February 2, 2018

"The House Intelligence Committee has released its controversial memo outlining alleged abuses of secret surveillance by the FBI and Justice Department in the Trump-Russia investigation."

Says Byron York (Washington Examiner), summarizing it, without quoting any text or linking to any text.

ADDED: York asserts that the memo (which I haven't seen) says:
* The Steele dossier formed an essential part of the initial and all three renewal FISA applications against Carter Page.

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

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

* 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.
AND: Now, you can read it for yourself: Here.

ALSO: I'm reading the memo, which is, basically, a list of 5 omissions from what was submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). According to the memo, the court, in order to protect "the rights of Americans" needs to see "information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application" where the government knows this information, as it did for all 5 of these things:

1. The initial application (and the renewal applications) did not disclose the role of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign in paying $160,000 to Christopher Steel to compile "the dossier." Nor did it show that Steele was working for Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson, who was paid by the law firm that represented the DNC, or that "Steele was ultimately working on behalf of — and paid by — the DNC and Clinton campaign."

2. The application made a Yahoo News article (by Michael Isikoff) look like it corroborated the Steele dossier, when it just had material that came from Steele. The application "incorrectly" asserts that the Yahoo News material didn't come from Steele. Steele was later terminated as an FBI source for leaking to Mother Jones in October, but he should have been terminated for these leaks to Yahoo News back in September, which was before the first application to the FISC.

3. Before Steele was terminated as an FBI source, Steele told then-Associate Deputy General Bruce Ohr (who worked closely with Yates and Rosenstein) that he "was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president." That's presumably a quote from Ohr, not Steele, given the "was" (as opposed to an "am"). At the time, Ohr's wife worked for Fusion GPS, doing oppo research on Trump, and this info was presented to the FISC without specifying its origin.

4. This point doesn't specify an additional omission. It talks about internal opinion at the FBI about the inadequacy of the Steele dossier.

5. The application refers to Papadopoulos, and the Papadopoulos investigation was opened in July 2016 by Pete Strzok, who had to be reassigned because of his "demonstrated clear bias against Trump."

MORE: Here's the response from the Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. It calls the majority's memo "a shameful effort to discredit" the Department of Justice and the FBI and "a transparent effort to suppress the full truth," so what I'm looking for as I read this is something terribly important that's missing from the majority's memo.
In order to understand the context in which the FBI sought a FISA warrant for Carter Page, it is necessary to understand how the investigation began, what other information the FBI had about Russia’s efforts to interfere with our election, and what the FBI knew about Carter Page prior to making application to the court – including Carter Page’s previous interactions with Russian intelligence operatives. This is set out in the Democratic response which the GOP so far refuses to make public.

The authors of the GOP memo would like the country to believe that the investigation began with Christopher Steele and the dossier, and if they can just discredit Mr. Steele, they can make the whole investigation go away regardless of the Russians’ interference in our election or the role of the Trump campaign in that interference.
That seems to be more of an attack on the minds of the GOP congresspersons than on the memo itself, which I don't think says anything about the larger investigation into Russian interference with the election. But I guess that's what the Democratic congresspersons mean when they say there's no context. It's a little contradictory: They want it to be more about the Russia investigation and less about the Russia investigation. But the Nunes memo purports to be about individual rights and the abuse of surveillance.
The DOJ appropriately provided the court with a comprehensive explanation of Russia’s election interference, including evidence that Russian agents courted another Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos.... The Majority suggests that the FBI failed to alert the court as to Mr. Steele’s potential political motivations or the political motivations of those who hired him, but this is not accurate. The GOP memo also claims that a Yahoo News article was used to corroborate Steele, but this is not at all why the article was referenced. These are but a few of the serious mischaracterizations of the FISA application. There are many more set out in the Democratic response, which we will again be seeking a vote to release publicly on Monday, February 5th....
So we need to wait for more. We're told there's something missing but not given the missing information.

933 comments:

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exhelodrvr1 said...

Obama's legacy ...

Original Mike said...

Think about the fact that JOURNALISTS were arguing against releasing this information.

Sebastian said...

"Nor did it show that Steele was working for Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson, who was paid by the law firm that represented the DNC, or that "Steele was ultimately working on behalf of — and paid by — the DNC and Clinton campaign."

Of course, Steele was really working with and for the Russians.

The most remarkable thing about this travesty is that Dems did what they accused Trump of doing--and with MSM and Muller help, have gotten away with it so far.

Fabi said...

Not a smidgen of corruption!

Matt Sablan said...

"It's impossible for me to conceive that Obama did not know all about this, and relied on cutouts to provide plausible deniability."

-- He communicated to Clinton on her secret network using an alias; Stzork and others were setting up the same.

Any aliases we don't recognize there?

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

Let me get this straight: The Clinton campaign hired and conspired with an (ex?)-British agent to build a case that the Trump campaign was conspiring with Russian agents? I guess British interference = "good" and Russian interference = "Bad".

Is electronic vacuuming of a campaign's communications worse than burglers breaking locks on the campaign's offices? Well, this is the 21st century.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Leftists don't give a damn about their own corruption. They are blind to it. Hillary could shoot Seth Rich dead right in front of them, and they'd deny it.

Matt Sablan said...

Inga: Without the dossier, the FBI didn't have enough to even SEEK the warrant, let alone be confident in getting it. That's the connection.

Inga...Allie Oop said...


The FBI opened an investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia in July. The FISA warrant everyone has their hair on fire over was granted in November. The Russia investigation did NOT start in JULY based on the Dossier. The Dossier did not cause the FBI to open an investigation in JULY. What caused the initial investigation in JULY was Carter Page and his associations and activities with Russians.

You people need to calm down and start thinking. The hysteria is so thick on these pages, it’s beyond bizarre

Fabi said...

Where's Chuck?

Matt Sablan said...

Blast it. I hate responding to posts that get deleted. I look crazy then.

buwaya said...

" It's impossible for me to conceive that Obama did not know all about this, and relied on cutouts to provide plausible deniability. "

I think it more likely that someone/someones were running Obama. He never struck me as a man with a plan. More like a man given a role to play in someone else's plan. But TBD.

PackerBronco said...

Blogger Original Mike said...
Think about the fact that JOURNALISTS were arguing against releasing this information.


They're trying to protect their sources. The MSM media via leaks is the proper venue for releasing confidential information.

langford peel said...

Of course the idea that the Justice Department should be independent of the President is only true during Republican administraions.

If you don't believe me just ask Bobby Kennedy. Or Eric Holder. Two of your more "independent" attorney generals who never carried water for their bosses.

If liberals didn't have double standards they would have no standards at all.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Patrick - both Sessions and Rosenstein.

Matt Sablan said...

"What caused the initial investigation in JULY was Carter Page and his associations and activities with Russians."

-- And here's the problem: They found NOTHING until the factually inadequate dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton landed on their desk.

mtrobertslaw said...

What happened here is that federal law enforcement officials went before a secret court and secured an secret surveillance order from a federal judge based on certain information without disclosing to the judge facts known by those officials that directly and seriously undercut the truthfulness of that information. It is hard to believe that this behavior is not a federal crime.

But some good may yet come of this. Imagine Hillary being arraigned as a co-conspirator dressed in a bright orange pants suit. What a sight!

Fabi said...

"You people need to calm down and start thinking."

Lulz

Meade said...

GWash said...
"lets wait for the other shoes to drop before we crown him..."

...Historic World Leader Keeping Lit The Torch Of Freedom For All People Around The World?

buwaya said...

"The FBI opened an investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia in July."

And that bit is yet to come out. One of many more interesting untold stories.
And then, because the same people are involved, stories upon stories upon stories.

Static Ping said...

This is worse than I expected.

dreams said...

FYI, I've heard that the Dem memo doesn't contradict any of the facts of the Republican memo, so expect more Dem spin.

Matt Sablan said...

"This is worse than I expected."

-- I was expecting a "Yeah, it was part of it, but we had other stuff too." Not: "Without this, we didn't have enough to even think about asking for a warrant."

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Well, now we know why Obama suddenly unleashed classified information to all those agencies after the election.

How long will it take the news organizations (including Fox) to acknowledge the elephant - or rather, the jackass - in the room?

Francisco D said...

"He wont let Sessions compound his already gross list of stupidity and failure."

Achilles, I am not convinced that Sessions is a failure. You may be right, but he may have played this well.

Rosenstein took over and appointed Mueller after Sessions recused himself. Rosey is dirty and may well go to jail. Sessions cannot be credibly accused of interference. The cards are falling nicely.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Without the dossier, the FBI didn't have enough to even SEEK the warrant, let alone be confident in getting it. That's the connection.”

Matthew, you and I both don’t know what ELSE the FISA warrant was based on then granted. It wasn’t SOLEY granted on the info in the Dossier. The Memo does not prove this, it asserts this without any documentation to prove it. The memo is a dud and the hysteria is over the top.

wwww said...


There is a very simple solution, so we don't have to trust one partisan group summary over another. There's too much partisan stuff for me to trust their summaries. I don't trust anyone on that committee.

John Podhoretz, re-tweeted Michael Morell today:

"former high-ranking CIA guy. Good idea.

Simple solution to Nunes "memo" issue. Release the original affidavit to the FISA court, along with any reauthorization(s), redacted for classification and privacy. This would allow the public to see how much material, in addition to the "dossier," was used with the court."

exhelodrvr1 said...

Inga,
"The FBI opened an investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia in July. The FISA warrant everyone has their hair on fire over was granted in November."

Excellent point - it's even worse than it initially appears!! They had investigated for 4 months, and had nothing to take to FISA except for the made-up dossier!

Thanks for pointing that out!

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

It is absolutely staggering to realize we would have known about none of this if Hill had been elected.

PackerBronco said...

Matthew, you and I both don’t know what ELSE the FISA warrant was based on then granted

So you MUST support an investigation into the FBI's action to answer that question. Right? Yes or No?

Original Mike said...

”The Memo does not prove this, it asserts this without any documentation to prove it.”

The memo attributes this conclusion to Andrew McCabe.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Inga- Your attempt to minimize full blown corruption is no surprise to any of us.

dreams said...

Bottom line, The Dems with help from the FBI used FISA illegally to spy on their political opponent, Trump and his presidential campaign.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Inga, McCabe testified that they would not have sought a warrant w/o the Steele dossier.
Get a new talking point, the old one is broken.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

rcocean said...
Would anyone explain to me why this memo SHOULD NOT have been published?

I don't see any National security info...I don't see any misleading information...I don't see any "facts out of context"


I think it should have been released, but I'll also be happy to see whatever context the Democrats want to apply.

I could imagine a scenario where the memo is misleading:
When McCabe said that without the Steele dossier info, they would not have applied for the warrant, it could have been:
1) They got the dossier
2) They investigated some leads that did not require a warrant, which led to independent information
3) That independent information was enough for them to seek and obtain the FISA warrant.

Of course, that does not excuse using the dossier in the FISA warrant. It is just a possible way that the warrant followed from, but might not have been legally dependent upon, the dossier.

buwaya said...

As I may have mentioned at some point, this is how corrupted institutions work.

Once you get bad leadership, black hats, on top, every new generation of leadership is obliged to continue being black hats in order to cover their silence, their collusion, or if nothing else the status of their institution (as opposed to the ostensible purpose of the institution). The closets become full of skeletons, new ones being piled in to cover for the old ones.

How much stuff is there in the closets of the FBI/DOJ, how far back does it go, and who does it implicate?

Jim at said...

The memo is a dud and the hysteria is over the top.

Yeah. That's why you fifth-column leftists and your enablers in the media did everything you could to keep it from being released. And are now running around with your hair on fire screaming, "Republicans Pounce!!! Partisan memo!!!"

Because it's a dud.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Blogger dreams said...
Bottom line, The Dems with help from the FBI used FISA illegally to spy on their political opponent, Trump and his presidential campaign.

The last warrant was still in effect when Trump was president elect.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Excellent point - it's even worse than it initially appears!! They had investigated for 4 months, and had nothing to take to FISA except for the made-up dossier.”

Except you don’t know this. It’s conjecture based on the Memo, which does not prove what it asserts.

Matt Sablan said...

"Matthew, you and I both don’t know what ELSE the FISA warrant was based on then granted. It wasn’t SOLEY granted on the info in the Dossier. The Memo does not prove this, it asserts this without any documentation to prove it. The memo is a dud and the hysteria is over the top."

-- The agents that reviewed the memo said there were no factual inaccuracies. Do you think the FBI are liars?

Yancey Ward said...

There is still a story hanging out there that wasn't mentioned in the memo- the alleged application that was denied around July 2016. Was that application also related to Page? It seems likely since Steele was apparently already talking to the FBI at that point- and note I am accepting that the story about the denied application is even true.

I suspect that the FBI and the DoJ have yet to turn over that denied application. If it exists, it might well be related to the Papadoupolous story instead, not Page. If so, its denial would tell you a lot about how important Papadoupolous wasn't to the later applications. This would certainly explain why McCabe thought the Steele Dossier was the critical factor in getting a warrant at all, and why the FBI and the DoJ lied about the origins of the dossier.

Drago said...

Inga: "The Memo does not prove this, it asserts this without any documentation to prove it. The memo is a dud and the hysteria is over the top."

Yes.

A person who cheered the golden showers hoax dossier and called Trump a traitor and all of Trumps voters treasonous traitors for over 18 months based on...nothing....actually wrote that.

Just now.

Just. Now.

As if history began anew 2 hours ago.

Fabi said...

McCabe admitted it, Inga.

Achilles said...

Inga said...

“The FBI opened an investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia in July. The FISA warrant everyone has their hair on fire over was granted in November.“

The real fun and games start when everyone finds out they were spying on Trump before they had a warrant and they used the application to launder illegally obtained surveillance information.

They didn’t have a warrant to spy on the Israelis and other opponents of the Iran Deal either. But they were caught doing it.

Obama was spying on a lot of people and that is going to be what he is remembered for.

langford peel said...

The Russia investigation was a ploy started as opposition research to smear Donald Trump. By Democratic partisans in the FBI and the Justice Department. The FISA warrant was indeed an effect not a cause. The cause was manipulating the legal process to spy on and ultimately defeat Donald Trump. The FISA warrant was tool that they only got on the second bite of the fruit of the poisonous tree. I am not a lawyer but I would think that all of the information garnered from an illegal wiretap (surveillance) would now be inadmissible.

This is one of the greatest scandals in American History. Bigger than Teapot Dome. Bigger than Watergate. A president used the legal forces of the United States to spy on and attempt to defeat the candidate of the opposing party and help his candidate get elected. Using partisan who confirm this through their own words in their emails and texts they have tried to hide from the Congress and the American people.

BarrySanders20 said...

Predicted CNN spin: We were right all along that foreigners interfered in the election and colluded with one party's campaign to influence the outcome.

Now with that established, let's move on to what's next with Herr Mueller!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

You Lefties have nothing left to defend here. All your heroes are dirty. The G men we trusted let us down. Just fucking admit it.

Matt Sablan said...

"It’s conjecture based on the Memo, which does not prove what it asserts."

-- Are you calling McCabe, Wray and the other experts who reviewed it liars?

320Busdriver said...

Turns out we did'nt need no stinkin Russians, we were perfectly capable of fuckin it up our own damn selves.

Bring back the firing squad.

dreams said...

CNBC's liberal and extremely biased reporters Eamon Javers and John Harwood are spinning big time about the memo.

Drago said...

Inga: "Except you don’t know this. It’s conjecture based on the Memo, which does not prove what it asserts"

1) Denial (check)
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Depression
5) Acceptance

buwaya said...

BTW, expect a reaction from Mueller.
It seems almost required.
Either a surrender or a major counterattack.
Indictments?

exhelodrvr1 said...

Hillary colluded with the British in an attempt to defeat Trump.

bleh said...

Mueller has to indict Carter Page now, I think. That will help validate the FBI's interest in him.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Yeah. That's why you fifth-column leftists and your enablers in the media did everything you could to keep it from being released. And are now running around with your hair on fire screaming, "Republicans Pounce!!! Partisan memo!!!"”

No, you hysterical ninny. I called for the release of the Memo. I also wanted the Democrats Memo released simultaneously because I suspected Nunes Memo was nothing more than a political trick. And I was right. The underlying documents will prove what is true and what is bullshit, but we won’t be seeing those because they are classified. I knew that this would just another regurgitation of the Steele Dossier hysteria.

Nunes and the Republicans are a laughing stock.

Drago said...

Achilles: "The real fun and games start when everyone finds out they were spying on Trump before they had a warrant and they used the application to launder illegally obtained surveillance information.

They didn’t have a warrant to spy on the Israelis and other opponents of the Iran Deal either. But they were caught doing it.

Obama was spying on a lot of people and that is going to be what he is remembered for."

Precisely.

There have been a number of people screaming about this for quite awhile.

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/229062/did-the-obama-administrations-abuse-of-foreign-intelligence-collection-start-before-trump

Original Mike said...

”Turns out we did'nt need no stinkin Russians, we were perfectly capable of fuckin it up our own damn selves.”

The Russians have to be laughing their fucking ass off.

Jason said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK4K7CV_PGY.

Meanwhile, at the DOJ...

PackerBronco said...

Blogger buwaya said...
BTW, expect a reaction from Mueller.
It seems almost required.
Either a surrender or a major counterattack.
Indictments?


Leaks. Mueller needs to put forward a counter-narrative for the news cycle.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Mueller has to indict Carter Page now, I think.”

Hope Hicks and Don Jr. next.

Drago said...

exhelodrvr1: "Hillary colluded with the British in an attempt to defeat Trump"

You forgot Putin's pals, the Kremlin-based "contacts" that the idiot brit Steele called to get made-up dirt to inject into our political process.

buwaya said...

"The Russians have to be laughing their fucking ass off."

Well, that is come consolation at least, for going broke.

dreams said...

"Blogger dreams said...
Bottom line, The Dems with help from the FBI used FISA illegally to spy on their political opponent, Trump and his presidential campaign.
The last warrant was still in effect when Trump was president elect."

Yeah, which reflects poorly on Rod Rosenstein or (implicates).

Lars Porsena said...

Blogger Inga said...
“Without the dossier, the FBI didn't have enough to even SEEK the warrant, let alone be confident in getting it. That's the connection.”

Matthew, you and I both don’t know what ELSE the FISA warrant was based on then granted. It wasn’t SOLEY granted on the info in the Dossier---------
-----------------------------------------------------

If there were ANYTHING else it would have been leaked by Schiff et al.

exhelodrvr1 said...

"nothing more than a political trick"

That's going to age well.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Sure, Inga. Keep lying to yourself. I'm sure giving up your RUSSIAN COLLUSION fantasies will be painful, but eventually, even you will have to come live in the reality based world like the rest of us.

The collusion story is dead. People will be going to jail, but it won't be Trump and his people. It will be yours.

dreams said...

“Mueller has to indict Carter Page now, I think.”

"Hope Hicks and Don Jr. next."

Well, he'll have to trick them into lying.

Yancey Ward said...

wwww wrote a quote:

"Simple solution to Nunes "memo" issue. Release the original affidavit to the FISA court, along with any reauthorization(s), redacted for classification and privacy. This would allow the public to see how much material, in addition to the "dossier," was used with the court."

Indeed, and this is what Nunes wants to do, but he doesn't own that material- it owned by the DoJ, and Rosenstein is the man in charge due to Sessions' recusal. I think it is clear what the purpose of the memo is- it is to force Wray and Rosenstein to stop obstructing this process by stonewalling and slowwalking information that has been rightfully requested by the oversight committees. I think it is now almost certain that the underlying information is going to be made public, but it something that Nunes can't legally do without the DoJ's cooperation. The memo now makes this more likely to happen. That is one of the reasons I hope Wray and Rosenstein write a "rebuttal" since they will then have to publicly support more transparency, not less.

langford peel said...

Mueller's collar has to be getting a little tight right now. If Rothstein goes down he will flip in a minute and give up Comey and Mueller.

Rothstein is not my idea of a stand up guy.

He needs to step town. Today.

Lewis Wetzel said...

If the Steele dossier was critical in getting a FISA warrant against Page, that probably means that Page has done nothing he can be indicted for. This was a fishing expedition from the beginning.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“The Russians have to be laughing their fucking ass off.”

Yes indeed, but not why you think.

Drago said...

Inga: "Matthew, you and I both don’t know what ELSE the FISA warrant was based on then granted. It wasn’t SOLEY granted on the info in the Dossier---------
-----------------------------------------------------"

Inga decides now would be a good time to call Andy McCabe a liar who lies under oath.

why not? She was busy slut shaming a woman the past couple of days.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Mueller has an opportunity here to salvage some of the FBI/DOJ reputation. Let's see if he takes advantage of that opportunity.

Bay Area Guy said...

Memo to Agent Peter Stzrok:

How's that insurance policy working for you now?

Not a good idea to attempt regicide with a rubber knife...........

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Rothstein is not my idea of a stand up guy.”

Rosenstein.

Rick said...

And I was right. The underlying documents will prove what is true and what is bullshit, but we won’t be seeing those because they are classified.

Isn't it fun to assume something you have not and will never see proves your assumptions and thus any contravening evidence wrong? It's bizarre she keeps insisting her own fantasies are proof.

buwaya said...

"If Rothstein goes down he will flip in a minute"

I doubt it. The system has its ways of rewarding its loyalists.
Rosenstein will be taken care of.

PackerBronco said...

The underlying documents will prove what is true and what is bullshit, but we won’t be seeing those because they are classified.

Ain't no one here going to argue against releasing the underlying documents. I suspect Nunnes will happily agree to that. But the FBI, DOJ, Democrats, and the Liberal Media are going to put up a fight. Hmmmm. I wonder why?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

In fairness to Inga, there IS something bogus about the memo.

At the bottom of page 1, it refers to the "Honorable Adam Schiff."

Big Mike said...

The Russians have to be laughing their fucking ass off.

Well I'm sure Putin is, anyway.

Achilles said...

Inga said...

No, you hysterical ninny. I called for the release of the Memo.

Not even two days ago:

Inga said...
I think if the White House doesn’t back down on this one and truly does go to war against the FBI, the DOJ, one half of the US, they will be making a massive error. More devastating than anything they’ve done before.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“The collusion story is dead. People will be going to jail, but it won't be Trump and his people. It will be yours.”

Mass hysteria and delusion. That is who you people are now. We’ll see who ends up in jail first.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"But the FBI, DOJ, Democrats, and the Liberal Media are going to put up a fight."

OMG, We can't because NATIONAL SECURITY!!!!

And Inga will nod her head and swallow their talking points and regurgitate them here.

PackerBronco said...

Blogger exiledonmainstreet said...
In fairness to Inga, there IS something bogus about the memo.

At the bottom of page 1, it refers to the "Honorable Adam Schiff."


Mic drop.

I'm Full of Soup said...

It's pretty obvious that the Deep State exists and it exists, in large part, to provide nice comfy lives to its many well paid inhabitants. For instance, Peter Strzok is probably paid about $150K per year in salary while his wife, an SEC attorney, is paid like $223K per year which totals a family income of $370K. That surely places them in the Top 2% of American families.

Do they kill themselves working? I doubt it. Do they worry where the next paycheck is coming from? Absolutely not. Do they miss any of their kids' little league games or school plays? Rarely I bet. I also bet they both believe in and love BIG Govt and the DEM party. And why wouldn't they?

Someone has suggested that the fed agencies and employees in the Imperial City be re-located to other parts of the country. That is a great suggestion so let's do it.

Achilles said...

Inga said...
“Mueller has to indict Carter Page now, I think.”

Hope Hicks and Don Jr. next.

For the audacity of being a political opponent.

Stalinists gotta be like Stalin.

buwaya said...

"Rothstein is not my idea of a stand up guy.
He needs to step town. Today."

There are no "stand up guys" in there.
They have all been in that system for decades.

I am guessing that Rosenstein will hang on as long as he can, and do all he can to make it difficult and costly for Trump to get rid of him. If nothing else there is value in delay and controversy.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Mass hysteria and delusion. That is who you people are now. We’ll see who ends up in jail first.

2/2/18, 12:57 PM



I'm saving your gems, Inga. I will post them at a later date.

That one is definitely a keeper.

Original Mike said...

”The underlying documents will prove what is true and what is bullshit, but we won’t be seeing those because they are classified.”

Trump could declassify them, but he will be accused of “obstruction of justice.”. I wonder if THIS is the ultimate reason for the Mueller investigation.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Inga said...
I think if the White House doesn’t back down on this one and truly does go to war against the FBI, the DOJ, one half of the US, they will be making a massive error. More devastating than anything they’ve done before.”

And I also said the Memo SHOULD be released, but along with the Democratic Memo, you must’ve forgotten, lol.

Matt Sablan said...

Wray and the other FBI people who reviewed the memo don't think anything will prove it untrue. It will just "add context."

MikeR said...

You didn't mention what seems to me to be a critical point (in addition to these): "Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information."
We need the exact words of his testimony including all the context.

Achilles said...

Inga said...
“The collusion story is dead. People will be going to jail, but it won't be Trump and his people. It will be yours.”

Mass hysteria and delusion. That is who you people are now. We’ll see who ends up in jail first.

I agree with Inga on this part. Rather than obey the law the leftists are going to resort to violence. They are at least going to take a shot at it.

Drago said...

Yancey Ward: "Indeed, and this is what Nunes wants to do, but he doesn't own that material- it owned by the DoJ, and Rosenstein is the man in charge due to Sessions' recusal"

Correct.

The only ones standing in the way of releasing the underlying documents are the democrats AND the establishment types trying to cover this up.

The republicans wanted it released long ago.

Remember, this memo is just a big nothingburger, which is why the democrats spend 2 weeks screming and going scorched-earth over it, demanding Committee chairs be removed, National Security would be irreparably harmed, etc.

But now, meh. Nothingburger which doesn't prove anything..because we need the underlying documents...which the dems don't want to release....

Anyone see a pattern?

The democrats really did believe, REALLY DID BELIEVE, they could keep all this hidden until after the elections then they could take over, bury everything and impeach Trump.

That was literally the Dem gameplan for 2018.

And now this memo begins the process. Next up: Grassley's committee, Goodlatte's committee, and then Michael Horowitz' IG Report.

Balfegor said...

Probably just repeating what other people are saying here, but this is kind of underwhelming, and leaves me wondering why on earth the agencies (and the Democrats) were so hysterical about it getting released. Were they just trying to bait Trump and Nunes into overplaying their hand? One of the items doesn't even look like DOJ/FBI misconduct, but like Steele's misconduct, in concealing his media contacts from the FBI. I mean, so they got duped by a source. Embarassing, but not the end of the world. And the instances of concealment from the FISA court, or the use of the dossier before verification, etc. -- sure, they make DOJ/FBI look bad, but in the annals of DOJ/FBI misconduct, they don't actually rank all that high. They have done much, much worse things before. And in the annals of law enforcement misconduct, they're pretty minor, even judged against contemporary standards -- we just heard about Baltimore policemen regularly carrying around plastic toy guns so they could plant them on people they shoot.

Maybe I just priced all this in (and have a cynical view of federal law enforcement to start with), but there was nothing shocking to me here. I don't think this is remotely a gamechanger. If anything, it only sort of looks like that if you squint at it sideways, because the Democrats and the bureaucracy were so apocalyptic in their efforts to block even this minimal transparency. Maybe they think federal law enforcement is held in much higher regard than it actually is?

Matt Sablan said...

"And I also said the Memo SHOULD be released, but along with the Democratic Memo, you must’ve forgotten, lol."

-- Once Schiff does his homework, his memo can be released.

Chuck said...

Drago said...
Mike: "Where is Chuck anyway?"

If he had any shame he would be under the bed eating bag after bag of oreos.

In reality, he is probably awaiting the appropriate talking points from MSNBC and Dick Durbin.

Because, after all, when it comes to whom does one believe in DC, LLR Chuck comes down with both feet on the credibility of US troop slanderer Durbin.
2/2/18, 12:14 PM


I haven't yet posted on any comments page for this post, nor any other post relating to the release of the HPSCI Republican/Majority memo.

No one at this blog could possibly know what my opinions on that subject were.

Yet here I am being called out by name and personally attacked.

Althouse, you've got shitty control over the moderation of your commenters. I don't propose to take their shit in the form of their personal attacks, any more than you propose to take what you curiously regard as shit from me in the form of simple and straight questions based on your published writing.

madAsHell said...

Whoa!! I need to start reading faster. When I started reading comment number 1, there were 203 total comments. Now, it's up to 293 total comments.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I'm saving your gems, Inga. I will post them at a later date.

That one is definitely a keeper.”

Yes, you do that. Whatever will you people do when Mueller starts indicting Trump associates in earnest? The Papadopoulos incident opened the FBI counter intelligence investigation in July. Your Memo is a big nothingburger.

Fabi said...

Good points, Drago -- this is merely the tip of the iceberg.

mockturtle said...

We shall see if the left retains its love of the FBI when it is led by Tray Goudy.

Trey Gowdy did say he wanted to go back to working in law enforcement. I'm hoping it was a hint that he'd get either AG [dump Sessions] or FBI. He was an honest, hard working and ruthless federal prosecutor. I've been asking Trump for over a year now to appoint him.

Drago said...

Inga: "And I also said the Memo SHOULD be released, but along with the Democratic Memo, you must’ve forgotten, lol."

You wanted the dem memo released without letting the republicans even see it, much less go thru the established process for release of information, which the republican memo fully completed.

Then, when called out on that, the dems reluctantly allowed their memo to begin going thru the process.

Typical lefty. You help establish a procedure which your team requires the republicans to adhere to perfectly but you want it completely waived for your team.

Lewis Wetzel said...

The story was that McCabe was fired because he used a dirty trick to attack Trump. Namely, the NY Times printed a story that said the FBI & other intelligence sources confirmed links between the Russki's and the Trump campaign. McCabe went to Priebus & told him the story was BS. Priebus asked McCabe if he (McCabe) could say that publicly. McCabe demurred. A week later CNN headlined a story that Priebus had improperly asked the FBI to attack the NY Times story. McCabe was the unnamed source of the CNN story.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/01/29/new-book-mccabe-initiated-white-house-meeting-that-led-to-leak/

buwaya said...

" I wonder if THIS is the ultimate reason for the Mueller investigation."

One of them, yes.

Another is strictly political, in order to have material for partisan propaganda. We have seen the masses of material all this has created for the MSM Wurlitzer to hurl at the public.

The other is institutional preservation, to protect personnel, make it difficult to clean out the DOJ/FBI, not to mention the intelligence agencies.

Achilles said...

Inga said...
“Inga said...
I think if the White House doesn’t back down on this one and truly does go to war against the FBI, the DOJ, one half of the US, they will be making a massive error. More devastating than anything they’ve done before.”

And I also said the Memo SHOULD be released, but along with the Democratic Memo, you must’ve forgotten, lol.

I didn't forget your glaring hypocrisy. The democrats want to release a memo that nobody else has seen or verified sight unseen. Law be damned. You also said Schiff should break the law and "leak" it.

We know Stalinists don't really care about even and fair application of the law.

tim in vermont said...

Remember too that all of the stuff the NSA was gathering per these tainted warrants was selectively leaked to the press in ways to damage Trump. Not to mention, we still. don’t know who was doing all of these un-maskings. Who was using Samantha Powers’ identity to unmask this stuff that was then leaked to the press, since she denies it.

Drago said...

LLR and "Accidental Leftist" Chuck: "No one at this blog could possibly know what my opinions on that subject were"

Anyone who listens to any lefty talking head or democrat for more than 5 minutes knows PRECISELY what you are going to say.

But only EVERY SINGLE TIME.

When you work diligently for several years operationally aligning yourself with the dems at every turn you should not be surprised when we believe you.

Drago said...

mockturtle: "I'm hoping it was a hint that he'd get either AG [dump Sessions] or FBI. "

I'm thinking either Deputy Attorney General (helllloooo Rod Rosenstein getting more time with his family) or the open US Attorney job in South Carolina.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Althouse, you've got shitty control over the moderation of your commenters. I don't propose to take their shit in the form of their personal attacks, any more than you propose to take what you curiously regard as shit from me in the form of simple and straight questions based on your published writing.”

Nor should you take shit from them. Hand it back or fling it back) to them in spades. Don’t expect decency here, I certainly don’t. It’s Trumpland...for now. When this is all said and done, there will be much to throw in their faces. They won’t live down their President for decades.

tim in vermont said...

You know that if you ignore Inga, who doesn’t add anything original, the thread is much better.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...


"Do they kill themselves working? I doubt it. Do they worry where the next paycheck is coming from? Absolutely not. Do they miss any of their kids' little league games or school plays? Rarely I bet. I also bet they both believe in and love BIG Govt and the DEM party. And why wouldn't they?"

MLB has reported that the Washington Nationals have the best attendance figures of any major league team when it comes to weekday afternoon games. As a former DC resident, that surprises me not at all. Government workers have no problems either affording season tickets or getting off for day games. The crowds are sparser in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee and Houston.

Fabi said...

Chuck is having a really bad day.

Clyde said...

We already had heard a lot of this information, but it's nice to see it all neatly tied together and names named.

dreams said...

Here is this from John Hinderaker of PowerLine.

"The Intelligence Committee memo obviously outlines a major scandal that indicts principal figures in the FBI, including James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein, unless the latter two officials were unaware of the fraud that was being perpetrated on the federal court. Whether some of those involved should go to prison would require a careful examination of relevant federal statutes."

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/02/what-the-house-intelligence-committee-memo-says.php

Humperdink said...

So presumably this FISA warrant lead to "tapping" Michael Flynn's wires, which leads to him pleading guilty to lessor charges of lying to the FBI liar's club. Mueller mysteriously asks court to delay sentencing this week.

buwaya said...

"..leaves me wondering why on earth the agencies (and the Democrats) were so hysterical about it getting released."

Rosenstein, on an official document. A key in the lock, to a room filled with?

" They have done much, much worse things before. "

Not to a sitting President.

Howard said...

Blogger exiledonmainstreet said...
Howard said...
So many nothingburgers, so much time

What exactly do you consider a "nothingburger" Howard? The conspiracy to commit fraud? Perjury? Spying on political opponents?

Everything, all of it. Your just speculating like the MSM and the TDS left. This whole thing will result in no convictions on either side. However, it is a giant distraction that occupies the plebs while Rome continues to burn down from the inside.

Like Magic

Francisco D said...

" Althouse, you've got shitty control over the moderation of your commenters."

Chuck,

Are you asking Ann to censor people who disagree with you?

It is becoming increasingly obvious that you are an arrogant ass.

Rick said...

Don’t expect decency here, I certainly don’t.

Nor should you since you have none for anyone else.

Humperdink said...

lead = led

Quaestor said...

Inga and Chuck and Trumpit and Toothless and ARM and WaPo and NYT and MSNBC have told us over and over again that collusion with the Russians is grounds for impeachment. So how do we retroactively impeach Obama?

Achilles said...

Inga said...
“I'm saving your gems, Inga. I will post them at a later date.

That one is definitely a keeper.”

Yes, you do that. Whatever will you people do when Mueller starts indicting Trump associates in earnest? The Papadopoulos incident opened the FBI counter intelligence investigation in July. Your Memo is a big nothingburger.

Hillary took $145 million dollars from Russians.

Obama told the Russian Ambassador he would have more flexibility after the election.

Some low level Trump aid gets drunk at a bar and says something innocuous near an Australian Ambassador.

Guess which one of these is worthy of getting an investigation into "Collusion" according to our local Stalinist.

Unexpectedly.

langford peel said...

Mueller has on where to go. If he indicts Page and Manafort and other low level staffers in the hopes of flipping them he gets nothing. Because there is nothing to get. If they had anything to trade they would have done it already. It is not as if they were loyal soldiers. They would flip and sing in a minute. That they didn't

If he indicts Hope Hicks and Don Jr on bogus claims of "Lying" to the FBI when they gave Hillary and Huma a pass then Trump will just pardon them. He is not Bush who will let them fuck Scooter Libby and do nothing about it. Especially when they are his family and his closest associates. He will simply pardon them and say this was a partisan investigation that was ginned up to manufacture crimes just the way the manufactured the dossier to get the FISA warrant.

The American people would be alright with that. Not the loons and the crazies in the Democratic party but who cares what they think. They would not stand for the national anthem. They would not applaud a kid who put a flag on a vets grave. They would not show compassion to an American Black family who had their daughters murdered by filthy illegal immigrants. In fact they think illegals are more important than American citizens. There is no hope for them. They are lost not to be recovered. Let them rot.
Protect your own at all costs because that is what they will do.

Barack Obama weaponized the federal government against his political opponents. He made the new rules. We should play by those rules.

Howard said...

If the shit ever hit the fan, I'm handing Inga the shotgun

320Busdriver said...

Still debating whose diabolical plan to target political opponents was more audacious, these Federal turds, or the WI DA's in the John Doe(s)^2.

No one in WI has paid a price for spying on citizens without their knowledge using a ruse as a way to justify their corruption. Just sayin.

Francisco D said...

I may be wrong, but I don't think that the Carter Page FISA warrant has anything to do with Michael Flynn being charged with lying to the FBI.

We will see. There is a lot more info that needs to see the light of day.

Let the sun shine!

Kevin said...

Thought I'd stop by to see what was happening.

Inga off the rails: check.

Chuck ignoring the content of the post to post about civility bullshit: check.

All is proceeding as I have foreseen.

buwaya said...

"However, it is a giant distraction that occupies the plebs while Rome continues to burn down from the inside."

But Rome must burn.

Meade said...

"Obama was spying on a lot of people and that is going to be what he is remembered for."

“Turns out I’m really good at [spying on] people,” Obama said quietly, “Didn’t know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine.”

Inga...Allie Oop said...

” The democrats want to release a memo that nobody else has seen or verified sight unseen. Law be damned. You also said Schiff should break the law and "leak" it.”

Wrong. The House Intel committee voted to release the Democrat Memo to the House intel Committee Wednesday night, they’ve seen it. Republicans voted to keep it secret.

Drago said...

Every potential charge against anyone, particularly fake charges like Flynn and pappydappydopolous, are now going to be relitigated with the knowledge that the entire premise of the investigation and all the "fruit of the poison tree" aspects are going to come out.

There is a reason that the FISA Judge (Contrereas) who also just happened to be the same judge overseeing the Flynn case (gee, what a coincidence...lots of those huh?) was forced to recuse himself 2 weeks ago and then, suddenly, just 2 days ago, the Mueller team requests a delay in the Flynn sentencing.

Yep.

Nothing to see here.

Nothing at all.

Clyde said...

AllenS said...
Remember, this is one small memo, of many more memos to come. The plot thickens. I wonder what Mueller is thinking about right now.


Probably something on the order of "Which countries don't have extradition treaties with the U.S.?"

exhelodrvr1 said...

"I'm better at spying than any of the spies that work for me"

Bob Boyd said...

Questions:
Is there any reason to believe this was the first and only occasion a FISA warrant was fraudulently obtained. Will they all now have to be reviewed? Who else have they spied on and for what purpose?
What about coerced testimony or convictions resulting from such surveillance? Tainted?
What about Mueller's case against Manafort or Padapoulos? Did those arise out of this tainted warrant?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“If the shit ever hit the fan, I'm handing Inga the shotgun.”

Thanks Howard! But I’ll need a semi automatic.

Meade said...

"Althouse, you've got shitty control over the moderation of your commenters. I don't propose to take their shit in the form of their personal attacks, any more than you propose to take what you curiously regard as shit from me in the form of simple and straight questions based on your published writing."

Chuck,

Out.

dreams said...

"Whatever will you people do when Mueller starts indicting Trump associates in earnest?"

"The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People"

Yeah, the trivial Mueller trying to be earnest for trivial people.

rcocean said...

"If he indicts Hope Hicks and Don Jr on bogus claims of "Lying" to the FBI when they gave Hillary and Huma a pass then Trump will just pardon them."

The second Mueller ends his investigation, Trump should pardon everyone who committed a "Process Crime".

And then fire Rosenstein.

Quaestor said...

Flynn should immediately withdraw his guilty plea. If he acquiesces to this travesty all the guarantees instituted by the Wiretap Act are dishwater.

cubanbob said...

Lets wait a few more days to see what the Democrat memo has. It will probably be a load of smoke to cover the obvious criminality but it won't be able to mask the truth. Then its time for Sessions to unrecuse himself and fire Rosenstein and Mcabe along with Stozk and several others. Then start the prosecutions immediately including that of Mueller and his team.

readering said...

Talk about misrepresentation. Everyone had been calling it a four page memo but it's really only 3 pages.

Lars Porsena said...

Blogger Tim in Vermont said...
You know that if you ignore Inga, who doesn’t add anything original, the thread is much better.

-----------------------------------------
Not only that but you will never convince her that the president is not a traitor.
Just like the true believers in France at the end of the nineteenth century.
When confronted with the evidence they still could never believe Dreyfus did not betray his
country. They could not grasp the fact that the army, bureaucracy, newspapers, and all the
'best' elements of society could be wrong and twisted in their thinking.

rcocean said...

FBI corruption isn't new.

Remember all those "LOST" FBI files that ended up in the Clinton White House.

FBI Files detailing background investigations of Republican Pols for Security clearance.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Nor should you since you have none for anyone else.”

Stop your frackin’ whining you pansy ass. I give back what is thrown at me. I have bigger testicles, as a post menopausal grandma, than you do as a male of undermined age.

Drago said...

Inga; "Wrong. The House Intel committee voted to release the Democrat Memo to the House intel Committee Wednesday night, they’ve seen it. Republicans voted to keep it secret."

Sad little lies.

The process is for all members of the committee to review the document. On Tuesday night the dems demanded the republicans vote on the dem memo which none had seen.

The dems finally, FINALLY, gave it to them to review and then it was voted on the next day.

The next step is to make the memo available to the entire house membership. Just like the republican memo was....when only a few democrats even bothered to read it.

Then the memo gets voted out to send to the white house which has 5 days to review.

NOTE to GWash: When the memo gets sent to the executive branch, the executive branch agencies, which includes the FBI and DOJ, review it, generate their recommendations and then forward to the Chief Executive, the President.

GWash is a bit "rusty" on all that yucky ancient "Constitution stuff".

Humperdink said...

Howard: "If the shit ever hit the fan, I'm handing Inga the shotgun"

Are you playing Scrabble? What the heck does this even mean?

THE shotgun? Is there only one shotgun among you folks?

This a classic comment.


tim in vermont said...

They didn’t redact any names, and it turns out to be the same redoubtable little crew of Clinton fixers.

Fabi said...

"Republicans voted to keep it secret."

That's false. The vote will be held on Monday. You can't blame anyone but the dems.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Talk about misrepresentation. Everyone had been calling it a four page memo but it's really only 3 pages.”

Short on substance too.

rcocean said...

DOJ/FBI had "Grave concerns"

They'd better provide some proof, other than CYA, as to why they opposed release of memo.

gspencer said...

Conclusion - Democrats are the enemy within.

320Busdriver said...

In insurance, you get what you pay for.

Rank and file FBI got to be PISSED.

rcocean said...

Short on substance too.

Yeah, its a "nothingburger" but "Devastating to national security" and MUST Be rebutted by the Democrats Memo.

Cause its nothing.

tim in vermont said...

That's false. The vote will be held on Monday.

Well, you are talking facts, they are talking “alternative facts.”

Jim at said...

Thanks Howard! But I’ll need a semi automatic.

Make your best move.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Lars Porsena, I never thought of comparing this to the Dreyfus trial, but you are right. The same blind hatred motivates the Democrat rank and file and twists their thinking. Not the people in charge, so much - they know damn well what they are doing and what they are guilty of.

tim in vermont said...

I don’t see why anybody should care that the FBI abused the NSA at the behest of the Clinton campaign to spy on a political opponent. It’s a nothingburger!

langford peel said...

I call him Rothstein because it is a "Godfather" call back.

Iceberg....Goldberg...it's all the same shit.

"Felonia Von Pantsuit is a pimp. She never could've out-fought the Donald. But I didn't know until this day that it was Urkel all along."

Jim at said...

Conclusion - Democrats are the enemy within.

Yes. They are.
And they should be treated as such.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Wrong. The House Intel committee voted to release the Democrat Memo to the House intel Committee Wednesday night, they’ve seen it. Republicans voted to keep it secret."
They subjected the rease of Schiff's memo to the same delay Schiff demanded the Nunes' memo be subjected to. It's not like this is secret info, Inga. There times when you appear to base your opinion on ignorance. Sometimes that is called "bigotry."

Humperdink said...

Francisco D responded: I may be wrong, but I don't think that the Carter Page FISA warrant has anything to do with Michael Flynn being charged with lying to the FBI."

I could also be wrong, but it is my understanding the following occurred: Flynn was in the his White House office when he was "interviewed" by the FIB. His responses were compared to emails/phone calls obtained by FIB. This would require a warrant.

David53 said...

This stuff is spooking the market big time. All my stocks are down except Amazon which is up 4%. Yea Amazon! Please use the Althouse Amazon portal to make all your online purchases.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Inga said: "Thanks Howard! But I’ll need a semi automatic."

Just like the Bernie Bro who tried to murder Republican Congressmen on a baseball field this summer?

I'd be wary, and rather ashamed, of using that particular figure of speech, given that incident.

And many of us on the right are very good shots.

Achilles said...

dreams said...
Here is this from John Hinderaker of PowerLine.

"The Intelligence Committee memo obviously outlines a major scandal that indicts principal figures in the FBI, including James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein, unless the latter two officials were unaware of the fraud that was being perpetrated on the federal court. Whether some of those involved should go to prison would require a careful examination of relevant federal statutes."


I will say it again. It is the last one they are really shitting their pants over. As soon as Andrew McCarthy or some other halfway honest person is appointed to replace Rosenstein it is over for the Stalinists.

That person will review the Mueller investigation and notice the tactics they used to charge Flynn were evil at best. They will also review the indictment of Manafort for activities that occurred while he was working for the PODESTA group and notice he didn't indict a half dozen other people that committed the same crime.

Mueller will then be fired.

Then another special prosecutor will be appointed. This one to investigate the obvious corruption that has infested the FBI/DOJ.

That is when the constitutional crisis begins and the civil war the democrats/leftists have been waging for decades comes out into the open.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“You know that if you ignore Inga, who doesn’t add anything original, the thread is much better.””

LMAO. It’s hilarious to hear you dopes give yourselves credit for posting “original” thoughts. I’m happy to tell you that this is yet another delusion of yours. The stuff you regurgitate comes straight out of right wing rags and conspiracy theory sites, almost word for word. You are simply too dishonest to post your sources.

Balfegor said...

Re: Tim in Vermont:

I don’t see why anybody should care that the FBI abused the NSA at the behest of the Clinton campaign to spy on a political opponent. It’s a nothingburger!

Not a nothingburger but be honest -- is there anything in the memo that was surprising to you? Did it change the total mix of information here? Well, maybe a little in that it provided confirmation on some points that had previously been unconvincingly denied (e.g. that the Steele dossier was used to support the FISA application, and that absent the dossier, the application would not have been made). And of course, people will continue to deny that regardless of what the memo says. There's nothing earthshattering here. It' doesn't move the parameters of the debate, really.

tim in vermont said...

There times when you appear to base your opinion on ignorance.

You are wasting your time. She’s not even purblind, she’s willfully obtuse. It’s a strategy. If she made an honest attempt to understand your arguments, she might weaken in her resolve. It’s like D-Day. Nobody is going to say about the guys manning the machine gun nest, “The seem like nice fellows, let’s go talk this out.”

They have decided what they think years ago, which is that they want the Democrats in power and nothing else matters.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Stocks down by 500 points.

tim in vermont said...

is there anything in the memo that was surprising to you?

Well, if all of America had yours and my low opinion of the FBI and the DoJ and the IRS, and the FEC, etc...

tim in vermont said...

Trump approval at 49%

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“-- is there anything in the memo that was surprising to you? Did it change the total mix of information here?”

Nope. Just as I expected.

“There's nothing earthshattering here. It' doesn't move the parameters of the debate, really.”

Exactly.

Fernandinande said...

I think we should let some mean dogs run loose around any suspected miscreants and see who gets bitten.

A trial by ordeal, but now with ❤Science❤

tim in vermont said...

Generic ballot lead down from 18 to 2 for Democrats.

Humperdink said...

Inga said: "Stocks down by 500 points."

UVXY up 25%. Depends on your perspective.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Inga said...
Stocks down by 500 points.


Destroying the Great Pumpkin in order to save the Great Pumpkin.

Clyde said...

Fiat justitia ruat cælum: Let justice be done though the heavens fall.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I would just like to point out that the dossier that the FBI relied on to get a FISA warrant was so flimsy that Mother Jones refused to publish it.

Meade said...

"And the [NYT is] now calling to ask for their [policy position] back."

Achilles said...

Inga said...
“If the shit ever hit the fan, I'm handing Inga the shotgun.”

Thanks Howard! But I’ll need a semi automatic.

Hmmm... I love it when leftists start talking dirty.

tim in vermont said...

All they have is that the stock market has dropped a little to levels that were still undreamed of six months ago. #SAD

Fabi said...

"Stocks [sic] down by 500 points."

DJIA still up 5,500 points since Trump's inauguration.

Matt Sablan said...

"Nope. Just as I expected."

-- You knew Comey testified that the dossier was salacious and unverified at the same time he was briefing it to Trump without telling him about the flaws with it?

tim in vermont said...

If there were no corrections in the stock market after a run up like we had, the laws of economics would have to be re-written.

Rusty said...

Howard said...
"If the shit ever hit the fan, I'm handing Inga the shotgun"
I'm getting the impression here that even heavily armed you're more a danger to each other than anyone else.
So. Like. Go nuts.

langford peel said...


"Stocks down by 500 points."

Liberals applaud when bad things happen to America.

Even when it is against their own interests. They would rather that the ecomony tank and their 401K's drop by thousands instead of giving Donald Trump any credit for helping the economy.

When good things happen the sit on their hands. Just as they did at the SOTU.

Chuck said...

Francisco D said...
" Althouse, you've got shitty control over the moderation of your commenters."

Chuck,

Are you asking Ann to censor people who disagree with you?


What was there, from me, to disagree with? I hadn't posted a single substantive comment about this post! This is but my second posting on this page! And most particularly, I haven't posted any comments on the subject of the HPSCI memos.

This has nothing to do with anybody "disagreeing" with me. My God, how refreshing it would be for everybody, perhaps even including Laurence Meade, if certain people here simply disagreed with me, instead of imagining what my opinions are on any given subject, and criticizing me for holding biased/illegitimate/corrupt opinions, before I've told anyone what my opinions really are on a given subject.

tim in vermont said...

They expected that Clinton campaign operatives provided all of the info that was used to spy on Trump?

This is how they think government is supposed to work?

These guys are some real constitutional scholars!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Poll of the week
Gallup this week released 2017 job approval ratings for President Trump in all 50 states. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in there. But one data point seemed to catch people’s attention more than others: Trump managed only a 39 percent approval rating in Texas; 54 percent of Texans said they disapproved of Trump.

Those numbers are pretty bad — worse than his ratings in Nevada and Arizona, more typical battleground states. Indeed, Trump’s net approval rating (approval rating minus disapproval rating) in ruby-red Texas (-15 percentage points) was essentially the same as his net approval rating nationally (-18 points).”

538 blog

Humperdink said...

ARM: Owing to your position on disARMing America, are you on board with Howard and Inga going to the mattresses with shotguns and semi autos? Hoping you will belly up and chastise their violent proclivities.

Seeing Red said...

Via Rantburg on Flynn:

Maybe this will see the light of day or not but


#39 There was an article on one of the political blogs last week or the week before in which it was stated that Flynn's "interview" by the FBI, Strzok and another agent, was an ambush. They appeared at the White House, unannounced, without an appointment and did not state to Flynn what the interview was about. He thought it was so innocuous that he did not legal counsel present, although it appears the White House counsel joined at some point.

Combine that with the revelation that the 302's were falsified and misrepresented the statements that Flynn made, shows that the entire episode was a hit job on Flynn and entrapment.

Gahrie said...

Althouse, you've got shitty control over the moderation of your commenters

I say you punish her by refusing to come here anymore.

Drago said...

"Bowe Bergdahl Republican" Chuck: "if certain people here simply disagreed with me, instead of imagining what my opinions are on any given subject,..."

Yes, our famous mind-reader of Trump and Trump associates has decided that perhaps one trying to imagine what the opinions or thoughts of someone else happen to be is not really "cricket".

LOL

Wow. Demanding special privileges for himself to do what he laments in others.

Just like our lefties. Just. Like. Them.

You should feel free to draw obvious conclusions.

eric said...

This is a big nothing burger.

400 posts later.

Yep.....

Lewis Wetzel said...

Wouldn't the FISA warrant request have to identify an actual crime that was under investigation? I'd like to know what crime the FBI said that it was investigating.

PackerBronco said...

There's nothing earthshattering here. It' doesn't move the parameters of the debate, really.

Certainly not the parameters of the debate, but it does change the parameters of the action. Now the problem is deciding what to do next. You can't just ignore the memo which means you have to do an serious investigation of the FBI. And the principal people are going to have to testify under oath about what they knew and when they knew it and what they did.

In other words, the memo is going to necessitate full and complete and public disclosure of all of the facts. This is something that the FBI and the DOJ have resisted and delayed. That can't happen anymore.

That's a huge game changer.

Lyle Smith said...

Who goes to jail? Is any one getting executed?

Seeing Red said...

The stock market run has been over a year (for me) it's about time. I'm sure they don't like this news, either.

Francisco D said...

Inga noted: "Stocks down by 500 points."

Are you happy about that news and cheering it on?

Actually a small correction may be overdue. It's not the bad news you were hoping for.

Luke Lea said...

I'm wondering if there was evidence presented in the FISE application based on intelligence gathered directly from Russian sources via high tech surveillance, which was an important part of the reason the application was approved? That would explain a lot.

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