If not Clinesmith, then Who?
by Anon
FISA warrants were used by members of the the intelligence community, at the behest of the Obama administration, to illegally spy on Trump in order to prevent him from being elected.
The FISA courts are obfuscated, private courts which determine who and who cannot be spied upon. They are unlike any other court in the land in that the accused cannot defend themselves in them.
They're also something of a rubber stamp factory. To get a FISA warrant, you need to have a good reason and present your case, since in large part these courts are designed to violate Americans 4th Amendment rights. This mandate was not followed during the Carter Page warrant or its renewals.
One of the ways Trump was targeted was by spying on people close to him. FISA warrants allow for several "hops." So if you get a warrant to spy on, say, Tom, and Tom talks to Harry, you can now spy on Harry as well, since Harry is now deemed a person of interest. And if Harry talks to Trump, you can now spy on Trump.
It strongly appears that the Intelligence Apparatus was ordered by Obama to spy on people close to Trump, in order to hide the fact that Trump was the intended target of the spying.
FBI Attorney Clinesmith was expected to plead guilty on Friday to fabricating evidence used to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Carter Page, which was really used to spy on Trump. Clinesmith allegedly doctored a CIA liason's email that said Carter Page was a CIA agent (and thus protected from FISA surveilance), to say he was not.
But it's also possible that someone else made this change, instructed Clinesmith to make or use it, or manipulated him into doing so. His expected Friday guilty plea was not entered, and may have been complicated by his attorney’s statement that “it was never [Clinesmith’s] intent to mislead the court,” since it is charged “he made or used the writing knowingly and willfully.” [1]
It is unclear at this point whether that was a colossal mistake by his attorney, which would likely invalidate his plea bargain [1][2], or if perhaps Clinesmith has decided not to take the fall, and will implicate someone else.
Let’s remember the stakes here: This was all meant to frame Trump as “colluding” with the Russians to steal the election. That's treason. That's potentially public execution. With the tone, and content, of the news coverage since Trump took office, would anyone doubt they aimed for this?
Having watched the media networks and politicians continually attempt to paint President Trump as a foreign agent, for three whole years, I believe they wanted to have Trump executed.
This would be justified under 18 US Code 2381: Treason–if what they claimed were true. This is important to remember, as it is not restricted to either side of the political aisle.