Folks, there has always been legal wiretapping

[theboss]

I know that it is the standard DU mindset to think that the world was invented in 2000.

But the fact that Spitzer was caught on a wiretap does not necessarily mean:

1. It was a warrantless wiretap or
2. It was Spitzer's phone.

My guess is, the FBI had a warrant to tap the prostitute's phone and Spitzer called her. Sucks for him.

[AlCzervik]

1. i agree, i'm sure they were already witetapping that ring and Spitzer picked the

wrong time to make a call.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. And the FBI has been doing warrantless wiretaps for a very

long time.

[bryant69]

4. And Warrented Wirtaps?

Warrented in the sense that they were issued a Warrant that granted them permission to perform said Wiretaps.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[BadgerLaw2010]

19. Not if they actually want to use the evidence, they're not.

There is no reason to do warrantless work in the course of a normal criminal investigation and a lot of reasons not to.

[Uncle Joe]

24. They don't need to use it as evidence, just getting the information

on the sly which leads to an investigation and then obtaining of legitimate evidence which they can use on the one hand, or on the other hand they can use it as black mail, particularly if said person is of the opposing political party from the one in power.

[lonestarnot]

3. Get busted with the equipment and it's a felony... so who cares about that?

:shrug: And illegal wire taps are inadmissable as evidence! PU stinky.

[MrCoffee]

5. Shhhh...you're ruining all the fun!

The FBI had a warrant to tap the escort services' phone.

[theboss]

7. I know, but everyone here is a maniac

Honestly, if George Bush was tapping Spitzer's phone and found this out....do you think he would prosecuting him?

[tom_paine]

6. But what we have not had EVER in American History, is a totalitarian

cabal which has turned the DOJ into a criminal organization and wing of a single party.

Nevr, except at the local level in the Deep South during Jim Crow has there ever been such a systemic corruption of the Law Enforcement apparatus by criminal elements now RUNNING said law enforcement apparatus.

Amerika is now a small Mississippi Town in the 1930s and the Bushies are the "KKK Sheriff", and we Democrats are the N****rs.

You may be right, boss, but under such circumstances can you not see why we would feel the way we do?

[theboss]

8. Because none of you can read the article?

It was the prostitutions ring's phone that was tapped. Spitzer was Client 9. They later identified him.

[tom_paine]

17. If you want me to read an article, perhaps you should link to it?

The real problem here is the same one ANY totalitarian nations like Amerika is transitioning to, Putin's Russia or Communist China, to name a couple, is the mistrust of pervasively corrupt authority.

Even if I read the article, knowing what I know about the Bushies, the media, and our Empire, I would be remiss if I put on my blinders and said, "The Official Story is True."

Hell, how often has the Official Story been a half-truth or outright fabrication even back before 2000 when America was free?

Even more to the point, of course, is the question of why this will ruin Spitzer while Vitter retains his seat and likely will continue to do so for exactly the same allegations.

This just further cements the similarity of Putin's Russia or Communist China to Amerika 2008.

Putinist/Bushist/Communist Party Official Caught = no trouble, investigation buried, no consequences for official

Opposition Official Caught (sometimes, like Don Seigelman, they don't even have to do anything criminal) = RUINED.

So even IF what you say is true and the Official Bushie Story is true, this is the sickening aspect of totalitarianism that lies just beneath.

[theboss]

18. Vitter had the same allegations but no real evidence

And the statute of limitations ran out.

They apparently have evidence of Spitzer mailing packages with thousands of dollars from NY to DC.

[tom_paine]

20. How can we know that? No investigation. None. Buried.

For all we know Vitter could have been banging away right up until his apology. No investigation by smpatico Bushie appratchiks means no evidence, even if it exists.

It's a self-referencing circle of corruption that provides it's own answers.

Again I say: Just like they do in Russia and China.

[theboss]

21. Okay...we are in Nazi Germany.

If you are this far through the looking glass, I don't know what to tell ya.

I can only go with what I know. The FBI apparently has the governor of New York on tape arranging to mail money to a whore in another state. That's about 33 different crimes.

[tom_paine]

28. Not me who is this far through the looking glass, but our nation.

Principaa obstis. Finem Respice.

(Resist the beginnings. Forsee the end.)

And we are nowhere near the brutality of Nazi Germany, though I wouldn't make bets for our great-grandchildren, especially once the economic, oil, and environmental belt starts to tighten.

If you are interested in a scholarly discussion of the growing similarities, please ckeck out Naomi Wolf's book "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot".

Here is a link to a YouTube of a lecture of hers which synopsizes it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc

Modern Day Russia or China, now THOSE we have VERY deep similarities to, Nazi Germany, in terms of brutality, we are nowhere close, obviously. We many never get that close, particularly as we seem to be following the Imperial Roman path of the Caesars much more than we are following the Nazi path, except in the areas of the use of the Big Lie and State-Propaganda & Gleichschaltung.

But modern Russia, China, Nazi Germany and us all have one overarching thing in common. We are all ruled by a totalitarian cabal and all of our "Checks and Balances" are in a degraded or non-existant state.

I wish such thoughts were wildly crazy and through the looking-glass, but if you take the time to watch Ms. Wolf's lecture, there is ample scholarly evidence that is not the case.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. I just said in another thread I suspect due to the nature of the investigation it was a legal

... warranted wiretap. They're not that overly difficult to obtain in such cases.

[MrCoffee]

10. The prosecutors could have gotten this warrant in their sleep

This is a no-brainer, folks.

[Rex]

11. My guess too.

But it could be a warrantless wiretap, we shall see. They could have heard her talking about someone like him and then checked into his inbound and outbound calls, from home and work. With or without a warrant. They wouldn't need one if he called her from work. They would if he called from home, so the point is valid.

[theboss]

13. Not if they were tapping HER phones....

Everyone indication is that his phones were not tapped. Hers were.

Why can no one grasp this?

[Rex]

14. Hey you are they one preaching about everyone reacting too fast.

Indications change over time as more evidence roles in. I said I agree with you, are you blind?

[WinkyDink]

12. I'm sure Spitzer is familiar with using wire-taps to crack prostitution rings.

Indeed, maybe the Feds just glommed onto some of his erstwhile info, say, from 2004?

[Zynx]

15. Indeed. Warrants for wiretaps have existed for a long time and are perfectly legal.

They have been affirmed time and time again.

[goodhue]

16. good point

In this case the wiretap was likely on the phones of the club's "booking agents" . . .
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20080310spitzer.pdf

[Seeking Serenity]

22. Guess what, people. When Obama or Hillary! is inaugurated in January

there will still be wiretapping going on.

George Bush didn't invent wiretapping.

Sorry to rain on folks' parade.

[devilgrrl]

23. Yeah, there has been. So why the need for warrantless wiretapping?

:popcorn:

[theboss]

25. I completely agree. That's why I'm against warrantless wiretapping

This ain't that.

[Uncle Joe]

27. That's how cynical I've become with this "Justice" Dept

how can you tell that warrant less wire tapping didn't lead to legal wiretapping?

It isn't as if there is no evidence they won't use the Justice Dept primarily for political purposes to railroad political opponents, the former Governor of Alabama is a case in point.

Can you believe they still haven't found the transcripts to his trial yet, so he can appeal?

And the firing of the district attorneys; who wouldn't aggressively prosecute Democrats?

[apnu]

26. K&R, this is the most rational point on this topic yet. (nt)