Changes

:*'''Afternoon.''' '''Oval Office meeting to frame the President-elect.''' Obama, Biden, Rice, Yates, [[James Clapper]], Brennan and Comey in attendance. Susan Rice sent an 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>  

:*'''Afternoon.''' '''Oval Office meeting to frame the President-elect.''' Obama, Biden, Rice, Yates, [[James Clapper]], Brennan and Comey in attendance. Susan Rice sent an 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><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 of unknown length]<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>}}

{{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><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>Director Comey affirmed that he is proceeding "by the book" as it relates to law enforcement.  From a national security perspective, Comey said he does have some concerns that incoming NSA Flynn is speaking frequently with Russian Ambassador Kislyak. Comey said that could be an issue as it relates to sharing sensitive information. President Obama asked if Comey was saying that the NSC should not pass sensitive information related to Russia to Flynn.  Comey replied, "potentially." He added that he has no indication thus far that Flynn has passed classified information to Kislyak, but he noted that "the level of communication is unusual."<ref>https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1262820374548447238/photo/1</ref><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” 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>  Former Obama White House Counsel and now attorney for Susan Rice, [[Kathryn Ruemmler]], later states [February 23] the meeting discussed "particularly [[Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn]]" who was cleared by the FBI as a national security risk the day before.

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” 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>  Former Obama White House Counsel and now attorney for Susan Rice, [[Kathryn Ruemmler]], later states [February 23] the meeting discussed "particularly [[Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn]]" who was cleared by the FBI as a national security risk the day before.