President Trump has ordered Russia-gate data to be declassified but will likely be stonewalled, raising questions about whether Trump is his own man, writes Ray McGovern.
By Ray McGovern
Special to Consortium News
Don’t hold your breath. While the media is breathlessly describing yesterday’s order by President Donald Trump’s “to provide for the immediate (emphasis added) declassification” of Russia-gate materials as a “showdown,” any likely showdown is months away, if it comes at all.
The word “immediate” can mean different things to different people. Had the President set a deadline, or had he given the declassification task to his own National Security Council, the word “showdown” might be closer to what to expect.
The tragic-comedy now on stage in Washington is beyond bizarre. Can President Trump be unaware that those he “ordered” to do the declassification — top officials of the Justice Department, the FBI, and the intelligence agencies — have zero incentive to comply “immediately.” And they have minus-zero incentive, as the top echelons see it, to throw their former bosses, colleagues, and co-conspirators under the bus by releasing the family jewels.
Most of today’s commentary by anonymous officials on declassification are transparently bogus. To suggest, for example, that “death could occur,” as one MSNBC pundit predicted this afternoon, is beyond ludicrous. Do not expect Establishment media, however, to stop its feeding frenzy at the Deep State trough.
Stakes High For Russia-gate Pundits
The stakes could hardly be higher not only for the Deep State, but also for the media — including erstwhile “progressive” pundits not yet recovered, after 22 months, from the virulent virus I call “HWHW” (Hillary Would Have Won). Observations by Mark Twain and, more recently, Patrick Lawrence apply in spades to the widely shared predicament of Russia-gate. Twain: “It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
Lawrence put it this way in Consortium News: “The most ordinary standards of evidentiary procedure are forgone. Many of our key institutions—the foreign policy apparatus, the media, key intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, the political leadership—are now extravagantly committed to a narrative none appears able to control. The risk of self-inflicted damage these institutions assume, should the truth of the Russia-gate events emerge—as one day it surely will—is nearly incalculable. … Russia-gate, in a phrase, has become too big to fail.”
Nunes: ‘We will put them on trial.’ (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Trump has now put the ball in the miscreants’ court but, with the media on their side, Deep State functionaries enjoy the equivalent of home-court advantage. House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R, CA) has pretty much warned of this. Speaking of classified passages Trump has now ordered released, Nunes in late July expressed hedged confidence “that once the American people see these 20 pages, at least for those that will get real reporting on this issue, (emphasis added) they will be shocked by what’s in that FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] application” to surveil Carter Page, an American citizen, and member of Trump’s campaign team.
Sure, Nunes is a Trump supporter. But he also has this strange — these days one might say romantic — notion that the way the U.S. Constitution set things up, he and his committee have the power — and the duty — to oversee the agencies that Congress established and funds, and to uncover any abuses. The behavior of the chairs of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees shows they share that view.
On February 18, Nunes threw down a heavy gauntlet during an interview with journalist Sheryl Attkisson:
“FISA abuse … as it relates to the Department of Justice and the FBI, if they need to be put on trial, we will put them on trial. The reason that Congress exists is to oversee these agencies that we created. DOJ and FBI are not above the law. Congress created them, we oversee them, and we fund them. And if they’re committing abuse for a secret court, getting warrants on American citizens, you’re darn right that we’re going to put them on trial.”
Trump Agonistes
Nunes put that on the record back in February. What can possibly explain Trump’s reluctance to order declassification of relevant FISA and other documents (with such redactions that might be truly necessary) until seven months later, and just seven weeks before the mid-term elections? And why did Trump throw down a cautious, paper-thin gauntlet, with no firm deadline — inviting Deep State stonewalling?
The need to play ball with the Deep State is normally made clear to incoming presidents before they are inaugurated, and such was the case with President-elect Trump. Just two weeks before he took office, Trump was paid an official visit by National Intelligence Director James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and NSA Director Michael Rogers. Trump was put on notice by none other than the Minority Leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer. Schumer has been around and knows the ropes; he is a veteran of 18 years in the House, and is in his 20th year in the Senate.
Schumer: Trump is ‘really dumb.’
On Jan. 3, 2017 Schumer said it all, when he told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, that President-elect Trump is “being really dumb” by taking on the intelligence community and its assessments on Russia’s cyber activities:
“Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” Schumer told Maddow. “So even for a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he’s being really dumb to do this.” Did Maddow ask Schumer if he was saying the President of the United States should be afraid of the intelligence community? No, she let Schumer’s theorem stand.
Three days after the Schumer-Maddow warning, at the January 6 meeting with the Deep State brass, Trump was handed an evidence-free, rump intelligence “assessment” — published the same day — that Russian President Vladimir Putin had done what he could to get Trump elected. Adding insult to injury, after the others had left then-FBI Director Comey told the President-elect about the dubious findings of the so-called “Steele dossier,” opposition research paid for by the Democrats, with unconfirmed but scurrilous stories about Trump cavorting with prostitutes in Moscow, etc., etc.
Did Trump get the message? Is he his own man? A clue is in the almost embarrassing abundance of caution he has exercised vis-a-vis the Deep State — and the military, as well. He is likely to let himself be slow-walked on declassification past the mid-term elections, after which the scenery is likely to look very different in Congress.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He was an Army officer and a CIA presidential briefer, and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
It’s not a question. Trump may have intended to do something meaningful, but he surrendered almost immediately to Deepstate. I spotted the change in mid-March 2017. At first he ordered NASA and the Weather Service to stop using their media for the “global warming” racket. They obeyed at first, then quietly resumed spreading Gaian lies in mid-March. We can’t tell if Trump deleted his order, or the bureaucrats figured out he was a pushover. Details don’t matter. Actions matter.
Seriously? You don’t believe global warming is real???
Now we know WHO pulled Trump back…….the UK……the deep state treason would be completely exposed and the UK was in on it.
UK Begged Trump Not To Declassify Russia Docs; Cited “Grave Concerns” Over Steele Involvement
The British government “expressed grave concerns” to the US government over the declassification and release of material related to the Trump-Russia investigation, according to the New York Times.
Steele also had extensive contacts with DOJ official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie, who – along with Steele – was paid by opposition research firm Fusion GPS in the anti-Trump campaign. Trump called for the declassification of FBI notes of interviews with Ohr, which would ostensibly reveal more about his relationship with Steele. Ohr was demoted twice within the Department of Justice for lying about his contacts with Fusion GPS.
Perhaps the Brits are also concerned since much of the espionage performed on the Trump campaign was conducted on UK soil throughout 2016. Recall that Trump aid George Papadopoulos was lured to London in March, 2016, where Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud fed him the rumor that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton. It was later at a London bar that Papadopoulos would drunkenly pass the rumor to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer (who Strzok flew to London to meet with).
Also recall that CIA/FBI “informant” (spy) Stefan Halper met with both Carter Page and Papadopoulos in London.
Halper, a veteran of four Republican administrations, reached out to Trump aide George Papadopoulos in September 2016 with an offer to fly to London to write an academic paper on energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea.
Papadopoulos accepted a flight to London and a $3,000 honorarium. He claims that during a meeting in London, Halper asked him whether he knew anything about Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails.
Papadopoulos had other contacts on British soil that he now believes were part of a government-sanctioned surveillance operation. -Daily Caller
In total, Halper received over $1 million from the Obama Pentagon for “research,” over $400,000 of which was granted before and during the 2016 election season.
In short, it’s understandable that the UK would prefer to hide their involvement in the “witch hunt” of Donald Trump since much of the counterintelligence investigation was conducted on UK soil. And if the Brits had knowledge of the operation, it will bolster claims that they meddled in the 2016 US election by assisting what appears to have been a set-up from the start.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-23/uk-begged-trump-not-declassify-russia-docs-cited-grave-concerns-over-steele
And lets not forget
FBI texts: Obama ‘wants to know everything we’re doing’ – NBC News
Trump Dossier Firm Also Supplied Info Used in Meeting of Russians, Trump Team
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-dossier-firm-also-supplied-info-used-meeting-russians-trump-n819526
Fusion GPS official met with Russian operative before and after Trump Jr. sit-down
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/07/fusion-gps-official-met-with-russian-operative-before-and-after-trump-jr-sit-down.html
There is no Deep State, thats a right wing ploy. If there is a deep state its the one Dick Cheney set up. Nunes is stooge for Trump. He was at the GOP convention and probably voted against sanctions against Russia. Nunes and his ilk are traitors just as is Trump.
FBI texts: Obama ‘wants to know everything we’re doing’
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fbi-texts-obama-wants-know-everything-we-re-doing-n845531
UK Begged Trump Not To Declassify Russia Docs; Cited “Grave Concerns” Over Steele Involvement
The British government “expressed grave concerns” to the US government over the declassification and release of material related to the Trump-Russia investigation, according to the New York Times.
“According to a former American official and a former British official, the British government expressed grave concerns to the United States government about the release of classified information. The material includes direct references to conversations between American law enforcement officials and Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled a dossier alleging ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/politics/trump-classification-russian-documents.html
Steele also had extensive contacts with DOJ official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie, who – along with Steele – was paid by opposition research firm Fusion GPS in the anti-Trump campaign. Trump called for the declassification of FBI notes of interviews with Ohr, which would ostensibly reveal more about his relationship with Steele. Ohr was demoted twice within the Department of Justice for lying about his contacts with Fusion GPS.
Perhaps the Brits are also concerned since much of the espionage performed on the Trump campaign was conducted on UK soil throughout 2016. Recall that Trump aid George Papadopoulos was lured to London in March, 2016, where Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud fed him the rumor that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton. It was later at a London bar that Papadopoulos would drunkenly pass the rumor to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer (who Strzok flew to London to meet with).
Also recall that CIA/FBI “informant” (spy) Stefan Halper met with both Carter Page and Papadopoulos in London.
Halper, a veteran of four Republican administrations, reached out to Trump aide George Papadopoulos in September 2016 with an offer to fly to London to write an academic paper on energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea.
Papadopoulos accepted a flight to London and a $3,000 honorarium. He claims that during a meeting in London, Halper asked him whether he knew anything about Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails.
Papadopoulos had other contacts on British soil that he now believes were part of a government-sanctioned surveillance operation. -Daily Caller
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-23/uk-begged-trump-not-declassify-russia-docs-cited-grave-concerns-over-steele
Trump Dossier Firm Also Supplied Info Used in Meeting of Russians, Trump Team
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-dossier-firm-also-supplied-info-used-meeting-russians-trump-n819526
Fusion GPS’ Glenn Simpson Dined With Russian Lawyer Before & After Her Meeting at Trump Tower
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/fusion-gps-glenn-simpson-dined-russian-lawyer-after-her-meeting-trump-tower
Bigger than Watergate…….Much bigger and far more dangerous.
Bush Cheney hate Trump and wanted Hillary not Trump.Hillary was the neocon queen.
TRUMP “Bush worst president ever”
– YouTube
Video for Trump bush worst president ever
? 6:15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6N8l8DMu3M
Dec 11, 2007 – Uploaded by TheCyMan
“Well, I think Bush is probably the worst president in the history of the United States, and I just don’t …
Trump vs. Bush: They Said There Were Weapons of Mass Destruction …
Video for Trump bush lied
?
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/…/trump_vs_bush_they_said_there…
Feb 13, 2016
We have destabilized the Middle East,” Trump said. “You call it whatever you want. I will tell you. They lied …
Trump on Bush going into Iraq: ‘They lied’
| TheHill
Video for Trump bush lied
?
thehill.com/…/269410-trump-on-bush-going-into-iraq-they-lied
Feb 13, 2016
“Obviously the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake,” Trump said.
Dream on Liz. The Deep State has been running the show at least since the assassination of JFK. That’s why no president, Dem or GOP, has been able to follow through on foreign policy promises ever since. Obama has even been quoted as saying he didn’t want to wind up like JFK, and Chuck Schumer (a big D Dem) is quoted saying the intelligence community (Capitalism”s Invisible Army) has six ways from Sunday to get back at you. I am no fan of Trump, but neither do I suffer from “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, as seems to be your case.
Read:
JFK and the Unspeakable, by James Douglass
Destiny Betrayed, by James DiEugenio
The Devil’s Chessboard, by David Talbot
None of these authors are “right wingers”. Then let’s talk about “there is no deep state”.
The rhetorical question Ray doesn’t really need to ask. No POTUS will go against our intelligence “services”. ( Unless they have terminal cancer or haven’t heard of Paul Wellstone and JFK!
Somebody mentioned Lyndon Johnson keeping quiet about Richard Nixon’s treason in order to protect the “institution”. That was in November of late, great, 1968 – in a taped phone conversation between LBJ and the inimitable Everett McKinley Dirksen. Of course Lyndon had to keep quiet about Nixon’s treason…because Nixon knew all about LBJ’s treason. Rumors suggest that when Nixon was involved with the HUAC investigations, a certain Jacob Rubenstein was one of the informants they employed. Jacob had an after school job when he was a kid. He was a messenger boy for Alphonse Capone in Chicago. After the war, he moved to Dallas, and the rest is history. Yep, Nixon knew or suspected the dirt on almost everybody that mattered. I could go on, but if America hasn’t “woke up” in the last 55 years, it probably never will. They’ve got this club…and we ain’t in it. But they’re protecting it, all right. After all, that’s what “institutions” do!
Interesting
I never read that.Thanks
Trumpster took on the “Deep State” when he attacked and burned the Trilateral Commission’s Trans Pacific Partnership.
Trump seems to’ve painted himself into a tiny corner by reason of his own ignorant arrogance and rude/crude pomposity.
The structures of American Government, though fictitious in affectation, is fundamentally grounded in the ethic established by a /the High Cabal of East India Company businessman and politicians that are, at the root of American Business and Politics.
— Elihu Yale is a Founding Father in so much as he oversaw the British East India Trading Company, the first multinational corporate conglomerate and progenitor of the Boston Tea Party, etc, etc, etc /American Revolutionary War. . .
The so-called “deep state” is Historically Entrenched in and within the American Enterprise System that was Birthed by the British East India Trading Company.
A Clown Prince like Donald Trump will not usurp fundamental tenets baked into 400 years of American yin & yang.
Trump is The Ultimate Interloper, a down & dirty NYC thug-mentality big-shot whose ambition has carried him into a realm Far, Far Above his pay grade.
Soon we’ll hear the Donald singing the sad song, “Let Me Down Easy” …
The mask is off……..no more pretending there isnt a deep state coup against Trump and the media are pushing for it.
Formerly respected James Risen
So You Want to Use the 25th Amendment to Get Rid of Donald Trump? Here Are the Hurdles to Removing a Mentally Impaired President.
https://theintercept.com/2018/09/21/25th-amendment-trump/
“Memos written by Andrew McCabe, then the acting FBI director, say that Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein suggested he secretly record his talks with President Trump and that Rosenstein discussed possibly trying to remove him from office” … “He {Rosenstein} also initiated discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment, which details how the Cabinet can decide whether a president is no longer able to discharge the duties of the job, one of the McCabe memos said.”. — LA Times
Today’s news:
“President Donald Trump has delayed his order to declassify documents related to the FBI’s surveillance of former campaign adviser Carter Page, and asked the Department of Justice to review the documents first.” https://www.rt.com/news/439059-trump-delays-russia-documents/
So who’s doing the slow-walking now?
Donald Trump’s unmatched specialty is selfishly betraying people who have put their confidence on him – it’s the essence of his entire life.
Ray McGovern seems ripe to join the club.
Trump has no ideology except for “Me.” He says whatever seems to benefit himself at any given moment. He has no real position on any issue. The position he advocates is simply part of a momentary transactional relationship. Paying his prostitutes cash for sex is an example. Trump will say whatever people want to hear as long as he gets what he wants out of the deal.
Any resemblance anything Trump says has to the truth is unintentional and completely coincidental.
The drama with Kavanaugh being appointed to the Supreme Court for Roe v Wade is another current example. Trump doesn’t really have any morality on these issues. If one of his hookers needed an abortion, then it would be important.
Donald Trump took 5 different positions on abortion in 3 days
Jean, that’s what I called a “momentary transactional relationship.” Being blackmailed. Not only is Trump selfish, he’s incapable of caring about other people. People are objects. Props to be used on Trump’s reality TV show. A person has value only in how this person makes Trump look at any given time (social status). His wives are obvious examples. Melania has no value in and of herself to Trump, she’s a trophy wife.
We agree on most of the details, Jean. I just haven’t been able to root for Trump. I am unable to take sides. Yes, HillBillary Clinton are corrupt. Yes, John Brennan is corrupt. Yes, I am convinced all the oligarchs from Kochs to Bezos to Trumps are corrupt. That’s how they got to be where they are. By being assholes. They didn’t get those piles of loot being kind and compassionate like Jesus.
In the global oligarch world, there are no national borders. Oil is everywhere. Amazon is everywhere. Trump Towers are in India. Therefore, it would not surprise me in the slightest if any or all of these people had business dealings in Russia or with Russians. So what?
Can it all come down? Last time we asked that question – 10 years ago with the mortgage crisis – the answer was a resounding, “No!”
Therefore, though Trump wears his Gangster nature on his sleeve – unlike the Obamas and HillBillaries of the world who have the manners to not be seen as sociopaths – I don’t have much faith in the monkey with the hand grenade.
I think it is all political theater WWF Wrassling celebrity death match reality TV bullshit, which entertains the masses, but isn’t in and of itself going to change America for the better. It will probably leave us all scarred and disappointed.
Trying to find the humor in watching him go, but Trump is such a cliche… there’s nothing funny there. Just the personification of the American Dream. The real American Dream. Being a blinged out gangster on TV.
I hit “reply” to write a comment, then the comment shows up somewhere in this thread besides where I think it will appear.
Apologies for any confusion. Having an idiot day here at my keyboard – ha ha!
I notice my post is gone…….interesting no?
This keeps happening.I have to wonder why.
oops its further down……..sorry…
Im replying to you post below……it has no reply button…..
I agree 100% with what you posted…..with one exception…..Trump isnt a republican and hasnt been since 1999….Trump was a huge Hillary Clinton supporter…
Stormy Daniels: Trump/Clinton Talk About “Our Plan”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YZw5kCo3LM
“The plan” may have been for him to smear Obama with the Birth Certificate issue.? “The plan” was birtherism. The whole Obama the Kenyan thing. Hillary was the first one to bring that up and Donald Trump picked it up and ran with it? .Hillary was one of the original birthers! oh, right, we already knew that?!
Hillary also picked Trump…….her pied piper…..
Trump was never supposed to win.Trump isnt a “party ” person.Imagine the horror when Trump won?…….even Melania cried.Now the deep state who helped Hillary lie and cheat are terrified they cant control him and that their efforts to commit black mail and sedition and worse will be exposed.
None of that happens with out Trump…….they are being exposed in a way they never were and the lying media with them.
Best thing to happen in a long time.Sad as that may be.
Jean, my tack was similar to yours in an earlier post that disappeared into the ether. It may show up in a couple days or so…
Basically, it was this: That Trump’s innate ability to leave a trail of destruction behind him was already priced in when we voted for him, and that many of us are now on pins and needles hoping that he succeeds in doing the same for DC that he was able to do for his casinos.
If Trump were half the gangster you pretend Brennen and Mueller would be in prison for sedition and treason and I would cheer.If only he were a gangster and not just a greedy businessman we might have something.We need a real gangster to take on these criminals.Who else would do it?……Not Trump.
FYI…..I forgot to mention they killed JFK…..there’s always that looming in the back of every presidents mind Im sure.
It seems likely they (“they” being the CIA and FBI and maybe LBJ) killed both JFK and MLK.
In doing so, they broke the government’s social contract with the American public. The implied contract being Americans get protection and public services in exchange for allowing these people to eat at the trough first.
It was broken again with 9/11 and Dubya. Broken again with the bank bailout and Obama 10 years ago. Even folks who want to love their country and feel patriotic (I used to want that) have got to be looking for a divorce lawyer by now.
The agreement has been broken. Whether you felt it with JFK or 9/11 or the bank bailout probably depends on your age. Trump is basically the nail in the coffin. Only the feebleminded haven’t figured out both the red team and the blue team are corrupt.
Hobbes says, “Fuck this shit.”
O Society – Trump paid the hookers and never r*ped them, but Bill Clinton did. Oh, yes, Slick Willy could string two sentences together, so that makes it all right.
And look at the hypocritical attitude of Hillary Clinton, Harvey Weinstein’s friend, the woman who steadfastly stood by her man and denounced HIS accusers. Now she’s all of a sudden found God and is acting all moral and righteous by standing up for a woman who is bringing a 36-year old charge of alleged “groping” – not rape, as in the case of her husband – but groping by a teenager. To boot, the accuser can’t even remember the date, the year, the house where the party occurred, how she got there, or how she got home.
Dear David G,
I don’t understand; please explain. ray
Hi, Ray. Thank you for your reply. To answer your question:
Well, I read your piece as saying that the delay you foresee in compliance to Trump’s order to declassify and release the documents in question was going to be due to resistance by “top officials of the Justice Department, the FBI, and the intelligence agencies”.
The report from today that I quoted has the authorization for the delay coming from the president’s own lips.
Now, I understand that he is likely reacting to pressure from those self-same elements of the permanent government. But nevertheless, with Trump himself backing off his order so quickly, can you say that this from your article is still operative:
“Trump has now put the ball in the miscreants’ court but, with the media on their side, Deep State functionaries enjoy the equivalent of home-court advantage.”?
If Trump can’t be bothered to maintain his own position for more than a few days in the face of “Deep State” obstruction (see also: his expressed intention to disengage from Syria), then why do such pitiful efforts merit the support of principled writers and activists such as Ray McGovern?
Dear David G,
Gosh, if you read the article more closely I think you may share some of my satisfaction at having gone out on a limb (at the time a very lonely limb); that Editor Joe Lauria trusted me enough to run a speculative piece with predictions that no one else was voicing; and that — a short three days later — it appears that I managed to get this one right.
Moreover, I don’t understand how describing objectively Trump’s predicament on “Russia-gate” (cum the dangers of the Deep State) translates into “support” for Trump. As I have said often, I believe he is the worst president the United States has ever had. But that doesn’t mean there are not equally sinister forces afoot. There are; and I think we need to be aware of them, as well.
Ray
Thanks again for your further reply, Ray.
Let me first just emphasize one thing for my own part: I quite deliberately did not say you “supported” Trump himself, but that I saw your piece as in support of his (ostensible) attempt to declassify and release the materials at issue here. Was I mistaken in that understanding?
To me, your use of the metaphor “Trump has put the ball in the miscreants’ court” implies both an empirical perception of an oppositional relationship in this matter between Trump (trying to get the info out there) and Deep State actors (trying to stop him), as well as a normative judgment in, yes, *support* of one side in that contest: the one opposed to the miscreants, i.e., Trump.
I’m not faulting you for either of those assessments, and to the extent your article was a prediction that Trump’s initial declassify-and-release order would not be promptly carried out, today’s news (yesterday’s now; tempus fugit!) does seem to bear you out. (I can indeed see how you may have been nonplussed by my comments’ seeming to chide you for actually being correct about that.)
But isn’t there a difference between Trump simply failing to make headway against the entrenched “national security” structure, and his – after a mere three days – affirmatively adopting their position, as happened here?
Well, perhaps not so much, I must concede: I guess that’s how bureaucratic conflicts can play out – though this one happened bloody quickly.
But to the extent I may have been inappropriately grinding an axe here, that may reflect that, as I’ve read your CN pieces on certain Republicans’ attempts to expose the fraudulent origins of Russia-gate, I have sometimes sensed you are imputing to their efforts a degree of credibility that I don’t think they merit. Perhaps I have been misreading you.
In any case, I much appreciate your taking the time to read and respond to my comments.
Yes you nailed this one Ray. Good Timing to get it published before Trump “vacillated”
If Trump can’t be bothered to maintain his own position for more than a few days in the face of “Deep State” obstruction….. then why do such pitiful efforts merit the support of principled writers and activists such as Ray McGovern? ”
Ray suggested that he felt Trump would allow himself to be slow-walked , and also questioned whether Trump was “his own man”. That he didn’t foresee that Trump would slow-walk himself is hardly a good reason to suggest that Ray is about to join the club of those whose “unmatched specialty is selfishly betraying people who have put their confidence on him”.
Aren’t you really saying that Ray is betraying those on the left because he supports Trump’s call for declassification , and that support of ANYTHING Trump does represents such a betrayal ?
Being on the left myself , I – and many , many other leftists – support the declassification 100% , and only wish it had come sooner. Perhaps the left itself has many “clubs”. I’ll happily remain in the same club chosen by Ray.
I didn’t suggest or say the things you said I suggested and said.
David G replied : “I didn’t suggest or say the things you said I suggested and said.”
This is your statement set that I – and Ray , I suspect – considered unjustified:
“Donald Trump’s unmatched specialty is selfishly betraying people who have put their confidence on him – it’s the essence of his entire life.
Ray McGovern seems ripe to join the club.”
Are you now suggesting that the “club” Ray seems ripe to join is not described by the preceding sentence ? If so , what kind of club were you talking about , and how would anyone reading your post reasonably interpret it other than the way it seems to be presented ?
For heaven’s sake, I meant the club of people taken in by Trump – not that Ray was liable to become some sort of Trumpunculus himself.
David, ‘tis sad but true, Trump has a natural talent for leaving a wide path of destruction behind him. Thus, we are all on pins and needles hoping for the same result in DC.
Ray called it: “Trump is likely to let himself be slow-walked on declassification past the mid-term elections.”
Trump said:
“I met with the DOJ concerning the declassification of various UNREDACTED documents. They agreed to release them but stated that so doing may have a perceived negative impact on the Russia probe. Also, key Allies’ called to ask not to release. Therefore, the Inspector General has been asked to review these documents on an expedited basis. I believe he will move quickly on this (and hopefully other things which he is looking at). In the end I can always declassify if it proves necessary. Speed is very important to me – and everyone!”
“They agreed to release them but stated that so doing may have a perceived negative impact on the Russia probe.”…..LOL!!..ya think?
Who are these ” KEY ALLIES”?
Netanyau?
The UKs GCHQ and the australian intelligence services who were asked to spy on Trump?
Rosenstein Proposed Secretly Recording Trump, Invoking 25th Amendment
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-21/rosenstein-suggested-secretly-record-trump-discussed-25th-amendment
No Deep state?……..no conspiracy against Trump?…….so what do we do with institutions that are as lawless and seditious as the FBI and DOJ?
The war on Trump has been proved with overwhelming evidence as has sedition.
So why hasnt Trump pushed to clean house?Drain the swamp?
Too BIG to Jail?
The cabal being exposed could bring down the entire government?Including Obama….And the media whom they work for?…….Thats every major institution in the country.
Remember when LBJ didnt expose Nixons treason with Vietnam because the ” INSTITUTION” must be saved!!
Ditto Carter and Reagan = Iran Contra
Ditto Bush V Gore
It’s the mechanism of how Crime Syndicate’s function specifically the Criminal Globalist Administions that have been able to Tyrannically Govern with Impunity decade after decade.
Present Administration’s never Investigate previous ones out of fear that future Administrations may investigate the current one.
Thus, making them Criminal Accessories to previous Administrations War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes Against The American People, TREASON & SEDITION.
War Criminal Obama’s “moving forward” on War Criminal Bush Administration Torture, Lying The American People into War, the beginning of mass Surveillance of The American room 641A at Criminal AT&T are but just some examples of the Tyrannical Lawlessness we see before us.
Trump isnt being selfish he is being blackmailed and neutered like every other puppet in the whitehouse.They dont even pretend anymore.
They dont have to.
“Is he his own man” is a good question but “is the Deep State the real power” is a better one.
its becoming more and more evident……they dont even pretend anymore.
Mr. McGovern,
You write, “What can possibly explain Trump’s reluctance to order declassification of relevant FISA and other documents (with such redactions that might be truly necessary) ….. What “redactions that might be truly necessary” could there possibly be? No undercover spy in a dangerous situation is going to be taken out in a foreign land, right? I’m for all these documents being brought into the open with no redactions whatsoever. Why would anyone not want the underbelly of this whole Russiagate mess revealed? The banks weren’t too big to fail, in reality, nor is Russigate.
One disgusting thing is the appeal to the DoJ and FBI by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schummer, Adam Schiff and Tom Warner to not release the docs. We all recognize the disgusting Republicans such as Mitch McConnell, Lindsay Graham, et. al for the sleazy people they are, but even more disgusting are the phoney Democrats who say the right “progressive” lines and have no moral integrity to back them up. The two major political parties are equally disgusting.
Remember the time someone said, “We’ll have to wait for the definitive version of Russiagate. Woodward did that for us with Watergate and the September 11 Attacks. Pulitzers.”
Mmm hmm… things like this makes me wonder if the NYTimes Anonymous Op-Ed intentionally was released at the same time as Woodward’s book to steer our public conversation in a specific direction.
Not saying it’s a conspiracy, but how can it be a coincidence?
Not saying it’s a conspiracy, but holy iguana guano, Batman!
How come the NY Times and Wa Post don’t have any mention of how there is no evidence for Russiagate – at all – in their book reviews of Fear?
I Searched Hard for Two Years and Found No Evidence of Trump Russia Collusion
Washington has just formally given itself the right to commit acts of war on any country based on empty charges of “cyber attacks” on America or its interests. If it has proven anything at all, “Russiagate” has shown that Washington don’t need no steenkin’ evidence whatsoever to support its accusations of spying, meddling, influence peddling, simply defending its own interests using rhetoric and reportage or what have you through the use of computers. Any country that utilises computer technology will henceforth be subject to attack from America without notice. Signed by Trump. Now that’s really making America great again. We now formally contend that any act of aggression is justified to preserve complete and absolute American hegemony. Now that is an oppressor the rest of the world will delight in vivasecting when the day comes.
https://www.rt.com/usa/438980-cyber-strategy-offensive-bolton/
Remarks by John Bolton include: “Among the listed goals was also the development of a “superior cybersecurity workforce” and promotion of US innovation in cybersecurity.
The strategy as published takes as an article of faith that Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea use “cyber tools to undermine our economy and democracy, steal our intellectual property, and sow discord in our democratic processes.”
It proposes four “pillars” of policy that would not only defend the US computer networks and the “American Way of Life,” but also promote US economic prosperity, advance US influence around the world, and achieve “peace through strength” by getting allies to follow the US-established “accepted expectations of state behavior.”
“The strategy also calls for more US surveillance, an international crackdown on cyber-crime, and the use of sanctions and even military force as a deterrent to would-be hackers.”
So, war is peace, and everybody had better do what we say or else because the USA defines all accepted norms of state (and personal) behavior. What else is not new? What would you have thought if told 50 or 60 years ago that the novel “1984” was really about America?
So sad you are taking orders and ratcheting up the brinksmanship without limit, Donald.
Its getting hot in here..
Nellie Ohr Refuses To Sit For Congressional Testimony After Trump Declassification Order
“Ohr’s cancellation comes on the heels of an order by President Trump to declassify Trump-Russia documents “immediately” and “without redaction,” including the text messages from several key players, including Ohr’s husband, twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr.
Nellie Ohr, a Russia expert who speaks fluent Russian, was set to discuss her work for opposition reserarch firm Fusion GPS – which employed her from December 2015 until right after the 2016 US election as part of their anti-Trump efforts. In 2010, she represented the CIA’s “Open Source Works” expert working group, along with her husband Bruce and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. ”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-20/nellie-ohr-refuses-sit-congressional-testimony-after-trump-declassification-order
Nellie : ” Whoa ! “
The Plot to Subvert an Election:
Unraveling the Russia Story So Far
By Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti
9/20/2018
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/20/us/politics/russia-interference-election-trump-clinton.html
What the NYT fails to realize is that the majority of our citizens have had no faith in our sacred elections for decades, as evidenced by the fact that they don’t waste their time participating. Most people know that our “democracy” is designed for the rich to get richer and the rest of us to fight over the crumbs.
One of these days it will collapse under its own weight. It’s on the verge of happening soon.
The only “sources and methods” at risk from immediate full disclosure of all the relevant docs are the culprits themselves, the participants in this criminal enterprise and their Mighty Wurlitzer propaganda machine. Everyone with a functioning brain already knows who all these felonious mopes are. Trump is probably frightened to death that they may soon be suggesting he make a “campaign swing” to Dallas.
Just send the US Marshals in and sieze everything at the DOJ and FBI.
I agree!
You think the US Marshals are going to turn on their buddies at the DOJ and FBI ?
Good luck with that.
Then have Mattis send in the US Marines.
I can’t believe I am actually supporting Trump in any capacity and yet here I am.
That’s how bad things are.
Trump is not the savior.
He’s just the wrench we threw into the gears of the deep state machine that has been wrecking our lives and our country for 60+ years.
I agree 100%
Trump is actually better than I imagined and for all the wrong reasons.
I’ll take it!
If there’s a stalled delay in getting the docs, what better excuse is needed for firing the whole bunch, and immediately!
Right?
Jean, I’m with you, there! My friends and family are looking aghast at me!
I feel ya…..trying to defend Trump is like trying to defend the devil himself in my circle.
Jean, I understand. As much an idiot as Trump is, he is attempting to end the Korean war, something no other president ever wanted to do; also, he really doesn’t want a war or regime change in Russia, whereas HRC would be doing that before now had she been elected. He also hasn’t bombed Iran which was on her immediate agenda. The N and S Koreas are talking and making nice, thanks again to Trump. He’s disgusting (especially on the Israeli front) but better is some ways than one could expect from his opponent.
As for releasing the documents, more power to him
Ironically the formerly “anti war” democrats now stand with the BUSH mass murdering neo cons…..and sneer and deride any of Trumps overtures for peace and pine for WW3 with Russia based on zero evidence.When proved liars ,war criminal and torture enthusiasts like Brennen can work openly for MSNBC and Clapper and Haden work for CNN without irony…..
Its beyond the looking glass.
They dont even pretend anymore.The USSR wasnt so blatant.
What happens when Mueller says his investigation is “officially” finished are there’s no evidence of Russian collusion? Nothing to him. He’ll go back to being (in his mind) a rich and powerful Inside the Beltway Political Power Player not to be messed with.
If we had a functioning Justice dept he would already be in prison along with Bush and all the other treasonous criminals and torture enthusiasts.
The conversation around Election Time won’t be about High School Drinking Parties. The timing of this release and the Leaks that will be coming out from the Trump side of the CIA, DOJ, FBI will dominate.
This may be exactly what Trump had in mind, because he always has everything in his mind with his many tiny little moves at just the right time.
The ignorant Liberals and enthused Leftists will continue down their Path. But, the real Progressive voters, i.e., Ron Paul Republicans, Progressive Caucus Democrats, will be going over to Trump’s side. These are Voters who are not of a Criminal Mind like the Liberal Democrats now seem to be possessed of.
Mr. Durham,
Don’t forget, both major parties are pro-military, pro-war, pro-Wall Street and pro-elite rule.
The only caring and progressive party is the Green Party.
If Trump had a functioning brain, he would insist on releasing the documents asap.
Im thinking he want to keep that brain inside his skull…..ask JFK how that works.
“18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy: If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”
The Rule of Law is what separates the United States from Third World banana republics. If you lose that, if you look the other way, you have lost everything. Everything.
The Deep State is trying to convince you that war is in your best interest, that globalization and the offshoring of jobs is in your best interest, that curtailing freedom of speech is in your best interest, that the Constitution is “just a piece of paper”, that banking, health, media and other monopolies are in your best interest, that law and order don’t really matter.
If they take Trump down, they will come for you. If you allow this, then you are complicit in your own demise.
Backwards, they already came for you & they have you, lock stock & barrel, thanks too the Patriot Act & a corrupt Govt & MSM propaganda! Trump’s a marionette dangling on the strings of the Deepstate? JFK faced the same Deepstate resistance & it cost him his life! Trump better be careful as the Deepstates “to big too fail” Russiagate lie must never be exposed to the light of truth!
But it’s so obvious to any thinking person what a phony concoction it is. Regular people are not falling for it. It’s only the “educated” idiots who read the NYT and other BS mainstream media. I don’t think most people even pay attention to it anymore.
The scary part is that these perpetrators control the military and they really don’t care what the majority of the population wants or thinks.
Democrats are trying to hide their crimes against democracy.They are terrified that the documents prove their conspiracy to steal the election and collusion with Russia to do it.We already know the FBI and DOJ were working for Hillary Clinton against Sanders and Trump.And Obama was in on it.
FBI texts: Obama ‘wants to know everything we’re doing’
Bigger than watergate
Showdown?
Top Congressional Democrats Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff and Mark Warner penned a joint letter to ODNI Director Dan Coates, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding that the agencies defy President Trump.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-19/fbi-doj-defy-trump-order-redactions-planned-top-dems-demand-insuboordination
You’ve got their number, Jean!
This monstrous intrigue has many tentacles that reach into many high offices. In their reckless effort to overthrow Trump they have inadvertently created a marauding Frankenstein which is now threatening to burn down the whole establishment and their media mouthpieces.
Im no Trump fan but he has made all the right enemies and I give him credit for even trying.
Neither am I, but voted for him for this purpose: as monkey wrench thrown into the gears of tyranny. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll succeed.
Best thing to happen to the country in along time.
No more pretending.
Trump pulled the mask off.
It’s one of those WWF lumberjack matches. Keep throwing them over the top rope till no one is left to toss. Fire everyone. Nuke and pave the alphabet agencies. Hit them with the steel chair. Don’t re-elect anyone. Doesn’t matter what party they’re in. Piledrive the incumbants through the canvass. I vote for that!
After demanding release of DOJ documents, Trump admits he’s just doing what his sycophants tell him to do.
Trump said he had not read the documents he ordered declassified but said he expected to show they would prove the FBI case started as a political “hoax.”
“I have had many people ask me to release them.”
O Society – yes, Trump has been advised by Congressmen Mike Meadows, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy and others, some of whom have actually seen the classified documents in their unredacted form.
These people are not sycophants. They’re elected members of Congress, all of them lawyers, and they know sedition when they see it.
These people created a phony Russian dossier and then used it to thwart an opposition candidate. Failing that, they attempted to overthrow a duly-elected President.
Sedition.
Aye! Concise and to the point.
I’ll take it.
Ahem. Sycophants.
“I have watched commentators I respect begging the president of the United States to release them….I have been asked by so many people that I respect, please — the great Lou Dobbs, the great Sean Hannity, the wonderful great Jeanie Pirro.”
There’s another probability: Caligula Drumpf really is ignorant enough to assume that he can order the declassification of documents immediately and his will shall be carried out. If he does assume that, the boy is in for yet another rude surprise.
As Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch said (see my post further down the page) a few days ago:
“For more than a year we’ve been suing to get these very same records. They’ve all been processed under the Freedom of Information Act, they’ve been processed under Federal Court order.
So this notion that they have to go back and start all over, or look at it again or review it is another false statement by the Justice Department and the FBI.
They already have all the documents compiled, they’ve already been reviewed because of our litigation. They simply need to release them.”
They’ve already been compiled and reviewed. No reason for any delay, except to escape jail time.
Jail Time?? This is sedition & Treason to overthrow and conduct a Coup to replace its Leader & it’s elected Govt? That’s TREASON deserving of the death penalty for the Traitors! How ironic that the same US Nation run by its Deepstate, which has a history of interference & meddling in other Countries affairs & conducts coups around the World, is now trying to conduct a coup in its own Country! At least the US has plenty of experience to pull it off as they are experts in coups, the CIA wrote the book on how it’s done!
So you support the deep state that lies to us and start wars and tortured and tried to steal a USA election and is now pushing for more wars and a coup on an American president.
And you think Trump is dangerous?
No, not at all Jean, I’m not advocating support for this Deepstate, but support for what your Constitution states for seditious treason of your Republic according to those laws! The blindingly obvious fact is that your Country is ruled by a unelected Cabal, a Deepstate which is so entrenched into every aspect of your Country & life’s that you’ll never get rid of it?? And Trump is only a danger to himself & no danger to this DS, he’s just a mere blip on the radar! The murderous DS will have not hesitation to remove Trump via the “nuclear, JFK option” if they fail to get him impeached first??If that option fails, the Deepstate will action Stalin’s often mentioned quote? Death is the solution to all problems? No man, no problem!
Crony” = “Trump’s rich folk friends.”
Trump is a crony capitalist. That’s who he is looking out for.
Nepotism. Cronyism. Corruption.
Trump’s Political Tariff Bureaucracy
Want a steel exemption? Meet your new Commerce overlords.
(behind a pay wall so pasted here in its entirety)
By The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
Tariffs are taxes, which distort investment and limit growth. And like taxes, when tariffs are high they create a political incentive for exemptions and favoritism. Behold the Commerce Department’s new and tortuous process for reviewing exemptions to steel and aluminum tariffs. This is everything Republicans typically claim to hate.
First, companies must submit a request attesting that their imports aren’t made in the U.S. in “a satisfactory quality” or “sufficient and reasonably available amount.” Companies must state the uses for their steel product, their average annual consumption of the product, as well as the number of days required to take delivery, manufacture and ship the product. They must also estimate the maximum and minimum composition of 24 chemical elements in their products including molybdenum, antimony and vanadium. There are dozens of other queries, but we’ll spare you.
Oh, and a separate request is required for each width, length, grade shape, and form of steel or aluminum product. A single company, Primrose Alloys, has submitted more than 1,200 steel product requests, according to Commerce’s database. All 14 that have been reviewed so far were denied.
Businesses may also submit statements to support their requests, which naturally turn political. California Steel Industries writes that “our workforce is made up of about 50 percent minorities and 20 percent U.S. veterans. We pay excellent wages and benefits (annual average above $100,000), plus profit-sharing that has averaged more than $7,000 annually over the past five years. We offer outstanding benefits, including an onsite Family Health Center staffed with excellent doctors and nurses.” Is it trying to recruit employees or persuade the bureaucracy?
Seneca Foods Corp. , the largest vegetable canner in the U.S., highlights that it contracts with 2,000 agriculture producers and its primary facility is in Baraboo, Wisconsin—i.e., a swing state that voted for Mr. Trump. Seneca, like many U.S. steel consumers, has complained about the inferior quality of domestic supplies. Its customer product rejection rate for domestic suppliers was 32 times higher than for imports. Auto-parts maker O&K American says its reject rate for Japanese steel is 0.001% compared to 0.174% for U.S. supplies.
Product quality can be a matter of life-or-death. Autoliv , the world’s largest manufacturer of seat-belt and air-bag components, notes that it requires a particular type of tubing involving “a specialized quenching and tempering operation to yield the desired [sic] microstructure” that ensures its pressure vessel “will work for 25 years under a variety of temperatures and humidity conditions.”
Once exemption requests are filed, they are subject to a 30-comment period so U.S. steel and aluminum suppliers can object. Commerce had to provide a crash-course for four dozen or so workers tasked with reviewing the more than 21,000 requests. Many have no expertise in metals, so they rely on the not-unbiased counsel of domestic suppliers.
Commerce has granted more than 1,300 steel exemptions—about twice as many as it has rejected—but it has yet to approve a request challenged by U.S. Steel , Nucor or AK Steel Holding Corp. , which have the ear of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Domestic steel manufacturers say they have the capacity to produce the steel products that are being imported. But as California Steel Industries noted in its exemption request, domestic mills “can and do choke off the supply of slab and thus can largely eliminate the competition.”
Turkish steel-pipe manufacturer Borusan Mannesmann had pledged to invest up to $75 million in expanding production in Texas if it won an exemption. The new factory would have allowed the company to produce the products it now imports. But Commerce rejected its applications after U.S. Steel and a domestic tube manufacturer complained that the imports would endanger “the precarious U.S. industry situation.”
Due to a huge backlog of applications, there’s often a long lag between the filing of the request and its public posting. The review process is supposed to take only 90 days, but companies have to pay the tariff while bureaucrats sift through the paperwork. California Steel Industries requested an exemption in March. The request wasn’t published until mid-May, with no decision posted to date.
This Commerce mess illustrates that in addition to the harm tariffs do economically, they also create new opportunities for crony capitalism and corruption. Far from draining the swamp, tariffs feed the swamp.
The Wall Street Journal is not an unbiased source on tariffs. Tariffs are part of protectionism, a practice used by all developing countries to compete with more advanced economies and to “protect” domestic industries. Protectionism was key to US economic development. It’s been key to *all* currently economically successful nations, including China.
Once a nation becomes sufficiently “advanced,” it normally advocates “free trade” and denigrates protectionism. This has been especially true of the US. Unfortunately, it’s now reasonable to look at the US as a “re-developing” nation for which protectionism again makes sense.
I find Ha-Joon Chang’s work useful. He’s a well-respected disciple of Joseph Stiglitz, one of my heroes. I recommend Chang’s book “Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism.”
I have no argument with your statements regarding crony capitalism and Trump’s corruption. But I share Trump’s view on protectionism. I also share his views on the TPP, NAFTA, N. Korea, Syria, improving relations with Russia, NATO, FBI malfeasance, on the manipulative practices of so-called legitimate media, and some other topics. (I admit his positions often change. So my statement above is subject to qualifications.)
I think Trump is consistently and dangerously wrong on climate change, lowering taxes on the wealthy and on healthcare. I’ve got other issues with Trump, but I don’t automatically oppose Trump on everything. (I’m not suggesting you do — but many do.)
Trump is not wrong to use protectionism as a tool. I take the fact that the WSJ opposes him here as an argument in his favor.
Excellent Mbob, I completely agree with you on your list of views I share with T-rump. The problem is, he’s an uncannily talented con-man, con standing for “confidence”. I fear that he has instinctively focused on these issues to disarm the thoughtful and informed electorate ( meaning us of course) and will do nothing to actually fix these problems. He’ll just thrash away at them to minimize the outrage we should have at him for all the damage he’s successfully doing elsewhere in his policies. And for the next year, he’s going to succeed beyond even his nightmare dreams.
Jean 2, thank you for your post. You’re probably right about Trump, but there’s a slight chance things may be better than that. That is: his positions on the issues we agree with him on haven’t earned him anything. There are too few people that think like us to matter. There isn’t really any “informed electorate” to speak of. In that case, Trump is taking those positions because he believes in them. I think he actually does — which is great — but it may not matter anyway. He’s being manipulated, opposed, and threatened, and essentially no one comes to his defense, except when he does lousy things like nominating Kavanaugh.
mbob – thank you for your excellent reply. Your use of the term “re-developing nation” is a perfect description to describe what Trump, I think, is trying to do with these tariffs.
I’m torn on climate change. I know we humans are doing a lot of damage with our practice of wanting endless growth on a finite planet, but I’ve also read some good articles that describe the climate as cyclical in the long run, no matter what we do. Ice ages come and go. If the latter is true, that we can’t stop the changes, the least we could do is slow it down by changing our ways, if that’s even possible. As I say, I’m torn.
Before Trump was elected, he mentioned single-payer. I’m hoping that he revisits this, but maybe stopping the TPP and the other things you mentioned, all the while being bombarded by this ridiculous Russiagate nonsense, is all that can be expected for the moment.
O Society – of course the U.S. will go into another recession/depression. If not for the Fed pumping out trillions and trillions of dollars, it would have happened in 2008. Stupidly, they have blown an even bigger bubble because of their actions and, yes, it will be a mess.
Well said.
I am not a fan of NAFTA and TPP and these “free trade” agreements either. They seem a key to outsourcing formerly American jobs. Neoliberal policies have ruined many aspects of the American economy.
The tariffs are troubling though. I am concerned America is going into another recession/ depression sooner rather than later. Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act shows us tariffs make this problem worse.
What do you think?
Tarriffs would have been a good strategy 20 years ago when we still had an industrial base in the nation which we no longer have. Basic steel manufacturing for instance no longer exists in the US. What we do today is melt scrap steel at mini Mills not create it out of iron ore and coal. Traditional steel Mills have all been closed. If Trump we’re serious about helping the American steel industry he would convince China to build new steel Mills here in the States. Would be a win win for both countries.
We are thinking along the same lines, Freedom. Trump’s emphasis on coal and steel makes him look as if he… well, frankly it makes him look as if he’s jousting windmills. Steel tariffs are just another prop on his reality TV show. Seems to be a gimmick to make Trump a blue-collar working man, when the truth is he inherited half a billion dollars from daddy. he inherited half a billion dollars from daddy
I think your right regarding the tariffs! It would have been better to have implemented these 20 yrs ago when you had a manufacturing base? Unfortunately, it’s to late, despite Trump’s attempts to reverse the damage? The horse has already bolted out the barn door & Trymps trying to get the horse to return too the stable? Corporations, especially American ones are Global & have no loyalty to Nation States, only loyalty their bottom line profits & Shareholders & they will always move production where the Labor is cheap & regulation’s, environment protection’s & taxes are non-existent! China has provided that service for 20 yrs + now? Tariffs & Trade Wars will disadvantage the American consumer who will now pay more at their local Walmart etc for low cost goods made in China? Expect your new iPhone X & other consumer goods to have than tax added to the items? Ouch!
What we have here is a good old Mexican standoff. After the raid on Cohen’s office, Mueller has the goods on Trump’s financial illegalities and could tie him up in court until the cows come home, but the phony collusion investigation has shaken loose all sorts of incriminating evidence against the establishment that hired him, and Trump desperately wants to make it public in order to vindicate himself.
Ray McGovern is right. This witch hunt has gotten out of control and could easily backfire on the whole damned establishment, not to mention that this whole hoax has been used to bludgeon the Russians with sanctions and acrimony. The problem is that Trump is asking them to please hand him his gun. Where is WikiLeaks when you need them? … Oh, they’re taking fire.
Mueller raided Trump’s attorney’s office. This is true and certainly unheard of.
Not too mention anything and everything from that raid is inadmissable in a court.
Trump should return the favor and raid the DOJ and FBI with US Marshals.
For all his bravado, Trump is just a babe in the woods, in the evil forest of skullduggery that is Washington DC. His big ego will not let him admit how shamelessly and effectively he is being played by the insiders of the swamp he is lost in. Part of their con is to convince him that he has a chance in this game – as long as he plays ball with them, and invites them into his parlor. What a sap he is for doing so!
mike k – I think Trump has been around the block enough times not to be sucked in and played by the likes of these people. He recognizes them, having been around them his whole life. They’re not convincing him of anything.
It’s easy to sit in our armchairs and ridicule a man, admittedly a far from perfect man, as he is being vilified 24/7 by the press and hunted by the Deep State elite (kind of like being Kennedy’d, but this time with slow knife cuts). It’s so much easier to join in on the fun and hope for his demise.
Trump is letting them know that if he goes down, so do they.
He’s just one man, backwards, against a determined, evil Cabal who have specialised in deceit, manipulation & murder for decades & successfully kept themselves in the darkness for years! Who is Trump going to bring down exactly?? He’s chasing shadows & ghosts! Better Presidents than Trump have taken on & failed to bring down this Deepstate?
This is theater, Washington leaks like a sieve, the President can launch Illegal missile strikes, kill women and children, destroy nations but he can’t demand unredacted documents on his desk and hand them to the press
Touche’
Great comment acknowledged with disturbing resignation of its accuracy.
O Society – Yeah, I’ll just bet those “rich folks” loved Trump when he cancelled the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) – ha! Millions of jobs have already been offshored to Asia, and the TPP was going to add to the count.
I’ll just bet those “rich folks” love Trump for the tariffs too. The U.S. multinationals, who have been making a fortune manufacturing in China, are now going to have to pay a tariff to bring the goods back into the U.S. The U.S. multinationals won’t be able to raise their prices to offset the tariffs, as the American consumer can’t afford higher prices, so the multinationals are going to have to eat those tariffs, which will surely cut into their profits.
But Trump has thrown them a bone – lower taxes – in order to take away the sting of the loss of the TPP and the implementation of the tariffs. He’s trying to entice them to bring the jobs back home. They can either do just that – or – pay the tariffs.
If those “rich folks” refuse to bring the jobs back home, then the tariff fees they’ll have to pay will provide millions and millions of additional dollars into American coffers, which can go towards rebuilding infrastucture, etc.
Those “rich folks” wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Yeah, I’ll just bet they love Trump for that (sarc).
If those rich folks then find it too expensive to offshore jobs (because of the tariffs), maybe they can just bring cheap labor into the country, which depresses existing American wages.
Wait, they’ve already been doing that through open borders and increased usage of H-1B visas, sloughing off the cost of this cheap labor onto the backs of the American taxpayers. It’s all supply and demand. A large supply of cheap labor depresses existing American wages, or outright causes the loss of American jobs. The extra demand on housing/rentals pushes prices up for existing American citizens. Then there’s the additional burden of higher taxes to pay for the educational and medical costs for this cheap labor.
Trump is trying to stop this practice, but so far those “rich folks” have been fighting him on this. I guess the lower corporate taxes aren’t enough for these rich folks, otherwise they’d be rejoicing. They’re not.
I don’t think these rich folks like Trump. I wonder why. I mean, if Trump has been so good for these rich folks, then why are the bought-and-paid-for politicians trying to have him impeached?
Oh, yes, they say it’s because he’s crass, loud, not presidential. Could it be that their corporate masters (those rich folks) are pulling their strings?
All this garbage about classification and people getting killed is mostly (but not entirely) a load of hooey. When I was a wet behind the ears 2ond Lt in the Air Force, I was a test officer for the EF=111A development program. We had all sorts of classified data WINTEL, intelligence methods and sources data, the works. Like most Air Force offices we had copies of AvWeek around the office but every night they disappeared and were stuffed in a safe. My commanding officer simply said, “There’s classified information in there and we’re going to lock it up.” The thing is, he was right. I had documents with paragraphs marked S/NF that I could read in AvWeek for free. As far as I know, nobody died. There is some classified data that could get someone killed or thrown in prison but very damned little of it. This whole thing with people getting killed is a lot like telling your kid to finish his or her dinner because they should be thinking of all the staving children in Ethiopia.
Jeff Harrison – yes, sometimes there are legitimate reasons to protect classified information – because someone could get killed (informants).
But too often they use this “someone could get killed” excuse in order to protect themselves, in order to prevent exculpatory evidence from surfacing, evidence that, if exposed, could put them behind bars. Especially evidence that would clearly show that they’ve been plotting and planning to overthrow a sitting President.
If cutting taxes for rich folks who already have more money than they know what to do with, as well as deregulating so banks and corporations can rip off the regular American – yet again – are “achievements…”
Then hate to see what the “failures” are going to look like!
The intelligence community is certainly lying to Americans about all sorts of things. But Trump is corrupt. Cronyism. Nepotism. He’s a criminal. There are no good guys here. As usual, regular Americans are the losers in all of this.
“What we’ve done is a great service to the country, really. I hope to be able to call this, along with tax cuts and regulation, and all the things I’ve done … in its own way this might be the most important thing because this was corrupt,” Trump said.
Trump says exposing ‘corrupt’ FBI probe could be ‘crowning achievement’ of presidency
The Enemy of Your Enemy is not Your Friend
The FBI is a criminal institution and has been since Hoover.Hoover only dreamed of the lawlessness and corruption of today’s FBI.
Perhaps, but the financial crimes that you probably could convict Trump for pales in comparison to the malevolence of the war profiteers that are trying to destroy him.
Chucky Shumer and Rachel colluded. It’s a factor that can’t be excluded.
When he mentioned six ways, giving spymasters praise,
Seems that blackmail is was what he alluded!
Rachel’s giddiness was just an act. She knew that the deck had been stacked.
The Feds would soon leak with a dossier peek,
Every lie would be sold as a fact!
There were sources and methods at stake. The FISA request was a fake.
If the plot were to fail, they could all go to jail,
But Rachel could help bake the cake!
The whole thing’s a Mockingbird plot. Rachel Maddow would help out a lot.
Her dad was a spy, so she’d turn a blind eye-
Don’t you dare ever say she’s been bought!
Death could occur pundits warned us. They must have recalled “Fast and Furious”.
They’ll slow-walk it now, claiming caution somehow,
But objections remain rather spurious!
The DoJ could have a fix in. Jack Ruby once worked for Dick Nixon.
What’s in those old files could lead to some trials,
Lots of big-shots get caught with young vixen!
There are secrets that must be kept hidden. We “can’t handle the truth”, it’s forbidden.
J. Edgar’s lace teddy has slipped out already,
Public access must stay overridden!
Keep in mind, it was “done by the book”. Susan Rice feared we might take a look.
You’ll recall that Obama had a CIA mamma,
Who’d believe that she raised up a shnook?
Joe DiGenova seems quite convinced. He opines with strong words never minced.
All this classified stuff is a cheap deep-state bluff,
Big indictments will soon be evinced!
In the meantime those midterm elections, could eviscerate deep-state dissections.
If the democrats win, then the case gets real thin,
All those crooks skate the House of Corrections!
It’s a windfall for Clinton’s foundation. She’ll avoid any fraud litigation.
So the spooks will just stall hoping Donald will fall,
They’ll pursue every means of cunctation!
There’s a term that needs rightly defined. Civil servants are getting maligned.
It’s those think tanks and banks and those MIC cranks,
Who pull strings and send memos unsigned.
Their names don’t appear on front pages. In darkness they work their outrages.
Don’t be fooled by O’Keefe and his phony fig leaf,
Deep state players don’t work for mere wages.
Thanks again F.G. Always a pleasure to read your timely poetry.
Thanks, F.G., I needed that. ray mcgovern
When Nikki Haley uttered her first words at the UN, the question had to be asked, who’s in charge?
It seems Trumps survival, even popularity is best explained by the “deplorable” behavior of the Democrats, now enhanced by Biden and his “Dregs of society comment.”
Bureaucracy, often populated by Democrat voters, have a myriad of ways of blocking what Presidents want to do. They achieve this through open lines of communication with key Congressional leaders and their innate desire for survival and growth.
I can recall my first experience in the Federal Government where the head of the unit was making policy with the Chairman of a Congressional committee. They would then rehearse how hearings would be conducted and questions from the chairman like I hear what you are saying about your budget but how much money do you really need. Then our boss would reluctantly tell the chairman in a convoluted way. Our boss was a lawyer.
Max Weber, who wrote about bureaucracies understood all this and it is instructive to read what he had to say.
What is preventing Trump from just walking over to DOJ, up to Rosenstein’s office and demanding the unredacted documents? He could fire each and everyone in the office for insubordination for non-compliance. Too bad Trump’s “You’re fired!” schtick was just an act.
Here is an interesting comparative example of Vladimir Putin “just showing up”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Kk7kobMQY
As Ray McGovern alludes, Trump’s MO to date is to allow himself to get rolled by the Security State Nomenklatura. But imagine Trump in Putin mode at DOJ in a conference room with Rosenstein and his staff.
SteveM – “What is preventing Trump from just walking over to DOJ, up to Rosenstein’s office and demanding the unredacted documents?”
Absolutely nothing, but sometimes a good schtick is allowing people to hang themselves before you get there, allow the “insubordination” to sink into the public’s mind before you put your shoes on.
That’s because Putin doesn’t fear his deep state because he controls it.In the USA they kill Presidents.
Jean–Exactly! Love, Jean 2
Thanks Jean 2!
Which is why Putin is so hated by the west. Had Putin not reclaimed the presidentcy in Russia you would hear very little about how bad and evil Russia is. However the west knows they can’t convince the Russian public to get rid of Putin and put in an oligarch who cow tows to the west so the Vilification of Russia continues.
SteveM, you can only do such things after you have established control and have the population behind you. Trump has done neither and is very weak politically.
Great video of Putin taking his oligarchs to the woodshed! I’ve watched several of his interviews the past few years and have great respect for the man.
Jean and Maxwell – unfortunately, Putin has his own problems. He is considered weak by the nationalists in his country (who want him to defend Russia more vociferously), but the pro-American faction within Russia fight him whenever he wants to get tougher. The Zionists also own the media in his country too. It’s not a cake walk for him either.
Then on the world stage, the treatment of Putin and Russia resembles what Trump has and is going through – vilified, lied about, thwarted at every turn. I feel for Putin. I think he is an excellent leader, but I’m sure the past few years have not been easy on him. Even Israeli jets are now attacking Russia.
Paul Craig Roberts writes about Putin’s dilemma:
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/09/18/can-russia-survive-her-partnerships-has-putin-made-a-strategic-miscalculation/
Thanks, BE. Yes, he must walk a tightrope and fend off enemies from within and without. As is said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Unlike many politicians, however, Putin never struck me as an ambitious power seeker; it’s as if the Fates thrust him forward to clean up the terrible mess left by Yeltsin – an enormous task of driving back the wolves and other carcass-pickers until the Russian state could reconstitute itself.
The US empire is the world’s bully, so of course Putin is reviled in the western media for impeding our insatiable greed; however, other nations have a much clearer picture of events than we do, trapped as we are within our bubble. They are not fooled by our media hysteria, and they know who to look to for true leadership.
When you have such powerful enemies like this USA who have unlimited resources and want you gone it’s beyond a problem.
Not that I am a big fan of Putins but he has proved to put his own country first unlike the USA olygarchy and has known real wars and tragedy in his own life.
test, posting recently has not appeared – curious
My posts have gone missing too
During that post-inaugural “meeting” with the deep state actors, the new President should have buzzed in a squad of Marines and had those bums clapped in irons. What actual constituency do the have, anywhow?
RnM – I don’t think Trump knew the full extent of what the FBI and DOJ had done at the time or were continuing to do. He had been told he was being spied on, but that’s about all he knew. Of course, everybody laughed at him when he disclosed he was being spied on, said he was paranoid.
The House Intelligence Committee (Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy, et al), various investigative reporters (Sarah Carter, Greg Jarrett, John Solomon) and Judicial Watch were just beginning to get a glimpse of the corruption right around the time the Special Counsel was appointed. It was almost as if they appointed the Special Counsel when they realized Devin Nunes was on to them.
Rosenstein quickly took control of the DOJ after Trump became President. Sessions was forced to recuse himself. Good God, there is way more reason for Rosenstein to have recused himself than Jeff Sessions, who never did anything.
Whenever I see Sessions, he almost looks scared, like he’s been warned. I mean, he didn’t even fight back re having to recuse himself. We probably only know the tip of the iceberg re this Russiagate fraud, but whoever is behind this are likely very dangerous people, people who do not intend to fail. Trump has ordered them to release the documents. If he is forced again to order them to release the documents, this time giving them a time limit, this could get ugly.
Interesting the timing of the 36 year-old Kavanaugh allegations and the timing of Trump’s order to release the documents. A political battle going on?
The President could leak what he declassified.
The owners of the media like his tax breaks and that he is a huge content provider. The media has avoided speaking about US government child abductions as the high crimes they are. Instead it spreads official sex fantasies about a Maria Butina without question. Media isn’t going for the President’s jugular, while it spread sex fantasies.
Yesterday (September 17, 2018) Lou Dobbs (who I don’t usually watch) interviewed Chris Farrell, Director of Investigations for Judicial Watch, an organization who has been busy using subpoenas and the courts to attempt to secure documents the DOJ don’t want to hand over. He said:
“For more than a year we’ve been suing to get these very same records. They’ve all been processed under the Freedom of Information Act, they’ve been processed under Federal Court order.
So this notion that they have to go back and start all over, or look at it again or review it is another false statement by the Justice Department and the FBI.
They already have all the documents compiled, they’ve already been reviewed because of our litigation. They simply need to release them.
They’re going to slow-walk it, they’re going to foot-drag because it’s not in their interest to reveal the incredible level of corruption in both the DOJ and the FBI.
Remember, Rosenstein signed one of those [FISA Court] warrant renewals contemporaneous with the appointment of the Special Counsel. So this is a wonderful opportunity, once all that information is released, for the President to say, ‘Mr. Rosenstein, you no longer enjoy my trust and confidence, you’re dismissed.’ If Mr. Wray [of the FBI] drags his feet as well, there’s another opportunity.
Rosenstein needs to go. He is actively suppressing this criminal conspiracy. Now is the time for Mr. Rosenstein to be fired.
Time is of the essence. They’ve already processed all of these records. They can release them, all of them, within a week if they wanted to. That’s the key. There’s got to be a sense of urgency, a compulsion to do it now, not the way the Deep State wants to do it.
They’re all available and they could be released within a week.”
This is important – they already have all of these documents compiled.
A summary;
So the Clinton campaign pays Russia $12 million for dirt on Trump through two proxies, Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele. The Clinton Campaign then gives the unverified dossier to the FBI. The FBI then uses the Clinton paid for
unverified dossier to spy on Hillary Clinton’s opponent even though the
FBI know Clinton paid for it and they can’t verify it. Then when Trump
beats Hillary Clinton and wins the presidency the phony unverified
dossier, paid for by Hillary Clinton, is used as evidence to set up a
Special Counsel to investigate Trump for Russian collusion. Move along
people nothing to see here.
Turns out the founder of Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson also met with the Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya just hours before and after the Trump Jr Trump Tower meeting. Gee, I wonder why Glenn Simpson and Natalia Veselnitskaya would be having a meeting just before the Trump Tower meeting that led to all this talk of Russian Collusion. Nothing to see here people move along.
The DNC who refused to hand over their server to the FBI relied on Crowd Strike to examine the server, and Crowd Strike is a Ukrainian company, and guess who
Ukraine is currently at war with? That’s right Russia. And who funded
Crowed Strike to the tune of $100 million, oh that’s right, none other
than Staunch Hillary Clinton supporter and long time Democrat donor Eric
Schmidt Chairman of Alphabet. No conflicts of interest here people,
move along nothing to see here.
British including Steel & Dearlove interfered more than any Russians did
Why hate Russia?
Jean – good synopsis. One more thing: they purposely leaked the Steele dossier to the media so the media would write stories about it (in order to get more suspicion out there). Once that was done, they used those media articles as their excuse to further investigate, which led to more leaking to the press, which led to more articles in the press, which eventually led to the appointment of a Special Counsel – what they wanted all along. All a hoax, a fraud.
They knew there was no Russia collusion from the get-go, but Rod Rosenstein of the DOJ made the mandate given to the Special Counsel so expansive, they thought they could get Trump on something else – impeach him that way. Rod Rosenstein even signed one of the FISA warrant applications to spy on Trump and his associates.
This has been an attempt to overthrow a duly-elected President.
What has happened to the Left? They’ve come out against peace, free speech, and now transparency. Everything is turned upside down.
Jean – I replied to you once, but somehow it just disappeared. I’ll try again.
Good synopsis, Jean. One more thing: the Steele dossier was just the beginning. They wanted to create even more suspicion about Trump, so they purposely leaked the Steele dossier to the media, knowing full well that the media would write about it (which they did). They then used the resulting media articles as their reason to investigate further, continued to intentionally leak, which led to more media articles, which led to more leaks, rinse and repeat, which eventually produced what they wanted all along – the appointment of a Special Counsel. All manufactured, all a hoax.
Rod Rosenstein of the DOJ purposely made sure that the mandate and wording of the Special Counsel was very broad and expansive. They already knew from the get-go that there was never any Russian collusion, but they figured they’d get Trump on something else.
A malicious and intentional attempt to overthrow a duly-elected President.
Ya my posts are being disappeared.
Even Michael Isikoff was shocked that the FBI used his story to obtain the FISA warrent
Trump is a greedy baboon but he won the election fair and square.This is nothing short of sedition and a military coup I agree.
Jean,
This interview by “The Daily Caller” remains, I think the clearest video summation of the situation yet presented. The link is within the essay presented by Tyler Darden at Zero Hedge.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-21/brazen-plot-exonerate-hillary-clinton-and-frame-trump-unraveling-says-former-fed
Thanks
I like Tyler and the comment section is a hoot,a guilty pleasure.
Jean,
Good summary,but where is the evidence that Russia received $12 million, or any of the money paid to Steele/Fusion by anti Trumpers?
Steele paid top Russian government officials for the dirt on Trump.
That’s the only Russian collusion that can be actually be proved and they know it.
Jean,
Thanks for your response “Steele paid top Russian government officials for the dirt on Trump“
However, My question remains unanswered: Where is the Evidence?
What EVIDENCE is there that Steele paid RU government officials?
The word of Christopher Steele?
Vincent – yes, I’ve wondered this too. Did Steele pay some Russians for information, or did he just make the story up himself? I’m suspecting more and more that it was the latter.
Yes the word of Steele…….he said himself ,who knows if its true but he did have contacts in Russia.
John Solomon from The Hill just had an exclusive interview with Trump today. He said you hear all these stories of the White House being in disarray and chaos, but he said he was in the Oval Office for 45 minutes, and the President couldn’t have been calmer, the organization couldn’t have been more functional, and he was very measured on how he answered questions, very detailed.
Solomon said Trump had a good grasp of the details of the Russia investigation and anything we asked him. It was really impressive, so different from the reports that you see from the other news media organizations.
Trump said today that the effort to expose a corrupt FBI investigation may turn out to be one of the crowning achievements of his presidency, that what went on was a ruse. He changed his wording. He’s been calling it a ‘witch hunt’, Mueller’s witch hunt. Today he called it a ‘hoax’, a fraud. The FISA Court had been deceived.
Solomon said Trump made some really strong statements about the judges: “I don’t know yet,” he said, “but I feel they didn’t do their job. Maybe they’re doing it now, we’ve got to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
Solomon went over whether there was obstruction when Trump fired Comey. Trump said he wanted to fire Comey back in the summer of 2016 because of the way he handled the Hillary Clinton email exoneration…..I mean investigation. He said he should have done it sooner, but got talked out of it, and that was a big mistake.
Solomon said he was a man very comfortable with his decision to declassify, and Brennan didn’t worry him in the least. Trump believes that this is the right thing to do, and he believes when we see these documents, we’re going to find out the FBI did not act in the best interests of the United States. Brennan is coming out and telling the FBI and the DOJ to ignore Trump’s requests for documents.
Solomon said Trump had a level of confidence and composure that this was the right thing to do. He’s a man on a mission to clear his name, but also to get the American people to understand what the FBI did was wrong, and how to make sure it never happens again.
The above is from Sean Hannity’s news program today.
I hope the John Solomon interview will trigger a more proactive approach by Trump to the Deep-State siege. More likely, narcissistic Trump cannot be “convinced that he has been fooled.”
Let’s hope that John Soloman’s reporting gets wide distribution.
Re: Trump’s initial struggles with the initial learning curve: It appears that there’s nothing, except a lifetime of cynical corruption that makes someone “the most qualified person to be President,” to quote Bill Clinton.
Trump is an international business man who is also a scammer.
Trump can scam with the best of them.
To pretend Trump wasn’t brought up knowing he is being played is a folly. Trump has played with the world class players and won.
Even when he loses he wins!
Let’s not forget that the CIA was required by law to declassify and release the JFK files last year, 55 years after Kennedy was assassinated, and 26 years after the JFK Records Collection Act was passed, and they are STILL stonewalling.
yes; and yet another good example. ray
Thank you Ian Brown for that sterling reminder. For those of us who have been waiting for years for the truth to finally emerge, it is truly maddening to have to experience the ongoing criminality… But, by continuing to point out the injustice as you have here, at least we’re keeping some hope alive. Many thanks…
Unless, as Q suggests, Jeff sessions can be “unrecused” and together with Huber declassify soon.\so far, Q has been very precise with predictions so there is still part of the military intelligence assisting Trump (or, even, calling the shots).