3. The FBI could not corroborate the information in the Steele dossier, calling it only "minimally corroborated" but did not disclose this fact to the FISA Court thus leading it to believe that the information in the dossier was either FBI work-product or that it had been independently corroborated by the FBI. Neither was true.
4. The FBI did not disclose that the source of the information which formed the basis of their FISA application was a paid political operative of the Clinton campaign and the DNC.
5. The FBI and the Department of Justice intentionally misled the FISA court in their applications to obtain authority to spy on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page. They did this not once, but on four separate occasions over the course of a year, including after Donald Trump was in office. The misleading applications were signed off by James Comey (three times), Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, Dana Boente, and Rosenstein. This certainly casts the actions of each of them in a much different light. Recall that Yates was briefly the acting attorney general under Trump before the president fired her when she refused to defend the administration's travel moratorium in court. At the time she was lionized in the media and claimed that she had to defend "this institution's solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right." Likewise, Rosenstein's nearly yearlong failure to fulfill his legal obligation to produce a lawful charter as a predicate for the Mueller investigation which now appears, in context, to be nothing more than the continuation of the Democrat's campaign against Trump using the FBI as willing collaborators.
6. Comey lied to the president about the investigation while he was FBI director.
7. FBI agent Peter Strozk and his mistress FBI attorney Lisa Page met with Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to discuss an "insurance policy" against Trump being elected president. We don't yet know the names of all of those who attended the meeting.
8. The texts between Peter Strozk and Lisa Page contain, "extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an 'insurance policy' against Trump's election."
9. The Nunes memo is just the beginning. There is more to come.
What We Still Don't Know:
1. What role did Hillary Clinton play?
2. Was Attorney General Loretta Lynch involved with these efforts to surveil associates of the Trump campaign and, if so, to what extent?
3. We know that Susan Rice and Samantha Power were both involved in unmasking the names of U.S. citizens who were being targeted in this surveillance. Were they coordinating with elements within the FBI and/or the Justice Department? Were they coordinating with the DNC and Clinton campaign to give Hillary an electoral advantage?
4. What did Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton really discuss during their tarmac meeting in Phoenix on June 27, 2016.
5. Did Barack Obama know about and/or participate in a conspiracy to use the police and surveillance powers of the federal government to undermine Donald Trump and rig the presidential election? Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wants to see Obama and Clinton's emails.
6. Who else was at the meeting attended by McCabe, Strozk, and Page where they discussed an "insurance policy" against Trump's election? How often did they meet, where did they meet, and what did they discuss?
7. Why couldn't the FBI, which touts its forensic expertise, locate the Strozk-Page texts but the Inspector General did it in two days?
8. What is the "insurance policy" Strozk and Page discussed? Is that a reference to the conspiracy itself?
9. To whom in the media did the FBI leak information about their Trump spying? How long and how extensive was this disinformation campaign.
10. What discussions took place among Justice Department resisters about refusing to obey Trump's direction as president?
We now know that almost every accusation leveled against the president with regard to so-called Russian collusion" actually reflects the actions of what amounts to a cabal of Democratic Party operatives working with FBI and Justice Department fellow-travelers.
Among other things, it has become clear that Rod Rosenstein must resign. He was either complicit in the conspiracy to mislead the FISA Court or he was too dumb to see what was happening. Either way, he's demonstrated criminality, incompetence, or both and needs to go.
The picture painted by the Nunes memo is one of federal law enforcement officials who believe they are a wholly independent power, accountable to no one but themselves, and able to pick winners and losers in elections.
Based on what we know now, the conspiracy to undermine candidate Trump and later to destroy President Trump may have been limited to the Justice Department and FBI. But looking at the totality of the plan to influence the 2016 election, it seems hard to believe that Obama had no knowledge of what was going on.
VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS:
How bad are the revelations in the Nunes' memo? It's very bad. As the title of the article states, it is worse than the underlying crimes in the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon. Greg Gutfield put it best when he said: "Using an unvetted dossier to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on an American citizen is like using Monopoly money to buy a Porsche."
If the conduct of the Obama administration FBI and DOJ is OK, then Donald Trump should do the same thing in the 2020 presidential election season. He should hire someone like Christopher Steele, have a dossier concocted on his opponents, and then present that information (without disclosing anything explaining how that information originated, was collected, or even why it was collected) to a FISA judge to get a surveillance warrant to spy on those opponents.
References:
The Steele Dossier (contents) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.html
Chris Buskirk, "Worse Than Watergate,"
American Greatness, Feb. 2, 2018. Referenced at: https://amgreatness.com/2018/02/02/worse-than-watergate/ [The Entire Section V is reproduced from this excellent article]
Text of Nunes Memo - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/read-the-full-text-of-the-nunes-memo/552191/
Watergate - https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-watergate-scandal-summary-facts-timeline.html
Watergate - http://www.dummies.com/education/history/american-history/president-richard-nixon-and-the-watergate-scandal/
Charlie Savage, "How to Get a Wiretap to Spy on Americans, and Why That Matters Now,"
NY Times, January 29, 2018. Referenced at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/us/politics/fisa-surveillance-applications-how-they-work.html
Dave Lawler, "Timeline: Davin Nunes and Trump Surveillance Claims,"
AXIOS, March 30, 2017. Referenced at: https://www.axios.com/timeline-devin-nunes-and-trump-surveillance-claims-1513301236-c0c83abe-26be-4651-96b7-3dc84bbd203a.html
Ryan Teague Beckwith and Alana Abramson, "Who is Carter Page? Meet the Donald Trump Advisor at the Center of the GOP Memo,"
TIME, Feb. 2, 2018. Referenced at: http://time.com/5128614/carter-page-gop-memo-fisa-warrant/
Andrew Prokop, "Carter Page, Star of the Nunes Memo, Explained,"
VOX, February 2, 2017. Referenced at: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/2/16956014/nunes-memo-carter-page
Zachary Fryer Biggs, "Republican 'Release the Memo" Conspiracy Ignores How Difficult it is to Get a FISA Warrant,"
Newsweek, February 1, 2018. Referenced at: http://www.newsweek.com/how-get-fisa-warrant-797323
Artin Afkhami, "A Timeline of Carter Page's Contacts with Russia,"
Slate, November 7, 2017. Referenced at: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/11/a_timeline_of_carter_page_s_contacts_with_russia.html
"Carter Page Did Not Need to be a Spy to Be Targeted Under FISA,"
EmptyWheel, January 29, 2018. Referenced at: https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/01/29/carter-page-did-not-need-to-be-a-spy-to-be-targeted-under-fisa
Larry Abrahmson, "The History Behind America's Most Secret Court,"
NPR Morning Edition, June 7, 2013. Referenced at: https://www.npr.org/2013/06/07/189430580/the-history-behind-americas-most-secretive-court
James G. McAdams III, Legal Division, "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): An Overview." Referenced at: https://www.fletc.gov/sites/default/files/imported_files/training/programs/legal-division/downloads-articles-and-faqs/research-by-subject/miscellaneous/ForeignIntelligenceSurveillanceAct.pdf
APPENDIX: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), of 1978
(1) pursuant to an order issued by the FISC; or (2) in emergency circumstances, pursuant to Attorney General approval, so long as an application is thereafter made to the FISC within 24 hours.
FISA identifies two categories of potential targets for surveillance under FISA. The first category is foreign powers. A foreign power is -
(1) a foreign government, (2) a diplomat, other representative or employee of a foreign government, (3) a faction of a foreign nation that is not substantially composed of U.S. persons, (4) an entity openly acknowledged by a foreign government to be directed and controlled by it, or (5) a group engaged in international terrorism or activities in preparation therefore.
A second category of FISA targets are agents of foreign powers. An agent of a foreign power is -
(1) anyone, other than a U.S. person, who acts in the United States as an officer or employee of a foreign power, or (2) anyone who acts as part of or in support of a foreign power's efforts to engage in clandestine intelligence gathering activities in the U.S.
An agent of a foreign power is also anyone, including a U.S. person, who -
(1) knowingly engages in clandestine intelligence gathering activities for a foreign power which activities constitute a violation of U.S. criminal statutes; (2) knowingly engages in sabotage or international terrorism, or activities in reparation therefore, on behalf of a foreign power.
For purposes of the Act, a U.S. person is defined as any of the following:
(1) a citizen of the U.S.; (2) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence; (3) an unincorporated association a substantial number of which are U.S. citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence; or (4) a U.S. corporation. Under the Act, international terrorism is defined as:
(1) activities that involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the U.S. or of any state, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any State; (2) acts that appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping; and
(3) activities that occur totally outside the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to coerce or intimidate, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.
