For more than a year Washington has been twisted in knots with all manner of allegations, intrigue at the highest levels, and subterfuge in the darkest shadows. Hounded with pernicious accusations of ostensible collusion with the Russians to steal the election, President Trump vehemently denies all. Instead, evidence is mounting that Trump is the victim of illicit but sanctioned spying and a concerted effort from the bowels of our bloated bureaucracy to undermine his nascent presidency.
Incessant bickering and posturing make the pursuit of truth tiresome, but for the press and too many politicians that’s the intent. They hope to wear out the people so they stop listening, analyzing, and deciding for themselves. They want an exhausted public to ignore the facts and simply side with the most emotionally satisfying slogan or sound bite.
Citizens have a duty to remain informed to adequately monitor and oversee those privileged to serve in government. Thankfully Americans are up to the task and eager to engage. Wading through the media muck, it’s easy to get lost, so what do we really know?
The House Intelligence Committee released the Republican memo without a single Democrat vote, but Republicans voted unanimously with Democrats to release the Democrat memo. Having no case, Representative Adam Schiff (CA-D) loaded the Democrat memo with classified material hoping to fool the public that his points were hidden in the redacted parts.
Anticipating the Republican memo, Democrats, media, and assorted government officials vigorously opposed its release ominously warning of grave damage to national security. But after the release, they shrugged it off as a “nothing-burger.” Are they lying before or after?
The Republican memo didn’t compromise intelligence sources or reveal national secrets, but it named names. FBI and DOJ officials misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain warrants to surveil Trump campaign officials. So FBI concern wasn’t about national security but rather about exposing the fact James Comey and Andrew McCabe signed FISA warrant applications after testifying they didn’t know about any surveillance of team Trump.
Recently ousted FBI Deputy Director McCabe testified that FISA warrants wouldn’t have been possible without the scandalous “dossier,” but Comey said much of it was “salacious and unverified.” However, the FBI withheld from the court that it was produced as opposition research by Fusions GPS funded by the DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign. Hiring former Brit spy Christopher Steele, he bought dirt from his Kremlin contacts to compile the dirty dossier. Simultaneously working for the FBI; Steele’s handler was Bruce Ohr at DOJ whose wife was working Trump opposition research at Fusion GPS. All so delightfully incestuous.
The FBI eventually dismissed Steele for lying about leaking information, but that didn’t stop FBI officials from presenting his uncorroborated dossier as the foundation for their request to spy on Trump aid, Carter Page. And why that volunteer? Page has business interests in Russia, so he connects Trump to Russia. However, in 2015 Page helped the FBI expose two Russian spies, so what made them think he was a Russian spy now?
Confusing and difficult to follow, let’s reverse the situation hypothetically to see if it hits home. Suppose the John McCain campaign hired Definers Corporation in 2008 to do opposition research on Barack Obama, so they enlisted a former Israeli spy to dig up dirt. His Egyptian contacts sold him information that Obama is working with the Muslim Brotherhood, and they have his Kenyan birth certificate. The purchased dossier was passed to the FBI who already disdained Obama suspecting he would forfeit hard won gains in the Middle. So without corroborating information, the FBI misled the FISA Court to obtain a warrant to spy on Obama foreign policy advisor, John Brennan, a former CIA official and Muslim convert. Then Bush National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley, unmasked Obama campaign officials and Bush issued an Executive Order to make intelligence intercepted by surveillance more widely available within the government and thereby easier to leak to the press. Subsequently, information about a Kenyan birth certificate was leaked to the press.
Can you imagine the shrieks from the media and Democrats? They would vociferously demand everyone involved be hanged by the neck until dead! But they would be right! This is the worst scandal and most egregious abuse of power in American history.
This is far from over, so be patient and diligent as this sordid story seeps out.
“Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.” Proverbs 26:26
