Thread by @Repoliticized

(THREAD--25 tweets). This article by NR’s @AndrewCMcCarthy suffers from a number of fatal flaws. tinyurl.com/y7fvlszf

1/ McCarthy labors mightily to show that the Steele dossier was used--partially or wholly--as the basis for the FISA warrant against Carter Page.

2/ What McCarthy does not tell you is that the DOJ would not have submitted, and the FISA court would not have approved if it had, any application for a warrant that was not based on allegations that the FBI had ITSELF confirmed.

3/ This point was made long ago by Susan Hennessey (and others):
McClatchy (18 Jan 2017): FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible covert Kremlin aid to Trump. tinyurl.com/huxn8kl

4/ Does @AndrewCMcCarthy provide any probative reasons that the DOJ and FISC rules and guidelines WERE violated in the case of the Carter Page FISA warrant? No. Not that I can see.

5/ In fact, a close reading of McCarthy’s article shows his explosive allegations about the DOJ and the FISA court to be baseless.

6/ His argument (presented in the form of a very long timeline) can be summarized as follows:

7/ The basis for the investigations by the FBI and the DOJ, including their FISA warrant applications, was the Steele dossier.

8/ The “upper echelons” of the FBI and DOJ were strongly inclined to believe the allegations of the dossier b/c (1) they were anti-Trump & pro-Clinton to begin with, & (2) b/c of their respect (justified) for his previous work with and for the FBI.

9/ (As an aside: McCarthy mentions in the connection ONLY Steele’s work in investigating the FIFA scandal, but Steele has done a lot of *other* work--excellent work--that has come to the attention of people inside and outside the federal government: tinyurl.com/ycybc7xs)

10/ But McCarthy wants us to believe that, while Steele’s previous work was respectable, his “dossier” on Trump-Russia collusion was not. That is because, he has convinced himself, the top echelons of the FBI and DOJ at the time

11/ were anti-Clinton and pro-Trump, so Strzok’s suggestion that an “insurance policy” against Trump (which McCarthy darkly suggests was just the Steele dossier) was based on nothing more than pure partisanship.

12/ This is absolutely false. One does not have to speculate about this. To cite only one example, veteran BBC correspondent Paul Wood wrote on 12 Jan 2017:

13/ So beginning in April (a full two months before Steele even began working on the dossier), US intelligence had reason to be alarmed about Trump-Russia campaign collusion.

14/ It is inexcusable that McCarthy fails to mention that (as well as a number of other reasons that USIC had to suspect Trump-Russia collusion that I have covered in previous threads but will not repeat here).

15/ Nor does @AndrewCMcCarthy mention any of the MANY reasons for suspecting Trump-Russia collusion that have emerged from the Mueller probe--including the indictments of Manafort and Gates, Flynn, and Papadopoulos.

16/ Particularly interesting is the statement of George Papadopoulos’ fiancée Simona Mangiante, who told George Stephanopoulos in an interview with George Stephanopoulos that as a cooperating witness Papadopoulos is now on the “right side of history”.

17/ And watch especially the videoat 6:15+ where Stephanopoulos reports that it was MUELLER who made Papadopoulos realize that “this was a much, much bigger story” than he had realized. tinyurl.com/ybu4ffws

18/ Does this suggest to you that MUELLER thinks that the Trump-Russia collusion story is a nothing burger?

19/ Is @AndrewCMcCarthy asking us to believe that the incriminating stuff uncovered ALREADY in the Mueller probe is entirely NEW? And that US law enforcement and intelligence had no reason to suspect any of it until AFTER the dossier had been written?

20/ In other words, there is a mountain of evidence, none of which is even alluded to by @AndrewCMcCarthy, that Strzok and others in US law enforcement and counterintelligence

21/ had very GOOD reasons to want an “insurance policy” for the NATION--not just for the FBI--against a Trump presidency. Too bad we didn’t get an “immunization” that was good enough.

22/ Finally, let me end by noting that in an article on Dec 9 McCarthy raised a very pointed question that is still relevant. tinyurl.com/y7egsm4c

23/ He pointed out in that article that, while Republicans in CONGRESS have been frustrated by its inability to get the information it wants about the dossier, there is no reason why TRUMP, as the nation’s highest law enforcement officer, cannot disclose that information:

24/ Indeed. The reason why Jordan and others are stymied is not just that the DOJ and the FBI are stonewalling (for their own good reasons---protecting ongoing investigations): it is TRUMP who is ALSO stonewalling them.

25/ Trump is stonewalling because he is LYING. And Strzok, McCabe, Comey, Brennan and others had ample reason to start investigations and apply for FISA warrants in the spring of 2016, months before Steele started work on the dossier.

26/ But you know nothing about that by reading McCarthy’s latest screed on the Steele dossier.

PS/ After writing this thread, and just before posting it just now to Twitter, I received this thread against McCarthy’s article by @AshaRangappa in my feed. It's a must-read. tinyurl.com/y7mpzpmg