I’ve probably reviewed thousands of congressional letters, and intelligence committee letters from oversight, along with even more executive agency responses. In fact, CTH has shared hundreds of outlines covering granular details within many of the internal memos and correspondences. However, I have never seen anything like this before.
The combination of arrogance, hubris and desperation within a letter (pdf here) from the four Democrats on the intelligence oversight Gang of Eight, is palpable even in text format.
Legislative branch members: Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff and Mark Warner write a letter today to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding the executive branch cabinet members withhold information from the White House.
Perhaps more stunningly, and extra-constitutionally (meaning outside the framework of constitutional separation of power), within the jaw-dropping letter the four Democrats outline previous verbal conversations and current agreements with Coats, Rosenstein and Wray where the Cabinet officers agreed to keep information away from the White House Chief Executive, the President.
(more…)
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appears with Lou Dobbs tonight to discuss the importance of the declassification directive from President Trump. Within the FISA application section Jordan says important information used to compile the dossier alleging Trump campaign ties to Russia were kept from the FISA court.
(more…)
Beyond the narrative engineering, NBC’s Ken Dilanian is reporting from his mutually aligned sources inside the DOJ and FBI. The basic outline is the embed officials within the DOJ, FBI and larger intelligence community, are not happy about the White House declassification directive. Why would they be?….
These are the same DOJ and FBI officials who, without justification, redacted the Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages.

First, the article:
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence officials, blindsided by President Donald Trump’s order that they make public highly sensitive files in the Russia investigation, are hoping the White House will allow them to conduct a formal declassification review and damage assessment before they are forced to release the documents, current and former officials tell NBC News.
Senior executives at the FBI, Justice Department and Office of the Director of National intelligence were scrambling Tuesday to respond after being taken by surprise by a White House press release Monday directing them to release classified material they had previously determined should not be made public. (more)
The biggest mistake people make is not accepting the influence of the worker-bee career officials, operating under the leadership structure, within the bureaucracy.
(more…)
Senator Chuck Grassley scheduled a hearing for Monday September 24th, to hear testimony from Christine Blasey Ford who has made sketchy accusations against SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault 36-years-ago in high school.
Today Chairman Grassley suggested if Ms. Blasey-Ford does not agree to give testimony he will cancel the hearing:
WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Tuesday raised the possibility that next week’s high-stakes open hearing to examine the sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh could be canceled if the accuser doesn’t accept the committee’s invitation.
A few days ago, September 13th, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was given the Keeper of the Flame Award in Washington DC. Within his acceptance speech Chairman Nunes discusses the significance of this time in U.S. history.
In the days and months following Watergate, the HPSCI was given specific rules within their legislative branch oversight, which actually became the most significant tools -utilized for the first time- to uncover intelligence abuses by the former administration. Additionally, Chairman Nunes expands on the “next steps.”
(more…)
White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro appears on Lou Dobbs show to discuss the Trump administration’s round-two 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. The percentage jumps to 25% on January 1st, 2019.
(more…)
Special counsel Robert Mueller really, really, r.e.a.l.l.y doesn’t want to sentence former National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn for lying prior to the release of the of the unredacted text messages and the IG Report on FISA abuse.
Nothing would be more devastating for Mueller’s political objectives than to sentence General Flynn – and then have the nature of an entrapment scheme exposed. Hence yet another incredulous delay (this is the fifth delay):
A statement from the White House moments ago reflects a directive from the Office of the President to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, along with the DOJ and FBI to declassify documents and remove redactions to all investigative text messages. The wording within the request is important:

WHITE HOUSE – At the request of a number of committees of Congress, and for reasons of transparency, the President has directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to provide for the immediate declassification of the following materials: (1) pages 10-12 and 17-34 of the June 2017 application to the FISA court in the matter of Carter W. Page; (2) all FBI reports of interviews with Bruce G. Ohr prepared in connection with the Russia investigation; and (3) all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all Carter Page FISA applications.
In addition, President Donald J. Trump has directed the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to publicly release all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, without redaction, of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr. (LINK)
The president (WH counsel) is referencing “committee requests”, this is critical because it removes the legal conflict (executive self-interest) within the release; and makes the request a function of legislative branch oversight. Additionally, and importantly, the request calls for all of the prior text messages to be released without redactions.
(more…)
Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh presented the following statement today following a high school sexual assault accusation from Christine Blasey Ford:
“This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday.”
“I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the Committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity.”
Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, discussed the issues this morning on Fox and Friends:
(more…)
The timing is transparent: the week prior to Brett Kavanaugh committee vote; the outlet is transparent: the intelligence ‘resistance’ apparatus, The Washington Post; the accuser is transparent: a far-left California liberal professor, Christine Ford Blasey, anti-Trump ‘resistance activist’ with an anti-policy background, including recently. The accusation is transparent: 35-year-old harassment claim/accusation, from high school intended to activate the “Me Too” activists. The motive is transparent: block the Supreme Court nomination of Justice Kavanaugh.
Today the Washington Post announces the accuser of Brett Kavanaugh has stepped forward to tell her story.
Ms. Christine Ford, aka Christine Blasey, a registered democrat and political activist, claims she attended a high school party where Kavanaugh forcibly groped her over her clothes. [Story Here]
[…] While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.
“I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” said Ford, now a 51-year-old research psychologist in northern California. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”
