* See UPDATES below...
Now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of alleged Russia-Trump campaign collusion has been concluded, as advised by Attorney General William Barr on Friday, my observations on what's been uncovered (in a nutshell) in that respect, are as follows.
What started out as political opposition research of Donald Trump and his political campaign in 2015/2016 by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC, and which was funnelled into the Obama State Department, DOJ and FBI, et al, through multiple sources and turned into a counter-intelligence investigation and subsequent Special Counsel investigation in search of criminal activities and leaked to multiple media outlets in order to, firstly, smear Trump and his chances of being elected as U.S. President, then, to hamstring his presidency, once elected, was, three years later, finally exposed for exactly what it was...a political vendetta and smear campaign and not a criminal matter.
Oppo Research ⇒ Criminal Investigation ⇒ Political Vendetta ⇒ Duped ⇒ Dud!
More on this entire process will be revealed by the U.S. Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, once he completes his separate ongoing internal investigation of numerous DOJ and FBI officials (and any others), which may be released in the next three months, or so.
So, this unabashed, unrelenting three-year political and media anti-Trump smear campaign and legal probe (which was based on salacious and unverified material, according to former FBI Director, James Comey) may end up producing unwanted consequences for the perpetrators involved in this entire complex process...and there could be many people exposed in this scheme. Whether any will be criminally indicted and prosecuted by current DOJ officials remains to be seen. No doubt, there will be much new information to come in the days/weeks ahead, in this regard.
I wonder what damage (not only on domestic matters, but also foreign policy issues) has already been inflicted on the President's ability to properly and fully discharge his duties to the American public, as he was duly elected and sworn in to carry out, because of this smear campaign. Meanwhile, the political chess game will likely continue through to 2020 and beyond, if President Trump is re-elected. At what point do endless and aimless political investigations become political harassment and constitutional overreach?
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| Source: WSJ.com |
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| Source: FoxNews.com (click link to view video) |
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: FoxNews.com...to view video, click here |
* UPDATE March 24...
Attorney General Barr's 4-page summary letter (below) of Special Counsel Mueller's report was released today (the yellow highlight on page 1 is mine)...of note, are the following excerpts...
Attorney General Barr's 4-page summary letter (below) of Special Counsel Mueller's report was released today (the yellow highlight on page 1 is mine)...of note, are the following excerpts...
"...the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign."
"...Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense. Our determination was made without regard to, and is not based on, the constitutional considerations that surround the indictment and criminal prosecution of a sitting president."
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| Source: WSJ.com |
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| Source: NYPost.com |
Can we now please put this matter pertaining to the investigation of President Trump and members of his campaign to rest and move on? The Special Counsel's work is done, as was instructed by DOJ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein nearly two years ago, plus almost one year after the DOJ and FBI began their own investigation pre-Mueller...nearly three years, in total, only to find out that no crimes were committed by them in this regard! On what criminal evidence, then, was the Special Counsel investigation *initially* based/launched? I think the American public deserves to know why their President was investigated...perhaps the full story will eventually be exposed.
* UPDATE March 25...
For two years, President Trump has been convicted by, not only many political opponents, but most of the media, as well, over this issue. What's happened to good old-fashioned investigative journalism...due process...the presumption of innocence...and justice? And, more importantly, will those ever be restored? After what happened to Justice Kavanaugh last year, I have my doubts.
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| Source: NewYorkPost.com |
Senator Graham discusses Attorney General Barr's summary letter of Special Counsel Mueller's report and what's now necessary for a separate investigation to be conducted into the origins of the investigation into President Trump and his presidential campaign...this may, ultimately, tie in with the work currently underway by Inspector General Horowitz, as I mentioned above...more will be revealed in the days/weeks ahead.
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| Source: Reuters.com...to view video, click here |
Good question...was it before the mid-term elections?...perhaps we'll find out someday...I'm not the only one asking...here's one view...and another...
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| Source: FoxNews.com |
This is just the beginning of more fallout to come in the aftermath of this debacle. I would note that Fox News TV and Fox News Network investigative journalists, hosts and contributors have provided a wide-ranging treasure-trove of relevant and accurate facts and alerts since this all began two years ago...one of the very few sources of news information that has proven to be consistently reliable and trustworthy in this regard (and in other news matters, including business and stock market issues, over many years)...rare and refreshing, indeed.
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| Source: WashingtonTimes.com |
All nine House Republican Intelligence Committee members sent this letter to Democrat Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff rebuking his past and current actions and urged his immediate resignation as Chairman...
* UPDATE April 5...
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
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| Source: WashingtonExaminer.com |
***The saga continues...but, the narrative and investigations begin to shift to other individuals...
* UPDATE April 7...
Rep. Devin Nunes on his op-ed: The Russian collusion hoax meets unbelievable end https://t.co/xMwFf7yeSh @DevinNunes @SundayFutures @FoxNews— Maria Bartiromo (@MariaBartiromo) 7 April 2019
* UPDATE April 9...
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| Source: TheHill.com |
"More generally, I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted during the summer of 2016."
* UPDATE April 10...
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| Source: SaraCarter.com |
"I think spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated."
"I'm not suggesting it wasn't adequately predicated, but I need to explore that."
"I believe there is basis for my concern, but I'm not going to discuss it."
(these statements by AG Barr refer to possible unauthorized surveillance by the Obama administration's FBI and DOJ of Trump and his 2015/16 election campaign)
* UPDATE April 11...
As reported today by Fox News, House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes sent the following criminal-referral notification to AG Barr alleging "several potential violations of law" in connection with the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion investigation.
Congressman Nunes told Fox News that there are eight criminal referrals, which include two for conspiracy, as well as for global leaks, and for lying, misleading or obstructing congressional investigators. He has also said that there may be more criminal referrals made in the future, as further investigative work continues in this regard.
No doubt, much more information will eventually be revealed on all of these matters, as well as a separate report by the Inspector General (as I mentioned above), which is due sometime in May or June, according to AG Barr.
* UPDATE April 18...
AG Barr's pre-release-of-Muller-report press conference...(a copy of the entire report can be read at the DOJ link here)
* UPDATE April 19...
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: WSJ.com |
CONCLUSIONS:
*******
Since when does the DOJ/FBI usurp and perform Congressional oversight duties and functions for the purposes of impeachment under the guise of a criminal investigation?
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The culmination of a three-year counter-intelligence/criminal investigation of, firstly, a U.S. presidential campaign/candidate, then, a duly-elected President, appears to be the launching pad for potential impeachment proceedings by Congress...a political hit job disguised as a criminal investigation.
By the way, if it were not for the launch of the initial investigation of Trump-Russia collusion, obstruction of justice didn't exist and wouldn't even have been an issue for Mr. Mueller and his team to investigate. He has, however, left it dangling for Congress to pursue, if they so choose, despite AG Barr stating that no crime had been committed in that regard. Because of the immense cooperation of President Trump in providing over one million documents, not asserting his constitutionally-permissible executive privilege in allowing members of his administration to speak freely with Mr. Mueller's team, not exercising his constitutional right to withhold any part or all of the report to the public or Congress, as well as firing former FBI Director Comey without cause, as is his constitutional prerogative, there is no case against him to prove corrupt intent to obstruct beyond a reasonable doubt. It's up to prosecutors to prove "guilt" beyond a reasonable doubt...it's not their call to "exonerate" him...they either indite, or they don't...period. And, it's not up to a defendant to prove his/her "innocence." In any event, Trump was, potentially, facing a criminal charge of "treason," if found guilty...punishable by death...it's no wonder he was upset and sought to vigorously defend himself when it all began.
In any event, since when does the DOJ/FBI usurp and perform Congressional oversight duties and functions for the purposes of impeachment under the guise of a criminal investigation? An important question that will likely never be asked or answered.
* MORE UPDATES...
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: TheHill.com |
In the following video, Fox News TV "The Wall Street Journal" host, Paul Gigot, interviews former Attorney General Michael Mukasey (in the George W. Bush administration) on the looming constitutional showdown between the White House and Congress...
Mark Levin (lawyer, author, radio and TV personality/host, and former Chief of Staff for Attorney General Adwin Meese in the Reagan administration) interviews former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to discuss the Mueller report and other legal challenges the Trump administration is facing...Mr. Cuccinelli says Mueller's team knew they didn't have a prosecutable case on obstruction...(video link to part of the interview is here)...(and click here for video of full interview).
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| Click here to read entire statement |
A thorough explanation of facts that corrects erroneous reports by Democrats and some media outlets that say AG Barr lied before Congress...
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
N.B. Constitutional law regarding the Mueller report and Congressional investigations of President Trump...all you need to know is outlined below in this letter from Emmet Flood, White House Special Counsel to the President...
Flood letter to Barr on Mue... by on Scribd
...and Mark Levin's interview with constitutional expert, Dr. John Eastman, who breaks down claims of obstruction of justice following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the investigation of Russian interference...(video link to part of the interview is here)...(and click here for video of full interview).
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| Source: FoxNews.com |
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
And...it looks like things could heat up in a few months...
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: ZeroHedge.com |
IMPORTANT timeline...
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
More on constitutional law from Pat Cipollone, White House Counsel to the President...
White House Letter Nadler 1... by on Scribd
More on constitutional law from the Office of the Assistant Attorney General...
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| Source: SaraACarter.com |
President Trump gives AG Barr authority to declassify Trump-Russia probe information...
And, the "circular firing squad" has started among members of Obama's Intel agencies...
Opinions following Special Counsel Mueller's bizarre press conference on May 29...
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: SaraACarter.com |
Special Counsel Mueller definitely did not end his appointment on a high note...
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| Source: RealClearPolitics.com |
CBS News interview with AG Barr following Special Counsel Mueller's press conference...
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| Source: cbsnews.com |
Byron York article: "Democrats think they've got a slam dunk obstruction case against Trump. They don't."
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| Source: WashingtonExaminer.com |
Former FBI Director James Comey under DOJ investigation for probing Trump on the sly...
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| Source: RealClearInvestigations.com |
More questionable practices by Obama's DOJ being uncovered and investigated related to the investigation of Trump's campaign...
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: SaraACarter.com |
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| Source: TheHill.com |
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| Source: RealClearInvestigations.com |
AG Barr's letter in response to Mr. Mueller's request for guidance in his testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees and on July 24 regarding his report...
Mueller Letter 072219 by Anonymous JAYve8 on Scribd
* UPDATE July 24...
Today's House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committee hearings with Robert Mueller can be viewed in their entirety on two videos here and here, respectively. The purpose was to discuss the, so-called, "Mueller report" mentioned above. Mr. Mueller was subpoenaed by the Democratic Chairmen of both committees to appear and answer questions.
Judging by how Mr. Mueller conducted himself throughout both hearings, several things became evident. The most glaring takeaway for me is that Jerry Nadler (Judiciary Committee Chairman), Adam Schiff (Intelligence Committee Chairman), and Democrats should be ashamed of themselves by the spectacle they created in the hearings, both of which were disastrous for them. If they were looking for a "gotcha moment," they didn't get it. Not only did Democrats embarrass themselves, but so did Mr. Mueller, who appeared to not have even read his own report, let alone written it. He struggled to understand questions and even provide coherent answers. In fact, he failed to defend his report and, instead, it became clear that he wasn't even the person who ran the entire investigation. Rather, it seems he left that to his staff of prosecutors, most of whom were Democrat donors and fervent Hillary Clinton supporters who had a deep bias and animus against President Trump.
In fact, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has a lot to answer for when he initially appointed Bob Mueller as Special Counsel in May of 2017 to conduct this investigation. It turns out that Mr. Mueller was a figurehead only and not a credible one at that. What was Rosenstein thinking!
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| Source: ZeroHedge.com |
So, to reiterate what I said at the beginning of this post, what this was...a purely political manoeuvre by Obama's intelligence community and State Department (based on a salacious and unverifiable Russian disinformation dossier paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC) designed to impeach a duly-elected President. What it was not...a bona fide counter-intelligence investigation based on credible evidence of a crime.
How much longer are Democrats going to continue to display their ineptness and contempt for the rule of law and the Americans they purport to represent?
Today was a disgrace and a new low perpetrated by Democrats in Congress. In fact, Chris Plante (radio show host) said to Fox News' Tucker Carlson tonight that "Nadler should be charged with senior abuse" for subjecting Mr. Mueller to this debacle.
This really should end Democrats' charade and their nonsensical quest to impeach Donald Trump...there were no crimes of conspiracy with a foreign power or obstruction of justice committed by him or members of his campaign! To continue down this losing road with more interrogations of people in the Trump orbit will guarantee their loss of, not only the Presidency in 2020, but also their majority in the House and a loss of more seats in the Senate.
Today's hearings were truly a dud...the small viewing audience reflects this...people had already moved on from this non-stop fanciful collusion-delusion narrative and were busy with more important things, like earning a living...
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| Source: JonathanTurley.org |
Mr. Mueller closed his investigation on March 22, 2019...Democrats should do the same and get on with resolving problems facing their country, as they were duly elected to do by their constituents. They've already wasted seven months since the 2018 election...but, they've vowed to carry on wasting the next 17 months in their press conference that they gave right after Mueller's testimony today. They'll never learn from, or admit to, their mistakes, but they will continue to collect their nice fat paychecks at taxpayers' expense.
We'll see how happy their voters are with that finger-in-your-eye attitude in 2020!
* MORE UPDATES...
It looks like the Mueller report and Mr. Mueller's testimony contained some glaring inaccuracies...
Excerpt from Part 1 of a 2-part article written by Andy McCarthy:
"Legally, Mueller's interpretation of the OLC guidance is absurd. A prosecutor has only one job: to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This is elucidated by federal regulations: The special counsel must prepare "a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions." There is no third way. There is no authorization to evade what Mueller's transgressive staff described as the "traditional," "binary" prosecutorial decision to charge or not to charge."
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| Source: NationalReview.com (Part 1) |
Excerpts from Part 2:
"If this doesn't insult the intelligence, nothing will. Sliming the uncharged president by publicizing the evidence is exactly what Mueller's team did."
"The special counsel's staff wrote a 448-page tome, overflowing with details about a traitorous collusion plot that never happened and the obstruction of an investigation that was never actually impeded in the slightest."
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| Source: NationalReview.com (Part 2) |
Victoria Toensing & Joseph Digenova: "We were promised that Robert Mueller's testimony would put life into his report, the movie version of the special counsel's investigation. Instead, we got a cadaverous presentation from a once vigorous Marine and prosecutor."
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| Source: TheHill.com |
Judge Jeanine Pirro's opening statement from her Fox News TV show on July 27...
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| Click here for link to video |
* IMPORTANT: In the following video clip from the House Intelligence Committee hearing, Representative John Ratcliffe spells out DOJ rules, regulations and policies governing a Special Counsel...which Mr. Mueller did not follow with respect to Volume II of his report...
"Donald Trump is not above the law. He's not. But he damn sure shouldn't be below the law, which is where Volume II of this report puts him."
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| Representative Ratcliffe's questioning of Mr. Mueller tells you everything... click here for link to video |
The House has not voted to authorize the Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment inquiry, but Democrats (e.g., Judiciary Committee Democrat chairman Jerrold Nadler) are misrepresenting that by saying an impeachment investigation is underway. One glaring example of this is described in this article and captured on video in The Hill.
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| Source: TheHill.com |
Republican ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee Doug Collins has provided clarification on the impeachment process in this LA Times article.
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| Source: LATimes.com |
"Democrats seem to believe, when it comes to holding this president accountable, that the ends justify the means and that they shouldn't be constrained by House procedure when our democracy is under siege. In reality, they may do more to harm our democracy than any president ever could."
"By misrepresenting the impeachment process, Democrats risk politicizing and destroying Congress' most powerful constitutional check on the executive. I'm not worried about the president's interests here. I'm worried that Democrats' political bumblings are weakening the strongest recourse our chamber has to hold any resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. accountable."
Meanwhile, there are a number of DOJ investigations underway on the origins of the Russia investigation and their revelations could be blockbusters...
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| Source: TheHill.com |
And, the list of Obama administration Russiagate documents sought by AG Barr is lengthy (it looks like the AG's investigation into the origins of Obama's Intel Agencies' investigation will be extremely thorough, to put it mildly)...
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| Source: ZeroHedge.com |
Meanwhile, the fallout begins for former FBI Director James Comey, as the Inspector General releases the first of several reports (August 29) related to his investigation of various aspects of the Russia-Trump investigation (click this link to read the IG's full report)...
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| Source: SaraACarter.com |
More reaction on the IG's report from Byron York...
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| Source: WashingtonExaminer.com |
And, a damning assessment of Mr. Comey's actions from former Assistant Director of Intelligence for the FBI Kevin Brock...
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| Source: TheHill.com |
And, this bombshell reaction to the IG's report from Andrew McCarthy...
"The Obama administration launched an investigation in which the target was Donald Trump and the objective was short-circuiting his presidency."
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| Source: NationalReview.com |
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| Source: TheHill.com |
* UPDATE October 9...
Oops...cat out of the bag?...
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| Source: thegreggjarrett.com |
* UPDATE December 10...
At long last the DOJ Inspector General's report has been completed and released on the Obama FBI/DOJ FISA abuse related to their spying on the 2016 Trump Presidential campaign. The full (476 page) report can be read in its entirety at this link.
Attorney General Bill Barr issued this statement following the release of the IG's FISA abuse report.
DOJ U.S. Attorney John Durham issued this statement following the release of the IG's FISA abuse report.
Mr. Durham is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the origins of the surveillance and investigation of the Trump 2016 Presidential campaign by the Obama DOJ/FBI, et al, administration.
Attorney General Bill Barr had this to say in his NBC interview about this report and the upcoming report that will be issued following the completion of the criminal investigation currently underway by DOJ U.S. Attorney John Durham.
* UPDATE December 11...
DOJ IG Michael Horowitz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding his report on FISA abuse in the 2016 Trump Presidential campaign.
There are a series of C-SPAN videos of this testimony.
This link to the first video shows the IG presenting his opening statement.
This link to the second video shows the Chairman's and Ranking Member's opening statements, followed by Judiciary Committee's questions to the IG and his answers.
This link to the third video shows more Judiciary Committee's questions to the IG and his answers.
* UPDATE December 17...
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| Source: SaraACarter.com |
* UPDATE December 18...
DOJ IG Michael Horowitz testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee regarding his report on FISA abuse in the 2016 Trump Presidential campaign.
Click this link to watch today's C-SPAN video of this testimony.
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| Source: FoxNews.com |
* UPDATE December 19...
Click this link to watch this Fox News explosive interview with Attorney General Bill Barr...it's a preview of what's to come with the current criminal investigation being conducted by DOJ U.S. Attorney John Durham into how the Obama intelligence agencies, various individuals, and foreign assets began their investigation of the Trump presidential campaign prior to, during and following the 2016 election...and whether crimes were committed by those agencies/individuals/assets.
* N.B. Click this link to read the latest on Nancy Pelosi's attempts to impeach President Trump.
* UPDATE January 23, 2020...
The FISA Court wrote (in a secret ruling on January 7, which was not declassified and released until today) that at least two of the four spy warrants issued against Carter Page, a member of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, were invalid and not lawfully authorized.
The lawfulness of the first two warrants is still under investigation by the DOJ, so it remains to be seen whether they were also invalid.
The consequences of this ruling could be far-reaching, inasmuch as the warrants were obtained to begin (and continue) the Trump-Russia collusion investigation in 2016 prior to the Presidential election...in order to surveil the Trump campaign, his transition team, and the President before and after he was sworn into office on January 20, 2017.
This article appeared in The Federalist today with the details of this ruling.
The FISA Court order is as follows...
FISC Declassifed Order 16-1... by Techno Fog on Scribd
* UPDATE May 25...
Many new documents have been declassified as to the origins of the Russia-Trump campaign collusion investigation and much is being revealed and unravelled, some of which is described by Fox News TV host Mark Levin in the following video from May 17...
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| Click here to view the video |
Much is being revealed about the case of Trump's former NSA advisor Michael Flynn...with much more to come...
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| Click here to view the video |
* UPDATE June 3...
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified today before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the FBI's Russia investigation...the entire hearing can be viewed on the C-SPAN video below.
The Chairman of that committee will be holding many more hearings on this matter soon. Mr. Rosenstein was the first witness to be called to testify.
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| Link to C-SPAN video |
* UPDATE June 24...
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| Twitter link |
* UPDATE June 28...
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| Link to NY Post article |
* UPDATE November 15...
Glenn's fed up...
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| Link to tweet & video |
* UPDATE January 20, 2021...
Proof that President Trump was set up by President Obama's intelligence agencies, using fake information provided by a Russian agent in a report commissioned by Hillary Clinton to divert attention away from her email scandal during their respective Presidential campaigns in 2016...finally declassified just a couple of days before Trump left office...here, here, here, here and here.
It's my understanding that Mr. Durham (upgraded to Special Counsel status by AG Barr recently) is still investigating the origins of Russiagate. We'll see what his final report reveals.
* UPDATE October 10....
This article is continued in my latest post at this link.
If you think President Putin is happy that President Trump's presidency has been disrupted, as partisan liberal media pundits have been gleefully proclaiming for the past three years, you can thank Obama for that parting gift.
STAY TUNED...THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you think President Putin is happy that President Trump's presidency has been disrupted, as partisan liberal media pundits have been gleefully proclaiming for the past three years, you can thank Obama for that parting gift.
