Why Obama Really Spied on Trump. Obama had to spy on Trump to protect himself.

Front Page ^ | September 20, 2017 | Daniel Greenfield

[billorites]

Last week, CNN revealed (and excused) one phase of the Obama spying operation on Trump. After lying about it on MSNBC, Susan Rice admitted unmasking the identities of Trump officials to Congress.

Rice was unmasking the names of Trump officials a month before leaving office. The targets may have included her own successor, General Flynn, who was forced out of office using leaked surveillance.

While Rice’s targets weren’t named, the CNN story listed a meeting with Flynn, Bannon and Kushner.

Bannon was Trump’s former campaign chief executive and a senior adviser. Kushner is a senior adviser. Those are exactly the people you spy on to get an insight into what your political opponents plan to do.

Now the latest CNN spin piece informs us that secret FISA orders were used to spy on the conversations of Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. The surveillance was discontinued for lack of evidence and then renewed under a new warrant. This is part of a pattern of FISA abuses by Obama Inc. which never allowed minor matters like lack of evidence to dissuade them from new FISA requests.

Desperate Obama cronies had figured out that they could bypass many of the limitations on the conventional investigations of their political opponents by ‘laundering’ them through national security.

If any of Trump’s people were talking to non-Americans, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) could be used to spy on them. And then the redacted names of the Americans could be unmasked by Susan Rice, Samantha Power and other Obama allies. It was a technically legal Watergate.

If both CNN stories hold up, then Obama Inc. had spied on two Trump campaign leaders.

Furthermore the Obama espionage operation closely tracked Trump’s political progress. The first FISA request targeting Trump happened the month after he received the GOP nomination. The second one came through in October: the traditional month of political surprises meant to upend an election.

The spying ramped up after Trump’s win when the results could no longer be used to engineer a Hillary victory, but would instead have to be used to cripple and bring down President Trump. Headed out the door, Rice was still unmasking the names of Trump’s people while Obama was making it easier to pass around raw eavesdropped data to other agencies.

Obama had switched from spying on a political opponent to win an election, to spying on his successor to undo the results of the election. Abuse of power by a sitting government had become subversion of the government by an outgoing administration. Domestic spying on opponents had become a coup.

The Democrat scandals of the past few administrations have hinged on gross violations of political norms, elementary ethics and the rule of law that, out of context, were not technically illegal.

But it’s the pattern that makes the crime. It’s the context that shows the motive.

Obama Inc. compartmentalized its espionage operation in individual acts of surveillance and unmasking, and general policies implemented to aid both, that may have been individually legal, in the purely technical sense, in order to commit the major crime of eavesdropping on the political opposition.

When the individual acts of surveillance are described as legal, that’s irrelevant. It’s the collective pattern of surveillance of the political opposition that exposes the criminal motive for them.

If Obama spied on two of Trump’s campaign leaders, that’s not a coincidence. It’s a pattern.

A criminal motive can be spotted by a consistent pattern of actions disguised by different pretexts. A dirty cop may lose two pieces of evidence from the same defendant while giving two different excuses. A shady accountant may explain two otherwise identical losses in two different ways. Both excuses are technically plausible. But it’s the pattern that makes the crime.

Manafort was spied on under the Russia pretext. Bannon may have been spied on over the UAE. That’s two different countries, two different people and two different pretexts.

But one single target. President Trump.

It’s the pattern that exposes the motive.

When we learn the whole truth (if we ever do), we will likely discover that Obama Inc. assembled a motley collection of different technically legal pretexts to spy on Trump’s team.

Each individual pretext might be technically defensible. But together they add up to the crime of the century.

Obama’s gamble was that the illegal surveillance would justify itself. If you spy on a bunch of people long enough, especially people in politics and business, some sort of illegality, actual or technical, is bound to turn up. That’s the same gamble anyone engaged in illegal surveillance makes.

Businessmen illegally tape conversations with former partners hoping that they’ll say something damning enough to justify the risk. That was what Obama and his allies were doing with Trump.

It’s a crime. And you can’t justify committing a crime by discovering a crime.

If everyone were being spied on all the time, many crimes could be exposed every second. But that’s not how our system works. That’s why we have a Fourth Amendment.

Nor was Obama Inc. trying to expose crimes for their own sake, but to bring down the opposition.

That’s why it doesn’t matter what results the Obama surveillance turned up. The surveillance was a crime. Anything turned up by it is the fruit of a poisonous tree. It’s inherently illegitimate.

The first and foremost agenda must be to assemble a list of Trump officials who were spied on and the pretexts under which they were spied upon. The pattern will show the crime. And that’s what Obama and his allies are terrified of. It’s why Flynn was forced out using illegal surveillance and leaks. It’s why McMaster is protecting Susan Rice and the Obama holdovers while purging Trump loyalists at the NSC.

The left’s gamble was that the Mueller investigation or some other illegitimate spawn of the Obama eavesdropping would produce an indictment and then the procedural questions wouldn’t matter.

It’s the dirty cop using illegal eavesdropping to generate leads for a “clean” case against his target while betting that no one will look too closely or care how the case was generated. If one of the Mueller targets is intimidated into making a deal, the question of how the case was generated won’t matter.

Mueller will have a cooperative witness. And the Democrats can begin their coup in earnest. It will eventually turn out that there is no “there” there. But by then, it’ll be time for President Booker.

There’s just one problem.

If the gamble fails, if no criminal case that amounts to anything more than the usual investigational gimmick charges like perjury (the Federal equivalent of ‘resisting arrest’ for a beat cop) develops, then Obama and his allies are on the hook for the domestic surveillance of their political opponents.

With nothing to show for it and no way to distract from it.

That’s the race against the clock that is happening right now. Either the investigation gets results. Or its perpetrators are left hanging in the wind. If McMaster is fired, which on purely statistical grounds he probably will be, and a Trump loyalist who wasn’t targeted by the surveillance operation becomes the next National Security Adviser and brings in Trump loyalists, as Flynn tried to do, then it’s over.

And the Dems finally get their Watergate. Except the star won’t be Trump, it will be Obama. Rice, Power, Lynch and the rest of the gang will be the new Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Mitchell.

Once Obama and his allies launched their domestic surveillance operation, they crossed the Rubicon. And there was no way back. They had to destroy President Trump or risk going to jail.

The more crimes they committed by spying on the opposition, the more urgently they needed to bring down Trump. The consequences of each crime that they had committed spurred them on to commit worse crimes to save themselves from going to jail. It’s the same old story when it comes to criminals.

Each act of illegal surveillance became more blatant. And when illegal surveillance couldn’t stop Trump’s victory, they had to double down on the illegal surveillance for a coup.

The more Obama spied on Trump, the more he had to keep doing it. This time it was bound to pay off.

Obama and his allies had violated the norms so often for their policy goals that they couldn’t afford to be replaced by anyone but one of their own. The more Obama relied on the imperial presidency of executive orders, the less he could afford to be replaced by anyone who would undo them. The more his staffers lied and broke the law on everything from the government shutdown to the Iran nuke sellout, the more desperately they needed to pull out all the stops to keep Trump out of office. And the more they did it, the more they couldn’t afford not to do it. Abuse of power locks you into the loop familiar to all dictators. You can’t stop riding the tiger. Once you start, you can’t afford to stop.

If you want to understand why Samantha Power was unmasking names, that’s why. The hysterical obsession with destroying Trump comes from the top down. It’s not just ideology. It’s wealthy and powerful men and women who ran the country and are terrified that their crimes will be exposed.

It’s why the media increasingly sounds like the propaganda organs of a Communist country. Why there are street riots and why the internet is being censored by Google and Facebook’s “fact checking” allies.

It’s not just ideology. It’s raw fear.

The left is sitting on the biggest crime committed by a sitting president. The only way to cover it up is to destroy his Republican successor.

A turning point in history is here.

If Obama goes down, the left will go down with him. If his coup succeeds, then America ends.

[JDoutrider]

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[poconopundit]

Yep. Like the Clintons, Obama proved totally lawless.

Was Obama conceived in Little Rock? Was his father a famous man who could pay to have secrets silenced?

We know so little about Obama’s past. The only photos we have are those of him smoking pot and being an insurrectionist at Harvard (the guy who never wrote a single law piece for the Harvard journal where he was “Editor”).

Obama was the Manchurian Candidate and Chauncey Gardiner wrapped up in one package the Deep State and Fake News put in office.

The Destroyer of a great nation. We’ve got one chance to get our country back and that’s DJT. Trust him, he’s on our side and will deliver, but the source of his strength rests entirely with “three beautiful words”: We The People.

[semantic]

We are long, long past the need for specific details, Toto. Everyone who has even the slightest clue - that includes the whole stable of domestic enemies - has known the entire story for quite some time.

I've said for these long months that Trump holds all the cards: all the transcripts, all the tapes, all the emails, all the financial transactions, all the agencies, everything.

Now, the real question is to how he chooses to maximize the impact as the reveal is slowly unfolded for the general public. Again, I'm probably boring people with repetition, but Nov 2018 is the second most important election after 2016. Everything - everything - Trump does over the next 14 months will be to effect a complete, utter knock out of punch of the deep state. But in order to do so, he needs a clean sweep of both houses of Congress to truly implement his MAGA agenda.

So, he could spill the beans now, arrest the entire crew, and maybe gain 5% in the polls, which would then dissipate over the course of the year. Or, he can let the facts unfold, allow the entire sordid, tawdry tail to be exposed so that even the most ardent progressive will ultimately admit to themselves that their side was dirty.

Actually, this isn't a hard trick to accomplish. The hard left, like the hard right, actually believes in principles. The true leftists believers will come to realize that the Obama/Clinton crime cabal simply used them like a used condom to achieve their own selfish ends towards power. That's why see continue to see support for Bernie, Stein, etc.

That's the moment Trump is waiting for: when the nation collectively realizes they were duped. That's when the Dem party will swing hard left to support true Commies, and Congress will be swept by center-right supporters of MAGA.

After that, it all falls into place: re-organizing the judiciary, impeaching rogue judges, stacking the supreme court, etc, etc, etc. Trump will go down as one of the 3 greatest presidents, an historical figure that saved the republic.

[freds6girlies]

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[V K Lee]

Everyone who has even the slightest clue - that includes the whole stable of domestic enemies - has known the entire story for quite some time.
_____________________

Exactly, and by ‘everyone’: This includes True American Patriots, congress, lobbyist, and most in-tuned voters.

Our President is walking a tight rope to achieve the goals he has set. The only way to help him for those so inclined, is to be active, clean house, and be diligent to everything around you.

[semantic]

Our President is walking a tight rope to achieve the goals he has set.

It wasn't until years later that historians recognized Stalingrad & Midway as the two, true turning points in each respective theatre. While the wars continued in the present, it might have (internally) appeared that the Allies could still possibly lose, but it reality, it was all over except for the crying.

In many ways, the initial 8 months - from the election to the beginning of summer - seem to have been Trump's test of fire. He, and the People, have not only survived the onslaught, but are now on the offensive. Of course, we cannot grow complacent, but in many ways we can relax a bit.

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but very fine. If you step back, you can see the arc of history from where we came from to where it's leading us. We just have to follow procedure, and allow time to do its work.

For good or bad, Trump is an ego maniac. He wants to he an historical figure, to be remembered as a stalwart. Holding his cards, knowing his hand, would you expect him to let the opposition off the hook? For what possible purpose? No, the domestic enemies need to be routed to satisfy both his own ego, and to actually do good for the country.

If you can get a two-fer ie doing what you want and actually turning out to be the "good guy", who would allow such an opportunity to be squandered?

[Vaduz]

Obama admin’s = KGB

[stephenjohnbanker]

You & Williams nailed it.

[bitt]

lucyt’s list

ping me for on or off....

[ptsal]

keep me on the list
thanks
ptsal

[Sir Napsalot]

save for later

[Art in Idaho]

Obama has always been a communist at heart and a Muslim second. The perfect candidate for the deep state to destroy America. They groomed him and set the path for his Manchurian candidacy.

Once elected, he acted like a true communist - secretive with his own records and background and probably started spying immediately using all of our IC assets - with their blessing. No different from the KGB and the Stasi. He went all out to spy on Trump and his associates. Right out of the USSR playbook. No difference. He is a traitor and needs to be tried as such.

The magnanimity of our domestic deep state enemy is becoming more and more obvious the more this is investigated. Obama and the deep state started the coup, and Hillary was supposed to finish it. Thank God for Donald Trump. Pray for him daily.

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3587295/posts?page=61#61

It's also becoming more and more obvious that major investigations culminating in real Nuremberg trials are needed for 18 U.S. Code Chapter 115 - TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES to cleanse our corrupt communists politicians, both elected and in the deep state. They are all working together to destroy our Sacred Republic. We can't let that happen.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." - Wendell Phillips.

Stay alert FReepers. Pray for President Trump, our Sacred Republic and prepare.

[roses of sharon]

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/09/lou-dobbs-goes-off-corrupt-mueller-investigation-going-video/

Lou Dobbs Goes Off on “Corrupt” Mueller Investigation: “What is Going on Here?!” (VIDEO)

[Jane Long]

Hannity just went through an entire, long list of crimes/collusion/scandals, etc committed by former 0 admin, Clinton’s, Comey, etc.....and keeps asking....

WHERE ARE THE INVESTIGATIONS?????

WHERE’S THE DOJ???? WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO CRACK DOWN??? WHERE’S THE SPECIAL COUNCIL????

He says it’s now become BEYOND a constitutional crisis. He is SPOT ON!!

[Art in Idaho]

Hannity asking: WHERE ARE THE INVESTIGATIONS????? WHERE’S THE DOJ???? WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO CRACK DOWN??? WHERE’S THE SPECIAL COUNCIL???? He says it’s now become BEYOND a constitutional crisis. He is SPOT ON!!

I just saw the same thing. Bravo to Hannity and Newt for nailing this. It is indeed beyond a constitutional crisis. I just told my wife this is probably one of the biggest crises in our country's history. If this is Not dealt with, it will certainly happen again and may result in all of us going to camps in the SW.

I think all of us need to hammer this home daily until something is done!

[Art in Idaho]

Last lines of the Greenfield article:

"The left is sitting on the biggest crime committed by a sitting president. The only way to cover it up is to destroy his Republican successor."

"A turning point in history is here."

"If Obama goes down, the left will go down with him. If his coup succeeds, then America ends."

Fight on America! We are at War for the very survival of our Sacred Republic!

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

FYI: I don’t think “magnanimity” is the word you want to use.

Otherwise, I agree with you.

There are times I pause and wonder, 10-12 years ago, what incredibly evil freaking genius could see, when he was but a tadpole, what the potential of 0bama was.

[Art in Idaho]

FYI: I don’t think “magnanimity” is the word you want to use. Otherwise, I agree with you. There are times I pause and wonder, 10-12 years ago, what incredibly evil freaking genius could see, when he was but a tadpole, what the potential of 0bama was.

You are correct re magnanimity, meant magnitude. Yes, I always go back to the article in The American Thinker that freaked my out in Sept. 08': Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis By James Simpson. I sent it to everyone I knew, but to no avail. Soon after I found Free Republic and joined in Jan. 09'.

It was pretty evident who Obama was to anyone who would just do a little research. The "Axis of Evil" triad got him elected: MSM, Hollywood and Academia plus the NY-DC elites. They had been grooming him for a long time. What a tragedy. Over the years, I've recommended Discover the Networks BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

A great summary of all things known about Obama. We still don't know a lot about his background but DTN does a great job.

[musicman]

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[bitt]

check out Art in Idaho’s post above and the incredibly prescient article he links to,

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html

long read, lotta stuff, really worth it.