Even a broken clock is right twice a day. With this in mind I note that it seems that the blind hog by name of Newt Gingrich seems to have found a truffle.
Newt Gingrich: Why the Mueller probe is really five scandals, not one
By Newt Gingrich, FOX News
The current Robert Mueller-Justice Department-Russia mess is almost impossible to understand because it is made up of five parallel scandals.
…
I realized that the scandal is so big, so complex, and involves so many people with power that codifying it really required me to draw from my experience writing novels. There are so many egos and there is so much manipulative behavior, dishonesty (and dishonesty about the dishonesty) that it is very difficult to explain it as a straightforward history. It could be more easily explained as a narrative of ambition, illegality and criminal plotting.
Finally, it hit me that the real problem is that there are five parallel and often interlocked scandals going on in concert:
Former Speaker Gingrich goes on to identify his five threads as:
- The Clinton Crime Family’s Criminal Ways.
- The Deepstate/praetorian defense of Candidate Clinton.
- The Deepstate/praetorian campaign to defeat Candidate Trump which morphed into hobbling President Trump.
- The increasing arrogance of the Deepstate/praetorian as regards to Congressional Oversight.
- Panic among the Deepstate/praetorian as they realized they were in legal jeopardy under a Trump administration.
What Mr. Gingrich overlooks or treats as peripheral is the contra-constitutional feckless way in which the Obama Administration used the tools of National Security against domestic political foes for partisan political advantage. Let me unpack that for you: Obama either ordered, encouraged, or turned a blind eye to his Intelligence Community using the powers they were granted to spy upon President Obama’s domestic political opponents for partisan political advantage over the Citizens whose rights he was sworn to protect.
As you review the timeline below note how reliant the Obama administration became on information illicitly gleaned from FISA 702 intercepts. In large part the FISA Title 1 search authorization against Carter Page was a means of turning the FISA spigot back on after Admiral Mike Rodgers shut it down and was rushed through before the FIS Court could be apprised of the frauds perpetrated on it.
Former Speaker Gingrich’s first and second points are also clear from the FBI’s treatment of the Hillary Clinton e-mails, and particularly telling on the reflash caused by the Weiner/Abedin laptop contents. Inspector General Horowitz’s report on this matter will no doubt be very revealing.
Even more revealing will be Inspector General Horowitz’s report on FISA abuse and domestic spying.
Here is my timeline:
2011 Obama administration relaxes rules for “un-masking” U. S. Persons identified in FISA authorized intercepts, while increasing the period for which such intercepts could be retained. They also create and start entering data into a searchable database (FISA 702).
2012 July 12 While in Russia Secretary of State Hillary Clinton e-mails account of President Obama via her private e-mail server.*
2013 June ?? FBI (Agent Peter Strzok) interviews Carter Page in re his ongoing relations with Russian nationals. Page informs them their time would be better spent on the Boston Marathon Bombing.
2014 August ?? State Department turns over 15,000 pages of documentation to Congressional Oversight Committees, including documents received from Secretary Clinton’s private e-mail server.*
2015 March 04 NYT’s reports that then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was using a private e-mail server.*
March 07 Obama claims he learned of Hillary Clinton e-mail server via news reports (despite the July 12 2012 e-mail received from those servers).*
May 19 Justice Dept. Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Peter Kadzik emails Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta from a private Gmail account to give him a “heads ups” involving Congressional questions about Clinton email.
July 24 Inspector General of the State Department makes a security referral to the FBI ‘for an investigation regarding the fact that “classified information may exist on at least one private server and thumb drive that are not in the government’s possession.'” [This should be the start date for the Clinton e-mail investigation by the FBI]*
November ?? The FBI and DOJ’s National Security Division (NSD) are using private contractors to access raw FISA information using “To” and “From” FISA- 702(16) & “About” FISA-702(17) queries.
December 29 Use of FISA Data/Searches against United States Persons. Adam Entous in the Wall Street Journal reported “the National Security Agency’s targeting of Israeli leaders and officials also swept up the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups.”**
December 29 Additional reports of U. S. Person communications being monitored as part of surveillance of Israel in support of the Iran deal.**
2016 NSA Audit reveals contractors have unfettered and un-supervised access to FISA 702 Data via DoJ/FBI.**
Obama officials vastly expand their searches through NSA database for Americans and the content of their communications. In 2013, there were 9,600 searches involving 195 Americans. But in 2016, there are 30,355 searches of 5,288 Americans.
Justice Dept. associate deputy attorney general Bruce Ohr meets with Fusion GPS’ Christopher Steele, the Yemen-born ex-British spy leading anti-Trump political opposition research project
March ?? March John Podesta’s e-mails hacked.
March ?? DIRNSA Admiral Mike Rogers becomes aware of contractor searches of FISA data.**
March ?? FBI Interviews Carter Paige a second time.
April ?? DNC Servers breached.
April 10 Obama publicly states that he doesn’t talk to FBI/DOJ during investigations.
April 18 NSA Director (DIRNSA) Admiral Mike Rogers terminates all contractor access to FISA 702 Data.**
April 19 Fusion GPS Mary Jacobi goes to White House.
April 25 Clinton Campaign makes first payment to Perkins Coie, which is funneled to FusionGPS.
FBI James Baker and DOJ FISA attorneys meet at White House.
April 30 DNC reports “hack”. Previous hack in 2014.
May ?? Papodopoulous. When the drunken junior Trump foreign policy adviser George Papodopoulous boasted in a London bar in May 2016 about Russian intelligence operatives peddling hacked emails that were damaging to Clinton, his most interested listener, according to The New York Times, was Alexander Downer, Australian high commissioner to the U.K.
May 04 Donald Trump becomes presumptive GOP Nominee for President.
May 09 Obama endorses Hillary for President.
May 16 Fusion GPS Hires Nellie Ohr [Nellie is the wife of DoJ NSD attorney Bruce Ohr]. Her husband, Bruce, reportedly fails to disclose her specific employer and work in his Justice Dept. conflict of interest disclosures.
May 19 DOJ Official [Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik] Gives Hillary Campaign A Heads Up. Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Peter Kadzik sends an email to campaign head John Podesta about FOIA requests and Congressional hearings.
May 23 FBI probe into Virginia governor and Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe becomes public. (McAuliffe is ultimately not charged with a crime).
Justice Department Inspector General confirms it’s looking into FBI’s Andrew McCabe for alleged conflicts of interest in handling of Clinton and Gov. McAuliffe probes in light of McAuliffe directing campaign donations to McCabe’s wife.
FBI officials Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, who are reportedly having an illicit affair, text each other that Trump’s ascension in the campaign will bring “pressure…to finish” Clinton probe.
Nellie Ohr applies for a ham radio license. [ham radio not subject to FISA intercept].
June ?? FBI applies for FISA surveillance of Trump campaign.**
June 07 Hillary Clinton becomes presumptive Democrat nominee.
June 09 Trump Tower Meeting. Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner with Russian lawyer who said he has political opposition research on Clinton. (No research was ultimately provided.) According to CNN, the FBI has not yet restarted a wiretap against Manafort but will soon do so.
June 12 Wikileaks announces they have Clinton emails
June 14 WaPo reports Russia responsible for hacking DNC.
June 15 Gruccifer (a Romanian) 2.0 releases hacked Podesta emails.
Steele hired by FusionGPS with Clinton funds.
June 22 Wikileaks begins publishing Clinton Campaign and DNC e-mails.
June 27 Bill Clinton meets Attorney General Loretta Lynch on tarmac in Phoenix.
June 30 Draft of Comey exoneration of Hillary Clinton starts to circulate.
July 01 Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces she will follow FBI’s recommendations in re Hillary Clinton’s e-mails.
July 02 Hillary Clinton interviewed by FBI (Peter Strzok). No notes, no transcript.
July 05 FIS Court denies (in full) FBI request for surveillance of Trump campaign.**
July 05 Christopher Steele shares Russian “Dossier” with Rome-based FBI agent in London.
Romanian Gruccifer 2.0 hacks Clinton, again.
FBI Director James Comey holds press conference in which he exonerates Hillary Clinton
Agent Strzok signs off on CI Investigation of Trump Campaign.
July 10 DNC IT worker Seth Rich murdered in Washington, D. C.
July ?? FSC rejects surveillance request on Carter Page.**
July 12 Carter Page first meets Halper at Cambridge symposium (Dearlove, Vin Weber, Madeleine Albright are speakers.)+
July 22 Wikileaks publishes DNC emails
July 31 FBI opens Counter Intelligence Investigation into “Russian Meddling” with 2016 Election.+
August 01 Stzork goes to London to conduct interviews.+
August 14 New York Times breaks story about cash payments made a decade ago to Paul Manafort by pro-Russia interests in Ukraine. The ledger was released and publicized by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
August 15 CNN reports the FBI is conducting an inquiry into Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort’s payments from pro-Russia interests in Ukraine in 2007 and 2009.
August 15 “Insurance” text between Strzok and Page.
August 16 Halper meets with unnamed Trump campaign adviser [Trump campaign co-chair Sam Clovis?].+
August 19 Manafort resigns as Trump Campaign Chairman
September ?? “…three FBI agents awakened him [Deripaska] in his home; at least one agent had worked with Deripaska on the aborted effort to rescue Levinson. During an hour-long visit, the agents posited a theory that Trump’s campaign was secretly colluding with Russia to hijack the U.S. election.”+
Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS co-founder) hired by Washington Free Beacon to perform opposition research on Republican Presidential Candidates.
September 2 Halper contacts Papadop by email, Popadop asked to write policy paper.+
FBI officials Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text that “[President Obama] wants to know everything we’re doing.”***
September 5 Hillary Clinton accuses Russia of election interference.
September 13 Papadop meets Halper, asks about Clinton emails. Papadop says he said nothing.+
September ?? Fusion GPS’ Christopher Steele’s FBI contact tells him the agency wants to see his opposition research “right away” and offers to pay him $50,000, according to the New York Times, for solid corroboration of his salacious, unverified claims. Steele flies to Rome, Italy to meet with FBI and provide a “full briefing.”
September 21 Steele briefed reporters from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Yahoo News, the New Yorker, and CNN on the contents of his “dossier.”
A report in the Daily Mail claims Weiner has been maintaining an online relationship with a 15-year-old girl.****
September 2? NYPD executes Search Warrant for Weiner/Abedein computer.****
September 2? Weiner attorney turns over emails to NYPD, classified State Department e-mails and documents on Weiner/Abedin laptop.****
September 23 Issikoff reports Carter Page investigation in Yahoo news
September 23 It’s revealed that Justice Department has granted five Clinton officials immunity from prosecution: former chief of staff Cheryl Mills, State Department staffers John Bentel and Heather Samuelson, and Clinton computer workers Paul Combetta and Brian Pagliano.
September 26 Government DoJ-NSD Head John Carlin files the Government’s proposed 2016 Section 702 certifications. The filing does not disclose the FISA Abuses. Carlin is aware of Rogers’ compliance review. The 2016 certifications are scheduled for Court approval on October 26, 2016.**
September 26 Obama administration asks FIS court to allow National Counter Terrorism Center to access sensitive, “unmasked” intel on Americans acquired by FBI and NSA. (The Court later approves the request.)
September 27 DoJ-NSD Head John Carlin announces his intention to resign.**
September 27 Halper paid $282K by Washington Headquarters Services (DoD)
September 28 NYPD refers matter [classified e-mails and documents on Weiner/Abbedin laptop] to FBI where McCabe sits on it. NYPD informs FBI (Strzok) that Weiner/Humadin laptop contains “hundreds of thousands” of State Department E-mails.****
October 7 First time Obama admin (Clapper/Johnson) blames Russia for DNC hack
October 15 DoJ-NSD Head John Carlin resignation takes effect.**
DNI Clapper attempts to have DIRNSA Admiral Mike Rogers removed.**
October 20 NSA Compliance officer briefs DIRNSA Mike Rogers on the Section 702 NSA compliance audit and “About” query violations.**
October 21 DIRNSA Mike Rogers shuts down all “About Query” activity. Rogers reports the activity to DOJ and prepares to go before the FISA Court.** Obama administration loses unfettered access to FISA 702 data.
October 21 FISC Grants Title 1 surveillance request against Carter Page. Obama administratin regains unfettered access to FISA 702 data for all persons within two hops of Carter Page (thus covering Trump and his entire Campaign staff).
October 21 U.S. Attorney (SDNY) called Main Justice in DC (the DOJ National Security Division in DC)to ask about why they were not receiving authority for a search warrant in re State Department emails.****
October 24 Government [DIRNSA] “orally aprised the [FIS] Court of significant non-compliance with the NSA’s miminization proceedures involving queries of data acquited under Section 702 using U. S. Person Identifiers.”**
October 26 FIS Court receives amplifying data, holds a hearing, and postpones 2016 certification into 2017.**
October 26 AG Lynch threatens civil and criminal repurcussions if NYPD reveals contents of emails from Weiner’s lawyer.****
October 28 Comey informs Congress that Clinton E-Mail investigation re-opened due to documents on Weiner/Abedin laptop.****
November 04 Eric Prince on radio relays nature of information from Weiner laptop and DoJ pushback on NYPD.****
November 06 Comey informs Congress that Clinton E-Mail investigation is closed again without charges.****
November 17 DIRNSA Briefs President Elect Trump and his transition team in Trump Tower. Does not inform DNI James Clapper.
President Elect Trump and Transition Team shift all activities out of Trump Tower and into Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey.
November 19 Sec Def Ashton B. Carter and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. recommend that DIRNSA Admiral Michael Rogers be dismissed.
December 17 Halper, Dearlove, Martland quit Cambridge Intel Service, citing Russian influence.
2017 January 03 Government [DIRNSA] provides further submissions. Court finds the submission and remediation plans insufficient.
Jan 12 DoJ OIG Announces Initiation of Review of Clinton E-mail investigation.* ****
Jan ~21 FISC Renews Title 1 surveillance request against Carter Page (First renewal).**
Jan 26 Government provides further submissions and requests delay to 31 January which is granted.**
Jan 27 Government provides further submissions and requests delay to 26 May and was granted extension to April 28.**
March ?? FBI informs Congress of CI Investigation which was launched on July 31 (7 months into investigation).
March 30 Governmnet (Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence) files Amended 2016 Certifications and Reports on FISA Activities.**
March/April DNI Dan Coates and DIRNSA Admiral Rogers work to declassify FIS Court “Memorandum Opinion and Order”**
March/April INSD (FBI) begins leak investigations.
April ~21 FISC Renews Title 1 surveillance request against Carter Page (Second renewal).**
April 26 FIS Court releases (redacted) Memorandum Opinion and Order.**
May President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey.
May 17 Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints former FBI Director Mueller as Special Counsel.
June (late) Mueller interviews Director of National Security Don Coates and DIRNSA Admiral Michael S. Rogers.
June/July INSD leak investigation focuses on McCabe, Kortan, and Page. Page produces her texts with Strzok in support of her veracity.
July Agent Strzok of the FBI is removed from the Special Counsel investigation.
July 17 DAG Rosenstein requests re-authorization of Title 1 surveillance of Carter Page (Third renewal).**
July 18 DoJ/FBI OIG and INSD begin reporting probable criminal activity by Deputy Director McCabe to Rosenstein, Wray, and Sessions.
July 20 DoJ/FBI OIG gains access to Page/Strzok texts.
August 02 Special Counsel Mueller requests clarification of his mandate/scope from DAG Rosenstein.
October ~21 FISC Renews Title 1 surveillance request against Carter Page (Fourth renewal).**
December 08 HPSCI Chairman Nunes publicly claims the FBI and DoJ have abused their FISA powers.**
2018 February 2 HPSCI Releases redacted Memorandum documenting FISA abuse.**
February 25 HPSCI Releases redacted minority report.
March 14 DoJ/FBI OPR recommends Deputy Director McCabe be terminated for cause.
March 17 AG Sessions fires FBI Deputy Director McCabe.
March 28 DoJ/FBI IG announces investigation into FISA Abuse.
April 13 DoJ/FBI IG releases First Report, “A REPORT OF INVESTIGATION OF CERTAIN ALLEGATIONS RELATING TO FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR ANDREW MCCABE”
April 18 HPSCI sends criminal referrals to DoJ/FBI.
April 27 HPSCI Releases their Final Report on Russian Interference in 2016 Election.
May 4 DIRNSA Admiral Mike Rogers retires.
Guide to threads within the timeline:
*Clinton abuse of Classified Materiels / e-mail.
**FISA misuse and abuse
***B. Hussein Obama in the loop
****Abedin abuse of Classified Materiels / e-mail (re-flash of Clinton abuses).
+Agents employed against Trump Campaign / Presidency
