Barr testifies 'spying did occur' on Trump campaign

[MAGAman]

If it becomes evident that the FISA judges were duped.... I don't know who is going to save the fraudsters from several hundred really pissed off federal judges.

Jo

Agreed. I think this is the most likely outcome.

However, if the judge was in on it.... DAMN....

 

[Zorro!]

If one is performing surveillance without the party being surveilled knowing, that’s called fucking spying.

Dimms and their obsession with words.

The point here is that the FISA was falsely obtained . .

That's a real problem.

Jo

That certainly is how it looks to us, we will know more once Barr completes his examination of why and how Comey commenced the spying operation against The Trump Campaign.

If it becomes evident that the FISA judges were duped.... I don't know who is going to save the fraudsters from several hundred really pissed off federal judges.

Jo

I wish I was seeing some anger out of these FISA judges. It will be interesting to see the time stamps. We may find out that they approve these spying applications, Stevie Wonder Style, as fast as they can swing the "APPROVED" stamp on them.

And what about Justice Roberts? He picked every single FISA judge.

Judges aren't allowed to be ANGRY per se.
At least not that it can be observed... It immediately disqualifies them from whatever is before them.... But they can calmly, collectively and coolly be very vindictive pricks even the women.

Jo

I hope so. It doesn't seem to me that they studied these warrants very well. Did they read the footnotes? There is a footnote that a political campaign was part of the funding, did they ask which one? My guess is no, but they have a court recorder, so there is a record of every question asked and every answer given.

But back to what the Administration did and then we can explore why the FISA firewall for our civil liberties failed:

Worse than Watergate

To the surprise of except Donald Trump, he became the Republican nominee. Despite Bernie Sanders appearing to win most of the primaries and having the enthusiasm of most liberals behind him, Hillary Clinton became the Democrat nominee because the fix was in before the votes were cast. While working for the Democratic National Committee and campaign of Hillary Clinton, Marc Elias (from the law firm Perkins-Coie) hired Fusion GPS to create opposition research, the “Steele dossier,” a collection of memos full of salacious unsubstantiated rumors and ridiculous claims that only a gullible maverick like Senator John McCain would believe. Fortunately for the conspirators, McCain passed the dossier over to James Comey at the FBI, giving the Obama administration an excuse to open a counterintelligence investigation into Trump even though they knew the “information” originated from the Clinton campaign and was unverified.

How did they know? Bruce Ohr told them.
And how did Bruce know? His wife, Nellie, works for Fusion GPS.

Meanwhile, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and others working within the FBI and Obama’s Department of Justice conspired to exonerate Hillary Clinton of serious crimes while charging her opponent with egregiously false, manufactured accusations of colluding with Russia.

To make matters worse, Susan Rice, Samantha Power, James Clapper, and Sally Yates went on an improper “unmasking” orgy of innocent American citizens for nefarious political reasons, which led to General Michael Flynn’s unfair prosecution by Mueller even after FBI officials had concluded he wasn’t lying to them during their unfair interview. How can this happen?

OBAMA
According to texts sent between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, President Obama wanted to know everything they were doing. In contrast, Nixon didn’t find out about the Watergate break-in until after it had already happened.

Barack Obama has a big problem. He’s apparently involved in this effort to overturn the results of a presidential election. Somebody will probably start singing to get a reduced sentence pretty soon, and if they can corroborate their testimony with evidence, Obama can stop worrying about his legacy and start worrying about his imminent future. The penalty for sedition calls for up to twenty years in prison, and it is unlikely that President Trump would consider a pardon of Obama under the circumstances, because he was the target of this conspiracy.

 

[MAGAman]

That certainly is how it looks to us, we will know more once Barr completes his examination of why and how Comey commenced the spying operation against The Trump Campaign.

I'm thinking Comey is too stupid to run it.

Maybe he just looked the other way and signed that he was told to sign.

Just my guess.

 

[Zorro!]

If it becomes evident that the FISA judges were duped.... I don't know who is going to save the fraudsters from several hundred really pissed off federal judges.

Jo

Agreed. I think this is the most likely outcome.

However, if the judge was in on it.... DAMN....

Well, the judges at this juncture look rather worthless. If they were curious, carefully and thoroughly studied the applications, asked intelligent questions and were lied to, then that's another story and the Court Recordings will tell us what happened. But if they give this the Helen Keller routine and stamp these as "approved" with little more than a glance, then this is nothing more than a dangerous charade that pretends to be about protecting our civil liberties.

 

[Zorro!]

That certainly is how it looks to us, we will know more once Barr completes his examination of why and how Comey commenced the spying operation against The Trump Campaign.

I'm thinking Comey is too stupid to run it.

Maybe he just looked the other way and signed that he was told to sign.

Just my guess.

Who do you surmise was running it?

 

[MAGAman]

Well, the judges at this juncture look rather worthless. If they were curious, carefully and thoroughly studied the applications, asked intelligent questions and were lied to, then that's another story and the Court Recordings will tell us what happened. But if they give this the Helen Keller routine and stamp these as "approved" with little more than a glance, then this is nothing more than a dangerous charade that pretends to be about protecting our civil liberties.

I'm not so sure.

Judges aren't supposed to be experts. They can't investigate the veracity of the evidence. They are obligated to accept that evidence is given in good faith.

Which is what makes this such a BFD.

 

[justoffal]

If it becomes evident that the FISA judges were duped.... I don't know who is going to save the fraudsters from several hundred really pissed off federal judges.

Jo

Agreed. I think this is the most likely outcome.

However, if the judge was in on it.... DAMN....

Well, the judges at this juncture look rather worthless. If they were curious, carefully and thoroughly studied the applications, asked intelligent questions and were lied to, then that's another story and the Court Recordings will tell us what happened. But if they give this the Helen Keller routine and stamp these as "approved" with little more than a glance, then this is nothing more than a dangerous charade that pretends to be about protecting our civil liberties.

Truthfully the guy who scares me the most is Roberts. I trust Ginsberg more....she doesn't hide who she is.

Jo

 

[justoffal]

Well, the judges at this juncture look rather worthless. If they were curious, carefully and thoroughly studied the applications, asked intelligent questions and were lied to, then that's another story and the Court Recordings will tell us what happened. But if they give this the Helen Keller routine and stamp these as "approved" with little more than a glance, then this is nothing more than a dangerous charade that pretends to be about protecting our civil liberties.

I'm not so sure.

Judges aren't supposed to be experts. They can't investigate the veracity if the evidence. They are obligated to accept that evidence is given in good faith.

Which is what makes this such a BFD.

Agreed.... Even if they suspect they are still bound to act in accordance or run the risk of being embarrassed by the next tier above. But if you dupe a judge and they find out??? God freakin' help you you're in deep shit.



Jo

 

[justoffal]

If it becomes evident that the FISA judges were duped.... I don't know who is going to save the fraudsters from several hundred really pissed off federal judges.

Jo

Agreed. I think this is the most likely outcome.

However, if the judge was in on it.... DAMN....

Yeah unfortunately if it's an a Clinton or Obama Judge.... That's a possibility.

Jo

 

[justoffal]

That certainly is how it looks to us, we will know more once Barr completes his examination of why and how Comey commenced the spying operation against The Trump Campaign.

I'm thinking Comey is too stupid to run it.

Maybe he just looked the other way and signed that he was told to sign.

Just my guess.

Who do you surmise was running it?

My Guess? I really believe it was Obama, Holder and Jarrett....Strozk, Page, Comey ... Just the operatives.

Jo

 

[MAGAman]

That certainly is how it looks to us, we will know more once Barr completes his examination of why and how Comey commenced the spying operation against The Trump Campaign.

I'm thinking Comey is too stupid to run it.

Maybe he just looked the other way and signed that he was told to sign.

Just my guess.

Who do you surmise was running it?

No friggin' idea.

Based on his ham-handed handling of the Hillary debacle, Comey just seems too stupid...

Valerie Jarred was smart enough, but I haven't hear of her being connected. The man-child Obama is a tard. Maybe Brennen. Maybe Strzok. Maybe some unknown geek.

I don't really know

 

[RealDave]

Obama separated children from parents at the border.

Obama did it to protect the children from predators.
Trump does it because he's a mean and evil person who wants to punish wetbacks for trespassing.

So the predators are now gone because Trump is POTUS? OMG....HOW STOOOOPID ARE YOU?

JO

Obama built the cages. The fake news media blamed Trump for them.

Have you got a link???
Try this
FACT CHECK: Trump Wrongly States Obama Administration Had Child Separation Policy
Another deep state commie link?

NPR? Fake news.

Trump Fake President,

 

[Faun]

No and yes. The deep state does exist. It's composed of all the permanent bureaucrats who believe they know better than the voters what kind of government we should have.

Exactly. They are Oligarchists, fancying themselves as Lords and Nobles. BUT, in this Great Nation , we have no nobility, NO ONE has an inherent right to rule, because we rule ourselves. All government power is derived from someone who stood before the voters and was granted, by us, the authority they wield.

The Left has a real problem with this, which quite frankly is their problem, so long as they are restrained from violating our civil rights, I couldn't give less of a damn what they want, think or desire, but, with this Illegal spying they crossed a bright red line. I look forward to a full and complete investigation of how the Illegal Trump Spying came to be "approved", who approved it, who lied to FISC, who felonious swore false oaths to obtain warrants, who colluded it this effort.
Who engaged in the Unmasking Orgy in the closing days of the Corrupt Obama Administration
Who feloniously and recklessly leaked classified information to the media over the last two years.

What utter tripe.

The left does not have an issue of our government being elected by the people.

Sure it does. They've been crying like petulant children because the people elected Trump.

Fucking moron, they’re complaining about trump, not our government being elected by the people. And not for nothing but, the right “cried like petulant children” for the 8 years Obama was president.

Plus the two years since because they just can’t quit him.

What a lying douchebag. You and all the other pieces of shit in this forum have been attacking everyone who voted for Trump. Anyone who wears a MAGA hat is taking his life into his hands.

Why would I want to quite Trump? He's the best Republican president we've had since Reagan. He may even be better than Reagan.

Furthermore, you just proved my claim. You don't argue that this policy or that policy is better. You claim that anyone who voted for Trump is scum.

You're the scum.

Fucking moron ... not because we are against the government being elected by the people. You are an utter idiot. Shit, you can't even spell, "quit."

 

[Faun]

It's only his dopey opinion. He said he's seen no evidence of spying.

Barr: ‘I Think Spying Did Occur’ Against Trump Campaign

god damn you're not only terminally stupid, but a liar to boot.

Oh? And what did Barr bass that on?

I see that Faun, wants extraordinary evidence before considering it, but it has been suspected for over TWO years already:

Under oath he says the following in this selected excerpt, courtesy of The Last Refuge:

"AG William Barr: Yeah, I, uh, as I said in my confirmation hearing, I am going to be reviewing both the genesis and the conduct of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign during 2016. And, uh, alot of this has already been investigated, and a substantial portion of this has been investigated, and is being investigated, by the office of the inspector general at the department. But one of the things I want to do is pull together all the information from the investigations that have gone on, including on the Hill and the department, and see if there are any remaining questions to be addressed.

Shaheen: Can you share with us why you feel the need to do that?

Barr: Well, for the same reason we are worried about foreign influence in elections we want to make sure that, uh, during an election, I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. It’s a big deal.

The generation I grew up in, which is the Vietnam war period, people were all concerned about spying on anti-war people and so forth by the government; and there were a lot of rules put in place to ensure there was an adequate basis for, before our law enforcement agencies get involved in political surveillance. I’m not suggesting that those rules were violated, but I think it’s important to look at that; and I’m not just talking about the FBI necessarily, but the intelligence agencies more broadly.

Shaheen: So your not, your not suggesting though that spying occurred?

Barr: I don’t, well, I guess you could, I think there’s that spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur.

LONG PAUSE OF SILENCE

Shaheen: Wow, let me, uh…

Barr: But the question is: whether it was predicated. Adequately predicated. And I’m not suggested that it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that......"

Now you have the necessary context to what he stated under oath. He DOES believe there was spying going on.

==========================================

Then we have this to ponder over from someone who has the access to the intelligence, selected excerpts from The Last Refuge:

"Finally…. F.i.n.a.l.l.y, Devin Nunes outlines the origin of the spying operation as it began in 2015 and extended into 2016. During an interview to discuss his criminal referrals to Attorney General Barr [see here] Devin Nunes outlines the big picture. "

and,

Nunes Referral Notification

He is expected to brief the Attorney General about 8 criminal referrals that will pertain to the spying and leaking in the early days.

Democrats are in a world of serious trouble......

We’ve seen much of the evidence and so far, there’s been no actionable evidence. Barr saying he “thinks” there was spying is nothing more than a biased opinion. But we’ll soon see if there actually is any evidence behind his opinion as Horowitz will soon be wrapping up his investigation. As far as Nunes, he was spoon fed information from the White House; hardly an objective source on the matter.

But like I said with the Mueller investigation, I’ll wait until the findings are released.

There was spying. There were 4 FISA Warrants on Carter Page alone. And then you had at least Halper, an FBI informant trying to get a job on the campaign.

Wait for the results of the Investigation, then we will know the time line, what triggered it and if the law was properly followed that protects our civil liberties from illegal spying by a Crooked White house.

Page was not with the Trump campaign when any of the warrants or the renewal were issued. And he was barely connected to the campaign when he was with the campaign. He never attended a meeting with Trump, never met Trump or even spoke with him.

Trump lawyer told Carter Page to 'cease' calling self adviser, as Russia concerns intensified

“You were merely one of the many people named to a foreign policy advisory committee in March of 2016 -- a committee that met one time. You never met Mr. Trump, nor did you ever ‘advise’ Mr. Trump about anything. You are thus not an ‘advisor’ to Mr. Trump in any sense of the word.”​

 

[Faun]

If one is performing surveillance without the party being surveilled knowing, that’s called fucking spying.

Dimms and their obsession with words.

Snowflakes have a problem with reality.

They Spied

Spying did occur in the Trump-Russia investigation conducted by (among others) the Justice Department and the FBI during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The question is "Why?" Because spying on a political campaign is a big deal. Barr will get to the original rationale for the spying.

We should have known long ago have known what the rationale was. If an incumbent Republican administration had green-lighted a Justice Department and FBI investigation of the Democrat Party’s presidential campaign, we would already be fully informed about what triggered the investigation.

Democrats would have been unified in demanding it, the media would have echoed those demands in an endless loop and – if there had been an abuse of power – all the pertinent heads would by now have rolled.

If spying is to be conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, then FISA must be followed. To conduct FISA surveillance of an American citizen suspected of being an agent of a foreign power, there must be probable cause that the American citizen is knowingly – not unwittingly – engaged in clandestine activities on behalf of the foreign power; and those clandestine activities must be a probable violation of federal criminal law.

By the FBI’s own procedures, approved by the Justice Department, facts are only submitted to the FISA Court if they have been verified. There must be corroboration of the alleged facts on which the court is being asked to base a probable cause finding.

In an investigation of the incumbent administration’s political opposition, if the campaign of the incumbent administration’s party has had a role in generating or supplying information to the FBI, that fact must be disclosed to the court with complete transparency.

There needs to be a thorough inquiry. We need answers. The attorney general is right to press for them

Andrew McCarthy: Barr is right to review why Trump-Russia investigation began

"They Spied"

Don't you think you should wait until there's proof to render such a judgement?

 

[Zorro!]

If one is performing surveillance without the party being surveilled knowing, that’s called fucking spying.

Dimms and their obsession with words.

Snowflakes have a problem with reality.

They Spied

Spying did occur in the Trump-Russia investigation conducted by (among others) the Justice Department and the FBI during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The question is "Why?" Because spying on a political campaign is a big deal. Barr will get to the original rationale for the spying.

We should have known long ago have known what the rationale was. If an incumbent Republican administration had green-lighted a Justice Department and FBI investigation of the Democrat Party’s presidential campaign, we would already be fully informed about what triggered the investigation.

Democrats would have been unified in demanding it, the media would have echoed those demands in an endless loop and – if there had been an abuse of power – all the pertinent heads would by now have rolled.

If spying is to be conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, then FISA must be followed. To conduct FISA surveillance of an American citizen suspected of being an agent of a foreign power, there must be probable cause that the American citizen is knowingly – not unwittingly – engaged in clandestine activities on behalf of the foreign power; and those clandestine activities must be a probable violation of federal criminal law.

By the FBI’s own procedures, approved by the Justice Department, facts are only submitted to the FISA Court if they have been verified. There must be corroboration of the alleged facts on which the court is being asked to base a probable cause finding.

In an investigation of the incumbent administration’s political opposition, if the campaign of the incumbent administration’s party has had a role in generating or supplying information to the FBI, that fact must be disclosed to the court with complete transparency.

There needs to be a thorough inquiry. We need answers. The attorney general is right to press for them

Andrew McCarthy: Barr is right to review why Trump-Russia investigation began

"They Spied"

Don't you think you should wait until there's proof to render such a judgement?

There is no question that the Obama Administration spied on the Trump campaign, what is being investigated is whether they can be charged for doing so.

 

[Zorro!]

Barr: ‘I Think Spying Did Occur’ Against Trump Campaign

god damn you're not only terminally stupid, but a liar to boot.

Oh? And what did Barr bass that on?

I see that Faun, wants extraordinary evidence before considering it, but it has been suspected for over TWO years already:

Under oath he says the following in this selected excerpt, courtesy of The Last Refuge:

"AG William Barr: Yeah, I, uh, as I said in my confirmation hearing, I am going to be reviewing both the genesis and the conduct of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign during 2016. And, uh, alot of this has already been investigated, and a substantial portion of this has been investigated, and is being investigated, by the office of the inspector general at the department. But one of the things I want to do is pull together all the information from the investigations that have gone on, including on the Hill and the department, and see if there are any remaining questions to be addressed.

Shaheen: Can you share with us why you feel the need to do that?

Barr: Well, for the same reason we are worried about foreign influence in elections we want to make sure that, uh, during an election, I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. It’s a big deal.

The generation I grew up in, which is the Vietnam war period, people were all concerned about spying on anti-war people and so forth by the government; and there were a lot of rules put in place to ensure there was an adequate basis for, before our law enforcement agencies get involved in political surveillance. I’m not suggesting that those rules were violated, but I think it’s important to look at that; and I’m not just talking about the FBI necessarily, but the intelligence agencies more broadly.

Shaheen: So your not, your not suggesting though that spying occurred?

Barr: I don’t, well, I guess you could, I think there’s that spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur.

LONG PAUSE OF SILENCE

Shaheen: Wow, let me, uh…

Barr: But the question is: whether it was predicated. Adequately predicated. And I’m not suggested that it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that......"

Now you have the necessary context to what he stated under oath. He DOES believe there was spying going on.

==========================================

Then we have this to ponder over from someone who has the access to the intelligence, selected excerpts from The Last Refuge:

"Finally…. F.i.n.a.l.l.y, Devin Nunes outlines the origin of the spying operation as it began in 2015 and extended into 2016. During an interview to discuss his criminal referrals to Attorney General Barr [see here] Devin Nunes outlines the big picture. "

and,

Nunes Referral Notification

He is expected to brief the Attorney General about 8 criminal referrals that will pertain to the spying and leaking in the early days.

Democrats are in a world of serious trouble......

We’ve seen much of the evidence and so far, there’s been no actionable evidence. Barr saying he “thinks” there was spying is nothing more than a biased opinion. But we’ll soon see if there actually is any evidence behind his opinion as Horowitz will soon be wrapping up his investigation. As far as Nunes, he was spoon fed information from the White House; hardly an objective source on the matter.

But like I said with the Mueller investigation, I’ll wait until the findings are released.

There was spying. There were 4 FISA Warrants on Carter Page alone. And then you had at least Halper, an FBI informant trying to get a job on the campaign.

Wait for the results of the Investigation, then we will know the time line, what triggered it and if the law was properly followed that protects our civil liberties from illegal spying by a Crooked White house.

Page was not with the Trump campaign when any of the warrants or the renewal were issued. And he was barely connected to the campaign when he was with the campaign. He never attended a meeting with Trump, never met Trump or even spoke with him.

Trump lawyer told Carter Page to 'cease' calling self adviser, as Russia concerns intensified

“You were merely one of the many people named to a foreign policy advisory committee in March of 2016 -- a committee that met one time. You never met Mr. Trump, nor did you ever ‘advise’ Mr. Trump about anything. You are thus not an ‘advisor’ to Mr. Trump in any sense of the word.”​

Less than a year ago, we learned the Obama administration had used a confidential informant — a spy — to approach at least three Trump campaign officials in the months leading up to the 2016 election, straining to find proof that the campaign was complicit in the Kremlin’s hacking of Democrat e-mails.

There is no doubt that the Obama administration spied on the Trump campaign. As Barr made clear, the real question is: What predicated the spying? Was there a valid reason for it, strong enough to overcome our norm against political spying? Or was it done rashly? Was a politically motivated decision made to use highly intrusive investigative tactics when a more measured response would have sufficed, such as a “defensive briefing” that would have warned the Trump campaign of possible Russian infiltration?

Last year, when the “spy” games got underway, James Crapper, Obama’s director of national intelligence, conceded that, yes, the FBI did run a spy at Trump campaign officials.

The “spying” question arose last spring, when we learned that Stefan Halper, a longtime source for the CIA and British intelligence, had been tasked during the FBI’s Russia investigation to chat up three Trump campaign advisers: Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, and Sam Clovis. This was in addition to earlier revelations that the Obama Justice Department and FBI had obtained warrants to eavesdrop on Page’s communications, beginning about three weeks before the 2016 election.

The fact that spying had occurred was too clear for credible denial.

The FISA warrants enabled investigators to scrutinize Page’s stored communications throughout the time he was associated with the campaign and before, on the his phone or his communication devices, his emails, text accounts and the like, you not only get the forward-going communications, you get whatever stored communications are on his system.

 

[hadit]

If one is performing surveillance without the party being surveilled knowing, that’s called fucking spying.

Dimms and their obsession with words.

Snowflakes have a problem with reality.

They Spied

Spying did occur in the Trump-Russia investigation conducted by (among others) the Justice Department and the FBI during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The question is "Why?" Because spying on a political campaign is a big deal. Barr will get to the original rationale for the spying.

We should have known long ago have known what the rationale was. If an incumbent Republican administration had green-lighted a Justice Department and FBI investigation of the Democrat Party’s presidential campaign, we would already be fully informed about what triggered the investigation.

Democrats would have been unified in demanding it, the media would have echoed those demands in an endless loop and – if there had been an abuse of power – all the pertinent heads would by now have rolled.

If spying is to be conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, then FISA must be followed. To conduct FISA surveillance of an American citizen suspected of being an agent of a foreign power, there must be probable cause that the American citizen is knowingly – not unwittingly – engaged in clandestine activities on behalf of the foreign power; and those clandestine activities must be a probable violation of federal criminal law.

By the FBI’s own procedures, approved by the Justice Department, facts are only submitted to the FISA Court if they have been verified. There must be corroboration of the alleged facts on which the court is being asked to base a probable cause finding.

In an investigation of the incumbent administration’s political opposition, if the campaign of the incumbent administration’s party has had a role in generating or supplying information to the FBI, that fact must be disclosed to the court with complete transparency.

There needs to be a thorough inquiry. We need answers. The attorney general is right to press for them

Andrew McCarthy: Barr is right to review why Trump-Russia investigation began

"They Spied"

Don't you think you should wait until there's proof to render such a judgement?

While that is an absolutely correct stance to take, remember that for many who don't hate Trump, the last two years have been an unending stream of the strongest of unfounded accusations hurled at Trump, proof need not be presented.

 

[Faun]

If one is performing surveillance without the party being surveilled knowing, that’s called fucking spying.

Dimms and their obsession with words.

Snowflakes have a problem with reality.

They Spied

Spying did occur in the Trump-Russia investigation conducted by (among others) the Justice Department and the FBI during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The question is "Why?" Because spying on a political campaign is a big deal. Barr will get to the original rationale for the spying.

We should have known long ago have known what the rationale was. If an incumbent Republican administration had green-lighted a Justice Department and FBI investigation of the Democrat Party’s presidential campaign, we would already be fully informed about what triggered the investigation.

Democrats would have been unified in demanding it, the media would have echoed those demands in an endless loop and – if there had been an abuse of power – all the pertinent heads would by now have rolled.

If spying is to be conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, then FISA must be followed. To conduct FISA surveillance of an American citizen suspected of being an agent of a foreign power, there must be probable cause that the American citizen is knowingly – not unwittingly – engaged in clandestine activities on behalf of the foreign power; and those clandestine activities must be a probable violation of federal criminal law.

By the FBI’s own procedures, approved by the Justice Department, facts are only submitted to the FISA Court if they have been verified. There must be corroboration of the alleged facts on which the court is being asked to base a probable cause finding.

In an investigation of the incumbent administration’s political opposition, if the campaign of the incumbent administration’s party has had a role in generating or supplying information to the FBI, that fact must be disclosed to the court with complete transparency.

There needs to be a thorough inquiry. We need answers. The attorney general is right to press for them

Andrew McCarthy: Barr is right to review why Trump-Russia investigation began

"They Spied"

Don't you think you should wait until there's proof to render such a judgement?

There is no question that the Obama Administration spied on the Trump campaign, what is being investigated is whether they can be charged for doing so.

So no proof is necessary, huh?

 

[Faun]

Oh? And what did Barr bass that on?

I see that Faun, wants extraordinary evidence before considering it, but it has been suspected for over TWO years already:

Under oath he says the following in this selected excerpt, courtesy of The Last Refuge:

"AG William Barr: Yeah, I, uh, as I said in my confirmation hearing, I am going to be reviewing both the genesis and the conduct of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign during 2016. And, uh, alot of this has already been investigated, and a substantial portion of this has been investigated, and is being investigated, by the office of the inspector general at the department. But one of the things I want to do is pull together all the information from the investigations that have gone on, including on the Hill and the department, and see if there are any remaining questions to be addressed.

Shaheen: Can you share with us why you feel the need to do that?

Barr: Well, for the same reason we are worried about foreign influence in elections we want to make sure that, uh, during an election, I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. It’s a big deal.

The generation I grew up in, which is the Vietnam war period, people were all concerned about spying on anti-war people and so forth by the government; and there were a lot of rules put in place to ensure there was an adequate basis for, before our law enforcement agencies get involved in political surveillance. I’m not suggesting that those rules were violated, but I think it’s important to look at that; and I’m not just talking about the FBI necessarily, but the intelligence agencies more broadly.

Shaheen: So your not, your not suggesting though that spying occurred?

Barr: I don’t, well, I guess you could, I think there’s that spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur.

LONG PAUSE OF SILENCE

Shaheen: Wow, let me, uh…

Barr: But the question is: whether it was predicated. Adequately predicated. And I’m not suggested that it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that......"

Now you have the necessary context to what he stated under oath. He DOES believe there was spying going on.

==========================================

Then we have this to ponder over from someone who has the access to the intelligence, selected excerpts from The Last Refuge:

"Finally…. F.i.n.a.l.l.y, Devin Nunes outlines the origin of the spying operation as it began in 2015 and extended into 2016. During an interview to discuss his criminal referrals to Attorney General Barr [see here] Devin Nunes outlines the big picture. "

and,

Nunes Referral Notification

He is expected to brief the Attorney General about 8 criminal referrals that will pertain to the spying and leaking in the early days.

Democrats are in a world of serious trouble......

We’ve seen much of the evidence and so far, there’s been no actionable evidence. Barr saying he “thinks” there was spying is nothing more than a biased opinion. But we’ll soon see if there actually is any evidence behind his opinion as Horowitz will soon be wrapping up his investigation. As far as Nunes, he was spoon fed information from the White House; hardly an objective source on the matter.

But like I said with the Mueller investigation, I’ll wait until the findings are released.

There was spying. There were 4 FISA Warrants on Carter Page alone. And then you had at least Halper, an FBI informant trying to get a job on the campaign.

Wait for the results of the Investigation, then we will know the time line, what triggered it and if the law was properly followed that protects our civil liberties from illegal spying by a Crooked White house.

Page was not with the Trump campaign when any of the warrants or the renewal were issued. And he was barely connected to the campaign when he was with the campaign. He never attended a meeting with Trump, never met Trump or even spoke with him.

Trump lawyer told Carter Page to 'cease' calling self adviser, as Russia concerns intensified

“You were merely one of the many people named to a foreign policy advisory committee in March of 2016 -- a committee that met one time. You never met Mr. Trump, nor did you ever ‘advise’ Mr. Trump about anything. You are thus not an ‘advisor’ to Mr. Trump in any sense of the word.”​

Less than a year ago, we learned the Obama administration had used a confidential informant — a spy — to approach at least three Trump campaign officials in the months leading up to the 2016 election, straining to find proof that the campaign was complicit in the Kremlin’s hacking of Democrat e-mails.

There is no doubt that the Obama administration spied on the Trump campaign. As Barr made clear, the real question is: What predicated the spying? Was there a valid reason for it, strong enough to overcome our norm against political spying? Or was it done rashly? Was a politically motivated decision made to use highly intrusive investigative tactics when a more measured response would have sufficed, such as a “defensive briefing” that would have warned the Trump campaign of possible Russian infiltration?

Last year, when the “spy” games got underway, James Crapper, Obama’s director of national intelligence, conceded that, yes, the FBI did run a spy at Trump campaign officials.

The “spying” question arose last spring, when we learned that Stefan Halper, a longtime source for the CIA and British intelligence, had been tasked during the FBI’s Russia investigation to chat up three Trump campaign advisers: Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, and Sam Clovis. This was in addition to earlier revelations that the Obama Justice Department and FBI had obtained warrants to eavesdrop on Page’s communications, beginning about three weeks before the 2016 election.

The fact that spying had occurred was too clear for credible denial.

The FISA warrants enabled investigators to scrutinize Page’s stored communications throughout the time he was associated with the campaign and before, on the his phone or his communication devices, his emails, text accounts and the like, you not only get the forward-going communications, you get whatever stored communications are on his system.

Halper's role was strictly to determine if advisers were meeting with Russians, who were known at that point to be hacking Democrats, it wasn't to spy on the Trump campaign. And Page had barely any connection to the trump campaign. As shown above, he was not an adviser to trump and it was his own connections to Russia which warranted investigation.