~ FBI HQ (left) – Main Justice buildings (right) ~
When you are this close to the institutions, conversations come much easier. According to those with direct knowledge, when Jeff Sessions recused (fire-walled) from anything to do with the special counsel in ’17, ’18, ’19, Rod Rosenstein “should have” held oversight. However, in his Senate Judiciary testimony of June 3, 2020, Rosenstein admitted that he conducted no oversight over the Mueller probe.
Rosenstein’s justification was he did not feel it was his position to question their “investigative processes“, later saying “everything was an investigative process“, ergo anything the special counsel was doing was considered valid; nothing was questioned, and Rosenstein felt it was his position to “facilitate” the Mueller team.
This is a key point: The special counsel took over Main Justice.
Which begs the question….. If Rosenstein was providing everything; who was managing the daily events inside Main Justice while the SC events were ongoing? Who was the internal coordinator for the legal and investigative crew? Who was the bridge? Answer:
Tashina “Tash” Gauhar, literally from the school and law firm of former Obama “wingman” Attorney General Eric Holder.
2009- Tashina Gauhar is the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Intelligence. Ms. Gauhar has extensive experience working with the U.S. Intelligence Community and has held a variety of national security positions within the Department since 2001, including serving as an Assistant Counsel in the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review and later as the Deputy Chief of Operations in the Office of Intelligence, and recently the Chief of Operations. Prior to joining the Justice Department, Ms. Gauhar was an associate at the law firm of DLA Piper (then Piper Marbury Rudnick and Wolfe, LLP). (link)
Tashina Gauhar was the Mid-Year-Exam (MYE) team member who was on a September 29, 2016, conference call with the FBI New York field office about the Weiner/Abedin laptop. Tash Gauhar was directly at the center, no, the epicenter, of the most controversial time frame for the Mid-Year-Event team.
Tashina was one of only three MYE people who actually had the responsibility to review the Clinton emails from the Weiner/Abedin laptop. [The other two were Peter Strzok and the unknown “lead analyst”]
Tashina is probably only eclipsed by Lisa Page and Peter Strzok in the level of influence within the entire Mid-Year-Team apparatus. “Tash”, as she was known to the team, is a hub amid a very tight circle. Tashina Gauhar held a great deal of influence. Suffice to say, the spawn of Eric Holder is a big deal in the story.
You know what other decision Tashina Gauhar was influential in?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal:
Note this meeting was on March 2nd, 2017. Which prompted this announcement:
WASHINGTON POST, March 2 2017 – Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday that he will recuse himself from investigations related to the 2016 presidential campaign, which would include any Russian interference in the electoral process.
Speaking at a hastily called news conference at the Justice Department, Sessions said he was following the recommendation of department ethics officials after an evaluation of the rules and cases in which he might have a conflict.
“They said that since I had involvement with the campaign, I should not be involved in any campaign investigation,” Sessions said. He added that he concurred with their assessment and would thus recuse himself from any existing or future investigation involving President Trump’s 2016 campaign. (link)
Yes, the DOJ lawyer at the heart of the Clinton-email investigation; the DOJ lawyer hired by Eric Holder at his firm and later at the DOJ; the DOJ lawyer who was transferred to the Clinton probe; the DOJ lawyer at the epicenter of the Weiner laptop issues, the only one from MYE who spoke to New York; the DOJ lawyer who constructs the FISA applications on behalf of Main Justice;…. just happens to be the same DOJ lawyer recommending to AG Jeff Sessions that he recuse himself.
Once Jeff Sessions recused, then what responsibilities did Tashina cover?
Tashina Gauhar was also the internal coordinator inside Main Justice who was the link between the special counsel and the resources of the entire department. Essentially, Rod Rosenstein’s willful blindness put Tashina in a position of power. This is how the special counsel group was able to take over Main Justice and coordinate their efforts. Everything flowed through Tash while she protected the Weissmann, Zelby, Van Grack, et al team as they went about targeting the Trump administration. These were the usurpers embedded inside Main Justice while carrying out the “insurance policy” mission.
Ms. Tashina Gauhar had quite a portfolio:
Tashina Gauhar left the DOJ in Nov 2019. She went to work for Boeing.
Tashina Gauhar was the Deputy Attorney General’s national security adviser and deputy assistant attorney general for intelligence since 2009. Tash was at the DOJ since 2001, and she formerly served as assistant counsel and chief of operations in what was then called the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. She worked for DAG Rosenstein as she did for DAG Sally Yates. Tash Gauhar was the DAG’s executor and enforcer for national security.
Tashina required all of the AG packages for foreign policy appointments to go through her.
As the DOJ point on national security, only Gauhar received email notification about NSC meetings. During her tenure she did not always pass those notifications along, so the AG (Sessions) both missed NSC meetings and went unprepared when she let the notifications wait until the last minute.
She was very close to the Counter Intelligence division and came to David Laufman’s defense. [David Laufman was a DOJ-NSD lawyer who later became the attorney for Monica McLean, the FBI public information officer who wrote the complaint letter against Justice Kavanaugh with Christine Blasey-Ford.]
Tashina is reported to have attempted to get access to highly compartmentalized NSA information, and lied about being an appropriately cleared recipient.
In 2014 Attorney General Eric Holder changed the entire DOJ organizational chart making the Deputy AG the DOJ’s main point contact for the entire national security process.
Tashina Gauhar was also the person who retrieved the transcripts (tech cuts) of Gen. Flynn’s conversations with Sergey Kislyak, and she was assisting Mary McCord and Sally Yates at the meeting with White House Counsel Don McGahn.
Tashina Gauhar was frequently seen at public social gatherings with Mueller investigators.
Tashina Gauhar was deeply involved in the Iran JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) deal and the side agreements within the Iran deal.
Tashina Gauhar was one of a select few people to convince the AG that he should recuse himself.
Tashina Gauhar was/is best friends with Lisa Page.
Tashina Gauhar told the FBI to stop enforcing and prosecuting export control and sanctions laws to protect the Iran deal.
Gauhar told the FBI not to have any public information campaign targeting private companies and educating them about dual use technologies.
Tashina Gauhar told the DEA to stop drug investigations re: Hezbollah related to Operation Casandra.
Tashina Gauhar attended NSC meetings during the Obama Administration representing DOJ. Tashina also knows all about the Uranium One deal.
Tashina Gauhar blocked the AG’s office from getting Senior Executive Service (SES) people. The AG had three SES people and the DAG had nine.
Tashina Gauhar was put in charge of reviewing the classified material President Trump ordered be passed to Congress, andshe was the liaison between the Deputy AG (Rosenstein) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for national security.
