Citizens Dedicated To Preserving Our Constitutional Republic
Devin Nunes. California, CHAIRMAN
K. Michael Conaway, Texas Peter T. King, New York Frank A. LoBiondo, New Jersey |
|
|
Thomas J. Rooney, Florida Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Florida |
|
HVC-304, THE CAPITOL |
Michael R. Turner. Ohio Brad R. Wenstrup. Ohio |
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
WASHINGTON, DC 20515 |
Chris Stewart, Utah Rick Crawford, Arkansas |
PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE |
(202) 225-4121 |
Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Elise M. Stefanik. New York Will Hurd, Texas |
ON INTELLIGENCE |
DAMON NELSON STAFF DIRECTOR TIMOTHY S. BERGREEN |
Adam B. Schiff, California, RANKING MEMBER James A, Himes, Connecticut Terri A. Sewell, Alabama André Carson, Indiana Jackie Speier, California Mike Quigley, Illinois Eric Swalwell. California Joaquin Castro, Texas Denny Heck, Washington |
|
MINORITY STAFF DIRECTOR |
Paul D. Ryan, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE Nancy Pelosi, DEMOCRATIC LEADER |
September 1, 2017 |
|
The Honorable Jeff Sessions
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Ave, N. W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Attorney General Sessions:
On August 24, 2017, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence ("Committee") served subpoenas on the Attorney General, in his capacity as head of the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") for production of documents relevant to the Committee's ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, including allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.
The subpoenas directed DOJ and FBI to produce any and all documents relating to the agencies' relationship with former British Secret Intelligence Service officer Christopher Steele and/or the so-called "Trump Dossier," including those memorializing FBI's relationship with tvfr. Steele, any payments made to Mr. Steele, and efforts to corroborate information provided by Mr. Steele and his sub-sources—whether directly or via Fusion GPS. The subpoenas also directed DOJ and FBI to provide copies of any Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)—whether or not approved by
the FISC—incorporating information provided by Mr. Steele, his sub-sources, and/or Fusion GPS.
Resort to compulsory process was necessary because of DOJ's and FBI's insufficient responsiveness to the Committee's numerous Russia-investigation related requests over the past several months. On multiple occasions, through written requests and direct engagements, the
Committee has sought but failed to receive responsive testimony or documents from DOJ and
FBI. For example, to date the Committee has not received a meaningful response to its May 9, 2017, request to Attorney General Sessions. Additionally, on May 16, 2017, the Committee sent a letter asking then-Acting Director Andrew McCabe to participate in a voluntary interview, and produce relevant documents. The Committee received no reply until May 27 more than two months later—when DOJ declined the interview request and indicated that "the Department is not prepared to respond further to your request at this time."
Previously, on March 8, the Committee sought from DOJ certain documents, including relevant FISA applications and FISC orders, and on March 17 was allotted two billets to review responsive documents on a read-and-return basis. The Committee was not provided a copy of these documents, and the Committee's request to review them again was denied.
The subpoenas issued on August 24 required production no later than 12:00pm on September I ,
The Committee requires timely production of the subpoenaed documents in order to execute its oversight responsibilities on behalf of the American public and fully evaluate the actions of both DOJ and the FBI. There is no legitimate basis for DOJ's failure to meaningfully engage the Committee until the eve of the deadline or begin production as a show of good faith.
Moreover, there is no legitimate basis for DOJ's request for additional time to comply, because DOJ and the FBI are well aware of the identity of the requested documents. Indeed, as noted above, at least some of them have already been compiled and made temporarily available for the Committee's review, and the remaining requested documents are readily identifiable.
Notwithstanding these concerns, the Committee hereby grants an additional thirteen (13) days for full compliance and production, to occur no later than 9:00 a.m. on September 14, 2017, at the local specified in the original subpoena. This revised deadline will not be extended.
In the alternative, if all responsive documents are not produced by the revised deadline, the
Attorney General and the Director of the FBI shall appear before the Committee at 9:00 am on September 14, 2017, in Room HVC-210 of the U.S. Capitol during an open hearing, to explain under oath DOJ's and FBI's unwillingness or inability to comply in full with the subpoenas issued on August 24.
Please be advised that, in the event that DOJ or FBI fails to provide the documents in full or testimony described above, the Committee expressly reserves its right to proceed with any and all available legal options—including reporting to the full House of Representatives a resolution to hold the Attorney General and Director of the FBI in contempt of Congress, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 192, 194.
Sincerely,
Devin Nunes
Chairman
Tags:
From the Clash Daily; https://clashdaily.com/2018/02/breaking-infamous-fbi-memo-unleashed...
The memo has been released;
Their stated purpose was made explicit:
On October 21, 2016, the FISA warrant was granted against Carter Page.
They got a warrant and three extensions. Comey signed off on three of these, and McCabe signed the other one. Sally Yates, Dana Boente, and Roseinstein each signed one or more of the applications for the DOJ.
The memo states that the government is obligated to include information favorable to the targeted citizen that would potentially lead a judge to deny such a request. This becomes relevant to the Page warrant with respect to four specific instances:
— ‘The Dossier’ (Fusion GPS) was an essential part of the FISA application. Steele was both an FBI informant, AND paid by the DNC and Clinton campaign.
— Connections to ‘Oppo research’ were omitted in applications.
— FISA applicant left out the (known) name of the US person Steel was working for (GPS Fusion). It does not acknowledge that Steele was paid by both Fusion and FBI for the same information.
— Glenn Simpson and his financial interests in this case were omitted
We suspect this one will be big:
The application relied heavily on a Yahoo news article by Isikoff.
Here’s the problem with that. Isikoff got his story from Steele. This means that the Dossier claims for validity leaned on a news story drawing from leaks from … itself.
His ongoing leaking to news outlets made him no longer a reliable source.
Comey briefed Trump on a summary of the dossier, even though it was — by this time — already discredited as salacious.
McCabe testified… no surveillance warrant would have been sought … without the Steele dossier information.
If you were wondering why people on the right are convinced this is ‘bigger than Watergate’ that’s your reason right there.
We’ll come back to that point.
But first, a word about ‘animus’. And improper information swapping.
AG Bruce Ohr, (whose wife was working for Fusion GPS in Trump research) — working with Yates and Rosenstein — suppressed Steele’s personal political motivations. Bruce Ohr and his wife and their connections to Hillary-funded Fusion GPS Dossier was NOT detailed in the FISC.
And another one about animus.
Ok. Stop and consider the implications.
We have — supposedly — 4th Amendment protections for a reason. THIS is that reason.
If someone were seeking under cloak of darkness to put you and your family under surveillance because you supported the wrong political idea, would you trust the people named in this document to be fair in the case they made against you?
Even the folks on CNN are saying this is problematic.
Bigger than Watergate?
As one commentator described it (sorry, for not being able to remember which one), Watergate looked like a fraternity prank by comparison to the people we give guns and badges working together in secrecy to undermine the 4th Amendment rights of citizens.
Why is it bigger?
If we accept McCabe’s testimony as accurate, the Warrant would not have been possible without the Dossier… which was created and orcestrated by Trump’s acknowledged political foes. Which leaves a very big question answered:
Would there have even been a ‘Russian Collusion’ investigation without the (possibly illegal) surveillance of Team Trump?
And if not… does the entire JUSTIFICATION for the Mueller investigation run afoul of the ‘Fruit Of the Poisonous Tree‘ principle?
Here is the Memo: http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00/20180129/106822/HMTG-115-IG0...
Effeminization Of The American Male
By Doug Jiles
Doug Giles, best-selling author of Raising Righteous And Rowdy Girls and Editor-In-Chief of the mega-blog, ClashDaily.com, has just penned a book he guarantees will kick hipster males into the rarefied air of masculinity. That is, if the man-child will put down his frappuccino; shut the hell up and listen and obey everything he instructs them to do in his timely and tornadic tome. Buy Now:The Effeminization Of The American Male
Ladies, tell everyone that you don’t like the emasculated, metro-sexual ‘feminists’ — you’d rather have a President with balls:And gents, let everyone know that you want your President to be just as much of a man as you are:
Donald J. Trump is our 45th President. Why? Because Americans from all races and classes are sick of whining Republicans and corrupt Democrats. Finally, we have a President who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks even if it is not popular with the press. Trump is not a typical politician. Trump can’t be bought. He will back up what he says with action, no matter the cost. Finally. A president with balls!
Get yours today and trigger the leftists and the RINO NeverTrumpers.
FIVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS WITH IN DEPTH EXPLAINATIONS
Sourec; https://thinkamericana.com/2018/02/02/5-important-things-know-house...
If the allegations are true, here is what you need to know about the memo, courtesy of Ben Shapiro of The Daily Wire:
1. The FBI and DOJ lied to the FISA Court about the grounds for a warrant on Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page. According to the memo, the Fusion GPS dossier, compiled by Christopher Steele and paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, was the central basis for the FISA warrant against Page. But that dossier was obviously biased — and that information was never turned over to the FISA court. The memo states, “The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of — and paid by — the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information.” Furthermore, the FBI did not independently verify the claims of the Steele dossier in any serious way before seeking the FISA warrant. Those involved in the application include current deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, which is likely why President Trump refused to rule out firing him today.
2. The media helped garner the warrant. The Carter Page FISA application apparently cited a Yahoo News article that was based on leaks from Steele to the news outlet. But that was not independent corroborating evidence of the Steele dossier — it was a repetition of the information Steele was disseminating. Steele was later suspended and terminated from the FBI for “an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI.”
3. Steele didn’t like Trump, but this information wasn’t included in the FISA application either.According to the memo, Steele told associate deputy attorney general Bruce Ohr that he was “desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.” Ohr didn’t report that in the FISA application, nor was information that Ohr’s wife worked for Fusion GPS on compiling opposition research on Trump revealed to the FISA Court.
4. Most importantly, the Carter Page application was NOT the launching point of the Trump-Russia collusion investigation. This is the most important point. If the Page FISA warrant had been the centerpiece and launching point of the investigation, Trump might have grounds to shut the whole thing down — Trump could claim, rightly, that the FBI, DOJ, and Hillary campaign worked together to trump up these charges, and then weaponized our intelligence and law enforcement community against him. But the memo itself states that “The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos. …The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok.” The memo points out that Strzok was also anti-Trump, but provides no evidence that the Papadopoulos investigation was biased — and that would be hard to prove, since Papadopoulos has now pled guilty to lying to the FBI. So the notion of the Mueller investigation as a sort of “fruit of the poisonous tree” springing from Page is undercut by the memo.
5. This memo doesn’t endanger national security. It’s nearly impossible to see how this memo endangers national security. Democrats can’t express a clear reason. The FBI can’t. The DOJ can’t. Which makes it look as though they were all covering their asses in an attempt to avoid culpability for an attempted political hit on Trump.
It’s very evident that the FBI and DOJ cut corners with a clear goal of pushing the Trump-Russia investigation forward. The memo exposes that. Great work from Ben Shapiro recapping the memo and what’s important about it.
Regarding this Memo, what resonates for me, w/deafening volume; is the beyond stunning
shallowness of the msm; led by the likes of Wallace, Ingraham, Carlson and all the rest
of the FOX buffoonery.
An extremely dangerous constitutional crises is revealed and what do these have on offer?
Why a daily urinary contest between themselves and another flyweight-weight lefty!!!!
Thomas,
I think in view of the Released Memo and also because of the soon to be released Comey memo's that were blocked by a Judge that sits on the FISC which issued the warrant, there will be a building wave of investigation releases that will culminate in the truth about the Swamp finally coming out to public light. I foresee a series of indictments being issued over the coming year for the perpetrators of this mess. What I would like to see released is the original application to the FISA and FISC. That will clear up any doubts about the veracity of the "MEMO", or it will discredit it. Release of that most important document is now imperative for the truth to be known.
I just got this from Oren Long, and it's just too good to not post;
They still need to release the Comey memo's which a Judge ordered to remain classified. The same Judge who sits on the FISC that issued the Warrant. The original application is still classified and it's release would clear up exactly what was done to create the necessary fiction to get a warrant in the first place. Don't forget the Committee Nunes is heading is now in Phase two of the Investigation and is expanding it to first the State Department and then to other agencies who may have been involved.
Here is what Nunes had to say further about the mess. The relevant portion about future memos begins around 12:45. The portion about Clinton collusion begins around 10:20:;
Andrew McCabe testified to Congress that the Russia PP Dossier was the chief reason for the FISA application - and that doesn't mean other factors were not present. They were, but the Schiff kvetch is a non-sequitur - it is besides the point - making mountains out of sequences. The Justice/FBI reps failed to be CANDID (that's the main story) and did not disclose their full role and the role of others who financed the memo. We will shortly see the application itself which I already have here, that will put an end to Schiff & Co narratives moving the goalposts as soon as the Republicans kick the Schiff ball into the Democrat goalie's crotch... and PHASE II will come their way like a truck bomb.
"Today, the publicly known pre-Election Day Trump-Russia contacts would seem to be small. Some examples:
• George Papadopoulos, a Trump volunteer national security adviser, told the FBI he met with a Kremlin-linked professor in London who promised dirt on Mrs. Clinton. The professor said Moscow owned “thousands” of her emails.
There is no public evidence he produced those emails. Mr. Papadopoulos failed to fulfill his desire for a Trump visit to Moscow. He never went to Moscow!
Mr. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the date he began as a campaign volunteer. News media have speculated that his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller will produce evidence against Trump people." https://is.gd/xJJnS8
• Carter Page, another national security volunteer adviser, traveled to Moscow to give a public speech at a university in July 2016. He has acknowledged the trip was ill-timed. He denies the dossier’s charge that he met with two Kremlin figures and discussed bribes and sanctions.
He has sued Yahoo News and BuzzFeed for libel for reporting Mr. Steele’s assertion. His is one of five libel lawsuits involving three plaintiffs accused by Mr. Steele and his dossier.
Mr. Page, an energy investor and consultant, lived in Moscow in the 2000s, so maintaining Russian contacts would not be unusual and certainly not illegal.
AGB confesses here: Once he poured Russian dressing on his salad and promised never to do it again. AGB also secretly took photos of the Russian Navyready to invade Crimea.
GO AHEAD, READ THE SECOND PARAGRAPH! STILL TRUE ISN'T IT?
Remember what happened to the poor bloke who took a photo of a UW sub? And that nothing happened to a presidential candidate who spread 30,000 emails with top secret info all over the internet? Remember that?
* Donald Trump Jr. agreed to the meeting at the suggestion of Rob Goldstone, a public relations operative linked to a Russian oligarch who did business with the elder Mr. Trump. Mr. Goldstone told the news media that Ms. Veselnitskaya promised evidence of illegal campaign donations to Mrs. Clinton but produced nothing. (AGB: and even if they had, there's nothing illegal about oppo research, is there Komrade Hillary?)
The meeting occurred June 9, five days before the Democratic National Committee and its tech security contractor, CrowdStrike, announced that the Democrats had been hacked by Russian operatives. https://is.gd/6mSBsy
* Paul Manafort pled guilty on money laundering charges having NOTHING to do with Trump, green cheese on the moon, or the color of the famed porn star's hair.
By Andrew G. Benjamin —— Bio and Archives--December 12, 2016
By Matthew Vadum -- MatthewVadum.com —— Bio and Archives--February 4, 2018
Source; https://ratcliffe.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ratclif...
WASHINGTON – Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) issued the following statement on the release and declassification of a memo prepared by the majority members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence regarding oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). He is one of just a handful of members of Congress to have reviewed the underlying source documents for the potential FISA abuses outlined in the majority memo:
“As a former U.S. Attorney and federal terrorism prosecutor with considerable FISA experience, I am more than just troubled by the revelations outlined in this memo. Subsequent to my initial review of the memo, I also reviewed, in detail, the still-classified, underlying source documents upon which the initial warrant application and all subsequent warrant renewal applications to surveil an American citizen were made. I believe the memo unfortunately but accurately highlights questionable actions and departures from required legal standards and practices under FISA by a discrete number of senior agents and officials, who appear to have allowed politics to contaminate our apolitical justice system.
“It is my hope that the revelations of this memo will not be misconstrued as a condemnation of the tens of thousands of brave women and men who nobly serve the public with distinction and integrity in the DOJ and FBI. This memo can and should, however, be viewed as an appropriate expression of Congress’ oversight responsibilities of these vital institutions. Further oversight and accountability for the individuals in question is necessary to ensure that the American people can have confidence in these important institutions going forward.”
###
Legislative News
Congressional Quarterly
C-SPAN
Roll Call
Stateline.org
The Hill
Washington Post
Politics Section
Boston Globe
Dallas News
Denver Post
Los Angeles Times
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Stop Island Park Wildlife Overpasses
Seattle Times
NY Times
Washington Post
Washington Times
USA Today
Beltway Buzz
CQ Politics
First Read
The Hotline
The Note
The Page
Washington Wire
Mike Allen's Playbook
Politico
Roll Call
The Hill
CNN Political Ticker
The Swamp
The Fix
Washington Whispers
Fish Bowl DC
Online Political Sites
Alternative Press Index
Capitol Hill Blue
CommonDreams.org
Digg.com Politics
Drudge Report
Political Insider
Political Wire
Politico
PopPolitics
Real Clear Politics
Salon.com
Slate
Stateline.org
TCOT Report
TomPaine.com
US Politics Guide
© 2024 Created by WTPUSA. Powered by