Transcript Leak #3 – Bruce Ohr Congressional Testimony is Vulgar is its Pretense and Narrative Absurdity…
Well, here we are again; another leaked transcript, this time from DOJ Official Bruce Ohr. And as with the prior two transcript leaks, we don’t get the raw information. So let me first, necessarily, reassert our CTH position on these “leaks”.
Leaking is bad, period; in all directions. Because *leaking* is simply a method, a mechanism, to direct and control the focus of sunlight upon illicit action. Regardless of whether you support or oppose the message within any individual leak; the leak itself does not expose corruption…. only full and unfiltered information can expose corruption. That means we need the actual raw transcripts to make determinations for ourselves.
As a factual standard for honesty and sunlight, CTH would never describe a transcript where we could not provide the reader with the raw and underlying material. We have held this standard for many years; most of you know that. The truth has no agenda.
That said, someone is leaking congressional transcripts and a current tug-of-war exists between two opposing narrative engineers. The heavily promoted New York Times articlelast Friday, was based on leaks of James Baker Transcripts, from sources who were responding to the leaks from other sources that were given to the Epoch Times. Each side in the DOJ/FBI corruption story is currently leaking to advance their interests.
Three congressional committees have requested the release of witness transcripts. HPSCI via Devin Nunes (September 2018); and the joint House Judiciary/Oversight committee (December 2018). Congressional allies of President Trump (Nunes, Jordan, Meadows and Collins) are being blocked by corrupt cabinet members within the current administration.
The current DOJ (Matt Whitaker/Rod Rosenstein) and FBI (Christopher Wray/David Bowdich) are refusing to allow the release of those prior witness transcripts. Their excuse for refusing to release is centered around protecting the Mueller investigation.
With that refusal, and perhaps with the intention to force the release, another transcript has been given to The Epoch Times (Jeff Carlson). I strongly encourage you to review the rather lengthy article – READ HERE –
There is a clear intention within the Ohr testimony to shape his involvement and purpose in the larger surveillance story.
Part of the testimonial narrative is that Bruce Ohr was unaware of the contents of files, flash-drives and memory sticks from both Christoher Steele and his wife Nellie Ohr, while acting as a liaison between Fusion-GPS (Simpson/Steele) and his handler within the FBI (Joe Pientka).
This claim is vulgar in its pretense and absurdity. However, that pretense is likely why Nellie Ohr evoked “spousal privilege” to avoid testimony.
Q: “Was Joe Pientka your go-between in December when you got additional information from either Christopher Steele or Glenn Simpson in getting it to the FBI?”Ohr: “Joe Pientka, I believe, was my contact at that time, yeah.”Q: “You immediately go to Joe Pientka, who immediately goes to Peter Strzok. Are you aware of that?”Ohr: “No.”Ohr: “So they [Strzok & Page] understood that I had received information, and they said they would get me an agent to talk to who would write the stuff down and do whatever—well, I don’t know if write it down, but that they would give me an agent to speak with and provide the information.”Q: “Is that why there are 302s of you in the file?”Ohr: “I believe so.”Q: “That is the agent interviewing you?”Ohr: “Yes.”
Keep in mind that Nellie Ohr, Bruce’s wife, is working for Glenn Simpson at Fusion GPS on the Trump project (as is Christopher Steele):
Q: “Glenn Simpson gave you a thumb drive and didn’t suggest what was on it or anything else and said give it to the FBI, and your curiosity was not piqued?”Ohr: “I think I assumed it was the dossier, but he did not say that.”Q: “Why did you assume it was the dossier?”Ohr: “This was in December [2016]. The rest of the conversation had to do with additional information that he had gathered about the possible connections between the Russian Government and the Trump campaign, and he gives me a thumb drive. I think the natural assumption at that point—I had not seen the dossier. I had heard there was such a thing as a dossier, but I hadn’t seen it. So he gives me a thumb drive. I assumed this was the dossier.”Q: “So he gives you the dossier or what you believed to be the dossier. How did you first become aware of the dossier?”Ohr: “I don’t recall. It might have been in the press.”Q: “Why not tell Steele and Simpson to go talk to the Bureau directly?”Ohr: “I believe Steele was talking to the Bureau directly. I think Glenn Simpson was willing to talk with me. I’m not sure that—my recollection is I’m not sure he was willing to talk with the FBI, although that was where obviously it would be better to—”Q: “Why not? Why talk to a prosecutor who does not investigate crime? Were you assigned to the Russia investigation?”Ohr: “I was not.”Q: “Did you have any connection with the Russia investigation at all?”Ohr: “Aside from passing this information, no.”Q: “So why would Glenn Simpson go through you and not go directly to the Bureau?”Ohr: “I don’t know what was in his head. I know he was willing to talk—”Q: “I’m sure you asked him.”Ohr: “I think I tried to get him to talk with the FBI, but I don’t recall the exact conversation.”
Ohr testified at multiple points that he simply transmitted information from Steele and from Simpson to the FBI, but did nothing to attempt to verify its accuracy. Ohr knew that Steele held a bias against Trump. He was also fully aware that Fusion GPS was engaged in opposition research—his wife was part of the ongoing effort. Ohr also testified that although he didn’t know Fusion was employed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), he was aware “they were somehow working associated with the Clinton campaign.”
Q: “You testified before that you didn’t look at the information that your wife gave you to the FBI?”Ohr: “Correct; I did not look.”Q: “So how do you know, as you are testifying under oath here, that the information that your wife gave to the FBI was not part of the dossier?”Ohr: “What I saw of the dossier was in the form of the kinds of reports that Chris Steele and [Steele’s firm] Orbis prepared. So I believe from what I can tell—and I haven’t studied it closely—that these reports reflected information that Orbis has collected and then provided to Fusion GPS.”Q: “But, again, to be clear, you never reviewed the information that your wife gave to the FBI.”Ohr: “Right … I am not aware that my wife ever gave any information [directly] to Chris Steele.”Q: “When she works on sensitive projects, does she discuss those details with you?”Ohr: “Generally, no.”Q: “And on the flip side, have you discussed details of your cases with her?”Ohr: “No.”
Nellie Ohr had provided Bruce Ohr with a memory stick sometime after she left Fusion in September 2016. Ohr’s acceptance of the memory stick brought him into the chain of evidence. It also raised some questions:
Q: “I’m just asking if this was proprietary information that belonged to Fusion GPS and it was being given to you by your wife, but effectively, it was being given to you through your wife by Fusion GPS. That’s what it appeared to be. I just want to see if you knew that or reasonably would believe that.”Ohr: “I don’t think that was the case.”Q: “So you think she did that on a rogue basis, that she didn’t go to Fusion GPS for permission?”Ohr: “I think it was her giving it to me, not—without—you know, without any sanction or whatever from—as far as I know, yes.”Ohr claimed that he never examined the contents of the memory stick that his wife provided to him:Q: “Did you look at that stick or thumb drive?”Ohr: “No.”Q: “You didn’t even open it?”Ohr: “No. I didn’t want to plug it into my machine at work. I just gave it to the FBI.”Q: “What did she describe was on it?”Ohr: “My understanding was that it included her research on behalf of Fusion GPS.”
We can clearly see from this testimony, in addition to Bruce Ohr having direct contact with Christopher Steele, Bruce Ohr is stating he accepted thumb drives from his wife’s boss Glenn Simpson; and directly from his wife Nellie Ohr, and in all instances saying he had no idea what the content information was.
Bullshit.
This narrative is objectively vulgar in the leap of faith required to believe it.
It is far more likely the data flow was exactly as we previously outlined. That is:
Glenn Simpson had research files relating to the targets (Manafort, Trump etc.) Nellie Ohr (Fusion GPS) compiled her additional research then passed it along to Chris Steele (Orbis), who had three objectives: (1) see if he could provide secondary verification; (2) wash Fusion fingerprints from the material (removing CIA Nellie’s access to the FISA database); and (3) compile the research into a common intelligence format to enhance the credibility of it.
Knowing what was in the collaborative dossier as it was given to Bruce Ohr from Chris Steele…. Glenn Simpson then follows with a thumb drive for the FBI consisting of the raw material (his research files) that was underlying the dossier. The next thumb drive from Nellie Ohr to her husband was similar; it contained her research files (which also underlay the dossier).
Q: “You got the world’s premier law enforcement agency investigating a fact pattern. Chris Steele already has a handler, already is in contact with the FBI; and you allow the person hired by the DNC to dig up dirt on a Presidential candidate to talk to you directly and use you as a conduit. We’re just trying to figure out why you let that happen?”Ohr: “I took the information. I thought the information might be important, and I wanted to get it to the FBI. It seemed the only way to do it.”Q: “What information would Glenn Simpson have that the Bureau couldn’t get or already have?”Ohr: “I don’t know exactly what the FBI had access to, and I know Glenn Simpson was also gathering information. So more information is better. The FBI is in a position to decide whether the information is useful or credible.”Q: “Who at the FBI did you pass it on to?”Ohr: “Well, at that point I had—I believe I met with Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and some people from the Department’s—Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and I gave them the information that I had received.”Q: “Can you see how it might be troubling? You just called the names of two people, neither of whom I think are with the Bureau, one who was mentioned unfavorably in an IG report, both of whom had, at least from my standpoint, an unprecedented amount of animus or bias towards one of the candidates, and you are getting information from someone hired by the DNC and funneling it to the lead agent on the Russia investigation. Can you possibly see how that might be troubling to people?”Ohr: “Yes.”
Ohr also admitted that his actions represented an unusual pattern of behavior for him:
Q: “Are there other cases where you recall taking information from fact witnesses and passing it on to the Bureau?”Ohr: “I don’t recall specific instances, but whenever I—over the years, as I’ve talked with people who are, you know, experts or have information one way or another on transnational organized crime, including Russian organized crime, I take their information, and if it looked like it—if there’s anything there, I would pass it to the FBI.”Q: “I’ve been out of it for about 8 years, so you help me if I’m wrong, but a stick, or thumb drive, would be physical evidence for which a chain would exist if it were ever needed in court? And you made yourself part of the chain?”Ohr: “Yes.”Q: “Can you think of other instances in your career since 1991 where you made yourself part of a chain of custody?”Ohr: “Not—I don’t remember getting any other sticks or anything like that, so—”Q: “And you can’t think of a single case where you inserted yourself into a chain of custody other than this one?”Ohr: “That’s right.”Q: “I guess my colleagues are wondering why. Why this one?”
Read full article and partial transcript HERE
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