When we think about PA, WI, MI votes, it was very close in 2016.

But how much of a shift occurred from 2012 to 2016 presidential election ?

If you look at the diff in the DEM to REP votes for 2012 to 2016, there is a shift of 1,049,916 votes towards the REPs

In 2012, Obama won those 3 states by 972,172 votes

In 2016, Clinton lost those 3 states by 77,744 votes

a few random thoughts

1. While we don’t know exactly how much Pete Strzok is being paid, it is probably in the vicinity of $ 120 k per year.

We know his wife increased her govt salary by 80% over the years of the obama administration. She is now making $ 245k a year.

So the Strzoks are pulling in about $ 365k a year of taxpayer dollars. I don’t think we got our moneys worth.

2. Remember Evelyn Farcas ? Here is a video of her from Mar 2017

“The Trump folks if they found out how we knew what we knew about their .. the staff .. the Trump staff dealing with Russians. That they would try to compromise those sources and methods, meaning we would no longer have access to that intelligence.”

“I had talked to some of my former colleagues and I knew that they were trying to also help get information to the Hill. … That’s why you have the leaking”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gapRNpEjXUo


3. And last, on 13 Aug 2016 Strzok is texting about a "The Smoking Gun" blog article

I think that article is this one

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/d...ssian-hackers-638295

where it is reported a number of DEMs fell for this trick:



it was fake but a bunch of them fell for it.

BTW, this might be the phishing email type that John Podesta responded to in Mar 2016.

https://www.apnews.com/dea73ef...4839957c3c9a6c962b8a

Podesta clicked on it and "Podesta’s messages — at least 50,000 of them — were in the hackers’ hands."

The torrent of phishing emails caught the attention of the FBI, which had spent the previous six months urging the Democratic National Committee in Washington to raise its shield against suspected Russian hacking. In late March, FBI agents paid a visit to Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters, where they were received warily, given the agency’s investigation into the candidate’s use of a private email server while secretary of state.

I ran across a headline earlier today (on the Fox app I believe) and I didn't read the article but it said that during the Thursday meeting Nunes and Goudy were not allowed to see the documents they have repeatedly requested.

Anyone else see this anywhere?

From a blog called "Undercover Huber", a very good catch.

It is not known exactly when Australian Downer talked w Papadopoulos in London, but from NY times it was mid-May 2016.

The Daily Caller reported it was 10 May 2016

From Strzok/Page texts, FBI Counterintelligence head Bill Priestap traveled to London the week of 9 May 2016

http://dailycaller.com/2018/04...apadopoulos-mueller/

https://twitter.com/johnwhuber...971153811857408?s=21


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

saw this ref on the Undercovr Huber site, and looked it up in the texts



Strzok got a CIA coin on 9 June 2017. He was weeks away from getting kicked off Mueller's team

What did he get the coin for ?

On Mueller's team, Strzok was in charge of the FBI agents supporting Mueller. Several Strzok messages complain how the prosecutors on Mueller's team don't share info w the agents. Definitely seems to be a high tier (prosecutors) and a lower tier (agents)

another good observation of the texts:
(seen at Powerline)



from strzok 10 Dec 2016

He is complaining about what was said about him re a new job.

But he says he is managing (for the case):

- people in various divisions (presumably FBI)

- multiple agencies (??)

- foreign governments (??)

In Dec 2016 Strzok was lead on the counterintel investigation into Russian / Trump campaign collusion and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

There is so much we don't know

excellent article

https://www.themarketswork.com...-the-steele-dossier/

Why is George Papadopoulos Missing From the Steele Dossier


potentially answers some of the outstanding questions

here is an Apr 2018 interview w Alexander Downer, the Australian diplomat who talked w Papadopoulos in May 2016

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/did...ampaign-aide/9689420

He is asked about the Papadopoulos meeting

"Let me be blunt about this. Of course it's been widely reported that I did. But I don't think talking about it is going to help our relationship with the United States"

"I don't want to be dragged into it"

"I have no enthusiasm to play into American politics"

only first 3 minutes or so are relevant

So his report of the Papadopoulos meeting is cited by the FBI as triggering a counterintelligence investigation against the current President of the United States, but now he doesn't want to get dragged into it.

Too bad the interviewer didn't know to ask if Downer knew that the FBI Counterintelligence lead was in London in May 2016 when he met w Papadopoulos.

here is a very recent news report from Australia news

http://www.news.com.au/finance...cc0bc25fb7762ac521f7

The secret FBI meeting with Alexander Downer

ONE hundred days before the US election, two FBI agents went on a secret mission. And it could badly damage Australia’s relationship with Donald Trump.

ALEXANDER Downer sat down for an interview with two FBI agents in London in 2016 to discuss potential Russian meddling in the US presidential election, a sensational report alleges.

The revelation the Australian government broke with diplomatic protocol and allowed Mr Downer, then Australia’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, to be interviewed by the FBI could damage Australia’s recently repaired relationship with US President Donald Trump.

The New York Times first revealed late last year it was at a boozy night in May 2016, at London’s Kensington Wine Rooms, that Mr Trump’s then foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos told Mr Downer Russia had dirt on Mr Trump’s political rival Hillary Clinton.

“Within hours of opening an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia in the summer of 2016, the FBI dispatched a pair of agents to London on a mission so secretive that all but a handful of officials were kept in the dark,” the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

“Their assignment, which has not been previously reported, was to meet the Australian ambassador, who had evidence that one of Donald J. Trump’s advisers knew in advance about Russian election meddling.

“After tense deliberations between Washington and Canberra, top Australian officials broke with diplomatic protocol and allowed the ambassador, Alexander Downer, to sit for an FBI interview to describe his meeting with the campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos.” The FBI agents summarised “their highly unusual interview” and their report helped provide the foundation for a case that became the probe headed by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Mr Trump has repeatedly slammed the probe as a witch hunt.

Mr Papadopoulos became one of Mr Mueller’s first scalps, pleading guilty to lying to officials.

He is co-operating with Mr Mueller’s investigation.

The FBI codenamed their probe Crossfire Hurricane, a reference to lyrics in a Rolling Stones song.

Crossfire Hurricane began exactly 100 days before the November 8, 2016 presidential election won by Mr Trump.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has carefully attempted to repair his relationship with Mr Trump after the leaders had a fiery phone call about a refugee deal a week after the president moved into the White House.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Peter Strzok went to London 1 Aug 2016

There has been speculation who he met with. This report would confirm Strzok at least met w Downer.

The texts imply Strzok met w at least one other person. Steele ?

another post on Alexander Downer

2 posts above there is a video of Downer from 23 April 2018. He doesn't want to talk about Papadopoulos at all.

Now here is an Australian newspaper report from 28 Apr 2018 where he quite descriptive. No idea why the difference

https://www.theaustralian.com....c8957bfb62b18e411595

Downer says it was a one drink conversation. They talked about what Donald Trump foreign policy might be like.

Papadopoulos mentioned the Russians might use material that they have on Clinton leading up to the election. He said the material would be damaging. He didn't say what it was.

That's it.

This is what triggered a counterintel investigation ?

Obviously we don't know the truth yet.


link to the article seen at

https://twitter.com/johnwhuber?lang=en

this is a thread drift from the dossier, but it may turn out to be a good kick off for the upcoming DoJ IG report.

It has been reported that the IG report is 400 pages long. It is expected to focus on the FBI investigation into H Clinton emails and the reckless handling of classified material.

Over the next few weeks, three FBI / former FBI officials will testify to Congressional committees. (Bill Priestap, John Giacalone, and Michael Steinbach)

Who are these people ?

FBI Org Chart:




John Giacalone was Executive Assistant Director for National Security Branch from Sep 2014 to Feb 2016

Michael Steinbach was Exec Assist Dir for NSB from Mar 2016 to Feb 2017

Bill Priestap has been assistant director of FBI Counterintelligence division since Dec 2015. Mr Priestap is still in that position.

For reference, Peter Strzok worked for Bill Priestap.

There have been several reports that based on a Intelligence Community IG report, the investigation into Clinton's emails started in the summer of 2015.

Several other reports came out that John Giacalone resigned in Feb 2016 because he thought the Clinton investigation was not meant to go anywhere.

Napolitano wrote about that here:

http://www.njherald.com/201610...now-the-obama-fbi#//

So these people could be key players in the DoJ IG report. Just wanted to set the stage a bit.

a few reports on Papadopoulos and Downer

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-...ad-with-papadopoulos

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has told a court he is ready to move ahead with the sentencing of former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.

“The parties respectfully request that the Court refer this case for the preparation of a pre-sentence investigation report,” the filing from Mueller's team reads.

A pre-sentence report is used to help a judge prepare for a possible sentence, providing information on the individual's criminal history, cooperation with authorities, as well as other details that will aid the judge's decision.

The latest development suggests Mueller's team is looking to kickstart the sentencing process.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two posts above is a recent story that Australian Alexander Downer said Papadopoulos never mentioned Clinton emails in their May 2016 meeting in a tavern.

Of note, Downer is not mentioned at all in the Mueller charging documents against Papadopoulos. The charges all relate to Papadopoulos interacting with Mifsud. (including lying about when conversations were held).

All sorts of speculation have been put forth re Mifsud. Is he a Russian agent ? Is he an FBI agent ?

https://www.realclearinvestiga..._of_russiagate_.html

long article above that argues Mifsud is more likely a Western Agent than a Russian agent. But who knows

If the article above is true, it says Mifsud is in hiding

Very frustrating that (supposedly) key events that happened in April 2016 with Mifsud are still an utter mystery to the American public while the FBI remains "investigating".

Bottom line: Alexander Downer may be much less interesting than Joseph Mifsud

(some of the above seen on Undercover Huber)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

adding: saw this as a comment to an article:

If Papadopoulos didn't tell Alexander Downer about Clinton emails, why did Stefan Halper ask Papadopoulos in Sept 2016 whether he knew about Democratic National Committee emails that had been hacked and leaked by Russians ?

http://dailycaller.com/2018/05...opoulos-page-halper/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sdy,

watched Hannity tonight. Thought they got the interpretation of some of the Strzok text messages mixed up

early Aug 2016. Strzok just came back to D.C. from his trip to London.

for times of the texts, I will subtract 4 hours to get DC time

Editing out some details for clarity

4 Aug 8:18 pm (Thur) Strzok: "the agency said today their group is too big to come to us. So we either go to them, and Jon is out, or reschedule till next week. What should I do?"

"the agency" - am thinking this is CIA

Page reply: "Reschedule"

perhaps "Jon" is FBI agent Jon Moffa

Strzok: "And push to next week ? We willing to bear the "FBI is delaying" line ?"

Lisa Page: "The work right now is all analytical. Does Monday make a difference?"

Strzok: "My concern is the perceived delay of not doing it this week."

Strzok: "And it's not just analysis. And, shockingly, agents are also capable of analysis as well"

FBI agents doing analysis versus CIA analysts

Page: "I asked if the other analysts would be going"

Strzok: "That's up to Jon. I just told him I was calling xxx and telling her he needs to be there and to reschedule to Monday unless he doesn't want to do that"

Page: "Are you going by yourself or planning to take others?"

Strzok going to the CIA to brief them

Strzok: "No, I told xxx him, me, xxx just our leadership. Her group is apparently too big to fit into a car"

"her group" is CIA group ?

Page: "Yes Peter. That is my point. She has a whole team, all you need is yourself"

Strzok: "What I don't like about their behavior is knowing we were only bringing leadership, they can't bring three to us ?"

Strzok wants CIA to come to FBI offices

Strzok: "But instead they'll fill the room to take notes on everything we say and also ensure that no one on their side says anything sensitive"

8:40 pm Thur Page: "So ask them to skinny down and come to you. It's your meeting, and we're leading this effort"

the counterintelligence investigation

Strzok: "Yep, that's what I plan to do. And if the can't, we'll reschedule"

Strzok: "rescheduling the one tomorrow so Jon can be there, and also not play into agency's bs game"

reschedule an FBI mtg so Jon Moffa can attend the mtg w CIA at FBI

appears the mtg w CIA was mid day Fri

5 Aug 2016 12:37 Fri Strzok: "And hi. Went well, best we could have expected. Other than xxx quote, "the White House is running this." "

Strzok: "My answer, "well, maybe for you they are" "

did CIA say the WH was running the investigation ?

Strzok: "And of course, I was planning on telling this guy, thanks for coming, we've got an hour, but with Bill there, I've got no control"

Bill Priestap, Strzok's boss

5 Aug 2:55pm Page: "Yeah, whatever, (re the WH comment). We've got emails that say otherwise"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The source I use for the texts was released by Senator Johnson. It is a large file

https://www.scribd.com/documen...ts-and-Text-Messages

two issues re Andrew McCabe

#1

Prosecutors interview Comey as they investigate whether McCabe should be charged

https://www.washingtonpost.com...m_term=.077efc9b15a1

Investigators from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office recently interviewed former FBI director James B. Comey as part of a probe into whether his deputy, Andrew McCabe, broke the law by lying to federal agents — an indication the office is seriously considering whether McCabe should be charged with a crime

Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz accused McCabe in April of misleading investigators and Comey four times — three of them under oath — about authorizing a disclosure to the media. Horowitz referred the findings to the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.


There will be huge blowback if McCabe is not charged w lying to FBI. Mueller has charged Flynn and Papadopoulos w lying to FBI, but McCabe would get a pass ?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

#2 perhaps even worse for McCabe

From Conservative Treehouse, a link to a video giving background about the emails on Weiner's laptop.

good video:

https://youtu.be/aDHseJ5OPpY

fast summary:

28 Sep 2016
Weiner's attorney turns some of the emails on Weiner laptop over to Preet Bharara in NY

28 Sep 2016
McCabe, Strzok, and Lisa Page know of the emails on Weiner laptop. McCabe doesn't tell Comey

3 Oct 2016
NY FBI seizes Weiner laptop. Finds the emails

21 Oct 2016
Preet Bharara calls the DoJ. Asks if he will get a search warrant to look at the Weiner laptop emails

DoJ "pokes" the FBI.

27 Oct 2016
McCabe briefs Comey about the emails on the laptop

28 Oct 2016
FBI reopens the Clinton email investigation

McCabe tried to hide the emails on Weiner laptop until after the election

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ironic, the FBI interfered more in the 2016 election than the Russians

Can you summarize what exactly the Ruskies actually did to interfere with the election, other than sending a lawyer to a meeting with Jr. to talk about adoptions, running some ads on Faceplant, and (conceivably) inviting Flinn and Papadopoulos to give speeches?

Kim Strassel of WSJ has done some really good reporting. She nails it again.

If you read the article, keep in mind that Devin Nunes said his attention is swinging to the Kerry State Dept and the Five Eyes Intel network.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/t...mr-downer-1527809075

The Curious Case of Mr. Downer

May 31, 2018 7:24 p.m. ET

To hear the Federal Bureau of Investigation tell it, its decision to launch a counterintelligence probe into a major-party presidential campaign comes down to a foreign tip about a 28-year-old fourth-tier Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos.

The FBI’s media scribes have dutifully reported the bare facts of that “intel.” We are told the infamous tip came from Alexander Downer, at the time the Australian ambassador to the U.K. Mr. Downer invited Mr. Papadopoulos for a drink in early May 2016, where the aide told the ambassador the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. Word of this encounter at some point reached the FBI, inspiring it to launch its counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign on July 31.

Notably (nay, suspiciously) absent or muddled are the details of how and when that information made its way to the FBI, and what exactly was transmitted. A December 2017 New York Times story vaguely explains that the Australians passed the info to “American counterparts” about “two months later,” and that once it “reached the FBI,” the bureau acted.

The story meanwhile slyly leads readers to believe that Mr. Papadopoulos told Mr. Downer that Moscow had “thousands of emails,” but read it closely and the Times in fact never specifies what the Trump aide said, beyond “dirt.”

When Mr. Downer ended his service in the U.K. this April, he sat for an interview with the Australian, a national newspaper, and “spoke for the first time” about the Papadopoulos event. The story nonchalantly notes that “after a period of time, Australia’s ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, passed the information on to Washington.”

My reporting indicates otherwise

A diplomatic source tells me Mr. Hockey neither transmitted any information to the FBI nor was approached by the U.S. about the tip. Rather, it was Mr. Downer who at some point decided to convey his information—to the U.S. Embassy in London.

That matters because it is not how things are normally done. The U.S. is part of Five Eyes, an intelligence network that includes the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Five Eyes agreement provides that any intelligence goes through the intelligence system of the country that gathered it

We also know that it wasn’t Australian intelligence that alerted the FBI. The document that launched the FBI probe contains no foreign intelligence whatsoever. So if Australian intelligence did receive the Downer info, it didn’t feel compelled to act on it.

The Downer details landed with the embassy’s then-chargé d’affaires, Elizabeth Dibble, who previously served as a principal deputy assistant secretary in Mrs. Clinton’s State Department.

Meanwhile, something doesn’t gel between Mr. Downer’s account of the conversation and the FBI’s. In his Australian interview, Mr. Downer said Mr. Papadopolous didn’t give specifics. “He didn’t say dirt, he said material that could be damaging to her,” said Mr. Downer. “He didn’t say what it was.” Also: “Nothing he said in that conversation indicated Trump himself had been conspiring with the Russians to collect information on Hillary Clinton.”

For months we’ve been told the FBI acted because it was alarmed that Mr. Papadopoulos knew about those hacked Democratic emails in May, before they became public in June. But according to the tipster himself, Mr. Papadopoulos said nothing about emails. The FBI instead received a report that a far-removed campaign adviser, over drinks, said the Russians had something that might be “damaging” to Hillary. Did this vague statement justify a counterintelligence probe into a presidential campaign, featuring a spy and secret surveillance warrants?

quote:

Can you summarize what exactly the Ruskies actually did to interfere with the election

Well, they did spend $300 in Facebook ads in Pennsylvania.

And supposedly they hacked the DNC servers and then told the American people the truth about what dirty tricks the DNC was up to. (Quite a problem there. Russians exposing the truth. Can't have that)

Yet Mueller hasn't indicted anyone about the DNC hacking yet.

This whole thing is blowing up.

I am mystified about Trey Gowdy's comments that the FBI did the right thing in spying on the Trump campaign. Clapper, Comey, Gowdy, Rubio, they are all openly admitting the FBI spied (although they dance maniacally to avoid the word "spy")

If there was justification, just come out and tell the American people what it was.

Always hiding behind "national security".

After the reports about Stefan Halper broke, where it looks very suspicious that Halper was a spy for the FBI, a lot of attention is now swinging back to Geo Papadopoulos and Joseph Mifsud.

Back on p11, I mentioned that Mifsud may be even stranger than Halper.

Andrew McCarthy has an article up today on this:

https://www.nationalreview.com...e-needs-closer-look/

McCarthy's articles are always hard to summarize because he covers a lot of ground.

but a few snips:

the harder one looks, the more the Papadopoulos case appears to be much ado about nothing

There has always been something fishy about the charge filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller against Papadopoulos, who was a green-as-grass 28-year-old when he made the big primary-season move from Ben Carson–campaign novice to Trump-campaign novice. Peruse the “Statement of the Offense,” filed by Mueller’s lead prosecutor on the case, Jeannie S. Rhee (who is fresh from a stint representing the Clinton Foundation — and donating $5,400 to the Hillary Clinton campaign). You find that there is collusion with Russia pouring off every one of the document’s 13 pages — meetings with shadowy figures portrayed as Kremlin operatives, apparent schemes to undermine Mrs. Clinton, ambitious plans for pow-wows between candidate Trump and strongman Putin.

Yet . . . there is no charge having anything to do with “collusion” — in the criminal-law sense of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin to commit “cyber-espionage” or otherwise sabotage the 2016 election.

Instead, after the big 13-page wind-up, Papadopoulos ends up pleading guilty to a minor false-statements charge — one that is convoluted and, in the scheme of things, trivial. In essence, Papadopoulos is said to have lied about the timing and scope of his contact with the Maltese academic Joseph Mifsud. Mueller, Rhee & Co. allege that Papadopoulos falsely claimed that the contacts started before he joined the Trump campaign. It turns out that they started on March 14, 2016; this was some time after he “learned he would be a foreign policy advisor for the campaign” (page 3, paragraph 4) but a week before the campaign’s March 21 announcement that he was a campaign “policy advisor”

important reporting by the Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross, the Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel, and Lee Smith at Real Clear Investigations calls for a more exacting perusal of Mueller’s allegations. Specifically: (1) Is Mueller really claiming that Papadopoulos was approached by an agent of Russia and (2) did this agent actually claim that the Russians’ “dirt” involved emails — and if so, is there reason to believe he knew what he was talking about?

Mueller is not saying Mifsud and his associates really have close connections to Putin’s regime. And as Lee Smith details, it is highly unlikely that they do. Mifsud himself has denied that he is a Russian operative, and those who know him well describe him as tied to Western intelligence agents.

more at link
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

and reportedly Mifsud has now gone into hiding

Maybe Mifsud has gone into hiding because he has been playing both sides against the middle.

Or probably worse, he knows he is about to be the center of a media shit storm circus.

Tough to keep the story straight:

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
The New York Times first revealed late last year it was at a boozy night in May 2016, at London’s Kensington Wine Rooms, that Mr Trump’s then foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos told Mr Downer Russia had dirt on Mr Trump’s political rival Hillary Clinton.

From Downer quoted above:

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
Downer says it was a one drink conversation. They talked about what Donald Trump foreign policy might be like.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Maybe Mifsud has gone into hiding because he has been playing both sides against the middle.

Or probably worse, he knows he is about to be the center of a media shit storm circus.

That is where most Confidential Informants make their money, being in the middle and playing both sides against each other. FBI and CIA have had similar issues with CIs doing that in the past.