September 22, 2018
Twelve points to keep in mind on the NYT’s Rosenstein ‘wear a wire’ and invoke 25th Amendment story
By Thomas Lifson
A
https://www.americanthinker.com/blo...r_a_wire_and_invoke_25th_amendment_story.html
The New York Times lobbed a hand grenade yesterday, with its story claiming:
As the old joke has it, “close doesn’t count, except in horseshoes and hand grenades,” so we can take it for granted that President Trump was certainly the main target, damaging his credibility and prospects for remaining in office, but Rod Rosenstein no doubt has been hit by shrapnel.
We are only getting started on figuring out what this really means, but here are twelve points to keep in mind,
1. The New York Times is comfortable exposing deep state resistance to Trump.
The idea that members of the federal bureaucracy are deliberately sabotaging and working to oust a duly elected president of the United States has been dismissed as a conspiracy theory by all sorts of mainstream media outlets and purported fact-checkers. But first with its publication of an anonymously-written op-ed, and now with this story, the Times is eager to admit the resistance and celebrate it, presumably because it thinks the end is nearing for the Trump presidency.
2. Memos written by Andrew McCabe and Lisa Page were at least part of the basis for the report.
Given the fact that McCabe has been fired and has been referred by the DOJ’s Inspector General for criminal prosecution, there may be self-protection motives in releasing them to the leading journalistic opponent of Trump’s presidency.
3. Rod Rosenstein’s denials are lawyerly and self-contradictory
Rosenstein’s first denial:
This actually does not deny the specifics of the report. Later in the day, Rosenstein contradicted the first sentence of his statement and issued a second denial that also does not directly contradict what was reported:
4. NBC News – of all Trump-hating sources – claimed it was sarcasm, based on an anonymous source
Could Rosenstein have been the source?
5. One of the NYT reporters doubled down and says it was not sarcasm:
Mediaite:
6. The report probably was a set-up to provoke Rosenstein’s firing, to be used as a basis for impeachment for obstruction of justice
As the official who appointed Robert Mueller and supervises his investigation, Rosenstein is the key player in the investigation, able to rein it in or give it unlimited scope in subject, budget, and time.
Last night at a rally in Springfield, MO, President Trump obliquely hinted that there may more people – presumably including Rosenstein, leaving their jobs:
But one way to avoid a firing that could lead to impeachment would be for Rosenstein to resign, as some are already urging him to do.
7. Rosenstein is also the key figure in the process of releasing the unredacted FISA warrant and text messages that President Trump has demanded be given to the public in unredacted form.
President Trump’s demand comes after extended stonewalling, based on the contention that sources and methods and other key aspects of our intelligence operations would be exposed and harmed. Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee who has seen the unredacted documents, denies this, and attributes the delay and redactions to self-preservation on the part of officials who would be embarrassed. Retired FBI agent Mark Wauck and Sundance of Conservative Treehouse believe that the leak was timed to pressure Rosenstein to continue the stonewall.
8. Trump suddenly reversed himself and urges caution, citing “key allies” and “perceived negative impact on the Russia Probe:
Sundance points out that the meeting with the DoJ almost certainly means a meeting with Rosenstein. Was Trump warning Rosenstein that the Mueller probe is illegitimate and will be exposed, or did Rosenstein say something to Trump that caused him to modify his insistence on immediate disclosure? I have no idea.
The “key allies” lobbying against release almost certainly are the U.K. and Australia, both of which would be embarrassed by the roles of their diplomats and intelligence agencies, which are implicated in the Steele dossier and the set-up of George Papadopoulos. Did they threaten to release information in their possession that could embarrass Trump? We have no way of knowing. Nor do we know who in the governments of the key allies lobbied Trump, but it is a reasonable speculation that the heads of government of both countries personally called President Trump.
President Trump touched on this last night, speaking to Sean Hannity just before his Missouri rally:
A
[ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=R4OjEksiJA4"]Trump goes one-on-one with Hannity at Las Vegas rally - YouTube[/ame]
A
9. McCabe and Page memos leaked to the NYT apparently were withheld from IG Horowitz
Sundance picked up the implication:
10. Rosenstein considered another Trump-hating person, aside from Mueller, as special counsel
Daniel Chaitin in the Washington Examiner:
11. The NYT Report comes on the heels of Dem half of Gang of Eight letter asking Rosenstein to obstruct release of declassified unreacted documents
In this Sept. 18 letter from the 4 Democrats briefed on intelligence matters as half of of the “Gang of Eight” members of Congress, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer and Mark Warner, a startling admission was confessed to:
Mark Wauck explains:
12. Trump now trusts IG to report before election and release unredacted documents that DoJ has been stonewalling
In the Presidential tweets seen above, Trump says that “the Inspector General has been asked to review these documents on an expedited basis. I believe he will move quickly on this (and hopefully other things which he is looking at).
Given the leisurely pace at which the IG reports have appeared, why does Trump believe that speedy release will result? Has he spoken with IG Horowitz?
In any event, Trump added “I can always declassify if it proves necessary.” This seems to be a prod directed at Horowitz.
Twelve points to keep in mind on the NYT’s Rosenstein ‘wear a wire’ and invoke 25th Amendment story
By Thomas Lifson
A
https://www.americanthinker.com/blo...r_a_wire_and_invoke_25th_amendment_story.html
The New York Times lobbed a hand grenade yesterday, with its story claiming:
As the old joke has it, “close doesn’t count, except in horseshoes and hand grenades,” so we can take it for granted that President Trump was certainly the main target, damaging his credibility and prospects for remaining in office, but Rod Rosenstein no doubt has been hit by shrapnel.
We are only getting started on figuring out what this really means, but here are twelve points to keep in mind,
1. The New York Times is comfortable exposing deep state resistance to Trump.
The idea that members of the federal bureaucracy are deliberately sabotaging and working to oust a duly elected president of the United States has been dismissed as a conspiracy theory by all sorts of mainstream media outlets and purported fact-checkers. But first with its publication of an anonymously-written op-ed, and now with this story, the Times is eager to admit the resistance and celebrate it, presumably because it thinks the end is nearing for the Trump presidency.
2. Memos written by Andrew McCabe and Lisa Page were at least part of the basis for the report.
Given the fact that McCabe has been fired and has been referred by the DOJ’s Inspector General for criminal prosecution, there may be self-protection motives in releasing them to the leading journalistic opponent of Trump’s presidency.
3. Rod Rosenstein’s denials are lawyerly and self-contradictory
Rosenstein’s first denial:
This actually does not deny the specifics of the report. Later in the day, Rosenstein contradicted the first sentence of his statement and issued a second denial that also does not directly contradict what was reported:
4. NBC News – of all Trump-hating sources – claimed it was sarcasm, based on an anonymous source
Could Rosenstein have been the source?
5. One of the NYT reporters doubled down and says it was not sarcasm:
Mediaite:
6. The report probably was a set-up to provoke Rosenstein’s firing, to be used as a basis for impeachment for obstruction of justice
As the official who appointed Robert Mueller and supervises his investigation, Rosenstein is the key player in the investigation, able to rein it in or give it unlimited scope in subject, budget, and time.
Last night at a rally in Springfield, MO, President Trump obliquely hinted that there may more people – presumably including Rosenstein, leaving their jobs:
But one way to avoid a firing that could lead to impeachment would be for Rosenstein to resign, as some are already urging him to do.
7. Rosenstein is also the key figure in the process of releasing the unredacted FISA warrant and text messages that President Trump has demanded be given to the public in unredacted form.
President Trump’s demand comes after extended stonewalling, based on the contention that sources and methods and other key aspects of our intelligence operations would be exposed and harmed. Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee who has seen the unredacted documents, denies this, and attributes the delay and redactions to self-preservation on the part of officials who would be embarrassed. Retired FBI agent Mark Wauck and Sundance of Conservative Treehouse believe that the leak was timed to pressure Rosenstein to continue the stonewall.
8. Trump suddenly reversed himself and urges caution, citing “key allies” and “perceived negative impact on the Russia Probe:
Sundance points out that the meeting with the DoJ almost certainly means a meeting with Rosenstein. Was Trump warning Rosenstein that the Mueller probe is illegitimate and will be exposed, or did Rosenstein say something to Trump that caused him to modify his insistence on immediate disclosure? I have no idea.
The “key allies” lobbying against release almost certainly are the U.K. and Australia, both of which would be embarrassed by the roles of their diplomats and intelligence agencies, which are implicated in the Steele dossier and the set-up of George Papadopoulos. Did they threaten to release information in their possession that could embarrass Trump? We have no way of knowing. Nor do we know who in the governments of the key allies lobbied Trump, but it is a reasonable speculation that the heads of government of both countries personally called President Trump.
President Trump touched on this last night, speaking to Sean Hannity just before his Missouri rally:
A
[ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=R4OjEksiJA4"]Trump goes one-on-one with Hannity at Las Vegas rally - YouTube[/ame]
A
9. McCabe and Page memos leaked to the NYT apparently were withheld from IG Horowitz
Sundance picked up the implication:
10. Rosenstein considered another Trump-hating person, aside from Mueller, as special counsel
Daniel Chaitin in the Washington Examiner:
11. The NYT Report comes on the heels of Dem half of Gang of Eight letter asking Rosenstein to obstruct release of declassified unreacted documents
In this Sept. 18 letter from the 4 Democrats briefed on intelligence matters as half of of the “Gang of Eight” members of Congress, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer and Mark Warner, a startling admission was confessed to:
Mark Wauck explains:
12. Trump now trusts IG to report before election and release unredacted documents that DoJ has been stonewalling
In the Presidential tweets seen above, Trump says that “the Inspector General has been asked to review these documents on an expedited basis. I believe he will move quickly on this (and hopefully other things which he is looking at).
Given the leisurely pace at which the IG reports have appeared, why does Trump believe that speedy release will result? Has he spoken with IG Horowitz?
In any event, Trump added “I can always declassify if it proves necessary.” This seems to be a prod directed at Horowitz.
