Tulsi Gabbard, one of Vladimir Putin’s many useful idiots in the Trump administration, has sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department asking the DOJ to probe Obama-era officials for “manufactured and politicized intelligence” regarding the Trump-Russia probe.
Why we’re here: the growing scandal over the Epstein files, which is beginning to look like Trump’s Watergate, with the reporting from over the weekend about a concerted effort on the part of the Justice Department to flag any references to Trump’s name in the roughly 100,000 Epstein-related records.
With Watergate, it wasn’t the low-level break-in that led to Nixon’s downfall, but rather, the coverup.
The Epstein files could end up paying out on both ends.
ICYMI
- Trump, comically, tries to pin Epstein files on Comey, Obama, ‘the Biden’
- House Republicans block release of Epstein files: We all know why (ahem, Trump)
- Poll: MAGA not happy with Trump coverup of Jeffrey Epstein files
Which is what is behind the criminal referral on the Russia probe, with Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, trying to recast the probe as a “treasonous conspiracy” of Democrats who wanted to undermine Trump’s first term in the White House.
The hard part to this is, a U.S. Senate investigation led by Republicans found in 2020 that Russia had indeed “launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf,” with this as the kicker:
“The Trump campaign chairman had regular contact with a Russian intelligence officer and says other Trump associates were eager to exploit the Kremlin’s aid, particularly by maximizing the impact of the disclosure of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers.”
Emails, you may remember, that Trump asked Russia, publicly, to hack.
Can’t make this stuff up, folks.
ICYMI
- Paul Manafort resigns from Trump campaign
- Senate Intel Vice Chairman Mark Warner on Manafort conviction
- Former top Trump-era FBI official charged in case involving Russian oligarch
These were among the highlights of the 1,000-page report, which was overseen by North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and later, after Burr stepped down due to an FBI investigation into allegations of insider trading, by Marco Rubio, then a U.S. senator from Florida, now Trump’s Secretary of State.
“No one ever claimed Russia altered votes, but everyone claims that Russia tried to interfere on Trump’s behalf – well-documented, well-vetted, Senate Intelligence, bipartisan, unanimous report, the Mueller Report,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Monday.
Warner, incidentally, is, or was – not sure of the status now – a Rubio buddy, and our senior senator was among those who voted to confirm Rubio to the post at the State Department earlier this year.
I highlight Rubio here to make the point that, if there’s anything “manufactured,” “politicized” and “treasonous” going on with the Russia probe, top Republicans – including one now serving as a Trump hatchet man – are involved.
Rubio wasn’t included in the criminal referral from the DNI, because of course he wasn’t.
Marco Rubio is a Republican; Tulsi Gabbard’s focus is on Democrats.
“Is there not anyone going to stand up against this politicization?” Warner said. “The country needs an independent intelligence community that speaks truth to power, not that makes up fables to try to please Donald Trump.”
That’s what is going on here.
This criminal referral from Gabbard isn’t about anything resembling an actual effort to get at some truth.
It’s about giving the conservative fake-news media something to run with since they’re under strict orders from Chronic Venous Insufficiency Hitler not to talk about the Epstein files anymore.
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Chris Graham
