The FBI inquiry into alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 US presidential election has been given a second memo that independently set out some of the same allegations made in a dossier by Christopher Steele, the British former spy.
The second memo was written by Cody Shearer, a controversial political activist and former journalist who was close to the Clinton White House in the 1990s.
Unlike Steele, Shearer does not have a background in espionage, and his memo was initially viewed with scepticism, not least because he had shared it with select media organisations before the election.
However, the Guardian has been told the FBI investigation is still assessing details in the “Shearer memo” and is pursuing intriguing leads.
One source with knowledge of the inquiry said the fact the FBI was still working on it suggested investigators had taken an aspect of it seriously.
It raises the possibility that parts of the Steele dossier, which has been derided by Trump’s supporters, may have been corroborated by Shearer’s research, or could still be.
Well that is some interesting news.
I would imagine that Mueller has also read through this second dossier, which is not going to make a certain orange tinged Russian agent very happy.
Which brings me to another thing that we learned yesterday.
Courtesy of NBC News:
He keeps telling some in his circle that Mueller — any day now — will tell him he is off the hook for any charge of collusion with the Russians or obstruction of justice.
But Trump — who trusts no one, or at least no one for long — has now decided that he must have an alternative strategy that does not involve having Justice Department officials fire Mueller.
"I think he's been convinced that firing Mueller would not only create a firestorm, it would play right into Mueller's hands," said another friend, "because it would give Mueller the moral high ground."
Instead, as is now becoming plain, the Trump strategy is to discredit the investigation and the FBI without officially removing the leadership. Trump is even talking to friends about the possibility of asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to consider prosecuting Mueller and his team.
"Here's how it would work: 'We're sorry, Mr. Mueller, you won't be able to run the federal grand jury today because he has to go testify to another federal grand jury,'" said one Trump adviser.
Launching an investigation against the person investigating you sounds like an act of absolute desperation, but with top level FBI agents dropping like flies, and Rod Rosenstein under constant attack, it could happen.
Which is likely why Senate Democrats are working desperately to protect Mueller and his investigation:
Senate Democrats are plotting aggressive tactics to force Republicans to consider legislation that would effectively shield special counsel Robert Mueller from presidential interference.
The party’s Senate leaders have been internally discussing the prospects of tying legislation to a must-pass government funding bill that must be considered by Feb. 8. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday that he would “very much like to” merge those two efforts. And the appetite among the rest of the caucus for doing so is surprisingly strong, aides and lawmakers say..
“I’m keenly supporting those pieces of legislation and I think the continued arrows shot at the department and the knowledge that they took one run at Mueller already is a sign that we need to find a way to get this done,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) told The Daily Beast. “I agree with any strategy that helps get it done. That’s the prime goal.”
I have to say that with these new revelations I have stopped eating popcorn and am chewing on my fingernails instead.
Things are getting seriously tense.
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