Andrew C. McCarthy on the Steele dossier and the “verified application”
Andrew C. McCarthy has been writing up a storm about Russiagate, Spygate, whatever you want to call it gate, for quite some time now, and he’s always worth reading. Here’s his latest:
In rushing out their assessment of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, Obama-administration officials chose not to include the risible Steele-dossier allegations that they had put in their “VERIFIED APPLICATION” for warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) because . . . wait for it . . . the allegations weren’t verified.
And now, the officials are squabbling over who pushed the dossier. Why? Because the dossier — a Clinton-campaign opposition-research screed, based on anonymous Russian sources peddling farcical hearsay, compiled by a well-paid foreign operative (former British spy Christopher Steele) — is crumbling by the day.
As I write, we mark the two-year anniversary of Robert Mueller’s appointment to take over the Russiagate probe — which is fast transforming into the Spygate probe.
The dossier not only hasn’t stood the test of time, it was never verified. And yet the investigators claimed it had been verified, as required. And they kept repeating the “verified” claim:
The rules of the FISC require the Justice Department to notify the court promptly if misstatements or inaccuracies have been discovered. Far from alerting the FISC that information in what it boldly labeled the “VERIFIED APPLICATION” was actually unverified, the Justice Department and the FBI kept reaffirming the dossier allegations to the court — in January, April, and June of 2017.
McCarthy also writes that in the disagreement between Comey and Brennan over who was least responsible for pushing the fake dossier, Comey might have the edge and Brennan might be more implicated. But even if that’s true, it certainly doesn’t absolve Comey:
Even if former director Comey is right that it was Brennan, not he, who was trying to slide the dossier into the ICA, Comey’s FBI still used it in the FISC. Plus, Comey himself did agree to brief Trump on it, though in a very incomplete way — alerting the president-elect to the lurid story about prostitutes in a Moscow hotel, but studiously omitting the tiny detail about how the FBI had used the “salacious and unverified” dossier in the FISC to contend that Trump’s campaign was in a conspiracy with Russia to undermine the election.
Much much more at the link.
Sigh. The Democrats will get even MORE hysterical than they already are…if that were possible.
Yep, another rip-roaring tantrum. Sigh.
I suppose they think that they’ll be “winning friends and influencing people” (but in which direction?)—showing how serious they are as they trample on everything that they profess to hold dear.
Are there any clinical psychologists that specialize in political parties?
And in a similar effort to “make friends and influence people” (and win voters!) it looks like “Mayor Pete” is on a roll:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/buttigieg-echoes-far-left-idea-of-renaming-things-named-after-thomas-jefferson-says-its-the-right-thing-to-do
https://www.dailywire.com/news/47348/democrat-pete-buttigieg-compares-christianity-ryan-saavedra
Hmm. Barr seems to have gotten a rise out of Comey:
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/05/18/cornered-comey-lashes-out-at-ag-barr-for-sliming-his-own-department-dares-him-to-show-his-hand-755863
Not sure Barr has to respond, though.
Let ’em (all of ’em) sweat a bit.
This “disagreement” about including the dossier in the ICA is theater for the most part. You have to remember something that is often forgotten- Brennan, Clapper, and Comey knew who had funded Christopher Steele- they knew the truth in January of 2017, and they knew the truth in the Fall of 2016. However, we, the public, didn’t know who had funded it until the Fall of 2017.
I think all three men were in agreement to not publicly advertise how the dossier was being used because they knew it was horsesh*t created by the Clinton Campaign, and they didn’t want to be seen taking it seriously in a public document/presentation like the ICA. Indeed, in the Spring of 2017, Comey publicly derided the document as salacious and unverified. What Brennan etal wanted was for the press to publicize the document rather than doing it themselves- the hook was provided by agreement of the three men by Comey’s telling Trump about the most salacious part and leaking about it under anonymity.
In January of 2017, it was still a secret how Comey and the FBI had used the dossier in a FISA application- we wouldn’t learn that until February of 2018. Now that the public knows all of this, all three men are free to point out how they never took it seriously to begin with. Of course, all of this ignores the fact that they pretended to take it seriously enough to brief a Senate majority leader and to use it in a FISA warrant against a US citizen.
Mayor Pete is a bald faced liar. He’s guilty of ‘stolen valor’. Recently he claimed to have placed “his life on the line” while serving in Afghanistan.
Peter Buttigieg was a Naval Reserve Intelligence Officer, a lowly lieutenant. He served in Afghanistan for one year as a R.E.M.F. and never saw a minute of combat. His service consisted of sitting in his tiny office on base preparing and typing up his superior’s reports. As a liberal, he almost certainly supported the obscene R.O.E.’s that led to so many of our soldier’s unnecessary deaths. His ‘service’ from the very start, served to pad his political resume.
In falsely claiming to have placed his “life on the line” he reveals an utter lack of character. He’s an immoral, scheming little rat.
As for Comey, he’s starting to panic because he knows that Obama and Hillary will throw him under the bus in a heartbeat. Comey, Brennan and Clapper are classic fall guys.
Comey knows he SHOULD be going down, and probably suspects Barr is enough of a steam roller to roll him over.
And he knows Obama & Hillary will throw him under the bus to save themselves; tho he probably knows a LOT of dirt on both of them.
He falsely and knowingly signed off on the FISA horse manure spying. All this Mueller junk was hoping Trump would be caught in “something” before this illegal spying becomes the key question.
Comey, Brennan, Clapper, and the smaller fish, know they will be the focus of the DOJ investigations. They also know they can’t point fingers at bho or hrc. I hope they all go bankrupt under the weight of their legal fees. As John Lee Hooker says “serves you right to suffer”.
Re: Verification
According to Julian Sanchez, In the context of a FISA application, “verified” does not mean “independently corroborated”.
Rather it refers to the “Woods procedures”. It requires that someone verify that the FISA application accurately summarized what Steele told the FBI.
One would think McCarthy would be aware of this.
*Trump is a traitor to his country the United States through his daliences with Russia,* said Russian intelligence disinformation operatives to UK spy Steele (who was paid by Clinton/DNC/Fusion, as well as the FBI itself) who then told this cockamamie, never checked story to the FBI through Fusion proxy Ohr, in addition to telling it in person to his FBI handlers, select members of the press (forbidden him) and State department functionaries. *Yeah yeah yeah, there’s Russian collusion alright, verified as the day is long*, said the Russian operatives to the Brit Steele, *better warn the FBI that foreigners might be attempting to interfer in a US election!*
Crazy Andy McCarthy, one would think, would be aware of this simple story of election meddling Russians (and Brits, Italians and Australians) but god knows such insight is utterly barred from the high ranks of the FBI, State Department, CIA and Democrat leadership.
Sure, Manju- I can walk into the FBI field office and tell any story I want to tell to an agent about someone I don’t like, and they will go and get a FISA warrant on someone- no problem with that at all.
Yancey Ward on May 18, 2019 at 5:47 pm at 5:47 pm said: ..
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Thanks for the reminder of the timeline of revelations.
The deliberate suppression of information from the public, although known to the Congressional committees and FBI / DOJ / State officials is what makes this story have so many negative ramifications.
People hate learning that they’ve been hood-winked by the government they are supposed to trust.
The Kavalec memos are having that same effect.
“The Woods Procedures”
Well, OK. From
https://politicallyshort.com/2019/04/20/fisa-court-woods-procedures-and-carter-page/ :
“So, what are the Woods Procedures? They were instituted in April 2001 and require the FBI to vet and support the facts it presents to a FISA court when it seeks a warrant to eavesdrop on a U.S. citizen. The individual who knows this process best is none other than the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller. In a response to questions from Sen. Leahy back in August of 2003, then FBI Director Mueller explains the significance of the procedures highlighting that they were instituted in order to ‘minimize factual inaccuracies in FISA packages.’
” ‘Mueller continues, ‘specifically, the goal of the procedures is to ensure accuracy with regard to: (1) the facts supporting probable cause; (2) the existence and nature of any related criminal investigations or prosecutions involving the subject of the FISA; (3) the existence and nature of any prior or ongoing asset relationship between the subject and the FBI.’ ”
File under: “Curiouser and curiouser”…
Oh, and who might Julian Sanchez be?… Well, let’s have a look:
https://twitter.com/normative
“Mayor Pete is a bald faced liar.”
Um, er, please, a little tolerance. “What [after all] is Truth?”….
(Besides, he COULD have said he was there to provide assistance to the Afghan Navy…. But, all credit to him, he decided not to.)
All he really did do was recapitulate Hillary’s forceful and poignant (alas, unfortunately, false) claim that she came under “sniper fire” while in Sarajevo….
And Hillary ALMOST became POTUS! (Come to think of it, she SHOULD BE POTUS—just ask her—and Stacy Abrams, likewise, SHOULD BE Governor of Georgia! Hey, maybe these two paragons should immediately set out on a stumping tour of Australia and demand that the recent elections results there be overturned!!…)
As for Mayor Pete, it seems to me that his strongest selling points are that he’s mayor of a somewhat dysfunctional city (not Baltimore, certainly, it should be added) and that he’s certainly NOT heterosexual. (Or maybe the order should be reversed.)
Whatever, he’s counting on the indisputable fact that these days, two undeniable skills of such nature (together with the corresponding EXPERIENCE accrued from them) should counter the twin disadvantages of being White and Male (if one can still use the latter terminology).
All this just might be enough to keep Mayor Pete in the running, at least for a few more months. The odds in the long run? Well, we could always ask Beto, who—poor man—seems to be suffering from all possible disadvantage, even though it can be said, in his favor that he drives like a Kennedy (and sort of looks like one).
One waits, now doubt, with bated breath….
I’d like to think that Barr has what it takes to see this through. I’d also like to think that there will be real consequences for those who clearly broke the law. Ten years ago, I would have been sure that would happen. Today I’m not sure at all. I’d love to be proven wrong.
I have to suspect that between public statements, testimony under oath, discoverable paper trails, and the like, each of this despicable group of scheming liars Comey, Brennan, and Clapper is guilty of crimes that carry jail terms.
Conspiracy charges seem likely; that requires nothing more than one or more people coordinating their illegal activities, no?
Whether all of this can be proven procedurally under rules of evidence etc is obviously a very different question. But at this point it seems beyond obvious that many people are guilty as hell of all manner of illegal things much worse than the minor procedural crap that the investigation used to entrap Flynn and others.
Watergate on Steroids * 1000.
I have a possibly minor disagreement with some of y’all about Mayor Pete’s service. If he claims to have been in combat, then you’re right, he wasn’t. But every American deployed to Afghanistan, even junior intelligence officers in offices, incurred some degree of risk in the service of the country. Maybe he’s exaggerating the services he performed.
At the time, in 2013, I noticed this rather weird and ominous quote from Mad Maxine Waters, and wondered exactly what it referred to—
“…I think some people are missing something here. The
President [Obama] has put in place an organization that contains a kind of database that no one has ever seen before in life. That’s going to be very, very powerful and whoever …and that database will have information about everything on every individual in ways that it’s never been done before.”
It is now being reported that, beginning four years before the Obama Administration spying that we have been talking about here, the Obama Administration’s CIA Head Brennan, and DNI Clapper had reportedly used a private contractor to create a huge intelligence gathering operation called “The Hammer,” a database which was alleged to be collecting/recording information gleaned from all U.S. citizen’s cellphone or Internet communications.
See https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/obamas-illegal-spying-on-americans-labeled-operation-hammer-will-soon-be-exposed/
Maybe he’s exaggerating the services he performed.
Like the bushwah about having learned 7 languages, including Norwegian (not specifying which dialect of Norwegian). As ever with Democratic candidates, media due diligence = 0.
Ben Riley-Smith, The Telegraph, thread: https://mobile.twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1130225239265284098
“**
Exclusive**
British spy chiefs were briefed on Christopher Steele’s dossier before Donald Trump knew of its existence.
Heads of MI5, MI6 + one of Theresa May’s most trusted security advisers all knew of the Russian links claims before Trump.”
Link to Telegraph story: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/19/theresa-mays-spy-chiefs-briefed-explosive-chistopher-steele/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Re: Verification (again)
Look at it this way. As Sanchez points out, if verification means “independent confirmation” then the independent confirmation, not the source, would be in the FISA app.
Right? Why bother with hearsay when you have direct evidence?
Also, how stupid do you think Christopher Wray is? You think he could get away with saying nothing inappropriate happened if McCarthy’s slam dunk argument were true?
I like reading McCarthy too. He seems normal and formidable…in comparison to say Sara Carter or that screenwriter on PJ media, not to mention Sean Hannidy. But either there are serious gaps in his knowledge or he’s practicing a more sophisticated form of propaganda.
I mean did he really run around for the last few years with his version of “lock her up” without knowing that scotus requires intent when prosecuting a civilian under the espionage act?
I would be more skeptical of Mr McCarthy if I were you.
McCarthy is not the person most of us here are skeptical of.
(But take a guess who is!)
Jeff Brokaw on May 19, 2019 at 8:41 am at 8:41 am said:
I have to suspect that between public statements, testimony under oath, discoverable paper trails, and the like, each of this despicable group of scheming liars Comey, Brennan, and Clapper is guilty of crimes that carry jail terms.
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Power Line pictures the moment for you–
https://i0.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2019/05/IMG_9939.jpg?w=884&ssl=1
https://i2.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-10-at-11.16.43-AM.png?w=978&ssl=1
I’ll say.
Who needs further confirmation the plotters are screwed than that neo’s resident propaganda-loon comes to paddle the lake and wail weak shit about Woods procedures?
“Wooo-o-oooooo-oo-oooooooo-OO-oooooods!”
There is no fucking source in the FISA app, loon. The “sources” are a goddamned fiction.
” Who needs further confirmation…”
It is indeed rather curious.
If, as claimed above, Andrew McCarthy doesn’t seem to know what “verified” REALLY MEANS in this context, then it would also appear that Comey, Brennan and Clapper don’t know either. (And a whole host of others.)
Otherwise, why would that tricky trio appear to be at odds regarding the “provenance” of the “Steele Dossier” and over who really is responsible for launching it into the wider world, as it were.
Wouldn’t—shouldn’t—they be insisting that have:
– nothing to be ashamed of
– nothing to be afraid of
– nothing at all to be worried about
– done nothing wrong
…that they, in fact, should be congratulated, adulated, thanked, rewarded!!…
…since (“pace” our crafty commentator above and the legal expert so triumphantly quoted): “In the context of a FISA application, ‘verified’ does not mean ‘independently corroborated’…[but] rather… refers to the ‘Woods procedures’ [which…require] that someone verify that the FISA application accurately summarized what Steele told the FBI.”
Why wouldn’t Comey, Brennan and Clapper try to defend themselves in this particular way? (Clearly, it’s Instant Exoneration! Clever and elegant!!)….
….Unless, of course, Manju and Sanchez are the ONLY ones who REALLY, TRULY KNOW what “VERIFIED” means in this context…. Not McCarthy. Not Brennan. Not Clapper. Not Comey. And certainly none of the lawyers with whom they, dollars-to-donuts, MUST be consulting.
(It would surely be so EASY….)
And what do you know! Victor Davis Hanson also has a few questions about this particular conundrum…:
https://amgreatness.com/2019/05/19/he-did-it-not-me/
I find it interesting that Biden is not part of the spying discussion. He participated in the Jan 5, 2017 ‘how to continue to spy on Trump after he is President w/out Trump getting wind of it’ meeting. Seems to me that all meeting participants are guilty of treason (or should at least face a prosecution).
Well Biden is up to his eyeballs in trying to promote (and then protect) his son’s business shenanigans in the Ukraine and in China.
At least he ought to be up to his eyeballs….
(But, heh, for some peculiar reason the MSM doesn’t seem to be all that interested in these particular conflicts of interest…. Yep, a real head-scratcher….)
A bit more “verifiable” naughtiness:
https://pjmedia.com/trending/trey-gowdy-fbi-withheld-exculpatory-evidence-from-fisa-court/
Eric Felton, Real Clear Investigations: Spy vs. Spy Euphemism at the FBI
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/05/18/spy_vs_spy_euphemism_at_the_fbi.html
“On Thursday, CNN host John Berman asked former FBI general counsel James Baker: “Did the FBI spy on the Trump campaign as the attorney general suggested?” Baker didn’t initially say no, but rather objected that the word “spy” has negative connotations.
Baker then seemed to switch the question from whether spying occurred to its intent, saying: “There was no intention by myself or anybody else I’m aware of to intrude or do activities with respect to the campaign.” Then he continued his sentence with a clause that significantly modified even that claim. There was no intrusion of the Trump campaign, he said, done “in order to gather political intelligence to find out what the political strategies were.” The FBI was only interested in what the campaign was up to regarding Russia.
There’s a very big difference between saying “I didn’t spy” and saying “I didn’t spy for inappropriate reasons.” The former is a denial, the latter is all but an admission. Baker asserted there was no spying done to gather information on Trump’s campaign strategies. Which could very well mean there was spying, just not any for the narrow reason given.”
Defend themselves from what? The FBI hasn’t even opened a criminal case. Not even Barr is making this charge, afaik. Trump’s FBI director sees nothing wrong. Even noted Leftist Jeff Sessions didn’t see a problem.
But McCarthy’s got the smoking gun. FISA apps need to be verified. Yet Comey clearly states that the dossier wasn’t. On top of that the FISA app says it was.
It’s so clear cut. One wonders why no FBI agent has asked Comey or Brennan about it under oath.
“Defend themselves from what?”:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/barr-will-expose-truth-in-brennan-comey-blame-game-former-federal-prosecutor-says
https://www.wnd.com/2019/05/email-comey-blamed-brennan-for-promoting-debunked-dossier/
https://pjmedia.com/video/gowdy-emails-between-brennan-and-comey-show-one-of-them-demanding-that-dossier-be-put-in-intel-assessment/
A matter of extreme partisan denial?
A matter of parallel universes?
A matter of “[a word] means just what I choose it to mean”?
(“…under oath.” — Well, one just might get one’s wish….)
File under:
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—–neither more nor less.
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—–that’s all.”
And if one thought that Comey-Brennan might be an fascinating match-up, well heeeeere’s Comey-Lynch!:
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2019/05/20/under-the-bus-loretta-lynch-denies-telling-james-comey-to-call-clinton-investigation-a-matter/
(…with some “interesting” responses by Lynch when queried about the “FBI or DOJ…ever investigat[ing] the Trump campaign for political purposes”….
“Moi?” she said—surprisingly!)
Hey, maybe it’s time to dust off Susan Rice’s quaint memo to self….
An “interesting” item from PJMedia:
https://pjmedia.com/trending/spygate-shake-up-prime-minister-of-italy-fires-top-officials-from-italian-intel-agencies/
Key phrase (from a Papadopolous tweet): “Italy… is giving up Brennan.”
Because he’s a lousy dresser? Well we shall see….
Re: “Defend themselves from what?”
Who’s going to waste their time defending themselves from charges made by bozos in the media.
When the FBI interviews them and asks them the relevant questions, or DOJ brings charges, etc…get back to me.
Manju on May 22, 2019 at 3:13 am at 3:13 am said:
…
When the FBI interviews them and asks them the relevant questions, or DOJ brings charges, etc…get back to me.
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https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/444802-ag-barr-puts-former-intel-bosses-on-notice