UPDATED: Nunes: The Only Thing Of Relevance In The Report ...

In a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity yesterday, Devin Nunes honed in on what he called, with reason, "the only thing of relevance that was in today's 450-page report." As quoted by the Washington Times, Nunes stated:

"When you look at what happened today, remember we talked a lot about the scope memo. What were the directions given to the special counsel? Well, we now know hidden on page 11, very thinly, still veiled, but we now know they used the Steele dossier, the Clinton dirt, the Clinton-paid-for dirt as part of the memo for the special counsel that directed the special counsel what to do," Nunes told host Sean Hannity.

"On Carter Page and Paul Manafort, that information came from political opponents, the Clinton campaign fed right into the FBI, directed to the special counsel to go investigate what was in the infamous Steele dossier," Nunes said.

"That is the only thing of relevance that was in today's 450-page report," he emphasized.

"Rosenstein then directed them to use that dirt, that dossier, which I think makes up the bulk of what is in the scope memo, that we have still yet to be able to see," Nunes told Hannity.

Nunes is right, although he appears to have failed to take his point all the way back to what Barr calls the "genesis" of the Special Counsel inquisition--the opening EC for the Crossfire Hurrican investigation. Let's take it step by step.

UPDATED: Shoddy Legal Analysis, Or ...?

Life's too short to read hundreds of pages of "we didn't find anything." However, one thing is fairly clear--when Bill Barr wrote his famous 19 page memo trashing the Special Counsel office's (i.e., Weissmann's) obstruction theory, he was basically spot on. Yes, Rod Rosenstein claimed Barr didn't know all the facts. Of course he didn't, but he saw where things were heading and he was basically right. Rosenstein might argue that he never would have allowed Mueller to claim obstruction for a perfectly legal act by the President, but if that were really the case why allow the charade to continue? And why subject the country to the continuing hoax?

Perhaps Rosenstein had real doubts about the Weissmann obstruction theory--any honest attorney would!--and that might explain the abusive unlimited time that was allowed to try to coerce Flynn and others into claiming something that somehow seemed like "collusion." Something, anything, to hang a hat on, even if that hat was only: We can't prove "collusion" so we're not charging it, but we still suspect it. And so we think Trump was obstructing. But as of February 14, 2019, they had still come up with nothing.

And that's the point at which Barr stepped into the picture and shut the little game down.

Will Chamberlain puts it nicely:

Will Chamberlain‏

@willchamberlain

This shoddy legal analysis kept the investigation going for 18 months Into acts that were clearly not criminal. The damage Weissmann and Mueller have done by entertaining this garbage is incalculable.

8:45 AM - 18 Apr 2019 from Washington, DC

Of course, the real question is: Was it "shoddy legal analysis" motivated by a willingness to to act outside the law to "get Trump"?

I'd love to have been privy to the conversations Barr had with Rosenstein and Mueller.

UPDATE 1: Sean Davis sees it that way, too, re "collusion":

Sean Davis
‏
Verified account

@seanmdav

The breathless tone of the collusion section of the report and the blatant omission of material facts pertaining to actual Russian collusion by the Clinton campaign makes clear that Mueller and his lawyers were desperate to find collusion by Trump. And yet they still found none.

9:08 AM - 18 Apr 2019

UPDATE 2: Here's my bottom line. If you read the report you'll drive yourself crazy because--if you know anything about the actual events--you're going to quickly realize that it's a tissue of misrepresentations. At best. People on Twitter are knocking themselves out even now pointing out one misrepresentation--whether by commission or omission--after another.

This is why Giuliani is coming out with his rebuttal report.

The fun will start there, and will continue when Mueller is dragged before the House by Nadler. A foolish move by Nadler, because the GOPers want nothing better than to get a chance to grill Mueller over his misrepresentations in court filings and failures to disclose exculpatory evidence. Not to mention his clear conflicts and his hiring of a radically biased staff.

UPDATED: A Reminder While We Wait

I don't normally offer links to the work of others unless I have something to add. This morning, however, while we wait for Thursday--and the promised release of the redacted Mueller report--Ed Rogers offers what I hope portends light at the end of the tunnel that is the Russia Hoax. And I can't do better than to quote from his relatively brief article. It's a warning to Democrats that they just may be about to get what they claim to have wished for. 

Democrats have been forthright in their eagerness to get the full Mueller report. Those who propped up the collusion narrative are determined to do anything and everything to try to bend the report to their liking and count on their allies in the media to keep the collusion story alive. ... 

The Democrats let everyone know that they were not finished with their quest for collusion, but to their surprise Barr let them know at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing last week that he was just getting started. Specifically, he said, “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. ... I think spying did occur." Barr’s delivery was low-key, and his words were few, but you could hear jaws dropping all over Washington. 

It deserves repeating: Even though Mueller is through, Barr is not. Almost instantly, Democrats attacked the attorney general. They are demanding that Barr retract his comments and not investigate spying on the Trump campaign. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went so far as to say that Barr had gone "off the rails.” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) piled on, tweeting that “AG Barr must retract his statement immediately or produce specific evidence to back it up.” 

Barr has assembled a team to study the “spying” that he says took place. Specifically, he will determine whether the spying was “adequately predicated.” This means asking who initiated the spying, how it was approved and what was done with the information that it produced. ... They will be the factual findings of an attorney general whose only mission is to go where the evidence leads him. 

I have known Bill Barr for decades. He is the right man at the right time. He has been attorney general before — from 1991 to 1993 — and this is probably his last job. He does not need to posture or worry about his post-government career. He won’t be affected by the attacks from partisan Democrats who fear that his investigation may reveal misdeeds by some of their own. ...

If anyone needs convincing that this is necessary, recent revelations that confirm the partisan arbitrariness and disregard for decency that characterized the Mueller inquisition should suffice. That James Comey was regarded as a witness rather than a key subject speaks volumes, as do the revelations of how innocent people were bamboozled by Mueller's vicious partisans. Particularly bad news for the Dems is that the key House investigators are just as eager as the Dems claim to be to get their hands on all the details. That is a desire born of real confidence.

UPDATE: Here's an article that captures the Barr moment--for those of a certain age: Bill Barr’s Key Statement Was Overlooked: The Attorney General's reference to the Vietnam War period is central to today.

A most amazing thing. The Attorney General advises the Senate that he intends to look into whether government intelligence services improperly targeted a presidential candidate’s election campaign, and a Senator felt the need to ask him: “And can you share with us why you feel the need to do that?” 

What a strange question for a senator to ask! As if the targeting of a presidential candidate by government services is an everyday and acceptable occurrence, not worthy of attention. 

Then, in reply, Barr said something which has been little remarked upon, but which to me seems the essence of the Age. He said: “The generation I grew up in, which is the Vietnam War period, people were all concerned about spying on anti-war people and so forth by the government, and there were a lot of rules in place to make sure that there’s an adequate basis before our law enforcement agencies get involved in political surveillance.” 

I am of the same generation as Barr, so for those readers too young to remember the old days, let me second his reminder.

ALREADY UPDATED: Was The Russia Hoax Really About Cyber Crimes?

No. But ...

CTH has a fascinating post up reporting on remarks today by Rod Rosenstein at the Metropolitan club of Washington. CTH quotes a Bloomberg story.

Here's the relevant entirety of the Bloomberg story:

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Friday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report describes Russian cybercrimes during the 2016 election. 

The report, which is expected to be released soon, will clear up questions about the Russian campaign to interfere in the election President Donald Trump won, Rosenstein said in a speech given to a private group at the Metropolitan Club of Washington, according to three people in attendance. 

Rosenstein joked that his last day at the Department of Justice will be “one of these days,” the people said. He also said that it will take the U.S. some time to extradite WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange from the U.K. in order to prosecute him.

CTH sees this as the Deep State desperately trying to maintain the legitimacy of the Team Mueller extension of the Russian Hoax (i.e., Crossfire Hurricane), and quotes Barr's summary of the Mueller report to support his thesis:

UPDATED: Lull Before The Storm?

I think so. For right now, post Mueller Report - Barr Summary, things are somewhat quiet. What I mean is that for right now there are no major factual revelations that add significantly to what know, no apparent changes in the tactical lay of the land since Barr has taken charge--and shown that he means to be in charge.

I don't think this will last long. The House Dems are can't help themselves. They are courting a major electoral backlash with their all-conspiracy-theory-hate-hoax-all-the-time strategy. They are stiffening the resolves of GOPers, who can have no doubt that it's them or us and now know they have a leader in Trump and a field general in Barr. This should lead rational Dems to adopt a cautious approach, but rationality is in conspicuously short supply on the Left. Perhaps by definition, Leftism is a defiance of reality. In that regard it was interesting to listen to Devin Nunes yesterday, who is just as interested in any Dem to see the full unredacted Mueller Report, but for very different and far more cogent reasons (see update below).

So we should see overt developments soon, followed by Trump's counter offensive of investigations, reports, hearings, declassifications, and, yes, prosecutions.

IG Michael Horowitz' FISA report might signal the counter offensive.

UPDATE: Ah, I see George Papadopoulos is thinking along the same lines--Dems are delusional:

George Papadopoulos
@GeorgePapa19 

The democrats have absolutely no idea what they are wishing for in terms of releasing the full Mueller report. It will detail all the western intelligence operatives and US allies (UK, Australia, Italy) involvement in trying to set up Trump and his guys. Nothing Russia!

9:00 PM - Apr 1, 2019

A Bit More On "Obstruction"

Interest in Bill Barr's summary of the "Mueller report" has quickly shifted--quite properly--to calls for investigation. Real investigation, this time, of the real crimes. But it's still worthwhile to reflect a bit more on what the Mueller/Weissmann team tried to pull off. For that CTH offers an excellent starting point at the end of its summary blog: A Review of the Barr “Principal Conclusion” Notification, Overlaying Three Years of Background Research…

First, sundance offers a general theme:

What we find in the Barr letter about the Obstruction investigation is blood boiling. Here Team Mueller intentionally politicize their non-finding in an attempt to open the door for Nancy Pelsoi and Jerry Nadler to exploit an impeachment angle.

We all expected that, of course, but it's worth the reminder. But then sundance moves on to what's really good news:

Team Mueller intentionally tells AG Barr they cannot make a determination of obstruction, and thereby force Barr to make the decision; and make it look political. 

...

In my opinion it’s almost certain AG Barr saw this coming, which is why he forced DAG Rod Weaselstein to stick around, share in the decision and deflect the politics.

Sundance has an excellent point here, and it includes the very good news that we have an AG in Bill Barr who is shrewd and deft in dealing with underhanded legal tactics. If clownish conmen like Nadler and Schiff think Barr will be an easy mark for them, they need to rethink that--or, better, maybe their too deluded to do the necessary rethinking.

UPDATED: Bill Barr's Summary Of Team Mueller: Short And Sweet

As expected, Barr delivered a summary report to Congress. Four pages. He summarized the Team Mueller effort as it bears on Trump and the Trump campaign under two headings: "Collusion" and "Obstruction".

Collusion

There wasn't any. Not by the Trump campaign and not by anyone associated with it. This confirms, by its wording, what I said yesterday: Mueller's mandate was to continue the investigation of the four Americans who were the subject of Crossfire Hurricane. Trump was never a subject. There is no reference to Donald J. Trump in the collusion section. That's it.

Just to make this totally clear. The Crossfire Hurricane investigation was about "four Americans," none of whom were Trump. Rosenstein told Mueller: Complete the investigation. That means that to reach Trump on "collusion" Mueller needed to go throught the "four Americans": Page, Papadopoulos, Manafort, and Flynn. Four dry holes. Mueller never laid a glove on Trump.

Obstruction

This section is all about Donald J. Trump, and has nothing whatsoever to do with James Comey and his firing. Mueller thinks that there are "difficult issues" of law and fact concerning whether Trump obstructed his (Team Mueller's) investigation. Mueller doesn't "conclude that the president committed a crime," but "doesn't exonerate him." Because of the "difficult issues" Mueller decided against ... any decision at all, leaving it to Barr to decide.

In making his decision Barr says two things. The first aspect requires a bit of reading between the lines. Barr states that many of the president's actions that bothered Mueller were conducted "in public view." I take it from that that, basically, Mueller didn't like being criticized by Trump. That in his (Mueller's) view, subjects of a witchhunt are supposed to shut up, to grin and bear it. Barr--and Rosenstein--after consulting with top DoJ officials had a very different view and simply state: the evidence is insufficient to support such a charge and, specifically, that decision has nothing to do with the constitutional status of the president. However, beyond that, Barr (and Rosenstein, presumably) then go on to state that they reviewed the actions that Mueller objected to and conclude that "the report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct." In other words, they basically reject Mueller's theory of obstruction out of hand.

Here are two key sections re obstruction (all emphases mine):

What Does The Mueller Report Actually Say?

Well, that should be easy, right? The report will summarize the investigation. But here's the tricky question: Exactly what was Mueller's investigation all about? If we can't answer that question, we're totally in the dark as to what to expect.

This is something I examined in some detail in Mueller's Enterprise Witchhunt. According to Rod Rosenstein--who should know, since he appointed Mueller and set the scope for Mueller's investigation--the Mueller investigation was no more than a continuation of Crossfire Hurricane (CH). Don't believe me? Here are Rosenstein's exact words:

The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James B. Comey in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017, including any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of Donald Trump; ...

What are we to make of this? I make out three points of interest:

• First, Mueller is not starting up a new investigation--he's taking over an already existing investigation, the same one that was confirmed by Comey two months earlier. 
• Second, and very importantly, Mueller's investigation is not authorized as a general investigation into Russian "active measures" (i.e., interference, meddling) in the 2016 campaign but instead is rather narrowly focused on "coordination between people associated with the Trump campaign and the Russians."
• Third, unlike what probably most people think, this investigation is not necessarily about Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America.

Don't believe me on that last point? Well then, would you believe James Comey? After all, he should know. He was Director of the FBI at the time and he told President Trump no less than three times that he (Trump) was not under investigation. I for one believe Comey--at least technically. Of course I believe the Russia Hoax was all about "getting" Trump. Ousting him. But while I wouldn't buy a used car from Comey, I do believe he's far too smart and careful to blunder into outright perjury quite so easily. Here's how I summarized Comey's testimony, under oath (link above), regarding the FBI investigation that was initiated in July, 2016:

UPDATED: Mark Meadows Swings, It's Way Back, It's ... Gone!

Yep, it's a home run for Mark Meadows--of course. Isn't this what we've talking about here for two years? Isn't this what the Russia Hoax has always been all about? The key documentation is the opening of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Without CH, there's no Carter Page FISA but, more importantly, there's no Team Mueller. Why? Because, according to Rod Rosenstein, Team Mueller is simply a continuation of the "Enterprise Witchhunt" that was CH. Now that Team Mueller is done, there are all sorts of things that may come out. Including documentation on exactly what CH was all about.

And that raises some very interesting questions about what the Mueller Report actually says. I'll get into that a little later, because I want to put some ideas out before Barr speaks for the record. Hey, at this point, why not go out on a limb. Hint: I'll be relying on Rod Rosenstein's letter to Chuck Grassley. In the meantime, idle speculation is welcome!

But, one final word below the tweet.

Mark Meadows‏Verified account @RepMarkMeadows

I find it interesting that my Democrat colleagues immediately demand the full release of the entire Mueller report, yet they spent 2 years blocking the public from seeing the underlying documents that “justified” the investigation in the first place. Why not release all of it?

11:57 AM - 23 Mar 2019

Why not release all of it? I think CTH is right about that. Releasing ALL of it should be a non-starter of an idea, and I don't expect Barr to fall for that--it's nothing but a distraction tactic. CTH:

With the investigation spanning 22 months, over multiple continents, that full investigative file would be like a massive grand jury library of evidence.  Likely millions of pages of documents, multiple reports, interviews etc. 

Keep in mind this file also would include wiretaps, electronic intercepts and physical/electronic surveillance.  Most of that file would be innuendo, supposition, suspicion and investigative lines of inquiry.   That file would hold the seeds for weaponizing unfounded accusations etc; that’s why Pelosi and Schumer would want it. 

Also keep in mind Mueller’s team is almost guaranteed to have been telling their allies about all of the juicy accusations they were investigating. 

It’s highly likely Pelosi, Schumer and the Lawfare community already know, in summary, what is deep inside the Mueller Team’s investigative file.  The majority of that file is unfounded speculation that was researched; but it would be the holy grail of opposition research for weaponization; including the possibility of wiretaps inside the White House.

UPDATE: Undercover Huber gets it, too:

Undercover Huber‏ @JohnWHuber

I think Mueller feared getting shut down before he even got started, as the original predicate for the investigation was going to unravel as soon as those FISAs and related docs were turned over If Muller ever testifies to Congress this is a crucial time period to explore /ENDS

6:35 PM - 23 Mar 2019

UPDATED: Bill Barr Notifies Congress: Special Counsel Report Has Landed On His Desk

Short and sweet. Barr has received the report and he so informs Congress, providing the information specified in the regulations. The report explains "the prosecution or declination decisions." There are no proposed actions that Barr regards as "so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued." Barr will consult with Rosenstein and Mueller to determine whether more information from the report can be released to "Congress and the public," "consistent with the law, including the Special Counsel regulations, and the Department's long-standing practices and policies." Further, Barr states that he remains "committed to as much transparency as possible."

The reference to "Congress and the public," to me, indicates that Barr isn't about to go down the road of non-public briefings to Congress. That, he believes, would not serve the public weal.

UPDATES: Via CTH:

... Laura Jarrett (daughter of Valerie Jarrett) delivered the bad news to her colleagues on CNN.  After she spoke directly with a DOJ Official, and asked them if there was any possibility of sealed indictments existing/remaining. Alas, the answer was: “no, it’s over; everything is over; it’s done.“

If you follow the link to CTH there's a CNN video featuring the usual talking head suspects. It's, like, CONTENT FREE. Simply seven minutes plus of handwringing and clutching at straws. It's pretty funny, but one can only take so much.

And credit where it's due. Mueller was funded through August, he and Weissmann wanted to continue leaning on Flynn. Barr shut them down.