Well, that's an interesting concept! It derives from a highly tendentious article in the the The Independent--a UK newspaper owned by a Russian oligarch: ‘It’s like nothing we have come across before’.
The attorney general is focusing on the theory, aired on far-right conspiracy sites, and raised by Trump and Giuliani, that Ukraine framed Vladimir Putin over the US election in a complex triple-cross operation by impersonating Russian hackers.
Trump and Barr have also been asking other foreign governments for help in investigating the FBI, CIA and Mueller investigators. The US president has called on the Australian prime minister Scott Morrison for assistance, while the attorney general has been on similar missions to the UK and Italy.
And the information being requested has left allies astonished. One British official with knowledge of Barr’s wish list presented to London commented that “it is like nothing we have come across before, they are basically asking, in quite robust terms, for help in doing a hatchet job on their own intelligence services”.
The UK, in particular, has been viewed by Trump followers, especially far-right conspiracy theorists, as a deep source of woes for the president.
Obviously I was attracted by the bit about Barr investigating "Mueller investigators." I've been saying all along that investigating Team Mueller is a sine qua non for any credible investigation of the Russia Hoax, since the Team Mueller witchhunt was no less than a continuation of the original FBI Russia Hoax. And we know the Big Lie behind the Russia Hoax is the narrative of Russian hacking--which is also what Barr is targeting by focusing on the Intel Assessment.
I have to say, I find it reassuring that we have an AG who understands who the enemies of our constitutional order are, and wants to do a 'hatchet job' on them. Things have gone so far that a 'hatchet job' is absolutely what's called for.
Is this report credible? It's true we have to consider the source, but from everything I've heard about Barr, I'd say, Yes, it's credible. And it totally explains the desperation bordering on hysteria that we're seeing from the Left and the Deep State.
Barr is hot on the trail of Brennan and has great interest in how the U.S. and U.K. intelligence “communities” colluded to take down Donald J. Trump.
ReplyDeleteBased on what I've read, the 'Mueller investigator' who really deserves to go down hard is this guy Andrew Weissmann.
ReplyDeleteHe is a central figure in the fraudulent investigation of President Trump from the beginning...running from Crossfire Hurricane to the Mueller Witch Hunt.
This detestable human being already has his fingerprints all over the unnecessary destruction of Arthur Anderson, the destruction of four Merrill Lynch executives who also got caught up in his prosecution of Enron, and the destruction of innocent Senator Ted Stevens. He is undoubtedly the architect of the scorched earth tactics used to not only prosecute but destroy Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn.
His unethical tactics have been called out and are a centerpiece of Sidney Powell's book Licensed to Lie.
Of course he should lose his law license. I hope he loses everything that he holds dear. That would be nothing less than justice done.
You can be sure that that's who Sidney Powell is gunning for.
DeleteThere are a lot of bad dudes in this whole sordid mess. Brennan, Weissmann, Obama and Clinton stand out as four of the worst. But then I think to myself "What about Comey, Clapper, Page, Strzok, McCabe, Pientka", etc.
DeleteSadly, the list is long.
"Conspiracy theory" is one of those magic phrases that immediately debunks itself--merely attach it to any activity and said activity is discredited, by definition.
ReplyDeleteIt's a form of "begging the question," where the premise (or theory) of a conspiracy is assumed--and concluded--therefore, it must be dismissed as bizarre, impossible, et al.
And of course, investigating the investigators can only be a hatchet job because the intelligence and security services are above reproach, much less being investigated.
The allegation that Barr is looking into the theory that Ukrainian hackers were responsible for part (if not all) of the actions attributed to “Fancy Bear” GRU hackers is frankly astonishing to me. Thanks to the excellent work of several independent researchers—Adam Carter, The Forensicator, Stephen McIntyre, the gentleman at VIPS, and others—I’ve long suspected that at least some, and perhaps all, of the “Fancy Bear” hacks—particularly those credited to Guccifer 2.0—had been misattributed. However, I will confess that I suspected Barr and Durham would stick to investigating the ICA claim that the Russian hackers intended to harm Hillary and help Trump, rather than going for the jugular and examining the hacking attributions themselves.
ReplyDeleteSo if the claim in the Independent is accurate, well . . . the significance of this development can’t be understated. If it turned out that all of the “Fancy Bear” malware in the DNC server was the work of Ukrainian hackers and complicit Crowdstrike officers, then it is quite plausible that the DCCC hacks, the email-phishing-DCLeaks nexus, and the voting-systems attacks—all of which were attributed to Fancy Bear—were the work of Ukrainian hackers too. It would be a damning indictment of the Mueller investigation, our intelligence services, and the “Russia-hacked-muh-election” narrative.
I can't pretend to know the answer, but the notion that Ukraine had much to gain from the claims that Russia meddled in any significant way in our election is about as elementary as can be imagined. Doesn't make it true, of course, but any honest investigator would need to examine that angle. Once you have intel agencies involved, ...
DeleteOne problem with the "Ukraine" angle is that there are Ukrainians favorably disposed to Russia, and there are Ukrainians opposed to Russia. Discovering the parties involved, and their motivations, is akin to a Matryoshka doll--each one unveiled reveals another one inside.
DeleteIn this situation, however, the Ukrainian government is one that we installed after we ousted the elected government via a coup. So naturally this Ukrainian government would want to maintain US support by playing up Putin as all purpose boogy man.
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