The Morning Briefing: The ChiComs Stole Hillary's Emails and Much, Much More

President Hillary Clinton, seen here performing her signature "I point, they die" gesture. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Good Tuesday morning.

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

  • The president has lunch with the secretary of Defense
  • President Trump meets with the president of FIFA
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The Daily Caller has a double whammy

Two bombshells from the DC. First, FBI Agent Told Congress The Bureau Used Leaked Stories To Obtain Spy Warrants and then China Hacked Clinton’s Private Email Server.

My, my, my.

Let’s start with the information ouroboros used to justify massive civil liberties violations by the United States intelligence apparatus.

An FBI special agent told Congress earlier in August that the bureau has used leaked news stories as justifications to obtain surveillance warrants against American citizens, a source familiar with the testimony tells The Daily Caller News Foundation.

During a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees on Friday, Special Agent Jonathan Moffa told congressional investigators that the FBI and Justice Department have leaked stories to the press and then used them to obtain warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

“He more or less admitted that the FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info to the press and then used stories from the press as justifications for FISA warrants,” a source who took part in Moffa’s interview told TheDCNF.

Awful.

Moving along to Madam Secretary Hillary’s homebrewed email server, Richard Pollock writes:

A Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington, D.C., area hacked Hillary Clinton’s private server throughout her term as secretary of state and obtained nearly all her emails, two sources briefed on the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Chinese firm obtained Clinton’s emails in real time as she sent and received communications and documents through her personal server, according to the sources, who said the hacking was conducted as part of an intelligence operation.

The Chinese wrote code that was embedded in the server, which was kept in Clinton’s residence in upstate New York. The code generated an instant “courtesy copy” for nearly all of her emails and forwarded them to the Chinese company, according to the sources.

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Well slap my face and call me Sally.

Two officials with the ICIG, investigator Frank Rucker and attorney Janette McMillan, met repeatedly with FBI officials to warn them of the Chinese intrusion, according to a former intelligence officer with expertise in cybersecurity issues, who was briefed on the matter. He spoke anonymously, as he was not authorized to publicly address the Chinese’s role with Clinton’s server.

Among those FBI officials was Peter Strzok, who was then the bureau’s top counterintelligence official. Strzok was fired this month following the discovery he sent anti-Trump texts to his mistress and co-worker, Lisa Page. Strzok didn’t act on the information the ICIG provided him, according to Gohmert.

So, while the fake news media potatoes have been meowing about RUSSIA, RUSSIA COLLUSION, TRUMP TOWER RUSSIAN MEETING, the Chinese were reading all of the secretary of State’s emails.

“When [the ICIG] did a very deep dive, they found in the actual metadata — the data which is at the header and footer of all the emails — that a copy, a ‘courtesy copy,’ was being sent to a third party and that third party was a known Chinese public company that was involved in collecting intelligence for China,” the former intelligence officer told TheDCNF.

“The [the ICIG] believe that there was some level of phishing. But once they got into the server something was embedded,” he said. “The Chinese are notorious for embedding little surprises like this.”

“We do know the name of the company. There are indications there are other ‘cutouts’ that were involved. I would be in a lot of trouble if I gave you the name,” he told TheDCNF.

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Go click over and read both of these articles. And then come back here, of course.

Bruce Ohr to appear at a closed-door congressional grilling today

DOJ official, husband of Fusion GPS employee Nellie Ohr and backchannel emissary of British spy Christopher Steele will, appear today to answer questions in front of the House Oversight Committee about the garbage dossier used to spy on the Trump campaign and its associates.

Ohr was the fellow who was bringing Steele’s info to the FBI after the FBI fired him for talking to the media. Steele’s dossier was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC and full of information from sources connected to the RUSSIAN government.

“The Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told members of Congress under oath that he had no knowledge that Bruce Ohr was involved in the Russia investigation and he told members of Congress that he wasn’t aware Bruce Ohr had permission to be working on the investigation,” Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) said.

“But we know very clear, that is not in dispute, that Bruce Ohr had more than 60 contacts with Christopher Steele and his wife was retained and paid to create the dossier with Christopher Steele,” the congressman continued.

Related:

Cohen lawyer admits he was anonymous CNN source for bombshell story on Trump Tower meeting

Paul Manafort reportedly sought a plea deal with Mueller to prevent his second trial from going forward

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Jacksonville shooting update

Here’s an update on the Jacksonville shooting, now that we have had some time to gather information. Notably, the shooter purchased his guns legally. Second, we learned the gunman had a history of mental illness and police visits to his home.

Katz, who was 24, was prescribed a number of psychiatric medications, including an antipsychotic, and saw “a succession of psychiatrists,” according to a 2006 letter from the father’s attorney. A separate 2006 court filing states that a therapist said David had experienced a “psychiatric crisis.”

And then…

CNN also obtained police records that show 26 calls for service to the police from the Katz family home in Columbia, Maryland, from 1993 to 2009, for issues ranging from “mental illness” to domestic disputes. At least two of those calls involved Katz arguing with his mother, though none of the reports provided to CNN show any physical violence. The Howard County Police Department declined to release the reports from a number of the incidents, citing statutory restrictions.

Related:

Plans for 3D-printed guns can’t be posted online: judge

The ACLU Just Sided With the NRA, and It Was Totally Correct

Historical picture of the day:

A furious Mayor Richard J. Daley stands at the microphone as shouts resound through the International Amphitheatre on Aug. 28, 1968, in Chicago, demanding the Democratic National Convention adjourn until later in the day before considering the party platform. Daley contended spectators in the galleries were doing the shouting. Daley was seated front-row center, directly below the rostrum. It was the position of honor; but it was also ground zero in a year of political and social upheaval. (AP Photo/Jack Thornell)

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Other morsels:

Trump says he’s ‘terminating’ NAFTA, announces new trade agreement with Mexico

John Goodman reveals Roseanne will be killed off in ‘The Conners’ spinoff

WOMP WOMP ‘Abolish ICE’ sees little support among Democrats despite left-wing push, poll finds

Bill Nelson Falsely Implies Florida Shooters Did Not Undergo Background Checks

Trump administration to disburse first $6 billion in farm bailout

Google just put out a new tool to track your YouTube usage and monitor your ‘digital wellbeing’

Is California Planning A Statewide Sugar Tax?

Jerry Falwell Jr. says Sessions has lost evangelical support

Terrible. 9-year-old Denver boy dies by suicide after being bullied at school, mother says

NASA Administrator Bridenstine says US will launch astronauts from US soil next year

Asia Argento reportedly fired as a judge on ‘X Factor Italy’

Utah firefighter adopts German shepherd he rescued during California wildfires

North Korea accuses US of ‘hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war’

Dunkin’ is dropping he ‘Donuts’ from its name — and people are freaking out

And that’s all I’ve got, now go beat back the angry mob!

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