Rushed Russiagate

Going fishing, fortunately, there's not a lot on a Sunday morning.

 A.C. Swiger at RedState: Democrats Always Drag The Conversation Into An Argument About The English Language!

Gallons of ink are being wasted and the airwaves are polluted with arguments about whether the FBI informant on the Trump Campeign, Stephan Halper was a “Spy” or a “Confidential Informant”?

Let me turn the question on its head.

Arguing “Halper is a Confidential informant, not a spy,” is the same as arguing “a Mallard is not a duck.” Let’s put it another way. “Is a duck a Mallard or a Norther Pin Tail?” A Mallard is a Duck! A Northern Pin Tail is a Duck! They are both Ducks by another name!

Let’s look back at the 1990s, when Democrats dragged us into a never ending argument about whether “oral sex” is the same as “sexual relations.”In the minds of any cuckolded individual, there is no difference. But by legal definition “oral sex” is not intercourse, therefore it is not “sexual relations.”

By saying “Halper isn’t a “spy'”, Comey dragged us into an argument over legal terms. If you follow the FBI’s handbook of terms Comey is right (for domestic investigations at least…BUT NOT foreign intelligence investigations.

Andrew McCarthy at National Review: Spy Name Games

In the end, it is not about who the spies are. It is about why they were spying. In our democratic republic, there is an important norm against an incumbent administration’s use of government’s enormous intelligence-gathering capabilities to — if we may borrow a phrase — interfere in an election. To justify disregarding that norm would require strong evidence of egregious wrongdoing. Enough bobbing and weaving, and enough dueling tweets. Let’s see the evidence.

John Sexton, Hot Air: Crossfire Hurricane: Is The Code Name A Reference To Christopher Steele?

The Guardian: British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia. If by spot, you mean create. George Newmayr at the Spectator: The London-to-Langley Spy Ring. Michael Barone at the Washington Examiner: Obama officials' spying on Trump a departure from norms:

Has an outgoing administration ever worked to delegitimize and dislodge its successor incoming administration like this? We hear many complaints, some justified, about Trump’s departure from standard political norms. But the greater and more dangerous departure from norms may be that of the Obama officials seeking to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

Daniel John Sobieski at Flopping Aces blames ValJar: Obama’s Rasputin, Valerie Jarrett, Behind Spygate. Could be. Judicial Watch President  Tom Fitton: 'Anti-Trump' Russia Probe Designed to Distract From Hillary's Crimes & FBI-DOJ 'Cover-Up' and with luck, and FOIA, they'll prove it.

More links from Larwyn's Linx: CIA or CNN? Who can tell the difference?:

CIA or CNN? Who can tell the difference?: Daniel Greenfield, Mueller's Unhinged Russia collusion investigation spreads to Israel.: Ari Lieberman, As each day dawns, the gravity and breadth of the scandal just gets worse: REX, Sedition: Eric Holder calls on DOJ/FBI to unconstitutionally defy President: Joe Newby, Julian Assange seeks audience with Adam Schiff to prove ‘there is no collusion’: Exam, Clinton and Weiner: Stealth Jeff, FBI: Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein Was Informant for Mueller's FBI: TruePundit, McConnell says he backs Mueller probe after classified briefing: Max Greenwood

AP: Giuliani: White House Wants Briefing On Classified “Spygate” Info and they're pisssed.

Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s attorneys, told The Associated Press on Friday that the White House hopes to get a readout of the information next week, particularly about the use of a longtime government informant who approached members of Trump’s campaign in a possible bid to glean intelligence on Russian efforts to sway the election. Trump has made unproven claims of FBI misconduct and political bias and has denounced the asset as “a spy.”

“If the spying was inappropriate, that means we may have an entirely illegitimate investigation,” Giuliani said of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. He then invoked the material compiled by former FBI Director James Comey before he was fired.

“Coupled with Comey’s illegally leaked memos, this means the whole thing was a mistake and should never have happened,” Giuliani said. “We’d urge the Justice Department to re-evaluate, to acknowledge they made a mistake. It’s a waste of $20 million of the taxpayers’ money. The whole thing is already a waste of money.”

Yahoo plays "Six degrees of Vladimir Putin" with  'Trump's son should be concerned': FBI obtained wiretaps of Putin ally who met with Trump Jr.

Sedition: Eric Holder calls on DOJ/FBI to unconstitutionally defy President Trump

On Monday, former Attorney General Eric Holder, who, by the way, was held in contempt of Congress, urged employees of the Justice Department and the FBI to unconstitutionally defy President Trump in his effort to determine if the agencies acted inappropriately by targeting a political campaign during the election.

“More DOJ norms being eroded. Trump-a SUBJECT of the investigation-wants access to material related to the inquiry. His Congressional supporters want evidence connected to an ongoing investigation. Time for DOJ/FBI to simply say no-protect the institutions and time tested norms,” he tweeted.

Dear Mr. Contempt-of-Congress:

Norms are not statutes.

Sincerely,
Reality Strikes

— Dan Passaro (@danpass) May 22, 2018