Posted on 06/14/2017 11:27:05 AM PDT by drewh
EXCLUSIVE: Sources with links to the Justice Department confirm that U.S. intelligence said Director Comey had his own phone legally hacked in order to record suspects for over a year.
On June 9th, in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York, Judge Orenstein slapped down Jeff Sessions as he attempted to force the service provider on James Comey’s phone to assist Sessions with continuing an SS7 exploit placed there by the consent of James Comey, and lawfully, in order to help Comey in his criminal investigation of Russia.
Separate sources with links to the intelligence and justice communities are clear that the ‘witness’ in this case is James Comey, the ‘software solution’ is the SS7 exploit used on his phone by consent, and that his phone was recording, again, by consent, and as part of a lawful criminal investigation that for well over a year. This would mean that the FBI had essentially used Director Comey’s cell phone to monitor suspects in the Russia case since before the beginning of June, 2016.
If Trump, as he is openly threatening, prepares to fire Special Counsel Mueller, parts of these tapes may be leaked to the general public. The court case itself, with the names of the witness and his cell phone provider redacted, is open, public record, but sources linked to the intelligence community have confirmed the witness to be Director Comey, giving the document an extraordinary significance.
First we can see that the ‘hot mike’ phone was provided to Director Comey by Federal Agents, in or before the summer of 2016, as part of a criminal investigation, and in order to assist him in that investigation:
As part of an investigation into suspected criminal activity, the government has secured the agreement of the Witness to engage in monitored communications with subjects of the investigation. Beginning over a year ago, agents provided the Subject Telephone to the Witness, who in turn provided written consent to the interception and recording of all calls made and received over that device
Second, we can see that Director Comey had renewed his written consent on this ‘several months later’ and again just two days before Trump fired him. The day after this consent was renewed, Comey interviewed Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump about the Kelhios botnet operating out of Trump Tower, which they both had knowledge of. This conversation too was legally recorded and likely was the immediate spur for firing Comey.
The Witness again provided written consent to the monitoring of the Subject Telephone several months later, and then did so a third time two days ago; in this most recent writing, according to the government, the Witness again committed “not [to] allow third parties to use the telephone.” Id. at 7 & Ex. A.3
It is clear that the government, by which we mean Jeff Sessions, submitted to the court that he needed help finding out how Director Comey’s cell phone had been monitored as the “software based solution” (ie, the SS7 hot mike of the phone) had been discontinued. Intelligence sources familiar with the matter were scornful of the idea that the consensual monitoring of Director Comey’s phone would be continued after he was fired for investigating Trump’s sons and the Kelhios botnet used in Russia’s hack of the U.S. election.
Until recently, the agents consensually monitored the Subject Telephone’s communications and location by using “a software-based solution” that did not require the Provider’s participation. Id. at 7 n.6. The government reports that the latter product was recently “discontinued” without explaining how that discontinuance renders the product it was already using ineffective (although I assume that it must be so).
The translation of this passage is that intelligence agents who consensually hacked the phone switched off their exploit the second Trump fired Comey, and Jeff Sessions was whining to the court that he could not get back in.
In the dry language of the ruling, judge Orenstein told Sessions that Comey was using this exploit to investigate a crime and that hacking his phone without consent was completely unnecessary. He told Sessions to go and boil his head.
The third discretionary factor is necessity. In N.Y. Tel. Co., the Supreme Court observed that “without the Company’s assistance there is no conceivable way in which the surveillance authorized by the District Court could have been successfully accomplished.” 434 U.S. at 175. The record before me shows no such necessity. The government has demonstrated only that for over a year, it was able to monitor the Witness’s communications over the Subject Telephone without the Provider’s assistance, and that the particular product it used to do so has been discontinued.
It has not asserted, much less established, that there are no other alternatives available that will allow it to accomplish its investigative goal without forcing the Provider to furnish technical assistance against its will. The complete lack of any showing of necessity weighs heavily against the government.
The front-facing of Director Comey’s identity to Patribotics may be taken as a Director Comey decided he himself might need to be fired in order to advance the narrative away from himself and towards Donald Trump’s actions.
Something is very wrong about this.
Tese records, if they exist, are now in Session’s capable hands.
There are lies, damned lies, and Deep State shenanigans.
Mueller is there for a reason, to get Rosenstein to sign off on immunity for Comey and McCabe.
The President need not fire Mueller. He need only have a directive issued and served on Rosenstein that explains that any immunity dealings are subject to presidential review before approval.
Comey that paragon of virtue had his own phone purposedly hacked, what a stool pigeon!
bunch of bs imo.
if comey was investigating trump with warrant then he lied to Congress when he said Trump was not being investigated
If Comey, in the otherwise illegal unmasking activities, was acting under classified directives from the former POTUS, then surely Mueller would want to hide that fact to protect both Obama and his friend Comey.
Very poorly written article. Not just the legal jargon. The writer seems to hate Sessions. What I can’t figure out is how Sessions is not allowed to receive the information even though it was DOJ property and allegedly used “in an ongoing criminal investigation”. Sessions and Trump need to start paying attention. Somethings going to give soon!
If Sessions has recused himself, why would he be requesting this sort of material? Very fishy claim imo.
So, does this mean that Comey’s “hot mike” recorded the conversation between he and Trump in the Oval Office? Was he spying on Trump? If he was not under investigation, then why?
Comey probably thinks that the FISA warrants will protect him...
Comey probably thinks that the FISA warrants will protect him...
Hence the Trump mention of “tapes”. I’d like to hear the conversations between Comey and Lynch. And I’d like for both of them to be asked under oath if Lynch was aware of the adulteration to Comey’s phone to record the conversations. If so, when was she made aware? Was she a party to making it happen?
If there is any justice left in this nation we need to see a lot of democrats being sent off to prison for extended periods for their many felonies and for the conspiracy to commit those felonies.
This article is fevered claptrap. FWIW, I’ve previously mentally noted that your posts on FR are junk. One more stick on the pile.
“So anyone who called Comey was recorded? And this is legal even if it is the President. And if a Congressman calls? Hillary?”
Washington DC and Virginia both have “one party consent” wiretap laws, so as long as one party to a conversation consents, it is legal to record it. Things may get murkier if the phone call was between people in different states with different laws though, I am not sure about that. If it is across state lines the federal wiretap law may take precedence, but that is also a “one party consent” law.
“The court case itself, with the names of the witness and his cell phone provider redacted, is open, public record”
OK. Let’s see it.
why ignore the Clinton /Obama deep state and let them get away with it...put them out front and center for examination!
I believe you are correct. It is “fishy” My take, Comey recorded conversations on his own phone for over a year. This apparently ended upon his firing but I don’t know if that is true.Sessions had all Comey’s computer, emails, phones, records, files, memos, etc... since the firing. sessions couldn’t figure out the phone tap. Federal Judge told him to “boil his head”. The phone was either his personal property or belonging to the Gov’t. If it is the Gov’t, he does not have rights to the property. If it is personal, he is conducting Gov’t business on his own phone. Either way he is committing a crime. He is also taping all calls. Even with POTUS. Thus he has tapes of Obama and Trump. Trump has a right to be free from being taped unless he was the person being investigated. Comey has testified that Trump was never under investigation.
The further issue is Obama. I am sure he isn’t getting involved. What about Lynch? What about Senators and Congressman? Comey is taping everyone. Probably has all calls from july ‘16 to set up fake interview with Hillary. This can get really messy. Comey was probably using this as insurance(life). Now he seems to be into extortion.
You are skilled at supersizing the “fake” in fake news. No thanks.
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