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Undid revision 844041995 by Ibanezguy1232 - spygate refers to Trump's claim that there was ONE spy in his campaign. if you have evidence, it would be of stuff brought up in May 2018. explictly connected to spygate.
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==Background==
==Background==

On March 22, 2017 [[Devin Nunes]] gave a press conference and said "I recently confirmed that on numerous occasions, the intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition. Details about persons associated with the incoming administration, details with little apparent foreign intelligence value were widely disseminated in intelligence community reporting. Third, I have confirmed that additional names of Trump transition team members were unmasked. And forth and finally, I want to be clear, none of this surveillance was related to Russia, or the investigation of Russian activities, or of the Trump team."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/national/read-transcripts-rep-devin-nunes-news-conferences-about-trump-surveillance/NdZ4qQv7uBnjcH9E3HSRPJ/|title=Read transcripts of Rep. Devin Nunes’ news conferences about Trump surveillance|work=ajc|access-date=2018-06-02}}</ref> [[Susan Rice]] went on PBS on March 22, 2017 and gave an interview and claimed that she "knew nothing" about the unmasking of Trump campaign officials.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/susan-rice-world-wonders-worries-white-house-can-trusted|title=Susan Rice: The world wonders and worries if the White House can be trusted|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-02}}</ref> Months later on September 18, 2017 CNN reported that Susan Rice testified to the House Intelligence Committee that she had indeed unmasked Trump campaign officials.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/susan-rice-house-investigators-unmasked-trump-officials/|title=Exclusive: Rice on unmasking Trump officials|last=Correspondent|first=Manu Raju, Senior Congressional|work=CNN|access-date=2018-06-02}}</ref>


On May 17, 2018, Trump quoted ''[[National Review]]'' columnist [[Andrew C. McCarthy]], who had said: "There's probably no doubt that [the FBI] had at least one confidential informant in the [Trump] campaign". From that quote, Trump described that "word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN ... If so, this is bigger than [[Watergate]]!"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Manchester |first1=Julia |title=Trump: Report that Obama FBI spied on campaign could be 'bigger than Watergate' |url=http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/388101-trump-report-that-obama-fbi-spied-on-campaign-could-be-bigger-than |publisher=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref>
On May 17, 2018, Trump quoted ''[[National Review]]'' columnist [[Andrew C. McCarthy]], who had said: "There's probably no doubt that [the FBI] had at least one confidential informant in the [Trump] campaign". From that quote, Trump described that "word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN ... If so, this is bigger than [[Watergate]]!"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Manchester |first1=Julia |title=Trump: Report that Obama FBI spied on campaign could be 'bigger than Watergate' |url=http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/388101-trump-report-that-obama-fbi-spied-on-campaign-could-be-bigger-than |publisher=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref>
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The New York Times published a bombshell article on May 16, 2018 which disclosed the existence of an FBI investigation into the Trump campaign codenamed "Operation Crossfire Hurricane." The article confirms that the FBI "obtained phone records and other documents using [[National security letters]], a secret type of subpoena..."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/politics/crossfire-hurricane-trump-russia-fbi-mueller-investigation.html|title=Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation|date=2018-05-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In addition to using National Security Letters "to obtain phone records and other documents" on Trump campaign officials and FBI spy/informant Stefan Halper,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/politics/crossfire-hurricane-trump-russia-fbi-mueller-investigation.html|title=Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation|date=2018-05-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> a Title-I FISA warrant was taken out on Trump campaign official Carter Page which allowed ongoing and retroactive surveillance on anyone within "2 hops" of Carter Page. 2 hops means anyone Carter Page contacted as well as anyone who talked to any of Carter Pages' contacts was caught up in the FISA surveillance dragnet.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/us/politics/carter-page-fisa-warrant-russia-trump.html|title=Court Approved Wiretap on Trump Campaign Aide Over Russia Ties|date=2017-04-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=207195207|title=With 3 'Hops,' NSA Gets Millions Of Phone Records|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en}}</ref>
The New York Times published a bombshell article on May 16, 2018 which disclosed the existence of an FBI investigation into the Trump campaign codenamed "Operation Crossfire Hurricane." The article confirms that the FBI "obtained phone records and other documents using [[National security letters]], a secret type of subpoena..."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/politics/crossfire-hurricane-trump-russia-fbi-mueller-investigation.html|title=Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation|date=2018-05-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In addition to using National Security Letters "to obtain phone records and other documents" on Trump campaign officials and FBI spy/informant Stefan Halper,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/politics/crossfire-hurricane-trump-russia-fbi-mueller-investigation.html|title=Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation|date=2018-05-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> a Title-I FISA warrant was taken out on Trump campaign official Carter Page which allowed ongoing and retroactive surveillance on anyone within "2 hops" of Carter Page. 2 hops means anyone Carter Page contacted as well as anyone who talked to any of Carter Pages' contacts was caught up in the FISA surveillance dragnet.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/us/politics/carter-page-fisa-warrant-russia-trump.html|title=Court Approved Wiretap on Trump Campaign Aide Over Russia Ties|date=2017-04-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=207195207|title=With 3 'Hops,' NSA Gets Millions Of Phone Records|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-06-02|language=en}}</ref>


Although an FBI informant, [[Stefan Halper]], spoke separately to three Trump campaign advisers ([[Carter Page]], [[Sam Clovis]] and [[George Papadopoulos]]) in 2016, there is no evidence that Halper was actually part of Trump’s campaign.<ref>{{cite web|title=Secret FBI source for Russia investigation met with three Trump advisers during campaign|first1=Robert|last1=Costa|first2=Carol|last2=Leonnig|first3=Tom|last3=Hamburger|first4=Devlin|last4=Barrett|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-fbi-source-for-russia-investigation-met-with-three-trump-advisers-during-campaign/2018/05/18/9778d9f0-5aea-11e8-b656-a5f8c2a9295d_story.html?utm_term=.818bc6887f6f|work=[[The Washington Post]]|accessdate=29 May 2018}}</ref> The [[Associated Press]] reported that Trump privately said that he wanted "to brand" the informant as a "spy" as using a more nefarious term would supposedly resonate more with the public.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jalonick |first1=Mary |last2=Lemire |first2=Jonathan |title=Seething over Russia probe, Trump tears into ‘spygate’ |url=https://apnews.com/23b9456c12484b6cb31c93da269a6159/Seething-over-Russia-probe,-Trump-tears-into-%27spygate |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref>
Although an FBI informant, [[Stefan Halper]], spoke separately to three Trump campaign advisers ([[Carter Page]], [[Sam Clovis]] and [[George Papadopoulos]]) in 2016, there is no evidence that Halper was actually part of Trump’s campaign.<ref>{{cite web|title=Secret FBI source for Russia investigation met with three Trump advisers during campaign|first1=Robert|last1=Costa|first2=Carol|last2=Leonnig|first3=Tom|last3=Hamburger|first4=Devlin|last4=Barrett|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-fbi-source-for-russia-investigation-met-with-three-trump-advisers-during-campaign/2018/05/18/9778d9f0-5aea-11e8-b656-a5f8c2a9295d_story.html?utm_term=.818bc6887f6f|work=[[The Washington Post]]|accessdate=29 May 2018}}</ref> The [[Associated Press]] reported that Trump privately said that he wanted "to brand" the informant as a "spy" as using a more nefarious term would supposedly resonate more with the public.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jalonick |first1=Mary |last2=Lemire |first2=Jonathan |title=Seething over Russia probe, Trump tears into ‘spygate’ |url=https://apnews.com/23b9456c12484b6cb31c93da269a6159/Seething-over-Russia-probe,-Trump-tears-into-%27spygate |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref>


== Trump's allegations ==
== Trump's allegations ==

Revision as of 06:07, 2 June 2018

Spygate is a conspiracy theory[1][2] developed and popularized by the United States president Donald Trump. The theory appears to have no basis in fact.[3][4][5][6]

Background

On May 17, 2018, Trump quoted National Review columnist Andrew C. McCarthy, who had said: "There's probably no doubt that [the FBI] had at least one confidential informant in the [Trump] campaign". From that quote, Trump described that "word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN ... If so, this is bigger than Watergate!"[7]

The New York Times published a bombshell article on May 16, 2018 which disclosed the existence of an FBI investigation into the Trump campaign codenamed "Operation Crossfire Hurricane." The article confirms that the FBI "obtained phone records and other documents using National security letters, a secret type of subpoena..."[8] In addition to using National Security Letters "to obtain phone records and other documents" on Trump campaign officials and FBI spy/informant Stefan Halper,[9] a Title-I FISA warrant was taken out on Trump campaign official Carter Page which allowed ongoing and retroactive surveillance on anyone within "2 hops" of Carter Page. 2 hops means anyone Carter Page contacted as well as anyone who talked to any of Carter Pages' contacts was caught up in the FISA surveillance dragnet.[10][11]

Although an FBI informant, Stefan Halper, spoke separately to three Trump campaign advisers (Carter Page, Sam Clovis and George Papadopoulos) in 2016, there is no evidence that Halper was actually part of Trump’s campaign.[12] The Associated Press reported that Trump privately said that he wanted "to brand" the informant as a "spy" as using a more nefarious term would supposedly resonate more with the public.[13]

Trump's allegations

On May 22, 2018, Trump expanded on McCarthy's theory, alleging that the Barack Obama administration had paid to plant a spy inside the 2016 Trump presidential campaign "very early on" to assist Trump's rival, Hilary Clinton, win the 2016 US presidential campaign.[5][14] From May 23, 2018, Trump began to describe his allegations as Spygate.[1][15][4]

Despite claiming that Spygate "could be one of the biggest political scandals in history",[16] Trump has not offered any evidence when asked for it, instead saying, "All you have to do is look at the basics and you'll see it."[17]

Trump also published a false quote attributed to James Clapper that "Trump should be happy that the FBI was SPYING on his campaign". Instead, when asked "was the FBI spying on Trump’s campaign", Clapper had said, "No, they were not." What Clapper really said Trump should have been happy about was that the FBI was investigating “what the Russians were doing” and "were the Russians infiltrating" his campaign and trying to influence the election.[18]

Trump has said that Halper, the FBI informant, was paid a "massive amount of money", and concluded that he thus must be a spy implanted for "political purposes". However, the $1 million in contracts were signed between Halper and the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment between 2012 to 2016, with 40% of the money awarded before Trump announced his candidacy in 2015. It is unknown if the FBI paid Halper at all.[19][20]

Reactions and criticism

Trey Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said after a classified meeting with Department of Justice officials that "the FBI is doing what [Trump] told them to do ... I am even more convinced that the FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got, and that it has nothing to do with Donald Trump".[21] Republican senator Jeff Flake has said that the "so-called Spygate" is a "diversion tactic, obviously", while Democratic Represenative Adam Schiff has said that Spygate is a "piece of propaganda the president wants to put out and repeat".[22]

Asked on whether the promotion of the Spygate theory is meant to discredit the special counsel investigation, Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said that the investigators "are giving us the material to do it. Of course, we have to do it in defending the president ... it is for public opinion" on whether to "impeach or not impeach" Trump.[23]

Journalist Shepard Smith has said that of Spygate that "Fox News can confirm that it is not" true; "Fox News knows of no evidence to support the president's claim. Lawmakers from both parties say using an informant to investigate is not spying. It’s part of the normal investigative process."[24] Legal analyst Andrew Napolitano concurred in telling Fox News that the FBI's usage of an informant was being done "all the time" and thus "stunningly unremarkable".[25]

Jon Meacham, a presidential historian, wrote that Spygate may have been developed to distract the American voting public from "legitimate investigations or other things [Trump] dislikes is corrosive".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Davis, Julie; Haberman, Maggie. "With 'Spygate,' Trump Shows How He Uses Conspiracy Theories to Erode Trust". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  2. ^ Sollenberger, Roger. "The Short, Sad Life of SPYGATE!: Trump's Latest Conspiracy Theory Got Debunked By Evidence in A Matter of Hours". Paste. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Bump, Philip. "There is no evidence for 'Spygate' — but there is a reason Trump invented it". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b Beauchamp, Zack. ""Spygate," the false allegation that the FBI had a spy in the Trump campaign, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  6. ^ Darcy, James. "'Spygate' is just latest Trump lie: Darcy cartoon". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  7. ^ Manchester, Julia. "Trump: Report that Obama FBI spied on campaign could be 'bigger than Watergate'". The Hill. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation". The New York Times. 2018-05-16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  9. ^ "Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation". The New York Times. 2018-05-16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  10. ^ "Court Approved Wiretap on Trump Campaign Aide Over Russia Ties". The New York Times. 2017-04-12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  11. ^ "With 3 'Hops,' NSA Gets Millions Of Phone Records". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  12. ^ Costa, Robert; Leonnig, Carol; Hamburger, Tom; Barrett, Devlin. "Secret FBI source for Russia investigation met with three Trump advisers during campaign". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. ^ Jalonick, Mary; Lemire, Jonathan. "Seething over Russia probe, Trump tears into 'spygate'". Associated Press. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  14. ^ Tatum, Sophie. "Carter Page: I 'never found anything unusual' in conversations with FBI source". CNN. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  15. ^ DeCosta-Klipa, Nik. "This Donald Trump tweet might have caused some confusion for Patriots fans". Boston.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  16. ^ "Trump: 'SPYGATE' a scandal 'the likes of which this country may never have seen before'". CNBC. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  17. ^ Fishel, Justin; Karson, Kendall; Khan, Mariam. "Trump claims 'you'll see it' when asked for proof of alleged 'spying' scandal". ABC News. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  18. ^ Kiely, Eugene. "Trump Misquotes Clapper on FBI 'Spy'". FactCheck.org. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  19. ^ Greenberg, Jon. "Online story gets details wrong about informant payment in Trump Russia probe". Politifact. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  20. ^ Correll, Diana. "Trump questions why FBI informant received payments from government". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  21. ^ MacCallum, Martha. "Gowdy on Trump's Spy Claims: I'm 'Convinced' FBI Did What Americans Would Want Them to Do". Fox News. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  22. ^ "Trump's 'Spygate' is a 'diversion tactic': Senator Flake". Reuters. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  23. ^ Bach, Natasha (May 28, 2018). "'It Is for Public Opinion.' Rudy Giuliani May Have Admitted That Trump's 'Spygate' Is a PR Ploy". Fortune. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  24. ^ Bort, Ryan. "Even Conservatives Are Realizing Trump's 'Spygate' Conspiracy Is a Hoax". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  25. ^ "Judge Nap: Giuliani Shouldn't Make 'Outlandish & Outrageous' Spy Allegations Without Evidence". Fox News. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
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