CIA and foreign intelligence agencies illegally targeted 26 Trump associates before 2016 Russia collusion claims: report
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
T he US Intelligence Community asked foreign spy agencies to surveil 26 associates of Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election, which triggered the allegations that the former president’s campaign had been colluding with Russia, according to a report.
Former CIA Director John Brennan identified and presented the targets to the US’s intelligence-sharing partners in the so-called “Five Eyes” agencies – the intelligence-gathering organizations in the US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – according to a report published Monday on Michael Shellenberger’s Public Substack.
The report by independent journalists Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi and Alex Gutentag has not been confirmed by The Post.
They cite multiple unnamed sources, including ones close to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, led by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio).
Turner’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Former CIA Director John Brennan identified the Trump campaign targets for “Five Eyes” agencies to surveil, according to the report. REUTERS
The US intelligence community had “identified” the 26 Trump associates “as people to ‘bump,’ or make contact with or manipulate,” one source told the outlet.
In spy-speak, “bumping” is when a reason is manufactured to meet with a target of interest in order to develop a relationship that could lead to intelligence.
“They were targets of our own IC and law enforcement — targets for collection and misinformation,” the source said.
Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters intelligence apparatus, or GCHQ, was making contacts with Trump’s associates as early as March 2016, according to the report.
The four-year-long investigation into the FBI’s probe of Trump-Russia collusion claims found that the bureau’s investigation had no basis in evidence.
“They were making contacts and bumping Trump people going back to March 2016,” a source told the outlet. “They were sending people around the UK, Australia, Italy — the Mossad in Italy. The MI6 was working at an intelligence school they had set up.”
A GCHQ spokesperson told the outlet that claims it was “asked to conduct ‘wire tapping’ against the then president-elect are nonsense.”
Intelligence related to the alleged surveillance effort is housed in a “10-inch binder,” according to the outlet, which Trump, 77, ordered to be declassified at the end of his presidency and could contain evidence that “multiple US intelligence officials broke laws against spying and election interference.”
The whereabouts of the alleged thick binder are unknown.
The Trump campaign and the CIA did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Warrantless surveillance of US persons is specifically prohibited by US law.
Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was sentenced to probation in 2021 after admitting that he falsified an e-mail to renew a wiretap against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Page had been wiretapped after intelligence sources suspected he might have been targeted by Russian spies. The wiretap, which was approved by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, was renewed several times after it was first granted.
Last March, Special Counsel John Durham concluded that the FBI investigation of Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia was “seriously flawed” and had no basis in evidence, after a four-year review of the probe.
In response, the FBI said it had “implemented dozens of corrective actions” since the improper Trump probe and that “the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented” had the reforms been in place in 2016.
In 2022, Taibbi and Shellenberger were involved in the publishing of the Twitter Files expose, which detailed how the social media giant’s previous management team sought to silence controversial voices and suppress news items such as The Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
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The above facts are still not accepted by certain people.
Thus, we cannot have valid discussions.
And most likely never will be accepted either. Some cannot stand to admit that they could be wrong.
According to the article some of these "facts" can't be verified so they are only allegations.
The rest is just molehills. Durham had nothing except one email for Carter Page, who was convicted for lying about talking to Russians.
I am not even bothering to read all this. The Republicans have an endless history of hyping "scandals" that have turned out to be nothing.
Life is too short to pay attention to something like this until it climbs out of the grip of far right talking heads.
Like Russian collusion?
Like Russian collusion or trying to overthrow a democracy or sexual assaults from 40 years ago.............should I go on?
While the liberal Democrats have an endless history of creating "scandals" that have turned out to be nothing. Works both ways. Just a matter of perspective.
The ever famous pee tapes, there are still fucking morons who believe those exist.
Not just believe they exist; but are demanding our government find them and make them public.
It is easy when Democrat judges bar information in a trial that could help get convicted; and allow TDS leftists to sit on the jury.
Even when there is enough evidence to convict Democrats will abuse the legal system to get the verdict they want.
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength.
It's easy to accuse judges of bias when they don't do what you want them to.
I'm not surprised.
It is even easier when they go out of the way to ignore the law, prevent evidence, and taint jury pools.
Seems Turner likes to speak of things he shouldn't, won't name sources of his "gossip" to that yellow rag the New York Post. Who should honestly give a shit what they think about anything !
Certainly not the good folks who were snookered into believing the Steele Dossier was true!
Evidently AG Barr let you read the unredacted version of the report. Birds of a feather.
In the future, I would appreciate it if something you wrote to me was at least remotely related to my posts.
1.2.14 was responded to by member addressed and quoted 1 hour later and right below, so it stands. Flag submitted this morning was dismissed. Please check for responses by addressed member before flagging. Charger
And right on time.................
Curious analysis based on what you call facts as them being such.
What facts??
I don't see them.
Wow
The Obama administration ordered the execution of an American citizen without due process, they overthrew a country so they could run guns through it, does anyone think they would stop at illegal surveillance of an American citizens?
No one with more than two brain cells to rub together.
Will anyone take it seriously when all anyone can come up with is "anonymous sources" and "binders" that no one can find? There is suspecting this is correct and then there is corroborating evidence. At this point we have the same amount of evidence this happened as we do those "pee tapes" you've dismissed above. Until we have evidence I'll continue to dismiss both.
It's amazing that the left is complaining about anonymous now, How many NY times articles and WAPO articles were posted here with anonymous sources as gospel truths.
Trump calls american solders suckers and losers. That as a story based on an anonymous report, how many times have you seen this repeated?
Amazing or merely hypocritical?
The Republican party has lemminged over the cliff now, us moderates aren't going to follow.
Now your deflecting from my point. Either claims can be backed up with evidence or they are just claims. Believe what you want, I follow the evidence.
It’s fun watching liberals call themselves moderate.
Some really do believe it I suppose.
I suppose it's equally fun watching populists call themselves conservatives.
Not as prolific by yes, I suppose it would be.
Where's your proof off all these damning allegations?
I won't hold my breath.
And the Reagan regime traded guns to Iran for hostages, what's your point !
the point was in his post.
And Biden traded dollars for hostages, what’s your point.
Yeah, pointless.
Your failure to discern his point is all on you.
Others got it real easy!
This article has the stink of Elon Musk on it.
I briefly looked at some information about the three authors. They are all connected to conspiracies of some kind. Certainly COVID conspiracies. One of them wrote a book about how sick San Francisco is. They are tools of the so-called tech bros in Silicon Valley who want to rule the world. Until we see some analysis of this story by people who are not questionable sources we have to take something like this with a grain of salt.
A view held by many millions of sane adults. You don't find poop patrols a little sick?
You are probably still too caught up in the Russia, Russia, Russia conspiracy theories leftwing trolls were engaged in and some still are.
Yes, you do.
will Leslie stahl ever apologize to trump for her gaslighting ” interview”where she attacked trump for claiming the hunter Biden laptop was legit and that his campaign was spied on?
We look back on that stuff and just shake our heads. I looked back at that interview, and I say Trump was right, as usual!
What’s amazing is liberals don’t get how damaging their open shilling has been for the existencemand concept of an independent media. It’s destroyed their business model, no one trusts them to be accurate and when they are correct no one believes them.
I believe the trust level is below 10%. They took over America's institutions and they destroyed the public's faith in them.
Not quite that bad but at an all time low and dropping. And this with a disproportionate percentage of folks on the left hanging on their every word.