That's not how it works. There is no such thing as a private citizen getting a warrant. Besides, these citizens already had access to the data, what are they getting a warrant for? It's possible they breached the terms of their contract or something along those lines if they spent too much time "researching" this data horde. If they spent too much time researching outside their contract (not likely since Sussman literally said "don't even spend an hour on it). But that has nothing to do with the concept of a warrant. If the FBI wanted to go in and get the full raw data, then it is they who would likely need to obtain a warrant on that data and argue in front of a judge why they wanted it. It seems like that never happened here, the FBI followed up with some questions, but there's no evidence they dug into the raw data beyond what Sussman provided them (perhaps because they felt they didn't need to pursue it further, or perhaps because they realized obtaining a warrant for this type of traffic might be sketchy).
I don't think you are seeing the point. Durham is claiming the researchers did not believe in their own research, that's what he wants to indict them on. Not on whether their theory was right or not. The articles, written well before this claim, provide context on the researchers, the origin of the investigation, their findings and why they brought it to the FBI. That the FBI disagreed with the theory doesn't mean the FBI is right, or that the researchers were disingenuous, it's just a complicated set of data and different experts will have different conclusions. These are cybersecurity experts who look for dangers and attacks on the country and started the investigation after the DNC servers were hacked and wanted to prevent the RNC servers from being hacked. They saw a threat, and acted appropriately on it.
And then there's the fact that you aren't free to break the law and lie to the FBI because you disagree with the propriety of the investigation. That's not how the law works. But when you have to shape the law around your politics, it proves difficult to find a rational, consistent standard.
I think you are the one not seeing the point. You keep claiming that Durham wants to indict the researchers for something about the quality of their research and whether they believed it. No one but you is making that claim. I assume that might be a point the author of the article may be making but it seems misguided. At the end of the day, Durham seems to be more interested in whether or not Sussmann actually believed what he was submitting to the FBI, not what the researchers did. Second, these researchers are likely working at DARPA or another government agency. If it is DARPA, DARPA doesn’t have an official role in conducting DCO for the US government. If they were working for an agency with the mission of protecting the DODIN, they could have easily reported what they found up through the official channels of the agency they worked for. That would have been the proper thing to do. Doing off the books research for a private government contracting 's special project using government accesses or resources is not kosher. Finally, if these researchers do end up being charged with something, it will likely before abusing their accesses to government resources or improperly billing their time to the government.
I guess just me and the NYT - "WASHINGTON — The charge was narrow: John H. Durham, the special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scour the Russia investigation, indicted a cybersecurity lawyer this month on a single count of lying to the F.B.I. But Mr. Durham used a 27-page indictment to lay out a far more expansive tale, one in which four computer scientists who were not charged in the case “exploited” their access to internet data to develop an explosive theory about cyberconnections in 2016 between Donald J. Trump’s company and a Kremlin-linked bank — a theory, he insinuated, they did not really believe. Trump Server Mystery Produces Fresh Conflict
And as I pointed out, the computer scientists have not been indicted and are likely not going to be indicted for the content of their research. If they are indicted it would likely be for something related to do this non government sanctioned research while using accesses given to them through a government contract. That is why you see the NYTimes quoting the word exploited in their article. Those computer scientists are free to do research on their own time but they are not allowed to use government owned resources and access or government paid for time to do it.
Well, it appears that the tech researchers are pushing back through counsel. A lawyer for "Tech Researcher-1" has written to Durham, which was CCed to AG Garland, about the information Durham ignored while going through all the machinations needed to present that ill-fated 27 page indictment. They are standing by their "unanimous conclusion" that "the data reflected a covert communication channel between the Trump organization, Alpha Bank and Spectrum Health and that this channel warranted further investigation." Maybe Durham did the country a favor by bringing forth this meritless indictment...the more we know about the collusion between the Trump organization and the Russians, the better we'll be able to understand what was motivating this man and perhaps put in measures to ensure this can't happen again.
The Muller "investigation" knew Trump did nothing wrong about one week into the actual investigations... so, yeah, that took far too long. This one has real criminal acts that have yet to be uncovered... so... NOT the same thing.
Um, how did you know the Mueller team knew that there were no crimes when that investigation had almost no leaks the entire time? And likewise, how do you know that real crimes have been committed in this one if they’ve yet to be uncovered?
I think what he is referring to is that the FBI had identified and spoken to Steele’s sub-source by January of ‘17. The sub-source was a suspected a Russian agent the FBI had previously identified and when interviewed, stated the information he gave Steele were rumors he heard from friends.
Why did Mueller allow his investigation to continue for two years? Nunes: Mueller Knew On Day One There Was No Evidence Of Trump-Russia Collusion Opinion | The Mueller Coverup
Perhaps, but it seems wrong to me to confidently assume that talking to that source encapsulated the entirety of the classified investigation.
1. These are all opinions. Where is the evidence? 2. Also, these articles came out in 2019 and 2020 after the investigation closed - yet the complaints about the length of the investigation came a year or two before that. What made it obvious in 2017 or 18 that it was taking too long?
Devin Nunes? Surely you must be kidding. Nunes did 'irreparable' harm to House Intelligence Committee
You obviously did not read the report. It found that Trump obstructed justice at least nine times and would have been indicted but for the fact he was a sitting president. And if you don't know that, nor know why Trump obstructed, then it simply suits your ideology not to know.
The researchers are not government employees, which you would know if you read any of the articles I provided, and how they have access to the DNS database. Instead, you are just making general speculative statements. After two years' investigation to find wrong-doing by the FBI in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, in order to protect Trump, Durham has found nothing. He's made one indictment of an FBI agent making a change in an email; and is now bringing an indictment against Sussman that is so vague that Sussman can't figure out what he is being indicted for The DNC-connected lawyer charged in the Durham probe says the indictment doesn't even explain what he's accused of lying to the FBI about Threatening to bring an indictment against the researchers, in desperation, is just resurfacing their evidence, as JMDZ noted above.
You are correct, the researchers are not government employees. They are government contractors with access to a contract that requires a DD254. If I have to explain the difference, let me know. If you think the fact a DOJ lawyer "made a change" to an email that told a FISC judge that Page was not a CIA informant when we actually was is not a big deal, I'm not sure what to tell you. That is a very big deal and the reason the lawyer did not fight the charges. Sussman knows what he is charged with. He is charged with telling the FBI that he was not working for the Clinton Campaign when he actually was and was dumb enough to charge the time he spent meeting with them to the Clinton campaign. It is not hard.
Durham is essentially trying to charge a conspiracy without actually charging anyone with a conspiracy. This will eventually be laughed out of court if it gets that far.