In February of 2023 I wrote an article about Durham being assigned a media leak investigation.
Thanks to recent declassified docs, we now know that investigation was called "Tropic Vortex."
My article traced several subjects: the leaks investigations, the NYT engaging in a court battle against DOJ, Renteria memo, and Special Counsel Durham's efforts to investigate the Russian memoranda.
Thanks to recently declassified pages of the Durham Report and the declassified documents the FBI just turned over to the House, we now know a lot more about these efforts.
And the future shock I mentioned in the title of the article—it's here.
Durham concluded the "Tropic Vortex" investigation in December 2017 and provided the memos with "conclusions and recommendations to Attorney General Jeff Sessions."
Normally, an investigation of this kind would be conducted by the Counterintel Division, but "at least one of the subjects of the investigation is a former senior FBI official who previously worked in NSD."
So it was handed over to Durham and US Postal Inspection.
The conclusions and recommendations that were given to AG Sessions were classified.
"Tropic Vortex" was connected to other leak investigations as well.
Full investigation
Prohibited status
Criminal investigation
Sensitive investigative matter
One subject is a former senior FBI official
The criminal referral indicated that classified information had been leaked to the NYT and published in an October 2016 article.
Durham concluded that investigation on December 11 2018 and gave his conclusions and recommendations to A/AG Whitaker.
"Additional details are classified..."
"Durham recommended NO prosecution"
A couple months later a full investigation is reopened because the investigation Durham and the USPIS did "may contain information relevant to other FBI investigations of" leaked classified material.
A review of those investigative materials is completed in April 2019 and notes "significant findings therefrom in a document [REDACTED]"
The findings are provided to officials assigned to other leak investigations.
"the USPIS investigation did not determine who" the USG official mentioned as a source was.
"the findings revealed [REDACTED>>>>>>>>>>>>]
A preservation letter was issued for [REDACTED]
But "USAO-DC subsequently declined to pursue additional legal process" and in January 2020 "issued a prosecutorial declination decision for Tropic Vortex."
So that's the end of that particular part of the story, for now, but not the end of the whole story.
It's pretty cool to see something I wrote about 2.5yrs ago come up in these documents and especially in the Durham Classified Annex!
I'll have more to say about this and other recently declassified material in my next show.
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@CIADirector @DNIGabbard Two days before this email exchange, as the draft ICA was going through the review process, Brennan was pressuring people in his agency.
🧵Highlights from the FBI memos declassified by @FBIDirectorKash on Monday.
These five memos reveal a scheme by members and staffers of the HPSCI to acquire and leak classified information. Their aim was to smear President Trump, "impeach" him, and "topple" his administration.
@FBIDirectorKash First memo is from 9/21/17
HPSCI staff believed that if Hillary won the 2016 election, Rep. Adam Schiff would become Director of the CIA.
@FBIDirectorKash They never thought she would lose.
. @FBIDirectorKash just declassified an FBI memo revealing that a Democrat staffer, turned whistleblower, informed the bureau that in 2017, then-Representative Adam Schiff directed the leaking of classified information to damage President Trump.
🧵Update on DOJ's efforts to unseal Epstein and Maxwell grand jury material:
Judge Engelmeyer has DENIED DOJ's motion to unseal the grand jury materials in the Maxwell case.
"A member of the public familiar with the Maxwell trial record who reviewed the grand jury materials that the Government proposes to unseal would [] learn next to nothing new."
"The Court’s review confirmed that unsealing the grand jury materials would not reveal new information of any consequence."
I'll break down the judge's 31-page order in this thread.
🧵Update on DOJ's efforts to unseal Epstein and Maxwell grand jury material:
- DOJ has moved to unseal the Maxwell and Epstein grand jury exhibits in addition to the transcripts.
- Two more attorneys have withdrawn from Ghislaine's team. It seems David Oscar Markus, who is also counsel to Hillary Clinton, will be Ghislaine's primary counsel going forward.
- Epstein's Estate has responded and taken no position on the unsealing.
- More letters from victims have been docketed.
I'll parse the filings in the thread below.
Here's the previous thread of updates. It's rather lengthy but full of information that dedicated followers of these cases will find valuable.
I'll parse the updates in the order that I listed them in the original post. Here is DOJ's motion to unseal the grand jury exhibits. This was filed in both Epstein and Maxwell.