US Attorney John Durham trumped the IG report, adding his weight to Attorney General Barr’s assertion that there was bias and criminality in the surveillance and persecution of Donald Trump.
Durham forcefully contradicts the IG Horowitz report
The IG report began the day asserting that the FBI Crossfire Hurricane investigation and the FISA process was properly predicated. This was followed almost immediately with a statement from the Attorney General saying the IG didn’t have enough evidence to reach that conclusion.
John Durham’s statement put the succession of contradictions to rest, making clear that he had found improprieties both in the origins go the Russia Hoax and in its subsequent implementation.
Barr makes clear FBI spying was not predicated
Specifically, William Barr endorsed the harsh critique of the deficiencies found in the FISA warrants. He rejected firmly the assertion that the FBI had an adequate prediction to launch “Operation Crossfire Hurricane” in July 2016. (DOJ watchdog finds no bias in launch of Trump-Russia probe, but uncovers ‘significant’ FBI errors)
“The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” Barr says in a statement.
“It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory. Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump’s administration.” Durham makes it crystal clear: This is not over by a long shot
John Durham’s office made it abundantly clear that he was in full agreement with Barr that the IG Report was shortsighted and made irrelevant by the multiple streams of additional information he has uncovered.
“Our investigation has included developing information from other persons and entities, both in the U.S. and outside of the U.S.,” Durham says. “Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.”
Durham and Barr trump Horowitz and impeachment In the greater scheme of all things, it is not the Horowitz report that matters. It is Durham’s determination of criminality that counts. Those disappointed by IG report conclusions should remember he had previously whitewashed the Hillary Clinton investigations. (Did the watchdog report finally end the Clinton email scandal? Congress doesn’t think so)
Horowitz has provided the lowest bar excuse that as long as overt minimalist procedures were followed he has no choice but to ignore the luridly anti-Trump Strzok Page texts. The mass accumulated intrusions into a major Presidential candidate. The wholesale atonement of FISA standards or accountability.
The coup will not be whitewashed
So it was important that Barr immediately let it be known that he disagreed vehemently with the importance of the scope and scale of the wrongdoing that occurred. In the immediate aftermath, the final voice to drop was Durhams. Earlier fake news reports had reported that Durham and Horowitz were in agreement on key questions such as Joseph Mifsud.
Durham has now made clear that the information he has goes well beyond what IG Horowitz was looking at. That John Brennan and the Obama White House conspired to use Joseph Mifsud, Alexander Downer, Stefan Halper, and an FBI Informant to entrap George Papadopoulos.
It was, in effect, a CIA operation directed at Donald Trump. Run from the Obama Oval Office. Working with the Italian, British and Australian intelligence services.
Crossfire Hurricane, unmasking, spying on Americans
The launching of “Crossfire Hurricane” was predicated on fabricated evidence from that operation. Both that evidence and the Steele Dossier was used to acquire the FISA warrants for nefarious purposes. (Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation)
That unmasking and political surveillance and the abuse of NSA FISA 702 authority was a constant ongoing activity of the Obama White House.
That: -- Susan Rice and Ben Rhodes and Samantha Powers had unmasked thousands of Americans. -- John Brennan and James Clapper had illegally conspired to abuse FISA 702 surveillance authority with James Comey to spy on over 32500 Americans between 2012 and 2016. -- Admiral Mike Rogers had uncovered the abuse which was now a subject of Durham’s investigation. -- That FISA Judge Rosemary Collier documented in her April 2017 ruling.
ICA estimate and the Steele Dossier
That the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference was not the result of 17 intelligence agencies. It was written largely by John Brennan and Peter Strzok and not subjected to circulation before its submission.
The ICA assessment improperly incorporated the Steele Dossier in order to slant its conclusions. Mike Rogers and the NSA only had moderate confidence in any preordained conclusions. That the deliberations and use of that document is the subject of Durham’s investigation.
The truth prevails lest the heavens fall
Both Barr and Durham have made clear that this is the beginning of a much more serious phase of the Durham Probe. That the IG Horowitz report is a whitewash that will not stand any test. That the people who need to be held accountable will be. At long last.
The ongoing three-year coup against Donald Trump by the security state must be held to account. Durham has signaled that Brennan, Clapper, Comey, McCabe, and Strzok are not out of the woods.
On a day when the credibility of the Republic has been called into question Attorney General Barr and John Durham have sent a clear signal that justice will be done, the guilty will be punished.
We are truly about to find out what kind of country we live in. We look forward to the Durham report and the coming indictments.
"Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within." GK Chesterton
“These High-Tech oligarchs are dangerous for democracy.” Devin Nunes
"It’s a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people, and serve the people it will." Donald Trump's Victory Speech 11/9/16
INSIDE EVERY LIBERAL IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT -- Frontpage mag
"We also did not receive satisfactory explanations for the errors or problems we identified."
"We identified at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications, and many additional errors in the Woods Procedures. These errors and omissions resulted from case agents providing wrong or incomplete information to OI and failing to flag important issues for discussion. While we did not find documentary or testimonial evidence of intentional misconduct on the part of the case agents who assisted OI in preparing the applications, or the agents and supervisors who performed the Woods Procedures, we also did not receive satisfactory explanations for the errors or problems we identified.
In most instances, the agents and supervisors told us that they either did not know or recall why the information was not shared with OI, that the failure to do so may have been an oversight, that they did not recognize at the time the relevance of the information to the FISA application, or that they did not believe the missing information to be significant. On this last point, we believe that case agents may have improperly substituted their own judgments in place of the judgment of OI, or in place of the court, to weigh t_he probative value of the information. Further, the failure to update OI on all significant case developments relevant to the FISA applications led us to conclude that the agents and supervisors did not give appropriate attention or treatment to the facts that cut against probable cause, or reassess the information supporting probable cause as the investigation progressed The agents and SSAs also did not follow, or appear to even know, the requirements in the Woods Procedures to reverify the factual assertions from previous applications that are repeated in renewal applications and verify source characterization statements with the CHS handling agent and document the verification in the Woods File.
That so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked teams on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations that was briefed to the highest levels within the FBI, and that FBI officials expected would eventually be subjected to close scrutiny, raised significant questions regarding the FBI chain of command's management and supervision of the FISA process. FBI Headquarters stablished a chain of command for Crossfire Hurricane that included close supervision by senior CD managers, who then briefed FBI leadership throughout the investigation. Although we do not expect managers and supervisors to know every fact about an investigation, or senior officials to know all the details of cases about which they are briefed, in a sensitive, high-priority matter like this one, it is reasonable to expect that they will take the necessary steps to ensure that they are sufficiently familiar with the facts and circumstances supporting and potentially undermining a FISA application in order to provide effective oversight, consistent with their level of supervisory responsibility.
We concluded that the information that was known to the managers, supervisors, and senior officials should have resulted in questions being raised regarding the reliability of the Steele reporting and the probable cause supporting the FISA applications, but did not. "
IMHO pretty damming but it gave Wray an out, i.e. review and modify procedures.
Illegitimi non Carborundum
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.- Orwell
The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it - Orwell
Quote: algernonpj wrote in post #2 IMHO pretty damming but it gave Wray an out, i.e. review and modify procedures.
YES!!! You notice that everybody in this game is provided "an out".
That has to be the #1, main rule for operations in The Swamp.
Don't box your superior into a corner where he or she has no way to slide away from being responsible! TM
"Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within." GK Chesterton
“These High-Tech oligarchs are dangerous for democracy.” Devin Nunes
"It’s a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people, and serve the people it will." Donald Trump's Victory Speech 11/9/16
INSIDE EVERY LIBERAL IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT -- Frontpage mag