Following the release of the DOJ Inspector General’s report revealing that the FBI deceived the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court in order to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, presiding FISC Judge Rosemary Collyer issued a rare public rebuke - while ordering the agency to clean up its act, and fast.
Collyer noted despite the FBI’s “heightened duty of candor,” officials fabricated evidence and concealed information from the court which harmed their argument that Page was an “agent of a foreign power,” fabricated evidence.
Because of this, the court is now concerned about “whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable.”
Those involved in the operation to take Trump down, meanwhile, are scrambling to downplay the IG report while taking as little responsibility as possible. After the FBI first tried to pass the buck - insisting that the Page applications were legit since the FISA court approved them, former FBI Director James Comey’s feet were finally held to the fire by Fox News host Chris Wallace last weekend:
Watch @comey try to squirm out of Wallace’s question. Comey is a total snake and a liar. Just watch him try to lie with the cold, hard facts placed right in front of him:
pic.twitter.com/zeA54eQ1ip— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) December 15, 2019
The former FBI Director went into full boyscout mode when he chalked up the 17 ‘serious errors’ found by the IG to “real sloppy” work, adding “..I was overconfident in the procedures that the FBI and Justice had built over 20 years. I thought they were robust enough.”
Meanwhile, former CIA Director John Brennan acknowledged on Tuesday that “there were mistakes made” during the application process.
And former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, has been using the old ‘we were just following orders’ line after it was revealed he and the other Obama-era IC heads were under investigation by US Attorney John Durham, telling CNN in October that he was just investigating what “the then commander-in-chief, President Obama, told us to do.”
Clapper appears to admit Obama instructed him to target the Trump campaign:
"Obama told us to do … assemble all the reporting that we could that we had available to us and put it in one report that the President could pass on to the Congress … " pic.twitter.com/4YJcNqUYGa
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 8, 2019
And despite all that we now know, the Wall Street Journal editorial board asks; why hasn’t anyone been held accountable?
Judge Collyer’s order demands that the government, no later than Jan. 10, inform the court “in a sworn written submission” what it has done and plans to do to make sure future FISA warrant applications aren’t tainted. This is useful and is the first public evidence we’ve had that the FISA judges believe they were deceived.
Yet it also underscores how the FISA process dilutes political accountability. The FBI has tried to say its applications were kosher because a court approved them, while the court now fingers the FBI for deception. But so far no individuals have been held accountable, and the abuses would never have been discovered without the digging of former House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes. -WSJ
Indeed, the only person that might be held accountable was an FBI attorney - Kevin Clinesmith, who fabricated evidence in the Carter Page FISA app to say he wasn’t a CIA source, when in fact he was - with “positive assessment.”
And while Clinesmith was slapped with a criminal referral by the IG, he is far from the only person within the agency whose hands are dirty. Yet - as the Journal notes, nobody else has been held to account.
In closing, they write “Congress created FISA in the late 1970s to protect against previous FBI wiretap abuses. Clearly it hasn’t worked, and more bureaucratic hurdles won’t stop FBI officials who lie or alter email evidence. Injecting judges into secret executive-branch national security decisions was always a mistake, and now we know it abets abuse more than prevents it.”
via zerohedge
I doubt seriously anyone will be prosecuted in this matter. Most of the people involved in this are members of the anointed class. The Anointed never answer for anything.
If the FBI, CIA, and DOJ EVER want to be respected again by We the People, they better prosecute. Remember what ALL the House Democrats stated, time and time again, NO ONE is ABOVE THE LAW!
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP! GOD BLESS THE USA!
No, they just rape and kill our sons and daughters and criticize for not liking that!!!
In my view our “government’ is totally pathetic and DANGEROUS. I am almost at the point of not wanting a government….yep, there would probably be chaos, theft, murders, etc…..but so what ? It SOUNDS just like today, the difference being that we citizens would then be free to protect ourselves, whereas today’s “government” is our worst enemy, a dangerous enemy that slowly but surely is trying to eradicate our having the tools with which to protect ourselves and each other. They IGNORE TREASON and are trying their dead level best to throw out the term “SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED”. Today protecting ourselves is DANGEROUS as criminals lie and democrats would side with the criminals, especially when many of our politicians ARE CRIMiNALS, not arrested, not tried, and not about to be. Our government is virtually our worst enemy on earth.
Thanks to Rep Devin Nunes and his team, who demanded answers back in February of 2018. The only reason the FISA judges are saying anything now is because of Rep. Nunes pushing and now the IG report showing the “so-called” mistakes.
Someone needs to be held accountable. Either get rid of this “secret” court as I’ve watched Rep. Nunes explain, or if this is such a “good” tool, then a HUGE overall has to be done. Rubber stamping of these FISA warrant applications have to stop. When one judge has 28 applications to stamp in one week, anyone, like Comey, can ram it thru.
Time will tell. But again thank you Rep. Devin Nunes for all your hard work bringing out this unconstitutional way to spy on innocent people. Actually a “tool” used to spy on a campaign, not terrorists.
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP! GOD BLESS THE USA!
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/19/senate-held-two-hearings-on-ig-report-of-fisa-abuse-house-has-not-held-one/
“Schiff last year fought the release of a memo by then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) that outlined serious problems he found in investigating the FBI’s use of the FISA process to get surveillance warrants on Page”
Yea Schiffy, no wonder you fought the release, lol.
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP! GOD BLESS THE USA!
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/20/biden-probe-gop-senators-request-ukraine-interview-with-dossier-hoaxer-victoria-nuland/
Thank you Aaron Klein. Wow excellent research, excellent article.
Gee, S0r0’s involved, which I figured as much. But this was very interesting.
“In one of several instances, Breitbart News reported, itinerary for a trip to Ukraine in August organized by the Atlantic Council reveals that a staffer on Rep. Adam Schiff’s House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held a meeting during the trip with Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor, now a key witness for Democrats pursuing impeachment. The Schiff staffer is also an Atlantic Council fellow, while Taylor has evidenced a close relationship with the Atlantic Council.”
Hmmm, connecting the dots. LOVE IT! Schiffy Schiff is connected MORE than he wants ANYONE to know.
“Federal documents show Ciaramella also worked closely with Joe Biden and worked under Susan Rice, President Obama’s national security adviser. He also worked with former CIA Director John Brennan, an anti-Trump advocate who has faced controversy for his role in fueling the questionable Russia collusion investigation. Rice participated in Russia collusion probe meetings and reportedly unmasked senior members of Trump’s presidential campaign.”
Amazing what you find out when a TRUE journalist does his job. THANK YOU!
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP! GOD BLESS THE USA!
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/20/iran-lashes-mike-pompeo-as-a-loudspeaker-for-bullying/
Aw Obama and Russia’s friends Iran are mad. I guess they wanted Hilary to win too in 2016 as Hilary and Obama were working so hard to get Iran the nuclear bomb. Obama sent a pallet of money and Hilary worked with Russia to give Russia our Uranium. Hmm, that really looks to me like Obama/Clinton colluded with Russia. Both were probably rewarded very well financially
But President Trump got in the way. Oh well President Trump saw a BAD deal there and stopped it.
So Iran go cry on Obama’s shoulder. Maybe he will get the visas for you, lol.
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP! GOD BLESS THE USA!
It wasn’t a “pallet of money”, it was multiple plane loads of mixed denomination, mixed country currency to the tune of $140 million. How much of that went into private bank accounts of Obama, Clinton, Kerry and Biden? Sounds more like a mafia payoff!!!
Thanks Sam for the correction on how much money REALLY went to Iran.
Just look at their “charity foundations”. Clintons did very well in the money laundering business. Wonder if Obama has an Inc. after his name like Bill did? Kerry and Biden, they got their share with the Ukraine deal. Son and step son on the board and something for both dads. Also Biden got loans in China for his son, so I guess Kerry got a bit of that too. Share the wealth at the Taxpayers expense.
But again, they did nothing wrong. They are ABOVE THE LAW. How else will they be able to live the Billionaire life? Shame on us for questioning. We owe them right? It’s their global reparation.
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP! GOD BLESS THE USA!
What do the politicians think this is? Pre Magna Carte England?! Who set up these highly illegal “FISA” courts in the first place? Since when is it allowed to have a SECRET court that is accountable to no one? Since when is it okay to have a secret court, accountable to no one, issue secret warrants that knowingly and willfully violate a citizens civil rights? We need to demand that Congress abolish the FISA courts and fire everyone in the FBI with no recourse and bar all of them from any future federal government employment!! Abolish the CIA!! They don’t do anything that helps the country anyway!!
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/19/report-prosecutor-john-durham-looking-into-ex-cia-director-brennans-role-in-russia-hoax/
Aw Brennen, gee now We the People can hear about Obama’s dossier, not just Steele’s. Can’t wait for that to blow up in your face as well the the “transparent” president who’s dirty candidate didn’t win. No wonder Obama is backing away from another dirty candidate, named Biden. BTW who also was in Obama’s closed door meeting on how to beat Donald J. Trump by spying.
Should be interesting.
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT TRUMP! GOD BLESS THE USA!
Remove the President, and VP Pence becomes President; Speaker Pelosi is next in line. Pence suddenly becomes a target for assassination; upon his death Presidential power leaps into the hands of the Democratic party. Clouds of uncertainty loom over the land. Fearsome, but realistic.
The Presidential Succession Act, created to assure continuity of office, now threatens the opposite. With Democrats controlling the HR, there is no possibility of it being changed. Surely no thinking Republican could vote in favor of impeaching President Trump.