Category Archives: 2016 presidential campaign
What the Heck is Unmasking Anyway?
What the heck is unmasking anyway?
Our government spies on foreigners all the time but not its own citizens –theoretically. So while eavesdropping on a Russian ambassador is ok, it’s not ok to spy on the guy at the other end of the call, if he’s an American citizen. So, in order to protect that guy, his information is “masked.” (Bokbluster was on this in 2017)
As it happens, the guy on the other end of Russian Ambassador Kislyak’s call was Trump’s incoming Trump National Security advisor Michael Flynn. And it turns out, dozens of members of the Obama administration, including Joe Biden, unmasked him.
Plenty of FBI Abuse to go Around In IG Report
Eli Lake at Bloomberg thinks the FBI is lucky, in a weird sort of way. That’s because the IG report shows the FBI abuse wasn’t just aimed at the Trump Campaign. The IG also found 39 other defective FISA applications.
In the twisted politics of the Trump Era, some of bureau’s defenders might actually view this report as good news: It shows that the investigation of the Trump campaign was not necessarily politically motivated. The bureau made the same kinds of mistakes with suspects who were not connected to the Trump campaign.
Caucus Clown Car at Senate Impeachment Trial
Senate impeachment trial hostages Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar face a dilemma. Closing arguments are tomorrow, but so are the Iowa Caucuses. And the final vote on whether to toss Trump is Wednesday.
More Caucus Chaos
And the Des Moines Register further complicated things by canceling the release of its “gold standard” poll Saturday night. Somebody left Pete Buttigieg out as a possible preferred candidate.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, the president delivers his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
And, since the Senate voted 51-49 to block more impeachment trial witness testimony on Friday, Republicans now say they have the votes to acquit on Wednesday.
John Dean No Rosemary Woods
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler thought it would be a good idea to have John Dean testify about Watergate. And John Dean was happy to oblige. After all, he may be a convicted felon but he’s no chicken – or Rosemary Woods.
But he did say that Russiagate was just like Watergate, only worse.
However, unfortunately for Chairman Nadler, the media spent most of the day covering a helicopter crash in New York City.
House Judiciary Committee One, Barr None
The House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General Barr in contempt of Congress. Chairman Jerry Nadler demands that Barr turn over a complete unreacted copy of the Mueller report on collusion with Russia. But Nadler knows Barr can’t do that because the report contains grand jury testimony. And that’s illegal. Barr has made a minimally redacted version available to certain members of Congress. But so far no Democrats have bothered to take a look.
