Did British Intelligence Try to Destroy the Trump Presidency? by Publius Tacitus

Last night's release of the memo by Senator's Grassley and Graham asking the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation of Christopher Steele for possible violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 provides critical confirmation of charges presented in the HPSCI memo prepared under the leadership of Devin Nunes, but it also confirms that Christopher Steele was not just some random guy offering good gossip to the FBI. He was an official intelligence asset. He was, in John LeCarre's parlance, our "Joe." At least we thought so. But, there is growing circumstantial evidence that Steele was acting on behalf of Britain's version of the CIA--aka MI-6. If true, we are now faced with actual evidence of a foreign country trying to meddle in a direct and significant way in our national election. Only it was not the Russians. It was our British cousins.

Here are the key take aways from the Grassley/Graham memo:

• The FBI has since provided the Committee access to classified documents relevant to the FBI's relationship with Mr. Steele and whether the FBI relied on his dossier work. . . .it appears that either Mr. Steele lied to the FBI or the British court, or that the classified documents reviewed by the Committee contain materially false statements.
• October 21, 2016, the FBI filed its first warrant application under FISA for Carter Page. . .The bulk of the application consists of allegations against Page that were disclosed to the FBI by Mr. Steele and are also outlined in the Steele dossier. The application appears to contain no additional information corroborating the dossier allegations against Mr. Page, although it does cite to a news article that appears to be sourced to Mr. Steele's dossier as well.
• March 17, 2017--the Chairman and Ranking Member were provided copies of the two relevant FISA applications, which requested authority to conduct surveillance of Carter Page. Both relied heavily on Mr. Steele's dossier claims, and both applications were granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).
• December of 2017, the Chairman, Ranking Member, and Subcommittee Chairman Graham were allowed to review a total of four FISA applications relying on the dossier to seek surveillance of Mr. Carter Page, as well as numerous other FBI documents relating to Mr. Steele.
• When asked at the March 2017 briefing why the FBI relied on the dossier in the FISA applications absent meaningful corroboration--and in light of the highly political motives surrounding its creation--then Director Corney stated that the FBI included the dossier allegations about Carter Page in the FISA applications because Mr. Steele himself was considered reliable due to his past work with the Bureau.
• In short, it appears the FBI relied on admittedly uncorroborated information, funded by and obtained for Secretary Clinton's presidential campaign, in order to conduct surveillance of an associate of the opposing presidential candidate. It did so based on Mr. Steele's personal credibility and presumably having faith in his process of obtaining the information.
• . . . the FBI continued to cite to Mr. Steele's past work as evidence of his reliability, and stated that ''the incident that led to the FBI suspending its relationship with [Mr. Steele] occurred after [Mr. Steele] provided" the FBI with the dossier infonnation described in the application. The FBI further asserted in footnote 19 that it did not ,believe that Steele directly gave information to Yahoo News that "published the September 23 News Article."

The Grassley/Graham memo is devastating for Jim Comey. We can entertain only two possibilities--Jim Comey is a monumental dunce or he is a liar. One need only read the Michael Isikoff piece from 23 September 2016 to realize that Christopher Steele was a primary source for Isikoff. We are asked to believe that Comey is a naive, trusting soul bereft of curiosity, who refused to entertain the possibility that Steele was double dealing intel.

One of the most surprising revelations from the Grassley/Graham memo is in footnote 7. I'm surprised this was not redacted because it is drawn from a redacted/blacked out paragraph. Here is a critical bit of intel:

• The FBI has failed to provide the Committee the 1023s documenting all of Mr. Steele's statements to the FBI, so the Committee is relying on the accuracy of the FBI's representation to the FISC regarding those statements.

This means Steele was a signed up intelligence asset for the FBI. He was our spy. A FD-1023 is an FBI form used to document meetings between FBI and sources. It is also called a CHS Report--CHS aka Confidential Human Source. Here is an example posted by a Trump supporter on Twitter:

With this confirmation the next move is in the hands of the Brits. If Steele became an FBI asset without the knowledge of his former colleagues and chain of command, he faces legal risk. But two development in the last two days suggest that British intelligence officials, at least some key officials, were witting of Steele's activities in gathering information for the FBI.

First, Steele is resisting efforts to face a deposition in a lawsuit over his infamous dossier. Steele’s lawyers argued in a court in London this week that a deposition would endanger the former spy’s dossier sources as well as harm U.K. national security interests. If the Judge buys this claim then we will not have to speculate anymore about whether or not Steele was acting on his own or had a "wink-and-a-nod" from his MI-6 bosses.

Second, in my mind more telling, were the comments made this week by former MI-6 Chief, Richard Dearlove, on behalf of his former protege:

Among those who have continued to seek his expertise is Steele’s former boss Richard Dearlove, who headed MI6 from 1999 to 2004. In an interview, Dearlove said Steele became the “go-to person on Russia in the commercial sector” following his retirement from the Secret Intelligence Service. He described the reputations of Steele and his business partner, fellow intelligence veteran Christopher Burrows, as “superb.”

But we do not have to rely solely on Dearlove's glowing remarks about Steele. There is other information indicating that the Brits played a substantial, if not leading, role in spying on Trump and building the Russian meddling meme. The Guardian reported in April 2017 that:

Britain’s spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, the Guardian has been told. 

GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added.

Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said.

 So much for our special relationship. As the evidence of British intelligence meddling in the U.S. election piles up it will create some strains in our bi-lateral ties. It has the potential to harm cooperation on military, law enforcement and intelligence fronts. I suspect there is some scrambling going on behind the scenes to come up with a strategy to contain the damage while rooting out the sedition. Stay tuned.

 

Comments

[Arioch The]

I have to concur.

It all was about Trotskizm vs Stalinizm, if we stick to buzzwords.

Either USSR was an explosive, to detonate the world into All-World Revolution here and now, while other states did not recovered yet from World War 1 - the Trotsky/Communist International line.

Or USSR was a long-term base to be nurtured and enhanced until further opportunity comes some faraway day - the Stalin/Counter-revolutionary line.

> The stakes here are immense since American statehood is under attack

Correct.
However statehood of Russia was already destroyed in February 1917 by pro-European liberals, and in mid-1920s it was about people inhabiting ex-Russia, whether the very population is something to be kept or spent.

It was not much less than what is now at stakes in DC.

[LeaNder]

said empire is the petro-dollar which Russia, along with others, is slowing undermining.

Not a LaRouche fan, but aware of him. At one point I made a difference between his confuse, to me, basic outlook and his analysts.

One of more Bits and Pieces: More generally, HSBC seems to be in the process of shifting its attention on the growing Chinese market. ...

[Anna]

The light is coming towards the shady quarters of the high-placed, vigorously opportunistic bureaucrats that have been busy promoting their careers for the expense of national security. https://www.rt.com/op-ed/418287-russiagate-nunes-memo-intelgate/
The stunning incompetence and sheer stupidity are on wide display (see Brennan, Morell, Hayden, Clapper, Comey, Rosenstein and such). It looks that the opportunists have inflicted a tremendous harm to the US Intel system. Consider that Awan affair was blissfully overlooked by the brass.

[Sid Finster]

I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor have I any present intent of becoming "Russian" (except that Russians say that "Russian is a state of mind.").

That said, I know a fair amount about Russia and Russians, and I can categorically say that most people on the Washington-London-Brussels-Canberra Axis apparently get their views of this country straight from Marvel Comics.

[Rhondda]

Jack @ 52: ”IMO, we need another Church Committee to have a broad mandate to investigate mass surveillance, secret courts and the entire national security apparatus and if our Constitution has been shredded by the Patriot Act and FISA and the GWOT."

I agree with you, Jack, that the Constitution has been shredded and that serious investigations are necessary.

But I will note that FISA was a presumably well-intentioned "reform" that came out of the Church investigations. It often seems as if every crisis is used by ‘bad actors’ for nefarious ends. And then one has to wonder if the crises themselves are staged events to create the opportunity for so-called reforms…

The cognitive wilderness of mirrors is dreadful.

[Publius Tacitus]

Witting means "to be aware of" or "to have knowledge of"

[SmoothieX12]

IMO it was Steele who fell for a hoax

The whole Russiagate story is a hoax since is built around totally bogus "Dossier".

he was incompetent.

I am not sure about his other qualifications but in terms of him having Russian "sources" I can only repeat myself--in his wildest dreams. Snooping around upscale real estate in London among so called "Russian" crooks living there or on Brighton Beach in NY among former Soviet Jews is not a good practice for a man who was portrayed by US MSM as International Man of Mystery when it comes to Russia. After Russo-Georgian War of 08/08/08 and especially after events in Ukraine term "incompetent" is what defines US foreign policy establishment. They also brought the world perilously close to the brink of a war precisely for the reasons that people like Steele are "go to" experts for them when it comes to Russia. We are not out of the woods yet, even despite very promising meeting of Russian-American intelligence royalty last week in D.C. I am still waiting for Nunes State Department memo--I don't expect it to uncover anything new for me personally but merely as affirmation of what I am writing about for the last 4 (in reality longer) years.

[SmoothieX12]

It was not much less than what is now at stakes in DC.

It is different here, albeit I may agree to a certain degree with your points and parallels. You are correct in using Stalin and counter-revolution in the same sentence, for people who know (emphasis on "know") Russia/Soviet history of the 20th Century this is a truism. Effectively, Trump is counter-revolutionary. He ran and won on this program. Now it is being sabotaged.

[jld]

"British intelligence" turning to an oxymoron:
Terror trial collapses after fears of deep embarrassment to security services

[English Outsider]

Thank you for this comment to a significant article from PT. It's also been a most informative thread.

And you've unmasked your batteries, DH. Heavy guns too. That and the links on this thread provide an insight into the background and thinking of those who operate in this corner of the UK official and media world that I very much hope you will find yourself able to discuss further should the Colonel's site touch on this subject again.

Just one point. In amongst this shower of losers we do have, I hope, some properly trained and qualified UK Intelligence people soberly working away somewhere? We're going to have a thin time of it here if we don't.

[SmoothieX12]

That said, I know a fair amount about Russia and Russians, and I can categorically say that most people on the Washington-London-Brussels-Canberra Axis apparently get their views of this country straight from Marvel Comics.

It is especially startling against the background of such figure as Esteemed Ambassador Jack Matlock. The man spoke outstanding Russian and knew (I am sure he still does) WHOLE (!!!) Pushkin's masterpiece Evgenii Onegin by memory, among other things--a feat very few even most well read and uber-educated in literature and Pushkin's aficionados Russians are capable to repeat. The contrast with today and what passes in US as Russia "experts" is more than just startling. It is mind-boggling. Now add here neocon establishment which knows pretty much zero about the nature of military power and its application and one gets the picture.

[Jack]

All

From Marshall Cohen:

FEINSTEIN puts her neck out to vouch for the Trump-Russia dossier: "Not a single revelation in the Steele dossier has been refuted," she said in a new statement blasting Grassley's criminal referral of Steele.

Does that imply she's seen the pee pee tapes?

[SmoothieX12]

Does that imply she's seen the pee pee tapes?

Even if she saw "pee-pee tapes" (if they exist) and even saw Trump giving a blow-job to Patrushev or vice-versa (which is a whole other thing altogether--you may envision this thing with Medvedev and Putin if you have a desire to lose a sleep for couple of weeks) it absolutely proves nothing other that there are some really kinky people out there. Where is "collusion" in terms which Dems "framed" their narrative?

[Tony Wikrent]

This is somewhat tangential to the discussion, but since there are so many commentators, I entertain hopes of actually getting some response. What was British intelligence doing before and during the American Civil War? There's some material on British intelligence operations during the Revolutionary War, and lots of material on Union and Confederate intelligence operations. But British intelligence? Not one book out there that I know of. There is Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South, by Christopher Dickey, but it is carefully limited to looking only at the British consul in Charleston, though there are tantalizing hints of other operations, such as a former British Army officer who advised John Brown, and who is passed off as merely an adventurous soldier of fortune.

There's "British Preparations for War with the North, 1861-1862" in the Oct. 1961 English Historical Review which indicates that a good place to look is the Royal Navy and its North American Station. The importance of the Royal Navy in tracing British intelligence in USA is central to David Ramsay's 2009 'Blinker' Hall: Spymaster: The Man Who Brought America into World War I, which I highly recommend. So there's a very interesting and suspicious pattern: lots of material on British intelligence in the late 18th century, hardly anything in the early through middle 19th century, and lots again beginning with the Crimean War and reaching a flood tide by World War 1.

[Alves]

In all the midia wars that are going on over the supposed collusions, now we see some trying to push the line that it was the democrats that colluded with the russians to fabricate a dossie to smear Trump.

That sort of begs the question: how are we sure that the russians are involved with the production of the dossie? Even more, if there are real russians in this mess, did they have ties with the russian government or were they some fringe opposition group?

The way things are going, looks like the russians will be blamed no matter what and both sides of the USA political spectrum will continue with the campaign to bring back the cold war.

[Thomas]

"FEINSTEIN puts her neck out to vouch for the Trump-Russia dossier: "Not a single revelation in the Steele dossier has been refuted," she said in a new statement blasting Grassley's criminal referral of Steele.

Does that imply she's seen the pee pee tapes?"

No, it implies she knows where her neck is going to be if this scorched earth narrative is not accepted. Hang together or hang separately, though the former would be more efficient.

"...it absolutely proves nothing other that there are some really kinky people out there."

Among Nancy's constituency are the top players in the Adult Entertainment Industry. I am sure they make the cocktail party chatter lively and give good ideas for political hit-jobs.

[blowback]

Maybe it's the other way round. Perhaps the British unwittingly helped Trump get elected. It appears that Swedish prosecutors wanted to drop the sexual assault charges against Julian Assange back in 2013 but the British prosecutors wouldn't let them. What or rather who persuaded the British prosecutors to do this? The Washington Borg?

It's difficult to know what would have happened with the leaked DNC and Podesta e-mails if Assange hadn't been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London but because he no doubt blamed Obama for his predicament with a Grand Jury and because he had nothing better to do, why wouldn't he make life as difficult as possible for the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/11/sweden-tried-to-drop-assange-extradition-in-2013-cps-emails-show

[J]

PT,

Judicial Watch is mounting a lawsuit against the Deep State and its players.

Here's Judicial Watch's petition signing support page for its lawsuit against the Deep State and its players.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/poll/lawsuit-deep-state/?source=69&utm_medium=display&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=20170608_Judicial-31444_google&utm_content=Judicial-31444

Judicial Watch's statement on their support page:

"SUPPORT OUR LAWSUIT TO EXPOSE THE CIA & THE DOJ'S ILLEGAL INTELLIGENCE LEAKS

HELP EXPOSE THE DEEP STATE

Washington doesn’t want what the American people want.

There is a deep state, shadow government, in place, a government staffed by recent appointees or hires of Obama. There are lots of Democrats in the bureaucracy, and lots of Republicans, who think they know better than President Trump and are willing to thwart the rule of law.

It’s not just Republican vs. Democrat or Conservative vs. Liberal. It’s the Washington Establishment vs. the people!

They will go to virtually any lengths to maintain the status quo and the public corruption that erodes our Constitution. We’ve seen this with the reckless disclosure of communications intelligence information aimed at destroying President Trump’s national security advisor, Lieutenant General Mike Flynn.

This is all part of a political smear job by the Washington establishment who are rightly terrified of President Trump and the “swamp draining” that he has promised. They are actively organizing against him and subverting the rule of law!

Fortunately, Judicial Watch aims to get to the truth behind these crimes. We filed a lawsuit against the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the Treasury Department for records on these illegal leaks!

Sign the petition to support our lawsuit against members of the shadow government actively subverting the will of the people! "