Will be doing a livestream during which I will be discussing this latest column at Conservative Treehouse, in which Sundance discusses how he 'briefed' top Durham investigator Bill Aldenburg on the James Wolfe case.

Going live in a few:

Ok going live in 3 minutes or less!

While criminal investigations are still underway, indictments against fellow criminal conspirators remain unsealed, no federal investigator or prosecutor is going to **discuss the evidence a cooperating defendant gave them**.

That I have to explain this is very painful.

Sundance's entire premise is that both Wolfe & Clinesmith were immediately handed sweetheart deals not for their cooperation against other defendants, but instead to make sure they KEPT THEIR MOUTHS **SHUT**.

Let me explain to you how this actually works.

Until a federal criminal investigation is completely over, and all the indictments have been unsealed, and all the plea deals have been reached or the trials have reached their conclusion, no details about what the cooperating defendants did to get their plea deals go public.

Now, you may not LIKE that this is how the federal justice system operates, but hey, there are plenty of things in the real world that remain exactly as they are because they don't take your likes or dislikes into consideration.

Sundance is **assuming** James Wolfe didn't cooperate to get that deal. That assumption appears to be based on the idea that "If Wolfe had gotten a deal for cooperating, details about what evidence or fellow conspirators he gave up would've become public by now."

He goes on to assume that despite the serious national security issues raised by the Wolfe case involving the leaking of classified information, there are no other investigations related to that underway because if there was, the **DOJ WOULD HAVE ANNOUNCED THEM**.

Yes, as we all know, when the DOJ undertakes a highly sensitive criminal investigation involving multiple national security issues, the first thing they do is call a press conference and let the media & the public know all about it.

That is...absurd.

Look at the Clinesmith plea deal. Have the prosecutors shared any of the details about exactly who or what Clinesmith gave up to get that deal? No? Well why not?

Where's the harm? :)

They should all tell us right now, darn it!

Again, that is absurd.

None of the other indictments have been unsealed yet, several of which are tied to the exact same "hide the CIA connection to Carter Page from the FISA Court!" issue for which Clinesmith was convicted.

Anybody who thinks DOJ needs to go public with details of plea agreements given to cooperating defendants **while the other cases are still ongoing** and indictments haven't even been unsealed yet either doesn't know how this works or they do know and they are messing with you.

It wasn't until YEARS LATER we found out what the cooperating defendants in that famous 5 Mafia Families case in NYC gave up to get their plea deals.

After it was all over.

It will be the same way here.

So anybody saying if a federal prosecutor doesn't say at the time a cooperating defendant in a criminal case is given a deal that "We gave this guy a sweetheart deal because he gave up X, Y & Z in exchange for this deal", that means they got the deal to keep their mouth shut?

They either don't know how this actually works or they are **pretending** they don't know how this works.

The second is FAR WORSE than the first.

I'll forgive ignorance.

Malevolence?

Never.

/end

ADDENDUM:

This actually makes more sense than Sundance tracking down Aldenberg, getting him to sit for an interview that turned into a briefing, and then some kind of contractual relationship.