Well, we’re moving along, we’re working along. We’re also dealing with foreign countries that do have a problem. I must tell you. I got called today from two very good allies saying, “please, can we talk.” So, it’s not as simple as all that. And we do have to respect their wishes. But it will all come out.This morning President Trump sent out a series of tweets on the subject, providing further information:
I met with the DOJ concerning the declassification of various UNREDACTED documents. They agreed to release them but stated that so doing may have a perceived negative impact on the Russia probe. Also, key Allies’ called to ask not to release. Therefore, the Inspector General.....
First, there is the ongoing process of the declassification order itself.
A third element is the involvement of certain U.S. allies—almost certainly Britain and Australia—with the FBI and CIA in the events leading to the establishment of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Investigation.
Finally, we have the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
A review that will examine the Justice Department’s and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) compliance with legal requirements, and with applicable DOJ and FBI policies and procedures, in applications filed with the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) relating to a certain U.S. person.As part of this examination, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) will also review information that was known to the DOJ and the FBI, at the time the applications were filed, about an alleged FBI confidential source. In addition, the OIG will also review communications the agencies had with the alleged source as it relates to the FISA applications.
The “certain U.S. person” mentioned is former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The “alleged FBI confidential source” is Christopher Steele, the former MI6 spy who was hired to produce the controversial dossier on then-candidate Donald Trump. Another related source is FBI informant Stefan Halper, who will probably come up as part of the IG Investigation.
The Inspector General himself needs to pursue a path of declassification prior to releasing any detailed report. The fact that his finalized reports are primarily public require declassification of information being released (classified appendices are sometimes attached).
The presidential order to initiate the declassification process directly interacts with the Inspector General’s investigation into FISA abuse. That is, at least in part, why President Trump is referencing the Inspector General in his tweets. It’s possible this may indicate, or lead to, a tandem release of the Inspector General’s Report along with declassified documents stemming from President Trump’s order.
Foreign Allies
In relation to our allies, any information subject to declassification that pertains to foreign intelligence or to the allies themselves would almost certainly result in high-level discussions. In this particular case, it would appear these discussions were of such concern that they resulted in phone calls from two of our allies at levels high enough to reach President Trump directly.These phone calls are telling and likely confirm that British and Australian Intelligence were both involved in the events leading to the establishment of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation.
In late 2015 the British eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, was carrying out standard “collection” against Moscow targets. These were known Kremlin operatives already on the grid. Nothing unusual here – except that the Russians were talking to people associated with Trump. The precise nature of these exchanges has not been made public, but according to sources in the US and the UK, they formed a suspicious pattern. They continued through the first half of 2016. The intelligence was handed to the US as part of a routine sharing of information.In the summer of 2016, Robert Hannigan, then-head of Britain’s GCHQ traveled to Washington to personally meet with then-CIA Director John Brennan:
That summer, GCHQ’s then head, Robert Hannigan, flew to the US to personally brief CIA chief John Brennan. The matter was deemed so important that it was handled at “director level,” face-to-face between the two agency chiefs.Interestingly, Hannigan’s U.S. counterpart was not CIA Director Brennan. Hannigan’s U.S. counterpart was NSA Director Mike Rogers.
Feinstein: Over the spring of 2016, multiple European allies passed on additional information to the United States about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians. Is this accurate?
Last April [2016], the CIA director was shown intelligence that worried him. It was – allegedly – a tape recording of a conversation about money from the Kremlin going into the US presidential campaign.
His sudden resignation – he informed staff just hours before making this decision public – prompted speculation that it might be related to British concerns over shared intelligence with the US in the wake of Donald Trump becoming president.The Australian involvement comes courtesy of diplomat Alexander Downer through his meeting with Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. It was this meeting, supposedly relayed by Australian intelligence to the FBI in late July 2016 that has been reported as the reason leading to the FBI’s Counterintelligence Investigation on July 31, 2016.
The British and Australian governments’ attempt to sabotage the Trump campaign is about to backfire in a spectacular fashion.Today, he followed up with this:
After reports are finally out that the British and Australian governments were actively spying and trying to sabotage the Trump campaign, those two governments called the president to ask for him not to declassify any FISA documents. Strange.Underlying all of the noise appears to be an effort on the part of the DOJ to control the manner in which information becomes public. After President Trump issued his order for declassification, both the DOJ and two of our allies made their case to limit or delay the release of that information.
In exchange for backing away from his immediate declassification request, President Trump has pushed the Inspector General’s Report to the forefront with an accelerated time-frame for its release.
Should the IG report prove less revealing, or more drawn out than is required, President Trump can revert to his prior declassification order.
This apparent behind-the-scenes negotiating appears to be in regard to managing the damage done to our institutions—and our allies—as a result of the actions under the previous administration.
Personally, I’m in favor of full disclosure now—and let the chips fall where they may.
But I also understand the power of leverage. Despite the disappointment sure to be expressed by many, President Trump is currently holding a position of significant leverage over all of those involved—including Britain and Australia.
President Trump has made the decision that a better course is to allow IG Horowitz to manage the information disclosure. If this is not done to President Trump’s satisfaction, well, my guess is all bets are off.
