Exposing the Deep State

Transcription

1 A Judicia Watch Specia Report Exposing the Deep State Judicia Watch, Inc. 425 Third Street, SW, Suite 800 Washington, DC Member Services: 1 (888) Fax: (202)

2 Tabe of Contents Executive Summary...3 I. Introduction and Background...5 II. Four Case Studies...8 Case Study # 1: The Environmenta Protection Agency...8 Case Study # 2: The Interna Revenue Service...13 Case Study # 3: Outside Organizations, Inside Operations...16 Case Study # 4: The Inteigence/Law-Enforcement Community...19 III. Concusion...37 IV. Appendix...41 If you woud ike additiona copies of the report pease contact: Judicia Watch 425 Third Street, SW, Suite 800 Washington, DC Member Services: 1 (888) FAX: (202) Emai: info@judiciawatch.org 2

3 Executive Summary They pride themseves on operating beow the radar and above the aw We face a crisis of the Deep State At-government, I sometimes ca it. The actions of the Deep State constitute a direct chaenge to our repubican form of government. Working primariy through the inteigence and aw-enforcement agencies, the Deep State is activey engaged in subversive measures designed to deegitimize Donad Trump, cause the American peope to ose faith in their president, destroy the Trump presidency and eventuay impeach him or put him in jai. ~ Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton This Judicia Watch Specia Report anayzes the Deep State, which comprises egions of poitica appointees, career civi servants and powerfu private contractors who run the government no matter who sits in the Ova Office. No matter which poitica party contros Congress. And, no matter what is the wi of the American peope. No matter who s in power, they exert contro. Oftentimes, the ibera media effectivey operates as the propaganda arm of the Deep State. The shadowy word in which Deep State actors maneuver is characterized by three disturbing procivities: Secrecy, surveiance and subterfuge. The operatives manning and manipuating the Deep State demand an activist, interventionist government, both domesticay and internationay. Importanty, their wordview often rejects the beiefs and vaues of a majority of patriotic Americans. As time goes on, the disparity between the vaues and beiefs of the peope and those of the Deep State becomes cumuative, and no matter whom the peope eect to pubic office, the Deep State takes the nation in a direction that increasingy diverges from where the peope desire to go. Sometimes, as it has with the Trump presidency, the Deep State rises to the surface in rebeion, taking aggressive, seditious measures against a president whose eection it opposed and who it perceives to be a threat to its own agenda and, perhaps, its very surviva. As aready is cear with the Trump presidency, the Deep State can turn on any president that threatens its interests and surviva. And eft unchecked, it may iegay destroy him. This Specia Report expores the workings of the Deep State through four case studies, in each of which Judicia Watch is invoved in investigative action and itigation: The Environmenta Protection Agency (EPA), invoving three JW Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) awsuits. One awsuit focuses on the efforts by agency poitica officias and civi servants to hide their communications and circumvent the Federa Records and Freedom of Information Acts. The second awsuit demands to see documents surrounding the EPA s cost-benefit anaysis of 3

4 the Cean Power Pan, which Judicia Watch suspects to be fake science used to justify the Obama EPA s heath caims in the Cean Power Pan, a scheme to end coa energy under the guise of combatting aeged goba warming. The third awsuit is aimed at EPA s efforts to propagandize the American Peope iegay to promote its power grab over a cean water rue it was attempting to promugate at the time. The Interna Revenue Service (IRS), invoving four JW FOIA awsuits focusing on the poitica targeting of President Barack Obama s poitica enemies, incuding conservative non-profit organizations and individuas, and the unawfu cousion among the IRS and other agencies of government, such as the Justice Department, the FBI, the Department of Heath and Human Services, to spy on innocent American citizens, propagandize them and bring crimina charges against poitica enemies of the Obama administration and/or the Deep State. United States Agency for Internationa Deveopment (USAID)/Soros Open Society Foundations, invoving two JW FOIA awsuits focusing on the Soros Open Society Foundations use of U.S. taxpayer money channeed through USAID to destabiize and overthrow the democraticay eected governments of Macedonia and Abania. The Inteigence/Law-Enforcement Community, invoving six JW FOIA awsuits, an additiona FOIA request and an advisory/demand etter, a focused on the surveiance, unmasking and iega targeting of President Trump and his associates during the government s investigation of purported Russian invovement in the 2016 presidentia eection and aeged cousion with the Russians by Trump and his team. The Specia Report examines the food of eaks and innuendos coming out of the government surrounding Trump and his associates, incuding the Gen. Michae Fynn episode; the Obama administration s misuse of the NSA database of surveiance intercepts to target and unmask the identities of Americans; the Trump Dossier and the FBI s invovement in it; aong with James Comey s puroined memoranda and the appointment of a specia counse to investigate Trump and his associates, incuding unsubstantiated accusations of obstruction of justice by the president when he aegedy ask Comey to shut down the Fynn investigation. The Report assembes the evidence at hand and finds it supports the concusion that the Deep State, working primariy through the inteigence and aw-enforcement agencies, is activey engaged in subversive measures (a soft coup ) designed to deegitimize Donad Trump, cause the American peope to ose faith in their president, destroy the Trump presidency and eventuay impeach him or put him in jai. At the beginning of this Specia Report, it is observed that the Deep State is not monoithic but it shares a common mindset and wordview, and it is characterized by three disturbing procivities: Secrecy, surveiance and subterfuge. Secrecy catayzes and enabes surveiance and subterfuge. The ony way to observe and evauate the workings of the Deep State is to penetrate the vei of Deep State secrecy that shieds the actions of poitica appointees, career civi servants, private contractors and their reationship with the media and outside agents of infuence that comprise the Deep State. 4

5 This Specia Report concudes that it is time to tear down the wa of secrecy surrounding the Deep State. President Trump shoud order federa agencies to stop the staing and start obeying the nation s open-records aws. Unti they do, the dangerousy maignant Deep State wi continue to grow and undermine American democracy. Exposing the Deep State They pride themseves on operating beow the radar and above the aw We face a crisis of the Deep State At-government, I sometimes ca it. The actions of the Deep State constitute a direct chaenge to our repubican form of government. Working primariy through the inteigence and awenforcement agencies, the Deep State is activey engaged in subversive measures designed to deegitimize Donad Trump, cause the American peope to ose faith in their president, destroy the Trump presidency and eventuay impeach him or put him in jai. I. Introduction and Background ~ Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton There is a deepy embedded shadow government in the United States running the affairs of state The Deep State or At Government, as Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton describes it. This shadow government is not monoithic. But, it does not have to be. Its operatives share a common mindset and wordview. They trave in the same socia circes. And, they wak the same corridors of power. No matter who s in power, they re in contro. They pride themseves on operating beow the radar and above the aw. And, the shadowy word in which they maneuver is characterized by three disturbing procivities: Secrecy, surveiance and subterfuge. In the words of Judicia Watch Director of Investigations Chris Farre, the decidedy eft-eaning Deep State is quite comfortabe exercising a of the evers of the organs of the state. Farre expains: They come from a Franco-Germanic poitica phiosophy that, historicay, has aways paced the state over the citizenry. They derive their power and exercise it vigorousy through the state. As time goes on, this disparity between the vaues and beiefs of the peope and those of the Deep State becomes cumuative, and no matter whom the peope eect to pubic office, the Deep State takes the nation in a direction that increasingy diverges from where the peope desire to go. 5

6 Deep State operatives are ensconced in every agency of the government; they have their own agendas; and many of them think they don t have to answer to an eected president, the rue of aw or the American peope. They aso are enmeshed in and interface with outside networks of organizations, media companies, universities, think tanks and corporations that share their views, hep shape their views and exert enormous infuence on poicy and its day-to-day impementation. The miitary-industria compex President Dwight Eisenhower warned about is a reaity but it is not the ony compex providing the architecture of the Deep State; there are severa of them: the inteigence/security-industria compex, the environmenta/academic-industria compex, to name but two. The American media compex effectivey operates as the propaganda arm and transmission bet of the Deep State. In a 2013 artice (updated in 2016), former State Department foreign service officer and congressiona poicy adviser and anayst, James George Jatras, expains: American media increasingy have operated uncriticay in conjunction with the bipartisan Washington poitica estabishment Among the key features of such cooperation are: Deficiency of geographic and historica knowedge as the American norm (the ess peope know the more ikey they are to beieve what they are tod, with the east informed most persuaded of the need to do something ); Reiance on government sources, ventrioquism, and information incest (unknown to the pubic, much media information comes from government sources); Centraized corporate ownership (officia poicy imperatives interface with ratings doars for six giant corporate congomerates); Para-journaism, infotainment, and atrocity porn as a war trigger (atrocities appear seemingy on cue and then receive saturation coverage); Demonization Hiter memes and weaponization of media (compromise and negotiation have no roe in confronting absoute evi war is the defaut option); America and the internationa community, the Free Word, and American exceptionaism and eadership; disregarding aternative media, American samizdat (accurate information is avaiabe in aternative media, but the major[s] sti decide if it exists or not); We never make mistakes, stay the course, and MoveOn-ism (U.S. poicy has no rearview mirror); Authors of past bunders are not discredited, whie those who said toya so are ignored). 6

7 In turn, media themseves are an integra part of a mutifaceted, hybrid pubic-private entity with broad range and depth. Variousy known as the Estabishment, the Oigarchy, or the Deep State, this entity incudes eements within a three branches of the U.S. government (especiay in the miitary, inteigence, and financia sectors), private business (the financia industry, government contractors, information technoogy), think tanks, NGOs, the Demintern, both poitica parties and campaign operatives, and an army of obbyists and PR professionas. Looking into the future in ight of 2016 anti-estabishment chaenges from Donad Trump and Bernie Sanders, the shortcomings of Barack Obama s poicies in Libya, Syria, and Ukraine on top of those of George W. Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan, shrinkage of the American Midde Cass, and increasing pubic skepticism of the MSM in favor of digita aternative media, both the Washington-based oigarchy and its media component show signs of osing their grip. The possibiity exists for a peacefu evoution to a ess warike posture (impacting media as we) that woud refocus on America s domestic needs. Aternativey, the existing order coud risk a major war in a desperate bid to save its weath, power, and privieges with unforeseeabe consequences for America and the word. The operation of the Deep State is not a meticuousy organized conspiracy, masterminded and controed by any centra authority operating out of a fortified bunker. Nor does it need to be. The agendas of the poiticians, bureaucrats and contractors that popuate the Deep State are frequenty the same, or compementary, and the huge sums of taxpayer money invoved tie them together inextricaby. And, they ineuctaby trave in the same, invariaby eitist circes. Rather, the Deep State is ike a systemic disease of run-away ces, repicating and metastasizing to serve their own interests and surviva. In short, a cancer. The Deep State has a ife of its own, independent of whoever is president or whichever poitica party contros the Congress. Though it prefers to operate through seight of hand, with smoke and mirrors, at times it may rise to the surface and become the handmaiden of overzeaous and overreaching presidents who serve its interests as it did when Barack Obama weaponized the permanent bureaucracy inside the IRS, the FBI and other inteigence and reguatory agencies against the American peope and his (and the Deep State s) poitica opponents. Most frequenty, the Deep State recedes back into the shadows where its agents quiety advance their own agenda and obstruct troubesome eected officias (and the pubic that supports them) in a miion different ways, arge and sma, deiberate and devious. Sometimes, of course, it rises to the surface in rebeion as it has with President Donad Trump, taking aggressive, seditious measures against a president whose eection it opposed and who it perceives to be a threat to its own agenda and, perhaps, its very surviva. The Deep State is more insidious than mere partisanship, and it is more dangerous because 7

8 it is permanent. Whie presidents and Members of Congress come and go, the Deep State remains permanenty, growing ever more powerfu and predatory. As aready is cear with the Trump presidency, the Deep State can turn on any president that threatens its interests and surviva. And eft unchecked, it may destroy him. II. Four Case Studies The Deep State comes in two favors: domestic affairs and foreign affairs. Frequenty, they overap and reinforce each other. Four instances of the Deep State at work are iustrative. Case Study # 1: The Environmenta Protection Agency Undermining the Rue of Law. The particuary notorious fifth coumn inside the Environmenta Protection Agency (EPA) is a prime exampe of the domestic arm of the administrative Deep State at work. Judicia Watch currenty is seeking to uncover the truth about what the Deep State is up to inside the EPA and how it is working to undermine President Trump s agenda and the rue of aw. For exampe, Judicia Watch recenty fied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) awsuit on March 23, 2017 against the EPA to pry oose information that coud expose the deepstate bureaucrats embedded in that agency. They are working to undermine the rue of aw to further their own radica environmenta agenda by using the ce-phone encryption appication Signa to thwart government oversight and transparency. Judicia Watch fied the suit in the United States District Court for the District of Coumbia (Judicia Watch v. Environmenta Protection Agency (No. 1:17-cv-00533)) after the EPA faied to respond to a February FOIA request for: 1. Any and a work-reated communications sent to or from the foowing EPA officias using the app known as Signa, for the period February 3, 2016, to the present: Administrator (or Acting); Deputy Administrator (or Acting); Assistant Administrator (or Acting), Office of Air and Radiation; Assistant Administrator (or Acting), Office of Chemica Safety and Poution Prevention; Assistant Administrator (or Acting), Office of Enforcement and Compiance Assurance; Assistant Administrator (or Acting), Office of Land and Emergency Management; Assistant Administrator (or Acting), Office of Internationa and Triba Affairs; and Chief Financia Officer (or Acting). 2. Any and a records requesting or approving the use of the messaging app known as Signa by any EPA personne for officia business. The use of Signa by EPA officias to thwart government oversight is iustrative of what is going on throughout the Deep State under the guise of foiing a misguided ( evi to some in the Deep State) president. As reported in a February 2, 2017, Poitico artice entited Federa workers turn to encryption to thwart Trump: Whether inside the Environmenta Protection Agency, within the Foreign Service, on the edges of the Labor Department or beyond, empoyees are using 8

9 new technoogy to organize etters, tak strategy, or contact media outets and other groups to express their dissent. *** Fearing for their jobs, the empoyees began communicating incognito using the app Signa shorty after Trump s inauguration. *** [T]he goa is to create a network across the agency of peope who wi raise red fags if Trump s appointees do anything unawfu. Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton, had this to say about the awsuit: This new Judicia Watch awsuit coud expose how the anti-trump Deep State embedded in EPA is working to undermine the rue of aw. Let s hope the Trump administration enforces FOIA and turns over these records. Given EPA s checkered history on records retention and transparency, it is disturbing to see reports that career civi servants and appointed officias may now be attempting to use high-tech bocking devices to circumvent the Federa Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act atogether. Signa has ong been touted within the high-tech community as an encryption device particuary effective for bocking government access to smartphone messaging. In a 2015 artice entited Signa Keeps your iphone Cas and Texts Safe from Government Spies, TechCrunch.com advised: Don t want someone ese handing your text messages, pictures, video or phone conversations over to the government? There s an app for that. An ios app caed Signa is a project out of Open Whisper Systems, a not-forprofit coective of hackers dedicated to making it harder for prying government eyes to get a hod of your information. The use of private encryption software such as Signa by federa officias and empoyees not ony woud make it difficut for their work to be overseen; it aso woud make it neary impossibe for federa agencies to fufi their record-keeping and transparency obigations under the Federa Records and Freedom of Information Acts. The Federa Records Act requires federa empoyees to preserve a records of work-reated communications on government servers, even if such communications occur over non-government emais, phones or text messages. The records must be forwarded on to the agency for preservation and archiving, and the records are subject to reease under the Freedom of Information Act, uness specificay exempted. The Environmenta Protection Agency has a history of empoyees faiing to preserve records and using private emais to conduct agency business or conducting officia business through non-officia communications channes: According to a September 20, 2016, report put out by the Energy and Environment Lega Institute, which was based upon emais obtained under FOIA: Moving seect correspondence about EPA-reated business to non-officia emai accounts was an understood, deiberate and widespread practice in the 9

10 Obama EPA. According to a December 21, 2016, Inspector Genera Report, the EPA s mobie device-management processes do not prevent empoyees from changing the device s configuration settings for retaining text messages on a government-issued mobie devices. Apparenty, at east one EPA empoyee set his phone to deete messages automaticay after 30 days. Athough excuded from the body of the IG report, the Inspector Genera reportedy tod the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technoogy, Lamar Smith, who requested the IG investigation, that EPA officias archived ony 86 text messages out of 3.1 miion messages sent and received by agency empoyees in Chairman Smith originay requested the IG report in November 2014 after it was reveaed that high-ranking EPA officias, incuding then-epa Administrator Gina McCarthy, may have deeted texts to hide officia business. If deep-state bureaucrats begin using ce phones encrypted against their supervisors and information-management personne, matters wi ony get worse. Sidestepping Congress. The Cean Power Pan, proposed by the EPA after Congress defeated cap-and-trade egisation to reguate green-house gas emissions in 2009, is another exampe of how the administrative Deep State operates and how it surfaces to make itsef avaiabe to an overreaching president to sidestep Congress. Judicia Watch has fied a FOIA awsuit against the EPA for records concerning the agency s caim that the Cean Power Pan, announced by President Barack Obama in August 2015, woud provide significant heath benefits to the American Peope (Judicia Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Environmenta Protection Agency (No. 1:17-cv-01217)). The suit was fied on June 21, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Coumbia after the EPA faied to respond to a May 3 FOIA request seeking the foowing: A interna emais or other records expaining, or requesting an expanation of, the EPA s decision to caim that the Cean Power Pan woud prevent between 2,700 to 6,600 premature deaths by The Cean Power Pan, aimed at cutting carbon emissions from existing power pants by 32 percent by 2030, was touted by the Obama administration not ony as a way to foresta goba warming but aso as a means of providing arge heath benefits to the American pubic. The Pan, first foated by the EPA in June 2014, was impemented by Deep State operatives through reguatory interpretation of the Cean Air Act to sidestep Congress after it refused in 2009 to enact cap-and-trade egisation to reguate greenhouse-gas emissions. On March 28, President Trump outraged the Deep State by signing an executive order directing the EPA to begin the ega process of withdrawing and rewriting the Cean Power Pan, which, if eft in pace, woud have cosed hundreds of coa-fired power pants, hated construction of new pants, increased reiance on natura-gas-fired pants and shifted power 10

11 generation to huge, new and probematic wind and soar farms. On June 1, President Trump aso announced the United States woud cease participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on cimate change mitigation, which caused high anxiety among Deep State environmenta bureaucrats inside the EPA and near hysteria among the outside agents of infuence and some Members of Congress. Caifornia Governor Jerry Brown caed the withdrawa a misguided and insane course of action, whie the Sierra Cub described Trump s decision as one of the most ignorant and dangerous actions ever taken by any President. Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Peosi (D-CA) accused Trump of betraying his grandchidren and dishonor[ing] the God who made us, and that is just what we re doing by waking away from the [Paris] accord. By aw, the EPA must conduct a cost-benefit anaysis to accompany each new major reguation it promugates. The cost-benefit anaysis produced by Deep State partisans to justify the reguations underying the Cean Power Pan caimed to prevent thousands of premature deaths each year as we as reducing serious heath compications the agency associated with coa-fired generation pants. In an August 2015 press reease announcing the Pan, then-epa Administrator, Gina McCarthy caimed: By 2030, the net pubic heath and cimate-reated benefits from the Cean Power Pan are estimated to be worth $45 biion every year. If deep-state bureaucrats begin using ce phones encrypted against their supervisors and informationmanagement personne, Deep State awessness wi ony get worse. According to the EPA cost-benefit anaysis: From the soot and smog reductions aone, for every doar invested through the Cean Power Pan American famiies wi see up to $4 in heath benefits in The Cean Power Pan wi significanty improve heath by avoiding each year: 3,600 premature deaths 1,700 heart attacks 90,000 asthma attacks 300,000 missed workdays and schoodays Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton, had this to say about the awsuit: This awsuit is essentia to the pubic debate over President Trump s decision to withdraw and rewrite the Cean Power Pan. Critics of Trump s executive order contend that it wi forfeit wide-spread ife-saving benefits EPA scientists determined woud resut from the pan. Given that permanent EPA bureaucrats have a ong history of understating the detrimenta economic costs and assuming unsubstantiated and extremey dubious heath benefits from the agency s reguations, the pubic deserves to see the detais of the EPA s cost-benefit anaysis. 11

12 Propagandizing the American Peope. Propaganda is a stape of the Deep State, notwithstanding the fact that it is patenty iega for government agencies to propagandize the American peope. The Deep State actors inside EPA are masters at the propaganda game. That is why Judicia Watch sued the EPA for records on its use of the socia media patform Thundercap for aeged propaganda. A December 2015 Government Accountabiity Office (GAO) report concuded the EPA s use of Thundercap to send out messages boosting the Waters of the United States rue (aso known as the Cean Water Rue) constitutes covert propaganda and vioates the ega prohibition on propaganda by a federa agency. Subsequenty, Judicia Watch fied a FOIA request for: A interna emais or other records concerning project administration, management, or assignment of tasks reated to the EPA s use of the Thundercap socia media patform. When the EPA faied to respond to the FOIA request, Judicia Watch fied a FOIA awsuit on June 21, 2017 against the agency for a the records. JW fied the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Coumbia (Judicia Watch vs. U.S. Environmenta Protection Agency (No. 1:17-cv-01218)). The 2015 GAO report found that the EPA reached 1.8 miion socia media users through Thundercap, which uses a synchronized socia media bast to ampify a message on patforms such as Twitter: The Environmenta Protection Agency (EPA) vioated pubicity or propaganda and anti-obbying provisions contained in appropriations acts with its use of certain socia media patforms in association with its Waters of the United States (WOTUS) ruemaking in fisca years 2014 and Specificay, EPA vioated the pubicity or propaganda prohibition though its use of a patform known as Thundercap that aows a singe message to be shared across mutipe Facebook, Twitter, and Tumbr accounts at the same time. EPA engaged in covert propaganda when the agency did not identify EPA s roe as the creator of the Thundercap message to the target audience. Federa agencies are permitted to promote poices, but are prohibited from engaging in propaganda, which is defined as covert activity intended to infuence the American pubic. Agencies are aso prohibited from using federa resources to conduct grass-roots obbying to prod the American pubic to ca on Congress to act on pending egisation. Judicia Watch President Tom Fitton had this to say about EPA s iega propagandizing and the JW awsuit: The Obama EPA has a checkered history on transparency and accountabiity. Judicia Watch wants the detais on the Obama EPA s sketchy effort to secrety pedde propaganda to protect its reguatory power grab. It was recenty reported that the Trump administration is taking action to repea the Waters 12

13 of the U.S. rue, an Obama-era reguation that gave Washington broad powers over streams and other sma bodies of water across the country. Case Study # 2: The Interna Revenue Service The IRS-Targeting Scandas. The Interna Revenue Service (IRS) is a domestic tax-coection agency but it aso has morphed into a deep-state, domestic inteigence operation, which interfaces with other U.S. inteigence and aw-enforcement agencies, both foreign and domestic. How this symbiosis between the domestic and foreign arms of the Deep State works is expored in both this case study and Case Study # 4: The Inteigence Community. The domestic poitica-inteigence operation spearheaded by the Obama IRS, in conjunction with the White House and other agencies, such as the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Labor Department and Heath and Human Services, dwarfs and triviaizes Nixon s Watergate. The evidence is irrefutabe that the Obama administration weaponized the IRS to obstruct and punish poitica opponents who had organized themseves as Tea Party groups. It s not an open question. Through itigation, Judicia Watch obtained thousands of pages of materia detaiing the actions of IRS officia Lois Lerner and other Obama administration officias in a concerted operation to thwart the free expression of poitica opposition and organizing guaranteed in the First Amendment. Were there any crimina prosecutions for this outrageous abuse of power and corruption? No. Why? Because, the highy poiticized FBI and Justice Department were compicit in the scheme. After a, in fagrant vioation of federa aw, the IRS transferred 1.25 miion taxpayer fies to the FBI so they coud thumb through them and ook for anything interesting. President Obama s poiticization of the IRS as a weapon against his poitica opponents is now we known, thanks to Judicia Watch. But, IRS attacks on the First Amendment in stifing free speech and expression are just one exampe of the IRS Deep State at work. The tax agency aso coudes with other agencies of the government to undermine the rue of aw where the Fourth and Fifth Amendments are concerned. IRS Coudes with Main Justice Department Officias and the FBI. Though the Deep State may not be monoithic, its operatives coude on a reguar basis to further their subversive agenda. That s what Judicia Watch uncovered when it obtained Justice Department and IRS documents that incude an officia DOJ Recap report detaiing an October 2010 meeting among Deep State zeaot Lois Lerner, Justice Department officias and the FBI to pan for the possibe crimina prosecution of targeted nonprofit conservative organizations for aeged iega poitica activity. (See Appendix A1.) The records aso revea that Obama s Main Justice Department Officias wanted IRS 13

14 empoyees who were going to testify to Congress to turn over documents to it before giving them to Congress. Records aso detai how the Obama IRS gave the FBI 21 computer disks, containing 1.25 miion pages of confidentia IRS returns from 113,000 nonprofit, socia 501(c)(4) wefare groups or neary every 501(c)(4) in the United States as part of its prosecution effort. According to a etter from then-house Oversight Committee Chairman Darre Issa (R-CA) to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, This reveation ikey means that the IRS incuding possiby Lois Lerner vioated federa tax aw by transmitting this information to the Justice Department. (See Appendix A4.) The documents were made pubic as a resut of court orders in two Judicia Watch FOIA awsuits: Judicia Watch v. Interna Revenue Service (No. 1:14-cv-01956) and Judicia Watch v. Department of Justice (No. 1:14-cv-01239). (See Appendix A3.) The October 11, 2010 DOJ Recap memo incuded in the IRS documents reeased to Judicia Watch was sent to Lerner and other top IRS officias by IRS Exempt Organizations Tax Law Speciaist Siri Buer. It expained what occurred at an October 8 meeting with representatives from the Department of Justice Crimina Division s Pubic Integrity Section and one representative from the FBI to discuss the possibe crimina prosecution of nonprofit organizations for aeged poitica activity. Just prior this meeting, Deep State operatives in the IRS began the process of providing the FBI confidentia taxpayer information on nonprofit groups. One IRS document confirms the IRS suppied the FBI with 21 disks containing 1.25 miion pages of taxpayer records (see Appendix A2.): FROM: Hamiton David K SENT: Tuesday, October 5, :49 PM TO: Whittaker Sherry [Director, GE Program Management], Backwe Robert M SUBJECT: RE: Question There are 113,000 C4 returns from January 1, 2007 to now. Assuming they want a pages incuding redacted ones, that s 1.25 miion pages If we get started on it right away, before the 10 th when the monthy extracts start, we can probaby get it done in a week or so. The DOJ documents aso incude a Juy 16, 2013, emai from an undiscosed Justice Department officia to a awyer for IRS empoyees asking that the Obama administration get information from congressiona witnesses before Congress does (see Appendix A5.): One ast issue. If any of your cients have documents they are providing to Congress that you can (or woud ike to) provide to us before their testimony, we woud be peased to receive them. We are 6103 authorized and I can connect you with TIGTA to confirm; we woud ike the unredacted documents. Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton had this to say about the IRS cousion with Main Justice Department Officias and the FBI reveaed by these documents: These new documents show that the Obama IRS scanda is aso an Obama 14

15 DOJ and FBI scanda. The FBI and Justice Department worked with Lois Lerner and the IRS to concoct some reason to put President Obama s opponents in jai before his reeection. And, this abuse resuted in the FBI s iegay obtaining confidentia taxpayer information. How can the Justice Department and FBI investigate the very scanda in which they are impicated? On Apri 16, 2014, Judicia Watch forced the IRS to reease documents reveaing for the first time that Lerner communicated with the Justice Department in May 2013 about whether it was possibe to aunch crimina prosecutions against targeted tax-exempt entities. The documents were obtained under court order in an October 2013 Judicia Watch FOIA awsuit fied against the IRS (Judicia Watch, Inc. v. Interna Revenue Service (No. 1:13-cv-01559)). Those documents contained an emai exchange between Lerner and Nikoe C. Fax, then-chief of staff to then-acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Mier discussing pans to work with the Justice Department to prosecute nonprofit groups that ied (Lerner s quotation marks) about poitica activities. The exchange incuded a May 8, 2013, emai by Lerner (See Appendix A6.): I got a ca today from Richard Piger Director Eections Crimes Branch at DOJ He wanted to know who at IRS the DOJ fok s [sic] coud tak to about Sen. Whitehouse idea at the hearing that DOJ coud piece together fase statement cases about appicants who ied on their 1024s [forms] saying they weren t panning on doing poitica activity, and then turning around and making arge visibe poitica expenditures. DOJ is feeing ike it needs to respond, but want to tak to the right foks at IRS to see whether there are impediments from our side and what, if any damage this might do to IRS programs. I tod him that sounded ike we might need severa foks from IRS The House Oversight Committee foowed up on these Judicia Watch discosures with hearings and interviews of Piger and his boss, Justice Department Pubic Integrity Chief Jack Smith. Besides confirming the Justice Department s 2013 communications with Lerner, Piger admitted to the committee that Justice officias met with Lerner in October Judicia Watch obtained new documents about these meetings in December 2014 showing the Obama Justice Department initiated outreach to the IRS about prosecuting tax-exempt entities. (See Appendix A7.) Foowing Judicia Watch s ead, the House aso found out about the IRS transmitta of the confidentia taxpayer information to the FBI. Because of this pubic discosure, the FBI was forced to return the 1.25 miion pages to the IRS. IRS Coudes with Department of Heath and Human Services. On Apri 6, Judicia Watch uncovered additiona Deep State cousion when it fied a FOIA awsuit against the IRS and the Department of Heath and Human Services (Judicia Watch Inc. v. Interna Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services (No. 1:17-cv )) for records about the Deep State s patenty iega sharing of private taxpayer information under the Patient Protection and Affordabe Care Act (Obamacare). The enormity of this unawfu breach of taxpayer privacy is reveaed in a September 21, 2016 etter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen sent by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), 15

16 majority eader of the U.S. House of Representatives, which stated in part: We strongy object to any action by the Administration to impropery use sensitive taxpayer information to identify and harass individuas who have rejected the Patient Protection and Affordabe Care Act (ACA) by choosing to pay a tax rather than be forced into a heath care pan they don t need and don t want. One of the most important responsibiities of the Interna Revenue Service (IRS) is to protect sensitive taxpayer information. Recent reports have reveaed that in order to prop up the faiing heath insurance exchanges created by the ACA, the Administration is panning to conduct outreach directy to taxpayers who paid a penaty under the aw s individua mandate in previous years. In order to faciitate this reported outreach, access to confidentia return information is needed, which raises ega and privacy concerns. It aso demonstrates the extent to which the Administration is wiing to use the power of the IRS to insert itsef into the ives of individuas who have made a ega and persona choice not to purchase a heath pan. As you are aware, the confidentiaity of tax returns and return information is protected by aw in 26 U.S.C It is impausibe that information on whether an individua paid a penaty is reevant for determining ACA subsidy eigibiity the soe permitted use of this confidentia data under current aw. As reported in the Washington Times: Administration officias want to use IRS fies to identify and contact the miions of Americans who have refused to sign up for insurance and are instead paying the individua mandate tax for going without coverage. Officias say it makes sense to harness the IRS because the tax agency knows who hasn t signed up and woud be good candidates for outreach. IRS officias insisted they woudn t share any private information with other agencies but said they didn t see any probems in heping se Obamacare by sending etters to hodouts. This particuar maiing is consistent with our practices and the tax administration requirements set forth in the aw, the IRS said in a statement about its pans. Once again, there is unambiguous evidence that the Obama administration misused wiing Deep State operatives within the IRS to commit unawfu acts, this time to promote its i-fated heath care scheme. Case Study # 3: Outside Organizations, Inside Operations The Soros Army. Judicia Watch fied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) awsuit against the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for Internationa Deveopment (USAID) for records reating to their funding of the poitica activities of the Soros Open 16

17 Society Foundation Abania (Judicia Watch v. U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for Internationa Deveopment (No. 1:17-cv-01012)). The awsuit was fied on May 26, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Coumbia after both State and USAID faied to respond to identica March 31, 2017, FOIA requests seeking: A records reating to any contracts, grants or other aocations/ disbursements of funds by the State Department (USAID) to the Foundation Open Society Abania (FOSA) and/or its personne and/or any FOSA subsidiaries. Such records sha incude, but is not be imited to proposas, contracts, requests for funding, payment authorizations, invoices, and simiar budget records, as we as any and a reated records of communication between State Department officias, empoyees, or representatives and officias, empoyees, or representative of the U.S. Agency for Internationa Deveopment. A records of communication between any officias, empoyees or representatives of the State Department (USAID), incuding but not imited to U.S. Ambassador Donad Lu, and any officias, empoyees or representatives of Foundation Open Society Abania, its subsidiaries and/or affiiated organizations. It is unambiguous that the Obama administration misused wiing Deep State operatives within the IRS to commit unawfu acts, this time to promote its ifated heath care scheme. A assessments, evauations, reports or simiar records reating to the work of Foundation Open Society Abania and/or its subsidiaries or affiiated organizations. A records of communications transmitted via the State Department s SMART system sent to or from any empoyee of the U.S. Government operating under the authority of the Chief of Mission in Tirana that pertain to Foundation Open Society Abania, its subsidiaries and/or affiiated organizations. In a March 14, 2017 etter to Secretary of State Rex W. Tierson, six U.S. Senators (Sens. Lee (R-UT), Inhofe (R-OK), Tiis (R-NC), Cruz (R-TX), Perdue (R-GA) and Cassidy (R-LA)) caed on the secretary to investigate the reations between USAID and the Soros Foundations and how U.S. tax doars are being used by the State Department and the USAID to support eft-of-center poitica groups who seek to impose eft-eaning poicies in countries such as Macedonia and Abania. In the etter, the senators reference USAID s funding of Soros activities in Macedonia and then cite simiar activities in Abania: Much of the concerning activity in Macedonia has been perpetuated through US- AID funds awarded to impement in entities such as George Soros Open Society Foundations. As the recipient of mutipe grant awards and serving as a USAID contractor impementing projects in this sma nation of 2.1 miion peope, our taxpayer funded foreign aid goes far, aowing Foundation Open Society Macedonia (FOSM) to push a progressive agenda and invigorate the poitica eft 17

18 This probem is not imited to Macedonia, but appears to foow a pattern of aarming activity in this voatie region. Respected eaders from Abania have made simiar caims of US dipomats and Soros-backed organizations pushing for certain poitica outcomes in their country. Foundation Open Society Abania (FOSA) and its experts, with funding from USAID, have created the controversia Strategy Document for Abanian Judicia Reform. Some eaders beieve that these reforms are utimatey aimed to give the Prime Minister and eft-of-center government fu contro over judiciary power. Soros association with the State Department in Abania goes back at east to 2011 when Soros urged Hiary Cinton to take action in Abania over recent demonstrations in the capita of Tirana. Fox News reported on August 17, 2016 that: Newy eaked emais and other fies from biionaire George Soros web of organizations are shedding ight on the ibera powerbroker s extensive infuence in poitica and dipomatic affairs. One emai chain shows the Wa Street titan in 2011 personay wrote then-secretary of State Hiary Cinton, urging intervention in Abania s poitica unrest. Within days, an envoy he recommended was dispatched to the region. In May 2016, USAID announced that it was providing $9 miion for its Justice for A project in Abania to improve the performance of Abanian courts by introducing comprehensive judicia standards for efficiency, transparency, accessibiity, and accountabiity. According to the announcement, the project wi be impemented by USAID Contractor East-West Management Institute (EWMI). According to EWMI s 2011 financia report, it has received funding from the Soros Economic Deveopment Fund: oans of up to $1,000,000. About Soros and the Judicia Watch Abania awsuit, JW President, Tom Fitton said: This is Judicia Watch s second FOIA awsuit to uncover the truth about the scanda of Obama administration s siphoning tax doars to the Soros operations in Europe. We hope and expect the Trump administration to finay et the sunight in on this growing controversy. Preceding the Abania awsuit, on Apri 19, 2017, Judicia Watch fied the other FOIA awsuit against the Department of State and USAID for records and communications reating to the funding and poitica activities of the Foundation Open Society Macedonia ((Judicia Watch v. U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for Internationa Deveopment (No. 1:17-cv-00729)). In February, Judicia Watch reported: The U.S. government has quiety spent miions of taxpayer doars to destabiize the democraticay eected, center-right government in Macedonia by couding with eftwing biionaire phianthropist George Soros, records obtained by Judicia Watch show. Barack Obama s U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia, Jess L. Baiy, has 18

19 worked behind the scenes with Soros Open Society Foundation to funne arge sums of American doars for the cause, constituting an interference of the U.S. Ambassador in domestic poitica affairs in vioation of the Vienna Convention on Dipomatic Reations. *** Here s how the candestine operation functions, according to high-eve sources in Macedonia and the U.S. that have provided Judicia Watch with records as part of an ongoing investigation. The Open Society Foundation has estabished and funded dozens of eftwing, nongovernmenta organizations (NGOs) in Macedonia to overthrow the conservative government. One Macedonian government officia interviewed by Judicia Watch in Washington D.C. recenty, cas it the Soros infantry. The groups organize youth movements, create infuentia media outets and organize vioent protests to undermine the institutions and poicies impemented by the government. One of Soros groups funded the transation and pubication of Sau Ainsky s Rues for Radicas into Macedonian. The book is a tactica manua of subversion, provides direct advice for radica street protests and procaims Lucifer to be the first radica. Thanks to Obama s ambassador, who has not been repaced by President Trump, Unce Sam keeps the money fowing so the groups can continue operating and recruiting, sources in Macedonia and the U.S. confirm. Case Study # 4: The Inteigence/Law-Enforcement Community Overview. The most chiing acts by the Deep State are occurring inside the inteigence and aw-enforcement branches of the United States Government the Nationa Security Agency (NSA), Centra Inteigence Agency (CIA) and the Federa Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in particuar. Data recenty made avaiabe by the Office of the Director of Nationa Inteigence (ODNI) in its 2016 Statistica Transparency Report, for exampe, revea that during 2016, inteigence/aw-enforcement agency bureaucrats significanty expanded efforts under Section 702 of the Foreign Inteigence Surveiance Act (FISA) to tap into NSA surveiance intercepts for information about Americans vacuumed up incidentay in the surveiance of foreigners. The aw requires that the names of Americans caught in the surveiance dragnet must be masked (e.g., identified as, say, U.S. Person One rather than by name) and that information acquired from the eectronic surveiance of these Americans must be subject to strict minimization requirements regarding how that information may be used and discosed by the government. ( Minimization is the ega jargon for constraints paced upon the government s abiity to retain, use and discose non-reevant, private information coected egay. (See Appendix A8.1 A8.6.) Yet, inteigence and aw-enforcement agents searched the NSA database for Americans by name tens of thousands of times and then unmasked thousands of the names and distributed them across government agencies, such as the IRS and FBI in 2016, in direct vioation 19

20 of the aw. Circa.com reports: In a, government officias conducted 30,355 searches in 2016 seeking information about Americans in NSA intercept metadata, which incude teephone numbers and emai addresses. The activity amounted to a 27.5 percent increase over the prior year and more than tripe the 9,500 such searches that occurred in 2013, the first year such data was [sic] kept. The searches utimatey resuted in 3,134 NSA inteigence reports with unredacted U.S. names being distributed across government in 2016, and another 3,354 reports in About haf the time, U.S. identities were unredacted in the origina reports whie the other haf were unmasked after the fact by specia request of Obama administration officias. (Emphasis added.) Tabe 1 reveas the dramatic spike in targeted agency searches of the NSA database for Americans who were incidentay caught up in the NSA surveiance dragnet and discosures of their identities during Barack Obama s second term. TABLE 1 NSA Activity Number of US names searched in contents of actua intercepts 198 NA 4,672 5,288 Number of searhes on US names in intercept metadata 9,500 17,500 23,800 30,355 Number of NSA inte reports with names of Americans exposed NA NA 3,354 3,134 Source: Compied by Circa.com from ODNI data To make matters worse, the ODNI data are missing information from one of the argest consumers of NSA inteigence, the FBI, which has direct access to the NSA database. Officias acknowedge that the number of searches and unmaskings is ikey to be much higher when the FBI s activity is incuded. The FBI has the abiity not ony to unmask the names of Americans coected under FISA, but aso to distribute those names to other inteigence community professionas and poicymakers athough it has faied to provide data on the frequency of such unmaskings or to which agencies it is providing the identities. The Obama-Comey FBI came in for particuar criticism by a FISA judge in a March 2017 Memorandum and Order, decassified on Apri 26, (See Appendix A8.3 and A8.6.) According to the document, the FBI s searches of NSA surveiance intercepts are so wide-ranging and indiscriminate there is no requirement that the matter be a serious one nor that it have any reation to nationa security. The FISA court judge expressed particuar concern about the heaviy poiticized FBI s fouting minimization rues, especiay for giving government contractors improper access to FISA-acquired data, which, she said, seems to have been the resut of deiberate decisionmaking [sic]: 20

21 The Court is concerned about the FBI s apparent disregard of minimization rues and whether the FBI may be engaging in simiar discosures of raw Section 702 information that have not been reported. ArsTechnica.com reports that: Other statistics from the Statistica Transparency Report Regarding Use of Nationa Security Authority for 2016 the third such report issued by the ODNI revea the ever-expanding nature of other surveiance by the NSA and other agencies under the provisions of the Foreign Inteigence Surveiance Act (FISA). The number of Foreign Inteigence Surveiance Court (FISC) probabe cause orders issued per year has stayed reativey steady, with 1,559 orders issued by FISC appying to an estimated 1,687 targets 336 of whom are US persons. However, the tota number of targets tracked through Internet surveiance and other means under FISA s Section 702 has steadiy cimbed we beyond that, reaching a tota of 106,469 tracked individuas in (Emphasis added) Weaponizing Inteigence. Important eements on the poitica right inside the Repubican Party estabishment oathe Donad Trump; so much so that, as wi be seen ater in this Specia Report, it was from Repubicans within the so-caed Never Trump faction of the GOP not from the camps of any of his primary opponents that money was raised to hire a former British spy to compie a dossier on Trump and his associates, compete with unsubstantiated, saacious persona and business accusations, taior-made as extortion and backmai materia. Of course, many peope on the poitica eft aso oathe the new president, especiay Hiary Cinton partisans who cannot accept her oss to Trump gracefuy. Finay, both Repubicans and Democrats within the foreign-poicy status-quo camp oppose Trump as we. Thus, without the need for conspiracy or coordination, there appears to be a particuar type of coup d état underway, what Judicia Watch Director of Investigations Chris Farre cas a soft coup: A soft coup is a coordinated effort to deegitimize or undermine a awfuy eected officia. Taken from the French phrase coup d état, which transates to a strike at the State a coup may be vioent or not. In the atter case, it is a soft coup. Traditionay, soft coups are the stuff of Latin American poitica conspiracy theories and paperback noves. Soft coups incude actions of senior government officias refusing to carry out their roes in critica tasks, or otherwise acting in opposition to the etter or spirit of the aw to diminish or remove de facto power from those who woud otherwise egay wied it. *** In 2017, propaganda is a powerfu too for shaping pubic opinion. Poiticized 21

22 news media can be compicit in the scheme of the soft coup by engaging in fase and miseading reporting, or acting as the propaganda arm of the poitica opposition. Suppose the news media advanced a fase narrative to sensationaize and controversiaize a government officia. What about unsourced whispering campaigns? Sound famiiar? It shoud. It s time to ask yoursef some questions: Have you seen a marked increase in supposed news stories attributed to anonymous sources? How about references to mutipe, purportedy confirming anonymous sources? Anonymous sources can be important and used egitimatey but not excusivey. After a, one might think you re just making things up to advance your own agenda. Have you seen news reports corrected or foow-on reporting discaiming earier reports? What about caims of fies, dossiers and secret meetings? Have they eventuay been discredited or exposed as fase? Have you detected a new and sudden fervor in aggressive interviewing styes from taking heads who otherwise were cheerfuy compacent, or busy acting as stenographers? Do you see certain words and expressions repeated in reporting? How many times have you seen the words chaos or chaotic used by different reporters in any number of news stories? As a presidentia candidate, Donad Trump struck a the sensitive nerves of those operating in the Deep State and sent tremors through them. He caed NATO obsoete. He criticized Europeans for freeoading on the United States for defense. He urged better reations with Russia and opposed risking a war over the countries of Georgia and Ukraine. He caed the Iraq war a mistake, said the Afghanistan war was a compete waste, caed both wars dumb wars. And he said it was time to come home. He warned President Obama, Do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside, and he said the U.S. shoud stay the he out of Syria and et Russia fight ISIS in Syria; he said we cannot be the poiceman of the word. He said I ove Wikieaks whie the CIA director cas Wikieaks a foreign inteigence service. He suggested taking to North Korea s Kim Jong-un to ower tensions between the two countries and questioned the nature of the aiance with South Korea. He questioned America s defense commitments to and cose aiance with the oi-rich Saudis, who foster terrorism in their pursuit of spreading Wahhabism. He rejected gobaism, pedged to pu out of the Paris goba warming agreement and advocated a return to America-first poicies. He threatened to pu out of the Word Trade Organization and caed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the singe worst trade dea ever signed in this country. 22

23 What better way, then, for those in the Deep State who fear and oathe President Trump to stoke fear and paranoia both within the Trump inner circe and the American pubic to the boiing point and whip up a perfect storm of pubic opposition to bow away a sitting president than to create a Russian boogey bear intent on undermining American democracy and restoring the Russian Empire by any means possibe and then accuse the president of couding with the Russians in their sinister efforts? And, who better than the macontents in the Deep-State inteigence community to use techniques the Soviets first abeed active measures during the Cod War to manufacture propaganda and manipuate the fear and oathing of Trump to orchestrate just such a perfect storm? To ask the question, Who is stoking the soft coup, is to answer it: Deep State actors working in concert with outside agents of infuence and the media who fear and oathe what Trump professed to stand for during the presidentia campaign. They have the means and methods and the proven techniques to deegitimize and destabiize regimes abroad; why not at home? As a presidentia candidate, Donad Trump struck a the sensitive nerves of those operating in the Deep State and sent tremors through them. As Chris Farre pointed out in Episode 12 Compicity & Negigence in Domestic Poitica Espionage of his weeky video-cast On Watch: With great irony, the American Left keeps crying wof over Russia. A few weeks back I dissected their fase and miseading caims in a segment caed The So-caed Hack I encourage you to go back and view that episode. Russia has run Active Measures Campaigns against the United States since 1917 sometimes with the active, witting assistance of peope ike New York Times reporter Water Duranty and Senator Ted Kennedy. To be frank we ve done the same thing run various infuence operations around the gobe to encourage or assist various poitica factions. There is nothing new under the sun. Through a of the smoke, defections and distractions keep your eye on the ba concerning the Deep State s crimina abuse of nationa inteigence coection patforms and systems to spy on their poitica opponents. There s been nothing even remotey ike it in the history of our country. It is not just an abuse of individua rights it s an abuse of the power of the government and a crime against the Constitution. The story wi be frustratingy sow to deveop, because many in government were either compicit or negigent in aowing it to happen. The Case of Genera Fynn. The first active measures to come to ight taken to destabiize and deegitimize the new Trump administration began during the transition period, even before Mr. Trump was inaugurated. On November 18, 2016, Trump announced he woud appoint retired United States Army Lieutenant Genera Michae Fynn as his nationa security advisor. On January 23, 2017, just three days after Trump s inauguration, CNN reported that the Obama administration had been investigating Fynn s ate-december communications with Russian Ambassador 23

24 Sergey Kisyak. Unnamed inteigence and aw enforcement officias (i.e., Deep State eakers) tod CNN that Fynn s cas were intercepted through routine U.S. eavesdropping targeting the Russian dipomats and the officias a stressed that so far there has been no determination of any wrongdoing. On February 13, Trump asked for Fynn s resignation on the grounds that, athough the taks Fynn had with Ambassador Kisyak were perfecty ega and egitimate, he ied about them to Vice President Pence, and consequenty Trump ost confidence in him. Read Poitico s rendition of the firing -- and then compare it to Farre s exposition above about how a soft coup works: By Monday [Feb. 13] night, Trump had made his first big staff shake-up, causing chaos in a nascent presidency and raising further questions about the president s abiity to hande nationa security matters in the first month of his tenure. *** Trump became increasingy convinced that the question of Fynn s contact with Russia wasn t going away. His top aides and advisers distrusted Fynn, according to senior White House officias and others who spoke with Trump, and Trump was concerned that the inteigence and nationa security community woud aways oppose Fynn, sources said. *** Two peope cose to Trump said that many in Trump s word had turned on Fynn and used the atest story to try and drive him out. Others in Trump s immediate circe wondered why Trump kept defending him. Immediatey after CNN s reveation, Judicia Watch fied a FOIA request with the Centra Inteigence Agency (CIA), the United States Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury regarding records reated to the investigation of Genera Fynn s communications with Ambassador Kisyak, specificay: Any and a records regarding, concerning, or reated to the investigation of retired Gen. Michae Fynn s communications with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kisyak between October 1, 2016 and the present. On March 16, Judicia Watch fied a FOIA awsuit (Judicia Watch v. Centra Inteigence Agency et a. (No.1:17-cv-00397)) against the three agencies because they faied to respond to the January 25 FOIA request. (The Nationa Security Agency refused to confirm or deny the existence of inteigence records about communications between Gen. Fynn and Amb Kisyak.) In a press reease announcing the awsuit, Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton, cut through the distracting eaks and innuendo swiring in the media and in Washington saons when he said: President Trump is on to something. The Obama-connected wiretapping and iega eaks of cassified materia concerning President Trump and Genera Fynn are a scanda. Judicia Watch aims to get to the truth about these crimes and we hope the Trump administration stands with us in the fight for transparency. 24

25 The Deep State Onsaught Continues. Some five months after CNN acted as the Deep State s transmission bet in passing aong to the pubic inteigence-community/aw-enforcement eaks of the Fynn investigation, it is now confirmed that during the 2016 presidentia campaign and afterwards, a substantia number of communications of Trump associates (and perhaps Trump himsef) were swept up in the Section-702 surveiance conducted by U.S. inteigence agencies and perhaps more directy through at east one FISA court warrant aowing the FBI to monitor Trump and some of his associates directy. Athough there was widespread scorn heaped on Trump for suggesting the Obama White House was wiretapping him, it is now cear that Obama aies within the Deep State went to considerabe troube to obtain FISA warrants on U.S. persons that woud cear away any ega hurdes to the government s conducting surveiance on Trump s communications directy, without the need to rey simpy on scooping up incidenta communications that might be caught up in the FISA-Section-702 dragnet. On November 7, the day before the 2016 presidentia eection, Heat Street ran a story, itte remarked upon esewhere in the U.S. media except by the Washington Times, reporting that: Two separate sources with inks to the counter-inteigence community have confirmed to Heat Street that the FBI sought, and was granted, a FISA court warrant in October, giving counter-inteigence permission to examine the activities of U.S. persons in Donad Trump s campaign with ties to Russia. Contrary to earier reporting in the New York Times, which cited FBI sources as saying that the agency did not beieve that the private server in Donad Trump s Trump Tower, which was connected to a Russian bank, had any nefarious purpose, the FBI s counter-inteigence arm, sources say, re-drew an earier FISA court request around possibe financia and banking offenses reated to the server. The first request, which, sources say, named Trump, was denied back in June, but the second was drawn more narrowy and was granted in October after evidence was presented of a server, possiby reated to the Trump campaign, and its aeged inks to two banks; SVB Bank and Russia s Afa Bank. Whie the Times story speaks of metadata, sources suggest that a FISA warrant was granted to ook at the fu content of emais and other reated documents that may concern US persons. *** The FISA warrant was granted in connection with the investigation of suspected activity between the server and two banks, SVB Bank and Afa Bank. However, it is thought in the inteigence community that the warrant covers any US person connected to this investigation, and thus covers Donad Trump and at east three further men who have either formed part of his campaign or acted as his media surrogates. The warrant was sought, they say, because actionabe inteigence on the matter provided by friendy foreign agencies coud not propery be examined without a warrant by US inteigence as it invoves US Persons who come under the remit of the FBI and not the CIA. Shoud a counter-inteigence investigation ead to crimina prosecutions, sources say, the Justice Department is concerned that the chain of evidence have a basis in a cear warrant. (Emphasis added.) 25

26 On March 22, House Inteigence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) confirmed in writing, and to the press, that the Obama Administration Deep State operatives conducted the foowing activities against President-Eect Trump and his team between November 2016 and January 2017: On numerous occasions, the Inteigence Community incidentay coected information about U.S. citizens invoved in the Trump transition. Detais about U.S. persons associated with the incoming Trump administration detais with itte or no apparent foreign inteigence vaue were widey disseminated throughout the government, and apparenty eaked to Obama administration aies in the media. Those eaks are feonies. Names of Trump transition team members were unmasked their identities reveaed and circuated again, more feonies. None of this surveiance was reated to Russia or any investigation of Russian activities or of the Trump team. Prior to Nunes confirmation of active measures taken against Trump by the Obama administration, on March 2, former Obama Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Eveyn Farkas, confirmed on MSNBC that not ony was the previous administration coecting inteigence on the Trump team, it aso was attempting to share that information (some of it cassified) as far and wide as possibe: I was urging my former coeagues and, franky speaking, the peope on the Hi, it was more actuay aimed at teing the Hi peope, get as much information as you can, get as much inteigence as you can, before President Obama eaves the administration. This raises the question: How was Farkas, a mere deputy assistant secretary of defense, abe to see cassified surveiance information on the Trump team? And, more importanty, were Obama Deep States agents iegay sharing this cassified information around town? The former question was answered when CIRCA.com reported that Obama signed an unprecedented executive order in the fina days of his presidency, aowing 16 agencies, in addition to the CIA, NSA and FBI, to view cassified materia swept up in the 702 dragnet. This executive order resuted in top Obama aides routiney reviewing inteigence reports geaned from the Nationa Security Agency s incidenta intercepts of Americans abroad. On March 1, the New York Times foreshadowed what Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Farkas woud admit a day ater on MSNBC, when it reveaed the Obama Administration spread information about aeged Russian efforts to undermine the 2016 presidentia eection. The Times reported the State Department sent a cache of documents marked secret to Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) just days before Trump s January 20 inauguration: There was aso an effort to pass reports and other sensitive materias to Congress. In one instance, the State Department sent a cache of documents marked secret to Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryand days before the Jan. 20 inauguration. The documents, detaiing Russian efforts to intervene in eections wordwide, were sent 26

27 in response to a request from Mr. Cardin, the top Democrat on the Foreign Reations Committee, and were shared with Repubicans on the pane. Subsequenty, on May 9, Judicia Watch fied a FOIA awsuit against the U.S. Department of State for a records provided by State to Senator Benjamin Cardin s office reated to aeged Russian interference with the 2016 presidentia eection. The awsuit was fied in the U.S. District Court for the District of Coumbia (Judicia Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:17-cv-00852)). Judicia Watch fied the suit after the State Department faied to respond to a March 2, 2017, FOIA request seeking: A records provided by any officia, empoyee, or representative of the Department of State to Senator Ben Cardin, any member of his staff, the Senate Foreign Reations Committee, and/or any Senate Foreign Reations Committee staff member regarding, concerning, or reated to efforts by the Russian Government to affect, manipuate, or infuence any eection in the United States or any foreign country from November 8, 2016 to present. About the Cardin episode and the Judicia Watch awsuit, Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton said: Did the Obama State Department impropery share cassified information with a Democrat Senator as part of an anti-trump scheme? Needess to say, the Senate won t be investigating Senator Cardin s roe in any potentia vioations of aw but Judicia Watch is going to federa court to do just that. Who Unmasked Whom? Here are the questions that must be answered about unmasking the identities of Americans caught up incidentay in surveiance of foreigners: Who was aware of what was going on? Why was it not discosed to Congress? Who requested and authorized the unmasking? Who directed the inteigence community to focus on Trump associates? With respect to the question of who unmasked/authorized the identities of Americans swept up in the NSA Section-702 dragnet, it is now apparent that former Obama Nationa Security Advisor Susan Rice was at the center of the operation. On Apri 3, Boomberg reported: White House awyers ast month earned that the former nationa security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw inteigence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donad Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officias famiiar with the matter. *** In February [White House Senior Director for Inteigence] Cohen-Watnick discovered Rice s mutipe requests to unmask U.S. persons in inteigence reports that reated to Trump transition activities. He brought this to the attention of the 27

28 White House Genera Counse s office, who reviewed more of Rice s requests and instructed him to end his own research into the unmasking poicy. To confirm Rice s roe in the unmasking and dissemination of Americans identities, on Apri 4, Judicia Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Nationa Security Counci (NSC) seeking: 1. Any and a requests for information, anayses, summaries, assessments, transcripts, or simiar records submitted to any Inteigence Community member agency or any officia, empoyee, or representative thereof by former Nationa Security Advisor Susan Rice regarding, concerning, or reated to the foowing: Any actua or suspected effort by the Russian government or any individua acting on behaf of the Russian government to infuence or otherwise interfere with the 2016 presidentia eection. The aeged hacking of computer systems utiized by the Democratic Nationa Committee and/or the Cinton presidentia campaign. Any actua or suspected communication between any member of the Trump presidentia campaign or transition team and any officia or empoyee of the Russian government or any individua acting on behaf of the Russian government. The identities of U.S. citizens associated with the Trump presidentia campaign or transition team who were identified pursuant to inteigence coection activities. 1. Any and a records or responses received by former Nationa Security Advisor Susan Rice and/or any member, empoyee, staff member, or representative of the Nationa Security Counci in response to any request described in part 1 of this request. 2. Any and a records of communication between any officia, empoyee, or representative of the Department of any Inteigence Community member agency and former Nationa Security Advisor Susan Rice and/or any member, empoyee, staff member, or representative of the Nationa Security Counci regarding, concerning, or reated to any request described in Part 1 of this request. The NSC s response? The NSC wi not fufi the Judicia Watch request because a the responsive records have been removed to the Obama Presidentia Library and by aw wi remain ocked up and unavaiabe to the pubic for five years. (See Appendix A9.) Subsequenty, on May 25, Judicia Watch sued the Department of Justice and the NSA for information about Rice s communications with the two agencies concerning the aeged Russian invovement in the 2016 presidentia eection, the hacking of DNC computers, the suspected communications between Russia and Trump campaign/transition officias and the Deep State unmasking of the identities of any U.S. citizens associated with the Trump presidentia campaign or transition team who were identified pursuant to inteigence 28

29 coection activities (Judicia Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice and Nationa Security Administration (No. 1:17-cv-01002)). This case is sti pending. About the unmasking scanda, Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton, had this to say: We want to know about the Obama White House invovement in the unprecedented spying on Donad Trump and other poitica opponents. This inteigence operation may have ed to the iega unmasking of Americans and the eaking of inteigence information to foment the story of Russian hacking of the DNC and sinister Russian infuence on Trump and his associates. The Trump administration has an opportunity to expose what the Obama White House was up to. The Trump dossier was funded initiay by anti-trump Repubicans and ater by unidentified Democrats. The Trump Dossier. To comprehend the fu scope, enormity and depravity of the Deep State s inteigence operations against Trump, it is instructive to dig into the aegations that the active measures taken against Trump and his team went we beyond merey the misuse of signas surveiance information gathered incidentay in spying on the communications of foreigners. The so-caed Trump dossier, for exampe, was written by former British MI6 inteigence officer, Christopher Steee, who aegedy was commissioned initiay by anti-trump Repubicans as part of their opposition research during the Repubican presidentia primaries. According to the Teegraph: Mr. Steee, the co-founder of London-based Orbis Business Inteigence Ltd, prepared a 35-page document that aeges the Kremin couded with Mr. Trump s presidentia campaign and that the Russian security services have materia that coud be used to backmai him, incuding an aegation that he paid prostitutes to defie a bed that had been sept in by Barack and Michee Obama. His research was initiay funded by anti-trump Repubicans, and ater by Democrats. Athough Steee s work reportedy was funded initiay by anti-trump Repubicans, after it was cear Trump was going to be the Repubican presidentia nominee, the Repubican money dried up and Steee was hired by unidentified Democratic cients to continue opposition research on Trump. Throughout Steee s invovement in buiding a dossier on Trump and his associates, Deep State eaks about the existence of the dossier and the nature of its contents percoated through poitica, inteigence and aw-enforcement circes and in the media. In January 2017, according to the New York Times: 29

30 James R. Capper Jr., the director of nationa inteigence, issued a statement decrying eaks about the matter and saying of Mr. Steee s dossier that the inteigence agencies have not made any judgment that the information in this document is reiabe. Mr. Capper suggested that inteigence officias had nonetheess shared it to give poicy makers the fuest possibe picture of any matters that might affect nationa security. (Emphasis added.) A picture now emerges of how anti-trump opposition research, consisting of unverified sources and unsubstantiated accusations paid for by anti-trump factions within both poitica parties and the author of that materia himsef were used by at east one U.S. inteigence/aw-enforcement agency (the FBI) to justify inteigence operations against Trump under the guise of an investigation. On Apri 28, 2017, the Guardian reported that memos written by Steee were passed to Senator John McCain (R-AZ) who then handed over a copy of them to then-fbi Director James Comey on December 9, The Guardian goes on: The Steee dossier was referred to in an inteigence briefing provided by the FBI and US inteigence agencies to Obama and Trump in January. Comey has confirmed that counter-inteigence investigations are under way into possibe inks between Trump associates and Moscow, and CNN has reported that the FBI used the dossier to boster its investigations. (Emphasis added.) On January 10, 2017, the 35-page Trump dossier was made pubic by BuzzFeed foowing a report that day by CNN stating President Obama was presented cassified documents aeging Russian Inteigence had compromising persona and financia information about Trump. Athough the inteigence agencies in receipt of the dossier admit that sources and accusations in it have not been verified, the Washington Post reported on February 28, 2017 that: The former British spy who authored a controversia dossier on behaf of Donad Trump s poitica opponents aeging ties between Trump and Russia reached an agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the eection for the bureau to pay him to continue his work, according to severa peope famiiar with the arrangement. (Emphasis added.) Before the Steee/FBI money dea coud be consummated, however, BuzzFeed pubished the materia, and the FBI prompty ceased discussions with Steee. But that did not end the FBI s entangement with Steee and his dossier. On March 30, 2017, the BBC s Pau Wood reported: The FBI is using the exposive but unverified coection of memos detaiing aegations of cousion between President Donad Trump s campaign team and Russia as a roadmap for its investigation into Russia s interference in the 2016 presidentia eection. The same day, Vanity Fair reported that in the summer of 2016, Steee had setted on a 30

31 pan of covert action invoving the FBI: The F.B.I. s Eurasian Joint Organized Crime Squad Move Over, Mafia, the bureau s P.R. machine crowed after the unit had been created was a particuary gung-ho team with whom Steee had done some heady things in the past. And in the course of their successfu coaboration, the hard-driving F.B.I. agents and the former frontine spy evoved into a chummy mutua-admiration society. (Emphasis added.) It was ony natura, then, that when he began muing whom to turn to, Steee thought about his tough-minded friends on the Eurasian [FBI] squad. And fortuitousy, he discovered, as his scheme took on a soid operationa commitment, that one of the agents was now assigned to the bureau office in Rome. By eary August [2016], a copy of his first two memos were shared with the F.B.I. s man in Rome. So chummy were Steee and the FBI Deep State operatives that the Bureau was wiing to pay him to continue his work, unti, that is, the whoe sordid affair became pubic. In an effort to get to the bottom of the Trump dossier, Judicia Watch fied a FOIA awsuit on May 16 against the U.S. Department of Justice for records of communications and payments between the FBI and former British inteigence officer Christopher Steee and his private firm, Orbis Business Inteigence (Judicia Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-00916)). The suit was fied after the Department of Justice faied to respond to a March 8, 2017, FOIA request seeking: A records of communications between any officia, empoyee, or representative of the FBI and Mr. Christopher Steee, a former British inteigence officer and the owner of the private firm Orbis Business Inteigence. A records reated to the proposed, panned, or actua payment of any funds to Mr. Steee and/or Orbis Business Inteigence. A records produced in preparation for, during, or pursuant to any meetings or teephonic conversations between any officia, empoyee, or representative of the Federa Bureau of Investigation and Mr. Christopher Steee and/or any empoyee or representative of Orbis Business Inteigence. CNN and many other news organizations refused to pubish the Trump dossier because they had not independenty corroborated the specific aegations, and former Director of Nationa Inteigence James Capper reportedy said we coudn t corroborate the sourcing, particuary the second and third order sources. According to Fox News, despite Capper s discaimer, former FBI Director James Comey insisted that the dossier be incuded in January s inteigence report on aeged Russian medding in the U.S. eection. (Emphasis added.) 31

32 Here s what Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton, said about the Trump dossier: The so-caed Trump dossier is at the center of the anti-trump Russian cousion and conspiracy theory. It is disconcerting that the Obama FBI and Justice Department trafficked this document and evidenty used it to justify unprecedented surveiance of the Trump team. Our new awsuit seeks to expose the truth about this dossier. Maybe with new eadership at the FBI, we finay get some answers. Comey s Invovement and Appointment of Robert Mueer as Specia Counse. After months of active measures being taken against the Trump transition quiety from within the Obama White House, with the hep of the inteigence/aw-enforcement community, it a began breaking into the open on January 23. Three days after Trump s inauguration, CNN broke the story that the Obama Administration had been investigating Fynn s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kisyak, going back as east as far as ate December, On January 26, 2017, Obama hod-over and then-acting Attorney Genera Say Yates informed the Trump White House that Fynn s pubic statements were at odds with inteigence intercepts of Fynn s private conversations with the Russian ambassador and suggested Fynn was a potentia Kremin backmai target. According to the Washington Post, Yates and other Obama officias had been digging into NSA intercepts of Fynn since at east December, 2016, after which the Obama administration, on December 29, announced sanctions to punish Russia for what it said was the Kremin s interference in the eection in an attempt to hep Trump. According to the Post s account, Yates, then-director of Nationa Inteigence James Capper and then-cia head John Brennan argued for briefing the incoming administration about resuts of the Obama administration s fishing expedition on Fynn so the new president coud decide how to hande the matter. Then-FBI Director James B. Comey argued for withhoding the information from the new president, citing concerns that it coud compicate the Bureau s investigation. As part of Judicia Watch s efforts to get to the bottom of the Obama administration targeting and unmasking scanda, JW fied a FOIA awsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for emais of former Acting Attorney Genera Say Yates from her government account. The awsuit was fied in the U.S. District Court for the District of Coumbia (Judicia Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-00832)). The suit was fied after the Justice Department faied to respond to a February 1, 2017, FOIA request seeking access to Yates emais between January 21, 2017, and January 31, Ms. Yates was appointed by President Obama as U.S. Attorney in northern Georgia and was ater confirmed as Deputy Attorney Genera under President Obama. In January 2017, she became acting Attorney Genera for President Trump. On January 30, Yates, who remained an Obama hodover in the new Trump administration, ordered Deep State partisans within the Justice Department not to defend President Trump s January 27 executive order seeking a trave ban from seven Midde Eastern countries. That same day, President Trump fired her for refusing to defend the action. 32

33 About Say Yates and the Judicia Watch awsuit, JW President Tom Fitton said: Between her invovement in the Russian surveiance scanda and her awess effort to thwart President Trump s immigration executive order, Say Yates short tenure as the acting Attorney Genera was remarkaby troubing. Her emai traffic might provide a window into how the anti-trump Deep State abused the Justice Department. On February 14, the day after Fynn resigned his job as nationa security advisor, President Trump met with then-fbi director James Comey. It was this meeting that Comey caims to have memoriaized in a memo written that same day, in which he accused Trump of asking him during the meeting to shut down the Fynn investigation. Trump categoricay denied he did, and the White House issued a statement stating, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone ese to end any investigation, incuding any investigation invoving Genera Fynn. One news outet, ceary working from information passed to it from someone inside Deep State FBI corridors, headined a June 7 story, 3 senior FBI officias can vouch for Comey s story about Trump; Sources: McCabe, Rybicki, and Baker coud corroborate the ex-director s caims that the president asked him to back off investigating Michae Fynn. The story recounts how: One by one this winter, then-fbi Director James B. Comey pued aside three of the bureau s top officias for private chats. In cam tones, he tod each of them about a private Ova Office meeting with President Trump during which, Comey aeged, the president pressed him to shut down the federa crimina investigation of Trump s then-nationa security adviser, Michae Fynn. This story may be true, right down to the atmospheric fourishes, but it hardy vouches for or corroborates the ex-director s caims; it merey uses third parties, who have no first-hand knowedge, to transmit hear-say accusations passed on to them by the accuser himsef. Finay, on May 9, President Trump fired James Comey as head of the FBI. In Trump s etter of termination to Comey, the president expained that he reached the concusion that Comey is not abe to effectivey ead the bureau. He went on, It is essentia that we find new eadership for the FBI that restores pubic trust and confidence in its vita aw enforcement mission. Trump ater eaborated in an interview with NBC s Lester Hot: Look, he is a showboat. He s a grandstander. The FBI has been in turmoi. You know that, I know that, everybody knows that. You take a ook at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtua turmoi ess than a year ago. It hasn t recovered from that. A week after Comey s dismissa, on May 17 with the Russia-Trump conspiracy narrative now panted firmy in the minds of the pubic and Members of Congress the Justice Department suddeny fet compeed to appoint a specia counse to investigate the Russia tae. None other than Robert Mueer, the former FBI director under President George W. 33

34 Bush and Barack Obama and Comey s predecessor and ay at the FBI was appointed specia counse to investigate aeged Russian interference in the 2016 presidentia eection and purported cousion between Trump s campaign and Moscow. Comey and Mueer were professionay cose and became persona friends whie Comey served as deputy attorney genera under President Bush during Mueer s tenure as head of the FBI. Comey admitted in testimony before the U.S. Senate Inteigence Committee on June 8 that he arranged for the memo about his February 14 meeting with Trump to be eaked to the media through a third party in the hope of prompting an independent investigation of Trump. Comey s od comrade in arms and friend Robert Mueer, by then setted in the roe of specia counse, prompty seized the opportunity, using Comey s accusatory memo as justification to expand his investigation beyond the confines of the Russia probe to incude obstruction of justice by the president. Less than a week after Comey s testimony, the Washington Post ran a story headined, Specia counse is investigating Trump for possibe obstruction of justice, officias say. And so, the Deep State swamp creatures in Washington, who fear and oathe Donad Trump have gamed the system through active measures and propaganda in an effort to sow discord among Trump s inner circe, shake the confidence of the American peope in their president and to destabiize and deegitimize Trump s administration. This is iega domestic poitica espionage on a scae never before imagined. In a June 13 appearance on NewsmaxTV s America Taks Live Judicia Watch President Tom Fitton said: Comey gamed the system and Mueer s whoe appointment has now been tainted, and the president has an independent obigation, however poiticay uncomfortabe, to make sure the Justice Department is actuay acting in a just way. The president, in my view, doesn t have much to worry about egay from any honest prosecutor, but there are other peope who are subject to this investigation who now face a ot of ega jeopardy and time and expense as a resut of a specia prosecutor who shoudn t be there... This isn t about aw, this is a poitica investigation, and the reason Mueer was appointed was to appease the eft who was attacking the Justice Department about its investigation of this Russia cousion scanda. Fitton aso tod Newsmax TV host Bi Tucker that President Donad Trump may be justified in firing specia counse Robert Mueer if it turns out ex-fbi Director James Comey had a sient hand in getting him hired to probe Russia s interference in the 2016 presidentia race. He added that firing Mueer may be a necessary thing to do given the way [he] was appointed and the circumstances around it. Here s how Fitton responded to a comment by Tucker: Tucker: In testimony before the Senate Inteigence Committee, Comey admitted eaking information to the press in a bid to get a specia prosecutor appointed to 34

35 ook into possibe inks between the Trump campaign and Russia. Fitton: That is a rea question about what Comey did and whether what he did was appropriate in terms of taking documents from the FBI, and then eaking them with the express purpose of getting a specia counse who turned out to be Mueer appointed. What was Comey s invovement in having Mueer appointed to specia counse and is Mueer going to have to investigate Comey, who, pubic reports suggest, is either a friend or a protégé of Mr. Mueer? Given that cose reationship, there has to be an honest evauation of whether there s a confict of interest between Mueer and his reay [sic] charge now to investigate what Comey did. Judicia Watch Digs into Comey Affair. As efforts to deegitimize and destabiize the Trump administration continue to eak out of the Deep State and bubbe up to the surface of the Washington Swamp, there is an opportunity to hod accountabe the peope who are responsibe. According to Judicia Watch President Tom Fitton, that s why Judicia Watch is now focusing on the actions of James Comey and trying to get the bottom of both the records remova and the eaks to the media and then hod accountabe the persons who were invoved. Comey admitted he arranged for the memo about his meeting with Trump to be eaked to the media in the hope of prompting an independent investigation of Trump. To that end, Judicia Watch sued the Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, for the key Comey memo. The awsuit, fied on June 16, seeks access to a memorandum Comey wrote after his February 14 private meeting with President Trump regarding the pending investigation of Gen. Mike Fynn and potentia Russian interference in the 2016 presidentia eection (Judicia Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-01189). This is the sixth of six, to date, Judicia Watch Freedom of Information Act awsuits reated to the surveiance, unmasking and iega targeting of President Trump and his associates during the FBI s investigation of purported Russian invovement in the 2016 presidentia eection and aeged cousion with the Russians by Trump and his team. The suit was fied in U.S. District Court for the District of Coumbia after the Department of Justice faied to respond to JW s May 16 FOIA request for: The memorandum written by former Director James Comey memoriaizing his meeting and conversation with President Trump regarding the FBI s investigation of potentia Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidentia eection. For purposes of carification, this memorandum was reportedy written on or about February 13, 2017 and is the subject of a New York Times artice dated May 16, The memo purportedy recounts a conversation between President Trump and Comey about Fynn in which Trump aegedy pressured Comey to shut down the Fynn crimina investigation. 35

36 About the awsuit for Comey s memo, Judicia Watch President, Tom Fitton, had this to say: Having to sue to get a document eaked to the New York Times is a scanda. The memo shoud be reeased forthwith, and, franky, the president can and shoud order its immediate reease. This awsuit was ony one of severa significant actions taken by Judicia Watch in the aftermath of Comey s absconding from the FBI with bureau records and then eaking them. Before fiing the awsuit, Judicia Watch sent a etter on June 14 to acting FBI Director Andrew G. McCabe reminding him about the FBI s ega obigation under the Federa Records Act (FRA) to recover records removed from the agency, incuding Comey s memos apparenty taken by Comey when he eft the FBI and subsequenty eaked to the media. The etter to McCabe states: Dear Acting Director McCabe: As you are we aware, former FBI Director James Comey gave sworn testimony ast week before the Senate Seect Committee on Inteigence. Among other things, Mr. Comey confirmed that, whie in office, he created various memoranda regarding his meetings with President Trump. Mr. Comey aso confirmed that, after his departure from the FBI, he provided at east some of these memoranda to a third party, Coumbia Law Schoo Professor Danie Richman, for the purpose of eaking them to the press. Various media outets now have reported that Professor Richman has provided these memoranda to the FBI. It is uncear whether he sti retains copies of the memoranda. I am writing to you on behaf of Judicia Watch, Inc., a not-for-profit educationa organization that seeks to promote transparency, accountabiity, and integrity in government and fideity to the rue of aw. In furtherance of its pubic interest mission, Judicia Watch reguary requests access to the records of the FBI through the Freedom of Information Act and disseminates its findings to the pubic. In fact, on May 16, 2017, Judicia Watch submitted a FOIA request seeking these specific memoranda removed from the FBI by Mr. Comey. Judicia Watch aso has pending FOIA awsuits in which the memoranda may be at issue. These memoranda were created by Mr. Comey whie serving as FBI director, were written on his FBI aptop, and concerned officia government business. As such, they indisputaby are records subject to the Federa Records Act. 44 U.S.C , , , and The fact that Mr. Comey removed these memoranda from the FBI upon his departure, apparenty for the purpose of subsequenty eaking them to the press, confirms the FBI s faiure to retain and propery manage its records in accordance with the Federa Records Act. Even if Mr. Comey no onger has possession of these particuar memoranda, as he now caims, some or a of these memoranda may sti be in possession of a third party, such as Professor Richman, and must be recovered. Mr. Comey s remova of these memoranda aso suggests that other records may have been removed by Mr. Comey and may remain in his possession or in the possession of others. If so, these records must be recovered by the FBI as we. 36

37 As you may be aware, the Federa Records Act imposes a direct responsibiity on you to take steps to recover any records unawfuy removed from the FBI. Specificay, upon earning of any actua, impending, or threatened unawfu remova, defacing, ateration, corruption, deetion, erasure, or other destruction of records in the custody of the agency, you must notify the Archivist of the United States. 44 U.S.C Upon earning that records have been unawfuy removed from the FBI, you then are required to initiate action through the Attorney Genera for the recovery of records. Id. In the event you fai to take these steps, you shoud be aware that Judicia Watch is authorized under the aw to fie a awsuit in federa district court seeking that you be compeed to compy with the aw. Judicia Watch, Inc. v. Kerry, 844 F.3d 952, 955 (D.C. Cir. 2016); Armstrong v. Bush, 924 F.2d 282,296 (D.C. Cir. 1991). Pease advise us no ater than June 26, 2017 if you intend to take the action required under the aw. If we do not hear from you by that date, we wi assume that you do not intend to take any action. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerey, Thomas J. Fitton President Mr. Comey eft the FBI with government records, and the FBI and Justice Department are obigated to get them back. If they don t, Judicia Watch may sue to try to force them to do so. III. Concusion Professor Patrick H. O Nei of the University of Puget Sound, in a January 2015 artice, The Deep State: An Emerging Concept in Comparative Poitics, concisey eucidates the underying foundation of the Deep State (p.4): as a foundationa ogic, the deep state justifies its existence through the necessity of tuteage over both state and society. The deep state views itsef guardian of nationa vaues against interna and externa foes. In short, the deep state does not necessariy trust the government, state (perhaps even miitary) or society to preserve the nation. Accordingy, actors within the deep state can justify an array of actions against the government, society, and state as necessary to defend against traitors to the nation and nationa ideoogy. The amorphousness of the deep state is accompanied by the beief that its members are the symboic core of the nation. (Emphasis added.) At the beginning of this Specia Report, it was observed that the Deep State is not monoithic but it shares a common wordview and is characterized by three disturbing procivities: Secrecy, surveiance and subterfuge. Secrecy catayzes and enabes surveiance and subterfuge. The ony way to observe and evauate the workings of the Deep State is 37

38 to penetrate the vei of Deep State secrecy that shieds the actions of poitica appointees, career civi servants, private contractors and their reationship with the media and outside agents of infuence that comprise the Deep State. That s why Judicia Watch is in court day after day shining the ight on the activities of the Deep State. It is time to put an end to the obsessive, oppressive and destructive secrecy in government. If the rue of aw is to survive, if America s constitutiona protections are to endure, it is essentia to ro back the sinister secrecy that aows, indeed encourages those operating in the Deep State to hod themseves above the aw and beyond the Constitution. There is a way to rein in the Deep State but it requires a commitment to extreme transparency by eected officias. It requires determined eadership from the White House and serious bi-partisan action on the part of a committed Congress to expose the goings on inside the permanent D.C. bureaucracy and the connections between the Deep Staters, the media and the outside agents of infuence. There is penty of bame to go around for the transparency faiures that foster the Deep State, most recenty the Obama administration s executive over reach and the vei of secrecy President Obama pued over his administration to hide it. And now, unbeievaby, those same secrecy poicies seem to be on auto-piot in the Trump administration. Thankfuy, though, when it comes to sunshine actions, the Trump White House has a soution at hand if ony it woud use it that is both eeganty simpe and breathtakingy radica. The Freedom of Information Act aows for the executive branch to make discretionary discosures. As Judicia Watch Director of Investigations, Chris Farre has noted: In pain Engish, that means President Trump and his cabinet secretaries can reease whatever they want whenever they wish to do so. They can exercise their discretion to reease records that are of broad genera and news media interest concerning important poicy issues and/or the operation of the federa government. These discretionary discosures take nothing more than the stroke of a pen. Beyond the discretionary discosures provision of the Freedom of Information Act, Executive Order 13526, signed by President Obama in 2009, and the Supreme Court ruing in Department of the Navy v. Egan (484 U.S. 518 (1988)) confirm that under the Constitution, as chief executive, the president has the ega power to decassify information immediatey, on his say so aone. As the Court stated in Egan: The President, after a, is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. U.S. Const., Art. II, 2. His authority to cassify and contro access to information bearing on nationa security fows primariy from this constitutiona investment of power in the President and exists quite apart from any expicit congressiona grant. During the presidentia campaign, Candidate Trump pedged to drain the swamp. There is no better way to drain the swamp than to impose extreme transparency on the Deep State 38

39 where the swamp festers and putrefies. Regrettaby, however, instead of appying the transparency remedy, as JW s Chris Farre reports, The Department of Justice under Attorney Genera Sessions is currenty making the exact same ega arguments as the Obama administration and using a the doube-tak and excuses from the Obama era, too. Freedom of Information Act officers in the executive branch are overworked and under-appreciated, a situation that has severey restricted the effectiveness of the aw. But it doesn t take congressiona action or a spending increase to change that. President Trump coud trigger a FOIA revoution simpy by ordering a new era of extreme transparency and discretionary discosure. Micha Morrison said it perfecty in Judicia Watch s Investigative Buetin: Extreme transparency coud bring huge benefits. Swamp draining woud get super-charged boosters. The president coud seize the mora high ground in the Russia-connection case with the reease of his tax returns and a reevant White House documents. On the Judicia Watch docket, among the records that coud be quicky produced are: the Comey memo; records reated to former Nationa Security Adviser Susan Rice and the unmasking controversy; records reated to the so-caed Russian dossier; records reating to the controversia tarmac meeting in Arizona between former President Bi Cinton and then-attorney Genera Loretta Lynch; FBI and inteigence community fies on the Hiary Cinton emai investigation; never-reveaed draft indictments of Mrs. Cinton in the Whitewater investigation; and notes and reports to then-secretary of State Cinton in the Benghazi affair. Beyond the president s imposing extreme transparency through discretionary discosures, immediate action aso is needed to pave the way for activist citizens and outside watchdogs, such as Judicia Watch, to investigate and expose corruption and mafeasance within the government. It s time to tear down the wa of secrecy surrounding the Deep State. President Trump shoud order federa agencies to stop the staing and start obeying the nation s openrecords aws. Unti they do, the dangerousy maignant Deep State wi continue to grow and undermine American democracy. President Trump not ony shoud use the power of discretionary discosures, he aso shoud commit to a revoution of extreme transparency and set it in motion by issuing an executive order to break the ogjam of FOIA requests he inherited from President Obama and which are now piing up under his own administration. Congress shoud join the revoution by reforming the Freedom of Information Act and giving private citizens, the press and watchdog groups stronger and better toos to hod the government to account. Congress and the president together shoud seize the opportunity when the Foreign Inteigence Surveiance Act comes up for reauthorization ater this year and: 39

40 1. Provide for greater pubic access to government records inside the inteigence and aw-enforcement agencies, and especiay the proceedings in and opinions of the FISA Court; and 2. Pace new imits on the NSAs authority to conduct warrantess searches and restrict other agencies authority to use NSA intercepts to conduct domestic surveiance on Americans. It s time to tear down the wa of secrecy surrounding the Deep State. President Trump shoud order federa agencies to stop the staing and start obeying the nation s open-records aws. Unti they do, the dangerousy maignant Deep State wi continue to grow and undermine American democracy. 40

41 IV. Appendix A1. Excerpt of officia Department of Justice Recap Memo Judicia Watch disodged from the Interna Revenue Service sent by IRS Exempt Organizations Tax Law Speciaist Siri Buer to Lois Lerner and other top IRS officias expaining an October 8 meeting with representatives from the Department of Justice Crimina Division s Pubic Integrity Section and one representative from the FBI to discuss the possibe crimina prosecution of nonprofit organizations for aeged poitica activity. 41

42 A2. IRS emai uncovered by Judicia Watch discussing the preparation of 1.25 miion pages of confidentia taxpayer information to be turned over to FBI. 42

43 A3. Court orders IRS to compy with FOIA and turn over documents on IRS targeting and conspiracy with Main Justice Department Officias and FBI to criminaize free speech and association. 43

44 A4. These emais uncovered by Congress confirm IRS/DOJ conspiracy to iegay turn over 1.25 miion pages of confidentia taxpayer information to FBI discussed in A3. above. 44

45 A5. A Juy 16, 2013 emai from an undiscosed Justice Department officia to a awyer for IRS empoyees asking that the Obama administration get information from congressiona witnesses before Congress does. 45

46 A6. Emai exchange between Lois Lerner and Nikoe C. Fax, then-chief of staff to then- Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Mier discussing pans to work with the Justice Department to prosecute nonprofit groups that ied (Lerner s quotation marks) about poitica activities. 46

47 A7. Invitation from undiscosed Department of Justice officia to IRS officia Sarah Ha Ingram to meet with officias in the Department of Justice Crimina Division to discuss 501(c)(4) issues. Ingram was unavaiabe to meet, and the invitation was passed on to Lois Lerner who ater met with persons from the Crimina Division and FBI. (See A1. and A6. Above.) 47

48 A8. Excerpts from a March 2017 cassified FISA Court Memorandum and Opinion decassified on Apri 26, A8.1. FISA Court judge notes that NSA has made some otherwise-noncompiant queries of data acquired under Section 702 by means other than upstream Internet coection. 48

49 A8.2. FISA Court judge arrives at probematica concusion about the extensive oversight by the Justice Department and ODNI [Office of the Director of Nationa Inteigence] of the agencies invoved in the mass coection of surveiance data given Justice s and ODNI s we-known history of attempting to circumvent restrictions on surveiance: 49

50 A8.3. In a heaviy redacted section of the FISA Court s Memorandum and Opinion, the judge expresses concern over and criticizes FBI behavior where its use of incidenta Sec. 702 surveiance is concerned. 50

51 A8.4. FISA Court notes NSA s past faiure to compy with minimization rues to purge surveiance data. 51

52 A8.5. FISA Court examines NSA improper querying [Redacted] Communications: 52

53 53

54 A8.6. FISA Court returns to improper behavior by the FBI but remains remarkaby creduous of the FBI s expanations, adopting a no-harm-no-fou standard and crediting much of the FBI s non-compiance ( apses ) with minimization procedures to ignorance, misunderstanding, confusion and a genera ack of training and innocent error. 54

55 55

56 56 Judicia Watch Specia Report: Exposing the Deep State

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58 58 Judicia Watch Specia Report: Exposing the Deep State

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60 60 Judicia Watch Specia Report: Exposing the Deep State

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