The tables are now officially turned….the White Hats are investigating the investigators!
What happens when power is allowed to run unchecked?
Well, you got a glimpse of it at the end of the Obama Administration, at least according to speculation of those in the know.
You end up with things like Spygate, FISA-gate, Ukraine-gate, U.K.-spygate, and I suspect probably a whole host of other things when the full truth finally comes out.
And come out it will, if new Attorney General Bill Barr has anything to say about it!
He confirmed to Congress today that his team was indeed investigating the investigators.
In response to a question from Sen. Grassley, Barr confirmed that indeed an investigation was underway!
Take a look:
And here's more, from the Observer:
Attorney General William Barr appeared before lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference. The hearing, however, quickly pivoted to attacks on Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, largely with the aid of Republican lawmakers.
“Do you share my concerns about the counterintelligence investigation, how it was opened, and why it was opened?” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked the attorney general. “Do you share my concerns that the lack of professionalism in the Clinton email investigation is something we should all look at?
“Yes,” answered Barr.
As secretary of state, Clinton used a private email server for classified communications. Days before the 2016 election, the FBI announced it had reopened its investigation into the then-candidate’s emails—a decision many have called a contributing factor in Donald Trump’s presidential upset. Over two years since the election, the president still leads “Lock her up!” chants at his rallies, referencing the controversy.
“I’ve been carefully listening to my Republican colleagues on the other side, and it appears they are going to coordinate the ‘lock her up’ defense,” said Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wryly. “This is really not supposed to be about the Mueller investigation… It is really about Hillary Clinton’s emails. Finally we get down to the bottom line! … That is totally unresponsive to the reality that the American people want to know.”
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) also highlighted the Clinton campaign’s involvement in paying for opposition research on Trump collected by the firm Fusion GPS—the findings of which cited sources in Russian intelligence, and were later released in the now infamous Steele dossier.
“Can we state with confidence that the Steele dossier was not part of the Russian disinformation campaign?” asked Cornyn.
“No, I can’t state that with confidence. That’s one of the areas that I’m reviewing. I’m concerned about it, and I don’t think it’s entirely speculative,” answered the attorney general.
TalkingPointsMemo had more to report:
Within 10 minutes of the hearing coming to order, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was deep in the weeds dissecting Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
Graham also did a dramatic reading of texts between two high-level FBI officials during the 2016 election, cherrypicking the most damaging examples — even sharing, unfiltered, one exchange in which Trump was called “a fucking idiot.”
In his questioning, Graham asked Barr a series of yes/no questions having to do with investigating the investigators. Graham asked if Barr “shared my concerns with the FISA warrant process” and “that the lack of professionalism in the Clinton email investigation is something we should all look at?”
“Yes,” Barr flatly replied.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asked Barr if Congress would receive a report regarding alleged FBI spying, to which the attorney general replied: “I envision some kind of reporting at the end of this.”
Grassley also broached the topic of the Steele dossier, commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS. For Grassley, the dossier appears to be a route to accuse Democrats of participating in the Russian interference campaign.
“The Steele dossier was central to the now-debunked collusion narrative,” Grassley said. “For a full accounting, shouldn’t the special counsel have considered on whether the Steele dossier was part of the Russian disinformation and interference campaign?”
“Special counsel Mueller has put out his report, and I have not yet had anyone through the full scope of the investigation,” Barr replied. “I am trying to assemble all the existing information out there about it.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) moved the discussion towards allegations that President Obama was incompetent in preventing Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Cornyn did not mention Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’s role in the issue, where he told Obama in October 2016 that he would refuse to sign on to a joint statement about the interference and treat it as a political attack.
Cornyn asked Barr “why didn’t the Obama administration do more” to probe the Russian campaign.
Barr went on to cite the Mueller report’s description of Russian interference efforts, and then said: “I was thinking to myself, if that had been done starting in 2016, we would be much further along.”
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!