A few interested sites are noting a recently published decision in the U.S. v. Hasbajrami case in Brooklyn, New York, where Eastern District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall identified the misuse of FISA-702 “backdoor searches” regarding defendant, Agron Hasbajrami.

Hasbajrami plead guilty to charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization, alleging that he intended to travel to the Federally Administered Tribal Area of Pakistan, where he expected to join a terrorist organization, receive training, and ultimately fight against U.S. forces and others in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, after his guilty plea, while he is serving time in prison, prosecutors admitted some of the evidence against him came as a result of privacy violations, unlawful FISA-702 searches.

Hasbajrami sought to have the evidence against him thrown out on 4th amendment grounds (fruit of the poisoned tree) and withdraw his guilty plea. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Hasbarjami’s blanket evidence suppression motion for the exclusion of all FISA Section 702 collection in his case but did not weigh in on whether the warrantless Section 702 database queries were constitutional, instead remanding the case back to Judge Hall for a review of that question.

Judge DeArchy Hall received the case again and reviewed all of the government motions against the request to suppress the evidence.  What results is a very well-constructed explanation and opinion of how FISA-702 was misused in the case [SEE 60-pg Opinion HERE].

The judge determined that U.S. government officials did factually violate the technical rules and procedures for the use of FISA-702 searches, and the DOJ should have gone to court to obtain a warrant to look at Hasbajrami’s private communication. In essence, yes, the 4th amendment protections of Hasbajrami were violated.  However, the issue of overturning the resulting evidence becomes a matter of legal distinction.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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It will be interesting to watch how this unfolds with new Intelligence Community heads moving into position to support or shape the request.

This specific Executive Order [SEE HERE] approach runs counter to my personal, albeit controversial, opinion on how the declassification of sensitive documents should be handled in order to deliver the highest level of transparency. However, this approach does keep the lawyers in charge of the executive office in legal control of the mechanics.  The order essentially requires the nation’s security organizations to create plans to release the records.

Within the video, the first two executive orders are related to David Sacks and the Crypto/AI positions of the Trump administration. The rest of the Executive Orders are AVAILABLE HERE.  Full Press Conference:

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Don’t get your hopes up.  In my humble opinion this declassification request approach leads to nothing. Perhaps I will be wrong. I hope so, but prior experience shows big initial headlines and empty results.

FIRST, look at the XO:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Policy and Purpose.  More than 50 years after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Federal Government has not released to the public all of its records related to those events.  Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth.  It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune is maintaining his pro-Trump agenda position into day #4 of the administration.  Thune appears with the insufferable Sean Hannity to discuss his recent meetings with President Trump and Speaker Johnson, as well as the plans and forecast for legislative support of the American First agenda.

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According to the New York Times, President Trump has removed the security detail from Mike Pompeo and Brian Hook, in addition to previous removals for John Bolton.  The protective detail came from the U.S. State Dept under the Diplomatic Security Service.

NYT –  President Trump revoked security protection for his former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and a former top aide, Brian Hook, despite warnings from the Biden administration that both men faced ongoing threats from Iran because of actions they took on Mr. Trump’s behalf, four people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Hook had been part of an aggressive posture against Iran during the first Trump presidency, most notably the drone strike that killed the powerful Iranian general Qassim Suleimani in early 2020.

Mr. Trump also remains under threat because of that action, and his advisers have regularly stressed the seriousness of the situation in the years between his two terms in office.

Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Hook had their security details, which were believed to be provided by the State Department, pulled on Tuesday, one of the people briefed on the matter said. A day before, Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. Secret Service detail of John R. Bolton, who was Mr. Trump’s third national security adviser and also faces threats. (more)

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The World Economic Forum (WEF) is holding their annual meeting in Davos again.  No doubt the #1 topic of conversation in every session is the impact of President Donald Trump upon the global order supported by the WEF agenda.

President Trump will be delivering remarks to the WEF audience, live via teleconference video from the White House.  President Trump will also take some questions from the attendees. The President’s highly anticipated remarks are scheduled at 11:00am EST with livestream links below.

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President Trump ordered the U.S. Defense Department to make “homeland security a core mission of the agency.”  In one of the first actions to support an executive order on border security, the Pentagon sends an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to support Customs and Border Patrol.

(Via Reuters) – […] The additional troops include 500 Marines, as well as Army helicopter crews and intelligence analysts. They will join 2,200 active-duty troops and thousands of National Guard that were on the border prior to Trump’s inauguration this week.

A separate official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there had been informal discussions about sending as many as 10,000 troops over time. But, officials cautioned, a final figure had not been determined, and troop numbers would depend on several factors, including impact on military readiness and what the Department for Homeland Security requests.

[…]  Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said the U.S. military would help provide flights for Department of Homeland Security-led deportations of more than 5,000 immigrants held by U.S. authorities in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California.

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Newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio has outlined his plans for his first foreign trip on behalf of President Trump.

In keeping with the #1 priority of U.S. border security and western hemisphere focus, Secretary Rubio will be heading to Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.  Obviously, the strategic national interest of the Panama Canal will be at the forefront of the visit; however, the visit to Guatemala and El Salvador will likely focus on their role in the transit of illegal aliens to the U.S. southern border.

President Trump has taken a very strong approach in his prior remarks about the central and south American nations being responsible to control migration.  There are numerous Non-Governmental Organizations and U.N agencies operating in Central America who direct and support the illegal migration flow.

This will be a test of Rubio’s capability to transfer President Trump’s open statements about repatriation of unlawful border crossers back into the nations of origin.  Undoubtably, Rubio will carry the economic weapons of trade and tariffs in his discussions with leaders in the region.

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As CTH previously noted, much of the success in breaking up the Intelligence Community silo operations will fall on the shoulders of National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz.

In fact, the structure of the intelligence information system currently under construction in the Trump White House depends on Waltz successfully organizing the new system. {GO DEEP}

In following the roadmap for the optimal outcome, NSA Mike Waltz has suspended all aides to the National Security Council pending a review of their alignment with the Trump administration.  Again, a good and necessary move.

That said, Mike Waltz is likely to make a few mistakes along the road to a rapid reorganization and anyone who does not have trust issues given the nature of what we have witnessed within the IC manipulation of government, would not be honest.  However, Waltz is -so far- following a sequential process that will position the National Security Council for the optimal outcome.

The downside to these early moves is that the SSCI is watching this restructuring while simultaneously pending the nomination hearings of DNI Tulsi Gabbard who would also play a vital role in the information flow if the NSC is to get the best information to work with.  A historic review of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence shows they support the status quo IC and simultaneously hold power over the IC confirmation positions.

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