Senate Republicans continue their own investigation into the origins of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign conspired with the Russian government to steal the election.
As Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team eventually concluded, the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia, and a subsequent Inspector General report found that the FBI omitted evidence that would have called into question the years long investigation into the Trump administration as part of “Crossfire Hurricane.” Following the IG report, Senate Republicans and U.S. Attorney General William Barr launched separate investigations into the origins of the false collusion narrative.
As part of the Senate’s investigation, ex-FBI Director James Comey will testify on September 30. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday night that Comey had agreed to testify, while Mueller said he didn’t have enough time.
“The day of reckoning is upon us when it comes to Crossfire Hurricane,” Graham said.
The Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/09/17/fbi-james-comey-robert-mueller-testify-senate-lindsey-graham/">reported</a> that the committee would also interview the two FBI employees who spoke with the primary source for Christopher Steele’s dossier, which was used as the basis for the investigation into the Trump campaign. The primary source, Russia analyst Igor Danchenko, informed the FBI and the Justice Department in January 2017 that Steele embellished parts of his dossier, but the FBI didn’t include this information when applying for a FISA warrant to surveil Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
Graham’s decision to interview the two FBI employees is a chance, he told Hannity, to find out which FBI agents knew about what Danchenko said during his interviews that would undermine the investigation.
“Now who did the intel analyst and the case agent tell?” Graham said. “We’re going to talk to them in the next week to 10 days.”
More from Ross:
<blockquote>The case agent has been identified as <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/02/24/case-agent-1-stephen-somma-fisa/">Steven Somma</a>, a veteran counterintelligence investigator in the FBI’s New York Field Office. Somma was involved in several aspects of Crossfire Hurricane.
In addition to interviewing Danchenko, he was the FBI handler for Stefan Halper, a confidential source who secretly recorded Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, another Trump campaign aide.
The IG report said Somma, who is referred to as “Case Agent 1” in the report, was the first FBI investigator to propose applying for a FISA warrant against Page.</blockquote>
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ig-report-here-are-the-17-specific-inaccuracies-and-omissions-in-the-fbis-fisa-warrants-against-carter-page">reported</a>, the IG report found 17 “inaccuracies and omissions” in the FBI’s FISA warrants against Carter Page, far higher than were found in dozens of other warrant requests as part of a random search conducted by the IG.
Among the omissions were information pertaining to Page’s past known communications with Russian officials. An FBI lawyer who is no longer with the bureau <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-ex-fbi-lawyer-to-plead-guilty-in-durham-criminal-investigation-for-allegedly-falsifying-evidence">pleaded guilty</a> to falsifying an email to remove the fact that the CIA told the FBI Page had worked with the agency.
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James Comey

James Comey To Testify On Russia Investigation At End Of Month

Crossfire Hurricane

Donald Trump

Russia

Senate Republicans continue their own investigation into the origins of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s

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The summer was just heating up when The New York Times published a “bombshell” story yet again citing unnamed officials. The Times claimed that a Russia spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan in 2019 to kill U.S. troops. The kicker was that President Donald Trump allegedly knew about the bounties and did nothing.
“The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year,” the Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html">reported</a> on June 26. “Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the officials said.”
The Times said the three reporters who wrote the story received their information from officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity who said Trump and his National Security Council were brief on the matter.
Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell said he “never heard this,” while Trump said neither he, Vice President Mike Pence, nor White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows were briefed on the issue.
“Nobody briefed or told me, [Vice President Mike Pence], or Chief of Staff [Mark Meadows] about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an ‘anonymous source’ by the Fake News [New York Times],” Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1277202162070753280">tweeted</a> at the time. “Everybody is denying it [and] there have not been many attacks on us. Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. With Corrupt Joe Biden &amp; Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine — Where’s Hunter? Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. Who is their ‘source’?”
Trump followed up his tweet by saying intelligence officials told him they never briefed him because they did not find the information credible.
Within weeks of the story, Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said he found the reports “very worrisome” but added that the bounties had not been connected to any U.S. casualties, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-commander-says-no-american-deaths-linked-to-russia-bounty-killing-scheme">reported</a>.
By July 10, top Defense Department officials said they could not corroborate the reports during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee.
“All the defense intelligence agencies have been unable to corroborate that report,” said Defense Secretary Mark Esper, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-pentagon-officials-we-are-yet-unable-to-corroborate-report-on-russian-bounty-scheme">reported</a> at the time. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that the Pentagon did not have “cause and effect linkages to a Russian bounty program causing U.S. Military casualties.”
Milley said the Department was still looking into the matter.
Two months later and that link has yet to be found, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/u-s-commander-intel-still-hasn-t-established-russia-paid-n1240020">reported</a> Monday.
&#8220;It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me,&#8221; Gen. McKenzie told the outlet of the alleged bounty program.
&#8220;We continue to look for that evidence,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I just haven&#8217;t seen it yet. But … it&#8217;s not a closed issue.&#8221;
The alleged program &#8212; and the allegations that Trump knew about it but did nothing &#8212; were used as an attack line against the president by members of the media and Democrats, including Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who called Trump’s alleged inaction a “betrayal” to the country.
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U.S. troops

Still Not Enough Evidence To Suggest Russia Paid Taliban ‘Bounties’ To Kill American Troops, Top U.S. Commander Says

New York Times

Taliban

U.S. military

The summer was just heating up when The New York Times published a “bombshell” story yet again citing unnamed officials. The Times claimed that a Russia

Still Not Enough Evidence To Suggest Russia Paid Taliban ‘Bounties’ To Kill American Troops, Top U.S. Commander Says | The Daily Wire

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He rides horses shirtless.
They said I couldn’t describe Vladimir Putin in four words or less, but I think we both know what <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/uwi12b8DyeB1PsL29">photo</a> came to mind just now. How many images of shirtless men riding horses do you have stored in your brain? On second thought, don’t answer that.
Regardless of your mental catalog of half-naked horseback riders, Putin’s image is no doubt the most famous. There are also the ones of <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/6oFDJSMv3Bx3BBBu5">him fishing</a>, climbing out of a <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/D9z68JxRiDdZ8Tej9">hot tub</a>, and <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/faL6AAf3ZRiW4RoW6">basking in the never-ending glory</a> of being a global superpower.
<div id="attachment_147517" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-147517" class="wp-image-147517" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horse-1-856x576.jpg" alt="Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is pictured with a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. AFP PHOTO / RIA-NOVOSTI / ALEXEY DRUZHININ " width="850" height="572" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horse-1-856x576.jpg 856w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horse-1-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horse-1-768x517.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horse-1.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px" />Alexey Druzhinin/AFP via Getty Images</div>
That last one, however, should raise some questions.
Most of us hear the words Putin, Russia, and superpower in the same sentence and think nothing of it. Consider even that the summit between President Trump and Putin in 2018 was referred to as an act of “cooperation between two superpowers” by Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
But can we really consider Russia to be a global superpower? Here are a couple of variables worth considering…
1. GDP
<a href="https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/gdp-by-country/">Russia’s GDP</a> is the equivalent of Pennsylvania and Illinois combined despite having over 63 times as much land as these two soybean states. And yes, that puts Russia one spot outside the Top 10 in the world. But with hardly a fraction of the economic influence wielded by the U.S. and China, it’s hard to put these three countries on the same standard.
The GDP of the U.S. is over $19 trillion. The GDP of China is over $12 trillion. The country with the third highest GDP, Japan: $5 trillion. Eleventh-place Russia&#8217;s GDP is a comparatively paltry $1.6 trillion.
2. Life Expectancy
A life expectancy of both sexes just below 73 places Russia well outside the top 100 countries in the world and 6 years fewer than U.S. (which ranks 46th overall). Looking at the nations that surround Russia on <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/">this list</a>, you’ll find North Korea and Iraq not too far away. The implications this has for quality of life, medical care, and employment rates puts Russia well below what one would expect from a superpower.
3. Size vs. Population
This is one area where Russia is actually leading… kind of. With 11 different time zones, Russia has a land mass of over 6.6 million square miles. For reference, that’s almost double the size of China, five times the size of the U.S., and the equivalent of 24 states of Texas. Yet despite the country’s massive size, less than 2% of the world’s population live in Russia (compared to 18% in China and 4% in the U.S.).
That ends the list of what Putin might not want you to know about Russia. But what he does want you to know — and what many of us are perhaps most familiar with — is the size of their military.
Despite being outside the Top 10 in GDP, Russia is inside the Top 5 in military spending with a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-powerful-militaries-in-the-world-ranked-2018-11#3-china-23">defense budget of $47 billion</a>. They have over 20,000 combat tanks (compared to China’s 7,000 and America&#8217;s 6,000). And they have 3.5 million military personnel (second only to India), which means that 2.5% of their total population serve in the military (that number is .6% for the U.S. and .2% for China).
This is a lot of statistics, and there’s one more to come, but let’s take a pause to ask a question. What does Russia plan to do with 20,000 tanks? What practical purpose could those machinations of war serve in a modern world where missiles are launched by unmanned drones? These questions don’t have a simple answer. So, let’s move on to the final, and most important, part of Russia’s military — nukes.
According to the <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat">Arms Control Association</a>, there are over 13,500 nuclear warheads in the world, with more than 90% of them belonging to, no surprise, Russia and the U.S. Here, Russia has a few more, with 6,375 compared to America’s 5,800.
Now, this is where we come back to the term superpower. Because if that word is synonymous with nuclear warheads, then yes, Russia is absolutely a superpower. They have the single greatest capability of wreaking havoc on the world. But is that what makes a country a superpower? When we make the term so one-dimensional, we skew the power afforded to a country who clearly has a myriad of other problems they need to solve.
One of which is that the traffic is so bad in Moscow that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-ambulances-to-beat-moscow-traffic-2013-3">wealthy Russians hire ambulances</a> to get them around specific jams. That fact is almost completely irrelevant but so interesting that it’s impossible to leave out.
Still, we think of Putin as the final bastion of masculinity — wielding warheads and weaponizing the influence of an increasingly powerful nation. But that’s not what Russia is. In reality, Russia is a massive amount of land, inhabited by less people than you’d expect, whose employment opportunities are limited by the size of their military, led by someone whose self-interest doesn’t preclude him from the occasional shirtless Instagram.
In all honesty, Instagram may be the perfect image for Putin’s Russia. It’s all about appearance. And whether we ever fully understand life in Russia, or the statistics that go into defining what makes a country powerful, we’ll always have an image of this country’s leader riding shirtless on a horse.
<div id="attachment_147520" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-147520" class="wp-image-147520" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horseback-912x576.jpg" alt="Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009. AFP PHOTO / RIA-NOVOSTI / ALEXEY DRUZHININ " width="850" height="537" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horseback-912x576.jpg 912w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horseback-300x190.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horseback-768x485.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Vladimir-Putin-Horseback.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px" />Alexey Druzhinin/AFP via Getty Images</div>
Make fun of that picture all you want. Putin understands the value of a photo-op. He knows what shapes the way people perceive the world. And he’s bending those perceptions with all his might.
We can say as much as we want about Russia’s military, economy, and society, but Putin has strength in spades. If, of course, by strength you mean an incredibly toned upper body.
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Vladimir Putin

3 Things Putin Doesn’t Want You To Know About Russia

He rides horses shirtless. They said I couldn’t describe Vladimir Putin in four words or less, but I think we both know what photo came to mind just now.

3 Things Putin Doesn’t Want You To Know About Russia | The Daily Wire

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Earlier this week, the former head of the intelligence branch within the Department of Homeland Security, Brian Murphy, filed a complaint alleging top officials at the Department wanted to alter intelligence briefings to remove findings on Russia and white supremacists.
Murphy alleged this was done to appease President Donald Trump. Murphy also alleged that acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told him that national security adviser Robert O’Brien was the one who made the order. On Wednesday, O’Brien denied the allegations, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/09/10/national-security-adviser-denies-claim-he-altered-intel-report/">reported</a>.
“No, I’ve never even heard of this guy. I don’t know who he is, and it’s hearsay,” O’Brien told Fox News host Bret Baier on Wednesday. “He says he heard it from somebody else, and in polite society that’s the sort of thing that used to be frowned on. Now it gets news coverage. It’s totally false. I don’t think there’s anybody that’s been tougher on Russia in this administration than I have been or the president has been, for that matter.”
Murphy alleged that while he was told the briefings would scrub references to Russia and white supremacists, they would focus on threats from China and Iran. O’Brien on Wednesday explained that China and Iran were also threats.
“But I will tell you one thing, China is a serious threat to our elections. Iran is a serious threat to the free and fair elections here, and I certainly want reporting on not just what Russia’s doing but on what China’s doing, what Iran and other bad actors are doing,” O’Brien said. “But I’ve never heard of this guy. It’s absurd.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who has been leading the fight to remove or delegitimize Trump’s presidency since the 2016 election, said he would subpoena Murphy to testify before the House Intelligence Committee later this month.
“Mr. Murphy’s allegations are serious — from senior officials suppressing intelligence reports on Russia’s election interference and making false statements to Congress about terrorism threats at our southern border, to modifying intelligence assessments to match the President’s rhetoric on Antifa and minimizing the threat posed by white supremacists,” Schiff said in a statement, the Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/09/09/whistleblower-dhs-chiefs-censored-russia-white-supremacist-intel/">reported</a>. “We have requested Mr. Murphy’s testimony before the Committee, pursuant to subpoena if necessary, alongside other already scheduled interviews with other DHS officials.”
While Schiff now welcomes Murphy’s allegations against the Trump administration, just one month ago the California Democrat accused Murphy of lying to congress.
Murphy was removed from his position at DHS on August 1 after The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html">reported</a> he had compiled “intelligence reports” on two journalists alleging they had published unclassified but leaked documents about DHS’s involvement in the Portland, Oregon, riots. At the time, agents had stepped in to arrest rioters. Murphy was reassigned elsewhere in DHS.
Also on August 1, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/us/politics/brian-murphy-homeland-security-protesters.html">reported</a> that Schiff said in a statement that he had been “conducting rigorous oversight of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, including actions by Acting Undersecretary Murphy prior to his abrupt and apparent reassignment.”
“In light of recent public reports, we are concerned that Murphy may have provided incomplete and potentially misleading information to Committee staff during our recent oversight engagement,” Schiff continued.
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Adam Schiff

Whistleblower Claims Trump National Security Adviser Ordered Intel Reports Scrubbed Of Russia Warnings, Adviser Denies

Chad Wolf

Department of Homeland Security

whistleblower

Earlier this week, the former head of the intelligence branch within the Department of Homeland Security, Brian Murphy, filed a complaint alleging top

Whistleblower Claims Trump National Security Adviser Ordered Intel Reports Scrubbed Of Russia Warnings, Adviser Denies | The Daily Wire

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President Donald Trump revealed to author Bob Woodward that the U.S. has cutting edge nuclear weapons capabilities that are so secret that America&#8217;s enemies do not even know that they exist — a claim that Woodward said he confirmed with sources.
&#8220;I have built a nuclear — a weapons system that nobody’s ever had in this country before,&#8221; Trump told Woodward. &#8220;We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before. There’s nobody — what we have is incredible.&#8221;
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-woodward-rage-book-trump/2020/09/09/0368fe3c-efd2-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Woodward writes that anonymous people later confirmed that the U.S. military had a secret new weapons system, but they would not provide details, and that the people were surprised Trump had disclosed it.</blockquote>
National security adviser Robert O&#8217;Brien was asked about the revelation during a Fox News interview on Wednesday night.
&#8220;Well, look, I&#8217;m not going to get into what he&#8217;s talking about,&#8221; O&#8217;Brien told Fox News anchor Bret Baier. &#8220;But you can rest assured that the men and women who manufacture our weapons and who have always had us on the cutting edge, whether it was back in the old days of the F-117 Nighthawk, to the B-2 bomber, to the F-22, F-35. We&#8217;re always on the cutting edge. And we have always got something out there that our adversaries don&#8217;t know about.&#8221;
&#8220;The president didn&#8217;t talk about any specific weapons system,&#8221; O&#8217;Brien continued. &#8220;But you can rest assured that we can protect the United States of America against any foe, any threat that&#8217;s out there, because of the excellent manufacturing that we do here, the research and development that we do here, and the fine men and women, the servicemen and women who man those platforms.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Trump unveils new weapons system 🤔 <a href="https://t.co/xh6WsZj7qE">pic.twitter.com/xh6WsZj7qE</a>
&mdash; (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1303862492678897665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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USA, Arizona, Titan nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile in silo

Trump Reveals U.S. Has Secret Nuclear Weapon Capabilities: Russia, China Don’t Even Know It Exists

China

nuclear

President Donald Trump revealed to author Bob Woodward that the U.S. has cutting edge nuclear weapons capabilities that are so secret that America&#039;s

Trump Reveals U.S. Has Secret Nuclear Weapon Capabilities: Russia, China Don’t Even Know It Exists | The Daily Wire

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As the criminal inquiry into the FBI’s Russia investigation continues, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that the documents he’s reviewed spells “real trouble” for the agents who conducted the investigation, which found no collusion between President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government.
Meadows, speaking to Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday, said he could not update the host on the investigation, led by U.S. attorney John Durham, but that records he had reviewed did not bode well for the FBI officials responsible for the origins of the Russa investigation.
&#8220;Additional documents that I’ve been able to review say that a number of the players, the Peter Strzoks, the Andy McCabes, the James Comeys, and even others in the administration previously are in real trouble because of their willingness to participate in an unlawful act and I use the word unlawful at best, it broke all kinds of protocols and at worst people should go to jail as I mentioned previously,&#8221; Meadows said, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mark-meadows-additional-documents-spell-trouble-for-ex-officials-in-durham-investigation">according to The Washington Examiner</a>.
More from the Examiner:
<blockquote>Meadows was interviewed after former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who helped open the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016, has <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/compromised-peter-strzok-on-investigating-the-trump-campaign/">defended the bureau&#8217;s inquiry</a> and argued the president <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fbi-agent-who-helped-launch-russia-investigation-says-trump-was-n1239442">was &#8220;compromised&#8221;</a> by Russia during a <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/peter-strzok-claim-about-russia-investigation-origins-contradicted-by-robert-mueller-and-doj-inspector-general">media blitz for his new book</a>.
Meadows said the documents don&#8217;t back up Strzok, who was fired from the bureau in 2018 after anti-Trump text messages he sent to a colleague came to light.
Trump has &#8220;encouraged not only declassification, but full transparency. He has nothing to hide,&#8221; Meadows said. &#8220;I can tell you, it’s real easy for Peter Strzok to go on 60 Minutes when he doesn’t have to raise his right hand and tell the truth. In all of this interview, I can tell you this. It’s not backed up by the facts. It’s not backed up by documents that I’ve seen. And ultimately his house of cards will come falling down.&#8221;</blockquote>
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ig-report-here-are-the-17-specific-inaccuracies-and-omissions-in-the-fbis-fisa-warrants-against-carter-page">reported</a>, an Inspector General report on the origins of the Russia investigation found 17 “inaccuracies and omissions” just in the FBI’s FISA warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Among the omissions was the fact that the U.S. government knew Page “had been approved as an operational contact for the other agency from 2008 to 2013, and that Page had provided information to the other agency concerning his prior contacts with certain Russian intelligence officers, one of which overlapped with facts asserted in the FISA application.”
The CIA told FBI investigators in an email that Page had worked with them previously, yet an FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, altered the email to remove the information pertaining to Page’s previous work with the agency. Clinesmith pleaded guilty last month to falsifying evidence, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-ex-fbi-lawyer-to-plead-guilty-in-durham-criminal-investigation-for-allegedly-falsifying-evidence">reported</a>.
Attorney General William Barr said at the time that while Clinesmith’s plea was not “earth-shattering,” it was “an indication that things are moving along at the proper pace, as dictated by the facts in this investigation.”
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Mark Meadows

WH Chief Of Staff: Ex-FBI Officials In ‘Real Trouble’ After Reviewing Durham Investigation Documents

John Durham

As the criminal inquiry into the FBI’s Russia investigation continues, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that the documents he’s reviewed

WH Chief Of Staff: Ex-FBI Officials In ‘Real Trouble’ After Reviewing Durham Investigation Documents | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/wh-chief-of-staff-ex-fbi-officials-in-real-trouble-after-reviewing-durham-investigation-documents/

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Joseph Mifsud, a mysterious professor who was central to the events that allegedly kicked off the FBI’s investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia to steal the election, told FBI agents in February 2017 that he never had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton and therefore never told Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos that he did.
Further, recently declassified notes from the FBI’s interview of Mifsud reveal the bureau didn’t seem to consider him a “Russian spy,” as was alleged by the media and Democrats throughout the years spent suggesting Mifsud was such. Ex-FBI Director James Comey even called Mifsud a “Russian agent” in a May 2019 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/james-comey-no-treason-no-coup-just-lies--and-dumb-lies-at-that/2019/05/28/45f8d802-8175-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html">op-ed</a> for The Washington Post.
Yet the FBI seemingly let this individual provide answers in a short interview and never charged him with any crimes relating to Russian interference in the election. Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russian narrative claimed Mifsud told Papadopoulos in April 2016 that the Russians had “dirt” on Clinton, referring to hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee. The FBI’s “302” file on its interview with Mifsud, however, states that the Maltese professor said he had “no advance knowledge Russia was in possession of emails from the Democratic National Committee and, therefore, did not make any offers or proffer any information” to Papadopoulos.
Mifsud told the FBI that he and Papadopoulos “spoke about cyber security and hacking as a larger issue,” and suggested Papadopoulos “must have misunderstood their conversation” to claim that Mifsud offered negative information on Clinton.
An attorney on Twitter who uses the handle Techno Fog <a href="https://twitter.com/Techno_Fog/status/1300998748722601984">explained</a> that Mueller’s report “played up Mifsud’s ‘connections to Russia,’” yet the FBI didn’t ask the professor about these alleged connections and didn’t appear to follow up on any additional questions raised during the investigation. Further, the Mueller report alleged that Papadopoulos lied to the FBI about whether he was working for the Trump campaign when he met with Mifsud in the United Kingdom &#8212; the meeting where Mifsud allegedly referenced dirt on Clinton &#8212; and that this lie impeded the bureau’s ability to question Mifsud effectively. Except, as Techno Fog pointed out, Mifsud himself told the FBI, according to the 302, that Papadopoulos was with the Trump campaign when the two met.
The Mueller report also suggested that Papadopoulos’ lies prevented them from figuring out Mifsud’s connection in the whole narrative, yet the documents released today make clear the FBI never followed-up with Mifsud and barely asked him any questions during his interview.
In May 2019, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) sent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/theres-glaring-contradiction-mueller-report-ashe-schow">a letter</a> to the U.S. State Department and the CIA suggesting that “if Mifsud is the dangerous liaison Mueller made him out to be, then many more Western politicians have been compromised, as many have had their own contact with the professor.”
“Alternatively, if Mifsud is not in fact a counterintelligence threat, then that would cast doubt on the Special Counsel’s fundamental depiction of him and his activities, and raise questions about the veracity of the Special Counsel’s statements and affirmations,” Nunes wrote.
“It should be noted that the Special Counsel declined to charge Mifsud with any crime even though, to justify seeking a prison sentence for Papadopoulos, the Special Counsel claimed Papadopoulos’ untruthful testimony ‘undermined investigators’ ability to challenge the Professor [Mifsud] or potentially detain or arrest him while he was still in the United States,’” Nunes continued. “Furthermore, it’s still a mystery how the FBI knew to ask Papadopoulos specifically about Hillary Clinton’s emails, on multiple occasions throughout 2016-17 before having interviewed Mifsud, if the FBI hadn’t already somehow received this information directly or indirectly from Mifsud himself.”
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Mueller Testifies

Central Figure In Russia-Collusion Narrative Said He Never Offered Any Russian ‘Dirt’ On Hillary Clinton, FBI Interview Reveals

2016 election

George Papadopoulos

Robert Mueller

Joseph Mifsud, a mysterious professor who was central to the events that allegedly kicked off the FBI’s investigation into whether President Donald

Central Figure In Russia-Collusion Narrative Said He Never Offered Any Russian ‘Dirt’ On Hillary Clinton, FBI Interview Reveals | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/central-figure-in-russia-collusion-narrative-said-he-never-offered-any-russian-dirt-on-hillary-clinton-fbi-interview-reveals/

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Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/director-national-intelligence-ratcliffe-election-congress">Fox Business Sunday</a> morning that he made the controversial decision to scale back national security briefings for key Members of Congress after discovering that unnamed lawmakers had leaked confidential information &#8220;within minutes&#8221; of receiving it, entirely for political purposes.
&#8220;[The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)] told the House and Senate intelligence committees that it will still provide written briefings, but that they should not expect verbal, in-person briefings on the topic, according to a congressional official and letters dated Aug. 28 that Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe sent to top members of Congress,&#8221; <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/29/odni-to-scale-back-election-security-briefings-404919">according to POLITICO</a>.
Top Democrats, predictably, reacted with shock and outrage, with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) issuing a scathing statement Saturday condemning Ratcliffe&#8217;s decision.
“This is a shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility to keep the Congress currently informed, and a betrayal of the public’s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy,” the pair said.
Republican Senators Marco Rubio (FL) and Mark Warner (VA) issued their own statement, excoriating suspected leakers but also encouraging Ratcliffe to return to giving in-person briefings as soon as possible.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/31/nancy-pelosi-william-evanina-russia-meddling-389847">POLITICO reported</a> that the ODNI was particularly upset that Democrats leaked information about a classified all-House security briefing last month, in which Pelosi accused Ratcliffe and others of withholding evidence that Russia and other foreign governments were making an effort to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. Pelosi and her staff declined to comment about the meeting on the record, but news agencies had specific details about the exchange that were clearly leaked.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who led investigations into whether Russia interfered with the 2016 elections, claimed Ratcliffe&#8217;s decision indicated a White House cover-up.
&#8220;They&#8217;re going to put it in writing now instead of giving an oral briefing. That doesn&#8217;t make any sense unless the goal is not to allow members of Congress, the representatives of the American people, to ask questions,&#8221; Schiff said.
On Sunday, Ratcliffe lashed out at unnamed Members of Congress for violating the ODNI&#8217;s trust and implied that Democrats were using the leaked information to frame Russia as a primary geopolitical foe, rather than China &#8212; a country that has significant ties to Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden.
&#8220;Within minutes of one of those briefings ending, a number of members of Congress went to a number of different outlets and leaked classified information for political purposes,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/director-national-intelligence-ratcliffe-election-congress">Ratcliffe said Sunday</a>. &#8220;To create a narrative that simply isn&#8217;t true, that somehow Russia is a greater national security threat than China.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t mean to minimize Russia. They are a serious national security threat, but day in, day out, the threats that we face from China are significantly greater,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Anyone who says otherwise is just politicizing intelligence for their own narrative.&#8221;
Democrats, of course, have long suggested that Russia favors President Donald Trump over his Democratic opponents and, despite Special Counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s findings that the Trump campaign and Russian officials did not, in fact, conspire to undermine the 2016 presidential election, have maintained that Russia continues to subvert the American electoral system in Trump&#8217;s favor.
Ratcliffe noted that Members of Congress will now receive written briefings and in-person briefings will resume when the ODNI is confident Congress can again be trusted with classified information.
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John Ratcliffe

Director Of National Intelligence Defends Scaled Back Security Briefings: Congress Leaked Info ‘Within Minutes’

2020 Election

Charles Schumer

Nancy Pelosi

National Intelligence

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told Fox Business Sunday morning that he made the controversial decision to scale back national security

Director Of National Intelligence Defends Scaled Back Security Briefings: Congress Leaked Info &#039;Within Minutes&#039; | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/director-of-national-intelligence-defends-scaled-back-security-briefings-congress-leaked-info-within-minutes/

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The Russian government this week released previously classified footage of the largest nuclear weapons test in history: The 1961 testing of the Tsar Bomba.
The bomb, which was built at the height of the nuclear arms race between the United States and Russia, was over 3,300 times more powerful than the nuclear weapon that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima in World War II.
The bomb was 26 feet long, had a diameter of 7 feet, and weighed nearly 60,000 pounds. The bomb was so powerful that scientists had to outfit it with a giant parachute in an attempt to give the Soviet Tu-95 bomber that dropped it enough time to escape the area without being blown out of the sky.
&#8220;In the village of Severny, some 55km (34 miles) from Ground Zero, all houses were completely destroyed. In Soviet districts hundreds of miles from the blast zone, damage of all kinds – houses collapsing, roofs falling in, damage to doors, windows shattering – were reported. Radio communications were disrupted for more than an hour,&#8221; the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170816-the-monster-atomic-bomb-that-was-too-big-to-use">reported</a>. &#8220;The blast wave from Tsar Bomba caused the giant bomber to plummet more than 1,000m (3,300ft) before the pilot could regain control.&#8221;
The energy released from the detonation was &#8220;10 times more powerful than all the munitions expended during World War Two,&#8221; the BBC added. &#8220;Sensors registered the bomb’s blast wave orbiting the Earth not once, not twice, but three times.&#8221;
The blast from the bomb “created a mushroom cloud 42 miles high, about seven times the height of Mount Everest,” The Smithsonian Magazine <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/russia-declassifies-video-1961-largest-hydrogen-bomb-ever-detonated-180975669/">reported</a>. “The documentary claims that the flash could be seen about 620 miles away, about the distance between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Illinois.”
The bomb was so powerful that the Soviets were unwilling to test the bomb as they originally designed it, which would have had a yield of 100 megatons. Instead, fearing that the bomb would be too powerful and could cause significant damage to their country, Soviet scientists reduced its yield to 57 megatons.
&#8220;Before it was ready to be tested, the uranium layers that would have helped the bomb achieve its enormous yield were replaced with layers of lead, which lessened the intensity of the nuclear reaction,&#8221; the BBC added.
&#8220;After the Tsar Bomba and other thermonuclear tests on Novaya Zemlya and by the United States in the Pacific, the two superpowers realized the craziness of conducting atmospheric tests with huge radioactive fallouts,&#8221; The Barents Observer, a Norwegian publication, <a href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2020/08/rosatom-releases-previously-classified-documentary-video-50-mt-novaya-zemlya-test">reported</a>. &#8220;In 1963, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty banning tests in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater.&#8221;
The blast was so powerful that, even though it was detonated at 13,000 feet above the ground, it created a &#8220;seismic shock wave equivalent to an earthquake of over 5.0 on the Richter scale [which] was measured around the world.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe title="50 Megaton Tsar Bomba Declassified • Ivan RDS-220 Hydrogen Bomb" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XJhZ3i-HXS0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This report has been updated to include additional information.
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RUSSIA-HYDROGEN-BOMB

WATCH: Declassified Russian Government Footage Of Largest Nuclear Weapon Test In History

Nuclear Weapons

The Russian government this week released previously classified footage of the largest nuclear weapons test in history: The 1961 testing of the Tsar

WATCH: Declassified Russian Government Footage Of Largest Nuclear Weapon Test In History | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-declassified-russian-government-footage-of-largest-nuclear-weapon-test-in-history/

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Two parents in Russia asked a truck driver to take their two young daughters to a babysitter. The girls later claimed the truck driver touched them inappropriately, leading the parents to track down the driver, rape him with a metal pipe, and then beat him with it.
Valeria Dunaeva, 25, is the mother of the three-year-old who picked up the two girls. The two told her Chikvarkin “had touched them below the waist,” police said, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8673621/Innocent-trucker-raped-metal-pipe-vigilante-parents.html">according to the Daily Mail</a>. Dunaeva became enraged after the accusation and told 33-year-old Sergey Chabin, the father of the 10-year-old girl. The parents called three male friends to find Chikvarkin and attack him.
“They found the man who previously gave a lift to the children,” a police source told Znak, a Russian newspaper. “First, he was raped in the anus with a metal pipe. Then they smashed his head with the same pipe, breaking his skull.”
Chikvarkin’s friend – an aunt of Dunaeva’s ex-husband who had babysat the children – was injured in the attack as well while she tried to defend her friend. Chikvarkin was still alive after the attackers left but later died from his injuries. One of Chikvarkin’s friends told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that the truck driver “just wanted to help by giving the kids a lift, but he was killed,” according to the Mail. The friend added that Chikvarkin “would never harm children.”
The driver, 48-year-old Dmitry Chikvarkin, is believed to be innocent, the Daily Mail reported. Police said they believe the two girls, aged 10 and three, lied about Chikvarkin touching them as a “joke.” Police made the determination after interviewing both children, suggesting it was the older girl who made up the claim.
The parents, Dunaeva and Chabin, along with an alleged accomplice, have been arrested and charged with “murder with special cruelty by a group of persons by prior conspiracy,” according to reports. Police are still looking for the other men who participated in the murder.
The four men involved face potential life sentences, the Mail reported, while the woman only faces up to 20 years in prison, yet another example of how the criminal justice system treats women differently than men.
The case is also another example of the consequences faced by those falsely accused of sexual assault. Chikvarkin was murdered, but many falsely accused men end up committing suicide. One of the most prominent cases in the past few years involved Jay Cheshire, who hanged himself after he was falsely accused of rape. A year after Cheshire died, his mother committed suicide in the same way.
Then there are the men that spend decades in jail for rapes they never committed. The most recent example comes from New York, where Rafael Ruiz finally had the charges against him drop. Ruiz was released from prison earlier this year after spending 25 years in prison for a 1985 sexual assault conviction for which he was innocent. Ruiz is one of the hundreds of men who have been helped by the Innocent Project.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

Crime scene

Girls Claimed Man Touched Them So Their Parents Raped And Murdered Him. Turns Out They Said It As A Joke.

Crime

false accusations

Murder

Rape

Sexual Assault

Two parents in Russia asked a truck driver to take their two young daughters to a babysitter. The girls later claimed the truck driver touched them

Girls Claimed Man Touched Them So Their Parents Raped And Murdered Him. Turns Out They Said It As A Joke. | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/girls-claimed-man-touched-them-so-their-parents-raped-and-murdered-him-turns-out-they-said-it-as-a-joke/

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German doctors concluded on Monday that Russian politician and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-entire-russian-government-resigns-as-putin-moves-to-extend-his-rule-pelosis-daughter-takes-trump-jab">opposition leader Alexei Navalny</a> was poisoned, contradicting claims by Russian specialists that cared for Navalny after he collapsed last week.
Navalny is a leading opposition figure with numerous enemies in the Kremlin, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/putin-will-work-remotely-after-meeting-doctor-who-tested-positive-for-coronavirus">Russian President Vladimir Putin</a> and some among the Russian elite. Navalny has uncovered and made numerous charges of corruption against Russia’s top politicians and businessmen citing business records and other documents and has released information through his YouTube channel, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-rival-alexei-navalny-is-poisoned-spokeswoman-says-11597906728">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Navalny began feeling ill on a flight to Moscow on Thursday after drinking tea all morning. The flight crew searched the cabin for a doctor before making an emergency landing at the Siberian city of Omsk where Navalny was treated for several days before being medevacked to Charité hospital in Berlin.
People close to Navalny have openly alleged that he was poisoned since he was first hospitalized. Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said that the Russian doctors in Omsk had initially not allowed Navalny to be transported to Berlin on Friday because they were stalling until the poison left his body. The doctors said they delayed releasing Navalny because he was not stable enough to travel.
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called for an investigation into the alleged attack on Navalny. “Those responsible must be identified and brought to justice,” they said in a joint statement, according to WSJ.
Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert gave additional comments during a Monday press conference.
“The suspicion is not that Mr. Navalny poisoned himself, but that someone poisoned Navalny, and there are unfortunately one or two other examples of such poisonings in recent Russian history,” Seibert said, according to a translation of his comments by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. “It was clear that after his arrival security measures had to be put in place, because we are dealing with a patient who was likely the target of a poison attack.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The German government believes Russian opposition politician Alexey <a href="https://twitter.com/navalny?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@navalny</a> was likely the target of a poison attack.
Angela Merkel&#39;s spokesman (<a href="https://twitter.com/RegSprecher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RegSprecher</a>) says Navalny needs protection. 👇<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Navalny?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Navalny</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Навальный</a> <a href="https://t.co/M37lgyewuJ">pic.twitter.com/M37lgyewuJ</a>
&mdash; DW Politics (@dw_politics) <a href="https://twitter.com/dw_politics/status/1297851215439695879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
German doctors at the Charité hospital said that Navalny was poisoned with cholinesterase inhibitors, which are chemicals found in both nerve agents and pesticides. Cholinesterase inhibitors were also used to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-boots-60-russians-over-british-assassination-emily-zanotti">poison ex-Russian spy Sergey Skripal</a> and his daughter in a failed assassination attempt in March 2018.
Navalny remains in a medically-induced coma and, “while his condition is serious, it is not currently life-threatening,” the hospital said in a <a href="https://www.charite.de/en/service/press_reports/artikel/detail/statement_by_charite_clinical_findings_indicate_alexei_navalny_was_poisoned/">statement</a>. The hospital added that the total effects of the poison on Navalny’s health have not yet been determined.
“As a result of this diagnosis, the patient is now being treated with the antidote atropine. Alexei Navalny’s prognosis remains unclear; the possibility of long-term effects, particularly those affecting the nervous system, cannot be excluded,” the hospital said. “The treating physicians remain in constant contact with Mr. Navalny’s wife. After close consultation with the patient’s wife, Charité is reassured that the decision to make details of the patient’s condition public would be in accordance with his wishes.”
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Alexei Navalny

Russian Opposition Leader Poisoned, Doctors Confirm. Germany’s Merkel Calls For ‘Justice’

poison

German doctors concluded on Monday that Russian politician and opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned, contradicting claims by Russian specialists

Russian Opposition Leader Poisoned, Doctors Confirm. Germany’s Merkel Calls For ‘Justice’ | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/russian-opposition-leader-poisoned-doctors-confirm-germanys-merkel-calls-for-justice/

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A former U.S. Army captain has been charged for allegedly conspiring to deliver defense information to Russian agents working for the country’s military intelligence agency after they first established contact with him back in the mid-1990s.
According to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-army-special-forces-officer-charged-russian-espionage-conspiracy">Department of Justice</a>, Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, started traveling to Russia beginning in 1994 and, while on an independent study program in 1996, held meetings with at least one foreign intelligence agent. He allegedly told the agent he was a “son of Russia,” and the DOJ says he subsequently met with at least six other foreign intelligence agents up until about 2010.
In meetings over the years, Debbins allegedly received an official nickname from the Russian intelligence agency, signed a statement pledging to “serve Russia,” and forwarded U.S. military information to the Russian agents, according to an indictment.
“Debbins violated his oath as a U.S. Army office, betrayed the Special Forces and endangered our country’s national security by revealing classified information to Russian intelligence officers, providing details of his unit, and identifying Special Forces team members for Russian intelligence to try to recruit as a spy,” said John Demers, assistant attorney general for National Security, in a statement Friday.
“Our country put its highest trust in this defendant, and he took that trust and weaponized it against the United States,” he said.
While the Department of Justice alleges Debbins acted out of fealty toward Russia and disgust over the role of the United States military in the world, Debbins also signed for a $1,000 payment from the Russian agents using his codename, “Ikar Lesnikov.”
Around 2003, Debbins allegedly accepted a bottle of cognac and a Russian military uniform as a gift from two Russian agents, who also offered to train him to deceive polygraph tests, according to the indictment.
After Debbins left the active duty military in the mid-2000s, he allegedly again traveled to Russia to meet with the foreign agents and discussed potential business opportunities, but one agent suggested he pursue U.S. government work instead.
In the final 2010 meeting outlined by the indictment, prosecutors suggest Debbins told the Russian agents he didn’t bring a flash drive of U.S. military field manuals with him because he was scared the Department of Homeland Security would find them. 
&#8220;The facts alleged in this case are a shocking betrayal by a former Army officer of his fellow soldiers and his country,&#8221; said Alan Kohler Jr., assistant director for counter intelligence at the FBI.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, the DOJ charged a former CIA official, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 67, earlier this week for allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cia-officer-from-hong-kong-charged-for-allegedly-giving-classified-info-to-motherland-china">sending top secret information</a> to Chinese officials over the course of a decade, a conspiracy that the department accused him of beginning in 2001.
“Two espionage arrests in the past week — Ma in Hawaii and now Debbins in Virginia — demonstrate that we must remain vigilant against espionage from our two most malicious adversaries — Russia and China,” said Demers.
Both Ma and Debbins face up to life in prison if convicted.
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Justice Department Inspector General Releases Report On Investigation Into FISA Warrant Process During The 2016 Election

Former Army Officer Charged With Espionage, Described Himself As ‘Son Of Russia,’ Says DOJ

Department of Justice

espionage

A former U.S. Army captain has been charged for allegedly conspiring to deliver defense information to Russian agents working for the country’s military

Former Army Officer Charged With Espionage, Described Himself As ‘Son Of Russia,&#039; Says DOJ | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-army-officer-charged-with-espionage-described-himself-as-son-of-russia-says-doj/

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Russia approved a vaccine for COVID-19 on Tuesday, becoming the first nation in the world to mark the achievement.
President Vladimir Putin, who announced the approval of the vaccine, said one of his two adult daughters has already been inoculated. Putin also said the vaccine underwent all tests to show its effectiveness, although Russian officials offered no data to back up his claim. The approval was granted by Russian health officials after just two months of human testing, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-vaccine-put/russia-becomes-first-country-to-approve-a-covid-19-vaccine-says-putin-idUSKCN25712U?il=0">reported</a>.
&#8220;A vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning. I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity,&#8221; Putin said on <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/russia-has-developed-first-coronavirus-vaccine-says-vladimir-putin-news-agency-afp-2277700">state TV</a> on Tuesday. &#8220;I repeat, it has passed all the needed checks. &#8230; We must be grateful to those who made that first step very important for our country and the entire world.”
Putin said that his daughter had a 104.4-degree temperature when she had her first vaccine injection. Her temperature dropped to 98.6 degrees the next day, while a second shot brought a slight increase in her temperature, which later dropped, The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/fcda62ad992db414d65f23b2adb78e44">reported</a>.
The vaccine, called Sputnik-V, which is a reference to the 1957 launch of the world&#8217;s first satellite by the Soviet Union, was developed by the Gamaleya Institute, which is based in Moscow. Russia’s health ministry said the vaccine can provide coronavirus immunity for up to two years, according to the AP. The inoculations could be available as soon as next month.
But scientists warned that the vaccine never underwent Phase 3 trials — which involve thousands of patients and usually lasts for months.
“Fast-tracked approval will not make Russia the leader in the (vaccine) race, it will just expose consumers of the vaccine to unnecessary danger,” Russia’s Association of Clinical Trials Organizations said Monday, urging government officials to postpone clearing the vaccine without completed advanced trials.
“The collateral damage from release of any vaccine that was less than safe and effective would exacerbate our current problems insurmountably,” Imperial College London immunology professor Danny Altmann said in a statement Tuesday.
The world&#8217;s largest COVID-19 vaccine study in the world began early this month, with the first of 30,000 Americans volunteering to take the shots. The experimental vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna Inc., is in phase three of the development process, which includes tests at clinical sites across the country.
“Having a safe and effective vaccine distributed by the end of 2020 is a stretch goal, but it’s the right goal for the American people,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said in a <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/phase-3-clinical-trial-investigational-vaccine-covid-19-begins">statement</a>. “The launch of this phase-3 trial in record time while maintaining the most stringent safety measures demonstrates American ingenuity at its best and what can be done when stakeholders come together with unassailable objectivity toward a common goal.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/debate-begins-over-who-will-be-first-to-receive-covid-19-vaccine">Debate Begins Over Who Will Be First To Receive COVID-19 Vaccine</a>
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Russia Has Registered The Covid-19 Vaccine

Russia Becomes First Nation To Approve COVID-19 Vaccine

Coronavirus

Russia approved a vaccine for COVID-19 on Tuesday, becoming the first nation in the world to mark the achievement. President Vladimir Putin, who announced

Russia Becomes First Nation To Approve COVID-19 Vaccine | The Daily Wire

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Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned people about trusting Moscow’s claims that it had developed a successful coronavirus vaccine.
<a href="http://dailywire.com/news/gottlieb-on-masking-some-people-see-it-as-a-sort-of-infringement-on-their-liberty">Gottlieb</a> appeared on CNBC on Tuesday morning hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced that a Russian lab had created a viable vaccine and one of the president&#8217;s daughters had already been inoculated with it.
“I wouldn’t take it, certainly not outside of a clinical trial right now,” Gottlieb said. “It appears that it’s only been tested in several hundred patients at most. In some reports, it’s been in as few as a hundred patients.”
“It’s not a trivial vaccine in terms of its technical complexity that goes into manufacturing a vaccine like this. If you remember the Chinese were also developing an adenoviral vector vaccine by a company called CanSino that’s in clinical trials in Canada and the early data on that vaccine isn’t very encouraging,” Gottlieb continued. “A lot of people had antibodies to the viral vector itself, and so they effectively neutralized the viral vector because it was based on a common cold, the virus that was being used to deliver the gene sequence in this case. And its not clear how efficacious the Russian vaccine is going to be and whether or not people have some prior immunity to the adenovirus that they are using to deliver the coronavirus gene sequence.”
The vaccine was created by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow and approved by the Russian health ministry. Putin said the vaccine “has proven efficient and forms a stable immunity” and “has passed all the necessary tests,” according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/fcda62ad992db414d65f23b2adb78e44">Associated Press</a>. He also revealed that one of his two daughters had taken the vaccine, but did not say which.
Gottlieb added later on Twitter that Moscow’s announcement may be a play to pressure the United States into rushing its own vaccine development, or “sow doubts” about the possibility of an effective vaccine in the future.
“Russia was reported to be behind disinformation campaigns to sow doubts in U.S. about our Covid vaccines; and today’s news that they ‘approved’ a vaccine on the equivalent of phase 1 data may be another effort to stoke doubts or goad U.S. into forcing early action on our vaccines,” Gottlieb said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Russia was reported to be behind disinformation campaigns to sow doubts in U.S. about our Covid vaccines; and today’s news that they “approved” a vaccine on the equivalent of phase 1 data may be another effort to stoke doubts or goad U.S. into forcing early action on our vaccines <a href="https://t.co/WR6xPkFcfJ">https://t.co/WR6xPkFcfJ</a>
&mdash; Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1293142775328845824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The U.S. State Department has issued several warnings to the White House that information and data that Moscow is reporting related to the coronavirus pandemic is not trustworthy. Intelligence officials have also warned that Russian may be trying to steal data coronavirus vaccine development from other countries.
In July, intelligence officials in Great Britain, the United States, and Canada said that a group thought to be connected to the Kremlin was attempting to <a href="https://dw-site-staging.dailywire.com/news/u-s-britain-canada-accuse-russian-intelligence-of-attempt-to-steal-vaccine-info">hack</a> labs and institutes working on a coronavirus vaccine. The most likely explanation for the espionage is that Russia was attempting to steal data to expedite the creation of their own vaccine so they could be the first to announce a viable serum.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-department-chinese-russian-iranian-state-run-media-colluding-to-blame-america-on-virus">U.S. State Department</a> warned the White House in April that Moscow was working with the Iranians and Chinese to spread misinformation about the origin of the coronavirus, blaming the outbreak on the United States. The coronavirus was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. Though the virus’ exact origins are unknown, one <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/coronavirus-china-trail-leading-back-to-wuhan-labs/">theory</a> is that it began in a Wuhan lab that had been studying coronavirus strains around the time the disease broke out.
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‘I Wouldn’t Take It’: Former FDA Commissioner Warns Against Trusting Russian Vaccine Putin Gave To Daughter

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned people about trusting Moscow’s claims that it had developed a successful

‘I Wouldn’t Take It’: Former FDA Commissioner Warns Against Trusting Russian Vaccine Putin Gave To Daughter | The Daily Wire

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On Sunday speaking with Dana Bash on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posited that although Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, has <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/07/russia-china-trump-biden-elections-392593">indicated</a> that Russia prefers President Trump and China and Iran prefer presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Russia is the greater threat to interfere in the 2020 election.
Bash initiated the exchange by referring to Evanina, saying, &#8220;A top elections official in the office of the Director of National Intelligence revealed on Friday that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President Joe Biden, while both China and Iran don&#8217;t want President Trump to win reelection. You suggested in a statement that the threats posed by these three countries are not equal.&#8221;
&#8220;That&#8217;s right,&#8221; Pelosi answered.
Bash pressed, &#8220;Tell us more about that, please.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;re not equivalent,&#8221; Pelosi opined. &#8220;And that&#8217;s why Senator Schumer — excuse me — Leader Schumer, Chairman Schiff, and — I don&#8217;t know what they call him in the Senate — I think it&#8217;s vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, Warner, have sent a letter to them saying, the American people need to know what Russia is doing to interfere in this election.&#8221;
&#8220;What can you tell us, about somebody who&#8217;s privy to that intelligence, without —&#8221; Bash started to ask.
Pelosi interjected, &#8220;Well, we can — no, we can tell more than what the intelligence community put forth. They responded positively, put more information out there, but there is more that needs to be put out there. No sources and methods. Nobody understands that better than us.&#8221;
&#8220;Can you lean into it a little bit more, for the sake of voters wondering what&#8217;s going on?&#8221; Bash queried.
&#8220;Well, I can&#8217;t divulge information that is classified,&#8221; Pelosi replied. &#8220;That&#8217;s why we want them to do it. But I will say this, that, for some reason, they have tried to have some equivalence. I take second place to no one on my criticism of China for over 30 years. They have — I have said to my staff the other day, they say I&#8217;m the most unliked American in China — disliked American in China.&#8221;
&#8220;They say, no, they don&#8217;t say that,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;They say you&#8217;re the most hated American in China, because of their human rights violations, their trade policy, their proliferation of weapons and that.&#8221;
Bash commented, &#8220;Right.&#8221;
&#8220;But — so, I have no — take no criticism for saying this,&#8221; Pelosi stated. &#8220;But the Chinese, they — what they said is, China would prefer Joe Biden. Whether they do — that&#8217;s their conclusion, that they would prefer Joe Biden. Russia is actively, 24/7 interfering in our election. They did so in 2016, and they are doing so now. And they say that to a certain extent, but they need to tell the American people more. The American people, I believe, think they should decide who the president of the United States is, not Vladimir Putin making that decision for us.&#8221;
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House Speaker Pelosi And Democratic Leader Schumer Address Media At The Capitol

Intel Official: Russia Prefers Trump; China, Iran Prefer Biden. Pelosi: Russia’s The Greater Election Threat.

Iran

On Sunday speaking with Dana Bash on CNN&#039;s &quot;State of the Union,&quot; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posited that although Bill Evanina, director of the National

Intel Official: Russia Prefers Trump; China, Iran Prefer Biden. Pelosi: Russia’s The Greater Election Threat. | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/intel-official-russia-prefers-trump-china-iran-prefer-biden-pelosi-russias-the-greater-election-threat/

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A top U.S. official revealed on Friday that the majority of nations that pose the greatest threat to the upcoming elections are working to ensure that President Donald Trump loses re-election.
National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) Director William Evanina said in a statement that foreign states were attempting to interfere in the upcoming election through &#8220;covert and overt&#8221; influence operations.
&#8220;Many foreign actors have a preference for who wins the election, which they express through a range of overt and private statements; covert influence efforts are rarer,&#8221; Evanina said. &#8220;We are primarily concerned about the ongoing and potential activity by China, Russia, and Iran.&#8221;
Evanina revealed that communist China—which is widely considered to be the greatest threat to U.S. national security and to freedom around the world—is working to make sure that Trump does not win re-election.
On communist China, the NCSC assessed:
<blockquote>We assess that China prefers that President Trump – whom Beijing sees as unpredictable – does not win reelection. China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interests, and deflect and counter criticism of China. Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current Administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of China’s Houston Consulate, and actions on other issues. For example, it has harshly criticized the Administration’s statements and actions on Hong Kong, TikTok, the legal status of the South China Sea, and China’s efforts to dominate the 5G market. Beijing recognizes that all of these efforts might affect the presidential race.</blockquote>
The report also stated that the NCSC believes that Iran is working to &#8220;undermine&#8221; Trump and is trying to divide the country ahead of the elections.
&#8220;Iran’s efforts along these lines probably will focus on on-line influence, such as spreading disinformation on social media and recirculating anti-U.S. content,&#8221; the report stated. &#8220;Tehran’s motivation to conduct such activities is, in part, driven by a perception that President Trump’s reelection would result in a continuation of U.S. pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change.&#8221;
The report added that Russia was looking to &#8220;denigrate&#8221; presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden and noted that some &#8220;Kremlin-linked actors&#8221; were promoting Trump&#8217;s candidacy.
Earlier this summer, FBI Director Chris Wray told Fox News anchor Bret Baier that China was by far the greatest threat to U.S. national security.
&#8220;Bret, there’s no country that presents a broader, more comprehensive threat to America’s innovation, to our economic security, and to our democratic ideas than China does,&#8221; Wray <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-director-were-opening-new-investigations-into-china-every-10-hours-have-over-2000-cases">said</a>. &#8220;Just to give you some context for that. Just as we’re sitting here having this conversation, the FBI has over 2,000 active investigations that trace back to the government of China.&#8221;
Last month, Attorney General William Barr <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-attorney-general-william-barr-warns-america-about-what-communist-china-is-trying-to-do">warned</a> that China was engaged in &#8220;an aggressive orchestrated whole of government, indeed whole of society, campaign to seize the commanding heights of the global economy and to surpass the United States as the world’s preeminent technological superpower.&#8221;
Donald Trump Jr. responded to the report by writing on Twitter, &#8220;The Chinese Communist Party wants @realDonaldTrump to lose in Nov because they know he&#8217;s TOUGH and always puts America First. They want @JoeBiden to win in Nov because they know he&#8217;s WEAK and has a 50 year record of selling out American workers to the Chinese Communist Party!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Chinese Communist Party wants <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> to lose in Nov because they know he&#39;s TOUGH and always puts America First.
They want <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeBiden</a> to win in Nov because they know he&#39;s WEAK and has a 50 year record of selling out American workers to the Chinese Communist Party! <a href="https://t.co/F6av5Pl2eW">https://t.co/F6av5Pl2eW</a>
&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1291812508718772224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Chinese VP Xi Jinping Tours School, Meets Local Leaders in LA

China Working To Ensure Trump ‘Does Not Win Re-Election’, Most Top Threats Want Him Out, U.S. Officials Say

A top U.S. official revealed on Friday that the majority of nations that pose the greatest threat to the upcoming elections are working to ensure that

China Working To Ensure Trump ‘Does Not Win Re-Election’, Most Top Threats Want Him Out, U.S. Officials Say | The Daily Wire

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The first troop reductions in Germany under President Donald Trump’s order have taken place, and many in the national security community are aghast, even The Wall Street Journal.
The President based his decision on Germany&#8217;s failure to contribute adequately to NATO defense, flouting an agreed on 2% (of GDP) threshold for national defense contributions, but the story – like the alliance – is more complicated.
NATO requires consensus. The validity of the alliance hangs on whether states would be willing to approve a military response to a Russian action against any NATO member. Without it, the U.S. would lack the ability to use NATO airfields in Germany, Italy, Turkey, and the UK.  It would not have permission for ground forces to transit much of western Europe.
Today, Germany&#8217;s military is a shambles.  It has few operational tanks, not very many aircraft, and a navy in serious decline.  But the Germans really don’t care. Because Germany is Russia’s biggest paying customer for natural gas, Berlin believes there is no incentive for the Russians to bother it.
If there is a threat to outliers such as Poland or the Baltic States, Germany is far from committed to responding. There is a strong likelihood that Germany would veto any NATO response to a (highly unlikely) Russian aggression outside of a direct attack on Germany itself. If Germany uses its veto, France and Italy will likely align with it.  So too would Turkey, increasingly estranged from NATO.
Thus, even without any troop pullback by the United States, NATO has reached a precarious point as a collective security alliance.
Objectively, the U.S. is a nuclear power with a weakened conventional defense capability. Years of wasteful wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hotspots have worn out conventional U.S. hardware (aircraft, ships, tanks, artillery), reduced our stockpile of munitions, especially smart weapons, and made many of our warfighters bitter about being in conflicts that sap lives and offer no compensation in victory.
From a defense planner&#8217;s perspective, any engagement of U.S. forces in Europe might break the back of our armed forces, and seriously weaken our already short-handed response to China&#8217;s growing power and assertiveness. A good analyst would argue to rebuild our forces over the next two decades before America gets into any more quagmires or engages a major power. This means that hanging onto the status quo and selective enhancements is about the best the U.S. can do in the middle future to protect our vital security interests. And, indeed, that is what the administration’s 2021 Defense Budget document calls for.
There were two rationales for NATO when it was originally set up; collective defense was not one of them. It was patently obvious the U.S. would provide the bulk of any effort to protect Europe.  The others would do what they could, which was never much.
The initial reason for NATO was to form an ironclad alliance to prevent Europeans from starting World War III. The American troop presence in Europe blocked Germany from being a hostile and dangerous aggressive power, as it was after World War I when a peace settlement failed to change its expansionist behavior, and after World War II when in the U.S. army was the bulwark against another Hitler.
The second reason for NATO was to stop Russia from being even more greedy and, to a degree, to cover up President Franklin Roosevelt&#8217;s decision to acquiesce in Russia&#8217;s domination of Eastern Europe.
What changed the equation was that the American nuclear umbrella ceased to be unilateral when Russia exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949. In the period from the 1960s through the 1980s, there developed in Europe an increasing skepticism that the U.S. would use its nuclear arsenal to defend against Russia.  In large measure, European suspicions were correct &#8212; which explains France&#8217;s Force de Frappe and the UK&#8217;s nuclear bombs and missile-firing nuclear submarines. (Even the Germans and the Italians wanted nuclear weapons but withered under U.S. pressure and backed off.  Instead, they sold their nuclear technology to Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, and others.)
Today, the danger of a general war on the continent still deters Russia, Europe, and the United States.  But a nuclear deterrent probably is meaningless in smaller land grab operations, most of which are almost impossible to prevent.  One reason Russia occupies about 20 percent of Georgia, and Ukraine is being swallowed in chunks, is that no one in Europe, or the United States, is willing – or able? – to pay a real price to stop Vladimir Putin.
In practical terms, the U.S. should worry less about NATO and instead see what it can do to bolster at least some of the most vulnerable and strategic post-communist European states. At the same time, the U.S. has to be cautious that in doing so it is not put into a costly and risky trap.
The best candidate for defense is Poland because the Poles are making serious investments in their security and because they welcome bilateral cooperation with the U.S. as a bulwark against their traditional enemy, Russia.  While NATO is unlikely to support it in a crisis, the opposite is the case with the United States, although it won’t be simple.
There is always the chance that the Europeans will reverse course, but there is little evidence the current crop of European leaders believes in NATO beyond lip service. Under current conditions, then, NATO is reaching its end as a collective security system.
Given the nearly fatal condition of NATO, President Trump&#8217;s pullout of troops has no actual impact on the balance of forces in Europe. But the decision sends a message to Western European countries that if they want to defend themselves, they had better get started.
Stephen Bryen is a former high-ranking Pentagon official. Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.
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NATO HQ

BRYEN & BRYEN: American Troops Pulled From Germany As NATO Falters

Germany

NATO

The first troop reductions in Germany under President Donald Trump’s order have taken place, and many in the national security community are aghast, even

BRYEN &amp; BRYEN: American Troops Pulled From Germany As NATO Falters | The Daily Wire

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Top FBI officials made copies of memos written by former Director James Comey on his meetings with President Donald Trump and hid those copies “in remote locations around the bureau,” aiming to shield them from the administration.
CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin revealed the steps FBI brass took to protect its investigation into alleged ties between the Trump administration and Russia in Toobin’s new book, “TRUE CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS: The Investigation of Donald Trump.” CNN published an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/politics/jeffrey-toobin-trump-fbi-mueller-true-crimes-and-misdemeanors/index.html">excerpt</a> of the book on Thursday.
In early 2017 after Trump took office, then-FBI Director James Comey feared that Trump would quash an ongoing investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election. The investigation was almost solely based on the debunked <a href="https://dw-site-staging.dailywire.com/news/new-documents-show-fbi-drove-trump-russia-collusion-investigation-forward-despite-lack-of-evidence-distrust-in-steele-dossier">Steele dossier</a>.
Comey’s fear drove him to write <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-comeys-memos-released-media-ryan-saavedra">memos</a> on conversations he had with the president and share those memos with top FBI staff. After Comey’s ouster from the bureau in May 2017, top FBI officials worried that they would be next and took steps to shield the Russia investigation.
Toobin writes in his upcoming book:
<blockquote>The FBI took extraordinary – and previously undisclosed – steps to protect its investigations.
From Comey&#8217;s first meetings with Trump, shortly after he won the presidency, the FBI director developed misgivings about his new boss&#8217; behavior – about Trump&#8217;s demands for &#8220;loyalty,&#8221; and even more unnerving, his request that the Bureau drop its investigation of Flynn. Comey&#8217;s conversations with Trump had been so distressing that the director started writing up contemporaneous summaries of their interactions and sharing them with a handful of top officials at the Bureau. Now, suddenly, Comey was out – and the question arose of what to do with his memos about his conversations with the President.</blockquote>
Andrew McCabe served as Comey’s deputy director and became acting director for the bureau after Comey was fired. McCabe made the first moves to hide the memos.
<blockquote>Given the wild pace of events, McCabe couldn&#8217;t be sure how long he&#8217;d last as director, so he wanted to lock down as much evidence as possible. Most important, he told the investigating agents to place Comey&#8217;s memos in SENTINEL, the FBI&#8217;s case management software. McCabe knew that once documents were inside the system, they were virtually impossible to remove. With Comey&#8217;s memos in the system, the investigators were certain to have access to them – even if McCabe himself would eventually be gone.
Indeed, FBI officials even went a step farther. Once McCabe became director, Bureau employees grew so concerned that Trump would try to shut down the investigation that they secreted at least three copies of key documents, including Comey&#8217;s memos, in remote locations around the Bureau. This was to make sure that in the event Trump directed an end to these inquiries, the documents could always be preserved, located, and shared.</blockquote>
After Comey was removed from his post, he took steps to ensure that his memos would be uncovered by leaking the contents of those memos to a journalist. The former FBI director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flashback-comey-reveals-he-leaked-memos-containing-james-barrett">admitted</a> to leaking the memos, which contained classified information, to a friend who gave the information to a reporter.
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Book: FBI Brass Took ‘Extraordinary’ Steps To Hide Russia Investigation Docs From Trump

Top FBI officials made copies of memos written by former Director James Comey on his meetings with President Donald Trump and hid those copies “in remote

Book: FBI Brass Took ‘Extraordinary’ Steps To Hide Russia Investigation Docs From Trump | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/book-fbi-brass-took-extraordinary-steps-to-hide-russia-investigation-docs-from-trump/

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Hillary Clinton famously tried to move past the Obama administration’s mistakes in Benghazi by claiming, “What difference, at this point, does it make?”
Now another former Obama official wants to pretend nothing happened just because a few years have passed. Former Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett suggested Tuesday we all move on from how the previous administration used the FBI to spy on its opponent, then-candidate Donald Trump, in 2016.
Appearing on Fox Business with host Maria Bartiromo, Jarrett tried to absolve the FBI investigators who looked into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election – an investigation that resulted in a two-year special counsel investigation that found no collusion.
&#8220;Well, Maria, look, I have a high degree of confidence that our of intelligence community, our investigators comported themselves responsibly,” Jarrett said. “Look, Lindsey Graham is the one that encouraged Senator McCain to turn over the dossier in the first place to the FBI.”
McCain was involved in jumpstarting the allegations that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia, but Jarrett ignores the major role the Obama FBI played in inappropriately surveilling campaign adviser Carter Page. As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ig-report-here-are-the-17-specific-inaccuracies-and-omissions-in-the-fbis-fisa-warrants-against-carter-page">reported</a>, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found 17 “inaccuracies and omissions” in FISA warrant applications to spy on Page. The FBI blatantly ignored information from a U.S. government agency that said it had a prior relationship with Page involving contacts with Russian intelligence officers. An FBI agent went so far as to alter an email to make it look like this agency said Page did not work with them.
The FBI hid this information from the FISA court in order to obtain another warrant to continue investigating Page, even though it knew there was nothing to investigate. By spying on Page, the FBI gained access to other Trump associates to spy on in order to find some evidence that could be used against Trump.
Jarrett then pushed the blame for the dubious investigation onto former FBI Director James Comey, who was a major player in the whole situation, but she again pushes the blame from the Obama administration.
“So, I can’t tell you all of the reasons why Comey went forward with his investigation. Maybe this was one piece of a bigger puzzle. But I do know that it’s nearly four years ago and I don’t understand why our focus isn’t on what’s happening right now and today. That’s the investigation I would like to see going on,&#8221; Jarrett said.
Jarrett is essentially demanding we move on from the biggest scandal in political history since Watergate because it happened four years ago. She neglects that two years were spent investigating Trump, while DOJ-appointed investigators are continuing to work on how that dubious investigation began. Newly declassified documents continue to paint a picture of an FBI that knew there was no evidence of collusion, but continued to investigate and leak information to the press to create a narrative that Trump stole the election. The real scandal is the investigation itself, which started at the behest of the Obama administration.
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Valerie Jarrett

Former Obama Adviser Valerie Jarrett Wants To Move On From Origins Of Trump-Russia Investigation: ‘It Was Four Years Ago’

Obama Administration

Hillary Clinton famously tried to move past the Obama administration’s mistakes in Benghazi by claiming, “What difference, at this point, does it make?”

Former Obama Adviser Valerie Jarrett Wants To Move On From Origins Of Trump-Russia Investigation: ‘It Was Four Years Ago’ | The Daily Wire

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The most recent trove of declassified documents shows the FBI used the pretense of a defensive briefing as an opportunity to spy on President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The Federalist <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/07/23/declassified-documents-show-fbi-used-defensive-briefing-in-2016-to-spy-on-donald-trump/#.XxoHAzWE1CQ.twitter">reported</a> that the documents, which were declassified Wednesday by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and provided to senators on the Finance and Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees, are just the latest to show how far the FBI was willing to go to make a case against the Trump campaign.
“In one of the documents declassified and released on Wednesday, FBI supervisory Special Agent Joe Pientka wrote that he deliberately used the briefing to ‘actively listen for topics or questions’ from Trump ‘regarding the Russian Federation.’ Rather than provide the Trump campaign a specific warning that certain campaign principals were being targeted by Russian intelligence, the FBI instead gave a general, non-specific warning that foreign intelligence services might eventually target the campaign,” the outlet reported. “Pientka’s written summary of the briefing noted that Trump, Michael Flynn, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were the only three Trump campaign members in attendance. Christie’s attendance had not previously been disclosed. The August 17, 2016 meeting came the day after the FBI opened a formal counterintelligence investigation against Flynn and just two days after FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok texted his former lover, FBI attorney Lisa Page, about an ‘insurance policy’ he had designed to keep Trump from becoming president.”
Pientka wrote in his notes that the meeting lasted roughly two hours, during which time he spent just 13 minutes providing the Trump campaign members a warning about foreign interference. He then complained about other intelligence officials not having enough time to provide the campaign with their own material suggesting foreign interference.
“Due to time constraints, not all ODNI briefers presented their material,” Pientka wrote, ignoring the fact that he used the meeting to spy on the Trump campaign. He didn’t address whether that may have kept other intelligence officials from providing their information to the campaign.
Pientka, according to a report from the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), “was selected to provide the FBI briefings, in part, because Flynn, who was a subject in the ongoing Crossfire Hurricane investigation, would be attending the Trump campaign briefing.” Pientka told the OIG that he was sent to the meeting to “record” or “overhear” from the attendees “any kind of admission” that they were colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton. Pientka also wanted to study Flynn’s “overall mannerisms” to potentially use as a base against him in the future.
Pientka was present during the FBI’s interview on January 24, 2017, where agents questioned Flynn about a phone call from months earlier with then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Even though the FBI already had a transcript of the phone call, they questioned Flynn to try to trip him up so they could charge him with lying. The charges against Flynn were dropped earlier this year.
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Trump campaign

New Documents Show FBI Used A Briefing To Spy On The Trump Campaign In 2016

Michael Flynn

Peter Strzok

The most recent trove of declassified documents shows the FBI used the pretense of a defensive briefing as an opportunity to spy on President Donald

New Documents Show FBI Used A Briefing To Spy On The Trump Campaign In 2016 | The Daily Wire

https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-documents-show-fbi-used-a-briefing-to-spy-on-the-trump-campaign-in-2016/

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