The memo's out

[Jane2d]

hmm.  From the memo itself:

4) .... Furthermore, Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrent would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information.

and this:

5) The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulous, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulous.  The Papadopoulos information trigger the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strozok... 

You are conflating two things: the FISA warrant, and the Russian investigation. The memo states that the Russian investigation began when Papadopoulos got drunk with an Australian diplomat and ran his mouth. The diplomat then reported this to the FBI. A lot of conservatives have been arguing that the Russian investigation began when Steele sent his dossier to the FBI, but that wasn't the case (if we believe this part of the memo).

The FISA warrant came later.

I'm not conflating, the FBI is conflating!!  The idea that the 'investigation' began with Papadopoulos is the newest CYA attempt by the 'investigating agency' to change the timeline because of the shaky nature of the formerly claimed basis, the Steele dossier, and its potential of  sinking the entire effort to discredit Trump.   And furthermore, the alleged Australian diplomat [Alexander Downer] is quite connected to the Clinton's. 

Being as you used the Nat.Review (different author) here's one back at you:

There’s another interesting word that does not appear in the Times’ extensive Papadopoulos report: surveillance. Despite being “so alarmed” by young Papadopoulos’s barroom braggadocio with the Australian diplomat, and his claimed Russia connections, there is no indication that the Obama Justice Department and FBI ever sought a FISA-court warrant to spy on him. No, the FISA warrant was sought for Carter Page, after his trip to Moscow. The trip the Times used to say incited the Trump-Russia probe.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/45...arter-page

There is also some talk in various media sources that a FISA warrent was applied for and denied in June 2016.  Was this a Papadopoulos investigation that evidence (an alleged drunken encounter with Downer) was sooo far-fetched a judge could not bring himself to sign onto?   It was also Strzok who opened this investigation; Strzok who has since been reassigned and removed from the 'investigation'.

There are many questions unanswered including how in the world did this unknown and inexperienced in foreign policy nobody (papadopoulos) get hooked up with one of the highest ranking diplomats from the AU, in a london bar of all places? 

A youtube vid which goes over the above and then some:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-cOBuuu...e=youtu.be

At the center of Smith’s complaints are former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and multiple Australian government officials, including senior diplomat Alexander Downer, that government’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom.

https://www.lifezette.com/polizette/auss...own-under/

More on Steele.  We find out that the FBI's dealing with the impeccable source Steele covers exactly one thing.  Soccer.  Yep, the world class spy, with all his FBI credibility tied to Soccer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/...ald-trump/

We can argue whether spying on American citizens is right or wrong, but that seems like a separate argument. Unfortunately in the world of espionage, it's a little complicated, because you don't know if an American citizen is working for a foreign power or not, without at least a little spying (or you get really lucky).

I don't agree with how that comment describes this as "spying on a political opponent". The political opponent in this was Donald Trump, and as far as I'm aware (please correct me if I'm wrong, with sources) there was never actually any spying done against Donald Trump himself. The targets of surveillance were people in his campaign, and in every case there was supposedly evidence to suggest that they had been compromised by the Russians.

I disagree vehemently with point 3 of the comment. The integrity of our democracy is paramount, it's more important than partisan politics. If, in 2020, the FBI got word that the Democratic campaign were trying to manipulate voting machines in swing states, do you think the FBI should sit back and ignore it, or investigate and (to use the commenter's phrase) "spy on a political opponent"?

Spying on American citizens, under the guise of nat. security, with secret courts and unsubstantiated evidence to commence these government efforts is an unreasonable search within the borders of the USA.  Working for a foreign power is fine if you have filled out the right paperwork.  Even retroactively as we saw with the Podesta's.

The warrent issued covered anyone Page contacted.  Not just Foreign Agents/Actors.   The known supposed evidence is 1. Steele dossier 2. Heresay

The manipulation of vote machines is unrelated to drunk talk and hearsay.