Mr. President, time to grab the big shovels and bring in the high loaders because the intelligence stables are full of manure and you and your team need to get to work cleaning them out. Time to shovel shit. The latest evidence of the continuing effort to smear Donald Trump and his team comes courtesy of the Wall Street Journal. CAROL E. LEE, DEVLIN BARRETT and SHANE HARRIS were out today with a story claiming that Trump’s National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, is under investigation:
U.S. counterintelligence agents have investigated communications that President Donald Trump’s national security adviser had with Russian officials, according to people familiar with the matter.
Michael Flynn is the first person inside the White House under Mr. Trump whose communications are known to have faced scrutiny as part of investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Treasury Department to determine the extent of Russian government contacts with people close to Mr. Trump.
Excuse me? What the hell!!! Let’s be clear about one thing up front–this leak is nothing more than a cheap smear. It does not pass the smell test. Let me tell you why.
First, who first learned of Michael Flynn’s “communications” with Russian contacts? There are only two means of communication–verbal and written. Unless there was a FISA order (which I assure you there was not), the only way to learn of Michael Flynn’s “communications” is through an informant (aka a human source) or the intercept of a phone or internet conversation. Now, thanks to Ed Snowden, we know that NSA is collecting all sorts of “meta” data on American citizens but that is supposed to be only for preventing terrorism. Knowing something about Michael Flynn I can guarantee you that he is not and never has been a terrorist. He believes in killing them.
Second, what possible evidence could the NSA or CIA have obtained (or FBI through one of its Russian sources) about Michael Flynn that would justify opening an investigation? The only real illegal activity that Flynn could have engaged in was offering to give U.S. intelligence to the Russians. If he did that then neither the NSA or CIA can investigate Flynn criminally. If Flynn was one of their employees they could conduct an internal investigation but, once they obtained evidence of wrong doing or illegal conduct they are obligated to turn it over to the FBI. And guess what? The FBI really can’t use their information as evidence because it was not collected in accordance with the U.S. Constitution. The FBI would therefore have to find corroborating proof on its own. That means it, the FBI, has to go before a FISA court and obtain a warrant to conduct evidence gathering. Fox News claims that the FBI requested 4 FISA warrants.
Only one little problem–the FBI would have to show some probable cause that Michael Flynn (or any other member of the Trump team) were doing something that appeared to be illegal. Telling the Russians that Barack Obama is dumbass and that Donald Trump will fix things if he is elected is not illegal and no one in the law enforcement or intelligence community has jurisdiction over such things. Some media cretins have suggested Flynn could have been “violating” the Logan Act. What is the Logan Act?
The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 18 U.S.C. § 953, enacted January 30, 1799 ) is a United States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments having a dispute with the U.S. It was intended to prevent the undermining of the government’s position.
It is not illegal for Michael Flynn or any other member of the Trump team to talk to the Russians about Trump’s intentions or plans, either before he was elected or after. In fact, after he was elected it is entirely appropriate for Trump foreign policy people to talk to Moscow. There is not a single piece of evidence demonstrating that Flynn or any other member of the Trump team has done anything to “undermine” the U.S. Government position. Hell, they didn’t have to. Barack Obama had already done a good enough job hurting America during his Presidency.
This story has only one purpose–smear Trump. Like I said at the outset, time to clean out the stables and get rid of the festering excrement left behind by the Obama sychophants.
UPDATE–To quote Bird_Dog, “That Didn’t Take Too Long.” FBI didn’t mess around yesterday and countered the leak from either CIA or NSA sources about the status of the Flynn investigation. Bottomline–there is no There There. Nothing to see folks. Move along. This alone tells me that the source of the smear came from folks tied to either CIA or NSA. Also destroys the credibility of the source of the smear. Shows they really did not know what they are claiming to know. Sweet!
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