Sharyl Attkisson: Obama-era Surveillance Timeline

This is from Sharyl Attkisson, who has filed a lawsuit against the Feds for hacking her computers and spying on her. I've been revisiting a few of these stories in an effort to keep the big picture in perspective. Don't want to miss the forest for the trees, right? So I was trying to put together my own timeline when I came across hers, and it's a daunting task (because the extent of known spying and political shenanigans are just that great), so I will start with her timeline, and then add some additional information. (It will sure be nice to finally close out some tabs!)

Obama-era Surveillance Timeline

You can find many timelines that follow allegations of Russia tampering in the U.S. election and alleged involvement of Trump officials. But I couldn’t find any comprehensive timelines cross-referencing Obama-era surveillance of whistleblowers, journalists and other U.S. citizens with Russia surveillance allegations. So I built one. Please note: temporal proximity of events doesn’t necessarily imply a connection.

After this introductory paragraph, she immediately goes into the timeline, beginning with Obama's inauguration. It continues through October 17, 2017. Rather than try to excerpt from the timeline, I am going to make three lists -- the targets, the guilty, and the whistleblowers -- with a few excerpts and pertinent links.

The Targets
Congresswoman Jane Harmon
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
U.S. members of Congress
Senate Intelligence Committee computers
20 AP reporters
James Risen (NYT reporter)
James Rosen (Fox News reporter)
Sharyl Attkisson (CBS reporter)
Gen. David Petraeus (CIA Director)
U.S. Verizon customers
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah
Organizations in the U.S.
American citizens

9500 searches involving 198 Americans in 2013 to 30,355 searches of 5,288 Americans in 2016

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Sergey Kislyak
Carter Page (Trump adviser)
Paul Manafort (Trump campaign manager)
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Trump national security adviser)
Steve Bannon (Trump campaign adviser)
Jared Kushner (Trump son-in-law and campaign adviser)

Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes publicly announces that he has reviewed evidence of U.S. citizens associated with Trump being “incidentally” surveilled by Obama intelligence officials, and that the names and information of the Trump associates were illegally leaked and/or used, mostly in November, December and January.

The Guilty
Eric Holder (Attorney General, DOJ)
Sally Yates (Deputy Attorney General)
John Brennan (CIA Director)
James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence)
Susan Rice (National Security Adviser)
James Comey (FBI Director)
Samantha Power* (U.N. Ambassador)

Power reportedly told Congressional investigators that many of the requests in her name were not made by her.

The Whistleblowers
FBI contractor Shamai Leibowitz
Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning
Edward Snowden (NSA)
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Mark Udall (D-CO)

For far more detailed information, dates, back stories, etc., the link is well worth the read.

I was surprised and disappointed that Ms. Attkisson did not include the NSA/CIA whistleblower Dennis Montgomery in her timeline, who is no stranger to ATS. From March 2017: NSA/CIA Whistleblower Dennis Montgomery: Trump, Chief Justice, and 156 Judges were spied on, including these highlights:

• Montgomery left the NSA and CIA with 47 hard drives and over 600 million pages of information; legally sought whistleblower status to expose systematic illegal surveillance by intel agencies -- including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, other justices, 156 judges, and prominent businessmen such as Donald Trump.
  
• Montgomery worked closely with James Clapper and John Brennan and personally witnessed this intrusion.
  
• Clapper lied in Congressional testimony.
  
• With the aid of the Honorable Royce C. Lambert of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and under grants of immunity, Montgomery produced the hard drives and was interviewed under oath in a secure room at the FBI Field Office in the District of Columbia, laying out his information/evidence of illegal spying by Obama's administration.
  
• This interview with the FBI took place [in 2015], with no apparent action taken.

And much more recently, from June 2019: **BOMBSHELL ALLEGATION** Comey buried 47 hard drives with proof of Obama spying on US citizens. This link has a video with information if you prefer viewing to reading.

Montgomery was also involved in the Obama lawsuits against Sheriff Joe Arpaio, testifying to spying on Sheriff Joe, presiding Judge Snow, Maricopa County Sheriff Department and Maricopa County. Those details can be found here: Whistleblower Chronicles (Dennis Montgomery)

More information on Montgomery's whistleblowing: Exclusive: Obama’s coup d’etat docs prove illegal surveillance coverup

Details regarding Montgomery's ongoing lawsuit against the Feds: CIA whistleblower: Mueller’s FBI computers spied on Trump and SCOTUS

Finally, one more very intriguing (and worrying) quote from the longstanding congress critter Maxine Waters in February 2013, not long after Obama's second inauguration:
I find it curious the way she speaks of Democrats having to learn to "deal with" Obama's database... as if it's a threat to the part, rather than a gift. Things that make you go "hmmmmmmm," eh?

a reply to: Boadicea

Very well put together.
Hopefully some justice gets served.
Thanks for the time you put in to this and sharing.

It should get interesting when the IG report comes out and to see what lines up with various threads on this site.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: Boadicea

Very well put together.
Hopefully some justice gets served.
Thanks for the time you put in to this and sharing.

Thank you -- I'm glad you appreciated it!

And my apologies for the late reply and for not "tending my thread." I wouldn't have posted if I'd known I wouldn't be able to tend to the thread. (But hopefully the information stands on its own merit).

originally posted by: mugger
It should get interesting when the IG report comes out and to see what lines up with various threads on this site.

Definitely!!!

Especially in terms of the many "leaks" and rumors from unnamed "official" sources. My best guess is that there is mis-information and dis-information coming from many sources for many purposes.

The trick is figuring out which is what... or something!

And my apologies for not replying sooner. I do try to tend my threads like a good ATSer, but something came up and it couldn't be helped.