quote:

unnamed sources with whom she has developed trusting relationships

This is just unbelievably bad journalism! Imagine, a trained professional misspelling "thrusting!"

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley isn't backing down as the Justice Department rebuffs his repeated attempts to speak with the FBI agent whose interview with Michael Flynn was used to indict the ex-national security adviser in the Russia probe.

“This is no ordinary criminal case,” Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote in a June 6 letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. “Congress has a right to know the full story and to know it now.”

Grassley is pressing his request anew after the DOJ once again rejected his bid to speak with FBI Agent Joe Pientka and to obtain the FBI’s records of the interview.

Flynn pleaded guilty in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe to making false statements to the FBI in that interview. He also lost his job at the White House after he was said to have misled Vice President Pence about a discussion with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Release of the so-called 'Comey memos' escalates a feud between the president and the FBI director he fired; chief White House correspondent John Roberts reports from West Palm Beach, Florida.
But Republicans on Capitol Hill are seeking more information about that interview as recent revelations have raised questions about the guilty plea itself. They say former FBI Director James Comey in fact indicated to lawmakers that FBI agents did not believe Flynn intentionally lied about the talks with Russia’s ambassador.

GRASSLEY PUSHES DOJ FOR ANSWERS ON FLYNN INTERVIEW

“Contrary to his public statements during his current book tour denying any memory of those comments, then-Director Comey led us to believe during that briefing that the agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe he intentionally lied about his conversation with the Ambassador and that the Justice Department was unlikely to prosecute him for false statements made in that interview,” Grassley wrote in May to Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

In that letter, Grassley requested the FBI’s so-called “302” documents memorializing their interview with Flynn and other supporting documents, including the agents’ notes. He also asked for a transcribed interview with Pientka, the FBI special agent who interviewed Flynn with fellow agent Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump text messages later led to his dismissal from the Russia probe.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd, in a May 29 letter to Grassley, declined the requests.

“Whatever Mr. Corney may have said and whatever Mr. Flynn's demeanor, the evidence in the public record proves beyond any reasonable doubt that Mr. Flynn knowingly made false statements about contacts with the Russian ambassador,” Boyd said.

Senator Chuck Grassley discusses a bill that protects the Mueller investigation and other critical issues that face the Senate on 'Justice with Judge Jeanine.'
Boyd emphasized that Flynn “admitted under oath to making a materially false statement” and was represented by two experienced attorneys when he pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents. He also expressed concern that handing over those documents or allowing an interview with a FBI agent would “unavoidably would create the appearance of political influence.”

“For this reason, the Department is obligated at this time to respectfully decline to provide documents or arrange for staffers to interview the agent named in your letter,” Boyd wrote.

Boyd also suggested an interview with Pientka is unnecessary because the DOJ is unaware of “any allegation against or previous publicity about the agent.”

Grassley, in his response to the Justice Department, took issue with that statement, calling it “disingenuous and extremely disturbing.”

“As you well know, seeking information from a fact witness is not the same thing as an allegation of wrongdoing,” Grassley said. “Quite the contrary, it seems he is likely to be an objective, reliable, and trustworthy witness, which is precisely why the Committee would benefit from his testimony.”

House Intelligence Committee Republicans' recently released Russia report also cited top FBI officials suggesting the agents who interviewed Flynn saw no indication Flynn knew he was lying.

The development is puzzling because Flynn’s comments were indeed at odds with the evidence. The FBI reportedly intercepted conversations that countered Flynn’s initial claim that, among other things, he did not ask Russia’s ambassador to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions.

The request from Grassley comes as the Justice Department and other Republicans on the Capitol Hill have been sparring over access to documents concerning the FBI's alleged informant in contact with members of President Trump's 2016 campaign at the dawn of the Russia probe.

NUNES SETS DEADLINE FOR DOJ TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTS ON ALLEGED FBI INFORMANT

House Intelligence Committee chairman says any delay from the DOJ will be considered an obstruction of Congress; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.
In a letter sent Friday to Rosenstein, House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the records should be provided to all committee members "and designated staff" rather than just the so-called "Gang of Eight" -- which refers to Republican and Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress as well as top lawmakers from the intelligence panels.

"Your continued refusal to permit Members of Congress and designated staff to review the requested documents is obstruction of a lawful Congressional investigation," Nunes wrote.

Asked about the letter, however, a DOJ official said Rosenstein is currently “representing the United States in a brief unrelated visit to a foreign nation, one of America’s key intelligence partners,” indicating he would plan on responding during the previously scheduled briefing on Thursday.

“He, along with the FBI Director and DNI Coats, look forward to further briefing and again presenting responsive documents to Chairman Nunes and the rest of his colleagues in the Gang of 8 meeting scheduled for Thursday of this week,” the official said.

Link

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to “subpoena” emails, phone records and other documents from lawmakers and staff on a Republican-led House committee during a tense meeting earlier this year, according to emails reviewed by Fox News documenting the encounter and reflecting what aides described as a "personal attack."

The emails memorialized a January 2018 closed-door meeting involving senior FBI and Justice Department officials as well as members of the House Intelligence Committee. The account claimed Rosenstein threatened to turn the tables on the committee's inquiries regarding the Russia probe.

“The DAG [Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein] criticized the Committee for sending our requests in writing and was further critical of the Committee’s request to have DOJ/FBI do the same when responding,” the committee's then-senior counsel for counterterrorism Kash Patel wrote to the House Office of General Counsel. “Going so far as to say that if the Committee likes being litigators, then ‘we [DOJ] too [are] litigators, and we will subpoena your records and your emails,’ referring to HPSCI [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] and Congress overall.”

A second House committee staffer at the meeting backed up Patel’s account, writing: “Let me just add that watching the Deputy Attorney General launch a sustained personal attack against a congressional staffer in retaliation for vigorous oversight was astonishing and disheartening. ... Also, having the nation’s #1 (for these matters) law enforcement officer threaten to 'subpoena your calls and emails' was downright chilling.”

The committee staffer noted that Rosenstein’s comment could be interpreted as meaning the department would “vigorously defend a contempt action" -- which might be expected. But the staffer continued, "I also read it as a not-so-veiled threat to unleash the full prosecutorial power of the state against us.”

House Intelligence Committee chairman says any delay from the DOJ will be considered an obstruction of Congress; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.
Representatives with both the DOJ and FBI disputed the account in the emails.

“The FBI disagrees with a number of characterizations of the meeting as described in the excerpts of a staffer’s emails provided to us by Fox News,” the FBI said in a statement.

A DOJ official told Fox News that Rosenstein “never threatened anyone in the room with a criminal investigation.” The official said the department and bureau officials in the room “are all quite clear that the characterization of events laid out here is false,” adding that Rosenstein was responding to a threat of contempt.

'[H]aving the nation’s #1 ... law enforcement officer threaten to 'subpoena your calls and emails' was downright chilling.'
- House Intelligence Committee staffer, describing clash with Rod Rosenstein
“The Deputy Attorney General was making the point—after being threatened with contempt — that as an American citizen charged with the offense of contempt of Congress, he would have the right to defend himself, including requesting production of relevant emails and text messages and calling them as witnesses to demonstrate that their allegations are false,” the official said. “That is why he put them on notice to retain relevant emails and text messages, and he hopes they did so. (We have no process to obtain such records without congressional approval.)”

Further, the official said that when Rosenstein returns to the United States from a work trip, “he will request that the House General counsel conduct an internal investigation of these Congressional staffers’ conduct.”

Details of the January 2018 meeting first trickled out in the immediate aftermath. Fox News' Gregg Jarrett tweeted in February on the purported subpoena threat.


But the emails, reviewed by Fox News, provide additional details about that encounter. A former Justice Department official said the account may help explain how the relationship between the DOJ and the Republican-led House committee has broken down in the months since.

“This is much worse than a deteriorating relationship – this is a massive breakdown in the system. A deputy attorney general does not make subpoena threats lightly. This is not the norm to say the least,” Tom Dupree, the former principal deputy assistant attorney general under the George W. Bush administration, told Fox News. “It’s hard to tell whether [Rosenstein] was sending a message to back off, or whether he was just trying to illustrate how invasive he considered the demands from Congress. But either way, it is a clear signal that the relationship is fractured, and it’s not clear how things will get repaired.”

The tense session over the boundaries of congressional oversight – and the Justice Department's concern for protecting sources and methods – appears to have set the tone for a sustained records dispute as well as the latest confrontation over Chairman Devin Nunes’ request for information related to an alleged FBI confidential human source who was in contact with the Trump campaign.

A senior Justice Department official said Rosenstein and others have offered to meet Thursday with a group of House leaders known as the Gang of Eight. In a letter, Nunes, R-Calif. – whose staffers documented the Jan. 10 meeting – made clear he wants the records made available to all intelligence committee members and select staff two days earlier.

The Jan. 10 meeting came amid government surveillance abuse allegations, outstanding House subpoenas for Russia probe records and the looming threat of contempt. The Capitol Hill session pertained to a request for a sensitive document, according to the emails – and included Rosenstein, Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott Schools, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd, then-FBI Assistant Director Greg Brower and FBI Director Christopher Wray, as well as Nunes and three committee staffers.

The emails reviewed by Fox News show at least two committee staffers memorialized their concerns about the deputy attorney general’s alleged statements, at the request of the Office of General Counsel.

“I know I’ve relayed the following to you over the phone, and per your suggestion reducing it to writing so there is at least some record of the event,” wrote Patel, who is now the committee's national security adviser.

The two staffers were pressed on whether Rosenstein could justify the comments as "merely referring to how DOJ would vigorously defend any litigation that the committee might initiate?” -- an apparent reference to Nunes' threat to hold Rosenstein and Wray in contempt for not providing records.

“I took ... it as the DAG’s clearly articulated course of action should the committee continue its investigation in the current manner, which he found unacceptable and improper. It was not in response to how they would defend litigation (ie contempt or the like),” Patel responded. "It was about leaks, source contact, and other alleged disclosures by the committee."

Asked about the January meeting, Nunes provided a statement to Fox News noting they referred the incident to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office: “The Intelligence Committee considers staff concerns at the most serious level, especially those involving interactions with the executive branch. Based on the justified concerns expressed by our lead staff investigators, we referred this matter to the Speaker’s Office.”

Fox News provided extensive quotes from the emails and offered an opportunity to respond to all parties. The House Office of General Counsel declined to comment. A source close to the speaker said they “encouraged the Committee to work through the non-partisan DOJ Inspector General’s Office.”

A committee source said “going to DOJ IG is one of several steps under consideration.”

The DOJ official later said in an email that "no formal complaint was ever filed [with] the GC or IG." The official also said that Rosenstein and Nunes "went to dinner with a mutual friend the night of this meeting and the chairman didn't raise any concerns about the conversation at that dinner."

Dupree, though, said the tensions between Congress and the Justice Department go well beyond the traditional oversight negotiations.

"Rarely, if ever, has it deterioriated to this point where you have what appears to be threats going back and forth between the two sides," he said.

Link

I remember when this first broke from Greg Jarrett in Feb 2018. It seemed like it was downplayed then and not considered a big deal.

But the new article sounds like it was a big deal. Rosenstein sure is fighting to keep the public from knowing the truth.

"Further, the official said that when Rosenstein returns to the United States from a work trip, “he will request that the House General counsel conduct an internal investigation of these Congressional staffers’ conduct.”"


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

reminder : when the DoJ IG report gets released, one place we might be able to get it is from

https://oig.justice.gov/reports/all.htm

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
I remember when this first broke from Greg Jarrett in Feb 2018. It seemed like it was downplayed then and not considered a big deal.

But the new article sounds like it was a big deal. Rosenstein sure is fighting to keep the public from knowing the truth.

"Further, the official said that when Rosenstein returns to the United States from a work trip, “he will request that the House General counsel conduct an internal investigation of these Congressional staffers’ conduct.”"


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

reminder : when the DoJ IG report gets released, one place we might be able to get it is from

https://oig.justice.gov/reports/all.htm

Rosenstein has lost me on this one. I simply can’t imagine what justifies this obstinate refusal to disclose the document Congress apears to be entitled to see. The danger to national security card has been played too often and is no longer a (pardon me) Trump card.

There had better be a damned good reason for this.

back to the Mueller case against the Russians

Concord Management showed up in court and asked for disclosure of evidence

Now Mueller is back in court trying to avoid that disclosure

https://www.bloomberg.com/news...in-russia-troll-case

U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller warned that Russian intelligence services still have active “interference operations” into U.S. elections and that handing over certain evidence in a criminal case could imperil ongoing investigations.

Mueller on Tuesday asked a federal judge in Washington for an order to protect voluminous evidence sought by lawyers for Concord Management and Consulting LLC, one of three companies and 13 Russian nationals charged in a February indictment alleging election meddling via social media. Prosecutors have uncovered evidence of other individuals and entities who are “continuing to engage” in similar activities.

Unauthorized disclosure of such evidence would help foreign intelligence services in Russia and elsewhere while undermining U.S. law enforcement and national security investigations, Mueller’s prosecutors wrote in Tuesday’s request for a protective order.

Prosecutors said they have gathered “unclassified but sensitive information that remains relevant to ongoing national security investigations and efforts to protect the integrity of future U.S. elections.” It includes the identities of cooperating individuals and companies, as well as links between the defendants, uncharged parties and foreign governments, that goes well beyond what prosecutors intend to disclose at trial, they wrote

Prosecutors asked Friedrich to bar any co-defendant of Concord from reviewing evidence until they appear in his courtroom to respond to the charges. They also want to regulate disclosure of “particularly sensitive material to foreign nationals” by first limiting it to U.S. lawyers for defendants.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This is a gigantic CF caused by Mueller. If it was the Russians they were after, this should have stayed a counterintel op without going after Donald Trump and the Trump campaign.

It is Robert Mueller who has made all this public and is potentially exposing national security info to Russia. What a total ass.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
. . .Unauthorized disclosure of such evidence would help foreign intelligence services in Russia and elsewhere while undermining U.S. law enforcement and national security investigations. . .Prosecutors said they have gathered “unclassified but sensitive information that remains relevant to ongoing national security investigations and efforts to protect the integrity of future U.S. elections.” . . .

Bullshit.

These little boys have cried "WOLF!" too, too, too many times.

I don't believe a word of it.

It is really disappointing to see Jeff Sessions to take this kind of stand. Rosenstein threatening members of congress is clearly trying to intimidate them from doing their constitutional oversight duties.



Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rLq557sp3A

http://www.foxnews.com/politic...p-investigation.html

Republican lawmakers on Tuesday said that they will be pushing for a vote on a resolution that compels the Department of Justice to cease the delays and finally release all remaining documents related to the Trump campaign probe.

Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Jim Jordon, R-Ohio, both members of the House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that they will push for a vote on the resolution, which will be filed on Wednesday, that would encourage Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to comply with their requests at the House intelligence committee.

“It's all about compelling DOJ to turn over documents so we could do proper oversight. If they have nothing to hide, turn over the documents,” Meadows said on “The Ingraham Angle.”

"It's all about compelling DOJ to turn over documents so we could do proper oversight. If they have nothing to hide, turn over the documents."
- U.S. House Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC.

Jordan said the resolution is different from other the committee requests because it would come from the entire Congress.

“[It’s] one thing for us to say, one thing for the chairman of subpoena – it's another thing if the House of Representatives would actually go on record and say, 'Mr Rosenstein, we as the House, a majority of the House, say you're not giving us the information we need,” he said.

ROSENSTEIN THREATENED TO ‘SUBPOENA’ GOP-LED COMMITTEE IN ‘CHILLING’ CLASH OVER RECORDS, EMAILS SHOW

The resolution comes in the wake of a bombshell report that Rosenstein threatened to “subpoena” emails, phone records and other documents from lawmakers and staff on a Republican-led House committee during a meeting earlier this year.

The reviewed emails recalled a January 2018 closed-door meeting involving senior FBI and Justice Department officials and members of the House Intelligence Committee.

“The DAG [Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein] criticized the Committee for sending our requests in writing and was further critical of the Committee’s request to have DOJ/FBI do the same when responding,” the committee's then-senior counsel for counterterrorism Kash Patel wrote to the House Office of General Counsel. “Going so far as to say that if the Committee likes being litigators, then ‘we [DOJ] too [are] litigators, and we will subpoena your records and your emails,’ referring to HPSCI [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] and Congress overall,” the email added.

The Republican-led intelligence committee is seeking a vast array of documents related to the potential abuses of intelligence and memos that kick-started the investigation into the Trump campaign and whether it colluded with the Russian government.
Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.

NUNES SETS DEADLINE FOR DOJ TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTS ON ALLEGED FBI INFORMANT, CLAIMING ‘OBSTRUCTION’

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., sent a letter last week to Rosenstein demanding to the requested documents concerning the FBI's alleged informant looking into any Russian ties to President Trump's 2016 campaign.

"DOJ continues to obfuscate and delay its production using an array of tactics, such as incorrectly categorizing the requested documents as Gang-of-Eight-level material in order to limit access," wrote Nunes, referring to an April 30 subpoena for the documents.

The so-called Gang-of-Eight refers to Republican and Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress as well as top lawmakers from the intelligence panels. "Such conduct by DOJ is unacceptable because the Gang-of-Eight is a legal fiction that has no basis outside of the confines of Presidential approval and reporting of covert actions.”

I can't listen to Jeff Sessions any more. His milquetoast manner and his apparent inaction makes me nauseous.

Oh, yes, I know- he just appears to be a do-nothing weakling. Behind the scenes, he's a dynamo, an unrelenting crusader for justice. A man who knows how to get things done. Right.

quote:

Rosenstein sure is fighting to keep the public from knowing the truth.

And Sessions has had his back the whole way. VIVE LE SWAMP!

quote:

Rosenstein has lost me on this one. I simply can’t imagine what justifies this obstinate refusal to disclose the document Congress apears to be entitled to see.

This is one of those "the most obvious answer is the correct one" type of things.

Rosenstein is corrupt.

Rosenstein and his ilk will do whatever they have to to keep these documents in the dark until mid-terms. They are hoping to take the House and implement the "insurance policy", which will be impeachment. If the dems take the House, we will see a document bomb dropped on Congress.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I can't listen to Jeff Sessions any more. His milquetoast manner and his apparent inaction makes me nauseous.

Oh, yes, I know- he just appears to be a do-nothing weakling. Behind the scenes, he's a dynamo, an unrelenting crusader for justice. A man who knows how to get things done. Right.

Once the NORKs are in the bag, you'll see Trump go, "Fuck it. Pompeo! Get suited up. You're AG."

here is letter from Sen Johnson to FBI Die wray.

Had to print it out large because the font is small

upload pic









I wonder who "BO" could be ?

Note 11 Oct 2016 where Strzok is fighting w someone over a FISA (Carter Page FISA ?)

The 5 Aug 2016 text says "Other than LC's quote". This is the text that I think might be discussing Strzok's mtg w the CIA.

I still want to know how Congress enforces its subpoenas.

When AG Holder was in contempt, we were told that Congress passes a resolution and DOJ takes it to US District Court to get a court order and whatever punishment is meted out.

We may be about to witness a parking problem at the courthouse, with these Congressmen indicted by DOJ and DOJ and FBI guys fighting contempt actions.

Oh, to be a lawyer in DC now!

I just read where Sessions said he doesn't believe that Rosenstein would threaten Congress.

He better wake the fuck up. And maybe start doing some of that AG shit too.

I am beginning to hope that the rumors about Jeanine Pirro (Judge Jeanine on FOX) replacing Mr Magoo are true.

Here’s What We Can Glean From What George Papadopoulos’s Wife Is Telling Media


Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos has returned to the media circuit to defend her husband, and her statements have proved enlightening.

Very lengthy article at Federalist.com. Link

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
here is letter from Sen Johnson to FBI Die wray.


I wonder who "BO" could be ?

Note 11 Oct 2016 where Strzok is fighting w someone over a FISA (Carter Page FISA ?)

The 5 Aug 2016 text says "Other than LC's quote". This is the text that I think might be discussing Strzok's mtg w the CIA.

Bruce Ohr, I imagine.

I was thinking Barack Obama. but not clear.

quote:

Rosenstein has lost me on this one. I simply can’t imagine what justifies this obstinate refusal to disclose the document Congress apears to be entitled to see.

He's so obsessed with institutional privilege that he's lost sight of the purposes the institution is supposed to serve.