Vladimir Putin recently made comments on the seriousness of global conflicts that can lead to nuclear conflict. Patriots worldwide should pay close attention as the globalists build their dangerous nuclear arsenal.
In stark contrast to attempts in numerous western countries to stifle free speech online, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Internet freedom during a conference...
A prominent Swedish lawmaker asserts that Hungarian billionaire George Soros's influence on European politics and policies make him "one of the most dangerous men,"
In a surprise show of unbiased journalism, The New York Times dropped a bombshell detailing conversations Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein had with then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and FBI lawyer Lisa Page and fellow Justice Department and FBI officials in the spring of 2017, during the tumult following Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey.
Bloomberg is reporting that the FBI is planning to ignore President Trump and redact information he told them not to. This is another attempt by the deep state to obstruct a democratically elected president and his America First agenda.
L-R Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
Four top Democratic lawmakers are demanding that no Russia-probe documents be released in compliance with President Donald Trump’s order until the director of national intelligence and the heads of the FBI and the Justice Department meet with the “Gang of Eight.”
In a letter sent one day after Trump ordered the declassifications, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also called Sept. 18 on the three agencies to cease the declassification review process and halt all communications with the White House related to the president’s order until meeting in person with the Gang of Eight.
Trump ordered Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats on Sept. 17 to declassify specific pages of the secret court warrant application to surveil former Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page, FBI interviews related to the application, and text messages related to the Russia probe sent by James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.
Trump specified that the documents be declassified “immediately.” The Democrats’ move could at best delay the process, since Trump holds the ultimate authority to declassify documents.
The Democrats argue that the White House shouldn’t be given access to the documents because the Russia investigation is still ongoing and may “implicate the President himself or those around him.” According to the letter, the Democrats had sought to restrict the president’s access to information at least three times since June.
At the requested meeting, Pelosi, Schumer, Schiff, and Warner demand to know how much the White House will get to see as part of the review process, the White House staff who are involved, what information the agencies propose to redact, how they plan to protect sources and methods, and if there is a plan to “mitigate harm” that may result from the release of the documents.
“The action he has taken, to direct your agencies to selectively disclose classified information that he believes he can manipulate publicly, to undermine the legitimacy and credibility of the Special Counsel’s investigation, is a brazen abuse of power,” the Democrats’ letter states.
Spokespeople from the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) told The Epoch Times that those agencies are cooperating with the FBI to comply with Trump’s order.
“When the President issues such an order, it triggers a declassification review process that is conducted by various agencies within the intelligence community, in conjunction with the White House counsel, to seek to ensure the safety of America’s national security interests,” according to a DOJ spokesperson, who declined to comment on the Democrats’ request for a meeting.
“As requested by the White House, the ODNI is working expeditiously with our interagency partners to conduct a declassification review of the documents the President has identified for declassification,” ODNI spokesperson Kellie Wade said.
The FBI declined to comment on the declassification process and the Democrats’ request. Spokespeople for two of the Gang of Eight’s Republican members, Rep. Devin Nunes of California and Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, declined to comment.
The documents Trump ordered to be released focus on the key players in the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign, which started in July 2016. The roots and methods of that investigation have faced intense criticism because of its reliance on an opposition research dossier funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and the intense anti-Trump bias expressed by Lisa Page and Strzok, among others.
Trump told Hill TV in an exclusive interview on Sept. 18 that exposing the FBI’s scheme would be a “crowning achievement” of his presidency.
“I hope to be able to call this, along with tax cuts and regulation and all the things I’ve done … in its own way, this might be the most important thing because this was corrupt,” Trump said.
“They know this is one of the great scandals in the history of our country because basically what they did is, they used Carter Page, who nobody even knew, who I feel very badly for, I think he’s been treated very badly,” the president added. “They used Carter Page as a foil in order to surveil a candidate for the presidency of the United States.”
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the other two Republicans on the Gang of Eight, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Trump said that he hadn’t read the material he ordered to be declassified, but that he believes they will expose that the probe of his campaign was a “hoax, beyond a witch hunt.”
The president was specifically concerned with the secret court judges who approved the warrant to spy on Carter Page. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the initial application to surveil Page in October 2016. The court then approved three renewals in three-month increments.
“One of the things I’m disappointed in is that the judges in FISA didn’t, don’t seem to have done anything about it. I’m very disappointed in that,” Trump said. “Now, I may be wrong because, maybe as we sit here and talk, maybe they’re well into it. We just don’t know that because I purposely have not chosen to get involved.”
Trump noted that many people had asked him to declassify the documents, but said he waited to see “where it was all going.”
“All I want to do is be transparent,” he said. “I hope to be able put this up as one of my crowning achievements that I was able to … expose something that is truly a cancer in our country.”
President Trump has ordered the release of key documents regarding the FISA court warrant on Carter Page, all reports of FBI interviews with Bruce Ohr, as well as “the release of all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, without redaction, of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.” In-studio is comedian Owen Benjamin discussing how the establishment left ruined comedy. Furthermore, Tommy Robinson returns to share the latest from Europe
Lisa Page: It’s Possible ‘There Would Be Literally Nothing’ to Russia Collusion Story Before Mueller Appointment
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page admitted under oath that a text
exchange with FBI agent Peter Strzok meant that “it still existed in the
scope of possibility that there would be literally nothing” to the
Russia collusion story on the eve of Robert Mueller’s appointment to
investigate that issue as special counsel, according to a Sunday Fox
News report.
In July, Page and Strzok were called to testify before a joint session of the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees about their text exchanges.
According to the report by Justice Department Inspector General
(DOJ-IG) Michael Horowitz in May 2017, Strzok texted Page to let her
know he was considering joining Mueller’s investigation, which was just
beginning. He told her he wanted to join to “fix it” after the Clinton
mail investigation and complete “unfinished business,” stating he was
willing to forgo an assistant directorship to be part of “[a]n
investigation leading to impeachment.” But Strzok still had reservations
about joining Mueller. As the DOJ-IG report puts it:
May 18, 2017: Mueller was appointed
Special Counsel on May 17, 2017. The next day Strzok and Page exchanged
text messages in a discussion of whether Strzok should join the Special
Counsel’s investigation. Strzok wrote: “For me, and this case, I
personally have a sense of unfinished business. I unleashed it with MYE
[Midyear Exam, the investigation into Clinton’s emails]. Now I need to
fix it and finish it.” Later in the same exchange, Strzok, apparently
while weighing his career options, made this comparison: “Who gives a
f*ck, one more A[ssistant] D[irector]…[versus] [a]n investigation
leading to impeachment?” Later in this exchange, Strzok stated, “you and I both know the odds are nothing.
If I thought it was likely I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part
because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there”
[Emphasis added].
In the closed-door section of her testimony, revealed
for the first time in Sunday’s Fox News report, Page confirmed that
Strzok meant there was no proof of collusion. “I think this represents
that even as far as May 2017, we still couldn’t answer the question,”
Page, who had been attached to the FBI’s investigation of Russian
election interference for nine months, told Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX).
“No, I don’t think so. I think it’s a reflection of us still not
knowing,” Page said when Ratcliffe pressed her on the texts’ meaning,
but then added:
It still existed in the scope of possibility that there would be literally nothing,
probably not nothing nothing, as we probably knew more than that by
that point.But in the scheme of the possible outcomes, the most serious
one obviously being crimes serious enough to warrant impeachment; but
on the other scale that, you know, maybe an unwitting person was, in
fact, involved in the release of information, but it didn’t ultimately
touch any senior, you know, people in the administration or on the
campaign. And so the text just sort of reflects that spectrum [Emphasis
added].
Since that exchange, the Special Counsel’s Office has continued to
investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia for
an additional 16 months without announcing any evidence of such
collusion.
In a tweet on Monday, President Donald Trump seized on these
revelations as further evidence of the “witch hunt” he has long claimed
the Mueller Probe to be:
“Lisa Page Testimony- NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION BEFORE MUELLER APPOINTMENT.” @FoxNews by Catherine Herridge. Therefore, the case should never have been allowed to be brought. It is a totally illegal Witch Hunt!
Page’s text message exchanges with Strzok, with whom she was having
an extra-marital affair, have been the focus of intense congressional
and public scrutiny since Inspector General Horowitz uncovered the pair expressing
intensely anti-Trump messages to each other as the decisions to
investigate Russian interference were being made at the FBI. Page resigned her position in May, and the FBI fired Strzok last month for his conduct.
Uncovered text
messages reveal that FBI agent Peter Strzok wanted to use CNN's
"bombshell" report about the infamous "Steele Dossier" to interview
witnesses in the Trump-Russia probe
CNN used leaked knowledge that Comey briefed Trump on the dossier as a trigger to publish
The FBI knew of CNN's plans to publish, confirming a dialogue between the FBI and CNN
This is particularly damning in light of revelations of FBI-MSM collusion against the Trump campaign
Newly revealed text messages between former FBI agent Peter
Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page reveal that Strzok wanted to
use CNN's report on the infamous "Steele Dossier" to justify
interviewing people in the Trump-Russia investigation, reports CNN.
"Sitting with Bill watching CNN. A TON more out," Strzok texted to Page on Jan. 10, 2017, following CNN's report.
"Hey let me know when you can talk. We’re discussing whether, now that this is out, we use it as a pretext to go interview some people," Strzok continued.
Recall that CNN used the (leaked) fact that former FBI Director James
Comey had briefed then-President-Elect Donald Trump on a two-page
summary of the Steele Dossier to justify printing their January report.
This is a troubling development in light of a May report that the FBI knew that CNN was "close to going forward" with the Steele Dossier story, and that "The trigger for them is they know the material was discussed," clearly indicating active communications between CNN and the FBI.
Weeks later, as the Daily Caller's
Chuck Ross notes, the FBI approached former Trump campaign adviser
George Papadopoulos "under the guise of interviewing him about his
contacts with an alleged source for the dossier."
In short, knowledge of the Comey-Trump briefing was leaked to CNN,
CNN printed the story, Strzok wanted to use it as a pretext to interview
people in the Trump-Russia investigation, and weeks later George
Papadopoulos became ensnared in their investigation.
And when one considers that we learned of an FBI "media leak strategy" this week, it suggests pervasive
collusion between Obama-era intelligence agencies and the MSM to
defeat, and then smear Donald Trump after he had won the election.
Text messages discussing the "media leak strategy" were revealed
Monday by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC). The messages, sent the day before
and after two damaging articles about former Trump campaign adviser
Carter Page, raise "grave concerns regarding an apparent
systematic culture of media leaking by high-ranking officials at the FBI
and DOJ related to ongoing investigations."
A review of the documents suggests that the FBI and DOJ coordinated
efforts to get information to the press that would potentially be
“harmful to President Trump’s administration.” Those leaks pertained to
information regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
warrant used to spy on short-term campaign volunteer Carter Page.
The letter lists several examples:
April 10, 2017: (former FBI Special Agent) Peter Strzok contacts
(former FBI Attorney) Lisa Page to discuss a “media leak strategy.”
Specifically, the text says: “I had literally just gone to find
this phone to tell you I want to talk to you about media leak strategy
with DOJ before you go.”
April 12, 2017: Peter Strzok congratulates Lisa Page on a job well
done while referring to two derogatory articles about Carter Page. In
the text, Strzok warns Page two articles are coming out, one which is
“worse” than the other about Lisa’s “namesake”.” Strzok added: “Well
done, Page.” -Sara Carter
Recall that Strzok's boss, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, was fired for authorizing self-serving leaks to the press.
Also recall that text messages released in January reveal that Lisa Page was on the phone with Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett, then with the New York Times,
when the reopening of the Clinton Foundation investigation hit the news
cycle - just one example in a series of text messages matching up with
MSM reports relying on leaked information, as reported by the Conservative Treehouse.
♦Page: 5:19pm “Still on the phone with Devlin. Mike’s phone is ON FIRE.”
♥Strzok: 5:29pm “You might wanna tell Devlin he should turn on CNN, there’s news on.”
♦Page: 5:30pm “He knows. He just got handed a note.”
♥Strzok: 5:33pm “Ha. He asking about it now?”
♦Page: 5:34pm “Yeah. It was pretty funny. Coming now.”
At 5:36pm Devlin Barrett tweets:
Meadows says that the texts show "a coordinated effort on the
part of the FBI and DOJ to release information in the public domain
potentially harmful to President Donald Trump's administration."
Revisiting the FBI-CNN connection
Going back to the internal FBI emails revealed in May by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), we find that McCabe had advance knowledge of CNN's plans to publish the Steele Dossier report.
In an email to top FBI officials with the subject "Flood is coming," McCabe wrote: “CNN is close to going forward with the sensitive story ... The trigger for them is they know the material was discussed in the brief and presented in an attachment.” McCabe does not reveal how he knew CNN’s “trigger” was Comey's briefing to Trump.
McCabe shot off a second email shortly thereafter to then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates along with her deputy, Matthew Alexrod, with the subject line "News."
“Just as an FYI, and as expected,” McCabe wrote, “it seems CNN is close to running a story about the sensitive reporting.” Again, how McCabe knew this is unclear and begs investigation.
Johnson also wanted to know when FBI officials "first learned that media outlets, including CNN, may have possessed the Steele dossier. "
As The Federalist noted
in May, "To date, there is no public evidence that the FBI ever
investigated the leaks to media about the briefing between Trump and
Comey. When asked in a recent interview by Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier,
Comey scoffed at the idea that the FBI would even need to investigate
the leak of a secret briefing with the incoming president."
“Did you or your subordinates leak that?” Baier asked.
“No,” Comey responded. “I don’t know who leaked it.”
“Did you ever try to find out?” Baier asked.
“Who leaked an unclassified public document?” Comey said, even though Baier’s question was about leaking details of a briefing of the incoming president, not the dossier. “No,” Comey said.
And now it looks like we have an answer for why the FBI never investigated the leak...
Liberteon
