GOP Blows Wad Over Inspector General Report That Doesn't Say Thing GOP Says It Says

If it weren't for bad faith ...

The Inspector General's report on the FISA warrant for Carter Page has started to leak and it is TOTAL VINDICATION! Just like very serious journalist Maria Bartiromo tweeted last night before her interview with the dumbest dingbat on the Trump campaign, "an innocent American citizen was wiretapped by a cabal of people who wanted to stop @realDonaldTrump   @POTUS bc they had the power to do it."

Or maybe the opposite of that.

 The Washington Post reports that there was nothing wrong with the factual or legal basis for the FISA warrant on Page, meaning that there was no defect in the predicate. Which is YEAH NO SHIT, since the Russians had tried to recruit that nutter in 2013, long before he popped up on a presidential campaign that was being actively supported by the Russian government.

The only wrongdoing appears to have been a low-level attorney who "erroneously indicated he had documentation to back up a claim he had made in discussions with the Justice Department about the factual basis for the application. He then altered an email to back up that erroneous claim." Which is really bad. That person has been forced out of the Justice Department and reportedly referred to John Durham for possible criminal prosecution. Your Wonkette cosigns, don't do that. 

But SURPRISE, three years of GOP howling about Andy McCabe, Peter Strzok, James Comey, Lisa Page, and some kind of Deep State conspiracy to take down Donald Trump turns out to be bullshit. Some line attorney fucked up, but everyone else was doing their damn jobs. Except for James Comey, who was performatively kicking Hillary Clinton in the shins on television to prove NO BIASSSS in the mistaken assumption that she was guaranteed to win.

And the line attorney's fuckup doesn't change the fact that Carter Page was meeting with members of the Kremlin in the middle of a Kremlin campaign to boost Trump's election. Which is exactly what the inspector general found.

The Justice Department inspector general has found evidence that an FBI employee may have altered a document connected to court-approved surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser, but has concluded thatthe conduct did not affect the overall validity of the surveillance application,according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. [Emphasis added.]

If this is the big reveal and the rest is just procedural criticisms, they got nuthin'. To be fair, though, we have no idea if Inspector General Michael Horowitz turned up any serious issues with the FBI's use of foreign surveillance in the Russia investigation. We'll just have to wait until the report drops on December 9, followed by IG Horowitz's Senate testimony on the 11th. Having no goddamn idea won't stop your favorite congressliars from spinning this shit as if they've found the smoking gun, of course.

FBI lawyer falsified a key document to help them get the Carter Page FISA! https: //t.co/tdCL9exUgN FISA abuse report coming soon.

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Rep. Jim Jordan) 1574435818.0 

A KEY DOCUMENT! You know who said that? Fox News . You know who did zero original reporting on this and just copied off CNN and the Post 's paper? Fox News . You know who didn't claim that the document was integral to the investigation? The inspector general . But Fox discovered some "stealth edits" of the Post 's story, so WHO'S THE REAL JOURNALIST NOW, BITCHES?

Potentially huge. Stay tuned... “Horowitz reportedly finds evidence FBI lawyer falsified FISA doc” https: //t.co/RzSF3sgkc9

— Mark Meadows (@Mark Meadows) 1574441388.0 

That's what she said! But she was sorely disappointed.

The prize for absolute hackery, however, goes to the Daily Caller's Chuck Ross. AGAIN.

And just earlier today Carter Page told me he was preparing for court related to his surveillance-related lawsuit.… https: //t.co/pP21GEsqux

— Chuck Ross (@Chuck Ross) 1574382004.0 

Riiiiiiiiiight. Carter Page, A IDIOT, sued Yahoo News's parent company Verizon (more or less, through a media subsidiary) for "defamation, tortious interference with business relations and terrorism transcending national boundaries." DI. RECT. QUOTE. He was GRRRRR SO MAD about an article from September 23, 2016, titled "U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin." Which they were! Nonetheless, Page alleged that Yahoo was guilty of doing terrorisms to him by making him a target for crazy people. That's why he walks down the road in his stupid, goddam red bucket hat -- IT'S A DISGUISE.

The trial court dismissed the case, because SHUT UP, OH MY GOD! And this morning Carter Page finally got to argue his enormously persuasive pro se case in the Second Circuit.

Have you worked out that this case has FUCK ALL to do with the IG report? Have you worked out that this week has taken something out of your Wonkette? MAYBE ONE THOUSAND HOURS OF HEARINGS ARE TOO MUCH?

In summary and in conclusion, WARRANTS GOOD, CARTER PAGE STUPID, GOP LIARS, THE END.

[ WaPo / CNN / Fox ]

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