February 3, 2018: Witch Hunt, Down the Rabbit Hole, America Be Damned

So this is what a partisan witch hunt looks like” opined the editorial board of “The New York Times” as the paper reviewed the case against the FBI and the Department of Justice as 'summarized' by tRUMP stooge Devin Nunes. The paper continued:

“In a demonstration of unbridled self-interest and bottomless bad faith, the Trump White House and its Republican minions in Congress are on the cusp of releasing (the document has since been released) a 'memo' that purports to document the biggest political scandal since Watergate. To pull it off, they are undermining the credibility of the law enforcement community that Republicans once defended so ardently, on the noble-sounding claim that the American public must know the truth.

Don't fall for it. 

Reports suggest that the three and a half page document—produced by the staff of Representative Devin Nunes (R-White House), who somehow still leads the House Intelligence Committee despite his own record of shilling for President Trump, and who is supposed to be recused from these matters—has nothing to do with truth or accountability. Rather, it appears to be misleading propaganda from people who are terrified by the Russian investigation and determined to derail it by any means necessary.” (1)

Russian Affiliated Television (R.A.T.), otherwise known as FOX News has been trumpeting this fraud for two weeks, claiming that it will show untoward bias by the law enforcement agencies and bring the whole investigation crashing down; some panelists and hosts going so far as to suggest that Mueller and his team will be led off, amid the uproar, in chains.

First, the “Times” is quick to suggest that the so-called “Steele Dossier” is not the “Holy Grail” of these investigations. Indeed, it was suspicious contacts between George Papadopoulos and the Russians, reported by an Australian intelligence source earlier in the year that first activated the investigation, a point buried deep in the report, indeed mentioned in passing in the last paragraph. By the time Steele contacted his sources at the FBI and CIA, it was treated as information that only confirmed what the government was hearing from not only the Australians but several other foreign intelligence services. Indeed, the “Times” underscored this by pointing out that Carter Page, another suspicious character in the tRUMP campaign also had dubious Russian ties and had been under surveillance since 2013. (2)

The “Times” editorial board, as well as several intelligence professionals reporting on national television point out that these FISA (Foreign Information Surveillance Act) warrants require reams of documentary and other evidence, involve dozens of agents, analysts, and prosecutors, and authorization to “wiretap” must be renewed every 90 days. In the case of Carter Page, the FISA warrants were renewed at least three times.

Finally, to assume bias is to assume that “investigators were out to fool a federal judge (showing) a profound ignorance of how the intelligence courts actual work and the degree of vetting that precedes every warrant application.” To contend that there is a conspiracy one would require “the involvement of at least a dozen agents and prosecutors, a corrupt or incompetent federal judge, and the director of the F.B.I.--all working in concert to undermine Donald Trump.” (3)

“You could call it a wild-eyed conspiracy theory, only there's no real theory behind it. Instead, there's a mad scramble to set off this latest smoke bomb, despite pleas to not do so from, among other people, Mr. Trump's hand-picked F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray.” After Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein failed to convince the White House to stop its release “the bureau released a highly unusual statement expressing 'grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy”'. In the words of “The Times” editors, referring to tRUMP's minions in Congress, “this shows how far down the rabbit hole they've gone”. (4)

“It would be nice to treat Mr. Trump, Mr. Nunes and their cohort as the junior high school pranksters they resemble, but what they're doing—cynically undermining the nation's trust in law enforcement, fostering an environment of permanent suspicion and subterfuge—is far more dangerous.” (5)

“The question”, asked “The Times”, “is whether there are any adults left in the G.O.P.” (6) Nothing, it should be made clear, is done by Nunes and his cohorts without the express consent of not only the Rescumlican majority of his committee but the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. It's all about winning, concluded “The Times”, America be damned”.

"An' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh".

Impeach and Imprison

________

1. Editorial. “The Republican Plot Against the F.B.I., “The New York Times”, Friday, February 2, 2018. page A20
2. ibid
3. ibid
4. ibid
5. ibid
6. ibid.