Throughout 2015, and until April 28th, 2016, there were unknown “outside government” contractors with access to the FBI/NSA database. Those outside government agents were conducting unlawful searches of the FISA database. The 99-page FISA Court opinion by presiding justice Rosemary Collyer proves this with absolute certainty. CTH has long suspected those outside agents were doing political opposition research; and were allowed to do so as part of the political misuse of the intelligence apparatus.

Pg 83. “FBI gave raw Section 702–acquired information to a private entity that was not a federal agency and whose personnel were not sufficiently supervised by a federal agency for compliance minimization procedures.”

(2017 FISA Court Opinion – 99 Page Brief)

With the revelation of Daniel Richman, a close friend of James Comey, being an “special access employee” of the FBI, hired by Comey, CTH anticipates Richman will be discovered as one of those previously described “outside government” unpaid contractors with access to the FISA database. The new information of Richman, along with what we know of Fusion-GPS, is an example of the hidden connective tissue between the Lawfare group (outside government) and the “small group” of DOJ and FBI officials inside government.

NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers ordered a FISA-702 audit, and shut down the contractor access to FISA-702(16)(17) [“to/from”(16), “about”(17)] systems on April 28th, 2016.  Those contractors -together with their inside allies- doing oppo-research, moved to make the unofficial use of the database, official.

Toward this end, Fusion GPS (an FBI contractor) hired Nellie Ohr (wife of DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr) in May 2016. And by July 2016 the collective group of insiders and outsiders had assembled enough sketchy data-points/information to frame the outline needed for an official investigation. This is the origin of the July 2016 FBI Counterintelligence operation.

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The transcript from the U.S. Special Counsel -vs- Paul Manafort has been released (full pdf below).  The entire transcript of the arguments between the Special Counsel lawyers, Paul Manafort Lawyers and Federal Judge T.S. Ellis III are well worth reading.

As noted yesterday Judge Ellis is the first legal entity to identify the origin of the special counsel investigative authority as a troubling issue.  This is likely to become a much bigger story as people catch on to the ramifications.

It is only now coming to light how Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein essentially appointed the Special Counsel to take over the counterintelligence investigation originally begun by the FBI in 2016.  Also previously unknown: part of the initiating mandate included the special counsel being granted use of a sketchy FISA Court Title-1 surveillance warrant initially applied against Carter Page in October 2016.

Asst. AG Rod Rosenstein gave the special counsel the counterintelligence investigation and also gave them FISA Title-1 surveillance warrant authority; which allowed Robert Mueller to retrieve all communications (e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g) belonging to any person, entity or group, within two-hops of former unofficial campaign aide Carter Page.  By extension this covered almost all the campaign officials, and also most of the Trump administration.

This is a critical point often misunderstood.  When Mueller was appointed in May 2017, they began a criminal investigation (Title 3) by taking over the FBI counterintelligence investigation (Title 1).  By design the counter-intel structure meant the special counsel had access to the entire gamut of active surveillance on almost every official in the Trump Administration; and every official in congress – without having to get a search warrant.

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In broad measure the DOJ-OIG investigation into the politicization and weaponization of the DOJ and FBI has three basic frames of reference:

♦The internal investigation of intelligence leaks to media by FBI and DOJ officials.
♦The internal investigation into the politicization of the Clinton email investigation, and the results therein. This is the central investigation.
♦The internal investigation of politically motivated abuse/fraud upon the FISA court.

•The first outcome ended with an OIG report and criminal referral of Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for his leaks to media. •The next outcome will be the long-awaited IG report on the Clinton investigation. •The last IG release in this series will encompass the DOJ-OIG internal review of applications to the FISA court.

Today, there is some new information: the congressional testimony of Inspector General Horowitz has been postponed due to new discoveries in relationship to the Clinton investigation. It is our suspicion the ‘new investigative review‘ specifically pertains to the how DOJ and FBI officials handled the issues stemming from the Huma Abedin/Anthony Weiner laptop; and how Andrew McCabe took specific action to hide the content therein between September 28th, 2016 and the eventual re-opening of the investigation on October 28th, 2016.  In essence the background of the “non-investigation”.

Those new IG discoveries would most certainly encompass FBI and U.S. Attorney contacts from New York to Main Justice and FBI HQ in Washington DC; and include what actions each of the participants took therein.

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Having reviewed every conversational message between FBI Counterintelligence Agent Peter Strzok and DOJ Special Counsel to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, in new chronological order; and having overlaid those messages atop congressional witness testimony, released investigative reports, historic media presentations and generally known details of events; and having questioned all prior assumptions amid the latest information; here is some -perhaps new- perspective.

There is zero evidence of a romantic relationship between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page; and no, a complete chronological review doesn’t indicate the romantic stuff was withheld.  By looking at the messaging chronologically, studying the date and times, there’s nothing to indicate segments of romantic stuff was removed.  What does appear obvious in many redactions, and likely some removals of messages, is an intentional effort to remove content that would be of an embarrassing professional nature to Ms.Lisa Page.

It is more than likely the “affair narrative” was likely created by investigators as part of an agreement on content control to explain withholding some information and message redactions.  Investigators would not want those being investigated to know the scale of the evidence trail.  Regardless, except for the useful story, the romantic angle is irrelevant.

It is clear that when Lisa Page gave FBI INSD (Inspection Division) authorization to access *all* her communication and messaging *accounts* and devices (July 15 – 20th, 2017) the FBI INSD and Office of Inspector General (OIG) agreed to redact snarky interoffice material that would be embarrassing to Ms. Page.

[Congressional Report – Page 18, Item #3, second paragraph] “The DOJ OIG obtained the initial batch of text messages on July 20, 2017.”   It is clear that Ms. Page underwent a period of (no less than) three solid days of extensive initial questioning by FBI (INSD) and DOJ (OIG) officials. [Which ended on/around July 20th, 2017.]

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A very good overall review of the Office of Inspector General report into the conduct of former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is provided by Twitter writer NameRedacted7.

CTH is sharing the extensive review below with some minor editorial adjustments to expand on abbreviations and remove the ‘twitterism’ for clarity.  The full thread is HERE:

[Via NameRedacted7] I’m taking my time reading the McCabe report from [JusticeOIG] and so far I’m floored. This is a 30+ page report on misconduct by fired Deputy Director Andrew McCabe; I intend this thread to be a work in progress as I make my way through it & will supplement work done by others.

I’ve just finished retweeting [tracybeanz] thread from today, and [Nick_Falco] & [The_War_Economy] have extensive research on this as well.

From page 1-6, the [JusticeOIG] lays out exact verbiage & statements McCabe made to FBI Inspection Division whom the investigation of his conduct originated with. This is a crucial data-point to understanding these events.

Within the first six pages, it is detailed what McCabe told investigators at each date and time; and relevant data regarding phone calls with DOJ officials, his aide Special Counsel Lisa Page, Director Comey, and Deputy Asst Dir Peter Strzok. Dates are noted.

The Inspector General report first describes McCabes lack of Candor. This is the act of not telling the complete truth, leaving out details, deliberately lying about details, or hiding key facts. (more…)

Judicial Watch Director of Investigations Chris Farrell discusses the DOJ inspector general’s report that outlines exhaustive political corruption.  OIG release #1 proving former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe authorized leaks to the media, then lied to FBI investigators in an effort to cover them up.

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There are so many threads of information surrounding the 2016 operation to conduct political surveillance on the Trump campaign by various officials and offices within corrupt structures of government, it’s easy to get lost. However, if we take all the various bits of information and place them together a less confusing picture emerges.

The {Go Deep} summary outline looks like this: The FISA-702(17) ‘About Queries’; the political opposition research of Fusion-GPS, Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr and Glenn Simpson; the DOJ officials and FBI officials; the U.S. State Department and U.N Ambassador Samantha Power; the Clinton-Steele Dossier and Christopher Steele; the FISA Title-1 surveillance warrant; and the unmasking by former Senior White House officials: Lisa Monaco and Susan Rice.

Here’s the basic overview of how all those threads come together to paint a picture.

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Do not get so caught up watching the granules moving at our feet that we forget to look up and notice the landscape is shifting….

A key DIA official from within the White House National Security Council has resurfaced today as reports show Ezra Cohen-Watnick has been hired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to assist on issues surrounding counterintelligence and counterterrorism.

WASHINGTON — A former American intelligence official who came under intense scrutiny during a stint at the White House last year is returning to government as the national security adviser to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to a person familiar with the decision.

The official, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, will play an important role at the Justice Department, advising Mr. Sessions on counterintelligence and counterterrorism.  (NYT Link)

Before getting to the big picture of Cohen-Watnick, let’s look at a few recent granules which at first might seem disconnected – but they are not.

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During an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner today U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed a response letter he received from FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Senator Paul inquired with the FBI Director about whether reassigned FBI Agent Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI Attorney Lisa Page still retained their Top Secret FBI clearances.

According to Senator Paul, the FBI director would not respond to specific agent inquiry, however, Wray did affirm that all existing FBI officials retain Top Secret clearances.

In essence, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, despite being removed from investigative authority over their role in the political efforts to target President Trump, retain employment within the DOJ/FBI apparatus in an unknown capacity and thereby their clearances.

This information by Rand Paul dovetails into an increasingly obvious storyline where Lisa Page and Peter Strzok remain employed because they are cooperating with the internal investigation by Inspector General Michael Horowitz and parallel federal prosecutor John Huber.

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Most of the ‘vast-Russian-conspiracy‘ media presentations seem to start with a discussion of intelligence gathering beginning in July of 2016. The GOP convention to nominate Donald Trump was July 18-21st of 2016.

Adding to the July 2016 origination narrative FBI Director James Comey stated the counterintelligence operation against candidate Trump began in July 2016.   However, not a single MSM entity has looked at the FISA-702(16)(17) abuses by the FBI and DOJ-NSD outlined by the FISA court and NSA well before July 2016.

It is a matter of unclassified public record the FBI and DOJ-NSD were allowing “contractors” to conduct searches of the FBI and NSA databases, and extract raw intelligence, throughout 2015 until April 28th 2016 when NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers shut down all access and initiated a compliance review.

Any objective review of that time period indicates (strongest likelihood) the search activity was political ‘opposition research’ for the 2016 presidential election.  With hindsight of the FBI and DOJ’s political intents, ‘opposition research’ was almost certainly the motive.

Surrounding the nomination that stunned the geo-political world almost every foreign government was trying to figure out who and what Donald J Trump was all about; and more specifically: how would his run for the presidency impact their specific interests.

2017- WASHINGTON NYT — American spies collected information last summer revealing that senior Russian intelligence and political officials were discussing how to exert influence over Donald J. Trump through his advisers, according to three current and former American officials familiar with the intelligence.

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It was noted –and reported– yesterday that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes sent a letter (full pdf below) to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.  Nunes is demanding un-redacted FBI documents surrounding the origination of the July 2016 counterintelligence operation against candidate Donald Trump, and the FISA application stemming from within the FBI investigation.

The issue(s) surrounding the declassification of the FISA application and subsequent FISA warrant against Carter Page are not new.  The new aspect within the Nunes demand relates to a request for the intelligence community “electronic communication” (EC) that kicked off the initial FBI counterintelligence op.  Within that new line of inquiry the subject of interest is ultimately former CIA Director John Brennan.

However, there are issues here; serious issues. There are VERY valid reasons why the FBI (Wray) and DOJ (Rosenstein) would push back against HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes.  It’s complicated, and we’ll try to unpack.

Begin by noting on page two of the Nunes request, Paragraph #3, something all media writing about the Nunes demand seem to overlook.  Screengrab below:

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