The Trump-haters say his campaign worked with the Russians to derail Hillary Clinton's chances to be president.
That accusation has angered the president and tied up his administration with unwanted controversy.
Showing his annoyance, the president Tweeted over the weekend that he believes Barack Obama ordered phone taps at the Trump Tower.
So now all hell is breaking lose.
Let's look at the facts.
Unfortunately, there are only two facts in this whole swamp of accusations.
Only two.
First, the calls between General Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador. They were tapped by somebody.
And a portion of the conversations was given to the Washington Post.
So who tapped the call?
We don't know.
The second fact is that President Obama allowed Attorney General Loretta Lynch to change the way U.S. intelligence agencies share unconfirmed data.
That happened in January, just a few days before Mr. Obama left office.
It used to be the intelligence agencies would guard their secrets.
Now, the NSA can give them to other agencies - even if the intelligence is not confirmed.
The result? Leaks sprouted all over the place, leaks that were damaging to the Trump administration.
So why did President Obama change the intel standards?
We don't know.
But Donald Trump apparently believes it was to sabotage his incoming administration.
That's it. That's the only factual information we have.
All the rest is blather, opinion, propaganda, speculation.
Now the entire tawdry mess is based on the Russian hacking, which bedeviled the Clinton campaign.
As stated, some anti-Trump people accuse the president and his acolytes of working with the Russians.
But yesterday, the former director of national intelligence under President Obama said he found no evidence of that.
CHUCK TODD, MEET THE PRESS MODERATOR: "Does intelligence exist that can definitively answer the following question, whether there were improper contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials?"
JAMES CLAPPER, FMR. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: "We did not include any evidence in our report, and I say, ‘our,’ that's N.S.A., F.B.I. and C.I.A., with my office, the director of national intelligence, that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report."
That report was issued on January 6th.
Also, a senator investigating the Russian deal said the same thing.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS SUNDAY: "I know you've been briefed by FBI Director Comey and other members of the intelligence committee and investigative committee, you've seen no evidence so far of collusion?"
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): "Thus far, I have not. Now, we are still in a relatively early stages of our inquiry and it will be thorough and wide-ranging and follow the facts wherever they take us."
So any fair-minded person has to acknowledge there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, at least at this point.
Now on to the tapping. In order for that to legally happen, a judge would have to issue a FISA warrant.
CHUCK TODD, MEET THE PRESS MODERATOR: “If the F.B.I., for instance, had a FISA court order of some sort for a surveillance, would that be information you would know or not know?”
JAMES CLAPPER: “Yes.”
CHUCK TODD: “You would be told this?”
JAMES CLAPPER: “I would know that.”
CHUCK TODD: “If there was a FISA court order-“
JAMES CLAPPER: “Yes.”
CHUCK TODD: “--on something like this.”
JAMES CLAPPER: “Something like this, absolutely.”
CHUCK TODD: “And at this point, you can't confirm or deny whether that exists?”
JAMES CLAPPER: “I can deny it.”
President Trump has asked for an investigation into the alleged tapping. We assume that will happen but this whole thing is terrible for the country.
America's credibility is being damaged all over the world, and the federal government's ability to even operate is being impeded.
So, for the good of the country, perhaps we should tamp down the madness.
Let Congress do its job and investigate, okay?
And that’s the memo. |
