Changes

On January 12, 2017 the BBC suggested that the investigation of the Trump campaign was orchestrated by CIA Director John Brennan.<ref>"[https://spectator.org/all-roads-lead-back-to-brennan/ All Roads Lead Back to Brennan]," ''American Spectator'', March 6, 2017.</ref><ref>"Their first application, in June, was rejected outright by the judge. They returned with a more narrowly drawn order in July and were rejected again. Finally, before a new judge, the order was granted, on 15 October, three weeks before election day," according to the BBC. "[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427 Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why did we get here?]", BBC, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref>

On January 12, 2017 the BBC suggested that the investigation of the Trump campaign was orchestrated by CIA Director John Brennan.<ref>"[https://spectator.org/all-roads-lead-back-to-brennan/ All Roads Lead Back to Brennan]," ''American Spectator'', March 6, 2017.</ref><ref>"Their first application, in June, was rejected outright by the judge. They returned with a more narrowly drawn order in July and were rejected again. Finally, before a new judge, the order was granted, on 15 October, three weeks before election day," according to the BBC. "[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427 Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why did we get here?]", BBC, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref>

On January 4, 2017 the Office of National Intelligence issued a report written by Brennan entitled, ''Joint Analysis Report: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections.”''<ref>The declassified version is "[https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf Background to “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution]"</ref> Two pages of the DNC and Clinton campaign's ''[[Steele dossier]]'' were included in the report. The following day in an [[Oval Office]] meeting with Brennan, [[Clapper]], Comey, [[Susan Rice]], and [[Biden], President Obama approved the attempt to [[blackmail]] President-elect [[Donald Trump]] with "salacious and unverified" sexual innuendo from the report.

On January 4, 2017 the Office of National Intelligence issued a report written by Brennan entitled, ''Joint Analysis Report: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections.”''<ref>The declassified version is "[https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf Background to “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution]"</ref> Two pages of the DNC and Clinton campaign's ''[[Steele dossier]]'' were included in the report. The following day in an [[Oval Office]] meeting with Brennan, [[Clapper]], Comey, [[Susan Rice]], and [[Biden], President Obama approved the attempt to [[blackmail]] President-elect [[Donald Trump]] with "salacious and unverified" sexual innuendo from the report. Obama additional signed Executive Orders to circulate the slurs and innuendo more widely within the government.  

To justify the illegal surveillance, Trump associates were labeled "agents of a foreign power" in order to hoax the FISA court into approving warrant applications. In the last days of the Obama administration, procedures were revised to disseminate raw intelligence data more widely. Under previous presidents, this provision applied only to the National Security Agency<ref>According to Executive Order 12333 issued by President [[Ronald Reagan]] in December 1981, "Elements of the Intelligence Community are authorized to collect, retain, or disseminate information concerning United States persons...obtained in the course of a lawful foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, international drug or international terrorism investigation." Thus the U.S. intelligence community can perform surveillance without a warrant as long as the target of the investigation is, at least nominally, something other than a "U.S. person". [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-executive-order-12333-the-reagan-rule-that-lets-the-nsa-spy-on-americans/2014/07/18/93d2ac22-0b93-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html Meet Executive Order 12333: The Reagan rule that lets the NSA spy on Americans]", ''Washington Post'', July 18, 2014.</ref> In the last days of the Obama administration, access to surveillance data was expanded to encompass all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets-more-latitude-to-share-intercepted-communications.html?_r=0 N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted Communications]", ''New York Times, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref><ref>Saagar Enjeti, "[http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/09/how-are-all-these-intel-leaks-happening-look-at-one-of-the-last-things-obama-did-before-leaving-office/ How Are All These Intel Leaks Happening? Look At One Of The Last Things Obama Did Before Leaving Office]," ''Daily Caller,'' 03/09/2017.</ref> These developments were followed by a series of leaks that disregarded privacy rights.

To justify the illegal surveillance, Trump associates were labeled "agents of a foreign power" in order to hoax the FISA court into approving warrant applications. In the last days of the Obama administration, procedures were revised to disseminate raw intelligence data more widely. Under previous presidents, this provision applied only to the National Security Agency<ref>According to Executive Order 12333 issued by President [[Ronald Reagan]] in December 1981, "Elements of the Intelligence Community are authorized to collect, retain, or disseminate information concerning United States persons...obtained in the course of a lawful foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, international drug or international terrorism investigation." Thus the U.S. intelligence community can perform surveillance without a warrant as long as the target of the investigation is, at least nominally, something other than a "U.S. person". [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-executive-order-12333-the-reagan-rule-that-lets-the-nsa-spy-on-americans/2014/07/18/93d2ac22-0b93-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html Meet Executive Order 12333: The Reagan rule that lets the NSA spy on Americans]", ''Washington Post'', July 18, 2014.</ref> In the last days of the Obama administration, access to surveillance data was expanded to encompass all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets-more-latitude-to-share-intercepted-communications.html?_r=0 N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted Communications]", ''New York Times, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref><ref>Saagar Enjeti, "[http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/09/how-are-all-these-intel-leaks-happening-look-at-one-of-the-last-things-obama-did-before-leaving-office/ How Are All These Intel Leaks Happening? Look At One Of The Last Things Obama Did Before Leaving Office]," ''Daily Caller,'' 03/09/2017.</ref> These developments were followed by a series of leaks that disregarded privacy rights.