In the interest of full disclosure I worked for the Donald J. Trump for President Campaign in 2016. I ended up in a legal dispute with some mangers (one was fired two resigned)but despite that adventure I supported and at times defended future President Donald J. Trump.
After the release of the over-hyped Mueller Report watching former colleges get put through hell for no good reason and observing this impeachment process play out it is time to defend him again.
I watched a willfully dishonest news media ignoring the crisis before us and its time for a simplified breakdown of the FISA Warrant that enabled the Mueller Report followed by an explanation of the impeachment.
FISA stands for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This federal law was introduced in 1978 and established the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. This is a secret (closed door) court that can grant surveillance of citizens and foreign agents.
When you appear before them you need to show evidence of espionage terrorism spying etc… Once they are convinced you are on the trail of an adversary of the United States they grant a surveillance warrant (FISA warrant).
When the Inspector Generals report dropped on December 11 2019 Former FBI Director James Comey issued an insufferable tweet:
So it was all lies. No treason. No spying on the campaign. No tapping Trumps wires. It was just good people trying to protect America.
Comey didnt read the report before Tweeting. The IG report completely refutes his arrogance:
…we identified multiple instances in which factual assertions relied upon in the first FISA application were inaccurate incomplete or unsupported by appropriate documentation based upon information the FBI had in its possession at the time the application was filed."
The report delivered great detail about the lies and misinformation used against Carter Page and the 2016 Trump campaign.
An FBI lawyer alleged to be Kevin Clinesmith altered Carter Pages status from a CIA asset to a Russian asset just to get the FISA warrant that let the Obama administration surveil (spy on) the Trump campaign. The CIA described Page as an operational contact" with a positive assessment." This FBI lawyer inserted the words not a source" making it appear Carter Page was not a source for the Central Intelligence Agency.That means by falsely claiming Carter Page was in league with foreign agents the FISA court was tricked into allowing surveillance of the Trump campaign.
Operatives were dispatched to different news channels to falsely claim there was credible evidence Carter Page was a foreign asset. MSNBC Correspondent Nicole Wallace lied about Carter Page being a possible Russian collaborator. After the IG Report was released she simply repeated the debunked accusation Carter Page was working for Russia. She never read the report.
Kevin Clinesmith resigned from the FBI when he was confronted about this deception. He may soon be facing criminal charges.
This singular act lead the Mueller investigation down a a path where they could not deliver. The Russian Collusion" Mueller was looking for came from Clinesmiths tampering with that email.
The Boston Herald reported on how the House Republicans caught on to the fact Muellers team was controlling the narrative and not Mueller himself.
After his testimony Republicans began floating the theory that Muellers unsteady grasp on the case is evidence that it was his Democrat-dominated team and not Mueller who really called the shots in the Russiagate probe. It sheds a lot of light on what happened the last two years" a Republican congressman reportedly said while watching the hearings. He wasnt in charge."
Once everyone realized the Mueller report was a dud desperation set in. There had to be a way to stop Trump.
The IG Report says that since the waning days of Obama administration the FBI and others were complicit in:
Falsely declaring that Carter Page is a Russian asset by means of altering an email so his identity as a CIA asset was erased. That falsified data along with the notorious Steele Dossier paid for by the Clinton Campaign was brought to a secret court for secret Judges to issue a FISA warrant against Page because they (the FISA court)believed the false narrative presented to them.
Once the illicitly gotten FISA warrant was negotiated the Obama administration began surveillance" on the Trump campaign. The unethical surveillance fueled the Mueller investigation which then bent over backwards to prove the FBIs false lead on Carter Page was true.
It wasnt. The FBI lied so did many others. They falsified information. Its in the IG Report.
Enter Vice-President Joe Bidens big mouth.
Biden who constantly invents tall tales and exaggerations where he can play the hero told a Godfather-esque tale of how tough he was dealing with Ukraine:
Recounting a trip to Kyiv in late 2015 Biden described telling the then-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko that he had to fire the prosecutor general or the US would not release $1 billion in loan guarantees. I looked at them and said Im leaving in six hours" Biden told the crowd taking a long look at his watch for effect. If the prosecutor is not fired youre not getting the money. Well son of a bitch." Here the audience laughed. He got fired."
This wannabe tough-guy story circulated quickly and soon after that Bidens hapless son Hunter Biden was raking in $80000 a month by sitting on the board of Burisma holdings. Bidens boasting and the obvious political favor of Hunter being employed lead to many raised eyebrows.
Joe Bidens own staff was distressed at the time how bad he made things look. It was vintage Joe.
When President Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy he referenced this gossip which was already well known in D.C. Russia and Ukraine:
Theres a lot of. talk about Bidens son. that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you ·can look into it … It sounds horrible to me."
Its clear the President is talking about rumors launched by Joe Bidens big mouth bragging he was some kind of diplomatic bad-ass.
This story that Joe Bidens vanity and exaggerations gave life to is what the articles of impeachment stand on; a reference to D.C. gossip.
Thats it. Thats what the Abuse of Power" is in the first impeachment article.
The Second is Obstruction of Congress." The White House didnt want to cooperate with them. Why should they?
Secret Courts FBI lawyers falsifying documents for FISA warrants failed Special Prosecutor investigations and the lies of Joe Biden have lead us to this moment and it is wrong.
If this can be done to a wealthy President of the United States what protection does the average American have from this abuse?
If this impeachment stunt succeeds the legacies of its champions will be forever tarnished by the lies and innuendo they based this alleged case on. They will deserve it.
The United States however deserves better.