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« on: December 09, 2019, 03:12:56 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 12-9-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Dec. 9, 2019
https://patriotpost.us/digests/67250-mid-day-digest-2019-12-09
THE FOUNDATION
“Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” —James Madison (1788)
https://patriotpost.us/fqd/67249-founders-quote-daily-2019-12-09
IN TODAY’S EDITION
Lots of questions before Michael Horowitz’s FISA report.1
The Pensacola attack has some questioning our training foreign military.2
Daily Features: More Analysis3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Opinion in Brief6, Short Cuts7, Memes8, and Cartoons9.
IN BRIEF
Pending IG Report on FISA Abuse — Beware Media Spin10
The long-anticipated report from Inspector General Michael Horowitz on abuse of FISA relating to surveilling Donald Trump’s campaign is due to be publicly released today. So, what should expectations be? The best answer is to expect a bit of a mixed bag. This is due in part to the role of IGs in general. Horowitz’s report, while concerned with exposing wrongdoing, will likely focus only on specific individuals within the FBI rather than any larger possible deep-state conspiracy. By its very nature — and by rule — Horowitz’s investigation was limited in scope to interview only current agency employees. This is why many folks are more focused on U.S. Attorney John Durham’s criminal investigation11.
However, while Horowitz’s report may not be the bombshell many conservatives have anticipated, it should provide important answers to some burning questions. For instance, what was the actual criminal allegation the FBI made against Trump campaign aide Carter Page? Did the Justice Department follow the proper procedures in applying for the FISA warrant? As has long been alleged, did the FBI’s application to the FISA court present false or misleading information12? If so, who all was directly involved in crafting the application?
Also look for answers for why the FBI’s Bruce Ohr continued to have contact with British ex-spy Christopher Steele after the FBI had terminated his role as an informant. Who set up Ohr as a go-between with Steele and FBI leadership? Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said it wasn’t him. There’s also the question as to whether the FBI used Ohr’s wife Nellie, who then worked for Hillary Clinton-hired opposition research firm Fusion GPS, to help obtain the FISA warrant.
Questions surround the timing of when the FBI actually launched its surveillance of the Trump campaign, known as Crossfire Hurricane13. Officially the FBI stated it began on July 31, 2016; however, it is now known that the FBI had already begun an investigation of the Trump campaign earlier.
Finally, the Leftmedia has for several weeks been spinning supposedly leaked information suggesting Horowitz’s report will amount to little more than a nothing-burger. Don’t expect the media to change their tune once the lengthy report is released. There should be some insight into how Durham’s criminal investigation overlaps, which will give a better picture of what he has uncovered and what crime he is pursuing.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/67247-pending-ig-report-on-fisa-abuse-beware-media-spin
The Pensacola Attack and Training Foreign Military Personnel14
Three sailors were killed and seven more wounded Friday at the Naval Air Station Pensacola when a jihadi from Saudi Arabia opened fire. The assailant was killed by responding sheriff’s deputies. Killed in the attack were Cameron Walters, Joshua Watson, and Mohammed Sameh Haitham.
“This was not a murder,” noted Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). “This was an act of terrorism.”
“FBI officials have detained nearly a dozen Saudi nationals and are searching for several others” in the wake of the attack, reports15 The Daily Wire. Authorities suspect some of the Saudi nationals of filming the attack.
Recall that military bases are “gun free” zones, as was the case at the Naval Reserve center here in Chattanooga16 as well as Fort Hood17. Walters was killed in Pensacola standing watch — unarmed — outside the classroom building where the attack occurred.
Gaetz focused on another issue: “I think it’s important for us to know a little bit about why Saudi Arabian officials are in our community.” He did acknowledge, “Training is a critical part of the mission that we engage in in NAS Pensacola. One way that we leverage that training is to ensure that our allies around the world are capable and familiar with U.S. systems, that they’re comfortable working with U.S. officers, and that we have an interoperability in our lexicon and in the way we engage in battle.”
However, he continued, “This event represents a serious failure in the vetting process and in the way in which we invite these people into our community. … I’m going to be very active in working with the Department of Defense and the Department of State to ensure that we have extreme vetting for the people that come into our country on our bases and in our communities.”
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott agrees, saying, “We need to take steps to ensure that any and all foreign nationals are scrutinized and vetted extensively before being embedded with our American men and women in uniform. There is no reason we should be providing state-of-the-art military training to people who wish us harm.”
Vetting may have been an issue, as investigations may bear out. But Mark Alexander offered a few words regarding the knee-jerk objections: “For the last 30 years, I have been in annual training forums that included foreign students at both the Naval and Air War Colleges, as well as the National Defense University. These national security forums embed a small number of senior allied military personnel with our military officers, all of whom are the best and brightest who will form the next generation of military leaders. The personal relationships bonded in these forums and academic programs between our key military people and allied personnel, particularly those in the Middle East, are incredibly valuable.” In other words, this training shouldn’t be a casualty of this particular attack, but military and DOJ investigators should indeed get to the bottom of how this radical was permitted access.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/67245-the-pensacola-attack-and-training-foreign-military-personnel
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