Tag: Brennan

Twitter, Facebook, #metoo, and a rare rebuke from one liberal to another

First, James Clapper took John Brennan to task over the weekend over his rhetoric.  Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, said that Brennan says what’s on his mind, but that is becoming a problem.  Brennan is the former director of the CIA and recently lost his security clearance after becoming an MSNBC commentator and insisting that the President committed treason.  Brennan has offered no evidence for his claims except his heartfelt belief that Trump colluded with the Russians.

The problem with insisting on baseless claims of Russian collusion is that Brennan speaks as someone who has authority as a former CIA director, not just as as a political commentator.  Bill Nelson recently ran into the same problem when he claimed the Russians had infiltrated Florida’s election system.  It’s either a flat out lie used to influence an election, or it’s the illegal release of classified information.  Since John Brennan and Bill Nelson have not had criminal referrals for illegally giving out classified information, it’s clear they are lying.

Former Obama officials battle over the appropriateness of public accusations

If you thought Social Media platforms might have an inherent bias against conservative outlets, it’s because that is true.  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey admitted they have a left leaning bias, but said they are aware of their own bias and try not to let it affect their decisions.

Meanwhile, Facebook is in hot water for letting real estate companies and lenders violate the Fair Housing Act by using advertising that targets their desired demographics.  So apparently they aren’t quite as leftist when it comes to making money.  If a leftist company violates leftist principles, does anyone care?

Facebook violates 1968 Civil Rights Act by allowing advertisers to discriminate against minorities

Speaking of hypocrisy, one of the first accusers of Harvey Weinstein secretly paid off one of her own victims.  Ground floor member of the #metoo movement Asia Argento paid $380,000 to silence a male actor who she had raped when he was 17.  The payment came shortly after Argento accused Weinstein.  She was 37 and child actor Jimmy Bennett was 17 when she assaulted him.

Weinstein accuser pays off her own victim

Ocasio-Cortez bans the press so the people will feel “safe”

It wasn’t Trump who banned the media from a recent townhall.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez banned the media from a recent press conference claiming that it was a “non-story” and that she did it so that her potential constituents could “feel safe discussing sensitive issues in a threatening political time.”  So far no one in the media has thought to ask her if she thinks the press are the “enemy of the people”.  But many media members weren’t buying her reasons.

Ocasio-Cortez bans the press so the people can feel safe

James Clapper, Leon Panetta, and several other former CIA directors and Obama administration big wigs joined 70 former CIA leaders in ridiculing Trump for taking away John Brennan’s security clearance.  Apparently their argument is that former intelligence officials should be able to use their unclassified information to hit the President with partisan attacks.  However, security clearance is usually maintained for those who “need to know” so that their successors can go to them for help and information.  But it is doubtful that anyone from the Trump administration is going to be going to hostile John Brennan for help.

Former intel agents upset about Brennan’s clearance being revoked

The jury in the Manafort trial is home for the weekend, but Judge Ellis is not revealing any information about their identities.  Apparently the jury had expressed to him that they feared their identities being released.  That’s probably a good move.  The media and public opinion has already condemned Manafort, and any verdict that sets him free is sure to cause riots.  As it is, the Manafort trial has been a disappointment for many on the Left.  He is in trouble for tax and bank fraud, but the massive Russian collusion has once again failed to materialize.

Manafort jury fears the press

Drain the Swamp: Brennan loses security clearance

Former CIA director turned far left political commentator John Brennan saw his security clearance finally revoked on Wednesday.  Brennan was cited for “lying” and conduct unbecoming for someone who has access to the nation’s secrets.  But Brennan isn’t the only one on the list being considered.

Politico also names FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, former FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and Bruce Ohr.  McCabe and Strzok were fired from the FBI for misconduct.

Bruce Ohr has been demoted from assistant deputy attorney general and may not have a job much longer.  He was a crucial part of the Russian investigation, even though his wife worked for Fusion GPS.  In addition to Bruce Ohr’s connections to Fusion GPS, Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya was also a client of Fusion GPS when she set up her meeting with Donald Trump, Jr. in Trump tower.  Nothing happened at the meeting, but it has been cited by liberals as Russian collusion.  Some speculate that entire meeting was a Fusion GPS setup.

It’s possible these late moves are more than just cleaning house.  Many of these individuals have a very suspect past when it comes to the botched Clinton investigation and the unnecessary Trump investigation.  We have seen plenty of evidence from Strzok’s texts of collusion with the Obama administration to stop Trump.  And when you add in the Fusion GPS connections, everyone seems to be in bed with everyone else.  In some cases, literally.

The Inspector General’s office continues it’s investigation into these individuals, but Horowitz’s conclusions have thus far been suspect.  His decision that Strzok’s texts didn’t show bias gives me little hope for the future of that investigation.

How Obama Saved Trump

Ok, let’s be honest.  Anyone who says Trump committed treason in Helsinki is a moron who doesn’t know how our government works.  Yes, John Brennan – former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, you are a moron who doesn’t know how the constitution works.  It’s so bad, left leaning Politifact had to fact check your claim. Politifact had to fact check a claim by the former CIA director of whether the President of the United States had committed treason.  And you lost.

Maybe that’s why Trump is revoking Brennan’s security clearance.

Brennan wasn’t alone.  Representative Adam Smith, ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, also called Trump’s statements treason.  The soon to be irrelevant New York Daily News led with the cover title “Open Treason”.  A recent poll shows that nearly half the country (guess which half) think Trump committed treason.

But here’s the best part: Trump didn’t commit treason because Obama never treated Russia’s cyber attacks as an act of war.

One of the key essentials to treason, as pointed out by Politifact, is that we be at war with the “enemy” that the traitor provided aid and comfort to.  We aren’t at war with Russia, Trump can’t be a traitor for saying nice things about them.

So then you might ask, if Russia issued a cyber attack against us and tried to influence our elections in 2016, why aren’t we at war with them?  Because when Russia used cyber attacks to steal DNC emails and try to influence our election, President Obama issued a stand down order to cyber security chief and told him to back burner any action against Russia. 

In other words, if Trump committed treason by fumbling with his words and saying he couldn’t understand why Russia would meddle (never mind what he thought he meant to say), then Obama committed treason in 2016 by secretly issuing the stand down against Russia.  Otherwise, Russia is not our enemy and Trump can say whatever he wants.

Maybe Democrats should knock off the bull crap and follow through with what they claim to believe.  Maybe Democrats should introduce a declaration of war on Russia in Congress.  If Russia actually was our enemy, maybe they could start tossing around legitimate treason claims that stick.  But given the cozy history between major Democrats and Russia in the past, they’d probably end up regretting it.

Need to Know 7/23/18 Evening Edition

As first reported yesterday, Trump is likely going to pull security clearances from several former Obama administration appointees.  The appointees, including Andrew McCabe, James Clapper, John Brennan, Susan Rice, and others have been controversial figures.  Clapper and Brennan have accused the President of treason in editorial capacities.  McCabe was fired from the FBI for improper interactions with the press.  Others on the list, like James Comey, have claimed that their security privileges are already revoked.

Trump to revoke security clearance for former intel officials

Indicted Russian operative Maria Butina was part of private meetings with Obama officials in 2015.  Butina met with Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer, Treasury Undersecretary Nathan Sheets, and Russian Central Bank deputy governor Alexander Torshin.  Butina has been indicted as a Russian spy who sought to influence US politics and elections.

Alleged Russian agent met with Obama officials

In New York they are literally letting the criminally insane out to vote for Governor Cuomo.  Cuomo has handed out pardons to thousands of former prisoners in time for the election, including 77 sexual predators who had been committed to psychiatric hospitals after serving their prison time.  The pardon gives them the right to vote, according to the New York Daily News.

Cuomo pardons sexual predators so they can vote

The deadest horse in political history, the Trump Russia collusion story, continues to be mercilessly beaten by Democrats.  But it’s over.  Trey Gowdy gave the best summation of the death of the Trump Russia investigation on Sunday, telling Fox host Bret Baier that if there was actually any evidence found against Trump in this two year investigation, Rep. Adam Schiff would have leaked it by now.  The Democrats can pray for an obstruction charge, but the Bill Clinton precedent suggests that’s not going anywhere.  Also, anyone who Trump might have tried to obstruct, such as Comey, McCabe, or Rosenstein, has already proven themselves to be extremely biased and unreliable as a witness.  Stick a fork in this one.  Yup, another fork.

If there was evidence, Schiff would have leaked it

Newsflash 7/23/18

Rand Paul is expected to ask Trump to revoke former CIA chief John Brennan’s security clearance.  Since leaving the CIA, Brennan has joined up with MSNBC as a political commentator, often hostile to Trump.  Brennan recently accused Trump of treason and said he should be impeached over his press conference with Putin in Helsinki.  Paul suggested that Brennan was using his security clearance to enrich himself by passing state secrets to MSNBC.  Republicans have expressed concern over the extreme partisanship shown by the former CIA director and former FBI director James Comey.

Rand Paul to ask for Brennan’s security clearance to be revoked

Need to know 7/23/18

Iran, in trouble with their people and staring down the barrel of new US sanctions, began a tweet war with Trump over the “mother of all wars”.  Trump responded in all caps that Iran’s leaders would suffer consequences few others have.  In the end it’s likely all blowing smoke.  Iran doesn’t have nuclear capabilities and the US isn’t about to go invade another Middle Eastern country.  But the developments continue to show that despite the rhetoric and narrative, Trump has been tougher on Russia allies than Obama was.

Rouhani warns Trump about mother of all wars

Speaking of rhetoric on Russia, Trey Gowdy had a warning for Trump administration officials that they should steer Trump to take Russia more seriously or consider leaving their posts.  Gowdy has consistently chided the Trump administration for not being tough enough on Russia’s election interference, however he has also acknowledged the extreme prejudice shown by Obama’s intel apparatus. In addition to noting that James Comey, James Clapper, and John Brennan continue to show their anti-Trump bias in editorials, Gowdy recently took Inspector General Michael Horowitz to task over his failure to call out anti-Trump bias deeply rooted in the FBI.  Texts from Peter Strzok reveled that the Russia/Trump collusion investigation was an “insurance policy” to “stop Trump”.  But so far, nothing has actually tied Trump to Russia or proven collusion.

Anti-Trump bias in the FBI can’t be put aside

Speaking of bias, the FISA court warrant to spy on Carter Page and the Trump campaign has been released through a Freedom of Information Act request.  This extraordinary release marks the first time a secretive FISA warrant has been released.  It proves two things.  The first is that Hillary Clinton’s paid for political propaganda dossier played a major role in getting the warrant.  Second, that the secret warrant to spy on a US citizen during the Obama administration was obtained simply because there was suspicion that Russia was trying to recruit him.  It’s also important to know that the warrant was issued after Page was no longer with the Trump campaign. Spying on a US Citizen because there is a belief that a foreign power might try to recruit them is likely a violation of the 4th Amendment.

For some good reading, here is Andy McCarthy’s argument why suspicion that someone is being recruited by a foreign government is not good enough to secretly spy on a US Citizen.

If you want to read through the FISA Warrant, you can do that here.

What do Sacha Baron Cohen and James O’Keefe have in common?  Both used hidden cameras to expose the other side.  It’s interesting to see how many lend credence to what Cohen exposes compared to those who dismissed O’Keefe’s videos out of hand  because they felt he was using trickery or deceptive editing.  O’Keefe’s undercover operations exposed massive Democrat voter fraud and routine illegal activities being carried out by Planned Parenthood.  Cohen got a racist Georgia politician to drop his pants and shout the N word.  I wonder if the Left will dismiss Cohen so quickly.

Sacha Baron Cohen gets former GOP lawmaker to make racist jokes 

 

Susan Power – The New Face of the Unmasking Scandal

A new name has surfaced in the unmasking scandal. UN Ambassador Susan Power made hundreds of unmasking requests in the last year of the Obama Presidency. Unmasking is the process by which individuals caught up in warrantless NSA surveillance are named in intelligence reports. It is a violation of the 4th amendment when misused.

During the Trump campaign and transition period, there were leaks of damaging information only discovered by government surveillance. At some point, Trump officials were unmasked in US intelligence reports and those reports were leaked to the press. The New York Times was one that reported Trump ties to Russia that were gleaned from NSA wiretaps.  They have since attempted to back off the claim.

Illegally unmasking a US citizen and leaking that information is a felony and carries up to 10 years in jail. The prime people of interest are former CIA director Brennan, Susan Rice, and now Susan Power.

So why would a UN Ambassador be caught up in this? The potential answers to that question truly scare me. If Susan Power was leaking intel on the Trump transition team to other UN member nations, that would be a huge development. Don’t forget, much of the Russia collusion speculation came from intel provided by the UK, Germany and the Ukraine. Were they doing the spying? Or was the US doing the spying, laundering the info through them, and then using it to smear Trump and attempt to influence the election outcome and bolster the resistance movement?

A crime was committed. The fact that we know anything about the Russia investigation is indicative of the many illegal leaks. What we know shows that those leaks include information only our intelligence agencies should know.  Brennan and Rice have both been openly hostile towards the Trump administration.  It will be interesting to see where the investigation of Susan Power goes.