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Saturday, March 4, 2017

Shadow Government?


Baseless conspiracy theory? You decide.

Summary:
[T]he Obama administration sought, and eventually obtained, authorization to eavesdrop on the Trump campaign; continued monitoring the Trump team even when no evidence of wrongdoing was found; then relaxed the NSA rules to allow evidence to be shared widely within the government, virtually ensuring that the information, including the conversations of private citizens, would be leaked to the media.
Read the details HERE at Conservative Treehouse.

71 comments:

  1. Trump blasted a series of tweets along these lines as well.....long on accusation, short on evidence. He's POTUS, but the investigator and indictment powers of every branch pf Federal law enforcement. If this happened, it would be swiftly known.....as it stands....there's no substantiation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CI,
      I saw Trump's Tweets after I posted this blog post.

      It has crossed my mind that Trump is fighting the msm's breaking speculations with speculative Tweets.

      That said, the more serious question relates to the timeline posted at Conservative Treehouse.

      Yesterday and the day before, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin opined on the topic of Obama's Shadow Government. Or so I've read. I have not listened to Limbaugh's or Levin's podcasts, but I know that those recordings are available online.

      I tend to avoid listening to big doses of Limbaugh and Levin because they sound so angry. How do they keep from having heart attacks or strokes?

      This morning on Fox News, Bill Bennett spoke to the issue of the tapping of Trump's telephone conversations -- specifically to THIS:

      Jan 3rd 2017 – Loretta Lynch signs off on rule changes for phone taps.

      Jan 12th 2017 – WaPo reports On Phone Calls Anonymous Intel Sources

      Jan 15th 2017 – VP Pence appears on Face the nation.

      Jan 20th 2017 – Inauguration

      Jan 23rd 2017 – FBI reports nothing unlawful in content of Flynn call

      Jan 26th 2017 – Sally Yates (acting DOJ) informs President Trump there might be a conflict between VP Pence’s stated TV version (was told by Flynn), and what Intel community communicate to Yates that Flynn actually expressed to Russia.

      Jan 27th 2017 – White House counsel begins investigation to discrepancy.


      Bennett says that all this is a big deal. I believe him -- thus far.

      Delete
    2. Could be, but NSA monitor phone transactions from foreign sources, as well as known foreign agents within the US, as a rule. Any of the allegations could have easily been borne of that regular course of surveillance, rather than "tapping Trump Tower".

      Delete
    3. CI,
      Any of the allegations could have easily been borne of that regular course of surveillance, rather than "tapping Trump Tower".

      Yes.

      But my hinckies have been activated the past 48 hours. My hinckies are not infallible, but they are very reliable.

      Delete
    4. It's always a possibility, but it doesn't make sense at present anyway. I'll restate with emphasis: Trump controls the investigatory and prosecutorial powers of the the most powerful nation on the planet. And he's Tweeting about this, like a petulant 13 year old girl.

      We will of course, have legions of useful idiots, latching on to this story without question or critical thought...behaving ideologically, like a cheap hooker at Fleet Week.

      Delete
    5. CI,
      he's Tweeting about this, like a petulant 13 year old girl.

      I don't see it that way.

      Regardless, the msm are behaving the same. It's now tit for tat. It's war.

      Delete
    6. It's not war.....it's a game. And Trump is playing it poorly.

      Delete
    7. More than a bit Byzantine but!

      From General Sessions's recusal memo:
      "Consistent with the succession order for the Department of Justice, Acting Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Dana Boente shall act as and perform the functions of the Attorney General with respect to any matters from which I have recused myself..."

      Except that wouldn't have happened barring one peculiar detail that became apparent to the Trump administration.




      "Did the Obama Administration Try Stacking the Deck Against Trump at the Justice Department?
      Seven days before he left office, President Obama changed the order of succession without explanation to remove Boente from the list. Obama's order had listed U.S. attorneys in the District of Columbia, the Northern District of Illinois and the Central District of California.
      "

      However, the Trump administration did become aware of the change and quietly returned Boente's name to the order of succession.

      "The man Obama placed at the head of the line of succession is D.C.'s U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips, who is quite cozy with President Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder. He is a former senior adviser to Holder, and he stayed on to work under Obama's next AG Loretta Lynch before Obama appointed Phillips D.C.'s U.S. attorney in 2015. But Phillips goes way back with Holder—Holder first hired Philips in the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office in 1994. It's also safe to say that the AG offices in the Northern District of Illinois and the Central District of California are not hotbeds of Trump supporters."

      Another interesting detail...

      "As soon as it was evident Boentes was going to be handling any Russian investigations, Schumer called on him to appoint a special prosecutor."

      Delete
    8. Warren,
      Byzantine indeed, with heavy tones of Obamaesque Machiavelli thrown in for good measure.

      Obama and his terrorist-activists deliberately planned this detailed sabotage against the new president.

      Delete
    9. Constitutional Insurgent stated: "Trump controls the investigatory and prosecutorial powers of the the most powerful nation on the planet"

      Wrong!

      No man, not even the president of the United States, can control what he does not know about. Obama's moles and the bureaucratic controllers are burrowed in deep.

      Delete
    10. FT - You are nothing if not a master pf contradiction....usually [as in this case] all in the same paragraph.

      Delete
    11. You have used that term to criticize "all in the same paragraph" a few times lately, and I am too dense to see the contradiction. I apologize.

      Delete
    12. President Trump has no control over rogue elements in intelligence, federal law enforcement and bureaucrats burrowed deep into the beast.

      To state otherwise is naive nonsense at best, or at worst, serving as a tool of the beast.

      President Trump is not in control. Obama's holdovers and sleeper agent saboteurs are.

      Delete
    13. Your paradigm is no different than during any other Administration, but serves...much like the media...as a convenient scapegoat.

      Delete
    14. The point remains.....IF any of this is true or controversial....Trump has the entire Federal investigative law enforcement apparatus at his disposal.......do you really think the best course of action is to tweet about it?

      Delete
    15. I wish someone would break his damned twitter. President Trump is not in control of Federal Investigative Law Enforcement and the IC is actively fighting him. He is not in control.

      Delete
    16. Well, I agree with your first sentence anyway.

      Delete
    17. Bush 43 thought it was beneath the dignity of the POTUS to address the constant deluge of criticism, snark, rumor, lies and false narratives that deluged his office and as a consequence he lost the backing of the American people at large. Not that he could do so through the MSM without more snark and innuendo added.

      Everyone knows that if you try to smear Trump you will get your smear back in spades via Twitter. Certainly hasn't hurt his popularity any. Twitter seems far better for snark and smart assed comments than a place for deep thoughts.

      Delete
    18. Warren,
      It seems to me that WE THE PEOPLE are ready for a fighter instead of a milquetoast.

      Delete
    19. "ready for a fighter instead of a milquetoast"

      I certainly am!

      Delete
    20. @Warren -- Everyone knows that if you try to smear Trump you will get your smear back in spades via Twitter.
      ------

      My bet is that he has a stroke while tweeting before the first year.

      Delete
    21. @ Ducky:
      My bet is that you have one first.

      Delete
    22. Warren,
      It won't be you who will stroke first. :^)

      Delete
  2. Obama has made it a mission of his, post-presidency, to bring down Trump. We have the last 8 years of observation as to how this usurper flaunts his disdain for this country and it's rule of law. It's not a giant leap, rather just a stutter step.
    By comparison, George W has made it his post-presidential mission to be seen dreamily hugging mooshell.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A president who sicced the federal tax authorities and armed federal police gangs on political enemies would have no compunction abusing federal intelligence and FISA to attack his political enemies.

    Is this the first time a sitting president carried out deliberate plans to booby-trap government, plant deep moles and lay hidden IEDs in order to sabotage his successor?


    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443768/obama-fisa-trump-wiretap

    ReplyDelete
  4. Senator Schmucky Schumer issued a dark warning to President Trump on behalf of the Establishment:

    “Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.”

    You don't cross the Feral Beast and live to brag about it. Doesn't that make you proud of your government?

    Anybody remember when buttoned-down GOOPers like McCain, Graham and Peter Wehner used to get upset about classified information leaks?

    Anybody remember when Democrats used to get upset about an out of control surveillance state and rogue intelligence agencies?

    President Trump's election has provided some refreshing clarity and un-masking.

    Don't. Cross. The. Feral. Government. If they want you, they will get you.

    Makes you proud to be an American, don't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Come on, Curt. The sources for this so called story are Breifart and Mark "Dumpster Fire" Levin.

      The concern should be the complete drowning out of any real investigative reporting by the internet noise machines.
      There will probably be calls in the House for an immediate special committee to investigate Obama and take the heat off looking at President Happy Hands' financial dealings in Russia.
      While they're throwing out a few bones they might even resurrect the e-mails. It's all good.

      Meanwhile people will be losing health insurance, the jobs are nowhere to be seen and without those pesky regulations mountain top coal removal can go back to dumping waste in people's drinking water. It's a von Mises paradise.

      Delete
    2. Go tell it to Schmucky Schumer. He's the state-sponsored toady who belched out the quote.

      Don't you get tire of lobbing the same tripe-filled stink bombs?

      We knew the beast wouldn't go quietly. Such fake news, alt-reality kerfuffles were inevitable. This is what the next four years will look like. If Trump finally gets the GOP on his side (my money says it won't happen), watch out.

      Delete
    3. SF,
      Great to see you here, my friend!

      The beast is definitely not going quietly.

      Delete
    4. SF,
      Anybody remember when buttoned-down GOOPers like McCain, Graham and Peter Wehner used to get upset about classified information leaks?

      Anybody remember when Democrats used to get upset about an out of control surveillance state and rogue intelligence agencies?


      I remember.

      Man, have times ever changed? And quickly, too?

      Delete
    5. It's pure tribalism. We're Somalia with genuine wood veneer democracy and an illusory patina of wealth.

      Delete
    6. SF,
      Some would say you're too cynical. I do not say that, however. My eyes were opened on October 12, 2015, when I got "an insider's" look at the GOP. Ugly and corrupt.

      Delete
    7. Addendum and point of clarification....Not that the Democratic Party is any better.

      Delete
  5. CI said:
    "It's not war.....it's a game."

    And maybe Trump is playing a deeper game than you think.

    And the NSA monitors quit a bit more than you let on and more of it is available to be shared with government entities that heretofore was unavailable prior to another late executive order.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And you can thank both parties for that......not that Trump showed any opposition to the practice prior to his Inauguration.

      Delete
    2. The Intelligence Complex is a taxpayer-funded threat to all citizens. It is a multi-billion dollar cloaking device for political operatives and tools of the global elites to attack with impunity enemies of the establishment. Dismantle it, send the rats and moles scurrying, burn it down, and start over.

      We can outsource the small sliver of intelligence work that is actually necessary to the Mossad and British Intelligence. They actually know what they are doing and unlike our Bloated Big Brother Enemy of the People, have enjoyed some actual success.

      Delete
    3. Outsource intelligence to a foreign power. Yep...that sounds perfect. Might as well do the same for the military....they're inextricably connected.

      Weird how some people would proffer surrendering our sovereignty.

      Delete
    4. Handing over billion$ to a shadowy, unaccountable global spy ring that leaves no citizen unprobed, and that installs and removes, enables and wrecks, leaders with anonymous impunity is not sovereignty.

      Take two hours of reading Reason.com and call us in the morning.

      Delete
    5. As a Libertarian, I'm very familiar with Reason. But instead, you'd offer handing over billions to a shadowy, unaccountable spy ring, controlled by a foreign power......

      Makes no difference, your fantasy is just that, so enjoy.

      Delete
    6. Loosen up your feminine product, that help with detecting tongue-in-cheek.

      The Military-Industrial-Intelligence Complex is run amok and a danger to our liberties. So, we elected a bombastic loudmouth. The people have spoken. If the government goons can't accept the will of the people, they must be ferreted out and sent packing.

      Delete
    7. My, what a departure from the standard politically-correct, faux-patriotic tripe we've become accustomed to.

      Delete
  6. Sessions were to recuse himself, the case would go to the deputy attorney general. That is currently Dana Boente, but Boente will soon be replaced by Trump’s own nominee for the position, Rod J. Rosenstein. Rosenstein was nominated by the Trump administration in January, and he will have his confirmation hearing on March 7th.
    Lots of luck with that..... and why did he pick Rosenstein?

    http://heavy.com/news/2017/03/rod-j-rosenstein-deputy-attorney-general-united-states-incumbent-nominee-donald-trump-russia-investigation-jeff-sessions-maryland-federal-judge-district-court-wife-kids-lisa/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All Sessions subordinates should recuse themselves.
      Who would be left?

      Delete
  7. Quite funny, watching the American Beast finally turning upon itself and eating of itself.

    The CIA has for decades assassinated leaders of sovereign nations and installed puppets. It delights the senses to observing the trained snakes, rats and scorpions turning upon the people who have spawned and funded them and went about their luxury lives, oblivious to the chaos their government was sowing and the hatred their government was creating all over the world.

    Pardon us, while the rest of the world laughs at you. The Lego man intelligence warrior who claims the banner of constitution is your perfect symbol, Amerika.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks FT...coming from your ideological viewpoint, that is a distinct compliment.

      Delete
    2. You have to be pretty arch to dislike Legos, FreeThinke.

      Delete
  8. UGH! The atmosphere inthis place is so filled with dissension, barbed negativism, and bilious rhetoric it has become suffocating. No longer a fit place for human habitation.

    I'll let you all kill each other off with the Breath of Death. I'm going out in search of some clean fresh air.

    Buh Bye!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Come on, FreeThinke old boy! We love you!

      Delete
    2. It amuses me no end to see how frequently remarks are attributed to me when such is not the case.

      §;^D=

      Delete
  9. Well!

    I see that this comments thread has been quite busy in my absence.

    Reminds me of the races at Charles Town:

    "And it's post time!...And they're OFF!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do da, do da
      Charles Town race track five miles long....

      (With apologizes to Stephen Foster)

      Delete
  10. From Did the Obama Administration Try Stacking the Deck Against Trump at the Justice Department?:

    [I]f the Obama administration had its way, Dana Boente wasn't supposed be the U.S. attorney to handle these matters in the event that Sessions recused himself. On February 10, USA Today reported the following:

    "Seven days before he left office, President Obama changed the order of succession without explanation to remove Boente from the list. Obama's order had listed U.S. attorneys in the District of Columbia, the Northern District of Illinois and the Central District of California."

    That seems like awfully suspicious behavior....

    [...]

    The man Obama placed at the head of the line of succession is D.C.'s U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips, who is quite cozy with President Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder....


    More at the above link.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lurking behind above, and below all these concerns is the increasingly present threat of INTERNATIONALISM –– loss of our sovereignty, tyrannical One World Government bound in the names of FAIRNESS, EQUALITY, and HUMANITARIANISM to REDISTRIBUTE OUR WEALTH, and end by ENSLAVING us ALL.

    If we don't UNITE in an all out ATTCK and RESISTANCE to THAT, everything else that worries us will be moot.

    BREXIT and the growing resistance in the Netherlands, France and Germany to "OPEN BORDERS" and the continued RULE by UNELECTED OLIGARCHS centered in BRUSSELS are the most hopeful signs we've seen since the spontaneous emergence of the Tea Party.

    A LOT depends n whether the BRITISH PEOPLE will succeed in overriding the iron will of the BUREAUCRATS. The people voted FCOR the BRXIT, but the government is dragging its feet in an apparent determination NOT to copy with the results of the election.

    The same thing is happening HERE with the RABID, INSANE UPRISING and vicious, quaso-Bolshevik-Anarchist- style tactics of the Defeated-but-Defiant MARXICRATS in their determination to render the election of President Trump effectively NULL and VOID.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FT,
      But how can we effectively unite? Our so-called elected public servants are both complicit and feckless. Keep that in mind for the 2018 elections.

      Delete
    2. Remember the lesson from Field of Dreams?

      "If you build it, he will come."

      The most important things cannot be weighed, measured. eaten, stored in containers or used as building materials.

      The content and quality of our Thoughts and Dreams is of utmost importance. NOTHING WORTHWHILE could ever come from cynical, perverse, negative beliefs and modes of thought.

      "Lift thine eyes, O lift thine eyes to the mountains whence cometh our help. Our help cometh from the LORD who made heaven and earth. ..."

      "All [good] things are possible to those who love God."

      Delete
    3. FT,
      My so-called elected representatives on Capitol Hill aren't interested in hearing from any constituents who dissent. They believe they're going to occupy their positions for life, and maybe that's the case for this region.

      Delete
  12. Ducky, I suppose it's difficult to pull yourself away from the MSM attack-dog-media whose apparent mission is to destroy the election of Donald Trump as President. And then what? Do you spend all day watching CNN and their flea bag Brian Seltzer chewing his words as if he's relishing something succulent in his mouth like pizza or "hotdogs"?

    I doubt you are interested in understanding the reality what is happening here since you already close off your mind to what could well be the truth behind what the hell is going on.

    Yes, I know you won't like get info on CNN that may well be the proper and true explanation since it comes from Mark Levin who you denigrate as "Dumpster Fire" and the interview was on Fox News, "Faux News" to you.

    But it makes sense. And it's not from some secret and stole security file after all. He only quotes from the public record, specifically many different sources, including that "newspaper of record the New York Times".

    It makes a pretty solid case that Trump has it right and there are existing documents to prove it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91fNfGjZdM0

    You denigrate Trump yet can you be so blind that you would want to live in the type of police state the the tactics of the Democrats and Obama are showing lies in the near future if it isn't stopped in its tracks asap?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waylon,
      Thank you for the link to that Mark Levin video. I saw a few minutes of it on Fox News this morning, but not the entire presentation.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Let's establish a couple points, Waylon.

      1. You have no more idea than a hammer where I choose to get my news or how I attempt to filter it to arrive at some semblance of fact.
      By spouting immature cliches like "MSM" you set yourself up as someone who has been skull drilled by the likes of Rush, Michael Savage and Mark Levin for a couple decades.

      2. Levin is going to need more than a Gish gallop of a few articles without context to be convincing.

      3. I accept that there may have been requests to the FISA court for information gathering of Trump campaign officials. I also believe there is adequate reason to believe a full investigation of Russian influence on the election is in order.
      Or do you think what we need is more Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi ?
      The tweeter in chief has been doing his best to shift the emphasis on to Obama. What's he trying to hide?

      4. I'm a Slavic, Roman Catholic so I might have a higher tolerance to authoritarianism than the average right winger but I think not much more.
      I am concerned by the Republican militarization of the civilian police force through the dual disgraces of the "War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror".
      It will get worse. President Happy Hands will increase the military budget and as a result down graded military equipment will filter down to civilian police forces.

      So I have an interest in what is happening and to say I don't simply because I disagree with your dogma is not an indication that discussion is possible.

      Delete
    4. .....will increase the military budget and as a result down graded military equipment will filter down to civilian police forces.

      Yep. Back in September, Trump already promised LEO unions that military equipment will continue to flow to civilian agencies under his Administration.

      “The 1033 program is an excellent program that enhances community safety. I will rescind the current executive order,” CBS News

      Expect more dead dogs, dead Veterans and no-knock warrants for criminal possession. Freedom!

      Delete
    5. Glad that you liked it, AOW.

      Doesn't sound like I was able to enlighten the benighted brain of our feathered friend though.

      Delete
  13. Just now on the news, I heard say Trey Gowdy say that the paper trail of all FISA actions are under Trump's control.

    When did he gain that control?

    So, did he Tweet before or after he reviewed those FISA actions? Kellyanne Conway hinted so during an interview this morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For their to be an unlawful conspiracy, the FISA paper trail must show that Trump was the target of the order, as opposed to Russian communications coming into Trump Tower.

      Delete
  14. Obama's many wiretaps (now referred to as ObamaGate):

    It is not unfounded that former President Obama would wire tap President Trump during the election process. This is because he has done this before. Here is a list of individuals who were wire tapped by the Obama Administration.

    WikiLeaks released the following list on February 23rd (see link here) of Obama Administration wire taps:

    * The US National Security Agency bugged a private climate change strategy meeting; between UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin;

    * Obama bugged Chief of Staff of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for long term interception targetting his Swiss phone;

    * Obama singled out the Director of the Rules Division of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Johann Human, and targetted his Swiss phone for long term interception;

    * Obama stole sensitive Italian diplomatic cables detailing how Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to help patch up his relationship with US President Barack Obama, who was refusing to talk to Netanyahu;

    * Obama intercepted top EU and Japanese trade ministers discussing their secret strategy and red lines to stop the US “extort[ing]” them at the WTO Doha arounds (the talks subsequently collapsed);

    * Obama explicitly targeted five other top EU economic officials for long term interception, including their French, Austrian and Belgium phone numbers;

    * Obama explicitly targetted the phones of Italy’s ambassador to NATO and other top Italian officials for long term interception; and

    * Obama intercepted details of a critical private meeting between then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel and Berluscon, where the latter was told the Italian banking system was ready to “pop like a cork”.

    In addition to the above list we also know now that Obama wire tapped various individuals in the US media that were reporting information not flattering to the Obama Administration. It is widely known that Obama’s Justice Department targeted journalists with wiretaps in 2013:...


    Read the rest HERE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some more:

      * In 2013 the liberal Washington Post expressed outrage after the revelation that the Justice Department had investigated the newsgathering activities of a Fox News reporter as a potential crime in a probe of classified leaks. The reporter, Fox News’ James Rosen and his family, were part of an investigation into government officials anonymously leaking information to journalists. Rosen was not charged but his movements and actions were tracked.

      * Also in 2013, members of the Associated Press were also a target of the surveillance. The ultra liberal New Yorker even noted that “In moderate and liberal circles, at least, the phone-records scandal, partly because it involves the dear old A.P. and partly because it raises anew the specter of Big Brother, may well present the most serious threat to Obama’s reputation.”

      * Reporter Sharyl Attkisson said in 2014 that her personal computer and CBS laptop were hacked after she began filing stories about Benghazi that were unflattering to the Obama administration. A source who checked her laptop said the hacker used spyware “proprietary to a government agency,” according to an article in the New York Post.

      Obama is no stranger to wire tapping. His administration tapped phones and computers of friends and foe alike.

      Delete
    2. It's pretty well known that Obama didn't tolerate leaks and was aggressive in tracking them down. There was considerable sympathy on the left for Snowden's actions due to the closed nature of Obama's administration.
      Sharyl Attkinson was trying to salvage a dead career (didn't work). Anyone mentioning Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi is suspect from jump street.

      This all has nothing to do with President Happy Hands trying to deflect attention from the nature of his administrations dealings with Russia.

      Delete
  15. And there's this: Obama Administration Looks To Be In Very Serious Legal Trouble, which states

    This is the crux of Obama’s legal trouble. In order to legally capture information about members of the Trump Campaign (one of which was a sitting Senator), then retain it and distribute it, the reason would have to border on high crimes and treason – not “discussions” or “hacking” or “business transactions”. Even coordinating national policies and treaties with foreign leaders would not rise to the level of urgency required to invoke these intelligence resources.

    To summarize, it is Team Obama’s collection, retention and distribution of information protected by the US Constitution that constitute the high crimes here, specifically when it pertains to members of Trump’s campaign.

    ReplyDelete

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