""I was amazed at that and rather disappointed that the attorney general would say such a thing,” Clapper said. “The term 'spying' has all kinds of negative connotations and I have to believe he chose that term deliberately.”
But in a widely-overlooked interview on CNN on May 3, Clapper admitted that spying had occurred. When asked by Wolf Blitzer whether spying had occurred, Clapper said that “it’s not a term of art used by intelligence people“ but admitted that “I guess it meets the dictionary definition of surveillance or spying, a term I don't particularly like.”
Clapper conceded this point following a May 2 story in the New York Times that revealed that a woman who had been posing as the assistant of Stefan Halper, a Cambridge University professor who himself had worked as a Trump campaign informant on behalf of the FBI, was herself working undercover for the FBI. Going by the alias Azra Turk, this yet-unknown woman was reportedly sent to meet with Papadopoulos by one of the FBI agents who had previously spoken at Halper’s Cambridge Intelligence Seminars." Washington Examiner
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I have suggested before that Clapper and the FISA court judges are the weakest spots in the array of Russiagate conspirators.
The FISA judges are suggested to the Chief Justice by the DoJ for appointment. This occurs after close vetting for probable compliance with anything communicated by DoJ as desired outcomes in cases brought to them. After all, who knows them better than the DoJ lawyers who argue in the courts they come from?
Clapper is a weakling filled boundless ambition and handicapped by limited intelligence. He has no particular allegiance to anything or anyone except himself and will seek forgiveness for his misdeeds if pressed hard.
If Lindsay Graham needs initial targets for his very own "witchhunt," he should start with these people. pl
Sir
I don’t think Lindsey is gonna do much other than showboat. The only person who should have the motive and has the power to take action is Trump. I’m skeptical he has the wherewithal to push it through. He’ll likely delegate to Barr and who knows if Barr really wants to rock the boat.
The way the South Korean’s pronounced Clapper’s name was priceless–“Crapper”–and appropriate, too. Always broke me up.
The smoking gun; FBI conspired with HRC;
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/442592-steeles-stunning-pre-fisa-confession-informant-needed-to-air-trump-dirt#.XNIAVvr8PT0.twitter
The dictionary definition of ‘spying’:
“to watch secretly usually for hostile purposes”
I suppose the legal definition is somewhat different, otherwise this seems to be a confession, doesn’t it?
WHOA. It’s beyond interesting that just a few days ago, on April 25, 2019, the FBI chose to classify much of the memo in question, not to be declassified for TWENTY FIVE YEARS.
This seems like a Big Time CYA move. Wray is apparently fighting hard to salvage the FBI’s reputation instead of fighting to prevent corruption and ensure justice is served. Will AG Barr allow this to stand?
Also, I have to laugh that The Hill does its best to bury John Solomon’s work, first by always labeling it “opinion” and secondly by often making it relatively hard to find on its website.
Thank you walrus for the link.
See also Solomon’s follow-up (two days later) story:
“FBI’s Steele story falls apart: False intel and media contacts were flagged before FISA”
by John Solomon, The Hill, 2019-05-09