Facing the House Intelligence Committed March 20 under oath, 6-foot-8-inch, 56-year-old FBI Director James Comey has a tall order to fill, answering yes-or-no to whether former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch asked-and-received or didn’t receive a warrant to investigate Donald Trump or members of his campaign in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] Court. Without a yes-or-no answer, Comey’s testimony will prompt a hue-and-cry for his resignation. Already vilified by the campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for reopening an investigation into her emails two weeks before the Nov. 8, 2016 election, Democrats look for Comey to redeem himself putting to rest Trump’s claims that he was “wiretapped” by the former President Barack Obama or someone in his administration. Two New York Times front-page stories Jan. 19, 20, said Trump was under surveillance.
Democrats look to Comey to say that no one from the Obama administration, including 57-year-old Loretta Lynch asked for a FISA court warrant to eavesdrop on President Donald Trump or his associates. “We are at the bottom. There is nothing at the bottom,” House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd.. Schiff pays zero attention to well-documented, carefully researched New York Times investigative front-page reports attesting to surveillance of Trump’s campaign. Schiff hopes Comey says that the FISA court record shows no attempt by the Obama administration to seek a warrant to eavesdrop on Trump or his campaign. “What the president said was just patently false, and the wrecking ball it created now has targeted into our British allies and our Germany allies,” said Schiff, showing his partisan bias.
Schiff wants Comey to vindicate Democrats that Trump lied about former President Barack Obama ordering his wiretap. Schiff repeats the Democratic Party talking points that Trump said Obama “ordered” his “wiretapping. What Trump actually said was that Obama “had his wires tapped,” leaving it to Lynch or someone else to seek a FISA Court warrant. Schiff’s well-aware that if Comey confirms the presence of a request or an actual FISA court warrant, the Obama White House would be under a scathing scandal. When Schiff talks of a “bottom,” he wants to bury the very real possibility that the Trump campaign was electronically monitored by the intel community with blessings from the Obama White House. If Comey testifies either he doesn’t know or can’t say about a FISA Court request or warrant, he’s going to be accused of stonewalling Congress.
Prior statements by Comey asking the Justice Department to refute Trump’s charge that the FBI did something illegal, doesn’t deny that Trump was under surveillance. Comey asked the Justice Department to rule the FBI did nothing illegal. But if Comey accepted a Justice Department request for a FISA Court warrant to investigate Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, it would be highly illegal, eviscerating the U.S. Constitution. No intelligence agency can legally request a FISA Court warrant for political purposes. “I hope we can put an end to this wild goose chase,” Schiff told NBC’s Chuck Todd, referring to Trump’s charge that he was under surveillance by U.S. intel agencies. Schiff doesn’t want to end investigations into Trump’s alleged ties to Russian officials. Schiff’s attempt to bury Trump’s charge of spying on his campaign shows his partisan bias.
Mainstream press coverage of Trump’s spying charges on the Obama White House show undeniable bias. “Don’t forget when I say wiretapping, those words were in quotes,” Trump told Fox New Tucker Carlson. “That really covers, because wiretapping is pretty old-fashioned stuff. But that really covers surveillance and many other things . . .” said Trump, clarifying what he meant by “wiretapping.” Trump’s referring to the New York Times Jan. 19, 20, 2016 front-page stories attesting to well-documented surveillance against the Trump campaign. Comey has a lot to lose admitting that the Obama administration sought a FISA Court warrant, whether or not they received one. Comey needs to set the record straight tomorrow confirming yes-or-no to whether or not a FISA Court warrant was sought or issued to investigate President Trump or any of his campaign team.
Schiff wants to ignore completely the New York Times investigative reports about spying on the Trump campaign. Schiff wants more than anything to continue the wild speculation about Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin. “I was surprised to see Director Clapper say that, because I don’t think you can make that claim categorically as he did,” said Schiff, referring to Clapper’s statement that there was “no evidence of collusion” between Trump and the Russians. Schiff wants a categorical end to Trump’s spying allegations but not to speculation about Trump’s alleged Russian ties. Schiff sees proof of “deception” for Trump officials talking with Russian Amb. Sergey Kislyak, a long-time Washington socialite. If the New York Times had any evidence of Trump collusion with Russia, it would have reported it on the front-page. Schiff and other Democrats can’t stand that stubborn fact.
