President Trump electronically monitored (wiretapped) by American intelligence

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by me again, Mar 22, 2017.

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  1. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Authors: Julie Pace and Deb Riechmann

    WASHINGTON — The House intelligence chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, said communications of President Trump and his officials were monitored [by American intelligence]. However, Nunes believes the intercepted communications were legal. He also said the monitored material was widely disseminated in intelligence reports.

    When Nunes was asked point blank if Trump and his officials were spied on, he said: "It all depends on one's definition of spying."


    Click here for the full story.
     
  2. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    And it is explained why. Because they were talking to foreigners whose communications are routinely monitored.

    Kind of like this Trump Tower wiretap as part of a criminal investigation:
    Russian mafia boss still at large after FBI wiretap at Trump Tower - ABC News

    On the surface, this doesn't have anything to do with Trump (except shows that he sold or rented a unit to the Russian mob); however, other reports say that Trump did rub shoulders with the mob boss in question, "Taiwanchik", when in Moscow for Miss Universe pageant. Oh, and Trump Tower Toronto was built by a businessman with close ties to "Mikhas'", the boss of Solntsevo mob. These two are/were among perhaps top 10 most prominent figures in Russian mafia in the '90ies. Of course, Putin has his own Mafia ties.
     
  3. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    No surprise. The NSA have been hoovering everything and everyone for years now of course multiple agencies and groups are doing the same thing. It'd be naïve, or political hackery, to believe otherwise.


    After reading through it, it technicially doesn't sound like it was "illegal". But was it right? Well as usual that depends entirely on whether you hate people with red ties or hate people with blue ties. Two votes have been cast so far, one for the red team and one for the blue team.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 22, 2017
  4. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

  5. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Now the narrative will switch from "Trump is mentally ill" to "Well, yeah, but here's why he was wiretapped....."

    The left is so predictable.
     
  6. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    Can't stop talking about Russia, that's for sure. Anyway here's a good summary of what Nunes said in the press conference:


    •During the open hearing on Monday, he encouraged anyone with relevant information regarding surveillance of President-elect Trump or his transition team to come forward and speak to the House Intelligence Committee.

    •Information was legally brought to him by official sources that "thought we should know it", presumably due to his request at the hearing. NSA, CIA, FBI leadership did not know that the information was going to be given to him (looks like a whistleblower).

    •He can confirm that on numerous occasions, the US intelligence community incidentally collected intelligence information about US citizens involved in the Trump transition. Details about US persons associated with the incoming administration, with little or no apparent foreign intelligence value, were widely disseminated in Intelligence Community reporting.

    •He can confirm that additional names of Trump transition team members were unmasked, similar to how General Flynn's name was unmasked.

    •None of the information he was able to see in the dozens of reports was related to Russia or the investigation of Russian activities regarding the Trump team.

    •Information was not part of a criminal investigation. It looks like "normal Foreign surveillance" under FISA where there was "incidental collection" that was then widely disseminated with unmasked names, but he still needs to get more information.

    •He informed Paul Ryan just this morning of this new information.

    •He is briefing the President and his team at the White House this afternoon.

    •Doesn't know if the information was picked up at Trump Tower, but working to find out details by Friday. Rogers (NSA) appears to be wanting to comply. He's concerned because he doesn't know yet if the FBI will comply. He has called the FBI, no response yet, hoping to talk to Comey later today.

    •He has seen intelligence reports that clearly show that the President-elect and his team were monitored and the information disseminated to the IC in a "raw" format.

    •Believes collection was performed legally, but the main question is why the names were unmasked and widely disseminated throughout the IC.

    •Most of the intercepts occurred in November, December, and January. During the transition period. This does not rule out any other periods of surveillance, this is just what he was able to see today.

    •It was "a lot of information about the President-elect, his transition team, and what they were doing".

    •He is surprised and "alarmed" by the discovery of this information, because it reminds him of when members of Congress were "incidentally" surveilled a year and a half ago. He doesn't understand how the intelligence regarding what President-elect Trump and his transition team were doing had any relation to foreign intelligence activities.
     
  7. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    I'm hoping all my friends who were so against the Patriot Act are still on that side of the fence. But it really seems to boil down to this: "Well we weren't spying on him because of the election, we were spying on him this whole time because we spy on all of you always. We just happened to use the information at the exact time we needed it for character assassination that benefited our politics. But don't worry, we'd never do that to you. (because you'd never go against us, right??)"


    Meh.
     
  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    "He said the surveillance was conducted legally and did not appear to be related to the current FBI investigation into Trump associates' contacts with Russia or with any criminal warrants. And the revelations, he said, did nothing to change his assessment that Trump's explosive allegations about wiretaps at Trump Tower were false."
     
  9. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Short but sweet. That about sums it up. Also, Trump said the President Obama specifically tapped his phones. Which of course has been exposed as a conspiracy theory.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 23, 2017
  10. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Except he or his campaign were not wiretapped; people they contacted, suspected foreign spies, were. But why let reality stand in a way of a good tweet, right?
     

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