Commentary: Durham Prosecutes FBI Informants, Protects Their Handlers

By Paul Sperry 

Since being named special counsel in October 2020, John Durham has investigated or indicted several unscrupulous anti-Trump informants. But he has spared the FBI agents who handled them, raising suspicions he’s letting investigators off the hook in his waning investigation of misconduct in the Russiagate probe.

In recent court filings, Durham has portrayed the G-men as naive recipients of bad information, tricked into opening improper investigations targeting Donald Trump and obtaining invalid warrants to spy on one of his advisers.

But as the cases against the informants have gone to trial, defense lawyers have revealed evidence that cuts against that narrative. FBI investigators look less like guileless victims and more like willing partners in the fraudulent schemes Durham has brought to light.

Notwithstanding his reputation as a tough, intrepid prosecutor, Durham has made excuses for the misconduct of FBI agents, providing them a ready-made defense against any possible future prosecution, according to legal experts..........To Read More....

 

• Senator Ron Johnson: Investigation Into FBI ‘Corruption’ IMPEDED by John Durham Investigation - By Jack Phillips October 2, 2022 Updated: October 2, 2022 -  Special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump–Russia collusion claims has prevented lawmakers from obtaining more information about possible misconduct at the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “Our efforts in terms of investigating Hunter Biden and corruption within the FBI was certainly hampered because we had an active criminal investigation under John Durham,” he told Newsmax on Sept. 30, noting that Durham so far has successfully prosecuted few individuals in connection to his investigation..................

 

Republican Voters Want ‘Blood’—Will Their Leaders Deliver?

After the much-hyped John Durham probe ends with a whimper and House Democrats ratchet up their public pursuit of Trump associates, the Republican base wants action, not more sternly worded letters.

 

By Julie Kelly July 8, 2022

The U.S. Department of Justice will soon decide whether to close down the investigation into the origins of Russiagate, a lie fabricated by Barack Obama’s FBI, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and the Democratic National Committee among other bad actors seeking to ruin Donald Trump. U.S. Attorney John Durham, named special counsel by former Attorney General William Barr in October 2020 after more than 18 months of dawdling, has uncovered a damning trail of evidence to show “collusion” existed not between Trump and the Kremlin but between Democratic Party interests, including the national news media, in an attempt to rig the 2016 presidential election.

It’s unclear whether Durham will issue a final report on the matter; what is clear, however, is Durham’s effort has been an abysmal failure in terms of holding anyone criminally responsible for the biggest political fraud in modern history. .................To Read More..

Russiagate is a D.C. Crime, Trying It There Won’t Work

What the Sussmann trial really showed. Mon Jun 6, 2022 

Daniel Greenfield 41 comments

With 3 Clinton donors on the jury and a judge who is the poster boy for conflicts of interest, the outcome of the Michael Sussmann trial was never in doubt. But these are also the same conflicts that made Russiagate possible and trying a Russiagate case in D.C. entirely hopeless.

D.C.’s professional class build their careers around a web of personal connections. And no one was better at pulling on all those connections than the Clintons who had spent a generation assembling their own political machine of careerists and loyalists by offering them positions in the government and their non-profit organizations. The Clintons had built an army and a state within a state. Russiagate, at the most basic level, was an attempt by corrupt careerists before the election to protect their future jobs and after the election to exact an embittered revenge........To Read More....

 

Hillary Did It!

May 21, 2022 by John Hinderaker in Hillary Clinton, Russia hoax

In the ongoing Sussman trial, campaign manager Robby Mook testified that Hillary Clinton personally approved spreading the lie about Donald Trump and Alfa Bank. This has been treated by some as a revelation. Jonathan Turley, for one, finds it significant: 

Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley - Clinton personally approved the plan to spread the false Alfa bank story. It was one of the most successful disinformation campaigns in American politics, and Mook implicated Clinton as green-lighting the gas-lighting of the electorate.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m not sure why Mook’s testimony on this point is considered newsworthy. Hillary wasn’t exactly in the background on the Alfa Bank branch of the Russia collusion hoax:............

More broadly, we have long known that Hillary personally directed the Russia collusion hoax. Indeed, the Obama administration knew this virtually from the hoax’s inception. We wrote about this a year and a half ago, based on handwritten notes by John Brennan, then CIA Director, dated July 28,2016. At that time the notes were newly declassified, although heavily redacted. This is how DNI John Ratcliffe described them, along with another memo:..........To Read More.....

•  Durham Investigation: How Hillary Clinton’s Name Finally Came Up - Former campaign manager reveals Clinton's role in Trump-Russia hoax..........
•  Hillary Factor: Evidence Now Shows False Russia Collusion Story Began and Ended with Clinton - In an era where the hunt for disinformation has become a political obsession, Hillary Clinton has mostly escaped having to answer what role she played in spreading the false Russia collusion narrative that gripped America for nearly three years. On Friday, that dodge ended with a most unlikely witness: her..........
• GREAT QUESTION: After Spending Three Years and Millions of Dollars How Did Mueller and Weissmann Not Figure Out Hillary Created the Russia Hoax?
• Hillary Clinton Personally Signed Off on Sharing Trump-Russia Alfa Bank Smear With Media, ex-Campaign Manager Testifies By Debra Heine
•  The uncloaked mask exposes...Hillary May 21, 2022 Old John Durham is delivering the goods. 
• Is Hillary Clinton really about to get what's coming to her? May 22, 2022 Republicans need to tread very carefully here. More

What Do You Believe About The Sussman/Baker Conversation?

May 20, 2022 Francis Menton @ Manhattan Contrarian

The first week of the Michael Sussman criminal trial has now ended.

Sussman stands accused by Special Counsel John Durham of “lying to the FBI.” Lying to the FBI is a crime. (It’s covered by 18 USC Section 1001.). The alleged lie happened at a meeting that occurred on September 19, 2016. That was about a month and a half before the 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and thus at the very height of the campaign. At the time, Sussman was a partner at the Perkins Coie law firm, and Perkins Coie was counsel both to the Democratic Party and to the Clinton Presidential campaign. 

On the September 19 date, Sussman met at his request at FBI headquarters with Bureau General Counsel James Baker. In the meeting, Sussman asserted he had learned of something the Bureau should investigate, namely a supposed secret “back channel” between Russia’s Alfa Bank and the Trump campaign. Special Counsel Durham alleges that both before and at the meeting Sussman represented that he was acting as a private citizen, and not on behalf of any client, in bringing this information to the attention of the Bureau.

The theory of the prosecution is that the representation by Sussman that he was not representing any client was false because in fact Sussman was acting as a representative of the Clinton campaign in making his assertions to the FBI. Theoretically, this representation was material in leading the FBI to pursue a wild goose chase into false allegations of Trump/Russia collusion, which they never would have done had they suspected that this was merely a partisan operation against a campaign rival.

Just curious: What do you believe was really going on here?

Taking the narrative above at face value, Durham appears to have Sussman dead to rights. Durham’s team introduced into evidence a text message from Sussman to Baker dated September 18, 2016, in which Sussman requested the meeting. In the text, Sussman states, “I’m coming on my own — not on behalf of a client or company — want to help the Bureau.” Meanwhile, the Indictment in the case alleges that the time Sussman spent assembling the information he presented to the FBI was billed to the Clinton campaign; and apparently Durham has collected the Perkins Coie time records to prove those allegations.

If that doesn’t seem airtight enough, yesterday Baker himself took the stand as a witness for the prosecution. The New York Post reports on Baker’s testimony with the headline “James Baker buries Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann in probe.” The heart of Baker’s testimony was apparently that at the September 19 meeting Sussman reiterated his statement that he was not acting on behalf of any client:

A former FBI official delivered devastating testimony Thursday against former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann — saying he’s “100% confident” the defendant denied acting “on behalf of any particular client” when he handed over since-debunked information linking Donald Trump and Russia. “I think it was pretty close to the beginning of the meeting. Part of his introduction to the meeting,” former FBI general counsel James Baker told jurors in Washington, DC, federal court.

And to put a little icing on the cake, Baker then testified that he promptly briefed Bill Priestap, head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, about the meeting. And Priestap just happens to have made a note of that conversation, reading “Said not doing this for any client.” And Baker also briefed one Trisha Anderson, another FBI lawyer, who made a note saying “No specific client.”

So was the FBI really fooled here? Or were the FBI representatives all too willingly playing along to help the Clinton campaign to smear Trump? I’ll go with the latter. Every one of the FBI people involved in this matter fully knew that Michael Sussman’s principal job was to be a top lawyer for the Clinton campaign. So a top lawyer for the Clinton campaign wants to come in with some dirt on rival Trump a few weeks before the election, says “I’m coming on my own” — and they supposedly take that at face value? And of course the guy gets a one-on-one sit-down meeting at headquarters with the General Counsel of the Bureau on one day’s notice, because that’s just how the FBI does business.

This stinks to high heaven for the FBI. But now put yourself in Baker’s position testifying. What’s he going to say? “Of course we knew this was a set up so the Clinton campaign could get the press to report an FBI investigation of Trump”? Not likely. That taints both himself and the entire Bureau with the stench of corruption. Most likely is that in an oral conversation with Sussman before the meeting Baker told Sussman that he could have the meeting if he would state in writing that he was not representing any client in coming forward. That would give the FBI plausible deniability, and without a document no lawyer at a trial would ever get either Baker or Sussman to admit that such a conversation occurred.

Most likely Durham’s game plan was never to convict Sussman on this claim at trial, but rather use it to get him to turn on others, most notably Hillary herself. So far, that hasn’t happened.

 

Is Durham going to let the FBI and DOJ off the hook?

May 18, 2022 By Thomas Lifson

Sundance is raising the alarm that John Durham is not going to prosecute FBI and DOJ officials for their role in perpetrating the Russia Hoax.  Opening arguments were presented Tuesday in the trial of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman for lying to then-FBI general counsel James Baker, claiming that he wasn't working for the campaign when he brought charges of ties between Donald Trump and Russia to the FBI............To Read More....

• Marc Elias Finally Gets Grilled in Sussmann Case, Spills on Involvement of Clinton Team 
• Former FBI Official James Baker Buries Former Clinton Lawyer With His Testimony 
• Marc Elias Testifies He Had ‘Discretion’ to ‘Direct’ Fusion GPS 
• Durham Probe: Former FBI Counsel Testifies Hillary Lawyer Said Not Working for Any Client.
•  Baker wouldn't have met with Sussmann if he admitted he was representing Clinton
• Judge Denies Former Clinton Lawyer’s Request for Mistrial
• FBI Lawyer Says He Briefed McCabe, Comey on Sketchy Trump–Russia Claims
• Guilty, Guilty, Guilty? 
• FBI lied to DOJ about 'Russia' conspiracy theory, evidence reveals

Special Counsel John Durham Wins Key Motion in Case Against Former Clinton Lawyer

By Zachary Stieber May 6, 2022 

A federal judge on May 4 granted a motion from special counsel John Durham to review documents that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and other parties had claimed were protected by privilege, which means the documents may ultimately be made available to the public. 

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, after a hearing in Washington, granted Durham’s motion to compel production of unredacted versions of said documents from the Perkins Coie, a law firm hired by the campaign ahead of the 2016 election; Rodney Joffe, a technology executive; and Fusion GPS, a firm that specializes in opposition research that the campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) used extensively to investigate then-candidate Donald Trump—Clinton’s rival for the presidency. 

The parties had resisted producing some documents and handed over redacted versions of others because of shielding afforded by attorney-client privilege or another form of privilege that protects documents used in producing “work product”—claims Durham has disputed in part because Fusion primarily engaged in non-legal matters such as opposition research for the campaign, the DNC, and Perkins.

Robin's Take - Attorney Client privilege claims were bogus - a Hail Mary by the left.  Particularly ironic since the claim hoist them by their own petards since they'd claimed to another judge that there was no relationship/tie there - but by claiming attorney client privilege proves beyond doubt there was.  I hope the other judge is made aware of this and they get reamed for lying to the court.

Techno Fog: In Effort to Keep Records From Special Counsel Durham, Clinton Campaign Says Fusion GPS Provided Legal Advice – Durham Responds

By Cristina Laila April 23, 2022 521 Comments

The battle over documents and e-mails in the Michael Sussmann case just got hotter. Back in August 2017, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining how his firm was retained to gather “lots of facts about Donald Trump.” He admitted that Fusion GPS met with reporters leading up to the 2016 election to spread opposition research against then-candidate Trump.

The context of Perkins Coie’s retention of Fusion GPS was further explained in a book co-authored by Simpson and Fusion GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch. They documented an April 20, 2016 meeting with Mark Elias (Perkins Coie partner and counsel for the DNC/Clinton Campaign), where Elias requested their services for opposition research:..........To Read More....

Major Durham Filing Delivers Another Crushing Blow to the Russian Collusion Hoax

Matt Vespa Apr 19, 2022 

 Okay, well, I stand corrected. I thought the next Durham filings would be spaced out—really spaced out. I’m talking many, MANY months in between. The probe has lasted over two years. It outlasted the Trump administration. It outlasted Attorney General William Barr. Luckily, Barr, who started the probe into the origins of the Russian collusion hoax, made John Durham, the former US attorney heading the effort, a special counsel to ensure the Biden crew didn’t torpedo this critical investigation. There has been growing impatience regarding the speed of this probe. The wheels of justice spin slowly. Not long after Barr launched the effort did the Durham probe become a criminal investigation. In recent months, we know why. We have a Clinton lawyer supposedly caught red-handed lying to the FBI. We have Clinton lawyers allegedly hiring a tech firm to infiltrate the Trump White House servers. Both are crimes, the latter is a serious federal crime. Now, Durham’s latest filing shows that the CIA knew the Russian collusion narrative was a crock. That it was “user created” and not “technically plausible” (via Fox News):........

Again, we still have a long way to go, but the probe is airing a lot of dirty laundry from Democrats, the Clinton camp, and the intelligence community. We knew the Clintons were corrupt. We knew the FBI was corrupt. The FBI knew the Steele Dossier was a Clinton campaign opposition research effort. They knew the origins and still used it to spy on Trump and his officials. They doctored the paperwork to illegally spy on Carter Page. This was an extensive and aggressive campaign conducted by the deep state and the political class to unravel the Trump presidency. It's no longer tin foil hat talk. It’s real. The government is out of control, especially the FBI and the Department of Justice. What will happen next? We’ll keep you updated. ......To Read More....

• Durham: 5 Witnesses Connected to Clinton Campaign Refusing to Cooperate - By Jack Phillips April 18, 2022 - Special counsel John Durham revealed that five witnesses who have connections to the Clinton campaign are invoking their Fifth Amendment right and will not cooperate with his investigation, according to a recent court filing. In a motion filed (pdf) on April 15, Durham revealed that one unnamed individual, “Researcher-2,” was given immunity in exchange for testimony, while “at least five other witnesses who conducted work relating to the Russian Bank-1 allegations invoked (or indicated their intent to invoke) their right against self-incrimination,” referring to the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.............
•  Durham Wants to Use Hillary Clinton’s Tweet Accusing Trump of Having a Secret Line of Communication with Russian Alfa Bank as Evidence in Sussmann Trial - By Cristina Laila
  Published April 19, 2022 430 Comments - Special Prosecutor John Durham wants to use Hillary Clinton’s tweet accusing Trump of having a secret line of communication with Russian Alfa Bank as evidence in Michael Sussmann’s trial next month. Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann’s motion to dismiss Durham’s case was denied by a federal judge last week.....

Durham’s Investigation: Fearless Predictions for 2022

The New Year should prove very busy and productive for John Durham.

 

By John D. O'Connor January 2, 2022   

While the seemingly slow pace of Special Counsel John Durham’s “Russiagate” investigation is frustrating to many, it appears that conditions are ripe for a slew of indictments in 2022, holding to account both FBI personnel and a number of other actors connected to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, possibly including the Clinton campaign itself.

Although grand jury proceedings are kept confidential, COVID restrictions likely caused both its sessions to be postponed and its witnesses to be temporarily excused from appearing. These delays were inevitable and certainly not Durham’s fault. 

One strikingly ironic result of the partisan Mueller investigation was that its one-sided focus ignored any attempt to ferret out anti-Trump crimes dealing with “Russian Collusion.” Had it done so, a subsequent investigation, such as Durham’s, might have been foreclosed. In any case, Mueller’s investigation delayed the start of Durham’s.......To Read More....

The Clinton campaign's plot to politically assassinate Trump

By Peter Van Buren 

There is a word for secretly collecting information about enemies or competitors to use against them. According to the latest court filing by Special Counsel John Durham, the Hillary Clinton campaign surreptitiously and likely illegally reached into protected White House and Trump communications data to try and show some link between Trump and Russia. The Clinton campaign during the election hid from FBI, CIA and the media that it was the source of the information gathered. Durham doesn't use the word "spy", but that in no way changes what happened.

The recent filing relates to Durham's September indictment of Michael Sussmann, an attorney who represented the Clinton campaign while at the Perkins Coie law firm. Sussmann is accused of lying to the FBI at a September 2016 meeting when he presented documents claiming to show internet communications between Trump and Russia-based Alfa Bank. The indictment says Sussmann falsely told the FBI he was presenting this information as a good citizen, purposely hiding his ties to Clinton. The allegations about the bank were false.

The new filing is at its heart legal housekeeping, asking that a waiver be considered to allow Sussmann to retain his current law firm. A potential conflict of interest exists because Sussmann's representative works for a law firm which also represents others Durham may be going after, and may have been involved in the larger events under investigation, perhaps as witnesses. While that is interesting in itself, what is newsworthy are broader details of what really happened around Russiagate that potentially point to crimes on a Watergate scale...............But this is not a fake scandal. Durham has potentially uncovered the most destructive political assassination attempt since Kennedy......To Read More....

 

4 New Things We Just Learned About The Special Counsel Investigation

When will the corrupt media begin reporting on this biggest political scandal of the last century?

By Margot Cleveland February 28, 2022 

Since Friday, several developments have exposed more of the behind-the-scenes details of the special counsel investigation into Spygate, including the public release of the deposition of Tech Executive-1, Rodney Joffe. Joffe’s deposition, coupled with other details previously known, reveals several significant facts while highlighting the many questions that remain unanswered.  Here’s what we learned and what investigative trails require further probing........

1. Rodney Joffe Pled the Fifth Twice...........
2. Joffe Seeks to Jump into the Sussmann Criminal Case ............
3. Joffe’s Seemingly Contradictory Testimony About Ops-Trust .........
4. It’s Not Just the FBI and CIA We’re Talking About Here..........To Read More...
   

 

Liberals Always React Like Third-Graders

By Steve Feinstein

No one likes it when things don’t go their way. Whether it’s a being passed over for a promotion at work or the dissolution of a long-term personal relationship or a financial reversal, a setback is never welcome.  What defines a person’s character is his reaction to adverse events. Mature adults will stop, take a breath, internalize the misfortune, evaluate their options and calmly pick a corrective course of action, with a minimum of hyperbolic arm-waving and verbal histrionics. Young children, of course, haven’t attained this level of personal composure and they react with gut-level emotion, stamping their feet, shouting out excuses and rationalizations, and just generally blaming everyone and everything for their predicament, pointedly and unjustifiably.

Liberals have the emotional make-up of 8-year-old children. Almost to a person -- whether they’re elected politicians, pundits, journalists, or simply rabidly partisan voters -- liberals are absolutely incapable of rationally accepting an undesired outcome and dealing with its consequences in a mature and measured manner.

There are countless examples. Here are two: liberals’ refusal to accept the 2016 election results and their dismissal of John Durham’s recent findings that implicate Hillary.

Stunned and horrified over Hillary’s unexpected, shockingly humiliating loss in 2016 -- perhaps the biggest upset in American presidential political history -- liberals at every level, in every position, went on a four-year temper tantrum of irrational, hysterical rejection of reality. Democrat politicians refused to work with President Trump, rebuffing his numerous efforts to forge compromise and move his Pro-American agenda forward. For elected Democrats, trying to deny President Trump any political success whatsoever was far more important to them than actually delivering benefits to the general population.

Liberal pundits and media reporters followed in lockstep. Negative report followed negative report. At one point, the Media Research Center said that over 90% of the TV network reporting on President Trump was negative..........Now that John Durham has released his report that casts Hillary and her 2016 campaign acolytes in what can be charitably termed a “very precarious ethical position,” the liberal media are dismissing and pooh-poohing the findings with predictable childlike obstinacy.  Like any embarrassed, humiliated young person, the liberal media simply refuse to acknowledge reality, insisting that what is real doesn’t actually exist.

The proof, of course, is the cliché that once a liberal is confronted with undeniable facts and logic, they will resort to personal, vitriolic attacks. Having lost the argument on its merits, liberals default to their, “Well, you’re an idiot, so shut up” position. That is essentially what they say when they are challenged...........To Read More....

BREAKING: Sussmann Attorneys Make Big Move in Durham Case

By Nick Arama | Feb 17, 2022 

The Clinton folks must be freaking out, if this latest action is any indication. Attorneys for Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann have just filed a motion to dismiss the case against him for making a false statement to the FBI. They are claiming that the case is “extraordinary prosecutorial overreach,” and that the indictment “fails to state an offense.”  Translation? Too much information is coming out connected to the Clinton campaign in the filings — and that can’t happen.........Nice try, guys; this move isn’t likely to fly — but it’s clear this is making a lot of people nervous.............To Read More....

• Durham Response to Sussmann Motion to Strike Squelches the Ridiculous Arguments - Nick Arama -  On Thursday, Special Counsel John Durham responded to a motion filed by former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann’s attorneys to strike the factual background part of his Feb. 11 filing about conflicts in the case............Durham declared that there was “no basis” to strike any part of his filing, noting that the factual background was “central to proving” Sussmann’s “alleged criminal conduct.” But Durham also noted that some of that was essential to laying out the potential conflicts that were the point of his Feb. 11 filing..........It’s funny that first, the Sussman lawyers claimed that Durham was saying too much and prejudicing their client, then they flipped on a dime and moved to an argument that he hadn’t said enough. Neither argument is likely to fly............
• Hillary's 'Comeback' Speech Is a Festival of Deflection, Durham, and Delusion -  Nick Arama - The one thing that you have to say about Hillary Clinton: She sure does have some kind of gall. Her campaign paid — through cut-outs of her lawyers and Fusion GPS — for what became known as the Steele dossier to smear Donald Trump. She then later tried to smear Donald Trump with the debunked Alfa Bank story. We’ve seen now in the Durham probe how it is alleged that her campaign, through operatives, engaged someone to look into the DNS lookups of servers including Trump Tower and the Executive Office of the President to dig up dirt on him to push that Russia connection claim............. 
• 46 Senators Call on Garland to Support Durham Probe of ‘Fraudulent Abuse of the FBI’s Investigative Powers’ Craig Bannister- On Wednesday, a group of 46 senators signed and published a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking assurances that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will provide Special Counsel John Durham with the independence and resources he needs to fully complete his investigation into the origins of the FBI’s seemingly baseless Russian Collusion investigation.....
• Top House Republican: ‘We are Going After’ FBI & Clinton for Spying on Trump Based on ‘Explosive’ Durham Memo - House Intel Committee Member Rep. Mike Rogers (R-OH) appeared on Fox News to address the Durham findings that the Clinton campaign’s lawyer Michael Sussmann had paid a tech firm to effectively ‘spy’ on the Trump campaign and while Donald Trump was in the White House.......

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Damaging Durham Disclosures Have Democrats in Spin Mode

Battle lines are drawn as the establishment picks its story.

By: Mark Angelides February 16, 2022 Articles, Opinion, Politics @ Liberty Nation

The latest disclosures from Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation have politicos and press pundits in a spin trying to craft a compelling narrative that will absolve past and future Democrats of any wrongdoing. In contrast to the media and political hand-wringing that took place during Robert Mueller’s inquiry into the thoroughly debunked Russian Collusion scandal, there is no such lack of decisiveness in this latest chapter.

Should Durham’s claims that the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign conspired to spy on its opponent prove true, former President Donald Trump would be vindicated. The Fourth Estate would have to admit that its coverage of Russiagate went hand-in-hand with the unfair vilification of a sitting president. Perhaps even more damaging is that the Democrat machine would be forced to acknowledge that it was at least partially complicit in a plan to secure the highest office through dishonest means. And for those in the D.C. Swamp, that can never be allowed to happen.

Narrative? What Narrative?

The White House is steering clear of any association with the Durham matter. When pressed on the issue by Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused flat out to answer a single question. On each of the three questions proffered, Ms. Jean-Pierre demurred and directed further queries to the Department of Justice. The Biden administration is determined to keep its hands clean and its options open for potential fallout – or in politispeak: Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies.

Instead, the White House is leaving this particular job to its friends in the Fourth Estate, who have decided that derision and mockery are the best treatments for a story that may prove to be a bigger scandal than Watergate. The question is: Why not just play it straight and let Hillary Clinton take the hit?

The answer perhaps is twofold.

First, with Joe Biden’s dismal polling numbers, the idea of him running for a second term is starting to look less and less likely. As such, a new candidate must be found to contest the 2024 election. Vice President Kamala Harris is even more unpopular than her boss, so who does that leave? It seems no coincidence that Clinton is set to be the keynote speaker at Thursday’s New York State Democratic Convention, a power move that will be seen by many as a toe in the water for a political comeback.

Second, it appears that the current White House occupant could himself be tarnished by the investigation. Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe recently suggested that both former President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden were aware of Clinton’s plans to create a Russian Collusion narrative. Speaking to Fox News, he outlined that former CIA Director John Brennan had:

“… briefed President Obama and Vice President Biden and other members of the national security team about this specific intelligence that John Durham now has about a Hillary Clinton plan to falsely accuse and vilify Donald Trump with a scandal, and the discussion around that and whether or not it was good intelligence.”

If Ratcliffe’s assertion is proven true, there is little doubt a political earthquake would ensue.

No Such Story – Please Try Again Later

John Durham used to have a good reputation across political lines. Significant players in the Obama administration went on record lauding his impartiality and diligence. But not anymore. The media has launched a sustained campaign of debunking and pooh-poohing as many elements as possible of his investigation. Despite not mentioning a single word of the Durham revelations for three days after the news broke, the legacy media is now engaged in a near-constant diatribe against both the character and the content of the special counsel’s work.

Snide remarks, ad hominem attacks, and derisive snorts at any who suggest the investigation may have merit is the order of the day. The Fourth Estate has become an attack dog on this issue in much the same way as it was against the Trump presidency.

Narrative Snapshot

The Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky once said, “A poet is someone who can use a single image to send a universal message.” Here we have a word rather than an image: Durham. This single name has become a lightning rod that encompasses more than just a political narrative but also a worldview under which all protestations and principles of the past must be jettisoned.

This investigation is the latest line separating people into opposing camps. And perhaps this is the whole purpose of such a crafted and supercilious division. Joe Biden promised unity, but he cannot govern a united people; to enforce a radical agenda that would fundamentally alter the United States requires a reactionary and angered public.

If the standard playbook is in operation, how long will it be before those who give credence to the Durham investigation are labeled far-right conspiracists who are pushing a white supremacist narrative?

~ Read more from Mark Angelides.

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Two intriguing points about the Durham allegations

February 16, 2022 By Andrea Widburg

There are few people who have followed the Russia collusion hoax as closely as Dan Bongino.  That's why I made sure to listen to his podcast the Monday after the story broke regarding John Durham's allegations about the Hillary campaign spying on Trump Tower, Trump's apartment, and the White House.  Sure enough, Bongino had a couple of interesting points to make.  Also, I'll share with you my predictions about what's going to happen on the Hillary side of things.

When I wrote about the Durham motion to investigate potential conflicts of interest between Michael Sussmann and his attorney, the law firm of Latham & Watkins, I focused on the core point, which was that Hillary's campaign, acting through the Perkins Coie law firm, spied on Trump.  Bongino, though, had a few more subtle points to make.............. Bongino believes that both Obama and, probably, Biden knew about the spying.  Ruemmler's job, as always, will be to keep Obama clean.  As a power partner at Latham & Watkins, she can be expected to force the "Sacrifice of Sussmann," if need be..............Someone else who's a partner there is Liz Cheney's husband. ...........To Read More....

My Take - I always wondered what was wrong with Liz Chaney's mind.  How could she possibly get so politically stupid by going after Trump in this phony baloney January 6 House investigation?  Now we know, and no matter what positions she may have taken in the past, it seems to me at least, her husband's involvement with this law firm trumped all else.  Before this plays out I'm inclined to believe there will be a lot more corruption exposed.  

• Hillary Clinton denounces 'fake scandal' after Durham snooping revelations - Hillary Clinton denounced a "fake scandal" promoted by former President Donald Trump and Fox News following allegations from special counsel John Durham that a Democratic-allied tech executive worked with an indicted Clinton campaign lawyer to weave a phony Trump-Russia collusion story by gaining access to White House internet traffic............
• New Poll: Overwhelming Majority of Democrats Want Hillary Clinton Questioned Over Trump Spying Scandal - The Democratic Party faithful typically fall in line with whatever their leaders tell them to think. But the times may be a’changing, if a new TIPP poll involving Hillary Clinton is any indication. “A growing chorus of Democrats believe 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should be questioned by special advisor John Durham for her alleged role in the Russian secret server scandal in a poll conducted before bombshell revelations that her team spied on Donald Trump’s campaign,” the Daily Mail reported on Sunday..........
•  Durham scandal: The sheer dishonesty of the media is astounding - For more than six years, the media have set out destroy President Trump with lies. Now there's a report that Trump is profiting like no other president by getting paid for appearances. Really?........It’s as if the journalists have never heard of the Clintons or the Obamas. The Clintons have sold their soul since Bill left office in 2001. Massive funds were paid to them for speaking fees or were donated to the Clinton slush-fund Foundation in return for political favors, including uranium for Russia. ............
• The corporate media silent on the Durham findings and implications - Wonder why? Whenever there is even any hint of a scandal in Washington, politicians and pundits alike spout the cliched phase that it is ‘bigger than Watergate’ and add the suffix ‘-gate’ to the subject of the scandal. This has been happening for over 45 years. The phrase has been so overused that the proponent sounds like the boy who cried ‘wolf!’ Beyond wordsmithing and perception pushing, the reference to Watergate is the deep liberal yearning to repeat their feat of forcing a Republican president out of office. The key components of the Watergate scandal included a failed attempt at spying on political opponents and an eventual coverup attempt. Finally, after all these years, there may finally be a scandal that is really bigger than Watergate...........Why is this bigger than Watergate? ................
• On the Dangers of Turning Durham Into a Conservative Mueller - I know we're all excited about the DNS surveillance story. The media is frantically spinning it and conservatives are playing it up with pictures of a scowling Durham. Building cults of personality around prosecutors rarely ends well. And when all is said and done, Durham may disappoint conservatives as much as Mueller disappointed leftists. Just remember that Durham was left alone by Biden's people. That means they don't expect him to nail anyone too big. Whether or not there's a tacit agreement in place, no one is feeling all that threatened by Durham otherwise there would have been a significant campaign to take him down.......
• Devin Nunes: “They Spied on – the President of the United States – When They Didn’t Find Anything They Made It Up and Framed a Sitting President” (VIDEO)  - Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) joined Sean Hannity on Tuesday to discuss the explosive accusations by Attorney John Durham that Hillary Clinton’s campaign spied on the Trump Campaign and Trump Tower and then later spied on his White House servers. As intelligence expert Kash Patel later added — They must have had help from the NSA in order to do this......
•  MUST SEE: President Trump Releases New Video – “Justice Is Coming for Hillary” -  On Wednesday President Trump released a new video “Justice is Coming for Hillary.” This past weekend Special Counsel John Durham released proof that revealed the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democrats were spying on Donald Trump’s campaign and later the Trump White House.......
• Donald Trump Jr.: “This Is Actually Worse than Watergate and Yet All of Those Clowns Are Strangely Silent – They Know They’ve Been Caught” (VIDEO) - Donald Trump, Jr. joined Sean Hannity on Wednesday night to discuss the explosive findings by the John Durham Special Counsel that Hillary Clinton, Democrats and intel operatives were spying on Donald Trump’s home and later the Trump White House. Don Jr. wondered where the mainstream media was on this historic scandal? Why are they so silent?..........213 Comments

Why the Media Have Ignored Durham Bombshell

Liberty Nation ran the numbers, and they all point to one thing.

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By: Mark Angelides February 15, 2022 Articles, Good Reads, Opinion, Politics @ Liberty Nation

With breaking news over the weekend that Special Counsel John Durham has alleged Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign conspired to spy on Donald Trump as a candidate and as president, one might think this story would dominate headlines. And yet, as it turns out, mention of Durham and his findings are information non grata for the majority of the prominent left-leaning news outlets.

That the Fourth Estate has determined this story is not to be seen by the public is made more astonishing by the fallout that came soon after the Durham revelations. None other than Trump directly weighed in on the matter, releasing a damning statement. He wrote:

“This is a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate and those who were involved in and knew about this spying operation should be subject to criminal prosecution.

“In a stronger period of time in our country, this crime would have been punishable by death. In addition, reparations should be paid to those in our country who have been damaged by this.”

Crickets?

Despite all this, as of noon on Monday, Feb. 14 – three days after the story dropped – the vast majority of the Biden-friendly media had been largely silent on the whole affair.

Liberty Nation delved deep into the digital pages of ten of the nation’s leading news purveyors that slant left, including CNN, ABC, MSNBC, The New York Times, and others. The outlets were chosen in consultation with LN staff.

We then ran searches of all ten sites for the words “John Durham,” and, where possible, we sorted by “newest” and then “relevance.” There was almost zero coverage of the bombshell story of the year.

However, what did become apparent through the searches was that the whole investigation by Durham has been subtly pooh-poohed from the beginning. In fact, based on Liberty Nation’s research, it seems that the legacy media have been slowly poisoning the well regarding the investigation’s credibility for some time.

It was not until late Monday when White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned on the topic that cracks started to appear in the united wall of silence. What follows is the exchange between Ms. Jean-Pierre and Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News; it displays how resolute the government is in ignoring the whole affair.

Heinrich: [T]his news about the Durham investigation: Does the President have any concerns about a candidate for president using computer experts to infiltrate computer systems of competing candidates, or even the president-elect to — for the goal of creating a narrative? Is that something that —

Jean-Pierre: That’s something I can’t speak to from this podium, so I refer you to the Department of Justice.

Heinrich: Is what [sic] being described in that report — monitoring internet traffic — is that spying?

Jean-Pierre: Again, I can’t speak to that report. I refer you to the Department of Justice.

Heinrich: Generally speaking though, would monitoring internet traffic be —

Jean-Pierre: Jacqui, my answer is not going to change. I refer you to the Department of Justice.

Heinrich: Okay.

Jean-Pierre: I can’t speak to that from here.

After this brief altercation, cracks in the dam began to leak trickles of water. As of Tuesday, Feb. 15, some of the aforementioned outlets deigned to run articles on the Durham documents. But yet again, the effort appeared designed to cast doubt on the investigation rather than illuminate the public.

The Sound of Silence

Much as in the case of Hunter Biden’s laptop, the media have coordinated their efforts to keep the information out of the public eye or to dismiss it as right-wing propaganda. But as more people and agencies get pulled into the investigation, the omission becomes starker.

Clinton’s name means something to America. Whether she is considered a former presidential contender, secretary of state, New York senator, first lady, or even a potential candidate in the 2024 election, Clinton is newsworthy. That Durham’s findings implicate her in a spying scheme that resulted in the Russia-collusion hoax should be the top story for every individual who earns a living as a journalist.

The fact that it is not should have Americans seriously worried.

The Implication

For those who have followed the sad demise of media respectability over these last few years, the actions of the Fourth Estate will come as little surprise. But what is the motivation?

Covering up the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop and then disparaging all questioning of it as “parroting Russian disinformation” had a clear and timely agenda: to limit damage to then-candidate Joe Biden. With the Durham report, the goal appears a little more nebulous, yet equally dishonest: to prevent the vindication of Trump.

Should the final chapter in the Durham investigation reveal that the Clinton campaign did indeed spy on the Trump campaign in order to further a false narrative that the 45^th president colluded with the Russian government, then the bombastic president was right all along. When he called out the Democrats for their “witch hunt,” when he railed against the system, all of this would be proven true.

Ultimately,  the media organs that spent more than five years parroting the lies will have to admit that, had it not been for Democrat skullduggery, Trump would now rightfully be the sitting president.

Is it any wonder the Democrat-aligned press doesn’t want to mention it?

~ Read more from Mark Angelides.

Steele Dossier indictments leave Democrats who promoted narrative dumbstruck

Had all elevated discredited claims against Trump 

By Bob Unruh November 11, 2021

Democrats, before and during President Trump's tenure in the Oval Office, repeatedly affirmed their belief in the accuracy and truth of the Steele dossier claims.  Some were more assiduous that others, and one, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., pushed over and over for President Trump's impeachment based on the now-debunked stories, assuring Americans he had absolute proof of the nefarious dealings it alleged.

Now, of course, those claims of Trump campaign collusion with Russia have been shown to be false, and actually the evidence shows it was Hillary Clinton's campaign who funded the narrative, using sources in Russia, in order, according to a briefing given to Barack Obama at the time, divert America's attention away from her email scandal..........

 Fox News said it tried to contact all seven Democratic members who were on the House Intelligence Committee during its probe of the collusion allegations, and who "promoted or defended the dossier."  "None of their offices responded,"..............To Read More...........

 

 

Durham Filing Rebuts Inspector General Horowitz’s Claims on Missing Cellphones, Hints at Growing Rift

By Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke February 1, 2022

A supplemental court filing by special counsel John Durham confirms previous reporting that Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz concealed crucial information from Durham in connection with two separate investigations—the ongoing prosecution of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann and the criminal leak investigation of former FBI General Counsel James Baker.

The Jan. 28 filing by Durham updated the court on precisely when Durham first learned of two cellphones that had been used by Baker while he was with the FBI. The existence of these phones was first mentioned in a Jan. 25 filing, in which Durham claimed that the Inspector General’s Office (OIG) had failed to disclose its possession of two FBI cellphones belonging to Baker.

Following the Jan. 25 filing, Horowitz’s office apparently told Durham that the existence of one of the cellphones may have been mentioned on a conference call that took place four years ago...........To Read More.....

 

Thank You, ‘Bull’ Durham

The special counsel has exposed the coup d’état for what it is. 

By Theodore Roosevelt Malloch November 11, 2021

Recall the famous 1988 blockbuster movie based on the minor league baseball experience of the North Carolina Durham Bulls.  Nominated for an Oscar, Sports Illustrated ranked it the “greatest sports film of all time.”  Now we have “Bull” John Durham, the tireless, relentless prosecutor who—like the protagonist in the movie played by Kevin Costner—just won’t give up. He is that dogged. And he will get the girl—or the crooks, as in this case.

You remember reading Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, likely as a sophomore in a boring high school English class? Do you still hear the bell chiming?  The 1930s Spanish civil war novel actually takes its title from an old English poem by John Donne. It is about the church bells tolling—at death.

Well, thanks to John Durham, the bells are starting to toll for all the culprits in the attempted coup d’état to overthrow the duly elected 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Special prosecutor Durham is indicting a slew of bad actors who committed unthinkable crimes and conspiracy. It took him a while, but he has built a substantial, rock-solid, and evidence-based case. 

Read those detailed indictments here on Kevin Clinesmith, Michael Sussman and Igor Danchenko..................

Republicans need to go “full animal” and ensure a time of reckoning now that the allegations against President Trump have been put to rest........To Read More.....