The inspector general for the Intelligence Community is Michael Atkinson. He is very sketchy.  Atkinson was previously legal counsel for the DOJ-NSD during the ‘stop-Trump’ tenure of John Carlin and Mary McCord. As a result, Atkinson was a participant in the weaponizing of the DOJ-NSD via FISA abuse, along with NSA database exploitation and tenuous FARA legal theories used to target political opposition.
In short, Atkinson seems dirty.  At the very least he hangs around dirty characters.
Today, according to Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge, ICIG Michael Atkinson testified the anti-Trump CIA ‘whistle-blower’, likely to be Michael Barry, did not inform Atkinson that Barry and his legal team already contacted staff working for HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff when he submitted his complaint.  More sketchy.

After he took the complaint, ICIG Michael Atkinson then changed the rules for the ICIG office allowing a second-hand hearsay complaint to be processed.  Again, sketchy.
According to New York Times reporting earlier this week, the ‘whistle-blower’ (likely CIA operative Michael Barry) first tried to push the hearsay claims to CIA management through a colleague.  Fearing CIA management would not take the gossip seriously “the officer then approached a democrat House Intelligence Committee aide, alerting him to the accusation against Mr. Trump.”  Chairman Schiff never told anyone.
Buckets of sketchy.
(more…)

The Federalist was able to gain a copy of the opening statement delivered to congress by Ambassador Kurt Volker.  The statements made by Volker support the outline put forth by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani surrounding the initial contact and purposes.
The statement by Volker directly undercuts the narrative spun by HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff and his attempt to create an impeachment narrative.  Here’s the statement:
[scribd id=428765582 key=key-qZmOFCD6kgjIcMuJBR94 mode=scroll]
.
The outline by Volker supports the original story as told by Rudy Giuliani.
(more…)

MAGAnomics – Lowest Unemployment in 50 Years !
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the September jobs report. 136,000 jobs were added to the economy and the unemployment rate falls to 3.5%, the lowest since 1969.
Demand for workers remains strong (Table A-1). Overall employment is very stable across all sectors (Table B-1) and wage growth is strong (+2.9%). Additionally, inflation is low; that means more disposable income.  The Main Street economy is strong.

♦Over the month, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 275,000 to 5.8 million. ♦Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs declined by 304,000 to 2.6 million in September. ♦Also, the number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks fell by 339,000. ♦The labor force participation rate held at 63.2 percent in September.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised up by 7,000 from +159,000 to +166,000, and the change for August was revised up by 38,000 from +130,000 to +168,000. With these revisions, employment gains in July and August combined were 45,000 more than previously reported.  (BLS Report)

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins filed an amicus brief yesterday (full pdf below) highlighting why the Judiciary Committee should be blocked from receiving grand jury material against the backdrop of an impeachment effort without support from the House of Representatives.

(more…)

In the larger picture it is clear the Obama administration weaponized the institutions of government to target their political opposition. It is also increasingly clear a Hillary Clinton administration would have monetized the U.S. government.
President Obama’s team used the DOJ, CIA, FBI and IRS to target their opposition. The intelligence apparatus was weaponized; one small example that scratches the surface is the FBI/NSA database exploitation. Black files on DC politicians, private sector groups and individuals facilitating leverage, and we are still seeing the ramifications.
[wpvideo FfhhyQFp]
.
When former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne recently discussed his role within the 2016  “political espionage” operations, he described the financial interests of political office; not coincidentally he also seems to have retreated into a safe-space.
(more…)

By now it is clear the anonymous CIA ‘whistle-blower’ complaint was a constructed political effort by House Democrats, IC allies and Lawfare members therein.  HPSCI Ranking Member Devin Nunes discusses the fraud behind the construction of Chairman Adam Schiff.

(more…)

Judiciary member and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Jim Jordan, outlined the House Intelligence Committee testimony today from Kurt Volker, the former State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. “Nothing said today supported Adam Schiff and the democrats’ impeachment narrative. Nothing”

.
Additionally, John Roberts (Fox News) is confirming the White House will send a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the administration will not comply with any demands from congressional investigators until the full House votes to launch an impeachment inquiry.
(more…)

Today both Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy and Representative Michael McCaul draw attention to Speaker Pelosi’s manipulation of House rules specifically intended to achieve articles of impeachment without Republican representation.
In a blatant display of committee manipulation, today the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Chairman Adam Schiff, worked around committee jurisdiction rules and took a deposition from Kurt Volker, the former State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations.

Not only was the jurisdiction of the House Foreign Affairs Committee usurped, but Chairman Schiff also limited republican members to having only one staffer present during the testimony.  [Read McCaul Letter Here]  This blatant manipulation of House rules was made without Speaker Pelosi holding a House vote to initiate an impeachment inquiry.
The House Rules that Pelosi changed in 2018 were designed to exploit the Trump-Russia impeachment via obstruction goal. Those same changed rules are now being used in the Trump-Ukraine effort. The committees’ need to gather impeachment evidence without the pesky interference by House republicans. This was always the purpose for changing the rules.
(more…)

President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani appears for a discussion with Lou Dobbs to outline how Adam Schiff was working in concert with left-wing political allies to create the CIA whistle-blower complaint as evidence for their impeachment agenda:

.
Some of the information provided by the State Department IG to congress included the investigative notes of Rudy Giuliani in conversations with Ukraine officials. Additionally, Giuliani appeared on Fox News with Sean Hannity to expand the discussion.
(more…)

For two days the mainstream media were breathlessly reporting on an “urgent request” from the State Department Inspector General for a closed-door meeting.
Media sources whipped their left-wing audiences into an anticipatory frenzy with predictions of devastating information soon to come from an “explosive” and “highly unusual” request.  It must must be connected to President Trump and Secretary Mike Pompeo hiding devastating information, they said…

Well, the super-anticipated ‘closed door’ briefing was held today, and the IG handed out packets of information related to revelations of Democrats colluding with the Ukraine government.  The exact opposite of what the media and the professional left anticipated.

WASHINGTON –  The State Department’s Inspector General shared a packet of months-old news stories and other Ukraine-related documents during an “urgent” briefing with Congressional staffers on Wednesday, sources told the Daily Caller.
Sources familiar with the meeting said the IG handed over a packet containing, among other old materials, news articles written this past spring by The Hill’s John Solomon about Democratic ties to Ukraine.

(more…)