Today is the big day (IG Horowitz report)

[hamster]

Sure, at some point in the future, between now and the infinite ends of the universe, someone, somehow will finally prove the FBI opened it's investigation into the Trump campaign based on partisan politics, leftwing overreach, Soros' involvement & money, the MSM's secret conspiracy to undermine Trump, Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood...what have you. It's out there, just need a little more time to bring the cows home.

Michael Avenatti wasn't available, so Barr had to settle for Durham. I guess we will see what happens.

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

Sure, at some point in the future, between now and the infinite ends of the universe, someone, somehow will finally prove the FBI opened it's investigation into the Trump campaign based on partisan politics, leftwing overreach, Soros' involvement & money, the MSM's secret conspiracy to undermine Trump, Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood...what have you. It's out there, just need a little more time to bring the cows home.

No in the near future. With Durham.


Sent from my iPhone using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[Spike]

BOOM!



IG report proves whole investigation was as corrupt as Comey

It’s now official: Russia, Russia, Russia really was fake news from the start. There was no factual basis for the FBI to spy on Donald Trump’s campaign.

That means there was no need for the appointment of a special counsel and that Robert Mueller should have stayed in retirement. It means the two years of rumors and accusations and the giant cloud of suspicions over the White House produced by Mueller’s headhunters were unfair and unjustified.

It also means J. Edgar Hoover can finally rest in peace. James Comey is now revealed to be the dirtiest cop ever to run the FBI.

https://nypost.com/2019/12/09/ig-report-proves-whole-investigation-was-as-corrupt-as-comey-goodwin/

 

[Tibs]

I think at the minimum Trump, Barr, Graham, right wing pundits and tv talking heads, and the entire Republican Party owe the FBI an apology. Not to speak of those of you on this board who have relentlessly slandered and ridiculed the fine men and women of the FBI over the past three years.

 

[SteelChip]

BOOM!



IG report proves whole investigation was as corrupt as Comey

It’s now official: Russia, Russia, Russia really was fake news from the start. There was no factual basis for the FBI to spy on Donald Trump’s campaign.

That means there was no need for the appointment of a special counsel and that Robert Mueller should have stayed in retirement. It means the two years of rumors and accusations and the giant cloud of suspicions over the White House produced by Mueller’s headhunters were unfair and unjustified.

It also means J. Edgar Hoover can finally rest in peace. James Comey is now revealed to be the dirtiest cop ever to run the FBI.

https://nypost.com/2019/12/09/ig-report-proves-whole-investigation-was-as-corrupt-as-comey-goodwin/

 

[CharlesDavenport]

Schiff sporting a bit of a Cosby pudding face there..

 

[Tibs]

Looks like some heads are gonna roll.... Trump should keep firing everyone in his administration and the federal government who speaks the truth and dares cross him. Just keep doing it, until there's nobody left, but him, Ivanka and Jared Kushner, sitting in a semi-cricle on the floor in the WH, eating stale cheesburgers.

<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1204374382715506690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

 

[SojournerSteel]

I know that we're probably not supposed to notice or comment on such things, but has anyone noticed that liberal Jews are over-represented in the Impeachment Cast from the Director and Producers on down to the parade of witnesses and cast? You've got Jacob Schiff's progeny Adam directing and Nadler producing. Then a parade of angry, bad actors to include Weissman, Vindman, Sondland, Karlan, Gerhardt, Feldman, and Goldman.

I'm greatly surprised that the liberals aren't screaming about the obvious lack of diversity in the cast? It's a liberal Jewish production from start to finish and hard not to notice.

 

[Tibs]

That’s a poignant observation. Did your white sheets & hood get back from the dry cleaners, or are you still waiting on them?

Can’t get enough of the faux outrage on the board when the Trump base - at least a part of it - is accused of racism & anti-Semitism.

It’s in the air, I tell ya.

 

[SojournerSteel]

That’s a poignant observation. Did your white sheets & hood get back from the dry cleaners, or are you still waiting on them?

Can’t get enough of the faux outrage on the board when the Trump base - at least a part of it - is accused of racism & anti-Semitism.

It’s in the air, I tell ya.

My lyin' eyes..

Like I said, I know I'm not supposed to notice or comment on it.

But, it's a factual observation and people are free to form whatever conclusions.

The fact that you jumped right to anti-semitism shows that you are a reflexive and conditioned creature.

 

[Superman]

Looks like some heads are gonna roll.... Trump should keep firing everyone in his administration and the federal government who speaks the truth and dares cross him. Just keep doing it, until there's nobody left, but him, Ivanka and Jared Kushner, sitting in a semi-cricle on the floor in the WH, eating stale cheesburgers.

<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1204374382715506690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

obvious again that you're incapable of using the ability to be impartial and exercise critical thinking skills. had you done so, you'd clearly see that YOUR President, Donald J Trump, says there are "some of the greatest men and women working there" - and suggests in no hidden or misleading way that the higher ups who run the FBI are corrupted and unable to do their jobs.

 

[Tibs]

This should be mandatory reading around these parts....some of you should read it twice or even three times, so you can savor each and every word.

Justice Department Watchdog Crushes Trumpworld’s Deep State Dreams
https://gen.medium.com/justice-depa...es-trumpworlds-deep-state-dreams-7595d731b85f

For months, President Trump and his allies have been salivating over a report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, outlining what they expected would be a tale worthy of a John le Carré novel. Taking a cue from Trump, Fox News and a constellation of right-wing media have promised us that the report would reveal the smoking guns in the deep state’s plot to destroy the president. The report, a product of Trump’s insistence that his servile Department of Justice investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, would unleash the hounds of hell on the Democrats, the Obama administration, and the intelligence community.

Well, the report has finally been released, and the results are underwhelming, to put it mildly. Burn this phrase, lifted directly from the report, into your mind: <mark class="qr qs ku">“No evidence political bias influenced the decision to open the Russia probe.”</mark>

As has happened time and again, Trump’s ludicrously overwrought promise — that this was to be a tentpole of his ongoing (and entirely imaginary) war against the deep state — was followed by an utterly underwhelming outcome.

The vast enterprise of formerly conservative media outlets now dedicated to trafficking in baroque QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories in defense of Trump will try their best to polish this turd into a diamond. The chances are slim, however, that they’ll be able to convince even their own audience of credulous Trump rubes and conspiracy nuts that this report means all that much.

Like a fart in a hurricane, the Horowitz report will soon be lost in the roiling chaos of a Washington, D.C., in the midst of serial and parallel crises all caused by the hand of Donald Trump. The Ukraine scandal has exploded into a full-fledged emergency as witness after witness confirms Trump extorted a political hit job on his domestic rivals from a foreign power. Republican elected officials are now effectively mouthpieces of the Kremlin, repeating word for word talking points written by Vladimir Putin’s propagandists. To top it all off, poll numbers show rising support for not just the impeachment of Donald Trump, but for his removal from office.

The lamentations, wailing, and rending of garments on the part of Trump’s most eager media toadies should be a glory to behold. They committed two vital errors in making this report central to their defense strategy.

First, they oversold the hell out of it.

We were promised an earthshaking, absolutely cataclysmic political bomb that would destroy the deep state forever and trace a line of political malfeasance from the bowels of the intelligence community right to Barack Obama’s desk. The QAnon set promised arrests, prosecutions, and proof of widespread conspiracy to destroy Trump’s campaign. From Breitbart News to its gentry cousins at the Federalist to a scabrous host of other sites, Horowitz was a god-tier final boss against the deep state.

We were promised a shocking set of revelations that would shatter the abuse of the FISA process and prove, once and for all, that Trump’s innocent, clean, totally aboveboard campaign of professional and dedicated patriots who would never, ever even contemplate any kind of contact with Russian spies, mobsters, and oligarchs. We would finally learn the truth about the informants and sources the FBI placed inside the campaign. (Spoiler: There weren’t any.)

For two years, we were told that Trump foreign policy aide Carter Page, campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and bestie General Mike Flynn were as clean as the driven snow, mere targets of a monstrous, out-of-control conspiracy directed from the Oval Office.

Wait, we were told. It’s coming. Trust Horowitz. Trust William Barr.

Far from being a sweeping attack on their entire Trump-Russia investigation, Trump fluffers will be disappointed to find that the Carter Page FISA operation was — wait for it — entirely justified.

FISA abuse — a term most often used by people with exactly zero familiarity with or even knowledge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court — seems to be almost entirely a fiction generated by the lavish, paranoid fantasies of the Trump gang. The phony “FISA abuse” trope is the central pillar on which so many of their denials rest.

One of the most common claims of Trump’s “FISA abuse” screech squad is that the famed Steele dossier was the origin point of the investigation. The Horowitz report puts to bed that spurious claim.

It wasn’t Obama. It wasn’t a DOJ or FBI cabal of secret liberals out to destroy Trump. It was U.S. ally Australia blowing in a warning that someone was dangling Hillary Clinton’s emails to Papadopoulos in London.

While the report scolds Peter Strozk and Lisa Page for their text-message exchanges, it doesn’t find that their dislike of Trump had any material effect on the investigation. This finding puts the lie to Trump — and his defenders’ — assertions that they were the point persons in a conspiracy against him: “In this review, we found that, while Lisa Page attended some of the discussions regarding the opening of the investigations, she did not play a role in the decision to open Crossfire Hurricane or the four individual cases. We further found that while Strzok was directly involved in the decisions to open Crossfire Hurricane and the four individual cases, he was not the sole, or even the highest-level, decision maker as to any of those matters.”

Oopsie.

Worse for Trump’s narrative, the misconduct was overshadowed entirely by the crucial determinations that the FISA applications for the surveillance of Page were proper and that the renewals of the surveillance warrants were justified. (Horowitz did find 17 “significant errors or omissions” in the application process for Page’s warrants. But — more importantly — no evidence that “political bias or improper motivation” was opening the investigation.) Page wasn’t a target because he was a member of Trump’s campaign; he was a target because he kept popping up in the company of Russian intelligence officers.

This was happening, of course, as the rest of the U.S. intelligence community was sounding the alarm over a sweeping Russian information warfare and propaganda campaign directed at the 2016 election—and in favor of one candidate: Donald Trump.

While those red flags (or red banners, if you’ll pardon a Soviet-era joke) also extended to Trump aides, allies, friends, and Trump himself, the report also detonates another Trump lie: that the FISA coverage was broadly targeting his entire senior campaign staff. Mike Flynn’s move from Defense Intelligence Agency director to Putin dinner guest just may have been a legitimate cause for concern. Paul Manafort’s longtime role as oligarch fluffer for pro-Kremlin forces just might have been a reason to raise alarms. George Papadopolous might have been the loosest of cannons. But in all those cases, despite Trump’s many claims, the IG reports that none of them were under FISA warrants.

“FBI and [National Security Division] officials told us that the Crossfire Hurricane team ultimately did not seek FISA surveillance of Papadopoulos, and we are aware of no information indicating that the team requested or seriously considered FISA surveillance of Manafort or Flynn,” the report reads.

For some time, the report has been in the hands of Attorney General Bill Barr, who could weaponize a grocery list for Donald Trump, and still, there’s no sign that Team Trump is holding more than a pair of twos. If Bill Barr can’t turn this chicken **** into chicken salad, no one can. It comes as no surprise to read Barr’s spin of the report — spin that, as expected, reflects a Trumpian distortion of the facts: “The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” he said.

Formerly conservative publications now dedicated in varying degrees to serving Trump and trafficking in lurid conspiracy nonsense spent a year breathlessly awaiting this nothingburger. They expected it would be laden with a heavy cargo of ammunition against the hated deep state, full of smoking-gun proof that the targeting of Trump’s associates was a political hit directed from the Oval Office of a certain Kenyan Muslim socialist sleeper-agent president with a suspicious middle name.

Of course, Trump supporters are moving on to the next showstopper, made-up investigation by U.S. Attorney John Durham. That’s the real killer. Dunham will finally bring the wrongdoers to justice. Uh-huh.

The Horowitz report, far from fulfilling the fantasies of the Trump squad, fell flat, showing that the deep state wasn’t trying to do Trump in, but rather were merely doing their jobs. Trump’s attacks on the FBI officials turned out to be — like most of Trump’s attacks — lies, smears, and distractions.

The intelligence community, the FBI, the FISA courts, and the DOJ weren’t attacking Trump.

They were protecting us.

 

[BAS]

This should be mandatory reading around these parts....some of you should read it twice or even three times, so you can savor each and every word.

Justice Department Watchdog Crushes Trumpworld’s Deep State Dreams
https://gen.medium.com/justice-depa...es-trumpworlds-deep-state-dreams-7595d731b85f

For your benefit Tibs -- note, Jimmy Dore is a progressive liberal that doesn't pull punches with either party:

 

[Vader]

This should be mandatory reading around these parts....some of you should read it twice or even three times, so you can savor each and every word.

You still don't get it. The IG could only interview officials that still worked there. Almost all of the people involved in the original operation are gone. Also the law doesn't care if it were "political" or not. The issue at hand is if it were legal. My guess is that Durham has real evidence or he wouldn't have commented on how poorly the IG report was written. BTW everyone knows it was political because of the text. If the shoe were on the other foot you'd be screaming about how bias the agents were. But because you hate Trump it doesn't matter to you.

 

[wig]

Sorry, was this about the Russia thing, or the Biden thing?

“No evidence political bias influenced the decision to open the Biden probe.”

 

[Superman]

see, Tibs, what you're failing to understand is your audience.

the majority of us couldnt give a **** less if Trump is impeached, as long as it is because of his own doings. Some of us would fight tooth and nail if he were to be impeached, simply because of the hypocrisy being flaunted by the Dems in all this. the faux outrage, if you will.

none of us believe Trump is sent by God to "right the ship", but we also will not let him be impeached without it being 100% legal. As of now, an impeachment would be merely an emotional response ... or continued emotional response. Hurt feefees is not an impeachable offense. It's also neither a high crime. Nor is it an abuse of power.

it is refreshing to see you condemn actions such as:

• nepotism
• corruption
• currying favor of other countries for trade
• erosion of Constitutional Rights
• lack of respect for the Office of the POTUS

but be assured that the rest of the board knows you turn a blind eye to any of this when it's performed out in the public arena by those in the political party you support. which is all - ALL - you have done since November, 2016. When you come on here and want to fan the flames of hatred you feel for YOUR and MY President, don't expect it to be taken lightly. especially when every single point you've made, or attempted to make, is easily shot down, proven false or shown to be as ridiculous as putting ketchup on a well-done steak or having salt and pepper shakers larger than others on the table. See, a lot of us don't fawn all over Trump (as you and every single member of the Left do over Obama). Yet he is who we elected or now support. Like the saying goes, "you can attract more flies with honey than you can with vinegar," you could and should practice some sense of composure. That you do not is why you've been labeled as Soros' pet, and others of the same ilk.

so, if Trump is to be impeached, please list accurate, factual instances in which he 100% committed high crimes. Look at the situation from both sides of the issue, and not just from your side (since we all know you've called for Trump's impeachment since prior to him taking his oath of office).

note: hearsay is not an impeachable offense.

 

[Vincent]

Sorry, was this about the Russia thing, or the Biden thing?

It's a war of narratives. Public opinion is the currency. The dims own the media (or vice versa). Evidence suggests that Pubbies own the truth. We'll see who wins. Polls are moving enough in the direction of the Pubbies that the dims' sphincters are tightening. Might even tighten enough that it doesn't move to the Senate. That would be a shame because it'd ALL come out in the Senate. The 'due process' thingy, n'all. But I doubt it'll get to the Senate because 'impeachment' is merely subterfuge to distract from the myriad dim crimes that are beginning to reveal. The dims would cease to exist if this schittshow gets tried in the Senate. It'd be spectacular TV. Visualize Geraldo's 'play by play'...

 

[Tibs]

so, if Trump is to be impeached, please list accurate, factual instances in which he 100% committed high crimes.

Why? If he is to be impeached, the charges against him are in the impeachment articles for all to see. Why would I list them here, or anywhere else? You can read them for yourself.

And I'm not interested in playing the sad, tired game of whataboutism. Which is all the Trump base seems to be interested in. What about this, what about that? What about Obama, what about Dem corruption, what about the deep state? I'm just tracking and following Trump's trials and tribulations along with the rest of you. He's the President now, this **** show is all his doing and yours to own. I think he's a danger to the country, you don't. I think he's a sociopath, a liar and a scumbag, you don't. I think he's driven US foreign policy into the ground, you don't. I think he's abused the power of his office, you don't. I think he obstructed justice, you don't. I think it's a huge problem that he invites and welcomes foreign interference in our elections, you don't. I want to see him impeached and removed from office, you clearly don't.

We've both been watching and listening to the same President over the past three years and see two completely different storylines playing out. I'm alright with that. I understand his supporters will go to the wall for him. I'll respectfully disagree and post my views here, as I've done for 10+ years. I'm not here to change anyone's mind or to prove a point. I just call it as I see, as do all of you. We just happen to fundamentally disagree on this President. So be it.

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

Why? If he is to be impeached, the charges against him are in the impeachment articles for all to see. Why would I list them here, or anywhere else? You can read them for yourself.

And I'm not interested in playing the sad, tired game of whataboutism. Which is all the Trump base seems to be interested in. What about this, what about that? What about Obama, what about Dem corruption, what about the deep state? I'm just tracking and following Trump's trials and tribulations along with the rest of you. He's the President now, this **** show is all his doing and yours to own. I think he's a danger to the country, you don't. I think he's a sociopath, a liar and a scumbag, you don't. I think he's driven US foreign policy into the ground, you don't. I think he's abused the power of his office, you don't. I think he obstructed justice, you don't. I think it's a huge problem that he invites and welcomes foreign interference in our elections, you don't. I want to see him impeached and removed from office, you clearly don't.

We've both been watching and listening to the same President over the past three years and see two completely different storylines playing out. I'm alright with that. I understand his supporters will go to the wall for him. I'll respectfully disagree and post my views here, as I've done for 10+ years. I'm not here to change anyone's mind or to prove a point. I just call it as I see, as do all of you. We just happen to fundamentally disagree on this President. So be it.

I think the disconnect happens because you truly are only hearing what the media want you to hear. It is amazing the difference when you hear the uncut clip of his statements versus the edited versions the media gives you. Having actually been present for one of his rallies I can tell you that absolutely what what shown was NOT what he actually said in reality. Yes he said the words shown but with whole sentences or paragraphs taken out that completely and utterly changed the meaning of the speech. It was maddening how bad it was. It is one thing to say you see it happening just from watching fox versus the rest but to see it happen in person was eye opening.

The media truly controls the narrative and has absolutely driven this whole process. If they reported fairly and accurately he would have an approval somewhere north of 53% nationwide. Unfortunately hate and anger over the "wrong" side winning has trumped reality.

 

[Tibs]

I think the disconnect happens because you truly are only hearing what the media want you to hear. It is amazing the difference when you hear the uncut clip of his statements versus the edited versions the media gives you.

I hear you Lebanon and understand what you're saying. But believe me, I've watched - and continue to watch - way too much of Trump speaking live, uncut, within the context of his speeches. Be it his WH briefings, his rah-rah rallies, his pre-departure banter w the press before boarding his helicopter. I get more unfiltered Trump than any sane person should have to endure. My views of him are not filtered through the media narrative, as you suggest.

I do not doubt for a second his magnetic, larger-than-life personality. I understand how he draws his supporters in. Everything he says is broken down into simplistic, easy to grasp blurbs then repeated, and repeated again. He is a very effective communicator. As was Mussolini, but that's veering off point.

 

[Vincent]

The media truly controls the narrative and has absolutely driven this whole process.

The media controls the narrative within their sphere of influence - not the broad population. The entirety of 'the media' reaches less than 40%, probably much less. 60+ million Trump voters didn't vote for him because of 'the media's' narrative. You see this clearly in the divergence of opinion everywhere, well illustrated on this board. People operate from two distinctly different points of view with NO common ground, those on the left driven by their media, those to the right driven by experience, common sense, and good reporting - in that order.

The left is all about 'identity politics'. One of their recent memes is the 'cult of Trump' because they've come to realize Trump's base will not be shaken. Yes, it's a cult - a cult that teaches people to think for themselves - wildly divergent from the cult of the left who demand totalitarian adherence driven by hollow slogans easily absorbed by the thoughtless.

Even 'the media's' manufactured polls reflect the divide, the solidity of Trump's base, and the considerable movement of some of the dims' base to Trump. 20 something percent of folks that wait in long lines in the mere hope of getting into a Trump rally are dims, and of that 20 something percent are Hispanic. 36% of Blacks support Trump. Despite all the hammering from 'the media' and 'education', the economic and employment numbers are what they are. There's almost, dare I say it, an awakening goin on outdare.

 

[hamster]

...........................

 

[Tibs]

Sorry to say, but Bill Barr is deeply corrupt, personally implicated in this scandal, and should be removed from his position as AG immediately.

That's the story folks, with much - if not all - of this Trump cabinet. Compromised and complicit, would be the key words.

Sad times in US history.

 

[hamster]

Sorry to say, but Bill Barr is deeply corrupt, personally implicated in this scandal, and should be removed from his position as AG immediately.

That's the story folks, with much - if not all - of this Trump cabinet. Compromised and complicit, would be the key words.

Sad times in US history.

Sorry to say, but you have been wrong just about everything concerning this Presidency. Bill Barr has impeccable credentials, and reputation. He didn't need this job. He saw what a shambles this DOJ and FBI was, and came back to fix it. Thank God for Bill Barr.

But you are right about sad times. I give you that.

 

[Vincent]

Sorry to say, but Bill Barr is deeply corrupt, personally implicated in this scandal, and should be removed... blah, blah, blah....

“Accuse Your Enemy Of What You Are Doing, As You Are Doing It To Create Confusion.” Original marx maxim also attributed to lenin, goebbels, alinsky, and now is the core MO of the dims. There are many examples, but the emerging $multibillion/election corruption Ukraine affair is the most immediate and illustrative.

Oh, and speaking of Quid Pro Quos.