Thread by @themarketswork

1) My latest @EpochTimes Nine Days in May: The Quiet Struggle Between Rosenstein and McCabe

theepochtimes.com/nine-days-in-m…

2) On Dec. 7, 2018, CNN published an article discussing events in the eight days following the May 9, 2017, firing of former FBI Director James Comey by President Donald Trump.

The CNN article was a rehash of two prior articles from the NYT and WAPO.
cnn.com/2018/12/06/pol…

3) Left out of the CNN article, however, are a number of critical facts, not the least of which is that much of what was being described came from memos written by McCabe, who is now the focus of a grand jury investigation.

The actual sequence of events is far more interesting.

4) Comey was fired on May 9, 2017.

Two days later, on May 11, Acting FBI Dir McCabe testified before Senate Intelligence Committee.

McCabe agreed to notify the committee “of any effort to interfere with the FBI’s investigation into links between Russia and the Trump campaign.”

5) McCabe also noted that there had been “no effort to impede our investigation to date.”

In other words, McCabe testified that he saw no evidence of obstruction from President Trump or his administration.

6) McCabe failed to inform the committee that he was actively considering opening an obstruction of justice probe into President Trump—a matter he would aggressively push in a meeting with Rosenstein just five days later.

7) During McCabe’s testimony - approximately two hours into the hearing - the chair and co-chairs of the Senate Intelligence Committee (Burr & Warner), abruptly excused themselves from the hearing to attend a meeting with Rosenstein in an adjoining SCIF.

8) Present were four individuals: Rosenstein, Burr, Warner and then-acting director of the DOJ’s NSD, Dana Boente, who is now the FBI’s general counsel.

Boente was personally appointed by Trump as acting attorney general after Sally Yates was fired.

9) Worth asking: What was so pressing that it required the chair and co-chair to suddenly depart from the proceedings.

It is not known with any certainty what was discussed, but Rosenstein & Boente felt the meeting was urgent enough to hold it in the midst of McCabe’s testimony.

10) For the last six months, Bruce Ohr had been communicating with Christopher Steele.

Ohr had been transmitting communications with Steele through a series of FBI interviews that were documented in FD-302s.

Meetings between the FBI & Ohr came to an abrupt halt on May 15, 2017.

11) On the morning of May 16, 2017, Rosenstein reportedly suggested to McCabe that he secretly record Trump.

Others framed the conversation differently, noting that Rosenstein responded sarcastically to McCabe, “What do you want to do, Andy, wire the president?”

12) The alleged comments by Rosenstein occurred at a meeting where McCabe was “pushing for the Justice Department to open an investigation into the president.”

Note that just five days earlier, McCabe had publicly testified that there was no obstruction.

13) Following Rosenstein’s meeting with McCabe, Trump met (same day) with former FBI Director Robert Mueller, reportedly as an interview for the FBI Director job.

It appears that Rosenstein was present at that meeting as well.

14) Trump: “We were interviewing replacements at the F.B.I. Did you know Mueller was one of the people that was being interviewed? …he [Mueller] leaves the office. Rosenstein leaves the office. The next day, he [Mueller] is appointed special counsel.”
nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/…

15) The idea that Mueller would be considered for the FBI Director role seems highly unlikely, although not impossible.

Mueller had previously served as the FBI Director from 2001 to 2013—two years beyond normal 10-year tenure - which required approval from the senate.

16) On May 17, 2017, the day after Trump’s & Rosenstein's meeting with Mueller—and the day after Rosenstein’s encounter with McCabe—Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel.

17) The conflicting words and actions of McCabe cannot be overlooked.

On the one hand McCabe testified there was no obstruction from Trump.

Just five days later, McCabe was attempting to convince Rosenstein to go along with his efforts to open an obstruction probe into Trump.

18) Events suggest that McCabe’s efforts were met with alarm from Rosenstein, who responded by appointing Mueller.

The May 17 appointment of Mueller accomplished one very significant thing.

It shifted control of the Russia Investigation from the FBI and McCabe to Mueller.

19) Several months later, McCabe would lie under oath to DOJ Inspector general Michael Horowitz regarding authorization of FBI leaking.

Five days after McCabe lied to the IG, Rosenstein secretly issued Mueller a revised memo that remains heavily redacted.

20) On this same day, Christopher Wray was named the new FBI director.

On Aug. 4, 2017, AG Sessions announced the formation of a newly established Leak Task Force.

Rosenstein and Wray were tasked with overseeing all leak investigations.

21) One individual who has seen an unredacted version of the Aug. 2 Rosenstein memo is U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who presided over the trial of Paul Manafort.

Ellis received a copy of the memo on May 17, 2018.
theepochtimes.com/the-rosenstein…

22) Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who recently assumed authority over the special counsel investigation, has also seen the unredacted memo.

Like Judge Ellis, Whitaker has shown no indication he has any issue with the contents of Rosenstein’s memo.

23) During a White House celebration of Hanukkah on Dec. 6, 2018, Trump specifically called out to Rosenstein, who was one of the attendees.

The short exchange can be found at the 1:35 minute mark (prompted).

24) During a June 28, 2018, sworn testimony before Congress, Rosenstein addressed his signing of the Page FISA:

25) On Dec. 6, 2018, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes discussed the FISA signing issue during a Fox News segment:

26) The media are a constant source of numerous false narratives.

A full examination of underlying facts remains an ongoing necessity in today’s misinformation environment.

And yes, my thoughts are just that - my thoughts.

Caveat Emptor - and reach YOUR OWN conclusions.

/End