Investigating the Investigators

Have you ever seen such monomaniacal focus and hate?

The Democrats have demanded and continue to demand every possible investigation of Donald Trump, regardless of whether there is any credible evidence to support the charge, let alone the investigation.

But, now, upon quite credible evidence, the Attorney General states that “spying did occur” against the Trump campaign and is going to review the role of a key informant.  In addition to assembling a team to investigate the origins of the FBI’s counterintelligence campaign against Trump, the AG stated, “More generally, I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all of the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted in the summer of 2016.”

AG Barr further noted that "spying on a political campaign is a big deal."  He stated that “Congress is usually very concerned with intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane." 

Yes, Mr. Barr, usually.  But not when they are out to get President Trump.  Then it is all out warfare and anything goes.  The ends justify the means and the end which the Democrats seek is to not only remove the President from office but to completely destroy him.

So, now the Democrats are raging against the Attorney General.  How dare he investigate.  They accuse him of acting in collusion with the President and only on his behalf.  But here is what Barr also stated about his investigation:  "I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred; I’m saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it, that’s all.”

And, every American should also be concerned about it.  Even the possibility that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies were weaponized for political gain is troubling in the least and indicative of treason at the worst.  We do not want foreign countries interfering in our elections, but neither should we tolerate one political party using its power and governmental agencies to interfere in those same elections for their own power and political gain.

If the Democrats had even one iota of common sense or care about this country and its people left within them, then they would be cheering on this investigation as they did the investigation for Russian collusion, and let the chips fall where they may.  That they are instead attacking the Attorney General for being concerned and doing his due diligence and investigating says all that needs to be said about who the Democrats are and whom they care about (and it is most certainly not the American people!).

Thoughts on the Memo

The summary memo, written by Rep. Nunes regarding abuses at the DOJ and FBI was declassified and released yesterday.  Quite frankly, I was not shocked or even surprised by its contents since I have (sadly) come to accept that many establishment leaders lie, mislead, and care little for our laws or Constitution. What was, however, interesting to observe and reflect upon was the many reactions to the memo, both before and after its release.

It is important to remember as we reflect upon the memo and the reactions to it that when the FBI initially reviewed the memo it stated that there were no inaccuracies in the memo.

That review and statement by the FBI would seem to negate many of the Democrat assertions that the memo is full of lies.  Of course, as Alan Dershowitz has stated, we will never know for sure unless and until we actually see the underlying documents – the affidavits that led to the FISA warrents.  As Prof. Dershowitz has stated, this requires further investigation.

There was a time when I would have relied upon the media to conduct much of that investigation.  I grew up reading the reports of Woodward and Bernstein and the Watergate investigations.  That was a time when the press sought to uncover and bring information to light and to the people, and when they did it as a part of their duty to duty to inform the people rather than to further a particular political agenda.  Thus, their complicity in cover-ups and hiding or ignoring information is hard for me to accept.  Yet, their agenda is the Russia investigation as it can be used to damage Trump and so this memo and the civil liberties violations as well as any questions it may raise about the basis for some of Mr. Mueller’s evidence that it reveals is not of importance to them, especially when those violations were perpetrated by individuals aligned with the Democrat party.

But, let’s back up and consider the Democrat (and media) hysteria prior to the memo’s release.  To hear them, one would think that the world would come to an end if the people were to see this memo.  They told us it was full of lies (remember, the FBI itself stated no inaccuracies);  they said that it was an attack on not only the entire FBI, but the entire intelligence community (yet, as I read it, the memo singles out a few select individuals who did not live up to the high quality behavior that generally exists in the FBI and the rest of the intelligence community); the Democrats asserted that if the memo was released the people would not understand it (just another example of their disdain and disrespect for the people of this country). 

Note to Democrats:  the world did not end yesterday when the memo was released.  The people of the country are perfectly capable of reading it for what it is:  a statement of evidence that supports a finding of grievous violations by specific individuals within the FBI.  This is something that the people of this country have a right to know about.    And, we should all be asking if this is the extend of such violations or if they are or were more pervasive.

This memo is not about the Mueller investigation.  To the Republicans and Trump supporters who think it demands that investigation end, the memo does not do that (although, in my opinion, the investigation should end for many other reasons, but that is a subject for another post).  And the Democrats who think this is some sort of devious attempt to get rid of Mueller are wrong (perhaps they are the ones who are too stupid to read or understand the memo!)

The memo simply summarizes certain facts garnered by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence through their ongoing investigation into the DOJ and FBI and their use of FISA surveillance during the 2016 presidential campaign and election.  Again, we must remember that upon reading the memo prior to its release the FBI stated there were no inaccuracies. 

The memo is not an attack on the FBI, but simply reveals the corrupt actions of a few in power there:  corrupt actions that should be brought to light for the sake of the many good and dedicated people and public servants at the FBI.  I cannot fathom why this information should not be released to the people of this country.  We the people can read it for what it is and come to our own conclusions.  And, if we read the memo with an unbiased mind and with no political agenda we can see exactly what it says and what it does not say.

The memo tells us that there is evidence that supports conclusions that specific high-level individuals within our FBI and Justice systems lied to and withheld relevant information from the FISA Court in order to obtain warrants for surveillance of American citizens.  It tells us that unverified and unreliable partisan political documents formed the basis for warrant requests and the partisan basis was withheld from the Court.  The Deputy Director of FBI testified to the Committee that no surveillance warrant would have been sought without the unverified information that was nonetheless used to obtain the warrants.  The memo tells us that there were at least four opportunities for the FBI/DOJ to provide accurate information to the Court, yet that information was omitted.  The memo also tells us that certain high-level individuals with clear anti-Trump biases orchestrated leaks to the media intended to be harmful to Trump and/or helpful to the Democrat candidate.

This is serious stuff.   FISA warrants to surveil American citizens are requested and issued in secrecy and so we the people must depend upon those who request the warrants to act with the highest standards.  Those warrants cannot be used for political or personal purposes.  A wrongfully obtained warrant is a violation of the civil liberties that we in this country hold so dear.  We the people have a right to know when those high standards have not been met and we must hold accountable those who use their positions of power to violate someone’s civil liberties and to use a legitimate Court process to further personal and political agendas.

The FBI did not want the memo released; they and the Democrats asked that all names be omitted.  James Comey, one of those high officials mentioned in the memo, following the release of the memo tweeted, “That’s it?  Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen.  For what?  DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.”

Yes Mr. Comey, that is it, and it is disgraceful that you and your cronies with your lies and omissions and partisanship damaged the relationship of your agency with the FISA court and improperly obtained a warrant to spy upon an American citizen.  Yes, the DOJ and FBI must keep doing their jobs, something that you were not doing when you took it upon yourself to mislead a court because you felt your political agenda surpassed your duty to the American people.  And, as the FBI itself stated, the memo contained no inaccuracies, therefore contrary to your assertion, it is not dishonest, and it is inconceivable how it might have “wrecked” the committee.  What it did do is wreck the secret power structure (of which you seem to have been a part) that decided that its wishes were more important than the law.

Mr. Comey’s response reflects that of the Democrats.  Apparently, he and they believe that it is perfectly OK to use partisan campaign material to obtain surveillance warrants and that it is perfectly OK to lie to a Court as long as it fits your personal political agenda.  This is a big deal, even though the memo itself may not be.  This is about the abuse of power.   This is about a select few acting behind the cover of the very legitimate FISA courts to subvert the laws of this country and the will of the people for their own political gain.  This is about a select group deciding that the ends – their ends – justify the means, even if those means defy our laws and our Constitution and our civil liberties and our freedoms.

The memo is perhaps not the big deal it was and continues to be hyped.  But what it reveals is a very big deal.  It is something that a free and unbiased press would be investigating and reporting because this is something that the people not only have a right to know but about which they must be informed so that they can demand and protect the rights and freedoms that stand at the core of our democracy:  that this is a government of, for, and by the people and not one controlled in secret by a select few.

Where is the Non-partisan Outrage?

Interestingly, the following facts are barely reported in the main stream media; I have culled them from some less popular news sources as well as from some right leaning news sources.  I do not understand why the following is not being fully reported by sources such as ABC, NBC, CBS.  Nonetheless, here is a summary of recent facts revealing potential bias within the FBI and the Mueller investigation:

            During the campaign an FBI agent Peter Strzok was given wide authority to investigate Hillary’s use of a private server for classified information and then to investigate possible collusion between Trump and the Russians to affect the 2016 election.  In the Hillary investigation he let pass statements by Huma Abedin, and Cheryl Mills that were contradicted by their own emails.   It turns out that Strzok is the one who changed the description of Hillary’s actions from “gross negligence” (a legal term of art with criminal implications) to the less significant “extremely careless.”  Then, days after closing the Clinton email case, Strzok signed the document opening the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.  The authorization of FISA secret surveillance monitoring of the communications of Trump advisers were based at least in part on the anti-Trump and now discredited dossier that was produced for and underwritten by the Clinton campaign; there is strong evidence that Strzok was aware of the dossier and likely involved in the requests for FISA warrants based on the dossier. An informant has charged Strzok with obstructing a probe into the dossier.  Strzok was also one of two agents who interviewed then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and received the statement that resulted in the charge of lying.

In August Strzok was removed from the Mueller investigation, but only in the past few days has it come to light that during the investigations he sent numerous anti-Trump texts and that there is other evidence showing his ongoing bias in favor of Clinton and against Trump.   The DOJ is now going through 10,000 texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, with whom Strzok was having an affair and with whom he apparently shared a strong anti-Trump and pro-Hillary sentiment.  Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer, participated in meetings about both the Hillary and the Trump investigations.  

It has also been revealed that Andrew Weissmann, a deputy for Mueller in the Russia probe, wrote an email in which he praised then DOJ official Sally Yates for refusing to enforce a legitimate presidential order with which she and many anti-Trumpers disagreed.  Yet another DOJ lawyer, Bruce Ohr, has been demoted due to contacts with the anti-Trump dossier firm.

Mueller did not inform the congressional oversight committee about the Strzok texts or about his reason for removing Strzok.  The Senate Judiciary Committee had to demand that the FBI turn over documents related to the removal of Strzok, noting that “Strzok, the deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division, was removed both from that position and the Mueller team over the summer, and reassigned to the human resources division, after it was reported that he ‘engaged in communications demonstrating political bias while handling matters in two sensitive, high-profile investigations’”.

The above should disturb each and every American!  Here is seemingly obvious and ongoing bias staring us in the face.  Of course, the Right presents the above information fully, perhaps making it seem even more important than it is or making assumptions of even further bias beyond that for which there is evidence.  Meanwhile, the Left tries to ignore it or put a good spin on it (what a great man Mueller is because he removed Strzok in August). 

Each and every one of us, regardless of our political views, should be saying this sort of activity and bias by the FBI is simply not acceptable.   Are we really willing to overlook such obvious bias when it leads to decisions with which we happen to agree (ending Hillary investigation; continuing search for evidence against Trump costing taxpayers millions).  To me, the fact that there is not universal disgust and outrage about the apparently out of control and biased FBI is what is really troubling.  Have we completely lost our sense of justice and fairness?  And, how can anyone be satisfied with, let alone trust the accuracy of any conclusions reached by these investigations?

Let’s consider the two key pieces.  First, an investigation of Hillary Clinton, the Democrat presidential candidate, by Left-leaning members of the FBI.  The investigation ends with no charges.  Then an investigation by the same Left-leaning members of the FBI against the Republican president whose election horrified the opposition.  That investigation has gone well beyond its charge, yet after a year has still found no evidence of collusion by the Trump campaign with the Russians.  Yet, we encourage the fishing expedition to continue, at great taxpayer expense. 

I certainly don’t feel comfortable accepting the final conclusions of either of these investigations and their many off-shoots.  To me they seem more like something I would expect from a banana republic than the democratic government of one of the greatest nations in the world.  To others these seem like the actions of the feared and nebulous web of the deep state, or evidence of a sitting political party using its resources against the opposition.  Yet others who like the results because they further their own political agendas find nothing wrong here and fully support these questionable investigations.

This is appalling, yet it fully reflects the low to which we have sunk.  It reflects our inability to be objective, to think rather than be driven only by group politics and emotion.  Left approves, Right does not.  What more do you need to know?  How about objectivity and fairness, not to mention justice?  No one seems to consider the danger of allowing if not applauding such an apparently biased investigatory force to continue.  Are we ready to allow our FBI to determine whom to acquit and whom to go after based upon prevailing political views within the agency?  How will you feel when your party is on the losing side?  Allowing these so clearly flawed investigations without question sets a very dangerous precedent for future use of state-sponsored intimidation that is a direct assault on a fair and democratic justice and governmental system.

Everyone, regardless of party or political views or like or dislike of President Trump or his policies should stand together and demand better.  We should all be outraged and demand that the FBI give us the fair and objective service to which we are entitled.  We must understand that even apparent bias weakens our democracy while true objectivity strengthens it.  Instead of taking to our respective partisan sides we should all be standing together in non-partisan anger as we demand the fairness that our democracy promises.