The Carter Page/Ukraine Lie That Kept On Lying for Mueller and the FBI

Realclear investigations.com ^ | 12/12/2019 | Paul Sperry

[bitt]

The FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller repeatedly kept alive a damning narrative that investigators knew to be false: namely, that a junior Trump campaign aide as a favor to the Kremlin had “gutted” an anti-Russia and pro-Ukraine plank in the Republican Party platform at the GOP’s 2016 convention.

Federal authorities used this claim to help secure spy warrants on the aide in question, Carter Page, suggesting to the court that he was “an agent of Russia” – even though investigators knew that Page was working for U.S., not Russian, intelligence, and that they had learned from witnesses, emails and other evidence that Page had no role in drafting the Ukraine platform plank.

The revelation is buried deep inside the Justice Department watchdog’s just-released report on FISA surveillance abuses. RealClearInvestigations fleshed out this unreported story with footnotes from the Mueller report and exclusive interviews with Trump campaign officials who worked on the convention platform.

Of all the Trump-Russia rumors, insinuations and falsehoods – from secret payments for shadowy hackers to videotaped prostitutes with active bladders to a clandestine rendezvous with Kremlin figures in Prague – the supposedly pro-Russia Ukraine platform alteration stands out; it seemed to offer early, public, concrete evidence of an actual bending of prospective U.S. policy to suit Moscow. The false narrative is also significant because it was initially pushed not by Democrats, but by associates of Republican Sen. John McCain and other so-called Never Trumpers. As a bipartisan red flag, it helped build momentum around a narrative of Trump treachery with, then as now, Ukraine playing a central role. It also shows how the Russia and Ukraine controversies were linked from the beginning by Trump’s foes.

[Maris Crane]

You forgot MSM.

[gr8eman]

I agree %100 with your analysis. They are acting like if there was no malfeasance in the opening of a counter intel investigation, there was no malfeasance in the continuing of the investigation. Someone should ask Horowitz about that! Yes, he is a deep state turd and the only reason why he acted as he did because he is smart enough to realize that he may go to jail if he didn’t sell out the deep state.

[lepton]

Horowitz may be somewhat straight forward but not being able to find any intent/bias is totally hackish.

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Or it’s not going beyond what he can prove. His bias statement is very qualified: no documents declaring political bias, no testimony admitting to political bias.

He cited boatloads of misbehavior - some of it unequivocally criminal - and referred the entire chain for disciplinary review. He flatly stated he was unable to obtain ANY satisfactory explanation on ANY of the identified issues. What he didn’t do is make determinations between malfeasance and incredible misfeasance.

By being conservative in the parts that are judgement, he makes it difficult to assail his conclusions as biased. This it the opposite of a hack.

[lepton]

They are acting like if there was no malfeasance in the opening of a counter intel investigation, there was no malfeasance in the continuing of the investigation.

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Horowitz made it exceedingly clear that because the bar for opening the investigation was so absurdly and in his view inappropriately low, it was impossible to determine malfeasance for that stage. He makes clear that before the FISA warrant was applied to, there was a criminal alteration of evidence. He also makes clear that by mid-January, the justification of the continuing of the investigation had been completely voided and identified specific malfeasance or misfeasance in further applications and failure to reassess even having probable cause.