The Ohr-Steele Breakfast Struck A Nerve

The report that retired MI-6 dirt-dogger Steele had briefed senior FBI veteran Ohr about the infamous Steel dossier at a July 30 meeting has struck a nerve.

The NY Times has a river of leaks from the Ohr/FBI/Clinton/Comey side explaining their long time relationship. Since both were involved with probing the Russian mob, large parts of the story ring true.

However! Folks with a long memory (or for those to whom it seems like a long time) this theme of 'controversial leaks followed by exculpatory leaks' is a replay of the May 16, 2018 Times story about the genesis of "Crossfire Hurricane". Back then, when the controversy was whether the Steele dossier had fueled the Carter Page FISA warrant, we were assured that "Crossfire Hurricane" had been launched on July 31 in response to the news that George Papadopoulos had been tipped about Russian possession of emails. We can feel the drama in the lead:

WASHINGTON — Within hours of opening an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia in the summer of 2016, the F.B.I. dispatched a pair of agents to London on a mission so secretive that all but a handful of officials were kept in the dark.

Their assignment, which has not been previously reported, was to meet the Australian ambassador, who had evidence that one of Donald J. Trump’s advisers knew in advance about Russian election meddling. After tense deliberations between Washington and Canberra, top Australian officials broke with diplomatic protocol and allowed the ambassador, Alexander Downer, to sit for an F.B.I. interview to describe his meeting with the campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos.

The agents summarized their highly unusual interview and sent word to Washington on Aug. 2, 2016, two days after the investigation was opened. Their report helped provide the foundation for a case that, a year ago Thursday, became the special counsel investigation. But at the time, a small group of F.B.I. officials knew it by its code name: Crossfire Hurricane.

Deep in the story the dossier appears:

The F.B.I. bureaucracy did agents no favors. In July, a retired British spy named Christopher Steele approached a friend in the F.B.I. overseas and provided reports linking Trump campaign officials to Russia. But the documents meandered around the F.B.I. organizational chart, former officials said. Only in mid-September, congressional investigators say, did the records reach the Crossfire Hurricane team.

Mr. Steele was gathering information about Mr. Trump as a private investigator for Fusion GPS, a firm paid by Democrats. But he was also considered highly credible, having helped agents unravel complicated cases.

Hmm. So now we know that the "friend in the F.B.I. overseas" was Ohr, and that Crossfire Hurricane was launched the day after the dossier was presented. Kind of buried the lede there.

To be fair, there is no way the FBI responded exclusively to the dossier by formally opening an investigation one day later. But asking me to believe it took Ohr several weeks to tip off his colleagues? Please.

I'll settle for believing the FBI already had concerns and the dossier added to them.

Comments

[Clarice Feldman]

I, too, thought The Outstation was masterful. Spare writing for a compelling tale of character and destiny.

Like Frau, I hope the Church gets strengthened--the last time it wasn't we had WWII--It's a major force when operating as it should to preserve western Civilization against totalitarianism.

Maryrose and I might disagree how that is to happen, but I do not doubt her sincerity one whit.

[Dave (in MA)]

Frederick always reminds me about Queen, that they are the only rock group to have an Astrophysicist playing guitar.

Yeah, but is he doing anything to keep us safe, like the guitarist for Steely Dan and the Doobies?

[Captain Hate]

Is the funeral porn over?

Not until after Mega McCannz nestles her fat ass into the ergonomically designed chair on The View and revs up the harpies one more time .

[rich]

ha ... Harper tied it up with a 2 run homer!

[Dave (in MA)]

People called Romanes, they go, the house.

[henry]

Funeral porn cannot end until McCains's replacement is named. If that idiot governor names Cindy or Megan, funeral porn is on a permanent loop.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

Kev - I think we are talking about 2 different things. My point was that God appointed Christ as the Head of the Church. That the HS would be part of any ceremony to appoint a Pope as the Head of the Church and then choose Pope Francis just supports that.

[Dave (in MA)]

Maybe he could appoint Miss Lindsey. He could be Senator from two states at once, with no discernible difference from when McCain was still serving.

[Jane]

No more funeral porn! Please!

[daddy]

This is what Trump was tweeting about: Trump slams Sessions on Twitter, says AG is hurting GOP in midterms

(Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department,” Trump tweeted. “Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff.....”)

The president apparently was referring to the current investigations into GOP Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York. Fox News has reached out to the White House for additional clarification, and the Justice Department did not immediately respond.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

narciso - Your 4:10 post makes a very good point.

[Extraneus]

So is DJT's tweet more kabuki theater?

It was pretty depressing.

[Kevlar Kid]

"Speculation and gossip is not truth.
I object to the disrespectful name of Pope Che only. Nothing else. “Your Pettiness” per KK
Back to scrolling by your posts."

Broadbrushing opinions of others is maryrose's perogative. obviously. it is also her right to SOB. obviously.

but all of that is neither here nor there.

"Pettiness" is a relevant assignment to maryrose's Joe Friday parody of "nuthin but the facts, ma'am"; because Pope Francis has a track record of enabling ideological priorities of ordained priests with rank that are wholly inconsistent with the Gospel.

the FACT of this matter is that Pope Francis has enabled the ongoing effects of wayward ideology (his own and those of others) to place the Roman Catholic Church on the precipice of destruction as a moral compass in the world. PERIOD.

a thinking individual doesn't need court certified evidence to understand when their interests are being threatened by an iconified human being WHO HAS A TRACK record that's out of square with the teachings of the Gospel. PERIOD.

i rest my case. :D

[Captain Hate]

Caro talked about funerals with no complaints.

Nike is doubling down on Kaepernick. Just STFU.

[Extraneus]

So Beasts, after seeing that table of state funeral rules, how is it possible that McCain got one? Someone would have had to ask Trump's permission and receive it. Has anyone claimed that that happened?

Here's the link again:

https://history.army.mil/books/Last_Salute/AppA.htm#AppA1965

And btw, the funeral porn isn't over until Ducey appoints the replacement, and maybe not even then if he chooses poorly.

[Kevlar Kid]

"That the HS would be part of any ceremony to appoint a Pope as the Head of the Church and then choose Pope Francis just supports that."

There is dogma. And there is practice. Those are the "two different things."

[rich]

Posted by: lyle | September 03, 2018 at 04:04 PM

please make it stop!

[Beasts of England]

Ever wondered how many beers you'd drink in a year if you owned a bar and they were 'on the house'? I have a data point... lol

[narciso]

We have gotten to the point, that we are told to love the sin, and not merely those concerning sexual matters.

[rich]

bases loaded ... bottom of the ninth, 2 outs.

[henry]

Beasts, I have a small brewery in my kitchen. A second data point. ;)

[Bunky is now Savotage!!!]

Holy cow, maybe Moonraker should never be shown again

[rich]

Posted by: Beasts of England | September 03, 2018 at 04:33 PM

hahaha ... i'd be in bankruptcy court soon thereafter.

[rich]

damn it, free baseball.

[daddy]

As long as we're bashing Pope Che'...

Pope Francis Rewrites Catholicism ... and the Bible

Last week, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had changed the Catholic catechism. After 2,000 years of teaching that a moral use of capital punishment for murder is consistent with Catholic teaching, the pope announced that the catechism, the church fathers and St. Thomas Aquinas, among the other great Catholic theologians, were all wrong.

And God and the Bible? They're wrong, too.

Pope Francis, the product of Latin American liberation theology -- along with many other Catholic religious and lay leaders -- is remaking Catholicism in the image of leftism...

[Beasts of England]

I agree with you, Extraneus - there's no obvious provision for something of that magnitude in those matrices. And some branches or agencies had to pick up a hefty tab for that indulgence.

[Kevlar Kid]

i guess Nike can endure shrinkage of their US customer base.

[narciso]

'Victory' and kaepernick seem opposite

[Beasts of England]

I think you shared a photo of it many years ago, henry! Do you want to normalize your data into 20oz. drafts? :)

[rich]

>>>Nike is doubling down on Kaepernick. Just STFU.

Posted by: Captain Hate | September 03, 2018 at 04:29 PM<<<

a shorting opportunity ...

[Tom R]

So is DJT's tweet more kabuki theater?

You better hope it is otherwise Trump would be displaying the same exact kind of corruption that we criticized the DOJ under Obama for. If there is evidence these two GOP Congressmen committed a crime, not prosecuting the crime and letting them off the hook just because there is a GOP President and Congress means the DOJ is still politicized like it was under Obama.

What I think Trump is doing is making sure the entire country is aware that the DOJ under Sessions is impartial and adheres to the Constitutional rule of law, even if that GOP politicians get indicted too.

IMO this is just setting the stage for what comes after.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

Anybody watching the US Open? Wish I could watch Federer vs Nadal tonight but have a dinner invitation tonight. Was glad to see Djokovic won his match this afternoon.

[Captain Hate]

hahaha ... i'd be in bankruptcy court soon thereafter.

Probably not. Well run bars are like ATMs; keep a clientele happy and you can profit even with the bartenders and barmaids stealing you blind.

[rich]

Posted by: narciso | September 03, 2018 at 04:40 PM

his case against the nfl is going to proceed ...

[narciso]

No he's pointing out the rogue behavior of the prosecutors like they did with Stevens and mcdonnell.

[henry]

Gottawax some floors first Beasts, then I'll worry about 20oz normalization.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

How much wine can one consume per day and not be an alcoholic? Asking for a friend...

[Kevlar Kid]

Discussing matters of faith while bound to the conduct, contradictions, and conundra of the Church of Men is like discussing validity of one's trusted health practices while under the influence of a tumor.

[James D.]

the DOJ under Sessions is impartial and adheres to the Constitutional rule of law, even if that GOP politicians get indicted too.

Too?

Name a Dem politician, or staffer, or FBI/DoJ employee, or even private citizen, who’s been indicted under Sessions.

From where I sit, it looks like only GOP folks and associates of the President are being investigate, while crimes and misdeeds of Dems are being ignored completely.

[Kevlar Kid]

henry!

thanks for the deets on hardwood floor care. i truly appreciate it.

we were absolutely gleeful last nite. but upon walking through the newly floored room this morning, both Mrs Kid and i looked at each other and said at the same time: "HTF are we gonna keep this floor this nice!"

then i remembered you shared the holy socks technique. we have a large green garbage bag of such sucks that we've never found the gumption to dispose of or "donate" (who'd want em?!)

so many thanks to you, my WI-based brotha! :D

Kev

[Extraneus]

If there is evidence these two GOP Congressmen committed a crime, not prosecuting the crime and letting them off the hook just because there is a GOP President and Congress means the DOJ is still politicized like it was under Obama.

And if the evidence is weak, that also means the DOJ is still politicized like it was under Obama.

Ted Stevens couldn't be reached for comment.

[narciso]

It's because the teachings precede any group of men, those who offer smooth talk as warmed against in 2 Timothy, in another context e pleb nista.

[Tom R]

while crimes and misdeeds of Dems are being ignored completely.

James D,

What do you think my last sentence was referring to?

[cathyf]

Wow, I just realized I have a typepad login -- I wonder if I have an avatar?

[Captain Hate]

IMO this is just setting the stage for what comes after.

Is there a date by which if nothing comes before, you'll admit you were conned?

[Beasts of England]

lol, henry!!

~ ~ ~

No more than two bottles per day, TLG... :)

[lyle]

Listen to Beasts, TLG! 😎

[Kevlar Kid]

Is Kippersnack still sporting a 'fro?

[rich]

ha nats win! fly out rbi for Harper scores Taylor!

[henry]

Kev, as Friends say, the inner light shines at odd moments. You might want to check whether the finish on your floors is wax or other. My floors precede modern material science, they are stained wood. No polymer finish. Thus wax is essential. Newer floors? Polyurethane for the most part. Care may be different. As they say, read the instructions.

[Captain Hate]

Up to the point that the state gives you a yellow license plate, TLG.

[Tom R]

Beasts,

Did you see this quote from Brian Daboll a few months back?

"All of them can drop back seven steps and hit a house with the ball. Some of them can hit the door. A few can even hit the doorknob. Tua can hit the keyhole"

If Tua stays healthy to beat Bama this year will require the opposing team to score 40+ points.

[Extraneus]

I couldn't find anything besides lefty media outlets, but there seems to be evidence against Duncan Hunter.

http://fortune.com/2018/08/22/california-congressman-duncan-hunter-indictment-campaign-funds/

[caro]

I don’t understand what made this funerapalooza a “state” funeral.

From FoxNews in 2006...
The Capitol has a more expansive policy for laying in state. Congressman Henry Clay, in 1852, was the first to lay in the Capitol Rotunda. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover laid in the Capitol in 1972. Police officers killed in 1998 while protecting the Capitol also lay in state there.

I would have said “lying in state”.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/12/27/death-president-traditions-and-rituals-state-funerals.html

[daddy]

Great News for you Boston guys---The Boston Globe has concluded an in depth study and determined that Liz Warren was hired by Harvard strictly on her merits, not at all because she claimed she was a minority---a female American Indian: Ethnicity not a factor in Elizabeth Warren’s rise in law

Not until she had been teaching at Penn for two years did she authorize the university to change her personnel designation from white to Native American, the records show...

Somebody is speaking with a forked tongue.

[narciso]

So they said of Stevens, the key elements were clearly exaggerated, but there was the matter of the star witness.

[Pinandpuller]

GUS

If you think about it, victims of Hurricane Katrina are dying every day.

[rich]

Posted by: daddy | September 03, 2018 at 05:01 PM

cleaning up loose ends for a 2020 run?

[rich]

but mostly it is an attempt to deny the obvious ...

[Pinandpuller]

No deranged leftist is going to tackle Meghan while she's raking the decomposed granite.

[Beasts of England]

He's a special talent, Tom R. And I think he's grounded, too - haven't heard anything messy about him from T-Town.

[Miss Marple (the real one)]

I don't know what to think about Sessions, and I freely admit it.

I don't think he's a mole. That doesn't seem to be in his character.

So, either he is incompetent at managing the DOJ, is being undercut by uniparty attorneys, or there is a plan I don't understand.

I have no idea which, cannot assemble enough evidence to support one version with another, and just hope that Trump is cagey enough to figure out what's going on and act accordingly.

[Pinandpuller]

Kev

The only thing they told me at Ft Washakie is don't squeeze the Shaman.

[Kevlar Kid]

So how is Kap's deal with Nike Slave Labor, Inc. any different than this issue from last year?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-kaepernick-ravens-lewis-20170906-story.html

[maryrose]

FYI:
JIB has the most up to date and correct information wrt canon law and the Catholic Church teachings.
KK - not so much.

[joan]

"So is DJT's tweet more kabuki theater?"

"You better hope it is otherwise Trump would be displaying the same exact kind of corruption that we criticized the DOJ under Obama for. If there is evidence these two GOP Congressmen committed a crime, not prosecuting the crime and letting them off the hook just because there is a GOP President and Congress means the DOJ is still politicized like it was under Obama."

I didn't take President Trump's tweet as indicative of corruption. (If it wasn't kabuki.) I took it as a reasonable and heartfelt complaint that purported crimes that had been under investigation during the prior administration had all of a sudden been politically and publicly charged and hit the news media.

[Tom R]

Ext @ 5:00

The grand jury for the Hunter indictment apparently convened in September 2016 however the indictment was signed by a Trump appointee named Adam Braverman.

[Pinandpuller]

caro

Clinton's life hack: do all your lying when you're alive. Line your casket with Astroturf.

[maryrose]

Daddy:
Elizabeth Warren knows that fake Indian claim is dead weight in her quest for higher office.
She wants it declared null and void pronto.

[Extraneus]

Hunter indictment signed by:

Adam L. Braverman

US Attorney (appointed by Sessions Nov. 16, 2017, and previously clerked for Reggie B. Walton, US District Judge in DC )

Emily W. Allen
W. Mark Conover
Phillip L.B. Halpern

Asst. US Attorneys

Here's the indictment:

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/402944-read-the-indictment-against-gop-rep-duncan-hunter

[narciso]

The middle course seems likely, I'm sure he would like to purge more but this minefield they set up involving papadopoulos. And a whole host of others.

[narciso]

He replaced another nominee who was more Mags but the date of the grand jury is instructive

[Texas Liberty Gal]

Thx everybody. I just sent my hubby to Total Wine!!! 🍷😃🍷

[joan]

On the typepad avatar and login -- did you guys who have the avatar sign up and pay the monthly fee?
And, excuse my ignorance, I must have missed the discussion on this.

[GUS]

Pin, someday even Davy Pigg will die. He'll get a STATE FUNERAL. We don't know which STATE yet.
Half an hour ago, I saw a car with VIETNAM WAR SURVIVOR bumper sticker on it. The woman driving wasn't 30 years old yet.

As for Maryrose. She can scroll on by anyone she chooses. MANY MANY of us have recognized her SANCTIMONY over the last couple years. Passive aggressive. Her SUCKING UP on a daily basis in order to keep her NICE IMAGE is see thru.

Kev can be prickly, but he is a FINE MAN of extremely high intellect and moral standards.
He is a practicing Catholic, and he is certainly a dear friend of mine.

Let's treat each other fairly. No cliques. Kev deserves better.

Btw, Maryrose already dislikes me, she can SOB all she likes, and I'm sure she does.

[Kevlar Kid]

it's the real stuff, henry. :D

estate sale lot. we took half. another couple took the other half.

[Extraneus]

Maybe that's my confusion, Caro. I thought lying in state and state funeral were the same thing. I wonder who picked up the tab.

[Tom R]

He's a special talent, Tom R. And I think he's grounded, too - haven't heard anything messy about him from T-Town.

I bet you a $1 that as he gets more popular the leftists will start hating on him like they did with Tim Tebow.

https://twitter.com/tuaamann_/status/1036109402598723589?s=12

[It's a Beeyootifull Day!]

Man! So let's review.

Illegitimate Trump has been in office for 18 months and this is what's occurred with his "best" people, and his loyal supporters (please feel free to add, there are so many that it's easy to forget):

Flynn - Guilty
Papadapolous - Guilty
Gates - Guilty
Cohen - Guilty
Collins - Indicted
Ross - Under Investigation
Hunter - Indicted
Nunes -very, very likely under investigation
Rohabacher - under investigation
Manafort - Guilty

Trump - Unindicted co-conspirator

(And there could be a sealed indictment against him already)

What a great day.

[Captain Hate]

On the typepad avatar and login -- did you guys who have the avatar sign up and pay the monthly fee?

I wouldn't pay typhus a dime.

[henry]

Kev, the real deal? Awesome. I use Johnson paste wax (and not just because they are based in Racine). Check estate sales for floor buffers, you can get new pads online. Hand buffing works, but power tools are more fun!

[rich]

>>>I wonder who picked up the tab.

Posted by: Extraneus | September 03, 2018 at 05:15 PM<<<

we did.

[jimmyk]

Anybody watching the US Open?

I've been watching it on and off. I went opening night, which was fun but the heat and humidity were oppressive. Now it's come back. I wouldn't mind if some of the new young players knocked off the old guard like Serena, Rafa, etc.

[Beasts of England]

No doubt, Tom R. He reminds me of Tebow a good bit; so much that I kept looking for a jump pass last Saturday... lol

[Extraneus]

did you guys who have the avatar sign up and pay the monthly fee?

No, just get the login. The link should be right above the comment box.

[Extraneus]

we did.

What department, and who approved it? Mattis?

[Extraneus]

I'm pretty sure the monthly fee is if you want to have your own blog.

[joan]

CH, I wondered what you meant about Nike and Kaepernick, so just checked and saw the ad.

I know it's probably immature of me to expect large corporations to be impartial (and realize there are tens of millions of us who just want to buy a pair of shoes or tights and not make a political statement or brandish our diversity), but I was sort of surprised by this ad. My stomach felt hollow for a moment. I just wish large corporations would just shut the f*ck up and let us simple folk enjoy our simple lives and not be dragged into some millionaire athlete's twisted sense of anger and self-righteousnous -- brought on because he couldn't cut it in the NFL.

https://abc7news.com/sports/colin-kaepernick-featured-in-new-just-do-it-campaign/4136930/

[Miss Marple (the real one)]

https://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/09/03/nolte-how-vulgar-media-political-elite-ruined-two-funerals/

[daddy]

About time: 'Proud to be American': SECOND man on the Moon Buzz Aldrin shames Neil Armstrong biopic for not showing planting of US flag with his own patriotic pics after movie portrayed him as 'obnoxious loudmouth'

But why do we have to go to some Brit paper to read about American Buzz Aldrin pissed at the mis-portrayal of American Neil Armstrong landing on the Moon in an American Spacecraft and planting an American Flag. Shouldn't an American paper be first with that story?

[daddy]

Well I guess somebody better be doing some Labor this Labor Day and I'm just the guy to do it. Off to work. Later, slackers:)

[GUS]

Joan, I agree 100%. I currently have a nice pair of NIKE running shoes, I also have Reebok and New Balance.
I will not buy NIKE again. Simple as that. Kaepernick is a RACIST. Those who continue to buy NIKE may do so, they may support a company who is paying a racist. It's BIZARRO WORLD.

[Old Lurker]

MM "I don't think he's a mole. That doesn't seem to be in his character."

His character would preclude the term "mole" for its negative connotation and duplicity.

But he might just really believe that the state institutions are good and proper and best for the country and that the problems are isolated and manageable.

Then he will see himself as doing God's work.

Seriously.

[Captain Hate]

joan, Nike is up in the Pacific Northwest with the rest of the nutjobs. Now that my basketball playing days are over, I won't buy a damn thing from them.

[Old Lurker]

Daddy, Chuck Yeager expressed his disgust as well.

[rich]

>>>What department, and who approved it? Mattis?

Posted by: Extraneus | September 03, 2018 at 05:22 PM<<<

Department of Defense and the Naval Academy a possibility would be the Arizona National Guard ...

i'd look to Office of Casualty, Mortuary Affairs and Military Funeral Honors as a point of departure and then bootstrap that to the honors provided for a sitting senator and someone who married into a lot of money ... the 3d U.S. Infantry would have been involved in the military honors side and Capitol Police on the Senate side.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

jimmyk - I envy your being able to attend it one night. I'd like to see some of the newer players win too but have had a hard time being impressed by anyone. Especially when you compare them to the newer crop of golfers like Spieth & Thomas. Younger tennis players just don't compare.

[Clarice Feldman]

I think DJT's complaint is abut the timing and he may have a point

[jimmyk]

I still remember fondly when a 70-something Aldrin punched some loudmouth punk (who was claiming that the moon landing was all a lie) in the face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UryIstlIGks

[Extraneus]

Your basketball playing days are over? Have you reported that here, and why?