Not much to say except that, yes, these text do shed light. MSN reports: Secret texts cast light on UK's early role in Trump-Russia inquiry. Light is always welcome, right? Even when it reveals that the upper echelons of the FBI appear to have been populated by kooks and criminals.
Two of the most senior intelligence officials in the US and UK privately shared concerns about “our strange situation” as the FBI launched its 2016 investigation into whether Donald Trump’s campaign was colluding with Russia, the Guardian has learned.
Text messages between Andrew McCabe, the deputy director of the FBI at the time, and Jeremy Fleming, his then counterpart at MI5, now the head of GCHQ, also reveal their mutual surprise at the result of the EU referendum, which some US officials regarded as a “wake-up call”, according to a person familiar with the matter.
While Russia had previously been viewed as a country that would seek to interfere in western elections, the Brexit vote was viewed by some within the FBI as a sign that Russian activities had possibly been successful, the person said.
Their exchanges offer new insights into the start of the FBI’s Russia investigation, and how British intelligence appears to have played a key role in the early stages.
In one exchange in August 2016, Fleming noted that members of the FBI and MI5 had “met on our strange situation”, a veiled reference to discussions about Russian activities, according to the source.
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The exchanges underscore a sensitive issue in the US – namely the role foreign intelligence services played in the FBI’s decision to initiate an investigation into the Trump campaign.
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In his text message about the August 2016 meeting, Fleming appeared to be making a reference to Peter Strzok, a senior FBI official who travelled to London that month to meet the Australian diplomat Alexander Downer. Downer had agreed to speak with the FBI about a Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, who had told him that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee in the race. The meeting was first reported by the New York Times.
When Boris Johnson, the UK foreign secretary at the time, was asked in November 2017 whether Russia had played any role in British elections, he told MPs in a select committee that he had not seen any evidence of such an occurrence.
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Strzok and almost every senior FBI official who was involved in the initial Trump investigation has since left the FBI, including McCabe. ... Fleming was elevated to head GCHQ in 2017.
During his period as a senior official at MI5, Fleming served as director for intelligence collection and led MI5’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics. He was appointed deputy director of MI5 in 2013.
Legacy media is getting desperate, and laughable. Three years after the fact, are we now supposed to believe Russia--or Russians--interfered in the Brexit referendum?? LOL!
ReplyDeleteThat's the Brit Establishment--just as desperate as the MSM over here. Recall Nigel Farage on Fox? Team Mueller was trying to make him out to be a Russian agent. I wonder where they got that idea?
DeleteThe Russiagate OP was greenlighted at a meeting in the White House in February 2016. Brennan was tasked with the implementation and relied heavily on MI6, which spawned the framework based upon a similar OP they ran in Britain in the 70s. All of the foreign elements were then managed directly by MI6 while Brennan worked to get friendly US politicians and the media onboard. The Brits also activated a safe house in DC to enable coordination with Fusion GPS via Nelly Ohr as the cutout.
ReplyDeleteThe Brits are desperate to keep MI6's involvement out of the coming media circus, and that will likely be impossible if Barr takes down Comey, who will not be shy about taking many others down with him. Virtually everything that MI6 touched in 2016 failed miserably and then was dumped in Comey's lap to save the day. He stuck his neck way, way out and now Barr is aiming to chop it off.
I like the big picture. It will be interesting to see how much cooperation Boris affords the US, given that he'll need help after Brexit.
DeleteWhat does this suggest about Gina Haspel who was London CIA station chief...
DeleteI guess it means she has questions to answer.
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I guess Mueller didn't consider MI6 interference to be dangerous foreign interference with US elections. Special relationship!
There have been reports that Haspel is being required to be interviewed by Durham. As for foreign interference, here's a nice quote from Trump re the scope of Barr's work:
Delete"He can look and I hope he looks at the UK and I hope he looks at Australia and I hope he looks at Ukraine."