Rosenstein Authorized Release of Strzok-Page Texts

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein acknowledged in a court filing Friday that he authorized the release of text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to media outlets.

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Rosenstein said in a declaration filed in response to a lawsuit Strzok has pending against the Justice Department and FBI that he authorized releasing the text messages to media outlets Dec. 12, 2017, the eve of his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

“The disclosure obviously would adversely affect public confidence in the FBI, but providing the most egregious messages in one package would avoid the additional harm of prolonged selective disclosures and minimize the appearance of the Department concealing information that was embarrassing to the FBI,” said Rosenstein, who left the Justice Department in May 2019.

Strzok, the former deputy chief of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, sued the Justice Department and FBI on Aug. 6, 2019, for unlawful termination, infringement of due process, and violations of the Privacy Act. He said he consulted with the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Affairs, which determined that there was no legal basis preventing the release of the messages, and the authorized the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs to provide 375 messages to a group of media outlets.

Rosenstein asserted that Strzok and Page’s privacy interests were not violated by releasing the messages because they “were sent on government phones with the knowledge that they were subject to review by FBI” and because they “were so inappropriate and intertwined with their FBI work that they raised concerns about political bias influencing official duties.”

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The Justice Department argued that Rosenstein did his due diligence by having his aides consult with the DOJ’s top privacy official Peter Winn on the release of the text messages, and cannot be held responsible for violating the Privacy Act because there was no willful intent.

“Even if [the] Plaintiff could show that the disclosure was somehow inconsistent with the Privacy Act — the Department did not intentionally or willfully violate the statute,” the court filings read. Strzok and Page, who were both members of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation team, were caught exchanging messages that were disparaging of President Trump and highly partisan in nature throughout 2016.

Page, who eventually resigned from the Bureau, sued the DOJ last month over the release of the text messages, claiming it violated the Federal Privacy Act. She said she has suffered numerous damages including therapy costs and “permanent loss of earning capacity due to reputational damage.”

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Strzok also sued the DOJ last month, claiming his First Amendment Rights had been violated. He is seeking reinstatement on the basis that his firing was unconstitutional. Rosenstein’s declaration was part of the government’s defense in Strzok’s lawsuit.

Rosenstein resigned from his post with the DOJ in April and is now with a corporate law firm in Washington, D.C.

Democrats Cant be Trusted with Intelligence Briefings

This site on May of 2018, wrote a piece regarding John Kerry’s global shadow foreign policy operations. His organization is called Diplomacy Works. Two areas of concentration for John Kerry via his organization since he launched it in 2017 are Iran and North Korea.

On his team of over 50 people are: Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street and a former Clinton advisor, former Ambassador for Qatar, Dana Smith Shell, who also worked for Clinton and Kerry. Then there is Antony Blinken who is a former US Deputy Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor; former Ambassador Nicholas Burns who worked for Hillary; former Senator Tom Daschle; Jonathan Finer, former policy planner at the US State Department; Michele Flournoy, Juan Gonzalez, a special advisor to VP Joe Biden; Avril Haines, former Deputy National Secruity Advisor to Obama; Dr. Colin Kahl, former Special Assistant to President Obama and VP Joe Biden; Robert Malley, former Special Assistant to the Obama White House; Jen Psaki, former Obama White House communications director; former Ambassador Wendy Sherman to name a few.

Sounds like all Deep Staters….right? They are.

So with America just off the 2-3 year Mueller investigation, with continued lawsuits against policy decisions from the Trump White House, with constant leaks that came from not only the FBI and members of Congress to the media including the Washington Post and the New York Times and then the leak of the leak to the pesky whistle-blower about a phone call that launched the impeachment adventure, no one inside the Trump White House should trust anyone inside the Beltway.

Past working relationships from the Obama administration go on to be renewed relationships in new and often obscure places and such continues to be true with the names listed above. Take for example the name above Jonathan Winer….he at one point was special envoy to Libya and assistant secretary of state for international law under John Kerry. If his name is rather familiar, it should be. He and Christopher Steele are old pals from 2009. He too got his hands of the dossier summary and conferred with Victoria Nuland and Sidney Blumenthal.

Then there is Wendy Sherman, that when working for John Kerry was assigned as the North Korea Policy coordinator. Prior to that, Sherman directed the 1988 Democratic National Committee. She also did stints at Emily’s List, for former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, as president of Fannie Mae Foundation and even was a foreign policy advisor to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign.

Kinda wonder now about those deep state relationships right? If you care to understand just one more among John Kerry’s team, let’s look at Robert Malley. He is a lawyer and most of all a communist sympathizer. Yup, a real anti-semite and in 2008 held meetings with Hamas. In 2014, the Obama administration named Malley to the National Security Council to work with Susan Rice as an expert on the Middle East.

So, when it comes to covert military operations such as that of the drone strike killing Qassim Soleimani and the failed strike in Yemen to take out the other Quds Force commander, Abdul Reza Shala’i who commands the Houthis, would you advise the Gang of 8 or others in Congress?

By the way, directly after the strike to kill Soleimani, Trump dispatched a back channel message via the Swiss embassy to Iran to NOT ESCALATE. Well, Iran did.

The failed strike was first reported by the Washington Post…hummm, how did they know? Shala’i does need to meet a drone as he leads the commanders in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. Remember how those missiles and drones from Yemen strike Saudi Arabian targets?

The United States has a $15 million bounty on him. Shala’i directed the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington DC in 2011.

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This was a plot right out of Hollywood actually that included an Iranian-American used car salesman and resident of Texas names Manssor Arbabsiar who has a cousin high up in the Quds Force named…wait for it….Abdul Reza Shahla’i. The assassination by the way paid well if successful, $1.5 million. (criminal complaint found here)

This was a plot right here in our homeland…those Democrats overlook the connections including Soleimani….

 

Schiff/Pelosi Protecting Hillary’s Channel to Ukraine Inquiry?

How would Nellie Ohr be able to connect with Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian Prime Minister that was in prison? This was a woman that had one charge of many that she ordered the contact killing of a parliamentary deputy and businessman in 1996. During the time that Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, 2013, she was in support of Tymonshenko and working to get her released from prison.Maybe those missing emails have some clues…gotta wonder.

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Tymoshenko, the heroine of street protests in 2004 called the “Orange Revolution” which overturned the old post-Soviet order, is serving a jail sentence for abuse of office as prime minister.

That charge relates to a 2009 deal with Russia which the present government says saddled the Ukrainian economy with an exorbitant price for imports of Russian gas. She has denied any wrongdoing and says she is the victim of a political vendetta. More here from the Huffington Post.

Perhaps releasing communications between VP Biden and Ukraine are in order as well.

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During her testimony, Nellie Ohr while working for Fusion GPS on two research project said she got most of her information from open sources. Could it be that since Fusion GPS was hired by Hillary that Hillary was calling in a favor and helped Nellie connect with Yulia? Or did the connection betwee Nellie Ohr and Yulia Tymoshenko have coordination at the hands of Bruce Ohr her husband and other operatives at the time at the Department of Justice?

Yulia was released from prison and then filed a lawsuit against Paul Manafort.

A collection of open source information all compiled and with strategic intelligence and thinking can make and often does for a classifed report. So, if you so inclined, much can be gained from the Bruce Ohr 302’s found here.

The House also hosted Nellie Ohr for testimony and at the time, little was either known or ask of her about Ukraine. Towards the end of the interview, Nellie was asked about whether she was asked by Fusion GPS to research all things Paul Manafort. She responded with yes stipulating emphasis regarding Manafort and Russia/Ukraine. Fusion GPS suggested Nellie Ohr research Serhiy Leshenko, a Ukrainian. Knowing where the impeachment inquiry has centered the Trump phone call scandal with the Ukrainian President Zalensky, perhaps it would be good for the Republicans to request witness testimony from Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie, since Nellie’s testimony did not zero in on Ukraine at the time. You can be assured the questions of both of the Ohr’s would be very different with all that has since transpired but….Chairman Schiff would turn down that request for sure wanting to protect the other Ukraine channel that would snare Hillary Clinton.

Additionally, the Republicans should also request other Obama State Department holdovers that include: Alec Ross, Victoria Nuland. Jonathan Winer, Steven Schrage, Susan Rice, Abigail Grace and Sean Misko. The last two, Grace and Misko were previously assigned to the White House National Security Council team and have been hired by Adam Schiff to work alongside the whistle-blower.

 

 

The Lawyer’s Plot for the Coup Against Trump

Have you met Edward Luttwak? You can be sure the lawyer for the Whistleblower has. Luttwak published a book titled Coup D’ Etat, the practical handbook.

Coup d’État astonished readers when it first appeared in 1968 because it showed, step by step, how governments could be overthrown. Translated into sixteen languages, it has inspired anti-coup precautions by regimes around the world. In addition to these detailed instructions, Edward Luttwak’s revised handbook offers an altogether new way of looking at political power—one that considers, for example, the vulnerability to coups of even the most stable democracies in the event of prolonged economic distress.

So we have this cat, Mark Zaid. Within minutes of the inaugural event for President Trump, Zaid’s tweets began stating the coup has begun. Now the question is who in Washington DC was watching, considering and conspiring to join the coup army…plenty.

Mark Zaid: It’s troubling that Trump gave Jared Kushner security clearance

Zaid is a known quantity inside the Beltway.

Zaid is a recognized expert in Federal court especially in whistle-blower cases. These cases almost always include leaking or publishing classified material as such is/was the case of Edward Snowden. The Zaid law firm, where he is the managing partner includes at least 5 other lawyers handling cases of national security, diplomatic immunity, defamation cases and international transactions. Zaid is the founder of the James Madison Project, a non-profit organization that takes on government agencies for alleged wrong-doing, coverups and secrecy policies. Note however he never took on Hillary and Libya…or the email server scandal….

Mr. Zaid has testified before several committees in the House and the Senate all with the twist of meeting the ‘curiosity of this town’ as noted on the law firms website. With his early launch of the coup has started, you can bet some of this friendlies on The Hill followed his legal handbook and we are now enduring what Congressman Nunes calls a paper coup. Zaid has TS/SCI clearance and that add more bona fides to his power within the offices of the Democrats that include for sure Speaker Pelosi that is often providing all the permissions needed to Congressman Adam Schiff leading the impeachment inquiries.

Does anyone wonder how come Mr. Zaid never took any whistle-blower cases as they related to the Obama administration or even John Kerry with regard to the Iran deal? How about the IRS targeting operation or any of the other scandals in recent years….just sayin…

Okay, then there is also the other lawyer and law firm that has Andrew Bakaj with Compass Rose Legal Group.

 

 

An attorney who left the CIA in 2014 after facing professional retaliation for trying to work with intelligence community whistleblowers is now representing the U.S. official who reportedly filed a complaint alleging wrongdoing by President Trump.

Attorney Profiles – Compass Rose Legal Group, PLLC

Andrew Bakaj, a national security attorney working for Compass Rose Legal Group, a Washington national security law firm, has taken on the still unidentified whistleblower as his newest client, according to information first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by Yahoo News.

According to his Linkedin profile, Bakaj was an intern at the U.S. State Department from June 2002 to August 2002 at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. He, “Created the Embassy’s fraud database, performed various counter-fraud duties, interviewed visa candidates, translated official Ukrainian/Russian documents into English, and represented official U.S. interests at various events throughout Ukraine.

On September 24, Bakaj sent a ‘Notice of Intent to Contact Congressional Intelligence Committees’ letter to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who took over for Dan Coats directly with the complaint. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff, who was copied on Bakaj’s letter, responded the same day. Schiff, who represented California’s 28th congressional district, asked for the whistleblower to come in for “voluntary interview” after Maguire testifies in a rare, open session Thursday, September 26, in a “secure location.”

Bakaj made a $100 campaign contribution to former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign through ActBlue, according to Federal Election Commission records. He made the contribution on April 26, 2019. ActBlue is a nonprofit that facilitates contributions to Democratic candidates.

Bakaj interned for Senator Chuck Schumer in the spring of 2001 and for then-Senator Hillary Clinton the fall of the same year. Hat tip.

Deaths Rise in Libya Due to Russians

Whatever vision that Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration had to Libya is now best described as a Russian operation where death and destruction manifests.

As Fox News Anchor, Bret Baier says each night, ‘beyond our borders’ there is a very ugly nasty world that is hardly if at all reported.

From the United Nations Mission in Libya:

17 Oct 2019

How bad it is really? What about Russia?

Russia dominated Syria’s war. Now it’s sending mercenaries to Libya photo

TRIPOLI, Libya — The casualties at the Aziziya field hospital south of Tripoli used to arrive with gaping wounds and shattered limbs, victims of the haphazard artillery fire that has defined battles among Libyan militias. But now medics say they are seeing something new: narrow holes in a head or a torso left by bullets that kill instantly and never exit the body.

It is the work, Libyan fighters say, of Russian mercenaries, including skilled snipers. The lack of an exit wound is a signature of the ammunition used by the same Russian mercenaries elsewhere.

The snipers are among about 200 Russian fighters who have arrived in Libya in the last six weeks, part of a broad campaign by the Kremlin to reassert its influence across the Middle East and Africa.

After four years of behind-the-scenes financial and tactical support for a would-be Libyan strongman, Russia is now pushing far more directly to shape the outcome of Libya’s messy civil war. It has introduced advanced Sukhoi jets, coordinated missile strikes, and precision-guided artillery, as well as the snipers — the same playbook that made Moscow a kingmaker in the Syrian civil war.

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The Russians have intervened on behalf of the militia leader Khalifa Hifter, who is based in eastern Libya and is also backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and, at times, France. His backers have embraced him as their best hope to check the influence of political Islam, crack down on militants and restore an authoritarian order.

Mr. Hifter has been at war for more than five years with a coalition of militias from western Libya who back the authorities in Tripoli. The Tripoli government was set up by the United Nations in 2015 and is officially supported by the United States and other Western powers. But in practical terms, Turkey is its only patron.

The new intervention of private Russian mercenaries, who are closely tied to the Kremlin, is just one of the parallels with the Syrian civil war.

The Russian snipers belong to the Wagner Group, the Kremlin-linked private company that also led Russia’s intervention in Syria, according to three senior Libyan officials and five Western diplomats closely tracking the war.

In both conflicts, rival regional powers are arming local clients. And, as in Syria, the local partners who had teamed up with the United States to fight the Islamic State are now complaining of abandonment and betrayal.

The United Nations, which has tried and failed to broker peace in both countries, has watched as its eight-year arms embargo on Libya is becoming “a cynical joke,” as the United Nations special envoy recently put it.

Yet in some ways, the stakes in Libya are higher.

More than three times the size of Texas, Libya controls vast oil reserves, pumping out 1.3 million barrels a day despite the present conflict. Its long Mediterranean coastline, just 300 miles from Italy, has been a jumping-off point for tens of thousands of Europe-bound migrants.

And the open borders around Libya’s deserts have provided havens for extremists from North Africa and beyond. Read on.