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Amid the flurry of details about spying on Michael Flynn, lying to secret courts about Carter Page, leaking classified documents, and more, it’s easy to get lost in the muck. It’s important to stand back, identify the worst abuses, and explain why they matter for American democracy. These abuses didn’t simply follow each other; their targets, goals, and principal players overlapped. Taken together, they represent some of the gravest violations of constitutional norms and legal protections in American history. Whether you are Democrat or Republican, whether you like Donald Trump or loathe him, these violations matter. Some call this debacle...

Former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell will swear in Texas Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe to serve as President Donald Trump’s permanent DNI on Tuesday. Though he led the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for just three months, U.S. intelligence officials told the Daily Caller that Grenell prioritized dozens of initiatives that restructured the intelligence community and, in Trump’s own words, gave him an opportunity to “break the deep state.” Grenell — a Trump loyalist dating back to the 2016 campaign — was so effective in his interim position that the president referred to him as...

CrowdStrike – the forensic investigation firm hired by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to inspect its computer servers in 2016 – admitted to Congressional investigators as early as 2017 that it had no direct evidence of Russian hacking, recently declassified documents show. CrowdStrike’s president Shawn Henry testified, “There’s not evidence that [documents and emails] were actually exfiltrated [from the DNC servers]. There’s circumstantial evidence but no evidence that they were actually exfiltrated.” This was a crucial revelation because the thousand ships of Russiagate launched upon the positive assertion that CrowdStrike had definitely proven a Russian hack. This sworn admission has...

Republicans and men are far more likely than Democrats or women to believe Obama improperly spied on Trump. Americans are fairly evenly split along partisan lines when it comes to the question of whether senior Obama administration officials illegally spied on President Trump's campaign and transition, a new poll showed Monday. Results from the latest Just the News poll with Scott Rasmussen show 45 precent of Americans believe it was very or somewhat likely that the prior administration improperly spied on Trump, compared to 43 percent who did not. Thirteen-percent said they were unsure. With recent revelations that 39 separate...

Agents fretted sharing Flynn intel with departing Obama White House would become fodder for ‘partisan axes to grind.’ Just 17 days before President Trump took office in January 2017, then-FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok texted bureau lawyer Lisa Page, his mistress, to express concern about sharing sensitive Russia probe evidence with the departing Obama White House. Strzok had just engaged in a conversation with his boss, then-FBI Assistant Director William Priestap, about evidence from the investigation of incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, codenamed Crossfire Razor, or “CR” for short. The evidence in question were so-called "tech cuts" from intercepted...

WASHINGTON - Former President Barack Obama, talking privately to ex-members of his administration, said Friday that the “rule of law is at risk” in the wake of what he called an unprecedented move by the Justice Department to drop charges against former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. In the same chat, a tape of which was obtained by Yahoo News, Obama also lashed out at the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as “an absolute chaotic disaster.” “The news over the last 24 hours I think has been somewhat downplayed - about the Justice Department dropping charges...

Former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn's lead attorney accused top officials of orchestrating a plot to frame her client, insisting that former President Barack Obama himself was in on it. Flynn had initially pleaded guilty to providing a false statement to the FBI regarding his contact with a Russian ambassador, but later changed his story and pushed back by questioning the FBI's tactics. "These agents specifically schemed and planned with each other how to not tip him off, that he was even the person being investigated," Powell told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," pointing to evidence that FBI agents...

esterday the Department of Justice released a number of documents backing up the decision to drop the criminal case against General Michael Flynn. In them, it was revealed President Barack Obama ( was in on the Flynn takedown), knew about the FBI wiretapping his phone in 2016 and asked whether his case should be "treated differently" moving forward. He even took the time to brief then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, in the Oval Office, on what he knew.During an appearance on Hannity Thursday night, conservative radio host Mark Levin referred to the documents as "Barack Obama's blue dress." "This is...

If Paul Simon were to write a song about Barack Hussein Obama’s post-presidential years, he could title it “Still Leaking After All These Years.” On Saturday, America’s Worst Mistake leaked a recording of a very-much scripted phone call to reliable old Russia Collusion buddy Michael Isikoff, who then “reported” on it as if it were a real thing. It wasn’t. Just as with everything else Obama has done throughout his entire political life – and perhaps throughout his entire life, period – this call with what he calls the “Obama alumni association” was basically designed to telegraph talking points to...

After seeming years of silence, and plenty of billionaire vacays, President Obama is on the warpath. Here's what the Washington Post is reporting: Former president Barack Obama shared deep worries Friday about the Justice Department’s decision to drop its prosecution of ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn, telling old aides on a call that “our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk,” according to a recording obtained by Yahoo News and confirmed by an Obama spokesperson. Obama also appeared to slam the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster,” offering the sort of blistering...

President Obama is being quoted on Flynn, saying "There is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free." It is a curious statement. First and foremost, Flynn was not charged with perjury Second, we now know Obama discussed charging Flynn under the Logan Act which has never been used successfully to convict anyone and is flagrantly unconstitutional. Third, this reaffirms reports that Obama was personally invested in this effort. Finally, there is precedent There is a specific rule allowing for this motion under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a). There...

Why is former President Obama calling forth all his defensive resources now? Why did former national security advisor Susan Rice write her cya letter? Why have republicans in congress not been willing to investigate the true origins of political surveillance? What is the reason for so much anger, desperation and opposition from a variety of interests? With the release of recent transcripts and the declassification of material from within the IG report, the Carter Page FISA and Flynn documents showing FBI activity, there is a common misconception about why the intelligence apparatus began investigating the Trump campaign in the first...

Barack Obama warned his successor against hiring Michael Flynn. It was Nov. 10, 2016, just two days after Donald Trump upset Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States. Trump told aide Hope Hicks that he was bewildered by the president’s warning. Of all the important things Obama could have discussed with him, the outgoing commander in chief wanted to talk about Michael Flynn. The question of why Obama was so focused on Flynn is especially revealing now. The Department of Justice recently filed to withdraw charges against the retired three-star general for making false statements to...

Republicans are broadening their investigation into special counsel Robert Mueller as the Obamagate controversy heats up. Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said fresh criminal referrals are imminent as more people come forward with information about what Trump allies view to have been a plot to undermine the president. "We’ve also expanded our investigation into the Mueller team and everything that happened with Mueller and the people at DOJ and FBI that were above Mueller. And so, we will be making criminal referrals in the coming weeks against the Mueller team. We're just now putting...

...Barr warmed against “a tit for tat exercise,” politicizing justice or “lower[ing] the standards” just to punish Obama for doing the same. “Not every abuse of power, no matter how outrageous, is necessarily a federal crime,” he cautioned. Still, if the goal is to restore public confidence in the justice system, the only way is to wipe the slate clean. And the only way to do that would be for Trump to pardon Obama and Biden, preemptively, for the sake of national unity. It would, of course, drive Obama, Biden, the Democrats, and the media crazy. Pardoning Obama and Biden...

Former Vice President Joe Biden is facing new questions about his role in the Russia investigation, and even though there is essentially no evidence of his wrongdoing, his seemingly contradictory comments have muddied the waters and prolonged the conversation. In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has  injected a heavy dose of conspiracy theories into the 2020 campaign by linking Biden to his claims of a "deep state" plot against his presidency. There are literally reams of records -- like court filings and sworn testimony -- that shed light on the complicated backstory. Here's a breakdown of Trump's far-fetched accusations, Biden's...

The political persecution of Lt. General Michael Flynn is one of the most shameful political assassinations this country has ever seen. It is seen by some as a sideshow to the efforts by the Left to bring down President Donald Trump, but I have come to believe the events surrounding Flynn are central to the overall abuse of power and betrayal of the trust of the American public by the Obama Administration. I view the lawlessness and bitter vindictiveness of the Obama Administration and its allies in the media who have played a major role in this scandal as...

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany ended Friday’s press briefing by demanding answers from the gathered reporters. ,P.McEnany, in response to a question about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, treated the press to a slide show of questions that she said “any good journalist” would want to see answered. (RELATED: ‘Heads Would Explode’: Kayleigh McEnany Says Media Response Would Be Wildly Different If Democrats Were Being Unmasked)

Judicial Watch Lawsuit Forces Release of Infamous FBI Memo Used to Launch Obama Administration’s Spy Operation on President Trump’s 2016 Campaign Judicial Watch Sues to Stop Governor Newsom’s “Vote by Mail” Mandate UN’s U.S.-Funded COVID-19 Response Promotes Abortion Trump’s Big Bet on Virus Drug Gets Personal Memorial Day – Why We Fight Judicial Watch Lawsuit Forces Release of Infamous FBI Memo Used to Launch Obama Administration’s Spy Operation on President Trump’s 2016 Campaign In a major development, Judicial Watch forced the declassification and release of an FBI memo or “electronic communication” (EC) that officially launched the counterintelligence investigation, termed...

For many observers, the idea that the intelligence community would flout certain rules in order to investigate American citizens is news. But for former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson, “Obamagate” is just the latest development in a nearly decade-long battle. “I would say I may not be one of the first victims, but I am one of the first people who was able to identify myself as a target of illegal spying under the Obama administration,” Attkisson told Mediaite in an interview this week. “I believe many, many others were spied on but do not know. It was only thanks to...