In the spring and summer of 2018 everyone became aware of the DOJ and FBI collective effort to target President Trump under the false guise of a Trump-Russia collusion claim.
It must have been extremely frustrating for a sitting president to know there was nothing to the claims yet be constantly bombarded by media and political people in Washington DC who held a vested interest in maintaining them.
By the time we get to September of 2018 the basic outline of the FBI use of the Trump-Russia targeting operation were clear. However, the Robert Mueller investigation was at its apex, and anyone in/around Donald Trump was under investigation for ancillary issues that had nothing to do with Russia.
It was into this fray of constant false narratives that President Trump first made statements that he would declassify documents related to his targeting. It was after Trump made those statements when the real motives of putting Robert Mueller as a special counsel became clear.
With Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused from anything to do with the Trump-Russia investigation, it was Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who delivered the message to President Trump in September of 2018, shortly before the midterm election, that any action by him to release documents, now under the purview of the Mueller special counsel, would be considered an act of “obstruction” by the DOJ/FBI people charged with investigating him.
Immediately after meeting with Rod Rosenstein, Trump tweeted:
This was the first act of betrayal by political operatives within Main Justice who did not recognize or accept the concept of the ‘unilateral executive.’ According to Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director James Comey, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, and even later (including recently) AG Bill Barr, the office of the president cannot exercise unilateral executive authority when he himself is the subject of their investigative power.
In essence the DOJ and FBI, along with white house counsel and a collaborating senate and media, kept President Trump from declassifying and releasing documents by threatening him with impeachment and/or prosecution if he defied their authority. The threats created a useful Sword of Damocles, and blocked Trump from acting to make documents public.
In the months that followed President Trump frequently made public statements and tweets about the frustration of documents not being declassified and released despite his instructions to do so. Many Trump supporters also began expressing frustration.
The external debate and consternation surrounded how the Administrative State has seemingly boxed-in President Trump through the use of the Mueller/Weissman counterintelligence probe, authorized by Rod Rosenstein, where President Trump was the target of the investigation.
A widely held supporter perspective was that President Trump could expose the fraudulent origination of the counterintelligence investigation; of which he is now a target; if he were to declassify a series of documents as requested by congress and allies of his administration. This approach would hopefully remove the sword of Damocles.
The core issue within the debate surrounded two contradictory reference points: (1) President Trump has ultimate declassification authority. Yes; however, in this example President Trump is also the target of the investigation; so, (2) declassification could be viewed by elements within the investigation as ‘obstruction’. Both of these points were true.
Also true was the reality that both laws and politics were in play.
In November 2018 President Trump gave an interview where he discussed the situation as it was visible to him. Democrats and republican opposition, writ large, were working earnestly to remove him from office.
Here’s a link to the General Principles of declassification [SEE HERE] Yes, the President can declassify anything; however, there is a process that must be followed. Executive order 13526 [Citation Here]
Following that declassification process the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, then Dan Coats, and the FBI Director, Christopher Wray, and the Attorney General, in this example Rod Rosenstein, needed to “sign-off” on the declassification.
The process reasoning is simple in the ordinary (non-corrupt) flow of events. The intelligence agencies might need to protect part of the information, such as “sources or methods” of intelligence contained within the classified material.
Under ordinary declassification procedures the President would likely not want to compromise the ‘sources’ and ‘methods’ and would defer to the intelligence experts.
President Trump is aware of material that he can use to defend himself from the ongoing ‘impeachment’ plans of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. However, President Trump is also seemingly aware of the issues within the process to gain access to the material and actually use it. This is where the concentric circle of lawyers around the Office of The Presidency come into play.
We have the constitution, we have laws, and we have politics.
Moving forward there are three background threads that are critical to understanding how this process has unfolded so far:
- The Declassification Conundrum.
- Understanding the Ramifications of President Trump as a target.
- Understanding how intelligence is compartmented.
All three of these issues come into play.
Unfortunately, if you have not already invested the time in those three aspects it is easy, very easy, to get lost.
Because none of the legal linguistics took into account the reality of the actual process for declassifying information, many people were stuck thinking President Trump held sole authority to classify and declassify intelligence without understanding the process.
Declassification of intelligence is a process, and each person -within the executive branch- inside the process must agree to the process. Making the process even more riddled with issues is the reality that President Trump was the target in a counterintelligence investigation. President Trump was being investigated by Mueller to see if he is under the direct or indirect influence of a foreign power. [In this example, Russia]
The Mueller probe is an originating counterintelligence investigation that ‘can find’ espionage (see Russian indictments) as well as violations of law (Papadopoulos, Manafort, Flynn). It is critical to remember, the originating probe is not a criminal probe; but Mueller and Weissmann can charge criminality if the investigators encounter interference of their counterintelligence probe; these are the process crimes (perjury, obstruction, lying to congress); or if the probe uncovers direct criminal activity (tax evasion, money laundering, FARA violations etc.).
Yes, technically President Trump can declassify anything. However, it is also true that technically POTUS doesn’t actually declassify anything. The Office of the President asks for a document to enter into a declassification review process.
Officials within that process (ODNI, DoD, DoS, FBI, DOJ-NSD, CIA, NSA, etc), based on their unique relationship to the interests within the document(s), can approve or refuse to sign-off based on their specific intelligence interests. This is where compartmented intelligence comes into play.
Any officer who refuses the request for declassification must justify to the intelligence hub; the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI, Dan Coats). The executive branch intelligence official tells the ODNI (Dan Coats) why they, their unique interests, cannot approve of the declassification request.
DNI Dan Coats then informs POTUS why the document is not cleared for declassification.
If he disagrees with the decision of the intelligence official, POTUS then would have to fire, replace and hope the next person in the chain-of-command would sign-off. Given the nuance in the example of President Trump declassifying information that would show he was targeted, and considering the President is under a counterintelligence cloud it was unlikely any officer would break ranks.
President Trump would have to fire people, and keep firing people, until he gets to a person, inside that specific agency, who would comply.
Now stop and be reasonable.
Think about the general political ramifications to that decision. And then think about the ramifications against the reality that President Trump is a target, under the cloud of a counterintelligence probe.
President Trump asks DNI Dan Coats (intelligence hub) to coordinate the declassification of [fill_in_blank]. If he agrees, in November of 2018 Dan Coats then asks all of the compartmented principles with interest in that specific document. That likely includes the DOJ (after the midterm it’s Matt Whitaker), FBI (Chris Wray), and likely DoS (Mike Pompeo – because of the State Dept aspect to Chris Steele). Also, possibly the NSA and/or Cyber Command.
If FBI Director Christopher Wray refuses to declassify the document(s) because it is part of the current Mueller counterintelligence probe, of which Trump was a target, then President Trump would have to fire Chris Wray; and, while awaiting a replacement (Senate confirmation seriously doubtful), the request then falls on FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich. [Who would also likely refuse]
As this hypothetical declassification example is unfolding you can imagine the political damage being carried out. In addition, there’s the looming impeachment process waiting to start. Hopefully, you can see how President Trump could easily be accused of interference or obstruction of justice. So, he had to wait for Mueller to finish.
Here comes the second betrayal and threat.
Mueller completed his investigation in April of 2019.
Within a few weeks, May 2019, the newly appointed and confirmed Attorney General Bill Barr tells President Trump to remove himself from the declassification issue and give him the authority to declassify and release documents because Barr has an investigator (John Durham) to look into the corrupt activity behind the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.
Ten days before he made the request, Bill Barr had enlisted John Durham to look into all of the issues surrounding the targeting of President Trump and the Clinton campaign involvement in the creation of the Trump-Russia collusion story.
At the time most people thought what Barr was doing was a good thing. As a result, President Trump agrees to support Bill Barr and on May 23, 2019, delegates the declassification and release to the Attorney General.
The President is trusting his cabinet officer, the highest law enforcement officer in the country, to do the right thing and expose the wrongdoing he has been the subject of for the past two years.
It was an easy sell, because the purpose of declassification was ultimately to facilitate a DOJ review of how the intelligence apparatus was used in the 2016 election.
However, because the DOJ review encompassed intelligence systems (DOJ, FBI, NSA) potentially weaponized in 2016 for political purposes and intents, a strange dynamic existed.
President Trump carries: (a) declassification authority; but also: (b) an inherent conflict.
In the DOJ endeavor using John Durham, candidate Trump would have been the target of corrupt agency activity; and therefore, Trump would be considered the target/victim if weaponization were affirmed by evidence collected by Durham.
To avoid the conflict President Trump designated the U.S. Attorney General as arbiter and decision-maker for the purposes of declassifying evidence within the investigation:
…”The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information.”
Additionally, AG Bill Barr did not need to assemble the intelligence product for approval by the executive (Trump). Instead, the office of the president is granting the AG full unilateral decision-making as to each product being considered for declassification.
At the time we noted, this was a huge amount of trust from the President to the Attorney General, and a big responsibility for William Barr:
[Sec 2] …”With respect to any matter classified under Executive Order 13526 of December 29, 2009 (Classified National Security Information), the Attorney General may, by applying the standard set forth in either section 3.1(a) or section 3.1(d) of Executive Order 13526, declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence that relates to the Attorney General’s review referred to in section 1 of this memorandum.”
The position-designate slightly works around custom insofar as the intelligence hub, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Dan Coats), is given conference – but the decision-making was designated to the Attorney General (Bill Barr).
Essentially the DNI will be following the instructions of the AG for this Memorandum. This is slightly unusual; but given the purpose, necessary and expected.
Following protocol, the 2019 Memorandum was specific to the agencies carrying the documentation to be reviewed by the Attorney General: The Secretary of State (Pompeo); the Secretary of Treasury (Mnuchin); the Secretary of Defense (Shanahan); the Secretary of Energy (Perry); the Secretary of Homeland Security (McAleenan); the Director of National Intelligence (Coats); the Director of the CIA (Haspel), and the Attorney General himself (Barr).
Within the memorandum President Trump did not allow AG Bill Barr to delegate authority. However, all agencies were required to respond to Barr’s authority.
The purpose of the Declassification Directive, as it was sold to President Trump, also appeared to permit the DOJ Inspector General to include classified material in the body of the (early 2019) pending report on FISA abuse; this memorandum was granting AG Bill Barr the autonomy to make that decision and declassify that content.
While the purpose of the authority was to empower AG Bill Barr to collect, process and declassify intelligence product that was part of the DOJ investigative review, President Trump did not preclude the public release of intelligence information in advance of the 2019 IG report on FISA abuse.
Much of the intelligence information may be collected external to the IG review parameters (FISA process) and may be released independently as part of stand-alone declassification that pertains to weaponized DOJ, FBI and CIA political activity. Ultimately the decision to release, and the timing therein, was then in the hands of U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
On May 23, 2019, with the Mueller investigation in the rear-view President Trump tweeted:
Unfortunately, as time continued throughout 2019, Attorney General Bill Barr took no action that would declassify any material of interest to the targeting of President Trump.
AG Bill Barr used the “ongoing criminal investigation,” led by the man he appointed, John Durham, as a justification for non-release of documents.
Frustration continues to mount as impeachment efforts against President Trump and the painful reality of the Bill Barr motive starts to settle in.
Bill Barr replaced the obstruction and interference threat carried by Mueller special counsel, with the obstruction and interference threat carried by the Durham special counsel. The ‘ongoing investigation‘ narrative created both swords of Damocles. One created by Rosenstein/Mueller the other created by Barr/Durham.
Then Bill Barr did something even worse. He made sure President Trump could never remove it.
The result?
The special counsel block of investigative material continued from May 13, 2019, all the way to today. The Durham special counsel is an active and ongoing investigation.
This is the dynamic behind the declassification of records.
This is the dynamic where the law is used, structurally weaponized by the institutions who are sworn to uphold it, to protect the interests of the DC Deep State.
This is the dynamic that exposes how the DOJ and FBI are structurally corrupt.
Even as he was departing office, President Trump wanted those documents released. Documents he declassified and outlined in this memo to the DOJ:
[January 19, 2021, Declassification Directive Link]
This is the heart of the battle over documents between the current DOJ/FBI and President Trump.
Again, the threats of a corrupt administration of justice are at the heart of the issue.
This four-year sequence of events, including all of the betrayals and threats made against Donald Trump, all intended to keep him from allowing the public to see the full nature of the corrupt Deep State operation that lies at the heart of our current political strife, is ultimately what led to an FBI raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago.
This is the scale of the issue.
The DOJ and FBI will do everything they can to stop the release of documents outlining how the system worked to target candidate and President Trump.
If the broader American public understood what tools and surveillance systems were used; if the broad American public knew what the DOJ, FBI, intelligence apparatus and aligned Senate committees have done; if the broad American public became aware of the scale and scope of the corruption in DC as it now exists; entire institutions within that framework would start to collapse.
This is what they are trying to stop. That is the scale of their zero-sum approach.
[ Support CTH Research Here ]
It’s NOT OVER.
GOD WINS.
Amen!!! And God and Truth are on President Donald Trump’s side!!
And I believe in God, the Father of Liberty and Justice, who will not allow the United States to fail in its experiment in self-governance.
But we Citizens of these United States must be willing to abandon our selfish motives and resist the tyrannical government now set against Our Liberty.
God’s Will prevail, but heavan needs the assistance of We The People to keep Freedom’s Home alive.
The Daily Wire has a featured interview with Bill Barr on its front page. These are some of the most vile people ever to walk the planet.
Thanks for breaking all of this down Sundance. It doesn’t make me happy but it does make plenty of sense… that’s why the fictitious Durham investigation continues… “ongoing investigation”. They know this act like the backs of their crooked hands.
If my supervisor gave me a task and I never reported on it’s progress, and never achieved one milestone, I would be dismissed. I would expect to be dismissed.
These people have no honor, no integrity, no sense of responsibility to uphold their oaths of office, no sense of guilt for the tax payer dollars they waste to save their sorry hides. They are truly despicable.
No moral courage.
No moral character.
Lost to their own selfish ambitions.
Well said, Joyce. As a retired Navy officer I am astonished at the corruption and criminality in evidence daily from my government, and I am sad that I served for so long to have it come to this. At least Jimmy Carter was merely incompetent.
Would that be the Daily Wire that was founded by converted anti-Trumper, Ben Shapiro. The same Ben Shapiro whose father is David Shapiro, the producer of Access Hollywood. Say, didn’t the “grab em by the pussy” tapes come from Access Hollywood.
Sundance – If you posted this thread to your twitter account it is not showing in your twitter timeline as of 4:17 pm central time. I’ve been watching your twitter account being jacked with for a couple of months. Will let you know what else I’ve observed at a later time. Thanks for all you do 🙂
SD…Excellent work…
Will you be at the Number Six dance tonight? (LOL – Blazing Saddles) 🤣
The Deep State corruptocrats are piling on.
UKRAINE SUCKS
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/exclusive-ukrainian-woman-inna-yashchyshyn-impersonated-rothschild-mar-lago-almost-certainly-deep-state-plant/
All the corruption is interwoven with Ukraine
The Andrea and Alexandria Chulpa of the Clinton Campaign, effing Vindman, Impeachment hoax, Nellie Ohr, persecution of Manafort.
The Deep State corruptocrats are piling on.
UKRAINE SUCKS
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/exclusive-ukrainian-woman-inna-yashchyshyn-impersonated-rothschild-mar-lago-almost-certainly-deep-state-plant/
All the corruption is interwoven with Ukraine
The Andrea and Alexandria Chulpa of the Clinton Campaign, effing Vindman, Impeachment hoax, Nellie Ohr, persecution of Manafort.
Ukraine is a third world $—hole where the deep state and the state department do their dirty business.
Just saw this and I agree. I posted below too before I saw your comment.
If someone mentions that they are Ukrainian; I would discreetly move my wallet from my back pocket, to a front pocket. 😉
Don’t forget the Biden family involvement.
Both the NY Post yesterday and then Gateway Pundit today have an article about a Ukrainian woman who “infiltrated” Mar a Lago. I am wondering if the FBI sent her and used her as “proof” Mar a Lago is not secure and she will be one of the informants…..just guessing Snippet below from GP
A Ukrainian woman posing as a member of the Rothschild banking family has been outed as a fraud after she allegedly infiltrated former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, according to reports.
Inna Yashchyshyn, 33, lied to ritzy resort members that she was the heiress to the reputed family’s mass fortune, Anna de Rothschild, according to a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
How close to PDJT’ private residence, and specifically the storage area where he was storing documents did she actually get?Suppose she had gone on a WH public tour, last week?
Would that mean Bidens WH was unsecure, etc.?
How many layers if Security would she have had to penetrate, to get access to the DECLASSIFIED documents?
And yeah, once again UKRAINE.
This is typically CIA disinfo, 50 civilian analysts say so.
I agree. She was no where near those documents, the CIA/FBI are just trying to create an impression of a lack of security for their media allies to discuss over and over. So transparent.
Well then they had better investigate the Secret Service for allowing this
woman anywhere near POTUS…
Somebody’s head ought to roll.
Seriously! And I’d like to see Bill Barr cleaning toilets!
I can see that investigation will start asap….
they are all ciorrupt.
Ok, she may be a Russian spy, or at least a Deep State plant. Where was the Secret Service???
There are few politicians that I have even a modicum of respect for and the ones who seem to stand out most are women. Here’s a quote from Christine Anderson, Member of the EU Parliament; “In the entire history of mankind there has never been a political elite sincerely concerned about the wellbeing of regular people. What makes any of us think that it is different now.”
“It must have been extremely frustrating for a sitting president to know there was nothing to the claims yet be constantly bombarded by media and political people in Washington DC who held a vested interest in maintaining them.”
…and fewer than a handful in his own party defending and helping him.
Not JUST not defending, but actually, in major ways PARTICIPATING!
Knowing the truths clearly as he did and does, I have to wonder why the protracted weak response? Where are the proofs they promised? Where is the video of the raid? Where is hewn outcry of the offended?
I should think if he had what they wanted, the proofs he is innocent, it should have been released. What is he holding back for or from?
I suspect his initial civil suit against Clinton and others are why he held off. I wish I had more detail on what was going on with that suit.
Releasing it also would have caused a media circus for awhile and drained lots of energy from other things. His suit may or may not be going along fine. His candidates he was endorsing were winning.
The swamp was gearing up to run other candidates and showing Trump the door, then the raid happened.
His suit against Clinton, this massively public raid by federal political agents, his base energized and support for him is now bigger than ever.
None of the above would have happened if he had publicly dumped the records on the day he left the White House.
Which ought to tell EVERYONE, including his enemies, the he is the MAN of the hour at hand.
I hope Trump has more than the Secret Service for protection…Evil people about…
I would be surprised if he didn’t.
He knows not to trust any govt. agency.
Must be new to supporting PDJT, or just not paying attention.
PDJT retained his own Security, while cleaning house at the SS, which was easily justified by their various screw ups during his predecessors terms, with drunken prostitute parties by Obummers advance team, a “knife wielding” nutjob getting into the WH, etc.
VSG stands for Very Special Genius, not SFI, as in Stupid F’ing Idiot.
Let’s get it done.
Just how is that Durham investigation going? /s
Whatsa “Durham”?
A “Durham” is a verb for a ruse used as a legal distraction that draws attention away from actual crimes.
Said he was trying the next series of cases himself and not the guy who did the last one…..
Bull Durham.
aka Sherman Williams
Supposedly the trials will start in October. I am not holding my breath on that one.
Yes , but what year ?
2035….same year CA thinks they are eliminating ICE cars…..LOL
Sure… but October of what year..? 🤣🤣🤣
About halfway through.
He might be in the same boat. If he refers the results of his investigation up the chain of command, the guy he reports to is Merrick Garland. So how would that go? “Mr. Garland, Barak Obama committed crimes of treason. Here is the evidence. ”
“Thank you Mr. Durham, you are dismissed.”
Excellent work, Sundance.
“At the time we noted, this was a huge amount of trust from the President to the Attorney General, and a big responsibility for William Barr:”
I seriously doubt Barr, or anyone around him, intended to be worthy of the trust given him.
I suspect the actual trust given to Barr came from those in the swamp.
I suspect Barr was the bondo from the beginning.
The more complex it all is, the more difficult it is to explain it to the American people.
That seems part of the design to get away with all the evil in the swamp.
Let there be light.
May God allow those who are wrong to be caught, exposed and punished…….before Judgement Day.
Barr was put in by the Turtle. Trump had very little to do with it.
Then again, what if AOC was right and we only had 12 years, which would be about 8 now?
Hang them.
Hang them all and let them swing.
“Unfortunately, as time continued throughout 2019, Attorney General Bill Barr took no action that would declassify any material of interest to the targeting of President Trump.” And Trump did nothing. You think you would have learned from Jeff Sessions. You think you would have had the AG in his office every week asking for progress reports and demanding focus. AG is a cabinet officer. A subordinate of the president, who answers directly to him. His inability to deal with lawyers sank his presidency. I mean what were they going to do, steal an election from him? Sometimes you’ve got to fight. And it might get real ugly. But our country was at stake. This is a great article for telling you all the things that could have gone wrong. So instead we got all the things that did go wrong. Without a fight. I think he would have been better served to trust the American people to have his back. Dan Scavino released a series of pictures after the election of him gazing at portraits of Churchill and Lincoln. Men who realized the enormity of the time and did what they had to do. There’s a lesson there. I’m not one of those people that thinks he needs to start telling people who is going to hire and how he’s going to do things differently in the next term. We’re just going to have to trust that that’s where his head is at. Giving away anything would be foolish. Good God though, I hope he’s learned.
One thing I think Sundance has a very accurately identified and pointed out. The Senate is the nexus of the corruption of our government. No Senators running anything in the next Administration.
President Trump at heart is a good man. He likes people. He thinks the best of people. His spirit is a fair one. He expects that that’s the basic point that everyone he deals with comes from. They are not. They are sociopaths, alcoholic yes men without a conscience. Business and life in general are series of trade-offs. You do a little better this time, I do a little better next. It all works out in the end. DC is not like that. The Democrats have worked with Republicans who really did not want to win anything for the last 30 years. So incrementalism becomes the norm. And the middle forever moves leftward. And here we are. And there’s no pretty way to fix this. They’re sexually mutilating little kids. And we have no political party or law enforcement body that’s shutting it down, or even beating the drum 24/7. Like it or not, that’s the reality we are dealing with.
.
And it was a very, very progressive idea on May 13, 1912, when Congress passed the XVII Amendment.
The direct election of Senators took away the rights of the several States to their representation in the federal goverent. Instead, it created a peoples super-representative to the Senate. Forever gone was a States place at the table of government. Now you know the rest of the story on how the CDC can place vaccine mandates every person in every state.
Passage of that Amendment was a direct stab in the heart of Article I, Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, which said each state legislature elected its state’s senators for a six-year term.
Which part of The Constitution is in the cross-hairs of progressives? The Electoral College? The First Amendment? The Second Amendment? The Fourth Amendment?
Read the list of grievences which impelled members of the Second Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain.
Our Founding Documents begin with the Declaration of Independence and continue after 13 years with the Constitution of the United States.
Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.
also very very illegal since they put it into effect without proper and LEGAL ratification
‘President Trump Tried to Work Within the system’
I like that headline. 😁
So do I. President Trump served us extremely well considering the overwhelming, corruption, evil people who surrounded him everywhere, but most DOJ/FIB. I hope they all ujp up-to-date on their CV boosters.
He didn’t just serve us well, he changed the game. But the bubble got him in the end. I think he knows that. I like Desantis. I think he might make a fine president one day. But we have one last shot with Trump, and we can’t squander it on the flavor of the day.
Yes. Forever changed the game here and in many countries. 45 is our last shot and whomever ends up being full blown MAGA/AF for 2028. That’s a long ways off these days. We might be surprised at who it ends up being.
So, flip the narrative; the documents are evidence of criminal behavior by the very agencies that are blocking their release.
Agencies in fact which are currently under investigation FOR those criminal actions.
Therefore it is THEY who must be removed fro the equation.
Hence the appointment if a Special Master, to ‘settle the matter’?
Does PDJT have a copy of “The Comey memos” (to self)?
If he DOES, IMHO he ‘has it all’, and if not the true instigators of the coup are not identified.
I think he must,…
“I think he must,….”
It’s very clear to me that PDJT has way more evidence, knowledge, wisdom, strategy, than most can even imagine.
I expect that is why he is taking this pathway now; he is fully aware of what is going on; he knows who the treasonous evil-doers are; it had to be done this way.
I do not underestimate Donald J. Trump, the man, nor President Donald J. Trump, the Chief Executive Officer, Commander in Chief of the Greatest Country on the Earth. He is not doing this for himself, he is doing it for you and me and the generations that follow, (if they are allowed to be born).
So if DOJ.FIB becomes the target of an investigation, it becomes ‘obstruction of justice’ is the documents are not released for the investigation. Yes.
So, flip the narrative; the documents are evidence of criminal behavior by the very agencies that are blocking their release.
Agencies in fact which are currently under investigation FOR those criminal actions.
It’s news to me that the DLOJ/FBI are under investigation.
Investigation by whom?
If they do appoint a special master, from what dumpster in the Swamp will he be selected? They dove pretty deep to get the guy in FL who signed the warrant, it, of Sharpie poisoning by now.
“This four-year sequence of events, including all of the betrayals and threats made against Donald Trump, all intended to keep him from allowing the public to see the full nature of the corrupt Deep State operation that lies at the heart of our current political strife, is ultimately what led to an FBI raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago.”
That is it in a nutshell.
Doesn’t seem constitutional to me. If the president can only “ask” people working for him to declassify, than he has no more power than I do to declassify. I could have written Bill Barr a letter asking him to declassify the spygate documents and had just as much authority as the president according to this analysis.
And the results speak for themselves. Nothing he asked for was declassified.
Sundance is WRONG in his interpretation of the declassification process. The process as he described it us NOT a function of law. It issues from Presidential authority itself.
The function of the various reviewing offices and personnel is to ADVISE the President, not to USURP his authority or to OBSTRUCT his intentions. The President, acting alone, may declassify ANYTHING, at any time, with or without the consent of his subordinates, though the President would then have to deal with the political implications of his decision.
I interpreted that is exactly what Sundance wrote.
That’s not exactly what he said:
“If he disagrees with the decision of the intelligence official, POTUS then would have to fire, replace and hope the next person in the chain-of-command would sign-off.”
None of the intelligence officials make a “decision.” They offer ADVICE, which the President may accept or reject. If he rejects it, he simply declassifies by executive decision without any need to fire/hire anyone.
“,…the President would then have to deal with the political implications of his decision.”,…an area where you and Sundance agree, sfdebre.
And, as IMPEACHMENT is a POLITICAL process, NOT a legal one, and since it also hung over PDJT like a sword of Democles, not something to be dismissed.
BECAUSE it is not a LEGAL process, they would not have to PROVE PDJT “Obstructed Justice”, only make a good enough case, as to create “reasonable doubt” that he DID, in the mind of enough of the electorate.
A very difficult, constantly shifting dynamic, upon which to bet everything.
that is NOT what SD said….he said it was not released because DoJ threatened an Obstruction of Justice charge for their perpetual “investigation”……nothing there disallowing PDJT the capability to declassify…….they blocked its release through a bogus legal maneuver
sfdebre: “Sundance is WRONG in his interpretation of the declassification process. The process as he described it us NOT a function of law. It issues from Presidential authority itself.”
The rules which surround classification and declassification are contained in an Executive Order. These rules are not written into law per se.
Mike Davis, who has the legal background to be rendering an opinion, has said any number of times on War Room that the president is the ultimate authority on the classification of material and does not need anyone’s sign-off or permission to declassify a document.
Davis has said further that the courts have upheld the president’s authority to unilaterally declassify material, and he cites the legal precedents for that opinion.
OK … It is one thing for a president to have the power to declassify any classified material, regardless of its nature and content. It is another for him to use that power wisely — or to not use it given the particular circumstances — in the public’s best interests and the national interest.
If the classified material a president chooses to declassify while he or she is president results in harm to national security, that issue is inherently a problem for the Congress to deal with through the impeachment process, which is itself an inherently political process under the US Constitution.
What hindsight clearly demonstrates is that back in 2018, the public interest clearly demanded that Donald Trump release everything related to Operation Crossfire Hurricane, regardless of any negative consequences for any pending criminal investigations against the Spygate perpetrators.
What the public interest demands today, four years later, is that Donald Trump immediately announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election and that he take visible charge of: 1) coordinating the messaging of MAGA candidates; and 2) of coordinating the battle plan for fighting the Uniparty’s upcoming theft of the 2022 mid-terms.
Time is short. Only 73 days remain before November 8th. The MAGA movement needs effective coordinating leadership at the top, and it needs it now. If President Trump is truly the lion we say he is, then he will step up to the job at hand and take clear leadership control of the movement he founded.
Go HARD! An inspiring video that many/most/all could benefit from viewing and embracing its message.
Thanks Cactus!
The articles this month havt been right on target Sundance! Again with this one too.
Swamp ooze coming from the SES Senior Executive Services. Protected lifetime swamp rats free from any scrutiny or pesky laws and most especially the American voter.
This is truly despicable. What we’ve allowed to “protect” us with continuity of government horse twaddle, in case we’re attacked, don’t you know. Instead they set up the perfect swamp, dank, brackish, sleazy, slimy, oozy and filled with mosquitoes aka useless blood suckers who have an insatiable appetite for other people stuff.
I have brought up the concept of The Hero’s Journey, what President Trump endured checks off every box.
“In truth they’ve after us President Trump is just in the way”.
This must be corrected.
100 upvotes…
Dirty deeds by the deep state.
Because of that we are stuck with the village idiot in the White House, a tanking economy and a country that’s turning into a banana republic.
“Dirty Deeds AIN’T Done Cheap!!”
This is imperative.
If not President Trump then who?
Jim Jordan, if he will have us.
Sundance is right and a genius, as always.
But, to me, the unanswered questions is, what can any of us do about it?
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Great work and research. That said is there any information about the Trump suit to appoint a special magistrate where clearification was due on Friday?
Judge’s Intent to approve just released
Sundance – Love all your in-depth articles and have been a poster and follower for many years. As a person who used to write classified reports and had a TS/SCI clearance, a President does have ultimate authority to declassify ANYTHING he/she wants and doesn’t have to rely on the writing authors of a lesser level or office to declassify. If this was the case, politics – which we see now – would hamper any president in carrying out national security issues if the opposite party didn’t like or agree with him or her.
We all serve our Commander-in-Chief. He or She, as President, is the ONLY one that has that authority. Hence, why Pres Trump was able to take any documents he declassified with him without waiting for their approval to MAL and not break any laws. Sandy Berger, Hillary, and any others we know of were breaking the law because only the POTUS has this specific authority as he/she IS the Executive Office. Everything else you posted is absolutely correct as far as the chain of command in getting a document declassified or downgraded.
I tend to agree with your assessment but what of his decision to sign away his declassification authority to Barr. Did that permanently tie his hands?
Technically, he didn’t do that…a President can’t give his authority away otherwise he would be handcuffed (figuratively) and not be able to operate with FULL authority. The ONLY time I am aware of legally that a POTUS can cede his authority would be when the 25th Amendment would be involved. IMO what he did with Barr – and Sundance wrote this (modified by me) – Hey Barr, would you take care of this classification issue as I’m trying to run the country while a 900lb monkey (Dems/DOJ/FBI) on my back while trying to do accomplish what I was elected for…then Barr with Cheshire cat smile said certainly…
It was a delegation of authority he continued to hold.
Thanks for the explanation.
he did NOT “sign away” nor COULD he….he is given the power by dint of his position as the Commander in Chief of the US Military from the US Constitution…..where in the world do you guys get your info from the back of a cereal box?
Delegating authority does not mean ceding authority or giving up authority, Trump still also had authority but he did not exercise that authority.
In my view he abandoned his obligation to the American people when he passed that buck.
What about Executive Order 13526, as Sundance clearly cited above? There is a very specific procedure to be followed and nowhere in that EO does it assert that POTUS has authority to completely bypass the DECLAS review process, UNLESS he/she originally created and classified the document in question. See Section 3.5 (b)
As an aside, Section 1.7 DOES firmly assert that
“(a) In no case shall information be classified, continue to be maintained as classified, or fail to be declassified in order to:
(1) conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error;
(2) prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency;
So it would appear that DOJ/FBI /ODNI are ALL in direct violation of 13526 section 1.7.a.1 and 1.7.a.2
Any President is free to follow, abrogate, modify, or suspend ANY Executive Order at any time.
OK. But for some reason(s) PDJT didn’t. I’m guessing it was a bit more involved than a flick of a pen, but I have no additional insight.
A president is not bound by the executive orders of a former president, in this case Obama.. The presidents classication authority comes directly from the constitution which is superior to executive orders. There is nothing in the constitution which states that the President MUST follow a process.
Chain of Command, nice idea, on paper, and yet we learn after the fact that the top military person, Milley informed the Chinese intelligence that he, Milley, would let China know if the sitting President PDJT was going to do anything to hurt China in time for China to be prepared.
with that kind of underlings, how the heck can anyone not see that what has been laid out as plain as day, that if PDJT had released the items he would have faced another impeachment trial because muh, due process, such release would have ‘interfered with Durham’s work’.
both instances – treason, sorry, once upon a time, maybe, but once we had a President Trump all the rule books were thrown out the window and our entire bureaucracy promulgated a literal coup, or as it has been said by others, the Administrative State has become self-aware.
Year 2022
Energy crisis, food crisis, inflation/stagflation, depression on the horizon, massive layoffs expected, crime skyrocketing, runaway spending on all government levels, DOD not reporting where military armory is being shipped, Fed reserve ushering in digital currency, corporate stakeholders are implementing E.Sg scoring
The year of FUBAR
Sadly, more and more of us are discovering that being “honest” “hardworking” and “playing by the rules” doesn’t carry the rewards that it once did. We have gone from a society where “the Golden Rule” was the standard, and a man’s word was his bond, to one where the “new” rule seems to be “Do Unto Others and then split before you get caught!”
What has happened to anyone (especially Donald Trump) who has tried to expose those in our government who have rigged the game is both a legal and moral crime but as of now, nothing has happened to any of them.
I know that I am showing my age but I do find myself looking longingly back at the Old Days and my heart breaks for the young people today who are taught that the only “truth” is that “truth” doesn’t actually exist! No wonder they are so angry, hopeless, and confused!
However, at the end of our days, we will ALL be held accountable for every word, thought, and action…it doesn’t feel like it’s enough right now, but when it comes, I do believe that we will see that every wrong will be made right – for eternity!!
vikingmom: The rewards for honesty, hard work and playing by the rules have always come from within. That’s what matters.
Also, young people will be fine.
Cheers!
Speaking of jeff sessions….what’s that weasely turd up too these days?
I saw Mark Meadows in a linked document and made me wonder what happened to Meadows?
If President Trump actually has physical possession of unredacted copies of the material he wants released, he has a decision to make:
What is more important? His not being indicted (he would be convicted in Washington DC, no doubt) for obstruction of justice,
or ,
ripping the heart out of the deep state by revealing the myriad of laws broken to try and remove him from office.
The DOJ/FBI are using the laws to hide their lawbreaking. Unless they are stopped, the Deep State will destroy the Republic.
According to Barr, Hillary committed sedition. That means everyone on the Mueller team plus Rosenstein, Comey,Ray, Obama, and all his merry men too.
Trying to justify doing nothing is not justification to do nothing in the certainty of exposing crime within the federal government.
Sabotaging a President from within the federal government is a crime – obstruction of justice and obstruction of the duties of the Office of the President.
The Coup plotters were known at the time, yet were not investigated internally or externally.
While what was done against Trump stinks to high Heaven, so does the lack of response to that stink.
Non-Violent Action should have been employed against the Coup Plotters from the beginning . . . oh that’s right, the right fails to see value in protesting.
Of what value is protesting when you can be arrested for “insurrection”, the definition of which changes depending on which political party is in the majority? Most of us are too busy working to pay our bills to take a chance on being arrested and held without bail or hearing for an indeterminate length of time. Young people who live with their parents or live on student loans are the only ones who can.
I often think/ponder about parallels, Venezuela is the best template for everyone to compare. Venezuela was the most stable prosperous country in SA. An abundance of oil reserves and an educated populace. Today Venezuela is a 3rd world shithole. Humble opinion… we are on the same track.
The FBI is planning something very dangerous and catastrophic before the 2022 elections. Thousands of Americans may be at risk.
There is no System.
Just the Hussein Syndicate.
“My fellow World Citizens,
This is Shadow President-for-Life Obama-K speaking. I have just signed an Executive Order banning the United States forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.
That’s a little joke. Probably.
It’s cute, though, that you think Joe Biden runs anything.
As Barry of Arabia, I used Twitter to build my own private jihadi army to overthrow friendly Arab governments for my Ayatollah and the Caliphate.
Twitter loses billions each year, spies on its users and loses money on each new customer. Naturally, you can see why we Feds were drawn to it like flies to horseshit.”
Rest in the Vine: TRUMP 2022: Reap the Whirlwind!
So, now what,,? seems there is no place for our greivances to be heard.i think this blows billy goats
For those who do not know who Mr Peepers was from Saturday Night Live.
This outline is pure idiocy.
You have to imbue criminals with the legitimacy of policy protocols for this to work, all the while they are free to use the system to box the target, Pres Trump, in an ever closing circle that makes it impossible for the truth to be told.
These are not legitimate agencies, or people. They are criminals and Trump knows it because he is the accused, and he knows what he did and did not do.
Stop treating them as though they have any power.
Dump the information, all of it and by dump, I mean publish it. The net result will be no worse than what they are now intending for him right now. But the outcome may be the over throw of our imposter government.
He has a world wide platform, he is mired in a coup, make the case to the world, this is an illegitimate government and the people who are running it are criminals. Patriots will support an honest leader.
Anything short of this outing of facts is doomed to failure in my small mind.
I don’t necessarily disagree, but think of all that has been exposed since 2018?
How many rats would we not know about if he dumped everything publicly back then?
How many rats have exposed themselves because of the ongoing targeting of Trump?
Would we have ever seen the Deep State become so desperate they would send the FBI to raid his house?
I don’t have a crystal ball, so I don’t know what these answers are, but you can bet your life that if he dumped everything publicly back in 2018, there would have been a huge number of swamp rats who would have acted like they cared about cleaning up the Deep State, very little would have gotten done, and the Deep State would still exist.
We aren’t done yet.
The Ron DeSantis show is now playing. A new horn section just piped up too.
I have been reading Igor Chudov Substack for a while now, as he builds the case (along with Alex Berenson and Steve Kirsch) about the damage caused by the jabs.
And wouldn’t you know it, just in the last few days Chudov tagged President Trump with many serious errors about the Covid lockdowns and shots, and highlighted that the only politician who allegedly got it right, in hindsight , who was, you guessed it —
Ron Desantis.
Once you see the moves, you can’t unsee them.
What they did to this President personally, is appalling! All to cover their own criminal actions.
They don’t care what happens to this country or its citizens, just that they get their own way and continue to stay in power. Greed always accompanies the power grab. They strut around like they own the place. They don’t. We do, and we will see what November brings.
Stay vigilant and informed. Be calm in the eye of the storm. PRAY! The Eagle is circling.
The eagle is circling the drain.
Shortly after Trump became president I was surprised to see all the effort he made to meet with people from various sectors and sections of society and seek their inputs. There was a transparency too. I have seen virtually nothing like this from Biden. There were also many other actions on the part of Trump to improve the lives of Americans: reduction of regulations, reduction of tax, working for energy independence, securing the border – despite all the roadblocks, promoting small businesses and on and on.
What improvements on these did Biden offer during the presidential election? What improvements on these since he entered the WH? I believe most people who voted for Trump did not do so out of a blind loyalty but because they saw his efforts to improve the lives of ordinary Americans. Why are all the Republican politicians not running on these and showing Americans that they are not being offered any better alternatives?
have you taken a good long look at the morals and ethics of nearly every national politician in DC, GOPe included, lately?……..the terms serf-serving, arrogant and unemphatic come to mind immediately
Been asking for years now. What is he waiting for? Expose them all. Show all the documents. Show all the connections Sundance has shown.
Why has he waited “within the system” so long beyond the point when it became obvious that the system he was within is so corrupt? Fire all the guns! Sooner the better for the USA.
“of the lawyers, by the lawyers and for the lawyers” – if the Gettysburg address were re-written today.
How do You…..
Class Action Lawsuits are Very Effective!
Assuming DJT has copies of the documents we’re discussing, why not simply say “Eff the letter agencies” and publish them all, now, on TruthSocial, Rumble, FrankSpeech? Call the bastards’ bluff. A good idea? Or not?
Untraceable leaks could work, but so could turning it all over to a House committee investigating it come January. In an open session, someone like Jim Jordan could publish it and if criticized, he could say it was his understanding that it was all declassified. Or a Senator could read the more important parts on the floor of the Senate where he is immune. “Oops, sorry, but we won.”
Clearly, the Presidency has turned into a figurehead much like the Queen of England. He’s not allowed to freely exercise his authority over his own executive branch. The fact that a man with mush for brains can occupy that office further proves this point.
How high up would law enforcement have to be to get access to our phone and email discussions?
Do local police get access to them, or are they too low on the totem pole? By local I mean municipal level.
If we can get him back into office in 2024, Lord willing, will he fire everybody? We could celebrate.
Well a little good news working within the system.
A federal Judge in FL has said that they have intent
to appoint a Special Master to review all the documents
after reading Trump Lawyer brief and because of
Exceptional Circumstances//Although why they have
to come out to say the intend to …why not just do
it why announce ahead of time…
I just do not understand how declassifying and making public classified documents relating to the Russia Hoax could be deemed “obstruction”…….. isn’t transparency and daylight the best disinfectant??? Trump should have declassified everything, given it to 3 or 4 news agencies and told the DOJ to file their obstruction charges if they wanted to. He’d take his chances with the American people.
because it “may” have a bearing on the bogus Durham investigation and its release may impact its findings or ability to complete its investigation….that is their contention anyway
Ok, given all this, what would be the point of Trump even running again? It looks like he did everything he could possibly do so if he were to win the presidency again, how could he make things end up any different?
he now knows no more nicey-nice but rather clean house on appointed and upper management positions in most of DC
To clean house he would have to fire entire agencies. Is that realistic and if so wouldn’t he just get impeached and removed? That’s what I gather from the article so I wondered if there is another way.
He has to now! They want to imprison him.