The Trump Presidency
Trump says 'no collusion'

Ex FBI Countr-Intel, Figliuzzi: 'There is More Than Just the Crazy Public Behavior to Trump/Russia'

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Ex FBI Countr-Intel, Figliuzzi: 'There is More Than Just the Crazy Public Behavior to Trump/Russia'


AP_100401128358.jpg attribution: Associated Press

First, in case you hadn’t heard:
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The Ex-Assist. Head of FBI Counter-Intelligence Division lays it on the line.

At first he is cautious, but then Joy Reid gets him to let the full truth out, as you can hear below. With his 25 years of experience in FBI counter-intel, he is sure that the Trump-Russia connection goes further than even we have seen in public.



Just as I thought, the single thing that sent chills up the spines of hardened, cynical FBI pros was Trump’s little visit with two Russians in the Oval Office THE DAY AFTER HE FIRED COMEY. [ED] — I have also since learned that this meeting was devised by none other than Vladimir Putin, himself.

Trump told the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that the former FBI Director was “crazy, a real nut job,” and bragged that firing Comey had “taken off” the “great pressure” the Russia investigation created. On May 11, Trump told NBC’s Lester Holt that he had planned to fire Comey regardless of Rosenstein’s conclusion, and that he was considering “this Russia thing” when he decided to do so.

And if I recall correctly, U.S. Press was NOT allowed in on that meeting.

But a Russian state news photographer WAS

But the meeting was closed press, meaning the rotating pool of photographers, reporters and camera operators who follow the president weren't allowed in. Yet photos of the three laughing and smiling were soon published by the Russian state news agency TASS. The Russian foreign ministry also tweeted photos of the meeting.

Trump was obviously saying some crazy things during the campaign, like asking them to break into Hillary Clinton’s emails, but still they held off:


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Trump then told Lester Holt that he had fired Comey “because of this Russia thing.” But once he said what he did to those two Russians, as well as leak classified info to them, the FBI could apparently hold off no longer.

Trump’s submission to everything Russian is more broad and more deep than anything we have imagined. Learning of the FBI’s investigation into Trump AS A FOREIGN AGENT is only the beginning of it.

I am CERTAIN that Mueller’s team has continued that original FBI query. In fact, I think Mueller was appointed by Rosenstein BECAUSE of it.

Mueller's team boasts a storied amount of experience both prosecution and criminal defense, hailing from prestigious law firms to top spots in the Justice Department.

The lawyers, combined, possess a vast array of experience investigating financial fraud, corruption, money laundering, foreign bribery, organized crime, and more.

And remember when Feinstein and Grassley came out of their briefing, ashen-faced and sober? It’s been suggested that this is when they had first learned of what we learned yesterday. That the President of the United States was being investigated by his own Department of Justice, for being an active Russian asset.

People on Mueller’s team likely hired for this task:

Greg Andres
Andres joined the investigation on August 1, adding expertise in foreign bribery to Mueller's team. Brandon Van Grack Van Grack worked in the US Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he helped prosecute national security, espionage, and international crime cases.

Aaron Zebley
Zebley is a longtime FBI staffer who spent years in the counterterrorism division as a special agent before becoming the agency's chief of staff under Mueller's former leadership. Zebley's early work at the FBI consisted of grueling, complicated investigations into terrorist groups like Al Qaeda — even before 9/11 propelled the organization into infamy. Yet in recent years at WilmerHale, his focus has turned to cybersecurity.

And here is a diary from July, 2017, from DKOS staff concerning pertinent info:
www.dailykos.com/…

Former Assistant Director of Counterintelligence at the FBI Frank Figliuzzi was a guest on MSNBC’s 11th Hour with Brian Williams to discuss the outrageous Trump-Putin joint press conference where Donald Trump sided with the the Russians over the FBI and U.S. Intelligence services. At the end of the show, Williams turned it over to Figliuzzi and he held no punches,

stating that Donald Trump clearly acted like someone who is compromised.

And a good report on The Last Word that brings it all together:

The questions that should be on all our lips are: Why did the FBI leak this? And why now? Saturday, Jan 12, 2019 · 5:12:02 PM EST · AlyoshaKaramazov

Josh at TPM concurs:

talkingpointsmemo.com/…