Trump knows the Deep State, and he is not George W. Bush

Libby's pardon means Trump knows Mueller's witch hunt M.O.



WARNING: The following is, necessarily, somewhat extensive reading because the web of deceit it outlines is itself complex. Media speculation over the meaning of President Trump’s pardon of Lewis “Scooter” Libby is predictable and wrong. Three examples: CNN speculates that, “In pardoning a former White House aide, Trump could be signaling to his own associates that they will be protected if they decline to participate with government investigators.” CNN assumes Trump is guilty.

The New York Times suggests that “Mr. Trump may have seen some parallels [to Libby’s case]—and a chance to make a statement.” That’s true, as far as it goes. As for what that statement is, the Times turns to Democrat Congressman Adam Schiff (CA) who says, “This is the president’s way of sending a message to those implicated in the Russia investigation: You have my back and I’ll have yours.” Schiff assumes Trump is guilty, too. The Times also quotes Valerie Plame—the namesake of Plamegate—who says, “I would say he’s trying to build a firewall. He’s saying, ‘If you get into trouble, don’t spill the beans, I’ll take care of you.’ This is how the mafia works.” Plame assumes Trump is guilty. But a Mafioso, too? Writing for Minnesota Public Radio, Nina Totenburg finds a partial motive via the Democrat Minority Leader of the House: “Pelosi said the pardon shows Trump is willing to pardon those who lie under oath—and that is a ‘threat’ to the Mueller investigation ‘and to our democracy.’” Pelosi exaggerates. Collectively, the liberal media’s explanation of Trump’s motive is that he’s trying to avoid justice by silencing potential witnesses, who might be able to offer testimony against him, with the implied offer of an eventual pardon. The logic of that explanation, though, is a bridge too far. For one thing, Trump was a Democrat in the NYC real estate business when Libby got trapped by a Special Counsel into committing a process crime that had zero to do with the outing of Valerie Plame’s C.I.A.‘s employment.

For another, Trump would not have to reach back into ancient history to pardon someone trapped in a process crime. He could pardon General Michael Flynn, and may do so after all this collusion nonsense ends. So, what was Trump’s Libby-pardon about? The legacy media will never see it because they look through broken glasses. A reasonable answer is found though examining the modus operandi (M.O.) of the lead actors in both the Plamegate, and the Trump-Russia Collusion, Special Counsel “investigations.” The predicate of both was the alleged commission of a crime. And, in both cases, the predicate was based a fraudulent misrepresentation that granted a Special Counsel a prosecutorial license to target political adversaries. In short, the arrangement created the perfect stage for a miscarriage of justice. The M.O. in Plamegate saw the Department of Justice (then Deputy Attorney General James Comey) and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (then Robert Mueller III) collude to appoint a Special Counselor (Patrick Fitzgerald) to discover who leaked Valerie Plame’s C.I.A. employment to a prominent Washington, D.C. reporter, the late Robert Novak. But finding the leaker was not what this “investigation” was about—not at all. That assertion is provable. Canada Free Press readers of an earlier post know the sequence of events that led to the fake investigation into Plamegate. Quoting mostly from that earlier article, here is the chronology:

Early October 1, 2003: An “agitated” Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage calls his boss, Secretary of State Colin Powell, to say he just realized he had inadvertently leaked Valerie Plame’s C.I.A. employment to Novak. By then, the Department of Justice was looking into the leak. That morning the big wheels at the State Department spun-up, quickly. Later October 1, 2003: “Within hours, William Howard Taft IV, the State Department’s legal adviser, notified a senior Justice official that Armitage had information relevant to the case,” wrote [Michael] Isikoff. October 2, 2003: According to Isikoff, a “team of FBI agents and Justice prosecutors investigating the leak questioned the deputy secretary.” In May 2015, an investigative reporter for a Chicago-based website interviewed Taft concerning that October 2, 2003, meeting Taft attended at F.B.I. Headquarters along with Richard Armitage and Colin Powell. According to Taft, in that meeting “Rich” Armitage confessed to the F.B.I. that he was Novak’s source for the Valerie Plame story. Taft also said that the F.B.I. asked him, Armitage, and Powell to not disclose the information—that Armitage was the leaker—to anyone. Taft said he, Armitage, and Powell all agreed to that request, even though they were under no obligation to comply. It is reasonable to assume that the Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State could not meet with F.B.I. officials, at the F.B.I. Headquarters Building, without the F.B.I. Director’s knowledge of, or attendance at, the meeting. Mueller was the F.B.I. Director. A description of this meeting was told telephonically, by William Howard Taft IV, to an IllinoisPaytoPlay website investigative reporter, Marty Watters, co-author of this article.





Taft was there. Mueller was likely there. And if he wasn’t there, he surely knew about the meeting, before and after. And that means that Mueller knew who leaker was before the investigation began to identify the leaker. Not included in this chronology is a key actor who completed the Plamegate investigation playbill:

“On October 3, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Jim Comey to serve as Deputy Attorney General, he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on December 9, 2003, and the President signed his commission on December 11, 2003.” (Source: The White House website) The chronology continues: December 30, 2003: Comey appoints then U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as Special Counsel to find who leaked Valerie Plame’s identity to Novak. And, with that appointment, the Special Counsel’s time-and-money clock started rolling. Then, in… February 2004: “Acting Attorney General Comey clarified Special Counsel Fitzgerald’s delegation of authority to state that the authority previously delegated to him is plenary. It also states, further, my conferral on you of the title of Special Counsel in this matter should not be misunderstood to suggest that your position and authorities are defined and limited by 28 CFR Part 600.’” In short, Comey gave Fitzgerald the green light to take the investigation wherever it led; it led to “Scooter” Libby. There is no record of any member of the mainstream news media asking Comey why his close friend, and Godfather to one of his children, Patrick Fitzgerald, was tasked to find a leaker who had, nearly three months earlier, confessed to the F.B.I. No one asked F.B.I. Director Mueller that question either. Why not?





Finally, Armitage publicly spoke on… September 23, 2006: According to a September 2006 CBS article, as the investigation unfolded, “Armitage says he didn’t come forward because’ the special counsel, once he was appointed, asked me not to discuss this and I honored his request.’” So, newly appointed Special Counsel Fitzgerald joined the F.B.I. (then headed by Robert Mueller), the Department of Justice (Acting A.G. Comey), and the Department of State’s legal advisor (Taft) in colluding to keep secret Armitage’s role as the Plamegate leaker. And that secret was kept until 2006 when Armitage asked Fitzgerald if he could go public with his role in Plamegate, and Fitzgerald approved his request. There are clear parallels between the Plamegate Investigation and the Trump-Russia Collusion Investigation. In both cases: The Attorney General of the Department of Justice recused himself from involvement.

Plamegate: John Ashcroft.

Trump-Russia: Jeff Sessions The Deputy Attorney General appointed a Special Counsel:

Plamegate: James Comey

Trump-Russia: Rod Rosenstein. The alleged criminal act which was the predicate for the investigation was bogus:

Plamegate: The leaker was known before the investigation began, but hidden.

Trump-Russia: Based on a politically-driven, fake dossier targeting Donald Trump. The subsequent “investigation” was supported by the Director of the F.B.I.

Plamegate: Robert Mueller III

Trump-Russia: James Comey The parallel M.O.‘s are self-evident. Furthermore, Jeff Sessions had to have been in a coma during Plamegate to not know how far afield the Mueller investigation would likely stray. What isn’t self-evident is why Trump would, at this time, pardon Libby. Try this explanation: Donald Trump wants the current leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice and their Special Counsel to know that he knows their M.O. And, while they got away with it once, they won’t get away with a second time. Trump knows the Deep State, and he is not George W. Bush. Marty Watters is an investigative reporter for the Chicago-based website IllinoisPaytoPlay.

SHOW DISQUS COMMENTS