FBI Relied On Controversial Dossier To Monitor Personnel Tied To Trump
The controversial, partially discredited 35-page dossier on President Donald Trump compiled by a former British intelligence officer reportedly served as the FBI’s justification for seeking court approval to clandestinely monitor Carter Page, who has been identified as a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump.
CNN broke the story, reporting: “The dossier has also been cited by FBI Director James Comey in some of his briefings to members of Congress in recent weeks, as one of the sources of information the bureau has used to bolster its investigation, according to US officials briefed on the probe.
“This includes approval from the secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to monitor the communications of Carter Page, two of the officials said. Last year, Page was identified by the Trump campaign as an adviser on national security.”
This is not the FBI’s only use of the dossier. Last month, the BBC reported that the document served as a “roadmap” for the FBI’s investigation into claims of coordination between Moscow and members of Trump’s presidential campaign.
The dossier, which contains wild and unproven claims about Trump, was compiled by former intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who was reportedly paid by Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans to investigate Trump.
Instead of questioning the FBI’s motivations for its reported use of the suspect dossier, some news media organizations actually brandished the FBI’s reported use of it to bolster the dossier’s credibility.
“Report: FBI’s use of Trump dossier in court order request boosts its credibility,” is the title of an AOL.com article.
“Trump’s Russia dossier corroborated: FBI used document to obtain wiretap on Carter Page,” reported Salon.com.
Coverage of the matter by other major news media outlets reviewed by this reporter failed to provide reasonable context regarding the many questions surrounding the dossier or criticism of the document from current and former U.S. officials.
ISIS To Ratchet Up Attacks, Says Gazan Jihadist
The West is “entering a new age of conflict” with ISIS, which will also not hesitate to continue acting against Arab countries, Abu Abdullah Almuhajer, a jihadist currently living in the Gaza Strip, claimed in an interview with this reporter.
Almuhajer is a senior jihadist in Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, a group that operates under the umbrella of ISIS’s franchise in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
“The West should know that it’s entering a new age of conflict with the fighters of the Islamic State,” claimed Almuhajer. “The Islamic State is in an open-ended offensive against the countries of infidels that are a part of the international coalition led by America and against Russia and its allies, and the attacks – like lone-wolf attacks – will increase dramatically in the coming period of time.”
According to Almuhajer, “All those involved in terrorizing Muslims and who are against the Islamic State should expect our fighters to respond with full force. The attacks in France, Belgium, America, Germany, and the last attack in Syria against intelligence headquarters, are only a small part of what our fighting Mujahedeen are planning against the infidel countries that are participating in the fight against our brothers in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sinai, and other countries around the world.”
Almuhajer said Western countries won’t be the only ones to suffer attacks from ISIS forces. “We will continue against the traitorous and infidel regimes in Arab and Muslim countries. Without these regimes, it would be much more difficult for the crusaders to conduct the war they are waging against Muslims and against the Islamic State.”
ISIS Drones Appear To Have Made A Comeback
Photos released by ISIS purport to show that its jihadists are again using small unmanned drones to attack targets in the area of Mosul where ISIS is in the midst of a battle with the Iraqi army.
The use of drones was allegedly renewed after about a month during which the group avoided deploying them in combat. In the photos released by ISIS on the group’s Telegram account, small unmanned aircraft can be seen attacking Shi’ite militia targets on the outskirts of Mosul.
Earlier this month, a U.S.-led coalition airstrike reportedly struck an ISIS drone factory in Mosul. The U.S.-led international military coalition killed ISIS foreign drone experts and destroyed a drone factory in western Mosul on Monday.
The redeployment of ISIS drones comes as the group finds itself being pushed back toward the Old City of Mosul, a zone without many open areas where the aircraft can operate.
Meanwhile, reports circulated on Iraqi social media citing Shi’ite activists saying the U.S. has supplied the Iraqi army with equipment designed to neutralize and disrupt the use of ISIS drones.
In February, the Iraqi army claimed that it had raided a drone factory near Mosul. Also that month, the Stratfor global intelligence newsletter investigated the ISIS drone threat, writing, “The Islamic State is taking to the skies as the fight for Mosul wears on. Over the past several weeks, the extremist group has been flaunting its use of unmanned aerial vehicles against Iraqi army and Kurdish forces in and around the city. Propaganda videos feature dramatic aerial footage of the precision attacks, and they have produced their intended effect, receiving heavy coverage in mainstream media outlets. So far, the Islamic State has deployed this technique only in Iraq and Syria.
“That’s likely soon to change, though, considering the attention the group’s drone attacks have been getting and the prevalence of drones in the West. Drone attacks are coming. But they do not necessarily portend death from above.”