Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is calling on the Justice Department to release transcripts of any intercepted communications he may have had with foreigners.
Manafort, a longtime Republican political consultant, also called on the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate the leak of details of secret surveillance warrants obtained by U.S. investigators.
“Mr. Manafort requests that the Department of Justice release any intercepts involving him and any non-Americans so interested parties can come to the same conclusion as the DOJ — there is nothing there,” Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said in a statement.
On Monday, CNN reported that investigators obtained a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Manafort prior to the presidential election. The wiretapping continued into early this year, according to CNN’s unnamed sources. (RELATED: Feds Wiretapped Paul Manafort Before And After The Election)
By the way. It's illegal to release information gathered from a FISA warrant. Great avenue for abuse: You can't demand the government reveal the recorded transcript, mean while the media and their political allies can speculate, suggest, and distort about what was (supposedly) in it.
Whether or not Manafort committed a crime — and he has not been charged with anything — the leak of information about FISA warrants is a federal crime, Maloni noted in his statement.
“If true, it is a felony to reveal the existence of a FISA warrant, regardless of the fact that no charges ever emerged,” Maloni said.
For the record - and I want to make it clear because I'm sure if I don't I'll be accused of saying Manafort's totally innocent - there's a good chance charges will be recommended for some technical violations of reporting. The Media will behave like Palestinians and the t-shirt of a Hamas Bomber killed by a Hellfire Missile, waving the bloody shirt shreiking ULULULULULULULU, but it will be a dud in the end. One nagging question will remain: Was Trump on any of the recordings during or after the campaign, and worse, were the names unmasked by the Obama Admin.
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By the way. It's illegal to release information gathered from a FISA warrant. Great avenue for abuse: You can't demand the government reveal the recorded transcript, mean while the media and their political allies can speculate, suggest, and distort about what was (supposedly) in it.
For the record - and I want to make it clear because I'm sure if I don't I'll be accused of saying Manafort's totally innocent - there's a good chance charges will be recommended for some technical violations of reporting. The Media will behave like Palestinians and the t-shirt of a Hamas Bomber killed by a Hellfire Missile, waving the bloody shirt shreiking ULULULULULULULU, but it will be a dud in the end. One nagging question will remain: Was Trump on any of the recordings during or after the campaign, and worse, were the names unmasked by the Obama Admin.