FBI agents were so worried about the legality of their activities during the Trump-Russia “collusion” probe that some purchased liability insurance to protect themselves if the pro-Clinton conspiracy were revealed, newly-released court documents show.
Filed in the federal government’s malicious prosecution of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, the documents reveal texts between agents that show where the real “collusion” was: among top government agents who, with the Crossfire Hurricane probe, tried to interfere nullify the 2016 election because they didn’t like the winner.
But that’s not all we learn from the texts, disclosed yesterday at The Federalist. Top FBI officials hoped Crossfire Hurricane would help elect Hillary Clinton.
Insurance Bought
“We all went and purchased professional liability insurance,” one agent wrote on January 10, 2017, the documents show.
That was “the same day CNN leaked details that then-President-elect Trump had been briefed by Comey about the bogus Christopher Steele dossier,” Sean Davis and Mollie Hemingway reported:
That briefing of Trump was used as a pretext to legitimize the debunked dossier, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign and compiled by a foreign intelligence officer who was working for a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
Serious trouble was ahead if they were caught, the agents apparently thought.
“Holy crap,” an agent responded about agents who purchased insurance. “All the analysts too?”
“Yep,” the first agent said. “All the folks at the Agency as well.”
“While the names of the agents responsible for the texts are redacted, the legal filing … states that the latest document production included handwritten notes and texts from Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, and FBI analysts who worked on the FBI’s investigation of Flynn,” Davis and Hemingway wrote.
Strzok and Page, famously, openly texted their desire to bring down Trump. McCabe is the former deputy director who confessed his involvement in a coup d’etat using the 25th Amendment and lying to agents about his leaks to the Wall Street Journal.
Amazingly, the agents were also terrified of what Attorney General Jeff Sessions might do: “[T]he new AG might have some questions….then yada yada yada…we all get screwed,” an agent fretted.
The agents worried about someone using the Freedom of Information Act to uncover their activities, and that they were chasing what the media would call “debunked conspiracy theories:”
“I’m tellying [sic] man, if this thing ever gets FOIA’d, there are going to be some tough questions asked,” one agent wrote. “[A]nd a great deal of those will be related to Brian having a scope way outside the boundaries of logic[.]”
“[REDACTED] is one of the worst offenders of the rabbit holes and conspiracy theories,” an agent texted. “This guy traveled with that guy, who put down 3rd guy as his visa sponsor. 3rd guy lives near a navy base, therefore…[.]”
Clinton Torpedoes
Even worse, it appears that Clinton torpedoes at the agency ran the conspiracy to undermine a free and fair election.
“The explosive new text messages also show agents believed the investigation was being run by FBI officials who were in the tank for Hillary Clinton,” Davis and Hemingway reported.
“[D]oing all this election research — I think some of these guys want a [C]linton presidency,” an agent wrote in August 2016.
As well, another agent wrote, “‘Trump was right’ when he tweeted that the FBI was delaying his briefings as incoming president so they could cook up evidence against him,” Davis and Heminway reported. “Why do we do this to ourselves?” the agent asked.
The “Intelligence” briefing on so-called “Russian hacking” was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
The agents also suspected “the illegal leak of top secret information about Flynn’s phone calls with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak to the news media came directly from the White House,” David and Hemingway reported. Those calls became the basis of the FBI entrapment scheme to take out Flynn:
“FYI — someone leaked the Flynn calls with Kislyak to the WSJ,” the agent wrote.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” another FBI agent responded sarcastically. “I’ll resume my duties as Chief Morale Officer and rectify that.”
“Published this morning by Ignatius,” an agent said, referencing the Jan. 12 column from Washington Post writer David Ignatius that included leaked top-secret information about Flynn’s calls with Kislyak.
“It’s got to be someone on staff,” an agent wrote. “[Presidential Daily Briefing] staff. Or WH seniors.”
“To date, not a single person has been charged with illegally leaking that information to the Washington Post as a way of damaging Flynn and the incoming Trump administration,” Davis and Hemingway reported.
The two closed their report by observing that the Obama administration targeted Flynn with false charges of wrongdoing and that “the FBI later hid exculpatory documents from Flynn’s defense team.”
Yet federal judge Emmett Sullivan won’t dismiss the case against Flynn despite a request from the Justice Department. Sullivan even tried to block the department from producing and “filing exculpatory evidence for Flynn or evidence of FBI misbehavior during its investigation of Flynn.”
