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As Congress arrives back into town and the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees prepare to question ex-Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller on July 17, partisan lines are being drawn even more sharply, as Russias-gate blossoms into Deep-State-gate. On Sunday, a top Republican legislator, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) took the gloves off in an unusually acerbic public attack on former leaders of the FBI and CIA.
King told a radio audience:
“There is no doubt to me there was severe, serious abuses that were carried out in the FBI and, I believe, top levels of the CIA against the President of the United States or, at that time, presidential candidate Donald Trump,†according to The Hill.
King (image on the right), a senior congressman specializing in national security, twice chaired the House Homeland Security Committee and currently heads its Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He also served for several years on the House Intelligence Committee.
He asserted:
“There was no legal basis at all for them to begin this investigation of his campaign – and the way they carried it forward, and the way information was leaked. … All of this is going to come out. It’s going to show the bias. It’s going to show the baselessness of the investigation … and I would say the same thing if this were done to Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders …It’s just wrong.â€
The Long Island Republican added a well aimed swipe at what passes for the media today:
“The media went along with this – actually, keeping this farcical, ridiculous thought going that the President of the United States… was somehow involved in a conspiracy with Russia against his own country.â€
According to King, the Justice Department’s review, ordered by Attorney General William Barr, would prove that former officials acted improperly. He was alluding to the investigation led by John Durham, U.S. Attorney in Connecticut. Sounds nice. But waiting for Durham to complete his investigation at a typically lawyerly pace would, I fear, be much like the experience of waiting for Mueller to finish his; that is, like waiting for Godot. What about now?
So Where is the IG Report on FISA?
That’s the big one. If Horowitz is able to speak freely about what he has learned, his report could lead to indictments of former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Attorneys General Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein, and Dana Boente — Boente being the only signer of the relevant FISA applications still in office. (No, he has not been demoted to file clerk in the FBI library; at last report, he is FBI General Counsel!).
The DOJ inspector General’s investigation, launched in March 2018, has centered on whether the FBI and DOJ filing of four FISA applications and renewals beginning in October 2016 to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page amounted to abuse of the FISA process. (Fortunately for the IG, Obama’s top intelligence and law enforcement officials were so sure that Hillary Clinton would win that they did not do much to hide their tracks.)
The Washington Examiner reported last Tuesday, “The Justice Department inspector general’s investigation of potential abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is complete, a Republican congressman said, though a report on its findings might not be released for a month.†The report continued:
“House Judiciary Committee member John Ratcliffe (R, Texas) said Monday he’d met with DOJ watchdog Michael Horowitz last week about his FISA abuse report. In a media interview, Ratcliffe said they’d discussed the timing, but not the content of his report and Horowitz ‘related that his team’s investigative work is complete and they’re now in the process of drafting that report. Ratcliffe said he was doubtful that Horowitz’s report would be made available to the public or the Congress anytime soon. ‘He [Horowitz] did relay that as much as 20% of his report is going to include classified information, so that draft report will have to undergo a classification review at the FBI and at the Department of Justice,’ Ratcliffe said. ‘So, while I’m hopeful that we members of Congress might see it before the August recess, I’m not too certain about that.’â€
Earlier, Horowitz had predicted that his report would be ready in May or June but there may, in fact, be good reason for some delay. Fox News reported Friday that “key witnesses sought for questioning by Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz (image on the left) early in his investigation into alleged government surveillance abuse have come forward at the 11th hour.†According to Fox’s sources, at least one witness outside the Justice Department and FBI has started cooperating — a breakthrough that came after Durham was assigned to lead a separate investigation into the origins of the FBI’s 2016 Russia case that led to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
“Classification,†however, has been one of the Deep State’s favorite tactics to stymie investigations — especially when the material in question yields serious embarrassment or reveals crimes. And the stakes this time are huge.
Judging by past precedent, Deep State intelligence and law enforcement officials will do all they can to use the “but-it’s-classified†excuse to avoid putting themselves and their former colleagues in legal jeopardy. (Though this would violate Obama’s executive order 13526, prohibiting classification of embarrassing or criminal information).
It is far from clear that DOJ IG Horowitz and Attorney General Barr will prevail in the end, even though President Trump has given Barr nominal authority to declassify as necessary. Why are the the stakes so extraordinarily high?
What Did Obama Know, and When Did He Know It?
Recall that in a Sept. 2, 2016 text message to the FBI’s then-deputy chief of counterintelligence Peter Strzok, his girlfriend and then-top legal adviser to Deputy FBI Director McCabe, Lisa Page, wrote that she was preparing talking points because the president “wants to know everything we’re doing.†[Emphasis added.] It does not seem likely that the Director of National Intelligence, DOJ, FBI, and CIA all kept President Obama in the dark about their FISA and other machinations — although it is possible they did so out of a desire to provide him with “plausible denial.â€
It seems more likely that Obama’s closest intelligence confidant, Brennan, told him about the shenanigans with FISA, that Obama gave him approval (perhaps just tacit approval), and that Brennan used that to harness top intelligence and law enforcement officials behind the effort to defeat Trump and, later, to emasculate and, if possible, remove him.
Moreover, one should not rule out seeing in the coming months an “Obama-made-us-do-it†defense — whether grounded in fact or not — by Brennan and perhaps the rest of the gang. Brennan may even have a piece of paper recording the President’s “approval†for this or that — or could readily have his former subordinates prepare one that appears authentic.
Reining in Devin Nunes
That the Deep State retains formidable power can be seen in the repeated Lucy-holding-then-withdrawing-the-football-for-Charlie Brown treatment experienced by House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, Devin Nunes(R-CA, image on the right). On April 5, 2019, in the apparent belief he had a green light to go on the offensive, Nunes wrote that committee Republicans “will soon be submitting criminal referrals on numerous individuals involved … in the abuse of intelligence for political purposes. These people must be held to account to prevent similar abuses from occurring in the future.â€
On April 7, Nunes was even more specific, telling Fox News that he was preparing to send eight criminal referrals to the Department of Justice “this week,†concerning alleged misconduct during the Trump-Russia investigation, including leaks of “highly classified material†and conspiracies to lie to Congress and the FISA court. It seemed to be no-holds-barred for Nunes, who had begun to talk publicly about prison time for those who might be brought to trial.
Except for Fox, the corporate media ignored Nunes’s explosive comments. The media seemed smugly convinced that Nunes’s talk of “referrals†could be safely ignored — even though a new sheriff, Barr, had come to town. And sure enough, now, three months later, where are the criminal referrals?
There is ample evidence that President Trump is afraid to run afoul of the Deep State functionaries he inherited. And the Deep State almost always wins. But if Attorney General Barr leans hard on the president to unfetter Nunes, IG Horowitz, Durham and like-minded investigators, all hell may break lose, because the evidence against those who took serious liberties with the law is staring them all in the face.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. No fan of the current President, Ray has been trained to follow and analyze the facts, wherever they may lead. He spent 27 years as a CIA analyst, and prepared the President’s Daily Brief for three presidents. In retirement he co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
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Mr. McGovern you are right in your analysis. Obama is in this up to his neck, however there will be a limited investigation at best because the Jews and Israel don’t want this. They are involved and a real investigation would show what control they have over the FBI and CIA.
Trump by now realizes these agencies can make anything up and the Jewish owned and controlled media will do their bidding. I have to assume that Trump has come to the conclusion that he wasn’t suppose to win and that the NWO wasn’t happy with that because he stands in their way especially on World Trade and Immigration.
The world is controlled by the Corporate Fascist Military-Intelligence Police State in which governments are nothing more than Proxies with Intelligence Agencies who work against the average citizen and for the Corporations. Politicians like Trump are nothing more than figureheads who must “Toe the Line” or else.
I believe Trump knows he could be assassinated at any time. Obama the “God King” did his part for NWO and that’s why he gets a King’s Ransom for his speeches for reading a teleprompter and banging on his chest and saying, “I did that.” What he is really saying is I did that for you— now where’s my check!
When they frog-marched you out of that Clinton event, Ray, they had no idea what they were unleashing.
Hi Fran Macadam!
Do you find it odd how Trump appointed Gina Haspel to direct CIA.🤔
Lends me to figure there is partisan Democrat & Republican commitment to prisoner torture & “black site” extraordinary rendition. And naturally, Capitol Police unleashed upon principled Ray.
Also, & speaking respectfully, I persist to preach that if a “U.S.” Deep State exists, the leftover is a Shallow State. Thanks!
The Magic Negro spied on Trump and nothing
will be done about it.
I’m not holding my breath. This crap never gets punished.
“But if Attorney General Barr leans hard on the president to unfetter Nunes, IG Horowitz, Durham and like-minded investigators, all hell may break lose, because the evidence against those who took serious liberties with the law is staring them all in the face.”
More wishful thinking about what is essentially just more “smoke and mirrors”.
This Just In:
All states are totally corrupt criminal organizations, from top to bottom.
Roll Up! Roll Up! See The Grand Spectacle!- The State Investigates Itself![Yet Again]
Therefor, for myself, yet another spectacle of the state investigating itself for “breaking its own laws” is “amusing”, to say the least.
However, the spectacle of the various “alt-right”useful idiots actually believing that such “investigations” actually mean anything and will produce satisfactory results according to their own naive expectations, delusions and assumptions is either very sad/depressing, or hilarious – I can’t decide which.
Conclusion:
For various reasons, the fundamentally criminal nature of all states can never be altered .
The only way forward is to eliminate the state, or, at the very least, to drastically reduce its size/power.
Regards, onebornfree
Seeing Mr. Ray McGovern dragged out of the room for making a totally legitimate request to ask Haspel a direct question about wether she was involved in torture or not, should leave no doubt in any observer’s mind about the Fascist state of affairs that has taken hold of Amerika. I suppose that as we progress into history, the American elite trust that they can dispense of the fig leaf of the constitution and the bill of rights as they feel ever more secure in the omnipotence of their police state. That renders the First Amendment nothing more than the right to bark in the dark.
Still the question that haunts my mind: where is the outrage. Well maybe that is too much to ask from the masses of Slavelandia ( expression invented by Gerald Celente of Trendsresearch.com)
Yeah, yeah, LoLbertarian, we get that you want to “wither away the State,” just like Marx.
Ray McGovern is a voice crying out for the truth in a wilderness of lies. Washington is so deep in corruption from top to bottom that it is hard to see a real way out. The swamp critters there have years of successful practice at denying and dodging the truth. God save us from the evil scheming of the rich and powerful!
With honor & conscience, Joe Levantine wrote: “Seeing Mr. Ray McGovern dragged out of the room for making a totally legitimate request to ask Haspel a direct question about wether she was involved in torture or not, should leave no doubt in any observer’s mind about the Fascist state of affairs that has taken hold of Amerika.” I
A broken Scranton “good morning,” Joe Levantine!
Respectfully, above, ðŸ‘, & as you know, the use of fascism to describe “what’s taken hold of Amerika” is insufficient minus a Jewish Supremacist appendage.
Nonetheless, I was appalled at what punishment Ray McGovern endured when he patriotically stood up at Gina Haspel’s CIA Director Senate confirmation, and got trounced.
Too often, all down sized “Amerikans” can do (in ‘guvmint protest) is write newspaper Letters to Editors and voice dissent. Not to “feather my cap” Joe, but in the article linked below, you can see where I tried my best to lift up the injured but spiritually unbowed Ray McGovern. Thanks & my respect!
https://www.uncommonthought.cowem/mtblog/archives/2018/05/22/ray-mcgovern-forcibly-evicted-from-haspel-hearing.php
A riddle for today: why did the “undersigned” in June 2017 “execute this certification regarding Carter Page?” (A FISA application to get a warrant to spy on him and, therefore, Donald Trump.)
1. Director FBI_____no signature (James Comey was fired May 2017)
2. Deputy Director FBI____Andrew McCabe (supposedly under criminal referral)
3. Director CIA___Michael Pompeo (currently in Trump’s Cabinet)
4. Director Nat’l Intelligence____Daniel Coats (currently in office)
5. Sec’y of State_____Rex Tillerson (removed, called Trump a “moron”)
6. Secretary of Defense_____James Mattis ( removed, said Trump had the mind of a fifth grader)
7. Presidential Assistant Nat’l. Security__H.R.McMaster (Trump is “an idiot”)
Trump seems to have a Shakespearean dilemma: To stay alive by suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them.
Why waste your time waiting for bribed and blackmailed tax parasites to issue their inevitable whitewash? CIA will tell the IGs what to say. You have to go over the government’s head to the world.
You can report CIA’s crimes to institutions with integrity and teeth. Stop kissing crooked Federalist Society judges’ asses and take your case to the international community.
https://ushrnetwork.org/2018/12/Action-File-ICCPR-Issues-in-January-2019
https://ushrnetwork.org/news/111/100/Upcoming-Universal-Periodic-Review-Hold-the-US-Accountable-to-its-Human-Rights-Obligations
CIA’s ratfuck of an unauthorized presidential aspirant is a classic example of CIA flouting the supreme law of the land – in this case ICCPR Article 17. CIA directed the full resources of the state to attack the honor and reputation of a candidate because they weren’t sure they could control him. CIA’s contempt for Congress and the public breaches ICCPR Article 19 by derogating your right to seek and obtain information. These are routine derelictions for an agency whose Director has breached CAT Article 1, a crime against humanity in universal jurisdiction.
You will get nowhere until you face the fact that US law is toilet paper. Treaty bodies and charter bodies are the only trustworthy legal system you’ve got.
Three years on.
Snooze
Barr is not going to do jack shit, Barr is a cover up specialist for the deep state and is in the CIA and remember his role in covering up the Iran Contra Affair and the drug and gun running out of Mena Arkansas , read the book Compromised, Clinton, Bush and the CIA by Terry Reed.
For the simple reason that states are made up of human beings.
Barr is not going to do jack shit, Barr is CIA and covered up the CIA involvement in Iran Contra and the drug and gun running out of Mena Arkansas , read the book Compromised, Clinton, Bush and the CIA by Terry Reed.
Anyone with more than two neurons knows that this whole “Russiagate†thing was a witch-hunt by Soros and his ilk. After the cackling hyena they funded lost, they became sore losers along with her.
As Protestants rightly say, God helps those who help themselves.
June 18, 2019 US To Send $250 Million In Military Aid To Ukraine
Saying that the new package was intended to enhance democratic civilian control of the military, the Pentagon has unveiled a package of around $250 million in military aid to the Ukraine. They emphasized the US commitment to supporting Ukraine.
https://news.antiwar.com/2019/06/18/us-to-send-250-million-in-military-aid-to-ukraine/
Jun 16, 2019 Zakharova: The West Is Getting Cramps; US Doesn’t Know How To Stop Emerging Russia & China Alliance
Maria Zakharova, Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Video Link
Mar 25, 2019 Russiagate implodes: Aaron Maté buries the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory
Russiagate has imploded after Robert Mueller’s investigation found no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.
Video Link
What the people have learned is that this is a free, democratic nation as long as you vote in the guy that the embedded Bolsheviks want you to.
If they were Bolsheviks, you’d have a lot fewer problems. Enjoy “free market†society based on naked greed, where if you have enough money, you can get away with anything (remember O.J. Simpson, Epstein, etc.).
I agree with your thoughts. As usual though, the outrage part is reserved by a small fraction of the population. The government-run schools are highly successful at churning out compliant, unquestioning citizens.
Both niteranger and Joe Levantine believe fascism is in place. They need to do a little more reading. Fascism actually cared about the plight of working people. Whether one agrees with the methods used, is a different issue. Whether Italy, NS Germany, Spain, or Portugal, the living standards of the poor were bettered. For the last 40+ years, living standards in the (((Western liberal democracies))) have been declining steadily, and those running the show could give a flying f#@k.
Compared to what is happening today, fascism is looking pretty good.
And you want muh government to continue to rape and rob you.
I have zero faith in someone named (((Horowitz))) to bring Deep State crimes into the light. I expect a complete white wash.
They may let a few scapegoats take the blame, but nothing substantial will change without a massive scandal and a total overhaul.
Proper.
After enough “tick tock” from the new #1 Irishman at Fox News, one would just as soon be blown up with it already; alas, it’s a dud.
Hope they get that Brennan. He looks like a neanderthal. Irish of course.
Liberty Mike says: ” And you want muh government to continue to rape and rob you.”
It’s called “Stockholm Syndrome” ðŸ™
Regards, onebornfree
Yup.
They drew “withering fire”, oohh boy I bet they are mortally wounded.
We’ve been fed a conveyor belt of sops, prosecution right around the corner, ten thousand sealed indictments, etc. for years.
I am pretty tired, since Whitewater, hearing how the Clintons are going down.
Chuck, I’m having trouble with the link you posted. Could you check it to see if it’s correct? Thanks.
Dear Twodees,
If you go to editor Rowan Wolf’s Uncommon Thought Journal, please look in archives for the posting of the article titled, “Ray McGovern forcibly exited from Haspel hearing.” There you will find the full letter to Scranton’s newspaper, The Times-Tribune.”
As I often allude, Scranton is broken and local readers suffer increasing taxation and they must pay a fee before being allowed access to The Times-Tribune web site. 😟 Nonetheless, editors have a “set” and corresponding to my letter, they ran a color pic of Ray’s having gotten bounced around by youthful Capitol Police. (Zigh)
All the best, Bro Twodees. Tonight I go with a best friend to Penn’s Peak and will watch Steve Earle and The Dukes in concert. Steve did prison time, no “crooner,” and for awhile, he looked like the real Neil Young. Fyi, Earle did a rousing song “The Revolution Starts Now” which later became the soundtrack for a Chevy truck TV commercial. Nonetheless, he never hit the Big Time 🤑like did Springsteen who during the 2016 preZidential campaign, sang for HRC.🙄
It seems fanciful to imagine that our state security apparatus will start policing itself all of a sudden. They might give the magapedes a sacrificial lamb but he will be a small fish. He will also enjoy the comfort of an Obama judge and a globalist jury.
I like Steve’s music, too. Hope he did “I Feel Allright Tonight” for y’all.
“I felt this thrill going up my leg,”
“I get the same thrill up my leg, all over me, every time I hear those words.”