Special Counsel

GOPropaganda machine turns to McCarthyism to defend Trump (Updated)

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“McCarthyism” is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, Donald Trump accused FBI agent Peter Strzok, the Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division, of “treason.” Trump Accuses FBI Agent of ‘Treason’. Agent Strzok was removed from Mueller’s team last summer following the discovery of anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with a FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, with whom he was having an affair, who was also assigned to Mueller’s team.

Trump’s McCarthyism should come as no surprise to anyone as his long-time attorney (consigliere) for many years was the disreputable Roy Cohn: Joe McCarthy’s henchman and Donald Trump’s mentor. Roy Cohn was eventually disbarred by a New York court for conduct that was ”unethical,” ”unprofessional” and, in one case, ”particularly reprehensible.” The apprentice learned well at the feet of his master.

Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are the cause célèbre in one of several conspiracy theories that have been ginned up by the Trump administration in coordination with its allies in Congress and its GOPropagandists in the conservative media entertainment complex, in particular FAUX News (aka Trump TV).

The mighty Wurlitzer of the right-wing noise machine has been in overdrive this month cranking out multiple conspiracy theories with which to discredit federal law enforcement officials at the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Special Counsel’s office in defense of their “Dear Leader.” This is the kind of thing that you see from state-run propaganda media in authoritarian autocratic regimes.

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Special Counsel closes in on Trump inner circle in obstruction of justice investigation

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Our Confederate Attorney General, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, is in legal jeopardy as Special Counsel Robert Mueller closes in on the obstruction of justice leg of his investigation.

Sessions was directly involved in the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. According to Axios.com, “at the public urging of President Donald Trump — Sessions has [also] been pressuring FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, but Wray threatened to resign if McCabe was removed. Scoop: FBI director threatened to resign amid Trump, Sessions pressure:

  • Wray’s resignation under those circumstances would have created a media firestorm. The White House — understandably gun-shy after the Comey debacle — didn’t want that scene, so McCabe remains.
  • Sessions told White House Counsel Don McGahn about how upset Wray was about the pressure on him to fire McCabe, and McGahn told Sessions this issue wasn’t worth losing the FBI Director over, according to a source familiar with the situation.
  • Why it matters: Trump started his presidency by pressuring one FBI Director (before canning him), and then began pressuring another (this time wanting his deputy canned). This much meddling with the FBI for this long is not normal.

McGahn has been informed about these ongoing conversations, though he has not spoken with Wray about FBI personnel, according to an administration source briefed on the situation. Trump nominated Wray, previously an assistant attorney general under George W. Bush, last June to replace James Comey as director.

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Rep. Devin Nunes is back with his conspiracy theories to discredit the FBI and to obstruct the investigations into Donald Trump

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Should Special Counsel Robert Mueller bring charges against Donald Trump and members of his inner circle for a conspiracy to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation, he should include Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, for his direct coordination with the White House and the conservative media entertainment complex in manufacturing conspiracy theories with which to discredit the FBI, to misdirect the House Intelligence Committee from its Russia investigation, and to obstruct the Special Counsel investigation into his “Dear Leader,” Donald Trump.

Rep. Nunes is back in the news again with a unified theory of the several conspiracy theories he and the Trump White House have manufactured over the past year in a “memo” he has prepared, reportedly based on highly classified information, over which the conservative media entertainment complex are all frothing at the mouth accusing the FBI of criminal misconduct in order to target their “Dear Leader” with the Russia investigation.

POLITICO reports, House Republicans clash over secret memo:

House Republicans are sharply divided over how to handle a classified memo that President Donald Trump’s allies say contains explosive details of misconduct by senior FBI and Justice Department officials.

The memo, compiled by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes and fellow Republicans on the panel, claims that senior federal officials abused a secret surveillance program, commonly known as FISA, to target the Trump campaign. It also alleges other federal law enforcement wrongdoing that some Republicans insist should lead to the firings of senior officials.

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FBI investigating the NRA for Russian collusion

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The lobbyist organization for the merchants of death, the National Rifle Association, is under investigation by the FBI to determine whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the NRA to help Donald Trump win the presidency. McClatchy News reports, FBI investigating whether Russian money went to NRA to help Trump:

The FBI is investigating whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump win the presidency, two sources familiar with the matter have told McClatchy.

FBI counterintelligence investigators have focused on the activities of Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank who is known for his close relationships with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the NRA, the sources said.

It is illegal to use foreign money to influence federal elections.

It’s unclear how long the Torshin inquiry has been ongoing, but the news comes as Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sweeping investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including whether the Kremlin colluded with Trump’s campaign, has been heating up.

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Disclosure of the Torshin investigation signals a new dimension in the 18-month-old FBI probe of Russia’s interference. McClatchy reported a year ago that a multi-agency U.S. law enforcement and counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s intervention, begun even before the start of the 2016 general election campaign, initially included a focus on whether the Kremlin secretly helped fund efforts to boost Trump, but little has been said about that possibility in recent months.

The extent to which the FBI has evidence of money flowing from Torshin to the NRA, or of the NRA’s participation in the transfer of funds, could not be learned.

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House Intelligence Committee releases transcript of Glenn Simpson testimony

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Last week Senator Dianne Feinstein unilaterally released the transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee interview with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. Today, the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday voted to release the transcript of its interview with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. House intelligence panel votes to release transcript from Fusion GPS co-founder interview: The … Read more