RUSSIA/РОССИЯ THREAD—ASSANGE CHRGD W/ SPYING—DJT IMPEACHED TWICE-US TREASURY SANCTS KILIMNIK AS RUSSIAN AGNT
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http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/politics/fusion-gps-subpoenas-devin-nunes/index.html
Nunes signs off on new subpoenas to firm behind Trump-Russia dossier
(CNN) The chairman of the House intelligence committee has issued subpoenas to the partners who run Fusion GPS, the research firm that produced the dossier of memos on alleged Russian efforts to aid the Trump campaign, according to sources briefed on the matter.
The subpoenas -- signed by California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes -- were issued Oct. 4, demanding documents and testimony later this month and early November.
Earlier this year, Nunes announced that he was stepping aside from directing the committee's Russia inquiry after he became the subject of an ethics investigation into his handling of classified information. But more recently, he has made clear that he is still playing an influential role, despite announcing that he had delegated authority on the Russia matter to Republican Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that all Russia-related subpoenas have been approved by Conaway. A Conaway spokeswoman declined to comment.
But the subpoenas appear to be the latest fight in an investigation that has periodically been hobbled by controversy and infighting.
A Democratic committee source said "the subpoenas were issued unilaterally by the majority, without the minority's agreement and despite good faith engagement thus far by the witnesses on the potential terms for voluntary cooperation."
Indeed, the move blindsided some committee members, multiple sources told CNN. And it has angered some on the committee who say that Nunes is still seeking to direct an investigation he was supposed to have no involvement in leading.
"He's not in any way, shape or form working on the investigation," said one Democratic committee member. "He's sitting outside the investigation and pushing it in a political direction."
Asked by CNN Monday why he issued the subpoenas, Nunes declined to comment. "You can ask, but you're not going to get a response," Nunes said.
Previously, in a June interview with CNN, Nunes said: "When I temporarily stepped aside from leading the investigation, that's exactly what it means: It doesn't mean I wasn't going to be involved, it doesn't mean I wasn't going to be fully read in."
Joshua Levy, an attorney for Fusion GPS, said the firm's founder, Glenn Simpson, already provided a 10-hour interview to the Senate judiciary committee and Nunes could first seek to review that testimony.
"This is a blatant attempt to undermine the reporting of the so-called 'dossier,' even as its core conclusion of a broad campaign by the Russian government to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election has been confirmed by the US intelligence community and is now widely accepted as fact," Levy said.
"Rep. Nunes recused himself, but now appears to be running a parallel investigation outside of the official (House intelligence) investigation run by Reps. Conaway and (California Rep. Adam) Schiff. His actions undermine the House, its investigation and the public's ability to learn the truth. As we evaluate these subpoenas, we have serious concerns about their legitimacy."
The Fusion GPS subpoenas mark at least the fourth time Nunes has inserted himself into the investigation since his April announcement that he was temporarily stepping aside.
Earlier this summer, Nunes led an effort to subpoena the FBI, CIA and NSA about Trump associates whose identities were allegedly unmasked during the presidential transition by Obama administration officials.
Later, a pair of GOP staffers on the panel flew to London to urge the British agent who wrote the dossier, Christopher Steele, to appear before the committee, an effort several committee members said was led by Nunes. And in late August, Nunes signed off on subpoenas to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide the panel with records about the Justice Department's relationship with Steele and the Trump dossier, warning in a letter that he would haul them to Capitol Hill to answer questions at a public hearing if they did not comply.
Tension has been building on the House intelligence committee over Nunes' role ever since he first secretly traveled to the White House in March to review classified intelligence reports that he said showed rampant misconduct by US officials in revealing the identities of unsuspecting Americans, including Trump officials. Nunes later briefed President Donald Trump on the matter, and seemed to give cover to the President's unsubstantiated allegations that former President Barack Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped during the campaign. Nunes, however, did say that he had seen no evidence that Trump Tower was wiretapped.
After the House ethics committee in April announced it would investigate Nunes over allegations he disclosed classified information, the Republican chairman said he would temporarily step aside from the probe -- a move that satisfied Democrats on the panel at the time.
But while the announcement was widely viewed as a recusal from the Russia investigation, Nunes has said privately and publicly since then that he never recused himself.
In fact, as chairman, Nunes still retains significant power to influence the investigation -- even as Conaway is in charge of leading the investigation.
Most notably, Nunes still has the power to issue subpoenas "in consultation" with Schiff, the committee's top Democrat.
But unlike other committee members, Nunes does not attend classified hearings of the key witnesses in the Russia probe, sources said, and instead appears to be making his push from the outside.
The committee's Democrats face a dilemma: They still need Nunes to sign off on subpoenas that Conaway and Schiff are seeking directly tied to the Russia investigation.
As a result, intelligence committee sources say Democrats are opting not to object loudly to Nunes issuing subpoenas, so long as he continues to sign off on the subpoenas that Conaway and Schiff want to issue as part of their probe.
"His recusal is basically entirely up to his discretion," said one intelligence committee source. "When you talk about the unmasking situation, people don't see that as separate, but they don't really have a way of stopping it."
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eh...why stop lying now?
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Carter Page says he won’t testify before Senate Intelligence panel in Russia probe
Carter Page says he won’t testify before Senate Intelligence panel in Russia probe
ALI WATKINS10/10/2017 05:50 PM EDT
Carter Page came under fire last year after reports emerged that he had met with high-level associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2016. | Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo
Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, informed the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that he will not be cooperating with any requests to appear before the panel for its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and would plead the Fifth, according to a source familiar with the matter.
A former naval-officer-turned-energy consultant, Page came under fire last year after reports emerged that he had met with high-level associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2016. While Page denied those meetings occurred, the Trump campaign distanced itself from the adviser not long after, with former officials saying that Page and Trump had never met.
Page also attracted attention earlier this year after it was revealed that he once came under scrutiny by the FBI for his contact with a Russian intelligence operative in New York City in 2013. Page was never charged with a crime, and the association happened years before he came into Trump’s orbit.
The Intelligence Committee has sought documents and testimony from Trump associates — including Page — as it seeks to piece together Russian efforts to manipulate and interfere with the 2016 presidential race. It has held high-profile closed-door meetings with several current White House and Trump-related officials, including Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. But the panel has also signaled an interest in interviewing former campaign associates such as Page, to determine how, if at all, the Russians sought to infiltrate Trump's circle in the throes of the presidential race.
It’s not clear if the committee has yet sent a formal request to Page asking him to testify.
Page did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The intelligence committee declined to comment.
Though Page’s resistance to testify may delay his appearance before the panel, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) have threatened to compel any official or Trump-connected figure who tries to evade the committee, including through the use of subpoenas.
Page was eager for the committee’s attention earlier this year, when he showed up of his own volition to the panel’s secure office spaces on Capitol Hill to drop off a document he created alleging that he was the target of a smear campaign by Hillary Clinton’s aides. Clinton and her associates, Page alleged in his document — which he also shopped around to news organizations — were committing a hate crime against him by planting false stories about his ties to Russia, Page said. He was being targeted, he wrote in the document, because he was a Catholic male.
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88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
ThinkProgress
2 hrs ·
Swing and a miss.
Sanders’ attempt to explain Trump’s lies about U.S. being ‘highest taxed nation’ did not go well
The press secretary put words in Trump's mouth in an attempt to defend a false claim he won't stop making.
THINKPROGRESS.ORG
2 hrs ·
Swing and a miss.
Sanders’ attempt to explain Trump’s lies about U.S. being ‘highest taxed nation’ did not go well
The press secretary put words in Trump's mouth in an attempt to defend a false claim he won't stop making.
THINKPROGRESS.ORG
:sadsarahsanders:ThinkProgress
2 hrs ·
Swing and a miss.
Sanders’ attempt to explain Trump’s lies about U.S. being ‘highest taxed nation’ did not go well
The press secretary put words in Trump's mouth in an attempt to defend a false claim he won't stop making.
THINKPROGRESS.ORG
