FISA Continues

For John, BLUF:  FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,, which allows a secret panel to allow wiretaps of American Citizens. was reauthorized.  This is not good for the Republic or for our individuaal Rights.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Congress Approves Extension of Warrantless Surveillance as Part of the Defense Policy Bill

Here is the sub-headline:

Why won’t the Supreme Court hear cases challenging surveillance under Section 702?

From Legal Insurrection, by Ms Mary Chastain, Thursday, 14 December 2023 at 03:00pm.

Here is the lede plus one:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What did Congress do today?

It extended Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until mid-April. The vote was 310-118.

Section 702 of FISA became official in 2008. Do you know what it contains?  A provision that it should “be conducted in a manner consistent with the fourth amendment.”

Except it allows too much wiggle room that allows warrantless surveillance of Americans in America.  (By the way, the Constitution applies to citizens no matter where the citizen is in the world.)

The good news is that neither of our Senators (E Warren or E Markey) voted for it.

The bad news is that it is still out there to be abused by Federal Law Enforement, as it was in 2016 aginst those associated with the Trump Campaign, like4 Mr Carter Page.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

FISA to be Reformed by House

For John, BLUF:  We have good news, a bipartisan move to reform the operation of the FISA Court.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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GOP won't reauthorize FISA without FBI reforms following Durham report: 'Stop the abuses'

From The Washington Examiner, by Justice Department Reporter Jerry Dunleavy, 2 June 2023, 07:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

Leading House Republicans won't back the reauthorization of powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without major reforms in the wake of the FBI’s FISA abuses and special counsel John Durham’s report.

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), the Turner-designated leader of the committee’s FISA Working Group, and Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), another key committee member, all spoke with the Washington Examiner about the need for guardrails before FISA powers are reauthorized.

The trio of lawmakers want reforms at the FBI and at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approves the secret warrants.  Their demands are at odds with the Biden administration, which wants to reauthorize FISA Section 702 powers without changes before it expires at the end of 2023.

“We have been very clear on a bipartisan basis with the intelligence community and the FBI that there is no support in Congress for a clean reauthorization of 702,” Turner told the Washington Examiner.  “Reforms are necessary. We will be taking up the issue of reforms, and they will not be limited to 702 itself.  It will encompass both abuses that we are aware of and abuses that are now in the public domain as a result of disclosure and Durham.”

The use of a "Sunset Clause" in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was a good idea.  It forces Congress to review the operation of the Act and allows space for modifications in the reenactment.  The Durham Report cries for such a review.

Well intentioned Federal Bureaucrats, thinking they are doing good, can undermine our form of government, and our Freedoms.  I am glad to see House Members, on a bipartisan basis, reviewing the situation and updating our laws.

The Biden Administration is wrong to ask for a clean renewal.  It makes one wonder if they are paying attention, and if they are protective of our Civil Rights.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Democrat Game Plan--Deny, Deny, Deny

For John, BLUF:  The other way of saying this is "riding into a box canyon".  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Democrats Charge Into a Political Cul-de-Sac

Here is the sub-headline:

Democrats don’t have much hope to cling to, but they don’t deserve better.

From American Greatness, by Mr Conrad Black • May 11, 2020.

Here is the lede plus five:

President Trump’s almost total silence on the matters being investigated by special counsel John Durham, and his gentlemanly remark concerning the allegations against Joe Biden coming from his former aide, Tara Reade, that sometimes people make false allegations, is an enactment of Napoleon’s advice not to interrupt an enemy while he is making a mistake.

Just as he studiously avoided any comment when Christine Blasey Ford testified against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, other than that she seemed pleasant and credible, when a nasty word would have blown up Kavanaugh’s candidacy, he sometimes surprises his opponents and even his supporters by acts of unusual tactical discretion.

Trump’s opponents are advancing down several cul-de-sacs simultaneously.  They are standing firmly on the legality and propriety of the prosecution of General Michael Flynn and the applications for warrants to conduct espionage against junior Trump campaign aide Carter Page and the campaign and transition team.

This position cannot be sustained.  The prosecution was an outrage which the Justice Department has withdrawn as not only the prosecution of an innocent person, but a prosecution of one whom the prosecutors knew to be not guilty.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) activity, as Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has determined, was in gross breach of department practices and customs.  It is not his position to determine legality, but he pointed out 17 areas that were, he determined, illegal.  The whole operation was based on the infamous Steele dossier, which was exposed years ago as a tissue of lies funded and shopped to the media via the intelligence agencies in a sequence of monstrous improprieties, to influence the election and then destabilize the incoming administration.

There is no longer any serious doubt about any of this and those who follow these things are waiting for the special counsel’s indictments.  But this past weekend, former President Obama leaked to the country his view that when someone has pleaded guilty to a criminal offense if the charge is withdrawn without being tried, this shakes his confidence in American justice.  At about the same time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) issued a press statement accusing Attorney General William Barr of using the Justice Department to maintain “the president’s cover-up.”  This is both bizarre and insane conduct.

And on it goes.

I figure that the Democrats are heading into a cul-de-sac, but perhaps they hope the media will protect them, as it seems to be doing with the unwinding of Russiagate.  With the media providing cover the Democrats can avoid contact with reality for some time.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

FISA Court Stands Up

For John, BLUF:  The FISA Court was created to ensure control of abuses of intelligence collection capabilities to the detriment of the Bill of Rights.  The Presidential Election of 2016 suggested that the supposed safeguards had failed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Oh My, Interesting Ramifications – FISA Court Requires DOJ/FBI To Provide Names of Targets Within Corrupt Surveillance Applications…

From The Conservative Tree House, by sundance, 3 April 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

Things are getting interesting, potential ramifications are growing, as the FISA Court responds to the latest information from the DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG).

After a review of 29 FISA applications, from eight FBI field offices, the OIG informed the FBI and DOJ that none of the surveillance applications were compliant with the Woods procedures.  Meaning zero applications had FBI evidence to support the validity of the claims within the FISA warrants.  That’s a very big problem if those FISA warrants were used to gather evidence used to prosecute the 29 targets of the applications.

In a FISC order released today [pdf here] presiding Judge James Boasberg is ordering the FBI to identify who those targets were; and asking the DOJ to explain what they did with the evidence gathered as a result of the fraudulently obtained FISA warrants.  Big.

If evidence obtained by execution of a fraudulently obtained warrant was used in the prosecution of any of those targets; there’s a possibility those cases will be reopened.

Considering the twenty nine applications from the OIG go back to 2015, there’s a lot of potential for some downstream consequences not only for those 29 applications, but also for all FBI FISA applications with a similar level of neglect.

I am cautiously optimistic that the wrongs will be corrected.  What optimism I have is based on my faith in Attorney General Bill Barr.

Since those in the Department of Justice who messed this up are unlikely to be punished, it is very important that any whose civil rights were violated are set free and compensated.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

IG Report on FBI and FISA

For John, BLUF:  The DOJ Inspector General finds that the FBI was not able to submit a clean request to the FIsA Court to surveil the Campaign of President Trump in 2016.  What does that tell us about the integrity of presidential campaigns?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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New FISA scandal as inspector general reveals EVERY spy warrant he investigated was flawed and some had NO supporting evidence

Here is the sub-headline:

• Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz reveals result of audit of 29 FBI FISA applications to eavesdrop on Americans
• The warrants are issued to allow the FBI to intercept communications of Americans they believe may be working for or unwitting tools of a foreign power
• In four of the 29 FISA applications his office selected for review, the FBI could not produce any supporting documents or records
• 25 applications had supporting documentation but he found 'apparent errors or inadequately supported facts in all' of them
• In some instances, facts stated in the applications were not supported by any documentation
• Other[ ther]s were either not corroborated by the documentation or even inconsistent with it. The watchdog office found an average of about 20 issues per application it reviewed.

From Daily Mail, by the Associated Press, 31 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

The FBI has failed to follow its own policies for ensuring the accuracy of applications it submits to conduct wiretaps in national security investigations, including in some cases by not having documentation to support arguments made to judges, according to a letter released Tuesday.

The findings are on top of problems identified last year by the inspector general's office, which concluded that FBI agents had made significant errors and omissions in applications to eavesdrop on a former Trump campaign adviser during the early months of the Russia investigation.

Those mistakes prompted internal changes within the FBI and spurred a congressional debate over whether the bureau's surveillance tools should be reined in.

After the Russia report was submitted last December, Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced a broader review of the FBI's spy powers and its applications before the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The question we all have to ask ourselves, and ask our elected representatives down in DC, is to what degree can we trust the FBI, and the larger DOJ, to enforce our laws while still respecting our rights as citizens.

Are you comforted by your Representative, down in DC, in my case, Representative Lori Trahan?  Does the Mueller Report and the Impeachment of President Donald John Trump give you confidence?

We need to speak up on this, in a quiet, but persistent way.  If our our Representatives understand we are talking about this it is likely they will pay attention.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The FISA Court Awakens

For John, BLUF:  That someone else might be evil is always justification for violating the civil rights of others, from time out of memory.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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FISA Judge Says FBI Officials Involved in Carter Page Wiretaps Cannot Seek Other Surveillance Orders

From PJ Media, by Reporter Rick Moran, 6 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus two:

A FISA court judge issued an order banning DoJ and FBI officials who were involved in warrant applications to spy on Carter Page from seeking other surveillance orders from the court.

Judge James Boasberg ordered that “no DOJ or FBI personnel under disciplinary or criminal review relating to their work on FISA applications shall participate in drafting, verifying, reviewing, or submitting such applications to the Court.”

Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz issued a scathing report on FISA abuses by the FBI last December, citing at least 17 "errors and omissions" on the part of officials involved in the Page warrant application, including placing too much reliance on the spurious and unverified Steele dossier.

And rightfully so.

The article also mentions that the President has said he is not interesting in signing a clean reauthorization of the FISA Act.  I hope he sticks to this.  The Bureaucracy continues to tend toward ignoring the rights of citizens.  It was so with FBI Director J Edgar Hoover and it is true of FBI Director James Comey.  Power corrupts and absolute power corrects absolutely, as Lord Acton told us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Carter Page Sues the DNC, et al

For John, BLUF:  This is actually a sad outcome, in that if the Presidential Campaign of 2016 had not involved Deep State actions this would probably not have come to pass.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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BOOM:  Carter Page Sues DNC Over Bogus Steele Dossier:  'This Is Only the First Salvo'

Here is the sub-headline:

From PJ Media, by Reporter Matt Margolis, 30 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Fox News reported Thursday morning that former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the law firm Perkins Coie for their role in funding the unverified Steele dossier that was used to justify surveillance against him.

Page's attorneys described the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois’ Eastern Division on Thursday, as the “first of multiple actions in the wake of historic” Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuse.

“This is a first step to ensure that the full extent of the FISA abuse that has occurred during the last few years is exposed and remedied,” Page's attorney John Pierce told Fox News.  “Defendants and those they worked with inside the federal government did not and will not succeed in making America a surveillance state.”

Pierce added, “This is only the first salvo.  We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, no matter how high."

And well he should.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Shameless Coverup

For John, BLUF:  This flows from the FISA Court authorizing, repeatedly, the surveillance of US Citizen Carter Page, and others, growing out of the 2016 Election and the Democratic Party's Steele Dossier.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"A Ridiculous Choice" - FISA Court Sparks Firestorm, Appoints Conflicted, Anti-Trump Attorney To Oversee FBI Fixes

From Zero Hedge, by Mr Tyler Durden, 13 January 2020.

Here is the key paragraph:

... on Friday, the FISA Court posted an order naming anti-Trump lawyer David Kris to “assist the court” in assessing the FBI’s response to the court-ordered cleanup of lapses and abuses identified by Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz.

That sounds a little like the fox checking on who raided the hen house.  In some places in our nation's capitol the swamp is very deep.  Perhaps more like a pig sty

If it wasn't so sad, it would be truly funny. The source for Mr Durden is Ms Sharyl Attkisson, who has had her own problems with the Surveillance State, and has recently worked to reopen her case against the Government.

From that "right wing" fake news site, Zero Hedge.

Regards  —  Cliff

J'accuse

For John, BLUF:  It is funny how bureaucracies, of any sort, once locked in, are unable to admit they made a mistake.  Even the Louisiana State Police are unable, all these years later, are unable to admit they are the ones who shot Senator Huey P Long.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Remember the Schiff memo vs. the Nunes memo?

From The New Neo, 11 December 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

Remember back in the early days of 2018 when there was the clash of the dueling memos on Russiagate and the role of the FBI and the FISA court applications?  The Nunes memo was criticized by Democrats even before it was released, and afterwards Adam Schiff released his own memo that contested what Nunes had asserted.

And of course the MSM trashed Nunes (for example:  the memo is “a joke and a sham”) and lauded Schiff.  Now we have the Horowitz Report that represents an examination of some of the same facts that Nunes and Schiff were duking it out over, and Nunes is completely vindicated and Schiff should slink away in shame along with most of the MSM.

When I think of Russiagate it reminds me of l'affaire Dreyfus, with perhaps Rep David Nunes in the role of Journalist Émile Zola.

So what roles do Rep Adam Schiff and former FBI Director James Comey play?

Regards  —  Cliff

Some Democrats Misunderstand the Horowitz Report

For John, BLUF:  Three years of misinformation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A Tweet of Infamy

Here is the Tweet:

Adam Schiff
@RepAdamSchiff
The IG is independent, and shielded from political influence. His investigation found no evidence that bias affected the opening of the case.

Bill Barr has shown himself to be Trump's Roy Cohn — only interested in promoting Trump’s personal interests.

You choose who to believe.
Quote Tweet

The Washington Post
@washingtonpost
· Dec 2
Attorney general disputes inspector general's finding that FBI was justified in opening probe of Trump's 2016 campaign
4:30 PM · Dec 10, 2019

I, on the other hand, caught portions of today's Senate Hearing on the Horowitz Report.

Imagine being Mr Carter Page through all this.

Imagine being Representative Adam Schiff and trying to keep your story straight.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Spying State

For John, BLUF:  Spies are going to spy.  Congress is supposed to protect us from that.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Twitter:

nstapundit.com @instapundit 20 hours ago
A 2015 memo from then-Attorney General @EricHolder reveals that the feds can use FISA to spy on journalists.

Which leads to this article:

Newly Released Eric Holder Memo: Feds Can Use FISA to Spy on Journalists

Here is the sub-headline:

And the guidelines for spying on journalists may be even looser under Trump.

From Reason, by Mr Joe Setyon, 18 September 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

The federal government can use the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to spy on journalists.  So said a pair of 2015 Justice Department memos, including one from then–Attorney General Eric Holder.

FISA is controversial in itself. The act is supposed to be used to justify surveillance on foreign targets.  But as Reason's Scott Shackford has explained, intelligence agencies often use it to secretly spy on American citizens, sometimes without a warrant.

Did Attorney General Eric Holder not recall the outrage over the FBI, under Director J Edgar Hoover, spying, against the Constitution, on the rev Martin Luther King?  Apparently not.

Then there is this counter-intuitive assertion:

While the memos date to the Obama era, the Trump administration seems willing to snoop on journalists as well.  Earlier this year, the Justice Department demanded the phone and email records of New York Times reporter Ali Watkins in an attempt to find out whether her source, a former Senate aide, had leaked classified information.

Eddington suspects the guidelines for spying on journalists under President Donald Trump may be "looser" than they were under Obama, especially given Trump's "almost daily stated antipathy towards the press as a whole."

Regardless of who's in the White House, one constant remains:  The federal government doesn't seem to have any problems with going after journalists.

Do the editors at Reason realize that because of the Mueller investigation Mr Trump has little to no control over the Department of Justice.  I am not sure we can even call it the Sessions DOJ.  It is probably the Rosenstein DOJ.  It sure seems that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, as part of his silent coup, is trying to make it so.

At the end of the day, however, the point needs to be made that the Department of Justice, rather than thinking of the FISA Court as a limited tool, is widening its use beyond where they should.  It is time for Congress to revisit this statute.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Insurance Policy

For John, BLUF:  This kind of thing would never happen in these United States, but if it were to happen, this is how it would happen.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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What would the intelligence community's 'insurance policy' against Trump look like?

From The Hill, by Reporter Sheryl Attkisson, 9 August 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

Let’s begin in the realm of the fanciful.

Assume, for the sake of argument, that powerful, connected people in the intelligence community and in politics worried that a wildcard Trump presidency, unlike another Clinton or Bush, might expose a decade-plus of questionable practices.  Disrupt long-established money channels.  Reveal secret machinations that could arguably land some people in prison.

What exactly might an “insurance policy” against Donald Trump look like?

To be fair to the bureaucrats, Ms Sharyl Attkisson believes the Government broke into her house and bugged her computer—as in secretly broke into her place of residence, contrary to the Fourth Amendment.

I am sure that any relationship, in this scenario, to Text messages exchanged by FBI Chief of Counterespionage Peter Strzok and DOJ Lawyer Lisa Page is purely coincidental.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

A/G Sessions Moves to Enforce the Rules

For John, BLUF:  Maybe Attorney General Jeff Sessions is like Riggo, starting slow and then gathering power, like a diesel.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Sessions Confirms Justice Probe of FBI’s FISA Warrant Application

Here is the sub-headline:

He tells Maria Bartiromo of Fox News he won't tolerate failure to provide courts all relevant info in seeking approval to spy on U.S. citizens

From Liffezette, by Mr Mark Tapscott, 19 February 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmed Sunday that the Department of Justice is investigating whether the FBI disclosed all relevant facts to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court in seeking a warrant to spy on a 2016 Trump campaign volunteer.

“Let me tell you, every FISA warrant based on facts submitted to that court have to be accurate,” Sessions replied when asked by Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo about the controversial FISA warrant application.

“That will be investigated and looked at, and we are not going to participate as a Department of Justice in providing anything less than a proper disclosure to the court before they issue a FISA warrant,” Sessions said.

Excellent!

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

FISA Court Balks

For John, BLUF:  Here is where separation of powers comes into play.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Secret surveillance court puts pressure on DOJ over Carter Page warrant records

From Fox News' Mr Adam Shaw, 16 Feb 2018.

Here is the lede plus five:

The head of a top secret surveillance court, in an unusual letter to GOP lawmakers, seemed to put pressure on the Justice Department to consider releasing documents related to the 2016 surveillance warrant granted against a Trump campaign aide.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) was responding to requests from the House Intelligence and House Judiciary committees for transcripts of hearings and other documents related to the applications to spy on Trump aide Carter Page.

Republicans claim the Obama FBI relied heavily on the unverified anti-Trump dossier in their application and failed to adequately disclose the document's Democratic funding.

But in two letters from the court Thursday, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer made clear to Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and his House Judiciary Committee counterpart -- Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. -- that the information would be better obtained from the Justice Department.

“While this analysis is underway, you may note that the Department of Justice possesses (or can easily obtain) the same responsive information the Court might possess, and because of separation of powers considerations, is better positioned than the Court to respond quickly,” Collyer wrote to Nunes.

Collyer added that the court does not object to the Executive Branch giving such information to Congress.  She noted in her other letter that Goodlatte already has made such a request to the DOJ and FBI.

I don't think the FISA Judges want to take the fall for machinations of DOJ, including within the FBI.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Random Collection of Thoughts

For John, BLUF:  This Russiagate thing and the "intelligence" behind it are a jumbles.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here Are The 7 Biggest Bombshells In The House Intel Memo On FISA Abuses

From The Federalist, by Writer Bre Payton, 2 February 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

Compiled by congressional Republicans.

1. FBI Used News Articled Sourced By Steele To Corroborate His Dossier
2. FBI Knew Steele Was Being Paid By DNC, Hillary Clinton, Chose Not To Tell The Court
3. Without The Steele Dossier, FBI Wouldn’t Have Sought the Warrant To Spy On Carter Page
4. FBI Spied On Trump’s Associate For Nearly a Year
5. FBI Dismissed Steele As a Source Soon After It Secured The Initial FISA Warrant
6. FBI Did Not Tell The Court It Had Dismissed Steele
7. DOJ Official’s Wife Was Getting Paid By Fusion GPS

I have two points to addd to what the author says:

1. The FBI spied on Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, for four years and it only stopped when Dr King was assassinated.
2. My understanding is that, notwithstanding his wife's form of employment, Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr is actually one of the good guys in all this.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff
-1, Sat 5.0

Family Disagreement

For John, BLUF:  Far bigger than Watergate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My wife and I are having a disagreement on the issue of the intersection of the Continuing Resolution and the Memo about FBI abuse of the FISA Court.  She says blow it up and expose all the hypocrisy and the hypocrites.  I say use it as a bargaining chip to keep the Government open.

Of course, this is speculation, as neither of us have seen the memo.

This is from a report at Zero Hedge, by Mr Tyler Durden, 18 January 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

All hell is breaking loose in Washington D.C. after a four-page memo detailing extensive FISA court abuse was made available to the entire House of Representatives Thursday. The contents of the memo are so explosive, says Journalist Sara Carter, that it could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and the Department of Justice and the end of Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation.

These sources say the report is “explosive,” stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates. -Sara Carter

Here is what I propose:

• The Democrats agree to a budget deal.
• The Memo on the FBI messing with the FISA Court is kept secret.
• The Mueller investigation goes away with Special Counsel Mueller saying there is no there there.
• Senator Schumer and Rep Pelosi jointly announce that they agree with Special Counsel Mueller that there is no there there.
• The President provides broad amnesty to Ms Clinton, Rep Wasserman-Schultz, Mr James Comey and some others.
• Involved FBI and other involved DOJ officials quietly resign.
• The rest of us, the Citizens of this Great Nation outside DC, breath a sigh of relief that we weren't turned into a third rate banana republic.

My wife wants it all to come out, every wretched bit, so it doesn't look like the Republicans are hiding something.

What do you think?

Spill all the beans.

Get a deal and move on.

Don't know.

Don't care.

 

pollcode.com free polls

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

Maybe Catching A Break

For John, BLUF:  This who "Trump" investigation is far from finished.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Obama Appointed Judge Mysteriously Recuses Himself From Michael Flynn Case.

This is from Zero Hedge, by MrTyler Durden, 8 December 2017.

I got here from the InstaPundit, a blog post by Mr Stephen Green, 8 December 2017.

Here is the lede plus two:

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras abruptly recused himself Thursday night with no explanation. Contreras is an Obama appointee who also sat on the FISA court while the Trump team was under surveillance by the Obama administration.  Judge Emmet Sullivan, an Bill Clinton appointee, was randomly assigned to take over the case after Contreras’ recusal.

Of note, Contreras was appointed to the FISA court on May 19, 2016 – before the warrant to surveil one-time Trump advisor Carter Page was issued “in the summer” of 2016.  It is unknown whether or not Contreras was involved in the decision, or whether he was involved in surveillance on Michael Flynn.

The replacement, Judge Emmet G Sullivan, is the judge who presided at the trial of Senator Ted Stevens, who was railroaded.  He is the judge who eventually appointed a Special Counsel to go after the corruption in the Department of Justice.  If there is the need for a fair trial, Judge Sullivan is LTG Mike Flynn's best shot.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff