Durham's Investigations Fizzles

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

And your point is

You were making a point about loyalties. You said Putin's goons would kill these guys if they weren't loyal to him. OK, so they're still alive.

So, Mueller turns to a couple of Putin's loyalists to fund an FBI op?

[RickeyM]

Originally Posted by Chicks

Two DOJ watchdog entities will battle over who gets to investigate John Durham for corruption probe
https://www.rawstory.com/investigati...o-john-durham/

Yet there are some in this very thread who think Billy Barr and Durham aren’t corrupt!

Come on now Chicks. You know corrupt is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?

[bobabode]

So, today John Durham released a 300 page 'report' that found bupkis. One case he brought ended with probation. $6,500,000.00 down the toilet and this jagoff didn't find shit. Lovely.

Meanwhile, James Comey's antics eight days before the election which cost HRC the election doesn't rate anything?

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by bobabode

So, today John Durham released a 300 page 'report' that found bupkis. One case he brought ended with probation. $6,500,000.00 down the toilet and this jagoff didn't find shit. Lovely.

Meanwhile, James Comey's antics eight days before the election which cost HRC the election doesn't rate anything?

And it was discovered and referred to him by the DOJ Inspector General. His investigation found exactly zero crimes, whereas the investigation he was "investigating" resulted in 8 people being convicted, 5 of whom were Trump associates and campaign officials. This investigation was Bill Barr's "witchhunt."

I've been waiting for Whell to pipe up today and claim that Durham actually did find "the crime of the century" as Dear Leader said he would.

[whell]

Originally Posted by bobabode

So, today John Durham released a 300 page 'report' that found bupkis. One case he brought ended with probation. $6,500,000.00 down the toilet and this jagoff didn't find shit. Lovely.

Meanwhile, James Comey's antics eight days before the election which cost HRC the election doesn't rate anything?

Originally Posted by finnbow

And it was discovered and referred to him by the DOJ Inspector General. His investigation found exactly zero crimes, whereas the investigation he was "investigating" resulted in 8 people being convicted, 5 of whom were Trump associates and campaign officials. This investigation was Bill Barr's "witchhunt."

I've been waiting for Whell to pipe up today and claim that Durham actually did find "the crime of the century" as Dear Leader said he would.

The report confirmed what we already suspected:

Special counsel John Durham concluded that the FBI should never have launched a full investigation into connections between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, according to a report compiled over three years by the Trump-administration appointee and released on Monday.

Durham’s 300-plus page report also states that the FBI used “raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence,” to launch the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into Trump and Russia but used a different standard when weighing concerns about alleged election interference regarding Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

“Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the (Justice) Department and FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report,” Durham wrote.

Durham does not elevate the behavior of certain FBI and Justice Dept employees as "criminal". He states that these individuals used spectacularly bad judgment, and that bad judgment doesn't always rise to the level of criminal activity. This is a nod to another statement he makes in the report: pursuing charges for politically motivated behavior, even if there is a legal breach, is challenging given the prosecution's duty to prove "intent". Personally, I have little doubt about these folks "intent" given some of the additional info that has come to light, but I'm not going to be on the Washington DC or NY jury for these cases.

Just based on the evidence that was being pumped out at the time - some of which is in the "FAKE NEWS EXPOSED" thread - by WaPo and NY Times, I never thought any of his made any sense, and I said so at the time.

You guys bought into it hook, line, and sinker and probably are still fully invested in the allegations of Trump-Russia collusion. Now, some 7 or 8 years later, after untold millions of dollars spent on investigations that never should have been necessary but for the actions of FBI ad Justice Dept employees, after the lapdog media dutifully reported on this and engaged in breathless speculation about it, and after two elections where the Justice Dept., the CIA and the FBI look like they messed with, we're right back where this discussion was back in 2016:

- there's no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion, based on both the Mueller report and now the Durham report.
- The individuals associated with Crossfire-Hurricane (who will forever cause me to enjoy the song Jumpin Jack Flash slightly less) have now been terminated, or have resigned or retired.
- subjects of this investigation that never should have happened have had their lives damaged, have had to spend countless thousands of dollars on attorney fees, and in at least one case were forced to cop a plea because they couldn't afford to defend themselves against the full weight of the Federal Gov't.
- And more recently, this combines with the news that the letter from "51 former intel officials" was bogus, and had its genesis with former State Department and CIA officials, one of which is now serving as Sec'y of State, and then deployed by Biden during and after the 2020 presidential campaign debate.
-and then there were some of you folks that were cheering all this on. I hope you're happy.

Sadly, there's also plenty of evidence that the behavior that led to Crossfire-Hurricane is still on display at Justice and the FBI. But that won't bother you guys too much, I'd guess.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

The report confirmed what we already suspected:

Indeed it did. This necessary and properly predicated (per the GOP-controlled Senate investigation) counterintelligence investigation ended up revealing Russia's actions in support of Trump, Trump willingly accepting them, that a number of Trump campaign operatives engaged in illegal conduct involving Russians and that many others, including Trump, were at a minimum Putin's useful idiots (and many still are, BTW):

Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat that Russia was helping the Trump campaign. They also revealed that the Russians hacked the DNC, Trump had an ongoing real estate deal in Moscow during the campaign, that Trump sold boatloads of condos to Russian oligarchs looking to launder money, Paul Manafort had lobbied the Republican convention on behalf of pro-Russian oligarchs and was indebted to a Russian intelligence asset with whom he shared campaign polling info, Mike Flynn was paid $45,000 by Russia Today in 2015 for a speech he gave at a banquet where he sat next to Putin and later lied to FBI about his calls with the Russian ambassador about sanctions during the transition, Carter Page met with Russian intel agents, Roger Stone collaborated with Wikileaks (which was labeled a Russian asset), Junior set up a secret Trump Tower meeting with Russians, Jared tried to set up a back-channel to the Russians thru their embassy and many more suspicious things.

Failing to investigate these ties would have been a breach of the FBI's counterintelligence duties. This was initiated as a counterintelligence investigation into Russia and ended up showing their involvement in the election on Trump's behalf and that Trump and his campaign were clearly shown to be, at a minimum, Putin’s useful idiots.

Meanwhile, Durham could not convince even a single juror (among 24 jurors) in 2 different trials of his theory of the case.

[Chicks]

Andrew McCabe Mocks John Durham’s Investigation as ‘Political Errand’ to Avenge Trump: ‘Nothing New’
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/andrew-m...p-nothing-new/

MAGAMorons, of course, accept Durham’s Bull as gospel. Sad.

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Indeed it did. This necessary and properly predicated (per the GOP-controlled Senate investigation) counterintelligence investigation ended up revealing Russia's actions in support of Trump, Trump willingly accepting them, that a number of Trump campaign operatives engaged in illegal conduct involving Russians and that many others, including Trump, were at a minimum Putin's useful idiots (and many still are, BTW):

Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat that Russia was helping the Trump campaign. They also revealed that the Russians hacked the DNC, Trump had an ongoing real estate deal in Moscow during the campaign, that Trump sold boatloads of condos to Russian oligarchs looking to launder money, Paul Manafort had lobbied the Republican convention on behalf of pro-Russian oligarchs and was indebted to a Russian intelligence asset with whom he shared campaign polling info, Mike Flynn was paid $45,000 by Russia Today in 2015 for a speech he gave at a banquet where he sat next to Putin and later lied to FBI about his calls with the Russian ambassador about sanctions during the transition, Carter Page met with Russian intel agents, Roger Stone collaborated with Wikileaks (which was labeled a Russian asset), Junior set up a secret Trump Tower meeting with Russians, Jared tried to set up a back-channel to the Russians thru their embassy and many more suspicious things.

Failing to investigate these ties would have been a breach of the FBI's counterintelligence duties. This was initiated as a counterintelligence investigation into Russia and ended up showing their involvement in the election on Trump's behalf and that Trump and his campaign were clearly shown to be, at a minimum, Putin’s useful idiots.

Meanwhile, Durham could not convince even a single juror (among 24 jurors) in 2 different trials of his theory of the case.

Good Lord there's so much wrong with the above post. You publish so much BS on here that's it would be the Lord's work to sort through it all and set it right. I'll just pick a couple of pieces of low-hanging fruit:

You said: "This necessary and properly predicated (per the GOP-controlled Senate investigation) counterintelligence investigation..."

The Senate Judiciary Committee no such thing, though a couple of Dem tools like Feinstein may have gone on record with that "perspective". Here's what the Committee Chairperson (L Graham) stated:

“I consider the Crossfire Hurricane investigation a massive system failure by senior leadership, but not representative of the dedicated, hardworking patriots who protect our nation every day at Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice.

“The leadership of the FBI under Comey and McCabe was either grossly incompetent or they knowingly allowed tremendous misdeeds. There was a blind eye turned toward any explanation other than the Trump campaign was colluding with foreign powers. At every turn the FBI and DOJ ran stop signs that were in abundance regarding exculpatory information.

“The FISA warrant applications against Carter Page were a travesty, and those who signed them have acknowledged that if they knew then what they know now, they would not have signed it.

“It is hard to believe that the senior officials at the FBI did not know that the Steele Dossier had been disavowed by the Russian subsource. It is equally hard to believe that the warnings from the CIA and other agencies about the reliability of Christopher Steele and the dossier were not known to senior leadership. It is my hope that the Durham report will hold those accountable for the travesty called Crossfire Hurricane.

“There was no ‘there’ there. The investigation was pushed when it should have been stopped and the only logical explanation is that the investigators wanted an outcome because of their bias."

Add to that, IG Horowitz' findings, and now Durham's findings, and there's no possible way that any reasonable person can conclude that the investigation was "necessary and properly predicated". But hey, Finn: You do you.

You said: "Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat that Russia was helping the Trump campaign", a statement that you characterize as proof of Russian collusion by Trump's "useful idiots". Except that's not what happened. This from the NY Post:

Papadopoulos was a minor adviser to the Trump campaign when he met with a mysterious Maltese academic, Joseph Mifsud. Mifsud claimed to Papadopoulos that Russia had Hillary Clinton’s emails. Papadopoulos later says he believes Mifsud was a setup, and FBI Director James Comey agrees, calling him a “Russian agent.”

In May 2016, Papadopoulos goes drinking with Alexander Downer, Australia’s top diplomat in Britain, and repeats the gossip: Russia has Clinton’s emails.

Papadopoulos doesn’t have the emails. He is not working to get the emails. But the (New York) Times claims that Downer tells American officials and “the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the FBI to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Trump’s associates conspired.”

What is the Times’ source for this? It doesn’t say.

But even in this story, the (Steele) dossier seems to loom larger than Papadopoulos’ drunken boasts. It says that “a team of FBI agents traveled to Europe to interview Mr. Steele in early October 2016,” before the election, but doesn’t talk to Papadopoulos until January 2017. If he was the “impetus,” why take so long?

Much like Flynn, Papadopoulos is never accused of or charged with conspiring with Russia. Instead it’s lying to the FBI about his meeting with Mifsud. He serves 12 days in prison and is pardoned by Trump.


If you're willing to invest yourself in falsehoods and half-facts, I can't help you.

[whell]

Originally Posted by Chicks

Andrew McCabe Mocks John Durham’s Investigation as ‘Political Errand’ to Avenge Trump: ‘Nothing New’
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/andrew-m...p-nothing-new/

MAGAMorons, of course, accept Durham’s Bull as gospel. Sad.

You mean the same Andy McCabe that was singled out in the IG Horowitz' report on Crossfire Hurricane as the source of FBI leaks and for providing false info under testimony to Congress? The same McCabe who the FBI fired for these acts?

So, is he a liar now when he's talking about the Durham report? Or when he was lying to Congress? Or maybe he was lying to the IG?

Cracks me up that this lying sack of crap is now an "analyst" on CNN.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

Good Lord there's so much wrong with the above post. You publish so much BS on here that's it would be the Lord's work to sort through it all and set it right. I'll just pick a couple of pieces of low-hanging fruit:

You said: "This necessary and properly predicated (per the GOP-controlled Senate investigation) counterintelligence investigation..."

The Senate Judiciary Committee no such thing, though a couple of Dem tools like Feinstein may have gone on record with that "perspective". Here's what the Committee Chairperson (L Graham) stated:

Swing and a big miss. LOL. Not only wasn't Lindsey Graham the chairman of the committee who investigated and issued the report, he wasn't even on the committee (Senate Select Committee for Intelligence). Richard Burr (R-NC) was the chairman. And yes, they did find that Russia interfered with the 2016 election and that Crossfire Hurricane was properly predicated (as did the DOE-IG).