FISA Abuse Memo, prediction thread (update post 120 maybe)

[Teppodama]

I'm not talking about a memo, I'm talking about Congress approving veto-proof sanctions against a nation and people giving the President refusing to implement them and his supporters' tacit approval by their silence on the issue.

And as I said, let them step away from all of the dog and pony shows they've been invested in and do something about it then. Where's the outrage?, where's the angst?, where's the autistic skreeing?

Surely Pelosi should be in on CNN right now going into a full blown Parkinson's bobblehead attack trying to whip up some fervor. Or maybe Schumer crying about how it's all so awful and yet another example of the "Boy from Brazil" that's inhabiting the oval office.

 

[EZShrimpn]

Trump is soft on Russia. There is zero reasonable dispute of that.

No, we're not going to war with Russia over Syria or Ukraine.

Sorry not sorry.

 

[Strychnine]

Ok and I have no problem calling wherever that is a shithole. That doesn’t change the fact we shouldn’t be bringing people living like that in from other countries until we can take care of the people living like that here...

I agree...

But show me where The President has addressed it. It's all been... "HEY!!! LOOK OVER THERE!!!!"

The lens needs to be pointed inwards also.

 

[cooks1]

It is so alarming the American people have to see this,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said.

“It's troubling. It is shocking,” North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows said. “Part of me wishes that I didn't read it because I don’t want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much.”

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said he believed people could lose their jobs after the memo is released.

“I believe the consequence of its release will be major changes in people currently working at the FBI and the Department of Justice,” he said, referencing DOJ officials Rod Rosenstein and Bruce Ohr.

“You think about, ‘is this happening in America or is this the KGB?’ That's how alarming it is,” Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...rming-memo-on-fisa-abuses-be-made-public.html




Looks like we’re going to find out what Obama’s real legacy is. This is a thread for predicting the content of this apparently alarming memo.



It was pretty obvious that Obama was spying on, well, everyone.... but with regard to Trump, it was pretty suspicious how when Trump called out Obama for spying on him, Obama “went dark”. He was supposed to be the leader of the party, but he’s silent on all these issues???

My guess. We will see the Obama administration using the full power of the federal government to intervene in and influence a presidential election, and lose. SAD!

Perhaps. But I think the more likely scenario is that we will learn that we were spying on some foreign people of interest that it was probably a good idea to spy on, and we probably should have been spying on. And then some high profile Americans ended up talking to those foreign people of interest. And since those people were being spied on, the high profile Americans talking to them ended up getting spied on.

 

[Strychnine]

And as I said, let them step away from all of the dog and pony shows they've been invested in and do something about it then. Where's the outrage?, where's the angst?, where's the autistic skreeing?

Surely Pelosi should be in on CNN right now going into a full blown Parkinson's bobblehead attack trying to whip up some fervor. Or maybe Schumer crying about how it's all so awful and yet another example of the "Boy from Brazil" that's inhabiting the oval office.

Of course they should and I agree.

 

[InternetHero]

Appalachia and Cincinnati, respectively.

I know what you are trying to say here...

Yet, would it not be fair to say that Haiti is more of a shithole than most places on earth?

Part Hati's fault, part Haiti's choice, part history did not help, part geography, but the overall shitty results are there.

Oh yeah, and for the record labeling countries as shitty is terrible diplomacy and the sentiment was myopic and borderline xenophobic.

But here on the internet, we can admit Haiti has more problems than a vast majority of the world, and a lot of that is shitty.

 

[bobgeese]

Source?

“FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was forced to resign Monday, just as the House Intelligence Committee is expected to vote on the public release of a classified memo this afternoon revealing extensive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse under the Obama administration”

https://saraacarter.com/mccabe-resigns-fbi-director-wray-reviews-house-fisa-abuse-memo/amp/

 

[HomerThompson]

“FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was forced to resign Monday, just as the House Intelligence Committee is expected to vote on the public release of a classified memo this afternoon revealing extensive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse under the Obama administration”

https://saraacarter.com/mccabe-resigns-fbi-director-wray-reviews-house-fisa-abuse-memo/amp/

That doesn't support the claim you've made. Hell, the White House isn't even claiming he was fired.

 

[Teppodama]

Of course they should and I agree.

Maybe they should but that story doesn't have nearly the attention getting draw as crying about DACA, throwing a blanket on whatever the memo says, etc.. If it doesn't instigate rallies or isn't another person getting picked off by Mueller it's just not good copy or soundbytes.

 

[bobgeese]

That doesn't support the claim you've made. Hell, the White House isn't even claiming he was fired.

Oh ok... totally normal for people to step down a couple months before retirement...


You’re an embarrassment, for being a snitch. You’re just politically dim.

 

[Strychnine]

Maybe they should but that story doesn't have nearly the attention getting draw as crying about DACA, throwing a blanket on whatever the memo says, etc.. If it doesn't instigate rallies or isn't another person getting picked off by Mueller it's just not good copy or soundbytes.

Well, I'm not going for soundbites. I just want the truth and for the legal process to go forwards unhindered.

But with this President, it ain't gonna happen.

 

[HomerThompson]

Oh ok... totally normal for people to step down a couple months before retirement...


You’re an embarrassment, for being a snitch. You’re just politically dim.

Concession noted, but not accepted.

You failed to provide proof for your assertion, and now you're attacking me personally. So, I guess we'll do that instead.

Your intellect is subpar, and women find you loathsome.

 

[bobgeese]

Concession noted, but not accepted.

You failed to provide proof for your assertion, and now you're attacking me personally. So, I guess we'll do that instead.

Your intellect is subpar, and women find you loathsome.

The guy was removed from his post, and resigned. In Washington that means fired.

 

[TheBlondBomber]

And President Reagan gets another stripe on his BJJ Red Belt because he's rolling in his grave after seeing how Russia is now the puppet master of the U.S. Presidency.

Regan would have probably got along with the Russian Federation. It was those Commie Soviets he didn’t like.

 

[Gunny]

I'll weigh in on the side of "probably much to do about nothing" and also "absolutely not a "Constitutional Crisis" for the record.

Really, I am in agreement specifically with Jonah Goldberg of NRO.

by Jonah Goldberg January 30, 2018 12:02 PM @JonahNRO

Let me say upfront that I’m inclined to think that this whole thing has been more of a cynical P.R. stunt — and an impressive one at that — than a serious exercise on the merits. That is not to say there aren’t real abuses alluded to in the Nunes memo (by every account, the memo doesn’t actually document anything; it just summarizes things, from a highly subjective vantage point) — I just think that ultimately the steak won’t live up to the sizzle. If that turns out to be the case, it may not matter how effective the hype was at the beginning. You can have a great series of trailers building up excitement for a movie, but if the movie truly stinks, few will remember the pre-release marketing, and some will even resent it.

Here’s one example of what I mean. Sebastian Gorka says that the abuses recounted in the memo are — wait for it — 100 times greater than the abuses by Britain that warranted the American Revolution. Not “almost as bad.” Not even “as bad,” but 10,000 percent as bad. Even accounting for hyperbole, that is at least 9,999 percent stupid — particularly when you realize Gorka hasn’t read the memo. My own suspicion is that some of the abuses alleged in the memo will be serious but will nonetheless fall short of warranting armed insurrection against a tyrannical government by something close to a gazillion miles.

Oh, and then there’s Carter Page. As I understand it, one of the central allegations of the memo is that the Obama administration used the Steele dossier to get a warrant from a FISA court to spy on Carter Page. I think the effort to turn the Steele dossier into a piece of concentrated evil the likes of which blew up Kevin’s parents in Time Bandits to be wildly overdone. But let’s assume, again for argument’s sake, that the Obama administration knew the dossier was garbage and used it anyway to get a warrant. Let’s also assume they had no other evidence to bring to the court. That would be very bad indeed.

But here’s the thing: That scenario is very unlikely. First of all, Page was under FISA surveillance since 2014, long before Donald Trump announced his candidacy. When asked by Congress to testify under oath, Page invoked the Fifth Amendment. The White House has been trying to insist for nearly a year that Page was a nobody and that he doesn’t matter.

And yet . . . the GOP wants to make Carter Page a martyr? Leave aside the fact that, other than eunuchs who carry their manhood in a convenient “stomping sack,” few people have shown greater ease at stepping on their own Johnsons than Carter Page. Elevating his stature strikes me as a terrible idea for the White House.

Finally, a word about the process and the press. I find the widespread media freakout about Congress going through the proper procedures to declassify and release a document rather bizarre.

Let’s imagine for argument’s sake that the New York Times or the Washington Post had gotten their hands on the Nunes memo. Is there any doubt that they would report on its contents? Would Buzzfeed hesitate to publish a PDF of the whole thing? That’s instantaneous declassification with pretty much no oversight. I get being offended by so much of the gaslighting and hysteria going on. But the constant harping from MSNBC and elsewhere on the “recklessness” of this is a bit hard to take. There’s an interesting debate to be had on the extent to which the press has a right to publish classified information. There really is no debate on whether Congress and the executive branch have the authority to do this. They can. @Fawlty

It seems like the press thinks declassifying sensitive information to fuel a partisan narrative is their job and no one else’s.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner

I'm pretty much on-board with this take. It does remain interesting, though, that the whole memo issue would reduce both Pelosi and Schiff to a quivering mess. Can't really account for that level of emotion unless it was just a masterfully strategic bit of theater designed to help them capture the narrative when and if the revelations are underwhelming. Politicians don't usually demonstrate those kinds of acting chops and are generally far more linear in their strategy.

 

[lfd0311]

Gonna go out on a limb and guess this ends up being a nothing burger?

The idea that Democrats created fake intelligence to generate a FISA warrant on the Republican Candidate for President in an attempt to influence the election? Sounds like nothing to me....

 

[panamaican]

The idea that Democrats created fake intelligence to generate a FISA warrant on the Republican Candidate for President in an attempt to influence the election? Sounds like nothing to me....

I don't want to downplay the memo since I have no idea what it says. But Carter Page and Manafort were under surveillance long before Trump's candidacy. I can't imagine a scenario where a major political candidate employs multiple individuals already of interest to the FBI and the FBI doesn't develop an interest in surveilling the political candidate.

That's not to say there was no malfeasance, I haven't read the memo. But my gut is that, at worst, the FBI demonstrated overzealousness based on the confluence of these individuals, the dossier and Trump. Of course, I could be completely wrong too.

 

[andnowweknow]

No, we're not going to war with Russia over Syria or Ukraine.

Sorry not sorry.

There is a BIG difference between going to war and holding Russia accountable for the shit they tried to pull stealing our sovereign election process from us. What a ridiculous argument you're making.

 

[InternetHero]

I'm pretty much on-board with this take. It does remain interesting, though, that the whole memo issue would reduce both Pelosi and Schiff to a quivering mess. Can't really account for that level of emotion unless it was just a masterfully strategic bit of theater designed to help them capture the narrative when and if the revelations are underwhelming. Politicians don't usually demonstrate those kinds of acting chops and are generally far more linear in their strategy.

Good point in a way.

Is the Democratic response legitimate angst at what may be hidden, or simply part of the overall hysteria?

Stay tuned I suppose...

Or rather when it happens I'll read about it 8 hours later, when I feel like it.

 

[InternetHero]

Concession noted, but not accepted.

You failed to provide proof for your assertion, and now you're attacking me personally. So, I guess we'll do that instead.

Your intellect is subpar, and women find you loathsome.

The guy was removed from his post, and resigned. In Washington that means fired.

Probably resigned under pressure and from not liking the new boss.

Headline: Taunted by Trump and Pressured From Above, McCabe Steps Down as F.B.I. Deputy

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/us/politics/andrew-mccabe-fbi.html

Andrew G. McCabe abruptly stepped down on Monday as the F.B.I.’s deputy director after months of withering criticism from President Trump, telling friends he felt pressure from the head of the bureau to leave, according to two people close to Mr. McCabe.

Far from fired, but far from just deciding to spend more time with his kids.