Monthly Archives: December 2019

IG Horowitz Senate Judiciary hearing watch live December 11, 2019, Examining the Inspector General’s Report on Alleged Abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

IG Horowitz Senate Judiciary hearing watch live December 11, 2019, Examining the Inspector General’s Report on Alleged Abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

“The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.  It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory. “…Attorney General Barr

“While most of the misconduct identified by the Inspector General was committed in 2016 and 2017 by a small group of now-former FBI officials, the malfeasance and misfeasance detailed in the Inspector General’s report reflects a clear abuse of the FISA process.”…Attorney General Barr

“Our investigation has included developing information from other persons and entities, both in the U.S. and outside of the U.S. Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.”…John Durham

 

From the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Examining the Inspector General’s Report on Alleged Abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Full Committee

DATE: Wednesday, December 11, 2019
TIME: 10:00 AM
LOCATION: Hart Senate Office Building 216
PRESIDING: Chairman Graham

 

WITNESSES


  1. The Honorable Michael Horowitz

    Inspector General
    U.S. Department Of Justice
    Washington, DC

 

LIVE VIDEO

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/examining-the-inspector-generals-report-on-alleged-abuses-of-the-foreign-intelligence-surveillance-act

 

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/

 

Advertisement

Horowitz IG FISA abuse report, December 9, 2019, Link to report, Joe DiGenova: “devastating. It’s going to ruin careers, it’s going to make people have bar problems”?

Horowitz IG FISA abuse report, December 9, 2019, Link to report, Joe DiGenova: “devastating. It’s going to ruin careers, it’s going to make people have bar problems”?

“this is not how an American president should be impeached.”… Jonathan Turley

“I would say explosive and I would say, for people at the highest levels of the FBI and at the highest levels of the Justice Department–more important at the Justice Department–it’s going to be devastating. It’s going to ruin careers, it’s going to make people have bar problems”…Joe diGenova on OIG FISA report

“Instead of doing so, the government has continued to defy its
constitutional, ethical and legal obligations to this Court and to the defense, and to hide evidence that it knows exonerates Mr. Flynn. As is the essence of the problem here, instead of protecting its citizens, the “government” is protecting its own criminal conduct and operatives.”…Attorney Sidney Powell October 23, 2019

 

US Department of Justice Inspector General Horowitz IG FISA abuse report:

https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf

***  Update – Attorney General Barr response  ***

“Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement:

“Nothing is more important than the credibility and integrity of the FBI and the Department of Justice.  That is why we must hold our investigators and prosecutors to the highest ethical and professional standards.  The Inspector General’s investigation has provided critical transparency and accountability, and his work is a credit to the Department of Justice.  I would like to thank the Inspector General and his team.

The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.  It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory.  Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump’s administration.  In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or ignored information negating the reliability of their principal source.  The Inspector General found the explanations given for these actions unsatisfactory.  While most of the misconduct identified by the Inspector General was committed in 2016 and 2017 by a small group of now-former FBI officials, the malfeasance and misfeasance detailed in the Inspector General’s report reflects a clear abuse of the FISA process.

FISA is an essential tool for the protection of the safety of the American people.  The Department of Justice and the FBI are committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to rectify the abuses that occurred and to ensure the integrity of the FISA process going forward.

No one is more dismayed about the handling of these FISA applications than Director Wray.  I have full confidence in Director Wray and his team at the FBI, as well as the thousands of dedicated line agents who work tirelessly to protect our country.  I thank the Director for the comprehensive set of proposed reforms he is announcing today, and I look forward to working with him to implement these and any other appropriate measures.

With respect to DOJ personnel discussed in the report, the Department will follow all appropriate processes and procedures, including as to any potential disciplinary action.”

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-attorney-general-william-p-barr-inspector-generals-report-review-four-fisa

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/

 

 

Giuliani exposes details and reach of Ukraine corruption, Bidens Senator Graham et al motives, Journalist Chanel Rion preemptively attacked

Giuliani exposes details and reach of Ukraine corruption, Bidens Senator Graham et al motives, Journalist Chanel Rion preemptively attacked

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks”… “Hamlet”, William Shakespeare

“One of the downstream consequences of Rudy Giuliani investigating the Ukraine corruption and money laundering operation to U.S. officials is that it ends up catching Senator Graham.”…Conservative Treehouse

“”You’re a traitor!” yelled the boy. “You’re a thought criminal!””…George Orwell, “1984”

 

I knew this story was important days ago.

Why? Because of the preemptive ad hominem attacks against journalist Chanel Rion and Rudy Giuliani when it was discovered they were doing investigations in the Ukraine.

Refer to Shakespeare and Orwell.

From the Conservative Treehouse.

“Former Ukraine Prosecutor Shokin: Joe Biden “Outraged We Seized Burisma Assets”, Could No Longer Pay His Son…”

“Rudy Giuliani traveled to Ukraine with OAN investigative journalist Chanel Rion.  The U.S. media are going absolutely bananas after finding out Giuliani is now gathering even more information about Joe and Hunter Biden’s corrupt endeavors within Ukraine.

In this interview former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin spoke to OAN about Joe Biden’s direct role in getting his office to stop investigating his son Hunter.  The problem for Joe Biden was when Shokin seized all of Burisma’s assets the Ukranian gas company could no longer pay his son Hunter Biden.  So the vice president demanded Shokin be removed.

When you combine this interview with the damning public statements delivered by the Ukraine prosecutor that replaced Shokin, Yuriy Lutsenko, things really get troublesome for Joe Biden, the Obama administration and Adam Schiff.

Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko stated that after he replaced Shokin he was visited by U.S. State Dept. official George Kent and Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch; they provided a list of corruption cases the Ukraine government was not permitted to follow.

Prosecutor Lutsenko dropping specific corruption cases was critical because that allowed/enabled a process of laundering money back to U.S. officials.  [SEE HERE]

The potential for this background story to become part of a larger impeachment discovery is what has the U.S. media going bananas against Rudy Giuliani.

Senator Lindsey Graham is directly connected to the group of U.S. politicians who were participating in the influence network within Ukraine.  One of the downstream consequences of Rudy Giuliani investigating the Ukraine corruption and money laundering operation to U.S. officials is that it ends up catching Senator Graham.

Hence, earlier today Senator Graham said he would not permit Senate impeachment testimony that touched on this corrupt Ukraine aspect.

In essence Senator Graham is fearful that too much inquiry into what took place with Ukraine from 2014 through 2016 will expose his own participation and effort along with former Ambassador Marie Yovanovich.”

Read more:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/12/09/former-ukraine-prosecutor-shokin-joe-biden-outraged-we-seized-burisma-assets-could-no-longer-pay-his-son/

 

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/

 

Nunes legal action after Schiff released private phone records, “our civil liberties are violated”, “We’re definitely going to take legal action.”

Nunes legal action after Schiff released private phone records, “our civil liberties are violated”, “We’re definitely going to take legal action.”

“this is not how an American president should be impeached.”… Jonathan Turley

“I would say explosive and I would say, for people at the highest levels of the FBI and at the highest levels of the Justice Department–more important at the Justice Department–it’s going to be devastating. It’s going to ruin careers, it’s going to make people have bar problems”…Joe diGenova on OIG FISA report

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”…Abraham Lincoln

 

From Fox News.

“Devin Nunes on phone record release: ‘We’re definitely going to take legal action'”

“House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said Saturday that he would be pursuing legal action after his phone records were exposed in the release of the Committee’s impeachment inquiry report.”

“And then, of course, over the two weeks before Thanksgiving, I think they were embarrassed by their lack of evidence they were able to present through the hearings,” he said. “So, what happened is, the Friday before Thanksgiving, this fake news story drops about me supposedly being in Vienna. And then we get back from Thanksgiving and then — lo and behold — my name along with one of my current staff people…and a former staff person, all of a sudden our civil liberties are violated because our phone records show up in this report.”

“Nunes told the “Friends: Weekend” hosts that, upon review, his phone records do not match what Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Democrats put in the report.”

“”And so, the truth is two calls with Rudy Giuliani and one call with a guy that I don’t even know seems pretty odd to say that that’s a conspiracy,” he added.

“I believe I am the first member of Congress ever to have [my] phone records exposed like this,” Nunes stated. “We’re definitely going to take legal action.””

Read more:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/devin-nunes-phone-records-adam-schiff-house-intelligence-report-impeachment-inquiry

 

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/

 

Jonathan Turley attacked over impeachment testimony, “threatening messages and demands that I be fired”, “not proven abuse of power”, “we are lowering impeachment standards”

Jonathan Turley attacked over impeachment testimony, “threatening messages and demands that I be fired”, “not proven abuse of power”, “we are lowering impeachment standards”

“a judge reaffirmed that Clinton committed perjury, a crime for which thousands of other citizens have been jailed. Yet the calls for showing that “no one is above the law” went silent with Clinton.”…Jonathan Turley

“it would be ‘very dangerous’ to the balance of powers not to hold Obama accountable for assuming powers ‘very similar’ to the ‘right of the king’ to essentially stand above the law.”…Jonathan Turley

“this is not how an American president should be impeached.”… Jonathan Turley

 

From The Hill.

By Jonathan Turley.

“Democrats offering passion over proof in Trump impeachment”

“In my testimony Wednesday, I lamented that, as in the impeachment of President Clinton from 1998 to 1999, there is an intense “rancor and rage” and “stifling intolerance” that blinds people to opposing views. My call for greater civility and dialogue may have been the least successful argument I made to the committee. Before I finished my testimony, my home and office were inundated with threatening messages and demands that I be fired from George Washington University for arguing that, while a case for impeachment can be made, it has not been made on this record.

Some of the most heated attacks came from Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee.”

“Notably, neither Swalwell nor Nadler allowed me to respond to those or any other attacks. It was then picked up eagerly by others, despite being a demonstrably false narrative.”

“That is precisely what I have said regarding Trump. You just need to prove abuse of power. My objection is not that you cannot impeach Trump for abuse of power but that this record is comparably thin compared to past impeachments and contains conflicts, contradictions, and gaps including various witnesses not subpoenaed. I suggested that Democrats drop the arbitrary schedule of a vote by the end of December and complete their case and this record before voting on any articles of impeachment. In my view, they have not proven abuse of power in this incomplete record.”

“As I said 21 years ago, a president can still be impeached for abuse of power without a crime, and that includes Trump. But that makes it more important to complete and strengthen the record of such an offense, as well as other possible offenses. I remain concerned that we are lowering impeachment standards to fit a paucity of evidence and an abundance of anger. Trump will not be our last president. What we leave in the wake of this scandal will shape our democracy for generations to come. These “agitated passions” will not be a substitute for proof in an impeachment. We currently have too much of the former and too little of the latter.”

 

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/

 

Jonathan Turley testimony on Trump impeachment, “this is not how an American president should be impeached.”, “legal case for impeachment…woefully inadequate,… dangerous”

Jonathan Turley testimony on Trump impeachment, “this is not how an American president should be impeached.”, “legal case for impeachment…woefully inadequate,… dangerous”

“this is not how an American president should be impeached.”…Impeachment legal expert Jonathan Turley

“Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe as much as admitted the FBI’s intent to set up Mr. Flynn on a criminal false statement charge from the get-go.”…Attorney Sidney Powell November 4, 2019  

“Instead of doing so, the government has continued to defy its
constitutional, ethical and legal obligations to this Court and to the defense, and to hide evidence that it knows exonerates Mr. Flynn. As is the essence of the problem here, instead of protecting its citizens, the “government” is protecting its own criminal conduct and operatives.”…Attorney Sidney Powell October 23, 2019

 

From the Jonathan Turley testimony before the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump.

“I would like to start, perhaps incongruously, with a statement of three irrelevant
facts. First, I am not a supporter of President Trump. I voted against him in 2016 and I have previously voted for Presidents Clinton and Obama. Second, I have been highly critical of President Trump, his policies, and his rhetoric, in dozens of columns. Third, I have repeatedly criticized his raising of the investigation of the Hunter Biden matter with the Ukrainian president. These points are not meant to curry favor or approval. Rather they are meant to drive home a simple point: one can oppose President Trump’s policies or actions but still conclude that the current legal case for impeachment is not just woefully inadequate, but in some respects, dangerous, as the basis for the impeachment of an American president. To put it simply, I hold no brief for President Trump. My personal and political views of President Trump, however, are irrelevant to my impeachment testimony, as they should be to your impeachment vote. Today, my only
concern is the integrity and coherence of the constitutional standard and process of impeachment. President Trump will not be our last president and what we leave in the wake of this scandal will shape our democracy for generations to come. I am concerned about lowering impeachment standards to fit a paucity of evidence and an abundance of anger. If the House proceeds solely on the Ukrainian allegations, this impeachment would stand out among modern impeachments as the shortest proceeding, with the thinnest evidentiary record, and the narrowest grounds ever used to impeach a president.7 That does not bode well for future presidents who are working in a country often sharply and,
at times, bitterly divided.”

“A comparison of the current impeachment inquiry with the three prior presidential inquiries puts a few facts into sharp relief. First, this is a case without a clear criminal act and would be the first such case in history if the House proceeds without further evidence. In all three impeachment inquiries, the commission of criminal acts by Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton were clear and established. With Johnson, the House effectively created a trapdoor crime and Johnson knowingly jumped through it. The problem was that the law—the Tenure in Office Act—was presumptively unconstitutional and the impeachment was narrowly built around that dubious criminal act. With Nixon, there were a host of alleged criminal acts and dozens of officials who would be convicted of felonies. With Clinton, there was an act of perjury that even his supporters acknowledged was a felony, leaving them to argue that some felonies “do not
rise to the level” of an impeachment. Despite clear and established allegations of criminal acts committed by the president, narrow impeachments like Johnson and Clinton have fared badly. As will be discussed further below, the recently suggested criminal acts related to the Ukrainian controversy are worse off, being highly questionable from a legal standpoint and far from established from an evidentiary standpoint.”

“No, it is wrong because this is not how an American president should be
impeached. For two years, members of this Committee have declared that criminal and impeachable acts were established for everything from treason to conspiracy to obstruction. However, no action was taken to impeach. Suddenly, just a few weeks ago, the House announced it would begin an impeachment inquiry and push for a final vote in just a matter of weeks. To do so, the House Intelligence Committee declared that it would not subpoena a host of witnesses who have direct knowledge of any quid pro quo. Instead, it will proceed on a record composed of a relatively small number of witnesses with largely second-hand knowledge of the position. The only three direct conversations with President Trump do not contain a statement of a quid pro quo and two expressly
deny such a pre-condition.”

Read more:

https://www.scribd.com/document/438232920/Read-Turley-Testimony#from_embed

 

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/

 

USDOJ attorney Brandon Van Grack corrupt or cog in wheel of corruption?, Barr put Grack in charge of FARA, Does this bode well for Barr Durham investigation?

USDOJ attorney Brandon Van Grack corrupt or cog in wheel of corruption?, Barr put Grack in charge of FARA, Does this bode well for Barr Durham investigation?

“Given the material defense counsel has requested, which remains outstanding, Mr. Van Grack’s denial that further Brady material exists is patently absurd. It demonstrates arrogance and utter contempt for the letter and the spirit of this Court’s explicit order, the rule of Brady v. Maryland, and the protections guaranteed to defendants by the U.S. Constitution.”…US v. Flynn motion to compel production of Brady Material 

“Prosecutors Brandon Van Grack of the Justice Department’s national security division, who was formerly on Mr. Mueller’s team, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Curtis, of Washington, provided little explanation as to why they were not turning over the transcripts.”…Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 1, 2019

“Former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe as much as admitted the FBI’s intent to set up Mr. Flynn on a criminal false statement charge from the get-go.”…Attorney Sidney Powell November 4, 2019  

 

Is US Justice Department attorney Brandon Van Grack corrupt or simply caught up in a web of corruption that permeates the Justice Dept., i.e. guilty by association?

Examine the following:

Grack is an Obama donor.

He was hired by the Justice Dept. in 2010, early in the Obama admin.

He was part of Mueller’s team.

Van Grack is the lead prosecutor in the General Flynn case.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 1, 2019.

“Prosecutors Brandon Van Grack of the Justice Department’s national security division, who was formerly on Mr. Mueller’s team, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Curtis, of Washington, provided little explanation as to why they were not turning over the transcripts.”

United States v. Michael T. Flynn Supplemental Status Report September 30, 2019.

“Even more troubling, Mr. Van Grack was determined that Mr. Flynn would testify in the Rafiekian case that he had knowingly signed a false FARA registration, even though Mr. Van Grack knew that was not true and Mr. Flynn had not agreed to that in the course of his plea agreement. Mr. Flynn’s refusal to get on the witness stand and lie for the government on that point prompted a heated tirade from Mr. Van Grack with Mr. Flynn’s lead counsel, in which Mr. Van Grack claimed Mr. Flynn had agreed to plead to a knowing and intentional false FARA filing. Dkt. 98-1.

In our endless document review, we now have a draft of the statement of offense that proves the contrary, showing similar language deleted. The absence of that language from the statement of offense or any charge of a false filing did not deter Mr. Van Grack from doubling down.
Enraged that Mr. Flynn reject their demand to lie, the prosecutors in the EDVA (Mr. James Gillis, Mr. Evan Turgeon, and Mr. John Gibbs, with Mr. Van Grack’s oversight) retaliated with an ex parte gag order and sealed filing on July 3. For the first time, the prosecutors claimed that Mr. Flynn was a co-conspirator. They put Michael Flynn Jr. on the witness list for the Rafiekian trial.”

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.121.0.pdf

FLYNN REPLY IN SUPPORT OF HIS MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF BRADY MATERIAL AND TO HOLD THE PROSECUTORS IN CONTEMPT

October 24, 2019.

“3. Mr. Van Grack’s Productions of Flynn 302s Were Incomplete and Misleading. But it gets worse. When Mr. Van Grack made his first official production to former counsel of any actual documents (other than the (final) Flynn 302 produced on Nov. 22, 2017) on March 13, 2018—all of which should have been produced before Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty—Mr. Van Grack made it sound like there was only one 302:

This is false. On May 25, 2018, Mr. Van Grack dribbled out another production—again denying any obligation to do so under Brady or the Court’s Standing Order. This included a draft 302 dated February 10, 2017, as if it were the only other one. That was also misleading. After former counsel called Mr. Van Grack, on June 1, 2018, the government produced two more drafts of the 302—these dated February 11, 2017, and February 14, 2017. Mr. Van Grack did not explain why all these intervening drafts were not produced in March, nor how they suddenly turned up, and there are material differences— especially from February 10 to February 11. Ex. 11. Obviously, there are drafts of the 302, including an original draft in the files or subfiles of the Sentinel System of the FBI dating back to January 24, 2017, or so—the date of the actual interview of Mr. Flynn. Brady requires the production of the original 302, all drafts, notes, recordings, statements, and all testimony of the two agents along with all participants in any of the meetings to plan the ambush of Mr. Flynn “to keep him relaxed.” If they are not there, then they were wrongfully destroyed. Either way, the government must be held to account.”

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.129.0_1.pdf

From Attorney Sidney Powell November 5, 2019.

“#VanGrack just advised by letter that he got the authors of the raw notes backwards!! Since March 2018 when first disclosed! All the more reason to require originals of everything without redactions, handwriting samples, all 302s, audit trail, metadata-entire file!”

From Gateway Pundit.

“SHOCKING: Corrupt Mueller Team Official Brandon Van Grack Is Now In Charge of DOJ’s FARA Unit Used to Spy on Republican”

“Van Grack was one of the lawyers on Mueller’s team that handled the Flynn investigation, set-up and guilty plea.
He is overseeing Flynn’s case in court.”

“What CNN Left Out in the report on Van Grack– He led a grand jury inquiry in Northern Virginia scrutinizing former Trump associate Michael Flynn’s foreign lobbying. And Van Grack donated to the Obama campaign.

Following the corrupt investigation of the Trump campaign and Trump administration Van Grack was promoted to head the DOJ’s FARA Unit.
This is the same unit used to target and ruin Republican officials in 2016 and it is the same unit Democrats are hoping to use to indict President Trump’s Attorney Rudy Giuliani.”

Read more:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/11/corrupt-mueller-team-official-brandon-van-grack-is-now-in-charge-of-dojs-fara-unit-used-to-spy-on-republicans/

William Barr became Attorney General in February of 2019.

Brandon Van Grack was put in charge of FARA in March 2019.

Perhaps Barr was not aware of Grack’s corrupt activities then.

Is Barr aware of them now and is Brandon Van Grack under scrutiny as part of the Barr Durham investigations?

Brandon Van Grack corrupt?

You decide.

 

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/