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And Now, the Counter Investigation
Bill Barr wants to know who started the Russia probe and whether the spying on the Trump campaign was legal. First reported by the New York Times and confirmed by the AP, Barr has appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the investigators.
This is actually the third counter investigation and the most serious. FBI inspector general Michael Horowitz is already looking into the government’s use of wiretaps through FISA and U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber’s is reviewing FBI misconduct claims.
Durham is a career prosecutor who was nominated for his post as U.S. attorney in Connecticut by Trump. He has previously investigated law enforcement corruption, the destruction of CIA videotapes and the Boston FBI office’s relationship with mobsters.
In nominating him, the White House said Durham and other nominees for U.S. attorney jobs share Trump’s vision for “making America safe again.”
Durham was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2018. At the time, Connecticut’s two Democratic senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, called Durham a “fierce, fair prosecutor” who knows how to try tough cases.
Sen. Lindsey Graham also said that he wants to “investigate the investigators.” I’m guessing there’s a lot of nervous chatter bouncing around the Beltway tonight.
Published in General
Are there any of these in the Congress today? I’m astounded today at the lockstep response of Democrats no matter what the issue. There seems to be no Democrat who is acknowledging any threats from anywhere within the bureaucracy.
There might be a few in the Senate and some in Congress. I think they keep quiet for their survival But there are some left wingers like Glenn Greenwald, Aaron Mate and rank and file voters. There is a real war between the Progressives and the Establishment centrist Democrats,
There’s a broader spectrum of opinion out there than is commonly represented by both Parties and the media. There are libertarians who hate mainstream Republicans and left-wing socialists. They have been pretty much deplatformed. There are others who are blinded by partisanship but ultimately know they are selling out their principles. It just needs to be proven, and they have to see the cracks, but it’s happening.
But it’s definitely the case that with the Trump election we are seeing a whole panoply of frauds and hypocrites.
I have a hard time imagining it can go back to the way it was before.
It is possible to understand that average professionals, like the lawyers in DoJ and the FBI and higher ups in the intelligence community who have thoughts that they are better informed than the people can all succumb and rationalize behaviors that reach the edge. They can act that way because they think they know the outcome they are seeking is good even if the means being employed are of questionable legality. They also sense the pressure to act to preserve their standing in their peer community, the bureaucracy for those in government. In the case of Trump, I think some previously well-regarded conservatives who lead the Never-Trumps reinforce the confidence of those players described above and have them thinking there will be no price to pay. It is very crucial to have these people pay the price if these investigations show it is warranted.
James Comey, July 5, 2016:
”To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.”
Laws are for little people. Nothing is going to happen.
The Bolsheviks have always had great party discipline.
You mean there is a war between far-left extremist Democrats and establishment far-left extremist Democrats.