Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut was on CNN (where else?) this morning and intimated that the Republicans on the Intelligence Committee were hampering the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Himes also said that it wasn't true that the Trump Dossier started the FBI investigation. The appearance was a masterpiece of misdirection and innuendo.
First, Himes (who unfortunately is the congressman from my own district) didn't give any evidence of any way that the Republicans on the Intelligence Committee were hampering the investigation. Indeed, the main thing that those GOP members are pushing for at the moment is to get the documents from DOJ and the FBI regarding the Trump Dossier and the uses made of that document particularly with the FISA court. No doubt for Himes, that is hampering the investigation because the documents in question could reveal that the Obama DOJ and FBI actually used the Trump Dossier to get a FISA warrant. That would mean that they presented an unverified document which to be able to conduct surveillance of American citizens. In legal terms, that's called a fraud on the court, and it is particularly egregious in the FISA court where there is only one side presented by the government. DOJ and FBI have a legal obligation to use only documents of unquestioned validity to get a FISA warrant. Clearly, Himes would not like to see the Obama DOJ and FBI disclosed to be knowingly conducting illegal and unethical surveillance of Americans. It would be even worse, however, since the DNC and the Clinton campaign paid to compile the Trump Dossier. That would make the use of the dossier in the FISA court into not just a political dirty trick by the Clinton/DNC group, but also a criminal conspiracy in the Obama administration with Clinton and the DNC to influence the outcome of the elections. It would be the actual criminal collusion which tried to determine the results of the 2016 election. Himes knows all this and he is trying to prevent this disclosure from happening.
Second, Himes' statement about the dossier not starting the FBI investigation is a further manifestation of this effort to deflect. The key issue is not whether the dossier was the cause of the investigation. The actual key issue is whether or not the Obama DOJ and FBI got the dossier, was unable to verify the main points of the documents (as Jim Comey testified to Congress) and then improperly presented the unverified dossier to the FISA court to get a warrant to spy on Americans (the Trump campaign).
First, Himes (who unfortunately is the congressman from my own district) didn't give any evidence of any way that the Republicans on the Intelligence Committee were hampering the investigation. Indeed, the main thing that those GOP members are pushing for at the moment is to get the documents from DOJ and the FBI regarding the Trump Dossier and the uses made of that document particularly with the FISA court. No doubt for Himes, that is hampering the investigation because the documents in question could reveal that the Obama DOJ and FBI actually used the Trump Dossier to get a FISA warrant. That would mean that they presented an unverified document which to be able to conduct surveillance of American citizens. In legal terms, that's called a fraud on the court, and it is particularly egregious in the FISA court where there is only one side presented by the government. DOJ and FBI have a legal obligation to use only documents of unquestioned validity to get a FISA warrant. Clearly, Himes would not like to see the Obama DOJ and FBI disclosed to be knowingly conducting illegal and unethical surveillance of Americans. It would be even worse, however, since the DNC and the Clinton campaign paid to compile the Trump Dossier. That would make the use of the dossier in the FISA court into not just a political dirty trick by the Clinton/DNC group, but also a criminal conspiracy in the Obama administration with Clinton and the DNC to influence the outcome of the elections. It would be the actual criminal collusion which tried to determine the results of the 2016 election. Himes knows all this and he is trying to prevent this disclosure from happening.
Second, Himes' statement about the dossier not starting the FBI investigation is a further manifestation of this effort to deflect. The key issue is not whether the dossier was the cause of the investigation. The actual key issue is whether or not the Obama DOJ and FBI got the dossier, was unable to verify the main points of the documents (as Jim Comey testified to Congress) and then improperly presented the unverified dossier to the FISA court to get a warrant to spy on Americans (the Trump campaign).
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