1. The Republican Memo Is Solely About Alleged FISA Abuses Against Carter Page
If you watch Sean Hannity or listen to right wing media, you would think that the Republican memo casts doubt on the entire Mueller investigation. If you read the actual memo, however, you know that it is solely about the surveillance of someone most people have never even heard of, Carter Page. The memo is in no way related to the evidence which led to the charges against Mike Flynn or Paul Manafort. Here is a link to the actual memo to see for yourself: Nunes Memo.
2. Why Do Republicans Suddenly Care About Nobody Carter Page?
Remember the Trump campaign denied even knowing who Carter Page was. So why are Republicans willing to openly attack our FBI over nobody Carter Page? Here are a few of their statements on Carter Page:
- “Mr. Page is not an advisor and has made no contribution to the campaign,” Trump’s campaign communications director Jason Miller said in an email to The Hill. “I've never spoken to him, and wouldn't recognize him if he were sitting next to me.”
- The Trump campaign characterized Carter Page as an “informal advisor,” who “does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign,” Miller said.
- Another spokesman, Steven Cheung, said Page “has no role” in the campaign.
- “We are not aware of any of his activities, past or present,” Cheung added. The Hill
- “Mr. Page is not an advisor and has made no contribution to the campaign,” campaign spokesperson Jason Miller said in September 2016.
- “He’s never been part of our campaign. Period,” said Miller.
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“Who?” Stephen Miller said, Trump’s Senior Advisor, when asked about Carter Page and then went off the record to say that he had no involvement in the campaign.
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“He has no formal role in the campaign,” Hope Hicks responded.
So, the question becomes, why are the Republicans so eager to publicly and forcefully attack the FBI over nobody, Carter Page, that had no role in the Trump campaign?
3. Republicans are Attacking our own FBI over Alleged FISA Abuses against a Long Suspected Russian Agent
What is more incredible is that Republicans are attacking our own FBI to protect the rights of a long suspected Russian agent. Republicans would like you to believe that the FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page was based solely on the Steele Dossier. False. There is ample evidence available publicly to know that Carter Page was legitimately on the U.S. radar since as early as 2008. It is important to keep in mind that Americans who live in Russia and American businessmen who visit Russia are frequently targeted by Russian operatives trying to collect information about the United States.
- In the early 1990’s, American Carter Page lived in and attended school in Moscow.
- In 1998, Page worked for Eurasia Group. He only spent three months there. Its founder, Ian Bremmer, said that because of Page’s vehemently pro-Kremlin views, “he wasn’t a good fit” for the firm.
- From 2004-2007, Carter Page again lived and worked in Moscow on energy transactions.
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While living in Moscow he worked on transactions, worth billions, for the partially Russian state-owned Gazprom and RAO UES and the carving up of a Russian state-owned power holding company.
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Page admitted to purchasing shares of Gazprom and to having suffered directly from the US economic sanctions imposed on Russia for its involvement in Ukraine in an interview with Bloomberg.
- A “June 9, 2008, confidential cable to the State Department from the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan…details how Page and his then-partner James Richard had visited the embassy in Ashgabat three days earlier while attending an oil conference. The cable said the pair had met with the deputy prime minister for oil and were looking to assemble an investment fund of $1 billion. The cable noted that the pair had offered to invest in state companies to make them ‘substantially more powerful than they currently are.’”
- According to the June 9, 2008 cable, Page had described his work in Moscow as having helped take Russia’s state-owned oil company, Gazprom, from a normal state oil company to “super major status.”
- When Page returned to the U.S., he set up office in New York city next to Trump tower. His firm was a private equity business, Global Energy Capital LLC and his parter was a wealthy former Gazprom (the Russian state-owned oil company) manager Sergi Yatsenko. Their work consisted of connecting investors with deals in Russia.
- In 2013, Carter Page came under U.S. intelligence radar because of his contacts with a then suspected ring of Russian agents in New York.
- Carter Page “met with one of three Russians who were eventually charged with being undeclared officers with Russia’s foreign intelligence service, known as the S.V.R. The F.B.I. interviewed Mr. Page in 2013 as part of an investigation into the spy ring.”
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“According to the court documents filed in 2015, the F.B.I. secretly recorded Mr. Podobnyy and another Russian operative named Igor Sporyshev discussing efforts to recruit Mr. Page, who was then working in New York as a consultant.”
- ”In a transcript of the conversation included in the court documents, Mr. Podobnyy tells his Russian colleague that Mr. Page frequently flies to Moscow and is interested in earning large sums of money. Mr. Page was apparently interested in striking a deal with Gazprom, the Russian state-run oil firm, according to the transcript. Mr. Podobnyy called Mr. Page an ‘idiot’ but said he was enthusiastic.”
- In fact, Podobnyy was caught on a wiretap discussing Page:
He writes to me in Russian [to] practice the language. He flies to Moscow more often than I do. He got hooked on Gazprom thinking that if they have a project, he could be rise up. Maybe he can. I don’t know, but it’s obvious that he wants to learn lots of money. ...
... I will feed him empty promises. ... You promise a favor for a favor. You get the documents from him and tell him to go fuck himself.
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Mr. Podobnyy promised through his contacts with Russian trade officials to steer contracts to Mr. Page.
- The FBI interviewed Carter Page about his contacts with these Russian spies. He admitted to giving the Russians documents regarding the U.S. Energy sector, but denied that he gave them anything that was classified or unable to be obtained on their own. Page denied knowing he was helping Russian agents.
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The Russian agents were charged, but two fled the country before being arrested. One was convicted and served several years in jail.
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In 2013, Page submitted a book manuscript to get published. On August 25, 2013, he sent a letter to the publisher during a dispute over edits boasting that “[o]ver the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be prominent on the agenda.”
- In 2014 and 2015, in articles for an online journal called Global Policy, Carter Page praised Russia and criticized American policy.
- In 2014, Page wrote an article lauding Igor Sechin a former KGB spy and Russia’s second most powerful official for his “great accomplishments.” He argued that Sechin was wronged by and unfairly punished and sanctioned by the U.S.
- Carter Page, for example, wrote that the war in Ukraine was “precipitated by U.S. meddling.”
- In 2015, Page wrote an article criticizing the U.S. of mistreating Russia. He essentially accused the U.S. of being a slaveholder and Russia being its slave. He referenced the Kanye West song “New Slaves,” a meditation on race and wealth, to accuse the U.S. national security strategy of being “closely parallel an 1850 publication that offered guidance to slaveholders on how to produce the “ideal slave.”
- Page wrote,
The irony of the Obama Administration is that while the U.S. head of state has broken down discriminatory barriers as the first black President, establishment figures from the Bush Administration who still remain in office have contributed to the unfair series of events in Ukraine, Russia and other sovereign states. In particular, former Dick Cheney aide and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland helped lead the charge with misguided and provocative actions. [He is saying that the U.S. provoked Russia and not the other way around].
- Page here goes through how America uses the slaveholder handbook in its treatment of Russia:
Numerous quotes from the February 2015 [U.S.] National Security Strategy closely parallel an 1850 publication that offered guidance to slaveholders on how to produce the "ideal slave":
- Maintain strict discipline and unconditional submission. – “We will continue to impose significant costs on Russia through sanctions.”
- Create a sense of personal inferiority, so that slaves ‘know their place.’ – “America’s growing economic strength is the foundation of our national security and a critical source of our influence abroad... We are now the world leader in oil and gas production. We continue to set the pace for science, technology, and innovation in the global economy.”
- Instill fear. - “We will deter Russian aggression, remain alert to its strategic capabilities, and help our allies and partners resist Russian coercion over the long term, if necessary.”
- Teach servants to take interest in their master's enterprise. – “At the same time, we will keep the door open to greater collaboration with Russia in areas of common interests, should it choose a different path.”
- Deprive access to education and recreation, to ensure that slaves remain uneducated, helpless and dependent. – “Targeted economic sanctions will remain an effective tool for imposing costs on irresponsible actors.”
New Slaves, Global Edition: Russia, Iran and the Segregation of the World Economy Carter Page - 10th February 2015
- Page further wrote, “From U.S. policies toward Russia to Iran to China, sanctimonious expressions of moral superiority stand at the root of many problems seen worldwide today.”
- Page slammed the U.S. and said that “Russia, Iran, China and a range of emerging powers have suffered from the same kind of condescending mistreatment [by the U.S.] that football team bullies once delivered to Boucher and have begun to respond in kind.”
- Page also criticized the U.S. and E.U. of having “biased philosophies and draconian tactics.”
- In March of 2016, Carter Page was named the Trump campaign’s Foreign Policy advisor.
- In a July 14, 2016 Page wrote an email to Trump aide J.D. Gordon and others, saying “As for the Ukraine amendment, excellent work.” The Trump campaign changed the traditional Republican Party Platform policy on Ukraine to take a weaker position on arming the U.S. ally against Russian aggression.
- In July of 2016, Carter Page traveled to Russia to give a speech at the New Economic School in Moscow. It was this trip that raised the eyebrows of U.S. intelligence officials.
- Carter Page’s speech in Moscow was played on Russian propaganda state-owned TV, RT.
- On the foreign soil of an U.S. adversary, and played on Russian propaganda T.V., Carter Page criticized the United States.
- Carter Page said, “Washington and other Western capitals have impeded potential progress through their often hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization, inequality, corruption and regime change,” Mr. Page said.
- Quoting Vladimir Putin, Carter Page said that Russia does not meddle in the political affairs of others unlike the United States. Page said, “We never meddle in the internal political affairs of other countries. Unlike the USA.”
- U.S. intelligence officials said that Carter Page sounded like he was reading Putin’s talking points.
- Page first denied and then later acknowledged meeting some Russian officials during the trip, including Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, as well as an executive for the Russian oil giant Rosneft that has had close ties to Putin.
- Page wrote back to Trump campaign that Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich “expressed strong support for Mr. Trump and a desire to work together.”
- Page also wrote an email to two Trump aides saying he’d received “some incredible insights and outreach [...] from a few Russian legislators and senior members of the Presidential administration here.”
This is just some of the publicly available information on Carter Page and his Russian connections. So, it is completely false that the FBI relied solely on the Steele Dossier for their eyebrows being raised by Carter Page’s trip to Moscow. If you travel to Moscow and go on Russian propaganda T.V. criticizing the U.S. and meet with Russian officials, you are probably going to get surveilled by the U.S. U.S. intelligence would be especially concerned because of the implications of a suspected Russian agent infiltrating a U.S. Presidential campaign.
The question then becomes wouldn’t a Presidential candidate be glad that U.S. intelligence is flagging a potential Russian agent trying to infiltrate your campaign? Wouldn’t you be glad that the U.S. intelligence has an eye on this and would be trying to stop this?
Let’s be clear about the Republican memo, Republicans are attacking our own FBI and trying to ruining the FBI’s credibility over alleged FISA abuses against a long suspected Russian agent.
4. Republicans Approved the FISA Warrant & The Investigation
Republicans would like you to think that there is some pro-Hillary part of the FBI that was part of this FISA warrant against Carter Page and the Mueller investigation.
- The truth is that the current head of the FBI is a hand-picked Trump appointee, Christopher Wray, who Donald Trump said is “a man of impeccable credentials.”
- The renewal of the Carter Page FISA warrant was done by Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General appointed by Trump.
- Trump said that Rosenstein is “highly respected, very good guy, very smart guy. Democrats like him; the Republicans like him.”
- Whitehouse spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said of Rosenstein, “this guy is a man of upstanding character and essentially the gold standard at the Department of Justice.”
- Remember Rod Rosenstein wrote the memo for Trump that Trump used to fire Comey.
- Rosenstein also worked on Ken Starr’s Whitewater investigation into Bill and Hillary’s real estate dealings.
- Rosenstein was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush as a U.S. attorney.
- Mike Pence called Rosenstein “a man of extraordinary independence and integrity and a reputation in both political parties of great character.”
- The FISA judges were appointed by Republican appointee, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, John Roberts.
- In fact, all 11 FISA judges were appointed by Republican appointed Chief Justice John Roberts.
- Robert Mueller is a Republican. Mueller was appointed the Director of the FBI by President George W. Bush in 2001. www.washingtonexaminer.com/…
- Republicans hailed Mueller as having “impeccable credentials” and “a great selection.”
- James Comey is a Republican. Comey was a registered Republican who served in the Bush Administration and records show donated to the Presidential campaigns of John McCain and Mitt Romney. www.politico.com/… When asked about Comey in November of 2016 Trump said, “I respect him a lot.”
Republicans would have you believe that there is some secret society of Democrats out to get Trump in the FBI, but there is zero factual basis for that claim.
What is clear is that in the Trump Administration, one day you are a life-long Republican with impeccable credentials, and the next day your reputation is smeared as being pro-Hillary and biased against Trump. This is exactly what is happening to one Republican after another in the Trump Administration. The current target is Rod Rosenstein, who had impeccable Republican credentials, authored the memo that Trump used to fire Comey, and worked on the Ken Starr investigation of the Clintons, and is now being smeared as being “biased” against Trump because it suits Trump’s political purposes at the moment.
5. Trump’s Own Republican Appointees Said that the Republican House Memo Was False and Misleading
Trump’s own appointed FBI Director, Christopher Wray, said that he had “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.” One senior U.S. official told Fox News that Wray "expressed concern about the accuracy of the memo" and told others in the meeting the memo "gives an inaccurate impression of the bureau's work on this matter." The DOJ, who is led by Trump appointee Jeff Sessions, also objected to the release of the Republican memo calling it “extremely reckless.”
6. Republicans Have Created a False Narrative that FISA Judges Were Not Told of the Possible Political Bias Behind the Steele Dossier
First, it is not true to say that the Steele Dossier was funded by Hillary. Here is the truth about the Steele Dossier:
- The conservative publication, The Free Beacon, hired the firm Fusion GPS in 2015 to unearth damaging information about Trump.
- The Free Beacon is funded in large part by the New York hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/us/politics/trump-dossier-paul-singer.html
- Paul Singer was a supporter of Marco Rubio in the primary. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/us/politics/paul-singer-influential-billionaire-throws-support-to-marco-rubio-for-president.html
- When it was clear that Trump had clinched the primary, The Free Beacon stopped paying for the Fusion GPS research.
- Around the same time, the Clinton campaign hired its lawyer to compile research on Trump which in turn hired Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS then continued its research on Trump’s businesses and associates, including possible connections with Russia. As part of that research, Fusion GPS hired Christopher Steele because he had deep intelligence sources in Russia.
- The Clinton campaign did not directly hire or pay for the Steele Dossier, so it wouldn’t be accurate to tell that to a FISA court.
Second and more important, the FISA judges were apprised that the Dossier was done at the behest of people politically motivated. What would be accurate and what was actually said to the FISA court was that there were political motivations behind the Dossier. “One official with knowledge of the matter” said that the DOJ made “ample disclosure of relevant, material facts” to the FISC which revealed "the research was being paid for by a political entity.’" "No thinking person who read any of these applications would come to any other conclusion" other than that the dossier's production was carried out "at the behest of people with a partisan aim and that it was being done in opposition to Trump," they added.
So, Republicans have again created a false narrative. The FISA judges were in fact apprised of political motivations behind the Dossier.
7. The FISA Warrant Was Not Granted Until After Carter Page Left the Trump Campaign
This point completely debunks Trump’s claim that the FISA warrant was a pre-text for spying on Trump or the Trump campaign. We know Carter Page left the Trump campaign in September of 2016 and the FISA warrant was granted on October 19, 2016 after he left the Trump campaign.
So, why are Republicans attacking the FBI for a supposed nobody in the Trump campaign that was surveilled after he left the Trump campaign? Why would surveilling someone that was a nobody and essentially fired from a nothing job be worth attacking the credibility of our nation’s premier law enforcement agency?
8. Republican Claims of “Bias” Against Trump Are Circular Reasoning
Republicans claims that Steele and the FBI are “biased” against Trump. Bias is only improper when there is no legitimate basis, however. Republicans point to Steele claiming he was desperate to not have Trump get elected to show “bias.” They leave out that he was desperate because of what he found out about Trump being compromised and his connections to Russians. That is not improper bias. If you have learned that someone has been compromised by your adversary, you will of course be “biased” against them, but not unfairly biased against them.
Likewise, they have used two FBI agents texts, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, about Trump to show that there were “biased.” Mr. Strzok was deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division and a longtime spy-hunter. He was tasked with helping supervise the Russia probe. When questioned about their texts, they responded that the reason that they were “biased” against Trump is the evidence that they were seeing against him. This is not unfair bias. Their views were based on facts and evidence. Republicans also cherry pick texts in an attempt to create an appearance of unfair bias. But, take a look at what may have been the basis of their “bias” against Trump in these texts:
“F--k the cheating motherf---ing Russians,” Strzok said in a text to Page in July 2016. “Bastards. I hate them.”
“I think they’re probably the worst," Strzok continued. “F---ing conniving cheating savages. At statecraft, athletics, you name it. I’m glad I’m on Team USA.
* * *
In reference to the prospect of a Trump presidency, Strzok was blunt: "I'm scared for our organization."
www.businessinsider.com/…
These sound like the texts of U.S. patriots seeing evidence of Russian interference, not unfair “bias” as the Republican circular reasoning would like you to believe.
9. Republicans Forget Their Own Special Prosecutor Bias
Remember when conservative Andrew McCarthy investigated the Clinton’s for wrongdoing? McCarthy openly and loudly hated the Clintons and hates Democrats. He even accused liberals and Obama of being in league with Islamists to destroy capitalism. Yes, this is the person who was assigned to investigate the Clintons.
Where were the attacks against the FBI and DOJ then? Where were the claims of secret societies and abuse of power? An outrageously biased conservative was assigned to investigate the Clintons. Isn’t that a conspiracy? Isn’t that wrong-doing?
Andrew McCarthy called the Strzok-Page texts "big nothing" because "they are allowed to have their own professional opinion" and "speaking crudely in private about politics" while being able to conduct a fair investigation. McCarthy explained that:
People who work in law enforcement tend to be engaged citizens, well-informed about current events. Many of them are passionate in their political conviction, he argues. But they get checked at the courthouse door, even in political-corruption cases. Law enforcement is a straightforward exercise: Figure out what the facts and law are, then apply the latter to the former.
www.theatlantic.com/...
Even though conservative Andrew McCarthy despised the Clintons and made outrageous anti-liberal public statements, he said, “It didn’t matter how I felt about Bill and Hillary personally or politically—which was no secret to my law-enforcement friends and colleagues.” “This was a strict legal matter, and my sworn duty, like that of every other Justice Department prosecutor, was to enforce the law without fear or favor.” McCarthy, even with his outrageously open anti-Clinton bias, found that the Clintons were not guilty of any wrongdoing.
So, it is okay when an outrageously biased person is investigating the Clintons to not attack the DOJ and FBI, but all gloves are off when it is someone that privately doesn’t like Trump? How about we see the texts from those involved in McCarthy’s investigation of the Clintons? How about those involved in the Benghazi investigations? I’m sure those texts would show bias. Guess what, people are allowed their personal opinions and can still conduct themselves in a professional way in an investigation, just ask the outrageously biased conservative, Clinton-hating McCarthy.
10. If Republicans Really Want Transparency, Why Not Release Texts Related to the Benghazi Investigation and the Trump Campaigns Emails?
Real transparency is releasing both sides. We have never seen Trump’s tax returns, Trump campaign emails, or texts of those involved into the many Republican investigations of Hillary and Bill Clinton. So, yes, let’s have transparency. Let’s let the American people see all of the Republican texts and emails.
11. Remember When Trump Surrogates Talked About the “Bias” in the FBI Against Hillary?
Trump is claiming that the F.B.I. is biased against him. The truth is that he alternatively uses or attacks the F.B.I. according to whatever politically suits him at the moment. Trump campaign surrogates Rudy
Giuliani and Kallstrom (the former head of the NY FBI office) spent the weeks before the election on Fox News and right wing outlets using their ties to the FBI, supposed FBI leaks, and credentials to cast Hillary as a criminal. Their spin on the FBI’s decision not to indict Clinton was that it was the top of the FBI was apparently in on an Obama conspiracy to let Clinton off while the rank and file FBI knew she was a crook and were angry. They spent countless hours discussing the supposed leaks that they were hearing out of the FBI that was anti-Hillary. Giuliani and Kallstrom argued that the rank and file agents were so anti-Hillary that they were going to “revolt,” that they were “P.O.ed,” that there was “tremendous anger” about Hillary, they were reaching a “boiling point,” and there was “outrage” in the rank and file FBI. This anti-Clinton bias was confirmed by a number of F.B.I. agents in interviews:
During interviews with The Guardian * * *
a number of F.B.I. agents described an intensely anti-Clinton atmosphere at the F.B.I., with one characterizing it as “Trumpland.” Clinton, the agent said, is seen as “the antichrist personified” to many people within the bureau, and “the reason why they’re leaking is they’re pro-Trump.”
So, the question becomes who is in this supposed pro-Hillary and anti-Trump “secret society” in the FBI now? Trump’s surrogates claimed that the rank and file F.B.I. was anti-Hillary and now Trump has hand-picked everyone in power in the F.B.I. and DOJ. So, guess what, Republicans now have to resort to some fictitious “secret society” within the FBI as being out to get Trump. Well, we know from Trump’s surrogates that it is not the rank and file FBI, who they claimed despise Hillary, and it is not anyone running the FBI because Trump appointed them. So, this is exactly what it seems, noise. Trump and the Republicans alternatively use and attack the F.B.I. for whatever political advantage at the moment.
12. Yes, Someone Was Investigated By the FBI Based on a Salacious, Unverified Partisan Hit-Piece...Hillary
Republicans act like an F.B.I. investigation based upon a salacious partisan hit piece has never happened before and that an investigation into nobody Carter Page is bigger than Watergate. Let’s take a moment to remember when an actual presidential candidate and former Secretary of State was investigated by the F.B.I. based on a unverified, salacious partisan hit piece called Clinton Cash that was written by Breitbart editor, Peter Schweizer and was commissioned by none other than Steve Bannon, Trump’s former Campaign Manager, Trump’s Chief Whitehouse Strategist, and former head of Breitbart News.
The FBI launched its investigation into the Clinton Foundation based on news stories and information in the book Clinton Cash, according to law enforcement officials. The book Clinton Cash “found plenty of eager readers within the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Wall Street Journal and New York Times report, galvanizing a number of F.B.I. agents to launch an investigation into the Clinton Foundation, based mostly on assertions made by Schweizer in the book.”
The author, Peter Schweizer, was interviewed by the F.B.I. on several occasions and admitted that the book was not intended to withstand legal scrutiny. Even Schweizer conceded that he did not have any “direct evidence” to prove that the Clintons had done anything wrong. During the investigation based upon the salacious, unverified, partisan hit piece, the F.B.I. even conducted secret wiretaps.
So, let’s be clear. The Clintons and those surrounding the Clinton Foundation were investigated by the F.B.I. based upon essentially a dossier (book) made by and paid for by those with political motivations and who were connected to Trump. Wow, this is worse than Watergate! The F.B.I. relied upon a partisan hit piece to get a warrant to secretly tape those associated with the Clinton Foundation. Why isn’t Sean Hannity on this? Why aren’t the Republicans on this? Remember, they say they aren't attacking the Carter Page FISA warrant for partisan reasons, they are doing so because of civil liberties— because no American should be investigated by the F.B.I. based upon a hit piece paid for by their political opponent, right?
The Republican Memo Appears to Be An Attempt to Obstruct Justice
We know that Carter Page was a supposed nobody in the Trump campaign, that he was a long suspected Russian agent, that there was a lot of evidence of this besides the Steele Dossier, and that he was surveilled after he left the Trump campaign. So, what would make Republicans openly attack the credibility of our own FBI and DOJ, especially since they are being run by hand-picked Republican appointees, over alleged FISA abuses against a long suspected Russian agent?
Keep Checking Back Here for More to Come Soon….
It took some time to put this together and I have not had time to edit it or add additional facts and information. There is more to come, so keep checking back here.