Don G. Dinsdale Loc: El Cajon, CA (San Diego County)

WSJ: Putting Together What Happened With The Trump/Russia H**x


Thanks 'Mother Earth' And Thank Diana As Well; Now Muller Didn't Do It Right And Barr Is Lying By Omission, Two Countries or Two Populations, One For The Construction And One For Marx And His Manifesto... Don D.


Barr Brings Accountability

Trump’s foes call it ‘stunning and scary.’ Here’s what they have to be scared about.

Kimberley A. Strassel April 11, 2019, 6:46 p.m. ET

Mr. Barr told the Senate Wednesday that one question he wants answered is why nobody at the FBI briefed the Trump campaign about concerns that low-level aides might have had inappropriate contacts with Russians. That’s “normally” what happens, Mr. Barr said, and the Trump campaign had two obvious people to brief—Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, both former federal prosecutors.

It wasn’t only the Trump campaign that the FBI kept in the dark. The bureau routinely briefs Congress on sensitive counterintelligence operations. Yet former Director James Comey admits he deliberately hid his work from both the House and the Senate. And the FBI kept information from yet another overseer, the judicial branch, failing to tell the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee had paid for the dossier it presented as a basis for a surveillance warrant against Carter Page, a U.S. citizen.

Why the secrecy? Mr. Comey testified that the Trump probe was simply too sensitive for members of congressional intelligence committees to know about—an unbelievable statement given the heavy publicity he gave the investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s improper handling of classified information. Here’s a more plausible explanation: Mr. Comey and his crew have also testified that they were all convinced Mrs. Clinton would win the e******n. That would have meant that no politician other than the incoming Democratic president would have known the FBI had spied on the Trump team. Nor would the public. A Clinton presidency would have ensured no accountability.

Mr. Trump’s victory destroyed that scenario, and it became clear that the new Republican president would soon know that the former Democratic administration had surveilled his campaign on the basis of information from his rival. At that point, two things happened. Neither was accidental, and both were aimed, again, at forestalling accountability.

First, Mr. Comey and other intelligence officials, including Mr. Clapper, engineered the public release of all the scandalous claims against Mr. Trump, to provide some cover. As liberal commentator Matt Taibbi notes in his new book, “H**e Inc.” Mr. Comey’s J*** 6, 2017, briefing of the president-elect about the dossier was a classic Washington “trick.” It served as the “pretext” to get the details out, a “news hook” to allow the press to publish the dossier—with its salacious fictions about prostitutes and Moscow hotel rooms—and go wild.

Democrats used the furor in their successful push for a special counsel, which gave greater legitimacy to the FBI’s probe. The appointment of a special counsel also froze other oversight. Congress can’t have access to certain documents or ask witnesses certain questions since that might interfere with the probe. The White House can’t demand answers, because that too would interfere. Mr. Trump’s adversaries got to hide behind Robert Mueller for nearly two years.

Second, Democrats mobilized against the other big threat, incoming Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had the authority to conduct an internal review. Don’t forget, the dossier wasn’t delivered only to the FBI. Its ultimate owners were the Clinton campaign and the DNC. And one huge outstanding question is just how many Democrats pushing for Mr. Sessions’ recusal in early 2017 did so with full knowledge of the FBI-Clinton tie-up. Certainly, no Republicans were aware, and thus they were clueless to the bigger consequences of the unnecessary Sessions recusal.

Namely, that no outsider would take a hard look at the FBI. The Russia question fell to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, an institutionalist who would go on to sign the final application for a surveillance warrant against Mr. Page. Again, no accountability. Meantime, wonder why Democrats tried so hard to mau-mau Mr. Barr into also recusing himself? The goal all along has been to deep-six any discovery until a Democrat returns to the White House.

Mr. Barr didn’t merely refuse to recuse; he’s made clear he plans to plumb the FBI’s actions thoroughly. That makes him Threat No. 1 to everyone who participated in these abuses, and it’s why the liberal media establishment is now disparaging his integrity. They are stunned and scared—that accountability has returned to the Justice Department.

Write to kim@wsj.com.

Airforceone

First this and second this and I said you said and he told me. What’s Law what’s not law I am tired of all these conspiracy theories, tired of listening to Trump supporters as to how credible Barr is. I am tired of hearing I have been 100% exonerated, I am tired of reading these ridiculous links and time frames put together by Right and left wing journalists.

Release the Muellar report and release Trumps tax returns corporate and personal. This should clear up everything Trump supporters have been whining about for over two years.

It’s absurd that this information is being withheld from the American people. ( AND ITS BEING DONE BY TRUMP AND BARR) We have a Democratic House we have a Republican Senate appoint a bi-partisan committee with republicans and democrats from the house and senate to review all evidentiary evidence and send a request to the grand jury of evidence that can be released.

( Why the hell is this be blocked by Barr and Trump it’s a disgrace to this country)

proud republican Loc: RED CALIFORNIA

Once again,Durak....All the reductions are being done by Mueller himself and his team...Barr is following the LAW!!!!...You will get your report on Thursday when its good and ready and NOT a minute sooner!!!

Gatsby

It seems that AG Barr has been briefed by DOJ IG Horowitz, on his investigation into FISA abuses.

Mike Papa

Your not going want to read it. Take a pill.

kemmer

They are not. Mueller and his team ALREADY produced summary/redactions which Barr has refused to make public in his initial "Nothing-to See-Here; Trump-is-as-innocent-as the-driven-snow" 4 page so-called summary.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

As the saying goes, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

When completed, the report on a special counsel investigation must be submitted in its entirety, not a summary, not redacted, to the Attorney General, who is after all the head of the DOJ and the top law enforcement officer in the US. In simple terms, the Attorney General of the United States outranks a temporary special counsel.

Mueller couldn't possibly have gotten away with submitting "summary/redactions", wh**ever that means. How the hell does one redact a summary? Doing so would have put Mueller in serious legal jeopardy. Although AG Barr was not legally bound to do so, he summarized the salient points in the report for public consumption, most likely to tone down the caterwauling, the hand-wringing, and Banshee screams of the lib progs.

The salient points in AG Barr's summary are that there was no collusion, no obstruction of justice, and that no further indictments would be forthcoming. If this summary was erroneous or skewed in any way, AG Barr would be in legal jeopardy for a truckload of infractions--falsifying an official document, lying, breach of trust, and others. Moreover, had AG Barr's summary contained any misleading or false information, Mueller would have reacted immediately, he would have been perfectly within his rights to challenge Barr for falsifying an official document, he certainly would have spoken up and let everyone know that AG Barr's summary was misleading or a lie. But, not a peep out of him. In fact, since Mueller submitted his full report to the AG, he has apparently disappeared. I think the guy is tired of the whole affair, he shot his wad, now he just wants to quietly move on.

Mueller is not involved in redacting the report, but, at AG Barr's request, some members of the Mueller team are assisting AG Barr in doing so.

kemmer

Not so fast. Obstruction of justice is yet to be seen

Mueller’s team members have certainly expressed alarm.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

You wish.

The docket sheet h*****g outside a federal courtroom on Wednesday morning still listed Robert Mueller’s prosecutors. But they were nowhere to be found at the hearing.

Welcome to the post-Mueller world.

In a matter of days the special counsel has downshifted from investigating Russian interference in the 2016 e******n to the managerial tasks involved in packing up papers, disbanding staff and handing off cases. Almost everything left to argue in court — like Wednesday’s hearing involving a mysterious foreign company fighting a Mueller subpoena — has been given to career prosecutors in permanent offices.

It’s all happened in a quick burst in the days since Attorney General William Barr on Friday declared an end to Mueller’s work. He then issued a four-page summary declaring no conspiracy had been found between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, but that Mueller hadn’t come to a conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice.

If, after two years of investigation, Mueller came to no conclusion on obstruction of justice, then how the hell can such a conclusion be reached? Appoint a fresh special counsel? Leave it in the hands of lib prog hacks on congressional committees? Like that shifty weasel Schiff?

Throughout the entire investigation, start to finish, not once did president Trump respond to appeals to shut it down, not once did he attempt to stop, influence, or otherwise obstruct the investigation. Quite the opposite actually, he welcomed it, he really wanted to know if members of his campaign staff had done something nefarious, and who they were. This is not the position a man guilty of a crime or crimes would take.

No kidding? Go figure. When Mueller submitted his full report, the special counsel investigation ended. The Mueller team has closed up shop, the team has disbanded, most of the members have returned to their well-paying jobs at white shoe law firms or are now, like Mueller, private citizens.

What are these former political attack dogs alarmed about? Are they concerned about a possible cover-up, or are they afraid of the consequences for them when this monstrous political scandal busts wide open and the t***h comes out?

For once in your life, why don't you be a man (if you are a man), be an American citizen, be honest with yourself and face the facts. The facts of this entire sordid affair as we know them so far are available and all of them point directly at democrat malfeasance, subterfuge, and egregious violations of our constitution and our laws, including covert domestic spying (surveillance) on American citizens.

8 criminal referrals prepared by the House Intelligence Committee are about to be sent to AG Barr. Five of these are straight up referrals that name a specific individual and the crime. The other three are more complicated ones involving conspiracy. One is a criminal conspiracy referral involving FISA abuse, lying to the FISA court, and submitting falsified or manufactured evidence to secure a FISA warrant. This referral could eventually involve at least a dozen people. The second referral is manipulation of intelligence and could also involve dozens. The third is a Global leak referral involving about a dozen highly sensitive classified information leaks that were given to only a few reporters over the last two and a half-plus years. This one includes both known and anonymous sources that could lead to illegal activities by many people, including members of the press.

These criminal referrals are also the results of a protracted extensive investigation.

kemmer

You certainly post clouds of smoke and praise for that ignorant buffoon, signifying nothing we have seen in Trump’s tweets for 2 years.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

"clouds of smoke and praise"??? Is this your best shot? No effort to respond to straight up information, just take a swing at the messenger. Sounds like something a juvenile punk would say..

kemmer

It’s a messenger we’ve been listening to from the WH for a couple years, you’re just one of those who have become immune to Trump’s lies and misdemeanors (I’m being kind), and proves Trump’s statement that he could shoot someone down on 5th Ave. without losing any base v**es.

Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton

It's the law, oh, lawless one. Barr is bound by law to redact certain specific kinds of information by laws passed in the same House of Representatives that is now screaming about the withholding of sensitive information. Hypocrites.

debeda

Well, the worm has turned. We were s**k of hearing about the Russian collusion delusion all day, every day, 24/7/365.

Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton

Funny, I don't remember any of us complaining like that, do you?