February 2, 2018

"American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up."

I agree. In the long run... etc. etc.

But living in the middle of a short run — and the quote is from a James Comey tweet yesterday — we have to always wonder: Who among us are the weasels? And: Am I really one of the good people? Do the good people know they are the good people or is thinking you're a good person one of the characteristics of a weasel?

The tweet is reported here in the NYT, which also says:
Comey has also used language about "weasels" before, most notably in a September 2016 congressional hearing when he defended the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

"You can call us wrong, but don't call us weasels," Comey said. "We're not weasels."
Don't call us weasels. We're not weasels had a Trumpian ring to it. I was moved to search Donald Trump's twitter feed for the word and look what I found (note the date):

MEANWHILE: Here's Trump's new tweet, showing 2 can play who's-the-weasel:

199 comments:

Jeff Brokaw said...

Those of us who are paying attention are getting a pretty clear picture of who the weasels are in this gigantic mess.

Oso Negro said...

Obligatory “weasels rip my flesh” comment.

Curious George said...

""You can call us wrong, but don't call us weasels," Comey said. "We're not weasels."

Yes you are Comey, and so much more. So much more. The best course would be, after a fair trial and conviction, you are put up against a wall, with Mueller, McCabe, Rosenstein, and all the rest. And shot. So this ever happens again.

Matt Sablan said...

Where do you go to get your reputation back?

Kalli Davis said...

When cornering a weasel, the weasel always asks me... "Aren't we all weasels? I answer. "Nope".

dreams said...

The American people want to know if their FBI leaders are weasels, well, Comey says they are not weasels. Convinced?

CStanley said...

Maybe today will be Weasel Day. Will the weasels see their shadows?

WK said...

Faces filled with joy and cheer
What a magical time of year
Howdy Ho! It's Weasel Stomping Day
- Weird Al Yankovic

dreams said...

Weasel, you're not a weasel if you're only doing what's good for the people even if the people are too ignorant to know what's good for them.

Matt Sablan said...

Scooter Libby can rest easy. Sure he's forever a criminal while the real leaker gets a pension, but the weasels get their due.

AllenS said...

You're not a weasel, Comey, you're a fucking rat.

Matt Sablan said...

The weasels didn't hold the field against Ted Stevens. But they did hold the Senate.

Matt Sablan said...

In short: I'm not sure I agree with Comey. I mean our ex rapist President seems to be doing quite fine while people still think Bush's national guard memo was fake but accurate.

mockturtle said...

Comey is nuttier than a vegan's turd. And people question Trump's sanity.

Amadeus 48 said...

I'm glad Comey cleared that up, because he is always right, and he never lies.

Bay Area Guy said...

Comey is a weasel. McCabe is a weasel. Strzok is a weasel. There are a few more. Rosenstein and Mueller were enabling and allowing this den of weasels to go wild.

rhhardin said...

Mitchell and Webb, are we the baddies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU

dreams said...

"American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up."

I'm hoping Chris Wray is good people.

“The FBI hierarchy, the management, has been poisoned by politics,” said Michael Biasello, a 25-year veteran of the FBI who spent 10 years in counterintelligence. “This is Comey’s legacy.”

https://nypost.com/2018/02/01/chris-wray-is-quietly-cleaning-up-the-fbi/

Amadeus 48 said...

The Onion nails it: "FBI warns Republican Memo Could Undermine Faith in Massive, Unaccountable
Government Secret Agencies"

https://politics.theonion.com/fbi-warns-republican-memo-could-undermine-faith-in-mass-1822639681

Bad Lieutenant said...


dreams said...
The American people want to know if their FBI leaders are weasels, well, Comey says they are not weasels. Convinced?

2/2/18, 7:07 AM

Steve Uhr is. Dumbest Jew I ever met, other than a horrible housewife in Brooklyn once. You lawyers, is he the dumbest prosecutor you ever met, or are there worse?

Or is he not dumb, but evil?

Bad Lieutenant said...

If Comey is not a weasel, it is because he is a ferret, stoat, skunk, or some other kind of polecat or other vermin. 6'9"? In the words of GySgt Hartmann, I didn't know they stacked shit that high!

Jersey Fled said...

I'm getting so tired of Comey, with his oh so erudite tweets. Makes me think back to my 8th grade writing class.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Who among us are the weasels?

All the weasels are on the other side.

Curious George said...

Down some weasel burrow a weasel is saying to his weasel brethren "You can call us wrong, but don't call us FBI Directors," "We're not FBI Directors."

MartyH said...

I would think that there are at least two different types of weasels:

-those who deliberately, publicly spin information. You can hold these accountable.
-those who anonymously leak to the press. These people can never be held to account and thus can do untold damage.

Nunes may be the first type of weasel; Comey definitely is the second.

At this point, I treat all unsourced stories as rumor and gossip. Axios reported four weeks ago that the departure of six or seven top members of the Trump team's departure was imminent. Obviously gossip, and Axios is now to me on the same level as Us Weekly.

Wray's going to quit over this memo-gossip.
Trump tried to fire Mueller-rumor.
Steele dossier used for FISA-rumor.

Until someone puts their name behind, it's a rumor to be ignored.

Nunes is outing his name to this document-at least he can be held accountable. "Unnamed senior officials familiar with the matter" never can.

CStanley said...

One things for sure: Trump is the Honey Badger.

Sebastian said...

The fact that weasels won't hold the field does not imply that whiny, mendacious, self-important windbags will.

Wince said...

"American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up."

But don't weasels have the reputation of, well, "weaseling" out of things? Like, with a federal pension?

Weasel out (of something):

1. Fig. to squeeze one's way out of something. Somehow, the child managed to weasel out of the hole she was stuck in. The mouse tried to weasel out.

2. Fig. to evade or avoid a job or responsibility. Don't try to weasel out of your responsibility! You can't weasel out! You have to do it.

Wince said...

After all, having more weasels in waiting to take the field to replace the old weasels who retire with full pensions is what makes the Deep State, ahem... deep.

Marcus Carman said...

I'd call Comey a smug little shit, but the guy's like eight feet tall.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

All I know is that the House Dems want to have a meeting with DoJ and FBI officials to conspire with each other concerning the Nunes Memo.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/371930-house-judiciary-dem-calls-for-emergency-fbi-doj-meeting-over-nunes-memo

That's not the least bit suspicious. Last I heard, the FBI and DoJ are part of the Executive Branch and the House of Representatives is part of the Legislative Branch. That means that DoJ and FBI officials work for the President who is the head of the Executive Branch. If they have concerns about releasing the memo then they should be informing the President of those concerns, privately. They should not be going into meetings with the political opposition to the President in another branch of the government in an effort to thwart his will.

What we have here, which the press is not reporting, is probably the greatest constitutional crisis in the history of the republic.

Anyone from the DoJ and FBI attending such a meeting should be suspended from their duties immediately because it is apparent they have forgotten who they work for, or rather they are working for the President's opposition.

We desperately need civil service reform.

mockturtle said...

The Onion nails it: "FBI warns Republican Memo Could Undermine Faith in Massive, Unaccountable
Government Secret Agencies"

https://politics.theonion.com/fbi-warns-republican-memo-could-undermine-faith-in-mass-1822639681


Thanks, Amadeus! It's been a while since I looked in on The Onion.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Honey Badger Don't Care

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

Anonymous said...

Given what we already know about the malfeasance of the FBI with Comey as Director one would think he would be taking a tour, in silence, of countries with no extradition treaties with the US. The man is a genuine scumbag and always has been. The self-righteousness is not new, but it astounds me.

Big Mike said...

The question is not whether Comey and Mueller are weasels; the sole question is whether they comprehend that they are weasels.

Jersey Fled said...

All we have to know is that Comey was appointed by Obama. Did Obama ever appoint anyone who didn't put loyalty to the Party above faithful commitment to their duties?

I'm asking.

Bob Boyd said...

Did anyone actually call Comey a weasel or did he just feel compelled to blurt out that he's not a weasel?

CStanley said...

Did anyone actually call Comey a weasel or did he just feel compelled to blurt out that he's not a weasel?

I wondered that too. It was such an odd comment. Then again, this is the six-foot-eight guy who tried to hide in the draperies.

PWS said...

Ann do you have any examples where the short run so-called "weasels" ended up being vindicated by history? I mean your comment implies that we don't know right now who is who. Fair enough, I guess; Comey might be a weasel, and Trump might be a noble truth teller; only the long run will tell, for sure. But there must be some historical precedent. What say the commenters?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Many democrats refuse to believe Hillary is corrupt and her toxic tentacles spread far and wide.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Chesterton:
“In the end it will not matter to us whether we wrote well or ill; whether we fought with flails or reeds. It will matter to us greatly on what side we fought.”

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"If Joe McCarthy was known for one thing, it was his hostility to using the federal government to accuse people of collusion with Russia."

-Dan McLaughlin

Paul Zrimsek said...

Weasel sees its shadow, fails to recognize it as the shadow of a weasel: 6 more years of leaks.

CStanley said...

That's not the least bit suspicious. Last I heard, the FBI and DoJ are part of the Executive Branch and the House of Representatives is part of the Legislative Branch. That means that DoJ and FBI officials work for the President who is the head of the Executive Branch. If they have concerns about releasing the memo then they should be informing the President of those concerns, privately. They should not be going into meetings with the political opposition to the President in another branch of the government in an effort to thwart his will.

Excellent comment Ron, and the converse also: the Democratic congressmen who would consider such a meeting have a Constitutional mandate for oversight of the DOJ and FBI officials.

Constitutional crisis is not at all an overstatement.

TrespassersW said...

"You can call us wrong, but don't call us weasels," Comey said. "We're not weasels."

Assumes facts most definitely NOT in evidence.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Actually Comey - you are a Weasel. You let your hack underlings give Hillary a pass for 100% corrupt behavior.

Henry said...

Does American History tell us that?

Weasels and Liars do indicate a judgement on individuals and in the long run, individuals die.

Weaselmandias: "Look up on my works ye mighty and despair!

But the presence of weasels and liars is immutable.

TWW said...

Just after Comey posted his tweet, I heard a loud "Pop".

SDaly said...

Since leaving office, Comey has demonstrated how monstrously unfit he was to hold the position as head of the FBI. He snarked that not a lot of schools or streets are named for McCarthy. Two things:

The damned building Comey worked in is named after J. Edgar Hoover, one of the most corrupt government officials ever. Comey was a perfect fit for that building.

Lots of schools and streets are named for Jackson, Jefferson, Washington etc, but there is a lot of push from Dems to erase those names b/c slavery.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Peggy Noonan today is really on target.

"...The Democrats in the chamber were slumped, glowery. They had chosen to act out unbroken disdain so as to please the rising left of their party, which was watching and would review their faces. Some of them were poorly lit and seemed not resolute but Draculaic. The women of the party mostly dressed in black, because nothing says moral seriousness like coordinating your outfits.

Here it should be said of the rising left of the Democratic Party that they are numerous, committed, and have all the energy—it’s true. But they operate at a disadvantage they cannot see, and it is that they are loveless. The social justice warriors, the advancers of identity politics and gender politics, the young who’ve just discovered socialism—they run on rage." ...


Draculaic. Hillarywoodland.

Curious George said...

I do believe that this is a fork in the road for America.

mockturtle said...

"...they run on rage."

True, that.

mockturtle said...

Curious George notes: I do believe that this is a fork in the road for America.

Will this fork cause tire punctures?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Jim Comey is evidence that weasels are pompous.

GWash said...

When you start quoting Noonan you are scraping the bottom of the weasel barrel...
And if you think the trump fired comey for some upholding the constitution reason than you fall in the fanatical everything outside of my cult is a conspiracy...
I thought this blog was more about talking about upholding the constitution, but as time goes on i see that most comments are not tethered to anything approaching seriousness..
happy ground hog day everyone... welcome to what's left of your republic !

Wince said...

Just because America has reached a fork in the road doesn't mean there's a fork is stuck in it.

tcrosse said...

American History shows that in the long run we're all dead.

robother said...

Easy to visualize Comes in Nixon pose, uttering the words, "I am not a weasel!"

tim in vermont said...

Nothing weaselly about assuming that the Secretary of State was too stupid to understand the laws applied to her department!

Nothing weaselly about changing “gross negligence” to “extreme carelessness.”

rhhardin said...

It's a mulberry bush situation.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Curious George said...

I do believe that this is a fork in the road for America.

Then we should take it.

Henry said...

I thought this blog was more about talking about upholding the constitution, but as time goes on i see that most comments are not tethered to anything approaching seriousness..

Seriousness is what got us into this trouble.

Henry said...

Curious George: I do believe that this is a fork in the road for America.

Ignorance is Bliss: Then we should take it.

Not until the fat lady sings.

tim in vermont said...

I thought this blog was more about talking about upholding the constitution,

So destruction of documents so that they never see the light of congressional oversight, you know, the emails, is how one “upholds the constitution.”

I know that thinking about your talking points is way to much to expect since you went to the trouble to learn them and retype them, but it has to be embarrassing for you.

But then, I am sure that’s what the “So long” was about. No way you are going to try to defend that statement. It’s impossible, and you know it.

Bob Boyd said...

"Then again, this is the six-foot-eight guy who tried to hide in the draperies."

Comey the curtain weasel.

tim in vermont said...

It’s a mulberry bush situation

Pyramus and Thisbe? Or Pop goes the Weasel.

Never mind. Pop goes the weasel should sound every time Comey speaks, like Hail to the Chief for the president.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

"We're not weasels." - J.Comey, 28 Sep 2016

"I am not a crook." - R.Nixon, 13 Aug 1973

(After which, Nixon had the good grace to resign.)

tim in vermont said...

If you go far enough back in “American history” you get to the XYZ afair, where the American people were scandalized by the French equivalent of our Secretary of State, Tallyrand’s demands for private payments and loans before he would grant an audience to an American delegation.

Comey is obviously oblivious to American history.

buwaya said...

Going by (extending rather) Schumpeters ideas; the inevitable degeneration of institutions guarantees that over time their leadership will become increasingly weaselly.

The selection for weasels in leadership is just an effect of the perverse incentives that accumulate in any organization that does not constantly have to fight for its existence.

GWash said...

Well tim first, did comey delete or direct that emails be deleted? or was the fact that there was some agency wide deletion of emails another 'deep state' move to suppress the truth from emerging?...
Secondly the ad hominem attack just rolls off my back, just another disappointment that the conversation here is not what i would hope for... i bear no ill will for you guys, was just hoping to get your insights not your insults...
and third not sure what you are referring to in your 3rd sentence...
i hope your day improves...

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Politico is saying Trump will be indicted. They do not inform the class what the indictment is for.

With Hillary, we knew is was setting up a Private Server and using it to hide secret money hoarding form foreign governments for favors and speeches - and for the mishandling of classified government info and documents.

With Trump - "obstruction of justice" - what obstruction? uh - he fired Comey! and he tricked the voting machines with Russian bots. or... something Mueller will find something!

AlbertAnonymous said...

GWash what are you on about?

Why don’t you just tell us why Trump fires Comey (since you imply that you know and the rest of us are irredeemable deplorables).

Why don’t you tell us what Trump is doing that is contrary to the constitution (since you seem to imply that as well).

We’lll wait.

tim in vermont said...

Honey badger? Ha ha ha. That’s fucking Donald J Trump, the honey badger.

Maybe Trump haters should watch that video and reflect on its popularity.

tim in vermont said...

We’lll wait

Don’t hold your breath. Those kinds of comments work a lot better for them in the places where conservatives have all long been banned. It makes them weak, and they don’t know it. Hothouse plants that wilt with the first chilly zephyr.

Ann Althouse said...

“Ann do you have any examples where the short run so-called "weasels" ended up being vindicated by history? ”

The Americans?

glenn said...

WHAT TIME?

GWash said...

AA Trump admitted that he fired comey because of that russian thing... he wasn't talking about the price of vodka.. obstruction of justice..

I didnt imply anything... trumps transgressions to both tradition and law are well know...

you should lose the passive aggressive 'irredeemable deplorables' argument.. just saying..

walter said...

weasel words...

Anonymous said...

Good o;' 3/5Wash. Thank God she's here to set us straight on the Constitution.

That everything she posts smells like dogshit is just added entertainment. After her total humiliation in these threads time after time, you'd think she'd learn.

If you do think that, you haven't been paying attention.


Bad Lieutenant: When I saw that Herr Uhr is a lawyer (so he claims), I was truly shocked. He posts very shallow half-truths and red herrings that I used to think were the product of a diletante's mind. Now I believe he is evil.
If he is a lawyer, I pity the fools he has for clients.

I'm Full of Soup said...

It's been more than a year and there is still no evidence of Trump colluding with Russians yet the Dems and their Resistance have effectively neutered the first year of Trump's presidency. We need to get payback for that.

One Twitter commenter said Trump's term should be extended by one additional year.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

trumps transgressions to both tradition and law are well know.

Do name them. TRUMP had every right to fire Comey. It's not illegal for the president to fire the FBI director. Esp one as compromised as Comey - the weasel who let his hack-D underlings corrupt the FBI.

Like what? Beating Hillary - the corrupt politician who set up a Private Server while heading the State Dept? Beating Hillary, who deleted 30,000+ e-mails AFTER they were subpoenaed? Beating Hillary, who used her Private Server to stuff her family foundation with perks and favors and millions from foreign governments?

tim in vermont said...

trumps transgressions to both tradition and law are well know...

Said the man who doesn’t think that Congress has an oversight responsibility regarding the FBI.

D.E. Cloutier said...

I viewed James Comey's tweet as nothing more than self-promotion before the publication of his new book "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership." The publication date is May 1, 2018. You can find more details at Amazon.

tim in vermont said...

Nobody wants to see the bratwurst being made, we just want rid of that bastard Walker!

We have all seen this before GWash.

buwaya said...

I think the "deplorable" business is actually the core of your political problems. You are fighting a tribal war, peoples against peoples, this conflict rooted in fundamental divergence of interests, and nearly everything in the rhetorical contest, including actual persons like Trump and Comey, are just symbols.

Heck, even things like reading Longfellow in public schools is a tribal symbol.

tim in vermont said...

I am sure the book will contain enough “lies” to live up to the title, it will be interesting to see if there is any “truth” in it. Most likely, it won’t be lies, it will be weasel words.

tim in vermont said...

No buwaya, it’s the rich “America is already great” Democrats vs a Republican party that found the solution to their demographic problems laying in a gutter where the Democrats had thrown them. Democrats believe they have a right to rule. Nobody better question the divine right of Democrats to run the FBI, CIA, IRS, FEC, DoJ, etc, etc, etc.

mockturtle said...

The selection for weasels in leadership is just an effect of the perverse incentives that accumulate in any organization that does not constantly have to fight for its existence.

Excellent point, buwaya!

madAsHell said...

Of course, Hillary has spent her whole life running for President as well......and every new FBI revelation is just the dog eating her homework.

AlbertAnonymous said...

GW,

Trump gave multiple reasons for firing Comey. And he didn’t even need a reason (as Comey admitted). So, no. Not obstruction.

Thanks for playing. We have some lovely parting gifts for you.

The constitutional issues are coming from within the DOJ and the FBI (or so it would seem - though we need a lot more light shone on these things). You really don’t have any questions/concerns about those reported actions? FBI and DOJ officials colluding with each other and one of the political parties during a presidential election? there’s a whole lotta smoke coming from this thing, which leads me to believe there’s fire. I think that needs to be investigated and rooted out of it exists. If that makes me some kind of conspiracy nut in your eyes, so be it, but I’d have thought every American would want to turn a Spotlight on these things.

Imagine what the Left would’ve said/done if Bush’s admin had surveilled Obama’s transition team. OMFG. At least then the media would be investigating it...

tim in vermont said...

Well tim first, did comey delete or direct that emails be deleted?

I am sorry, GWash, I missed your reply. I was referring to the tends of thousands of emails that Hillary Clinton deleted, and that Comey covered for, even though their deletion was clearly the destruction of federal records.

tim in vermont said...

Would you like a refresher in the crimes that Comey, and the Clinton machine’s merry band of fixers at the FBI covered up? Be happy to provide it.

PackerBronco said...

Blogger Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
Many democrats refuse to believe Hillary is corrupt and her toxic tentacles spread far and wide.


Please. Everyone knew she is corrupt. They just figure that they're going to benefit. It's the "trickle down" theory of corruptness.

tim in vermont said...

First though, maybe somebody can explain why, out of the thousands of professionals that work at the FBI, why the same few worked on Uranium One, the Clinton emails, and the Trump Russia thing, which was also cooked up by Clinton.

That seems odd on the face of it.

Anonymous said...

No way Ol' 3/5Wash is a 'man' there Tim. Perhaps male. But not a 'man'.

The best part of 3/5Wash is how she pretends to be smart but quickly drops all pretense when forced to defend her eructions.
And her stupidity and lack of gravitas
Dealing with her can be some of the most fun ever!

tim in vermont said...

Secondly the ad hominem attack just rolls off my back, just another disappointment that the conversation here

I just asked you to defend your talking points, that’s not ad hominem.

tim in vermont said...

I guess that “ad hominem” refers to any debate technique that is intended to elicit an honest answer.

Thorley Winston said...

Breaking News - President Trump declares a new national holiday!

walter said...

Trump gets the cheap mental fitness critique..but it was 6'8" Comey who tried to make like a curtain.
I suspect more reasons will be revealed for that odd behavior.

buwaya said...

On Schumpeterian grounds, the elimination of the FBI as an institution would be a salutary measure. It will create a fear of institutional death.

Institutions accumulate perverse, inward facing incentives if they are insulated from external discipline. In business, this is competition and the whims of the market. A business with a monopoly or substantial protection becomes inefficient and rigid. Militaries tend to get purged and reformed in the course of difficult wars.

The removal of the FBI should serve, possibly, "to encourage the others".

Gahrie said...

Whenever I see an image of Comey I think of the weasels in Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Luke Lea said...

My theory of Comey: not a weasel in his own mind. Rather a tragic victim who, through no fault of his own, got caught in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation influencing the 2016 election.


First, the FBI under DOJ (and probably White House) instructions, decides in July, 2016 not to indict Hillary for her recklessly irresponsible handling of classified documents because doing so would be tantamount to deciding the election, which, even if Trump were not the alternative, would be wrong on balance (a relatively minor felony with major implications). That this situation was allowed to develop was not Comey's fault (or was it?).

Then, a few weeks before the election, some of Hillary's emails — which ones it is not exactly clear at the time — unexpectedly show up on Anthony Weiner's laptop. What is the honorable — or, rather what is the proper — thing to do at this point according to standard FBI rules and procedures? Be blind to the political implications, or allow the probable election of a candidate who might shortly be under indictment? Yikes! How in the hell did he find himself in such a no-win situation? (See above paragraph)

So on account of Comey's last minute herky-jerk decisions to quickly reopen and then re-close the investigation a week before the election day, Trump the anti-Christ is in the White House, for which Comey cannot help but hold himself at least partially responsible. And being the good man he is, he then tries to atone for his involuntary "sin" by maneuvering to get an independent investigation into the Russian collusion thing as a way to clip Trump's wings, even though he may be aware that there is no hard evidence that a real crime is likely to have been committed. He has frankly admitted that this was his intention when he leaked a confidential conversation with the president to the press through a friend (and now lawyer), and since he was motivated by conscience he cannot be a weasel because real weasels are sneaky and immoral.



Ignorance is Bliss said...

GWash said...

AA Trump admitted that he fired comey because of that russian thing...

And Trump had every right to fire Comey over Comey's handling of the Russian thing, since Comey's handling was intentionally undercutting the President's ability to do his job, for no legitimate purpose. It would not have in any way hindered the Russia investigation for Comey to let the public know the truth, that President Trump was not under investigation. If President Trump asks him to publicly acknowledge that, and he refuses, that is more than enough reason to fire him.

Drago said...

TIV: "Said the man who doesn’t think that Congress has an oversight responsibility regarding the FBI."

Well, congressional oversight of the executive is a "constitutional thing" and GWash has already demonstrated conclusively, CONCLUSIVELY, he/she/xim is absolutely ignorant (oddly enough, proudly so) of that ancient, like, over a hundred years old, document.

Besides, the good people at LLR Chuck's favorite network, MSNBC, never mention anything about this strange animal called "congressional oversight", it is literally impossible that 3/5GWash would be familiar with it.

But thats no biggee. As Robert Cook and ARM could tell you, the Constitution was written by lots of Dead White European Males, so what good is it anyway?

We should all be reading "I Rigoberta" instead.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Ron W: The "Hill" article you linked to does not seem to suggest a request for improper meetings. Sure, Nadler's motive is obviously partisan, but improper in form? I don't think so.

The Dems are doing fine on their own digging their hole deeper. No need to make stuff up.

From the article:

The letter, spearheaded by ranking member Rep. Jerrod Nadler (D-N.Y.), is directed to committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). In it, Nadler asks Goodlatte to arrange a meeting with FBI Director Christopher Wray and other representatives from the Justice Department to examine the "talking points" that he says Republicans are using to "discredit the work of the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller."

[Nadler tweets:] I've requested that @HouseJudiciary immediately call FBI Director Wray and other DOJ representatives to appear on an emergency basis before the Committee and brief us about their concerns regarding the #NunesMemo.

hombre said...

Democrats are people who think that the optimum result here is that Republican congressmen and Trump are embarrassed, the politically corrupt swamprats remain in place at the FBI, DOJ and elsewhere, that the fraudulent FISA warrants are forgotten and that the Hillary, et al., whitewash be sustained.

Democrats are, and always have been, anathema to honest, effective law enforcement.

tim in vermont said...

Comey who tried to make like a curtain.

That’s the problem with not knowing Shakespeare! You can get run through by a sword hiding in a curtain! Polonius, man!

Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He is chief counsellor of the king, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of the play,[1] Polonius is described by William Hazlitt as a "sincere" father, but also "a busy-body, [who] is accordingly officious, garrulous, and impertinent".[2] In Act II Hamlet refers to Polonius as a "tedious old fool"[3] and taunts him as a latter day "Jeptha".[4]

Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet unknowingly kills Polonius [by stabbing through a curtain where Polonius is hiding]
- Wikipedia

LOL!

walter said...

Luke,
All that seems plausible.
Life is so much easier when simply following/enforcing the law.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

@Fred Drinkwater

I will grant that at least they aren't meeting on a tarmac in Las Vegas. That we know of.

tim in vermont said...

just another disappointment that the conversation here is not what i would hope for... i bear no ill will for you guys, was just hoping to get your insights not your insults... - GWash

Be the change you want to see, George. I am happy to start over, but if I answer all of your questions, and you answer none of mine, how are we both going to profit from any exchange of views and insights? It seems like a recipe for a one sided browbeating to me, but sure, let’s try civility.

cubanbob said...

When things come together and Comey is offered a plea deal to rat out the Clinton's and Obama Administration people he won't weasel out of that deal. To be sure Obama wouldn't go to jail and neither will the Clinton's but the exposure of their corruption will be undeniable and irrefutable and a permanent blight on the Democrats.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

packerBronco - I'm talking about regular Joe Progressive democrats. The types of D-loyal voters who refuse to even peek behind the corrupt curtain(D), and take note of it all.

tim in vermont said...

I think what has their hair on fire is the drop in generic ballot lead from a number that shrunk Republican testicles, 18 points, to a number that leaves Republican dicks hanging low, 2 points.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Oh just release the damn thing already, I’m tired of hearing about it. I don’t think that there will be droves of Democrats going to jail over it though, sorry Achilles and Drago. Let’s see if Trump fires Rosenstein, then all hell will break loose.

Drago said...

The lefties have been very busy these past 2 years.

They rewrote the rules regarding FISA court requirements in order to spy on Trump.

They rewrote the Constitution to remove congressional oversight of executive branch activities and to allow the judicial branch to create even more new laws on their own to judge any legal issue based solely on whether or not they like the President.

Most importantly, the lefties and their LLR allies created a brand spankin' new 4th branch of govt which effectively removes all executive branch departments from Presidential control (that happened right about Jan 20, 2017).

Busy, busy, busy.

Drago said...

Inga: "Oh just release the damn thing already, I’m tired of hearing about it. I don’t think that there will be droves of Democrats going to jail over it though, sorry Achilles and Drago"

I never claimed anyone would go to jail over it.

I'm a "wait and see-er" on that.

Bay Area Guy said...

Hi there, Suing - how ya doin'?

Hey there Comey, doncha know me?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Speaking of Constitutional crisis, I agree, but it would be one of Trump’s making if he starts firing people like Rosenstein, and McCabe, Sessions. This entire fiasco has been to discredit Mueller and the Russia investigation. Why doesn’t Trump just let the investigation proceed and come to a conclusion? He seems desperate to end the investigation, what is so afraid of?

And when did Republicans start demonizing the FBI? Who do you think has kept us from being blown up many times over by terrorists? I think the demonization of the FBI is shameful and very telling. Try to see what is truly happening here, American’s under the influence of Trump, staggering around like drunks veering from one conspiracy theory to another, all in order to distract and discredit the Russia Investigation.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Christopher Wray, not McCabe.

Henry said...

Who do you think has kept us from being blown up many times over by terrorists?

Without the FBI, who would spy on brown people?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

I guess people think the FBI served no good purpose whatsoever?

n.n said...

Religion/morality to keep the honest people honest. Competing interests to mitigate others who will run amuck. The latter is why monopolies and practices are such a clear and progressive risk. The former is why PC (e.g. Pro-Choice, political congruence) religions and philosophies are such a clear and progressive risk.

Henry said...

I guess I prefer law enforcement to be subject to oversight.

tim in vermont said...

Why doesn’t Trump just let the investigation proceed and come to a conclusion? He seems desperate to end the investigation, what is so afraid of?

Do you remember how the John Doe investigation turned out, Inga? Do you remember the stuff that came to light? “This isn’t America” but we have to do it for poltical reasons, said the prosecutors’ emails.

They put large tranches of emails seized under subpoena in a folder labeled “opposition research.”

History always starts yesterday for you people. That’s why, for a long time, I didn’t believe you were the original Inga. I still have my doubts. Anybody who made their bones as a commenter screaming for Walker’s blood, and then the way that infestigation <<-(Great typo!) turned out, it seems would be too embarrassed to go balls to the wall again.

n.n said...

Obama spied, Clinton colluded, DNC denied the nomination to the Jew, and affiliated JournoLists came tumbling after.

Water Closet is what Watergate was crafted to be and so much more.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I guess I prefer law enforcement to be subject to oversight.”

And they aren’t? Since when?

“Operating under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence.”

Henry said...

You're not going to get any suit-lives-matter from me. The FBI has never shown the slightest interest in limiting its police powers. That has to come from the outside.

tim in vermont said...

I still haven’t found the part where Wray was against the release of this memo. I see that the FBI people who made the statement that included “grave concern” refused to answer when asked if Wray had approved the statement. But then the statement gets attributed to Wray in a slippery fashion by the New York Times, using more Scott Adams “persuasion” techniques than facts and logic.

buwaya said...

There is a "good purpose" to nearly every government institution. The KGB did also actually catch genuine criminals, and put them away along with political prisoners.

Heck, going into fiction, even in Orwells dystopia the government prevented crime and kept the proles fed.

The correct question is rather "are they worth the trouble?"

And by trouble, one has to include things like public confidence, political risk, and the corruption of other institutions. That is a judgement call.

Henry said...

Citizens, journalists, elected representatives.

Researchers, advocates, lawyers.

The ACLU.

The Innocence projectl

The more oversight the better.

The more transparency the better.

tim in vermont said...

“Operating under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence.”

Constitutional ignoramus self-identifies! Congress has an oversight duty to ensure that the laws that they make, like FISA, are carried out in the intended manner. Why didn’t Trump just enact FISA? Because he doesn’t have the power. Congress has that power, and with that power comes the responsibility of oversight.

buwaya said...

But the DOJ and the "intelligence community" did not actually provide oversight. I don't think I can recall a case in history when the DOJ trimmed the FBI's sails.

And that does not really count as an external institutional control.

Birkel said...

The pressure on Mueller to do something against Trump, even if it amounts to a Hail Mary, is heightened.

I fully expect Mueller to issue indictments to counterbalance the disrepute the FBI has brought on itself.

tim in vermont said...

And that does not really count as an external institutional control

She doesn’t care. Inga asks the questions here. She doesn’t answer them. She doesn’t defend her statements, if you catch her out, she just moves on or pretends you haven’t. That’s why she is a troll. You can even get TTR to answer a question on occasion, but not Inga.

Nonapod said...

No organization, no matter how pure the intentions of its mission, is beyond reproach. Without proper accountability, any organization with power can (and eventually will) fall to corruption. Accountability can be in the form of oversight, but if the overseers are corrupt too you have a problem, obviously. It's a problem as old as human civilization. Perverting the trusted institutions of a nation for ones own political ends is how you end up with banana republics. It's how you end up with normal citizens having no faith in those institutions. It's how you end up with people having no hope for a better life since all the cards are stacked against them. It's how you end up human misery.

Michael in ArchDen said...

Marge, don't discourage the boy. Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals!... Except the weasels. - Homer Simpson

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Market down again, BTW.

“Who monitors or oversees the FBI?

The FBI’s activities are closely and regularly scrutinized by a variety of entities. Congress—through several oversight committees in the Senate and House—reviews the FBI’s budget appropriations, programs, and selected investigations. The results of FBI investigations are often reviewed by the judicial system during court proceedings. Within the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is responsible to the attorney general, and it reports its findings to U.S. Attorneys across the country. The FBI’s intelligence activities are overseen by the Director of National Intelligence.”

buwaya said...

Tim,

You are correct of course. Just a reflex on my part.
Problem solving as a profession.

Curious George said...

#IngaKnew our resident dullard pukes up this strawman:

"I guess people think the FBI served no good purpose whatsoever?"

Let me ask you a simple...I mean VERY simple question. You wrote: "I don’t think that there will be droves of Democrats going to jail over it though..."

Who are these Democrats that you are referring too?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“She doesn’t care. Inga asks the questions here. She doesn’t answer them. She doesn’t defend her statements, if you catch her out, she just moves on or pretends you haven’t. That’s why she is a troll. You can even get TTR to answer a question on occasion, but not Inga.”

Tim, stop being hysterical and personal. You want me to answer your questions, yet you don’t know how insulting you are?

walter said...


Byron York
‏Verified account @ByronYork
39s39 seconds ago

More House Intel memo key point: DOJ official Bruce Ohr relayed information about Christopher Steele's bias. Steele told Ohr that he, Steele, was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected president and was passionate about him not becoming president.
1 reply 24 retweets 14 likes
Byron York
‏Verified account @ByronYork
2m2 minutes ago

More House Intel memo key point: The political origins of the Steele dossier were known to senior DOJ and FBI officials, but excluded from the FISA applications.
15 replies 100 retweets 81 likes
Byron York
‏Verified account @ByronYork
5m5 minutes ago

NEW: House Intel memo released: What it says.
16 replies 154 retweets 131 likes
Byron York
‏Verified account @ByronYork
6m6 minutes ago

House Intel memo key point: The FBI's Andrew McCabe confirmed to the committee that no FISA warrant would have been sought from the FISA Court without the Steele dossier information. Story posting soon.

tim in vermont said...

You want me to answer your questions, yet you don’t know how insulting you are?

There you go, another convenient dodge.

Achilles said...


Blogger Inga said...
“Speaking of Constitutional crisis, I agree, but it would be one of Trump’s making if he starts firing people like Rosenstein, and McCabe, Sessions. This entire fiasco has been to discredit Mueller and the Russia investigation. Why doesn’t Trump just let the investigation proceed and come to a conclusion? He seems desperate to end the investigation, what is so afraid of?“

Hillary took 145$ million dollars from Russia. I think we should open up an investigation with a special prosecutor into Russian collusion and look for some crimes.

Obama told a Russian ambassador he would have more flexibility after the election. We should open up an investigation with a special prosecutor and look for some crimes.


Oh I forgot. Stalinists only investigate political opponents.

Matt Sablan said...

"The political origins of the Steele dossier were known to senior DOJ and FBI officials, but excluded from the FISA applications."

-- That's... bad.

tim in vermont said...

And your reply to the “oversight” question is still remarkably purblind.

Matt Sablan said...

"The FBI's Andrew McCabe confirmed to the committee that no FISA warrant would have been sought from the FISA Court without the Steele dossier information."

-- Ouch.

Bay Area Guy said...

Misleading a federal court to get a warrant is generally not a good thing.

tim in vermont said...

* Andrew McCabe confirmed that no FISA warrant would have been sought from the FISA Court without the Steele dossier information.

So basically the Hillary campaign paid a foreign spy to get dirt from the Russians on Trump, and the FBI used it to spy on Trump, a presidential candidate, looking for evidence of getting dirt from the Russians on Hillary? Do I have that right?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Kelly said the Memo was underwhelming, I think you folks are going to be very disappointed when the “arrests” don’t transpire. We now know the FISA warrant preceded the Dossier. This dog doesn’t bite.

Drago said...

So the first leaks from the memo as it has been officially declassified:
1) There is actual testimony under oath to congress (previously secret) that at least one warrant granted that allowed for spying on Trump and his team could NOT have been obtained without the fake hoax-y "dossier"

2) A dossier of this type falls far short of the required probable cause needed to generate a warrant

3) "circular" non-FBI validation was used to fool the FISA court: Glenn Simpson and his Fusion GPS pals (including Nellie Ohr, wife of Bruce Ohr at Justice) pitched their hoax dossier info to media types which ended up in media stories. Those media stories were used by the FBI to "validate" the hoax dossier, as if there were independent reports coming to the same conclusions!

Unbelievable.

4) The FBI did NOT share relevant information with the FISA court related to where the dossier came from, the ties to Clinton, how it was funded, etc.

Un-freakin-believable.

5) No relevant hoax dossier details were ever, EVER, validated or corroborated by the FBI. In fact, it was worse, it's possible the SECOND fake dossier generated by Sydney Bluementhal's hatchet man and hillary sycophant Cody Shearer was used to "validate" the first hoax dossier.

It is now clear that the democrats and partisans in our intelligence agencies literally covered for Hillary and attempted to frame an American political candidate and then a President-elect.



Seeing Red said...

They're not weasels.

They're traitors.

walter said...

House Intelligence memo released

tim in vermont said...

I think you folks are going to be very disappointed when the “arrests” don’t transpire.

And the goalposts are moved! Talking point trascriptionists are hard at work!

Yancey Ward said...

As I suspected, the FBI and DoJ officials knew all along that the dossier was bought and paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign and did not reveal that fact to the FISA court when it applied for the first Carter Page FISA application.

The other big detail that has now been leaked is that McCabe confirmed that without the dossier, the DoJ never would have applied for the first Carter Page surveillance request, putting the kibosh on the theory that there were lots of material to base the warrant application on and that the dossier played no real role other than supporting material.

Also, we now know for certain that Bruce Ohr met early in the Summer of 2016 with Christopher Steele to discuss the dossier. This makes it sound like Steele sought Ohr out, but you have to remember one little detail- Ohr's wife worked with Steele and GPS Fusion by this point. There is more to know, but it becomes increasingly clear that Steele was at least in part hired to serve as cut-out to bring the dossier to the DoJ.

Nonapod said...

All this is orders of magnitude worse than Watergate. The level of corruption is appalling, but not surprising unfortunately.

Seeing Red said...

Inga believed Hillary's explanation that the video caused Benghazi.

Drago said...

Walter's link shows that the early notes I posted just moments ago were not even complete in how bad it was.

Byron York notes that NONE of the warrants the FBI generated to leverage the spying on Carter Page to spy on Trump would have been possible without the Hillary/DNC/FusionGPS/PutinPals hoax dossier.

For the first time in our nations history, the entire intelligence apparatus of our nation was used by one party to spy and attack and attempt to frame an opposing domestic political party leader.

Stasi.

tim in vermont said...

* DOJ official Bruce Ohr met with Steele beginning in the summer of 2016 and relayed to DOJ information about Steele's bias. Steele told Ohr that he, Steele, was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected president and was passionate about him not becoming president.

So was Ohr! So was Strzok! So was McCabe!

exhelodrvr1 said...

And since this was a significant factor in ordering the special counsel investigation ...

Achilles said...

Inga said...

“Try to see what is truly happening here, American’s under the influence of Trump, staggering around like drunks veering from one conspiracy theory to another, all in order to distract and discredit the Russia Investigation.”

We see a bunch of people who every time they lose a presidential election for the last 50 years try to undermine the results of the election they lost.

This time they opened an investigation with no justification. None. Zero. What crime is Mueller investigating? Collusion isn’t a crime. You don’t have any evidence of the not crime. The DNC hack was proven to be an inside job. Podesta was phished. The Russians weren’t involved in either event.

You are supporting Stalinism. That makes you a Stalinist. The Obama administration has been caught red handed spying on political opponents. That is way bigger than the not a crime you want investigated.

This is indeed a constitutional crisis. We will see how far you traitors want to push this.

tim in vermont said...


Inga believed Hillary’s explanation that the video caused Benghazi


She believed that the infestigation into Scott Walker was “good government.”

Drago said...

Steele and Simpson and Comey and Clapper and Brennan and Obama and Jarrett and Lynch and Hillary and all their minions were "desperate" to keep Trump from winning and then from taking office.

We now see how "desperate" they really were.

Desperate people often do desperate things.

Matt Sablan said...

Is the text out yet?

tim in vermont said...

Try to see what is truly happening here, Democrats under the influence of Hillary Clinton, staggering around like drunks veering from one conspiracy theory to another, all in order to continue to deny that Trump is president,”


Fixed it for you!

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:

THE ONION NAILS IT: FBI Warns Republican Memo Could Undermine Faith In Massive, Unaccountable Government Secret Agencies.

Matt Sablan said...

"Firm behind the dossier was briefing media outlets and the FBI and the DOJ relied in part on media reports to lend credibility to the dossier."

-- Well, at least we know that the "secret information in the dossier that can't be compromised" really wasn't. (From PJ Media's round up)

Yancey Ward said...

Matthew, I haven't found it yet, but since the WH sent it back with no objections, it appears that the Republican House members are free to talk about the details now, and York is probably one of the first to get the leaked details.

I expect you will see the text itself within an hour or two.

Bay Area Guy said...

Here's a very simple metric that maybe our leftist friends will understand:

DOJ Lawyer Bruce Ohr had a wife, Nellie, working for GPS/Fusion -- who commissioned the Trump dossier.

Deputy Director of FBI Andrew McCabe had a wife, Jill, a Democratic politician, funded with $700,000 in campaign dough by Clinton's hatchet man, Terry McAuliffe.

You think Trump would get a fair shake in any investigation by these two?

And, this is merely what is known publicly -- the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Release the Memo!

Drago said...

NOTE: keep in mind, we STILL don't have an answer to this question:

Were the Hillary/DNC/lefty oppo research and tech companies Fusion GPS AND CrowdStrike (the firm that "bleach-bitted" Hillary's servers...while they were under subpeona) contracted by the FBI/DOJ/NSA and given unrestricted access to ALL 702 intercepted communications of US citizens?

Since the NSA/DOJ/FBI have, to date, REFUSED to answer that question, what do YOU think the answer is?

Because the implication is obvious: The dems and obama allowed democrat opposition research political hit-squads were given the "keys to the kingdom" to our intelligence data.

Gee, that sounds like a grand idea, doesn't it?

That allowed the demo oppo research firms the ability to gather everything they wanted about any republican and then weaponize that info to gain official warrants to spy on them.

Perfect.

Just. Perfect.

This is precisely the kind of stunning information that will make LLR Chuck go and dig up some interview in a golf magazine from 40 years ago where Trump probably lied about a mulligan on the 14th green.

Matt Sablan said...

And I wait now with baited breath to see things.

Just knowing that the surveillance was impossible without the dossier, which they lied by omission to the FISA court about is... worse than I thought it would be. I thought it would have been part of, but... lying to the FISA court? That's... brazen.

Achilles said...

Inga said...
“Kelly said the Memo was underwhelming, I think you folks are going to be very disappointed when the “arrests” don’t transpire. We now know the FISA warrant preceded the Dossier. This dog doesn’t bite.“

Months ago I told you the leftists would be claiming this Russian collusion investigation was no big deal and would be trying to get everyone to forget that they were trying to remove a duly elected president with it.

I have been right about everything.

Next steps will be indictments of Clinton/Obama cronies. Before enough of them turn States evidence an point fingers at the people in charge the left turns to violence. Inga has already threatened civil war.

Matt Sablan said...

"Next steps will be indictments of Clinton/Obama cronies."

-- Eh... Abedin is still free. I don't see anyone going to jail. McCabe *may* lose his pension.

Drago said...

Matthew Sablan: "Is the text out yet?"

It looks like Byron York and other reporters with relationships with republicans have the first info.

Interesting: Since the information was all very clear about what happened, it was all negative for dems, so they weren't leaking.

The republicans clearly leak less probably because they know the entire media landscape with few exceptions wouldn't run their leaks anyway, so they weren't leaking.

Seeing Red said...

Try to see what is truly happening here, American’s under the influence of Trump, staggering around like drunks veering from one conspiracy theory to another, all in order to distract and discredit the Russia Investigation.”




Inga also seems to be ignorant about the Cold War and which side supported the commies. Like Tip O'Neill going around Sitting president. It seems she completely blanked the years 1981-1989.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

The FISA warrant was obtained based on info that they had on Carter Page, even before any Dossier. Again it is pure conjecture that the warrant was granted based solely on the Dossier. That is why the Memo is underwhelming. All that hyperventilating for nothing, it seems.


“A FISA warrant application for Page would have included any and all information the FBI felt a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) judge should see in order to grant a warrant in the first place. In the case of Page, that may have included information from the Steele dossier, but also more details on Page’s existing relationships with Russian officials, which have been known to the FBI since at least 2013. To get a warrant to surveil Page, the FBI would only have needed to prove that Page was an “agent” of a foreign entity, even if that did not entail illegal activity.

And historically, it hasn’t been difficult for intelligence agencies to get FISA warrant applications approved by a judge. Warrant applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court are rarely denied — in fact, from 1979 to 2013, a FISC judge denied warrant requests just 12 times (with 533 requests for modifications to the warrant). In 2013, Slate reporter Brian Palmer found, “Despite receiving more than [...] 1,000 requests every year since 2002, the court has never denied more than four applications in a single year.””

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/2/16955222/trump-releasethememo

Seeing Red said...

I suggest for some nitty gritty details that peeps read Rantburg if you're interested.

Curious George said...

You guys are wasting time grilling #IngaKnew, our resident dullard. Because she a) doesn't care about anything but forwarding the prog cause by whatever memans necessary. And b) she's a fucking idiot. She runs to her left sites, grabs the talking points, and pukes them up here. She has no independent thought. I'm amazed she can run off to other sites and actually find her way back here.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I have been right about everything.

Next steps will be indictments of Clinton/Obama cronies. Before enough of them turn States evidence an point fingers at the people in charge the left turns to violence. Inga has already threatened civil war.”

Delusional.

Matt Sablan said...

Inga: If York is to be believed... the Memo says no. The surveillance couldn't have happened without the dossier. So, Vox's theory (which I thought was possible too) turns out to be wrong.

Seeing Red said...

one of the judges who issues warrants was removed I think.

Matt Sablan said...

Moving conversation to new thread.

Drago said...

"We can now say that the roots of the Russian Investigation, as reflected in this FISA warrant were 1) with the oppo research from Fusion GPS hired by the democrats and 2) Christopher Steele who is not just an ex-British spy but who is a guy we now know was desperate, in his words, to stop the election of Donald Trump."

This is why Mueller and his team of democrat hatchet-lawyer partisans quickly pivoted away from the obvious collusion lie and are working to create an obstruction of justice charge out of thin air.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

All for corrupt Hillary.

Big Mike said...

I think that Kim Strassel's article in the Wall Street Journal is an effective answer to both Inga and GWash. Pace Achilles, we don't know until we read the memo that the FBI had no justification for their counterintelligence investigation into Trump's campaign, but we do know that if all they had was second-hand knowledge of the drunken blabbings or a minor participant in the Trump campaign, and a dossier that was unverified, then the FISA investigation should never have been authorized.

As Strassel puts in, "Ignore any arguments that the dossier was not a 'basis' for the warrant or only used 'in part.' If the FBI had to use it in its application, it means it didn’t have enough other evidence to justify surveillance." Good point.

Lewis Wetzel said...


David Kris, who ran the Justice Department’s National Security Division early in the Obama administration and helped write a book about FISA, says that when the department submits material from sources to the court, “it should also include information that would cast material doubt on their credibility — sources often come with bias or baggage of one sort or another.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/us/politics/fisa-surveillance-applications-how-they-work.html

Drago said...

Inga: "The FISA warrant was obtained based on info that they had on Carter Page, even before any Dossier."

We now know that based on secret testimony by senior FBI officials, under oath, that is a lie.

I understand.

It's going to take you some time to adjust.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

Sure Inga..waiting to be sure. But sure its' Truuuuuuump!!!!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

I’m going to wait to see what the Democratic Memo reveals to be sure of anything. Right now there is so much conflicting information that it’s impossible to know the truth.

What a frackin’ mess Trump made, the chaos President has been the biggest threat to the rule of law, not the FBI.


The FISA warrant was granted in October. The FBI investigation begun in June. The dates don’t add up.

Drago said...

If one were a smart lefty, one would look at what specifics are now being produced, backed up actual testimony and the documents from DOJ/FBI, and weigh those with all the different leaks coming from DOJ/FBI/CIA/NSA over the last 18 months.

But then, if one were to apply such a logical filter to what has happened, if one were capable of applying such a logical filter, one would not be a leftist.

Drago said...

NONE of the FISA requests starting in October of 2016, and all SUBSEQUENT extensions of the spying requests EVER included the information regarding key details about where the information came from.

None of the requests, DESPITE the entire leadership team (comey, yates, etc) all KNEW everything about the Clinton/DNC funding for this crap.

Of course, if what we suspect about the FBI/NSA/DOJ letting Fusion and CrowdStrike have access to all raw intelligence data on republicans and then laundering that thru their ex-British spy "cut out", then comey and crew didn't just know about the origins, THEY WERE the origins.

Stasi.

AlbertAnonymous said...

“What a fracking mess Trump made”? Seriously, Inga? Good God!

Drago said...

Inga: "I’m going to wait to see what the Democratic Memo reveals to be sure of anything. Right now there is so much conflicting information that it’s impossible to know the truth."

LOL

Yeah, you just read Inga's comments right.

***The initial Carter Page FISA warrant in Sept of 2016 included as a "validation" fact regarding Carter Page a Yahoo news report (I s*** you not, Yahoo) about Carter Pages trip to Russia.

***And who was it that "briefed" Yahoo news and 4 other media outlets about some cool stories related to Trump that Yahoo might want to report on?

Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS.

Are you seeing the pattern?

1) Create fake dossier
2) Plant fake dossier stories in the media
3) Have FBI use fake dossier and the fake stories as if they war different sources for the "intel" (its not intel, its oppo research)
4) Fool FISA court and DONT tell FISA court where the info really came from (a huge breach in procedure)
5) Spy on your opponents
6) Distribute intel info on opponents throughout the govt
7) 7 Gajillion leaks from govt sources to friendly lefty media

But hey, after declaring for 2 years that Trump and all his voters are treasonous Traitors, now, NOW, Inga would like to take this slowly to determine the truth.

What a typical lefty.

We are literally about 2 weeks away from the lefties last rhetorical stand: Hey, there are problems all over the place and its really no one parties fault. Can't we all just move on and agree to fix this so it never happens again?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

1) The dossier- compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an
essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who
was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie
and research ?rm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump?s ties
to Russia.

a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or
reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding
Steeles efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then
known to senior and FBI officials.

b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named US person, but
does not name Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson, who was paid by a US. law
firm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOI at the,
time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier). The application does
not mention
Steele was ultimately working on behalf of and paid by the DNC and
Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the
same information.

The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo
News article by- Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page's July 2016 trip to Moscow.

- This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo Newly and several other outlets in
September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS.
Perkins Coie was aware of Steele's
initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington DC. in
2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed."

a) Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines
as the most serious of violations
as an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his
relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David
Corn. Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with
Yahoo and other outlets' in September, before the Page application was submitted to...

"

more.



Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Shorter Inga: I only trust the corruptocrats

Drago said...

We also apparently have sworn testimony, under oath, that Steele lied to the FBI about media contacts he had had while shopping more of his Putin-pal hoax dossier to the FBI.

Hmmmm, anyone remember Steele getting arrested for lying to the FBI? How about Simpson?

Yeah, nothing to see here.

Not a smidgen of corruption.

Not a smidgen, a tsunami.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darrell said...

Releasing this memo is the first step.

Perhaps leaving the country wasn't such a bad idea afterall for Lefties. Choose one without extradition, though.

mikee said...

Weasels in who killed roger rabbit: make 'em laff to get rid of 'em.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-L1AtbLwLQ