1/11/2018
It’s not a surprise the President enjoys watching “Fox & Friends” in the mornings. However, by depending on “Fox & Friends” as his primary source of information and political outrage, the President shows his ignorance on major issues, including those involving our national security.
On Thursday, Judge Andrew Napolitano appeared on “Fox & Friends” and began to disparage the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which was due up for a vote in the House later in the day. “Mr. President, this is not the way to go,” he said at 6:47 a.m. ET. “Spying is valid to find the foreign agents among us. But it’s got to be based on suspicion, and not an area code.” Napolitano’s plea was supported by the on-screen graphic “House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.”
Upon watching this, Trump immediately took to Twitter to disparage the FISA which was coming up for a vote. Trump was apparently unaware that the White House Administration, and almost all Republicans were in favor of FISA. The White House had spent the previous five days promoting the FISA Act, and describing how important it was to the nation.
“House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.” This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018
When he sent his early morning message on Thursday, he quoted directly a banner graphic that had appeared on Fox News minutes earlier: The headline was punctuated by a direct-to-camera appeal by the conservative judge Andrew Napolitano against re-upping the surveillance program.
Just the night before, Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement in support of reauthorizing the legislation. “…The Administration urges the House to… preserve the useful role FISA’s Section 702 authority plays in protecting American lives.”
It was reported that Chief of Staff John Kelly’s phone began to ring from Republican lawmakers almost immediately after Trump’s tweet. The White House went into disaster repair mode, assuring Republicans that they could make the President understand the importance of the FISA.
House Speaker Paul Ryan took a phone call from the President about his tweet and the surveillance issue, a source familiar with their conversation said. It was reported that Ryan spent 30 minutes on the phone with Trump explaining the difference between domestic and foreign surveillance, and why the re-authorization of the Act was so crucial.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, one of Trump’s most trusted advisers who regularly administers the presidential daily briefing, was in touch with the White House to discuss the tweet. A former Republican lawmaker who once declared that Trump’s tweets “help” his agency, Pompeo had made a forceful case for reauthorizing the FISA program during a television interview five days ago.
After speaking with (or being schooled by) both Paul Ryan and John Kelly, Trump seemingly reversed his position and tweeted:
With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today’s vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018
Yes Mr. President, please get smart.
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