Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s strategy may be to try to lure Donald Trump into perjury when Mueller can already get all the answers to his questions from the NSA, say Ray McGovern and Bill Binney.
By Ray McGovern and Bill Binney Special to Consortium News
After a year of investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has, in effect, admitted that he has hit a dry well. He is under strong pressure to keep the charade going until the November elections, however, so he and his high-priced legal brain-trust have devised a new tactic.
One would think they could come up with something less transparent. After all, Mueller was FBI Director from 2001 to 2013 and knows where the bodies are buried, so to speak. But it does not appear likely that he is going to get his man this time. So, rather than throw in the towel, he is making a college try at cajoling President Donald Trump into helping him out.
Today’s New York Times print-edition lede by Michael S. Schmidt, “Questions for President Show Depth of Inquiry Into Russian Meddling,” bespeaks an embarrassingly desperate attempt to get President Donald Trump to incriminate himself. And, given Trump’s temperament and his dismissive attitude toward his legal advisers, the President might just rise to the bait.
Schmidt reports that Mueller’s high-powered legal team has prepared over four dozen questions for Trump “on an exhaustive array of subjects.” Assuming the Times is correct and the questions indeed are Mueller’s, an earlier electronic Times headline would seem more to the point: “Mueller Has Dozens of Inquiries for Trump in Broad Quest on Russia Ties and Obstruction.” Not depth, as in the earlier headline, but breadth. Deep dry well already dug. A “broad quest,” yep, now that could be the ticket! The questions leaked to the the Times betoken a very wide quest, indeed,
Mueller: A desperate attempt.
stopping just short of the proverbial, “When did you stop beating your wife?” Or, in Trump’s case, “What discussions did you have with Stormy Daniels during your dalliance with her?” Schmidt reports that “the open-ended queries appear to be an attempt to penetrate the president’s thinking, to get at the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest advisers.”
Here’s one “open-ended” query as described by the Times: “[W]hat happened during Mr. Trump’s 2013 visit to Moscow.” That’s the trip about which an opposition-research investigator working for the Clinton campaign (through a cut-out) came up with the scurrilous “pee-tape” story about Trump consorting with prostitutes.
Also included in the “exhaustive array of subjects” are questions like this: “What discussions did you have with Reince Priebus in July 2017 about obtaining the Sessions resignation? With whom did you discuss it?” In an attempt to put some gravitas behind this question, the Times explains that “Mr. Priebus, who was Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, has said he raced out of the White House after Mr. Sessions and implored him not to resign. Mr. Mueller has interviewed Mr. Priebus and would be able to compare his answers with those of Mr. Trump.” Aha! Might this be a clue to Mueller’s approach? Something informally called The Flynn-Papadopoulos Playbook for Dummies? What if the President’s recollection does not exactly match that of Priebus? A gotcha moment? Perjury.
But does anyone really care if recollections don’t square on such trivia? Never before has it been clearer that the Mueller investigation is 90 percent charade. Often, lawyers are not very good at the game. This is no exception.
Theater of the Absurd
Mueller knows better than anyone, where and how to find the dirt on the Trump campaign, collusion with Russia, or anything else. That he has been able to come up with so little — and is trying to get some help from the President himself — speaks volumes.
Snowden: Turnkey Tyranny. (Photo: Screenshot on WikiLeaks)
Mueller does not need to send his team off on a “broad quest” with “open-ended” queries on an “exhaustive array of subjects.” If there were any tangible evidence of Trump campaign-Russia collusion, Mueller would almost certainly have known where to look and, in today’s world of blanket surveillance, would have found it by now. It beggars belief that he would have failed, in the course of his year-old investigation, to use all the levers at his disposal — the levers Edward Snowden called “turnkey tyranny” — to “get the goods” on Trump.
Here’s what the “mainstream” media keeps from most Americans: The National Security Agency (NSA) collects everything: all email, telephone calls, texts, faxes — everything, and stores it in giant databases. OK; we know that boggles the mind, but the technical capability is available, and the policy is to “collect it all.” All is collected and stored in vast warehouses. (The tools to properly analyze/evaluate this flood of information do not match the miraculous state of the art of collection, so the haystack keeps growing and the needles get harder and harder to find. But that is another story.)
How did collection go on steroids? You’ve heard it a thousand times — “After 9/11 everything changed.” In short, when Vice President Dick Cheney told NSA Director and Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to disregard the Fourth Amendment, Hayden saluted sharply.
And so, after 9/11, NSA’s erstwhile super-strict First Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Collect Information on Americans Without a Court Warrant,” went the way of the Fourth Amendment. (When this became public, former NSA Director Adm. Bobby Ray Inman stated openly that Hayden violated the law, and former NSA Director Army Gen. William Odom said Hayden ought to be courtmartialed. The timorous “mainstream” media suppressed what Inman and Odom said.)
Mischievous “Hops”
On January 17, 2014, when President Barack Obama directed the intelligence community to limit their warrantless data searches for analysis/evaluation to two “hops,” either he did not understand what he was authorizing or he was bowing, as was his custom, to what the intelligence community claimed was needed (lest anyone call him soft on terrorism).
Intelligence directors were quite happy with his decision because, basically, it authorized them to spy on anyone on the planet. To explain: “Hop” is a term used in Graph Theory for social network analysis. (In WW I, this activity was called net reconstruction. During and after WW II it was labeled contact chaining. The general practice in the U.S. goes back at least as far as the Civil War. By watching who was visiting whom in Washington, the Pinkertons were able to uncover a Confederate spy ring.)
“Hop” refers to one connection in a series of connections in a social network. For example, I call you (that’s the first hop); then you call someone else (second hop). Another term for hop is degree of separation, 2 hops = 2 degrees of separation.
Several of us NSA alumni/members of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) tried, in vain, to warn the White House of the danger of allowing the second hop to apply to government departments or to businesses. The reason is straightforward; if you include “businesses” like Google, for example, which has up to a billion connections per day, it will not take very long before you have included everyone.
Small wonder, then, that leaders of NSA and the rest of the intelligence community were delighted with Obama’s January 2014 decision. It meant they could continue collecting and targeting anyone they wanted. In essence, this means that the FBI/NSA/CIA believe they have approval to surveil any US citizen without a court warrant. And that is what they are doing.
Parallel Construction & ‘Wiretapping’
But when the FBI, for example, does find evidence enough to prosecute, it is has to circumvent rules of criminal procedure by creating a “parallel construction.” This involves obtaining evidence similar to that in NSA-collected data and using the new “legal” evidence in court, without telling the judges, lawyers, or defendants where they originally got it from. This, of course, can amount to perjury and applies also to any warrant requests and sworn affidavits submitted to get the warrants. Former FBI Director Mueller has said he was comfortable with this process, which the Bureau has been using since 2001, right after 9/11.
Obama: Bowing to intelligence community.
In a 2011 interview by Barton Gellman for Time magazine, Mueller made it clear his FBI had been using the “Stellar Wind” program since late 2001. This is the program by which the NSA has been collecting and storing domestic data on virtually all US citizens.
So, in essence, Mueller and his FBI were fine with deceiving court and defendant alike, denying defendants the right to proper and full discovery. Finally, performing surveillance on anyone in the Trump campaign or in his administration, would mean the NSA/FBI/CIA could “legally” (by their own warped standards) spy on everyone associated with the Trump administration even retroactively, going back to before the campaign began. That means Mueller could have access to all the answers before he even asks Trump the first question.
We do not know exactly what prompted Trump to claim a year ago that he had been “wiretapped” (“wiretapping” has gone the way of the Edsel Ford), but if he was told he had been surveilled, he was probably accurately informed. No doubt he was/is but one hop, skip, and a jump away from others under surveillance, without any requirement even for the skip and the jump — much less a warrant.
Ray McGovern ([email protected]) was a CIA analyst for 27 years; from 1981 to 1985 he briefed the President’s Daily Brief one-on-one to President Reagan’s most senior national security officials. William Binney ([email protected]) worked for NSA for 36 years, retiring in 2001 as the technical director of world military and geopolitical analysis and reporting; he created many of the collection systems still used by NSA.
I couldn’t get past the unsupported – and unsupportable – assertion in the first sentence: “in effect, admitted that he has hit a dry well”. Mueller has made no such admission, and these two authors have NO WAY to know what Mueller has in hand or what his next move will be. Trash. Pure trash.
I’m really surprised to see you pretending to know what Mueller knows. You have no idea and Mueller didn’t leak those questions. Your declaration of Mueller being influenced by politics to keep the investigation open is totally unsupported by facts.
Then you use the Giuliani pretense of a perjury trap. There is no such thing. It’s something the right wing made up to help Trump. All you have to do is tell the truth and you don’t have to worry about perjury. I’m sorry to see your one sided protection of Trump.
Excellent. Someone who thinks.
Amazing that trump leaked his “questions from Mueller” himself and they aren’t actually questions from Mueller at all…instead, they are clearly poorly spelt notes one of his own lawyers wrote down, possibly while negotiating w/ Muller’s team or possibly pulled from thin air. weird we’d all notice fake news about gas attacks in Syria or nerve agents in London but not trump leaking trump
This is one of the most complex legal issues of our time. Election interference by a foreign adversary, where the presidents campaign is said to have participated. There were over 60 pre-inauguration contacts between trump and Russia that the public knows about.
We should all be glad someone as upstanding, who loves America as much as Robert Mueller III is on this case. If he doesn’t find anything, he will say so- but he needs to ask his questions and follow every lead- it’s what any of us would expect from any other investigation.
trump: no contact>no collusion>everyone does it. admittedly, what will actually get him i nthe end is using Cohen for his bribe paying bagman; a trick Trumpkin obviously learned either from Roy Cohn or the various mobsters he consorts with9sonme of whom are definitely Russians.
I have to admit that I like the Mueller investigation. It seems to be just about the only thing in the current U.S. government that is able to produce real results. And consistently, again and again and again.
Its listed-in-the-brochure purpose is to discover Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, I know, and I know it has failed flat at that, but look at its successes, who it has proofed to have interfered in that election!
I mean, first, Israel (we don’t count AIPAC here, because it is a U.S. domestic elections terrorizing organization), then Australia, theen Canada, then the UK… And the UK was a nuclear score. I mean, Cambridge Analytica, and its business model was focused to inerfering in other nations’ elections! It sold its services. And the Steele ‘company’, that was what, either a sister or a subsidiary, and then it started coming out how all the administrative echelons of Cambridge Analytica were/are GCHQ or MI(n) retirees, or “retirees” or moonlighting current or consultant employees or “employees”, and then it started coming out that C.A. was a private enterprise sector UK government shadow “investment, or shell or branch, or arm, or… and then, just as we were closing in on figuring the relationship out, GCHQ went running into Downing Street yelling “Emergency! Emergency! For God’s Sake, Poison Somebody!! Keep this out of the news! Feed the Skripals some BZ! Feed the Tabloids and the Times som BS! Emergency!”
And that was what they did. I think it was GCHQ who decided to call the ‘poison’ Novichok, because that means “Newbie” in Russian, and so it was like, so cyber-cool…
Meanwhile, here at home, the Mueller Investigators were finding that the FBI and the CIA and the DOJ and the DOD and AIPAC and just about the whole rest of the alphabet had been interfering in the 2016 election, too!
I mean, how can anyone NOT love the Mueller Investigation? Unless, maybe they own a TV news franchise and cant make up news near as good…
I mean, the competition for viewers was so fierce it even sent Stormy Daniels looking for a lawyer! Or somebody reaching for the “stars” to find something, somehow, somewhere that could did…
Dear Evangelista,
Touche!!! Right on target. (We are likely to go as insane as the rest of them, unless we hang on to our collective, sardonic sense of humor.)
Thanks.
Ray McGovern
In the DOJ, most prosecutors are judged partly on a quota system. What kind of cases have they prosecuted? How many convictions? The more convictions, the higher your point total. Now, do the same rules apply to a Inside the Beltway Colossal Rock Star like Mueller? In the real world, people are judged on their actual accomplishments. But what if Mueller spends megamillions of dollars on his investigation, and Trump isn’t convicted or doesn’t resign? Will this affect him or his reputation in any way?
Robert “Muleface”Mueller! You make me sick??. You are trying to make a “name” for yourself by bringing the Best President we have ever had, Pres. Trump, down. You are a FOOL on so many levels. 1. Trump has done more to help this Country than any other President in history! This country could not survive without him! 2. Your big nose has been in papers trying to find something that is not there. You have no idea ALL the unbelievable improvements he has made! You’re a FOOL! 3.After this “witch hunt” is over, I’m going to suggest the NEW DOJ INVESTIGATE your past CRIMINAL HISTORY with the FBI and God knows what ALL you have done. Working on the side with Mafia and Whitey Bulger, for example! Just keep wasting our time while you look for NOTHING!! YOU AND ALL THE FU**ED UP CRIMINAL FBI are going down??I KNOW THAT! 4.And last thing, I know your IQ is minute!
I’ve watched all your You Tube videos of you testifying! ????YOU made a FOOL of yourself! My favorite one is Chavez trying to question you and you could not answer one thing!!??? AND Chavez had given you a copy of every question he was going to ask you!
Unbelievable!! You didn’t even read his questions!
So nnice when both far lefties lefties and fact averse far righties agree on things…
So nice to come onto a site and spew snark without having to bother with making a fact based rational argument.
“Bob Mueller’s probe no one admits, seems aimed at Stormy’s.. peaks”
F. G., just reread your poem to get it more in depth, gave me more laughs than first time around. Have you thought of collecting your poems to publish as “The Political Poetry of F. G. Sanford”, or something more original than that?
Lots of interesting info in the comments. I found the patrician background of Muller particularly so, along with his history of handling deep cover ups.
I thought that Ray and Bill might tell us that the information about extensive and long term money laundering by Trump Inc. would be available from the NSA but none of that was mentioned. Ever since this whole thing began I have thought that Trump was not in bed with Russia politically, but was in bed with Russian oligarchs financially and has been for a long time. I think Trump is a con man and a thug and he has been laundering money for international crime syndicates for a long time. Also I think most of his recent contacts with Russia (i.e. before the election made him president) were about getting a Trump Tower in Moscow. He was almost there and just about had the financing and approval needed to start construction. I think he thought his run for president would seal the deal – never thinking he would actually win! Trump Towers around the globe are vehicles for money laundering.
If Muller really wanted to get Trump that is where he would look. That is where all those people who have worked with Trump over the years have been involved in and what they have told Muller (assuming they told him anything). That is, in my opinion, why Trump is so upset over Muller’s questioning of his favorite lawyer. Apparently this guy knows everything – that is everything about money laundering and other unsavory deals.
So why isn’t Muller going after Trump for that? Or is it that the law protects you if you are president. Is it possible that a thug and a criminal who got elected can’t be impeached for merely standard criminal behavior? What is this all about?
And why isn’t Muller going after Trump for the crimes all the evidence points to? Why do you suppose Trump doesn’t want to release his tax returns? And is it possible that Muller can’t get them from the IRS? Is that against the law too? Something is very fishy here and I agree with Ray and Bill that Muller is stalling for time for some reason.
Ranney.
I too was sold on the money laundering angle for a while. Probably because I wanted it to be the real deal. The excellent WhoWhatWhy have done great work investigating Michael Cohen, Felix Sater, Deutsche Bank and Trumps possible connections to the Russian / Ukrainian mob.
In summary, it is entirely possible that Trump sold property totalling vast sums to the former Soviet block mob without flouting rules on money laundering. Deutsche Bank may have already taken care of the laundering operation, leaving the Trump operation in the clear.
There is however the credit / finance issue. Trump is suspected of using former Soviet block sources to finance his operations post 2008. That money may or may not be clean. The funds have more cash value if intercepted before the end of the laundry process. Trump is dumb enough and desperate enough do a bit of money laundering if the rewards are there. There is also a hint (thanks to WhoWhatWhy) of a connection to Semion Mogilevich, the Tor of Tors. Big if, but if Putin has leverage over Trump it may be via Mogilevich and dirty money.
Finally, I wouldn’t concern myself about Mueller. He appears to conducting a full blooded search & destroy op and bringing down mob syndicates is the teams bread and butter.
Of course, there are difference in legal crimes and those which meet the standard for impeachment, though they do, and can, overlap.
I believe as well that Trump is a thug and has been involved in white collar crimes around his businesses for a very long time. And, I hope Mueller will require the release of Trump’s tax returns, and those of Jared, and the other family members, because they’re all involved in the family finances. That’s why Trump has refused to share his tax records and why he always said Mueller investigating his family business was a red line he’d best not cross. Who gets to speak that way to U.S. Dept. of Justice? An entitled crook.
Still, I do think Trump enabled the Russians who hacked into our elections. He actively, openly encouraged Moscow to go after Hillary, on national TV, often. It’s criminal that his enablers, in his low info voters and the Republican Congress set him up in the White House. America is better than that. And I hope they’re all soon to find that out.
I hope that America will some day realize that they are better than Trump, better than Hillary, better than Mueller, better than Comey, better than Rumsfeld, better than both Bushes, better than slick Willie, better than Obomber, better than Wasserman-Shultz, better than Pelosi, better than Brennan, better than Clapper, better than Rove, better than Schumer, better than McCabe, better than Cruz, better than Rubio, better than McCain, better than Graham…..
Thanks for the article, Ray and Bill. All i can say is that the never-ending theatrics of the “deep state” will never end until there is a mighty thud probably of the economy, i heartily believe, perhaps even brought by Mama Nature. Bob in Portland, great post with info from Douglas Valentine’s book, which i need to read. I wonder even how far organized crime is even insinuated into this vaunted “democracy”? The players in the District of Corruption get very little done other than spending money to investigate the “other side” and entertain the hostage citizens with the theatrical show, all the while the nation falls apart with failed nearly everything, people shooting up in subway stations, teachers having to spend personal money to help out students, on and on, truly disgusting. You are so right, Stephen J., it is a tragedy.
I believe the article at link below says it all.
——————————————————————————-
Dial T for Tyranny: While America Feuds, the Police State Shifts Into High Gear
By John W. Whitehead
April 30, 2018
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/dial_t_for_tyranny_while_america_feuds_the_police_state_shifts_into_hi
Some of us remember when Mueller in New York City went after Lyndon LaRouche as just another scam artist (!!!). Mueller was losing his case so he had the trial changed (I don’t remember how) to Alexandria, VA–the home of so very many D.C. bureaucrats–where he eventually got a jury to convict “double-plus ungood” LaRouche. Some people seem to think that Mueller is just another pol. But he is of the Patrician set–so much so that Wikipedia gives his “bloodline” back 4 generations!!! He, of course, went to the “right” schools with the “right set”. And he indicts and prosecutes all the “wrong” people.
Two points:
1. Reading Douglas Valentine’s latest book, THE CIA AS ORGANIZED CRIME, the author goes into how collecting evidence on the Vietnamese, friend, foe, whoever, was an integral part of the Phoenix Program. Knowing who might become an enemy, or who could be corrupted, was important in the CIA’s strategy, and it has been used in other conquests in other countries around the world since. Granted, in the past the collection of data was not as thorough as now, but then Nazi Germany accomplished a lot with a punch card-based system provided by IBM. This current data collection gives totalitarianism a fuller meaning, akin to 1984.
2. Robert Swan Mueller III has all of his adult life been the CIA’s man in the Justice Department. He is inserted into cases where a full disclosure of facts would leave the CIA’s covert criminal activity exposed. An examination of some of his cases shows this.
His career probably started with his marriage to Ann Standish Cabell three years after the JFK assassination. People familiar with the JFK assassination should recognize the name “Cabell”. Ann’s grandfather, Charles Cabell, was fired from the CIA along with Allen Dulles by President Kennedy for their duplicitous actions in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Ann’s grand uncle, Earle Cabell, was the mayor of Dallas when JFK was murdered there. Recently disclosed through declassification of Kennedy documents, Earle Cabell was also an asset for the CIA. In a very real sense, Mueller married into the family business.
Mueller, in his tour of duty in Vietnam, served as an aide-de-camp to a Marine general. It would be pretty difficult to not know about the Phoenix Program in such a position. More likely he was privy to some of the more loathsome parts of it, like the torture, assassination and other niceties of the program, to include the information collected on individuals there.
His career has put him in places where he was able not to notice the CIA handiwork behind many major Deep State scandals. As FBI Director he managed to avoid all of the information about the House of Saud’s involvement and, of course, the CIA’s involvement in 9/11. As curious as the anthrax mailings to several politicians who opposed the Patriot Act and its grab of government power, Mueller settled on scientists working with anthrax at Fort Detrick, even though there was never any evidence against them, and never noticed that the mailbox where the letters had been mailed was a mile from a building occupied by the Battelle Memorial Institute, the company which does much of the government’s research on weaponized anthrax. If you trust Mueller’s behavior in that case, look up what FBI agent Colleen Rowley said about him.
Mueller was the prosecutor appointed to handle the Manuel Noriega case. Panama had been a central part of the Iran-contra operation whereby the Reagan administration through Oliver North’s Enterprise moved drugs and weapons, much of it through Panama, as well as laundering money. Somehow Mueller never saw any of that. Just as Mueller never saw the CIA fingerprints in the BCCI case, a worldwide money-laundering operation involving the CIA and the other usual suspects.
He also examined the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie bombing case. He steered the case to two Libyans from the original suspects, a cell of Palestinian terrorists in Frankfurt who were allegedly supplied the bomb by one Monzer al-Kassar. Monzer al-Kassar was at the time running the biggest heroin route from the Middle East to Europe and North America. He was also one of the many arms dealers connected with Iran-contra.
Mueller has been implicated or has covered up a multitude of cases, to include Whitey Bulger, whose crime operation in the Boston area was allowed to continue because he supplied the FBI with information. John Gotti, who was rumored to be getting his cocaine through the Mena, Arkansas drop run by the CIA was prosecuted by Mueller, who once again missed the CIA’s involvement. He prosecuted the “drug tug” case in the San Francisco Bay Area, another CIA drug route which also touched on Panama and the S & L crisis.
He even denied Patty Hearst a pardon. The entire SLA saga was connected, again, to the CIA through Colston Westbrook, a CIA operative in the Phoenix Program in Vietnam who came back to the US to raise black consciousness at California’s Vacaville State Prison for the insane. That is where Donald DeFreeze, a small-time criminal and police informer was sent after he tried to get out of informing for the LAPD. DeFreeze eventually walked away from prison and became Field Marshall Cinque, the head of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
In short, Robert Swann Mueller seems to have served a distinct purpose in our government: cover up CIA involvement in criminal activities.
We don’t know if Mueller will find any dirt on Trump, but we do know what he won’t find, any connection to the CIA.
And since the “Russia-Trump” okeydoke looks very much like past CIA activities the question arises what relationship with the CIA the current DNC and recent Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have with this case and with the CIA. What did the CIA intend to do with a President Clinton that they couldn’t get done with Trump? I suspect this past year has been the public face of the private negotiations between Trump and the CIA.
What was Mueller’s involvement with Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang?
Google is your friend, kind of. There are a lot of articles appearing about Bulger and Mueller. Here’s one, and while I won’t verify all the details, I invite you to continue this research.
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/28555-probing-mueller-what-were-his-roles-in-boston-mafia-murders-uranium-one-and-other-fbi-scandals
Nice, through one man’s career you just described how the Deep State works. It’s always good to read your comments Bob. You certainly do your research. Joe
Bob in Portland – excellent post, and I suspect it’s very accurate as well. That is why I feel for Trump. He is fighting for his life against some very nefarious people. The longer he is able to hang on, the more gets revealed about the CIA and the Deep State. I hope he succeeds, if only because of this. Thank you, Bob.
I’m sorry backwardsevolution. But I honestly want to know: are you an insane, overly credulous, conspiracy minded sheeple? Because, based on my experience with you, that’s exactly what you come across as. Robert Perry would be spinning in his grave if he knew that idiots like you were attempting to claim his legacy. You’re an embarrassment to critical thinkers. Seriously: get your act together or get lost.
backwardsevolution:
“Oh hey, Bob in Portland, that’s an excellent post. And I say that as someone who’s not at all insane. I mean, just to be clear, it’s not like I’m a 9/11 7 World Trade Center truther or anything. I mean…ok, I am. But can we please ignore that inconvenient fact?”
Great post Bob. Thanks.
Awesome post! So in your opinion, why exactly is the CIA trying to overthrow Trump? Trump seems to do everything the Deep State requires. Hillary was their girl, but Trump appears to be on board with the main agenda.
It is more the threat of overthrowing Trump that keeps him in line. His campaign rhetoric was Nationalistic instead of globalist, and he spoke of seeking detente with Russia. His actions have been a complete U-turn. He is now following their agenda. Hillary was a willing co-conspirator, Trump needed a few trips to the woodshed. Mueller is just keeping the pressure on, and of course if his investigation succeeds, they get Pence, who would be the CIA’s dream come true.
The last year plus has been a series of negotiations between the Deep State and Trump. In simpler times a few bullets would have solved things.
I asked the same question and answered it here in an essay: https://caucus99percent.com/content/okeydoke-americans-were-supposed-get
That was over a year ago. It still seems to hold water. I suspected the original purpose of the fake “Russia hack-Trump/Putin” faux romance was to bring about a hot war with Russia once President Clinton took the reins of power. It was supposed to make Clinton’s election a slam dunk too.
This was a CIA operation, pure and simple. And why would they want to put Clinton into the White House? Like most of the Presidents since JFK’s assassination, she is CIA, probably recruited in the late sixties. If you look at our Presidents since then they’ve all been blackmailable, or already part of the agency (with the possible exception of Carter). LBJ was blackmailed. Nixon had a relationship with Allen Dulles going back to WWII, personally got the fascist Malaxa into the US under false pretenses, and when he became Vice President worked with the CIA on a number of their programs, like the Bay of Pigs.
Another program Nixon watched over was the Crusade For Freedom, a program to import fascists from Eastern Europe into the US, in part to move ethnic communities to the right. The spokesman for CFF was Ronald Reagan, fresh from working in Hollywood, outing alleged commies et al for the FBI.
You may remember the only President never elected to President or Vice President. Gerald Ford is known for his heavy lifting for the CIA on the Warren Commission, to include moving a bullet from JFK’s back to his neck. Earlier in his life, during his male modeling days, he was implicated to the CIA’s MK-ULTRA in the programming of Candy Jones.
Of course, we have the two Bushes, one who was the Director of Central Intelligence, and his son, looking at his string of bad business deals, may have been laundering CIA money.
I have never looked into Obama’s career, but there are suggestions that he too was with the agency. He certainly cooperated with the agenda.
Once the Clintons reached they White House they behaved very much like Republicans in the legislation that Bill signed as well as the CIA agenda overseas.
I am being as brief as possible.
Trump is a no good, rotten, narcissistic SOB who has done plenty of damage in his brief time in office. But he’s not CIA.
Now that the DNC is backing some fifty intelligence and State Department candidates for Congress this fall you can say that now the Democrats are the official party of the CIA.
What a snake pit these power trippers reside in. The dregs of humanity on steroids. Oh to see them finally exposed. May we live to see the day.
Great informative post and thanks for the tip on the book.
“The FBI indictment claims that monthly funding for the Internet Research Agency’s ‘influencing operations’ peaked at $1.25 million, but did not provide any additional information regarding the organization’s budget, or how significant this peak was when compared to monthly averages.
“The Western media has presented this number as significant. The BBC in its article, ‘Russia-Trump inquiry: Russians charged over US 2016 election tampering,’ would claim’:
“‘On Friday, Robert Mueller’s team released a slate of indictments that lays bare what it asserts is the full shape of the Russian meddling apparatus.
“‘And what an apparatus it was. In the run-up to the US presidential election “Project Lakhta”, as it was called, had an operating budget of more than $1m a month.’
“Yet, to put that ‘$1m a month’ budget into perspective, the BBC alone operates on an annual budget of between 4-6 billion – or up to $500 million a month. This is a monthly budget up to 400 times larger than that of what the BBC calls the ‘full shape of the Russian meddling apparatus.’
“Considering that the BBC coordinates its own ‘influence operations’ with other multi-billion dollar media corporations in the United Kingdom, across Europe, and of course in the United States, the gargantuan disparity between the ‘full shape of the Russian meddling apparatus’ and that of the West’s own ‘influencing operations’ is put into proper perspective.
“When considering the role of US-based corporate lobbyists and their role in influencing both political candidates and the American public ahead of elections – this disparity widens even further.
“To suggest that ‘the full shape of the Russian meddling apparatus’ had any significant effect on the outcome of the US election is far fetched at best. To suggest that the Russian government would have conducted such feeble attempts to influence the US presidential election when it is fully aware that large, corporate-financier interests actually determine US policy, is also implausible.
“That accusations against Russia are meant to deflect away from America’s own growing problems both domestically and abroad, including its attempts to justify a wider confrontation with Russia itself, is a much more likely explanation.”
US Claims of “Russian Meddling” Exposes Its Own Global Meddling
By Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2018/05/us-claims-of-russian-meddling-exposes.html
Not being a citizen, I don’t really have a dog in this particular fight. The honourable Ray and Bill have been holding a consistent line that the orange buffoon is the legitimate occupant of the Oval Office and the deep state has no legitimate reason to depose him. Until recently, my stance as an observer was “yeh, go deep state!”. In the last couple of weeks, I have started to see the witch hunt angle in increasing clarity.
There is no level playing field here. Sure, Trump is dirty, stupid and dangerous, but plenty infractions of law are overlooked when it suits the system. The deep state is pursuing the orange, ambulant clownfish because he is not the candidate they would prefer. If their preferred candidate was President the permanent state would be willing to turn a blind eye to worse than is being alleged of the creepy, daughter lusting, crook.
I can think of no individual on the planet more deserving of being analy violated with a ragman’s bugle, but you voted him in (sort of), get used to it.
Your comment was a pleasure to read, Vivian O’Blivion.
But at this point we don’t know what Mueller – or now the N.Y. U.S. attorney’s office, which has gotten into the mix – will come up with.
Ultimately, if any indictments that come down have only to do with the vast but nonexistent Russian plot to contaminate the pristine U.S. election process, or with firing prima ballerina Comey for impure motives, or from a blatant perjury trap Ol’ Cheeto Dust falls into in his deposition – in that case I, like you, could reluctantly find myself siding with nature’s little joke residing in the presidential palace.
But we don’t know that that will be the case. The prosecutors may end up with nothing.
On the other hand, now that they’ve overturned the rock of TrumpWorld, can you imagine the disgusting things they are seeing wriggling underneath? The statute of limitations is Trump’s friend, but this may be when his repulsive, fraudulent career finally catches up with him. (All the federal prosecutors presumably also know the phone numbers of the N.Y. attorney general and the Manhattan D.A.)
And as for concerns that such charges would be tainted as fruit of the poison tree of the bogus Russia-gate investigation? There is no handkerchief small enough to do justice to how few tears I would shed in that case.
So I’m waiting.
FWIW, I think this all may end up as a win-win for both Trump and the deep state: they get him out of office sooner rather than later, while he escapes criminal charges and financial ruin, free to return to his productive, dignified life as a private citizen, which he longs for anyway. Lucky us!
Of course Robert Mueller is fishing. It is the task of his appointment because the stench of rotting fish from the campaign of Donald for president still stinks – on top of the former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson having called Trump “A moron,” and now news circulate that Trump’s Chief of Staff, John Kelly, has called Trump “An idiot!” It is also clear that both here at home, as well as internationally, Donald Trump is regarded as a loudmouth person that explodes easily, and as an egomaniac aspiring to sit on top of the global political spectrum and toot his horn to be noticed as the ruler of the world and as a genius! Add to the mix Trump’s trials and tribulations by the Mueller investigation and his cavorting with porn starts in the past; add his inability to involve himself in some introspection, and Donald Trump is headed for more stormy waters ahead, both political and personal. Donald Trump sees the world as a jungle, and he aspires to become its top predator! I won’t be surprised if Trump doesn’t finish his first term in office.
Nikos Retsos, retired professor (Pol.Sci)
Discussions during dalliance are worse than “pay to play”?
The Awans and Uranium fell down into the well.
Flynn and Papadopoulos had many things to say,
But opposition research had some “pee-pee tapes” to sell-
Sessions’ resignation then was not obtained by Reince,
And parallel construction couldn’t cook the evidence!
The President and Stormy had some matters to discuss,
The relevance is Thin as Thread, so Mueller grasps at straws.
He thinks that Stormy’s charms amount to something treasonous-
Her lusty ways and ardent skills could violate some laws:
Mueller is tenacious though, and just won’t call it quits-
He seems to be oblivious to Stormy’s luscious…wits!
Urinary matters now concern our heads of state.
A crisis of collusion looms, and war could soon break out.
Non-disclosure captivates the lying “fourth estate”,
Excoriation with the truth proceeds to make them pout:
A comic notes that Mr. Trump has earned them lots of cash,
Their infantile, snide response was “She’s just low-life trash”!
Documents “Top Secret” were removed from Sipper-Net,
The NSA lost track of that, the method was real slick-
There must have been collusion there, but no indictments yet,
The Wieners had them stored beside the pictures of his…wick.
If only Mr. Trump would acquiesce and take Bob Mueller’s bait,
Then Brennan, Comey, Strzok and Page could “beat the rap” and skate!
Joe and Mika wax indignant, they’re so pious and refined,
That corpse that turned up by his desk engendered no demise-
The punditry remains obsessed, there’s data to be mined,
Bob Mueller’s probe is firmly fixed on Stormy’s lovely…eyes-
If Clapper couldn’t “get the goods” with stuff the spooks recorded,
Then maybe Stormy’s escapades can conjure something sordid!
This talk of turnkey tyranny and parallel construction leads
To wonderment and mystery when crime remains ubiquitous,
Those missing emails can’t be found, and unobstructed dirty deeds-
There’s graft, extortion, bribery, and other crimes iniquitous,
Remain untouched but fits are thrown when information leaks.
Bob Mueller’s probe no one admits, seems aimed at Stormy’s…peaks.
The well keeps getting deeper but the digging never ends.
There must be lots of dirt down there, the press keeps finding gold-
Clandestine operators play for time and dividends,
Beware the deeper motives and distraction’s stranglehold.
The swamp is making progress as your freedom melts away.
They’re using Stormy Daniels just to keep the noose at bay.
I don’t know how you do it F.G., but I’m glad you do. You struck the cord with you poetic essay. I’m just wondering to how long this Mueller marathon can continue on. I meet more people these days who just don’t understand to what Mueller is up to, and these are the Hillary people (some of them) shaking their heads. So how long will the Mueller inquisition go on? Although CNN and MSNBC are enjoying their rating reviews, but other than that Americans are now ignoring this Mueller nonsense. Let’s have a drum roll for Stormy. Joe
Mueller better be careful that big fish he is trying to haul in, doesn’t bite his arm off! Mr. M is over ripe to be investigated himself.
At least: “We are a nation of laws” the “leader” says.
May 1, 2018
‘A Nation of Laws’
“We are a nation of laws,” their leader said
If his words are true, why are so many people slaughtered and dead?
His nation invaded a number of countries illegally
Now these countries are destroyed and no longer live peacefully
Millions are dead, and millions are homeless
Is his ‘nation of laws’ really atrocious?
Millions are refugees who once had homes
Does his ‘nation of laws’ hear these peoples’ groans?
His ‘nation’ supplies weapons to murderous dictators
It even trains terrorists. Is that not traitorous?
He says they are ‘a nation of laws’ and that sounds good
Yet his ‘nation’ bombs and kills unlawfully; is that not lewd?
His ‘nation’ uses torture and trains torturers
Is this the actions of depraved murderers?
But if they are ‘a nation of laws,’ or so he says
Does his ‘nation’ know the meaning of hypocrisy today?
His and other vassal nations fired missiles into Syria
That is a war crime, despite all their unctuous hysteria
‘A nation of laws’ would not participate in illegal acts
That is a true statement, and those are the facts
He leads a ‘nation’ that really has no shame
Is he mentally challenged or could he be insane?
For no sane person would attempt to hide or disguise
Or explain away the war criminal actions of firing missiles from the skies
His is a ‘nation’ that has other nations in their war gangs
Are they all preparing the world for one last big bang?
Are he and other war criminals really all scofflaws?
Does anyone believe he and his gang lead ‘nations of laws’?
[more info at link below]
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2018/05/a-nation-of-laws.html
Thanks for this telling poetic truth, Stephen.
We all know that Trump wont accept the Results of the Election.
Now Robert Mueller has 40 questions the American people wanted
answered and Trump wont answer the questions!
That will be what Hillary will say in 2020 election: “He won’t answer the Questions!!!”
All need to remember that Hillary sat down with the FBI for THREE hours and talked / chatted
about all kinds of stuff without a script or reluctance. Why? Because she was comfortable with her
actions and had nothing to hide!
Now Trump is squirming. We need to use that in 2020: “He wouldn’t talk to the FBI!”
The pattern here is so clear and Mueller is bringing it to the surface that we have the
most vile anti-American president in our history.
Your comment and online name remind me of the 1984 slogan “Ignorance is Strength”. Your endorsement of illegitimate means to bring down an elected President plays right into the hands of the Deep State actors who find Trump to be too hard to control and be a tool for them in their mad scheme of world domination.
Of course Hillary was comfortable chatting with the FBI, she is a Deep State actor just like them – no wonder they were thick as thieves!
You can refer to them with pejorative names, like the Deep State, but the Deep State cares about America and Americans. It knows we are stronger together… what does Trump have the Shallow State? That sounds right. Who are you going to have more confidence in, the people who have been around for decades in intelligence or a hotel concierge for advice?
Anyway, Trump will answer those 40 questions, either to Mueller or Nancy Pelosi at the impeachment or in are DNC lawsuit or if necessary in the next national debate where Rachel Maddow will only ask him those 40 questions. We want answers and the American people are entitled to them!
Dear Stngr-Tgthr,
Don’t fret too much over some of these “group thinker’s” here at Consortium “News”. They’ll call names and accuse you of being “troll” or a dupe for anything but their agenda. Many of these commenters have valid points that add to the base information or opinion expressed and that is why I still visit. But there are those here who operate out of emotional turmoil ( I’ve been guilty too ) and you’re seeing it now. Mike K. has been one of them. Then you’ve got Skip…hitting the highway with bald tires and no spare.
Some folks here have the time and intellect to bring new insight/information to light and we should take advantage of it. However, no “source” should ever stand alone unchallenged..so it’s always “food for thought but grounds for further research”
Peace.. ~S
Shiv-
My agenda is fact- based rational arguments. I too learn from many commenters on this site, but never from you.
“the Deep State cares about America and Americans.”
An absolutely risible assumption.
__________________________________
“It knows we are stronger together.”
Nothing but shallow Clinton campaign sloganeering.
___________________________________
“Trump will answer those 40 questions, either to Mueller or Nancy Pelosi…”
Imagine your own worst enemy who knows everything about you, including your most embarrassing pecadillos given free reign to grill you about anything in a public forum. Do you think you’d come out smelling like a rose, especially the way questions are directed in a court of law, usually demanding no more than a “yes” or “no” answer with any elaboration being considered evasion? These were the politics of personal destruction when aimed at Bill Clinton and they are the same now when directed at Trump. Their policies should not color how they are treated by the opposition, the congress, the courts, the media or the public yet most Americans are led to revel in such abominations by the demagogues in the public arena.
____________________________________
@ Strngr – Tgthr: “Who are you going to have more confidence in, the people who have been around for decades in intelligence or a hotel concierge for advice?”
As I recall, it’s been a very long time since a hotel concierge’s advice got us into yet another foreign war …
What a question: Have you stopped beating your wife yet?
mike k-
At first I thought that strngr-tgthr was a typical MSDNC troll, but now I am convinced that someone has just adopted a fake persona to bring to light the utter ridiculousness of latte-sipping neo-liberal thought processes. I always read these posts with a chuckle.
Me too Skip…she/he is really good at it.
Comey has publicly admitted that at the time of the interview, conducted with a lawyer present an without being sworn and that no notes were taken or was the interview recorded..And that the decision to exonerate her had already been made months earlier, even though she had showed “extreme carelessness,” had withheld 33,000 emails, and had destroyed hard drives and cell phones. . Clinton was never sworn in under oath, nor were notes taken or the interview recorded. It us well established that Trump-hater Peter Strzok led the investigation of Clinton’s email server as the No. 2 official in the FBI’s counterintelligence division, and then was a member of the FBI’s team investigating possible coordination between Trump’s team and Russian officials. It was Strzok that conducted the interview with Gen. Flynn, having in hand a transcript of his now famous discussion with the Russian Ambassador. Ousting Flynn was a primary objective of the Obama Intel heads as his opposition to regime change in Syria was well known, and as the former head of the DIA, he knew where all the bodies were buried in Obama’s support for ISIS..
I too think ousting Flynn was a primary objective of the Obama Intel heads for the reasons you state.
The accusation: “We all know that Trump wont accept the Results of the Election.”
The reality: We all know that Hillary won’t accept the results of the election.
_________________________________
The assertion: “Now Robert Mueller has 40 questions the American people wanted
answered and Trump wont answer the questions!”
The reality: Mueller was tasked by Congress with the job of ascertaining whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia and Wikileaks in “hacking” (by implication, “stealing”) the election. After a year and a half of investigation that quest has yielded NO evidence. Therefore, Mr. Mueller has gone on a fishing expedition trying to find evidence of ANY wrongdoing by Trump because his REAL purpose is to bring down this presidency by any means.
__________________________________
The contention: “That will be what Hillary will say in 2020 election: “He won’t answer the Questions!!!”
The irony: “What difference does it make?” Her choice of words to elude enquiries about Benghazi.
___________________________________
Interpretation of Hillary’s “interactions” w/ FBI:
Yours: “…she was comfortable with her actions and had nothing to hide!”
Comey’s: i) “An early draft of former FBI Director James Comey’s statement closing out the Hillary Clinton email case accused the former secretary of State of having been “grossly negligent” in handling classified information, newly reported memos to Congress show.” (The Hill 11/06/17)
ii) “The tough language was changed to the much softer accusation that Clinton had been “extremely careless” in her handling of classified information when Comey announced in July 2016 there would be no charges against her.” (The Hill 11/06/17)
iii) “Comey sent a letter to Congress announcing the investigation was reopened on Oct. 28, after the FBI found evidence of previously undiscovered emails on the computer of former Rep. Anthony Weiner in the course of another investigation.” (Politico 4/13/18)
Mine: The woman has brass balls if such comments leave her feeling “comfortable.”
___________________________________
Thank you Realist for your fact based rational rebuttal to strngr-tgthr. You are one of the best commenters here, and I often learn something new from you.
I refuted preposterous itemized claims in his other post too, but that has been moldering in moderation for over a day. Do the editors think the other side needs help or what?
These authors might consider that even though the NSA had a trail which could implicate Trump that the NSA was unwilling to share this with the special prosecutor. If it came out that the NSA databases were used to bring down a president there would be hell to pay.
Mueller had to uncover information the old fashioned way: turning conspirators, finding secret documents held by conspirators, wiretapping, etc. The NSA database was not made available to him and, in any case, he did not want to use it, because if he had it would tint his whole investigation. It would have been leaked with almost 100% assurance.
Mueller undoubtedly did consult NSA files on Trump, the problem is that they showed nothing that he could use to indict the President. The NSA and the FBI are hand in glove partners in their dark designs.
The single biggest point to remember is that the NSA has everything. Whether it’s who hacked/leaked the DNC and Podesta emails, or any other aspect of “RussiaGate”, the entire Mueller investigation is nothing but theater. The NSA already has the answers. There is no point to any of this except to keep Trump from going off the reservation and seeking detente with Russia, possibly pursuing a Nationalist agenda instead of a Globalist agenda, and to keep the discussion away from the CONTENTS of the leaked emails which unmask multiple REAL criminal and unethical activities. For anyone paying attention, the puppet master’s strings are showing.
Skip Scott – yep, you summed it up beautifully.
Yeah, you summed it up beautifully. If by “beautifully” you mean “I’m a brainwashed lemming who actually thinks that Trump is planning to ‘drain the swamp’ rather than ‘replace the swamp with his own swamp creature loyalists.'”
draxx-
FYI, people who have been around here for a while, including B.E., know that I am no fan of Trump. I am referring to what Trump’s campaign rhetoric was, and what the Deep State’s response to it has been. I personally had no faith in him delivering on his campaign promises, and find his personality buffoonish. Sometimes there is no one to root for.
Thank you Ray McGovern and Bill Binney for this needed application of secret agency surveillance knowledge to political investigations. Truly we have lost our Amendment 4 freedoms to a mixture of over-zealous security and deliberate subversion for political purposes.
I have found no shortage of character assassins with political or social goals. They surround the victim or defender thereof with stories of scandal that cannot be refuted because innocence is rarely provable, which is why the accused are held to be innocent until proven guilty. Most people are careless in their judgments and take no risks for others, so they avoid the scandal-ridden target, while many see personal gain in assisting accusers by pretending that their own knowledge and judgment confirms the story.
On stage the assassins gesture and hold aloft an unrelated object as “evidence”, or simply repeat accusations in the media, which is a threat to make similar accusations against any defender. The reluctant go along because awareness of the lack of evidence is awareness of their own vulnerability. After all, maybe the victim is unworthy of their own risk.
Lawyers specialize in perjury to accuse the victim of perjury. The exhibits magically change or get new numbers after being named by the defendant. They choose ambiguous words or descriptions and claim that the question had a different meaning after it is answered, so that the reply appears deceptive. Questions about non-existent situations are simply repeated with demands that the witness say something on the subject, which makes even witchcraft real.
No actual evidence is needed to cause damage in politics and social affairs, and this is usually the goal.
Among the “blessings” of science and technology is the ability to construct an almost airtight fascist dystopia, like the one we Americans are living in. Power corrupts………..
Tucker Carlson’s monologue on Robert Mueller’s questions of Trump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on2rsJ6vmss
Great article, Ray and William!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on2rsJ6vmss
“‘Tucker Carlson Tonight …’ This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Aiplex Software Private Limited.”
This story has its roots in John Poindexter’s Total Information Awareness project.
From Wikipedia:
From January 2002 to August 2003, Poindexter served as the Director of the DARPA Information Awareness Office (IAO). The mission of the IAO was to imagine, develop, apply, integrate, demonstrate and transition information technologies, components, and prototype closed-loop information systems. This aimed to counter asymmetric threats (most notably, terrorist threats) by achieving total information awareness and thus aiding preemption; national security warning; and, national security decision making.
Poindexter faced criticism from the media and some politicians about the Policy Analysis Market project, a theoretical prediction market that would have rewarded participants for accurately predicting geopolitical trends in the Middle East and elsewhere. This was portrayed in the media as allowing participants to profit from the assassination of heads of state and acts of terrorism due to such events being mentioned on illustrative sample screens showing the interface. The controversy over the proposed futures market led to a Congressional audit of the IAO in general. Funding for the IAO was subsequently cut and Poindexter retired from DARPA on August 12, 2003
No doubt that the concept of a futures market where inside actors could profit from covert operations only they had knowledge of was disconcerting to say the least.
Although the operation called Total Information Awareness was officially scrapped, Legislators included a classified annex to the Defense Appropriations Act that preserved funding for TIA’s component technologies, if they were transferred to other government agencies. TIA projects continued to be funded under classified annexes to Defense and Intelligence appropriation bills.
So the NSA picked up TIA and began using the technological abilities of its massive surveillance computers to carry out the mission of TIA.
The original scary “All Seeing Eye” masonic symbol representing the eye of Horus gazing down and shining its all seeing vision upon the Earth was abandoned but the mission remained intact at NSA.
There is a puzzling feature of this all knowing and all seeing technology to sweep up all of our electronic communications be they emails or posts on this website or telephone calls or any electronic data that the NSA can get their hands on which is pretty much all of it.
The puzzling question is twofold. The first question is if they have the information to exonerate Trump, they have not let on. The second question is that if they have some knowledge of Trump’s guilt, they have also not let on.
What good is a system that can vacuum up every electronic one and zero and store it in giant data farms if it cannot deduce the veracity of claims about Russia interference in the last election or Collusion on the part of the Trump administration or for that matter anything including whether Comey reopened the Servergate investigation as a means to influence the election.
The problem with such a system is that while it can potentially lead to its stated goal of knowing everything the actions based on that knowledge are likely to be entirely political, selective and based on the interests of the intelligence gathering organization that posses the information.
Given the highly charged and politicized war between the Trump administration and the intelligence agencies it is remarkable that the awesome power never before wielded against an incumbent president has come up with nothing or at least nothing they want to reveal.
Like Comey and the Republicans who invented Server Gate and Russia Gate, the NSA vacuum cleaner operation of every electron that travels over the internet seems unable to shed light on the political power struggle to define the other party as guilty of this or that allegation(s). So far, Mueller and the spooks have come up with nothing.
Scientia est BS.
Here is the link to the Total Information Awareness Office
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Awareness_Office
Interesting questioning of a “system that …cannot deduce” election interference but provides knowledge whose uses are “likely to be entirely political” or based on the interests of the investigative agency.
It must be a great way to investigate political “cabals of the few” or small conspiracies. But that requires the will to uphold the Constitution, honest judges, and independence of politics, which are non-existent. So the problem is that our political system is entirely corrupt, and will generally use military and intelligence technology against us.
Here in Florida the FBI actually convicts over 70 public officials annually, mostly for taking bribes, where they need videos of bribery and bank deposits. That is great! But they have not helped me investigate rich folks taking public offices to give each other state funds for nothing, which is big business here. The corrupt officials appear to be all Repubs, and much of the state money probably goes back to the party to keep them in power. All of the judges are Repubs, and who knows how much of the FBI.
Another problem is that it takes a huge amount of work to investigate generalized sleaze throughout politics, and the judges are extremely corrupt and completely disregard evidence, argument, and Constitution, and the likelihood of getting more funding for investigations from the corrupt politicians themselves is zero. No doubt they have their representatives in secret agencies in case things get political. Who knows who could win or why?
This is the problem of “The Intelligence Agencies”. As you state, “they have not helped me investigate rich folks taking public offices to give each other state funds for nothing, which is big business here.”
In fact they have not helped America with their vast operations to help anyone understand anything about their government which has gone off the rails.
Ideally the NSA and the Intelligence agencies should be Town Criers about the corrupt activities of major political operatives but they have held their tongues and have let the media run roughshod over the truth without intervention. They are the shadow government which holds its tongue over obvious transgressions committed by government officials while ensuring us it is all about accountability and promises it has the dope on the elected officials who dealt with the Russians.
Yet it has yet to produce any evidence despite its massive power to spy and eavesdrop in on our phone conversations and our emails and perhaps our thoughts to support a conspiracy with Russia as the main conspirator to influence the last election.
Surely if such a conspiracy exists the NSA would have the evidence to convict the perpetrators based on its ability to vacuum up every email or spoken voice over the telecommunications airwaves or internet communications.
Are these damning evidences not available to the NSA? Or are their no evidences at all. Either way the NSA is seen as impotent and incompetent to provide any evidence at all
Thank you Ray McGovern & William Binney for the explanation of how our nation’s NSA works in conjunction with our Special Prosecutors through the FBI. Little does the American public know of this. Your constant work at revealing to how our American government has thrown our 4th Amendment to the wind is terrifying while at the same time alarming. What should be front page MSM news is instead disseminated through the alternative internet press …. I’m hoping more citizens are finding these sites which promote your reporting. I’m applauding greatly that you and the other VIPS succeed in warning Americans of what all they should know about.
This information and technique doesn’t end with the FBI. It’s also used by the DEA, state, and local law enforcement. The whole system is corrupt and illegal. Even if you were in front of a honest judge, neither you, you’re lawyer. or the judge would know it was going on. You’re right about our corp. bought and paid for MSM. Without a few sites like this one, we no longed have a 4th estate.
Thanks for the clarification. I’m always afraid to how far I should go without validatIon. Again I appreciate your pointing out the capacity the NSA has. Joe
This is why you should never talk to the police without having a lawyer present. Anything you say “can and will be” held against you. Even if you are totally innocent and not even in the country the day a crime is committed, your words can still be used against you. There is a video you can find online on this. Great video.
People have made Comey and Mueller out to be heroes because of how they feel about Trump and their feelings towards Hillary and Obama. But looking back at their history, we know that they are not. They both were fine with stripping our rights from us and they looked the other way when the Obama justice department broke Trump’s constitutional rights.
Abby, I have come to the conclusion there are no good guys nor gals, their all bad. Joe
Pat Buchanan wrote months ago that Trump testifying would be nothing but a perjury trap, like Bill Clinton. Slick Willie thought he was clever enough to BS his way out of anything. Hopefully Trump will take a lesson from Clinton on that count.
Yes. The book; “The Glass House Tapes” concerning the “confessions” of L.A. police informant Louis Tackett, way back in the early 70s Nixon era, shows the integrated police state system already in existence then. The coordinated shutdown of OWS should indicate this is so, some forty years later. We are in End Game now…but there is powerful opposition to the would-be Global Oligarchy running Global Empire for the benefit of the Global 1%ers; the Managerial Elite, at the EXPENSE of we the 99%ers.
It goes way beyond the government in league with big corporations pissing on only the 4th amendment, Joe. Download the Bill of Rights and go through it systematically and you will see that MOST of our constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms are being blatantly usurped.
With respect to the First Amendment (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”) does anybody think we have complete freedom of speech, the press, the right to assembly, or to petition government without major impediments and strings attached now? Free speech is equated to money and nearly all the press is corporate owned and serving corporate interests. Rights to assemble and petition are constrained by a bevy of onerous laws and permits these days, with John Law constantly lurking in the vicinity to intimidate and violently crack heads when ordered from upon high. What would the Founding Fathers think about the concept of a “free speech zone,” allowing one to express a political opinion only in some fenced-in out of the way cul-de-sac far removed from the government officials one might wish to influence? The word in an oxy-moron, as it eliminates truly free speech.
The Second Amendment (“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”) is arguably protected by a Supreme Court decision, but it is made a constant point of contention between political factions which is conveniently inflamed by “random” shooting events. Coincidence?
The Third Amendment (“No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”) regulates the quartering of soldiers which is not presently done, but is actually allowed for by the amendment “in a manner to be prescribed by law!” Moreover, the practice does seem to be allowed in time of “war?” Since we are fighting seven concomitant wars, as admitted by Obama, might we expect quartering to be enforced, by law, on some moment’s notice?
The Fourth Amendment (“The right of the People to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”) has been reduced to toilet paper, especially when you extrapolate information storage and retrieval to modern digital devices. But the authorities will grab everything, hard copy and what is stored on your digital devices–which all get carted away, no objections allowed. Ask Trump’s own lawyer about the current protocol. By Supreme Court decision, swat teams no longer need a warrant to bust into your living room unannounced and shoot you dead if you even look at them funny.
The Fifth Amendment (“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”) which guaranteed habeas corpus rather than summary banishment to the king’s dungeon was trashed by Bush and continued to be violated by Obama (the illustrious “constitution law professor”) and Trump. What does protection “from being a witness against himself” mean if all our textual communications, conversations, and even our location in 3-dimensional space at any moment in time is continuously monitored by the state (and its corporate string pullers)? Authorities will now even seize tissue from your own body against your will to use as evidence against you…and they will send you the medical bill. What does one call “civil forfeiture” (wherein law enforcement agencies seize your assets without ever even charging you with a crime) if not being “deprived of property” (and sometimes liberty) “without due process of law?” Private property is now not only being taken by government for public use, but being done so for private benefit when title to the land is sold or granted to private corporations for “economic development.” I’m sure I missed numerous other ways in which the government deprives its citizens of their fifth amendment rights every day, but we’re only halfway through the list. (Of course, “taking the fifth” in a court of law or before Congress implies to the world that you are guilty of whatever slander they may direct against you.)
The little discussed Sixth Amendment (“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”) has been mostly “negotiated” away on our behalf by the big corporations. Nobody simply purchases services from the mega-corporations any more. Now we contract with them and sign terms of service agreements (written in lengthy legalese most normals cannot understand and do not bother to read). It’s why you can’t close grandma’s service account with Verizon or Comcast after she dies without presenting the company with an official death certificate. It’s why you cannot take them to court when they treat you like a dog but keep raising your fees. That terms of service agreement says you cannot sue them and that you promise to abide by the decision of an independent arbitrator whom THEY choose. If you think any of this is speedy, guess again. And, if you somehow do get them in an actual court of law, don’t expect the case to be decided in your lifetime, as their cadre of lawyers can get any litigation continued virtually indefinitely. The clause about the right to a defense attorney (court appointed should you not have or cannot afford your own) has been a known sham, even in capital cases, for generations.
The Seventh Amendment (“In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by Jury shall be preserved, and no fact, tried by a Jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”) covers much of the same ground I discussed for the Sixth. You have the “right” to take someone to court for twenty bucks, so it says. Perhaps on Judge Judy, Judge Whapner or some other Court of Infotainment these days. Your sales receipt or credit card bill will apprise you (in tiny print) that you have agreed, merely by accepting the card or making the purchase, to give up such rights.
Who’s to say what the Eight Amendment (” Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”) ever really meant? Define “excessive.” You not only pay the fine in traffic court (unless the cop doesn’t show up), but you often pay much more in “court costs” even if you plead guilty. I guess the courts are semi-privatized like the Post Office in that sense… as are many of the jails too! Did we ever really have a time when courts didn’t inflict cruel and unusual punishment? As in decades-long sentences for drug usage offenses? Or when stealing a pizza can get you life imprisonment under the many “three strikes and you’re out” laws on the books? All proportionality between crime and punishment is thrown out the window for the sake of “societal order.” And we didn’t even have to learn German to make this transformation in Amerika.
The Ninth Amendment (“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”) says one thing (that we have more rights than merely those explicitly stated) but the “strict constructionists” and “original intent” advocates have always practiced or pushed for another (that we are entitled to act only as prescribed by the gents who wrote this document in 1789; i.e., perhaps at one time your written letters may have been protected from search and seizure by the government, but NOT your digital devices). This amendment has had little force from the get-go, it seems to me.
The Tenth Amendment (“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”) is a lot like the Ninth: more blather that can be ignored or invoked depending on circumstances. Usually centers around “states’ rights” if such a controversy reaches the courts. Hardly ever involves “powers of or to the people.”
As far as I can tell, most of the Bill of Rights is just a collection of quaint notions fossilized in the constitution since the document was written, but not enforced, and often blatantly contradicted by government practice for a long time. As Dubya was quoted as saying, “it’s just a goddam piece of paper”…not something we are constrained to follow, although we harken to it reflexively in our speechifying when seeking approval from a citizenry that doesn’t know the difference between the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution,the Bill of Rights, or a bill of goods. If our students still read it in school, they must adopt the Beavis & Butthead interpretation of the document: “words, words, words…”
What of the future of our illustrious but thoroughly-ignored Constitution? It occurred to me when I was reading one more in a tidal wave of papers anticipating the coming great economic collapse and demise of the petro-dollar. It seems to be a complete certainty that these things will happen and that any remedy will be completely outside the capability of the present federal government to fix. It will call for a total restructuring of society on the North American continent. The easiest and quickest way to facilitate that will be for the states to call for a constitutional convention in which they essentially re-write the entire document. All the “obsolete” freedoms in the Bill of Rights are among those sections sure to be deleted, especially since they are already ignored in near totality. New constitutional powers will be given to the giant corporations, which will substitute for government agencies in many cases, just like in the short-lived television series “Inc.” Of course, all existing debts (except to the rich) will be repudiated. The very structure of the republic will be profoundly altered, with California and Texas, to name just a couple of rebellious regions, being allowed to secede and reformulate themselves as they see fit. The states in other regions may amalgamate or split apart as they see fit, as well. The laws, rights, privileges, monetary policies, foreign policies, alliances, immigration statutes and such will revert to states’ rights on steroids. The old Confederacy will finally re-emerge as an independent country with its own agenda. City states, like South Florida, not integral to the larger polity will also detach in this balkanization process.
Futurists, like America2050 envision approximately 10 or 11 so-called “Megaregions” in the present lower-48 United States which may well constitute the fracture zones around which present-day America may split into viable self-sustaining polities. Some or even all them might become independent countries, or provinces of something larger. Most of us Boomers and GenXers will never live to see if this holds true, but the Megaregions envisioned are 1) the Northeast, 2) the Peidmont Atlantic, 3) Florida, 4) the Gulf Coast, 5) the Texas Triangle, 6) the Great Lakes, 7) the Front Range, 8) the Arizona Sun Corridor, 9) Southern California, 10) Northern California and 11) Cascadia. They also identify what they call several “underperforming regions” that will probably attach to appropriate thriving Megaregions, including places like the Northern Rockies, the Great Plains, the Rio Grande Valley, the Mississippi Delta, the Deep South and the Appalachians. China, together with Russia and some other recruits, want to unify the Eurasian continent with its One Belt, One Road initiative, while students of societal collapse, like Dmitry Orlov, predict the very certain collapse and disintegration of the American Empire, including its North American homeland. All this presupposes that the great minds running this country can refrain from trying for the ultimate adrenaline high and pushing the nuclear button. If you’re a Millennial, stock up on popcorn (the kind you can heat over a campfire) and “enjoy” the interesting times awaiting you.
Realist – excellent post, great rundown on the shredding of the “pieces of paper”. Highlights the need for citizens to be vigilant, which unfortunately has not happened.
“And, if you somehow do get them in an actual court of law, don’t expect the case to be decided in your lifetime, as their cadre of lawyers can get any litigation continued virtually indefinitely.”
So true, especially if they know they haven’t got a leg to stand on. Delay, delay, delay. On the other hand, if they do have a cadre of lawyers, you had better be sure you have an airtight case, otherwise you’re liable to pay the other side’s costs if you lose, i.e. the fees for those lawyers.
The enemies of humanity are NOT monolithic. The Deep State apparatus has MANY defectors (McGovern, Binney, V.I.P.S., Snowden and other whistle blowers, Dr. Greer with his thousands of Deep State operatives coming forward as Disclosure witnesses, on the Principle that secrecy sworn to a rogue, criminal operation that is beyond the supervision of Congress or Executive Branch is an oath to a conspiracy already outside the Law & Constitution and unenforceable, except in “mafia” kinds of ways). Technically, a state of war exists between constitutional government & the rogue [since the early 50s], Deep State apparatus because of this…and Dr. Greer brings “allies” to the field-of-conflict, that are beyond the abilities of the Deep State to effectively counter, but the fight is ours to win, and Intervention will only occur in the direst of circumstances that threaten ALL life on the planet, and Planet Earth Herself. THAT Intervention, against these Deep State fools and their employers; the Global Oligarchy, would be over in a nanosecond; but The Lesson (as talked about Little Grandmother, and embodied in Crop Circle mandalas and Sky Spirals injections of energies) must be learned by We, the 99%ers.
By coincidence, I am currently re-reading Dickens’ “Bleak House”, which I first read about 40 years ago. He perfectly describes the never ending litigation with “Jarndyce and Jarndyce”.
@Realist…
Every government is suppressive by its nature, be that the current one, or the envisioned America2050. The government decides the liberties you are allowed, regardless of what written on a “goddam piece of paper”. Pretty much every government has a Constitution that spells out “Freedom of speech…”, but none of them spells out freedom after the speech. And you made similar statements for every amendments, thanks for that…
The problem in the US is education, where it’s been beaten in to people, that the US is the “land of the free and home of the brave”. This makes people lazy and take their right granted without verifying that their liberties are in tact. Certainly, the MSM reinforcing the exceptional liberties on the daily basis does not help. This environment is riped for abuse by the government and by proxy the oligarchs and they’ve been doing this for long time. Your ” Beavis & Butthead interpretation of the document” statement describes the smae…
“It occurred to me when I was reading one more in a tidal wave of papers anticipating the coming great economic collapse and demise of the petro-dollar. It seems to be a complete certainty that these things will happen and that any remedy will be completely outside the capability of the present federal government to fix.”
Iraq and Libya switched from the petro-dollar and these countries had been destroyed. Iran just announced switching from petro-dollar, guess what will happen to this country? Based on the Israeli “slide” show and the upcoming recertification of Iran’s nuclear program, there’s little chance that Iran will stay intact.
The US has no choice, but to protect its petro-dollar based economy. It’s relatively easy to do against a small, single country and had been done previously. The same protection is questionable against China and Russia and remains to be seen how it’ll play out. I for one will heed to your advice and “stock up on popcorn” just in case…
Realist, backwardsevolution, Al Pinto, nice line of thought. Thinking about this subject for many years, I have arrived at a “place”, not exactly a fantasy place, but a virtual place, that sees everyday monetary transactions as utititarian (necessary) but impossible to back up with shiney metal (gold). The hoarding has already begun. This place (America) would operate in an aggressive New Deal environment, establishing a true safety net of health care and basic housing. Concurrently it would rebuild education and infrastructure to a maximum level with a fundamental emphasis on environmental concerns. An older generation most likely could not come to grips with this kind of thinking but I’m fairly sure that the leaders of the Occupy movement are already there. True National and Local Banking are the route…
What a great essay Realist you have given us here, and how true. While reading your comment I kept thinking about Antrax attacks in congressional offices, and think back to the passing of the Patriot Act. Little by little did the National Security Deep State trim away our American rights, and freedoms, until there were no more. The best part all this was stripped away with hardly any notice by the American people.
For the intellectually astute there are constitutional scholars who write such garbage as this;
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/opinion/lets-give-up-on-the-constitution.html?_r=0
Thanks Realist excellent comment, possibly one of your best. Joe
@Joe…
“Little by little did the National Security Deep State trim away our American rights, and freedoms, until there were no more. The best part all this was stripped away with hardly any notice by the American people.”
This has been a gradual process, that both Ray McGovern and Bill Binney contributed to. They seeming do not agree with the current status and direction of the “National Security Deep State”, nonetheless, back in their time they actively supported the efforts of eroding our rights. There’s no other ways to put it, even if I appreciative their insight.
Joe, I agree with you on the article. It shows how far down the things have gone. I always look for Realist’s comments to read; excellent as always.
Do we really need comments that are twice as long as the original article.
I am a slow reader. I timed it…it took six minutes for me to read it and I’m glad I did. No one forced me to read it…and had it not held my interest, I likely wouldn’t have finished it. I am working with a touch screen and it takes mere seconds to scroll through lots of text and I’m sure a cursor works as well…so “space” is not a problem either. I am perfectly fine with the freedom others have to write at length or to make short remarks. You can make your own value judgements…but what’s the big deal?
And yes, we need as much from Realist as he can take the time and effort to give us…in my opinion.
I agree Gregory. I love this forum just the way it is, and I value the comment section as much as the articles.
It was not a rebuttal to the original article. It was a response to Joe Tedesky’s comment. Follow the conversation threads, or not, as you prefer.
Realist, your comments are invaluable. I always look forward to reading your well-thought-out, and astute analysis; keep at it.
The Bill of Rights! What are those?
As I understood the stories, Admiral Mike Rogers went to Trump Tower and personally informed him his offices were being ilegally wiretapped. This was the day before he abruptly moved his office to new jersey. Look it up. Trump was aware of the wiretap months before he tweeted about it.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/trump_bringing_transition_meetings_to_nj_report_sa.html
https://www.npr.org/2016/11/22/502980006/reports-suggest-nsa-director-mike-rogers-is-on-his-way-out
Andy- -s your understanding is also the way I piece this together and if you combine this with the explanation that Joe diGenova gives in the linked article below one begins to see that if there is a heroic act here, it is in the principled resistance of Admiral Mike Rodgers.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/20/obama-administration-plot-exonerate-hillary/