Mueller Investigation pt 6

[Michel H]

Trump Tweets

“Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities....

....during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information....


....Today’s action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions.”
@PressSec

The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information

It seems to me (but I am not an expert on this) that Trump is now declassifying "selectively": people will be able to know how the Obama FBI may have somewhat spied on him and his campaign, but the Mueller report still remains classified. This leads inevitably to the question: what are the contents of the report that are so embarrassing that Barr and Trump refuse to reveal them?

 

[The Great Zaganza]

It seems to me (but I am not an expert on this) that Trump is now declassifying "selectively": people will be able to know how the Obama FBI may have somewhat spied on him and his campaign, but the Mueller report still remains classified. This leads inevitably to the question: what are the contents of the report that are so embarrassing that Barr and Trump refuse to reveal them?

I'm just going to post the Articles of Impeachment for Nixon here.
Looks awfully familiar:

The means used to implement this course of conduct or plan included one or more of the following:

1. making false or misleading statements to lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States;
2. withholding relevant and material evidence or information from lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States;
3. approving, condoning, acquiescing in, and counselling witnesses with respect to the giving of false or misleading statements to lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States and false or misleading testimony in duly instituted judicial and congressional proceedings;
4. interfering or endeavouring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force, and Congressional Committees;
5. approving, condoning, and acquiescing in, the surreptitious payment of substantial sums of money for the purpose of obtaining the silence or influencing the testimony of witnesses, potential witnesses or individuals who participated in such unlawful entry and other illegal activities;
6. endeavouring to misuse the Central Intelligence Agency, an agency of the United States;
7. disseminating information received from officers of the Department of Justice of the United States to subjects of investigations conducted by lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States, for the purpose of aiding and assisting such subjects in their attempts to avoid criminal liability;
8. making or causing to be made false or misleading public statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States into believing that a thorough and complete investigation had been conducted with respect to allegations of misconduct on the part of personnel of the executive branch of the United States and personnel of the Committee for the Re-election of the President, and that there was no involvement of such personnel in such misconduct: or
9. endeavouring to cause prospective defendants, and individuals duly tried and convicted, to expect favoured treatment and consideration in return for their silence or false testimony, or rewarding individuals for their silence or false testimony.

 

[Childlike Empress]

CJ Hopkins has written a new fun piece for the cult victims:

Back in January 2018, I wrote this piece about The War on Dissent, which, in case you haven’t noticed, is going gangbusters. As predicted, the global capitalist ruling classes have been using every weapon in their arsenal to marginalize, stigmatize, delegitimize, and otherwise eliminate any and all forms of dissent from neoliberal ideology, and in particular from their new official narrative … “Democracy versus The Putin-Nazis.”

For over two years, the corporate media have been pounding out an endless series of variations on this major theme, namely, that “democracy is under attack” by a conspiracy of Russians and neo-Nazis that magically materialized out of the ether during the Summer of 2016. The intelligence agencies, political elites, academia, celebrities, social media personalities, and other organs of the culture industry have been systematically reifying this official narrative through constant repetition. The Western masses have been inundated with innumerable articles, editorials, television news and talk show segments, books, social media posts, and various other forms of messaging whipping up hysteria over “Russians” and “fascists.” At this point, it is no longer just propaganda. It has become the new “truth.” It has become “reality.”

Becoming “reality” is, of course, the ultimate goal of every ideology. An ideology is just a system of ideas, and is thus fair game for critique and dissent. “Reality” is not fair game for dissent. It is not up for debate or challenge, not by “serious,” “legitimate” people. “Reality” is simply “the way it is.” It is axiomatic. It is apothegmatic. It’s not a belief or an interpretation. It is not subject to change or revision. It is the immortal, immutable Word of God … or whatever deity or deity-like concept the ruling classes and the masses they rule accept as the Final Arbiter of Truth. In our case, this would be Science, or Reason, rather than some supernatural being, but in terms of ideology there isn’t much difference. Every system of belief, regardless of its nature, ultimately depends on political power and power relations to enforce its beliefs, which is to say, to make them “real.” [...]

If not for reading the rest of the kick-arse article, the cultists should click the link to see the head image which they can share with their fellow propaganda victims.

 

[Crossbow]

Trump Tweets

“Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities....

....during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information....


....Today’s action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions.”
@PressSec

I wonder if Trump really wants to go down this path ...

After all, if all of the intelligence data that was collected as part of the 2016 is released, then it could show the many ways that the Russians were trying to help Trump as well as the many ways that Trump and the Trump lackeys were so accepting of the help that the Russians were providing.

 

[Segnosaur]

Trump Tweets

“Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities....

....during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation...

I wonder if Trump really wants to go down this path ...

After all, if all of the intelligence data that was collected as part of the 2016 is released, then it could show the many ways that the Russians were trying to help Trump as well as the many ways that Trump and the Trump lackeys were so accepting of the help that the Russians were providing.

I'm guessing that he trusts Barr to 'scrub' the data, and only declassify/release stuff that can be twisted to make his opponents look bad. Anything damaging to Trump, or goes against the 'witch hunt' narrative will remain classified.

 

[Crossbow]

I'm guessing that he trusts Barr to 'scrub' the data, and only declassify/release stuff that can be twisted to make his opponents look bad. Anything damaging to Trump, or goes against the 'witch hunt' narrative will remain classified.

Indeed so. That very same thought crossed my mind as well.

However, intelligence agents often find a way to get their dirty data to the public when it suits them to do so.

After all, that is what Mark Felt did in Watergate. Also, there at least a few CIA people who manged to leak embarrassing data about George W. Bush & Co. when 'Chimpy McFlight suit' tried to blame the horrible things in Iraq were due to 'intelligence failures'.

So even if Barr tries to excise the anti-Trump data from his investigation, somehow I get the impression that the data will get out all the same. After all, the Trump Administration has got to be about the leakiest administration in history in the last hundred years.

 

[Segnosaur]

However, intelligence agents often find a way to get their dirty data to the public when it suits them to do so.
...
So even if Barr tries to excise the anti-Trump data from his investigation, somehow I get the impression that the data will get out all the same. After all, the Trump Administration has got to be about the leakiest administration in history in the last hundred years.

Oh, I have no doubt the information will get out. (Heck, we pretty much know everything NOW.)

But, I do think there is a little more value in an official, non-partisan information release than anonymous sources and leaked documents. (Harder to whitewash or ignore official releases, whereas Trump and his supporters will stick to their "fake news" rhetoric if the information is just leaked.)

 

[The Great Zaganza]

The Inspector General has identified a culture of leaking within the FBI.
If there was a smoking gun of illegal spying on Trump, it would have come out by now.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump Tweets

I don’t know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!

“If they try to Impeach President Trump, who has done nothing wrong (No Collusion), they will end up getting him re-elected” @LindseyGrahamSC Impeachment is for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. There were no High Crimes and Misdemeanors, except for those committed by the other side!

“Intelligence Agencies were used against an American President.” @DevinNunes @ShannonBream @FoxNews This should NEVER happen to a President again! Dems are furious at Robert Mueller for his findings - NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. Now they should go back to work and legislate!

 

[Belz...]

Trump Tweets

I don’t know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!

“If they try to Impeach President Trump, who has done nothing wrong (No Collusion), they will end up getting him re-elected” @LindseyGrahamSC Impeachment is for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. There were no High Crimes and Misdemeanors, except for those committed by the other side!

“Intelligence Agencies were used against an American President.” @DevinNunes @ShannonBream @FoxNews This should NEVER happen to a President again! Dems are furious at Robert Mueller for his findings - NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. Now they should go back to work and legislate!

Yog-Sothoth, I'm really tired of reading him say "NO COLLUSION".

 

[The Shrike]

Yog-Sothoth, I'm really tired of reading him say "NO COLLUSION".

Classic hypnotic repetition in action.

 

[Stacyhs]

Yog-Sothoth, I'm really tired of reading him say "NO COLLUSION".

As I was watching Trump's interaction with the press earlier today before boarding the helicopter, I was struck again by just how much he repeats the same crap over and over and over again. He has a litany of lies, misrepresentations, and complaints that he repeats like a broken record. The more he talks, the more he sounds like a whining child in a man's body.

 

[Upchurch]

Trump Tweets

I don’t know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!

I would point out that this indicates that he probably didn't read the report, but that would require it be plausible that he might have read the report.

 

[Stacyhs]

Trump Tweets

I don’t know why the Radical Left Democrats want Bob Mueller to testify when he just issued a 40 Million Dollar Report that states, loud & clear & for all to hear, No Collusion and No Obstruction (how do you Obstruct a NO crime?) Dems are just looking for trouble and a Do-Over!

Does he really not understand this? I'd say someone should explain it to him but then realized this is Trump. And he says Tillerson is "dumb as a rock"?

Speaking of Tillerson, I'd love to hear what he is saying about Trump now in private. I bet he could write an interesting book on his time dealing with Pres. Bozo.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I wonder if Trump really wants to go down this path ...

After all, if all of the intelligence data that was collected as part of the 2016 is released, then it could show the many ways that the Russians were trying to help Trump as well as the many ways that Trump and the Trump lackeys were so accepting of the help that the Russians were providing.

Remember, he comes up with this stuff in his own personal lala land. Reality is not a factor.

 

[Bogative]

Classic hypnotic repetition in action.

Can ya blame the guy for trying? After the left-wing media and politicians repeated "Russia collusion" thousands of times, millions and millions believed what they were told. I guess he thought he'd give it a shot.

 

[smartcooky]

Can you give a cite for this?

18 U.S. Code § 793. Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information is the Espionage Act

Here's the relevant Cornell Law School page
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793

Nine of the 18 charges Assange has been indicted under (counts 9 through 17) are for publishing classified information.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/us/politics/assange-indictment.html

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthe...26b4e534ab60553ba6c/optimized/full.pdf#page=1

Count1:18 USC § 793(g) Conspiracy To Receive National Defense Information

Counts 2-4:18 USC § 793(b) and 2 Obtaining National Defense Information

Counts 5-8: 18 USC § 793(c) and 2 Obtaining National Defense Information

Counts 9-11: 18 USC § 793(d)and 2 Disclosure of National Defense Information
Counts 12-14: 18 USC § 793(e) and 2 Disclosure of National Defense Information
Counts 15-17: 18 USC § 793(e) Disclosure of National Defense Information
Count 18: 18 USC § 371 and 1030 Conspiracy To Commit Computer Intrusion

 

[Bogative]

There are two things I have seen on the News today that I find terrifying

1. I have no love for Assange, but the nature of charges against him are a direct attack on the 1A Freedom of the Press - if you make those charges stick, then that sets a precedent that will allow the Government to use such charges to silence critical news media such as WaPo or NYT. Trump has already called such media the "enemy of the people", so the only media left untouched will be Trump Propaganda Arms such as Faux News.

2. Trump's decision to declassify intelligence matters will effectively neuter the US intelligence community. It will allow Trump to deal directly with America's enemies (Putin, Kim) with out any observation or oversight, and it is sure to get intelligence sources killed. If I was a CIA source living in Russia right now, I would be crapping my pants.

Trump should give the classified documents to WikiLeaks so they can leak them and everything will be okey-dokey.

These are the acts of a tyrant,

Releasing documents from spy agencies is an act of a tyrant today, but refusing to release documents (found in the Mueller report) from the same agencies was an act of a tyrant yesterday.

and are precursors to Trump making himself King.

I haven't heard this kind of paranoid rhetoric since Alex Jones was claiming George W. Bush was about to invade Iran, declare martial law and appoint himself to a third term and Obama was planning to start race wars in America, declare martial law and appoint himself to a third term.

 

[Bogative]

According to some reports, Mueller doesn't want to testify before Congress publicly.

Can't imagine why Mueller wouldn't want to take a spin in that Democrat-driven clown car.

 

[Delphic Oracle]

By my count I object to 17 of the 18.

How do you publish without receiving or obtaining?

This is so shortsighted. Coordinating to use an encrypted dropbox, while it does mask the source, also means legitimate whistleblowers are not placing the data at risk. Interfere with that established (dare I say professional) procedure and it means greater chance of ending up in the hands of our adversaries which, wouldn't you know, is the actual purpose of the espionage act.

By the way, a defendant charged under this act is literally not allowed to make any mitigating argumemts.

What's odd to me is I'd actually be more on board with a prosecution of the same crime against the same person if it were from a later era where Wikileaks had abandoned any pretense of journalistic ethics.