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Sunday, May 20, 2018

Senator Warner Gets The Talking Points Mixed Up on CBS

On Face The Nation this morning, Virginia Democrat senator Warner get his talking points mixed up.  He went on at length about how outrageous it was that the President and the Republicans wanted to disclose the name of the CIA/FBI asset who was embedded into the Trump campaign by the Obamacrats in 2016.  That was so yesterday!

Remember, when news of the spy planted by the CIA/FBI in the Trump campaign first broke, it was then confirmed by the New York Times and the Washington Post.  The papers, however, refused to disclose the name (Stefan Halper) because they claimed it might endanger his life.  The papers already knew the name because sources at the FBI and/or CIA had leaked that name to them.  The position, however, led to a surge of Democrat/media complaints that the GOP was seeking to "out" an American espionage agent.  Of course, the WaPo did mention that the guy was someone with dual UK/US citizenship who was an Oxford professor and who had worked in three Republican administrations.  Anyone with access to Google could figure out the guy's name in under a minute, but they were "protecting" him from the evil Republicans.  Warner, in his appearance today, continued with this silly position.

There were two problems with Warner's gambit, however.  First, the name of the guy has been plastered all over the place in the media.  Even the Washington Post now discloses the name.  It's a little late for outrage, particularly since Warner had no basis to claim that the name came from congressional Republicans or the White House.  Second, Warner started his discussion by denying that he had any knowledge of any fact that would lead him to conclude that the Obama CIA/FBI planted an informant into the Trump campaign.  Get it?  Warner has no reason to believe that there was a spy for the Obamacrats illegally placed in the Trump campaign, but he's outraged, outraged to learn that Republicans want to make the spy's name public.  Huh?

The reality of the moment is that Obama and the leadership of the intelligence agencies under Obama have been caught violating the law and using the powers of the federal intelligence agencies for spying on an opposition political campaign.  It's a heinous crime.  There are no talking points that will change this.  The Obamacrats well know this, but they are still trying to lessen the disaster they now face.  It won't work.  In particular, it really won't work if the fools in the senate like senator Warner can't even keep their talking points straight.

I surely hope that those like Brennan, Clapper and Comey get what they so richly deserve.  America's intelligence agencies should never again be used to spy on opponents for political advantage.

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