The “Kucinich Was Wiretapped!” Story Is Not What It Seems
Dennis Kucinich has been running around implying or claiming that the Obama administration wiretapped a call he had with Moammar Qaddafi’s son, at a time when Kucinich was trying to prevent a U.S. war in Libya. Therefore, Kucinich argues, people should not find it outlandish that Trump or his people were wiretapped. But, like the Trump “tapp” story, there may be less to this story than it initially appears.
I have seen posts that take it for granted that Kucinich was wiretapped by U.S. officials. Indeed, Kucinich appears to make that claim in a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly, saying that U.S. intelligence officials had listened to his end of the conversation with Qaddafi’s son. But he does not tell viewers that this is a guess on his part. That becomes clear when you read the Kucinich-penned op-ed on this matter that appeared on FoxNews.com and prompted the O’Reilly interview. In that op-ed, Kucinich describes being played the phone call by Washington Times reporters who said they were recordings “recovered from Tripoli”:
Somehow, the Washington Times had gotten its hands on the surreptitious recording. I authenticated the conversation, and parts of it were published by the newspaper, which provided online links where readers could listen to me talking with Mr. Qaddafi.
The reporters did not say, nor did I ask, who had made the tape. But the paper’s stories referenced “secret audio recordings recovered from Tripoli.”
I have only my suspicions about their true provenance. The quality of the recordings was excellent on both ends of the call.
If sources had indeed discovered the tapes in Tripoli, there is no plausible explanation for how they would have chosen the Washington Times to carry the story. And which foreign intelligence service conceivably could have been interested in my phone call, had the technology to intercept it, and then wanted to leak it to the newspaper?
There’s a simpler explanation: I believe the tape was made by an American intelligence agency and then leaked to the Times for political reasons.
Is it really so crazy to believe that Moammar Qaddafi’s son would want to have a wiretap-quality recording of a call he made to a U.S. Congressman who was trying to prevent the U.S. from attacking Libya?? And that such recordings were recovered after the fall of Tripoli?
I have also seen claims that Kucinich was holding up transcripts of the wiretapped call in the interview with O’Reilly. But that does not appear to be true. Kucinich does not say that what he is holding up are transcripts — and, in fact, he says as he holds up the documents that he has gotten nothing about the wiretap itself. Watch:
And what I have here, Bill: Intel was tracking my resolution. Here’s a couple of redacted pages that I was able to get. I’ve had nothing about the wiretap itself. But they were tracking this resolution.
My best guess is that the documents are memoranda or emails from the intelligence community showing that they were tracking Kucinich’s resolution he had to prevent a war in Libya.
In any event, let’s assume that the U.S. intelligence community was indeed wiretapping Qaddafi’s son. As O’Reilly points out in the interview, that doesn’t seem that outlandish or offensive on its own. Kucinich says they should have minimized the call when they learned it was a U.S. Congressman on the line. Maybe so — if we accept Kucinich’s guess about the provenance of the recording, and reject the statement of the reporters who obtained it, who said that it was from Tripoli.
Still, we are left with this conclusion: Kucinich was cool with Moammar Qaddafi’s son hearing what he had to say, but not with U.S. intelligence knowing about it.
I’m not sure that’s a winning position.
[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]
I love the part where the Obama Administration would allegedly leak the call to a notoriously hostile newspaper, the Washington Times, rather than to one of their lickspittle media lapdogs at the Washington Post or the New York Times. Sure, maybe someone in Obamaland thought that it would be real clever to give it to a conservative newspaper — fewer fingerprints that way — but I don’t see any of them being keen on giving the Washington Times a scoop.
JVW (5de783) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:11 amKucinich, like President Trump, believes 9/11 was George W Bush’s fault. They both agreed that Bush should be impeached over 9/11.
I can see why they are still on the same page, and why a common deflection of Trump’s side is that his critics are on the left. Projection.
I think it’s unfortunate, but a fact of life, that when you call the regime of a middle eastern dictator you’re going to be recorded by a lot of intel folks. Wish the world was simpler.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:18 amFact checking Dennis Kucinich seems like gathering the low-hanging fruit, but more power to you.
Even Ohioans, who for some reason still embrace the almost-as-nutty John Kasich, cast Kucinich aside years ago.
Rand Paul has a wonderful commentary over at Breitbart. Well worth the read. Here’s a snippet:
“Look, I’m a “glass is half full” kind of guy. You have to be. I try to stay positive. I try to keep thinking maybe, maybe someday CONGRESS will remember the vision of our Founding Fathers … and that those we elect will represent us, not the special interests.”
Of course, he’s talking about Paul Ryan and his ilk.
ThOR (c9324e) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:31 amWell they were pushing for the Libyan war Asia it was rocky road iceccream, because shut up, the late drumheller and Murray were following their own sources in European intelligence likely choet and Henning who misled about the Italian cables and curveball.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:34 amO’Reilly…
the world hasn’t witnessed so much outgassing on a television screen since Voyager 1 zipped past Io.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:35 amThe times had learned the wrong lesson in Libya, they hired Ac to train the rebels and it blew up in benghazi
narciso (d1f714) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:37 amWhen Trump fans have a big quote and a link to another blog it’s almost always going to be completely off topic. When they don’t have that kind of link, at least half the time they are saying some version of “shut up”.
Gotta agree with JVW: if Kucinich was OK with the bad guys hearing his point of view, it’s hard for him to justify not sharing the conversation with is constituents. But like most guys blaming Americans for 9/11 like Kucinich (and Trump), I think there’s no reasoning with him.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:40 amKucinich, like President Trump, believes 9/11 was George W Bush’s fault. They both agreed that Bush should be impeached over 9/11.
********************
Did Trump really back Bush being impeached over 9/11? Didn’t know that.
Rae Sremmurd (2fd998) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:58 amKucinich got no confirmsation (via the Freedom of Information Act or any other means) that any U.S. intelligence agency surreptitious recorded that telephone conversation, but he did get confirmation that they were interested in some resolution he had proposed in Congress.
What’s the problem with that being a recording that Quaddafi made? It wasn’t leaked when he was in power. It would be in Tripoli. Now the interesting question is who got to the recordings first, and who decided it would be agood idea to pass this one on – and maybe not pass on other things.
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 3/15/2017 @ 12:37 pm8. Rae Sremmurd (2fd998) — 3/15/2017 @ 11:58 am
Not for 9/11. For the Iraq war.
Or at least he claiemd in retrospect, in hindsight, in 2008, that it would have been a wonderful thing if that had happened.
He said he was surprised, or had been surprised, that Nancy Pelosi didn’t try that (presumably in 2007) given the way she was going after Bush – and by the way, that would have been a good thing. But the first time maybe that Trump raises the idea is Oct. 15, 2008.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/feb/16/our-principles-pac/anti-trump-ad-says-he-backed-impeaching-bush/
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 3/15/2017 @ 12:49 pmThere’s,a lot of this going around:
narciso (e76e49) — 3/15/2017 @ 12:52 pmhttp://dailycaller.com/2017/03/15/alleged-trump-dossier-source-has-overstated-his-business-connections/?utm_source=webpush
Shut up? Not even close. Just because I see little of interest in an interview with Tweedle Dee on The Tweedle Dumb Factor, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. I understand your interest; you are not alone. Both men have huge (I’ve been trying to use this word more and more) followings.
By all means, feel free to decipher the hidden meanings and blather on about them.
You really should read the piece by renown Trumpeteer, Rand Paul. Here’s another snippet:
“I’m sick of the government telling me I have to buy their cr@ppy product, and I’m sick of watching us go into more and more debt to do it.
We need a new way, and Obamacare Lite isn’t it.”
ThOR (c9324e) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:03 pmthor, yes, you have little interest in the actual post and really want to change the subject. I see that an awful lot from you guys!
It’s either “here’s a series of links to the same few blogs” or it’s an attack on the host. At least you’re classier than the guys saying shut up all the time, but why not start a blog or participate at the alt-right blogs if that’s what you’re interested in? Folks here are probably interested in Kucinich’s wiretap claim, and how it relates to Trump’s extremely embarrassing apparent lie about Obama.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:10 pmThanks Sammy.
So–he was trying to run Left of Nancy Pelosi.
Rae Sremmurd (2fd998) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:11 pmOur old friend Brett Kimberlin reappears at Buzzfeed, helping out the usual suspects in the usual way. While they mention they bombings, they don’t mention the swattings, just that he “rankled” “conservative bloggers”. If by “rankle” you mean “tried to trick cops into killing them”.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:17 pmThe speedway bomber has been busy with phoney documents too:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/how-donald-trumps-enemies-fell-for-a-billion-dollar-hoax?utm_term=.ntyGVjr49#.kn34mvYMD
If the story is true Speedway got took.
gbear (c97ba2) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:24 pmWell Gabriel, he still denies having anything to do with doxxing or swatting people.
But Ace of Spades sure got scared of him, to the point where he deleted his criticism of Kimberlin and will ban anyone who discusses the matter.
Anyone who wants to associate with Kimberlin, or even just cooperate with his lawfare strategy, is an enemy of free speech in my personal opinion.
One of the consequences of nominating a scumbag like Trump is that it lowers the discourse on both sides. To defend him, you have to be OK with dirtier stuff. and many of Trump’s critics are also going to feel free to get right down there too.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:27 pmHanna,
I do love that Kimberlin is well known as a convicted bomber, and that even on that page you see a lot of people calling him a domestic terrorist (for good reason). It is idiotic to use him or his ‘charities’ for any political purpose, but then, I’m sure there are a lot of nonpolitical reasons why his pals are his pals.
Andrew Breitbart and many others (including of course Patterico) did so much good by getting the truth about these guys out there.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:30 pmBut making small talk about Kimberlin is A-ok? No subject-changing there, eh?
Good for the goose, buddy.
ThOR (c9324e) — 3/15/2017 @ 2:42 pmWhat is it Glenn Reynolds likes to say?
“If it weren’t for double standards . . . “
ThOR (c9324e) — 3/15/2017 @ 2:43 pmElective regime change is a right that will not be denied.
n.n (6b7fef) — 3/15/2017 @ 2:52 pmMaybe look again. I was replying to someone else. I typical try to have conversations here rather than just scream squirrel. I seem to have found your button unintentionally.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 3/15/2017 @ 2:53 pmFederal judge in Hawaii blocks enforcement of Trump’s revised travel “ban.”
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/15/2017 @ 3:54 pmConservative review had the backstory, to how Hawaii is so solicitous, its tied to the flying imams
narciso (d1f714) — 3/15/2017 @ 3:58 pmTo illustrate a story thread titled “Trump denounces Snoop” Bing news uses a photo of Snoop Dog dressed in clothes his mom picked out for him.
Would one of Snoop’s friends explain to him what ‘denounce’ means. Maybe a job for Martha Stewart.
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/15/2017 @ 3:59 pmThen afterward tell him his hair is on fire, because the telling the stoner his hair is on fire gag never gets old.
Yeah, my favorite part about the Kimberlin/Buzzfeed story is that it sounds like that scammer named Ariel took Kimberlin for something like (at least) $10,000 by promoting bogus documents. I wonder how much of that money came from people who might have thought they were donating to his music therapy charity.
JVW (5de783) — 3/15/2017 @ 4:01 pmAs someone else pointed out, the dodgy dossier, resembles the plot in our man in havana with Guinness as vacuum cleaner salesman, wirmold (curiously he appears in Stephen hunter’s havana
narciso (d1f714) — 3/15/2017 @ 4:06 pmJudge Watson about as liberal as you will find — even in Hawaii. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer either, notwithstanding his Harvard pedigree.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/15/2017 @ 4:32 pmThere’s no reason, under law or “reason”, for the intelligence services of the United States not to have been recording the conversations of the Qaddafi family, and if some Croat with a bad toupee was in one that’s his tough kolacici.
OR
Dennis Kucinich! LOL
nk (dbc370) — 3/15/2017 @ 4:41 pmHere’s the déjà v list
narciso (d1f714) — 3/15/2017 @ 4:46 pmhttp://www.hoganlovells.com/en/publications/documents-in-state-of-hawaii-et-al-v-trump-a-challenge-to-president-trumps-march-6-2017-travel-ban
Denny looks like Bob Denver, maybe just a bit more pale.
mg (31009b) — 3/15/2017 @ 4:52 pmRight off the back i see a standing problem, but your mileage may vary, Mr. Effendi el sheikh is an Egyptian national, they aren’t subject to the ban.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/15/2017 @ 4:58 pmLeft-wing judges think they are above the law.
Start impeaching already.
NJRob (54da42) — 3/15/2017 @ 5:03 pm14. Rae Sremmurd (2fd998) — 3/15/2017 @ 1:11 pm
Sammy Finkelman (3fda43) — 3/15/2017 @ 5:28 pmYes, it’s time to start impeaching alright!
Dustin (ba94b2) — 3/15/2017 @ 5:52 pmTrump on Tucker:
“‘Wiretapping’ covers a lot of different things.”
You know… like ketchup.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/15/2017 @ 6:17 pmAfter Trump mentioned (Judge Napolitano’s commentary) on Fox at a press conference with Angela Merkel, Fox put out a statement that they had no evidnece the British spied on Trump. (my own feeling about tahat was taht throwing in the British was a way to save the story)
But didn’t Fox claim that they had 3 sources? Napolitano did not, I think, invent taht scenario out of whole cloth.
Sammy Finkelman (3ea6b3) — 3/17/2017 @ 3:43 pmIt looks like Fox had no sources – Andrew Naplitano had sources. He claimed he had three sources. Donad Trump, by the way, Knows Andrew Napolitsano – he met with hm once to discuss the supreme Court appointment and also lives (or keeps one residence) at the Trump International Hotel and Tower on Central Park West (not the Trump Tower because that’s on or about 5th Avenue and 56 St)
While Andrew Napolitano did not respond directly to inquiries from the New York Times, Larry C. Johnson called the New York Times and said Napolitano called him on Friday and asked him to speak to the New York Times. He said he wa sone of the sources (a secondary or tertiary source) and that he had head about this from sources in the american intelligence community. He said Napolitanoo had heard what he was saying through an intermediary, And he claimed it sounded like a
Frederick Forsythe novel.
Larry C. Johnson is best known for spreading a false story in 2008 that Michelle Obama had been caught on videotape using the word “Whitey”
Sammy Finkelman (3ea6b3) — 3/18/2017 @ 6:05 pm