It Is Going To Be An Interesting Week In Washington On Russia-Gate, The FBI, And The Mueller Counsel

WNU Editor: A brief summary on what has happened .... and will be happening this week.

(1) On Friday the Justice Department sent to Congress a collection of files on the Russia probe .... DOJ gives Congress new classified documents on Russia probe (AP). The problem is that these files do not address the number one question that Congress has been demanding for months now and that is .... what evidence was found that was used to start the Trump - Russian collusion investigation. I do not know why the DOJ and Rod Rosenstein are refusing to turn over all of this information, but it is clear that Congress has now lost it's patience .... Devin Nunes sets new deadline for DOJ, FBI to hand over materials on Trump campaign informants (Washington Examiner).

(2) Former FBI agents are saying that giving this information to Congress would be disastrous .... The DOJ has turned over additional FISA records to Republicans, and former intelligence officials say the implications could be 'catastrophic' (Business Insider). My take is completely different. The Inspector General's report outlines in great detail how corrupt the agency has become in the past few years. IMHO the FBI has lost its morale authority to dictate to Congress what they can see or not.

(3) Expect fireworks on Wednesday over this hearing .... Judiciary Committee subpoenas anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok (Washington Times)

(4) In the Inspector General's report Appendix Two has been completely redacted. I remember seeing this last week when reading the entire damn report and scratching my head wondering what was in it. According to IBDaily reporter John Sperry it is because of this (see link here). If true, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch may be having some legal problems.

(5) As this blog noted a few weeks ago, the Mueller Counsel's case on charging Russian entities for influencing the 2016 election campaign did not look solid when one of the defendants decided to challenge the charges. Now I know this case is not as solid as we have been led to believe .... Facing humiliation, Mueller backs away from prosecution of Russian entities (Thomas Lifson, American Thinker).

(6) I leave the best for last. Is the head of the Mueller Counsel telling U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (Democrat) and other Democrats the details of his investigation? .... Overheard at the DSCC retreat on Martha’s Vineyard (Politico). If this story is true .... the Mueller Counsel should be closed down immediately. I expect this story to be picked up by President Trump and others in the coming days.