FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok, testifies before a House Judiciary Committee joint hearing on “oversight of FBI and Department of Justice actions surrounding the 2016 election” on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In preparation for the Clinton email investigation matter, the FBI sought to create a Goldilocks situation; they had to make sure they had the ‘right’ personnel in just the right places to achieve just the right result.

A RedState reader, septembergurl, pointed out that the Deep State’s efforts to clear Hillary Clinton of mishandling classified information began long before most of us realized. We’ve been focusing on the efforts of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI agent Peter Strzok, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, FBI analyst Jonathan Moffa, DOJ official Bruce Ohr and several others. But, as septembergurl brought to my attention, “their actions were directed by an even-more high ranking and insidious group of officials in the Obama Administration beginning, but not ending, in the Obama DOJ.”

The Epoch Times’ Jeff Carlson, who has followed this story closely, analyzed the transcript of the June 2018 closed-door testimony before the House Judiciary Committee of former Director of FBI counterintelligence, Bill Priestap. Although Priestap was in charge of both the Clinton and the Trump probes, according to Carlson, his testimony “revealed that a handpicked group ran the investigations outside of his control.”

Priestap told lawmakers that Strzok and Moffa were really “driving the train.” He “described the unusual circumstances under which he inherited the team in January 2016, saying the members had been previously handpicked by an unknown high-ranking official at the FBI.” It also appeared as if Priestap had often been left out of the loop; he had been unaware of the many meetings between the two officials. Some of this was simply just the nature of the job. As the head of counterintelligence, he oversaw a large number of investigations at any given time. Still, the Clinton case had to have been the most important and the most consequential of them all and he should have been privy to the major developments.

Either he was a great actor or he was telling the truth. When confronted with the Strzok/Page text messages that demonstrated their anti-Trump bias, he said, “it wasn’t the Pete Strzok that I know.”

When asked about the meeting between Strzok, Page and McCabe during which they had discussed the “insurance policy,” Priestap said: “Somebody talking about an insurance policy, I would have asked, ‘What the heck do you mean by that?’”

Throughout his testimony, he emphasized that “I inherited the investigation and I inherited the investigative team.” All personnel changes had been made prior to his arrival. He did not know who had made the choice to conduct the investigation from FBI headquarters as opposed to the Washington D.C. field office, which would normally have handled a case like this or whose decision it was to call this a counterintelligence investigation (instead of a criminal one).

And, although Comey had made many of the personnel change decisions, he did not make all of them. Priestap claimed to have no knowledge of who might have made the others.

Then Director of FBI Counterintelligence, Randall Coleman, opened the investigation on July 10, 2015, after receiving a referral from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community about Clinton’s private email server. It was reviewed by Trisha Anderson, the number two lawyer at the FBI Office of General Counsel. We learned a great deal from her August 2018 closed-door testimony before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees.

Carlson reviewed a transcript of Anderson’s testimony and although most of us have never heard of her, she was deeply involved in both Mid Year Exam and Operation Crossfire Hurricane. Anderson told lawmakers “she was one of only about 10 people who had known about the Trump–Russia investigation prior to its official opening.”

She also said she had signed off on the first FISA Court application for the warrant to spy on Carter Page “without having read it.” (“It” meaning the application, she had “extensive knowledge” of the dossier.) She had also read Comey’s infamous memos, the notes of his conversations with President Trump. Simply put, she was deeply involved in both investigations.

Personnel Shuffles *

Randall Coleman, Priestap’s predecessor, was transferred to the FBI’s criminal division in January 2016. At the time the Clinton investigation began, McCabe was working at the FBI’s Washington, D.C. field office. “On July 30, 2015, McCabe was suddenly promoted to the No. 3 position within the FBI as associate deputy director and was transferred to FBI headquarters.” On January 29, 2016, McCabe was appointed the Deputy Director of the FBI, his second promotion in six months. Strzok was transferred to FBI headquarters in September or October of 2015 from the Washington, D.C. field office to work on the Clinton investigation. The FBI brought in four DOJ lawyers to work on the case, two from the Eastern District of Virginia and two from the DOJ National Security Division. John Carlin, the head of DOJ National Security Division, was regularly briefed on the progress of these investigations. Some agents and officials were transferred to field offices in DC and New York. Meanwhile, agents and officials from the DC Field Office were transferred to the FBI HQ to work on the case. Most of those who had worked on the original Clinton investigation (July 2015 – January 2016) were transferred and replaced. It is not known who handpicked the agents to work on the investigation.”

There is still so much information about the activities of the various players in both investigations. As we learn more, it’s beginning to appear that officials at the top levels of the Obama administration were involved. We need to find out who these individuals were and if and how Obama himself played a role. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do eventually turn.

* Jeff Carlson, septembergurl