The “Wiretapping” Scandal

Everything we know about the “wiretapping” scandal is provided to us by the media and politicians who have an agenda.  There are members of the media who believe that they have exclusive rights to information.  CNN’s Chris Cuomo informed his viewers, “remember, it’s illegal to possess these stolen documents. It’s different for the media. So everything you learn about this, you’re learning from us.”  MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski complained that Donald Trump, “could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think. And that is our job.”  Obama has had almost eight years to install his followers into positions of leadership in the bureaucracy.  These followers have done their best to weed out members of the bureaucracy who would not follow the Obama agenda.  These people are literally a fifth column.  They leak information to the press they believe will damage the Trump administration and do their best to conceal evidence that might damage their cause.

On 4 March 2017 Donald Trump tweeted, “Terrible!  Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory.  Nothing Found.  This is McCarthyism!”  Obviously Donald Trump was not “wire tapped.”  Every member of the intelligence community can swear to this.  When Representative Adam Schiff asked FBI Director James Comey whether President Trump‘s claims that his predecessor had wiretapped Trump Tower were true, Comey responded, “I have no information that supports those tweets.”  Come added,  “The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components, the department has no information that supports those tweets.”   Even the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, has asserted that Trump Tower was not “wiretapped.  Wiretapping is defined as “an act or instance of tapping telephone or telegraph wires for evidence or other information.”  Wiretapping is simply no longer done.  In an age when the meaning of “is” is in dispute the word wiretapped needs to be clarified. 

The question remains, was Trump or members or his staff surveilled during the campaign?  On January 20, 2017 the New York Times ran an article claiming that Team Trump had Russian connections.  In support of their claim they said that Trump’s people were wiretapped.  NBC later described Trump’s claim as “discredited.”  Through repetition this description has become the accepted truth.  The contradiction in the story that Trump was not surveilled and the assertion that there are transcripts of his aid’s contact with the Russians has been solved.  Information on Americans was inadvertently collected when our intelligence agencies were surveilling foreigners.  Former NSA and CIA director Mike Hayden has even suggested that the information was obtained from conversations between foreigners talking about Americans.

Aside from the legal question, it is commonly believed that this is something Americans don’t do.  They do not spy on political opponents.  Or do they?  Representative Maxine Waters stated, “The President has put in place an organization with the kind of database that no one has ever seen before in life.  That’s going to be very, very powerful.  That database will have information about everything on every individual on ways that it’s never been done before and whoever runs for President on the Democratic ticket has to deal with that. They’re going to go down with that database and the concerns of those people because they can’t get around it. And he’s [President Obama] been very smart. It’s very powerful what he’s leaving in place.”  Obviously the President took his database with them when he left office.  Hillary Clinton illegally obtained FBI files for political purposes.  The NSA has a database named MAINWAY that contains metadata for hundreds of billions of telephone calls made through the four largest telephone carriers in the United States.  Many people might look at this as unimportant.  Do they feel the same way about J. Edgar Hoover’s surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther King? 

The power of this information cannot be overestimated.  Even people who are very supportive of the president may be convinced to change their positions in order to keep certain information from going public.  Considering the capabilities of modern intelligence organizations it is unlikely that they did have embarrassing information on Senator Larry Craig and former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.  This information could easily be used to sway their votes.

Wiretapping and the Trump/Putin Connection

Published in American Thinker on 22 March 2017

Congressional hearings are establishing that there is no evidence that President Obama ordered the wiretapping of Donald Trump.  They are also establishing that there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.  Former Director of National Intelligence Gen. James Clapper has said he had seen no evidence of Russia-Trump collusion.  Former acting CIA Director Michael Morell who once claimed “In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation,” now claims, “There’s no little campfire, there’s no little candle, there’s no spark. And there’s a lot of people looking for it.”  “A lot of people” includes the FBI, the National Security Agency, the C.I.A. and the Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit.  These former promoters of the claim that Putin put Trump in the White House appear very confident considering the fact that the investigation is reportedly still ongoing.  There is something suspicious about their absolute confidence.

What “evidence” they apparently had was a dossier supposedly compiled by a former British intelligence agent.  This dossier is such an amateurish job that only someone like John McCain would find it believable.  Even when intelligence officials tipped off Vice President Biden about the dossier, Biden told reporters he didn’t think the information was worth a second glance.  Could the Russians have compromising information on Hillary Clinton?  Apparently they had emails that included more than wedding plans and yoga lessons.

While many crimes are alleged only one crime has been positively committed.  Classified information has been leaked to the press.  However, there does not appear to be much interest in locating the perpetrators.  These leaks are felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison.  FBI Director Comey would not commit to investigate these leaks.  Congressman Gowdy claimed, “I think the most troubling part for me is when Director Comey would not assure us that there’s a leak investigation.”

The claim that Trump was not wiretapped is a little farfetched.  General Flynn, Angela Merkel and several others are known to have been “wiretapped.”   NSA seems to be collecting electronic communications from millions of people.  FBI Director Comey has pointed out that President Obama could not “wiretap” Donald Trump because it is illegal.  It would not be necessary for Obama to order such a program.  It is unlikely that he instructed Lois Lerner to target the Tea Party.  On Jan 20, 2017 an article in the New York Time was headlined “Wiretapped Data Used In Inquiry of Trump Aides.”  The article claimed, “some of the wiretapped communications had been provided to the White House.”

People claiming that there was no wiretapping qualify their statements as a form of insurance.  Paul Ryan claimed, “I've seen no evidence wiretap occurred.”  Where has he looked?  Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, "Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016."  The qualifying phrases are "Based on the information available to us,” and “any element of the United States government.”

These investigations may reveal much more than the government is willing to expose.  Judge Andrew Napolitano stated three intelligence sources informed him that British intelligence passed along surveillance data on Trump.  For this he was abruptly fired.  A CNN commentator interviewed on of the judge’s sources, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson.  Johnson stated that GCHQ was passing information gained from “wiretapping” Trump Tower.  GCHQ, Government Communications Headquarters is the British equivalent to the US NSA.  

Donald Trump is often careless in his wording.  This is not a polite way of saying that he lies.  He, like all politicians, lies.  He is not precise in his wording and his words are easily distorted.  Some people interpret this as the result of a lack of intelligence.  They do this at their peril.  Trump has repeatedly out maneuvered his opponents at every turn.  His manner of speaking is all part of his negotiating technique.  People do not become billionaires by accident.  When the final contract is signed it will be the most advantageous for his position.  Trump’s opponent in government and the media are putting all their eggs in one basket.  When it is revealed that Trump was “wiretapped” and was not put into the White House by Putin, they will lose what is left of their credibility.

Maxine Waters Comments on Patriotism

            Maxine Waters has decided to instruct the American people on the meaning of patriotism.  She objected to a congressional committee’s working on legislation to stop Boeing sales of aircraft to Iran.  Waters stated, "This attempt with all of these bills to undermine that — I think it's unpatriotic, yes I do."  She declared, "I raise questions about patriotism and for those who think I'm talking about them, then you can deal with that any way you want to deal with it." 

            Waters has been critical of members the Trump administration: "I just think the American people had better understand what's going on.  "This is a bunch of scumbags. That's what they are. Who are all organized around making money.”  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is part of a "Kremlin klan" obsessed with bribes, oil and gas.

            Waters has never been a fan of Republicans.  She called House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor “demons.”  “I saw pictures of Boehner and Cantor on our screens.  Don’t ever let me see again in life those Republicans in our hall, on our screens, talking about anything. These are demons.”

            Waters is a big fan of the arts.  When asked if she rap music, she responded, "Yes, I do. I am moved by some of the stories told by rap artists such as Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg about their lives, their families, their mothers and their surroundings."  Perhaps one of he favorite Snoop Doggy Dogg tunes is, "How the f--- am I supposed to pay this ho, just to lay this ho. I know the p---y is mines, I'ma f--- a couple mo' times N' then I'm through with it, there's nothing else to do with it. Cuz she ain't nothing but a bitch to me. N' y'all know that bitches ain't s--- to me."

Merkel asks for a handshake

USA TODAY headline: Awkward: Merkel asks for a handshake, Trump doesn't respond

         Amid the chaos of President Trump and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel's first meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, a request was made.  Photographers wondered if the world leaders would shake hands.  Merkel turned to Trump. "Do you want a handshake?" she asked.  Trump didn't respond. (To be fair, it seemed loud in the room.)  And then Merkel made a face.

Why is it necessary to be fair?

CNN's Attack on Steve Bannon

Genrikh Yagoda

Diana West wrote a column in Breitbart on March 15 in response to CNN’s attempt to discredit Steve Bannon.  In 2013 Bannon did an interview with Diana West in which he stated that Senator Joseph McCarthy was right about Communist infiltration of the U.S. government.  As we all know Joseph McCarthy was a “witch hunter” who destroyed the lives of thousands of innocent people.  We know this because it is in all the history books.  The only problem with this contention is that it is completely fabricated.  Joseph McCarthy was destroyed by the same institutions that convinced many Americans that Joseph Stalin was a great democratic leader during the Second World War.  No one can withstand the establishment’s scrutiny.  If it cannot find dirt on an individual it will manufacture it.  Hopefully the current president will prove me wrong.

Diana West has a very optimistic view of this situation.  She believes, “once you pull the plug on Joseph McCarthy and understand the extent to which America was subverted, .  . . it overturns our entire conception of ourselves as a nation, and our own history.”  “Progressives” have been in the business of overturning “our entire conception of ourselves as a nation” for generations.  No crime committed by Americans in the process of settling the United States can be overlooked, unless it is a crime committed by “progressives.”  This is the Howard Zinn school of history.  Anyone who criticizes this view of history has to be professionally destroyed.  Steven Ambrose made a big issue that James Bacque was not a professional historian.  It turns out that Steven Ambrose was a complete fraud.  This school of history will not be displaced easily.  As Lenin has said, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”  A large number of people are emotionally invested in the progressive ideology.  Facts will have no impact on their thinking. 

Still, “progressives” will do anything to protect their narrative.  That is why, “60-year-old FBI documents that have been ‘declassified’ but the redactions, or censoring black lines, are so heavy that you can’t read them. They’re basically unreadable.”

Book Review - Germany’s War by John Wear

Germany’s War is a revisionist account of the Second World War. It is copiously footnoted and contains much new information. Therefore it will not win any awards and will be completely ignored by the people who publicize books. Wear will be mercilessly attacked. Revisionism is a difficult arena. Hollywood produces new films every year that keep the myths alive. Respected “historians” like Steven Ambrose try to assassinate the character of researchers like James Bacque. Ambrose was a plagiarist who fabricated much of his information about Eisenhower yet he denounced Bacque. Revisionist must be demonized. They cannot be interested in the truth. The must be denounced as Nazis.
The facts they uncover are unbelievable. Could an American president really provoke a foreign power to make a surprise attack on U.S. forces? Could Americans be responsible for a genocidal program that resulted in the deaths of millions of women and children? People seeking to denigrate the United States are curiously uninterested in this period of history.
There is so much information to cover that Wear can be forgiven for not covering some areas in more detail. The role of Harry Dexter White deserved more emphasis. I think his information of the holocaust should have been included in a later volume. As he points out, this is a religious subject. Provable facts will have no impact and the consequences of pointing them out could be dangerous. If Wear is ever invited to Europe he might find himself in an embarrassing situation.
Wear’s critics should be prepared for more revisionism. It appears that the times are changing and people are more willing to face the truth.

Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch Calls For Blood.

Loretta called for compassion when dealing with Islamic terrorists.  It was “All you need is love, Love is all you need:”  

“We stand with you to say that the good in this world far outweighs the evil, that our common humanity transcends our differences, and that our most effective response to terror and to hatred is compassion, it's unity, and it's love.  We stand with you today as we grieve together, and long after the cameras are gone, we will continue to stand with you as we grow together in commitment, in solidarity, and in equality.”

Now she seems to be saying “all we need is blood:”  

“I know that this is a time of great fear and uncertainty for so many people.  I know it’s a time of concern for people, who see our rights being assailed, being trampled on and even being rolled back. I know that this is difficult, but I remind you that this has never been easy. We have always had to work to move this country forward to achieve the great ideals of our Founding Fathers.”

“It has been people, individuals who have banded together, ordinary people who simply saw what needed to be done and came together and supported those ideals who have made the difference. They’ve marched, they’ve bled and yes, some of them died. This is hard. Every good thing is. We have done this before. We can do this again.”

Get back to where you once belonged.

Get back Loretta. Go home

Get back, get back.

Get back to where you once belonged

Get back, get back.

Get back to where you once belonged.

Bush Joins the Never Trumpers

The elite narrative is that Donald Trump is an anti-semitic, racist, plutocrat put into power by a Russian dictator who wants to stifle the press and cripple the intelligence community.  The elite has enlisted several prominent Republicans to its cause.  Most recently former President George Bush joined their ranks.  CNN analyst David Gergen claimed that Bush, “holds to an old-fashioned standard that the presidency is one of the world's greatest fraternities and its members don't criticize each other."  Through eight years of the Obama Administration Bush remained silent.  In 2009 he stated that the new President, “deserves my silence. There's plenty of critics in the arena. I think it's time for the ex-president to tap dance off the stage and let the current president have a go at solving the world's problems."  In 2017 Bush apparently had a change of heart.

Bush told People Magazine, “I don’t like the racism and I don’t like the name-calling and I don’t like the people feeling alienated.”  Bush was also critical of Trump’s supposed view of the media: "I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy.”  He condemned Trump’s characterization of the media as an "enemy of the people."  He also implied that Trump does not believe the media is indispensable.  Bush also believes that "we all need answers" on the extent of contact between President Donald Trump's team and the Russian government.  Bush claimed he didn’t intend to criticize Trump.  He explained, "I understand people interpreting my remarks and that's why I don't give a lot of remarks."

The problem with the elite narrative is that it is all based on flimsy evidence and intentional misinterpretation.   Perhaps the only valid criticism of Trump is that he is a plutocrat.  He is not embarrassed by his wealth and a large number of people appear not to be troubled by it.  The charge of anti-semitism is disputed by none other than Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump’s Jewish daughter.   The racist charge is based on his opposition to illegal immigration from Mexico and unrestricted immigration from several Muslim countries.  This opposition is widespread and not necessarily based on race.  The crucial criticism, however, is that he is not legitimate because he was put in power by the Russians. The newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez commented, “Frankly, what we need to be looking at is whether this election was rigged by Donald Trump and his buddy, Vladimir Putin.”  The allegations about Russian interference are based on a amateurishly produced dossier that purports to show that Trump is being blackmailed.

President Bush has echoed the leftist claim that Trump is against the media.  James Acosta asked, aren't you concerned, sir, that you are undermining the people's faith in the First Amendment?”  Calling something ”fake news” undermines our confidence in our news media.  It is not Trump who has undermined confidence in the media.  This has been done by the media itself.  It is not just negative news.  It is often hateful news.  Trump remarked, “I watch CNN, it's so much anger and hatred.” This hatred for the president has become so obvious that people who are not Trump “fans” have began to comment on it.  Ben Stein remarked, “Every day you pick up The New York Times, every day they’re slamming, slamming, slamming [Trump]. I’m a great fan of CNN; I watch it quite faithfully, every day CNN is slamming him, slamming him, slamming him.”  Stein believes, “They’re hoping, I think, to do to him what they did to Nixon a long time ago.”  

Trump repeatedly mentioned his respect for members of the media: “there's nobody I have more respect for -- well, maybe a little bit but the reporters, good reporters,” “some of the media is fantastic, I have to say - they're honest and fantastic.”  It is clear that he only opposes those member of the media who are out to destroy him.   This section of the media has become predictable.  The President said, “But I'm having a good time.  Tomorrow they will say, ‘Donald Trump rants and raves at the press.’   I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you. You know, you're dishonest people.”  The CNN headline was actually “Trump attacks media in lengthy, combative press conference.”

The New Face of the Democratic Party

The New Face of the Democratic Party

This guy will prove a big hit outside the New York area, especially with people who are enchanted by slime.

Why so Serious?

Schumer spent many years on the Judiciary Committee.  You would think he could pass a 6^th grade civics test.  He may have trouible with it.  Apparently he believes the Judiciary “makes laws.”  Roberts had refused to answer some of Schumer's questions in committee, which the senator said forced him to vote against Roberts. "Now that he is nominated for a position where he can overturn precedent and make law, it is even more important that he fully answers a very broad range of questions."   He would also get the question about the three branches of government wrong.  "So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strong they feel — you know, we have three branches of government: we have a House, the Senate, we have a President, and all three of us are going to have to come together and give some. But it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government, just as it is playing with fire to risk not paying the debt ceiling."

Wiretapping Donald Trump

On March 4 President Trump tweeted that former President Obama had tapped his phone during the election:  “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process.  This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”   The New York Times’ skeptical headline reads, “Trump, Offering No Evidence, Says Obama Tapped His Phones.”  A spokesman for the former president stated, “Neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false."  Could this be another example of Trump “fake news?”

Former President Obama did not need to micromanage his minions.  It is unlikely that he had to give a direct order to wiretap Donald Trump’ phone.  So it is probably true that he did not order the surveillance.  However, was Trump wiretapped under the Obama administration?  The answer appears to be yes.  Even the New York Times has reported this: “One official said intelligence reports based on some of the wiretapped communications had been provided to the White House.”  The apparent justification for this conclusion is based on reports of a FISA warrant that was first requested in June 2016.  FISA stands for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  The warrant request is based on the belief that the target of the surveillance has acted as an agent of a foreign power.  This original warrant was denied by the court so it was reissued in October.  This October warrant was approved.  According to Andrew McCarthy, “The Obama Justice Department and the FBI spent at least eight months searching for Trump–Russia ties. They found nothing criminal, and clearly nothing connecting Trump to Russian hacking.”

However, the government did not need a FISA warrant to wiretap Donald Trump.  The National Security Agency more than likely possesses all of that information.  The NSA Director James Clapper testified before congress in 2013 that the agency did not collect "any type of data at all" on millions of Americans.   Three months later documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that Clapper had lied.  It would be reasonable to believe that after this revelation Congress would have increased its oversight of NSA.  It would also be reasonable to believe that James Clapped would have been indicted for perjury.  One of the major problems with press coverage of these events is that much of the information provided is provided by criminals.  These reliable anonymous sources are by definition criminals.

This wiretap incident is all part of a larger unconstitutional government intrusion into the lives of its citizens.  There is a long history of illegal government  surveillance.  It goes back before the J. Edgar Hoover sex tapes of Martin Luther King.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters commented on this database in 2013.  She claimed,  “The president has put in place an organization that contains a kind of database that no one has ever seen before in life.  That’s going to be very, very powerful.”  This is not simply a database developed by a political party to keep track of its donors.  As Water says, “that database will have information about everything on every individual in ways that it’s never been done before.”

The federal government conducts millions of background investigations.  Most of these are fairly routine.  However, in certain cases a more thorough investigation may be required.  Some of these investigations may even require creating compromising situations.  Highly respected politicians may be subject to pressure because of their past behavior.  Dennis Hastert and Larry Craig  have demonstrated that prominent politicians are vulnerable.  When President Obama left the White House he took this database with him.  This will be a “very, very powerful” tool.

Movie Review - Land of Mine (Under Sandet)

         Following World War II Hollywood has produced countless films dealing with Nazi Germany.  Entire libraries can be filled with the books written about this period.  Hollywood has shown an almost total lack of interest in the mass murder record holder of the Soviet Union and mainland China.  There is even less interest in the postwar events that bring into question the virtues of the western allies.  The movie Land of Mine (Under Sandet) is a rare event.  The film deals with a Danish sergeant commanding a troop of former German soldiers as they clear land mines.  It is based on the use of over 2,000 German soldier to clear mines on the Danish coast.

         This in the Atlantic article and the comments associated with it reveal how effective the wartime and postwar propaganda have been. The author claims Denmark, “may have violated the Geneva Convention of 1929.”  She states, “the country committed what could be considered a war crime.”  There is no question that the Geneva Convention was violated and that it was a war crime.  However, Denmark was not responsible.  Certain Danish, British, and American officials were.  ‪Jean Mailer commented, “‬there is nothing wrong using the people that planted the mines to remove the mines.”  Jean may have a point.  However, these boys were not the one who planted them.  Joe Forest suspects, “few of the German soldiers were injured doing this work.”  Joe, you might do some research before you opine.  (Anne Thompson in her review in Indiewire estimated 300 fatalities)  Charles A Smith claims, “they got payback,” and “guilty Nazis and other Germans got away with their crimes.”  Unfortunately Charles is half correct.  The guilty often escaped and the innocent got the payback. Norman Feinberg might want to research how many American and British POWs returned after the war compared with the Germans.  Greg Thompson (“rape their bitches “) would have made a great Bolshevik.  The Morgenthau Plan and the Yalta Agreement authorized the use of slave labor.  There will be more groundbreaking movies.  Their creators will be accused of being Nazi sympathizers.  The accusers are certain that if they were alive at the time they would have behaved like Sophie Scholl who died because of her anti-Nazi activities.  More likely they would have behaved like George Soros.