give us enough information that we can say pretty conclusively that Halper is the man. Secret FBI source for Russia investigation met with three Trump advisers during campaign.
. . .
Here the FBI claims that they are trying to protect this guy’s identity but they give it to the Washington Post who then calls people to ask them about their contacts with the source.
. . .
The identity of the informant could not be more clear. And the identification didn’t come from a leak by Congress, it came from multiple leaks by the FBI and DOJ who are burning Halper to the ground for their own reasons And I think those reasons will be come abundantly clear as the DOJ IG finishes up his investigations.

Power Line: FBI Blows Source: Why? 

Why are they blowing his identity now? I do not know why. Neither does Mollie Hemingway. Neither does RedStates’s Streiff. Neither does Sean Davis (below).

This whole subplot involving the confidential informant seems to me a classic red herring intended to divert us. To throw us off the scent. What is going on here?

Sundance at The Conservative Tree House, who foresaw this revelation:  Corrupt Intelligence Apparatchik Leaks “Informant” Name (Stefan Halper) and Defensive Perspective To New York Times… and President Trump Questions FBI and DOJ Campaign Surveillance and Spy Operations – Carter Page and George Papadopoulos…  Dr. John at Flopping Aces: The frantic effort to bury the anti-Trump conspiracy

But former FBI agent Asha Rangappa at the Washington Post claims The FBI didn’t use an informant to go after Trump. They used one to protect him. If this is their idea of protecting him, that explains a lot. In an apparently reflective mood, Andrew McCarthy reminds us of how differently the FBI and DOJ have handled the Clinton Email case, and the Trump campaign investigation In Politicized Justice, Desperate Times Call for Disparate Measures

Glenn Greenwald at the Intercept has some interesting (if true) history on Stefan Halper: The FBI Informant Who Monitored the Trump Campaign, Stefan Halper, Oversaw a CIA Spying Operation in the 1980 Presidential Election

Four decades ago, Halper was responsible for a long-forgotten spying scandal involving the 1980 election, in which the Reagan campaign – using CIA officials managed by Halper, reportedly under the direction of former CIA Director and then-Vice-Presidential candidate George H.W. Bush – got caught running a spying operation from inside the Carter administration. The plot involved CIA operatives passing classified information about Carter’s foreign policy to Reagan campaign officials in order to ensure the Reagan campaign knew of any foreign policy decisions that Carter was considering.

It really is a house of cards. Rush Limbaugh reminds us that The Deep State Will Go to Any Lengths to Get Rid of Trump. BIGGER than the election: Sharyl Attkisson breaks down WHY deep state did NOT want Trump elected. Joe DiGenova: Frustrated President May Fire 'Clowns' Sessions and Rosenstein But before Rosenstein is fired, I want him in the box under oath testifying about what he knew and when he knew it. All in on "Deep State" protection, Senator Mark Warner: DOJ/FBI Must Not Accept Congressional Oversight….

Hmm?… Methinks Senator Mark Warner has a conflict here. You see, when Dianne Feinstein stepped down as Vice-Chair from the Senate Intel Committee after the 2016 election, it was Mark Warner who took her place. This puts Warner on the Gang-of-Eight. Coincidentally, the Gang-of-Eight conduct all oversight over DOJ and FBI covert and counterintelligence operations…. including those covert actions that took place in 2016. But wait, it gets better….

Senator Mark Warner was also the guy caught text messaging with DC Lawyer Adam Waldman in the spring of 2017 (his first assignment). Waldman was the lawyer for the interests of Christopher Steele – the author of the dossier. While he was working as an intermediary putting Senator Warner and Christopher Steele in contact with each-other. Simultaneously Adam Waldman was also representing the interests of… wait for it,…. Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

Derispaska was the Russian person approached by Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok and asked to assist in creating dirt on the Trump campaign, via Paul Manafort.

You see, Senator Mark Warner has a vested interest in making sure that no-one ever gets to the bottom of the 2016 political weaponization, spying and surveillance operation.

Oh look, more collusion with Russians, by Democrats!

Roger L. Simon: The Inspector General's Report Will Expose the MSM as Treasonous. Smitty at The Other McCain: The Parental Trump

Thus, the rolling out of the IG Report may be a study in parenting-as-politics. Swift justice is a Good Thing. But in politics, especially at the national level, swift justice would have permitted Her Majesty and the Thralls to make the discussion about Vengeful McHitlerTrump, and not about the fact that the Left had tried to run the country like a banana republic.

I myself am beginning to suspect conservatives are investing too much faith in IG Horowitz. I hope I'm wrong. Conservatives must continue to carry the ball forward against the both Deep State and the MSM. Levin: 2 things Trump must do to investigate federal interference in the 2016 election:

There are two things Trump needs to do as soon as special counsel Mueller turns in his report to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, according to Levin.

He called on President Trump to appoint a special counsel to investigate the alleged interference in the election by the CIA, FBI, and the Obama administration’s top intelligence officials. He also said that Trump should appoint a commission to reform the government to prevent this from happening to any future president of the United States.

NYT alleges: Trump Jr. And Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help To Win Election. Another set up by the feds? Jazz Shaw at Hot Air: The Russia Investigation Has Exhausted The Public. I ain't exhausted; are you?

Not too much in the ongoing Michael Cohen/Michael Avenatti rodeo: Cohen lawyers seek to block Stormy Daniels's attorney from case

Attorneys for Michael Cohen are asking a federal judge to block adult-film star Stormy Daniels's attorney Michael Avenatti from a case involving an FBI raid of Cohen's home and office last month. In court papers filed on Friday, Cohen's attorneys accused Avenatti of creating a "carnival atmosphere" in legal proceedings involving Cohen, pointing to his numerous television appearances in recent months.

"Mr. Avenatti’s deliberate public dissemination of confidential nonpublic information speaks to his character and lack of fitness to appear before this Court — as well as his craving to create a 'carnival atmosphere,' " the filing reads. "Mr. Avenatti has appeared on national television and made statements regarding Mr. Cohen 147 times over the past ten weeks, and many of these statements concerned nonpublic information and misrepresentations regarding Mr. Cohen," it continues.

Cohen's lawyers argue that Avenatti is "primarily focused on smearing Mr. Cohen publicly in his efforts to further his own interest in garnering as much media attention as possible.

Beckett Adams at the Washington Examiner on Michael Avenatti’s abusive relationship with media. Well, the media exist to be abused.