The plan to impeach Bill Barr was clearly visible several months ago. A preemptive strike to diffuse the pending findings of the investigation by USAO John Durham.
The Attorney General has accepted an invitation to testify before the committee on July 28th. If there is going to be a summer show-down between the AG and political operatives -including Lawfare- within the Judiciary committee, that hearing is likely to be the spark.
U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr sat down for an important discussion with Texas Senator Ted Cruz for the Verdict podcast. AG Barr discusses the recent riots and the ongoing effort to prosecute those engaging in violence and destruction of property.
Additionally, AG Barr also discusses the Big Tech censorship issue in combination with ongoing anti-trust investigations that will reach his desk for decision this summer.
Another important note surrounds AG Barr putting the date for Peter Strzok’s notes as January 5, 2017, following FBI Director James Comey’s pull-aside meeting at the White House with President Obama, VP Biden, Susan Rice and Sally Yates.
Michael Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell appears with Maria Bartiromo to provide insight into the DC Circuit Appellate court ordering the dismissal of the Flynn case. One of the key points Ms. Powell draws attention to is that her client was targeted. Within that targeting there’s a criminal conspiracy.
In hindsight it is very clear the White House, DOJ and FBI knew they were treading on thin ice. Susan Rice’s memo to file is clearly a CYA memo for the White House. James Comey’s memos are clearly a CYA effort for his participation. Bill Priestap kept his own notes reflecting his CYA; and Peter Strzok’s notes appear to have the same motivation.
Additionally, when the special counsel was put into place, Andrew McCabe’s memos to self are clearly written from a CYA perspective. They knew what they were doing was wrong.
…”because I’m good enough; I’m strong enough; and doggone it, people like me.”
That’s the kitchen table sensibility as projected by FBI Director Christopher Wray in this interview. It’s a communication style blending the modern term “corporate responsibility” with the patronizing mannerisms of a dad discussing sixth grade peer pressure with his tender gender-neutral offspring.
This is actually a very revealing interview to understand why 50 FBI agents chased the Russian conspiracy for two years with Robert Mueller; and why 15 FBI agents excitedly responded to a garage door pull-down rope. The emphasis is on the wrong syllable, but golly we only have a 0.4 percent turnover ratio, so we must be doing something right.
I’ve actually met a Chris Wray clone in the past. While culling a tier of toxic executive management, the CEO voice in the organization said to me: “what if you fire all of them and later find out you’re wrong?” To which I replied: “what’s more dangerous to you, my firing them and being wrong, or you keeping them around and my being right?”…
Director Wray is the guy who doesn’t deal with the toxic infection, instead he uses words like: “we have an opportunity”, “they need to be supported more”; and “I challenge you to provide continuous coaching.” Note at 09:45 Wray says “I put in place an entire new leadership team”, without even realizing that Bill Barr just removed -by force- Wray’s hand-selected chief legal counsel, Dana Boente. It doesn’t even register with him.
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Chris Wray’s performance as FBI Director is akin to what would happen if you took a hotel manager and made him the captain of a cruise ship.
Michael Flynn’s defense counsel, Sidney Powell, appears on Lou Dobbs tonight to discuss the defense victory in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals; and the next steps in the case.
Ms. Powell still has legal business in front of Judge Emmet Sullivan, so she obviously needs to be a little tempered at this inflection point. That said, what an incredible job Ms. Powell has done on behalf of her client. Remarkable legal counsel. WATCH:
In a court filing yesterday [pdf here] the DOJ provided -initially under seal- the Flynn defense team with more exculpatory evidence. The filing includes hand-written notes taken by FBI agent Peter Strzok in/around key dates in early January 2017.
The filing was unsealed today, and the Peter Strzok notes are released.
One of the reasons CTH has been slow on discussing this release is specifically because I am trying to accurately determine the provenance of the notes (as below). USAO Jeff Jensen is unsure of the exact date of the notes. Either January 3rd, 4th, or 5th… and there’s a good reason for that confusing ambiguity; which I am attempting to filter.
The notes are written by Peter Strzok during a conversation with former FBI Director James Comey; that context is important. What the notes contain are Peter Strzok writing down what Comey relays to him from conversations with White House officials.
Repeat: The notes are Strzok writing down what Comey relays to him from conversations with the White House. Comey is communicating to Strzok the status of opinion from various officials; those officials may include President Obama and Vice-President Biden.
The three judges on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals have approved a writ of mandamus ordering Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn. [pdf here]
The panel ruled 2-1, that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan overstepped his authority in not accepting the unopposed motion and questioning prosecutors’ decision. This is a big victory for the Flynn defense team. Not sure what Sullivan will do now.
Judges Karen Henderson and Neomi Rao supported the writ, judge Robert Wilkins did not. Henderson was the surprise vote.
Writing the majority opinion Judge Neomi Rao noted, “in this case, the district court’s actions will result in specific harms to the exercise of the Executive Branch’s exclusive prosecutorial power.” “If evidence comes to light calling into question the integrity or purpose of an underlying criminal investigation, the Executive Branch must have the authority to decide that further prosecution is not in the interest of justice,” Rao added.
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes appears on Lou Dobbs to discuss the latest developments in the ‘Spygate’ investigation, John Durham, AG Bill Barr and ultimately the SDNY moves involving Geoffrey Berman.
Lou Dobbs gets the big picture; if the political left is allowed to manipulate the 2020 election, and steal a presidential contest, the ramifications will be so serious the potential for the fabric of our nation to completely tear is quite possible. On a positive note, AG Bill Barr has made similar points in his conversation.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler appears with for an interview by furrowed brow to discuss his upcoming use of former DOJ lawyers John W. Elias and Aaron S.J. Zelinsky as designated “whistleblowers” to give testimony against AG Bill Barr this week.
Zelinsky and Elias are being brought in to testify about their recommendation(s) for a nine-year prison sentence for Roger Stone & AG Bill Barr reducing that recommendation. The purpose of the Zelinsky/Elias move was specifically to get the AG to intervene. It was all a set up from the start; purposeful Lawfare. A resistance strategy, executed.
Within the interview Nadler outlines his hope that recently dismissed USAO Geoffrey Berman would join the crew of DOJ resistance members who would align against the current AG. However, Nadler retreats from any position that would actually target Bill Barr for impeachment proceedings. The reason is transparently obvious, Nadler recognizes any impeachment effort would serve as a mechanism for Barr to point out the gross level of corrupt political agendas within the former employees. WATCH:
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By using his committee to attack Bill Barr, chairman Nadler positions himself to impugn the Attorney General as a defensive strategy against any sunlight from the ongoing “outside” USAO investigations, which includes John Durham. However, Nadler doesn’t want to provide a platform where Barr can use those attacks to trigger his releases.
U.S. Dept of Justice Attorney General Bill Barr appeared on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo for an extensive interview on current events. [Two part video below]
