President Donald Trump on Monday railed on Twitter over the release of the FBI’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant, which detailed why the government wanted to spy on his former campaign adviser Carter Page.
In a string of tweets quoting Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch—one of several media organizations that obtained the documents—Trump claimed the documents vindicated him, as well as showed that his opponents engaged in illicit activity.
So we now find out that it was indeed the unverified and Fake Dirty Dossier, that was paid for by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC, that was knowingly & falsely submitted to FISA and which was responsible for starting the totally conflicted and discredited Mueller Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
“It was classified to cover up misconduct by the FBI and the Justice Department in misleading the Court by using this Dossier in a dishonest way to gain a warrant to target the Trump Team. This is a Clinton Campaign document. It was a fraud and a hoax designed to target Trump….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
….and the DOJ, FBI and Obama Gang need to be held to account. Source #1 was the major source. Avoided talking about it being the Clinton campaign behind it. Misled the Court to provide a pretext to SPY on the Trump Team. Not about Carter Page..was all about getting Trump…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
…..”Carter Page wasn’t a spy, wasn’t an agent of the Russians – he would have cooperated with the FBI. It was a fraud and a hoax designed to target Trump.” Tom Fitton @JudicialWatch A disgrace to America. They should drop the discredited Mueller Witch Hunt now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
But how people are reading the FISA warrant, as with anything in 2018, is wholly dependent on which narrative you prefer to align yourself with.
If you’ve believed the theory of Trump collusion with Russia, well, the document explicitly says “[t]he FBI believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian Government [redacted] undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law.”
It also makes note that Page isn’t the only person possibly involved: “the FBI believes the Russian Government’s efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with [Trump’s] campaign.” It also says that Page met with a Russian official who claimed to have a damaging dossier of information on Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.
So what to make of Trump’s accusation that the “Fake Dirty Dossier” was “knowingly & falsely submitted to FISA”?
Well, that argument is the same that has been floating around conservative circles this whole year, and most everyone disagrees with that reading of the documents.
Some say the Steele dossier was the sole basis of the application. That’s false. There are redacted pages of other facts + we can see it cited info from a prior investigation into Russian spies who sought to recruit Americans. (They targeted Page https://t.co/VEWt3YGRfX )/13 pic.twitter.com/pg6ycTfodB
— Charlie Savage (@charlie_savage) July 22, 2018
Trump says FISA docs prove FBI probe was crooked.
— Carol Leonnig (@CarolLeonnig) July 22, 2018
Nearly every intel reporter who read them concluded the opposite. https://t.co/K6GKKSkz1q
I want apologies from every pathetic hack lawmaker and pundit who went out and made it sound like the dossier alone was used to get the Page FISA warrants or that DOJ somehow concealed the source of the info so as to trick the FISA judge.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) July 21, 2018
Of issue is what is also an important part of the dramatic Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) memo: That the identity of Christopher Steele and his funding were kept from FISA judges.
.@JudicialWatch now has Carter Page FISA docs. They are heavily redacted but seem to confirm the FBI and DoJ misled the courts in withholding info about Clinton-DNC being behind the info used to get the FISA warrant.
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) July 21, 2018
Steele is referenced in the warrant only as a U.S. person. Here’s the key bit that has conservatives up in arms.
The FBI speculates that the identified U.S. person was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit Candidate #1’s campaign… Notwithstanding Source #1’s reason for conducting the research into Candidate #1’s ties to Russia, based on Source #1’s previous reporting history with the FBI, whereby Source #1 provided reliable information to the FBI, the FBI believes Source #1’s reporting herein to be credible.
In the warrant, as with most FISA warrants, the intelligence community goes to great lengths to not identify sources or U.S. citizens. In the warrant, Trump’s identity is concealed, as he is only referred to as “Candidate #1.”
Since the warrant concedes that the FBI used the dossier to bolster its case against Page, it’s now become a sign of a conspiracy against Trump.
https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/1021097740670038017
https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/1021163202619506690
In an appearance on Fox News this morning, Dan Bongino, who has pushed hard against the FBI, used government officials’ description of the dossier to discredit the FISA application.
.@dbongino on @foxandfriends: Russia probe is biggest scam in modern US history. pic.twitter.com/q8N0MTpWaA
— Ainsley Earhardt (@ainsleyearhardt) July 23, 2018
The docs also further the deep-state narrative pushed by the right that officials are colluding to maintain the status quo. Breitbart and other organizations went after a State Department official who provided information to Steele.
Documents released on Saturday related to the wiretapping of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page reveal information that contributed to the government’s application to monitor Page originated with the State Department under the Obama administration in October 2016.
After his name surfaced in news media reports related to probes by House Republicans into the dossier, [Jonathon] Winer authored a Washington Post oped in which he conceded that while he was working at the State Department he exchanged documents and information with dossier author and former British spy Christopher Steele.
In the Post piece, Winer related that while he was at the State Department, he repeatedly passed documents from Steele related to Russia to State officials, including to Victoria Nuland, a career diplomat who worked under the Clintons and served as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs under Kerry.
But the dossier is not the only evidence presented in the warrant against Page, as noted by Democrats in Congress, who have been fighting this matter in both public and private.
Wrong again, Mr. President, no matter how many times you repeat it.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 23, 2018
Investigation began when the FBI learned one of your other foreign policy advisors, George Papadopoulos, had been informed Russians had stolen emails and were prepared to help your campaign by releasing them. https://t.co/dNYrTFOQVB
Despite the cold facts out in the open, good luck swaying any who are convinced that the deep state is out to get Trump.
