Margot Cleveland has an interesting article in The Federalist today outlining how the DOJ (Mueller) investigation of Christopher Steele was dropped [READ HERE]. Essentially the article outlines how Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley sent a criminal referral of Chris Steele to Rosenstein/Mueller in January 2018; however the case was used as a shield to ward-off FOIA inquiry, but the case was never actually pursued – and eventually dropped.
At the time of the 2018 referral CTH noted the Grassley/Graham referral was not what it appeared [See Here]. Additionally, with hindsight and a greater understanding of the Mueller team corruption, we can see how this specific referral hits the center of the FBI intent around their Russia collusion-conspiracy.
The issue surrounds the October 2016 Carter Page FISA application and how the Steele Dossier was used therein.
When the stories first broke about the Steele Dossier being the majority of the FBI evidence (December 2017), the FBI investigators were claiming they were never aware of Chris Steele shopping his dossier to the media. However, at the same time Glenn Simpson was testifying to congress that the FBI knew Chris Steele was shopping the dossier.
SIDE NOTE: The need for everyone to see what Fusion-GPS (Glenn Simpson) was saying is the reason why Dianne Feinstein “accidentally” released the Simpson transcript (remember, she had a cold). Feinstein released the transcript five days after the Graham/Grassley referral. Democrats knew everyone needed to be on the same page and reading from the same manuscript. I digress…
Also remember, Robert Mueller took over the counterintelligence investigation; so the FBI investigators from Crossfire Hurricane (2016) were now the same “40 FBI investigators” on Mueller’s team in 2017.
In late 2017 and early 2018 those FBI investigators were saying they were not aware of Steele shopping the dossier to the media; AND they were also claiming that Chris Steele never told them. However, Glenn Simpson (Fusion GPS), and later Chris Steele himself, were telling a completely different story. According to Simpson and Steele the FBI was fully aware of Steele shopping the dossier.
Enter Graham and Grassley.
Senators Graham and Grassley suspected, likely knew, the FBI/DOJ was the group lying about this ‘Steele/Dossier/Media’ angle in an effort to support the validity of the Dossier used in the FISA application. In order to prove the DOJ and FBI were lying, Grassley and Graham sent a criminal referral to Rod Rosenstein:
Essentially Graham and Grassley were saying: ‘if the FBI is being truthful, then Chris Steele lied to the FBI’… so go prosecute him.Remember, these FBI agents are on Mueller’s team and the criminal referral was sent to Rosenstein; but due to the scope of Mueller’s investigation the referral was -in effect- being sent to Robert Mueller.
It is the FBI who lied to the FISA Court in the application. It is the FBI who were claiming in their FISA application the dossier was not ‘shopped’. It was the FBI attempting to enhance the dossier credibility by making statements/claims about what Chris Steele presented to them. It is NOT Christopher Steele making these claims. Christopher Steele knew the ‘dossier’ was presented to media. Heck, Christopher Steele briefed media.
It was Robert Mueller’s FBI investigators who were lying; and the referral was sent to Robert Mueller because the special counsel held all jurisdiction on the Russian collusion investigation; and at the heart of that investigation was the Steele Dossier and FISA application. Mueller’s 2017, 2018 and 2019 FBI team were essentially investigating the claims within the Steele Dossier they helped create in 2016.
This is where Margot Cleveland’s article comes in. The FBI used the Grassley/Graham criminal referral, the existence of an ongoing criminal investigation, to argue against public disclosure (and enforce redactions) within the James Comey’s memos on May 4, 2018. However, in December of 2018 those reasons for redaction were dropped because the criminal investigation was no longer ongoing. Heck, it was never opened.
The FBI used the referral as a shield and never investigated the underlying claim because the referral would have actually proved FBI lying, not Chris Steele lying.
♦ The key takeaway is to point out the scale of corruption amid the forty FBI investigators participating in the Mueller Probe. [BACKSTORY HERE]
They honestly don’t think we can see them. They act like the Wizard of Oz after the curtain has been pulled back & they are still shouting into the microphone.
It is quite amazing.
