Fox is running with this big story:
Trump authorizes declassification of all Russia collusion, Hillary Clinton email probe documents
But is it that simple?
Trump's twitter feed is a mess, hard to follow this story, but ...
That SOUNDS like all the Russia Hoax documents are now declassified. But wait ... what Trump actually says is that he has authorized their declassification. Which means, they haven't actually all been declassified. Some may be declassified, but others--while their declassification has been authorized--probably have yet to go through the actual declassification process.
And so John Ratcliffe said today:
"Today, at the direction of President Trump, I declassified additional documents relevant to ongoing Congressional oversight and investigative activities."
Doesn't that sound like President Trump, just today, directed--not authorized--the actual declassification of Brennan's notes and the CIA referral to the FBI? Which means they weren't previously declassified. I can think of a number of explanations, but none conclusive.
And meanwhile we're hearing that Gina Haspel at CIA is blocking specific declassifications--which have, presumably been "authorized" by Trump.
Trump does sound frustrated--he wants prosecutions yesterday, he says. But anyone who knows anything about preparing prosecutions of complex conspiracies--and, look, Trump is a smart guy, so he knows this--knows that can't happen overnight:
So, if I understand why Trump is quoting this Sperry tweet, he's saying he doesn't care about revealing state secrets. Me? I'm up for reading some state secrets. Let's do it!
But in the last analysis, if Trump thinks the process is taking too long and he doesn't mind revealing some state secrets, HE's the guy who can make it happen. Will he or won't he?
It sounds to me as if Trump is doing what he does so well. Reality politics. I think we'll need to wait a bit still to see what comes of it. In the meantime, we can wonder whether Biden wants to back out of the next debate because of these revelations--especially the implication that Biden himself was probably in on the hoax. As well as his close adviser Jake Sullivan.
REMINDER: This is exactly why I spent some time--just yesterday--going over what is actually said in the Executive Order, dated May 23, 2019, in which Trump supposedly gave all declassification authority to AG Barr. Only if you read the order, Trump didn't actually do that. The order is aptly titled: Memorandum on Agency Cooperation with Attorney General’s Review of Intelligence Activities Relating to the 2016 Presidential Campaigns. It just ain't as simple as Trump is making out in his tweets, and he knows that. He's not dumb. He has his reasons and one day we'll figure it out.
And I can't resist this tweet, poking fun at the way Paul Sperry "breaks" stories that have been out for months:
"No redactions!"
ReplyDeleteThat should certainly streamline the process.
More popcorn, Please!
ReplyDeleteEven if the actual release of documents is a ways off, the psychological effect on certain people is, well, not conducive to their mental health.
There is no Mueller investigation to stop him this time...but then again there hasn't been for quite some time. I hope this means Trump is releasing the kraken.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought I had is perhaps this was related to recent chatter about Haspel being a roadblock (as Wray has been). Perhaps "Trump authorizing" release without redactions means that Barr who has been charged with following ordinary procedures for declassifying docs has been given a shortcut he can use. Barr would not need Haspel or Wray to authorize any release now since Trump has just done it. Barr then can say to Haspel, "justify this redaction, or it gets released".
You need to reread all of the above and follow the links. Trump can't push this off on Barr. Trump's executive order does NOT allow Barr to unilaterally declassify things. But Trump CAN do that.
DeleteAlso: it's twitter. As you said, theater.
DeleteUnless there is some underlying memo or Ex Order, these Tweets do not compel any action on the part of agency heads.
I don't mind the theater, but I'm at the point where if it ain't indictments, my interest is low.
He retweeted a meme of Chris Farley's classic character Matt Foley (who lives in a van down by the river) yelling at Barr to "for the love of God, ARREST SOMEBODY". IDK how to feel between this and the mention of it already being declassified but slow walked.
ReplyDeleteThat's fine on twitter, but in the real world of criminal justice you don't just ARREST SOMEBODY. This is theater, but it may be a prelude to something very real.
Deletehttps://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/10/one-muallers-dirtiest-cops-doj-cross-hairs/
ReplyDeleteNot exactly on target but since we're talking about miscreants.
Tom S.
Whoa... now the liberal media is already blaming it on the "steroids" he's been taking for Covid. Making him dillusional and all.
ReplyDeleteWe have never seen news suppression like this.
DeleteMark, Just an FYI. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/10/doj-announces-press-conference-tomorrow-11-et-matter-national-security/
ReplyDeletePatrick Byrne's final essay, for anyone who has been following him:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.deepcapture.com/2020/10/finale-the-deep-states-hillary-clinton-bribery-blackmail-sting-the-maria-butina-rape-murder-gambit/
We are entering the endgame, I think. What is up with Wray's telepress conference tomorrow morning where CNN is the press outlet?
ReplyDeleteThat's how I'm feeling this morning.
DeleteDunno. Maybe Wray will go full conspiracy--Russia and white supremacists seeking to overthrow constitutional order.
Maybe something unrelated to the Trump/Russia conspiracy thing. China has been doing quite a lot lately, and both the FBI/DOJ have been very busy with investigations of Chinese malfeasance. An announcement along those lines would be a relatively non-controversial issue that touches on national security.
DeleteTrump's tweets are politics, Barr's Management of the DOJ is governance. Barr has been unequivocal that whatever else he might do he's going to take the politics out of DoJ prosecutions. A tall order. Trump is tweeting for a reason and it is probably to assist Barr, I have no doubt it's a 3 D chess move, and significant.
Delete@ Anon: If the announcement is China related, that would almost certainly be very positive for Trump.
DeleteSlightly OT
ReplyDeleteAs we wait for today's developments I've been reading the New Yorker's June 2020 version of Trump/Russia events over the last four years told from Fiona Hill's point of view. Suffice it to say, the New Yorker is a magazine I no longer subscribe to.
Here's a link for anybody interested:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/29/what-fiona-hill-learned-in-the-white-house
To me the article is hopelessly compromised by its overall acceptance of the collusion hoax. The author, Adam Entous, quotes Celeste Wallander, an Obama adviser as saying: "There was clear evidence that Trump and members of his circle had coördinated with the Russians. Trump’s recent attack on NATO as being “obsolete” showed that he intended to do whatever Putin wanted. To work in the Trump Administration was to endorse its policies".
Yet, the article is still fascinating as it explores the Left's view of Trump's many flaws, the dysfunctionality of our relationship with Russia, and the many enemies Trump has in the US foreign policy establishment who worked to prevent him from implementing his policies. It would be one thing if the Left's perspective were honest and objective. It is quite another thing now as the truth of Clinton's and Obama's lies emerge.
Interesting article. It is no wonder to me that we find ourselves exactly where we are today.
I assume you're aware of Entous and the part he played in the Collusion Hoax.
Delete-->"There was clear evidence that Trump and members of his circle had coördinated with the Russians.<--
DeleteSurely, "clear evidence" would've been reported, exposed, testified, demonstrated by now...if it existed.
What has occurred is the Big Lie, repeated.
-->Trump’s recent attack on NATO as being “obsolete” showed that he intended to do whatever Putin wanted.<--
What Trump did was to insist, demand, cajole the other member states to meet their military spending and readiness commitments.
But the propaganda machine works overtime.
@Anonymous
Delete"I assume you're aware of Entous and the part he played in the Collusion Hoax."
Please remind me. Thx.
Also doing some theater this AM, Sundance going after Mark Meadows. Does he do this to test the troops, to see how faithful they are to him? Many fall over like dominos. Accusing Meadows of “misdirection” to John Solomon and more recently contradicting the President’s doctor “off the record”. Has decided Meadows is Maria Bartiromo’s “source”… Many believe Trey Gowdy is her source; it’s my guess she talks to a lot of people in DC.
ReplyDeleteYes, theater.
DeleteWray’s theater was just announcing a meaningless indictment of some Jihadists. I see it as an attempt to distract from the Trump Coup.
ReplyDeleteThe DoJ announcement his morning was that two Brits, one born there and the other brought there from the Sudan as a child, who had gone to Syria to join the ISIs jihad in 2012, had been charged with the torture of four American hostages -James Foley, Kayla Mueller, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and other Western prisoners who were subsequently killed. After being held in Iraq for a year, they have been brought to face charges in the U.S.
Deletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/isis-hostages-beheadings-miltants-charged/2020/10/07/69762ef2-089b-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html
This may not be what some wanted to hear this morning, but I cannot bring myself to classify it as a “distraction”. Anytime anyone who has tortured or murdered innocent Americans is brought to justice, I am all for hearing about it.
"This may not be what some wanted to hear this morning".
ReplyDeleteThis beats what some folks at You Know Where were fearing (that this presser was, e.g., to announce some gambit of the DS to tee off vs. DJT).