So, a pal calls me and gives me a bit of the red ass for my interview with Robert Swan Mueller III — “Say something serious,” he says. “It is a very important thing.”
I have written a bit, but not much on the entire Russian Collusion escapade. Punch in “Mueller” in the search box to the right of this post and you can read those posts.
So, in response to my pal, I will offer the following observations.
OK, so I tipped my hand a bit, didn’t I? But I have a serious observation or two.
What have we learned, Big Red Car?
There are two things that stick in my mind:
1. After 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search warrants, 230 records reviews, 50 active pen registers, 13 visits to foreign countries, and 500 witness interviews, the Special Counsel opined there was NO COLLUSION.
His team consisted of 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, intel analysts, forensic accountants, and other professionals including forensic computer investigators.
2. Carter Page was the subject of four FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978) warrants that subjected him to a more intense scrutiny than any contemporary American citizen has ever undergone.
The most important element to focus on is that a FISA surveillance includes a “two hop” — the ability to surveil the subject and two hops of contacts. You can surveil the subject and his contacts and the contacts’ contacts which in the Trump campaign brings the entire operation into view. This is huge.
The Dirty Dossier was used as the linchpin of the justification for this effort.
What is noteworthy is that this intense effort resulted in nothing — no charges, no plea deal, no indictment. Nothing. Carter Page, this desperado, is walking the streets of America as a free man.
So, what I am struck with is the sheer magnitude of the effort and the absence of results. Which raises another important question.
Another question, Big Red Car?
The question is very simple — Since there was never any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, since Carter Page was as innocent as a Vestal Virgin — what was the justification for the investigation? The probable cause of the commission of a crime? What was it?
Since there was no collusion, it could not have been some action that gave rise to probable cause, could it?
Since Carter Page came up clean and is still clean, it could not have been him, could it?
Bottom line it, Big Red Car
As simple as this sounds, I am forced to conclude there was no probable cause to justify the initial investigation — Deputy Director the FBI McCabe says he initiated a counter intel investigation on the basis of some indescribable “feeling” that Trump was a foreign “asset.”
The entire Mueller investigation was unfounded in reality and driven by suspect individuals trying to thwart the election chances of Donald J Trump and to unseat him after he was elected.
Prediction, Big Red Car?
We have received this story in drips and drabs. This makes it very hard to see the entire spectacle, but now it is coming into stark relief.
We were told the Dirty Dossier played no role in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment by the Director of the CIA Brennan who was then contradicted by the Director of National Intelligence Clapper who said that yes indeed the Dirty Dossier was part of the 2017 ICA — in fact, it was attached as an exhibit.
We were told the Dirty Dossier was corroborated by independent documents that turned out to be the Isikoff Mother Jones article that was sourced from the Dirty Dossier. That — independent corroboration — turned out not to be true.
We were told the FISA warrants were based on way more evidence than just the Dirty Dossier. We were told the FISA warrants clearly stated that the Dirty Dossier was funded by the DNC and the HRC campaign. Both of these things turned out not to be true.
So, we are left with the BIG QUESTION — if there was no real evidence, who drove this investigation and why?
I will leave you to speculate on that question. What do you think?
You are going to learn that a duly elected President of the United States of America was the subject of a paper coup orchestrated by the DOJ, the FBI, the Intelligence Community — the Deep State — all parts of the Executive Branch and all under the supervision of the White House.
In the last two weeks we have learned two interesting things — the initiation and progress of the investigation was periodically contained in the President’s Daily Brief (Obama) and there were meetings at the White House to brief the White House Counsel on the progress of the investigation. The “investigation” I note is not the Mueller Special Counsel investigation, but the shenanigans prior to his appointment.
We are also going to learn that Peter Strzok, who came to our attention because of his texts to his gal pal, played a central role in all of this.
Stay tuned, this is going to get very interesting.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. We have been living on a sparse diet of commentary on l’affaire Mueller and that will continue. Be well, dear readers.