Water-Boarding Key For Actionable Intelligence (i.e., Liberal Fail)

(Originally posted Dec 9, 2014 — Media refreshed and a few links updated)

Video cross-posted HERE at NewsBusters. On Sunday, NBC’s Meet the Press hosted former Vice President Dick Cheney to speak on the recent Democratic Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation tactics on suspected terrorists. While Cheney spoke out in defense of the program, moderator Chuck Todd asked his guest “when you say waterboarding is not torture, then why did we prosecute Japanese soldiers in World War II for waterboarding?” (MRCTV Dec 14, 2014)

CHUCK TODD: When you say waterboarding is not torture, then why did we prosecute Japanese soldiers in World War II for waterboarding?

(OVERTALK)

DICK CHENEY: For a lot of stuff. Not for waterboarding. They did an awful lot of other stuff. To draw some kind of moral equivalent between waterboarding, judged by our Justice Department not to be torture, and what the Japanese did with the Bataan Death March and the slaughter of thousands of Americans, with the rape of Nanking and all of the other crimes they committed, that’s an outrage. It’s a really cheap shot, Chuck, to even try to draw a parallel between the Japanese who were prosecuted for war crimes after World War II and what we did with waterboarding three individuals–

TODD: I understand.

CHENEY: –all of whom were guilty and participated in the 9/11 attacks.

TODD: Is there a reason these interrogations didn’t happen on U.S. soil? Was there concern that maybe these folks would get legal protections–

CHENEY: Well–

TODD: –from the United States and that’s why it was done at black sites?

CHENEY: We didn’t read them their Miranda Rights either. These are not American citizens. They are unlawful combatants. They are terrorists. They are people who have committed unlawful acts of war against the American people. And we put them in places where we could proceed with the interrogation program and find out what they knew so we could protect the country against further attacks. And it worked.

(NEWSBUSTERS)

To be clear, many think we did the same as the Japanese did regarding “water ‘torture'”, we did not. The Javanese method often killed their victims, as intended. (Via MDOLLA & READING SHOUTS):

This is the only non-medieval, European torture on our list. The water torture was a favorite among Japanese POW guards during WWII. The victim was first bound with barbed wire and his mouth stuffed with rags. Next, the guards would snake a tube down the victim’s nasal passage and bloat his belly with water. Once that was finished, the guards would kick and beat the poor sap’s midsection until his stomach lining burst and and death ensued.

(The following was originally posted in May of 2011 — edited slightly since)

In a Facebook conversation someone said the following:

Rumsfeld said point blank that they did not get this info from enhanced interrogation but through regular interrogation. I had a Newsmax link which I knew you’d like better but it did not want to post for some reason. I’ll try again.

The whole debate between the efficacious nature of enhanced interrogation is back in the news, thanks to the wonderful killing of Osama bin Laden. As the ATLANTIC JOURNAL notes well the politically charged topic this brings to the debate between Left and Right:

The shot-up corpse of Osama bin Laden was barely wet at the bottom of the sea when conservative heavyweights began praising Bush-era “enhanced interrogation” tactics as a big reason why U.S. soldiers were able to know in which multistory house in which million-dollar compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the al Qaeda leader was holed up. With a spectacularly successful “end” to the bin Laden story, the we-told-you-so crowd evidently now wants to go back and re-litigate the legitimacy of the “means” by which they claim it all came about.

And, in the absence of any other juicy political conflict surrounding the news of bin Laden’s death, serious journalists were only too happy to oblige the counterfact festival choreographed (typically without attribution, of course) mainly by the nation’s various spies and spooks. One earnest reporter after another, from the right and the left and in between, dutifully stoked the suddenly “reignited” fires of debate over the effectiveness of torture as a means of gathering material information from terror detainees.

On Monday into Tuesday, as a running sidebar to the main story about how the bin Laden assault took place, there were a slew of news articles arguing the back-and-forth of the torture meme as if the two sides to the argument came to this august moment in American history on equal footing in fact or law. For example, NBC’s mighty Michael Isikoff tried to finesse the matter by describing the torture of terror law prisoners as “aggressive interrogations” or “sometimes controversial interrogations.” And then he wrote:

The behind-the-scenes story of how bin Laden was finally located is yet to be fully told, but emerging details seem likely to reignite the debate over whether “enhanced interrogation” techniques and other aggressive methods that have been widely criticized by human rights groups provided useful – or timely — intelligence about al-Qaida. While some current and former U.S. officials credited those interrogations Monday with producing the big break in the case, others countered that they failed to produce what turned out to be the most crucial piece of intelligence of all: the identity and whereabouts of the most important figure in bin Laden courier’s network.

One of the “behind-the-scenes” nuggets apparently involves Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, who was said by some unidentified analysts to have given up the nicknames of some of bin Laden’s couriers only after being subjected to waterboarding. One of those couriers, we now know, was brilliantly tracked by American operatives to the Abbottabad hideout and thus to bin Laden himself. But here’s what the Associated Press had to say about that:

Mohammed did not reveal the names while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, former officials said. He identified them many months later under standard interrogation, they said, leaving it once again up for debate as to whether the harsh technique was a valuable tool or an unnecessarily violent tactic.

Just exactly why the merits of waterboarding as an honorable tool of U.S. policy are “once again up for debate” based upon the Mohammed example was left unwritten by the AP.

(READ MORE)

Just to keep this quick… if one wants to stop reading here — Rumsfeld is a very specific dude… so when you ask his a specific question, he answers in a specific way. So if you ask him about “enhanced interrogations AT GITMO, he is going to respond to THAT question. And he did. But here is my overly long but in-depth post that Conservative Warriors can use in bits and pieces.

Marc Thiessen

  • FLASHBACK: Mark Thiessen Waterboarding (C-SPAN 2010)

  • FLASHBACK: Marc Thiessen Confronts CNN’s Waterboarding Propaganda (Jan 2010)

Firstly, a shout out to the many years from multiple administrations and the intelligence community and our boys in uniform.

Now down to business. I have gotten a couple of people pointing out some discrepancies in my previous post, Without Bush Implementing Water-Boarding and Guantanamo Interrogations, Osama Would Still Be Alive. What is actually happening – I believe – is a misconception of times and places on the part of the liberals entering into this discussion. It is important to know as well that “first reports” are always a bit confused.

As you read the following you will see that the Daily Kos, Huffington Post, and other liberal sites ran with responses to questions that don’t fit the outcome to the conclusions made. What the questions were that were originally posed to Rumsfeld seem to be a bit out of context, as we will see.

To wit I have been given multiple articles to read, some from liberal sources, others from conservative source… sources rejected except in this singular instance – speaking here of the NEWSMAX article. In it NewsMax starts out with this:

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells Newsmax the information that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden was obtained through “normal interrogation approaches” and says the notion that terrorist suspects were waterboarded at Guantanamo Bay is a “myth.”

Lets bullet point this for clarity sake:

1) information that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden was obtained through “normal interrogation approaches

2) the notion that terrorist suspects were waterboarded at Guantanamo Bay is a “myth.”

Nothing I wrote or conservatives posted disagree with this notion, and it is beyond me why DailyKos, the Huffington post, and other sites take Rummies words and misconstrue them. A great post dealing with this issue is found over at SayAnythingBlog.com:

Liberals have been touting these comments from Donald Rumsfeld in which the former Bush administration Secretary of Defense says that the intelligence used to find Osama bin Laden wasn’t obtained through waterboarding because waterboarding didn’t happen at Guantanamo Bay:

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells Newsmax the information that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden was obtained through “normal interrogation approaches” and says the notion that terrorist suspects were waterboarded at Guantanamo Bay is a “myth.”

Rumsfeld also claims that elements of Pakistani intelligence could have been complicit in hiding the terrorist mastermind, asserts that his killing exonerates George W. Bush’s approach to fighting terrorism, and warns that terrorists will likely try to avenge bin Laden’s death with new attacks against America or its allies.

“Another wingnut myth bites the dust,” writes Bob Cesca, but I’m not sure this really disproves anything.

First, we know that Khalid Sheik Mohammed was interrogated not at Guantanamo Bay but at CIA detention centers in eastern Europe. We also know that KSM was subjected to so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” which is pretty much political speak for waterboarding.

Also, as Stephen Hayes notes on Twitter, the question isn’t whether or not KSM gave up the intelligence during a waterboarding session but whether or not the waterboarding we all know KSM went through made him compliant with his interrogators, something that lead to him giving up the intelligence at a later date.

Say Anything Blog goes on to point out that Congressman King still stands by the position that this beginning info came from those waterboarding moments. (See my combined RUMBLE video below)

(1st Video) Earlier today word surfaced from a senior intelligence official that critical information that ultimately led to the attack on Osama bin Laden’s compound came from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Others, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, hinted that some interrogation techniques at Gitmo may have contributed to the successful capture of bin Laden. During tonight’s O’Reilly Factor, guest Rep. Peter King (R-NY) claimed to host Bill O’Reilly that the information that led to bin Laden’s death came as a result of waterboarding. (May 2nd, 2011)

(2nd Video) House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY) spoke with Bill Hemmer this morning, saying that contrary to Donald Rumsfeld’s statement on Monday, waterboarding was indeed involved in obtaining the intel leading operatives to Osama bin Laden’s courier. (May 3rd, 2011)

However, even if we accept the liberal spin, Say Anything goes on to point out the following:

But really, this is all a moot point. Even it we stipulate that waterboarding, or “enhanced interrogation techniques,” had nothing at all do to with KSM giving up key details which lead to bin Laden’s capture the intelligence was still gathered at facilities (Guantanamo Bay and the CIA prisons in Europe) Obama wanted shut down.

No matter how this is spun, the reality of how the intelligence which brought down bin Laden was gathered is a black eye for President Obama and the liberals who spent years campaigning against the very policies which made that intelligence gathering possible.

Excellent points! Also, many sources in the prevailing articles coming out hourly is another indicator of the factual points of the varying sides of this argument. For instance, over at the Denver Post (was at the Charlotte Observer):

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, detainees in the CIA’s secret prison network told interrogators about an important courier with the nom de guerre Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti who was close to bin Laden. After the CIA captured al-Qaida’s No. 3 leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he confirmed knowing al-Kuwaiti but denied he had anything to do with al-Qaida.

Then in 2004, top al-Qaida operative Hassan Ghul was captured in Iraq. Ghul told the CIA that al-Kuwaiti was a courier, someone crucial to the terrorist organization. In particular, Ghul said, the courier was close to Faraj al-Libi, who replaced Mohammed as al-Qaida’s operational commander. It was a key break in the hunt for in bin Laden’s personal courier.

“Hassan Ghul was the linchpin,” a U.S. official said.

Finally, in May 2005, al-Libi was captured. Under CIA interrogation, al-Libi admitted that when he was promoted to succeed Mohammed, he received the word through a courier. But he made up a name for the courier and denied knowing al-Kuwaiti, a denial that was so adamant and unbelievable that the CIA took it as confirmation that he and Mohammed were protecting the courier. It only reinforced the idea that al-Kuwaiti was very important to al-Qaida.

If they could find the man known as al-Kuwaiti, they’d find bin Laden.

The revelation that intelligence gleaned from the CIA’s so-called black sites helped kill bin Laden was seen as vindication for many intelligence officials who have been repeatedly investigated and criticized for their involvement in a program that involved the harshest interrogation methods in U.S. history.

“We got beat up for it, but those efforts led to this great day,” said Marty Martin, a retired CIA officer who for years led the hunt for bin Laden.

Mohammed did not discuss al-Kuwaiti while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, former officials said. He acknowledged knowing him many months later under standard interrogation, they said, leaving it once again up for debate as to whether the harsh technique was a valuable tool or an unnecessarily violent tactic.

(READ MORE)

Take note that the source that mentions that we did get the info via enhanced interrogations was sourced by name. Again:

The revelation that intelligence gleaned from the CIA’s so-called black sites helped kill bin Laden was seen as vindication for many intelligence officials who have been repeatedly investigated and criticized for their involvement in a program that involved the harshest interrogation methods in U.S. history.

“We got beat up for it, but those efforts led to this great day,” said Marty Martin, a retired CIA officer who for years led the hunt for bin Laden.

The sources apparently saying different are simply referred to as former officials, But note that the article says this, “Mohammed did not discuss al-Kuwaiti while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, former officials said. He acknowledged knowing him many months later under standard interrogation.” In two separate posts on my FaceBook I pointed out the misunderstanding some seem to have:

The name of the courier did not come from KSM under enhanced interrogation. KSM cracked and agreed to share what he knew BECAUSE of enhanced interrogation. I don’t know how I can be clearer? …. ‎(I read the Newsmax article.) KSM, after many short intervals of water-boarding combined with sleep deprivation, caved in. And over many months/years of “tea and crumpets” he divulged names, places, tactics, and the like. This info led to many plots being foiled [like the planned attack on the Library Tower in L.A.]. The codename for the courier was one of the items given up during these talks AFTER they water-boarded him, which could have been months after or years after this initial event. Clear?

For those who have the time, I highly recommend Larry Elders dealing with this topic yesterday. I combine highlighted moments from his radio broadcast where he makes many similar point:

GATEWAY PUNDIT likewise deals with his topic in a way that refutes the many positions stated by my liberal friends:

Obama’s CIA chief admitted today that intelligence gleaned from enhanced interrogating techniques helped lead to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. (MY RUMBLE):

Intelligence garnered from waterboarded detainees was used to track down al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and kill him, CIA Chief Leon Panetta told NBC News on Tuesday.

“Enhanced interrogation techniques” were used to extract information that led to the mission’s success, Panetta said during an interview with anchor Brian Williams. Those techniques included waterboarding, he acknowledged.

Panetta, who in a 2009 CIA confirmation hearing declared “waterboarding is torture and it’s wrong,” said Tuesday that debate about its use will continue.

“Whether we would have gotten the same information through other approaches I think is always gonna be an open question,” Panetta said.

Additionally, GATEWAY PUNDIT has video of Rumsfeld saying the same:

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld:

“CIA Director Panetta indicated that one of the individuals who provided important information had in fact been waterboarded… There was some confusion today on some programs, even one on FOX I think, suggesting that I indicated that no one who was waterboarded at Guantanamo provided any information on this. It’s not true. No one was waterboarded at Guantanamo by the US military. In fact no one was waterboarded at Guantanamo period. Three people were waterboarded by the CIA away from Guantanamo and then later were brought to Guantanamo. And, in fact, as you pointed out the information from these individuals was critically important.”

Once againAce of Spades put together the timeline that started back in 2003 during the Bush years that led to Osama’s death on Sunday.

The Obama Administration is lying. They don’t want to give Bush credit for leading them to Osama’s compound. And, they don’t want to admit they were wrong about waterboarding.

Once Again, my Democrats and Liberal friends are wrong as well as major liberal sites such as the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post are wrong. Too bad, sooo sad. I wish to point out that many of the truther leftist out there seem to running into a wall of competing emotions and logical conclusions within their models. (Here I suggest my C-O-N-Debunker page for the truther.) For instance, one friend on FaceBook posted this in regards to Rossie O’Donnel:

The killing of Bin Laden must pose a dilemma for leftist truthers like Rosie O’Donnell, who think 9/11 was an inside job by the Bush administration. As a loyal liberal, she wants to praise Obama, but for what — killing the wrong guy?

Another person chimed in:

It’s worse than that Mike, if you include the rare bird known as the truther-birther. That guy not only believes the wrong guy was killed, but that the wrong guy ordered the killing. And now add the newly-minted, “deather,” who doesn’t believe OBL was really killed. Thus, you can in theory have someone who believes that the wrong guy issued an order to kill a guy that didn’t die for a crime he did not commit.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first try to deceive, which are what the conspiratorialists — of which I use to be one many years ago — are doing to themselves. But it sure is fun to watch.


(Another post dated May 2014)

I posted this on my FaceBook:

This capture and killing of Osama would not have been possible without Bush being in office. We water-boarded a handful of people, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being one. He is the guy who gave up the codename for the courier that led to this “justice being served.” …. Confirmation came through other interrogations at Guantanamo Bay — something Dems wanted to close as well.

Firstly, we know that Democrats/liberals are against water-boarding, except if it were done to Bush’s daughters. You think I am kidding? Stepephen King, novelist and outspoken Democrat, said this:

Someone in the Bush family should actually be waterboarded so they could report on it to George. I said, I didn’t think he would do it, but I suggested Jenna be waterboarded and then she could talk about whether or not she thought it was torture.

I agree with Stephen King, if Jenna Bush had detailed information about a plot that was already under-way to destroy the Library Tower in L.A., by all means, waterboard her. But don’t ask if it is torture after… one should, rather, ask her if she is allergic to peas. Because that’s one staple she will be getting with her meals a few times a week in her lifelong prison cell.

You see, Democrats have what Thomas Sowell calls first tier thinking, they never make it to the second tier. They simply act upon how something makes them feel: “this makes me feel uneasy, therefore, I will act against what engenders my feeling.” They do not make it to the second tier, which asks “how does this affect society and other people besides me.” Many do not understand even how they make decisions. Dr. Sowell isn’t worried as much about Johnny not being able to read, rather, he is worried about how Johnny makes decisions: “The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.” This applies to Democratic decision making. It is this thinking that muddled the proper historical application of torture and the Geneva Convention (see: WWII, Nazi’s, Torture, & Rights (4 Imported Articles — Very Important Read To Formulate Proper Views of History and Responses to Revisionist History). One of my favorite lines from the linked post is comparing key information gotten from Nazi’s captured during WWII is this:

If anyone believes that SIS persuaded each of these 19 hard-bitten Nazi spies to fall in with Operation Fortitude by merely offering them tea, biscuits, and lectures in democracy, they’re being profoundly naïve.

One of the problems with Democratic thinking is in regards to “moral equivalency.” I point this out in a post about water-boarding and how the Democratic leadership views our military:

A Little Historical Angst

The Obama administration is backtracking on its statement that some may be open to legal prosecution for their involvement in the “torturing” three members of Al Qaeda. The problem of the Democrats is moral equivalency. While they say Republican see thing in black-and-white, and they see things in shades of grey (with thanks to Dennis Prager), they in fact see all torture techniques — putting a guy in a small cell with bugs — as morally wrong. They do not see gradations of “torture” like they do not see gradations between cultures and social-issues (moral equivalency of marriage, for instance).

See for instance Democrats calling our military Nazi’s and Terrorists:

John Kerry calls American troops terrorists
Durbin Compares U.S. Troops to Nazi’s, Soviets, & Pol Pot
Murtha calls Marines Murderers (of course these Marines were all acquitted because they were under fire from these places they fired on. I have to include a response by a Marine to Murtha, and a story on Murtha being sued for slander.)

I can here recommend a book by Michelle Malkin entitled,  “Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild“; and another book by an ex-dem entitled,  “Leaving the Left: Moments in the News That Made Me Ashamed to Be a Liberal.”


“His sufferings must be that of a man who is drowning, but cannot drown.” ~ Lt. Grover Flint


Later in this same post Peter Hoekstra points out that, “Perhaps we need an investigation not of the enhanced interrogation program, but of what the Obama administration may be doing to endanger the security our nation has enjoyed because of interrogations and other antiterrorism measures implemented since Sept. 12, 2001. “Thankfully we had a President that knew at what cost information comes and was willing to implement the program that stopped sooo many deaths! This can be exemplified in Marc Thiessen debating Democrats on the issue…

[seen near the top]

Waterboarding Success Stories: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Library Tower: (This excerpt is from a site that has lost this page, but the gist is found at NATIONAL REVIEW and FREE REPUBLIC)

The waterboarding of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is often cited as one of the major waterboarding “success stories”. ABC News reporter Brian Ross credited waterboarding for the crucial information used to avert the destruction of Library Tower.

ROSS: That has happened in some cases where the material that’s been given has not been accurate, has been essentially to stop the torture. In the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the information was very valuable, particularly names and addresses of people who were involved with al Qaeda in this country and in Europe. And in one particular plot, which would involve an airline attack on the tallest building in Los Angeles, known as the Library Tower.

The US Bank Tower plot was revealed to the public by President Bush on February 9, 2006 in a speech to the National Guard Association:

In the weeks after September the 11th, while Americans were still recovering from an unprecedented strike on our homeland, al Qaeda was already busy planning its next attack. We now know that in October 2001, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad — the mastermind of the September the 11th attacks — had already set in motion a plan to have terrorist operatives hijack an airplane using shoe bombs to breach the cockpit door, and fly the plane into the tallest building on the West Coast. We believe the intended target was Liberty [sic] Tower in Los Angeles, California.

Rather than use Arab hijackers as he had on September the 11th, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad sought out young men from Southeast Asia — whom he believed would not arouse as much suspicion. To help carry out this plan, he tapped a terrorist named Hambali [Riduan Isamuddin], one of the leaders of an al Qaeda affiliated group in Southeast Asia called “J-I” [Jemaah Islamiyah]. JI terrorists were responsible for a series of deadly attacks in Southeast Asia, and members of the group had trained with al Qaeda. Hambali recruited several key operatives who had been training in Afghanistan. Once the operatives were recruited, they met with Osama bin Laden, and then began preparations for the West Coast attack.

Their plot was derailed in early 2002 when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al Qaeda operative. Subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations made clear the intended target, and how al Qaeda hoped to execute it. This critical intelligence helped other allies capture the ringleaders and other known operatives who had been recruited for this plot. The West Coast plot had been thwarted.

Which aspects of this plot could Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s waterboarding have revealed?

  • We learned about Al Qaeda’s interest in flying planes into buildings on September 11, 2001.
  • We knew about Al Qaeda’s use of shoe bombs from Richard Reid, captured in December 22, 2001.
  • We knew about Jemaah Islamiyah at least since the Bali Bomb attack on October 12, 2002.
  • The “key al Qaeda operative” and pilot for the plot, Zaini Zakari, was arrested by Malaysian authorities in December 2002.

“His sufferings must be that of a

man who is drowning, but cannot drown.”

Lt. Grover Flint

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 1, 2003after the plot was discovered, after the plot was “derailed”, after the pilot of the plane was captured. Khaled Sheikh Mohammed could not have “provided valuable information and saved lives” when all aspects of the plot were well-known and the attack had been foiled prior to his capture. Coercive interrogation is extremely effective at obtaining confessions. Evidence obtained from coercive interrogation is highly dubious and must be corroborated with reliable sources. The claims of interrogators who coerce their prisoners should be treated with as much skepticism as the claims of the prisoners themselves.

You can add the death of a terror mastermind (Osama) to the above list of positives!

Dan Bongino Asks “What Was The CIA Doing?” (Must Listen)

In this episode [Dan Bongino] address the disturbing role of the CIA in the plot to spy on Donald Trump. I also address the latest moves on the Canadian truckers.

TECHNO FOG’S The unstated scandal: The CIA collected info on President Trump: The DNC’s direct line to the CIAvia his The Reactionary

EXCERPT:

On Friday, Special Counsel John Durham filed a motion relating to a defense firm’s potential conflict of interest in the Michael Sussmann case. The conflict itself is certainly intriguing, with Sussmann’s lawyers at Latham & Watkins LLP (Latham) having represented potential witnesses in the case, including Perkins Coie, former Perkins Coie (and Clinton Campaign general counsel) Marc Elias, the Hillary Clinton Campaign, and Hillary for America.

The issue that made more noise, however, was Durham’s disclosure that Rodney Joffe – a contractor with deep ties to the Clintons, and what appears to be a deep hatred for Trump – had exploited Executive Office of the President of the United States data he obtained from a “sensitive arrangement” with the U.S. Government to damage President Trump. Here is our initial post on the topic…….

TECHNO’S newest posting as well: It’s official: Durham is investigating the Clinton Campaign: Enter the Clinton Campaign Lawyers

EXCERPT:

….The Involvement of the Hillary Clinton Campaign

After all, we know that the Hillary Clinton Campaign paid for the Steele dossiers and the work by Fusion GPS. This was arranged through their attorneys (and the DNC attorneys) at Perkins Coie – notably Mark Elias and Michael Sussmann. Elias left the firm this summer. Sussmann was indicted in September 2021 by Special Counsel Durham for giving false statements to the FBI as he was pushing them to investigate the Alfa Bank/Trump hoax.

It is highly likely that the Clinton Campaign was receiving updates on the Fusion GPS/Christopher Steele work once they were hired by Perkins Coie in the spring of 2016. This is work the client – the Clinton Campaign – paid for. (The sharing of this info would be consistent with the Clinton Campaign – notably Jake Sullivan – receiving backchannel updates on the Alfa Bank hoax.)

If the Clinton Campaign was being informed of the work by Fusion GPS, what of the likelihood that the Clinton Campaign was informing the work of Fusion GPS? It was Clintons’ idea to link Trump and Russia in the first place. To develop that theory, associates of the Clinton Campaign (Sidney Blumenthal) were working to corroborate parts of the dossier.

With that in mind, I offer you this bit of information provided by the New York Times in September (emphasis added) suggesting the complicity of the Clinton Campaign:

Some of the questions that Mr. Durham’s team has been asking in recent months — including of witnesses it subpoenaed before a grand jury, according to people familiar with some of the sessions — suggest he has been pursuing a theory that the Clinton campaign used Perkins Coie to submit dubious information to the F.B.I. about Russia and Mr. Trump in an effort to gin up investigative activity to hurt his 2016 campaign. (Emphasis added.)

The Latest Developments….

 

CIA Recruitment Video (Armstrong and Getty – #WokeCIA)

Wow. One of the funniest parts is the “box checking” exercise this person engaged in just before saying she is not about “box checking.” Another point I heard from many is that there was no discussion of patriotism, or love of country or mission. Sick. WTF is the CIA doing? Self-imploding like everything else the Marxist Left touches (read here “Brennan”). ACE of SPADES has a good post. TWITCHY is always fun as well. DAILY CALLER’S piece is good.

Even Glenn Greenwald Gets Censored (Armstrong and Getty)

Armstrong and Getty cover Glenn Greenwald resigning from the “free speech” news outlet he founded. The article mentioned them of Glenn’s is this one: “Article on Joe and Hunter Biden Censored By The Intercept”. [As an aside, I added MUCH MORE of the Tucker interview.]:

In Glenn’s article, this stood out (SUBSTACK):

….The U.S. media often laments that people have lost faith in its pronouncements, that they are increasingly viewed as untrustworthy and that many people view Fake News sites are more reliable than established news outlets. They are good at complaining about this, but very bad at asking whether any of their own conduct is responsible for it.

A media outlet that renounces its core function — pursuing answers to relevant questions about powerful people — is one that deserves to lose the public’s faith and confidence. And that is exactly what the U.S. media, with some exceptions, attempted to do with this story: they took the lead not in investigating these documents but in concocting excuses for why they should be ignored.

As my colleague Lee Fang put it on Sunday: “The partisan double standards in the media are mind boggling this year, and much of the supposedly left independent media is just as cowardly and conformist as the mainstream corporate media. Everyone is reading the room and acting out of fear.” Discussing his story from Sunday, Taibbi summed up the most important point this way: “The whole point is that the press loses its way when it cares more about who benefits from information than whether it’s true.”

For more by Glenn see here:  as well as his TWITTER

Whistleblower Had Help From Schiff Staff (Former CIA Analyst Says)

An op-ed in The New York Post says the Ukraine call whistleblower may have been driven by political motives and possibly even had help from Congress members while writing it. The op-ed’s author, former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz, joined FOX Business to discuss it further. Former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz has extensive knowledge of the whistleblower process. Fleitz says the Ukraine call whistleblower is likely driven by political motives, and his sources indicate he had help from Congress members while writing it. (Hat-Tip CONSERVATIVE TREE HOUSE)

Fred Fleitz (Longtime CIA) Discusses the “Whistleblower”

Mark Levin had Fred Fleitz (WIKI) on his show to discuss the latest issues with the leaker. Insightful discussion.

The story from the beginning has utterly fallen apart BTW:

  • Quid Pro Quo and Cover-Up Allegations Against Trump are Falling Apart (PJ-MEDIA)
  • Mark Levin DEBUNKS insane allegations made by “leftwing kooks” in the media (RIGHT SCOOP)
  • Media Ukraine Conspiracy Theories Shot Down (RPT)
  • Whistelblower Fabrications (RPT)

Denying Spying and Defending It (Mathews vs. Todd)

Circling the wagons around Obama has begun…

Despite mounting evidence that the FBI pursued an array of efforts to gather intelligence from within the Trump campaign — and the fact that the FBI successfully pursued warrants to surveil a former Trump aide in 2016 — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told Fox News that Barr’s loyalties were compromised….

PRO-TIP: If the FOX video plays automatically, there is an off switch in the settings gear to turn it off

I commented on my Facebook about this on my Facebook, and it was in response to Chuck Todd (Chuckles) saying this (h-t, NEWSBUSTERS):

By-the-by… while Chuckles is denying it, Chris Matthews is leading the defense of it:

Here is my response to Chuckles:

  • Let me just say that for Chuck Todd to call what Barr said a conspiracy theory when Mark Levin pieced it all together from leaks reported in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and other mainstream (so called) sources in March of 2017, noting then that this operation had been going on a year — mentioning FISA warrants, spying, and the like…. shows just how out of touch Todd is with evidences he would normally accept (WaPo and NYT) if not for Levin (over 2-years ago) and Barr (today).

Here is the (March 5th 2017) video of Mark Levin using MSM sources:

Chuckles should do some soul searching. The latest news of course is this — via SARA CARTER:

PRO-TIP: If the FOX video plays automatically, there is an off switch in the settings gear to turn it off

Svetlana Lokhova, the Russian historian at the center of Michael Flynn investigation for ‘alledge contacts with Russians’, told Fox News in an exclusive interview with Catherine Herridge, that she is not a Russian spy and that she thought “there’s a high chance that is was coordinated, and believe it needs to be properly investigated.”

Here is Hannity’s show from yesterday… And he spoke of the BAKER TESTIMONY a bit:

Brennan Leaked Top Secret Info That Blew A US Operation

John Brennan Leaked Top Secret Information That Blew A US Operation To Help Friends Make Money — Rand Paul

More from RED STATE:

Paul has written an op-ed at Breitbart (here’s the link) explaining why he thinks Brennan is a unique danger.

Clear evidence concerning the bias of multiple, high-ranking current and former intelligence community officials should make us think twice about letting retired intelligence officials keep access to classified information, especially if they become talking heads on television after leaving public service.

There is a great danger that vital, secret details may be revealed on television, even inadvertently.

John Brennan is no stranger to this problem.

Paul is referring to this incident.

White House efforts to soft-pedal the danger from a new “underwear bomb” plot emanating from Yemen may have inadvertently broken the news they needed most to contain.

[….]

And the operation that had placed a source inside terrorist headquarters in Yemen was shut down.

Disclosure of a highly classified intelligence operation in Yemen last year compromised an exceedingly rare and valuable espionage achievement: an informant who had earned the trust of hardened terrorists, according to U.S. officials.

The operation received new scrutiny this week after the Justice Department disclosed it had obtained telephone records for calls to and from more than 20 lines belonging to The Associated Press and its journalists in April and May 2012 in a high-level investigation of the alleged leak of classified information.

The informant, a British citizen born in Saudi Arabia, had been recruited by British intelligence to operate as a double agent within the group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the most dangerous franchises of the al-Qaida terrorist network.

His access led to the U.S. drone strike that killed a senior al-Qaida leader, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed Quso, on May 6, 2012. U.S. officials say Quso helped direct the terrorist attack that killed 17 sailors aboard the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Cole in a Yemeni harbor in October 2000.

The informant also convinced members of the Yemeni group that he wanted to blow up a U.S. passenger jet on the anniversary of the U.S. attack that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. They outfitted him with the latest version of an underwear bomb designed to pass metal detectors and other airport safeguards, officials say.

The informant left Yemen and delivered the device to his handlers, and it ultimately went to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Va.

Intelligence officials hoped to send him back to Yemen to help track more bomb makers and planners, but the leak made that impossible, and sent al-Qaida scrambling to cover its tracks, officials said.

Now we get to the punchline:

On Wednesday, FBI director Robert Mueller, appearing before the Senate Judiciary committee, promised the bureau would “investigate thoroughly.”

Everyone knew who leaked. And, as punishment, Brennan was made Director of the CIA.

This perfectly illustrates that pulling these clearances and most other clearances of former officials is vital…..

The Left Is Losing It! Use of “Fascist/Fascism” Expands

Wow: Chair Of The House Democratic Caucus Calls ICE A “Fascist” Organization…

Ex-CIA Chief Compares Trump Immigration Policy To Nazi Germany…

FBI Spy Operation On Trump (SPYGATE)

(JUMP)
UPDATES will appear above  [scroll up] Ace of Spades

ALSO, Go To: JUNE UPDATES TO SPYGATE

Keep in mind this whole story is about BIG government and makes Prager’s maxim stand taller:

  • The larger the government, the smaller the individual.

The NEW YORK TIMES offered a major correction to its “official” timeline of when the spy operation started against the Trump Campaign. The NYTs confirms a spy in the Trump campaign, thus, undermining its own attacks on “crazy Trump” and his and other conservative “conspiracy theories” – so called.

  • Crossfire Hurricane | Rush Limbaugh (YOUTUBE)
  • Crossfire Hurricane | Mark Levin (YOUTUBE)

Since Sally Yates, the acting Attorney General who was appointed by Obama, signed the first FISA application using the Steele Dossier as evidence to spy on a campaign of an opposing political Party, you bet Obama would have been aware.

One thing the NYT article did admit, and that is that “…No Evidence Exists of Trump-Russia Collusion” (EPOCH TIMES). And there have been many concerted efforts to whitewash the players in this cabal from the article in the New York Times — proving they are helping soften the blow (MOLLIE HEMINGWAY) — click graphic to enlarge:

What is the bottom line of this issue?

  • The NYTs reveals FBI used a secret type of subpoena to spy on the Trump campaign, as well as human spies inserted into the campaign – BEFORE Carter-Page, before Papadopoulos, BEFORE Flynn (BREITBART). Meaning, this is a concerted effort by a political party to overturn an election. Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, head of Stalin’s secret police, once told Stalin, “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.” – Me

All I will do is give a listing of some articles that are noting the NYT column:

  • Spinning a Crossfire Hurricane: The Times on the FBI’s Trump Investigation (NATIONAL REVIEW, by Andrew C. Mccarthy | May 17, 2018);
  • Crossfire Hurricane: Category Five Political Espionage (AMERICAN SPECTATOR, by George Neumayr | May 18, 2018);
  • National Security Letter (WIKIPEDIA)
  • 10 Key Takeaways From The New York Times’ Error-Ridden Defense Of FBI Spying On Trump Campaign (THE FEDERALIST, Mollie Hemingway | May 17, 2018);
  • NYT Report Confirms Obama Administration’s FBI Spied on Trump Campaign (LEGAL INSURRECTION, by Kemberlee Kaye | May 16, 2018);
  • Just WOW: Kimberley Strassel’s thread on NYT ‘Hurricane Crossfire’ piece incredibly DAMNING for Obama DOJ/FBI (TWITCHY May 17, 2018THREAD READERMay 16, 2018);
  • The Origin of The Feces – Corrupt Intelligence Community Now Leaking To Justify Unlawful Election Surveillance: Operation “Crossfire Hurricane” (CONSERVATIVE TREE HOUSEMay 16, 2018);
  • The Morning Report (ACE OF SPADES5/17/18);
  • Trump: Obama FBI ‘Probably’ Had a Spy Inside Presidential Campaign (FREE BEACON, byPaul Crookston | May 17, 2018);
  • A “Crossfire Hurricane” Of Partisanship (HOWARD KURTZMay 17, 2018);
  • Operation Crossfire Hurricane + I.G. Report Update (SEAN HANNITY | May 16, 2018)
  • Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation (ABOVE TOP SECRETMay, 16 2018).

Here is another evidence of the New York Times carrying water for this deep state:

This example cam from an article entitled, “The Deep State Is Real, And Much Bigger Than You Know” (TOWNHALL).

  • In Politicized Justice, Desperate Times Call for Disparate Measures (NATIONAL REVIEW, Andrew C. Mccarthy | May 19, 2018 )

IMPORTANT!!!

Stefan Halper has been identified and confirmed as the intelligence informant used by President Obama’s CIA and FBI to engage in contact with low level Trump campaign officials during their efforts to conduct a counterintelligence operation against the candidate.  The joint CIA and FBI operation was codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane“.

Rather ironically, five days before the 2016 election intelligence agent provocateur Stefan Halper gave an interview to Sputnik News where he outlined his agenda; in hindsight the aggregate agenda of the Obama administration:

  • “I believe [Hillary] Clinton would be best for US-UK relations and for relations with the European Union. Clinton is well-known, deeply experienced and predictable. US-UK relations will remain steady regardless of the winner although Clinton will be less disruptive over time.”  — Stefan Halper

(CONSERVATIVE TREEHOUSE | May 20, 2018)

  • Perspectives On An “Outing” (POWERLINE, by Paul Mirengoff | MAY 20, 2018)
  • Nunes Approaches The Target (POWERLINE, Scott Johnson | May 20, 2018)
  • Nunes Approaches The Target (2) (POWERLINE, by  Scott Johnson | May 21, 2018)

  • Clintonista Mark Penn: Mueller Probe Exposed — and the ‘Deep State’ Is Flailing (BREITBART | 21 May, 2018)
  • Who Is Stefan Halper? Meet the ‘FBI Informant’ Inside Trump’s 2016 Campaign (BREITBART, by Joshua Caplan | 21 May, 2018)
  • BREAKING: Rosenstein ORDERS probe into Trump spying… (THE RIGHT SCOOP, by Soopermexican | May. 20, 2018)
  • The Media See Only One Collusion Story (NATIONAL REVIEW, by John Fund | May 20, 2018)
  • Trump Gets FBI, Justice Department To Probe Claims Of Spying On His Campaign (WASHINGTON TIMES | May 21, 2018)
  • Devastating 2016 Strzok Text Found: Obama’s WH is Running Trump Investigation (CONSERVATIVE TRIBUNE, by Ben Marquis | May 21, 2018)
  • Why Former Clinton Pollster Mark Penn Opposes the Russia Investigation (NATIONAL REVIEW, by Alexandra Desanctis | May 21, 2018)
  • At Trump’s Urging, Justice Department Expands Investigation of Investigators (NATIONAL REVIEW, by Andrew C. McCarthy | May 21, 2018)
  • As Evidence Piles Up, The Media Ignore The ‘Other’ Trump-Russia Scandal (INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY | May 21, 2018)
  • Spies Like Obama? The Treachery Of “Crossfire Hurricane” Comes Into The Light (FRONTPAGE MAG, by Matthew Vadum | May 21, 2018)
  • NY Times Tries to Minimize Reports on FBI Informant (ACCURACY IN MEDIA, by Carrie Sheffield | May 21, 2018)
  • Pence: Reports of Politicized FBI ‘Very Troubling’ (NEWSMAX, by Jason Devaney| May 21, 2018)
  • Sally Yates: Trump Has Taken His ‘Assault on Rule of Law to a New Level (NEWSMAX, by Brian Freeman | Monday, 21 May 2018)
  • Mueller ‘Has No Right’ To Investigate POTUS (ONE NEWS NOW, by Chad Groening | May 21, 2018)
  • Outing Of FBI Informant Underscores British Spy Service’S Ties To Shadowy Trump Investigations (WASHINGTON TIMES, by Rowan Scarborough | May 21, 2018)
  • House Republicans to call for second special counsel to investigate alleged FISA abuse, Hillary Clinton probe (FOX NEWS, by Samuel Chamberlain | May 21, 2018)
  • Grassley requests DOJ documents on Bruce Ohr dealings with Christopher Steele on anti-Trump dossier (FOX NEWS, by Samuel Chamberlain | May 21, 2018)
  • Does The Justice Department Have To Tell Congress What Mueller Is Doing? (WASHINGTON EXAMINER, by Byron York | May 21, 2018 — also, SOOPERMEXICAN)
  • Diplomat Who Prompted FBI Trump Spying Helped Raise $25M for Clinton Foundation (BREITBART, by Nate Church | 21 May 2018)
  • In Politicized Justice, Desperate Times Call for Disparate Measures (NATIONAL REVIEW, by Andrew C. McCarthy | May 19, 2018)

  • BREAKING: E-mails Show FBI Brass Discussed Dossier Briefing Details With CNN (THE FEDERALIST, by Sean Davis | May 21, 2018)
  • Byron York: When Did Trump-Russia Probe Begin? Investigators Focus On Mystery Months (WASHINGTON EXAMINER, by Byron York | May 21, 2018)

  • The Real Origination Story of the Trump-Russia Investigation (NATIONAL REVIEW, by Andrew McCarthy | May 22, 2018)
  • FACT CHECK: Cnn Claims There Aren’T 13 Democrats On The Mueller Probe (CHECK YOUR FACT, by David Sivak)
  • NYT Columnist Worries Mueller Investigation Actually Helping Trump (DAILY CALLER, by Peter Hasson | May 22, 2018)
  • Manafort’s Lawyers Suggest Key Mueller Deputy Is Leaking To Media (DAILY CALLER, by Richard Pollock | May 22, 2018)
  • About That “Sensitive Matter” (POWERLINE, by Scott Johnson | May 23, 2018)
  • Deep State James Clapper: Embedding Spy Inside Trump Campaign Is “Standard Investigative Practices – Goes On All the Time” (GATEWAY PUNDIT, by Jim Hoft | May 22, 2018)
  • CNN Water Boy Don Lemon Calls BS on Trump’s Spying ‘Conspiracy’ – Then James Clapper Tells Him Spying on Trump “A Good Thing” (GATEWAY PUNDIT, by Jim Hoft | May 23, 2018)
  • Concealed FISA Docs May Hold Key to Trump Surveillance (SARA CARTER | May 22, 2018)
  • Sources: FBI Agents Want Congress To Issue Them Subpoenas So They Can Reveal The Bureau’s Dirt (DAILY CALLER, by Kerry Picket  | May 22, 2018)
  • Mueller Probe Is ‘Just Plain Wrong’ and ‘Has Got to Be Ended’ (POLIZETTE, by Kathryn Blackhurst | 22 May 2018)
  • Of Course, Obama Knew of the Spying on the Trump Campaign (CONSERVATIVE TRIBUNE, by Cillian Zeal | May 26, 2018 )
  • The Dummies Guide To The Russia Collusion Hoax: Who, What, Where, When, & Why (ZERO HEDGE, by Tyler Durden | May 26, 2018)

(Meadows: We Need to Know Who Directed Spy Campaign – BREITBART)

  • Sorry, But Obama White House, Not Dossier, Was Behind Trump Investigation (INEVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY | May 23, 2018)
  • CIA Or CNN? The Media Deep State’S Echo Chamber (FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE, by Daniel Greenfield, May 25, 2018)
  • Did the Obama Administration Spy on Trump Using Flimsy Evidence? (NATIONAL REVIEW, by  David Harsanyi | May 25, 2018)
  • Enough w/Semantics: Let’s See Evidence to Justify Spying (NATIONAL REVIEW, by  Andrew McCarthy | May 26, 2018)
  • Crossfire Hurricane: Is The Code Name A Reference To Christopher Steele? (HOT AIR, by John Sexton | May 26, 2018)
  • It’s Time To Admit The Russia Investigation Was Illegitimate From The Start (THE FEDERALIST, by Margot Cleveland | May 23, 2018)
  • Steve Hilton: “Sufficient Reasons To Think” Intel Services Acted To Thwart Trump’s Election (REAL CLEAR POLITICS, by Ian Schwartz | May 23, 2018)
  • Michael Hayden Calls BS On James Clapper (POWERLINE, by Paul Mirengoff | May 27, 2018)
  • Explicating “Crossfire Hurricane” – One More Thought (POWERLINE, by  Scott Johnson | May 27, 2018)
  • Giuliani says Mueller probe is ILLEGAL and ILLEGITIMATE, Russian indictments are ‘PHONY’ (RIGHT SCOOP, by Soopermexican | May 27, 2018)
  • Rudy Hits Another Home Run: Mueller’s Team is Rigged So Bad Some of His Team Were “at Hillary Clinton’s Funeral!” (GATEWAY PUNDIT, by Joe Hoft, May, 28, 2018)
  • Trump Has More Questions for the ’13 Angry Democrats’ (TOWNHALL, by Cortney O’Brien | May 27, 2018)
  • Law Professor Insists Mueller ‘Has No Clothes’ (LIFE ZETTE, by Brendan Kirby | May 27, 2018)
  • Obama’s spying scandal is starting to look a lot like Watergate (NEW YORK POST, by Michael Barone | May 27, 2018)
  • Trump campaign vet: Informant used me to get to Papadopoulos (WASHINGTON EXAMINER, by Byron York | May 28, 2018)
  • Fox News Contributor Claims Hillary Clinton ‘Gave’ Russians Money During 2016 Campaign (WASHINGTON EXAMINER, by Mandy Mayfield | May 28, 2018)

  • Trey Gowdy’s Defense Of The FBI In “Spygate” (POWERLINE, by Paul Mirengoff | May 30, 2018)
  • Not Giddy Over Gowdy (POWERLINE, by Scott Johnson | May 31, 2018)
  • Yes, the FBI Was Investigating the Trump Campaign When It Spied (NATIONAL REVIEW, by  Andrew McCarthy | May 30, 2018)
  • Trey Gowdy Didn’t Even See Documents He Claims Exonerate FBI On Spygate: Reports (THE FEDERALIST, by Mollie Hemingway | May 30, 2018)
  • And Now, The McCabe Memos (POWERLINE, by Scott Johnson | May 31, 2018)
  • Grassley: Fusion GPS Founder Gave ‘Extremely Misleading’ Testimony About Trump Work (DAILY CALLER, by Chuck Ross | May 29, 2018)
  • 3 Reasons Rod Rosenstein’s Special Counsel Appointment Was Illegal (THE FEDERALIST, by Margot Cleveland | May 31, 2018)
  • Prosecutors Interview Comey As They Consider Whether To Charge Mccabe (LAREDO MORNING TIMES [WaPo], by Matt Zapotosky | May 31, 2018)
  • Rod Rosenstein’S Non-Recusal (POWERLINE, by Paul Mirengoff | May 31, 2018)
  • Boom!! Prosecutors Interview Comey, Close To Charging Andrew Mccabe… (RIGHT SCOOP, by Soopermexican | May 31, 2018)

ACE OF SPADES DUMPS


MUELLER WITCH HUNT, DEEP STATE COUP

5-31-2018

5-28-2018

5-23-2018

5-21-2018

5-18-2018

5-17-2018