President Trump on Tuesday said he has “fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents” related to the Russia investigation and the FBI’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

“I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!” The president tweeted Tuesday night.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!

Paul Sperry@paulsperry_
When all the documents are finally declassified, and all the redactions removed from reports, the nation will see that the FBI and CIA not only knew the Russia “collusion” allegations against Trump were a political dirty trick, but that they were in on the trick.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
“All Russia Hoax Scandal information was Declassified by me long ago,” Trump tweeted. “Unfortunately for our Country, people have acted very slowly, especially since it is perhaps the biggest political crime in the history of our Country.”

He added: “Act!!!”

Last year, the president gave Attorney General Bill Barr authority to declassify any documents related to surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016. Trump, at the time, also ordered members of the intelligence community to cooperate with Barr’s probe.

Allies of the president, including Republicans on Capitol Hill leading their own investigations into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, have criticized officials like FBI Director Christopher Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel, claiming that the directors have been blocking the release of documents.

The president’s tweets come after Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified documents that revealed former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton’s purported “plan” to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server” ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA

Fox News first reported that Ratcliffe declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes – which were taken after he briefed Obama on the intelligence the CIA received – and a CIA memo, which revealed that officials referred the matter to the FBI for potential investigative action.

“Today, at the direction of President Trump, I declassified additional documents relevant to ongoing Congressional oversight and investigative activities,” Ratcliffe said in a statement to Fox News Tuesday.

A source familiar with the documents explained that Brennan’s handwritten notes were taken after briefing Obama on the matter.

“We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from [REDACTED],” Brennan notes read. “CITE [summarizing] alleged approved by Hillary Clinton a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service,” Brennan’s notes read.

The notes state “on 28 of July.” In the margin, Brennan writes “POTUS,” but that section of the notes is redacted.

“Any evidence of collaboration between Trump campaign + Russia,” the notes read.

The remainder of the notes are redacted, except in the margins, which reads: “JC,” “Denis,” and “Susan.”

The notes don’t spell out the full names but “JC” could be referring to then-FBI Director James Comey, “Susan” could refer to National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and “Denis” could refer to then-Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough.

The declassification comes after Ratcliffe, last week, shared newly-declassified information with the Senate Judiciary Committee which revealed that in September 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral on Hillary Clinton purportedly approving “a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections” in order to distract the public from her email scandal.

That referral was sent to Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.

“The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate,” the CIA memo to Comey and Strzok stated.

“This memorandum contains sensitive information that could be source revealing. It should be handled with particular attention to compartmentation and need-to-know. To avoid the possible compromise of the source, any investigative action taken in response to the information below should be coordinated in advance with Chief Counterintelligence Mission Center, Legal,” the memo, which was sent to Comey and Strzok, read. “It may not be used in any legal proceeding—including FISA applications—without prior approval…”

“Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,” the memo continued. ““An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.”

The memo is heavily redacted.

Ratcliffe informed the committee last week that the Obama administration obtained Russian intelligence in July 2016 with allegations against Clinton, but cautioned that the intelligence community “does not know the accuracy of this allegation or the text to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.”

According to Ratcliffe’s letter, the intelligence included the “alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016, of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.”

Nick Merrill, Clinton’s spokesperson, called the allegations “baseless b———t” last week. A spokesman for Clinton did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the declassified documents.

But Ratcliffe, in a statement released after the information was made public, pushed back on the idea he was advancing “Russian disinformation.”

DURHAM ASSUMED PARTS OF HUBER’S CLINTON INVESTIGATION

“To be clear, this is not Russian disinformation and has not been assessed as such by the Intelligence Community,” Ratcliffe said in a statement to Fox News. “I’ll be briefing Congress on the sensitive sources and methods by which it was obtained in the coming days.”

A source familiar with the documents told Fox News on Tuesday that the allegation was “not disinformation.”  “This is not Russian disinformation. Even Brennan knew, or he wouldn’t be briefing the president of the United States on it,” the source said. “There is a high threshold to orally brief the president of the United States and he clearly felt this met that threshold.”

Another source familiar with the documents told Fox News that “this information has been sought by hundreds of congressional requests for legitimate oversight purposes and was withheld for political spite—and the belief that they’d never get caught.”

The source added that the Brennan notes are significant because it is “their own words, written and memorialized in real time.”

Meanwhile, last week, during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey was asked whether he received an investigative referral on Clinton from 2016, but he said it didn’t “ring any bells.”

“You don’t remember getting an investigatory lead from the intelligence community? Sept. 7, 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral to James Comey and Strzok regarding Clinton’s approval of a plan [about] Trump…as a means of distraction?” Graham asked Comey.

“That doesn’t ring any bells with me,” Comey said.

Graham questioned “how far-fetched is that,” citing the fact that Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, through law firm Perkins Coie, hired Fusion GPS and ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to author and compile information for the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, through law firm Perkins Coie, hired Fusion GPS and ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to author and compile information for the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.

The dossier contains claims about alleged ties between Donald Trump and Russia that served as the basis for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Attorney General Bill Barr last year appointed U.S. Attorney of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe shortly after special counsel Robert Mueller completed his years-long investigation into whether the campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

It is unclear whether this information will be considered part of Durham’s investigation, or whether the president’s declassification will affect Durham’s investigation.

Last month, Fox News reported, though, that Durham had assumed aspects of U.S. Attorney John Huber’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation.

A source familiar with Durham’s investigation told Fox News last month that parts of what Huber was investigating in 2017 — involving the Clinton Foundation — have been incorporated in Durham’s investigation.

In November 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed Huber, the U.S. attorney for Utah, and other senior prosecutors to evaluate “certain issues” involving the sale of Uranium One, and other dealings related to the Clinton Foundation. Sessions tapped Huber after requests by congressional Republicans, who had been calling for the appointment of a special counsel to review the matters. Huber was also tasked with reviewing the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email probe, including allegations that the Justice Department and FBI “policies or procedures” were not followed.

It has been unclear, for years, the status of Huber’s investigation, but another source told Fox News Thursday that Huber has faced mounting criticism from the Justice Department and White House over his progress.

It is unclear whether any aspects of the Clinton email investigation were included in Huber’s review.

Brooke Singman is a Politics Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSingman.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-authorizes-declassification-of-all-russia-collusion-hillary-clinton-email-probe-documents

The post Trump authorizes declassification of all Russia collusion, Hillary Clinton email probe documents first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Appearing on “Fox & Friends” with hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade on Friday, Whitaker said that when he read Holder’s new op-ed in The Washington Post – in which Holder blasted current Attorney General William Barr for his so-called “loyalty” to President Trump – it “struck him as odd.”

ERIC HOLDER, ONCE OBAMA’S ‘WINGMAN,’ NOW CALLING OUT BARR FOR LOYALTY TO TRUMP

Holder wrote that Barr had “…taken actions that are so plainly ideological, so nakedly partisan and so deeply inappropriate.”

He charged Barr as “unfit to lead the Justice Department.”

Yet, in a 2013 interview on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Holder labeled himself President Obama’s “wingman.”

“[For] somebody that has criticized Jeff Sessions, myself, and Bill Barr [to] suddenly say just how hard it is to criticize attorney generals, I guess just Republican attorney generals is all he wants to criticize. Because when Loretta Lynch did her tarmac meeting with [Bill Clinton], there was no Eric Holder to be heard from in that situation,” he said.

Whitaker noted that Holder has been “out there playing in state redistricting fights and trying to change legislatures, like in Virginia.”

“He has been effective,” Kilmeade commented.

“He has been effective,” Whitaker agreed. “But, he is a highly partisan person who, as attorney general, was there to protect [President] Obama and did all sorts of things to make sure that Obama was successful.”

Whitaker told the “Friends” hosts that everyone knows Holder is “not Mr. Law and Order,” adding that the Obama administration and Eric Holder specifically did a lot to undo relationships with law enforcement.

Whitaker also said that, although he does not have “direct evidence,” he believes there’s “no doubt” Obama knew about operation Crossfire Hurricane. Crossfire Hurricane was the code name for the counterintelligence investigation undertaken by the FBI in 2016 and 2017 into links between Trump associates and Russian officials.

“When there is an investigation of that magnitude, you would make sure that key people, including the attorney general and the president, would know that it’s going on,” Whitaker said.

The post Former acting AG Whitaker hits back at Eric Holder’s ‘odd’ criticism of William Barr first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

AMHERST, Mass. — Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday said it is time to move past special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and “get on with the business of America.”

Sessions urged confidence in the system during a lecture at Amherst College, a private liberal arts school in western Massachusetts.

“The process was followed and a decision has now been rendered. I think it deserves respect,” he said. “I think it’s about time to accept the results and let’s get on with the business of America.”

President Donald Trump’s former attorney general said that Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in U.S. elections was “carried out vigorously and with integrity.”

He said Congress does have oversight power but he believes it is time to accept that Mueller declined to recommend criminal charges against the president. Some Democrats have called for impeachment proceedings against Trump in light of the report that left open whether the president broke the law.

The event in a campus chapel was hosted by Amherst College Republicans, and it was interrupted by demonstrators who stood up in the front rows and walked out soon after Sessions began speaking. Sessions said the protest was not nearly as disruptive as one he faced last week at a university in Minnesota.

Campus free speech was a theme of his talk, and the former U.S. senator from Alabama said the disrespect he faced as a young Republican at Huntingdon College in Alabama pales in comparison to what young conservatives face at colleges today.

“My impression is college Republicans nationwide are having a harder time today, facing more hostility, even bullying,” he said, prompting laughter from some students.

One student asked Sessions afterward if he was contributing to polarization by suggesting in his remarks that the faculty at Amherst is overwhelmingly liberal. In response, Sessions said, “”It’s hard to polarize a college that’s pretty one-sided.”

Sessions said he also stood by his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. As somebody who had been involved in the Trump campaign and was a potential witness in the investigation, he said it did not make sense for him to remain in authority over the investigation.

“I have the greatest confidence in the integrity of our system,” he said.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/former-ag-sessions-calls-for-moving-past-mueller-report/ar-BBWgiUF?OCID=ansmsnnews11

The post Former AG Sessions calls for moving past Mueller report first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Trump told anchor Sean Hannity that his lawyers previously had advised him not to take that dramatic step out of fear that it could be considered obstruction of justice.

“I do, I have plans to declassify and release. I have plans to absolutely release,” Trump said. “I have some very talented people working for me, lawyers, and they really didn’t want me to do it early on. … A lot of people wanted me to do it a long time ago. I’m glad I didn’t do it. We got a great result without having to do it, but we will. One of the reasons that my lawyers didn’t want me to do it, is they said, if I do it, they’ll call it a form of obstruction.”

Trump added: “Frankly, thought it would be better if we held it to the end. But at the right time, we will be absolutely releasing.”

Trump also accused FBI officials of committing “treason” — slamming former FBI Director James Comey as a “terrible guy,” former CIA Director John Brennan as potentially mentally ill, and Democrat House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff as a criminal.

Redacted versions of FISA documents already released have revealed that the FBI extensively relied on documents produced by Christopher Steele, an anti-Trump British ex-spy working for a firm funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee, to surveil Trump aide Carter Page. At least one senior DOJ official had apparent concerns Steele was unreliable, according to text messages exclusively obtained last week by Fox News.

The leaked dossier, and related FBI surveillance, kickstarted a media frenzy on alleged Russia-Trump collusion that ended with a whimper on Sunday, when it was revealed Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe concluded finding no evidence of such a conspiracy, despite several offers by Russians to help the Trump campaign. Page was never charged with wrongdoing, and he is currently suing the DNC for defamation.

FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: NEWLY REVEALED TEXTS SHOW DOJ OFFICIALS CLASHING WITH FBI OVER ‘BIAS’ OF KEY WARRANT SOURCE

Citing a high-level source, Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul late Wednesday tweeted that anti-Trump ex-CIA Director John Brennan had internally pushed the dossier. Fox News has not independently verified Paul’s source.

“I think Brennan’s a sick person, I really do,” Trump said. “I believe there’s something wrong with him, for him to come out of the CIA and act that way was so disrespectful to the country and to the CIA. He was not considered good at what he did. He was never a respected guy.”

FILE – In this May 23, 2017, file photo, former CIA Director John Brennan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Intelligence Committee Russia Investigation Task Force. President Donald Trump is revoking the security clearance of former Obama administration CIA director Brennan (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) (Photo: AP)

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Brennan was one of the loudest and most virulent voices to trumpet the Russian collusion theory over the past two years, asserting falsely just weeks ago that Mueller was likely planning to indict members of the Trump administration’s family in a scene reminiscent of the “ides of March” and the assassination of Julius Caesar. Trump, who revoked Brennan’s security clearance last year amid concerns Brennan was improperly hinting that he had inside information about ongoing federal probes, called those remarks “horrible” on Wednesday.

Brennan has since acknowledged he was wrong, but has said inaccurately that Mueller merely could not find evidence meeting the high bar needed for a criminal prosecution — when in fact Mueller found no evidence at all that the Trump team responded to Russians’ numerous efforts to involve them in a conspiracy.

“When I said there could be somebody spying on my campaign, it went wild out there,” Trump told Hannity. “They couldn’t believe I could say such a thing. As it turned out, that was small potatoes compared to what went on. … Millions and millions [spent] on the phony dossier, and then they used the dossier to start things. It was a fraud, paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.”

Just hours earlier Wednesday, Trump made clear he was enthusiastic about the idea of appointing a second special counsel to review the origins of the Russia investigation when it came up during a meeting Tuesday with Republican senators, a source familiar with the discussions told Fox News.

Trump, speaking to Hannity, separately raised doubts about the secretive and mysterious June 27, 2016 Phoenix airport tarmac meeting between Bill Clinton and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch — which was spotted while Lynch was overseeing the Hillary Clinton email probe.

“I had a lot of planes for a long time. I’ve never stopped the plane on the tarmac to let somebody on the plane,” Trump said. “Bill Clinton said he was there to play golf, but I know the area very well. Arizona. It’s a little warm at that time of year for golf, OK?”

RAND PAUL BOMBSHELL: HIGH-LEVEL SOURCE SAYS BRENNAN PUSHED DISCREDITED ANTI-TRUMP STEELE DOSSIER

In an apparent shot at former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Trump also told Hannity “this all would not have happened” if Attorney General William Barr had been with his administration from the beginning.

Trump also noted that ratings for several networks that aggressively pushed the Russia narrative have “fallen off” dramatically. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s audience of 2.5 million on Monday was 19 percent below her average this year, and it went down further to 2.3 million on Tuesday, according to the Nielsen company.

“If you wrote this as a novel, nobody would buy it; it would be a failure, because it would be too unbelievable,” Trump said. “We’re getting to the bottom of it. This can never, ever happen to a president again. That was a disgrace and an embarrassment to our country. … Hopefully they won’t get away with it.

“We’ll have to see how it all started, but I’m going to leave that to other people, including the attorney general and others, to make that determination,” Trump continued. “Fifty years, 100 years from now — if someone tries the same thing, they have to know the penalty will be very very great if and when they get caught.”

Trump also lashed out at Schiff, D-Calif., who has pushed strongly for investigations into possible Trump-Russia links. “Schiff is a bad guy, he knew he was lying — he’s not a dummy. For a year and a half he would just leak and call up CNN and others. You know, I watch him, so sanctimonious … He knew it was a lie, and he’d get in the back room with his friends in the Democrat Party, and they would laugh like hell. In one way, you could say it’s a crime what he did — he was making statements he knew were false. He’s a disgrace to our country.”

The president insisted the U.S. should have a “great relationship” with Russia and China, but that the “fake news” and “nonsense” distorted his intentions into something more sinister.

FILE – In this March 22, 2018 photo, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., then ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, exits a secure area to speak to reporters, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Trump also criticized Comey, whom he’d fired in 2017, as a “terrible guy.” He insisted he did not fire him to obstruct justice, telling Hannity he knew that firing Comey would only increase scrutiny on the White House.

“It was treason, it was really treason,” Trump said, referring to texts between former FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page that discussed an “insurance policy” in the event of Trump’s election.

“You had dirty cops, you had people who are bad FBI folks … At the top, they were not clean, to put it mildly.” He said later, “We can never allow these treasonous acts to happen to another president.”

“I do, I have plans to declassify and release.”

— President Trump

Separately, Trump also said he hopes Democrats continue pushing the Green New Deal, which flamed out in a test vote on Tuesday, as most Democrats voted “present” instead of going on record supporting the sweeping transformation of the entire U.S. economy.

“I don’t want to speak badly about the New Green Deal, frankly, because I’m afraid they will stop using it,” Trump said. “I really do want to campaign against it. It’s ridiculous.”

Trump’s interview came as multiple GOP lawmakers have claimed the president may have somewhat undercut perhaps the best week of his presidency by backing the complete overturn of ObamaCare.

On Monday, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans to affirm last year’s ruling by a Texas federal judge stating that the Affordable Care Act was no longer constitutional because the 2017 tax reform legislation eliminated the health care law’s penalty for not having health insurance.

Multiple congressional Republicans told Fox News they were bothered by the timing of the Trump administration’s intervention in the matter, which came on the heels of the Mueller report findings, the House sustaining the president’s veto of a bill to halt the national emergency for the border wall and a Senate vote that shined a spotlight on what conservatives described as problems with the Green New Deal, championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Trump, despite the pushback, vowed that Republicans would soon be the “party of great health care.”

Fox News’ Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-vows-to-release-fisa-docs-now-that-mueller-probe-is-concluded-slams-treasonous-fbi

The post Trump vows to release FISA docs now that Mueller probe is concluded, slams ‘treasonous’ FBI first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned on Wednesday, pushed out by President Donald Trump. Matthew Whitaker, Session’s chief of staff, will become acting attorney general and oversee the Mueller probe into Russian collusion with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

What we know

• Sessions gave Trump an undated resignation letter.
• The letter says the resignation was at Trump’s “request.”
• Trump announced Sessions’ departure on Twitter and wrote: “We wish him well.”
• Whitaker will be acting attorney general until Trump names a permanent replacement.
• Whitaker has previously criticized the Mueller probe, once musing about whether an attorney general could undermine the investigation by cutting its budget.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump

We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well….

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump

….We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.

What did Sessions write in his resignation letter?

In his undated letter, Sessions wrote he was “submitting his resignation” at the request of the president.

The Wall Street Journal@WSJ

Read Jeff Sessions’ letter of resignation https://on.wsj.com/2Qrqn0V

Sessions said he had advanced Trump’s political objectives during his time as attorney general. He listed spearheading a crackdown on irregular migrants, breaking up violent “transnational gangs” and tackling the opioid epidemic among his achievements.

“Most importantly, in my time as attorney general, we have restored and upheld the rule of law — a glorious tradition that each of us has a responsibility to safeguard.”

Democrats warn Trump

Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat expected to lead the party in the House of Representatives, said the resignation was a “blatant attempt” by Trump to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.

“Given his record of threats to undermine & weaken the Russia investigation, Matthew Whitaker should recuse himself from any involvement in Mueller’s investigation,” wrote Pelosi on Twitter.

Nancy Pelosi@NancyPelosi

 ·

It is impossible to read Attorney General Sessions’ firing as anything other than another blatant attempt by @realDonaldTrump to undermine & end Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.

Nancy Pelosi@NancyPelosi

Given his record of threats to undermine & weaken the Russia investigation, Matthew Whitaker should recuse himself from any involvement in Mueller’s investigation. Congress must take immediate action to protect the rule of law and integrity of the investigation. #FollowTheFacts

The Democrats’ leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said both houses of the US Congress needed to protect the probe.

“It would create a constitutional crisis if this were a prelude to ending or greatly limiting the Mueller investigation,” he said.

Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on Senate Judiciary Committee, also said Whitaker should “make a firm commitment not to interfere in the investigation.”

Sen Dianne Feinstein@SenFeinstein

The president has made abundantly clear that he’ll take any action he can to undermine the Mueller investigation. No one who lacks Senate confirmation should be placed in charge of this investigation, especially Matthew Whitaker who publicly criticized Mueller’s work last year.

Who is Jeff Sessions?

The Alabama Republican was the first senator to back Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Trump started publicly criticizing him after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in early 2017.

2013: Mr Trump goes to Russia

June 18, 2013. Donald Trump tweeted: “The Miss Universe Pageant will be broadcast live from MOSCOW, RUSSIA on November 9. A big deal that will bring our countries together!” He later added: “Do you think Putin will be going – if so, will he become my new best friend?” October 17, 2013 Trump tells chat show host David Letterman he has conducted “a lot of business with the Russians.”

September 2015: Hacking allegations raised

An FBI agent told a tech-support contractor at the Democratic National Committee it may have been hacked. On May 18, 2016, James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, said there were “some indications” of cyberattacks aimed at the presidential campaigns. On June 14, 2016 the DNC announced it had been the victim of an attack by Russian hackers.

July 20, 2016: Mr Kislyak enters the picture

Senator Jeff Sessions – an early Trump endorser who led his national security advisory committee – met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and a group of other ambassadors at a Republican National Convention event.

July 22, 2016: Assange thickens the plot

Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks published 20,000 emails stolen from the DNC, appearing to show a preference for Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders.

July 25, 2016: Cometh the hour, Comey the man

The FBI announced it was investigating the DNC hack saying “a compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously.”

November 8, 2016: Trump elected

Donald Trump is elected president of the United States. On November 9, the Russian parliament burst into applause at the news.

November 10, 2016: Team Trump denies Russia link

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Rybakov said there “were contacts” between the Russian government and the Trump campaign during the election campaign. The Trump campaign issued a firm denial.

November 18, 2016: Flynn appointed

Trump named General Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. The former Defence Intelligence Agency chief was a top foreign policy adviser in Trump’s campaign. Flynn resigned in February after failing to disclose full details of his communication with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

January 26, 2017: Yates – ‘The center cannot hold’

Acting attorney general Sally Yates told White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn made false statements regarding his calls with Kislyak. On January 30 Trump fired Yates for refusing to enforce his travel ban, which was later blocked by federal courts.

March 2, 2017: Sessions recuses himself

Trump said he had “total confidence” in Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions announced he would recuse himself from any investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

March 20, 2017: FBI examines Trump-Kremlin links

FBI Director James Comey confirmed before the House Select Committee on Intelligence that the FBI was investigating possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

May 9, 2017: Trump sacks Comey

In a letter announcing the termination, Trump wrote: “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.”

May 17, 2017: Mueller appointed special counsel

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to look into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

August 2017: FBI seizes documents from Manafort

Shortly after Mueller convenes a grand jury for the investigation, the FBI seizes documents from one of Paul Manafort’s properties as part of a raid for Mueller’s probe. The former Trump campaigner manager stepped down in August 2016 after allegations surfaced that he had received large payments linked to Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government.

September 2017: Trump Jr.’s talks to Senate committee

Donald Trump Jr. tells the Senate Judiciary Committee he has not colluded with a foreign government. The closed-door interview relates to his June 2016 meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, which was also attended by his brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then campaign manager Paul Manafort. Trump Jr.’s emails, however, suggest the meeting was supposed to produce dirt on Clinton.

October 2017: Internet giants allege Russian interference

Facebook, Twitter and Google reportedly tell US media they have evidence that Russian operatives exploited platforms to spread disinformation during the 2016 US presidential election. The three companies are expected to appear before a Senate Intelligence Committee in November.

Author: Jo Harper, Kathleen Schuster

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Source: https://www.dw.com/en/donald-trump-fires-us-attorney-general-jeff-sessions/a-46201474

[Disclaimer]

The post Donald Trump fires US Attorney General Jeff Sessions first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The departure was the culmination of a toxic relationship that frayed just weeks into Sessions’ tenure, when he stepped aside from the Russia investigation because of his campaign advocacy and following the revelation that he had met twice in 2016 with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Trump blamed the recusal for the appointment of Mueller, who took over the Russia investigation two months later and began examining whether Trump’s hectoring of Sessions was part of a broader effort to obstruct the probe.

The investigation has produced 32 criminal charges and guilty pleas from four former Trump aides. But the work is not done, and critical decisions await that could shape the remainder of Trump’s presidency.

A Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, on Thursday called Mueller’s investigation a “headache” for U.S. authorities but said it “has nothing to do with us,” and he declined to comment on Sessions’ departure.

Mueller’s grand jury has heard testimony for months about Trump confidant Roger Stone and what advance knowledge he may have had about Russian hacking of Democratic emails. Mueller’s team also has been pressing for an interview with Trump. And the department is expected to receive a confidential report of Mueller’s findings, though it’s unclear how much will be public.

Separately, Justice Department prosecutors in New York secured a guilty plea from Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who said the president directed him to arrange hush money payments before the 2016 election to two women who said they had sex with Trump.

Trump had repeatedly been talked out of firing Sessions until after the midterms, but he told confidants in recent weeks that he wanted Sessions out as soon as possible after the elections, according to a Republican close to the White House who was not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.

The president deflected questions about Sessions’ expected departure at a White House news conference Wednesday. He did not mention that White House chief of staff John Kelly had called Sessions beforehand to ask for his resignation. The undated letter was then sent to the White House.

The Justice Department did not directly answer whether Whitaker would assume control of Mueller’s investigation, with spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores saying he would be “in charge of all matters under the purview of the Department of Justice.”

Rosenstein remains at the department and could still be involved in oversight. He has previously said that he saw no basis for firing Mueller. Trump said Wednesday that he did not plan to stop the investigation.

Without Sessions’ campaign or Russia entanglements, there’s no legal reason Whitaker couldn’t immediately oversee the probe. And since Sessions technically resigned instead of forcing the White House to fire him, he opened the door under federal law to allowing the president to choose his successor instead of simply elevating Rosenstein, said University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck.

“Sessions did not do the thing he could have done to better protect Rosenstein, and through Rosenstein, the Mueller investigation,” Vladeck said.

That left Whitaker in charge, at least for now, though Democrats, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, said he should recuse himself because of his comments on the probe. Rep. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said he wants “answers immediately” and “we will hold people accountable.”

Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney from Iowa who twice ran unsuccessfully for statewide office and founded a law firm with other Republican Party activists, once opined about a scenario in which Trump could fire Sessions and then appoint an acting attorney general who could stifle the funding of Mueller’s probe.

In that scenario, Mueller’s budget could be reduced “so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt,” Whitaker said during an interview with CNN in July 2017 before he joined the Justice Department.

In a CNN op-ed last year, Whitaker wrote, “Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing.”

Trump’s relentless attacks on Sessions came even though the Alabama Republican was the first U.S. senator to endorse Trump and despite the fact his crime-fighting agenda and priorities, particularly his hawkish immigration enforcement policies, largely mirrored the president’s.

He found satisfaction in being able to reverse Obama-era policies that conservatives say flouted the will of Congress, encouraging prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges they could and promoting more aggressive enforcement of federal marijuana law.

He also announced media leak crackdowns and tougher policies against opioids, and his Justice Department defended a since-abandoned administration policy that resulted in migrant parents being separated from their children at the border.

But the relationship was irreparably damaged in March 2017 when Sessions, acknowledging previously undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador and citing his work as a campaign aide, recused himself from the Russia investigation.

Trump repeatedly lamented that he would have never selected Sessions if he had known the attorney general would recuse himself. The recusal left the investigation in the hands of Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller two months later after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey.

In piercing attacks, Trump called Sessions weak and beleaguered, complained that he wasn’t more aggressively pursuing allegations of corruption against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and called it “disgraceful” that Sessions wasn’t more serious in scrutinizing the origins of the Russia investigation for possible law enforcement bias — even though the attorney general did ask the Justice Department’s inspector general to examine those claims.

The broadsides escalated in recent months, with Trump telling an interviewer that Sessions “never had control” of the Justice Department.

Sessions endured most of the name-calling in silence, though he did issue two public statements defending the department, including one in which he said he would serve “with integrity and honor” for as long as he was in the job.

Sessions, who likely suspected his ouster was imminent, was spotted by reporters giving some of his grandchildren a tour of the White House over the weekend. He did not respond when asked why he was there.

___

Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington and Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.

The post With new Justice official, fate of Russia probe in question first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

“This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further,” Trump tweeted. “Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!”

The tweet renewed Democratic complaints that Trump is wrongly challenging the independence of the special counsel. Trump has repeatedly blasted the probe as a “witch hunt,” but the call for Sessions to intervene represents another escalation.

Sessions, however, already recused himself last year – handing off oversight to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. So he is unlikely to act.

A Justice Department spokesperson had no comment on the tweet when reached by Fox News. Another source familiar with the investigation downplayed the implications of the tweet – as Trump previously has vented his frustration with both the Russia probe and Sessions’ recusal from it.

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said in a statement: “We have been saying for months that it is time to bring this inquiry to an end. The President has expressed the same opinion.”

Trump afterward tweeted concerns about the trial of ex-campaign boss Paul Manafort, which entered its second day on Wednesday morning.

“Paul Manafort worked for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other highly prominent and respected political leaders. He worked for me for a very short time. Why didn’t government tell me that he was under investigation. These old charges have nothing to do with Collusion – a Hoax!” he tweeted.

Trump went on to target the anti-Trump dossier and former investigators who exchanged anti-Trump text messages.

The president has previously tried to assert that Mueller is conflicted, based on a claim that he turned him down for FBI director, his ties to fired bureau boss James Comey and other issues. Trump has long complained about the presence of Democratic donors on the Mueller team.

But Democratic lawmakers have warned Trump and his allies about encroaching on the Mueller probe’s independence.

In response to Wednesday’s tweet, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., top intelligence committee Democrat, said, “This is an attempt to obstruct justice hiding in plain sight. America must never accept it.”

After conservative House members unveiled a Rosenstein impeachment resolution, top House Democrats last week also noted that Mueller has already obtained over two-dozen indictments and said: “Any attempt to [take action against Mueller or Rosenstein] will be viewed by Congress and the American people as further proof of an effort to obstruct justice with severe consequences for Trump and his presidency.”

As Trump issued his call, Manafort’s trial, for tax and bank fraud charges unrelated to Russian meddling, was moving into full swing.

His defense team’s opening day strategy was to try and undermine the Mueller team’s star witness, Rick Gates, who was Manafort’s deputy in business and at the Trump campaign. The attorneys argued Gates was the one who transferred all the money into accounts, including consulting fees collected from Ukrainian political figures. They said he was embezzling money and later lied about it to investigators – before agreeing to flip and testify against Manafort.

But the Mueller team contends Manafort bankrolled a luxurious globe-trotting lifestyle with money he wasn’t paying taxes on.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Uzo Asonye told the jury Tuesday that Manafort considered himself above the law as he funneled tens of millions of dollars through offshore accounts to pay for personal expenses such as a $21,000 watch and a $15,000 jacket made of ostrich.

“All of these charges boil down to one simple issue: that Paul Manafort lied,” Asonye said. “Manafort placed himself and his money over the law.”

Later Wednesday, Trump tweeted again, putting Manafort up against mob boss Al Capone, known by the nickname “Scarface,” who was charged with tax evasion.

“Looking back on history, who was treated worse, Alfonse Capone, legendary mob boss, killer and “Public Enemy Number One,” or Paul Manafort, political operative & Reagan/Dole darling, now serving solitary confinement – although convicted of nothing? Where is the Russian Collusion?” Trump tweeted.

Fox News’ Peter Doocy, John Roberts, Brooke Singman and Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/01/trump-urges-attorney-general-sessions-to-end-russia-probe.html

The post Trump urges Attorney General Sessions to end Russia probe first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Watching FBI agent Peter Strzok battle with Congress, my initial reaction was pure anger. His repeated, arrogant insistence that he had done nothing wrong despite tons of evidence to the contrary convinced me he deserved immediate firing — if not the firing squad.

Gradually, though, anger gave way to amazement as Strzok grew increasingly combative and condescending. Given his predicament, the sneering and smirking were stupid, and yet he persisted.

Who is this jerk, I wondered, and how in the hell did he get to be a big shot at the FBI? And why are taxpayers still paying for the privilege of his malignant presence on the FBI payroll?

My answers can be summarized in four names: James Comey, Jeff Sessions, Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray. They are chief culprits in the death of public trust in the Department of Justice.

The cause of death was murder, and it was an inside job.

Strzok, whose voluminous texts with his office lover show him to be a king of partisan bias, rose to leadership positions under former FBI Director Comey — and it shows. Comey’s self-righteousness was his ultimate undoing, but not before he led the agency into a double death grip of corruption and rank partisanship.

Blinded by his own ambition, Comey brushed aside superiors, rules and maybe laws while giving Hillary Clinton a free pass and turning the screws on Donald Trump. Comey defends himself by saying he sought to protect the FBI’s independence, as if it — and he — are a fourth branch of government that is beyond accountability from the other three.

In the end, he disgraced the agency and himself, though he gained consolation in the millions he made by selling his book to Trump haters.

But the FBI didn’t stink only from the head — Comey’s deputy, Andrew McCabe, also was fired, and could be prosecuted for allegedly being dishonest with investigators about a media leak.

Strzok appears to be a chip off the Comey/McCabe block. Like them, he insists he is committed to the FBI’s high standards, but his reprehensible conduct makes a mockery of his claims.

His stated contempt for Trump and his promise to stop him from becoming president render Strzok unfit to be a dogcatcher.

But, aping his mentors, he nonetheless demands his denials of wrongdoing be accepted as if his integrity is self-evident. All three believe they are entitled to trust and respect, without having to earn or return either.

Which brings us to Sessions, Rosenstein and Wray. How can they stomach the likes of Strzok and refuse to clean the stables?

Sessions, as attorney general, is nominally the boss over his deputy, Rosenstein, and FBI Director Wray. But by recusing himself from anything related to the 2016 campaign, Sessions abdicated the most important part of his job.

As I have said, his appointment was Trump’s biggest mistake, one that denied the president and the nation a functioning attorney general. The most critical result is the unchecked and apparently endless investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Speaking of which, breathes there a soul who believes the timing of Mueller’s latest batch of ghost indictments of Russians has nothing to do with Trump’s planned meeting with Vladimir Putin? The timing shows Rosenstein, who announced the charges, and Mueller are neck deep in politics by trying to force Trump to confront Putin about the meddling charges.

Is that their job? Would they embarrass and try to box in Barack Obama or any other president?

Their decision persuades me both harbor suspicion of Trump’s legitimacy, and thus feel entitled to abuse their powers to wade into issues that are none of their business. In that way, they are no better than Comey, McCabe and Strzok — applying a double standard of law enforcement based on their personal views. That makes them, at the least, allies of the resistance.

Rosenstein’s stonewalling conduct toward Congress over Russia-probe documents is especially suspicious. Claims he threatened members and their staffs ring true, and, if they are, it means he lied under oath when he denied making any threats.

But, thanks to the somnolent Sessions, we can add Rosenstein to the long list of those above accountability. A real attorney general — oh, what’s the use? Sessions is not a real attorney general and never will be.

Then there is Comey’s successor, Wray. He looks as if he wandered into the wrong movie theater and can’t find the exit.

He defined himself as unwilling to tackle the mess he inherited by downplaying the devastating inspector general report on the handling of the Clinton investigation. While conceding the findings made it “clear we’ve got some work to do,” he minimized them by saying, “It’s focused on a specific set of events back in 2016, and a small number of FBI employees connected with those events. Nothing in the report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole, or the FBI as an institution.”

Baloney. While it’s true only a fraction of the total employees were singled out, they were the director of the FBI, his top deputy, the deputy’s top lawyer and Strzok, the head of counterintelligence.

Others were also faulted, but not named, including an agent who tried to get his son a job on Clinton’s campaign while sending campaign boss John Podesta “heads up” emails.

And so the corruption of the Justice Department proceeds, unmolested by actual justice. The voter revolution of 2016 has more work to do.

In up to his wa$te

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a slow learner. Despite two massive corruption cases growing out of his economic development boondoggles, the governor continues to act as if he knows the secret sauce for revitalizing local economies across the state. And reflecting his re-election campaign, he’s inflating the rhetoric.

Cuomo’s office recently sent a flurry of press releases announcing “transformational projects” and taxpayer-funded developments. Batavia, Cortland, Hudson, Hicksville, Rome, Kingston and even the South Bronx got his magic wand waved over their problems.

If past is prologue, scammers, especially Cuomo confidants and big donors, will reap the benefits, followed by investigations, indictments and convictions.

Can’t he just stop?

Blas schooled

Comes now another sign that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is waking up to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s education shell games.

Following a lawsuit, City Hall reneged on a plan to allow a Success Academy middle school to occupy the same space one of its elementary schools used, leaving students and families in limbo. Adams, a Democrat, met with parents and blasted City Hall for making the “situation worse.”

Earlier, Adams initially supported de Blasio’s attempt to end the specialized high school test. But after meeting with Asian parents angered over the plan, Adams withdrew his support.

Speak up, parents. Finally, somebody is listening.

Source: https://nypost.com/2018/07/14/peter-strzoks-arrogance-is-the-product-of-a-corrupt-fbi/

The post Peter Strzok’s arrogance is the product of a corrupt FBI first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Central American migrants, who attended the annual Migrants Stations of the Cross caravan for migrants’ rights, ride a northern-bound train known as “La Bestia,” or The Beast, as they arrive to Hermosillo, Mexico on April 21, 2018.Luis Gutierrez / AP

The Department of Homeland Security on Monday vowed to prosecute Central American migrants in a “caravan” near the U.S. border if they try to enter illegally and Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the effort was a “deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system.”

With the caravan on the final stage of its journey — about 440 miles, or a 12-hour journey by bus or train from the southern border — DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, acting under orders from President Donald Trump, said the agency was monitoring the group’s movement and those who enter the U.S. illegally will be referred for prosecution. There are about 500 migrants in the caravan.

“Pockets of the original, so-called ‘migrant caravan, which press reports indicate consists mostly of Honduran nationals, have begun to arrive at our southern border with the intent of claiming asylum,” Sessions said. “These individuals — and their smugglers — ignored the willingness of the Mexican government to allow them to stay in Mexico.”

Sessions added, “Let today’s message be clear: Our nation has the most generous immigration system in the world, but this is a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system. There is no right to demand entry without justification. Smugglers and traffickers and those who lie or commit fraud will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Nielsen said asylum-seekers will be detained while their cases are processed, and those who the U.S. determines don’t have a legitimate claim will be “promptly removed from the United States.”

“If you enter the United States illegally, let me be clear: You have broken the law,” she said in a statement Monday. “And we will enforce the law through prosecution of illegal border crossers.” Seeking asylum is legal.

Nielsen added that the administration had sent to the southern border additional ICE attorneys and Justice Department judges and prosecutors to ensure that all caravan asylum cases would be “adjudicated promptly.”

The developments foreshadow a potential showdown on the border.

Most of the migrants in the caravan, who are fleeing violence in their home countries, plan to seek asylum once they get to the U.S, organizers have said.

Earlier Monday, Trump said on Twitter that he’d instructed DHS “not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country.”

“It is a disgrace. We are the only Country in the World so naive! WALL,” Trump said. He added that Mexico “must stop people from going through Mexico and into the U.S.” and that could become “a condition of the new NAFTA Agreement.”

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-warns-immigrant-caravan-approaching-u-s-border-prosecution-deportation-n868486

The post Trump warns immigrant caravan approaching U.S. border of prosecution, deportation first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Trump made the remarks during a meeting with Baltic leaders, where he said he had discussed the matter with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. A White House official revealed later Tuesday to Fox News that the plan considered by Trump would be a “substantial” mobilization of the National Guard.

“Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” he said. “That’s a big step, we really haven’t done that before, or certainly not very much before.”

At a news conference later, he confirmed the plan, saying the border is unprotected by “our horrible, horrible and very unsafe laws.”

“We don’t have laws, we have catch-and-release,” he said. “You catch and then you immediately release and people come back years later for a court case, except they virtually never come back.”

Trump did not offer specifics, but the move appears to be at least partly motivated by a caravan of over 1,000 Central American migrants heading toward the U.S. border. Buzzfeed, which first reported on the caravan, said that Mexican officials had not yet attempted to stop the flow.

In Tuesday’s discussion, Trump and senior officials “also agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. She added that Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and Chief of Staff John Kelly were among the other officials present.

Reports of the caravan angered Trump, who has sent out a number of tweets threatening to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and to cut foreign aid to countries such as Honduras, from where many of the migrants originate.

The post Trump says the military will secure the southern border until wall can be built first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.