It is quite remarkable how quickly the senate can move on a confirmation vote when there is a heavy dose of self-preservation in play.   Only two days after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) voted to advance the nomination of John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the full senate takes up the nomination and ‘presto’… Ratcliffe is confirmed.  [Vote Tally Here] Huh, funny that.

Perhaps another way to look at it….  two days after the SSCI cried uncle in an attempt to rid themselves of the atomic sledgehammer of transparently perpetual sunlight known as Ric Grenell, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell rushed the quick dispatch.

Seriously, it’s a little unfair to cast a great man like John Ratcliffe as ‘less than’, because he truly is not less than anyone; however, boy howdy the deep state couldn’t get rid of their nemesis Richard “Ric” Genell quickly enough.

Mr. Grenell quietly brought more declassified sunlight upon the swamp than decades of prior transparency efforts; and he did it with a very deliberate flair, quite fun.

DNI John Ratcliffe will do an excellent job, and I seriously doubt this is the last we have seen of the Mr. Grenell.

FBI Director Grenell does have a nice ring to it.

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The “EC” or electronic communication that started the July 31st counterintelligence operation was one of the original declassification requests from Devin Nunes original bucket list in 2018.   The EC has been declassified and Judicial Watch received it.

Originally the EC was presumed to be a CIA communication to the FBI detailing the need for a counterintelligence investigation; however, the EC as presented is originated by FBI Agent Peter Strzok and centers around George Papadopoulos.

This means Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign, was predicated based on gossip, innuendo and rumors related to George Papadopoulos.   The information was relayed by Australian Diplomat Alexander Downer.

(Judicial Watch) […] The redacted document details seeming third hand information that the Russian government “had been seeking prominent members of the Donald Trump campaign in which to engage to prepare for potential post-election relations should Trump be elected U.S. President.” The document also alleges Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, claimed to an unnamed party that “they (the Russians) could assist the Trump campaign with the anonymous release of information during the campaign that would be damaging to Hillary Clinton.” (more)

The EC is below:

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Michael Flynn defense attorney, Sidney Powell, appears on Lou Dobbs tonight to discuss the ongoing case against a background of daily revelations showing Flynn was the target of the Obama-era FBI.

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The Washington Post confirms today what we have been saying for almost two years.

Michael Flynn’s name was never masked in the FBI intercept of his call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Here’s the part that matters:

WaPo […] in the FBI report about the communications between the two men, Flynn’s name was never redacted, former U.S. officials said.

[…] It was the FBI, not the NSA, that wiretapped Kislyak’s calls and created the summary and transcript, the former officials said.

“When the FBI circulated [tech cuts], they included Flynn’s name from the beginning” because it was essential to understanding its significance, said a former senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence. “There were therefore no requests for the unmasking of that information.”  (read more)

The FBI was conducting (FISA) surveillance on Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.  When Kislyak contacted Flynn the call was intercepted by the FBI.  The calls were then transcribed and “tech cuts” created.

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HPSCI ranking member Devin Nunes appears for an interview with ¹Liz MacDonald to discuss his current House investigation and the latest declassification of the Susan Rice memo to file.

Nunes asks the basic question about the Rice memo: “why was it ever classified in the first place?”  The answer to that question points to current DOJ/FBI and intelligence officials.

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¹Watch Liz Mac closely now. A little over a week ago she began catching-on to the substantive story about FISA, NSA database abuses, and how Obama’s overall political surveillance operation was conducted.

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It looks like Sidney Powell has angered Emett Sullivan as the DC judge has now granted all of the requests by prosecuting amicus John Gleeson.

In an order today Judge Sullivan granted Gleeson with the requested schedule to include a July 10th briefing deadline and oral arguments scheduled for July 16th.

Just as the news broke Flynn’s defense attorney Sidney Powell appeared on Lou Dobbs to react.

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Acting DNI Richard Grenell declassified the hidden paragraph of the Susan Rice memo and it was released earlier today.  Our suspicions about the content of the redacted paragraph being Michael Flynn connected are confirmed.

On January 5, 2017, President Obama and Susan Rice were discussing incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn with FBI Director James Comey. The motive for Susan Rice to write the January 20, 2017, memo to file becomes clear.  Here’s the paragraph:

Within this paragraph we find the motive for writing it (emphasis mine):

“Director Comey affirmed that he is proceeding “by the book” as it relates to law enforcement.” … “Comey said he does have some concerns that incoming NSA Flynn is speaking frequently with Russian Ambassador Kislyak.”  “Comey said that could be an issue as it relates to sharing senssitive information.”  “President Obama asked if Comey was saying that the NSC should not pass sensitive information related to Russia to Flynn.”  “Comey replied “potentially.””  “He added that he has no indication thus far that Flynn has passed classified information to Kislyak, but he noted that “the level of communication is unusual.”

Remember, the position of President Obama and Susan Rice is that they were unaware of any FBI investigation of Flynn (or the Trump campaign); nor did they have any involvement in directing it to take place.

The content of this January 5th meeting makes the first part of their claim challenging to accept.   Thus the need for Susan Rice to cover for it.

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Moments ago Michael Flynn defense counsel Sidney Powell filed an appeal to the D.C. Circuit, a Petition for Writ of Mandamus (pdf link here), asking for intervention to correct Judge Sullivan’s unauthorized action.

Within the request Flynn’s defense requests the DC Appeals Court to order district court judge Emett Sullivan to: (1) grant the Justice Department’s Motion to Dismiss; (2) vacate its order appointing amicus curiae; and (3) reassign the case to another district judge as to any further proceedings.

The request cites numerous legal precedents in favor of granting the writ; but it’s a DC panel of judges so politics will likely play a role in determining what the appeals court decides to do.  Given the nature of this extraordinary situation it is difficult to predict success or failure for the request to intervene.   The whole darn thing is bizarre.

Within the petition the defense team notes:

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The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted today to approve Rep. John Ratcliffe to be the next US intelligence director. Senators approved Ratcliffe in an 8 to 7 vote along party lines during a closed-door meeting. The previous SSCI vote to approve Dan Coats in 2017 was 14 to 2.  DNI Coats turned out to be a disappointment protecting the swamp.

Mr. Ratcliffe now moves to be confirmed by the full Senate before replacing acting Director of National Intelligence Richard “Ric” Grenell, who also is US ambassador to Germany. As acting DNI Grenell built a strong foundation for Ratcliffe to build upon; and there is a strong likelihood Grenell will stay close to the administration and lead President Trump’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

The ODNI position is important within the intelligence apparatus as the DNI is the hub for all intelligence agencies and the director controls the overall intelligence community.  The DNI also coordinates the declassification and release of executive branch documents.

Politico reports Ratcliffe is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate in a vote likely to be held after Memorial Day, according to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo).

An exclusive Treasury Department whistleblower outline in the Ohio Star is almost an absolute match to our research {Go Deep} on how President Obama constructed the political surveillance network during his second term.

According to the article in mid-December 2015 the Treasury whistleblower started noticing data-search transactions with the Treasury Dept. for specific people that aligned with the 2016 GOP primary.  The searches included Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump and his family as well as certain members of congress.

[(L-R) Denis McDonough, Joe Biden, President Obama, Tom Donolin, Jack Lew]

The complaint outlines an unnamed database [likely NSA] was used as the first search mechanism.  After initial data was extracted the results were then used to transfer more specific searches to the Treasury dept.   The level of detail within the whistleblower complaint is eerily familiar to our own research based on declassified records.

OHIO STAR – […] By March 2016, the whistleblower said she and a colleague, who was detailed to Treasury from the intelligence community, became convinced that the surveillance of Flynn was not tied to legitimate criminal or national security concerns, but was straight-up political surveillance among other illegal activity occurring at Treasury.

“When I showed it to her, what she said, ‘Oh, sh%t!’ and I knew right then and there that I was right – this was some shady stuff,” the whistleblower said.

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