Past is prologue –  D day – elections and FISA wiretap

By Edmunds Tucker 12 Feb 2018

Normandie France, Utah Beach, poster (2014) for the medical nurses for the Second Division.  The Nazis thought the invasion would be in the Pas de Calais well over a hundred miles west, because of successful fake news from the Allies in England.

From their web sites, two Congressional committees, one each from the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives,  have written that the FBI lied to the FISA judge in order to obtain a search warrant to wire tap.

What if the electioneering desires strategy from the opponent’s political activity?  What might be obtained that is useful?

Have you  heard pundits during  the run up before an election, of the ‘October Surprise’?  The October Surprise is  some  story, news, or information, which has been  known for months or years, but is held back from release on headlines and news stories. The October surprise is so shocking, upsetting, and astonishing, that there is not  enough time to refute or explain or ameliorate the accusations before the election, always the first week of November.   Actually,  this can happen in the weeks before any election, national or local,  general or primary.  Timing is the driving force.

There are reasons military and political activities are both called campaigns.  Lots of people, money, property, technology are involved.  The results between victory and defeat can be catastrophic for the loser, and magnificent for the victor.  And intelligence is a significant portion of military planning.

Study the history of big campaigns, the Normandie invasion for France in 1944 (because of misdirection intel, the Nazis thought Pas de Calais was the invasion place).   D day was an October surprise for the German army.  Recall the American Civil War (hot air balloons to see troop movements), invasions of Africa, or Pacific islands, the War of  Independence (Washington’s aide Nathan Hale was discovered as  spy on Long Island),   All leaders obtained as much intel as possible – hence the need for spies.  Where is the enemy concentrated? How is the enemy supplied – food and ammo?   Fuel and vehicles?

Is the enemy researching advance technologies?  For World War Two, Churchill described this as the Wizard War.  The Nazis were researching atomic bombs, rockets, and jet aircraft.  The Nazi’s research leaked, so the British sent a commando raid into Telemark Norway, February 28, 1943, to destroy the heavy water plant vital to the Nazi nuclear programme.

What might a wiretap find?  Aren’t election campaigns about real people?  Does the candidate need rest? When does the Candidate rest?  Is the candidate sick? Who is writing the speeches? Can the candidate maintain perkiness, happiness, look healthy? If activities need to be  scaled back, what is dropped off the schedule? Knowledge in advance is helpful to the opponent.   These are the type of plans which are not disclosed to the media until they occur. Without it, most responses are always defensive.

Can a wiretap help in debates?  As for debates, what has the candidate been prepared to answer? If you knew what they are fresh on, could you pass along the information to ask something else?  Aren’t there about 180 nations in the UN, and would a candidate know the names of all, some, or none of the leaders?  Could you learn, through wiretap, what is their guess of what each side knows? Reports indicated the candidates took days off to prepare for the debates?  Do you want to know ahead or after the debate what preparation was made?  Yes, before and ahead-not after and behind.

Another topic for intel via wiretap, in any campaign, is what is the mood of the opponent? And campaign? Upbeat, confident? Unsure and confused? Doubtful and discouraged?  The media tries to direct outcomes by reporting polls.  Registered voters, likely voters, public opinion?  The belief is the negative polling results before an election suppress the losers – less money, less donations,  less knocking on doors, helplessness.  Positive polling reviews stimulate the ‘band wagon effect’  – success attracts success, winners want to be with winners, and for the undecided, the assumption is undecided’s tilt toward the victor.   What is going on inside of the minds of the strategists?  Are they praying? Relying on God? What destiny do they see?

The wish is to read people’s minds, or the next best thing, what they say, write or do.  The Nazi’s intel failed at D day, while the United Nations (US Army’s) fake news succeeded.   And so we can still read the story on the English Channel Utah Beach, Normandie France.

Utah Beach memorial Normandie France, with tanks (2014).