Posted on 01/16/2018 7:05:16 PM PST by bitt
One of the most contentious issues surrounding the Trump dossier is the question of whether the FBI used unverified material from the dossier — a Clinton campaign opposition research product — to apply for permission to spy on Americans. Investigators from both House and Senate have long wanted to see any FISA applications (that is, spying requests filed with the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court) that dealt with the Trump-Russia affair.
Now, they have seen them.
Sources on both Capitol Hill and in the executive branch have confirmed that representatives of four committees — the House Intelligence Committee, Senate Intelligence Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and Senate Judiciary Committee — have had the opportunity to examine FISA documents in a secure room at the Justice Department. They were not allowed to take the documents out of the room or to copy them, but they could make notes. They thus know the answer to the was-the-dossier-used-for-spying question.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
The challenge for House and Senate investigators is to get the information to the public. One option is to ask the executive branch to declassify it. The problem is that simply getting the information out of the FBI and Justice Department has been like pulling teeth. Another option is to have the president himself declassify it. The problem is that it is probably a good idea for President Trump to stay out of a congressional investigative process that focuses on his campaign. Yet another option is for Congress to exercise its little-known authority to declassify. The problem is that it is a long and complicated process.
Maybe it would be better to just do an old-fashioned leak. The problem with that is that it would open the leaker to the legitimate charge of revealing classified information. Whether that happens could depend on how widely the information is disseminated inside Congress. The more members and staff who know, the more likely it will get out.
On June 27, 2017, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham wrote a letter to the FBI and Justice Department seeking "all proposed FISA applications that the FBI and Justice Department submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)" in the course of investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. The request included "the FISC's responses to such proposed FISA applications; all final, signed FISA applications that the FBI and the Justice Department submitted to the FISC; and the FISC's responses to the final, signed applications."
It's not clear whether Grassley and Graham got everything they wanted. But it is clear that congressional investigators know some very critical facts regarding the dossier's role in the Trump-Russia investigation, and it is time the public did, too. .....
article actually dated 1/10/2018
They’ve delayed the Ohr interview and CTH suggests that Nunes and the rest are deliberately waiting until after they re-up FISA-702—albeit with fixes to stop abuse—before dropping more bombs. Hopefully the delay doesn’t take all the way to February.
If there were anything that made Trump look bad, the Democrats would have leaked it immediately.
And no leaks so far. The lunatic Democrats must not like what they read.
Bull$hit to any “classification” designed to cover up the FBI sedition in the 2016 election. Time for a Congressman to grow some balls and just say it on the capitol steps.
DARE the DOJ to try to arrest him and say he will trust the nation to protect him.
The coup must hit a brick wall. It’s time.
One thing is for sure.
With Jeff Sessions recused, and acting AG on these matters, Rod Rosenstein in charge, the DOJ doing something isn't an option.
They’ve delayed the Ohr interview and CTH suggests that Nunes and the rest are deliberately waiting until after they re-up FISA-702—albeit with fixes to stop abuse—before dropping more bombs. Hopefully the delay doesn’t take all the way to February.
February? Meadows was on Hannity talking March for the IG report. It’s abundantly clear at this point that this is all beltway theater and no Obama admin folks will be prosecuted.
IG report already partially released as of last Friday. There’s 1.2 million documents in total.
These Congressional committees continue to press for the same special counsel to investigate it that they have been calling for since July 2017. The special counsel that should have been appointed in May 2107 when Rosenstein decided to appoint a special counsel to investigate Trump, instead, even though this information was already out.
If the DOJ refuses to ever appoint the special counsel, Congress should vote to change the special counsel law back to the one that allows Congress to appoint special counsels, whether the DOJ approves or not. That would be a drastic step, but so far the DOJ appears unwilling to do anything but sweep things under their rug. Unless it comes to the investigation against Trump, of course, for which they quickly appointed a special counsel.
Block “702” at all costs, This was a rape of the Constitution. NEVER AGAIN!! Bring it down.
GREAT POINT, that the article didn't even graze. My understanding is that Nunes tried to place an amendment on the new House bill to clean this up, but Ryan stripped it before presenting to the House for vote where it passed. Now Rand Paul is working to block it in the Senate, but it will be an uphill battle.
Trump claims in a tweet he fixed the problem that led to his surveillance. My guess is he's referring to the NSC portion of the DOJ, that Sally Yates declared as off limits to the IG, and where Treehouse claims the illegal surveillance originated. But this really needs to be cleaned up by Congressional law, not Presidential order.
It’s easy. Just came in the middle of the night, stand up and get recognized and spill the beans.
There is no “FIX: until it is death penalty for ever doing this again. Our Republic is at stake.
The president cannot be arrested - at least not until he is impeached. Thus the ‘rats fervently hope to regain the House this Fall - then immediately move to impeach... THEN cometh the civil war and . . .
As Rand Paul says, the 4th amendment is clearly being violated. Unfortunately, most everyone else in Washington doesn’t care. They believe the threat of terrorism outweighs our Constitutional rights, which I don’t agree with, it’s just the lazy way out. The House already voted. The Senate is next, and we’ll see if Paul can block it, he’s already promised a filibuster but that’s not enough in itself. At that point, it will be up to Trump to either sign it into law, or veto.
If I were Trump, I would veto it, and say that the reason why is because I am a victim of it. I would then use that announcement to prosecute those that abused it. I would wait until justice is served for the abuse before I re-authorized a modified system. Unfortunately, that’s not how I expect this to play out, since Trump said he already fixed it by Presidential action before the House voted, which was his implicit approval for it being passed.
Now what?
Some Kabuki Theatre.
No one will be indicted for any of the myriad crimes committed during the Kenyanesian Usurpation.
EVERYONE in the District of Corruption (except Trump) is complicit in violating the Constitution.
That’s been Obama’s invisible shield all along.
Your analyses is great and i agree.
Thanks! Very nice of you to say. Unfortunately though we agree the outcome on this might not be the best.
If we would just protect our borders from terrorists coming in, and put trustworthy cops in the intelligence agencies, we could actually adhere to the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Constitution is losing when compared to those other 2 right now.
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