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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Drago said...

Inga: "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"

LOL

This sounds familiar.....

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/hillary-clinton-pledges-to-turn-texas-blue-in-houston-visit-9337877

https://www.npr.org/2016/10/26/499483811/battleground-texas-could-hillary-clinton-actually-win-the-lone-star-state

Those were in those heady, heady Hillary in a 400 electoral vote landslide days!

Hillary: Now, I know what you're thinking: with my use of Putin-assisted oppo research and obama corruption of the FBI/DOJ/NSA/CIA, why aren't I 50 points ahead??!!

Chuck said...

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.


I have never once written anything like that.

I want to say this, to rub it in and make this as uncomfortable for you as I possibly can, you liar:

I think very little of the whole "collusion" idea. I cannot imagine how the Department of Justice is ever going to nail Trump on anything like "collusion." And I have written things similar to that several times before.

What I have written in addition is that I'd be personally delighted if Trump does get indicted, because he is such a miserable, lying bastard. But I only hope that there is an indictment if the case is so drop-dead solid that even Sean Hannity has to admit Trump's guilt.

Matt Sablan said...

"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."

-- If he can prove the 302s were falsified, then... yeah. Not Good for the FBI

Meade said...

"Stocks down by 500 points."

Thanks for the breaking news alert. Good start to the correction I'm looking for. I'm thinking Dow somewhere around 23500 will be my next BUY opportunity to do my part to make America great again.

320Busdriver said...

Whats Obama got to say?

Oh, thats right, it's a few more hours til the news comes on.

langford peel said...

Poll of the week:

"There is no path for an electoral college victory for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton has a 98% probability of winning the election."

Seeing Red said...

I didn't know Steele started feeding parts of his dossier to the FBI in early July.

Humperdink said...

The market is down. No mystery here. It called uncertainty.

One needs to break a few eggs to MAGO (Make America's Greatest Omelet).

Drago said...

PackerBronco: "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."

Prepare yourself for the activities and reports coming out of the House Judiciary Committee under Goodlatte and the Senate Judiciary Report under Grassley.

Then really prepare yourself for the coming massive report out by Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

Big Mike said...

Note to Inga and Howard. Please do not talk about responding to criticism with shotguns or semiautomatics. Not even in jest. You folks at the far left of the political center are already too prone to resort to violence.

dreams said...

"Stocks down by 500 points."

Yeah, but what does Paul Krugman think? Does he think it's a buying opportunity for all those liberals who have been waiting for a correction to get back in the market so as to reap the benefits of the Trump economy?

Drago said...

LLR Chuck is outraged, OUTRAGED(!!!), that anyone would dare presume to know his thoughts before he writes something.....

....and then he proceeds to do precisely as predicted!

LOL

LakeLevel said...

Predictions:
1. Mueller very quickly winds down "Collusion" investigation and quietly fades from public life.
2. Very few, if any, top FBI officials get indicted for any of this.

1 and 2 are not connected in any way. No sirree.

Nonapod said...

Wonder if this topic will break 600 posts?

Bay Area Guy said...

Comey is talking smack on Twitter:

"That’s it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.

10:47 AM - Feb 2, 2018"

This leaking loon inadvertently upended the Hillary campaign, by rigging the exoneration, but trashing her as "extremely reckless." And now, the American version of Inspector Jacques Clouseau is now favoring us with his opinions......

GWash said...

packerbronco- the 'complete' investigation you are suggesting will be held behind closed doors... and this i think will be the result (just like all of the previous hysterical investigations like benghazi etc (you know them all))... there really was nothing wrong done here... this investigation began before the dreaded dossier (in which most of the points have been verified)..
except to you true believers here this is a tempest in a teapot and you really should wait for others to chime in before rushing and dusting off the guillotine..
you all should review how you get a fisa warrant, how many different people have to sign off on it and remember that nunes voted to reup the fisa procedure just 3 weeks ago...

Quaestor said...

Chuck wrote: I have never once written anything like that.

Chuck has told us that one should not believe serial liars, therefore I hold him guilty until proven innocent.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Note to Inga and Howard. Please do not talk about responding to criticism with shotguns or semiautomatics. Not even in jest. You folks at the far left of the political center are already too prone to resort to violence.”

Note back to BM, NO ONE DID.

Rusty said...

Inga said. ""Stocks down by 500 points."

And I'm STILL making money.

Here's the thing. If there's nothing to this memo why did everyone on the left try so hard to prevent it from seeing the light of day?
Hmmm?

Anonymous said...

Chuck: I want to say this, to rub it in and make this as uncomfortable for you as I possibly can...

TMI.

Humperdink said...

"Wonder if this topic will break 600 posts?"

TTR could do that all by himself.

Drago said...

GWash: "you all should review how you get a fisa warrant..."

Thanks for the "inside scoop" and "insight" there, little miss 3/5ths-er.

Jersey Fled said...

Let's keep in mind that there is more to come. First, the handling of the Clinton email server investgation, and then, the Uranium One deal.

Strangely, all seem to include the same cast of characters.

Drago said...

BAG: "This leaking loon inadvertently upended the Hillary campaign, by rigging the exoneration, but trashing her as "extremely reckless." And now, the American version of Inspector Jacques Clouseau is now favoring us with his opinions......"

Indeed. Comey is Clouseau, and LLR Chuck is Inspector Javert.

Murph said...

exhelodrvr1 said...
"I'm better at spying than any of the spies that work for me"

Crap. You beat me to it! :-)

Drago said...

Jersey: "Strangely, all seem to include the same cast of characters"

That's just a completely innocent coincidence!!!eleventy!1!!!11! H8ter!

PackerBronco said...

Blogger GWash said...
packerbronco- the 'complete' investigation you are suggesting will be held behind closed doors...


That might have been true a month ago, I think politically that is not going to be the case going forward.

The FBI overplayed their hand this week. By going all-in to squelch this memo, they have no credibility in arguing for closed-door hearings. Obviously there will be some information that will remain classified, but the FBI people are now in the cross hairs and they will have to be forthcoming in answering the memo.

Kyzer SoSay said...

Actually, Wall Street is probably just reacting to the news that the FBI and Obama's DOJ, once thought to be mostly honest pillars of integrity, are proving to be just as corrupt and politically involved as Trump has been claiming they are. The kinds of revelations in this memo, and the revelations we can now definitely expect in the documents yet to be released, would be enough to shake anyone's confidence.

Running score sees the leftists reduced to snark and old, disproven talking points, with a few moderate whiners saying the memo is news, but not earth-shattering.

But it is, and soon we will find out just how fractured the earth has become. This memo confirms lots of what has previously only been speculated about, and hopefully some folks in high positions on the Left end up in jail because of it. It's better than they deserve.

Anonymous said...

GWash @12:12 and 1:48 PM:

Bit early in the day for getting into the heavy drinking, isn't it?

dreams said...

"Then really prepare yourself for the coming massive report out by Inspector General Michael Horowitz."

Yeah, I'm hoping he's an honest cop.

Rabel said...

How many times were we assured that Christopher Steele was a respected former British intelligence agent whose integrity was beyond question? That narrative was a large part of the justification for accepting the validity of the dossier. Now we learn that he was a fanatical never-Trumper on the Clinton and FBI payroll who was fired by the the liars and leakers at the FBI for lying and leaking.

Night Owl said...

Inga keeps saying that we don't know what mueller knows, and she's right, we don't know. So he needs to tell us. If he can't  conduct this investigation  professionally, which means not illegally leaking to the press in an attempt to harm a sitting president, then he needs to reveal all he has.

I want to know on what basis they are destroying our confidence in our govt institutions. I suspect this is  a case built on nothing but sheer hatred;  mueller needs to prove me wrong. Release everything!

Unknown said...

Why wouldn't the markets be rattled? The Memo basically demonstrates that the US Justice system is seriously compromised, like the justice system of a third world country. That's a scary thing--if the FBI can lie and impugn and try to overthrow the President, then what is stopping them from lying in an attempt to harm your company?

Inga is gloating, but people had trust in the US justice system... and Inga's pals destroyed it. And she's proud of that fact.

--Vance

Gahrie said...

LLR Chuck is Inspector Javert.

He's actually Captain Queeg.

Big Mike said...

Note to Inga, are you lying to us? Or to yourself?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“As I have said repeatedly, I also remain 100 percent confident in Special Counsel Robert Mueller,” Gowdy wrote on Twitter. “The contents of this memo do not — in any way — discredit his investigation.””

Drago said...

dreams: "Yeah, I'm hoping he's an honest cop"

We'll get a sense of how powerful the report from Horowitz is going to be by how the democrats and the LLR Chuck's of the world begin to organize their "Protect the Dems/Deep State" pre-release prep activities.

Remember, Horowitz has been the source for so much of what has already come out, including all the text messages. He does appear to be an honest broker.

Again, it will be a real tell if the lefties and LLR Chuck's begin attacking him prior to release.

Bay Area Guy said...

Release the IG Report!

Release Adam Schiff's sphincter muscle!

Release the deposition transcript of Christopher Steele!

Steele is a witness in a federal civil action filed by a Russian dude who claims that he was libeled by the infamous Steele Dossier.

PackerBronco said...

It's interesting how liberals on this site and news outlets like CNN were all-in on the Wolff tabloid book but when it comes to this memo, it's: "wait, that's unverified!", "we can't trust that!", etc.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

The bizarre thing here is that Nunes and the Great Pumpkin are pissing all over what had been a relatively good week for the Pumpkin, by his standards. Spooking the stock market is not what the middle class, who didn't save enough to park their money in bonds, wants to see, hell no.

John Pickering said...

Here as usual we see befuddled Ann and her tribe, standing shoulder to shoulder with Mike Flynn and Carter Page, patriots and loyal Americans, against the FBI and the Justice Department, spies and agents of the left. It's like, she's never met a G-man.

Did you all see that various heads of the Russian intelligence services have been visiting Washington recently to visit CIA director? That's because the US has legitimate reasons
to cooperate with the Russians, Pompeo said.

As Ann infers, there's nothing wrong with Russian involvement that wouldn't be solved by lining Rosenstein, Wray and Mueller up at the firing squad. Russians are white people, after all. That's what matters to the tribe.


Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Trey Gowdy said...
As I have said repeatedly, I also remain 100 percent confident in Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The contents of this memo do not - in any way - discredit his investigation.


When you've lost Trey Gowdy ...

Rabel said...

Jeff Sessions on the memo:

"No department is perfect."

Jeff,

Out.

Mike Sylwester said...

Yancey Ward at 12:51 PM
the purpose of the memo is to force Wray and Rosenstein to stop obstructing this process by stonewalling and slow-walking information that has been rightfully requested by the oversight committees. ... 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.

The public no longer has to depend on Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller, as he drags out his bogus, disgraceful "investigation" until after the 2018 elections.

This memorandum lays a foundation for the public's understanding of the RussiaGate hoax. Future memoranda will gradually add more elements of the story.

Mueller's endless "investigation" is becoming largely irrelevant to the public, which wants to know whether Russia meddled in the election.

Mueller originally focused on whitewashing the FBI and his BFF "Crazy Comey the Leaker", but now Comey is reduced to just his third goal, which is to prosecute and imprison some scapegoat (someone like Scooter Libby) in order to show that the FBI's investigation was valid and worthwhile.

tim in vermont said...

This is a big nothing burger.


One campaign using the NSA to spy on the other campaign is a big nothing burger.

“Reject first! Ask rhetorical questions later!

Kevin said...

Stocks down by 500 points.

Because the jobs report is so good it indicates interest rates will start rising.

Thank you for playing.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Hillary "If I knew then what I know now, I would certainly have handled this differently. But I'm very glad they came forward with this."

Achilles said...

Inga said...

"Stocks down by 500 points."

They have probably realized that the democrats/leftists have a choice:

1. Allow their leaders to go to jail peacefully.

2. Civil war and political exile for a generation.

They are taking a guess at which option you guys are leaning towards.

GWash said...


the onlyest republican congressman to ACTUALLY READ the intelligence behind the fake memo, trey gowdey, you remember the benghazi crusader... has come out and stated:

'As I have said repeatedly, I also remain 100 percent confident in Special Counsel Robert Mueller. T
he contents of this memo do not - in any way - discredit his investigation.'

Release the democratic memo... lets have a contest and see which one is more truthful...

tim in vermont said...

As Ann infers, there’s nothing wrong with Russian involvement that wouldn’t be solved by lining Rosenstein, Wray and Mueller up at the firing squad. Russians are white people, after all. That’s what matters to the tribe.

Racism! It’s all about racism! We should be at war with Russia people! War! The eighties called and they sent us their foreign policy!

Drago said...

Inga: "“As I have said repeatedly, I also remain 100 percent confident in Special Counsel Robert Mueller,” Gowdy wrote on Twitter. “The contents of this memo do not — in any way — discredit his investigation.””

That is quite specifically and technically correct. And a very very very smart thing to say if one were to ever be considered as a potential replacement for a certain DOJ employee....(named Rod Rosenstein).

Mueller had no role in the FISA process and he was appointed lawfully by Rosenstein to his position.

The Nunes memo and the House Intelligence committee is specifically targeting abuse of the FISA process.

The House Judiciary Committee (under Goodlatte) has responsibility for oversight of the entire Justice Department.

The Senate Judiciary Committee (under Grassley) has responsibility for oversight over the federal court processes used by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Office of Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, is the internal DOJ watchdog.

Since there appears to be so much going on in so many places by the obama holdover partisans, it is going to take a very methodical approach to unwind some of the key threads.

In the days and weeks ahead, simply pay attention to what those specific committees are asking about, who they are asking to interview, the timing of those interviews etc.

There does appear to be a defined approach and "division of labor" amongst those committees over what each will be investigating.

The first thing you notice is that there is no overlap, so it's an efficient operation. And that kind of non-overlap takes some coordination with those political guys.

tim in vermont said...

lets have a contest and see which one is more truthful...

Reject first, ask rhetorical questions later. Is there any doubt about which one you will find “truthful”?

readering said...

News report of Sessions comments at event today:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday went off-script during a speech to praise Rod Rosenstein shortly before the release of a GOP-authored memo reportedly targeting the deputy attorney general. During his remarks at a Department of Justice event on sex-trafficking issues, Sessions thanked Rosenstein and Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, saying, “Those two—Rod and Rachel—are Harvard graduates, they’re experienced lawyers. Rod had 27 years in the department. Rachel’s had a number of years in the department previously and so they both represent the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the department.”

Matt Sablan said...

It doesn't discredit Mueller's investigation. I mean, we knew there was no obstruction from the word go.

buwaya said...

So far the markets this week have lost me the furnishings budget for our Spanish flat.

GWash said...

isnt the IG an obama holdover?...would you trust his final analysis? even if it exonerated justice and the fbi?

Drago said...

GWash: "Release the democratic memo... lets have a contest and see which one is more truthful..."

Are you specifically calling for the established process to be jettisoned and just release the dem memo?

Which wouldn't surprise me.

Dems don't usually expect to have to follow the laws they pass for others.

Big Mike said...

So we need to wait for more. We're told there's something missing but not given the missing information.

I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for it, Professor. Reading what Schiff and his Democrats wrote conjures up a used car salesman in a flashy sport coat grinning evilly as he telld me to trust him.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...
What I have written in addition is that I'd be personally delighted if Trump does get indicted, because he is such a miserable, lying bastard. But I only hope that there is an indictment if the case is so drop-dead solid that even Sean Hannity has to admit Trump's guilt.

That was completely unexpected.

People should feel ashamed that they even thought they could guess what Chuck was thinking.

Chuck is still avoiding the topic of the post.

Unexpectedly.

Matt Sablan said...

"isnt the IG an obama holdover?"

-- Would I trust him? Maybe; let's see if the conclusions drawn from the facts are reasonable. Though, Obama did have a nasty habit of firing IGs who dared investigate him.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

I want to know on what basis they are destroying our confidence in our govt institutions. I suspect this is a case built on nothing but sheer hatred; mueller needs to prove me wrong. Release everything!

2/2/18, 1:57 PM

It's not blind hatred on their part. They want ever-expanding power and they will do anything to keep it. The only reason they hate Trump is because he threatens their elite status, their perks and privileges. Not to mention open borders, which will ensure Democrat rule and the continuation of the status quo.

Does anybody really think it's about pussy-grabbing, or Trump saying shithole countries, or any of the things they pretend to be offended by? Oh, that stuff upsets their dim bulb voters, so the media harps on those things (CNN and MSNBC know full well how stupid their viewers are) but the people in power want to maintain their power. Trump upset the apple cart.

The astounding thing is that their fierce resistance and attempts to destroy him have only pushed him further to the right.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Blogger Big Mike said...
“Note to Inga and Howard. Please do not talk about responding to criticism with shotguns or semiautomatics. Not even in jest. You folks at the far left of the political center are already too prone to resort to violence.”

Blogger Inga said...
“Note back to BM, NO ONE DID.”

BloggerBig Mike said...
“Note to Inga, are you lying to us? Or to yourself?”
——————————————-
Get a grip, BM. Don’t be a hysterical ninny. And don’t lie.

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

Blogger Inga said...
“Thanks Howard! But I’ll need a semi automatic.

2/2/18, 1:15 PM

Robert Cook said...

"So far, not a single Democrat or leftist commentator here at Althouse, aside from our lovely host, seems to think that weaponizing the FBI into just another peice of the Democrat campaign is a big deal."

Of course it's a big deal, but I just assume as a given that both parties and every presidential administration does this all the time.

tim in vermont said...

I guess people on the left thought that the whole case against Strzok, Ohr, McCabe, etc, would be laid out in four pages.


We still don’t know who unmasked all of those Trump associated names using a false identity, per the testimony of Samantha Powers. We just know that to get the data for that unmasking, Clinton campaign operatives were involved in hoodwinking the NSA.

Tiny piece of the overall puzzle.

GWash said...

no, release the memo just like the other... see if trump has the balls to be 'fair and balance'.. my guess not... cause this is all smoke and mirrors.... and mueller moves on... who's next to fall from the trump gang?

Meade said...

gspencer said...
"Conclusion - Democrats are the enemy within."

Democracy Dies In Darkness of Democrats

readering said...

From news report:

In a Wall Street Journal review of more than 7,000 text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, the newspaper found “no evidence of a conspiracy against Mr. Trump.” The controversial texts that express a “distaste for Mr. Trump” only constitute a “fraction” of the conversations, the paper reported. Rather, the majority of the texts represent “day-to-day workplace trials” at the FBI and how they both struggled to navigate their personal and professional lives amid news-making events within and around the agency.

tim in vermont said...

I just assume as a given that both parties and every presidential administration does this all the time.

And it’s better if nothing is done about it!

Matt Sablan said...

"no, release the memo just like the other..."

-- Through a several weeks long process of vetting and accepting critics edits?

dreams said...

As to the stock market, session lows. Buyers waiting until Monday, at least.

Drago said...

GWash: "isnt the IG an obama holdover?...would you trust his final analysis? even if it exonerated justice and the fbi"

Hmmm."

It has been thanks to Michael Horowitz that we know as much as we do about how the FBI and DOJ have behaved improperly. He's the one who found the "missing" texts that the premier law enforcement agency in the world "lost".

Witness demotions, firings, retirements, etc.

It sounds like "exoneration" is already out the window. I think what you may be shooting for is, uh, just a few bad apples that are already gone so lets just move on!

Matt Sablan said...

Readering: Is that WSJ article from before or after the texts with Page and Stzork discussed how to avoid having their communications monitored?

Kevin said...

“Those two—Rod and Rachel—are Harvard graduates, they’re experienced lawyers. Rod had 27 years in the department. Rachel’s had a number of years in the department previously and so they both represent the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the department.”

Let's dissect:

Those two—Rod and Rachel—are Harvard graduates

they’re experienced lawyers.

Rod had 27 years in the department.

Rachel’s had a number of years in the department previously

and so they both represent the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the department.”

So, all he could say about them was they both went to Harvard a long time ago? Talk about damning with faint praise.

Drago said...

dreams: "As to the stock market, session lows. Buyers waiting until Monday, at least."

Looks like Inga and the lefties are lining up to pull an "Election Night Krugman".

Quick bit of advice: Never go Full Election Night Krugman.

tim in vermont said...

So, release the memo just like the other... see if trump has the balls to be ‘fair and balance’.. my guess not... cause this is all smoke and mirrors.... and mueller moves on... who’s next to fall from the trump gang?

Reject first, ask rhetorical questions later.

Unknown said...

What would it take for someone (Flynn maybe) to file charges that a group of conspirators deprived him of his Constitutional/civil right?

StephenFearby said...

A pertinent question for Comey asked in the comment section of:

WSJ Feb 1 By Kimberley A. Strassel
Memo Reading for Nonpartisans
Ignore the spin. When the document goes public, here’s what to look for.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/memo-reading-for-nonpartisans-1517530297

"Why Did Comey fail to inform Trump [in his January 2017 meeting with the President] that the Clinton Campaign had funded the dossier?"

One of many very logical questions triggered by the Memo that its targets will have difficulty answering.

tim in vermont said...

I wonder how they interpreted the conversation about which agent to assign to the Hillary case to get the desired “outcome.”

Not to mention, they were government phones, they knew it. They were not as stupid as Hillary using her Blackberry abroad.

Jersey Fled said...

Readering on Session's comments:

Sounds like their goodbye speach to me.

Michael said...

Inga

Rooting for a market collapse. Love the country lefties. Try.

FYI it has to do with interest rates. A long way to slide to the Obama DOW 18000. LOL

Drago said...

Readering is missing the email dump that happened just the other day which showed explicit intent to hide communications between Strzok and Page involving their work AS WELL AS handling classified documents.

You know, just like all straight arrow types do.

Kevin said...

Comey's worried about damaging trust between the intel community and Congress?

He doesn't seem worried that Congress has lost trust in the Intel community, only that the Intel community might look askance at Congress.

Maybe someone needs to remind him who works for whom. Because I think that's at the heart of today's revelations.

Matt Sablan said...

"Not to mention, they were government phones, they knew it."

-- Which is why they discussed how to avoid monitoring. But... nothing odd there.

Drago said...

Unknown:"What would it take for someone (Flynn maybe) to file charges that a group of conspirators deprived him of his Constitutional/civil right?"

Charges thrown out first.

The Contrereas forced recusal 2 weeks ago was a bit of an eye-opener.

320Busdriver said...

", who didn't save enough to park their money in bonds, wants to see, hell no."

Cause the wealthy have their money in bonds.

Got it!

tim in vermont said...

I can’t believe how copasetic Democrats are with the idea of a campaign paying a foreign spy to dig up dirt on Trump, and then the FBI using that info, withholding critical parts of its provenance from the FISA courts to spy on the other campaign for looking for dirt from the Russians.

It’s surreal. Try getting anybody but the most dedicated partisan Democrat to swallow that line.

Achilles said...

GWash said...
isnt the IG an obama holdover?...would you trust his final analysis? even if it exonerated justice and the fbi?

Obama tried to hamstring his investigative powers.

Congress forced the powers of the IG to be reinstated"

Have fun being completely uninformed.

Mike Sylwester said...

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

That's for sure.

Am I out too?

tim in vermont said...

Cause the wealthy have their money in bonds

That’s a tricky one, because if you are holding bonds now, you are holding the bag as they drop in value.

Robert Cook said...

"'I just assume as a given that both parties and every presidential administration does this all the time.'

"And it’s better if nothing is done about it!"


Of course it's better if something is done about it...but nothing will be. I also assume as a given that our government is corrupted and captured by the wealthy power elites beyond any hope of reclamation by the people, and that, to the limited extent we ever have been a representative republic, we are no longer. It's all just a show for the rubes, (that's us!). Right now, we're simply on the descent to disintegration. Whether it'll be a slow or fast descent remains to be known. I think the standard saying is "it takes a long time, then it's all at once!"

tim in vermont said...

This blog is desperate for a lefty or just plain Democrat who will defend their talking points. All we get are these pathetic parrots and shills.

steve uhr said...

The memo speaks of the written application. Do we know whether the attorneys had a conversation with the court in connection with the application that is not reflected in the application ?

Does this mean that Carter Page is not a Russian spy?

Why don't the republicans want the dem memo released?

How does any of this reflect poorly on mueller and his investigation.

When you obtain a warrant you must provide the court with probable cause. Similar when you obtain an indictment. No obligation to present all exculpatory evidence.

Court obviously knew that Steele was being paid by someone to find dirt on trump. The key question is the reliability of the info and the key indicator of reliability is past performance.

tim in vermont said...

Robert, I mostly agree with you, but I haven’t completely given up hope.

GWash said...

so we will accept whatever conclusions the IG comes to right ? achilles?

Drago said...

GWash: "isnt the IG an obama holdover?...would you trust his final analysis? even if it exonerated justice and the fbi?"

You really have no idea how any of this works or what has happened, do you?

Achilles posted a couple of informative links (I would advise you to avoid them, they disrupt the narrative).

Sally Yates specifically and improperly kept particular areas of DOJ operations off limits to Horowitz....even though his job is to go anywhere in the DOJ it is required.

But again, nothing to see here. Just some folks, like Dear Sally, asserting some areas of DOJ operations are off limits to oversight, in violation of the law.

But you have to remember, those laws were passed to be used on republicans, not democrats.

320Busdriver said...

@TiV..sarc/off

buwaya said...

"That’s a tricky one, because if you are holding bonds now, you are holding the bag as they drop in value."

Yep. Dumped bonds a long time ago.

Chuck said...

Achilles said...
Chuck said...
"What I have written in addition is that I'd be personally delighted if Trump does get indicted, because he is such a miserable, lying bastard. But I only hope that there is an indictment if the case is so drop-dead solid that even Sean Hannity has to admit Trump's guilt."

That was completely unexpected.

People should feel ashamed that they even thought they could guess what Chuck was thinking.

Chuck is still avoiding the topic of the post.

Unexpectedly.


I am not "avoiding" anything, you prick. If you will pay me to do it, I will write a column on my thoughts concerning the HPSCI and their memos. I'll need a $2500 retainer, and I will work at $450/hour. Isn't that the perfect Ann Althouse answer?

Otherwise, not one person here taking potshots at me knows what my opinion is on this topic.

tim in vermont said...

Steve Uhr

Reject first, ask a slew of rhetorical questions.

Court obviously knew that Steele was being paid by someone to find dirt on trump

Do you have evidence of this?

And the Dem memo will be released. It is just going through the same process of delay that Schiff created for this memo.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Gee, Inga,I wonder if Gowdy, who has indicated he will not run again and says he is more interested in prosecution than legislation, has any reason to appear as disinterested and fair minded as possible?

You've never played chess, have you?

Matt Sablan said...

"Why don't the republicans want the dem memo released?"

-- As far as I know, they have just started this week the review process. They were against releasing an unseen, unvetted memo that the intelligence agencies and FBI had not even had a chance to review.

Achilles said...

Robert Cook said...
"So far, not a single Democrat or leftist commentator here at Althouse, aside from our lovely host, seems to think that weaponizing the FBI into just another peice of the Democrat campaign is a big deal."

Of course it's a big deal, but I just assume as a given that both parties and every presidential administration does this all the time.

You have surely noticed the difference between the DOJ under a republican and under a democrat as to how it is treated. Under Obama it was cool that Holder was his "wingman." But for Trump it must be "independent."

I would also be interested in seeing why the NSA deleted information it was ordered to keep about spying on Americans during the Bush administration. For some reason democrats are not interested in digging down into that either.

Why?

buwaya said...

This is yet another one of those days when I fully agree with Robert Cook.

Maybe I should take up drinking again, diabetes or no diabetes.

tim in vermont said...

Bringing Chuck into this thread to dance around for us is adding zero to the conversation. Just saying.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

The tie between former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, his wife Nellie working at Fusion GPS, and his role in instigating the Russia investigation is especially troubling. If he is still in some other role at the Department of Justice, he should be impeached. Let the House have impeachment hearings.

320Busdriver said...

Maybe there are some additional considerations for a Convention of States as a result.

mockturtle said...

Just read the memo. The following seem obvious to me but I may stand corrected:

1. The Steele Dossier was never verified but FISA was told it was.
2. There was not just severe conflict of interest but collusion between the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS and the FBI including payment from all three to Steele.
3. Leaking confidential FBI information to the media is a crime [is it not?] and yet Steele was not prosecuted.
4. All three organizations, the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS and the FBI were hoping to destroy Trump's chances of being elected by, via Steele, compiling an entirely phony dossier that they could use to warrant surveillance.

Am I wrong?

Matt Sablan said...

"Court obviously knew that Steele was being paid by someone to find dirt on trump. The key question is the reliability of the info and the key indicator of reliability is past performance."

-- They knew it was a "U.S. Person," and that the FBI believed this material benefit in no way clouded his judgment. In short: They were lied to, but, you are technically right.

Michael said...

Chuck

Again proves he is not a lawyer. Chickenshit retainer. Low hourly rate. Associate at shit law firm? Pretender.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...

[nothing]

Your reaction is totally, again... unexpected.

Did not see any of that coming.

I look forward to your meltdown.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck: "Otherwise, not one person here taking potshots at me knows what my opinion is on this topic."

I know Dick Durbin's and Richard Blumenthal's opinions on this topic so, historically speaking, I'm going to be close to correct in assuming what yours happens to be.

tim in vermont said...

I got a kick out of the part where they “corroborated" the memo because of a news article that had been shown to be leaked by Steele.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck: " If you will pay me to do it, ...."

Right there the business model collapses.

MikeR said...

"So we need to wait for more." Yup. The Democrats are denying the most important parts of the memo.
The Republicans need to sit down (should have done this already), and plan a counter-stroke release. Assuming they're right and not the Democrats, they need to demand release of a lot more information, enough to prove it. Redact if you must, but it must be release.

Matt Sablan said...

"1. The Steele Dossier was never verified but FISA was told it was."

-- They were never specifically told "This is verified," they were told "The guy who made this has, in the past, been considered reliable, and other people published similar things." They did not mention that the other people who published had been provided information from Steele.

"2. There was not just severe conflict of interest but collusion between the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS and the FBI including payment from all three to Steele."

-- I believe we still have not confirmed the FBI paid. They just refuse to answer the question (unless the memo says otherwise; I still haven't gotten to read it entirely.)

langford peel said...

Eagles fan climbs buttered pole to attempt to reach the fruit of the poisonous tree.

Because documents mean nothing....only secrets whispered to a hand picked Obama hack judge....because......reasons!

Achilles said...

Michael said...
Chuck

Again proves he is not a lawyer. Chickenshit retainer. Low hourly rate. Associate at shit law firm? Pretender.


Meh. One of the lawyers we are currently paying wanted a 10k retainer but is only charging $300 an hour. That was ~$25,000 dollars ago.

Seeing Red said...

Market collapsing to what? 20K?



Pffft


Matt Sablan said...

We need to know more about this memo, but the National Guard was fake but accurate.

tim in vermont said...

And of course the Clinton Foundation, which was paying Sidney Blumenthal 10K a month, subsidized of course, as is known, by Putin, was peddling the same crap in his own dossier.

Drago said...

Tim in Vermont: "I got a kick out of the part where they “corroborated" the memo because of a news article that had been shown to be leaked by Steele."

Indeed.

Inga is still running with that one today. Dems on TV doing the same.

Hey, the unverified Fusion GPS dossier isn't the ONLY information the FBI was using to violate the 4th amendment rights of Americans and overturn an election, we also had other, "independent" information!....

Uh, you mean like the "independent" Yahoo news report?

Yes!!

Which came from a meeting where Glenn Simpson fed the story to your reporters....

Oh.......I think I see what you mean by "independent" now...

Achilles said...

buwaya said...
This is yet another one of those days when I fully agree with Robert Cook.

Maybe I should take up drinking again, diabetes or no diabetes.

Take up shooting instead. Will be more useful and healthy.

Michael said...

Achilles
You get what you pay for. NY rates 4 or 5x

Anonymous said...

The Democrat memo claims:

"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."

So, the Democrats are accusing the Republicans of lying. However, the FBI explicitly did NOT accuse the GOP of lying, only of "material omissions of fact".

So, Memo
1)
a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party / campaign in funding Steele's efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ & FBI officials.
b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named U.S. person, but does not name Fusion GPS & principle Glenn Simpson...

3) This clear evidence of Steele's bias was recorded by Ohr at the time & subsequently in official FBI files -- but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications


The FBI has told us that all of the above is true

Which means the Democrats claims are a flat out lie

Seeing Red said...

Did you all see that various heads of the Russian intelligence services have been visiting Washington recently to visit CIA director? That's because the US has legitimate reasons
to cooperate with the Russians, Pompeo said.




We do. It won't stop us becoming a net energy provider. Which undercuts them.

tim in vermont said...

Still the whole evidence of Russian “collusion” is based on “attempted” collusion with an associate of Fusion GPS, who was at a party with Fusion hours before the meeting, and a couple of days after.

Bit we are re-assured that Fusion had no way of communicating with its client. In the testimony to congress than the Democrats leaked.

320Busdriver said...

-- I believe we still have not confirmed the FBI paid. They just refuse to answer the question (unless the memo says otherwise; I still haven't gotten to read it entirely.)

Yes the FBI also paid.

tim in vermont said...

There was a Russian jumbo jet parked at PBIA a couple weeks ago, five minute dirve from Mar a Lago. Probably dropping off pallets of gold in appreciation for eviscerating the price of oil!

tim in vermont said...

There is zero evidence of any link to a hack never proven to be by the Russians, for one reason on account of the fact that the DNC refused to let law enforcement look at the computers, to this day.

Lewis Wetzel said...

If you want to see how the FISA warrant against Page was spun at the time by Comey & the Dems, check out this WaPo story from April of 2017:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html?utm_term=.6695ee224603

I do not think that it is an exaggeration to say that Comey staked the integrity of the FBI on the validity of the process used to acquire the warrant.

Anonymous said...

@Matthew Sablan

Memo 1) b)

The application does not mentioned ... that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information


So, no evidence that he actually was paid, but evidence that FBI "authorized payment"

tim in vermont said...

One thing for sure, there is a nothing burger involved here.

Michael said...

320busdriver

Please tell me you are not on gogo

tim in vermont said...

Probably, if law enforcement had gotten a look at the servers, they would quickly have figured out that Seth Rich was the leaker.

tcrosse said...

Robert Cook alone is sufficiently cynical.

320Busdriver said...

Nope, but I do use gogo when I commute.

MaxedOutMama said...

You know how you read those blurbs on internet comment sections about how so and so is earning hundreds of dollars a day working online and just bought a new car? We all thought that was false.

But it turns out that those job opportunities do exist. Failed as a soft porn novel writer? Just a FEW SIMPLE RESUME CHANGES, and YOU TOO can be earning LARGE SUMS as an oppo researcher! Prestigious! Lucrative! Double-billed!

Man oh man, if we had only known.

langford peel said...

Robert Cook is correct. He just doesn't emphasize that is the unelected forces of the deep state that Re resposible for violating the privacy rights of American Citizens.

Witness the Republicans voting to renew the FISA law. Both parties are complicit. The Republicans are no better than the Democrats. They are controlled by the same masters.

Donald Trump is a momentary blip. A tiny chance to change things. That is why they have to destroy him.

tim in vermont said...

Whatever could the FBI have objected to so strenuously in this nothing burger?

Maybe because it’s not a nothing burger? Naah!

tim in vermont said...

Maybe the tree of liberty doesn’t need to be watered with blood, but the tears of bureaucrats will do in a pinch.

Francisco D said...

Meade,

I am concerned about Chuck's ongoing antipathy towards Ann and (to a lesser extent) you.

He also seems as if he knows you personally by the way he writes.

He purports to be a lawyer. Have your paths crossed?

Never-Biden Never-Putin said...

Tim in V said..

I can’t believe how copasetic Democrats are with the idea of a campaign paying a foreign spy to dig up dirt on Trump, and then the FBI using that info, withholding critical parts of its provenance from the FISA courts to spy on the other campaign for looking for dirt from the Russians.

It’s surreal. Try getting anybody but the most dedicated partisan Democrat to swallow that line.


Exactly.

langford peel said...

We don't need FISA. We don't need surviellance. We know who are enmities are in this world.

Muslims and criminal beaners like MS13. We should just kill them out of hand and our problems are over. At the least we can ban them from our country and deport the ones that are already here. President Trump is working on that.

That is why the deep state wants to destroy him. You see if he ends the problem there is no need for their fancy CIA or NSA.

Never-Biden Never-Putin said...

Mock Turtle said:

Just read the memo. The following seem obvious to me but I may stand corrected:

1. The Steele Dossier was never verified but FISA was told it was.
2. There was not just severe conflict of interest but collusion between the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS and the FBI including payment from all three to Steele.
3. Leaking confidential FBI information to the media is a crime [is it not?] and yet Steele was not prosecuted.
4. All three organizations, the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS and the FBI were hoping to destroy Trump's chances of being elected by, via Steele, compiling an entirely phony dossier that they could use to warrant surveillance.

Am I wrong?


You are correct. The left yawns. Their own corruption bothers them, not.

Never-Biden Never-Putin said...

Comey and his hack flunkies put their thumbs on the scales for corrupt Hillary. Time for more firings and some indictments.

Anonymous said...

The memo reads to me like an excerpt from a much longer piece that we will see in future. I will be happy to see the Dems "context" and evaluate it for what its worth. I suspect that there is not a lot of "context" that will not be damning as well.

tim in vermont said...

Still, I need to know, did Trump pay hookers to pee on a bed where Obama had slept?

Because if he did, it’s pretty damn funny!

Or is that the left’s version of flag burning? One man’s destruction of a piece of cloth is another man’s fighin’ words!

tim in vermont said...

I like to think that if I was a billionaire, I would do stuff like that with my money.

Lewis Wetzel said...

FWIW, Wikipedia says that Carter Page is the only American to be targeted for his Russian connections in 2016.

tim in vermont said...

U.S. hiring picked up in January and wages rose at the fastest annual pace since the recession ended, as the economy’s steady move toward full employment extended into 2018. Nonfarm payrolls rose 200,000 -- compared with the median estimate of economists for a 180,000 increase -- after an upwardly revised 160,000 advance, Labor Department figures showed Friday. The jobless rate held at 4.1 percent, matching the lowest since 2000, while average hourly earnings rose a more-than-expected 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the most since June 2009. Treasury yields and the dollar gained...

Blue Wave coming! We have to shake ourselves out of this malaise!

tim in vermont said...

Stocks dropped because interest rates are set to rise on account of too many people have jobs, driving up wages, which is causing stocks to adjust for the new rates.

Bad news! Bad news! Bad news!

John Pickering said...

watching Fox news and just read the Nunes memo. Ann has a link.

Nunes asserts that the Steele dossier was unverified at the time of a FISA application, and that it was later found that Steele himself was opposed to the idea of Trump as president.

You know why? Because Steele was a former MI6 agent, knew what he was doing, and when he found out what he did he told the FBI. It's not all verified, but what he found out obviously affected his views about Trump, because the dossier suggests that Trump is the victim of Russian blackmail because of his financial woes. Remember, while few at the time gave Trump a chance for the presidency, no US bank would give him a loan.

So Steele was terrified that there was a possibility that the US president could be compromised by the Kremlin. That's it. You either think that's important, or you don't. Or I suppose you could say it's important, but Hillary. But for Steele and people like Strzk and Ohr, it's not hard to conclude that if what they knew was true, then they should certainly have a personal animus against admitting Trump to office.

Russian espionage is the best in the world, and Trump's background and relations to Russia are being rightly investigated

Matt Sablan said...

Pickering: You realize that several facts in the dossier, including dates and people, are just flat out wrong, right? That this document has inaccuracies, unverifiable facts and was paid for by political enemies. THAT'S the document the FBI hangs its hat on?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Tim in Vermont said...
I like to think that if I was a billionaire, I would do stuff like that with my money.

2/2/18, 3:07 PM

If a billionaire really wanted to get back at someone in a vulgar way, why would he hire hookers to pee on a bed in a hotel room that the guy might never visit again? Where's the vengeance in that? It would make more sense to hire the kitchen staff at the hotel he's staying at now to pee in his soup.

tim in vermont said...

So you don’t think it’s important that Hillary took 145 million from Putin cronies, destroyed emails and records of meetings as Secretary of State at the time, and you are fine with the FBI ignoring the records act when investigating her.

You are fine with the same tiny crew, among the thousands of agents, involved in Uranium One, the email investigation, and the Trump investigation?

That’s how democracy is supposed to work?

Matt Sablan said...

It is not the best in the world, or we wouldn't know about their Bernie-grams on Facebook.

cubanbob said...

Chuck unlike others, I am genuinely interested in your take of these revelations.

tim in vermont said...

Do you even remember how the John Doe investigation turned out to be a huge abuse of power by the prosecutors?

Matt Sablan said...


"That’s how democracy is supposed to work?"

It's how TV detective shows work!

Drago said...

Pickering: "It's not all verified, but what he found out obviously affected his views about Trump,..."

LOL

Not a single important assertion in the hoax dossier is true.

The only "item" this is "corroborated" was already publicly known and never hidden: Carter Page did travel to Moscow.

And congratulations on your mind-reading capabilities.

Pickering: "Russian espionage is the best in the world, and Trump's background and relations to Russia are being rightly investigated"

Sorry comrade, you need a little thing called probable cause to investigate, and there is none.

But that's okay, because it's only "NONE".

That's why the lies had to ginned up and material omissions made to the FISA court to get their warrants.

Sorry about the 4th amendment. Perhaps you could get some counseling to get past it's existence emotionally.

Matt Sablan said...

"Do you even remember how the John Doe investigation turned out to be a huge abuse of power by the prosecutors?"

-- Or Ted Stevens, or Rick Perry, or the Plumber...

Drago said...

mockturtle: "Am I wrong?"

Nope.

But don't tell Pickering.

He wants Trump investigated by all those stalwarts at DOJ and FBI.

You know, the ones that have been demoted, fired and reassigned.

tim in vermont said...

It’s how TV detective shows work

We could pitch a series “The Fixers.”

Michael Clayton was a piker who had an attack of conscience. That would never happen with this crew.

Anonymous said...

John Pickering - OT, but from where did you pick up your swishy, hyper-affected writing style?

It's the sort of thing admired by the hangers-on of catty fashion editors, but it doesn't really work outside that airhead milieu.

I understand that attempting to butch up a style of writing whose "content" is essentially nothing but attitude might seem pointless, or even impossible, but you could give it a try. Might help.

Update: Didn't notice that your latest comment above has entirely dropped the swishy snark style. Interesting. (The style, not the content, which is still Louise Mensch grade crazy-talk.)

TDP said...

Smells like an attempted coup. Leftism VS American is. Who will win?

Drago said...

TIV: "Do you even remember how the John Doe investigation turned out to be a huge abuse of power by the prosecutors?"

Well, to paraphrase Pickering, all those partisan dem hacks would not have been interested in investigating Scott Walker and all those Walker donors if there wasn't plenty of reason to do so.

First, Walker is a republican.
Second, Walker is really a republican.
Third, democrats hate him.

That's all they needed in Wisconsin....and all they needed in DC.

Wisconsin was a trial run.

tim in vermont said...

Plus Walker won elections that he was not supposed to win.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"But for Steele and people like Strzk and Ohr, it's not hard to conclude that if what they knew was true, then they should certainly have a personal animus against admitting Trump to office."

I didn't know it was up to a foreign national and two FBI lovebirds to "admit Trump to office."

I thought that decision was up to the American people to make on November 8, 2016.

I know our betters believe they ought to be able to decide for us because we're deplorable. What floors me is how many non-elites also believe that.

Matt Sablan said...

"Wisconsin was a trial run."

-- And since it failed you'd think they'd reach the conclusion: "Let's not do it again." I think most likely, it was an aberration. I mean, they got a governor in Virginia and a senate seat in Alaska with similar antics.

traditionalguy said...

Trey Gowdy is right, The Memo has no effect on the Mueller investigation into 2016 candidates colluding with Russians and he will indict Hillary for it. But the fraud on the FISC Court to get the warrant will throw out all evidence against the Trump Campaign guys.

Jake Tapper tried inserting a timeline that the Russia/Trump investigation started in July 2016 based on other sources. He was called on it by a good trial lawyer/Representative he was interviewing who simply pointed out that came from a Michael Issakoff( CIA Agent) writing on Yahoo quoting MichaelSteele and his dossier at that time.

Today's new stand up guy is Matt Gaetz, age 35, and a FSU /Wm & Mary grad from Okaloosa County ( Ft Walton Beach, Fl.) He will become Trey Gowdy II. He was that good.

Sebastian said...

"Not to mention, they were government phones, they knew it.

But they assumed Hill would win, hence imprudent phone conversations would be no problem--and if found, would be evidence of loyalty.

Hill's loss triggered the false collusion narrative and the unraveling of the actual Dem/Deep-State/Russian collusion--not to mention The Reckoning.

mockturtle said...

John Pickering bleats: So Steele was terrified that there was a possibility that the US president could be compromised by the Kremlin.

Funniest joke I've heard in weeks! As if Steele or any of these 'sources' gave a fat rat's ass about the President being compromised rather than just trying desperately to protect their own cabal.

Drago said...

Tradguy: "Today's new stand up guy is Matt Gaetz, age 35, and a FSU /Wm & Mary grad from Okaloosa County ( Ft Walton Beach, Fl.) He will become Trey Gowdy II. He was that good"

Yep.

He'll be the next guy LLR Chuck and lefties go after.

We've already seen how LLR Chuck has taken to attacking Tom Cotton while defending Dick Durbin on immigration matters.

John Pickering said...

Nunes memo, to which Ann has a link, makes clear that the Russia investigation started with the Papadopolous disclosures earlier in the summer. And yes, I agree that unverified and wrong mean the same thing.

Senior US counter-intelligence police were paying attention to Carter Page and Mike Flynn before they were identified with Trump. Those people then turned out to be opposed to Trump's presidency, because they believed there's a chance Trump is being blackmailed. That's a legitimate response for a cop, I'm just saying.

tim in vermont said...

Does this sound like GWash?

[T]he report criticizes the “breathtaking” sweep of the three John Doe investigations, which included 218 warrants and subpoenas. DOJ found the John Doe investigators obtained and categorized several private emails unrelated to campaigns, including 150 personal emails between Sen. Leah Vukmir and her daughter that included health information, and placed them in a folder labeled “Opposition Research” — a term that refers to political dirt collected on opponents....

Schimel concluded the GAB staff didn’t act in “a detached and professional manner” and that it was reasonable to infer “they were on a mission to bring down the Walker campaign and the Governor himself.” He pointed to a November 2013 email in which [former GAB lawyer Shane] Falk encouraged Schmitz, who was having doubts about the GAB’s legal theory, to “stay strong.”

“Remember, in brief, this was a bastardization of politics and our state is being run by corporations and billionaires,” Falk wrote. “This isn’t democracy to say the least, but due to how they do this dark money, the populace never gets to know. The cynic in me says the sheeple would still follow the propaganda even if they knew, but at least it would all be out there so that the influences on our politicians is clearly known.”


So let’s abuse the power entrusted to us by the people of Wisconsin for partisan ends!

BTW, I couldn’t find the above page until I turned off “Safe Search - Strict” on Bing, which I had never set.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Some "Americans" don't want a Republic or even a democracy, despite what they say.

They want a return to feudalism. Royalty and aristocrats (now called bureaucrats with titles like "FBI Director" rather than the Duc d'Orleans) ruling over us.

Drago said...

Pickering: "Those people then turned out to be opposed to Trump's presidency, because they believed there's a chance Trump is being blackmailed."

BS.

They wanted to get Trump and they used that weak tea crap to gin up a fake dossier and then doubled back and got a warrant to spy on a their domestic political opponents.

Keep trying.

tim in vermont said...

it was reasonable to infer “they were on a mission to bring down the Walker campaign and the Governor himself.”

There is a history of this kind of abuse from your side, GWash. Senator Stevens, Rick Perry, etc, etc.

tim in vermont said...

It’s all because they want control over our day to day lives because we don’t make the right decisions. They need a robust secret police to assert that control. It’s just a shame that inevitably, a Stalin gets control of it.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Those people then turned out to be opposed to Trump's presidency, because they believed there's a chance Trump is being blackmailed."
Strzok & Page were having an illicit extramarital affair while they were concerned about Trump being blackmailed.

tim in vermont said...

This stuff goes way back:

Prosecutors brought an additional indictment four days before the 1992 presidential election. This was controversial because it cited a Weinberger diary entry contradicting a claim made by President George H. W. Bush. Republicans claimed that it contributed to President Bush’s defeat. On December 11, 1992, Judge Thomas F. Hogan threw out the indictment because it violated the five-year statute of limitations and improperly broadened the original charges.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

What a bad week for the Dems! Trump knocks it out of the park with the SOTU address and they look like a bunch of grumpy ingrates. The Stormy Daniels business falls apart (ARM hardest hit). And now this...

May they have many more such weeks....

Matt Sablan said...

"Those people then turned out to be opposed to Trump's presidency, because they believed there's a chance Trump is being blackmailed. That's a legitimate response for a cop, I'm just saying."

-- Imagine a street cop saying, "I arrested him because I believed he was breaking the law. No, I didn't have evidence. The only person who told me anything is a known liar. But, yes, I used the force of state to deprive him of liberty.""

Unknown said...

I think what we're still missing is how the spying on Page would have benefited the Clinton campaign or the DNC, if at all. Even if we assume that DOJ/FBI were in cahoots with the Clinton campaign/DNC to spy on Trump campaign (more specifically Page), what did Clinton campaign/DNC get out of it?

exhelodrvr1 said...

"I'll need a $2500 retainer, and I will work at $450/hour."

Are you trying to impress us, Chuck?

FIDO said...

If the Democrats abused power, if this memo is damaging to the Democrats TRUTHFULLY, why shouldn't it have been revealed?

If the FBI was behaving illegally, why shouldn't this have been revealed?


Let me go further, if the FBI was dancing right on top of the line, why shouldn't this be exposed to outline and shame them for barely passing the muster of legality in a partisan political way?

The calls to destroy the FBI are ridiculous. What does a Special Agent in Dubuque know or care about this? What does a guy just trying to cut off a human trafficking network know about this? One does not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

But it seems that Comey, Rothstein, McCabe et. al. were behaving as individuals and selling a load of political manure as facts.

So since the 'Truth' is in question by folks like Inga, WE INVESTIGATE. We do not 'DISMISS' as she'd prefer.

Find out if they were factual. Find out what this so called other evidence is.

This is only fair. It is necessary to promote trust in our institutions. If they played dirty, we need to see some perps walking...and the Ingas of the world shouldn't stop it. She should be full throatedly advocating this, because, not to put too fine a point on it, but the Democrats are a minority party these days.

If we are going to start ignoring the rule of law, they seem a touch more vulnerable than the Republicans. Because these days, Republicans don't give a shit what Wolf Blitzer says anymore.

Matt Sablan said...

"No, no one in the precinct believes he did anything. But, you know how those types are." -- Good copping according to Pickering.

Matt Sablan said...

"what did Clinton campaign/DNC get out of it?"

-- Almost the presidency.

Seeing Red said...

Some "Americans" don't want a Republic or even a democracy, despite what they say.

They want a return to feudalism. Royalty and aristocrats (now called bureaucrats with titles like "FBI Director" rather than the Duc d'Orleans) ruling over us.

2/2/18, 3:33 PM




Same old same old. Destroy the middle class so the intellectuals and artists can bloom.

And be the first against the wall.


Intellectuals don't seem to be very bright.

This stuff doesn't work, but they're special. It'll work this time!

exhelodrvr1 said...

What is Joe Kennedy's response to this?

Seeing Red said...

DNC get out of it?"


Seems they got broke.

Matt Sablan said...

If Trump had lost, how many people would Hillary have jailed on these pretenses? That's not a crazy theory: She wanted to kill Assange and jailed the film maker over Benghazi. Obama wire tapped journalists and Congress.

tim in vermont said...

What a bad week for the Dems! Trump knocks it out of the park with the SOTU address and they look like a bunch of grumpy ingrates. The Stormy Daniels business falls apart (ARM hardest hit). And now this...

Don’t forget the stock market dropping because employment is too high and wages are rising!

Seeing Red said...

Chuck wants a $2500 retainer?

My Obamacare savings is around here somewhere.

gerry said...

Kevin: Because the jobs report is so good it indicates interest rates will start rising.

Yup. Bond market is up as a result.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Matthew Sablan said...
If Trump had lost, how many people would Hillary have jailed on these pretenses? That's not a crazy theory."

I don't think it is either.

Several months before the '16 election, when I was sure Trump would lose, I predicted she would do everything in her power to bankrupt, ruin and possibly jail him, to make sure that no upstart tycoon would ever dare to attempt such a thing ever again. No Republican tycoon. And the media would have cheered her on and piled on Trump almost as much as they do now. They would have reported (with a straight face) that Hillary saved the Republic from Trump's corruption.


tim in vermont said...

The evidence that the Russians were blackmailing Trump was based on the known fact that sometimes the Russians try to blackmail people, that’s it. Trump went to Russia, and according to Fusion, they offered him sweet, but corrupt deals, which he declined, once again, according to Fusion GPS.

So all we really had was a guy who had been paid millions by Hillary’s campaign for the service of smearing Trump, smearing Trump with no actual, you know, evidence.

This is the kind of stuff you guys don’t respond to, GWash.

Oh yeah, and the dossier,, which reads as if written by Boris Badinov, with the articles dropped, ‘in manner of Russian spy.’

Matt Sablan said...

I'm not a Trump fan, especially compared to folks here.

But, Clinton's corruption sure seems way more dangerous than Trump's tweets.

Drago said...

Unknown: "Even if we assume that DOJ/FBI were in cahoots with the Clinton campaign/DNC to spy on Trump campaign (more specifically Page), what did Clinton campaign/DNC get out of it?"

Oh my goodness.

Why would ever suspect they were in cahoots, just because they were both paying the same guy for the same hoax dossier and a gal that was hired by the firm just happened to the be the wife of the senior justice department official who, after steele was told to get lost for awhile, was still the conduit for steele/fusion to get oppo research into the Justice department.

I mean, why would anyone assume anything out of whack with that.

Strictly on the up and up.

tim in vermont said...

How does Hillary get to pay millions to foreigners with campaign money, and write it off to “legal expenses” on campaign documents? Where is the FEC? Oh yeah, trolling theaters for movies criticizing Hillary that they can shut down.

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