CTH suspected this was sketchy when notorious Swamp Defender Chris Wallace was used as the point person to push it. FUBAR suspicions confirmed when looking at the construct.

Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson send a letter to AG William Barr questioning post election text messages by Lisa Page and Peter Strzok that outline questions about the FBI counterintelligence operation against the Trump transition team. First the letter:

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If you’ve followed the DC pattern, you can pick up the purpose of sending a letter that walks directly, and purposefully, into the President Obama and Susan Rice justification trap, CTH warned about a few months ago.

Asking questions about the motives of Lisa Page, Peter Strzok and the FBI counterintelligence unit in the post election period is ridiculous; all it does is open the door for justification. The FBI has admitted on-the-record the operation picked up by Special Counsel Robert Mueller was an extension of an ongoing FBI investigation.

As a consequence the answer to the questions posed by Grassley and Johnson are stunningly easy for the prior administration, and now AG Barr to answer.

To wit: Of course Page, Strzok, Priestap, Baker, McCabe et al (ie. the small group) were engaging with the incoming administration from a perspective of suspicion; the investigation was ongoing – DUH.

Not only does this letter walk directly into the justification trap; it forces AG Bill Barr to respond to the Senators and attach himself to the justification. In short, this letter begins the process for the FBI officials to formally showcase to the world: heck, they were doing their jobs; and now AG Barr is the guy who is forced to support that narrative.

That’s the whole damned reason to avoid walking into this trap.

Talking about how the FBI was engaging with the incoming administration, who was under investigation for potentially conspiring with the Russians, advances the position and shield of the Obama/Rice “by-the-book” letter.

The “By The Book” aspect refers to President Obama and Susan Rice being told by CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, that President Trump was the subject of an active counterintelligence investigation to determine if he was under the influence of the Russian government. Even the timing of the memo, written 15 minutes prior to the end of the Obama administration, is ex-post-facto useful as evidence of the author’s intent. Put aside the nonsense aspect to the origination of the investigation for a moment; that part doesn’t apply here…. Accept their position ‘as if’ it is substantive. We are talking about Brennan, Comey, Clapper and Yates telling President Obama and NSA Susan Rice that President-elect Trump is under a counterintelligence investigation where the suspicion is that Donald J Trump is an agent of a foreign power. Under that auspices (fraudulent though it may be) the incoming President is a counterintelligence investigation target. A potentially compromised Russian asset. Under this auspices all of the officials would be permitted to lie and mislead their target, so long as they did so “By The Book.” That’s their justification for a lengthy series of lies and false statements. (more)

That said, Senator Johnson and Senator Grassley are not stupid.

Both of these senators know that all concern about the content of their letter is easily dismissed by the FBI officials simply asserting the tenuous counterintelligence position they were confronted with…. Thus, the Trump Russia-Collusion Conspiracy is fueled, yet again. And worse, the narrative of an honorable FBI rank-and-file is advanced.

Again, Johnson and Grassley are not stupid. They already know this will be the reply from the corrupt officials; and they know this will be the forced response from AG Barr. So why would Grassley and Johnson open the door for this defensive position to be advanced?

What could possibly be their ulterior motive for pre-positioning a defense of the institutions of the deepest and most corrupt part of the DC swamp? Well….

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is owned by Tom Donohue and the U.S. CoC and is 100% opposed to President Trump on any trade reset that confronts the multinational interests of the CoC position. Similarly, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is owned by Big AG.

What do they both have in common?…. Opposition to any America-First trade reset.

There are trillions at stake.

PS. Catherine Herridge doesn’t appear to be a willing participant in this. You can tell by the manner of her writing, she’s not quite sure why this story is being given to her for advancement. [Read it, you’ll see] She’s a good egg.