Sean Davis Slam Dunks The Intel Community IG

UPDATE: As commenter Yancey promptly pointed out, this article is a month old--October 1, 2019. I got it from a link and failed to note the date. But it's good stuff, so I'm leaving it up.

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Sean Davis of The Federalist has an outstanding take down of the whole process whereby Eric Ciaramella's bogus complaint was peddled to the public as "whistleblower" evidence of Trump wrongdoing:

Intel Community Admission Of Whistleblower Changes Raises Explosive New Questions

In a press release issued late Monday, the intelligence community inspector general admitted it changed its policy and its whistleblower form after an anti-Trump complainant alleged that Trump broke the law during a phone call with the Ukrainian president.

It's pretty dense, so to do justice to it I'd have to paste in the whole thing. I'll simply select what are "theme sentences" (with a few exceptions) to show the overall trajectory of Davis' reporting.

On Monday, the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) admitted that it did alter its forms and policies governing whistleblower complaints, and that it did so in response to the anti-Trump complaint filed on Aug. 12, 2019. ... 

The ICIG also disclosed for the first time that the anti-Trump complainant filed his complaint using the previously authorized form, the guidance for which explicitly stated the ICIG’s previous requirement for firsthand evidence for credible complaints. ... 

... 

The ICIG’s claim that it would have been incorrect to perceive a requirement for firsthand information is bizarre considering the previous version of the form clearly stated in unambiguous language that firsthand evidence was required in order for “urgent concern” whistleblower complaints to be deemed credible. It said, in bold, underlined, all-caps text, “FIRST-HAND INFORMATION REQUIRED”:

Because the complaint did not allege wrongdoing against a member of the intelligence community (the president of the United States is an elected constitutional officer, not an employee of a statutory agency), did not allege wrongdoing with regard to an intelligence activity (a phone call between two elected world leaders is basic diplomacy, not the execution of a statutorily required intelligence activity), and relied primarily on hearsay rather than firsthand evidence, both the director of national intelligence (DNI) and the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel determined that the anti-Trump complaint was not an “urgent concern” under the law and was therefore not required to be transmitted to the relevant congressional committees. In spite of those determinations, the ICIG on its own and after revising its internal guidance and policies regarding firsthand evidence decided the complaint did qualify as an “urgent concern” and forwarded the anti-Trump complaint to Congress. 

DiGenova: Sammy The Whistleblower Worked With Fusion GPS, And More

Joe diGenova appeared with Rudy Giuliani on Laura Ingraham's show. There was a variety of interesting chit chat, but the most interesting part was what diGenova said "Everybody knows." I'll just paraphrase here, but it's as close to literal as doesn't really matter. This topic arose in the context of Byron York's disclosure yesterday that Sammy had a professional relationship with one of the 2020 Dem candidates. So,

Everybody knows that Sammy

1) Worked with Fusion GPS, and

2) Worked with a former FBI agent.

Everybody also knows that Sammy didn't write the complaint and that the complaint was actually written by political consultants connected with the DNC.

Lawyers also know that IG Michael Atkinson "is a moron. He got slapped down so bad by the Office of Legal Counsel."

Laura says that even a liberal outfit like Axios defended Byron York's reporting on the 2020 candidate connection which means, she says, "We're gonna learn a lot more." To which diGenova responds, with a very broad smile, "It's gonna get a lot worse."

Giuliani also points out that the "whistleblower" law firm was offering bribes to get people to "come forward", i.e., to make up stories. The bribes were in the form of help with mortgages, etc.

DiGenova gets in a great line re Adam Schiff's nonsensical notions of "obstruction": "If it weren't for double standards Democrats wouldn't have any standards at all."

Amid general laughter at Schiff, Giuliani adds, "It'd be really funny if they weren't trashing our Constitution, and that has repercussions."

Laura closes with the simple factual assertion that the Dems are "trying to paralyze the country." It's the only way they can come up with to try to stop Trump from doing the job he was elected to do.

She then turns to diGenova and asks: "Joe, how confident are you that in the next couple weeks we're gonna know a lot more, from Horowitz, Durham, and the rest?"

DiGenova, with an ear to ear grin, responds: "This is gonna be a bang-bang couple of weeks," and then breaks into laughter.

Buckle up!

Oh My! Michael K. Atkinson, ICIG

With a h/t to Gateway Pundit ...

Julie Kelly at American Greatness reveals who Michael K. Atkinson really is in a brilliant article. He's strictly Deep State: Inspector General’s Ties Suggest Ukraine ‘Scandal’ is Just More Collusion Hoax.

Kelly begins by rehearsing the usual hagiography that has been quickly deployed to defend Atkinson:

Atkinson, we are told, is a truth-seeker with no partisan agenda or political grudge. “The intelligence community’s chief watchdog, Michael Atkinson, is known to his peers and colleagues as a highly cautious ‘straight shooter’ who tends to keep his head down,” cooed Politico reporter Natasha Bertrand on September 23. 

... 

Atkinson is “a no-nonsense, serious and nonpartisan career prosecutor who showed a strong commitment to the law throughout his nearly two-decade career at the Department of Justice,” insisted a puff piece in The Hill on September 26.

Who but mean spirited conspiracy theorists could possibly question Atkinson's motives in sidestepping the regulatory revision process by slyly coming out with a new "whistleblower" complaint form?

Kelly proceeds to enlighten us:

Game Changer? ICIG Admits Rules Changed For Whistleblower.

Sean Davis at The Federalist has been doing the important reporting on the ICIG/"Whistleblower" scame, and I won't try to steal his thunder. Thunder? Well, I think this is pretty important. Follow the link for his full article. I will add that the reason this development may be especially important is that Trump took the drastic step of releasing the call transcript. If not for that, the cries of "coverup" might have drowned this out. So, Sean Davis:

Intel Community Admission Of Whistleblower Changes Raises Explosive New Questions 

In a press release issued late Monday, the intelligence community inspector general admitted it changed its policy and its whistleblower form after an anti-Trump complainant alleged that Trump broke the law during a phone call with the Ukrainian president. 

 By Sean Davis
OCTOBER 1, 2019 

On Monday, the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) admitted that it did alter its forms and policies governing whistleblower complaints, and that it did so in response to the anti-Trump complaint filed on Aug. 12, 2019. The Federalist first reported the sudden changes last Friday. While many in the media falsely claimed the ICIG’s stunning admission debunked The Federalist’s report, the admission from the ICIG completely affirmed the reporting on the secretive change to whistleblower rules following the filing of an anti-Trump complaint in August. 

The ICIG also disclosed for the first time that the anti-Trump complainant filed his complaint using the previously authorized form, the guidance for which explicitly stated the ICIG’s previous requirement for firsthand evidence for credible complaints.

There are two important points here.