Congressional Committee Hearings Discussion

[adwinistrator]

With CSPAN ratings at an all time high, I figured I'd set up a thread to discuss the various House and Senate Committee hearings taking place.

Some of these have been discussed in other threads, but since many of these hearings cover multiple topics, it makes more sense to have a thread to discuss these hearings and investigations independent of the topic matter that makes the news.

Resources:
GovTrack - Congressional Committee Meeting Calendar
C-SPAN - Committee and Hearings Video Search
YouTube - PBS NewsHour

[adwinistrator]

I watched the entire Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Former DNI James Clapper and former Acting AG Sally Yates were under oath in this hearing.



There was a decent amount of partisan grandstanding in the form of "asking questions", but there were some substantial revelations made during the hearing. Here's my highlights on what we learned.

Former DNI James Clapper:

• stands by the US Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections.
• Says "The classified version was profusely annotated, with footnotes drawn from thousands of pages of supporting material."
• Stated, "If there has ever been a clarion call for vigilance and action against a threat to the very foundation of our democratic political system, this episode is it."
• Confirmed that "Over the spring of 2016, multiple European allies passed on additional information to the United States about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians."
• "Russia also collected on certain Republican Party- affiliated targets, but did not release any Republican-related data"
• Clapper was not aware of the FBI investigation last year. This would imply the FBI was treating this as an especially sensitive/secret domestic criminal investigation.
• Elaborated that incidental collection regarding FISA 702, is on foreign targets located outside the United States. (You should be asking if Kislyak-Flynn conversations were collected via FISA 702, or a different warrant.)

On unmasking:

• During lawful surveillance on foreign targets, US citizens' identities are typically masked. When, to fully understand the context of the communication or threat being reported by the collecting agency, the intelligence consumer can request that identity be unmasked.
• It is up collecting agency to decide whether to allow the unmasking based on the consumer's request, and their reasons for it.
• The unmasked intelligence is only delivered to consumer that requested it.
• This process is documented by the collecting agency.
• Sometimes, though rarely, the collecting agency will unmask the intelligence themselves before reporting it to the consumer. My guess is, this happens when the reason the intelligence is reported, the threat demonstrated, is related to the actions and activities of the US citizen that was unmasked, where they aren't a 3rd party, target, or bystander, but part of the threat.
• Clapper states that he has asked for intelligence to be unmasked on numerous occasions, including, once, a Trump associate or Donald Trump himself.
• Yates stated that she has never requested unmasking of intelligence reports.

On Yates meetings with White House Counsel Don McGahn:
Meeting #1:

• Yates requested to meet with McGahn after it became clear that Vice President Pence had been misled by Michael Flynn, and was making publican statements based on those lies.
• Yates said that the DOJ and IC were not the only ones who knew about Flynn’s lies to the Vice President. The Russians did as well and likely had proof, and that created “a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians”.
• Yates told McGahn that Flynn had been interviewed by the FBI, but refused to discuss the details or results with him. Throughout her testimony, Yates continued to refuse to discuss Flynn's interview with the FBI.
• Yates brought this information to the White House Counsel so they could "take action" regarding this compromising situation.

Meeting #2:

• McGahn called Yates and requested a second meeting.
• The four topics McGahn wanted to discuss were: "why does it matter to DOJ if one White House official lies to another", "the applicability of criminal statutes and the likelihood that the DOJ would pursue a criminal case", "his concern that their taking action might interfere with an investigation of Mr. Flynn", and "his request to see the underlying evidence".
• Yates stated this mattered to DOJ because the situation compromised the President's National Security Advisor to blackmail by those who knew he lied to the Vice President, including Russia.
• Yates did not answer on the details of any criminal implications of this situation.
• Yates told McGahn that taking action would not interfere in any way to any possible investigations.
• DOJ made the raw intelligence available to McGahn and the White House. Yates could not confirm if they review this information, as she was fired the next day.

Additional issues:

• Michael Flynn joined President Trump in a phone call with Vladimir Putin the day after these 2 meetings occurred.
• Flynn continued in his role as APNSA for 18 days after these meetings before being fired by President Trump. The reasons for his firing were the exact issue that the DOJ, via Yates, brought to the attention of WH Counsel McGahn. Flynn took part in many national security decisions during this time.
• Michael Flynn should have required a higher security clearance that he had after leaving the DOD. It does not appear he was vetted for, or given, a higher security clearance for his role as APNSA in the White House. No one is sure why this is the case, or who should have enforced this outside of the White House.

Overall, I feel that a lot of details that have been reported have been confirmed, but that the underlying reasons for why these events unfolded was not reached. I thought Clapper was in true "don't give a fuck" mode, and disclosed some serious information that will probably be overlooked by those who only read the headlines, and don't understand what was going on behind the scenes last year. Yates was clear and concise, recounted her actions in great detail, and defended the actions she took as Acting AG. Great testimony from both witnesses.

[clubgop]

No one gives a shit.

[Dand]

Clapper was proven to lie to Congress under oath in the past. Is it even possible for him to "disclose" information? Why would you believe anything he says?

This hearing provides the CIA and govt insiders' talking points but not necessarily truth.

[PartyOf5]

Anyone have any actual evidence of Russia tampering in the election? Anyone named as the leak of Flynn's unmasking? If the answers are no, then I don't care what else any of these people have to say.

[Okeefenokee]

Apparently I got amnesia and forgot none of these people know how to tell the truth to save their lives, but I forgot.

[Ph64]

Apparently I got amnesia and forgot none of these people know how to tell the truth to save their lives, but I forgot.

Do they know how to be truthful...?

"I can't recall."

[Okeefenokee]

Apparently I got amnesia and forgot none of these people know how to tell the truth to save their lives, but I forgot.

Do they know how to be truthful...?

"I can't recall."

[Ph64]

You want the TRUTH? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!

Son, we live in a world that has corruption, and that corruption needs to be guarded by men who lie. Who's gonna do it? You? You Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you can imagine. You weep for the truth, and curse politicians. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That truth's death, while tragic, probably saves my career. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, probably saves careers. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me to lie, you need me to lie. We use words like corruption, lies, profit. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending our careers. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very corruption that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you cough up money, and fund my campaign. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

"Did you lie to the people?"

I did the job I...

"Did you lie to the people?!?"

... I can't recall.

[TheReal_ND]

Anyone have any actual evidence of Russia tampering in the election? Anyone named as the leak of Flynn's unmasking? If the answers are no, then I don't care what else any of these people have to say.

Lol

Watching junk TV rots your brain adwin