NOTE: We who are part of the resistance need to be contacting our US lawmakers to support the passage of a bill to resolve the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) issue; and to make our legislators know that we had better never witness the president firing the FBI’s Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He needs to able to complete the Trump-Russian probe to his satisfaction. In addition, the current plans for the president to fire the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have to be stopped in its tracks, as he needs to be able oversee that the FBI’s Trump-Russian probe proceeds in a competent, professional manner where the “rule of law” is protected from political partisanship.
The republican legislators have to be warned that “We the People” want the so-called Memo developed by the very partisan House Judiciary Committee Rep. Devlin Nunes of California which contains material from intelligence reports to be reviewed by the Justice department. Rep. Nunes had previously recused himself from the Committee’s Trump-Russian inquiry due to his being exposed for his over the top maneuvers to protect the president.
TO FAX: Resistbot will do it all for you. Text “RESIST” to 50409 or message Resistbot on Facebook and it will walk you through the steps to fax your Senator and will tell you when your fax has been delivered.
The main US Senate phone line 202-225-3121 (202-224-3121) or YOU CAN FIND PHONE NUMBERS FOR EVERY SENATOR HERE. or U.S. Senate: Senators of the 115th Congress.
Find Your Representative · House.gov – U.S. House of Representatives
I like the phone number 877-650-0039.
Folks this is serious. We all have been observing how republicans in the US Congress have been working overtime to orchestrate or to make up anything to discredit the FBI and its Trump-Russian connections probe led by the Special Counsel Robert Mueller III, to where they have crossed a line in their criticisms based on a memo which contains cheery picked details from classified intelligence reports garnered by the staff of Rep. Devlin Nunes; texts proving a bias by a couple of FBI agents and conspiracy theories about secret meetings where agents have been conspiring to execute a coup against the presidency.
Their latest plan is to make the memo public this week of January 29, 2018, without honoring the request by the US Department of Justice to review it for its classified data content which could reveal sources and methods that would do harm to US national security interests, if revealed (Does anyone remember about how they fussed over this possibility with Mrs. Clinton’s emails?)
The republicans’ purpose in publicly sharing this memo is to discredit the basis of the issuance of the initial FISA warrant in the summer of 2016, which set the FBI’s Trump- Russia inquiry into motion. The republicans are having difficulties in accepting the fact that the initial FISA warrant had been issued by passing muster with a FISA court and probably was based on more than one line of reasoning.
It is being reported that once the memo has been released into the public domain, the plan is to then set up the firing of the Justice Department’s Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who allegedly acted inappropriately by renewing the FISA warrant, which would in effect, derail the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.
Here’s the rest of the story…
On January 28, 2018, Nicholas Fandos, Adam Goldman and Sharon Franiere of the New York Times penned the following report, “Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein”
Excerpts:
“A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring, according to three people familiar with it.”
“The renewal shows that the Justice Department under President Trump saw reason to believe that the associate, Carter Page, was acting as a Russian agent. But the reference to Mr. Rosenstein’s actions in the memo — a much-disputed document that paints the investigation into Russian election meddling as tainted from the start — indicates that Republicans may be moving to seize on his role as they seek to undermine the inquiry.”
“The memo’s primary contention is that F.B.I. and Justice Department officials failed to adequately explain to an intelligence court judge in initially seeking a warrant for surveillance of Mr. Page that they were relying in part on research by an investigator, Christopher Steele, that had been financed by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.”
“Democrats who have read the document say Republicans have cherry-picked facts to create a misleading and dangerous narrative. But in their efforts to discredit the inquiry, Republicans could potentially use Mr. Rosenstein’s decision to approve the renewal to suggest that he failed to properly vet a highly sensitive application for a warrant to spy on Mr. Page, who served as a Trump foreign policy adviser until September 2016.”
“A handful of senior Justice Department officials can approve an application to the secret surveillance court, but in practice that responsibility often falls to the deputy attorney general. No information has publicly emerged that the Justice Department or the F.B.I. did anything improper while seeking the surveillance warrant involving Mr. Page.”
“Mr. Trump has long been mistrustful of Mr. Rosenstein, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, who appointed the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, and now oversees his investigation into Mr. Trump’s campaign and possible obstruction of justice by the president. Mr. Trump considered firing Mr. Rosenstein last summer. Instead, he ordered Mr. Mueller to be fired, then backed down after the White House counsel refused to carry out the order, The New York Times reported last week.”
“Mr. Trump is now again telling associates that he is frustrated with Mr. Rosenstein, according to one official familiar with the conversations.”
“It is difficult to judge whether Republicans’ criticism of the surveillance has merit. Although House members have been allowed to view the Republican memo in a secure setting, both that memo and a Democratic one in rebuttal remain shrouded in secrecy. And the applications to obtain and renew the warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court are even more closely held. Only a small handful of members of Congress and staff members have reviewed them.”
“Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, whose staff wrote the memo, could vote as early as Monday (1/29/18), using an obscure House rule, to declassify its contents and make it available to the public. Mr. Trump would have five days to try to block their effort, potentially setting up a high-stakes standoff between the president and his Justice Department, which opposes its immediate release.”
“The White House has made clear to the Justice Department in recent days that it wants the Republican memo to be made public. Asked about the issue on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Marc Short, the White House’s head of legislative affairs, said that if the memo outlined serious concerns, “the American people should know that.”
“To obtain the warrant involving Mr. Page, the government needed to show probable cause that he was acting as an agent of Russia. Once investigators get approval from the Justice Department for a warrant, prosecutors take it to a surveillance court judge, who decides whether to approve it.”
“People familiar with the contents of the memo spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details remained secret.”
“A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, said in a statement: “The president has been clear publicly and privately that he wants absolute transparency throughout this process. Based on numerous news reports, top officials at the F.B.I. have engaged in conduct that shows bias against President Trump and bias for Hillary Clinton.”
“Mr. Page, a former Moscow-based investment banker who later founded an investment company in New York, had been on the F.B.I.’s radar for years. In 2013, an investigation revealed that a Russian spy had tried to recruit him. Mr. Page was never charged with any wrongdoing, and he denied that he would ever have cooperated with Russian intelligence officials.”
“But a trip Mr. Page took to Russia in July 2016while working on Mr. Trump’s campaign caught the bureau’s attention again, and American law enforcement officials began conducting surveillance on him in the fall of 2016, shortly after he left the campaign. It is unclear what they learned about Mr. Page between then and when they sought the order’s renewal roughly six months later.”
“The renewal effort came in the late spring, sometime after the Senate confirmed Mr. Rosenstein as the Justice Department’s No. 2 official in late April. Around that time, following Mr. Trump’s firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director in May, Mr. Rosenstein appointed Mr. Mueller, a former head of the bureau, to take over the department’s Russia investigation. Mr. Rosenstein is overseeing the inquiry because Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself.”
Gronda Morin 
Why is the question all Americans must ask? The increase in fervor means Nunes and other Trump sycophants believe the outcome of the investigation will be negative. Nunes has zero credibility after earlier this year.
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Dear Keith,
The republicans are in a state of panic and they are acting accordingly, which we all know will not end well. But they are intent to keep going in order to protect the president, and the heck if Rep. Devlin Nunes is credible. They know that he is acting in a partisan basis but so are they.
Hopefully, the “rule of law” will prevail. The FBI’s Special Counsel Robert Mueller III is close to scheduling an interview with the president. This signals that he is close to completing a report about his findings with regards to “Obstruction of Justice” against the president .
There are the president’s republican sycophants in the US Congress who are willing to do just about anything to blunt this from happening.
The members of the House Intelligence Committee plan to vote on this memo today (1/29/18) to declassify it and then to have it delivered to the president who will then approve its release to the public. They are saying that the DOJ does not have any say in what happens with the memo.
Hugs, Gronda
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Gronda, a quiet man going about his business is a scary thing. Mueller just keeps moving forward, while others keep tripping over each other to point fingers. I am hard pressed to believe Trump is not guilty of something. Keith
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Dear Keith,
I’ve seen this show before where the partisan republicans think they have something like the Fusion GPS testimony which they selectively leaked to where the GPS Fusion executives had to beg to get the entire transcript into the public domain. These partisan republicans are going to try another play but I for one, do not give these folks any credibility.
We are going have to watch another circus performance.
Hugs, Gronda
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Gronda, thanks for your detailed responses. You are far more conversant on these topics than the average American. One of my dilemmas is do politicians actually pay the price that they need to pay? As an Independent, I see too many that escape scrutiny they truly deserve and brought on themselves.
My message to legislators is to remind them their oath is to the Constitution and not a tribe or a President. Nunes has already shown he is not credible, so I am not expecting a crfedible document from him. Yet, it may not matter as the purpose is to undermine and only 26% of Republicans think Mueller will be fair. That is a shame as he is a Republican, which matters not, but has been given high marks on integrity from both sides. He is also unnerving the hell out of people as he is going about his business in a quiet manner.
We must let this man and team do their work. If they uncovers things, then it is being done in detailed manner and we should pay attention. The sad truth is if Watergate occurred today, Nixon would have never needed to resign given the tribal BS and homer pseudo news that goes on. And, that would have been a shame, as Nixon led a criminal enterprise from the White House.
Of course, that is what this Independent, former Republican thinks. Keith
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Unfortunately you have not seen the evidence the Republicans hold and all the Resistors in the universe cannot stop the evidence at this point. If you weren’t a dyed in the wool Democrat, you would have seen all the evidence already. Your lucky day to see it is just about to happen. Stay tuned, and apologize to your Followers for leading them astray.
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Dear Brh82,
I have been calling Republican legislators on this point. The memo had better not compromise any sources of data or methods of collection or this memo will not just blow up in the faces of the House Intelligence Committee republicans but on the entire republican party.
As a former republican of too many years to count I do not want to see this. If that memo is proven to be misleading, missing key facts which would paint an entirely different picture, distortions, etc., this will blow up on the entire republican party.
There are plenty of investigative reporters waiting to do the due diligence that those in the House Intelligence Committee may have omitted.
There is no way that the contents within the memo will be accepted at face value after the republican Chair Rep. Devlin Nunes pulled his shenanigans last March 2017 where he directed a show where he supposedly uncovered intelligence data to support the president’s assertions that President Obama had ordered him to be wiretapped. In short, Rep. Nunes Staff who compiled the data for this memo is suspect at the start.
Based on past republican efforts to discredit the FBI, DOJ, the Trump-Russian probe, I wouldn’t be crowing with victory quite yet
The democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have their counter-memo which will probably be leaked.
This is not what I expect or want to see from our governmental institutions and governing bodies.
Best Regards, Gronda
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Sorry, Gronda, like I said, YOU haven’t seen the evidence, and Schiff’s version is like Schiff, always full of Schiff! If you want TRUTH, bother yourself to see the evidence at theconservativetreehouse.com
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Dear brh82,
It is possible that you are right on this one but I for one, will not been biting without the memo having been fully vetted by a myriad of fact checkers.
And I would put monies that the memo will be very holy, or full of wholes based on Rep. Nunes own track record.
Best Regards, Gronda
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Are you still too lazy or invested to read the evidence on theconservativetreehouse.com? It’s a shame you are wasting time with the LOSERS pursuits when you SEEM intelligent , but for that.
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Dear BRH82,
I have one rule on this blog and that is, bloggers who comment must be respectful of the other party with dissenting viewpoints .
Calling peoples lazy or losers is not acceptable here but agreeing to disagree is okay.
This is your one and only warning. Next time you will be blocked.
Of course I did read the source you referenced, and I was not persuaded.
I respectfully reserve my right to disagree at this point. I am open to being wrong. This is one time I prefer to see how this memo saga develops.
Best Regards, Gronda
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Actually, speaking from the UK and thus being detached from the fire which always arise from any nation’s internal debate, I have found Gronda’s posts informative and detailed, and devoid of the polemics most of us are prey to.
She does not need to aplogise in any form.
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Dear BRH82,
Treating others with respect means more than not using derogatory comments. It means being courteous. This comment by you which I did block, tells others that only you know the truth and if others don’t follow your line of thinking, then there must be something wrong with them. “I only asked her to subject herself to verified truth , which you might do yourself, by the way.”
NO ONE has a right to claim to be the sole arbiter of truth. To truly share ideas and points of view, you have to accept that not everyone will agree with you and that is okay. Perfectly wonderful, decent people disagree a lot.
Your future comments will be blocked because you appear to find it very difficult to figure out a way to comment without the expectation that others have to agree with you and without you needing to respond with an insult.
Best Regards, Gronda
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isn’t “House intelligence committee” a misnomer? I figured out this morning that the ONLY blessed thing I ever do with my phone anymore is either call a senator or a congressman! It’s annoying.
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Dear Suze,
I have been doing about 10 calls a day. I do tweet our legislators and I do write notes. I wish I lived in Washington DC where I could protest outside their doors or somewhere nearby.
It is frustrating but even the democratic leaders are asking for us to keep up the pressure as it helps.
Thanks for doing what you’ve been doing.
Hugs, Gronda
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I’m very grateful I no longer live in Alexandria…i would be at their offices daily and probably have 40 court dates by now!
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What a colossal mess, Gronda. Methinks passing a bill to protect Mueller from being fired is becoming more urgent by the day.
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Dear John Fioravanti,
It is no longer just Mr. Mueller who maybe in the partisan republican cross hairs but the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who has reign over the FBI and its investigations and agents.
The FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has stepped down as of today, 1/29/18. There are not a lot of details about why he did this.
Hugs, Gronda
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I understood that McCabe was assistant director of the FBI. I know he said he’d retire as soon as he was eligible – in March, I think. I’m surprised he resigned today. Interesting days in Washington.
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Dear John Fioravanti,
You are right. Mr. McCabe is the FBI Deputy Director. I had a senior moment when I said he was with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Thanks for catching that Fubar.
I am speculating only that Andrew McCabe may have stepped down based on an ( IG )(Inspector General report ) . This was initiated over the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email case over that October surprise letter. This is only a guess.
Hugs, Gronda
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I guess we’ll need to wait for more information, Gronda.
I loved how you responded to that Republican commentator above. I don’t know why some people have to resort to personal attacks when they don’t seem to be convincing someone. Kudos, dear.
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ah ha, the plot thickens… and the more convinced I for one become that the Russians thought it would be great fun to see how much damage they could do to their old adversary…and they did a bang-up job of screwing up our country. The traitor man got put into office by the Electoral College…and even Facebook is admitting that the Russian-bots just trolled and trolled until they convinced way too many trumpies….the “my guy right or wrong” and good lord did you see the groupies CNN compiled…. the blonde
“Christians” who are convinced that The Donald has changed…. because he has all these so-called Christians “praying for him” and….my absolute favorite… he is a grandfather, so he couldn’t possibly be mixed up with any badness.
The Republicans are all scared to death of the trumpster, although we all know that they all HATE him even more than the Dems do. He is convinced that he was put on this earth to take over the US and by golly he’s giving it the old try— Chaos Reigns.
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Dear Gradmama2011,
Your analysis is right on! The Russians have succeeded in doing real damage with their Russian asset in the White House. There are legislators trying to force the president to do finally act on the sanctions that were legislated months ago in response to their meddling in US politics.
These house republicans are abetting the Russians and the Russian asset living in the White House.
Hugs, Gronda
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No fan of Republicans here! The circus never dies down, does it?
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Well reported Gronda.
I don’t usually get involved in the debates between US citizens on internal issues when there are valid details involved but felt an outside response was due to one critic of your blog.
The fact remains the majority of the US citizens are unhappy with this government. Now they can call ‘Fake News’ as much as they like, but unless they reach out and try by persuasion to convince the majority they are going to come across in a less than favourable light.
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Dear Roger,
it has become more difficult to simply share different points of view without resorting to name calling and put downs Our current president is the perfect example.
As a former competent sales person, I can say that a person will never persuade anyone else of anything if they resort to demeaning the other party. That is the perfect way to lose the sale. People will shut down and not hear you if they don’t feel comfortable and safe to speak their mind. Rejection is inevitable and if handled gracefully, it may lead to a yes, at a later date. At no point does the sales person accept being treated disrespectfully for that is a sale not worth making. Peoples who mistreat others are not worth entering into a business relationship as the other party is not trustworthy.
This is why I know that Mr. Trump is not a great negotiator. He doesn’t know how. He wins by being a bully.
Hugs, Fronda
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Hi Gronda.
I reached the same conclusions working in the UK Civil Service, there it was necessary to negotiate an understanding of the legislation, even if you personally did not agree with it.
Take care
Roger
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