The "Secret Society"

After seeing the full text of the email that sent Republicans into orgasms alleging there was a secret society in the FBI trying to undo Trump, I was left wondering what FBI agent Lisa Page was talking about when she mentioned calendars. Here's the explanation:

One text that Page sent Strzok early on the morning of Nov. 9, 2016, has dominated the conservative media world this week, serving as a springboard for a Republican conspiracy theory suggesting that the nation’s premier law enforcement organization was plotting a coup against Trump within hours of his stunning victory.

“Are you even going to give out your calendars? Seems kind of depressing,” Page, a FBI lawyer, wrote in the text to Strzok from her FBI-issued phone. “Maybe it should just be the first meeting of the secret society.”

Republican lawmakers seized upon the “secret society” reference this week, claiming to see sinister motives, and it started popping up all over cable news chyrons. But, in fact, it was almost certainly a joke, a bit of gallows humor after an election that featured Russian interference.

So what was that “calendars” reference all about? Out of context, it’s a bit confusing. But the backstory is actually kind of funny. The New York Times first reported that the “calendars,” which the Times said had a “Russia theme,” were a gag gift for those working on the early Russia probe.

[...]

It turns out that, as a joke, Strzok had purchased calendars featuring “beefcake” photos of Vladimir Putin doing manly, tough-guy things like riding a horse.

  HuffPo

And there you have it.

What’s remarkable about the “secret society” text message is that it has been available to reporters for more than a month, as it was included in a first set of texts that the Justice Department sent to Capitol Hill (and allowed reporters to view) in December. But it wasn’t picked up, even by Fox News (which had access to the texts), because it seemed like such an obvious joke.

[...]

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a prominent promoter of the “secret society” text, admitted Thursday there’s a “real possibility” that it was just a joke.

It's a testament to the GOP-Trump cabal desperation and fear that they are going back through everything they can to find something - anything - they can publicize to deflect attention and try to smear the Mueller investigation.

But, there actually was something of a secret FBI society. The only thing is, it was anti-Trump, it was pro-Trump, and aligned with Rudy Giuliani. Seth Abramson has a thread on that here, beginning with this post:

And here's a clip of Jim Comey's testimony before he was fired where Senator Leahy asks about those FBI agents, saying he'll be investigating that situation. No doubt another reason he got fired.

UPDATE:

Devin Nunes definitely knew better.  That was all for "the base."

UPDATE:

Ramping up the base propaganda

Monday on Fox News, representatives Trey Gowdy and John Ratcliffe suggested that based on Strzok and Page’s texts, they may have been in an anti-Trump “secret society” within the Justice Department.

“The day after the election, what they really didn’t want to have happen, there is a text exchange between these two FBI agents, these supposed to be fact-centric FBI agents saying, ‘Perhaps this is the first meeting of the secret society,’” Gowdy said.

  NY Magazine

Funny they don't seem to be concerned about the actually proven "secret society" of New York office FBI staff who helped Rudy Giuliani trick Comey into reopening and then closing again the investigation into Clinton's emails just days before the 2016 election.

That text has not been released, and the representatives offered no context that may explain whether it was a joke or actual proof of an anti-Trump conspiracy.

And I think you can safely bet the life of your firstborn that, if they had ANYthing that constituted actual proof of an anti-Trump conspiracy in the FBI, they would have it on the front page of every newspaper and blasted over every major TV network in the country.

Tuesday on Fox News, Senator [Ron] Johnson claimed an “informant” has talked about “secret meetings off-site” of the Justice Department — but of course he couldn’t offer any further details.

Of course.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



And speaking of Lizard People:

Not to worry:  we all know the Lizard People are the British royals.

UPDATE:

Here's that "secret society" text.  Let's see the response.  It looks like a joke to me.

UPDATE:

The "secret society" explanation.

Thread