Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey testified Monday morning before a congressional hearing that there was “no information that supports” tweets by President Donald Trump claiming his communications were spied on by the previous administration.
“With respect to the president’s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets,” Comey testified. In doing so, the director performs quite the word dance, and the Comey hearings are shown to be merely theater. Let’s take a closer look.
His use of the phrase “with respect to” means specifically about that particular subject; in this case, wiretapping directed by the previous administration. This also means that in regard to wiretapping in general, or anything done by another party — such as the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency or the British agency GCHQ — Comey may actually know of information that exists, or even possess that information himself.
Comey specifically says “I have no information that supports those tweets.” Again, we see a very distinct parsing of truth here. He is not saying that there is no information supporting it, and he is not saying that someone else does not have it, merely that he, Comey, does not have it. That’s a critical distinction, and the type of wordsmithing that the intelligence community engages in on a daily, even hourly basis.
The director goes on:
And we have looked carefully inside the FBI. The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components: the department has no information that supports those tweets.
This is advanced ballroom dancing. “The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you” is extra wording; it’s unnecessary. It’s also very weak; asking someone to share an answer is not the same as simply giving the answer and letting it stand as truth. Also note that Comey is again very specific: the department has no information that supports those tweets. That conveniently leaves out a host of agencies who would be privy to such wiretapping activity but do not fall under the Department of Justice.
“No individual can direct electronic surveillance of anyone,” Comey asserted — yet another skillful pirouette. With this statement, he can ignore the part where it’s now being reported by several independent outlets that NSA documents confirm the wiretapping was occurring as far back as 2013. While the documents themselves have not been published and the mainstream media is ignoring the story in favor of the anti-Trump narrative, several locations, dates, and names are being published as part of the overall operation, claimed to be named Operation Dragnet.
Keep in mind that only a few weeks ago, Comey stated that “there is no such thing as absolute privacy in America.” Even the privacy of your own home, he noted, only allows for a “reasonable expectation of privacy” — a cursed phrase that has been used by the courts to erode the Fourth Amendment for decades.
In addition, Comey did what’s called “flipping the script,” and turned the focus to his department’s investigation of Trump “operatives” for evidence of Russian collusion. In other words, never mind the pesky wiretapping thing, let’s get back to that evil Trump and his operatives.
Comey isn’t the only one being deceptive, of course. After accusations by Judge Andrew Napolitano that former president Barack Obama used GCHQ — the British intelligence service — to spy on Trump, their spokesman issued the following statement:
Recent allegations made by media commentator judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct ‘wiretapping’ against the then president-elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.
You’ll note that at no time are they called false or lies, and there is no denial — only an admonition that they are “nonsense” and “utterly ridiculous,” and most importantly that they “should be ignored.” At no time should the American people accept this as a denial, because it isn’t one.
What you might not know is that not only does GCHQ share information with the US intelligence community, they’ve actually been censured for not disclosing how much they share. The nation learned during the Snowden disclosures that “British officials allowed their US counterparts to store and analyse British citizens’ internet and email records. And Snowden also revealed that America’s National Security Agency paid £100m to GCHQ in secret.” They certainly weren’t buying tea and crumpets.
Speaking of denials, this is what they actually look like; Roger Stone denied colluding with the Russians in a very clear statement Monday.
“I had no contact with Russians,” said Stone.
What does all of this add up to?
- The DOJ agencies don’t have information about the wiretapping but non-DOJ agencies might.
- The FBI may not have done the wiretapping, but other agencies may.
- Comey was technically truthful — and deceptive overall.
- GCHQ isn’t exactly being forthcoming either.
This story will be developing all week, and Liberty Nation will be keeping you posted as the story goes on.
