April 10, 2024, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging House passage of an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 reauthorization that “[p]rohibits warrantless searches of U.S. person communications in the FISA 702 database, with exceptions for imminent threats to life or bodily harm, consent searches, or known cybersecurity threat signatures”:

“The election interference by the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the fraudulent Russian collusion using the secret FISA Court demand real reforms.  With FISA reauthorization now up for consideration, the House of Representatives will either make a stand in favor of America’s Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless searches by supporting the Biggs amendment or they will fail to do their duty to uphold the Constitution.  If they fail, it will be a stain on the body, where they chose purported security over our basic freedoms. Americans for Limited Government strongly urges House members to vote for the Biggs amendment to the FISA reform bill which disallows warrantless searches.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org .

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Nov. 10, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting 70 House Republicans who voted against removing the FBI’s new building in Greenbelt, Maryland in the Commerce, Science and Justice Appropriations bill:

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been a cesspool of political corruption for almost a decade, and 70 House Republicans voted today, along with their Democrat colleagues, to reward them by funding a new massive headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland.  The same House GOP which set up the Judiciary Committee to investigate the weaponization of government just voted to give the face of the weaponization a new dream castle.  The same House GOP which has raised countless dollars and garnered hundreds of thousands of hours of airtime attacking the FBI’s knowing pursuit of false Russiagate allegations against President Trump, just voted to fund a palace for their punishment.  The same FBI that lied to the FISA Court repeatedly to subpoena Trump campaign officials.  The same FBI that spied on congressional staff investigating the FBI.  The same FBI that could not recognize Antifa as a terrorist group, but targeted parents attending school board meetings and Latin mass saying Catholic churches gets a new home that will make their Defense Department colleagues green with envy.  Yep, that is the FBI that seventy Republican House members couldn’t wait to give a massive upgrade.

“The House has the power of the purse.  It is their major power to control an out-of-control executive branch.  And today, 70 House Republicans sent the strongest message possible to the FBI, that they have nothing to fear from any investigations, because no matter what, they will get their money.  This is the true story of the swamp, where what members do on obscure votes on Friday afternoons matters far more than what they say on the Sunday news shows and in the evenings on Fox News. What a bunch of frauds.  Here are the names of those who voted against the Gaetz amendment to defund the FBI headquarters.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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May 15, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to Special Counsel John Durham’s final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland:

“The Durham Report outlines 316 pages of Obama administration Justice Department, intelligence agencies and State Department abuses during the Russia collusion hoax. The report vindicates President Trump, who was wrongfully targeted by an alphabet soup of agencies that resulted in nearly three years of unwarranted investigations. These included the flagrant abuse of the FISA court system, which allowed for electronic surveillance for almost a year of the Trump campaign, transition and administration predicated on nothing more than the wild lies of the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC.

“It is disappointing that Durham failed to provide Congress with a reasonable remedy to these abuses other than Former NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker’s recommendation ‘for an official to challenge both a politically sensitive FISA application and other stages of the investigation’ during and after FISA’s ex parte proceedings. Trusting the Justice Department to not lie again is not a solution to the destruction of individual liberty that the FISA warrant abuses have revealed. Abusers of this system must be held legally accountable. Either all those involved were dupes, and future penalties for federal officials should range from losing your job and pension if you’re too stupid to ask any questions about spying on presidential campaigns and/or significant prison time if you’re found to have been actively attempting to change election results or take down an elected president under false pretenses with spying.”

Correction: a version of this statement incorrectly quoted former DOJ General Counsel Jim Baker. It was Stewart Baker, former NSA General Counsel for whom the quote should have been attributed.

Attachments:

Special Counsel John Durham’s final report, May 12, 2023 at https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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May 7, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss all charges against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn:

“The Obama Department of Justice and the FBI holdovers illegally targeted Trump National Security Advisor, Lt. General Mike Flynn, in a successful attempt to remove him from that critical position, and today, finally, justice has been partially served through the dropping of charges against Flynn.

“It is criminal that politically motivated federal intelligence and law enforcement officials abused their authority so completely, with utter disregard for the truth or justice itself.  In America, Lady Justice is supposed to be blind-folded, but in Flynn’s case not only was her blind-fold off, but her sword was held against the Generals throat.  Those responsible for directing and operating this attack on the basic premises of liberty should not only be fired, but the Department of Justice should pursue criminal charges against them.  Doctoring of forms, failure to adhere to laws ensuring the accused basic protections and years of stonewalling with the goal of running the defendant out of money cannot be tolerated.

“What’s more the revelations that the FISA Court system failed completely in providing the protections against spying on Gen. Flynn and others well after the FBI knew they were innocent renews the need to make lying to that Court a criminal offense punishable by no less than 10 years in federal prison. Every person in the FBI and DOJ who signed off on, altered the records of, or failed to object to, the set up and false prosecution of Mike Flynn should face the threat of prosecution with the loss of their jobs, pensions and law licenses at the very least.  Those on the Mueller investigation team who KNEW that Flynn was innocent from the outset should also face the same kind of scrutiny and punishment for continuing this on-going lie.

“As for Flynn’s attorney, Sidney Powell, she has distinguished herself as a fearless, tough fighter for true justice against overwhelming odds.  If not for her tenacity in defense of justice, Flynn’s complete exoneration would never have occurred and those who sought to undermine the truth of the plot to take down Flynn would never have been exposed.  Ms. Powell is a shining beacon of what an attorney should be in her pursuit for truth and justice, and America owes her a gigantic thank you for fighting unbowed against a recalcitrant, dirty Justice Department team determined to keep their malfeasance under wraps.

“It is my sincere hope that President Trump will bring General Flynn’s expertise in foreign matters back into the White House so that our nation can once again benefit from his unique skills and abilities.  Those in the intelligence cabal who ran a three year long operation to take down President Trump from today forward should understand that they will not prevail, and hopefully, they will face the consequences of putting our great nation through a dark attempt to overturn the presidency of the duly elected President of the United States.  However, the ultimate withdrawal of the charges against General Flynn do not bring the scales of justice back into balance, but instead allow for that balance to be restored when those responsible for this egregious prosecution are held to account.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Dec. 9, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the release of the Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz report on abuses of the FISA process in 2016 against the Trump campaign and Attorney General William Barr’s statement that “In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or ignored information negating the reliability of their principal source”:

“It is clear from the IG report and Attorney General’s response that there are no safeguards against the FBI abusing civil liberties protections in the Constitution. One of our greatest fears about this review was that it would find that the DOJ and agencies have unbridled discretion to conduct investigations, obtain surveillance and destroy lives based on what turns out were concocted, false allegations. Lying to the FBI is a crime. And the FBI regularly prosecutes citizens on the most tenuous grounds of a failure to be forthcoming and telling the truth. Yet it doesn’t appear FBI officials misleading the FISA court, presenting false information to the court, omitting critical exculpatory facts from the court and failing to verify their principal source are not subject to the same the letter of the law.

“Apparently none of that wrongdoing is prohibited by FISA. If anything the grave consequences of political spying based on fake information and its underlying threat to our republic should warrant treating said activity much more harshly than simply misstating a fact to an FBI agent. This just one area that the FISA system is broken.

“With FISA reauthorization pushed off until March 15, it is incumbent on Congress to stop messing around with impeachment and deal with these fundamental civil liberties questions. Political domestic surveillance by intelligence and law enforcement agencies cannot be tolerated and this should not be a partisan issue.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Dec. 4, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting the House Intelligence Committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for using Congressional subpoena power to obtain phone records without a warrant to conduct such surveillance from a federal court:

“The revelation that Adam Schiff and the Democrats in control of the House Intelligence Committee using warrantless surveillance spied on the Devin Nunes, the minority ranking member, John Solomon, a member of the press, and Rudy Giuliani, the President’s personal attorney, is an astonishing abuse of power. If the executive branch were to obtain such surveillance, it would be with a court order, probably from the FISA court. The Fourth Amendment is a general prohibition on the entire federal government, including the legislative branch, guarding against warrantless seizures without judicial oversight. This disclosure transforms the Schiff impeachment sham into an inquisition that would make Torquemada blush. If Nancy Pelosi as the leader of the entire House of Representatives authorized the spying of one member upon another, she should be removed from office immediately. Congress is not the FISA court. This is a gross violation of the Fourth Amendment. Should the impeachment proceed to the Senate, it is incumbent upon Senators to dismantle Adam Schiff and those behind this grotesque violation of basic rights.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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Sept. 27, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to former Vice President Joe Biden’s ironic tweet that “I believe our elections should be decided by the American people — not foreign governments”:

“Former Vice President Joe Biden is either the least self-aware person in modern politics, an outrageous liar or a dupe. Biden was responsible for U.S. policy in Ukraine during the Obama administration, and much of the false narrative about President Donald Trump being a Russian agent came from Ukraine, the United Kingdom and other Western intelligence agencies, which his administration put a bow on and shipped to the FISA court so they could spy on the Trump campaign in 2016. What did Joe Biden know about Russiagate and when did he know it?

“It is likely that the former Vice President both lacks self-awareness and was set up to be a not-so-innocent dupe. What is incredible is that he still doesn’t realize it. At least, when former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry was caught smoking crack in the Vista Hotel, he had the awareness to say, ‘Bitch set me up.’

“At some point, the former Vice President’s advisors need to protect him by cluing him in that he is the worst possible messenger on Ukraine as this scandal highlights his own culpability and avarice to the benefit of Democratic Party rivals. If there’s one good thing to come from this, it is that Joe Biden is being exposed as someone completely incapable of performing the most basic duties of the Presidency before a vote is ever cast. A note to Hollywood, Lee Majors is still available to play Biden in the movie.”

Attachments:

“What did Joe Biden know about the Russia collusion hoax and when did he know it?” By Robert Romano, Sept. 27, 2019 at http://dailytorch.com/2019/04/what-did-joe-biden-know-about-the-russia-collusion-hoax-and-when-did-he-know-it/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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April 18, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response the final report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller:

“Robert Mueller’s report is a slam dunk vindication of President Trump, who was the victim of an intelligence agency operation designed to entrap him and those around him in process crime snares, even as they knew that there was not a sufficient basis to say there was any conspiracy by Trump, his campaign or any American with Russia to interfere with the election.  Mueller himself writes that ‘the evidence was not sufficient to charge that any member of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with representatives of the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election,’ which was defined as operations to do with hacking the DNC and John Podesta emails and an inconsequential social media campaign by a Russian company.

“This is unequivocal, but not a surprise to anyone who was profiteering off of this fake news driven conspiracy theory.  Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who is no friend to President Trump, said in March 2017, ‘We had no evidence of collusion.’

“Additionally, lead FBI investigator and proven Trump hater, Peter Strzok texted his then lover, FBI agent Lisa Page, that ‘there’s no big there there’ in talking about the Russia case.

“And even former CIA Director Michael Morell is quoted in March 2017 as saying, ‘There is no fire, at all.’

“Yet our nation and those associated with the Trump campaign, transition team and administration were subjected to about a three-year long investigation, including nearly two years by a special counsel who was appointed to investigate something that everyone knew was false.

“Professional Trump critics like former CIA Director John Brennan were regulars on MSNBC stoking the collusion fires later claiming that he perhaps had ‘bad information.’ The partisan media outlets like ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC along with the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting taxpayer funded hierarchy breathlessly repeated planted rumor after planted rumor promising viewers that this time, they really had Donald Trump.

“And today in the aftermath of the collapse of their delusion, they cling to their age old approach to attack the messenger, Attorney General William Barr, because the pedestal they had built for the special counsel was too high for them to tear down in time to not have egg on their faces.

“No conspiracy with Russia by Trump is great news for America.  One could hope that the left-wing corporate media machines will learn a lesson and return to journalism, but that is not what they are — instead they are advocates getting paid to culturally transform America. If anything good is to come out of this national embarrassment, it is my hope that the media emperors who have been running around with no clothes are finally seen for the frauds that they are, and as a result, the public denies them the one thing they need — viewers and listeners.  In doing so those who have perpetuated this Russian collusion fraud through hours upon hours of anti-Trump coverage will be denied the dollars from selling soap to those very viewers who they colluded to trick into believing that Donald Trump was a traitor to his country.

“Now, the Attorney General needs to get to work to determine who abused the legal protections in place to stop this kind of intelligence abuse and take all available measures against them to make certain that this never happens again, as well as recommend reforms to ensure that the FISA Court ceases to be a rubber stamp for spying.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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March 25, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to hold a vote to appoint a select committee to investigate to perpetrated the Russia collusion hoax on the American people:

“Senate Majority Leader McConnell needs to empanel a special select committee to fully investigate the intelligence agency abuses within the Obama administration that carried over into 2017 and beyond to perpetrate the Russia collusion hoax on the American people. We need a new Church committee. The FISA court system was set up as a result of intelligence agency abuses in the 1960s and 1970s as a means to prevent this sort of thing from happening. It failed. The Obama administration’s politicization of the career foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations, spying on the opposition party in an election year, has effectively destroyed public confidence in these institutions. The American people need to know who perpetrated this hoax, whoever they are, and make certain this never happens again.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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March 19, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Attorney General William Barr to follow through on the investigation of FBI misconduct during the 2016 presidential campaign, during the transition and during the Trump administration:

“Then Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed the U.S. Attorney of Little Rock, Arkansas to investigate various corruption charges against the Clinton Foundation and the U.S. Attorney of Salt Lake City to investigate the malfeasance within the Justice Department related to the attempt to undo the results of the 2016 presidential election.

“It has been almost a full year since it was learned that the investigation into potential Justice Department misdeeds was being conducted by U.S. Attorney John Huber, and it is time that new Attorney General William Barr follow through on the investigation and prosecute any wrongdoers to the fullest extent of the law.  One of the reasons that the investigation was housed in Salt Lake City was to take it out of the glare of the D.C. media and allow a thorough job to be done.  However, it would be a disservice to the nation if the current AG did not aggressively push this investigation with those responsible for abusing their authority brought to justice.

“One simple example is the abuse of the Christopher Steele dossier paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign as the basis for obtaining FISA court warrants against Trump campaign, transition and political appointees, when Steele himself testified under oath that he used unverified Internet rumors in the report.  At the same time former FBI Director James Comey was testifying to Congress that the Steele dossier was ‘salacious and unverified,’ Comey was signing documents using that same report to obtain warrants. Either he was lying to the FISA Court or he was lying to Congress, either way perjury was committed, and the former FBI Director should be subjected to the full weight of the law as a result.

“The United States is a nation of laws, and the revelation that the Obama Administration’s Justice Department sought to tip the scales toward their own partisan ends should chill every American regardless of partisan affiliation.  If those responsible are not prosecuted, then it will be clear to future Administrations that there is no personal downside to election tampering and abuse of power and this current dark moment of abuse by our intelligence agencies will be viewed as an acceptable risk in the quest for power.  This can never be allowed again, and it is time for the new Attorney General to begin bringing light onto the initial finding of the investigations in Little Rock and Salt Lake City.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

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