FISA Report: FBI Continues to Violate FISA and Improperly Sought Information on Senator and Judge

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[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Notably, in his recent testimony, FBI Director Christopher Wray tried to blame his predecessor James Comey for the abuses, a claim that was recently undermined in the targeting of Republican staff members. Now, it is equally clear that the abuses have continued on his watch.

FBI employees searched foreign surveillance data for the last names of a U.S. senator and a state senator. It also searched the Social Security number of a state judge who alleged civil rights violations by a municipal chief of police, according to the opinion by the chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The problem is that Wray has continued to refuse to answer the most basic questions about the FISA abuses, including a baffling denial that he even knew what “parallel construction” means in his testimony before this Committee this week.

“Parallel construction” has long been a complaint of civil libertarians and defense counsel. It avoids “poisonous tree” problems by replanting the seeds of the evidence to claim independent acquisition. It hides the true origins of evidence from courts and in some cases, Congress. While defendants are supposed to receive notice of Section 702 evidence, parallel construction can be used to evade that obligation.

[–]MeganDelacroix🤡🌎 detainee 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

a baffling denial that he even knew what “parallel construction” means

In any testimony before Congress by agency heads, there is at least one admission that should result in immediate dismissal for cause.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Also for lying to Congress. It's not the least bit believable that he doesn't know what parallel construction means, I know what it means and I'm a damned civilian. But this is par for the course for these lawless, craven bastards; it's like politicians saying after the fact that they didn't know WMD was a total fabrication, or those now claiming they didn't realize our entire public health system lied about masks and vaccines and everything else. If there were any truth to these claims (which there isn't), they would automatically qualify for the Losers' Club where they should permanently retire and hang out with their like-minded friends and former colleagues and spare the public any more of their bloviating.

[–]MeganDelacroix🤡🌎 detainee 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

"Craven" is the perfect word for them. I thought I was jaded but even I was astonished when I realized they weren't going to prosecute Brennan for literally spying on Congress. All the things you mentioned are of course awful but at least they're comprehensible in the context of an evil oligarchy manipulating and exploiting the people for its own purposes.

Congress somehow manages to be worse than evil. We can't even count on their self-interest.

 

edit: interesting etymology.

 

craven (adj.)

c. 1200, cravant "defeated, vanquished, overcome, conquered," apparently adapted from Old French cravent "defeated, beaten," past participle of cravanter "to strike down, to fall down," from Latin crepare "to crack, creak" (see raven).

The sense, apparently affected by crave, shifted from "defeated" to "cowardly" (c. 1400) perhaps via intermediary sense of "confess oneself defeated." As a noun, "an acknowledged coward," 1580s.

 

Also appropriate:

 

recreant (adj.)

c. 1300, recreaunt, "confessing oneself to be overcome or vanquished, admitting defeat, surrendering, ready to yield in a fight," also a word of surrender, from Old French recreant "defeated, vanquished, yielding, giving; weak, exhausted; cowardly" (also used as a noun), present-participle adjective from recroire "to yield in a trial by combat, surrender allegiance," literally "believe again;" perhaps on notion of "take back one's pledge, yield one's cause," from re- "again, back" (see re-) + croire "entrust, believe," from Latin credere (see credo).

Non sufficit ... nisi dicat illud verbum odiosum, quod recreantus sit. [Bracton, "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliæ," c. 1260]

The extended meaning "cowardly" in English is from late 14c. The meaning "unfaithful to duty" is from 1640s. Middle English also had a verb recreien "to be cowardly, yield in battle" (mid-14c.).

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

recreant

Also miscreant:

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

noun One who behaves badly, often by breaking rules of conduct or the law.

from The Century Dictionary:

noun A vile wretch; a scoundrel; a detestable villain.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

adjective Destitute of conscience; unscrupulous; villainous; base; depraved.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

adjective Lacking in conscience or moral principles; unscrupulous.

All from this new-to-me definition aggregator, for lack of a better term.

[–]RandomCollection[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Basically this means that the FBI can spy and has no restrictions.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

And they've been doing this at least since Bush II, when the Patriot Act was ushered in and rubber-stamped by our useless legislators.

[–]RandomCollection[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

https://archive.is/IfJlf

I know some people don't like Turley because he is a Republican, but the point remains - either civil liberties mean something or they don't. Right now with the FBI and their actions, they don't.