“A group of House Republicans has gathered secretly for weeks in the Capitol in an effort to build a case that senior leaders of the Justice Department and FBI improperly — and perhaps criminally — mishandled the contents of a dossier that describes alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia, according to four people familiar with their plans.
A subset of the Republican members of the House intelligence committee, led by Chairman Devin Nunes of California, has been quietly working parallel to the committee’s high-profile inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. They haven’t informed Democrats about their plans, but they have consulted with the House’s general counsel.
The people familiar with Nunes’ plans said the goal is to highlight what some committee Republicans see as corruption and conspiracy in the upper ranks of federal law enforcement. The group hopes to release a report early next year detailing their concerns about the DOJ and FBI, and they might seek congressional votes to declassify elements of their evidence.
That final product could ultimately be used by Republicans to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether any Trump aides colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign — or possibly even to justify his dismissal, as some rank-and-file Republicans and Trump allies have demanded. (The president has said he is not currently considering firing Mueller.)
Republicans in the Nunes-led group suspect the FBI and DOJ have worked either to hurt Trump or aid his former campaign rival Hillary Clinton, a sense that has pervaded parts of the president’s inner circle. Trump has long called the investigations into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election a “witch hunt,” and on Tuesday, his son Donald Trump Jr. told a crowd in Florida the probes were part of a “rigged system” by “people at the highest levels of government” who were working to hurt the president.
The sources familiar with the separate inquiry said it was born out of steadily building frustration with the Justice Department’s refusal to share details of the way the Trump dossier was used to launch the FBI’s investigation of his campaign team last year — or whether it was the basis for any court-ordered surveillance of Trump associates.”
“On the orders of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Justice Department prosecutors have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics have linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton, multiple law enforcement officials told NBC News.
The interviews with FBI agents are part of the Justice Department’s effort to fulfill a promise an assistant attorney general made to Congress last month to examine whether a special counsel was warranted to look into what has become known as the Uranium One deal, a senior Justice Department official said.
At issue is a 2010 transaction in which the Obama Administration allowed the sale of U.S. uranium mining facilities to Russia’s state atomic energy company. Hillary Clinton was secretary of state at the time, and the State Department was one of nine agencies that agreed to approve the deal after finding no threat to U.S. national security.
A senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the initial FBI investigation told NBC News there were allegations of corruption surrounding the process under which the U.S. government approved the sale. But no charges were filed.”
What am I missing here, Canada? Foster kids taken from the foster parents because the parents wouldn’t teach about the Easter Bunny? Tell me there’s more…
538 on the tax bill. This article tells how Americans are completely misinformed about how the bill will affect their personal taxes. That was caused by actual media bias.
Is it realistic to think polls will always predict an eventual outcome? 538 gave Trump basically a one in four chance of winning. A thing happening one time out of four chances isn’t all that outrageous (and I recognize election result “probability” isn’t the same thing as a dice roll).
SolarP @ 10:24 I have heard from lawyers who work in the child custody area that family courts are some of the saddest places on earth. All the statistics from Charles Murray are right in front of you in human form – right out of Hillbilly Elegy.
As the common culture of Western Civilization deteriorates, there are going to be more and more strange cases. However, I am almost certain you are right. I don’t think we heard the whole story.
Apart from any interest in who would win, the 2016 election was particularly interesting to the nerds at 538 and other experts such as Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia as well as amateur political junkies like DJ and me.
A couple of weeks before the election, I posted an article here from 538 which noted there was an unusually high probability (greater than 10%) that Trump would win the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. The reason was that Hillary was certain to run up huge margins in her populous states (California, New York and Illinois) while Trump’s margin in his populous states was going to be much narrower. I am fairly certain that if you exclude California, Trump actually won the popular vote. That is why so many Californians hate the Electoral College.
My memory was correct. Hillary won California by 3.4 million votes, but only won the popular vote in the entire country by 2.9 million votes. Trump actually won the popular vote in the other 49 states plus DC combined by roughly half a million votes.
“On Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump held a news conference on the White House lawn to celebrate the tax bill’s passage through Congress. A group of GOP lawmakers joined him, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
Scott had a place right next to the president, which led HuffPo contributor Andy Ostroy to call him a prop used by Trump.”
—————————
Uh probably because I helped write the bill for the past year, have multiple provisions included, got multiple Senators on board over the last week and have worked on tax reform my entire time in Congress. But if you'd rather just see my skin color, pls feel free. https://t.co/KLLNXqIZ3i
Comey probably decided Hillary didn’t intend to be corrupt, so there was no crime if she was. Like with her unlawful handling of classified info. Intent is irrelevant in both, but Comey already knows that..
“One official associated with the initial investigation “told NBC News there were allegations of corruption surrounding the process under which the U.S. government approved the sale.” No one filed charges.
Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to tell him that “Justice Department lawyers would make recommendations to Sessions about whether an investigation should be opened or expanded, or whether special counsel should be appointed to probe a number of issues of concern to Republicans.”
NBC News reported:
In recent weeks, FBI agents who investigated the case have been asked by Justice Department prosecutors to describe the results of their probe. The agents also have been asked if there was any improper effort to squash a prosecution, the law enforcement sources say.
The senior Justice Department official said the questions were part of an effort by the Sessions team to get up to speed on the controversial case, in the face of allegations from Congressional Republicans that it was mishandled.”
——————–
“The documents that the informant has shows connections between the Clintons and Obama:
The information the client possesses includes specific allegations that Russian executives made to him about how they facilitated the Obama administration’s 2010 approval of the Uranium One deal and sent millions of dollars in Russian nuclear funds to the U.S. to an entity assisting Bill Clinton’s foundation. At the time, Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary of State on the government panel that approved the deal, the lawyer said.”
Is Trump planning on going after Soros or the Clintons? Or maybe both?…..
You could certainly make the argument that either would fall under the corruption aspect of this new EO out today. Especially Soros and his funding of Antifa rioters.
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114-328) (the “Act”), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) (INA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the prevalence and severity of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, such as those committed or directed by persons listed in the Annex to this order, have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.
I therefore determine that serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”
————————-
“With the passage of the GOP tax bill this week, the Trump administration has scored 81 major achievements in its first year, making good on campaign promises to provide significant tax cuts, boost U.S. energy production, and restore respect to the United States, according to the White House.
And along the way, President Trump even outdid his own expectations and slashed at least 11 major legacy items of former President Barack Obama, including cracking down on the open border, slowing recognition of communist Cuba and effectively killing Obamacare by ending the mandate that everyone have health insurance or face a tax.
According to the White House, the 81 accomplishments are in 12 major categories and include well over 100 other minor achievements.
The unofficial list helps to counter the impression in the mainstream media and among congressional Democrats that outside the approval of Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch and passage of the tax reform bill little was done.
Administrations typically tout their achievements broadly at the end of each year, but Trump plans to list jobs added, regulations killed, foreign policy victories won, and moves to help veterans and even drug addicts.
And in a sign of support for conservatives, the White House also is highlighting achievements for the pro-life community.
Below are the 12 categories and 81 wins cited by the White House.”
If Fox News can spend millions to settle sexual harassment claims against Ailes and O’Reilly, surely it can spent a few thousand to pay for Hannity to take a couple of journalism classes. He could take them pass/fail.
Solar, without going into much detail, cases like the one you linked are why I rarely call the CAS, preferring to find other ways to solve the problem.
To be fair to the Hamilton CAS they do go out of their way to ensure that children and foster parents do have similar belief systems. However, as an organization they sometimes misjudge what is important and what is not. Several times i wonder how the CAS allowed the parents to have custody and then they go off on a silly tangent.
Wandering Views 
Let’s get to it.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/20/house-republicans-quietly-investigate-doj-fbi-310121
“A group of House Republicans has gathered secretly for weeks in the Capitol in an effort to build a case that senior leaders of the Justice Department and FBI improperly — and perhaps criminally — mishandled the contents of a dossier that describes alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia, according to four people familiar with their plans.
A subset of the Republican members of the House intelligence committee, led by Chairman Devin Nunes of California, has been quietly working parallel to the committee’s high-profile inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. They haven’t informed Democrats about their plans, but they have consulted with the House’s general counsel.
The people familiar with Nunes’ plans said the goal is to highlight what some committee Republicans see as corruption and conspiracy in the upper ranks of federal law enforcement. The group hopes to release a report early next year detailing their concerns about the DOJ and FBI, and they might seek congressional votes to declassify elements of their evidence.
That final product could ultimately be used by Republicans to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether any Trump aides colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign — or possibly even to justify his dismissal, as some rank-and-file Republicans and Trump allies have demanded. (The president has said he is not currently considering firing Mueller.)
Republicans in the Nunes-led group suspect the FBI and DOJ have worked either to hurt Trump or aid his former campaign rival Hillary Clinton, a sense that has pervaded parts of the president’s inner circle. Trump has long called the investigations into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election a “witch hunt,” and on Tuesday, his son Donald Trump Jr. told a crowd in Florida the probes were part of a “rigged system” by “people at the highest levels of government” who were working to hurt the president.
The sources familiar with the separate inquiry said it was born out of steadily building frustration with the Justice Department’s refusal to share details of the way the Trump dossier was used to launch the FBI’s investigation of his campaign team last year — or whether it was the basis for any court-ordered surveillance of Trump associates.”
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And on a related note….
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/prosecutors-ask-fbi-agents-info-uranium-one-deal-n831436
“On the orders of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Justice Department prosecutors have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics have linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton, multiple law enforcement officials told NBC News.
The interviews with FBI agents are part of the Justice Department’s effort to fulfill a promise an assistant attorney general made to Congress last month to examine whether a special counsel was warranted to look into what has become known as the Uranium One deal, a senior Justice Department official said.
At issue is a 2010 transaction in which the Obama Administration allowed the sale of U.S. uranium mining facilities to Russia’s state atomic energy company. Hillary Clinton was secretary of state at the time, and the State Department was one of nine agencies that agreed to approve the deal after finding no threat to U.S. national security.
A senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the initial FBI investigation told NBC News there were allegations of corruption surrounding the process under which the U.S. government approved the sale. But no charges were filed.”
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The goals of Nunes and the other Trump stooges:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-goals-of-the-gops-anti-mueller-campaign-and-their-likelihood-for-success/
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This is fairly stunning news:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/21/us-life-expectancy-down-for-second-year-in-a-row-amid-opioid-crisis
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Nevertheless, we should be celebrating. The greatest of all tax cuts was adopted.
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I won’t even waste my time with the 538 link.
They also told us Clinton’s probability of winning was 77% and that she would take PA, Wis., and other states she lost.
Yawn. Try harder. And get some new material that’s not from 538. You’ll have more of a chance of being accurate if you do. 🙂
538…. hahaha 🙂
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What am I missing here, Canada? Foster kids taken from the foster parents because the parents wouldn’t teach about the Easter Bunny? Tell me there’s more…
http://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-santa-claus-easter-bunny-tear-foster-family-apart
LikeLiked by 2 people
https://www.google.com/amp/s/fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-fivethirtyeight-gave-trump-a-better-chance-than-almost-anyone-else/amp/
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Let’s stay with 538:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-is-kirsten-gillibrand-up-to/
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538 on the tax bill. This article tells how Americans are completely misinformed about how the bill will affect their personal taxes. That was caused by actual media bias.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/fivethirtyeight.com/features/voters-are-skeptical-of-the-gop-tax-bill-overall-not-just-whether-theyll-get-a-cut/amp/
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Is it realistic to think polls will always predict an eventual outcome? 538 gave Trump basically a one in four chance of winning. A thing happening one time out of four chances isn’t all that outrageous (and I recognize election result “probability” isn’t the same thing as a dice roll).
LikeLiked by 1 person
SolarP @ 10:24 I have heard from lawyers who work in the child custody area that family courts are some of the saddest places on earth. All the statistics from Charles Murray are right in front of you in human form – right out of Hillbilly Elegy.
As the common culture of Western Civilization deteriorates, there are going to be more and more strange cases. However, I am almost certain you are right. I don’t think we heard the whole story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Apart from any interest in who would win, the 2016 election was particularly interesting to the nerds at 538 and other experts such as Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia as well as amateur political junkies like DJ and me.
A couple of weeks before the election, I posted an article here from 538 which noted there was an unusually high probability (greater than 10%) that Trump would win the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. The reason was that Hillary was certain to run up huge margins in her populous states (California, New York and Illinois) while Trump’s margin in his populous states was going to be much narrower. I am fairly certain that if you exclude California, Trump actually won the popular vote. That is why so many Californians hate the Electoral College.
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My memory was correct. Hillary won California by 3.4 million votes, but only won the popular vote in the entire country by 2.9 million votes. Trump actually won the popular vote in the other 49 states plus DC combined by roughly half a million votes.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016
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You gotta love it when HuffPo libs get called on their racist assumptions. They assumed since he’s black, he must be a prop.
Huffpo has pulled the tweet, but the internet is forever. 🙂
https://legalinsurrection.com/2017/12/huffpo-contributor-apologizes-to-sen-scott-for-his-prop-tweet/#more-236817
“On Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump held a news conference on the White House lawn to celebrate the tax bill’s passage through Congress. A group of GOP lawmakers joined him, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
Scott had a place right next to the president, which led HuffPo contributor Andy Ostroy to call him a prop used by Trump.”
—————————
LikeLiked by 2 people
Comey probably decided Hillary didn’t intend to be corrupt, so there was no crime if she was. Like with her unlawful handling of classified info. Intent is irrelevant in both, but Comey already knows that..
https://legalinsurrection.com/2017/12/doj-prosecutors-ask-fbi-agents-to-hand-over-info-on-uranium-one-deal/#more-236802
“One official associated with the initial investigation “told NBC News there were allegations of corruption surrounding the process under which the U.S. government approved the sale.” No one filed charges.
Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to tell him that “Justice Department lawyers would make recommendations to Sessions about whether an investigation should be opened or expanded, or whether special counsel should be appointed to probe a number of issues of concern to Republicans.”
NBC News reported:
In recent weeks, FBI agents who investigated the case have been asked by Justice Department prosecutors to describe the results of their probe. The agents also have been asked if there was any improper effort to squash a prosecution, the law enforcement sources say.
The senior Justice Department official said the questions were part of an effort by the Sessions team to get up to speed on the controversial case, in the face of allegations from Congressional Republicans that it was mishandled.”
——————–
“The documents that the informant has shows connections between the Clintons and Obama:
The information the client possesses includes specific allegations that Russian executives made to him about how they facilitated the Obama administration’s 2010 approval of the Uranium One deal and sent millions of dollars in Russian nuclear funds to the U.S. to an entity assisting Bill Clinton’s foundation. At the time, Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary of State on the government panel that approved the deal, the lawyer said.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
An interesting tidbit from the comment section……
Is Trump planning on going after Soros or the Clintons? Or maybe both?…..
You could certainly make the argument that either would fall under the corruption aspect of this new EO out today. Especially Soros and his funding of Antifa rioters.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-blocking-property-persons-involved-serious-human-rights-abuse-corruption/?utm_source=twitter
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114-328) (the “Act”), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) (INA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the prevalence and severity of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, such as those committed or directed by persons listed in the Annex to this order, have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.
I therefore determine that serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”
————————-
I guess we shall see.
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You’d never know it by press reports and the nay sayings of Never-Trumpers and Democrats, but Trump has had a very good first year.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/year-one-list-81-major-trump-achievements-11-obama-legacy-items-repealed/article/2644159
“With the passage of the GOP tax bill this week, the Trump administration has scored 81 major achievements in its first year, making good on campaign promises to provide significant tax cuts, boost U.S. energy production, and restore respect to the United States, according to the White House.
And along the way, President Trump even outdid his own expectations and slashed at least 11 major legacy items of former President Barack Obama, including cracking down on the open border, slowing recognition of communist Cuba and effectively killing Obamacare by ending the mandate that everyone have health insurance or face a tax.
According to the White House, the 81 accomplishments are in 12 major categories and include well over 100 other minor achievements.
The unofficial list helps to counter the impression in the mainstream media and among congressional Democrats that outside the approval of Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch and passage of the tax reform bill little was done.
Administrations typically tout their achievements broadly at the end of each year, but Trump plans to list jobs added, regulations killed, foreign policy victories won, and moves to help veterans and even drug addicts.
And in a sign of support for conservatives, the White House also is highlighting achievements for the pro-life community.
Below are the 12 categories and 81 wins cited by the White House.”
LikeLike
If Fox News can spend millions to settle sexual harassment claims against Ailes and O’Reilly, surely it can spent a few thousand to pay for Hannity to take a couple of journalism classes. He could take them pass/fail.
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/moments/943919334241460224
LikeLiked by 1 person
Solar, without going into much detail, cases like the one you linked are why I rarely call the CAS, preferring to find other ways to solve the problem.
To be fair to the Hamilton CAS they do go out of their way to ensure that children and foster parents do have similar belief systems. However, as an organization they sometimes misjudge what is important and what is not. Several times i wonder how the CAS allowed the parents to have custody and then they go off on a silly tangent.
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What was the problem in this case?
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