Artificial Apocalypse -

Trump, Russia, Mueller,
Schiff & Impeachment . . .

It comes as welcome news that A.G. Barr is determined to get to the bottom of this mess. I'm looking forward to his findings. Meanwhile, I thought we might contribute some background and context from a different angle.

Normally, I don't follow Politics very much. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican; I'm an Independent. But this situation is rooted in a Civil Rights issue.

I first heard about this situation from an anecdote reported in the news. According to my best recollection, it went something like this:

A CIA agent in their Virginia HQ was monitoring a Russian's activities on the Internet when an American suddenly appeared and began interacting with the Russian. Concerned about this pairing, the CIA employee forwarded an alert about the incident to the FBI.

This is the original version of the anecdote which has changed or evolved over time. Currently, some people are speculating that Carter Page was the American; while others are speculating that it might be George Papadopoulos. There is yet a third possibility: the American in the anecdote could be a fictive composite.

My first reaction to this anecdote was: it didn't seem very credible. But after a moment's pause, I did a double-take on it. And I thought: Wow! If this really did happen, then this CIA agent just stepped on the Third Rail of contemporary intelligence!

Let's unpack this puppy a bit: When this anecdote was first reported, it seemed strangely naked like a plucked chicken. It was very bare bones. The purpose of reporting this anecdote to the public was to justify a special FISA search warrant and/or the appointment of a special prosecutor, but on the face of it, there is nothing illegal about an American dating a Russian or socializing with a Russian or communicating with a Russian. What specific element of this situation constituted Probable Cause which would compel a special search warrant or special prosecutor?

In the 1970's, one of the most vivid highlights of the Church Committee Hearings was their robust rebuke of the CIA for engaging in surveillance on Americans. The CIA was told in no uncertain terms that they were to limit their surveillance to the foreign realm.

In the anecdote above, the CIA agent appears to have violated the Church Committee Rules, but in order to circumvent the taboo, the agent may have grabbed an FBI agent as a fig leaf and used the FBI guy as his proxy to do his dirty work for him. Is this permitted? I think not.

Also, it gives the appearance that the CIA guy may have suborned perjury from the FBI guy in a mutual agreement to leave the CIA out of the original discovery of the American connecting with the Russian, substituting the claim that it was the FBI guy who made the discovery.

 I understand that A.G. Barr is investigating whether any kind of monkey business was going on to get the special FISA search warrant. But the Special Prosecutor may be another matter.

Conclusion Follows in Part Two . . . 

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