Decency, Trump and Obama.

[Belsnickel]

(03-06-2017, 01:10 AM)JustWinBaby Wrote: That's why we'd need to see the evidence presented to justify the FISA warrant.

I'm not sure how "possible" that outcome is because I've not seen any real evidence of a connection, beyond Flynn starting the job too soon and undermining the duly elected and still sitting administration (and, really, I'm of the opinion that any sanctions should have been coordinated with the incoming administration).  But that's post-election.

I'm hardly an expert on FISA, other than having the opinion that it gives wide latitude and power to gather intel on foreign agents.  But I think when talking about a Presidential Candidate, to demonstrate that he was acting as an agent of a foreign power would require very substantial evidence with a high degree of certainty.  Otherwise there is unacceptably massive potential for abuse for purposes of targeting political opponents.

My feeling is the investigation into the banking transactions, which was apparently justified and mostly innocuous, was the basis for building a conspiracy theory that ensnared the easily trolled Trump.

In order for them to have surveillance gathered by our IC on Trump, there would have had to been a FISA warrant which would have to be approved by a federal judge. Personally, I don't think there was any wiretapping done on Trump and that there was no FISA warrant. I do not, however, discount that there may have been one or more people connected to the campaign that may have had such a warrant issued on them given that it was known they had contact with Russian intelligence officers. Even if they didn't know they were Russian intelligence, the DoJ may have wanted surveillance in order to determine the nature of the contacts.

What I have heard from people that were formerly a part of the IC and from some investigative journalists with a decent reputation, is that there is information that has been received from partners (foreign offices) regarding collusion that was provided to our IC post-inauguration. This was not necessarily collected by our IC, but by international partners. What veracity exists in these claims, I do not know.

Personally, I just want an independent investigation on all of this mess so we can put it behind us. I want to start having discussions on actual policy. Whether Trump is doing it or Pence, I want some ***** substance.