Posted on 03/07/2017 12:03:47 PM PST by deplorableindc
Yes, it’s possible President Donald Trump had his phone calls intercepted, stored and searched by U.S. spy agencies during the Obama administration, experts say -- but not necessarily in the way the president claims.
...
Many experts have stated in television interviews that just two methods exist for wiretapping -- a “Title III” criminal warrant or an intelligence court order -- and that since the post-Watergate reforms of the '70s the president has been unable to order taps.
But presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway on Monday said Trump "has information and intelligence that the rest of us do not” and alternative paths do exist for recorded Trump calls -- should any exist -- to come into spy agency possession.
One potential path is through “incidental” collection in dragnet or targeted surveillance of foreigners, followed by warrantless “backdoor” searches.
Such “backdoor” searches could affect many Americans, not just Trump.
“'Wiretap' has both a specific legal definition and a generic definition,” says former National Security Agency senior executive Thomas Drake, who left the agency in 2007 amid an ultimately unsuccessful leak prosecution.
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
The issue is whether there was probable cause to issue a warrant. Probable cause is the reasonable likelihood that a crime is or has been committed by the person or at the place designated. So far it doesn't look like it to me. Obama never produced one scrap of evidence. Only allegations and accusations.
If there was no probable cause, the warrant was illegally issued and the wiretapping was illegal.
The parsing begins. Obamagate....It’s a thing.
They always bring up this legalese crap, like someones is gonna get a FISA judge to approve it or not.
A criminal hack doesn’t give a damn about ‘court approval’, just like gun control laws......................
They are backpeddling like crazy. They are parsing words and making legalistic distinctions. The example of “It depends on what is is.” The press is in full protection mode for their god and his fleet of liberal devils.
WE DON'T NEED NO STEENKING FISA WARRANTS!.................
“The parsing begins. Obamagate....It’s a thing.”
Interesting that the media has gone from it did not happen to the parsing of how it could have happened.
Actually what they say in the article is not entirely correct. There is third way and this was proven in 2006 when the judges reviewed claims that Bush bypassed the courts: From the WT 2006 article:
A panel of former Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges yesterday told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that President Bush did not act illegally when he created by executive order a wiretapping program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).
The five judges testifying before the committee said they could not speak specifically to the NSA listening program without being briefed on it, but that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not override the president’s constitutional authority to spy on suspected international agents under executive order.
“If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now,” said Judge Allan Kornblum, magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and an author of the 1978 FISA Act. “I think that the president would be remiss exercising his constitutional authority by giving all of that power over to a statute.”
According to the headline of an article in the New York Times dated 01-20-2017, he already has.
Duh
Yes, but you can count on the fake-news MSM trying to cast the situation in whatever way will make DJT's position look as weak as possible.
Of course, another in-person news conference in which he explains what happened live would do a lot to keep the story on track.
Not so fast. According to Clapper, there was no warrant issued to wiretap Trump and his staff. There was no FISA request or approval according to Clapper.
Where is the evidence of the wiretapping supporting the MSM stories? Or is this more fake news?
If you believe the internet, the second FISA warrant authorized surveilling a server associated with the Trump Organization and nothing else. The first FISA request was denied by a judge. If phone lines were tapped, it was done without a FISA warrant or so it would be seem. if you believe the internet.
He has controlled the national narrative at almost every step in the process since he announced his candidacy for the White House.
I’ll be right back with a NYTimes link.
(REAGANGENERATION2 HAT TIP)---Trump should be able to review all 2 or 3 FISA requests (if he hasn’t already), and then let Congress determine if the requesters lied about the probable cause justifying them......then (1) you’d prove perjury, and, even worse, (2) the intent was to abuse executive power.
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A good beginning....and then it gets downright lethal for the Obama gang:
Via Breitbart, JOHN HAYWARD observed that the FISA court may have approved a warrant submitted without Trump’s name but “which Obama then misused to spy on Trump and many connected to Trump.”
Ergo the most serious legal jeopardy that might be faced would be (a) perjury for lying to the FISA court, and, (b) the dissemination of collected intelligence that should have been kept tightly classified.
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It is also entirely possible that Obama and his legal team may have perjured themselves before the FISA court by willfully withholding material information in order to manipulate the FISA court’s willingness to permit the government surveillance.
FALSIFYING GOVT DOCUMENTS would fall under the Crimes Act of 1958. Moreover, falsifying official documents is the criminal MO to hide larger crimes.
EXCERPT A person falsifying documents can be held criminally liable if they are deliberately acting with the intention of deceiving or defrauding another party.
Falsifying documents is a very serious offense and is generally classified as a felony. This means that a person charged with falsifying documents may be subject to the following legal penalties:
◾Having to pay a monetary fine
◾Incarceration in a prison facility
Depending on the gravity of the offense, as well as individual state laws, falsifying documents can result in a prison sentence of 5-10 years.
Also, if official government documents or govt authorities were involved, the legal penalties may be more severe. Legal penalties may increase with repeat offenses.
Many different types of acts can be considered as falsifying a document, including:
◾Altering or misrepresenting fact-based information
◾Stating false information when requested to provide truthful statements
◾Forging a signature
◾Using official letterheads without authorization
◾Knowingly using or distributing a fake document
The penalty for falsifying government documents is outlined in the Crimes Act of 1958.
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