In September 2016 the FBI used a longtime informant, Stefan Halper, to make contact with George Papadopoulos, pay him $3k and fly him to London for consulting work and a policy paper on Mediterranean energy issues.
As part of the spy operation the FBI sent a female intelligence operative (a spy) under the alias Azra Turk to pose as Halper’s assistant and engage Papdopoulos.  A month later the FBI used Papadopoulos as a supplemental basis for a FISA warrant against Carter Page.
Former Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Trey Gowdy, tells Maria Bartiromo that he has seen transcripts of the Halper/Turk operation, and those transcripts exonerate Papadopoulos.  WATCH:

[Transcript Video 01:10] Bartiromo: I’m really glad you brought that up; the FBI agents’ discussion with George Papadopoulos. Because when the FBI sends in informants to someone they’re looking at, typically those conversations are recorded right? Those people are wired?
Gowdy: Yeah, I mean if the bureau is going to send an informant in, the informant is going to be wired; and if the bureau is monitoring telephone calls there’s going to be a transcript of that.
And some of us have been fortunate enough to know whether or not those transcripts exist; but they haven’t been made public and I think one in-particular is going – it has the potential to actually persuade people.  Very little in this Russia probe I’m afraid is going to persuade people who hate Trump, or who love Trump, but there is some information in these transcripts that I think has the potential to be a game-changer if it’s ever made public.

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Sharyl Attkisson discusses Spygate from the position of the Obama intelligence apparatus having a history of political surveillance they needed to cover-up.  A Trump victory in 2016 sent panic throughout the intelligence apparatus.

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CTH agrees, everything after March 9th, 2016, is a function of two intelligence units, the CIA and FBI, operating together to cover-up prior political surveillance operations.
Prior to March 9th, 2016, the surveillance and spy operation was using the NSA database to track and monitor their political opposition.  However, once the NSA compliance officer began initiating an internal review of who was accessing the system, the CIA and FBI moved to create ex post facto justification for their endeavors. [Full Backstory]
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Excellent presentation by Kimberley Strassel discussing the scale and scope of the government weaponization during the 2016 election; and the willful assistance by an ideological U.S. media.

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Interesting interviews by Maria Bartiromo today as she hosted both John Ratcliffe and Devin Nunes to discuss the latest remarks and investigative approach by Attorney General William Barr.
Representative Ratcliffe is one of the few congressional members who has seen the majority of the classified documents which backstop the activity of the DOJ and FBI during the 2016 election.

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CTH noted yesterday that things in/around the Michael Flynn investigation could get very interesting…. not because of what is visible, but rather because of what is likely to surface.
Today, President Trump draws attention to Michael Flynn being under DOJ/FBI investigation during 2016; AND specifically, that candidate Trump and President-elect Trump was never notified of the potential issues:

The backstory issues within the Flynn case may soon surface; so it’s worth a few minutes to describe where this could be heading. Specifically, how a series of data-points are coming together and building toward a strong probability Flynn was under a FISA surveillance warrant during a key part of the 2016 election campaign.
By now everyone is aware General Michael Flynn was under FBI investigation throughout a significant portion of 2016.  There are strong indications Flynn was under surveillance even as far back as early to mid 2015.
Yesterday when Judge Sullivan instructed the DOJ to turn over recordings and transcripts of the Flynn-Kislyak phone call, there was a part of Sullivan’s order that indicated his suspicion there was more than just a singular record of a December 29th, 2016, intercept.
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House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes appears on Fox News to discuss the current status of investigations/inquiry into corrupt DOJ and FBI activity in the 2016 election.

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U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr gives his first media interview since taking office.  Bill Hemmer interviews AG Barr in El Salvador on a wide variety of topics.  Fox News has packaged the broadcast interview to begin with questions to the AG about the ongoing “review” of FBI and DOJ conduct in the election, ie “SpyGate”.
The Attorney General explains how the primary aspects under review were conducted by a “small group” at the top of the institutions, and he was surprised to discover no-one had valid answers to his initial inquiry.  The lack of cogent explanation furthered his concerns and led to his decision to appoint a prosecutor, U.S. Attorney John H Durham, to conduct a more thorough review.

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As you can tell the video was edited to run in a specific sequence. If you would prefer to listen to the interview, in its original form, without edits SEE Fox Radio HERE.
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Fox News correspondent Bill Hemmer interviewed U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr in El Salvador during a visit to address the crisis on the U.S-Mexico border, MS-13, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
During the interview Bill Hemmer asked about AG Barr’s ongoing review of DOJ and FBI activity during the 2016 election.

BARR: “I’ve been trying to get answers to the questions and I’ve found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and some of the explanations I’ve gotten don’t hang together, in a sense I have more questions today than when I first started.”
HEMMER: “What doesn’t hang together?”
BARR: “Some of the explanations of what occurred.”
HEMMER: “Why does that matter?”
BARR: “People have to find out what the government was doing during that period. If we’re worried about foreign influence, for the very same reason we should be worried about whether government officials abuse their power and put their thumb on the scale.”

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On her television show Laura Ingraham reported her ‘sources’ inform her President Trump will execute the declassification directive next week. [Video Tweet Link] If accurate, the timing –in advance of the OIG draft report– makes sense.
The declassification of documents central to previous congressional inquiry, that also encompasses the Inspector General review of the Carter Page FISA application, is the subject of great interest and speculation.  However, it would make sense for President Trump to authorize the declassification of documents in advance of the IG report release.

Likely Inspector General Michael Horowitz has reviewed all of the documents in question.  If Horowitz wants to include the classified content in his draft report for principle review; and later within the final report; those documents would need to be declassified or else they would be held back, footnoted and outlined in a classified appendix.
If the DOJ and President Trump want the information more broadly available to the public and media, it would make sense to declassify the documents – pending the review and approval of the participating intelligence agencies (DOJ, DOJ-NSD, CIA, NSA, State Dept., FBI, ODNI, DoD, etc.)
♦ The process without controversy – First, each of the executive branch intelligence agencies will have to sign-off on the declassification request, and/or explain to the Chief Executive (that’s Trump), through the ODNI, why their specific intelligence product should not be made public.
Generally speaking, now that the Mueller investigation is complete; and if there is no substantive risk to national security; the intelligence agencies will adhere/defer to the request of the executive.  This is where the alignment and support from U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr is critically important.
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Devin Nunes appears on Fox News to discuss why the origin of the Russia narrative is important.  The scale and scope of the fraudulent construct is now a strongly enmeshed narrative, toxic to the systems of cohesive government:

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If you read the Weissmann/Mueller report carefully one aspect stands out strongly; the Mueller investigation was fully committed to The Steele Dossier. An inordinate amount of the report is focused on justifying their investigative validity and purpose in looking at the claims within the Steele Dossier.
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