Posted on 09/19/2017 7:16:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is calling on the Justice Department to release transcripts of any intercepted communications he may have had with foreigners.
Manafort, a longtime Republican political consultant, also called on the Justice Departments inspector general to investigate the leak of details of secret surveillance warrants obtained by U.S. investigators.
Mr. Manafort requests that the Department of Justice release any intercepts involving him and any non-Americans so interested parties can come to the same conclusion as the DOJ there is nothing there, Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said in a statement.
On Monday, CNN reported that investigators obtained a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Manafort prior to the presidential election. The wiretapping continued into early this year, according to CNNs unnamed sources
It is unclear whether the warrant was obtained before or after Manafort left the Trump campaign in August. According to CNN, the surveillance on Manafort, who has a residence in Trump Tower in New York, picked up conversations he had with Russian operatives about the election.
That was the second FISA warrant obtained by investigators against Manafort. The FBI also conducted surveillance on the longtime Republican operative during a 2014 investigation into his consulting work for a Ukrainian political party. That surveillance reportedly ended without charges being followed prior to Manafort joining the Trump campaign last May.
Manafort is currently at the center of a sprawling investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
That probe began as an inquiry into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government, but Mueller appears lately to have focused on Manaforts business dealings. Mueller conducted an early-morning raid on Manaforts Virginia residence at the end of July. The New York Times reported on Monday that Mueller, a former FBI director, told Manafort that he will be indicted.
Whether or not Manafort committed a crime and he has not been charged with anything the leak of information about FISA warrants is a federal crime, Maloni noted in his statement.
If true, it is a felony to reveal the existence of a FISA warrant, regardless of the fact that no charges ever emerged, Maloni said.
Information about FISA warrants is classified and tightly held by government officials and the federal judges that approve them. Unauthorized disclosures of FISA information is also a felony.
At a House Intelligence Committee hearing in March, then-FBI Director James Comey testified that the leak of FISA information is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
In his statement, Maloni called on the Justice Departments watchdog to immediately open an investigation into the leak and to examine the motivations behind the previous Administrations effort to surveil a political opponent.
Trumps Justice Department has recently ramped up its efforts to get to the bottom of a spate of classified leaks. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are overseeing the effort, which includes a task force involving FBI agents.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment about the Manafort leak.
The problem here is the stupidity of people who believe the media in this country (and the world) exist to convey facts about reality, and they don’t. They have two purposes: Make a profit, and push an agenda.
Because the media are 90%+ liberal in composition, they feel they have a “duty” to use the bully pulpit of access (to people who depend on and trust the media for information) to shape the news to convey their world view.
I posted this on a thread yesterday:
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My entire life, and even before it dating back to at least the McCarthy Era in the early 1950’s the media has never been fair and balanced. The reason it seemed that way was two-fold: First, there was no counterbalance, so the media could say what they wanted, and spin it how they wanted, and second, we trusted them.
We trusted the NYT to tell the truth about communist infiltration in the US government and Joseph McCarthy’s accusations. McCarthy was demonized for all eternity, even though he was nearly 100% spot on.
We trusted Walter Cronkite to tell the truth about the Tet Offensive and Watergate. His deliberate and negative coverage was a major factor in the turning point in the war.
We trusted Ted Koppel to tell us the truth about Ronald Reagan. Instead they made him out to be a senile madman intent on destroying the world.
We trusted Peter Jennings to tell us the truth about Bill Clinton and Clarence Thomas. Instead we got Clinton playing a saxophone and pubic hairs on coke cans.
We trusted Dan Rather to tell us the truth about Bush’s National Guard Service. Instead they outright fabricated documents and the public caught him in his lies.
We trusted all these people (or most of us, up until Peter Jennings, when we started to realize they had an agenda. But you get the idea.
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To this, one could add (if one was still stupid enough in this day and age to believe in the Tooth Fairy of a media who adhered to the principle of telling the truth):
We trusted Diane Sawyer to tell us the truth the about the Obama Adminstration “Fast and Furious” endeavor.
We trusted Brian Williams to tell us the truth about the Obama Administration spying on our fellow citizens who they were at odds with politically.
We trusted CNN to give us accurate information about a Donald Trump “dossier” describing scatological interactions with Russian prostitutes.
And so on.
Truth is, anyone who accepts at face value (and there are huge numbers of people who do) anything that emanates from the media is a blithering idiot and a dupe. I have zero confidence in any institution now to tell the truth about anything. There are no consequences for those who don’t. So I don’t see anything coming from this either.
Yeah the thing preventing him is he is a big jerk. It’s taken awhile to get here but I’m calling for Jeff Sessions to resign. I know who cares
Oct. 16, 2006 Robert Mueller’s FBI Thugs raided the home of Rep. Curt Weldon’s daughter who had a Lobbing Firm that worked with the “Russian” Energy Corp. Three weeks later Joe Sestak won the election over Curt Weldon. The FBI never pressed any charges because their raid had succeeded it’s goal. And Curt Weldon was holding hearings on Able Danger that the 911 Cover-up Commission was trying to hide. Looks like the Mueller-Comey Russian plot has been used before.
I just sent this to my 2 useless Senators.
It will give them something to wipe with:
What the H$#L is wrong with the Senate investigation Committee? In March the 2 Supreme Committee leaders jointly say have no evidence of spying on the opposing incoming party.
Now, when the crap gets out of the bag they are forced to say they are going to reinvestigate. Will the investigation be an attempt to bury anything damaging to all you in DC or will it be an honest attempt to get to the truth and find out who authorized it and the evidence that gave them the power to do this?
I believe the former will be the case due to previous inquiries.
You 50 need to discover you represent us not each other and you lobbyist friends.
We the People Are Getting Pissed
Show me the money - Great call!
Quick, someone wake up the Attorney General.
L
The invisible man?
What is the investigation costing taxpayers?
I agree. He has been a hindrance with regard to investigations.
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Sleepy Sessions is hoping nobody knows where his skeletons are hidden.
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Showing off his new wardrobe!
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I don’t know.
“You 50 need to discover you represent us not each other and you lobbyist friends.”
50? There are 114 senators, two for each of the 57 states.
Call? Anyone?
Didn’t think so.
5.56mm
I wont include McLame or Collins in the group
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