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The FBI didnt directly confirm that for him but it acknowledged in a letter that all agents retain Top Secret clearance. And since theres been no word that either Strzok or Page have been fired

This is canny packaging by Paul of one of his pet issues. Hes been pushing for months for reforms to FISAs Section 702 to require a new warrant whenever U.S. intelligence wants to search a database containing information on American citizens thats been incidentally collected in foreign surveillance. The politics of mass surveillance are rarely galvanizing to either the left or right, though. And despite his endless criticism of the FBI and the deep state, Trump isnt the sort to relinquish a law-enforcement tool that might be useful in sniffing out terrorist plots. Pauls dilemma, then, is how to tilt the average voter and the president towards the side of libertarianism.

The answer is to steer away from abstract arguments and give them a vivid, concrete example: Do you want Peter Strzok or Lisa Page running rogue database queries about Trump and his associates? If he frames this in terms of the Fourth Amendment or liberty, people will zone out. If he frames it in terms of Trump haters harassing the president, now hes cooking. The tweet above, in fact, seems phrased to appeal squarely to Trump himself. If you want get the Republican Party excited about civil liberties, you need to get the man who owns the party excited about it. And nothing gets through to him quite like warning him how he, personally, might be getting taken advantage of.

Other civil libertarians were unimpressed with Pauls nakedly partisan framing:

You cant style yourself a champion of the First Amendment & then demand federal employees be stripped of clearance unless theyre personally pro-Trump, Sanchez added. Maybe, but its a nifty way to try to get Trumps attention. Another nifty way is to go on Fox News and make your pitch to him through the TV screen. So thats what Rand did. Watch him below on Harris Faulkners show earlier this afternoon.

Two points, though. First, read the short letter above that he received from the FBI and youll see that it doesnt say what privileges, specifically, Strzok and Page currently have to search databases. Every agent has a Top Secret clearance but not every agent may be able to access the same information at will. After Bob Mueller found out about Strzoks anti-Trump texts with Page, he was reassigned from the Russiagate probe to human resources. What does he get to see there? Pauls broader point about warrantless surveillance still stands but its hard to know what data Strzok and Page specifically are able to view right now.

As for their employment, I *assume* the coming report from the DOJs Inspector General will address Strzok and Page just as it addresses the Andrew McCabe saga. It was the IG who referred McCabes lack of candor to the FBIs Office of Professional Responsibility, which recommended he be fired, so hes already proved that hes willing to usher bad actors towards the exit if the evidence suggests wrongdoing. It was also the IG who uncovered the now famous Strzok and Page texts, so theyre on his radar. If Strzok and Page committed firing offenses, presumably thatll be detailed in the report and Chris Wray and Jeff Sessions will act appropriately. They may be waiting for that report to issue before acting for legal reasons, in fact, so as not to be accused of having terminated Strzok and Page without cause. But theres also a chance that the IG wont recommend termination: Maybe theyll be reprimanded for shaking the publics faith in the FBI via their political texts about Trump but the evidence wont turn up any actual behavior on their part to try to sabotage Trumps campaign or presidency. Why not wait for the IG report? Its coming. In theory.

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Rand Paul: Peter Strzok and Lisa Page still have Top ...