Jay Sekulow Seems Worried that Trump’s “Collusion” Is Visible from Space

Donald Trump’s defense team must believe he’s in the clear, because they’ve gone back to their previous hobbies: Rudy Giuliani’s been engaging in international graft, and Jay Sekulow has been hunting for conspiracy theories in FOIA searches.

In one of two recent FOIA conspiracy efforts, Sekulow obtained documents pertaining to EO 12333 sharing rules passed in the last days of the Obama Administration. While the sharing rules explicitly prohibit disseminations “for the purpose of affecting the political process in the United States,” I did note at the time would enable the FBI to obtain more information on Russian targets.

One of the documents liberated by Sekulow includes a bullet point that reads,

The time spent by our staffs on crafting the document, the significance of these procedures to intelligence integration, and the level of public interest in their completion all contribute to my personal interest in having procedures signed by the Attorney General before the conclusion of the Administration.

Another is an email from James Clapper’s General Counsel, Bob Litt, saying, “Really really want to get this done .. and so does the Boss.”

From that, Sekulow claims that the sharing rules — an effort that started under Trump ally Michael Mukasey and which, as an EO, Trump could change at will — are part of a Deep State plot to spy on Trump.

Consider what we now know about the nature and degree of Deep State opposition to President Trump.

There have been public revelations about the infamous disgrace known as the Steele dossier, a report by a former British spy funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign that made false and baseless allegations against presidential candidate Trump.

There were also documented abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that led to an FBI investigation – codenamed Crossfire Hurricane – of possible ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia. Special Counsel Robert Mueller later concluded after an exhaustive investigation lasting nearly two years that the Trump campaign did not conspire with Russia to advance Trump’s election chances.

We are also now aware of Director of National Intelligence Clapper’s open hostility to President Trump and intentional leaking by senior law enforcement and intelligence officials who were also hostile to Trump.

All of these facts point to a coordinated effort across agencies during the Obama administration to oppose the incoming Trump administration.

What’s utterly drop dead hysterical, however, is something else one document liberated by the Commander-in-Chief’s personal attorney reveals. It describes what agency is most anxious to start getting NSA’s data: the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Several Intelligence Community elements, including the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, have identified missions that would benefit from access to NSA [redacted]. NSA also supports the procedures.

In other words, the changes that Sekulow are sure came about to spy on Trump were done, in large part, for the benefit of the agency that engages in our satellite collection.

Which must mean that the President’s personal defense attorney worries that his “collusion” is visible from space.

As I disclosed last July, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post. 

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38 replies
    • Vicks says:

      It’s all coming together now..
      Kidding, I read Sekulow’s rant yesterday right after reading the summary of E Jean Carroll’s interviews that Tucker Carlson did to clear things up for the faithful. In HIS version she accused DJT of groping her after she agreed to go into a fitting room with him and try on lingerie.
      Which is more tragic?
      That this is what it takes to defend the President of the United States, or that there are Americans willing to do this to defend him?

  1. P J Evans says:

    Dear Ghu, how did Sekulow get through college, assuming he actually did? This shows a serious lack of intelligent analysis.

  2. Katherine M Williams says:

    Trump goes overseas, insults and threatens our allies, then sucks up to Putin and the Saudis. The collusion is visible from Alpha Centauri and Altair 4.

    • Spiny says:

      Well, assuming that collusion travels at the speed of light, they will have to wait around 4.367 and 16.7 years, respectively.

  3. d4v1d says:

    What would have been the point of spying on Trump given nothing was done to stop him? That’s the real complaint that should be made… by Democrats!

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Names and dates, counselor. Rather, names and what’s in it for them.

        I believe that Pelosi is a centrist trying to keep her coalition together. That’s a harder job than the Republicans have. They are more monolithic and have ejected from the party nearly everyone to the left of Marine le Pen.

        If Pelosi is doing a balancing act, who are AOC’s counterparts on the right? Schumer and Wall Street, naturally. So-called New Democrats (a riff on Tony Blair’s so-called New Labour, which had nothing in common with Labour), who are as Republican in all but name as the Blue Dogs.

      • Willis Warren says:

        My hunch is that her “donors” are against impeachment, which is dumb. Trump isn’t going to just step down if he loses an election. We’re kicking the can down the road, Nancy.

        • 200Toros says:

          This is my concern too. “Trump Forever” videos, etc. I think that, at best, in the final months when he knows he has to step down, he will choose to BURN THE HOUSE DOWN. We just saw his latest shameful, humiliating performance, groveling and pandering to his master, Putin. What will he do, to curry favor with his master, when his time is up? If you think you’ve seen him him unhinged already, get ready for a staggering new low, and unheard of levels of corruption, looting, and abuse of power…

          • Tom says:

            The first comment I left here last year included a prediction that Trump will defect to Russia if it gets too hot for him in the U.S. of A. Seems unlikely, I know, but as the President likes to say, “We’ll see what happens.”

  4. pseudonymous in nc says:

    There’s something very Human Centipede about Count Hackulow being able to make FOIA requests and get actual text (suck on that Jason Leopold) then feeding the results to Sara Carter and John Solomon, with Kimberly Strassel licking up the crumbs.

  5. OldTulsaDude says:

    OT, but how can Nancy Pelosi continue to allow without retribution Donald Trump to strut across the G-7 world stage, arm-in-arm with Vladimir Putin, joking about “getting rid of journalists” and smilingly chiding, “Don’t meddle in our elections”? By pulling on the reins of the House of Representatives, she has emasculated the nation and empowered the vile.

    • Tom says:

      Or Trump telling a reporter a couple days ago that, “It’s none of your business” what he says to Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit. As if the Presidency and its powers was something that he owns and has proprietary rights to, not an office that he holds in trust from the American people. He ignores–if he’s even dimly aware–that he’s accountable to the citizenry and that IT IS VERY MUCH THEIR BUSINESS what he says to Vladimir Putin or any other foreign leader.

  6. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Joe Biden left his glass bubble last night. He stepped into the frying pan and slipped on the melted butter. Then he whined that the pan was too hot and might tarnish America’s last best hope to defeat the Dread Pirate Donald.

    Last night was a useful reminder that the nomination is not Joe Biden’s to lose, as if it were his inheritance and everyone else on that stage was contesting the will. It will be a hard-fought contest that will expose purpose, grit, and skeletons in equal measure. But Joe acts as if his choice for when the kitchen is too hot is to wait in the dining room to be served.

  7. harpie says:

    If anyone is interested, today:
    Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale on Human Rights
    Historian Jon Meacham moderated a discussion including former President Jimmy Carter and former Vice President Walter Mondale on human rights hosted by the Carter Center at a resort in Leesburg, Virginia.
    https://www.c-span.org/video/?462138-1/conversation-jimmy-carter-walter-mondale

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1144624050620252160
    8:10 AM – 28 Jun 2019

    Jimmy Carter on Russian interference:
    “If fully investigated, it would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put in office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”
    Via CSPAN [VIDEO]
    Q: So do you believe President Trump is an illegitimate president?
    Jimmy Carter: “Based on what I said, which I can’t retract.” [Then he laughs] [VIDEO]

  8. mospeck says:

    >Katherine M Williams says: June 27, 2019 at 7:42 pm Trump goes overseas, insults and threatens our >allies, then sucks up to Putin and the Saudis. The collusion is visible from Alpha Centauri and Altair 4.

    Yep, it is visible even from the cosmic background radiation 14 billion LY out, and then maybe even from other vacuum bubbles that are flying away from us as fast as they possibly can. I mean, wouldn’t you? btw, senate just ceded war powers to trump this morning.

    I love the sound of breaking glass
    Especially when I’m lonely
    I need the noises of destruction
    When there’s nothing new
    Oh nothing new, sound of breaking glass
    I love the sound of breaking glass
    Deep into the night
    I love the sound of its condition
    Flying all around
    Oh all around, sound of breaking glass
    Nothing new, sound of breaking glass
    Oh all around, sound of breaking glass
    Nothin’ new, sound of breakin’ glass
    Safe at last sound of breaking glass
    I love the sound of breaking glass
    Deep into the night
    I love the work only it can do
    Oh change of mind Oh a change of mind
    Sound of breaking glass All around, sound of breaking glass Nothing new, sound of breaking glass Breaking glass, sound of breaking glass Sound of breaking glass Sound of breaking glass Sound of breaking glass Sound of breaking glass Sound of breaking glass Sound of breaking glass

    “Nick Lowe – “I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass” (Official Audio)”

  9. mospeck says:

    > >revelations about the infamous disgrace known as the Steele dossier, a report by a former British spy funded
    > > by the Hillary Clinton campaign that made false and baseless allegations against presidential candidate Trump

    Steele dossier..not a lawyer, and know that you hate it for its missteps. But maybe consider giving it a break.
    After all it’s just raw intel. And how is raw intel supposed to look pretty, exactly? Have read it over many times. What did the guy in fact get wrong? What did he get right? And what did he get as yet unconfirmed? Where’s a scorecard on this infamous magnificent dossier? I mean to defend the rat fucking thing :)

  10. mospeck says:

    https://www.lawfareblog.com/steele-dossier-retrospective
    The Steele Dossier: A Retrospective
    By Sarah Grant, Chuck Rosenberg Friday, December 14, 2018, 8:00 AM
    “The dossier holds up well over time, and none of it, to our knowledge, has been disproven.”

    Chuckie, I’m in love that bit about Cohen in Prague in late Aug 2016– about his going there in order to pay off the Romanian hackers (Steele pgs. 18, 32-35, on my copy).
    But it has always been problematical. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. Now the Cohen to Prague thing does really look like Russian dezinformatsya. But it was leaked and then re-leaked and spruced up with Cohen cell phone GPS locks. Would love to see what the spooks now know on about the origins of this thing :)
    Otherwise, right now I’m just stuck in the dark.
    Trump recently had another hour long one on one all alone with Putin.
    And it’s T-16 months.
    Think the House Intel has to really bring it and push Mueller on the CI on 17 July

    • bmaz says:

      “Chuckie”? Really? Maybe you are “stuck in the dark” because like right wingnut twits such as Chuck Ross, and his Daily Caller and Breitbart cohort, you are dubiously focused on a piece of raw intelligence that did not have jack shit to do with the “origins of this thing”.

      The dossier is, and has always been, one of the biggest and most overwrought red herrings in the history of humanity. But, like Cuck Ross and the wingnuts, you are still bogusly focused on it. Booyah.

      • P J Evans says:

        I saw one blog post on it that rated it as about 75% true/useful. But I’m not an expert in that field. (I figure that Mueller and the agencies checked as much as they could, and used information that may have started with it but was verified by other sources.)

        • bmaz says:

          I don’t know about percentages. Clearly some of it was good and has been corroborated, and some of it was bad and has been disproved. The point that Ross and the nutters either are too stupid to understand, or are refusing to admit, is that such is the nature of raw intel. And even when it is used in a warrant app, it is not used in full, and the standard is not what they are portraying it to be.

          Frankly there appears to be little use of the dossier in the Page warrant. And what there was, was declared just fine within the four corners. People who practice criminal law, and have experience in Franks hearings and related challenges, understand this. Chuck Ross and the howlers, not so much

  11. mospeck says:

    tx bmaz, I needed that :)
    Mennen Skin Bracer Commercial – Circa 1971
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFZYTT2UJe8

    otherwise, it’s such an interesting game of cutouts that we got going on here:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-enigma-of-the-entire-mueller-probe-focus-on-origins-of-russian-investigation-puts-spotlight-on-maltese-professor/2019/06/30/b374fe8c-8185-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html
    By Rosalind S. Helderman , Shane Harris and Ellen Nakashima
    National security reporters June 30 at 6:07 PM

    yea bmaz, I’m a lost ship that loves the Steele. It got a lot right. But some of it is of course going to be wrong, due to dezinformatzya. And the Russians are nothing if not good.
    But you lawyers are gonna save us (actually you have to).
    Mainly my bet is on the NatSecs like Marcy.

    Since you punch like him, here’s one for you, man :)
    Mennen Skin Bracer Commercial (Joe Frazier, 1972)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3S-CTA1sb0

    [FYI, Washington Post URL edited to remove tracking. /~Rayne]

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