See post 1108 Originally Posted by Jaxson66If you would take a second to read this, thanks...
short cut... https://theconservativetreehouse.com...s/#more-167034
Maria Bartiromo to Devin Nunes: “Who is the mastermind behind all of this?”…
Posted on July 28, 2019 by sundance
Maria Bartiromo is one of a very few mainstream journalists with knowledge of the deepest weeds of ‘spygate’ and the multiple intelligence operations to manipulate the 2016 election against candidate Trump, and then run operations to remove President Trump.
In an extensive interview with HPSCI ranking member Devin Nunes, Maria Bartiromo asks the ultimate question: “who was the mastermind” behind all of these intelligence operations?
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Released FOIA documents into the special counsel team of Robert Mueller revealed the remarkable trail of the 2017 entrapment scheme conducted by prosecutor Andrew Weissmann to target George Papadopoulos.
Before digging into the details it is important to note this is a DOJ/FBI entrapment operation being conducted in 2017 by the special counsel; this is not prior to the 2016 election. The detail surrounds a series of events previously discussed {Go Deep} where George Papadopoulos was approached by a known CIA operative named Charles Tawil.
In 2017 George Papadopoulos and his wife Simona were approached in Greece by a known CIA/FBI operative, Charles Tawil. Mr. Tawil enlisted George as a business consultant, under the auspices of energy development interests, and invited him to Israel.
On June 8th, 2017, in Israel under very suspicious circumstances, where Papadopoulos felt very unnerved, Mr. Tawil hands him $10,000 in cash for future consultancy based on a $10k/month retainer.
On June 9th, 2017, according to his book, Papadopoulos and Tawil fly back to Cyprus.
In interviews Papadopoulos said he was uncomfortable with the way the encounters had taken place. He became suspect of Tawil’s motives; something didn’t feel right. Instead of keeping the cash, Papadopoulos gave the money to an attorney in Greece before traveling back to the U.S. on July 27th, 2017.
Upon arrival at Dulles airport on July 27th, 2017, Robert Mueller had FBI agents waiting. Papadopoulos was stopped and his bags were searched; however, he did not have the cash because he smartly left it in Greece with his lawyer. Papadopoulos was detained overnight by FBI agents, and questioned.
[…] Stanley said Papadopoulos arrived on a Lufthansa flight from Munich that touched down at about 7 p.m. on July 27, and the FBI intercepted him as soon as he got off the plane.
“He was arrested [detained] before he got to Customs and he was then held at the airport before being brought to a law enforcement office,” Stanley recalled. (link)
According to Politico:
[W]hen he was arrested [detained] at Dulles Airport on July 27 after coming off a flight from Munich, prosecutors had no warrant for him and no indictment or criminal complaint. The complaint would be filed the following morning and approved by Howell in Washington.
And when prosecutors filed the complaint the next day they got a spoken order from Howell to seal it, but followed up with a written request that they could take to the magistrate in Alexandria, where they showed up almost an hour later than she expected.
All of it suggests something of a scramble, rather than a carefully prepared plan to take Papadopoulos into custody. (more)
Here’s where the FOIA revelations come in. According to Andrew Weissmann’s schedule on June 13th, 2017, he was in conversations surrounding the basis of a Cyprus Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT):
(Page #5 of FOIA pdf)
So overlaying the timeline:
6/8/17 US intelligence asset Charles Tawil gives George $10K cash in Israel
6/9/17 George Papadopoulos flies to Cyprus w $10K
6/13/17 Andrew Weissmann starts series of “Cyprus MLAT” meetings with FBI
6/13/17 Andrew Weissmann phone call w/ FBI Money Laundering and Asset Recovery “MLARS” section of FBI.
It would appear Weissmann was well aware of the Cyprus “Tawil operation” and engaged in communication regarding Cyprus. Additionally, he was discussing “Money Laundering and Asset Recovery” w/ FBI. [MLARS Link]
Taken in combination with hindsight of the search for the cash, and the lack of a pre-existing warrant at the airport, this is clear evidence of a coordinated operation to entrap Papadopoulos.
Remember, the preferred approach toward targeting Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn and George Papadopoulos surrounded FARA (Foreign Agent Registration Act) lobbying violations. Papadopoulos has stated the special counsel threatened him with charges of acting as a unregistered agent for Israel. There’s a clear picture here.
#1) Papadopoulos was lured to Israel and paid in Israel to give the outline of a FARA premise (ie. Papadopoulos is an agent of Israel). #2) Bringing $10,000 (or more) in cash into the U.S., without reporting, is a violation of U.S. treasury laws. Add into that aspect the FARA violation and the money can be compounded into #3) laundering charges.
[A “laundering” charge applies if the money is illegally obtained. The FARA violation would be the *illegal* aspect making the treasury charges heavier. Note: the use of the airport baggage-check avoids the need for a search warrant.]
Andrew Weissmann was conducting an entrapment scheme that would have ended up with three violations of law: (1) Treasury violation; (2) FARA violation; (3) Money laundering…. All it needed was Papadopoulos to carry the undeclared cash into the U.S.
The key aspect is the FARA violation. As we have seen in the EDVA case against Flynn’s partner Bijan Rafiekian, the DOJ-NSD bizarre interpretation of FARA laws create a violation from any unregistered purposeful business contact with a foreign entity. What Weissmann wanted for Papadopoulos was to create the same scenario that previously trapped Manafort and Flynn.
However, because Papadopoulos suspected something, and left the money in Greece with his lawyers, upon arrival at the DC airport the sting operation collapsed in reverse.
No money means no treasury violation, no laundering and no evidence of the consultancy agreement (which would have been repurposed in the DOJ filing to mean lobbying for Israel via Mr. Tawil, who would have become a confidential informant and witness).
That operational collapse is why the FBI agents were “scrambling” at the airport and why they had no pre-existing criminal complaint. The entrapment’s success was contingent upon the cash.
Lastly, to repeat, this entire scenario was constructed by the DOJ/FBI team operation in 2017. The members of the Special Counsel were running the entrapment operation; the FBI agents were participating in the operation. This is not *investigating* criminal conduct; this is manufacturing criminal conduct.
This summer 2017 activity by the DOJ special counsel group was an extension of their operations in 2015 and 2016. It is all the same DOJ ‘small group’ people.
However, in 2017 Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was in charge of the Mueller Special Counsel; so Rosenstein had to know what the objectives were… The evidence to prove that is simple, Rosenstein was signing expansions of investigative scope memos (August 2nd and October 20th, 2017) to allow and assist their efforts.
The only way DAG Rosenstein and Robert Mueller didn’t know about the operation is if they both claim that Andrew Weissmann was completely rogue and in control over the FBI agents.
Oh, wait, what does the Mueller report say about the FBI agents and their chain-of-legal guidance and command?
With these events happening in June/July 2017… Rod Rosenstein, Robert Mueller, former FBI legal counsel Jim Baker, former Deputy FBI Director McCabe, together with current FBI legal counsel Dana Boente and current FBI Director Wray were what?…
Hoodwinked?
Honorable “rank and file”?
Yeah, ok. Sure.
I digress.
