“the Times asserts that the wiretaps were collected from conversations tapped OVERSEAS.”
lol
Flynn was not overseas. A FISA warrant is needed to spy on US citizens on US soil.
They also say that there was an “inquiry of Trump aides” (see #35) but the targets of the intercepts were the Russians.
They published conflicting lies and even their editor can’t explain the BS they print.
Their real problem is that they can’t publish anything critical of Obama or which might support Trump. IF they weren’t so biased it wouldn’t be hard at all, and they wouldn’t have to write editorials attacking the results of their own articles.
RE: Flynn was not overseas. A FISA warrant is needed to spy on US citizens on US soil.
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The question I have is this -— Did Flynn converse with the Russians via a tapped conversation that originated from overseas?
If so, then whoever did the wire tapping has an excuse to cover his butt. He can say:
1) We tapped a conservation that originated from overseas
2) The conversation happened to be between Flynn and the overseas party we were surveilling.
If the conversation however was tapped specifically to target Flynn, then yes, it is illegal.
RE: They also say that there was an “inquiry of Trump aides” (see #35) but the targets of the intercepts were the Russians.
A separate article mentioned that they suspected Manafort, Page and Stone ( all Trump aides ) as being in collusion with the Russians. So yes, they were under suspicion. But since it is illegal to wiretap Americans, they had to create a scenario to LEGALLY cover their butts. So, they applied for a FISA warrant to tap RUSSIANS knowing that these folks would be talking to them.
They can always use the excuse that their gathering information about Manafort et. al. was INCIDENTAL.