No evidence of Russian collusion known by August 2017
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wrote on 3 Jun 2020, 21:12 last edited by
And yet, Mueller persisted:
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein conceded on Wednesday that by August of 2017 there was no evidence that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russians to sabotage the 2016 election, even though the investigation into that allegation would persist for another year and a half.
The jaw-dropping admission came during a contentious hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is actively investigating the F.B.I.'s Crossfire Hurricane investigation that sought to uncover whether Trump campaign officials had colluded with Russian agents to sabotage the 2016 election.
Addressing Rosenstein during the hearing, committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham asked him: "The whole concept, that the campaign was colluding with the Russians, there was no 'there' there in August of 2017, do you agree or not?"
"I agree with the general statement," Rosenstein replied.
And he admitted other interesting things, like, he signed, but "didn't read" the requests for FISA warrants.
Rosenstein also told senators that he would not have signed the renewal of the FISA warrant for Trump associate Carter Page if he had been aware of exculpatory information withheld from the FISA court. "If you knew then what you knew now, would you have signed the warrant application?" Graham asked him.
"No, I would not," Rosenstein said.
Rosenstein later indicated that he was not familiar with the full contents of that renewal request. Though he earlier claimed to have read it, he later conceded that he hadn’t read “every page” but that he had reviewed it and was familiar with its contents.
“My recollection of it … it was actually fairly persuasive,” he said. “It had already been approved three times. This was just a re-authorization.”
In the best of hands, as they say.
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wrote on 4 Jun 2020, 13:52 last edited by
Rosenstein then vs now.
Which time was it you were lying to Congress, counselor?
Or, perhaps Mueller was hiding something?
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wrote on 4 Jun 2020, 13:58 last edited by
I still can’t get over how different Muller looked when testifying. I actually saw him speak live when he was at the top of his game. I wonder if others had more influence in the process than we understand.
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wrote on 4 Jun 2020, 16:58 last edited by
I think you're right. I believe he was picked purely because he had a good reputation but had become senile and addled.
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wrote on 7 Jun 2020, 12:05 last edited by
On June 3, Rosenstein testified: “I did not suggest or hint at secretly recording President Trump,” denied suggesting 25th Amendment be invoked.
James Baker testified that Page and McCabe told him that Rosenstein wanted to wiretap the President. He goes on to say that they took that seriously.
And Rosenstein was part of the 25th Amendment discussion:
Maybe Sidney Powell will be available for him in a little while.
