The unprecedented FBI search of former president Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Fla., home might go down as one of the most catastrophic mistakes in law enforcement history — one already widely seen by Republicans as an act of political retribution by a bureau whose relentless pursuit of Trump has destroyed its credibility. It also makes it far more likely that Trump will win the GOP nomination and take back the White House in 2024.
Archiv: the „dossier“ ( FBI-MI6-FISA-affair)
Clinton campaign lawyer found not guilty of lying to the FBI
(May 31, 2022)
Durham has remained at work into the Biden administration. He has brought three cases so far, though the one against Sussmann is the only to have reached trial. A former FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, was given probation after pleading guilty in 2020 to altering an email related to the surveillance of an ex-Trump campaign aide, and a Russian analyst who contributed to a dossier of Democratic-funded research into ties between Russia and Trump awaits trial on charges of lying to the FBI about his sources of information.
The Mountain of Data Showing How Authoritarian Democrats Have Become
(video)
Apple says it didn‘t know Trump‘s DOJ was asking for Democrats‘ data when it complied with subpoena
Apple on Friday said it didn‘t know former President Donald Trump‘s Department of Justice was subpoenaed data on Democrats when it complied with the request.
Apple said it was under a gag order not to disclose the subpoena to the affected parties.
Microsoft also acknowledged it received a similar subpoena.
Ausspähung durch Trump-Regierung sorgt für Empörung
Die „New York Times“ schrieb, Angehörige des Justizministeriums hätten 2017 und 2018 von Apple unter Strafandrohung die Herausgabe von Daten der Betroffenen verlangt – als Teil von Untersuchungen zu möglicher Weitergabe offizieller Informationen rund um die Russland-Ermittlungen gegen Trump. Apple sei zugleich verpflichtet worden, Stillschweigen über die Datenanforderung zu wahren.
Biden relies on pattern of activity to blame Russia for release of data from what is said to be his son’s laptop
The Biden campaign’s decision to lean into accusations of Russian involvement in the episode, despite lacking specific proof, risks eroding public trust in U.S. allegations of foreign election interference if the suspicions in this case turn out to be unfounded, according to intelligence and foreign policy experts. Trump already has undermined such trust by casting doubt on proved Russian interference on his behalf during the 2016 campaign and denigrating U.S. intelligence officials.
US-Wahlen, Medien und Manipulationen
Neue Informationen, die Joe Biden schaden könnten, werden nicht angemessen thematisiert. Neue Dokumente, die den Mythos von „Russiagate“ bedrohen, werden verschwiegen. Die Manipulation vor den US-Wahlen läuft auf Hochtouren – auch in deutschen Medien.
Trump pushing to declassify document disputing intel findings on Russia: report
But two officials said their calls for declassification have been met with opposition from within the intelligence agencies, with some objecting that such a release would be too close to Election Day.
Trump lashes out at Barr after realizing inquiry into Russia probe won‘t be public before election
Trump has ramped up his criticism of Barr in recent days as he seeks to make the origins of the Russia probe a major election issue. The president has long cast the Russia investigation as a political hoax meant to undermine him and has called for the indictment of his political enemies, including former President Barack Obama and former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Pompeo says he will release Clinton emails following Trump criticism
„She said she had 33,000 e-mails,“ Trump told Fox News on Thursday. „They‘re in the State Department, but Mike Pompeo is unable to get them out, which is very sad actually. I‘m — I‘m not happy about him for that, that reason. He was unable to get — I don‘t know why. You‘re running the State Department and you get them out. But they‘re in the State Department.“
Trump Authorizes All Russia, Clinton Email Probe Documents to be Declassified: ‚No Redactions!‘
(06.10.2020)
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Monday said Trump had „tasked me with getting some declassification rolling“ as the president was recovering from COVID-19 at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Officials began releasing documents on Tuesday.
Former CIA Director John Brennan on ethics of intelligence, challenges to democracy
(07.10.2020)
– Recent declassifications by DNI John Ratcliffe: „I thought it was a outrageous, appalling and blatant act of politicization that he released, very selectively, some intelligence that was provided then to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is right now engaged in, I think, a very partisan effort to try to debunk the necessary investigative efforts of the FBI that looked into Russian interference in the 2016 election.“
Trump‘s spy chief declassified unverified Russian intelligence despite concerns raised by CIA and NSA
(30.09.2020)
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified unverified Russian intelligence despite concerns being raised by the CIA and National Security Agency, according to people briefed on the matter.
Career officials in the intelligence agencies were concerned about declassifying the information because it was unverified and they believed it could reveal sources and methods. Ratcliffe overrode those concerns and sent the document to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham on Tuesday, the people sa
Comey knocks Barr‘s attacks on the Russia probe: ‚I have no idea what on Earth he is talking about‘
(30.09.2020)
Graham pointed to the documents declassified Tuesday by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe — which summarized unverified Russian intelligence that Clinton‘s 2016 presidential campaign was trying to „stir up a scandal“ by tying Trump to Russia — arguing they showed the FBI‘s double standard in not investigating Clinton and Russia.
One Republicans senator even asked Comey about the Democratic allegations he had swung the 2016 election to Trump by releasing information about the FBI‘s investigation into Clinton‘s emails.
BREAKING: Newly Declassified Documents Show Hillary May Have Set Up the Russia Hoax
(29.09.2020)
“According to his handwritten notes, former Central Intelligence Agency Director Brennan subsequently briefed President Obama and other senior national security officials on the intelligence, including the ‘alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.’”
„On 07 September 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok regarding ‘U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton‘s approval of a plan concerning U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private mail server,’” the letter continues.
Federalist‘s Sean Davis: CIA Director Haspel Personally Blocking Declassification Of Documents That Will Reveal Truth About Russiagate
„Unfortunately those releases and declassifications according to multiple sources I‘ve talked to are being blocked by CIA director Gina Haspel who herself was the main link between Washington and London,“ Davis said. „As the London station chief from John Brennan‘s CIA during the 2016 election. Recall, it was London where Christopher Steele was doing all this work. And I‘m told that it was Gina Haspel personally who is blocking a continued declassification of these documents that will show the American people the truth of what actually happened.“
Outcry as US intelligence stops in-person reports to Congress on election security
An official in Ratcliffe’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Saturday the office was “concerned about unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information following recent briefings”.
The move drew a heated rejoinder from House Democrats, who have focused on foreign efforts to sway the presidential election in 2016 and again this year.
READ: Director of National Intelligence‘s letter to Congress on election security briefings
„I believe this approach helps ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the information ODNI provides the Congress in support of your oversight responsibilities on elections security, foreign malign influence, and election interference is not misunderstood nor politicized,“ Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe wrote in a letter to congressional committee heads.
Director Of National Intelligence Cancels Verbal Election Security Briefings
In a joint statement released Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Congress had been set for briefings on election security in mid-September. But briefings for members of Congress, including the House and Senate intelligence committees, by Ratcliffe‘s office have now been called off, they said.
„This is a shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility to keep the Congress currently informed, and a betrayal of the public‘s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy,“ Pelosi and Schiff said in the statement.
Trump says he will look ‚very strongly‘ at granting pardon to whistleblower Edward Snowden
In the interview, Trump justified talk of a pardon by again complaining about an FBI investigation into links between his campaign and Russians who sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. He said it was unfair that people like ex-FBI Director James Comey are free while Snowden is in legal limbo.
Rep. Nunes on solution source for anti-Trump Steele dossier: ‘expanded our investigation’ into Brookings Institute
House Intelligence Committee Position Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., instructed “Sunday Early morning Futures” in an distinctive job interview that “we’ve now expanded our investigation, full-blown investigation, into the Brookings Institute.”
The Secret Source Behind The Anti-Trump Dossier Is Finally Exposed
The fabulist behind the infamous and discredited anti-Trump dossier has finally been exposed. His name is Igor Danchenko.
He is not some mysterious Russian agent operating in the bowels of the Kremlin. Danchenko is a Ukrainian-born resident of the United States who worked as a senior research analyst for the Washington D.C. liberal think tank, Brookings Institution.
Mueller deputy Andrew Weissmann to headline Biden virtual fundraiser
Throughout the Russia investigation, Weissmann had been considered a “deputy” to Mueller, with conservatives regularly targeting him for his reputation of using aggressive tactics in cases, as well as his role in past controversial prosecutions. Weissmann helped to build the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Geheimdienste-Ausschuss-Vorsitzender: U.S.-Dienste sammelten „versehentlich Informationen über U.S. Bürger im Trump Team“
(23.03.2017)
Am 12. März äußerte sich dann jemand, der Ahnung hat: Rand Paul. In der „CBS“-Sendung „Face the Nation“ rückte Rand Paul, unter vielem Hin und Her und Ach und jaa-nee, endlich mit der Sprache heraus (Links wurden hinzugefügt):
„Der Weg wie es funktioniert ist – das F.I.S.A.-Gericht, mittels Section 702 (Anm.: vom Patriot Act), hört Ausländer ab und hört dann Amerikanern zu. Es ist eine Durchleuchtung von Amerikanern durch die Hintertür. Und weil sie so viele Daten haben, können sie abhören — tippen sie Donald Trump in ihre gewaltigen Ressourcen (Anm.: Datenbanken) über Leute ein, die sie in Übersee abhören, und sie kriegen alle seine Telefonanrufe.
Und so haben sie das mit Präsident Obama gemacht. Sie — eintausendzweihundertsiebenundzwanzig Mal haben sie Präsident Obamas Telefonanrufe belauscht. Dann maskieren sie ihn (Anm.: anonymisieren seine Daten). Aber hier ist das Problem. Und General Hayden hat dies am anderen Tag gesagt. Er sagte, sogar niedere Angestellte können den Anrufer demaskieren (Anm.: die Daten wieder einer bestimmten Person zuordnen). Das ist vermutlich dass, was Flynn passiert ist.
Sie zielen nicht auf Amerikaner. Sie zielen auf Ausländer. Aber sie tun das absichtlich, um an Amerikaner heran zu kommen.“
Making of a myth: Timeline of media‘s role in selling ‚Trump-Russia collusion‘ tale
Nov. 18, 2016:
Trump announces Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his choice for National Security Adviser. Over the next few weeks, Flynn communicates with numerous international leaders.
Nov. 30 – Dec. 28, 2016:
Two dozen Obama administration officials make requests to unmask the name of National Security Adviser designee Flynn, who was „incidentally“ captured by intel surveillance. The officials include: U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and CIA Director John Brennan.
Jan. 5, 2017:
Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough requests Flynn unmasking.
Intelligence Community leadership, including FBI Director James Comey, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, CIA Director Brennan and Director of National Intelligence Clapper, provides classified briefing to President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice on alleged Russia hacking during 2016 campaign, according to notes later written by Rice.
After briefing, according to Rice’s notes, President Obama convenes Oval Office meeting with her, Comey, Biden, and Yates. The „Steele dossier“ is reportedly discussed. Also reportedly discussed: Flynn‘s intercepted talks with Russia‘s ambassador.
Nunes: Democrats have put people in ‚tremendous danger‘
(15.12.2019)
California Congressman Devin Nunes, Republican ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee demands Schiff to call on IG Horowitz to testify before House Intelligence Committee.
FISA court slams FBI over surveillance applications, in rare public order
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has dealt with some of the most sensitive matters of national security: terror threats and espionage. Its work, for the most part, cannot be examined by the American public, by order of Congress and the president. Its work has been mostly secret, its structure largely one-sided.
„The most unusual thing is that there is a body of law that the court has created, but as a practitioner that is part of that law, we have between zero and some very limited knowledge of what that law is,“ Michael Sussmann, a former Justice Department prosecutor and current private attorney in the consumer and computer-privacy field, told Fox News. „But, it‘s the fact that there is a secret law and a secret body of law that makes it the most vexing.“
So, if Comey & the top people in the FBI were dirty cops and cheated on the FISA Court, wouldn’t all of these phony cases have to be overturned or dismissed? They went after me with the Fake Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary & the DNC, which they illegally presented to FISA…
(today)
….They want to Impeach me (I’m not worried!), and yet they were all breaking the law in so many ways. How can they do that and yet impeach a very successful (Economy Plus) President of the United States, who has done nothing wrong? These people are Crazy!
10,120 replies 12,033 retweets 44,359 likes
Es sind natürlich die U.S.-Geheimdienste, die Trump erpressen (wollen)
(11.01.2017)
So etwas ist noch nie passiert. Die gesamte Situation ist präzedenzlos.
Das angeblich belastende Material, wie beschrieben angeblich von irgendeinem britischen Agenten, etc, ist bereits gestern auf Buzzfeed veröffentlicht worden. Es ist dermaßen ekelhaft, dass es einem die Schuhe auszieht. Und es wird mir schlecht, wenn ich sehe wie die Leute auf Twitter darauf reagieren. Offensichtlich wurde diese Fälschung, die als solche u.a. von Gateway Pundit und Wikileaks identifiziert wurde, nur mit einem Ziel entworfen: Trump anzuschießen und zwar so, dass er nie wieder aufsteht.
Trumps Reaktion ist, nun ja, fast etwas verwirrt. Im Laufe des heutigen Tages hielt er seine Pressekonferenz als gewählter Präsident ab. Allen Anwesenden war, nach meinem Eindruck, eine Art Schock über die Situation ins Gesicht geschrieben. Selbst der bemühte, ab und an aufbrandende Beifall änderte nichts an der gespenstischen Situation.
Während der Pressekonferenz übernahm Trump einerseits zum ersten Mal die Position der C.I.A. und äußerte hastig zwischen zwei Sätzen zur Frage, wer verantwortlich sei für den angeblichen Hack gegen die Parteizentrale der „Demokraten“ („Democratic National Committee“, D.N.C.),
„Ich glaube, es war Russland“ („I believe, it was Russia“)
Gegen Mittag hatte Trump andererseits zu dem veröffentlichten „belastenden Material“ getwittert:
„(Die) Geheimdienste hätten niemals erlauben sollen, dass diese Fake News an die Öffentlichkeit ´geleaked´ werden. Ein letzter Schuss gegen mich. Leben wir in Nazi-Deutschland?“
Surveillance court demands answers from FBI for errors, omissions in Trump campaign investigation
(today)
The inspector general concluded that central to the FBI’s court applications for surveillance of Page were a set of allegations provided by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. The Steele dossier, as it came to be known, contained allegations against Trump, Page and other Trump associates, and those allegations have been the subject of intense political fighting since they became public in early 2017.
FBI seeks interview with whistleblower who triggered impeachment inquiry
(20.11.2019)
The FBI is seeking an interview with a CIA whistleblower whose complaint led to an impeachment inquiry into whether President Trump abused his office in his dealings with the Ukrainian president, according to three people familiar with the matter.
William Barr discussed FBI Russia inquiry with UK intelligence
(01.10.2019)
The US attorney general met UK intelligence agencies in the summer to discuss Britain potentially cooperating with Donald Trump’s administration on an inquiry examining the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion with Russia, according to sources.
William Barr met British intelligence officials in London on 29 July at a meeting attended by intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes group.
“Someone should call Obama up. The Obama Administration spied on a rival presidential campaign using Federal Agencies. I mean, that seems like a headline to me?” @TuckerCarlson It will all start coming out, and the Witch Hunt will end. Presidential Harassment!
Phil Mudd: „Clock Ticking“ For Democrats Before Barr Finds Out How Trump Probe Started
(04.06.2019)
Retired CIA operative and CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd talks about British national Christopher Steele, author of the infamous Steele dossier, deciding to talk with U.S. officials about his part in the Trump-Russia investigation.
Mudd predicts things are going to get „ugly“ when Attorney General Bill Barr concludes how the probe was initiated which will give the Trump White House „ammo.“
AG William Barr Doesn‘t Want The Government Spying On The President But Thinks It‘s OK If It Spies On Everyone Else
Let me restate that: William Barr is opposed to certain, very narrow subsets of domestic surveillance. Specifically, Barr doesn‘t think the government should have spied on Trump and his campaign staff, if that‘s what actually happened, which Barr doesn‘t actually seem to know.
But if you‘re literally anyone else, domestic surveillance is just another name for national security, whether you‘re a random Verizon customer or one of the world‘s most useful websites.
The Wikimedia Foundation sued the federal government over domestic surveillance back in 2015. The suit lives on four years later …
Report: Christopher Steele agrees to be questioned by US officials over his relationship with FBI
A source close to Steele told The Times he will meet with investigators in London in the coming weeks. Republicans have long alleged it was Steele’s dossier that improperly led to an FBI inquiry, which ultimately morphed into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between the Trump and campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
Golden showers dossier author Christopher Steele WILL speak to U.S. authorities investigating how claims Trump colluded with Russia began
– The former British intelligence officer authored what became known as the golden showers dossier
– Congressional investigators sought to interview him without success
– He will meet with unidentified U.S. investigators, a source close to him told the Times of London
– Attorney General Bill Barr ordered a new investigation of the origins of the Russia probe
– The Mueller report did not confirm salacious claims from the dossier
– The report did include a footnote about a Georgian businessman who told Michael Cohen he had ‚stopped flow‘ of ‚some tapes‘
House Intelligence chair to spy agencies: Tell us what Barr asks for
„This approach threatens national security by subverting longstanding rules and practices that obligate you and other heads of [intelligence community] agencies to safeguard sources and methods and prevent the politicization of intelligence and law enforcement,“ Schiff wrote in the letter to Coats, which was also sent to the heads of the CIA, NSA and FBI.
Barr Doubts Intelligence Accounts of Trump-Russia Probe’s Origin
Attorney General William Barr said he’s not satisfied so far with official accounts justifying the counterintelligence investigation into whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was involved in Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
“These counterintelligence activities that were directed at the Trump campaign, were not done in the normal course and not through the normal procedures as a far as I can tell,” Barr told “CBS This Morning” in an interview broadcast Friday.
Barr has not received ‚satisfactory‘ answers from intelligence community in Russia probe origins review
Last month, Barr announced he had assembled a team to review the FBI’s original Russia probe which was opened in the summer of 2016. Barr appointed U.S. Attorney from Connecticut John Durham to lead the investigation which will focus on the use of FBI informants as well as alleged improper issuance of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants.
But Barr, in an interview with CBS News that aired Friday, said he has more questions than answers at this point in the probe.
US intelligence partners wary of Barr‘s Russia review
Key allies who share intelligence with the United States could soon be dragged into the middle of Attorney General Bill Barr‘s politically-charged Justice Department review of how the Russia investigation began.
President Donald Trump has said he wants Barr to look into the role key intelligence partners, including the United Kingdom and Australia, played in the origins of Russia probe.
Trump moves to escalate investigation of intel agencies
The move marked an escalation in Trump‘s efforts to „investigate the investigators,“ as he continues to try to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller‘s probe amid mounting Democratic calls to bring impeachment proceedings against Trump.
Trump gives Barr power to declassify intelligence related to Russia probe
President Trump has granted Attorney General William P. Barr “full and complete authority” to declassify government secrets, issuing a memorandum late Thursday that orders U.S. intelligence agencies to cooperate promptly with Barr’s audit of the investigation into Russia’s election interference in 2016.
BREAKING: Trump Approves Declassification of Documents Related to 2016 Election Spying
The declassification of documents applies to the Department of State, Treasury, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, CIA and the Director of National Intelligence.
British spy chiefs were briefed about dossier on Trump‘s ties to Russia that contained lewd allegations about the President and prostitutes – months before he even knew it existed
Mr Steele first approached British intelligence at the £1.7million home of Sir Charles Farr, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, in Wimbledon, south-west London.
Mr Farr, who died in February at 59, was one of Mrs May‘s top counter-terrorism advisors at the Home Office.
After leading MI6‘s Russia desk, Mr Steele set up a private firm, and was hired by Fusion GPS, a US research company being paid by Hillary Clinton‘s campaign.
Theresa May‘s spy chiefs were briefed on explosive Chistopher Steele dossier before Donald Trump
Theresa May’s spy chiefs were secretly briefed on an explosive dossier of claims about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia before the US president was made aware of its existence, The Telegraph can reveal.
The heads of MI5 and MI6 and one of Mrs May’s most trusted security advisers were told about former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele’s memos on the Trump campaign in the weeks after his November 2016 election victory.
Lol WTF?? ThinkProgress is making up its own list of groups and people Mueller didn’t ID, but who they’ve decided are Russian assets? This has become absolutely fucking surreal.
Mueller reported Trump did not collude with Russia to influence our elections. Now we must put aside partisan interests, move forward, and work to unite our country to deal with the serious challenges we face.
It is being reported that Leakin‘ James Comey was told by Department of Justice attorneys not to answer the most important questions. Total bias and corruption at the highest levels of previous Administration. Force him to answer the questions under oath!
INTERVIEW OF: JAMES COMEY
EXECUTIVE SESSION
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY,
JOINT WITH THE
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT,
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
INTERVIEW OF: JAMES COMEY
Friday, December 7, 2018
Washington, D.C.
The interview in the above matter was held in Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, commencing at 10:12 a.m.