I believe the spying on members of the GOP is why so many of them decided not to run for re-election in 2016; and I strongly believe it is why Chief Justice Roberts voted for Obamacare.
I always thought Obama had some 'dirty pictures" of Roberts that were used to force him to come out with that twisted logic in favor of ObamaCare as tax instead of a fine, even though Obama sold it as the exact opposite.
I also never understood the logic of jerks like Jeff Flake saying he wasn't running again for the Senate because he didn't like Trump.
He was in the Senate. What did his job have to do with Trump? Nothing.
Besides having very low polling numbers in his re-election bid, I thought "they" (the powers to be) had something nefarious on Flake and threatened to expose him.
The Obama administration used their illegal spying scheme to chip away at their opposition party and it's elected members to weaken them.
Such a theory used to be dismissed as some delusional ramblings of a Republican fanatic. But nowadays, with these revelations about the 4-year FISA abuse to spy on Americans, it's not so far-fetched.
When the details emerge about the targeting of Trump, Republicans office holders, and conservative activists we will better be able to understand the extent of political spying and its effects on 2016 and earlier events. Its all going to come out eventually.
Roberts was probably one of the early targets. If so, its easy to see how that that brazen abuse of power and successful act of intimidation could lead to further abuses and expansive surveillance against other political targets and lying to the FISA courts. It was one big slippery slope.