No Jay Bratt Treatment for Criminal Leakers in Russiagate Hoax
A tranche of DOJ/FBI documents related to multiple investigations into criminal leaks of classified information once again demonstrates the hypocrisy of the establishment DOJ/FBI.
Lots of the usual suspects—James Comey, Adam Schiff, and Peter Strzok to name a few—are popping up in newly-released documents related to the Russiagate hoax. But references to one individual in this week’s disclosure of records in the FBI’s multi-faceted leak investigations once again demonstrate the double standard in how the establishment Department of Justice approached the mishandling of classified information: Jay Bratt.
While Bratt is not specifically mentioned by name in the latest 266-page document dump, the powerful office he ran for six years, the DOJ’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES), is cited repeatedly. And on at least two occasions, Bratt agreed to close investigations into criminal leaks to the news media before bringing any charges.
Both FBI investigations—”Foggy Falls” into the Carter Page FISA leak and “Genetic Christmas” into Russian election hacking claims—dealt with unlawful disclosures of classified government information to reporters. Those illegal leaks resulted in two articles aimed at sabotaging Donald Trump: a December 2016 NBC News article citing anonymous intel sources who claimed Vladimir Putin personally interfered in the presidential election (here) and an April 2017 Washington Post article revealing the FISA warrant against Page, a one-time Trump campaign advisor (here).
But in 2020, according to FBI memos, Bratt’s office recommended the closure of both investigations. Records also indicate his office—under his predecessor and then after he took the reins of the office in October 2018—stonewalled requests by the Washington FBI field office (WFO) for help in the Page FISA inquiry. “Since DOJ CES and [the DC US attorney’s office] were not willing to obtain [sentence redacted], WFO exhausted all logical investigative steps to move the case forward and requested DOJ CES and [DC US attorney’s office] to provide WFO with a declination memorandum,” one memo read.
Bratt also concurred with top officials in objecting to a media subpoena in the “Genetic Christmas” investigation.
Where Were the Armed Raids and Indictments?
What a contrast to Bratt’s conduct just one year later. As the apparent conduit between the Biden White House and the DOJ in concocting the classified documents case, Bratt aggressively pursued the president and his associates starting in early 2021.
Bratt visited Mar-a-Lago in June 2022 along with three FBI agents on a reconnaissance mission disguised as a legit attempt to help Team Trump locate more classified papers to comply with a subpoena in the matter.
Following the visit, Bratt pushed hard to obtain a warrant to search the president’s residence, resulting in the nine-hour armed raid of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. Bratt was then tasked to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office and took the lead in prosecuting Trump following Smith’s June 2023 criminal indictment in the documents case. (Ironically, during court proceedings in Florida, Bratt was busted for leaking to the media and for mishandling evidence collected during the raid among other bad behavior.)
Of course, none of it had anything to do with Bratt’s sincere devotion to protecting America’s secrets. Bratt simply represents another cog in the government-media mag wheel that tried for nearly a decade to destroy President Trump and everyone around him.
And while the president spent millions defending himself in the bogus classified documents case, top government officials found themselves spared the same treatment despite what appears to be several wide-ranging investigations into criminal leaks that ensnared Obama White House advisors, members of Congress, and Congressional staffers from 2017 to 2020.
For example, the “Echos Fate” investigation originated with the leak that resulted in David Igantius’ infamous Jan 12, 2017 article in the Washington Post that first disclosed conversations between Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, which were classified. That article, according to an FBI email, was the fruit of the similarly infamous Jan 5, 2017 meeting at the White House when Comey “briefed” President Obama and his top advisors about the Russia investigation and the Flynn matter.
The Protected Class Protected Once Again
At first, the FBI’s list of suspects in “Echoes Fate” was small but powerful. One document noted, “Because of the senior position of most of the prioritized subject pool, many had official purposes for contacting the media as part of their job duties” in an apparent reference to top Obama officials involved in attendance including National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and DNI Gen James Clapper among others. But the FBI pulled back. “Without sufficient probable cause to pursue additional legal process, it is impossible to determine if the nature of the media contact was legitimate or nefarious.”
The investigation eventually encompassed 167 individuals in total, however, it closed without any indictments. “Based on the totality of information collected over the course of investigation, it was deemed ECHOS FATE does not pose a threat to national security and the investigation is being closed,” a December 2020 DOJ file read.
Ditto for Genetic Christmas. “WFO initially identified over 192 individuals in the subject pool. Given the expansive size of the subject pool, which included persons across the Intelligence Community (IC) and within Congress, WFO prioritized investigative resources based on when different categories of subjects gaining access to the compromised classified information compared to when the classified material was leaked.” The case was closed in February 2020 without charges.
In fact, every criminal leak investigation came up empty handed—undoubtedly by design. Only one suspect, Senate Intelligence Committee security director James Wolfe, faced charges related to his sex-for-scoops affair with young reporter Ali Watkins. Wolfe pleaded guilty in 2018 to three counts of lying to investigators. (He was sentenced to two months in prison by then D.C. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who rebuffed prosecutors’ request for two years.)
No raids, no expensive team of defense attorneys, no names dragged through the mud. No brush with serious jail time.
In other words, no Jay Bratt treatment for the real perps that endangered national security in a vengeful crusade to take down Trump.
Trump wanted to drain the swamp. It looks more like ocean. It's just too bad that Rush Limbaugh isn't here-this would have been on his show for three hours . . . everyday.
Will the legacy media report on any of this? Very doubtful, releasing this treasure trove of information should be enough for us to see mug shots. What is even more troubling is the documents they are NOT declassifying, never show all your evidence until court!