‘Trump Was Right’: Explosive New FBI Texts Detail Internal Furor Over Handling Of ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ Investigation

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

‘Trump Was Right’: Explosive New FBI Texts Detail Internal Furor Over Handling Of ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ Investigation

Newly disclosed internal FBI notes and text messages detail the extent of the FBI's desire to take down Trump and his associates at any cost.

By Sean Davis and Mollie Hemingway

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents tasked by fired former Director James Comey to take down Donald Trump during and after the 2016 election were so concerned about the agency’s potentially illegal behavior that they purchased liability insurance to protect themselves less than two weeks before Trump was inaugurated president, previously hidden FBI text messages show. The explosive new communications and internal FBI notes were disclosed in federal court filings today from Sidney Powell, the attorney who heads Michael Flynn’s legal defense team.

“[W]e all went and purchased professional liability insurance,” one agent texted on Jan. 10, 2017, the same day CNN leaked details that then-President-elect Trump had been briefed by Comey about the bogus Christopher Steele dossier. That briefing of Trump was used as a pretext to legitimize the debunked dossier, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign and compiled by a foreign intelligence officer who was working for a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

“Holy crap,” an agent responded. “All the analysts too?”

“Yep,” the first agent said. “All the folks at the Agency as well.”

“[C]an I ask who are the most likely litigators?” an agent responded. “[A]s far as potentially suing y’all[?]”

“[H]aha, who knows….I think [t]he concern when we got it was that there was a big leak at DOJ and the NYT among others was going to do a piece,” the first agent said.

While the names of the agents responsible for the texts are redacted, the legal filing from Powell, quoting communications from the Department of Justice (DOJ), states that the latest document production included handwritten notes and texts from Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, and FBI analysts who worked on the FBI’s investigation of Flynn.

Agents also said they were worried about how a new attorney general might view the actions taken against Trump during the investigation. Shortly after then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was confirmed to be Trump’s new attorney general, congressional Democrats, media, and Obama holdovers within DOJ immediately moved to force Sessions to recuse himself from overseeing the department’s investigations against Trump.

“[T]he new AG might have some questions….then yada yada yada…we all get screwed,” one agent wrote.

The FBI agents also discussed how the investigation’s leadership was consumed with conspiracy theories rather than evidence.

“I’m tellying [sic] man, if this thing ever gets FOIA’d, there are going to be some tough questions asked,” one agent wrote. “[A]nd a great deal of those will be related to Brian having a scope way outside the boundaries of logic[.]”

“[REDACTED] is one of the worst offenders of the rabbit holes and conspiracy theories,” an agent texted. “This guy traveled with that guy, who put down 3rd guy as his visa sponsor. 3rd guy lives near a navy base, therefore…[.]”

Several texts show that the order to close the criminal investigation against Flynn came as early as Nov. 8, 2016, the same day as the 2016 presidential election. It was later re-opened in early January of 2017.

 

“We have some loose ends to tie up, and we all need to meet to discuss what to do with each case (he said shut down Razor),” one agent texted, referring to Crossfire Razor, the FBI’s internal code name for the investigation of Flynn.

“[S]o glad they’re closing Razor,” an agent responded.

The new disclosures made by DOJ also show that the FBI used so-called national security letters (NSLs) to spy on Flynn’s finances. Unlike traditional subpoenas, which require judicial review and approval before authorities can seize an innocent person’s property and information, NSLs are never independently reviewed by courts. One of the agents noted in a text message that the NSLs were just being used as a pretext by FBI leadership to buy time to find dirt on Flynn after the first investigation of him yielded no derogatory information.

“[T]he decision to NSL finances for Razor bought him time,” one agent said nearly two weeks after the initial order to shut down the anti-Flynn case. It is not known to whom the agent was referring in that text.

“What do we expect to get from an NSL[?]” an agent texted on Dec. 5, 2016. “We put out traces, tripwires to community and nothing.”

“[B]ingo,” another FBI agent responded. “[S]o what’s an NSL going to do – no content.”

“Hahah this is a nightmare,” an agent said.

“If we’re working to close down the cases, I’m not sure what NSL results would do to help,” one agent wrote.

“[E]xactly that makes no sense,” an agent wrote back.

The explosive new text messages also show agents believed the investigation was being run by FBI officials who were in the tank for Hillary Clinton.

“[D]oing all this election research – I think some of these guys want a [C]linton presidency,” one agent wrote on Aug. 11, shortly after the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation against Trump.

In one series of texts sent the same day as the infamous Jan. 5 Oval Office meeting between Obama, Biden, Comey, Sally Yates, and Susan Rice, one agent admits that “Trump was right” when he tweeted that the FBI was delaying his briefings as incoming president so they could cook up evidence against him. As The Federalist first reported last May, that Jan. 5 meeting was the key to understanding the entire anti-Trump operation run out of Obama’s FBI.

“The ‘Intelligence’ briefing on so-called ‘Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case,” Trump tweeted on January 3. “Very strange!”

“So razor is going to stay open???” an agent wrote on Jan. 5.

“[Y]ep,” another FBI agent responded. “[C]rimes report being drafted.”

“F,” the first agent wrote back.

“[W]hat’s the word on how [Obama’s] briefing went?” one agent asked, referring to the Jan. 5 meeting.

“Dont know but people here are scrambling for info to support certain things and its a mad house,” an FBI agent responded.

“[J]esus,” an agent wrote back. “[T]rump was right. [S]till not put together….why do we do this to ourselves. [W]hat is wrong with people[?]?

A week later, the FBI agents also wrote that they suspected that the illegal leak of top secret information about Flynn’s phone calls with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak to the news media came directly from the White House.

“FYI – someone leaked the Flynn calls with Kislyak to the WSJ,” the agent wrote.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” another FBI agent responded sarcastically. “I’ll resume my duties as Chief Morale Officer and rectify that.”

“Published this morning by Ignatius,” an agent said, referencing the Jan. 12 column from Washington Post writer David Ignatius that included leaked top-secret information about Flynn’s calls with Kislyak.

“It’s got to be someone on staff,” an agent wrote. “[Presidential Daily Briefing] staff. Or WH seniors.”

To date, not a single person has been charged with illegally leaking that information to the Washington Post as a way of damaging Flynn and the incoming Trump administration.

Following a review of the federal government’s investigation by U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, which was ordered by Attorney General William Barr, the government moved to dismiss all charges against Flynn that had been previously brought by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Documents unearthed during Jensen’s review showed that before the FBI was tasked by the Obama White House in early 2017 with re-targeting Flynn, the agency closed a previous investigation against him because there was no proof of any criminal wrongdoing. Jensen’s review also uncovered evidence that the FBI’s interview of Flynn, which later led to charges that he lied to FBI investigators, had no legal basis and that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe that he had lied.

Contrary to claims by Mueller’s office that Flynn had lied about discussing financial sanctions against Russia during post-election phone calls with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak, declassified transcripts of those conversations confirmed that Flynn spoke to Kislyak only about expulsions of Russian diplomats and that the two men never discussed financial sanctions against Russia that had previously been levied by the Obama administration. Jensen’s review of Flynn’s case file also revealed handwritten notes from the FBI’s top counterintelligence official that admitted a primary goal of the FBI’s anti-Flynn operation was “to get him to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired.”

Despite the overwhelming evidence that Flynn did not lie to agents, the FBI had no legal basis to interview him, that the FBI later hid exculpatory documents from Flynn’s defense team, Flynn did not discuss financial sanctions during his phone calls with Kislyak, and the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe he lied, federal trial Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has refused to dismiss the case against Flynn.

Instead, Sullivan personally appointed a left-wing shadow prosecutor, whose partners represent former DOJ official Yates, to smear Flynn and attempt to continue the baseless criminal case against him. At one point last April, Sullivan even tried to order the DOJ to stop producing and publicly filing exculpatory evidence for Flynn or evidence of FBI misbehavior during its investigation of Flynn.

Sullivan, who called Flynn a traitor during court proceedings and suggested that Flynn — a decorated Army combat veteran — be charged with treason, has refused to recuse himself from the case despite his obvious personal animosity toward Flynn.

https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/24/trump-was-right-explosive-new-fbi-texts-detail-internal-furor-over-handling-of-crossfire-hurricane-investigation/

[bigbird 60,575]

 

[IronMan70 3,277]

In addition to that, we also find out today in declassified information, that the main sub-source for the Steele dossier was investigated in 2009, was considered a national security threat and was a likely Russian spy. He left the country in 2010 and was subject to a reopening of the investigation if he ever tried to return to the country. The FBI knew all about this the entire time they ran their operation. Yet Comey and company knowingly used this security threat and likely Russian spy's misinformation in the Steele dossier to obtain 4 FISA warrants anyway. 

Lindsey Graham Retweeted

 

 

 

Catherine Herridge

 

@CBS_Herridge

 

#Durham BREAKING: The primary sub-source for the Steele dossier was deemed a possible “national security threat” + the subject of 2009 FBI counter-intel probe. According to new records, those facts were known to Crossfire Hurricane team in December 2016.

@LindseyGrahamSC

 

 

  

 

[TexasTiger 12,966]

4 minutes ago, IronMan70 said:

In addition we also find out today in declassified information that the sub-source for the Steele dossier was investigated in 2009, was considered a national security threat and likely a Russian spy. He left the country in 2011 and was subject to a reopening of the investigation if he ever tried to return to the country. The FBI knew all about this the entire time. Comey and company used his person's information in the Steele dossier to obtain 4 FISA warrants. 

Lindsey Graham Retweeted

 

 

 

Catherine Herridge

 

@CBS_Herridge

 

#Durham BREAKING: The primary sub-source for the Steele dossier was deemed a possible “national security threat” + the subject of 2009 FBI counter-intel probe. According to new records, those facts were known to Crossfire Hurricane team in December 2016.

@LindseyGrahamSC

 

 

  

Graham summarizes:

 

This is the same Lindsey who advised McCain to give it to the FBI, right?

[IronMan70 3,277]

On 9/24/2020 at 11:45 PM, TexasTiger said:

This is the same Lindsey who advised McCain to give it to the FBI, right?

This changes exactly what about today's declassification ? The FBI knew about the guy. This is coming from Durham to Barr to the Senate Judiciary Committee, with documents. The FBI used unverified disinfo from a possible Russian spy who they had already investigated and Comey knowingly used it to get FISA warrants. It's unbelievable. 

[DKW 86 7,432]

5 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

This is the same Lindsey who advised McCain to give it to the FBI, right?

[DKW 86 7,432]

This is sssooo funny. This is where those slavishly devoted to the Dem side will now grow completely silent OR just flatout throw cover for it. That the FBI was turned into basically the Goebbels Wing of the ADP means nothing to them as long as their side wins the Corruption Sweepstakes. 

Strzok said repeatedly they had nothing. The fact that they ALL went out and bought Liability Insurance to cover themselves WHEN they would get sued for their illegal acts. The fact that they are openly admitting that they knew what they were doing was illegal. 

But, some here, you know, the "I Hate Trump SO-damn Much I want To Burn The Entire nation Downers," are just fine with the DOJ and the FBI being totally exposed as corrupt as hell. 

The FBI took a meaningless POS dossier and issued illegal warrants that they have already been called out for. They were ordered to do this at the 1-5-2017 WH meeting with Obama, Biden, Comey, Strzok, Susan Rice and the rest of the ne'r do wells. Lynch gets away with the Payoff on the Tarmac, and so it goes.

Now, the Republicans...The Republicans...Trump is everything that should be loathed. They have embraced that and have soiled their reputations for a generation. i will  likely not take them seriously again in my lifetime. No Morals, No Integrity, No Character, No Ethics. They thru their souls to the wind with Trump. They are just completely, totally, absolutely sold out to the Corporate America, and the Dems are a half step behind them. 

And the Sewing Circle could not care less. Hell they like the corruption as long as it is their side doing the corruption...

[TexasTiger 12,966]

3 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

No, it’s not that.

[SuperAUsome09 738]

3 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

Hell they like the corruption as long as it is their side doing the corruption...

Running wild in their dreams. Only to wake up and smack the wall of reality. 😂

[AUFAN78 3,916]

3 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

No, it’s not that.

Sadly, It wouldn't get called even if it were.

[AUFAN78 3,916]

6 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

This is sssooo funny. This is where those slavishly devoted to the Dem side will now grow completely silent OR just flatout throw cover for it. That the FBI was turned into basically the Goebbels Wing of the ADP means nothing to them as long as their side wins the Corruption Sweepstakes. 

Strzok said repeatedly they had nothing. The fact that they ALL went out and bought Liability Insurance to cover themselves WHEN they would get sued for their illegal acts. The fact that they are openly admitting that they knew what they were doing was illegal. 

But, some here, you know, the "I Hate Trump SO-damn Much I want To Burn The Entire nation Downers," are just fine with the DOJ and the FBI being totally exposed as corrupt as hell. 

The FBI took a meaningless POS dossier and issued illegal warrants that they have already been called out for. They were ordered to do this at the 1-5-2016 WH meeting with Obama, Biden, Comey, Strzok, Susan Rice and the rest of the ne'r do wells. Lynch gets away with the Payoff on the Tarmac, and so it goes.

Now, the Republicans...The Republicans...Trump is everything that should be loathed. They have embraced that and have soiled their reputations for a generation. i will  likely not take them seriously again in my lifetime. No Morals, No Integrity, No Character, No Ethics. They thru their souls to the wind with Trump. They are just completely, totally, absolutely sold out to the Corporate America, and the Dems are a half step behind them. 

And the Sewing Circle could not care less. Hell they like the corruption as long as it is their side doing the corruption...

Amen and amen. Preach!

[I_M4_AU 7,887]

8 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

The FBI took a meaningless POS dossier and issued illegal warrants that they have already been called out for. They were ordered to do this at the 1-5-2016 WH meeting with Obama, Biden, Comey, Strzok, Susan Rice and the rest of the ne'r do wells. Lynch gets away with the Payoff on the Tarmac, and so it goes

One small correction; the meeting was 1-5-2017 while Obama was planning the *peaceful* transition to the Trump administration.  Some people, at least, think it was a good transition.  🤦‍♂️

We are in for a tumultuous next 4 years, no matter who wins in November, or December, January, or by the SCOTUS.

[DKW 86 7,432]

2 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

One small correction; the meeting was 1-5-2017 while Obama was planning the *peaceful* transition to the Trump administration.  Some people, at least, think it was a good transition.  🤦‍♂️

We are in for a tumultuous next 4 years, no matter who wins in November, or December, January, or by the SCOTUS.

I stand corrected...

[Grumps 3,704]

So has it been decided from the left that this is no big deal?

[DKW 86 7,432]

19 hours ago, Grumps said:

So has it been decided from the left that this is no big deal?

THAT WAS DECIDED ON 1-5-2017. 

Do you see ANYONE here Identified as a Dem condemning it? Nope.

The Reps dont condemn Trump and his craziness.
The Dems, not to be out done, are not going to condemn Weaponizing the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS, etc. Basically everything they hallucinate that Trump is doing, is what happened.

There comes a time in your maturity when you listen to what others are saying about the people they are criticizing. You see, they KNOW what they would do or have done when they were in power. So they ASSUME that everyone is just as bad, and would do the same illegal things as they would do. The FBI took a worthless, bought and paid for dossier, found absolutely nothing according to Strzok's notes. But they then lied to the FISA Courts, even went so far as to manufacture evidence, so they could keep looking for Nothing-Burgers as the Democrat Leadership called them time after time. They essentially did a witch hunt that has revealed a little, but really nothing worthy of destroying the American Economy over. 

(With the bad faith execution of the FISA Warrants, you have to realize that almost none of what we do know NEVER would have seen the light of day in a Courtroom? Even a Moot Court Attorney would have gotten everything suppressed/tossed/etc. If all this would have been tried in a Courtroom, Trump's attorneys would have gotten this all shut down. The Attorneys at the FBI would be facing disbarment and even some legal peril, hence, the Liability Insurance Purchases.)

Is Trump a bad President? Yes, he is assuredly the least qualified, least gifted nominee to ever run. HRC then ran the worst campaign in the history of the world. Outspent Trump by $500M and still lost. (The Truth about the Dossier and the FBI does not ameliorate the Alt-Right and the Unforgivable Racist garbage that is/was going on, nor Trumps fails on the Pandemic, etc. All of that is 100% Valid Criticism.)

That in turn made the Elites in Washington lose their minds and it has been WWIII ever since. RUSSIANS!!!! Collusion(not even a real crime)!!!! Impeachment!!! and thousands of insane articles later, Trump is going to be removed because...He cant lead. His ideas suck. Because we need grownups in charge. All the Sturm and Drang was for nothing. He will be removed, AS I PREDICTED FOUR YEARS AGO, by the ballot. 

[homersapien 11,396]

So, it's OK for a presidential nominee to "collude" with a hostile foreign government for political advantage since it's not a "crime".  Got it.

[DKW 86 7,432]

2 hours ago, homersapien said:

So, it's OK for a presidential nominee to "collude" with a hostile foreign government for political advantage since it's not a "crime".  Got it.

Here is your reward:

The Right Won the Election, and destroyed their credibility for a generation.
The Left won the Peace, by Weaponizing the FBI, the DOJ, and the IRS. It will take 1-2 generations to recover.

Hope you all are satisfied. 

 

[Grumps 3,704]

2 hours ago, homersapien said:

So, it's OK for a presidential nominee to "collude" with a hostile foreign government for political advantage since it's not a "crime".  Got it.

Do you have any thoughts on the rest of his post?

[Grumps 3,704]

3 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

THAT WAS DECIDED ON 1-5-2017. 

Do you see ANYONE here Identified as a Dem condemning it? Nope.

The Reps dont condemn Trump and his craziness.
The Dems, not to be out done, are not going to condemn Weaponizing the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS, etc. Basically everything they hallucinate that Trump is doing, is what happened.

There comes a time in your maturity when you listen to what others are saying about the people they are criticizing. You see, they KNOW what they would do or have done when they were in power. So they ASSUME that everyone is just as bad, and would do the same illegal things as they would do. The FBI took a worthless, bought and paid for dossier, found absolutely nothing according to Strzok's notes. But they then lied to the FISA Courts, even went so far as to manufacture evidence, so they could keep looking for Nothing-Burgers as the Democrat Leadership called them time after time. They essentially did a witch hunt that has revealed a little, but really nothing worthy of destroying the American Economy over. 

(With the bad faith execution of the FISA Warrants, you have to realize that almost none of what we do know NEVER would have seen the light of day in a Courtroom? Even a Moot Court Attorney would have gotten everything suppressed/tossed/etc. If all this would have been tried in a Courtroom, Trump's attorneys would have gotten this all shut down. The Attorneys at the FBI would be facing disbarment and even some legal peril, hence, the Liability Insurance Purchases.)

Is Trump a bad President? Yes, he is assuredly the least qualified, least gifted nominee to ever run. HRC then ran the worst campaign in the history of the world. Outspent Trump by $500M and still lost. (The Truth about the Dossier and the FBI does not ameliorate the Alt-Right and the Unforgivable Racist garbage that is/was going on, nor Trumps fails on the Pandemic, etc. All of that is 100% Valid Criticism.)

That in turn made the Elites in Washington lose their minds and it has been WWIII ever since. RUSSIANS!!!! Collusion(not even a real crime)!!!! Impeachment!!! and thousands of insane articles later, Trump is going to be removed because...He cant lead. His ideas suck. Because we need grownups in charge. All the Sturm and Drang was for nothing. He will be removed, AS I PREDICTED FOUR YEARS AGO, by the ballot. 

Great post! Thanks!

You seem to be the only person who realizes that it is possible for the dems to be ridiculously corrupt AND for Trump to be a horrible person who has no business being POTUS. Everyone else seems to think that you have to be 100% for one side or the other.

[homersapien 11,396]

1 minute ago, Grumps said:

Do you have any thoughts on the rest of his post?

Nope. 

After reading the title, I pretty much dismissed the whole thing as being too biased to be worth my time. But I could be wrong. If you think it made some reasonable points, how about quoting them for me and I'll comment on them.

[DKW 86 7,432]

3 minutes ago, Grumps said:

Great post! Thanks!

You seem to be the only person who realizes that it is possible for the dems to be ridiculously corrupt AND for Trump to be a horrible person who has no business being POTUS. Everyone else seems to think that you have to be 100% for one side or the other.

I know. Two things can be true at once. Very few can see that however.

[DKW 86 7,432]

3 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Nope. 

After reading the title, I pretty much dismissed the whole thing as being too biased to be worth my time. But I could be wrong. If you think it made some reasonable points, how about quoting them for me and I'll comment on them.

Appeal to the stone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Argumentum ad lapidem (English: "appeal to the stone") is a logical fallacy that consists in dismissing a statement as absurd, invalid, or incorrect, without giving proof of its absurdity.^[1][2][3]

[homersapien 11,396]

I feel the same way about spending time to research Q-anon theories.  Not worth my time.

 

[Grumps 3,704]

7 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Nope. 

After reading the title, I pretty much dismissed the whole thing as being too biased to be worth my time. But I could be wrong. If you think it made some reasonable points, how about quoting them for me and I'll comment on them.

 

3 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

The FBI took a worthless, bought and paid for dossier, found absolutely nothing according to Strzok's notes. But they then lied to the FISA Courts, even went so far as to manufacture evidence, so they could keep looking for Nothing-Burgers as the Democrat Leadership called them time after time. They essentially did a witch hunt that has revealed a little, but really nothing worthy of destroying the American Economy over. 

Do you think that there is any merit to these three sentences?

[homersapien 11,396]

2 minutes ago, Grumps said:

 

Do you think that there is any merit to these three sentences?

Nope.  Why should I?

I  think the "dossier" is a red herring.  There was plenty of evidence to justify the FBI's investigation without it.

And you'll have to explain how this has anything to do with "destroying" the economy.