The FBI’s Million-Dollar Men

Three high-profile trials are shining much-needed light on how the bureau uses highly paid informants as political hit men.

Julie Kelly reporting for American Greatness

Proceedings underway in three U.S. courtrooms are providing a coordinated view into the abuse of the FBI’s confidential human source (CHS) program, a cash-flush operation now primarily used to bolster Democratic Party narratives instead of detecting and preventing crime.

As I’ve reported, the FBI spends an average of $42 million per year to pay informants and does so with absolutely no financial or legal accountability. Confidential human sources are paid in cash; they can offer their services for a variety of reasons including financial need or to obtain a change in immigration status. FBI agents are required to keep at least one informant on the books, an FBI whistleblower told me; successfully using a CHS to bust up a crime is one way to get promoted.

But ongoing trials related to the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, January 6, and the Whitmer fednapping case are once again shining a light on the way the bureau hires snitches to advance political goals.

After numerous investigations over the course of more than six years—not to mention an obsessive fixation by the national media—the scandal known as Russiagate produced another bombshell revelation during the perjury trial of Igor Danchenko, the key source for the Steele dossier. The FBI offered to pay Christopher Steele, its author, up to $1 million in cash if he could verify the dossier’s declarations about Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia. He could not.

Described for years as a “former British intelligence officer,” Steele, in fact, was a private consultant with several paymasters in 2016. Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee retained Steele to write his dossier that alleged shadowy connections between the Kremlin and Trump associates. At the same time, Steele was lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch who ran afoul of the Obama Administration.

When the cash offer was made in October 2016, Steele also was working as an informant for the FBI. (It’s unknown how much he was paid.) He moved seamlessly between the bureau, other government agencies including the State Department, and the national news media almost until Election Day. Steele met with journalists and editors in the fall of 2016 to spin the dossier’s content as legitimate—and some outlets took the bait. 

The bureau severed the arrangement in late October 2016 after learning Steele had met with reporters, but the damage was done. Steele’s fabricated dirt seeded the Trump-Russia election collusion hoax.

Turns out, Steele wasn’t the only paid FBI informant tied to the dossier. Testimony revealed the FBI hired Danchenko as an informant in March 2017 and paid him at least $200,000 until the FBI cut him loose in October 2020—the same month Attorney General William Barr named U.S. Attorney John Durham as special counsel. (Stefan Halper, another FBI informant, also aided the FBI’s effort to smear Trump via Russiagate.)

It’s unclear exactly what Danchenko did as an informant. Was he used as a behind-the-scenes leaker to give oxygen to the Russiagate hoax in the media? Did the bureau hire him as an informant to protect him, and the FBI, from the prying eyes of investigators?

Either way, it’s clear the FBI didn’t hire these informants because the government had cause to suspect Trump was in cahoots with Russia to rig the 2016 election. To the contrary, the informants manufactured the falsehood, giving FBI partisans and the news media fabricated evidence to sabotage Trump with the FBI’s imprimatur.

Seditious Conspiracy—Or Entrapment?

The bureau’s crusade against Trump continued, climaxing with the events of January 6, 2021. Down the interstate from Dancheko’s trial in Virginia is the seditious conspiracy trial of five members of the Oath Keepers. Prosecutors working under U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, a Biden campaign advisor, are trying to convince a D.C. jury that the Oath Keepers tried to overthrow the government that day.

The case rests largely on inflammatory posts in group chats and social media; none is accused of committing violence that day, in fact, those who legally brought firearms from various states kept their weapons behind in a Virginia hotel on January 6. Evidence suggests they tried to help police calm the crowd inside—two never even entered the building.

That isn’t stopping Graves’ office from insisting the Oath Keepers, a group of former military and law enforcement officers, plotted a traitorous coup. But at the last minute, the government admitted five informants had been embedded in the group, likely before the Capitol protest. 

Prosecutors, however, do not want jurors to hear much about those informants, particularly their work in past “investigations”—code for past “entrapment schemes.” (The New York Times reported last year that FBI informants had infiltrated the Proud Boys, another alleged “militia” charged in the Capitol breach, months before January 6. The group’s leader himself is a former confidential human source for the FBI.)

Other unknowns in the Oath Keepers’ case raise serious questions about the FBI’s deeper involvement. A man who created an encrypted group chat and can be heard urging at least one Oath Keeper to commit violence remains unidentified and uncharged—following a pattern of other unindicted instigators such as Ray Epps. Dozens of alleged Oath Keepers who participated in similar conduct also are not charged. And defense counsel discovered that at least 20 FBI and ATF agents were near the group on January 6.

Doing what, exactly? If federal agents were in the city that day, why didn’t they protect the Capitol and lawmakers inside?

None of it adds up.

A History of Entrapment

About 800 miles away, three Michigan men are on trial for a very similar conspiracy case. In 2020, state prosecutors charged Joe Morrison, Pete Musico, and Paul Bellar for “providing material support for a terrorist act” related to the plot to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. But two separate federal trials exposed how the scheme was engineered by multiple FBI agents and informants. (Two men were acquitted by a federal jury in April amid an FBI entrapment defense. That jury hung on two other defendants but they were convicted at a second trial in August.)

At least a dozen informants worked the fednapping hoax; the total cost to taxpayers has not yet been disclosed. The lead FBI informant, Dan Chappel, took the stand last week in the state trial to explain his role. As I’ve reported, the FBI compensated Chappel at least $60,000 in cash and personal items to stitch the random targets together. An FBI agent handed Chappel an envelope with $23,500 in cash in December 2020, two months after the arrests were made in the case.

But Chappel’s testimony—and defense filings—show how he lured the men into the FBI’s trap. Chappel created encrypted chat groups to foster talk of violence while giving the FBI direct access to the secret communications. He organized meetings where he recorded every word, even when the targets were drunk or stoned. On two occasions, Chappel drove his main target to Whitmer’s vacation cottage, the scene of the potential crime, on a “surveillance” trip that in reality was a stunt to produce photographs later used as evidence against the man.

Chappel, however, broke FBI protocol in several instances including suggesting criminal acts and becoming a commander in the fake militia the FBI invented exclusively for the fednapping caper. Defense attorneys grilled Chappel last week about the veracity of the government’s explanation as to how Chappel became an informant; turns out, his previous claim that he went to the FBI after being alarmed at seeing violent, anti-law enforcement chatter on a website wasn’t true.

Chappel also couldn’t explain why he didn’t receive a Purple Heart if he indeed suffered injuries during the Iraq War, a representation made by both Chappel and the government. “This witness can’t get away with misrepresenting his conduct, his service, his valor—which I would argue is stolen valor in this matter—to these 15 people,” one defense attorney said in court.

The nexus of all three trials is, of course, Donald Trump. In Russiagate, the goal was to portray Trump as a tool of the Kremlin, a president illegitimately elected with the help of Russia. In the other two cases, innocent men entrapped then prosecuted by the government are pawns to prove that “domestic violent extremists” loyal to Donald Trump are prone to violence on his behalf.

Over the weekend, Representative James Comer (R-Ky.) said if Republicans take control of the House, he would support establishing a committee to investigate the FBI. “We have a huge problem with the FBI and the fact is, the American people have lost faith in the FBI,” Comer told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “It’s going in the wrong direction.”

It sure is. Republican voters want a full-scale investigation into the investigators; House GOP leaders would be wise to include the investigators’ long list of highly-paid political hit men known as FBI informants.

X22, Badlands Media, and more- Oct 18

 

If I sound a bit tense tonight, well. I'm having a bit of a tense day! And I don't like it.

Here's tonight's news:

The FBI’s Tac Vest Fascism

The FBI's and ATF’s vests are like the KGB’s blue-tabbed uniforms or the brown shirts of Hitler’s SA, and are worn for the same reason.

by Dan Gelernter for American Greatness

I had heard about the FBI showing up in full regalia to arrest Paul Vaughn, father of 11, for a pro-life protest he’d been part of the previous year. Unlike the 2020 BLM peaceful protesters, Vaughn didn’t set anything on fire or kill anybody. But he had sat in the hallway of an abortion clinic singing hymns. The FBI swarmed his house wearing bulletproof vests and carrying AR-15s. They pointed guns at the door and banged on the house. Ultimately, they took the father away while ignoring his wife’s questions, including that an agent identify himself. At one point in the video, you can see this agent simply walks past her, waits sheepishly for the FBI driver to unlock the SUV’s door, and gets in and slams the door in the woman’s face. I recommend you find and watch a video of this for yourself, because there is no substitute for seeing it. 

We only know this happened because the wife had the presence of mind to film it with her cell phone. But what if this is happening all over the country to people who aren’t lucky enough to have friends or family nearby with cameras? What if there are hundreds of Paul Vaughns being carted away by federal agents for crimes of civil disobedience? 

Fascim has always needed a uniform, and the current one is windbreakers and tactical vests with big, government-agency letters blocked out in yellow. These bulletproof vests are not being worn for the agents’ safety: None of these agents actually worries about getting shot trying to arrest middle-aged family men. If they were worried about being shot, they’d come in tanks or send drones or just wait outside like the Uvalde police. 

In reality, the FBI’s and ATF’s vests are like the KGB’s blue-tabbed uniforms or the brown shirts of Hitler’s SA, and are worn for the same reason: They represent the intimidation of unlimited government power against the ordinary citizen. It is the power of the faceless, nameless—they never give their names—and unaccountable bureaucracy. It is the uniform of evil’s enforcement wing. The FBI have become what Hilter’s SA once were: Sturm Arbteiling, storm detachments, storm troops, whose purpose is to achieve obedience through fear. 

“We’re from the government, and we’re here to hurt.” 

Americans have always hated the sight. Which is why it is illegal for the military to be deployed domestically: Do you imagine the inspiration for the Posse Comitatus Act had anything to do with whether the people roaming around your property and pointing guns at you were officially in the army? If they look like soldiers, dress like soldiers, seem to think they are soldiers, does it matter that they’re officially from some other part of the government? It is explicitly illegal that the military be used as a police force. 

We do not tolerate, and have never tolerated, armies walking through our homes—not, at least, without firing back. Look at our Revolutionary War monuments: There is a reason the militiamen in our statues are dressed like farmers, not soldiers. 

It should be illegal for the government to come to your house looking like an occupying military force under siege. And if they feel themselves actually to be under siege, perhaps they’re doing something wrong. Certainly, a Washington, D.C. surrounded with fences and barbed wire does not scream “government of the people!” It looks more like a bunch of pirates occupying spaces to which they have no right, and to which they know they have no right. 

Tac vests, ballistic helmets, and for that matter “weapons of war” like AR-15s, have no place in the hands of federal agents. Their possession transforms these people into the domestic military presence from which we are protected by law. FBI agents should walk around wearing suits, floppy pink hats that say “FED!”, and perhaps they can have a little brass bell to ring if they need to draw attention to something. Because we are not a government that rules by force, but exactly the opposite. Our reliance is on our neighbors and a shared love and respect for freedom. Government isn’t just a bad substitute for those things, it’s the worst substitute. 

Our state governments need to be active in protecting citizens from federal intimidation and lawbreaking. Federal troops are not welcome in a police capacity, no matter what agency they claim to represent. I would like Florida, as a test case, to tell the FBI that they don’t need vests and rifles to arrest non-violent offenders, and that, if they want the cooperation of the state, they’d better leave the military gear home.

Democrats Are Desperate To Distract From The Real Issues Plaguing Voters As Nov. 8 Nears

Democrats have not only failed to address any of voters’ biggest concerns, but they are doing everything they can to use other problems as distractions.

Jordan Boyd reporting for The Federalist

Americans know the country is in trouble, which is why President Joe Biden and his Democrat allies are doing everything they can to distract voters from the crises plaguing America with the hope that it will save them from getting stripped from the halls of power in the upcoming midterm elections.

A new poll from Harvard-Harris found that, despite the left’s best attempts to focus voters on issues such as their extremist abortion and climate agendas, Americans care more about the economy, the border crisis, and crime.

Thirty-seven percent of voters say inflation and price increases are the biggest issues facing the country today. Right behind that is the economy and jobs, which 29 percent of voters think is a No. 1 problem. Approximately 23 percent of voters say immigration is at the front of their minds, while another 18 percent said crime and drug issues are most important. And considering that pollsters typically frame these surveys to shape public opinion in favor of Democrats, that these issues still emerged as voters’ top four concerns shows how important they are.

Meanwhile, only 17 percent of voters cited vague “women’s rights” as an important issue, and a mere 5 percent of voters said the same about foreign policy. That, however, hasn’t stopped Biden from focusing on inflation overseas and pretty much anything else except inflation at home.

While regular Americans struggle to pay bills, fill their gas tanks, and take their families out for ice cream on occasion, Biden, nibbling on a double dip of chocolate chip in a waffle cone, lied in a Baskin-Robbins in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday that the flailing U.S. economy is “strong as hell.” The president also denied having any concerns about the value of the U.S. dollar in our heavily inflated economy, something 9 in 10 voters say they worry about.

“I’m concerned about the rest of the world,” Biden said to the gaggle of reporters watching him eat. “Inflation is worldwide. It’s worse off than it is in the United States. So the problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries, not so much ours.”

Americans’ top priorities (the economy, immigration, and crime) haven’t changed much since polling for the midterms first began. In fact, more and more voters, currently two-thirds, say the country under a Democrat-controlled White House and Congress is on the wrong track.

Yet the Biden administration and Democrats on the campaign trail have not only failed to address any of voters’ biggest worries but they are doing everything they can to use other problems as distractions, such as hyperventilating over Ukraine and threatening nuclear war with Russia, or capitalizing on the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision. Despite the deeply unpopular nature of Democrats’ unregulated, on-demand abortion extremism, the left has teamed up with the corporate media to make abortion their top priority going into the midterms. That’s why even vulnerable candidates have committed millions of dollars and time to promote the unrestricted killing of unborn babies through all nine months of pregnancy without any scrutiny from major media outlets.

Similarly, the Biden administration has sought to cover up the nation’s economic woes and Congress’s expensive and bloated bills by directing the press’s fawning attention to the global “climate emergency.” Instead of working to curb inflationary spending, acknowledge there is a recession, and address the disastrous border crisis, Biden has used his executive authority to declare that “climate change is a clear and present danger to the United States.”

While Republicans capitalize on the top issues facing Americans, several Democrat candidates have followed in Biden’s footsteps in declaring that “climate change is the greatest threat facing our country and our world.”

All across the country, blue candidates have shirked debates and questions about their role in exacerbating the current crises. Some, such as Sen. Ron Johnson’s challenger Mandela Barnes, have gone so far as to try covering up their connections to the harmful policies that frustrate constituents.

With their eager allies in the corporate press, Democrats have refused to take responsibility and instead tried to convince voters that ending preborn human lives, funneling tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine, and learning what flavor of ice cream Biden prefers are of utmost importance — especially as Nov. 8 nears.

Paris murder: Killing of Lola, 12, sparks immigration row in France

 

Grief and outrage in France over the murder of a 12-year-old girl found dumped in a plastic trunk in Paris has turned into a political row over the migrant status of the suspect.

Lola's body was found last Friday in a courtyard outside the apartment block where she lived.

A 24-year-old woman has been remanded in custody on suspicion of murder, rape as well as acts of torture.

It has also emerged she is an Algerian immigrant under orders to leave France.

Shortly after President Emmanuel Macron met the murdered girl's parents at the Élysée Palace on Tuesday and promised his full support, political opponents on the right and far right accused the government of failing the family.

During an animated session in the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally party condemned the government's "lax" migration policy.  

"The suspect in this barbaric act should not have been in our country; what's keeping you from finally putting a stop to this uncontrolled, clandestine immigration?" she said.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne appealed to her to "show a little decency" and respect the parents' pain and Lola's memory, saying: "Let the police and judiciary do their job."

Lola disappeared last Friday after failing to make the short walk home from school in the 19th district of north-east Paris. By late evening her body had been found inside a trunk on wheels.

A post-mortem examination found she had suffered cardiorespiratory failure "with signs of asphyxiation and cervical compression". Wounds were found to her face, back and neck but had not led to her death.  

As her father is the building's caretaker, he soon retrieved CCTV video showing the suspect, Dahbia B, with his daughter in the hall of the block of flats on Friday afternoon. A man aged 43 has been accused of helping to hide the girl's body.

The government's political opponents have been quick to highlight Dahbia B's status as an illegal immigrant.

She was initially stopped at a French airport on 20 August because her residence permit had run out. She had entered France legally as a student six years ago. Dahbia B was told to leave French territory within a month, under an order known as an OQTF (obligation de quitter le territoire français).  

Although some orders are more immediate, Dahbia B had no criminal record so she was not placed in detention. OQTF orders are notorious because only one in 10 are observed, and Algerians are among the nationalities considered most likely to abuse the system.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin appealed to the far right to reflect on the consequences of their words, after far-right former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour labelled the crime a "Francocide", or the killing of a French person. There was, the minister told RTL radio, a great deal of indecency in some of the political responses.

Several other figures on the right were also critical of the government, with Republican MP Éric Pauget telling the justice minister that "Lola lost her life because you didn't expel this national". 

Mystery surrounds the motive behind the killing and the suspect's lawyer has condemned the various rumours circulating locally. The Paris prosecutor has revealed that a figure one and a zero were written under the victim's feet, but have not suggested why.

One potential motive cited by sources close to the investigation is a dispute between the main suspect and Lola's mother. Dahbia B had been living in the same building with her sister but when she asked for a pass to enter the block of flats Lola's mother refused.

The suspect is being held in isolation at Fresnes prison, south of Paris. Reports suggest she was a victim of domestic abuse several year ago and she is due to undergo a psychiatric examination.

A silent protest in tribute to Lola has been called off on Wednesday after a request from the family. However, a rally is expected to take place the following day, at which several far-right politicians are expected to take part.  

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63303438

Harvard-Harris Poll, Donald Trump Most Favored Politician in U.S.

Sundance reporting for Conservative Treehouse 

The Harvard-Harris polling group is a left leaning media narrative engineering effort.  So, when Harvard-Harris releases a poll [DATA HERE] showing Donald Trump as the most favored politician in the U.S. a few weeks before the midterm elections….  You know the background for democrats is substantially worse.

[Source Link]

Donald Trump, the Great MAGA King, has 47% approval, Mike Pence 44% approval, Joe Biden 43% approval, Bernie Sanders 42% approval.

The entire polling looks bad for Democrats, including the priorities of the Democrat policy being the opposite of the priorities of the voters.

(LINK)

This stuff cracks me up…

Kinzinger Unravels In Bizarre, Embarrassing Rant After Critic Hits Close to the Mark

Nick Arama reporting for RedState 

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (D-IL) was off and running with wild posts on Twitter again on Sunday night. He has a history of posting bizarre rants on Twitter such as when he posted unhinged tweets about pro-lifers and Ukraine. If that doesn’t make any sense to you, trust me, his attack didn’t make any sense either.I don’t know if he was engaging in some adult libations or if it’s just his benighted brain without any help, but it went into la-la-land with this one and he got ratioed but good in response.

Entrepreneur David Sacks who has been supportive of Republican candidates called out Kinzinger for his profile in which he claimed he was “country first” but then bragged about being a part of “NAFO” a “foreign propaganda organization (NAFO) which was founded by a neonazi. Can things get any crazier?”

What is NAFO? Here’s what the account “Defense of Ukraine” — a Ukrainian government account — says.

So he’s spending his time defending Ukraine on Twitter and accusing people of being Kremlin trolls on behalf of Ukraine? That could be a problem if he’s acting as an agent of Ukraine. And a group Sacks claims was “founded by a neonazi”? What is Adam doing?

Sacks’ tweet caused Kinzinger to lose his mind.

“David, whose last name is Sacks, claims #nafo is a foreign propaganda organization,” Kinzinger said. “Well there SACKS, much better than under the influence of Russian propaganda. Sacks. #NAFOarticle5”

It looked like he hashtagged it to try to sic people on Sacks, attacking him over his name and accusing him of being under the influence of Russia.

Sacks didn’t take it lying down and asked Kinzinger if he had an issue with people with Jewish names.

I’m not sure what’s going on with Kinzinger, but he should seriously lay off Twitter for a while and check himself when he’s gone this far over the edge. He got ratioed into next week for what some thought was an anti-Semitic tweet and his obsession with Ukraine.

He may have meant it as a juvenile attack on his manhood as well, emphasizing “sacks.”

If you’re a member of Congress you shouldn’t be acting on behalf of any other nation, you shouldn’t be attacking American citizens over their names or spouting anti-Semitic nonsense, and you shouldn’t be siccing people on other Americans because they think differently than you. But it’s a thing with Kinzinger to attack American citizens. Kinzinger is acting like a disturbed 12-year-old. Is it any wonder that he’s the pick of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to be on their Jan. 6 Committee?

Thank God this character will soon be out of Congress. Then he can go off to MSNBC, be their “Republican” commentator, and be crazy where no one will have to deal with him.

DOJ Recommends Outrageous Sentence for Steve Bannon

Bonchie reporting for RedState 

The DOJ is recommending an extremely stiff sentence for Steve Bannon, who was convicted of contempt of Congress earlier in the year after defying a subpoena by the January 6th committee. According to the sentencing memorandum, the federal government wants Bannon to spend six months in prison and have to pay a $200,000 fine.

The sentencing demand by the DOJ outpaced expectations, which were that Bannon would spend 30 days or so in jail. Six months is nearly unheard of in these cases.

In fact, anyone getting criminally prosecuted for not obeying a congressional subpoena is nearly unheard of. It wasn’t that long ago that Obama officials Eric Holder and Lois Lerner both defied congressional subpoenas from a Republican-controlled House. Despite criminal referrals, and in the case of Holder, even though a large number of Democrats voted that he be held in contempt, the DOJ never even entertained the idea of pursuing the case criminally.

Yet, once again, Democrats have chosen to change the rules to benefit them politically. That means it’s left up to Republicans to make sure they are enforced equally. In January, barring an asteroid hitting Earth, the GOP will be back in charge of the House of Representatives. The investigations need to start immediately, and subpoenas need to be handed out like candy. Dare Democrat officials and their political operatives to not show up and answer for their corruption. When they don’t, send the criminal referrals over to the DOJ and make them own the new standard they set.

Further, none of this should be forgotten once Republicans retake the White House, and by virtue, the DOJ. Biden officials have argued that executive privilege does not apply to presidents who have left office. At that point, Biden alums must be made to suffer under the rules they applied to those in Trump’s orbit. Let the subpoenas fly, and let the prosecutions stack up if they don’t show up. Trying to reset some form of mutually-assured destruction is the only path forward after this.