BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE A KANGAROO COURT AND THE FAKE NUREMBERG TRIALS.
Moon-Strzok No More, Lisa Page Spills The Beans
The meaning of a crucial text message between two FBI officials appears to have been finally explained, and it’s not good news for the Russia-gate faithful...
Former FBI attorney Lisa Page has reportedly told a joint committee of the House of Representatives that when FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok texted her on May 19, 2017 saying there was “no big there there,” he meant there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
It was clearly a bad-luck day for Strzok, when on Friday the 13th this month Page gave her explanation of the text to the House Judiciary and Oversight/Government Reform Committees and in effect threw her lover, Strzok, under the bus.
Strzok’s apparent admission to Page about there being “no big there there” was reported on Friday by John Solomon in the Opinion section of The Hill based on multiple sources who he said were present during Page’s closed door interview.
Strzok’s text did not come out of the blue. For the previous ten months he and his FBI subordinates had been trying every-which-way to ferret out some “there” — preferably a big “there” — but had failed miserably. If Solomon’s sources are accurate, it is appearing more and more likely that there was nothing left for them to do but to make it up out of whole cloth, with the baton then passed to special counsel Robert Mueller.
The “no there there” text came just two days after former FBI Director James Comey succeeded in getting his friend Mueller appointed to investigate the alleged collusion that Strzok was all but certain wasn’t there.
Strzok during his public testimony earlier this month.
Robert Parry, the late founder and editor of Consortium News whom Solomon described to me last year as his model for journalistic courage and professionalism, was already able to discern as early as March 2017 the outlines of what is now Deep State-gate, and, typically, was the first to dare report on its implications.
Parry’s article, written two and a half months before Strzok texted the self-incriminating comment to Page on there being “no big there there,” is a case study in professional journalism. His very first sentence entirely anticipated Strzok’s text: “The hysteria over ‘Russia-gate’ continues to grow … but at its core there may be no there there.”(Emphasis added.)
As for “witch-hunts,” Bob and others at Consortiumnews.com, who didn’t succumb to the virulent HWHW (Hillary Would Have Won) virus, and refused to slurp the Kool-Aid offered at the deep Deep State trough, have come close to being burned at the stake — virtually. Typically, Bob stuck to his guns: he ran an organ (now vestigial in most Establishment publications) that sifted through and digested actual evidence and expelled drivel out the other end.
Those of us following the example set by Bob Parry are still taking a lot of incoming fire — including from folks on formerly serious — even progressive — websites. Nor do we expect a cease-fire now, even with Page’s statement (about which, ten days after her interview, the Establishment media keep a timorous silence). Far too much is at stake.
As Mark Twain put it, “It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” And, as we have seen over the past couple of years, that goes in spades for “Russia-gate.” For many of us who have looked into it objectively and written about it dispassionately, we are aware, that on this issue, we are looked upon as being in sync with President Donald Trump.
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Blind hatred for the man seems to thwart any acknowledgment that he could ever be right about something—anything. This brings considerable awkwardness. Chalk it up to the price of pursuing the truth, no matter what bedfellows you end up with.
Courage at The Hill
Page: Coughs up the meaning of ‘there.’
Solomon’s article merits a careful read, in toto. Here are the most germane paragraphs:
“It turns out that what Strzok and Lisa Page were really doing that day [May 19, 2017] was debating whether they should stay with the FBI and try to rise through the ranks to the level of an assistant director (AD) or join Mueller’s special counsel team. [Page has since left the FBI.]“‘Who gives a f*ck, one more AD [Assistant Director] like [redacted] or whoever?’” Strzok wrote, weighing the merits of promotion, before apparently suggesting what would be a more attractive role: ‘An investigation leading to impeachment?’ …“A few minutes later Strzok texted his own handicap of the Russia evidence: ‘You and I both know the odds are nothing. If I thought it was likely, I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there.’“So the FBI agents who helped drive the Russia collusion narrative — as well as Rosenstein’s decision to appoint Mueller — apparently knew all along that the evidence was going to lead to ‘nothing’ and, yet, they proceeded because they thought there was still a possibility of impeachment.”
Solomon adds: “How concerned you are by this conduct is almost certainly affected by your love or hatred for Trump. But put yourself for a second in the hot seat of an investigation by the same FBI cast of characters: You are under investigation for a crime the agents don’t think occurred, but the investigation still advances because the desired outcome is to get you fired from your job. Is that an FBI you can live with?”
The Timing
As noted, Strzok’s text was written two days after Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017. The day before, on May 16,The New York Times published a story that Comey leaked to it through an intermediary that was expressly designed (as Comey admitted in Congressional testimony three weeks later) to lead to the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Hmmmmm.
Had Strzok forgotten to tell his boss that after ten months of his best investigative efforts — legal and other—he could find no “there there”?
Comey’s leak, by the way, was about alleged pressure from Trump on Comey to go easy on Gen. Michael Flynn for lying at an impromptu interrogation led by — you guessed it — the ubiquitous, indispensable Peter Strzok.
In any event, the operation worked like a charm — at least at first. And — absent revelation of the Strzok-Page texts — it might well have continued to succeed. After Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named Mueller, one of Comey’s best buddies, to be special counsel, Mueller, in turn, picked Strzok to lead the Russia-gate team, until the summer, when the Department of Justice Inspector General was given the Strzok-Page texts and refused to sit on them.
A Timeline
Here’s a timeline, which might be helpful:
2017May 16: Comey leak to NY Times to get a special counsel appointedMay 17: Special counsel appointed — namely, Robert Mueller.May 19: Strzok confides to girlfriend Page, “No big there there.”July: Mueller appoints Strzok lead FBI Agent on collusion investigation.August: Mueller removes Strzok after learning of his anti-Trump texts to Page.Dec. 12: DOJ IG releases some, but by no means all, relevant Strzok-Page texts to Congress and the media, which firstreports on Strzok’s removal in August.2018June 14: DOJ IG Report Published.June 15; Strzok escorted out of FBI Headquarters.June 21: Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces Strzok has lost his security clearances.July 12: Strzok testifies to House committees. Solomon reports he refused to answer question about the “there there” text.July 13: Lisa Page interviewed by same committees. Answers the question.
Earlier: Bob Parry in Action
Journalist Robert Parry
On December 12, 2017, as soon as first news broke of the Strzok-Page texts, Bob Parry and I compared notes by phone. We agreed that this was quite big and that, clearly, Russia-gate had begun to morph into something like FBI-gate. It was rare for Bob to call me before he wrote; in retrospect, it seemed to have been merely a sanity check.
The piece Bob posted early the following morning was typical Bob. Many of those who click on the link will be surprised that, last December, he already had pieced together most of the story. Sadly, it turned out to be Bob’s last substantive piece before he fell seriously ill. Earlier last year he had successfully shot downother Russia-gate-related canards on which he found Establishment media sorely lacking — “Facebook-gate,” for example.
Remarkably, it has taken another half-year for Congress and the media to address — haltingly — the significance of Deep State-gate — however easy it has become to dissect the plot, and identify the main plotters. With Bob having prepared the way with his Dec.13 article, I followed up a few weeks later with “The FBI Hand Behind Russia-gate,” in the process winning no friends among those still suffering from the highly resistant HWHW virus.
VIPS
Parry also deserves credit for his recognition and appreciation of the unique expertise and analytical integrity among Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) and giving us a secure, well respected home at Consortium News.
It is almost exactly a year since Bob took a whole lot of flak for publishing what quickly became VIPS’ most controversial, and at the same time perhaps most important, Memorandum For the President; namely, “Intelligence Veterans Challenge ‘Russia Hack’ Evidence.”
Critics have landed no serious blows on the key judgments of that Memorandum, which rely largely on the type of forensic evidence that Comey failed to ensure was done by his FBI because the Bureau never seized the DNC server. Still more forensic evidence has become available over recent months soon to be revealed on Consortium News, confirming our conclusions.
"Hoax From The Beginning": Carter Page FISA Application Exposes Flimsy Underpinnings Of FBI "Witch Hunt"
The late Saturday release of the FBI's heavily redacted FISA warrant application for Carter Page reveals that the Obama administration, eager to make a case to spy on a US citizen (and arguably the Trump campaign) cobbled together a combination of facts and innuendo from Page's business dealings in Russia, several press reports of varying reliability, and of course, the infamous Clinton-funded "Steele Dossier," which the FBI went to great lengths to justify despite being largely unable to verify its claims.
Perhaps the most concerning takeaway, however, is the stark disconnect between the FBI's multiple allegations against Page versus the fact that he hasn't been charged with a single crime after nearly two years of DOJ/FBI investigations.
Once issued, the FISA warrant and its subsequent renewals allowed the Obama administration to spy on the Trump campaign using a wide investigatory net, so the October, 2016 application painted Page in the most criminal light possible, as intended, in order to convince the FISA judge to grant the warrant. It flat out accuses Page of being a Russian spy who was recruited by the Kremlin, which sought to "undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law," the application reads.
In order to reinforce their argument, the FBI used circular arguments which presented dossier claims as facts, such as "The FBI learned that Page met with at least two Russian officials" - when in fact that was simply another unverified claim from the dossier.
FBI represented to a federal judge that investigators knew for certain that Carter Page met w/ Igor Sechin and Diveykin. Except, the FISA app acknowledges this intel came from Steele dossier. And FBI has acknowledged dossier was not verifieid. dailycaller.com/2018/07/21/doj…
Another approach used to beef up the FISA application's curb appeal was circular evidence, via the inclusion of a letter from Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (NV) to former FBI Director James Comey, citing information Reid got from John Brennan, which was in turn from the Clinton-funded dossier.
In fact, aside from the Clinton-funded Steele dossier ("Source #1"), the FISA application cited no other evidentiary sources.
The application also reveals that FBI agent Peter Strzok lied when he said he had nothing to do with the FISA application, when in fact the disgraced FBI agent used Carter Page's September 2016 letter to Comey defending himself against a Yahoo! News article written by Michael Isikoff (who used information obtained directly from Steele) as a pretext to open the investigation on Page.
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The FISA app also mentions a letter Page wrote to Coney denying the allegations made by Isikoff (through Steele).
Strzok used this as a pretext to interview Page.
17) The FBI does not believe Source #1 [Steele] 'directly provided' the information to Isikoff. 18) Isikoff wrote that Page's role in the campaign is 'unclear.' 19) On September 25, 2016, Kellyanne Conway told CNN Page was 'not part of the campaign I'm running.' 10/14
20) Also on September 25, Page sent a letter to the FBI denying the allegations in the Isikoff article. 21) On September 26, the Post's Rogin posted an interview with Page in which Page called the allegations 'garbage' and said he did not meet with Sechin or Divyekin. 11/14
Meanwhile, the FBI tried to downplay Steele feeding Isikoff information for his article, falsely claiming in the FISA application that Steele did not "directly provide" information to the reporter, when in fact he did.
“Obviously the information that I got from Christopher Steele was information the FBI already had,” Isikoff said in a February podcast.
FBI/DOJ telling the FISA court that Source 1 (Christopher Steele) did not "directly provide" information to reporter Isikoff.
It turns out that this was 100% false. Steele was the source.
They lied to the FISA court.
The FBI also went to extreme lengths to convince the FISA judge that Steele ("Source #1"), was reliable when they could not verify the unsubstantiated claims in his dossier - while also having to explain why they still trusted his information after having terminated Steele's contract over inappropriate disclosures he made to the media.
"Not withstanding Source1's reason for conducting the research into Candidate1's ties to Russia, based on Source1's previous reporting history with the FBI, whereby Source1 provided reliable information to the FBI, the FBI believes Source 1s reporting herein to be credible"
On top of that, Bill Priestap told Congress that corroboration of the dossier was in its "infancy" when FISAs were being granted. An FBI unit found dossier was only "minimally" corroborated.
The warrant application also confirms a February report that the FBI received a copy of the dossier from the Obama State Department, after Steele provided it to senior DoS official Jonathan Winer. Winer was also approached by Clinton confidant Sydney Blumenthal with a separate anti-Trump dossier written by longtime Clinton pal Cody Shearer.
So two separate Clinton-originated dossiers went from Steele and Blumenthal to the State Department, which then gave it to the FBI. Of course, the agency also had a copy it received in early August, 2016 directly from Steele himself, and we also now know that there were multiple versions of the document which went through various conduits before reaching the FBI.
Curiously, the FBI spotlighted the dossier provided by the State Department, ostensibly to enhance its credibility.
The FBI's use of flimsy and uncorroborated evidence to support spying on Page, combined with the fact that a 3-month extension was granted despite the fact that it was obvious by June, 2017 he wasn't a Russian agent, will most certainly embolden those, like President Trump, who have called the entire Russia investigation a "witch hunt."
So now we know. The Russian collusion fairytale was a hoax from the beginning. What a disgrace. dailycaller.com/2018/07/21/doj…
The 6/2017 FISA app was signed by McCabe and Rosenstein - immediately after Mueller was appointed.
Carter Page was no longer really "under investigation."
Page and the warrant were a pretext to surveille the rest of Team Trump. pic.twitter.com/1BVwlUQumF
Finally, by June, 2017 it's obvious Carter Page isn't a Russian agent
But FISA app is extended another 90 days to coincide with Mueller appointment
This would allow Mueller to use FISA surveillance to prosecute the Trump team for matters unrelated to purpose of surveillance
June, 2017: FBI tells the FISA Judge that Page's activities "are ongoing" and preclude the conclusion that "all such information has been obtained and collected can be ended"
Page was doing nothing at this point. Another lie to the court. pic.twitter.com/Epq32St9tA
The 6/2017 FISA app was signed by McCabe and Rosenstein - immediately after Mueller was appointed.
Carter Page was no longer really "under investigation."
Page and the warrant were a pretext to surveille the rest of Team Trump. pic.twitter.com/1BVwlUQumF
Reassuring to know the FBI relies on flimsy, incomplete news stories to win warrants to wiretap US citizens. ow.ly/WZy430l3GKP and ow.ly/G3uY30l3GKW
Finally, on Sunday morning, president Trump responded with a series of tweets, including both his own thoughts, and quotes of others, stating that it is "looking more & more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC. Ask her how that worked out - she did better with Crazy Bernie. Republicans must get tough now. An illegal Scam!"
.@PeteHegseth on @FoxNews “Source #1 was the (Fake) Dossier. Yes, the Dirty Dossier, paid for by Democrats as a hit piece against Trump, and looking for information that could discredit Candidate #1 Trump. Carter Page was just the foot to surveil the Trump campaign...” ILLEGAL!
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