Posted on 09/23/2017 9:37:57 AM PDT by Mount Athos
A third deadline has now passed for the FBI and Justice Department to give the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed documents related to the Trump dossier. And for a third time, the bureau has not produced the material.
The dossier is a collection of what former FBI Director James Comey called "salacious and unverified" allegations of collusion between Russia and Trump campaign figures in the 2016 campaign. The Russia allegations were compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who was commissioned by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which is thought to have been paid for the work by wealthy supporters of Hillary Clinton. The FBI reportedly considered taking over the dossier project in the fall of 2016, when the campaign was at its height, leading Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to say the dossier matter raised "questions about the FBI's independence from politics."
Both Grassley and the House Intelligence Committee have been interested in learning if the FBI ever used the "salacious and unverified" dossier as a basis for requesting surveillance on anyone in the Trump circle. Those questions only intensified this week with reports that the FBI wiretapped Trump associate and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort during the transition period.
Four weeks ago, on Aug. 24, the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed the FBI and Justice Department, seeking all internal FBI reports "incorporating, relying on, or referring to" information provided by Steele, his sources, or Fusion GPS. The committee also asked for documents on any FBI or Justice "efforts to corroborate, validate, or evaluate" Steele's information. And the subpoena sought any surveillance applications that included any information or were based on any information, provided by Steele.
Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes originally set a Sept. 1 deadline for production of the dossier documents. The FBI did not comply. Nunes then extended the deadline to Sept. 14. The FBI did not comply. Then Nunes extended the deadline again, to Sept. 22. Now, again, the FBI has not complied.
It is not unusual for deadlines to be extended. It is not unusual for feet to be dragged. But at some point, there will have to be a resolution to this standoff. A congressional subpoena is not something a government agency can ignore forever.
But it seems likely that the dispute will eventually rise to a higher level. Nunes is a committee chairman, but he does not speak for the entire House. In addition, he has been weakened by Democratic accusations that he leaked classified information — a matter that seems stuck in the Ethics Committee. Given that, if Nunes is to prevail in the subpoena affair, it seems likely he would have to have the support of Speaker Paul Ryan. If the speaker stands behind Nunes' efforts, the subpoena will have more weight and be more difficult for the FBI and Justice to defy. If on the other hand, Ryan does not stand behind the chairman, the FBI and Justice might be emboldened to delay forever. (A spokesman for Ryan did not immediately answer phone and email inquiries.)
There's a lot at stake. Nunes is currently traveling in the Middle East, so it is not clear what the next step will be, or when it will happen. But so far, the FBI and the Justice Department do not appear to be in the mood to comply with the subpoena.
It is not possible that Sessions could not have forced these documents into the sunlight at any step of this charade.
Turn over the documents or your resignation, you pick.
FBI ,,,, still corrupt ,, Sessions asleep at the wheel .
Elections mean nothing.
Who is this Sessions fellow? I keep hearing his name, even President Trump said his name last night. Just wondering.
You left out the “r”.
Who is this Sessions fellow? ////
An establishment mole
Third “deadline”? Somebody doesn’t know the meaning of that word.
Primary reason they wont come clean: b/c they got the FISA under false pretenses.
It is a felony to WITHHOLD data from a FISA court.
Remember...it was Ryan's pal McCain who obtained the fake dossier. He took it to the FBI....
Somebody's covering somebody's sorry ***.
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CONTACT CONGRESS: Capitol Switchboard 1-866-220-0044
Call President Trump: Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FBI TIPS PAGE----https://tips.fbi.gov
Fake Russian interference bump for later.....
The Swamp™ is in control. Nothing us plebes can do about it.
Stop with the faceless bureaucracy. I want names. Who at the FBI is holding this up? Who at the DOJ is holding this up?
Someone is in charge of this. Who is it? Drag his behind over to the Hill and make them explain themselves.
If it is coming from higher ups, I want those names.
No more faceless bureaucracy.
Sessions is such a HUGE disappointment... and the FBI knows they can wait it out.. no one will do anything..
And it’s so hard to see it continue.... I want Trump to declare war on every agency in the government... and on sessions for twiddling his thumbs!! Bring the little man into the oval office and tell him how it’s going to be... from now on he will have a spine ... use it!
Sessions will issue a forceful command to turn over the dossier as soon as he get back from vacation three years from now, but only if he has grown a spine in the meantime - however, who has ever heard of a jellyfish with a spine?
Congress will issue a sternly worded letter. The President will tweet at them. Hey, as long as we get a wall, right?
The FBI works for Sessions. He could have ordered these documents released the day they were subpoenaed. Idk what his problem is, but he needs to go.
One thing I know for sure here is that Donald Trump was the single biggest victim of that FBI dossier debacle. If anyone thinks he's going to let that slide, you haven't been paying attention to the man.
Who works for whom?
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