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Following up on his comments yesterday, our friend with two decades of experience in counterintelligence as an FBI Special Agent writes to add “some additional context that may be be useful.” He writes: Why was the “dossier” ultimately so important for the anti-Trump conspiracy (if you think of a better way of putting it, let me know)? The reason, I think, is that the use of standard political smears against Trump had proven ineffective. Therefore it became necessary to take it all a step further and to attempt to make some superficially credible allegations of action against the national interest...

Microsoft tries to thread the needle of transparency by telling its consuming audience as much about governmental collection of data as possible. Toward that end Microsoft releases a biannual transparency report. Within the latest transparency release Microsoft reports in the first half of 2016 they received a massive increase in FISA orders; primarily from U.S. governmental agencies. • “For the latest Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) data reported, Microsoft received 1,000-1,499 FISA orders seeking content disclosures affecting 12,000-12,499 accounts, compared to the 0-499 FISA orders seeking disclosure of content impacting 17,500-17,999 accounts reported for the previous period. We received 0-499...

Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for former President Obama, released a statement earlier today, in response to President Trump’s early morning tweetstorm.In his tweets, the president suggested that President Obama had “wiretapped” Trump Tower, ahead of the November 2016 election.Trump offered no proof and seems to be relying on an earlier story from Breitbart, that alluded to a plan by Obama to undermine Trump’s presidency. Spokesman for Obama responds to Trump's assertion, without evidence, that Obama ordered Trump's phone tapped pic.twitter.com/1hnrO82FTH— Mark Berman (@markberman) March 4, 2017 So far, there is no proof of any tampering or wiretapping.We’ll just have to...

President Trump recently tweeted claiming that former President Obama wiretapped him during his campaign. One can only imagine how nuts the media would have gone if the roles had been reversed: President Trump wiretapping either Obama or the Clintons, though his DOJ could have authority to do just that given the expansive leaks of intelligence information by Obama and Clinton supporters the last few months. Heck, he could wiretap the media at this point, legally and legitimately, as the sources of these unlawful leaks, for which Obama himself set precedent. Do liberals understand what Pandora’s Box Obama opened up by...

Saturday, March 04, 2017 Obama wire-tapped Trump Tower A FISA cou rt gave Obama authority to wiretap the tower in October under the guise of national security. That is chilling and fascist. Obama abused the power of gathering intelligence on terrorists to instead try to throw the 2016 presidential election. He would have done this no matter whom Republicans nominated. 'Tis the nature of the person. We have underestimated just how capable of committing evil Obama is. Here is how the Watergate-style spying worked, according to Breitbart News, which reported, in June, "The Obama administration files a request with the...

Current Membership - Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review FBI tried to get a FISA surveillance warrant on Trump and his campaign operation at Trump Tower in the summer, according to multiple reports, and only succeeded in getting one in October for people around him according to other reports. Investigators at the FBI may have done that on their own, but they did so in Obama's Attorney General's Department of Justice. One would think that a request to get a counter-espionage warrant that includes surveillance on a major-party presidential candidate or campaign would need some approvals from high up...

Following Trump's stunning allegation that Obama wiretapped the Trump Tower in October of 2016, prior to the presidential election, which may or may not have been sourced from a Breitbart story, numerous Democrats and media pundits have come out with scathing accusations that Trump simply has no idea what he is talking about. The best example of this came from Ben Rhodes, a former senior adviser to President Obama in his role as deputy National Security Advisor, who slammed Trump's accusation, insisting that "No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people...

A former policy adviser to President Obama is firing back at President Trump's claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, saying it didn't happen — at least not under Obama's orders. "No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you," Ben Rhodes tweeted Saturday morning. He also said "only a liar" could make the case, as Trump suggested, that Obama wire tapped Trump Tower ahead of the election. No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you. https://t.co/lEVscjkzSw

Obama administration denies Towergate: Insiders blast Donald Trump's claims Obama wire-tapped his phones at Trump Tower before the election in 'Nixon/Watergate' style scandal Trump has accused Obama of wire tapping his phones at Trump Tower on Twitter The president tweeted that Obama had been spying on him in October He claims the phones in Trump Tower were 'tapped' before his election victory A former senior intelligence official said 'it's highly unlikely there was a wiretap' According to official, wiretap can't be directed at US facility, without probable cause the phone lines were being used by agents of a foreign power...

The idea that FISA could be used against political enemies always seemed far-fetched. Now it might not be. Remember the great debate over “the Wall” following the 9/11 attacks? “The Wall” was a set of internal guidelines that had been issued by the Clinton Justice Department in the mid 1990s. In a nutshell, the Wall made it legally difficult and practically impossible for agents in the FBI’s Foreign Counter-Intelligence Division (essentially, our domestic-security service, now known as the National Security Division) to share intelligence with the criminal-investigation side of the FBI’s house. Those of us who were critics of the...

Trump Tower Tapped? - President Trump Tweets Obama Behind Wiretapping - Lt Col Tony Shaffer - F&F

President Trump exploded on Twitter early Saturday morning, blasting former President Barack Obama for allegedly wire tapping his phones before the election. “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” he declared. “Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” he added. Trump has the authority to declassify almost any classified material, and could substantiate his accusations if he wanted to. The Saturday-morning Twitter storm was striking...

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 5m5 minutes ago More Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

DONALD Trump has claimed Barack Obama had his “wires tapped” in Trump Tower during the US election.

The US President unleashed a string of tweets slamming his predecessor DONALD Trump has claimed Barack Obama had his “wires tapped” in Trump Tower during the US election. The US President claimed his predecessor had tapped his phones during the “very sacred election process”, slamming it as a “Nixon/Watergate” scandal. In a series of Tweets, Donald Trump made the claim, slamming it as a “new low”. He then appeared to brand Obama a “bad (or sick) guy”. The property tycoon turned politician wrote: “How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This...

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3m3 minutes ago More How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!