Changes

*'''4 January.''' '''''Intelligence Community Assessment'' (ICA) report completed''', both classified and public versions. Some earlier reports refer to it as the ''Joint Assessment Report'' or JAR. Congressional investigators later found portions of Brennan's ICA "did not employ proper analytic tradecraft" and "deviated from established CIA practice."<ref>''Russian Active Measures'', HPSCI, March 22, 2018, pp. 46-47.</ref> Brennan attached two pages of sexual innuendo from the ''Clinton-Steele dossier'' to the assessment.  

*'''4 January.''' '''''Intelligence Community Assessment'' (ICA) report completed''', both classified and public versions. Some earlier reports refer to it as the ''Joint Assessment Report'' or JAR. Congressional investigators later found portions of Brennan's ICA "did not employ proper analytic tradecraft" and "deviated from established CIA practice."<ref>''Russian Active Measures'', HPSCI, March 22, 2018, pp. 46-47.</ref> Brennan attached two pages of sexual innuendo from the ''Clinton-Steele dossier'' to the assessment.  

*'''5 January.''' '''Morning.''' FBI Director James Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the DNC refused multiple requests to examine their servers after allegations of hacking.<ref>http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/313555-comey-fbi-did-request-access-to-hacked-dnc-servers</ref> As of August 2018, the FBI still never examined the servers to see if any hacking indeed took place. DNC continues to deny FBI ever made any requests.<ref>https://youtu.be/m9mHQJkuSpA</ref> Trump tweets, "The Democratic National Committee would not allow the FBI to study or see its computer info after it was supposedly hacked by Russia.”<ref>https://mobile.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/817166353266262016?lang=en</ref> Trump sends follow up tweet, "So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers? What is going on?”<ref>https://mobile.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/817168818539757568?lang=en</ref> Comey additionally lied to Congress in a classified setting about the true origins of the ''Steele dossier''.<ref>https://youtu.be/D44gRhEvxr8</ref>

*'''5 January.''' '''Morning.''' FBI Director James Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the DNC refused multiple requests to examine their servers after allegations of hacking.<ref>http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/313555-comey-fbi-did-request-access-to-hacked-dnc-servers</ref> As of August 2018, the FBI still never examined the servers to see if any hacking indeed took place. DNC continues to deny FBI ever made any requests.<ref>https://youtu.be/m9mHQJkuSpA</ref> Trump tweets, "The Democratic National Committee would not allow the FBI to study or see its computer info after it was supposedly hacked by Russia.”<ref>https://mobile.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/817166353266262016?lang=en</ref> Trump sends follow-up tweet, "So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers? What is going on?”<ref>https://mobile.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/817168818539757568?lang=en</ref> Comey additionally lied to Congress in a classified setting about the true origins of the ''Steele dossier''.<ref>https://youtu.be/D44gRhEvxr8</ref>

*'''Afternoon.''' '''Oval Office meeting to frame the President-elect.''' Obama, Biden, Rice, Yates, Clapper, Brennan and Comey in attendance. Rice sent a CYA email to herself about a secret [[Oval Office]] meeting where the ''[[Clinton-Steele dossier]]'' is discussed;<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html</ref><ref>https://apnews.com/152579d488a740b2a8d39fbe2f34506d</ref><ref>https://apnews.com/a82309544e9e465fa2ad4f83e5a48540</ref> (the email was written and sent to herself 15 minutes after Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20):<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-graham-uncover-unusual-email-sent-susan-rice-herself-president-trump-s </ref> {{Quotebox|"On January 5, following a briefing by [[IC]] leadership on Russian hacking during the 2016 Presidential election, [[President Obama]] had a brief follow-on conversation with FBI Director [[Jim Comey]] and Deputy Attorney General [[Sally Yates]] in the Oval Office. [[Vice President Biden]] and I were also present.<br><br>President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities "by the book". The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book.<br>From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.<br><br>[Redacted section]<br><br>The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would."<ref>https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018-02-08%20CEG%20LG%20to%20Rice%20(Russia%20Investigation%20Email).pdf</ref>}}At the conclusion of the briefing, Obama asks Sally Yates and James Comey to remain.  Together with Susan Rice, this is where the “by the book” CYA comment comes into play. The 90-day surveillance period under the FISA warrant would have had just a bit over two weeks left to run — it was set to expire just as Trump was to take office. (Reporting suggests that there may also have been a FISA warrant on Paul Manafort around this time.) The Obama administration was therefore confronting a deadline if the FISA warrant was to be renewed while Obama was still in power. The officials in the meeting would need to figure out how the investigation could continue despite the fact that its central focus, Trump, was about to be sworn in as president. Rice’s “by the book” bunkum is transparent: Obama officials claimed to adhere to a book that forbade consultations between political leaders and investigators. But here they were consulting. So Rice tried to cover the tracks in her email: She revises history such that the consultation morphs into a mere friendly reminder that Obama wanted everything done by the book.<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/susan-rice-email-president-obama-russia-investigation/</ref>  

*'''Afternoon.''' '''Oval Office meeting to frame the President-elect.''' Obama, Biden, Rice, Yates, Clapper, Brennan and Comey in attendance. Rice sent a CYA email to herself about a secret [[Oval Office]] meeting where the ''[[Clinton-Steele dossier]]'' is discussed;<ref>https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html</ref><ref>https://apnews.com/152579d488a740b2a8d39fbe2f34506d</ref><ref>https://apnews.com/a82309544e9e465fa2ad4f83e5a48540</ref> (the email was written and sent to herself 15 minutes after Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20):<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-graham-uncover-unusual-email-sent-susan-rice-herself-president-trump-s </ref> {{Quotebox|"On January 5, following a briefing by [[IC]] leadership on Russian hacking during the 2016 Presidential election, [[President Obama]] had a brief follow-on conversation with FBI Director [[Jim Comey]] and Deputy Attorney General [[Sally Yates]] in the Oval Office. [[Vice President Biden]] and I were also present.<br><br>President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the Intelligence and law enforcement communities "by the book". The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book.<br>From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.<br><br>[Redacted section]<br><br>The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would."<ref>https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018-02-08%20CEG%20LG%20to%20Rice%20(Russia%20Investigation%20Email).pdf</ref>}}At the conclusion of the briefing, Obama asks Sally Yates and James Comey to remain.  Together with Susan Rice, this is where the “by the book” CYA comment comes into play. The 90-day surveillance period under the FISA warrant would have had just a bit over two weeks left to run — it was set to expire just as Trump was to take office. (Reporting suggests that there may also have been a FISA warrant on Paul Manafort around this time.) The Obama administration was therefore confronting a deadline if the FISA warrant was to be renewed while Obama was still in power. The officials in the meeting would need to figure out how the investigation could continue despite the fact that its central focus, Trump, was about to be sworn in as president. Rice’s “by the book” bunkum is transparent: Obama officials claimed to adhere to a book that forbade consultations between political leaders and investigators. But here they were consulting. So Rice tried to cover the tracks in her email: She revises history such that the consultation morphs into a mere friendly reminder that Obama wanted everything done by the book.<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/susan-rice-email-president-obama-russia-investigation/</ref>