Here’s some of what happened over the weekend and today.

HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO RELEASE DEMOCRATIC REBUTTAL MEMO

Looks like it’s the Democrat’s turn to release a memo.  Hopefully this one isn’t a dud.

The Democrats in the House Intel Committee wrote a rebuttal memo to respond to the claims made in the Nunes Memo last week, and the Committee voted UNANIMOUSLY to release it.  It will now go to the White House, where Trump will either release it like he did with the Nunes Memo, or deny it’s release.  If it gets denied, the House can vote to have it released.

This is a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t move for Trump.

If he withholds the memo, he looks like a partisan hack who is afraid of this information coming out, and since it is based off of the same classified intel that the Nunes Memo was based on, he can’t use the excuse of exposing intelligence.  He can give the FBI a chance to redact what they need to, but he didn’t do that with the Nunes Memo, either.

If he does release it, then it shows that the Russian Investigation has a lot more fire to it than smoke, and each and every claim that Nunes made will be blown apart like a goat stepping on a landmine.

Now, we’ve got another week about memes about memos.  If memory serves, mama never wore a mumu and told me there’d be memes about memos.  My oh my.

DOW JONES DROPS ANOTHER 1200 POINTS TODAY

The Dow Jones just had the largest single day drop in its history, and is down over 8 percent since Friday.

Two days of historic drops is something to keep an eye on, but remember that the Dow is not the Economy.  It is only one measure of how certain stocks are doing in a given day.

There’s two big reasons for this drop.  First, Trump’s new pick for the Fed, which just assumed the office, has signaled that she wants to increase interest rates faster than previously expected.  This is causing brokers and day traders to move their money from stocks to bonds, as the bonds will produce more money over time, and are more stable than stocks.

Second, this is a side-effect of the GOP Tax Plan.  Most of these corporations took place in a stock buyback program with the savings they made with the tax plan.  Sure, some of them gave bonuses to employees, but that was nothing compared to wha they gave to their shareholders.  This buyback created a spike in stock values, which I hypothesize created a mini-bubble in stock prices.  Once these buybacks were done, there was nothing to keep these values up.  Hence, the bubble burst.

Of course, that doesn’t stop the media or people who think they know what they’re doing from proclaiming doom and gloom.

Expect Trump, Sean Hannity, and Fox News to blame Obama in 3, 2, 1…

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, I WAS KIDDING!!!  I didn’t mean for that to be taken literally.  SMH.

Yes, I’m old enough that I had to look up what SMH meant.

REACTIONS AND FALLOUT FROM THE NUNES MEMO

Here’s some of the related news events from the Nunes Memo…

• Carter Page’s Russian ties go back to 2013
• Dude was bragging about being an adviser to the Kremlin AFTER the FBI told him that they were monitoring him.
• The Steele Dossier’s funding sources were disclosed in the FISA application.
• Even though it originated as opposition research, it corroborated FBI evidence.
• Nunes flat out lied about everything and everyone.

This memo fell flatter than me trying to do a Triple Lutz.  That’s an ice skating thing, and considering the last time I ice skated I almost lost my thumb from being so clumsy, just imagine a middle-aged out of shape guy with no balance trying to jump, spin, and land.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RULES AGAINST MANAFORT, FOR MUELLER IN CIVIL CASE QUESTIONING LEGALITY OF RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION

Suck it, Manafort!

This was Paul Manafort’s Hail Mary move.  If he could show that the investigation was illegal, then the 10 charges he’s looking at could be dismissed.

Instead, if he’s found guilty, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison.  And this is BEFORE the espionage/treason/war crimes charges.

‘I HOPE THIS IS AN INSTANCE OF FAKE NEWS’: FBI MESSAGES SHOW THE BUREAU’S REAL REACTION TO TRUMP FIRING JAMES COMEY 

This is from Ben Wittes at Lawfare Blog.  His work doesn’t get a baby cannon boom.

From his article…

    On June 22, 2017, Wittes made four FOIA requests. One of them sought communications to the workforce from the senior FBI leadership regarding Comey’s firing. Another sought communications on the topic from all the assistant directors and special agents in charge at the FBI’s many components and field offices to their respective teams. When the FBI did not respond in a timely manner, Wittes sued—represented by the folks at Protect Democracy—stating that his purpose was “to show conclusively that President Trump and his White House staff are lying about career federal law enforcement officers, their actions, and their attitudes”:

…

Over the weekend, we received 103 pages of records responsive to Wittes’s first two requests—messages from FBI leadership around the country and across the bureau regarding the firing of Director Comey. The bureau identified 116 pages of responsive material and withheld only 13 pages, so this material constitutes the overwhelming bulk of communications to staff on the subject of the firing.

What does it show? Simply put, it shows that Ellingsen nailed it when she described a reaction of “shock” and “profound sadness” at the removal of a beloved figure to whom the workforce was deeply attached. It also shows that no aspect of the White House’s statements about the bureau were accurate—and, indeed, that the White House engendered at least some resentment among the rank and file for whom it purported to speak. As Amy Hess, the special agent in charge in Louisville, put it: “On a personal note, I vehemently disagree with any negative assertions about the credibility of this institution or the people herein.”

This was part of what he called “the nicest FOIA request ever made to the FBI.”  They gave him 103 pages of information to prove that President Trump lied about his excuse that the FBI was in turmoil before he fired James Comey.

MIKE FLYNN REALLLLLLY COOPERATING WITH MUELLER

This came in from Law and Crime, formerly Lawnewz.

Mike Flynn’s sentencing has been postponed due to upcoming events.  If he had given them everything, and he was no longer of any use, he’d be in jail right now.  Instead, he’s giving Mueller everything and then some.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he testifies against one of the “bigger fish.”

TRUMP CALLS PEOPLE WHO DON’T CLAP FOR HIM ‘TREASONOUS’ AND ‘UN-AMERICAN’

In a speech today, Trump used language straight out of 1930’s Germany…again.

Considering that his only form of being able to handle criticism and self-doubt is through projection, one can almost guess what’s on his mind.

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO HEAR APPEAL ON PENNSYLVANIA GERRYMANDERING CASE

Suck it, Mike Turzai!

Here’s what the map looks like now…

And here’s what it could look like, if it were drawn fairly…

Pennsylvania has 800,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, yet Republicans hold a 13-5 advantage in the House.

RUMOR MILL:  THE ONCOMING STORM AND THE CRAZIEST GAME THEORY

From the Rumor Mill, talk about a RICO investigation against the GOP is picking up steam, and possibly even some MSM chatter.  A lot of talk about money laundering is coming up as well involving Trump’s properties, especially his golf courses.  He has a bad habit of suing to get property tax bills lowered after initial claims of how much his property is worth.  Not necessarily evil or criminal, but damn peculiar.

The crazies thing I’ve seen today is something I’ll go into far greater detail about later, but it is the second craziest thing I think I’ve thought since this whole mess began.  The craziest being The Russian Hypothesis, Version 0.1, which is due for an update to include what I’ve learned about Bill Browder and the Magnitsky Act.  The money part makes everything fall into place.

Today’s crazy came from Eric Garland, and was the natural evolution of a previous conversation.

What if Trump was allowed to win?  What if, even knowing about the Russian interference, the criminal behavior, and all of the other nasty shit that Trump did, someone held back on purpose to let him win, knowing that once he was in power, he would expose himself, his comrades, his co-conspirators, and anyone who could benefit from his criminal empire?

I’m not saying that happened, not by a long shot.  And I refuse to pull the “look on the bright side” until that traitorous ape is away from the nuclear weapons, but I’ve thought about this for a while.  Trump is the symptom of global criminal corruption, not the root cause.  He’s the mole that gets you in the doctor to get a checkup.  The corruption is the cancer.

Putin and his Oligarch buddies are a large part of it, but they’re not alone.  Vast criminal enterprises around the world, that until recently stayed in the background, are threatening liberal democracy around the world.  And the corrupt are using the rule of law to pervert the rule of law.

Two can play this game.

Justice is slow, plodding, and thorough.  But when she shows up, she rains down on her enemies.

The forecast calls for showers of justice for the foreseeable future.

That’s it for today.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur

Thursday, February 1.  The craziness of the last few days continues.  Here’s the short version of what’s going on with Dipshit Cowpoke’s memo, the Mueller Investigation, and some news from around the Rumor Mill.

THE NUNES MEMO

This has been a very fast paced day, so let me just list what happened, in at least some semblance of order.

• Devin Nunes sent an edited copy of his memo to the White House, not the one that was voted on by the House Intelligence Committee.
• The White House said at first they would release the memo.
• Trump flat-out admitted behind closed doors that this was an attempt to discredit the Mueller Investigation and Rod Rosenstein.
• Chris Wray, the FBI Director appointed by Trump, threatens to resign in protest and testify before Congress if the memo is released as is, without redactions.
• The FBI rallies around their Director.
• Democratic leadership in Congress officially calls on Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to remove Devin Nunes from his Chairmanship.
• Paul Ryan tells them to pound sand.
• The White House returns the memo to Nunes for … reasons.
• Chris Wray will publicly dispute the memo if it is released at all.
• Democrat Representative Quigley asks for answers about questions regarding White House involvement.
• House Judiciary Democrat calls for Emergency Meeting with DOJ, FBI
• Even Fox News host Andrew Napolitano is calling bullshit.
• The White House is worrying that the memo is a dud.

That’s as of 9pm EST.  The shit is flying fast today, so there’s a good chance something else comes in by the end of the night.

I recommend reading this profile on Dipshit Cowpoke over at The Moscow Project.  This gives a long, detailed description of Devin Nunes, and how much shit he’s in, and he’s caused.  They hit the nail on the head about his actions.

This political stunt has real costs. By deploying his deceptive spin, Nunes may have jeopardized the original—and sensitive—classified information. A recent letter from the Justice Department, authored by a Trump political appointee, called Nunes’ effort to publicly release classified and sensitive law enforcement information “excessively reckless.” Nunes has been aided and amplified by Russian intelligence operatives online, as well as by Wikileaks, which Trump’s own CIA Director has described as a “hostile intelligence service helped by Russia.” It is this very Russian influence operation that the House Intelligence Committee is supposed to be investigating.

The actions and motives of Devin Nunes and House Republicans pushing this memo could not be more clear: they are pursuing a scorched earth strategy to protect Trump from being held responsible for his actions and they will bring down the entire FBI and Department of Justice if that is what it takes.

DO NOT FUCK WITH THE FBI

“I’d rather have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”

– Lyndon B. Johnson, referring to J. Edgar Hoover.

LBJ HATED Hoover.  But he knew that there was no one more powerful or more dangerous in Washington than the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Trump, Nunes, Paul Ryan, and the rest of the Republican Party are about to declare war on the FBI.  Who wins a war with the FBI?

The Mother Fucking FBI, that’s who wins.

Earlier today the FBI Agents Association released a statement in support of their Director, Chris Wray.

The FBI Agents Association appreciates FBI Director Chris Wray standing shoulder to shoulder with the men and women of the FBI as we work together to protect our country from criminal and national security threats. As Director Wray noted, FBI Special Agents have remained steadfast in their dedication to professionalism, and we remain focused on our important work to protect the country from terrorists and criminals—both domestic and international. Special Agents take a solemn oath to our country and to the Constitution, and the American public continues to be well-served by the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency.

Protecting this country from enemies, both domestic and international.  Notice the phrasing?

This is a little twist on the wording used in the FBI Oath of Service.

I [name] do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

But that little twist in this press statement isn’t by accident.  They are saying, in not so subtle language, that they will not abide by criminal activities, and they will not see their work perverted, even from the President or members of Congress.

This is the greatest confrontation between the FBI and the White House since Watergate. And the FBI doesn’t always play fair.  Just look up Mark Felt.

Who’s Mark Felt?  Try googling Deep Throat.  HOLD IT, WAIT.  Turn Safe Search On, THEN google Deep Throat.

HOPE HICKS PROPOSED COVERING UP THE TRUMP TOWER EMAILS ON A CONFERENCE CALL WITH THE PRESIDENT ON THE LINE

Communications Director Hope Hicks reportedly made a boo boo.  According to Mark Corallo, the former spokesman for Trump’s Legal Team, Hope had ‘told President emails would never get out.’  The emails in question were the emails between Donnie Jr. and Rob Goldstone planning the June 9, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower between the Russians, represented by lawyer spy Natalia Veselnitskaya.  Of course, in the dumbest act of political self-sabotage since the Reynolds Pamphlet, Donnie Jr. tweeted out the emails himself.

Hearing this freaked out Mark so much that this, along with a couple other things he saw that day, he quit.

So, this was covered on Maddow last night, and she said something that caught my attention.  It wasn’t this quote about keeping the emails from getting out, but after Hope said that this, she started freaking out after ending the call because she realized what she said, and there wasn’t a lawyer on the call to protect the conversation.

Think about that for a moment.  She’s not freaking out because she just promised a plan to cover up a crime or obstruct an investigation, but because a lawyer wasn’t on the call.

This tells me a couple things.

First, that Team Trump does this kind of conference call a little too often.

Second, they’re abusing the Attorney-Client privilege.  They’ll plan all of their illegal shit, but as long as they have a lawyer in the room, on the call, or on the email chain, they’ll claim that this conversation was privileged communications between an Attorney and their Clients.  Think Saul Goodman and a really dumb Walter White.

Finally, everyone on Team Trump should be very worried.  Like, finding out one of your exes tested positive for HIV worried.  One of the more interesting things that came out of Paul Manafort’s indictment was that Mueller’s team successfully argued to the Grand Jury to subpoena his lawyer, by providing evidence that Manafort committed crimes in the lawyer’s presence, thus invalidating the Attorney-Client privilege.

If Hope’s little statement is true, she might have just torpedoed the Trump Presidency.  If Mueller can show that there is enough probable cause that they have committed crimes in front of their lawyers, then they can subpoena the lawyers that were in the room or on the phone.

Hope Hicks has two options.  Either she can hope and pray that Donald “rewards” her with a pardon, which would also open her up to a legal shitstorm, or she can flip like a gymnast.  If she hasn’t already flipped, she’s screwed.

CARTER PAGE UNDER INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE SINCE 2013

Almost 5 years.  Carter Page has had spook eyes on him for almost 5 years.

Carter Page has been on the radar for 5 years, after having played footsie with a convicted Russian Spy ring.  So much crap about Page came out in 2016 that there was a FISA warrant issued for him in 2016.  At some point later in 2016, after Trump’s team began receiving Security Briefings, Carter Page became Persona Non Grata in the Trump Campaign.

They didn’t have any official associations with Carter Page after the inauguration.  He’s continued to make a fool of himself throughout the year, and did some of the stupidest things possible, like meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee for 10 hours without a lawyer present.

Of all the people that Devin Nunes could have made a stink about, he chose Page.  Why?

Why would Nunes choose Page instead of someone else?

I can think of two reasons, and two reasons only.

Either Nunes is worried he’s under a FISA warrant, or was caught up in one, and he’s hoping that this memo will destroy any credibility of FISA, or this is the only Top Secret information he’s been able to see about the Russia Investigation.

Louise Mensch broke a story back in May 2017 that Devin Nunes, the head of the House Intelligence Committee, had his TS/SCI clearance revoked.  At the time, I thought it was a little hopeful, but not likely.  Now, I think she was on to something.

From a tactical standpoint, Carter Page is a terrible hill to die on.  His history with the Russians makes him a terrible choice for highlighting abuses inherit in the system.  This isn’t a battlefield that one chooses, but fights on because they were forced on.

RICK GATES’ OLD ATTORNEYS QUIT, NEW ATTORNEY SPECIALIZES IN CUTTING PLEA DEALS IN FEDERAL COURT 

Read that again.  His lawyers quit, and the reason is THE SUBJECT OF A MOTION UNDER SEAL.

They cannot publicly say why they quit at this time.

Rick Gates has flipped.  On top of the long list of people mentioned in Daily Check-In 01/24/2018, he also worked with David Whitfield.

So, who is David Whitfeld, and why does he matter?

Remember the FBI Raid in Baltimore back in May 2017?  I hadn’t started the blog yet, but I did mention it somewhere.  I need to make an index for this place one day.

Anyway, David Whitfeld was a Senior Advisor for Strategic Campaign Group, the GOP office that was raided back in May 2017.  David is also a former director at the Manafort/Stone/Black lobbying firm.

So, Rick Gates can take down all of the money people.  Papadopoulos can take down the Foreign Relations Committee.  Flynn can take down the Transition Team.  And if Hope Hicks flips, she can take down the Inner Circle.

RUMOR MILL:  FIGHTING A TANK WITH A TOOTHPICK

I heard this phrase earlier today on Reddit, and it got me thinking, “How can someone defeat a tank with a toothpick?”  Being an Engineer/IT/Nerd/Saboteur, I can think of a few ways this can be done, but anything involving a frontal assault ends in vanishing in a cloud of pink dust.

That’s what we’re about to see in the next few weeks.  A group of criminals using toothpicks to fight the tank of the Intelligence Community.

Within minutes of the first series of headlines coming out today saying that the White House was going to release the Nunes Memo, leaks were already flowing out of Langley and the Hoover Building.  Stories were being planted and handed over to trusted sources that are to be published only if the Memo gets released.

Every member of the Rumor Mill that even slightly implies some connection to the IC world all agreed on one thing…

Trump and his cronies will not survive this battle.  If the Memo sees the light of day, a flood of stories about Trump’s connections to Russia, as well as Nunes’s ties to Turkey and Russia.  Transcripts of the SIGINT that has Nunes in it is sitting in the hands of a trusted source, waiting for the word to call their trusted reporters at the Washington Post.

The IC is ready, willing, and able to go to a PR war with Trump.  The Nunes Memo puts sources in danger, and could get an agent killed.  Killed, so that a sycophant can protect a traitor.

Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, the Mueller Investigation keeps going.  We’ve assumed that there were sealed indictments, but today proves it.  Gates’s little attorney switch showed that the reason for this change is currently under seal.  We’ve seen several dockets in the past.  And, it’s been two months since the last indictment.

My guess is that there is something building, but Mueller has been holding off on the next series of indictments until after he meets with Trump, or his a wall in that regard.  If he hits a wall, the indictments could force a Grand Jury subpoena.  That would force Trump to try something drastic, like fire Rosenstein and/or Mueller.  Robert Mueller has this scenario game planned.

To quote John Schindler quoting one of his sources last year about Trump, “He will die in prison.”

That’s it for today.  Tomorrow is going to be another one of those days where I think about taking up a less stressful hobby than chronicling history, like Explosive Ordinance Disposal, Lion Taming, or guarding chocolate from a pregnant woman.

This is also a bit of a longer post because I just got a new toy.  I finally decided to get a new laptop after ten years.  My old MacBook passed old 5 years ago, and is so old that it doesn’t even get security updates anymore.  Considering I’m writing a blog about conspiracies, Russian hackers, and government overreach, it’s probably not a good idea to keep using it for this project.  Plus, the battery runs low after an hour and a half, only running a web browser and email.  So, I splurged a bit and bought a new laptop.  A sort-of new MacBook Pro.  New make and model, but I purchased it from the Refurbished store to save a couple hundred bucks.  Yes, I know that a MacBook Pro is overkill for a blog, but it has the best keyboard I’ve used in a long time (it has a new keyboard which helps me type faster), and I like the look and feel.  Plus, it’s easier to lock this down than a Windows laptop.  And yes, it is VERY expensive for a computer.  I’ve had several cars that didn’t cost this much.  Combined.  But I plan on keeping this thing until it dies and can’t be brought back from the grave.  Since I’ve moved to Macs a few years ago, the shortest time I’ve had one last was 9 years.  I’d like this one to last a long time.

Ok, that’s enough tech talk for today.  It’s one thing to talk about political conspiracies or rumors coming out of the Intelligence Community, but I refuse to get into the whole Mac vs. PC war.  I just wanted to talk about my new toy for a few minutes.  Thanks for indulging me.

Now, it’s back to our regularly scheduled program.

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur