CTH noted yesterday that things in/around the Michael Flynn investigation could get very interesting…. not because of what is visible, but rather because of what is likely to surface.

Today, President Trump draws attention to Michael Flynn being under DOJ/FBI investigation during 2016; AND specifically, that candidate Trump and President-elect Trump was never notified of the potential issues:

The backstory issues within the Flynn case may soon surface; so it’s worth a few minutes to describe where this could be heading. Specifically, how a series of data-points are coming together and building toward a strong probability Flynn was under a FISA surveillance warrant during a key part of the 2016 election campaign.

By now everyone is aware General Michael Flynn was under FBI investigation throughout a significant portion of 2016. There are strong indications Flynn was under surveillance even as far back as early to mid 2015.

Yesterday when Judge Sullivan instructed the DOJ to turn over recordings and transcripts of the Flynn-Kislyak phone call, there was a part of Sullivan’s order that indicated his suspicion there was more than just a singular record of a December 29th, 2016, intercept.

You will note that Judge Sullivan requested: …“and the transcripts of any other audio recordings of Mr. Flynn, including, but not limited to, contacts with Russian officials.”

As many are aware, there is a trail of evidence that suggests, strongly suggests, Flynn was subject to an FBI FISA Title-1 surveillance warrant as a result of his being a target in the 2016 counterintelligence operation. Now, if there was ongoing FISA-authorized surveillance, think about the problem Judge Sullivan’s request would present to the DOJ.

In essence, the DOJ is required to deliver evidence of more than just the one Flynn-Kislyak call. As a result of the way Sullivan framed the judicial request, the DOJ would end up having to produce evidence that would outline a time-line of Flynn’s surveillance. As a problematic consequence the DOJ would be proving a FISA warrant existed.

Guess what happened today… the Sullivan order was modified:

Taken in combination, here’s what seems likely.

It is a fact Flynn was a target under the pre-existing 2016 counterintelligence operation conducted by the FBI. The HPSCI report and the Mueller report clearly identify this issue. This is not in doubt. It is demonstrably true. However, what has not yet surfaced is that Flynn was under a FISA Title-1 surveillance warrant during 2016.

It’s likely that during the key election time-frame, the last five months of 2016 (Aug-Dec), a FISA warrant authorized by Judge Rudolph Contreras was present. The timing here will be important, because it’s almost guaranteed that when President-elect Donald Trump selected Michael Flynn to be his National Security Advisor he had no idea Flynn was under a counterintelligence investigation.

Additionally, there were three FISA applications denied in 2016. This is exceptionally rare. It has always looked like the FBI unit was trying to gain surveillance on a key official, possibly Flynn, while getting pushback from the FISA court. {Go Deep} <-IMPORTANT

The stunning evidence of malicious DOJ and FBI political intent would be evident because no-one in the DOJ or FBI informed President-elect Trump his key national security selection was an issue. This is one big example of what current Attorney General William Barr seems to be indicating. There is no valid reason why the incoming President would not be notified of the potential compromise and the inherent issues. This looks like where the arc of the Flynn story is going. This is what could surface soon.

Remember, on a professional and somewhat personal level, Michael Flynn and Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice were friends. This angle of Flynn being under Title-1 surveillance would explain why Rice specifically was doing so much unmasking of intelligence information toward the end of 2016. This is also likely a key part of what Devin Nunes saw at the White House SCIF in March 2017.

I also suspect FBI Director James Comey has made specific notations about the Flynn FISA in his memos. You might remember in the David Archey declarations to the court, about the Comey memos, he was specific in his late 2017 reasoning why the Comey Memos must remain sealed and redacted:

To this day the FBI is still fighting to keep the Comey memo content hidden and away from public review.

Judge Sullivan has now extended the DOJ deadline for filing a response to his request until May 31st. It will be very interesting to see exactly what happens.

With AG William Barr making inquires, and with the FBI’s inability to explain to AG Barr what was going on, the potential for the DOJ and FBI to be in conflict is very real. We know the disposition to hide information is still inherent within the FBI due to their recent attempts to hide evidence of FBI corruption within the Kavalec State Department memos.

FBI Director Chris Wray, FBI Deputy Director David Bowditch, and more specifically FBI chief legal counsel Dana Boente are in the cross-hairs of these issues. They, along with the corrupt Washington Field Office FBI investigators, appear to be working against the interests of U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr; and thanks to Judge Sullivan these background schemes and plots are likely to be exposed.

Interesting times….

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