House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.  The primary discussion topics are the refusal of the DOJ to turn over origination documents; and the FBI using FISA surveillance, active measures, and informants paid by the U.S. government to target political opposition.

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Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has sent a letter (full pdf below) and list of questions to Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asking about the appointment, instructions and power of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The primary question within the letter is: under what authority, and within what statute, is the AAG authorized to assign a counterintelligence investigation to a special counsel:

“More specifically, section 600.1 states the Attorney General “will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted.” The omitted regulations do not authorize counterintelligence investigations.”

One of the questions within the letter is additionally interesting. SEE:

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I might be wrong, but this is the first prime-time mention of Stefan Halper I’m aware of:

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Two days prior to the New York Times article outlining an FBI counterintelligence sting operation to infiltrate the Trump campaign I wrote the following:

I have a sneaking suspicion the Machiavellian connections between the U.S. intelligence apparatus and multiple foreign agents/actors, including the work of Stefan Halper in the 2016 presidential election, are only a few days from fully surfacing.  There could be enough sunlight on U.K/U.S. political and intelligence officers to launch multiple investigations.

Well, buckle up, I think today we are going to see and hear much, much more.

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Real Clear Investigations journalist Paul Sperry has noted that Inspector General Michael Horowitz found “reasonable grounds” for criminal prosecution and referred his findings to U.S. Attorney John Huber for possible criminal prosecution.

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Hopefully, this does not come as a surprise to CTH readers.  Remember, the IG draft report has just been sent to the principals for review.  Generally speaking IG draft reviews take around two weeks.  The final IG report is on target for release by the end of May.

While the terms “reasonable grounds” and “criminal prosecution” gain additional emphasis against the draft submission, months ago it was transparently obvious OIG Michael Horowitz discovered criminal conduct and submitted his request.  AG Jeff Sessions informed everyone of U.S. Attorney John Huber in March.

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Inspector General Michael Horowitz has submitted the “Draft Report” of his OIG investigation to the principals involved. The IG investigation encompasses the FBI and DOJ conduct during the 2015/2016 Hillary Clinton investigation. The Draft Report encompasses the findings.

The Draft Report review is the last review phase prior to the Final report being released. The Draft Report review allows the principals to provide input on the facts identified and outlined within the draft.

Responses from the principals about the facts outlined in the draft report are then reviewed, cleared for addition if appropriate, and included in the Final Report. The Draft Report is the first time the DOJ and FBI Principals (only those officials who remain inside the DOJ and FBI) get to see the underlying documentary evidenced gathered in the 17-month-long investigation.

Wall Street Journal – Multiple subjects of a report on the Justice Department’s handling of a 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use have been notified that they can privately review the report by week’s end, signaling t he long-awaited document is nearing release.

The report is likely to reignite the volatile debate over the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s handling of the Clinton probe, and it will put Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, in a familiar place—taking aim at members of the law enforcement community.

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Some major reporting today from Paul Sperry includes very interesting details about how President Obama’s intelligence community structured their Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) about Russian interference in the 2016 election – SEE HERE –

In essence by following-up with various people involved in the construct of the ICA, journalist Paul Sperry outlines how CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, subverted their own intelligence guidelines in assembling the intelligence report.

While much of the background parallels our prior research, there are two very interesting aspects outlined by those with direct knowledge of the construct. First, that Brennan positioned FBI Agent Peter Strzok as the contact between the CIA analysis and the information flow to FBI Director James Comey:

[…]  A source close to the House investigation said Brennan himself selected the CIA and FBI analysts who worked on the ICA, and that they included former FBI counterespionage chief Peter Strzok.

“Strzok was the intermediary between Brennan and [former FBI Director James] Comey, and he was one of the authors of the ICA,” according to the source. (link)

This structure is interesting because it highlights an increasingly obvious intention of the participating group to control the content of intelligence, and the information flow therein.  There are several instances which highlight the level of a strategic effort  undertaken to keep James Comey out of the loop on details within the 2016 operation(s).

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Kimberley Strassel expands on her Wall Street Journal piece raising the question of whether the FBI used human intelligence which included placing a mole within Trump’s 2016 campaign.

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Trey Gowdy follows up Strassel, quickly dancing the Potomac Two-Step WATCH:

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Interesting new developments in the growing story of the FBI and DOJ conducting a surveillance operation against candidate Trump in 2016, to include the use of an FBI and CIA informant.

Contrary to previous reporting, representative Peter King (R-NY) reveals that yesterday Devin Nunes and Trey Gowdy were not allowed to see the originating documents during their visit with the DOJ and FBI officials.   Representative Trey Gowdy (U-DC) reluctantly admitted moments ago, the statement by Peter King was true.

The DOJ refused to allow Nunes & Gowdy access to the “EC” (electronic communication) document that initiated the FBI counterintelligence operation.  Instead, Nunes and Gowdy were given an opaque description of the EC process; and told to come back next week if they wanted to talk more.

Additionally, Peter King reveals the DOJ and FBI are manipulating President Trump, and tricking him to believe declassifying information would endanger sources.  WATCH:

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Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has just dropped a sunlight grenade into the prosecution of Michael Flynn with a jaw-dropping request letter (full pdf below) to FBI Director Christopher Wray.  [Judiciary Link Here]

Within the letter Chairman Grassley outlines a prior briefing from fired FBI Director James Comey to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and contrasts the false presentations of Comey -regarding Michael Flynn- against recently known evidence.

Additionally, Grassley is requesting: ♦the transcription of the phone call(s) intercepted by the FBI between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Kislyak; ♦the FD 302’s written by the FBI in their interview with Michael Flynn; ♦and testimony from Special Agent Joe Pientka, likely the second FBI agent who was partnered with Peter Strzok for the Flynn interview.

The name of the second FBI agent was previously unknown, and it’s likely Chairman Grassley outed the name for a very specific reason.  This is a BIG shot across the bow.

Previously the Justice Department was refusing to provide any information to the committee pertinent to Grassley’s requests, citing the ongoing investigation. However, the Senator is now outlining his request against the backdrop of the Judge in the Flynn case demanding the Special Counsel turn over all exculpatory information.

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•On July 31st, 2016 the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign. They did not inform congress until March 2017. •At the beginning of August (1st-3rd) 2016 FBI Agent Peter Strzok traveled to London, England for interviews with UK intelligence officials. •On August 15th, 2016 Peter Strzok sends a text message to DOJ Lawyer Lisa Page describing the “insurance policy“, needed in case Hillary Clinton were to lose the election.

Recently there has been a great deal of interest in the origination OF the 2016 FBI counterintelligence operation, and how the FISA court was later used to gain Title-1 surveillance warrant against U.S. person Carter Page; part of that operation.

The current line of inquiry surrounds the originating “EC” or “electronic communication” that was generated by CIA Director John Brennan and passed on to FBI Director James Comey. The EC initiated the FBI Counterintelligence Operation.

Specifically, House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes has asked about a redacted name within the “EC”, which has led to the DOJ and FBI claiming to release the name would compromise the individual.

All of these inquires, and refusals, center around the origination authority for the FBI Counterintelligence operation. The origination led to the FISA warrant. Remember that.

Chairman Nunes sent Main Justice a classified letter asking questions. DOJ responded saying they would not comply with providing information (letter)  The Washington Post claimed Nunes was looking for information on an FBI/DOJ ‘source’: “a U.S. citizen who has provided intelligence to the CIA and FBI.” Additionally, this “source” was later also described by WaPo as a witness for Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation.

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