Q 2431
Patriots have NO skin color
Under pressure from Trump spy chief, Schiff moves to release Russia investigation transcripts
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is moving to release dozens of witness transcripts from the panel’s Russia investigation after the nation's spy chief said he would release them to end a two-year delay. Schiff, who took over the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence following the 2018 midterm elections, pinned the blame on acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and his office for the lengthy standoff.
“After more than a year of unnecessary delay, the ODNI has finally concluded its protracted classification review of the Committee’s transcripts, and it also appears the White House has now abandoned its improper insistence on reviewing key transcripts, which the Committee appropriately rejected,” a Schiff spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday. “This process had already taken far too long, most notably because the ODNI improperly held up the declassification review and release of several transcripts at the request of the White House.” A letter sent by Grenell to Schiff on Tuesday, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner, said that “the ODNI-supervised interagency review of 43 (of the original 53) transcripts was completed in June 2019” and that, “as of today, the interagency review of the remaining transcripts has been completed as well.” Grenell told Schiff that, “pursuant to your guidance, these transcripts have not been shared with the White House.”
Forty-three of the 53 transcripts went through the declassification process and were returned to Schiff over half a year ago, but he had not released them despite promising last fall to make them public quickly. A sticking point with the remaining 10 transcripts had been the desire by the ODNI to allow the White House to review them as part of the declassification process, which Schiff rejected. The ODNI relented, providing the declassified versions of the remaining 10 transcripts this week. Schiff accused the White House of “hijacking” the process during an interview with Politico in September. The outlet reported at the time that “Schiff still intends to release the bulk of the Russia transcripts in the near future." Nearly a year later, he had not done so. “All of the transcripts, with required redactions can be released to the public without any concerns of disclosing classified material,” Grenell’s letter said. “In the interests of transparency and accountability, I urge you to honor your previous public statements, and your Committee’s unanimous vote on this matter, to release all 53 cleared transcripts to all Members of Congress and the American public as soon as possible.” The acting spy chief added: “I am also willing to release the transcripts directly from the ODNI, as to ensure we comply with the unanimous and bipartisan vote to release the transcripts.” The declassification process by the ODNI was expected to take just a few weeks or months. Nearly two years later, GOP lawmakers and Trump administration officials blamed Schiff for the delay.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/under-pressure-from-trump-spy-chief-schiff-moves-to-release-russia-investigation-transcripts
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1258078298124554241?s=20
Comey friend: FBI Director Wray 'should be careful' about criticizing 'prior leadership'
A "good friend" of former FBI Director James Comey said the bureau's current chief "should be careful" about criticizing its old leadership. Benjamin Wittes, who is the editor-in-chief of Lawfare, reacted late Tuesday to an FBI statement defending Director Christopher Wray as he faces pressure from Republicans to answer for what they view as a lack of transparency about the Russia investigation. "Chris Wray should be careful before issuing statements like this about 'prior leadership' to check the dates on the FISA applications that the IG examined in his most recent interim report," Wittes tweeted. Wittes was referring to recent revelations about problems with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process, which stretched from Comey's tenure ending in May 2017 through to the directorship of his successor, Wray.
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report late last year criticizing the Justice Department and the FBI for at least 17 “significant errors and omissions” related to the FISA warrants against Trump campaign associate Carter Page in 2016 and 2017 and for the bureau's reliance on British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s unverified dossier. A subsequent watchdog audit, which is not yet complete, found errors well beyond the Page case in 29 wiretap applications in terrorism and espionage cases. A Justice Department review found the FBI made material errors in at least two 2019 FISA applications.
Following a pointed letter from House Republicans, Brian Hale, the FBI’s assistant director for the Office of Public Affairs, released the statement on Tuesday that took a swipe at "prior FBI leadership" while stressing that Wray has fully cooperated with Justice Department inquiries into the Trump-Russia investigators. “The Flynn investigation was initiated and conducted during this time period, under prior FBI leadership,” Hale said, referring to the case of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. “Since taking office, Director Wray has stressed the importance of strictly abiding by established processes, without exception. Director Wray remains firmly committed to addressing the failures under prior FBI leadership while maintaining the foundational principles of rigor, objectivity, accountability, and ownership in fulfilling the Bureau’s mission to protect the American people and defend the Constitution.” Wittes denied that his comment reflected the opinions of Comey or anyone else as he responded to the Federalist's Mollie Hemingway, who said in reaction to his tweet: "Professor Tick Tock Von Boom Boom, a close personal friend and information distributor of Comey and other Russia hoaxers, seems to be letting us know that those people do not like FBI's Christopher Wray accurately acknowledging how much they messed up." "Swing and a miss," Wittes said. "I am expressing my own mystification that — with the IG busily finding errors in a great number of recent FISAs — Wray feels confident describing the problems as confined to the period of prior leadership. I’m just not sure where that confidence comes from." "I agree that some of the rot continues to be there, and I'm pleasantly surprised that you're walking back from your 'nothing to see here' approach of last week," Hemingway said in a follow-up tweet. "On the Flynn stuff? I’m not. I very much stand by what I wrote on the Flynn matter. My point here is about FISA," Wittes said in reply.
Flynn, who served as Trump’s national security adviser for less than a month, pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat before Trump entered the White House. While working with his previous legal team, Flynn cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team in the Russia investigation, which ultimately was unable to establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. His new team, led by former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, has been more aggressive in fighting the charges. Flynn told the court earlier this year that he was “innocent of this crime,” regarding lying to federal agents. He filed to withdraw his guilty plea after the Justice Department asked the judge to sentence him to up to six months in prison — though afterward, the department said probation would also be appropriate. Powell is pressing for the dismissal of his case by arguing that the FBI unfairly treated Flynn.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/comey-friend-fbi-director-wray-should-be-careful-about-criticizing-prior-leadership