Changes

*'''27 May.''' ''Epoch Times:'' FBI Text Message Reveals FBI Leadership’s Desire to Get Trump.<ref>https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-internal-fbi-text-message-reveals-fbi-leaderships-desire-to-get-trump-truth-over-news_4492007.html</ref>

*'''27 May.''' ''Epoch Times:'' FBI Text Message Reveals FBI Leadership’s Desire to Get Trump.<ref>https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-internal-fbi-text-message-reveals-fbi-leaderships-desire-to-get-trump-truth-over-news_4492007.html</ref>

:*''Andrew McCarthy:'' FBI ignored lies to get their hands on Trump.<ref>https://nypost.com/2022/05/26/fbi-ignored-lies-to-get-their-hands-on-trump/</ref>

:*''Andrew McCarthy:'' FBI ignored lies to get their hands on Trump.<ref>https://nypost.com/2022/05/26/fbi-ignored-lies-to-get-their-hands-on-trump/</ref>

::*“FBI headquarters officials fully realized they were acting on highly political information and took steps to conceal that fact.

::*FBI headquarters officials fully realized they were acting on highly political information and took steps to conceal that fact.

::*First, a decision was made to treat Sussmann, the source, as a confidential informant. This was not done to protect Sussmann’s security. It was done to protect the FBI’s reputation. The informant pretext enabled headquarters to conceal Sussmann’s identity from the line agents in Chicago who were tasked to assess the Alfa-Bank information.  As good investigators, the agents wanted to know the source of the information so they could assess the purveyor’s motive and thus the data’s likely reliability. They were frustrated and annoyed that headquarters would not identify the source and allow him to be interviewed.  If they had been told Sussmann was behind the data, they would instantly have known that the information was political. As it was, they quickly concluded that the information was nonsense, that it did not come close to establishing a Trump-Kremlin communications channel, and that it probably came from someone with an anti-Trump agenda.  

:::*First, a decision was made to treat Sussmann, the source, as a confidential informant. This was not done to protect Sussmann’s security. It was done to protect the FBI’s reputation. The informant pretext enabled headquarters to conceal Sussmann’s identity from the line agents in Chicago who were tasked to assess the Alfa-Bank information.  As good investigators, the agents wanted to know the source of the information so they could assess the purveyor’s motive and thus the data’s likely reliability. They were frustrated and annoyed that headquarters would not identify the source and allow him to be interviewed.  If they had been told Sussmann was behind the data, they would instantly have known that the information was political. As it was, they quickly concluded that the information was nonsense, that it did not come close to establishing a Trump-Kremlin communications channel, and that it probably came from someone with an anti-Trump agenda.  

::*Second, the headquarters effort to cover up Sussmann’s identity reached such absurd heights that the FBI itself made false statements in documenting the investigation. In the “electronic communication” by which the bureau opens cases, agents claimed that the information had come not from Sussmann, not even from a confidential source, but from … wait for it … the US Department of Justice. This was so ridiculous that, embarrassingly, none of the agents involved could explain how that happened.  

:::*Second, the headquarters effort to cover up Sussmann’s identity reached such absurd heights that the FBI itself made false statements in documenting the investigation. In the “electronic communication” by which the bureau opens cases, agents claimed that the information had come not from Sussmann, not even from a confidential source, but from … wait for it … the US Department of Justice. This was so ridiculous that, embarrassingly, none of the agents involved could explain how that happened.  

::*Third, the FBI’s brass was so hot to nail Trump for supposedly being a clandestine agent of Russia that the line agents’ rejection of the evidence made no difference. “People on the 7th floor to include the Director are fired up about this server,” said headquarters agent Joe Pientka in a message to one of the Chicago agents.  The 7th floor houses the suite of top executive offices at FBI headquarters, including that of Director Comey. When the Chicago cyber investigators found no basis for criminal charges, they were told to keep the case open as a counterintelligence matter. “Priestap says it’s not an option — we must do it,” admonished Pientka, referring to the bureau’s top counterintelligence official.

:::*Third, the FBI’s brass was so hot to nail Trump for supposedly being a clandestine agent of Russia that the line agents’ rejection of the evidence made no difference. “People on the 7th floor to include the Director are fired up about this server,” said headquarters agent Joe Pientka in a message to one of the Chicago agents.  The 7th floor houses the suite of top executive offices at FBI headquarters, including that of Director Comey. When the Chicago cyber investigators found no basis for criminal charges, they were told to keep the case open as a counterintelligence matter. “Priestap says it’s not an option — we must do it,” admonished Pientka, referring to the bureau’s top counterintelligence official.

==See also==

==See also==