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Impact of Barr’s Declassification Authority Triggers Political, Media Panic

May 25, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

On May 23, 2019, President Trump issued a Memorandum giving declassification authorization to Attorney General William Barr. The memo noted that AG Barr has full authority to “declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence that relates to the Attorney General’s review.”

The memo was addressed to the Secretaries of the State, Treasury, Energy, Defense, and Homeland Security Departments—along with the Directors for National Intelligence and the CIA. Also included was the Attorney General, which by default inherently covers the FBI.

The subject line, “Agency Cooperation with Attorney General’s Review of Intelligence Activities Relating to the 2016 Presidential Campaigns,” was particularly notable in its use of plurals, denoting the investigation was potentially looking at interference into campaigns beyond that of just President Trump.Continue Reading

UK Intel Agencies Frame Spygate Involvement Ahead of Trump’s Declassification

May 21, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

The Telegraph published two separate articles detailing their version of when the heads of UK intelligence were briefed about the contents of former MI6 agent Christopher Steele’s dossier of claims about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

According to The Telegraph, the UK spy chiefs were briefed before President Trump was made aware of their existence by former FBI Director James Comey, but notably after the 2016 presidential election had taken place:

“The heads of MI5 and MI6 and one of Mrs. [Prime Minister Theresa] May’s most trusted security advisers were told about former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele’s memos on the Trump campaign in the weeks after his November 2016 election victory.”Continue Reading

Steele’s Meeting With US Official Casts Doubts on FBI’s Official Story

May 14, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

Author of Trump dossier told State Department official that his client wanted allegations against Trump out before elections, claimed Russia had an agent planted in DNC

A recently released State Department memo revealed that dossier author Christopher Steele met with Kathleen Kavalec, then-deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, on Oct. 11, 2016, just 10 days prior to the FBI obtaining a FISA warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page on Oct. 21, 2016.

Notably, Victoria Nuland is the former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. Nuland admitted to receiving an early version of Steele’s dossier in July 2016.

As noted in a May 10, 2019, letter sent by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Inspector General Michael Horowitz, “Ms. Kavalec’s contacts with Steel may have been the most significant and memorialized communications with him by a U.S. government official prior to the issuance of the Carter Page FISA warrant.”Continue Reading

As Rosenstein Leaves DOJ, How Will History Judge Him?

May 13, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

Outgoing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has evoked strong opinions across the political spectrum during his two-year tenure.

Interestingly, over the past month, there has been an inversion of people’s opinions regarding him. Those on the left, who had been supporting him ever since he appointed special counsel Robert Mueller, are now claiming Rosenstein has been running interference for President Donald Trump. Those on the right, who felt Rosenstein betrayed the president with the appointment of Mueller, have begun to reassess his actions, following the publication of the Mueller report.

Rosenstein submitted his resignation letter to the president on April 29, with an effective date of May 11. Rosenstein had previously discussed his intent to resign from his post when a new attorney general was confirmed, following the resignation of Jeff Sessions.Continue Reading

FBI Director Cites Ongoing Investigation in Response to Spying Question

May 7, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

Contrary to media reporting, Wray did not deny that spying on the Trump campaign occurred

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on May 7, and was asked a series of questions on the topic of spying and surveillance on the Trump campaign by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

Wray’s answers have been widely misrepresented and misreported. Media outlets such as The Washington Post and CNN published headlines claiming that Wray had said there was no evidence of spying on the Trump campaign. There were also multiple claims that Wray had directly refuted statements by Attorney General William Barr.

The problem is, that wasn’t what Wray had actually said. And some of his answers came from questions that had nothing to do with the Trump campaign.Continue Reading

Joe Biden, Obama Officials Stood to Gain From Ukraine Influence

April 27, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

New evidence suggests Ukraine played a key role in creating Trump-Russia collusion narrative at the behest of Obama officials

As Ukraine underwent dramatic changes in 2014, Vice President Joe Biden played a critical role in the Obama administration’s involvement in the revolution that ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Following the revolution, Biden would use his influence to help force the creation of the troubled National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). Notably, during the 2016 elections information leaked from NABU on Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort that helped to create the false narrative that Trump colluded with Russia to win the elections.

Biden would also use the threat of withholding a billion dollars in American loan guarantees to pressure Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to fire the prosecutor general. At the time the prosecutor had been investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas giant that Biden’s son, Hunter, was a board member on.Continue Reading

Dana Boente’s Many Critical Positions Within the Trump Administration

April 23, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

FBI General Counsel Dana Boente has proven to be a key player in the Trump Administration. Few, however, are aware of the many crucial positions he has held—and why he may have held them.

During President Donald Trump’s first two years in office, Boente has served as the Acting Attorney General, Acting Deputy Attorney General, Acting Head of the Justice Department’s (DOJ) National Security Division, and currently serves as the FBI’s General Counsel.

Boente also concurrently served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) from Sept. 23, 2013, to Jan. 28, 2018, a particularly significant assignment as the EDVA often handles significant terrorism, espionage, and public corruption cases. One of the trials of Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, took place in an EDVA court and the recently unsealed affidavit against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was filed in the district during Boente’s tenure. If Assange is extradited, his trial will take place in an EDVA courtroom.

To more fully understand Boente’s role, we need to go back to Jan. 13, 2017, when President Barack Obama issued a last-minute executive order that altered the line of succession within the DOJ.Continue Reading

A Common Thread in Events Ahead of Mueller Report

April 16, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

The weeks leading up to the pending release of the special counsel report have given us a nearly unprecedented volume of news events connected to the Spygate scandal, Ukraine, and ongoing investigations.

From the release of depositions to the the latest comments from newly installed Attorney General Bill Barr, the news flow has been nearly overwhelming. While not meant to be exhaustive, here’s a walk through some of the more significant events of the last few weeks.

Barr was confirmed on Feb. 14, despite the objections of Democrats over a 19-page memo that Barr had written to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in June 2018, describing why he believed President Donald Trump hadn’t obstructed justice when he fired former FBI Director James Comey.Continue Reading

Ties to Ukrainian National a Unifying Theme in Early Attacks on Trump

April 11, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

While special counsel Robert Mueller has concluded there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, some of the key people in creating the Russia-collusion narrative themselves have ties to a foreign nation.

Both the Democratic National Committee as well as Fusion GPS—the company hired by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to research the Trump campaign—were using Ukrainian sources in their efforts to discredit Trump.

Serhiy Leshchenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, was a common thread involved in Democratic opposition research efforts into former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort. Leshchenko, along with Artem Sytnyk, the director of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau, was responsible for publicly disclosing the contents of the Ukrainian “black ledger,” which implicated Manafort, to the media.Continue Reading

Spygate: The Inside Story Behind the Alleged Plot to Take Down Trump

March 28, 2019 by Jeff Carlson, CFA

Efforts by high-ranking officials in the CIA, FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and State Department to portray President Donald Trump as having colluded with Russia were the culmination of years of bias and politicization under the Obama administration.

Click on image to enlarge.

The weaponization of the intelligence community and other government agencies created an environment that allowed for obstruction in the investigation into Hillary Clinton and the relentless pursuit of a manufactured collusion narrative against Trump.

A willing and complicit media spread unsubstantiated leaks as facts in an effort to promote the Russia-collusion narrative.Continue Reading

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Jeff Carlson is a CFA® charterholder.

He worked for 20 years as an analyst and portfolio manager in the High Yield Bond Market. He holds degrees in finance and economics.

He can be found on X (Twitter) at @themarketswork or on Substack at Truth Over News

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