Thread by @HoarseWisperer

Okay, well, that didn't take long. The Carter Page FISA warrant doc is just over 400 pages long and it is a total tofu sandwich. No tasty meat there...

Others will break it down with a fine-toothed comb but here's the ultra-synopsis...

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1) The FBI's initial FISA warrant application in Oct 2016 ran about 65 pages. It wasn't lightly supported...

2) Whatever is in the redacted sections proved to a FISA judge's satisfaction that Carter Page was actively working as an agent of Russia

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3) The Steele dossier was a source but judging from the redactions, was corroborated or accompanied by a far larger volume of sensitive intelligence

4) Contrary to Moron McGee (Devin Nunes), the warrant satisfactorily describes the nature of Steele dossier and its source

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5) The purpose of the warrant was to collect intelligence - not to enable the specific prosecution of Page or anyone else. That's how FISA warrants work

6) One reason the FBI was suspicious of Page: Team Trump's "low-level coffee boy" routine when the FBI knew otherwise.

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7) The warrant was renewed multiple times (as we all know) with the final renewal coming in 6/17

Other than that, it was pretty damn boring. 80% redacted. What wasn't redacted was stuff already in the public domain.

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With that said, the weight of the doc alone makes Nunes' claims look silly.

The warrant was reasonably requested. The FBI's relationship with Steele and Fusion were proactively called out. The backstory behind the dossier and its commission were reasonably disclaimed.

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It's funny though... everyone gets so lost in the weeds on this whole FISA warrant issue, something very surface-level gets overlooked...

It's so simple...

It's right there...

...and yet, everyone races right past it to dive into the details.

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Ready for it?

This warrant only gave the FBI permission to surveil Carter Page.

That's it.

This only allowed the FBI to watch CARTER PAGE.

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Let that one marinate for a second...

The Trump Campaign and Republicans truly lost their mind over the FBI monitoring one specific person.

The bumbling Carter Page.

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That could only be a problem if whatever Carter Page was caught doing or talking about from October 2016 on was incriminating for more than just Carter Page.

As in: the surveillance of Page was only a problem if he actually WAS an agent coordinating between Trump and Russia

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I mean, this is so simple a basic premise, it's kind of funny it never gets talked about, right?

You only freak out about someone being watched if you know they're doing bad things and you know they lead right back to you...

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The FISA Warrant states quite bluntly the FBI believed Carter Page was an agent of a foreign power.

Not an unwitting accomplice. Not a useful idiot. An actual agent acting with purpose and forethought.

The freak-out by Trump, et al, suggests they know that's true.

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I've gone back and forth on whether I think Carter Page is a clever super-spy, a bumbling Paddington incapable of that, or just an oddball who travels in circles where spies are getting spied on.

I think he was a player though. I think he was a cog in the collusion engine.

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He may have been a first-timer or a freelancer just trying to parlay the unique situation of Trump's campaign...

...but my net takeaway is that the Trump Campaign used Page to coordinate at least some things with Russia... and the FISA warrant told them they were caught.

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If Trump, et al, had nothing to fear here - if they weren't worried that a 24/7 bodycam on Page would somehow reveal something bad for them - this entire warrant would be a snoozer.

e.g. "Go nuts. Tail Page 24/7. What do we care?"

That has obviously not been the reaction.

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Let's see what happens tomorrow...

Bear this hiding-in-plain-sight super-simple premise in mind though as you gauge reactions.

Carter Page was under surveillance.

Anyone else freaking out about that is telling ya something...

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