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How Wiretaps Actually Work (washingtonpost.com)
David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security from 2009 to 2011, has responded to the recent accusations made by president Donald Trump. On Saturday, Trump accused former president Obama of orchestrating a "Nixon/Watergate" plot to tap the phones at his Trump Tower headquarters in the run-up to last fall's election. He writes in an opinion piece for The Washington Post: First, the U.S. government needs probable cause, signatures from government officials and advance approval from a federal court before engaging in wiretapping in the United States. There are some narrow exceptions, for things such as short-term emergencies, which are then reviewed by a judge promptly after the fact. This is not something that the president simply orders. Under the law governing foreign intelligence wiretaps, the government has to show probable cause that a "facility" is being used or about to be used by a "foreign power" -- e.g., a foreign government or an international terrorist group -- or by an "agent of a foreign power." A facility is something like a telephone number or an email address. Second, there is no requirement that the facility being wiretapped be owned, leased or listed in the name of the person who is committing the offense or is the agent of a foreign power. [...] Third, government officials, including the president, don't normally speak publicly about wiretaps. Indeed, it is in some cases a federal crime to disclose a wiretap without authorization, including not only the information obtained from the wiretap, but also the mere existence of a wiretap with an intent to obstruct it. With respect to intelligence wiretaps, there is an additional issue: They are always classified, and disclosure of classified information is also generally a crime. The president enjoys authority over classified information, of course, but at a minimum it would be highly irregular to disclose an intelligence wiretap via Twitter.
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Violent, Intolerant
You are a leftist.
Trump shoots off mouth about topic with no justification in fact. News at 11.
#IStandWithSweden
#DeleteChrome
The president enjoys authority over classified information, of course, but at a minimum it would be highly irregular to disclose an intelligence wiretap via Twitter.
And what about the cheeto POTUS is not highly irregular?
Silence is a state of mime.
The president enjoys authority over classified information, of course, but at a minimum it would be highly irregular to disclose an intelligence wiretap via Twitter.
A General Hayden explained on the Late Show the other night that the president can tweet whatever he damned well pleases - Since he's the ultimate classification authority, information just BECOMES unclassified BY being tweeted. Of course this is irregular - We've never had a president who used Twitter (or any social media) the way DJT does. This is just an irregular presidency all together.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
All this person is explaining is how it should normally function when done legally. It being done legally is not and has not been the problem.
Now I don't believe Obama went and wiretapped Donald Trump. But to claim that this is "how wiretaps work" is nothing but disinformation using the Trump accusations as a veil to pretend that nothing illegal was done to any other americans. Like the ones actually being illegally wiretapped.
Makes me think the entire story breitbart copied was planted for a reason...
As long as Trump's statements build a platform to justify his future actions, whether true or not, he is happy. It doesn't matter if illegal immigrants are actually criminals or not, it only matters that saying it provides Trump with the justification of building a gigantic wall. It doesn't matter whether Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, it only matters that saying it provides Trump with the ability to deflect conversation about Russian ties. This is how an authoritarian government works. They care less about the truth, and more about justifying their actions with a painted visage of half-truths and lies.
Anywhere other than the government (at the top of it, that is) if you put someone in a position and they do something wrong you are held accountable as well.
BS! All of it. The federal government does what it wants, when it wants and hides behind published procedure. I am so tired of all of this.
So you're trying to tell us even if Obama illegally wiretapped Trump, Trump is not allowed to tell anyone. Uhm, yeah...
www.weberseite.at
Why hasn't Trump been taken to task for issuing paranoid lunatic rants via twitter? This isn't a leak. It isn't hearsay. This isn't the testimony of a spurned ext-staffer or former business partner. This is direct from the president himself. Raw and unfiltered.
Just another episode in a month-long clusterfuck that demonstrates he is, on a fundamental level, wholly unqualified for holding office. - The fact that he's issuing public statements without council is really really really really bad.
The man is the fucking president. He has access to the button. We're lucky other world leaders aren't quite so dumb but at some point they'll stop being nice and will start exploiting out current period of obvious weakness.
We don't have time to sit him down and make him watch School House Rock before re-taking high school civics, which he obviously flunked..
The things Liberals will support in order to defend their side.
Shit, they used to be slave owners for God's sake.
...an NSL hits their desk.
I'm also pretty sure stingrays are wiretap apparatuses and those are used with broad over-reaching terms.
But no, we need to make sure the public knows that everything is above board and they're protected.
Wiretaps aren't this easy everyone!
They're also totally not built into our infrastructure. nope.
Whether or not this claim is true by Trump, making it seem like there's actually ethical oversight over wiretap warrants and that nothing is wrong with them is a disservice to all of us.
Washington Post is trash. The only thing that keeps readers going to them is the same manipulative anger inciting verbiage that used to be relegated to tabloids.
"Your side is winning!" Contrived adversarial bullshit.
So to summarize:
Trump's offices were definitely not tapped unless
a) There was some damning evidence he was doing something very bad
or
b) Multiple high-ranking people collaborated to break serious laws.
And if his offices WERE tapped Trump has now broken federal law by revealing that his offices were tapped and we have not one but two Presidents with serious crimes marring their histories.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Obviously the president is going to be recorded every single second while he's the president, by multiple parties. It would highly surprise me if this isn't actually written down and public, even.
Chapter 36 of Title 50 of the US Code *War and National Defense", Subchapter 1, Section 1802
(1) Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year if the Attorney General certifies in writing under oath that—
(A) the electronic surveillance is solely directed at—
(i) the acquisition of the contents of communications transmitted by means of communications used exclusively between or among foreign powers, as defined in section 1801(a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title; or
(ii) the acquisition of technical intelligence, other than the spoken communications of individuals, from property or premises under the open and exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in section 1801(a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title;
(B) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party; and
(C) the proposed minimization procedures with respect to such surveillance meet the definition of minimization procedures under section 1801(h) of this title; and
if the Attorney General reports such minimization procedures and any changes thereto to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at least thirty days prior to their effective date, unless the Attorney General determines immediate action is required and notifies the committees immediately of such minimization procedures and the reason for their becoming effective immediately.
Obama also didn't "order" the IRS to audit conservative organizations either. Crooks in authority often don't "order" things, they imply things, or simply create a climate and reward systems where things they want to happen happen. So, those are weasel words, attempting to obfuscate the obvious fact that the president has the power to make such things happen, tolerate them, or stop them.
I think it's pretty clear that the Obama justice department submitted applications to FISA courts for surveillance of Trump associates and that these were turned down multiple times until it eventually approved a narrow version. These applications were based on the notion that people associated with Trump might have illegal financial ties to Russia, charges that keep getting repeated to this day by Democrats, so it seems outright bizarre that Democrats would now deny any attempt at investigating those ties.
So, of course, the Obama DOJ conducted wiretapping and surveillance of Trump tower and attempted to involve Trump in it, and Obama either encouraged this or tolerated it or didn't know about it. Any of those possibilities make Obama responsible for it. That is, the wiretapping of the presidential candidate of an opposing party is such a politically important issue that Obama is personally responsible even if he was out golfing and only heard about it on TV afterwards.
Obama seemed to consider conservatives and Christians as a greater threat than radical Muslims. Just read all of the list of "possible terrorist" characteristics that leaked out during his administration and the purging of Christians from the military during his watch. Similar to Bill Clinton, he weaponized the IRS against conservatives. You are so stupid to think that Lois Learner broke the law purely under her own initiative, are you?
Obama had world leaders wiretapped. He had his enemies wiretapped. He appointed (as was his right) people to all the places where he could make sure the things he wanted got done, regardless of the legality or illegality. There are plenty of current leaks from the intelligence agencies that say Obama did have Trump wiretapped, if only by first having people associated with him wiretapped and then having the wiretap automatically expanded to the people they communicated with.
Why has nobody else mentioned that the mere existence of this story points to one undeniable fact: Donald Trump, the president of the United States of America, does not know what the powers and limitations are for the office of president.
It was already pretty probable based on his public promises and problems with executive orders. This is just one more confirmation that he thinks Barack Obama had the powers of a king and that now he has been appointed king and that the only limitation is how far he's willing to take things.
Since when has the NSA cared about the actual laws when they do their snooping?
First let me be the first to say that it never happened.
That said, the fact what is legal and/or procedure doesn't mean jack shit nowadays. If the FBI can lie, if the NSA can lie, if any other person in government can lie and all this without any consequences, there is NO reason why I should be discussing what the procedure should be.
That is just a nice mental exercise. Besides that, it is a waste of time.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Two party system has devolved and now mostly hyper-partisan loyalists are in all branches which is screwing up the balance of power. Obama wouldn't have had to order anything in writing or overtly, nor would Trump once the 'yes men' are installed. Loyalists driven by party agenda at State or Justice know what to do. Parties in power poking each other in the eye isn't really helping the average citizen. They spend the bulk of their time dealing w/ the loudest and often smallest constituent groups. Sucks for the average person that wants to be left alone for the most part.
Difference between Obama and Trump is that Trump has almost no filter so we get to hear what he is thinking near real-time.
You know, Trump, the AntiPresident reminds me of Norman Muller from the Asimov short "Franchise". Takes place in 2008 (so Asimov was only off by 8 years!) and instead of just one person selected to vote for president, current affairs make it seem like Norman -became- president...
In any case, Asimov was certainly prescient insomuch as the "future" presidential state of affairs is mind boggling.
I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
If it's anything like maple tree tapping, all you need is a spile of appropriate size for your wire.
#DeleteFacebook
Allow me to correct it:
How Wiretaps Are Supposed To Work If Everyone Follows the Laws
Many folks know this already, but the laws don't really apply to people operating at that level. They're supposed to. We're assured they do, but they don't.
They do what they want, then make up some bullshit story to justify their actions later on if they get caught and end up with a wrist slap at worst. It's RARE to see people at that level going to jail or even being held accountable for their actions.
I sincerely hope Wikileaks releases the most god-awful embarrassing revelations about what the Intelligence Community is doing under the guise of " National Security ". While most on /. already suspect the three letter agencies have their fingers in just about everything, it's nice to see it show up in the spotlight from time to time as a reminder that the World isn't nearly as nice a place as it seems to be.
Now, turn off your hatred for all things Trump for a moment and entertain the possibility that there might be some truth behind Trump's wiretapping claims. The ability to spy on everyone means our future leadership can be hand-picked because any possible opposition can be singled out and utterly destroyed simply by putting their entire life under a microscope and " leaking " information that would be useful to destroy their reputation. If the Hillary camp is to be believed, releasing damaging information at the right time is quite effective isn't it ?
If that doesn't work, mis-information is equally devastating in this day and age. We don't need proof, just make some shit up and, if it's juicy enough, the media jumps all over it like a Republican on a Tax Cut ( or to be fair, like a Democrat on a Tax Increase ). Retractions later on are irrelevant if the time window is narrow enough. ( Like an election ) The damage is already done.
Taking that a step further: Would you like the Trump ( or any ) administration to have the ability to hand-pick their successor by utilizing tools / agencies designed to Spy on foreign powers ? Tools that are unavailable to any potential opposition which puts them at a tremendous disadvantage. Better yet, would you like the CIA, NSA, $TLA to pick your leadership FOR you ?
I doubt it.
Gimme a break buddy. We know from NSA whistleblowers that the federal government is sweeping up every single piece of digital or voice communication that we generate. Warrants? Probable cause? Judicial oversight? LMAO Even if they bother to get a FISA warrant, it's issued by a secret court that basically rubber stamps any request that the federales put in front of them. Or the feds just directly issue a "National Security Letter" with no court approval to get the information they want without the target knowing about it.
I'm skeptical of the claim that President Obama specifically ordered government employees to 'bug' Trump's communications, but I'm sure that the feds were monitoring those communications just like they monitor everything else.
WaPo == "Fake News"
We all already know that EVERYTHING is monitored and recorded so the whole idea that it would be some big process to "wiretap him" is ridiculous. All that would be needed would be to look at what they had already recorded.
(Doesn't mean that he did but it does mean it would be impossible to tell...)
Arguments that the White House couldn't order tapping is deception. Justice Requests A tap then the FISA court reviews. If there is sufficient justification, it orders the tap, so technically, all FISA taps originate with court, not the administration. The WH denial Is spin and deception. Obviously WH can consult with justice about whether and how to submit the FISA request.
Further, Fisa is not a criminal tool, it is a national security tool, so standards for granting the tap are much lower than for a criminal investigation. Originally, the FBI requested a criminal investigation of trump, but the investigation terminated as there was no evidence. Then justice requested a Fisa tap, naming trump in the request. The court denied the request only the 13th time a request has been denied since Fisa was set up in the late 70s. Justice made a second Fisa request not naming trump which was granted, but no evidence was found, but the tapping continued anyway. All this was reported by the New York Times.
Finally, I would trust any official in the Obama justice or intel communities. They trotted out James clapper (director of national intelligence under Obama) to all the talk shows on Sunday where he denied any Fisa taps on trump occurred. In 2013 he perjured himself in front of congress claiming no warrant less wiretapping occurred of Americans- then Snowden occurred and made a list of him.
According to reports, NSA is part of justice dept. and spies on everyone without requiring any kind of warrant.
Search on google.
From the James Clapper school of "We would NEVER do such a thing! It wouldn't be legal!!"
Isn't it fun, watching all the people who were out in the streets over the NSA's bulk domestic surveillance, suddenly reassuring us that there's all sorts of oversight over wiretaps?
Isn't it fun, watching all the people who cheered Snowden on, suddenly up in arms about "irregular" declassification of information by the president?
Slashdot - News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters, in ISO-8859-1 Has just realised that beta makes this signature redundant
Per terrorist combatant, Christians still have a higher kill ratio on American soil than Muslims.
But I suspect that if the surveillance was conducted against Trump, it was neither legal nor justified from a legal stance.
Charter Member of The Committee Group For The Elimination And Eradication Of Repetitive Redundancy
Sharia Blue can't stop wrecking themselves it seems.
MAGA
The problem here is we don't have all the facts and we will NEVER know if or when we do have all the facts.
There is a practice called Plausible deniability, which basically means that for some activities there is no direct order from the authority to do it, it's just understood (rightly or wrongly) it should be done. This is what tripped Nixon up, because those stupid tapes showed that he was attempting to maintain the ability to deny he had anything to do with Watergate. Even if we had that 18 min and 20 seconds of audio that sunk him and it didn't incriminate him, there would *still* be the question, did he not really know and approve? Was there an unrecorded conversation, wink or nod? For Nixon, it didn't mater.
So we need to break this down into at least two parts... 1. Was there actually a wire tap? 2. Who ordered it and why?
1. Yes. It seems obvious to me that it's very likely there WAS an wire tap in place if not on Trump, on people very close to him.. It was reported weeks ago and not denied then. Trump then tweets about it, so based on wide agreement from all sides, it sure seems some kind of wire tapping was going on...
2. Nobody knows yet... Nobody has yet owned up to the reason the wiretapping took place. Trump is insinuating that it was politically motivated and came from Obama. I'm sure Obama's denial of this means he didn't directly order this though formal channels (I believe him in that way) but this *could* be simply how it was arranged (Plausible deniability) and some Obama loyalist figured it was a good idea and did it on their own. It's hard to know...
Personally, I want to know WHY the FISA courts issued the warrant. What was the reason and who was asking? I also want to know how the information is flowing from the FISA warrant into the public domain? Until we know that, I don't see where we shouldn't take Obama at his word.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
What ever you call the call meta data capture where they know the source and destination of call. That was done. That was easy, look at your long distance bill. The carriers just forward the call connect info to the 3 letter agencies. They might not know what you talked about, but they do know who you called.
Remember 5 years ago, when you were chanting, with just as little evidence, that the NSA was wiretapping everyone in the country? Funny how you change your tune when you've been told to hate the incumbent.
It would also be highly irregular for the total proof of the CIA's undeniable corruption and intent to destroy the United States to be revealed... via a tweet and a torrent. But such are the times, so little are your heroes valued, and so minor is the authority you appeal to again and again. You'll have to become smart for reals now. Word is that 20-40% of the living room personalities you see in the MSM are going to commit suicide or flee the country when Trump unleashes the hounds on the pedophiles. Almost all of the CIA will be hunted down to the man in alleyways by John Q. Public when "Vaults 8 and 9" or "the other 99% of Vault 7" are released. The past four presidents are all going down as one. Stop defending any of them or you'll look like a moron in 2 years. All of the lashing out about Russia is lying and foot-dragging to prevent this Day of the Rope. Get ready for it, nothing can stop it, and if you accuse Trump of being a dictator your fellow Americans won't care.
Andrew McCarthy at national review has a very good discussion of this. Well worth reading.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/445588/james-clapper-trump-statements-reveal-omission
I don't care where you fall on the political spectrum, it needs to be admitted that there are some serious problems affecting Sweden right now.
For example, just look at this list of recent grenade attacks in Sweden.
Sweden's population is only about 10 million people yet they've been suffering from grenade attacks almost every other week for several years now.
That's extraordinarily abnormal, especially for what was once one of the most advanced and peaceful nations on Earth.
It has been particularly bad in Malmö, a city where over 40% of the population are foreigners or not descended from traditional Swedes.
Regardless of your feelings for President Trump, it cannot be denied that he is right about the major problems affecting Sweden today.
Failed immigration policies have resulted in far too many violent criminals from some of the worst areas in the world ending up in Sweden, and they are quickly destroying what was once one of the top nations. The United States should learn a lesson from Sweden.
The US Congress can determine a tweet is a crime and remove the President. Some possibilities include personal enrichment, call to violence, etc. This is a difficult tool to use, but is there as an ultimate power check.
As I understand it, the president has broad powers to declassify information. President Trump can talk about basically anything (via Twitter or whatever) including if he, or somebody in his building, is having their communications monitored by police or intelligence legally.
The byproduct of this is that he could be inadvertently publicizing any classified operations leaving them open to questioning by the legislative branch or government or the media. So, nobody is trying to tell you that even if President Obama illegally (or otherwise) wiretapped President Trump, President Trump is not allowed to tell anyone.
The exact opposite is true.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
about half of the of FreeBSD Usenet can connect 7o maintained that too so that you don't and/or distribute
Lying is impeachable during testimony, but not general tweeting.
The next best defense is an observant media. But Trimp supportors turn the tables and accuse the media of lying.
There is less than zero chance that the President (Obama) didn't know about or sign off on this surveillance. The idea that a sitting President investigating his opponent would be done by lower level people without his knowledge is preposterous. Of course his administration (and he) knew. The question is: was the surveillance legitimate? Or was it done for political purposes?
Unless Trump really is an agent of the FSB and Russians, it's looking more and more like it's the 2nd option. And that should scare everyone no matter what party you are for. This looks like Lois Lerner pt 2 but since it's all classified behind the bureaucracy, there is no Lois to blame. Not yet, anyway.....
The only way this works out well for the previous administration is if Donald and his lackeys really are agents or really were in collusion with the Russians to throw the election. Thus far, no evidence has been presented and even James Clapper says there is nothing there. So why is this Russian thing still in the news? Politics. Which begs the question: was this investigation/wiretapping done for political reasons? If so, Obama and his admin have some explaining to do.
David Kris admitted publicly that the government had wiretapped Trump, hope he gets arrested for that shit.
It is great to finally have a President that exposes crap going on in the government rather than does what his masters tell him.
-==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
From what I've read in the news, the wiretapping wasn't aimed at Trump but at a Russian server operating out of Trump Tower. But, yeah, let's blame Obama for that one too.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html
Trump shoots off mouth about topic with no justification in fact. News at 11.
Which is exactly the point. When he doesn't like the way the news is talking about he changes it by saying something outrageous.
Donald Trump isn't crazy. And he isn't really careless -- not about the things that matter to him. He's manipulative. His supporters understand this, and don't mind when he is factually wrong because they understand he is a bullshit artist. They just think he's their bullshit artist.
The difference between bullshit and a conventional lie is that the bullshitter doesn't lie to deceive, he lies to produce an effect. Bullshitting is often safer and more effective than lying because a lie disproven is neutralized, but disproving bullshit is a waste of time because nobody is meant to believe it.
And here's the specifics about this particular lie:
The MSM has been reporting on Trump's ties to Russia for the past 4 months, mentioning "recorded conversations" and "an ongoing investigation". All of these have mentioned that there is "no conclusive evidence yet" in the investigation. The overall spin has been that Trump is a lackey of the Russian government, we have him under surveillance, and we are slowly gathering evidence which will be conclusive.
Here's an example quote from the NYT before Trump's tweet:
American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, current and former senior American officials said.
The continuing counterintelligence investigation means that Mr. Trump will take the oath of office on Friday with his associates under investigation and after the intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government had worked to help elect him. As president, Mr. Trump will oversee those agencies and have the authority to redirect or stop at least some of these efforts.
Suddenly Trump says that he was wiretapped, and all the MSM outlets have been in complete freakout mode disavowing their previous statements.
It was glorious! The alt-right has been laughing at the lefties for the past week or so.
"David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security from 2009 to 2011" says that all the Snowden revelations are lies and we really do follow the law and do everything above board and legally. The PATRIOT act doesn't exist and there are no secret courts.
In other news, man embarrassed by Snowden leaks continues to lie about his job.
The shill quoted in TFA incorrectly assumes that TLA's have always, and always will, act within the letter and spirit of the law, and within the scope of their organizational charter.
History has amply demonstrated this not to be the case. Any assertion to the contrary is either uninformed or astroturf.
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
The president (likely through a stand-in to distance himself and provide plausible deniability) could informally tell his head of agency/bureau/administration/etc. that he suspects Donald Trump, campaigning for office, and exposed to classified information, and with suspected ties to the Russian government, is a wild card who can't handle classified information, and is suspected of leaking it, This could leak the aforementioned agency to draft a request to the FISA court, whose goings on are not made public as they are themselves considered secret. The FISA court could issue the appropriate wiretap approval and issue a national security letter "gag order" so that the intercepts can't be disclosed.
... And because of the risk to exposing FISA workings, can't directly expose how he knows, since that information itself may be classified.
And now Trump has his communications wiretapped and no one can disclose they were wiretapped.
Trump goes on to be president elect, then President of the United States; now privy to a wider information field comes to glean that his Trump Tower communications were wiretapped
I am not saying it did happen that way, just that it could happen that way.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
You damn well can't just say whatever you want, because at best it can cost people money. Worst case, it can cost people their lives.
You say that as if you think Trump actually gives a shit about costing other people money or their lives. I think Trump loves the fact that he can move markets with nothing more than a fact free tweet from the toilet.
What is the procedure for "Illegal" wire tapping? I imagine that the most important part is that NO BODY knows anything...
Sounds like a tacit admission they bugged Trump Tower all over the place. If nearly anything can be used to justify it, and knowing Pres Osama, it was a fait accompli as soon as Trump showed on the political radar.
Why is it that wiretaps still exist? Why doesn't every phone negotiate the highest possible encryption level with the other phone it is connected to? Then whoever you call you get the highest encryption supported by their phone, and wiretap is impossible.
You could have your phone warning beep if the other phone doesn't support secure connection.
Why isn't this built into just about every phone?
...
This is how it is supposed to work. But is there anything physically, mechanically standing in the way of rogue agents spying on, say, political opposition?
Is there automated logging of all actual taps that cannot be bypassed?
If not, it's all meaningless hot air.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Obama seemed to consider conservatives and Christians as a greater threat than radical Muslims.
Here in the USA they ARE a greater threat so that would be actually objectively true to most of us. Radical Muslims are rather rare here in the USA but crazy christians and paranoid delusional conservatives are a dime-a-dozen. I am FAR more likely to be murdered by a christian and/or a conservative than a muslim of any stripe. Conservatives and christians also have the ability to threaten not just my physical well being but also my civil rights thanks to their numbers, proximity and control of significant parts of our government.
I'm not worried about ISIS. I'm worried about the Tea Party and Trump and the religious right and the rest of them because they are a FAR greater threat to me and my family than any member of the islamic faith will likely ever be.
That's the legal process for a wiretap. You can bypass that and still wiretap but it would be illegal.
We have a legal immigration process too. People can bypass that and come in another path but it is illegal^W undocumented immigration.
Who's picking which laws are ok to ignore these days?
So yeah that happened. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...
If we're going to title the article "How wiretaps actually work", then you have to make at least a small head nod to the Snowden disclosures.
"Wiretaps" actually work by asking an NSA employee or contractor to take a coffee break, sit down at their station, and type in the phone number. You'll have metadata immediately, and if you tag the phone number as interesting you'll have real time intercepts from that point forward.
Assuming that Mr. Trump had contacted Russians or those suspected of being Russians then his network would already be flagged as interesting and you'd already have transcripts.
The question is "Will someone risk their career to explain this to the President in idiomatic pictographs or take the safe route and shift-delete it?"
Anyone who hasn't already assumed that everything within earshot of a microphone isn't being recorded is an idiot. It was confirmed by snowden. The entire summary of this article is a joke.
Can someone find out if the Intel ME/AMD PSP signing keys and/or the Intel/AMD microcode signing keys made it into the Vault 7 trove, and if so put pressure on Wikileaks to publish them?
Out of all the dangers for the public at this point those and the vendor specific signing keys for ARM firmware seem like the most critical to get into end-users hands, because without them we cannot be assured the software running on our systems is really keeping our own secrets.
But what do I know. I'm just some paranoid conspiracy theorist, right?
The point of all these "laws" and their attorneys is to prepare and preserve information for criminal prosecutions.
Everything else is open season.
These systems and intentions are to keep the dominator class in power. Get too big, organized or a threat and all this electronic stuff gets used to target you for other things and otherwise shut down opposition before it gets bigger.
It's quite simple to skirt FISA so this is bunk. FISA is only used for legal information gathering, not illegal information gathering.
MI5/MI6 have the same tools, shared by either the NSA or the CIA
MI5/MI6 tap Trump since they can legally do so through their own courts
MI5/MI6 share taps with the CIA as part of their standard intelligence sharing
WaPo is fake news
I see your point, I see leftists as a more dangerous religion than islam too. Just saying.
Indeed, it is in some cases a federal crime to disclose a wiretap without authorization, including not only the information obtained from the wiretap, but also the mere existence of a wiretap with an intent to obstruct it. With respect to intelligence wiretaps, there is an additional issue: They are always classified, and disclosure of classified information is also generally a crime.
Effectively, this is saying that if there was a wiretap and Trump disclosed it without authorization, he could have committed a crime.
I have wondered if there were taps, maybe it was simply on the Russians and the fact that they were talking with Trump could have been a coincidence unrelated to the election. With all the shit Russia pulls, I would kind of hope our Gov was keeping tabs on them.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
See my subject "SOROS losers": YoBama & Shillary Killary lost - you lost - accept it douchebags: UR LOSERS! Total losers...
* You, lose - it's all you can manage to do & what you do/how you roll - look @ your WELFARE TIT lives!
(Keep on LOSIN' fuckers - you make me LAUGH the more you do, lies in the media (russian hacked the power grid & Sessions is allowed to talk to them during his job shitbrain liars, 20th Century Fox fake news sites to manipulate weak minds on FakeBook etc.) & just being LOSER douchebags!)
The SPYING on the president though? Tips your hand as to your POOR WEAK character - skulking WHIMPS!
APK
P.S.=> Pitiful easily manipulated losers are EXACTLY who "their kind/your kind" go after with bribes like "student loan forgiveness", the "welfare tit" & heroin (both addictive for LOSERS like you all) - worst part is, they PLAY YOUR LOSER ASSES like fiddles & you STILL LOSE, hahahaha... apk
Are you attempting to claim that there are no "libtard snowflakes" who hate America? Those people out in the streets carrying not just pro communist slogans, but communist flags from China and the old USSR are not anti-American showflake libtards? How about the people who were so upset about the victory of Trump that they wish to ignore the US Constitution and install a President nobody wanted? How about the people that were violently protesting just just after, but all through the election demanding "free stuff"?
The amount of people in the US who have actually been convinced that Communism is better than America is quite staggering. America is not perfect, but it's still the best form of Government the world has ever seen. The people playing identity politics, lying, rioting, and demanding "free" stuff are absolutely free to renounce citizenship and leave. Hell, numerous people claimed that they would and lied about that too. The amount of people completely impervious to facts is similarly quite staggering.
President Trump may not be "the" President to restore the Constitution, but he was the only choice we had back in November. We, meaning the people who are supposed to be represented in Government are supposed to support our Politicians but also direct them. I don't see tantrums anywhere in our founding documents as a method of change.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Does the eavesdropper actually have to physically tap a copper phone line and attach a listening device for it to be legally considered a wiretap?
I'm gonna guess "no" on that one.
Or how about this: the intelligence agencies are listening to a lot of people, all the time. Completely routine and well within their operational guidelines. Let's say they're listening to the cell phones of government employee X, Y and Z because these were of some interest to the intelligence agency for whatever reason. They might even have gotten a judge to sign off on it, making it totally legit.
One day, candidate Trump calls Y on the phone to discuss spray-on tans. This is not a weird coincidence, since the spooks are actually listening to a huge number of people. One of the spooks finds it interesting that Trump likes "Kinky Bondage Orange Tan", thinks it might be embarrassing and passes it on to DNC. Someone at DNC then passes it on further upstairs.
Few months later, Trump finds out that Obama administration staffers are laughing at his spray tan of choice and accuses Obama of wiretapping him. Obama replies, "Neither I nor anyone in my administration ordered a wiretap on Trump" with a straight face.
Who is right? Was it a wiretap or no? Or is it just a matter of semantics?
"First, the U.S. government needs probable cause..." Yes, for a legal wiretap of which the recording is going to be used in court of law.
But, if all you want to do is to listen, record and then LEAK what you heard, then anything goes. Specially POLITICAL wiretaps. The
title of this piece should have been "How LEGAL wiretaps work."
Responding to the president's assertion brings up the whole issue about whether or not you should feed trolls. Mainstream wisdom is that doing it is stupid, but last year's election showed that not calling bullshit on liars can be worse.
We can all put aside our disagreement about what is the best strategy for trolling with this issue, though, because what's done is done. The troll is being fed and the media is going to spend time reporting on this issue to the expense of reporting on other presidential scandals. You can't put this genie back in the bottle, so if you don't like it, think hard about the next genie. It's too late for this one.
There is no reason to believe the wiretapping allegation. It is a lie, and it was spoken with the intent of deceiving America.
Now, all that boilerplate aside, this David Kris is clearly an alien, probably a lizard-person, his cover blown because he doesn't speak like we earthings do. Observe, with all emphasis being mine:
The fact that exceptions exist, completely disproves the previous statement that [due process] is needed. He is using "need" to signify things that lawyers say are safe to do, whereas human beings use words like that to discuss capabilities. Those are two different things. Extremely different things.
This is not a revelation to anyone here. It's basically what we all talk about here, whenever we're talking about computer/network security. With reasonably good software designs, verification that you're running what you think you're running, and responsible key exchange, people can communicate in such a way that capabilities and lawful capabilities, are essentially the same thing: the attacker simply loses, whether a judge says the attack is allowed to be performed or not.
But in real life, we eschew good software designs, we don't verify that we're running what we think we're running, and we don't want to be bothered by responsible key exchange. So there's a gap: communication isn't really secure, and privacy depends on whether or not attackers choose to attack. If they attack, they win and get to snoop. If they abstain from attacking, they don't get to snoop. And the law (rather than the user's defense) is what decides the fate of the situation.
But we all know that's not true either, and overstates the restraint practiced by attackers.
First, there are thousands of "little brothers" not one "Big Brother." Your government might be the chief threat to your privacy, but it's not the only one. There are other governments with other laws. Maybe the NSA stays its hand, but does FSB? Furthermore, governments aren't the only game in town, either. A lot of Americans think the 4th amendment is purely a limit on government power, but doesn't apply to private activity. (And then a lot of people think they're really just prohibited from using such-gotten information in court in a criminal case, but that the actual gathering of the information itself, isn't really illegal, or not "illegal" in the sense that the perpetrator risks facing criminal charges himself. Dirty Harry might have his evidence thrown out, but he's not going to prison for B&E.) So while the government is constitutionally prohibited (sort of) from wiretapping without due process, you and I are prohibited by complex statutes which have fuck-knows-how-many loopholes, and an attacker in another country has even different rules. So there
because the term 'black op' doesn't mean something like ' operation performed illegally and without court order'.
I'm sure Edward Snowden messed up his whole life because every person who was being monitored by the NSA had been run through proper court channels and no traffic was being inspected without probably cause.
I wouldn't be surprised if someone was investigating weather or not trump was in bed with the Russians before he was elected. I be kind of surprised if they weren't. Were they doing so officially? Did the president know about it or order it? Unlikely.
Still if trump has something to say now the time to bring out the evidence. Of coarse I suppose he has the cover that he may not be legally able to produce the 'classified' evidence, but if that's the case he had no business saying anything about it.
âoeTolerance applies only to persons, but never to truth. Intolerance applies only to truth, but never to persons.
Anderson "up the pooper" Cooper needs his preparation H for his hemorrhoids deviant abnormal lifestyle declared as CNN fake news swine by Presidential decree of truth is VERY FAKE news (this spin bs takes the cake) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDFl_EdqwWI// & I give their ArseHoleTechnica fellow hemorrhoid MINIONS the MASSIVE boot in the ass (where they too, LIKE IT, lmao) here on /. too the other day https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10320833&cid=53976475/
* Disgusting DEVIANT loons always get it up the ass & CNN/ArseHoleTechnica LIKE IT that way (why they always get BLASTED up the ass, it's what they WANT & NEED, ugh!).
APK
P.S.=> Let's see folks: "Russians hacked the powergrid" (wrong) - Sessions was ALLOWED to speak for foreign officials in his job role (another 'spin' lie by "StRaNgE" weirdo 'anderthon' (lol) & deviant crew) - What's next? More SKULKING WEASEL WHIMP WORSE THAN WOMEN 'spying' like the NOT MAN bitches you are? apk
but you're still right. Obama didn't order the IRS to audit conservative organizations. Period. Full Stop. No quotes around order. The IRS did it themselves because there were so many right wing political organizations filing as charities that they were low hanging fruit for agents looking to bump their enforcement numbers up. Where they being profiled? Yeah. But they were being profiled by the IRS, not Obama and because they were up to no good and everybody knew it. Sad thing is they cried a little and now they get away with it all day long.
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a Russian server operating out of Trump Tower
A Russian server operating out of Trump Tower?
You literally are unable to tell the truth ever, are you creimer? You just make shit up non-stop. I better be careful or you might threaten to shoot me again.
CIA = Cock In Ass Agency (lmao), CNN = Cock Nozzle Network complete with Up the ARSEHoleTechnica - weirdo birds of a feather FLOCK together (dirty anal birds).
* Ugh, disgusting DEVIANTS! Abnormal...
APK
P.S.=> How can you freaks LIVE with yourselves? Shit on yourselves (or each others' knobs, lol) ALL YOU LIKE but quit doing it to the rest of the USA, ok, weirdos? You're making us ALL LOOK BAD you deviant fucks... apk
See subject line
- and Trump has both of them firmly in his mouth.
Trump's accusatory statements REQUIRE JUDICIAL ACTION.
Trump specifically drew a reference to Nixon's criminal action.
Nixon did not have any legal justification, and Trump is asserting that Obama also committed a CRIMINAL ACT.
If Trump falsely accuses any American of CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR,- especially a former president - Trump should be IMPEACHED.
THIS IS AN IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE.
Trumps statements a too serious to ignore.
They deminish what is left of our most basic freedoms.
Bush or Cheney ordered em personally unilaterally all the time, remember?
the constant protests about "warrantless wiretapping"?
Or we are supposed to forget about that because it's okay now?
Let me quote the headline: Wiretapped Data used in Inquiry of Trump Aides
Someone was leaking and it was believable enough for the NYTimes to put it on the front page.
I think it's fairly unlikely that Obama had Trump wiretapped, but this argument that "wiretapping without court approval is illegal, therefore it didn't happen" is just stupid and disingenuous.
Lots of things are illegal, and people, including people in the government, do them all the time anyway.
story about how the NYT changed their headline to remove the word Wiretap.
In the story is the ORIGINAL story as NYT printed it. You can't find it anymore because that story/headline proves Trump is correct, and the NYT can't have that.
Yea, NYT isn't biased. The are literally changing previously run stories that verify Trump's claims.
How you like them apples?
Your use of the ridiculous term "leftist" and your equation of political positions with religious faith demonstrates that you are the kind of dimwitted idiot who is really fucking America up. Please stop.
He won't last a year until he ends up behind bars from the fruits of further digging into his many shady business dealings over his lifetime.
"Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.â
âoewe see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.â
~Lil Trump circa 2008.
All it comes out to is "When corrupt politicians chose NOT to subvert the law, here's how they do it."
The whole point is that they DO chose to subvert the law and they've done it repeatedly.
http://i.cubeupload.com/T6cyLu.png
Holy shit, this article reads like Chapter 1 of "Intro to State Propaganda."
Cock Nozzle Network & their UP THE ArseHoleTechnica fools that failed vs. me https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10320833&cid=53976475/
* Bottom-Line: NORMAL human beings, not deviants, are SICK of their LYING bullshit BITCH (worse) tactics & fake news + spin a CHILD can see thru easily!
(Who do those 'queeks' as I call them THINK they're fooling? Only themselves! Their NEW "normal" = Sodom & Gommorah!)
APK
P.S.=> Like Mr. Trump our GOOD president? I can't STAND the lot of them as he calls them the VERY FAKE news https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDFl_EdqwWI// & I am ON THE SIDE OF THE GOOD NORMAL PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES (not genetic aberration defectives)... apk
Right, cuz there's nothing at all sketchy about Herr Drumph...
If there's a fitting entity to the phrase "American Media, Domestic Enemy" it is the Washington Post through their defense of leftists and attacks on anyone else.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
This is how an authoritarian government worked
Obama's authoritarian manner, combined with his handler Valerie Jarrett, show exactly how an authoritarian apparatus works. Trump on the other hand is showing how dedicated the left is at defending their meal ticket.
They care less about the truth, and more about justifying their actions with a painted visage of half-truths and lies.
The only thing that gives the establishment's lies any currency is that they have the media largely under their control.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
When you open with that phrase "First, the U.S. government needs probable cause," it can only go down hill. We know for fact the US Government has been recording every single phone call since (c) 2005 without warrants
Newer example: Stingray! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Secondly, drug seizure laws: increasingly used by local law enforcement as revenue enhancement venues, exceeded $5B in 2014 (more $$ than were lost in burglary's) requires no probable cause - and you must prove otherwise.
So when the head of some 3 letter law enforcement organisation makes blatantly false statements in the face of demonstrative evidence to the contrary, this only serves to increase distrust of law enforcement.
Now that people can duplicate you voice pattern with just samples, will voice recordings become inadmissible in court?
hereditary billionaire with thin skin who has never run a legitimate business doesn't understand the functions of other people or that a president is not a king or that arbitrarily yelling at people doesn't actually equate to production or that just throwing money at most problems doesn't actually resolve anything.
News At 11.
The buck stops where? Does Obama get an affirmative-action exception to buck stopping?
If the FBI/DOJ etc. does it the president owns it.
When is a wiretap not a wiretap? When it is a listening device that is not a POTS. Ask 100 judges about what is covered under a wiretap and you'll get at least 20 different answers.
Under Obama's government that spies on every U.S. citizen, a wiretap is just a tap on a POTS. A cell phone is free game.
Remember when words actually had a clear meaning and when you didn't have to worry about the government trying to make you into a criminal? I do.
A lie used to tighten government control on nearly 20% of the economy certainly rises to the arbitrary and subjective level you propose.
> "How Wiretaps Actually Work...blah blah blah"
Everyone with more than half a brain already knows that there's a GIANT difference between what the NSA/CIA/Police/Government CLAIM they do, and what they ACTUALLY do.
So I guess that just leaves liberals and WaPo readers.
Have you forgotten that article was utter BS? Someone found a random, misconfigured marketing website set up by 3rd parties that was sending some DNS requests based on spam.
And it also appears to have involved someone wiretapping to even see the DNS requests in the first place.
It was complete and unmitigated BS that was ripped to shreds on Slashdot, so no, I don't know why you'd bring that up again.
and they were more blatant about it. That makes sense. The right wing is, has been and always will be representative of the very wealthy. It's natural they'd have more resources to start up these sorts of organizations. The right wing also desperately needs legitimization because actual science is opposed to them (and they to science). Climate Change, Trickle Down Economics, "Intelligent Design". All of these have been proven hogwash by all real scientists. Your side needs tons of fake non-profits pushing its agenda or the whole thing falls apart on top of the house of cards it was built on...
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I don't see why we should give into your definition of what's on par with Trump's claim of bugged phones, nor is it controversial that Trump was tapped before he was POTUS. This whole reaction is more about manufactured outrage and distraction from real issues.
But Obama certainly did lie (plenty of variations of "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan." despite millions of Americans seeing their plans terminated which were lies of commission), and commit extrajudicial murder (the so-called 'Terror Tuesday' meetings, as the New York Times tells us, had former President Obama personally selecting targets for assassination. Some of the people killed in these drone attacks include Americans Anwar Awlaki and his 16-year-old son. Others killed in drone attacks are overwhelmingly completely unsuspected innocents who happen to be in the vicinity of the kill zone where the bomb goes). Obama lied by omission about these drone war consequences, but he made time to crack wise about death-by-drone at one of his Correspondent's dinners wherein he quipped about threatening a boy band his daughters enjoyed with death-by-drone ("You'll never see it coming..."). Pres. Obama called the Iraq war a "dumb war" and then kept it going for his entire term (this choice helped make his the first US President to be at war his entire term in office). Oh, don't worry: Pres. Trump is down with all of these policies. Trump apparently plans to keep HMOs intact and in charge of American healthcare with his own spin away from universalizing Medicare (we're learning about the details of this now but the broad strokes are clear) despite what he told "60 Minutes" about universal healthcare. Universalizing Medicare ala HR676 would be useful, is widely approved by Americans, is something real progressives should champion (particularly now) instead of knuckling under to more HMO rule, and would (by design) make it illegal for HMOs to cover the same care covered by Medicare (America's extant single-payer system). But passing HR676 into law would also ensure these HMOs wouldn't fund Democratic and Republican Party campaigns. And on war, Pres. Trump recently had Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter killed in a drone-led campaign in which the Navy SEAL Team 6 shot her in the throat and let her bleed to death. And there's no sign the US is ever leaving Iraq. Not only are these issue far more important than someone's manufactured outrage over Trump's tweet about spying on his calls, they point out how the similarities across administrations on significant issues far outnumber and outweigh the differences between administrations. And this is no accident.
Getting back to pointing out how much manufactured outrage works to obscure more important issues: The NSA's slogan "Sniff It All, Collect It All, Know It All, Process It All, Exploit It All" covers the situation quite well. That slogan is not "Collect some of it, Process most of it, Exploit things here or there but certainly not Trump Tower-related data". So it's perfectly reasonable Trump's communications were tapped. As RT's "The Resident" pointed out (using slightly different words than the next quote) and Ted Rall astutely point out "Of course Obama tapped Trump. Snowden told us. Obama tapped everyone!". German Chancellor Angela Merkel didn't like it when it was revealed her conversations were also being spied upon. The controversy is that the US taps so much regardless of whether they're abiding by US law. That's a far more important point.
Any outrage over Trump's reaction is a pointer to how much that person wasn't paying attention during the Snowden revelations and its consequences (which are ongoing to this day).
Digital Citizen
What makes you so sure he's lying and everything he says is an outrageous lie? Did the left-wing media tell you? I watched both sides of the media coverage, and the left-wing media is the biggest liar. Try to be more objective and look at both sides instead of believing everything the media spoon feeds you.
Under the law governing foreign intelligence wiretaps, the government has to show probable cause that a "facility" is being used or about to be used by a "foreign power" -- e.g., a foreign government or an international terrorist group -- or by an "agent of a foreign power."
That's a nice spin and everything, but not really true.
In the United States, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, federal intelligence agencies can get approval for wiretaps from the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a court with secret proceedings, or in certain circumstances from the Attorney General without a court order. [[http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001805----000-.html]
Will be laughing if Obama ends up in orange jumpsuit.
Seriously, you American's are all crazy.
Who the fuck votes for someone like Trump yet alone finds enough voters to put a racist psycho like him in any form of power above being a game show host?
Craaaaaaaazy, crazy bunch.
The Trump administration is not fighting truth, but those in the media that have a lot of ability to spread convincing lies.
The media seems to have a nasty habit of believing untrue statements when it fits a political narrative, but not believing the truth when it doesn't.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
something the Obama's inspector general of the IRS admitted under oath to congress that Obama's IRS did in fact do. Look up his testimony in the congressional record (and don't claim this is untrue if you cannot even be bothered to go and read the transcript).
Several journalists at non-right-winger outlets the left always trusts ( [cough]New York Times, WaPo,[cough] ) have for months claimed all sorts of nefarious stuff was being exposed and instead of citing ANY publicly names sources they have cited transcripts of wiretaps. The General Flynn case comes to mind.
Reminder #1: General Flynn, at the time of his chat with the Russian Ambassador, was a PRIVATE CITIZEN and was in Trump Tower. Golly! If there were no taps, then were these lefty media outlets lying? If they were telling the truth, then a private US citizen was tapped and recorded and the recording was used to destroy his career.
Reminder #2: Some idiot might suggest that this was OK because it was actually the Russian who was being tapped - but this ignores federal law which requires that in any such recordings or transcripts of foreigners, any Americans incidentally recorded must have their identities and words obscured in any releease (even to other government personnel outside the intel unit doing the recording).
Oh, and I think there's a rule somewhere that says CONGRESS declares wars, and another that requires specific search warrants sworn-out under oath before a judge [see US Constitution]
In doing so he has amply earned the moniker "Dirty Donald".
Any claims based on the assumption that anything Pres. Trump says is not suspect to the highest degree are flawed and not to be considered credible.
You understand in this case the alleged tap was of a private citizen, and it is NOT illegal for the sub just of a wiretap to discuss it's mere existence.
Also, commenting on the existence of the wiretap 6 months later in no way demonstrates an "intent to obstruct" it.
General Flynn would like a chance to discuss the sanctity of intelligence wiretaps and the illegality of disclosing that information.
That the alleged wiretap was disclosed on Twitter is a meaningless distraction, and it is not "highly unusual" for the target of a wiretap to disclose/discuss it - remember, at the time of the alleged wiretap Donald Trump was a private citizen - there are no legal prohibitions about the target of an intelligence wiretap discussing their possible wiretap.
Did you actually READ the photo you posted? It does not say TRUMP was tapped nor did it mention Obama. It said his associates were tapped. The story is continued on page A16. Maybe you should hunt down a graphic about that and misrepresent it too.
And of course, they never do unauthorized ones.
Because that would be wrong. And undetectable.
Oh, I see a problem.
There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.
Even if what you say is true (and I don't agree), your standards are truly pathetic.
"Sure Trump is a liar, but the other guys lie more!!"
Sad. Until you raise your standards you'll just be another person contributing to the political dysfunction of our times.
Trump, who actually encouraged Russian hackers to perform more illegal hacking, is now crying about leaks from inside the government.
What's Good For the Goose Is Good For the Gander, Donald!
Of course the powerful always want the rules interpreted their way, to their advantage. Trump is now The Man, the very insider he campaigned against, the Beltway politician he said was corrupt, lying and a swamp dweller. He'll never admit it to himself but he's part of the System now.
Remember Rob Ford? Mayor of Toronto, issuer of bizarre statements, taker of drugs and Bro to gang members? The dude who let his personal peccadillos take over and become more important than typical civic matters?
Trump is America's Rob Ford. A person wholly unsuitable for the office they hold. Temperamentally unfit. Loose cannon.
Rob Ford is dead now, for those that want the postscript. Cancer got him, RIP. Even Ford's enemies didn't want that fate for the man. However Torontonians are grateful that he is out of office. Toronto was cast as a laughingstock because of Ford's antics and eventually even most of his supporters abandoned him.
Trump is Rob Ford.