"Spying" Comment Sparks Outrage [semi-satire]

Semi-News/Semi-Satire ^ | 14 April 2019 | John Semmens

[John Semmens]

During his recent testimony at the Senate Appropriations Committee Attorney General William Barr acknowledged that federal government "spying did occur" on the Trump campaign, that "government spying on political opponents is a big deal," and "I need to explore that." Democrats were outraged.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called Barr's statement "a conspiracy theory" and demanded that he "retract his statement immediately. This is so far wide of the narrative that everyone in the Democratic Party and the media has accepted for the last three years that it cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged."

Fantasy Vietnam vet, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) called Barr's statement "unfounded and irresponsible" and demanded it be retracted. "Saying something that everyone knows is false manifests a mental illness that should disqualify Barr from serving in any capacity. Honesty is an essential requirement for public officials."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) echoed Blumenthal's take and averred that "Barr has gone off the rails. First of all, covert surveillance of innocent Americans is not spying. Second, this surveillance was authorized by the FISA Court. It is only unauthorized surveillance by private parties that constitutes spying. As long as it is the government that's doing it it's perfectly legal."

Former FBI Director James Comey claims to be "mystified by Barr's choice of words. Those of us in the intelligence community never refer to what we do as 'spying.' We use terms like 'investigation' or 'counter-intelligence operation.' These less pejorative words convey a more respectable public image. I am not surprised that an outsider like Trump would be ignorant enough to use the word 'spying,' but we all thought that a man with the kind of pedigree that Barr has would have know better."

Meanwhile, the Oxford Dictionary defines "spying on" as "to observe furtively" or "keep under surveillance." Either of these pretty much describes what the FBI did during the Trump campaign and during the Trump Administration. The FBI also deployed covert agents to try to infiltrate the Trump camp and plant false evidence. So it's easy to see how the former FBI Director might be confused about Barr's statement.

if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...

https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/259424-2019-04-12-semi-news-semi-satire-april-14-2019-edition.htm

[John Semmens]

ping

[marktwain]

Good work John.

Harder and harder to discern news from satire.

[Hardastarboard]

Very well done. There is a LOT of very clever satire packaged into every sentence here.

[Liz]

And now....back to The Twilight Zone.

The sworn testimony of Bill Priestap, asst director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, contains extensive indications of wrongdoing:
<><> that the Obama-era FBI and DoJ directly targeted Trump,
<><> they did so with information it made no effort to verify.
<><> the Obama-era bureau is depicted as one that was unconcerned with political interference in investigations
<><> the Obama-era bureau was willing to enlist the help of close foreign allies to bring down its target.

Mmmmmmmm......during the campaign Hillary bragged about "foreign governments" supporting her election.
Are these the same "foreign governments" Obama had assisting the effort to frame Trump? (smirk)

That would mean Obama, Hillary and the lot of them were "colluding" with foreign powers to interfere in a US election.

Wouldnt it, Donald?

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

...this surveillance was authorized by the FISA Court. It is only unauthorized surveillance by private parties that constitutes spying. As long as it is the government that's doing it it's perfectly legal.

Touche! And, spying "authorized" by individuals in government is not necessarily legal or ethical.