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President Trump has declassified and authorized the release of "more than a foot-high stack of documents" related to the Obama administration's surveillance and espionage committed against the 2016 Trump campaign, as part of a larger campaign to discredit and undermine the incoming US president.
According to journalist and Trump insider John Solomon, the documents would be released as soon as Friday, but no later than Monday.
"He has delivered in a big way. More than a foot-high stack of documents he has authorized to be released by the FBI and the DOJ. These are the things that the FBI has tried to keep from the public for 4 years. They have amazing, big picture revelations," Solomon told Fox News' "Lou Dobbs Tonight."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and his intelligence chief have pushed for quick declassification of a document disputing the 2017 intelligence community finding that Russia acted to help Trump get elected in 2016, three U.S. government officials familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
But their effort faces strong objections from inside the intelligence agencies, two officials said on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. One reason for their opposition is the proximity of the Nov. 3 election.
An Oct. 15 letter written by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to the inspector general for the intelligence community, reviewed by Reuters, confirmed he was seeking the declassification of the document at the request of Devin Nunes, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.
I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions! https://t.co/GgnHh9GOiq
'I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents,' Trump tweeted
President Trump on Tuesday said he has “fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents" related to the Russia investigation and the FBI’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
“I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!” The president tweeted Tuesday night.
WNU Editor: We had a a taste on what is in these documents on Tuesday .... President Trump Orders The Declassification Of CIA Memo That Reveals CIA Director Brennan Briefed President Obama On Hillary Clinton's Plan To Tie 2016 Candidate Trump To Russia (October 6, 2020). I suspect that this order to now release all documents with no redactions is going to embarrass a lot of people .... former President Obama included. President Trump has always warned that he was going to declassify everything pertaining to Russia and efforts to tie him to Moscow for the past year. I guess he made the decision that now is the time to do so. Expect the media, the intelligence community, Democrats, and some Republicans howling in protest against this declassification. As to what is my take. Considering how all of this preoccupied most of President Trump's term, and how efforts to tar him with colluding with Russia almost destroyed his Presidency. I say the American people have the right to know.
More News On President Trump Ordering The Declassification Of All Russia And Hillary Clinton Email Documents Without Redactions
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe arrives to brief Congressional leaders on reports that Russia paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. military in Afghanistan, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
A source said Brennan's handwritten notes were taken after briefing Obama on the matter
EXCLUSIVE: Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Tuesday declassified documents that revealed former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton’s purported “plan” to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server” ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Fox News has learned.
Ratcliffe declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes – which were taken after he briefed Obama on the intelligence the CIA received – and a CIA memo, which revealed that officials referred the matter to the FBI for potential investigative action.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence transmitted the declassified documents to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on Tuesday afternoon.
"Today, at the direction of President Trump, I declassified additional documents relevant to ongoing Congressional oversight and investigative activities," Ratcliffe said in a statement to Fox News Tuesday.
WNU Editor: The notes are heavily redacted. But what is not redacted says a lot .... that former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Obama ahead of the 2016 Presidential election on Hillary Clinton’s purported “plan” to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia.
One has to wonder if this is the smoking gun that ties former President Obama to Hillary Clinton's efforts to smear candidate Trump by implying he has deep ties to Russia?
Former NSC official says some evidence cut against claim Russia was helping Trump.
The Trump administration is preparing one of its biggest declassifications yet in the Russia case, a super-secret document that could flip the collusion theory on its head four years after the FBI first started its investigation.
Multiple officials familiar with the planned declassification, which could happen as early as this week, told Just the News that the new evidence will raise the specter that Russian President Vladimir Putin was actually trying to hurt President Trump, not help his election in 2016, as the Obama administration claimed.
The new evidence would complement a revelation last week that the primary source for the Christopher Steele anti-Trump dossier was known to the U.S. government to be tied to Russia intelligence, raising the possibility that the Russians were undercutting the GOP nominee.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., hinted at the big revelation in a Sunday appearance on the Fox News show "Sunday Futures with Maria Bartiromo."
"Everything Russia-Trump was looked at. You had $25 million, 60 agents. You had subpoenas, you had people’s lives turned upside down," Graham said. "The question is, 'Did they look at Russia coming after Trump?' "
Referring to last week’s revelation, Graham added: “We’ve got a Russian spy on the payroll of the Democratic Party putting together a document that details the FBI was not reliable.”
WNU Editor: If Hillary Clinton won in 2016, there would be no discussion on Russian election interference. And the reason why is simple. Aside from maybe spending about $100,000 on Facebook advertising on some posts, and leaking a few emails on how the Democrat primaries were fixed in favour of Hillary Clinton, Russia's "involvement" would be laughed at for being so small and insignificant. But Hillary Clinton did not win in 2016, and so the scapegoat for this political disaster had to fall on someone else (i.e. Putin). As to flipping the Russian collusion assessment to now say that Russia wanted to help Hillary Clinton, on this point I will disagree. Russian President Putin hates Hillary Clinton, and would never help her. Never. This is the reason why .... Hillary Clinton Compares Russian President Putin And Russia To Hitler And The Nazis (March 5, 2014).
This is insane. Steele's discredited primary sub-source was the subject of a counter intelligence investigation by the FBI in 2009 and had been deemed a threat to national security.
They knew this and were still able to get a FISA warrant on Carter Page https://t.co/qn5BEjE6oB
But the new release by U.S. Attorney John Durham suggests indictments on that aspect of the Justice Department's review aren't forthcoming.
The primary sub-source that former British spy Christopher Steele used to compile his anti-Trump dossier in 2016 was the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation a decade ago, according to details authorized for release by U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is investigating the origins of the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.
Allies of President Donald Trump have speculated for months that Durham’s review, ordered by Attorney General William Barr, will end with top Obama-era officials in handcuffs. They have cast the Russia investigation as fundamentally illegitimate, arguing that surveillance warrants that drew on the so-called Steele dossier discredit the probe as a whole.
* New Senate Intelligence Committee report lays out in 1,000 pages its conclusions about contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia
* Says Paul Manafort was in contact with a Russian spy - Konstantin Kilimnik - throughout his time as campaign chairman
* Says explicitly that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and says Trump's campaign was eager to exploit its aid
* But the report does not conclude there was collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia
* Instead Republicans and Democrats offered their own conclusions with Trump's party saying there was no collusion and Democrats arguing there was
* Also takes aim at the FBI for using the Steele dossier without adequate vetting
* Report also delves into reports of a 'kompromat' tape of Trump and says there is no evidence Russian intel had one
* But it says Kremlin-linked businessman boasted he knew about Trump's 'relationships with women' and hotel executive heard claims of 'elevator tape'
Donald Trump's campaign's interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a 'grave' counterintelligence threat, a Senate panel concluded Tuesday as it detailed in a report how associates of the Republican candidate had regular contact with Russians and expected to benefit from the Kremlin's help.
Russia launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Trump, and associates of the Republican candidate who were in regular touch with Russians throughout the campaign were eager to benefit from the help, the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded in the fifth and final report in its investigation.
WNU Editor: You can read the US Senate report here .... (link here). I've gone through some of it this morning, and is there anything new in it .... no. Short on details on how Russia influenced the 2016 US election .... i.e. leaked Democrat emails to Wikileaks, but providing no concrete evidence on how they did so. Paul Manafort meeting questionable Russians to help in the campaign. But I say so what. The Clinton campaign went through a former UK intelligence officer who had contacts with Russians to dig up dirt on Trump to help their campaign. Like I said .... nothing new. Just an assessment on what they think happened. The only thing that is noteworthy is the reports conclusion and one that many in the media have chosen to ignore (again) .... no Trump - Russian collusion.
More News On The U.S. Senate Report On Russian Interference In The U.S. 2016 Presidential Election Being Released
Yates defended the investigation, but took issue with how Comey handled it.
Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that when the FBI interviewed then-incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn in January 2017, it was done without her authorization, and that she was upset when she found out about it.
Committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Yates about the circumstances surrounding the interview, particularly the actions of then-FBI Director James Comey.
"I was upset that Director Comey didn't coordinate that with us and acted unilaterally," Yates said.
"Did Comey go rogue?" Graham asked.
"You could use that term, yes," Yates agreed.
Yates said she also took issue with Comey for not telling her that Flynn's communications with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were being investigated and that she first learned about this from President Barack Obama during an Oval Office meeting. Yates said she was "irritated" with Comey for not telling her about this earlier.
That meeting, which took place on Jan. 5, 2017, was of great interest to Graham, who wanted to know why Obama knew about Flynn's conversations before she did. Graham and other Republicans have speculated that Obama wanted Flynn investigated for nefarious purposes. Yates claimed that this was not the case, and explained why Obama was aware of the calls at the time.
Yates said that after Obama placed sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin vowed to take retaliatory action, only to suddenly change course. She said Obama wanted to find out why, which led to the Justice Department discovering Flynn's talks with Kislyak.
WNU Editor: President Obama ran a very tight ship. No one went rogue under his administration, and those who did were quickly fired/replaced. So did the former FBI Director go rogue? I have trouble believing that. On another note and one that everyone in the media is ignoring .... former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates confirmed in today's testimony that the Obama administration did monitor incoming Trump administration official General Flynn.
* John Durham was chosen by Attorney General William Barr to lead a review into the Russia investigation
* U.S. Attorney John Durham is under pressure to wrap up his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe by the end of the summer
* If he fails to complete by September he may wait to reveal his findings or initiate prosecutions until after the 2020 presidential election
* Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials
* After Mueller’s investigation, Barr appointed Durham to investigate origins of the FBI’s original Russia probe, which began in July 2016
John Durham, the U.S. Attorney who is heading a criminal inquiry into the Russia investigation, is to release his findings by the end of the summer.
The review, which became a criminal investigation last fall, has been derided by Democrats as simply a scheme to damage President Trump's Democrat rivals before November's election.
But Department of Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, said that the report was not the 'goal' of the criminal investigation but that it will be 'pivotal to the restoration of that one tiered system of justice.'
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Wednesday he would not have signed off on a foreign surveillance warrant used in the FBI's Russia investigation, but he defended his appointment of former special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian election interference and President Donald Trump's associates.
Rosenstein testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Senate Republicans' first hearing taking aim at the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally, pressed Rosenstein on whether Mueller should have been appointed at all, given that no conspiracy was ultimately found between Trump's team and Russia.
"The whole concept that the campaign was colluding with the Russians, there was no there there in August 2017. Do you agree with that general statement?" Graham asked
"I agree with that general statement," Rosenstein responded.
WNU Editor: I have been late in posting this news story. Other events have crowded out the news cycle. But what former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in sworn testimony this week is a bombshell, and would be front page news if it was any administration. So what are my impressions of his testimony. His admission that there was no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion is what sticks out for me. After listening for three years from the media that there was strong evidence of Trump-Russian collusion, we now know officially with his admission that it was all bogus. But what gets my blood boiling is that he still signed away with his appointment of the Mueller investigation followed by a second memo that expanded the Mueller investigation of the President and his administration. Unf___ing believable. He also denied that he had wanted to wear a wire to entrap President Trump so that the 25th Amendment could then be used to remove him. Someone is lying. This denial contradicts then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe's testimony where he said that Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein did want to wear a wire. This also contradicts Fmr FBI General Counsel James Baker who said under sworn testimony that Rosenstein wanted to wear a wire. So who is telling the truth on the wire? I do not know, but I am getting the impression that former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wants to save his skin, and has thrown former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe under the bus. Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's testimony that he recommended the firing of former FBI Director Comey is not believable, as well as to why he decided to sign FISA applications to spy on Trump officials. The above video is three hours of testimony. If you have the time watch it. You will probably get the same feeling that I got ..... that someone like him was once the former Deputy Attorney General of the United States.
Update: Can's argue with this .... It’s as if the whole thing was a political hit job designed to overturn an American election. Which is because it was a political hit job designed to overturn an American election. (Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit).
President Trump's spy chief is reportedly declassifying information that shows former CIA Director John Brennan "suppressed" intelligence on Russia wanting Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 election.
Fox News chief White House correspondent Ed Henry said Tuesday evening that "it could get sticky" for Brennan, who served as CIA director under former President Barack Obama, due to his role in developing the 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russian election interference that determined with "moderate" to "high" confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin sought to boost Trump's 2016 election chances.
WNU Editor: The reporting that former CIA Director John Brennan suppressed intelligence that Russia wanted Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 election starts at the 3:00 in the above video. As to what is my take on Russia wanting Hillary Clinton to win. I have to say definitely not. When Hillary Clinton compared Russian President Putin to Hitler in 2014 she had earned an enemy for life and Russian President Putin would never want to deal with her even if she did win the 2016 election. See my commentary here on why .... Former U.S. Secretary Of State Kerry Confrims What War News Updates Posted 4 Years Ago (June 2, 2018).
WNU Editor: Before Trump I had a certain level of trust in the U.S. media when it came to domestic politics. No more now. Their corruption and biases have been revealed, and yes, this is the worst journalistic fiasco of my lifetime. But here is the punchline .... it is still continuing.
Crowdstrike, the firm behind the Russian email hacking allegation at the core of Russiagate, makes a bombshell admission: “We did not have concrete evidence.”
In newly released Congressional testimony, Crowdstrike president Shawn Henry said that “we did not have concrete evidence” that alleged Russian hackers actually took the emails from DNC servers. “There’s circumstantial evidence, but no evidence that they were actually exfiltrated,” Henry said.
* DNI Ric Grenell wrote Tuesday saying the transcripts were ready
* The panel voted in 2018 to release them
* The probe began when the committee was under Republican control
* Chair Adam Schiff blasted the administration for setting up the release during a pandemic
* Transcripts from Donald Trump Jr., Hope Hicks, Rob Goldstone, Keith Schiller, and other figures
The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday released the transcripts of interviews with key Trump world figures during the Russia probe – after a long and angry battle with the administration over classification.
The documents contain the results of 57 interviews by committee members, mostly in a secure facility in Congress.
Figures who had critical information in the probe, begun when Republicans ran the committee, sat for the depositions. Among them were now White House aide Hope Hicks, former chief strategist Steve Bannon, British PR Rob Goldstone, longtime Trump assistant Rhona Graff, and Donald Trump Jr.
WNU Editor: Not impressed with US House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff's narrative on the release of these documents. He is complaining that these documents should have been released a long time ago, which is laughable because he has had in his possession for almost 6 months 43 declassified transcripts from the 53 in total. And of the remaining 10 transcripts, they have been delayed because the Office Of the Director Of National Intelligence wanted to allow the White House to review them as part of the declassification process, but Rep. Schiff has refused. I am sure that what caught Rep. Shiff off-guard was the ODNI relented only this week, providing the declassified versions of the remaining 10 transcripts to his committee and giving him the ultimatum that if he does not release them, the Director of National Intelligence will .... Under pressure from Trump spy chief, Schiff moves to release Russia investigation transcripts (Washington Examiner).
And I can see why Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff does not want these transcripts released. He has been claiming since 2017 that he had overwhelming evidence of Trump colluding with Russia, but these transcripts .... from what I have seen so far .... completely contradict what he has been claiming. Case in point .... James Clapper Said He ‘Never Saw Direct Empirical Evidence’ of Trump-Russia Collusion in FBI Interview (NRO).
* The Justice Department on Wednesday released a mostly-unredacted version of a memo outlining the scope of Mueller's special counsel investigation
* It was written by then-acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in August 2017
* Rosenstein explicitly authorized Mueller to investigate specific allegations against Carter Page, Mike Flynn, George Papadopolous, and Paul Manafort
* The memo has long been sought by Republicans who said it would show Mueller exceeded his authority by probing President Trump's campaign aides
The Justice Department has released a mostly-unredacted version of a memo outlining the scope of former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The memo penned by then-acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in August 2017 has long been sought by Republicans who believed it would reveal that Mueller and his team exceeded their authority by probing members of President Donald Trump's campaign team.
The DOJ on Wednesday provided a less redacted version of the memo to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, who requested it earlier this week.
WNU Editor: The August 2017 memo from former acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein detailing the scope of then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation can be read from here .... Read: 2017 Rod Rosenstein 'scope memo' detailing parameters of Mueller probe (FOX News). After reading this memo, or at least the parts that are not redacted, it is clear to me that there was never any substance to Trump-Russian collusion claims that dominated the Washington news cycle for almost two years. To put it bluntly. It was just an excuse to launch an investigation in the hope that it may implicate/trap the US President.
Update: Andrew C. McCarthy's coverage of this story since day one has been spot on. The following analysis by him is a must read for those who have been following this story since the beginning .... Rosenstein ‘Scope’ Memo Confirms Baselessness of Trump–Russia Probe (By Andrew C. McCarthy, NRO).
More News On Newly Released Russia Probe Documents From The U.S. Justice Department Showing No Evidence Of Trump-Russian Collusion
A judge dismissed charge against two companies tied to “Putin’s chef.”
The Justice Department is abandoning plans for a looming criminal trial focused on claims of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
With jury selection set to begin in just over two weeks, prosecutors asked a federal judge to permanently dismiss the charges special counsel Robert Mueller brought two years ago against two Russian firms linked to a St. Petersburg businessman known as Putin's chef, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
WNU Editor: When you have bad news that you want buried, you announce it during a crisis like the current Covid-19 pandemic crisis. These charges were bogus when they were first made, and they are still bogus now that the trial has been dropped. Bottom line. The Justice Department did not want to pursue this case in a courtroom, because they knew too well that they did not have any evidence to convict the companies and individuals that they charged. The Russian firms and individuals whose trials have been dropped are now demanding compensation .... ‘Russian troll firm’ says it has a $50bn grudge to settle with US after indictment dropped by DoJ (RT).
More News On The U.S. Justice Department Dropping Plans For A Trial Against Two Russian Firms Accused Of Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election
Contrary to numerous recent media reports, there is no evidence to suggest that Russia is making a specific "play" to boost President Trump's reelection bid, a U.S. intelligence official told Fox News on Sunday.
In addition, top U.S. election official Shelby Pierson, who briefed Congress on Russian election interference efforts, may have overstated intelligence regarding the issue when speaking to the House Intelligence Committee earlier this month, the source added.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing people familiar with her work, that Pierson "has a reputation for being injudicious with her words and not appreciating the delicate work of corralling federal agencies, technology firms and state election officials to collaborate on election security."
* President Trump congratulated Bernie Sanders on his victory in the Nevada caucuses
* He predicted Sanders would win the Democratic nomination 'if they don't cheat him out of it'
* He said he was not briefed that Russia was trying to help Sanders
President Donald Trump has denied getting told by to intelligence officials that Russia is intervening in the 2020 primaries and – following an explosive report about a Capitol briefing on Russia's intentions.
'Nobody said it to me at all,' Trump told reporters at the White House Sunday as he departed for a trip to India, asked if he has been briefed that Russia is trying to help Sanders.
Trump also blasted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, who served as the lead House impeachment manager and whose committee got a briefing with a top intelligence official that led Trump to dress down outgoing Director of Intelligence Joseph Maguire.
A national security official I know and trust pushes back on the way the briefing/ODNI story is being told, and others with firsthand knowledge agree with his assessment.
To understand this Jake Tapper thread you need to have read the WaPo and NYT stories I wrote about yesterday. WaPo claimed Trump decided to oust Joseph Maguire as acting DNI because he believed — mistakenly — that Maguire’s deputy gave Adam Schiff a secret briefing about something having to do with election security that Democrats might be able to use against him. Schiff received no secret briefing, a source told the Post. The full House Intelligence Committee was briefed, with Republicans present.
* Intelligence officials told Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee that Russia is interfering in 2020 election and favors Donald Trump
* Top election security officials gave the bombshell warning at secret briefing held a week ago
* The aide - Shelby Pierson - was briefing the committee chaired by Adam Schiff, who led Donald Trump's impeachment
* She told lawmakers that Russia wants to help Trump and shatter public confidence in the electoral system
* Russia is trying to hack election infrastructure as well as running social media disinformation efforts
* Trump was furious and believed that only Schiff had been told about the warning and feared the Democrat would use the information against him
* He 'dressed down' Pierson's boss - then the acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire - in the Oval Office for allowing the briefing
* Maguire was replaced Wednesday by Trump ultra-loyalist Rick G
A senior intelligence official told lawmakers that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election to re-elect Donald Trump, it emerged Thursday.
The New York Times revealed that the official was part of a briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by Democratic Trump enemy Adam Schiff, and told lawmakers of both parties about Russia's backing for a second Trump term.
The committee members were briefed that Russia favors Trump, CNN reported, and were also told about its efforts to hack and attack election infrastructure and the Kremlin's continued attempts to use social media platforms in its campaign of distrust.
WNU Editor: This intelligence briefing was held behind closed doors, so these leaks cannot be verified. As to the claim that Russia is trying to undermine the electoral process. All that I can say is that these leaks are doing an excellent job in accomplishing that.
More News On U.S. Intelligence Officials Telling Congress That Russia Is Trying to Help President Trump Win The 2020 Election
I have been involved in numerous computer science projects since the 1980s, as well as developing numerous web projects since 1996.
These blogs are a summation of all the information that I read and catalog pertaining to the subjects that interest me.
