Changes
From the three documents taken together, the James Wolfe indictment, the Warner/Waldman text messages, and the Carter Page FISA application, it becomes clear that two months ''after'' [[President Trump]] took office and two months ''before'' [[Robert Mueller]]'s appointment, the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Washington media establishment knew the [[Russia collusion]] narrative was false ''and'' the [[Obama]] [[Justice Department]] and FBI acted improperly.
====SSIC leaks Carter Page FISA application====
Around March 14th, 2017, amid the Flynn fiasco, multiple swirling contradictions, massive intelligence leaks to the media and Trump administration officials beginning inquiries about what the heck is going on.... FBI Director James Comey how has to brief congressional oversight. This is the first time the 2017 Gang-of-Eight is officially informed about the counterintelligence operation known as Crossfire Hurricane.
This necessary shift toward oversight briefing leads to the Senate Intelligence Committee receiving a March 17th copy of the FISA application. Go8 members Richard Burr and Mark Warner receive the original October 21st, 2016, FISA application and the first renewal.
A few days later, March 20th, 2017, James Comey testifies to congress and tries to explain why oversight was not informed of the operation since it began in July 2016. [Note, if Clinton had won the election no-one would ever have needed to be informed] [https://youtu.be/HlXXZQgh72Y WATCH].
Now, it's unknown to what extent FBI Director Comey explained the level of FBI investigation into candidate and President-elect Trump; it's also unknown whether or not Comey gave the Go8 all of the details to include the origination of Crossfire Hurricane and the FISA Title-One surveillance warrant authority received by the investigative unit in October 2016; the distribution date of the FISC copy, March 17th, would indicate that he did..
However, immediately after this public testimony on March 20th, HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes, a Go8 member who would have been part of the briefing, gets information about the Trump campaign officials and transition team officials under surveillance and being unmasked. [https://youtu.be/kQf3sHl4SQM Watch and listen carefully].
Presumably if FBI Director James Comey was fulsome with his briefing Devin Nunes would not have been surprised; OR, it could be the surprise was not about the investigation itself per se’, but rather that Obama political officials would be part of the pipeline of information about an ongoing covert counterintelligence operation against a political campaign. The latter seems to be the most likely cause of alarm and concern.
After Nunes’ March 22nd, 2017, Press announcement, and the subsequent democrat/media outrage therein, House Speaker Paul Ryan somewhat removes Devin Nunes from his committee responsibilities as they pertain to oversight on the Trump-centric investigative matters, and Nunes is placed under an ethics investigation.
In hindsight, and knowing the Comey Go8 briefing likely outlined Trump as a potential target within the FBI counterintelligence operation, Speaker Ryan's action against Devin Nunes now makes more sense. In essence, from Ryan's perspective Nunes might be compromising the FBI's investigation by communicating with the White House about information from the FBI shared to the Gang-of-Eight. Even giving the impression that such communication might have occurred was enough for Ryan to act.
Then we move on to April 2017, when the FISA surveillance warrant was again reauthorized; and the FBI counterintelligence operation is continuing; this surveillance now includes almost the entire Trump administration.
By this time Sally Yates has been fired over her refusal to defend Trump's travel ban. Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente and James Comey sign the second extension; everyone is keeping notes about every encounter with the President, yet President Trump doesn't know he's the ‘Soft Coup‘ target.
May 9th, 2017, President Trump fires the insufferably political FBI Director James Comey. Now Andrew McCabe, the lead initiator of the FBI Crossfire Hurricane operation, is Acting FBI Director.
In McCabe's 2019 media tour he claims he was going bananas because his target was firing his team, yet McCabe appeared in front of congress on May 11th, 2017 and said President Trump firing James Comey two days earlier did not amount to any interference:
:'''''♦Senator Rubio''': Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. McCabe, can you–without going to the specifics of any individual investigation, I think the American people want to know, has the dismissal of Mr. Comey in any way impeded, interrupted, stopped, or negatively impacted any of the work, any investigation, or any ongoing projects at the Federal Bureau of Investigation?
:'''''Director McCabe'''. As you know, Senator, the work of the men and women of the FBI continues despite any changes in circumstance, any decisions. So '''there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date'''. Quite simply put, sir, you cannot stop the men and women of the FBI from doing the right thing, protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.<ref>https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/hearings/open-hearing-worldwide-threats-hearing-0#</ref>
In 2019 both Andrew McCabe and DAG Rod Rosenstein have admitted to conversations about the best way to proceed after Comey was fired. Eventually a decision was reached to initiate a Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, to take over the entire probe.
Consider from their small group perspective in May 2017; knowing what actions had been undertaken from December 2015 through all phases of the investigative purposing; Andrew McCabe, FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and all team members would want to pass any investigative torch to a very tight and ideologically aligned crew.
If McCabe, Baker et al. had to pass the baton, there would be an element of risk involved if the totality of all 2016 background information surfaced. They would need an insider with a perfect set of specific tools to continue the operation and also avoid risk. That person was Robert Mueller; and they leveraged maximum influence over DAG Rosenstein toward that end.
Now think about Robert Mueller being contacted by Rosenstein, briefed on the task at hand, and generally given a background overview of what was needed. For Mueller this endeavor to investigate a sitting president would have all kinds of possibilities for going sideways and backfiring. In addition, Mueller would be watching the news and he knows this entire crew before the phone call is even answered.
It stands to reason the only person Mueller wouldn't know in this entire story is the target President Donald Trump. That explains Rosenstein introducing Mueller to Trump on May 16th, 2017, and then a day later announcing Mueller's appointment as special counsel.
The first priority Mueller would hold, after a briefing from McCabe, Comey, Baker and all the FBI team; and considering the claims and evidence used to obtain the legal warrants to conduct surveillance etc.; would be to prioritize investigating whether POTUS was factually a Russian asset.
A few weeks later, June 2017, DAG Rosenstein and Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe signed the third -and final- FISA warrant reauthorization.
Shortly after Mueller begins the urgent review of POTUS as a Russian asset, in late June and July 2017, Robert Mueller is also forced to confront a paper trail of unavoidable evidence pointing to the extreme political bias (Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe) within the previous FBI investigative unit. Mueller would have to be an idiot not to see the outline of what had taken place throughout 2016 all the way to his appointment.
As a result of the pre-Mueller moves by the FBI (McCabe) and DOJ (Yates), the FBI investigative unit already has Michael Flynn inside their investigative control system. Mueller now moves to throw a bag over George Papadopoulos.
In July 2017 Mueller's team executes the $10,000 sting operation using CIA asset Charles Tawil, and they arrest Papadopoulos under extremely suspicious and sketchy circumstances. Papadopoulos is now shut down; any subsequent risk is under control. Again, the purposeful intent is to provide the originating CH/Spygate fraud with more necessary predicate authenticity.
By August 2nd, 2017, Robert Mueller has ensnared Flynn (lobbying & lying), Manafort (lobbying & taxes), and Papadopoulos (presumably lying). Three of the originating four CH/Spygate targets as outlined to the FISA court. The only one they didn't capture, or perhaps some would say they didn't try to capture because defense discovery would be problematic, is Carter Page.
On August 2nd, 2017, with the aforementioned Trump-Trio in various stages of legal limbo, Robert Mueller requests an updated “scope memo” from Rod Rosenstein.<ref>https://www.scribd.com/doc/375478974</ref>
By outlining, in a specific mandate to Mueller, that the office of the president was currently the subject of an ongoing counterintelligence investigation, the special counsel would be authorized to block any congressional oversight requests for documents, material or evidence that would interfere in their investigation.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's scope memo created an impenetrable firewall through which information could not be shared until Robert Mueller's probe was complete.
The picture here is pretty clear:
So long as Team Obama can reasonably keep claiming the originating 2016 surveillance upon the Trump campaign was an outcome of a valid counterintelligence investigative probe; which is the underpinning of their need to perpetuate the Russian election conspiracy narrative; and so long as all Obama officials who were engaged within the process keep up the story that validates the fraudulent purpose; then it is likely all players will escape legal accountability for the unlawful weaponization of the intelligence apparatus to target political opposition.
In essence, “by the book” will have been successful.</font>
==Wolfe's defense==
