Richard Gere has made a lot of wonderful movies. But he might be most remembered for one very few people saw. In 1997 Richard Gere made a movie called “Red Corner,” about an American lawyer arrested and tried in China.
It’s surreal; secret courts, simultaneous trials, unknown judges. Only the Communists could devise such a system, right? Wrong. As soon as I learned about FISA warrants, Susan Rice, and unmasking, I knew I was watching a rerun. “Red Corner” is now law in the good old US of A. Download the movie to see where our government has taken us.
In 1978, long before 9/11, Osama, Iraq, and ISIS we passed the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) to allow our spy guys (spooks) to obtain wiretap approval under very stringent and controlled circumstances. (Rand Paul was probably still in school.) Clearly the growth of electronics meant the world was more dangerous, and if we didn’t listen to them they would listen to us. Of course, as Lord Acton told the world: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” My own updated version is: “Once the (government) genie is out of the bottle, you’ll never get it back in.”
Fast forward to 2009. And instead of the feckless Jimmy Carter in the 1978 White House we have the Saul Alinsky protege, Barack Obama. President Obama found all the genies. Once upon a time the United States was a constitutional republic. That meant that the rule of law was sacred and all the officials and agencies worked for “We the people.”
President Obama had a different vision. He turned us into a banana republic, where all the officials and the agencies work for the (Democratic) Party. Remember Lois Lerner turning the IRS into a political weapon? How about the EPA taking control of your farm because a puddle was found? The FBI could indict (Republican) Petraeus but not (Democrat) Hillary.
Clapper could lie to a congressional committee and know there was no price to pay. And let’s not even talk about Benghazi. It will take President Trump years to drain this swamp.
That brings us back to FISA warrants and their enablers, the NSA and Susan Rice. We’re at the very tip of the wiretap iceberg but, unbeknownst to most, on the right track.
President Trump, one of the most intuitive people we will ever know, realized that he had been wiretapped. Lacking the standard presidential filter, he just blurted (tweeted) it out. In other words he released his own genie knowing he could never take it back. The media and Dems (but I repeat myself) screamed, laughed, pointed fingers, and generally dismissed President Trump as delusional (again). Republican Congressman Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence committee (is there really such a thing?) saw the classified documents, told the president and drew an ethics complaint; but not before his Democrat counterpart, Congressman Schiff, saw the same documents.
Nunes recused himself which may give us Trey Gowdy and both parties committed to launch a full scale investigation of FISA, the NSA, all the Russian connections and, of course, Susan Rice, Carter Page, and “unmasking.”
Who and what? Let us go in reverse order and start with “unmasking.” Unmasking is the new get-into-jail-free card that you’re going to learn about. It works like this: A (secret) judge OKs Susan Rice’s request for a FISA warrant on me, citing me as a potential enemy mole. (Apparently Susan never gets turned down, and my sin is using Russian dressing on my salad.) While under surveillance I play tennis with you and our unimportant conversations are “tapped.” In the report to the other secret FISA agents your name is revealed, or “unmasked,” in spookese. That’s a felony; five years. Get it?
Now let’s introduce Carter Page. Carter, a third-level Trump campaign staffer, is about to be presented as Judas, Benedict Arnold, Mata Hari, Tokyo Rose, Alger Hiss, and the Rosenbergs, all rolled into one. Carter’s crime? He once spoke to a Russian. His bad fortune? He is all that the Dems have. He has volunteered to go before the House Intelligence Committee to “clear his name.” Good luck with that.
And, of course, Susan Rice, the least credible appointee in America. All you have to know is that she started by denying everything, continued by explaining why that wasn’t true. And is not represented by a lawyer but by a “crisis management” team. Who thought that the price she didn’t pay for Benghazi would be extracted through FISA-gate.
We going to stop here and let events and hearings take us to future episodes of “Red Corner, American style.” It will not be dull or predictable. But it should be fun.
Sid Dinerstein is a former chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. He founded JBS Associates, a 600-person financial service company, and currently combines politics and business with Niger Innis in Inclusive Elections LLC, a firm that brings urban electorate voters to the GOP. He is the author of "Adults Only: For Those Who Love Their Country More Than Their Party." For more of his reports, Go Here Now.