It seems the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court does not subscribe to your casual standard for FISA evidence. They have issued a “highly unusual public rebuke” of the FBI for its many lapses, as outlined in the IG report.
This is not quite applicable to FISA. Regular courts and warrants can be scrutinized to ensure that there is, at least, innuendo.
Maintaining a higher bar for FISA makes sense since, if the scrutinized version falls to innuendo, it’s safe to say that the non-scrutinized version has a very easy slide towards becoming even worse, minus massive effort to prevent it from doing so.
But, on the other hand, it should probably be said that it is conceivable that a cause of the “sloppiness” is simply that the officers are used to the Miranda/ordinary court system standard of taking things to a judge - if that’s the majority of work that they do.
The FISA Court issued a public order condemning the FBI for Russia probe abuses and demanded reforms:
ETA: Save Target As; it’s a pdf file.
The Steele dossier isn’t bogus. At least, there is no evidence it is.
Tax cuts for the richest. Kids in cages. Red ballcaps, those are tangible.
I love all this FBI bashing. They were so anti-Trump, they kept their investigations completely under wraps during the campaign and election, while keeping the public very well informed on Her Emails every step of the way. This is evidence that they were anti-Trump, somehow, in the world where the sky is green.
If his civil rights have been violated, his team of lawyers will ensure that it is rectified and he is appropriately compensated. I can sleep at night knowing that he will have his day in court. I’m also confident that whatever problems are identified in the FISA process are being corrected to the tune of about 40 recommended changes, according to reports.
You may want push the idea that Carter Page is the unsung hero in this, but it’s a false narrative and you know it’s a false narrative. You cannot watch and hear Carter Page in his numerous media appearances and pretend for a hot second that he is an honest and mentally competent actor in all this. Carter Page, with the most generous allowances, is a bumbling fucking idiot. He was used by the Russians and by the CIA and by the FBI and subsequently discarded because they all quickly realized he is of no value to anyone.
So, while being stupid is not a crime, it does not prevent anyone from being a criminal or an accessory to a crime, including espionage. Carter Page was briefly thought to be a useful idiot but fell far short of the ‘useful’ bit. I’ve no doubt he’ll continue to mumble, stumble, dissemble, blink and grin like the fucking idiot that he is until people stop paying attention to him. I’d say his 15 minutes are nearly up.
I won’t be sure until I see the Pee Tape.
It will be PERFECT.
Uh huh.
I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when they drafted this “highly unusual rebuke”…
“sigh Okay, the Feebs got caught putting their thumb on the scale. How are we going to word this to make it look like a reprimand for, oh, I don’t know, doing their goddamn job??”
“Um, okay…Okay! Okay! I’ll know what we’ll say… Here we go: *‘the FBI’s handling of the Page case was antithetical to the heightened duty of candor required by the law that established the surveillance court. Judges on the court rely entirely on the government’s submissions. Because they are the only documents the court sees, the government has a heightened duty of candor, she said.’ * How’s that, guys? Work for you?”
[Applause and laughter]
“Great! Hubie, type that up and deliver it to Tenth and Pennsylvania. And try to wipe the shit-eating grin off your face. It’s unprofessional.”
Yeah, guys, the Bureau played it a little fast and loose. Forgive me if I don’t immediately retreat to my underground bunker with my collection of assault weapons and munch on my survival crackers to await Big Brother’s Purge of the Undesirables. :rolleyes:
It’s not FBI bashing, look at the number of top level FBI officials that were fired or resigned. Look at the IG Report, the FISC judge chiming in, the current criminal investigation into FBI wrongdoing. Are you saying they should get a medal for this stuff?
I guess it depends on your definition of evidence. Did you use the same evidence evaluation to accept the Steele dossier as true?
Disinformation’ claim ‘galls’ dossier author Christopher Steele
The FBI apologizes https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/politics/fbi-fisa-court.html.
From the link: “the F.B.I. had cherry-picked and misstated evidence about the Trump adviser, Carter Page”- I’m not happy the FBI felt this was OK, whether the target is Page or any citizen.
As I once asked the OP’s reference, who the fuck is Carter Page and why should I give a shit about him? Since then I’ve learned more but care less. These days the give a fuck about any bozos has stopped having much value.
Because it isn’t about Page? It’s about law enforcement doing this to anyone.
Well, the immediate issue is the FBI doing it to someone involved in a criminal organization, so that’s part of the puzzlement.