TheHill | The Washington press corps seems
engaged in a collective demonstration of the legal concept of willful
blindness, or deliberately ignoring the facts, following the release of
yet another declassified document which directly refutes prior
statements about the investigation into Russia collusion. The document
shows that FBI officials used a national security briefing of then
candidate Donald Trump and his top aides to gather possible evidence for Crossfire Hurricane, its code name for the Russia investigation.
It
is astonishing that the media refuses to see what is one of the biggest
stories in decades. The Obama administration targeted the campaign of
the opposing party based on false evidence. The media covered Obama
administration officials ridiculing the suggestions of spying on the
Trump campaign and of improper conduct with the Russia investigation.
When Attorney General William Barr told the Senate last year that he
believed spying did occur, he was lambasted in the media, including by
James Comey and others involved in that investigation. The mocking “wow”
response of the fired FBI director received extensive coverage.
The
new document shows that, in summer 2016, FBI agent Joe Pientka briefed
Trump campaign advisers Michael Flynn and Chris Christie over national
security issues, standard practice ahead of the election. It had a
discussion of Russian interference. But this was different. The document
detailing the questions asked by Trump and his aides and their
reactions was filed several days after that meeting under Crossfire
Hurricane and Crossfire Razor, the FBI investigation of Flynn. The two
FBI officials listed who approved the report are Kevin Clinesmith and
Peter Strzok.
Clinesmith
is the former FBI lawyer responsible for the FISA surveillance
conducted on members of the Trump campaign. He opposed Trump and sent an
email after the election declaring “viva the resistance.” He is now
under review for possible criminal charges for altering a FISA court
filing. The FBI used Trump adviser Carter Page as the basis for the
original FISA application, due to his contacts with Russians. After that
surveillance was approved, however, federal officials discredited the
collusion allegations and noted that Page was a CIA asset. Clinesmith
had allegedly changed the information to state that Page was not working
for the CIA.
Strzok is the
FBI agent whose violation of FBI rules led Justice Department officials
to refer him for possible criminal charges. Strzok did not hide his
intense loathing of Trump and famously referenced an “insurance policy”
if Trump were to win the election. After FBI officials concluded there
was no evidence of any crime by Flynn at the end of 2016, Strzok
prevented the closing of the investigation as FBI officials searched for
any crime that might be used to charge the incoming national security
adviser.
Documents show
Comey briefed President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on the
investigation shortly before the inauguration of Trump. When Comey
admitted the communications between Flynn and Russian officials appeared
legitimate, Biden reportedly suggested using the Logan Act, a law
widely seen as unconstitutional and never been used to successfully
convict a single person, as an alternative charge against Flynn. The
memo contradicts eventual claims by Biden that he did not know about the
Flynn investigation. Let us detail some proven but mostly unseen facts.
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