My take on the messages and what they mean below the fold.
The first block of messages start on 2016-02-23. The messages appear to be discussing who would join the team investigating Hillary's emails. There's some frankly a little disturbing discussion about who is leaving and who is coming and whether they saw each other. It feels very conspiratorial and secret-agenty. There was also discussion of who would be "best" to have on the team, and what "best" meant:
So they are discussing who should be on the Clinton email investigation team to assure the best outcome. Not the best investigation -- the best outcome.
So they are basically afraid Hillary will retaliate if she wins the election. That's probably a valid fear, given the reputation she has acquired among the Secret Service, but it's not a reason to let her escape justice.
More cloak and dagger. Whoever said that isn't worried about classified material; it would be illegal to discuss those on an insecure cell phone in any case. They are worried about their colleagues overhearing them.
What does this tell us?
First, that Andrew McCabe, whose wife received roughly $700000 in campaign donations in a losing race from Clinton confidante Terry Mcauliffe (who was being investigated by the FBI for financial improprieties at the time!), was involved in the Clinton email investigation and arguing for nuance, doubts, exaggerations, and misinterpretations. McCabe has said he did not recuse himself because he wasn't involved. He clearly was involved, based on this, and favored leniency. In other words, he lied. Did he give that explanation under oath? God, I hope so.
Second, that the people involved in this conspiracy -- and yes, it is now solidly a conspiracy -- were very, very interested in throwing any roadblocks or doubts at the Clinton investigation they could come up with.
Towards the bottom of this page (page 30-31), there's more secret agent stuff about who should and shouldn't be talking to who about things. And they are very worried about who shows up when and whether or not it looks weird. They are hiding their coordination from their colleagues, or at least think they are.
On page 35, there are more references to Andy (presumably Andrew McCabe). He's still involved and not recused. On page 139, they discuss what I think is Comey's announcement that he was reopening the investigation immediately before the election (2016-10-28). McCabe is involved again. He doesn't recuse himself until 2016-11-01, and only because the news finally picked up on the Mcauliffe donations.
So what message did you have to deliver that violated your sense of integrity? What were you asked to do? What DID you do that violated your sense of integrity?
The term "eras" comes up several times. It's not clear what it means, but it seems to be related to classification.
Not very clear there. But in general, the writer is talking about where to go next. It's probably Lisa Page leaving Mueller's team but could be the other way around. (Looking at the timing could probably answer that). But what's this about "behind the scenes work" with Andy-who-didn't-recuse-until-the-last-minute to get "this result"?
Just this first batch of recovered messages moves the whole issue from "maybe the FBI has a bias problem" to a bona-fide conspiracy covering the Clinton email investigation, the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Trump, and the investigation itself.
UPDATE: A new text from a different source.
So you hid stuff from Congress that you knew would absolutely drive them bonkers, on top of trying to help a criminal escape justice and trying to organize a coup?
This entry was published Thu Jan 25 20:06:10 CST 2018 by TriggerFinger
and last updated 2018-01-26 02:45:49.0.
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