Changes

==January 5, 2017 Obama Oval Office meeting==

==January 5, 2017 Obama Oval Office meeting==

[[File:Susan-rice-email-1-2.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A smoking gun email linking Barack Obama to illegal domestic spying on political opponents and civil rights violations.]]

[[File:Susan-rice-email-1-2.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A smoking gun email linking Barack Obama to illegal domestic spying on political opponents and civil rights violations.]]

Susan 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 asked Sally Yates and James Comey to remain. Together with Susan Rice, is where the “by the book” CYA comment comes into play. The 90-day surveillance period under the FISA warrant 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 confronting a deadline if the FISA warrant was to be renewed while Obama was still in power. The officials in the meeting needed 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 their 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>

Susan 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-float|"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 asked Sally Yates and James Comey to remain. Together with Susan Rice, is where the “by the book” CYA comment comes into play. The 90-day surveillance period under the FISA warrant 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 confronting a deadline if the FISA warrant was to be renewed while Obama was still in power. The officials in the meeting needed 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 their 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>

The following day DNI James Clapper released a public version of the ''Intelligence Community Assessment'' (ICA, also referred to as the ''Joint Analysis Report''), a joint Brennan, Clapper and Comey document consisting of recycled reports on [[RT]] with two pages of sexual innuendo from the ''[[Clinton-Steele dossier]]''. NSA Dir. Adm. Mike Rogers dissented from the conclusions and did not attend the day prior meeting in the Oval Office.<ref>[https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf ]</ref> ''WaPo'' was assured by Obama intelligence bosses that "the sources involved in the [Clinton-Steele dossier's] reporting were credible enough to warrant inclusion in the highly classified [presidential] report.”<ref>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-russia-allegations-20170110-story.html</ref> Brennan however, in public testimony months later, said the dossier and its sources ''were not'' credible enough to incorporate in the Joint ''Intelligence Community Assessment'' on Russian election interference publicly leaked by the administration. Brennan swore the ''Clinton-Steele dossier'' did not “in any way” factor into the CIA's assessment that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump. Congressional investigators suggest a classified version of the ''Intelligence Community Assessment'' contradicts Brennan's sworn testimony.  

The following day DNI James Clapper released a public version of the ''Intelligence Community Assessment'' (ICA, also referred to as the ''Joint Analysis Report''), a joint Brennan, Clapper and Comey document consisting of recycled reports on [[RT]] with two pages of sexual innuendo from the ''[[Clinton-Steele dossier]]''. NSA Dir. Adm. Mike Rogers dissented from the conclusions and did not attend the day prior meeting in the Oval Office.<ref>[https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf ]</ref> ''WaPo'' was assured by Obama intelligence bosses that "the sources involved in the [Clinton-Steele dossier's] reporting were credible enough to warrant inclusion in the highly classified [presidential] report.”<ref>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-russia-allegations-20170110-story.html</ref> Brennan however, in public testimony months later, said the dossier and its sources ''were not'' credible enough to incorporate in the Joint ''Intelligence Community Assessment'' on Russian election interference publicly leaked by the administration. Brennan swore the ''Clinton-Steele dossier'' did not “in any way” factor into the CIA's assessment that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump. Congressional investigators suggest a classified version of the ''Intelligence Community Assessment'' contradicts Brennan's sworn testimony.