There is A LOT going on inside this story, and the pair of indictments only scratch the surface.

[WaPo – New York Times – ABC News]

According to the DOJ, “A former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI New York Counterintelligence Division [Charles F. McGonigal, 54, of New York City] and a former Soviet and Russian diplomat [Sergey Shestakov, 69, of Morris, Connecticut] were arrested Saturday on criminal charges related to their alleged violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering.

Interestingly, there are two sets of indictments.  The first is in New York related to the U.S. sanctions against Russia, specifically Oleg Deripaska  [SEE HERE].  The second is in DC related to money laundering, payments from Deripaska [SEE HERE].  The New York case is related to post retirement activity in 2021.  The DC case is related to activity when Charles F McGonigal was taking money from Russians, and apparently others, while simultaneously investigating Donald Trump, “from August 2017 and continuing through and beyond his retirement from the FBI in September 2018.”

It would appear, Main Justice in DC is concerned about the timeline and are structuring the money laundering prosecution to keep tight control in Washington DC, for the period when McGonical was a special agent in charge.   However, given the backstory of the players involved, and known 2021 FARA filings that hit on the organizations involved, the FBI and DOJ have known about this issue for quite some time, at least 18 months prior to the indictments today.

These indictments are a rabbit hole that runs sideways from the Trump-Russia collusion nonsense and includes the use of “contractors” in 2021 that McGonigal had to know from his time in the FBI counterintelligence operations.

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The likely Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Mike Turner (R-OH), appears on CBS Face the Nation with DC stenographer for the regime, Margaret Brennan.

You know the left wing of the DC political operation is riddled with angst, when Margaret Brennan goes tilt, stomps her heels and throws the proverbial coffee pot across the table.  The only thing missing was Margaret pounding the table and yelling ‘curse you villain.‘  The unbiased pretenses are chucked right out the window here.  The interview is a little funny.  WATCH: 

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, he is expected to head up the House Intelligence Committee. Good morning to you.

REP. MIKE TURNER: Good morning Margaret, thank you for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So we have this development in regard to the further materials that were found at President Biden’s Delaware home. What is your reaction? And what does it signify to you that no one realized that this classified material was missing, some of it dating back to his Senate years?

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According to multiple media reports [See Here and See Here] Joe Biden’s attorneys coordinated a friendly FBI search of their client’s Delaware residence.  Lawyers for Biden were present and overseeing the FBI review of the home, when additional classified documents were discovered.

Interestingly, the Biden lawyers seemingly admit their client had been taking classified documents home for quite some time.  According to their statement (emphasis mine):

“DOJ took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some of which were from the President’s service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as Vice President. DOJ also took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years.”   (link)

That statement was written by Joe Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer.  That’s interesting on many levels, including the fact that Bob Bauer is married to Anita Dunn. Mrs. Anita Dunn is one of the original people who helped put Barack Obama in the White House; and Dunn worked with President Obama throughout his terms.  Additionally, Anita Dunn is on the short list to replace Biden’s outgoing Chief of Staff, Ron Klain.

Many people have wondered if Joe Biden was being set up for failure over this classified document scandal.  In my opinion, the entire operation is being managed – but not to remove Biden, simply to control him and ensure he doesn’t run again.

When it comes to the insurance of their ideological long-term goals, democrats play cutthroat politics much better than most imagine.  Ask Bernie Sanders what it’s like to be viewed as an impediment to the ideological quest, and what lengths his party will take to cut you down.

Now overlay Joe Biden’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer.   Think about who exactly it was discovering these documents and why.  If Obama is the silent partner in the background of the Biden administration, then Dunn is the operational manager.  If Dunn is the operational manager, then her husband is very useful as the principle’s attorney.  From the big picture, it sure looks like Bauer is playing the role of Brutus.

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The U.S. Dept of Justice (DOJ) has sent a five-page letter to congress, copying Politico for the public distribution therein.  [SEE pdf HERE]

The snarky and passive aggressive Lawfare tone inside the letter is rather remarkable in its sanctimony and condescension.  Essentially, Main Justice is telling congressional oversight, specifically House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, not to expect any timely responses because there’s a lot going on.

Additionally, as the letter directly implies, Republican oversight is not in the favor of the current administration or DOJ and, well, in general terms, get over it – they aren’t complying.  However, feel free to initiate the formal negotiation process that will likely take several years.

From the letter to Jim Jordan, “Your January 17 requests—made now in your position as Chairman—initiate the constitutionally mandated accommodation process. Under this process, the Legislative and Executive Branches have a constitutional obligation to negotiate in good faith to meet the informational needs of Congress while protecting the institutional interests of the Executive Branch. We look forward to beginning this process in response to your January 17 letters.” (link)

(Via Politico) – […] The letter, addressed to Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), acknowledges the GOP’s multiple requests for information during the last Congress but doesn’t divulge any new information. Instead, Uriarte outlines how he hopes DOJ could have a “productive relationship” with Republicans in the new Congress, as Jordan had in previous letters accused the DOJ of “stonewalling” their requests, raised the possibility of a subpoena and said the committee could resort to “compulsory practices” to obtain the requested information and documents.

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The fourth branch of government is the superseding national security apparatus or intelligence branch.  That system actually existed for decades as the unelected intelligence apparatus built out its capabilities while We The People slept.

Then 9-11 happened, and the intelligence surveillance system was retooled under the Patriot Act.  The Legislative Branch came with the big assist.  Then Obama came into office, and all the basic tools were in place to fine tune that surveillance and targeting mechanism.  So here we are.  Enter, Tucker Carlson:

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Yeah sure.  The Supreme Court of the United States asserts today that after a nine-month investigation [SEE HERE] they just cannot find the person who leaked the draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

The draft opinion on the abortion issue was leaked to Politico from inside the court in May 2022 in what the court calls “one of the worst breaches of trust in its history.”   However, despite their efforts to get to the bottom of the leak and find the leaker, they cannot find out who it was.

The court then delivers a two-page memo explaining the situation, and a 23-page report from former Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.

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Lots of people are talking about U.S. FBI Director Christopher Wray discussing the agencies “partnership with the private sector” as it relates to modern FBI activity.  However, I’m just that random oddball in the crowd who just wants to point out something, well, kind of a big picture issue.

I notice in all of the discussions surrounding the FBI activity, and there are a lot of discussions – including admissions and outlines from the FBI itself, there appears to be an element of the subject matter being overlooked.  Here’s a segment from Wray at the World Economic Forum {Direct Rumble Link} as a precursor to what few are noticing.  WATCH:

The FBI is a criminal investigative agency. Meaning, a crime is committed, and the FBI mission is to investigate it, solve it, and bring the information to the justice department for pursuit. At least that was the customary role of the FBI as it was/is commonly discussed.

However, please note that in Director Wray’s remarks, every element of the FBI mission is framed around “prevention” of criminal activity, or what we would call pre-crimes.

Stop for a moment and rewatch it if needed, you’ll see what I am talking about.

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Communication, discussion and step-by-step outlining is a very time-consuming enterprise.  If you are wondering about the light CTH posting recently, refer to the prior sentence.  I cannot say much; except to say no one is more cynical than I, and yet there is reason to be cautiously optimistic.

As previously noted, the 118th Congress is expected to authorize a “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”   The subcommittee will fall under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Jim Jordan.   Additionally, Thomas Massie (R-KY) is being reported as a representative under consideration for the chairmanship the House subcommittee.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and potential House subcommittee Chair Thomas Massie should have a grasp of the scale and scope of the opposition they are about to face.  Assuming they have a fully prepared staff to support them – willing to take on a very consequential investigation; then we begin by first anticipating who will oppose their effort to investigate the “weaponization of government“.   Which is to say everyone!

The defensive apparatus of the DC political system will likely do everything in their power, individually and with collective assistance, to ensure this committee fails.  The stakes are quite high.  As readers here can well attest, DC politics is an institutional system of purposefully created compartmentalized silos.

The compartmented information silos permit plausible deniability, and this collection of weaponized institutions contains career bureaucrats who view their opposition as the American people.

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During his opening monologue last night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson hit on an important aspect to the classified document saga. The professional bureaucracy within Washington DC is now the superseding agency controlling the outcomes of elections.

Unnamed and opaque officials within the DHS and FBI manipulated the 2020 election by controlling the public conversation. Then, after the election takes place, the similarly mined administrative state employees, then begin using their control systems to manipulate the policy outcomes of the politicians. In essence, the desires of the voters are irrelevant to the permanent bureaucratic state in Washington DC. WATCH:

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According to the White House, there are no visitor logs for the Biden stash house in Wilmington, Delaware where three sets of classified documents were discovered.

The Delaware residence is considered Biden’s private residence and no logs of visitors are maintained.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -No visitor logs exist for President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, where classified documents from his vice presidential days were found, as it is a private residence, the White House Counsel and Secret Service said on Monday.

“Like every President across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” the White House Counsel’s office said in a statement.

The Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting current and past presidents and their families, does not “independently maintain our own visitor logs because it’s a private residence,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, James Comer, on Sunday demanded visitor logs for Democrat Biden’s house in Wilmington after classified documents were found in his office and garage there. (read more)

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