Yesterday, House Republicans released a memo they had written purporting to show that the FBI was tainted with anti-Republican sentiments. Allegedly, those sentiments crept into a live investigation and were used to request a warrant from the FISA court. The memo further intimates that had the judge known that part of the evidence used to request the memo was evidence bought by the Democrats that it is doubtful that the warrant would have been issued. There are several questions that are begged by this memo, evidence that is missing, and a view of the judiciary that paints it as fully uninformed: at best naive, at worst carelessly unintelligent. Of course, that is my opinion, and most Congressional Republicans are currently espousing an opposite opinion. But, that is not what concerns me. And it is something that should concern my Republican friends as well.
House Democrats on that committee also wrote a memo. They looked at the information and reached different conclusions. They cited different parts of the evidence that purportedly shows that the conclusions drawn by House Republicans may not be accurate. “What memo,” you say? The memo that House Republicans kept the House Democrats from releasing by using the rules and law against them. The rules, and laws, state that intelligence matters handled by that committee must be recommended for release by the committee and unclassified by the President. The committee refused to allow House Democrats to issue any other memo than that drawn-up by the House Republicans.
Supposedly, House Democrats are having their memo reviewed. I listened to one House Republican saying on a TV show that he had concerns about information in the memo and that it had to be redacted by House Democrats before he would agree to its release, out of his concern for confidential information. Even if House Democrats are allowed to issue a memo, it will not be issued for a few days, and now we already know that redactions may be forced upon it. This means that House Democrats are limited, by rule and law, in what arguments can be put forward against the memo during the next few days. Their debate has been suppressed and repressed in order to allow the House Republican version of events to stand. No law has been violated, but The Law has certainly been bent into knots in order to reach this result. And, that is a dangerous precedent to set.
House Republicans have stepped over a very dangerous line because it is the line that increasingly leads to repressive measures. In this day and age of instant news, even if the House Democrats were to be allowed to release an uncensored memo in a few days, the damage will have been done. The House Republican version of events will have had uncontested reign for several days. Speech has been suppressed, and the best part for the Republican Party is that the issue has gathered little discussion so far.
House Republicans have, so far, learned a lesson. Put your conspiracy theory out there for the public to see. Then use your voting power in Congress to allow only one “official” report that backs your contention. There will be little ill effect. Little by little, you can win the information war. You can even tell yourself that you are not suppressing other views. You are simply guarding the security of confidential information. No, you are not becoming something else. You are still a patriotic citizen protecting the realm. Yes, it is OK to silence the dangerous ones. Keep telling yourself that. Eventually, you will not like what you have become, but it will be too late.
If this country is to survive, our children need to abolish the two-party system. There is no other way out. It’s too late for us.
Having a FISA warrant issued against an opposition candidate in a presidential election is a gross abuse of power by the previous administration any way you slice it. What were they thinking?
It was against Carter Page, and it started in 2013. Were they supposed to look in a crystal ball and figure he would be in Assholes 2016 campaign? What the hell are you thinking?
When you have no reasonable argument name call, very grown up and very liberal
a secret court without oversight … the questions surrounding this issue should not focus on party politics
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2013/06/19/fisa-court-oversight-look-inside-secret-and-empty-process
Here is where the Democrats are at: “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”
Carl Sandburg
Whan the law and the facts are against you, issue a bullshit memo by a political hack and hope simple minded people dont notice…..
Point just proved.
Gene, the problem is that it is the Republicans who are doing that, not the Democrats. Then to top that, they forbid the opposition from submitting their memo. That crosses the line into repression.
Didn’t forbid releasing, just had to follow the same legal protocol that the Republican memo did which took about 2 weeks. Dems want theirs out without that scrutiny
I think the problem lies in believing that the two parties actually oppose each other.
I see the chief significance of the memos, based on what I know, to be more in the push to ignite and expand international war, especially, but not only, with Russia. The politicians are mostly in the pay of their secret owners, who also happen to own the corporations and lobbies.
Yes, there IS individual strife and competition, and individual politicians do sell out or are betrayed and exposed, and it is often convenient for Republicans to do so at the expense of Democrats and vice-versa. But that rivalry is never allowed to threaten the main flow of wealth to finance the wars and flow of oil and commerce that make the super-rich so rich.
The republicans want to conveniently forget about the history employment of mr page and several others hired by the white house before the FISA warrant, of mr page working as an unregistered American foreign agent for a corporate billionaire in putin circle of friends that are already under overseas surveillance by the national security apparatus of the United States, any American who works for foreign billionaires and gets paid millions of dollars without reporting that employment under law puts himself on the surveillance radar in national security, when trump hired these guys the CIA and NSA informed justice a member of the national security apparatus that they might want to keep an eye on these guys like mr page because of their illegal unregistered employment to people under surveillance that also was mentioned when justice went to the court for a spying warrent not nust the RNCs dossier that the DNC bought
Muller and the Democrats have chosen to ignore that the Podesta firm was working with Page,for the same people,also as an unregistered foriegn agent and they have been charged with nothing….Oh wait Podesta…Right…John Podesta ran Hillarys campain…
Why are house republicans running protection for trumps employees that were unregistered foreign agents
You mean like the Podesta brothers and the Clintons. Oh I forgot it’s only a problem if Republicans do it
FBI should have warned Trump but did not. Why?
Trump brought this on himself by hiring these unregistered American foreign agents, stupid decisions
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-fbi-is-setting-up-a-task-force-to-monitor-social-media/
I can’t believe you’ve come to the conclusion of republicans stepping over the line.when clearly the line crossed was when democrats broke federal laws.trying not to lose to a stronger opponent.and then after losing start a smear campain.treason at its finest.
Truth
Amazing spin. They are not trying to silence opposition to their ideas, but they have a right to be outraged by this misuse of power.
I am not sure to whom the “they” refers. If you are saying that Republicans have the right to be outraged if there is a misuse of power going on, that is true. But, are you saying that the misuse of power is proven? After all, the deliberately delayed Democratic memo (along with the FBI) are saying that the facts were cherry-picked.
Since evidence to the contrary has been deliberately delayed, how do we know that there has really been a misuse of power and not simply a deliberate misstatement of the facts?
I do not believe the FISA court has ever denied even once a government request for a warrant.
Democrats don’t like getting caught with there hand in the cookie jar
Sigh, since the Democrats have been prevented from presenting additional evidence, how do you know? My point is that you are reading edited limited information, with no analysis being allowed.
You mean they copied the Democrat playbook… The nerve of people ?????????