Never attribute malice to that which can be explained by the bureaucracy of the system; perhaps that is the biggest lesson learned from my recent travels and briefings.
As incredible as it might sound, those who run government investigations do not necessarily have their arms around the specifics, or the bigger picture. It is quite amazing to talk to people who have been in the proverbial weeds for years only to realize the rag-tag-misfits have more comprehensive information systems than multi-million government enterprises.
So too should this message serve as a warning. Again, as incredulous as it sounds, do not ever believe those who control the levers of power have more information than you. This is a jaw-dropping experience on the level of disconnect.
Perhaps it would be apropos to think of information as a kiosk map in a large mall. Lots of data, but if the “you are here” dot is missing; it is not much benefit. The briefing material starts from the ‘you are here‘ and explains the events. Everything reconciles. Everything is documented, attested and sworn. Unfortunately, I have yet to encounter anyone who put it all together….. until now.
Perhaps when/if a book is ever written about this time, the most compelling story-line will come from how a dedicated small team with a few thousand dollars were able to go up against tens of millions of corrupt interests. Oh, and we have TRUTH, so we are indeed winning despite the scale.
