Carter Page FISA warrants underscore the difficulty of disproving presidential falsehoods

[riversedge]

Sadly, lots of truth in this article.

Analysis
The Daily 202: Carter Page FISA warrants underscore the difficulty of disproving presidential falsehoods

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/07/23/daily-202-carter-page-fisa-warrants-underscore-the-difficulty-of-disproving-presidential-falsehoods/5b5541e71b326b1e646954c3/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f5109eb783a9


By James Hohmann July 23 at 9:16 AM Email the author


THE BIG IDEA: The truth gets lost in the tweets. If you repeat a falsehood enough times, many people will believe it. Especially if you have 53.2 million Twitter followers, the bully pulpit of the presidency and some media outlets that uncritically repeat your false claims.

....................In fact, the release of the FISA warrants further undermines the credibility of the partisan memo that Trump declassified in February from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Contrary to one of the memo's central claims, the warrants show that the judges were told that the source of the so-called dossier had political motivations. While most of the warrants are still redacted, it’s also clear that the FBI was basing its request on more than just what former British spy Christopher Steele told them..........................



.............With the release of the warrants, we’ve also finally learned the identity of the four judges who signed off on the FISA warrants. All were appointed by Republican presidents and put onto the special FISA court by Chief Justice John Roberts, himself a GOP appointee. Anne Conway was picked by George H.W. Bush, Rosemary Collyer and Michael Mosman were tapped by George W. Bush and Raymond Dearie was chosen by Ronald Reagan. Each of them concluded that the government had demonstrated “probable cause” that Page was acting as an agent of the Kremlin. Two of the surveillance requests were also signed off by Trump appointees at the Justice Department, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

On Sunday, Trump approvingly quoted a conservative pundit who said on TV that the judges who authorized the warrants should be looked at, not just the FBI agents who sought the wiretaps. This represents just the latest in a string of attacks by the president on judges, including GOP nominees.

Scott Hechinger, a public defender in Brooklyn, clerked for Dearie, the Reagan appointee. “He’s no rubber stamp,” Hechinger wrote in a string of impassioned tweets defending his former boss: “If you look him up on judge rating websites, the consensus is in line w/ reality: An incredibly good man. A fair jurist. Smart & knowledgeable about the law. One ‘flaw’ — takes too long to render decisions. I saw why firsthand. He always wanted to make sure he got the law right.

“He took no pleasure in the deprivation of liberty,” Hechinger added. “On ‘sentencing days,’ he’d lock his door for hours. Indeed, the only time his door in chambers was ever closed. He took the obligation of sending someone away really seriously. He felt it. Doesn’t matter what you were accused of.................................

[UCmeNdc]

1. Especially when the President sticks to the lie!