quote:

I thought Comey testified before Congress last year that he didn't know Clinton had paid for the Dossier.

True.

Comey has testified to lots of things that don't make sense.

Comey has said he still doesn't know that Clinton campaign paid for the dossier.

My point was that Donald Trump was told "private clients" when reality was Clinton campaign.

3 months before this Jan 2017 brief, Comey signed the first Carter Page FISA warrant where the FBI didn't tell the court that the dossier material was funded by Clinton.

The FBI told the court that Christopher Steele didn't know the "motivation" for the research.

Comey's position today is that it doesn't matter who funded the dossier.

Mr. Ratcliffe. Do you recall that part of the probable cause submitted to the court was the -- what you've referred to as the Steele dossier?

Mr. Comey. I don't.


Mr. Gowdy. Was Christopher Steele also working with or for the Bureau while he was working for Fusion GPS?

Mr. Comey. I don't know .

Literally, you can't believe anything Comey says.

It slipped by me, but I just saw an interview that was a reminder:

James Comey returns to congress tomorrow (17 Dec 2018) for more testimony.

I hope they cut him to pieces.

For a long time I wondered if McCabe was the lead in the FBI for the conspiracy to take down Donald Trump, but after the last couple months it looks like Comey was the lead FBI conspirator.

Judge Emmet Sullivan is scheduled to sentence Michael Flynn on Tuesday, 18 Dec 2018.

With the confusing Mueller input from Friday, and the apparent "missing" original FBI 302 on the first Flynn interview, I built a timeline to understand the environment of 24 Jan 2017 (day of Flynn interview)

Included are some odd inputs that are straight from the Mueller "Statement of the Offense" against Flynn

28 Dec 2016

obama signs an executive order to sanction Russia because of Russian interference in the 2016 election


29 Dec 2016

1. Flynn calls a senior official of the Presidential Transition Team (PTT) to discuss what to communicate w the Russian ambassador about the sanctions

Flynn and the PTT official discussed that members of the PTT did not want Russia to escalate the situation. The FBI does not identify the PTT senior official

2. Flynn calls the Russian ambassador and requests that Russia not escalate the situation and only respond in a reciprocal manner

3. After the call w the Russian ambassador, Flynn calls the PTT official and tells him the substance of the call to the Russian

30 Dec 2016

Putin announces Russia would not take retaliatory measures in response to the sanctions at that time

31 Dec 2016

1. The Russian ambassador calls Flynn and informs him that Russia chose not to retaliate in response to Flynn's request

2. Flynn calls senior members of the Presidential Transition Team about the ambassador's call and the decision not to escalate

6 Jan 2017

Comey and senior Intel reps brief President elect Trump on Russia election interference. As far as we know, they did not discuss the Steele dossier

Everyone else leaves except Comey. Comey tells Donald Trump of the sex tape part of the dossier.

10 Jan 2017

CNN reports the brief to Donald Trump and Buzzfeed releases the complete dossier

12 Jan 2017

David Ignatius of Wash Post writes an article that says "a senior U.S. govt official" told him that Flynn had phoned Russian ambassador Kislyak several times on 29 Dec 2016; the day after the obama sanctions with the expulsion of 35 Russian officials. Ignatius writes "Did it undercut U.S. sanctions ?" and he cites the Logan Act

15 Jan 2017

VP elect Pence does an interview on CBS. He is asked about the Flynn and Kislyak conversations. Pence says he has talked w Flynn and the conversations had nothing to do w the sanctions

23 Jan 2017

Washington Post runs a story that is titled "FBI reviewed Flynn's calls with Russian ambassador but found nothing illicit"

The FBI in late December reviewed intercepts of communications between the Russian ambassador to the United States and retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn — national security adviser to then-President-elect Trump — but has not found any evidence of wrongdoing or illicit ties to the Russian government, U.S. officials said.

24 Jan 2017

Comey and McCabe send Strzok and another agent to interview Flynn. Comey by passed standard protocol so as not to alert WH counsel, and McCabe suggested no WH counsel be present.

26 Jan 2017

Acting AG Sally Yates goes to WH counsel and said Flynn had lied to the FBI and that he was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail.

13 Feb 2017

Michael Flynn resigns

Comey has a lot of "I don't recall", "I don't remember" testimony.......and this is from a guy who supposedly took meticulous notes on his every interaction with President Trump.

We are truly in a three party political system: Dimocraps, Republicans, and the Deep State/Establishment Dimocraps/Republicans.

This post is about a development that almost all news media and blogs have not reported on.

Background: Three Russians associated w Russian Alfa Bank were mentioned in the Steele dossier.

They are mentioned by name in the report 2016/112 dated 14 Sep 2016. That report is on pages 25-26 of the 35 page dossier. Steele accused them of paying cash bribes to Putin.

The 3 Russians are suing Steele for defamation.

A Wash DC Court dismissed the case in Aug 2018. The court said the men had failed to prove that Mr Steele knew the information was false when he submitted the dossier to Fusion GPS

But the 3 Russians have filed an appeal. Last Tue, 11 Dec 2018, several filings were added by lawyers for the 3 Russians.

The Washington Times picked up on this and put out a story 12 Dec 2018.

https://www.washingtontimes.co...ton-was-preparing-t/

"Anti-Trump dossier author was hired to help Hillary challenge 2016 election results"

The Wash Times quotes some of the exhibits added to the case. I have verified these filings are actually in PACER.

Here are two cut and pastes from filings by Steele's lawyer that are cited in the Russian recent exhibits:

Defendant = Christopher Steele and Orbis

Orbis = Steele's company








adding: a number of blogs are now reporting this story

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

busy day

https://theconservativetreehou...-fd-302/#more-157860

Conservative Treehouse released the original 302 on the Flynn interview.

Quite a muddled situation.

Remember this FBI interview is after the Wash Post article asking if Flynn violated the Logan Act. Maybe he got defensive. When asked about the talk w Kislyak, Flynn said "it was possible that he talked to Kislyak on the issue, but if he did, he did not remember doing so"

Flynn was on vacation in the Dominican Republic when the calls w Kislyak took place.

Hard to summarize. One needs to read the 302 and draw your own conclusions.

President Trump tweets from today:

Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn. Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign. There was no Collusion!

Russia Dossier reporter now doubts dopey Christopher Steele’s claims! “When you get into the details of the Steele Dossier, the specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them. There’s good grounds to think that some of the more sensational allegations.....

....WILL NEVER BE PROVEN AND ARE LIKELY FALSE.” Thank you to Michael Isikoff, Yahoo, for honesty. What this means is that the FISA WARRANTS and the whole Russian Witch Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately. Also, it was paid for by Crooked Hillary & DNC!

Michael Isikoff was the first to report Dossier allegations and now seriously doubts the Dossier claims. The whole Russian Collusion thing was a HOAX, but who is going to restore the good name of so many people whose reputations have been destroyed?

Flynn in court today for sentencing

"Are you continuing to accept responsibility for his false statements?" Judge Emmet Sullivan asked. "I am, you're honor," Flynn loudly responded.

Sullivan asks Flynn if he would like to postpone the sentencing, and Flynn says no.

"I do not" seek to withdraw the plea, Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn just told the judge overing seeing his sentencing for lying to the FBI.

Judge Emmet Sullivan has now formally accepted Michael Flynn's guilty plea, after spending several minutes revisiting the unusual circumstance of Flynn's interview and his intentions today.

He gave Flynn several outs to rethink his plea, and Flynn asserted several times he is ready to go forward.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/l...el-flynn-sentencing/

"A high ranking official of the government" making false statements in the White House is a "very serious offense," Sullivan said.

Sullivan also noted that Michael Flynn was still serving on the Trump campaign at the time of the incidents that led to his lie about his lobbying work for the Turkish government.

The judge acknowledged, though, that special counsel Robert Mueller's team has filed a request for leniency on Flynn's sentence. He will be considering the significance and usefulness of Flynn's assistance to the Justice Department.

"The more you assist the government the more you arguably help yourself at the time of sentencing," Sullivan says.
But Mueller's team and the Justice Department clearly have left the door open for Flynn to continuing to help.

Van Grack is explaining that Flynn by this point has given "substantial assistance."

"The defendant had provided the vast majority of cooperation that could be considered," the former Mueller-team prosecutor tells the judge.

For the first time: The special counsel also acknowledged Flynn’s role in the indictment of two Flynn associates related to their lobbying on behalf of Turkey . Flynn gave "substantial assistance" to the Eastern District of Virginia US Attorney's Office in the Kian indictment unsealed yesterday.

If he had not cooperated and admitted to lying about the Turkish lobbying, Flynn could have been charged in that Virginia federal criminal case, Van Grack said.

Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack says "it remains a possibility that General Flynn is continuing to cooperate with the government."

Judge Sullivan had asked Van Grack if Flynn was still cooperating, and Van Grack took several seconds to give that response.

Typically, defendants in this sort of circumstance don't proceed to sentencing until their cooperation is complete, because judges want to be able to fully evaluate how they helped before they are.

Michael Flynn returned to the podium with his lawyers after Judge Emmet Sullivan wanted to ask him a few more questions.

"I believe I understand that" there could be more cooperation needed from Flynn, Flynn said to the judge. He confirmed he's already done 19 interviews with investigators.

Sullivan noted that this circumstance today is rare — hearings like this during continuing cooperation are often sealed, or are put on pause until the cooperation is complete.

Having a sentencing today "is your prerogative, and only yours," Sullivan said. "If you want to postpone this ..." Sullivan suggested again.

"I want to be frank with you, this crime is very serious," Sullivan said.

If Sullivan sentences Flynn today, he can only take into consideration the cooperation up to this point. A sentence at a later date might be different if Flynn's cooperation continued, Sullivan said.

"The aggravating circumstances are serious. Not only did you lie to the FBI, you lied to senior officials in the incoming administration," Sullivan said.



Judge Emmet Sullivan asked in court today if Michael Flynn's conduct "rises to the level of treasonous activity?"

this is getting ridiculous

Prosecutor Brandon Van Grack, speaking for the special counsel's office, said prosecutors did not consider charging Flynn with treason.

Then Sullivan asked again: "Could he have been charged with treason?”

Van Grack wouldn't go there.

Judge Sullivan harshly admonished Michael Flynn for acting as unregistered agent while serving as the national security adviser, leaving open the possibility of jail time for Flynn.

“All along, you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States. That undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably you sold your country out."
Sullivan says he could impose a sentence of incarceration.

"I am not hiding my disgust, my disdain for your criminal offense," Sullivan said, straining his voice and taking a brief pause. "Yes, your honor," Flynn said, though he was not asked a question.

Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan called a recess until 12:30 p.m. ET.


adding:

https://twitter.com/IvanPentchoukov?lang=en&lang=en

During the judge's reprimand, Flynn appeared stunned. Some reporters observed a clenched jaw.

Flynn did not look happy at all. Especially after the judge said he is considering prison time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Judge back

Judge says that he made a statement about Flynn being a foreign agent and that the special counsel asked for that to be corrected. Judge says he was not suggesting that Flynn committed treason or other violations.

Judge says the special counsel has no reason to believe defendant committed treason ... after speaking with him in 19 interviews.

just me, but what a stupid thing to say in such a public hearing. (Judge asking about treason). Mueller recommended no jail time, and the judge asks if Flynn committed treason ?

Judge now addressing what distinguishes Flynn's case from Papadopoulos and Van Der Zwaan, adding that the premise of Flynn's case is that the offense occurred in the White House.

Judge delays Flynn sentencing . Status conference in 90 days.

- Special counsel did not object
- Judge agreed with defense's request for delay as Flynn cooperates in relation to the Virginia case filed yesterday

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

very disappointing

Judge Sullivan scares the shit out of Flynn w talk of treason and giving him jail time, then says the sentence will be lighter if he cooperates more, and throws Flynn back to the SC.

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

some speculation on the Flynn hearing today.

Have we been "Muellered" once again ?

Mueller wants the investigation to go on and on as long as possible.

Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI on 1 Dec 2017. A year ago. The Flynn sentencing has been postponed multiple times.

So yesterday, the day before the sentencing , an indictment was unsealed against two people for trying to influence politicians and public opinion about a Turkish citizen in the US whose extradition is being sought by Turkey.

Flynn was providing prosecutors w info on that investigation.

Then, bam, Judge Sullivan scares Flynn w serious jail time, but asks if Flynn wants more time to "prove his worth" and get his sentence lightened.

Flynn agrees. Even though Mueller recommended no jail time.

Now there will be a "status conference" on the Flynn sentencing in 3 months, into 2019.

And the game goes on and on and on.

quote:

Mueller wants the investigation to go on and on as long as possible.

If the investigation was ever about Russian "collusion" with Trump to alter the outcome of the 2016 election, it would have been wrapped up quickly when everyone began to realize that the only collusion with the Russians pointed back at Hillary.

But Mueller put together a very partisan group of attorneys who aren't going to stop going after Trump and anyone associated with him until they are stopped by other forces.

People have been saying for a year or more that Mueller is about to wrap this up... but I agree with you: Mueller wants the investigation to go on and on as long as possible... Until he succeeds in getting Trump out of the the Oval office.

We have to come to grip with the reality that this will go on until someone says "Enough!" and puts a stop to it.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
some speculation on the Flynn hearing today.

It seemed to me the judge's attitude towards Flynn turned on a dime. Wasn't he asking for more transcripts or documents previously in regards to whether Flynn was "snookered?"

And, after reading those documents, the judge wants to confirm that Flynn knew that lying to the FBI was a crime. Plus along with the hullabalu about turning to the flag behind him.

correction added 20 Dec 2018

transcript of Comey testimony fm yesterday:

https://www.scribd.com/documen...l-Interview-Part-Two

Same old Comey. here is how it starts:

Gowdy talking about a Comey memo on a WH mtg w Donald Trump Reince Preibus

Gowdy: Do you see where the first paragraph, first sentence: "He (Preibus) then asked me (Comey) if this was a 'private conversation" "?

Gowdy: and you wrote "I replied it was"

Gowdy: What do you mean by "it was" ?

Mr. Comey. That the two of us were speaking together alone, that there was nobody else participating in the conversation

Mr. Gowdy. So by "private" you meant that there was nobody else in the room?

Mr. Comey. I think that's what he was asking and that's what I was replying, as best I recall, that it was just the two of us in the room, it wasn't being recorded, there was nobody else involved in the conversation.

Mr. Gowdy. So you didn't take "private" to mean confidential, that this is just between us?

Mr. Comey. That's a good question. Let me think about it for a second.

I think I took it as, is this just the two of us in this conversation?

Mr. Gowdy. So you did not take from that any implicit confidentiality, that this is just between us?

Mr. Comey. Yeah, I don't think so . I'm hesitating because it's possible, but I don't think so.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

" it wasn't being recorded "

But then he wrote a memo about the conversation and gave it to a friend to send to the NYT

This was a mtg on 8 Feb 2017. Immediately after Comey had told Donald Trump the media were looking for a "hook" to release the pee tape story, someone leaked to CNN that Donald Trump had been briefed.

Priebus was asking about how everything was leaking to the press

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

^^^^^^^^
You have got to be kidding me!

hmmmmmmm

maybe this explains Judge Emmet Sullivan's bizarre behavior yesterday


https://www.law.com/nationalla...asylum-restrictions/

Judge Emmet Sullivan Just Wrecked Trump's New Asylum Restrictions

A Washington federal judge declared unlawful Wednesday a set of new restrictions the Trump administration imposed on immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. on the basis of domestic violence and fear of gangs.


The judge, Emmet Sullivan of Washington’s federal trial court, said the Trump administration had run afoul of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Sullivan permanently enjoined the U.S. government from continuing the new policies, which were announced this summer by then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and demanded the return of immigrants named in the case who he said were unlawfully deported. Those immigrants, he wrote, should receive “new credible fear determinations consistent with the immigration laws.”

“Many of these policies are inconsistent with the intent of Congress as articulated in the INA. And because it is the will of Congress—not the whims of the executive—that determines the standard for expedited removal, the court finds that those policies are unlawful,” Sullivan wrote in his 107-page ruling.

Sullivan on Wednesday ordered the U.S. “to return to the United States the plaintiffs who were unlawfully deported and to provide them with new credible fear determinations consistent with the immigration laws.”

Sullivan said the Justice Department’s directive “to deny most domestic violence or gang violence claims at the credible fear determination stage is fundamentally inconsistent with the threshold screening standard that Congress established: an alien’s removal may not be expedited if there is a ‘significant possibility’ that the alien could establish eligibility for asylum.”

Sullivan made headlines in the case in August after learning that a mother and daughter had been deported while their asylum claims were pending before him. The judge called the move “outrageous” and ordered the government to “to turn that plane around either now or when it lands.”

The separate issue with Turkey is to me the more serious one. Erdogan is no friend of the US, and an ally only to the extent that it serves his interest. It really makes me question Flynn's judgement -- taking money from Turkey to sell out a dissident was basically stupid and unprofessional, and is obviously an indictable offense, given his position.

So the judge wants him to hang his business associates out to dry --seems like a typical plea bargain; airing it out in front of the press while undercutting the prosecutor's deal is self-serving at best, terribly partisan politics at its worst.

There are 2 separate lawsuits by Russians over the dossier.

1) 3 Russians from Alfa Bank are suing Steele.

and 2) Gubarev is suing Steele and Buzzfeed.

A document in the Gubarev lawsuit has been released.

It confirms a long held suspicion about who gave Buzzfeed the dossier.

It was McCain's aide David Kramer.




from Wiki:

Kramer is currently the Senior Director for Human Rights and Human Freedoms at the McCain Institute.

Mr. Kramer currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Halifax International Security Forum (this may become significant because of other people who are members of Halifax)


link to the just released doc from the Gubarev lawsuit:

https://www.documentcloud.org/...ummary-Judgment.html


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


keep in mind a great irony here. Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson have said they never intended for the dossier to be made public.

Steele and Simpson wanted the dossier material to be "behind the curtain" and viewed as national security intel.

They briefed many news media, but never gave them copies of the dossier.

Once the dossier was made public, many people looked at it and immediately suspected it was mostly false. So from one view, the release was a good thing.

I doubt "a good thing" was Kramer's intent though.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

from Oct 2017:

https://dailycaller.com/2017/1...rump-dossier-source/

One person who was provided a copy of the salacious document, written by former British spy Christopher Steele, is Arizona Sen. John McCain. But McCain, who has already acknowledged providing an early version of the dossier to former FBI Director James Comey, denied this week that he also gave a version to BuzzFeed, which published it on Jan. 10.

“ I gave it to no one except for the director of the FBI . I don’t know why you’re digging this up now,” McCain said during a testy exchange with The Daily Caller on Wednesday.

McCain was asked whether he was BuzzFeed’s source after the Republican’s office declined to answer direct questions on the matter.

Only a few people are known to have had possession of the full 35-page document before BuzzFeed obtained its copy.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

adding

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/...ump-dossier-n2537820

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against BuzzFeed over the publication of the Trump dossier in January 2017. Businessman Aleksej Gubarev filed the defamation lawsuit shortly after the article was published because he was named in the dossier but his name wasn't redacted. Gubarev argued he was defamed because of his name appearing in the document and article.

U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled that BuzzFeed was not held responsible under the "fair report privilege," which protects the news outlet from liability because the dossier was the subject of official proceedings. Both Trump and then-President Barack Obama had been briefed on the situation and the FBI was investigating.

Ungaro also said the article was "fair and true" because the news outlet simple shared the dossier but didn't give an opinion on it.

Gubarev's attorney's argued that BuzzFeed needed to prove that the information about Gubarev was part of the FBI's investigation. The judge disagreed.

Gubarev's attorneys plan to appeal the decision.

"First and foremost, nothing in today’s ruling by the Court suggests in any way that the allegations concerning Mr. Gubarev, Webzilla, or XBT Holding were true.

Instead, the Court ruled on a narrow legal issue, finding that Buzzfeed had a privilege to publish the information even if it was false," Gubarev's lawyers said. "When we started this case, we knew that it would be a marathon and not a sprint. We remain convinced that, after appeal, this matter will be presented to a jury and that we will succeed in vindicating the Plaintiffs’ good names."

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

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/a...mes-wolfe-sentencing

James Wolfe, the former head of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee, was sentenced on Thursday to spend two months in prison for lying to the FBI about his communications with reporters.

US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said that given Wolfe's former position as a senior government offical tasked with safeguarding government secrets, his crime was that much more serious than other defendants who also pleaded guilty to lying and received less time behind bars, or none at all.

Wolfe faced a recommended sentencing range of zero to six months in prison, but prosecutors had asked for an upward departure from those guidelines, and argued he should spend two years in prison. Jackson denied that request, saying the government was relying on uncharged, noncriminal — albeit "inappropriate" — conduct by Wolfe in making the push for a stiffer sentence. Having an extramarital affair, having contacts with reporters, and even giving nonpublic information to reporters were not crimes, the judge said.

"Mr. Wolfe’s reporter contacts, the previous activities, were certainly potentially harmful and entirely inappropriate but those acts themselves were not criminal," Jacksons said. "And in this court’s view, the risks associated with that conduct should not drive the sentence that is supposed to be imposed in this case, and especially not to the degree that the government suggests."

Wolfe delivered an emotional statement to the judge before he was sentenced, apologize to his family, law enforcement, the court, and his friends and former colleagues on the Senate Intelligence Committee. His voice cracking, he told Jackson that he lied to FBI agents to "protect my wife, my sons, and selfishly I lied about those to protect myself and my job." He noted that his contacts with reporters went against what he had stressed to staffers on the Senate committee, although he underscored that he had not compromised classified information or jeopardized national security.

Wolfe had asked for no prison time. His lawyers pointed to his long career of public service, and noted that he had not been charged with leaking classified information. They wrote in a sentencing memo earlier this month that he had lied to FBI agents in an effort to hide an affair he was having with a reporter, and had already endured a "very public shaming."

"His initial denials of those contacts reflected an understandably human, but nonetheless improper, attempt to conceal his extramarital personal relationship with a reporter and to preserve his job. But his personal indiscretions and his contacts with certain reporters in which he shared limited, unclassified information about matters occurring before the Committee violated no federal law," Wolfe's lawyers wrote.

As part of Wolfe's sentencing materials, his lawyers included a letter of support from past and present members of the Senate Intelligence Committee — Chair Richard Burr, Vice Chair Mark Warner, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a former chair — and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.

Prosecutors from the US attorney's office in Washington strongly disagreed with Wolfe's request, and instead asked the judge for a two-year prison sentence, well above the estimated sentenced guidelines range of zero to six months. They argued that even though there was no evidence Wolfe leaked classified information, "his conduct nonetheless disrupted an important governmental function and endangered national security."

There are two blog posts out that argue the DoJ IG Horowitz and the federal prosecutor John Huber investigations have gone almost nowhere.

One is by reporter Paul Sperry, and the other is at CTH. Links at bottom of this post.

They argue that there are two big obstacles:

1. Robert Mueller has blocked access to key witnesses by saying that getting testimony from them would interfere in the special counsel investigation (the one trying to nail President Trump with anything they can find, fabricate, or force out of people that they crush financially and intimidate with threats of massive federal charges)

2. John Huber is more interested in protecting the DoJ than in finding the truth

President Trump said he was going to immediately declassify parts of the FISA warrant and some FBI 302s. Rosenstein convinced President Trump not to do that. CTH believes Rosenstein told President Trump that would be obstruction of justice re Mueller.

When the congressional committees recently tried to release all of the transcripts of the dozens of closed door interviews they held, DoJ said Mueller was in the approval chain.



The things that Horowitz / Huber are supposed to be looking at include a) Clinton Foundation misdeeds, and b) the FISA warrant abuse of Carter Page.

Paul Sperry:

John Huber has developed almost mythical status among pro-Trump tweeters since former Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed him to investigate why the FBI spied on Trump’s aides and whether they protected Hillary Clinton and her foundation over alleged misdeeds. They hoped the Salt Lake City-based prosecutor would aggressively expose the malfeasance that has already led to firings and resignations among the bureau’s top brass.

Instead, more than a year since his appointment, Huber’s lack of traction on either front is leading many once hopeful supporters to dismiss his investigation as a “sham."

RealClearInvestigations has learned from potential witnesses, their lawyers and others close to the investigations, that Huber has not impaneled a federal grand jury to subpoena witnesses or hear evidence.

we don't know if this is true

Huber declined to appear to give a status brief to the House Oversight committee.

Carter Page said “I have spoken with no federal law enforcement officials this year.”

Seems very odd that no one has talked to Carter Page if there is supposedly a FISA abuse investigation

Bruce Ohr recently testified to Congress that he’s not been interviewed by Huber about his contacts with FBI officials while they were surveilling Trump aides before and after the 2016 presidential election. Nor has his wife, Nellie Ohr, who worked on the dossier used to support wiretap warrants, according to his testimony.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lots more at

https://www.realclearinvestiga..._savior_for_gop.html

and

https://theconservativetreehou...-by-doj/#more-158063

Back in early 2016 it was a mystery why the FBI was moving so slow in the Clinton email investigation. It looks now like that was a slow roll and phony investigation.

Hard to shake that feeling again. Maybe the new AG will help.

It does appear that President Trump is being held back from document release by the continual threat of claims of obstruction. Mueller is going to drag this out for as long as he can to keep harming the President and to keep the truth from becoming public.

Hopefully at some point President Trump forces the information release.

Im hoping that Barr will will help Mueller decide to wrap up the witch hunt. Then FISA warrant and FBI 302s releases.

Here we go again

McClatchy reporters Peter Stone and Greg Gordon just put out a story that Michael Cohen's cell phone had hits in the Prague area.

The same 2 reporters set off a fire storm in April 2018 w a report that Mueller had evidence that Cohen had been to Prague. This matched information in the Steele dossier.

now this new report today:

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/ne...rticle219016820.html

A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.

During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said.

The phone and surveillance data, which have not previously been disclosed, lend new credence to a key part of a former British spy’s dossier of Kremlin intelligence describing purported coordination between Trump’s campaign and Russia’s election meddling operation.

Both of the newly surfaced foreign electronic intelligence intercepts were shared with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, people familiar with the matter said.

Four people spoke with McClatchy on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of information shared by their foreign intelligence connections. Each obtained their information independently from foreign intelligence connections.

more at link

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With the long investigation and all the secrecy, Mueller has created an environment where news agencies can quote "sources" and say pretty much anything.

Time will tell.

The dossier has been taking a lot of negative press, so this may be a hail Mary pass to pump the dossier back up.

Note the report says 4 sources each obtained their info independently.

Keep in mind the TS FISA warrant against Carter Page said that the Sept 2016 Yahoo story was independent of Christopher Steele. That was a lie.

Are we getting played yet again by Fusion GPS ?