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FISA Court Judge James Boasberg Rules Comey Memos Will Remain Secret…

The media are pointing out that a Federal District Court Judge, has ruled against the release of the memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote to himself while acting head of the FBI.  However, one little thing they fail to notice:

WASHINGTON DC – A federal judge has rejected requests from news organizations to release memos of former FBI Director James Comey’s conversations with President Donald Trump, adding that publicizing the documents could harm special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Friday sided with the Department of Justice after multiple news organizations, including CNN and USA Today, sued for the public release of Comey’s memos after their Freedom of Information Act requests were denied. (read more)

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HPSCI Point and Counterpoint…

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence responds to common claims of opposition who support FISA Title I abuses as outlined in the DOJ/FBI action against American citizen Carter Page:
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WSJ Reports Four Separate FISA Court Judges Approved Renewals To Carter Page Surveillance…

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Carter Page was on the radar of the FBI since 2013 “when Russian spies made an attempt to recruit him.”  However, for some undetermined reason the FBI waited until October 21st, 2016, to apply for Title I surveillance authority through the FISA court.
Additionally, according to their reporting, after FISC approval there were three more renewal applications for a total of four submissions to the FISA court.  A source tells the Journal all four FBI requests were reviewed by four different judges:

[…] The memo describes the process by which the government got a secret warrant under the law that governs the secret court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, for Mr. Page.
[…]  At least two of those renewals occurred while Mr. Trump was president and at least one was authorized by a Justice Department official he appointed. A person familiar with the matter said that four separate federal judges approved the surveillance of Mr. Page, and all of those judges were appointed by Republican presidents. (link)

If this is factually correct it raises an interesting dynamic because there are not that many FISA Court Judges in Washington DC. [FISA Court Link]
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Chuck Grassley Memo Comes Next – Question Surrounds FBI Knowledge of Steele Shopping Dossier To Media…

Democrats, media, and the aggregate DOJ/FBI intelligence community are finally seeing accountability.  With the HPSCI memo now in the rear-view mirror, and the content in the bloodstream of the U.S. electorate, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is next.

Toward the end of December, the FBI provided the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, with FBI investigative documents (likely FD-302’s) from their contacts with Christopher Steele.  According to most reasonable timing we can discover Steele met with FBI officials sometime around October 1st, 2016.
From the U.K. lawsuit against Christopher Steele (pdf here), Steele admits to having shopped the Clinton-Steele dossier to U.S. media outlets “in person” in late September (New York Times, WaPo, New Yorker and CNN), and mid-October, 2016 (New York Times, WaPo, and Yahoo News), per instructions from Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS):

(Source – Page #8, pdf)

Additionally, in late October, 2016, Christopher Steele briefed Mother Jones via Skype.
According to the released HPSCI intelligence memo, the FBI sought a FISA application based on the Steele Dossier on October 21st, 2016.  From those UK court records at least two briefings with reporters, containing five outlets, took place prior to the FBI using the Clinton-Steele dossier in their FISA application.
The “late September” briefings with the New York Times, Washington Post, Yahoo News, New Yorker and CNN took place prior to Christopher Steele meeting with FBI officials early October.   The implication therein is that the FBI had to know prior to their October 21st, 2016, court application that the information they were presenting to the FISA court was being heavily shopped to media outlets. This would be immediately disqualifying.
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Brett Baier Interviews Devin Nunes After HPSCI Memo Release…

Fox News host Brett Baier interviews Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes after the release of the House Intelligence Committee memo:


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Inside The HPSCI Memo – A Key Distinction Being Conflated "Title I" -vs- "Title VII"…

There is a key distinction being overlooked, perhaps conflated, by many who are reviewing the recently released HPSCI memo as it relates to the outlined targeting of U.S. individual Carter Page.
In the HPSCI outline it specifically notes the targeting of U.S. individual Carter Page was NOT a FISA Title VII search request.  Title VII is FISA(702), the incidental collection of U.S. person information as it relates to National Security or Counterintelligence operations targeting foreign individuals.

The FISA ‘warrant’ request, against Carter Page, was made October 21st, 2016, under Title I of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  Meaning the surveillance application was specifically stating, to the court, the U.S. individual was likely an actual agent of a foreign government, ie. “a spy.
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Nellie Ohr Research Was Provided To FBI For FISA Application Source Material…

Like you, I’m going through the HPSCI Memo release FISA and mining some of the more nuanced facts the media will overlook. This one is quite explosive (memo page 3 pdf-pg 4):

That is a stunning aspect.  Nellie Ohr was hired by Fusion GPS in/around the end of April, beginning of May, 2016. According to the memo, while employed by the Clinton Campaign (via Fusion) to do opposition research on Donald Trump, Nellie Ohr’s findings were delivered directly to the FBI by her husband Bruce Ohr.

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Text Version of HPSCI Memo and WH Cover Letter


THE WHITE HOUSE – WASHINGTON – February 2, 2018
The Honorable Devin Nunes Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence
United States Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
On January 29,2018, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (hereinafter “the Committee”) voted to disclose publicly a memorandum containing classified information provided to the Committee in connection with its oversight activities (the “Memorandum,” which is attached to this letter). As provided by clause II(g) of Rule X of the House of Representatives, the Committee has forwarded this Memorandum to the President based on its determination that the release of the Memorandum would serve the public interest.
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FISA Memo Release – Here It Is…


The House Intelligence Committee released the much anticipated memo on Friday afternoon.  (pdf here) Full Memo Embed Below.  The memo discusses abuses involving FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, during the 2016 election.
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"Tip of The Iceberg" – The Pending Intelligence Memo is The Beginning, Not The End…

There continue to be questions about the substance behind the pending release of the House Intelligence Committee memo.  With that release in mind, today it is worthwhile remembering this is the beginning of exposing the corruption within the DOJ not the end.

For several years the U.S. justice department has maintained an attitude of non-accountability within its ranks.  The Obama years elevated that attitude and provided multiple examples of a DOJ gone rogue.
A complicit media enables that attitude by engineering a false narrative the U.S. Justice Department was/is an independent fourth branch of government; unaccountable to congress and entirely separate from the executive branch.
The House Intelligence Memo is simply using the example of currently known FISA abuse to open the door and show the U.S. electorate how corrupt this unaccountable institution has become.  Behind that door are very uncomfortable realities for all of those who constructed the weaponized agency; and also those who have benefited from it.
Consider:
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