Posted on 05/19/2023 6:09:50 AM PDT by george76
Below is my column in the New York Post, which turned out to be the theme for the cover. The Durham Report highlighted two scandals. First, there was a comprehensive effort of the political and media establishments to perpetrate one of the great hoaxes in history — a political hit job that ultimately derailed an American presidency. Second, there was no real accountability for that effort for the main players from Clinton to Comey to Congress. It was much like The Murder on the Orient Express. The question is not “whodunit” but who didn’t. Spoiler alert: they all did it so no one was punished.
Here is the column:
In Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” detective Hercule Poirot observes, “The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.”
That may be the best summary of the findings of special prosecutor John Durham in his 305-page report issued yesterday.
Not only did the impossible happen, but they all did it: the Clinton campaign, the FBI, and the media.
In hindsight, it would appear impossible.
A political campaign hatches a plot to create a false claim of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Making this even more implausible is that the CIA and FBI knew about the plan.
As detailed in the report, President Barack Obama and his national security team were briefed on how “a trusted foreign source” revealed “a Clinton campaign plan to vilify Trump by tying him to Vladimir Putin so as to divert attention from her own concerns relating to her use of a private email server.”
It then happened a few days later.
It was a plot that required everyone to take a hand in derailing a duly elected president and effectively shutting down his administration for three years of investigation and prosecutions.
In this conspiracy, there were dozens of key participants in the campaign, the government, and the media. Here are a few of the characters implicated in this report.
The campaign..
The report details how the Russian collusion conspiracy was invented by Clinton operatives and put into the now-infamous Steele dossier, funded by the Clinton campaign.
The funding was hidden as legal expenses by then-Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias. (The Clinton campaign was later sanctioned by the FEC over its hiding of the funding.)
When Vogel tried to report the story, he said Elias “pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”
It was not just reporters who asked the Clinton campaign about its role in the Steele dossier. John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, was questioned by Congress and denied categorically any contractual agreement with Fusion GPS. Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said nothing to correct the misleading information given to Congress.
Durham details how Elias played an active role in tracking the media campaign to push the false allegations. (Elias was recently severed by the Democratic National Committee from further representation and has been previously sanctioned in the federal courts in other litigation.)
The report details how false claims like the existence of a “pee tape” showing Trump engaging in disgusting acts with prostitutes in Moscow came from a Clinton operative, Chuck Dolan, with no known basis in fact.
Likewise, now-national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Clinton personally pushed an absurd campaign-created conspiracy theory about a secret communication line between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin through a Russian bank.
The Clinton campaign later admitted that it had indeed funded the dossier, but Clinton continued to claim that the election was stolen from her by the Russians.
The government..
Of course, this conspiracy could not occur without the assistance of the FBI, which Durham found played an eager role due to a “predisposition” of key players against Trump.
Special counsel John Durham completed a four-year review of the FBI’s investigation of allegations Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia
Durham found the FBI’s probe was “seriously flawed” and had no basis in evidence, according to a 306-page report released Monday.
The special prosecutor found that FBI officials “discounted or willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia.”
Durham also found investigators put too much faith in information provided by Trump’s political opponents and carried out surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page without genuinely believing there was probable cause to do so.
Despite the scathing findings, Durham did not recommend criminal prosecutions or widespread FBI reforms, writing that “the answer is not the creation of new rules but a renewed fidelity to the old.”
Durham’s investigation lasted more than four years, longer than the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe itself.
The dossier was discredited early by American intelligence, which learned that it might itself be Russian disinformation.
There never was support for the allegations, but the FBI launched and maintained a massive investigation anyway.
Durham noted that the FBI showed a completely different approach to allegations involving the Clinton campaign.
The Trump investigation was a “noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign.”
Nevertheless, former FBI Director James Comey would continue to reference the entirely unsupported “pee tape” in interviews.
Even though investigators found no support for the campaign-created story, in a 2018 interview, Comey delighted viewers by saying: “Honestly, I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but I don’t know whether the current president of the United States was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013.”The FBI was assisted in this effort by members of Congress on the House Intelligence Committee.
Even when the false narrative was played out and the lack of support was becoming obvious, former House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) assured the public, on March 13, 2018, that “I can certainly say with confidence that there is significant evidence of collusion between the campaign and Russia.”
He never produced the promised evidence.
The media
The most essential player in this conspiracy was the media, which pumped up the dossier as gospel. On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow assured her viewers that “no major thing from the dossier has been conclusively disproven.”
On CNN, one of the guests insisted, “I think we actually have to stop calling it the ‘infamous dossier’ and increasingly calling it ‘accurate dossier,’ the ‘damning dossier.’”
CNN host Alisyn Camerota attacked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and said the dossier “hasn’t been discredited, in fact, it has been opposite, it has been corroborated.”
Durham has laid out how the most cited claims were not supported, let alone corroborated.
Indeed, he found there was no basis for this investigation to have been launched in the first place.
Yet, like in “Murder on the Orient Express,” all of the culprits were then let go.
Comey went on to make millions selling books and giving speeches on “ethical leadership.”
Former FBI special agent Peter Strzok was given a job by CNN.
Clinton general counsel Marc Elias is advising people on election ethics and running a group to “defend democracy.”
After all, this was a collective effort. In Washington, the more people involved in a conspiracy, the less culpable it becomes.
They all did it, so no one did.
As always, Jonathan’s spot on analysis makes me sick to my stomach. Durham’s report has proven, without a shadow of a doubt, this corrupt group can pull off scandal after scandal, with an “in your face” attitude, knowing that, even if they get caught, absolutely nothing will happen.
Remember the smirk on Strozk’s face when he testified before Congress? Well, now we know where it came from . . .
Convert the planned space for new FBI HQ into new prison space. Pass law that de jure capacity limits therein will match the de facto capacity limits their side deem acceptable for Biden’s illegal processing centers. Ideally run them like Sheriff Joe’s ‘jail’ in AZ back in the day. An invoke the 14 to ban all of them from any future government work. Above for the rank and file who knowingly went along with taking out Trump. Treat the leaders like we treated those who took out .Lincoln!
Just curious. Does anyone believe this to be true, but also believes that the election wasn’t stolen?
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To extend that further... Does anyone believe the election was stolen but doesn’t also believe that the J6 narrative was a complete fraud?
Think enema to clear the obamanites, a hugely Trumpian enema. Flush DC of the corrupt and anti democratic infection.
He’s correct, I stand between you and them.
Stealing elections doesn't have to be done at the ballot box. It can be done by many means. The government corrupting agencies ad businesses and lying to the media and the American People is a method of stealing an election.
Americans are not hungry enough for a revolution. A well-fed population does not revolt.
As for needing a "bloodless Revolution"...... dream on.
Rudi has said this is a RICO case.
Not asked but implied by Turley’s great article is this... How does one break the police state nature of the alliance of DemRatMarxists, Enemedia and the Deep State IC? The testimony of the whistleblowers yesterday if nothing else, demonstrate just how tight the throat hold really is.
The #1 priority for the system is preservation of the system.
The swamp does not want to be drained.
Chief Justice John Roberts holds the power to fix this. In my understanding, he is obligated by the Patriot Act to fix it and he has not demonstrated such an inclination. From an institutional position, Durham does not have that power, so he had little choice to do more than he has.
> When Vogel tried to report the story, he said Elias “pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”
“Vogel” is (apparently) Kenneth P. Vogel, a NYT reporter.
.
I remember reading somewhere that approx. 3% of the population took up arms to fight the Revolution. At least 3%, probably a lot more, believe the govt. is corrupt. 3% of 300 million (not counting the 30-40 million illegals)is approx. 9 million. Half of that number, armed and dedicated, would probably be enough for another Revolution. What happens during the Revolution (Russia, China, etc.)would be a whole different problem. Even if the country could survive all of that, you still have to form a new govt. I fear we may be too late.
I fear we may be too late.
We don’t have the minds or wills to form one today.
I believe you’re right...we are already too late.
True enough, and there were probably many who didn’t think he would succeed.
the corrupt LEFTIST media props up this corruption
cut them off at the knees
cut the cable tv
I hope you and I are both wrong on that. I suspect we will know in the next 5-10 yrs.
+++++++++++
These two losers and also bitme, comy, brennan, etc. needed to be hounded until they leave this mortal coil. They have taken part in a coup and nothing will be done.
Problem solving can be started with a CCP nuke with DC in the crosshairs. Just hope my son is out of there when it happens. One can dream.
a.k.a. the "conspiracy theory" of the deep state being real. It clearly is, and now it's can't be dismissed as a conspiracy theory, it's out in the open for all to see and they do not care and they will not be punished.
What makes you think Trump or anyone else that they don't pick will ever be allowed to win a national election from this point forward? They don't care if we know it, they will just ban it from discussion on all media (print, over the air, and internet) as they've already shown they can do and then arrest anyone who causes trouble, as they've shown they will do OR support lawsuits from various parties to break the backs financially of their opponents.
Welcome to post-republic America, out of the shadows and in your face!
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