Besides the well-known criminal investigation into whether the firing of James Comey as FBI Director constitutes obstruction of justice, the FBI also quietly launched a counterintelligence investigation into whether Donald Trump is a Russian agent. The counterintelligence investigation was begun at the same time as the criminal investigation — within days of Comey’s firing.
The New York Times reported Friday that “law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.” The Times added that “agents also sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence.” Conspicuously absent in those questions is the possibility (or, more correctly, probability) that President Trump is not an agent of Russia at all — whether deliberately or accidentally.
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Of course, the false “Trump/Russia collusion” narrative requires that the president’s firing of Comey — who was hated by the president’s enemies right up until he was fired — must be another strike against Trump in the never-ending investigation that appears more and more like “bridge to nowhere.”
It’s a sort of self-fulfilling delusion: Comey was accused of causing the election of Donald Trump by conducting an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s illegal use of a private, unsecured, unauthorized e-mail server and account to send/receive classified information during her tenure as secretary of state. However, he was fired by the president at the same time that the FBI and other agencies were conducting an investigation based on wild claims by Clinton and others that Trump colluded with Russian officials. Therefore, suddenly, Comey is reformed and his firing is reason for launching yet another, deeper probe into the matter.
In reality, Comey’s “investigation” of Clinton’s illegal e-mail usage was little more than a dog-and-pony show — with a predetermined outcome that she would not be charged, despite overwhelming evidence of her crimes.
But the rabbit hole gets even deeper. The Times’ unnamed sources said the FBI was already suspicious of “Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign but held off on opening an investigation into him,” partly “because they were uncertain how to proceed with an inquiry of such sensitivity and magnitude,” according to the report. What allegedly “helped prompt the counterintelligence aspect of the inquiry” was “the president’s activities before and after Mr. Comey’s firing in May 2017, particularly two instances in which Mr. Trump tied the Comey dismissal to the Russia investigation.”
But that scenario creates problems with the timeline: the “two instances” cited by the Times as the alleged reasons for launching the counterintelligence probe into whether Trump is a Russian mole are dated May 11, 2017 and September 1, 2017.
Here are the problems with trying to pound the square peg of those instances into the round hole of the timeline: First, both of these instances happened after Comey’s firing. Despite the claim that it was “the president’s activities before and after Mr. Comey’s firing in May 2017” that caused the FBI to launch the counterintelligence probe, there is no mention of what instance took place before Comey was sent packing. Second, the September 1, 2017 took place months after the firing. The FBI launched its probe within days of Trump’s announcement that Comey was fired. A mere glance at a calendar would tell anyone that something that happened in September 2017 could not be the cause of an investigation being launched in May 2017.
Setting aside that paradox, the fact remains that the FBI — while publicly investigating whether President Trump obstructed justice in firing Comey — also began secretly investigating whether that firing was an example of “working on behalf of Russia against American interests” and consequently amounted to “a possible threat to national security.” Both the obstruction and counterintelligence investigations were taken over by Special Counsel Robert Mueller when he was appointed soon after Comey was fired.
The spectre of “national security” concerns was brought into the open in October when James A. Baker, who served as FBI general counsel until late 2017, testified privately before House investigators who were examining the FBI’s handling of the various and sundry Russia probes. Baker, who appears to have played his own part in covering up Obama-era illegal surveillance of Trump, is quoted in the Times article — based on portions of his testimony which were read to the Times — as saying, “Not only would it be an issue of obstructing an investigation, but the obstruction itself would hurt our ability to figure out what the Russians had done, and that is what would be the threat to national security.”
But more than a year and half later, neither investigation has turned up anything. Because if it had, it would have been emblazoned across the front page of every liberal newspaper in America — the New York Times included. As Trump lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated, “The fact that it goes back a year and a half and nothing came of it that showed a breach of national security means they found nothing.”
For his part, President Trump turned to his favored social media platform Saturday morning. Starting at 4:05 a.m., the president spent the better part of an hour and a half tweeting what amounts to one statement on the subject. His statement — without the requisite breaks inserted by Twitter — was:
Wow, just learned in the Failing New York Times that the corrupt former leaders of the FBI, almost all fired or forced to leave the agency for some very bad reasons, opened up an investigation on me, for no reason & with no proof, after I fired Lyin’ James Comey, a total sleaze!
Funny thing about James Comey. Everybody wanted him fired, Republican and Democrat alike. After the rigged & botched Crooked Hillary investigation, where she was interviewed on July 4th Weekend, not recorded or sworn in, and where she said she didn’t know anything (a lie), the FBI was in complete turmoil (see N.Y. Post) because of Comey’s poor leadership and the way he handled the Clinton mess (not to mention his usurpation of powers from the Justice Department). My firing of James Comey was a great day for America. He was a Crooked Cop who is being totally protected by his best friend, Bob Mueller, & the 13 Angry Democrats – leaking machines who have NO interest in going after the Real Collusion (and much more) by Crooked Hillary Clinton, her Campaign, and the Democratic National Committee. Just Watch!
I have been FAR tougher on Russia than Obama, Bush or Clinton. Maybe tougher than any other President. At the same time, & as I have often said, getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. I fully expect that someday we will have good relations with Russia again!
Lyin’ James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter S and his lover, agent Lisa Page, & more, all disgraced and/or fired and caught in the act. These are just some of the losers that tried to do a number on your President. Part of the Witch Hunt. Remember the “insurance policy?” This is it!
The “insurance policy” to which President Trump referred is mentioned in one of the myriad text messages back and forth between disgraced FBI agents Peter Strzok and (his mistress) Lisa Page. While discussing the possibility that Trump may win the election, the two mention an “insurance policy” to get rid of him if that were to happen. The president’s assertion that this is that “insurance policy” appears to be spot on. After all, the various and sundry Mueller probes all seem designed to drum Trump out of the White House, or at least to hound him as long as he is there.
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