For those following the increasingly curious case against General Mike Flynn, events take another unusual turn today. Congressional investigators have shared a set of unredacted text messages between FBI Agent Peter Strzok and his cohort DOJ Attorney Lisa Page which reveal a personal friendship between Agent Strzok and Flynn’s initial presiding judge Rudolph Contreras.
On November 30th, 2017, Mike Flynn signed a guilty plea; ostensibly admitting lying to investigators. The plea was accepted by Judge Rudolph Contreras; who is also a FISA court judge. Six days later, December 7th, 2017, Judge Contreras “was recused” from the case without explanation.
The case was reassigned to DC District Judge Emmet Sullivan. The Contreras recusal always seemed sketchy. The key question was: if the conflict existed on December 7th, wouldn’t that same conflict have existed on November 30th, 2017?
Today questions about the conflict seem to have been answered. Text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page reveal the FBI agent and Judge Contreras were close personal friends. –SEE HERE–
Apparently DOJ lawyer Lisa Page was unaware that “Rudy” was a FISA court judge until July 25th, 2016, when she posited a question to her small group co-conspirator FBI agent Peter Strzok.
[Page is ‘outbox’, Strzok is ‘inbox’]
PAGE: Rudy is on the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]! Did you know that?” “Just appointed two months ago”
STRZOK: “I did. We talked about it before and after. I need to get together with him.
Contreras was appointed to the FISA Court court in May 2016. The FISA court approved a Title-1 Surveillance Warrant against Trump campaign aide Carter Page on October 26th, 2016, essentially placing the entire Trump campaign under FBI surveillance. That surveillance was then used against incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The FBI agent questioning Michael Flynn in January 2017 was Peter Strzok. The judge presiding over the sketchy Flynn plea, an outcome of that interview, was Strzok’s friend Judge Rudolph “Rudy” Contreras. Therein lies the conflict.
However, that said, it must be emphasized that -despite the existing conflict- Contreras did not recuse himself from the initial Flynn pleading. Contreras allowed himself to sit on the case on November 30th, when the plea was made. It wasn’t until six days later, December 7th, 2017, that Contreras “was recused” from the Flynn case.
So what happened between November 30th and December 7th, 2017?
It became public knowledge that personal communication between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page was captured by IG investigators. That’s what happened.
Think about it.
Think about when everything began to break out from the headlines about the IG investigation, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie Ohr, and the corrupt small group activity within the FBI and DOJ team effort. It would be intellectually dishonest not to note all of the FBI conspiracy revelations happened immediately after Mike Flynn signed the guilty plea.
When we say “immediately after”, we mean the very next day…. on a weekend. (Saturday and Sunday)
Within a matter of days between December 1st and December 7th, 2017, the reports of gross malfeasance within the DOJ and FBI went from a snowball to an avalanche. Peter Strzok (demoted), Lisa Page (removed), Bruce Ohr (demoted 2x), Nellie Ohr working for Fusion GPS; troubling communication with FBI chief-legal-counsel James Baker(demoted); evidence of FBI Deputy Director Andrew “Andy” McCabe’s involvement in a small group conspiracy (removed); FBI Communications head Michael “Mike” Kortan was outed (he quit); McCabe’s Chief of Staff James Rybicki was outed (he quit); etc. The list goes on.
Judge Rudolph Contreras, now exposed as a fellow ideological traveler and personal friend of the principal agent amid the scheme only raises more questions. Rudolph Contreras also has a strong ideological relationship with former Attorney General Eric Holder, President Obama’s notoriously political DOJ wingman:
2012 […] From 2006 until his appointment, Contreras was chief of the civil division in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington. He’s the third person to hold that job before being appointed to the D.C. court, joining Chief Judge Royce Lamberth and Judge John Bates.
Contreras began his career at Jones Day law firm after earning his J.D. in 1991. Gregory Shumaker, partner-in-charge of Jones Day’s Washington office, spoke yesterday about first meeting Contreras when Shumaker was running the firm’s summer associate program. He said Contreras had a gift for connecting with people, a skill that would serve him well on the bench.
In 1994, Contreras was hired by Eric Holder Jr., then the U.S. attorney for D.C., to join that office. Mark Nagle, vice president and general counsel for Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp. and Contreras’ predecessor as civil division chief, spoke about Contreras’ many victories, including his time leading the city’s Medicaid fraud unit. (read more)
There’s more than a general likelihood Judge Contreras was granting, FBI investigative and DOJ prosecutorial, leeway for the ideological endeavors of the DOJ/FBI “small group” given his personal and professional relationships.
But the entire fact-pattern still doesn’t answer a nagging 30,000 foot question: Did someone intercede and recuse Judge Rudolph Contreras from the Flynn case? -OR- Did Judge Contreras recuse himself *after* he realized his relationship with Strzok was exposed? The former seems likely, the latter less so.
Judge Collyer was the FISA judge who wrote the eye-opening 99-page opinion of the FISA abuses reported by NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers, DOJ National Security Division head John P Carlin, and FBI Director James Comey.
Presiding FISA Court Judge Rosemary Collyer might have been the same Presiding FISA Judge who -holding concerns over ongoing FISC revelations in late 2017- recused Rudolph Contreras from further contact with the Flynn case. The other option for a forced recusal would the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts.
This is a problem with incestuous Washington DC! Lobbyists, politicians, judges, FBI agents, etc. They all know each other, wives and husbands are intertwined working for the government or related to the government. It’s just such a horrible rat’s nest with only a few true unbiased unconnected outsiders. But I would say if Strzok was comfy enough with Contreras to CALL HIM (who calls a FISC judge???) then Contreras should not have been a FISC judge at all.
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yeh I know, and why did a pot smoking community organiser from wherever who had no USA birth certificate become the President of the United States? 😦 Its so sad isnt it… that these so called ‘gods’ are just flubbery dirty underpanted grubby wine sloshing mortals who like to be seen as kings. Kings of swamps, what do they look like? Well there goes one right there.
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The problems you state are symptoms…the fundamental problem is sin, temptation, power and corruption. If we are to be honest the ONLY solution to corrupt and criminal activity such as this is consequences. Severe, harsh, breathtaking and the type of consequences which will deter further potential corruption for years. That means prison time for these DOJ and FBI bad actors. HRC, lock her up! Lastly, the nation needs to know what Obama knew and when did he know it.
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the washington post is reporting McCabe has been fired…
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…when this over, I want Flynn to be a Billionaire & Scooter Libby to be a Bazillionaire …I am SOOOO sick of the liberal democrat standard vs the RINOS spineless cave!!!
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FYI Dear Conservative Tree House
It looks like you are under attack by Amazon!
It took great effort to read this post, not due to content, but because I kept being redirected to and Amazon site (gifttbirthday.top/us_amazon_amazon500/index.html?volumedata=…) I didn’t capture the complete address.
This occurred three or four times.
Sincerely,
RP
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Get an ad blocker.
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This “Amazon” splash screen is troubling because it makes me suspect something is afoul in the WordPress or the attack vector is the advertising content delivery system. It is not a typical ad. It blocks all interaction with CTH’s site and covers the center part of the screen until you click “Ok”, which I will not do. It only seems to appear when browsing via my iPad.
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I’ve been getting the same type of ad with Safari on my iPhone for a ‘prize’ I’ve won. I don’t click on it either, I close and re-open the link.
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Yep. You are supposed to click “Ok” to get your Amazon prize. It doesn’t say it’s from Amazon, but is addressed to an “Amazon Customer”. A fairly safe guess that anyone seeing the splash screen is one I guess.
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How do you stop a coup d’eta? Arrest all of the leaders of the coup and charge them with treason. Keep the bail at a million plus. Let them bankrupt themselves paying for lawyers like they did to Flynn. Incarcerate them in Gitmo and try them in a military court of law. What the hell is Trump waiting for. It’s either he gets them first or they are going to get him.
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Are you criticizing our Lion of a President’s strategy or something else?
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The wind blows and blows; the direction seems to change daily and STILL, 400+ days later, there is nobody in handcuffs!
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The fact that these texts have been released means that there are things in play that areworking toward the goal of exposure and justice. Who released those texts? Who decided the timing? Who had been releasing the texts all this time? Tho it is news to us, these things have been known for months by whoever is releasing the texts. In a previous article, Sundance said it had to be AG Sessions. I have to believe that; otherwise, I will be the person in the other bed in Sylvia’s semi-private hospital room.
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Top FBI men like Strzok are no idiots. The man is a super spy
Hows come his text messages to that Page woman were on an unsecured phone?
He made them all available for interception.
I think he used that dumb Page woman and the whole deep state to get his message out. Any other way he did it, the old boy would of been found with two bullets in the back of the head and ruled a suicide.
You don’t become a top spy if you are a doofus.
Time will tell.
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@ecmarsh – It may be not that the phone was unsecured but that it was FBI property. That gave the I.G. the right to examine any records that were stored on a presumably-secured FBI server, including these very personal texts.
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We shall see. Easy for me, caus I have 50% of being right. 🙂
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All the texts so far have come off pages phone.
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Good point, but I think you are giving Strzok too much credit.
First he is boinking this obvious nitwit, Page, which is both a judgement and integrity fail at his level, and
second, these two were actually texting about changing over to their iphones-
so I’d sooner ascribe decision to blab about a dinner party to arrogance, and incompetence.
Hanlons Razor applies at Famous But Incompetent.
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This is the monumental PROBLEM with DC and The PEOPLE! WE cannot ever get a straight answer from those who are allegedly (and supposedly), SERVING THE PEOPLE!
Nothing, never can WE get an answer to the corruption that has metastasized in DC! It should NOT be this way folks! Public Servants DO NOT get to tell the public “how it’s going to be” – YET We have allowed Public Servants to – “Tell us how it is”! Sad! POLITICS rules the day, the question and the answer…
Many of these “institutions” NEED to be burned down entirely. Reform is needed in every level of Washington DC! 50 United States are NOT being served by this corruption!
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The Unelected Deep State is running this corrupt government. Every federal agency has to be evaluated and if it’s no longer providing a service to the public, kill it. Every federal employee should be made to reapply for their position and to justify their employment. We all know that it’s full of deadwood and people who could never find a job in the private sector. Employment with the Feds for many is simply workfare. The Civil,Service is an albatross on the private sector and needs to be down sized to providing essential basic services to the public.
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Easiest way to accomplish this is to institute a hiring freeze and let attrition and retirement take care of the problem. Too damn hard to fire civil service employees…
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Meet Lisa H Barsoomian
Lisa H Barsoomian a US Attorney that graduated from Georgetown Law she’s a protege of James Comey and Robert Muller
Barsoomian with her boss R Craig Lawrence represented Bill Clinton in 1998 Lawrence also represented
Robert Muller three times
James Comey five times
Barack Obama 45 times
Kathleen Sebelius 56 times
Bill Clinton 40 times and
Hillary Clinton 17 times
between 1998 and 2017
Barsoomian herself represented the FBI at least five times
You may be saying to yourself, okay who cares, who cares about the work history of this Barsoomian woman.
Apparently someone does.
Someone out there cares so much that they’ve purged all Barsoomian court documents for her Clinton representation in Hamburg vs. Clinton in 1998 and its appeal in 1999 from the DC District and Appeals court dockets
Someone out there cares so much that the internet has been purged of all information pertaining to Barsoomian.
Historically this indicates that the individual is a protected CIA operative.
Additionally Lisa Barsoomian has specialized in opposing Freedom of Information Act requests on behalf of the intelligence community
And although Barsoomian has been involved in hundreds of cases representing the DC Office of the US Attorney her email address is Lisa Barsoomian at NIH gov.
The NIH stands for National Institutes of Health.
This is a tactic routinely used by the CIA to protect an operative by using another government organization to shield their activities.
It’s a cover, so big deal right, I mean what does one more attorney with ties to the US intelligence community really matter.
I mean with Trump and his
recent tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports,
the border wall,
DACA,
everything coming out of California,
the Uniparty unrelenting opposition to President Trump,
the Clapper leaks,
the Comey leaks,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusal and subsequent 14 month nap with occasional forays into the marijuana legalization mix,
and last but not least Muller’s never-ending investigation into collusion between the Trump team and the Russians
Why does Barsoomian, CIA operative, merit any mention
BECAUSE
she is Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s WIFE
That’s why.
Barsoomian’s loyalties are tainted.
How could this not have influenced Rosenstein?
This clearly violates the appearance of impropriety attorney’s rules?
Both owe their careers as US attorneys to Muller, Obama, Bush, and the Clintons.
impartiality? that’s impossible.
Rod Rosenstein has no business involving himself in the Hillary Clinton-DNC funded Steel dossier, and the ongoing Russia investigation.
Much less the selection of his mentor and his wife’s mentor Robert Muller as Special Counsel.
The rules of ethics, funny, required his refusal.
https://americans4innovation.blogspot.com/2017/05/proof-robert-mueller-cannot-be.html#rosenstein-conflict
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What a nice cozy relationship….lawyers in love! The damage done to the legal system by the army of Harvard educated, socialists lawyers is untold.
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Are you sure she’s Rosenstein’s wife? I thought that was Mueller.
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Yes, she is Rosenstein’s wife:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Rosenstein
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Pretty much thought a FISA judge was also in on the conspiracy. This anti-Trump cabal had all their ducks lined up to acheive their devious purposes. Hopefully justice finally catches up with them.
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They should be burned at the stake.
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Flynn should sue the pants off the FBI and Justice Dept.
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General Flynn’s Family Reacts to New Bombshell Report Revealing Peter Strzok Had Personal Relationship With Judge Involved in Flynn Case
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/03/general-flynns-family-reacts-new-bombshell-report-revealing-peter-strzok-personal-relationship-judge-involved-flynn-case/
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•• On Peter Strzok’s relationship with FISA judge : Dershowitz: “as far as Strzok is concerned , that’s an open and shut case [to be fired]”. •• This is happening.
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UnbeF’nlievable, the dirty bunch of lying schemers. It just keeps getting worse.
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Strozk is a major lynch pin in this investigation. Surely he is cooperating. He’s not been fired or charged despite all the very public evidence against him. If he resigns, he hangs himself.
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He is probably deciding whether to sing or go away for a long time at a Club Fed.
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Or maybe he’s vying for 20 years instead of life.
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I suppose someone has posted the Flynn family reaction, but with going on 450+ comments and WordPress comment functionality, I’ll just be lazy and add it in here- courtesy of Gateway Pundit.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/03/general-flynns-family-reacts-new-bombshell-report-revealing-peter-strzok-personal-relationship-judge-involved-flynn-case/
Gen Flynn should be pardoned, and be supported in suing one and all at the FBI and DOJ for malicious litigation and a blatant set up.
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Recused? No, Judge Rudolph Contreras was removed from the Michael Flynn case. These items may have been missed:
1. Judge Rudy Contreras was removed rather than recused from Mike Flynn case:
https://brassballs.blog/home/fisa-judge-rudy-contreras-was-removed-rather-than-recused-from-mike-flynn-case
2. President Trump hires Joe diGenova to fight D.C. Deep State swamp:
https://brassballs.blog/home/president-trump-hires-joe-digenova-to-fight-d-c-deep-state-swamp
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