Free Republic

Two top Republican senators have expanded their request for records related to the “unmasking” of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to include information prior to the start of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane operation, which began in July 2016. On Wednesday, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified the names of those in the White House involved in revealing Flynn’s identity as a U.S. citizen corresponding with a foreign actor, as requested by Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Flynn had held discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition as the...

President Trump says he intentionally stayed out of negotiations on legislation to reform federal surveillance laws, but that he will closely review the final product before signing. “They have a lot of views on FISA. I didn’t get involved. I purposely said to Mitch, 'You do what you want. We’ll take a look,'” Trump said, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) The Senate voted 80-16 last week to pass a bill with modest reform to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after rejecting deeper change pushed by privacy advocates including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

This past week, Luke Rosiak reported for the Daily Caller News Foundation on a concern expressed by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) about a 2012 motion before the FISA court to expand the sharing of intelligence collected under FISA authority. Gohmert’s concern is certainly an arresting one. He seems to hint, as quoted by Rosiak, that the motion’s real objective was somewhat buried by being inserted toward the end. And that probably isn’t an unfair reading. But the motion, in hindsight, has plenty of sizzle to it simply on its face. It has the potential to explain a lot, and to...

On the Dan Bongino show today, he discussed an issue with has had a lot of theories advanced about it: Where did the FBI get the transcript of the phone conversation between Michael Flynn and the Russian Ambassador Kislyak? There are a limited number of legal ways to get this conversation and the names of the two people, one a foreign national, one a US citizen: Go to a court and get warrant. There needs to be a worthy reason that is a violation of the law, and that is presented to the judge when applying for the warrant. It...

The Senate on Thursday passed legislation reauthorizing three intelligence programs that lapsed earlier this year amid a GOP stalemate. Senators voted 80-16 on the bill, which pairs the reauthorization of the USA Freedom provisions with some changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, known as the FISA court. The Senate changed the bill, which originally passed the House in March, as part of a two-day floor debate. Senators added more legal protections for some individuals targeted by the court. The proposal, which was spearheaded by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), would increase the role of outside legal...

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., asked on Wednesday “what the hell” Obama administration officials were doing after they purportedly requested to "unmask" the identity of former national security adviser Michael Flynn during the presidential transition period. The House Intelligence Committee ranking member asked the question on “Fox News @Night” after a list of names from that controversial process was made public on Wednesday. “It appears to me like what they were doing is a lot of them went wild after Trump won. They got poisoned with this Russia hoax,” Nunes said. “That's why you had Obama ambassadors across the globe unmasking,...

In pursuit of surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser, the FBI consistently ignored exculpatory evidence In its pursuit of establishing surveillance on the Trump campaign, the FBI turned its attention to Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the spring of 2016, culminating in the issuance of a FISA warrant—which allows for some of the most intrusive spying methods on an American citizen. As part of this process, the FBI relied extensively on the flawed Steele dossier, leading an FBI legal counsel to note that this was “essentially a single source FISA.”

The Senate on Wednesday approved more legal protections for some individuals targeted by a shadowy surveillance court. The 77-19 vote, which will add language to a House-passed bill, marks a victory for privacy hawks who have raised red flags about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court for years. But it also adds a snag to getting the bill to Trump's desk. Because senators voted to amend the House bill, once it is passed by the Senate, which is expected to happen on Thursday, it will have to be sent back to the House to be passed for a second...

The US Senate voted down an amendment to the USA Patriot Act on Wednesday that would create a tougher standard for government investigators to collect the web search and browsing histories of people in the states. The bipartisan amendment, proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, a Republican, would've required the Department of Justice to show probable cause when requesting approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to collect the data for counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigations. Before the vote, Daines told the Senate the bill was necessary to keep the government from...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich advised President Trump on Wednesday to “cut off” ties with the House Intelligence Committee since the chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, is a “proven liar” about Russian collusion. “We now have documented evidence that, for three years, this guy deliberately and maliciously lied. Why would you cooperate with an Intelligence Committee chairman who is a clear proven liar?” Gingrich told “America’s Newsroom.” “I think the president should just cut him off and say, ‘If you want to give me an Intelligence Committee that I can trust, I’ll work with them, but, this guy is impossible.” He...

President Trump is looming as a wild card in the Senate’s fight over reauthorizing three lapsed surveillance programs. Trump, who has repeatedly lashed out that his 2016 campaign was “spied” upon, has not said if he will sign the House-passed bill, which would pair reauthorization of the three lapsed parts of the USA Freedom Act with some reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. The Senate is expected to vote on a handful of amendments to the House bill as soon as Wednesday, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his allies hoping to prevent additional changes....

Ooooooh brother. Massive surveillance…that’s what’s been found. “MASSIVE” is the way it was sent to me. — Adam Housley (@adamhousley) May 12, 2020 Former Fox News reporter Adam Housley who originally broke the unmasking story in 2017… There will be multiple releases I’m told and as I reported and it’s now been confirmed…they started gathering intel on Flynn in 2014. — Adam Housley (@adamhousley) May 12, 2020

A bipartisan bill passed by the House in March that seeks to reform the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court process will hit the Senate floor Tuesday. FISA abuses were at the heart of the scandal involving allegations of Russia interference in the 2016 campaign after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found widespread errors in a report about warrant applications. Here’s what to know about the new legislation: The FISC will face more oversight

...Scavino, Trump’s right-hand man and the keeper of his social media, changed his Twitter bio and fingered Obama in the #SpyGate scandal, calling him out for spying on the Trump campaign. SAVAGE! Get ready folks, the Deep State house of cards is falling and justice is coming…you can feel it in the air!

The Senate is set to revive a fight over a shadowy surveillance court, bringing to a head a months-long stalemate that resulted in the lapse of three intelligence programs. The looming debate, which will pit some of President Trump’s biggest allies against each other, comes on the heels of growing questions about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court after the Justice Department inspector general found widespread errors as part of an interim report on warrant applications. Leadership wants to pass a House-passed bill that pairs a reauthorization of the intelligence programs with some changes to the FISA process. Majority...

Why is former President Obama calling forth all his defensive resources now? Why did former national security advisor Susan Rice write her cya letter? Why have republicans in congress not been willing to investigate the true origins of political surveillance? What is the reason for so much anger, desperation and opposition from a variety of interests? With the release of recent transcripts and the declassification of material from within the IG report, the Carter Page FISA and Flynn documents showing FBI activity, there is a common misconception about why the intelligence apparatus began investigating the Trump campaign in the first...

Sen. Rand Paul on Fox News talks Hunter Biden, Economy/COVID-19 and FISA reform Click excerpt link to Watch!

A "good friend" of former FBI Director James Comey said the bureau's current chief "should be careful" about criticizing its old leadership. Benjamin Wittes, who is the editor-in-chief of Lawfare, reacted late Tuesday to an FBI statement defending Director Christopher Wray as he faces pressure from Republicans to answer for what they view as a lack of transparency about the Russia investigation. "Chris Wray should be careful before issuing statements like this about 'prior leadership' to check the dates on the FISA applications that the IG examined in his most recent interim report," Wittes tweeted. Wittes was referring to recent...

The time has come to cease affording the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane team generous benefit of the doubt. A steady stream of unflattering revelations, beginning with a report by the Justice Department's inspector general into egregious FISA abuses last December, has relentlessly pounded the reputation of my former agency. Now, further irrefutable proof emerges that a small cabal of FBI headquarters decision-makers was hellbent on undoing a presidency. ... one thing is clear. Michael Flynn got railroaded. ... FBI notes illustrate a concerted effort by former FBI Director James Comey's team to set Flynn up. ... clearly initialed by then-FBI Assistant...

The good news is that you might get out of future jury duty, because when you are asked under oath about your own biases during a federal criminal case jury selection you would have to answer honestly by responding, “Your Honor, I don’t trust a damn thing anyone in the FBI says.” If the heirs of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., were to go up on the stand and testify, the recent disgraceful revelations about how their bosses tried to frame LTG Mike Flynn mean you would be entirely correct to grant them the same credibility as the dude caught wearing a...