There is a particular coordination of events that has been visible since December 2017 when the first evidence of the FBI and DOJ operations against the Trump campaign surfaced. In the past six months a great deal of granular timing relates to this coordination. In January 2017 the DOJ IG began investigating FBI and DOJ conduct during the Clinton investigation in 2015 and 2016.
Toward the end of 2017 a joint House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight Committee venture was established to look into the FBI/DOJ handling of the Clinton investigation, and the Trump counterintelligence investigation. Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte and Oversight Chairman Gowdy established the joint-oversight venture and then little happened as they awaited the completion of the OIG internal review.
Between the Fall of 2017 and May 2018 the final stages of the DOJ-OIG investigative inquires took place. In this period DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz was joined with federal prosecutor John Huber. Horowitz focused on the ongoing internal investigation, while Huber received evidence carved out that holds value for criminal prosecutions.
During the period of January through May 2018 all congressional witness testimony from the FBI and DOJ participants to oversight committees was filtered through the need for U.S. Attorney John Huber to retain the integrity of criminal evidence. Toward that end, testimony from multiple witnesses, sought by congress upon members of the DOJ and FBI, was cancelled. Some of that testimony was cancelled at the last minute as the DOJ negotiated with congress and likely explained the reasoning therein. Example:
You will note that despite the initial agreements (Jan 4th), none of these interviews actually took place. In the weeks and months that followed, while the FBI Inspection Division (INSD), Inspector General (OIG), and U.S. Attorney Huber interviews were ongoing, several of those formerly scheduled congressional witnesses left their positions.
However, the 17-month-long Inspector General investigation into the FBI and DOJ handling of the Clinton classified email investigation is now complete. The IG draft report was sent to the principals on May 16th and is currently under review.
Allowing approximately two weeks +/- for draft report feedback, the much anticipated IG final report is likely to be made public in the week after Memorial day, within the first week of June.
So now what happens?…. Against the timing of the IG report being released, today we see Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy scheduling interviews with key FBI officials immediately thereafter:
WASHINGTON – House Republicans are preparing to conduct the first interviews in more than four months in their investigation into the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe.
A joint investigation run by the Judiciary and the Oversight and Government Reform committees has set three witness interviews for June, including testimony from Bill Priestap, the assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, and Michael Steinbach, the former head of the FBI’s national security division.
Multiple congressional sources confirmed Priestap’s interview. Steinbach confirmed to The Hill that he would be appearing. (more)
Neither the timing, nor the participants or sequencing, are accidental.
The first witness testimony after the IG report is released will be Bill Priestap. Accordingto The Hill: “Priestap will appear in the first week of June, Giacalone in the second and Steinbach in the final week of the month, according to the congressional source.”
While Mueller can’t seem to get anyone to lie for him, the investigations into Obama’s weaponization of the IC, FBI and DOJ is chipping away at the conspiracy to protect Hillary and unseat Trump. Rather than a “distraction” from Mueller’s witch hunt, this is truly what the focus should be; real collusion, conspiracy and sedition.
Note well.
Of these four, Preistap, Page, Strzok and Ohr, only Page is no longer with the FBI.
All 4 of them have been silent since their names first emerged in this drama now called spygate.
The other three took demotions.
But they 4 all know a lot of the inside story.
They are all bad actors in spygate.
People who know about how this works thinks they have been cooperating for a long time now.
Will they take the wrongdoing all the way into the Oval Office?
By finally testifying to Congress their chance to spill all the beans in exchange for a lighter punishment is finally here.
Sure, the premise is Hillary’s emails.
But, like Alexander Butterfield who shocked the nation when he volunteered that “we have tapes from inside the Nixon Oval Office,” who knows where it could go with any of these 4.
@Nanny G: Also of note is that this is not an investigation of things that happened 15 years ago in order to justify its existence. This is current affairs related to the subject of the investigation.