Real Clear Investigations: FBI still hiding Russia hoax documents (01-07-2025--Hour2)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalinershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] Email is pete at thepetekalinershow.com. That's K-A-L-I-N-E-R. Now maybe you're not feeling a lot of sympathy for the FBI at this moment, even after all of the discussion from the last hour. But consider this, okay? Consider this. They are still hiding details of Russiagate. Oh wait, actually that probably won't engender more sympathy. Sorry. Right. So I guess if you have sympathy for the FBI,

[00:01:00] already this might get rid of some of it, although probably not because considering the way the FBI handled the whole Russiagate, Russia, Russia, Russia collusion hoax, you, if you already have an opinion about how they handled that poorly, you probably don't have much sympathy for the FBI.

[00:01:19] And now in a report by Real Clear Investigations by Aaron Matei, the FBI is still hiding critical details on the Russia conspiracy investigation that engulfed Trump's first term.

[00:01:40] Get to that in a minute first. Let's pick up a call here from Lisa. Welcome to the show, Lisa. Hello.

[00:01:45] Hello, Pete. I'm sorry. My connection is horrible. I'm in the car, but I wanted to, uh, uh, Mitch, I was yelling at the radio. I'm like, remember Hillary? Hillary never got busted.

[00:02:00] Yeah, no, he said, uh, no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges against her for, uh, for her misdeeds. And, uh, and that was deemed sufficient to have cost her the election by the left. You know, they were like, did Jim Comey had never come out and said that? Then, uh, she would have beaten Trump and they don't have any problem with what she did. It's that it's that Jim Comey told us.

[00:02:24] Right. Yeah. No, it's another one. Yeah. There's a long list here. That was huge. Yeah. Lisa, I appreciate the call. There's a, there is a long list that people have gone over in the last hour. Lisa just added to it of reasons why people do not trust the FBI and haven't for decades, but it has gotten way worse in the last 10 years.

[00:02:47] So in response to a freedom of information request that was filed by real clear investigations back in August of 2022.

[00:02:58] 2022. So almost three years ago, the FBI, more than two years after getting the request, finally on December 31st released a document, a copy of a document, a copy of a document that also was really, really heavily redacted.

[00:03:19] It's like almost nothing in the paperwork that they turned over. And the document is the one that opened the unprecedented counterintelligence probe of the sitting president as an agent of the Russian government.

[00:03:38] Right. This was the source.

[00:03:42] The electronic communication dated May 16th, 2017 claimed to have an articulable factual basis.

[00:03:53] So a basis that is able to be articulated and articulable factual basis, which is just a fancy word for we're saying some stuff.

[00:04:04] All right. We got some facts. We can say them, but we don't want to say them because it's classified, you know, hush, hush.

[00:04:11] But that they have an articulable factual basis to suspect that Donald Trump wittingly or unwittingly was illegally acting on behalf of Russia.

[00:04:24] And accordingly posing threats to the national security of the United States.

[00:04:30] Now, tell me, how would that be any different than the Joe Biden influence peddling operation?

[00:04:38] Why was there never an investigation opened into Joe Biden?

[00:04:42] OK, maybe there was and we just don't know about it. Nobody's ever reported on it.

[00:04:45] Nobody's ever leaked that out.

[00:04:48] But I got to believe at this point that nothing like this has ever been done against Joe Biden.

[00:04:53] Yet there's as much.

[00:04:56] At minimum and way more, obviously, evidence against Joe Biden being compromised unwittingly or wittingly acting on behalf of a foreign country.

[00:05:11] Has been for years. We've been covering it for years.

[00:05:14] The FBI's goal, according to the document, was to determine if President Trump is or was directed by, controlled by and or coordinated activities with the Russian Federation.

[00:05:30] Again, swap out Trump for Biden and swap out Russia for China.

[00:05:35] And it's just as articulable a factual basis.

[00:05:42] It additionally sought to uncover whether Trump and unnamed others obstructed any associated FBI investigation.

[00:05:49] That is a reference to Crossfire Hurricane.

[00:05:53] The initial FBI inquiry into the Trump campaign suspected cooperation with an alleged Russian interference plot in the 2016 election.

[00:06:03] So this is separate.

[00:06:05] While Crossfire Hurricane was open July 31st, 2016.

[00:06:10] Had by that point focused on members in Trump's orbit.

[00:06:15] A half a year or almost a year later, May 2017.

[00:06:19] This probe was specifically targeted at Trump himself during his fourth month in office.

[00:06:25] The investigation of Trump was undertaken at the behest of the acting FBI director, Andrew McCabe.

[00:06:34] And this was done a week after Trump fired James Comey, which was Andy McCabe's mentor.

[00:06:41] And this has all the odor of payback.

[00:06:47] Right.

[00:06:49] How dare you fire Jim Comey, the great patriot?

[00:06:54] How dare you fire my mentor?

[00:06:57] So I'm going to avenge his firing.

[00:07:01] And McCabe opens up the second probe because nobody would fire Jim Comey.

[00:07:08] Unless they were a Russian asset.

[00:07:10] Jim Comey was getting too close to the truth.

[00:07:14] According to the declassified document, McCabe's decision was approved by FBI assistant director Bill Priestap.

[00:07:23] Priestap.

[00:07:26] Which I think isn't that also.

[00:07:27] So I thought that was something that the Vatican put out for its clergy.

[00:07:31] The Priestap.

[00:07:35] I'm sorry.

[00:07:36] Bill Priestap, who had also signed off on the opening of Crossfire Hurricane.

[00:07:42] So he's a twofer.

[00:07:43] Jim Baker also approved it.

[00:07:46] Jim Baker was the FBI general counsel.

[00:07:49] Baker was a longtime friend of a man named Michael Sussman.

[00:07:53] Michael Sussman was a lawyer for Hillary Clinton's campaign and a key figure in the dissemination of Clinton funded disinformation to the FBI, which tried to tie Trump to Russia.

[00:08:06] Falsely.

[00:08:09] This is why I say this is the blob.

[00:08:12] Right.

[00:08:12] It's not an individual doing these things.

[00:08:15] It's a group of them knowing what the objective is.

[00:08:21] In his FBI role, Baker personally circulated the conspiracy theory manufactured by quote unquote researchers working with the Clinton campaign that the Trump campaign and Russia were communicating via a secret server.

[00:08:36] Remember that hoax?

[00:08:37] Remember that element of the hoax?

[00:08:39] The Alpha Bank stuff and all.

[00:08:41] That's where all of that started.

[00:08:43] That was Baker.

[00:08:44] After leaving the FBI, Baker then went on to serve as the general counsel, the lawyer, at Twitter, where he backed the company's censorship of reporting on the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop based on yet another conspiracy theory that the laptop files were Russian disinformation.

[00:09:07] See, like it is a web, but it's not a very large one.

[00:09:13] The same people keep showing up.

[00:09:15] I have marveled at this for years.

[00:09:17] Like all of the same people are involved in the like Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

[00:09:24] Right.

[00:09:24] Same thing.

[00:09:25] This group of people, they're like the Justice League.

[00:09:31] Or no, a better example is like.

[00:09:34] You know, the CSI team or like the homicide detectives on your favorite procedural cop drama.

[00:09:44] That they are always the ones that get called to the highest profile cases.

[00:09:47] They're always the one when they go on in the SWAT raid.

[00:09:50] They're like the first ones through the door in the least amount of armor.

[00:09:53] It makes no sense.

[00:09:54] But they're always the ones.

[00:09:56] Right.

[00:09:57] That are involved in all of the cases.

[00:09:58] All the big cases.

[00:10:00] Yet they never get recognized on the street.

[00:10:02] Wonder why that is.

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[00:11:18] Let's go over and talk to Ray.

[00:11:20] Hello, Ray.

[00:11:20] Welcome to the program.

[00:11:22] Hello, Pete.

[00:11:23] Happy New Year.

[00:11:23] Yes, sir.

[00:11:24] To you, too.

[00:11:25] I liked your opening segment talking about people not feeling sorry for the FBI and that sort of thing.

[00:11:38] I used to kind of feel this way, like, you know, in the mainstream media and the FBI,

[00:11:46] it's only the top-tier people that are the problem.

[00:11:49] And they got some good people.

[00:11:51] I'm sure you remember those lines.

[00:11:54] But I've got to the point to where now I don't feel that way.

[00:11:59] You know, I feel like them, just like I do the top-tier people, you know, the minions that work under them,

[00:12:09] the ancillary staff, you know, they're getting their money from that company.

[00:12:16] And, you know, they're hurting me.

[00:12:20] And also, you know, I don't know if that's the right way or the wrong way, but it's, I think it's the human nature way.

[00:12:30] And I would say, I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel.

[00:12:33] But instead, I'll say, I'm sorry.

[00:12:36] That's the way the media and the FBI made me feel.

[00:12:40] Yeah, that's the thing.

[00:12:42] Like, I try to treat people as individuals.

[00:12:47] And so I know that there are, you know, good people in the different organizations and outlets and agencies and the like.

[00:12:56] But at an institutional level, they're reaping what they've sown, right?

[00:13:03] They brought this on themselves because of the way they behaved and the refusal of a lot of the rank and file to blow the whistle.

[00:13:12] Look, my opinions on the media have not won me a lot of friends inside media.

[00:13:18] Oh, sure.

[00:13:19] You know, because I came out of, you know, reporting and I knew a lot of reporters.

[00:13:25] And I saw the way the business operation functions.

[00:13:30] And it's not, it's not good.

[00:13:32] And there needs to be more people that stand up and say, no, we're not going to do this.

[00:13:38] No, that's wrong.

[00:13:38] But yeah, you're like the idea, you mentioned the good people on both sides.

[00:13:42] You know, the Trump comment after the Charlottesville protests and stuff.

[00:13:48] Like such an easily debunkable lie.

[00:13:53] And yet it is still believed to be true by people in the media and by almost half the country, I would submit, that get their news from those media outlets.

[00:14:06] It's right.

[00:14:06] I kind of, it's kind of comparable to the thing like you've got an army led by a tyrant, whoever he might be.

[00:14:16] He's coming over to, and your army, and you know, you feel sorry for the soldiers that are having to give their lives for him.

[00:14:27] But you know, it's either you or them.

[00:14:30] That's kind of the way it is.

[00:14:31] Yeah, it's, well, and I think at this point, this is why I'm of the opinion that the FBI just needs to be dismantled and, you know, look at, look into building something else.

[00:14:42] But like, I say that as one who tries to preserve and conserve institutions.

[00:14:49] That makes me a conservative, right?

[00:14:52] I don't think we should just rip everything down for the latest fad ideology or something.

[00:14:57] But the FBI has such a long history of this kind of garbage that I'm just done with it.

[00:15:04] I agree with you, Pete.

[00:15:05] Yeah, it's just, and it's not gotten any better.

[00:15:07] It's gotten worse.

[00:15:08] So I don't know how else to proceed.

[00:15:11] Yes, sir.

[00:15:12] Thank you for taking my call.

[00:15:13] Yes, sir.

[00:15:13] I appreciate it.

[00:15:14] Thanks, Ray.

[00:15:17] Crossfire Hurricane started in May of 2017.

[00:15:27] Oh, sorry.

[00:15:27] That was the July 2016 during the campaign.

[00:15:32] May 2017 was the second case that was opened.

[00:15:37] And this was opened as a Foreign Agents Registration Act investigation.

[00:15:42] So a FARA Act or FARA, F-A-R-A.

[00:15:47] This is what Hunter Biden was going, should have been charged with.

[00:15:54] But then they let the statute of limitations expire for him, right?

[00:15:59] FARA, he was acting as a representative of a foreign government, a foreign agent.

[00:16:06] And that means you have to register as an agent of that foreign entity if you are going to lobby on their behalf.

[00:16:15] And he did not.

[00:16:17] And so this was initially launched.

[00:16:19] McCabe launched this second probe into Donald Trump.

[00:16:24] Sorry.

[00:16:25] Ew.

[00:16:25] But the second investigation was a FARA investigation.

[00:16:31] And it was launched as a full investigation, which would have granted them sweeping surveillance powers.

[00:16:38] This is a sitting president that the FBI did this to.

[00:16:41] All right.

[00:16:42] I hope you had a happy holiday season.

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[00:16:55] Hey, Dad, remember those old VHS tapes?

[00:16:57] Did you ever get them transferred?

[00:16:59] And then the room gets all quiet.

[00:17:01] All eyes are on Dad who says,

[00:17:04] Oh, you know, well, I've been meaning to, but I just haven't gotten around to it.

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[00:17:50] RealClearInvestigations.com

[00:17:53] with an update on the apparently never-ending scandal revolving around the FBI

[00:17:59] and its multiple investigations, its attempted coup.

[00:18:04] I don't really know any other way to describe it.

[00:18:07] Of Donald Trump with the Russia and Russiagate, Russia hoax, the steel dossier garbage,

[00:18:14] the Alphabank garbage, all of it.

[00:18:16] This piece by Aaron Maté.

[00:18:20] FBI is still hiding details of Russiagate.

[00:18:23] According to newly released documents, they filed Freedom of Information requests,

[00:18:28] and they've been fighting for two years to get this document or these documents.

[00:18:33] And most of the stuff in the documents is redacted.

[00:18:38] While the declassified documents record the FBI's theory that then-President Trump may be involved in illegal

[00:18:47] and maybe even treasonous behavior,

[00:18:50] the articulable, factual basis for the suspicion is redacted.

[00:18:56] So the very linchpin, right,

[00:19:00] the reason why they said they had essentially probable cause, right,

[00:19:06] they had a reason for this.

[00:19:08] There is a factual basis that we can totally tell you about,

[00:19:11] and here it is, but nobody can see it.

[00:19:15] That's redacted.

[00:19:16] Only a couple of paragraphs from the six-page document were not redacted.

[00:19:22] So out of six pages, they got like three or four paragraphs.

[00:19:27] Along with Crossfire Hurricane,

[00:19:29] the May 2017 counterintelligence probe

[00:19:32] got folded into the special counsel investigation that was led by Robert Mueller.

[00:19:37] Mueller, who was appointed just one day after the FBI began portraying Trump internally

[00:19:43] as a possible Russian agent or conspirator.

[00:19:48] Mueller's final report, quote,

[00:19:51] did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated

[00:19:55] with the Russian government in its election interference activities.

[00:20:00] That is something that most Democrats do not know.

[00:20:04] They still, to this day, believe that Russia coordinated with Trump

[00:20:09] to help him win the election

[00:20:12] with like $100,000 worth of Facebook ads or something.

[00:20:17] Asked about his reasoning for opening the probe and related matters,

[00:20:22] Andrew McCabe, who now works as an on-air commentator at CNN,

[00:20:27] did not respond to RealClear Investigations' emailed questions.

[00:20:32] Details about the FBI's motivation, though,

[00:20:36] can be puzzled together here

[00:20:39] based on other public disclosures.

[00:20:43] For example,

[00:20:44] in 2019,

[00:20:46] January 2019,

[00:20:48] the New York Times did a story

[00:20:50] which first revealed the FBI's decision to investigate Trump.

[00:20:55] The Steele dossier.

[00:20:58] And that was

[00:20:59] among the factors that fueled the FBI's concerns.

[00:21:04] The Steele dossier.

[00:21:06] A collection of conspiracy theories funded by Hillary Clinton's camp.

[00:21:11] Completely fabricated.

[00:21:12] Oh, and they also knew that

[00:21:14] the source material for this was not to be believed,

[00:21:18] thanks to Igor Chenko, whatever his name was,

[00:21:22] who told them,

[00:21:23] hey, this Igor Denchenko was his name.

[00:21:26] It was like, yeah, that Steele dossier stuff is all crap.

[00:21:31] Because that Steele was quoting Igor.

[00:21:33] And Igor was like,

[00:21:34] I didn't know that.

[00:21:35] I didn't say that.

[00:21:35] They knew this all was garbage,

[00:21:37] but it didn't matter.

[00:21:39] Right?

[00:21:40] The wrap-up smear,

[00:21:41] as Nancy Pelosi might call it.

[00:21:44] A previously disclosed document

[00:21:46] also shows

[00:21:47] that the former CIA director,

[00:21:50] John Brennan,

[00:21:50] who was a communist,

[00:21:52] who insistently advanced

[00:21:54] the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory,

[00:21:56] told Barack Obama,

[00:21:59] while Obama was still president

[00:22:00] in July of 2016,

[00:22:03] Brennan told Obama

[00:22:04] that the Clinton camp

[00:22:06] was planning to tie Trump to Russia.

[00:22:11] So they knew

[00:22:12] what Hillary was up to.

[00:22:15] Remember, Mark Elias

[00:22:17] also involved in all of this.

[00:22:19] I think I'm going to mention his name

[00:22:21] in the next hour, too.

[00:22:22] So it's a twofer

[00:22:23] for Mark Elias.

[00:22:24] We do know he loves

[00:22:25] getting his name mentioned.

[00:22:26] Anyway,

[00:22:27] Hillary Clinton's campaign

[00:22:30] was going to try to tie Trump to Russia.

[00:22:33] Brennan knew it.

[00:22:35] Brennan told Obama.

[00:22:36] Now, why did Hillary want to do that?

[00:22:39] According to

[00:22:40] the documents,

[00:22:41] the purpose was

[00:22:43] to distract attention

[00:22:44] from the controversy

[00:22:46] over Hillary Clinton's use

[00:22:48] of the server,

[00:22:50] the private server,

[00:22:52] the building

[00:22:53] and the secreting away

[00:22:56] of this server,

[00:22:57] which, by the way,

[00:22:59] Obama knew about.

[00:23:00] They all knew.

[00:23:01] They were getting emails

[00:23:02] from her server email address.

[00:23:06] They knew this.

[00:23:08] Right?

[00:23:09] They were using her

[00:23:11] homebrew server

[00:23:12] as a way to avoid

[00:23:13] public scrutiny.

[00:23:15] I mean, fine, yes.

[00:23:17] Some foreign governments.

[00:23:20] What did the DOJ say?

[00:23:22] It's like,

[00:23:24] it is extremely likely

[00:23:25] that they got hacked.

[00:23:26] They were,

[00:23:27] that these things

[00:23:27] were being monitored.

[00:23:28] Because they didn't have

[00:23:30] the protections necessary,

[00:23:31] the encryption

[00:23:32] and all of that,

[00:23:33] that you have

[00:23:34] with these

[00:23:34] top secret

[00:23:36] communication channels

[00:23:37] that the government

[00:23:38] sets up

[00:23:39] for a secretary of state.

[00:23:41] But she didn't want

[00:23:42] her emails

[00:23:43] to be

[00:23:45] FOIA'd.

[00:23:46] Freedom of Information Act.

[00:23:48] She didn't want

[00:23:49] people to be able

[00:23:50] to come and say,

[00:23:51] give me all of your emails

[00:23:52] on this particular topic.

[00:23:53] Like, oh, I don't know,

[00:23:54] the Clinton Foundation.

[00:23:55] Or, oh, I don't know,

[00:23:57] your daughter's

[00:23:58] wedding seating chart.

[00:23:59] Right?

[00:24:00] Like, the really,

[00:24:00] oh, your yoga schedule.

[00:24:02] Right?

[00:24:02] This is what she claimed

[00:24:03] she used her server for.

[00:24:05] In a cover story

[00:24:07] so bizarrely stupid

[00:24:08] that only the media

[00:24:10] would believe it.

[00:24:11] And Democrats.

[00:24:13] But I repeat myself.

[00:24:14] So that's why

[00:24:17] the Clinton camp

[00:24:18] pursued the

[00:24:20] the Steele dossier.

[00:24:22] Brennan knew it.

[00:24:23] He told Obama.

[00:24:24] It was a distraction

[00:24:25] away from the scandal

[00:24:27] about her server.

[00:24:28] It wasn't just her emails.

[00:24:29] It was the existence

[00:24:31] of the server.

[00:24:31] I have said this for years.

[00:24:33] The server

[00:24:34] is the smoking gun.

[00:24:36] There is no reason

[00:24:37] to build your own server

[00:24:39] except to wipe it.

[00:24:42] To have complete control

[00:24:43] over that data

[00:24:44] so nobody can ever get it.

[00:24:46] If you were using

[00:24:47] just a Gmail

[00:24:48] or a Yahoo account,

[00:24:50] they would be able

[00:24:51] to get that,

[00:24:51] get the email

[00:24:54] information off of it.

[00:24:55] Because you don't

[00:24:56] own the server.

[00:24:57] But if you own the server,

[00:24:59] you control the server,

[00:25:00] and that means

[00:25:00] you can wipe it.

[00:25:01] Like with a cloth.

[00:25:03] All right,

[00:25:03] if you're listening

[00:25:04] to this show,

[00:25:04] you know I try to keep up

[00:25:05] with all sorts of current events.

[00:25:07] And I know you do too,

[00:25:08] and you've probably heard me say,

[00:25:09] get your news

[00:25:10] from multiple sources.

[00:25:12] Why?

[00:25:12] Well,

[00:25:13] because it's how you detect

[00:25:14] media bias,

[00:25:15] which is why I've been

[00:25:16] so impressed with Ground News.

[00:25:18] It's an app,

[00:25:19] and it's a website,

[00:25:20] and it combines news

[00:25:22] from around the world

[00:25:23] in one place,

[00:25:23] so you can compare coverage

[00:25:25] and verify information.

[00:25:26] You can check it out

[00:25:27] at check.ground.news

[00:25:30] slash Pete.

[00:25:31] I put the link

[00:25:32] in the podcast description too.

[00:25:34] I started using Ground News

[00:25:35] a few months ago,

[00:25:36] and more recently

[00:25:37] chose to work with them

[00:25:38] as an affiliate

[00:25:39] because it lets me see clearly

[00:25:40] how stories get covered

[00:25:42] and by whom.

[00:25:43] The Blind Spot feature

[00:25:45] shows you which stories

[00:25:46] get ignored by the left

[00:25:47] and the right.

[00:25:48] See for yourself,

[00:25:49] check.ground.news

[00:25:52] slash Pete.

[00:25:52] Subscribe through that link

[00:25:54] and you'll get 15%

[00:25:55] off any subscription.

[00:25:56] I use the Vantage plan

[00:25:58] to get unlimited access

[00:25:59] to every feature.

[00:26:00] Your subscription then

[00:26:01] not only helps my podcast,

[00:26:03] but it also supports

[00:26:04] Ground News

[00:26:04] as they make the media landscape

[00:26:06] more transparent.

[00:26:07] I'm seeing on Twitter,

[00:26:10] formerly known as X,

[00:26:11] Molly Hemingway

[00:26:14] sums up the Real Clear

[00:26:15] investigation story

[00:26:17] thusly moments ago,

[00:26:20] two minutes ago actually.

[00:26:21] She tweeted out,

[00:26:22] the FBI opened

[00:26:23] the Trump-Russia investigation

[00:26:25] for no reason,

[00:26:26] then continued it

[00:26:27] despite it going nowhere,

[00:26:28] then leaked its existence

[00:26:30] for political gain,

[00:26:31] and then opened another probe

[00:26:33] on Trump,

[00:26:33] but is hiding why?

[00:26:36] Probably because it was

[00:26:38] over him firing Comey.

[00:26:39] It's just insane.

[00:26:41] Yeah, that is the way

[00:26:43] this looks.

[00:26:44] That Andy McCabe

[00:26:45] opened up the second investigation

[00:26:48] into Donald Trump

[00:26:49] the day after Comey

[00:26:51] got fired.

[00:26:52] Because Comey was his friend

[00:26:53] and his mentor,

[00:26:55] and so this was

[00:26:56] to get Trump.

[00:26:57] And that's the way

[00:26:58] they weaponized

[00:27:00] the FBI against Trump

[00:27:01] again.

[00:27:02] And I say this

[00:27:03] as somebody

[00:27:04] who was not a fan

[00:27:05] of Donald Trump.

[00:27:08] I just went

[00:27:09] where the evidence led,

[00:27:10] and this is where it leads.

[00:27:11] It's all very clear.

[00:27:13] It's complex.

[00:27:14] Don't get me wrong.

[00:27:15] There are a lot of people

[00:27:16] moving parts

[00:27:17] and all of this stuff.

[00:27:19] But every single step

[00:27:21] along the way,

[00:27:21] you have people

[00:27:22] that were behaving

[00:27:23] in a way

[00:27:25] to jam up

[00:27:26] Donald Trump.

[00:27:29] And God only knows

[00:27:30] if they had found

[00:27:30] anything

[00:27:31] that was actionable.

[00:27:32] That's what's really amazing

[00:27:34] in all of this,

[00:27:35] is how many investigations

[00:27:37] into Donald Trump

[00:27:38] were launched,

[00:27:40] and they get Manafort,

[00:27:43] right?

[00:27:44] And Flynn.

[00:27:45] For,

[00:27:47] like,

[00:27:47] Flynn is just,

[00:27:48] like,

[00:27:49] that stuff's just ridiculous.

[00:27:51] Yes,

[00:27:52] he should get a pardon.

[00:27:54] Manafort,

[00:27:54] I was never a fan of.

[00:27:56] He was a little too close

[00:27:57] to the,

[00:27:58] to the Ukraine

[00:28:00] corruption over there.

[00:28:01] And when they brought him

[00:28:02] on to the Trump campaign,

[00:28:03] I was like,

[00:28:04] eh,

[00:28:05] that's,

[00:28:05] that's probably not a great idea.

[00:28:07] But,

[00:28:07] that was like,

[00:28:08] oh, look,

[00:28:08] he's got all these,

[00:28:09] you know,

[00:28:11] these Russia,

[00:28:12] adjacent kinds of people.

[00:28:14] And,

[00:28:15] and so when a lot of Trump supporters

[00:28:17] were saying,

[00:28:18] you know,

[00:28:18] Robert Mueller shouldn't do

[00:28:19] his investigation,

[00:28:21] and Horowitz,

[00:28:22] we don't need it,

[00:28:22] and it's all just lies

[00:28:24] and all this,

[00:28:25] I said,

[00:28:25] I want the investigations.

[00:28:26] I want more information.

[00:28:28] I want to read this stuff

[00:28:29] when they find it out.

[00:28:31] And look at where we are now.

[00:28:33] When they did all of this stuff,

[00:28:34] what did they yield?

[00:28:35] Nothing.

[00:28:36] And now I get to use that

[00:28:38] in my argument,

[00:28:39] which is why I wanted them

[00:28:40] to do it.

[00:28:42] Um,

[00:28:44] back to the real clear

[00:28:45] investigation story.

[00:28:49] July of 2016,

[00:28:51] John Brennan tells Obama

[00:28:53] that the Clinton campaign

[00:28:55] was planning to try to tie Trump

[00:28:57] to Russia

[00:28:57] to distract attention

[00:28:58] from the controversy

[00:28:59] over Hillary's use

[00:29:01] of private email server

[00:29:03] while serving as Secretary of State.

[00:29:05] By that point,

[00:29:06] the Clinton campaign

[00:29:07] was already paying

[00:29:08] for the fabricated reports

[00:29:09] produced by Christopher Steele,

[00:29:11] who made contact

[00:29:12] with the FBI

[00:29:13] as early as July 5th,

[00:29:16] 2016.

[00:29:17] Although the newly

[00:29:18] declassified document

[00:29:19] attempts to suggest

[00:29:21] that the FBI

[00:29:22] had actionable intelligence

[00:29:23] to suspect Trump

[00:29:25] of being a Russian agent,

[00:29:27] McCabe's subsequent comments

[00:29:29] indicate that there was

[00:29:31] no such evidence

[00:29:32] on offer.

[00:29:32] Instead,

[00:29:34] McCabe has said

[00:29:35] that his counterintelligence

[00:29:36] probe of Trump

[00:29:37] was primarily motivated

[00:29:39] by

[00:29:39] the president's

[00:29:41] firing

[00:29:42] of Comey.

[00:29:45] McCabe,

[00:29:45] therefore,

[00:29:46] had no evidence

[00:29:47] that Trump

[00:29:48] had a connection

[00:29:49] to Russia

[00:29:49] and, in fact,

[00:29:51] could only wonder

[00:29:52] if there was one,

[00:29:53] to use his own words.

[00:29:54] He could just,

[00:29:55] I just wondered

[00:29:56] if there was

[00:29:57] a connection.

[00:29:58] Because that's obviously

[00:30:00] what,

[00:30:00] it couldn't be

[00:30:01] that Donald Trump,

[00:30:02] a mercurial,

[00:30:04] thin-skinned

[00:30:05] kind of a guy,

[00:30:06] took great umbrage

[00:30:08] at Comey

[00:30:09] and the way

[00:30:10] he was leaking

[00:30:11] all of this stuff

[00:30:12] to damage

[00:30:12] Donald Trump,

[00:30:13] which was very obvious

[00:30:14] from the very beginning.

[00:30:17] But because

[00:30:18] Trump had fired Comey,

[00:30:19] whose FBI

[00:30:20] was already investigating

[00:30:21] Trump's campaign

[00:30:22] for Russian ties

[00:30:23] and relying on

[00:30:25] the Clinton-funded

[00:30:25] Steele dossier

[00:30:26] in the process,

[00:30:27] McCabe decided

[00:30:28] that he had grounds

[00:30:29] to order an espionage

[00:30:31] investigation

[00:30:32] of the commander-in-chief.

[00:30:35] The piece goes on

[00:30:36] to say later,

[00:30:37] it's a very lengthy piece,

[00:30:38] by the way,

[00:30:38] I'm giving you

[00:30:38] the highlights.

[00:30:39] With the official predicate

[00:30:43] for the May 2017

[00:30:44] investigation

[00:30:45] still redacted

[00:30:46] by the FBI,

[00:30:47] McCabe's public statements

[00:30:48] offer the only

[00:30:49] insider window

[00:30:50] into why

[00:30:51] it was actually opened.

[00:30:52] In all of the investigations

[00:30:53] related to alleged

[00:30:54] Russian interference

[00:30:55] to date,

[00:30:56] the Justice Department

[00:30:58] has avoided

[00:31:00] the question.

[00:31:01] Despite inheriting

[00:31:03] McCabe's probe

[00:31:04] and debunking

[00:31:06] claims of a

[00:31:07] Trump-Russia

[00:31:07] conspiracy,

[00:31:08] Special Counsel

[00:31:09] Mueller

[00:31:10] made no mention

[00:31:11] of the Trump

[00:31:12] as a Russian agent

[00:31:13] theory

[00:31:14] in his final report

[00:31:15] in March of 2019.

[00:31:17] Without informing

[00:31:18] the public,

[00:31:19] the FBI closed down

[00:31:20] the Trump

[00:31:20] counterintelligence

[00:31:21] investigation

[00:31:22] the following month.

[00:31:24] An inquiry

[00:31:25] led by Michael Horowitz,

[00:31:26] the Inspector General,

[00:31:28] into the Crossfire Hurricane

[00:31:30] investigation

[00:31:30] also ignored

[00:31:32] McCabe's decision

[00:31:33] to investigate

[00:31:34] Trump as an agent

[00:31:35] of Russia.

[00:31:35] And in the

[00:31:37] Durham report,

[00:31:39] they claimed

[00:31:40] that McCabe's probe

[00:31:41] was outside

[00:31:42] of their purview.

[00:31:43] So they didn't

[00:31:45] look into it

[00:31:45] either.

[00:31:46] When it comes

[00:31:47] to Crossfire Hurricane,

[00:31:48] Durham's report

[00:31:49] concluded that the FBI

[00:31:50] did not have a

[00:31:51] legitimate basis

[00:31:52] to launch that probe.

[00:31:53] Right?

[00:31:54] So they were willing

[00:31:55] to take a look

[00:31:56] at that one,

[00:31:56] but not McCabe's.

[00:31:58] While the original

[00:31:59] Trump-Russia investigation

[00:32:00] has been discredited,

[00:32:01] the public remains

[00:32:02] in the dark

[00:32:03] about why the FBI

[00:32:04] launched the follow-up

[00:32:05] counterintelligence probe

[00:32:06] that targeted Trump

[00:32:07] himself

[00:32:08] while he was newly

[00:32:09] in the White House

[00:32:10] and what ends

[00:32:11] it took to pursue it.

[00:32:13] All right,

[00:32:13] that'll do it

[00:32:14] for this episode.

[00:32:15] Thank you so much

[00:32:16] for listening.

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[00:32:32] and don't break

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