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3 Whisky Happy Hour

Fee, Fi, Fo, FISA

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With news breaking of the possible involvement of President Obama in the FBI investigation of Carter Page along with Sidney Blumenthal slithering from the sewer yet again, Steve Hayward asked John Yoo some questions about how the FISA process actually works—especially the three renewals of the Page warrant that required new probable cause. What could that evidence have been? Possibly nothing.

Hosted by Steve Hayward, with guest JYJohn Yoo

Discussion (2)

  • Ontheleftcoast@Ontheleftcoast

    What people are saying on this is coming so fast that Steve Hayward and John Yoo seem to have missed a couple of possibly pertinent details, which raise questions it would have been great to hear the answers on:

    • It looks like Page was an undercover employee of the FBI on an Russian espionage case that wrapped up in late March/early April 2016, and not only was he being recorded, he was planting bugs on the Russians. If there was already a warrant connected with the Buryakov case to monitor Page, would that have ended with the case?
    • In late March, Page, recommended to the Trump campaign by Ed Cox, moves on to the campaign.
    • Did Page's employment as an undercover informant for the FBI end with the guilty plea in the Buryakov case, or continue as he moved to the Trump campaign?
    • If I understand correctly, New York is a one party consent state, so presumably Page could legally have recorded his direct conversations with anyone in the Trump campaign.
    • In any case, in October 2016, Page was described as the agent of a foreign power in a "non Title VII" (the words of the memo) FISC application to monitor him.
    • Wouldn't that warrant and the subsequent renewals take the Title I expanded surveillance into Fall 2017?
    • It's been said the the 10/16 warrant and extensions were each signed by a different judge. Is that usual? IIUC here are only three FISC judges in the DC circuit.

    Thank you

  • Podkayne of Israel@PodkayneofIsrael
    Well, that was delicious. I must, however, protest your appropriation of my latest favorite meme, "Milk the soft power dividend". You cannot have both that and the Kinks "Victoria"; leave some for the rest of us.