UPDATED: The McInerney Theory

A big H/T to commenter BoxTop, who linked to a fascinating 20 minute interview with retired USAF General Thomas McInerney (see below--from my perspective a riveting listen).

McInerney explains how the election was stolen--but you've heard about that. He also has a theory about what he thinks is going to happen.

McInerny's theory is that the Trump team is going to go straight to the SCOTUS to seek relief. The reason is simple enough: Because the fraud that took place took place on such an enormous scale--essentially nationwide--that it's impossible to challenge the theft and aggregate the evidence state by state. Yet, what happened is so egregious and so unprecedented that there must be action taken. Only the SCOTUS can adequately address this threat to our constitutional order in a timely manner.

Off the top of my head, I think there's merit in this theory. McInerney argues that the judiciary has been corrupted and politicized, repeatedly citing Sullivan's treatment of Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell. The SCOTUS alone must act.

To that line of reasoning I would add the following.

Larry Johnson On The Scytl "Raid"

Briefly, here's what I maintained regarding the purported "raid" in Germany in which servers said to be relevant to the 2020 US election were seized from a Scytl facility in or near Frankfurt. My view was that such an operation--in which private property on German soil was seized--would have had to have been handled through legal channels between the US government and the German government. Since the private property would have been seized for use as evidence in a criminal investigation, proper US warrants would have had to have been obtained and those warrants would have had to conform to German law, as well. To me, that meant that DoJ/FBI--both of which have considerable expertise in such matters--would have taken the lead, which possible assists from DoS. 

The question remaining, of course, was: Did any of this actually happen in the real world? The persons supporting the narrative that this did happen--including Sidney Powell--appeared to me to be credible, yet one would have expected some further confirmation. So far there really hasn't been any.

This morning Larry Johnson, former CIA analyst, has weighed in with a thought provoking account in which he claims he was "reliably informed" of what he says--presumably by former colleagues: Unraveling the Deep State Coup. (h/t "j") I refer you to the full blog for all details, but here's the short version.

The core of Johnson's account is that the servers in question were not owned by private companies: Dominion or Scytl, or anyone else. Rather, they were owned by CIA. That, of course, would put an entirely different light on the legalities that would have been in play. If the Scytl facility were US government property, and if the personnel effecting the seizure of the servers were proceeding in accordance with valid orders, there would have been no need for German government involvement. Here's how Johnson puts that:

So This Is What Lindsey Graham Was Talking About

This morning Lindsey Graham spoke out about a ballot harvesting operation in Pennsylvania nursing homes. As he noted, ballot harvesting is illegal in Pennsylvania. Repeat: Illegal.  He referred to 25,000 ballots that were returned all on the same day. You know that Lindsey knew more than he was giving away. It's interesting to note how up front and Trump-supportive Lindsey has been. I doubt that Mitch McConnell would have let Lindsey go way out on a limb. Think about that, and think about this: Yesterday Bill Barr turned local USAs loose on election fraud and then went to talk to Mitch. Today Gina Haspel, CIA Director turned up at Mitch's office, late in the day (h/t EZ). Who thinks Barr and Mitch aren't on the same page? Because Mitch, too, has been supportive of Trump.

Here, courtesy of CFP, is what Lindsey was talking about:

Pennsylvania smoking gun…

Posted by Kane on November 10, 2020 3:56 pm

Pennsylvania:
Nearly 35,000 ballots were returned on the same day they were mailed out.

23,000 have an impossible return date—earlier than the sent date.

More than 9,000 have no sent date.https://t.co/hHq2y0Bl11

— Praying Medic (@prayingmedic) November 10, 2020

More than 100,000 absentee ballots in Pennsylvania have questionable return dates.

Nearly 35,000 ballots were returned on the same day they were mailed out.

23,000 have an impossible return date — it is earlier than the ‘sent date.’

More than 9,000 have no sent date.

More than 100,000 absentee ballots in Pennsylvania have unlikely or impossible return dates, based on a researcher’s analysis of the state’s voter database.

Over 51,000 ballots were marked as returned just a day after they were sent out—an extraordinary speed, given U.S. Postal Service (USPS) delivery times, while nearly 35,000 were returned on the same day they were mailed out. Another more than 23,000 have an impossible return date—earlier than the sent date.

Full story at Epoch Times…

Oh, I Like This! Trump's Post Election Execution List!

Nope, there are no surprises on Axios' list of likely heads on the chopping block. It's headed (!) by Chris Wray at FBI, Gina Haspel at CIA, and with Mike Esper anchoring the third spot: Scoop: Trump's post-election execution list. Pretty much every patriot's dream list. If you're standing, don't bother sitting down for this next bit:

Wray and Haspel are despised and distrusted almost universally in Trump's inner circle. He would have fired both already, one official said, if not for the political headaches of acting before Nov. 3.

 

Let me count the reasons!

How does AG Bill Barr figure in all this? This is an article that you really have to filter carefully. Wray and Haspel seem like no brainers. However, here's what the article says about Barr:

Be smart: While Trump has also privately vented about Attorney General Bill Barr, he hasn't made any formal plans to replace him, an official said.

• Trump is furious that Barr isn't releasing before the election what Trump hoped would be a bombshell report by U.S. Attorney John Durham on the Obama administration's handling of the Trump-Russia investigation.
• Durham's investigation has yet to produce any high-profile indictments of Obama-era officials as Trump had hoped.
• "The attorney general wants to finish the work that he's been involved in since day one," a senior administration official told Axios.

I'll make no secret of it. I think removing Barr before Barr is ready to go would be a major misstep--an own goal. Barr wants to stay on and finish the job and Trump would be well advised to leave well enough alone. Maybe the result of Durham's investigation haven't come in on Trump's schedule, but Barr has a list of significant accomplishments that would be the envy of any AG--starting with his masterful handling of Team Mueller, and continuing from there. I know of no one else who could do that job and handle the political heat like Barr has--and I'm quite certain that there is a long list of GOP senators ready to tell Trump the same thing. Nor can I think of anyone else with comparable stature and credibility, and who has the temperament to handle the heat in DC and in a Trump administration.

Read the rest. It's entertaining and overall encouraging.

UPDATE: And admit it--who else would have the moxy to go in front of Congress and pull this off?

My politics in 2020: pic.twitter.com/W0umd6Qiv5

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) October 26, 2020

Major Update On Declass

Sean Davis is confirming, through "sources," that, yes, Gina Haspel at CIA is almost certainly the roadblock to declass that Mark Meadows had in mind:

Intel Sources: CIA Director Gina Haspel Banking On Trump Loss To Keep Russiagate Documents Hidden

Haspel is hoping Trump loses his re-election bid so she can run out the clock on Russiagate document declassifications, multiple intelligence community officials told The Federalist.

I get so tired of knuckleheads--and you know who you are--who blame AG Barr for these problems. Was Bill Barr responsible for Haspel being placed at the top of CIA? Chris Wray at the FBI? Dan Coats at DNI?

Davis' account makes it clear the lengths the Deep State continues to go to thwart revelation of the whole truth about the Russia Hoax coup. Note, too, that the president himself as well as "the White House" is portrayed as having been involved in all this declass business. That's as I suggested in the prior post (Trump Back, Pushing For Declass), that Barr has had to repeatedly ask for Trump to get involved because Barr alone does not possess the full authority that the president has:

“Haspel and [FBI Director Christopher] Wray both want Trump to lose, because it’s the only chance they have of keeping their jobs,” one senior intelligence official told The Federalist. “They’re banking on Biden winning and keeping them where they are.”

...

“Haspel has repeatedly lied to the president about the status of documents to be declassified,” one intelligence community source said. “She will claim they don’t know where they are, or which agency technically owns them, and then we’ll find out she had them the entire time and just didn’t want them to see the light of day.”

“The frustration with Haspel is reaching nuclear levels,” one official said, noting that White House and top U.S. intelligence community officials have been taken aback by the ferocity of Haspel’s refusal to release documents.

 

Sean Davis: Gina Haspel Is Personally Blocking Important Declassifications

 Tonight Sean Davis and The Federalist are reporting:

CIA Director Gina Haspel is personally blocking the declassification of documents detailing corruption at the highest levels of the intelligence community during the 2016 election, according to The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis.

...

“I’m told that it is Gina Haspel personally who is blocking continued declassification of these documents that will show the American people the truth of what actually happened,” Davis said.

While Davis is unable to say exactly what those documents would show, he reminds us:

Haspel was previously the London CIA station chief under former CIA director John Brennan during the 2016 election. “Recall it was London where Christopher Steele was doing all this work,” Davis said, noting Haspel was the “main link” between Washington and London at the time. Haspel was hand-picked by former CIA director John Brennan to run the CIA’s operations in London, where she served as the spy agency’s bureau chief from 2014 through early 2017.

High stakes here. Davis called on Trump to personally take charge of the declassification.

It's All Good News

CTH has linked to an important article at Politico, and it's all good news. Very good news.

The CTH post is quite amusing--for what it doesn't say. We all know that sundance has been pushing the line that his controllers feed him: AG Barr is a bad guy, a swamp dweller looking to double cross all right thinking Americans. So, it's funny to read the CTH subject line, Dirty Spooks Concerned About Barr and Durham. You might expect from the subject line that there would be some mention of Barr, and maybe even an apology of sorts--given that if the Dirty Spooks are concerned about Barr then Barr has to be doing something right. Right? You'd be wrong if that was your expectation. Instead there's only one additional mention of Barr by sundance:

Apparently, if the article is semi-accurate, John Durham and Bill Barr are working around ICIG Michael Atkinson. That would be good news because Atkinson is a dirty cop, completely compromised.

Sundance even manages to quote at length from the Politico article (authored by Natasha Bertrand), while carefully excising all mention of Barr. Well, in fairness, he does omit his usual Bagpipe Bill photo from the post.

You may remember when Barr was nominated that I quoted from profiles of Barr, in which lawyers who had either worked with Barr or against Barr related how shockingly aggressive Barr is as a litigator. A portrait so much at odds with Barr's seemingly genial public persona. But those lawyers were guys like Barr--at the top of their profession--and if they were shocked you can imagine just how tough a litigator/prosecutor/investigator/political operator Barr is. Moreover, not only does Barr have plenty of experience in the Intel world, but he also likes to make his own mind up--which must be extremely unsettling for those under his microscope.

Keep that in mind as you read the following excerpts from a very heartening article, written by an author who is a determined opponent of Barr and a Deep State propagandist. And just imagine the dismay, and fear, being experienced by Deep State actors as they increasingly come face to face with Barr and his chosen bulldog, Durham. Any illusions that this nightmare will somehow just go away must have been dispelled long ago. That part is all over except for the squealing that we're hearing:

Events Leading to the Russia Hoax Tipping Point

What follows is a blog by commenter Mike Sylwester. While I don't ordinarily do this, I've been pulled in a number of directions recently. Mike has done a lot of research on the Downer-Papadopoulos aspect of the Russia Hoax and I believe his blog here will provide a useful framework for discussion on a topic that has become somewhat controversial.

Obviously, we don't know the whole story yet--that has become apparent in the last few days. Mike's focus on the process helps draw attention to the anomalies in the way Downer's "information" was handled. In any bureaucratic setting, anomalies in process must lead to suspicion.

As you read, you may wish to keep the Carter Page matter in mind, since at the same time that the Papadopoulos matter was being used to open Crossfire Hurricane--as the story goes--Bruce Ohr was conveying Chris Steele's Carter Page narrative to Lisa Page, Andy McCabe, and Peter Strzok.

Here's the distinction I see between the use of the Papadopoulos material and the Carter Page material.

Obviously, any domestic investigation would need to be handled by the FBI. The advantage to using the Papadopoulos material--which seems clearly to be a CIA operation--is that it insulated both the CIA and the FBI by inserting a supposedly independent operation by a "friendly" foreign power: Australia. In that way the CIA and FBI could pretend to be merely conduits of foreign intelligence rather than the primary gatherers.

By contrast, while the Carter Page narrative of "Russian collusion" is superficially attractive, it falls apart as soon as Page's relationship to both the CIA and the FBI is known. Worse, concealing that relationship to maintain the credibility of the narrative can only be done by lying or hiding the ball. This, to me, explains why the FBI and CIA would have preferred to base all on the very lame Papadopoulos narrative. When DoJ turned down the idea of a FISA on Papadopoulos, however, the FBI had to turn to Carter Page.

Mike's blog follows:

Is Gina Haspel Cooperating With Barr?

I've used material from Larry C. Johnson regularly. Johnson is a former CIA analyst turned pundit. His track record, in my opinion, has been variable. For what it's worth he is writing that Gina Haspel, CIA Director is cooperating with Barr. He starts this blog out with some news that's simply not news, but finishes with scuttlebut about Haspel. Again, FWIW--Exposing John Brennan's Secret CIA Trump Task Force?

I was chatting last night with a retired CIA colleague, a person well connected to many folks still working at our former employer, and he dropped a bombshell--he had learned that John Brennan set up a Trump Task Force at CIA in early 2016. 

... 

I am also hearing that CIA Director Gina Haspel is cooperating. She was the CIA Chief of Station in London when this Task Force was up a running but my friend says she was kept out of the loop. She and Brennan have a history and it is not friendly. Brennan blocked her from getting a top assignment in what used to be known as the "Directorate of Operations." So no love lost between the two.

This goes somewhat counter to what we've been hearing, which is that Haspel and Brennan were close. Of course, it's also possible that for her own reasons Haspel has turned on Brennan. That's acceptable, too.

ADDENDUM: That was just too short, so ... from Babylon Bee

Motorcyclist Who Identifies As Bicyclist Sets Cycling World Record

October 25th, 2019

NEW YORK, NY—In an inspiring story from the world of professional cycling, a motorcyclist who identifies as a bicyclist has crushed all the regular bicyclists, setting an unbelievable world record.

In a local qualifying race for the World Road Cycling League, the motorcyclist crushed the previous 100-mile record of 3 hours, 13 minutes with his amazing new score of well under an hour.

Professional motorcycle racer Judd E. Banner, the brave trans-vehicle rider, was allowed to race after he told league organizers he's always felt like a bicyclist in a motorcyclist's body.

"Look, my ride has handlebars, two wheels, and a seat," he told reporters as he accepted a trophy for his incredible time trial. "Just because I've got a little extra hardware, such as an 1170-cc flat-twin engine with 110 horsepower, doesn't mean I have any kind of inherent advantage here."

Banner also said he painted the word "HUFFY" on the side of his bike, ensuring he has no advantage over the bikes that came out of the factory as bicycles.

Some critics say he needs to cut off his motor in order to make the competition fairer, but he quickly called these people bigots, and they were immediately banned from professional cycle racing.

Wow! Listen To John Kiriakou Re The CIA And The "WB"

I cited John Kiriakou, former CIA and whistleblower, the other night--Worst Possible Choice Of A Lawyer For A Whistleblower. Here he is with Tucker Carlson in a blistering attack not only on how this complaint was ginned up, but on the whole structure of the CIA and, specifically, on Gina Haspel. He says flat out: Of course she knew, i.e., about this coup attempt.

Former CIA Officer @JohnKiriakou:

"[The complaint] went through layers of editing & coordinating... that leads me to believe that this whistleblower that we keep talking about is just the face of an entire group that's at the CIA that's pushing this thing forward..." pic.twitter.com/08hvMiE1Yt

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 2, 2019

UPDATED: NYTimes 'Outs' Ukraine-Call "Whistleblower" As CIA Officer

Per Zerohedge:

And sure enough, if The New York Times is to be believed, the complainant is a C.I.A. officer who was detailed to work at the White House at one point, according to three people familiar with his identity. 

The man has since returned to the C.I.A., the people said. 

The NYTimes, of course, puts its spin on the news, claiming that the whistle-blower's expertise will likely add to lawmakers' confidence about the merits of his complaint. However, given the current state of affairs, we suspect it will simply remind a deeply divided nation of the bias and prejudice that exists behind the President's back. 

So the identity is known, at least to three people who leaked to the NYT.

Gina Haspel, watch your back.

UPDATE: CTH believes the CIA officer in question is one Michael Barry

The outlined profile, in combination with the political motive, have led many people to begin searching through: (1) current CIA operatives; (2) who come from the era of Brennan; and (3) were previously assigned to the White House (NSC); and (4) then removed; and (5) then returned to the CIA.  That profile has led to suspicions of identity.

A strong possibility for the identity, a person who checks all the boxes of known attributes, follows a trail to Michael Barry.

Follow the link for more. 

Sara Carter: Nunes On Need For Probe Of CIA/FBI Overseas Ops

Sara Carter has an update on the shape the Russia Hoax investigation is taking, where it's headed. I'm linking to the version at Zerohedge: Nunes: FBI/CIA's Actions Against Trump Campaign Overseas Must Be Investigated. The content is fairly self evident, so I'll just copy the main points, mostly direct quotes.  Carter's reporting also address John Durham's work with the CIA. That's an issue that has come up in the comments recently.

First, re Devin Nunes' remarks regarding the need for a thorough probe of the overseas activities of both the CIA and the FBI:

The top Republican with the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Devin Nunes told SaraACarter.com there is insurmountable evidence of the FBI’s malfeasance regarding the bureau’s probe into President Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, but what must be investigated is the FBI’s actions overseas into the campaign. 

Those questions will also naturally involve the CIA and any relationship the clandestine agency had with the bureau during the Russia probe, Nunes said. 

What has been revealed during the course of nearly three years of investigations by the Intelligence Committee and others, is that the FBI had informants spying on the campaign. The most damning information was that the FBI had specifically targeted volunteers with the Trump campaign: Carter Page, George Papadopolous, as well as others who traveled outside the United States. Once they were overseas, the FBI had continuing operations and received information from informants to build an investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia. 

The "as well as others" is clearly a reference to Stephen Miller., and I don't understand why Carter fails to point this out. The attempted targeting of Miller is, to me, a highly significant detail. Miller was--and still is--very much a Trump insider. And he had not conceivable connection to Russia, yet he was being targeted at a very early stage. The appearance is that anyone associated with Trump who traveled abroad was fair game for FBI/CIA/MI6 targeting.

UPDATED: Barr And Durham Are Focused On The CIA

At this point in the Russia Hoax investigation it has become increasingly apparent that former CIA Director John Brennan was at the very heart of the whole Russia Hoax. For that reason I've tried to focus on the significance of the Task Force that Brennan--in cooperation with Obama and his top staff--assembled in summer of 2016. The Task Force was ostensibly to focus on Russian "meddling" in the election, but there is little to no doubt that the Task Force was driven by what is known as the "Steele dossier". We won't quibble over the authorship--the main point is simply the made-up character of the dossier, that it was a false narrative put together for political purposes and then weaponized through the US Intelligence Community (IC) against candidate Trump and, later, against President Trump by Team Mueller. In that sense Team Mueller can be viewed as an extension of the Task Force, both in an offensive sense (targeting the POTUS) and in an defensive sense (attempting to ward of investigation of Obama administration and IC criminality).

I've been a champion of AG Bill Barr and his avowed purpose of getting to the bottom of the Russia Hoax. However, in recent weeks commenters have expressed frustration that there has not been massive declassification and publication of relevant documents and that there have been no indictments. I believe the reason for this is relatively straightforward.

Hitherto, attention has largely focused on the FBI criminality, and in particular on the fraudulent FISA that was opened and renewed three times against Carter Page. Of course, that FISA followed upon the dossier-driven opening of the Crossfire Hurricane Full Investigation, and the FISA itself was therefore undoubtedly dossier-driven as well. Given that background, the Team Mueller operation could only have been also dossier-driven--as I've argued at great length over the months. That view has, I think, been totally vindicated. In a sense, therefore, the focus on the FBI has been the easy part of the Russia Hoax investigation, simply because the opening of investigations, the applications for FISA coverage, all involve the creation of extensive paper trails. There can be no doubt whatsoever that, if Barr wished to, he could indict a fair number of former FBI officials today.

However, that would not insure getting to the "origins" of the Russia Hoax, as Barr is determined to do. FBI involvement in the Russia Hoax was necessary because the FBI, as our lead counterintelligence (CI) agency, must be the agency to open investigations and apply for electronic surveillance of US persons via FISA. But, as we have seen, the FBI wasn't the true originating and driving force behind the Russia Hoax. That honor goes to John Brennan of the CIA and the inner circle of the Obama Administration and its State Department. To get to that level Barr will need to work up from the level of the FBI.