{"id":67772,"date":"2017-03-06T14:29:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T18:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=67772"},"modified":"2017-03-06T14:32:31","modified_gmt":"2017-03-06T18:32:31","slug":"mark-levin-issues-open-letter-to-cnns-brian-stetler-you-are-thoroughly-dishonest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=67772","title":{"rendered":"Mark Levin Issues Open Letter To CNN&#8217;s Brian Stetler: &#8220;You Are Thoroughly Dishonest&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more-->ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n<p>Mark Levin, the man who started the ball rolling on &#8216;Obamagate&#8217; by connecting the dots across various President Obama actions over the last year, has issued an open letter to CNN&#8217;s Brian Stetler, exclaiming &#8220;you are thoroughly dishonest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In response to this&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2017\/03\/06\/media\/mark-levin-joel-pollak-breitbart-trump-obama\/index.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/user3303\/imageroot\/2017\/03\/05\/20170306_wiretap_0.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Levin writes&#8230; <em><strong>&#8220;You Are Thoroughly Dishonest&#8221;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote_start\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"quote_end\">Did you listen to my show on Thursday, before President Trump tweeted? Did you watch my appearance on Fox and Friends Sunday morning? I know you are ticked I did not appear on your show, despite your numerous requests. <strong>Your ad hominem attacks about &#8220;right wing&#8221; radio host and conspiracy theory stuff &#8230; incredible.<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>I simply put together the stories that YOUR profession reported, on the public record.<\/strong> Do you deny there were two FISA applications? Do you deny the first was turned down? Do you deny the second was approved? It&#8217;s called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It is about surveillance. The fact that we cannot discern all the details because of the secrecy, except for what the media have revealed and selective leaks by the government, should cause you to want to know more, not to trash those who point it out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And yes, we can make several logical implications based on events and experience. <\/strong>A FISA application is a big deal. One, or two in this case, that involve campaign surrogates, or a server or computer related to a candidate or campaign, etc., is a big deal. President Obama&#8217;s statement is not a definitive statement of anything, other than he, personally, did not order a wiretap, which I never claimed. But that does not mean he was unaware of surveillance activity by several of his departments, even through routine reports to the president, such as the Daily Intel Briefing or information conveyed to him or his staff via the Justice Department re the FBI counter-intelligence activities. As for Clapper, despite his past dissembling before Congress, he may not have been aware of what was taking place since the FBI counter-intel operation reportedly sought the warrant. The Daily Intel Briefing might provide useful information in that regard as well.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the release of the FISA applications would also shed a lot of light on events, <strong>assuming YOU believe reports that they were filed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Clapper has said, as recently as yesterday, that no connections between the Russians and the Trump campaign have been found. I am extremely critical of Russia, Putin, and the efforts to influence our election, although I do not believe they succeeded. That said,<strong> how would Clapper know of no connections if he, as former Director of National Intelligence, didn&#8217;t look?<\/strong> On what is that based?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your lack of curiosity and dishonesty about such matters and in dealing with me demean you and your profession.<\/strong> You are free to circulate this communication to whomever you wish, as I am making it public.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/note.php?note_id=10154139781040946\"><em>Source: Facebook<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Stetler was quick to tweet a reply&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Levin emailed me, &quot;Do you deny there were two FISA applications?&quot; I replied: &quot;I don&#39;t know. You don&#39;t know. The reporting is very murky.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uSyUgooRl0\">https:\/\/t.co\/uSyUgooRl0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brianstelter\/status\/838807789317287937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 6, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So, as a reminder of just what the so-called &#8216;Obamagate&#8217; timeline looks like &#8211; and where the DoJ was allegedly involved &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-government\/2017\/03\/03\/mark-levin-obama-used-police-state-tactics-undermine-trump\/\">here is Levin&#8217;s story so far<\/a>&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>1. June 2016: FISA request.<\/strong> The Obama administration <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/heatst.com\/world\/exclusive-fbi-granted-fisa-warrant-covering-trump-camps-ties-to-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">files a request<\/a> with the\u00a0Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to monitor communications involving Donald Trump and several advisers. The request, uncharacteristically, is denied.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. July: Russia joke<\/strong>. Wikileaks releases emails from the Democratic National Committee that show an effort to prevent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) from winning the presidential nomination. In a press conference, Donald Trump refers to Hillary Clinton\u2019s own missing emails, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/video\/2016\/07\/27\/trump-russia-if-youre-listening-i-hope-youre-able-to-find-the-30000-emails-that-are-missing\/\">joking<\/a>: \u201cRussia, if you\u2019re listening, I hope you\u2019re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.\u201d That remark becomes the basis for accusations by Clinton and the media that Trump invited further hacking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. October: Podesta emails.<\/strong> In October, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/wikileaks\/\">Wikileaks releases<\/a> the emails of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, rolling out batches every day until the election, creating new mini-scandals. The Clinton campaign blames Trump and the Russians.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. October: FISA request.\u00a0<\/strong>The Obama administration <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/heatst.com\/world\/exclusive-fbi-granted-fisa-warrant-covering-trump-camps-ties-to-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">submits a new, narrow request<\/a> to the FISA court, now focused on a computer server in Trump Tower suspected of links to Russian banks. No evidence is found \u2014 but the wiretaps continue, ostensibly for national security reasons, Andrew McCarthy at\u00a0<em>National Review<\/em>\u00a0later\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/article\/443768\/obama-fisa-trump-wiretap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notes<\/a>.\u00a0The Obama administration is now monitoring an opposing presidential campaign using the high-tech surveillance powers of the federal intelligence services.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. January 2017: Buzzfeed\/CNN dossier.<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/2016-presidential-race\/2017\/01\/11\/cnn-distances-itself-from-buzzfeed-russia-claims\/\">Buzzfeed releases, and CNN report<\/a>s, a supposed intelligence \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/wp-admin\/\">dossier<\/a>\u201d compiled by a foreign former spy. It purports to show continuous contact between Russia\u00a0and the Trump campaign, and says that the Russians have compromising information about Trump. None of the allegations can be verified and some are proven false. Several media outlets claim\u00a0that they had been aware of the dossier for months and that it had been circulating in Washington.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. January: Obama expands NSA sharing.\u00a0<\/strong>As Michael Walsh later <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/pjmedia.com\/trending\/2017\/02\/15\/surprise-at-the-end-obama-administration-gave-nsa-broad-new-powers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notes<\/a>, and as the\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em> reports, the outgoing Obama administration\u00a0\u201cexpanded the power of the National Security Agency to share globally intercepted personal communications with the government\u2019s 16 other intelligence agencies before applying privacy protections.\u201d\u00a0The new powers, and reduced protections, could make it easier for intelligence on private citizens to be circulated improperly or leaked.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. January:\u00a0<em>Times<\/em> report.<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em><a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/01\/19\/us\/politics\/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a>, on the eve of Inauguration Day, that several agencies \u2014 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Treasury Department are monitoring several associates of the Trump campaign suspected of Russian ties. Other news outlets also report the exisentence of \u201ca multiagency working group to coordinate investigations across the government,\u201d though\u00a0it is unclear how they found out, since the investigations would have been secret and\u00a0involved classified information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. February: Mike Flynn scandal.<\/strong>\u00a0Reports <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-government\/2017\/02\/15\/timeline-mike-flynn-controversy\/\">emerge<\/a> that the FBI intercepted a conversation in 2016 between future National Security Adviser Michael Flynn \u2014 then a private citizen \u2014 and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The intercept supposedly was part of routine spying on the ambassador, not monitoring of the Trump campaign. The FBI transcripts reportedly show the two discussing Obama\u2019s newly-imposed sanctions on Russia, though Flynn earlier denied discussing them. Sally Yates, whom Trump would <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-government\/2017\/01\/30\/youre-fired-trump-fires-ag-for-betrayal\/\">later fire<\/a> as acting Attorney General for insubordination, is involved in the investigation. In the end, Flynn <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-government\/2017\/02\/13\/michael-flynn-resigns-national-security-adviser\/\">resigns<\/a> over having misled Vice President Mike Pence (perhaps inadvertently) about the content of the conversation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. February:\u00a0<em>Times<\/em> claims extensive Russian contacts.\u00a0<\/strong>The\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em><a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/02\/14\/us\/politics\/russia-intelligence-communications-trump.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cites<\/a> \u201cfour current and former American officials\u201d in reporting that the Trump campaign had \u201crepeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials. The Trump campaign denies the claims \u2014 and the <em>Times<\/em> admits that there is \u201cno evidence\u201d of coordination between the campaign and the Russians. The White House and some congressional Republicans begin to raise questions about illegal intelligence leaks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. March: the\u00a0<em>Washington Post<\/em> targets Jeff Sessions.<\/strong> The\u00a0<em>Washington Post<\/em><a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/sessions-spoke-twice-with-russian-ambassador-during-trumps-presidential-campaign-justice-officials-say\/2017\/03\/01\/77205eda-feac-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?utm_term=.aeb0609c8196\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a> that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had contact twice with the Russian ambassador during the campaign \u2014 once at a Heritage Foundation event and once at a meeting in Sessions\u2019s Senate office. The\u00a0<em>Post<\/em> suggests that the two meetings contradict Sessions\u2019s testimony at his confirmation hearings that he had no contacts with the Russians, though in context (not presented by the <em>Post<\/em>)\u00a0it was clear he meant in his capacity as a campaign surrogate, and that he was responding to claims in the \u201cdossier\u201d of ongoing\u00a0contacts. The\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em>, in <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/01\/us\/politics\/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">covering<\/a> the story, adds that the Obama\u00a0White House \u201crushed to preserve\u201d intelligence related to alleged Russian links with the Trump campaign.\u00a0By\u00a0\u201cpreserve\u201d it really means \u201cdisseminate\u201d: officials spread evidence throughout other government agencies \u201cto leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators\u201d and perhaps the media as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2017-03-06\/mark-levin-issues-open-letter-cnns-brian-stetler-you-are-thoroughly-dishonest\">http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2017-03-06\/mark-levin-issues-open-letter-cnns-brian-stetler-you-are-thoroughly-dishonest<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}