The Potomac Two-Step

♦ Statement from Trey Gowdy. [SEE HERE] Given the nature and construct of the statement it was obviously written before today and timed for a release at a specific time of day today. Reeks of familiar UniParty swamp defense. Chaff and Countermeasures.

WASHINGTON, DC – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy released the following statement after the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report on FBI and DOJ actions in advance of the 2016 election.

“I am alarmed, angered, and deeply disappointed by the Inspector General’s finding of numerous failures by DOJ and FBI in investigating potential Espionage Act violations by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (read more)

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Following the traditional process for releasing high-profile reports the Department of Justice – Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG) report will be released tomorrow with a briefing to congress and the president happening around Noon, and a public release at 3:00pm. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will brief the President while senior officials from the DOJ will brief congress and their staff.

The 500-page report will cover the DOJ and FBI conduct surrounding the Clinton classified email investigation, and was originally commissioned during the Obama administration to review whether the FBI and DOJ politicized the Clinton investigation and subsequent outcome.

WASHINGTON – […] Inspector general spokesman John Lavinsky said in a statement that the office occasionally gives pre-release briefings to Congress and the media, adding that, “for the Justice Department to brief the White House in the same manner and at the same time as the OIG briefs Congress and the press is consistent with this process.”

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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, the congressional oversight representative closest to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, discusses the upcoming IG report.

As background, it is Chairman Goodlatte who personally selected (and selects) the lawmakers who questioned FBI Counterintelligence head Bill Priestap.  Whereas HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes holds primary ‘intelligence’ oversight; Chairman Goodlatte holds primary Justice and Judiciary oversight.

It is worth noting that Goodlatte directs a great deal of attention to U.S. Attorney John Huber on the criminality behind the upcoming IG report.  The report is scheduled to be made public on Thursday June 14th:

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Journalist Paul Sperry dropped a bombshell tweet yesterday highlighting issues that have been longstanding within a senate investigation:

This is a BIG deal, obviously. However, it is actually an even bigger deal when put into context with prior inquiry by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley about FBI manipulating FD-302’s, notes taken by FBI agents during interviews.

The current issue seems to align with Senator Chuck Grassley suspecting Andrew McCabe manipulated the FD-302 investigative notes from FBI Special Agent’s Peter Strzok and Joe Pientka, after they interviewed Mike Flynn. There is enough sketchy and contradictory information giving weight to a likelihood that Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe told FBI agents (Strzok and Pientka) to shape their FBI reports of the interview (FD-302’s) to assist a “Flynn lied” narrative.

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It is important not to get so granular we miss the big picture.  The indictment of former senior senate intelligence committee staffer James Wolfe is filled with information to highlight a much bigger picture. [Indictment pdf here]

Keeping with custom and a very familiar pattern, you will note the big DOJ/FBI investigative releases are timed to drop when President Trump is outside Washington DC.

Note also, it was the Senate Intelligence Committee where Wolfe worked.  CTH has continually stated the SSCI is one of the most corrupt committees in congress.  It did not come as a surprise to see the staff from this specific committee leaking secret and top-secret classified information.  The committee rots from the head down.

According to the indictment Wolfe was notified by the FBI of a classified intelligence leak investigation on/around October 30th, 2017.  From the indictment we see that Wolfe was interviewed and confronted by FBI investigators on December 15th, 2017.  After admitting he lied to those FBI investigators Wolfe resigned from his position.

On December 15th, 2017 Wolfe was busted; the FBI had him dead-to-rights.  However, the grand jury proceedings didn’t start until May 3rd, 2018; and the indictment was sealed until June 7th, 2018.   That means six months of investigative work was taking place between busting Wolfe on Dec. 15th, and indicting Wolfe on June 7th.

On December 15th, according to the indictment, the FBI investigators were aware of four specific journalists, “reporters”, who participated in the leak material.  The FBI likely had more to choose from, but selected those four reporters -with specific intents and purposes- during the interview with Mr. Wolfe.  The four reporters are not named, but their activity is outlined enough to make it possible to determine who is who.

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In a just released 11-page federal indictment (full pdf below) a Senior Staff official for the Senate Select Committee Intelligence, James A. Wolfe, has been identified as leaking secret and top-secret classified information to multiple media sources.  Mr. Wolfe was arrested Thursday night by federal marshals.  (direct link to justice pdf)

According to the indictment, Mr. Wolfe (58, pictured above), the former director of security, lied to the FBI when he was questioned about his involvement in leaking classified intelligence to the media.  Last night the Senate Intelligence Committee agreed to release documents to the DOJ/FBI investigators.

Earlier today it was revealed a New York Times journalist, and former 3-year girlfriend to Mr. Wolfe, had her phone and email communication seized by investigators.

The criminal indictment was unsealed moments ago:

[scribd id=381310366 key=key-Dc7NS5aX0Co0rYCNkHbw mode=scroll]

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*note* this is breaking information.  Further analysis to follow.

UPDATE: 10:15pm EDT – James A. Wolfe, the Senate Intelligence Committee’s former director of security has been indicted by a Grand Jury.(INFO)  Federal law enforcement officials secretly seized years’ worth of a New York Times reporter Ali Watkins phone and email records this year in an investigation of classified information leaks. (INFO)

As suspected last night….  The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating a “former staffer” from the corrupt Senate Intelligence Committee.  There’s a possibility the “former staffer” is Dan Jones, the senior staff aide to Senator Dianne Feinstein when she was Vice-Chair of the committee and Gang-of-Eight member.

(VIA CNN) The Justice Department has opened an investigation into a former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer who allegedly disclosed classified information, prompting the Senate panel to share information related to the federal probe.

The identity of the former committee aide under investigation has not been disclosed, but sources say prosecutors appear to be preparing charges soon against the individual.

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Inspector General Michael Horowitz has informed the Senate Judiciary Committee (full pdf below) the anticipated final publication date for the IG report on how the Obama DOJ and FBI handled the Clinton investigation will be Thursday June 14th, 2018.

The fact-based draft report to the principals was submitted on May 16th.  Following the two week period for input from the principals outlined in the draft report, the IG “referencer” within the DOJ-Office of Inspector General then determines which responses will be added for the final report. The report is anticipated to be 400 to 500 pages.

As customary for Michael Horowitz, his office adds the approved responses and then outlines additional IG replies to those responses in the final report.  Apparently, due to the scale of the report, the response and reply phase has been extensive.

Mr. Horowitz informs congress today the final report will be publicly available on Thursday June 14, and he will accommodate oversight with an appearance before congress on Monday June 18, 2018 to discuss the findings.

Here’s the letter from Inspector General Horowitz:

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While no-one has yet to see the actual Inspector General Mike Horowitz report outlining how the DOJ and FBI handled the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the media are beginning to shape the narrative.

In a summary of Bill Priestap’s testimony, via The Hill, the narrative begins by focusing on James Comey:  “Priestap “completely” backed up everything that Comey said, according to a source familiar with his testimony.”  The narrative construct gains clarity with a report from ABC highlight James Comey as “insubordinate”:

(Via ABC) The Justice Department’s internal watchdog has concluded that James Comey defied authority at times during his tenure as FBI director, according to sources familiar with a draft report on the matter.

One source told ABC News that the draft report explicitly used the word “insubordinate” to describe Comey’s behavior. Another source agreed with that characterization but could not confirm the use of the term.

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Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) discusses FBI agent Peter Strzok’s involvement in the Clinton email probe and the Russia investigation; along with the anticipated DOJ-OIG report:

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