So, Trump Tower WAS actually wiretapped by the Obama people.

"US investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court orders before and after the election, sources tell CNN, an extraordinary step involving a high-ranking campaign official now at the center of the Russia meddling probe.

The government snooping continued into early this year, including a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump.  Some of the intelligence collected includes communications that sparked concerns among investigators that Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign, according to three sources familiar with the investigation. Two of these sources, however, cautioned that the evidence is not conclusive."  CNN News

 

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 Pilgrim Alert!

 

Trump claimed that the Obamanite administration had wiretapped Trump Tower during the election campaign of 2016.

 

The left wing media (CNN, MSNBC, NY Time, Wash Post, Etc.) hooted at that.

 

Well, pilgrims, he was right.  pl

 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/18/politics/paul-manafort-government-wiretapped-fisa-russians/index.html

Comments

[Laura]

Nick, I agree with your take on this and wonder if anyone would have been upset if the FBI had NOT sought a warrant? Why should either candidates campaign staff be sacrosanct in such a situation? Should the FBI NOT follow an investigation when the subject becomes part of a campaign for President?

Neither candidate was POTUS at the time...just private citizens with possibly questionable associations.

Of course, with a sitting POTUS as a candidate, there is all sorts of possibilities for "TOP SECRET" chicanery...right? What then?

[Laura]

PL...not sure I agree entirely that campaign workers should be exempt (especially if the exigence of the investigation is from before the campaign association)...I am, however, in complete accord on Trump and Israel and Iran. That way lies madness and pain for many.

[steve]

According to Fox, they started wiretapping Manafort in 2014. Also according to Fox, it sounds like they stopped it during the campaign. I think we should wait for dates to be released. Also, if there was cause to wiretap Manafort before he became part of the campaign, should they stop because he joined it? Finally, if they are wiretapping one person in all of Trump Tower where hundreds work, is it really true that they were wiretapping the entity, "Trump Tower"?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/09/18/former-trump-campaign-chair-paul-manafort-wiretapped-by-us-investigators-report-says.html

Steve

[turcopolier]

Laura

If you allow a sitting government to use the government's assets to procure information useful to itself then inevitably that power will be used to perpetuate that party's rule. That is the end of constitutional democracy and the benning of the principate. Hail Caesar. pl

[turcopolier]

Swami

Manaforte carried his cell phone everywhere in Trump Tower including into meetings with all the campaign principals including DJT were present. As TTG has explained to you it is easy to make the cell phone into a traveling bug. I suspect that you would like to see indictments come from Mueller's group. pl

[Bobo]

Mr. Mueller it's time to "Crap or get off the Pot" as the media, Congress, Politicians and government toadies have queered up your investigation to no end and you have let this drag on way too long. This was one that you should of got into quickly and finished just as quickly as today if you have something more than BS charges (tax evasion, money laundering of lack of filing as a foreign agent) your going to have to put your cards on the table quickly before your told to go home by the American people.
Today we learn from that bastion of objective reporting (CNN) that an American Citizen had a FISA warrant issued and closed because there was nothing to charge. Is there no decency left in this countries justice system. We also learn that some FISA Judge issued a warrant against a Presidential Campaign Manager or cohort and allowed his phone to be utilized as a walking megaphone to those toadies listening. That other bastion of objectivity (NY Times) was writing about other people's dinner conversations recently. Hopefully they realize today they were played. Also hopefully that three letter organization that paid for the false information about the peeing on a bed in Russia realize they were played. From my view Bob you got no more than 72 hours to come clean.
Donaldo you were elected to clean up all them three letter organizations- get going.

[turcopolier]

Tidewater et al

"Now here's what I want to know. Is it true that the FBI used the Steele dossier as probable cause to obtain a FISA warrant from a federal judge? I think that the FBI did do this. The warrant was one of many FISA warrants, not just one." I agree that his is probably true. BTW it IS NOT difficult for DoJ and the FBI io get FISA warrants. FISA judges are typically ambitious for further advancement on the bench. I know two. The number of requests turned down is small. pl

[turcopolier]

ked

What you have said is that you don't like him and wish him ill. Is this an argument? pl

[turcopolier]

Bill Herschel

"Which kind of raises the question, "How did Trump know Manafort's phone had been wiretapped?"" I am told that someone in "the swamp" informed DJT. pl

[turcopolier]

Gary Hamm

You don't need to have a government wide conspiracy among career people to have the various institutions act on shated assumptions. It has been 10 years since the FBI visited me. Perhaps tomorrow will be an occasion for such a visit. pl

[Peter VE]

This morning on NPR, the newsreaders were commenting on how difficult it is to get a FISA warrant.... implying that the evidence against Manafort must be ironclad. Must all our national media be so eager to regurgitate the drivel fed them?
At least I can still come here for a more skeptical view of the "news".

[turcopolier]

Peter VE

I heard that as well. Nonsense. Look at the statistics on approvals and disapproval. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Court
pl

[Fred]

It's well past time for the president to use his authority to declassify information and put everything out in the open.

[Walrus]

There is too much hair splitting going on here and in my opinion Col. Lang is being far too kind in explaining the pitfalls of the various agencies alleged activities.

The totality of the message that is now being sent by the Borg is this; "Run for office without our approval and expect us to arrest you or your associates if we can find enough dirt". This is commonly known as a "chilling effect".

Furthermore, if President Trump can be hobbled in this manner, then expect the same methods will be applied to Senate and later HR elections in future.

The result of this situation is that good people will be deterred from running for office and America will suffer.

[steve]

TTG- Since you seem fairly objective here, if someone was being wiretapped, then joined a political campaign, do we have a protocol for this? Does the wiretap then ordinarily stop? Do they notify the campaign that the person they have now hired is being surveilled?

Also, listening to an interview a few minutes ago, it sounds like the Congressional Intel committees were probably aware Manafort was being wiretapped for a couple years. Seems like a possible leak source.

Steve

[steve]

In the age of the internet, why don't people go back to look at what was actually said? Trump's actual claim was that it was his phones being tapped. Not the Tower, not Manafort or anyone else. Note the "my in his actual quotes.

"How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!"

"Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"

[steve]

Absolutely agree!

[turcopolier]

steve

In walrus' words, more hairsplitting. Do you really think DJT was capable of making such distinctions? pl

[ex-PFC Chuck]

re:

To entertain you more, Obama has been the most pronounced Fraud in the US history. At least Bush the Lesser was obvious.

As I've been telling my numerous Democratic friends since not too far into 2009, the hoped for "audacity" turned out to be the audacity of the fraud he perpetrated on the Democratic Party base in 2008.

PS: I don't have to duck as much immediately after saying this as I used to.

[Bill Smith]

I guess it is in the eye of the beholder.

"Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"

Sounds accurate enough to me.

[Bill Smith]

"Manafort's smartphone"

You know that was the case? There was no tap on the phone in the condo Manafort had in Trump Tower?

[Bill Smith]

"same issue of not registering as a foreign agent"

Had to be more than that as lots of people who really are, don't register.

[Bill Smith]

Manafort had a condo in Trump Tower.

[Bill Smith]

The DOJ usually shops the warrant to the judge beforehand. The judge tells the DOJ what they need to change to get approval. If they can't make the needed changes they don't get the warrant. But isn't turned 'down', it was never formally submitted. Thus the approvals and disapproval statistics.

To be clear, what I am talking about takes place before the first column in that wiki article.

[Eric Newhill]

GZC,
Trump isn't going anywhere. The people still count and the people are still behind him, despite what some phony polls may say (same ones that said he'd never win).

The more he is proven right - like on this wiretapping - the more fence sitters join with him. The more idiot slacker leftists riot in the streets, the more fence sitters come to his side.

The more he rolls out moderate policies the more moderates side with him. The alt-right might not like of that, but they've got no one even close. So they stay with him.

Impeachment would be undertaken at tremendous risk to those initiating it and to the country itself. Ain't gonna happen.