It's interesting that the Russia Hoax is getting attention again, with liberals starting to admit that, yeah, it really was all bullsh*t. Part of that is a result of the new book out by Barry Meier that exposes lots about the the private intel business--and the Steele/Fusion GPS op in particular. I'm presenting a series of self explanatory tweets below. The common theme for most of them is the importance of the January 6, 2017, ICA. That's correct in the important sense that the ICA was a major factor in allowing the media to talk freely about the hoax.
One area concerning which I disagree with McIntyre, however, is his contention that the "Carter Page FISA has been Look Squirrel distraction." Here's how that works. Without the Steele "dossier" there's no Crossfire Hurricane. Forget about Downer and Papadopoulos. That would've gone nowhere in an investigative sense on its own. Crossfire Hurricane needed a FISA to have any real credibility as an investigation, and the Carter Page FISA obviously provided that part of the hoax story--something that Papadopoulos couldn't do for CH. Here's the important point--without CH and the FISA you get NO TEAM MUELLER. For a Special Counsel you need allegations of criminal wrongdoing (which you also need for the USPER FISA). Think about it. Exactly what would the media have talked about for years on end with only the ICA and no Mueller?
Each played a role. Each was important. The ICA is A key, but not simply THE key. Now the tweets:
Matt Taibbi
The only reason the Steele affair isn’t already thought of as maybe the biggest scandal in the modern history of American journalism is because the ostensible “victim” was Donald Trump. Virtually everyone in major media was complicit in the fraud, and many are still proud of it.
Replying to @ggreenwald
The Steele Dossier shaped US politics for 4 years. Journalists now will pretend they mocked the salacious parts -- they didn't -- but the core fraud of it contaminated everything. The most gullible ones who promoted it -- @Maddow, @NatashaBertrand, @DavidCornDC -- were rewarded.

Stephen McIntyre 
the ICA is the key. Focus on Carter Page FISA has been Look Squirrel distraction. Steele info did not meet IC quality standards but included anyway because Obama (orally) said to include "everything", which McCabe used as authorization/instruction to include Steele fabrications
2/ many questions about ICA remain unanswered and even unasked. There does not appear to be any purpose for including Steele "information" other than to leak it. (as I recall) Strzok/Page speculated in early Jan on leaks from senior WH.
3/ was there any purpose in such a rushed ICA other than to boobytrap and undermine the incoming administration? Everyone involved is smart and cunning, so each step undoubtedly has a color of right, but net result of ICA was to commence resistance against Trump.
4/ in that respect, the insurrection beginning with ICA of Jan 6, 2017 was far more sinister than anything that happened on Jan 6, 2021.
Now the clincher at the end. Remember how Durham "grilled" Brennan a couple of months before the election and cleared him?
"We had one of the largest frauds and injustices in American history conducted during the 2016 election by the Justice Department and the FBI right in the middle of it."
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) May 17, 2021
This is from not even a year ago. And then he just dropped the ball. Who got to Barr?pic.twitter.com/9hvs0CVWNd
I’m not sure it’s about “who got to” whom. I feel it’s more about common thoughts and interests along with fence sitters being swayed. Being charitable, Barr could have been one of those fence sitters, except for his history of burying scandals.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it strange how quickly the world has moved on? Exactly how the miscreants knew it would given their sway over the Big Tech / Media axis? What, at this point, does it matter? The real journalists were all saying years ago that this is how it would play out. Truth comes out, a small stink occurs, no admissions of wrongdoing ("we were all fooled") are forthcoming, "this is old news."
ReplyDeletePersonnel, personnel, personnel... Trump's people decisions were disastrous.
Every semi-concious honest person in the U.S. knew before the 2016 election that the Russia allegations were a hoax.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it say about Taibbi and Greenwald that neither (to my recollection) EVER called out the hoax until now?
In fairness I think you need to check your recollection.
DeleteBoth Taibbi and Greenwald have been all over the RussiaGate hoax for at least two years. I would provide links but you would benefit from doing your own searches.
DeleteLong before Steele's Dossier, some people suspected that Donald Trump was involved with organized crime based in Russia. A Russia-based international gambling ring operated in Trump Tower. Perhaps there was some betting about Trump's Ms. Universe contest.
ReplyDeleteSuch suspicions were reasonable, but no concrete evidence has been discovered, as far as the public knows.
A former KGB officer, Yuri Shvets, claimed to know that the KBG had been trying to develop Trump as an agent of influence for many years. For sure, FBI Counterintelligence had interviewed Shvets about this claim and took it seriously when Trump became a candidate for President in 2015.
The CIA had an agent, Oleg Smolenkov, who claimed to know that Putin was directing an Intelligence operation to affect the USA's Presidential election in 2016.
Then, when CrowdStrike found, on the DNC computers, computer viruses that were attributed to Russian Intelligence, these various dots were connected in the minds of various US Intelligence officials who hated Trump.
Those officials decided that they needed a FISA warrant in order to find concrete evidence for the diabolical international plot that they imagined.
That is where Christopher Steele entered the situation in a key role.
In particular, they imagined that Russian Intelligence had obtained from Hillary Clinton's computer incriminating files that would enable Trump to launch an "October Surprise" shortly before the election and thus defeat Clinton.
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A key point in this situation was CrowdStrike's discovery of supposedly Russian computer viruses on the DNC computers.
I think that the found viruses indeed had been developed by Russian Intelligence, but I speculate that the were placed on the DNC computer by an American computer expert, an employee of the NGP VAN company, which maintained some databases on those computers. This actual culprit was a supporter of Bernie Sanders and was trying to collect proof that the DNC was unfairly helping Clinton beat Sanders in the Democratic Party's primary elections.
The FISA warrant and anything else about the Russian Hoax was never about finding "concrete" evidence, it was all to feed the media narrative that there might be a Russian-Trump connection. Same for the Mueller scam, keep feeding the media beast, no proof necessary.
DeleteThese officials were not imagining the Russian connection, the were suggesting/selling it without any evidence or proof, so that the public would imagine it might be true.
I have zero expectations of anything coming out through official channels. Perhaps foia request? My guess is everything is classified / buried, so unreachable.
ReplyDeleteThe Only possibility I see, is a foreign intelligence agency would release Russian Info to embarrass the perpetrators, and / or info on the election fraud, with appropriate laundering. This could throw even more sand in the gears of our government. Any countries that would be interested in making the us government even more dysfunctional?
I’m surprised at the renewed talk of the Russian Hoax, but we are in strange times.
yeah, its hard to know with Barr - is he a double-agent or was he put up to it or gotten-to by pressure from our IC masters? I don't know but per Anton and others, I sure hope our IC masters are as good as they apparently think they are and that they have a plan... I mean, if you remove the Rule of Law, you had better be ready to Rule... Mark A (I was mentally and emotionally sound and very much wished to keep on living when I committed suicide).
ReplyDeleteThe Mueller report said very little about the Steele "Dossier". Those guys knew it had no leg to stand on. FISA surveillance and the ICA were the key elements. Even Durham in the beginning spent the better part of his 1st year supposedly focused on the ICA activities. Brennan's special secret task force put together mid-summer 2016 that ultimately culminated in the ICA was the driving force behind the insurrection. Agreed this was much worse than Jan. 6th 2021.
ReplyDeleteMueller may have kept mum about it, but the fact is that his jihad was no more than a continuation of CH and the first thing he did was to get a renewal of the FISA--which McCabe admitted relied completely on the "dossier".
DeleteTrue Mark. Mueller low-keyed and low-balled it as a distraction I'm sure if that is what you're suggesting and that it was a key source of the FISA renewals as McCabe admitted. HOWEVER, knowing Brennan was putting the pieces together in summer 2016 and then the initial FISA request seems to align to a pattern of conspiracy.
Delete@Mark
Delete"the fact is that his jihad was no more than a continuation of CH..."
Yes that. And in that respect it was a continuation of the Deep State attempt to destroy Trump.
But it was also, importantly, two additional things that were not part of the original CH conspiracy:
It was an attempt to frame Trump on obstruction of justice and, undoubtedly, impeach him for that, and
It was a conspiracy to coverup Deep State wrong-doing from 2015 up to Trump's inauguration, including but not limited to CH wrong-doing.
I vacillate from day to day when I consider which was more destructive to our country: the illegitimate and unlawful investigation of a Presidential candidate...or the phony special counsel investigation of a President with a view to politically destroying him and effecting a coup to overthrow him.
I guess I don't have to decide.
The obstruction frame-up attempt arose *directly* from CH.
Delete@AC
DeleteRe "a pattern of conspiracy."
Without putting words in his mouth, I suspect Mark still absolutely believes (as do I) that what went down was a conspiracy...a criminal conspiracy. Which to date has not been charged or prosecuted.
Of course. OTOH, I don't expect that it will be taken up after the 5 years.
DeleteI said it the other days but... As we speak the statue of limitations is passing by where the IC portion of this came into play.
ReplyDeleteSoon the FBI, ONA, etc will be eek'ing by as well.
Anyone seen John?
who's John? /s
DeleteGod has no statue of limitations.
DeleteCriminal conspiracies toll the statute of limitations.
Delete@CDT
DeleteI was curious about that myself and maybe someone here can chime in and add to this. From my own digging that's not really the case as many wish to interpret it. The wavering factor on (most) consparicies seems to simply be that they are dated by the "last act". Once an individual withdraws from their actions, there's your date. So it's not a situation where you've added any time to the 5 year limitation.
By the actions of the IC for example predating the FBIs contribution. IC at this point is pretty much in the clear by the public information we have. So Flynn, the Cambridge 3, the ONA, etc, etc... Water under the bridge.
I'm pretty sure all of prior IG and SC interviews / contributions will play nicely into the limitations for many of the parties involved.
Mueller and Barr are best friends, and so are their wives.
ReplyDeleteThey invited each other to their offsprings' weddings. That's not the same as being best friends. I guarantee you that I invited people to my children's weddings that I would prefer never to have anything else to do with. Various reasons. When you're talking about a guy as wealthy as Barr, the size of those weddings ... he may never even have spoke to Mueller. When Barr supervised Mueller he is said to have regularly made Mueller the butt of his jibes. It's more complicated that being 'best friends.'
DeleteI've managed not to invite anybody to my children's weddings who I would never want to have anything else to do with. :-)
ReplyDeleteFWIW, until evidence emerges (if it ever does) that Barr was not a cutout for Trump opponents I'm going with the theory that Barr and Mueller are on the same team.
My theory is not that they're on the same team but that Barr set out to save the office of the presidency that Mueller threatened to destroy while also keeping the IC from collapsing under the weight of its disastrous coup attempt.
Delete@Cass; funny you mention this. My oldest son is getting married Saturday in Lake Geneva, WI. I personally did not add anyone of my friends (or enemies) to the invite list.
DeleteReasonable.
DeleteThat's always been my theory on Barr. Protect the insututions of government, even from themselves and each other.
Delete