Slashdot Mirror

Wasn't the NSA found to be acting outside of its charter by intercepting US Citizens communications, like all of them.

Of course. Since the times of Alan Turing, to intercept the bad guys' communications, you have to intercept all communications — and then sift through them. Of course, some of that can also be used for internal needs, such as to sabotage political enemies.

That is the NSA working for someone's interest, but certainly not ours.

That usage of NSA-intercepted traffic to help the entitled one was done by Obama, not by the NSA themselves.

Wherever your political preferences lie, the major difference between us and China are that we consider privacy a right and any invasion of it — scandalous and possibly criminal. In China (or even in India) these would hardly raise an eyebrow...

The "opinion piece" cites an article with the actual declassified government documents...

There are three branches to the government, and none of them were exclusive to DNC.

Not "exclusive". But certainly run by the Democrats — as is normal for when the Executive branch is headed by a Democrat, of course.

Even if you mistake DNC for the Democratic Party

Distinction without meaningful difference to the topic at hand.

it's patently false

Oh, it is quite true. It is no secret at all, that Obama's administration (ab)used its power to spy on Republicans and help the fellow Democrats. And not only was the NSA-collected data used that way, Comey's FBI was "doing its part" too.

"Patently false" my tail...

You know - the guy whose wife got almost $1 million from Hillary! cronies - while he was "investigating" Hillary!'s illegal email server.

Yes, Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI. A long-time and close Clinton ally, Terry McAuliffe, directed in total $760,00.00 to Jill McCabe's campaign for Virginia State Senate.

FBI No. 2 did not disclose wife's ties to Clinton ally, records show

Clinton Ally Aided Campaign of FBI Official’s Wife

Bureau boss McCabe under Hatch Act investigation>

Jill McCabe's campaign appears to be have been a front for receiving a monetary bribe in exchange for obstructing or delaying the Clinton server-gate investigation past the presidential election. There is unquestionable evidence that he tried sitting on it:

Justice Department investigating McCabe’s handling of Clinton email probe

McCabe, FBI Knew About More Clinton Emails Well Before Comey's Announcement in 2016.

Washington Post: IG was investigating why McCabe appeared not to act on Weiner emails

$760,00.00 is an insane amount of money to donate for a state senate seat in Virginia, vastly disproportionate to both the value of the seat to the Democrat party and to what other candidates receive. What you need to know to understand that this was actually a monetary bribe directed to her husband is that in Virginia any money which is not spent on a campaign can be kept for personal use.

Leftover campaign money can fund almost anything in Virginia

If we include the recent revelation that McCabe's signed the FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campagin, it then appears that, all together, Hillary Clinton bribed McCabe at the least to:

- Help Hillary win the election by covering up or delaying revelation of evidence against her.

- Make false charges against Trump before the FISA court and then spy on the Trump campaign.

Clinton allies in the Obama administration gained access to secret FBI intelligence on Trump using hundreds of unmasking requests.

Likewise - Devin Nunes has nothing to do with Democrats or even Obama.

The reason to bring up Obama in this context is the last President's willingness — nay eagerness — to unmask US Citizens tangled in the surveillance for political reasons. The former Administration officials remain evasive about the process and procedures — they really are to blame for the actual privacy deterioration that took place.

After all, the worry is not so much that the NSA will know, who said something. It is what the rest of the government may do, when they learn about it.

If we aren't willing to block NSA from surveilling the foreigners, we better codify how to treat the cases of US citizens getting recorded incidentally — and not simply leave it up to the Executive, who has and will continue to abuse this power himself or by delegating to low-level unelected flunkies.

Likewise - Devin Nunes has nothing to do with Democrats or even Obama.

The reason to bring up Obama in this context is the last President's willingness — nay eagerness — to unmask US Citizens tangled in the surveillance for political reasons. The former Administration officials remain evasive about the process and procedures — they really are to blame for the actual privacy deterioration that took place.

After all, the worry is not so much that the NSA will know, who said something. It is what the rest of the government may do, when they learn about it.

If we aren't willing to block NSA from surveilling the foreigners, we better codify how to treat the cases of US citizens getting recorded incidentally — and not simply leave it up to the Executive, who has and will continue to abuse this power himself or by delegating to low-level unelected flunkies.

Gee, who could have known?

What's next? Shipping off records of unmasked US citizens who were illegally collected against?

Oh, yeah...

Susan Rice and the Obama administration's unmasking files are sealed for the next 5 years

How fucking convenient

What it looks like to me is that Republican lawmakers know they have an unsuitable man in the White House

That's right, Martian thinks if you voted for Trump your vote shouldn't be counted. Democracy is only allowed if you vote Martian's way.
As for unsuitable...
You mean people like McCabe who is pursuing the administration in retaliation for a sexual harassment suit? Yep, same guy broke Hatch act, took bribes to trash the Clinton investigation, and is attacking Flynn and Trump because Flynn dared to step up on behalf of a female FBI agent.
Or do you mean CNN making up Russia Trump stories, or Van Jones on CNN ALSO saying the Russia thing is fake.

Its actually hard to find any accusation of Trump that isn't easily debunked as 100% false by the people making the claims themselves. But here you are supporting people who sexually harass women, take bribes, abuse power, and everything else. All while acting like we shouldn't be allowed to vote for who we want to.

You are a real piece of work. I'm sure your mother upstairs is proud of you!

Story explaining that the FBI investigation into Flynn is retaliation for him standing up for a female FBI agent being sexually harassed by McCabe. Don't know McCable? He is the one that took over $500,000 "donation" for his wife's campaign from the DNC for her Congressional run WHILE he was investigating Hillary's email server.

How about that?
Takes bribes from DNC. Check
Obstructs justice and finds Clinton clear (thanks bribes). Check
Sexually harasses subordinates. Check
Retaliates by abusing his power against people who helped people he sexually harassed. Check.

Glad to see you think taking bribes, harassing subordinates, and abusing power for personal revenge is ok.
You are a piece of crap like McCabe.

Do I need to go over the rest of your points? Or is obliterating your first one to this level enough?

You mean the part where he confirmed that the Obama DOJ(Lynch) directly interfered with the investigation into Hillary? Yep, much lying, much obstructing.

Yes much lying, by you right now.

Comey never confirmed interference in the Clinton investigation by anybody. What he said is that the Clinton's meeting with Lynch, the leader of the DOJ, tarnished the ability of the DOJ to credibly lead the investigation.

So Comey took it over to restore public credibility.

Claiming that he confirmed actual "direct interference" is an outrageous lie.

You mean the part where he confirmed that the Obama DOJ(Lynch) directly interfered with the investigation into Hillary? Yep, much lying, much obstructing.

"Call it a 'matter', not an investigation", hardly rises to the level of obstruction. I'm not saying it was right -- I don't think the White House should try to spin FBI investigations -- but if you equate that to ordering (however phrased) that an investigation be halted, you have no interest in truth or accuracy. Lynch never asked that the Clinton investigation be shut down, just that Comey use a different name for it. That's not remotely similar to what Trump did.

Comey also just declared under oath that the former head of the DOJ directly interfered in his investigation. On top of that Comey also said there was no investigation into Trump regarding Russia. And the actual testimony didn't say that Trump asked him to drop the Flynn investigation. He asked for it to "go away" he didn't order him to stop it. That wording is the difference, you can try and split hairs however you want but all this actually did was implicate the previous administration in subverting justice and if I was Loretta Lynch, I'd be very worried right now that a special prosecutor is going to be named.

You mean the part where he confirmed that the Obama DOJ(Lynch) directly interfered with the investigation into Hillary? Yep, much lying, much obstructing.

To bad your guy is such a crook that he makes this look like small potatoes?

You mean the part where he confirmed that the Obama DOJ(Lynch) directly interfered with the investigation into Hillary? Yep, much lying, much obstructing.

But Manning, who harmed his country to impress a boyfriend, and Snowden, who did it for some "greater good" (which never materialized), were traitors. The sooner we stop glorifying the two assholes, the sooner the healing will begin.

What about that fellow who leaked classified intel to the Kremlin just to impress his Russian pals? I guess it's as Richard Nixon liked to say, if the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.

Petraeus shared the information with a lover and a biographer — there was never even an accusation, he wanted or was prepared to overlook it being accessed by an enemy.

The hypothetical Chinese mole may well be an actual Chinese, working for his country. Assange is not an American and owes us little loyalty.

But Manning, who harmed his country to impress a boyfriend, and Snowden, who did it for some "greater good" (which never materialized), were traitors. The sooner we stop glorifying the two assholes, the sooner the healing will begin.

The secret FISA court even recognized that they were just being used. http://circa.com/politics/bara... "The normally supportive court censured administration officials, saying the failure to disclose the extent of the violations earlier amounted to an “institutional lack of candor” and that the improper searches constituted a “very serious Fourth Amendment issue,” according to a recently unsealed court document dated April 26, 2017. The admitted violations undercut one of the primary defenses that the intelligence community and Obama officials have used in recent weeks to justify their snooping into incidental NSA intercepts about Americans."

Just think of what would have happened with Hillary being elected. You'd see more things like this happening. Maybe you should be very glad that Trump was elected, instead of the other candidate that broke laws at every turn, pressured and threatened leaders of other countries to donate to her foundation. Spied on allies, and suddenly...just suddenly when she lost...the clinton global initiative shutdown, said organization took international kickbacks and offered access to government officials through "donations."

It wasn't that Clinton was terrible, that the democrats were corrupt, that they rigged their own primary, that they sank their own ship. That even with rigging at least one debate via Donna Brazile leaking questions to Clinton, that she still couldn't win. That they decided in to say "screw it" with an internal review of where it all went wrong. Then voted in someone who is even worse then Clinton as the head of the DNC. Nope, it wasn't her fault at all. And just keep digging, because the bullshit you're spouting will guarantee Trump a second term. Just like the Liberal Party of Ontario's actions will ensure that by July of next year it won't be a party at all.

The first video on this page at about 50s in corroborates Trump's statement that he was not under investigation. http://circa.com/politics/acco...

He said Trump and his top aides weren't a target. Perhaps Trump knew that if the investigation continued long enough, they would be.

The first video on this page at about 50s in corroborates Trump's statement that he was not under investigation. http://circa.com/politics/acco...

But if he realized that the 'work' was being used against their own citizens

There is nothing about that in TFA. We do know about Obama making it easier for his top staff to learn about — and inevitably leak — some such intelligence pertaining to US citizens, but it is still an awesome tech.

he would likely have burned not only his own work, but also the entire Bletchley Park complex to the ground and then shot himself after making sure the facts surrounding his actions went public.

No, I'm confident, he would've preferred the "domestic spying" — however appalling by itself — to Hitler's victory.

But if he realized that the 'work' was being used against their own citizens

There is nothing about that in TFA. We do know about Obama making it easier for his top staff to learn about — and inevitably leak — some such intelligence pertaining to US citizens, but it is still an awesome tech.

he would likely have burned not only his own work, but also the entire Bletchley Park complex to the ground and then shot himself after making sure the facts surrounding his actions went public.

No, I'm confident, he would've preferred the "domestic spying" — however appalling by itself — to Hitler's victory.