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Report: Barr’s ‘unmasking’ probe ends without charges

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  • Report: Barr’s ‘unmasking’ probe ends without charges

    https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/10/...thout-charges/

    The US attorney tasked by Attorney General William Barr to review instances of “unmasking” done around the 2016 election has completed the probe without bringing any charges, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

    John Bash found no evidence of substantive wrongdoing in his investigation, which has concluded without a public report, the Post said. Bash left his role with the Justice Department last week.

    CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

    The quiet end to the probe caps a months-long effort that added the weight of a senior federal prosecutor behind an issue that President Donald Trump had seized on to underpin unfounded allegations about former President Barack Obama.

    The investigation was announced in May after then-acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified a list of names of former Obama administration officials who allegedly had requested the “unmasking” of the identify of Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

    Senate Republicans later released the list, which named Obama administration officials who “may have received” Flynn’s identity in National Security Agency intelligence reports after requests to unmask Americans.

    While US citizens’ names are required to be kept secret in intelligence reports, senior officials have the ability to ask for names to be revealed in certain circumstances to better understand the reports. In the past, some Obama officials have acknowledged requesting that people be identified but have said there were legitimate reasons.

    On its own, the list of names does not prove any wrongdoing. Unmasking requests are a routine part of intelligence work, and there’s no evidence that the requests were made for political purposes. The National Security Agency said in its declassified memo disclosing the names that all of the officials had the authority to view the reports and the agency’s standard procedures had been followed.

    In a Fox Business interview Thursday, Trump suggested that “Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes, the greatest political crime in the history of our country, then we’re going to get little satisfaction unless I win and we’ll just have to go, because I won’t forget it.”

    Despite Trump’s repeated efforts to cite unmasking as evidence of wrongdoing by Obama and his administration, the level of unmasking has increased under the Trump administration.
    Trump should open a chain of fast food restaurants called Nothingburger...

  • #2
    Originally posted by Whateverman View Post
    Trump should open a chain of fast food restaurants called Nothingburger...
    This was never the thing - it is the Durham investigation that counts.

    Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Whateverman View Post
      Trump should open a chain of fast food restaurants called Nothingburger...
      Not only were there no charges, John Dash didn't even bother to produce a public report. I'd say that this was a double nothingburger.

      Trump's current paths to victory are so improbable that they aren't even worth discussing. As things stand now, assuming a good turnout of Democrat voters, I'd say Biden's victory is almost assured.
      "My favorite color in the alphabet is three." - Donald J. Trump
      "The 'J' in my middle name stands for 'Jenius'" - Donald J. Trump

      Comment


      • #4
        I trust Barr only slight more than I trusted Mueller, which is to say not much at all. In both cases, I suspect their intent is to conceal rather than reveal.
        Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
        But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
        Than a fool in the eyes of God


        From "Fools Gold" by Petra

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by seer View Post

          This was never the thing.
          Only if - by that - you mean Trump's claims about "Obamagate" were never legitimate:

          https://www.businessinsider.com/trum...-pieces-2020-5

          President Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers, and right-wing media personalities have in recent weeks latched onto a vague conspiracy theory accusing former President Barack Obama and his administration of masterminding the Russia investigation and engineering a "deep-state" campaign to undermine Trump's presidency before it even began.

          The conspiracy, dubbed Obamagate, revolves around former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to one count of lying to the FBI as part of the bureau's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.

          Specifically, Flynn admitted to lying to investigators about a December 29, 2016 phone call with then Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, during which the incoming national security adviser asked that the Kremlin not retaliate against new sanctions Obama had levied against Russia, and suggested the Trump administration would be more receptive.

          Obamagate accuses former Vice President Joe Biden and other Obama administration officials of improperly requesting that Flynn's name be "unmasked" in intelligence reports monitoring Kislyak's communications.

          The conspiracy theory picked up steam last week when Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, declassified a list of Obama administration officials who made unmasking requests which included Flynn's name between November 30, 2016, and January 12, 2017. Biden was among the names on the list.

          Trump and his allies seized on the development and said it showed Biden and others improperly and illegally unmasked the former national security adviser's identity.

          But a Washington Post report on Wednesday blew up that allegation when it revealed that Flynn's name was never "masked" in the first place.
          And really, if the unmasking of Flynn was "never a thing", where's the conservative outrage about the DOJ wasting taxpayer money with frivolous investigations? Or is that criticism only reserved for Democrat presidents?

          Comment


          • #6
            From what I read, a report will be released after the election. Why the wait, I don't know.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Ronson View Post
              From what I read, a report will be released after the election. Why the wait, I don't know.
              Because the last thing Barr wants is to be accused of using the DOJ to influence the election.
              Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
              But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
              Than a fool in the eyes of God


              From "Fools Gold" by Petra

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                Because the last thing Barr wants is to be accused of using the DOJ to influence the election.
                Or releasing the report would influence the election in a direction that he doesn't want...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Stoic View Post

                  Or releasing the report would influence the election in a direction that he doesn't want...
                  I think we all can agree that any report on the subject would make the so-called president look bad.

                  Nonetheless, the fact that no criminal wrongdoing was found already makes the so-called president look bad - so I question just how much damage this report could do.

                  I think it more likely Barr's withholding the report simply because Drumpf's in a fragile state of health, and doesn't need the blood pressure spike...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Whateverman View Post

                    I think we all can agree that any report on the subject would make the so-called president look bad.

                    Nonetheless, the fact that no criminal wrongdoing was found already makes the so-called president look bad - so I question just how much damage this report could do.

                    I think it more likely Barr's withholding the report simply because Drumpf's in a fragile state of health, and doesn't need the blood pressure spike...
                    Another possibility is that releasing the report would exonerate everyone that Trump has accused, whereas not releasing it leaves open the possibility that they were just too slippery to catch.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Stoic View Post

                      Another possibility is that releasing the report would exonerate everyone that Trump has accused, whereas not releasing it leaves open the possibility that they were just too slippery to catch.
                      That sounds plausible in the extreme...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Ronson View Post
                        From what I read, a report will be released after the election. Why the wait, I don't know.
                        It'll undermine his whole Obama Deep State narrative.

                        That's why.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          “He’s so dense, light bends around him.”
                          - Tucker (could’ve been speaking about Barr)
                          “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
                          “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
                          “not all there” - you know who you are

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Whateverman View Post

                            It'll undermine his whole Obama Deep State narrative.

                            That's why.
                            I would like to know where Bash is working now. He basically said: "Nothing to see here. Now, I'm off to a new job in the private sector!"

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                              Because the last thing Barr wants is to be accused of using the DOJ to influence the election.
                              Or Barr is not sure of the election outcome, and playing it safe lest he face the wrath of Biden and his people once they take control and bury all this. Or... Barr is a fraud and has fulfilled his role in misleading the political right, and maybe even Trump, for four years with false hope.

                              Comment

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