Month: February 2018

A Murder of Manatees by Larry Correia – A Science Fiction Book Review

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As noted earlier, Larry Correia has published a second installment of his Tom Stranger stories (A Murder of Manatees: The Further Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent[Audiobook] By: Larry Correia, Adam Baldwin, Audible Studios Sold By: Audible).

I have to admit.  This is a guilty pleasure.  The stories, such as they are, border on the ridiculous.  The plot is just an excuse to allow Tom Stranger and his friends and enemies to interact in an adventure that resembles science fiction in the same way that the old 1960s Batman tv series resembles Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies.

But I don’t care.  It’s fun.  Correia fills his little two-hour audiobook with good natured jabs at himself, modern politics, culture and the conventions of pulp science fiction.  There’s never any doubt that Tom and his associates will provide quality, excellent customer service and that the bad guys will get their comeuppance.

And we can also be assured that Adam Baldwin will continue to find ways of voice portraying whatever ridiculous characters Larry invents, no matter whether it’s a bubble gum snapping android from the Jersey Shore or a hard-tweeting U.S. President on the battle field of the Mar-a-Lago golf course.  Having only previously known Adam Baldwin’s acting skills from Full Metal Jacket, Firefly and Chuck I wasn’t prepared for his wonderfully hammy touch to this kind of goofy material.  He absolutely makes the most of the story and its characters.

I just finished it today and I enjoyed every silly second of it.  Bravo Larry and bravo Adam.  I only wish there were more.  And what I really wish is that Hollywood would wake up and make the Monster Hunter saga into a movie series (either tv or big screen).  And I think Adam Baldwin would be a natural as Agent Franks.

But that’s a rant for another day.  Meanwhile if you like goofy tongue in cheek pulp sci-fi or you’re a fan of Larry Correia or Adam Baldwin then I highly recommend A Murder of Manatees.  You could think of plenty of worse ways to spend two hours.

Is the Alt-Lite Helping, Hurting or Neither?

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I was listening to the ZMan’s Friday Podcast today.  In one segment he raised the question whether people like Jordan Peterson helped or hurt the right-wing cause.  Peterson is a psychologist academic who is battling the politically correct behavior codes in Canada’s universities (and other areas of life).  He is a civic nationalist who does not espouse any ethnic nationalist leanings and in fact specifically rejects any white nationalism as the flip side of the identity politics on the left that he rejects.  ZMan concluded that for the most part the civic nationalists were a detriment.  This he said was because they tended to position themselves barely to the right of leftists.  And moreover, they were programmed to lose every fight.  Their only function was to register each new veer to the left with an ineffectual protest.  This response was their only function (other than being paid).

I found this interesting from a few different angles.  First off did I agree with this analysis?  Secondly was I in the same compromised position?  Was I my own enemy?!!!

I’ll address this question first.  I think the answer is no for two reasons. First and most importantly, I haven’t changed my opinions over time to keep up with the changing societal position.  My moral and social point of view hasn’t shifted to the left, over time.  If anything, it has moved to the right.  For that reason, I am safe from the charge of being a right guard of the left wing.  The question of mercenary status is easily answered by my lack of any site monetization.  Check and check.

So back to the first question, do I agree with his evaluation?  I do agree that there are lots of shills.  There seem to be a number of guys doing their act to collect pennies.  This actually doesn’t bother me.  We all have to make a living.  But what is more important is the claim that these guys are just barely staying to the right edge of the leftists and that they maintain this position by constantly shifting leftward over time.  Well, I don’t know.  Some of these guys are not so much moving left as much as they started in the center and seem to be gravitating rightward bit by bit as the Trump train rolls along.  In that case, I guess I give them the benefit of the doubt.  The folks the ZMan seems to be describing are the never-Trumpers.  This includes guys like Jonah Goldberg, Bill Kristol and Kevin Williamson.  These were folks who were willing to embrace Hillary Clinton rather than deal with Donald Trump.  To me that’s the kind of position that precludes being an actual conservative.  At least with Trump you had some chance of saving the country.  But are there any never-Trumpers in the Alt-Lite?  If anyone knows any let me know.  I’d like to look them up and see if the ZMan had this thing right or not.

So conditionally, I’m gonna say that the Alt-Lite ranges from neutral to helpful.  Some of them are moving along to a useful supportive position that reinforces the appeal of the movement to include some of the slow-moving center.  And the worst are just parasites feeding off attention in the wake of the Trump Train.  And even that isn’t such a bad thing from my point of view since I’m even enjoying my piece of that action too.  After all Trump is now the greatest show on earth and what would the circus be without the vendors selling the popcorn, the program notes and souvenirs?

What Am I Missing in the Sony E-Mount Lens Line-Up?

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A few years ago the answer to this question would have been everything. Especially for the new full-frame 7 series cameras, the line-up was woefully poor.  In the last three years Sony (and Zeiss) have really stepped up to the plate and launched a goodly selection of high end lenses for the FE (full-frame e-mount) cameras.  In fact at this point the wide angle options are pretty much complete.  For the normal range there are several excellent options including a 50mm f/1.4, an 85 f/1.4, a 100mm macro and the recently added 70 – 200 F2.8 G Master zoom.

What is left? Telephotos.  Now, Sony has added a 100-400mm zoom.  But I would say that Sony is lacking a telephoto zoom that reaches 600mm.  If I were a sports photographer I’d be looking for a 600mm F/4.  But that is a very expensive lens.  I think what would be appropriate is for someone like Sigma or Tamron to produce an e-mount version of their existing 150 – 600mm zooms.  This would provide the compromise between price and capability that a large number of amateur wildlife and sports shooters would be willing to pay for.  In fact I know that if Sony produced this lens it would probably be too expensive.  So it is a natural fit for these two third party manufacturers.

The other thing that I would like to see Sony produce is a 200mm macro. I currently use the Minolta version with an adapter but since it’s a screw-drive focus system it either has to be used as a manual focus on the LA-EA3 or with the “translucent mirror of the LA-EA4.  Both of these are compromises.  I also think the chance of Sony manufacturing this lens is zero.  So once again I think this is a good opportunity for Sigma.  They already have a long focal length macro and this would probably only require adapting it to the e-mount.  This lens probably won’t have as many buyers as a 150-600mm  zoom.  But I throw it out there because I’m greedy and annoying.

There is a rumor on Sonyalpharumors.com that Sigma is about to announce a major effort to break into the FE market. The initial offering has been guessed to be a 35mm f/1.4.  This is a lens that Sigma has done a good job on already in their Art Lens series.  Whether it would require a major modification to work on the e-mount is a question.

So if we assume Sigma is looking to get the maximum bang for their buck in the Sony ecosystem then they should go for some of the open focal lengths that they already have technology for.  In that case both the 150-600 and 200mm macro are lenses they already make and represent gaps in the Sony line-up.

If you’re listening Sigma, get busy. You make money and I get to stop complaining.  A win-win.

You’re welcome Sigma!

Replacing Adobe Lightroom Revisited

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So last time I was debating what to replace Lightroom with.  I was incensed at the idea of paying monthly for “the cloud.”  I installed Capture 1 last weekend.  So far all I can say is that after cataloguing my old photos in Capture 1 they look a lot nicer than in Lightroom.  Now maybe this is just the jpeg settings in the program but it was really striking how nice everything looks.  Other than that I can’t say much.  I don’t even know how to modify the photos yet.  But so far Capture 1 is not making me angry.  In your face Lightroom!

 

One Million B.C. – A Science Fiction Movie Review

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Turner Classic Movies is a mixed bag. They do play a lot of good old movies.  But then you have to endure Alec Baldwin or Tina Fey talking to the insufferable host, Ben Mankiewicz about movies or anything else.  Well anyway, they’ve been playing a lot of old bad sci-fi movies lately.  It’s been great.  I’ll give my thoughts on them.  This is usually a combination of nostalgia and shock.  I’ve seen most of these movies before but in some cases I haven’t seen them in over fifty years.  Neither they nor I have aged well and so the re-acquaintance is sometimes off-putting to say the least.  Both these movies and my younger self have lost a lot of respect in my current eyes.  But today’s movie is a treat because I actually never saw this epic before.  And first off do not mistake this masterpiece for the sound alike “One Million Years BC” re-make with Raquel Welch.

This is the 1940 masterpiece with those two towering thespians Lon Chaney Jr. and Victor Mature. Honestly this movie should get a special award for unbelievably bad special effects.  But special effects is just the tip of the iceberg.  The cheesiness of the sets, the really bad acting and the silliness of the plot combine to create a feast of cinematic awfulness.  I loved it.

One of my favorite scenes has Victor Mature as caveman Tumak poking a seven foot tall miniature Tyrannosaurus rex in the stomach with his poorly made spear.  The monster is so obviously a man in a cloth suit that it’s hard not to burst out laughing, and actually I did.  Only slightly less silly are the real animals like dogs, goats, cows and even elephants covered in fake hair to make them “prehistoric-looking.”  Especially funny is the armadillo with horns glued onto its head.  It has been magnified to be the size of an elephant.  But it doesn’t seem to be doing anything particularly dangerous.  But the cavemen do look really scared of it.  Equally frightening to the cavemen are magnified images of modern day reptiles.  There are tegus and rhinoceros iguanas and even a baby alligator with a fake sailfish sail glued to its back.  One interesting historical circumstance is the fact that several of the reptiles are noticeably harmed by each other in some fight scenes including one tegu that is obviously killed in a fight with the fake sailfish alligator.  Nowadays the Humane Society would have the film-makers drawn and quartered for so much as stressing out a mosquito on set.  Progress!

But where the movie really shines is the portrayal of caveman tribal dynamics. Tumak is the son of the clan leader Akhoba (played by  Lon Chaney Jr).  When Tumak accidentally attacks Akhoba for trying to steal a chunk of dino-burger.  Akhoba throws him off a cliff.  After this he wanders away and ends up being adopted by a more enlightened clan.  They’re probably from Scandinavia because they have blondes, good table manners and neutered males.  After he gets ejected from the new tribe for beating a spear maker who objected to being robbed Tumak ends up back at the old clan cave with his blonde girlfriend in tow.  Apparently she likes the bad boy type and thinks she can fix him.  While Tumak was gone Akhoba has been demoted from chief to crippled loser after being severely injured in a fight with a giant goat.  Breaking with caveman etiquette Blondie institutes women and children and crippled losers first at food distribution time.  Surprisingly, Tumak is supportive of the new arrangement.  Progress!

Well anyway there soon ensues a crisis involving a volcanic eruption and a giant iguana that ends up with both clans coming together with Tumak as the new chief. The End.

Wow. This movie must be seen by all science fiction fans.  Afterwards you’ll have a new found respect for stop action animation or even well-made monster suits.  Only recommended if you really enjoy very bad sci-fi.

Scott Miller’s Appalachian Christmas – A Country Music Review

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Christmas Music in the Middle of February?  I know, what’s up with that?  So, I’m a slacker, so sue me.

Anyway this is an album of well known and not so well known Christmas songs.  It’s completely instrumental.  Lots of fiddle and mandolin.  I’ve actually been listening to it since before Christmas and even though it seems odd, it fits the dark winter nights very well.  Highly recommended.

Have My Say

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A few years ago, I was reading the forum posts of one of the bigger photography websites.  It was one of the forums that was supposed to deal with non-photographic discussions.  So here was where people could talk about the world at large.  Anyway, the discussion turned to gun control.  I read about ten pages of comments and what I noticed was that anti-gun folks outnumbered the pro-gun contingent by about fifty to one.  And this numerical advantage was used to good effect by preventing any of the anti-gun folks from having to complete any rational discussion of even their most outlandish statements.  Whenever it looked like a pro-gun point was about to be made the anti-gun crowd dog-piled their opponent and shifted the argument to some new attack point and the whole process began again.  Finally, when in exasperation the victim lost his temper and barked back at his attackers he was labeled as rabid and hateful and his comments were deleted and he was banned from the site.

 

It bothered me.  Now, I didn’t know any of the participants from Adam.  I had read their comments before and of course I had my own preferences on their opinions based on where I agreed or disagreed with them.  But this was different.  This was basically censorship.  You were not allowed to have certain opinions.  But that wasn’t a policy of the website.  At least not a published one.  It was an unwritten one.  Basically, it was a private club.  But only the members knew it.  Every one else was there at the tolerance of the club members.  And this club was very regimented.  There was an orthodoxy about politics, religion, sexual orientation, environmental policies, climate change, gun control, race relations and especially culture.  Any variance from these orthodoxies were handled in exactly the same way.  The offender was mobbed and silenced and if necessary banned.

 

Well needless to say I went out of my way to be evicted.  I waited for a topic that I was sure would trigger the mob and knowing that it was my last hurrah I went for the gusto.  I didn’t attempt logic or even anger.  I went straight for mockery and insult.  It was glorious.  Of course, it was deleted but not until a furor arose.  Surprisingly, I was told I could return if I apologized and recanted.  Hah.

 

Anyway, that’s why I built this website.  I wanted a place where I could talk about photography and science fiction and movies that I liked and if I wanted to talk about politics I didn’t have to worry about being banned.  I could have my say.  But what I also recognized is that I should let other people have their say too.  Now I don’t mean I have to allow trolls to trash a thread or allow them to tell everyone else what they can’t say.  But it does mean that everyone doesn’t have to agree.  Some of my readers hate Donald Trump.  Okay, fine.  If you want to say why, no problem, go ahead.  By the same token, I think the Clintons are criminal grifters who also happen to be Alinskyite radicals.  So we’re probably not gonna agree on politics.  But maybe we both like Sony mirrorless cameras or classic horror movies or hiking in the southwest deserts.  So, if we can agree to disagree then we can still talk about things we both enjoy.

 

So that’s how I see this site working.  Because of my political slant I’m gonna guess that it will mostly attract people of the same general political slant.  But based on some of the poll results I’ve seen there is a significant population of folks from the left side of the aisle.  I have no problem with that.  You can even have your say.  Just don’t be jerk about it.  And that goes for our side too.  No need to be a jerk.  Keep it decent.  No dog piling.  No ad hominems.  Just opinions and no trolling.  Life’s too short.

 

There, I had my say.

Trump vs The FBI

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Dramatis Personae: President Trump (PT), Vice President Pence (VPP), First Lady Melania Trump (MT), Karen Pence (KP), TV Announcer who sounds like Don Pardo (TVAWSLDP)

 

Scene 1 – White House Oval Office; Tuesday, 4pm;

 

PT – Mike.  Mike!  PENCE!!!!  Where the hell are you Mike?

(Mike Pence rushes through door.)

VPP – Mr. President, for Pete’s sake!  I was just on the phone with Robert Mueller.  Alright, what can I do for you?

PT – Hey, take it down a notch Mike.  Remember you work for me.

VPP – Actually Mr. President, like you, I was elected by and work directly for the American people.  You can’t fire me.

PT – Hmmm, I’ll look into that.  Anyway, I was calling you to find out how that conversation with Mueller went.

VPP – Actually, it went very well.  He hasn’t got me on his list of interviewees.

PT – Well, aren’t you special Mike!  But don’t get any ideas about succession plans.  I’m going to be here and if you want to be part of the second term you’ll keep your nose clean and help me get some work done.

VPP – Naturally Mr. President.

PT – So what did he want?  I mean beside buttering you up.

VPP – He was cross-checking some statements that James Comey made against what was reported in the Congressional Committee report last week.

PT – Good.  I hope that dope Mueller finally gets off the dime and jails these criminals in the FBI and Justice Department that were spying on me.

VPP – Well, Mr. President, it’s not as easy as you make it sound.  Investigator Mueller will need to document criminal behavior and then obtain a Grand Jury indictment before a trial is possible.

PT – Oh wake up.  All he has to do is get these losers into that interrogation room.  You know the one.  The one with the old table and chairs.  The one where Sipowicz always roughed them up to get a confession back on NYPD Blue.  I always remember how he would close the blinds and take off his gun and badge and then beat them up for a while before they cracked.  Boy, that guy knew his stuff.

VPP – Oh, for the love of Mike!  Mr. President, that’s a TV cop show.  Investigator Mueller is not going to rough up James Comey to coerce a confession.  And even if he did, it’s illegal and the evidence would be thrown out of court and Mueller would be indicted for doing it.

PT – You know Mike, you’re making it very difficult for me to imagine you as President.  You don’t seem to want to win.

VPP – Mr. President, focus!  We are going to have to coordinate many facets of the Russian investigation and the FBI investigation in a measured way to avoid the type of media coverage that damages our ability to control the message.  You can’t expect us to indulge in banana-republic or fictional law enforcement tactics.  We must be sober and above reproach.

PT – Fine. Do it your way.  But I’m starting to think this whole thing is going nowhere.  I mean, why even bother to have a witch hunt if you don’t get to burn some witches?

VPP – But, oh never mind.  Mr. President, I’ve got to go.

PT – Whatever.

(Mike Pence leaves the scene.  President Trump sits down at the Oval Office desk and starts to type something on his computer.  Melania Trump enters the room.)

MT – Schmoopy, what did you say to Mike.  He is so sad.  I thought he would have cried!

PT – Me Schmoopy? Why I was just discussing the Justice Department business.  I thought he was very happy.  I didn’t say anything.  He must just be nervous or something.  You know how nervous people from the mid-west are. Very, very nervous.

MT – I think you yelled at him like you did to that poor Crying Chuck and made him cry.  That was very sad.  And he told that sad story about the crying statue and it was very sad.  You should not make ladies cry not even lady statues.  It is too sad.

PT – But wait, no, that wasn’t true.  Lyin’ Chuck was crying, I mean Cryin’ Chuck was lying.  Statues don’t cry.

MT – Yes, they do.  In my village there was a statue of the Virgin Mary that cried many times.

PT – Yes, but that was a miracle.  Cryin’ Chuck isn’t a saint.  He’s a Democrat which makes him an atheist.  You shouldn’t believe him.

MT – Well, okay Schmoopy, but I think you made Mike sad.  You must fix this right away.  Mike is a good friend and we need him to help you from not going the kooky.

PT – But I don’t go the kooky, I mean go kooky.  Schmoopy you have to leave these important government matters to me.  I am a very stable genius you know.

MT – Please Schmoopy, say you are sorry to Mike and bring him to Arby’s for some good roast beef.  Please, please!

PT – Maybe you’re right Schmoopy, I’ll talk to him.  He is a good friend.

 

Scene 2 The Vice-Presidential Residence.  Tuesday 8pm

(VP Pence sitting in his living room watching Wheel of Fortune while eating a tv dinner, his wife Karen is bringing in a can of beer.)

KP – Here’s your PBR dear.

VPP – Thanks hon.  You wouldn’t believe what that maniac said today.

KP – Oh Mike, let’s not talk about work tonight.  It’ll only upset you.

VPP – Alright, but I tell you, sometimes I feel like telling him what I really think.

(suddenly an announcer, who sounds a lot like the late Don Pardo, breaks into the broadcast)

TVAWSLDP – We interrupt this boring game show to bring you a message from the President of the United States.

PT – My fellow Americans I come to bring you important information.  Yes, I know you want continue drugging yourself into imbecility but drop the bong and try to concentrate.  Earlier today I was talking to Vice President Pence.

VPP – Oh great Scott.

PT – I told him I wanted to get Jim Comey in one of those interrogation rooms with the old table and chairs.  You know the ones I mean.  And I wanted to Sipowicz him.  That’s modern cop-talk for slappin’ him around.  But that was wrong.  Comey was a cop himself. He wouldn’t have been fooled into confessing.  Vice President Pence knew this and said so.  But it ticked me off.  And I said some not so nice things to him.  The First Lady let me know I was wrong and so I thought about what I should do.  What I did was go on Twitter and offer a fifty-million-dollar reward to anyone who could confirm that Jim Comey was lying about all the Russian stuff and blabbing to the newspapers about all that stuff.  Well, as luck would have it three different FBI agents provided video tape of Comey committing all kinds of offenses.  It was sort of an America’s Funniest Home Videos of Treason.  So now Investigator Mueller has agreed to prosecute Comey and then close his investigation before I find something on him.  Boy, it’s great to be rich.

But all that is beside the point.  The main thing is I was mean to a friend.  Mike Pence is a good guy.  He isn’t crooked like Hillary or a liar like Ted or a crybaby like Chuck.  He’s a good guy who comes to work on time with a clean shirt and combed hair. That hair may be a little short and white but it’s definitely neat.  He’s always polite to people and he doesn’t try to stab you in the back.  He’s a little too nice for the killer stuff but that’s why I have Mad Dog.  So Mike I’m sorry.  Now stop sulking like a little girl and come back to work.  We can even go to Arby’s tomorrow, my treat.  Trump out.

KP – Oh, wasn’t that nice.  He said he was sorry.  I’ll have to thank Melania for telling him to do that.

VPP – Karen, better put the beer back in the fridge.  I’m going to need the Jack Daniels instead, no water.

KP – Yes dear.

Unbridled Enthusiasm – Trump Seems to be Cheering Up Even the Alt-Right

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Terminology differs.  Alt-Right, Dissident Right, Alt-West and a few other designations exist for folks at the angrier edge of the Right-Wing.  These are folks who think it’s essentially too late to try to salvage the United States as presently comprised.  There is an underlying premise that dissolution and re-assembly into more than one fragment is the only and desired outcome.  And this has always dismayed me.  The idea that human beings cannot live under a single government that can even-handedly allow them to co-exist and prosper with the maximum of freedom and prosperity seems odd.  Even if the Alt-Right premises about unequal talents and differing preferences in life style are completely true I still don’t see why the advantages of the American way of life can’t continue to generate freedom and happiness.  But that’s their belief, that it can’t.

But I have noticed lately on a few of the sites that I check a sort of moderating mood or attitude.  It’s as if Trump’s successes are starting to encourage even these folks to think that maybe there is some hope of turning things around.  And maybe I’m just picking up the general glow of happiness that comes from seeing leftist heads explode.  But I believe I detect a hint of optimism for the American Project.

Let me add another qualifier.  I have read opinions on these sites that under the best of circumstances Trump may be able to delay the collapse of America by some short number of years.  And maybe the reaction I’m seeing is just the relaxation attendant on this temporary reprieve.  Sort of like the seventh inning stretch.  Well, either way, it appears a certain upbeat attitude seems to be suffusing the apocalyptic crew on the far right.  And I’m definitely good with that.  I have a happily ever afterward daydream where the country wakes up and corrects the excesses and abuses that Democrats and liberal Supreme Court Justices have inflicted upon us.  In this fantasy the Alt-Right eventually grudgingly accepts that they will have to forego bloody insurrection and just settle for the antagonistic and imperfect multi-ethnic and multi-racial melting pot that is the best-case scenario for human interaction that has ever been stumbled upon.

But daydreams aside, regardless of which scenario we are dealing with, lately I find myself unjustifiably optimistic.  Realistically, the best President Trump can do, even assuming two full terms and Republican majorities in Congress, is begin the job of repairing some of the damage.  And then we have to have a capable new president who can continue the work, one who can work for eight years and cement the changes already made into established policy.  The odds of this are pretty slim.  But compared to where we were under “President Black Lives Matter,” we’re living in Shangri-La.  So, why shouldn’t we feel upbeat?  Why, just this week I saw a headline from the New York Times (which, of course, I didn’t click on) that said that maybe that blue wave in the midterms might not actually occur.  Something about the tax bill actually being popular after all (who’da thunk it?).

So, I’m going to join my brethren on the far right and put aside gloom and doom for at least the time being.  This may render me less intense.  It’s going to be much harder to build up a good head of outrage.  But by the same token I predict my schadenfreude and snark will be that much stronger.  In fact, I definitely feel a “Trump vs …” post incubating as we speak.

So, rejoice my brethren and sistren, the Millennium is upon us (again?) and we will enter the Promised Land humming the opening music from The Apprentice and joyfully carrying aloft our banners adorned with the golden device of the Trumpian Comb-Over as we tread those shining streets of gold (apologies to Saint John the Divine).

 

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The Text of the Nunes Memo and my comments

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Beow is the Nunes memo.  The memo is in normal text.  My comments are in Bold italics.

 

January 18, 2018

 

To: HPSCI Majority Members

 

From: HPSCI Majority Staff

 

Subject: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation

 

Purpose

 

This memorandum provides Members an update on significant facts relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Our findings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process.

 

Investigation Update

 

On October 21, 2016, DOJ and FBI sought and received a FISA probable cause order (not under Title VII) authorizing electronic surveillance on Carter Page from the FISC. Page is a U.S. citizen who served as a volunteer advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. Consistent with requirements under FISA, the application had to be first certified by the Director or Deputy Director of the FBI. It then required the approval of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), or the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

 

The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. As required by statute (50 U.S.C. §,1805(d)(l)), a FISA order on an American citizen must be renewed by the FISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause. Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications in question on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. Then-DAG Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ.

 

Due to the sensitive nature of foreign intelligence activity, FISA submissions (including renewals) before the FISC are classified. As such, the public’s confidence in the integrity of the FISA process depends on the court’s ability to hold the government to the highest standard—particularly as it relates to surveillance of American citizens. However, the FISC’s rigor in protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90-day renewals of surveillance orders, is necessarily dependent on the government’s production to the court of all material and relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant information was omitted.

 

1) The “dossier” compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

 

  1. a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele’s efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials.

 

  1. b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named U.S. person, but does not name Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson, who was paid by a U.S. law firm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOJ at the time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier). The application does not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of—and paid by—the DNC and Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the same information.

 

2) The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo News article by Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page’s July 2016 trip to Moscow. This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo News—and several other outlets—in September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele’s initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington D.C. in 2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed.

So the FISA probable cause order was obtained using the “Steele dossier” and the Yahoo article that was generated by Steele.  None of the background about the Clintons sponsoring the Steele dossiere was provided to the judge.  Basically this was the Justice Department illegally obtaining a wiretap warrant.  They targeted US citizens purposefully and for political reasons.  And they did it to undermine a candidate who subsequently was elected President of the United States.  High crimes and misdemeanors?  How about treason?

 

  1. a) Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations—an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David Corn. Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with Yahoo and other outlets in September—before the Page application was submitted to the FISC in October—but Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about those contacts.

 

  1. b) Steele’s numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling—maintaining confidentiality—and demonstrated that Steele had become a less than reliable source for the FBI.

 

3) Before and after Steele was terminated as a source, he maintained contact with DOJ via then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, a senior DOJ official who worked closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. Shortly after the election, the FBI began interviewing Ohr, documenting his communications with Steele. For example, in September 2016, Steele admitted to Ohr his feelings against then-candidate Trump when Steele said he “was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.” This clear evidence of Steele’s bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in official FBI files—but not reflected in any of the Page FISA applications.

 

  1. a) During this same time period, Ohr’s wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all of his wife’s opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via Fusion GPS. The Ohrs’ relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably concealed from the FISC.

 

So a husband-wife team working between the DOJ and the Clinton front organization Fusion GPS colluded to establish the Steele dossier as the DOJ’s primary evidence against the Trump team.  It’s almost comical in its outrageousness.

 

4) According to the head of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, Assistant Director Bill Priestap, corroboration of the Steele dossier was in its “infancy” at the time of the initial Page FISA application. After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele’s reporting as only minimally corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was—according to his June 2017 testimony—“salacious and unverified.” While the FISA application relied on Steele’s past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations. Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information.

 

5) The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos. The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel’s Office to FBI Human Resources for improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton, whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also reflect extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an “insurance” policy against President Trump’s election.

 

In what alternate universe did these clowns imagine they would get away this?  Compared to these guys Nixon was a boy scout.  Honestly, these people need to go to jail.  And then we’ve got to chloroform the Patriot Act.  This stuff has got to stop.  I guess Trump will have to appoint a new special counsel and I hope he’ll pull the plug on Mueller first.  Supposedly this is the tip of the iceberg and there are all kinds of other atrocities waiting to surface.  Trump and Sessions will have their hands full just prosecuting these guys, never mind trying to replace them in the DOJ and FBI.  But if somehow these characters get away without jail time then there is no hope for justice in this country.