Professor Tiger wrote:It has been ALLEGED that in the waning days of the Obama administration, his IC and FBI suddenly began requesting the unmasking of an unprecedented number of US citizens identities - well into the thousands. The country deserves to know if these allegations are true, and if so, why.
I read 2200 unmasking requests in 2015, and 1900 in 2016. Wouldn't you think there'd be more in 2016, seeing as how it was mid-'16 before the Russian election meddling became known? If the NSA intercepts 150 million foreign phono convos...is 1900 unmaskings 'unprecedented'? Care to provide more context?
It has also been ALLEGED that the FISA courts approved that wholesale unmasking. It is the FISA courts job to balance legitimate national security needs with the first amendment. The country deserves to know if the FISA courts were granting the government a huge number of unmaskings, and if so, why. The FISA courts should not be kangaroo courts, simply enabling the campaign equipped with an NSA/CIA/FBI to spy on a campaign not so equipped.
After 9/11 the Bush administration was busted approving 4 million warrantless wiretaps and that's why we have the FISA courts operating as they do. Requests and all parts of the process are documented, no doubt you'll get your answers. Is it your understanding that the FISA courts are partisan and prone to favor a particular campaign?
Worst of all, it has been ALLEGED that, in the last days of the Obama presidency, his officials suddenly changed the rules governing access to unmasked information, making that information available to an extremely large number of government agencies and not just ones that are "need to know." The country deserves if that allegation is true, and if so, why.
How can that be ALLEGED? Either the rules were changed or they weren't right? Care to be more specific?
We DO know that some of that unmasked information was illegally leaked to the press for partisan advantage?
So you had the president, vice-president, and atty general saying/lying publicly that there had NEVER been ANY contacts between the campaign and Russians as late as Feb 2017. How does that figure into the concept of partisan advantage, iyo?
"OMG, this is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I AM FUCKED!"