Why Trump is right to demand answers on the FBI 'informant' fracas
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Did Barack Obama's FBI spy on the Trump campaign by placing a long-trusted source in position to develop contacts with Donald Trump's political advisers? Or did the FBI get information from a well-regarded patriot with concerns over potential damage from hostile foreign intelligence operations?
We're about to find out.
At the heart of these questions lie the credibility and standing of the special counsel probe into Russian meddling and alleged Trump collusion during the 2016 election cycle. And the public's (and president's) demand for answers will test the credibility of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The Russia probe began as an FBI counterintelligence investigation more than two years ago, when the bureau got tipped that Trump campaign advisers were discussing their contacts with Russia. How they got tipped and how they reacted, however, is a narrative that keeps changing.
Initially, the FBI was reluctant to discuss it, but after the exposure of the Christopher Steele dossier, anonymous "officials" leaked to The New York Times instead that former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer had contacted the FBI well before the dossier's creation. Downer, now an ambassador to the U.K., had heard Trump foreign-policy adviser George Papadopoulos discussing in May 2016 how Russians had "thousands" of Hillary Clinton's emails. Downer shrugged it off at the time, but after emails began emerging from the DNC hack, Australian officials passed that information along to the FBI. Thus, the Times reported last December, was the birth of the Russian-interference operation.
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A report from The Washington Post on Friday raised even more questions. Rather than being a passive witness/whistleblower, the "secret informant for the FBI" appeared to be actively contacting Trump campaign advisers looking for evidence. The "retired professor … took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Carter Page," the man whom the FBI would later surveil with a warrant from the FISA court. The informant later contacted campaign co-chair Sam Clovis to offer his services as an adviser, and also offered to fund a research effort by Papadopoulos.
That sounds like something different than mere whistleblowing, especially when conducted by an experienced intelligence "source." It suggests that the informant was either freelancing as a curious sort of "spy lite," or had been tasked to do so more officially by the agency with which he was working. Either way, it calls into question what motivations went into this and whether strong prohibitions against spying on domestic politics may have been violated. These concerns ought to remain whether the informant was "embedded" in the campaign or just approaching its members from outside.
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Perhaps nothing untoward took place in this FBI investigation, and the steps taken can be shown to be both prudent and responsible. However, the use of long-term intelligence sources to actively engage political campaigns for the purpose of investigating them raises all sorts of dangers of politicization of both law enforcement and intelligence. That kind of activity should only be undertaken if it can survive the highest levels of scrutiny afterward — and that's precisely why it requires that level of scrutiny now. Otherwise, these kinds of activities will become a permanent fixture in our electoral processes, setting up irresistible incentives for those in power who wish to remain in power.
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If folks don't trust County, City or Town Regular Police, why are they able to trust the Largest most secretive Police force in the land ?
I say.… Start the REAL investigation.
It appears that the ones clamoring so loudly about allegations of collusion and obstruction of justice have become very scared about the bright light of truth and reality being shined upon their fake con game. In their rush to overreach, they lost their grip on the target and are flailing away as they fall into the abyss of being accused of some very serious shyt..
It's one of those "Find SOMETHING, ANYTHING" things going on against Trump.
Thus the "Why Trump is right to demand answers on the FBI 'informant' fracas"
It happens to Normal folks in the country, but we can't afford to fight it ! These secretive agencies will win every time against YOU.
Anonymous officials pushed back on this contention almost immediately. CNN's sources insisted that the source came to the FBI rather than the other way around, but also included a curious nugget: T he informant had not been "planted" by the FBI, but "has been a source for the FBI and CIA for years."
What ?
The FBI recruits and cultivates informants in all walks of life and while they're not real agents they do get payed for information. The FBI does it this way because it gives them hundreds of thousands of eyes and ears at a minimal cost, they only pay when the informant gives them something good. The FBI is all the bad things we used to say were Wrong with the Soviet Union with the informants spying on their friends, neighbors, coworkers looking for something anything they can sell to the FBI for cash and favors. Of course the worst thing about the FBI and their Informants is the corruption because if an informant produces for the FBI they'll protect that informant no matter what. Although the FBI has many Informants who are Criminals most are not, most are just normal people working normal jobs because the FBI likes to have eyes and ears everywhere and that includes in Political Parties and in Federal, State, and Local Government.
Everyone else goes to jail for not revealing an informant if asked. Isn't that great ?
How cute that far right wingers defend an evil/ignorant president with a sub 100 IQ.
Every business that Trump has tried to run has ended up in bankruptcy due to his mismanagement. And you idiots voted for him for president?
$ 21,200,000,000,000 of dept... maybe it was not so idiotic after all, maybe it was time. Seems like some people decided to hire a pro.
The FBI. The very mention of this group sends fear into most average citizen's mind. They can do almost anything. It is time they be investigated properly.
Not if they're innocent of a crime, now, if you are in the Mob or, a criminal yes, then you should be scared.
Sure.
The only crime they got on Flynn was Lying ! Not anything about what he had already done, which, by the way, they already knew about ! Look what they did to him, and he's not your average guy. They ruined his life.
If the FBI came to your door, your mind would be running all over the place and you'd be sweating, so this "If your Innocent, you shouldn't be scared" thing, is all Blogging talk.
LOL, if you had bothered to read your own link you would have seen that the FBI was pressured into going after Hatfill by Congress so, maybe Congress should stay out of the investigation business.
If you're innocent of any crime, you will protest loudly about the allegations as Trump has been doing.
OK, I'll run through it slowly for you. Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI because it was the SMALLEST of the crimes he was guilty of, that way he wouldn't spend the rest of his life in prison, as he would have done had he gone to trial. The FBI, in a sense, has come to my door many times in the past, so have the U.S. Marshalls, the DEA and, ICE, ya see, I have friends that work in all these agencies and, none of them scare me because, I'm not guilty of any crimes.
Show me what he was actually "Charged with" that would have brought him to a trail before the Lying Charge.
"The FBI, in a sense, has come to my door many times in the past, so have the U.S. Marshalls, the DEA and, ICE, ya see,"
SURE !
No, what Trump has been doing is what he has always done, this, distract in any fashion he can.
See, you only put up half of what I said and, then you try to say I'm lying. I have friends that are in law enforcement, not only local police but, FBI, U.S. Marshal's, DEA, and, ICE so, if you can prove me wrong on this please do, otherwise, apologize for saying I'm a liar.
Skirting the CoC [ph]
If you want to make such a personal statement, please do add "Details" to show why you are telling the truth.
Enquiring minds want to know, and please feel free to be "Specific" in your "Details" (Dates, Times, Addresses, Peoples names, ...etc.) !
Why? I'm talking about friends of mine, why should I tell you anything personal about them?
That's not entirely true. A friend, the company you work for, etc. and you would be told you had to testify even if you did nothing wrong.
You made a personal CLAIM. "Show Me" why I "SHOULD BELIEVE" !
Did you know I can burp "I believe I can Fly" without breathing ?
If you are a witness and, have done nothing wrong yourself, then you have nothing to fear.
Quit making stuff up, the inadvertent perjury trap that amounts to "lying" is the only thing he was charged with.
Trump doesn't appear to be "scared". He appears to be pissed and annoyed about Mueller's never ending exercise in futility. So why are the Democrats so fearful of the "heavily redacted memo" being released, and terrified about having a full, fair, complete, and impartial investigation of the Obama administration and its interactions with the FBI and DOJ as it was existed at that time??
As the leader of our nation, I would prefer he be concerned about ANY foreign "meddling" in any US election process. period
It's worse when they go to your Bosses door and ask questions about you, they won't accuse you of a crime (they don't have to) they'll just tell your boss they can't talk about an ongoing investigation and leave it to your Bosses imagination. Basically you'll never get another promotion or raise and the first chance you Boss gets to fire you you'll be gone. You don't have to commit a crime to have this happen either, all you need to do is Piss one of them off which might be hard not to do since they don't wear uniforms or badges but still act like Asshole Cops so if you meet a mouthy kingshit jerk and tell him to go F himself you might piss off the wrong jerk.
Just like Ooooops News. Once it's in peoples head (and the media knows this), their wrong isn't a factor. The "False Implant" has taken effect.
My god. You think that helps your case? That Mueller's FBI acted as political enforcers and destroyed the life of an innocent man for political purpose is somehow exculpatory!
I swear people don't think through their posts half the time. It boggles the mind that someone could possibly believe that a defense to the charge that the FBI targets innocent people is to say "It's okay! They targeted an innocent man for political reasons!"
You really don't understand how this works. If Flynn had been part of a conspiracy or "collusion" he would have had to plead guilty to it. All he's done is admitted he's a liar, which makes him a terrible witness if you need to him to testify to participation in an actual crime.
Moreover, justice department guidelines require that a defendant plead guilty to “the most serious readily provable charge consistent with the nature and extent of his/her conduct.” (See U.S. Attorney’s Manual, sec. 27.430 .)
The idea that he plead guilty to lying but will still somehow testify that he was a participant in a conspiracy that he wasn't charged with being involved in is just silly and ignornant of how prosecutors build cases.
He was charged with "lying" and only lying because he was an evidentiary dead end who can't testify to any actual crimes.
Of course you wouldn't have to worry Galen if they are friends of yours, but when they are out to get you it's another thing to have them come to your door.
Consider the Conservative 501c organizations, or should I say the people who were applying to become 501cs before Obama's second election. The FBI harassed the hell out of those folks and the Obama Administration also had the IRS investigate them. They were completely innocent, but the corrupt Administration had the cooperation from these agencies working for them, which indicates they were run by corrupt people as well. It was only designed to keep the Conservative Groups from forming 501cs, that's all. There's plenty of testimony and proof they did this. Then Lerner took the 5th, like most Democrat operatives do when being questioned about their illegal activities.
And that is exactly the way they come across, beyond reproach. Neither the FBI nor the DOJ are in the Constitution. Not that we don't need agencies of that nature in today's world, but no Intelligence Agency should have so much power, that they don't have to answer to anyone. They are supposed to answer to Congress, but they have been stonewalling on all request for information from Congress.
That was one of the biggest obstacles with the Obama Administration. No one was allowed to question Obama's judgement, history or honesty. The Obama administration stonewalled more than any other administration in the history of this country for Freedom of Information.
That "Most transparent administration in history" turned out to be the most non-transparent administration in history.
Given absolute power without any checks and balances produces tyranny.
Unbelievable !
Now, ONE "Word" in a sentence of MANY "words", is being singled out as a COC issue.
Friends or, not, if I had broken the law they would have come after me but, since I haven't broken the law they are still my friends. You do believe in obeying the law don't you?
As you can see from this excerpt it wasn't the Obama Administration that started this, it was the Bush Administration so, to claim it was all Obama's fault is a flat out lie.
There is some testimony that some IRS agents over stepped their authority in this but, it isn't proof that it was a "deep state Obama Administration action", like I've stated and, the report on it states, it all started under the Bush Administration and, the investigation continued under the Obama Administrations watch but, it was the IRS and, the Treasury Department that carried it out, not the FBI and, Comey, they were investigating the investigation, kind of like Trump wants to do with Mueller now. Consider this, all the company's that apply for the 501c's have to show that they are "social welfare" company's and, aren't politically motivated or, supporting a political agenda, many of the company's being investigated, Liberal leaning and, Conservative leaning couldn't do that and, as the report says in Wiki, NONE of the Conservative leaning company's have been denied but, at least one of the Liberal leaning ones was. Plus, all of this investigation was started by Congress, not Obama. But, of course I know facts don't mean anything to you since they don't confirm your conspiracy theory's.
Funny how the Koch bots continually try to get the names of those who oppose the Kochs.
Agree !
It's time for Trump to be investigated properly!
IF Obama was instrumental in ordering the FBi to investigate trump 's campaign perhaps it was because of all the russian people trump's people seemed to be involved with.
IF I was president and I saw a presidential candidate's people talking with outsides too much I'd sure wonder why and want to know it was not nefarious as well. After all Obama was the president at the time and he was responsible for America.
I would have had any campaign investigated including hilldabeasts that "conspired" or engaged with the enemy in any fashion during or before their candidacy.
keep America American !
That brings to question, was there a spy in the Crypt Keeper's campaign? We know she had contact with the Russians and others.
I would have had any campaign investigated including hilldabeasts that "conspired" or engaged with the enemy in any fashion during or before their candidacy.
keep America American !
Well, you would have had Hillary's campaign investigated, because there is a bucket full of interactions between Hillary and those around her who had plenty of contact with the Russians for years, including half a million dollars paid to her husband for a 45 minute speech sponsored by a Russian bank connected to Putin, a paid for dossier against Trump done by an agent who had Russian contacts. Are we to believe they weren't government contacts? And it went through 3 parties to somewhat hide the paper trail, somewhat like the donations to the Clinton Foundation passed through a Canadian Organization to laundry the donors identification. By the way they weren't listed as donors to Clinton Foundation.
We've been subject to the most corrupt administration in my life time during the years Obama was in office. And all those who joined in on his corruption, including those appointed by him, hired by the people he appointed, had the same ideologies are still in Washington and until we clean the swamp, we are going to continue to have to deal with them.
Trump has said the Russian meddling as outlined in Mueller’s recent indictments of 13 Russian nationals was not connected to his campaign because the charges show that the efforts began in 2014, “long before” he decided to run. Trump officially announced he was running for president in June 2015
Witnesses who have appeared before Mueller’s investigators have contradicted Trump’s timeline. They say Trump had flirted with running for president as far back as 2011 and began to consider running seriously after GOP nominee Mitt Romney lost to President Obama in 2012, people with knowledge of the matter said.
These people have told Mueller’s investigators that by 2014, Trump was committed to running for the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s attorney Ty Cobb didn’t return emails and calls for comment. A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment.
..............................................................
AS I previously stated IMO any candidate "engaging" with the "enemy" before or during the election process should be barred from running.
We'll really need to see WTF BOTH of the candidates connection(s) really were IF WE are ever allowed the full truth as we should be.
However, ALL of this just reaffirms my believe that I was correct in that I did not want Either of these two people to become president.
To do what? Help trump win? They conspired with the Ukraine, which is an ALLY of the USA. Trump conspired with Russia, who is NOT an ally of the USA. I am glad I could clear that up for you.
Besides... The right wing nutters said that if Hillary was elected, she would start a war with the Russians....now they are saying that she conspired with Putin, who absolutely hates Clinton? You rightists really need to get your talking points straight.
But by all means, keep playing that, "I know you are but what am I" game, it's funny as hell.
The Obama administration is the most honest administration we've had in decades. Look at the convictions.
Well, Duh, she was Secretary of State before the election.
And the $154 million she took as a "donation".
You're talking about fund raising for the DNC, something she is allowed to do, there is nothing illegal in doing this, all politicians help with fund raising efforts.
Should she have said to the DNC, "Oh, I can't help with fund raising, someone on the Right might take it the wrong way." Please, get real.
So the DNC is running of the "foundation". Good to know.
You should really read the article I posted with my post, the money didn't go to the foundation, the money was for the DNC and, Clintons campaign, as is explained in the article.
It appears that the ones clamoring so loudly about allegations of collusion and obstruction of justice have become very scared about the bright light of truth and reality being shined upon their fake con game
Well it would appear that the switch has been flipped, I guess the bright light of truth had a bad bulb. As to the con game, that is pure Trump.
I have never heard anybody complain about how everybody is out to get him and how they spy on him and everybody (except him) needs to have the DOJ investigate them. I can't imagine how bad he'd be bitchin' if he'd have LOST.
A crybaby who stopped developing mentally when he was eight for a President. JUST what the U.S. and the world needed.
Oh about one tenth of the botching and whining that Hillary and her minions have done during the past 18 + months and about one percent of what we are going to keep hearing from the old lose haha in the future. That if there would have been any at all .
Nice try, not even close. She wrote a book, trump whines every day, sometimes more than that.
Yea, like you have actually read it.. LOL BTW? She has written more books than donny has read.
Some things would have been different. Thousands of companies wouldn't have increased their employees salaries on their own and given bonues, The stock market wouldn't have gone up as much in a year as it did in the last 4 years of Obama. We would have never found out anything about all the collusion and corruption that existed during Obama's Administration in the different intelligence agencies. We would have never known anything about the spying that was conducted against the Trump campaign. We would now be buying even more guns, because we know taking our guns is a major priority by the Left. We would have many more refugees from countries who hate us coming into this country. The MSM would still be covering up any illegal activities coming from the White House or any Cabinet Leadership. ISIS would still be a major problem. There's a whole lot more that would have been different, but you get the message, I hope.
It was my desire from before the last election that we would have a honest, upstanding, intelligent, trustworthy candidate emerge. None ever did.
therefor I was and knew I would not be happy with whichever of the two candidates we actually had a choice of won.
I was correct.
There was a reason his folks shipped him off to military school. Seems the discipline didn't take.
Trump is a money launderer. As a private citizen he also engaged in sabotage against The United States.
And your evidence is?
Don't worry I don't really expect you to give any since in reality you have none and you only say things like that because you are ordered to .
Israel. The Saudi Dynasty. Start there. And there is more.
Oh yeah, Putin's Russia too.
so you have no evidence just as I said.
None that I can see.
You would not accept fact anyway.
Try Me. Put up some evidence or admit you have nothing
Never heard of Israel?
A question is not evidence of anything and yes I have heard of Israel. It is a very beautiful country with many strong and brave people in it. It is also one of our strongest allies .
Now, put up or shut up! Where is your evidence.
Where have you been? You never watch the news or commentaries?
There is an investigation under way. Evidence? When the investigation is complete 'the evidence' will be released.
you made specific statement implying that Trump has done this or that. You were asked to provide evidence to back up that charge. And investigation or even news reports and editorials are not proof of guilt. If that were so Hillary would be wearing an orange jumpsuit making license plates as she truly belongs. Now I will ask one more time to provide evidence or admit you have nothing .PUOSU!
The only one who makes any specific anything is you. The investigation is under way. When it is complete, the results will be released.
Just a lot of Russians and there is that money thing too around this president. I am confident that Trump is not complicit, however, there are some in 'the Trump orbit' that may be.
So the lies about the birther crap wasn't treason? Trump should be in prison instead of the White House.
Nope it wasn't. If it were, Hillary would be charged with treason because it was her campaign that started that rumor. Also I would suggest that you look up how treason is defined in the constitution and no, opposing Obama is not part of it .
Clinton Campaign did not start 'the Birtherism lies.'
The only problem with the 'Birtherism thing' are the simple facts that those who promoted it were never asked to put up or shut up.
Funny how things never change with the Left.
What Changed? The Same Media who Excuse Bob Mueller Abused Ken Starr.
~~Link~~
On the other hand …
How Robert Mueller Is Learning from Ken Starr's Mistakes
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election could not be more different than Ken Starr’s probe of Bill Clinton’s behavior in the 1990s.
While Starr’s probe shifted focus from real estate deals to the president’s infidelity, Mueller’s has stayed methodically focused on Russia. While Starr’s investigation drew out to four years, Mueller’s team has worked quickly to secure indictments and guilty pleas from some key players in his first year. And while Starr’s team leaked constantly, Mueller has often surprised everyone when he filed charges.
It remains to be seen how the probe’s ends will differ. Starr’s team eventually sent a report to Congress that led to Clinton’s impeachment on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Mueller, who is operating under a different law, will send a report to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who will then decide what to share with Congress and the public.
Mueller is staying on topic
Starr’s investigation initially began as a look into Clinton’s real estate investments in the Whitewater Development Corporation, but ended up exposing sordid details of an affair between the president and a White House intern. The shift in focus of the investigation was sensational and polarizing.
“ We would all be better off if Starr had exercised his prosecutorial discretion and left the White House Kama Sutra a closed book,” TIME wrote in 1998 . “What the President did ranged from the silly to the squalid, but the investigation is worse, turning a private mess into a public eyesore.”
Then-First Lady Hillary Clinton famously referred to a “vast right-wing conspiracy” out to get her husband as revelations about his affair with Monica Lewinsky and other scandals came out. Trump has accused the Mueller investigation of bias, too, tweeting — somewhat inaccurately — in March, “Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans?”
But Mueller’s own motives haven’t been impugned by as many neutral observers the way that Starr’s were.
“If Bob Mueller has a strong partisan streak or ideological streak, he keeps it to himself,” says Barbara Perry, University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, who spoke to TIME as part of a new presidential-history partnership between TIME History and the Miller Center.
Recently, Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, argued that Mueller exceeded the scope of his own investigation by charging him with crimes including money laundering that occurred before the 2016 campaign. But a newly released memo shows that Mueller was explicitly authorized by Rosenstein to investigate crimes related to payments Manafort received from the Ukranian government during that time.
“Mueller is a former prosecutor and a former investigator, and he is going to stay focused and keep his eye on the ball,” says Peter Zeidenberg, former deputy special counsel in the Scooter Libby case who worked with Mueller at the Justice Department. “And the ball is Russia.”
Mueller is moving quickly
The independent counsel investigation of Clinton lasted for four years, and impeachment proceedings extended beyond that.
“He had to go slow,” TIME wrote of Starr in its 1998 Man of the Year issue . “To nail a politician as elusive as Clinton, he had to be maniacal in pursuit of the facts. To turn lowlife behavior into high crimes and keep going when a majority of the public wanted him to hang it up, he had to be not just dogged but extremely confident — many would say far too confident — of his own fairness and judgment.”
But this slow pace hurt Starr’s reputation and the perception of his work. “Most damaging for Starr was that, as the probe dragged on, the public grew impatient with the prosecutor,” TIME wrote in a 2000 book review .
No one knows how much longer Mueller’s investigation will last, but the fact that he’s already charged 19 people in less than one year at least shows he’s proceeding at a relatively rapid clip .
“We don’t want it to be spread out,” says Solomon Wisenberg, who was second-in-command in the Whitewater/Lewinsky investigation. “It’s not good for the country if it’s spread out for four or five years… [Mueller is] being sensitive to that problem.”
And experts say that moving quickly could help avoid the first trap of getting bogged down or veering off topic. “[Mueller] doesn’t waste time digging,” says Zeidenberg. “If something isn’t fruitful and isn’t producing, he’s going to move on.”
Mueller’s team isn’t leaking
“Ken Starr’s record for leaking was notorious,” Lanny Davis, who served as special counsel to Clinton, told Vox . And as leaks flowed from Starr’s office, his reputation and the public’s respect for the investigation became more and more damaged — especially in an investigation that uncovered such a titillating story.
“If you leak, it gives ammunition to political opponents who can then try and attack you,” says Zeidenberg. “It makes your job way more difficult, and you’re just handing the other side ammunition to bash you around with.”
In the 1998 profile of Starr, TIME wrote of how so many Americans “loathe” him. “The whole thing is terrible,” Starr said in an interview for the piece. “You can put that on the record. This whole thing is terrible, for all of us.”
By contrast, Mueller has run a tight ship, clamping down on leaks coming from his investigation and staying in the background even as the Trump Administration leaks profusely. Mueller has “long gotten used to the 24/7 news cycle and [seen] the impact of social media,” says Perry. “Whereas Ken Starr was tempted into that space, Bob Mueller, I think having the wiser head about things like that, was not.”
Plus, Perry muses, “Don’t we think Bob Mueller … is going to be especially careful that things don’t get out and get into social media, especially when the very president he’s investigating is a tweeter?”
I am getting sick and tired of the Trump lies promoted here. This is NOTHING but more bullshit from Trump to see what sticks, which is highly pushed through all media. These are LIES you are pushing. Total bullshit (although usually projection of what Trump himself is doing, by the way, thanks for the heads up).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/23/trump-misquotes-james-clapper-to-push-spygate-narrative/?utm_term=.d0d32f0fafb0
Gee I dont know why when a presidential candidate seems to have a lot of interaction with folks from a foreign government they would come under suspicion ?
Moral of the story, When running for president don't entertain the enemy.
It could get messy.
And especially don't get filmed by the KGB being pissed on by Russian prostitutes.
Funny shit. Two weeks ago, it was one spy, last week it, "might have been two", this week, it's, "spies".... Of course there is zero proof of any of it. Just more of trump trying desperately to discredit the FBI.
Anyone else notice that the FBI was a great organization right up to the point that trump found out that his campaign was under investigation and he began his, "FBI is bad" campaign? Kids, trump lies 80% of the time, stop buying his BS. The FBI has 33,000 people working for it, trump is suggesting that they are all corrupt, and he isn't. News flash: It's not everyone else that is wrong, or corrupt...it's trump. Deal with it.
HERE'S MY SOLUTION:
• Let's have the DOJ authorize the FBI to get a full, written statement FROM THE INFORMANT … AS TO EVERYTHING HE OBSERVED WHILE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN …
… AND RELEASE THAT STATEMENT TO THE PUBLIC!
HERE'S MY PREDICTION AS TO HOW TRUMP, CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS AND TRUMP'S FOLLOWERS WOULD REACT TO MY SOLUTION.
• "That would be ILLEGAL!!!"
And they'd be correct -- although they would not likely know why it would be illegal … and, ironically, hypocritically … THEY'D BE ARGUING AGAINST THEIR OWN ORIGINAL DEMANDS FOR THAT INFORMATION!
So take the "SPY GATE" bullshit and shove it!
Freedom of Information Act Guide, May 2004
Exemption 7(A)
The first subpart of Exemption 7, Exemption 7(A), authorizes the withholding of "records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that production of such law enforcement records or information . . . could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings." (1) The Freedom of Information Reform Act of 1986, often referred to as the 1986 FOIA amendments, lessened the showing of harm required from a demonstration that release "would interfere with" to "could reasonably be expected to interfere with" enforcement proceedings. (2) The courts have recognized repeatedly that the change in the language for this exemption effectively broadens its protection. (3)
Oh! One more thing … is there any rational person who believes Trump and Congressional Republicans want a sworn affidavit detailing what went on during the Trump campaign … as it applies to Russia, meetings with foreign agents … and who knows what else?
__________________________________________________________
Let the pronouncements, ad hominem remarks and non-specific rebuttals begin.