New Russia & House Intelligence Committee shens up the wazoo

[First]

Stuff blowing up the last few days on possibly House Intel committee collusion & Russia probe generally:

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/...nspector-clouseau-russia-investigation-236582
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/john-mccain-devin-nunes-surveillance-sources-236581
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/devin-nunes-rejects-recusal-russia-investigation-236583
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/politics/devin-nunes-white-house-donald-trump/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/28/politics/house-intelligence-committee-devin-nunes/

Top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, called on Nunes to recuse himself Monday after his office confirmed that he was on White House grounds the day before he publicly claimed to have evidence that members of Trump’s transition team were inappropriately monitored by intelligence agencies. Nunes returned to the White House to brief Trump on his findings after making his public statement, but Democrats on the panel have said they still haven’t had any access to Nunes’ information.

Asked about the growing number of Democrats who have expressed concern over his ability to lead a credible investigation, Nunes, who was a member of the Trump transition executive committee, told reporters to “go talk to them.”

“That sounds like their problem,” he said. “You know, my colleagues are perfectly fine. I mean, they know we’re doing an investigation, and that will continue.”

Democrats have suggested that the information on which Nunes briefed the president may have come from the White House or someone within the Trump administration. Nunes said Monday that his source was an intelligence official.

Still, the minority has expressed skepticism over Nunes’ sequence of events, including his decision to go to White House grounds to review classified material he likely could have seen inside the Capitol.

The White House is “not an internet café,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the intelligence panel, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “You can’t just walk in and receive classified information.”

Swalwell said “this is done because the White House wanted it to be done,” adding, “This is what a cover-up to a crime looks like.”

The Trump administration sought to block former acting attorney general Sally Yates from testifying to Congress in the House investigation of links between Russian officials and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, The Washington Post has learned, a position that is likely to further anger Democrats who have accused Republicans of trying to damage the inquiry.

According to letters The Post reviewed, the Justice Department notified Yates earlier this month that the administration considers a great deal of her possible testimony to be barred from discussion in a congressional hearing because the topics are covered by the presidential communication privilege.

Yates and other former intelligence officials had been asked to testify before the House Intelligence Committee this week, a hearing that was abruptly canceled by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Yates was the deputy attorney general in the final years of the Obama administration, and served as the acting attorney general in the first days of the Trump administration.

President Trump fired Yates in January after she ordered Justice Department lawyers not to defend his first immigration order temporarily banning entry to United States for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from around the world.

As acting attorney general, Yates played a key part in the investigation surrounding Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign aide who became national security adviser before revelations that he had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the United States in late December led to his ouster.

Oddest thing by far is that Nunes has continued for the last 7 days not to tell his fellow Dem and Republican committee members who his source was for claiming last week that people within the government are "unmasking" Trump administration members. Not revealing your source privately to committee members of your own party in a classified setting just looks kinda ridiculously nefarious, even if there's nothing there. Though "unmasking" is a legit concern (Americans are masked for legal privacy reasons) the issue I think is that each day we learn something new and odd, like how Nunes was at the WH the day before he briefed Trump, making it look like he's coordinating with the WH despite his committee actively investigating said White House lol. Both R Senators Graham and McCain have basically said Nunes should be toast, as his actions are looking (circumstantially) questionable by every straight news account. You throw in all this other stuff about Flynn and his Turkey extradition attempt, Yates supposedly being barred from speaking due to presidential privilege, Manafort's deep pro-Putin ties, the endless Russia connections/contacts made by Trump admin officials in totality etc., and of course all this looks like a coverup of something, though what is anyone's guess.

So what say ATPN, is this a coverup of something nefarious, or just smoke with no fire like Benghazi?

 

[hal2kilo]

So what say ATPN, is this a coverup of something nefarious, or just smoke with no fire like Benghazi?

I was going to say, bu bu Bengazi, but you finished off your Op with basically that. Seems that Repubs really don't care that much about this. Wonder why they spent so much time on Bengazi, but this is just some stupid innocent phone calls and visits with Russian oligarcs and "former" members of the Russian intelligence community. Pff....

 

[ivwshane]

I just want to know; what former administration had this many contacts with a foreign government that was considered a geo political foe? Put it this way, people in the trump admin have worked more closely with the Russians than they have with Democrats.

 

[fskimospy]

Trying to block Yates from testifying about her role in the investigation of Flynn about his Russia ties looks really, really bad.

Like, really bad.

 

[Indus]

Trump Officials Tried To Stop Sally Yates From Testifying On Russia Ties

When that didn’t work, the House Intelligence Committee chair canceled the hearing.

Lawyers for President Donald Trump tried to prevent former acting Attorney General Sally Yates from testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on links between Trump campaign staff and Russian officials, according to correspondence first obtained by The Washington Post.

In a series of letters last week, Yates’ lawyer, David O’Neil, accused the Trump Justice Department of trying to silence Yates by asserting that “all information Ms. Yates received or actions she took in her capacity as Deputy Attorney General and acting Attorney General are client confidences that she may not disclose absent written consent of the department.”

Yates served as deputy attorney general in the Obama administration and then as acting attorney general in the first few weeks of the Trump administration. Trump fired her on Jan. 31, after she refused to enforce the president’s original executive order banning immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries.

O’Neil went on to write that he and his client disagreed with the idea that her testimony required permission. “We believe that the department’s position in this regard is overbroad, incorrect, and inconsistent with the department’s historical approach to the congressional testimony of current and former officials,’’ he wrote.

“In particular, we believe that Ms. Yates should not be obligated to refuse to provide non-classified facts about the department’s notification to the White House of concerns about the conduct of a senior official,” he wrote. “Requiring Ms. Yates to refuse to provide such information is particularly untenable given that multiple senior administration officials have publicly described the same events.’’

O’Neil emphasized that Yates would not reveal any classified information in the Intelligence Committee hearing.

On Friday, the Justice Department wrote back to say that any approval concerning testimony about communications with the White House needed to come not from the department but straight from the White House. O’Neil then wrote to White House Counsel Don McGahn, told him what the Justice Department had said, and informed him that Yates planned to testify Tuesday, March 28, as originally scheduled.

Within hours after that letter was sent on Friday, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) canceled the scheduled hearing, which also would have included testimony from top intelligence officials. On Tuesday, the White House denied that it had taken any action to prevent Yates from testifying.

“The Washington Post story is entirely false,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a statement. “The White House has taken no action to prevent Sally Yates from testifying and the Department of Justice specifically told her that it would not stop her and to suggest otherwise is completely irresponsible.”

The canceled hearing is just the latest incident to raise questions about Nunes’ handling of the Trump-Russia investigation. The chairman also abruptly scrapped all of the committee’s meetings for the entire week, committee members said Tuesday morning.

Top Democrats, including members of his committee, have asked whether Nunes, who served on the Trump transition team, can conduct an independent and transparent investigation. They’ve calling on Nunes to recuse himself from this investigation or for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to remove him entirely as chair.

Nunes claimed last week that members of Trump’s transition team were subject to “incidental” surveillance. But one day before making that allegation, he met with a source on White House grounds, raising more questions about his transparency and credibility.

After holding a press conference about his surveillance claims, Nunes briefed Trump, whose team is also under FBI investigation for alleged ties to Russian officials who may have interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

Nunes reiterated Tuesday morning that he does not intend to step down.

“Why would I?” he asked reporters on Capitol Hill.

At a press conference Tuesday, Ryan similarly said that he doesn’t think Nunes needs to recuse himself from the investigation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sally-yates-testimony-trump_us_58da79c5e4b0286e65b5dbe8?473&

 

[HomerJS]

“The Washington Post story is entirely false,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a statement. “The White House has taken no action to prevent Sally Yates from testifying and the Department of Justice specifically told her that it would not stop her and to suggest otherwise is completely irresponsible.”

Spicer has already told a record breaking number of bald-faced lies from the podium. Give me one reason we should believe him??

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Can we just make a general rule within politics that if one segment (party, sub-party group, section of govt, etc) wants something to not be talked about, we assume that it's very nearly true and should be investigated thoroughly at minimum?

 

[sandorski]

Y'all need to drain that swamp.

 

[Sunburn74]

Don't you love it when people who should recuse themselves don't have the common sense to understand why others are asking them to recuse themselves? You cannot win once people ask you to recuse yourself from an investigation. If you step down, they win and if you don't the investigation will always be seen as flimsy and predetermined.

He should just step down already.

 

[thraashman]

Y'all need to drain that swamp.

At this point it's too late, I just saw Atreyu crying over Artex.

 

[Paratus]

At this point it's too late, I just saw Atreyu crying over Artex.

 

[Jhhnn]

Don't you love it when people who should recuse themselves don't have the common sense to understand why others are asking them to recuse themselves? You cannot win once people ask you to recuse yourself from an investigation. If you step down, they win and if you don't the investigation will always be seen as flimsy and predetermined.

He should just step down already.

He won' recuse himself, obviously. The objective is apparently to prevent disclosure, Nunes being the last line of defense. It seems clear that he's the Admin's point man in Congress.

 

[hal2kilo]

He won' recuse himself, obviously. The objective is apparently to prevent disclosure, Nunes being the last line of defense. It seems clear that he's the Admin's point man in Congress.

It's pretty much a pipe dream to think that the Republicans would have a serious investigation on this. Only hope is that the real investigations can get some criminal charges through the also compromised Justice Department (cough Sessions).

 

[shortylickens]

I dont mind all the shady bullshit going on. What mind is this will proceed the same way it always has.

 

[senseamp]

Starting to look a lot like a cover up.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

It's pretty much a pipe dream to think that the Republicans would have a serious investigation on this. Only hope is that the real investigations can get some criminal charges through the also compromised Justice Department (cough Sessions).

Good luck with that, criminal charges couldn't even be brought with an admittance of guilt, clear motive, and ample evidence and witnesses for something very clearly outlined and defined (aka a much simpler scenario).

 

[Thump553]

The Justice Department/White House position on Yates needing their permission to testify because of client confidentiality is absolute and total preposterous BS. The Attorney General (Justice Department) 's client is the American people, NOT the President-that's long established law. The White House has their own attorneys.

It seems the Trump administration is now adopting alternate law to go along with alternate facts.

As far as Nunes goes, he is a shameless and clueless toady. Recusal could easily end up with a more astute cover up artist at the helm of the House Intelligence Committee. We are well past the time when a true independent special prosecutor should be appointed. The White House is in full cover up mode.

 

[fskimospy]

The Justice Department/White House position on Yates needing their permission to testify because of client confidentiality is absolute and total preposterous BS. The Attorney General (Justice Department) 's client is the American people, NOT the President-that's long established law. The White House has their own attorneys.

It seems the Trump administration is now adopting alternate law to go along with alternate facts.

As far as Nunes goes, he is a shameless and clueless toady. Recusal could easily end up with a more astute cover up artist at the helm of the House Intelligence Committee. We are well past the time when a true independent special prosecutor should be appointed. The White House is in full cover up mode.

It's not attorney/client privilege, it's executive privilege, which is totally different. Basically the internal deliberations of the executive branch can't be subpoenaed by Congress, which is (within reason) a good thing.

 

[Thump553]

Ah, executive privilege-something created by Nixon to try to block the inquiries into Watergate. The Supreme Court found it was only a limited, qualified privilege. Applying that to the actions of the Acting Attorney General would be a huge stretch of a very limited privilege.

And if the White House is going to claim that privilege it's a even better argument for a Special Prosecutor-who acts under the Justice Department. Let the courts sort out if this privilege applies.

 

[woolfe9998]

I was going to say, bu bu Bengazi, but you finished off your Op with basically that. Seems that Repubs really don't care that much about this. Wonder why they spent so much time on Bengazi, but this is just some stupid innocent phone calls and visits with Russian oligarcs and "former" members of the Russian intelligence community. Pff....

I'd be far less concerned about these contacts if Trump and company hadn't lied so often. Here's a partial list off the top of my head:

1. Trump has told inconsistent stories about whether he has met Putin or has a "relationship" with him, saying at least 4 times publicly before the campaign that he met him, and once that he had a "relationship with him." Then denying ever meeting him or having a "relationship" with him after the campaign got started.

2. Trump and Manafort both on TV lying about asking the RNC to soften its Russia platform.

3. Trump repeatedly stating that no one in his campaign had any contacts with Russian officials, then after Sessions got outed, the WH admits to multiple contacts.

4. Sessions lying to the Senate during his confirmation hearing about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

5. Flynn lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

6. Flynn lying about taking money from the Russian government.

I'll say one thing. If there is nothing nefarious going on here, then Trump and company are totally incompetent in managing perceptions because they are lying about things that they have no reason to lie about, and getting caught doing it.

 

[JSt0rm]

Rupiblicans are traitors. Time for the FEMA deaths squads to round them up and place them in anti-religion gayafication camps until they understand the meaning of man love.

 

[fskimospy]

I'd be far less concerned about these contacts if Trump and company hadn't lied so often. Here's a partial list off the top of my head:

1. Trump has told inconsistent stories about whether he has met Putin or has a "relationship" with him, saying at least 4 times publicly before the campaign that he met him, and once that he had a "relationship with him." Then denying ever meeting him or having a "relationship" with him after the campaign got started.

2. Trump and Manafort both on TV lying about asking the RNC to soften its Russia platform.

3. Trump repeatedly stating that no one in his campaign had any contacts with Russian officials, then after Sessions got outed, the WH admits to multiple contacts.

4. Sessions lying to the Senate during his confirmation hearing about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

5. Flynn lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

6. Flynn lying about taking money from the Russian government.

I'll say one thing. If there is nothing nefarious going on here, then Trump and company are totally incompetent in managing perceptions because they are lying about things that they have no reason to lie about, and getting caught doing it.

That's the same conclusion I have come to. It's hard for me to imagine this many high level people being caught lying this many times about the same issue, especially considering it has been such a source of controversy for them. Assuming nothing nefarious was going on you would think after news came out that Russia had intervened on Trump's behalf that they would have gone to everyone of any stature in the administration or campaign and said 'tell me every single contact you have had with Russia or entities connected to Russia over the last year'.

Considering that numerous members of the administration been caught lying about or hiding their Russian contacts and how the administration's messaging has been repeatedly contradicted by subsequent events it means either they DIDN'T do that due diligence and are stunningly incompetent... or they are hiding something.

I started off considering any coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia as pretty unlikely but in no small part due to the actions of his administration I no longer think that. If they aren't hiding something they are either incompetent or insanely paranoid.

 

[norseamd]

It's pretty much a pipe dream to think that the Republicans would have a serious investigation on this. Only hope is that the real investigations can get some criminal charges through the also compromised Justice Department (cough Sessions).

Rupiblicans are traitors. Time for the FEMA deaths squads to round them up and place them in anti-religion gayafication camps until they understand the meaning of man love.

Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) on Tuesday told The Hill that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) should "absolutely" recuse himself from his panel's investigation into Russia's meddling in last year’s election.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/326184-first-gop-lawmaker-calls-for-nunes-to-recuse-himself

 

[woolfe9998]

That's the same conclusion I have come to. It's hard for me to imagine this many high level people being caught lying this many times about the same issue, especially considering it has been such a source of controversy for them. Assuming nothing nefarious was going on you would think after news came out that Russia had intervened on Trump's behalf that they would have gone to everyone of any stature in the administration or campaign and said 'tell me every single contact you have had with Russia or entities connected to Russia over the last year'.

Considering that numerous members of the administration been caught lying about or hiding their Russian contacts and how the administration's messaging has been repeatedly contradicted by subsequent events it means either they DIDN'T do that due diligence and are stunningly incompetent... or they are hiding something.

I started off considering any coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia as pretty unlikely but in no small part due to the actions of his administration I no longer think that. If they aren't hiding something they are either incompetent or insanely paranoid.

So skeptical was I of the collusion theory, having said for months right here that although I believed the IC when it said that Russia was responsible for the hacks, I saw no evidence of collusion. That was back during the summer and into the fall. Before lots more information came to light. Even now, I've racked my brain trying to understand why all the lies if they aren't covering for collusion.

My best explanation is that sometimes people lie to conceal the appearance of impropriety rather than actual impropriety. That rationale could apply to Sessions, for example. Being aware that there were allegations of collusion, he thought the optics of him meeting with the ambassador were unfavorable to him and Trump, so he lied to cover bad optics rather than actual bad conduct. Putting ethics aside, this was at the very least incompetent PR because Sessions had to know there was a chance he'd be caught.

Yet that rationale doesn't really work for several of these lies. For example, Trump changing his story about meeting with Putin starting fairly early in the campaign. He couldn't have been concerned about optics. He wasn't worried about the optics of repeatedly praising Putin in public, and he seemed unconcerned about the optics of meeting him before the campaign. So why did he suddenly start denying ever having met with him?

The one that truly blows me away are these lies he and Manafort told about softening the RNC platform. Per Trump's campaign staffer Gordon, who contradicted Trump about the involvement of the campaign in the platform change, Trump internally gave him a rationale for changing it: purportedly he didn't want us to "get into WWIII with Russia over the Ukraine." That rationale seems rather benign, not something that makes him look bad. Saying you don't want to provoke a war certainly isn't worse than openly admiring Putin, which he did both before and after the RNC thing played out. There were really no accusations of collusion at that point either. Yet when asked by a reporter just days after the RNC platform was announced, Trump said his campaign had nothing to do with it and that he couldn't even recall anything about it.

Bear in mind that the Steele dossier, in a memo Steele wrote back in July, says Trump agreed to soften US policy on the Ukraine in exchange for Russia releasing the DNC e-mails they stole, which they did one week later. Try as I might, I can't come up with a more plausible rationale for concealing it than that.

 

[OrByte]

Silence of the Trump supporters here says ALOT.

There are too many moving parts to this whole sad affair to NOT eventually have something go wrong for Trump.

I hope the dragnet being played out before our eyes takes as many corrupt politicians out as possible.

I only wish Darrell Issa and Trey Gowdy could be taken down along with Nunes.