One thing Comey has going for him - he was vindicated for, like, a minute. And then he wasn't.
One thing Comey has going for him, if the DOJ has to acknowledge publicly he was a dirty cop everything he touched has to be re-litigated. It would tie up the DOJ and FBI for a long, long time. Bagpipes wont do it.
Make it mandatory that the TOP persons asking for the warrant come before the court and plead it out.
FISA= Fraudulently Issued Spying Authorizations
Unless he is arrested & prosecuted, “Comey stories” like this mean nothing.
Here is a really good idea to prevent FISA / secret court abuse. No FISA / secret court.
It is not clear to me that the FISA court was deceived. From what I have read, it is more likely that the FISA judges were part of the cabal, and knowingly signed off on fraudulent applications. They only wanted plausible deniability for themselves.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
His goose is cooked either way .... if it's routine abuse, it's BAD. If it was only FISA warrants to allow them to spy on Trump, it proves extreme bias.
If you haven't listened to Dan Bongino's interview of Devin Nunes Friday (posted yesterday). it's worth a listen. Sundance noticed the same thing I noticed ...
"Keyword to focus attention; something CTH has drawn attention toward; is when Nunes says: conspiracy and conspiring in relation to conduct being illegal."
A lot of what was going on is in and of itself, not illegal, but if it's a "conspiracy", it is illegal.
The FISA court scandal will affect a lot more people than Comey.
Note to SCOTUS: Hint, hint...
Expected delivery date for the report....probably December 2020, if not later.
He should go back to the beginning, 1978, and dig through the entire record.
Now that we know? Now! This is why the media even conservative-friendly outlets like the Post can't be trusted. Anyone who has paid even a modicum of attention knew the FBI deceived the court about two years ago. But the media wouldn't admit it until an insider like Horowitz said it.
As someone that was a detective in a large city, here are some things that folks have to think about, even though I think most on here already know/have an idea about....
The judges only go with what they are being told. The FBI Agents and US Attorney’s that seek these warrants go before the court, ask for a warrant and most of the time will get them on the first try. Sometimes the judge will ask a few questions, maybe for some clarification. Sometimes, rarely, will they not sign. Then the warrants get re-written and signed later.
So, unless the judge is complicit, as I think the FISC judges were in all of this, there’s no way of them knowing anything other than what they’re being told.
And what they’re being told is done, under penalty of Perjury. Cops have gone to prison for that. I know 3 of them, that did.
To the FBI. The FBI and DOJ are the ones that, police the police. They are the ones that will come in and investigate you and everyone you know on civil rights charges, etc. They are the ones that will come in and investigate EVERY OTHER law enforcement agency in the country. They’ll do with their nose in the air, because their sh*t don’t stink. Or so they think. They are not looked up to by anyone, especially on the local level. Sure, when you’re a rookie and you deal with a few, you’re like, OMG..the FBI. Then you see them work annnnndddd, not so much. Most street cops and detectives could work circles around any of them with a 1/3 of the resources.
I’ve worked with and met some amazing ones. Ones that are the type that would be great at any job. They are the exceptions and there ain’t many of them. And their numbers are dwindling.
I digress....If the FBI/DOJ are the ones that, police the police...who police’s them? Congress? What entity goes after them? Two prosecutors get caught lying and withholding evidence in the Sen Stevens trial and absolutely nothing happens to them. In fact, the same judge that is overseeing Gen Flynn’s case is the one that caught them. Nothing happened to them. McCabe gets caught lying on 4 separate occasions, nothing....so far, maybe, I doubt it.
Will Congress drop the hammer? Obviously not, as certain members tried to use the FBI/DOJ to undo an election and get rid of the President. They aren’t going to let anything happen to their henchmen.
LOL for a really long time!
“That is, has the bureau taken to regularly lying in its 1,500 requests a year for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act wiretaps - or did higher-ups opt to go rogue in this particular case?”
Yes & yes. The FBI under Obama were political hacks. Hacks routinely cut corners to make themselves look good. But you can tell from the Page-Strzok texts that they were aware that their butts were hanging out a mile on this one.
Comey cannot look worse than he does. Right now he looks like a pile of dog crap in a paper bag left on the front porch of Brennan’s house. I guess the only thing worse would be to light the bag on fire, ring Brennan’s doorbell and run.
“Now that we know FBI agents deceived the court to get the warrants to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page”
False.
The FBI got the warrants to spy on Trump.
Page was always just an excuse.
The FISA system is premised on the notion that those preparing the applications have high levels of diligence, objectivity, and integrity. The system is managed in secret; the judges are almost by necessity a rubber stamp, the executives who sign off on the applications do not even read them. What could go wrong?
Can anyone look at the top FBI personnel and DoJ lawyers that have been paraded before us, and characterize ANY of them as demonstrating diligence, objectivity, and integrity? Biased crooks do not want underlings with integrity in sensitive jobs. If a fair percentage of the FISA applications are not bent deliberately or through “sloppiness”, it would be the miracle of the Age.