Exclusive: President Trump responded to evidence-lite accusations from Democrats about his ties to Russia with his own air-filled allegations about President Obama wiretapping Trump Tower, as Robert Parry shakes his head.
By Robert Parry
The intensifying hysteria over Russia has pushed Official Washington over the edge into outright madness. On one side of this asylum, you have the Democrats, neoconservatives and mainstream media, while on the other, you have the embattled Trump administration. Both sides have been making grave allegations with little or no evidence to support them.
President Donald Trump delivering remarks at CPAC on Feb. 24, 2017. (Screen shot from Whitehouse.gov)
The Democratic/neocon/MSM side has pushed the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russians to put the real-estate mogul in the White House, but there is, as yet, no evidence that such a thing happened.
Even one of the top advocates feeding this Russia frenzy, New York Times correspondent Thomas L. Friedman, acknowledged on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “I agree, there is no evidence,” but then added: “which is why we need a special prosecutor or an independent commission to get to the bottom of it.”
But that is not how investigations are supposed to work. You’re supposed to have evidence of wrongdoing and then examine it in the investigative phase to see if the evidence withstands scrutiny. What Friedman is suggesting is more like a “fishing expedition” or a “witch hunt.”
The drip-drip of this investigative water torture finally got to President Trump last week as he flew down to his winter home at Mar-a-Lago. He joined the crazy melee early Saturday morning by sending out a flurry of tweets accusing President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower in New York City in the weeks before the Nov. 8 election. Trump also offered no evidence while demanding an investigation to get to the bottom of this.
By contrast, in all the major investigations that I have handled as an investigative reporter, such as Oliver North’s secret White House paramilitary operation; the related Nicaraguan Contra drug trafficking scandal; Richard Nixon interference with President Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam peace talks in 1968; and Ronald Reagan’s campaign sabotage of President Jimmy Carter’s Iranian-hostage negotiations in 1980 – there was substantial evidence from eyewitnesses and documents supporting the suspicions before the story was published.
At no point would I have argued that just because Oliver North met a Contra leader that it was time to investigate whether he and his Reagan administration superiors were breaking the law. I first found multiple insiders, including people in the U.S. government and the Contra movement, describing how North was running his back-channel war. In some of these investigative situations, we had two dozen or so sources describing detailed aspects of these operations before we made any allegations in print.
Now the argument is that because some people suspect something, even without evidence, major investigations are warranted. That is usually what a conspiracy theory sounds like. Someone claims not to understand how something could have happened a certain way and thus a full-scale inquiry is needed into some highly unlikely and speculative scenario.
Opening Salvos
In the case of the Russia investigation, the opening salvos came from President Obama’s intelligence agencies, which alleged that Russia had “hacked” Democratic emails and slipped the contents to WikiLeaks, but the agencies offered nothing in the way of U.S. government evidence to support that supposition.
President Barack Obama meets with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, Nov. 15, 2015. National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice listens at left. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The two reports that were issued were heavy on the word “assesses” – which in intelligence jargon usually means “guesses” – but short on anything that could be checked out or verified.
The Jan. 6 report, issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, admitted as much, saying, “Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact. Assessments are based on collected information, which is often incomplete or fragmentary, as well as logic, argumentation, and precedents.”
Meanwhile, WikiLeaks representatives denied getting the two batches of Democratic emails from Russia, suggesting that two different American insiders had leaked the material.
Yet, despite this dubious send-off, the “scandal” careened into the area of “secondary” offenses, such as the conversation between Trump’s National Security Adviser-designate Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak which was intercepted by the National Security Agency on Dec. 29, 2016.
Rather than redact Flynn’s name as “minimization” procedures usually require for an American citizen who is inadvertently picked up on an intelligence wiretap, the transcript was given to the FBI which then tested Flynn’s memory of the conversation and found it wanting.
The Flynn case should be of particular concern to civil libertarians because it shows how NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s warning of a “turnkey tyranny” could work, with the Surveillance State monitoring phone calls and then finding flimsy legal excuses to justify an FBI probe – in Flynn’s case the never-tested-in-court 1799 Logan Act was used – and then manufacturing the crime of lying to the FBI if a person’s memory doesn’t match with the NSA transcript.
For Flynn, who was on vacation in the Dominican Republic when Kislyak called and thus didn’t have his usual support network with him, the immediate penalty for lacking total recall of the conversation was to lose his job. But there is still pressure for him to be prosecuted.
Similar demands have come from Democrats who want Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign and face prosecution for perjury over his clumsy answer to a question about the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russia to which Sessions claimed he had not met with Russians (although it turned out he had two conversations with Kislyak, one a group meeting with several ambassadors at the Republican National Convention and the other in his Capitol Hill office with aides present.
Again, there is no evidence that Sessions conspired with Kislyak on any plans to have the Russians undercut Hillary Clinton’s campaign, an unlikely possibility in either of the two settings. But Sessions is under fire for lying about the seemingly innocuous meetings – and there are demands that the Sessions-Kislyak contacts be investigated, too. In this Russia case, the absence of evidence appears not to be evidence for the absence of a special prosecutor.
On “Meet the Press” on Sunday, President Obama’s Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also said he was unaware of evidence that the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russians.
Moderator Chuck Todd asked, “Does intelligence exist that can definitively answer the following question, whether there were improper contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials?”
Clapper: “We did not include any evidence in our report, and I say, ‘our,’ that’s N.S.A., F.B.I. and C.I.A., with my office, the Director of National Intelligence, that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report.”
Todd: “I understand that. But does it exist?”
Clapper: “Not to my knowledge. … at the time [of the report in early January], we had no evidence of such collusion.”
Bill Clinton Echoes
In many ways, what is happening now to Trump reminds me of the situation in 1992-93 at the start of Bill Clinton’s presidency when Republicans were furious that they had lost the White House after 12 years of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. They considered Clinton an unworthy interloper and sought to cripple his presidency from the outset by pursuing one investigation after another.
President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea parade down Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 1997. (White House photo)
During the campaign, President Bush and his team even suggested that the Arkansas governor may have been a KGB mole because of a student trip to Moscow in 1970. The idea was to portray the trip to the Soviet Union as prima facie evidence of Clinton’s disloyalty even though there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Clinton.
Back then, Bill Clinton countered that smear by accusing the elder President Bush of stooping to the tactics of Sen. Joe McCarthy, the infamous Red-baiter from the 1950s. But today’s Democrats apparently feel little shame in whipping up an anti-Russian hysteria and then using it to discredit Trump, who – like Bill Clinton in 1992 – is being forced to fend off vague accusations that he is some kind of Manchurian candidate.
However, unlike Bill Clinton who seemed able to “compartmentalize” between governing as president and sparring with Republicans over their unending accusations, Trump lashed out in a flurry of Twitter messages accusing President Obama of wiretapping phones at Trump Tower.
“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory,” Trump said. “Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Trump added: “This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”
In making this extraordinary charge against his predecessor, Trump offered no evidence to back it up, leaving the impression that he may have gleaned this information from the right-wing Breitbart News web site which published an article summarizing claims by conservative radio talk show hosts. Trump and White House officials then called for an investigation into Obama’s alleged wiretapping.
Obama’s spokesman Kevin Lewis responded with a statement of dubious veracity, saying: “neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.” However, Obama did more than surveil at least one U.S. citizen; he had an American Al Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki not just put under surveillance but killed by a drone attack in 2011 in Yemen.
Reacting to all these crazy exchanges, a Wall Street Journal editorial even managed to make some sense. Entitled “Washington Goes Nuts,” the editorial said:
“What the country desperately needs are some grown-ups to intervene, discover the facts, and then lay them out to the American people,” both regarding any untoward contacts between Russian officials and Trump’s advisers and whether the Obama administration crossed any lines in its zeal to nail Trump’s team over Russia.
The Journal’s editors expressed hopes the congressional intelligence committees could step up and perform this function. But the problem with the Journal’s idea is that it will be hard, if not impossible, to find the requisite “adults” in Official Washington where traditional standards of evidence and fair play have long since disappeared.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com).
Why are you trying to protect Trump I wonder? Haven’t we spent years complaining that the Dems brought feathers to knife fights? Why not fight like we want power, like we want to win?
Now that fire is used against fire the liberal media establishment is getting all pearl clutchy instead of recognizing that just like Reagan used Nixon’s Watergate shame as a dolchstosslegende, we now have a polity using the abuse of Obama and Clinton by a billionaire hobbyist clique as ours, with the Trump election our Reichstag fire, our triggering event.
Interesting times.
Respecting Trump’s assertion that Obama is or has been wiretapping Trump, see
http://www.inquisitr.com/4030602/trumps-allegations-remind-us-that-obama-has-history-of-wire-tapping-americans/
Now the argument is that because some people suspect something, even without evidence, major investigations are warranted. That is usually what a conspiracy theory sounds like. Someone claims not to understand how something could have happened a certain way and thus a full-scale inquiry is needed into some highly unlikely and speculative scenario.
—-
Oh pleeze….. 2,800 architects and engineers have laid out abundant evidence that the three World Trade Center towers could not possibly come down the way NIST as the official reports claim they did.
Robert Parry says evidence? What evidence?? Never has he directly addressed what specific arguments he may have to question the A&E case, and why.
For such a knowledgeable and smart man, Robert Parry is really very hypocritical on this issue.
I appreciate that this article clears the air about the 100% fake Russia conspiracy theory. (Former FBI Assistant Dir Kallstrom called this a “bogus” story — this morning on AM 560 Chicago with Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson.)
However, to imply Trump has no reason to suspect he was tapped ignores the fact that his advisors WERE. Also, the writer is incorrect to draw some sort of equivalency between this totally fake witch hunt and the well-grounded investigations against the Clintons — who had so many scandals between them (including their supporting role as junior partners in Bush’s Iran-Coketra enterprise ) it would have been impossible to investigate and ajudicate them all.
Putin is Russia’s Last Stand against ruination from The Beast
which is about to pounce upon and devour Gog/Magog.
Find studies of the world’s Historic empires. Seven or eight of them, I think.
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-5-most-powerful-empires-history-12296
I little positivity goes a long way. It stuck me that Hillary lost because she called Putin Hitler and Trump had said he wanted to be friendly.
And if Bernie had won we wouldn’t be hearing a whit of this Russia! Russia! Russia! bullshit.
(If Bernie had won there’d be “rifle gate” about how hunting rifle makers swung the election for Sanders. Wait, Putin is a hunter, isn’t he? RUSSIAN hunting rifle makers swung it for Bernie.)
rense.com
Confirmed – Obama Is Zbigniew Brzezinski Puppet
Commentary
By Webster Tarpley
3-21-8
Any lingering doubts about Obama’s status as an abject puppet of Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Rockefeller Trilateral Commission ended this morning when the withered mummy of imperialism himself appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe* to campaign for Obama, urged on by his own moronic daughter, Mika Brzezinski, an Obama groupie and sycophant.
Zbigniew, a low-level Polish aristocrat whose life has been devoted to hatred for Russia, lauded Obama for his 2002 speech opposing the Iraq war, saying that he himself was the source of Obama’s arguments back then – thus confirming Obama’s long-term status as his puppet, which probably began in 1981-1983, when Obama was a student at Columbia University, and Zbig was directing the anti-Russian institute.
The aging revanchist showed all the misogynism of his szachta origins with a scurrilous attack on Sen. Clinton as a mere housewife, a Mamie Eisenhower running against charismatic a JFK played by Zbig’s own Manchurian candidate, and as a woman whose foreign policy experience was worth as much as that of Zbig’s own travel agent.
Zbig, who was kept in the closet for many months during the Carter administration because of his hideous Dr. Strangelove persona, portrayed Obama as a peace candidate who wanted to end the Iraq war and usher in peace in the Middle East. Zbig is an infamous Cold War hawk who has managed to re-invent himself in the eyes of some dupes by opposing the Iraq adventure, mainly because it is bad for imperialism.
Zbig did not mention that the reason he wants to downplay certain aspects of US aggression in the Middle East is to free up resources for use in the much bigger and more dangerous adventures which the Trilateral Commission is now directing.
Zbig is the mastermind of the Kosovo secession under KLA terrorist auspices, a gambit against Serbia and Russia to prepare a coming Operation Barbarossa II against Moscow. With the help of his son Mark Brzezinski, another top foreign policy controller of Obama, Zbig is also behind the new Euromissiles crisis involving US ABM installations in Poland. Zbig is the enforcer for the new CIA policy of killing Pakistanis (as “terrorists”) without consulting the government of that country, a nuclear power twice as big as Iran.
Most dangerous of all, Zbig is the obvious mastermind of the massive destabilization of China now ongoing, starting with the CIA/MI-6 Tibet insurrection, which has placed the US on a collision course with China, a superpower with 1.4 billion people and thermonuclear weapons which can strike US cities, a far cry from the helpless and defenseless targets preferred by the neocons. It is an open secret that Zbig intends to attempt a color revolution or CIA people power coup in China under the cover of the Beijing Olympics later this year. He may also make the Taiwan crisis explode. The dangers of these lunatic policies are infinitely worse than anything that could ever come out of the Middle East.
Senator Jay Rockefeller and Trilateral/BIlderberger boss Joseph Nye are also actively campaigning for Obama. Nye is the theoretician of “soft power,” a new form of imperialist aggression based on economic warfare, subversion, deception, and people power coups. They want Obama to mobilize soft power to give a face lift to US imnperialism.
Brzezinski’s goal is confrontation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the main world center for resistance to US-UK global domination.
Anti-war activists are still fixated on Iran, but not Brzezinski is not – his target is China, TWENTY times bigger than Iran, with ICBMs ready to launch, followed by Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power. Such confused activists need to focus on stopping the next war – the final global showdown with Pakistan, China, and Russia. That means rejecting Brzezinski’s puppet candidate Obama.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23726367#23726367
::
http://www.rense.com/general81/abig.htm
Bit late for that!
…. Or maybe not, as Obama still seems to fancy himself president..
Today, 7 March, both the Post and the Times have disdainful pieces out about the Deep State’s existence. Both mention this only happens in places like Egypt and Pakistan. Heh.
What was amusing that the defense regarding Obama wiretapping was that Trump made the charge without proof, that statement made in all the major media. When did proof become a requisite for accusations in Washington except when it becomes useful as in the case of the alleged Obama wiretapping of Trump. WMDs in Iraq, sarin gas in Syria, Ghadafi killing defenseless civilians, airlines being shot down, and on and on and now Washington” scoffs at an accusation without proof. Taken seriously, the media would dry up and drift away as would one of the chief activities of insiders.
While Democrats now clamor for investigations to get to the bottom of the evidence-free Russiagate scandal, let’s not forget all the things that they have chosen NOT to to investigate in recent years — despite having mountains of evidence of criminal wrongdoing — such as torture, Wall Street malfeasance and fraud, and the Bush administration’s unprovoked war of aggression on Iraq. The Obama administration even worked hand in glove with the GOP to kill a Bush torture probe (see here: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/wikileaks-cable-obama-quashed-torture-investigation ) and then of course there’s Obama reassuring Wall Street fraudsters that his administration was there to protect them from the “pitchforks and torches.” And let’s not forget Nancy Pelosi taking “impeachment off the table” after Democrats swept to power in Congress on a wave of antiwar sentiment in 2006.
The Democrats are no longer the “lesser evil,” they are just PURE EVIL!! Anyone voting for this corrupt party — especially when there are actual alternatives, such as the Green Party — is part of the problem. You are in a codependent relationship that you need to break free from. If you know what this party is doing whipping up a McCarthyite witch hunt and a new Cold War, how can you support it anymore? Stop supporting the lesser evil. There is no such thing. There is only evil.
Now that Donald Trump has put out there that Obama wire taped him the game is on. Both sides are prosecuting their case against each other in the court of public opinion. Both sides are wise enough to know that in our society the wilder the accusations the bigger the headlines. It doesn’t matter that both sides are throwing out whatever circumstantial evidence they can, because detailed facts in the public square only aids to bore and confuse the masses. To many facts, and descriptions of the in and out back and forth only cloud the news with a trail that is hard to follow, and to control the narrative both sides realize you must keep it simple stupid, or it just won’t stick.
I’ll admit it that I’m at a point with all of this that I can’t seem to be able to make sense of any of what or who is guilty of anything. This is a fight where both opponents are hitting well below the belt. In fact they are without a doubt kicking each other in the nuts, and that’s really bad when both opponents are wearing steel tipped shoes.
We should all take it easy with each other with our opinions, and be careful when attacking each other over opposing views. I only say this, because how can any of us have definitive proof of anything, when both sides seem to be making things up daily about each other, and both sides come to the court of public opinion without no evidence to back their claims. Evidence apparently doesn’t matter, and both sides know the media game so well that they feel they don’t need evidence. Just say it, and be done with it. If it sticks they capitalize on it, if not they just try something different.
My friends we have talked about this a lot, and in detail at times, how we are an empire in decline…well now it sure looks that way, doesn’t it?
Just remember it is The Establishment (cruel, corrupt, murderous) vs ANY outsider trying to dismantle it. Sanders would have been best instrument. Trump is a blunt tool for the job.
Custer stood a better chance up against the Sioux over an independent thinker up against the DC establishment.
Air filled? I don’t think so. After reviewing some of the sources, there appears to me to be enough here to indict several top Obama officials, and perhaps Obama himself. Sorry, Mr. Parry, but this time, I gotta say I think you might be calling this one wrong. If it gets ignored, I regard it as irrefutable proof we no longer have a viable democracy.
Anti-war activists are still fixated on Iran, but not Brzezinski – his target is China, TWENTY times bigger than Iran, with ICBMs ready to launch, followed by Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power. Such confused activists need to focus on stopping the next war –
the final global showdown with Pakistan, China, and Russia. That means rejecting Brzezinski’s puppet candidate Obama.
::
China and Russia remain substantial threats to the US/UK Global Empire
(The Beast).
Obama played his role as did Bush, before him; played their roles.
(Puppets).
China is a large nation, but they don’t have much in the way of either ICBMs or nuclear warheads. In fact, Israel probably has more nukes than China. In my opinion one of the reasons China is reacting so vigorously to the deployment of a missile defense system in South Korea is because they see it as the first step in a whole network of the systems ringing China. The Chinese have started deploying missile subs, but the huge lead the US has in both numbers and quality of hunter-killers makes them nearly useless unless they can be protected. This is a pure guess of mine, but I suspect the takeover of the South China Sea and the construction of those artificial island bases is an effort to protect their missile subs.
If the Chinese deterrent is erased, the US has them by the plums, and they know it. I doubt if they’re going to allow this to happen.
The palace coup is on, to replace Trump by Pence
That’s a fascinating conspiracy theory at a “far out” blog. If there is a speck of truth to the tale, a lot of the current DC crazy stuff would be explained.
This has been discussed for some time now. What God-fearing GOP wingnut wouldn’t want a competent running their little nazi circus?
My previous post was an attempt to reply to Martin Bishop.
That just started with me as well. And my Firefox browser won’t even recognize the web address anymore.
Wonder what is going on now?
I was getting blocked with an accompanying expired security certificate notice on both Chrome and Internet Explorer for several hours. Frankly, I suspect the site was hacked, and I don’t mean by the Russians but by the folks who have all the secret answers to all the hidden questions in the innermost chambers of power in this country. They are just dropping hints to us that our complaints are a waste of time. (Unless Robert Parry comes out and says “his bad,” that his security certificate for the site had indeed expired.)
Okay, the malfunction has still not stopped. I just spent a half an hour typing up a response to another poster only to have the entire thing wiped and another security warning appear. This needs to be fixed!
All right, now this is just too much. My entire internet connection, not just this site, went down in the middle of this afternoon just as I was compiling a list of URL’s in an email to appraise others of the latest Wikileaks expose on the CIA hacking of every digital device on the planet. My internet connection has gone down several times in the past few days, usually when I want to discuss or post an analysis of events. I think the spooks are messing with us… or more like warning us that they control events in this country and can shut down all electronic communications in an instant if they so choose. I don’t see how Comcast benefits from all these interruptions of service. And it ain’t the Russians! Let’s see if my computer or this site goes off line again when I try to post this, as has happened before.
Okay, it works (now), therefore it must be just me. I am paranoid and crazy. Pay no attention to anything I say. The feds wouldn’t dream of using the internet to control us or stifle the free exchange of ideas. Put Barack Obama in for another Nobel Prize… and add full blown sainthood this time.
The Federal Government as described in my High School civics book wouldn’t think of doing such a thing. But the one shaped by the Texas Torturer and the Great Black Speech-maker just might consider doing something like that. It seems that the recent wikileaks release featured some pretty amazing tools available to the 1984 types. I can easily (in my paranoid and delusional state of mind) imagine one which would target visitors at Sites Known To PropOrNot to be insufficiently warmongering true patriots and possibly cause those visitors a “little extra trouble”.
Realist chill !!!!, you’re preaching to the choir anyway. None of us are giving away any secrets here. That is treason. Not even WikiLeaks. If it ( Information false or true, planted or researched) is in the Public Domain (On the Internet) it is fair game. Don’t sweat it until you are actually talking to agents that are smiling in your face and appear to like you, then you know it’s getting serious.
ALWAYS ALWAYS do frequent copies (CTRL+C or whatever iOS equivalent) of anything you are typing into a comment form!
“MY” POV, rightly or wrongly, is that Virtually ALL, Nearly EVERY, politician in DC – & elsewhere – is Criminally CORRUPT; but, the U$A’s current “president” – so-called – is Both CORRUPT “&” Mentally DERANGED, poised & bordering-on, IF Not Across, the defining/dividing-line of INSANITY !?!?!
The Trumpet, self-compelled, it seems, revels in “blowing his Own horn”, sounding his reveille to Arise in Unity (his POV) & be politically “armed” Against THE Opposition (his POV). The Trumpet’s sour notes, however, flat & off-key, Do Not regale his listeners, but reviles them, instead. Bleeding ears need gentle melodies & soft tunes, Not a harsh, blaring cacophony of Meaningless Noise!
Given the circumstances & conditions, the Reality, that exists in N Korea, & HERE, THIS Is Not the Time to be “Playing Chicken” w/ That Nation !!! Congress CANNOT Impeach Kim Jong Un, but it CAN, & it Should Impeach the Trumpet !! Congress Should take that Urgent-Step BEFORE the Trumpet toot-toot-tweets This nation into Another WAR, Very Possibly a NUCLEAR WAR !?!?! IF This Congress FAILS to Do-Their-DUTY, IF They Do-Not Impeach the Trumpet, & IF “our” young men & women Are Forced into an Avoidable WAR – saying “OOPS” Won’t be Enough !!!!! FACE the “FACTS”, & DO YOUR DUTY, YOUR “JOB”, YOUR CALLING !!!
Looking at problems nowadays – and for a long time past – how can anyone avoid realizing that the source of the problems isn’t the Democrats or the Republicans — the source is the Democrats AND the Republicans? Two wings of the corporate party…
Not as much the wings as the body and beating heart to which those wings are attached. What is that body and beating heart? Carroll Quigley pointed a finger at it.
Security certificate madness here: To me a serious consideration with this issue is the damage to Donald’s plausibility with his action here, while at the same time I hope it leads on to the supreme court and we will see if even a shred of integrity remains in the governing system. Donald’s plausibility issue stems directly from his behavior in bleating and apologizing and being out of his depth, I mean what foreign leader would think about serious discussion with him. Think of the contrast he presented in the campaign, tough and humorous. The other day he rolled over like a doggie getting his belly rubbed with his address to Congress. This means his party will want to replace him.
The real threat to the thoroughly corrupt and criminal Establishment was Bernie. They made sure he got nowhere near the White House. Trump was the “lesser evil” outsider which they are now in the process of disposing of.
Related articles of interest:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/03/04/deep-state-20
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/03/05/deep-state-vs-president-trump
I like the term “Deep State.” It’s so very apt.
As a Sanders supporter and someone who has been active in Democratic politics
in the past, it seems to me that the Dems are as corrupt as the Republicans when
it comes to messing with elections. Save us from HAVA and help us return to
auditable (paper trail) elections. How is it that the “greatest country in the world”
can’t seem to count ballots or provide enough voting stations (forget the machines)
for their electorate. Long lines are simply not acceptable.
your security certificate has expired…..
Site is getting an “expired certificate” error.
The good news is that the MSM can no longer criticize Robert Parry for exposing political manipulations, the MSM having proven their complete disregard of evidence in the most serious accusations in generations. It is wonderful that the mass media and secret agencies are exposed as liars, to any rational person.
Of course most are not rational. Many Dems are citing the NYT as the bible just to avoid admitting that they lost because the nation does not want endless wars for Israel in exchange for transgender bathrooms and longer maternity leaves, and because the DNC is completely corrupted by Israel/banks/KSA/MIC/WallSt. The Dems are an agent of foreign powers, racists, and oligarchy, and that is the story they must conceal by shouting lies about Russia.
The Dems have become the most toxic influence in the country, even worse than the Reps who have always admitted being infantile demagogic opportunists sold out to Israel/banks/KSA/MIC/WallSt. The Dems are the real barrier between the people and the restoration of democracy.
Dump the Dems!
Thank you Robert Parry for your clear and concise reporting on this ongoing circus. Plus it keeps me honest, because frankly, I’m getting a big laugh out of the whole thing. I love how the true colors of the Damnacrats are being waved around like petticoats, BY the Damnacrats and they don’t even know how the shit and piss are showing on this unwashed stuff. Plus it makes T-rump apoplectic which at his age is hy-larious–especially if his Doc is that idiot they presented in the campaign. It’s like watching nerds fight.
But you remind me that it’s dangerous to have kangaroo “justice” no matter how funny it is, and you GIVE EVIDENCE of why. Thank you for that.
Actually Trump is correct. The NYTimes confirmed it in an article 1/19/2017:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html?_r=0
Now of course since this is based on leaks from who knows which “intelligence” agencies, as usual there is no proof. But if the NYT – the newspaper of record – wrote it I believe it. Even if they totally deny the same on March 5, 2017. Liars need to keep their lies straight otherwise they lose credibility.
BTW in case the NYT has now deleted their 1/19/2017 story I have retained a text copy of it from their website.
Be it noted that the NYT report of 1/19/2017 clearly states that “some” reports were forwarded to the White House. Mr Trump’s allegations are not in the least far-fetched or even remotely unlikely. Consider that Obama had Angela Merkel’s telephone tapped…….what else would he not do?
I’d like to suggest that Mr. Parry add the Zero Hedge site to his list of those sites he skims over a cup of coffee. So far as I can tell, they’ll publish just about anything, be it total nonsense to sober-as-a-judge reality. A particular link from March 5 is already on screen 4, meaning they’re a prolific bunch too.
Former Bush AG Confirms “Trump Probably Right About Surveillance”
Because of Trump’s habit of going off half-cocked, his accusation that Obama “ordered” it is surely in doubt, at least in legal terms. And “legal terms” are what a lot of this boils down to. I’m no good at deciphering lawyer talk, but they are trained to give distinct impressions about things without really saying them right out loud.
Consider the old classroom trick to demonstrate the importance of “emphasis” while speaking.
I didn’t say he stole money. (Maybe somebody else did)
I didn’t say he stole money. (I never said such a thing)
I didn’t say he stole money. (I didn’t explicitly state it)
I didn’t say he stole money. (I didn’t identify him as the theif)
I didn’t say he stole money. (I didn’t explain how he got his money)
I didn’t say he stole money. (It wasn’t money I said he stole)
Consider as well that we’re dealing with a network of Secret Judges and Courts interpreting Secret Law. Finding out what happened in that regard is impossible for outsiders, and perhaps for investigators as well. I don’t know how many Intelligence Agencies the US has, but a flat denial by the NSA or CIA or FBI means nothing at all. It might be some itty bitty bunch of spooks.
Finally, I’d be mighty surprised if major communication trunk lines aren’t deliberately fixed up so a part of them touches within one of the Five Eyes nations. Canada, Britain, Australia, or New Zealand could helpfully provide all the information desired without a single American’s fingerprints being on anything.
Given the nature of the US Surveillance State, I’d be shocked to learn any major sites within the US haven’t been totally compromised with telephone spy programs, paid informers, and even hidden hard-wired video/audio devices like the TV monitors and copy machines and candy/coffee machines.
Whether Trump was informed of the situation by friendly rightwingnuts within an Agency, or by somebody who wanted his expected reaction to put on a NeoconNewpaper Headline remains a mystery.
More likely calls on the major telephone trunks, like internet paths, can be routed out of the country and back in. to create a pretext that the tapping is done by some foreign power under an agreement to allow just that, and probably even providing funds or quid pro quo, or even giving them “foreign” facilities here, or even putting their name on taps in US facilities.. They would not even necessarily use that mechanism, just pretend to have done so in case domestic taps are discovered.
Wave the flag and praise the lord and do whatever crime they please: works every time.
Just heard today the Republicans are planning to look into Trump’s allegations about Obama’s wiretapping at the same investigation on Trump alleged Russian connections. Obama’s OFA Organizing for America group, started by Michelle O in 2013, is now getting off the ground with the DNC election and reorganization, so it’s conceivable the Republicans see an opportunity to get at real evidence, if that can be done in this current insane Beltway climate which Robert Parry is talking about, a bunch of mudslinging. Josh Stern makes an important statement about Trump’s overarching incoherence, which is a good part of the reason this whole situation has gotten so out of control.
My scorecard on these issues looks slightly different than Mr. Parry’s, so please correct anything I have missed:
1) The Intelligence agencies, in the public version of their report, did not assert an assessment that the Wikileaks info was provided by Russian hacking at any stage of its transmission, while Wikileaks and Diplomat Craig Murray have asserted that they know the chain of transmission and it did not involve any Russian hacking. Moreover, Wikileaks put out a reward for info related to solving the home murder of Seth Rich of the DNC, who was killed while talking on the phone at 4 AM in his home right around the time that the leak occurred.
2) Many media outlets and govt. sources have asserted or agreed to the assertion that the US govt. was conducting surveillance on communications originating from the Trump campaign and the Trump Tower. Reaction to Trump’s tweets, by the media, and by Obama, ignored this reality to assert that Trump’s claims were completely false. Trump did not point to any specific evidence of former President Obama’s role in initiating or approving that surveillance. Many people argue that the secret FISA court and the actions of the FBI should be above suspicion, and hence the burden of proof should be on Trump to back up his voiced suspicion that the targeting was political in nature and not supported by fully legitimate national security issues. Yet Robert Parry and others have observed that Trump has been heavily targeted for political reasons by the Intel agencies including the FBI. So why, at that point, should the FBI’s conduct with the secret FISA court, which Obama would at minimum have been briefed, fall outside the realm of suspicion? Trump can help himself by speaking more precisely, even on Twitter. He should say “I’ve been politically targeted by the Intel agencies, and I’m concerned this surveillance was also politically motivated.”
I must add that if the Trump Administration were to file a complaint on the matter of an illegal wiretap through the Department of Justice his case would definitely have standing so the Supreme Court would have to hear it and this would bring the legal basis for the whole surveillance regime that is presently in place down. This whole thing is clearly unconstitutional and a violation of Trump’s and all of our 4th Amendment Rights. That is why Trump will not file an official complaint in this matter or compel the director of the NSA to collaborate his claim.. Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive..
corroborate, not collaborate. They already did that. So sorry. He definitely will not ask (Trump that is ) anyone to corroborate his account ( tweet ) that the Executive Brach of the US Government ordered that his private phone line should be bugged . That would be CRAZY. Let’s hope he’s not that far gone (He isn’t). There’s a big difference between a dart board and a masochist.
Robert Parry (and others) have reported that Seth Rich was killed NEAR his home. The Wash DC police stated that Seth Rich was the victim of robbery (despite nothing being removed from Seth Rich’s corpse), enabling DCPD to not consider the possibility that Seth Rich was assassinated.
Thank you LarcoMarco for keeping that in front of us, its most likely the real cause for this conversation.
I read the leaker of the DNC data revealing the corruption of the DNC, Seth Rich, former Sanders supporter, was murdered approximately a block from his condo with three shots in the back. DC police called it a robbery, martyr Seth Rich still had his phone and wallet when found. This is where we need a special prosecutor.
Thanks for the correction. Apparently I read this article about the phone conversation and time and false inferred he was at home: http://www.morningnewsusa.com/dnc-staffer-seth-rich-mysterious-murder-girlfriend-believes-killer-angry-23109652.html
This article reports that Jack Burkman is claiming that an anonymous US Intel source claims Russian Intel killed Rich: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4264558/GOP-lobbyist-claims-Russia-murder-Seth-Rich.html Seems very odd…why only that anonymous source if US intel believes that, only speaking to a GOP lobbyist?
Interesting also that the Wikileaks reward offer and the story/rumor has been around for a while, along with Murray’s emphatic denial that Russia is involved – and all of a sudden in the middle of this anti-Russia propaganda initiative, in Feb. 2017, we get this GOP lobbyist claiming that Russia was behind the Seth Rich murder and therefore behind the leak (but Seth Rich didn’t have time to tell anybody it is was Russia…he was just drinking in bars):
http://www.newslogue.com/debate/207/CaitlinJohnstone
USA has become government by dubious, malicious, corrupt spy leaks.
Yeah the war criminals are quite comfortable with murder. I hate weasely journalists who look the other way.
I’m not a cop..just a street guy…but this doesn’t sound like a “hit” at all. This is street action… or someone unsophisticated who had a beef. Not unusual during an ATTEMPTED THEFT, if the victim runs, the attacker fires away and then takes off. Anyone who had a hit out would have pulled the wallet/phone to make it LOOK like it was robbery.
So much for the drama…Morningnews and Daily Mail? LOL! Why is anyone reading that drivel? Oh yea…the MSM is so bad and corrupt ( double LOL )
He should say “I’ve been politically targeted by the Intel agencies, and I’m concerned this surveillance was also politically motivated.”
Oh no, this is impossible to be true. The people who targeted their political opponents with IRS audits during their reign would never, ever be eavesdropping on their opponents during the election!!!
Of course Trump was wiretapped. Every communication of everyone in the country is recorded and catalogued for later retrieval. The only control on any of it is whether someone wants to, and has the energy to click a few strokes on mouse and keyboard, and whether it will be used for private blackmail, or leaked.
People seem to have forgotten the proven Snowden revelations that Obama and Clapper were upset were revealed.
Remember all the Obama regime’s denials about total surveillance, every single one proven false?
It is plausible that the FBI did have an illegal wiretap on Trump and many of his operatives unless there was a FISA court judgement/Presidential Order that gave them permission to do this legally (?) . This would be reminiscent of Hoover bugging Nixon’s plane and having to back down when confronting the Nixon Camp because he had done an illegal act. If is was FISA approved Obama exceeded his authority and the Director of the FBI should be fired immediately or offer his resignation with an expressed desire to spend more time with his family. In my opinion Trump’s problem is not with the Democrats, they are suppose to act stupid and delay Trump’s agenda. That is all they have going for them at the moment. Trump’s real problem is that important Republican’s like the Bush family , McCain, Grahan, Cruz, Rubio and Ryan not only do not have his back they all have an axe to grind, Why Trump just doesn’t order the director of the NSA to provide the information shows either , 1) there is none or 2) there is a palace coup brewing or 3) Trump is mud wrestling with professional mud wrestlers and he can’t just say, “You’re fired” and get a ratings boost that he would like.
Jules, you and Dawn are talking about the same thing, culture is simply a term for those who sit together in the same Petri dish, that is, those who think alike, and in this case, who profit from maintaining their dominant positions. What we may be witnessing is the ungluing of the power structure that had been in accepted control for well over a century, became even more cemented because of western dominated globalization, and now is witnessing global resistance to its control. There are currently worldwide signs of that (the Philippines is one and Europe in general also) and the US has its own unique response with Trump, because of the US position as empire, which it took over from England after WWII, and which now shows clear signs of fraying as China and Eurasia are experiencing greater economic power. The US has hollowed out its people wealth for the sake of military domination. Just like Rome.
Well stated in clear simple language.
Agreed, Jessica K. Thanks.
Todd: “I understand that. But does it exist?”
Another reason for referring to MSDNC’s Sunday special as Meet the Presstitutes.”
On the Democratic side, the neanderthal, war-monger neocons need to be brought to heel, I agree, but as critical to the Republic’s survival is ticking time-bomb of the President’s failure to disclose his financial and business ties and to place them completely beyond his interests and contra while he governs, just as President Carter had to put his peanut farm into a trust. This is where the investigations must focus.
To M. Herdeck: The case of Carter and his peanut farm was easy to do because it was only peanuts. Depending how we feel about Trump or Hillary, we tend to look to attack them where they are most vulnerable, not necessarily the reasons why we dislike/hate them. Don’t disagree with your comments about business interests except let’s hope that when they find he has business interests in Russia or with Russians, it will not be used as a reason for impeachment. Unfortunately, that will be the case since the Post and Times have conditioned to believe any contact with the Russians is treason. Clever tactic to prevent what both are afraid of, détente.
To M. Herdeck: I totally agree, and until this is done “…President’s … financial and business ties and to place them completely beyond his interests and contra while he governs,” he is sitting upon the ticking time bomb of Impeachment! See, “More Pieces Of Donald Trump Russia Dossier Check Out” Rachel Maddow | MSNBC (from 7 March ’17) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5exiuko3-nQ
I wrote a long comment just a few minutes ago and it disappeared when I tried to post it… So let me recreate it as quickly as possible.
The intent of the message was to thank Robert Parry for his appearance on Democracy Now today, for standing up for sanity. His opponent, the “expert” Scott Horton, seems to believe that not only did Russia hack our elections but that Russia provided the monetary means by whichTrump was able to continue his campaign against HRC. This whole idea is news to me and I’m hoping that Mr. Parry will enlighten us, if for no other reason than that the sequel, according to Mr. Horton, will lead to Trump’s impeachment. If there were something that serious out in the field, I should think, along with all the other nonsense, that it would have already been plastered across the public space.
As for the idea that Russia hacked our elections, Noam Chomsky recently pronounced it “laughable,” i.e., “The whole world is laughing at the idea…”
Lastly, I think that the American people are sadly deprived of reliable information on what exactly the New World Order is, who is behind it and what the prognosis and long-term plans are for America and Americans if these Deep State manipulators succeed.
What’s “air-filled” about it, Robert?
A FISA warrant is provable…or not….black and white.
And then who ordered it?
It goes to the larger problem of this particular blind man and elephant.
The international powers that be, the international banking establishment, the EU bureaucrats that are hell bent on destroying Europe with sub human debris just as they are importing into the US to swamp the culture.
It is a cartel of globalists that have been on track for decades, destroying Western Civilization.
We know who they are….we just can’t mention it, can we?
The truth is dangerous to people who call themselves journalists.
This one here in the link below, has an international mandate, bought and paid for:
She speaks for the international globalist cartels, who are well represented by the skanks in Congress too who subscribe to the same ideology.
Connect the dots: Trump may be crude and unpolished but he is a threat to the power mongers.
He speaks for the people who sense they are being destroyed.
We can’t have him in charge now, can we?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFE0qAiofMQ
BTW, why isn’t Soros brought up on RICO charges, hmmm?
Dawn,
You say culture? What culture? The culture of Limbaugh, Hannity, Alex Jones, Glen Beck, Breitbart, et al, who only bitch and bitch and blame and blame the most convenient scapegoats to an audience which can’t think for itself and desperately needs someone to blame? Subhuman debris? Broken families and kids trying to escape the hell that Western neocons have brought down on their heads. Why don’t you join them and experience for yourself the living hell.
Very well said, Jules.
Er, I believe Glenn Beck has found the Baby Jesus. Scratch his name.
Here here, Jules! Dead on!
The right wing/neo fascist element has certainly made it’s presence known here at CN… several of them prominent in this thread.
The funny thing is…Robert brings up WAPO for their opinion piece how an credible independent investigation is required. BINGO! If for “Monicagate” and “Whitewater”, why not “trumpgate”? Let’s get it done and let the cards fall where they may!
Not to say that Trump himself would necessarily know anything other than providing contacts…which are pretty well known….but when there’s this amount of smoke, it’s time to investigate for fire.
Reminds me of…1983?…when the crack cocaine epidemic exploded here in the SF bay area. Rumor had it ( and I got this from some higher level dealers) that this was CIA coke coming up from Central America via LA. Was it proven fact at that time? No, but it was grounds for further research and eventually it did come out ( details might still be disputed ). Thanks for your efforts on this Robert!
So, let’s do it…investigate the whole election if needed. What do we have to fear….a petty wanna be tyrant having another twitfit?
Was thinking the same thing. Was a warrant applied for and rejected. Was a later warrant applied for and approved. For what? Did the surveillance continue beyond the goals of the warrant?
I’m pretty certain they got a court approval and it was legal. But, where are we, when a sitting President is attempting to use the Intelligence Agencies, as part of a political campaign. Nixon had to use the ‘plumbers’ because the FBI and CIA would not carry out his ‘dirty tricks’.
No warrant is needed. There are numerous ways to get around FISA.
ie: just get GCHQ to do the dirty work and then share the intelligence with US spies like NSA has been doing for years as revealed by Snowden docs.
article of interest at link below:
—————————————————————————————
The Obama Camp’s Disingenuous Denials on FISA Surveillance of Trump
by ANDREW C. MCCARTHY March 5, 2017 8:12 AM
…
Moreover, it cannot be glossed over that, at the very time it appears the Obama Justice Department was seeking to surveil Trump and/or his associates on the pretext that they were Russian agents, the Obama Justice Department was also actively undermining and ultimately closing without charges the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton despite significant evidence of felony misconduct that threatened national security.
This appears to be extraordinary, politically motivated abuse of presidential power….
[read much more at link below]
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/445504/obama-camp-disingenuous-denials-fisa-surveillance-trump
Thank you, Robert. Madness is all around us!
This is Robert Parry’s worst articles I have read so far. Maybe the Washington madness has spread a bit wider. Or maybe Robert Parry has been criticizing his “progressives” for too long.
The key problem of the article is that it equates empty babbling of the Democrats and the Deep State about Russia – Trump connection, which has been going on for at least four months now without a single piece of evidence with a Trump statement about Obama’s eavesdropping which is only about a week old. Trump still has a chance to produce some evidence for his statement, but the Democrats certainly never will. How could these two be equated fairly? Or are we going to expect and demand from Trump to always use enemy territory MSM to announce his points backed up by three folders full of evidence, as if MSM will not make fun of him no-matter what evidence he has.
It is also quite silly how it has become an established modus operandi that the Democrats blast Trump and his administration using their WMD (D for deception) MSM, whilst poor Trump has to use Twitter to make his point and then even get blamed for it.
Finally, I remember the attacks on Bill Clinton by the Republicans and the level of blaring and emotional outburst in MSM was nowhere near the current level: case in point – NBC’s Mika Brzezinski’s on air meltdown.
I read all the comments below and many commenters are making a point that Trump was right. But who is factually right is not the Parry’s main point, his main point is that both sides are making fact-free statements whilst he had to cross-check with a dozen wintnesses the Iran-Contra before publishing.
1) Trump is not a journalist, he is a President, the President can make a claim and does not have to back it up immediately with evidence; besides never did anyone hold Obama to this same standard of immediately supplying evidence that Parry is trying to apply to Trump now.
2) A statement by the President is a statement by the President no matter how it has been delivered (Twitter or smoke signals).
3) The President is also not a lawyer and he does not have to observe the legal standards, as some suggest below and so on.
To me it appears that the left keeps forgetting who is the President now and who is not!
I find these comments “preposterous.” The President should be held to a HIGHER standard as he is allegedly a leader (although that has yet to be demonstrated). Excusing him because he is not an attorney is ridiculous. Ordinary citizens who made such claims would find themselves in trouble and most are not attorneys. The fact is that while I do not know that Russia has actually done anything (especially considering the CIA’s ability to fake things as revealed by Wikileaks), I do know that Mike Flynn took a lot of money while involved in the campaign That is unethical to say the least. Trump’s behavior has been churlish and unethical. I am disgusted with both parties at this point, but I am more distressed over the intransigence of Trump supporters who are unwilling to acknowledge that the man is a liar at best and a horrible opportunist at worst.
“four months”? This red-baiting started during the election campaign, which ended four months ago.
Red-baiting started 40 years ago to cover up actual U.S. policy by both parties. It was used because it works, as we have seen. Even if people don’t believe it, it smothers out all the rest of any “news” which is the goal. Noone will talk about what is urgent and I won’t go there in this comment.
I agree with much of the comment above.
The wiretapping of Trump was disclosed in a NYT front page headline back in January.
There were two FISA requests by the Obama administration and first one failed, an event as rare as a hen’s tooth. The second worked.
What was in those requests to justify such a blow to our democracy. A Russian connection? But there is no evidence for that after all these months going back to summer, 2016, at least.
By calling attention to the wiretaps on him, President Trump has turned the conversation away from the fake story of the Russian “hacking” and turned it to Obama’s spying on Trump and other Americans. And anytime the former, the Russian “hacking” is brought up, the spying by the Obama administration is necessarily brought up. Brilliant strategy!
The agents of Empire are thrown on the defense.
ps. The following interview by Roger Stone, whatever one may think of him, is of condidersble interest. He answers the question why are the Dems, the neocons (most of whom were big Killary supporters and are now Dems), the liberalcons, Obama and the Clintons so dead set against Trump.
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/379767-obama-stone-trump-towers/
I cite this knowing full well that RT is not to be quoted, being on the Elite’s list of forbidden readings. I do so because the readers of CN are more open minded and less susceptible to intimidation than most.
“CORRECT” BUT USELESS CHATTER
Robert Parry’s article makes some interesting points.
I think it would be more interesting to find out why
so-called “liberal/progressive” lawmakers are
so passionately eager to board the anti-communist
train.
Otherwise, this is a diversion from other actions and
non-actions of the current Administration which is
not needed. Rather a discussion of the US
funding of an invasion of the sovereign state
of Syria or the provision of weapons for murder
of Palestinians by Israeli and others wiykd
be more relevant.Or a detailed analysis of
the Defense Appropriations Bill now before
the House of Representatives.
—-Peter Loeb, Boston, MA, USA
I agree
There are progressive lawmakers in DC?
Whole heartedly agree
On that note: I found a link to an article saying that NSA had the same type of surveillance on Obama himself, already in 2004 when he was a Senate candidate: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-nsa-spied-on-barack-obama-2004-russ-tice-2013-6
It seems like the way FISA/Security State works is that they collect everything, secretly look at whatever interests them, decide for whatever combination of political or investigative reasons who they want to look more at, look for other pretexts to say why, and then go back and forth with top secret FISA court until it approves – which happens >95% of the time.