"I Caught the Swamp" - 11/12/19
Interesting Article some might enjoy:
Quote
I Caught the Swamp
Nov 9, 2019 | 49 comments
A friend asked me to explain where we are in the removal of corruption, or as President Trump calls it, “draining the swamp.”
The fact that there have been no publicly reported arrests leads many to think that little has been done to deal with corruption. Yet there is abundant evidence to the contrary all around us. There is a disconnect between the evidence that corruption has largely been dealt with and the public’s perception that nothing has happened yet. The disconnect is the result of two things. Most people still rely on the narrative put forth by the mainstream media to gauge Trump’s progress in removing corruption. And the media intentionally conceal the evidence that corruption is being removed. It’s difficult to observe the media’s attacks against POTUS and watch the impeachment circus on Capitol Hill play out and not conclude that Trump is about to be forced out of office, or worse—indicted. This narrative, though it is untrue, is what the political establishment and the media want you to believe, but the truth is precisely the opposite.
In my previous article, I shared three lines of evidence demonstrating the fact that corruption on a global scale is being dealt with and that the removal of bad actors began soon after Trump was elected. Today, we’ll look at more lines of evidence.
One of Jeff Sessions’ first official acts as Attorney General was to review the DOJ’s investigation of intelligence leaks. These leaks were mostly to the media. They were used to justify surveillance of the Trump campaign and to undermine the President’s ability to carry out his agenda.
Soon after I arrived here in February, I initiated a review of our leak investigations and prosecutions. I reviewed how these cases were being referred and handled and was concerned with what we found—too few referrals, too few investigations with insufficient resources dedicated to them. I concluded the unprecedented rise in leaks required a surge of additional support for more investigations and to speed up our existing investigations.
(Link)
Sessions later announced that the DOJ had 27 open leak investigations noting that in the previous three years, there had been a total of nine such investigations, and only three the prior year. One of the attorneys Sessions appointed to investigate leaks was John Durham. His investigation was referenced in a transcript of James Baker’s congressional testimony when Baker’s attorney said his client was being investigated by Durham. We know Durham’s investigation was active at the beginning of October of 2017 because Baker was interviewed on October 3, 2017. I suspect his investigation began earlier, perhaps as early as April of 2017. That fits with the timeline of Sessions’ public disclosures and it seems to be when former FBI employees Bill Priestap, Lisa Page, and Peter Strzok became cooperating witnesses.
Priestap, Page, and Strzok are not alone. Many former FBI and DOJ employees have been entered into the criminal process, and some, like Bruce Ohr, have become cooperating witnesses. As we’ve seen with General Mike Flynn, in a criminal investigation, a cooperating witness signs a confession of guilt at the outset and the degree to which they cooperate with the investigation determines their sentencing recommendation. Though the media love to report on General Flynn’s cooperation agreement, then don’t report on the agreements signed by their pals in the deep state. Nevertheless, many lower-level players involved in Spygate have already signed plea agreements and have testified against people higher up in the chain of command.
We also know that U.S. Attorney John Huber has been investigating matters of corruption since at least November 14th, 2017. Correspondence between the DOJ and Huber’s office confirmed his investigation of the Clinton Foundation and the sale of the North American energy company Uranium One to the Russian company Rosatom. The Uranium One scandal has the potential to put a lot of people in jail, including Robert Mueller and Eric Holder, who were head of the FBI and DOJ, respectively at the time. Both signed off on the Uranium One agreement. In a May 31st interview, Attorney General Barr said Huber’s investigation into matters “related to Hillary Clinton” was wrapping up and he expected to take action on them soon.
I realize that Barr said he hoped to be taking action “soon” on Huber’s investigation. Some have concluded that nothing will come of Huber’s investigation because nothing (as far as they know) has been done so far and because corrupt people have often avoided prosecution in the past. I won’t judge Barr and his Justice Department by the past performance of ineffective bureaucrats. The fact that he and Durham personally visited foreign countries to interview people in their intelligence agencies leads me to believe he is taking his investigation seriously. The wheels of justice move slowly out of necessity. The DOJ only has one opportunity to make the charges stick. If they make any mistakes, there is no second chance.
The pending IG Horowitz report on FISA abuse will likely reveal the names of more corrupt people and their crimes. AG Barr’s declassification of documents will expose even more. I would expect criminal indictments to follow. Despite what the media has been reporting, corrupt people in government were entered into the justice system long ago. Their day in court is drawing near. We’re just waiting to see what comes of it. And that is essentially what the President said yesterday.
Nov 9, 2019 | 49 comments
A friend asked me to explain where we are in the removal of corruption, or as President Trump calls it, “draining the swamp.”
The fact that there have been no publicly reported arrests leads many to think that little has been done to deal with corruption. Yet there is abundant evidence to the contrary all around us. There is a disconnect between the evidence that corruption has largely been dealt with and the public’s perception that nothing has happened yet. The disconnect is the result of two things. Most people still rely on the narrative put forth by the mainstream media to gauge Trump’s progress in removing corruption. And the media intentionally conceal the evidence that corruption is being removed. It’s difficult to observe the media’s attacks against POTUS and watch the impeachment circus on Capitol Hill play out and not conclude that Trump is about to be forced out of office, or worse—indicted. This narrative, though it is untrue, is what the political establishment and the media want you to believe, but the truth is precisely the opposite.
In my previous article, I shared three lines of evidence demonstrating the fact that corruption on a global scale is being dealt with and that the removal of bad actors began soon after Trump was elected. Today, we’ll look at more lines of evidence.
One of Jeff Sessions’ first official acts as Attorney General was to review the DOJ’s investigation of intelligence leaks. These leaks were mostly to the media. They were used to justify surveillance of the Trump campaign and to undermine the President’s ability to carry out his agenda.
Soon after I arrived here in February, I initiated a review of our leak investigations and prosecutions. I reviewed how these cases were being referred and handled and was concerned with what we found—too few referrals, too few investigations with insufficient resources dedicated to them. I concluded the unprecedented rise in leaks required a surge of additional support for more investigations and to speed up our existing investigations.
(Link)
Sessions later announced that the DOJ had 27 open leak investigations noting that in the previous three years, there had been a total of nine such investigations, and only three the prior year. One of the attorneys Sessions appointed to investigate leaks was John Durham. His investigation was referenced in a transcript of James Baker’s congressional testimony when Baker’s attorney said his client was being investigated by Durham. We know Durham’s investigation was active at the beginning of October of 2017 because Baker was interviewed on October 3, 2017. I suspect his investigation began earlier, perhaps as early as April of 2017. That fits with the timeline of Sessions’ public disclosures and it seems to be when former FBI employees Bill Priestap, Lisa Page, and Peter Strzok became cooperating witnesses.
Priestap, Page, and Strzok are not alone. Many former FBI and DOJ employees have been entered into the criminal process, and some, like Bruce Ohr, have become cooperating witnesses. As we’ve seen with General Mike Flynn, in a criminal investigation, a cooperating witness signs a confession of guilt at the outset and the degree to which they cooperate with the investigation determines their sentencing recommendation. Though the media love to report on General Flynn’s cooperation agreement, then don’t report on the agreements signed by their pals in the deep state. Nevertheless, many lower-level players involved in Spygate have already signed plea agreements and have testified against people higher up in the chain of command.
We also know that U.S. Attorney John Huber has been investigating matters of corruption since at least November 14th, 2017. Correspondence between the DOJ and Huber’s office confirmed his investigation of the Clinton Foundation and the sale of the North American energy company Uranium One to the Russian company Rosatom. The Uranium One scandal has the potential to put a lot of people in jail, including Robert Mueller and Eric Holder, who were head of the FBI and DOJ, respectively at the time. Both signed off on the Uranium One agreement. In a May 31st interview, Attorney General Barr said Huber’s investigation into matters “related to Hillary Clinton” was wrapping up and he expected to take action on them soon.
I realize that Barr said he hoped to be taking action “soon” on Huber’s investigation. Some have concluded that nothing will come of Huber’s investigation because nothing (as far as they know) has been done so far and because corrupt people have often avoided prosecution in the past. I won’t judge Barr and his Justice Department by the past performance of ineffective bureaucrats. The fact that he and Durham personally visited foreign countries to interview people in their intelligence agencies leads me to believe he is taking his investigation seriously. The wheels of justice move slowly out of necessity. The DOJ only has one opportunity to make the charges stick. If they make any mistakes, there is no second chance.
The pending IG Horowitz report on FISA abuse will likely reveal the names of more corrupt people and their crimes. AG Barr’s declassification of documents will expose even more. I would expect criminal indictments to follow. Despite what the media has been reporting, corrupt people in government were entered into the justice system long ago. Their day in court is drawing near. We’re just waiting to see what comes of it. And that is essentially what the President said yesterday.
