Posted on 02/05/2018 5:52:06 AM PST by Hojczyk
Our former FBI agent reader writes to take issue with Byron York’s assertion that the FBI wiretapped Carter Page in 2013. He says it’s much worse than that and that this is almost certainly what happened:
Back in 2013 the FBI was listening to its standard, ongoing, FISA coverage of all things Russian. They were NOT investigating or wiretapping Page. The FBI was investigating and wiretapping Russians. It had no idea who Page was. By listening to Russians, however, the FBI discovered that Page was in touch with Russians.
What they would have done next is standard operation procedure in the counterintelligence world: they did some background on Page, contacted him, and got him to cooperate against those Russians. Anyone who read the court filing in the resulting case–including the Russians–would have had no trouble figuring out that Page had been cooperating with the FBI.
The likelihood that the Russians almost certainly knew all this–and we know they characterized Page as an “idiot”–makes the notion that all of a sudden in 2016 they were using Page as some sort of master spy even more absurd than it already was on its face.
Bear in mind, the FBI can’t get a FISA warrant on a US Person just for talking to Russians. They have to show probable cause that the US Person is engaged in “clandestine intelligence activity” (i.e., real “spy stuff”) on behalf of the Russians. That’s not something that can ordinarily be established by a phone conversation or two since, by the very nature of the thing, “clandestine intelligence activity” is kept … clandestine.
Color me skeptical in the extreme that anything of the sort was presented to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. So I’d say there’s probable cause to believe that we haven’t heard the last of this,
(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...
That whole “color me” phrase goes back to 1962 Fenster and Dickens. Stange that it made a revival.
Bkmk
Firefox updated over the weekend with a brand new update written by a kid in his mommas basement, and it will NOT let me separate paragraphs anymore, cannot insert a space or blank line??? any ideas how to fix???
From Sheryl Attkisson on Twitter:
If you’re one of those who’s deeply interested in The Memo and Carter Page, here’s the letter he wrote Congress before voluntarily testifying without an attorney.
According to all the talking head dems over the weekend, he is a master spy.
Fusion was contracted to Russians. Podesta is contracted to Russians. The Clintons are taking money from Russians. Do you suppose anyone got a FISA warrant on them?
Think about it:
-- raised in a foreign country with a radical Islamic government ...
-- traveled to foreign countries known to be hotbeds of radical Islamic terrorism ...
-- known associations with domestic terrorists here in the U.S. ...
-- operated under multiple names and/or identities here in the U.S.
-- provided extensive financial support to a nation (Iran) that has had its diplomatic ties with the U.S. severed for decades, and has been the target of an ongoing U.S. financial and trade embargo for this reason.
Interesting background, especially since one of the big Democrat talking points the last few days is to say that Page has been under surveillance since 2013, as if he was known to be a Russian agent since then.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.