[Townhall] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham moved to gain subpoena authorization for a number of former Obama administration officials Monday evening.
"Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today announced that the Committee would debate and vote on a subpoena authorization related to the FISA abuse investigation and oversight of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation," Graham's office released in a statement. "Graham’s subpoena authorization covers a number of documents, communications and testimony from witnesses, including James Comey, Andrew McCabe, James Clapper, John Brennan, Sally Yates, and others."
According to Committee rules, Graham must receive subpoena authorization approval from Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein or through a full vote from members. Once approved through one of these avenues, Graham can officially issue subpoenas to individuals he wants to testify. Democrats authorized subpoena power by party line vote in 2008 under then Chairman Patrick Leahy.
His authorization, if approved, will include the ability to subpoena the following individuals (bolding is mine). The list includes individuals who worked for Fusion GPS and authored the bogus Russian dossier about President Trump. That dossier was used by the FBI to investigate the Trump administration.
#5
It is absolutely true that socialists have neither sense of shame nor duty, and Lindsey Graham has been a place holder on the 'not as bad as those guys' plan for way too long.
On the other hand, these guys aren't exactly criminal geniuses, especially Clapper and Brennan. The thing about accumulating testimony is that it is always ultimately contradictory. The other thing about it is it has a way of, well, leaking.
I reiterate, it will be interesting to see who first takes up solo adventure canoeing on the Chesapeake...about 10 PM on a pleasantly breezy night.
#11
This is all about cranking up a leak machine to run from now to election day. The dems loved doing it, so now it's sauce for the goose time.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/19/2020 11:22 Comments ||
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#12
Turn the tables, Graham. Catch 'em in a perjury trap. Well, I can dream, can't I?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/19/2020 12:48 Comments ||
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#13
Just one more play to delay all this past Nov. IMHO.
But in the meantime it is in the public eye, reminding our side, who believe in it, what is at stake if we do not vote, while the other side, which does not believe what is not reported to them, continues blithely unconcerned.
[Breitbart] William Barr: Probably Won’t Be a Criminal Investigation of Obama, Biden
Attorney General William Barr said Monday that the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) review of the 2016 Russia investigation is unlikely to yield a criminal investigation of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Whatever their level of involvement based on the level of information I have today, I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,” Barr said in a press conference Monday, referring to U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is leading the inquiry into the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the previous election. “Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others.” I tend to agree with #2 below, but where is exactly is "Mr. Durham's work?" The longer this investigation drags on without legal findings and indictments, the more it takes on the appearance of a Washington Kabuki dance. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Later in his remarks, Barr criticized the general use of criminal investigations as “a political weapon.”
“This is not good for our political life and it’s not good for the criminal justice system,” said the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. “As long as I’m attorney general, the criminal justice system will not be used for partisan political ends. This is especially true for the upcoming elections in November.”
Barr’s comments follow the release of the declassified list of Obama officials who had requested names to be “unmasked” between November 8, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017. Top Obama officials who made such requests include former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samatha Power, former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, and former Vice President Joe Biden.
The list became public days after the DOJ dropped its criminal case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to making false statements to the FBI over his communications with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during President Donald Trump’s transition period.
Last week, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) signaled that he will request the officials, including Biden, the presumptive Democrat nominee, to testify regarding their unmasking activities.
“Right now we’re in the information-gathering phase of this and this obviously, from my standpoint, raises a lot more questions than it actually answers,” Johnson said, according to The Hill. “We will start requesting interviews with those individuals.”
“I want to find out what you were looking at, why you unmasked an American’s identity and how you used that,” the Wisconsin Republican added, before stating that he will seek interviews with Brennan, Clapper, McDonough, and “possibly” Biden.
#2
I think Attorney General Barr is going after the low-hanging fruit first. He can always change his mind later, after a few convictions reveal even more information, but no point in making former vice president Biden a martyr in the months leading up to the election and getting the partisans riled up enough to try to push him over the finish line.
" Whatever their level of involvementbased on the level of information I have today, I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,”
What a strange phrase! "Whatever their level of involvement..."
"Whatever" = no specificity, no boundary, NO LIMIT.
"Level of involvement" = ie legal liabikity, CULPABILITY.
So replace that weird, slang-y, non-lawyerly term "whatever" -- as in, "whatever, dude" -- with its more precise cognate, REGARDLESS OF -- and you get the following paraphrase:
"Regardless of their culpability, we decline to prosecute..."
Is this not a banana republic?
Is this not a ... yes, there's only one word for it now - SHITSHOW?
My professional opinion. Biden is now virtual campaigning due to COVID19. Before that he was slurring his speech and speaking incoherently at times in his speeches. The latter is a sign that sometime recently he has had a stroke.
Limbaugh sez Biden will not cross the finish line, he will be replaced. I think it will be due to another stroke.
#5
The key to me is “...based on the level of information I have today, I don’t expect... ,” Lex. Should there be revealed in the course of this investigation strong enough evidence against Obama and Biden, his current expectation will be ignored in favour of action.
#6
Herewith the Rant -- it is Rantburg, after all-- so buckle your seatbelts, kids-- here goes :
I understand the fears and concerns of those of our Establishment who wish to preserve the system-- to keep the whole edifice of our political and legal institutions from crashing down. To try to forestall a cycle of political retribution every four years. Yes, I get it. Slippery slope etc.
And if I myself had followed their path through those grand institutions, as I in my younger and more vulnerable years would have and could have, then I too would seek to uphold rather than destroy.
Yup: Congress, the CIA, the New York Times, SCOTUS, Harvard, Davos, the Trilateral Commission, the NSA, Goldman Sachs, TweedleDum and TweedleeDee: all of it, shiny and interconnected, inseparable, one nation under no Gid but Mammon and Self... I could have joined and supported and battened upon it all.
But no -- I didn't, and letfals this take reflects my Bonn-Establishment POV.
But it doesn't matter. The truth abides. That Establishment, she's a whore. A filthy, desiccated, putrescent syphilitic whore. Where one sits or stands does not alter this hard, bitter truth: The American Establishment is incorrigibly corrupt. Rotten. Opposed to the interests of the Many. Anti-American.
Burr - Barr - Biden - Brennan - Clinton - Clapper - Comey - Cuomo - 'Delecto' - Feinstein - Graham - Pelosi - Soetoro: Corrupt beyond words -- more corrupt than any age since that of the Robber Barons.
Look at what that moron and his minions did - no hyoerboke, this is fact now:
Destroyed our Constitution. Imported 20 million illegals. Tied our economy to an unbelievably corrupt, nasty, implacably anti-American, Communist Party-led Chinese kakocracy that just unleashed bio-warfare upon us.
And now we're supposed to accept our impoverishment and that of our children.
Because "pandemic."
Because OrangeMan Bad.
Because OrangeMan = "Human Sacrifice!!!!"
NO. Enough. Enough lies and bullsh!t and nonsense.
Prosecute Obama.
Prosecute ALL of his co-conspirators.
Only a very minor, more inclusive repair. On the topic of global prostitution, ask me about my Home Depot, Loews, Target Chinese box store experience this week.
#11
Re #9 - understood; the logic of not turning Zero into a (however laughable) pseudo-Mandela cause celebre is clear.
Two problems: if the smaller fish turn on him, they will do so only as a way to beat the rap, so if the kingfish isn't prosecuted then no one will be.
Second, not prosecuting him gives some credence to that entire ludicrous anti-Russian fairytale we've been told these last four years, because it's now Obama (along with Hillary) who is championing or will champion that BS.
Which has to be destroyed if this country is ever to get serious about China. We have to put a stake through the idiotic meme of OrangeMan = Kremlin Agent. Maybe that can be done without indicting Soetoro but I don't see it.
#15
I also agree with TW. Don't turn these creatures into rallying points for the left, but do let them sweat. Assuming Trump wins in November, (and GOP holds the senate) we might get a new AG who makes Judge Roy Bean look like Mr. Rogers.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/19/2020 8:49 Comments ||
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#16
#14 Whahaha... Mandela...
The only thing that gives Soetoro a bigger frisson -- bigger, even, than hearing Big Mike whisper, Bend over, boyfrien'!' -- is his wet dream of reappearing to the world as Mandela Reincarnate, in Excelsis Deo, resplendent in his tan suit and open-necked shirt
#21
He is letting the evidence take him where it will. If he announced Obama was on his list, the deep state would come out swinging. Let him play cat and mouse with this.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/19/2020 12:24 Comments ||
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#22
They weren't gonna let Nixon off the hook. Then we got Carter as a result of Ford granting Nixon a pardon. I don't want another Carter.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/19/2020 12:58 Comments ||
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#23
But then, maybe if Baraq agrees to stay out of sight and keep his mouth shut...
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/19/2020 12:59 Comments ||
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#24
^The best, IMO, outcome if you can spook Baraq into running away and getting asylum in China - WITHOUT taking any specific investigation steps against him.
#25
if you can spook Baraq into running away and getting asylum
Macau was a safe haven for Kim Jong Un‘s half brrother, and the Obamas still have pots of money. Neither China nor Iran would be trustworthy hosts, I suspect. Nor Saudi Arabia these days. Qatar as fellow supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, perhaps?
Once they’re out, it doesn’t matter. They can go from there to France, like everyone else, or wherever their dear little hearts desire, assuming they still have money.
#31
Sometimes you just have to peel the onion. No matter how much you want to cut to the core.
Posted by: Marilyn Tojo7566 ||
05/19/2020 23:02 Comments ||
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#32
One other thing is timing - you dont want the Dems to have time to spin and react, and give the press time to turn this back on Trump and the GOP. Maximum iimpact, close in to the election to put the nail in the coffin not only for Biden, but for Pelosi and her D majority house, and preserve the R senate.
Posted by: Marilyn Tojo7566 ||
05/19/2020 23:04 Comments ||
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#33
Too close to the election can lead to "I question the timing" issues.
If that's the actual plan, then it's too clever by half.
#1
The "lockdown" is collapsing. A few perceptive observers in the media get that it's now damaging to long term lefty political dominance. But they are voices in the lefty wilderness.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/19/2020 8:53 Comments ||
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#4
Well, as certain American minority histories portray it, the barbershop is a key cultural institution and community hub. QED closing barbershops is rayciss...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/19/2020 11:01 Comments ||
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Posted by: Bobby ||
05/19/2020 11:06 Comments ||
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#6
Would-be dictator Whitmer was inaugurated on January 1, 2019 in her first term. The governor is limited to two terms but it's doubtful she will get a second term unless the Dems can stuff the ballot box with enough phony votes.
Currently, the people of Michigan of Michigan are looking into class action lawsuits and impeachment.
#10
Gov. Winky Blinky DeWine in Ohio threw in the towel on his lockdown fantasy because he knew he was looking ridiculous. PeeAye is about to go full scale FU on Gov. Woof.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/19/2020 19:01 Comments ||
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#11
PA, MI, CA, WA, NY, NJ, ME....geeeesh, some real "winner" governors from those states, eh?
[Free Beacon] The "enormous suffering" that has killed more than 74,000 Americans provides Democrats leverage on legislation addressing the coronavirus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) told the liberal website Vox on Wednesday.
"When you think about traditional situations of crisis ... whoever the ruling party is in the White House, that individual has this enormous opportunity to bring people together because that's what people want in a crisis," Jayapal said. "None of that has happened.... For me, the leverage is that there is enormous suffering, and if we do not respond with the boldness and the scale that this crisis demands, then that suffering will continue."
Jayapal faced criticism from conservatives in April when she warned Democrats were "giving away leverage" if they passed a clean bill replenishing the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to small businesses reeling from the pandemic. Democrats held up funding for weeks before they agreed to a $484 billion bill that also included additional aid for hospitals and testing.
Jayapal echoed previous calls from Democrats, including California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.), to see the deadly disease as an opportunity to push liberal policies.
Jayapal defended her earlier reference to leverage, calling the Republican response to the pandemic insufficient.
#2
Does it ever occur to these sh!theads that the tens of millions of working-class families they're impoverishing are more likely to become Trump supporters than to support their idiotic, transparent power grabs?
[Daily Caller] Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called President Donald Trump "morbidly obese" Monday night after he announced that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus preventative treatment for more than a week.
In an appearance on CNN, Pelosi was asked about Trump’s usage of hydroxychloroquine, to which she responded by saying "He’s our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group — morbidly obese, they say"
...which they might that be, my dear Speaker? Obese is not how I would describe the gentleman in question — he strikes me more as a mesomorph...
Pelosi said to CNN’s Anderson Cooper.... Meanwhile, Nancy, you are just morbid. Besides, didn't you know that all the world loves a fat man?
#8
" People are going to be willing to crawl over broken glass to vote against Pelosi's Dims . " They won't tell the pollsters what they are going to do, so "SURPRISE ! "
#9
^ bingo. The polls understate OrangeMan's true support by probably 8-10 points - even more than they lowballes his real #s in 2016.
Re above: Some previously apolitical immigrants I know in my deep-blue social circle asked me the other day how to register to vote. They're so disgusted with the media's / the Democrats' BS that they intend to do all they can to b!tchslap these morons at the polls this November.
Caesar:
Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
..then again Nancy does have that lean and hungry look, doesn't she?
#25
A lot of Vietnam vets took this drug for a year with few side effects. It did give you the runs every once in awhile, but that was a hell of a lot better than getting malaria. If I remember correctly the dosage was the big orange pill on Monday, and the little white ones daily. That depended on knowing what day it was.
#26
Vietnam vets took this stuff for a year with few side effects. Sometimes it gave you the runs, but that was better than malaria. Seems like we took the orange pill on Monday and the little white ones daily, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. If I had access I'd be taking it today.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/19/2020 13:31 Comments ||
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#29
whoa does this mean Pelosi is worried about Trump's health?
As in not wanting anything bad to happen to him God forbid?
There is always something sinister around what Pelosi says
as though people would start taking HCQ without consulting their doctor.
Watching Trump walking across the lawn with a relaxed comfortable stride appears healthy VS Pelosi trotting up to the podium as though she's holding something between her legs there's no comparison.
Posted by: Jan ||
05/19/2020 13:58 Comments ||
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"Not a smidgen of corruption"
[Ohio Star - HT Powerline] President Barack Obama’s Treasury Department regularly surveilled retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn’s financial records and transactions beginning in December 2015 and well into 2017, before, during and after when he served at the White House as President Donald Trump’s National Security Director, a former senior Treasury Department official, and veteran of the intelligence community, told the Star Newspapers.
"I started seeing things that were not correct, so I did my own little investigation, because I wanted to make sure what I was seeing was correct" she said. "You never want to draw attention to something if there is not anything there."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Townhall] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham moved to gain subpoena authorization for a number of former Obama administration officials Monday evening. 
[Free Beacon] The "enormous suffering" that has killed more than 74,000 Americans provides Democrats leverage on legislation addressing the coronavirus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) told the liberal website Vox on Wednesday.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called President Donald Trump "morbidly obese" Monday night after he announced that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus preventative treatment for more than a week.
