From Clarice Feldman, Facebook entry:
A former FBI agent on the Manafort wiretapping story:
(1) This just reinforces my frustrations with Trump's DoJ. Is it any wonder that Trump went ballistic at Sessions? DoJ, when all is said and done, was the gatekeeper for most of this. All FISAs went through them. All investigations went through them. What did McConnell/Ryan know about all this? Plenty, I'd say. They SHOULDA been in a hurry to get Sessions confirmed and in charge. Instead--backstabbing.:
(2) This is the part that makes me think that the 2014 FISA was on the Ukrainians, seen as allies of the Russians (before the coup in Ukraine):
the Intelligence collected under secret court orders reportedly sparked concerns among Investigators that Manafort had some sort of relationship with the Russians, and that they say was the basis.
This is convoluted. It seems to be saying:
The intel collected under the 2014 FISA was used as the basis for the 2016 FISA. BUT ... the concerns about a Manafort/Russia relationship {of "some sort") only came up--were "sparked"--when the results from the 2014 FISA started coming in. IOW, they couldn't have gotten the FISA on Manafort in 2014 because they didn't have the concerns until later. THEREFORE, the FISA must have been on some subject that DID have a known relationship with the Russian government--the pre-coup Ukrainian government.
THEN, comes the 2016 FISA. But notice something. The 2014 FISA only led to "concerns" of "some sort" of "relationship" between Manafort and Putin's Russia--presumably mediated through his relationship with the pro-Russian Ukrainian government. Here's my speculation.
That seems pretty thin as a basis for the 2016 FISA. "Some sort" of "relationship" isn't enough. There needs to be an agent relationship--with the Russian government. That allegation isn't made. It's only suspected, based on vague notions. And significantly, by 2016 the pro-Russian Ukrainian government is totally out of the picture--replaced by a government that was antagonistic toward Russia. Did the Obama Admin then have articulable evidence that Manafort, no longer an agent for Ukraine, had in fact become an agent for Russia? We don't hear about that, but it seems to me that with the Ukraine/Russia connection no longer in existence, the 2014 FISA intel would be of very limited relevance unless it went well beyond "concerns" of "some sort" of "relationship" between Manafort and Putin's Russia.
I'd REALLY like to see that FISA application. I'm speculating, but as Peter Sellers (The Fox) said in After The Fox: "I suspect ze, ze ... hanky panky!"
******
Maybe the whole thing is a deliberate leak to CNN to scare Manafort or keep the ball rolling? Maybe it's just bullshit..it's got three names on the byline and as DonSurber reminds us of Howie Carr's observation--the more names on the byline, the greater the likelihood that its untrue.
