The FBI Director and the assistant AG have told the WH not to release the memo

[lawgator1]

The Schiff memo sure fills in a lot of gaps. It also disputes some in the Nunes memo. Glad we were allowed to see this.

You are wasting your breath. They screen out anything true and tending to hurt Trump. It's part of their mental illness.

 

[OuterBanksVol]

So I read the memo. Difficult to read with the redactions.

Summary:

1. The FBI did not get the dossier until September, 2016, seven weeks after they launched the probe into Trumps campaign.

2. Steele was never paid by the FBI for the dossier.

3. Subsequent FISA memo contained clear and explicit disclaimers how the dossier was paid for and that it was politically motivated.

It corrected other falsehoods made by Nunes and his staffers.

In sum, it appears to blow up the crux of the Nunes memo. He is a tool.

 

[luthervol]

Please don't try to spin this memo. It is obvious that there isn't any substance in it. Schiff put in source and methods to make trump block it and look like there was something init that trump wanted to hide. It probably worked but if you try to make this memo into anything more you will look like an ideological fool

The Schiff memo does what most knew it would; shows the Nunes memo to be nothing more than a partisan attempt to discredit the investigation and throw unwarranted suspicions elsewhere.

Nunes reminds me of the kid that gets busted red handed, has no plausible defense, so he points and says "look over there", and tries to run away.

If Nunes, or the kid, has a lick of sense, they know they're not going to get away with it.

 

[Vol_Doc]

So I read the memo. Difficult to read with the redactions.

Summary:

1. The FBI did not get the dossier until September, 2016, seven weeks after they launched the probe into Trumps campaign.

2. Steele was never paid by the FBI for the dossier.

3. Subsequent FISA memo contained clear and explicit disclaimers how the dossier was paid for and that it was politically motivated.

It corrected other falsehoods made by Nunes and his staffers.

In sum, it appears to blow up the crux of the Nunes memo. He is a tool.

Yeah, they even quoted the relevant portion of the FISA app.

 

[Sandman 423]

So I read the memo. Difficult to read with the reactions.

Summary:

1. The FBI did not get the dossier until September, 2016, seven weeks after they launched the probe into Trumps campaign.

2. Steele was never paid by the FBI for the dossier.

3. Subsequent FISA memo contained clear and explicit disclaimers how the dossier was paid for and that it was politically motivated.

It corrected other falsehoods made by Nunes and his staffers.

In sum, it appears to blow up the crux of the Nunes memo. He is a tool.

Why has carter page still not been charged? Kinda odd, isn’t it.

 

[lawgator1]

Why has carter page still not been charged? Kinda odd, isn’t it.

I'm betting he made his deal a long time ago and wore a wire. Anybody that talked to him about anything shady has got to be freaking. Including Trumplestillskin.

 

[Sandman 423]

It would have leaked by now. There is no way the folks in DC could keep it quiet.

 

[OuterBanksVol]

Missed this tidbit. Pretty big deal re: Conspiracy charges.

"The memo also states that “Russian agents previewed their hack and dissemination of stolen emails.” Was this a heads-up to Roger Stone? If they were previewing the email release to anyone associated with the Trump campaign, that surely constitutes collusion by anyone’s definition".

 

[lawgator1]

Missed this tidbit. Pretty big deal re: Conspiracy charges.

"The memo also states that “Russian agents previewed their hack and dissemination of stolen emails.” Was this a heads-up to Roger Stone? If they were previewing the email release to anyone associated with the Trump campaign, that surely constitutes collusion by anyone’s definition".

A very possible scenario here is that collusion is proven to high up campaign officials but they have a hard time getting proof together that Trump knew of it.

Personally I believe that this is the reason we've seen the strategy unfold as it has. Trying to turn someone to give up Trump. Question is, has it already happened?

 

[1972 Grad]

A very possible scenario here is that collusion is proven to high up campaign officials but they have a hard time getting proof together that Trump knew of it.

Personally I believe that this is the reason we've seen the strategy unfold as it has. Trying to turn someone to give up Trump. Question is, has it already happened?

HYGHAAWDEKI?

Have you got him already, and we don't even know it?

 

[Vol_Doc]

A very possible scenario here is that collusion is proven to high up campaign officials but they have a hard time getting proof together that Trump knew of it.

Personally I believe that this is the reason we've seen the strategy unfold as it has. Trying to turn someone to give up Trump. Question is, has it already happened?

It's pretty evident that Manafort and Gates were in deep with at least one Russian with ties to organized crime. One of the talking heads on tv suggested that Manafort could be the big bad here, and Trump may have been totally oblivious. We'll see.

 

[Carl Pickens]

So I read the memo. Difficult to read with the redactions.

Summary:

1. The FBI did not get the dossier until September, 2016, seven weeks after they launched the probe into Trumps campaign.

2. Steele was never paid by the FBI for the dossier.

3. Subsequent FISA memo contained clear and explicit disclaimers how the dossier was paid for and that it was politically motivated.

It corrected other falsehoods made by Nunes and his staffers.

In sum, it appears to blow up the crux of the Nunes memo. He is a tool.

I thought Hillary and the DNC paid for the dossier

 

[davethevol]

I thought Hillary and the DNC paid for the dossier

They did. Steele was on the FBI payroll for other things. It was never alleged that he funded the dossier.

 

[Vol_Doc]

I thought Hillary and the DNC paid for the dossier

Correct. They were not specifically named, but anyone with a brain would infer that it was a democratic opponent. It was plainly described as opposition research in the FISA application.

 

[Squints]

So I read the memo. Difficult to read with the redactions.

Summary:

1. The FBI did not get the dossier until September, 2016, seven weeks after they launched the probe into Trumps campaign.

2. Steele was never paid by the FBI for the dossier.

3. Subsequent FISA memo contained clear and explicit disclaimers how the dossier was paid for and that it was politically motivated.

It corrected other falsehoods made by Nunes and his staffers.

In sum, it appears to blow up the crux of the Nunes memo. He is a tool.

What’d you expect Schiff-head’s memo to say, we’re in full agreement with the Nunes memo?

Here’s what I say.....

 

[Vol0725]

Why was the FISA court misled about Carter Page’s past interactions with the FBI in which he helped build a case against Russian operatives in America who were brought to justice? It defies belief that the Department of Justice and FBI failed to provide information to a secret court that they had provided to an open federal court regarding their past interactions with Page.

 

[ajvol01]

Oh, on a Saturday?

Shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

What are you trying to say?

Didn't Schiff decide when to release the memo?

 

[Vol_Doc]

Why was the FISA court misled about Carter Page’s past interactions with the FBI in which he helped build a case against Russian operatives in America who were brought to justice? It defies belief that the Department of Justice and FBI failed to provide information to a secret court that they had provided to an open federal court regarding their past interactions with Page.

Perhaps it wasn't felt pertinent to the investigation at hand. They may have thought he was a double agent.

 

[lawgator1]

It's pretty evident that Manafort and Gates were in deep with at least one Russian with ties to organized crime. One of the talking heads on tv suggested that Manafort could be the big bad here, and Trump may have been totally oblivious. We'll see.

It's possible.

If it weren't for the fact that Trump is so often tied to sketchy financing himself I'd give him more benefit of the doubt.

 

[Vol0725]

Perhaps it wasn't felt pertinent to the investigation at hand. They may have thought he was a double agent.

Maybe. Nonetheless, it was withheld. Why?

 

[Vol_Doc]

Maybe. Nonetheless, it was withheld. Why?

No idea. More interesting to me is that the FISA warrant was made after Page left the Trump campaign and the investigation began more than 7 weeks prior. They clearly initiated the investigation based on other evidence and appear to have been using Page for something else. At that point, monitoring him wouldn't have given them an in to the campaign. I think there's a lot to this investigation we don't know.

 

[luthervol]

HYGHAAWDEKI?

Have you got him already, and we don't even know it?

IANSBTIADP.


I am not sure but there is a distinct possibility.

 

[Vol0725]

[twitter]967601002290601984[/twitter]

 

[Vol_Doc]

[twitter]967601002290601984[/twitter]

Interesting spin. The details aren't important? Ok.

 

[Vol0725]

Lol...poor lil Schiffty and his media minions won’t like this. lol:

Republicans Refute 'Point by Point' Democratic Memo on Dossier | Sara A. Carter


Here’s the point by point refutation from Republicans of the Democratic memo:

Democrats: Christopher Steele’s raw intelligence reporting did not inform the FBI’s decision to initiate its counterintelligence investigation in late July, 2016.

Republicans: As stated in the declassified GOP memo on FISA abuse, information about Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos “triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in the late July 2016 by FBI agent Peter Strzok.” Once underway, the inve stigation was fueled by Christopher Steele’s dossier, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used to get a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on Carter Page. DOJ and FBI’s reliance on the DNC – and Clinton – campaign funded dossier in court filings, not the overall investigation, is the focus of the GOP memo.

Democrats: DOJ’s FISA warrant application was based on “compelling evidence” and “probable cause” of Page’s pre-campaign activities.

Republicans: The Democrat memo fails to explain why, if evidence of Page’s past activities was so compelling, the Steele dossi er was used in the FISA application at all, much less formed the “bulk” of the Page FISA application.

The Democrat memo also fails to explain why, if DOJ and FBI had “probable cause” that Page was a Russian agent, they waited until shortly after receivin g the Steele dossier to seek a warrant. (As noted on page 3 of the Democrat memo, the dossier “reach[ed] the counterintelligence team investigating Russia at FBI headquarters” in “mid – September 2016,” just a few weeks before the initial FISA application.)

Additionally, the Democrat memo — like the FISA application itself — paints an incomplete and misleading picture of Page’s past activities and interactions with the FBI . Both omit that, in a secretly – taped statement reproduced in a 2015 federal court filing, a Russian intelligence officer called Page “an idiot.” This omission could mislead the reader regarding the Russians’ assessment of Page’s capabilities and utility, and it is troubling that DOJ failed to provide to a secret court material information fro m a public court filing .

By participating in voluntary interviews with FBI, Page cooperated with the successful prosecution of t he Russian intelligence officer who called him “an idiot” — and two of his colleagues.

Democrats: A specific subsection of the Page FISA application refers to Steele’s reporting on Page and his alleged coordination with Russian officials.

Republicans: As confirmed by Senators Grassley and Graham’s criminal referral of Steele, the dossier formed “a significant portion ” of the Carter Page FISA application.

Democrats: DOJ provided additional information obtained through multiple independent sources that corroborated Steele’s reporting.

Republicans: At the time of the initial application, all of the Steele dossier’s specific claims about Page — including that he met with Igor Sechin and Igor Diveykin in Moscow in July 2016 — were uncorroborated by any independent source, and they remain unconfirmed.

Democrats: DOJ provided the Court with “more than sufficient information to understand the political context of Steele’s research.”

Republicans: As clearly stated in the GOP memo , none of the Page FISA applications “disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele’s efforts.”

Instead, the FISA application relies on a convoluted statement buried in a footnote . This is clearly an attempt to avoid informing the C ourt, in a straightforward manner that t he DNC and Clinton campaign paid for the dossier. (Taking a cue from DOJ and FBI, the Democrat memo omits any reference to the DNC or Clinton campaign.)

Moreover, the footnote obscures, rather than clarifies Steele’s political motivation — and what DOJ and FBI officials actually knew about the dossier’s political origins . The footnote “speculates” on the “likely” motivation of “U.S. Person” — Fusion GPS co – founder Glenn Simpson — while intimating that “Source #1” — Steele — was unaware “as to the motivation behind the research.” In fact, as disclosed in the GOP memo and confirmed by the Graham – Grassley referral, Steele was motivated by a “desperate” desire to keep Donald Trump from becoming President.

Democrats: DOJ explained the FBI’s reasonable basis for finding Steele credible

Republicans: FBI’s reliance on Steele’s credibility was badly misplaced. Steele violated FBI’s trust by making unauthorized disclosures to the media in October 2016, resulting in his termination as an FBI source.

Moreover, as explained in Senators Graham and Grassley’s declassified criminal referral of Steele, he “told the FBI he had not shared the Carter Page dossier information beyond his client [Glenn Simpson] and FBI,” and DOJ “repeated that claim to the FISC” — four times . In reality, in September 2016 — before the initial FISA application — Steele had personally shared dossier information with:

Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News , which published a September 2016 article on Page usin g Steele’s information (as now publicly confirmed by Isikoff);
At least four other U.S. media outlets (confirmed in Steele’s May 2017 U.K. court filing, which was made before — but not disclosed in the June 2017 FISA renewal);
Associate Deputy Attorney Ge neral Bruce Ohr, whose wife was employed by Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Trump (as described in the GOP memo);
A senior State Department official, Jonathan Winer (publicly confirmed by Winer in a Washington Post op – ed);
Perkins Coie , the law firm for DNC and the Clinton campaign (as described in the GOP memo).
Finally, notwithstanding FBI’s confidence in Steele , at the time of the initial FISA application the agency had virtually no visibility into the credibility of Steele’s sub – sources and sub – sub – sources who originated the dossier’s allegations.

Democrats: The GOP memo does not cite evidence that Steele disclosed to Yahoo News details included in the FISA warrant.

Republicans: As noted in the Democrat memo, both the initial FISA application and the Steele dossier include the allegation from Steele that Carter Page met with two specific Russians, Igor Sechin and Igor Diveykin, in July 2016. A September 2016 article by Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News contains the exact same allegation , attributed to a “well – placed Western intelligence source.” Steele has admitted to meeting with Yahoo News in September 2016, and Isikoff has publicly confirmed that Steele was a source for the article.

Democrats: DOJ never paid Steele for the “dossier”

Republicans: As clearly stated in the GOP memo, FBI authorized payment to Steele for the dossier information — before he was terminated as an FBI source for making unauthorized disclosures to the media. This financial motivation was not disclosed to the Court.

Democrats: The GOP memo’s reference to Bruce Ohr is misleading.

Republicans: Steele’s desperation to keep Donald Trump from becoming President — described in the GOP memo and confirmed by the Graham – Grassley referral — was known to senior DOJ official Bruce Ohr before the initial FISA application, and known t o FBI before any of the renewals. (The summary of Ohr’s first interview with FBI about Steele is dated November 22, 2016.)

Remarkably, neither Steele’s bias, nor Ohr’s relationship with Steele or the FBI, nor the fact that Ohr’s wife worked for Fusion GPS on its DNC – and Clinton campaign – funded Trump research, was disclosed to the Court in any of the FISA applications.

Democrats: Peter Strzok and Lisa Page’s text messages are irrelevant to the FISA application.

Republicans: Strzok opened the counterintelligence investigation of which the Carter Page FISA application was a part. Additionally, both Strzok and Lisa Page were members of the team conducting the investigation, which page 3 of the Democrat memo itself describes as “so closely held.” Especially given the small size of the team, the apparent bias of the investigators displayed in Strzok – Page text messages is highly relevant to an analysis of the investigation, including the controversial decision to seek a FISA war.