House Republicans Boycott Intelligence Hearing After Accusing Schiff of Ignoring FISA Abuse
“Until the Committee prioritizes oversight activities related to urgent and critical concerns, Republican Members cannot support distractions from our core responsibilities.”
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee boycotted a hearing today after they accused Chairman Adam Schiff of ignoring abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Here is the letter the Republicans sent to Schiff:
House Intel Republicans are boycotting a public intel subcommittee hearing this morning, protesting the committee’s focus on “publicity events.”
It’s the latest in a string of fights in the committee over Russia, Ukraine and impeachment. Here’s the letter Nunes sent Schiff: pic.twitter.com/F9Su6XZRyI
— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) February 12, 2020
From Fox News:
The House Intelligence Subcommittee on Strategic Technologies and Advance Research (STAR) held a hearing on “Emerging Technologies and National Security” on Wednesday. Every GOP member skipped the forum, blasting it as a “publicity” event.
In a letter obtained by Fox News, Reps. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Chris Stewart, R-Utah, the ranking members of the committee and subcommittee, respectively, joined GOP colleagues in blasting Schiff, D-Calif., for not holding hearings on FISA in the wake of the IG report.
“Under your chairmanship, the House Intelligence Committee has strayed far from its mandate of overseeing the Intelligence Community. In fact, we have gone months at a time in which we’ve hardly held any oversight-related briefings or hearings at all,” they wrote Wednesday.
“During this period of inadequate oversight, numerous critical issues pertinent to this Committee’s jurisdiction were ignored,” they continued, noting that DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued his FISA report on Dec. 9 which identified “seventeen serious shortcomings related to the conduct” of the surveillance of former Trump campaign foreign policy aide Carter Page.
The Republicans argued that the committee is “uniquely positioned to consider” the “serious legal and policy questions” that arose from Horowitz’s report.
“The IG Report was followed by the release of a declassified assessment by the Department of Justice acknowledging that at least two of the four FISA applications lacked probable cause,” they continued. “Despite the seriousness of these issues and our clear jurisdiction, you have failed to hold a single briefing or hearing on this matter.”
They added: “Until the Committee prioritizes oversight activities related to urgent and critical concerns, Republican Members cannot support distractions from our core responsibilities.”
The IG report confirmed the FBI used unverified information from the dossier to request surveillance on Page.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) even found “at least two of the FBI’s surveillance applications to monitor Page lacked probable cause.”
Unfortunately, this is nothing new when it comes to the FBI trying to get around our 4th Amendment rights. FISC has ordered numerous investigations into “FBI surveillance abuses over the past several years.”
However, FISC has never once ordered the FBI “to reverify several potentially impacted warrant applications.”
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Comments
Shifty Lyin’ Schiff needs the Hairy Reed Exercise Band Treatment™
The Obama administration not only spied on the other party, justified by journolistic tales, [political] myths, urbane gossip, and personal animus, foreign and domestic, but also reporters and other private citizens. I don’t recall now, there were probably others. Then Schiff et al came tumbling after, hunting for witches, and judging warlocks, only to learn that what he alleged was a dodo, is in fact a duck.
Republicans walked out? I bet Schiff was super-duper gosh-darned mad!
That’s like serving yellow jello with banana slices at Christmas dinner!! The nerve!
Well, what else can they do? That’s about the only “weapon” a house minority has.
Much easier to keep to their fascist agenda when the opposition says screw you we aren’t coming to play.
They should have stayed and shouted out “YOU LIE” every ten minutes.
Republicans shouldn’t show up at any committees until Nancy is removed or voted out.
No, no, let her/them bray. Let her strut and fret her hour upon the stage. In Stork They Trust… but, most people… persons, don’t.
Devin Nunes: Public Will Learn of More Unethical Actions by Mueller’s Angry Democrats In the Coming Weeks
Is this what the group resignation, coordinated for maximum media impact, is about?
Devon Nunes has been accurate in everything he’s said.
Adam Schiff has lied repeatedly.
I think I’ll trust Nunes on this. – Ace of Spades
http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=385820
Wonder if spying DEMS and Schiff used any of these…..
Can the news about CNN being like this be far behind? I’m asking you…..
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA) spied on allies and enemies alike through a company they owned that made cryptography equipment, according to an explosive new report from the Washington Post and Germany’s ZDF news outlet.
The Swiss-based company, Crypto AG, which was founded in the 1940s as an independent firm during World War II, struck a shady deal with the CIA in 1951, subsequently became owned by the CIA in the 1970s, and was disbanded in 2018. And many former employees of the company, most of whom apparently had no idea that Crypto AG was secretly controlled by the CIA, are not happy with the revelation.
– Via Ace of Spades
https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/cia-spied-using-sabotaged-encryption-equipment-it-sold-1841597851
One thing that no one seems to be talking about is that the Steele fantasy was bought and paid for by Hillary Clinton and the DNC for the purpose of digging up dirt on Donald Trump.