"The Deep State" aka the American Intelligence Community

[dislaxxic]

KASH PATEL’S DEEP STATE: HOW TRUMP TRAINED THE GOP TO HATE RULE OF LAW 2

The guy who rose to prominence by turning an investigation into a Russian attack on democracy into a counterattack on the FBI, the guy who spends his time writing children’s books in which he, Kash, protects his liege from imaginary threats from the Deep State, is presumed to be the future steward of Trump’s efforts to politicize the intelligence community.

You could argue that the replacement of civil servants with Trump partisans in the IC is little different than what Trump plans everywhere else in government, if he’s elected. That’s true with regards to the means — gutting civil service protections and replacing them with loyalty oaths to a person rather than the Constitution. But not the effect.

One reason Trump floated putting Kash in charge of the FBI, after all, was because efforts to punish Trump’s enemies weren’t producing the results he desired. The Durham investigation didn’t exact revenge on FBI figures like Jim Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strzok; when it finished, Kash complained that it “failed” precisely because people who tried to protect the country from Russia weren’t prosecuted for doing so. Five years of investigating the Clinton Foundation failed to find a chargeable crime. After he left government, a Kash Patel charity started funding right wing FBI agents accused of the same thing McCabe and Comey were — improper disclosures — but did so to discredit investigations into the right wing.

An IC led by Kash Patel would not just be a politicized intelligence community, intentionally blinded to the threat from countries like Russia, and by degrading intelligence on certain adversaries corroding the alliances built on that shared intelligence.

But it would be an instrument for exacting loyalty.

That instrument can and would be targeted at disloyal Trump party members. Look at efforts by the GOP House to investigate Cassidy Hutchinson, for example.

It’s not just Jack Smith or Nancy Pelosi’s spouses who get targeted with threats for challenging Trump, but also Don Bacon’s.

This, then, is the trajectory along which Trump has coaxed Republicans. At first, a goodly many Republicans defended the integrity of the Mueller investigation, until they didn’t anymore. With the first impeachment, virtually all Republicans excused Trump’s defiance of their own appropriations choices. With the second, reportedly fearful Republicans made excuses for an attack that threatened their own lives rather than fulfill their constitutional duty to check Trump. Since then, Trump has used his legal woes not only as an electoral plank, but also as leverage to demand that the party continue to pay his bills, diverting funds that otherwise might help to reelect down-ticket candidates.

What used to be the Grand Old Party has become, literally, a criminal protection racket serving one man.

..

[RedFromMI]

And they are so terrified of the Trump base and what they now believe that they will do anything to keep in power themselves. Never mind that a Trump victory takes us into fascist dictorial territory.

[kramerica.inc]

The Biden administration would never allow people to be harassed due to their beliefs:

https://reason.com/2024/03/29/fbi-agent ... ook-posts/

[a fan]

The Biden administration would never allow people to be harassed due to their beliefs:

https://reason.com/2024/03/29/fbi-agent ... ook-posts/

Great. If this is what you really believe (and I don't think you do): shut down all domestic terrorism units in the FBI.

And most certainly, shut down the ENTIRE Homeland Security that's costs us BILLIONS to do EXACTLY what these FBI agents are doing.

Oh, and don't forget about the Patriot Act, which allows this sort of activity much more easily.

Bet you dollars to donuts that not. one. single. Republican. Congressman (or POTUS) agrees with you, Kram.

This "reason" piece left out what was actually posted by this citizen, naturally, Thereby giving you the impression the visit was unwarranted.

You know that, right? This is INTENTIONAL on the part of "Reason".


....btw, trot on over to her Facebook page. Tell me that you honestly, seriously don't want the FBI looking into what she's posting.

[kramerica.inc]

You seem to have done the research, what was so dangerous that warranted the harassment?

Where is the line drawn?

Do you believe books are dangerous too?

[Seacoaster(1)]

You seem to have done the research, what was so dangerous that warranted the harassment?

Where is the line drawn?

Do you believe books are dangerous too?

Did you not read The One Percent Doctrine?

[Kismet]

Fatso and and his henchman Grenell are conducting their own shadow diplomacy right in front of everyone. Crickets from the usual Fatso sycophants around here.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... guatemala/

[runrussellrun]

Fatso and and his henchman Grenell are conducting their own shadow diplomacy right in front of everyone. Crickets from the usual Fatso sycophants around here. Thanks for the paywall to the opinion piece. Such a waste of time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... guatemala/

Body Shaming.......classic liberal abusiveness. Your love for creeps like John Brennan.........crickets.

what changed ?

Meanwhile......taats/independents remember when "liberals" shared the same disdain for these creeps.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ied-senate

Private apologies are not enough for a defender of torture, the architect of America’s drone program and the most talented liar in Washington. The nation’s top spy needs to go

As reports emerged Thursday that an internal investigation by the Central Intelligence Agency’s inspector general found that the CIA “improperly” spied on US Senate staffers when researching the CIA’s dark history of torture, it was hard to conclude anything but the obvious: John Brennan blatantly lied to the American public. Again.

“The facts will come out,” Brennan told NBC News in March after Senator Dianne Feinstein issued a blistering condemnation of the CIA on the Senate floor, accusing his agency of hacking into the computers used by her intelligence committee’s staffers. “Let me assure you the CIA was in no way spying on [the committee] or the Senate,” he said.

After the CIA inspector general’s report completely contradicted Brennan’s statements, it now appears Brennan was forced to privately apologize to intelligence committee chairs in a “tense” meeting earlier this week. Other Senators on Thursday pushed for Brennan to publicly apologize and called for an independent investigation. Sen. Ron Wyden said it well:

.@CIA broke into Senate computer files. Then tried to have Senate staff prosecuted. Absolutely unacceptable in a democracy.

— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 31, 2014
But the director of the CIA – and the architect of America’s drone program, who will be all but defending torture for the next several weeks – should do more than that. Apologies aren’t enough: John Brennan should resign.

The latest row isn’t the lone CIA-spying-on-the-Senate scandal on Brennan’s watch. In a little noticed story last week, McClatchy reported that the CIA has also been spying on emails from whistleblower officials and Congress:

The CIA got hold of the legally protected email and other unspecified communications between whistleblower officials and lawmakers this spring, people familiar with the matter told McClatchy. It’s unclear how the agency obtained the material.

That spying scandal, as well as the one Brennan has actually owned up to, both spawn from the Senate’s damning 6,000-page report on CIA torture, part of which is supposed to be publicly released any day now. The document will serve as yet another reminder that Brennan, when he worked in the CIA during the Bush years, supported many of the barbaric techniques used on prisoners after 9/11, which the Obama administration claims to oppose.

Brennan’s one-time torture endorsement made a newly elected President Obama pass him over when the CIA director job was open in 2009. But failing upwards has been a Langley specialty over the past decade. As the Associated Press has documented, many agency officials involved in the CIA’s worst human rights abuses and intelligence disasters have not only be shielded from punishment, but promoted. In 2013, after a signature drone strike-filled stint as Obama’s top counterterrorism advisor, Brennan was successfully confirmed as CIA director.

Almost immediately, members of the Senate intelligence committee started accusing Brennan of dragging his feet and stalling on the CIA’s response to the torture report behind closed doors, even as he told them in public he was doing everything he could to move it right along. Just this week, the New York Times reported how Brennan’s been colluding with his close friend and former CIA director George Tenet, all the while keeping him closely apprised of the redaction process of the report’s release (which, bizarrely, the CIA has been allowed to lead).

Lest we forget, Brennan’s most recent false statement is not his first James Clapper-esque experiment in misinformation. The nation’s top spy is, in fact, a proficient and skilled liar. As Obama’s top counterterrorism advisor for his entire first term in the White House, Brennan built, oversaw, executed and excused America’s robotic assassination program. During a speech in 2011, the keeper of the kill list said there had not been “a single collateral death” from US drone strikes because of their “exceptional proficiency [and] precision”. But as the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported:

[J]ust three months beforehand, a major US drone strike had killed 42 Pakistanis, most of them civilians. As well as being widely reported by the media at the time, Islamabad’s concerns regarding those deaths were also directly conveyed to the ‘highest levels of the Administration’ by Washington’s then-ambassador to Pakistan, it has been confirmed to the Bureau.

Internal intelligence documents leaked to McClatchy later confirmed Brennan to have lied at the time, not to mention the countless media reports before and since documenting other cases of US drone strikes killing civilians. During his confirmations hearings, Brennan promised to be “as open as possible with these programs”; we know almost nothing. What we do know, has been pried from the CIA by lawsuits and court orders.

When Brennan was approved by the Senate, many of his friends told the media he wanted to get the CIA out of the drone business and hand operations over to the Pentagon, but of course once he assumed his office, he seems to have reversed course and kept the drone program under CIA control.

Brennan also fed the public wildly inaccurate details about the Osama bin Laden raid in 2011, and despite condemning leaks of classified information from others, he has often leaks classified information himself to suit his own needs. This is not the type of guy who is going to resign because of some report he doesn’t like; this is the type of spy who apologizes even though he’s not sorry, who lies because he doesn’t like to tell the truth.

The National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency have been allowed to lie brazenly to Congress, the courts and the public for far too long. It’s far past time for the Obama administration to bring a little accountability to the intelligence community. It’s time for Barack Obama to fire John Brennan.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask if you would consider supporting the Guardian’s journalism as we enter one of the most consequential news cycles of our lifetimes in 2024.

With the potential of another Trump presidency looming, there are countless angles to cover around this year’s election – and we'll be there to shed light on each new development, with explainers, key takeaways and analysis of what it means for America, democracy and the world.

From Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.

And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. We always strive to be fair. But sometimes that means calling out the lies of powerful people and institutions – and making clear how misinformation and demagoguery can damage democracy.

From threats to election integrity, to the spiraling climate crisis, to complex foreign conflicts, our journalists contextualize, investigate and illuminate the critical stories of our time. As a global news organization with a robust US reporting staff, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective – one so often missing in the American media bubble.

Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not.

If you can, please consider supporting us just once from $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you.

Betsy Reed

Editor, Guardian US

[a fan]

You seem to have done the research, what was so dangerous that warranted the harassment?

It wasn't "research". It was two clicks, Kram. She wished that US troops headed to Israel to help distribute food and aid to Gaza would come home in tightly packed pine boxes. And others asking for "scalps" of "Zionists".

Where is the line drawn?

Wherever the FBI deems it is. Same as it ever was.

You telling me that you think this is new? FBI has been chasing down, and keeping an eye on, folks who write letters that threaten violence since before you and I were born.

Do you want them to stop doing this? You didn't really address that.

Do you believe books are dangerous too?

You're confusing me with a 2024 Republican.

[kramerica.inc]

You seem to have done the research, what was so dangerous that warranted the harassment?

It wasn't "research". It was two clicks, Kram. She wished that US troops headed to Israel to help distribute food and aid to Gaza would come home in tightly packed pine boxes. And others asking for "scalps" of "Zionists".

Where is the line drawn?

Wherever the FBI deems it is. Same as it ever was.

You telling me that you think this is new? FBI has been chasing down, and keeping an eye on, folks who write letters that threaten violence since before you and I were born.

Do you want them to stop doing this? You didn't really address that.

Do you believe books are dangerous too?

You're confusing me with a 2024 Republican.

The same thing you and your amigos are blaming trump for...Biden is doing.

I am against it all, yes.
Yet you keep bringing up republicans. I haven't been a Republican in a couple years at this point. Registered democrat. Practicing libertarian.

[a fan]

You seem to have done the research, what was so dangerous that warranted the harassment?

It wasn't "research". It was two clicks, Kram. She wished that US troops headed to Israel to help distribute food and aid to Gaza would come home in tightly packed pine boxes. And others asking for "scalps" of "Zionists".

Where is the line drawn?

Wherever the FBI deems it is. Same as it ever was.

You telling me that you think this is new? FBI has been chasing down, and keeping an eye on, folks who write letters that threaten violence since before you and I were born.

Do you want them to stop doing this? You didn't really address that.

Do you believe books are dangerous too?

You're confusing me with a 2024 Republican.

The same thing you and your amigos are blaming trump for...Biden is doing.

I am against it all, yes.
Yet you keep bringing up republicans. I haven't been a Republican in a couple years at this point. Registered democrat. Practicing libertarian.

I brought up Republicans because you brought up Biden, my man, as if this behavior from the FBI just started a few weeks ago.

I'm not blaming Trump for doodly. Sh(t, ten steak dinners says that Trump had NO IDEA that the FBI does this sort of thing, and couldn't tell you what the Patriot Act is. He gets a big pass from me with this issue, because he's a moron, and has no clue how the American Government works.

The second reason I brought up Republicans, is that the Patriot Act, as well as things like FISA, wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the Republican party.

Biden gets a pass from Dem voters on this and other things because that's how America works: we don't hold the people we voted for accountable. If Dem voters demanded that we eliminated both FISA and the Patriot Act? He'd get rid of them.

The millisecond Trump is back in the White House? Any and all Republican voter complaints about how the country is doing will (poof) disappear.

Welcome to America's two party system. It's why I'm independent. No interest in supporting either of these behaviors.

[runrussellrun]

I brought up Republicans because you brought up Biden, my man, So, you're saying, that to hold Biden "accountable", means you belong to the other party ? as if this behavior from the FBI just started a few weeks ago. what does that have to do with being a bigot, and labeling someone based on these bigoted , closed minded opionions...."one can NOT hold POTUSA accoutable...as stated below.....else YOU are a MAGA...." Pure, closed minded bigotry.

I'm not blaming Trump for doodly. Sh(t, ten steak dinners says that Trump had NO IDEA that the FBI does this sort of thing, and couldn't tell you what the Patriot Act is. He gets a big pass from me with this issue, because he's a moron, and has no clue how the American Government works.

The second reason I brought up Republicans, is that the Patriot Act, as well as things like FISA, wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the Republican party. How so ? We know actual evidence, like how "parties" actually VOTED on these bills.........tells a different tale. Or, are you saying that to hold Obama "accountable", as you state below, would be labeled a Repukeah CON. Yup.....we're reading history, telling us exactly that.

Biden gets a pass from Dem voters on this and other things because that's how America works: we don't hold the people we voted for accountable. If Dem voters demanded that we eliminated both FISA and the Patriot Act? He'd get rid of them. Perhaps the most.....and that's saying...

Dear handful of readers, how does a DEMOCRAT got about "demanding" Biden eliminated these Acts ? Or, in general, how does a DEMOCRAT demand anything, without being seen as a Repubican, as FAN just did.

The millisecond Trump is back in the White House? Any and all Republican voter complaints about how the country is doing will (poof) disappear. But, wouldn't they just be labeled as "DEMOCRATS", when they, how did you phrase it? "I brought up Democrat b/c you brought up tRump"

Welcome to America's two party system. It's why I'm independent. No interest in supporting either of these behaviors.

Plenty of Obama voters wanted the Patriot Act gone. Obama said he wanted it gone.

Today? Suck am a racist, MAGA, for criticising Obama and his lies. TARP, stopping wars, etc.

Give us a "pro tip" AFAN, since we failed in getting our message of elimination of the Acts to sink into Biden's VP run with Obama.......and Hillary certainly didn't make the same promises Obama did in eliminating........gaffaa.....auukkkkkkkkkckckckkc uuuhhhhhh HUUUU

Now, MR. Independent, go back to defending RECENT/current drug user Hunter and his tinfoil laptop subject.......but, won't even discuss RFK jr, because he , apparently, used drugs 50 years ago. His "climate change" work, just showboating. Oh, and his trollup......VP candidate.......she's JUST a wife of Rich guy, or whatever hateful, mysogynistic tropes the "Democrats" want to print out towards your fecesbook feed.

[youthathletics]

Can anyone help me here, I can not recall all the details. Did Wray just openly admit the FISA warrant on Page was indeed done incorrectly and 'regrettable"....beginning at the 5:30 mark, and specifcally at the ~6:10 mark about Page.



When I searched, I stumbled on an MSNBC clip where Trump had tweeted about FISA not being accurate and MSNBC argues it was, going as far as including 'Partisan Republicans' Judges signing off on it to justify it: ~up to the 1:30 mark: https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-ho ... 3665475566

[a fan]

Can anyone help me here, I can not recall all the details. Did Wray just openly admit the FISA warrant on Page was indeed done incorrectly and 'regrettable"....beginning at the 5:30 mark, and specifcally at the ~6:10 mark about Page.

Oh, I can. And did at the time it happened.

But you have to go back to when the Patriot Act was passed. Remember that?

And R's told us that secret courts were sooper-cool, and clandestine half(assed oversight that Americans didn't have access to was nothing to worry about. And naturally, the reason that they thought that was that they couldn't conceive of FISA being used to target "regular Americans" (Translation: Republicans), so who the F cares about the Constitution, since they thought it would only be used to illegally target "brown people".

And I showed this to the Board's Republicans, who were OVERJOYED to let this program go forward, because what's the problem? FISA's only going to be used on "other people", so who cares about silly things like Constitutional Rights? ACLU was livid about it. Still is. Did any of you "small government" types complain? F no. You didn't care, because you thought it didn't affect you and your family.....only "someone else's family"....so who cares, right?


Fast forward to Carter Page? Oh, suddenly FISA is bad. For about ten minutes. And instead of getting rid of this program that operates in the way that the Constitution was written to prevent? What happened?

You and your Deep State boys told us, instead, that lifelong Republicans were "the problem", not FISA. Clandestine Courts are AWESOME, and Americans just have to refrain from doing anything, anywhere, outside of America, and FISA won't get them.

Wanna hear what they did to "fix FISA", and the clandestine Courts and Warrants that they American people don't get to see to see if our Government is, oh I don't know, violating your Rights?

Yeah, they went right back to business.

And guess what, YA? It's up for renewal RIGHT NOW. Still want this BS Kangaroo court sticking it to Americans in the name of "safety", as all of these UnConstitutional laws are?

[youthathletics]

Can anyone help me here, I can not recall all the details. Did Wray just openly admit the FISA warrant on Page was indeed done incorrectly and 'regrettable"....beginning at the 5:30 mark, and specifcally at the ~6:10 mark about Page.

Oh, I can. And did at the time it happened.

But you have to go back to when the Patriot Act was passed. Remember that?

And R's told us that secret courts were sooper-cool, and clandestine half(assed oversight that Americans didn't have access to was nothing to worry about. And naturally, the reason that they thought that was that they couldn't conceive of FISA being used to target "regular Americans" (Translation: Republicans), so who the F cares about the Constitution, since they thought it would only be used to illegally target "brown people".

And I showed this to the Board's Republicans, who were OVERJOYED to let this program go forward, because what's the problem? FISA's only going to be used on "other people", so who cares about silly things like Constitutional Rights? ACLU was livid about it. Still is. Did any of you "small government" types complain? F no. You didn't care, because you thought it didn't affect you and your family.....only "someone else's family"....so who cares, right?


Fast forward to Carter Page? Oh, suddenly FISA is bad. For about ten minutes. And instead of getting rid of this program that operates in the way that the Constitution was written to prevent? What happened?

You and your Deep State boys told us, instead, that lifelong Republicans were "the problem", not FISA. Clandestine Courts are AWESOME, and Americans just have to refrain from doing anything, anywhere, outside of America, and FISA won't get them.

Wanna hear what they did to "fix FISA", and the clandestine Courts and Warrants that they American people don't get to see to see if our Government is, oh I don't know, violating your Rights?

Yeah, they went right back to business.

And guess what, YA? It's up for renewal RIGHT NOW. Still want this BS Kangaroo court sticking it to Americans in the name of "safety", as all of these UnConstitutional laws are?

I appreciate your attempted explanation, but you never answered my question, and then went on a lengthy told you so & R's are bad rant. My question still stands....it seems Wray (yesterday) openly admits the Page FISA was wrong, and yet at the time everyone said it was not. Who is right? Partisan should not enter ths discussion, unless you believe in deep state stuff.....seems you do?

[a fan]

I appreciate your attempted explanation, but you never answered my question, and then went on a lengthy told you so & R's are bad rant. My question still stands....it seems Wray (yesterday) openly admits the Page FISA was wrong, and yet at the time everyone said it was not. Who is right? Partisan should not enter ths discussion, unless you believe in deep state stuff.....seems you do?

Asked and answered: FISA is an inherently corrupt clandestine Court "system" that's CLEARLY Unconstitutional.


So there are two answers here.....my answer, and the answer from the geniuses who supported FISA until TeamTrump got screwed by it.

My answer is that ALL FISA warrants are wrong. Because if they were "right", law enforcement would simply use the open warrant system we used before 9/11 that has accountability.

You and your party? You have NO STANDING to complain. Don't like it when a system that's DESIGNED to remove Constitutional protections? Get rid of the program.

You can't have it both ways, which is what you and TrumpNation wants.

It's up for renewal RIGHT NOW, YA. If you support the program, and I know you do, deal with the Page warrant. You ASKED for this to happen.

How's that?

[njbill]

FISA is an inherently corrupt clandestine Court "system" that's CLEARLY Unconstitutional.

Reminds me of the scene early in Homeland when Saul went to the FISA judge played by Michael McKean (aka David St. Hubbins) and guilted/blackmailed the judge into approving the warrant allowing Carrie to put cameras in Sgt. Brody's home where she watched him having hot sex with his very hot wife.

[youthathletics]

I appreciate your attempted explanation, but you never answered my question, and then went on a lengthy told you so & R's are bad rant. My question still stands....it seems Wray (yesterday) openly admits the Page FISA was wrong, and yet at the time everyone said it was not. Who is right? Partisan should not enter ths discussion, unless you believe in deep state stuff.....seems you do?

Asked and answered: FISA is an inherently corrupt clandestine Court "system" that's CLEARLY Unconstitutional.


So there are two answers here.....my answer, and the answer from the geniuses who supported FISA until TeamTrump got screwed by it.

My answer is that ALL FISA warrants are wrong. Because if they were "right", law enforcement would simply use the open warrant system we used before 9/11 that has accountability.

You and your party? You have NO STANDING to complain. Don't like it when a system that's DESIGNED to remove Constitutional protections? Get rid of the program.

You can't have it both ways, which is what you and TrumpNation wants.

It's up for renewal RIGHT NOW, YA. If you support the program, and I know you do, deal with the Page warrant. You ASKED for this to happen.

How's that?

It'll do....you just left out the part where your favorite party was wrong, arguing there were no shenanigan's going on with FISA against Page et al. .....nice to have the ability to read between your lines and to get the answers.

[a fan]

I appreciate your attempted explanation, but you never answered my question, and then went on a lengthy told you so & R's are bad rant. My question still stands....it seems Wray (yesterday) openly admits the Page FISA was wrong, and yet at the time everyone said it was not. Who is right? Partisan should not enter ths discussion, unless you believe in deep state stuff.....seems you do?

Asked and answered: FISA is an inherently corrupt clandestine Court "system" that's CLEARLY Unconstitutional.


So there are two answers here.....my answer, and the answer from the geniuses who supported FISA until TeamTrump got screwed by it.

My answer is that ALL FISA warrants are wrong. Because if they were "right", law enforcement would simply use the open warrant system we used before 9/11 that has accountability.

You and your party? You have NO STANDING to complain. Don't like it when a system that's DESIGNED to remove Constitutional protections? Get rid of the program.

You can't have it both ways, which is what you and TrumpNation wants.

It's up for renewal RIGHT NOW, YA. If you support the program, and I know you do, deal with the Page warrant. You ASKED for this to happen.

How's that?

It'll do....you just left out the part where your favorite party was wrong, arguing there were no shenanigan's going on with FISA against Page et al. .....nice to have the ability to read between your lines and to get the answers.

Well, again, from the perspective of those who support the Patriot Act? And this includes Dems: The Carter Page warrant was 100% fine. Clandestine, illegal, and wouldn't pass normal Americans Court scrutiny: you know, the ENTIRE reason we have the Patriot Act.

Which side are you on? If you're for the Patriot Act? It has to apply to ALL warrants handed out by this Unamerican program....including Page's.

My point is once again, Republicans have no standing to whine about the results of the Patriot Act working as THEY designed it to work.

Edit to add: I"m reveling in the fact that politicians passed the Patriot Act with the notion that the Unconstitutional surveillance would only happen to "other people".....and then politicians and their crew was snagged by this

I complained VOCIFEROUSLY about the Patriot Act at the old Water Cooler when it was passed, and when it was renewed...and it's about to be renewed today. We learned NOTHING from Carter Page, and that warrant is obviously just one of many corrupt warrants handed out.

It's just that we'll NEVER hear about the "other warrants" from FISA.....which is by design. This is the Big Brother sh(t hat Republicans are SUPPOSED to oppose. ACLU was all over it, of course.

[MDlaxfan76]

Yes, the hypocrisy has been very high.

Interesting bedfellows in those who offered the amendment that failed today very narrowly!

On the other hand, nearly all of the longer serving national defense and intelligence committee members of both parties opposed that amendment. They did do some reform but fundamentally they protected the ability to look at the correspondence of foreign actors when they interact with any one including Americans and to then query that data for other communications those Americans had if seen communicating with known bad foreign actors. Without giving notice.

The long timers who have had the most access to what the intelligence produces say it’s a very important tool.

Seems to me that people of good faith can disagree on this, but I have a very hard time ascribing good faith to MAGA performance artists.