(THREAD--91 tweets). “The Asset” is an in-depth profile of Felix Sater (my favorite subject) by BuzzFeed’s Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold. tinyurl.com/ya6j2738 1/ It’s an important contribution, with some interesting new details, but it must be read with caution. Some important parts of it are unreliable and misleading.

(THREAD--26 tweets) In a letter dated Jan 4, House Intel Chairman Devin Nunes memorialized a conversation he had had the previous evening with Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein tinyurl.com/y8jh4fm2 and tinyurl.com/y8jkm666 . 1/ Nunes’ letter memorialized an arrangement with the DOJ according to which designated majority and ranking members of the committee and their respective staffs would be able to view at the DOJ headquarters these materials:

(THREAD-22 tweets) An important story was put out (planted) late today that appeared in two places: The Intercept (in an article by Pulitzer-prize winning author James Risen) tinyurl.com/ydf9l6qt 1/ and in the New York Times tinyurl.com/ydx5xcaf

(THREAD--21 tweets). Okay, everybody, I TOTALLY nailed this one in my long thread last night. tinyurl.com/yd74h3ay 1/ This morning, Sen. Dianne Feinstein published a scathing rebuttal of the letter and memo that Sens. Grassley and Graham sent to to Rod Rosenstein dated 4 Jan 2018. tinyurl.com/y99p3l9b

(THREAD--52 tweets) Notes on the Grassley-Graham Memorandum to Rod Rosenstein dated 4 Jan 2018. 1/ A copy of the Memorandum that is much less heavily redacted than the one originally released was released yesterday. tinyurl.com/yauksgjs

(THREAD--196 TWEETS). Mueller, the FBI, and the dog that hasn’t barked.
Glenn Simpson’s Congressional testimonies, and an update on the Steele dossier.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventure of Silver Blaze
tinyurl.com/ybyuuc4n 1/ Glenn Simpson’s testimony before the the Senate Judiciary Committee on 22 Aug and House Intelligence Committee on 14 Nov of this year provide a clearer timeline of events during the 2016 presidential campaign and some very important and useful insights into the Steele dossier.

(THREAD--44 TWEETS). A spate of articles and threads appeared yesterday in response to the bombshell NYT article reporting that in June Trump ordered Don McGahn to fire Mueller (which McGahn refused to do). 1/ Here is what I have concluded from reading a number of these threads and articles. (See the end of this thread for links to the references I use and refer to.)

(THREAD--24 TWEETS). Donald Trump may actually remember the following event differently from the way it actually happened. This is not exculpatory. It is in fact very disturbing. tinyurl.com/yatc96pc 1/ I would like suggest that when Trump denies that he actually said: “Take the Haitians out” at the meeting (and of course he actually did say it),

(THREAD--55 TWEETS) Donald Trump and Uncle Jake
Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” is a game changer. 1/ There are many reasons to read Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury,” but the biggest one is that it makes an incontrovertible case that Trump.Is.Not.Well.

(THREAD--11 Tweets) CNN: Ryan backed Nunes.
This is very bad.
Ryan bulldozes the way FBI handles super-confidential docs involving ongoing sensitive investigations. Chooses Nunes over the needs of our highest law enforcement agency.
tinyurl.com/ycvu9nka 1/ Note (1) that the controversy involves the Steele dossier; and (2) that there are only a few possibilities to consider about the merits here.

(THREAD--13 TWEETS) CNN is reporting today on some significant developments and news concerning the Mueller probe. tinyurl.com/y7ux5k36 1/ First, news that Mueller is seeking more info on Sergei Millian (Source D of the Steele dossier):

(THREAD--8 TWEETS) Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan: It's time for Jeff Sessions to go, as shown by the latest FBI leak
tinyurl.com/y9zbq7ww 1/ This is what happens with a poorly thought-out article like the NYT article on Dec 30, which appeared to make the Papadopoulos story central to the FBI’s investigations.tinyurl.com/yc5ekk6q

(THREAD-21 TWEETS) The Simpson-Fritsch op-ed in the NYT yesterday has carried the Trump-Russia collusion story to an entirely new, explosive level. tinyurl.com/y9dqsxxr 1/ .@NatashaBertrand has spoken to someone, apparently--possibly even Simpson and/or Fritsch?--who want(s) us to believe that the REFERENT of the crucial paragraph in their op-ed was Papadopoulos! tinyurl.com/y8xo3v32

(THREAD--7 TWEETS). According to CNN’s Manu Raju, it is likely that the House Intel Committee will write two reports: a committee report and a minority report by the Democrats. tinyurl.com/yaz2k984 1/ According to Jim Himes (D-Conn), who is cited in Raju’s article, Democrats maintain that

(THREAD--21 TWEETS). I have emphasized in numerous tweets and threads the importance of Felix Sater and Michael D. Cohen in the RussiaGate narrative. 1/ It is worth pointing out that the further back in time the 2016 Trump campaign narrative is pushed, the more likely it becomes that Cohen and Sater are critical figures in Mueller’s national security investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

(THREAD--19 TWEETS) Okay, I’ve finally had it. The big story today is the NYT article on Papadopoulos; & the big takeaway from the article, according to pretty much EVERYBODY, tinyurl.com/yc5ekk6q 1/ is that the story shows that the FBI investigation didn’t begin with the Steele dossier.

(THREAD--7 tweets). Yesterday I said that I agreed completely with the tweeters who approved of the decision of Michael Schmidt at the NYT to let Trump free associate, without challenges, at the “impromptu” interview at Mar-a-Lago. tinyurl.com/yd49823x 1/ Now we have WaPo reporting that WH staff and advisers were “surprised,” “frustrated,” and “embarrassed” by that freewheeling interview, where none of them were present. tinyurl.com/yaggqz5c

(THREAD--25 tweets). This article by NR’s @AndrewCMcCarthy suffers from a number of fatal flaws. tinyurl.com/y7fvlszf 1/ McCarthy labors mightily to show that the Steele dossier was used--partially or wholly--as the basis for the FISA warrant against Carter Page.

(THREAD--61 tweets). Unless you have been on another planet for the last several weeks, you have undoubtedly noticed the mounting, well-concerted attacks on the Mueller probe by Trump partisans. 1/ These attacks are motivated by partisan politics. As Adam Schiff has put it: it is “an effort to attack the DOJ, an effort to attack the FBI, to attack Bob Mueller,

(THREAD) I have argued in a previous thread that the “infamous” pee-tape of the Steele dossier exists. The pee-tape allegation has been widely ridiculed, tinyurl.com/yd2dsd2w 1/ and is almost universally regarded as evidence that the whole dossier--or large parts of it--must be untrue, even “fake,” as Trump has claimed.

(THREAD) THE “PEE-TAPE” EXISTS.

Here’s why we can be sure that it does.

(Whether anyone outside the Kremlin will ever see it is another question entirely.) “One of the questions [Steve] Colbert asked his Russian handler, who was ex-KGB back when it was the KGB, was would a tape have been made? It is considered standard practice, he was informed…” tinyurl.com/yc4nyota