Trump’s Servergate scandal: is this impeachable?
Amidst all of the hand-wringing over reality-show character and serial groper Donald Trump’s election victory, a stunning story seems to be developing around contact between Russian officials and Trump campaign officials and/or surrogates. This morning’s WaPo reported that Russia has confirmed direct contact with the Trump campaign before the election. Could that story be related to this article that seems to have evaded the big media radar?
Two separate sources with links to the counter-intelligence community have confirmed to Heat Street that the FBI sought, and was granted, a FISA court warrant in October, giving counter-intelligence permission to examine the activities of ‘U.S. persons’ in Donald Trump’s campaign with ties to Russia.
Contrary to earlier reporting in the New York Times, which cited FBI sources as saying that the agency did not believe that the private server in Donald Trump’s Trump Tower which was connected to a Russian bank had any nefarious purpose, the FBI’s counter-intelligence arm, sources say, re-drew an earlier FISA court request around possible financial and banking offenses related to the server. The first request, which, sources say, named Trump, was denied back in June, but the second was drawn more narrowly and was granted in October after evidence was presented of a server, possibly related to the Trump campaign, and its alleged links to two banks; SVB Bank and Russia’s Alfa Bank. While the Times story speaks of metadata, sources suggest that a FISA warrant was granted to look at the full content of emails and other related documents that may concern US persons.
The FBI agents who talked to the New York Times, and rubbished the ground-breaking stories of Slate ( Franklin Foer) and Mother Jones (David Corn) may not have known about the FISA warrant, sources say, because the counter-intelligence and criminal sides of the FBI often work independently of each other employing the principle of ‘compartmentalization’. …
[I]t is thought in the intelligence community that the warrant covers any ‘US person’ connected to this investigation, and thus covers Donald Trump and at least three further men who have either formed part of his campaign or acted as his media surrogates. The warrant was sought, they say, because actionable intelligence on the matter provided by friendly foreign agencies could not properly be examined without a warrant by US intelligence as it involves ‘US Persons’ who come under the remit of the FBI and not the CIA. …
[T]he FISA warrant was allegedly granted in part because of the involvement of Vladimir Putin’s own daughters. One is married to a senior official at Gazprom, where Carter Page and Paul Manafort reportedly have holdings; another to Kirill Shamalov, a banking official.
The fact that the alleged warrant was a FISA warrant is itself significant. The court exists to grant warrants to examine cases concerned with Foreign Intelligence.
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Copyright 2016 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.
16 responses to Trump’s Servergate scandal: is this impeachable?
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mea_mark November 10th, 2016 at 10:00
I wonder, there are sanctions imposed on some of the more important people in Russia. If Trump has been secretly doing business with someone that is under sanctions he could be breaking federal law. Could that be what they are looking for?
(((John_St_John))) November 10th, 2016 at 10:08
One can only hope.
Budda November 10th, 2016 at 10:11
A Republican controlled congress won’t do it. Wimps.
mea_mark November 10th, 2016 at 10:12
If it was obvious and they didn’t, they would get voted out.
dave-dr-gonzo November 10th, 2016 at 10:20
A Republican-controlled Congress was on the verge of impeaching Nixon when he resigned.
dave-dr-gonzo November 10th, 2016 at 10:25
And I would add that it doesn’t matter. Democrats need to do everything they can to block the onerous Trump-GOP agenda, and that includes everything from parliamentary tactics to correctly painting Trump as completely corrupt. The GOP needs a big taste of what they tried to do to Bill Clinton – and even with Dems in the minority, it advances our agenda by tying theirs to corruption.
anothertoothpick November 10th, 2016 at 11:09
Do you think there is any democratic senator with enough balls to stand up against them?
Do you think nicey nicey Tim Kaine is going to go to the senate and make waves.
The republican agenda and it’s chopping block is going to be put into law. Let’s not kid ourselves thinking otherwise.
oldfart November 10th, 2016 at 11:21
Obstruct obstruct obstruct.
Hell, at this point,
Why not shut down the Government too…
Suzanne McFly November 10th, 2016 at 18:28
Payback is a b!tch and I think the republicans should see the view from the other side of all the accusations they placed on President Clinton and President Obama.
oldfart November 10th, 2016 at 11:23
That was then…
Budda November 10th, 2016 at 14:14
Point taken.
oldfart November 10th, 2016 at 10:28
What has tRump said or done that ISN’T impeachable ???
With the house of representatives and senate in republican control,
Who really thinks any of this is going somewhere ?
Mike November 10th, 2016 at 10:34
What difference does it make…??
We have a republican congress and senate that is about to plow thru the most onerous legislation this country has ever seen.
They won’t have time until after the Hillary trials….
Warman1138 November 10th, 2016 at 11:12
Ask any conservative, they know you can’t impeach a republican, only democrats.
david7134 November 10th, 2016 at 15:09
Russia is not our enemy, so what is wrong with contact with them?
amersham1046 November 10th, 2016 at 16:26
The Dems can beat this drum till mid-terms, just like the GOP did with the e-mails, them in 2 years we can see where everybody stands