“These are, after all, the same entities who insisted the North Koreans would not be able to launch a viable rocket for 3-5 years, …
that insisted Saddam Hussein was in possession of WMD, …
that there was no torture at Abu Ghraib prison, …
and that the government had no bulk data collection program, until Edward Snowden revealed otherwise.”
This has been a long time in coming.
Few people are as well positioned as Roger Stone to maul the political witch-hunters running the House hearings and their ridiculous Russia-gate charade they continue to flog, (unsuccessfully) to the American people.
He has called congressman Adam Schiff, the witch-hunter-in-chief, a ‘Schiff-head.’
A remarkable aspect of the hearings, is that the men conducting them, are too scared to make them public.
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So Stone did the next best thing, and made public his initial, (extensive), blistering remarks.
In his opening remarks, Stone blasted Schiff:
What is it you fear? Why do you oppose transparency? What is it you don’t want the public to know?
Definitely worth reading. Video is long and detailed but good for a minute or two to get a sense of where he is coming from. Excerpts of the juicier parts follow the video. (best parts in bold).
He lays bare the preposterousness, pomposity, and dishonesty of the whole sordid affair.
These are excerpts from the full statement:
I am most interested in correcting a number of falsehoods, misstatements, and misimpressions regarding allegations of collusion between Donald Trump, Trump associates, The Trump Campaign and the Russian state.
…
I view this as a political proceeding because a number of members of this Committee have made irresponsible, indisputably, and provably false statements in order to create the impression of collusion with the Russian state.…without any evidence that would hold up in a US court of law or the court of public opinion.
…
My colleague, Michael Caputo, voluntarily sat in this seat a couple of months ago, gave what I believe were candid and truthful answers to those who cared to sit in on the interview; and yet, when he was done, he was accused of perjury by a member who did not even have the pretention to show up for his interview.
…
He was eviscerated by some Committee members and consequently, the press.
…
The most unfair aspect of this turn of events, and behavior by some Committee members, is that this Committee refuses, to this day, to release the transcripts of his testimony for the world to read and judge for themselves…
…
Multiple members of this Committee have made false allegations against me in public session in order to ensure that these bogus charges received maximum media coverage.
…
Now however, you deny me the opportunity to respond to these charges in the same open forum. This is cowardice. Fortunately, we will have the opportunity today to take the exact words of some members of this Committee and examine them in order to uncover the lies…
…
On January 20, 2017, the New York Times reported that the intelligence services were in possession of emails, records of financial transactions and transcripts of telephone intercepts, which proved that Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and Carter Page colluded with the Russians for the benefit of Donald Trump.
…
So, where are these records? Can this Committee or our intelligence agencies produce them? I didn’t think so…
…
Given this Committee’s consistent refusal to allow me to testify in a public session, in the interest of compromise, I have repeatedly requested that the transcript of mytestimony here today, be released immediately upon conclusion of today’s session.
…
Even this constructive suggestion has been rejected.
…
What is it you fear? Why do you oppose transparency? What is it you don’t want the public to know?…
These hearings are largely based on a yet unproven allegation that the Russian state is responsible for the hacking of the DNC and John Podesta and the transfer of that information to WikiLeaks. No member of this Committee or intelligence agency can prove this assertion…
…
Because the DNC steadfastly refused to allow the FBI to examine their computer servers, this entire claim is based on a self-serving report by CloudStrike, a forensic IT company retained by, directed, and paid for by the DNC.
…The mantra-like repetition of the claim by our vaunted 17 intelligence agencies that the “Russians” colluded with the Trump campaign to affect the 2016 election, does not make it so.
…
These are, after all, the same entities who insisted the North Koreans would not be able to launch a viable rocket for 3-5 years, that insisted Saddam Hussein was in possession of WMD, that there was no torture at Abu Ghraib prison, and that the government had no bulk data collection program, until Edward Snowden revealed otherwise.
…
Our intelligence agencies have been politicized..…
I realize they are deeply unhappy over President Trump’s refusal to expand the proxy war in Syria and their failure to obtain the no-fly zone promised to them by Hillary Clinton, which would be an open invitation for World War III.
…
That the intelligence agencies have continued to leak, to the detriment of President Trump, in violation of the law, is proof positive of their politicization…
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Imagine my deep disappointment when Mr. Schiff purposefully conflated these dates before this Committee, reversing them to create the false impression that I had communicated with Guccifer 2.0 on Twitter prior to publication of the article questioning whether Guccifer 2.0 is a Russian cut-out.
…
Shame on you Mr. Schiff…
Please do not continue to perpetuate falsehoods here today.
Reprinted from Russia Insider.
