Declassified by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe July 23, 74-year-old President Donald Trump’s first intelligence briefing August 30, 2016 was used by the FBI to set Trump up. FBI Agent Joe Pientka, who joined former FBI Agent Peter Strzok in interviewing Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn at the White House Jan. 24, 2017, constructed the briefing about possible Russian on Chinese interference in the 2016 election. Pientka’s briefing was actually part of FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation started in July 2016 when the late Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) gave former FBI Director James Comey former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s paid opposition research AKA “the Steele dossier.” Compiled by former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele, the dossier was designed to impeach Trump’s credibility, suggesting he was a Russian asset, possibly blackmailed by the Kremlin.
Ratcliffe sent Trump’s Aug. 30, 2016 intelligence briefing to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), both of whom are investigating the origin of Comey’s probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign. Crossfire Hurricane was the code name for the FBI’s probe into Trump or his campaign’s alleged ties with Moscow in the 2016 presidential campaign. Since WikiLeaks released Russia-hacked emails of the Democratic National Committee [DNC] and former Hillary Campaign Chairman John D. Podesta in July 2016, Hillary and other Democrats insisted it was orchestrated by the Trump campaign. Pientka’s original intent in releasing the briefing was to entrap Flynn, once Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Fired by Obama Aug. 7, 2014, the intelligence community had their sights on Flynn, especially after Trump appointed him Nov. 17, 2016 National Security Director.
FBI officials watched Flynn like a hawk during the transition period, especially after former President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats Dec. 29, 2016. Three weeks later Jan. 24, the FBI sent Agents Strzok and Pientka to the White House to set him up for perjury. Sometime between Nov. 17, 2016 and Jan. 20, 2017, Obama’s former National Security Adviser Susan Rice “unmasked” Flynn’s conversations with former Russian Amb. Sergey Kislyak. When interviewed by Strzok and Pientka Jan. 24, 2017, Flynn denied speaking with Russian officials during the transition period. Rice unmasked wiretapped conversations between Flynn and Kislyak, even though the contents violated no U.S. laws, certainly not the arcane 1799 Logan Act, something alleged by Obama’s national security team. Comey still felt inclined to set Flynn up in a perjury trap, something Flynn failed miserably.
Pientka, who talked about the seven-page briefing, questioned Trump during the actual briefings. “During the [intelligence ] briefs, the writer actively listed for topics or questions regarding the Russian Federa,” Pientka wrote. After told Russian and Chinese agents operated in the United States, Trump asked some questions. “Joe, are the Russians bad?” Because they have more numbers are they worse that the Chinese?” “Writer responded by saying both countries are bad,” Pientka said. Trump asked Pientka which country, Russia or China, violated nuclear testing bans. “They are both bad, but Russia is worse,” Pientka said. Trump’s Aug. 30, 2016 briefing was written one month after Comey opened up Crossfire Hurricane, the counterintelligence probe into Trump’s alleged ties with Russia. Trump’s briefing was approved by FBI lawyers Kevin Clinesmith, who altered a memo about Carter Page.
Trump was warned by Strzok and Pientka that foreign agents could approach members of his transition team before the inauguration. No one told Trump that Flynn had spoken to Kislyak or that his campaign chairman Paul Manafort had a long history of working for Ukraine, some 12 years before the 2016 election. Flynn admitted at the Aug. 30, 2016 briefing that he was responsible for signals intelligence while at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Pientka told Flynn at the meeting that he should be well aware of foreign interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Pientka acted like he was going to catch Trump in some of the fake charges in Hillary’s Steele dossier, alleging Trump was a Russian asset. Trump didn’t know at the time that his phones had been tapped by Comey’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, built off outrageous fabrications by Hillary’s paid opposition research.
Trump’s Aug. 30, 2016 intelligence briefing is one more document showing that Trump was under surveillance by the FBI and Obama’s national security team, all to help Hillary beat him in the 2016 presidential election. After Pientka warned Trump about Russian and Chinese infiltration, Trump responded. “Yes, I understand it is a dark time.” Little did Trump know that Comey and others had gone to the FISA Court to get warrants to wiretap his former campaign officials. Strzok and Pientka had been given their marching orders to set up Flynn but, more importantly, monitor Trump closely for his alleged ties to Russia. Comey and his upper FBI brass were actively involved in a conspiracy to sabotage his presidency once he won the election. Strzok had emailed and texted former FBI attorney and lover Lisa Page on many occasions on how they’d sabotage Trump’s presidency.
