Yesterday, @CREWcrew sued the Justice Department over their failure to respond to our FOIA requests about the costs of US Attorney John Durham’s duplicative investigation into the start of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

—  Noah Bookbinder@NoahBookbinder

1. Debunked by Barr’s own DOJ  😂
2. Debunked by even John Durham  😂
3. Debunked by all of the U.S. Intel agencies  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4. Debunked by the Republican controlled SENATE Intel Committee 😂
5. Debunked by the U.S. House Intel Committee 😂

The conclusions drawn from the Mueller investigation showed that the investigation was not politically motivated, as Barr claimed. Additionally, while there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy, the report produced convictions of numerous Trump campaign officials and associates. Barr’s involvement in the Mueller investigation created a potential appearance of impropriety because it appeared that Barr had pre-judged the outcome of the investigation. Still, Barr and Durham continue to pursue an inquiry into the origins of the investigation.

Previously, CREW requested documents that would shed light on Barr’s involvement with Durham’s investigation and sued DOJ when it failed to turn over any responsive documents. 

The latest lawsuit stems from three FOIA requests CREW filed concerning the costs of trips related to Durham’s investigation, including an international trip to Italy taken by Barr, and copies of all budgets, expenses, salaries, and costs of the investigation. CREW is suing following DOJ’s failure to turn over these documents.

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• “Trump-Supporting Lawyers Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing Teamed Up With Giuliani to Dig Up Ukraine Dirt on Biden” — need to be brought into the light for their roles.
• Lev Parnas initially hired former Trump lawyer John Dowd and refused to cooperate with congressional investigators. Nov. 4, 2019: Parnas agrees to cooperate House Impeachment Inquiry
• John Dowd represented Trump during a portion of the Mueller investigation. In a voicemail, Dowd asked Michael Flynn for a  “heads-up” if he knew of information implicating President Trump.
• Paul Manafort needs to be added for his Ukraine “black ledger” and involvement in spreading Putin’s anti-Ukraine anti-Clinton meaning pro-Trump propaganda

'Thank God': Putin thrilled U.S. 'political battles' over Ukraine taking focus off Russia

“No one is accusing us of interfering in the U.S. elections anymore; now they’re accusing Ukraine," the Russian president told an economic forum in Moscow.

www.nbcnews.com

"Thank God, no one is accusing us of interfering in the U.S. elections anymore; now they’re accusing Ukraine."

— Vladimir Putin

“Mr. Putin began publicly pushing false theories of Ukrainian interference in the early months of 2017 to deflect responsibility from Russia.”

Charges of Ukrainian Meddling? A Russian Operation, U.S. Intelligence Says

Moscow has run a yearslong operation to blame Ukraine for its own 2016 election interference. Republicans have used similar talking points to defend President Trump in impeachment proceedings.

www.nytimes.com

• It was Russia NOT Ukraine who interfered in 2016 election and Russia is continuing to interfere in the 2020 election — in favor of Trump
• This backs up Fiona Hill’s testimony.
• This backs up the dozens of U.S. Intelligence reports

In a briefing that closely aligned with Dr. Hill’s testimony, American intelligence officials informed senators and their aides in recent weeks that Russia had engaged in a yearslong campaign to essentially frame Ukraine as responsible for Moscow’s own hacking of the 2016 election, according to three American officials. The briefing came as Republicans stepped up their defenses of Mr. Trump in the Ukraine affair.

The revelations demonstrate Russia’s persistence in trying to sow discord among its adversaries — and show that the Kremlin apparently succeeded, as unfounded claims about Ukrainian interference seeped into Republican talking points. 

American intelligence agencies believe Moscow is likely to redouble its efforts as the 2020 presidential campaign intensifies. The classified briefing for senators also focused on Russia’s evolving influence tactics, including its growing ability to better disguise operations.

“I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine — not Russia — attacked us in 2016,” Hill

During a news conference in February 2017, Mr. Putin accused the Ukrainian government of supporting Hillary Clinton during the previous American election and funding her candidacy with friendly oligarchs.

Senator Angus King, independent of Maine and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who declined to answer questions about the briefing.

“These people are pros at this,” said Mr. King, who caucuses with the Democrats. “The Soviet Union used disinformation for 70 years. This is nothing new. Vladimir Putin is a former K.G.B. agent. He is trained in deception. This is his stock and trade and he is doing it well.”

Republicans have sought for weeks amid the impeachment inquiry to shift attention to President Trump’s demands that Ukraine investigate any 2016 election meddling, defending it as a legitimate concern while Democrats accuse Mr. Trump of pursuing fringe theories for his benefit.

The Republican defense of Mr. Trump became central to the impeachment proceedings when Fiona Hill, a respected Russia scholar and former senior White House official, added a harsh critique during testimony on Thursday. She told some of Mr. Trump’s fiercest defenders in Congress that they were repeating “a fictional narrative” — and that it likely came from a disinformation campaign by Russian security services, which themselves propagated it.

“There is a long history of Russians putting out fake information,” said Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior C.I.A. official. “Now they are trying to put out theories that they think are damaging to the United States.”

WATCH: Eric Swalwell exposes Devin Nunes’ shady ties to Giuliani’s indicted henchman during impeachment hearing

During today’s hearing in the House’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) referenced a POLITICO article from last month which reported that a lawyer who worked for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee when Devin Nunes (R-CA) was the committee’s chairman, fed information on Ukraine to President Trump.

www.rawstory.com

Swalwell then asked Hill if she ever heard the name of the recently indicted Rudy Giuliani associate, Lev Parnas, “who was influencing President Trump and Rudy Giuliani about some of the debunked you referenced earlier.”

“I have heard his name, yes,” Hill replied, adding that she was aware that Parnas was indicted for illegal campaign finance transactions.

Swalwell then referenced a Daily Beast story from this Wednesday with the headline, Lev Parnas Helped Rep. Devin Nunes’ Investigations. After asking that the article be entered into the record, Swalwell then turned to House Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.

1. Lev Parnas helped arrange meetings and calls in Europe for Rep. Devin Nunes in 2018 - to support his Russia and Ukraine conspiracist investigations
2. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested by the FBI at he Dulles airport  “on federal charges of violating campaign-finance laws through a six-figure donation they facilitated to President Donald Trump”.
3. They had one-way tickets to Vienna where “Giuliani Was Meant to Head to Vienna a Day After His Arrested Associates Flew There”

“Mr. Chairman, you have been falsely accused throughout these proceedings by the ranking members of being a ‘fact witness,'” Swalwell said. 

Watch Jim Jordan Get 'Welch’d’ As He Walks Into A Very Obvious Shutdown

Democratic Rep. Peter Welch snapped back when the GOP congressman ranted about the whistleblower at the impeachment hearings.

www.huffingtonpost.com

“There is one witness, one witness, that they won’t bring in front of us, they won’t bring in front of the American people. That’s the guy who started it all, the whistleblower.”

“Thank you, I say to my colleague, I’d be glad to have the person who started it all come in and testify. President Trump is welcome to take a seat right there.”