Authoritarianism
10 Things About The Carter Page Story That Only Lawyers And Russiagate Analysts Would Catch
Attorney Seth Abramson, an Assistant Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, outlined 10 things about the explosive Washington Post story on Carter Page that only lawyers and Russiagate analysts would catch.
First a quick recap. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that the FBI had obtained a secret court order “last summer to monitor the communications of an adviser to presidential candidate Donald Trump, part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign.”
A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge granted the FBI and the Justice Department’s request for a warrant targeting Carter Page’s communications after convincing the court that there was “probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power, in this case, Russia.”
The post notes that this is the “clearest evidence so far” that the FBI had reason to believe during the 2016 presidential campaign that a Trump campaign adviser was in touch with Russian agents.
(1) WP casually notes FISA warrants don't require probable cause. "An app for electronic surveillance…need not show evidence of a crime."
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(2) DOJ-NatSec and the FBI began their #Russiagate investigation right after Chris Steele gave U.S. CI pages from his dossier in July 2016.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(3) The warrant's timing (07/2016) and renewals suggest the DOJ and FBI used the "Page pages" from the Dossier or Page's actions at the RNC.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(4) WP says the 90-day warrant was renewed "more than once"–which (do the math) means the DOJ/FBI investigation of Page _just concluded_.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(5) Another possibility is that the investigation was _still ongoing_—and the leak to the WP compromised the investigation by alerting Page.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(6) Based on the timing of the warrant and renewals, the DOJ and FBI can likely confirm/deny everything said on Page in the Steele Dossier.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(7) If so, the DOJ/FBI know for certain whether Trump got a percentage of the 2016 Rosneft sale in exchange for lifting sanctions on Russia.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(8) That this is just _one_ of the FISA warrants secured for the #Russiagate investigation may mean _other_ Russian agents worked for Trump.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(9) Page's 09/2016 letter to the FBI now appears false—exposing him to federal charges of Making False Statements or Obstruction of Justice.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(10) Assuming he's not a secret Putin fanatic, the chances that Page will seek immunity and roll on higher-ups (e.g. Trump) is astronomical.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS) If the DOJ/FBI unmasked names of Americans communicating with Page, they may know Trump officials lied about Page's campaign role.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS2) Page's denial he met Sechin is contradicted by an MSNBC interview in which he says he was in meetings where Sechin was in the room.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS3) Comey says FISA applications are "wrist-thick"—suggesting the FBI had much more on Page than stale 2013 data and July 2016 events.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS4) Esquire says that the NatSec community leaking to the WP may be a public warning to the Trump White House that they've been caught.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS5) The DOJ/FBI avoids seeking FISA warrants for public figures during an election. So their level of concern on Page had to be _huge_.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS6) Claims the FBI found nothing in 2016 are based on a lie about Jim Clapper: in fact, Comey never briefed DNI Clapper on #Russiagate.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS7) If Flynn became DIA head in July 2012, why _didn't_ he know Page had a dodgy past when he saw in 2016 they were both on Team Trump?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS8) Once Trump began getting classified briefings post-election, why didn't CI tell him about Page? Is it because Trump's a target too?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS9) If the FBI _did_ use the Steele Dossier to renew their Page warrant, wouldn't they also have used it to get _other_ FISA warrants?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(BONUS10) The FBI suspected Page of sending docs to the Russians in 2013. So what Trump campaign NatSec docs did he send Putin pre-election?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(PS) All of this seems to mean that when Page met Kislyak at the RNC, _both men knew_ Page was a Russian agent. So _what did they discuss_?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(PS2) This also means Manafort—former Putin shill—either permitted Page to go to Moscow in 2016 blindly OR he knew Page was a Russian agent.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(PS3) If Manafort _knew_ Page was a Russian agent when he let him go to Moscow mid-election, the chances the Dossier is accurate are _high_.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(PS4) The WP story comes in the context of new revelations about Manafort's pay. Was he still getting Russian money while working for Trump?
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(PS5) In other words, the WP story isn't a #Russiagate blip. It's the biggest canary in the biggest coal mine in American political history.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
BREAKING (h/t private source): Carter Page's NYC office has a connecting walkway to Trump Tower. Did Kislyak use it? https://t.co/vvLFEK3FMz
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
BREAKING2: Kislyak met in Trump Tower w/ Flynn/Kushner in December 2016 without being seen by press. Did he take Page's 590 Madison walkway? pic.twitter.com/3gZlerLa6R
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
BREAKING3: This NYT page shows how Page's office building links up to Trump Tower—away from the press's prying eyes. https://t.co/eVyEFMRoAb
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
BREAKING4: I've tweeted it before, but here again is Page _admitting_ he met with Rosneft _as the sale was closing_. https://t.co/VI2FapzoEZ
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
BREAKING5: So Page returns from the Rosneft closing in Russia, smuggles Kislyak into Trump Tower, then all four men lie about it? Plausible.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(Final note: Page even lied to Anderson Cooper on his Russian fluency. Watch at 30:50 of the vid above as he understands Russian perfectly.)
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
(Page told Cooper he "gets by" in terms of understanding Russian. In the video above he seems to be doing a heck of a lot better than that.)
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
BREAKING6 (h/t @TheRickWilson): AP says Manafort was paid in 2014 to aid Putin's interests in Ukraine. (After, too?) https://t.co/WoJzgBbPcb
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
.@TheRickWilson BREAKING7: A key, never-before noted fact: Trump hired Manafort the same week he hired Carter Page (3/21 – 3/28/16). https://t.co/3eN1PFc5uh
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
.@TheRickWilson (Note: Manafort and Page came aboard following 3/15/16—"Super Tuesday 2"—after which it was clear Trump would win.) https://t.co/GNJEsYjuzB
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 12, 2017
