The sources said Ohr’s outreach about the dossier – as well as its author, ex-British spy Christopher Steele; the opposition research firm behind it, Glenn Simpson’s Fusion GPS; and his wife Nellie Ohr’s work for Fusion – occurred before and after the FBI fired Steele as a source over his media contacts.
Ohr’s network of contacts on the dossier included: former FBI agent Peter Strzok; former FBI lawyer Lisa Page; former deputy director Andrew McCabe; Weissmann and at least one other DOJ official; and a current FBI agent who worked with Strzok on the Russia case.
Weissmann was kept “in the loop” on the dossier, a source said, while he was chief of the criminal fraud division. He is now assigned to Special Counsel Mueller’s team.
The list includes several figures who have since attracted the scorn of President Trump as he decries the Russia probe and those involved in its early stages. Trump has been particularly tough on Ohr, given his wife Nellie’s past work for Fusion GPS, as the president alleges bias against him inside the department.
Just Thursday morning, Trump complained on Twitter about Nellie Ohr’s Fusion work and exclaimed, “Bruce was a boss at the Department of Justice and is, unbelievably, still there!”GO READ THE WHOLE THING.
I saw this commentary somewhere. Thought it was trenchant:
IMPORTANT NOTE: BLACKMAIL WAS THE INSURANCE POLICY. the Russian Hoax was not originally devised to impeach Trump; it was devised to smear and then blackmail Trump in order to keep him entirely under the thumb of the deep state.
After all, the deep state cannot impeach the POTUS, only the Congress can - and with a GOP majority in the Senate, that is very very unlikely.
So, the "insurance" was to blackmail Trump, an effort entirely within the power of the deep state. JUST AS J EDGAR HOOVER DID TO FOLKS ALL OVER DC.
That's why the deep state basically held most of it it in abeyance until after the election. (Hillary used some of it to sully Trump before the election and guarantee her victory.)
This is why Comey visited Trump at Trump Tower after the election and before the inauguration, and why he told him about the dossier - to say "we got this dossier and wouldn't it be a terrible thing if it leaked?".
But Trump basically told Comey to eff off. So, then the deep state leaked bits of it and have continue leaking it first in an attempt to get Trump to agree to do what the deep state wanted.
After Clapper leaked it to Jake Tapper of CNN Trump still said "eff you!" and the deep state has been at war with Trump ever since.
Because Trump refused to be coerced into becoming a puppet of the deep state, the deep state has continued their attacks against Trump and expanded them over time to any and all of his associates in order to handcuff him, and send a warning to all future people who might dare take on the deep state.......
That commentary is spot on. Comey's first briefing of Trump was a mafia style "offer you can't refuse", not the friendly heads-up the Media has portrayed. Trump refused and here we are.
ReplyDeleteThis is a battle between US and our would be masters. Trump is our champion, no other way to put it. That he has stood up to this onslaught of lies and invective is really quite remarkable. And the best (worst) is yet to come. This November election probably IS the most important of our life time.