By Michael Hernandez
Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on the FBI and Justice Department surveillance abuses has been overshadowed by the House Trump impeachment; most likely by design; but the Horowitz report shows how Donald J. Trump was targeted before winning the 2016 election and then after becoming President.
“Crossfire Hurricane” was the name of the probe of the Trump campaign by President Obama and his administration which then continued on with Obama holdovers after his election victory.
First, it was the love triangle between former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, top FBI lawyer Lisa Page and agent Peter Strzok according to One America News Network. Even if there was no love relationship involving McCabe it has been well established through released emails of the relationship between Page and Strzok and how they worked against candidate Donald J. Trump.
Second, was the work of former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith (removed from Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s investigative team due to his anti-Trump bias) who altered at least one email (if not more emails) that was included in an FBI application to renew a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Carter Page, according to The New York Times. At issue, was the FBI conveniently forgetting to mention that Page worked for the government (Central Intelligence Agency) which would explain why he was engaged with foreign nations. Another major omission by the FBI was verifying British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton as major evidence for securing a FISA warrant to surveil Page which then opened the doors for surveillance into the entire Trump campaign and organization even after his election as President.
Third, was the misstatements made by former FBI Director James Comey and his repeated signoff on numerous FISA surveillance applications as well as leaking damaging information against President Trump along with Steele and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, whose wife had been hired by Steele employer Fusion GP—a conflict of interest! Even after the Horowitz report, Comey was writing in an opinion-editorial in The Washington Post that the Horowitz report had vindicated him.
Finally, this past weekend, former FBI Director James Comey admitted he was wrong to Fox News Chris Wallace. “I was overconfident in the procedures that the FBI and Justice had built over 20 years. There was real sloppiness. Seventeen things that either should’ve been in the applications or at least discussed and characterized differently. It was not acceptable. I was wrong.”
Actually, since the FISA warrant was done three separate times—there were not 17 problems with the FISA application but 51 in totality. Also, James Comey stated that it was hard to get a FISA warrant—a complete lie—since 98 percent of FISA warrant applications are granted.
In summary, what has America faced? A rogue intelligence investigation launched with approval from the highest officials of the Obama administration: James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence and Loretta Lynch, Attorney General of the United States under President Barack Obama. You don’t see this type of behavior without the approval of a U.S. President such as Barack Obama.
The FISA warrant should never have been issued since there was no misconduct. It was these warrants that led to the appointment of a special counsel—Robert Mueller—to investigate the President of the United States which now has led to the House Trump impeachment because of the frustration that came from the lack of evidence from the Mueller investigation to remove a sitting president duly elected by 63 million American voters.
What was started as Operation Crossfire under the Obama administration has continued all the way to the Trump impeachment which was launched before President Donald J. Trump was inaugurated into office.
The FBI has been damaged, so has the Justice Department as Deep State actors in cooperation with mainstream media and the Democrat Party have attempted to destroy America’s institutions—including the Executive Branch—all in the name of preserving the U.S. Constitution; so say Democrats. Really!
Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He has worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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