The Strzok-Page Texts and the Origins of the Trump-Russia Investigation

National Review ^ | 5/14/2018 | ANDREW C. MCCARTHY

[bitt]

Peter Strzok and Lisa Page’s texts shine a highly redacted light on how the Trump-Russia investigation began.

It was July 31, 2016. Just days earlier, the Obama administration had quietly opened an FBI counterintelligence investigation of Russian cyber-espionage — hacking attacks — to disrupt the 2016 election. And not random, general disruption; the operating theory was that the Russians were targeting the Democratic party, for the purpose of helping Donald Trump win the presidency.

FBI special agent Peter Strzok was downright giddy that day.

The Bureau had finally put to bed “Mid Year Exam.” MYE was code for the dreaded investigation of Hillary Clinton’s improper use of a private email system to conduct State Department business, which resulted in the retention and transmission of thousands of classified emails, as well as the destruction of tens of thousands of government business records. Strzok and other FBI vets dreaded the case because it was a go-through-the-motions exercise: Everyone working on it knew that no one was going to be charged with a crime; that Mrs. Clinton was going to be the next president of the United States; and that the FBI’s goal was not to be tarnished in the process of “investigating” her — to demonstrate, without calling attention to the suffocating constraints imposed by the Obama Justice Department, that the Bureau had done a thorough job, and that there was a legal rationale for letting Clinton off the hook that might pass the laugh test.

[bitt]

P

THANKS, CBOLDT

[Lurkinanloomin]

Everything the Kenyanesian Usurper and his minions did to rig the election in 2016 was made possible by the GOP colluding on the 2008 election to make the Kenyanesian Usurpation happen.

[Liz]

Of all the spurious excuses shoo-in Hillary gives for her 2016 loss, the most ludicrous is
Hillary saying she lost her "sure-thing election" because "Putin doesn't like me."
Comey sucked up--told Congress Putin wanted to “harm Hillary.”

Hillary once bragged that she, alone, was brought into Putin's inner sanctum
where she assured Putin she was worried about wildlife like he was.

Putin whispered to an attentive Hilary that they were BFF.

Secy Hillary and Obama were eager to please Russia w/ the friendly reset button.
Hillary later said the reset gambit was Obama's and her idea "to strengthen Russia."

==============================================

Ex-Pres Clinton is s-o-o-o-o friendly he traveled to Russia to clinch the uranium giveaway deal.
And to pocket a $500,000 dollar speaking fee from a Moscow bank plus a sizeable commission.

Billybooboo even laid his "Hot Damn Hokey Hillbilly Act" on Putin.

[z3n]

the Obama administration had quietly opened an FBI counterintelligence investigation of Russian cyber-espionage — hacking attacks — to disrupt the 2016 election.

~~~~~

the Obama administration had quietly opened an FBI counterintelligence investigation to disrupt the 2016 election.

Fixed for proper/real context

[JonPreston]

The Kenyan’s ebony hue paralyzed the GOP with fear. It still does.

[Lurkinanloomin]

No, they wanted to run ineligible candidates, too.

Jindal, Rubio, Cruz, Haley and George P. Bush are all as ineligible as Obama.
All have foreign national parent(s) that gave them foreign citizenship(s).

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Hillary lost because God intervened, period.

[ClearCase_guy]

the Obama administration had quietly opened an FBI counterintelligence investigation of Russian cyber-espionage — hacking attacks — to disrupt the 2016 election. And not random, general disruption; the operating theory was that the Russians were targeting the Democratic party, for the purpose of helping Donald Trump win the presidency.

I'm pretty sure this isn't quite true.

I think Obama (and Hillary) began "looking at the Russians" as part of their preparation for eventually sabotaging Trump based on evidence that Obama (and Hillary) were going to plant.

Start an "investigation".
Plant evidence.
Find evidence.
Skewer Trump.

[Liz]

"I gave $29 million to the Clinton Foundation and all I got was access to Howdy Doody."

Chelsea Clinton and Viktor Pinchuk who donated $29 million to Clinton Foundation in Kiev, Ukraine 8/21/16.

=====================================

http://observer.com/2017/01/ukraine-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-election/http://observer.com/2017/01/ukraine-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-election/

OPINION Ukraine Tried to Tip the Election in Clinton’s Favor
Evidence reveals that Ukraine intervened to tilt the election in favor of its national interests
By Michael Sainato • 01/12/17

Politico reported that the Ukrainian Government worked to aid Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential elections. The actions taken by government officials included disseminating “documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.”

Those documents implicated Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who worked as an adviser for now-ousted Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych. However, the concerns that the documents raised weren’t in fact over any quasi-Russian ties, though partisan reporting pushed his narrative. Rather, the documents raised the question of whether Manafort declared the income that he had received from the position. The Podesta Group, a lobbying firm co-founded by Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta, also conducted work for Yanukovych.

However, the Manafort narrative not only painted Trump as pro-Russian, but also provided the Clinton campaign with a smear campaign while reaffirming its stance against Russia. It was in Ukraine’s best interest to tilt the election in support of Clinton, who strongly advocated for providing Ukraine with military aid and financial support in order to fight Russian separatists in the country.

Politico noted that Alexandra Chalupa, a Ukrainian-American working as a consultant for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), met with top Ukrainian Officials in Washington D.C. about forcing Manafort’s resignation in order to perpetuate the narrative that Trump is connected to Russia. Both Chalupa and her sister Andrea have strongly pushed the anti-Russian narrative on social media, in addition to advocating that the electors of the electoral college defect from Trump. The report added, “Politico’s investigation found evidence of Ukrainian government involvement in the race that appears to strain diplomatic protocol dictating that governments refrain from engaging in one another’s elections.”

In addition to the Chalupas, the co-founder and CTO of Crowdstrike, the cyber security firm that the DNC hired to investigate the alleged hacks, Dmitri Alperovitch, also serves as a senior fellow to the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, which is an openly anti-Russian organization partly . The Atlantic Council is funded by Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, who also happens to be one of the most prolific donors to the Clinton Foundation. The DNC denied multiple requests from the FBI to access their servers, effectively forcing the FBI to rely on CrowdStrike’s assessment of the hacks.

The Atlantic Council has propagated anti-Russian sentiment and advocated for bolstering NATO forces in anticipation of a military conflict between with Russia long before Wikileaks released emails from the DNC and Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta. In 2013, the Atlantic Council awarded Hillary Clinton its Distinguished International Leadership Award. In 2014, the Atlantic Council hosted one of several events with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who took over after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was removed in early 2014. In August, Politico reported that Donald Trump’s favorable rhetoric to Russia was concerning Ukraine. The article stated, “Russia wants Trump for U.S. president; Ukraine is terrified by Trump and prefers Hillary Clinton.”

In response to their preferred candidate losing the election, Ukrainian officials are now scrambling to revert from their lobbying for Hillary Clinton and the DNC. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko recently signed a $50,000-a-month contract with a lobbying firm to set up meetings with U.S. officials in the new administration. Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk wrote an op-ed on December 29 in the Wall Street Journal in which he argued that Ukraine needs make compromises to establish peace with Russia. After the election, reports surfaced that Pinchuk donated to Trump’s charity to try to gain the same favor and access that his donations to the Clinton Foundation afforded him. “The sole reason the Victor Pinchuk Foundation has reached out to President-elect Trump—as well as other world leaders—has been to promote strengthened and enduring ties between Ukraine and the West,” a spokeswoman for the Pinchuk foundation told ABC News.

While past elections in Ukraine have been viewed as proxy battles between the U.S. and Russia, it appears that the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. faced similar influence from two foreign countries attempting to influence an election outcome preferable to their own national interests.

[neverevergiveup]

Of all the spurious excuses shoo-in Hillary gives for her 2016 loss, the most ludicrous is Hillary saying she lost her "sure-thing election" because "Putin doesn't like me."

You lost because he was far from alone in that sentiment.

[Meet the New Boss]

On what basis has the Justice Department concealed passages and references to government officials from these significant conversations?

Where does Comey's name show up? Was he [REDACTED]?

Perhaps the DOJ allowed the Special Counsel to redact liberally in the holy name of "Ongoing Investigation."

They took a page from the Clinton email investigation and gave Comey immunity like candy, and then redacted his name. Along with anything that would clearly reveal the fact that the investigation was a frame-up.

[kabar]

At last some of the MSM are focusing on facts that we have known for a long time. McCarthy is channeling Sundance, who did a similar analysis weeks ago.

[Grampa Dave]

FBI special agent Peter Strzok was downright giddy that day.

The Bureau had finally put to bed “Mid Year Exam.” MYE was code for the dreaded investigation of Hillary Clinton’s improper use of a private email system to conduct State Department business, which resulted in the retention and transmission of thousands of classified emails, as well as the destruction of tens of thousands of government business records.

Strzok and other FBI vets dreaded the case because it was a go-through-the-motions exercise: Everyone working on it knew that no one was going to be charged with a crime; that Mrs. Clinton was going to be the next president of the United States; and that the FBI’s goal was not to be tarnished in the process of “investigating” her — to demonstrate, without calling attention to the suffocating constraints imposed by the Obama Justice Department, that the Bureau had done a thorough job, and that there was a legal rationale for letting Clinton off the hook that might pass the laugh test.

[bert]

At the proper place and time, to do the most damage, Atom bomb style, the redactions will be uncovered.

Trump et al are playing for all the marbles. D day stands for devastation day. The massive counter assault will be overwhelming and will effectively destroy the progressive cancer on America.

[ClearCase_guy]

I really think that’s true.

England had a Glorious Revolution in 1688 which was basically bloodless. I hope we do the same. End the very long nightmare. Get rid of Progressivism. Avoid a civil war.

[hardspunned]

Its getting to point that we’re wasting our time reading articles like this. We all know what happened and how corrupt and illegal it was. What’s the point of rehashing the illicit facts. Had the actors been non swamp republicans all would be in orange jump suits today. A video of Barry authorizing and directing this criminal enterprise would be of no value other than to further pi$$ us off. Trump will survive and prosper because he is a MAGA superstar. Just wait until the next democrat is in the White House. The Rat will know even when caught red handed the swamp stooges like Sessions, McConnell and Ryan will do nothing. We can expect a reign of terror too terrible to even contemplate today.

[surrey]

I don’t believe that Strozk and Page have been grilled by Congress. If not, why not? First question..what was the insurance policy?

[Defiant]

CNN Breaking News: Ninth Circuit orders doctors to return blockage to Melania’s kidney.

[DugwayDuke]

If all these text messages contain so much classified material, then those two love birds should be under indictment for sending classified over unapproved channels.