Russia Collusion

‘Tradecraft failings’: CIA’s conclusion that Putin interfered in election to help Trump was flawed

U.S. intelligence agencies’ far-reaching conclusion that Vladimir Putin interfered in the 2016 presidential election to specifically help Donald Trump was flawed by “tradecraft failings,” says a House report. The conclusion was written by the CIA then under the direction of Obama loyalist John O. Brennan. The report said the CIA’s Putin-Trump analysis violated standards for analyzing intelligence products and noted that one guideline is to “be independent of political considerations.” It said the CIA’s draft section on Mr. Putin’s intentions lacked vigorous internal debate because it was restricted to an “unusually constrained review” by other agencies. The findings are contained in the Republican majority report of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence investigation into 2016 Russian election meddling. The intelligence agencies’ January 2017 Putin-Trump conclusion produced wide-ranging political ramifications. It buttressed the argument from Hillary Clinton, who from the moment she lost to Mr. Trump cited Russia as the reason. Obama loyalists, such as Mr. Brennan and former National Director of Intelligence James R. Clapper, have suggested that Mr. Trump is a Putin agent. House intelligence committee Republicans agreed unanimously about faulty analytical methods.

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Democratic Sen. Mark Warner texted with Russian oligarch lobbyist in effort to contact dossier author Christopher Steele

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been leading a congressional investigation into President Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, had extensive contact last year with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch who was offering Warner access to former British spy and dossier author Christopher Steele, according to text messages obtained exclusively by Fox News. “We have so much to discuss u need to be careful but we can help our country,” Warner texted the lobbyist, Adam Waldman, on March 22, 2017. “I’m in,” Waldman, whose firm has ties to Hillary Clinton, texted back to Warner. Steele famously put together the anti-Trump dossier of unverified information that was used by FBI and Justice Department officials in October 2016 to get a warrant to conduct surveillance of former Trump adviser Carter Page. Despite the efforts, Steele has not agreed to an interview with the committee. Secrecy seemed very important to Warner as the conversation with Waldman heated up March 29, when the lobbyist revealed that Steele wanted a bipartisan letter from Warner and the committee’s chairman, North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr, inviting him to talk to the Senate intelligence panel. Throughout the text exchanges, Warner seemed particularly intent on connecting directly with Steele without anyone else on the Senate Intelligence Committee being in the loop — at least initially. In one text to the lobbyist, Warner wrote that he would “rather not have a paper trail” of his messages. An aide to Warner confirmed to Fox News that the text messages are authentic. The messages, which were obtained from a Republican source, are all marked “CONFIDENTIAL” and are not classified. They were turned over to the Senate panel by Waldman last September. Waldman, who did not return calls seeking comments, runs the Endeavor Group in Washington. Waldman is best known for signing a $40,000 monthly retainer in 2009 and 2010 to lobby the U.S. government on behalf of controversial Russian billionaire Oleg V. Deripaska. Deripraska had his visa revoked by the State Department in 2006 because of charges, which he has denied, that he has organized crime ties.

With each new day, the whole Russia collusion narrative being pushed by the Dems, and the dominantly liberal mainstream media, continues to unravel.  And, ironically, the tables have turned.  We’re finding out that the whole thing was a sham and driven by the DNC, Hillary, and Dems like Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) who really have been “colluding” with Russians all along to undermine our democratic processes and the last election.  For more on this developing story, click on the text above.

Mueller is ‘compromised,’ should resign: GOP congressional resolution states

A Republican congressman from Florida introduced a resolution Friday urging Special Counsel Robert Mueller to resign from the Russia probe, saying the one-time FBI director has his own conflicts of interest. Rep. Matt Gaetz said Mr. Mueller, who was FBI director in 2010, botched an investigation into Russian attempts to bribe and extort their way to a deal to buy a portion of U.S. uranium resources. Mr. Gaetz said the Justice Department sat on information for four years and silenced a whistleblower who tried to alert Congress to questionable activity. “These deeply troubling events took place when Mr. Mueller was the Director of the FBI. As such, his impartiality is hopelessly compromised. He must step down immediately,” Mr. Rep. Gaetz said. The resolution wouldn’t be binding but, were it to gain a vote and pass, would be a stunning statement of no confidence in the man leading the probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. Earlier this week Mr. Mueller announced indictments against two former Trump campaign officials on lobbying disclosure and tax evasion charges, and secured a guilty plea from a campaign foreign policy advisor for lying to FBI agents over contacts with Russian-backed operatives.

Robert Mueller’s appointment as the special counsel was tainted from the get-go.  He and his protege, James Comey, had not only a professional relationship.  But, they had a personal one as well.  So, right there, we had clear conflict of interest as Mr. Mueller clearly could not be objective or impartial with respect to Mr. Comey.  These latest revelations only add.  Unfortunately, due to “optics” and politics, Trump really cannot remove him, even though he technically has the power to do so.  More members of Congress need to step forward and put pressure on Mr. Mueller to step down, if he doesn’t have the personal integrity to do so on his own.

Judge Nap: If There Was Evidence of Trump-Russia Collusion, We’d Have Heard It by Now

The Senate Intelligence Committee’s ranking members updated the public today about their probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said the investigation is continuing into whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians. “The committee continues to look into all evidence to see if there was any hint of collusion. The issue of collusion is still open,” he said. Judge Andrew Napolitano said today that the press conference was a positive for President Trump, since the evidence of collusion remains to be seen. “If there was evidence, we would know it,” said Napolitano, adding that “partisans,” like ranking Democrat Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), would have divulged the information by now. “They’d be flying a freak flag on that. Are you kidding me? It’d be leaking all over the place,” Harris Faulkner agreed. He predicted President Trump will tweet that the press conference shows there is no “there there” when it comes to the Russia investigation. The senior judicial analyst pointed out that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is focused on the collusion question and is “100 times broader” than the intelligence committee’s probe. Click here to watch more.