Attorney General William P. Barr has assigned John H. Durham, the United States Attorney in Connecticut, to investigate the origins of the Russia Investigation. The country remains divided over the Russian Investigation with many questions raised as to political influence and targeting. Durham is a former special prosecutor with a long and distinguished record at the Justice Department, including prior investigations into CIA abuses of detainees and internal corruption. Besides, he has one of the most intense official photos in government that I have ever seen.
There will be some overlap in the investigation. The department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, is already investigating the use of wiretap applications and any political influences in the investigation. John W. Huber, the United States Attorney in Utah, has been investigating in conjunction with Horowitz. This will be the third investigation and does not count congressional investigations.
Horowitz has had an incredible career. Durham graduated with honors from Colgate University in 1972 and received his law degree in 1975 from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He was also a VISTA volunteer for two years on a Montana Indian reservation.
The appointment should satisfy critics who have demanded a full investigation into the origins of the investigation and the role of the Steele Dossier in the early decisions. Frankly, I believe that, at this point, the public interest is best satisfied with the maximum level of transparency. That means Trump dropping his executive privilege arguments and the Justice Department fully investigating both sides of the matter. My concern is only that I fail to understand why the Huber and IG investigations were not sufficient.
What do you think?
Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas find a tall oak tree,
Round up all them bad boys hang them high in the street
For all the people to see
Toby Keith
Beer For My Horses
L4D asks: George, how much beer does it take to get a horse drunk?
L4D guesses–A “pony” keg?
I want a John Durham t-shirt with that face on it!
The Chickens are Coming Home to Roost! Pawck pawck pawck PawKkkkkkk. It’s The Wonderful Winged Warrior! Chiiiiickennnnn Mannnnnn
He’s everywhere he’s everywhere.
If you have to ask what is that your the type to say ‘in the day’ and believe me it takes more than a ‘day’ for bragging rights.’
That’s the fun part of seeing the REAL Investigations start.
The wheels of Justice grind slow but hey grind exceedingly fine. No matter how it turns out.
What are the odds this week on Clinton going down?.
Papodopoulus has been discussed time and time again. This article is one of the things we expect Barr and Durham to investigate. It completely changes the picture of the man.
George Papadopoulos Shines Light on ANOTHER FBI Entrapment Scheme
Note: This article is a podcast summary of Episode 978 of The Dan Bongino Show, titled “It’s Over.”
Long-time listeners of the show know about the FBI’s attempts to entrap George Papadopoulos in London by trying to goad him into revealing information about Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails that he did not posses. The FBI would later claim suspicions regarding Papadopoulos’ contacts was their justification for opening a secretive counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, even though all evidence suggests it was Christopher Steele’s dossier that actually justified it.
That wasn’t all – new revelations indicate there was yet another attempt to entrap Papadopoulos, this one possibly coming from Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel.
Buried on the final page of the memo recommending that Papadopoulos serve 6-months in jail for making false statements to the FBI is a reference to a $10,000 payment Papadopoulos said he received from a foreign national he suspected to be a spy. The court filing recommended a fine between $500-$9,500 for that (and a $9,500 fine was part of his sentence).
This is where things get interesting. According to the Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross:
While Mueller’s court filing makes no other reference to the individual, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned that a man named Charles Tawil gave Papadopoulos $10,000 during a meeting in an Israeli hotel room in July 2017.
It must be emphasized here how bizarre it is to pay someone $10,000 in cash for a business transaction in the modern age.
Sources familiar with the matter told TheDCNF Tawil flew to the Greek island of Mykonos to meet Papadopoulos and his now-wife, Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos. Tawil invited the pair to Israel, but Mangiante Papadopoulos stayed behind.
Earlier Papadapoulos had flown to Cyprus on June 9th according to his book “Deep State Target.” Of note, there’s a record of Andrew Weissman, an attorney for Robert Mueller’s special counsel, on the island on June 13th (source: page 5), but Talking Points Memo claims this was related to investigating Paul Manafort.
Papadopoulos gave the money to an attorney in Greece before traveling back to the U.S., a source told The Daily Caller on the condition of anonymity. Papadopoulos was arrested at Dulles International Airport on a return trip from overseas on July 27, 2017.
Papadopoulos and Tawil met through an Israeli political strategist named David Ha’ivri. Ha’ivri told The Daily Caller said that he introduced the pair “at my own initiative” to facilitate a business deal involving an oil and gas project in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
When Papadopoulos landed at Dulles airport he was immediately greeted by FBI agents as he landed. They already had his baggage in their possession.
This is where the dollar value of $10,000 becomes relevant – as it’s the exact threshold for which one needs to declare assets when entering the country. The FBI likely had hoped to catch Papadopoulos with $10,000 that he didn’t declare, but he didn’t have the cash on him because he wisely left it in Greece. With that likely plan failing, instead the FBI arrested him for “false statements.” Also of note, Papadopoulos was flying into Dullas airport for a connecting flight back to Chicago, and it would’ve been standard for him to have been arrested at his ending destination of Chicago. Papadopoulos would’ve been forced to claim money at Dulles (his initial entry back into the U.S.) – but not in Chicago.
Even more suspicious, Papadopoulos claimed on Twitter that the bills he was given are marked (with the purpose to tracing the money to him); comments he reiterated while appearing on Maria Bartiromo’s show this week. “I actually want Congress, Barr, Horowitz, and Huber to review the bills because I still have the bills and I think they are marked,” Papadopoulos said. “These bills that are still in Athens right now must be examined by the investigators because I think they are marked and they’re going to go all the way back to DOJ, under the previous FBI under Comey, and even the Mueller team.”
“If the Mueller team is going around entrapping campaign associates and Trump associates, the way they did to me — I am sure it wasn’t just me they did it to — it’s going to open up a massive can of worms,” Papadopoulos continued. “I think we need to get to the bottom of exactly not only how did this story start, but why were they entrapping us moving forward.”
Excerpted from the Wikipedia entry for The Trump-Russia Dossier:
As Nuland later shared, “In the middle of July, when he [Steele] was doing this other work and became concerned, he passed two to four pages of short points of what he was finding and our immediate reaction to that was, ‘This is not in our purview’.” “This needs to go to the FBI if there is any concern here that one candidate or the election as a whole might be influenced by the Russian Federation. That’s something for the FBI to investigate.” Shortly after, in July, the report was sent to an agent with expertise in criminal organizations and organized crime at the FBI’s New York field office — essentially, the wrong person to handle a counterintelligence investigation.
It has remained unclear as to who exactly at the FBI was aware of Steele’s report through July and August, and what was done with it, but they did not immediately request additional material until late August or early September, when the FBI asked Steele for “all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos — some of which referred to members of Trump’s inner circle. After that point, he continued to share information with the FBI.”
According to Nancy LeTourneau, political writer for the Washington Monthly, the report “was languishing in the FBI’s New York field office” for two months, and “was finally sent to the counterintelligence team investigating Russia at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.”, in September 2016.
[end excerpt]
So, to review, the FBI counterintelligence team opened its Crossfire Hurricane investigation on July 31st, 2016, but did not receive any of Steele’s reports until September of 2016. However, the New York Office of the FBI had had Steele’s reports since shortly after the middle of July of 2016. That almost certainly means that Rudy Giuliani knew about the Steele dossier before the FBI counterintelligence team conducting the Crossfire Hurricane investigation received any of Steele’s reports. And if Giuliani knew about it in late July, then Trump knew about it in late July, in which case Manafort knew about it in late July, in which case Oleg Deripaska knew about it late July; in which case any of Steele’s reports filed after late July almost certainly contain disinformation that The Kremlin planted with and through Steele’s informant network. Of course, it’s still possible that the Russians found out about Steele’s dossier as early as June of 2016 and that Steele, himself, might have told Deripaska about the dossier as early as June of 2016.
Contributed by Late4Dinner
Funny situation that places a ridiculous mayor in a ridiculous situation along with evidence of lunacy.
Anti-Trump Global Warming Rally Forced to Seek Shelter in Trump Tower Due to Rain
Is there anything the failed New York City mayor and preemptively failed 2020 presidential candidate does that isn’t a humiliating failure?
Even as he was trying to distract attention from his car accident cover-up with a Trump Tower rally promoting his Green New Deal and its skyscraper ban, Mayor Bill de Blasio ended up having to seek shelter in the Trump Tower lobby due to… the weather.
Where he was hassled by pro-Trump protesters.
The rally for the city’s Green New Deal was originally scheduled to be held in front of Trump Tower, but was moved into the lobby due to inclement weather.
New York City’s own Green New Deal plan – officially called The Climate Mobilization Act and modeled after the one proposed in Congress by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. – passed the City Council last month in a 45-2 vote. De Blasio has not yet signed the legislation but is expected to soon.
I wrote about this idiotic thing last month which mandates wind turbines on all the roofs in a city with not enough wind to power a washing machine.
Bill de Blasio claimed that the city would switch completely to ‘renewables’ in only 5 years. That would be a spectacular achievement since neither solar nor wind energy work all that well in New York.
New York ranks 47 out of 50 states in average sunlight hours at only 3.79. It’s windier than it is sunnier, but still only comes in at 28 out of 50 with an average annual windspeed of 0.05 miles per hours. Turbines need winds of 10 miles an hour to start working and city winds are not only erratic, when they blow, they come from different directions, making conventional wind energy setups all but useless.
The New York Times even noted that the city’s turbines were for show, with the builder of the city’s first wind turbine building installation admitting that they barely did anything. “On a good day, there’s maybe enough energy to power the common areas,” he said, “but we don’t get a lot of good days.”
“Our installers spend more time convincing people not to build turbines than to build them,” New York State’s turbine program director said. “The conditions really have to be ideal.”
So it comes as no surprise that the rally was the result of poor planning.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faced a crowd of angry protesters Monday at a raucous rally promoting the city’s Green New Deal inside the lobby of Trump Tower, where the Democrat threatened President Trump’s family company with millions of dollars in fines if his buildings don’t comply with new environmental standards.
“His buildings are one of the biggest polluters in New York City,” de Blasio said. “Cut your emissions or we’ll cut something you really care about.”
De Blasio, who is mulling a Democratic presidential run, added: “We’ll take your money.”
Well obviously. You’re a socialist.
Somehow I don’t think much is going to happen. Just a lot of bluster and nothing substantial.
L4D says: Given almost anyone whosoever Durham might indict, that defendant would be in a prime position to graymail the United States for discovery of classified information. Or else the trial would have to go CIPA and be conducted in a SCIF. Otherwise Putin gains access to the State secrets of the United States on Barr and Trump’s watch. That won’t play well with voters in 2020.
L4D adds: Would you believe how much classified information the United States has on just Carter Page, alone? Not to mention the rest of Trump’s team of foreign policy advisers from 2016. It is not a small amount of classified information. And it would all be discoverable. Carter Page is just about anything else but the person he has pretended to be on the TV.
Funny, former FBI agent. John Joseph Connolly, Jr., thought the same thing right up until the prison van dropped him off at Raiford.
L4D answers; Wrong pew, Counselor. Durham is investigating the origins of a counter-intelligence investigation–not a criminal investigation. There will be boatloads of classified information for Durham to review in a SCIF. Connolly Jr. had no classified information from a counter-intelligence investigation to use as graymail leverage against Durham.
John Connolly (FBI) – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Connolly_(FBI)
John Joseph Connolly Jr. (born August 1, 1940) is a former FBI agent who was convicted of racketeering, obstruction of justice, and murder charges stemming …
“L4D answers; Wrong pew, Counselor. Durham is investigating the origins of a counter-intelligence investigation–not a criminal investigation.”
Wrong. In both cases the Prosecutor was and now is investigating criminal conduct.
L4D asks: Can you name the criminal conduct that Durham is investigating now? Can you also name the subjects or targets of Durham’s supposedly criminal investigation? Do you even know the difference between a criminal investigation versus a counterintelligence investigation? Do you even care that there is a difference between those two kinds of investigations? What do you suppose will happen if Durham indicts someone for . . . who knows what?
If there exists classified information that is exculpatory for that defendant, then either the trial would go CIPA and be conducted in a SCIF or the charges would be dropped or never brought in the first place.
P. S. How is your torrid love affair with the presumption of innocence coming along these days?
“Can you name the criminal conduct that Durham is investigating now? ”
I think we all have an overall idea of what Durham is investigating. We don’t know the speckfics. There was a “couonter intelligence operation” (if one would like to look at it in the most favorable terms). But there also seemed to be an element of spying by the Democrats on the Republican candidate. That type of action would make this a criminal investigation.
I just posted a story on Papodopoulus that if only partially true could lead to criminal charges against those involved or those involved in whatever cover up occurred at a later time.
Another question soon to be revealed is how a phony document was able to be used in the FISA applications. That too might be criminal especailly since considerable evidence has now been released that the FBI was informed that the Steele Dossier was phony. (You thought it to be real)
They also have to look into the leaks to the press and see how everything plays out including the bulk of problems that I haven’t mentioned. Hopefully Durham will peel back the onion to see the origins of the Obama Administration weaponizing our intelligence agencies. I hope Durham goes far enough beack to rectify the injustices done against General Flynn.
#1. Yes
#2. Yes
#3. Yes
#4. Yes
#5. A plea bargain or a trial, and lots more billable hours for DC-area law firms.
#6. A lot better than L4B’s “presumption of innocence” ever was.
L4D:
“L4D answers; Wrong pew, Counselor. Durham is investigating the origins of a counter-intelligence investigation–not a criminal investigation.”
*******************
My point — that I thought was obvious — is that Durham takes no prisoners either with or sans badge. The nature of the investigation wasn’t the point; it was the target. Durham looks like Wilford Brimley to me in my favorite scene in a law-related movie, Pollack’s “Absence of Malice”:
https://secure.action.news/watch?v=btqBJJF2yvE
Anytime I get down on the law, government or its results, I think of the fictional James J. Wells and pray to God there really are lawyers like him running things. The whole scene was magnificent as was Brimley. When you can steal a scene (Hell, a whole movie) from actors Newman and Field, boy, you’ve got whatever “it” is!
Anonymous says: May 16, 2019 at 8:15 AM
L4D says: You ignore my point. I’ll ignore your point. That way we’ll be two points passing in the night. And that’ll be two points too many for poor Allan to ignore.
Is it true Comey is moving to Argentina?
I thought the IG investigation was very narrow — something about the FISA applications?
David Byron,
It can go far beyond that. IG Horowitz’s previous report last summer gave an assessment of a broad range activities of personell in the FBI and the DOJ.
I think he’s very limited in delving into matters not directly related to his own ( DOJ/FBI) department, and his primary focus has been activities of that Department relating to the 2016 election.
But he has broad authority within that Department to investigate beyond one narrow issue, like the FISA applications.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/06/18/watch_live_doj_inspector_general_fbi_director_wray_testify_on_ig_report_at_senate_judiciary_committee.html
I was able to catch a lot of the Senate testimony of IG Horowitz and FBI Director Wray about a year ago.
It was worth watching, but at certain points both were so gun-shy about “stepping over the line” and “pulling a Comey” that there were a good number of “I’m not free to comment on that now” answers.
L4D says: You ignore my point. I’ll ignore your point. That way we’ll be two points passing in the night. And that’ll be two points too many for poor Allan to ignore.
L4D says: Misplaced comment. Intended for Mespo at May 15, 2019 at 9:01 PM just upstream. But you don’t have to ignore it if you don’t want to.
Is Trump Sure He Can Trust Him?
Durham Conducted Investigations For Janet Reno And Eric Holder
Durham was confirmed as a U.S. attorney in February 2018 and had previously earned a reputation as a dogged career prosecutor tapped by previous attorneys general for other high-profile roles.
In 1999, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Durham to investigate law enforcement corruption in Boston, and more recently, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. called on him to investigate the treatment of CIA detainees and the destruction of videotapes.
In its 448-page report, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team wrote that while its investigation established that the Trump campaign “expected it would benefit electorally from” information stolen in Russia-backed efforts, it “did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
A redacted version of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report was released to the public on April 18. Mueller also found 10 “episodes” of potential obstruction of justice by President Trump but ultimately concluded that it was not his place to determine whether the president broke the law.
In the weeks since the release of the report, Trump and his allies have launched a new rallying cry: “Investigate the investigators.”
Edited from: “Barr Taps U.S. Attorney In Connecticut To Investigate Origins Of Russia Probe”
The Washington Post, 5/13/19
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Interestingly this appointment did not generate much coverage in mainstream media. The New York Times and Washington Post reported it but generally Durham’s appointment was largely ignored as a news story. And even this article, by The Washington Post, was relatively brief by Post standards.
Durham was appointed by Janet Reno to investigate The FBI’s corrupt handling of Whitey Bulger. That was the case in which Durham made his name in legal circles. Trump supporters who have tried to link Robert Mueller to Whitey Bulger should take notice; ‘Durham has given Mueller a pass before’ (if one is thinking in crazed conspiracy terms). In fact, radio host Rush Limbaugh has already made ominous comments regarding those ‘links’.
I don’t know what makes you think they care about an investigation of the investigation.
I don’t have enough time in the day to concern myself with all the things you don’t know. The fact is I have a lot more confidence in the objectivity and vigilance of the Independent voter, than I do of a registered Democrat or Republican. I chuckle at the panic-attack going on right now regarding investigating the investigators. What if they find Trump was guilty? LOL! Well then you have nothing to fear, right? So sit back and relax, we got this.
Finally.
Beer for My Horses
Toby Keith
Well a man come on the 6 o’clock news
Said somebody’s been shot, somebody’s been abused
Somebody blew up a building, somebody stole a car
Somebody got away, somebody didn’t get too far yeah
They didn’t get too far
Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas find a tall oak tree,
Round up all them bad boys hang them high in the street
For all the people to see
That justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys, you got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we’ll sing a victory tune
And we’ll all meet back at the local saloon
We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces singing
Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
Too much corruption, and crime in the streets
It’s time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send ’em all to their maker and he’ll settle ’em down
You can bet he’ll set ’em down
‘Cause justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys, you got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we’ll sing a victory tune
We’ll all meet back at the local saloon
And we’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces singing
Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
JT: “My concern is only that I fail to understand why the Huber and IG investigations were not sufficient.”
I love Turley, but he is a (well intentioned) buffoon at times. The IG has no subpoena power! Huber was appointed by Sessions! Now we finally have a process that gives us some comfort that justice will be done, but we have to wait and see.
L4D says: Durham will be investigating the origins of a counter-intelligence investigation into Russia’s efforts at cultivating and recruiting Carter Page, George Papadopoulos and perhaps a few other members of the Trump campaign. Durham will necessarily be spending a great deal of time in a SCIF reviewing classified information. If any of that classified information demonstrates a politically-motivated counter-intelligence investigation into Carter Page, George Papadopoulos or any other members of the Trump campaign, then one would have to wonder why Trump did not declassify that information long ago and has not yet declassified that information. Trump is The POTUS. Isn’t he?
Old Saying Applicable Here:
“Be Careful What You Ask For, You Might Get It”
Trump has been demanding an investigation of the investigation while presuming ‘he’ will be portrayed as a ‘victim’. But an investigation of the investigation might illustrate that The Russia Probe was well-justified. ..Then what..??
We’ve been down this path before with Trump when he demanded a commission to investigate alleged ‘voter fraud’; the ‘millions of illegals that voted for Hillary’. That commission degenerated into a sham more quickly than any detractor might have predicted. This investigation, or investigations, could also go off-track.
The professor notes there are ‘3’ separate investigations. They might produce ‘3’ different conclusions. If they contradict each other that will look ridiculous. And in his last sentence, Professor Turley alludes to that possibility. ‘What can wrong?’ ..Plenty..!
Love it, George! Bring on Dandy Don!
But an investigation of the investigation might illustrate that The Russia Probe was well-justified. ..Then what..??
First of all, an investigation of the investigation is justified all by itself. Secondly, the American people, that the reports of these investigations will matter the most to, are those roughly 50% that don’t hold the parties in high regard. They can tell the difference between fact and fiction. There are plenty of facts known and any attempt to whitewash them will be seen for what it is. If the reports conflict, it won’t be difficult to figure out which one is the most accurate. And whoever gets taken down because of these investigations, you’ll have to agree, we will be better off without them…right?
“But an investigation of the investigation might illustrate that The Russia Probe was well-justified. ..Then what..??”
All we ever wanted was the truth. That’s all. Wherever it takes us.
However, I do wonder whether you actually want the truth. Either way, it’s coming. Along with many indictments for the investigators.
Ivan says, “. . . [T]he truth. That’s all. Wherever it takes us. Along with many indictments for the investigators.”
L4D says: Evidently Ivan has convinced himself that he already knows what the truth is. How else but by means of a foregone conclusion would Ivan confidently predict “many indictments [against] the investigators”?
BTW, has Ivan ever heard of something called “graymail”?
it was a not a sham, but it was a failure. for many reasons. but the issue of unqualified migrants voting is a real one, though mitigated by voter ID laws, which of course Democrats hate
Democrats have a new arrow to fire at the target of overly enlarging the franchise to including a lot of socially misinformed and potentially harmful voters, and this one is enfranchising convicted felons.
The gay mayor dared to suggest that felons should not vote while still in jail, and the progressives were SHOCKED that he was so…. conservative.
Note to progressives: conservatives are ok with NO felons voting, even after serving time. I am ok if they have their rights restored by expungement, but in general, I”m ok with felons staying cut out of the vote. Good idea to keep it that way
Their cynical reasons for this are quite obvious and they often explain them in one word: RACIST!
which means, if white people want to oppose efforts to diminish their power as a voting block, they are BAD
if nonwhite people want to increase their power, they are GOOD
I am not sure why nonwhite people get to consider their group interests but whites are not allowed the same legitimacy? is that “Fair”?
“Fair” will be determined in retrospect by the winners. The left completely understands that notion. They are scared because now those to the right of them appear to understand it now too.
“The professor notes there are ‘3’ separate investigations.”
Peter thinks they will provide different outcomes. Firstly the IG investigation cannot prosecute so it is likely that Barr has been in communication with the IG and is now seeing what he and the others have found. Likely he recognizes that prosecution might be needed. That is my guess as to why Barr has opened still another investigation which is simply the prosecutorial end of the others. Barr is smart and independent. He doesn’t try to make phony cases so I assume he has looked already and seen problems and that is why he appointed the man he did who is used to the type of misconduct that has occurred with federal officials.
The grownups are in charge now. Look out Deep State. Gas up your private jets. Get out your overseas map.
“My concern is only that I fail to understand why the Huber and IG investigations were not sufficient.”
Without knowing the scope and resources of the Huber and IG investigations it is not possible to conclude whether or not they are sufficient.
I think, if anyone is found to have committed such treasonous acts, they should be drawn & quartered on the White House lawn. Doesn’t matter which political party you are a cult member of.
“That means Trump dropping his executive privilege arguments and the Justice Department fully investigating both sides of the matter.”
Trump dropped his executive privilege arguments for Mueller with regard to papers and White House personal. We haven’t seen such transparency from any organization involved in this farce.
He was also a VISTA volunteer for two years on a Montana Indian reservation
Americans want to see the scalping of Dems heads and this dude (love his fierce pic) is the one to do it. Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren failed her Indian 1/1064th genetics.
More on the Bulldog
—-
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/05/_if_a_speedy_uncovering_of_corruption_is_an_issue_this_is_a_good_move.html
AG Barr appoints ‘bulldog’ federal corruption-fighter John Durham to probe origins of Russia hoax investigation
With the appointment of the US Attorney for Connecticut to investigate the origins of the probe into specious allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, a troika is now in place to get to the bottom of the biggest political scandal in American history: the weaponization of the federal government’s law enforcement and intelligence community to sabotage a rival presidential campaign. It is already public knowledge that the US Attorney for Utah, John Huber, was appointed by former AG Sessions to investigate the Clinton Foundation and surveillance abuses. Inspector General Michael Horwitz is said to be investigating how the FBI handled the Steele dossier and Steele himself, as well as Stefan Halper, a CIA and FBI asset who attempted to lure George Papadopoulos into incriminating the Trump campaign by planting intelligence with him.
The appointment of Durham was not publicly announced, but reporters from outlets such as Fox News, USA Today, and the New York Times were quietly informed of the move.
So, who is John Dunham, and why was he appointed?
Fox News says, “Durham is known as a ‘hard-charging, bulldog’ prosecutor, Fox News is told.”
In addition, Fox tells us:
In January, House Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows wrote to Durham seeking a briefing, saying they had “discovered” that Durham’s office was “investigating [former FBI General Counsel James Baker” for unauthorized disclosures to the media.”
Durham does have a history of going after official corruption in federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The New York Times:
John H. Durham, the United States attorney in Connecticut, has a history of serving as a special prosecutor investigating potential wrongdoing among national security officials, including the F.B.I.’s ties to a crime boss in Boston and accusations of C.I.A. abuses of detainees.
Durham was appointed to lead that investigation by Janet Reno, Bill Clinton’s Attorney General.
Notably, the Boston abuses he investigated – that resulted in prison time for FBI agent John Connolly, who collaborated with crime boss White Bulger and framed four innocent men for murders that Bulger commtted — involved Robert Mueller, who was assistant US Attorney and then acting US Attorney in Boston for much of the period. Mueller “wrote letters to the parole and pardon boards throughout the 1980s opposing clemency for the four men framed by FBI lies.”
The Times notes that Durham also has investigated the CIA’s abuses:
“In 2008, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey assigned Mr. Durham to investigate the C.I.A.’s destruction of videotapes in 2005 showing the torture of terrorism suspects. A year later, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. expanded Mr. Durham’s mandate to also examine whether the agency broke any laws in its abuses of detainees in its custody.”
To me, the most interesting aspect of this appointment is that it avoids naming a Special Counsel, who would have to star fresh, and whose work would be done in secrecy for an unlimited amount of time. Durham apparently has been at work on related issues of leaks and has a sterling bipartisan reputation as a corruption fighter. This could well give him a head start on a special counsel. If a speedy uncovering of corruption is an issue, this is a good move.
We shall see what he comes up with and how fast he works
Opinion | Smearing Robert Mueller – The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/opinion/robert-mueller-smearing-complicit.html
Apr 18, 2018 … Was Robert Mueller, the special counsel, complicit in one of the … The case wasn ‘t about Whitey Bulger but another mobster the F.B.I. was also …
Contributed by Late4Dinner
L4D says: Janet Reno appointed John H. Durham to investigate the Boston Office of the FBI in 1999. The wing-nut conspiracy theorists would like us to believe that Durham failed to indict Mueller as a result of Durham’s investigation of the Boston Office of the FBI. Those same wing-nut conspiracy theorists would also have us believe that Durham is going to indict Mueller this time around–twenty years later.
L4D says: Mueller was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Massachusetts District from 1982 until he entered private practice at Hill and Barlow, which, in turn, was before Mueller was appointed Assistant Attorney General under Dick Thornburgh in 1989. That’s ten years before Reno appointed Durham to investigate the Boston Office of the FBI.
oh, how politically incorrect. you mean the Indians used force to protect their lands?
today’s native born Americans should not consider this practice as a question of morality but a question of national self preservation. The question is not whether it was horrible. One conclusion one might take is, that was horrible but it was still not enough. Numbers and technology of the European invaders overwhelmed the natives. Today, the Indian national sovereignties are a shade of their former selves.
Today’s natives might take a lesson of what it looks like when you LOSE
It’s incredible that, given the challenges and threats faced by our country, we appear ready to consume yet another two years in useless “investigations.” Alas, we have come to enjoy them, indeed to be addicted to them. We are like people living at the base of a huge dam intent on playing video games instead of repairing the cracks in the dam. I used to argue with those who label our democracy “dysfunctional,” but in fact it is.
Yes let’s act like it didn’t happen. That will guarantee it will happen again.
understand this. whomever gets to AGI first, whatever national actor, will be able to screw the pooch in foreign elections in a way the Russians only dreamed of doing.
it will be china or the US most likely. If it’s China, get ready for your new masters, and they will not be nice.
we are not to powerful “artificial general intelligence yet” but we do have basic AI data analytics. applied to a thousand human endeavors., why not voting? it’s here.
what happened in 2016 was a molehill. but, what will come in the future along those lines will be a lot bigger. data analytics already here, and here to stay. and skillfully targeted advertising is made possible on Facebook because of billionaire social liberal and Democrat donor, you may know his name Mark Zuckerberg.
and like every other technology, opposing forces will both be using it
http://theconversation.com/how-artificial-intelligence-conquered-democracy-77675
It depends on AG Barr’s intent in bringing Mr Durham in to specifically look into the origins of the Russia investigation. It could be that Barr intends Durham to examine how deeply implicated Barack Obama and his administration were in what is clearly now a groundless investigation based on perjured and fictitious supporting statements.
One of the there Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon dealt specifically with the misuse of the IRS, FBI and Federal intelligence assets to punish Nixon’s political opposition. There’s abundant open source intellligence pointing to just such activities in the Obama Administration. The similarities were so pronounced that libertarian and Nixon critic Nat Hentoff, not remotely a conservative, asked publicly “Why hasn’t Barack Obama been impeached?” shortly before his death.
IG Horowitz is clearly specifically concerned with wrongdoing in the Department of Justice. It seems Mr Huber has instructions to help Mr Horowitz. The overlap between their investigations and Mr Durham’s investigations isn’t necessarily that great.
Given that Mr Mueller’s probe started with two objectives and wound up ranging all over the place, discovering crimes committed by those unfortunate enough be on Mueller’s witness list, some Russian national misconduct, but no culpable conduct by Mr Trump, it’s possible AG Barr forsees some “drift” in these investigations as well.
As far as I can see, the upper ranks of the permanent government (in conjunction with the political appointees) were pleased to serve the interests of the Democratic Party without being asked. It’s a reasonable supposition that any instruction from BO was delivered verbally and not memorialized by anyone. The two people who likely know something are Lynch and Rice, and I’m betting they’ll perjure themselves silly protecting BO.
One curio in all of this has been Samantha Power’s contention that someone stole her credentials to effect all that unmasking. Either Power’s lying her tuchus off or someone has some splainin’ to do.
Also, who was it at the White House who was tracking CREW’s December 2012 FOIA requests?
I want to know why BO didn’t tell his henchman Comey to announce the Trump campaign investigation when he announced Hillary’s in October.
L4D says: Because President Obama did not work for Rudy Giuliani the way the New York Office of the FBI worked for Giuliani.
Oddly enough, there’s no sarcasm alert on that statement. But it really ought to have been necessary to put one on it.