There is a memo out there that is probably going to rock the world. It likely outlines the rationale behind the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Services Act) court approving a series of surveillance activities against Trump and his associated in 2016, in the run up to the 2016 presidential election.
As noted previously in this blog, Trump et al actually were “wiretapped” by Obama’s government during the last presidential campaign – that certain persons like Manafort were “wiretapped” has been known for months now.
The denial by Obama that Trump was being “wiretapped” was pure semantics – Trump claimed he was “wiretapped”, but no one “wiretaps” anymore, so when Obama denied this he was essentially denying an incorrect usage, not the act itself. And so, I think we are about to confirm that United States Government did have a presidential candidate under surveillance, and Obama was basically lying through his teeth in denying it.
The immediate problem with the information in the memo, and the rationale for the “wiretap” was that it was based on a dossier that not only is full of outright lies and distortions, but it was paid for by the Clinton Campaign and/or the Democratic National Committee. The court acted under false pretenses.
What is the larger problem here?
If the information in the soon to be released memo is accurate, then a political campaign sponsored the creation of falsehoods in order to have the state go after a political opponent as part of an effort to win a political campaign. As we are talking about essentially stealing a presidential election, this would be a Conspiracy Against the United States of America – the same thing with which Manafort and Gates have been charged.
Using the state against your political opponents is right out of Putin’s playbook…and Mugabe’s…and the playbook of the Commies in China, and everywhere you find democratic governance sacrificed to the alter of political shenanigans, tyranny and the creation of “alternate truths”.
The implications of this are grave for the Mueller investigation, as it suggest that the initial impetus for the investigation, namely the collusion allegation, may have been wrapped up in a pack of artfully crafted lies. There are still buckets of evidence tying Trump et al to the Russians, not the least of which is the fact that Manafort, Trump Jr, and Kushner did actually attend at a meeting with someone who they thought represented the Russian state for the purpose of working with that state through the receipt of damaging information to subvert a US presidential election. We know that Kushner actually had four meeting with Russians, not one. As well, there have already been two convictions of persons who lied about their contacts with the Russians as part of the Trump team – they clearly thought they had done something wrong, and their guilty minds led to their later convictions.
The implications of this are grave for the Mueller investigation, as it suggest that the initial impetus for the investigation, namely the collusion allegation, may have been wrapped up in a pack of artfully crafted lies. There are still buckets of evidence tying Trump et al to the Russians, not the least of which is the fact that Manafort, Trump Jr, and Kushner did actually attend at a meeting with someone who they thought represented the Russian state for the purpose of working with that state through the receipt of damaging information to subvert a US presidential election. We know that Kushner actually had four meeting with Russians, not one. As well, there have already been two convictions of persons who lied about their contacts with the Russians as part of the Trump team – they clearly thought they had done something wrong, and their guilty minds led to their later convictions.
This all suggest that there is more than enough to move forward with the Mueller investigation, but politics is about to interfere. Once the FISA memo is released, that investigation may collapse under the weight of indignation stemming from what may an historic manipulation of the US political process, easily rivaling Watergate.
What to do?
It is time for a second Special Prosecutor with broad powers to investigate not only the question of this dossier – including the activities of officials in the Obama administration - but all matters stemming from the Wiki Leaks disclosures in 2016, especially the activities of the Clinton Foundation, and Clinton’s use of an illegal internet server while she was Secretary of State. This person needs to carefully vet any FBI personnel for previous political comments and leanings, making sure that only persons who have maintained a neutral stance throughout may work on this matter.
On that, it has been revealed lately that numerous FBI operatives were engaged in e-mail discussions about the last presidential election where they expressed opposition to Trump, and/or favouritism to Clinton. Many very competent people engaged in this behavior.
The FBI cannot survive as an institution of law enforcement if it is even lightly touched by the hint of political preference. These people – all of them – need to be walked to the door, basically now.
No comments:
Post a Comment