Obama's Justice Department Worked With Hillary's Campaign To Get 'Dirt' on Trump
Why hire plumbers to get information on your political opponent when you can just use your party's intelligence agencies?
Opinion: How a senior DOJ official helped Dem researchers on Trump-Russia case
Hundreds of pages of previously unreported emails and memos provide the clearest evidence yet that a research firm, hired by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to find dirt on and defeat Donald Trump, worked early and often with the FBI, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official and the intelligence community during the 2016 presidential election and the early days of Trump's presidency.
Fusion GPS's work and its involvement with several FBI officials have been well reported.
But a close review of these new documents shows just how closely Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, who reported to Obama-era Deputy AG Sally Yates, maintained contact with Fusion — and, in particular, its primary source, former British spy Christopher Steele — before, during and after the election.
....
Ohr’s own notes, emails and text messages show he communicated extensively with Steele and with Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson. Those documents have been turned over in recent weeks to investigative bodies in Congress and the DOJ, but not reviewed outside the investigative ranks until now.They show Ohr had contact with Steele in the days just before the FBI opened its Trump-Russia probe in summer 2016, and then engaged Steele as a “confidential human source” (CHS) assisting in that probe.
....
The FBI specifically instructed Steele that he could no longer “operate to obtain any intelligence whatsoever on behalf of the FBI,” those memos show.Yet, Steele asked Ohr in the Jan. 31 text exchange if he could continue to help feed information to the FBI: “Just want to check you are OK, still in the situ and able to help locally as discussed, along with your Bureau colleagues.”
“I’m still here and able to help as discussed,” Ohr texted back. “I’ll let you know if that changes.”
....
Some of the more tantalizing Ohr contacts occurred in the days when Steele made his first contacts with the FBI in summer 2016 about the Russia matter.“There is something separate I wanted to discuss with you informally and separately. It concerns our favourite (sic) business tycoon!” Steele wrote Ohr on July 1, 2016, in an apparent reference to Trump.
That overture came just four days before Steele walked into the FBI office in Rome with still-unproven allegations that Trump had an improper relationship with Russia, including possible efforts to hijack the presidential election.
....
That meeting occurred exactly one day before FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok formally opened an investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, into whether the Trump campaign was colluding with Moscow to steal the election.At the time, the case was based mostly on an Australian diplomat’s tip that Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos appeared to know in advance that the Russians possessed information involving Hillary Clinton before hacked documents were released on WikiLeaks.
Soon, the case expanded to include allegations that another Trump adviser, Carter Page, might have ties to Russia — an uncorroborated allegation from Fusion GPS’s research now known as the “Steele dossier.”
....
Steele offered Ohr many other theories over their contacts, including a now widely discredited one that the Russian Alfa Bank had a computer server “as a link” to the Trump campaign, Ohr’s notes show.Though much of Steele’s information remained uncorroborated, the FBI nonetheless took the extraordinary step in October 2016 of seeking a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance warrant to monitor Carter Page during the final days of the election, based mostly on Steele’s dossier. The warrant was renewed at least three times, but Page was never charged.
Ohr’s connections to Steele are significant because at least one of the FISA warrants was approved by Ohr’s boss, Yates.
....
In all, Ohr’s notes, emails and texts identify more than 60 contacts with Steele and/or Simpson, some dating to 2002 in London. But the vast majority occurred during the 2016-2017 timeframe that gave birth to one of the most controversial counterintelligence probes in American history.
Judicial Watch's article on this.
“These new docs show the shady, cash-based relationship the Obama FBI had with Clinton operative Christopher Steele,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The anti-Trump Russia ‘investigation’ had Christopher Steele at its center and his misconduct was no impediment to using information from his Russia intelligence collaborators to spy on the Trump team. The corruption and abuse is astonishing.”
But wait there's more.
The Trump Tower Meeting Was Setup By The FBI and McCain
I have been saying that the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr was not allowed in the country because of her alleged connections to the Russian FSB. So how was she able to attend the meeting? Enter McCain, Lynch and Preet Bharara, the then U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York.
But let's back up a bit before we talk about her shall we?
Sen. John McCain brokered a clandestine and illegal deal, feeding Classified FBI intelligence to Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to discredit Donald Trump prior to the 2016 election, according to federal law enforcement insiders.
McCain, a sitting GOP Senator, was provided names of “problematic Russians” the FBI had recently investigated or were in the process of investigating. Top FBI executives worked with McCain to provide the names of the Russians, FBI insiders confirmed. Then McCain, handed the list off to Fusion GPS who was working with Christopher Steele.
One of the names on the list was embattled Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya who was considered an international security risk and prior to the June 2016 sit down at Trump Tower was not even allowed entry into the United States or the UK, federal sources said.
Veselnitskaya also set up the infamous meeting at Trump Tower weeks after her name was handed off to McCain. The same meeting was used as an excuse to wiretap Trump associates.
Veselnitskaya also set up the infamous meeting at Trump Tower weeks after her name was handed off to McCain. The same meeting was used as an excuse to wiretap Trump associates.
What was the purpose for this set upped meeting with Jr and Veselnitskaya? She told Jr that she had 'dirt' on Hillary, but that wasn't the only reason for it. The meeting would not have happened if there wasn't some interference from McCain, the FBI, the NSA and the GCHQ which is the British equivalent of the American intelligence agencies. It was setup so that Trumps campaign could be spied on.
After the concocted Trump Tower meeting by the Deep State, the British spy agency could officially justify wiretapping Trump associates as an intelligence front for NSA because the Russian lawyer Veselnitskaya was considered an international security risk and prior to the June sit down was not even allowed entry into the United States or the UK, federal sources said.
By using GCHQ, the NSA and its intelligence partners had carved out a loophole to wiretap Trump without a warrant. While it is illegal for U.S. agencies to monitor phones and emails of U.S. citizens inside the United States absent a warrant, it is not illegal for British intelligence to do so. Even if the GCHQ was tapping Trump on U.S. soil at Fort Meade.
....
Federal law enforcement sources said Bharara was simply following the orders of Attorney General Lynch, who lobbied the State Department to issue the disavowed Russian a B1/B2 non-immigrant visa. This permitted Veselnitskaya entry into the United States for the sole purpose of entrapping Trump associates to use as fuel to commission wiretaps, federal sources said.
I have been working on this essay since Tuesday and I think it goes well with the essay that Amanda posted today.
Ed Mass linked to it in his comment in her essay, but I've included more information that shows the damned ugly Russian plot was ginned up by many players that want to brainwash people about Russia and Putin and it gives congress more reasons to sanction Russia. Which is illegal BTW. But when was the last time this country obeyed international laws?
Comments
Seven times the FBI tried to entrap the Trump campaign
This is another excellent article that shows how Russia Gate would have never gotten off the ground if Hillary, the FBI, Fusion GPS and others hadn't tried to entrap the people who were working on Trump's campaign. The truth about this is going to get out one day, but will anyone have to face the consequences of their actions? Probably not in our lifetime. This country is too broken for justice to work anymore.
Seven Mysterious Preludes to the FBI's Trump-Russia Probe
Your narrative is the only one that follows the facts
...in evidence.
The truth is already out there. I tuned into AM radio today and the Right Wing has a firm grasp of these events and they have recordings of testimony and interviews that they play for their listeners. They are also playing the dishonest allegations made by prominent Democrats. It's presented calmly and without the usual Tea Party crazy-talk. And across all stations, this is immediately followed by a discussion of the importance of the 2018 mid-term vote to prevent a congressional takeover by the people who created the Russia Hoax and threw the nation into turmoil.
Because the truth is out there now, it will be investigated and exposed to the American people, daily, all the way up to the November elections. So not only did the corrupt incompetence of the Democratic Party stick us with President Donald Trump, but their encore of dirty tricks, political sabotage, and war-baiting has likely doomed the possibility of a balanced House to put a check on soul-destroying Republican policies.
The Democratic Party is run by fools, who neither know nor care what the American people want for their country.
Amen Pluto
and fuck the Russia bs. The whole world is run by renegade oligrach's and insane killer crooks. This internecine political natonalistic here in the USA,USA,USA insanity hurts my head and diverts any resistance into a one way street. One that ends in a cul-de-sac wherein we eat ourselves and all fall down. Who cares?
Seriously who really cares, of course they are all complicit on the Demoratic side. Obama, the Clinton's does anyone really believe they did not do business with Russian oligrach's or the Russian state. Like herein the US or the UK, the Russian oligarchical collectivist's are not one and the same as the state.
That's crazy what is our 'state' other then dueling partisan psycho killer crime families? So I just do not give a damn about this absurd ongoing distraction among the pols of mass destruction. Take a look at the world we are living in and tell me again why I should care who colluded with who in DC or even my state? They are all complicit both here in the USA and everywhere these asshole pols and their runners who want to rule the world for profit and domination and are reeking misery, havoc on humans and the planet.
Well now that you mentioned Russian oligarchs
Oleg Deripaska is a Russian oligarch who is made out to be a bad guy in the Russia Gate saga. I'll need to search for the reasons why he is, but he's supposed to be one of the bad Russians who has close ties to Putin which always makes them complicit in getting Trump elected. Six degrees of separation and all that .... I'll get back to you when I find it. But let's look at how he was involved with Ohr, Steele and the FBI in creating the dossier. And Manafort. I'm pretty sure that he was connected to John Podesta too, but since he is a close friend to the Clintons he gets immunity for doing what Manafort did.
Emails show 2016 links among Steele, Ohr, Simpson — with Russian oligarch in background
Im too tired to properly excerpt this because there is so much information about various topics that it wouldn't make sense, but I recommend that people read it to see more evidence that Russia Gate is a big fraud that was just made up by Hillary, the FBI and others in the Obama justice system. Mueller is never going to prove that Russia interfered with the election or any of the other stuff he's looking for.
Thank you, snoopy,
for all that you are doing to keep this as clear as possible.
You and others I've read refer to Deripaska as
But here is a video, clearly a propaganda piece but nevertheless widely viewed as a demonstration of Putin humiliating Deripaska:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfbWnDXCx8]
Here's another video
presumably about Deripaska, this one by George Webb:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJp45otkcEM]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJp45otkcEM
Day 44.1 Bruce Ohr's Task Force Is Just McCabe/Deripaska/Levinson C-24
For what it's worth, I can't possibly know how well documented any of George Webb's claims are here. I mean, his narration and visuals are just thrown out and thrown together and could be pointless. But what I hope to assert is that none of the mainstream media's representations of Russian oligarchs or organized crime realities should be accepted, especially those that assert our law enforcement or intelligence agencies, at the top, work for the American people.
Thanks for the videos, Linda
that show him in a different light. I may have gotten that opinion about him from reading sites that weren't truthful about his history. With so much propaganda being shoveled on us it's hard to know what's what.
@shaharazade OK, I feel really
OK, I feel really weird asking this--but what exactly are we afraid Russia is going to do?
I mean, suppose Russia were trying to manipulate us...manipulate us into what? So far, the only agendas I can identify are 1)they want to maintain a foothold in the Middle East, granting them additional oil to what they have inside their own borders, 2)they want access to the Black Sea (big surprise there), and 3)they want to avoid World War III. I don't have a problem with any of that. What horrible Russian things am I, as an American, supposed to be fearing? What horrible things are they going to do to me that American oligarchs aren't already doing?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Good question.
And I don't want to hijack your question and answer with shaharazade, but this is also the question that would be appropriate at any number of other threads and discussions about Russiagate.
My answer would be that Putin is not Yeltsin, not plundering Russia for the gang of Bushworld thugs, who were asset stripping, money laundering, drug running, human trafficking killers. Supposedly, at any rate, he's challenging those oligarchs to pay taxes, provide jobs, even jobs with living wages, and to clean up their act. For this we are supposed to hate and fear him. Oh, and he's opposed to terrorism and bombed ISIS and their oil smuggling trucks. For this we are supposed to go to war with him.
I'm bitter. But obviously, our neocon government and media believe Yeltsin and Bushworld created the purest example of capitalism ever in its most unfettered form, producing unregulated plunder and transactions and profits to die for. He's a party-pooper, that's why we're supposed to hate Putin.
That's my understanding, too, Linda
Putin spoiled everything by restoring Russia's modest economy within a decade. This was not part of the deal the American Robber Barons made with Yeltsin. The US had the right to plunder Russia in return for bringing Russia unregulated capitalism. Putin used capitalism to make Russia great again and improve the lives of the Russian people. Now the Russians don't want regime change. This is completely wrong. The free world is under attack because the Soviet Union is back... or something.
The fact is, the majority of Americans succumbed to this brainwashing. They all want a chance to use the word "thug" in a sentence. This is a complete loss for the US. Several generations have been rendered useless and civil society must be repopulated again from scratch.
@Pluto's Republic And here I
And here I thought the problem was that Putin wanted to get together with China and buy and sell oil in yuan.
Either way, I find myself unable to care. And yes, I know that the crash of the petrodollar will hurt me and everyone I know bad. But then again, the existence of the petrodollar has more or less created our doom for us.
These psychopathic wrecking balls can't even do empire right.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I know, right?
@Linda Wood I think you and
I think you and Pluto are right. Though of course, the petrodollar plays into it too. But yeah, there's a lot of resentment on the part of our PTB. They don't like it when things go a way they don't expect.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Interfere with the election. Again
Ever since Herheinous lost the easiest election in history the PTB have said that the only way Trump could have beaten her was with outside interference. Russia is the one they blamed it on for various reasons. And now they are saying that Russia is still trying to interfere with the midterms, are hacking into candidate's campaigns and trying to sow social discord throughout the country.
Of course there has been more voting interference from Israel and the other foreign countries that give boatloads of cash to the government. Plus they are rewriting history and saying that it was Russia that started the OWS, BLM and DAPL protests as well as lots of other things.
It's also a soft propaganda campaign that will see people giving their permission for war against Russia. The WMDs crap won't work this time so they came at it from a different direction.
Russia Gate will be the gift that keeps on giving. Something happens? Blame Russia for it.
@snoopydawg I hate to sound
I hate to sound like a broken record, but you can't trash a garbage house.
Let them investigate Bushco and bring charges against them for election fraud and, well, whatever charges you can bring under the Voting Rights Act or the Civil Rights Act. Put those fuckers on the stand in a legal procedure that has at least some chance of at least sending them to Club Fed for several years.
Next, do the same for Hillaryco in regard to the 2016 Democratic primaries.
Do that, and I'll consider being worried about what other countries are doing to our elections.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
And all I got was a copter ride
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Speaking of which...
True then. True today.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
Never saw the whole "liar" quote before...
What a devastating, and accurate, assessment of HRC. Too bad nobody paid attention back then.
The Washington Post gave this claim about Zeifman
and Hillary 4 Pinocchios. Snopes also said it was false. Then there's this....https://www.aim.org/aim-column/hillarys-crocodile-tears-in-connecticut/.
Then there's this....https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/06/29/the_smear_factor_w...
And finally this....http://www.urbanmyths.com/urban-myths/urban-myths-news/fact-or-fiction-w...
Anybody know the truth about Hillary being fired? I sure can't find it.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
The only technical question...
about that pic is whether Zeifman terminated her because of Her sleazy antics or whether she was terminated because Nixon's resignation made the Inquiry moot.
Hardly a reason to completely discount all of the rest of his statements - as Wapo and Snopes (both in the tank for Her) attempt to do.
The AIM post lays out Zeifman's recollections about Hillary's activities pretty well.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
I found this article on why Hillary was fired from watergate
I can't verify its accuracy, but then who can any more? This guy tried to bring it to people's attention in 2008 after she said that she had to dodge sniper fire.
Watergate-era Judiciary chief of staff: Hillary Clinton fired for lies, unethical behavior
The 3 articles contradict themselves don't they?
This one was written by Zeifer who stated that he did fire her.
https://www.aim.org/aim-column/hillarys-crocodile-tears-in-connecticut/
Then there's this site that has a copy of a newspaper article on it where Zeifer stated that he didn't have the power to fire her.
https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/pdf/zeifman-20080404.pdf
So yeah it'd be nice to know if she had been fired or not.
Zeifer ended his article with this. I have to agree with him on that.
Two decades later Bill Clinton became President. As was later to be described in The Wall Street Journal by Henry Ruth—the lead Watergate courtroom prosecutor—“The Clintons corrupted the soul of the Democratic Party.”
Outstanding work
Regardless of whether or not we like Trump, this essay shows just how our own government was being used to spy on a political campaign for partisan reasons. No American, regardless of political stripe, should condone this abuse of our taxpayer funded government resources.
Thank you for this well sourced essay!
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Oops. I see I still had work to do on this
I apologize for the sloppiness and repeating the same information. I'll just say that I'm having a bad hair day.
But the information shows that there would be no Russia Gate if the Obama justice department hadn't worked so hard to create it.
I think that entrapment article should get more exposure, but that's not going to happen because the man stream media doesn't investigate issues very often, they just report what they are told to.
Long live our Banana Democracy!
From East Germany to Pinochet's Chile to Tammany Hall, a politicized bureaucracy is the tell tale sign of corrupt authoritarian government.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
And yet Trump still won.
The more stories come out about just how ridiculously Hillary stacked the deck in her favor, the more amazed I am that somehow the guy was still able to pull it off.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
Haven't you heard the reason why he did win?
Remember when Bernie was accused of getting access to the DNC and Hillary's information because of some computer hiccup? Well apparently that was actually the Cambridge analytics that did that and it showed Hillary's game plan for the rest of the election. She apparently was going to campaign in the 3 states that Trump won, but after CA gave him her plans he started buying ads and upping his campaign in those states and that is why he won them. That's why he got more electoral votes than she did. I'm serious. This is what was being peddled on ToP recently.
But they apparently won't admit that Hillary did not go to those states even though her campaign staff had been telling her that there were problems there. Nope. Instead of going there she went to California for one more fundraiser with her wealthy peers.
BTW. The whole point of Russia Gate is that Putin and Trump basically stole the election from her right? Then why did she get 3 million more votes than Trump did? If Russia had changed people's votes don't ya think that they would have changed enough of them so she could win?
The 3 million vote claim is bogus...
according to statistician Richard Charnin.
Personally, I'm still waiting for California to count 2 million votes from the Dem primary they somehow never seemed to get around to.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
They don't need to.
After all, our dear friends the MSM called California for Her the day before it even happened.
Not that I'm bitter.
@WaterLily But somehow the MSM
But somehow the MSM is our friend. We need to protect their journalistic freedom. Like they have any.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
You said it.
And I’ll always wonder what the vote counts would have looked like in a completely fair and honest election. I know the Hillbots assume HER would have a landslide but I doubt HER would have done as well as she did.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
Great essay!
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
merci beaucoup mon ami
Thanks for putting these sources together
Nice to see the set up clearly. Now it seems the goal is to shut down access to such sources. Pluto's comment about AM talk radio was also interesting.
A blue wave is doubtful...and if it happened we would end up with CIA loyalists as our reps. It's lose, lose.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/03/07/dems-m07.html
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The party out of power usually wins
But a wave? I doubt it. They will have more House seats, sure, but I doubt they win the House. And If Nancy Pelosi does become the new Speaker, then what? Either she goes along with Trump or stalemate. Trump's agenda is in place, stalemate. So in 2020 with whatever turd du jour that runs, Trump can run on "I started to bring America back but the Democrats have frozen progress. Re-elect me and throw the Democrats out to enable me to Make America Great Again." Any repercussions of trade war or tax cuts for the rich will be blamed on Democrat opposition. Red Wave 2020. Democrats will blame it on Russia and Greens.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
This is the real scandal!
I wonder why Trump doesn't prosecute?
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
(No subject)
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy