The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence on election interference disappeared

The Barbarian · Dec 21, 2023

Aryeh Jay said:
The only people I can think of who would say Bill Clinton wouldn't cheat on his wife would be Bill Clinton and the women he was cheating with. I had the rare honor of growing up in Arkansas during the 70s and 80s. Batesville Arkansas, the current home of Hunter Biden's baby momma and Joe's grandchild. Just about everyone knew about Bill's activities, Hillary, Arkansas State Police, the news...

So it's more apropo for Trump's conveniently missing documents than I thought.

USincognito · Dec 22, 2023

Tinker Grey said:
Popeye's is better.

Not sandwich related, but you'll be able to appreciate this. Golden Chick is the acme of tenders.

Tinker Grey · Dec 22, 2023

USincognito said:
Not sandwich related, but you'll be able to appreciate this. Golden Chick is the acme of tenders.

Oddly, I've never eaten there.

Ana the Ist · Apr 13, 2024

essentialsaltes said:
Long article.

A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. [Nobody's saying much, but it doesn't appear that it has been found.]

The binder contained raw intelligence the US and its NATO allies collected on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election, sources tell CNN.

The intelligence was so sensitive that lawmakers and congressional aides with top secret security clearances were able to review the material only at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where their work scrutinizing it was itself kept in a locked safe.

The binder was last seen at the White House during Trump’s final days in office. The former president had ordered it brought there so he could declassify a host of documents related to the FBI’s Russia investigation. Under the care of then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, the binder was scoured by Republican aides working to redact the most sensitive information so it could be declassified and released publicly.

The day before leaving office, Trump issued an order declassifying most of the binder’s contents, setting off a flurry of activity in the final 48 hours of his presidency. Multiple copies of the redacted binder were created inside the White House, with plans to distribute them across Washington to Republicans in Congress and right-wing journalists.

But an unredacted version of the binder containing the classified raw intelligence went missing amid the chaotic final hours of the Trump White House.

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In December 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr worked with Ratcliffe to dissuade Trump from declassifying at least a subset of the intelligence related to Russia, arguing that it would damage national security, sources familiar with the matter said.

On December 19, four days after Barr announced his resignation, Nunes met with Meadows at the White House to discuss how to declassify documents related to the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia, Hutchinson testified to Congress.

Eleven days later, sources say that a copy of the GOP report [generated by Nunes' team as part of an effort to discredit the intelligence (itself later discredited by the Senate Intelligence report)] was brought to the White House as one part of the massive binder of documents on Russia and the FBI investigation.

The version of the binder Hutchinson signed for was kept in Meadows’ office safe, she testified, except when it was being worked on by congressional staffers.

On January 19, 2021, Trump issued a declassification order for a “binder of materials related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.”

The White House had planned to distribute the declassified documents around Washington, including to Trump-allied conservative journalist John Solomon. But Trump’s order did not lead to its release – and earlier this year Solomon sued the Justice Department and National Archives for access to the documents.

His court filings provide colorful details of the last-minute scramble.

Hutchinson writes in her book that Cipollone told her after 10:30 p.m. on January 19 to have Meadows retrieve the binders that had been given to Solomon and a right-wing columnist. “The Crossfire Hurricane binders are a complete disaster. They’re still full of classified information,” Hutchinson writes that Cipollone told her. “Those binders need to come back to the White House. Like, now.”

As for the unredacted version of the binder, Hutchinson writes in her book that she saw Meadows get into his limo the night of January 19 with the “original Crossfire Hurricane binder tucked under his arm.”

When she looked in Meadows’ safe for the last time before she left the White House, Hutchinson said it was gone.

Terwilliger, an attorney for Meadows, disputes Hutchinson’s account, saying Meadows did not mishandle any classified documents at the White House.

You know, after I looked this up...

Trump: Russia would’ve preferred Hillary Clinton as president

In TV interview, US president attacks Robert Mueller’s investigative team.

www.politico.eu

That was back in 2018...

In the interview, Trump went so far as to say it would have been more reasonable for Russia to promote Clinton as its preferred candidate, citing with little evidence that she would have impeded American oil and gas drilling, upping Russia’s position in global markets.
“You look at all of the different things, Russia would’ve much rather had Hillary than Donald Trump. I can tell you that right now,” Trump told Hannity

He was correct about the oil and gas drilling...it happened under Biden instead of Hillary.

And then there's this...

CIA told Obama of claim Hillary Clinton conjured Trump-Russia scandal: spy chief

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Tuesday revealed a bombshell allegation that Hillary Clinton ordered “a campaign plan to stir up a scandal” by linking President Trump to Russia …

nypost.com

Anyway, I remembered that little claim because this came out recently...

CIA Manipulated Evidence To Hide Evidence Russia Wanted Clinton To Win In 2016, Not Trump: Report | The Daily Wire

www.dailywire.com

Some independent journalists who quit their respective jobs with establishment outlets decided to do some digging and found some stuff...

The Central Intelligence Agency manipulated intelligence information to make it look like Russia wanted [COLOR=rgba(20, 20, 21, 0.91)]Donald Trumphttps://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump to win the 2016 presidential election despite having more credible information showing that Russia wanted [COLOR=rgba(20, 20, 21, 0.91)]Hillary Clinton[/COLOR] to win, according to a new report. [/COLOR]
The effort to manipulate the information was headed up by John Brennan, Obama’s CIA director, who disregarded evidence that the Russians preferred Clinton because she was more predictable and highlighted questionable evidence claiming Russia favored Trump, [COLOR=rgba(20, 20, 21, 0.91)]sourceshttps://www.racket.news/p/wmd-part-ii-cia-cooked-the-intelligence told independent journalists Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, and Alex Gutentag. [/COLOR]

The source said that the evidence pointed the other way, showing Russia wanted Clinton to win because “it was a relationship they were comfortable with.” According to the source, the CIA had evidence showing Russia viewed Trump as “unreliable,” “mercurial,” and “not steady,” while viewing Clinton as “manageable and reflecting continuity.”

“The first one happened earlier in 2016, where our sources, multiple sources, tell us that Brennan oversaw the manipulation of our foreign allies to basically entrap Trump associates to create the pretext for the FBI investigation of Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia which is now debunked,” he said.
“The second thing is almost a year later Brennan orchestrates a phony intelligence assessment that comes to the opposite conclusion of what their own raw intelligence, their best intelligence was showing,” he added.

Fortunately, we all know that the CIA waits until they retire and form private intelligence companies before interfering in elections.

Anyway, either the Daily Wire is really confident about this information or they'll be facing lawsuits rather quickly.

The Barbarian · Apr 14, 2024

Ana the Ist said:
The Central Intelligence Agency manipulated intelligence information to make it look like Russia wanted Trump to win the 2016

Since the CIA has taped conversations of Russian officials congratulating themselves on Trump winning, that seems kinda unlikely...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-intercepts-capture-senior-russian-officials-celebrating-trump-win/2017/01/05/d7099406-d355-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html

Lukaris · Apr 14, 2024

Around and around it goes and Putin was on the march before Trump & resumed after Trump. The clicker clackers insist on the Trump collusion myth & ignore earlier reports that confirm what is said in post #24.

Ex-NSC chief: House Intelligence Committee staff found John Brennan ‘suppressed’ Russia evidence - Washington Examiner

House Intelligence Committee staff said former CIA Director John Brennan "suppressed" intelligence indicating that Russia wanted Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 election, according to John Bolton’s former chief of staff.The Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on Tuesday that defended...

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Well don’t you know Trump was Putin’s puppet so there.

The Barbarian · Apr 14, 2024

Lukaris said:
Around and around it goes and Putin was on the march before Trump & resumed after Trump. The clicker clackers insist on the Trump collusion myth & ignore earlier reports that confirm what is said in post #24.

The conversation picked up by the CIA settles that issue. Putin was trying to help Trump win.