Justice Dept to provide House Russian probe documents
This could get very interesting: The Department of Justice has reached an agreement with the House to provide a variety of long requested documents connected with the department’s investigation on whether the Russians interfered with the 2016 election.
The deal was reached after FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made a surprise visit to House Speaker Paul Ryan It was announced by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who had sought the information and threatened more drastic action if his panel continued to be denied access to the information. “After speaking to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein this evening, I believe the House Intelligence Committee has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice that will provide the committee with access to all the documents and witnesses we have requested,” Nunes said in a statement. “The committee looks forward to receiving access to the documents over the coming days.”
Nunes has in recent months lashed out against the DOJ over its failure to respond to requests for the documents, suggesting the department was doing so deliberately. “At this point it seems the DOJ and FBI need to be investigating themselves,” Nunes wrote in a letter to Rosenstein last week.
What puzzles me is how long the Trump administration allowed the Trump Justice department to stonewall House investigators. Trump is legally in charge. The people at Justice work for him. Either Trump was involved with the Russians somehow and was stonewalling to protect himself, or he allowed Obama appointees to run things there for way too long. This agreement suggests the latter, assuming it is what the article says it is.
Either way, should House investigators get the documents they want, it could very well blow apart the Mueller investigation, based on everything I have read recently. There really does not appear to be anything of substance in the “Russian” scandal, except what appears to be a conspiracy in Justice by those who opposed Trump, a legally elected president, to harm him enough to get him overthrown.
And that could be the biggest scandal we have seen in Washington ever, even worse than Watergate.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
This could get very interesting: The Department of Justice has reached an agreement with the House to provide a variety of long requested documents connected with the department’s investigation on whether the Russians interfered with the 2016 election.
The deal was reached after FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made a surprise visit to House Speaker Paul Ryan It was announced by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who had sought the information and threatened more drastic action if his panel continued to be denied access to the information. “After speaking to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein this evening, I believe the House Intelligence Committee has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice that will provide the committee with access to all the documents and witnesses we have requested,” Nunes said in a statement. “The committee looks forward to receiving access to the documents over the coming days.”
Nunes has in recent months lashed out against the DOJ over its failure to respond to requests for the documents, suggesting the department was doing so deliberately. “At this point it seems the DOJ and FBI need to be investigating themselves,” Nunes wrote in a letter to Rosenstein last week.
What puzzles me is how long the Trump administration allowed the Trump Justice department to stonewall House investigators. Trump is legally in charge. The people at Justice work for him. Either Trump was involved with the Russians somehow and was stonewalling to protect himself, or he allowed Obama appointees to run things there for way too long. This agreement suggests the latter, assuming it is what the article says it is.
Either way, should House investigators get the documents they want, it could very well blow apart the Mueller investigation, based on everything I have read recently. There really does not appear to be anything of substance in the “Russian” scandal, except what appears to be a conspiracy in Justice by those who opposed Trump, a legally elected president, to harm him enough to get him overthrown.
And that could be the biggest scandal we have seen in Washington ever, even worse than Watergate.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I always think that there is some logic as to why things happen the way they do.
Here’s my current theory on why the Administration would seemingly participate in holding back these documents.
Perhaps the plan is to let the Democrats reach a level of “maximum crazy” on this Russia thing and all things Trump, then let out information that makes all the accusations blow up in their own faces. The Dems then looks mean, petty, hypocritical and none too bright. And gee, right as we head into the mid-terms.
It’s just as goofy as any other explanations in a time when we all send some time during the day shaking our heads at something or another in the news.
The bad part is that nothing useful gets done in congress, however, useful executive orders and administrative rulings get ignored while everybody is screaming and chasing shadows.
The Praetorian Guard always winds up attempting things like this. Thankfully, though they always leave chaos in their wake, they have much less of a chance of winning than they used to.
I just want to remind you that the rest of the world is confounded by your legal/political system. Does the justice department negotiate agreements with the legislator? Where I live the legislator simply tells its bureaucrats what to do. Especially the DoJ, that’s kind of what the legislator is elected to do for God’s sake! Like you tell your dog to sit. No discussion. Media wouldn’t even name who is currently leading a particular police investigation,m they wouldn’t even think of it since it is considered irrelevant. It might even be secret to protect police investigators from criminals wanting to interfere with the investigation. Who is in charge simply practically depends on who’s on vacation or on maternity leave or whatever at the moment. It’s just some anonymous employee. But in the US “the investigator” becomes a small government in himself. Even a potential political candidate, which where I live would be considered a grave crime against democracy. Does Mueller really “negotiate” with the elected law makers? The politicization of your secret police is not unique, but being so open about it that you even have formal procedures to handle it, is kind of baffling.
I trust Trump on the timing. He’s been around for a while and done some stuff. He does what is best for him. I expect firework from him from now on until the midterm elections this year. He will get some big bipartisan reform through congress and then campaign in the states where he wants to win loyal senators, Republicans or Democrats. I think Trump will become bipartisan as soon as the frustrated Democratic party discipline finally collapses when the individual seats are up for vote.
Some thoughts which might help explain:
I watched as the Manitoba provincial government changed from the Conservatives to the New Democratic Party (NDP). It took just over one year to clear the conservative appointees from the government. The speed at which it proceeded was directly related to the personal (legal) power of the person involved. One (my past supervisor) took longer as he had tremendous legal experience and lawsuits were avoided because of the cautious nature of the termination.
We know that government employs a very high percentage of liberal thinking people. These people flock to government jobs. We know the flack taken from the firing of Comey. Personally, I think the new administration has acted wisely in the timing of the terminations.
To say that the swamp also is pushing back against Trump is an understatement.
When the Harper government took over from the liberals, it took considerable time for the balance of power to change due to the Canadian senate (acts more like the US supreme court) being dominated by liberal appointees. Trump has moved to place just justices to the supreme court.
Time will tell how well this new administration by Trump will do. To say there is political posturing by the Trump admin would be an understatement.
Lastly; To do business in Russia requires bribes to the Putin cartel. Similarly for business in China; bribes. The Clintons know this as does Obama and other democrats. Hence, they know there is something they can use against Trump. Of course their own affairs do not matter but Trump’s do. Such absolute hypocrites!
>Director of Presidential Personnel, is John DeStefano, a Boehner acolyte and all-around RINO.
pivoting:
“Putin’s Kleptocracy – Who Owns Russia?”
https://youtu.be/-wet8Tfh3as
(1:30:21)
The answer is simple, but like a thimble hidden in plain sight. The apprentice, with it’s “your fired!” gave a false impression of Trump. Trump actually cares about people, but doesn’t make a show of it. He doesn’t want to fire anybody, in part because he isn’t an ideologue. The other thing is he is surrounded by politicians and the media constantly telling him his actions will have dire consequences. He is simply not as ruthless as he is portrayed.
Eventually, nice guys like Trump get fed up. I would have fired everybody on Jan. 20th (and been impeached on the 21st!)
Localfluff asked: “Does the justice department negotiate agreements with the legislator?”
The Justice Department works for the president (Cabinet level) and answers to him, not the legislature. If the DoJ negotiates with Congress, then it is a negotiation between branches of government.
Localfluff asked: “Does Mueller really ‘negotiate’ with the elected law makers?”
Mueller is an independent investigator and answers to no one except the American people (which still means he answers to no one). That is what makes him independent. He is created by Congress, but this investigation is weird beyond weird, as there is no crime being investigated; it is only a fishing expedition to find a crime, or in this case they are creating procedural crimes, in which they are “catching” people in lies to the investigators. As is usually the case with investigators, they define “lying” as answering slightly differently one time than another or having a different answer than someone else. In this case, Democrats are cheering that innocent people are being punished (e.g. Flynn), because the person that they don’t like (and that is the only reason that the independent investigation was started) hasn’t done anything wrong in the past decade or so, long before Trump chose to run for president.
As I said, this is one weird investigation.
Localfluff said: “But in the US ‘the investigator’ becomes a small government in himself. Even a potential political candidate, which where I live would be considered a grave crime against democracy.?”
Investigators are under a lot of pressure to convict someone of a crime. It does not have to be the crime that is being investigated; any crime will do. Many investigations drift beyond their original scope and continue until lives are ruined. It is all part of the corruption of American government, these days. 30 years ago, Aviation Week had an op-ed from a business owner complaining how a false accusation led to an investigation that, once innocence was determined, continued out of control until his employees started fleeing to other companies and his customers started abandoning him. The corruption is not new, it is just much more public, this time. Apparently, Watergate redefined the American investigation culture.
As with my Aviation Week example, this investigation has been shown to be based upon a false accusation (this time of a non-crime), yet it seems that the accuser is the one who did (worse than) what Trump is accused of, but the accuser is not being investigated.
These types of apparently deeply rooted corruptions are much of why Robert suggests that this may be a bigger scandal than Watergate. It is one thing for a candidate’s campaign to illegally try to sway an election, but it is completely different for the government to try to overturn an election by the people. It shows that the government thinks that it, not We the People, are in charge, and that goes against the American way. The Declaration of Independence says it plainly: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”
If the people of the government now think that their powers are not derived from the consent of the governed, of We the People, then it is our right and duty to correct that thinking. If we are very, very lucky, this president is the right person to lead that job. So far, he has not shown that he is.
Devin Nunes, PHASE 11: 10 questions to the deep state players, Including former FBI head,Comey, Former CIA head, Brennan and James Clapper former I believe head of the NSA.
https://youtu.be/pDKq1hDPUxs
Watch this clip, especially a very short segment where Trey Gowdy asks a question about what was known by the interviewee about the Steele “Dossier”. Look at his eyes knowing that a good prosecutor only asks questions that they know the answers to. That look in his eyes tells all.
I can not wait for Phase 111.
I just found out who Gowdy was interviewing in that clip, it was Brennan.