Why The Watergate Comparison Best Fits The Obama Administration Is it possible that the machinations in the Nixon administration resemble recent reports about the intelligence agencies under the Obama administration?By Claudine Feledick
June 20, 2017 You cannot turn on a news program lately without a pundit comparing the Trump administration to the Watergate scandal. Most of us remember Watergate as the scandal that took down President Nixon. Deeper analysis of the events of Watergate reveals a government that spied on its citizens.
Is it possible that the machinations in the Nixon administration resemble recent reports about the intelligence agencies under the Obama administration?
Watergate was not only about a break-in. The meticulous reporting started by the now famous Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed an underbelly of nefarious activities in which our government actively participated. Watergate chiefly involved spying on American citizens for political gain; using political operative techniques to sabotage political opponents; and weaponizing government agencies, then failing to properly investigate their behavior to cover up for a president.
So far, the evidence says the Obama administration engaged in these activities big time. And where were the Watergate comparisons then? Let’s do a run-down.
Spying on American Citizens for Political GainThe book “All The President’s Men” shows Woodward and Bernstein learned of the Nixon administration’s spying over time from sources within the intelligence community including “Deep Throat” (later revealed as FBI agent Mark Felt). Indeed, the botched Watergate burglary that kicked off the scandal was attempted in order to “bug” Democratic headquarters.
The idea that the Nixon administration would attempt to subvert the election process was unfathomable to the reporters. When it was uncovered that the surveillance was done to get “personal information” to use against political enemies, Americans were equally disgusted and incensed. As the reporting progressed, Deep Throat warned the reporters they were possibly being surveilled.
The American people learned in 2013 that Obama’s Justice Department subpoenaed email and phone information from Associated Press and Fox News reporter James Rosen, who was aggressively investigating and reporting on the Benghazi attack. Rosen claimed his parents’ phone records were also swept up in the intelligence-gathering. The Justice Department said his suspected release of classified information was the reason for its intelligence gathering. Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, admitted in 2014 that the surveillance had happened and expressed regret.
Former CBS reporter Sharyl Atkisson also claims the Obama administration surveilled her. One morning at 1 a.m., her laptop popped on by itself. In her book “Stonewalled,” Atkission describes the event: “‘Reeeeeeee.’ The noise is coming from my personal Apple desktop computer in the small office adjacent to my bedroom. It’s starting up. On its own.” An investigation by computer forensics experts at both her employer and her own hired investigators agreed there had been a “highly sophisticated remote intrusion” of her computers.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter website, Sharyl noted, “I have been told by two computer forensics experts that a highly sophisticated entity using abilities outside non-government resources, using software proprietary either to the DIA, CIA, FBI, or NSA made repeat remote intrusions into both my computers over a period of time.” Atkisson was researching the Fast and Furious federal gun-running to drug dealers and Benghazi stories at about that time. She now has two lawsuits pending against the government.
The Obama administration’s use of surveillance against political opponents wasn’t limited to reporters poking their noses into uncomfortable situations. It was recently revealed that Obama’s national security advisor, Susan Rice, requested the unmasking of Americans in the gathering of intelligence. Unmasked information was then leaked to the press. Gen. Michael Flynn’s description of his conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak apparently did not match what he told Vice President Mike Pence, for example, and because of this Flynn resigned from President Trump’s staff. The actual leaked conversation has not been released to the public.
According to Circa News, thousands of American citizens’ names were unmasked from surveillance reports during the Obama administration. Unmasking occurs when an American citizen’s name shows up redacted in an intelligence report. This typically requires a compelling reason, to protect that citizen’s Fourth Amendment rights. The intelligence committee recently subpoenaed three former Obama intelligence administration officials—John Brennan, Rice, and Samantha Power—to testify regarding this unmasking. Congress wants to know if the unmasking was done for national security or for political reasons.
Sen. Rand Paul has reported that sources have come to him to let him know that he was spied on. “I have formally requested from the WH and the Intel Committees info on whether I was surveilled by Obama admin and or the Intel community!” Paul wrote on Twitter. Intelligence sources also told Sen. Lindsay Graham that he was surveilled and unmasked in a private conversation. He said, “I have reason to believe that a conversation that I had was picked up with some foreign leader or some foreign person and somebody requested that my conversation be unmasked.”
Graham and Paul were candidates for the Republican Party nomination for president in the 2016 election. Was the government surveillance justified for national security reasons or used to affect an election, or to punish political enemies? The question is unanswered.
Political Sabotage Techniques<..snip..>
http://thefederalist.com/2017/06/20/watergate-comparison-best-fits-obama-administration/
