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IG Horowitz: FBI knew of risk of Russian disinformation in Steele dossier, but used it anyway

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flyangler

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Friday night data dumps are always fascinating as the dumpers hope they will escape scrutiny. A Good Friday and Passover dump even more so. And a Good Friday data dump during a pandemic, well, let’s just say the dumpers want this one to get very little scrutiny. 

 

I know J posted this in at least two different discussions, but it merits its own post. Don’t you wonder what a certain dude might say about this? I mean, some of the smartest here told us how Steele, a former MI6 operative, was a Russia expert, could not be fooled by disinformation and had no motive to report falsely. 

What was dumped? If you will recall, the Horowitz report contained many redacted footnotes which were thought to be about sources and methods. Well, several appear to be about sources, SOURCES THAT APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE AND ARE DISINFORMATION. 

 

How could that be one asks? How could an unbiased, independent, "respected" former MI6 operative be duped by Russian disinformation? And how could the FBI, clearly knowing of the potential taint on the Dossier, continue to use it in applications to the FISC as well as allow Team Mueller to use it without warning them of such taint? 
 

CBS News: 

Footnotes in watchdog report indicate FBI knew of risk of Russian disinformation in Steele dossier

April 10, 2020 / 10:58 PM


The FBI was warned sections of the controversial Steele dossier could have been part of a "Russian disinformation campaign to denigrate U.S. foreign relations," according to newly declassified footnotes from a government watchdog report. 
 

The December report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz examined the FBI's investigation into alleged coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia as well as the FBI's four surveillance warrants for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 
 

Horowitz concluded the FBI was justified in launching the investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, although he found 17 "significant inaccuracies and omissions" in the FBI's handling of FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) applications to surveil Page.

 

But some of Horowitz's findings were disputed by U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a broader investigation. At the time, Durham said "we do not agree with some of the report's conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened." 

 

Several footnotes in Horowitz's report were redacted, and Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson pushed for the declassification of four footnotes related to the Steele dossier, a collection of opposition research notes on the Trump campaign's ties to Russia compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer. 

 

The dossier was used, in part, by FBI investigators to secure four surveillance warrants for Page.

 

Footnote 350 in the IG report addresses the FBI's knowledge of Russian contacts with Steele and the potential for disinformation.  Steele had "frequent contacts with representatives for multiple Russian oligarchs, we identified reporting the Crossfire Hurricane team received from (redacted) indicating the potential for Russian disinformation influencing Steele's election reporting."

 

The footnote also indicates that warnings to the FBI's Russia probe became more pronounced over time.

 

"The (redacted) stated that it did not have high confidence in this subset of Steele's reporting and assessed that the referenced subset was part of a Russian disinformation campaign to denigrate US foreign relations."

 

Footnote 302 relates to the FBI's efforts to verify information contained in the Steele dossier, commissioned by the DNC through opposition research firm Fusion GPS. 

 

"According to a document circulated among Crossfire Hurricane team members and supervisors in early October 2016, Person 1 had historical contact with persons and entities suspected of being linked to RIS (Russian Intel)......In addition, in late December 2016, Department Attorney Bruce Ohr told SSA 1 that he had met with Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS)  and that Simpson had assessed that Person 1 was a RIS (Russian intel) officer who was central in connecting Trump to Russia."

 

The third footnote also relates to the Steele source.

 

Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd, in a letter to Grassley and Johnson, wrote that the "fourth and final footnote presents unique and significant concerns. Specifically, the redacted information refers to information received by a member of the Crossfire Hurricane team regarding possible previous attempts by a foreign government to penetrate and research a company or individuals associated with Christopher Steele." 

 

In the December FISA report, Horowitz found "the FBI did not have information corroborating the specific allegations against Carter Page in Steele's reporting when it relied upon his reports in the first FISA application or subsequent renewal applications."

 

 The FBI declined to comment on the declassified footnotes, but said in an earlier statement of the ongoing audit into the bureau's surveillance applications to the national security court or FISC, 
 

Edited by tomkaz

“No nation in history has survived once its borders were destroyed, once its citizenship was rendered no different from mere residence, and once its neighbors with impunity undermined its sovereignty.”

- Victor Davis Hanson 

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According to one learned scholar updating his windows 7 machine, Mueller did no wrong. 

Putting the notes in the footnotes covers him. The fact he did not mention them in the context of the investigation is of no consequence. 

He's covered and the ill deeds of the one who paid for the opposition research was shielded from prying eyes until that Durham came along... 

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11 hours ago, J said:

According to one learned scholar updating his windows 7 machine, Mueller did no wrong. 

Putting the notes in the footnotes covers him. The fact he did not mention them in the context of the investigation is of no consequence. 

He's covered and the ill deeds of the one who paid for the opposition research was shielded from prying eyes until that Durham came along... 

The footnotes amount to a CYA action by Mueller, a mea culpa.  These footnotes deserved their own fully rationalized argument, that defended the investigation, at worst.  In fact, the footnotes should been presented as the Mueller investigation Executive Summary, to a full 2 page report.  And, following that Executive Summary, page 2 of 2 should have read "This Page Left Intentionally Blank".  Mueller.  POS.

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3 mins ago, J said:

As I understand it, these footnotes only became public in the last few days. Is that correct?

Yup

 

“No nation in history has survived once its borders were destroyed, once its citizenship was rendered no different from mere residence, and once its neighbors with impunity undermined its sovereignty.”

- Victor Davis Hanson 

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1 hour ago, jimmy z said:

Isn't this old news?:howdy:

It's what we knew but could not verify until now. 

The FBI has known all along but hid the fact to further their agenda. 

Even sent an innocent man to jail for it.

 

 

@BrianBM Should be along to defend this soon..... I hear his old laptop is all updated to Win 10 and ready to go. I'm surprised he hasn't arrived yet to be honest.

The talking points to excuse this haven't been disseminated yet I guess.... :shrug:

 

Edited by J
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Its all hindsight now.

 

What I think bears mentioning as it pertains to our SOL PG citizenship is who call BS on the russian hoax and when they did it.  It also bears mentioning the people here who never figured it out and in fact would probably still support the whole sham.

 

It bears mentioning and it bears remembering.  Especially when those same people call you dumb everyday.  Yeah you know the 'ilk' I am talking about.  ****ing rubes.

 

 

 

Russia

 

 

 

lol

Golf Foxtrot Yankee

"He's a good stick" - Mr. Miyagi"  ~  "Yep!" - Captain Dingo

"How are you doing that" - Jimmy the Mate  ~  "Shipwreck is one of those guys!" - Capt. Freddy Gamboa

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So why was this information withheld in the IG Report to begin with. I see no national security interest here. Could it be that the IG Report was purposefully blunted to avoid embarrassment over how corrupt the FBI had become under Obama ? 

 

I am sticking with my assessment that the Obama White House had been running a spying operation on all of his enemies and some of his friends. That they had decided to spy on the Republicans in an attempt to cheat in the election. That at some point they decided that if that fact was discovered they would need an excuse. That only then did they attempt to involve the FISA court to gain some legitimacy. Looking around for something to present, decided that anything would do and went with the dossier that Hillary had purchased.

 

Discovery of the ongoing spying operation was the reason they needed to get a warrant, not that the warrant was needed to conduct it. Obama didn’t get a warrant to spy on the journalists. Didn’t need it to spy on Senators. Didn’t need it until it came to someone discovering the spying on the opposition political party. Then it was needed. A stamp of approval gathered most hastily you see.

 

This information should have been out long ago. Delaying it was the entire reason for the Mueller investigation and the impeachment. A huge game of either chess or chicken is being carried out, and we still haven’t been told about it. I want to hear more about the corruption of Obama.

Edited by FishinMortician
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Public scrutiny and outrage is great and all, but the person who needs to use the information the right way is Durham.

 

If he does his job right, it won't matter that the data was dumped in such a way that it wasn't part of the main news cycle.

 

Durham and Barr and the key players at this point.  It certainly seems like Barr is on board, so let's see what Durham can do with it.

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And if Durham comes out with a report right before the election that says sorry, no prosecutions, then we're supposed to continue believing that we still live in a Constitutional Republic?

They will do it, because, no one will do anything to stop it.



 

Those who know, do not talk; those who talk, do not know. - Tao Te Ching 56

Defeat exists only in the minds of defeated men, and I will never be one of them.

 

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