Byron York: Now That the Clinton/DNC Connection to the FusionGPS Info Op is Established, The FBI Is the Next Cog in the Machine That Needs to be Confirmed
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| And why did the story break when it did? Credit the much-maligned Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Nunes has been pursuing the dossier more aggressively than anyone else, and it was his October 4 subpoena for the bank records of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that handled the dossier, that finally shook loose the information.
But knowing that the Clinton campaign, the DNC, and Perkins Coie supported the dossier is not the end of the story. The most important next step is the FBI. Sometime in October 2016 -- that is, at the height of the presidential campaign -- Christopher Steele, the foreign agent hired by Fusion GPS to compile the Trump dossier, approached the FBI with information he had gleaned during the project. According to a February report in the Washington Post, Steele "reached an agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the election for the bureau to pay him to continue his work." It was an astonishing turn: the nation's top federal law enforcement agency agreeing to fund an ongoing opposition research project being conducted by one of the candidates in the midst of a presidential election. "The idea that the FBI and associates of the Clinton campaign would pay Mr. Steele to investigate the Republican nominee for president in the run-up to the election raises further questions about the FBI's independence from politics, as well as the Obama administration's use of law enforcement and intelligence agencies for political ends," wrote Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley. In the end, according to reports the FBI did not pay Steele. |
I wouldn't say reports; I'd say "claims." See this Mollie Hemingway piece for shifting claims on whether or not the FBI paid Steele.
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In recent months, Nunes has been trying to force the FBI to reveal just what it did in the dossier matter. The intel chairman issued a subpoena to the FBI on August 24, and in the time since, not a single document has been produced to the committee. The FBI, and the Justice Department, have spent most of that time talking about talking about possibly complying with this or that part of the subpoena. But so far -- nothing. The same is true of Grassley's inquiries. |
That may no longer be a viable position to take.
Jeff Sessions has recused himself from these matters, but if Ron Rosenstein does not order his underlings to respond to Congress' very reasonable questions, Trump should fire his fucking ass. For cause.
Update: The House subpeona to the FBI had been issued by the Judiciary Committee. But now Paul Ryan has put the whole weight of the House itself behind that subpeona, saying he stands behind it and slamming FBI "stonewalling."
| Nunes subpoenaed the FBI for information on the dossier on Aug. 24. So far the bureau has not provided any information.
That is why Ryan's support is critical. For a House committee's subpoena to have maximum effect, it must have the power of the House of Representatives, in the person of the speaker of the House, behind it. Which is what Ryan did Wednesday morning. "We've had these document requests with the administration, the FBI in particular, for a long time, and they've been stonewalling," Ryan said in an interview with Reuters. "The FBI and the Justice Department need to give Congress the documents it has been requesting, and they need to do so immediately." |
Why Would the FBI Pay Steele? Sean Davis offers up this speculation -- it was part of an attempt to deceive the court as to the dossier's provenance, to make it an untainted "official FBI dossier" instead of a tainted rival candidate oppo dump dossier.
A remarkable detail. pic.twitter.com/PC85Rg9KmT— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) October 25, 2017 |
| It's almost like the FBI paid Steele so it could tell the FISA court the dossier was an FBI product, not a DNC one. https://t.co/U4viQe1ayC— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 25, 2017 |
Poster Comment:
A good summary piece by Ace about what is known and the direction the investigation is taking.
#1: Tooconservative To: All (#0)
Tooconservative posted on 2017-10-25 20:59:51 Reply Private Reply
#2: Tooconservative To: All, A K A Stone, sneakypete, buckeroo (#1)
YouTube: Fox News channel
So you cordcutters can use this to watch the Fox News shows live or download them entirely (as I do) as soon as the show ends. If you wait a few hours, they often put up the shows with the commercials cut out.
Competition to capture market share and mindshare is intense. The other networks are doing the same and FNC is just trying to compete to keep their brand name viable and their content available.
You can also view some of the best clips from FNC shows on Roku using their FNC channel but you rarely get the full shows in short order.
Here's a sample of tonight's Tucker show. This one still has the commercials in it.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-10-25 22:13:14 Reply Private Reply
#3: sneakypete To: Tooconservative (#2)
Thanks for the tip/
I got my Channel Master up and running again. They told me to do a full "factory reboot" to bring it back up,but when I plugged it back in earlier today to do that,the damn thing came back up and has now been running for hours with no problems.
In fact,I am now binge-watching 2 seasons of Homeland using it. I had intended to try to figure out how to use my ROKU with just the TV and Wi-Fi connection,but I really,really missed the TIVO and recording function.
I get the new video recorder I ordered in tomorrow afternoon,and I'll take it out to my workshop and hook it up to the HD antenna and smart tv out there to see what I can make work.
I am almost certain I have Fox News as an app on my ROKU,but rarely bother to watch news anymore. I tune in for the local news and the weather,and then ignore the rest.
sneakypete posted on 2017-10-25 23:58:17 Reply Private Reply
#4: Tooconservative To: sneakypete (#3)
You should try to catch Tucker's show. He is funny and has good coverage of all the major stories. He is FNC's new rock star, deservedly so. And he has had decades of TV experience to draw on; he's no newcomer. Tucker gets the best guests, goes outside the usual stable of contracted FNC "guests". And Tucker has a real news background and an Ivy League education, something most of the other FNC hosts don't have. And Tucker will tell off his guests and shred them on air.
I like his cheerfulness and humor too. I always thought O'Blarney was kinda depressing as a personality and rarely funny. And Vannity just seems toxic, kind of unbearable even when he's right.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-10-26 00:47:23 Reply Private Reply
#5: sneakypete To: Tooconservative (#4)
I like the sound of that.
I always thought I would be good in the role of tv political host,but I suspect I wouldn't last much longer than one night.
sneakypete posted on 2017-10-26 11:46:02 Reply Private Reply
#6: Tooconservative To: sneakypete (#5)
You wouldn't last past the first commercial break. Neither would I. LOL
Tooconservative posted on 2017-10-26 12:06:15 Reply Private Reply