1…………..> FISA Memo: The Motion Picture
“The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans – something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!” President Trump wrote after a memo that shows alleged government surveillance abuse has been released and includes testimony from a high-ranking government official who says without the infamous Trump dossier, the FBI and DOJ would not have secured surveillance warrants to spy on at least one member of the Trump team.
The memo, which has been at the center of an intense power struggle between congressional Republicans, was declassified ahead of its release Friday.
It also claims the FBI and DOJ used media reporting to lend credibility to the dossier, while the firm behind the dossier, Fusion GPS, briefed major American news outlets to include New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, New Yorker, Yahoo and Mother Jones.
The memo shows that after former British spy Christopher Steele was cut off from the FBI, he continued to pass information, as did Fusion GPS, through Justice Department Official Bruce Ohr. Ohr’s wife Nellie began working for Fusion GPS as early as May 2016.
It also claims evidence that Steele has a personal animus for the President Trump, who said he has read the memo, and called the its contents “a disgrace” while talking to reporters.
2…………> FISA Memo: The Aftermat
a) FBI ‘incorrectly’ claimed corroboration
The memo also says the FBI’s surveillance warrant application cited as supporting information an article on Yahoo News, which focused on Carter Page’s July 2016 trip to Moscow.
“The article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News.
“The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News.
“Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met Yahoo news – and several other outlets – in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS.”
b) Democratic Leader Nancy “Fancy” Pelosi weighed in on the memo’s release:
“President Trump has surrendered his constitutional responsibility as Commander-in-Chief by releasing highly classified and distorted intelligence. By not protecting intelligence sources and methods, he just sent his friend Putin a bouquet.”
c) What is the Steele dossier?
Compiled by a former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, the dossier was financed in part through the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to dig up dirt on Trump.
It alleges that former Trump adviser Carter Page served as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and Russian government.
The Republican memo says the Steele dossier was used as evidence by the FBI to secure a wiretap of Page.
The dossier also claims the Russian government has compromising information that could be used to blackmail Trump.
However, unnamed sources have told Reuters news agency the Republican memo is misleading because, they say, all dossier excerpts used in the FBI warrant application were independently confirmed by US intelligence.
d) Desperate that Trump not get elected’
The memo says that in September 2016 “[former British spy Christopher] Steele admitted to [justice department official] Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he ‘was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not becoming president.’ This clear evidence of Steele’s bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files – but not reflected in any of the [Carter] Page FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] applications.”
e) ‘Political actors were involved’
The memo continues:
Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson (founder of Fusion GPS), who was paid by a US law firm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOJ at the time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier).
FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) President Thomas O’Connor issued a statement following the memo’s release.
“The men and women of the FBI put their lives on the line every day in the fight against terrorists and criminals because of their dedication to our country and the Constitution,” he said.
“The American people should know that they continue to be well-served by the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency. FBI Special Agents have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes says that the panel found “serious violations of the public trust, and the American people have a right to know when officials in crucial institutions are abusing their authority for political purposes”.
“Our intelligence and law enforcement agencies exist to defend the American people, not to be exploited to target one group on behalf of another.”
The Republican congressman adds that he hopes the memo will lead to “reforms that allow the American people to have full faith and confidence in their governing institutions”.
f) Senator John McCain
Republican Senator John McCain, who points out in a statement that the US intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, has indirectly condemned Trump’s attack on the FBI this morning.
“The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests – no party’s, no president’s, only Putin’s”, he said.
The 2008 presidential candidate adds that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation must continue unimpeded.
“Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and manufacturing partisan sideshows. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.”
g) ‘Material and relevant is omitted’
The memo says the FBI withheld key information when it applied to a top intelligence court for a warrant to spy on Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
The memo reads: “Material and relevant information was omitted.
The “dossier” compiled by [ex-British spy] Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.”
h) Who is Carter Page?
Carter Page, the Trump campaign aide who was the target of FBI surveillance, drew attention from law enforcement officials over several trips he made to Russia in 2016.
He adamantly denies allegations in the so-called Steele dossier, compiled to dig up dirt on Trump, that he served as an intermediary between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.
Here’s our profile of Page.
Jonathan Lemire
@JonLemire
In Oval Office just now, Trump is asked by reporters:
Does it make you more likely to fire Rosenstein? Do you still have confidence in him?
“You figure that one out,” Trump responded.
9:02 AM – Feb 2, 2018
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1,3941,394 Retweets
2,4742,474 likes
3…………> Disrespect & Oblivion: Dems
“Members of Congress look at their cell phones during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the first State of the Union address given by U.S. President Donald Trump and his second joint-session address to Congress,” news shook the social media as a new Getty image shows that three of them were scrolling through iPhones during the Tuesday speech, and at least one congresswoman was playing a game which looks a lot like Candy Crush.
4…………> The Seeds Of Treason: Calais Jungle
A massive, two-hour brawl involving more than 100 Eritrean and Afghan punks in Calais, Islamic Sheikdom of France left four teenage migrants in critical condition after being shot. They had been standing in line waiting for food handouts.
Tensions have been high in the French port city since 2016 when authorities demolished a makeshift encampment known as the “Jungle,” which hosted thousands of migrants attempting to make their way to the United Kingdom across the English Channel.
5…………> Operation “Team Player”: ICE
“Intellectual property theft is a serious crime, and black-market organizations descend on the Super Bowl and other major sporting events to sell counterfeit goods and substandard merchandise to unsuspecting consumers. ICE agents are committed to investigating the trafficking of counterfeit goods that wreak havoc on local economies, threaten the health and safety of the American public and fund criminal organizations engaged in other illegal activities,” said ICE Deputy Director Thomas D. Homan the government seized over 171,926 counterfeit sports- and entertainment-related items worth an estimated $15.69 million, and joint investigative efforts led to 65 arrests with 24 convictions.
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/operation-team-player-nets-over-15-million-fake-sports-merchandise