First, let me set the stage for new readers. No-one is more cynical of DC operations and manipulations than me. I do not sell nor promote ‘hope porn’, and I am not confident that anything is close to being revealed. Indeed, given the scale and scope of what took place in the last eight years, yes eight years; I have expressed doubts that anyone in government would ever actually expose it.
That said, in addition to my own cynicism I have been deep in this “spygate” or “Russiagate” rabbit hole; factually and physically inside the DC network; long enough to see the map of an investigative trail bringing up the rear.
During one great conversation a lawyer said to me: “All of this you know; all of this you have evidence for; but we don’t have the badges”. Thus began my 2020 effort, ultimately a successful effort, to drag the badges into the hole. That’s the background for an update with new information:
A very important article was written yesterday in the New Yorker [SEE HERE]. While the topic of the article spotlights the ridiculous conspiracy theory surrounding Alfa bank, and the insufferable nonsense about Trump Tower servers having contact -electronic touch signals- with servers from the Russian banking organization, there are aspects to the story that show where the Durham probe has been forced to travel.
Within the article –which everyone should read– some names are very important. The article is framed around defending the New Yorker’s previous reporting on the Alfa Bank conspiracy theory, so the intent of the article is defensive. However, the events being described in the article, and more importantly the people being outlined in the article, are accurate. Especially Daniel Jones and his lawyer William Taylor; and the connection of both to Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson.
According to the article there are two parallel efforts underway to untangle the background of how the false Alfa Bank story was originated. One effort is a set of civil lawsuits by the owners of Alfa bank against those who created the fraudulent story that flowed through Fusion GPS, into Chris Steele’s dossier, into the FBI, and ultimately into the Buzzfeed reporting therein. The owners of the bank are taking all of these entities into court and demanding discovery of sources who framed/created the false impression.
The second outlined effort is a set of subpoenas for some of the same names to appear before a grand jury being run by the John Durham probe. The witnesses are lawyered-up and attempting to avoid the grand jury subpoenas.
Part of the New Yorker story is constructed around wondering if the Alfa Bank team is working with the Durham team. That is a false narrative created for political deflection only. However, the article outlines factual evidence of the Durham grand jury; and by knowing what issues are being explored we can see -in advance- where this trail is going.
Good News Pause: John Durham has a grand jury impaneled and is issuing subpoenas.
Instead of me going through the Alfa Bank story, let me just take you though a process of where the Alfa Bank story ends up. That’s where Durham/Aldenberg will ultimately be; and for transparency I have spoken with William Aldenberg about their destination.
Note in the New Yorker piece the subjects of the subpoenas and lawsuits are worried about being forced to identify the anonymous sources known as “Max” and “Tea Leaves”.
Additionally the group describes their worry about identifying how the electronic signals between the servers were originally discovered.
Let me say up front that is where this story connects to the scandal of intelligence community “contractor” access to the NSA database.
The SIGINT or signals intelligence, used to frame the false Alfa Bank story, appears to have come from entities with access to the NSA database who were doing work to assist the overall Trump-Russia narrative construction. Those unlawfully obtained findings were manipulated and unlawfully extracted; then passed along to computer scientists who had the role to provide technical support for the media to use in selling a false story.
If this sounds to you like the subject matter expertise and skill of Crowdstrike and Fusion-GPS you would not be missing the target.
[…] The Alfa Bank case has also become an object of interest for federal agents working for John Durham, the prosecutor appointed by Barr. Durham’s agents have summoned some of the same computer scientists to testify before a grand jury, and are asking for the same material that Alfa Bank is seeking. (They’ve asked Jones, the investigator, to testify as well.) Some agents told scientists that they were exploring a potential criminal charge—presumably against Max and Tea Leaves—for giving false information to the government. A number of those called to testify are seeking to quash the subpoenas, and it’s not apparent that anyone has testified so far.
There is no clear evidence that the Justice Department and Alfa Bank are working together, but some people involved in the case noted a striking alignment of purpose. “There’s a heck of a lot of mutual interest,” William Taylor, an attorney for [Dan] Jones, told me. (more)
Notice here that William Taylor in 2020 is representing Dan Jones. And Dan Jones is outlined as the central player in the Alfa Bank story construction; as pushed to media.
William Taylor was/is also the lawyer for Fusion-GPS, as noted in a 2017 Politico article: “Fusion lawyers William Taylor and Josh Levy wrote as they renewed their request for a temporary restraining order from U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan.”
Now, let me explain what this is all about…. and where this is going.
When President Trump won the November 2016 election all of those participants involved in the use of government offices and agencies for corrupt political intent had a real problem. Immediately, a lot of strategic planning took place by a lot of desperate people.
One of the key needs of the corrupt intelligence apparatus was to find a way to stop the incoming administration from exposing their effort; that’s where the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) comes in.
Senator Dianne Feinstein was vice-chair of the SSCI in 2016. Feinstein’s chief of staff was Dan Jones. The post-election plan to protect the intel community would involve using the SSCI institution to cover for prior Obama-era operations.
Senator Feinstein was not a good fit for that role, so Feinstein abdicated her position in advance of the next congress.
In January 2017 Senator Mark Warner took over as SSCI vice-chair and Dan Jones left the SSCI to continue the operation as a freelance operative. Warner was put into place to carry out the strategic objectives needed to protect the DOJ, NSD, CIA, FBI and ODNI operations against Donald Trump who was now the incoming president-elect.
Keep in mind with control of the SSCI the group inside the legislative branch could control who ran what intelligence agency because they held the power of confirmation; and they could control who would rise to be inspector general within the intelligence community, a position needed if a whistle-blower was to surface.
Additionally, the SSCI would control intelligence information and assist the Weissmann/Mueller special counsel after appointment. The SSCI could work as a sword and a shield as needed. Which is exactly what happened.
That background, the motive of the SSCI, explains every point of conflict and corruption we have seen from the SSCI toward the White House in the past four years.
Meanwhile Dan Jones went freelance and was given $50 million to fund an investigative outfit called the “Penn Quarter Group” and create a new organization called the Democracy Integrity Project.
“Jones told federal investigators that he had raised $50 million from “7 to 10 wealthy donors located primarily in New York and California.” (link)
Jones used both groups to continue selling and pushing the Trump-Russia narrative. Also it was important for those at risk to find an alternate route to keep financing their defense without using Clinton’s legal team within Perkins Coie.
Essentially, in 2017 Dan Jones, through his Penn Quarter Group, took over funding for Fusion-GPS and Glenn Simpson and kept paying Christopher Steele. The payments to these entities and Steele always looked more like a pay-off to keep their mouths shut. Jones was essentially the bag-man for continued Trump-Russia operations outside government.
Jones’s second job was to keep pushing the Trump-Russia narrative in the media:
(RCP Investigations) 2019 […] The operation’s nerve center is a Washington-based nonprofit called The Democracy Integrity Project, or TDIP. Among other activities, it pumps out daily “research” briefings to prominent Washington journalists, as well as congressional staffers, to keep the Russia “collusion” narrative alive.
TDIP is led by Daniel J. Jones, a former FBI investigator, Clinton administration volunteer and top staffer to California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. It employs the key opposition-research figures behind the salacious and unverified dossier: Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson and ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. Its financial backers include the actor/director Rob Reiner and billionaire activist George Soros.
The project’s work has been largely shrouded in mystery. But a months-long examination by RealClearInvestigations, drawn from documents and more than a dozen interviews, found that the organization is running an elaborate media-influence operation that includes driving and shaping daily coverage of the Russia collusion theory, as well as pushing stories about Trump in the national media that attempt to tie the president or his associates to the Kremlin. (Keep Reading)
While Senator Mark Warner -now a gang of eight member- took control over the SSCI, and by extension the aggregate intelligence apparatus controlled by legislative oversight, Dan Jones worked outside government on the same objectives. Warner was controlling efforts inside the legislative branch that impeded and undermined the executive; and Dan Jones was controlling efforts outside government to weaponize media and attack the executive.
We see the synergy between Senator Warner and Dan Jones in the text messages with their mutual ally Adam Waldman (Chris Steele’s lawyer/handler). Senator Warner was texting with Adam Waldman about setting up a meeting with Chris Steele. Waldman is a lobbyist/lawyer with a $40,000 monthly retainer to represent the U.S. interests of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska; Waldman was also Chris Steele’s lawyer/handler.
Senator Mark Warner was trying to set up a covert meeting. In the text messages Adam Waldman is telling Senator Warner that Chris Steele will not meet with him without a written letter (request) from the Senate Intelligence Committee. Steele was always the wild-card and needed to be kept under tight controls.
Senator Warner didn’t want the Republican members to know about the meeting. Chris Steele knew this was a partisan political set-up; knew his own risk exposure from the 2016 operation; and was refusing to meet unilaterally with Senator Warner. Steele’s lawyer Adam Waldman, a close vacationing friend with Warner, was playing the go-between:
This is why I have said since 2018 that Chris Steele needs to be granted immunity in exchange for his testimony. Steele is the fulcrum of the 2016/2017 operation; and it was reported earlier that Steele met with Durham investigators.
It seems obvious that Fusion-GPS used Nellie Ohr to send information to Chris Steele who them assembled the oppo-research into his dossier. Steele then acts as a laundry for the Fusion intel and transmits it to the FBI for use. The FBI use the Steele dossier to get the FISA useful for surveillance against the Trump campaign and administration. All of that is transparently obvious now.
Dan Jones being subpoenaed by John Durham is a big deal. Durham might be following the Alfa-bank breadcrumbs, but we already know where that leads…. into the exploitation of the NSA database, and then ultimately into the Senate Intel Committee.
Not defending the delay of the Durham probe to be public with its findings; but if they are willing to go all the way to the SSCI that could explain the reason for delay.
You might be wondering how we can know all of these connections and yet it is taking Durham’s team a long time to get through this rabbit hole. Here’s a few things I can tell you from my personal experience and interaction with them:
(1) many of you have been in this rabbit hole with me longer than Durham’s team has; (2) these investigators take a long time to connect dots because they have to keep asking for permission, we don’t; (3) this is the biggest political scandal in U.S. history; and (4) the badges only recently (July) became aware of the SSCI scope.
