Althouse: "Mueller’s Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: It makes no difference how honorable he is. His investigation is tainted by the bias that attended its origin in 2016."

June 23, 2018

"Mueller’s Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: It makes no difference how honorable he is. His investigation is tainted by the bias that attended its origin in 2016."

"It seems pretty clear that this is a case of investigating a man in the hopes of finding a crime, rather than investigating a crime and hoping to find the man behind it."

141 comments:

David Begley said...: But doesn’t that doctrine only apply to warrants and items seized?; 6/23/18, 6:58 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: The fear level over what Mueller might find is surprisingly high given all Trump's reassurances that there is nothing to find. I think we just need to trust the president more.; 6/23/18, 7:01 AM
rehajm said...: Its a dead giveaway when the honor and integrity defense is played. Dead giveaway every time.

Comey gavr up the FBI the second he ranted about it.; 6/23/18, 7:06 AM
Mary Beth said...: The fear level over what Mueller might find is surprisingly high

Did you even read the piece at the link?

Fear by whom? I think there's a concern that he will continue to harass people.; 6/23/18, 7:10 AM
Comanche Voter said...: BCARM---Harry Reid has nothing to hide, so let's set up a special counsel to see if Harry has ties to Vegas mobsters--and molests small children. And lets spend several millions of dollars on the investigation. You'd go with that--wouldn't you?; 6/23/18, 7:10 AM
FleetUSA said...: Remember these lawyers could indict a ham sandwich. So being on the government payroll all this time with a dubious work product indicates it should be shut down. Maybe a good time to shut it down would be after the November red wave.; 6/23/18, 7:13 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: The left are hanging all their hopes on this fraud.; 6/23/18, 7:16 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Arm drinketh the koolaid, and asketh for more.; 6/23/18, 7:16 AM
Big Mike said...: For such an honorable man, the indictment of a Russian firm that did not even exist at the time of the alleged criminal activity and the increasing likelihood that Flynn was framed to help McCabe settle an old score taints everything else.; 6/23/18, 7:18 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: ARM, this pose you try to strike as a jaded, but wise man would be enhanced if the things you said weren't so stupid.

You've just endorsed a standard of law that is totalitarian.

You say stupid stuff. Work on the underlying substance, and your goofy pose might work better.

Your writing is all smug self-congratulation. Maybe you can enlighten us on what that's all about. You just seem stupid to me.; 6/23/18, 7:21 AM
readering said...: Nonstarter.; 6/23/18, 7:22 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: It's illegal to beat Hillary. Charge him!; 6/23/18, 7:26 AM
h said...: David Begley at 6:58. I wonder about this too. I believe that if the application of fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine as posited here was too ridiculous for words, law professor Althouse would not have posted a link. But it would be interesting to hear about some other case where the entire prosecution was thrown out because of bias by investigators in the early stages of investigation.; 6/23/18, 7:29 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/23/18, 7:29 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: These FBI/DOJ fuckheads tried to sink the Trump campaign through wiretaps, press leaks, salacious dossiers, and confidential informants.

It boomeranged and they ended up sinking Hillary (Comey infamous press conference) and getting themselves fired.

Learning nothing, they tried to strike back st Trump using Mueller as their gallant, white knight.

It is boomeranging again.; 6/23/18, 7:31 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/23/18, 7:32 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: Rod Rosenstein selected Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller to be the Special Counsel because ...

Mueller is the USA's one person who is very most motivated and able to whitewash the FBI.

That is why ...

1) Rosenstein selected Mueller

2) Mueller agreed to become Special Counsel.

The purpose of a Special Counsel is to produce a report that will be accepted as informative, fair and non-partisan by a broad spectrum of the US electorate.

About that purpose, neither Rosenstein nor Mueller gives a rat's ass.; 6/23/18, 7:33 AM
traditionalguy said...: "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. " I think Meade said that.; 6/23/18, 7:37 AM
Jake said...: h: Did you read the column? There are cases cited.; 6/23/18, 7:38 AM
Jake said...: In U.S. v. Russell (1973), the justices observed: “We may someday be presented with a situation in which the conduct of law enforcement agents is so outrageous that due process principles would absolutely bar the government from invoking judicial processes to obtain a conviction.” It didn’t take long. In Blackledge v. Perry (1974), the court concluded that due process was offended by a prosecutor’s “realistic likelihood of ‘vindictiveness’ ” that tainted the “very initiation of proceedings.” . . .; 6/23/18, 7:40 AM
h said...: Thanks Jake: THe article is behind a firewall.; 6/23/18, 7:41 AM
Jake said...: Would the cases above apply? I don’t know. But anyway, regardless of a legal mechanism, from a perception standpoint the metaphor(which is dead now I think and ok to use) is apt.; 6/23/18, 7:42 AM
Anonymous said...: ST: You've just endorsed a standard of law that is totalitarian.

Feature, not bug, by a prog's lights.

You say stupid stuff. Work on the underlying substance, and your goofy pose might work better.

That's the problem. There's a lot of "underlying stuff" there, for leftists in general, but it's all rotten and spongy and unable to hold up anything but snark or the crazy anymore.

I guess it's a small point in his favor that he's gone in for the effeminate snark in preference to the alternative.; 6/23/18, 7:42 AM
tim in vermont said...: ARM, this pose you try to strike as a jaded, but wise man would be enhanced if the things you said weren’t so stupid.

I know! He has managed to make the face of Aristotle look stupid by association. It’s a hell of an accomplishment.; 6/23/18, 7:47 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller is conducting his "investigation" as if our Presidential administration is the Mafia and President Trump is John Gotti.

Mueller and his staff spend all their time and effort trying to pressure Trump's associates to flip on Trump and provide any information that will justify an impeachment.

The public is not going to get any satisfactory explanation of RussiaGate.; 6/23/18, 7:48 AM
Mary Beth said...: h - Try this archive of the article:
http://archive.is/8mboP; 6/23/18, 7:51 AM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/23/18, 7:53 AM
traditionalguy said...: I say we give credit where credit is due. The Stable Genius has eposed all of the Dems and RINOs as corrupt blithering idiots. And he did that with one arm tied behind his back.; 6/23/18, 7:54 AM
tim in vermont said...: h doesn’t want the facts. I don’t know why you guys would imagine he does. What he wants is to spout his hatred, which has been whipped to a fine frenzy by the unbiased press.; 6/23/18, 7:59 AM
Roger Sweeny said...: If it gets shut down, do all the people who had to spend money and time on lawyers and such defending themselves get "made whole"? Justice would seem to require that.

When "the process is the punishment", those who aren't guilty shouldn't be punished.; 6/23/18, 8:03 AM
Hagar said...: Republicans think a crook is someone who steals money and other valuables; for Democrats it means someone who opposes them.; 6/23/18, 8:03 AM
FIDO said...: The only time Trump seems to consider firing Mueller is when he indicts a friend on trumped up charges or violates the rule of law.

Otherwise Trump seems pretty chill on Mueller which indicates a) Mueller's got nothing or b) Trump's wrongdoing is so buried he doesn't think Mueller has a chance in hell of finding it.

The fear ARM makes up seems more a projection as the only hint of hope his side has.

ARM can't even elucidate the charges.; 6/23/18, 8:05 AM
tim in vermont said...: This whole thing developed from a fit of pique from a woman who was so drunk election night that she couldn’t give a concession speech.; 6/23/18, 8:07 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: I sense a lot of anger on the blog today. O ye, of little faith.

I, for one, trust the president implicitly on this issue.; 6/23/18, 8:07 AM
Darrell said...: When Mueller lied about "Sandy" Berger stealing copies and saying it was no big deal (we have more!) when Berger was actually stealing and destroying Bill Clinton's marked up copies (therefore irreplaceable originals), he tainted his life forever as a a corrupt lair and lawbreaker. Why he didn't go to jail or at least be corrected by someone above him is a mystery.; 6/23/18, 8:07 AM
Roger Sweeny said...: David Begley and h,

"In U.S. v. Russell (1973), the justices observed: “We may someday be presented with a situation in which the conduct of law enforcement agents is so outrageous that due process principles would absolutely bar the government from invoking judicial processes to obtain a conviction.” It didn’t take long. In Blackledge v. Perry (1974), the court concluded that due process was offended by a prosecutor’s “realistic likelihood of ‘vindictiveness’ ” that tainted the “very initiation of proceedings.” . . ."

That's from the original article at the Wall Street Journal. It's behind a paywall but the Instapundit link contains a great deal of it (including that quote).; 6/23/18, 8:08 AM
narciso said...: This is how the case against the weather underground collapsed, because of the wiretap and black bag jobs that Mark felt supervised.; 6/23/18, 8:11 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Again - it's illegal to cross the Clinton Crime Family. It's also illegal to talk to Russians, unless you are the Clinton Crime Family, or the flexible saint.; 6/23/18, 8:12 AM
Darrell said...: How have FBI-based convictions faired with juries since the FBI was exposed as a pack of liars and partisan hacks? Do juries laugh when the FBI says they don't allow taped (audio and video) interviews and pull out their pencil notes? Or are judges the only ones still hoodwinked?; 6/23/18, 8:14 AM
etbass said...: "I sense a lot of anger on the blog today. O ye, of little faith."

If this completely unjust situation doesn't justify a lot of anger, I don't know what does. The anger should be welling from the public and anyone of any fairness and intelligence. The anger should be heard from the rooftops if the media would only publicize what the true facts are.

You bet there is anger. I'm angry, for sure.; 6/23/18, 8:15 AM
Michael K said...: The fear level over what Mueller might find is surprisingly high given all Trump's reassurances that there is nothing to find.

ARM never met Ted Stevens. You imght have learned something although I doubt it.; 6/23/18, 8:15 AM
rehajm said...: This whole thing developed from a fit of pique from a woman who was so drunk election night that she couldn’t give a concession speech.

That is still horrible and amazing. She couldn’t be bothered to say a few words to her supporters.; 6/23/18, 8:16 AM
narciso said...: Or Stephen hatfill, Bruce ivins can't come to the phone, neither limone or Greco (One of those is the story behind Pappas the fellow who was wrongly sent to prison by Sullivan in the departed); 6/23/18, 8:18 AM
FIDO said...: ARM and Inga wish to deny it, but the onus has shifted.

Now the Feds need to prove that this wasn't a politically bias directed witch hunt.

This is...difficult considering the tweets the LEAD INVESTIGATIR and his married lawyer Squeeze shared.

Mueller doesn't offer the cleansing blood to a witch hunt and we haven't even touched how bent the Crossfire investigation was.; 6/23/18, 8:34 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Peter Strzok, who led both the Clinton and Trump investigations, confidently assuaged a colleague’s fear that Mr. Trump would become president: “No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”

The left say, collectively, "what's the big deal?"; 6/23/18, 8:38 AM
Fabi said...: Poor widdle ARM is trying to project his fear onto others. Please state the underlying crime or admit that you have no interest in justice.; 6/23/18, 8:39 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: There’s folks here who are still banking on what Mueller might find?

Oy vey; 6/23/18, 8:39 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Blogger David Begley said...
"But doesn’t that doctrine only apply to warrants and items seized"

But that is part of what we are talking about here. What seems to have happened some places along the way here, is that FISA was used to bypass the normal legal protections available through, for example, the Wiretap Act. Instead going to a federal court and getting a subpoena or warrant for phone records, the investigators and attys just yelled "Russia" and gave the phone companies nat security letters. How did the FBI get ahold of the recording call between Flynn and the Russian Ambassador? Flynn was unmasked. Looking back, they aren't going to be able to adequately document their justification for unmasking the conversations of a US Person (USPERS) in the US. No way. Logan Act wouldn't have been sufficient (and was bogus anyway). The thing to remember here is first that these were the FISA experts in the DoJ and FBI, and that FISA was designed to be compatible with the 4th Amdt, not to override it. Pretty much every unmasking by the Obama White House was a 4th Amdt violation. Almost every d**n one. And the whole thing with the Steele Dossier (used to justify the Carter Page FISA warrants) appears to have been in direct response to Adm Rogers having discovered rampant FISA 702 (USPERS) abuse by the FBI, which had given unfettered access to outside organizations to the NSA databases. We are pretty sure that is where the mistake as to which Michael Cohen was in Prague that is in the Steele Dossier (and likely led to the special prosecutor looking at Cohen) came from.

What seems to have happened is that the Obama Administration, much through, I think, DAG Yates, opened up FISA to abuse, through a number of small loosenings of the rules used to control usage. None were, all by themselves, violative of the 4th Amdt, but the cumulative affect was. The White House was unmasking almost one USPERS a day throughout 2016, up to the election. Were those US citizens given their Due Process rights to their privacy in their papers and selves? Hell no. The national security emergency that justified massive 4th Amdt violations through the use of FISA was the possibility that a Republican might win the White House and undo some of Obama's good works.

The problem for Mueller here is that it is highly unlikely that he will be able to disentangle his investigation from the massive 4th Amdt violations by a combination of the Obama Administration and the national security/counterintelligence organizations at the DoJ and FBI, esp because the same people involved in starting the Trump/Russia investigation were the same people who worked with Steele, as well as Misfyp, Downer, Halper, etc, who fraudulently acquired the Carter Page FISA warrants, and even picked much of the Mueller team.; 6/23/18, 8:40 AM
Birkel said...: For those of you at the top of the thread: READ THE LINKED ARTICLE.

The law professors who wrote the article cite the relevant S.Ct. cases.; 6/23/18, 8:43 AM
Fabi said...: I appreciate the Bruce Hayden's analyses throughout this fiasco --; 6/23/18, 8:46 AM
narciso said...: Yes thanks Bruce, this is why Mueller is trying to avoid concord analyzing the crowdstrikes forensics, the records that indicate halper, Greenberg et al entrapment strategies.; 6/23/18, 8:50 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Bay Area Guy said...
There’s folks here who are still banking on what Mueller might find?

Yes, this is appalling after all the times the President has reassured us that they will find nothing. Nothing.

This is clearly a test of faith. We must be stronger together.; 6/23/18, 8:50 AM
Fabi said...: Nothing on the underlying crime, ARM?; 6/23/18, 8:58 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: "These FBI/DOJ fuckheads tried to sink the Trump campaign through wiretaps, press leaks, salacious dossiers, and confidential informants."

The wiretap so, at least, were very likely 4th and 5th Amdt violations. The problem is that they used the Carter Page FISA warrants to do a lot of the wiretapping. They lied to the FISA court to get the warrants. They lied about the Steele Dossier. For one thing, the DoJ knew that it was political hit job on Trump, if, for no other reason than Nellie Ohr, wife of AAG Bruce Ohr, was the Fusion GPS Russian expert who apparently worked closely with Steele. The Ohrs were good friends of Glen Simpson and his wife who owned Fusion. That was Clinton/DNC money essentially going to a high ranking DoJ official to fabricate the legal justification for FISA warrants. They also knew that much of it had never been corroborated, that some had been debunked (e.g. Cohen trip to Prague), that Steele had disclosed it to multiple media people, and that the secondary corroboration cited in the applications was anything but independent, having come from Steele flogging his Dossier to the media. Moreover, they also very likely failed to inform the Court that Carter Page, himself, had been an FBI informant up until maybe March, 2016, and they had never bothered to ask him if he was willing to cooperate in this matter. Moreover, he apparently reached out to the FBI on several occasions asking if they wanted to meet with him, which were also not included in their warrant applications. In short, the DoJ and FBI lied in their 4 Carter Page FISA applications through massive omissions of known material information.; 6/23/18, 9:05 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: The FBI has become so partisan, abusive and dishonest because the FBI Director during 12 recent years was Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller.

Under Mueller, the FBI developed its leaking tactics to an art form.

If a person targeted by the FBI stubbornly refused to submit, then he was subjected to Mueller's leaking tactics.

* The person was investigated

* The FBI leaked that the person was being investigated

* The FBI refused to confirm its investigation or leaking

For example, these FBI's tactic was applied against Steven Hatfill in the FBI's investigation of the anthrax poisonings. The FBI leakers' intentions were ...

** to spook Hatfill into self-incriminating acts

** to make Hatfill unemployable

** to ruin Hatfill's credit

** to make Hatfill a social pariah

** to drive Hatfill to commit suicide.

Fortunately for Hatfill, the FBI got caught and had to pay $5 million to compensate Hatfill. The exoneration and compensation of Hatfill was a rare exception.

While Mueller was FBI Director, the leaking tactic was used also against businessmen and investors whom the FBI was trying to convict for insider trading.

The FBI leakers never are disciplined, because they were leaking at the direction of the FBI Director.

That is why Mueller was succeeded as FBI Director by "Crazy Comey the Leaker". Both Mueller and Comey are leak masters.

That's also why Mueller selected Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to work on his Special Counsel staff. Both Strzok and Page are leakers. Unfortunately for Mueller, those two got caught leaking.; 6/23/18, 9:05 AM
Rory said...: Bay Area Guy said: "It is boomeranging again."

Let's keep in mind the original boomerang, The Pied Piper strategy intended to elevate Trump to a credible candidacy in the Republican primaries.; 6/23/18, 9:11 AM
FIDO said...: “There is no more stupefying thing than anger, nothing more bent on its own strength. If successful, none more arrogant, if foiled, none more insane—since it’s not driven back by weariness even in defeat, when fortune removes its adversary it turns its teeth on itself.” S ENECA, O N A NGER , 3.1.5; 6/23/18, 9:12 AM
narciso said...: Of course notable they did not follow the trail to Khalid sufaat who moussaoui had an introduction letter with, al haznawi or atta, at least two hijackers who had contact with anthrax spores, Edward Epstein noted this.; 6/23/18, 9:15 AM
Birkel said...: ARM confuses "they will find nothing" with "there is nothing to find".

Easy to confuse the two when your fingers are that far into your own ears.; 6/23/18, 9:16 AM
William said...: A large portion of the American public will believe that any crime Mueller discovers will be the result and possibly the fabrication of a biased investigation. This investigation is a non-starter. Anything Mueller presents will only cause further hardening of the attitudes against Mueller or, for the Mueller faithful, against his target Trump. It's a no win situation........I suspect Trump is being investigated for the crime of being Trump. Maybe they'll find something, but the procedures that they have already used in their investigation are several orders of magnitude more ghastly that anything Trump has ever done in his efforts to get laid.; 6/23/18, 9:17 AM
narciso said...: Of course Mueller was listening to Kristof who in turn was following two crazy people, hatch Rosenberg and Meryl nass; 6/23/18, 9:18 AM
cronus titan said...: Mueller has a monster credibility problem. His report will be contrasted with the IG report and every slice of evidence will be called into question. There will also be contrasts with evidence in the IG Reports Mueller ignored. At this point, would anyone be surprised if Strzok/Page/McCabe/Comey manufactured or destroyed evidence to maintain their anti-Trump narrative? If the foundation of Mueller's investigation is a fraud, anything he finds (even if legit) will be rightfully dismissed.

Already, at least 3 people have been dismissed from the SPecial Counsel's team because of the evidence of misconduct the IG uncovered. Mueller starts on the defensive trying to explain how he quarantined their work (let alone why he staffed his team with Democratic Party operatives).

The answer here is to suspend the Special Counsel until the IG Report on the Russia investigation is released. It is highly plausible that the IG Reports will eviscerate the SPecial Counsel.; 6/23/18, 9:21 AM
dreams said...: And Mueller isn't honorable, just look at his record.; 6/23/18, 9:23 AM
tim in vermont said...: Pointing out that many, if not most of your comments are no more an expression of anger than is laughing at the portrayal of Simple Jack in the movie Tropic Thunder.; 6/23/18, 9:30 AM
Narayanan said...: Has any Court allowed challenge to FD 302 as hearsay or unsubstantiated?
Hopefully we are getting there.; 6/23/18, 9:32 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: welcome to the outrage machine; 6/23/18, 9:34 AM
narciso said...: Speaking of:

http://americanthinker.com/blog/2018/06/facing_h; 6/23/18, 9:41 AM
Sebastian said...: "most of your comments are no more an expression of anger" True. But then, most of what lefties say about us deplorables is projection.

But the article referenced relies a bit too much on legal niceties, fruit of a poisonous tree and such. Of course, if legality mattered, there would have been no collusion investigation and no special counsel. But it doesn't. As the IG report confirms, in the deep state every move is strictly a prog power play. Law is just a tool, to be used selectively.

Mueller may yet be reined in if he encounters a semi-conservative judge. Or the court of public opinion may yet has its say. But I am not holding my breath.; 6/23/18, 9:43 AM
dreams said...: And this.

"But let us keep in mind the most important thing in all of this. As the press now gnaws on their newfound bone, what we should remember is that they have thrown away their old one. The Russia Hoax is over. Robert Mueller, capodecina of the Washington Mafia, is the player who got played. Like black neighborhoods on the day after Election Day, the Kremlin fantasy is no longer useful to the Democrats. Mueller, the puppet of the Deep State, has been cast aside with the rest of that worn-out tale.

It is still too early to tell how long this latest conspiracy tableau will run. One thing is certain, though: the Destroy Trump media have moved on. The Kremlin Conspiracy is old fake news -- new fake news is aborning. What happened to Russia? You’ll have to look for it now in the desert in Arizona."

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/06/run_for_the_border_the_russia_probe_is_over.html#ixzz5JG9wV2MV; 6/23/18, 9:43 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “That's also why Mueller selected Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to work on his Special Counsel staff. Both Strzok and Page are leakers. Unfortunately for Mueller, those two got caught leaking.”

Not sure if it wasn’t, really, the other way around, that Strzok and Page first worked to get the Mueller investigation set up, and then to get on it. And, at least Strzok was a natural. He was the lead agent on the pre-election Trump/Russia investigation, and used that as his justification for sitting on the Weiner/Abedelin laptop for month, in the MYE Crooked Hillary email investigation that he was also running at the same time. He believed that the Trump/Russia investigation was a higher priority. Duh. This is the guy who interviewed Clinton, with two coconspirators sitting next to her as her “attorneys”, and never bothered to swear her in. Or get any warrants or subpoenas, but then later assured Page that they would prevent Trump from being elected. From their text msgs, not only were they maneuvering to get on the Mueller team, they also helped pick the team.; 6/23/18, 9:53 AM
The Godfather said...: Let's do a little thought experiment. Suppose on Jan. 2, 2019, Mueller issues his Report and finds (a) There was no collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and (b) Trump did not obstruct justice. There would be an uproar. Mueller would be accused by the Left of treason and by the Right of wasting huge amounts of money and time. He would never have lunch in Washington, DC again. He'd never be able to sell a book about his exploits. He would become a non-person.

Do you imagine that Mueller is mulling those consequences over as he looks toward the conclusion of his investigation?; 6/23/18, 9:54 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Has any Court allowed challenge to FD 302 as hearsay or unsubstantiated?
Hopefully we are getting there.”

I don’t think that the FD 302s have any real probationers value, by themselves, but rather are used, in court, to refresh the memory of the FBI agents. Which could sometimes mean that the FBI agents are put to the test, with their 302s taken away when they are testifying, and then supplied to them whenever they get stuck. Attys who spend a lot more time in court (Begley? Chuck?) can probably better answer this. But, yes, pretty clearly hearsay.; 6/23/18, 9:59 AM
Drago said...: LOL

ARM is here putting on his brave face regarding Saintly Bobbie Mueller and his merry band of democrat hack partisans AT THE VERY MOMENT Mueller is beating a hasty retreat from the supposed primary and over-riding purpose of his "by the book" "investigation": Russia interference.

How absolutely perfect and predictable.

Of course, when you indict non-existent companies AND fictitious persons things usually dont turn out well!

By the way, whatever happened to those nice fellows McCabe and Strzok and that "slam dunk" sentencing hearing that is about 6 months and 3 Mueller-requested delays ago?.....

LOL

I have a feeling Mueller will be hot on the trail of Russian unicorns before we are through...; 6/23/18, 10:05 AM
Birches said...: It's not just the Mueller probe that's tainted. I would love the FBI to redo the Steve Scalise shooting and put someone else in charge of Las Vegas. The FBI seems far more concerned with political implications than finding out the truth.; 6/23/18, 10:07 AM
narciso said...: Probably but who did Mueller represent, be named a Mexican bank with a checkered history to be charitable and shazaam facebook.; 6/23/18, 10:08 AM
narciso said...: Who did his firm represent Deutsche bank (why is that important) and a,passel of Qatari investors in Barclay bros. Hmm; 6/23/18, 10:09 AM
Drago said...: "Do you imagine that Mueller is mulling those consequences over as he looks toward the conclusion of his investigation?"

The entire Mueller/Rosenstein fake "investigation" exists to coverup massive democrat intelligence/law enforcement spying/corruption as well as cover up the Clinton/Mueller/Rosenstein selling of US uranium assets to Putin as well as frame Trump (which has failed spectacularly).

The first 2 points are still clearly in play.; 6/23/18, 10:10 AM
h said...: Mary Beth at 7:51. THanks for the link to the unprotected article.; 6/23/18, 10:10 AM
Fabi said...: Where's ARM? A quick internet search should easily reveal the underlying crime in the Mueller investigation. It's not like my query required any math or original thought.; 6/23/18, 10:14 AM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: What moron wrote that totally biased, go-nowhere opinion?; 6/23/18, 10:18 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: ARM spreads the message of unity:

"This is clearly a test of faith. We must be stronger together."

Yes! Maybe Mueller will indict another series of non-extradictable Russian trolls and non-existent corporations. That will show those red bastards a thing or two.

Za Zdarovje!; 6/23/18, 10:20 AM
narciso said...: In so far as gorka Flynn and bannon were purged, Qatar's agenda was satisfied; 6/23/18, 10:23 AM
rhhardin said...: Mueller won't see it as biased. It's right down the middle to him.; 6/23/18, 10:24 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: One of the interesting things here is that throughout the entire Trump/Russia investigation, from before Mueller took it over, to the present, is that the DoJ/FBI/Mueller have bounced back and forth between treating it like a counterintelligence investigation, and a criminal investigation. The cases filed by Mueller, of course, are almost entirely criminal cases. But they seem to have gotten there using counterintelligence tools. For example, Gen Flynn was indicted for lying to the FBI, supposedly based on discrepancies between his statements to the FBI (Strzok again) and the (IMHO illegally) unmasked conversation recorded pursuant to a standing FISACwarrant on the Russian Ambassador’s phone. All those National Security Letters used to get phone records, etc? Only supposed to be used for counterintelligence and terrorism investigations. But here, they seemingly have been used routinely in criminal investigations - where the investigators are supposed to be using court ordered subpoenas and search warrants. No surprise, of course, because we had the counterintelligence division of the national security branch of the FBI running the investigation (where Strzok was ultimately the #2 before being reassigned to personal). These are investigators who probably rarely have to go to court for their search warrants, etc. They just send AT&T (etc) a letter that mentions National Security, and they get their target’s phone records - yesterday. No muss. No fuss. No probable cause. It’s for national security.

As I understand it, originally, there was a pretty tall wall between national security and law enforcement built into FISA, thanks to abuses discovered by the Church Commission. And following that lead, the Clinton DoJ erected the (Jamie Goerlick) Wall between those two functions. The unfortunate result of the Goerlich Wall though was failing to detect the plot that resulted in the 9/11/01 attacks. Law Enforcement couldn’t relay to the National Security side of the FBI their suspicions. This was significantly loosened up with the enactment of the PATRIOT Act shortly after 9/11. But one of the things that was still in FISA was the prohibition of using FISA derived information in criminal cases. This was apparently greatly loosened up with the later PATRIOT Act amendment, which essentially allowed such, but with the proviso that the criminal information was supposed to have been an inadvertent discovery in a national security investigation, and not the goal of the use of FISA derived information. Strzok and his cohorts seemingly found a way around this by fuzzing the line between Law Enforcement and National Security - something that FISA was initially explicitly designed to prevent.; 6/23/18, 10:54 AM
rehajm said...: Like black neighborhoods on the day after Election Day, the Kremlin fantasy is no longer useful to the Democrats.

Heh. They can join Cindy Sheehan on the Island of Unwanted Leftie Toys.; 6/23/18, 10:59 AM
William said...: Trump was a billionaire real estate developer who sometimes did business with Russian oligarchs. With sufficient research and pressure on vulnerable people, Mueller may find evidence of wrong doing by Trump in developing properties or gaining more investment backing. What Mueller will not find is that Trump conspired with Russian agents to thwart the will of the American public to elect Hillary.......Whatever wrongdoing Mueller finds will be far outbalanced by the wrongdoing of his own investigation. This investigation has already damaged the reputation of the FBI, the DOJ, the FISA Court, and the media that reports on these proceedings, and its continuance will only compound the damage. The people who initiated it are heavily invested in it, and there's no way they can end it. This is a pickle of their own making,; 6/23/18, 11:06 AM
narciso said...: Because they don't care bruce, they didn't follow Mateen, well it like going after bulger's kid or Greenberg's the latest paid informant,; 6/23/18, 11:10 AM
Howard said...: The game's been over for months now, they just playing out the string laying eggs to justify why no big fish get landed.; 6/23/18, 11:10 AM
rcocean said...: The louder he talked of honor, the faster we counted our spoons.; 6/23/18, 11:11 AM
rcocean said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/23/18, 11:13 AM
rcocean said...: Weren't all the same people assuring us that Comey was "Mr. Honorable Non-partisan" Guy?

And so was Mr. McCabe. Salt of the Earth, Honorable, Life-time FBI guy.

You could take what they said to the bank.

They lied.; 6/23/18, 11:14 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Muller doomed his own investigation when he allowed it to be staffed almost 100% with pro-Hillary "investigators". I will basically believe nothing he produces that he calls a crime for this reason alone, and I will be joined by at least half the country in this judgment.

If Mueller ever wanted to be taken seriously, he should have ensured that his team was fully ideologically balanced. Perceptions matter here, and Mueller failed the very first test.; 6/23/18, 11:34 AM
narciso said...: that's not new, Lawrence walsh did the same, as did Archibald cox,; 6/23/18, 11:41 AM
Michael K said...: This is the guy who interviewed Clinton, with two coconspirators sitting next to her as her “attorneys”, and never bothered to swear her in. Or get any warrants or subpoenas, but then later assured Page that they would prevent Trump from being elected. From their text msgs, not only were they maneuvering to get on the Mueller team, they also helped pick the team.

This is critical information. I wonder if enough voters can get through the protective screen in the media and the fools of the left, as we see here, to realize what is going on?

If they do, there will be hell to pay.

Too much to hope for, I fear.; 6/23/18, 11:43 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: One thing to keep in mind with the FBI (and DoJ) is that it is a bureaucracy, over 100 years old now. That means that everything has to seemingly be done by the rules. There are rules for opening criminal investigations, and for opening counterintelligence investigations. Both require predicates. Full criminal investigations require evidence that a crime likely was committed (I believe the requirement is reasonable suspicion for preliminary investigations, and probable cause for a full investigation). The predicate crime was, apparently, Logan Act violations, pretextually cobbled together by DAG Yates. Never mind that no one has been convicted of violating the Logan Act in the last 200 years, and that it is very likely unconstitutional - it is still on the books. So, they could put “Logan Act” in the box on the required form. The sticky part though was the evidence supporting the assertion that there were reasons to believe that the Logan Act had been violated, and that is where they are on thin ice - because it most likely came from FISA misuse.

The place though where it gets interesting is on the counterintelligence side. Part of it, of course, was the Steele Dossier - very likely a result of laundering illegally obtained FISA 702 information from before Adm Rogersvshut down the abuses (they were unlikely to get away with using illegally obtained FISA 702 information to get a FISA warrant with the FISA Court, which would question the source of the evidence). But that was too late in the timeline. What is left is the joke by Trump that the way to find the 30,000 emails that Crooked Hillary illegally had deleted was to ask the Russians for them (suggesting that they very likely hacked her unsecured server). And the schenagans by CIA assets Misfud, Downey, and Halper. What seems likely to have happened is that the CIA had Misfyd suggest to low level Trump campaign staff that the Russians had those emails, then a bit later had Downey ask the campaign worker about the Russians having the emails (after liquoring up his target). And somehow, that information was passed to the FBI. No one on the outside quite knows how. Some claims that it was through the State Dept, but that seems debunked. In any case, the passoff from the CIA to the FBI seems to have been in maybe August when Strzok (yes, him again) flew to London, and likely met with Halper. We don’t know the specifics of his trip but do know that his bosses at the FBI were extremely excited about the trip, and fought about who got to debrief him first. Which is, maybe a long way of saying that it seems probable right now that the FBI predicate for setting up the counterintelligence side of the Russian investigation was fabricated by the CIA and passed to the FBI through the State Dept. Or maybe not the latter - I think that State was supposed to be, on paper, the intermediary, but blew it, and it was actually passed to Strzok at one of the interagency meetings with the CIA he attended that summer. Using national security tools in a criminal investigation is problematic enough, but is much worse, from av4th and 5th Amdt point of view if the predicate for the parallel counterintelligence investigation was fabricated out of thin air by the CIA.; 6/23/18, 11:46 AM
Wince said...: If you are looking for proof of failure of the Mueller investigation just look at the interference being run with this whole "separation of families" distraction, which again when the veneer is peeled back reveals the stunning hypocrisy of Obama administration officials and the complicity of the media in building the false narrative.; 6/23/18, 11:51 AM
narciso said...: this is why this is more like a labyrinth, where the origin point of the investigation has been hidden, mueller not only botched the anthrax case, but years later didn't follow up leads re the tampa connection to the hijackers, some of whom emerged in the 28 pages, he only got the chapman ring, because their handler, the late col. poteyev, was a company asset (I'm convinced that's where Jason Matthews got the plot of red sparrow from) the two Russians that met page, were a pitiful pair as felten, noted in the weekly standard,; 6/23/18, 11:55 AM
rcocean said...: I'll repeat what I've been saying for a year.

I thought you had to have a crime to invoke a special prosecutor.

I have no idea why Rosenstein thought we needed a special counsel, or why he was given a blank check, or why the FBI couldn't have continued its counter-intelligence investigation - if that's what they were really doing.

Nor do I understand what Mueller has been doing for the last six months, or why his investigation is still on-going. Has he found any Russia-Trump collusion? Its been a year!

When is Trump going to fire Rosenstein? When is he going to give Mueller a deadline to shut this farce down?; 6/23/18, 11:57 AM
rcocean said...: People shouldn't forget how insane this is.

We have an obscure Deputy AG, six months into the Presidency, appointing a special Prosecutor to investigate the POTUS and giving the Special Counsel a blank check to gather data for a possible impeachment and rummage around and look of crimes.; 6/23/18, 12:00 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Something to keep in mind here. We are talking two, somewhat relating things. On the one hand, Mueller has a team of zealous Dem operatives as his prosecutors. That essentially destroys their claim of “independence” for many Americans. But maybe as important is the question of whether the investigation is so compromised legally, that the best attorneys around couldn’t disentangle the unconstitutionally obtained evidence, and evidence that is a fruit of unconstitutionally obtained evidence, from everything else, giving themselves sufficient legally obtained evidence to support convictions. So far the Mueller team has been avoiding trial, but that may not last. They have too many balls in the air, with too many judges, and even one, where the judge looks under the surface of the investigation, could destroy the entire edifice.; 6/23/18, 12:16 PM
narciso said...: well there isn't any evidence, in fact, so what investigation, now Rosenstein was the one who signed off on the last fisa, McCabe and yates, previously, he was involved in the uranium one deep sixing, and he protected the Clinton foundation when he headed the tax division at justice,; 6/23/18, 12:18 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Angle-Dyne, Angelic Buzzard said...
ST: You've just endorsed a standard of law that is totalitarian.

Feature, not bug,

ADAB, I am so glad that you and ST are becoming friends. I sense a deep loneliness in ST. God knows, I have tried to provide emotional support for him, time and time again, but I lack the gentle feminine touch that only a woman can bring. This can be so important for some men.; 6/23/18, 12:19 PM
Francisco D said...: From a GOPe perspective, the purpose of the Mueller inquisition is to keep Trump under control. If he gets too hard to handle, then he gets impeached and Pence becomes POTUS.

George Will wants the Dems to take the House for the same reason.; 6/23/18, 12:27 PM
traditionalguy said...: Don't suppose anyone wants to hear that the day before Rosenstein set him lose Mueller was interviewed by The Stable Genius for 5 hours "about being FBI Director" which he was ineligible to become again. And then Mueller, after hiring every Hillary minion available ( He knew them all) spent 12 months enrolling as sworn testimony from General Flynn on his Plea deal, all of the criminal activity that Flynn has ever known about.

But Mueller has done nothing except torture Manafort. And meanwhile DJT's 12-21-2017 Executive Order along with the MIA Sessions' 35,000 sealed Federal Indictments just keep rolling along.; 6/23/18, 12:28 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Mueller is just dragging this out in the hopes that someone, somewhere, please God, will fire him. It’s the only way to get out of this gracefully. Trump is happy to let the piñata dangle.; 6/23/18, 12:40 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: A happy Saturday song.; 6/23/18, 12:46 PM
n.n said...: So, the coup in Kiev was the Left and establishment's insurance policy. A high price to pay in order to avoid investigation of collateral damage from their global social justice adventures (e.g. elective regime change), mass abortion fields, catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform (e.g. trail of tears), and weapons running schemes.; 6/23/18, 12:52 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “I thought you had to have a crime to invoke a special prosecutor.”

That is supposed to be how it works. As I understand it, that is what the DoJ regs require.

“I have no idea why Rosenstein thought we needed a special counsel, or why he was given a blank check, or why the FBI couldn't have continued its counter-intelligence investigation - if that's what they were really doing.”

The reason that the FBI couldn’t have continued its counterintelligence investigation is first, that there was never any there there. Comey was either in on the scam, or, I think more likely, the cabal knew how to ru him around in circles. Wray was brought in to clean up the FBI, and that very likely means starting with the National Security branch and Counterintelligence Division, where the operation was being run out of. For one thing, Strzok, Page, etc, needed someplace safe to weather out the storm brewing, as a result of their schenanigans during summer and fall of 2016, and even through the inauguration of Trump. Detatched duty with a special prosecutor would be great (except, apparently, the IG found their text messages, took them to Mueller, who was then forced to fire them).

So far, I really haven’t seen any real evidence that DAG Rosenstein isn’t playing this straight. Which says to e that he has ends something from the people who reported to him that somewhat panicked him. Someone was punching his buttons, pulling his strings. And it has little to do with Trump obstructing Justice, the investigation, etc. I have to believe that someone along the line convinced him that there was a credible Russian threat, and that almost has to mean that he beleved that Trump could be blackmailed by them. The fact that we haven’t seen a hint of this after better than a year of Mueller investigating suggests to me that Rosenstein was played (like I think that Comey was played). I also suspect that Mueller is getting played, originally by Strzok, Page, etc, and more recently by his rabid Dem operative prosecutors. I still have yet to see any there there. And all the smoke we have seen so far has been generated internally. So, I don’t think that there is really a real threat that Mueller is investigating - but they do seem to be keeping DAG Rosenstein runnung in the direction they want him to.; 6/23/18, 12:53 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Mueller is just dragging this out in the hopes that someone, somewhere, please God, will fire him. It’s the only way to get out of this gracefully. Trump is happy to let the piñata dangle.”

Agreed.; 6/23/18, 12:55 PM
dreams said...: Honorable, Mueller isn't even smart. It was stupid of him to take that job but even after taking the job he could have behave honorably by conducting a fair investigation instead he has soiled his reputation in failing to take heed of our recent history of other failed special prosecutors.; 6/23/18, 12:58 PM
Anonymous said...: This was originally an editorial in today's WSJ. I agree with their analysis. The "obstruction of justice" fantasy died with the publication of the IG report. The Russia "Investigation" was badly wounded and will die with the next couple of IG reports. In a better world Manafort would be another party to win money from a Mueller investigation. It looks like Flynn maye be rehabilitated ( hard to see how not). The Papadopoulos investigation was a farce, though Mueller won't let go.

I agree that if Brutus, I mean Mueller, were "an honorable man" he would have called this off a month ago; 6/23/18, 1:22 PM
Jim at said...: The fear level over what Mueller might find is surprisingly high given all Trump's reassurances that there is nothing to find. - ARM

Yeah, because it's been - what - 18 months now and he's found jackshit?
I'm just quaking in my boots with fear over the next 18 months. Or years.; 6/23/18, 1:33 PM
Anonymous said...: For those of you wondering about FBI testimony: from the Jury Foreman in the trial of the widow of the Pulse Nightclub shooter. " I wish that the FBI had recorded their interviews with Ms. Salman as there were several significant inconsistencies with the written summaries of her statements."; 6/23/18, 1:41 PM
gadfly said...: The WSJ's "Mueller’s Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" article begins with an assumption that won't stand up under scrutiny: "Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation may face a serious legal obstacle: It is tainted by antecedent political bias."

Michael Horowitz, who works for Donald Trump, found a pattern of bias that supposedly preceded the Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference. The facts are clear. The FBI began the investigation into contacts with both campaigns before the Mueller investigation was formally launched under the authority of Trump's Attorney General. Evidence of Russian involvement had to be found before Trump's AG could consider a special counsel probe - and that is the job of the FBI - who first looked into Papadopoulos's discussion with the Australian diplomat in July 2016 - about the same time that Don Jr., Manafort and Jarivanka met with Russians in Trump Tower.

Then came Donald's verbal and tweeted lies regarding Mueller's investigation that continue to occur daily.

The theme of Horowitz's mealy-mouthed report was the publishing of FBI agent Peter Strzok's private email to his girlfriend that "Trump had to be stopped." Strzok admitted that he disliked the then-candidate Trump but he also denied that his personal dislike kept him from doing his job. Lots of people disliked Trump and some of us still do.

In any regard, when Bob Mueller found out about the emails, he immediately pulled him from the investigation. There were no laws broken except perhaps Strzok and Page getting paid for attending to their affair instead of working.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, 100 charges, 20 individuals and 3 companies have been charged by Mueller and 32 separate meetings between Russians and the Trump campaign staff have been documented. The question about Russian interference needs to be answered, so the Trump supporters attacking Trump staff needs to cease.; 6/23/18, 1:52 PM
Rabel said...: Not the onion.; 6/23/18, 1:52 PM
Anonymous said...: A piece about Mueller"s Concord Management case where, so far, the vaunted prosecution team has looked like the Keystone Kops LINK.; 6/23/18, 1:53 PM
Anonymous said...: @Rabel Proving once again that the man is at the very least unhinged. He had no trouble going along with the same policy under the Obama administration when he might have actually had an impact.; 6/23/18, 2:01 PM
FIDO said...: It is very simple: when the Mueller report comes out, the single question any Congressman should ask Mueller is 'Was Strzok or Page in any way involved with the collection or direction of this part of the investigation?'

The second question, if the former is a 'no' is 'is this information based on anything Strzok or Page touched?'

This evaporates the credibility of likely 90% of anything in his report.

Any judge would throw this out...unless he is Hawaiian.; 6/23/18, 2:44 PM
n.n said...: Mueller's counsel is tainted by bigotry. There were not a few Democrats and Republicans with Russian-Ukrainian ties before the Western-backed coup in retribution to Russia's intervention in Syria, and creation of a politically convenient insurance policy to disenfranchise Americans in a multi-trimester baby hunt.; 6/23/18, 3:04 PM
Drago said...: Gadfly, the hilarious Poor Man's LLR Chuck, continues to use the lefty talking point stats in support of Mueller, as if we still didnt know about the Flynn setup and the abandonment by Mueller of his laughable charges against fictitous companies and russians. Muelleris running away from that disaster faster than the lefties and their LLR allies abandoned responsibility for obumblecare.

LOL

Adorable.; 6/23/18, 3:07 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: @Gadfly,

"....32 separate meetings between Russians and the Trump campaign staff have been documented."

More than half, solicited by FBI confidential informants seeking to entrap.; 6/23/18, 3:10 PM
Michael K said...: The FBI began the investigation into contacts with both campaigns before the Mueller investigation was formally launched under the authority of Trump's Attorney General.

Who knew that Trump was president in 2016 when the thing began?

gadfly, you need to try harder,. Reading would be good for you.; 6/23/18, 3:11 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: "The fear level over what Mueller might find is surprisingly high given all Trump's reassurances that there is nothing to find"

How much more nothing does Mueller need to find before he can safely call off the process-as-punishment?; 6/23/18, 3:27 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Michael Horowitz, who works for Donald Trump, found a pattern of bias that supposedly preceded the Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference. The facts are clear. The FBI began the investigation into contacts with both campaigns before the Mueller investigation was formally launched under the authority of Trump's Attorney General. Evidence of Russian involvement had to be found before Trump's AG could consider a special counsel probe - and that is the job of the FBI - who first looked into Papadopoulos's discussion with the Australian diplomat in July 2016 - about the same time that Don Jr., Manafort and Jarivanka met with Russians in Trump Tower.”

I frankly think that the leftist trolls are clueless here. Some points:
- Only the Trump campaign was ever investigated for Russian collusion - we know that because the Clinton/Russian collusion is extremely well documented by now, including that the Clintons made tens of millions off the Russians, and esp when they sold the 1/5 of our uranium.
- Launched while Obama was Pres, Lynch was AG, Yates was DAG, etc.
- You forgot the connection between Downer and Misfyd, who originally told Popadop... about the Russians having the illegally deleted Clinton emails, and that the two of them, plus Halper, had long standing CIA relationships. Misfyd feed him the info, and Downer attempted (unsuccessfully) to reel him in, by asking about what he knew his friend Misfyd had told him.
- The meeting at Trump tower with the Russian atty was an obvious setup, with her meeting with Fusion GPS right before and right after the Trump Tower meeting, and was in the country without a visa, thanks to special Obama Admin handling.; 6/23/18, 3:34 PM
hstad said...: I love "Gadfly's" comment about "...32 separate meetings with the Russians and Trump campaign staff..."? Wow, that is real evidence there? Plus over 100 charges - none related to Russian interference in the election. How many meetings did the Clinton Campaign and the Podesta's consulting firm have with the Russians? Seriously, a total of 32 meetings among how many meetings the entire campaign had? My friend the only help for you is that the investigation by Mueller finds completion within the next 6 months. Either way, the November, 2018 election will be a disaster for the Democrats at this point.; 6/23/18, 3:38 PM
FIDO said...: Ms. Althouse posted that video of video of Gawdy questioning Horowitz.

It was damning to anyone not not a rabid Democrat (hint only 35% of the population thinks Mueller is running a clean investigation...about the same percentage of Democrats in the country. Coincidence? ARM could not be reached for comment.)

Here is a Primer on some legal principles:

Offering a defense is not obstructing justice.

Retaining counsel is not obstruction

Questions violations of jurisprudence when Investigatirs raid your lawyer's office is not obstruction of justice.

Firing a person for lying under oath and leaking classified information is not obstruction of justice.

Thinking the Inquisitor...I mean Investigator is a big meanie and a doody head and saying so loudly is not obstruction of justice.

And Trump refusing to just die because Inga and Arm doesn't like it, is not obstruction of Hillary.; 6/23/18, 3:55 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Continuing - as I mentioned above, the Misfyd/Downer/Halper angle seems to be falling apart. No one really knows how the FBI found out about the supposed collaboration that those three CIA contacts supposedly uncovered (but much more likely fabricated, at the behest of the CIA). Here are some of the problems:
- Supposedly, it was relayed through diplomatic channels from the Australian Ambassador (to the Court of St James - the most prestigious ambassadorship for Commonwealth countries like Australia). However, the State Dept apparently has no record of it.
- According to several people who have worked at embassies, full ambassadors, like Downer just don’t drink with low level people like he supposedly did here. Just isn’t done. They drink with their equals. Esp incredible here, since he was the top ambassador in the world for Australia at the time. The equivalent post for an American Ambassador is one of our most prestigious, despite having cut our ties to the UK >200 years ago.
- The timing doesn’t work - they needed this in early summer or late spring to justify starting the Trump/Russia investigation, but didn’t get official notification (via, I believe, Halper, in London) until late August.
- And it looks like Popadopolis didn’t bite, when Ambassador was working him to get him to tell him that the Russians had the missing Clinton emails - that Downer’s friend Misfyd had told him in May. The interesting thing there is that they seemingly just went ahead and reported that Popadopolis had told Downer what he was trying to get him to say, anyway, despite no indication that he actually had. Misinformation that is still being repeated to this day by trolls like gadfly. They needed this as their hook for their Russian investigation, and weren’t going to be stopped by Popadopolis not cooperating. After all, they would have plenty of time to clean up the loose ends, like this, after Crooked Hillary had moved back into the White House, as everyone involved expected her to do.; 6/23/18, 4:03 PM
tim in vermont said...: I can’t believe you guys are engaging with gadfly. He is utterly unwilling to consider any point of view if he can’t see how that point of view ends up with Trump out of office. What is the point?; 6/23/18, 5:10 PM
Michael K said...: gadfly is a fool like the other fools but Bruce's comments do a nice job of summarizing the story.

I wonder what is going through Mueller's head by now?

He must know there is no there there.

We know he is corrupt after the Whitey Bulgar thing. He will break laws and destroy people for political ends he thinks are important.

Lawrence Walsh was similar and I don't have to mention Patrick Fitzgerald.

Inspector Javert would balk at some of the stuff they do.; 6/23/18, 5:20 PM
Michael K said...: Notice that when the lefty trolls don't appear, the comments rarely go over 200 comments.; 6/23/18, 5:22 PM
Achilles said...: gadfly said...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, 100 charges, 20 individuals and 3 companies have been charged by Mueller and 32 separate meetings between Russians and the Trump campaign staff have been documented. The question about Russian interference needs to be answered, so the Trump supporters attacking Trump staff needs to cease.

1 of those companies didn't even exist when the crimes were alleged to have happened.

Most of those individuals never set foot in the US and probably don't exist.

Charges are going to be dropped on Flynn and several people including McCabe and Yates are going to go to jail for their part in his persecution.

You can't alter 302's. So yeah. Jail.

Everyone involved in the Trump "investigation" is a Hillary donor. Numerous agents have been caught showing bias and support for Hillary.

Several have been caught making official statements to the affect of stopping Trump.

Dozens of FBI agents were caught taking bribes and leaking to reporters.

So yeah. More jail.

Oh and that FISA abuse thing.

Spying on US citizens and political opponents.

They deserve to be shot. But we will settle for lots of jail.; 6/23/18, 6:08 PM
Drago said...: Michael K: "He must know there is no there there."

Mueller knows he just has to delay beyond the election in hopes the dems win...with an "investigation" report larded up with all the same junk issued around October with no time to hold hearings and cross examine his findings.; 6/23/18, 6:46 PM
Michael K said...: Drago, have you noticed that the lefties stay away, generally , from these threads on practical politics?

gadfly is an exception but I doubt he thinks much,

They cluster at culture threads. There they can post fact free comments and the threads go way over 200 comments.; 6/23/18, 6:56 PM
Seeing Red said...: GTMO jail.; 6/23/18, 7:13 PM
The Godfather said...: Prediction: Mueller will issue a report after the election charging Trump with obstruction of justice. It will be based primarily on alleged conduct that we the people haven't even heard of yet -- unless the Dems have taken control of the House; in that event the report will include a charge that firing Comey was obstruction.; 6/23/18, 9:00 PM
walter said...: Gadfly of clean hands and "Don't blame me!" bumper sticker summarized:
"Strzok admitted that he disliked the then-candidate Trump but he also denied that his personal dislike kept him from doing his job."
Unfortunately, that summary left a lot of the exchange out..but not surprisingly.; 6/23/18, 9:48 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: Trump is using Mueller as an example of the swamp attacking him.

And it’s working!

Mueller must hate that he helping Trump, and destroying the reputation of the FBI for impartiality.

How can Mueller declare an honorable victory, and keep what remains of his reputation?

Trump could end this be declassifying a bunch of stuff, 302’s, fisa warrant, etc. but he allows it to drag on.; 6/23/18, 11:02 PM
walter said...: "Mueller must hate that he helping Trump"
Especially since he reportedly is taking a major pay cut to do this.; 6/23/18, 11:27 PM
Jon Ericson said...: *wink wink*; 6/23/18, 11:56 PM
gadfly said...: Blogger walter said...
Gadfly of clean hands and "Don't blame me!" bumper sticker summarized:
"Strzok admitted that he disliked the then-candidate Trump but he also denied that his personal dislike kept him from doing his job."
Unfortunately, that summary left a lot of the exchange out..but not surprisingly.

From the National Review 6/14/18:

“[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Page wrote to Strzok in a text message set to be released Thursday as part of a Department of Justice inspector general’s report.

“No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it,” Strzok, who was dating Page at the time, responded.

Strzok was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team in August after the inspector general uncovered the text messages, and Page has since left the bureau. Strzok’s comment is reminiscent of his cryptic discussion of implementing an “insurance policy” in the event Trump won the election, which was exposed in a previous batch of text messages uncovered by the IG last year.

While it remains unclear whether their partisan leanings affected their conduct during their time on Mueller’s team, the Thursday report indicated it had no bearing on their behavior while investigating Clinton’s use of a private email server.

“We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that improper considerations, including political bias, directly affected the specific investigative actions we reviewed,” Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz wrote in the report.

I read that to mean no crime. No foul. No proof. Just political BS. You only wish that Mueller's evidence was as weak as the Horowitz report. America's most dishonest President is on the skids but Special Counsel is giving him a temporary reprieve until after the mid-terms. Reprieves are the story of Donald's life of crime.

Here is some more reading material.; 6/24/18, 1:09 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: You do seem to have a reading comprehension problem. Or really an understanding problem. You frankly don't know at this time what UT USA Huber is going to do with the IG report. The IG was saying that he didn't have smoking gun proof of crimes. But he never ever said that crimes Hadn't occurred, or that convictions can't be obtained with the circumstantial evidence that he disclosed in his latest report. That is USA Huber's job, and under DoJ guidelines (violated by Comey), you will only find out if he believes both that crimes have been committed and that he believes that he can get convictions when indictments are issued. Lack of indictments may mean no crimes, or that he didn't believe he could get convictions, or that he decided not to prosecute anyway. The IG's primary job is to investigate, and then turn over his facts to his bosses. For the most part, all he does is lay out facts, and leaves to others whether the facts laid out constitute crimes, and whether those facts justify criminal prosecution for those crimes.

Here is an example. Peter Strzok was in charge of both Midyear Exam (MYE - Crooked Hillary email noninvestigation investigation) and Crossfire Hurricane (CFH - Trump/Russian collusion investigation). He didn't put Clnton under oath, and allowed co-conspirators to sit in to his interview as her "attorneys", the latter violating FBI polices. He stated in text messages that he despised Trump, and would make sure that he wasn't elected. He also said (or Page advised him) that it was bad to come to a future President Clinton's attention by being too hard on her. Was he trying to help her get elected? That would be a Hatch Act violation - a federal felony. Or is fear of her well known vendictive nature sufficient to take it out of Hatch Act territory? That is for a jury, and not the IG to determine. Similarly, Strzok was notified in Sept 2016 that the FBI NYO had the Weiner/Abedelin laptop and it contained a large number of Claims noon emails. He did nothing about that for a month. Then, a month later, with the election less than two weeks away, a joint call from the FBI NYO and SDNY USA to top DoJ and FBI officials brought this to the attention of his management. Comey notified Congress that he was reopening MYE to review those emails. Etc. his stated reason to the IG for dawdling was that he felt that CTH was a higher priority than MYE at that point. Given his text messages about making sure that he would make sure that Trump was not elected, was his decision to prioritize CTH over MYE politically based? That would, again, be a Hatch Act violation. Obviously, a question for a jury. BUT, it would be extremely difficult to prosecute the case because much of the CTH evidence, esp that it was completely fabricated by the FBI (likely working with the CIA), therefore discrediting his prioritization justification, but is still, to this day, classified, making prosecution problematic. Summarizing the latter - Strzok is probably guilty of at least a Hatch Act violation with his prioritizing of CFH over MYE, when he sat on the Weiner laptop for that month, trying to run out the election clock, but he is unlikely to be tried for it because of the classified material and involved.; 6/24/18, 4:36 AM