There is an interesting dynamic unfolding with White Hats and Black Hats amid the story of how political forces within the DOJ and FBI conspired with Clinton allies in the 2016 presidential election, ie. “The Trump Operation”. [Hi Glenn, Jim, Andy]
Back-story – There are two central components:
♦First, corruption within the DOJ and FBI that included their use of unlawful use of FISA-702 exploits; and ♦second, how that intelligence information was extracted, passed along to those outside government, repackaged, and reconstituted into the “Steele Dossier”.  The finished, albeit sketchy, intelligence was later returned to the FBI to request lawful FISA court surveillance authority.  It is a circle of “intelligence laundering”.
We know the DOJ (National Security Division), and FBI (Counterintelligence Division), worked together on the enterprise.  This collaboration is where the insider “small group” participants assemble, intersect and ultimately redistribute themselves into the Mueller investigation with the help of Mueller’s adviser, FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker.

The Players, “Insiders”:

DOJ side: Asst. Attorney General Sally Yates, Asst. AG Head of National Security Division John P Carlin; Deputy Attorney Bruce Ohr; and legal liaison between Main Justice and FBI, Attorney Lisa Page.

FBI side: FBI Director Jim Comey; Asst. FBI Director Andrew McCabe; Director of Counterintelligence W.H. “Bill Priestap”; FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker; and lead FBI Counterintelligence Agent Peter Strzok.

Outsiders (The Dossier Crew):

Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson; the wife of Simpson, Mary B. Jacoby; a hired private contractor, familiar with CIA operations, Nellie Ohr (also wife of DOJ team insider Bruce Ohr); contracted former British MI6 Agent and head of Russia House, Christopher Steele (also attributed authorship of ‘Dossier’).

♦The basic enterprise seems pretty straightforward albeit corrupt as hell.  During a period of November 2015 through April 18th 2016, Justice Department political insiders and outside political contractors, including Fusion-GPS, accessed the NSA and FBI database using FISA-702(17) “About Queries”. They gathered information on candidate Hillary Clinton’s political opposition including Donald Trump campaign officials and affiliates.
This was essentially deep state political opposition research being conducted inside government for a considerable period of time. The information, gathered on Clinton’s  political opposition, was then weaponized against the candidacy of Donald Trump.
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Journalist Kimberley A. Strassel is one of the few mainstream journalists writing about the collaborative 2016 DOJ/FBI “Trump Operation” with a sense of what is to come.  Strassel likely understands where the story is going, and appears to have a solid grasp on the evidence trail, yet necessarily writes cautiously – the stakes are indeed quite high.
Today Strassel writes about the need for the Democrats to rehabilitate the Steele Dossier because the alternative origin, the truthful origin to the counterintelligence operation over the campaign of candidate Donald Trump, is a stunning political risk.
Two weeks ago the New York Times narrative said the Steele Dossier was nothing, irrelevant, and had nothing to do with the FBI beginning “Operation Trump”.  Today, mysteriously, Democrats embrace the Steele Dossier as they justify the DOJ/FBI counterintelligence and surveillance operation over an opposing political candidate.

The motive is transparent. If Democrats do not embrace the Steele Dossier as a national security origin for the entire DOJ/FBI operation, the real motive is subject to exposure.  That real motive is political. That real motive cannot be justified. That real motive presents a legal risk that must be avoided.
However, while Strassel’s outlook is almost guaranteed to be correct, there’s an angle that Democrats have likely not considered; and/or they will not easily be prepared for.
Let me put it this way, in the form of a question:

The Steele Dossier is the “least bad” option to justify the origin of the DOJ/FBI “Trump Operation”.  However, what if the Steele Dossier is the finished product of the DOJ/FBI “Trump Operation”,  not the beginning of an investigation?

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Following the released transcript of Fusion-GPS Co-Founder Glenn Simpson’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Senator Dianne Feinstein, several media outlets have begun questioning the relationship between the FBI investigators, Glenn Simpson and dossier author Christopher Steele.
What we have discovered highlights the answer to those relationship questions; and also answers a host of other questions, including: Did the FBI pay Christopher Steele?  Yes, but now how media has stated.  Was the FBI connected to the creation of the Steele Dossier? Yes, but again, not the way the media is currently outlining.

The motive within the FBI/DOJ surveillance of the 2016 campaign of Donald Trump is simple. However, to understand how they did it – the story becomes more complex.  Some key background understanding is necessary.
♦First, to understand what took place in 2016 we must travel back to 2015 when Office of Inspector General (OIG) Michael Horowitz asked for approval to conduct oversight over the National Security Division of the Department of Justice; the DOJ-NSD.
In 2015 Inspector General Michael Horowitz was blocked by the Department of Justice from having oversight over the DOJ-NSD. In a lengthy response to the IG’s office [Full 58 page pdf HERE] Sally Yates essentially said ‘all DOJ is subject to oversight, except the National Security Division’.
♦Second, to understand how FISA is used within the intelligence community it is CRITICAL to understand that IC departments centered around National Security, such as the DOJ National Security Division, or the FBI Counterintelligence Division, may use the NSA database -and FISA enabled inquires- with considerably more leeway, and less restrictions on access and use.  In short, FISA “queries” from any national security department within government are allowed without seeking court approval.
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It can be difficult to see through the wording to understand the accurate story.  Sara Carter and Fox News are both confirming the DOJ and FBI used the Steele Dossier to get FISA-702 Data Surveillance Authority allowing them to spy on Trump campaign officials.
In the latest developments, as reported by Sara Carter and Fox News, the DOJ and FBI used the sketchy ‘Steele Dossier’ as the foundation for their FISA application. WATCH:

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Both Carter and Hannity use the term “FISA Warrants”, however in the interest of understanding, and accurately portraying what took place, it was not technically a “warrant” as we traditionally think about it.
A warrant implies advanced judicial approval to begin surveillance and collecting emails and phone calls etc.  Like a traditional Title III DOJ / law enforcement search warrant. But that’s not how FISA-702 works.
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There is a lot of news amid national headlines but there is only one story. Unfortunately, that story is a complex multidimensional matrix of politics, law enforcement corruption, the DC swamp, and vested interests attempting to hide and manipulate facts, ie. The Russian Election/Collusion Story.
What I am going to introduce today is how the 2016 FISA-702(16)(17) data and surveillance activity issues; and the 2016 FISA Court applications for surveillance and search warrants; and the Christopher Steele (Fusion GPS) Russian Dossier; and the individual actions by DOJ, FBI and IC officials; all connect within the targeted political weaponization of government.

As many of you are aware we have been chasing and researching the fact-trail of this story for over a year. In my opinion this is the biggest story in our lifetime as it relates to government officials, specifically DOJ and FBI leadership, weaponizing their offices to retain political power for their ideological allies. Taken in totality it is a very troubling story. Nonetheless THAT STORY exists regardless of our discomfort.
Additionally, in the downstream aftermath, there are two political forces facing off amid the aggregate “Russian Election/Collusion Story”. One side is trying to find out the details behind the origin therein; the other side is trying to hide the origin therein. When we look at the reason for hiding the origin of the Russian narrative, we enter the rabbit hole of previous intelligence community activity and their weaponization of government.
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For those following the story, this is a significant development….
According to information provided to The Daily Caller, today Chairman Devin Nunes received the FISA Application and Steele Dossier documentation from Asst. AG Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray.  This includes the critical FD-302’s and FD-1023’s that relate to interviews with Christopher Steele and his Russian Dossier.

(Daily Caller) House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence members gained access to all Department of Justice and FBI documents it possesses on the Trump dossier, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
The committee was able to review Friday all FBI and DOJ documents on the Trump dossier, former MI-6 British agent Christopher Steele who authored the dossier, and Fusion GPS, the political opposition firm that hired Steele.

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(L-R) Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director Christopher Wray

NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers has announced to his staff he is resigning. A nominee will be announced to replace him shortly. Rogers departure makes sense.  His incredible accomplishments are complete; he will now be free to testify, unencumbered, to congress.
Intelligence information is housed by compartments within the larger intelligence community network. Each intelligence unit holds intelligence unique to that compartment and task.
The FBI Counterintelligence unit would hold the intelligence information specific to their task or assignment; the DOJ National Security Division would hold their own compartmented intelligence; again, specific to their task and objectives. So too would the DoD (Pentagon), State Dept., or CIA.
This compartmented structure is what led to the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI. The 911 commission recommended the office to serve as a hub able to ensure intelligence sharing; that is – to ensure intelligence was not intentionally withheld from other compartments when needed.
In 2016 the ODNI for President Obama was James Clapper.  The DNI is a political appointment, a cabinet member, of the President. If the executive branch, the President, wanted to weaponize intelligence as a political tool, he/she would have control over such weaponization as an outcome of their political appointees within the: FBI (Comey, McCabe), DOJ (Lynch/Yates), CIA (Brennan), DNI (Clapper), or DoD (Ash Carter). The efficient weaponization of intelligence stems from controlling the hub, James Clapper.
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Notice something missing recently?
“Leaks”.
The House Intelligence Committee now has the bank records of Fusion-GPS.  They were turned over Friday after a federal judge on Thursday shot-down a last-ditch effort by attorneys from Fusion to get an emergency injunction.
Chairman Devin Nunes and the House Intelligence Committee now have the records of payments made by Fusion-GPS to “journalists and media companies” during 2016 and early 2017 when Glenn Simpson, Mary Jacoby and Peter Fritsch were shopping the Christopher Steele ‘Russian dossier’ to enhance the “Insurance Policy”.

Perhaps we will find out which journalists and media companies were paid by Fusion-GPS. Perhaps those payments are part of the reason the media apparatus, writ large, made a concerted effort last week to distance the Steele Dossier from the origin of the FBI Counterintelligence operation against candidate Trump that began in July 2016.
Additionally, and I shall easily say ‘predictably‘, there’s been far less visible evidence of congressional or intelligence community leaks to the media.  The Wolff book has provided a deafening cover for the media retreat; but the absence of IC leaks is also deafening.  As we previously shared, this outcome was fully anticipated.
Most of the direct (“small group”) FBI (CoIntel), DOJ (NatSec Division) and Special Counsel co-conspirators are only able to talk amid themselves.  They know by now they are being monitored and they have strong suspicion the size of the surveillance upon them. [Hi guys.] No-one else is willing to put themselves at risk now.  Congressional allies now view the small group as carrying a legal ebola virus.  Contact is now a risk.
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…”Ever watch those nature documentaries on the cable?”  Yeah.  “See the one about lions?”…

Today we get details about the DOJ deal with Chairman Devin Nunes. Included in the report from Catherine Herridge there is some really good news:

According to the letter, committee investigators also will get access to eight key witnesses this month including FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who exchanged anti-Trump text messages during an affair and previously worked on the special counsel’s Russia probe; FBI general counsel James Baker, who was reassigned; FBI head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap, whom ex-FBI boss James Comey testified made the decision not to brief Congress about the Russia case during last year’s election; and Bruce Ohr, a DOJ official reassigned after concealing meetings with figures involved in the dossier.

That’s right. For the first time the ‘one who shall not be named‘ is going to have to face questioning from congress. Bill Priestap is the FBI head of counterintelligence who has been conspicuously absent from all previous conversations. All research, including prior testimony from FBI Director James Comey (March 20th, 2017), indicates Priestap is at the epicenter of the 2016 counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign.
Here’s the full report:
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As we have walked through the investigative deep weeds of corruption within the FBI (Counterintelligence Division) and DOJ (National Security Division), many people have asked why CTH has not pulled in the ODNI (Clapper) and CIA (Brennan) aspect of the total intelligence community involvement against candidate Donald Trump.  There’s been a good reason for that; actually two good reasons.
First, as many of you are aware, the people involved in the entire apparatus are following our investigative research (both sides).  We proceed carefully, trying to avoid provoking activity that creates defensive posturing, until the story reaches a point of non-deniability.
The public statements today highlighting the DOJ-NSD FISA warrant documents being delivered tonight to Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is an example of one of those thresholds crossed.

[Incidentally, and directly related to the release of documents to Chairman Nunes, I would advise everyone to remember the ongoing leak investigations and the sting operations as previously cited. In the coming days do not be surprised to see leaks to the Washington Post, New York Times or CNN that are the outcome of those continuing operations.  It would not be surprising to see variations of the same documents used as tracers.  We are in the phase where the intelligence leakers will have to wonder if they are a target.]
Secondly, it is challenging to absorb the construct of the larger 2016 political operation against the Trump campaign unless it is in digestible portions.  Some of this stuff is in the deepest of deep weeds.  Today we take a deep research dive into the larger IC aspect of the 2016 Trump Operation. Specifically into the deeper story of the FISA warrant and the use of unlawful FISA 702(17) spying operations.  As customary all citations are provided and some of this will take time to explain.
I’m calling the backstory to this 702 enterprise by the Obama administration “Operation Condor”.  Those of you familiar with the film “Three Days of The Condor” will note how the real life (lame-duck) timeline almost mirrors the Hollywood film. For the real life version, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers plays the role of “Condor”.
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