[Red State] On Tuesday, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) released the second part of the June 2018 closed-door testimony of Bill Priestap, the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.Real Clear Investigations’ Eric Felten wrote an excellent piece on Friday in which he covers Priestap’s entire testimony which can be read here and provides some interesting analysis. I will be focusing on Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) questioning of Priestap’s trips to London and what role British intelligence may have played in the conspiracy. Felten believes Priestap’s testimony "paints a portrait of the Obama-era bureau as one that was unconcerned with political interference in investigations and was willing to enlist the help of close foreign allies to bring down its target."
Last fall, ahead of the midterms, President Trump announced his plan to declassify the FISA Court applications for the Carter Page surveillance warrant and related documents so the American people would know how everything went down. Nothing ever came of it. There were rumors that MI6, as well as the Australian intelligence service, had objected strenuously to the release of those records because it would, naturally, expose sources and methods.
It was said at the time that the Brits were "desperate" for the information to remain classified. The reason for their desperation? Although there is insufficient evidence to prove it, it sure looks like British intelligence agents were involved in the FBI’s operation to destroy Trump’s candidacy.
Priestap was questioned by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) about his overseas travel in 2016. Felten said the redactions in the transcript make it obvious that the FBI and DOJ "really, really didn’t want anyone to know where Bill Priestap was a week into May 2016."