We already know from the report written by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz that there were 17 inaccurate pieces of information in the application for the FISA warrant that was used to surveil former Trump campaign official Carter Page.
Trust in the FISA court isn’t at its highest, and John Huber on Wednesday posted a very long thread on CNN’s “bombshell” report back in 2017 that the FBI team investigating Paul Manafort for Russian collusion had a FISA warrant on him.
Somebody faked that the Crossfire Hurricane team had a FISA on Paul Manafort & "leaked" this to CNN
And the culprits may have been the Special Counsel's Office, trying to influence D.C's Chief Judge into allowing the SCO to pierce Manafort's Attorney/Client privilege
THREAD
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Over two and a half years ago, on Sep 18, 2017, CNN ran this "bombshell” article alleging that the FBI team investigating Russian "Collusion" had a FISA warrant on Paul Manafort:
"Exclusive: US government wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman“ https://t.co/mh7SYUGPBV:
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Before looking in detail at the extraordinary claims in CNN's article, let’s just clarify that the core of the story – that the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team sought and obtained an FISA warrant on Manafort – isn’t just wrong, or false. It's totally fake. 100% made up. pic.twitter.com/rO0P0zr7GY
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Here is DOJ IG Horowitz emphatically stating in his report that not only did the FBI's Crossfire team not seek a FISA on Manafort, they never even “seriously considered” FISA surveillance of Manafort. (Horowitz repeated that no FISA existed at all under oath to Congress too) pic.twitter.com/Z8CAC2D5uq
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
CNN itself acknowledged this when the IG report was released, appending an "editors note” in Dec 9, 2019, saying it “contradicts” their Sep 18, 2017 story, without offering any explanation or trying to defend it pic.twitter.com/o7jOu5hrA0
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Let's look at the rest of the claims in this CNN story, before speculating who would give this fake information to CNN, and why
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
It seems like half the people involved in Crossfire Hurricane are already employed by CNN as contributors and analysts.
The non-existent FISA started in 2014 over Ukraine, was stopped, then “restarted”, likely after Manafort was ousted from Trump's campaign in mid Aug 2016, and “extended at least into early [2017]”, “before and after the election” pic.twitter.com/DRUgCBpz0X
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Recommended
CNN “learned” the FISA also included a *physical* search “of a storage facility belonging to Manafort”
(Note: it is already known that the search of this storage facility was briefed to the Associated Press by the SCO's Andrew Weissmann): https://t.co/RlnNZ9mXo2 pic.twitter.com/lEbIkHpKfW
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
The FISA "snooping” included a time when Manafort was “known to talk to President Donald Trump”, and "sparked” concern that “Manafort had encouraged the Russians” to help the Trump campaign, and that the SCO had copies of these "communications” pic.twitter.com/d8GVO7gLFh
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
And CNN's "sources" also claimed there was a "gap" in the FISA due to it being stopped and restarted. When was the "gap"? Oh, in June 2016, during the Trump Tower meeting. Maybe that's when the Collusion must have happened, in this "crucial" period when nobody was listening…! pic.twitter.com/Iqm7XBQuz4
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Unmentioned by CNN is that SCO already knew this public narrative on Trump Tower (leaked in July 2017, 3 months beforehand) was false, based on their own interview of the translator at the meeting. And that Manafort had done literally zero at the meeting:https://t.co/Zdt2Vi46Xl
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
So whoever "leaked" this story to CNN is crafting this (fake) narrative:
—Manafort had a FISA (meaning there's probable cause he's an agent of a foreign power)
—There was a gap in the FISA, and maybe that's where the "Collusion" was really happening, maybe even with Trump
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
A recap of the Manafort case and two key court hearings may show motive for why someone would want to make up such an elaborate fake FISA story to bolster the Collusion narrative, and leak it to CNN, timed to land on Sep 18 2017
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
July 26, 2017: The SCO carried out a dawn raid on Manafort's house. https://t.co/8ANaY6FeiQ
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Aug 2, 2017: Rod Rosenstein writes his first "scope" memo, authorizing the SCO to investigate Manafort for potential "Collusion" with Russia, and for "payments he received from the Ukrainian government"
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
FYI – it's worth noting at this point that the "Collusion" allegations were based on the Steele dossier, leaked to the media. And the "payments" allegation was substantially based on the fake "black ledger" of "cash payments" to Manafort, also leaked. https://t.co/cP2sf26zJR)
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Aug 18, 2017: The SCO issued a subpoena to Manafort's lawyer to testify against him to the Grand Jury. Manafort's lawyer refused, and the Special Counsel filed a motion to compel the Attorney to testify as a witness. pic.twitter.com/zWdmQqQIIu
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
The Chief Judge in D.C. overseeing the case (Beryl Howell) then held a hearing on Sep 19, 2017 (and two others on Sep 20 & 26). https://t.co/QwVZrJYsAz
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
IMPORTANT: Those Sep 19/20/26 hearings weren't reported anywhere at the time and only became "public" 6 weeks later in the court filing linked above (See 'Exhibit A'). You still can't find almost any stories on them at all, anywhere in the media. Google for yourself and see. pic.twitter.com/w6PYUMCjAh
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
And these hearings were crucial to the SCO’s case: they needed Manafort’s own lawyer to testify against him, to ensure they could get the charges about FARA violations to stick.
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Sep 18, 2017: one day before those court hearings, this CNN story exploded all over the media. The takeaway – Manafort was considered such a Russian "Collusion" threat, that the FBI even got a FISA warrant, and the SCO has copies of the communications obtained under the FISA!
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Oct 2, 2017: Judge Howell ruled against Manafort (in a non-public sealed opinion), ultimately piercing Attorney/Client privilege and forcing his lawyer to testify against him about the preparation of those FARA filings. Big win for the SCO pic.twitter.com/oqZn4T8kjz
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
The Grand Jury testimony of Manafort's lawyer sought by the SCO helped secure Manafort's indictment on Oct 27, which was made public on Oct 31, 2017 following his arrest
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Now it's admittedly speculative that the CNN story influenced Judge Howell, but the introduction to her order justifying forcing the lawyers testimony looks ridiculous in retrospect drawn right from the CNN narrative: a case of "national importance" about Manafort's "Collusion”! pic.twitter.com/CDy2BLYeRy
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Despite Judge Howell's solemn tone about "national importance" and "Collusion" involving Manafort, in reality, Manafort eventually stood trial for crimes like tax evasion, bank fraud and false FARA filings, committed long before he was ever associated with the Trump campaign
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
And prior to Manafort's trial, the SCO even admitted in response to Brady motions to his trial lawyers that the US government had *no surveillance intercepts* of Manafort AT ALL. Zip
(CNN didn’t report this, or update/retract their original story either)https://t.co/V3DpNybtoA https://t.co/1wlWwBXa7x— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Then the SCO asserted that "Collusion" wouldn't even be mentioned at Manafort's trial. Instead, we got stories about his expensive Ostrich jacket. Clearly a matter of grave "national importance” ? https://t.co/bvGWtxxXG8
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
But there is a bigger picture about why someone would go to the elaborate lengths of faking a FISA story in the national media, helping force Manafort's lawyer to flip on him. Because this wasn't the real aim…
…it was to set a tone or "rep" to get to @realDonaldTrump himself
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Just a couple of months after Manafort's lawyer was turned against him, @GenFlynn own attorneys Covington & Burling would cite this aggressive "Manafort treatment" in their own interviews with the SCO, likely fearing they'd get the same if they didn't get Flynn to plead guilty https://t.co/yZRHxXZ9oz pic.twitter.com/0ZKaQOtHdW
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Covington and Burling no doubt feared being dragged in front of Grand Jury, leaked about in the media, and asked to explain their FARA filing preparations as Manafort’s attorney had been, especially as legal assistance with FARA is a big part of their business. So they caved.
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
In addition, something not known at the time of the CNN leaks, is that Trump's own personal attorney Michael Cohen was also under investigation by the SCO. So that’s Manafort’s attorney, Flynn's attorneys and Trump’s attorney all in the SCO’s crosshairs
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
In fact, the SCO had sought search warrants on Cohen's personal devices/comms as early as *July 18, 2017*. Guess who from? Yep, the same Chief Judge Beryl Howell in D.C. This was kept under seal for nearly two years. But of course the SCO knew and planned all of this at the time pic.twitter.com/8MCxQEJAN5
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
The NYT: https://t.co/cD8mUd9T2F made this exact point about "setting a tone" *the day before* the CNN Manafort leak, only a couple of days before the Manafort attorney hearing, via Collusion friendly reporters
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Just in case nobody got the message the SCO was putting out, these were reported side by side in The Atlantic https://t.co/3Nq7JuDWNu, strongly suggesting that both the Sep 18, 2017 NYT and Sep 19, 2017 CNN stories were likely coordinated leaks of information from the SCO itself pic.twitter.com/t0Ugcd9nmc
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
And just in case the D.C Chief Judge reads Lawfare (lets be honest, she probably does), you can always rely on Comey's homey's over there to get punked or boost SCO fakery, in this case saying that thanks to the CNN story "Lordy, there appear to be tapes". https://t.co/eaDt5ogorF pic.twitter.com/6mzqAyO6e3
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Ultimately, the purpose of these fake stories and this coordinated leaking campaign was so the Special Counsel could establish an aggressive "rep" on the street
*We can even get your lawyers to talk. Maybe we've even heard what you've said to them already on a FISA (wink wink)*
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
This troubling pattern makes it clear that the SCO's goal was to go after even the lawyers defending Trump's team, Manafort, Flynn and Trump himself
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Maybe this aggressive approach would be justified had there been any "Collusion", or an actual threat to national security, but we now know that the SCO knew they had nothing *at the time* they were doing this
All these leaks should be re-evaluated with that key fact in mind
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
CONCLUSION
The media were willing participants in SCO intimidation. And while CNN did append an editors note over two years later, they've done nothing to expose the "sources" of this fake FISA, who likely are former members of the Special Counsel's Office
/ENDS
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) May 20, 2020
Since DOJ corruption related to @GenFlynn ‘s plea has been exposed and prosecution declined, are all criminal cases that used testimony from Flynn now Fruit of the Poisonous Tree to be challenged? Mueller’s other cases? Scope memo? Any & ALL cases that derived from any unmaskings
— Liberated Peasant #8,675,309 (@NameRed55794014) May 20, 2020
Calling it a House of Cards would be a major understatement. Every single unmasking determined to be illegal, should have the same outcome in nullifying indictments/pleas/convictions etc..
— Liberated Peasant #8,675,309 (@NameRed55794014) May 20, 2020
There HAS to be some kind of Federal RICO investigation done on this kind of coordinated corruption between the SCO & the MSM. At least CNN.
HAS TO BE.
Unreal. ?
— McWokersons (@MiniMiki333) May 20, 2020
One of the things I despise most about the media in this sad affair is their willingness to let sources lie to them without consequence. If a source lies, you burn the source, thats supposed to be the deal.
— MB (@TrustIsEarnd) May 20, 2020
The noble end of "Getting Trump" justifies any means for our modern media.
— Miller, John (@Cucumber_Town) May 20, 2020
These are AMERICANS they did this to! Some of them had to have known this was utter BS! Every outlet that ran these stories should have their offices raided and coms seized to find out exactly how deeply coordinated this op was with the FBI & SCO.
— McWokersons (@MiniMiki333) May 20, 2020
Manafort et al not only need to sue the hell out of the FBI, but also need to take @CNN to the cleaners for defaming his reputation. CNN, MSNBC, WaPo, and NYT need to be sued out of existence.
— Greg (@greg_kemper) May 20, 2020
Timing is Everything!
— Pjays14⭐⭐⭐ (@pjays14) May 20, 2020
Great job on this info. Unfortunately, it sounds completely accurate and horrible. The Muller SCO work needs to be investigated by a real SCO!
— Random Guy (@GolfGunsDrums) May 20, 2020
The scent of Weissmann is all over this.
— PJ Boyle (@PJforAmerica) May 20, 2020
Great thread! Explains a lot. Threads like this make me realize how naive many of us have been in not comprehending the depths of evil & depravity into which people in our gov’t have sunk.
The abyss is hungry and awaits its gratification.— Barbara (@grace2abide) May 20, 2020
Literally #Obamagate
— Tyler Stewart (@TylerSt34686360) May 20, 2020
This app is free. Yet I just learned more than the $35,000,000 Mueller Report. Score!
— it's me, Doug (@GooglyMoogly123) May 20, 2020
In the meantime, CNN hall monitor Oliver Darcy is complaining about Fox News pushing conspiracy theories, and his colleague Brian Stelter is writing a book called “Hoax” about Fox News and its relationship with President Trump during the Russian collusion investigation.
Related:
Time to cancel the 'HOLY S*IT'? NY Times makes MAJOR correction to its reporting on Manafort and Oleg Deripaska https://t.co/4gjbwwYMJ8
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 9, 2019
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