Obama Administration Scandals

Carter Page Sues

Featured image Carter Page, the most innocent man in America, has begun suing those who conspired to have him unlawfully spied upon for a year or more: Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court against the Democratic National Committee, law firm Perkins Coie and its partners tied to the funding of the unverified dossier that served as the basis for highly controversial surveillance warrants against him. »

All the president’s men, cont’d

Featured image Today the FISA court published the declassified and redacted version of a two-page order on the Carter Page FISA warrants (embedded below). According to the court order signed by Presiding Judge James Boasberg, the Department of Justice now concedes that “at least” two of the four warrants approved by the FISA court lacked probable cause and were therefore “invalid” (i.e., illegal). Judge Boasberg adds that “[t]he government apparently does not »

We now know: The case of Jane Mayer

Featured image Several renowned journalists published hagiographic profiles of Christopher Steele as some kind of a savior: Howard Blum, John Cassidy, and, preeminently, Jane Mayer come to mind, among many others. Mayer wrote a ludicrous 15,000-word profile of Steele that appeared in the March 5, 2018 number of the New Yorker. I mocked Mayer’s profile of Steele in a five-part series that I called “Jane Mayer’s Dossiad.” The link is to part »

We now know: FISA court speaks

Featured image At long last the FISA court has taken notice of the egregious government misconduct committed in connection with the FISA warrants it approved on Carter Page. The order appears under the signature of FISA court presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer. Like so many involved in the Russia hoax, she claims only lately to have tumbled to the misconduct committed before her court, courtesy of the Department of Justice Inspector General report »

Voters: FBI Leaders Broke Law, Send Them to Jail

Featured image Despite the clouds of unknowing emanating from the liberal press, Americans are catching on. Rasmussen asked the question: How likely is it that senior federal law enforcement officials broke the law in an effort to prevent Donald Trump from winning the presidency – very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely or not at all likely? 52% of likely voters responded that it is likely that senior federal law enforcement officials–the »

More on Comey’s Modified Limited Hangout

Featured image As Scott noted earlier, James Comey was interviewed by Chris Wallace this morning on Fox News Sunday. After Michael Horowitz’s report was released, Comey claimed that it vindicated him. When Wallace pointed out that Horowitz testified that his findings “don’t vindicate anybody who touched this,” Comey retreated, but only as far as absolutely necessary. Comey admitted that mistakes were made: He’s right, I was wrong. I was overconfident in the »

We now know

Featured image When the Soviet Union collapsed and its archives were opened, certain Cold War controversies became susceptible of definitive resolution. Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis titled his 1997 book on the subject We Now Know. By the same token, publication of the Department of Justice Inspector General report on FISA abuse and related issues should similarly bring closure to the Russia hoax touted by the Democrats and their media adjunct »

After Horowitz

Featured image Whatever the limitations of the Department of Justice Inspector General report on FISA abuse and related issues, it should bring some closure to the Russia hoax touted by the Democrats and their media adjunct over the past three years. If there is to be a reckoning with the deceit and dishonesty that have pervaded our public discourse on matters related to the hoax, however, we are on our own. The »

Horowitz in review

Featured image Watching Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz testify yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee was a somewhat weird experience. Horowitz frankly identified the egregious government misconduct involved in the FBI’s surveillance of the Trump campaign, but couldn’t “connect the dots” or draw inescapable inferences from the facts he had found. It was all over his head and beyond his grasp. Committee Democrats sought to distract and downplay and suppress »

Michael Horowitz’s flawed epistemology

Featured image As John discussed below, Michael Horowitz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. He told the committee that there were 17 instances of misconduct by the FBI in connection with the FISA application process. Horowitz also said that his team found no evidence of intentional misconduct. However, he added that the FBI agents involved were unable to provide satisfactory explanations for their actions. But the absence of an innocent explanation »

If This Is Exoneration…

Featured image …I’d hate to see inculpation! James Comey and other Democrats are absurdly claiming that Michael Horowitz’s report vindicates or exonerates them. That is ridiculous, as anyone who follows the news even casually knows. Horowitz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today–testimony that, as I understand it, was not broadcast by the television networks. Horowitz’s testimony was summarized in a White House email a few hours ago: As Horowitz made clear »

Barr is on the case (2)

Featured image Among his other interviews yesterday in the aftermath of the Department of Justice Inspector General Report on FISA abuse and related matters, Attorney General Barr appeared at the Wall Street Journal CEO Conference for a discussion with Journal editor at large Gerard Baker. The Journal has posted video of the entire interview on its site (I have embedded the video below) and here on Twitter. I posted Barr’s interview with »

The FBI as the Titanic

Featured image Jonathan Turley responds as follows to Michael Horowitz’s finding that the Justice Department had enough evidence to meet the low threshold for beginning its investigation of the Trump campaign: This is akin to reviewing the Titanic and saying that the captain was not unreasonable in starting the voyage. The question is what occurred when the icebergs began appearing. Horowitz says that investigative icebergs appeared rather early on, and the Justice »

Barr is on the case

Featured image Attorney General William Barr sat for an extended interview with NBC’s Pete Williams to discuss the findings in the Department of Justice Inspector General report released yesterday afternoon. NBC has cut the thing up in a couple of stories, but it has also posted the whole thing on YouTube (24-minute video below). Barr is familiar with the evidence gathered so far; he knows what he’s talking about. He understands that »

Eric Felten: Pee tape confidential

Featured image Eric Felten is a meticulous and literate reporter as well as one of my favorite analysts of the mysteries of Russiagate. We have previously posted several of Eric’s RealClearInvestigations columns. Today Eric observes: “Watchdog: FBI Knew ‘Pee Tape’ Highly Dubious, Didn’t Tell Trump.” RCI authorizes the republication of its articles with attribution and we are happy to take advantage of the opportunity here. Eric writes: The “pee tape” has been »

Finessing the Inspector General’s report

Featured image Scott has provided a link to the Inspector General’s Report of the Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation. Scott has also quoted the full statement of Attorney General Barr regarding that report. I think the key sentence in Barr’s statement is this: The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on »

Some call it performance failure

Featured image The Department of Justice Office of Inspector General has released its long-awaited report on the four FISA applications taken out on Carter Page “and other aspects of the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation” (i.e., the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign). The report is posted online here and embedded below via Scribd. The report absolves the FBI of political bias in opening the investigation and applying for the warrants, but finds some »