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Insulation – Strzok’s Testimony & Mueller’s Indictment

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Yesterday Peter Strzok testified before the House Judiciary Committee.

For a blow-by-blow account see my earlier post here.

Questions and topics were agreed to beforehand in a meeting with FBI General Counsel.

Several events were notable, including the near hysterical defenses mounted by Democrat House Members every time Strzok veered into trouble.

Strzok repeatedly maintained that his texts did not represent a bias against President Trump. No serious person who’s read Strzok’s texts believes this.

Strzok stated he is not a subject of investigation.

If true, assuming he’s both correct and informed, this would be disappointing given the Inspector General’s ongoing investigations into FISA Abuse and the Russia Investigation.

Strzok is under review by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

Strzok noted he retains full Top Secret clearance.

Strzok did use the words “as of this moment” implying that Sessions was perhaps correct when he noted Strzok’s clearance had been removed.

Ironically, Strzok was later asked if he failed or was out of scope on a FBI polygraph. Strzok said he was “out of scope” on his January 2016 polygraph (note: reported previously).

Strzok repeatedly invoked FBI lawyers – entirely separate from his personal attorney – in regards to which questions he could and could not answer.

During one segment Rep. Jim Jordan began pressing Strzok about the FBI possessing multiple versions of the Steele Dossier.

This had been reported in a recent John Solomon article: Did FBI get bamboozled by multiple versions of Trump dossier?

Strzok: The most I can say is we received a variety of copies…

During that exchange, Strzok stated the FBI told him he couldn’t tell Congress if he was referring to Glenn Simpson and David Corn in an email he sent about the Steele Dossier.

Strzok was able to specify that he did not communicate with David Corn, Glenn Simpson or Nellie Ohr – but did confirm that he talked to Bruce Ohr multiple times about investigations.

Strzok claimed he could not specify if the conversations related to the Trump-Russia probe.

This continued for a bit:

Jordan: At the time you were working with Ohr, did you know he was meeting with representatives from Fusion including Glenn Simpson?

Strzok: May I consult with counsel?

Jordan also asked if Strzok knew Nellie Ohr was working for Fusion GP and Glenn Simpson.

Again, per FBI counsel, Strzok couldn’t answer. Same for the question on Nellie Ohr.

Then this question:

Jordan: Did Bruce Ohr ever give you documents.

Strzok: The FBI says I can’t answer that question.

What happened a few minutes later was near astonishing.

Toward the end of Jordan’s allotted time, a note was passed through Strzok’s various attorneys. Strzok was suddenly granted permission to answer Jordan’s question.

That permission seemingly came from outside the Hearing. It certainly came from someone higher up in the FBI food-chain.

Jordan: Did you get documents from Bruce Ohr?

Strzok: Yes. At some point we received material from Mr. Ohr.

FBI Lawyers interjected at this point. A brief consultation between Strzok and FBI Counsel resulted.

Strzok: The FBI has directed me that I may say that the FBI – not me – received documents and material from Bruce Ohr.

Jordan: Did the FBI receive the Dossier from Bruce Ohr.

Strzok: Uh…My direction from the FBI is the FBI received material from Mr. Ohr.

Jordan: This is amazing. Nellie Ohr works for Fusion. Nellie Ohr works for Glenn Simpson. And she’s giving documents to Bruce Ohr who’s giving them to the FBI.

At this point House Democrats lost their collective minds.

Jordan: Has the FBI given you permission to say if Glenn Simpson is the name that you used in the email where you say ‘Simpson’.

Strzok: I don’t believe they’ve given me guidance. My most recent understanding of my guidance from the FBI is in response to the question has the FBI received documents from Mr. Ohr. The answer is yes we did and that’s all I’m authorized to say.

Jordan: Has the FBI given you information to tell me whether you knew Nellie Ohr was working for Fusion at the time you were meeting with her husband?

Strzok: To my knowledge the FBI has not allowed me to respond to that.

The entire sequence can be seen here:

A bit later in Strzok’s testimony more clarity was provided:

Strzok: Ohr provided information to the FBI that included material – what everybody’s calling the Dossier.

Strzok: Ohr gave the FBI documents which included material I believe originated with Mr. Steele.

Ohr provided the FBI with documents that originated from Christopher Steele.

Finally. Admitted.

I suspect semantics may be at play in the term “Dossier”.

In reality, there was no dossier – as we know it – until it was fully complied in December 2016.

There was only a sequence of documents from Steele. Documents that were passed on individually – as they were created.

Therefore, from the FBI’s legal perspective, they didn’t use the Dossier. They used individual documents.

Which brings me to an observation:

Sundance had a similar reaction:


Why did no one ask a question on Section 702 Abuse, the FISA Court, etc.

Answer: Because this entire topic was deemed off limits by FBI General Counsel beforehand.

But why was it deemed off limits?

The easy response: The Inspector General is currently investigating FISA Abuse.

But that doesn’t make it the correct response:

The FISA Court Ruling was declassified by DNI Coats on May 11, 2017 – less than two months after Coats was confirmed by the Senate on March 15, 2017.

I’ve often wondered if Coats later regretted that particular declassification. It’s an enormous wealth of information.

Which brings me to today’s indictment by Special Counsel Robert Mueller – announced by Deputy AG Rosenstein.

The indictment accused twelve Russian officers of hacking into the DNC Servers – if you call spear-phishing scams hacking…

The indictment also accused these individuals of collectively creating fictitious personas – including Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks.

But know this. The case will never go to court. These are Russian Intelligence officers.

And, there is a huge problem.

The FBI never examined the DNC Server. As far as I know, everything in Mueller’s Indictment is relying on information from Crowdstrike.

I received a comment saying I was missing it.

I don’t think that’s the case. While I agree today’s indictment indicates Mueller’s probe is nearing an end, I also think there’s more at play:

Insulation.

I’ve touched on this previously. To quote from a recent piece:

It seems increasingly clear that preservation of the FISA Court is paramount. It also seems the Intelligence Community & Other Players have cloaked themselves within the FISA Court as a manner of protection.

The Special Counsel makes a lot of claims in the indictment – with detailed dates and names.

That’s easy to do when no one will be available to object or counter.

There will be no courtroom for counterclaims to be heard. And there will be no evidence presented.

Period.

Rosenstein noted during the press conference that Mueller found no U.S. citizens were involved and our election was not effected:

At the 9:11 mark:

There is no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime. There is no allegation that the conspiracy changed the vote count or affected any election result.

The Special Counsel Investigation is ongoing and there will be no comments on the Special Counsel at this time.

But he also noted something else. At the 9:35 mark:

We intend to transition responsibility for this indictment to the Justice Department’s National Security Division while we await the apprehension of the defendants.

They are going to be waiting for quite some time.

While they wait, I encourage everyone to recall the National Security Division’s very direct involvement in FISA Abuse.

Rosenstein stated he informed President Trump. At the 11:21 mark:

I briefed President Trump about these allegations earlier this week. The President is fully aware of the Department’s actions today.

On July 7, 2018 (a Saturday) President Trump sent this tweet:

Perhaps Rosenstein briefed President Trump a bit earlier than his remarks indicate. Perhaps President Trump’s tweet was just happenstance.

It appears the Mueller Investigation may be slowly drawing to a close. President Trump is not at risk – nor does he appear to be a focus.

It also appears that certain investigative areas are disappearing into the bowels of the DOJ – never to be seen or heard from again.

Insulation.

I hope I’m wrong. I really do.

While I was writing this post, the Conservative Treehouse posted an article in the same vein.

As usual, it’s very much worth the read.

Meanwhile:

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older post  The Strzok Hearing & David Corn – Two Twitter Threads