August 18, 2018

"[A] foreign citizen produces a catalog of unverifiable, scandalous accusations against a U.S. presidential candidate, attributed to unnamed Russian officials."

"Paying for this 'opposition research' is the candidate of the party in power. Her confederates, including elected Democrats, conspire to use the FBI's possession of this document to get U.S. media outlets to report allegations from sources who won't identify themselves, who offer no support for their claims, passed along by an operator whose political motives are manifest.... If you are not by now open to the suspicion that the blowhardism of former Obama intelligence officials John Brennan and James Clapper is aimed at keeping the focus away from their actions during the election, then you haven't been paying attention. In his New York Times op-ed this week after being stripped of his courtesy, postretirement security clearance, the CIA's Mr. Brennan finally put his collusion cards on the table: Mr. Trump's ill-advised remark during the campaign inviting Russia to find the missing Hillary Clinton emails. Really? This is it?... [Trump's] jibe was at least as much aimed at the media, which he correctly noted would eagerly traffic in the stolen emails even as it deplored Russian meddling."

From "The Press Abets a Coverup," by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. in The Wall Street Journal:

95 comments:

Leland said...

I hope Mr. Jenkins address is kept away from CNN.

mockturtle said...

If you can only read one paper, read the WSJ. While it's far from being completely objective it is closer than most as well as being more stringent. Wish I could still afford to subscribe.

Triangle Man said...

“It was just a prank, Bro.”

Poor lamb didn’t realize that the Russians really are interested in our elections.

Phil 314 said...

I’m going to build a pay wall, and I’ll get the Althouse readers to pay for it!

mccullough said...

Brennan was a skilled ass kisser and back stabber like most who attain power in DC. And like most of them, he is mediocre if not incompetent. Unlike most of them, he has a bad temperament and is tone deaf. Comey is similar but not as bad. Both ooze self righteousness showing what phonies they are.

Trump gave them both the back of the hand. He is using them as comic villains in his show and they are playing their parts. That’s how ducking dumb they are. Ass kissing and back stabbing may get you up the ladder. But it’s a limited skill set. You also need to have some self awareness, a decent temperament, and lateral thinking ability. Brennan has none of this. He is another Trump punching bag

Big Mike said...

Which of the following have not pseen copies of Hillary Clinyon’s Email traffic:

The Russian SVR (foreign intelligence service)

The Chinese Ministry of State Security

Mossad

The UK’s GCHQ

The American people

The Crack Emcee said...

Don't forget: The book "Shattered" completely verifies this take on history, right from the beginning, from journalists who were on the scene of Hillary's loss.

That's when Podesta and the rest of the NewAge swung into action.

When people start asking why Anderson Cooper just smiled, as Hillary was going on about yoga and "Alternate Nostril Breathing" (instead of asking, with concern, who's currently influencing the former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State?) then we'll begin to see and understand who's who and what's what, but not until.

Right now, we're just along for the ride.

etbass said...

I just wish we had a few Republican congressmen who would stand up and say "Amen" or something supportive of their president. Trump has busted his balls going out to support Repub candidates; he deserves support from his own party. These guys ought to see by now that Trump has the support of the American people and they should get on the bandwagon. We need a powerful rebuttal to the leftists who want to take over this country. The silence from the right is just too much to take.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

How did a graceless real-estate mogul with no political experience manage to bootstrap the Presidency of the United States in the face of the rabid opposition of the establishment of both parties and the media? Easy, his opponents are morons.

Even more then decades of shitty governance, the laughable collusion narrative highlights what a pathetic, no-talent, pack of hyenas the Boomers have spewed up for their years in power.

Sebastian said...

"Paying for this 'opposition research' is the candidate of the party in power. Her confederates, including elected Democrats, conspire to use the FBI's possession of this document to get U.S. media outlets to report allegations from sources who won't identify themselves, who offer no support for their claims, passed along by an operator whose political motives are manifest"

Well, yeah, covered here, on this very blog repeatedly, for free.

"If you are not by now open to the suspicion that the blowhardism of former Obama intelligence officials John Brennan and James Clapper is aimed at keeping the focus away from their actions during the election, then you haven't been paying attention."

Not to mention the Deep-State efforts to keep all their machinations hidden, initially exposed only because the IG got hold of Strzok's texts, and then stonewalled and "redacted."

"Mr. Trump's ill-advised remark during the campaign inviting Russia to find the missing Hillary Clinton emails. Really? This is it?... [Trump's] jibe was at least as much aimed at the media, which he correctly noted would eagerly traffic in the stolen emails even as it deplored Russian meddling."

Also covered by several of us, right here, on this blog, for free, a bit more incisively as to meaning and motive.

"The Press Abets a Coverup"

Except that the coverup is hiding in plain sight.

Meade said...

"I’m going to build a pay wall, and I’ll get the Althouse readers to pay for it!"

Now that was funny.

Drago said...

TM: "Poor lamb didn’t realize that the Russians really are interested in our elections."

We have an early leader for most pathetic attempt at deflection away from democrat abuse and weaponization of our agencies!

But its early and LLR Chuck hasnt yet recovered from his all night MSNBC-themed costume party and rave.

Ann Althouse said...

"Well, yeah, covered here, on this very blog repeatedly, for free."

Click on my tag, the dossier, to see how I covered it.

I'm Full of Soup said...

OT I know but I was on Twitter this morning and happened upon Michelle Fields' twitter account so I browsed her followers' list. I was familiar with many of the names and most IMHO are uninteresting, predictable Deep State members who are employed [note I did not say they worked] by media groups and so-called think tanks.

Meade- WSJ is the only paywall I subscribe to so I'm good with the link.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

A large portion of the feline has exited paper shopping receptacle. This is getting good. Some people around here are going to be terribly disappointed as those terrible things called facts begin to come out.

Kevin said...

Don't forget: The book "Shattered" completely verifies this take on history, right from the beginning, from journalists who were on the scene of Hillary's loss.

A vast left-wing conspiracy contrived by the contriver of the vast right-wing conspiracy.

The Crack Emcee said...

The Cracker Emcee Rampant said...

"How did a graceless real-estate mogul with no political experience manage to bootstrap the Presidency of the United States in the face of the rabid opposition of the establishment of both parties and the media? Easy, his opponents are morons."

Trump's kept his eye *pretty close* to the ball. The majority's rejection of him - when they embrace the majority of the world of NewAge nonsense - is a statement on how misinformed the electorate truly is.

"Even more then decades of shitty governance, the laughable collusion narrative highlights what a pathetic, no-talent, pack of hyenas the Boomers have spewed up for their years in power."

True - they're waaaay out there - and now how far is actually becoming apparent.

Narayanan said...

"Press abets" should be implied preamble to any political story

serious journalists should hold open office hours for people to drop in and comment face to face (not too confrontational).

Oso Negro said...

@ Big Mike - Nicely put. I wonder what percentage of "secret" material is so classified primarily to prevent the American public from knowing it?

Ralph L said...

Brennan made his career sucking up to Prez Clinton when he was his daily intell briefer spouting someone else's work.

Michael K said...

"The silence from the right is just too much to take."

And it may cause some of them to lose their election.

Nunes is the only one who has really stood up and the Democrats in LaLa Land are trying to destroy him.

The Godfather said...

Doesn't Brennan know that Hillary swore that the 30,000 emails she deleted had to do with things like yoga classes and Chelsea's wedding? What possible interest could the Russians -- or the Trump campaign -- have in stuff like that? Nothing to collude about certainly.

Or does Brennan think Hillary was lying about what was on those deleted emails?

Lovernios said...

"Even more then decades of shitty governance, the laughable collusion narrative highlights what a pathetic, no-talent, pack of hyenas the Boomers have spewed up for their years in power."

This is so true. I've been following politics (or should I say politics have been following me?) for over 40 years and the cast of morons, buffoons, poseurs, and liars (goes without saying, but I needed at least 4 insults to match hyenas) that make up the contemporary Demogogue Party is beyond absurd.

Lovernios said...

"Doesn't Brennan know that Hillary swore that the 30,000 emails she deleted had to do with things like yoga classes and Chelsea's wedding? What possible interest could the Russians -- or the Trump campaign -- have in stuff like that? Nothing to collude about certainly."

From unnamed sources in Russian Intelligence, I have been informed that they have a photo of Hillary in downward dog pose with her pantsuit split wide open for all to see her..., well let's just leave that part out. Forget I even said that.


Jeff Weimer said...

TM: "Poor lamb didn’t realize that the Russians really are interested in our elections."

They're more interested in having people freak out about it, real or imagined.

Congratulations, you're doing their work for them.

Amadeus 48 said...

And the GOP doesn’t take any prizes either—they hardly merit participation trophies.

Sad.

dreams said...

I think Trump is right about the media being the enemy of the people. Also, they tried to get the names of the jury members of the Manafort trial. Probably just wanted to make new friends, not enemies.

Lovernios said...

"In his New York Times op-ed this week after being stripped of his courtesy, postretirement security clearance, the CIA's Mr. Brennan finally put his collusion cards on the table: Mr. Trump's ill-advised remark during the campaign inviting Russia to find the missing Hillary Clinton emails. Really? This is it?... [Trump's] jibe was at least as much aimed at the media, which he correctly noted would eagerly traffic in the stolen emails even as it deplored Russian meddling."

Even this writer gets it not quite right. It was a throwaway line meant to get a few laughs. But the humorless Demogogue Party hacks in the media didn't get the joke.

Michael K said...

Meanwhile, as the press focuses on Manafort, China is worried they are being outsmarted on trade.

jaydub said...

"Well, yeah, covered here, on this very blog repeatedly, for free."

Althouse provided the subject matter entry and platform, but Sebastian (aided by one or two others) provided the real updates and back story, plus the links to places like TCTH, etc for daily news and analysis. He performed a major service to all of us and I certainly appreciate his efforts.

Original Mike said...

Jenkins is the most insightful opinion guy writing today (IMO). His pieces alone are worth the subscription.

Mike Sylwester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike Sylwester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jaydub said...

Meant to add Mike Sylwester as well. Sorry about that.

Jupiter said...

'the Russians really are interested in our elections'

Not just the Russians. When you are the most powerful nation on Earth, and your elections have an effect upon your policies, other nations are going to be interested in your elections. It is interesting that the Democrats regard the election process as a thing of great fragility. They believe that any passing wind can blow the thing in any direction. I guess that democracy must be a very annoying thing when you are a political hustler. The constant effort to figure out who is stirring up the marks this time.

Mike Sylwester said...

It was not reasonable for the FBI to conduct a FISA investigation of Carter Page based on allegations from a British dude, Christopher Steele, who claimed to receive secret information from unidentified sources in Russian Intelligence.

Supposedly, Steele had earned credibility by previously providing information about Russian involvement in the corruption of international soccer. However, no Russians were convicted or even indicted in that scandal.

In particular, Steele informed the FBI that a Russian official named Igor Sechin was involved in the soccer corruption. However, Sechin has not been convicted or even indicted.

In his RussiaGate dossier, Steele again blamed the same Sechin, this time for being involved in meddling in US elections. Apparently, Sechin is an enemy of Russian billionaire Igor Deripaska, who pays Steele to slander Sechin at every opportunity.

The FBI established its FISA investigation of Page without knowing the identities of any of Steele's secret sources. That decision of the FBI was not reasonable.

Page himself had recently been a paid, collaborating informant of the FBI. Based on Steele's dossier, however, the FBI declared in its FISA application that Page was a secret agent of Russian Intelligence. That accusation against Page was not reasonable.

Lovernios said...

"I think Trump is right about the media being the enemy of the people."

They're certainly the enemy of the truth.

n.n said...

The pay wall can be built through remittances from readers to Amazon.

Original Mike said...

”In his RussiaGate dossier, Steele again blamed the same Sechin, this time for being involved in meddling in US elections. Apparently, Sechin is an enemy of Russian billionaire Igor Deripaska, who pays Steele to slander Sechin at every opportunity.”

Oh, that’s interesting in light of the recent Ohr materials.

n.n said...

It was not reasonable for the FBI to conduct a FISA investigation of Carter Page based on allegations from a British dude, Christopher Steele, who claimed to receive secret information from unidentified sources in Russian Intelligence.

This is why Planned Parenthood... I mean, capital punishment, is not viable. Often, there are insufficient independent and unambiguous witnesses (forensic and human) to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Hagar said...

The number and status of former members of the "intelligence community" coming forward to protest revoking John Brennan's security clearance and Trump's list of others to come disturbs me. Don't they realize they are implying that keeping their security clearance is a thing of value to them?
Basically that they can continue to stay in contact with security cleared people still in office and obtain information they have no need for unless it be to share it with people who should not have it.

The individuals on Trump's list have all chosen to mount full-throated partisan political attacks on the sitting administration and/or engaged in outright criminal behavior with regard to past national security matters.
The current administration is absolutely correct in clearing the battle lines.

The claim that these individuals are denied their right to "free speech" is also absurd when they are heard from every network talk show and news cast and published in all the newspapers across the country.

This is BS on a scale rare even in these days, and one may well wonder what is really behind all this smoke and mirrors.

Mike Sylwester said...

In 2015, the Trump-haters at the top of the Intelligence Community were convinced, based on no evidence at all, that Trump was being blackmailed by Russian Intelligence. Their reasoning was that Trump was a sleazy businessman doing business with sleazy Russians, and so Russian Intelligence surely had obtained information that could be used to blackmail Trump.

If the US Intelligence Community applied all its resources, then it eventually would be obtain proof that Trump indeed was being blackmailed. Obtaining such proof was just a matter of time.

If Trump won the Republican nomination, then there would be plenty of time to obtain the proof and then to reveal it to the US electorate before the election in November 2016.

However, the US Intelligence Community has not been able to obtain such proof.

Therefore the FBI decided to concoct such proof. The FBI assigned its long-time informant Russian-born Henry Greenberg to offer to Trump -- via Trump's associates Roger Stone and Michael Caputo -- political dirt from Russia about Hillary Clinton. Greenberg wanted $2 million dollars for this political dirt.

The FBI's intention was to obtain information about Trump paying $2 million to Russia. That would be the proof that Trump was being blackmailed by Russia.

That is why the FBI is stonewalling Congress's investigation with such stubborn determination. The FBI's only hope is that the Democrats will win a majority in the House in 2016 so that Adam Schiff will be able to terminate Congress's investigation.

A key player in the FBI's desperate hope is Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller.

cronus titan said...

The whole scheme makes sense f you start from the premise that Hillary Clinton would be easily elected. These schemers were all careerists jockeying for position in what they were certain would be the new Administration. Those outside the government, like Halper and Steele, were jockeying for lucrative work when their handlers assumed their rightful positions in the new Administration.

This was an amoral bunch who at worst ridiculed words like justice, fairness, evidence, integrity, security. At best, they never even thought of those words.

hen Trump won, they went into full cover up mode. As Ohr and Steele acknowledged, they had to have their "firewalls" hold to keep from "getting exposed."

Michael K said...

Their reasoning was that Trump was a sleazy businessman doing business with sleazy Russians, and so Russian Intelligence surely had obtained information that could be used to blackmail Trump.

I think this might have been an honest opinion based on their lifelong experience with politicians and absence of same with real people.

They deal with crooks all the time in politics. They are always looking for the angles being played by pols and lobbyists.

Conrad Black, in his biography of Trump, writes that he had not met him until he began to remodel the Sun Times building in Chicago. He owned the Sun Times then.

He knew a bit of Trump's reputation and expected a difficult negotiation.

He was surprised that everything was on the up and up and the building was well done and under budget.

Hagar said...

Your national security clearance just is not supposed to be a "thing of value" for you.

Original Mike said...

Here’s something I didn’t know no but am not surprised:

Jenkins: “Not one U.S. paper, despite lavish coverage of the DOJ inspector general’s report, even noted the existence of a secret appendix.”.

robother said...

Brennan knows that revelation of Hillary's secret Kundalini Yoga routine by the Russians would be devastating to the security of the USA, and more importantly, would expose Hillary to lifetimes of rebirth as a gut bacterium for revealing the Most Holy Secret of the Elect.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“The silence from the right is just too much to take.”

I guess it hasn’t occurred to anyone that the silence from the right is because they suspect what is coming down the pike won’t be good for Trump and the Republican Party. They’re protecting themselves and distancing themselves from Trump. Rats jump the ship when it’s going down.

Francisco D said...

A few commenters have pointed out the surprising stupidity of Deep State players. That's a key point.

A conservative pundit (name forgotten) said that the Left live in a self-congratulating bubble and thus, rarely need to respond to intellectual challenges. As a consequence, their ideas do not often withstand scrutiny. I would add that their actions show poor planning and strategic understanding.

The attempt to undermine Trump is a good example of the Left's lack of intellectual rigor. They have nothing but lies and distractions (e.g., Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, Manafort's current trial). Smarter folks would have done a much better job of framing Trump, but they don't have to be smart because so many levers of power cover for them.

The question is whether the Deep State players can overwhelm the process with their sheer numbers. If Jeff Sessions and Christopher Wray are committed to justice,, there will be day of reckoning. If they are on the Deep State team, this treasonous behavior will go unpunished. It may get very interesting.

n.n said...

Their reasoning was that Trump was a sleazy businessman doing business with sleazy Russians, and so Russian Intelligence surely had obtained information that could be used to blackmail Trump.

He just assumed... color judgment. Nothing about the intelligence assets in Kiev, London, and Washington.

n.n said...

They expected Clinton to sustain Obama's legacy. They expected the bullhorns and trials of the press to sustain a cover-up. They expected establishment and "maverick" Republicans to go along to get along. They have shared responsibility.

Why Don’t the Priests Blow the Whistle?

Assuming they have no shared interest, they will. Assuming they cannot be intimidated, they will. Assuming they are not vulnerable to elective abortion and the non-commission of petty crimes (e.g. robbery), they will.

Bruce Hayden said...

Interesting counter to Brennan losing his security clearance: Pentagon Analyst Who Flagged FBI Spy in 2016 Had Clearance Revoked, Pay Slashed The analyst complained that Brit Stefan Halper, who turns out to be a big player in the FISAgate scandal, and is a friend of Downer and Misfud, the two likely CIA operatives trying to entrap Trump staffers in late spring and early summer of 2016, had his security clearance revoked after whistleblowing that the work being paid for was supposed to becliited to Americans. Apparently, between 2012 and 2016, the Office of Net Assessment (ONA) paid Halper over $1 million as a contractor.

Mike Sylwester said...

Bruce Hayden,

Bad link.

tim in vermont said...

Doesn't explain why the other candidate, a sleazy politician doing business with sleazy Russians wasn't also under investigation.

Mike Sylwester said...

Bruce Hayden

becliited?

Bruce Hayden said...

“The whole scheme makes sense f you start from the premise that Hillary Clinton would be easily elected. These schemers were all careerists jockeying for position in what they were certain would be the new Administration. Those outside the government, like Halper and Steele, were jockeying for lucrative work when their handlers assumed their rightful positions in the new Administration.”

I think that Steele and Halper were more mercenary than anything. Steele was taking money from multiple sources, and Halper had taken over a $1 million from the IC. But we did see the expectation that Crooked Hillary would win, in the Strzok/Page text messages about why he went easy on her in his MYE pseudo-investigation- he didn’t want the famously vindictive Clinton, when elected, remembering that he had been the one to inconvenience her during her campaign with that silly email investigation. It wasn’t, apparently, at that time that Important to him that she be elected, and Trump not (that came later, and maybe was driven by Page). Rather he was just trying to keep his dead down.

Lovernios said...

Music Interlude

Ain't No Sunshine - Daryl Hall with Finger Eleven

Bruce Hayden said...

“Bad link.”

Sorry. Seems to be a Blogger issue. Won’t take this in the Href field either with a leading “https” or “http”:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/defense-whistleblower-who-flagged-fbi-spy-in-2016-stripped-of-pay_2625942.html

Bruce Hayden said...

“becliited” = “be limited”

Sorry (again). Probably can’t blame that on IOS spellcheck but rather fat fingering my iPad.

Birkel said...

Does abets mean bribed U.S. government officials?
Screwed - literally - government officials for intelligence information?
Received the unredacted Steele document in March of 2017?
Illegally solicited and bribed their way into possession of the Steele document?

Lied about the content of the documents they had?
Hired the leakers as payback for the leaking?

That is the broadest definition of abets one could imagine.
Co-conspirator is a better description.

Kevin said...
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Kevin said...
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Bruce Hayden said...

What I think is going to be interesting is to see what happens with Bruce Ohr. As most here probably know he is the one person we know who was involved in the FISAgate operation who is still employed by the govt. Yet he is one of the dirtiest. Best explanation is that he is still useful to the OIG. in any case, he is expected to testify in closed session before Congressional committees later this month. What we do know, so far, is that he knew both Simpson (and his wife Jacoby), as well as Steele before this whole conspiracy got under way in late Spring of 2016, his wife was hired by Fusion GPS about the same time as Steele was, that from analysis of writing styles she probably authored more of the Dossier than Steele did, and none of this was disclosed to the DoJ, at a time when he was #4 in the DoJ, reporting directly to #2, DAG Sally Yates. His text messages were recently leaked/dumped, and we now know that he was in routine and frequent contact with both Steele and Simpson, including with a Russian oligarch who was also funding Fusion, and wanted to get into the country. After the FBI formally terminated their relationship with Fusion/Steele, for Steele having gone to the press, ADAG Ohr became the conduit between them and the FBI (esp Strzok). What is just starting to be asked, is what did DAG Yates know, and when? Ohr was officially one of her highest (if not highest) ranking subordinates, yet he seemed to spend a lot of the second half of 2016 interacting between Steele and the FBI. Yet presumably knowing all this, DAG Yates signed the first Carter Page FISA application for the DoJ under penalty of perjury. Her successors, like Rosenstein, May possibly be excused, since they probably didn’t know what Ohr had been doing through the second half of 2016. That excuse probably doesn’t work with Yates - she very likely had to authorize it at some level or at least approve his time sheets.

hombre said...

Inga: "...They’re protecting themselves and distancing themselves from Trump. Rats jump the ship when it’s going down."

As always with the Dems, Inga reflects her commitment to the political ends justifying the means.

The conversation here, Inga, is about corruption of the FBI, the Intelligence community and the leftmediaswine. Would you care to address the assertions in the WSJ piece or are you too far gone to care?

Please start by addressing Brennan's need for security clearance beyond that described by Hagar (10:58).

Mike Sylwester said...

The Bruce Ohr 302’s

[quote]

.... Take this one step further. Bruce Ohr was the conduit between Steele & Simpson and the FBI. ... This interaction was being formally documented by the FBI in 302’s. ... They were likely used in ongoing renewals of the Carter Page FISA Warrant.

Given these set of established facts, how likely is it that Bruce Ohr’s direct supervisor, Deputy Attorney General Sally ["The Logan Act Enforcer"] Yates, was unaware of Ohr’s ongoing interactions with Steele and Fusion GPS.

Sally Yates signed the original FISA Warrant on Carter Page in October 2016 along with the first FISA Renewal in January 2017. Bruce Ohr reported directly to Yates.

Again, Ohr was not operating by himself without the knowledge of others. His actions were repeatedly and officially documented – possibly more frequently than previously known.

Deputy AG Sally Yates almost certainly had to know what Bruce Ohr was doing.

The Bruce Ohr 302’s may provide the final key to unlocking this entire mess. It’s possible they provide a missing link into the Obama Administration as well.

Sara Carter recently reported on yet another Bruce Ohr-Christopher Steele communication. Contained in a text from Steele:

Hi! Just wondering if you had any news? Obviously, we’re a bit apprehensive given scheduled appearance at Congress on Monday. Hoping that important firewalls will hold. Many thanks.

The Bruce Ohr 302’s may be the means to breach that firewall.

Sally Yates had to know.

[end quote]

Jupiter said...

Blogger Hagar said...
"Your national security clearance just is not supposed to be a "thing of value" for you."

Most of these assholes are spooks, and their clearances are their meal tickets, one way or another. The other little-noted aspect of this is that revealing classified information is a crime -- unless the person you reveal it to has a clearance. Having a clearance means you are one of the anointed elite, an insider. And losing your clearance means you are no longer in The Club. You're just a worthless schlub like the rest of us.

Rory said...

Never let it be forgotten that the sequence begins with the Clinton campaign and the DNC using its allies in the press to provide legitimacy to the Trump candidacy.

tcrosse said...

"Your national security clearance just is not supposed to be a "thing of value" for you."

Your national security clearance might as well be Kleenex because it has been determined that there is no penalty for compromising classified matter. No reasonable prosecutor would pursue it.

hombre said...

Unfortunately, however amoral their perspectives, Inga and the pollsters are probably correct. Republicans will lose Congress to a corrupt, godless party with no platform other than "not Trump" and renewing the destruction of the nation through incompetent domestic and foreign policies and graft.

In the absence of a Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, or the like, to destroy us, God created Democrats and their media consorts. And 62 million abortions later, among other things, why wouldn't He?

The Evil Party will "Trump" the Stupid Party.

Sebastian said...

"(aided by one or two others) provided the real updates and back story"

Bruce Hayden, in particular -- as in this thread. Holman Jenkins is good, as is Kim Strassel, but you can see how informed outsiders are beating the pros at the interpretive game, or at least coming up to par.

Drago said...

Thank goodness the obama admin allowed the Chinese to hack the information of every single American who possessed a security clearance through the Office of Personnel Management in June of 2015!

At least the lefties can rest assured that their allies, the commie Chinese, will assist them in their next steps endeavors (Trade secret theft, Trade imbalance protections, Chinese violations of currency manipulation rules, technology transfers to the Chinese military, censoring opposition voices in China thru dem controlled Big Tech, violations of NAFTA loopholes in Canada and Mexico, etc).

Of course, it goes without saying that obambi offered up a "strong" response along the lines of a "red line" and "knock it off" terse letter!!

LOL

Michael K said...

"Rats jump the ship when it’s going down."

Inga, you know what they call rats like you who don't jump sinking ships, like Hillary's?

Drowned rats.

Good luck.

Mr. Groovington said...

Blogger Lovernios said... From unnamed sources in Russian Intelligence, I have been informed that they have a photo of Hillary in downward dog pose with her pantsuit split wide open for all to see her..., well let's just leave that part out. Forget I even said that.

Well done.

Drago said...
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Drago said...

Michael K: "Inga, you know what they call rats like you who don't jump sinking ships, like Hillary's?"

Hillary was the most qualified, most competent, mostest fantastic rat to ever run for the Presidency of the United States.

I know what you're thinking: Why wasn't she 50 points and a metric ton of cheese ahead of Trump?

I wish James Clavell were around. He might have been able to update his novel "King Rat" in his "Shogun" series had Hillary pulled it out.

Poor Hillary, she had to "make do" with the entire leadership of the obambi admin and the law enforcement and intelligence agences conspiring to set up, spy on and frame a domestic political opponent in a most East Germany sort of way. She also had to make do with a mere 97% of the media being completely in the tank for her?

I'll bet Web Hubbell is spinning in his grave upset that his daughter will never be First Daughter.

Drago said...

My favorite development of the day is John Brennan walking back his moronic Trump was "nothing short of treasonous" comment and now claiming "nothing short of treason" ACTUALLY means something very much indeed "short of treasonous".....meaning not treasonous!!

LOL

Even LLR Chuck's beloved and "brilliant" Maddow just stared him down and took him to task for that and was practically begging Brennan to reaffirm that he, as the former CIA Director, had information that demonstrated Trump had committed treason!

It was hilarious.

Poor Brennan. Way out over his ski's and even the milque-toast Sen Burr literally shot Brennan in the face with a fact-based rhetorical bazooka. Burr hit Brennan so hard that LLR Chuck is still sore!!

etbass said...

And Seth Rich is content in his grave, knowing that Hill won't be POTUS.

Scott M said...

Right now, we're just along for the ride.

What were we doing when you predicted she would win in a landslide?

cf said...

It was a Joke!
@realDonaldTrump made a very Good, Effective Joke, on Hillary's email voids, and Brennan takes it as a message to the Russkies?!!
What a terrible Joke itself, that Brennan's lack of a sense of humor generated this PoliceState business against the man who is now our Amazing President.

John henry said...

Here's another coverup: HUD goes after Facebook for having a business model based on misogyny, racism, homophobia and bigotry!

I'm not seeing it reported anywhere.

I think it is hilarious. Facebook probably thought they could screw with the election by deplatforming conservatives. After all, if President Trump did anything, they could cry First Amendment, bullying, and a million other things.

But President Trump is not doing anything to them. A black man, Secty Ben Carson is. President Trump can claim that he didn't know anything about it, that he delegates to his secretaries and they can act without checking with him.

It is a wonderful box Facebook has been put into.

Is Google next? Do they show ads based on race, sex, religion, age, education (where they went to school) etc? Maybe the Dept of labor can go after them for discrimination in job ads. Twitter too.

This is existential for these companies. Their whole business model is based on targeted advertising. If they can't target ads based on demographics, what good are they?

President Trump likes to name his opponents and the names stick. Low energy Jeb, Crooked Hilary and others. What will he name these malefactors?

Racist Facebook? Sexist Google? Homophobic Twitter?

Pass the popcorn please. This'll teach them to poke the bear.

John Henry

John henry said...

Here's the link:

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_18_085

HUD FILES HOUSING DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT AGAINST FACEBOOK
Secretary-initiated complaint alleges platform allows advertisers to discriminate

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today a formal complaint against Facebook for violating the Fair Housing Act by allowing landlords and home sellers to use its advertising platform to engage in housing discrimination.

HUD claims Facebook enables advertisers to control which users receive housing-related ads based upon the recipient's race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, disability, and/or zip code. Facebook then invites advertisers to express unlawful preferences by offering discriminatory options, allowing them to effectively limit housing options for these protected classes under the guise of 'targeted advertising.' Read HUD's complaint against Facebook.
...

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing transactions including print and online advertisement on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status. HUD's Secretary-initiated complaint follows the Department's investigation into Facebook's advertising platform which includes targeting tools that enable advertisers to filter prospective tenants or homebuyers based on these protected classes.

For example, HUD's complaint alleges Facebook's platform violates the Fair Housing Act. It enables advertisers to, among other things:

display housing ads either only to men or women;
not show ads to Facebook users interested in an "assistance dog," "mobility scooter," "accessibility" or "deaf culture";
not show ads to users whom Facebook categorizes as interested in "child care" or "parenting," or show ads only to users with children above a specified age;
to display/not display ads to users whom Facebook categorizes as interested in a particular place of worship, religion or tenet, such as the "Christian Church," "Sikhism," "Hinduism," or the "Bible."
not show ads to users whom Facebook categorizes as interested in "Latin America," "Canada," "Southeast Asia," "China," "Honduras," or "Somalia."
draw a red line around zip codes and then not display ads to Facebook users who live in specific zip codes.


So how does "Racist Facebook" defend itself? They can't claim that they didn't know, since they have something like 15,000 employees working full time monitoring every post.

Just in time for November.

John Henry

John henry said...

Blogger Michael K said...


Conrad Black, in his biography of Trump, writes that he had not met him until he began to remodel the Sun Times building in Chicago. He owned the Sun Times then.

Considering that he he razed the building and replaced it with Trump Tower, that is one Hell of a remodel.

Have I mentioned that I spent Election night partying in the grand ballroom of the Trump Tower? What a glorious evening that was. The next night (Wed) we needed police assistance to get back to our hotel, just across the river from Trump Tower. My son had a deathgrip on my arm and kept repeating "Don't say anything, Papi. Don't say anythign Papi. Don't say anything, Papi."

I was really tempted to gloat at these fools but it looked like ti would not take much to turn them ugly. I'm probably lucky he was there.

Suck it, turkeys. America won, you lost.

John Henry

Unknown said...

I heard about 5 minutes of Rush on the radio the other day. I used to listen to him alot way back when, but I can't and don't lately. Anyway, he had some wisdom in what I heard for those 5 minutes. His take on the news cycle and why it is so berserk is on the mark. This is the sound that a swamp makes when it drains. Trump is doing what he promised to do, and it's messy and noisy and sloppy and muddy, but this is what Trump was elected to do and he is doing it. Trump actually has help from the people that he is outing and draining because they were so careless and so partisan and so dishonest and so sure that Hillary won that it's easy, but it's very loud and it will continue to be loud, and the louder it gets the more successful Trump is.

Bruce Hayden said...

What I think is interesting, and seems to be getting more so, as the election gets closer and closer, is the timing on both sides. On the anti-Trump side, the Manafort jury is still out, after the MSM failed yesterday in getting their names and addresses, so that their shock troops could get a bit of jury intimidation in. The judge, meanwhile, has US Marshalls protecting him, which will probably not help Mueller’s people get the type of sentence they will, no doubt, ask for, if they get a conviction. And, apparently, a Trump atty just spent a bunch of time with the Mueller team, and provided them with a significant quantity of documents. On the other hand, Bruce Ohr is scheduled to testify before closed House committee hearings in 10 days. His text messages were recently leaked, showing his close connections and frequent conversations with Steele and Simpson, and that the three of them were working with that Russian oligarch at the same time that they were ginning up the Trump/Russia conspiracy scandal. And, I think that Rudy Giuliani has neutered any attempts to harm Trump by Mueller subpoenaing him.

Momentum seems to be on Trump’s side, but that could switch in an instant. In the next month, we will probably have the next DoJ OIG report dumped. Can’t help the anti-Trump forces, but may not help Trump and the Republicans as much as many of us would like. It is supposed to cover the Carter Page FISA warrant, which could be devastating to the Dems - except, of course, IG Horowitz was originally appointed by Obama. We really do need a special prosecutor there, because the DoJ IG can’t really get to the origins of the plot, since much of that, esp in late spring of 2016 applears to have come out of other departments and agencies, and, in particular, the Intelligence Community. Still, hard to see, right now, what Mueller and the Dems can do to reverse Trump’s momentum here.

One thing that I do wonder is whether the Trump team has worked backwards from the election, on the disclosure of the setup against him that ultimately resulted in the Mueller investigation. Just read an article that questions the Blue Wave, because the pollsters predicting it are (maybe intentionally) looking at the wrong things. Out of the 435 House seats, only 40-50 are that much in play. Dems would have to win better than half of them to reinstall Nancy Palzie as Speaker. Trump won in 2016 on late deciders, which may be part of why his side seems more aggressive right now on the scandal/investigation front. Turnout tends to be significantly lower in midterm elections, so the trick is to get your side to turn out. The other thing to look at this is how well they can nationalize the election - given the choice between Trump and Pelosi, he will carry most of the districts he won in 2016. And, of course, even if the Dems weren’t able to impeach Trump in the House, if they win the House, all the investigations going on into DoJ/FBI/IC malfeasance and collusion would be shut down so fast your head will spin. I should also point out probably helping Trump this Nov is that he can, and no doubt will, fire up big crowds in those swing districts, far better than any national level Dems will be able to, and they really don’t have much to run on, except raising taxes for their wealthiest constituents, and to harm Trump, which isn’t really something that is going to drive turnout, esp in districts that voted for Trump.

As John Henry just said: Pass the popcorn

Big Mike said...

Suck it, turkeys. America won, you lost.

Summarizes it right there.

narciso said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

Correction


http://dailycaller.com/2018/08/18/papadopoulos-wire-mueller/

Original Mike said...

”HUD FILES HOUSING DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT AGAINST FACEBOOK”

HEH.

narciso said...


So they fall like the internist at the opening to quincy:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/08/18/sketchy-affiliations-as-expected-lawyer-lobbyist-adam-waldman-refuses-to-cooperate-with-senate-judiciary-committee/amp/

The other problem is sechin might have been good fighting off renamo in Mozambique but his business judgement is right up there with elon musk. To bring Rosneft public he engaged a whole set of counterparts who could not effectively carry off the deal, Qatari Italian and even Marc rich old firm, he furthermore had to buy back the shares of even Fridman and Khan, the three oligarchs mentioned in buzzfeed

narciso said...

Which is why that publication is facing a Miami courtroom next month, Khan is the young Dutch lawyers father in law, so we can see the Mueller's,indictment as a revenge play.

narciso said...

But you see this if you strip out of the ancient noise in this story.

narciso said...

Only Craig pierrong has followed that rolling dumpster fire that sechin lit.

walter said...

"I'll bet Web Hubbell is spinning in his grave upset "
He was spinning and upset from the moment he woke to realize the splooge stooge he had become.

Bruce Gee said...

"The Cracker Emcee Rampant said...
How did a graceless real-estate mogul with no political experience manage to bootstrap the Presidency of the United States in the face of the rabid opposition of the establishment of both parties and the media? Easy, his opponents are morons"

I have the impression this guy Trump, a graceless real-estate mogul, has been practicing and preparing to be POTUS for a good 30 years. I think he has followed closely in particular the trade and foreign policy shenanigans of the past four or five administrations and prepared in his mind a different path that he would take, "should the opportunity arise." He has managed to put together, with several false starts, a powerful trade and foreign policy team. And he does like a good wrasslin' match.
I guess I'm tired of the old meme that Trump is stupid and has no idea what he's doing. The answer to the Cracker Emcee Rampant's question goes deeper than "his opponents are morons".

Bruce Gee said...

"The Cracker Emcee Rampant said...
How did a graceless real-estate mogul with no political experience manage to bootstrap the Presidency of the United States in the face of the rabid opposition of the establishment of both parties and the media? Easy, his opponents are morons"

I have the impression this guy Trump, a graceless real-estate mogul, has been practicing and preparing to be POTUS for a good 30 years. I think he has followed closely in particular the trade and foreign policy shenanigans of the past four or five administrations and prepared in his mind a different path that he would take, "should the opportunity arise." He has managed to put together, with several false starts, a powerful trade and foreign policy team. And he does like a good wrasslin' match.
I guess I'm tired of the old meme that Trump is stupid and has no idea what he's doing. The answer to the Cracker Emcee Rampant's question goes deeper than "his opponents are morons".