Deep state goes silent on records mentioning Ciaramella

Ukraine specialist Eric Ciaramella poses for a photo with former President Barack Obama at the White House. (Washington Examiner screenshot of photo published on the website for a Ciaramella friend's 2018 wedding.)

Two major federal agencies have refused to answer questions from a government watchdog about any records they have concerning CIA employee Eric Ciaramella.

He's been reported to be the "whistleblower" whose complaint triggered the impeachment investivigation of President Trump.

The watchdog Judicial Watch said Thursday the CIA and Department of Justice stated they will "neither confirm nor deny the existence of emails and other communications related to CIA official Eric Ciaramella, who reportedly worked on Ukraine issues while on detail to both the Obama and Trump White Houses."

Judicial Watch filed Freedom of Information Act cases after the CIA and DOJ failed to respond to November 2019 requests for communications between Ciaramella and former FBI agent Peter Strzok, former FBI Attorney Lisa Page, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and/or the special counsel’s office.

The CIA said: "In accordance with section 3.6(a) of Executive Order 13526, the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to the requests. The fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is itself exempt from FOIA under exemption (b )(3) and Section 6 of the CIA Act of I 949, 50 U.S.C. § 3507, and, to the extent your request could relate to CIA intelligence sources and methods information, the fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is exempt from FOIA under exemption (b)( I) and exemption (b)(3) in conjunction with Section 102A(i)(l) of the National Security Act of 1947, 50 U.S.C § 3024(i)( I)."

The DOJ was equally helpful, Judicial Watch reported.

"Ciaramella’s name appears in a footnote in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the 2016 presidential election. It concerns a May 2017 meeting between President Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office," Judicial Watch said.

Some details later were "leaked" to the New York Times, Judicial Watch said.

"The CIA and Justice Department are covering up information about the alleged whistleblower behind the abusive impeachment of President Trump," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "CIA operative Ciaramella is documented to be involved in the Russia collusion investigation and was a key CIA operative on Ukraine in the both the Obama and Trump White Houses. The incredible secrecy about his activities shows that the DOJ and CIA are trying to cover-up rather than expose any agency abuses that led to unprecedented attacks on President Trump."

Judicial Watch also recently filed legal action that could "confirm that President Trump had every right to be concerned about Ukraine and the Biden corruption."

The organization said it sued the State Department for records of communications from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev related to Burisma, the Ukrainian company that paid Hunter Biden some $3 million while his father was the point man for Ukraine policy. In a second case, Judicial Watch is seeking the records of a Jan. 19, 2016, meeting at the White House that included Ukrainian prosecutors, embassy officials and Ciaramella.

"These lawsuits could confirm that President Trump had every right to be concerned about Ukraine and Biden corruption – and that the impeachment against him was an shameful attempt to cover up these scandals," said Fitton.

The cases were filed after the State Department did not respond to separate FOIA requests for "all cables/teletypes or e-mails sent or addressed to any official, employee, or representative of the Department of State stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv containing the term 'Burisma,' all records regarding the January 19, 2016, meeting at the White House that included State Department Ukrainian Resident Legal Advisor Jeff Cole and U.S. Embassy Kyiv employee Svitlana Pardus, [and] all records of communication between State Department Resident Legal Advisor Jeff Cole and National Security Council staffer Eric Ciaramella."

Also included in the request were records of communication between U.S. Embassy Kiev employee Svitlana Pardus and Ciaramella and emails sent by or addressed to State Department Resident Legal Advisor Jeff Cole and/or U.S. Embassy Kiev employee Svitlana Pardus between Jan. 10, 2016, and January 30, 2016.

Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma Holdings in April 2014.

"He served on the board until early 2019. Burisma, which was under investigation by the Ukrainian government stated at the time of his hiring that Biden would, be 'in charge of the Holdings' legal unit and will provide support for the Company among international organizations,'" Judicial Watch said.

Hunter Biden had no previous experience in the industry.

"In November 2019, through analysis of Obama-era White House visitor logs, Judicial Watch broke the story of Ciaramella's White House meetings. Ciaramella was detailed to the Obama White House in 2015 and returned to the CIA during the Trump administration in 2017. The list of persons Ciaramella met with includes, but is not limited to, Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder and executive director of the Soros-funded Anticorruption Action Center (AntAC) in Ukraine; Gina Lentine, formerly the Eurasia program coordinator at Soros funded Open Society Foundations; and former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who had extensive involvement with Clinton-funded dossier. The logs also reveal that Alexandra Chalupa, a contractor hired by the DNC during the 2016 election who coordinated with Ukrainians to investigate President Trump and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, visited the White House 27 times," Judicial Watch said.

Then it was reported New York Times journalist Ken Vogel was investigating the Jan. 19, 2016, meeting at the White House. Vogel had contacted the State Department via email for comment, specifically mentioning concerns about Hunter Biden's position with Burisma.

That communication said: "We are going to report that [State Department official] Elizabeth Zentos attended a meeting at the White House on 1/19/2016 with Ukrainian prosecutors and embassy officials as well as … [redacted] from the NSC … The subjects discussed included efforts within the United State government to support prosecutions, in Ukraine and the United Kingdom, of Burisma Holdings … and concerns that Hunter Biden’s position with the company could complicate such efforts."