Rep. Elise Stefanik gets disgusting note on her car; the left responds predictably slimy

You might remember Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and her intelligent and pointed questioning of national security aide Fiona Hill and David Holmes, our diplomat in Ukraine as they testified before the House Intelligence Committee on Nov. 21, 2019 in the public impeachment hearing of President Trump. She was magnificent.

For her efforts, Stefanik has become the latest target of leftist intolerance and hatred for anyone who disagrees with their brand of politics.

Stefanik was coming out of the grocery store with her husband when she found a note on their car. “Rot in hell FASCIST PIG,” the note read, obviously written by a cowardly leftist. She tweeted the following:

My husband and I went grocery shopping this morning before district events and enjoyed chatting with constituents throughout the store.
This vile anonymous note was left on our car. pic.twitter.com/4K5OBN8qVj
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik)

Stefanik really pissed people off on the left and other anti-Trumpers when, during the impeachment hearings in the House, she challenged Intel Chair Adam Schiff’s effort to cut off her ability to speak when yielded time by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking member on the Committee.

She earned a lot of praise for the way she handled herself and for standing up to the grandstanding Schiff. However, it made her a target for those on the left.

She called on her opponent, Tedra Cobb, to condemn the action. While Cobb said it was wrong, she didn’t specifically condemn such actions and she even suggested it was somehow the same as Stefanik calling her “Taxin’ Tedra,” which is clearly a political criticism.

Cobb tweeted:

@EliseStefanik you’re right, that type of discourse is damaging and wrong.
I think it’s time you joined me in pledging not to name call in this campaign. I’d love to work with you to set a better example for #NY21. https://t.co/Gl0rTr3SMW
— Tedra Cobb for Congress (@TedraCobb) March 7, 2020

Stefanik responded to Cobb's tweet:

This is not a condemnation.
Here is my opponent equating “Taxin” with “ROT IN HELL FASCIST PIG”
One is a policy difference (you have voted numerous times to raise taxes) the other is a vicious, vile, sick attack.
They are not the same and voters know it. https://t.co/DGmmWHcwZW
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) March 7, 2020

Then we have "Screamin' Howard" Dean, the lunatic ex-Democratic presidential candidate and obviously a crap-monger who tweeted:

I don’t condone this, but “as ye sow, so shall ye reap”. There is no excuse for the note writer or for you. You are a shame to your district and to a democratic United States. https://t.co/k1rQL6rgnA
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) March 8, 2020

For more on the moron [Dean] check out the video below.

If the parties of Stefanik and Dean were on the other foot, Dean would have gotten the same treatment as he deserved when he ran for POTUS and add to that the label of misogynist.

Low-functioning Democrats like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) have encouraged harassment of GOP officials. Waters told the left to get up in their face when you see them and “push back,” let them know they “aren’t welcome anywhere.” She was referring to the notion of harassing Republicans who are out in public places such as restaurants.

[HT: Twitchy]


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Nunes: wants AG Sessions held in contempt of Congress

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) wants to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions held in contempt of Congress. And why not? Sessions is as useless as a yo-yo to a bottle fly.

The committee is looking into allegations that the DoJ and FBI abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in looking into the Trump campaign.

Nunes appeared on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" Sunday. "On Thursday we discovered that they are not going to comply with our subpoena," he said, adding, "the only thing left to do is we have to move quickly to hold the attorney general of the United States in contempt and that is what I will press for this week."

Nunes sent Sessions a classified letter two weeks ago but it was not acknowledged, so he then sent a subpoena, although Nunes conceded that it's possible the little AG wasn't aware of it. But he said that he will not accept any "excuses" relating to national security concerns in terms of the ongoing Russian probe and how it was handled.

This has been a "go-to" excuse by the FBI and DoJ in the past and Nunes is apparently fed up with it. "How many times have we heard this argument throughout this investigation?" he asked.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) agrees with Nunes.

"I have deeper and deeper concerns the more I see some of this, not only the stonewalling, but what's been in some of these memos," Scalise said on 'Fox and Friends'. "We're also trying to get a lot of other information from the Department of Justice about this investigation, and everything that we uncover raises even deeper concerns about the direction."

The Department of Justice says that it responded to the Nunes letter, said Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures."

Nunes called the FBI and DoJ redaction of his committee's Russia report was "excessive and sloppy." The committee's report found that FBI agents "did not detect any deception during [Michael] Flynn's interview."

But you would never know that if your only news source was CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, or CBS. 


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Nunes sees no intel for FBI probe on Trump campaign-Russia collusion

House Intelligent Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes received and reviewed "electronic communication" documents by the FBI and Justice Department regarding the possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia over the 2016 presidential election.

Nunes (R-Calif.) cited the Five Eyes agreement to determine that no intelligence information was used in the investigation. The agreement is between the U.S., Canada, U.K. Australia and New Zealand--they make up the "Five Eyes" or nations that share intel in a closely trusted fashion than in other partnerships, due to years of trust and common language.

"We are not supposed to spy on each other's citizens, and it's worked well," Nunes said. "And it continues to work well. And we know it's working well because there was no intelligence that passed through the Five Eyes channels to our government. And that's why we had to see that original communication."

So if that's the case, what exactly sparked the Trump campaign-Russia investigation if not the Steele dossier?


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House Intelligence panel looking at State Dept. over Russia probe

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Friday that the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee will be examining the State Department and other agencies after the GOP memo was released alleging surveillance abuses.

Nunes told Fox News soon after the release the panel was moving into "phase two" of its investigation over the alleged surveillance abuses by the FBI and the DOJ.

"We are in the middle of what I call phase two of our investigation, which involves other departments, specifically the State Department and some of the involvement that they had in this," Nunes said.

"That investigation is ongoing and we continue work towards finding answers and asking the right questions to try to get to the bottom of what exactly the State Department was up to in terms of this Russia investigation."

The congressman was asked if his panel would be releasing more memos regarding the probe after the White House declassified information allowing the release of a memo alleging that top FBI and DOJ officials abused their powers to spy on members of the Trump campaign.

It isn't known what role, if any, the State Department had in the law enforcement investigation into the Trump campaign's possible collaboration with Russia and its efforts to sway the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats and the FBI voiced concerns over the accuracy of the memo. Even Democrats who hadn't seen the memo said it was inaccurate because they had strong feelings about it misrepresenting their truth.

"If it doesn't ring true, it isn't true," said one Democrat who wished to remain anonymous because he didn't want to be cited for quoting Michael Wolff's logic.



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Fusion GPS admits hiring wife of DOJ official to probe Trump

The co-founder and CEO of opposition research firm Fusion GPS, Glenn Simpson, acknowledged in a court document that his company hired Nellie Ohr, the wife of senior Justice Department official, Bruce Ohr, to help investigate then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016.

Bruce has since been 'turned loose' from the investigation for concealing meetings with Fusion GPS and was demoted to Deputy Kitchen Grease Pit Cleaner, or a similar position.

The company created the anti-Trump "dossier" containing sexual misconduct allegations about the president. The "dossier" was paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

The connections for the Ohrs are serious concerns for Republicans who see this as a conflict of interest and lack of objectivity at the Justice Department. It spurred Trump's outside counsel to call for a separate special prosecutor.

Fusion's CEO confirmation was in a signed declaration filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., and it depicted a clearer picture of how Nellie Ohr was involved with Fusion GPS.

Simpson's statement indicates that Nellie Ohr was quite involved in the oppositional research on Trump. He said bank records reflect his company's contract with her "to help our company with its research and analysis of Mr. Trump."

Simpson added that he told the House Intelligence Committee that he personally met with Bruce Ohr, "at his request, after the November 2016 election to discuss our findings regarding Russia and the election."

Woah Nellie.

According to evidence gathered by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), chaired by Rep. Devin Nunes (R.-Calif.) Ohr met with Christopher Steele during the 2016 presidential campaign. Steele is a former British spy who authored the "dossier." Ohr also met with Simpson after the election.


Republican lawmakers are most interested in determining whether the "dossier" served as the basis for the Justice Department and FBI to obtain FISA surveillance in 2016 on a Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page.

Jay Sekulow, Trump's attorney, on Tuesday called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the special prosecutor's investigation. It is expected that should this happen, the Democrats will call for a special prosecutor to investigate the special prosecutor investigating the special prosecutor, ad infinitum.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is currently reviewing the House GOP members calling for a special probe regarding various Obama and Clinton-related controversies.

Regarding Sekulow's call, AG Sessions noted that he has already ordered a review following the prior call from the House.

   
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Wife of demoted DoJ prober worked for Fusion GPS

Bruce G. Ohr, a senior DoJ official who was demoted last week for concealing the fact that he secretly met with the men behind the anti-Trump "dossier," from the company known as Fusion GPS, also concealed the fact that his wife worked for that company during the 2016 presidential campaign, Fox News learned exclusively.

It was Fusion GPS that was responsible for the highly charged document of oppositional research on Trump.

Investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) contacted Fox News and confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of Bruce Ohr, worked for the oppositional research company last year.

In psychotherapy terms, it's called a conflict of interest, and I'm sure that discipline is not alone in that way of thinking.

It isn't clear what Nellie Ohr's duties were at the firm, whether she actually worked on the dossier herself, but she's published works available online showing she has written extensively on Russia-related subjects.

HPSCI has confirmed to Fox News that she was paid by Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016.

Woah Nellie!

The company received close scrutiny for a year because Republican lawmakers are probing as to whether the dossier, which was funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee,  was used as the basis for the Department of Justice and the FBI to obtain FISA surveillance in 2016 on a Trump adviser, Carter Page.

Chairman of the committee, Devin Nunes (R.- Calif) told Fox News, "The House Intelligence Committee is looking into all facets of the connection between the Department of Justice and Fusion GPS, including Mr. Ohr."

The last time Ohr smiled

At first, DoJ officials were silent about Ohr's demotion. Then they said that his wearing two hats (holding two job titles) was "unusual." Finally they confirmed he had withheld his contacts with Fusion GPS people from his superiors.

Former FBI Director James Comey described the dossier as a compendium of "salacious and unverified" allegations about then-candidate Trump and his associates, including Mr. Page, who was working as a foreign policy adviser. The document was given to the FBI in July 2016, just before Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination.

Comey testified afterward that it was the same month the FBI began its counterintelligence probe of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

The day prior to Fox News reporting that Ohr held secret meetings in 2016 with Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, and Christopher Steele, a former British spy who compiled the dossier, the DoJ stripped Ohr of his deputy title and demoted him.

When Fox News disclosed that Ohr held those meetings it showed how the far reach of the dossier's creators. Steele, a longtime FBI informant is one of Ohr's contacts that dates back a decade. Ohr may have been the guy to put Fusion together with the FBI through Steele. 

Ohr's wife working for Fusion is, as Joe Biden might say, "a big f**k**g deal."

This is a developing scandal, so please stay tuned.


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Top DoJ official no longer tops in officialdom

A senior Justice Department official was quietly demoted this week amid an ongoing investigation into his contacts with an opposition research team responsible for the anti-Trump "dossier." This information was given and confirmed by Fox News.

Bruce G. Ohr held two positions at the Justice Department: associate deputy attorney general and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), "the centerpiece of the attorney general's drug strategy," according to the department's description.

Those positions were stripped from him on Wednesday morning.

While he will keep his OCDETF title, his higher post was taken from him--he was ousted from his fourth floor office of "Main Justice."

At first, senior department officials couldn't give the reason for his demotion, but it was later learned that evidence collected by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), shows that Ohr met during the 2016 campaign with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the "dossier."

The DOJ later told Fox News, "It is unusual for anyone to wear two hats as he has done recently. This person is going to go back to a single focus--director of our organized crime and drug enforcement unit. As you know, combatting transnational criminal organizations and drug trafficking is a top priority for the Attorney General."

It was also discovered that Ohr met shortly after the election with the founder of Fusion GPS, Glenn Simpson. This is the opposition research firm that hired Steele to compile the anti-Trump dossier with funds supplied by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, a known crime organization specializing in fraud and sexual misconduct.

By this point, the dossier had been in the possession of the FBI for five months, and the surveillance on Page had begun more than two months prior. The FBI, of course, exists under the auspices of the DOJ.

Former FBI Director James Comey, testified before the House in March and described the dossier as a compendium of "salacious and unverified" allegations against then-candidate Donald Trump and his associates.

Committee Chairman Devin Nunes' panel has been investigating whether DOJ, under then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, used the dossier to justify a foreign surveillance warrant against Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser. If so, this puts the dossier and FBI in a bad light.

Contacts between Ohr and Steele, and Ohr and Simpson, have not been publicly disclosed nor shared with HPSCI staff to avoid embarrassment. 

The panel has issued many subpoenas for documents and witnesses related to the dossier but say the DOJ and FBI have "stonewalled," and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.) agreed to that assessment publicly in October.

The agencies claim that they've cooperated extensively with Nunes and his team, but it was only last weekend they agreed to make available to the committee for questioning Peter Strzok (pronounced "Strzhzhokztlmfk") the high-ranking FBI official who seemed to be the guy involved in all the interviews involving political scandals and texted his mistress with anti-Trump messages and how he promises to one day leave his wife for her etc.

Strzok was removed from the staff of Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is probing allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Strzok was demoted to the FBI's position of Urinal Cake Installer.

Ohr's demotion marks the second one with a few months where the DOJ and FBI disciplined staff for misconduct.

At least it wasn't sexual misconduct . . . that we know of.


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GOPers allege DOJ 'double standard' in Mueller probe

There are allegations by Republicans of anti-Trump bias within Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team and that a "double standard" exists at the Justice Department. 

GOP critics say that Hillary Clinton received "special" treatment when she was under so-called investigation over her illegal personal email server when she was the incompetent secretary of state. 

"Hillary Clinton gets special justice, and at the same time we're siccing people who hate the president . . . on him and that's deeply unfair," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R.-Fla.) told "Fox & Friends" Wednesday.

Gaetz and other House Republicans now want the FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate the FBI's treatment of Clinton and then-candidate Trump during the 2016 campaign, and compare them. 

Gaetz has specifically sought information on former FBI head Andrew McCabe who said in an email last fall that the Clinton case was referred to as "special." And what we have recently learned about Mueller's team of liberal Hillary donors and Trump-haters, only adds to these concerns.

It was just learned this past weekend that FBI official Peter Strzok (pronounced "Strzhzhokztlmfk") was removed from the Mueller probe over the summer after he allegedly sent anti-Trump texts to his mistress, an FBI lawyer.

This past Tuesday, Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy group, released an email showing a Mueller deputy singing the praises of outgoing acting Attorney General Sally Yates after Trump fired her in January for refusing to defend his travel ban.

The Mueller deputy, Andrew Weissmann wrote in an email to Yates:

"I am so proud. And in awe. Thank you so much. All my deepest respects."

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called the Weissmann document an "astonishing and disturbing find."

President Trump called the Strzok views regarding his role in the Clinton email investigation as "tainted" and "very dishonest." It could have been worse--President Trump could have called it "very, very dishonest."

Strzok oversaw the FBI interviews with Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Hillary Clinton and her minions also lied to the FBI, but they are "special."

Strzok (aka "Petey Consonants") was also present during the July 2016 interview with wicked Hillary at the close of the email investigation, right before James Comey, the then-FBI showboat director, called her grossly negligent actions "extremely careless." Because of this wording, he recommended no criminal charges.

Gaetz called that a "double standard" and joined other House GOPers who also want answers to what role Strzok played in the controversial anti-Trump dossier. He called for cleaning out the "deep state" of people "who are so biased against Donald Trump."

Remember, both Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills didn't get charged with lying to the FBI when they told them they were unaware of Clinton's private server when, in fact, there were email exchanges between the three stooges.

Special Counsel spokesman Peter Carr claimed Mueller's office removed Strzok from the Russia probe "immediately upon learning of the allegations" of the anti-Trump texts.

In a separate issue, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has threatened a contempt resolution against leaders in the Justice Department and FBI if they continue to withhold key information related to the dossier and other issues. 

The DOJ is in the process of handing over Strzok's anti-Trump text messages. The agency also contacted the office of House Speaker Paul Ryan to establish a date for Strzok's appearance before the House Intelligence  Committee staff. There will also be two additional witnesses who had been sought after by the Nunes team.

A DOJ spokeswoman said Sunday that the agency will "continue to work with congressional committees to provide the information they request consistent with our national security responsibilities."

And if they do, chickens will darken the sky.


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House Republicans prepare contempt actions v FBI, DOJ

Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The U.S. House of Representatives said Saturday that they will draft a contempt of Congress resolution against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The claim is that they stonewalled in producing material in the Russia-Trump probes and other matters.

It is believed that Rosenstein has an old photo of Hillary Clinton on the ceiling above his bed, according to my investigative reporter Vinny Boombots, and corroborated by ABC's Brian Ross.

"Unless all our outstanding demands are fully met by close of business on Monday, December 4, 2017, the committee will have the opportunity to move this resolution before the end of the month," said Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, in a statement.

This action has been under consideration by Nunes along with other Intelligence Committee Republicans for several weeks, but Democrats want to see Rosenstein and Wray get away with the stonewalling, much like Jose Garcia Zarate got away with the murder of Kate Steinle. 

Dems say "You wouldn't understand . . . it's a liberal thing."

The action is moving forward after press reports Saturday revealed why a top FBI official was removed from the Special Counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller. 

Specifically, it was Peter Strzok who was the FBI agent taken off the investigation after it was discovered he exchanged anti-Trump, pro-Hillary Clinton text messages with his mistress, Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer working for Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Thus far, Nunes said the FBI and DOJ have failed to sufficiently comply with the August 24th committee subpoena by specifically refusing repeated demands "for an explanation of Peter Strzok's dismissal from the Mueller probe."

Strzok was also involved in the Clinton illegal private server investigation, so the relationship of both cases is very sketchy and smells like an old Democratic congressman in heat.

"In light of today's press reports, we now know why Strzok was dismissed, why the FBI and DOJ refused to provide us this explanation, and at least one reason why they previously refused to make Deputy Director McCabe available to the Committee for an interview," Nunes said.

Nunes continued: "By hiding from Congress, and from the American people, documented political bias by a key FBI head investigator for both the Russia collusion probe and the Clinton email investigation, the FBI and DOJ engaged in a willful attempt to thwart Congress' constitutional oversight responsibility."

Nunes said that this has been part of "a months-long pattern by the DOJ and FBI of stonewalling and obstructing this Committee's oversight work," and also withholding subpoenaed information about their use of an opposition research dossier targeting President Trump in the 2016 election. 

The dossier was paid for by both the DNC and Clinton through a law firm. Nunes and Speaker Ryan want to investigate to see whether the DOJ and FBI improperly relied on the dossier to begin their federal surveillance on Trump and his associates without independently confirming the information they received in the dossier to justify such spying.

"The DOJ has now expressed--on Saturday, just hours after the press reports on Strzok's dismissal appeared--sudden willingness to comply with some of the Committee's long-standing demands," Nunes said. "This attempted 11th-hour accommodation is neither credible nor believable, and in fact is yet another example of the DOJ's disingenuousness and obstruction." He then added that those agencies "should be investigating themselves."


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Obama official made 'hundreds of unmasking requests'

In the final year of Obama's failed presidency, one of his officials made "hundreds of unmasking requests" according to a letter from a top Republican who raised concerns that the requests were made for "improper purposes."

"Unmasking" refers to a formal request to identify Americans in an intelligence document.

Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, has questioned whether the unmasking was improperly sought by Obama officials in unmasking the names of the Trump transition team.

The person he seemed to be referring to regarding the hundreds of unmasking requests is Samantha Power. 

"[T]his Committee has learned that one official, whose position has no apparent intelligence-related function, made hundreds of unmasking requests during the final year of the Obama Administration," Nunes wrote to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.

Nunes wrote that only one request "offered a justification that was not boilerplate and articulated why" the identity was needed for official duties.

Three top Obama administration officials were specifically named: Former CIA director John Brennan; former national security adviser Susan "It Was The Video" Rice; and former U.N. ambassador Samantha Power.

David Pressman, Power's lawyer, stressed that her responsibilities in her capacity as a member of the National Security Council but said she will cooperate with Congress.

"Ambassador Power strongly supports any bipartisan effort to address the serious threat to our national security posed by Russia's interference in our electoral process, and is eager to engage with the Senate and House committees on the timeline they have requested," he wrote. "While serving as our Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as a member of the National Security Council responsible for advising the President on the full-range of threats confronting the United States, and long before receiving an invitation to engage the Congressional committees, Ambassador Power was unambiguous about her support of bipartisan efforts to determine the full extent of this threat to our national security."

Which is why she unmasked as many Donald Trump campaign team personnel that she could get away with and not raise eyebrows.

Nunes' letter said he plans to introduce a bill requiring "individual, fact-based justifications" for unmasking requests.

"Cabinet members and other senior political leaders cannot be permitted to continue to seek access to U.S. person information within disseminated intelligence reports without documenting a specific, fact-based requirement for the information," he wrote.

Nunes said that "Obama-era officials sought the identities of Trump transition officials within intelligence reports" without offering any "meaningful explanation" as to why they needed or how they would use the information.

Nunes is concerned the information could be used for nefarious purposes, including leaking. He even noted that some of the requests were "followed by anonymous leaks of those name to the media."

So it walks and quacks like a duck.


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Congress digs deeper into 'unmasking' probe over Rice role

The 'unmasking' controversy investigation by the House and Senate intelligence committee is going deeper into the bowels of Susan Rice's involvement of who released the names of those Americans citizens to the public. They will be examining whether other lawmakers or candidates beyond President Trump's associates were affected.

Thus far, the investigation explored how the identities and communications of the Trump transition team were collected by U.S. intelligence agencies and then revealed to, and disseminated among high-ranking members of the Obama administration.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) plans to audit files from the National Security Agency (NSA) and White House to discover whether conversations and identities of presidential candidates, or members of Congress, were also swept up during NSA's surveillance of foreign leaders.

Nunes also will review whether the Obama National Security Council and White House counsel collected and distributed the information for reasons unrelated to foreign intelligence (and probably for political reasons).

"We will be performing an accounting of all unmasking for political purposes focused on the previous White House administration," one committee member told Fox News. "This is now a full-blown investigation."

Senate committee staffers have also broadened their investigation to determine whether presidential candidates were unmasked and information was misused. It is a felony to unmask the names of American citizens. They also want to find out what role Susan Rice, among others, played following reports that she requested Trump-affiliated names be unmasked. 

For a private American citizen to be 'unmasked' in an intelligence report is quite rare and usually done only if it has some foreign intelligence value. Thus, it is typically done if the American is a suspect in a crime, is in personal danger, or has to be named to explain the context of the intelligence report.

If it is found that Rice unmasked those names and leaked them to the media, she should, but likely will not, go to prison. (For more on this reasoning, see Hillary Clinton and Benghazi.)


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Intel official who 'unmasked' Trump associates is 'very high up'

The U.S. intelligence official who exposed the names of private citizens affiliated with the President's team is someone "very well known, very high up, very senior in the intelligence world," a source told Fox News.

Intelligence and House sources knowing about the disclosure of classified names told Fox that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) knows who illegally revealed the names. According to their sources, the person responsible is not in the FBI, but Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer have not yet been mentioned. (See how you can spin a story?)

To unmask a private citizen, or for that person's name to be revealed in an intelligence report is as rare as an intelligent thought by Whoopi Goldberg. When it normally happens the American in question is a suspect in a crime, is in danger or must be named in order to explain the context of the report.

A congressional source told Fox News that "The main issue in this case, is not only the unmasking of these names of private citizens, but the spreading of these names for political purposes that have nothing to do with national security or an investigation into Russia'a interference in the U.S. election."

But rather than being upset with the unmasking of the names of private citizens, the Democrats are attacking Nunes for focusing on the felony (i.e., the freaking crime) rather than the possibility, not the actuality, that someone in the Trump camp may have had something to do with the Russians tampering with our election, in spite of the fact that there isn't "even a smidgeon" of evidence, as Obama claimed about Hillary's email server.

Which there was enough smidgeons to fill a tome.

The mistake that Nunes made, in my opinion, was to go to Trump first about the alleged 'wiretapping' of President Trump's devices by the Obama administration during the 2016 campaign.

Nunes tried to get intelligence agencies to release the reports to him but he was stonewalled. Eventually, however, he got to see them at the only safe place available to protect the identities of the sources: the old executive office building on White House grounds in its Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), a required location to view classified or top secret material.

The White House did not tell Nunes about the existence of the intelligence reports, but assisted in helping him gain access to the documents at his request.

Naturally, the White House is pushing Nunes et al, to pursue what improper surveillance and leaks may have taken place before Trump took office. This now comes after an Obama administration official, Dr. Evelyn Farkas, told MSNBC that her former colleagues tried to gather information on Trump team contacts with Russia, which she is now walking back saying she used a 'shorthand' way of explaining that she enjoys opera and long walks along the beach and other non sequiturs.

House Intelligence Ranking Member Adam Schiff (Duh-Calif.) criticized Nunes' handling of the investigation, and as much as I think of Schiff as a leftist dork, he makes a point--he should not have briefed Trump first. Nunes apologized the following day but said the briefing he had with Mr. Trump had nothing to do with Russia, or as Democrats like to say, "Mother Russia."

As it turned out, the citizens affiliated with Trump's team who were illegally unmasked, were not tied to any intel about Russia or other foreign intelligence. 

At least the Democrats have been able to take the focus off our real problem: radical Islam.


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POTUS, GOP lawmakers check for "illegal" leaks

Now that Michael Flynn has resigned as national security adviser after politically fatal talks with a Russian diplomat, President Trump and GOP allies are looking at the possibility of "illegal" leaks in those discussions.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) wants the FBI to get involved and conduct an assessment of recent media leaks.

Hillary Clinton has yet to tweet to any possible anonymous leaker not to worry--it's only the FBI, after all.

Mr. Trump accepted Flynn's resignation Monday night and tweeted Tuesday morning: "The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N. Korea etc?"

He failed to add a tag-word such as: "Angry!" or "Sad!" He also didn't reveal to whom the question was addressed.

Confused!

Flynn was asked by Fox News Tuesday morning whether the leaks were targeted, coordinated and possibly a violation of the law, and he responded: "Yes, yes and yes."

Other recent leaks have revealed details from calls between President Trump and the leaders from Australia and Mexico as well as from the intelligence community investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. presidential campaign.

Whoever is leaking this sensitive information, need to be indicted and tried.

Nunes is going to "be asking the FBI to do an assessment of this to tell us what's going on here because we cannot continue to have these leaks as a government."

Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman said that "somebody in the nebulous intelligence community" would have had access to the Flynn discussions.

"Who tapped the phones, who was listening to it, who leaked it? I think those are legitimate questions to ask," Johnson told Fox News. "Leaks of this nature are incredibly damaging to America . . . and we need to look into it."

A congressional source told Fox News they believe the intelligence was known to a small circle of Obama administration officials and appointees at the end of last year. This includes some people working in the intelligence community. The source said the leaks were targeted and coordinated to undermine the Trump administration.

And if the leaker undermined national security in the process, well, you have to break some eggs to make a president fail.

True to form, House Democrats aren't really interested in the leaker, only in Flynn's contact with Russia.

Both are relevant.


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Intel community refuses to brief lawmakers

Lawmakers alleged Wednesday that the intel community is refusing to brief the House Intelligence Committee regarding claims of Russian interference in our presidential election--and boy, are they angry.

Outspoken Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said to Fox News, "Somebody has the time to leak it to the Washington Post and The New York Times, but they don't have the time to come to Congress. It's their job to come. They don't have any choice. They have to come in, especially when they have created this."

President-elect Donald Trump tweeted: "If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?"

 

Donald J. TrumpVerified account‏@realDonaldTrump

If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?

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9:24 AM - 15 Dec 2016

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Trump makes a good point, but even more, all the hacking occurred on Obama's watch after he made fun of Mitt Romney who said that Russia is our biggest geopolitical threat, and after Obama told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on an open mic that after the 2012 reelection he wouls be "more flexible."

Chairman of the House committee, Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) originally asked for a closed, classified briefing for members of the CIA, FBI, NSA and ODNI.

But the CIA declined to provide a briefer, citing its focus on the full review requested by comrade Obama. The other agencies didn't even respond to the committee's request, in spite of the fact that the panel is the most-senior committee with jurisdiction.

"It is unacceptable that the Intelligence Community directors would not fulfill the House Intelligence Committee's request to be briefed tomorrow on the cyber-attacks that occurred during the presidential campaign," Nunes said in a statement. "The Committee is deeply concerned that intransigence in sharing intelligence with Congress can enable the manipulation of intelligence for political purposes."

What has become abundantly clear is how politicized all of our supposedly 'nonpartisan' government agencies have become under the Obama administration.

But the intelligence community? That's frightening.

King spoke about the irony in the lack of cooperation. "The concensus was that there was an attempt by the Russians to put a cloud over the election, to create disunity. Well, that's what's happening right now, but it's the intelligence community that's doing it."

King said lawmakers didn't receive any assessment from the CIA indicating that Russia interfered to help Trump win the presidency over Hillary Clinton, as alleged by the rag The Washington Post.

The intelligence community attempted to defend its position on Wednesday, releasing a statement saying senior administration officials regularly provide "extensive, detailed classified and unclassified briefings to members and staff from both parties on Capitol Hill." 

The statement said they are focusing on the review Obama ordered on foreign efforts to influence our elections. But that's just the intelligence community trying to 'blow smoke'.

"Once the review is complete in the coming weeks, the Intelligence Community stands ready to brief Congress--and will make those finding available to the public consistent with protecting intelligence sources and methods. We will not offer any comment until the review is complete," the statement read.

King said that "it's almost as if people in the intelligence community are carrying out a disinformation campaign against the president-elect of the United States." 

"It's absolutely disgraceful and if they're not doing it, then it must be someone in the House of the Senate who's leaking false information and there should be a full investigation of this," King added.

The "lame duck" and the "old cluck" simply refuse to go away and I believe that one or both of them are in on it.

I say Congress should subpoena the intel community.


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National security--what, Hillary worry?

A "senior aide" to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left classified material unattended and unsecured in a hotel room in China in 2010. This incredible violation was confirmed as Hillary Clinton is under a renewed FBI investigation (yes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation actually investigates) of mishandling classified and sensitive information on a private server of her closest aide, Huma Weiner Abedin, who is also under investigation.

The aide who left this information unattended has not been named.

State Department spokesman John Kirby told Fox News in a statement issued after a FOIA request was filed with the agency: 

"In May 2010, Secretary Clinton was on official travel in Beijing, China, accompanied by senior staff. Upon Secretary Clinton's departure, a routine security sweep by Diplomatic Security agents identified classified documents in a staff member's suite."

Diplomatic Security wrote up the incident on Form 117, and Marine Security Guards (Semper Fi) filed a separate formal report, according to Fox's source.

The information about the mishandling of classified information came into the light of day when the FBI investigated whether Hillary Clinton or her staff violated the US Espionage Act by mishandling classified and top secret information. 

Obviously they had violated the law, at least we know Hillary did based on public knowledge that she used a private server for her job as secretary of state, and the fact that sensitive information was found to be contained on the server. That's all it takes to be indicted, but James Comey, FBI Director, apparently acted politically by not recommending indictment of behavior that clearly was indictable. He is trying to undo that now, it appears.

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, (R-Calif.) cited a whistleblower who came to him with an allegation that it was Hillary Clinton herself who left the material out, and he wrote to the FBI seeking more information.

Nunes wrote to Director Comey: "I . . . understand that former Secretary Clinton left unclassified documents in her hotel room in China and that U.S. Marine Corps security officials filed a report related to the possible compromise of the documents."

In another instance, Nunes said in an email released in response to a FOIA request, described Huma Abedin asking another Clinton staffer to remove "burnstuff" Abedin had left in a car during a trip to India.

You cannot make this stuff up.

Kirby told Fox News that the incident with Abedin may not have involved classified material. Perhaps it was a recipe for chicken biryani.

Kirby insisted, however, that the China incident had nothing to do with Clinton because, well, nothing negative ever does.

"To be clear -- this was not Secretary Clinton's hotel room and no citation whatsoever was given to Secretary Clinton, nor were any reports written about Secretary Clinton's conduct." 

Evidently, everyone knew what happens to someone who crosseds a Clinton.

When the security sweep was made, the suite in question was still inside of a Diplomatic Security-controlled area, Kirby claimed, and under direct control of a Diplomatic Security agent posted outside the room.

"Ultimately, Diplomatic Security concluded that classified information had been improperly secured, but that the evidence did not support assigning culpability to any individual [which is a universal problem with Clinton and her ilk]. Furthermore, the Diplomatic Security investigation concluded that due to the fact that the documents were found within a Diplomatic Security controlled area, the liklihood that the information was comprised was remote."

Just like it was remote that Hillary Clinton's mobile devices and private server with classified state department emails would be compromised.

Leaving out classified or top secret information is a serious offense. 

"Diplomatic Security and the Marine Security Guard takes exposure of classified information very seriously," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy research at the Center for Immigration Studies. "You can lose your security clearance if you're caught more than once, and that means you might lose your job. It's a big deal."

We wish Hillary Clinton would have taken it seriously and we all wonder if she does now.

In 2013, Monica Hanley, a top aide to then-Secretary of State Clinton, got into trouble with the agency's security and law enforcement when she lost classified information while accompanying Clinton on a diplomatic trip to Moscow, normally a friendly country not interested in our secrets. This little incident was also revisited by the FBI earlier this year when it looked into Hillary's own incompetence in handling sensitive data that could easily compromise national security.

Hanley was given a good talking to and "verbal counseling" by Diplomatic Security.

Personally, I believe Clinton should have her security clearance yanked and not be allowed to run for the presidency. Not only is she incompetent in dealing with classified information, she has compromised the integrity of her position as secretary of state and as a presidential candidate by accepting huge sums of money from foreign nations for her "charity front."

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