Trump Orders Barr to Light the Fuse on the Declassification Bomb

DB Daily Update ^ | David Blackmon

[EyesOfTX]

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends)

When real news intrudes on DC Kabuki Theater. – While most of the fake news media is focused on the back-and-forth childish insults between President Trump and San Fran Nan, actual important stuff just keeps happening. British Prime Minister Theresa May resigned overnight after making an utter disaster of Brexit planning. That’s kind of a big deal.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who styles himself as a journalist, was hit with 18 charges under the Espionage Act. Gosh, that probably raised the stress level of all the reporters in our fake national news media outlets who’ve spent the last three years trading sports tickets, expensive dinners and sex for classified material, don’t you think? After all, it is one thing for a journalist to “receive” national secrets like several did from Daniel Ellsberg in the famous Pentagon Papers incident, but it is quite another thing to obtain them via bribery or, as in the case of Assange, via hacking illegally into computers. Something to keep in the back of our minds as Attorney General William Barr moves forward with his investigation. More on this later, in fact.

And speaking of our real, actual, functioning Attorney General, the biggest overnight news – news that the New York Times will likely relegate to page 19 of section C – came in the form of a letter to Mr. Barr from President Trump authorizing him to start the process of declassifying documents related to surveillance of the Trump campaign by high officials in the Obama Administration during 2016.

Boom.

“Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

“The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Today’s action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions.” The full text of the memorandum can be found here.

This memo is very interesting for several reasons:

It confers Barr the full authority to conduct the declassification without involvement from Mr. Trump himself. This makes sense since Trump was the ultimate target of the illegal spying, and thus would have an inherent conflict of interest. It is very telling that the President was unwilling to confer such authority on former AG Jeff Sessions, but is now willing to give it to Barr. Giving Barr full authority to manage the process also makes sense given that it is being done in conjunction with the conduct of Barr’s own investigation, which is being led by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham. It allows Barr and Durham the discretion to hold back any documents whose public revelation might harm their own inquiry. Note all the other high officials addressed in the memorandum. Note the presence of the Secretary of …. Energy??? Hey, what is the main function of the Department of Energy? Why, it is providing security for the nation’s nuclear facilities, both in the Defense Department – whose Secretary is also addressed atop the memo – and in the nation’s power generation sector. Hey, remember that time when the Obama Administration – led by then-Sec. State Pantsuit Princess – sold 20% of our nation’s uranium reserves to the Russians, right after the Russians had poured more than $150 million into the Clinton Crime Family’s Fake Foundation? Yeah…guessing the Coughing Crook soiled her newest fashionable table cloth smock when she saw this little item. Oh, yeah, look at who else is on that list – the Secretary of Treasury. Hey, remember that time when President Barack Hussein Obama his own self authorized the loading of $400 million in foreign currency onto a jumbo jet and had it flown over to Tehran to give to the Iranian Mullahs? Yeah, so do I. Oh, and look at the paragraph headed “Section 1. Agency Cooperation.” Look at how it says “The Attorney General is currently conducting a review of intelligence activities relating to the campaigns in the 2016 Presidential election and certain related matters.” What might those “related matters” be? Sure is going to be interesting finding out. [One more interesting note that comes from a friend] It is also “Interesting that it dropped on the Thursday night before Memorial Day weekend, when most of these swamp rats have already checked out for the long weekend, but while most Americans are still paying attention for another 12-18 hours.” Solid point. The timing of this memo is interesting for a number of reasons, one of which is the pending release of the report on abuse of the FISA process coming from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. As I told host Greg Budell in a Tuesday interview on Montgomery, Alabama’s 93.1 FM, some parts of that report most likely won’t make much sense to the public at large unless certain documents are declassified either along with the IG’s report or shortly after its release.

My bet is that the timing of this memo means that we will be seeing that IG report very soon now, probably during the first half of June.

One final point, cycling back to the discussion above about Assange and “journalists” who illegally obtain classified documents: Keep in mind that news item we saw several weeks back indicating that Horowitz has been looking into incidents in which FBI and other DOJ officials had received illegal compensation in exchange for such information.

We have waited a long, long time for this declassification and the final Horowitz report. After several false starts and disappointments, it is well past time for both to be real.

That is all.

Follow me on Twitter at @GDBlackmon

[Dacula]

It is a blog and not from a credentialed news source.

This headline is misleading..

[bagster]

The nattering nabobs of negativism are buzzing deep on this thread.

Like flies on a dead possum.

#StillDontGetIt

[Eccl 10:2]

Bongino did it better than Hannity could even dream of.

Bongino >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hannity

[milagro]

Yup.
THAT line made me cheer out loud last night.
The donkey party’s bombshell charge of “cover-up” has just been thrown back at them, and it will be fun to watch its members trying to keep it from blowing up their own asses!

[JonPreston]

That isn’t the point. Hannity carried the load x 2 years, so why not let him break this story?

[dynoman]

This is the money line; "President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation"

“Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019

....during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019

....Today’s action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions.” @PressSec— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2019

[dynoman]

Well for what it's worth, a pile of bull dung draws way more flies than honey or vinegar!!

[bagster]

It is a blog and not from a credentialed news source.

What, like CNN/MSNBC/CBS/ABC/NBC/FOX/NYTimes/Wapo etc?

Those credentialed news sources?

#NukkaPlease

Blog > Credentialed news source.

Crackhead Bob > Credentialed News Source.

[bagster]

Well for what it's worth, a pile of bull dung draws way more flies than honey or vinegar!!

Your argument is valid.

And the flies like to lay their eggs in dookey, and more flies are born. But first maggots.

#TheCircleOfLife

[1Old Pro]

Why has it taken 2+ years to do this? It should have been ordered day 1.

That's your government hard at work.

[Eccl 10:2]

Hannity probably was on vacation.

Besides, if Hannity was there, his opening monologue would probably STILL be going on.

[humblegunner]

Blog > Credentialed news source.

[Agatsu77]

I will believe it when something ACTUALLY happens. Until then it is just noise.

[ManHunter]

Let’s start a pool. I’ve been told that there are already a number of sealed indictments and more to come.

[COBOL2Java]

Why has it taken 2+ years to do this? It should have been ordered day 1.

If you're too stupid to know the answer to that question, I can't help you.

[a little elbow grease]

If you're too stupid to know the answer to that question, I can't help you.

____________

Well said.

By the way:

To add to the idiocy it was just reported on Newsmax the AP says Trump and Barr are “trying to undermine the findings” of the Mueller Report by declassifying various documents…..... “continuing the coverup”.

The media and the Democrat party are one and the same.......... trying to destroy this country.

[bagster]

Bloggers have more credibility than 'credentialed media'.

Hell, my left nut has more credibility than 'credentialed media'.

#GoGoBloggersAndMyLeftNut

[humblegunner]

Bloggers have more credibility than 'credentialed media'.

Where do you think these awesome bloggers get their material?

Crack investigative teams of reporters?

They see something on the news or online, file off the serial numbers,
add some buzz phrases (FAKE NEWS!) and present it as their own.

Parasites at best, thieves at worst.

Yay bloggers.

[JonPreston]

"...(to declassify information) pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information"

There's enough room in this statement to drive a truck through. We'll see how it goes, but to be skeptical is to be realistic.

[bagster]

Where do you think these awesome bloggers get their material?

Truth is truth.

#MicDrop