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Waiting for Durham — 33 Comments

  1. “And as far as I can see, their lies are still believed by the vast majority of Democrats.”

    Sadly, very much so, Neo. It’s incredible to me.

  2. For the ones who just lose their jobs, there are still book deals, speaking engagements, and generally enjoying their status as a “martyr to the cause”. No punishment there. That is why there must be prison sentences.

  3. This is where the NeverTrumpers and most of the Left prove how ridiculous they are. No matter how much you despise Trump, there is now both clear evidence and truckloads of indications that serious wrongdoing has taken place in the anti-Trump movement. If you’re not worried about that, you’re just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

    Mike

  4. This is where the NeverTrumpers and most of the Left prove how ridiculous they are. No matter how much you despise Trump, there is now both clear evidence and truckloads of indications that serious wrongdoing has taken place in the anti-Trump movement. If you’re not worried about that, you’re just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

    Lois Lerner took the 5th. They didn’t care. Christine Blasey Ford and her handlers couldn’t come up with one piece of evidence (apart from her claims) that she’d ever met Brett Kavanaugh or Mark Judge, nor could they delineate any set of circumstances she was known to have been in that would have made it likely she’d have met either one; they didn’t notice. That’s the way Democratic voters are in our time.

  5. I suspect that the Deep State is nowhere more entrenched than in the Justice Department. I am confident that Durham will meet obstruction on many fronts, and at various levels. I am not sanguine about his ability to cast a wide net; or process a bountiful catch.

  6. When hatred and demonization become faith-based; when truth becomes cultic; when reality become relative; when there’s no desire, effort or even acknowledgement of the need to check one’s closely held beliefs or assumptions; when everything is race-based and when all bad things can be blamed on a particular group; when “doubling down” has priority over any kind of OODA loop; when one’s deepest sense of “morality” and “ethics” and “responsibility” is based on all of the above and one has no qualms—has lost all inhibitions— about acting out that “morality”, then Houston, we have a problem….

    The barbarians are not at the gates. They are within; and they are convinced of their own wisdom, sophistication, rightness and righteousness.

    They know—or rather they have persuaded themselves—that they’re right, that it couldn’t possibly be otherwise. And that those who don’t agree with them are not just poor deluded fools: they need to be dealt with. Cut down a notch (a head?). Deserve to be hurt. And ultmately destroyed. (Cf. post on J. Peterson.)

    This is the stark choice presented, as it were, on a platter by those who profess themselves to be the saviors of the country.

  7. Not waiting for Durham, Aaron Zelinsky, Aaron Jed, and Jonathan Kravis: Mueller Prosecutors May Have Lied To DOJ About Stone Prison Sentence Recommendation

    UPDATE: Aaron Zelinsky, the former Mueller operative behind the “grossly disproportionate” sentencing recommendation against Stone, filed notice in federal court on Tuesday afternoon that he was withdrawing from the Stone case and resigning from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office effective immediately. Aaron Zed, another disgruntled former Mueller operative, also resigned on Tuesday, as did Jonathan Kravis, an assistant prosecutor in the D.C. office. Michael Marando, the fourth and final prosecutor involved in the “egregious” Stone sentencing scheme, withdrew as counsel on the case early Tuesday evening but did not resign.

    DOJ has not announced whether it will seek legal or ethical sanctions against any of the attorneys who allegedly lied to DOJ about their rogue sentencing scheme against Roger Stone. In a filing submitted late Tuesday evening, DOJ said the original sentencing memorandum did not reflect the position of the U.S. government and that a nearly decade-long sentence for a non-violent first-time criminal would be inappropriate.

  8. I am thinking the coming weeks we will see more house cleaning, this could not begin until the Senate voted against impeachment this last Wednesday and now those who were doing their best to pull their boss, the President down have probably all been identified and they will be escorted out of the door while the media cries, screams, rends their clothes and throw ashes (symbolically) on their heads.

    Meanwhile the Democrats appear to have reduced themselves to the dregs for candidates and a multi-billionaire is going to try to buy his way in which should cause further confusion as Trump seems to have a good chance for another term with a whole lot of real life lessons learned about who can you trust.

  9. The real problem is the institutionalization of criminal behavior. At the first sign of trouble, all of these wrongdoers have the same reaction, to call their Union Representative to come defend them: The Democratic Party. And if they’re fired, the union is right there to take care of them, now isn’t it?

  10. Neo wrote: “…but my guess is that only the lawyer who hid the CIA-asset status of Carter Page will pay any real price” => That cannot stand. If this truly comes to pass, then what must be done? We gripe endlessly on social media, but it is like yelling at the ocean.

    Next steps, please!

    I am asking rhetorically, but folks ought to be thinking through the consequences of an outcome like this.

  11. I do like it that four AUSA’s in the DC office – all of whom either were on the Mueller / Weissmann crew or have a history in Democratic politics – were sh!tcanned today. Preliminary reports have it that they conned the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia into signing off on a recommendation to the judge in Roger Stone’s case that he give Stone a draconian sentence.

  12. I agree with the observations that President Trump & Co. were waiting for the impeachment show trial to end before taking out the trash.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/bigger-than-vindman-trump-scrubs-70-obama-holdovers-from-nsc

    Also heading for the garbage can:
    https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2020/02/11/jessie-liu-fired-by-trump/

    And just for good measure, to show that we still have Truth, Justice, and the American Way:
    https://www.redstate.com/nick-arama/2020/02/11/breaking-jussie-smollett-just-got-indicted-on-multiple-counts/

  13. and waiting and waiting —
    https://amgreatness.com/2020/02/11/report-doj-to-reduce-extreme-and-excessive-sentencing-recommendation-for-roger-stone/

    On Monday, the anti-Trump lawyers asked Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, to sentence Stone to between 87 and 108 months in prison.

    Their draconian recommendation prompted an outcry from Republicans.

    “Can someone please remind me how many years John Brennan is spending in prison for lying under oath?” asked Republican strategist Andrew Surabian.

    “This is completely insane, and these prosecutors should be embarrassed to request something so unjust and outrageous from the court How many years will they ask McCabe to get sentenced to?” tweeted former CIA analyst Buck Sexton. “He lied under oath. But the answer is ZERO.”

  14. Sundance at CTH proposes a theory about WHY the feds wanted such a massive penalty for Stone.

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/02/11/mueller-prosecutor-departs-dc-team-after-setting-sentencing-trap-in-roger-stone-case/

    It looks like the over-the-top sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone was a planned set-up by Aaron Zelinsky et al, to force AG Bill Barr to step-in and reduce the sentence; thereby giving fuel to those in media/lawfare who are accusing AG Barr of political influence. This reeks of Lawfare scheming.

    The Robert Mueller team assembly was a den of snakes. However, they may have just overplayed their hand on this one. The seven to nine year sentence recommendation for Roger Stone is so over-the-top even Democrats are admitting it.

  15. Another ray of sunshine…
    https://pagesix.com/2020/02/11/jussie-smollett-indicted-in-chicago-for-allegedly-staging-2019-attack/?_ga=2.218049108.37047817.1581496514-1968648240.1493807408

    A further indication of the “The Big Mo”?

    (On the other hand, Schiff & Co.—i.e., Co-Conspirators, Inc.—have been pretty quiet of late. Licking wounds? Getting ready for their next cameo performance?…When toddlers in the next room suddenly go quiet, it should be a cause for concern and checked out….)

  16. If you still have some of those old tin-foil hats under your bed, now’s the time to pull them out.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/larry-c-johnson-fbi-lied-to-a-federal-court-regarding-seth-rich/

    Thanks to Judicial Watch, a new batch of emails have surfaced that put the FBI in a whole lot of trouble with at least two Federal Judges. Attorney Ty Clevenger made repeated FOIA requests to the FBI for all emails and communications dealing with Seth Rich and his murder. The FBI denied they had any such communications. Whoops! There are now five emails and one text message that show that denial is not true.

    Interestingly, a couple of correspondents on those emails are the Dynamic Democratic Duo, Strzok & Page.

    7:09 pm — Message from FBI Washington Field Office to Jonathan Moffat and Peter Strzok of the FBI’s Criminal Division and two other BLANKED out addressees.

    FYSA (For Your Situational Awareness). I squashed this with BLANK

    7:49 pm Text message from Peter Strzok to Lisa Page forwarding her this email chain.

    The initial response to the query from the Public Affairs Office of the Washington Field Office is telling. The Agent could have responded very simply–The FBI was not involved in any facet of the Seth Rich investigation. This was a local matter handled by the DC Police.

    But that is not how the Agent responded. And then he took the step of adding in people at FBI Headquarters. How do we know this? The message from the Washington Field Office at 7:09 pm was sent to the Criminal Division to Agents Moffat and Strzok.

    Ty Clevenger now has ample ammunition to return to court and insist that the FBI be required to identify all agents involved in these email chains and to discuss what they knew about the Seth Rich case. David Hardy declared under the penalty of perjury that there were no such emails. I doubt that the two judges involved in the relevant cases on this matter will be happy to learn that the FBI stonewalled a valid FOIA request

  17. And connecting still a few more dots…
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/travesty-of-justice-obama-deep-state-officials-who-signed-criminal-fisa-warrants-to-spy-on-trump-and-plot-against-gen-flynn-are-same-officials-involved-in-fixing-fisa-process/

    (Wherein Sally Yates makes yet another guest appearance, along with a few supporting actors—the Oscars came too soon this year.)

    On the other hand, no one who’s been paying attention should be surprised.

    (Wondering what the straw will be that collapses the whole stinking, rotten, perverted edifice….)

  18. “. . . fixing FISA process. . .” has to be recognized as a first order knee-slapper at this point, in any sense in which “fixing” is not equivalent to annihilating. That court has been proved a menace to our national political health. It has got to go.

  19. The real draining of the swamp cannot begin until this unholy alliance of highly placed intelligence and justice department operatives is destroyed.

  20. Glancing around the leftosphere today it’s becoming clear that the harsh sentencing recommendation and subsequent resignations by the AUSAs was a set-up. A stupid set-up, yes, but a set-up nonetheless. The left seems to have no other plays in their book of plays these days. Pathetic.

  21. Angelo Codevilla, The American Mind: Abolish the CIA

    Codevilla takes up the theme:

    America’s Intelligence agencies are the deep state’s deepest part, and the most immediate threat to representative government. They are also not very good at what they are supposed to be doing. Protecting the Republic from them requires refocusing them on their proper jobs. Intelligence officials abuse their positions to discredit opposition to the Democratic Party, of which they are part. Complicit with the media, they leverage the public’s mistaken faith in their superior knowledge, competence, and patriotism to vilify their domestic enemies from behind secrecy’s shield. Pretenses of superior knowledge have always tempted the Administrative State’s officials to manipulate or override voters. Hence, as Justice Robert H. Jackson (who served as chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials) warned, they often turn their powers against whomever they dislike politically, socially, or personally and try to minimize the public’s access to the bases upon which they act. But only the Intelligence agencies have the power to do that while claiming that scrutiny of their pretenses endangers national security. They have succeeded in restricting information about their misdeeds by “classifying” them under the Espionage Act of 1921. Thus covered, they misrepresent their opinions as knowledge and their preferences as logic. Thus acting as irresponsible arbiters of truth at the highest levels of American public life, they are the foremost jaws of the ruling class vise that is squeezing self-rule out of America.

    Rtwt

  22. So that makes Flynn and Stone, Papadopolous, Carter Page (and Trump by implication) all targeted and/or sentenced as part of well-planned, multi-layered, CYA (that didn’t quite work out) state subversion.

    The “Deep State” is quickly resembling a “Banana Republic”.

    Might this have any implications for Manafort or Cohen—the former having been sentenced to serve on Riker’s Island until that grim absurdity was tossed?

  23. One of my favorite milfi authors describes the CIA as “A few good people swimming in a sea of left-wing bureaucrats.”

  24. “Glancing around the leftosphere today it’s becoming clear that the harsh sentencing recommendation and subsequent resignations by the AUSAs was a set-up. A stupid set-up, yes, but a set-up nonetheless. The left seems to have no other plays in their book of plays these days.”

    In a brief survey of CNN news, I see that they are describing the fixing of this injustice as “Trump’s unchecked power on display.”

    A couple of days ago, before the questioning of this sentencing and subsequent resignations by those involved, the push (at least in some nether regions of the Internet) was to stain Trump with his association to someone facing a nine-year sentence. What a bad, bad man Stone must be, and how much worse is orangemanbad for associating with such bad men?

    THAT is the play, and has been since the day after the 2016 election. No matter what happens, always, always, always, twist it around to make Trump look bad.

  25. Barry Meislin on February 12, 2020 at 5:12 am said:

    (Wondering what the straw will be that collapses the whole stinking, rotten, perverted edifice….)
    * * *
    Whatever it is, tipping point theory suggests that it will be a seemingly minor event, totally unexpected as the catalyst, but in hindsight will be declared obvious and inevitable.

  26. “Intelligence being policy’s natural servant, it cannot carry any policy’s burden. Intelligence can help intelligently conceived policy to succeed. But it cannot rescue congenitally dumb policy. ” – Codevilla

    sdferr – thanks for linking the article.

  27. Another thought on the Codevilla article, which calls for the “shearing” of the intelligence agencies, and the dismantling of the CIA and FISC.

    Since the sixties, Democrats have been screaming about the dangers of agency over-reach (often directed at them), and worrying about their abuse.

    If Trump really is Hitler, they ought to be just as adamant now about restraining the agencies, out of fear that they might once again be turned against them (Trump fired Vindeman!! He’s going to put y’all back in chains!!).
    They aren’t.
    So he isn’t.
    And the leaders know it.

  28. “And as far as I can see, their lies are still believed by the vast majority of Democrats.”

    It isn’t that the inside-the-beltway Dems believe the lies. They find them useful as they are complicit in the corruption they are all so desperately trying to hide.

  29. Steve57:

    I’m not talking about inside-the-beltway people. I’m talking about the vast majority of my friends, relatives, and acquaintances, none of whom are anyway near the beltway either physically or career-wise.

  30. I keep saying it: Someplace in dems’ heads are two belief systems.
    One is the real world system where they actually know what actually happened.
    The other is the one where they force themselves to believe the opposite.
    For example, I know some and have seen others on the web claim Kavanaugh is a rapist. When discussing the issue, there are several responses. One, the most common, is to firm the jaw and say something like. “I still believe he’s a rapist.”
    Other responses are less rational.
    This is in a situation where the facts are not in dispute and are not disputed in the conversation.
    They must know others know better, yet they keep saying this nonsense.
    So, yes, dems “believe” on one level and know better on another level. This internal tension makes them absolutely nuts in a reasoned discussion.
    One relation posts things that are transparently false–still believes in “hands up, don’t shoot” and claims emotional fragility when told that even Obama’s justice department found otherwise. She must not be told such things. Too frail. Or when she blamed Trump supporters for Smollett’s case, smearing tens of millions, she must not be presented with the actual facts.
    She’s not an evil person, nor unintelligent. She has the two-system going on and it makes actual thought far too fraught.
    And that, imo, is going on in a number of dem heads.

  31. Humans are wired to survive, not to be rational. Tribalism is real and still important. Even today getting shunned from your social circles is a real threat to survival. It behooves one to pay attention to those connections.

    Rationality is a recent trick, which doesn’t come easy. It is powerful and has become linked to survival but for most people analyzing a logical argument still isn’t up there with having friends and family.

    That’s what we are all up against.

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