Most Damning Evidence of FISA Abuses Yet!

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FBI email chain may provide most damning evidence of FISA abuses yet

"... the most damning evidence to date of potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), evidence that has been kept from the majority of members of Congress for more than two years.

The email exchanges included then-FBI Director James Comey, key FBI investigators in the Russia probe and lawyers in the DOJ’s national security division, and they occurred in early to mid-October, before the FBI successfully secured a FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

The email exchanges show the FBI was aware — before it secured the now-infamous warrant — that there were intelligence community concerns about the reliability of the main evidence used to support it: the Christopher Steele dossier.

The exchanges also indicate FBI officials were aware that Steele, the former MI6 British intelligence operative then working as a confidential human source for the bureau, had contacts with news media reporters before the FISA warrant was secured.

The FBI fired Steele on Nov. 1, 2016 — two weeks after securing the warrant — on the grounds that he had unauthorized contacts with the news media.

But the FBI withheld from the American public and Congress, until months later, that Steele had been paid to find his dirt on Trump by a firm doing political opposition research for the Democratic Party and for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and that Steele himself harbored hatred for Trump.

If the FBI knew of his media contacts and the concerns about the reliability of his dossier before seeking the warrant, it would constitute a serious breach of FISA regulations and the trust that the FISA court places in the FBI.

That’s because the FBI has an obligation to certify to the court before it approves FISA warrants that its evidence is verified, and to alert the judges to any flaws in its evidence or information that suggest the target might be innocent.

We now know the FBI used an article from Yahoo News as independent corroboration for the Steele dossier when, in fact, Steele had talked to the news outlet.

If the FBI knew Steele had that media contact before it submitted the article, it likely would be guilty of circular intelligence reporting, a forbidden tactic in which two pieces of evidence are portrayed as independent corroboration when, in fact, they originated from the same source.

These issues are why the FBI email chain, kept from most members of Congress for the past two years, suddenly landed on the declassification list.

The addition to the list also comes at a sensitive time, as House Republicans prepare on Friday to question Comey, who signed off on the FISA warrant while remaining an outlier in the intelligence community about the Steele dossier.

Most intelligence officials, such as former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, have embraced the concerns laid out in the Steele dossier of possible — but still unproven — collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Yet, 10 months after the probe started and a month after Robert Mueller was named special counsel in the Russia probe, Comey cast doubt on the the Steele dossier, calling it “unverified” and “salacious” in sworn testimony before Congress.

Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page further corroborated Comey’s concerns in recent testimony before House lawmakers, revealing that the FBI had not corroborated the collusion charges by May 2017, despite nine months of exhaustive counterintelligence investigation.

Lawmakers now want to question Comey [happening today -- under oath] about whether the information in the October email string contributed to the former FBI director’s assessment.

The question long has lingered about when the doubts inside the FBI first surfaced about the allegations in the Steele dossier.

Sources tell me the email chain provides the most direct evidence that the bureau, and possibly the DOJ, had reasons to doubt the Steele dossier before the FISA warrant was secured.

Sources say the specifics of the email chain remain classified, but its general sentiments about the Steele dossier and the media contacts have been discussed in nonclassified settings.

“If these documents are released, the American public will have clear and convincing evidence to see the FISA warrant that escalated the Russia probe just before Election Day was flawed and the judges [were] misled,” one knowledgeable source told me.

Congressional investigators also have growing evidence that some evidence inserted into the fourth and final application for the FISA — a document signed by current Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — was suspect....

As more of the secret evidence used to justify the Russia probe becomes public, an increasingly dark portrait of the FBI’s conduct emerges.

The bureau, under a Democratic-controlled Justice Department, sought a warrant to spy on the duly nominated GOP candidate for president in the final weeks of the 2016 election, based on evidence that was generated under a contract paid by his political opponent.

That evidence, the Steele dossier, was not fully vetted by the bureau and was deemed unverified months after the warrant was issued.

At least one news article was used in the FISA warrant to bolster the dossier as independent corroboration when, it fact, it was traced to a news organization that had been in contact with Steele, creating a high likelihood it was circular intelligence reporting.

And the entire warrant, the FBI’s own document shows, was being rushed to approval by two agents who hated Trump and stated in their own texts that they wanted to “stop” the Republican from becoming president.

If ever there were grounds to investigate the investigators, these facts provide the justification.

Director Comey and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein likely hold the answers, as do the still-classified documents. It’s time all three be put under a public microscope.

(The Hill)

Nice to hear, but i still doubt a damn thing will happen because of this.

Comey wouldn’t answer a direct question regarding fisa abuse yesterday

He adopted his sanctimonious manner and droned on about nothing

It is a shame that the FBI has stooped so low.

This excellent thread shows the value of a free press.

Nothing burger story.. If someone in congress knew about this and sat on it for 2 years? And didn't tell trump?
This is just ground salmonella meat for the base.
What bullshit.

. Originally Posted by I B Hankering

Nothing burger story.. If someone in congress knew about this and sat on it for 2 years? And didn't tell trump?
This is just ground salmonella meat for the base.
What bullshit. Originally Posted by Munchmasterman

Not two years old. Recently acquired documents highlighting that Comey and his compadres knew the Steele dossier was unverified, of questionable and partisan origin and that they were using circular evidence (the Huffy piece that originated with Steele and the Steele document) when they requested their FISA warrants.

"Fruit of the poisonous tree."

Mueller's indictments will die of Salmonella poisoning.

Not two years old. Recently acquired documents highlighting that Comey and his compadres knew the Steele dossier was unverified, of questionable and partisan origin and that they were using circular evidence (the Huffy piece that originated with Steele and the Steele document) when they requested their FISA warrants.

"Fruit of the poisonous tree."

Mueller's indictments will die of Salmonella poisoning. Originally Posted by I B Hankering

once they understand what that FISA warrant did...

I'm still seeing just "meh Russia."

2 years of bullshit and all they can come up with is Trump paid for a couple of blowjobs. Except paid for it by his lawyer with campaign funds.

Does this sound sound familiar? When is Melania going to make her "stand by her man" interview?

I'm still seeing just "meh Russia."

2 years of bullshit and all they can come up with is Trump paid for a couple of blowjobs. Except paid for it by his lawyer with campaign funds.

Does this sound sound familiar? When is Melania going to make her "stand by her man" interview? Originally Posted by gnadfly

Admit it you are hoping that is all he has.

I'm still seeing just "meh Russia."

2 years of bullshit and all they can come up with is Trump paid for a couple of blowjobs. Except paid for it by his lawyer with campaign funds.

Does this sound sound familiar? When is Melania going to make her "stand by her man" interview? Originally Posted by gnadfly

It just keeps getting worse for you boy. All they had according to you before Friday was nothing. Now it’s a “couple of blowjobs “and some payouts. Let me translate that into the feds language, since you don’t seem to understand what the reports said. A couple of felonies is what they called it
It