—
What’s that old Law School truism … “Never ask a Question, that you don’t already know the Answer to.”
Well, it seems like the Perry-Mason-wantabee Trey Gowdy, must have ditched class that day way back in the 80’s, when that lesson was being taught … if the stark and to-the-point Answers given by John Brennan, to Gowdy’s “gotcha” Questions, are to be any guide.
House Intelligence Committee meeting, on Russia's interference in the 2016 election, May 23rd 2017 (Transcript from realclearpolitics.com )
[Rep. Trey GOWDY: ] … Did evidence exist of collusion, coordination, conspiracy, between the Trump campaign and Russian state actors at the time you learned of 2016 efforts?
[Former CIA director John] BRENNAN: I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign that I was concerned about because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals and it raised questions in my mind, again, whether or not the Russians were able to gain the cooperation of those individuals.
I don't know whether or not such collusion -- and that's your term, such collusion existed. I don't know. But I know that there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation by the bureau to determine whether or not U.S. persons were actively conspiring, colluding with Russian officials.
But the presumed Chaffetz “heir” to chair the “Stop the Leaks” Committee in the House, hadn’t had his fill yet of ‘unanticipated Answers’ …
GOWDY: All right, and you learned that when? When in this chronology did you learn of the contacts between these official members of the Trump campaign or -- because there's kind of a tripartite hierarchy. There's Trump himself, there are official members of the campaign, and then there are folks who represented themselves as being connected with him.
BRENNAN: I'm not going to try to identify individuals nor try to parse it.
GOWDY: I don't want you to parse it, I just want you to identify the individuals. I don't want you to parse it.
BRENNAN: I'm not going to identify the individuals because this is information that, again, is based on classified sources and intelligence. And I think this committee has access to it…
GOWDY: Were they official members of the campaign?
BRENNAN: I'm going to defer to current agency officials to be able to further provide to you information related to that. But my understanding is that this committee has access to the documents that we would have provided to the bureau.
Asked, and Answered … check your own files, Dolt. The answers you seek (or should be seeking) are found within them.
Here’s a another Question that the eager-beaver Gowdy failed to ask (himself) — before he laid out his pseudo-legal distinction of “a tripartite hierarchy” (of distraction, obfuscation and evasion) …
— Was Paul Manafort ever an “official member of the campaign” ?
— How about Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, the III ?
— How about special envoy Jared ?
Be careful what you ask for, Republicans? When the Ship SS Trump finally goes down (for Obstruction and/or Bribery etc) ... Do you want your Dingy firmly chained to that wreck?
Such an allegiance can be disastrous to your personal career — just ask Jason Chaffetz how THAT kind of “Trump water-carrying” volunteerism, can lead to a whole series of “mid-life crises” …