This might be the most important outline to understand this whole sordid mess…
During the Friday testimony of witnesses put on the stand by Special Counsel John Durham, there were two key witnesses, FBI Analyst Brittany Hertzog and FBI Special Agent Amy Anderson. Both witnesses testified they were part of the Mueller investigative team with a primary mission to investigate the claims in/around the Christopher Steele dossier. [See Technofog Substack for transcript excerpts HERE]
The testimony of FBI agent Anderson and FBI analyst Hertzog (about their role in the Mueller probe) leads to one inescapable conclusion, Robert Mueller lied to congress when he testified the special counsel did not investigate Chris Steele, the Steele Dossier, Fusion GPS and/or Glenn Simpson. Mueller claimed it was “outside my purview.”
While Anderson and Hertzog are tied to the case against Igor Danchenko, it appears the primary purpose of their being called as witnesses in the trial is not about Danchenko. It appears John Durham presented them for testimony to ‘gently‘ and ‘diplomatically‘ expose the corrupt intent of the two-year Robert Mueller investigation. However, before getting all excited about Durham exposing Mueller; Be aware: There’s an outrage trap in here!
To fully comprehend the dynamic, we first need a background context, then a review of the witness statements, then an understanding of the outrage trap.
(1) Background Context:
AFTER originally interviewing Danchenko in January and February 2017, in March the DOJ/FBI then reinterviewed him before refiling the second FISA renewal in April. With Danchenko on their payroll they FBI did not need to worry about him undermining the Trump-Russia narrative or speaking the truth about the dossier. This approach protected the fraudulently obtained title-1 surveillance warrant. The surveillance warrant was renewed in April.
AFTER Robert Mueller is appointed special counsel in May 2017, with Danchenko on the FBI payroll and under control. When Danchenko is interviewed on June 15, 2017, he is being interviewed as part of the Mueller operation. Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissmann now submit the FISA application for another renewal on June 29, 2017. The fraudulently obtained title-1 surveillance warrant was again renewed.
The reason to keep Danchenko on the FBI payroll is to mitigate any risk he might present if he were to speak. A corrupt FBI network in Washington DC put a control mechanism over Danchenko in order to preserve their surveillance warrant, which was built upon fraud by using the Steele Dossier. They renewed the surveillance warrant twice more (April and June) while Danchenko was a paid ($200,000+) confidential human source.
As you can see from the Durham case against Igor Danchenko, a controlled Danchenko was then handed-off to the Mueller probe, who kept Danchenko on the FBI payroll throughout the Robert Mueller investigation (ended in April 2019) until October 2020 when Danchenko was dropped by the FBI and John Durham “officially” took over and was appointed special counsel.
Dates are important – On July 24, 2019, when Robert Mueller is in front of congress, answering questions about Chris Steele, the dossier and the Steele sources therein, Mueller was able to deflect and dodge answering questions about it because AG Bill Barr put John Durham into place in May 2019. AG Bill Barr put John Durham into place in May 2019, immediately following Robert Mueller’s completed investigation, April 2019, for this exact reason.
(2) The Hertzog and Anderson Testimony: [H/T Technofog]
Hertzog was with the FBI from 2008 through 2019 as an intelligence analyst with a primary focus on Russian counterintelligence. She described her role as an analyst who “looks at information and tries to identify trends, patterns, and investigative next steps.” She was assigned to the Directorate of Intelligence at FBI Headquarters.
Hertzog was assigned to Special Counsel Mueller’s Office in July 2017. She described her role and chain of command with the Mueller Team:
Q And what, generally, was your role with the Special Counsel Mueller’s team?
A I was primarily initially to focus on looking into reports that the FBI had received on Russian matters.
Q All right. Did those reports have a particular name?
A We referred to them typically as the Steele dossier.
Q Now, as a member of Special Counsel Mueller’s team, was there a chain of command?
A Yes.
Q Can you describe the chain of command that you worked with?
A I reported directly to SIA Brian Auten. Above him was Special Counsel Mueller. There were horizontal chains of reporting as well. So there was an attorney, a supervisory special agent, and then head of FBI personnel.
Q Okay. So you had occasion to work with special agents as well, correct?
A Correct.
Q And who were some of the special agents that you worked with Special Counsel Mueller?
A I worked with Supervisory Special Agent Amy Anderson and Supervisory Special Agent Joe Nelson.
Hertzog became familiar with the Steele Dossier, and with the parties involved in the Steele Dossier, once she joined the Mueller Team:
Q And how did you become familiar with Mr. Steele?
A When I reported [July 2017] to the Special Counsel’s Office, SCO, I had received background information on the investigation up until that point.
It was her job to “look into the Steele Dossier.” She described this as “trying to identify the sourcing for the claims in the dossier and, specifically, the national security threat with regards to the Russian influence piece.” Hertzog explains:
Q And a lot of names appeared in those dossier reports?
A Correct.
Q Did you learn that there were a number of different sources that the defendant relied on?
A Yes.
Q Did you have a particular focus on any of those sources?
A There were a number of sub-sources that were identified for investigative next steps.
Q Okay. And did you have a particular individual that you focused on?
A Yes. There was an individual named Olga Galkina who was — when I was assigned to SCO, was my primary focus initially.
Compare Hertzog’s testimony to the words of Robert Mueller:
Agent Amy Anderson, who works in the field of counterintelligence, was part of the Crossfire Hurricane/Mueller Team from April 2017 through January of 2018. Her initial assignment was “to attempt to validate the Steele Dossier,” to “either verify the reporting or determine that it was not accurate.”
Anderson described her role and supervisors with Special Counsel Mueller:
Q What was your initial — who were you initially working with in that role at the Special Counsel’s investigation?
A When I first arrived at the Special Counsel, I worked with Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten, as well as quite a few other intelligence analysts, Stephanie LaParre, Iva Drasinover. We had a team that was working the dossier in particular.
Q Did you work with someone by the name of Brittany Hertzog?
A I worked with Brittany a little bit later. She came in not at the very beginning but maybe a month after, a month or two.
Q And in terms of who you reported to at the Special Counsel’s office, if you could, just tell us who you reported to.
A Technically, I reported to Supervisory Special Agent Joe Nelson.
Essentially, agent Anderson, together with analyst Hertzog, did deep investigative work into the Dossier, Igor Danchenko and his relationship with Charles Dolan. FBI agent Amy Anderson then compiled a report outlining the fraud within the dossier and the political relationships with the people who assembled it. Anderson then passed that report up the chain of command in the Mueller investigation to Supervisory Special Agent Joe Nelson who buried it and did nothing.
So, we can easily see that Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissman, the special counsel team, did in fact spend a great deal of time and resources investigating the background of the Steele Dossier, including interviewing Christopher Steele himself, and all the claims within the dossier to include investigations of Danchenko and Dolan and other participants.
As a result of the FBI witness testimony, everyone can easily say that Robert Mueller mislead or lied to congress during his July 24, 2019, testimony. However, there’s an outrage trap in here, and John Durham certainly has to know it.
(3) The Outrage Trap:
Listen carefully to the testimony of Rober Mueller on July 24, 2019, best encapsulated within these two specific rounds of questioning. As noted by PBS, “Mueller, who led an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to President Donald Trump’s campaign, declined to answer questions regarding how the probe began or whether the so-called Steele dossier was a contributing factor.” WATCH:
Robert Mueller is in front of congress in July 2019, answering questions about Chris Steele, the dossier and the Steele sources therein. Mueller was able to deflect and dodge answering questions about it because AG Bill Barr put John Durham into place in May 2019.
When Robert Mueller is saying there’s another group in the DOJ looking specifically at the Chris Steele, Dossier, Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson aspect to the fraudulent 2016/2017 claims about Trump-Russia collusion in the 2016 election, he is talking about the John Durham investigation.
Mueller is citing Durham as the reason why his purview, and subsequent report as released, did not include the Steele dossier, Fusion GPS and Glenn Simpson information.
Mueller is saying that stuff is the responsibility of “the other internal investigative unit,” ie. John Durham.
When you stand back and remind yourself of the Bill Barr statements and affirmations about the ‘integrity’ and ‘honor’ of Robert Mueller, one can only accept that AG Bill Barr put John Durham into place in May 2019, immediately following Robert Mueller’s completed investigation, April 2019, so that Mueller would have a shield for why the origin of the Trump-Russia is outside his purview.
This is how they use silos as weapons and shields. Not in my purview is the same as not in my silo.
Mueller was citing Durham as the reason his team did not expand their probe to fully investigate Chris Steele et al. Mueller’s special counsel has an escape hatch for why they did nothing with their own investigative findings…. That was John Durham’s job. This is the outrage trap.
AG Bill Barr established John Durham’s probe (silo) so that Robert Mueller’s probe (silo) would have cover.
If John Durham’s investigative inquiry did not exist prior to that July 2019 testimony by Robert Mueller, then Mueller would have lied to congress.
AG Bill Barr put Durham into place, essentially constructed another silo, to protect his ‘good friend’ Robert Mueller….
….The DC two-step is achieved.
