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Tuesday, December 22, 2020

The Trump Strategy: Purely Legal Or National Security Based?

There's a split among those who support Trump's resistance to the Election Hoax, and in part it's a split as to how to view Trump's strategy. Some are absorbed in the legal challenges. Others believe that Trump has a national security ace up his sleeve.

The first view is typified by sundance's post this morning:


I won't rehearse the long post--most of you have either read the post itself or have gathered the salient points elsewhere. Sundance is addressing the 'distinct approaches' of Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. One aspect of the discussion that's somewhat bemusing is that sundance finds himself in the position of defending White House Counsel Pat Cipollone--a long time Bill Barr protege who has been savagely attacked by Sidney Powell's ally, Patrick Byrne. Overall, I have to say, I come down on sundance's side here. For those of you who aren't up on these developments, here's sundance's handy summary:


  • Wednesday Night – Michael Flynn recommended (Newsmax) impounding Dominion machines by order of President Trump; and noted military possibilities.
  • Thursday – The DC media stirred up the controversy around the insurrection act by painting Trump supporters as unstable.  Joint Chief’s General Milley said the military would not engage in any political effort.
  • Friday – Sidney Powell and Patrick Byrne meet with President Trump in the Oval Office.
  • Saturday – The New York Times framed the Powell/Byrne meeting as a radical effort to remain president.
  • Saturday night – President Trump pushed-back against the Martial Law narrative.
  • Sunday Patrick Byrne criticizes the White House advisory group, President Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and the office of White House counsel.


  • On the one hand, Trump apparently supports the continuing litigation efforts of Giuliani's legal team. On the other hand, Flynn and Powell certainly appear to have excellent access to Trump, which suggests that Trump is at least somewhat receptive to what they're saying.

    On the other hand, Jen Dyer has published a lengthy article in which she argues that Trump may be simultaneously pursuing a national security resolution to the Election Hoax that's rooted in the turmoil we've been seeing at DoD and its cyber related components: NSA and Cyber Command:



    Dyer's argument relies heavily on the sweeping personnel changes at DoD that Trump instituted shortly after the election. The changes have been so sweeping--inserting trusted allies into key positions and streamlining the chain of command--that it's tempting to see these changes as long planned.

    Dyer's martialing of the facts is complex, but this is the nub of her conclusion:

    The key supporting effort is an adjunct to Trump’s main effort to, in effect, cure the 2020 vote and restore law and order to America.

    The gist of the key supporting effort is that it involves intelligence collection, principally through IT/cyber means, on the entities behind the electronic vote-tampering via voting systems in the 2020 election.  ... it’s not about persuading courts to rule or government entities to investigate.

    ... this effort is about using the intelligence collected up to now to expose the actors, in appropriate venues, and unite what we know about their activities with what we can demonstrate about the outcomes in vote processing and tabulation across the country.

    It's an interesting theory, but it's a theory that isn't susceptible to rigorous proof, the way we can identify the theory behind the actions of Trump's legal team. It relies, instead, on reasonable inferences drawn from reported facts. My one caveat is that, at some point, I don't see how Trump can avoid have "courts rule or government entities investigate." I think legal process of some sort--to include exercise of constitutional powers that could be challenged in court--is unavoidable.

    My own attempts to construct similar arguments illustrate the difficulties involved in this approach. I argued strongly--or so I thought--in the wake of the news/rumors of seizures of CIA election related servers in Germany that such an operation would have been conducted through DoJ and the FBI. My reasoning was based on the idea that the evidence that had been gathered would be used in legal attacks on the election fraud. However, it seems pretty clear that I was totally wrong.

    Now, Dyer doesn't address the German raid issue, but it could well fit within her overall scheme. Time will tell. I did hear rumors at the time that it was DIA that carried out the operation--if such an operation actually occurred. I still tend to believe that something of the sort did take place. The fact of the DIA related rumor and the fact that Michael Flynn (former head of DIA) seems to be in Trump's inner circle at this point suggests a possible connection. However, this remains speculative.

    At the same time there have been other events that may play into the scenario that Dyer outlines, even though her article doesn't sketch out a straight line for this "key supporting effort". The meetings of Barr and the CIA's Gina Haspel with Mitch McConnell take on a possibly different complexion in light of subsequent events. Barr, of course, appears to have been pushed out of DoJ ahead of schedule. Haspel's CIA has been stripped of its paramilitary capabilities while Special Ops--70K strong--is now on the same footing as the other service branches. In that regard, Dyer states forthrightly:

    I stress that [all this activity involving DoD and the armed forces] is not because [Trump is] planning to deploy armed force in the U.S.  I never saw that as likely and still don’t.

    All this is speculative. However, my bottom line in this regard is that there needn't be a conflict between the legal and the national security approaches. Trump, I would argue, probably would prefer to see the election set to rights through the courts and/or the state legislatures. At the same time, if that approach--as seems likely at the moment--comes up short, the Cyber/IT approach that Dyer argues for will require careful preparation. Including legal preparation. Dyer herself posts the likelihood that such a "key supporting effort" is still in an embryonic stage--if it is in fact developing:


    The key supporting effort looks to be emerging in outline, and it looks to be very big.  Don’t let the media spook you with terrors about what Trump may do.  But do hold fast.

    As quite a few observers have pointed out, Trump at no time has even hinted at concession, at backing down. Thus his tweets about supposed big future developments are--given his track record of straight shooting--likely to have some substance behind them. What it is, however, must remain speculative for now. In the meantime, we need to keep our eyes open on both fronts: legal as well as national security.


    36 comments:

    1. Off topic - https://twitter.com/HisBlakeness/status/1341497379464368130 is an excellent resource on Solarwinds. He wrote a deep dive book on Guccifer 2.0 and Russiagate 1.0. He predicted a false flag cyber attach BEFORE Solarwinds became public knowledge, and consistently brings evidence to light showing that indeed it is a false flag.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Theoretically, couldn't any department with factual intelligence submit a brief in a USSC case if their was IC collection showing interference?

      It would seem extraordinary having a department joining in a civil case however, so should the idea of election interference.

      The court hearing classified information is pretty par for their history so, no leap there.

      I'm getting the vibe that the more failure we see the deeper these rabbit holes become.

      Trump by nature will always play poker like he has a good hand. He will also never concede to the election, nor do I think he should. But concession (or not) carries no weight in any legal sense.

      It just seems to easy to roll both sides (intelligence
      / civil) this into a ball of wax and deal with it if it's solid.

      ReplyDelete
    3. @Mark
      "Barr, of course, appears to have been pushed out of DoJ ahead of schedule."

      I hadn't heard speculation that Barr was in fact pushed out. Interesting. Certainly plausible.

      Do you have any specifics, Mark?

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      Replies
      1. No, simply that Barr said he had intended to stay for a second Trump admin and that he would stay as long as he was needed. The inference I drew is that he was told he wasn't needed any longer.

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      2. I think, the fact that Barr knew about Hunter Biden investigation months ago and didn't tell Trump about it was the turning point where he lost the trust. Who knows what else he didn't tell.

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    4. I think it would be unwise to assume Trump only has one iron in the fire with regards to any topic. He hits whichever iron gets hot first.

      It's also perfectly possible that one of the irons is the contingency that if all else fails and Harris/Biden are sworn in they will be so wrapped up in scandal as to be all but neutralized for sometime. Neither Biden or Harris could have survived the crap Trump worked through for four years.

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      Replies
      1. If Harris and Biden were Republicans, then, yes, they could be wrapped up in scandals, but they are Democrats and above the law.

        Delete
    5. Looks like big things coming:

      "Durham probe 'is a very serious and active case.'

      "The people will be satisfied by the juridice prudence, and the punishments, and the indictments - that are about to come," says John Solomon."

      https://twitter.com/newsmax/status/1341571730616299520

      Frank

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    6. Just listened to Trump's latest speech.

      I lived the 1980 coup d'etat in Turkey. Before the coup, military had announced a memorandum, essentially warning about what was upcoming if things were not corrected in the country.

      Except the first sentence, this speech very much sounds like that memorandum.

      https://m.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/videos/436515744393744/

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    7. Trump is engaging in multi realm areas to contest the election fraud. Legal realm to force the Judiciary to show their true loyalties AND show to the political class what fraud has been proven or probable. Public realm which I think that the Powell initiative is addressing. Also the Navarro report which mass media is poo pooing but it is out there. Political by generating public pressure on the state legislatures to look at the Judicial evidence plus other information that is coming out. Ultimately it goes to Jan 6th electoral college certification.

      This fight ain't over by a long shot. Trump is clearing the decks and stripping out the weak hearted. The Friday meeting with the Legal team, administration team and the Powell team was getting the ducks in a row and to weed out and buck up the remaining troops. So enjoy Christmas and be prepared for more fireworks.

      Spartacus

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    8. If, and only if, PDJT isn't able to pull this off and remain in office, then we'll consider this our Alamo. He may fall, but we won't ever forget it. We'll have our Battle of San Jacinto sooner or later...and what will come after will be a most glorious resurrection of our nation.

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    9. At the outset, let me say this is pure speculation, but I wonder what you and your steadfast stream of commenters think of this? What if the so-called good guys did seize the server in Germany, and Trump means to go public with the evidence it contains (despite national security objections) proving that the election was indeed manipulated? What if Barr objected to going public and decided to leave? And what if Trump further decides to go public with information from Hunter Biden’s computer? Would this not sway wavering Congress critters about electoral fraud and also explain why a special counsel is not necessary since the evidence convicts the entire Biden family? Maybe this is all nuts, but it helps me sleep better and wake up more hopeful. If I am wrong, there will be plenty of time for lamentations. Any thoughts?
      Aletheia

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      Replies
      1. That's the thing--it's in the realm of speculation. OTOH, the actions taken are highly unusual given the political situation and do call out for some explanation.

        Delete
      2. I think there's a lot of betrayal, side changing going on behind the scenes. And the fog of war is thick.

        I also believe Trump hasn't played his trump card yet, which may include what you describe above. Will he ever play it? I guess it will depend on the outcome of the negotiations between the sides.

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      3. @alethia

        There is so much out there that no one here and elsewhere is talking about that it makes the head spin. It also leaves any rational person wondering what is real, or, as Bannon likes to say, what is signal and what's noise?

        Here are a few facts that I cannot reconcile, that point to...*something* going on beyond the Propaganda Media and establishment narrative:
        1. Trump simply isn't the type of person who would allow himself to be cheated out of a second term (or anything else for that matter). This is a guy who remembers every favor and kindness but absolutely never forgets a slight or injury. He never backs down. So while I have a hard time imagining him sending in special forces to seize voting machines or using the Insurrection Act even after all court challenges fail, neither can I imagine him conceding or allowing the CCP Democrats getting away with their coup.
        2. There has been an unprecedented amount of domestic military air traffic right after the election consistent with positioning of equipment for active operations.
        3. Unusual air traffic to from Guantanamo
        4.Unexpected and quick exit of Barr.
        5. Statement by Sec Def Miller last week at Space Force press conference that referred to the most complex military operation he'd been involved in just completed. Huh? It seemed like such insider stuff.
        6. Trump's 12.2 45 minute speech a couple weeks ago that he said was the most important one of his presidency. The language tracked the EO almost exactly at points. Was this a sort of green light for spec ops and Miller?
        7. There is an undeniable cyber and info war raging between the US, China, and the Demokratzia. We are hearing almost nothing about this or very sketchy information. Or misinformation ie Russia Russia!

        Bottom line, we simply don't know half of what's going on here. There are plenty of indications that something is happening but the info war makes it almost impossible to know. All we can do is carefully sift what each side is putting out there and try to make plausible connections always remembering the end state will almost certainly NOT be a Biden presidency.

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      4. "what if Trump further decides to go public"

        The big problem is always that MSM buries everything, so only less than half the country sees it.
        Only those who watch Fox, and those who get their news from internet sites and internet channels... those which haven't been censored.
        And even Fox isn't on board too much any more.

        Frank

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      5. Tschifty, on "neither can I imagine him conceding or allowing the CCP Democrats getting away with their coup."
        Nor can I, esp. seeing as he knows that tens of millions have his back, in light of their fears, that the Woke will get Biden to allow the Deep State, to implement something approaching an Endlösung der DeplorablesFrage.

        Delete
      6. That military air traffic info gets a lot of spin on the internet, but I don't see it as abnormal myself. There was a major air exercise yes, but they aren't uncommon. Look at the actual flights. They're training missions. Pilots need hours to keep their wings even desk jockey pilots. Do you think they put it off and now need it before years end? Guantanamo is a red herring. Who supposedly is in this prison? Gina?

        I've grown tired of this whole military aircraft echo.

        Delete
      7. On censorship: who knew it could be this easy?

        "A new law set to be passed in Poland would fine social media companies $2.2 million a pop for censoring lawful free speech."

        And on the other side, what's a poor platform to do:

        "...UK for example set to introduce an “Online Safety Bill” that threatens social media platforms with fines up to $24 million for failing “to protect users or remove harmful content.”

        https://summit.news/2020/12/21/poland-social-media-companies-face-2-2-million-fines-for-removing-lawful-free-speech/

        Frank

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      8. More on the Polish anti-censorship attempt:

        https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2020/12/26/poland-just-stopped-big-tech-censorship-with-single-piece-of-legislation-we-can-must-do-the-same-n300174

        Frank

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    10. Trump Vetoes $732 Billion Defense Bill

      https://m.theepochtimes.com/trump-vetoes-732-billion-defense-bill-a-gift-to-china-and-russia_3630838.html

      This is the bill in which, Pelosi and McConnell try to limit usage of insurrection act by the President. See yourself below.


      Download this PDF on the NDAA from July 2020, do a CTL + F “Insurrection”.


      https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2020/07/20/CREC-2020-07-20-pt1-PgH3114-2.pdf

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    11. Have you seen the Amistad Project lawsuit today?

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    12. Roger Stone is now on Tucker, about his being pardoned by DJT.

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    13. The Georgia surveillance video with different camera angles, combined into composite video, synchronized with commentary at the hearing

      https://twitter.com/Sophisto5/status/1341778036954333187

      Frank

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      Replies
      1. Had watched the initial video with commentary. Hadn't seen the composite with commentary. Very helpful; easier to follow. Thank you.

        Delete
    14. Long list of factors which may be working for DJT, in this election struggle, from FoFoA's (subscr.) page on "Merry Christmas!".
      Too many claims for me to do justice to, so here's for you all to have at:

      dekalb963 December 23, 2020 at 6:03 AM

      Many moving parts.
      Here is what we know right now as of the election in November....

      Solar Winds was just raided & Dominion is closing up shop. Same with politicians & media.
      Dominion serves 40% of the US market. It is in 30 states.
      – The state of Texas rejected the machines.
      – Admiral Peter Neffenger is on Biden’s transition team.
      – Peter Neffenger was the President and on the board of Smartmatic
      – Smartmatic entered into an agreement with Dominion in 2009
      – Smartmatic counted American votes in Venezuela
      – Smartmatic is connected to Philippine voter fraud
      – Smartmatic is run by Lord Mark Malloch Brown who works for George Soros.
      – Brown chairs the Boards of a number of non-profit boards including the Open Society Foundation,
      – Brown chairs the Centre for Global Development.
      – Open society of course is owned by George Soros
      – Smartmatic partnered with DLA Piper Global
      – Douglas C. Emhoff works at DLA Piper Global
      – Douglas C. Emhoff is Kamala Harris’s husband
      – Guess who owns part of Dominion? Blum Capital Partners, L.P
      – Guess who owns Blum Capital? Richard C. Blum
      Richard C. Blum is husband to Dianne Feinstein. The California senator who helped head impeachment efforts.
      Blum got much of his dirty money by buying thousands of foreclosed homes cheap during the Obama administration of families who lost their homes and turned them into Colony Homes
      – Nancy Pelosi’s husband is also an investor
      – An aide to Nancy Pelosi, Nadeam Elshami, was hired by the
      Dominion Voting Systems
      – Dominion Voting Systems is literally listed on the Clinton Foundation website.
      – “The DELIAN Project: Democracy through Technology” is the title of the page.
      – Georgia Governor Kemp purchased machines after Texas and Florida rejected them
      – Dominion Voting has a lobbyist named Jared Thomas
      • Mitt Romney (one of the vocal Rhino Republicans saying Trump should accept the election results) is a stockholder in Dominion
      – Jared Thomas was Governor Brian Kemp’s chief of staff and press secretary from 2012 to 2015
      – You must remember the Feinstein-Kavanaugh-Soros connections to understand the depth of all this
      – Debra Katz (Christine Ford’s lawyer) worked for George-Soros at the Open Society Foundation.
      – Debra Katz (Christine Ford’s lawyer) also worked at Project on Government Oversight (POGO).
      – POGO is funded by Soros’s Open Society Foundation.
      – POGO is the co-signer of the letter Diane Feinstein had on Kavanaugh.
      – Kamala Harris did not prosecute One-West Bank for fraud
      – Soros owned One West Bank.
      – Now you know why a woman who placed 7th in her state is a VP candidate....

      ReplyDelete
    15. More from that FoFoA page (more-general considerations):

      Trump has court cases still pending that will go to the Supreme Court, & thanks to TX case, he now knows how to file it under article 3 not 2, that will force them to hear it. He has the DNI report on Friday. Barr steps down on the 23rd (can now be a witness —he did his job). Durham is now a special counsel (can prosecute in any state – the Bidens)
      He’s letting civil, criminal, federal courts fail to handle the situation properly so he can use military tribunals. He has the data (all of it) from NSA, the Kraken supercomputer, the Alice supercomputer, (probably a couple others we haven’t heard about yet, too).
      He has the dueling electors from 7 states legislatures.
      He has VP Pence as final arbiter of which ballots to accept on 1/6/20.
      He has the insurrection act. The NDAA, the national emergency, the 14th amendment, t
      He has the 2018 executive order allowing for rejection of the election based on Foreign interference which we now know is true, the 2017 very first EO, the Patriot Act, the FISA warrants, the possible Declassification of everything including Wikileaks. People swear affidavits will be by the 1,000,
      His code scan guy just needs access to some real ballots & he can detect if they are fake by looking for creases & printing items using his scanner technology.
      Trump has all the statistical data being analyzed, the videos, emails, phone calls, bank transfer statements showing the coordination of the coup which Zickerberg manned and Sorros funded
      .
      He has RICO, he has the crimes against humanity videos, Wikileaks just dropped a ton & Assange will be pardoned so he can talk about Seth Rich.
      Now that the governors and secretary of states certified & Biden accepted, they committed and knowingly agreed to treason.

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    16. I was reading the communist goals as entered in congressional record and noticed this one.

      35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

      Which makes sense. They want us to demand they dismantle it

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    17. Mark is there anything to be made of this legal memo in the western journal that Trump should order the DOJ to sue PA GA MI and WI on the same basis as TX?
      https://www.westernjournal.com/twj-exclusive-bombshell-new-legal-memo-giving-trump-supporters-hope-christmas-eve/

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. From a constitutional standpoint, yes, of course it makes sense--just as the TX lawsuit against PA made sense (as the authors maintain). The problem is a practical one: Is there a way to force the SCOTUS to take the case on a timely basis? The answer to that, I fear, is No.

        Delete
      2. >Is there a way to force the SCOTUS to take the case on a timely basis?

        Could be



        https://www.westernjournal.com/twj-exclusive-bombshell-new-legal-memo-giving-trump-supporters-hope-christmas-eve/

        Delete
    18. Ezra Cohen-Watnick, acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, was just added to the
      Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB)

      Established by statute, the Public Interest Declassification
      Board (PIDB) advises the President of the United States
      regarding issues pertaining to national classification and
      declassification policy.

      Look at these other excellent additions to the PIDB!

      News and Notices

      October 9, 2020 - President Donald Trump appointed Michael G. Lawrence and Benjamin A. Powell to three-year terms on the Board.

      Michael G. Lawrence

      On October 9, 2020, President Donald J. Trump appointed Michael G. Lawrence to a three-year term on the Board. Mr. Lawrence entered the Senior Executive Service in 1999. He retired in June 2019 after a 20+ year career in the Intelligence Community (IC) where he held leadership positions at several IC components. In his last assignment, he set up and then served as the Director of the Enterprise Functional Team at the National Security Agency (NSA). Previously, he served at the Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) from 2013 to 2018. In this role, he was responsible for advising the DNI and other IC senior leaders on capabilities, policy, coordination, and oversight relating to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

      Benjamin Powell is widely recognized as one of the country's top authorities on handling cybersecurity, data breach and related investigation matters. He has advised companies on major cybersecurity incidents and incident preparedness across virtually every sector of the economy, including the banking, investment management, software, retail, energy, defense and intelligence, media and entertainment, pharmaceutical, cloud services, government contracting, aerospace, information technology, manufacturing, and travel sectors. He is recognized as a leading attorney in handling complex regulatory matters relating to international investment and mergers, including matters involving the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the Defense Security Service (DSS). He also is regularly asked to be lead counsel on major investigations and strategic counseling across a variety of sensitive regulatory matters for the world's most prominent companies.

      August 24, 2020 - House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appointed Harold W. (“Trey”) Gowdy, III,
      to a three-year term on the Board!

      https://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb/members.html

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      Replies
      1. Hopefully a sign of coming significant declassifications.

        Delete
    19. Not sure where else to put this, but I discovered a very interesting take on Mitch McConnell's statement after the electoral college vote. For those who are not familiar with Mandy O'Brien, she is an expert on reading body language. She has a website where she has a program to teach others, but also posts videos of her reactions to various videos available of public figures (https://bombardsbodylanguage.com).

      Her take on Mitch McConnell's statement is based on her interpretation of his body language: https://bombardsbodylanguage.com/2020/12/18/body-language-sen-mitch-mcconnell-congratulates-president-elect-joe-biden/

      She takes his congratulations to "President-elect" Biden and "VP-elect" Harris to be a sarcastic joke, and his comment about "our country needs to add another bipartisan chapter to [Trump's] record of achievement" to be a sly allusion to stuff in the works.

      Take a watch. Worth the time

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