The politicization and apparent corruption of the FBI


Subsections on this page:

Overview and recap articles

The FBI raid on Trump's home at Mar-A-Lago, Florida, August 8, 2022

The FBI vs. Peter Navarro

The FBI and Twitter

News and timely commentary about the FBI regarding their routine work

The alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer

News items that have not yet been categorized

Bruce Ohr and/or Nellie Ohr

Roger Stone

Michael Cohen

Paul Manafort

James Comey's notes and memos

The Inspector General's Report, released August 29, 2019

James Comey himself

James Comey's book

James Comey's TV interview, April 15, 2018

The Inspector General's report, released April 13, 2018

The Inspector General's report, released June 14, 2018

The report from Inspector General David Horowitz, December 9, 2019

Disgruntled, whistle-blowing FBI agents

Kevin Clinesmith

Carter Page

Redacted FISA documents released July 21, 2018

Andrew McCabe

McCabe and Rosenstein

Rod Rosenstein

Rod Rosenstein announces an indictment on July 13, 2018

Christopher Wray

Robert Mueller and Tony Podesta

Jerome Corsi

George Papadopoulos

James Clapper

Michael Flynn

Bill Priestap

Professor Joseph Mifsud

Robert Mueller's Russian Election Interference Indictments

Spoliation of evidence in the Robert Mueller investigation

Robert Mueller and his lengthy investigation : Overview and recap

Mueller investigation report issued April 18, 2019

Attorney General Barr

Attorney General Barr's analysis of Mueller's report and testimony on May 1, 2019

Mueller investigation aftermath and retrospective

Attorney General William Barr selects US Attorney John Durham

The Mueller monologue and impeachment infomercial, May 29, 2019

Robert Mueller himself

Mueller testimony, July  17  24, 2019

News articles written during the Mueller investigation

James Wolfe

Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and their conveniently "lost" text messages

Peter Strzok's public testimony, July 12, 2018

The FBI seems to avoid any evidence against Hillary Clinton

News and commentary about the FBI after the 2016 presidential election but before Mr. Comey's dismissal

James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, June 8, 2017

News and commentary about James Comey and the FBI after his Senate testimony

The FBI re-opens the Clinton email investigation on October 28, 2016

FBI Director Comey appears to reverse his course again, November 5, 2016

News and commentary prior to the re-opening of the FBI investigation on October 28, 2016

The FBI releases embarrassing documents on Friday afternoons

Related topics on other nearby pages:

The Fusion GPS Dossier and the FISA abuse memo.

Abuse of power.

Domestic surveillance.

Spice up your email with FBI Trigger Words.

The unexplained mass shooting in Las Vegas, October 2017.

Former CIA director John Brennan.

Hillary Clinton's secret email servers.

Hillary Clinton's cloud of corruption.

Hillary Clinton's numerous other scandals.

Credible allegations of Obama's spying on political opponents.

Obama's numerous other scandals.




Overview and recap articles:


FBI: Decline and Fall.  The FBI of today has taken an unprecedented leap towards an autocratic police force.  Its reputation as a nonpartisan, ethical protector of the Constitution has been reduced to that of partisan, unethical detractor of the Constitution.  We can no longer expect that all federal crimes will be investigated and prosecuted.  We no longer expect that justice is blind but that the FBI uses blinders when investigating certain people.  The FBI of today is investigating and intimidating parents of schoolchildren and knocking on the doors of those who post opinions on social media.  The FBI of today is stonewalling and obfuscating congressional requests and hearings.  The FBI is compiling information on anyone who objects to the Democratic Party's narrative and manipulating through intimidation organizations that don't support it.  Forcing tech providers to remove posts that are pro-Trump or anti-vaccine or anything that offends the current administration is not, and never should be, a function of our federal law enforcement agency.

The Absurdities of Our Age.  How can a former FBI director under oath claim amnesia or ignorance 245 times during congressional testimony, or leak a classified account of a private conversation with a president with complete impunity, as did James Comey?  How can an FBI director, as did Andrew McCabe, lie on four occasions with impunity to federal investigators?  Is it now the case that FBI directors at times must lie and deceive as part of their job descriptions?  How can a former FBI director, as in the case of Robert Mueller, with all seriousness deny under oath any knowledge of Fusion GPS or the Steele dossier, whose controversies prompted his own special counsel appointment?  Can citizens tell inquisitive IRS auditors that they have no memory of deductions in question?  Why is there still an FBI after it has been confessed that it paid a foreign national, Christopher Steele, to compile dirt against a presidential candidate — and paid his source in Washington to provide Steele with false information to impugn a presidential candidate?  How did the FBI manage to play a central role in both the 2016 and 2020 elections in efforts to alter the result?  How can a legitimate FBI knowingly submit such information that it knew was false to a federal judge to spy on an American citizen to further a farcical plot to destroy a presidential campaign?  So what will the FBI not do?

Clear Political Intent — FBI Refuses to Turn Over Unclassified Investigative Report Detailing Joe Biden Bribery Scheme.  During all of my research and discoveries about the DOJ and FBI, the one constant from everyone with a specific and granular knowledge of how the silo information operations are conducted is that the FBI is comprehensively and institutionally corrupt at every level.  Let us not pretend with each other.  As an outcome of President Obama and Eric Holder's specific actions, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was weaponized (top to bottom) as an enforcement mechanism to protect the interests of the DC democrats.  Top to bottom the FBI is a fully weaponized federal police agency with the primary mission to target political opposition.  In the modern political era, this is the sole purpose of the FBI — nothing more, nothing less.

For the Rule of Law to Reign, the Bureau Must Be Destroyed.  I have spent most of my adult life trying to educate people about the serious national security threats this country faces.  The United States has very real enemies, both foreign and domestic, and it requires defending.  Nevertheless, the FBI must be abolished.  The solution to the abuses we now endure is not just to subject the FBI to another fruitless inspector general investigation but to dismantle it completely.  The bureau cannot be the focus of yet another congressional hearing.  FBI Director Christopher Wray, like his predecessors, is more than happy to sit smirking while a handful of grandstanding congressmen and senators pound the table and yell on C-SPAN.  Then he'll jet off for a holiday vacation on a taxpayer-funded private jet while the same congressmen vote to increase his budget.  Again.  No, the FBI must be rendered into component parts and distributed to the four winds.

Gutless American Leadership Drifts into Corruption and Decay.  FBI overreach has increasingly been in the news the past few years, but we have not seen any real pushback by our elected or appointed officials.  We see that an FBI agent was present but drove away from the attempt a few years ago to assassinate Pamela Geller by Islamic extremists.  Aware of this intention because of a deftly placed agent (or perhaps he was the instigator), nothing was done by the FBI to prevent this attempt, which was stopped by a local sharpshooter in Garland, TX.  Gov. Whitmer of Michigan was supposedly the intended victim of a kidnapping plot, but two of the accused were acquitted, and a mistrial was declared for the other two.  Not only was it some of the worst investigative work in the history of the USA, but serious questions were raised as to whether the FBI, rather than the indicted men, actually set up the entire project as a false flag to allow the arrest of certain right-wingers.  It may have been (and this writer believes it is likely) that this was part of an ongoing FBI plot to make the right seem dangerous and out of control.  With weapons and an excessive show of force, the FBI arrested Roger Stone, Peter Navarro, and Simone Gold, showing unnecessary aggression.

The FBI's Grotesque Rehab Tour Commences.  It has not been a good several years for the FBI.  The organization's checkered history got more checkered during the 2016 election after then FBI Dir.  James Comey decided to rewrite the law on the fly to not charge Hillary Clinton for clearly breaking the law.  From there, things just went downhill.  The Russian collusion hoax took center stage, eventually leading to Comey's well-deserved ouster.  Unfortunately, his replacement was another "company man" ready to "protect the shield" instead of bringing the reforms the bureau so desperately needed.  Christopher Wray, the current FBI Director, fought tooth and nail to cover up the FISA abuse that targeted Trump associates, slow-walking releases, and never actually disciplining anyone substantially for what happened.

'Dirty cops': FBI leaves trail of lies, leaks, lapses in Trump era.  The FBI already has amassed a record of misconduct by top officials leading up to Monday, when the Justice Department inspector general is scheduled to release conclusions on whether agents also abused the bureau's intrusive wiretapping powers.  To date, four inspector general reports and internal Justice Department documents have found senior FBI officials guilty of lying, insubordination, security violations, mishandling confidential material and personal biases against President Trump.  Rep. Devin Nunes, the California Republican who discovered that the FBI had used a Democratic Party-financed dossier as evidence, often refers to bureau leaders as "dirty cops."  Lisa Page, a former FBI senior counsel and one of those singled out, portrayed herself this week as an innocent victim of FBI betrayal.  Meanwhile, news media stories have downplayed the significance of the upcoming inspector general's report on how the FBI spied on the Trump campaign through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and other means.

Michael Flynn's Lawyer:  Top FBI Officials Conspired To Entrap Ex-Trump National Security Adviser.  The FBI has become a snake pit.  The nation's largest domestic intelligence and law enforcement body, a beacon for impartial, professional, and expert investigative work now has a muddied reputation because some people didn't like the winner of the 2016 election.  Yes, disgraced FBI Agent Peter Strzok who was fired for sending tens of thousands of anti-Trump texts to former bureau lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was having an extramarital affair, embarrassed the agency.  It also didn't help that this man reportedly signed off on the counterintelligence probe that became the investigation spearheaded by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.  He was also a key person in the FBI's analysis of Hillary Clinton's email server.  There are discussions with also fired Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe about an insurance policy, which many have alleged is the infamous Trump dossier, compiled by ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele and financed by the Clinton campaign and the Democrats.  This political opposition research file, which appears to be unverified, was used to secure spy warrants against Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign.

Lindsey Graham:  There Is Proof Of Systematic Corruption At Highest Level of DOJ and FBI.  "Here's what we're looking at:  Systematic corruption at the highest level of the Department of Justice and the FBI against President Trump and in favor of Hillary Clinton," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.  Host Sean Hannity then asked Graham whether officials "lied purposefully" on a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant application to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

The Obama Brennan Mueller Hoax:  Blaming Russian espionage on Trump.  The fact is that Russian espionage is an ongoing occurrence.  It has been going on for 100 years.  It happens on a constant basis on multiple levels.  To conflate actions of Russian espionage with the Presidential campaign of the Republican nominee is not just unprecedented and reckless.  It is a stupefying abuse of power and authority.  It's simply a leap of uncalculated madness.  An anti-constitutional putsch against the electorate.  Yet that is at the heart of the Obama Brennan Mueller hoax and the attempted coup against Donald Trump.

The FBI Tragedy: Elites above the Law.  One of the media and beltway orthodoxies we constantly hear is that just a few bad apples under James Comey at the FBI explain why so many FBI elites have been fired, resigned, reassigned, demoted, or retired — or just left for unexplained reasons.  The list is long and includes director James Comey himself, deputy director Andrew McCabe, counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, attorney Lisa Page, chief of staff James Rybicki, general counsel James Baker, assistant director for public affairs Mike Kortan, Comey's special assistant Josh Campbell, executive assistant director James Turgal, assistant director for office of congressional affairs Greg Bower, executive assistant director Michael Steinbach, and executive assistant director John Giacalone.  In short, in about every growing scandal of the past two years — FISA, illegal leaking, spying on a presidential candidate, lying under oath, obstructing justice — someone in the FBI is involved.

Criminality Of Deep State Investigation Of Trump Confirmed — Has U.S. Become A Banana Republic?  Both the Justice Department and FBI have maintained they didn't really know that Trump Dossier compiler Christopher Steele had any bias at all against Trump.  And, even when they got their hands on Steele's unverified dossier on Trump, they claim they didn't know that Steele's employer, Fusion GPS, had any conflicts of interest.  Moreover, when they appeared before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get the OK to spy on former Trump aide Carter Page, they didn't tell the court what they knew.  They lied.  Or at the very minimum, concealed the truth.  This is a crime.  How can we be sure that top officials at Justice and the FBI knew all this?  Ohr said so.

Walls Are Closing in on the FBI and Its Media Accomplices.  Those of us who have closely followed the unfolding scandal at the Justice Department — particularly how the FBI abused its power not only to spy on the Trump presidential campaign but also on the president himself — have been frustrated with the inaction both of the White House and Congress.  Documents have not been declassified as promised; letters by top lawmakers have gone unanswered with no consequence; and not one perpetrator in the biggest political scandal in history has been held accountable.  The New York Times over the weekend confirmed the worst suspicions:  Andrew McCabe, a disgraced FBI official caught lying to federal investigators and fired by Trump, and his corrupt lackeys opened up a criminal and counterintelligence probe into President Trump on the flimsiest of evidence in May 2017.  Further, statements from William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, seem to indicate he would be deferential to Special Counsel Robert Mueller rather than focus on the real scandal.  It was unclear whether a change in leadership at the Justice Department and on the Senate Judiciary Committee (Lindsey Graham took the reins from Charles Grassley this year) would restart stalled congressional inquiries.

The conspiracy to destroy the Trump presidency is far worse than we knew and will continue.  [T]op people in the FBI filled with hatred and frankly, anti-Trump rage, who have put aside all values and their blatant political bias, were seeking redemption for the firing of James Comey.  They actually plotted to destroy your duly-elected president.  And this is way beyond what we already knew up until this point.  According to, as usual, anonymous sources in the New York Times report last Friday, two days after Comey was unceremoniously terminated, several top FBI officials actually questioned whether or not President Trump was working directly for Russia.  They did this without a single shred of evidence, zero probable cause, zero proof of any collusion.  It was a witch hunt.  The president has been right from Day One.

An FBI that is corrupt and dishonest — Latest reports offer only more proof.  Dishonesty and corruption are endemic at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The latest proof comes in a New York Times report that the FBI initiated an investigation in May of 2017 into whether President Donald Trump was serving as a covert Russian agent.  The accusation itself was ludicrous on its face.  But from a legal standpoint, the FBI's probe constituted an egregious abuse of power.  The Bureau had no probable cause, no evidence, and no reasonable suspicions.  They investigated Trump because they could.  They defied the law, ignored or perverted facts, and debased the integrity of a heretofore-respected law enforcement agency.  Why did these rogue officials commit such an outrageous act of malfeasance?  In a word, vengeance.  Already incensed that Trump had defeated their preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, they grew furious when the president fired Director James Comey on May 9, 2017.

NYT Reveals FBI Retaliated Against Trump For Comey Firing.  In a Friday night news dump, the New York Times revealed the FBI's surprisingly flimsy justification for launching a retaliatory investigation into President Donald Trump, their chief adversary during their recent troubled era.  Admitting there is no actual evidence for their probe into whether Trump "worked for the Russians," FBI officials instead cited their foreign policy differences with him, his lawful firing of bungling FBI Director James Comey, and alarm that he accurately revealed to the American public that he was told he wasn't under investigation by the FBI, when they preferred to hide that fact.  The news was treated as a bombshell, and it was, but not for the reasons many thought.  It wasn't news that the FBI had launched the investigation.  Just last month, CNN reported that top FBI officials opened an investigation into Trump after the lawful firing of Comey because Trump "needed to be reined in," a shocking admission of abuse of power by our nation's top law enforcement agency.

Watergate by Any Other Name.  For almost three years now, the intelligence services and police apparatus of the deep state have worked tirelessly to undermine Donald Trump. [...] But win he did, and that changed everything.  Now it was not a candidate who had to be stopped but a duly elected president of the United States who had to be kept from knowing exactly what lengths the government — soon to be his government — had gone to destroy him.  From November 9, 2016, to January 20, 2017, the reins of government were still in the hands of Barack Obama.  The apparatus to stop Trump the candidate was already in place.  Now it would be deployed against Trump the president-elect and, later, Trump the president.  Over the last few days, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other anti-Trump outlets have revealed, and reveled in, something that many observers suspected for a long time.  That the investigation into various figures associated with the Trump campaign — not only Carter Page, but also George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and Michael Cohen — was just a pretext.  The main target all along was Trump himself.

The FBI Prostituted Itself.  Citing unnamed "former law enforcement sources and others," the New York Times reports that "in the days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president's behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests."  The mainstream media has touted this story as major breaking news.  But, to anyone who has been paying even a modicum of attention, it is crystal clear that Comey's firing did not precipitate the FBI's investigation of Trump.  To the contrary, the readily available record facts demonstrate that Comey's FBI began investigating Trump and his campaign for possible Russian collusion shortly after he won the Republican Party's nomination.

The Paranoid Style at the FBI.  The FBI's counterintelligence probe of Trump marks one of its lowest moments of political paranoia.  As anti-Trump hysteria, before and after his election, swept through Washington, D.C., Comey and his staff succumbed to it, turning the FBI into an extension of the Democratic Party.  Hillary Clinton's opposition researcher, Christopher Steele, might as well have had an office down the hall from Comey, such was the FBI's absurd reliance upon Steele's smears.  It was bad enough that the FBI had already treated multiple members of Trump's campaign as "probable" Russian agents during the campaign, based on nothing more than flaky partisan hunches.  It then on even thinner grounds placed a president in that category too.  Out of months of obsessing over Trump — from vows to "stop" his candidacy to talk of an "insurance policy" in the event that he won — Peter Strzok and company hatched one of the most half-cocked probes in the history of the FBI.

The FBI's 'Trump treason' probe flunked civics.  The FBI took it upon itself to determine whether the president of the United States is a threat to national security.  No one had ever before thought that this was an appropriate role for the FBI, a subordinate agency in the executive branch, but President Trump isn't the only one in Washington trampling norms.

The Stench Still Lingers.  The political corruption of a law enforcement agency — the kind that led the FBI to ignore the obvious felonies of one candidate and try to invent crimes in an effort to target her opponent — is, by far, the corruption most damaging to democracy.  The stench of that political corruption still lingers over the FBI and the Justice Department, but neither Trump nor anyone in his administration is willing or able to deal with it.  The problem has gotten worse, not better.

The Lingering Stench of Coverup at Justice and the FBI.  What began as a good week for President Trump stalled and finally ended badly.  On Monday [9/17/2018], he ordered the Justice Department to declassify and provide to congressional investigators a pile of documents, many of which the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) subpoenaed more than a year ago.  From Tuesday until Friday morning, we waited in vain for any evidence that the president's order had been complied with by the FBI and DoJ.  On Friday morning, HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) told a Fox News interviewer that his committee hadn't seen any of the documents that the president's Monday order had declassified.  Obviously, the FBI and DoJ weren't complying with the president's order.  Then came Trump's Friday announcement that he'd canceled the declassification order after being persuaded to do so by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and "key allies" — Britain?  Australia?  Russia?  Mexico? — who'd called to urge him not to declassify the documents in question.

Can We Trust the FBI?  Peter Strzok.  Lisa Page.  AndrewMcCabe.  James Comey.  Sound familiar?  That's the FBI — the folks who are being asked to investigate, apparently for one week, the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh.  Yes, that group is mercifully gone now, but who is behind them?  And what have we not yet learned of the internal conspiracy against President Trump currently being investigated by the inspector general?  Who else is involved and who then will be conducting and supervising this investigation?  Will it be the same people?  In other words, can we trust the FBI with this when the institution itself is so tainted and deeply in need of reform?

America in Throes of a Bloodless Revolution.  It is obvious that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been politicized, and the awesome power of this feared organization has been subverted.  They have supported lies, used false documents to initiate a special counsel, interrupted the lives of American patriots who gave up defending themselves because it is impossible to outlast a government agency who can use taxpayer money to keep you in court for as long as they want to.  The Justice Department, which has basically been leaderless under the tenure of Jeff Sessions has, under the feckless interim directorship of Rod Rosenstein, definitely listed to port and been complicit in obtaining FISA Court warrants under false pretenses.  Had everything gone according to plan, Hillary Clinton would have been elected, and all the corruption would have been buried way down deep.

The Only Subject Ben Sasse Won't Talk About:  Spygate.  Although [Ben] Sasse has issued two statements in support of Sessions in recent weeks, he has not made any formal comments about the misconduct and potentially unlawful behavior of the following people:  Former FBI Director James Comey; former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe; Assistant Attorney General Bruce Ohr; FBI lovers Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. [...] Comey is now under investigation by the Justice Department's Inspector General for mishandling government documents.  McCabe in under a grand jury investigation.  Ohr twice has been demoted at the Justice Department; his wife, Nellie, worked for the political opposition research firm that produced the anti-Trump dossier and both Ohrs were in contact with the dossier's author, Christopher Steele.  Strzok and Page had numerous exchanges about how to stop Trump's candidacy and then undermine his administration after he was elected.

Can the FBI be independent?  When President Donald Trump appointed Atlanta lawyer Christopher Wray to succeed James Comey as the director of the FBI, my initial reaction was not positive.  Wray is a veteran of the Department of Justice and is part of that good-old-boy DOJ network that knows how to protect its own.  Indeed, when then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney, needed a good criminal defense lawyer — whose millions in fees were paid by New Jersey taxpayers — he hired Wray.  Christie was never indicted in the Bridgegate scandal, but defense counsel for those who were sought Christie's cellphone to demonstrate to jurors the governor's involvement in the plot to shut down lanes near the George Washington Bridge for political retaliation.  Christie claimed that he gave his phone to federal prosecutors, but they told the court that they did not have the phone.  Where was it?  In a safe of the Atlanta law firm that employed Wray.

New Schweizer-recommended book exposes extent of corruption at FBI and DOJ.  The FBI and the DOJ have gone to the Dark Side.  Amazing, considering their longstanding promotion of their status and posture for decades as the defenders of freedom and the American way — but times change, and the deep Deep State has no special affection for the America conceived of and promoted by the founders.  I have a friend and colleague who is retired from the FBI.  We talk, and he insists that the FBI basic hardworking field agents and such are concerned and upset about the misconduct of the many miscreants in the leadership of the FBI and the DOJ.  For example, he tells me of the perceived problems that were created by FBI decisions to make cases headquarters cases instead of following FBI protocols that made the field agents the drivers of the case.  However, I see nothing of any effort by FBI agents to fix the corruption problem at the top.  Wanna know why?  They are bureaucrats, and they have no taste for the risks of fixing corruption.

Devin Nunes:  Clinton campaign colluded with 'nearly every' top official at the DOJ and FBI.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes declared Sunday that Hillary Clinton's campaign "colluded" with nearly every top official in the Justice Department and FBI.  An interview on Fox News had turned to the topic of Trump dossier author Christopher Steele and his ties to Bruce Ohr, a high-level DOJ official who fed the FBI information from the ex-British spy even after he was cut as a source for providing confidential information to the media.

Why aren't the Democrats horrified by the corruption at the FBI and DOJ?  It is becoming clearer by the day, after over a year of investigations, that the Obama administration did indeed weaponize the DOJ, the FBI, the CIA, the ATF, the IRS and the NSA.  Over those eight years, each of the above agencies was transformed into an arm of the Democratic Party tasked with crippling the opposition and abrogating the Constitution.  Since all of the mainstream media already were arms of the DNC, it is well and truly a miracle that Donald Trump prevailed throughout his campaign to win the election, as the entire DC bureaucracy and media were aligned against him.  Most of them still are.

The Police Were Not Policed.  Most recently, it was disclosed, two years after the fact — and despite the FBI's kicking-and-screaming refusal to release subpoenaed documents — that the FBI did, as alleged, offer to pay Christopher Steele to dig for dirt on the Trump campaign.  The FBI also knew that Steele was working on behalf of the Clinton campaign to find dirt on Donald Trump.  We now also know that the FBI used at least one informant to spy on members of the Trump campaign.  In other words, the FBI joined forces with one political campaign to thwart the efforts of the opposing campaign.  Has that happened before in American history?

FBI Vault Release — FBI Requested Data Forensics on Huma Abedin/Clinton Laptop AFTER the 2016 Election, Not Before.  From the Boston Marathon bombing investigation through the San Bernardino terrorist attack; passing the Garland, Texas cartoon terror shooting; and continuing through Orlando's Pulse Nightclub; and then through the Parkland shooting and into Las Vegas — via the Mandalay Bay — we always knew something was wrong with the apparatus, the institutional apparatus, of the FBI... but it wasn't until 2017 with James Comey, Andrew McCabe and the transparently corrupt Clinton exoneration and candidate Trump set-up scheme that we fully grasped the scale and scope of the corruption.  It is disconcerting to accept that the institution of the FBI is corrupt, soup-to-nuts, including every aforementioned field office and participant therein.  But reality doesn't care about feelings; it just stares you in the face until we accept it.  Talking heads always approach the issue with a co-dependent and enabling qualifier:  "we're not talking about the field agents", they say.  Um, no; that's nonsense.  If the institution is corrupt, then every entity within it is corrupt — until such time as the corruption is removed.

Progressive Regression.  The FBI may not recover its reputation.  Certainly, the brand of its Washington office is shredded.  Watching new Director Christopher Wray stumble about to reassure us about his reforms inspires about as much credulity as a pre-war French general touting the invincibility provided by the Maginot Line.  The Left more or less has canonized a parade of disreputable FBI officials.  Peter Strzok violated almost every canon of professional conduct, in his personal comportment, in his blatant prevarication about his own text messages, and in his dogged pride in his conflicts of interest in using his authority to pursue a political agenda.  His superior Andrew McCabe, according to the inspector general, likewise lied on several occasions.

Christopher Wray and Jeff Sessions must clean up FBI corruption or quit.  FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are sitting squarely in the crosshairs of history.  They must rise to the call of duty and clean up the corruption we are seeing unfold at the FBI or they must tender their resignations and be replaced by real leaders who will do what is necessary to restore public trust in our unraveling justice system.  A powerful government agency that — like the IRS under former President Barack Obama's watch — was unmistakably weaponized to target political opponents.  The recent shocking revelations that underhanded FBI officials misled the FISA court to get a warrant to spy on Carter Page, an unpaid, low-level volunteer, as a bridge to spy on the Trump campaign and transition team is beyond alarming; it's flat-out corrupt — police-state tactics seen, ironically, in places like Russia.

Just How Far Will the Left Go?  We are about 430 days into Robert Mueller's investigation; the special prosecutor whose team of lawyers and investigators has in a large part been made up either of Clinton donors, clear Clinton partisans, lawyers who have in the past represented Clinton interests or employees, or partisans already removed for expressing clear Trump hatred.  The media grew ecstatic over its creation, dubbing it an "all-star" or "dream" team, as leaks assured the public that next week, next month, or "soon" there would be a sensational indictment proving that Trump colluded with the Russians to win the presidency.

Obama intel chiefs gave Russia a pass, and now blame — Donald Trump?  Long before the 2016 election, when Donald Trump was a mere private citizen, Russia was engaged in widespread cyber-aggression against the United States.  Moscow racheted up those attacks during the campaign.  And yet, despite knowledge of the ongoing cyberwarfare, the president at the time, Barack Obama, and his intelligence chiefs — John Brennan at the CIA, James Clapper at National Intelligence, James Comey and his predecessor, Robert Mueller, at the FBI — reportedly didn't lift a finger to stop it.  Why?  Because the Obama administration was obsessed with protecting its bigger agenda:  namely, closing and implementing the Iran nuclear deal and trying to save their collapsed Russian "reset."  Calling Russia on its malign cyber activity would have imperiled both initiatives, so Obama and his intel team apparently chose to ignore it, even as it escalated.

Mueller's witch hunt [is] a growing disaster for national security.  The evidence is mounting that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's open-ended investigation into whether President Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the election from Hillary Clinton (which has turned up nothing on that specific front) is becoming more than just a political burr under the saddle of President Trump.  It may be a growing national security problem.

Rampant corruption [is] the norm in FBI.  People tend to forget, or maybe never knew, just how corrupt the famous but incompetent Federal Bureau of Investigation has always been.  This current scandal is just business as usual for the agency that has metastasized into America's secret police.  Strzok's weaselly testimony last week showed just how far off the rails the crooked feds have gone.  And it just so happens that this summer is the 40th anniversary of another horrific crime, one in which this same crew of dirty cops played a supporting, but revealing role.

The Gangster State.  [Scroll down]  This becomes more obvious when looking at the whole criminal enterprise that is currently called the FBI.  There's no question that the people at the top engaged in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to spy on the Trump campaign and engineer a criminal investigation of his administration, for the purpose of removing him from office.  This is the one explanation that explains the mountain of evidence piled up in the public domain.  This is so obvious that no one bothers to deny it.  Instead, the game is to avoid discussing it in public.  Lurking in the secret FBI files can be only three possibilities, with regards to this conspiracy.  One, there is proof they cooked the whole thing to help get Hillary Clinton elected.  The other is some out of left field explanation for the mountain of data, that points to an innocent motive.  The final option is a massive hole in the system where the damning proof used to exists, but has now been destroyed as part of the cover-up.  To date, the FBI and DOJ refuse to comply with Congressional subpoenas to answer this question.

The Gangster State.  [Scroll down]  This becomes more obvious when looking at the whole criminal enterprise that is currently called the FBI.  There's no question that the people at the top engaged in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy to spy on the Trump campaign and engineer a criminal investigation of his administration, for the purpose of removing him from office.  This is the one explanation that explains the mountain of evidence piled up in the public domain.  This is so obvious that no one bothers to deny it.  Instead, the game is to avoid discussing it in public.  Lurking in the secret FBI files can be only three possibilities, with regards to this conspiracy.  One, there is proof they cooked the whole thing to help get Hillary Clinton elected.  The other is some out of left field explanation for the mountain of data, that points to an innocent motive.  The final option is a massive hole in the system where the damning proof used to exists, but has now been destroyed as part of the cover-up.  To date, the FBI and DOJ refuse to comply with Congressional subpoenas to answer this question.

The Overlords Have Arrived.  Today, Americans are trying to separate their consideration of an investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election from what increasingly looks like the wreckage of a failed coup against the election and office of the current president.  And the signs of a confrontation across barricades between Americans and their self-appointed Overlords is revealed daily in the transcripts and testimony of the participants in congressional hearings and inquiries.

A Factual Comparison of Watergate and Russiagate Shows They're Mirror Opposites.  [For example,] In the Watergate scandal, the burglars were discovered by a hotel security guard and arrested by local police on the very first day of the scandal.  On day 90 of the Watergate scandal, a grand jury indicted the Watergate burglars plus G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, two of the break-in organizers.  In contrast, the 2016 DNC cyber burglars, whoever they are, have never been arrested or indicted.  In fact, the DNC has refused to allow law enforcement to inspect the crime scene — i.e., the server itself.  The conclusion that Russians hacked the DNC server relies solely upon the opinion of DNC-funded Crowdstrike, a firm hired by Perkins Coie, which also hired Hillary Clinton- and DNC-funded Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Trump.  Perkins Coie and their contractors were hired to help Clinton "achieve [her] electoral and strategic objectives."  They were not in the business of investigating crimes.  There is no public report of the DNC paying the key investigators in the Watergate scandal.

Watergate redux.  President Obama, although appearing confident of a Clinton victory, apparently feared a Trump win would undo his legacy — which is precisely what has happened — and thus it had to be prevented by whatever means.  The leadership of the Justice Department, IRS, FBI, CIA and others in the Obama administration have been, and continue to show themselves to be, fierce Democratic partisans.  Again, their motivations for what increasingly appears as extensive inappropriate and illegal behavior seem to be much like their Watergate predecessors.  Former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former director of National Intelligence James Clapper have all publicly stated that they do not believe Mr. Trump is fit to be president — with the implicit argument that stopping him is their patriotic duty — the law [notwithstanding].

As the Wiseguys Turn:  McCabe, Comey, and the FBI Boys.  [W]hat began as an investigation into Russian "collusion" on the part of the Trump campaign and perhaps the president himself, is now steadily being revealed as the sham byproduct of the fixed-fight "probe" of the Clinton email "matter" that allowed the former secretary of state to head into the 2016 election "cleared" of any wrongdoing by the Obama "justice" department.  Vengeful over her surprising loss, the Woman Scorned and her cronies in the former administration and the intelligence community then concocted the "collusion" narrative, obligingly peddled to the public by the Democrat-controlled media, to strangle the Trump presidency in its cradle.  And they almost got away with it.

The FBI's Watergate.  "What did the president know, and when did he know it?"  On June 28, 1973, during a hearing before the Senate Watergate Committee, the ranking member, Tennessee Republican Howard Baker, posed the central question of the investigation.  Forty-five summers after Baker uttered those historic words, the same question now hangs over the alleged collusion between Donald Trump and Russia in the 2016 election.  But this time the question is directed at the investigators.  It runs like this:  What did the FBI know, when did it know it — and from whom did it get this information?  The answers are essential to a public accounting of what in fact happened during an election in which the FBI was investigating both the Republican and Democratic nominees for president or their campaigns.  But unlike Watergate, which the FBI solved, the more we learn about these investigations, the more troubling the FBI's behavior appears.  Unfortunately, rather than make a clean breast of it all, new FBI Director Christopher Wray behaves as though the bureau doesn't need to answer to the American people's elected representatives in Congress.

London 'bridges' falling down: curious origins of FBI's Trump-Russia probe.  The bridge to the Russia investigation wasn't erected in Moscow during the summer of the 2016 election.  It originated earlier, 1,700 miles away in London, where foreign figures contacted Trump campaign advisers and provided the FBI with hearsay allegations of Trump-Russia collusion, bureau documents and interviews of government insiders reveal.  These contacts in spring 2016 — some from trusted intelligence sources, others from Hillary Clinton supporters — occurred well before FBI headquarters authorized an official counterintelligence investigation on July 31, 2016.  The new timeline makes one wonder:  Did the FBI follow its rules governing informants?

The Politicization of the FBI.  Over the past year, facts have emerged that suggest there was a plot by high-ranking FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the Obama administration, acting under color of law, to exonerate Hillary Clinton of federal crimes and then, if she lost the election, to frame Donald Trump and his campaign for colluding with Russia to steal the presidency.  This conduct was not based on mere bias, as has been widely claimed, but rather on deeply felt animus toward Trump and his agenda.  In the course of this plot, FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI Deputy Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, Strzok's paramour and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, FBI General Counsel James Baker, and DOJ senior official Bruce Ohr — perhaps among others — compromised federal law enforcement to such an extent that the American public is losing trust.

The appointment of Robert Mueller violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.  The appointment of Robert Mueller violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.  Mueller is not an inferior appointee, but a principal appointee as understood under our constitutional.  His powers are more akin to an United States attorney, not an assistant United States attorney.  Moreover, his boss, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, treats him as a principal officer — that is, Mueller is mostly free to conduct his investigation with few limits or restraints.  The parameters of his appointment were extraordinarily broad in the first instance, and have only expanded since then.  Indeed, Mueller is more powerful than most United States attorneys, all of whom were nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as principal officers.  Furthermore, Rosenstein mostly rubber stamps Mueller's decisions and is not involved in the regular management and oversight of Mueller to any significant extent, underscoring Mueller's role not as an inferior officer but a principal officer.  As such, Mueller's appointment violates the Appointments Clause.  Mueller would've had to be nominated for Senate confirmation like any other principal officer in the Executive Branch.  Rosenstein did not have the constitutional power to appoint a principal officer on his own anymore than the President himself does.  To do otherwise is to defy the procedure established by the Framers for making such consequential executive appointments.  It follows, then, that every subpoena, indictment, and plea agreement involving the Mueller investigation is null and void.  Every defendant, suspect, witness, etc., in this matter should challenge the Mueller appointment as a violation of the Appointments Clause.

We Need to Know What Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Rice, Power and the Rest of Them Did.  The Mueller investigation has, oddly enough, revealed that the greatest perpetrator against the American people in the 2016 election was the federal government.  The greatest perpetrator against the American people was the federal government, was the leadership in the FBI, the CIA, the national intelligence director, etc.  We cannot allow this to happen again.  We saw our federal government used by the prior administration, by the head of the CIA, by the head of the FBI, by the head of national intelligence and many, many others used to try and destroy the candidate of the opposition party.  These Obama intelligence officials tried to destroy Donald Trump and the electoral process.  An administration interfering in elections is something we've never seen anything before in American history.

How the FBI and CIA Restarted the Cold War to Protect Themselves.  [Scroll down]  In the two years that have elapsed since, it has been learned that the "intelligence" that formed the basis for the sanctions was beyond dubious.  A single unverified "dossier" compiled by an ex-British spy with no discernable connections to Russia was shopped to FISA judges and the media as something real.  The dossier was opposition research by the Hillary Clinton campaign, a fact that was not disclosed and actively hidden by off-the-book transactions through the law firm Perkins Coie.  As a dog that chases its tail, the fake dossier was being used to cause the investigation which itself lent credibility to the notion of Russian interference.  The FBI and CIA thumbed the eye of an armed nuclear state based on false intelligence.  Why?  The answer is now obvious:  to cover up their own election year shenanigans they thought would remain forever hidden in the inevitable Hillary Clinton victory.

The Politicization of the FBI.  Over the past year, facts have emerged that suggest there was a plot by high-ranking FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the Obama administration, acting under color of law, to exonerate Hillary Clinton of federal crimes and then, if she lost the election, to frame Donald Trump and his campaign for colluding with Russia to steal the presidency.  This conduct was not based on mere bias, as has been widely claimed, but rather on deeply felt animus toward Trump and his agenda.  In the course of this plot, FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, FBI Deputy Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, Strzok's paramour and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, FBI General Counsel James Baker, and DOJ senior official Bruce Ohr — perhaps among others — compromised federal law enforcement to such an extent that the American public is losing trust.  A recent CBS News poll finds 48 percent of Americans believe that Special Counsel James Mueller's Trump-Russia collusion probe is "politically motivated," a stunning conclusion.  And 63 percent of polled voters in a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll believe that the FBI withheld vital information from Congress about the Clinton and Russia collusion investigations.

FBI-gate: The Outlines of the Story Are Coming into Focus.  Thanks to the work of smart and hardworking (non-mainstream) journalists, we can peek just a bit over the horizon and see where the story of the weaponization of the FBI via a senior-level cabal is going from here.  I use the word "story" deliberately, because that is the way public opinion forms itself on major political affairs.  The progressives in the media and politics have long understood this.  The cast of the story is now set, and some dramatic plot points have been identified.  The ending hasn't been written yet, of course, but the villains are identifying themselves or being exposed, and some of the heroes are emerging.  We are on the cusp of a drama much bigger than Watergate breaking open, and its story elements are compelling.

Scandal, Corruption, Lawbreaking — And So What?  [Scroll down]  Despite a nonstop media assault on Trump's administration, Representative Devin Nunes, and the congressional investigative committees, more than 50 percent of the public already believes that the Trump campaign was illegally surveilled and smeared through the confluence of the Clinton campaign, the Obama administration, and the FBI.  Voters would only grow more cynical if some Americans were allowed to abuse constitutionally protected civil liberties, and to lie to the Congress, the FBI, and the courts, while the less connected others go to jail for much less.  Without a judicial accounting, it will be impossible to clean up the hierarchies of the FBI and the DOJ.

The Ruling Class Hates You.  Truth is, they really don't like the rest of us.  No problem, we have our own lives and families.  But it's only not a problem until such disdain is combined with a sense of political entitlement and the coercive power of government.  Which brings us to the political and cultural union of the Democratic Party and the permanent political class called the deep state, that forms the unelected, unaccountable fourth branch of government that wields so much power up to and including the police power of the FBI.

October 2016: James Comey Friend Benjamin Wittes Discusses "The Insurance Policy" Against Trump.  In hindsight there are many contexts that shape a new understanding.  Fired FBI Director James Comey ran a corrupt and heavily political organization.  He himself helped to shape the politics of it.  On Comey's watch he allowed the FBI to become a weaponized tool against political enemies.  The upper-level officials within the FBI are now under scrutiny as their actions are increasingly transparent in their political motives.

Biased FBI and DOJ Officials Broke The Law And Tried To Decide The Election.  There can be no question, at this point, that certain higher ups in the FBI and the DOJ did not want Hillary to be indicted and did not want Donald Trump to become President.  Those efforts were not entirely independent of each other.  Below is a timeline of events — abbreviated though it is — that makes it rather plain that the FBI and DOJ were not investigating potential crimes objectively.  Indeed, they were committing crimes during the process in aid of their preferred outcomes.

Did Hillary Clinton pull off the dirtiest dirty trick in US presidential history?  For law enforcement, Congress and even journalists, exposing misdeeds is like peeling an onion.  Each layer you remove gets you closer to the truth.  So it is with the scandalous behavior of the FBI during its probe into whether President Trump's campaign conspired with Russia in 2016.  One layer at a time, we're learning how flawed and dirty that probe was.  A top layer involves the texts between FBI lawyer Lisa Page and her married lover, Peter Strzok, the lead agent on the Hillary Clinton e-mail probe.  They casually mention an "insurance policy" in the event Trump won the election and a plan for Strzok to go easy on Clinton because she probably would be their next boss.

From Conspiracy Theories to Conspiracies.  [Scroll down]  The FBI itself would have earlier trafficked in a fraudulent document funded by the Clinton campaign to "prove" Trump and his team were such dangers to the republic that they required surveillance under FISA court warrants and thus should surrender their constitutional rights of privacy.  The ensuing surveillance, then, would be widely disseminated among Obama Administration officials, with the likely intent that names would be unmasked and leaked to the anti-Trump press — again, in efforts to discredit, first, the Trump campaign, and later the Trump transition and presidency.  A top official of the prior Department of Justice would personally consult the authors of the smear dossier in efforts to ensure that its contents would become useful and known.  In fact, all that and more has already transpired.

The FBI's war on Trump.  Two lovebirds and others at the FBI need to be investigated on charges of plotting to influence a presidential election and later cripple a presidential administration. [...] Curiously, the FBI somehow "lost" thousands of messages between Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page for the five months from Dec. 14, 2016, to May 17, 2017.  After a public firestorm, they finally turned up on Thursday [1/25/2018], according to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.  "This period coincides with the height of the FBI's investigation into possible Trump-Russia collusion, on which Mr. Strzok was a lead investigator," The Wall Street Journal notes.  Compared to the 18-minute "gap" in the White House tape during the Watergate scandal, this is the Grand Canyon.  So what does the Bureau have to say about it?  They blamed it on "misconfiguration issues related to rollouts, provisioning, and software upgrades."  Someone at the FBI actually wrote that.  Maybe it's true.  The pattern of alarming behavior at the FBI and the Justice Department deserves a recap: [...]

No Such Thing As An Independent FBI.  Of the many criticisms of President Trump, perhaps one of the more ill-considered is the suggestion that he is interfering with the "independence" of the FBI.  The FBI, the argument goes, is not only a high-skilled, highly trained, and highly professional law enforcement organization — which it undoubtedly is — but should do its work free from political interference or control by the executive.  This is nonsense — nonsense with totalitarian implications.  The FBI is part of the executive branch, an investigative arm of the Department of Justice.  The chain of command is simple.

How a Civil War Happens.  Now we're seeing what the pros do when amateurs try to walk in on them.  They spy on them, they investigate them and they send them to jail.  They use the tools of power to bring them down.  That's not a free country.  It's not a free country when FBI agents who support Hillary take out an "insurance policy" against Trump winning the election.  It's not a free country when Obama officials engage in massive unmasking of the opposition.  It's not a free country when the media responds to the other guy winning by trying to ban the conservative media that supported him from social media.  It's not a free country when all of the above collude together to overturn an election because the guy who wasn't supposed to win, won.  We're in a civil war between conservative volunteer government and leftist professional government.

The FBI's Secret State Police.  The FBI's current stonewalling bears more than a passing resemblance to the Geheime Staatspolizei, the National Socialists' secret state police.  The people's representatives have been seeking answers on the probe of Russian influence in the 2016 election.  Former FBI boss Robert Mueller has failed to turn up any evidence of "collusion" in more than a year, but other matters have come to light.  FBI man Peter Strzok has been Hillary Clinton's Odd Job, changing gross negligence to extremely careless, failing to keep records of the interview with the former First Lady, and allowing her aides Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills to tell more than 300 lies about the unsecured server Clinton used to send classified material.  Representatives such as Trey Gowdy and Jim Jordan want to know if Strzok played a role in the compiling the fake dossier with Russian content.  They also seek to know whether Strzok was the one who deployed the dossier to gain a FISA warrant to enable spying on the Trump campaign and unmask U.S. citizens.

FBI-Gate:  Deep State in Deep Spit.  In January, the Justice Department's inspector general launched an investigation into a possible conflict of interest involving McCabe's failure to disclose donations to his wife by arguably the closest political ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Terry McAuliffe.  The governor of Virginia recruited McCabe's wife, Jill, to run for state senate in the commonwealth and donated $467,500 from his political action committee into her coffers.  The Department of Justice demoted Bruce Ohr last week for hiding secret meetings with Fusion GPS, the opposition research outfit that paid, with money received from Hillary Clinton's campaign, for the so-called "dossier" smearing Donald Trump with outlandish allegations based, in some instances, on second- and third-hand information.  Fusion GPS hired Ohr's wife to investigate Trump.

Should The FBI Be Abolished?  For the last few years, the media has been dominated by a number of sensational stories:  that Trump colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election; that the Trump team was wiretapped by Obama intelligence officials; that Hillary used a private email server to transmit classified information; that Hillary and the DNC colluded with Russian sources to compile a dossier on Trump, and finally, that Russia acquired 20% of America's uranium supply during the same time period $145 million miraculously appeared in the Clinton Foundation's bank account.  It all stinks to high heaven but it's created a confusing array of facts that has bewildered most Americans.  They all know something is seriously wrong with their country even if they can't pinpoint exactly what the problem is.  But there is a common denominator in all these scandals or alleged scandals, and that would be the FBI and the actions they took or didn't take.  Indeed, it's hard to not conclude that the agency's actions in these events were improper if not illegal.  If so, this validates the warnings by constitutionalists in the early 1900s that a federal police force would someday be used to prop up the ruling elites and attack those who dare challenge the establishment.

The Federal Bureau of Political Investigation.  [Scroll down]  All of this is commanded by law to be kept secret so as to preserve evidence, avoid tipping off a potential defendant capable of flight and preserve the reputation of a person not indicted.  That is at least the way these things are supposed to work.  Yet none of this happened in the recently reopened and re-terminated investigation of the misuse of emails containing state secrets by Clinton.  In that investigation, the DOJ did not present evidence to a grand jury.  Thus, it did not obtain any subpoenas.  And it did not seek any search warrants.  It cut deals left and right, promising not to prosecute those from whom it sought problematic evidence.  After accumulating a mountain of evidence of Clinton's guilt, the FBI did not present it to the DOJ.

A Changing Investigative Landscape.  [FBI Director James] Comey has been battered by news reports of turmoil within the FBI over investigations of the Clintons.  Rumors flew earlier this year that an indictment of Mrs. Clinton was imminent.  The story du jour is that elements within the FBI are closing in on the Clinton Foundation, or the Clinton finances, or generalized Clinton corruption — were it not for the perfidy of Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.  FBI field agents and supervisors — particularly in the powerful New York field office — are said to be up in arms, handing in their resignations.  The independence of the FBI has collapsed.  Don't believe it.  FBI agents are by nature an aggressive bunch — chasing leads, questioning suspects, pushing for warrants and wire taps — and butting heads with cautious superiors.  The tensions between agents who make the criminal case and prosecutors who make the legal call are as old as the FBI itself.

The Fall of an FBI Director.  Every agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation takes an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same."  And he swears to "faithfully discharge the duties of the office."  It is much the same oath taken by members of Congress, by military officers and government employees.  It is an oath that goes back to Washington and Lincoln.  Its origins lie in the Constitution.  And FBI Director James Comey violated it.  The oath is not to any president or government, but to the impartial law of the Constitution.  It says that no one is above the law.  James Comey twice stated implicitly that one politician is above the law.

5 of the dumbest things the FBI did before Clinton.  In light of the news that the FBI will not prosecute Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server, the agency is getting heat from both sides of the political aisle.  Conservatives feel that Clinton was given preferential treatment due to her connections to the Obama administration, noting that "less important" people have been thrown in jail for far less.  Meanwhile, Clinton's defenders claim that the FBI is largely pro-Trump and that the whole investigation was a witch hunt designed to boost the billionaire mogul's chances of taking the White House.  In other words, pretty much everyone thinks the FBI is corrupt, partisan, and ineffective.  Given the agency's history, that's not an unreasonable assumption to make.  Over the years, the FBI has engaged in some truly stupid activities that make you wonder how it manages to protect us at all.

The FBI: The 'Fix Be In'.  The FBI's reputation has sunk so low under the Obama administration that its initials seem to stand for:  The Fix Be In. [...] Consider the Clinton investigation.  The FBI granted limited immunity to five Clinton aides, including Paul Combetta, who deleted Clinton emails in March 2015 after Congress had subpoenaed her records.  FBI agents waited a year before they questioned Clinton in July for an hour and a half.  Shortly thereafter, Director James Comey announced there would be no indictment in the case; even though Clinton did not hand over "several thousand" work emails to the State Department, there was no proof of "intentional misconduct."

Book details how Team Obama schemed to let Hillary skate.  In his new book, "Guilty As Sin" (Regnery), out Tuesday [10/4/2016], Edward Klein claims officials in the Obama administration decided before the first witness was interviewed that Hillary Clinton would not face prosecution over the handling of classified e-mail.

Comey 'Singlehandedly Ruined' FBI's Reputation:  Retired Agents Blast Clinton Probe.  Retired FBI agents are blasting Director Jim Comey over the investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a Thursday [10/6/2016] opinion piece in The New York Post.  "Comey has single-handedly ruined the reputation of the organization," former agent Michael M. Biasello told the outlet.  He claimed that accommodations given the Clinton and her aides was "unprecedented," suggesting, "which is another way of saying this outcome was by design."

FBI Director James Comey Has To Go.  FBI Director James Comey has broken the sacred trust of the American people.  He conducted a faux investigation into the State Department email scandal in which dozens of confidential and top-secret emails passing through an unsecured, private server put our national security at risk.  He handed out immunity deals to most of the major players involved in the investigation.  He ignored evidence to protect the Clinton Team from prosecution.  He put President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton's political legacy ahead of the law.  He made secret deals to destroy evidence, thwarting congressional subpoenas.  That's called obstruction of justice.  It's a crime.  James Comey violated the law.  He violated his oath of office.  It's corruption at the highest level.

James Comey and Loretta Lynch Should Be Impeached for Whitewashing Clinton's Crimes.  Just when one thinks the cavalier cabal of Clinton and her cronies has exhausted all manner of corruption, yet another outrage surfaces, implicating even more people.  The bombshell this week is that Loretta Lynch and James Comey not only gave immunity to Hillary's closest co-conspirators Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson — who, despite being attorneys, destroyed evidence right and left — but, in a secret side deal, agreed to limit the FBI's review of the Clinton team laptops to pre-January 2015 and to destroy the laptops when the FBI review was complete.  Congress and every law-abiding citizen in this country should be outraged.  This blatant destruction of evidence is obstruction of justice itself.

FBI Working With the Clinton Campaign?  Back in July, the director of the FBI, James Comey, held a press conference in which he said that no charges would be brought against Clinton for her use of a private home e-mail server.  This month, ahead of Labor Day, the FBI's official documents on their investigation into Clinton's e-mails were released.  In July, Comey stated "we [the FBI] can't establish... that she acted with the necessary criminal intent."  The documents released from the FBI sing a different tune.  Hillary Clinton used not one, but three, private servers while Secretary of State and all were kept in her basement.  None of her e-mails use encryption.  An e-mail account using Clinton's server was successfully hacked into in January 2013.  A computer and thumb drive with the entire archive of her e-mails was lost in the mail.  Sure, Comey can say that these details show no willful intent to break the law but let's keep going.  Clinton used 13 Blackberries and 5 iPads with her private home e-mail server and had aides destroy them with hammers after use.

The FBI found 15,000 emails Hillary Clinton didn't turn over.  If you scrape away all of the spin and the political positioning that Hillary Clinton's decision to use a private email server has spawned, you are left with these facts:
1. Clinton is the first secretary of state to exclusively use a private email account for official business.
2. She is also the first secretary of state to have a private email server housed at her home.
3. When asked by the State Department to turn over her emails, Clinton had a team of lawyers go through them to separate those that were purely personal and those that touched on some aspect of her professional life.  The personal emails were deleted permanently off the server.

Hillary Clinton, who tells dreadful lies.  Today, it is the American people who have been burned, time and again, by Hillary Clinton's dreadful lies.  Let's review just a few examples of her serial dishonesty:  She lied repeatedly about her emails.  She lied when she said she had "turned over everything I was obligated to turn over" (FBI Director James Comey said the FBI "discovered several thousand work-related e-mails that were not among the group of 30,000 e-mails returned by Secretary Clinton to state in 2014").  She lied when she said there was "no classified material" in her private emails ... that there was nothing "classified at the time" ... and that there was nothing "marked classified" in her private emails — all of which the FBI director said were untrue.  And, to top it all off, she lied about her lies — declaring on national television that "Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people" — a claim The Post's Fact Checker gave "Four Pinocchios."

Hillary Clinton's Email: the Definitive Timeline.  Clip and save for future reference.

The Clearest (No Spin) Summary of FBI Report on Hillary Clinton Email.  The FBI could not review all of the Hillary Clinton emails under investigation because:
  •   The Clintons' Apple personal server used for Hillary Clinton work email could not be located for the FBI to examine.
  •   An Apple MacBook laptop and thumb drive that contained Hillary Clinton email archives were lost, and the FBI couldn't examine them.
  •   2 BlackBerry devices provided to FBI didn't have their SIM or SD data cards.
  •   13 Hillary Clinton personal mobile devices were lost, discarded or destroyed.  Therefore, the FBI couldn't examine them.
  •   Various server backups were deleted over time, so the FBI couldn't examine them.
  •   After State Dept. notified Hillary Clinton her records would be sought by House Benghazi Committee, copies of her email on the laptops of her attorneys Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson were wiped with BleachBit, and the FBI couldn't review them.
  •   After her emails were subpoenaed, Hillary Clinton's email archive was also permanently deleted from her then-server "PRN" with BleachBit, and the FBI couldn't review it.
  •   Also after the subpoena, backups of the PRN server were manually deleted.


The FBI raid on President Trump's home at Mar-A-Lago, Florida, August 8, 2022
This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


The FBI and Twitter
This subsection has been moved to here.


News and timely commentary about the FBI regarding their routine work

The FBI Says: Pound Sand.  Perhaps most outrageous is the reference to "conspiracy theorists and others."  You mean the FBI's now-proven collaboration with social media platforms to suppress news about Joe Biden's corruption?  That conspiracy?  And what is the "misinformation"?  The emails between the Bureau and Twitter that have now been made public?  Those emails certainly contained misinformation — the FBI's intimation that Hunter's laptop was somehow a Russian plant — but their disclosure is hardly misinformation.  It is long-overdue truth.  The Bureau's arrogant response to exposure of the Twitter files is more evidence that it needs to be torn down, from top to bottom, and either thoroughly reformed with new personnel or replaced entirely.

Sen. Wyden Demands Answers From FBI on Hacking of Americans' Phones.  Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has called for the FBI to provide public disclosures about the extent of its hacking of the phones of U.S. citizens and the criteria that the bureau uses in determining when to put specialized software to use to manipulate a person's phone.  In a Dec. 20 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, the senator expressed a number of concerns related to the agency's acquisition of — and later, its purported decision to not use — highly specialized Pegasus software developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group for the purpose of hacking phones.  The tool can be used to infiltrate a person's phone and extract its contents without the owner's knowledge.

The naked truth on the Hunter Biden laptop coverup.  [Scroll down]  The second Watergate phrase that commands our attention now is "The coverup is worse than the crime."  That's because we are on the cusp of the coverup phase of what the FBI, and perhaps the CIA and others, did to influence the outcome of the 2020 election.  Predictable denials of "Nothing to see here" come despite clear proof that agents interfered with the First Amendment rights of the American public, and not just on Twitter.  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said agents warned him about "Russian disinformation" before the election.  Those warnings came in weekly meetings FBI agents had in San Francisco with the Big Tech firms and some reportedly mentioned Hunter Biden.

FBI suppressed Hunter laptop story without any evidence of "disinformation" — before publication.  If Michael Shellenberger's latest tranche from the Twitter Files gets corroborated, the FBI didn't just target speech on social-media platforms in a presidential election.  The files released today suggests that the FBI acted to preemptively suppress an accurate news report even before it got published — with no actual evidence that it was part of an intelligence operation.  [Tweets]  Before we go much further, let's ask ourselves this question:  what [...] is the FBI doing in these transactions at all?  They do have authority over domestic counter-intelligence, but that doesn't give them carte blanche to surveil domestic communications, let alone control them.

FBI LGBT Guidance Quietly Scrubbed After Employee Backlash, Whistleblower Says.  The FBI cancelled a mandatory sexual orientation and gender identity course in 2021 after agents protested being tested on their knowledge of "transgender descriptors," a suspended FBI agent told the Daily Caller.  The test, sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), intended to boost agents' awareness of the LGBT community and show how to be "an ally for LGBT+ colleagues," documents provided to the Daily Caller show.  The 56-page test showed guidance on the definitions of gender identities and sexual orientations, how to write or talk about a transgender person, how to use the word "queer," what one can ask an LGBT person and how to use pronouns.

A Foundation of Sand.  The FBI and the rest of the Deep State's witch hunts against innocent Trump supporters and associates are well documented.  If you do not know that our governmental institutions are perfectly partisan and corrupt, no quantity or quality of evidence will convince you at this point.  The evidence is overwhelming that the federal KGB/FBI is more than willing to both cover up the crimes of consummate Cultural Marxists while prosecuting the non-crimes of anyone who would dare mock or flout the sacred rites of the wokeshevik creed, or undermine, no matter how trivially, the interests of the Washington regime, to the extent those matters are separable.  Not only is the FBI not interested in the Biden family's many crimes, some of which are fairly serious, it is even farming out its dirty work to its agents and assets in the corporate world (CEOs, CFOs, general counsels at Twitter) so as to protect the state criminals at the helm of the imperial regime in Washington.  It is of course still quite sensible to acknowledge that the "rule of law" has been lost, because it has been devoured by partisans in the media and in law enforcement, but it is more fruitful to wonder whether the "rule of law" is even possible in a nation such as ours.  A government as power-hungry and corrupt as ours minds not the laws, but perhaps more importantly, a critical mass of our own people have grown hyperpolarized and hyperracialized, not merely resentful and cynical, but downright disdainful of large portions of their fellow Americans.  No one is really and truly safe from the law now.

FBI wouldn't discuss Hunter Biden probe after convincing Facebook to suppress laptop stories.  Hunter Biden's name was raised in an FBI meeting with Facebook before the 2020 election, according to sworn testimony by Elvis Chan, an FBI agent accused of "colluding" with social media companies to suppress The [New York] Post's Hunter Biden laptop story.  During a weekly election security meeting in October 2020, days after Big Tech censored The Post's story, a Facebook representative asked the chief of the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, Laura Dehmlow:  "What can you share about the Hunter Biden case?", Chan said Tuesday in a deposition for a lawsuit against the Biden administration by Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana.  Dehmlow's response was "no comment," Chan recalled. "From my recollection, at one meeting with Facebook after the regular agenda had been completed, one of the Facebook analysts asked if the FBI had any information they could share about the Hunter Biden investigation.  "To that I recall Ms. Dehmlow saying that the FBI had no comment... She said something to the effect that the FBI has no comment on this."

How the FBI's nod and a wink got social media to censor The Post's Hunter Biden reporting.  Just as it did in 2016, the Democratic Party colluded during the 2020 presidential campaign with FBI leadership, its like-minded transnational-progressives in the loose-lipped community of current and former national-security officials and the media.  The objective in 2020, as in 2016, was to try to drag a weak, deeply compromised Democratic candidate across the finish line.  The scheme worked in 2020 where it failed in 2016.  A big part of the difference was Democrats and their collaborators put major 2020 emphasis on social-media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, which had served Donald Trump well in 2016.  The result was the systematic suppression of the Biden family corruption scandal:  the staggering millions of dollars that are now known to have been poured into the Biden coffers from agents of such authoritarian, anti-American regimes as China and Russia and such corrupt ones as Ukraine.  Joe Biden is in it up to his neck, although the media-Democrat complex continues branding the scandal as "the Hunter Biden probe," the better to obscure the president's complicity.

The FBI has disturbingly broad authority to commit crimes and violence.  Previous articles mentioned FBI, intelligence community, local police, and/or other government use of secret methods, secret technologies, and "otherwise illegal activity."  It is probably obvious that government and non-government use of secret police methods and technologies, potentially including "biosurveillance" technologies that remotely affect or monitor the human brain or body, is contrary to democracy.  Some methods and technologies might be properly labeled as torture.  And reasonable people might demand those within government, and non-government persons who cooperate with them, not be permitted to operate with such secrecy. [...] When studying U.S. federal laws, guidelines, and documents, one discovers that the U.S. federal and local governments may have used secret hoaxes, methods, and technologies on Americans for many years.  Such methods and technologies caused, and could currently be causing, significant harm.

Deposition Reveals Complex Plot by the FBI to Influence the 2020 Election.  The 2020 election remains one of the most contentious in history, and the more we learn about how deep the government's interference went, the more disturbing things get.  According to Eric Schmitt, the current attorney general of Missouri and its newly-elected senator, the FBI was having weekly meetings with social media companies prior to election day in 2020 to collude on suppressing information.  That was revealed in the deposition of Elvis Chan, the FBI's liaison in the scheme.  [Tweets]  According to Schmitt, the FBI was colluding with social media companies, giving them specific direction on what content to suppress.  That means specific URLs and accounts.  The social media companies, all led by leftwing hacks at that point, were apparently more than happy to play along. [...] In this case, the FBI was running a complex scheme, colluding with social media companies to target specific accounts and news stories, with seemingly all of the moves made being politically beneficial to Democrats.  In doing so, they shut down a verifiably true story about Hunter Biden's laptop that could have swung the entire election.  The suppression of information regarding COVID-19 just so happened to help Democrats as well.

Judge tosses lawsuit against FBI after bureau 'stole' millions in jewelry, cash from 1,400 safe deposit boxes.  Once again, the deep state is guilty of protecting its own at the expense of ordinary Americans.  Last month, a federal judge in California tossed out a lawsuit alleging that the FBI literally stole millions in cash, jewelry, and other valuables out of some 1,400 safe deposit boxes after raiding a private company believed to be involved in money laundering for criminals.  "A lawsuit filed in August alleged the FBI and the US attorney's office in Los Angeles obtained warrants against US Private Vaults in Beverly Hills, California, by concealing critical details from the judge who approved them," Business Insider reported in early October.  "In his ruling, District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner found no impropriety in the way the government got or executed the warrants for the raid.  He dismissed the class-action suit filed on behalf of the people whose boxes had been seized."  Klausner, a George W. Bush appointee, acknowledged in his ruling that the vault company was shut down after the 2021 raid, and its owners have since pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to launder drug money.

In This Untold Story Of Poll Worker Data, Chinese Servers, And Scandal, Only The FBI Knows The Truth.  Developments over the last month in two cases, one criminal and one civil, involving the election-management software company Konnech and its CEO Eugene Yu, reveal the FBI remains mired in malfeasance.  Either the FBI has abandoned multiple confidential human sources and discarded an 18-month investigation into evidence that Yu maintained the personal information of tens of thousands of American election workers on a server in China, or the bureau has allowed Yu to be arrested for crimes he did not commit and permitted the innocent American to be branded a felon and traitor.  While at this point the public cannot tell which scenario is true, the Department of Justice and the FBI know, and their failure either to charge Yu (or provide the L.A. district attorney's office with confirmation of the alleged crimes) or to clear him represents another blot on the disgraced agency's name.

Americans Should Pay Close Attention To The FBI And Zero-Click.  Here's Why.  During the Trump administration, the FBI paid $5 million to an Israeli software company for a license to use its "zero-click" surveillance software called Pegasus.  Zero-click refers to software that can download the contents of a target's computer or mobile device without the need for tricking the target into clicking on it.  The FBI operated the software from a warehouse in New Jersey.  Before revealing any of this to the two congressional intelligence committees to which the FBI reports, it experimented with the software.  The experiments apparently consisted of testing Pegasus by spying — illegally and unconstitutionally since no judicially issued search warrant had authorized the use of Pegasus — on unwitting Americans by downloading data from their devices.

Is Facebook sharing user information with the FBI illegally?  Is Facebook secretly giving the FBI user information in violation of the the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986?  Maybe, according to FBI director Christopher Ray.  He can't say for sure.  Oh.  Really?  The allegations that the FBI is doing a lot of shady things are not exactly new, although they are only sporadically covered in the MSM.  After all, the MSM likes censorship — as long as it isn't censorship of themselves.  So if the FBI is helping censor us bad people, that is probably a good thing.  [Indeed], the MSM didn't even mind when one of their own was called a spy and had his phone records seized — he was a Fox News guy, so big deal.  Besides, Obama did it so that makes it OK.

FBI deployed unconstitutional 'zero-click' Pegasus surveillance software.  During the Trump administration, the FBI paid $5 million to an Israeli software company for a license to use its "zero-click" surveillance software called Pegasus.  Zero-click refers to software that can download the contents of a target's computer or mobile device without the need for tricking the target into clicking on it.  The FBI operated the software from a warehouse in New Jersey.  Before revealing any of this to the two congressional intelligence committees to which the FBI reports, it experimented with the software.  The experiments apparently consisted of testing Pegasus by spying — illegally and unconstitutionally, since no judicially issued search warrant had authorized the use of Pegasus — on unwitting Americans by downloading data from their devices.

Sen. Rand Paul Grills FBI Director Over Collusion With Facebook.  Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul sharply questioned FBI director Christopher Wray Thursday over reported collusion with Facebook that left the senator "alarmed."  "You may think it's just jolly well to get all this stuff without a warrant that people volunteer to you, but many of us are alarmed that you're getting this information that are private communications between people, because it is against the law," Paul told Wray during a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.  "It's against the law for Facebook, or social media companies to give it to you.  But it's also against the law for you to receive it."  Facebook allegedly eavesdropped on private communications of people who questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election and passed information to the FBI, according to whistleblowers who talked to the New York Post.  Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released a 1,000 page report Nov. 4 detailing allegations of misconduct by the agency.

Court Docs: FBI Had Eight Informants in Proud Boys Prior to January 6.  Recent court documents show the FBI had as many as eight [...] informants embedded with the "Proud Boys" group in the months leading up to the January 6 riot at the Capitol in 2021.  The bombshell revelation comes via the New York Times and raises several alarms, among them being just how the eight informants and their presence within the group, and the information they gleaned from working with the group, didn't result in the FBI stopping the riot in the first place.  It also raises the question with defense lawyers as to whether the group may have been, or to what degree they were, entrapped by the informants themselves.  The New York Times reports that court filings for defense lawyers representing five members of the Proud Boys currently on trial for seditious conspiracy have unveiled the number of informants.

FBI and White House Slapped Down By Judge in Major Censorship Case.  Are the wheels finally coming off the White House's censorship train?  It's too soon to say for sure, but the Biden administration and the FBI got slapped down by a federal judge on Wednesday in a landmark case centering on the issue. [...] As RedState previously reported, Meta (Facebook) was at the center of censoring the Hunter Biden story prior to the 2020 election, possibly swinging the outcome.  Its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, inadvertently admitted on Joe Rogan's podcast that the FBI had come to them with more than a wink and nudge, suggesting that the story was actually Russian disinformation.  Making matters worse, the FBI obviously knew at that point that the laptop story was true given they had been in possession of the hard drive for [over] a year.

The FBI Vs.  The People.  America's principal law enforcement agency, the FBI, has declared yet another war.  It's just like the war on drugs, the war on organized crime, and the war on terrorism from decades past — but this time, the bureau's enemy is average Americans who are not Democrats.  That's not a mere Republican talking point.  Indeed, few Republican officials are talking about the FBI at all, despite the bureau's repeated use of Stasi tactics to intimidate their constituents.  No, this is now a fact of American life. [...] In every case, the FBI terrorized the families and neighbors of these men, threatening to break down the door and enter with guns drawn at their wives and children.  The charges are a farce, but if convicted, they and their "co-conspirators" in the abortion clinic protests could face over a decade in prison.  Those of us who watched the FBI's behavior during the Trump presidency and especially after Jan. 6 were not surprised that the bureau has now turned its sights on the peaceful pro-life movement.

FBI Issues Bulletin Warning About "Election Crimes" Ahead of the 2022 Midterm.  It is very clear to anyone who has paid attention that part of the FBI ideological mission is to interfere in U.S. elections.  The FBI's 2016 surveillance and spying operation against candidate Trump was one example.  The 2018 Cesear Sayoc pipe bomb case, consisting of "energetic material that may become combustible when subjected to heat or friction," was another.  The 2020 FBI constructed efforts to create a Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping case was yet another.  In short, the FBI is known to be engaged in creating situations intended to manipulate election outcomes.  With that context in mind, a recent bulletin from the FBI warning of specific election crimes in the 2022 midterms should be evaluated for the motive behind the bulletin itself: [...]

Durham shocker: Danchenko was a paid FBI informant.  Today, Special Counsel John Durham moved to unseal this motion in limine in the false statements case against Igor Danchenko.  This motion provides new information on the details of Danchenko's lies to the FBI, further information on how Special Counsel Mueller ignored Danchenko's false statements, expected testimony from Clinton-connected executive Charles Dolan, and one crazy development.  But we'll start with the [worst] development:  Danchenko was on the FBI payroll as a confidential human source (CHS) from March 2017 through October 2020.  The purposes of making Danchenko a CHS should be quite clear.  The Crossfire Hurricane investigation was plagued with problems from the outset.  The reasons for opening the investigation were bunk.  Those problems continued as the investigation went on, with claims of Trump/Russia collusion proven unverified or outright false.  (Thus the targeting of Flynn for a Logan Act violation.)  That developed into the Carter Page FISA applications, first submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) in October 2016, and which relied substantially on the Steele Dossiers (aka Steele Reports).

The FBI Ordered Informant Igor Danchenko to Erase All Evidence from His Phone of His Role in Their Attempted Coup of President Trump.  In June 2020 TGP broke the story that the Primary Sub-Source (PSS) for the Steele dossier was Igor Danchenko — the individual behind most of the made-up lies in the Steele dossier.  Danchenko was American-based not Russian-based.  Danchenko is the one individual those looking into the Trump-Russia collusion fraud wanted to identify — the PSS — the individual who was behind the material amount of Steele dossier lies.  At least two sources on the Internet had come to this conclusion by Sunday night.  The Deep State kept Danchenko's name hidden for nearly four years.  Danchenko's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case against their client.  Buried inside the filing are several statements that are absolutely devastating for the Stasi-FBI.

Durham Trial: [the] 'Salacious and Unverified' Trump-Russia Dossier Story [was] Too Juicy for FBI to Check.  An FBI intelligence analyst testifying in the special counsel probe by John Durham says he never really checked the fake story about the so-called "Steele dossier" in the Trump Russia collusion hoax — including the infamous and non-existent "pee tape" — and assumed FBI sources were telling the truth.  This, even though the FBI offered a $1 million payday to verify it (it went uncollected), proving the FBI knew it was "salacious and unverified" in the words of former FBI chief James Comey.  But knowing that, the FBI used the dossier against Donald Trump anyway and lied to the nation's top spy court to get a warrant to spy on his campaign.

Utter proof the FBI framed Trump and shielded Hunter Biden.  Igor Danchenko is on trial, but so is the FBI. That is the theme of Russiagate special counsel John Durham's prosecution of Danchenko, heading into its third day of trial in Alexandria, Va., federal court.  Danchenko is charged with five counts of lying to the FBI about two of his sources for what became the infamous "Steele dossier" — a compilation of faux intelligence reports, mainly authored by former British spy Christopher Steele, that portrayed the GOP's then-presidential candidate, Donald Trump, as a clandestine agent of Russia.  Danchenko was Steele's principal source.  In essence, Durham accuses him of (a) concealing from the FBI that he was getting some information about the Trump campaign from Clinton political ally Charles Dolan and (b) falsely claiming he received explosive information from Sergei Millian, a Belarusian American tangentially associated with Trump, alleging the GOP candidate was in a "conspiracy of cooperation" with the Kremlin.

FBI Arrests 87-Year-Old Concentration Camp Survivor Outside Abortion Clinic Door.  Pro-life activist Eva Edl was one of four pro-lifers charged this month in relation to a March 2021 abortion facility rescue at Carafem in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.  The event was aimed at reaching abortion-minded women in hopes of helping them to choose life for their babies with confidence.  Edl is 87 years old and is a German survivor of a communist prisoner-of-war concentration camp during World War II.  Following her escape from that camp, she began a legacy of fighting for the right to life for all human beings.  "The first time I realized there were abortion clinics in our country was in 1988," she said, according to a previous Live Action News report.  "I said to my husband, 'these are the death camps of America.'  I saw people sitting in front of abortion clinics in Atlanta, and I've been involved ever since."  Eva Edl released a video in November 2018 describing her experience in a concentration camp and her opposition to abortion.

The FBI's Tac Vest Fascism.  I had heard about the FBI showing up in full regalia to arrest Paul Vaughn, father of 11, for a pro-life protest he'd been part of the previous year.  Unlike the 2020 BLM peaceful protesters, Vaughn didn't set anything on fire or kill anybody.  But he had sat in the hallway of an abortion clinic singing hymns.  The FBI swarmed his house wearing bulletproof vests and carrying AR-15s.  They pointed guns at the door and banged on the house.  Ultimately, they took the father away while ignoring his wife's questions, including that an agent identify himself.  At one point in the video, you can see this agent simply walks past her, waits sheepishly for the FBI driver to unlock the SUV's door, and gets in and slams the door in the woman's face. [...] Fascism has always needed a uniform, and the current one is windbreakers and tactical vests with big, government-agency letters blocked out in yellow.  These bulletproof vests are not being worn for the agents' safety:  None of these agents actually worries about getting shot trying to arrest middle-aged family men.  If they were worried about being shot, they'd come in tanks or send drones or just wait outside like the Uvalde police.  In reality, the FBI's and ATF's vests are like the KGB's blue-tabbed uniforms or the brown shirts of Hitler's SA, and are worn for the same reason:  They represent the intimidation of unlimited government power against the ordinary citizen.  It is the power of the faceless, nameless — they never give their names — and unaccountable bureaucracy.

FBI agents involved in briefing Facebook about Hunter Biden story donated to Democrats, records show.  Two FBI officials who briefed Facebook's parent company, Meta, about Hunter Biden's laptop also donated to Democrats in 2020, campaign finance records show.  The findings are connected to a lawsuit from states claiming the federal government colluded with social media firms to censor free speech.  And the agents — FBI Foreign Influence Task Force Chief Laura Dehmlow and FBI San Francisco Cyber Division Chief Elvis Chan — are each named in the suit.  A court filing in connection with the suit alleges that Chan and Dehmlow were "involved in the communications between the FBI and Meta that led to Facebook's suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story."  The New York Post late in the 2020 election between then-President Trump and Democrat challenger Joe Biden published a story about a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden, son of now-President Biden, that appeared to have information about the Biden family's questionable overseas business dealings.  However, Twitter restricted the redistribution of the story.

November Surprise?  Case-in-point: the John Durham Special Counsel Investigation on the origin of the RussiaGate fraud.  It now apparently terminates in the prosecution of the tiniest minnow (Igor Danchenko) in that vast inland sea of corruption.  Some of the figures who carried out the perfidious seditions of RussiaGate are still employed in the Department of Justice and the FBI, and to this day are active in the continued cover-up of the crimes committed to overthrow President Trump, notably: Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and others.  Mr. Durham is supposedly among the highest officers of the federal courts charged with enforcing a very particular region of criminality.  His staff must be marinated in evidence of the RussiaGate misdeeds — reams of which have been independently documented in the public record, ranging from (just for example) the nefarious activities of figures like Nellie Ohr, wife of DOJ higher-up Bruce Ohr, working as go-between with Christopher Steele and the FBI, to the spectacular failures of Judge James Boasberg and his FISA court, not to mention the well-known machinations of Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein, Dana Boente, James Baker, Andrew Weissmann, Jeannie Rhee, Aaron Zebley, Brandon Van Grack, Robert Mueller, and other top officials who worked sedulously against the public interest.  All these remain apparently off-the-hook for their sketchy activities.

FBI Team Involved in Censorship of Hunter Biden Laptop Story Identified.  The FBI team that was in communication with Facebook before the social media company censored the original Hunter Biden laptop story has been identified, according to a new court filing.  Meta, Facebook's parent company, identified the team as the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF), according to an updated complaint entered late on Oct. 6.  Meta named the team after receiving a subpoena in a case alleging the federal government pressured Big Tech firms to censor users.  "Pursuant to the third-party subpoena, Meta has identified the FBI's FITF, as supervised by Laura Dehmlow, and Elvis Chan as involved in the communications between the FBI and Meta that led to Facebook's suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story," the updated complaint states.  Mark Zuckberg, Meta's CEO, said in August that Facebook reduced the reach of posts about Hunter Biden's laptop in response to advice from the FBI.

Shameful: Wild Video of FBI Raid on Home of Yet Another Pro-Life Activist.  We've reported on the raids of pro-life activists by armed FBI showing up at their homes for extremely minor things.  First, there was author Mark Houck who was arrested by more than 20 armed agents in front of his screaming children at 7:00 a.m. [...] His alleged "federal offense"?  He pushed a man who his wife said made offensive remarks to his son.  He now faces 11 years in prison under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.  But then the Biden FBI went after 11 pro-life activists who hadn't even done that.  We reported on the arrest of Chet Gallagher.  All they did was non-violently peacefully protest outside an abortion clinic.  So why did the FBI indict these people and send armed agents to their homes?

The FBI's Double Standard on Abortion.  Last month, The Mother and Unborn Baby Care Center, a pregnancy center in Southfield, Michigan, was vandalized causing thousands of dollars in damages.  Graffiti left behind reading, "If abortion isn't safe neither are you, Jane" linked the attack to Jane's Revenge, a leftist pro-abortion domestic terrorist group that is believed to be responsible for as many as 50 attacks on pregnancy centers and pro-life groups.  Southfield police notified the FBI which refused to comment on the case.  After 18 attacks directly claimed by Jane's Revenge over a period of six months, the FBI has made zero arrests.  But while under Biden the feds have shown no interest in a national campaign of leftist terrorism, the FBI has been swift to come after abortion opponents.  The same month as the Southfield attack, an FBI team of 25 armed agents pounded on the door of of an anti-abortion activist in Pennsylvania who had been accused of shoving a Planned Parenthood escort.

The Editor says...
That's not a double standard.  In both cases, the FBI is doing the Democratic Party's dirty work.

Biden's DOJ Threatening Pro-Life Protesters w/11 Years in Jail for Civil Disobedience.  By way of some context, the Biden regime knocked down its jail time request for two leftist lawyers who torched a police car with a Molotov cocktail during the Black Lives Matter race riots to 18-24 months even though there was no reason to do so.  But as part of its Jihad against pro-life protesters, the Biden regime is using the FACE Act to target pro-life protesters for actions that are technically illegal, but fall well within civil disobedience norms and don't involve torching anything.  And seeking 11 years in prison.

Two Major Holes [were] Found In FBI's Case Against Pro-Life Father, Documents Reveal.  New documents call into question two key components of the FBI's charges against Mark Houck, the pro-life father of seven who was arrested by federal agents Sept. 23 for allegedly shoving a Planned Parenthood clinic escort.  The FBI charged Houck with two counts of assaulting a reproductive health care clinic escort in violation of the FACE Act, which makes it a federal crime to interfere with someone "because that person is a provider of reproductive health care."  Houck's arrest by numerous federal agents made national headlines, but newly unearthed documents undermine some of the FBI's charges against him.  Houck was praying near an abortion clinic when Bruce Love, who claims to be a longtime clinic escort, approached him and began behaving "extremely aggressively" and harassing Houck's then-12-year-old son, his attorney, Peter Breen, told the Daily Caller News Foundation; Love was not escorting any patients at the time of the altercation, according to Breen.

With New Documents, The Biden Administration's Targeting Of A Pro-Life Dad Just Got Crazier.  The private criminal complaint filed by abortion escort Bruce Love and obtained by The Federalist conflicts with the allegations contained in the federal indictment returned against pro-life sidewalk counselor Mark Houck.  That fact and an email exchange between Houck's lawyer and the U.S. attorney's office raises significant questions about the Biden administration's decision to charge Houck with purported violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or "FACE Act," and further calls into question the FBI's excessive show of force when arresting Houck.  Amid Americans' growing distrust of the FBI, the agency further damaged its reputation when, not quite two weeks ago, some 15 police vehicles and about 20 law enforcement officers, including many with ballistic shields, long guns, and a battering ram at the ready, descended on Houck's home.  While the FBI disputed the precise number of agents who swarmed Houck's property and stressed that the officers brandishing the long guns and carrying ballistic shields were not a "SWAT Team" or "SWAT operators," the FBI's overwhelming show of force to arrest the father of seven for allegedly violating the FACE Act brought swift condemnation.

Time to Investigate the FBI's Sketchy CHS Program.  To the surprise of no one paying attention, the Department of Justice recently acknowledged the use of several FBI informants in its investigation of the Oath Keepers, an alleged militia group tied to the events of January 6.  Prosecutors last week asked for a protective order to conceal from jurors information about confidential human sources (CHS) expected to testify during the seditious conspiracy trial of five members of the Oath Keepers; jury selection is now underway.  Not only does the government want to prevent defense attorneys from asking personal questions that could reveal the informants' identities but prosecutors don't want the sources to publicly disclose any involvement in past or pending criminal investigations or details of "the FBI's CHS program and the training and methods used by the FBI as part of their undercover operations."  That request, of course, is to protect the bureau, not informants, in what appears to be just another corrupt, political, and unaccountable section of the FBI.

Durham Prosecutes FBI Informants, While Protecting Their Handlers.  Since being named special counsel in October 2020, John Durham has investigated or indicted several unscrupulous anti-Trump informants.  But he has spared the FBI agents who handled them, raising suspicions he's letting investigators off the hook in his waning investigation of misconduct in the Russiagate probe.  In recent court filings, Durham has portrayed the G-men as naive recipients of bad information, tricked into opening improper investigations targeting Donald Trump and obtaining invalid warrants to spy on one of his advisers.  But as the cases against the informants have gone to trial, defense lawyers have revealed evidence that cuts against that narrative.  FBI investigators look less like guileless victims and more like willing partners in the fraudulent schemes Durham has brought to light.  Notwithstanding his reputation as a tough, intrepid prosecutor, Durham has made excuses for the misconduct of FBI agents, providing them a ready-made defense against any possible future prosecution, according to legal experts.

Jim Jordan: FBI Is Engaging in Purge of 'Conservative Employees'.  After recent FBI raids on conservative figures, including the former President of the United States, speculation has grown that the agency is in bed with Democrats.  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is alleging that the FBI is engaging in the "purge" of Republican employees who hold conservative viewpoints.  In the past several weeks, they've raided the home of a former president, taking the phone of a sitting member of Congress, and we saw what they did to the pastor and his family and seven children:  20 agents, guns drawn, going to his house, when the local officials said there was no crime whatsoever," Jordan said, criticizing the FBI.

Danchenko as CHS Gets Worse.  When did John Durham find out that Danchenko was a paid CHS?  Hans raised this point last week, and indications are that it could be fairly recently.  Danchenko was a paid CHS it seems through October 2020. John Durham was appointed in April/May 2019, and there is no way he knew before October 2020.  The IG Horowitz report came out in December 2019, and they withheld that information about Danchenko from John Durham until at least October 2020.  Today, Carter Page had a brilliant filing that shows how bad the FBI corruption really is.

Pregnancy center CEO explains how FBI took security footage of firebomb attack, made no arrests, and won't give the footage back.  We can't allow people to find out who's behind this left-wing terrorism because it might inspire evil "right-wing" terrorism.  That's the line our own FBI is going with in the case of CompassCare Pregnancy Services.  Watch Rev. James Harden, the CEO of CompassCare, explain how the FBI is not cooperating with them after his pro-life pregnancy resource center was firebombed by radical pro-abortion terrorists.  [Tweet]

FBI Whistleblower Comes Forward, Says Bureau Violating Policies in Jan. 6 Investigation.  An FBI whistleblower has come forward to say the bureau is violating policies in its investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.  The whistleblower raising concerns about how the bureau is handling the Jan. 6 investigation has identified himself as special agent Steve Friend.  Friend, based out of Florida since June 2021, said in a declaration made public on Sept. 26 that he was told that child sexual abuse material investigations were "no longer an FBI priority" and should be referred to local officials.  He says he was also told that he would be focusing on domestic terrorism investigations.  Friend says he observed that FBI policies on case assignments were being violated because the Washington Field Office was enabling field offices around the country to lead investigations on crimes that allegedly took place in Washington on or around Jan. 6, but officials in Washington are actually directing the probes.  The situation resulted in active criminal investigations in which Friend is listed as the case agent, but has done no investigative work, according to the declaration.

Why The FBI's Raid On A Christian Family Is Its Most Dangerous Abuse Yet.  This isn't easy for conservatives to understand.  Most of us, by disposition, respect hierarchy.  A father at the head of the family, a boss at the head of a company, a president at the head of a country, a pope at the head of a church, and so on.  So it's natural for us to imagine that everyone looks at the world this way.  That's one reason why when we see some new left-wing front open up in the culture war, we try to find the hidden hand controlling it — the George Soros, or the Michael Bloomberg, or Joe Biden.  But most of the time, the left doesn't think this way.  More importantly, the left doesn't act this way.  This phenomenon of ground-up left-wing governance can be seen all around us.  It's happening in corporate America, where far from leading the charge, left-wing CEOs increasingly find themselves held captive to radical employees.  It's true in the federal government, too.

Pro-Life Group Claims FBI Questioned Volunteer By Planned Parenthood.  A pro-life sidewalk counseling group warned members Tuesday that President Joe Biden's Justice Department is determined to intimidate pro-life organizations, claiming that two FBI agents showed up to question a pro-life activist praying outside Planned Parenthood - St. Paul - Vandalia Health Center.  In an email obtained by The Daily Signal, Pro-Life Action Ministries Executive Director Brian Gibson put members on high alert about "a new effort by the Biden Justice Department to intimidate us all from the important work we do to save lives."  Gibson referenced the FBI's Friday arrest of Mark Houck, a Catholic father and pro-life activist accused of pushing an abortion clinic volunteer in Pennsylvania, though a spokesperson for the family told The Daily Signal that Houck "was defending his son from a man who was verbally abusing his son."

Is DeSantis next on the SWAT list?  Democrat Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Homeland Security committee, sent a letter to the knucklehead Biden appointed as Secretary of Homeland Security, demanding that the department investigate Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over the deportation of illegal aliens to Martha's Vineyard.  This is the latest effort by Democrats to use the Fascist Bureau of Intimidation to criminalize political dissent.  They spied on Trump when he was a candidate.  They turned a peaceful protest at the National Mall into a Fake Insurrection by opening the heavy Capitol doors to protesters.  They confiscated the cellphones of dozens of Trump officials.  They SWAT-ed a pro-lifer for a year-old local charge that was dismissed by the courts.  And of course, they raided Mar-a-Lago over what amounts to an overdue library book that may not have been the library's to begin with.  The excesses of the FBI should force Republicans to end its power to arrest, surveil or execute warrants because the FBI has abused each privilege.  The constitutionality of this agency is at best vague.  Thompson clearly wants the FBI to SWAT DeSantis.

22 Lawmakers Demand Merrick Garland Explain Alleged FBI SWAT Raid on Catholic Pro-Life Activist Mark Houck.  As many as 22 lawmakers have called upon Attorney General Merrick Garland to provide an explanation as to why the FBI allegedly sent 25-30 fully-armed agents to arrest Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck as his "screaming" children watched in horror.  Released Tuesday, the open letter spearheaded by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said that the FBI should have an "extraordinary reason" for arresting Houck the way they allegedly did.

Pro-Life Activist Arrested in FBI Raid Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Charges.  Pro-life activist Mark Houck pleaded not guilty to two counts of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act Tuesday, appearing in court for the first time since FBI agents descended on his home and allegedly took him away in front of his "screaming" children.  Houck was taken into custody Friday morning for alleged violations of the FACE Act, stemming from an incident in October 2021, when he pushed a pro-abortion activist outside of an abortion clinic.  Houck only pushed the man after he repeatedly used obscene language and invaded his 12-year-old son's personal space, according to Houck's wife.  The pro-abortion activist, identified as Bruce Love, pressed charges after the altercation, but the charges were thrown out.  The Department of Justice took up the charges again nearly a year later, Fox News reported.

Questions Surround FBI Raid Arrest of Pennsylvania Pro-life Father.  Serious questions have been raised regarding the arrest last week of a Catholic pro-life speaker as donations continued to pour in for the father of seven.  Mark Houck, of Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, was handcuffed by FBI agents on Friday morning and arrested in front of his children.  The 48-year-old Houck later was charged with physically assaulting a patient escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia nearly a year ago, The Epoch Times reported.  When Houck's wife, Ryan-Marie, asked the FBI agents whether they had a warrant, she told LifeSiteNews that the agents replied "they were going to take him whether they had a warrant or not."

When it comes to the FBI, the hits just keep coming.  Jack Cashill wrote about the FBI's over-the-top arrest of Mark Houck, a pro-life activist, who pushed an abortion activist last year because the man was aggressive around Houck's 12-year-old son.  The man filed a now-dismissed civil suit, but that wasn't enough for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  It sent around two dozen heavily armed FBI agents to arrest Houck in front of his seven panicked children.  When contemplating the FBI's extremism, we've now learned that the alleged victim filed a civil claim only after the Philadelphia police the District Attorney refused to charge Houck.  The court dismissed that complaint because he repeatedly failed to show up in court.  But there's more.  After Houck received a letter telling him the U.S. Attorney was investigating him, the office refused to return his calls:  ["]Through his attorney at the time, Houck tried to contact the U.S. Attorney's Office to discuss the case but never received a response, Middleton said.["]

The FBI Lied to a Judge So They Could Bust Open Thousands of Safety Deposit Boxes.  According to a new report from the LA Times, FBI agents busted into thousands of safety deposit boxes in California.  After they rummaged through the private property of innocent people, it turns out they lied to a federal judge to get access to the boxes in the first place.  "The privacy invasion was vast when FBI agents drilled and pried their way into 1,400 safe-deposit boxes at the U.S. Private Vaults store in Beverly Hills.  They rummaged through personal belongings of a jazz saxophone player, an interior designer, a retired doctor, a flooring contractor, two Century City lawyers and hundreds of others," the LA Times reports.  "Agents took photos and videos of pay stubs, password lists, credit cards, a prenuptial agreement, immigration and vaccination records, bank statements, heirlooms and a will, court records show.  In one box, agents found cremated human remains."

Facebook [is] 'silencing' activity related to FBI whistleblower Steve Friend.  More evidence of how vindictive, obsessive and downright sinister Facebook is: Now it appears to be monitoring private messages and suppressing material related to the whistleblower complaint of heroic FBI special agent Steve Friend.  After Friend's bombshell revelations last week in a whistleblower complaint to the Department of Justice inspector general, his cause received an avalanche of public and private support, including from former FBI agents and conservative groups.  As reported in this column, Friend's complaint alleges that the FBI has been manipulating case-file management in order to falsely inflate the threat of domestic terrorism, and has been using unconstitutional and excessive force in efforts to persecute political opponents of the Biden administration.  Friend, a SWAT team member in Florida, was suspended by the FBI last week after refusing to participate in what he regarded as an unnecessarily heavy-handed raid over a January 6 misdemeanor.

New Details In The Biden DOJ Targeting Of Pro-Life Activist, Father Of Seven Mark Houck.  New details are emerging in the Department of Justice targeting of a pro-life activist and Catholic father of seven who was arrested at his home in Pennsylvania on Friday.  Some 25 armed FBI agents in 15 vehicles raided the residence of Mark Houck, who leads a nonprofit group that provides sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics in Philadelphia, over an incident last year involving his then-12-year-old son at a Planned Parenthood abortion facility, the family says.  Houck protected his son from an aggressive Planned Parenthood escort harassing the 12-year-old, Pennsylvania pro-life activist Ashley Garecht told The Daily Wire, noting that the case was dismissed by a federal court in Philadelphia when the escort tried to press charges.

In raid on home with seven children, FBI again acts dangerously thuggish.  If the FBI and the Justice Department want critics to stop portraying the bureau as a menace to society, maybe FBI leaders and agents should stop acting like menaces.  Conservative social media is blowing up this weekend about a sickeningly abusive, armed FBI raid on the child-filled home of a pro-life activist in Pennsylvania.  And with good reason.  Once again, the FBI has gone dangerously overboard with an unnecessary show of force.  When faced with orders to participate in such hugely unnecessary armed raids, individual agents should register official protests with their superiors.

The time has come to reform the FBI.  Friday mornings are usually the cheeriest time of the week, just hours away from the weekend.  Alas for pro-life advocate, Mark Houck, and his family, last Friday was anything but joyous.  At 7 a.m., the father of seven was awakened by a SWAT team of heavily armed FBI agents.  Mark's wife, Ryan-Marie, said she pleaded with the FBI agents to be calm, owing to the presence of the couple's seven young children.  Alas, those pleas fell on deaf ears. [...] The FBI agents said they were there to arrest Mark.  When Ryan-Marie asked for their warrant, "they said that they were going to take him whether they had a warrant or not."  When Ryan-Marie protested, saying: "you can't just come to a person's house and kidnap them at gunpoint," the FBI agreed to get the warrant from one of their vehicles.

Did the FBI Finally Go Too Far?  On reading about the Saturday arrest of pro-life activist Mark Houck, I thought the author at this alternative site had to be exaggerating.  It struck me as beyond belief that two dozen or so armed FBI agents would swarm the house of a Catholic father of seven, rifles drawn, and arrest him in front of his weeping children for anything short of murder.  I have had to recalibrate my belief system.  The "crime" fell quite a bit short of murder.  On October 13, 2021, Houck brought his 12-year-old son with him for his weekly sidewalk counseling outside of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Philadelphia.  A volunteer escort at the abortion clinic reportedly called Houck's son a "fag" among other insults and threatened him.  Houck pushed the man away from his son, and the man fell.  Houck, the founder of an organization that promotes Christian virtue among men, was not charged with a crime.  However petty the incident, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, had Houck seized at gunpoint nearly a year later and bragged about the arrest.

FBI Whistleblower: 'Nobody I Know Signed Up' To Investigate Parents Who Vented at Schoolboard Meetings.  An FBI whistleblower who was recently suspended said in an interview this week that he became a whistleblower last November because of Attorney General Merrick Garland's email ordering the FBI to use Patriot Act counterterrorism tools to target parents at school board meetings.  Special Agent Kyle Seraphin, who was indefinitely suspended on June 1 after nearly six years with the Bureau, said that he was so disturbed by the directive, he went to his congresswoman's office in New Mexico, and made a "protected disclosure."  Garland announced the creation of the tag "EDUOFFICIALS" to track school board meeting related threats in an email sent to Justice Department employees in October of 2021.  Investigations were opened on parents based on anonymous tips, and agents had to surveil and interview ordinary moms and dads who got caught up in the dragnet.  In a two-part interview with conservative radio host Dan Bongino, Seraphin said that most of his colleagues didn't appreciate the political nature of these cases, and just did "cursory investigations" before shutting them down.

This should have been done about a month ago:
Republicans Send Preservation Notice to Ex-FBI Official Accused of Shutting Down Hunter Biden Investigation.  Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a preservation notice Friday to former FBI official Timothy Thibault, warning Thibault to save records related to the multiple whistleblower allegations he is facing in the event Republicans take the majority and are able to conduct a formal investigation.  The Republicans referenced in their letter Breitbart News's report from July revealing an FBI whistleblower had accused Thibault, a former assistant special agent in charge, of pressuring agents to reclassify cases as "domestic violent extremism" despite limited evidence supporting reclassification.

FBI raids home of Catholic pro-life speaker, author with guns drawn as his terrified kids watch.  A well-known pro-life author, sidewalk counselor, and father of seven was the latest victim of a U.S. Department of Justice-sponsored SWAT raid and arrest — for supposed "FACE Act" violations — at his rural home as his children looked on "screaming."  Mark Houck is the founder and president of The King's Men, which promotes healing for victims of pornography addiction and promotes Christian virtues among men in the United States and Europe.  According to his wife Ryan-Marie, who spoke with LifeSiteNews, he also drives two hours south to Philadelphia every Wednesday to sidewalk council for six to eight hours at two different abortion centers.  Ryan-Marie, who is a homeschool mother, explained the SWAT team of 25 to 30 FBI agents swarmed their property with around 15 vehicles at 7:05 a.m. this morning.  Having quickly surrounded the house with rifles in firing position, "they started pounding on the door and yelling for us to open it."  Before opening the door, she explained, her husband tried to calm them, saying, "'Please, I'm going to open the door, but, please, my children are in the home.  I have seven babies in the house.'  But they just kept pounding and screaming," she said.

Child Sex-Abuse Cases No Longer 'Priority' for FBI amid January 6 Investigation, Whistleblower Claims.  The FBI is sidelining investigations into child sexual abuse in order to pursue January 6 probes and is inflating the number of "domestic extremism" cases across the country, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee claimed in a letter Monday, citing whistleblowers.  The committee's letter was spearheaded by ranking member Jim Jordan, and was addressed to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray.  It comes on the heels of another committee letter that cited whistleblowers claiming the FBI was "pressuring agents" to label cases as "domestic violent extremism" even when they didn't meet the criteria for the definition.  One whistleblower cited in the letter was "told that child sexual abuse material investigations were no longer an FBI priority and should be referred to local law enforcement agencies," due to the bureau's focus on January 6, the letter claimed.  [Tweet]

Whistleblower Alleges FBI Schemed to Distort January 6 Cases into Nationwide 'Domestic Violent Extremism' Epidemic.  A whistleblower has accused the FBI's Washington Field Office of using cases related to the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot to "overstate" the threat of "domestic violent extremism" in America, according to Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).  The whistleblower alleged the FBI office did not follow standard investigative practices for the January 6 cases when it moved the cases to various local field offices around the country based on where the case subjects were from, Jordan revealed in a letter addressed to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday [7/19/2022].

FBI labeled veterans group "terror organization" despite knowing they weren't.  It seems increasingly likely that there is a core group of agents inside of the FBI that have grown tired of the overt politicization of the Bureau under the leadership of Christopher Wray and the direction of the Biden administration.  Another whistleblower has reportedly come forward and presented information to members of Congress about the abuses taking place inside the FBI.  Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio (R) received a complaint from someone inside the agency over the FBI's designation of American Contingency, a veteran-led group that assists people in the wake of natural disasters, as being "facilitators of domestic terror."  And it was further revealed that the FBI already knew this wasn't true, having previously investigated the group and found them to be on the up and up.

Why Is the DOJ Trying to Destroy Mike Lindell, the Pillow Guy?  [Scroll down] [Mike] Lindell was tracked down by FBI agents, corralled at a Hardee's of all places, served a subpoena, and ordered to turn over his cell phone. [...] It's impossible to give Merrick Garland's Department of Justice even the slightest benefit of the doubt in this day and age, as they have subpoenaed virtually half the free world and raided former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on a seemingly endless fishing expedition.  Pillow Guy's story is equally murky; there are a lot of suspicions and dark insinuations thrown about by the FBI, but little in the way of facts that make you go, "oh man! Lindell really crossed the line on that one!"  Without boring the heck out of you, I'll try to sum it up quickly:  Lindell has been an outspoken critic of the 2020 presidential election and has regularly said he believes the outcome was fraudulent.  This would appear to be his worst crime.  But did he breach voting data machines?

FOIA Request May Indicate FBI Is Hiding Explosive Epstein Info.  The FBI has lost the trust of Americans for quite some time now.  Accused of being slaves to the left, the FBI seems to only uncover information when it will benefit Democrats.  The Daily Wire reported that a well known internet investigator apparently found evidence that the FBI is hiding bombshell evidence on potentially explosive secret records involving dead sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein.  Techno Fog, an anonymous self proclaimed lawyer and writer, alleges that the denial for a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request means they are hiding something.  The FOIA requested all records relating to any interviews the FBI had done with Epstein.  "We asked the FBI for the Jeffery Epstein interview transcripts," Techno Fog said in a tweet, adding "the FBI response:  providing the Epstein records would interfere with law enforcement proceedings.  Either the FBI is lying, or something is up."

Is the FBI is hiding embarrassing information about Jeffrey Epstein?  For those who like taking Deep Dives into political mysteries and chicanery, the writer who calls himself Techno Fog has always been a good place to start.  All we know about him is that he identifies as a lawyer, and his investigatory and analysis skills are often right.  Currently, Techno Fog is making FOIA requests to get documents about Jeffrey Epstein.  The FBI's initial careful response suggests that it's hiding embarrassing or otherwise compromising information from the American people.  If you've just returned from a nice, long vacation to Mars, here's a reminder about Jeffrey Epstein: He's a convicted pedophile who had a private airplane that took him to his private island where he had lots of underage girls to fulfill his sick fantasies, along with help from his procurer and friend, Ghislaine Maxwell.  What makes Epstein stand out from other disgusting rich people is that there's every reason to believe that many rich and powerful men took advantage of the girls on his island.  Interestingly, the American government has worked very, very hard to keep those men's names hidden.

Grassley: Tim Thibault, Who 'Infected Major FBI Investigations,' Isn't Off The Hook Just By Retiring.  For months, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has raised legitimate concerns about the FBI's Tim Thibault for his "partisan bias" and stifling of important investigations as assistant special agent in charge.  Now Thibault — who announced his retirement from his post two weeks ago amid ongoing scrutiny, specifically about his role in suppressing an investigation into Hunter Biden — has used his attorneys and the corporate media to run a PR campaign defending himself, with his attorneys telling Time magazine that their client "did not supervise the investigation of Hunter Biden" and was "not involved in any decisions related to any laptop that may be at issue in that investigation."  Thibault "did not seek to close the investigation," they said, contradicting Republican allegations.  But Thibault is not off the hook as far as Grassley is concerned.

Trump Allies Who Had FBI Show up on Their Doorsteps or Got Subpoenas Includes Big Name.  We covered earlier the bombshell story that dozens of Trump allies reportedly were served with search warrants or subpoenas in the last few days.  We included a copy of what they are looking for in at least one of the subpoenas.  It was incredibly broad, looking for communications related to certification of the election and the Save America PAC.  Now, while we're not sure of the exact number of people, some of the names are starting to come out. [...] We'll doubtless be hearing about more names of the people they raided or dropped subpoenas on.  But it looks like just in the case of the Trump raid, a big net was thrown out there trying to find anything they can to go after people on.  And it's a very troubling thing when the Biden Administration appears to be going after the allies of his once and possibly future political opponent.

Here's Yet Another Reason Why The FBI Should Deeply Concern Americans.  The Department of Justice, and in particular, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have come under fire in the last several years for abusing their authority for partisan political gain at the expense of anyone who might oppose some facet of the left-wing agenda.  In an unsurprising continuation of that trend, Gun Owners of America (GOA) uncovered another alarming policy that, without the authorization or even knowledge of Congress, was secretly created by the FBI and seeks to employ an internal form to disqualify Americans from exercising their Constitutional right to purchase a firearm.

Whistleblowers accuse FBI of breaking security regulations, endangering classified documents.  An FBI whistleblower has told the House Judiciary Committee that he witnessed the bureau's deputy director violating security policies and putting classified information at risk.  The special agent told lawmakers that Paul Abbate, who oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities, used his smartphone in an FBI sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, which is a violation of bureau security protocols.  Just bringing a phone into the SCIF is a security breach.

FBI special agent who opened Trump investigation reportedly escorted out of Bureau.  Former FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Thibault was reportedly escorted out of the bureau Friday, amid whistleblower allegations that he showed political bias in his handling of politically sensitive investigations.  The Washington Times reported eyewitness accounts that "Thibault was seen exiting the bureau's elevator last Friday escorted by two or three 'headquarters-looking types.'"  The article appears to have been updated and now states that Thibault "abruptly resigned" but that he was "forced to leave his post" and cites two unnamed former FBI officials.  CBS News reported Tuesday that two U.S. officials have confirmed that Thibault resigned and was escorted from the building.  "But these officials also said that Thibault had reached retirement age," reported the network's Catherine Herridge, "and they added that all of those who retire hand over their badge and gun and are escorted out of the building."

Did FBI agent in Hunter probe retire after whistleblower allegations — or get fired?  Do people who retire from the FBI routinely get the Frank Cross/Code 9 treatment from Scrooged?  Or did something else happen to Timothy Thibault, the agent handling the Hunter Biden probe accused of manipulating the investigation to benefit Democrats?  Sen. Chuck Grassley published whistleblower complaints from inside the FBI about Thibault's actions, leading the bureau to remove him from his assignments over the summer.  Last week, they also removed him from the building under escort, CBS News reports this morning.  The FBI is characterizing this as a retirement, but [...]

Reports, Lead FBI Agent on Hunter Biden Laptop and FBI Trump Targeting Operations, Removed from DC Field Office.  According to the Washington Times, and further confirmed by John Solomon via contact with Chuck Grassley, the lead FBI Washington Field Office Special Agent in Charge, Tim Thibault, was removed from his position and reportedly escorted out of FBI headquarters on Friday; although his employment status is unknown.  FBI Special Agent Tim Thibault is one of the people at the center of FBI whistleblower allegations claiming the agent was politically biased and ideologically motivated in his FBI investigative duties.

What Does the FBI Removal of Timothy Thibault Say About the Hunter Biden Investigation?  Sometimes a story breaks that is truly surprising in this otherwise highly predictable political environment, and that happened on Monday [8/29/2022].  Reports came out that Timothy Thibault, FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge (that's a mouthful), had been escorted out of FBI headquarters by multiple "official-looking" individuals.  Soon enough, it was confirmed that Thibault, who was also part of "election integrity" efforts during the 2020 election, had been removed for showing political bias and attempting to cover up the Hunter Biden laptop story as early as 2019.  That was long before the DOJ's 90-day policy prior to an election to not deal with politicized cases kicked in, showing a thought-out effort to protect Joe Biden.  Thibault was also involved in opening the current criminal investigation into Donald Trump, which most recently resulted in the FBI raiding the former president's Florida home.

FBI Agent Tim Thibault Who Opened Trump Investigation Is Escorted from Headquarters.  FBI agent Tim Thibault was escorted from FBI headquarters on Friday [8/26/2022].  He was the mastermind behind the affidavit to raid Mar-a-Lago.  He has longtime connections to the Clintons and the Obamas.  Thibault was the FBI official who was Assistant Agent in Charge (ASAC) in investigating voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Who is FBI Agent Timothy Thibault?  Just The News and other media outlets are reporting that Tim Thibault — FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge — was escorted from bureau premises on Friday.  According to Ben Whedon of JTN, the reported removal of Thibault comes "amid whistleblower allegations that he showed political bias in his handling of politically sensitive investigations." [...] FBI whistleblowers seem to have fingered Thibault as the partisan hack protecting Hunter.  The FBI, we now know, were recently identified by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as the reason Facebook downplayed the laptop story pre-election because the social media company had the impression the laptop story was considered misinformation.  But It turns out Thibault has also been involved in some other interesting work on behalf of the agency.

Zuckerberg's Admission Of FBI Meddling In 2020 Election Is Even Bigger Than It Seems.  Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's admission last week that the FBI pushed the social media giant to censor Russian misinformation — and thus the Hunter Biden laptop story, as that's how the agency and Democrats characterized it — shortly before the November 2020 election is but a breadcrumb of a bigger scandal: the widespread interference by the FBI in the 2020 presidential election with the potential that the bureau coordinated its efforts with the Biden campaign.  When asked during a Thursday podcast with Joe Rogan how Facebook handles controversial news, such as the Hunter Biden laptop story, Zuckerberg stopped his host to provide a backdrop to Facebook's decision to decrease distribution of the scandal.

FBI Reportedly Said to 'Routinely' Work with Social Media Companies to Censor 'Threat Info'.  Collusion between government and Big Tech goes deeper than Joe Biden's incompetence.  The FBI reportedly responded to the revelation it pressured Facebook to censor during the 2020 election by saying that the agency "routinely" works with social media companies to target "potential threat information."  The FBI "cannot ask, or direct, companies to take action on information received," but does coordinate with "social media providers" to moderate content, according to an Aug. 26 FBI statement reported by Reclaim The Net.  This revelation comes after multiple efforts by various arms of the Biden administration to increase censorship leading up to the 2022 midterms.  The FBI claimed, according to Reclaim The Net, it "routinely notifies U.S. private sector entities, including social media providers, of potential threat information, so that they can decide how to better defend against threats."  How many companies is the federal government working with to censor free speech?

The FBI: A Campaign Arm of the Democrat Party.  When did the FBI, the largest and most heavily armed law enforcement agency in America, now inserting itself unconstitutionally into American politics, pivot from fidelity and integrity to partisanship and dishonesty?  Start with the 2016 presidential election. [...] The FBI was in the middle of this true insurrection, meant to derail a presidential campaign, election, transition, and administration with fabricated claims of collusion, lying to Congress and the American people, and then attempting to cover everything up via the Muller/Weissman investigation, including a recent raid on Mar-a-Lago to possibly confiscate incriminating Spygate documents in President Trump's possession.  Other Obama administration agencies and officials were also involved but the FBI was in the thick of it, with Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.  Other familiar names include Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok and his girlfriend FBI attorney Lisa Page.

Lots of FBI Officials Work at Jack's Magic Coffee Shop.  The suspicions surrounding Jack's Magic Coffee shop are not new.  Indeed, the recent whistleblower claims of data insecurity seem to align with the overall theme that U.S. government interest are more than a little deeply involved in the domestic surveillance system known as Twitter specifically, and big social media in general.  In the latest datapoint assembly, a solid dive by MintPressNews into the number of former FBI officials working at Twitter, shows just how enmeshed the federal police are with the social media platform.  The scale is really quite remarkable.  Big picture — the number of FBI officials working for Twitter indicates some strong connective tissue behind both enterprises.

FBI Colluded With Big Tech To Prevent Voters From Learning About Hunter Biden's Laptop.  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook algorithmically suppressed stories about Hunter Biden's laptop during the 2020 election at the request of the FBI weeks before the November contest.  Speaking on Joe Rogan's podcast on Thursday, Zuckerberg said the FBI approached employees at the tech giant to warn that the laptop was a vehicle of Russian interference.  "The FBI basically came to us and spoke to some folks on our team and was like, 'Hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert.  We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda on the 2016 election.  We have it on notice that basically there's about to be some kind of dump similar to that,'" Zuckerberg said.  The CEO did not say precisely when the discussion took place.

FBI: No, we would never have told Zuckerberg to bury the Hunter laptop story.  When Facebook/Meta honcho Mark Zuckerberg went on the Joe Rogan show recently, he created some waves by confirming something most of us were pretty sure of already.  In the weeks before the 2020 election, the FBI directly contacted Facebook and told them that the Hunter Biden laptop story was going to drop and that it was "probably Russian disinformation."  Of course, the story was 100% real and not disinformation of any sort, but Facebook went ahead and suppressed the New York Post story about it anyway until Joe Biden was safely past the general election.  Twitter similarly shut down the story and banned the Post from their platform for weeks.  Last night, the FBI finally responded to Zuckerberg's revelation, saying that they would never (perish the thought) engage in any sort of election interference and they "routinely provide foreign threat indicators" to social media platforms.

Mark Zuckerberg Admits On Joe Rogan That Facebook Censored The Hunter Laptop Story At The Request Of The FBI.  Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that before the New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story, the social media giant received a warning from the FBI which prompted Facebook to limit the story's reach on the platform ahead of the 2020 presidential election.  The billionaire tech mogul said the FBI approached Facebook and warned it "be vigilant" before the New York Post story on the contents in Joe Biden's son's laptop.  [Video clip]

FBI whistleblower claims bureau leaders ordered staff NOT to investigate Hunter Biden laptop.  The FBI deliberately dragged its feet on the Hunter Biden investigation and told agents not to look into the Hunter Biden laptop, according to new whistleblowers who spoke with Sen. Ron Johnson.  Johnson, R-Wisc., sent a letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Tuesday bringing forth the new whistleblower claims.  'Recently, my office heard from individuals with knowledge of the FBI's apparent corruption,' Johnson said.  'After the FBI obtained the Hunter Biden laptop from the Wilmington, DE computer shop, these whistleblowers stated that local FBI leadership told employees, "you will not look at that Hunter Biden laptop" and that the FBI is "not going to change the outcome of the election again,"' Johnson wrote to Horowitz.  Johnson is demanding Horowitz look into the FBI's handling of the Hunter Biden laptop.

FBI affidavit misled a magistrate judge on a search warrant in plot to seize and forfeit contents of safety deposit boxes.  In a case with a direct bearing on the search warrant issued on Mar A Lago, the March 22, 2021 FBI raid on a private safe deposit box operator in Beverly Hills, California just got even dodgier, according to court documents released by different federal judge than issued the warrant.  You may recall that the FBI raided US Private Vaults in Beverly Hills and seized the contents of boxes of people accused of no crimes.  Eric Boehm of Reason reports on the latest revelations that show a pattern of FBI abise of magistrate judges for the purpose of obtaining search warrants that amount to fishing expeditions — a violation of the Fourth Amendment[.]

FBI's Latest Announcement About 'Threats' After Raid Raises More Concerns.  Raiding the home of a former president was a completely unprecedented act in an already charged political environment.  What the FBI should be doing is being extremely transparent to explain themselves to bring down the temperature.  But they're not doing that.  It's a real problem when people doubt the objectivity of the FBI.  It's been going on for a long time, since at least 2016 when they gave Hillary Clinton a pass for something that seems to have far exceeded anything Donald Trump is even alleged to have done.  Then there's the whole Russia probe to begin with, with things like FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith giving a false statement to a FISA court judge to get a warrant against the Trump team.  Even before the raid on Trump, members of Congress were receiving reports from whistleblowers about the FBI padding domestic extremism statistics.  They're also looking into the politicization of the bureau.  We've even seen the FBI demonizing things like the Gadsden flag, the Betsy Ross flag, and the Gonzales flag as signs of "extremism."  These are normal patriotic American symbols.

FBI reportedly delivers subpoenas related to 2020 electors to Republican Pennsylvanian lawmakers.  The FBI reportedly delivered subpoenas related to the controversy surrounding alternate electors in the 2020 election to several Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania on Wednesday [8/10/2022].  The action comes after the FBI served a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago residence of former President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, prompting his supporters to accuse the Bureau of being politically motivated.  Various sources spoke to Pennlive about the FBI delivering subpoenas or speaking with Pennsylvania Republicans as a part of the investigation into the effort to send alternate electors to the U.S. Capitol to elect Trump rather than President Joe Biden.  Some of the lawmakers who received subpoenas were told they were not themselves the subject of the investigation, the sources told Pennlive.

FBI Doubles Down:  Key GOP Congressman's Phone Seized.  One day after the FBI raided former President Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago, agents confronted U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and seized his cell phone while the congressman was at an airport with his family.  Three FBI agents approached Perry, handed over a warrant for his cell phone, and then seized the mobile device — apparently without previously trying to contact his attorney.  In a statement, Perry slammed the seizure and the Biden administration's politicization of the Justice Department.  "This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone," Perry recounted.  "They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish."

Leftists Dominate FBI Top 10 Domestic Terror List, Despite Warnings About Far Right.  The FBI has sounded the alarm about white supremacists and far-right extremists, but the bureau's own Top 10 "most wanted domestic terrorists" list includes at least two Communists, three black nationalists, one anti-war activist, and a vegan eco-terrorist.  While the diverse roster doesn't purport to capture the breadth of domestic terror, it seems at odds with federal law enforcement's claims that white supremacists pose the biggest threat facing the nation.  Some skeptics are accusing the bureau of exaggerating the threat by adopting a misleading definition of such ideologies.

Huge Cover Up!  FBI is Hiding Video Footage of the Supposed 'Jan 6th Pipe Bomber'.  This video shows that the FBI is blatantly hiding information that may reveal the identity of the person who supposedly planted several pipe bombs around government buildings on Jan 6th.  Could it be that the individual is yet another corrupt FBI member who helped orchestrate what many are calling the biggest scandal in US history?  We now know with 100% certainty that the story the FBI claimed is completely untrue.  We now know that their own agents were behind several plots to make Trump supporters look bad, including Jan 6th and the Gov. Whitmer kidnapping plot that was apparently entirely crafted by the FBI.

Release the Tape:  Revolver Has Definitive Proof FBI Is Hiding Critical Footage of Jan 6 "Pipe Bomber".  An exclusive analysis by Revolver News can prove that the FBI is in possession of, but has refused to release, security camera footage of the January 6 pipe bomber planting the pipe bomb at the DNC building at 7:52 p.m. on January 5th.  This extraordinary revelation should be the immediate subject of Congressional inquiry as to why the FBI has stonewalled release of the footage.  [Video clip]

Gadsden flag
FBI Training Materials Designate Gadsden Flag and Historic American Symbols as Evidence of Militia Violent Extremists.  Project Veritas has obtained whistleblower materials from official FBI training and instruction, highlighting images that are defined as evidence of Militia Violent Extremists or MVE's.  Among the material now identified by the FBI as extreme are pictures of the Gadsden flag, Betsy Ross flag, Patriot symbols, Molon Labe and a host of other historic images that are now defined as evidence of Militia Violent Extremism.


FBI Whistleblower Leaks Bureau's 'Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide' on 'Militia Violent Extremists' Citing Ashli Babbitt as MVE Martyr.  Project Veritas released a newly leaked document today provided by an FBI whistleblower, which shows how the Bureau classifies American citizens it deems to be potential "Militia Violent Extremists" [MVEs].  In the document, the FBI cites symbols, images, phrases, events, and individuals that agents should look out for when identifying alleged domestic terrorists.  The "Unclassified/Law Enforcement Sensitive" document says it is for "FBI Internal Use Only."  Of note, under the "Symbols" section, is a prominent citation of the Second Amendment, where it explains that "MVEs justify their existence with the Second Amendment, due to the mention of a 'well regulated Militia,' as well as the right to bear arms."  Right below that, under the "Commonly Referenced Historical Imagery and Quotes" section, Revolutionary War images such as the Gadsden Flag and the Betsy Ross Flag are listed.  Each flag displayed in the document comes with a brief description of what it means.

The FBI classes constitutional American values and images as violent extremism.  Yesterday [8/2/2022], Project Veritas published a leaked internal FBI document in which the FBI sets out the hallmarks of suspected "militia violent extremists."  Unsurprisingly, in Joe Biden's America, those indicia significantly overlap with broadly-held, longstanding conservative values.

All FBI Agents Must Blow Their Whistles Or They'll Be Complicit In Bureau's Politicization.  Sen. Chuck Grassley's office confirmed to The Federalist that the multiple FBI whistleblowers charging misconduct related to the Hunter Biden investigation only came forward in the last two months.  While the existence of these new whistleblowers proves promising, other FBI agents with knowledge of misconduct or political bias must stop hiding behind the chain of command and start blowing their own whistles.  "Multiple FBI whistleblowers, including those in senior positions" informed the Iowa Republican senator that "Washington Field Office assistant special agent in charge Timothy Thibault and other FBI officials ... 'falsely portray[ed] as disinformation evidence acquired from multiple sources that provided the FBI derogatory information related to Hunter Biden's financial and foreign business activities, even though some of that information had already been or could be verified.'"  The whistleblowers further charged that "in August of 2020, FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten opened an assessment, which was used by a team of agents at FBI headquarters to improperly discredit and falsely claim that derogatory information about Biden's activities was disinformation, causing investigative activity and sourcing to be shut down."

Turns out it's not just the Secret Service's text messages from January 6 that have gone missing.  The further this story develops, the more suspicious the actions of DHS's own inspector general get.  The IG is supposed to be the "internal affairs" wing of a federal agency, charged with investigating possible malfeasance by department personnel — like, say, the mysterious deletion of text messages before and during the attack on the Capitol despite multiple warnings that those records should be preserved.  The IG investigating the Secret Service's missing text messages is Joseph Cuffari, who serves under Biden but was appointed by Trump.  Last week news broke that his office knew back in February that the Secret Service had purged certain agents' text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, supposedly due to a mix-up when the agents' old phones were replaced with new ones.  But Cuffari didn't tell Congress until earlier this month.  Nor did he follow through on issuing a public warning last fall that the Service was delaying production of the records despite having considered it at the time.

Spoliation defined
Black's Law Dictionary, 1991, page 1401.


Defund the FBI.  Was anyone really surprised when Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced that "highly credible" whistleblowers had given him information about FBI efforts to make the Hunter Biden scandal go away?  Grassley wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday that "the information provided to my office involves concerns about the FBI's receipt and use of derogatory information relating to Hunter Biden, and the FBI's false portrayal of acquired evidence as disinformation.  The volume and consistency of these allegations substantiate their credibility and necessitate this letter."  Will anyone hail me as a prognosticator of extraordinary powers when I predict, correctly, that in response to this letter, Wray and Garland will do absolutely nothing, except possibly to cover their tracks more effectively?  No, because anyone who has been paying attention can see that.  The FBI has become a cancer on the American body politic.  The FBI must go.

Jim Jordan says new whistleblower disclosures reveal 'scandalous' push by FBI to pad domestic terrorism data.  The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee says new whistleblower disclosures allege FBI officials are pressuring agents to "reclassify" cases as "domestic violent extremism" in order to appease the Biden administration's push to focus on these cases.  Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray Wednesday after he says "brave whistleblowers" came forward with information about "disturbing conduct" at the agency.  "From recent protected disclosures, we have learned that FBI officials are pressuring agents to reclassify cases as 'domestic violent extremism' even if the cases do not meet the criteria for such a classification," writes Jordan.  "Given the narrative pushed by the Biden administration that domestic violent extremism is the 'greatest threat' facing our country, revelation that the FBI may be artificially padding domestic terrorism data is scandalous."

Senator Chuck Grassley Outlines "Systemic Institutional Corruption" Within Dept of Justice and FBI.  Yesterday, Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter [pdf HERE] to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray, notifying them of whistleblower allegations from within the FBI that senior leadership in both Main Justice and FBI are involved in a coordinated effort to cover-up criminal activity related to Hunter Biden.  The whistleblower allegations, in combination with the documented history of DOJ and FBI misconduct, culminate in Senator Grassley stating:  "If these allegations are true and accurate, the Justice Department and FBI are — and have been — institutionally corrupted to their very core to the point in which the United States Congress and the American people will have no confidence in the equal application of the law.  Attorney General Garland and Director Wray, simply put, based on the allegations that I've received from numerous whistleblowers, you have systemic and existential problems within your agencies."

Whistleblower allegations raise prospect FBI misled Senate's Hunter Biden probe, Ron Johnson says.  ecent revelations from FBI whistleblowers raise the strong prospect that the bureau engaged in a "targeted effort to intentionally undermine" the Senate's pre-election probe into Hunter Biden's business deals, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) declares in a stinging letter to the nation's top law enforcement and intelligence officials.  "Unfortunately, the FBI can no longer be trusted to investigate Hunter Biden with integrity and the equal application of law," Johnson said in a letter sent late Tuesday to FBI Director Chris Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.  Johnson's missive came a day after his colleague, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, divulged that multiple FBI whistleblowers have come forward to allege political manipulation and other wrongdoing inside the FBI, including falsely portraying negative information about Hunter Biden as disinformation back in 2020 when in fact it was true.

FBI Agent Who Failed To Vet Steele Dossier Is Named As One Who Helped Paint Hunter Biden Exploits As 'Disinformation'.  An FBI agent involved in the Russia collusion hoax weaponized against former President Donald Trump is the same one now implicated by whistleblowers in using his position to discredit evidence related to Hunter Biden's foreign entanglements right before the 2020 election, Chuck Ross with The Washington Free Beacon reports.  Ross notes that the whistleblowers who reached out to GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley about the FBI's suppression of the Hunter Biden investigation identified intelligence analyst Brian Auten as the man responsible for constructing an FBI report in August 2020, which the whistleblowers say the FBI used as a "scheme ... to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation."  Grassley issued a letter last week to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray regarding the reports he had received from numerous whistleblowers that high-ranking members of the FBI had acted with partisan bias and politicized their investigations.

FBI Whistleblowers Allege FBI Scheme to Protect Hunter Biden and Joe Biden.  Yesterday [7/25/2022], Senator Chuck Grassley sent [a] letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray regarding allegations from "highly credible whistleblowers" about the FBI's "false portrayal" of derogatory Hunter Biden materials as "disinformation."  If these allegations are true, it's a damning depiction of FBI leadership and it proves their efforts to influence the 2020 election.  This is the second (if not third) straight election the FBI has meddled in, given the influence the Trump/Russia investigation — and its unlawful origins with the FBI — had over the 2018 midterms.  Grassley's whistleblowers allege that in August 2020, FBI Headquarters "improperly discredit[ed] negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease."  In fact, it was a scheme of top FBI officials.  As Grassley explains:  "the allegations provided to my office appear to indicate that there was a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation."  The context and timing is important, as this was leading up to the 2020 election.  Who benefited from this scheme?  Democrat candidate Joe Biden.

FBI whistleblowers claim the agency lied about Hunter Biden's laptop.  In late summer 2020, the mother of all October surprises emerged:  An abandoned Hunter Biden laptop filled to the brim with information about Hunter's drug and sex addictions (scurrilous but arguably irrelevant to Joe) plus massive amounts of information about Hunter's shady business deals with America's geopolitical enemies, all of which he obtained thanks to the Biden family business (aka Joe Biden using his office to sell out America).  The tech companies immediately censored the story but, even more tellingly, the FBI claimed that the manifestly real material was, in fact, "disinformation."  Now, though, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says that FBI whistleblowers have emerged to say that the FBI lied.

The Editor says...
Suppose you were a laptop repairman and Hunter Biden had abandoned his computer in your shop, and you found it was teeming with evidence of serious felonies, and you then turned the whole thing over to the FBI, and then the FBI pretended not to see anything incriminating on the laptop.  What is the lesson you would learn from this experience?  The lesson is:  You can't trust the FBI.  Here is another case where another group of people learned the same lesson:  [1] [2] [3] [4]

Meet the FBI Analyst Behind The Decade's Biggest Political Disinformation Campaigns.  An intelligence analyst behind the FBI's botched Trump-Russia collusion probe is now accused of using the bureau's authority to discredit reports about Hunter Biden's criminal activity months before the 2020 presidential election.  Meet Brian Auten.  The FBI analyst is hardly a household name, but whistleblowers who contacted the office of GOP senator Chuck Grassley say he was behind an August 2020 report that FBI officials used as part of a "scheme... to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation."  Auten's report also caused the FBI "to cease" investigative activity into the younger Biden, according to a letter Grassley sent the Justice Department and FBI.  The whistleblower allegations are the latest evidence of politicization at the FBI.  Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the allegations, if accurate, show the FBI and Justice Department are "institutionally corrupted to their very core."

FBI, DOJ accused of burying Hunter Biden dirt:  Sen. Chuck Grassley.  The FBI and Justice Department have been accused by "highly-credible whistleblowers" of burying "verified and verifiable" dirt on President Biden's troubled son Hunter by incorrectly dismissing the intelligence as "disinformation," according to Sen. Chuck Grassley.  The ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee made the explosive claims Monday in an official Senate letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland.  He insisted the allegations were so serious they would prove — if confirmed — that both offices were "institutionally corrupted to their very core."

Senator Grassley sent a letter today.  [Thread reader] ... describing the sordid operations of people at FBI HQ, in which the Hunter Biden foreign influence peddling case was closed in the fall of 2020, based on an assessment by Brian Austen that the case was the product of foreign disinformation.  Grassley claims that whistleblowers have come to him with evidence of political corruption at high levels in the FBI, designed to coverup Hunter's crimes, close the investigation, and leak to the press everything was Russian disinformation.  The disinformation narrative began in July, when Congressional Democratic leaders Schumer, Pelosi and Schiff briefed Grassley and Johnson on information the Dems had showing Russia was trying to manipulate the Republican senators — and them promptly leaked to the press.  FBI played the same game of briefing the senators with supposedly classified information, then leaking it all to the press.  Austen is a name familiar to those who closely followed Russiagate.  So far only one FBI employee has been brought to justice for that.  It appears the corrupt seventh floor has learned but one lesson from Durham's probe:  They can get away with it.

GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley alleges 'scheme' among FBI officials to bury negative information about Hunter Biden.  Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is holding the FBI and Justice Department's feet to the fire on Hunter Biden, demanding the agencies answer claims from a whistleblower they downplayed negative information on Hunter Biden in the lead up to the 2020 election.  Grassley revealed on Monday [7/25/2022] that 'highly credible' whistleblowers have come forward alleging a widespread effort within the FBI to discredit negative information about President Joe Biden's son.  'The information provided to my office involves concerns about the FBI's receipt and use of derogatory information relating to Hunter Biden, and the FBI's false portrayal of acquired evidence as disinformation,' Grassley wrote FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Who Will They Get to Do the Tyrants' Dirty Work?  We have seen the systematic weaponization of law enforcement against normal people under the Biden dorktatorship.  The FBI has become the personal Stasi of the Democrats, seizing elderly men with SWAT teams, while the DOJ has been selectively prosecuting conservatives, or those believed to be conservative-aligned, but giving a pass to those terrorists, rioters, and scumbags aligned with the trash donkey political party. [...] The FBI is not Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., chasing bank robbers, mob bosses, and commies but, rather, that satanic-looking Peter Strzok weirdo trying to frame the enemies of Hillary.

Who Are the Real Insurrectionists?  In the fashion of the former East German Stasi, the FBI hounds political opponents on the Right by surveilling parents at school board meetings, sending a SWAT team to arrest a flamboyant Trump supporter Roger Stone, arriving at the house of journalist James O'Keefe in the deep of night to confiscate his files and devices, and putting former White House advisor Peter Navarro in veritable shackles.  The common denominator is the FBI devolving into a retrieval service for the Biden family syndicate, whether by putting on ice Hunter Biden's incriminating laptop or hounding out Ashley Biden's lurid diary or intimidating Biden critics.  Yet when asked to produce relevant cell phones of possibly wayward agents, the FBI claims that such data was erased, shrugs, and does not comply.  Apparently, the FBI leadership fears the progressive Washington political-bureaucratic-media nexus far more than it fears the consequences of violating the law it is sworn to uphold.

Biden Has Weaponized the FBI and DOJ Against His Political Opponents — The GOP Needs To End It.  On June 23, federal agents stormed the Virginia home of former Department of Justice official and legal scholar Jeffrey Clark in the early morning hours, searching his house and seizing multiple electronic devices in the process.  And on June 27, news broke of the FBI executing a search warrant on June 22 against legal scholar and professor John Eastman for his role in advising the Trump administration on legally contesting the 2020 presidential elections.  (Eastman has filed a motion for return of property, claiming that the federal agent refused to show him their search warrant before seizing his cell phone, as required by the law.)  Clark and Eastman, like tens of millions of other Americans, wanted to determine if voter irregularities may have played a role in the 2020 presidential election.  Clark, as a member of the Justice Department, and Eastman as a Trump advisor, explored legal remedies that involved fielding alternate electors in states with contested elections.  That they should or should not have done this is open to opinion, but it was not at all illegal.

FBI Ambushes Trump Election Lawyer John Eastman as He's Exiting Restaurant with His Wife, Seizes His Phone.  The January 6 Committee sent the feds after Trump lawyer John Eastman because he dared to take action against the Democrats and their massive election fraud operation in 2020.  Trump's election lawyer John Eastman said the FBI searched and seized his phone last week, according to a new court filing.  Eastman filed a federal lawsuit in New Mexico on Monday and asked a judge to order the feds to return his property and block the January 6 investigators from accessing his phone.  According to the court filing, John Eastman was exiting a restaurant with his wife and friend last week when FBI agents ambushed him and "forced" him to unlock his phone.

Revived by appeals court, lawsuit against FBI informant illuminates Russia probe's weakness.  A federal appeals court has breathed new life into a lawsuit brought by a London-based academic against one of the FBI's confidential informants during the Russia collusion probe, litigation that is likely to focus new attention on the quality of evidence that led the bureau to investigate former President Donald Trump and his cohorts during the 2016 election.  There has been a flurry of new legal activity this month in Svetlana Lokhova's lawsuit in federal court in Virginia against former FBI confidential human source Stefan Halper since the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema abused her authority in dismissing the lawsuit a year ago.  "We conclude that the court could not have properly concluded that Lokhova's complaint ... had absolutely no chance of success," the appeals court ruled in April in a unanimous 3-0 decision that reversed Brinkema's dismissal of the case and her order of a penalty against Lokhova for filing an allegedly frivolous lawsuit.

Chuck Grassley slams Justice Department for not prosecuting employees for lying.  Ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) slammed the Department of Justice on Monday for "repeated failure to prosecute employees" who were caught lying during internal investigations.  "An unsettling pattern has emerged from the Department of Justice (DOJ) whereby criminal referrals by the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General (OIG), against DOJ employees for making materially false statements are rarely prosecuted," Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.  Grassley said the "most shocking example of this pattern" occurred last month after the DOJ declined to bring charges against the former FBI agents who botched the investigation of Dr. Larry Nassar, the former U.S. women's national gymnastics team physician who was sentenced to prison for assaulting gymnasts.  The Iowa Republican listed a dozen other cases in which the United States Attorney's Office declined to prosecute staffers.

FBI Raids Target Democrats' Political Foes Instead Of True Criminals.  The only apparent criterion the FBI needs to raid the homes of American citizens is that those citizens have ever supported former President Donald Trump.  Here are the names of some of the political leaders on the right that the FBI has targeted:  Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani, James O'Keefe, and Jeff Clark.  The FBI is now also engaging in raids on private homes of elderly Americans who peacefully attended the Capitol protest on Jan. 6, 2020.  Compare this treatment to that of actual criminals affiliated with Democrats, such as Hunter Biden, Andy McCabe, Peter Strzok, and Michael Sussmann.  The latter have seen no personal visit from the FBI since their crimes were committed or exposed.

Feds Raid the Home of Former Trump DOJ Official Who Wanted to Investigate Allegations of Voter Fraud.  In a pre-dawn raid Wednesday, armed federal law enforcement agents searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump Justice Department official who has emerged as a central figure in the partisan House Select Committee's investigation into the January 6 riot.  Clark's name was expected to come up in the Jan. 6 Committee hearing on Thursday.  He served as acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Division during President Trump's final months in office, where he was the only official willing to investigate credible allegations of fraud.  In a tweet back in March, Clark explained why he has been targeted by the regime.  "I'm a former Trump DOJ official who (like you) was concerned about the 2020 election," he explained.  "Now I'm one of the top targets of the politically motivated J6 Committee."

FBI Raids Home of Retired Texas Couple Who Attended Jan. 6 Capitol Rally.  A retired Texas couple said FBI agents on June 22 broke through the gate of their rural home, threw flash-bangs, handcuffed them, and trained lasers on them before searching their home for evidence connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol.  Lora DeWolfe and Darrel Kennemer, who live on seven acres near San Marcos, Texas, told The Epoch Times they attended the Jan. 6 rally at the Capitol but did nothing wrong.  They believe the FBI mistakenly identified Kennemer as someone else.  The FBI didn't arrest them, they said.  Agents eventually produced a search warrant saying Kennemer was suspected of "assaulting, resisting or impeding" officers and "entering restricted building or grounds."  Both said they went no farther than the Capitol steps on Jan. 6 and didn't harm anyone or damage anything.

Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark tells Tucker Carlson that FBI raid on his house over efforts to overturn 2020 election was 'Stasi-like'.  Former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark, who tried to help President Donald Trump overturn his 2020 election loss, had his house searched by U.S. law enforcement agents on Wednesday, an experience which he has described as 'Stasi-like.'  In an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, Clark shared his dismay at what he had been subjected to as he was forced to stand outside his home in his pajamas while a search by armed federal agents took place.  He said: 'There was loud banging outside my door.  I quickly figured out there were agents there.  I asked for the courtesy to put some pants on and was told 'no'.  'They swept the house.  Twelve agents and two police Fairfax County Police Officers searched it for more than three hours.

Joe Biden's Weaponized FBI Seizes Phone of Nevada GOP Leader in Ridiculous Move.  The weaponization of the FBI continues after what some would describe as Joe Biden's personal police force seized the phone of a Nevada GOP leader on Wednesday.  That report comes via 8 News Now, a local station in the state.  Per their sources, the FBI served a search warrant on Michael McDonald, the Republican chairman in Nevada.  They seized his phone in relation to an "investigation" into the so-called "fake electors" scheme propagated after the 2020 election.

Five Reasons to Impeach Joe Biden.  [#4] Biden is directing the enforcement branches of the federal government against his political enemies.  Biden believes that "domestic political extremism" is "the most urgent terrorism threat" facing the U.S.  "The Biden administration declared that the 'most lethal elements' of today's domestic terror threat are political conservatives," said Tucker Carlson.  Biden has compared Americans who disagree with him — at least half the country — to racists and terrorists.  Consequently, Biden is empowering the DoJ and FBI to go after Republicans.  "The FBI is now an organization solely focused on destroying the domestic enemies of the Democratic Party," said talk show host Jesse Kelly.  Biden is also enlisting the media in his war against political opponents.  "What Joe Biden is telling media companies to do today is to censor their content so it doesn't contradict his decrees," said Tucker Carlson. "[Biden is calling for] censorship of political opinions.  What you're seeing here is far more dangerous than the domestic terror threat they've been bloviating about.  It contravenes the First Amendment."

Florida woman who found Ashley Biden's diary in 'halfway house' is under FBI investigation for selling the journal.  A Florida woman who found Ashley Biden's private diary is being investigated by the FBI — not for stealing the journal but for selling it, DailyMail.com has learned.  The diary's explosive contents include Ashley's speculation that showering with her father, then-Senator Joe Biden, as a young girl may have contributed to her sex addiction.

FBI official had unauthorized contacts with reporters for years:  DOJ watchdog.  A top FBI national security official involved in Crossfire Hurricane had dozens of unauthorized contacts with the media over several years, the Department of Justice's watchdog concluded.  Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz's office concluded in a newly released investigative report that retired FBI official Michael Steinbach violated numerous bureau rules through his meetings and communications with reporters, though prosecution against him was declined by DOJ.  Steinbach had been executive assistant director of the FBI's national security branch until his retirement in February 2017 and played a role in the FBI's flawed Trump-Russia investigation.

Never Forget — FBI Admitted to Running Operatives in the Crowd at the US Capitol — It was a Setup.  The FBI admitted in September 2021 to The New York Times that they had informants and operatives inside groups attending the January 6 rallies in Washington DC.  This never made it into the January 6 Committee's public show trial of President Trump and his MAGA movement last Thursday night.  The FBI finally admitted they infiltrated the Jan. 6 rallies with informants.  In fact, one of the first "protesters" inside the US Capitol was an FBI informant.

Where's Ray Epps?  Since 1987, some of us have spent leisure time asking, "Where's Waldo?" looking for him in crowded cartoons clad in his red and white striped shirt.  It passes the time and stimulates the mind.  Since January 6, 2021, others have asked, "Where's Ray Epps?"  Asking, "Where's Waldo?" is harmless enough.  Asking, "Where's Ray Epps?" might get you the kind of attention no one wants in this post-911 emerging police-state we still call America.  Still, lots of questions are popping up about Ray Epps. [...] In one video of Ray Epps taken on the evening of January 5, 2021, Ray is seen wearing a red MAGA baseball cap and exhorting protestors to "Go into the Capitol."  During the span of Jan 5-6, 2021, Epps can be seen in several locations between the White House and the Capitol, urging people to enter the People's House.  Like the imaginary Waldo, Ray Epps shows up doing his old man impersonation of Ethan Hunt on a Mission Impossible episode.  Like the fictional Ethan Hunt, the Agency (FBI and DOJ) has disavowed any knowledge or connection with Ray Epps.  For some time, a picture of Epps appeared on an FBI website soliciting information about those who entered the Capitol on January 6th.  That picture went up in a puff of smoke and, now, the FBI refuses to answer questions about him.

The FBI knew RussiaGate was a lie — but hid that truth.  Declassified for Durham's probe, a March 2017 memo prepared by Lisa Page for FBI head James Comey's meeting with Congress' "Gang of Eight" — the bipartisan House and Senate leaders who oversee the most classified stuff — was a total cook-up job.  It advised Comey to present accusations that Trump's campaign chair Paul Manafort and foreign policy adviser Carter Page were working with the Russian government as coming from a confidential Russia-based source with real intel-community chops.  In fact, the FBI had already established that the root source was US-based former Brookings flunky Igor Danchenko's utterly speculative gossip with an ex-girlfriend and a Democratic Party hack.  That, plus publicly reported info, was all Christopher Steele (a retired British spy who doesn't even speak Russian) ever had to back up his "dossier."  And the FBI knew it since at least January 2017, when it interviewed Danchenko.

FBI goes full Gestapo, raids home of leading GOP gubernatorial challenger to Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer.  While the FBI demonstrated oppressive, tyrannical behavior throughout the so-called "war on terror," since it was occurring in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, most Americans either didn't notice or did not mind.  After all, the bureau was meting out the 'revenge' we all sought against Islamic terrorists who killed thousands of our countrymen, attacked our seat of government, and destroyed an iconic symbol of our economic might.  But the FBI did not stop with entrapping alleged Islamic 'terrorists,' the bureau veered into full-bore corruption and today has become the modern-day equivalent of Nazi Germany's Gestapo or Soviet East Germany's Stasi secret police — behaving more as political enforcers for the left-wing deep state.

Pipe bomber remains unidentified as Democrat-led Capitol riot committee begins public hearings.  As the Democrat-led committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 begins its public hearings, the person who planted pipe bombs the night before outside both the Republican and Democratic national committee headquarters in Washington remains unknown and at large.  Now, almost a year and a half since the incident, the Washington Examiner learned that a top FBI official said last month that the bureau could not provide any information about the possible use of confidential human sources to solve the case.  The FBI official said the bureau had carried out over 1,000 interviews, compiled just under 40,000 videos, and analyzed roughly 450 tips.  The bureau also said solving the mystery continues to be a top priority for the FBI, as well as for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, and the Capitol Police.

The Editor says...
The mysterious pipe bomber is either the stealthiest and most elusive criminal since Jack the Ripper, or is a federal agent whose identity is no mystery to the FBI.  Even Jack the Ripper would have been caught quickly, if he had lived in a city like Washington DC, where there are surveillance cameras everywhere.  I don't believe for a second that the government doesn't already know who this suspect is, and can't figure out who it is, even after 18 months as everybody's top priority.

Biden's G-men go rogue.  The Biden Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, will not be prosecuting lawbreakers within its ranks.  The Inspector General (IG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its semiannual report to Congress of cases for which the IG recommends prosecutions.  But in case after case, the DOJ is declining to prosecute its own.  The one notable exception is Bureau of Prisons (BOP) personnel, who still have reason to fear repercussions if they break the law.  But if you are in the FBI or DEA, you can be virtually assured you will not be prosecuted, based on the long list of cases DOJ has declined to prosecute.  Apparently, if you work for the right agency, anything goes.

The Sovietization of American Life.  Experts become sycophantic.  They mortgage their experience and talent to ideology — to the point where society itself regresses.  The law is no longer blind and disinterested, but adjudicates indictment, prosecution, verdict, and punishment on the ideology of the accused.  Eric Holder is held in contempt of Congress and smiles; Peter Navarro is held in contempt of Congress and is hauled off in cuffs and leg-irons.  James Clapper and John Brennan lied under oath to Congress — and were rewarded with television contracts; Roger Stone did the same and a SWAT team showed up at his home.  Andrew McCabe made false statements to federal investigators and was exempt.  A set-up George Papadopoulos went to prison for a similar charge.  So goes the new American commissariat.

Hillary's Attorney 'Operated' an FBI Office at Law Firm, But Wait, It Gets Worse.  Do you ever get the feeling that we're playing checkers while our enemies are playing chess?  That things are not as they seem?  That's the way it feels in the story of Spygate, the Trump-Russia collusion lie, FBI corruption, and the latest chapter of that entire sad and duplicitous saga that was lived out in a D.C. courtroom this week.  Hillary Clinton and Democratic National Committee attorney Michael Sussmann was acquitted by a jury whose forewoman said she felt the special counsel team led by John Durham should have better things to do than investigate a lawyer supposedly lying to the FBI about the president being a Russian spy.

Gaetz, Jordan give Chris Wray deadline to explain 'special portal' to FBI from top Democrat law firm.  U.S. Reps.  Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) insist that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has some explaining to do.  "We have learned that since March 2012, the FBI approved and facilitated a Secure Work Environment at Perkins Coie's Washington, D.C. office, which continues to be operational," the ultra-MAGA duo reportedly wrote to the FBI.  "In a letter dated May 25, 2022, the law firm confirmed and acknowledged the arrangement."  Perkins Coie is the Democrat-connected law firm where Michael Sussmann, the Hillary Clinton campaign attorney who was found not guilty on Tuesday of lying to the FBI by a liberal D.C. federal jury, was a former partner, in a case filed by Russiagate Special Counsel John Durham.

FBI Altered Statement on Intrusion Into Democrat Network Based on Input From Democrat Lawyer.  A lawyer representing Democrats proposed alterations to an FBI statement on the hacking of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to avoid undermining the narrative from his clients, according to emails released as part of the trial of former Hillary Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann.  FBI officials in mid-2016 were drafting a statement regarding an alleged intrusion into the (DCCC) network and sent the draft to Sussmann, a lawyer representing the DCCC, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and other Democrats.  "Michael — our press office is once again getting a ton of calls on the DCCC matter.  A draft response is provided below.  Wanted to get your thoughts on this prior to sending out," Jim Trainor, assistant director for the FBI Cyber Division, wrote to Sussmann on July 29, 2016.  Sussmann zeroed in on the first sentence, which he said seemed to undermine what the DCCC was saying about the reported intrusion.

Report: FBI Has Maintained 'Secure Workspace' Inside Dem Law Firm Perkins Coie Since 2012.  In response to a letter sent by Reps Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Perkins Coie, the legal arm of the Democrat party, admitted this week that "the FBI has maintained a secure work environment within Perkins Coie offices" since 2012.  A jury of Democrat donors in Washington D.C. on Tuesday found Michael Sussmann, a former law partner at Perkins Coie, not guilty of making a false statement to the FBI in September 2016 when he told the feds that he was not working on behalf of any client.  Perkins Coie told the Republicans in the letter that "the FBI is responsible for maintaining a secure work environment," Fox News Host Tucker Carlson reported Tuesday night.  "That work space — whatever it is — is still in operation today," Carlson added.

The Special Counsel Proved The FBI Belongs To The Swamp.  Yesterday, after less than one full day of deliberations, a D.C. jury stacked with pro-Hillary Clinton jurors acquitted former Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann, proving the FBI is not "ours" but the swamp's.  Just more than two weeks ago, prosecutor Brittain Shaw began opening statements in United States v. Sussmann, by stating the obvious:  "Some people have very strong feelings about politics and about Russia, and many people have strong feelings about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton."  "But we are not here because these allegations involve either of them," Shaw continued.  "Nor are we here because the defendant's client was the Clinton campaign."  Rather, "we are here because the FBI is our institution that should not be used as a political tool for anyone; not Republicans, not Democrats, not anyone."

FBI records on search for fabled gold raise more questions.  A scientific analysis commissioned by the FBI shortly before agents went digging for buried treasure suggested that a huge quantity of gold could be below the surface, according to newly released government documents and photos that deepen the mystery of the 2018 excavation in remote western Pennsylvania.  The report, by a geophysicist who performed microgravity testing at the site, hinted at an underground object with a mass of up to 9 tons and a density consistent with gold.  The FBI used the consultant's work to obtain a warrant to seize the gold — if there was any to be found.  The government has long claimed its dig was a bust.  But a father-son pair of treasure hunters who spent years hunting for the fabled Civil War-era gold — and who led agents to the woodland site, hoping for a finder's fee — suspect the FBI double-crossed them and made off with a cache that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Was the Buffalo shooter groomed by the FBI to commit mass murder?  The FBI's fingerprints are all over the Buffalo mass shooting.  A local news report from the Buffalo News has linked a retired federal agent to the shooting because he apparently knew about it at least 30 minutes before it occurred.  The former agent, believed to be from Texas, is said to be under investigation for direct communications he had previously had with Payton Gendron, the alleged shooter.  The former agent, along with at least six other individuals, engaged with Gendron in an online chat room "where racist hatred was discussed," the Buffalo News reported.  Two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation were supposedly petitioned by Gendron to read about his mass shooting plans (why do these alleged shooters always seem to have full-length manifestos outlining in detail their future crimes?).  It is unclear at this point whether or not the retired agent accepted the invitation.  What we are being told is that law enforcement is once again involved, which points to this potentially being yet another government false flag attack with suspicious roots.

Why Was A "Retired" FBI Agent Talking Online With The Buffalo Shooter?  What's an FBI agent doing on Discord chatting with a mass shooter during his retirement?  Is that how you would spend your time during your golden years?  What's even more incredible is that the FBI agent did not call the FBI to warn anyone about the planned shooting.

A Cabinency of Dunces.  In the days before the recent Virginia election, grassroots parent groups challenged critical race theory taught in the schools.  In reaction and under prompts from teachers' unions, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed both the FBI and the Justice Department to establish a special task force apparently to "investigate threats" from parents against school board members.  The FBI recently has been knee-deep in political controversies.  It illegally doctored a FISA application to entrap an American citizen.  Its former directors, under oath before Congress, either claimed faulty memory or admitted lying to federal investigators.  The last thing a scandal-plagued FBI needed was to go undercover at school board meetings to investigate parents worried over their children's education.

It Took FBI Less Than A Day To Discover Trump Conspiracy Theory Was Bogus.  An FBI agent said Tuesday that it took him and another agent "less than a day" to determine the allegation about former President Donald Trump having ties to a Russian financial institution was false and pushed by Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman.  FBI Supervisory Special Agent Scott Hellman said "it took him and another agent less than a day to ascertain the data and 'white papers' on two thumb drives Sussmann gave Baker did not support the Trump-Alfa Bank 'secret connection' allegation," according to The Epoch Times' national affairs reporter John Haughey.  Hellman was on the stand during the first day of Sussman's trial for allegedly lying to the FBI.

Hunter Biden laptop repairman says FBI 'didn't seem interested' in reviewing hard drive.  John Paul Mac Isaac, the laptop repair shop owner who serviced Hunter Biden's laptop in April 2019, is speaking out about the treatment his father received from the FBI when he attempted to inform the agency of the findings on the laptop.  In an excerpt provided to Fox News Digital from his forthcoming book, "American Injustice:  My Battle to Expose the Truth," Isaac describes his father's encounter with a "two-tiered justice system" that "didn't seem interested" in reviewing the laptop's contents and advised him to "lawyer up" and not discuss his findings with anyone.

There was Another Mass Shooting in America.  You Didn't Hear About It Because the Suspect is a Chinese Communist.  The Buffalo shooting could more accurately be described as another missed case of glaring mental illness combined with the F.B.I. once again dropping the ball.  "New details have emerged regarding the alleged threat that accused Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron made in June 2021, leading the teenager to undergo a required mental health evaluation at a local hospital," Fox News reported on Monday [5/16/2022].  "Payton Gendron, now 18, said he wanted 'to commit a murder-suicide' in June 2021, prompting New York State Police to respond to the local high school and take the teen into custody, said Stephen Belongia, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Buffalo Field Office," the report added.  Sadly, the American people are no longer surprised by such F.B.I. incompetence and malfeasance.  Reports about the agency's corruption and hyper-politicization under Attorney General Merrick Garland are commonplace.

Whistleblower document shows how corrupt FBI has been 'monitoring' certain news media.  The FBI has proven time and again that it is no longer a federal law enforcement agency but rather nothing short of being a politicized protector of the deep state.  When it isn't trying to entrap conservatives into fake crimes, apparently the agency has been monitoring media outlets considered hostile to the regime, according to a document supplied by a whistleblower to investigative journalistic operation Project Veritas. [...] According to the document, which was also published by the group, the FBI opened a probe into Project Veritas "knowing full well they were journalists as the document is labeled under a 'news media' classification," the press release notes further, which begs the question:  Unless for counter-espionage reasons, why would any agency of the federal government 'investigate' any news organization, ever?  The press release goes on to note that the media classification is a direct contradiction to a court filing from the government in which the Biden regime argued that actions taken by the feds to surveil, raid and then seize materials from Project Veritas journalists were appropriate and proper.

FBI Investigated Concerned Parents.  You all remember the story: the Biden Department of Justice coordinated with the National School Boards Association to arrange for FBI investigations of parents who are unhappy about their local schools teaching racism and anti-Americanism (Critical Race Theory) and gender confusion, and requiring masks.  The episode was so sordid that many state school board associations dropped their affiliation with NSBA, and most people doubted that the FBI would be craven enough to follow Attorney General Merrick Garland's patently unconstitutional directive.  But follow it they did.  Yesterday [5/11/2022] Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, acting on tips from unhappy FBI agents, wrote Merrick Garland to criticize the diversion of FBI resources to investigations of parents who dissent from "woke" ideology and care about their children's education.

FBI Whistleblower:  The Direction of the Bureau 'Troubles a Vast Majority of the Agents'.  A whistleblower from the Federal Bureau of Investigation told Project Veritas founder and President James O'Keefe in a recorded interview posted late Wednesday that the FBI's "direction" in recent months "troubles a vast majority of the agents."  The source — a current FBI agent with counterintelligence, counterterrorism and criminal experience — came forward with new information about the FBI's investigation into Project Veritas over Ashley Biden's lost diary.  Armed FBI agents raided and ransacked two Project Veritas journalists' homes on November 4, on the orders of federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and raided O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, N.Y., a couple of days later in connection with the allegedly stolen diary.

FBI opened multiple investigations into protesting parents, GOP lawmakers say.  The FBI has opened multiple investigations into parents protesting education policies, including a father who was upset over mask mandates, according to new whistleblower revelations.  The FBI's activities were publicly revealed in a letter Wednesday from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to Attorney General Merrick Garland.  The specifics of the FBI's investigations were disclosed to lawmakers by whistleblowers.  Garland directed the FBI and the Department of Justice to form a joint task force in October 2021 to investigate threats against school board members after the National School Boards Association asked the Biden administration in a September 2021 letter to investigate parents protesting at school board meetings as domestic terrorists under the Patriot Act.

Whistleblowers Allege FBI Investigated Parents Opposed to School COVID-19 Policies.  Whistleblowers have alleged that the FBI conducted dozens of investigations into American parents who expressed opposition to schools' COVID-19 mandates, and labeled them with a "threat tag," House Judiciary Committee Republicans claimed in a letter on Wednesday [5/11/2022].  Reps.  Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote in a letter to the Justice Department that the "brave whistleblowers" from the FBI had informed them that the agency had reportedly created an internal threat tag called "EDUOFFICIALS" in October 2021 to track alleged threats against school boards, following an Oct. 4 directive from Attorney General Merrick Garland.  That directive came in response to a request from the National School Boards Association asking that the federal government use counterterrorism tools, including the Patriot Act, to target parents at school board meetings, the representatives wrote.

FBI: Russian cyberthreat fueled almost 2M warrantless searches of Americans' data in 2021.  The threat of cyberattack from Russia fueled more than half of the FBI's 3.39 million warrantless searches of Americans' data last year, according to a government report.  The warrantless searches, legal under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, were up sharply from approximately 1.32 million reported in 2020, according to the report, published Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  Almost all of the increase can be traced to one Russian cyberthreat to critical U.S. infrastructure in 2021.  The FBI's response to the threat accounted for approximately 1.9 million searches.

Here's How The DOJ And FBI Are Spending Their Time Instead Of Rooting Out Actual Extremists.  The FBI never managed to thwart the NYC subway shooting suspect, who allegedly posted hours of extremist black nationalist and violent rhetoric on YouTube, but has repeatedly allocated resources to chasing hoaxes and false leads.  The FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) have spent their efforts plotting an operation to kidnap a governor, busting out a team of 15 agents to investigate a rope in a NASCAR garage and investigating parents at school boards meetings as domestic terrorists, among other failed operations.  The FBI has also denied knowing about the whereabouts of Hunter Biden's laptop.  The man responsible for allegedly opening fire in a New York City subway car Tuesday walked away from the scene of the crime and, after waiting for the authorities to do something, decided to turn himself in, reportedly sitting on a bench relaxing before the NYPD nabbed him.  "I'm Frank, I'm the person you're looking for.  I'm surprised it took so long," Frank James, the alleged shooter, told police as they arrested him, according to the New York Post.  James evaded arrest for over 24 hours despite hundreds of NYPD officers working to find him.

FBI Blows It Again:  Knew About Subway Terrorist's Racist Videos and Had Him on Watch List.  We're learning more information by the moment about the New York subway train shooter who allegedly wounded ten people in a terror attack during Tuesday morning's commute in Brooklyn.  But, we're also learning that the FBI knew in advance about this terrorist monster who set off diversionary smoke bombs before he emptied his semi-automatic pistol on commuters.  Frank James was on their terror watch list, but it appears nobody was watching the terrorist.

Hey FBI, We're Running Low on Those White Domestic Terrorists You Keep Warning Us About.  While it's true that I am not a big fan of the federal government, it's not as if I'm rooting against every person who works in it.  That applies especially to those in law enforcement.  In fact, I'd rather they be able to do their jobs well.  It's the ones at the top who are usually problematic.  They end up being generic, soulless bureaucrats after a while, forgetting whatever ideals of public service they may have had when they started out.  Bureaucrats love Democrats because Democrats are all about bloating and maintaining the bureaucracy.  That explains why federal law enforcement continues to perpetuate the myth that the biggest threat to our safety here in America is lurking in the form of crazy white guy extremists, which is Leftspeak for "Trump voters." [...] Here's the thing though:  if you look around lately at the real threats to public safety, none of the suspects fit the "right-wing nutjob extremist" profile.

Disturbing Video From Black Nationalist Subway Shooter Revealed as FBI Gets Egg on Its Face Again.  Per RedState's reporting, we know a lot more about the man who allegedly donned a gas mask, popped a smoke grenade, and started shooting people in a New York City subway on Tuesday [4/12/2022].  The man's name is Frank R. James, and his political leanings appear to be highly relevant to why he carried out the attack.  Further, he was known to the FBI but "cleared" in 2019 of posing any kind of threat, and shock of all shocks, the authorities are once again pretending the motive here is a total mystery.  [Tweets]  Recall that the Waukesha massacre assailant, who killed six people, including a child, after ramming his SUV into a Christmas parade, was also an outspoken black nationalist who had talked about killing white people.  To this day, we have never received any official statement on his motivation.  You can expect that to happen again in this case, as it appears the FBI has an aversion to labeling crimes that may prove inconvenient to the left.

The Brooklyn Subway Terror Attack Shooter Was On FBI's Terrorist Radar Until 2019 - No MSM Coverage.  New York City police named a "person of interest" in the shooting Tuesday morning aboard a subway train in Brooklyn.  Ten people were shot and 13 others were injured after a man wearing a gas mask threw two smoke canisters and then opened fire aboard a subway car on the N train as it approached the 36th Street Station in Brooklyn during the morning rush hour, authorities said. [...] The mainstream media claims that this wasn't a terror attack, however recent social media post, as well as the exclusive video that we have from James, shows that his attack was a hate crime that could be labeled as terrorism because he injured more than one person!  Like the Waukesha suspect & the Louisville BLM activist who allegedly tried to assassinate a mayoral candidate, he appeared to be a fan of black nationalism.

FBI now protecting child murderers by arresting whistleblowers who point them out.  Are federal law enforcement agencies fighting crime or promoting it?  According to veteran pro-life activist Randall Terry, the authorities are actually the bad guys.  Both the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) targeted pro-lifers, he says, who discovered and reported fetal remains outside a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic.  Instead of going after the criminal perpetrators who left the remains of murdered unborn children on the street, the DoJ and the FBI instead went after the whistleblowers who reported it.  "These people contacted local authorities and then suddenly the DoJ comes in with the FBI to arrest them," Terry stated at an April 5 press conference.

The FBI Is a Den of Scum and Villainy.  The FBI has been in steady decline for decades.  Now the FBI is a joke.  Populated with political hacks and agents willingly creating crimes to make criminals, it is a shell of what it once was, or what we thought it should be.  "Entrapment" is a defense to a crime that almost never flies, but it did in Michigan because it was perfectly clear that the Bureau created the plot to kidnap Whitmer.  When agents aren't entrapping dummies in Michigan they're after moms who don't want their children ruined.

Dislike, Thumbs Down, Unfollow: [The] FBI [is] Spending $27M on Social Media Tracking.  Here's an update to share on your preferred social media platform:  the FBI is watching.  According to a new report from the Washington Post, the FBI is going all in on social media monitoring, spending nearly $30 million dollars to prevent another January 6.  Privacy watchdogs and civil liberties advocates are concerned — and they should be.  This is crazy.  The FBI has purchased 5,000 licenses to use Babel X; a supercharged web crawler made by a company called Babel Street.  "The Justice Department has previously [used] Babel X... but the new contract appears to be by far the most the agency has ever shelled out for the software, and is one of the largest contracts for the software by a civilian agency," WaPo reports.  So what does the FBI get for $30 mil and 5,000 licenses?  Access to 40 online sources, including no-brainers like Instagram, fringe Korean social media platforms, and "dark web" monitoring.

Has the FBI ever before looked this pitiful?  It's one thing for the FBI, once considered the pre-eminent law enforcement agency in the world, to turn to the dark side and become the secret police of the Democrat party.  Again and again, the FBI has shown its partisan colors, overlooking obvious Democrat criminality (see Clinton, Hillary, and Biden, Hunter) while chasing after Donald Trump and his supporters like Brian Stelter chasing down a Mister Softee truck for seconds.  But although it's unsettling to know that the FBI is only supporting one side of the political aisle, what's truly incredible is how bad the Feebs are at partisan warfare.  Forget stopping actual terrorists, like the ones involved in 9/11, Orlando, and San Bernadino; recent history tells us the Bureau can't even run a coup right.  Under a previous director as tall as he was self-righteous, the FBI tried to take down presidential candidate Donald Trump (R-MAGA) with the infamous Russia Collusion scam.  But what a lousy effort it was!

Companies were slow to remove Russian spies' malware, so FBI did it for them.  The FBI remotely accessed and disinfected US-located devices running a powerful new strain of Russian state botnet malware, federal authorities said Wednesday.  Those authorities added that the Kremlin was using the malware to wage stealthy hacks of its adversaries.  The infected devices were primarily made up of firewall appliances from WatchGuard and, to a lesser extent, network devices from Asus.  Both manufacturers recently issued advisories providing recommendations for hardening or disinfecting devices infected by the botnet, known as Cyclops Blink.  It is the latest botnet malware from Russia's Sandworm, which is among the world's most elite and destructive state-sponsored hacking outfits.

Leftist Infiltration of the Police Will Lead To Tyranny.  In a free society, the police are guardians of democracy.  The radical Left must destroy belief in these principles to establish an organization that will support the efforts of a totalitarian government and violate the rights of the public on behalf of the ruling elites.  This has already happened with our FBI, which is so thoroughly corrupted that it essentially functions as a political secret police.  Crooked leadership resulted in the agency's participation in the now utterly discredited Russian collusion hoax to undermine President Trump, investigating and intimidating parents as domestic terrorists for speaking out at local school board meetings, and the relentless persecution of nonviolent January 6 protesters.  The FBI is a disgrace.  But when local law enforcement is subverted by leftist ideology, misconduct rises to another level.  The results can be brutal and deadly.

How does the FBI 'lose' a laptop like Hunter Biden's?  Some things don't make sense.  That brings us to some testimony from the FBI's assistant director for cyber-security, who told Congress's Rep. Matt Gaetz that he had no idea where Hunter Biden's laptop, entrusted to FBI custody, actually is. [...] "I don't know who has it," said [FBI Assistant Director for the Cyber Division Bryan] Vorndran. [...] Vorndran should be embarrassed.  The whereabouts of this laptop are something he should know.  Even if he doesn't have it, he should know who does have it because it's a computer matter that likely affects his job of protecting the country from cyber-attacks.

The FBI 'Doesn't Know' Where Hunter's Laptop Is.  "So where is it?  The Laptop?" Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) clown-slapped the assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, Bryan A. Vorndran, on Tuesday [3/29/2022] when Vorndran admitted he didn't have "any information" on the whereabouts of Hunter Biden's "laptop from hell."  [Tweet with video clip]  Vorndran told Congress he didn't know where the laptop is, nor does he even know who SHOULD know the whereabouts of the laptop.  Weird, considering he IS the assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division.  Gaetz mentioned the laptop's "international business deals, kickbacks, and shakedowns" that might potentially hurt the Biden family.

Director of FBI Cyber Has No Idea Where Hunter Biden Laptop Is Located.  I would say this is sketchy but given everything that has been revealed about the FBI in recent years the point would be moot.  We still have no idea where the Huma Abedin/Anthony Weiner laptop is located after the FBI took custody of it.  During a congressional hearing today, GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz asked FBI cyber chief Bryan Vorndran if he knows where Hunter Biden's laptop is stored.  The head of the FBI cyber operations said he has no idea.  [Video clip]

FBI cyber chief admits to not knowing what the agency has done with Hunter Biden's seized laptop.  Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) got into a heated spat over the whereabouts of Hunter Biden's laptop during a House Judiciary hearing on oversight of the FBI's Cyber Division on Tuesday [3/29/2022].  The Republican firebrand used his allotted time to grill the division's assistant director Bryan Vorndran, who repeatedly told Gaetz he didn't have any information on where the hard drive belonging to President Joe Biden's son is currently located.  At one point Gaetz tried to enter the hard drive into the Congressional record but was blocked by House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who changed his mind a short while later.

How to Make Crime Vanish.  No sooner do we note here the out-of-control crime in San Francisco (and elsewhere in California) than we find a magical solution appear: stop collecting and reporting crime data!  Yesterday the FBI released its quarterly uniform crime report.  There appears this curious note on the home page:  ["]The Quarterly Uniform Crime Report was made available on March 21, 2022.  For this quarterly release, due to agency participation being under the 60 percent threshold, data trends by region and aggregate population group will not be available.  Data from individual city agencies with populations of 100,000 or greater can be accessed in the Resources section below.["]  In other words, if I read this right not enough law enforcement agencies sent in the data required for the FBI to provide national statistics.  Maybe this is a consequence of cutting police budgets.  That's one way of reducing the crime rate!

Feds pay $128M to families after FBI bungled tips about Parkland school shooter.  The federal government will pay a $127.5 million settlement over the Parkland, Fla. school massacre — after it admitted the FBI didn't follow up on two tips that could have prevented the massacre.  The legal deal announced Wednesday [3/16/2022] settles 40 lawsuits tied to the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which remains the largest high school shooting in US history.  The Department of Justice did not admit fault in the shootings, and the settlement "resolved all the cases" filed against the government by family members of the 16 shooting victims and all the survivors of the attack, a news release said.

Secret Service says it doesn't have Hunter Biden emails from some years, his laptop says otherwise.  Days ahead of his trip to Mexico in spring 2011, Hunter Biden got an email from a Secret Service agent coordinating his protection detail.  "Hunter, when you have some free time, I would like to discuss the Monterrey trip with you," Secret Service agent Yvonne DiCristoforo wrote then-Vice President Joe Biden's son on April 28, 2011.  "I have some specific information to provide you that we received from our Mexico City office," she added.  "I know you are out of the office this evening, but if you could contact me at your convenience, I would appreciate it."  Secret Service records show Hunter Biden, in fact, took the trip with agents protecting him between May 15 to May 17, 2011.  The email, contained on a Hunter Biden laptop now in FBI custody and reviewed by Just the News, may not seem that significant at first blush.  But it has significant meaning to Senate investigators.

Video of Unconstitutional FBI Raid on Project Veritas Journalist's Home; Armed Agents Scream 'Let Me See Your Hands!'  Project Veritas released never-before-seen footage of last November's FBI raid on the home of one its journalists.  The shocking footage shows the tense moments when several agents banged on the door screaming, "Open up!"  Once the journalist opened the door, several FBI agents shouted, "Let me see your hands!"  [Video clip]  Agents are seen on the footage clutching weapons and tossing belongings after a brief conversation with the journalist.  The raid stems from a Project Veritas decision to investigate a diary that belonged to then Presidential candidate Joe Biden's daughter Ashley.  The Department of Justice executed the tense raids despite Project Veritas' decision not to publish the diary's contents and to turn it over to authorities.

The Editor says...
As a public service, I would like to present the following half-baked idea.  Somebody should invent this, if it doesn't already exist:  If there is any possibility that the police, the feds, the Mafia, or some combination of all three are coming after you, perhaps you should set up a video recorder inside your house, with the cameras pointed at the front door and the area immediately inside the house where all the shouting, flash-bang grenades, and senseless killing of your dog are likely to occur.  Here are a few pro tips for your system:  [#1]  The video recorder should discard anything older than three or four hours, so it never runs out of storage space.  [#2]  Sound-activated lighting, or supplemental lights triggered by a battering ram on the front door, would be very helpful.  [#3] High-definition video is a must, because the video will be all over the news media, and will eventually be shown to a jury.  Home invasions are always unscheduled.  Be prepared.

Republicans demand answers on FBI operations after audit reveals rules broken in investigations.  House Republicans said Tuesday [3/15/2022] that they want answers about the FBI's operations after an internal audit revealed agents flouting the rules during investigations involving politicians, candidates, religious groups, news media and others.  FBI agents broke their own rules at least 747 times in 18 months while conducting sensitive investigations, according to an internal 2019 FBI audit first reported by The Washington Times.  Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona Republican, said the audit's findings should not come as a surprise.  "The FBI has strayed away from its core mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution of the United States," Mr. Biggs said in a statement.

Jim Jordan seeks FBI briefing after 'whistleblower disclosure' on DC pipe bomb investigation.  A top House Republican is asking the FBI for a briefing after a special agent came forward with a disclosure about the bureau's investigation into a pair of pipe bombs planted outside the GOP's and Democratic Party's headquarters in Washington, D.C., the night before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.  Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday saying this "whistleblower disclosure" revealed that the FBI's Washington Field Office asked FBI field offices last month to canvass all confidential human sources nationwide for relevant information.

FBI Quietly Drops Charges Against J6 Defendant Who Committed Suicide.  January 6 defendant Matthew Perna was looking at some serious jail time for a peaceful walk through the Capitol.  Killers have gotten way less severe sentences, like this fine lad, who punched and killed an elderly man who allegedly called him a bad name:  [Tweet]  Perna didn't punch an elderly man, causing his death.  Nor was he looking at two years of house arrest.  Perna was looking at 51 months in federal prison for entering the Capitol for five to ten minutes, snapping selfies, and chanting "USA" in an apparently seditious way.  He also tapped a window with a pole but didn't break it or anything else.  He didn't hit a cop.  The FBI magnanimously decided to drop their charges against Perna on Wednesday [3/9/2022].

DOJ Documents Obtained by Judicial Watch Confirm Existence of Communications Between FBI & Pfizer about Project Veritas.  Project Veritas has been made aware of Department of Justice Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts ("FOIPA") response letters which shockingly appear to confirm that there is some level of communication between federal officials at the Bureau and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer about Project Veritas.  The letters, which were originally obtained by Judicial Watch resulting from FOIA requests made by the legal watchdog group requesting communications between Pfizer and the FBI about Project Veritas cite separate reasons for rejecting the request.  While the second letter attempts to avoid acknowledging the existence of such communications by citing "an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," the first response letter from the Department of Justice revealed more information.

Clueless: Woke FBI Downplays Anti-Semitic Aspect of Hostage-Taking at Texas Synagogue.  The jihadi who stormed the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, and took hostages Saturday, demanding the release of convicted jihad terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, is dead, and the hostages are safe.  And now comes the real work: whitewashing, downplaying, and ignoring outright what took place, because it doesn't fit the establishment narrative.  FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno got the ball rolling when he said, "We do believe from our engagement with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue, uh, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community, uh, but we're continuing to work to find motive and, and we will continue on that path."

The FBI Response to the Texas Synagogue Attack Is Absolutely Sick.  Yesterday, news of a hostage situation in a Texas synagogue rocked the nation.  Shortly after, due to the assailant's admission on a Facebook Live stream, we had an identity and a motive.  The man holding a rabbi and other Jews hostage was a Pakistani named Muhammad Siddiqui.  He was demanding the release of his anti-Semitic sister, Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently in prison for trying to kill US military personnel.  The Islamist community has made the terrorist a living martyr, with CAIR hosting many rallies seeking her freedom.  Thankfully, due to the actions of the local police and the SWAT team that was present, the hostage-taker was killed and everyone is now safe.  As per usual, that left the FBI to march in and take things over, and the response they gave is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen from a law enforcement agency.

Public Servants or Parasites?  [Scroll down]  Don't forget the FBI.  It's in a class all by itself.  Our sworn law enforcement agents initiated a coup attempt against a duly elected president.  They set a perjury trap for his national security advisor.  They even falsified evidence to a FISA court.  I've heard the arguments that the FBI rank and file are honest and professional.  We shouldn't blame the whole FBI for a "few bad apples."  What complete balderdash!  If most of them were honest, where were the whistleblowers during the investigation of President Trump?  As far as being professional, how did they fail to prevent the Boston Marathon bombing — even after they'd received a tip that the Tsarnaevs were up to something?  I have the same question about the Pulse Nightclub massacre.  Was it also just a "few bad apples" that tried to frame Richard Jewell for the Atlanta Olympics bombing?  The FBI even had warnings about the 9/11 attack, yet failed to act.  Of course, our highly professional FBI agents were able to determine that a noose was really a garage-door pull.  It only required 15 agents and five days to make that determination.  That is some cunning police work!  It appears that the FBI is either using their badges to target political enemies, or they're just a modern-day version of the Keystone Cops in tailored suits.

Report: Huber and Horowitz Investigations Deep State Cons Constructed by DOJ.  Paul Sperry has an interesting report posted at RCP-Investigations outlining numerous interviews with DC politicians and would-be witnesses, if any actual DOJ investigation of the FBI and DOJ misconduct was taking place.  What Sperry discovers is the year-long narrative around John Huber and Michael Horowitz is factually false.  Just like the false framework surrounding the long-forgotten U.S. Attorney John Lausch; the guy who was supposedly hired to facilitate DOJ record production but actually did nothing of the sort; Sperry discovers the framework around U.S. Attorney John Huber was manufactured by career officials inside the DOJ to tamp down problematic demands for a second special counsel.

FBI Refuses To Comply With House Declassification Review of Witness Transcripts — Defers To Robert Mueller.  The FBI has responded to a request for declassification review of witness transcripts from the Joint House Committee headed by Chairman Bob Goodlatte.  The FBI is refusing to comply with the declassification review; and, entirely as expected, outlines the decision-maker for releasing any testimony is ultimately Robert Mueller. [...] Despite their claims, don't be tricked into thinking it's about timing, and/or a workload, and/or the holidays.  How do we know this?  Well, remember, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chaired by Devin Nunes, made a similar request for release of their transcripts on September 26th, 2018.  The ODNI, DOJ, FBI and Special Counsel have refused to comply for three months.

FBI misses deadline to provide docs to Judiciary Committee probing whistleblower raid.  The Justice Department and FBI have missed a Wednesday deadline to provide information about the government's mysterious raid on a former FBI contractor-turned-whistleblower's home last month.  Sixteen FBI agents on Nov. 19 raided the home of Dennis Nathan Cain, who reportedly gave the Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) documents related to the Uranium One controversy and potential wrongdoing by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  The documents in question allegedly showed that federal officials failed to investigate possible criminal activity related to Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and Rosatom, a Russian nuclear company.  Its subsidiary purchased Canadian mining company Uranium One in 2013.

FBI defies subpoena for docs on its raid on Uranium One whistleblower.  The Deep State now is publicly baring its fangs at us, laughing at ineffective attempts to hold it accountable for abuse and worse.  I hate to be alarmist, but we have police agencies misbehaving and then destroying the evidence and refusing to cooperate with constitutional oversight functions.  Just in the last couple of days, we have learned that critical form 302 records were altered months after they were first created regarding the FBI interview upon which General Michael Flynn was prosecuted.  And we learned that the Special Counsel's Office of Robert Mueller scrubbed access to the text messages of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, the texting blabbermouths who revealed the D.S. "insurance policy" in the event Trump won the presidency.

DOJ Wants To Keep Justification For Raiding Reported Clinton Foundation Whistleblower Secret.  The letter was sent to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Dec. 7 in response to The Daily Caller News Foundation's Nov. 30 request to unseal court documents that would show the FBI's rationale for the raid.  The documents could potentially reveal whether the bureau and the magistrate who signed the court order allowing the raid, Stephanie A. Gallagher, knew that the subject was, according to his lawyer, a recognized whistleblower.  Sixteen FBI agents raided Dennis Cain's Union Bridge, Maryland, home on Nov. 19 for six hours, even though Cain told them that he was a recognized whistleblower and handed classified documents over to the agents.  The documents Cain possessed reportedly showed that federal officials failed to investigate potential criminal activity regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and the Russian company that purchased Uranium One.

DOJ Wants Details of Mysterious FBI Raid on Protected IG Whistleblower Kept Secret.  An interesting legal development in the aftermath of the mysterious FBI raid on protected FBI whistleblower Nate Cain.  The DOJ wants the details behind the search warrant to remain under seal, and the whistleblower target of that warrant — who was not arrested — is accusing the DOJ-FBI of being a police state.

Hillary Clinton & Google Created [a] Covert Server to Hide Classified Benghazi Emails from Congress; FBI Never Probed.  It's like a bad spy movie involving a third-world government.  Or perhaps a slap stick comedy.  The Secretary of State of the United States reading, sending, receiving sensitive emails with national security secrets, threats and classified or top secret intelligence over Google's public Gmail.  We expect this from chatting soccer moms but not from the top diplomat of the United States and her aides.  But it gets even worse.  The FBI either never discovered this blatant and clandestine violation of federal laws or did and simply covered it up.  Following the Benghazi consulate attack in 2012, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secretly worked with Google to reroute email traffic away from her private computer server and use public Google Gmail servers instead.

22-year-old changing in dressing room catches FBI agent taking photos, NJ cops say.  A 22-year-old woman was changing in a New Jersey clothing store's dressing room on Thursday [7/19/2018] when she made a horrifying discovery, according to police.  There was a man snapping pictures of the woman on his cell phone as the woman changed clothes at the shop in Edison, New Jersey.  And when the woman confronted the man, she found out he wasn't just anyone.  The man told her he was a law enforcement officer, according to Middlesex County prosecutors.  That's when the woman called 911.  Danuel S. Brown, a 30-year-old special agent in the FBI's New York field office, was arrested on charges of fourth-degree invasion of privacy, prosecutors said.

FBI repeatedly overstated encryption threat figures to Congress, public.  The FBI has repeatedly provided grossly inflated statistics to Congress and the public about the extent of problems posed by encrypted cellphones, claiming investigators were locked out of nearly 7,800 devices connected to crimes last year when the correct number was much smaller, probably between 1,000 and 2,000, The Washington Post has learned.  Over a period of seven months, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray cited the inflated figure as the most compelling evidence for the need to address what the FBI calls "Going Dark" — the spread of encrypted software that can block investigators' access to digital data even with a court order.

FBI Admits It Inflated Number of Supposedly Unhackable Devices.  We've learned that the FBI has been misinforming Congress and the public as part of its call for backdoor access to encrypted devices.  For months, the Bureau has claimed that encryption prevented it from legally searching the contents of nearly 7,800 devices in 2017, but today the Washington Post reports that the actual number is far lower due to "programming errors" by the FBI.  Frankly, we're not surprised.  FBI Director Christopher Wray and others argue that law enforcement needs some sort of backdoor "exceptional access" in order to deal with the increased adoption of encryption, particularly on mobile devices.  And the 7,775 supposedly unhackable phones encountered by the FBI in 2017 have been central to Wray's claim that their investigations are "Going Dark."  But the scope of this problem is called into doubt by services offered by third-party vendors like Cellebrite and Grayshift, which can reportedly bypass encryption on even the newest phones.

Maybe Mueller should be investigated.  Consider the issue of criticizing Robert Mueller, the special counsel.  Any criticism or even skepticism regarding Mueller's history is seen as motivated by a desire to help Trump.  Mueller was an assistant U.S. attorney in Boston, the head of its criminal division, the head of the criminal division in Main Justice, and the director of the FBI during the most scandalous miscarriage of justice in the modern history of the FBI.  Four innocent people were framed by the FBI to protect mass murdering gangsters who were working as FBI informers while they were killing innocent people.  An FBI agent, who is now in prison, was tipping off Whitey Bulger as to who might testify against him so that these individuals could be killed.  He also tipped off Bulger, allowing him to escape and remain on the lam for 16 years.  What responsibility, if any, did Mueller, who was in key positions of authority and capable of preventing these horrible miscarriages, have in this sordid incident?

Comey Joins Stormy as Latest Porn Star to Target Trump.  First, he made a devastating case for prosecuting Hillary Clinton for her reckless disregard for national secrets using her illegal bathroom email server.  Yet, in the same press conference, announced he was giving her a pass on all of her crimes.  We have since learned that he and the entire cabal of Clinton cronies at the FBI and Department of Justice rigged not only that investigation but also the separate investigation into the Clinton Foundation.  Remember, the Clinton Foundation investigation centered on compelling evidence that the Clinton Cartel was using the foundation for a global shakedown and extortion racket.  They were raking in hundreds of millions in "speaking fees" and other donations in exchange for favors that could be performed far into the future — assuming, of course, that Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in for the White House.

Catherine Herridge Confirms Lisa Page Statements Contradicted Andrew McCabe, Ultimately Leading to His Firing.  Fox News Catherine Herridge reports today [4/5/2018], per her FBI investigative sources, it was an investigative interview with FBI Attorney Lisa Page, in July 2017, that contradicted FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and ultimately led to his firing.  That revelation is exactly what we anticipated was the origin to Inspector General Michael Horowitz gaining the text messages between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok.  The issue is actually more stunning than presented.

Why the FBI Is Dodging Nunes.  It was reported recently that the FBI refuses to show Congressman Devin Nunes an unredacted copy of the origination document that triggered the probe into the Trump campaign.  What is the FBI hiding?  Paradoxically, nothing — that is, no classified information showing collusion between Trump and Russia.  The FBI is simply trying to hide the embarrassingly partisan origins of its spying on the Trump campaign.  Were the redactions covering material harmful to Trump, that material would have been leaked by now.  So the redactions can only be concealing the fingerprints of Hillary's partisans in the Obama administration.

Andrew McCabe's Wife Falsely Claims He 'Kept Himself Separate' From Her State Senate Campaign.  Jill McCabe, the wife of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, falsely claimed in a Monday [4/2/2018] op-ed that her husband "kept himself separate" from her state senate campaign.  McCabe, who ran in 2015 as a Democrat for a Virginia State Senate seat, said the last year and a half have been a "nightmare" for her and her family because of "twisted reporting and presidential tweets."  She wrote in her Washington Post op-ed that she is now, however, free to speak out because her husband is no longer at the FBI.  The "accidental politician" highlighted how she and her husband met, her career in the medical field, and various aspects of her state senate campaign in 2015, including her support from former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D.) and her husband's role in the campaign.

Ms. McCabe, Andrew Did Not Separate Himself From Your VA Senate Run, He Used His FBI Email To Campaign For You.  [Scroll down]  Oh yeah, this guy is getting railroaded, except that he's not.  And it doesn't seem that stretching the truth falls far from the tree.  His wife, Jill, a doctor, penned an op-ed in The Post about her failed 2015 Virginia Senate run and how there was no conflict of interest.  There have been allegations that McCabe's donations from pro-Clinton Gov. Terry McAuliffe's PAC during that run, which exceeded $400,000, was a sort of down payment for political protection since soon after her campaign ended, Mr. McCabe became deputy director, where one of his tasks was to oversee the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email fiasco.

Justice Dept. charges Minnesota FBI agent for leaking secret document to news outlet.  A former Minneapolis FBI agent who sought to expose what he called "systemic biases" within the bureau has been charged after allegedly leaking secret documents to a national news reporter, according to federal criminal charges filed in Minnesota this week.  The charges, filed by prosecutors for the Justice Department's National Security Division, are the first to come in Minnesota since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a broad crackdown on government leaks last year.  A two-page felony information, a charging document that typically signals an imminent guilty plea, outlines two counts filed against Terry James Albury of unlawfully disclosing and retaining national defense information.

FBI Agent Charged For Doing Exactly What James Comey Admitted To Doing.  An FBI agent was charged for doing the exact same thing as former FBI Director James Comey, according to the Washington Times.  The Justice Department has filed charges against Terry Albury for allegedly leaking classified documents to a news media outlet.

The FBI Gets The Attention Of The AG And Courts Over Ignoring Subpoenas.  Morale Possibly Ruined.  Late last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte hit Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein with a subpoena for documents related to several investigations, such as the Clinton email investigation.  What brought this on was stonewalling of the committee's document requests by the FBI.

House subpoena rattles Justice Department; Sessions 'angry' at slow response.  The FBI is promising swift action on a House subpoena covering three politically charged investigations after word that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has grown angry with the bureau's slow-walking of congressional requests for information.  Last week the House Judiciary Committee sent a subpoena to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein demanding documents from the Justice Department and the FBI "regarding charging decisions in the investigation surrounding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server, potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility recommendation to fire former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe," according to a committee press release.

Did The FBI *Cause* Pulse?  So once again we have outrageous prosecutorial misconduct.  Specifically, the prosecution had an obligation to disclose this during discovery before the trial began, and did not.  But the better question here is whether the FBI knew that the shooting was going to take place, was being planned, and deliberately ignored it or worse, even egged it on.

Was the FBI's Investigation of Hillary Clinton a 'Sham'?  This should be big news.  In fact, this should have led the evening news on Sunday night, and there should be some kind of media investigation of this planned today, but there wasn't, and there won't be.  The reason this story didn't lead the news yesterday, and that the media won't be investigating it today (or ever) is because it doesn't fit the liberal narrative.  Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appeared on the Fox News Channel Sunday morning to continue his call for a second special counsel to investigate the FBI's behavior during the 2016 elections.

House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas 1.2M Documents Reviewed by DOJ IG.  Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has run out of patience with the U.S. Justice Department and is now subpoenaing 1.2 million DOJ documents, including decisions made by former FBI Director James Comey not to prosecute former Secretary of State Clinton and other matters leading up to and beyond the 2016 election.  The DOJ inspector-general also is investigating the FBI's handling of the Clinton case.  "Well, we want to see everything that the inspector general has seen, which is, we understand, about 1.2 million documents," Goodlatte told Fox News's Neil Cavuto on Monday.  He said the documents are critical to his committee's oversight of the FBI and DOJ.

DOJ: Inspector General Examining Whether McCabe Was Promised Promotion to FBI Director by Hillary Clinton.  Andrew McCabe may have revealed to his inner circle an inside plan to replace his friend James Comey as FBI director if and when Hillary Clinton was elected president of the United States, according to top officials in the Justice Department. [...] If those discussions about a promotion to FBI director with co-workers and McCabe's inner circle were anything more than bravado, that certainly is troubling.  And given the fact that McCabe's wife Jill was given more than $1.25 million in Hillary-backed campaign donations to run for state senate in Virginia, it could spell additional legal woes for her husband.  McCabe was in charge of the Hillary Clinton email investigation at the FBI at the same time his wife ran for office.  At the same time he and his wife struck a deal to run for office with Hillary consigliere and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who was allegedly under investigation at the time by the FBI for a public corruption case.

Documents: FBI Carefully Planned Clinton-Lynch Tarmac Trip, Tried To Cover It Up.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under director James Comey carefully plotted logistics and security for President Bill Clinton's meeting on an airplane tarmac with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch during the 2016 campaign.  The FBI then attempted to cover up the tarmac meeting by targeting a Bureau whistleblower.  The FBI worked with its offices around the country to execute the plan.

FBI staffers knew warnings about Nikolas Cruz were related but closed the case, lawmakers learn.  The FBI this week detailed to Congress a series of mistakes and missed opportunities to intervene before a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida — including a revelation that staffers knew two warnings about suspect Nikolas Cruz were related, but still closed the case.  FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich made the comments in a closed briefing Tuesday with members of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees.  In a summary released Wednesday [3/7/2018] to Fox News, Bowdich cited two tips that the FBI received about Cruz in September 2017 and January 2018 that were mishandled.

FBI Paid Best Buy Technicians to Inform Them about Illegal Content on Customer Devices.  The FBI recruited computer technicians at Best Buy to inform them about illegal content on personal devices customers brought in for repairs, new Bureau documents show.  The informants were discovered after Best Buy's Geek Squad technicians at a Kentucky repair shop found thousands of child-pornography images on California doctor Mark Rettenmaier's computer.  The documents from the ensuing court case showed that eight informants were cooperating with the FBI to turn over illegal content.

Best Buy Gave Obama FBI [a] Tour of [a] Geek Squad Facility [and the] FBI Paid Employees As Informants.  Well isn't this interesting?  The FBI was given it's [sic] own private tour of the Best Buy "Geek Squad" computer repair facilities during the Obama and Comey days.  This was done back in September of 2016, at the height of the election season.  We'll wait (and wait and wait) to see if Mr. Magoo Jeff Sessions or his boss Rod Rosenstein do anything about this.

FBI agent Peter Strzok was told of possible breach into Clinton's server but didn't follow up, sources say.  During the final months of the Clinton email investigation, FBI agent Peter Strzok was advised of an irregularity in the metadata of Hillary Clinton's server that suggested a possible breach, but there was no significant follow up, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.  Sources told Fox News that Strzok, who sent anti-Trump text messages that got him removed from the ongoing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, was told about the metadata anomaly in 2016, but Strzok did not support a formal damage assessment.

Australian diplomat whose tip prompted FBI's Russia-probe has tie to Clintons.  The Australian diplomat whose tip in 2016 prompted the Russia-Trump investigation previously arranged one of the largest foreign donations to Bill and Hillary Clinton's charitable efforts, documents show.  Former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's role in securing $25 million in aid from his country to help the Clinton Foundation fight AIDS is chronicled in decade-old government memos archived on the Australian foreign ministry's website.

John Solomon:  FBI Never Told Congress Aussie Diplomat Whose Tip Triggered Russia Probe Is Linked To Clinton Foundation.  According to a new report, the FBI failed to brief Congressional investigators on ties between former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, the diplomat whose tip prompted the Russia probe, with the Clinton Foundation.

Indicted Russians.  That's It?  The Russians spent some money buying Americans to demonstrate?  Or just found kindred spirits online to do it free? [...] Or, Americans made "false statements" to FBI investigators when, as in the Flynn debacle, the bureau had already said there were no lies?  That's the output thus far from Team Mueller with regard to their mission to investigate whether there was Russian meddling in our presidential election in 2016, and whether Americans "colluded" with the Russians in such endeavors.  So far, we haven't seen anyone indicted for such matters, but we do see truly shocking and genuinely dangerous corruption among the investigators and the enforcers.

Nunes: FBI may have violated criminal statutes in FISA application to spy on Trump adviser Carter Page.  The FBI may have violated criminal statutes, as well as its own strict internal procedures, by using unverified information during the 2016 election to obtain a surveillance warrant on onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee charged Thursday [3/1/2018] in a letter obtained by Fox News.  House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., wrote in his letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions that "in this instance, it's clear that basic operating guidance was violated."  Nunes cited the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), which was created by the bureau and approved by the Justice Department, to say he believed the FBI violated procedures requiring verified and documented evidence in applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

FBI Denies Secret Comey-Obama Meeting[,] Raises Integrity and Public Trust Issues.  The FBI states it will not expedite the release of documents about secret meetings between FBI Director James Comey and former President Barack Obama, according to a letter the bureau sent to The Daily Caller News Foundation.  Such information is not "a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exists possible questions about the government's integrity which affects public confidence," David Hardy, the section chief for the bureau's Record/Information Dissemination Section, told TheDCNF in a Feb. 26 letter.  TheDCNF, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), requested records of all meetings between Comey and Obama and sought an "expedited process" as provided under the act when issues are of great interest to the media and the records address issues pertaining to government integrity.  TheDCNF FOIA request was filed Feb. 16, 2018.

Assault On The Constitution.  I'm a former TV news reporter in Washington, DC.  I wrote and produced these reports utilizing many sources including the Conservative Treehouse and the government documents it's published.  This report focuses on the Obama administration's Illegal spying of the Trump Campaign.  It includes discussion of the FISA warrant and the House and Senate investigations of the executive branch's misleading search warrant application to the FISA Court.  Former U.S. attorney Joseph diGenova says he expects former top FBI officials to be charged criminally.  [Video clip]

The Shocking History Of Sexual Misconduct Within James Comey's FBI.  The Department of Justice's inspector general sanctioned at least 14 FBI agents and officials for a range of improper sexual acts since 2014, and most of the misconduct occurred during former FBI Director James Comey's term, The Daily Caller News Foundation has determined.  The public got a glimpse into the bureau's sexual mischief when it was disclosed high-profile FBI officials Lisa Page and Peter Strzok were cheating on their spouses.  Special counsel Robert Mueller dumped Page from his investigation on Russian collusion and later removed Strzok after he learned of their relationship.  But it turns out sexual misconduct within the bureau went much further than cheating spouses.

FBI was told by someone close to Nikolas Cruz that "he's so into ISIS".  This doesn't mean that Cruz was an Islamic jihadi.  It means that he saw their bloodlust, and admired it.  An organization that glories in violence and murder is going to attract people of like mind.  And if that organization justifies itself by reference to the teachings of a major religion, this kind of thing is going to keep on happening.  The FBI, of course, did nothing.

FBI bureaucratic failures and willful blindness rack up a horrifying body count.  After [a young man] gunned down 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, FBI special agent Robert Lasky, head of the bureau's Miami division, said he "truly regrets" the pain caused by the FBI's failure to act on a tip about the shooter.  The FBI said it had no way to trace the tip, then FBI boss Christopher Wray said the message was never passed on to the FBI's Miami field office, as official protocol required.  Relatives of the victims might have noted the passive verb construction.  In typical style, Wray failed to name the person who never passed on the tip, and offered no explanation why that person might have done so. [...] Who are the FBI agents, and their bosses, who looked the other way in the Fort Hood, Boston Marathon and Orlando terrorist attacks?  What, exactly, are they doing now?  As in the Florida high-school shooting, the victims and their loved ones deserve some answers.

Does the FBI really have anyone investigating tipoffs about school shooters?  As if it couldn't soil itself more in the wake of its flawed Russian investigation scandal targeting Donald Trump, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is in hot water again, this time over its failure to act on at least two very specific tipoffs about the Parkland, Florida school spray shooter, who murdered 17 people in cold blood. [...] This tipoff failure follows an earlier one, from an Alabama bail bondsman, who sent email to the FBI about the gunman's plans, posted on YouYube, of becoming "a professional school shooter," which bounced back.  After that, the bail bondsman called the FBI local field office, whose agents promised him they'd "look into it."  They didn't.

Here's a list of recent attacks the FBI missed despite 'significant warning signs beforehand'.  The Washington Free Beacon's Stephen Gutowski put Here's a list of recent attacks the FBI missed despite 'significant warning signs beforehand' together a list of recent attacks that the FBI missed despite "significant warning signs," and it's quite disturbing.

The FBI looks like the Federal Bureau of Incompetence after ignoring warning about Florida gunman.  Wasn't there something eerily and disgracefully familiar about the news that the FBI had a highly specific warning about the murderous intentions of [...] the gunman who has confessed to shooting and killing 14 students and three adults at a Florida high school Wednesday?  Doesn't it remind you of the way that after nearly every single one of the Islamist terror attacks of the last few years — whether in America, in Britain or elsewhere — a devastating phrase soon emerges?  The attacker was "known to the authorities."

Congressman calls Trump 'psychopath' for saying out loud what rational-minded Americans are thinking about FBI.  Democrats have become so unhinged over their hatred for President Donald Trump that they think nothing of calling the commander in chief a "psychopath."  Case in point, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who took great exception to Trump saying out loud what most rational minded Americans are already thinking when it comes to the FBI.

Florida shooting shows not to rely on the FBI.  People are asking why didn't the FBI follow up on the tips about the gunman who went on to kill 17 people at a high school in Florida?  That's the wrong question.  We should ask:  why didn't the tipsters report their suspicions to the local police or sheriff's office?

One Organization Has Blood On Their Hands:  It's the FBI.  Leftists and the media can complain and whine all they want about the NRA, Trump or Republicans in Congress.  Problem is, there is really one government organization in this country that has yet more blood dripping for their hands after the Parkland shooting.  It's not the NRA, it's the pathetic, partisan, FBI.  All the warning signs were there [...].  All the social media posts with wanting to be a "professional school shooter" and such were available for everyone to see on Youtube.  Instead, the FBI couldn't be bothered with [the shooter] because they had more important things to do.

The FBI Admits They Screwed Up.  But They're So Sorry.  Well, guess what, everyone — the FBI is finally admitting they dropped the ball on [the Florida] high school shooter [...].  This kid left a trail of breadcrumbs a mile long, and yet law enforcement just said, "Meh."  It's so egregious that Florida Gov. Rick Scott is now calling for the FBI director to resign.  On Friday [2/16/2018], the FBI said that just last month — let that sink in — a person close to [the shooter] contacted them.  The information the caller told the FBI was ominous.  [The shooter] not only owned a gun, but he expressly said that he wanted to kill people, and school shootings seemed to be a thing with him.  The caller reported this on January 5th, and yet the FBI did nothing.

FBI Received a Credible Tip about Florida Shooter.  Did Nothing.  "We need to do more to prevent gun violence" crows every rube with brains consisting of mainly sawdust.  The "do more" typically takes the form of "more government intervention."  [...] We already have background checks.  We already have law enforcement.  We already have agencies tasked with investigating crime and credible threats.  Law enforcement and the FBI failed here.  Resulting in the gunman passing a background check.  So, if law enforcement and the FBI had done that which they're tasked with doing, isn't it possible to conclude Nikolas Cruz would've failed a background check?  Thereby would not have purchased guns legally?

The FBI Keeps Missing Mass Shooters Before It's Too Late.  Revelations that the FBI had been warned about [the] Florida high school shooter [...] fit an all-too-familiar pattern, in which apparent law enforcement errors have preceded mass murders.  A person close to [the shooter] warned the the FBI last month that he had a "desire to kill people" and could carry out a school shooting, the FBI admitted on Friday [2/16/2018].  The agency failed to act on the tip.  The FBI was also warned about [the shooter] after he posted on YouTube saying he was going to become a "professional school shooter."  The agency said they couldn't identify the user who made the threat, despite [the shooter] posting under his own name.

Say Something, Do Nothing — FBI Statement On Parkland Florida School Shooting.  The FBI released a stunning admission today admitting they received prior a specific warning about Broward County Nikolas Cruz and his threats to carry out a school shooting.  The FBI took no action.

What Do We Do about the Biased and Incompetent FBI?  It's bad enough for a law enforcement agency to be biased.  It's even worse for it to be biased and incompetent.  But the latter seems to be an apt characterization of our Federal Bureau of Investigation in the wake of the killings in Parkland, Florida, where, by their own admission, the organization overlooked warnings about the killer that could have saved seventeen students and teachers from mass murder.  This is no mere bureaucratic slip-up and the demand by Governor Scott for the resignation of FBI Director Wray is understandable considering the number of dead children in his state.  The incompetence, moreover, is not just restricted to Parkland.  It pervades an institution that — frequently blinded by the most rote political correctness — interviewed and then released terrorists who ultimately perpetrated horrific attacks from the Boston Marathon to the Orlando nightclub massacre.  (There are several more.)

Report: FBI Warned About Potential School Shooter in September.  The FBI was notified in September after a YouTube user [...] left a comment about wanting to be a "professional school shooter," reports the far-left BuzzFeed News.

Danny Casolaro.  Danny Casolaro, an aspiring novelist, freelance writer and investigative reporter looking into the theft of Project PROMIS software, a program capable of tracking down anyone anywhere in the world, died in August 1991, a reported suicide.  Casolaro was also investigating Pine Gap, Area 51 and governmental bioengineering.

The Strange Death of Daniel Casolaro.  In the weeks before his death Casolaro had spoken frequently about threats on his life.  In fact, just before he left for Martinsburg he told his brother, "If anything happens to me, don't believe it's an accident."  For reasons unknown, Casolaro's family wasn't notified of his death until two days after his body was discovered.  And by that time, his body had already been embalmed illegally.  Additionally, the hotel almost immediately brought in an industrial cleaning company to sanitize the room, thereby greatly diminishing any opportunity for an independent forensic investigation.

Justice Department changes the FBI's story on Danny Casolaro's file.  The Department of Justice appears to have retroactively declared that 98% of the FBI file on the journalist Danny Casolaro was and still is missing, despite the FBI seeming to say they had found it.  Having previously released only a handful of documents which indicated the FBI misled Congress about investigating Casolaro's suspicious death, with other documents from the DOJ hinting at interference and a cover-up, the DOJ has rewritten the FBI's explanation for not releasing 1,350 pages from Casolaro's FBI file.  Despite the FBI having twice written that the files were found, the DOJ now says that the files are missing and always were.  As the chain of events appear to defy explanation, they are offered as-is and without an attempt to explain.


The FBI vs. Peter Navarro

Overview:
Dismantle the D.C. Company Town.  The news last week that Michael Sussmann was found not guilty by a D.C. jury of his ideological peers was another thumb in the eye of the American so-called system of justice. [...] Sussmann joins a long list of Hillary cronies and Department of Justice lackeys (but I repeat myself).  In any just world Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, James Comey, Kevin Clinesmith, Loretta Lynch, and indeed Hillary herself would be behind bars.  But this is our world, not any just world.  And here's some salt to rub in the wound.  Peter Navarro, a former Trump economic advisor, was held in contempt of Congress because he refused to hand over documents to the Kangaroo Court, er ... the Democrat-controlled January 6 inquisition.  Eric Holder, Barack Obama's self-declared "wingman" and Attorney General was also held in contempt of Congress [in 2012] for refusing to hand over documents. [...] Navarro is not so lucky.  He lives next to the FBI building.  They could have simply asked him to drop by.  He would have showed up.  But that would not have been sufficiently dramatic.  Instead, our geheime Staatspolizei apprehended him while he was boarding a plane.  They slapped the 72-year-old man in handcuffs and leg irons and threw him into a cell once occupied, they were careful to tell him, by John Hinckley, the lunatic who shot Ronald Reagan in 1981.  The timeline here deserves our attention.  On May 31, Navarro sued the January 6 committee and the DOJ.  On June 3, he was arrested and arraigned.  Unlike Eric Holder, who merely scoffed at the contempt judgment, Navarro faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine.

Matt Gaetz Cries Foul After Federal Bureau of Prisons Denies His Request to Interview Former Trump Advisor Peter Navarro.  In a speech on the House floor Monday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) accused the Biden regime of holding Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro as a political prisoner, denying him access to his lawyer and refusing to allow anyone to interview him.  [Advertisement]  Navarro, 74, began serving a four month prison sentence on March 19 after a jury found him guilty of failing to respond to congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony in the U.S. House's partisan investigation into the events at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.  [Advertisement]  Gaetz said that after five weeks of trying, he was directly informed by Colette S. Peters, Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, that his request to interview Navarro would be denied because the prisoner is "too notorious" to be interviewed by a member of Congress.  [Advertisement]  "John Gotti was interviewed when he was in prison," Gaetz noted.  "The QAnon Shaman was interviewed in prison.  Director Peters HERSELF brought NBC News THROUGH PRISONS to showcase the work of corrections that's being done!" he exclaimed.  [Advertisement]

Federal Appeals Court Deals Legal Blow To Trump Aide Currently Facing Prison Sentence.  A federal appeals court dealt another legal blow to former Trump administration official Peter Navarro Monday, siding with a judge who threatened him with contempt of court.  Navarro recently began his four-month prison sentence after being convicted on contempt of Congress charges in September for failing to comply with a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.  A federal judge separately threatened in February to hold him in contempt of court if he failed to turn over emails from his time in the Trump administration to the National Archives in a ruling the appeals court affirmed Monday.  "Navarro argues that the United States cannot use D.C.'s replevin statute because the [Presidential Records Act] itself has no express cause of action for the United States to seek the return of Presidential records," the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals court wrote Monday.

Navarro's message from federal prison.  As you read this, I have entered a federal prison.  I am the first senior White House adviser ever to go to jail for a "crime" never before considered to be a crime, yet there are really two bigger stories for the American people to ponder.  The first story is about the death of the constitutional separation of powers and the demise of executive privilege that, since the days of George Washington, has helped facilitate effective presidential decision-making.  The second is about the alarming success of lawfare and the partisan weaponization of our now dual system of justice.

Chief Justice John Roberts decides to keep Peter Navarro in jail.  As most know, Peter Navarro just asked the Supreme Court to allow him to stay out of prison while his sentence is under appeal.  Chief Justice Roberts denied the request: [...] The elderly, frail, and heroic Navarro may not survive a purely symbolic four-month prison sentence.  He may well finally collapse from his multi-year, Trump-associated, persecution nightmare — which became overdrive when Navarro publicly questioned the Biden Swamp's COVID directives.  If Navarro's will to live fails at this long last, will Chief Justice Roberts still have "no basis to disagree" that the political/legal persecution, absent of any quality of mercy, of Peter Navarro was, indeed, "justice" served?

Justice Roberts Denies Peter Navarro's Request for a Delay, Ex-Trump Aide Heads to Prison Next to a Zoo.  Chief Justice John Roberts refused to delay Peter Navarro's four-month prison sentence Monday, meaning the former Trump trade advisor must report to a minimum-security federal Bureau of Prisons satellite camp in Miami Tuesday.  The case fell into Roberts' hands because he is in charge of emergency matters arising from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.  Navarro was accused by the duplicitous January 6 Committee of plotting with another former Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election results.  He was subpoenaed by the committee but refused to appear and was convicted in 2023 of two counts of contempt of Congress — one for failing to produce documents and another for skipping his deposition.  [Tweet]

The Face of Democrat Justice.  Despotism created the remand stretch in prison while waiting for trial.  A de facto presumption of guilt, this was French law until the Napoleonic Criminal Code, which outlawed such practices.  Peter Navarro has been remanded to prison pending appeal.  President Biden's appointee, Judge Amit Priyavadan Mehta, denied Navarro's request to stay out of prison during appeal. [...] For more than 50 years the DoJ supported the policy that senior White House advisers could not be compelled to testify before Congress.  This is the first time a senior White House official has been charged with this alleged crime.  In President Obama's Administration, Eric Holder and Hillary Clinton each refused to hand over subpoenaed documents.  They were not criminally prosecuted.  Peter Navarro is 74 years old, attended Tufts University, spent three years in the Peace Corps, earned a master's degree and a PhD. at Harvard University, and has written more than a dozen books.

Ex-Trump Adviser Peter Navarro [has been] Ordered to Prison Next Week.  Peter Navarro, a former trade adviser to President Donald Trump who was convicted of contempt of Congress, has been ordered to report to prison next week.  Arrival at a Miami detention facility on or before March 19 will see him begin serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with an order from the now-defunct House Jan. 6 select committee.

Obama Judge Denies Dr. Peter Navarro's Request to Stay Out of Prison Pending Appeal.  A federal judge on Thursday denied former Trump aide Dr. Peter Navarro's request to stay out of prison pending a decision from the appellate court.  US District Judge Amit Mehta said Peter Navarro must report to prison pending his appeal unless the DC Circuit Court of Appeals blocks his order.  "Defendant's cynical, self-serving claim of political bias poses no question at all, let alone a 'substantial' one," Mehta wrote in Thursday's order, according to The AP.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like 1776.  Former Trump advisor Peter Navarro has been sentenced to four months in prison for defying a subpoena from the corrupt J6 committee.  His real crime, of course, is standing up to our modern tyrants.  You may recall that in 2012 then-President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder defied the same "law" by ignoring a Congressional subpoena.  Unlike the J6 committee that was investigating a crime that never occurred — a Trump-led insurrection — the Darryl Issa led committee that issued a subpoena to Eric Holder in 2012 was investigating a real scandal:  Fast and Furious.  Holder, of course, was never prosecuted, nor has he spent any time in jail, nor will he.  More recently, Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena and still walks free. [...] To be clear, Navarro's sentencing is completely illegitimate and political.

Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro sentenced for contempt of Congress in Capitol riot probe.  Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro was sentenced Thursday [1/25/2024] to four months behind bars for flouting a subpoena from the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.  Navarro, 74, had argued that he couldn't comply with the subpoena for his testimony and relevant documents because of executive privilege, but a DC jury convicted him in September of two counts of contempt of Congress.  "I haven't heard a word of contrition from Dr. Navarro since this case began," US District Judge Amit Mehta said before imposing the penalty, including a $9,500 fine.  The former presidential trade adviser made a plea for mercy, but Mehta still exceeded the mandatory minimum of two months of incarceration.  Navarro insisted to journalists as he arrived that he was the subject of "a very important landmark constitutional case that is going to resolve important issues about the Constitution's separation of powers as well as the integrity and efficiency of presidential decision-making."

[The] DOJ files [a] motion against Peter Navarro to produce email records from [his] time in [the] White House.  The Department of Justice is requesting that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia command former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro to provide all email records from his time in the White House under the Presidential Records Act.  The attorneys involved in the court case wrote in a motion filed Monday that Navarro "wrongfully continues to possess" emails he sent on an unofficial email account.  The document says Navarro was, as of July 25, in possession of 200 to 250 documents that fell under the Presidential Records Act and that, his counsel has admitted, he withheld from the government, according to the filing.  Some emails were obtained by the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis as part of an investigation into the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Where Is Steven D'Antuono?  [Scroll down] And it's not just Trump voters who face D'Antuono's wrath.  His agents publicly arrested Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House advisor, at Reagan National Airport in June on contempt of Congress charges.  Navarro said FBI agents placed him in handcuffs and leg irons even though he lives next door to FBI Headquarters in Washington.

Obama-appointed Judge Agrees:  FBI Arrest of Peter Navarro 'Curious'.  U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta agreed Friday with defendant Peter Navarro, a former economic adviser to President Donald Trump, that his abrupt arrest by the FBI at Reagan National Airport last month for contempt of Congress was bizarre.  As Breitabrt News reported in June, Navarro was not provided an opportunity to turn himself in, but was treated as a flight risk and arrested at the airport: [...] According to Politico, Judge Mehta — an appointee of former President Barack Obama — agreed with Navarro that the arrest appeared excessive, given the non-violent nature of the misdemeanor crime with which he is charged.

Former Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Rejects DOJ Plea Offer.  Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has declined a plea offer to plead guilty to a contempt of Congress charge, the lead federal prosecutor in the case told a judge on Friday [7/15/2022].  Navarro had pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress on June 17 after he refused to cooperate with the House January 6 committee's probe into the breach of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.  He cited executive privilege due to his former position at the White House under the Trump administration.  But Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, rejected his claims of executive privilege, and the committee voted in late March to advance criminal charges against Navarro.  A grand jury indicted Navarro on June 3 on two counts:  one for his refusal to produce the documents the committee requested, and the other for his refusal to comply with the committee's subpoena to show up and testify.  Each count carries a maximum of one-year imprisonment.

Judge rejects Navarro request to delay arraignment and orders limits on public statements.  A federal judge rejected former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro's request for a delayed arraignment and issued a protective order limiting his discussion of his Jan. 6 case Monday.  District Court Judge Amit Mehta noted the public interest in the case and sided with the federal prosecutors in determining that Navarro failed to make a strong argument for why a 45-day extension was necessary.  "The public interest weighs in favor of moving this case forward through its preliminary stages.  Whether or not counsel enters an appearance, the timing of these proceedings will be based on the factors the court is required to consider, including Defendant's need for time to prepare his defense and the public interest in bringing this matter to trial," Mehta wrote.

Dershowitz: Peter Navarro Arrest 'Dangerous to Democracy'.  Saturday [6/4/2022], [...] Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz warned former Trump adviser Peter Navarro's arrest could impact American democracy.  Dershowitz told Newsmax TV's "The Count" Navarro's indictment was a "real scandal" given no judicial order was given for Navarro to testify that resolved his claim of executive privilege.  If it stands, Dershowitz said Republicans could use it in the same way their Democrat counterparts have used it against Biden administration officials.  "He has invoked a privilege," Dershowitz explained.  "It's as if somebody was called to testify about what he told his priest or his doctor or his lawyer, and he invokes the privilege and immediately gets indicted, instead of the government going before a court and the judge rules whether or not the privilege applies.  If you rule the privilege doesn't apply and order him to testify, then he can be held in contempt."

The Week of Sussmann and Navarro.  Last week we ordinary Americans took a couple of punches in the gut.  First, lawyer Michael Sussmann was acquitted by a jury of lying to the FBI about who was employing him to dish dirt on Candidate Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. [...] And then the Biden administration did the thug thing on 72-year-old Trump White House official Peter Navarro and had the FBI arrest him while he was boarding a plane and put him in handcuffs and leg irons, just so they could make quite sure to have him in court the next day.  Now, I have to say I am not outraged by this.  No, my reaction is far deeper and philosophical.  The whole point of the legal system is to invite everyone, Inner Party, Outer Party, and Proles, to bring their disputes to judges and juries — presided over by the blindfolded maiden and her scales — rather than resort to revenge and armed gangs.  But if an Inner Party chappie gets a free ride, and the Outer Party chappie gets leg irons, what is the fate of the Proles in Biden's America?  Hey, ruling class:  you may not think about where this injustice leads, but I can.

The Structural Legal Rot Runs Deep.  [Scroll down]  It's beyond the collapse of academia and K-12 education, the evisceration of our military, government waste, the dysfunction of our health system, and the one-sidedness of media coverage.  It goes to the very heart of our legal system.  This week Peter Navarro was charged by a D.C. grand jury for contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the House Select Committee, a purely partisan confection of Nancy Pelosi in violation of all the traditional House rules, and a clear propaganda operation.  (Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino, Jr. cooperated to some extent and were spared.  The committee also referred them for prosecution, but the department of Justice declined to prosecute them.)  The charge against Navarro is a misdemeanor process crime but with significant possible consequences.  Instead of following the normal procedure in such cases of notifying the person charged and allowing them to report for processing, the FBI affected to humiliate him, arrested him as he was boarding a plane and publicly handcuffing him and placing him in leg irons.

Navarro arrest is a Democrat assault on American liberty.  The arrest of Peter Navarro by the FBI, shock troops of the radical Democrat party, should make clear to the most hidebound Republican member of Congress that the anti-Constitution cabal is confident it will maintain power after the November 8 elections, and the presidency for decades to come.  As Breitbart pointed out, the June 3 arrest of the freedom-loving Navarro came one day after he predicted that, following the midterms, the impeachment of Biden will take place by the GOP.  He was arrested for defying the assault on liberty that is the January 6 House Inquisition panel.

Former Trump Sr.  Advisor Dr. Peter Navarro Arrested By FBI At Airport Only One Day After Mocking the "Kangaroo" J6 Committee.  Yesterday, Harvard-educated Economist and former Sr. Trump Advisor Dr. Peter Navarro went toe-to-toe with the snarky MSNBC activist Ari Melber over his decision to thumb his nose at the "kangaroo" Jan 6 Committee's request to appear before them.  In the interview, Navarro explained to the sniveling MSNBC host that even though he didn't believe in these make-believe congressional gangs who are acting as "judge, jury, and prosecutor," he would use the same tactics against Democrats on the "kangaroo" committee when Republicans take back Congress and the White House.  "You can bet your ass that I will lead the charge" to subpoena Democrats if Republicans return to power in Washington," he said.  "We'll start with the impeachment of Biden for Ukraine, the southern border, all manner of things he is guilty of, and we'll subpoena his senior staff," Navarro told Melber.

Joe Biden Begins Using FBI to Arrest Political Opposition from Prior Administration.  Peter Navarro was the former Senior Trade and Economic Advisor to President Trump and a staunch critic former of U.S. policy toward China.  The January 6th Commission demanded all his documented communication with President Trump and anything that might be related to the authorities of the J-6 Committee.  Navarro did not comply with the Democrat subpoena from the committee.  Attorney General Merrick Garland, acting on the authority of Joe Biden, instructed the FBI to arrest Peter Navarro and bring him to federal incarceration.  Put in more clear terms, Joe Biden is arresting his political opposition for failing to reveal confidential and privileged communication with the former President.  Democrats are using the FBI as the federal police agency to arrest their political opposition.  This is happening right now.

Former Trump Official Peter Navarro Handcuffed and Put in Leg Irons by FBI, Joe Biden State Police Force.  Former economic and trade advisor Peter Navarro appeared outside the courthouse in Washington DC after his arrest.  [Two video clips]

Subpoena wars:  Washington is on a path to mutually assured destruction.  In an initial court appearance following his arrest on Friday for contempt of Congress, former Trump adviser Peter Navarro stood before an obviously concerned federal magistrate.  "Every time that you're speaking," Judge Zia Faruqui tried to explain, "it could mean potentially putting yourself at risk."  It was entirely sensible advice about self-protection — and it was promptly ignored.  Navarro, 72, went directly outside and blasted the charge against him, the Democrats, and the FBI.  Judge Faruqui's concern was almost charmingly naive.  We live in an age of the sensational, not the sensible.  The Navarro case is just one skirmish in a subpoena war engulfing Washington.  No one seems to be thinking much beyond the next election.


The alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer


Recap and overview:
Here's How The DOJ And FBI Are Spending Their Time Instead Of Rooting Out Actual Extremists.  The FBI said in October of 2020 it had foiled a violent plan to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, spending months working with informants and sending undercover agents to monitor meetings, chats and training exercises, eventually stopping the operation and arresting those involved, Buzzfeed reported.  The DOJ labeled the men "violent extremists" for the planned kidnapping and plan to use explosives in the operation.  "Federal and state law enforcement are committed to working together to make sure violent extremists never succeed with their plans, particularly when they target our duly elected leaders," U.S. Attorney Andrew Byerly Birge said.  The DOJ elevated the case to include terror-related charges months later for allegedly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.  Defense attorneys claimed throughout the trials that the men could never have planned the operation themselves, and the FBI had entrapped them in the undercover operation, often offering the men money, Buzzfeed reported.  The defense said the FBI "conceived and controlled every aspect" of the kidnapping operation, according to the Washington Examiner.  In a blow to the FBI's case, two men were acquitted of all charges related to the kidnapping by the jury on Friday.  The jury also was unable to reach a verdict on two more men that had already been charged, leading to a possible re-trial.

Another overview:
19 Times Democrats And DOJ Deliberately Politicized Law Enforcement.  [#17]  Just as Democrats were branding Republicans as dangerous extremists during the 2020 campaigns, the FBI revealed a plot to kidnap Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.  A group of far-right militiamen, according to the tale, conspired to kidnap the governor and try her as a "tyrant."  In July of last year, however, long after the 2020 election, BuzzFeed reported that at least 12 people involved were FBI informants orchestrating an entrapment plot.  "The problem with the case is that it appears the FBI, through informants and undercover agents, hatched the kidnapping plot, served in the key leadership positions of the militia group, trained the militia members in military tactics, actively recruited participants, and funded much of the militia's activities," former CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer Max Morton wrote.  "Then, when various members of the Watchman militia became uncomfortable with the kidnapping plot, with several quitting, the FBI's primary informant pushed the plot along, eventually becoming the militia group's leader."

Another overview:
Female FBI Agent Slept with Target Barry Croft in Hotel, in Same Bed, During Training Weekend Paid for by FBI.  In an October 2020 press conference, the FBI announced it had thwarted a plot by a so-called "right-wing militia" to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  The Whitmer kidnapping plot was in the media 24/7 and used to bludgeon Trump with just a few weeks to go until Election Day.  The FBI used at least 12 informants in the Michigan Whitmer kidnapping case.  There were 6 defendants and 12 FBI informants identified as the case progressed.  The FBI planned the Whitmer attack, organized the attack, paid for the attack, and recruited local men to join in their planned attack.  It was another complete setup by Chris Wray's FBI to frame and ruin innocent men.  The case, which we now know was comprised of virtually all FBI agents and informants, took another devastating hit in August.  Michael Hills, an attorney for Brandon Caserta, one of the six defendants, produced text messages showing an FBI field agent telling an informant to lie, frame an innocent man and delete text messages.  This is why federal prosecutors are refusing to hand over text messages and laptops from FBI informants in the Whitmer kidnapping case.  The FBI actually hatched the plot. paid for the plot, ran the plot, and set up the innocent men in their immoral scheme.

Another overview:
The FBI-Tainted Whitmer 'Kidnap Plot' You've Heard Next to Nothing About.  In a fiery exchange last month, CNN anchorwoman Abby Phillip told GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that there was "no evidence" to support his claim that federal agents abetted protesters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  Ramaswamy shot back that the FBI conspicuously has never denied that law enforcement agents were on duty in the crowd.  He argued that federal officials repeatedly "lied" to the American people, not only about that investigation but one that has gotten much less attention: the alleged failed plot in 2020 to kidnap and kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.  "It was entrapment," Ramaswamy told CNN's Phillip.  "FBI agents putting them up to a kidnapping plot that we were told was true but wasn't."  His zeroing in on the Michigan case highlighted an uncharacteristic development in contemporary politics, where progressives vigorously defend law enforcement power while conservatives view it with deep suspicion.  Further, Ramaswamy's linking of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the Whitmer plot resonated with many on the right who want similarities between the two episodes exposed to the general public, especially the FBI's reliance on informants and other paid operatives.

Guy Arrested in FBI's Gov Whitmer Kidnapping Set-Up Rattles Off Some Facts.  A victim of the FBI plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer speaks out:  "The FBI set everything up.  They drove people; they paid for everything.  They wrote the script."  [Tweet with video clip]

Why do FBI agents so regularly abuse their power?  [Scroll down]  Are they purposely selecting people who sign up precisely because they want to act outside the law?  Consider the FBI-conceived kidnapping of Michigan's Gov. Whitmer.  Agents honed in on a few men who seemed easily led, they provided the plans and weapons and then arrested them.  That ridiculous plot got the then-man-in-charge, D'Antuono, promoted to Assistant in Charge of the D.C. field office where he then oversaw the hunt for Trump supporters who came to D.C. on January 6th.  Given the delinquency of the last four directors (at least), one can safely assume then that those agents willing to act outside of the law with impunity rise to the top.  It seems it is the willingness to abuse their power that leads to more power, then more abuse of that power.

The Whitmer 'kidnapping hoax' is on the brink of collapse.  The Whitmer "kidnapping plot," "fednapping," or "hoax," as it's more commonly called, is likely one of the biggest entrapment cases the FBI ever staged, aside from January 6. The two plots are intricately connected and part of the same regime scheme to paint Trump supporters as domestic terrorists.  However, when news broke about this "kidnapping plot," Revolver News could smell a rat.  We were ahead of the curve, being among the very first to connect the dots between the Michigan Kidnapping Plot and the January 6th Fedsurrection.  Our groundbreaking article from three years ago sounded the alarm about possible federal involvement on January 6th, using the Michigan fiasco as a prime example.  After all, you literally can't ignore the similarities.  The Michigan scheme also had plans to storm the State Capitol.  The plot centered around the "Three Percenters," a militia group with strong ties to January 6th.  And just like J6, the Michigan plot was also swarming with feds and informants — actually, out of the fourteen people involved, at least five of them were FBI agents or informants.

'Conspiracy Theories' Aren't Theoretical Anymore.  There is nothing demented or delusional about believing our government would willingly facilitate the murder of a political threat.  The actions of the DoJ in conjunction with the legislation proposed by the Democrats makes that perfectly clear.  The plot to place Donald Trump at the tender mercies of a prison's "genpop" is not the only evidence of government criminal conspiracy.  The ATF really did traffic guns to Mexican drug cartels to promote gun-control legislation.  One federal agent and countless civilians were killed with those guns.  The DoJ sought to remove a duly elected President — even to the point of the Deputy Attorney General offering to "wear a wire" to record conversations with the President (with cabinet support).  The FBI really did set up some useful idiots to advanced their domestic terrorist narrative (the Governor Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping).  It was a classic entrapment scheme in which federal assets planned the crime, and hapless stooges stepped in the trap.  All this is changing our worldview and is causing us to observe our government with a new level of skepticism.

The FBI's Double Agent.  The alleged plot coincided with growing concern about far-right political violence in America.  But the FBI quickly realized it had a problem:  A key informant in the case, a career snitch with a long rap sheet, had helped to orchestrate the kidnapping plot.  During the undercover sting, the FBI ignored crimes that the informant, Stephen Robeson, appeared to have committed, including fraud and illegal possession of a sniper rifle.  The Whitmer kidnapping case followed a pattern familiar from hundreds of previous FBI counterterrorism stings that have targeted Muslims in the post-9/11 era.  Those cases too raised questions about whether the crimes could have happened at all without the prodding of undercover agents and informants. [...] The files also raise questions about whether the FBI pursued a larger, secret effort to encourage political violence in the run-up to the 2020 election.  At least one undercover FBI agent and two informants in the Michigan case were also involved in stings centering on plots to assassinate the governor of Virginia and the attorney general of Colorado.

The FBI — the Dog That Turned on Its Master.  In the runup to the 2020 election, the Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field office, Steven D'Antuono, oversaw what is now widely recognized as an entrapment scheme — the Governor Whitmer kidnapping case.  The FBI used paid assets to talk a bunch of drug and alcohol-addled halfwits into the kidnapping plot.  It was a political dirty trick carried out to assert that President Trump's rhetoric was responsible for a rise in domestic terrorism.  However, in court it was discovered that the FBI had as many assets involved in the "conspiracy" as there were alleged domestic terrorists.  In fact, the FBI assets had planned every aspect of the operation, and actively recruited others to join the "conspiracy."  Under FBI guidance, the "conspirators" had even conducted a protest at the Michigan Capital, which was eerily similar to the events of January 6 — almost as if it were a dress rehearsal.  As the case went to trial, D'Antuono was promoted to head the Washington Field Office — just in time for January 6.

MI attorney general should be immediately impeached for her statement on "Whitmer kidnapping" jury.  It's no secret that Dana Nessel, the angry lesbian attorney general from Michigan, is a vicious Trump-hater.  Governor Gretchen Whitmer has assembled an entire "Seal Team" of jaded women to run Michigan, and as a result, the state is falling apart.  However, what Dana Nessel just did in regards to the recent Whitmer kidnapping jury goes beyond the typical hysterical emotions we've come to expect with liberal women and President Trump.  Now we're venturing into forbidden prosecutorial conduct that, in a serious country, would result in Nessel's immediate removal from office.  This latest blow to our judicial system revolves around the recent acquittal of three men caught up in the federal government's attempt to stage a "kidnapping" of Gretchen Whitmer.  The entire case unraveled, primarily due to the significant presence of federal agents and informants compared to actual "bad guys."  It amounted to nothing more than an FBI entrapment scheme, and this was evident to many jurors.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Scolds 'Right-Leaning' Jurors for Acquittals in Whitmer Kidnapping Trials.  Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel blamed "right-leaning" jurors for the various acquittals returned in criminal trials over the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).  On Friday, A Michigan jury found three men not guilty in the alleged kidnapping plot, bringing the total number of acquittals to five out of the ten cases that went to trial. [...] Nessel's comments received backlash from federal prosecutors and one of the acquitted defendant's attorneys.  Matthew Schneider, who was a United States Attorney in Detroit in 2020 when the FBI broke up the kidnapping plot, told the Associated Press that Nessel's remarks were inappropriate.

Last Three Men Charged in Whitmer 'Kidnapping' Plot Found Not Guilty.  The feds officially failed in their attempt to imprison three more innocent men on Friday over their involvement in the FBI-manufactured "kidnapping" plot targeting Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  [Several tweets]  Kudos to the jury for seeing through the feds' lies and freeing these innocent men.

Final Three Men Acquitted in Junk Whitmer Kidnapping Case.  Twin brothers William and Michael Null, along with Eric Molitor, were acquitted on Friday by an Antrim County, Michigan, jury on charges of providing material support for a terrorist act and illegally possessing firearms.  The three men faced up to 20 years in prison for their alleged crimes.  [Tweet]  The entire plot was hatched, planned, paid for, and executed by paid FBI informants.  The FBI informants pushed the violent plans to kidnap Whitmer.  It was all a setup.

Whitmer Kidnap Judge:  Defense Can't Cite FBI Entrapment Efforts.  During Tuesday's opening statements at the trial of three men accused of aiding the 2020 alleged militia plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, defense attorney Bill Barnett made accurate statements about an FBI informant involved in the case — describing how the informant, Dan Chappel, became the second in command of a militia, trained his fellow members and encouraged them to commit crimes.  State prosecutor Bill Rollstin objected to Barnett's factual statements, accusing him of trying to "poison the jury" by arguing that the FBI entrapped his client.  Barnett responded to Rollstin's claim by arguing that he's only presenting true facts to the jury.  "I was stating facts that are in the police reports.  Everything's a fact.  They don't want to hear facts in this case," he said.

Unsung Heroes of 2022: Whitmer Fednapping Defense Attorneys.  A federal courtroom in Grand Rapids this week once again demonstrated how far removed we are from America's founding principles of free speech, blind justice, commensurate punishment, and due process of law.  The two-day performance by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jonker demonstrated how much closer we are to a totalitarian police state where federal agents spy on and entrap citizens in a successful effort to criminalize political activity and send a warning to other dissidents — all with the solemn imprimatur of the judicial system.  Jonker, who has presided over the federal case against six men accused of conspiring to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, didn't attempt to hide his bias during the sentencing hearings for two defendants, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, Jr., convicted of that crime in August.  Both, after all, were found guilty at a retrial in large part due to Jonker's activism from the bench on behalf of the government.  (Fox and Croft received a hung jury in the first trial in April; two co-defendants were acquitted on all charges.)

Homeless Man Deemed Whitmer Kidnapping Plot 'Ringleader' Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison.  Adam Fox, the homeless man the feds framed as the "ringleader" of the FBI-led plot to "kidnap" Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Tuesday.  The feds were asking for Fox to be given a life sentence but the judge — despite being totally biased in favor of the prosecution — seems to have been uncomfortable with giving him life in prison just for political gain.

Three Men Sentenced to Prison in Scheme to Kidnap Michigan Governor.  Three men found guilty of "providing material support for a terrorist act" in connection with the foiled plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer were sentenced to prison on Thursday [12/15/2022].  Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were members of a paramilitary group, the Wolverine Watchmen, that trained with Adam Fox, who was the alleged leader in the scheme, according to prosecutors.  The three men were not charged with having a direct role in the plot but were also charged with gun violations and membership in a gang.  Musico was sentenced to a minimum of 12  years in prison.  Morrison, who is Musico's son in law, was sentenced to ten years and Bellar received a seven-year sentence.

Is Congress Poised to Investigate Whitmer Fednapping Hoax?  Afederal judge next month is scheduled to sentence two men convicted of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her lakeside cottage in the fall of 2020.  Adam Fox, the alleged ringleader, and Barry Croft, Jr. face years in prison.  During the first trial in April, Fox and Croft received a hung jury while two co-defendants were acquitted on all charges based on extensive evidence of FBI entrapment.  A jury found Fox and Croft guilty after a second trial in August thanks to the same judge putting his thumb — body? — on the scale in favor of the government.  But the matter is far from over.  Defense attorneys are expected to file an appeal following the sentencing hearing on December 28 and will likely include allegations of juror misconduct and judicial bias during the retrial.

Where Is Steven D'Antuono?  [Scroll down] The FBI field office primarily responsible for running the entrapment scheme was located in Detroit — at the time headed by none other than Steven M. D'Antuono.  Unlike his public self-praise for the FBI's role in the January 6 investigation, however, D'Antuono has been uncharacteriscially mum about what the government considers its biggest domestic terror investigation in recent history.  That's because it wasn't an investigation; it was a set up.  No fewer than a dozen FBI undercover agents and informants worked at the direction of FBI officials in numerous field offices to engineer the scam.  Agents with D'Antuono's office in Detroit hired and handled the lead informant, a man named Dan Chappel, to stitch the group of alleged kidnappers together over a seven month period beginning in early 2020.

Two Men Convicted of Conspiring to Kidnap Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  A federal judge convicted two men on Tuesday of conspiring in 2020 to kidnap Democratic Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.  The two men, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the kidnapping conspiracy, and were also convicted on one count of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, as the men allegedly planned to blow up a bridge near Whitmer's home to hinder the government's response.  Fox and Croft's first trial ended in a mistrial.  Two men pleaded guilty before the first trial and two others were acquitted of all charges in April.  Defense attorneys claimed that the men were entrapped by more than a dozen government undercover agents and informants who "conceived and controlled every aspect" of the plot to kidnap the governor.

Think the FBI Deserves the Benefit of the Doubt?  In October 2020, the FBI revealed that a plot to kidnap Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had been heroically foiled by federal law enforcement.  A group of far-right militiamen, the story goes, conspired to kidnap the governor and try her as a "tyrant" in Wisconsin.  In July last year, however, BuzzFeed revealed that at least 12 people involved were FBI informants orchestrating another entrapment.  "The problem with the case is that it appears the FBI, through informants and undercover agents, hatched the kidnapping plot, served in the key leadership positions of the militia group, trained the militia members in military tactics, actively recruited participants, and funded much of the militia's activities," reported former CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer Max Morton.  "Then, when various members of the Watchman militia became uncomfortable with the kidnapping plot, with several quitting, the FBI's primary informant pushed the plot along, eventually becoming the militia group's leader."  In April, a jury refused to convict four of the 14 defendants charged. Two were found not guilty, another two concluded the trial with no verdict, and another two took plea deals.

Whitmer fednapping exposes moral rot of FBI.  Shared hotel rooms.  Fake militias.  Booze and pot.  Planted evidence.  Phony bomb makers.  Criminal FBI informants.  Wife-beating wife-swappers.  No, that's not the latest iteration of the "X Files" but the real-life drama of the FBI-concocted scheme to "kidnap" Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.  The better-than-television saga is again unfolding in a Grand Rapids courtroom this month as the Department of Justice retries two men charged with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer right before the 2020 presidential election.  In April, prosecutors failed to win a single conviction in one of the government's biggest domestic terror investigations in decades.  A jury acquitted two men — Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris — on every count after defense attorneys successfully argued their clients were entrapped by the FBI.

Brave Reporter Julie Kelly Explains Connection Between FBI Whitmer Kidnapping Plot, Jan 6 and Raid on Mar-a-Lago.  Every day more comes out about how corrupt and Democrat-controlled the FBI and Department of Justice are.  From the entrapment case in the alleged kidnapping plot of Michigan's Governor Whitmer, which was organized and instigated by the FBI, to the rampant mistreatment of January 6th defendants and the suspicious and unprecedented raid on Mar-a-Lago, every event of the past few years seems to confirm a move towards one-party authoritarian rule by the Democrats through a weaponized DOJ and FBI.  [Video clip]

FBI Director Christopher Wray puts on a disgraceful display.  Just yesterday, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on a host of topics, and the answers were quite revealing[.]  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) questioned Wray about the case against four individuals who allegedly conspired to kidnap Democrat Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.  Cruz noted that among the four accused who were tried, two were acquitted and two received mistrials; i.e., none were convicted of any charge.  Cruz pointed out that the "basis of the defense was entrapment, that the FBI, that paid informants for the FBI had suggested and had incited the conduct."  Wray refused to comment if any FBI agent had received discipline or was reprimanded after "the misconduct that led to every defendant being acquitted or having a mistrial on every charge."

Men who allegedly tried to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to stand trial again.  The alleged masterminds of an extremist plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and start a civil war ahead of the 2020 presidential election will be re-tried after a jury failed to reach a verdict in their cases earlier this year.  A federal judge set a trial date in August for Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr.  Thursday after declining their lawyer's request to clear them of conspiracy and weapons charges.  "We don't know what the jury was thinking. ... There's enough here to say that a rational jury could still go against Mr. Fox, go against Mr. Croft, even considering the outcome with respect for Mr. [Daniel] Harris and Mr. [Brandon] Caserta," US District Judge Robert Jonker said, referencing two alleged co-conspirators that were found not guilty.  Fox and Croft were part of a paramilitary militia group called "Wolverine Watchmen" that planned to abduct Whitmer at her vacation home because they were upset over the COVID-19 restrictions and mandates enacted by the 50-year-old Democrat, prosecutors alleged.

Whitmer Hoax Defendant: 'My Life Got Taken Away From Me'.  Brandon Caserta had just ordered take-out — a bacon double cheeseburger with jalapeno and avocado that the restaurant named the "Spicy Brando" in his honor — when a coworker said the plant manager needed to see him.  Instead of leaving to take his lunch break as planned, Caserta, who at the time worked as a machinist in a Michigan factory that manufactures parts for Ford trucks, walked to his boss' office to see what was up.  When Caserta entered the office on October 7, 2020, at least 15 masked FBI agents and local law enforcement officers immediately tackled him to the ground.  "Stop resisting, you're under arrest!" they shouted, according to Caserta, who spoke with American Greatness by phone for four hours this week to discuss his nearly two-year ordeal at the hands of the U.S. government.  Caserta was taken from Plymouth to Ypsilanti that evening and interrogated.  Hours later, FBI agents finally revealed why he was under arrest:  for conspiring to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan.

Report: FBI Corruption Targets Millions of Americans.  The most recent example involved the supposed kidnapping plot against Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer.  Just prior to the 2020 election, the FBI made a big show of taking down several "right-wing" extremists who we were assured were deadly serious about going after the Democrat governor.  Of course, it was just one big coincidence that the government made its move during a time period that exacted maximum political harm against Donald Trump by pushing a left-wing narrative about "domestic terrorism."  In early April, though, two men were acquitted of conspiracy (with the jury hanging on the rest of the alleged suspects) after they successfully argued that they had been entrapped.  That wasn't a new theory, either.  RedState and other outlets had been pointing out for years that the entire situation stunk, and that it appeared the FBI cooked up the plan while manipulating vulnerable men to take part in it.  Last I checked, the government isn't supposed to be in the business of instigating crimes that otherwise wouldn't have been committed, but here we are.

Inside the FBI's infiltration and entrapment of a Michigan militia crew.  The FBI got walloped last week when a Michigan jury concluded that the bureau had entrapped two men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.  Those men and others were arrested a few weeks before the 2020 election in a high-profile, FBI-fabricated case that Joe Biden claimed showed President Trump's "tolerance of hate, vengeance, and lawlessness to plots such as this one."  But the jury verdict exposes how the feds have created the monsters they parade to vindicate their vast power over Americans.  Michigan was a swing state in the 2020 election.  When the arrests were announced, Whitmer speedily denounced Trump for inciting "domestic terrorism."  Biden won the 2020 election because of the early voting, and the Michigan kidnapping plot was one of the biggest stories in October 2020.  Prior to the presidential election, Attorney General Bill Barr assured that news did not leak about multiple federal investigations into Hunter Biden.  But the FBI felt no such constraints and trumpeted a ludicrous scheme that was shot down even by a jury that a federal judge had largely blindfolded.

Justice Department Plans to Re-Try Two Remaining Whitmer Fednapping Defendants.  Despite a humiliating defeat in what the Justice Department considered one of its biggest domestic terror investigations in recent history, federal prosecutors announced they will re-try two men who were not acquitted last week on charges of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. [...] Defense attorneys argued the men were entrapped by the FBI, which the jury presumably believed in the case of Harris and Caserta.  Numerous FBI experts and agents took the stand for the government, as did Dan Chappel, the lead informant and one of his FBI handlers.  The three-week trial exposed a wide-ranging operation inside the FBI and Justice Department to target the men — who did not know each other until the FBI got involved — infiltrate the group with informants and undercover agents, create encrypted group chats monitored by the FBI, plan and fund excursions including a surveillance trip to Whitmer's summer cottage, secretly record every conversation including when the targets were high on marijuana, and drive several defendants to the arrest site in October 2020 under a phony pretense.

The Entire Gretchen Whitmer "Kidnapping" Case Was Exposed As A Fraud — A Full Recap.  Just weeks before the 2020 election, the FBI announced that it had thwarted an attempt by rightwing terrorists to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan.  At the time, Whitmer was taking intense criticism for her draconian handling of the COVID pandemic. [...] When the arrests were made in 2020, we were told by the MSM that the plot involved a group of violent militia members, who were upset about Whitmer's pandemic measures — which included restrictions on travel and assembly.  We were assured that the incendiary language of political conservatives inspired the kidnappers.  It was reported that the group intended to use firearms and explosives to abduct Whitmer from her lake home and sneak her out of the state.  Fortunately, the FBI thwarted the attempt.  It was billed as a shining example of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency in action.  Whitmer, Pelosi, and Schumer all ran to the microphones on the eve of the election to condemn the rhetoric of conservatives.  Joe Biden phoned it in from his basement.  It was a perfect media storm, just a month before the election.

FBI Kidnapping Caper Was Flagrant Election Interference.  [Scroll down]  Despite endless resources and favorable rulings by the judge overseeing the case, the government failed to secure a single conviction in what the Justice Department considered one of its largest domestic terror investigations ever.  Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, after a year and a half in prison, went home to their families on Friday night; Adam Fox, the alleged ringleader, and Barry Croft, Jr. remain incarcerated while Birge's office prepares to retry the men — a fool's errand, as they didn't know each other prior to the FBI's involvement in the faux plot and live almost 1,000 miles apart.  (Croft resides in Delaware.)  It's a desperate attempt to save face, regardless of the lives and the principles of justice at stake.  Not only were jurors unpersuaded by Birge's prosecutors, the jury instead seemed to believe defense attorneys' arguments that their clients were entrapped by the FBI.  At least a dozen FBI undercover agents and informants, working out of numerous FBI field offices across the eastern half of the country and at the direction of supervising agents, concocted and funded the sting operation.

How the FBI Got Whacked By Their Own Boomerang in the Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Case.  This is a massive scandal.  I know I'm being generous here after the Russian collusion hoax, but whatever crumb of credibility the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice has now been lost.  The Gretchen Whitmer circus has finally come down.  It's been exposed.  This case was weaponized by Democrats for the 2020 election to attack Donald Trump over an alleged kidnapping plot against Whitmer over her COVID-19 protocols.  Members of a militia group were supposedly involved.  What was seen as a slam-dunk case by the Feds turned out to be an embarrassing exposure of their entrapment games that netted them zero convictions in this case.  Zilch.  Two men were outright found not guilty by a federal jury.  The rest were deadlocked.  It's over, and if the FBI wants to rehash all their embarrassing moments in this case — be our guest.  [Tweet]

Justice Has Been and Will Be a Long Time Coming.  On Friday, April 8, the biggest domestic news came from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  On that day the world learned that a jury had voted unanimously to acquit Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta of conspiring to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the fall of 2020. [...] There were some two dozen people involved in the "Plot to Kidnap Gretchen Whitmer" saga.  Fully 12 were FBI assets.  They were not there to infiltrate the loser militia members.  They were there to egg them on.  The FBI helped to define and finance the plot from the beginning.  They even set up a fake "militia" for the others to rally around.  They also helped to equip, not to mention bribe, the motley crew whom they assembled for the caper.  The FBI did not uncover a plot.  They were prime movers in fomenting a plot.  They did not so much uncover evidence against the plotters as they entrapped them.  And it's not as if this is a one off.  It is part of a pattern of abuse and irresponsibility.  As the Wall Street Journal's Holmon Jenkins put it last fall, "The agency should be scrapped and something new built to replace it."

Not one Whitman "kidnapper" is convicted.  I'll confess to having been fascinated with the entire Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping trial from the beginning.  Not because I'm a fan of kidnapping, of course, but it was just such a bizarre story right from the beginning, sounding more like the script for a Steven Soderbergh film than something that would unfold in real life.  Unfortunately for the prosecutors, however, the case presented to the jury apparently sounded more like it really was a work of fiction than something that was based in reality.  The jurists deliberated for quite a while, but they eventually acquitted two of the four men who were charged and failed to reach a decision on the other two, leading Judge Robert Jonker to finally declare a mistrial.  The suspects were facing the potential of life in prison if they had been convicted.

No Convictions in Whitmer 'Kidnapping' Case, Another Black Eye For the FBI.  A Grand Rapids, Mich., jury delivered no convictions in the FBI's case against supposed "right-wing radicals" involving their plan to kidnap Michigan's Democrat governor, Gretchen Whitmer.  Investigative reporter Julie Kelly stated on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show that the FBI operation intended to paint right-wingers as dangerous prior to the 2020 elections.  The "kidnap crew" contained more FBI agents and informers than civilians partaking in the supposed scheme.  It appears as though the FBI concocted the plan and then tried to recruit people to join them.  The jury returned no verdict on Adam Fox, the supposed ring-leader, and on Barry Croft as well.  Both ended in a mistrial.  They may have to go back for another trial.

Jury acquits 2 in Whitmer case, mistrial declared for 2 others.  Jurors in Michigan on Friday [4/8/2022] acquitted two men of prosecutorial claims they conspired to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of her heavy-handed abuse of the constitutional rights of the state's residents during COVID.  A mistrial was declared regarding two other defendants.  A jury of six men and six women found Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris not guilty on all counts, but did not reach verdicts for two other defendants in the trial, Barry Croft and Adams Fox.  U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said he was disappointed, but credited the jury with listening "to a lot of evidence."

In Michigan, a jury punished FBI entrapment in the Whitmer kidnap plot case.  Events on January 6, followed by the government's totalitarian approach to dealing with people who dared to enter the Capitol with the Capitol police's invitation, distracted people from another case of government overreach: in Michigan, the Department of Justice accused six men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer in late 2020.  Although two men pleaded out, four went to trial.  On Friday, the jury acquitted two of the defendants and deadlocked as to the other two, resulting in a mistrial.  The reason for this DOJ failure?  The fact that the FBI made up 12 of the 18 people involved in the plot and were clearly entrapping the remaining six.

Prosecutors Fail to Secure a Single Guilty Verdict in Alleged Whitmer Kidnapping Plot.  A jury acquitted two men accused by the FBI of conspiring to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and could not reach verdicts on two other men involved in the alleged plot.  Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were found not guilty on the charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping.  Harris was also found not guilty of other weapons charges pertaining to the case.  The jury said they could not agree on verdicts for Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., who were also charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the alleged plot.  As a result, U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker declared a mistrial for Fox and Croft.  The defendants faced life in prison if convicted on the kidnapping charge.

Michigan governor kidnap case: hardened terrorists or FBI dupes?  [Scroll down]  At the moment the FBI arrested the men, prosecutors argued in court, they had plans to acquire a bomb to blow up a bridge near Whitmer's home to hinder police.  Jurors, they have said, would see social media posts and hear secretly recorded conversations, highly inflammatory language and details of a plan to take down a "tyrant".  When they were arrested the case seemed a slam dunk.  But as more evidence has unfolded and the trial has begun, a different narrative has emerged.  Far from being a dedicated bunch of coup-plotters, their attorneys argue, the Wolverine Watchmen are hapless victims of FBI entrapment who had been induced by paid informants to commit crimes they would not otherwise have considered.  The FBI, according to defense filings, deployed at least 12 informants, as well as several undercover agents.  "There was no plan, there was no agreement and no kidnapping," defense attorney Joshua Blanchard said last week.  It is not an entirely outlandish claim.  The defense's argument of FBI entrapment draws on a long history.

FBI Fed Drugs to Alleged Whitmer Kidnapping Plotters Before the Tapes Rolled.  In October 2020, 14 arrests were made due to an alleged shocking plot to kidnap the sitting governor of one of the country's most populous states.  As more details were revealed, it became clear the FBI was involved in not only arresting the suspects in an alleged plan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but also in helping to plot to take form in the first place.  At the opening of the trial last week for four of the men charged, defense attorneys made a stunning claim:  Not only did the FBI entrap the accused, but an FBI informant plied the suspects with drugs.

'Stoned Crazy Talk, Not a Plan' Say Whitmer Defendants.  For months, defense attorneys representing the men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 have built a convincing case of FBI entrapment, filing dozens of motions in federal court detailing how the government concocted the plot with at least a dozen FBI undercover agents and informants.  But District Court Judge Robert Jonker wanted to delay presenting that trove of evidence at trial for as long as possible.  Days before jurors took their seats in his Grand Rapids courtroom on Wednesday morning [3/9/2022], Jonker issued an order that warned "initial opening statements and evidence during the government's case-in-chief — on both direct and cross — must address and be relevant to issues other than entrapment."  Jonker's plan, however, didn't make it past the first morning break.  After it became clear during opening statements that the defense could not argue their case without explaining the deep involvement of the FBI's confidential human sources, Jonker reversed his ruling, telling the jury that "it won't be possible to draw a line between the government proving their case and entrapment."

The FBI Goes on Trial in the Whitmer Case.  Jury selection begins in a Grand Rapids courtroom Tuesday morning [3/8/2022] in the federal trial of four men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.  The long-awaited trial centers on the question of whether a loose band of misfits angry at pandemic lockdowns hatched a sinister plot to abduct Whitmer from her vacation cottage and possibly kill her — or if the foiled caper was yet another successful attempt by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to interfere in a election and sabotage Donald Trump's presidential campaign. [...] Further, Special Counsel John Durham continues his slow drip of evidence revealing how Democratic Party operatives used the FBI to sanitize political propaganda before the 2016 election.  To that end, the Whitmer trial will expose just what the FBI is capable of and willing to do to help Democrats score political points at the most opportune moments.

Judge rules feds did not entrap three men charged in Whitmer kidnap plot.  A Jackson County judge Tuesday denied a motion to dismiss the criminal cases against three men accused in a plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer because their lawyers had argued the FBI entrapped their clients.  Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wilson said an FBI investigation, which involved the use of an informant identified in court only as Dan, did not "escalate" the alleged plot by the Michigan-based militia Wolverine Watchmen to kidnap Whitmer.  The alleged plot, which prosecutors have said was spawned in anger over Whitmer's COVID-19 policies and mandates at the start of the pandemic, was foiled in October of 2020.

The Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Looks an Awful Lot Like Entrapment.  The militia members who allegedly plotted to kidnap Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of her COVID-19 lockdown policies will go to trial in just a few weeks.  Six were charged in connection with the plot, and one of them has already pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against the rest.  State authorities charged eight others with aiding a terrorist plot.  But the government's case against these 14 alleged extremists relies on work done by at least a dozen government informants and undercover FBI agents whose extensive involvement in the plot calls into question whether it would have moved forward at all without the government's prodding.  Some of these government actors took lead roles in organizing the supposed plot — one of the informants was even paid $54,000 by the FBI.  Taken together, these and other details raise the strong possibility that the militia members were victims of entrapment on the part of the FBI.

Will the Arrogance of the FBI Ever End?  At a recent Judiciary Committee hearing Sen. Ted Cruz put the FBI Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch, Jill Sandborn, on the spot when he cross-examined her on how many FBI informants, agents and assets participated in the January 6, 2021 riots on Capitol Hill.  She refused to answer question after question, claiming that she could not disclose "specifics of sources and methods."  She even refused to answer the question, "Did any FBI agents or confidential informants commit crimes of violence on January 6th?"  Senator Cruz had every reason to ask those questions after the news hit that about half of the participants in the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer were FBI informants.  They reportedly pushed the kidnaping plot while the FBI provided funding for it.  The FBI agent in charge of the "investigation" was promoted to the Washington, D.C. field office, perhaps just in time to supervise a similar operation on January 6th.  Defense lawyers have asked the federal judge presiding over the case in Michigan to order the Justice Department to provide "use immunity" to FBI agents and informants they want to cross-examine at trial.

A purported 'Patriot Front' video has all the hallmarks of a false flag.  One of the unpleasant realities that became patently clear during 2021 is that leftist operatives, whether inside or outside of the government, have a new tactic to discredit conservativism:  They pretend to be conservatives, either to entrap conservatives or to falsely expose them as bad people. [...] 2021 offered some superb examples of leftists playing at being conservatives.  Sometimes it's for entrapment purposes, as happened with the so-called "plot" to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.  In that case, more than half the people involved in the plot and, indeed, actively planning the plot, were, in fact, affiliated with the FBI.

More Trouble for the FBI in the Whitmer Kidnapping Case.  [Scroll down]  But the press does not share the same zeal in covering another politically charged investigation:  the imploding criminal case against five men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.  The kidnapping narrative shares many similarities with their preferred telling of January 6, not the least of which is that alleged militias incited by Trump attempted to carry out a domestic terror attack. [...] Perhaps the media considers it a mere coincidence that the head of the FBI Detroit field office overseeing the Whitmer plot was promoted to head of the FBI Washington, D.C. field office several weeks before January 6?  Defense attorneys in the Whitmer case are making a strong case for FBI entrapment, detailing egregious misconduct by the agency, and asking a judge to dismiss the charges.  At least a dozen FBI agents and confidential human sources orchestrated the kidnapping scheme; defense attorneys claim the feds "actively planned and coordinated its efforts to induce the defendants to engage in incriminating behavior and statements, even going so far as designing the objective and structural components of the [kidnapping] conspiracy."

The FBI's Broken Relationship with Us.  All large organizations suffer from the occasional presence of bad actors.  The FBI is no exception.  But it managed to retain a good relationship with the public in spite of its flaws, because it was still solving rather than creating crimes.  But something fundamentally changed in the last five years. [...] We were told that the FBI heroically thwarted a kidnapping attempt of Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  Then we learned that there wasn't one informant involved.  There were twelve informants — involved in every aspect of recruiting and planning.  Next, the lead agent, Richard Trask, was fired from the FBI after being arrested for beating his wife after a swingers' party.  Prior to his arrest, Trask was the public face of the investigation — and filed the original criminal complaint under oath.  Last month, Will Cain, sitting in for Tucker Carlson, revealed that two more agents (unnamed) have been removed from the case and will not be testifying.  Was the kidnapping a thwarted crime or a setup?  It seems fair to ask, doesn't it?

The Likely Cause of the Media Blackout on Imploding Whitmer Kidnapping Plot.  Once upon a time in America, a high-profile federal prosecution imploding amid credible accusations of FBI entrapment would earn wall-to-wall headlines in the national news media.  A wife-beating FBI agent who used at least one criminal informant and a dozen more government assets to concoct a plot to abduct a sitting governor — intended to create damaging headlines for an incumbent president right before Election Day — would receive nonstop coverage on cable and broadcast news outlets.  Social media would be flooded with all the juicy details.  Names like "Richard Trask" and "Stephen Robeson" would be household names.  But none of that is happening with the Justice Department's rapidly crumbling case against several men arrested for allegedly conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation cottage in the fall of 2020.  Defense attorneys have made a strong case that without the FBI's guiding hand — and deep pockets courtesy of American taxpayers — the scheme never would have materialized past random social media chatter.

FBI Informant in Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Was a 'Double Agent': Prosecutors.  Responding to arguments from defendants in the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping case that they were entrapped by the FBI, the Department of Justice has said that one of its undercover informants was, in fact, a "double agent" working with the kidnappers against the government.  The DOJ's revelation came Jan. 6 in a response to a motion from the defendants to admit as evidence 258 statements they believe will prove the FBI entrapped them.  The statements that the defendants want to have admitted as evidence include audio recordings, where an FBI informant "Steve" is allegedly heard making statements about how to plan and execute the kidnapping of Whitmer.  The defendants — Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta — argue that these statements will prove that it was FBI informants like Steve who actually facilitated and encouraged the failed plot.  But far from helping facilitate the plot, one of the FBI's 12 informants actively helped the defendants to thwart government's investigation, prosecutors said in their Jan. 6 filing.

The FBI's Criminal Lead Informant in Whitmer 'Kidnapping' Caper.  In June 2020, as the country attempted to recover from deadly and destructive riots after the death of George Floyd, a man from Wisconsin hosted a national conference of self-styled "militia" members in a suburban Columbus, Ohio hotel.  Stephen Robeson, founder of the Wisconsin chapter of the Three Percenters, an alleged militia group on the FBI's naughty list, pestered his contacts across the country to participate in the gathering.  People who attended the conference, including two men later charged with federal crimes related to a plot to abduct Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation cottage in 2020, observed that the hotel was crawling with federal agents.  One of the feds at the conference was none other than Stephen Robeson himself.  Without Robeson's deep involvement as an FBI informant, the Whitmer kidnapping caper never would have made national headlines a few weeks before Election Day; in fact, the whole pre-election drama wouldn't have materialized at all.

Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping:  Cracks forming in federal case.  Problems continue to pile up for federal prosecutors in the lead up to the March 8 trial for the five men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.  Prosecutors confirmed in mid-December they would not call on three FBI agents closely linked to the investigation due to allegations of personal and professional misconduct.  Also in December, a key undercover informant involved in the case was charged with fraud in an unrelated case in Wisconsin.  In a pair of explosive filings submitted on Christmas Day and on Wednesday, defense attorneys presented evidence they said proves the FBI and its confidential informants "conceived and controlled every aspect" of the plot to kidnap Whitmer.  "These defendants had no desire whatsoever to kidnap anyone," the defense attorneys said in their filing.

Is the Whitmer 'Kidnapping' Case About to be Tossed?  The U.S. Department of Justice received an unwelcome Christmas gift from defense attorneys representing five men charged with conspiring to "kidnap" Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020:  a motion to dismiss the case.  The Christmas Day filing is the latest blow to the government's scandal-ridden prosecution; defense counsel is building a convincing argument that the FBI used undercover agents and informants to entrap their clients in a wide-ranging scheme that resulted in bad press for Donald Trump as early voting was underway in the key swing state last year.  What began as random social media chatter to oppose lockdown policies quickly morphed into a dangerous plan to abduct Whitmer as soon as the FBI took over.  A Michigan judge delayed the trial, now set for March 8, so defense attorneys could investigate the misconduct of FBI special agents handling at least a dozen government informants involved in the caper.

Whitmer kidnapping plot suspects seek dismissal of charges, say FBI invented conspiracy.  Defense attorneys for five men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) are seeking a dismissal of the indictment, citing "egregious overreaching" by federal officials, who they say invented a conspiracy and entrapped the men.  If convicted in the alleged extremist kidnapping conspiracy, the five men — Adam Fox, 38, Barry Croft, 46, Kaleb Franks, 27, Daniel Harris, 24, and Brandon Caserta, 33 — face up to life in prison.  "When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan," the mens' attorneys wrote.  The Detroit News reports that the 20-page motion for dismissal was filed Christmas night.  Defense attorneys claim that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and federal prosecutors took advantage of frustration with Whitmer's stringent COVID-19 restrictions and created the conspiracy.

Was the FBI's Whitmer Chicanery a Warm-up for January 6?  As questions mount about the government's animating role in the Capitol protest on January 6, the criminal case against the men charged with conspiring to "kidnap" Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 continues to collapse.  Defense attorneys in the Whitmer case are carefully compiling evidence that depicts an elaborate tale of FBI entrapment; at least a dozen FBI informants were involved in the failed plot — equaling one FBI asset per defendant.  FBI agents handling the informants directed every move.  They funded training and reconnaissance trips, and even organized a "national militia" conference in Ohio in June 2020 to lure potential accomplices.  Several men were arrested in October 2020 when the lead informant drove them to meet an undercover FBI agent to purchase munitions, the six month-long scheme's dramatic conclusion.  News of the shocking plot made national headlines as early voting was underway in Michigan:  Joe Biden, Whitmer, and the media blamed Donald Trump for inciting an attempted domestic terror attack.  (Sound familiar?)

Was January 6 Part of the FBI's 'Operation Cold Snap'?  [I]n June 2020, days after the nation was roiled by Black Lives Matter looting and rioting, a man from Wisconsin named Stephen Robeson sponsored a "National Militia Conference" at a Dublin hotel.  (Yes, that was the real name of the event.)  According to BuzzFeed's exceptional July 2021 investigative report on the FBI-led plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, Robeson "helped organize the national meeting, and he was enthusiastically pushing people he knew to attend."  The purpose of the conference was to recruit people who ultimately would stoke "political violence" against governors who refused to reopen their states after lockdowns supposedly necessitated by COVID.  Some participants said Robeson, known as "Robey," relentlessly pestered them until they agreed to show up; people came from as far as Maryland and Kansas City, BuzzFeed's Ken Bensinger and Jessica Garrison reported.  One member of the Three Percenters, an alleged militia group on the FBI's naughty list, observed people taking photos from discreet locations in the hotel.  "The feds are everywhere," he thought to himself.  Indeed.  One of the feds was Robeson himself.

FBI agent, 39, investigating Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot is fired two months after he was arrested.  An FBI agent who has played a key role in the prosecution of more than a dozen 'militia' members who plotted to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been fired from the agency, two months after he was arrested for allegedly beating his wife.  Richard Trask, 39, was involved in the prosecution of a group of far-right 'militia' members, claiming in court documents that they plotted to kidnap the Michigan governor and dump her in a lake over her strict COVID mandates.  But in July, Trask's reputation started to take a nosedive when he was arrested for assault with intent to do great bodily harm after he allegedly beat his wife in their home following a disagreement at a swingers party.

Key FBI agent in Whitmer kidnapping plot posted anti-Trump rants online during investigation.  Federal prosecutors dropped the testimony of an FBI special agent involved in the investigation of an alleged plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after findings he called former President Donald Trump [bad] on social media during the investigation's course, according to a defense attorney.  Michael Hills — who represents defendant Brandon Caserta, who is among the six people charged in the case — said during a court hearing Thursday [9/2/2021] that prosecutors decided not to use Agent Richard Trask's testimony during a pending October trial.  Prosecutors gave defense teams access to Trask's social media posts this week, with at least one taking aim at Trump and his supporters, Hills said, according to the Detroit News.

FBI Agent:  "Mission is to kill the governor".  As we previously discussed, the FBI — by way of its informants — has been credibly accused of conceiving the idea to attack/kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  New text messages (that were recently filed with the court along with a supplement to defendants' motion to compel — all available [elsew]here) show conversations between an FBI Agent and his confidential informant proving that the FBI Agent sought to instigate a plot to kill Governor Whitmer.  Here it is.  FBI Special Agent Jayson Chambers directs FBI informant "Big Dan" to develop a plot: [...]

More Similarities Between the Whitmer Plot and January 6.  The first defendant to plead guilty in the alleged scheme to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will spend the next several years in jail.  A judge last week sentenced Ty Garbin, 25, to 75 months in prison on one count of "conspiracy to kidnap."  His five co-defendants have pleaded not guilty; their trial is set to begin October 12.  The case made major headlines right before Election Day 2020 as early voting was underway in the crucial swing state.  It was useful fodder for Democrats and Joe Biden. [...] But as defendants prepare for trial, the media-crafted façade surrounding the Whitmer plot, just like the immediate designation of January 6 as an "armed insurrection," is falling apart.  Court documents suggest at least 12 FBI agents and informants helped develop the scheme in the spring of 2020; Garbin and his co-defendants were arrested on October 7 after attempting to buy explosives from an undercover FBI agent.  One informant, who went by the code name "Thor," was paid $24,000 and given a new car by the FBI for his services.  A bombshell report by Darren Beattie at Revolver News explained the FBI's extensive role in orchestrating the most damning aspects of the kidnapping caper.

Unindicted Co-Conspirators in 1/6 Cases Raise Disturbing Questions of Federal Foreknowledge.  [Scroll down]  No wonder this Michigan plot didn't take the federal authorities by surprise!  FBI infiltrators comprised, at the very least, 26 percent of the plotters.  That is, at least five FBI operatives have been disclosed, against just 14 suspects indicted.  A look at the annotated indictment reveals that at every level of the plot, FBI operatives played the most important leadership roles:  The plot's "explosives expert," who the plotters were accused of planning to buy bombs from, turned out to be an FBI agent.  The head of transportation for the militia outfit turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.  The head of security for the militia outfit turned out to be an undercover FBI informant.  At least two undercover FBI informants were active participants in the initial June 6, 2020 meeting in which the plot to storm Capitol buildings was allegedly hatched — meaning at least three FBI informants infiltrated before the conspiracy even started.  In one of the plot's climactic scenes, in the main van driving up to look at Governor Whitmer's vacation home, three out of the five people in the van — 60 percent of the plot's senior leaders — were federal agents and informants.

'Dark shadow' cast on probe of Whitmer kidnap plot after FBI told informant to lie, delete texts, attorney says.  The attorney for one of six men indicted in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Friday, Aug. 13 that an FBI special agent told an informant to lie and to delete text messages between them.  Attorney Michael Hills, representing Brandon Caserta, asked a federal judge to order the government provide all communications between a paid informant, identified only as "Dan," and the FBI.  The government has said it provided a significant amount of documentation and that the defense hasn't shown evidence of entrapment that would warrant release of additional materials.  Defense attorneys want to review communication between informants as well as their conversations with the FBI.  Hills sought cellphone data of Dan, along with FBI special agents, Henrik Impola and Jayson Chambers.  "These text messages indicate the F.B.I. was pushing their paid agent to actively recruit people into an overt act in furtherance of a conspiracy," Hills wrote.

Whitmer kidnapping case rocked by allegations FBI told informant to lie, delete text messages.  When the Michigan government announced the foiling of a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in October of 2020, many applauded the law enforcement agency working the case.  Attorneys for the alleged members of the kidnapping plot, however, are claiming Federal Bureau of Investigation deceit and entrapment of innocent people.  Mlive reported Michael Hills, an attorney for Brandon Caserta, one of six men indicted, claimed an FBI special agent told a paid confidential informant identified as "Dan" to lie, delete messages between them, and implicate an innocent third party.  Hills requested government provide all communications between "Dan" and the FBI.

Bizarre arrest of FBI agent spotlights accusations of bureau corruption.  Angry, and armed, the militiamen in Michigan were gearing up, getting ready to unleash their fury over an unjust government and zeroing in on a target who they believed upended their lives with pandemic restrictions:  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.  They trained with live assault weapons; skulked around Whitmer's summer mansion in the dark as they allegedly plotted a wild scheme to kidnap her, even relying on an Iraq war veteran among them for his tactical experience.  The June 2020 plot by the Wolverine Watchmen — which authorities claim included the possible use of a stun gun on Whitmer and talk of blowing up a bridge to prevent cops from giving chase — never came to pass, broken up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a celebrated bust in which 14 people have been arrested so far.

Tucker Carlson breaks down how the FBI is planning crimes to then prosecute.  A report first published by BuzzFeed alleges that the FBI was involved in Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's kidnapping plot.  Tucker Carlson brought up the report during his show, and invited Julie Kelly from American Greatness to discuss the findings.  [Video clip]

The Whitmer Kidnapping Case Reveals The FBI's New Counterterrorism Target Is You.  Terrorism, as it turns out, is hard.  Recruiting isn't easy, and finding the right people is difficult.  A person who is willing to train, travel, keep secrets, and face a very high chance of dying is not statically all that common.  Getting access to explosives, and knowing how to use them, is technically complicated.  You can practice, but if you make a mistake, you'll blow yourself up.  Oh, there's bomb-making manuals on the internet?  Sure, there are.  Feel free to try those out.  I dare you.  Shooting isn't all that easy either, and training someone to gun fight — really, seriously gun fight — takes expertise, and time, and a place where you can shoot for hundreds of hours without anyone noticing.  Do you know where you could do something like that?  Who would teach you how to shoot like that, or fight with knives, or drive a car so you could get away?  How would you find that person?  How would you vet him to make sure he's not FBI?  You wouldn't.  Unless you're a mercenary, you've trained with a militia in Africa or Asia, or you're a SWAT officer or an elite soldier, you wouldn't know those things, and you wouldn't know people who know those things.

FBI Attempts to Do Damage Control After Initiating Whitmer Kidnapping Plot.  The FBI is attempting to do damage control after it was revealed the law enforcement bureau initiated and carried out a significant portion of the kidnapping plot against Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer last year.  "Partnerships are key to disrupting violent plots.  With the terror threat growing more insular, awareness and reporting are crucial," the FBI posted on a their website this week.  "This is especially true for domestic terrorism — defined as violent, criminal acts committed by individuals or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.  Because the FBI's mission includes protecting the free speech rights of Americans, we need a clear reason to act or investigate.  A person's beliefs can never be the sole reason to open an investigation."

The FBI's Involvement in the Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Goes Even Deeper.  As RedState reported over the last few days, multiple revelations regarding the FBI's involvement in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have put the bureau on the defensive.  After originally learning that the FBI played a pivotal role in birthing and planning the plot, it was also revealed that an undercover FBI agent who served as the chief source of information was being prosecuted for beating his wife.  Now, more details show just how integral the FBI was in what ultimately transpired. [...] I get that there will be times when criminals are put in a position to show their guilt, but if the bureau is having to birth plots and set up meetings in order to even get things off the ground that most likely would have never happened otherwise, that shows a level of involvement that assumes way too much.  In short, it's ripe for abuse, and the fact that one of the lead agents on this case turned out to be a non-credible wife-beater isn't doing much to change my opinion on that.  Does anyone really believe that guy followed protocol?

Did the FBI drive the Whitmer kidnapping plot?  Last October, we learned of the FBI's success in breaking up a plot hatched by right-wing militia members which would have involved kidnapping Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, blowing up a bridge and all manner of other dangerous schemes.  It was a rather terrifying story, but at least the would-be perpetrators were stopped and brought to justice, so all's well that ends well, right?  Maybe, but now it's sounds as if there might have been more to the story than we were told at first.  Or perhaps more correctly, there may have been less to the story.  Buzzfeed has published a deep dive into the FBI's account of the plot and how it was broken up, but the account of the men accused of planning it is considerably different.

FBI agent at center of Whitmer kidnap probe assaulted wife after swingers' party, authorities say.  An FBI agent at the center of the investigation into the plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is accused of smashing his wife's head against a nightstand and choking her after a dispute stemming from their attendance at a swingers' party, according to court records.  Special Agent Richard Trask, 39, of Kalamazoo, was charged Monday with assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder following the alleged incident Sunday.  An affidavit filed by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office in Kalamazoo County District Court said Trask's wife had bloody lacerations to the right side of her head and "blood all over chest, clothing arms and hand," as well as "severe" bruising to her neck and throat.

Were Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's would-be 'kidnappers' victims of FBI entrapment?  The FBI has been accused of encouraging and assisting a Michigan militia with their alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, with court documents showing the remarkable depth of involvement of multiple informants.  Fourteen people have been charged so far after an October 2020 sting operation on the 'Wolverine Watchmen' militia.  Many of those were arrested at a warehouse in Michigan where they had met to hand over cash for the purchase of explosives, which they allegedly planned to use in the kidnapping plot.  In December one key player in the case, Ty Garbin, entered a guilty plea to kidnap conspiracy charges and faces up to life in prison.  A trial date for the rest has been set for October 12.  But their lawyers are arguing that the FBI informants — at least 12 of them, according to a BuzzFeed investigation — went way beyond simply listening and infiltrating, and instead actively recruited others to the plot, funded and directed it.  They have claimed that without the FBI informants' involvement, there would have been no plot at all.

Pausing a minute to consider the damage leftism does to America.  Last year, we learned that some people wanted to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  It appears, though, that the FBI operatives involved in the plot originated it and planned it.  It also appears that the FBI was trying to sabotage the lawyers for the defense.  This is no small thing.  As my Criminal Law professor told us a long time ago, when facing the government, which is judge, jury, and executioner, every person, no matter how obvious his guilt, should have someone on his side.  In Michigan, though, having created a crime and then tagged people for it, the FBI is trying to deny them representation.  It also turns out that the lead agent involved in this whole thing has just been arrested for spousal abuse.  If you follow the link, you'll see that the lead agent is an odd bird under any circumstances.

It Sure Looks Like the FBI Basically Orchestrated the Gretchen Whitmer 'Kidnapping' Plot.  You may recall the much-ballyhooed plot to supposedly kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year.  Arrests were made in October of 2020, with the claim being that the FBI had stopped the kidnapping plot as well as a plan to overthrow the government.  After it came out in the weeks following the bust that one of the participants was anti-Trump and a Black Lives Matter supporter, the story quickly died down.  All of this was intertwined at the time with the politics of Whitmer's controversial COVID policies.  Earlier in the same year, there had been demonstrations at the state's capital that drew lots of press attention and condemnation.  The insinuation pushed by the media was that those demonstrations had provoked the kidnapping plot.  But now, a big curveball is being thrown into the mix regarding what actually happened.  Apparently, the FBI didn't just have informants within the group where the arrests were made.  Rather, FBI operatives played a key role in the planning of the entire ordeal and were also seemingly instrumental in birthing the plot.

FBI Special Agent In Charge of Whitmer Kidnap Plot is Arrested For Domestic Violence, Assault With Intent to Do Great Bodily Harm.  The curiously sketchy case against six accused people in the FBI organized plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer took another hit to the case credibility on Monday, as the lead FBI Special Agent was arrested on domestic violence charges.  This latest issue comes less than a week after court filings showed twelve embedded FBI operatives were involved in the suspicious plot that culminated in the arrest of six individuals.

Twelve FBI Operatives Involved in Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot That Ended With Six Arrests.  From the outset in October 2020 everything around the "plot to kidnap" Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer seemed sketchy, almost silly.  The goofy similarities and suspicions were familiar to those who remembered the sketchy October 2018 "mail bombing plot" that involved Cesar Sayoc.  It just didn't seem coincidental that both 2018 and 2020 FBI exploits involved weird frameworks, odd suspects and obviously both operations just happened to culminate in October of an election year... Surprise!  Add to that suspicion all that was known about the FBI's intense political motivations found in their activities over the past several years; including the sketchy attempt to frame candidate Donald Trump for a vast Russian election conspiracy, coordinated with the opposing candidate, Hillary Clinton; and well, suspicious cats were increasingly suspicious of the FBI engineered mess.


News items that have not yet been categorized


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Bruce Ohr and/or Nellie Ohr


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Roger Stone


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Michael Cohen


Deep State IRS Employee John Fry Pleads Guilty to Leaking Michael Cohen's Bank Records to Avenatti.  Deep State IRS analyst John Fry pleaded guilty Wednesday [8/14/2019] to leaking Michael Cohen's bank records to creepy porn lawyer Michael Avenatti and The New Yorker.  Mr. Fry was charged in February of this year by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California with unauthorized disclosure of a suspicious activity report, or SAR.  Banks file SARs on any transactions that could be illegal.

IRS analyst pleads guilty to leaking Michael Cohen's financial records.  An Internal Revenue Service analyst pleaded guilty Wednesday [8/14/2019] to illegally disclosing sensitive financial records about President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, in a leak case stemming from the Justice Department's investigations of those close to the president.  John Fry, who had worked as an investigative analyst with the IRS in San Francisco, entered his plea in federal court there.  Fry was charged in February with the unauthorized disclosure of suspicious activity reports, or SARs.  Such reports are meant to flag potentially unlawful financial conduct to government investigators but do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing.

Is A Major Real Scandal About To Break Soon?  The whole "Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress" was essentially a sub-hoax perpetuated by Buzzfeed.  Despite Cohen's sensational testimony before Congress in an effort to ingratiate himself to prosecutors, we found out that even this "bombshell" was nothing.  Taken altogether, what we know is that the entire Russian collusion story was nothing but a huge hoax foisted upon the American public, but one we should all be worried about.  What has become increasingly clear is that there was a story developed by a strange incestuous group involving the media, the Clinton campaign, deep state Obama bureaucrats and the DNC to derail the Trump administration.

Michael Cohen offers Democrats new evidence against Trump in bid to delay prison.  President Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen says he has new information to offer Democrats if authorities reduce or delay his upcoming three-year prison sentence.  In a letter to lawmakers Thursday, Cohen's attorneys say he has discovered substantial files on a hard drive that could help investigations of the president.  The hard drive is said to include over 14 million files, which consist of all emails, voice recordings, images and attachments from Cohen's computers and phones, his attorneys Lanny Davis, Michael Monico and Carly Chocron wrote.

Records show FBI was probing Michael Cohen long before raid.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller began investigating President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for fraud in his personal business dealings and for potentially acting as an unregistered foreign agent at least nine months before FBI agents in New York raided his home and office, according to documents released Tuesday [3/19/2019].

Have the Democrats finally gone too far?  Did Democrats overreach when they invited convicted liar and turncoat scammer Michael Cohen to tell Congress President Trump is a bad guy?  Are they on a ridiculous fishing expedition when they summon 81 people, including three of the president's children, to testify to a congressional panel whose chairman says he's certain Trump committed crimes, no matter what special counsel Robert Mueller says?  Have they lost their minds with plans for a single-payer health system, the Green New Deal, unrestricted abortion, open borders and endless free stuff?

Tripwire: Adam Schiff Staff Coached Michael Cohen Four Times, Over Ten Hours, Prior to Testimony.  Nothing is organic; everything is planned; this is simply what the Democrats do every single time.  They use the same playbook.  Adding further evidence toward this insufferable scheme, reports are now surfacing that HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff dispatched his staff members to coach Michael Cohen on his testimony on four occasions (in New York), prior to his congressional appearance, totaling more than 10 hours.  Again, everything is rehearsed and scripted.  These latest developments explain why the Cohen testimony was delayed.  Political democrat operatives, working with Cohen's handler Lanny Davis, worked through a training and coaching process for maximum effect.  This coordinated process is also why Cohen was given a deferment to the beginning of his prison sentence.

Cohen met with Schiff staff for over 10 hours before House Oversight Committee hearing, sources say.  President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen told House investigators this week that staff for Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., traveled to New York at least four times to meet with him for over 10 hours immediately before last month's high-profile public testimony, according to two sources familiar with the matter — as Republicans question whether the meetings amounted to coaching a witness.  The sources said the sessions covered a slew of topics addressed during the public hearing before the oversight committee — including the National Enquirer's "Catch and Kill" policy, American Media CEO David Pecker and the alleged undervaluing of President Trump's assets.  But, Republicans have raised concerns with the sessions, with Ohio Rep. Mike Turner sending a letter to Cohen's team on Wednesday demanding answers.

Cohen inquired about pardon from Trump, his lawyer says, contradicting testimony to Congress.  A lawyer representing former Trump attorney Michael Cohen said Wednesday that Cohen directed a lawyer last year to inquire about possibly receiving a pardon from President Trump.  The disclosure by Lanny Davis, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, contradicted testimony by Cohen last week on Capitol Hill, in which Cohen told members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee:  "I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from Mr. Trump."  In a written statement, Davis said Cohen "directed his attorney" to ask about a possible pardon.  The newspaper adds that it previously reported that Stephen Ryan, a past attorney for Cohen, discussed a pardon with President Trump's lawyers in the weeks after FBI agents raided Cohen's home, office and hotel room.

Michael Cohen won't make a dime on [a] book full of his House testimony.  A Michael Cohen instant book in his own words hit Tuesday — but the fixer-turned-President Trump-antagonist will reap no gain.  Diversion Books said it crashed "Cohen's House Testimony:  The Complete Transcripts and Case Documents" for March 5 publication — only five days after Cohen delivered his riveting public testimony on Capitol Hill.  "For us, it seemed like an important historic moment that will have big demand no matter what you think about Cohen," said Diversion CEO Scott Waxman.  No advance money will be paid to Cohen or any of his congressional interrogators for the book.

Remember: Michael Cohen is a liar.  Michael Cohen is, to remind everyone, a convicted liar.  He lied to the very body before which he is testifying this week.  He did it early, often, and with great panache while employed by Donald Trump — and in many cases was employed to serve that very function.  Many in the press rightly spent months, if not years, accusing Cohen of the very thing we now insist (again rightly), that our vaunted justice system proved true:  that he lies.  But mark my words, few in the media will bring the same skepticism to what he said last week about Trump before Congress.  Many will believe every word as proof the president is a criminal.  But why?  Why is Cohen suddenly believable?

Trump says Cohen's newly revealed book proposal blows up testimony: 'Totally discredited!'  President Trump on Friday [3/1/2019] blasted Michael Cohen over a newly reported book proposal that apparently painted the president in a positive light, saying his former lawyer's pitch contradicts this week's congressional testimony and renders him "totally discredited."  "Wow, just revealed that Michael Cohen wrote 'a love letter to Trump' manuscript for a new book that he was pushing.  Written and submitted long after Charlottesville and Helsinki, his phony reasons for going rogue.  Book is exact opposite of his fake testimony, which is now a lie!" Trump tweeted Friday [3/1/2019].

Michael Cohen's Lying Circus:  A Dispassionate Review.  Tragically, notwithstanding recent efforts at raising public awareness of the scourge of toxic imbecility, the spread of this debilitating disease has intensified, especially in the minds of those whose symptoms are manifested in Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).  Nowhere is this acceleration of the outbreak on clearer display than in the Left's rave reviews for the debut of the off-Broadway show trial, "Michael Cohen's Lying Circus," which will be playing a limited engagement in select venues in our nation's capital.

Michael Cohen demolishes the Russia collusion conspiracy — Will anyone be fired for lies?  Michael Cohen spent a decade as Trump's high-profile lobbyer, toady, defender and personal attorney.  And then one day, he decided that he hated Donald Trump and became Donald Trump's mortal enemy.  A big change.  How did that happen?  Well, Cohen told Congress this week that he had a kind of a road to Damascus experience.  He was personally and morally offended by what his boss said on two occasions.  First, after the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, that was the summer of 2017 and later, when he watched Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland about a year later.  Those two scandals, both of them fraudulent, entirely manufactured by the left and its servants in the media, changed Michael Cohen's mind forever.

Lynne Patton:  "Michael Cohen turned on the President because Mueller threatened to throw his wife in jail for up to 30 years".  The appearance of long-time Trump confidante Lynne Patton at the congressional testimony of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen created a considerable stir amid Washington DC.  However, the context of her appearance takes on even more drama when considered against Patton's Facebook post from January 18th of this year: [...]

Heir to infamous mob family predicts 'rat' Michael Cohen might have big problems in prison.  Once President Donald Trump's disgraced former attorney Michael Cohen reports to prison in May to serve a 3-year-old sentence for campaign finance violations and tax evasion, among other charges, he may be in store for some painfully deep trouble, according to Giovanni Gambino.  Speaking with the Daily Mail early Wednesday morning, a few short hours before Cohen testified publicly to the House Oversight Committee about the president and his alleged crimes, the Gambino crime family heir warned that prison inmates hate "rats."

Why 1 simple lie by Michael Cohen could invalidate his entire testimony.  In order for Michael Cohen to be seen as a credible and reliable source on Donald Trump's business dealings, political activities and character — both in and out of the White House — the President's former fixer must be viewed as a changed man, someone who lied, yes, but has now seen the light and spent his House hearing on Tuesday [2/26/2019] telling the truth and nothing but the truth about his former boss.  Under that narrative, Cohen was ONCE a liar — to protect Trump — but the scales have fallen from his eyes and now he is on the side of facts and truth.

Where Is House Ethics Probe into Adam Schiff?  During his grudge-airing, redemption-seeking spectacle on Wednesday [2/27/2019], Michael Cohen admitted he was in cahoots with Democratic lawmakers prior to giving his congressional testimony.  "We spoke with Chairman [Elijah] Cummings and the [Democratic] Party," Trump's former lawyer confessed to Representative Jody Hice (R-Ga.).  "We spoke with Chairman [Adam] Schiff and his people as well."  Under further questioning by Rep. James Jordan (R-Ohio), Cohen acknowledged he "spoke to Mr. Schiff about topics that were going to be raised at the upcoming hearing."  Jordan clarified that rather than simply discuss the logistics of the hearing, Schiff coached the witness on "what [he was] going to talk about."

Latest Hoaxer Michael Cohen Given 7-Hour Congressional Floor.  A Trump-hating Congress needed to bring their visceral hatred to an all-time high crescendo.  Hoaxer Jussie Smollett tried but got caught in the act by Chicago cops, so working with Hillary Clinton's former lawyer Lanny Davis, Congress brought in Michael Cohen.  Cohen's hoax lasted for seven hours, during which Georgia Congressman Jody Hice said of his testimony:  "It's a shameful mockery".  You won't see this video anywhere on the mainstream or social media today.  [Video clip]

Michael Cohen Hearing Marks the End of Government 'Oversight'.  Michael Cohen's testimony before the House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday yielded very little in terms of new information about alleged misconduct by President Donald Trump or his 2016 presidential campaign.  If anything, Cohen's testimony hurt the case against the president.  Cohen said that he had no direct evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.  He also appeared to lie several times (again).  The media, too, lost.  They billed Cohen's appearance as a climactic moment — then struggled to salvage bits and pieces of their shattered narratives from the wreckage of his testimony.  Cohen told the committee that Trump had not actually told him directly to lie to Congress.  He also admitted there was no evidence, other than the word of a convicted liar (himself), that Trump had ever directed that "hush money" be paid to Stormy Daniels and others.

Michael Cohen's Traveling Mendacity Show.  Michael Cohen is back in town and, as expected, put on a Pecksniffian public performance Wednesday [2/27/2019] for an appreciative audience consisting of Democrats, the media, and miscellaneous TDS sufferers.  Assisted by that preeminent paragon of veracity, Lanny Davis, he pitched several patent specifics of his own invention that he offered as a remedy for the dread disease that has ravaged the Beltway for two years — the Trump Presidency.  Cohen peddled his special swamp juice with the same pious solemnity with which he perjured himself before Congress about an aborted Moscow real estate deal involving Trump and his construction company.

Michael Cohen's Morality Play.  "This is a story of redemption."  That's how Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney characterized the testimony Donald Trump's longtime attorney, Michael Cohen, delivered before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.  The president's former fixer couldn't have asked for more.  Cohen has been throwing himself upon the mercy of The Resistance ever since it became clear that he would face criminal charges related to his personal misconduct.  To avoid an excessive sentence, Cohen had to share with federal prosecutors all he knew about the president.  But in turning on his former employer and the party he leads, Cohen sacrificed his relationships on the right.  He needed a new set of friends, to say nothing of donors to his legal defense fund.  And so Trump's attorney has embarked on a nakedly cynical campaign of emotional manipulation stimulating all the anti-Trump left's pleasure centers.

Michael Cohen Admits to Coordinating Scripted Testimony With Lanny Davis, Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings.  Those who follow closely will note Speaker Pelosi's plan to weaponize congressional oversight is a carefully orchestrated campaign with three key figures:  Adam Schiff, Elijah Cummings and Jerry Nadler.  Representative Jody Hice questions Michael Cohen about the construct and background of his congressional appearance.  Within the answer Cohen admits his handler, democrat operative Lanny Davis, coordinated with key congressional leadership to include Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings and HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff.  [Video clip]

The Three Times When Michael Cohen's Testimony Accidentally Exonerated President Trump.  Because attorney-client privilege is apparently no longer a thing, Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, is on Capitol Hill this week testifying against his old employer.  The media tells us that his testimony is like a carpet bomb on the Trump Administration, full of explosive and damning revelations that will surely spell doom for the President.  Something closer to the opposite is the case, I think.

Michael Cohen Admits Discussing 'Topics' with Adam Schiff Before Testimony.  Michael Cohen, former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, admitted that he discussed with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) "topics that might come up" in preparation for his Wednesday [2/27/2019] hearing before the House Oversight Committee.  "I spoke to Mr. Schiff about topics that were going to be raised at the upcoming hearing," Cohen told Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) when pressed about the pair's past discussion.  "Whoa," Jordan responded.  "Not just what time you're going to show up, but what you're going to talk about?  Whoa."

GOP reps refer Michael Cohen to DOJ for alleged perjury during hearing.  House Oversight Committee Republicans on Thursday referred ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen to the Justice Department for alleged perjury, claiming he lied during sworn testimony before the panel a day earlier about a number of issues including his ambitions to work in the Trump administration and contracts with foreign entities.  Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., penned a letter Thursday [2/28/2019] to newly sworn-in Attorney General William Barr, citing evidence that Cohen "committed perjury" during his hearing before the committee on Wednesday.

Cohen Admits He Can't Corroborate His Allegations Against Trump.  President Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen admitted Wednesday [2/27/2019] he is unable to corroborate allegations that the president discussed elements of WikiLeaks' email hacks with Roger Stone.  "How can we corroborate what you're saying?" Democratic Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz of Florida asked Cohen, referring to the former Trump confidant's allegations that the president was aware of Stone's contact with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange.  She is among a slew of Democrats and Republicans grilling Cohen during a congressional hearing.  "I don't know, but I suspect the special counsel's office and other government agencies have the information that you're seeking," Cohen said in reply.

Cohen admits he has no evidence Trump colluded with Russians, 'but I have my suspicions'.  President Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen said Wednesday that he has no evidence suggesting his former boss colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election, but that he has his "suspicions."  "Questions have been raised about whether I know of direct evidence that Mr. Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia.  I do not, and I want to be clear.  But I have my suspicions," Cohen told lawmakers.  There are "so many dots that all seem to lead" in the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he added.

On the eve of congressional testimony, Michael Cohen disbarred for lying to Congress.  Michael Cohen, the former longtime personal attorney of President Trump, was officially disbarred Tuesday [2/26/2019].  A panel of five justices at the New York Supreme Court ruled that Cohen had ceased to be an attorney when he was convicted in federal court in November 2018 of making false statements to Congress.  The judicial panel ruled that Cohen "ceased to be an attorney upon his federal conviction of making false statements to the United States Congress."  Back in August 2018, President Trump tweeted:  "If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen!"  Today, the justices said that Cohen's name would be "stricken from the roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law in the State of New York."

Cohen Slapped With Criminal Referral Mid-Testimony Over FARA Violation.  Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was hit with a criminal referral for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) following a heated exchange during Cohen's Wednesday testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee.

Michael Cohen Opening Statement, Worded for Maximum Political Damage.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has worked closely with House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings to use President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen as the cornerstone to a carefully planned democrat impeachment effort.  Working collaboratively with the current U.S. Department of Justice, Speaker Pelosi organized a deferment of prison sentence for Mr. Cohen so he could testify to the House committees. [...] The 20 pages of toxic and disparaging opening remarks are specifically and carefully worded by Cohen and his political handler Lanny Davis to create maximum political damage.  Together with personal documents (and recordings) Cohen will provide, this pre-planned effort is what U.S. media will use to assist their ideological allies in congress.

Michael Cohen Plans to Call Trump a 'Con Man' and a 'Cheat' in Congressional Testimony.  Michael D. Cohen plans to tell Congress on Wednesday [2/27/2019] that President Trump is a "con man" and a "cheat" who knew a longtime adviser was communicating with WikiLeaks — and who implicitly instructed Mr. Cohen to lie about a Trump Tower project in Moscow that was underway during the 2016 presidential campaign.  The extraordinary testimony will take place when Mr. Cohen, the president's former lawyer and fixer, publicly appears before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.  An advance copy of Mr. Cohen's testimony was obtained Tuesday night by reporters at multiple news organizations, including The New York Times, just as Mr. Trump began meetings in Vietnam before convening with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

Get Trump!  Democrats, Media Go All In On Michael Cohen.  The major broadcast television networks will air live coverage Wednesday of the Democrat-led House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen who has turned on his former client since being targeted by federal prosecutors.  The cable news networks will also carry the hearing live in which Cohen will reportedly say of President Trump, "He is a racist.  He is a conman.  He is a cheat."

Cohen hearings [are] designed to keep [the] public in [the] dark about Russia.  Former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is scheduled to appear before three congressional committees this week before he heads to jail to serve a sentence for tax evasion and lying to Congress. [...] It would be a great service if the Cohen appearances helped increase the store of public information on the Trump-Russia furor.  But even though Cohen is a key figure in the matter — his name is mentioned 24 times in the so-called Trump dossier — the hearings appear designed to prevent the public from learning anything new about the Russia matter.

Michael Cohen Disbarred Following Felony Conviction For Lying Under Oath.  Donald Trump's former-attorney-turned rat has been disbarred, reported the New York Post. [...] According to the law, any lawyer "who shall be convicted of a felony ... shall upon such conviction, cease to be an attorney and counsellor-at-law, or to be competent to practice law as such."  Mr. Cohen can file for reinstatement in seven years — or sooner if he were to be pardoned (not going to happen).  Michael Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in prison for lying to Congress and other charges related to his taxi medallion company in December and will report to prison on May 6th.

Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting.  A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump's former lawyer and "fixer" Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.  During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said.

Rebuttal:
Same Sketchy Journalists Claim Again Michael Cohen in Prague Story.  McClatchy journalists Peter Stone and Greg Gordon are once again attempting to prop-up the most disproven allegation in the Chris Steele/Nellie Ohr dossier about Michael Cohen making a trip to Prague.  They appear to stir this false story approximately every six months.  This iteration is framed around cell-phone tower pings.  Michael Cohen has denied the claim for years.  Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, has clearly denied the claim.  The special counsel has reviewed and walked away from the claim.  The Washington Post spent months trying to substantiate the claim, and could find no evidence.  According to WaPo reporter Greg Miller, the CIA and FBI have refuted the claim.  It simply did not happen.

Beyond rebuttal:
Michael Cohen Report Is Based On Third-Hand Information, Reporter Reveals.  The reporters who broke a potentially bombshell story claiming evidence that Michael Cohen visited Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign did not see for themselves some of the underlying intelligence cited in their report, one of the journalists who wrote the story revealed Thursday [12/27/2018].  In an interview on MSNBC, Greg Gordon said that he and his McClatchy colleague, Peter Stone, did not physically see cell tower records and intelligence intercepts that they claim placed Cohen in Prague in summer 2016.  Gordon also suggested that the four anonymous sources he and Stone cite in their article also did not see the intelligence for themselves, meaning that the report is based on third-hand information.

More:
McClatchy News Beclowns Themselves With Michael Cohen Sourcing.  After claiming to have proprietary information that Michael Cohen visited Prague, McClatchy News reporter Greg Gordon appeared on MSNBC to share the origin of the story.  Not only did the reporters who wrote the article not see the evidence, the sources they used for the claim that Cohen visited Prague also did not see the evidence.  Apparently, a person told another person, who then told Greg Gordon and Peter Stone what the 3rd hand person told them.  That's the sourcing for the claim that Michael Cohen's cell phone was in Prague.

Why Did Michael Cohen Plead Guilty to Campaign Finance Crimes That Aren't Campaign Finance Crimes?  On Wednesday [12/12/2018], a district court judge in Manhattan accepted Michael Cohen's guilty plea to political crimes and sentenced him to three years in the American gulag.  But if the two campaign finance crimes to which he pleaded guilty are not really crimes, why did he plead guilty to them?  And what precedents does this case establish that can be used against political enemies in the future?

Representative Elijah Cummings Outlines Democrat Plan to Remove President Trump via Michael Cohen.  It was curious to see Michael Cohen walk out of his sentencing hearing last week without having to report to jail/prison for the punishment therein. [...] In the prosecutorial agreement within the Cohen case, there obviously remains the fulfillment of terms.  Michael Cohen doesn't report to prison until March 6th, 2019.  Why the exceptional judicial delay and generosity?

Michael Cohen's farewell interview was an embarrassment.  When you've admitted to years of lying, running a shady taxi medallion scheme, and other deceptions, there's not much left to do other than go far, far away and hope the public forgets.  Cohen instead went on ABC's "Good Morning America" to look pathetic. [...] Cohen had misled Congress about the timeline of a failed business deal he pursued in Russia on behalf of the Trump Organization (putting us the closest we've come so far to demonstrating any meaningful connection between President Trump and the Kremlin).  For that, he was given a paltry two months in prison, which were to be served concurrent with the rest of his time.  So, he effectively got no time for that one.  There is no way to make this not look bad for Cohen, though he put his heart into trying.

Robert Mueller's case against Michael Cohen has very little to do with Trump or campaign finance violations.  President Trump and the 2016 campaign amount to a footnote in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sentence filings on Michael Cohen, despite the news media's heavily overstated narrative that the whole thing is about to blow the lid on a White House "felony."  The documents are almost exclusively an indictment of Cohen as a tax evader and serial liar.  The link to Trump, or of any allegation of wrongdoing on his behalf, has nowhere near the clarity liberals want you to believe.

Cohen lied, broke the law and used Trump to get rich — and now blames Trump for his troubles.  In his federal court sentencing hearing Wednesday, President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen cut a tragic figure of his own making as he tried to convince a judge to spare him from prison for a host of crimes ranging from tax fraud to bank fraud to lying to Congress.  He claimed he was a trusting soul undone by the ambition and the machinations of an evil man — Donald Trump.  It played out like a modern take on the Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire."

Larry O'Connor:  Michael Cohen Sentencing 'Is Nothing But a Power Grab' to Get Rid of Trump.  While filling in for radio host Mark Levin on his nationally syndicated radio talk show, "The Mark Levin Show," on Wednesday night [12/12/2018], WMAL radio host Larry O'Connor, who also has his own show, "The Larry O'Connor Show," said that the sentencing of Michael Cohen, the former attorney of President Donald Trump, was "nothing but a power grab" to get rid of President Trump.  "This is really a power grab from the Southern District of New York," Larry O'Connor said.  "Yes, the intention is to get rid of President Trump, but, also, let's face it, if you believe and agree and love the separation of powers as articulated in our U.S. Constitution, this is nothing but a power grab."

Cohen's pleas concocted by prosecutors to snare Trump.  I'm experiencing 1998 déjà vu as prosecutors once again work overtime to turn extramarital affairs and the efforts to keep them secret into impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors.  Unable to get the witnesses to compose the stories they want, today's prosecutors are discovering they can simply compose the crimes by manipulating the pleas of men desperate to protect their families.  The Michael Cohen sentencing memo took aim directly at both Cohen and President Donald Trump.  It was used, unethically, to cast the president as directing a criminal conspiracy to make "secret and illegal" payments.  Sentencing memos are not supposed to use secret grand jury info to point fingers at those who are not being sentenced, but that's exactly what these did.

Defeat and the Dossier Explain Everything.  Donald Trump's former consiglieri Michael Cohen, along with being charged with tax avoidance and improper business deals, allegedly is guilty also of trying to leverage money and attention by exaggerating his influence with candidate and later President Trump.  In other words, Cohen to spec followed the standard creepy daily fare for Washington and New York wannabe fixers.  But did we need Robert Mueller's 18 months and $40 million to uncover and redirect to federal attorneys what was largely self-evident?  Could not the U.S. government long ago, without the prompt of a special counsel, have uncovered that Michael Cohen did not fully pay his taxes — in the manner of an Al Sharpton, Timothy Geithner, and Tom Daschle?

Why Trump is likely to be indicted by Manhattan US Attorney.  The major takeaway from the 40-page sentencing memorandum filed by federal prosecutors Friday [12/7/2018] for Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney, is this:  The president is very likely to be indicted on a charge of violating federal campaign finance laws.  It has been obvious for some time that President Trump is the principal subject of the investigation still being conducted by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.  Cohen earlier pleaded guilty to multiple counts of business and tax fraud, violating campaign finance law, and making false statements to Congress regarding unsuccessful efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

New Poll:  Half of Voters Don't Believe Mueller Has Anything on Trump.  Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation is reportedly heating up again, with a number of reports indicating he's finally getting ready to conclude nearly two years of work on the 2016 presidential election.  Last week President Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying during congressional testimony.  This is the second plea deal for Cohen after he pleaded guilty to tax fraud and campaign finance violations in August.  In addition, Mueller's office announced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort violated terms of his plea agreement.  But according to half of Americans watching this saga play out, Mueller doesn't seem to have any evidence to bring charges against President Trump.

For Trump, Cohen Plea Deal's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Exoneration.  Contrary to media speculation that Robert Mueller is closing in on President Trump, the special prosecutor's plea deal with Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen offers further evidence that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russians during the 2016 election, according to congressional investigators and former prosecutors.

Where's the Beef, Mueller?  The Mueller investigation remains a "collusion" probe without any collusion.  For all of the media's heavy breathing about Thursday's news of a Michael Cohen guilty plea, it doesn't get Mueller any closer to the stated goal of his investigation.  On CNN, where its programming is an endless game of anti-Trump gotcha, Jeff Zucker's puppets recited his mandated talking point that Trump's fixer "may" have "broken" everything, blah, blah, blah.  But the very conjectural character of this feverish chatter indicated the hollowness of the story.  If the plea contained any evidence of collusion, the Hillary donors who make up much of Mueller's staff would surely have leaked it to CNN by now.

Does Mueller Have an October Surprise?  The investigation that was ostensibly initiated to ascertain if the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to affect the 2016 election has been ongoing for twenty-seven months.  Seventeen months of which have been in the hands of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his Democrat phalanx of investigators and prosecutors spending in excess of $1.4 million a month.)  This prolonged inquisition has produced no evidence or indictments supporting the collusion allegation.  Yet the investigation marches on with no end in sight. [...] Based on his insistence that Trump testify in what is obviously a perjury trap, the innumerable leaks emanating from Mueller's office, the conviction of Paul Manafort on unrelated charges and the coerced guilty plea by Michael Cohen again on unrelated charges, Robert Mueller appears to have a much greater animus toward Donald Trump than Lawrence Walsh toward Ronald Reagan or George Bush.

Michael Cohen's lawyer has done real damage to the case against Trump.  One of the most bizarre aspects of the investigations engulfing the Trump administration is the lawyers involved.  Here we have a presidency on the line, and this is Trump's team?  The top legal spokesmen for each side are ... Rudolph W. Giuliani and Lanny Davis!?  Up until this point, though, Giuliani was the Great Contradictor and Davis was merely a colorful character.  Now that has changed in a big way.  In a new interview with The Washington Post's Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman, Davis is backing off two massive claims he made in recent weeks, including that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has told people he witnessed President Trump being informed of Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer before it happened.

Michael Cohen, the Rabbit in Robert Mueller's Hat.  People are wondering why Cohen waited so long before turning up at CNN with scratchy audio recordings he claims to have secretly recorded on former, unsuspecting client Donald J. Trump.  It's the Midterms that kept Mike The Rabbit waiting so long.  Michael Cohen's testimony is Mueller's Special Counsel's last chance to keep the Russians-stole-the-election conspiracy alive in order to get more Democrats returned to power in Midterms, and to keep investigations going all the way through to 2020 presidential elections.

Trump won't lose supporters over Manafort, Cohen — despite what liberal media are spewing.  The liberal media suggest that President Trump is on a sinking ship and will be soon be losing the support of a large number of his followers — the group Hillary Clinton dismissively described as "a basket full of deplorables."  Don't believe it.  The conviction Tuesday of former Trump presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort on tax and bank fraud charges — and the guilty plea that Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen entered the same day to charges of violating federal campaign finance laws, tax evasion and making a false statement to a bank — won't shake support for Trump among the millions of Americans who voted for him and appreciate his many accomplishments in office.

Trump legal team makes case to prosecute Comey, others for lying after Cohen guilty plea.  Former and current members of President Trump's legal team have compiled research to make the case that former FBI Director James B. Comey misled Congress in his testimony and is not a reliable witness for special counsel Robert Mueller.  The lawyers last year tried to persuade Mr. Mueller to investigate Mr. Comey, his former colleague, to no avail.  The Trump-Comey war took on new dimensions last week as Mr. Mueller won a guilty plea from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who admitted to lying to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about a proposed election-year Trump Organization Moscow hotel deal.

Why is Michael Cohen prosecuted when Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder and Lois Lerner were not?  With a Republican president in place and soon-to-be Democrat-run House, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has conveniently remembered that they have the ability to prosecute people who lie to Congress.  This was a power they had inexplicably forgotten about during the 10 years that Democrats were benefiting from witnesses who lied.  No doubt there should be consequences and accountability if you testify to Congress under oath and blatantly lie or violate the law.  But the DOJ seems to have different standards based on which party's political fortunes will be impacted.  It is this unequal application of justice that is dividing the country and threatens peace.  Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former attorney, struck a plea deal with the DOJ for lying to Congress.  But what about all the other egregious cases of misconduct interacting with Congress?  Why weren't those pursued or prosecuted?

Another nothing-burger?  Catherine Herridge breaks down Michael Cohen's guilty plea 'bombshell'.  Early Thursday morning word broke that President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen had pleaded guilty to lying to Congress during its investigation into possible Russian collusion.  Following the announcement, the perpetually hysterical left broke into cheers of gleeful applause over the belief that the president would soon be the next one to be indicted.

Another Turbulent Week with Some Big Mysteries.  The Special Counsel keeps rolling with indictments that have nothing to do with the original charge — certainly because the only collusion with Russia was by Hillary.  Each time the anti-Trumpers are certain the President's end is nigh.  This week's indictment of [Michael] Cohen is of a piece with that history.

On Hush Money, the President's Best Defense Is Lack of Criminal Intent.  You can be forgiven if you've forgotten there even is a Mueller investigation.  Just a week ago, the country was on tenterhooks as the jury in Paul Manafort's trial headed into the weekend without having reached a verdict.  Would they hang?  Had Special Counsel Robert Mueller overreached?  Did federal judge T. S. Ellis of the Eastern District of Virginia undermine the prosecutors?  Such is the permanent frenzy of the Trump news cycle that, even with Tuesday's convictions, Manafort and Mueller seem like old news.  They've been superseded by Michael Cohen's guilty plea; specifically, by the fallout of Cohen's having implicated the president in felony campaign-finance offenses during his allocution in Manhattan federal court late Tuesday afternoon — an otherworldly media moment, simultaneous with the jury verdict in Manafort's trial 200 miles south.

Mueller Cannot Have Credibility If He Ignores Hillary's Crimes.  This investigation is absent of all credibility because it specifically ignores what happened on the Hillary side!  Without what happened on the Hillary side, they would not have an investigation of Trump.  That's why!  There is a dossier — and, by the way, do you know why Cohen's caught up in this?  The dossier mentions Cohen!  The dossier, this phony, unprovable piece of Hillary Clinton opposition research also mentions Cohen.  That's how he gets lassoed into this.

War of Attrition Against President Trump.  Precisely how does Bill Clinton's main legal fixer turn up as Michael Cohen's attorney in a plea bargain with a special prosecutor?  If you put that kind of plot line in a political thriller, the public would laugh you off the newsstand book racks.  Nonetheless, we now have Lanny Davis, special counsel to the president for Bill Clinton during 1996-1998, declaring to CNN:  "It's my observation that Mr. Cohen has knowledge that would be of interest to the special counsel about the issue of whether Donald Trump, ahead of time, knew about the hacking of emails, which is a computer crime."  On Tuesday [8/21/2018] Davis told MSNBC that Cohen knew about "the possibility of a conspiracy to collude and corrupt the American democracy system in the 2016 election."

Cohen Attorney Lanny Davis Is Registered Foreign Agent for Pro-Russian Oligarch Wanted by US Government and Linked to Putin.  On Tuesday [8/21/2018] former Trump Attorney Michael Cohen, on the advice of his attorney and Clinton advisor Lanny Davis, surrendered himself to the FBI after it was reported he reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors. [...] Cohen attorney Lanny Davis is a registered foreign agent for Dmytro Firtash, a pro-Russia Ukrainian oligarch wanted by the US government.

Dershowitz: Candidate Entitled To Pay Hush Money, Committed No Election Crime.  Alan Dershowitz said the only campaign violation that could have happened is if former Trump attorney Michael Cohen did break a campaign finance law on his own volution and called the situation a "Catch-22" on MSNBC this afternoon [8/22/2018].

Cohen Attorney Backtracks On Claim That Trump Had Advance Knowledge of Russian Hacking.  Lanny Davis, an attorney for Michael Cohen, is backtracking from his stunning claim that President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of Russian hacking efforts.  During interviews on Tuesday [8/21/2018] and Wednesday, Davis laid out a grave allegation against Trump, saying that Cohen had information that would be of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller, including about Russian hacking of Democrats' emails.  In an interview Tuesday with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Davis said Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, has "knowledge about the computer crime of hacking and whether or not Mr. Trump knew ahead of time about that crime and even cheered it on."

Lanny Davis:  Michael Cohen Never Went To Prague As Steele Dossier Claims.  Lanny Davis, the Clinton-connected attorney for Michael Cohen, said Wednesday [8/22/2018] that the former Trump lawyer had never been to Prague, as the infamous Steele dossier alleges.  "Thirteen references to Mr. Cohen are false in the dossier, but he has never been to Prague in his life," Davis said Wednesday in an interview on Bloomberg.  The statement is a significant denial given that, according to Davis, Cohen has turned over a new leaf by deciding to discuss his work on behalf of President Donald Trump.

MSNBC Keeps Lying About the Dossier Being Corroborated.  An MSNBC panelist named Paul Butler, a Georgetown Professor, stated on the Joy Reid show that the Steele dossier "keeps getting corroborated" by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and reporters.  That is not at all true.  Nothing of significance has been confirmed.  Even Jim Comey said the FBI could not verify the document.  Earlier this week, Lanny Davis, the Clinton mob lawyer now representing Cohen, asserted that the dossier's allegations about Cohen are "100 percent" false.

Loose Ends #44.  As I said in the previous note, I've been on the road all week and mostly ill-informed about the breaking Trump stories, and much else.  So all I have are some more Loose Ends to file.  With one caveat.  I hadn't been paying attention to the fact that Michael Cohen's attorney is Lanny Davis.  Lanny Davis???  Seriously?  What is this — some kind of parallel universe remake of the Clinton sex scandals of the 1990s?  We all recall how that ended, don't we?

How long before Cohen's lawyer changes his story again?  Can Michael Cohen give evidence that President Trump knowingly colluded with Russia, or does he have no knowledge whatsoever?  It seems to depend on what story his lawyer is teasing at the moment.  Following Cohen's guilty plea Tuesday, attorney Lanny Davis said on MSNBC that his client is willing to speak with special counsel Robert Mueller about a "conspiracy to collude," citing his "knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest."  That seemed to confirm July 27 CNN and CBS reports that Cohen was prepared to testify that Trump knew in advance about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting in which Russians were expected to offer political dirt on Hillary Clinton.  Davis personally confirmed those stories off the record to The [New York] Post at the time.  Except now Davis says it isn't true.

Lanny Davis Admits He Lied to the Media About Major Trump Tower Report.  Michael Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis admitted on Thursday that he erroneously confirmed a CNN report about Trump's knowledge of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with the Russians.  CNN reported on July 27 that Cohen was prepared to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that the president had advance knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting.  On Wednesday, Davis said that the reporting was "mixed up" and that his client had no information regarding when Trump knew about the meeting.  According to the New York Post, however, Davis himself confirmed CNN's report as an anonymous source when it was first published.  Davis is now apologizing on the record for confirming something he did not know to be true.

Newest Charity Case For The Resistance:  Michael Cohen.  If it's any comfort, it's not like he's making Peter Strzok money or anything.  Still, he's more than $100,000 richer than he was yesterday [8/21/2018] thanks to [an] infernal GoFundMe page, proof that in America 2018 even a rich, crooked New York lawyer can rake in the ResistanceBucks so long as he's performing the very important task of [annoying] the left's least favorite person.

Does Michael Cohen's Guilty Plea Justify All The Trump Impeachment Talk?  Talk of impeaching President Trump is everywhere.  But Democrats have been pining for Trump's impeachment since before he even set foot in the White House.  Michael Cohen's guilty plea is just the latest excuse to bring it up.

Why Michael Cohen Agreed to Plead Guilty — And Implicate the President.  Adding to the pressure, David Pecker, the chairman of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, provided prosecutors with details about payments Mr. Cohen arranged with women who alleged sexual encounters with President Trump, including Mr. Trump's knowledge of the deals.  This account of how Mr. Cohen went from a pugnacious defender of the president to turning on Mr. Trump is based on details provided by people close to Mr. Cohen and others briefed on the discussions with prosecutors.  For weeks, the president had been distancing himself from Mr. Cohen, including by stopping paying the lawyer's legal fees, making clear amid the pressure that he was on his own.

How The Clintons Directed Michael Cohen To Plead Guilty & Implicate President Trump.  Weeks earlier D.C. Whispers warned readers of Lanny Davis's sudden appearance at the side of former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen.  Mr. Davis is a longtime Clinton operative and as recently as 2016 was helping to manage Hillary Clinton's presidential run.  His longstanding ties to the Clintons affords him strong ties with both the Democrat and Republican establishments, vast D.C. lobbying powers, and media moguls.  In short, he is as Deep State as Deep State gets.  Now he's using Michael Cohen to add manufactured fuel to the "get President Trump" fire as the Clintons sit back and watch and wait.

Clinton Mob Lawyer Lanny Davis Sold Out His Client.  Some legal experts are saying today that Lanny Davis, Hillary's close friend and general counsel, sold his client Michael Cohen out with a sentence unwarranted by the crimes.  Do we have to ask ourselves why?  Is it because Hillary Clinton is his client and not Michael Cohen?  It's important to note that the verdict and plea in the Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen cases respectively have nothing to do with Russia or collusion.  The Manafort trial did not deal with his role as a Trump campaign chairman.  In Cohen's case, he said he made the payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougall at the direction of an unidentified candidate.  That's not criminal.

Democrats Who Support Trump:  CNN's Coverage of Cohen, Manafort Is a 'Side Show'.  Registered Democrats who support President Donald Trump told CNN its coverage of the president's administration is a "side show" and that they are glad to see the stock market rise and their retirement savings increase.  CNN aired footage Friday morning [8/24/2018] of correspondent Jason Carroll speaking with registered Democrats in Pennsylvania praising Trump for improving the economy and looking out for their savings.  Eileen and Richard Sorokas supported former President Barack Obama during both elections, but then switched over and supported Trump because of his promises to improve the economy.


The trial(s) of Paul Manafort


Paul Manafort Settles With Justice Department For $3.15 Million.  Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort will pay $3.15 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by the Justice Department (DOJ) for his alleged failure to report foreign bank accounts, newly released court documents show.  The DOJ accused Manafort of willfully failing to provide timely reports about his financial interests in foreign bank accounts in an April 2022 lawsuit filed in Palm Beach, Florida.  [Tweet]  Manafort made consulting income from business dealings with Ukrainian individuals from 2006-14 and allegedly deposited his income in accounts based in Cyprus, the United Kingdom, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, according to the lawsuit.  Some of the accounts listed Manafort's name as the owner, while others were allegedly held by shell corporations run by various individuals on his behalf, the lawsuit reads.

As Impeachment Ends, It's Time to Correct These Nine Injustices.  [#1] Commute Paul Manafort's sentence.  Paul Manafort has spent most of his time in solitary confinement since his arrest in 2017.  As noted by the National Review, "Everyone knows this prosecution is politically motivated.  [The prosecutor] hates the president and wants to use solitary confinement in a hellhole with violent criminals to squeeze Manafort into testifying against the president."  Reason magazine, no fan of either Trump or Manafort, has called this torture.  Enough is enough.  He's served years in brutal conditions for white collar crimes.  Commute his sentence.

Major Update:  Was Manafort A Plant, Willing Or Otherwise?  Long ago a trusted source told me that the Clinton campaign had very early on come to the conclusion that Trump would be the most dangerous GOP candidate, from a Clinton perspective.  That would have meant that the Clinton organization would have mobilized to take Trump down, and the Russia narrative seems to have been decided on at an early date.  Thus we see the persistent attempt by Felix Sater to somehow link Trump to the moribund Trump Moscow project, the Trump Tower meeting with Veselnitskaya, etc.  The usual story is that Manafort was introduced into the Trump campaign through the efforts of Tom Barrack, a Syrian born real estate magnate who was friends with both Trump and Manafort.  Barrack had been a major help to Ivanka and Jared Kushner in a difficult real estate situation and used that connection to urge the Kushners to get Barrack onto the campaign.  Sound familiar?  Sound possible?  Of course.  The question is:  Was there an ulterior motive to all this?

Is an FBI Interview a G-Man's License to Lie?  [Scroll down]  Strangely, there was no such transcript of what [Paul] Manafort had said in his interviews.  This made it difficult to reconstruct what his responses to questioning had been, let alone determine whether they were truthful.  But if there was no transcript, surely the court could consult a videotape of his interrogation, the sort of recording that is standard practice for local police who are interviewing, say, a suspected car thief.  And if there was no videotape for the judge to watch, surely there was, at the very least, an audiotape.  But no.  The bureau has insisted instead, for more than half a century, on summarizing its interrogations, of everyone from witnesses to targets, in a type of memo designated an FD-302 or just "302."

New York prosecutors throw out Constitution to charge Manafort.  This month, the greatest off Broadway production should be titled "The Prosecutors," starring Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia James.  As in another dramatic comedy, "The Producers," the state case against former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort seems designed to fail, leaving its prosecutors with the convenient windfall of public support and none of the burden.

NY's political prosecution of Manafort should scare us all.  The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has indicted Paul Manafort for mortgage fraud and more than a dozen other state felonies.  This is a nakedly political prosecution.  Democrats, who run the Empire State, are apoplectic that President Trump could pardon his former campaign manager, who has been sentenced to 90 months in prison in the Mueller probe.  The federal charges had nothing to do with the rationale for the special counsel's investigation, which involves Russia's interference in the 2016 election and any possible Trump campaign coordination in that effort.  But there is no doubt that the convictions and sentences, which resulted from separate but related proceedings in the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Columbia, are valid.  In Washington on Wednesday [3/13/2019], Judge Amy Berman Jackson added 43 months of incarceration to the 47-months of imprisonment Judge T.S. Ellis imposed in Alexandria last week.

Paul Manafort Was an Agent of Ukraine, Not Russia.  According to the indictment Robert Mueller filed against him, Manafort was an unregistered "agent of the Government of Ukraine."  He also functioned as an agent of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's president from 2010 to 2014, and of two political parties, the Party of Regions and its successor, the Opposition Bloc.  Manafort was not an unregistered agent of Russia.  Mueller never alleged that Manafort was a clandestine operative of the Kremlin.  He worked for Ukraine, not Putin.  Indeed, for much of his time in Ukraine, he pushed his clients against Putin's interests.

Federal Judge Just Slapped The Anti-Trump Collusion Conspiracy Hoax In The Face.  For months the Establishment Media and its Democrat Party cohorts had breathlessly declared Paul Manafort was going away for "a very long time" while attempting to insinuate Mr. Manafort's legal troubles were directly linked to his time with the Trump campaign.  The truth is they weren't.  Manafort faced trial for matters totally unrelated to President Trump but rather on decades-old financial dealings.  And this week a federal judge said as much while also handing out a relatively light sentence that has the far left seething.

Judge Ellis rebuked Special Counsel Meuller when sentencing Paul Manafort.  Judge T.S. Ellis, a Reagan appointee to the Federal District Court for Eastern Virginia, is well known for speaking his mind.  Yesterday, in sentencing Paul Manafort, he rebuked Team Mueller's harsh sentence recommendation of 19-24 years' imprisonment as "excessive," and instead set a lot of progressives' hair on fire by imposing a sentence of 47 months and recommended counting the nine months of time served (much of it in solitary confinement, imposed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson in a separate case in D.C. District Court) against that total, meaning just over three years of imprisonment.

The 'Otherwise Blameless Life' of Paul Manafort.  "He has lived an otherwise blameless life," said Judge T. S. Ellis as he sentenced Paul Manafort to just 47 months in prison on Thursday [3/7/2019].  In an otherwise blameless life, Paul Manafort lobbied on behalf of the tobacco industry and wangled millions in tax breaks for corporations.  In an otherwise blameless life, he helped Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos bolster his image in Washington after he assassinated his primary political opponent.  In an otherwise blameless life, he worked to keep arms flowing to the Angolan generalissimo Jonas Savimbi, a monstrous leader bankrolled by the apartheid government in South Africa.  While Manafort helped portray his client as an anti-communist "freedom fighter," Savimbi's army planted millions of land mines in peasant fields, resulting in 15,000 amputees.

Mueller's Final Manafort Filings Are Scant On Russia Details, Never Mention 'Trump' Or 'Collusion'.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final filings against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort are likely bad news for Manafort, but may be — oddly — good news for President Donald Trump.  Mueller and his team made their final required filing in Manafort's case late Friday, submitting a "government sentencing memorandum" to the United States District Court in Washington, D.C., justifying their request for a harsh, 17-year prison sentence against Manafort.  In it, the government argues that Manafort "chose repeatedly and knowingly to violate the law — whether the laws proscribed garden-variety crimes such as tax fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and bank fraud, or more esoteric laws that he nevertheless was intimately familiar with, such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)," both before and after he was under scrutiny by the Special Counsel.

Ken Starr:  The hammer is about to drop on Paul Manafort after Mueller learns he was a mole for Trump.  Former independent counsel Ken Starr told CNN on Wednesday that Paul Manafort is in even deeper trouble with Robert Mueller after it was revealed Tuesday that his lawyer has been briefing the president's legal team about what he's been telling federal investigators.  "You at this stage belong to the prosecutors.  You're now inside the tent, you're part of the team," Starr said of Manafort.  "So to be leaking information to the lawyers outside the team, that's going to be viewed very seriously and obviously is."

Manafort/Assange Drama Proves Media Will Buy Any Russia Conspiracy Story, No Matter Its Flaws.  Many media figures have swallowed whole, without evidence, a conspiracy theory that Donald Trump became president by treasonously colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election from its rightful owner, Hillary Clinton.  The information operation that pushed this story turned out to have been secretly developed and funded by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, a fact uncovered only through the tenacious digging of Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the face of major opposition from the media and Democrats on the committee.  The information operation has been fed to an increasingly compliant and credulous media with nearly no resistance.  Fusion GPS is the Clinton- and Democrat-funded group that initiated the Russia collusion story, although it is now, according to congressional testimony, being spearheaded by the Democracy Integrity Project and funded to the tune of $50 million.  The Washington Post quietly admitted, buried the news, really, that the operation was funded by George Soros.

Hollywood Celebrates Paul Manafort Guilty Plea.  Several celebrities took to social media on Friday [9/14/2018] and posted messages celebrating former Trump presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort's decision to plead guilty to a federal conspiracy charge as part of a plea agreement with special counsel Robert Mueller. [...] The White House issued a statement Friday that said the charges against Paul Manafort are unrelated to Mr. Trump's election victory.

Paul Manafort's Plea.  Former convention delegate manager Paul Manafort, entered into a plea deal today with Special Counsel Robert Mueller for issues related to his lobbying firm and FARA registry violations.  The plea has nothing to do with candidate Trump, president-elect Trump, or President Trump.

Manafort Deal Looks Like Good News for Trump, Terrible News for Democrats.  Something rarely brought up by our utterly useless but still corrupt establishment media is that in order for someone to "flip," that someone has to have the goods on someone else.  In other words, if you want to deal your way out of prison time, you have to have something to deal with; you actually have to serve someone's head up on a platter.  Nevertheless, all throughout the Russian Collusion Hoax, and every time someone agrees to "cooperate" with Mueller, the media squee like the 14-year-old girls they all are and then intentionally mislead the public by matter-of-factly saying, "This is bad news for Trump."  Well, no, actually it is not.

Manafort's Guilty Plea.  If we assume, for argument's sake, that the special counsel has wanted to make a criminal case on the president (I've never been fully convinced of this), the challenge Mueller has had from the start is that there was no underlying crime to predicate his investigation.  He was rashly appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the uproar over the president's ham-fisted firing of FBI director James Comey.  But terminating executive-branch officers is not obstruction; it is a prerogative of the presidency.  If it is done abusively or for unsavory motives, that could be grounds for impeachment, but not for criminal prosecution.  Ditto harassing the attorney general, contemplating the removal of the special counsel himself, and allegedly weighing in on whether Michael Flynn, the former national-security adviser, should be investigated.  We can all agree — or, at least, many of us do agree — that it would be better if the president did not do such things.  It should be indisputable, though, that the Constitution endows him with the authority to do them.

Paul Manafort may have struck a deal with Robert Mueller.  President Trump's ex-campaign chair Paul Manafort tentatively agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that will head off his upcoming second trial, ABC News reported Thursday [9/13/2018].  The feds were expected to announce the agreement in court Friday, but it remained uncertain whether the international man of intrigue had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the Russia probe.  The network said Manafort could be pleading guilty to avoid the stress and expense of a second trial following his conviction in Virginia on tax fraud and money laundering charges.

Paul Manafort and special counsel reach plea agreement to avert second trial.  Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, pleaded guilty Friday to federal conspiracy charges and agreed to cooperate in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race, prosecutors said Friday, marking a stunning about-face for the former Trump deputy.  The plea deal, unveiled in federal court in Washington, will allow Manafort, 69, to avoid a second trial on charges stemming from his lucrative work for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine before he joined the Trump campaign and his subsequent attempts to tamper with witnesses in the case.

Bernard Kerik:  Why Manafort Was Put in Solitary.  In a very small regional jail in Warsaw, Virginia, sits Bob Mueller's big fish, Paul Manafort.  Mueller, the U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel appointed to investigate any possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign, has charged Manafort with multiple counts of conspiracy, money laundering, tax crimes, false statements, and anything else they can wad into a big ball and throw up against the wall to see what sticks.  After his arrest, Manafort was placed on house arrest on a $10 million-dollar bail, until the government recently accused him of witness tampering and convinced U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to revoke his bail, and remand him to jail pending trail.  To a casual observer, this would seem justified, however, to anyone that has been through it, or has witnessed the government's selective and political prosecutions over the past few decades, they would tell you that it is all a part of a prosecutorial strategy.

Manafort split verdict says nothing on Trump, Russia, and the 2016 election.  What does the Paul Manafort divided verdict — guilty on 8 fraud charges with a mistrial declared on the remaining 10 charges — mean for the question of whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to fix the 2016 election?  Nothing.  Of course, everyone knew that going into the trial.  Special counsel Robert Mueller was assigned to investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump."  Mueller's authority also covered "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation," plus any issues that might involve obstruction of the investigation.  Prosecutors said before the trial that they would not mention the word "Russia" at all during the proceedings, and that was pretty much the case.  They also barely mentioned the name Trump, although it came up briefly in the charges that Manafort gave a Chicago banker a spot on a Trump campaign advisory board in exchange for approving an iffy loan.

The Week Washington Officially Lost Its Collective Mind.  In an orgy of political drama playing out in courtrooms up and down the Acela corridor, President Trump's lawyer and his one-time campaign manager stand convicted of various crimes.  In this fever worse than Joe McCarthy's Red Scare, President Trump — therefore — has been officially declared guilty by association!  Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's campaign manager for six minutes during the summer of 2016, was found guilty of a host of crimes dating back more than a decade relating to his various business ventures, none of which has anything to do with President Trump.  What is interesting about the case against Mr. Manafort is that prosecutors had declined to pursue some of the charges way back when.  But that was before Mr. Manafort betrayed the political establishment by working for Mr. Trump's presidential campaign.

Why Trump's supporters won't care about Cohen and Manafort's convictions.  Last week, a woman in her mid-40s who lives in a tidy suburban enclave just outside of Columbus, Ohio, summed up her continued support for President Donald Trump despite his morals, values and behavior not matching hers nor matching her expectations she had for any president of the United States.  "For decades I have been inspired by aspiring politicians and elected officials who took to the podium or the camera and delivered poetic speeches to earn my trust and my support.  They would sway me with expressive words and artfully delivered promises," she said.  While the words were beautiful, they never manifested into anything tangible in her community.

The Trouble with Impeachment.  Paul Manafort, Bannon's predecessor as the top Trump campaign official, was found guilty on August 21 of eight counts of bank and tax fraud.  Manafort is the biggest fish special counsel Robert Mueller has landed so far — even if the charges that Manafort hid or failed to disclose millions of dollars in income from his consulting work overseas do not directly reflect Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Jury Finds Manafort Guilty on 8 Counts.  After four days of deliberations, the jury reached a verdict on 8 counts and could not make a decision on 10 counts in the tax evasion and bank fraud case against Paul Manafort.  Judge Ellis declared a mistrial on 10 counts.  The verdict will be read on 8 counts.

Paul Manafort is found guilty of eight counts of fraud after first trial brought by Robert Mueller's prosecutors.  Paul Manafort was found guilty of fraud by a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday in a bombshell verdict which puts pressure on Donald Trump, whose campaign he once ran.  The jury found Manafort guilty of eight counts of bank and tax fraud, which could send the former Trump campaign manager to prison for the rest of his life.  He had been charged with a total of 18 counts of fraud.  The jury said it was deadlocked on the other 10.

REPORT: CNN Intentionally Intimidates Paul Manafort Jury.  [Paul] Manafort, who worked for a short time as President Trump's campaign chairman during the 2016 presidential election, has been charged by special counsel Robert Mueller with various financial crimes, none of which have anything to do with Trump or the campaign.  Manafort's fate now sits with the jury, and after two days of deliberations, anti-Trump media outlets like CNN are becoming concerned Manafort could be acquitted, which would be a major blow to Mueller's credibility and his ability to remove Trump from office — an outcome the establishment media are desperate to orchestrate.  And so, on Thursday [8/18/2018], CNN, along with six other far-left media outlets (the Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Politico, the New York Times, NBC, and the AP) sued for the release of the names and home addresses of all of the Manafort jurors, a move that is both disturbing and almost unprecedented.

Manafort's Purge Trial.  I don't care much for Paul Manafort.  Like his Democratic Party doppelgänger Tony Podesta, he is the kind of pond scum that makes what we call The Swamp The Swamp.  Indeed, the two men have worked together in the past, having a natural affinity for exploiting the public interest for maximum profit.  I was going to call this column "The Trial of Tony Podesta" to point out the ridiculous disparity that one is on trial but not the other.  Judge Ellis couldn't have been more right.  This is selective prosecution to get at the president.  The charges are outrageously broad and deliberately so.  Nevertheless, it doesn't speak well of Trump that he chose to work with a man like Manafort.

The Manafort Trial Ends.  This week marked the end of the trial of Paul Manafort.  The jury is now deliberating his fate.  I cannot with certainty opine on the prosecution's handling of the case.  I can't because all we know — in the absence of transcripts of the trial — is what reporters have told us.  In my experience they often lack the background to adequately apprise us of what went on.  Reporters also give more weight generally to salacious details — in this case Manafort's wardrobe and Gates' affairs — than they do to the more significant documentary evidence.  Finally, as I learned in covering the Libby trial as an observer, even the best reporters have deadlines, which means their stories are often filed before the cross-examination of key witnesses and begin the next day with the direct examination of the next witness, which means half of what occurred — often the most important part to my mind — is unreported.  Nevertheless, from even those accounts, it would appear that the prosecution was hardly a slam dunk, and Manafort's lawyers obviously thought so in closing without presenting any case.  In closing arguments, they hit upon those weaknesses.

The left's enforcers:  CNN sues to reveal names and addresses of Manafort jurors.  If it were I, and if the information reported in the news were the same as the information given to the jury, I'd let Manafort walk, given that they should have caught what he was doing a decade ago, not now.  The only reason they didn't bother was because one of the Podesta brothers was also involved, and apparently that meant protection for all of them — gag.  So prosecute the lazy prosecutors.  Because if prosecutors were serious about this case, they'd have done something a long time ago.  Since they weren't and the special counsel is on a witch hunt to Get Trump for political reasons, I'd send a message to the prosecutors that this is a political persecution, and Manafort deserves to walk.

Very Confident Manafort Defense Won't Bother To Call Defense Witnesses Due To Weak Prosecution Case.  It's a move that has both New York and Washington D.C. buzzing.  The defense team for Paul Manafort, after listening to federal prosecutors lay out their case against Mr. Manafort for reported banking and tax discrepancies dating back more than ten years, gave the court a collective shrug and moved to have the trial go straight to closing arguments without bothering to call a single defense witness.  Though a potentially risky move, it is also a sign the defense believes federal prosecutors fell far short of presenting a case beyond a reasonable doubt — a form of laughing in the prosecution's face.  If the jury then returns a verdict of not guilty, it will be a serious embarrassment for the Mueller investigation which was clearly pinning its hopes on getting Manafort to provide something, anything, that Mueller could use to go after President Trump.

Banana Republic:  Paul Manafort Is Being Held in Tiny Prison Cell with No Reading Material or TV During Trial.  Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's campaign manager for two months.  Now he must be punished.  The US government is holding Paul Manafort in a tiny prison cell during his trial with no reading material and no television.  Paul Manafort faces 305 years in prison for tax evasion charges — a crime that typically has an average sentence of 1.5 years.

Manafort case is about Manafort — not Trump or the Trump campaign.  [A]side from the charges of lying on bank-loan applications, Manafort is charged with failing to pay taxes stemming from his work for a Russian-backed Ukrainian president.  Meanwhile, international media attention is focused on this case like it is the trial of the century.  So it must be a really big deal and somehow involve Donald Trump or at least his campaign, right?  Wrong.  The trial involves Manafort's business dealings and tax filings going back to 2006 — long before he ever signed on as a volunteer on the Trump presidential campaign.

Paul Manafort Learns That Encrypting Messages Doesn't Matter If the Feds Have a Warrant to Search Your iCloud Account.  Federal prosecutors have accused Paul Manafort of witness tampering, alleging that he used WhatsApp and Telegram in an attempt to coordinate his testimony with old business associates.  Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign manager, may have thought that he was being sneaky by using encrypted chat apps, but Manafort just learned the hard way that strong encryption doesn't really matter if you're backing up your messages to the cloud — especially when the federal government gets a warrant to access your iCloud account.

Mueller leaves Washington in despair.  As far as I can tell, Manafort stands trial for buying an ostrich jacket.  I was so disappointed when I discovered it was made of ostrich hide and not feathers.  I expected Manafort dressed in a 1970s Superfly outfit.  Instead it is just a leather jacket.

Russian Collusion Investigation Has Orwellian Roots.  Paul Manafort may or may not have violated tax and banking laws in 2010.  Given the twisted and arcane nature of those laws, who knows?  What we do know is that Manafort first was investigated for breaking those laws in that year by Robert Mueller's FBI.  A discretionary decision was made not to prosecute.  It wasn't a priority of the Obama Administration to indict consultants over how they reported income from foreign governments.  If that were a priority, a lot of big shots in Washington would have gone down. [...] No, Manafort's crime is the same as Facebook's:  he failed to measure the orthodoxy of his political client's message and, because of that, he now faces an inquisition.

Manafort trial is complicated but Americans need to know this.  All of the testimony at the Manafort trial has addressed events that occurred long before Manafort went to work for 2016 Trump campaign.  The testimony has focused on Manafort's and Gates's activities as alleged "unregistered agents" representing the Ukrainian government starting in 2006.  It would be absurd to argue that Manafort's other clients in the 12 years since then are somehow to blame for any criminal activity he may have engaged in — and prosecutors aren't even trying to point the finger at President Trump for these activities.  Manafort's lawyers claim that Gates was the actual wrongdoer, and they subjected him to a punishing cross-examination.

Robert Mueller requests Trump-related portion of Manafort's trial be kept secret.  Special counsel Robert Mueller made an unusual request Thursday [8/9/2018] to keep a Trump campaign-related portion of Paul Manafort's trial confidential because it uncovered "substantive evidence" relating to the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.  The evidence was revealed during a private discussion between federal Virginia Judge T.S. Ellis and lawyers representing Manafort and his former associate Rick Gates, Mueller charged in a filing.

Judge in Manafort case seals discussion of Rick Gates and Trump probe.  A federal judge late Thursday [8/9/2018] granted a request from special counsel Robert Mueller's office to keep secret a portion of a private discussion they had at the bench with Paul Manafort's attorneys and the judge during the testimony of Rick Gates.  The special counsel's office said in a court filing Thursday that the conference should be sealed because it would "reveal substantive evidence pertaining to an ongoing investigation."

Manafort?  Who Cares?  Other than seeing occasional headlines, I have spent less than one minute following the Paul Manafort criminal trial.  I imagine the overwhelming majority of Americans would say the same.  Here's why:
  [#1]   I don't care about Paul Manafort.  I had never heard of him before his brief association with the Trump campaign.
  [#2]   Manafort is charged, in essence, with tax evasion.  He may well have dodged taxes.  If so, he is not alone, and it is of no interest to me.
  [#3]   The charges against Manafort have nothing to do with Donald Trump or the 2016 election. [...]
  [#4]   I have zero respect for Bob Mueller.  The judge who is presiding over the Manafort trial seems to agree.
  [#5]   Most people who aren't crazy — these days, that is a significant qualification — seem to have figured out that the Mueller "investigation" is a bust.

Cranky judge, flawed witness threaten Mueller's Manafort case.  Special counsel Robert Mueller's team of prosecutors have spent several days building what many legal experts consider a slam-dunk case against President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.  But it has been surprisingly hard going at times, and as they prepare to rest their case as early as Thursday [8/9/2018], they bear battle wounds that Manafort's lawyers are sure to exploit as they mount their defense.

IRS agent: Manafort had $16M in unreported income.  An IRS agent revealed that Paul Manafort had at least $16 million in unreported taxable business income over four years while testifying during the former Trump campaign chairman's trial for tax and bank fraud on Wednesday [8/8/2018].  IRS agent Michael Welch said in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, that Manafort received $15.5 million from Ukraine which he then used to pay for clothes, homes and landscaping between 2010 and 2014.

Mueller's 'Star Witness' Rick Gates Falls Apart During Cross-Examination by Manafort Lawyers — Perjures Himself.  Paul Manafort's legal team painted Rick Gates, a former business associate to Manafort as a liar who embezzled millions of dollars to fund his secret life with his mistress in a blistering cross-examination Tuesday [8/7/2018].  Rick Gates previously pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller; he was even referred to as the Special Counsel's 'star witness.'

Drama grips final moments of Rick Gates' testimony in Manafort trial, as lawyer poses surprise question.  Rick Gates has finished three days' worth of dramatic testimony in federal court against his former business partner, ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — but not before defense lawyers caused a stir by pressing him for details on his past infidelity.  A day earlier, Gates acknowledged having a single extramarital relationship in London while working for Manafort.  But on Wednesday [8/8/2018], Manafort attorney Kevin Downing seemed to accuse Gates of having affairs with multiple individuals, asking Gates whether he disclosed four affairs to the special counsel's office.

Manafort Trial Threatens the Constitution, Not Just Trump.  One of the things that most concerned the U.S. Constitution's framers was the misuse of the criminal justice system by those in power to check their political foes.  We have a Bill of Rights, in large part, to protect us against this most harmful abuse of arbitrary power.  Ostensibly, we are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures, from delayed trials and unnecessary incarceration, from being forced to be witnesses against ourselves, and from "cruel and unusual punishments."  Unfortunately, all the parchment safeguards in the world cannot guard a citizenry from a truly corrupt government, and a corrupt government is capable of securing its evil ends by enlisting persons of good faith who may find themselves unwittingly employed in miscreancy.  Something very like this has occurred in the Robert Mueller prosecutorial investigation of Donald Trump for alleged collusion with Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Judge Ellis Brings Mueller's Prosecutor to Tears in Courtroom Showdown.  It looks like Mueller's prosecutors can't take the heat.  Rick Gates, Paul Manafort's former business associate took the witness stand Monday afternoon in the bank fraud and tax evasion case against Manafort.  After jurors were dismissed, Judge T.S. Ellis scolded one of Mueller's prosecutors and a 10-minute courtroom spat ensued.

Manafort prosecutors, Judge Ellis engage in 10-minute courtroom spat.  After jurors were dismissed Monday [8/6/2018] in the Paul Manafort trial Monday, the federal judge overseeing the case and prosecutors trying the former Trump campaign chairman got into an extended verbal debate — lasting about 10 minutes — over the merits of the prosecution, the length of the case and even the eye contact of prosecutor Greg Andres.

Mueller is a Terrorist:  Raided Manafort for Documents [which had] Already [been] Turned Over.  Remember this as they put Manafort deeper and deeper into the "Mueller" scope.  Mueller raided Manafort(with guns drawn) for documents he already had.  To the logical mind, that is terrorism.  What makes Mueller any better than an ISIS thug?  Isn't that how Islamic terrorists behave?  More and more Americans are beginning to see special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation for what it really is:  A desperate last-ditch effort to undermine POTUS Donald Trump's administration and eventually drive him from office, overturning the results of the 2016 election.  They have no evidence of collusion between the Trump camp and Russia, so they go for the next best thing.  They go after the people closest to Trump, hoping that one or two will turn over states evidence and stab Trump in the back.

When the Mueller Gang Met Judge Ellis.  Paul Manafort.  Tony Podesta.  Tad Devine.  Greg Craig.  Manafort worked for Trump.  Tony Podesta is the brother of Hillary Clinton's campaign manager.  Tad Devine was Bernie Sanders' chief strategist.  Greg Craig was Obama's White House Counsel.  All four men also, directly or indirectly, allegedly did work for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine.  And the ECFMU was allegedly a front for Yanukovich's Ukrainian pro-Russian faction.  Manafort and the Podesta Group had failed to register as foreign agents.  Tad Devine had worked for Manafort on the Ukraine project.  Craig had written a report on Ukraine for one of Manafort's lobbying efforts.  But only Manafort had the predawn raid, the solitary confinement and the high profile show trial. [...] Podesta, Devine and Craig are getting a pass because it's not really about Manafort.  It's about Trump.

Manafort case judge warns Mueller team they 'can't prove conspiracy' without star witness.  The federal judge in the trial of ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort told Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team on Thursday [8/2/2018] they cannot prove a key part of their case unless prosecutors call Manafort's former business partner to the stand.  U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III issued the warning after prosecutors suggested Wednesday that Rick Gates — who is cooperating with prosecutors and had been considered a potential star witness — might not be called to the stand after all.  Referencing Gates, Ellis told prosecutors in court they "can't prove conspiracy without him."

Judge Ellis Loses His Patience — Shouts at Mueller's Prosecutors — Then Ends Court Early.  Judge T.S. Ellis lost his patience with Mueller's prosecutors Thursday afternoon and ended court early after the govt lawyers made the same mistake twice.  It's amateur hour with Mueller's lawyers!

Judge Ellis Interrupts Mueller Prosecutors During Opening Statement in Manafort Case:  "It Isn't a Crime to Have Money".  The bank fraud and tax evasion trial for President Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort began Tuesday morning [7/31/2018] in a federal court in Alexandria, VA.  Mueller's prosecutors and Manafort's legal team both came out swinging with blistering opening statements.  Paul Manafort's lawyer set the tone early Tuesday morning when he told CBS reporter, Paula Reid:  No deal.  Manafort attorney Kevin Downing tells me "No chance!" his client will cooperate with Special Counsel in order to avoid trial today.

Manafort [was] Tried 8 Years Ago for [the] Same Crime and [the] Fed Cleared Him.  [Scroll down]  Again, speculating, but why wouldn't Mueller take a deal, if he's guilty?  Perhaps because he's innocent?  And I have felt for quite some time that somebody will begin asking for discovery, and that won't be good for anybody on the Left.  Imagine going down that rabbit hole, where you find more emails, text message, and other damning evidence against the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the FISA court, The Clinton Foundation, and even Barack Obama?

Manafort Investigated But Not Charged for Crimes in 2014 Because Obama Cronies Implicated in Probe.  A pair of Internet sleuths have uncovered information from the 2014 investigation of Paul Manafort that reportedly went nowhere because Manafort was tied to former President Obama's Chief Counsel, Greg Craig, and State Department envoy, Cliff Sloan.  Techno Fog noted that the 2014 investigation of Paul Manafort went nowhere because it implicated Obama's former White House Counsel Greg Craig[.]

Manafort's case proves 'the swamp' — not collusion — exists.  The trial of onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has ignited a new series of tweets from the president about ending special counsel Robert Mueller's "witch hunt."  But this trial and other actions by Mueller this week will be instrumental in bringing about one of Trump's key campaign promises:  the one to "drain the swamp."  As was the case with the indictments of Manafort, one keyword was missing from the opening arguments at the trial on Tuesday:  "Trump."  Everything discussed in the courtroom precedes Manafort's three months on the 2016 Trump campaign by two years.

Judge Napolitano Doubles Down:  Says Paul Manafort was Exonerated 8 Years Ago — May Call Rosenstein as First Witness.  Judge Napolitano dropped a bomb Tuesday [7/31/2018] on FOX and Friends.  The FOX News legal analyst told the audience that Paul Manafort was already exonerated eight years ago on these same charges and... Rod Rosenstein was the lawyer who exonerated him!

Mueller team lectured by Judge in Manafort case.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors were lectured by a federal judge on Wednesday for the language they've used in the courtroom and more, as the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort entered its second day.  U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III specifically told prosecutors to stop using the word "oligarch" to describe wealthy Ukrainians, whose dealings with Manafort are at the heart of the fraud charges he faces in northern Virginia federal court.

Why Hasn't the Press Reported That Paul Manafort Was Exonerated 8 Years Ago?  How many of you know that Paul Manafort was exonerated by federal investigators who investigated his financial and tax affairs eight years ago?

Mueller's team slams Manafort's lavish lifestyle, defense points to ex-colleague Gates as fraud trial begins.  Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's lavish lifestyle was front-and-center during opening arguments in his fraud trial Tuesday afternoon, as prosecutors said he lied to put his money ahead of the law, while defense attorneys — and even the presiding judge — reminded jurors that exorbitant wealth, in itself, is not a crime.  Prosecutors also called their first witness in the case: former Bernie Sanders campaign adviser Tad Devine, who worked closely with Manafort on several elections in Ukraine, including the successful 2010 presidential campaign of since-deposed pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych.

Prosecutors say Manafort's wealth was fueled by lies to IRS and banks.  President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort went on trial Tuesday [7/31/2018] in federal court in Alexandria, Va., where prosecutors charged that his personal fortune was propped up by years of lies to tax authorities and banks.  The first trial to arise out of the investigation run by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III got off to a fast start Tuesday, as a jury of six men and six women was picked — and opening statements delivered — in less than a day.  The stakes are extremely high.  For the 69-year-old Manafort, a conviction on the most serious charges could lead to an effective life prison sentence.  For Mueller and his team probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, a courtroom loss could damage his credibility and amplify calls by Republicans for his investigation to be shut down.

Mueller can't afford to lose the Manafort trial.  The first trial of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russian probe presents multiple challenges to both the prosecution and defense.  The pressure is enormous on both sides.  Mueller's team cannot afford a loss in their very first trial.  And a loss for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who also faces a second trial in September in Washington, DC, would make defending his second case almost a waste of time.

FBI describes early-morning raid of Paul Manafort's condo.  The FBI on Wednesday [8/1/2018] described the details of the early-morning raid on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's Alexandria condo on the second day of Manafort's trial.  FBI special agent Matthew Mikuska, an 11-year veteran of the bureau, testified in court in Alexandria, Va., saying he was the seizing agent for the government's search last year.  Mikuska told the jury agents knocked three times on Manafort's door, but used a key to gain access after receiving no answer.  Once inside, agents saw Manafort.

Manafort trial to focus on lavish lifestyle, not collusion.  The trial of President Donald Trump's onetime campaign chairman will open this week with tales of lavish spending, secret shell companies and millions of dollars of Ukrainian money flowing through offshore bank accounts and into the political consultant's pocket.

Another Narrative Busted:  The Focus of Manafort's Upcoming Trial Will Make Liberals Very Sad.  The first federal trial for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is set to start tomorrow in Washington D.C. Leftists are salivating over what the trial could reveal about the 2016 presidential election, alleged Russian collusion and Manafort's relationship with President Donald Trump.  But according to a new report from the Associated Press, they're likely to be disappointed as the trial will focus on Manafort's business dealings and lavish lifestyle, not collusion.

So What's Paul Manafort On Trial For Again?  Paul Manafort's trial gets underway in Virginia tomorrow with jury selection being the first order of the day.  It's been a long time coming and the public (or at least the majority of the media) are keen to find out what sort of answers may be in store for us.  But the list of charges and the evidence being presented by the prosecution seems to be sorely lacking in one area.  That's highlighted in the title of this Associated Press piece from the weekend:  Manafort trial to focus on lavish lifestyle, not collusion.


James Comey's notes and memos


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


The Inspector General's Report, released August 29, 2019:


Senators: IG FISA Abuse Report Misled Public About Crossfire Hurricane.  Last week's political trifecta — the Iowa caucus, the State of the Union, and President Trump's impeachment acquittal — temporarily starved other stories of oxygen.  Among those was the news that the inspector general's report on FISA abuse was misleading and that redacted information contained in four footnotes contradicted sections of the lengthy expose on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.  Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson dropped that bombshell in a letter delivered to Attorney General William Barr that requested Barr declassify the information hidden in the redacted footnotes.  While the declassified version of the Grassley-Johnson letter did not identify the four footnotes at issue, a detailed analysis of the IG report suggests the redacted information concerned Christopher Steele's sources and potentially the FBI's purported predication for the launch of Crossfire Hurricane.  These conclusions come from a deep-dive into the IG report read in tandem with the Grassley-Johnson letter.

Does the IG Report "Exonerate" James Comey?  Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton says not at all.  In the eyes of Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, what is the significance of the Department of Justice Inspector General's report, or IG report, on former FBI Director James Comey?  Does it exonerate Comey as the former FBI Director claims?  What is the significance of Bruce Ohr's interview records, FBI 302's, with Christopher Steele?  What else might be found in other Christopher Steele-related documents?  [Video clip]

Inspector General's Report Exposes Another 'Collusion' Myth.  [Scroll down]  Ever since the memo was leaked to the news media by a Comey pal more than two years ago, the American public has been warned how that brief discussion between Comey and Trump represented an egregious presidential power play:  Trump, the story goes, was squeezing his top G-Man to stop looking into his campaign for conspiring with the Kremlin because everyone associated with Trump, we were told, was guilty.  But that portrayal of events was never the truth.  The conversation in February 2017 had nothing to do with the Russia investigation, [...]

Inspector General's Report Exposes Another 'Collusion' Myth.  The presidential skullduggery allegedly exposed by the Flynn memo is just one more myth that has been peddled by anti-Trump partisans to bolster a fabricated storyline that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton.  The media will ignore the obvious truth about the memo — but just like every other example of media malpractice related to this scandal, no mea culpas will be offered.  Democrats will repeat the falsehood on the campaign trail next year with no pushback from reporters.  Republicans can try to push back but it's probably too late; the public has already been told what to believe.

The Comey-Brennan Conspiracy to Violate Trump's Civil Rights.  The Comey IG report is interesting for any number of reasons, the first of which is that the Justice Department decided not to prosecute Comey for his intentionally leaking one of his "private" memos about conversations with President Trump to a friend.  He did so, as we've known for two years, specifically to have that friend leak it to the New York Times for publication.  Comey intended those leaks to have precisely the effect they did:  to cause the appointment of a special counsel.  Robert Mueller's subsequent investigation into the ephemeral "Russia collusion" investigation failed in what Comey — and the rest of the anti-Trumpers in the Justice Department and the CIA — intended it to do.  It didn't remove Trump from office in a "soft" coup.

Second IG Report to come, and it's gonna come for James Comey!  According to Fox News, the feds aren't done with Comey — there's a second IG report to come, it sounds like.  [Video clip]  That's coming from Mark Meadows, so take that for what it's worth.  But it IS odd that they laid out all this bad stuff that Comey did, then denied to prosecute.

The Inspector General Glosses Over Some Ugly Truths About The FBI.  The Justice Department Office of the Inspector General's report released Aug. 29 clearly stated that James Comey violated and abused FBI policies in managing memos in which he supposedly documented confidential conversations with the president.  This is a revelation that most of us have known for quite some time.  However, Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz has yet again glossed over some major problems.  It appears that the main reason Horowitz concludes former FBI Director James Comey only violated his FBI Employment Agreement and DOJ/FBI "policies" was because the documents he kept, disclosed, and leaked to improper parties were not considered truly classified.  That apparently keeps them from being serious enough to prosecute.  So, who made the decision that they were not classified?  The answer would be outrageous if it were not virtually farcical.

Yes, Comey did leak classified information.  The new report from the Justice Department inspector general proves beyond any doubt that fired FBI Director James Comey leaked sensitive law enforcement material in the Trump-Russia investigation.  Doing so set a "dangerous example" for the bureau's other employees, Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote.  Still, Comey's supporters have claimed exoneration on one front: that Comey did not leak classified information.  Some reacted angrily when President Trump tweeted that Comey had done so.  But Comey did, in fact, leak classified information.  It's right there in the report.  It wasn't much classified information, and it was perhaps not terribly important, and Justice Department officials concluded it was not worth prosecuting.  But Comey leaked classified material.

Coming Legal Attractions.  Two matters are likely to reveal more of the machinations of the FBI and intelligence agencies in the past presidential election and since.  First there's the Department of Justice's Inspector General's inquiries.  The first inquiry resulted in a devastating account of former FBI Director James Comey's conduct.  Many were disappointed that Attorney General William Barr chose not to indict him based on the record IG Michael Horowitz presented, but bear in mind, this inquiry did not cover what will be a larger report on the abuse of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) in which it seems Comey played a significant role.  While Comey, as is his self-deluded wont, claims the report vindicated him, it most certainly did not.

Jim Jordan:  James Comey Owes An Apology To Our Country.  Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan blasted fired FBI Director James Comey on Fox News Thursday night [8/29/2019], saying he will in no way apologize to Mr. Comey and in fact, it is the now-disgraced Comey who owes America an apology for the past two years.  As Katie covered, the Department of Justice Inspector General released a blistering report Thursday morning "confirming fired FBI Director James Comey is a politically motivated liar and rampant leaker of official, confidential information.  He broke all kinds of FBI rules, protocol and laws in his effort to take down President Trump and his administration through the launch of a Special Counsel investigation."

Trump Was Always the Target of the Russia Investigation.  Donald Trump was always the target.  The point of the Russia investigation was to make a case against Donald Trump.  Preferably, the case would drive him from office.  At a minimum, it would render him unelectable by the 2020 stretch run.  The kind of case was less important than the objective: criminal prosecution or impeachment.  In accordance with the collusion narrative, the latter would mean trying to show that Trump was compromised by the Kremlin.  That is the astonishing takeaway from Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report on former FBI director James Comey's handling of his memos.

The Deep State Will Face Justice Soon!  Right?  [Scroll down]  Then we have that pathetic excuse for a human being, James Comey, gloating over the I.G. report that issued a verbal slap on the wrist for his infractions.  Comey:  "And to all those who've spent two years talking about me 'going to jail' or being a 'liar and a leaker' — ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long, including the president."  But no worries:  Comey will pay when the FISA abuse report comes out.  Or not:  Washington insiders are now foreshadowing immunity for the entire cabal, saying that, "sadly," these lawbreakers probably won't be prosecuted.  That's not sad; it's terrifying.  If we can't indict and prosecute these clowns who have conspired to overthrow our government, who have committed the most egregious political crime in history, then stick a fork in our Republic.  We're done.  But what can we do?  Actually, this whole strung out Spygate nightmare is an exercise to ensure we do nothing.  Washington isn't a swamp; it's a sewer, and the rats that inhabit it are never going to allow their comrades to be indicted.

Jumpin' Jim Flash.  Yesterday the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General released its long awaited report on certain elements of James Comey's misconduct as Director of the FBI. Contrary to his assurance to President Trump — an assurance that projected something of his essence — the report demonstrates that Comey is a weasel (and worse).  He is also (again to borrow the words of his own denial to Trump) a sneak, a leaker, and a liar (and worse), but these are venial sins in the panoply of Comey's misconduct.  There is no substitute for reading the report.

New report details Comey plan to ambush Trump with Moscow sex allegation.  A just-released Justice Department inspector general's report provides new details on a January 2017 plan by then-FBI Director James Comey, top bureau officials, and the nation's intelligence chiefs to spring a scandalous allegation on President-elect Trump, quickly record his reaction, use a prearranged secure videoconference to discuss the information, and fit it all into the FBI's ongoing (but unknown to Trump) "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation.  The allegation came from the Steele dossier, the collection of unverified tales about Trump and Russia compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.  The story was that in a Moscow hotel room in 2013, Trump had watched as prostitutes performed a kinky sex act — and Russian intelligence service cameras rolled.

Trump says he should be 'given our stolen time back' after release of Comey report.  President Trump suggested Friday that he and his supporters should be "given our stolen time back" in light of a Justice Department report that found former FBI director James B. Comey violated FBI policies regarding memos that helped spark the special counsel investigation. [...] "The disastrous IG Report on James Comey shows, in the strongest of terms, how unfairly I, and tens of millions of great people who support me, were treated," Trump said in a tweet, referring to the Justice Department's inspector general.  "Our rights and liberties were illegally stripped away by this dishonest fool.  We should be given our stolen time back?"

Inspector general takes apart Comey's excuses for his actions.  Of all the tall tales James Comey has told, none compare to the line he fed President Trump at their infamous January 2017 dinner.  As recounted in the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director's memo about that evening, "I said I don't do sneaky things, I don't leak, I don't do weasel moves."  The Justice Department's inspector general begs to differ.  In a new report about Mr. Comey's handling of those memos, Michael Horowitz demonstrates that Mr. Comey in 2017 was consistently leaky and sneaky.  The report refutes any claim that the then-director was justified in taking these actions.  He repeatedly, and knowingly, broke the rules.

IG Report:  James Comey Passed Private Conversation with Trump to FBI Team Investigating Russia Collusion.  The IG report relates that prior to the briefing, FBI members on Comey's team discussed the need to memorialize the exchanges between Comey and Trump during the private January 6, 2017 briefing in Trump Tower just in case Trump made statements relevant to the agency's Russia probe.  In other words, they plotted to stealthily use statements Trump said to Comey in a private briefing to inform their Russia collusion investigation.  The IG further relates that Comey went on to do just that.  He had a laptop waiting for him in the car, where he immediately began memorializing the private talk.

James Comey was the Bad Guy in the 'Russia Collusion' story.  The Department of Justice Inspector General Report revealed what many of us suspected all along:  James Comey was the Bad Guy in the 'Russia Collusion' story.  He lied to the President, lied about lying to the President, leaked government information to cover up his lying, and lied to the public about his lying.  Comey tried to set up the President soon after he took office and failed, and covered up the attempt.  Comey is revealed to be a completely manipulative bureaucratic infighter who maneuvered the government into a two-year Executive Branch paralysis in the form of the Mueller investigation, while falsely proclaiming himself the only holy player in the saga.  His defense when unmasked in the IG Report is to crow that he wasn't indicted.

Horowitz's 'scathing' report about James Comey's behavior is worthless without indictments.  [Scroll down]  Comey clearly violated FBI policies, but if the memos were classified — and if they contained information discussed between him and the president of the United States, it was classified — why isn't he being prosecuted for it?  No offense to Sen. Graham and the others, but Americans have watched with disgust as one Deep State elitist after another, beginning with crime boss Hillary Clinton, have gotten away with what amounts to a coup attempt to depose a duly elected president for more than two years.  If anyone else, including, say, a line FBI agent, had done what James Comey did, they'd be wearing prison stripes by now.  Same goes for Clinton's criminal mishandling of classified information.

Reaction: 'I Wouldn't Say James Comey Is Out of the Woods'; 'This Is Just the Beginning'.  Reaction came swiftly on Thursday, after the Justice Department inspector general released a report saying that former FBI Director James Comey failed to live up to his responsibility to protect sensitive information.  And by using sensitive information to force the appointment of a special prosecutor, the OIG found that Comey "set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees — and the many thousands more former FBI employees — who similarly have access to or knowledge of non-public information."  "I wouldn't say James Comey is out of the woods," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said.  "We're in the pregame show.  This is just the beginning," Jay Sekulow, President Trump's attorney said.

The Substance Within the Report Shows a Two-Tiered Justice System.  [Scroll down]  James Baker, Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, James Rybicki and Lisa Page were determining what parts of James Comey's investigative notes needed to be classified.  The corrupt FBI was in position to police itself.  This is not a conflict of interest, it is better described as a profound conflict of self-interest.  The information the 'small group' wanted to use to frame the target would be visible, not classified; however, any material that would outline the construct of their corruption in targeting the target would be hidden, classified.  You can't make this stuff up folks.  The "small group" WAS the sources and methods they were protecting.  Everything needed to understand that level of corruption is outlined in the way the IG report discusses the handling of James Comey's investigative notes (ie. memos).  AND the fact that James Comey kept them hidden, yes hidden.

How do you solve a problem like James Comey?  To begin solving the problem of former FBI director James Comey, who's been blasted by the Department of Justice in its Inspector General Report, start by never again hiring people who value themselves so loftily over the people they are charged with representing.  In other words, never hire someone like him, who absolutely believed he was smarter than, better than, and more important than the people whose laws his agency was tasked with enforcing.

DOJ Inspector General:  Comey Set a Dangerous Example.  Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report Thursday outlining a wide range of serious misconduct by former FBI Director James Comey.  Concluding that "Comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees ... who similarly have access to or knowledge of non-public information," the 83-page report implicitly vindicated President Trump's decision to fire the rogue FBI director in May 2017.  The Office of the Inspector General also confirmed that Comey improperly leaked highly sensitive material to the media for the express purpose of pressuring the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate the 2016 presidential election.

Comey Taunts Critics Following Release of IG Report, Takes Swipe at President Trump.  Fired FBI Director James Comey taunted critics and took a swipe at President Trump immediately following the release of the Inspector General's report regarding Comey's handling of the Russia probe and leak of memos.  The Justice Department declined to prosecute Comey, however the IG found multiple ethics and department guideline violations by Comey.

Read DOJ watchdog's list of all the times ex-FBI boss broke the rules.  Former FBI Director James Comey received heavy criticism from the Justice Department's inspector general in a blistering report released Thursday [8/29/2019] about his infamous memos documenting his discussions with President Trump.  The report found that Comey violated bureau policies by drafting, leaking and retaining the memos.  However, it noted that the Justice Department declined to prosecute Comey over the violations.  For his part, Comey responded by insisting that he is not a "liar and a leaker," saying an apology from his critics "would be nice."


James Comey himself


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News and timely commentary about the Inspector General's report, released June 14, 2018:


A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election.  IG report available for download.

The overlooked bombshell of the IG report.  Before the report was released, we knew from Comey's July 2016 statement that Clinton's private emails included "seven e-mail chains concern matters that were classified at the Top Secret/Special Access Program level when they were sent and received."  We also knew that the FBI "also found information that was properly classified as Secret by the U.S. Intelligence Community at the time it was discussed on e-mail."  Comey further declared, "We do assess that hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account."  And he speculated that, given how "extremely careless" Clinton had been, it was "possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account."  Well, it turns out, the FBI knew with certainty at the time that hostile actors had in fact gained access to classified information via Clinton's emails.

The Horowitz IG Report.  There are two smoking guns.  First, Peter Strzok famously texted his illicit lover that "We won't let [Donald Trump's election] happen."  The other is found at 7:36 in Senator John Kennedy's questioning of the Inspector General.  "Most" of the investigative decisions were made in Loretta Lynch's Department of Justice, not in the FBI.  Since that body refused to pay any attention to demands by Republican investigative committees, it's no surprise that the investigation gave her a pass.  But how do you prove it?

The Reporters Also Committed a Crime.  It is a crime for reporters to pay for leaks.  Reporters can use information volunteered by whistleblowers, but bribes are a different story.  And it appears to be happening with some regularity.  The recent Department of Justice Inspector General's report warns:  "We identified instances where FBI employees improperly received benefits from reporters, including tickets to sporting events, golfing outings, drinks and meals, and admittance to nonpublic social events."  The report finds that such enticements likely led agents to leak information.  So far, the media hasn't acknowledged this possible criminal activity by reporters.  The problem goes beyond ethical violations, and it has serious implications.  If reporters can legally bribe government officials, who's to say that the reporters won't also collude with foreign governments?

The Inspector General may be preparing us for the real #Spygate bombshells.  [Scroll down]  "I am upset at all of this," Horowitz said Tuesday.  "It is precisely why it cast a cloud over the investigation, it undermines confidence in it.  All of those impacts are very significant and very serious on an FBI investigation.  That should never happen and it happened because of these text messages and because of what these employees were doing."  But one reason Horowitz might have punted in his recent report is because he knows the real bombshells are yet to come:  He is investigating the FISA warrant on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page; the cozy relationship between Justice and FBI officials and the media, including perks for scoops; ex-FBI Director James Comey's handling of classified information; and the potential doctoring of official documents.  "We've got lots of investigations going on," Horowitz told Rep. James Jordan (R-Ohio).

The overlooked bombshell of the IG report.  [...] is the inspector general's confirmation that classified information contained in Clinton's emails was in fact compromised by foreign intelligence services, and that Clinton had recklessly emailed President Barack Obama using her unsecured personal email from the territory of a hostile foreign adversary.

The Real Lesson of the Inspector General's Report.  Michael Horowitz is the Department of Justice's Inspector General.  He testified on June 18th before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his report concerning the Hillary Clinton national security breach investigation. [...] Horowitz testified that "most" of the investigative decisions in that investigation were made not by the FBI but by prosecutors within the Department of Justice.  One might be tempted to conclude that much of the criticism of the FBI for its decisions in the aforesaid Clinton investigation would have to be discounted or re-examined.  Perhaps.  But that is not the most important conclusion.

'Extraordinary' Strzok removal shows FBI agents in crosshairs from IG probe.  Peter Strzok's abrupt removal from his FBI office this week signaled that the Justice Department inspector general's work already is leading to consequences for bureau officials ensnared in various probes — with potentially more repercussions to come.  Strzok, who worked on both the Clinton email and Russia probes, was escorted from the FBI on Tuesday, following a referral for further investigation from DOJ IG Michael Horowitz.  The watchdog, as part of his Clinton case review, found that Strzok and four other FBI employees sent "hostile" anti-Trump messages on bureau devices.  The FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility is expected to further investigate the findings against the five FBI employees.

Bias and the beholder.  The Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, and FBI Director Christopher Wray claim the 500-plus-page report found no "documented" evidence that political bias at the FBI directly influenced the findings in the Clinton investigation or the Justice Department's decision not to prosecute the former secretary of state.  People in "flyover country" are more likely to believe pigs can fly than they are to accept that political bias did not expose a clear intent to damage presidential candidate Donald Trump.  Why does one need a document to prove bias?  If the anti-Trump political beliefs of FBI employees, which are documented in text messages, did not influence their work then why is Director Wray ordering all of his employees to undergo training, including, reports CNN, "instruction 'on what went wrong so these mistakes will never be repeated.'"?  Members of the media might also benefit from ethics training since the IG report found multiple incidents of journalists doing favors for FBI agents, presumably in return for information.

The FBI Would Be Guilty Of Clear Bias If Its Trump Investigation Were A Racial Discrimination Lawsuit.  Conservatives stood agape last week at the inspector general's refusal to state the obvious in his 568-page review of the FBI and Justice Department's handling of the Clinton probe:  A pro-Hillary political bias led officials to let her off the hook.  While Michael Horowitz's report highlighted numerous instances of anti-Trump and pro-Hillary bias, in true lawyerly fashion he focused in the conclusion on the lack of "documentary or testimonial evidence" showing that political prejudice "directly affected" the decisions made in the investigation.  As a lawyer with a niche in employment law, this phrasing struck a chord of hilarity in me, because the methods of proving discriminatory intent are well-established, and such direct evidence of animus (or favoritism) is not required to show that an illegal motive drove an employment decision.

What You Missed from Michael Horowitz's Testimony.  Since the June 14 release of his 568-page report on the department's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, [Michael] Horowitz has been criticized for concluding that the agency's decision to forego charges against Clinton was unrelated to the political views of those in charge.  "We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that improper considerations," Horowitz said, "including political bias, directly affected the specific investigative decisions we reviewed, or that the justifications offered for these decisions were pretextual."  That finding seems to runs afoul of much of the report's content, which included a trove of text messages showing top FBI brass favored Hillary Clinton and despised Donald Trump.

The FBI Deliberately Ignored 'Golden Emails,' Crucial Abedin Messages And More.  The Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Hillary Clinton have a HUGE Weiner problem that is even bigger than we first realized.  According to the recently released inspector general report, on September 28 and 29, 2016 the New York office of the FBI immediately reported to the Washington headquarters its discovery of, first, 141,000 and then 350,000 emails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner — also known as "Carlos Danger," a now-convicted sex offender.  Mr. Weiner is the husband of Hillary Clinton's inseparable aide Huma Abedin.

The Buried Lede of the Inspector General's Report.  Buried in Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz's report on the Clinton email investigation lies a disturbing passage concerning information obtained by the FBI alleging that Attorney General Loretta Lynch attempted to put her thumb on the scales of justice to exonerate Hillary Clinton.  "Comey said that he also was concerned about an issue specific to Lynch," Horowitz reports.  "As discussed in more detail in the classified appendix to this report, Comey told the OIG that the FBI had obtained highly classified information in March 2016 that included allegations of partisan bias or attempts to impede the Midyear investigation by Lynch."  What, specifically, did the "highly classified information" indicate?  It is "highly classified," so we naturally remain in the dark.  What justified making the information "highly classified"?  Nuclear secrets?  A list of U.S. spies abroad?  War plans to invade Canada?  We do not know.  But in an age when the Justice Department assails words that merely embarrass with redacting markers, the words "highly classified" provoke curiosity rather than close questions.  Comey's manner of dismissing the information does not inspire confidence.

Clinton Email IG Report:  Why Is The FBI Still Covering For Discredited Agents At The Heart Of The 'Investigation'?  Two agents and an attorney at the heart of the FBI's Clinton email "investigation" expose flagrant political bias at the heart of that probe.  So why won't the FBI release their names to the public?  And given what these key players said, how did the inspector general come to conclude that the "investigation" was unbiased?  Were changes made to water it down?

The IG Report Hides the Truth.  The five-hundred page IG report was released to Congress on June 12, 2018, and it barely scrapes the surface.  It doesn't really reveal anything that the American people were not already aware had occurred. [...] And yet, in regards to investigative decisions by FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, the lead investigator on the Clinton email case and the Russia investigation, and Lisa Page, an FBI attorney, Inspector General Michael Horowitz incredibly offers us that there was "no evidence that the conclusions by the prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations."

IG Report Confirms:  Our Republic Is under Existential Threat.  [The OIG report] confirms, for many of us, our worst fear:  segments of our federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies are a clear and present existential danger to our republic. [...] The report's assessment that officials were not affected by bias is perhaps the most laughable statement ever uttered in the annals of American political history.  The I.G.'s report nakedly exposes a direct attack on Americans who have done nothing wrong, as well as an equally disturbing coup of our national hallmark institutions of stability.

All the times Horowitz contradicted Wray — but nobody seemed to notice.  Nine times during their joint testimony before a Senate committee on Monday, Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz contradicted FBI Director Christopher Wray ... but nobody appeared to notice.  It's an instructive example of how false narratives and talking points in Washington are amplified by inaccurate media coverage.  It's more reason you cannot necessarily believe what's reported and repeated, no matter how many are reporting and repeating it. [...] You don't have to take my word for it.  But you'll have to read closely, because some of the statements include double-negatives.

Clinton Emails:  What the IG Report Refuses to Admit.  Despite the sprawl of Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz's 568-page report on the Clinton-emails investigation, there is precious little discussion of the most important issue:  The Justice Department and FBI's rationale for declining to prosecute Hillary Clinton.  I believe this is intentional.  The inspector general's message is:  "Despite pervasive political bias and investigative irregularities, which I have comprehensively documented, rest assured that nothing too terrible happened here."  That silver-lining version of this dark spectacle could not have survived a searching analysis of the decision not to indict.

A Comedy of Corruption?  Or a Bureaucratic Horror Show?  After discussing some of the thousands of text messages between Peter Strzok — the top FBI honcho who ran both the pretend investigation into Hillary Clinton's mishandling of classified materials and the first phases of Trump-Russia fantasy — and his lover Lisa Page (then counsel to Andrew McCabe, who was the FBI's deputy director at the time), the report concludes that Strzok's decision to focus on the counterintelligence probe of the Trump campaign rather than the Clinton email criminal investigation "led us to conclude that we did not have confidence that Strzok's decision was free from bias."  Right.

A Closer Look At Extreme FBI Bias Revealed In OIG Report.  As we digest and unpack the DOJ Inspector General's 500-page report on the FBI's conduct during the Hillary Clinton email  investigation  "matter," damning quotes from the OIG's findings have begun to circulate, leaving many to wonder exactly how Inspector General Michael Horowitz was able to conclude:  "We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that improper considerations, including political bias, directly affected the specific investigative actions we reviewed[.]"  We're sorry, that just doesn't comport with reality whatsoever.  And it really feels like the OIG report may have had a different conclusion at some point.

The IG Report On FBI's Clinton Probe Reveals This Saga May Be Just Getting Started.  The media has focused almost exclusively on the conclusion of the Justice Department inspector general's report on the FBI's handling of the Clinton email probe, which found bias did not impact the probe, as well as the lack of any newly announced indictments or criminal referrals.  The goal of course being to downplay the negative findings of the report.  At the same time, the press gave, at most, passing mention to the statement Attorney General Jeff Sessions simultaneously released.  But his statement and the findings of the report make one thing clear:  This isn't over.

Levin: US Attorney for DC Should Investigate FBI.  On his nationally syndicated radio talk show Friday [6/15/2018], host Mark Levin called for United States Attorney of Washington, D.C. Jessie Liu to "investigate what took place at the FBI" as a result of the inspector general's report that was released on Thursday.  "So what I'm saying is, Ms. Liu, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, should investigate what took place at the FBI," said Mark Levin.  "She's got a lot of leads, a virtual — you know — zillion leads, and she's got a document that's 600 pages in length, almost, to help give her some guidance; impanel a grand jury, and now you can use your subpoena power."

IG Hearing:  Senator Lindsey Graham, John Kennedy and Ted Cruz Question Segments.  As anticipated the majority of the Senate Judiciary hearing was a two-step.  Most of the questions presented to Inspector General Horowitz and FBI Director Chris Wray did little to advance the understanding of the issues at hand.  There was only one round of questions, several missing senators, and no senators for the duration.  The hearing wrapped up early shortly after 5:00 pm.  Here's the only three question segments that approached the central issues.  We discover that former FBI Director James Comey is the subject of an ongoing investigation.  We also discover there is a grand jury impaneled.

Eight Lawmakers Demand IG Horowitz Unmask Names of Hidden FBI/DOJ Employees.  Eight House Republicans have asked Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz for the specific names of FBI employees mentioned in last week's report on the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Horowitz Drops Bombshell:  Hillary Clinton Was Not Formally Under FBI Investigation at Any Time in 2015-2016.  On Tuesday [6/19/2018], Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified in a joint Congressional hearing to the House Oversight and House Judiciary panels about his review of the FBI's (mis)handling of the Clinton email investigation.

The IG Report Was a Whitewash and Devastating All At Once.  The IG report bait n' switch was just another example of our elite shrugging in the face of indisputable evidence of its own wrongdoing.  The bombshells in the IG report could justly be classified as "thermonuclear," but remember the Comey conference back in July 2016? Its bombshells were thermonuclear too.  Integrity Boy laid out an utterly devastating case against Felonia Milhous Von Pansuit, highlighting in damning detail her litany of crimes that would have consigned you, me, or anyone else not in the elite to a long tour in the stony lonesome.  And then that Looming Doofus concluded his lengthy summation with, "But never mind."

Inspector General's report shows FBI is bent and broken.  Question:  What's the difference between the corrupt old Boston FBI of Zip Connolly and H. Paul Rico, and the new modern FBI of James Comey, Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok?  Answer:  Nothing.  Actually, there are a few differences.  In Boston, all the corrupt agents wanted to do was frame a few innocent men and set up informants for hits by their underworld masters, as well as taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.  The modern FBI agents were involved in an even more nefarious conspiracy — trying to first fix a presidential election, and then, after that backfired, trying to overthrow the duly elected president of the United States.

11 Quick Things To Know About The Inspector General's Report.  [#1] Learn how to interpret an IG report. [...] Those who expected demands for justice in the face of widespread evidence of political bias and poor judgment by immature agents and executives were people unfamiliar with the purpose of IG reports.  The IG is also a government bureaucrat producing government products that are supposed to be calm and boring.  In the previous report that led to Andrew McCabe's firing as deputy director of the FBI and referral for criminal prosecution, his serial lying under oath was dryly phrased as "lack of candor."  In this report detailing widespread problems riddled throughout the Clinton email probe, the language is similarly downplayed.  That's particularly true in the executive summary, which attempts to downplay the actual details that fill the report with evidence of poor decision-making, extreme political bias, and problematic patterns of behavior.

FBI IG Report:  A Slap on the Wrist.  Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz has released his 500 plus-page report, which purports to shine a light on the mishandling at top levels of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation of the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server while she served as Secretary of State under former President Obama.  Such mishandling included violations of Department of Justice standards and FBI protocols.  The report from the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General ("OIG") criticized certain actions and decisions of former FBI Director James Comey, together with those of other senior FBI officials who were involved in the probe, including former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.  Mr. McCabe is already the subject of an earlier criminal referral from the OIG for his alleged unauthorized leaks to the media and lying to federal investigators about his media contacts.  Special FBI agent Peter Stzrok and Lisa Page, an attorney who has since left the FBI, were targeted in this report for their blatantly anti-Trump text messages.  Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch was also criticized for exercising bad judgment in connection with her infamous tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton.

A professional review of the IG report.  The more I read about this, the more I admire IG Michael Horowitz.  I have been involved in corporate governance and compliance for almost 20 years and I've never seen a better example of self-preservation than the OIG report.

The IG Report:  They're Guilty, but It's Okay.  First we were told that Comey was a straight shooter whom we could trust.  Then we were told the same about Mueller, Rosenstein, and now the IG.  Yet in every case we've discovered that they are biased political actors who put the interests of the Deep State and the Democratic Party ahead of their sworn duty to uphold the law.  It's time for all conservatives to acknowledge that there are few if any honest people at the top levels of the FBI or the DoJ.

The Deep State and Tyranny.  The issue of political bias, which the IG report scanted, has to be understood in the larger nature of the large-scale bureaucratic public institutions that comprise the Deep State.  In other words, the structure and functioning of the institution itself creates a bias that selects progressive employees.  The bias insidiously becomes a second nature of which they often are no more conscious than a fish is that it's wet.

Justice Department IG is looking into James Comey leaks.  The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General is looking into former FBI Director James Comey's decision to give his personal memos to a friend outside the government.  "We received a referral on that from the FBI.  We are handling that referral and we will issue a report when the matter is completed," Inspector General Michael Horowitz said during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The hearing came days after Horowitz's office released a near 600-page report on the FBI's handling of the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

Comey Under Investigation For Handling Of Classified Information.  Former FBI director James Comey is under investigation for mishandling classified information, DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz revealed Monday [6/18/2018].  He is specifically under investigation for his handling of memos he wrote about interactions with President Trump while FBI director.

Why the OIG Report Should Scare You.  The Justice Department's tepid OIG report, with its risible assertion that there was no political bias in the FBI's Clinton email probe, suggests that it was written by people afraid to tell the unvarnished truth about the conduct of the federal government's police apparatus, an agency that openly defies congressional oversight and has participated in a vendetta against a sitting president.  The FBI's leadership clearly hopes that the Democrats will win majorities in Congress and put a halt to the investigations into its multifarious abuses of power.  The OIG is loath to face the ruthless reprisals that would inevitably follow such a disaster.

Crime and Punishment.  The Justice Department Inspector General's report on the investigation of Hillary Clinton's unsecured personal email server laid bare a widespread pattern of conduct that "cast a cloud" over the FBI.  The report incites the inference that the Bureau is a severely corrupted organization, tainted and warped by unconstitutional ambitions to meddle in electoral matters.  Although Inspector General Michael Horowitz asserted he lacked "documentary and testamentary evidence" to prove political bias ruled in making decisions of great political consequence, clearly he did not mean bias was not present.  On what the report presented, it is almost certain that the FBI, at the deliberate direction of its leaders and senior Justice Department officials, intervened completely improperly in political matters.  The inspector general led the country to the edge of the decision, and will presumably make a number of criminal referrals for possible indictments, as he did after his initial report.

Insubordination and bias at FBI.  Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's 500-page report covers plenty, but it can be distilled to two words he uses to describe the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the 2016 election:  insubordination and bias.  Two terms that are chilling in connection with such a powerful agency.  That won't be the message from Democrats and most of the press, who will focus on a few episodes they will claim cost Hillary Clinton an election.  Watch for them to blame former FBI Director James Comey, whom the report faults for "a serious error of judgment," for having "concealed information" from superiors, and for "violation of or disregard for" departmental and bureau policies.

Obama single-handedly ruined the FBI and the DOJ.  Naturally, the political-media left that crowds out saner voices on television was quick as jackrabbits to announce that the FBI was vindicated by the I.G. report that was released on Thursday [6/14/2018]. [...] But one only has to scroll through the list of columns posted at RealClearPolitics on Friday to grasp the abyss between the left and right re: the report.  The report contained an executive summary that said, "We found no documentary evidence of political bias."  That means they did not find written confessions by all those Trump-hating higher-ups at the once-great law enforcement agency.  But the five-hundred-page body of the report is chock-full of extreme political anti-Trump mendacity.  Why the hundreds of texts between several like-minded agents that reek of profound bias against Trump are not documentary evidence is a mystery. [...] This I.G. report is only half, or maybe only a third of the whole story.

IG Report:  Peter Strzok Statements About Weiner/Abedin Laptop Conflict With FBI Claims About Weiner/Abedin Laptop.  General David Petraeus was arrested for leaving his classified schedule on mistress Paula Broadwell's nightstand.  Kristian Saucier was arrested for taking a classified photograph on a submarine.  Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin had dozens of classified Clinton emails on a laptop and...  There is a great deal of inconsistent application of law surrounding classified information.  There is also a great deal of fatigue surrounding discussion of those inconsistent applications.  Contradictions, inconsistency and obtuse justifications are as rampant in our midst as the political narratives shaping them.  Perhaps that's by design.  [Inexplicable ellipsis in original.]

Mark Levin:  "FBI interfered with the election worse than the Russians could have ever dreamed of doing!"  Mark Levin gave a fantastic interview last night on Hannity where he gave his reaction to the IG report on the Hillary investigation.  As you can judge from the title, Levin feels this report is a huge indictment against Comey, saying there was collusion, obstruction, and insubordination.  And I love the line I used in the title, where Levin emphatically said the "FBI interfered with the election worse than the Russians could have ever dreamed!"  [Video clip]

IG Report:  FBI Lawyer #1 Tashina Gauhar and The Huma/Weiner Laptop Issues.  One of the information issues with the IG report is that it's written entirely from an insider's perspective.  Therefore without an understanding of how divisions within Main Justice related to the discussed activity within FBI main DC offices it can be very confusing to understand.  The 'insider narration' makes it difficult to see what happened with the Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner laptop; and how the Clinton emails were discovered.  However, because the issue is so important the IG report spends three chapters on this time-frame between September 28th and October 29th, 2016; and ultimately the next day, Oct. 30th, when a search warrant was executed for the laptop content.

IG Report:  "We do not have confidence that Strzok's decision was free from bias".  FBI Agent Peter Strzok walks like a biased duck, looks like a biased duck, sounds like a biased duck, has all the same characteristics of a biased duck, and took the exact action a biased duck would take; therefore "We do not have confidence" FBI Agent Peter Strzok is not a biased duck.

IG Report:  FBI Officials Accepted Bribes From Media.  On Page Xii of the IG report the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG) highlights numerous FBI officials who accepted bribes from multiple media outlets including: "tickets to sporting events", "golf outings", "drinks and meals" as well as exclusive invitations and admission to "nonpublic social events".

Notes on the IG Report.  No one can read the vicious, hateful, over-the-top partisan vitriol that FBI employees directed against Donald Trump — Strzok and Page are not the only ones quoted in the IG's report — and give any credence to that claim.  These high-ranking FBI agents were politicized to the core and were determined to do anything they could to secure their candidate's election.  Failing that, they plunged into the faux Russia election story in hopes of discrediting President Trump or even, as they explicitly discussed, bringing about his impeachment.  The IG's report exposes a corrupt and politicized FBI and Department of Justice.  And so far, we are seeing only half of the story, at most.  No one has yet looked into the Democrats' "Russia" tale or any partisan corruption linked to Bob Mueller's farcical "investigation."

Crime and Punishment.  The Justice Department Inspector General's report on the investigation of Hillary Clinton's unsecured personal email server laid bare a widespread pattern of conduct that "cast a cloud" over the FBI.  The report incites the inference that the Bureau is a severely corrupted organization, tainted and warped by unconstitutional ambitions to meddle in electoral matters.  Although Inspector General Michael Horowitz asserted he lacked "documentary and testamentary evidence" to prove political bias ruled in making decisions of great political consequence, clearly he did not mean bias was not present.  On what the report presented, it is almost certain that the FBI, at the deliberate direction of its leaders and senior Justice Department officials, intervened completely improperly in political matters.  The inspector general led the country to the edge of the decision, and will presumably make a number of criminal referrals for possible indictments, as he did after his initial report.

IG Report:  FBI Agent Peter Strzok Sent Weiner Sealed Indictment To His Personal Email.  One of the interesting aspects of the IG report is the documented use of personal email by participants within the FBI "small group" Mid-Year-Exam (MYE) team.  One of those documented examples involves FBI Agent Peter Strzok downloading the content of the sealed Anthony Weiner Indictment, October 29, 2016, to his personal email address.  Unauthorized extraction of a 'sealed SDNY indictment', and transmission to a non-secure system, is a felony.

PBS's Mark Shields Sounds Silly: 'Very Sparse' Evidence of FBI Bias Against Trump.  You could tell the PBS NewsHour didn't want to discuss the Inspector General's report on the FBI's egregious failure to live up to its own standards in the 2016 election cycle.  Anchor Judy Woodruff started the Friday week-in-review segment with the North Korea summit, and then began the FBI analysis with a no-bias-found verdict:  "Very tough on James Comey, saying he was insubordinate, some other tough criticism of him, but, ultimately, 500 pages concluded that the way the FBI handled it didn't demonstrate bias."

Comey's FBI Was Protecting The Legitimacy Of The Presumed Clinton Presidency.  In late October of 2016 James Comey knew Donald Trump's candidacy was as dead as a doornail.  That must be distinctly understood or nothing wonderful can come from the story I am going to relate.  Time soothes the edges of old emotions.  We forget the shock of that election night.  Almost two years now of articles and TV takes, even books, make Trump's election seem understandable, even sometimes inevitable.  But that's not how it was then.  When FBI director Comey and the FBI dropped their late October Anthony Weiner surprise, they did so fully confident that Hillary Clinton would win.  What we now know for certain from the Department of Justice inspector general report that came out Thursday is that the FBI chose to disclose the Weiner email fiasco to protect a Clinton presidency, a foregone conclusion, from potential claims from Trump that the FBI had rigged the election.

Decoding the Horowitz Report on 'bias'.  We are in the midst of a spin battle over the inspector general's report issued yesterday [6/14/2018].  Because inspectors general cannot release their reports without giving those named within it a chance to contest it, and must be able to defend every single word of it, they must stick to facts and completely documentable conclusions.  Inductive reasoning, looking at large patterns of facts and drawing conclusions, does not survive such a process.  The result is a report that is written in a kind of code.  Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal decodes the Horowitz Report on bias in a tweet thread on the subject.  Her first tweet demolishes the "no bias" meme being pushed by Democrats, including the mainstream media.

Why Did FBI Assign Same Agents to Clinton & Trump Cases?  Why did the FBI assign the same agents who investigated Hillary Clinton's emails to look into allegations of Russian collusion with Donald Trump's campaign?  Given the overlapping timetable of both cases, the decision appears not only peculiar but harmful to the efforts.  The inspector general notes in his report the repeated excuse that the importance of the Russia investigation led to the crucial delay in the reopening of the Clinton email investigation after the discovery of former Secretary of State's missing messages on Anthony Weiner's laptop.  The bureau assigning different agents and lawyers to each case, the IG suggests, likely would have prevented the one-month delay in looking into the laptop that came, crucially, just days prior to the 2016 election.

Clinton Foundation Never Probed, Frivolous Suit Brought Against Trump.  On the day the Office of the Inspector General released a report about egregious DoJ/FBI behavior, the New York Attorney General announced a $2.8 million lawsuit against the Trump's Charitable Foundation.  Notice how the Feds and the NY AG work together?  This is a civil suit and they want to shut down the charity.  The fact is the Foundation raised 18.8 million dollars while giving 19.2 million to charity with virtually zero expenses.  This is a frivolous suit meant to hurt the President and counteract the OIG report.

Insubordination and Bias at FBI.  Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's 500-page report covers plenty, but it can be distilled to two words he uses to describe the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the 2016 election: insubordination and bias.  Two terms that are chilling in connection with such a powerful agency.  That won't be the message from Democrats and most of the press, who will focus on a few episodes they will claim cost Hillary Clinton an election.  Watch for them to blame former FBI Director James Comey, whom the report faults for "a serious error of judgment," for having "concealed information" from superiors, and for "violation of or disregard for" departmental and bureau policies.

Media fawning over Comey, McCabe looks silly after stinging IG report.  For those journalists who have covered law enforcement for decades, there was some discomfort watching a doting news media bestow adoration earlier this year upon the FBI's disgraced top two former bosses.  FBI Director James Comey, terminated for violating department guidelines and explicit instructions, was given the royal treatment when his memoir came out this spring.  Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, fired for lying to his own federal investigators, was portrayed as a whistleblower akin to Mark Felt, another former top FBI official who exposed the very real Watergate scandal.

[There is] No Obstruction If [a] Boss Cans [an] Insubordinate Subordinate.  Now that Justice Department Inspector-General Michael Horowitz has released his nearly 600-page report on his investigation of FBI practices during the course of the Hillary Clinton email probe, one thing is more settled then ever[:]  former FBI director James Comey had to be fired as fast as possible.  The IG's findings could not have been more clear:  Comey was consistently insubordinate.  That is precisely the word used in the report:  insubordinate.  No company, no business, no organization can function effectively with highly placed but subordinate people working at odds with their superiors, their management, their bosses.

Comey responds to IG report.  Former FBI Director James Comey led the FBI into crisis, scandal and disgrace.  Fired from the job by President Trump, he presented himself as a model of ethical leadership with a best-selling how-to book.  The IG report released yesterday documents his failures, notes his duplicity, calls him out for his high handedness, and gives us his endless self-justification.  In the tweet below responding to the IG report, we see that he is a man of many devices, one of which is a public relations strategy to ward off shame.  He could write an authentic classic on the high art of political pretense.

Sex, lies and betrayal at the FBI.  If Jeff Sessions and Christopher Wray want to clean house at the FBI, they'll be well advised to pack a good lunch.  Cleaning this house will be an all-day job.  The agency under James B. Comey has been more corrupt than we thought.  The long-awaited findings of the inspector general at the Justice Department were finally released Thursday, and it reveals clearly that officials high up in the food chain were out to protect Hillary Clinton by any means necessary.

The FBI Hates Trump — and His Voters, Too.  Several passages in the Justice Department's Inspector General report on the agency's handling of the Clinton email investigation illustrate the FBI's culture of contempt for Trump, before and after the election.  Comments from key law enforcement officials — lawyers and investigators — about Trump were vile, demeaning, and childish.  But their ridicule was not isolated to Trump.  These public servants were unsparing in their contempt for the voters — the very people who fund their salaries and pensions.

FBI Employee to FBI Attorney for Russia Investigation: 'YOU PROMISED' Trump Would Never Get Elected.  The day after Donald Trump was elected president, an FBI employee engaged in an "instant message" conversation with an FBI attorney who had worked on the Clinton email investigation, then moved to the Russian meddling investigation, and would later become an attorney working with Special Counsel Robert Mueller on that investigation.  Speaking of Trump's election, the FBI employee told the FBI lawyer:  "You promised me this wouldn't happen.  YOU PROMISED."  Later, in the same instant messaging exchange, according to the inspector general's report released today, the FBI attorney responded:  "I am just devastated.  I can't wait until I can leave and just shut off the world for the next four days."

Tying Hillary's Emails to the Russian 'Collusion' Probe.  The 568-page report released Thursday by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz may help explain why the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails and the probe of the Donald Trump campaign team's possible ties to Russia appear to bleed into each other.  The IG report, titled "Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election," details the FBI's investigation and eventual closure of the case regarding Clinton's use of a private, non-government email account, and her private server.  The report devotes particular attention to former FBI director James Comey's July 5, 2016 statement exonerating Hillary Clinton from criminal wrongdoing in her handling of classified intelligence.

IG report?  I want indictments.  The FBI is run by people who think they are above the law.  They may be right.  Missing from this document are the indictments.  Jimmy the Weasel Comey should be arrested and charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and sundry other crimes like the common criminal he is.  Arrogant Andrew McCabe, Peter the Politician Strzok, Lisa Page, and a whole slew of other agents need to be arrested, jailed, and charged with every crime possible.  This calls for a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization prosecution because these boys and girls turned a federal agency into their private protection racket.  We know this was going on for years because there is a casual, business-as-usual air to the way they conducted their crimes.  The record shows this.

FBI Employee: 'Trump's Supporters Are All Poor, Uneducated, Lazy POS'.  The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General report on the FBI handling of the Clinton email investigation reveals a bureau staffer made remarks attacking the "Deplorables," the voters who elected Donald Trump. [...] When Justice Department investigators asked if the comments demonstrated a political bias, the attorney said, "personal political feelings or beliefs... in no way impacted" the staffer's work undertaken on either the Clinton email probe or the Russia investigation.

With FBI's boiling hate for voters exposed, America dodged a bullet by electing Trump.  One of the biggest takeaways from the Department of Justice's 500-page inspector general report is how deep the contempt for voters is among the Federal Bureau of Investigation's leadership elite.  The text messages are incredible. [...] It's so bad that the I.G. report said these remarks, just oozing with contempt for the American public, led to an atmosphere that "has brought discredit to themselves, sowed doubt about the FBI's handling of the Midyear investigation, and impacted the reputation of the FBI."

The IG's Report May Be Half-Baked.  You've got to hand it to Michael Horowitz:  The Justice Department inspector general's much-anticipated report on the Clinton-emails investigation may be half-baked, but if it is, it is the most comprehensive, meticulously detailed, carefully documented, thoughtfully reasoned epic in the history of half-bakery.  Why say do I say the report "may be half-baked"? Why don't I just come out and declare, "The report is half-baked"?  Well, I figure if I write this column in the IG's elusive style, we'll have the Rosetta Stone we need to decipher the report.

Justice Leadership Is Not Coming Clean.  Despite misleading headlines, the inspector general's report on the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails shows a powerful law enforcement agency hobbled by bias and dishonesty.  The press has seized on the IG's statement that he "did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that improper considerations, including political bias, directly affected the specific investigative decisions we reviewed."  But that is simply Inspector Generalese for, "No one confessed or left a paper trail."

Open Up the Horowitz Secret Appendix.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report points to multiple irregularities in FBI chief James Comey's actions in the 2016 election campaign, sees no evidence of political bias, but never really gets to the bottom of why Mr. Comey played the role he did.  Mr. Comey may have been worried that a Justice Department decision not to prosecute Mrs. Clinton would lack credibility, but it was in no sense his obligation to solve this problem.  It simply was not the FBI chief's job to relieve the Obama administration of the need to sell its decision to the electorate.  This is why we have elections.  It's what political accountability is all about.  This is where Russia enters in.  It is highly absurd at this point to keep this information secret, as Mr. Horowitz does in a classified appendix.

How political bias infected FBI Trump, Clinton probes.  [Scroll down]  Then there was FBI Attorney 2.  His case is particularly newsworthy because Horowitz reported — it was not known before — that, like Strzok and Page, FBI Attorney 2 was removed from the Mueller investigation when the inspector general made Mueller aware of FBI Attorney 2's internal communications.  "FBI Attorney 2 left the special counsel's investigation and returned to the FBI in late February 2018, shortly after the IG provided the special counsel with some of the instant messages discussed in this section," the report says.  On Oct. 28, 2016, the day the FBI's then-director, James Comey, announced the reopening of the Clinton investigation, FBI Attorney 2 messaged four other FBI employees, saying, "I mean, I never really liked the Republic anyway" or similar messages.

The IG Report Was a Whitewash and Devastating All At Once.  [Christopher] Wray's ruined agency's best n' brightest conspired to undo the results of an election to ensure that the liberal politician who wouldn't derail their gravy train would take office, but hey, a couple hours of diversity classes will fix that right up.  I know I feel much better knowing that these bureaucratic superstars are finally going to get some training to inform them that trying to use their power as federal law enforcement agents to swing an election to their preferred political party is wrong.  Apparently, that was previously unclear.

The Real Problem With the OIG Report.  [Scroll down]  The DOJ's long-standing and well-established practice is to make no public statement regarding the outcome of an investigation unless and until it results in criminal charges.  But, in the Clinton "matter," it was decided that there had to be a public announcement of the investigative findings even though she was to be exonerated.  Consequently, there wasn't enough time for the investigation to be thorough and complete.  But, if the FBI and DOJ wanted to "avoid influencing the political process," then why have any public announcement of the investigation's findings?  By its very nature, the announcement, regardless of the investigation's outcome, would necessarily impact the political process and affect the fortunes of Clinton and Donald Trump.  As such, a public announcement would be intrinsically and inescapably a political act.

IG Report:  Disciplinary Action Recommended For Five FBI Agents — Oh, And Bureau Employees Got Free Stuff From Reporters.  Well, the report from the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz is here.  Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former FBI Director James Comey, and ex-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were placed under the microscope for their activities during the 2016 election, namely the Hillary Clinton email probe and the investigation into the Clinton Foundation.  Katie and Guy broke down the major nuggets of the report, notably how Mr. Comey went way outside the protocol during the Clinton email probe.  The IG report also noted that the arguments for why the ex-FBI chief informed Congress on October 28, 2016, that the FBI would be essentially rebooting the email probe after new emails were found on Huma Abedin's laptop, Abedin is a top Clinton aide, were unpersuasive.

Meet the Other Amorous FBI Staffers Who Texted About the Clinton Email Investigation.  Criticism of James Comey is nothing new — it's one of the few things that both Republicans and Democrats can agree on.  Which made the headline takeaway of the Department of Justice Inspector General's report — that Comey deviated from FBI norms — something less than a surprise.  But the Comey story isn't even close to being the most interesting or instructive finding by the IG.  Perhaps the most shocking information in the IG's report is the revelation that Lisa Page and Peter Strzok were not the only amorous agents with a habit of texting.  There were also "Agent 1" and "Agent 5," who were involved in the Clinton investigation and, according to the IG's report "were in a relationship at the time and are now married."  Their communications make for a searing indictment of the culture of the FBI and paint a portrait of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices as fiasco.

Inspector General's Report:  FBI May Have Covered up Weiner Laptop to Help Clinton.  Democrats have long complained that then-FBI Director James Comey's announcement in late October 2016 that he was re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails cost them the presidential election.  But the report of the Department of Justice Inspector General, released Thursday, shows that the FBI may actually have neglected an investigation into emails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop in an effort to stop Donald Trump from winning.

Comey Broke From FBI Procedures in Clinton Probe, Watchdog Finds.  Former FBI Director James Comey was "insubordinate" in handling the probe into Hillary Clinton, damaging the bureau and the Justice Department's image of impartiality even though he wasn't motivated by politics, the department's watchdog found.  Although the report issued Thursday [6/14/2018] by Inspector General Michael Horowitz doesn't deal directly with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russia meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion with those around Donald Trump, the president and his Republican allies in Congress were primed to seize on it as evidence of poor judgment and anti-Trump bias within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department.

Texts reveal disgraced FBI agent told lover 'we'll stop' Trump.  A top FBI agent involved in the investigation of Hillary Clinton's e-mails told a colleague in 2016 that "we'll stop" Donald Trump from becoming president, according to the Justice Department's inspector general.  The explosive comment came during an exchange of text messages between agent Peter Strzok and his lover, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, in August 2016, IG Michael Horowitz's report revealed Thursday [6/14/2018]. [...] Despite the stunning anti-Trump comments, Horowitz said he found no evidence that the pair's political views carried over into their work on the investigations into Russian election meddling and Clinton's improper use of a private e-mail server while she was secretary of state.

'Viva Le Resistance': Mueller Team Attorney Sent Anti-Trump Texts.  An FBI attorney who worked on the special counsel's Russia investigation until earlier this year sent anti-Trump text messages to a colleague, including one exclaiming:  "Viva le Resistance."  The attorney's comments are revealed in a Justice Department inspector general's report released on Thursday [6/14/2018].  The lawyer is not identified, but he worked on the Hillary Clinton email investigation and was the FBI's lead attorney on the investigation into Russian election interference.  He was assigned to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation soon after it began in May 2017 and left in late February of this year after some of his private messages were shared with the special counsel.


The report from Inspector General David Horowitz, December 9, 2019:


Sara Carter:  If Declassified, Elements of FISA Abuse Report Will "Turn the Whole Horowitz Report on its Head".  On Monday night's "Hannity," investigative journalist Sara A. Carter said that two Republican U.S. senators have asked Attorney General William Barr to declassify certain information from the Justice Department inspector general's "FISA abuse" report released to the public on December 9.  DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found numerous errors and omissions in the FBI's applications for surveillance warrants on former Trump campaign adviser Carter W. Page but no evidence of political motives in the launching of "Crossfire Hurricane," the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign.  The origin of "Crossfire" is under criminal investigation by U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham.  Durham is believed to be probing events which occurred earlier than July 31, 2016, the date the FBI has claimed it opened its probe into the campaign.

The Swamp is un-lovely, dark and deep.
Inspector General Report Shows Special Counsel Replicated FBI Abuses.  Shortly after the release of the special counsel report last year, I posited that Robert Mueller's failure to investigate whether Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election by feeding dossier author Christopher Steele disinformation established that Mueller was either incompetent or a political hack.  Now, with the release of the inspector general's report on FISA abuse, we know the answer:  He was both.  The IG's report on the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI's handling of the Carter Page surveillance applications established 17 significant inaccuracies and omissions in the FISA application and renewals.  (Eighteen if you include the one the IG missed).  The 400-page report also established that the special counsel's office was complicit in the FISA abuse, the probe was a witch hunt, and Mueller's report was a cover-up for systematic government malfeasance.

Source Identified — IG FISA Report Identifies One Confidential Human Source Leading to Audit of FBI Activity.  Throughout the 478-page IG report on FBI FISA misconduct there are several mentions of Confidential Human Sources (CHSs) who were either officially "tasked" or unofficially involved in the 2016 FBI investigation of the Trump campaign.  The inspector general review of the CHS activity is fraught with examples of the FBI denying many of the numerous "non-tasked" sources were acting in an official capacity.  The inspector general's office knowing the FBI were lacking candor is one thing; however, proving that is another matter entirely.  The 'having to take them at their word' dynamic appears throughout the chapters on the use of Confidential Human Sources.

IG Report Hints James Comey Was In On FBI's FISA Misconduct.  When the Department of Justice inspector general released his report on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse, coverage focused on the top-line findings contained in the executive summary.  Then the news cycle whizzed by, leaving many details discussed throughout the 480-page tome unexplored.  One significant gap in media coverage concerns the potential complicity of former FBI Director James Comey in the FISA abuse — a possibility the IG report hints at in several spots.  The first suggestion that something was amiss with Comey's conduct came early in Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report, when the IG's office spoke of the methodology underlying the FISA investigation.

Gregg Jarrett:  Barr's Fox News interview should have Brennan, Steele calling their attorneys.  Several key players in the origins of the Russia investigation might want to contact their lawyers following Attorney General William Barr's appearance this week on Fox News, political analyst Gregg Jarrett suggested Thursday night on "Hannity."  "I would have my criminal lawyers on speed dial," Jarrett told host Sean Hannity, "because [Barr] made it pretty much clear he is going after not just the intel agencies but private actors."  Likely Barr targets, Jarrett said, include former CIA Director John Brennan, former journalist and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson and former British spy Christopher Steele.

AG Bill Barr Full Interview Covering Horowitz Report, Durham Investigation and Impeachment.  Attorney General Bill Barr had an extensive sit down interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum on Wednesday, December 18th.  The interview was broadcast this evening [12/19/2019].  [Video clip]

The New American Stasi.  [Scroll down]  Last week, the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz revealed that we have a New American Stasi.  As a Member of Congress, I had voted against the renewal of the Patriot Act, a main reason was the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court.  I could not, and still cannot, fathom having a "secret" court that has the power to grant warrants to conduct surveillance, spying, against American citizens without their knowledge, or ability to defend themselves.  That is a complete and utter violation of our Fourth Amendment rights, yet this is what happened.  And last week, Mr. Horowitz confirmed my greatest concerns:  Seventeen inaccuracies and omissions were made to this secret court in order to obtain warrants to conduct surveillance, spying, against American citizens.  And yes, the entire Mueller special investigation which was enacted for one reason, but veered greatly off course, and certain political opposition have found themselves in sentenced to prison.  This is how things happen when progressive socialists are in power.  What perhaps started with every good intention of keeping us safe from Islamic jihadists and terrorist attacks is now being used against political opponents.

IG report suggests FBI might cheat on all its FISA wiretap requests.  Former FBI Director James Comey initially portrayed last week's damning report on the bureau's probe of Russiagate as a vindication.  This week, Comey admitted that Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovered "real sloppiness," which is "concerning."  That characterization does not begin to cover the problems described by Horowitz, which this week prompted a highly unusual public rebuke from the court that reviews secret warrant applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  The FISA court called the FBI's conduct "antithetical to the heightened duty of candor" that applies in such cases.  Comey may take comfort in the fact that Horowitz didn't find political bias.  The rest of us can hardly be reassured by the implication that the FBI is inept rather than corrupt.

Brit Hume:  One of the wonders of modern media is its failure to see through Adam Schiff.  Adam Schiff claimed over the weekend that he shouldn't be held accountable for his own previous efforts to discount the numerous errors in the FBI's FISA application on Carter Page.  "I'm certainly willing to admit that the Inspector General found serious abuses of FISA that I was unaware of," Schiff told Fox News' Chris Wallace.  He added, "Had I known of them, Chris, yes, I would have called out the FBI at the same time.  But I think it's only fair to judge what we knew at the time, not what would be revealed two years later."  As Ed wrote yesterday, Schiff's explanation for his failure to see what was presented in the Nunes memo is "nonsense on stilts."  I wrote a comparison between the information contained in the Nunes memo and the conclusions from the Horowitz report here.  Every major point of the memo was substantiated by Horowitz' report while Schiff's response memo was cut off at the knees.

Rush Limbaugh Says 'IG Report has Totally Exposed Nadler as a Full-Fledged, 100 Percent Liar'.  Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh just slammed Democrat Congressman Jerry Nadler for not showing up at the House Rules Committee hearing Tuesday, adding that the inspector general report has now "exposed" Nadler as a liar.  "The IG report has totally exposed Nadler as a full-fledged, 100% liar," Limbaugh said on his program Tuesday [12/17/2019]. [...] Limbaugh said the Democrats on the Rules Committee are "continuing to lie through their teeth about the supposed misconduct of Donald Trump."

Brennan admits 'there were mistakes made' in FISA applications, suggests FBI was 'overly aggressive'.  Former CIA Director John Brennan, an outspoken critic of President Trump, acknowledged Tuesday that "there were mistakes made" in the highly controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application process during the Russia investigation as reported by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.  Appearing on MSNBC, Brennan was asked by host Chris Hayes about "abuses" uncovered by Horowitz, who claimed he found 17 significant errors in the renewed FISA applications into former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, while Horowitz was a member of the Obama administration.

Nunes letter to Schiff: 'As part of your rehabilitation, it's crucial that you admit you have a problem'.  Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, is riding high following last week's release of the Justice Department Inspector General report on FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  In a letter Sunday [12/15/2019], Nunes told committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., that he's "in need of rehabilitation," given the report's findings, according to Fox News.  Taking considerable heat in the media after voicing concerns about the FBI's reliance on the discredited Christopher Steele dossier funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign to obtain a FISA warrant to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, Nunes was vindicated by the IG report.

Shifty Schiff Tries to Play Dumb:  The IG Report Revealed Things We Had No Idea About Two Years Ago.  For more than two years, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told us President Donald Trump has done something wrong.  He didn't know exactly what but he just knew Trump was involved in some sort of wrong doing.  First, it was Russia!  Russia!  Russia!  Once Special Counsel Robert Mueller proved that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia, he latched onto Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.  And that's how we're currently at the impeachment fiasco that the Democrats are ramming through the House.  What's interesting, however, is Schiff is suddenly changing his tune.  During a Sunday morning interview [11/15/2019] with George Stephanopoulos, Schiff said that Inspector General Michael Horowitz "found things" that the American people didn't know about in 2017.

IG Report Proves Adam Schiff Has Been Lying About Spygate Since The Beginning.  On Friday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.  The committee vote sends the question to the full House, with a vote expected later this week.  That fast timeline won't allow for much consideration of the question, however, forcing folks to rely on House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff's 300-page report detailing his committee's "impeachment inquiry." But following last week' release of the inspector general's report on FISA abuse that proved nearly every sentence wrong in Schiff's last high-profile report (his self-titled "Correcting the Record — The Russia Investigation"), Schiff's work product should be deemed worthless.

Horowitz Report Exposes Soviet-Level Wrongdoing.  The Democrats long have insisted that the Hillary Clinton-sponsored Steele dossier was not used to justify FBI spying on the 2016 Trump campaign as part of an investigation into alleged ties to the Russian government.  The American people were told that the intelligence apparatus had legitimate concerns about potential collusion and that authorities took appropriate steps to investigate Donald Trump's associates.  The evidence contained in the report, however, tells a very different story.  Not only did the FBI agents trust the findings of the now-discredited dossier, but they also used it to file the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application to wiretap the Trump presidential campaign.

The Media Has Some Apologizing to Do After the IG Report.  Thanks to the Department of Justice Inspector General's report, we now know for certain what has been, for those paying attention, fairly obvious.  The Steele dossier played a central role in the genesis of the Russia hoax and was used to justify extensive spying on former naval officer and Annapolis graduate Carter Page.  The top two leaders of the FBI were closely involved in this fiasco.  Other powerful people knew what was happening and lied to cover it up.  That all was confirmed by the IG report.  The report was a disaster for the credibility of top leaders in Barack Obama's FBI, and it's also a big problem for the American news media.

Schiff and Complicit Media Are Due For a Reckoning After IG Report Exposed Their Lies.  Now that the inspector general report on FISA abuse has vindicated the work of Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and thoroughly debunked the fraudulent conspiracy theories and smears of the current chairman Adam Schiff, many conservatives are crying out for retribution.  At the very least, Schiff should face an ethics complaint for lying in his memo, American Commitment President Phil Kerpen says.

Trapped by the Ghosts of Corrupt Administrations Past.  It's little wonder sane people have taken the Left's messaging strategy regarding impeachment and the Justice Department inspector general's new report as mere political inanity and mendacity.  Government officials, past and present, who fear potential indictment for abuse of power for personal and partisan gain, their legal "experts" at Lawfare, their collusion media cohorts, and social media's rabid pack of regressive mouth-breathers who do little more than parrot them are not advancing a typical political argument.  They are proffering a preemptive legal defense.  For the Left, preparing briefs for a prospective court of law rather than making good faith arguments in the court of public opinion is a necessary gambit, due to U.S. Attorney John Durham's probe into the Russia-gate lie.

What the IG Report Missed, and Where to Find It.  The I.G. Report is not truthful in its description of the reasons behind opening the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.  This might be not Horowitz's fault — his main sources were the Spygate perpetrators themselves.  They were familiar with investigative techniques and thus coordinated their testimonies, inclusive of media leaks, accordingly.  There is only one other relevant factor mentioned in the I.G. report regarding the opening the Crossfire Hurricane investigation:  the "cyber-intrusion investigation" of the DNC leaks and alleged hacks.  These two separate incidents were incorrectly mixed and attributed to the Russian government.  But the report doesn't disclose when this cyber-intrusion investigation started or how it was predicated. [...] The I.G. Report mentions neither CrowdStrike nor any of its officers.  For comparison, FFG is mentioned 144 times, and even Fusion GPS is mentioned 138 times, but CrowdStrike is completely missing.

The Inspector General's Report.  The conduct of former deputy attorneys general Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein "were inconsistent with or undercut the assertions contained in the FISA applications" (to conduct surveillance on Trump-campaign helper Carter Page).  They contained "inaccurate information," i.e. the applications were fraudulent.  Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous Steele Dossier, a pastiche of defamatory fabrications that was paid for by the Clinton campaign and was the principal basis of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) applications, thought he was answerable to paying clients (the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, through a law firm and the dirty-tricks operation Fusion GPS), while the FBI thought he was answerable to the Bureau, despite having closed out Steele for cause for assisting Fusion GPS in getting his false allegations into the media.  Yet he continued to feed information to the FBI through the wife of senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr; she was contracted to Fusion GPS.  Steele met 13 times with Mrs. Ohr after Steele's termination by the FBI, and his information was fed to the FBI.  Steele continued to supply information to the FBI that director James Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe wanted to include in the Intelligence Community Assessment of these matters (at least that outrage was not approved, but their effort incites intense curiosity about Horowitz's imputation of motives).  "Ohr committed consequential errors in judgment" and a (prolonged) "lapse of judgment," Horowitz writes.

Obama Wanted To Know Everything His Trump Spies Were Doing, And It Looks Like He Did.  When it comes to the unlawful surveillance on Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the most important question is, what did President Obama know and when did he know it?  If we are to believe the testimony in the Justice Department inspector general's report on FISA abuse, Obama didn't know anything about the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.  Neither did his attorney general, her deputy, or anyone in the White House.  At least not that they can recall — an expression used over 200 times in the report.  Yet against this we have the Sept. 2, 2016, text message from Lisa Page to her paramour Peter Strzok saying "POTUS wants to know everything we are doing."  True to form, the IG report goes to great lengths to argue that "knowing everything" in fact meant knowing nothing at all.

WaPo Admits:  Republicans' Famous Memo On FISA Abuse Blasted By Dems Ended Up Getting It Mostly Right.  Now that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has finally released his much-anticipated report on alleged misconduct by the FBI during the 2016 election, two famous memos — one released by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes while he was House Intelligence Committee chairman, and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who has since taken over the position — have come under renewed scrutiny.  The memos presented dueling versions of how the FBI began to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in an effort to investigate alleged "collusion" with Russia.  So who had it right?  A fact-checker for The Washington Post has been forced to admit that Nunes got a "fair amount" right — in fact, his version of events aligned far more closely with what Horowitz found than the Democrats' rebuttal.

IG report shows Russia hoax [is/was] a coup attempt.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz finally damned the FBI during his testimony Wednesday when he said he would be "skeptical" that there was anything accidental in the egregious catalog of errors the bureau committed in its spying operation on Donald Trump's presidential campaign.  It took five hours of questioning about the FBI's motivations, but Horowitz, prudent and impartial as he is, finally delivered the money shot.  Asked by Republican Sen. Mike Crapo if the 17 "significant errors or omissions" he found in the FBI's surveillance operation could possibly be "accidental," Horowitz said:  "I would be skeptical."

This Isn't The First Time The IG Denied Flagrant Bias At The FBI.  The IG said that he couldn't state definitively that political bias motivated officials at the FBI to launch and then sustain an investigation against the Trump campaign based on the Clinton-campaign funded and thoroughly discredited Steele Dossier. [...] First, what the IG report actually said was that it couldn't find "documentary or testimonial evidence" that anti-Trump animus got the investigation going in the first place, saying it was "a discretionary judgment call left to the FBI."  Basically, then, the IG is saying there was no memo saying flat out that Trump-hating FBI officials were taking on this investigation to sabotage the Trump candidacy and presidency, and no one would openly admit bias to the IG's investigators.  However, even the claim that the investigation's launch was legitimate and free of bias is itself being challenged by U.S. Attorney John Durham.

Goldman tweet
Matt Gaetz nailed Dem impeachment counsel Daniel Goldman.  [Scroll down]  Then, Gaetz moved in for the kill, asking him, "Have you ever tweeted anything at the president?"  "I have made a number of tweets in my private capacity before I came to this job when I worked in the media," Goldman replied.  "As a matter of fact, this is one of those tweets," Gaetz said gleefully displaying the posterboard.  [Photo]  "You said, 'Nothing in the dossier has proved to be false.'  But in fact, the dossier said there was a Russian consulate in Miami, when there isn't.  The dossier said Michael Cohen had a meeting in Prague, when he didn't.  The dossier said Michael Cohen's wife was Russian, she is in fact Ukrainian," Gaetz said.  "So we sit here today and you've got a tweet mentioning a 'pee tape' while claiming to be non-partisan.  Hired by the Democrats to pursue the president.  Do you regret this tweet?"


Graham alleges 'massive criminal conspiracy' in FBI's Russia probe in blistering hearing statement.  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham accused the FBI officials who investigated the Trump campaign's ties to Russia of a "massive criminal conspiracy" in a fiery opening statement Wednesday for a hearing where the Justice Department's top watchdog testified.  In a freewheeling speech to kick off the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on FBI abuses, the committee chairman said federal investigators made more than a few missteps — and took the law into their own hands.  "What has been described as a few irregularities becomes a massive criminal conspiracy over time to defraud the FISA court, to illegally surveil an American citizen and keep an operation open against a sitting president of the United States — violating every norm known to the rule of law," Graham said.

IG Horowitz hearing exposes deliberate FBI misconduct in investigating Trump campaign.  When the FBI discovered that the anti-Trump Steele dossier was garbage, the bureau concealed that vital evidence.  Instead of promptly terminating its surveillance of Donald Trump's former campaign adviser Carter Page, the FBI persisted in its quest to prove a Trump-Russia "collusion" conspiracy that officials knew was unsupported by credible evidence.  This was the most significant result of Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee questioning of Michael Horowitz, the inspector general (IG) at the Department of Justice, in the aftermath of his damning 476-page report on the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign that was released this week.

Lindsey Graham rips into media coverage of IG report: 'How do you get a headline like that?'.  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, railed against the media's takeaways from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's recently released Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) report.  In a freewheeling speech Wednesday to kick off the committee's hearing on FBI abuses, Graham said that Crossfire Hurricane — a covert counterintelligence investigation by the FBI into suspected coordination between President Trump's 2016 campaign and the Russian government's meddling in the election — was "probably the best name ever given to an investigation in the history of investigations" because, he exclaimed, "that's what we wound up with: a crossfire and a hurricane."

Rep. Devin Nunes on Horowitz FISA abuse report: 'I felt more than vindicated'.  House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said Wednesday that he felt "more than vindicated" after the release of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report Monday and its findings regarding the Russia investigation.  "I think I felt more than vindicated because actually I give Horowitz a lot of credit because they were actually able to find things that we didn't know," Nunes said on on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."  "Like we didn't know that they had actually found, talked to [Christopher] Steele's Russian sources.  And I think that's a critical key here because now you have to bring into question everything that happened with [former Special Counsel Robert] Mueller."

Sen. Hawley:  The 'Collusion Was Between the DNC and the FBI'.  While questioning Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Wednesday about the FBI's malfeasance in its spying on the 2016 Trump campaign, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said there was "collusion" in that presidential election, not with Russia but between the FBI and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).  The report by Horowitz confirmed that the DNC paid for the salacious "dossier," compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, that supposedly showed Trump had been compromised by the Russians.  The dossier was not factual and had been dismissed by the CIA as "internet rumor."

The Truth about the Horowitz Report.  [Scroll down]  The key to the IG report was not whether it explicitly said there was or wasn't reason to open the four investigations.  The really important part was the 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications and the many additional errors contained in the Woods Procedures (a procedure requiring the vetting of every fact submitted to a FISA court for permission to spy on an American.)  The IG report found that many significant facts were withheld from the court and others were altered.  It is a damning assessment of the veracity of the FBI and the fundamental basis of the entire investigation.  It is also a felony crime.  Of the 17 major errors found in the Page FISA application information, all the errors favored Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign.  This is incalculably beyond coincidence.  It is facial political bias.  The many errors and omissions were never satisfactorily explained to the Office of Investigations.  The report stated that it appeared agents were substituting their own judgements in place of the OI judgements.  If this isn't investigatory bias, what is?

Misfired 'Hurricane': Comey's team abused Carter Page and the FBI.  The report by IG Michael Horowitz is one long expose of a confluence of actors at the top of the FBI who, by their own words, despised Donald Trump and came together to open and run an investigation into his 2016 presidential campaign, falsifying documents, withholding evidence and using a confidential source who had stated clearly that his goal was to prevent a Trump presidency.  Despite these flashing lights, the IG essentially stated that since no one admitted to being motivated by their personal biases, he could not reach that conclusion.  Thanks for that, but most Americans unencumbered by a law degree can detect the obvious without a lot of effort.  Ironically, the devastating decisions and abuses that the report goes on to enumerate are only explained with any kind of logic by the swift current of personal animus gripping the main protagonists then at the top of the FBI.

'Aghast' to learn how little the Obama-era AG was involved in FBI Trump probe: fmr independent counsel.  Former Whitewater Independent Counsel Robert Ray said he was "aghast to learn how little involved the [Obama administration] attorney general and the deputy attorney general of the United States" were in the FBI investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.  Ray said that is the most stunning revelation from the Justice Department Inspector General's review of FBI conduct at the height of the 2016 presidential campaign.  "I think Michael Horowitz was surprised to learn," said Ray on Fox Nation's "Deep Dive" on Tuesday [12/10/2019], "and I cannot believe that there is an investigation that would take you inside a presidential campaign and four people who were targeted within that campaign and that doesn't require some kind of supervisory review and initiation beyond simply the inner-reaches of the FBI."

Democrat Smears on Nunes's FISA Abuse Memo Proved False by Inspector General Report.  Democrats last year smeared Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) when he issued a memo with findings that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process when it obtained surveillance warrants on Carter Page, a member of the Trump campaign, in 2016.  However, a report released Monday by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz [...] vindicated Nunes's memo and proved Democrats' smears and assertions were false.  Nunes's memo included the findings that 1) "material and relevant information was omitted" in applications for FISA warrants; 2) the FBI inaccurately stated in their FISA warrant applications that ex-British spy Christopher Steele was not a source for a Yahoo News report used in the applications; 3) Steele maintained contact with the FBI even after being fired as a source; 4) the FBI did not corroborate the Steele dossier at the time it was included in the applications; and 5) the FISA applications for Page mentioned former campaign aide George Papadopoulos, even though there was no conspiracy between Page and Papadopoulos.  The DOJ IG's report confirmed every finding in Nunes's memo.

Bruce Swartz, Textbook Swamp Dweller.  The Inspector General's Report from the Department of Justice (DOJ) features a heretofore unheralded costar by the name of Bruce Swartz, the assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division.  Swartz was also the supervisor of the feckless Bruce Ohr, husband of Fusion GPS contractor Nellie Ohr and frequent breakfast buddy of Christopher Steele of Steele dossier fame.  Unreported by Inspector General Michael Horowitz, however, was Swartz's starring role in another DoJ drama some 15 years earlier.  Given the scant media attention the case received in 2004-2005, it is possible Horowitz did not even know about Swartz's yeoman effort to save Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger from a lengthy sojourn in a federal Supermax.

Horowitz Goes Full Comey.  Like disgraced former FBI director James Comey before him exonerating Hillary Clinton for her crimes, DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz presents us with a documented list of crimes, fraud, and deception in the FISA warrant application process by the FBI but then says never mind — these are bureaucratic mistakes made without bias and without intent.  There still was sufficient predicate, says he, for starting an investigation and surveillance of Team Trump, even as Horowitz admits that the first FISA warrant, the one authorizing surveilling Carter Page, was riddled with errors and omissions of key exculpatory evidence.  It was the first of four frauds committed on the FISA court, a felony.

Kimberley Strassel lays out 'key findings' in IG report:  A 'triumph' for Nunes, an 'excoriation' of Schiff.  The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley Strassel believes Rep. Adam Schiff owes the country an "enormous apology."  She spoke to "Fox & Friends" hosts about the release of the anticipated Justice Department inspector general report, noting that the contents spell "triumph" for Rep. Devin Nunes and trouble for his Democrat colleague, Schiff.

Ray was 'Aghast' to learn extent of Obama AG's involvement in FBI Trump probe:  Fmr independent counsel.  Former Whitewater Independent Counsel Robert Ray said he was "aghast to learn how little involved the [Obama administration] attorney general and the deputy attorney general of the United States" were in the FBI investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.  Ray said that is the most stunning revelation from the Justice Department Inspector General's review of FBI conduct at the height of the 2016 presidential campaign.  "I think Michael Horowitz was surprised to learn," said Ray on Fox Nation's "Deep Dive" on Tuesday, "and I cannot believe that there is an investigation that would take you inside a presidential campaign and four people who were targeted within that campaign and that doesn't require some kind of supervisory review and initiation beyond simply the inner-reaches of the FBI."

IG Report Confirms Schiff FISA Memo Media Praised Was Riddled With Lies.  The memo from the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee reported:
  [#1]   A salacious and unverified dossier formed an essential part of the application to secure a warrant against a Trump campaign affiliate named Carter Page.  This application failed to reveal that the dossier was bought and paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee.
  [#2]   The application cited a Yahoo News article extensively.  The story did not corroborate the dossier, and the FBI wrongly claimed Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier, was not a source for the story.
  [#3]   Nellie Ohr, the wife of a high-ranking Justice Department official, also worked on behalf of the Clinton campaign effort.  Her husband Bruce Ohr funneled her research into the Department of Justice.  Although he admitted that Steele "was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president," this and the Ohrs' relationship with the Clinton campaign was concealed from the secret court that grants surveillance warrants. [...]
All of these things were found to be true by the Inspector General Michael Horowitz in his December 9 report.  In fact, Horowitz detailed rampant abuse that went far beyond these four items.

Attorney General William Barr says FBI may have acted in 'bad faith'.  Questions about the FBI's motives in targeting President Trump's 2016 campaign are mounting despite a Justice Department inspector general report that could not pin down evidence of bias.  Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday [12/10/2019] said Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz did not push hard enough for answers to why the FBI made a slew of embarrassing errors, omissions and inaccuracies in its Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) application to wiretap Trump campaign aide Carter Page.  If not a get-Trump mentality at the FBI, he asked, then what was it?

Horowitz offers soundbites to Dems, facts to Republicans.  It would be a great understatement to say that Michael Horowitz, the Department of Justice Inspector General, doesn't leap to conclusions.  In fact, he does everything possible to ignore reasonable conclusions from the evidence he found and emphasizes the evidence that he didn't find justifying his lack of a conclusion.  His latest report on the handling of the FISA warrants used to spy in the Trump campaign states:  ["]...we did not conclude that the decision [to pursue an investigation of the Trump campaign] was based on improper considerations in the absence of documentary or testimonial evidence to the contrary.["]  In other words, because nobody outright testified or wrote that they were launching Crossfire Hurricane out of hatred for President Trump, Horowitz will not draw that conclusion, even with all the Trump hatred evident in the text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

Just how bad was the FBI's Russia FISA? 51 violations and 9 false statements.  To understand just how shoddy the FBI's work was in securing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant targeting the Trump campaign, you only need to read an obscure attachment to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report.  Appendix 1 identifies the total violations by the FBI of the so-called Woods Procedures, the process by which the bureau verifies information and assures the FISA court its evidence is true.  The Appendix identifies a total of 51 Woods procedure violations from the FISA application the FBI submitted to the court authorizing surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page starting in October 2016.  A whopping nine of those violations fell into the category called:  "Supporting document shows that the factual assertion is inaccurate."

Nation's Top Cop Punches Coup Attempt Against POTUS Trump In The Face With Scathing Rebuke.  It's a quick uppercut to the jaw of the Deep State delivered via Attorney General William Barr in the form of a brutally powerful statement following today's release of the IG report.  AG Barr makes clear he has the Deep State in his sights and he appears fully prepared to take this to the finish line.

Horowitz report is [bad] for the FBI and unsettling for the rest of us.  The analysis of the report by Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz greatly depends, as is often the case, on which cable news channel you watch.  Indeed, many people might be excused for concluding that Horowitz spent 476 pages to primarily conclude one thing, which is that the Justice Department acted within its guidelines in starting its investigation into the 2016 campaign of President Trump.  Horowitz did say that the original decision to investigate was within the discretionary standard of the Justice Department.  That standard for the predication of an investigation is low, simply requiring "articulable facts."  He said that, since this is a low discretionary standard, he cannot say it was inappropriate to start.  United States Attorney John Durham, who is heading the parallel investigation at the Justice Department, took the usual step of issuing a statement that he did not believe the evidence supported that conclusion at the beginning of the investigation.

IG report lays out compelling evidence FBI misled FISA court in Russia case, sources say.  The Justice Department inspector general's report into the Russia collusion investigation lays out incontrovertible evidence that the FBI misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court through false information and omissions, according to sources familiar with its findings.  The evidence that the judges were misled is so sweeping that it could provide grounds, if Attorney General William Barr chooses, to withdraw the FBI's application for the surveillance warrants that began in October 2016 to target ex-Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, the sources added.  Such a move, while mostly legally symbolic since the probe is long since closed, would still amount to a resounding rebuke to an FBI probe that the bureau, Democrats and their media allies relentlessly defended.

DOJ inspector general finds 17 'significant errors or omissions' in Carter Page FISA applications.  The Justice Department watchdog excoriated the FBI for relying upon British ex-spy Christopher Steele's dossier in obtaining Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants to monitor onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who released a report on Monday showing his findings regarding allegations of surveillance abuses, also found the FISA process was significantly flawed and marred by serious mistakes and missteps, but determined that the initiation of the Trump-Russia investigation itself crossed the low threshold to be properly predicated and was not influenced by political bias as some of President Trump's allies have alleged.

DOJ IG: 'At Least 17 Significant Errors or Omissions in the Carter Page FISA' Application.  The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) audit on the origins of the Russiam collision hoax released Monday by the inspector general (IG) found "at least 17 significant errors and omissions" in the Carter Page federal surveillance application that enabled the investigation into the Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016.  DOJ IG Michael Horowitz's report indicated the agents in charge of dealing with approving FISA surveillance, particularly the Carter Page one approved by FBI Director James Comey, "did not give appropriate attention or treatment to the facts that cut against probable cause, or reassess the information supporting probable cause as the investigation progressed."

IG Report Proves Democrats Were Wrong, and Nunes Right, About FISA Warrant.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG)'s report Monday on the FBI's use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants found that the agency misled the FISA court, though not due to political bias.  It also found that the decision to initiate an investigation into Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign was adequately founded — although Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham disagree.

The Reason for Conflict Between Horowitz and Durham is Crystal Clear on Page 2.  What inspector general Horowitz outlines in that key section is that: (A) he has reviewed everything, and talked to everyone (current and former) within the FBI; and (B) the ONLY evidence they FBI cited for the opening of Crossfire Hurricane is the singular conversation between George Papadopoulos and Australian Ambassador Alexander Downer and/or Downer's asst.  Erika Thompson.  That's it.  Nothing else.  There is no other predicate evidence from the FBI investigative unit other than a singular conversation between Alexander Downer/Erika Thompson and George Papadopoulos.

All eyes on Durham after rebuke of IG Horowitz's findings.  In the hours after U.S. Attorney John Durham announced Monday that he did not "agree" with key findings by Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, speculation swirled over what Durham has uncovered in his ongoing review into potential surveillance abuses against President Trump's team.  Durham's inquiry has had a broader scope than Horowitz's, including a focus on foreign actors as well as the CIA, while Horowitz concentrated his attention on the DOJ and FBI.  Additionally, Durham's criminal review has had additional investigative resources not available to Horowitz.

Ted Cruz: Horowitz report shows FBI was 'utterly negligent' at best, 'complicit' in abuse of power at worst.  Senate Judiciary Committee member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called the Justice Department inspector general's report both "chilling and encouraging" in an interview Monday [12/9/2019] on "Hannity."  "It is stunning the abuse of power that we saw in the Obama administration and sadly it continued over in the deep state for the first couple of years of the Trump administration," Cruz told host Sean Hannity, [...] "The very best interpretation of the Horowitz inspector general report is that the FBI and Department of Justice were manifestly incompetent," he said.  "The IG report outlines 17 factual misstatements that they made to the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveiilance {sic}] court and that they were utterly negligent in ordering the surveillance [and] spying of a presidential nominee and of a sitting president."

Justice Dep't watchdog finds 2016 launch of FBI probe of Trump advisers was legitimate - source.  The U.S. Justice Department's internal watchdog said it found numerous errors but no evidence of political bias by the FBI when it opened an investigation into contacts between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia in 2016.  The report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz was likely to give ammunition to both Trump's supporters and his Democratic critics in the ongoing debate about the legitimacy of an investigation that shadowed the first two years of his presidency.  Horowitz found that the FBI had a legal "authorized purpose" to ask for court approval to begin surveillance of Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser.  But Horowitz also found a total of 17 "basic and fundamental" errors and omissions in the original application and all subsequent renewals to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA).  Those errors made the case appear stronger than it was, Horowitz said.

FISA report drops: 7 takeaways from DOJ watchdog's Russia probe review.  The report said investigators found no intentional misconduct or political bias surrounding either the launch of the Trump-Russia investigation or as efforts to seek the controversial FISA warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the early stages of that probe.  "We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI's decision to seek FISA authority on Carter Page," the report said.  It also said key officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, did not act with political bias.

IG report proves whole investigation was as corrupt as Comey.  It's now official:  Russia, Russia, Russia really was fake news from the start.  There was no factual basis for the FBI to spy on Donald Trump's campaign.  That means there was no need for the appointment of a special counsel and that Robert Mueller should have stayed in retirement.  It means the two years of rumors and accusations and the giant cloud of suspicions over the White House produced by Mueller's headhunters were unfair and unjustified.  It also means J. Edgar Hoover can finally rest in peace.  James Comey is now revealed to be the dirtiest cop ever to run the FBI.

AG Bill Barr Just Issued a Translation of the DOJ IG Report.  Because the IG has no right to subpoena and can't lock anyone up, he can only refer people for prosecution.  Currently, most of the people who conducted the abuse have been fired and were out of the purview of the IG.  The IG report, however, found that officials lied and omitted helpful information to Trump campaign officials who were being spied on, but couldn't determine if the malfeasance was politically motivated.  U.S. Attorney John Durham is looking into why the Trump spying case was hatched by people clearly pulling for Hillary Clinton to win the election.

Brennan Lied About Not Including Steele Dossier In Intelligence Community Assessment On 2016 Russian Election Interference.  The new report from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirmed former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress about whether the dossier authored by Christopher Steele was used in the Obama administration's Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA).  The ICA, a report conducted by intelligence officials in 2016 on Russian election interference, was used to brief President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump in January 2017.  According to the IG report, there was significant discussion by top intelligence officials as to whether the unverified Steele dossier should be included in the main body of the ICA report, summarized in an appendix, or even included at all.

DOJ Watchdog Puts Final Nail In Steele Dossier's Coffin.  A Justice Department watchdog's report released Monday [12/9/2019] definitively debunked one of the Steele dossier's most pervasive allegations of collusion, while severely undermining other hair-raising claims about Donald Trump and former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.  The report is unsparing of both Christopher Steele, the dossier author, and the FBI's handling of the salacious document.  It paints a picture of Steele, a former British spy, as an eager gun-for-hire encumbered with a poor sense of judgment.  The FBI, while absolved of a top-down, politically-motivated conspiracy to take down Trump, failed to verify any of Steele's allegations, and also omitted key pieces of information that contradicted the dossier.

More about the Fusion GPS Dossier.

13 Things To Look For In The Inspector General FISA Abuse Report.  [#1] Concerns about Federal Surveillance of Carter Page:  Before looking at a list of concerns Horowitz's forthcoming report should address, here are the basics concerning the Page FISA warrants.  According to the response memo Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) released to counter Nunes' memo, the "DOJ first applied to the [FISA court] on October 21, 2016 for a warrant to permit the FBI to initiate electronic surveillance and physical search of Page for 90 days, ... The Court approved three renewals — in early January 2017, early April 2017, and late June 2017 — which authorized the FBI to maintain surveillance on Page until late September 2017."  We also know from "Nunes' HPSCI memo that former FBI director James Comey certified three of the FISA applications and former deputy director Andrew McCabe certified the fourth, while former deputy attorney general Sally Yates approved the initial October 21, 2016, application and the January 2017 renewal, and then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein signed the June 2017 and September 2017 renewals."

U.S. Attorney John Durham Does Not Agree With IG Horowitz Conclusions.  U.S. Attorney John Durham is currently doing a criminal investigation into how the intelligence community, CIA, ODNI and DOJ/FBI originated the investigation of candidate Donald Trump.  U.S. Attorney Durham does not agree with the conclusions presented by Inspector General Horowitz.

US Attorney John Durham Releases Statement Disputing IG Report Conclusions.  The DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz finally released his report on FISA abuses on Monday [12/9/2019].  The report revealed what we knew to be true all along — the FBI defrauded the FISA court and purposely omitted exculpatory information from the FISA judges in order to obtain FOUR FISA warrants on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.  Horowitz, however concluded that the FBI investigation into Trump was not politically motivated — and John Durham hit back.

Inspector General Report on DOJ and FBI Compliance With FISA Legal Requirements.  First, with a volume of text over 600 pages, and potentially as high as 1,000 pages, there is no immediate analysis you will find in the media today based on a review of the report. [...] It is strongly suggested you read the report for yourself, draw your own conclusions, and don't rely on what could be sections taken out of context.  Obviously crowdsourcing the report is one of the fastest ways to absorb information in a discussion thread.  Secondly, keep in mind while the IG review began in March 2018 the Mueller investigation almost certainly kept many aspects of the material shielded from IG inquiry until the special counsel investigation ended.  Indeed as we have seen from other material delayed throughout 2018, up to March 2019 when the Mueller probe ended, many documents were hidden (likely intentionally) by the special counsel.  So a full unimpeded IG review likely did not begin until after the Mueller investigation concluded.  Hence, some delays.

Report: AG Barr Disagrees with IG on Whether Trump Surveillance Justified.  Attorney General William Barr reportedly disagrees with a finding by the forthcoming Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) report that the FBI had sufficient reason to monitor the Trump campaign in 2016.  The FBI conducted surveillance on Trump campaign associates, including foreign policy aide Carter Page, on the basis of suspicions that the campaign might have been colluding with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election.  No evidence of collusion was ever found, though the surveillance continued well after the election, and the fact that the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign over Russia was leaked to Democrats and to the mainstream media.

The 10 most important revelations to expect from the Russia probe FISA report.  Next week Americans will finally get their most complete accounting to date of what the FBI did right and wrong in the Russia collusion investigation that probed President Trump's campaign with a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant at the end of the 2016 election.  Predicted to span more than 500 pages and 100 witness interviews, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report Monday will provide a comprehensive catalog of what offenses, mistakes and oversights the FBI committed during one of the most politically polarizing investigations in recent history.  As such, it will serve as a non-partisan roadmap for a much longer process of holding the investigators to account, a process that now includes a criminal probe being led by U.S. Attorney John Durham and investigative hearings by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham.

Fusion GPS Chiefs Spin Hard Before the Horowitz Report.  There are a few bombshells tucked in the new book authored by Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, co-owners of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm responsible for the most infamous dossier in American political history.  Here's one that — as far as I know — hasn't been disclosed until now:  Before Fusion hired Christopher Steele in 2016 to produce his sketchy dossier on Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Steele hired Fusion to help him with a client at odds with a key figure in the Trump camp.  The London-based operative, misleadingly portrayed in the press as a mere former British intelligence officer, needed help investigating the Trump advisor for his client.  The campaign advisor?  Paul Manafort.  Steele's client?  Vladimir Putin-tied oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Gen. Flynn's lawyer says Inspector General report will have everything.  While Washington waits for the release of the Inspector General's report, some leaks are making their way around town.  One America's Jack Posobiec spoke with Sidney Powell, General Michael Flynn's attorney, to learn how it may affect his case.  [Video clip]

AG Bill Barr Disputes IG Horowitz's Findings On the Trump-Russia Investigation.  Attorney General Bill Barr is pushing back on IG Horowitz's coming findings on the Trump-Russia investigation.  Recent reports have said that Horowitz will find no political bias in the investigation despite ample evidence numerous high level officials had it out for Trump.  As with the IG's findings on the Hillary investigation, Horowitz's standard is apparently an admission under oath and sealed in blood, as he found dozens of pieces of evidence of bias there but still concluded there was nothing conclusive.  Now, The Washington Post is saying Barr doesn't agree with his coming characterizations.

Whitewash? IG Report on FISA Abuses by Obama Administration Will Disappoint the Right.  Multiple media outlets are reporting that Justice Department Inspector General David Horowitz's report on abuses by Obama-era officials in obtaining FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign will almost certainly disappoint those who believe that political bias colored the FBI's investigation.  The IG report is due out December 9, but already it appears that there will be no recommendations for indictments of major officials who were in charge of the investigation. [...] The FBI says the dossier did not play a significant role in acquiring the warrant to spy on Carter Page.  But their communications say otherwise.  Horowitz is apparently playing the old Washington game of misdirection.  He will solemnly criticize the FBI for errors and carelessness in the warrant application while ignoring the bias and unprofessional attitude of FBI officials from top to bottom that contributed to getting the warrant in the first place.

Why DOJ Inspector General Horowitz Had to Produce Two Reports.  On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General released a new report.  No, not that one.  It was not the FISA abuse report, also dubbed "The Spygate Report," that has been anticipated for more than a year.  This was a different report that involved serious issues with the FBI's uses of what are called "Confidential Human Sources" (CHS) or "informants".


News and timely commentary about the Inspector General's report, released April 13, 2018:


Scandals Sanitized with Linguistic Trickery.  Throughout Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's massive report on the Hillary Clinton email investigation are lots of strange things.  One of the weirdest is the extent to which the FBI went to make up words and phrases to disguise reality.  An early draft of the 2016 FBI report on the email scandal was reportedly subjected to linguistic surgery to exonerate the former secretary of state, who at the time was the Democratic nominee for president.  Clinton was originally found to be "grossly negligent" in using an illegal email server.  That legalistic phrase is used by prosecutors to indict for violation of laws governing the wrongful transmission of confidential government documents.  Yet the very thought of a likely President Clinton in court so worried the chief investigator, FBI Director James Comey, that he watered down "grossly negligent" to the mere "extremely careless."

Horowitz: Over 300 Bribes To FBI Agents By Journalists; Two FBI Agents Who Hated Trump Still Work For Mueller; And More.  Yesterday, the Department of Justice IG Michael Horowitz testified before Chuck Grassley's Senate Judiciary Committee.  A few interesting points came out of that.  First, we know that James Comey is the subject of an investigation into his leaking of classified information.  We know that there is a grand jury sitting for some reason because the materials in the IG report were reviewed for grand jury testimony. [...] Today [6/19/2018], he's in front of Trey Gowdy's Government Accountability Committee and some really good stuff is coming out.  The IG is examining Strzok's role in moving the Russia probe forward.  Prediction: nothing comes of this because the damage it would do to the FBI and to Justice was would be astronomical if it were shown that the investigation was launched from political motives.  And the issue of the Deep State would begin to look a lot more Third world than we'd like to think.

FBI may have modified witness reports, misled DOJ watchdog with 'false information,' GOP Rep says.  The FBI may have "edited and changed" key witness reports in the Hillary Clinton and Russia investigations, a top House Republican charged in a hearing into FBI and Justice Department misconduct Tuesday [6/19/2018].  Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C, also raised the possibility that the FBI misled the DOJ watchdog in an attempt to hide the identities of FBI employees who were caught sending anti-Trump messages.

New Developments On Inspector General's Report Of Comey's FBI.  On Wednesday [5/9/2018], CNN law enforcement analyst and retired FBI supervisory special agent James A. Gagliano revealed new insight into the Justice Department's Inspector General report that is expected to be released in the near future, saying it is even worse than expected, according to his sources.  Gagliano tweeted:  "Sources with knowledge of the impending DOJ Inspector General Report confirm that it will be a fairly damning indictment of FBI's seventh floor during the Comey era.  'It's worse than expected,' seems to be the consistent theme ..."

IG Report Proves Andrew McCabe's Firing Was Justified.  Ever since former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe was fired, McCabe and his Democrat supporters have maintained it was politically motivated.  On Friday, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, a holdover from the Obama administration, released a long-awaited report that proves beyond doubt McCabe was fired for cause. [...] With respect to lack of candor, the report listed four instances on pages 4-5 and again with more detail on pages 15-21 with dates, times, and McCabe's own testimony, both under oath and not.

IG Report Shows Andrew McCabe Is A Criminal — So When Is He Going To Jail?  The initial Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report on former FBI assistant director Andrew McCabe hasn't gotten much attention since it was released on Friday, despite the fact that it is shocking.  So shocking in fact, that when it was first leaked to the higher echelons of our government, it forced current FBI Director Christopher Wray to immediately relieve McCabe of duty and it eventually led to McCabe's firing without his government golden parachute.

Loretta Lynch Threatened To Reopen Eric Garner Case If NYPD Leaked Info About Weiner's Laptop.  Journalist Tracy Beanz uncovered an explosive detail about former Attorney General Loretta Lynch buried deep in the report from the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General that was released last week. [...] When the NYPD seized [Anthony] Weiner's personal laptop as part of the investigation, they found hundreds of emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Weiner's wife at the time, Huma Abedin, has worked for Clinton for more than a decade.  So Abedin and Clinton's work emails from the State Department, which contained classified information, were on Weiner's computer.  That computer was in the NYPD's possession.  All of this was discovered and announced in late October 2016, which was just prior to the presidential election.  In an attempt to perhaps shield Clinton from more public scrutiny, the OIG report appears to show that Lynch threatened to reopen the Garner case — which involved the NYPD fatally shooting an African American — if officers leaked damaging information about Clinton's emails on Weiner's laptop.

Inspector General Bombshell:  Why Obama AG Loretta Lynch May Be in Legal Jeopardy.  Hidden within the OIG report on McCabe's leak to Barrett of the WSJ, is an astronomically damning correlation between Loretta Lynch, the NY Field Office of the FBI, McCabe, and the NYPD.  On September 28, 2016, McCabe is made aware of the information they found regarding Hillary Clinton on Anthony Weiners laptop in an unrelated "sexting" case they are investigating.

Trail of James Comeys Dirt on Loretta Lynch Discovered within IG Report on Andrew McCabe.  A very interesting development is unfolding as a result of internet researcher TracyBeanz and some insightful dot connecting by those following.  The outline begins via a relatively under-reported accusation about former Attorney General Loretta Lynch by former FBI Director James Comey in his upcoming book.  According to ABC News Comey writes in "A Higher Loyalty:  Truth, Lies and Leadership," that he became the public face of the investigation partly because of a mysterious development which he felt could cast "serious doubt" on Lynch's independence.  It seems rather odd for James Comey to be making such an accusation against Loretta Lynch in the book.  Why add that aspect?  [A]nd why do so without expanding the details?

10 Key Insights From Today's Deep State Coup News.  [#10] Lisa Page, the DOJ special counsel for the FBI during Obamagate, is a cooperating witness with Inspector General Horowitz.  Her testimony — and text messages — are laced throughout today's [4/13/2018] IG report on Andrew McCabe's lies that led to his firing.  Page's evidence is very likely instrumental to the more complete IG report due out in May.  [#9] When The Wall Street Journal's Devlin Barrett reported on Andrew McCabe's conflict of interest with respect to the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the then-deputy director had a panic attack.  Barrett reported that the state senate campaign of McCabe's wife was funded to the tune of more than half-a-million by Clinton proxy Terry McCauliffe.  In fact, just days after revelations that Clinton operated an illegal email server for all State Department business became public, McCaullife visited Jill McCabe and encouraged her to run for office.  Her husband Andrew would, under normal circumstances, have led any investigation into Hillary's illegal actions.

Bombshell in McCabe IG Report No One Is Talking About.  The Department of Justice Inspector General report on Andrew McCabe is centered around the leaks and lies of Andrew McCabe.  Ignored in all of this was the reason he leaked.  And it's a bombshell.  He said a top Obama appointee, the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG), ordered him to "stand down" in the Clinton Foundation investigation.  There were witnesses.  No one is talking about that.

How The Obama Justice Department Tried To Shut Down The FBI's Investigation Into The Clinton Foundation.  The Department of Justice Inspector General report on the "lack of candor" by FBI deputy Director Andrew McCabe also documents for the first time the Obama administration's effort to shut down the bureau's investigation of the Clinton Foundation, according to a review of the report by The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group.  The inspector general (IG) confirmed in its long-awaited report released Friday that in 2016 the FBI had ongoing field investigations of the Clinton Foundation in New York, Los Angeles, Little Rock, Arkansas and Washington, D.C.  The multi-city investigation was launched when agents found "suspicious activity" between a foreign donor and Clinton Foundation activity in the Los Angeles area, as TheDCNF reported in August 2016.

Editor's note:  This excerpt is presented here in its original form — Twitter-ese:
So far I'm floored.  McCabe gets $s for wife fr Clinton operative.  Gets kicked out of staff meeting about Clinton email case.  Leaks to Barrett to hide his conflicts.  Blames NYOF & WFO.  This triggers internal & external investigations of leak.  At same time, @tracybeanz documents Lynch is using FBI NYFO to blackmail NYPD over Eric Garner case to control info about the Weiner case & laptop.  Here where things get *really* interesting.  The NYFO is dealing w McCabe lying about them being leakers to cover his own likes while Lynch is using them to control NYPD bc of weiner.  At same time NYPD brass gave NYFO an ultimatum:  u deal w this or we go to the press.  So the FBI grabs the laptop, Comey is forced to send email to congress re-opening email case & that's all we're told.  Or is it?

IG report:  FBI's Andrew McCabe 'admonished' other officials for his own leaks.  As deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe "admonished" other FBI officials over leaks he himself authorized.  That's one of the damning revelations the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General released in a Friday [4/13/2018] report.  "Crafty plan," was how Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan described the McCabe revelation to The Daily Caller News Foundation.  McCabe berating other FBI officials over the leaks suggests he was "trying to cover his tracks," House Judiciary Committee member Jordan said.

Inspector General First Release — Chris Farrell:  "I don't think the FBI recovers from this".  Judicial Watch Director of Investigations Chris Farrell discusses the DOJ inspector general's report that outlines exhaustive political corruption.  OIG release #1 proving former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe authorized leaks to the media, then lied to FBI investigators in an effort to cover them up.  [Video clip]

An extremely interesting letter.  What we are seeing is an unfolding process, meticulously planned.  The Strzok/Page leaks, McCabe report today, what's coming:  it's a cascading series of bombshells, aimed at taking down the Obama/Clinton crooks.  Team Trump, esp Sessions, has full control over the momentum and pressure.  The hysterical tweets of Obama and Clintons people, as well as the unhinged stories their media slaves are publishing, shows you how.much they're panicking.

The McCabe Report Drops the Hammer.  When outgoing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired on the eve of his retirement last month, many Democrats protested that he was being cheated out of his pension for purely political reasons.  But the administration's official line — that McCabe had been fired for "lack of candor" after lying to investigators about press disclosures he authorized — turns out to have been right on the money, according to a Justice Department report released Friday afternoon [4/13/2018].

IG Report Outlines How Obama DOJ Worked To Shut Down Investigation Into Clinton Crime Syndicate.  Lost in the haze of the Syria bombing, the Establishment Media's purposeful ignorance, and the ongoing ripples following the stunning FBI raid on the offices of President Trump's longtime attorney, is the scathing outline by the Inspector General regarding how the Obama Department of Justice aggressively shut down what was to be a widespread investigation into the Clinton Foundation looking into allegations of widespread financial crimes.  Talk about obstruction of justice!

DOJ OIG McCabe Report Finds Obama's FBI and DOJ: Corrupt, Dishonest, Coordinated and Conspiring.  The IG's report related to terminated and humiliated former FBI Head Andrew McCabe is 39 pages in length. [...] Overall Comments: [#1] The tone of the memo chastises McCabe for leaking that the Clinton Foundation investigation was open, not to challenge the rationale for not sharing this investigation with the public, but rather criticizes McCabe for outing the Justice Department official trying to shut down the investigation.  Although perhaps it may not be customary to challenge the Departments' decisions, due to subject in the investigation [the Clinton Foundation], by not releasing the information about the investigation the FBI and DOJ prevented pertinent information from being reported to the American public significant to the election.  This information was not released until October 30th in a leak to the WSJ.  [#2] Many of the FBI and DOJ characters in the report appear corrupt, coordinated and conspiring to assist with the cover up of the Clinton Foundation investigation and in leaking information to the press.

Indict McCabe.  Jimmy the Weasel Comey's flunky deputy director Andrew the Leaker McCabe lied under oath to Congress, according to the Department of Justice inspector general.  Indict McCabe for perjury, lying to a federal official, and disclosing classified information.

Andrew McCabe and James Comey Deserve Each Other.  According to the just released report by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe wrongfully caused sensitive law enforcement information to be leaked to the Wall Street Journal and then lied to investigators about having done so.  The report runs thirty-five single spaced pages and lays out in excruciating, meticulous, and damning detail how McCabe authorized an anonymous leak calculated to make it appear that he had resisted pressure by Loretta Lynch's Justice Department to close down the FBI's investigation of the Clinton Foundation during the 2016 election campaign and then proceeded to cover his tracks with lies.

Andrew McCabe Admonished FBI Officials For His Own Leaks.  As deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe "admonished" other FBI officials over leaks he himself authorized.  That's one of the damning revelations the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General released in a Friday [4/13/2018] report.  "Crafty plan," was how Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan described the McCabe revelation to The Daily Caller News Foundation.  McCabe berating other FBI officials over the leaks suggests he was "trying to cover his tracks," House Judiciary Committee member Jordan said.


James Comey's book:


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


James Comey's TV interview, April 15, 2018:


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


Disgruntled, whistle-blowing FBI agents:


FBI veteran's tell-all reveals 'era of abuse' and destruction of bureau under Mueller and Comey.  According to Mike German, a well-respected 16-year FBI veteran who left the agency as a whistleblower in 2004, between 2001 and 2017 then-FBI Directors Robert Mueller (2001-2013) and James Comey (2013-2017) turned the once-highly-respected agency into a "lawless law enforcer."  These and more revelations are reportedly revealed in German's latest book, "Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide:  How the New FBI Damages Democracy."

McCabe Confirms Some FBI Employees [were] 'Frustrated' No Charges [were] Brought Against Hillary Clinton.  Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe lent some credibility to a previous White House claim that some FBI personnel were upset over the agency's decision, under the leadership of disgraced ex-FBI Director James Comey, not to charge Hillary Clinton in the criminal probe of her private email server use.  The claim that some FBI rank-and-file workers lost confidence in Comey following his infamous press conference announcing that no charges would be brought has been in dispute.

Daily Caller Reporting Confirmed that Some FBI Agents Were Fed Up With Comey.  Reporting done previously by The Daily Caller confirmed White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' claim that some FBI agents were indeed unhappy with former FBI Director James Comey's leadership.  The Caller reported in October 2016 that FBI agents lost confidence in Comey after seeing how the bureau handled the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails.  But since the release of the Mueller report, media outlets have pounced on Sanders for saying that FBI agents had issues with Comey.

'Irreparable damage to the bureau' — former FBI agents sound off on James Comey.  James Comey has recognized a kindred spirit in Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who in 1951, penned the immortal lines, "Do not go gentle into that good night ... Rage, rage against the dying of the light."  To wit, the former FBI director confidently strode up to microphones following two days of contentious testimony before House lawmakers, and let it all hang out.  Comey, the man some sympathetic media-types have referred to as a humble servant-leader, seized the opportunity to settle some old scores as he pilloried Fox News and the Republican Party.

"Rank and File" — A Conspicuous Absence of Visible Indignation.  Against a rather enlightening week of activity from within the DOJ and FBI, last night I posited the question:  "If the FBI and DOJ were not institutionally corrupt wouldn't we have seen multiple whistle-blowers this year?"  The purpose of the question is to draw attention to an empirical reality.  By now we understand many of the big picture details behind DOJ and FBI efforts to weaponize the institutions of government to target their political opposition, namely Donald Trump.  With the removal of so many officials within the institutions, the question becomes less rhetorical.  If the corruption is removed, where are the 'rank and file' whistle-blowers surfacing from underneath the now replaced leadership?  Why haven't we seen anyone from within the system come forth to tell their story?

Almost, but not quite off-topic:
Whistleblower Exposes Key Player in FBI Russia Probe:  "It was all a Set-up".  Adam Lovinger, a former Defense Department analyst, never expected that what he stumbled on during his final months at the Pentagon would expose an integral player in the FBI's handling of President Donald Trump's campaign and alleged Russia collusion.  Lovinger, a whistleblower, is now battling to save his career.

FBI agent removed from Russia probe for anti-Trump texts says he's willing to testify before Congress.  The FBI agent who was removed from the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign for sending anti-Trump texts intends to testify before the House Judiciary Committee and any other congressional committee that asks, his attorney said in a letter made public Sunday [6/17/2018].  Peter Strzok, who was singled out in a recent Justice Department inspector general report for the politically charged messages, would be willing to testify without immunity, and he would not invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in response to any question, his attorney, Aitan Goelman, said in an interview Sunday.  Strzok has become a special target of President Trump, who has used the texts to question the Russia investigation.  Goelman said Strzok "wants the chance to clear his name and tell his story."

Top FBI Insider Who Quit Over Rigged Hillary Probe Ready to Spill Beans on Comey & Obama to Congress.  An FBI agent who quit his top position over the bureau's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation is heading to Congress to testify.  John Giacalone, who led the Clinton investigation for the first seven months, will reportedly expose former President Barack Obama and fired FBI Director James Comey for corruptly helping Clinton.  There's a massive media blackout on this because Giacalone is expected to testify that top brass at the FBI rigged the investigative process so that Clinton could skirt charges for clear violations of the law.  Exposing Comey also shines a big light on Obama, who many believe was calling the shots behind the scenes to help Clinton.

Sources: FBI Agents Afraid To Testify, Say Congress Likely Won't Protect Them.  Even as a new Rasmussen poll shows a majority of voters believe senior law enforcement officials broke the law to stop Donald Trump from beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, rank-and-file FBI agents who want to testify against their superiors to Congress feel they can't due to an ineffective whistleblower protection law.  These agents believe the sluggishness of the law exposes them to an inordinate risk of reprisal, so they have remained in hiding and afraid to speak the truth.

Agent Who Quit Over Rigged Hillary Investigation Heads to Congress.  An FBI agent who allegedly quit the bureau over his belief that the Hillary Clinton email investigation was rigged will testify before the House of Representatives, The Hill reported.  The joint investigation between the House Judiciary and the Oversight Committees — led by Republican Reps.  Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, respectively — has been a source of consternation for Republicans and Democrats alike.  Conservatives have complained about the slow pace of the examination into how the Clinton email investigation was conducted, noting that only two witnesses have appeared before it.

Tone Deaf Rod Rosenstein Should Be Fired.  [Scroll down]  "There are [FBI] agents all over this country who love the bureau and are sickened by [James] Comey's behavior and [Andrew] McCabe and [Eric] Holder and [Loretta] Lynch and the thugs like [John] Brennan — who despise the fact that the bureau was used as a tool of political intelligence by the Obama administration thugs," Joe DiGenova, a former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, told the Daily Caller.  "They are just waiting for a chance to come forward and testify."  In a statement to the Daily Caller, reported by the awesome Kerry Pickett, an unnamed FBI agent claimed, "Every special agent I have spoken to in the Washington Field Office wants to see McCabe prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  They feel the same way about Comey."

Grassley Reminds FBI Agents Wanting to Blow the Whistle:  You Are Legally Protected to Do So.  According to media reports this week, a number of FBI agents are hoping to get subpoenaed in the Russia probe so they can expose corruption at the top of the Bureau.  In other words, guys on the ground are ready to talk about decisions made by the suits in Washington D.C.

Heads Will Roll.  It may take a few more months to clear away all of the remaining roadblocks and stonewalling.  But, the incriminating documents will inevitably be procured.  Too many people were part of the plot.  Some will cop a plea.  Professionals inside the FBI are now coming forward, asking to be subpoenaed so that they can testify before Congress.  Motivated to clean up this mess, they want to share what they know.  President Trump is now fully engaged and demanding complete transparency.  Even his worst detractors would attest to his tenacity.  Once Professor Halper is extradited from Oxford and is facing the possibility of life in prison for his central role in the conspiracy, he will sing like an Irish tenor.

Sources:  FBI Agents Want Congress To Issue Them Subpoenas So They Can Reveal The Bureau's Dirt.  Many agents in the FBI want Congress to subpoena them so they can reveal problems caused by former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, three people in direct contact with active field agents tell TheDC.  "There are agents all over this country who love the bureau and are sickened by [James] Comey's behavior and [Andrew] McCabe and [Eric] Holder and [Loretta] Lynch and the thugs like [John] Brennan — who despise the fact that the bureau was used as a tool of political intelligence by the Obama administration thugs," former federal prosecutor Joe DiGenova told The Daily Caller Tuesday.  "They are just waiting for a chance to come forward and testify."

Report: Rank-and-File FBI Agents Eager to Blow Whistle on Comey, Holder, Lynch.  A new report claims that a significant number of rank-and-file FBI agents are chomping at the bit to expose Obama-era leaders, alleging corruption and even criminal violations of the law.  These agents are signaling that the only way they can safely and legally blow the whistle is if Congress subpoenas them individually to provide information about their former bosses.  "There are agents all over this country who love the bureau and are sickened by [James] Comey's behavior and [Andrew] McCabe and [Eric] Holder and [Loretta] Lynch and the thugs like [John] Brennan — who despise the fact that the bureau was used as a tool of political intelligence by the Obama administration thugs," Joe DiGenova, a former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, told the Daily Caller.

Coming attractions:  FBI agents speaking out about the abuses of Comey and McCabe.  President Trump this morning on Twitter applied the name "Spygate" to the ongoing revelations about the FBI and the Intelligence Community employing their technological and human agent tools to spy on the Trump presidential campaign and transition. [...] It's a good title for what is going to be a long form reality television program (as well as a political scandal and constitutional crisis, among other far-reaching consequences).  Despite the best efforts of the Trump-hating, Russia-Stormy Daniels-obsessed media to ignore it, the story is going to build into a major factor in the coming midterm elections and far beyond.


Kevin Clinesmith


Judge Boasberg: The Clinesmith Lies Don't Matter.  The sentencing hearing of Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to altering a CIA e-mail to further the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant renewal on Carter Page, took place on the morning of Friday, January 21 before Judge Boasberg in Washington, D.C.  This hearing was the culmination of an investigation by those within the Department of Justice who actually sought to do justice in exposing the FBI's misconduct in opening Crossfire Hurricane, and the FBI's abuse of their power to spy on Carter Page and those associated with the Trump campaign.  While the process continues with Special Counsel John Durham's investigation, this was one loose end that was ready to be tied.  Those demanding Clinesmith to be incarcerated weren't being unreasonable, though they were ultimately disappointed when Judge Boasberg sentenced Clinesmith to 12 months probation and no prison time.  In fact, they have every right to be angry.

Will the Arrogance of the FBI Ever End?  FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was convicted in August 2020 of lying to the FISA Court in order to obtain a warrant to spy on the Trump 2016 campaign when he falsely denied that Carter Page was a source for the CIA.  For this felony he was sentenced to probation and community service.  In June 2021, we learned that the District of Columbia was restoring his license to practice law in August.

DC Bar Restores Convicted FBI Russiagate Forger to 'Good Standing' Amid Irregularities and Leniency.  A former senior FBI lawyer who falsified a surveillance document in the Trump-Russia investigation has been restored as a member in "good standing" by the District of Columbia Bar Association even though he has yet to finish serving out his probation as a convicted felon, according to disciplinary records obtained by RealClearInvestigations.  The move is the latest in a series of exceptions the bar has made for Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty in August 2020 to doctoring an email used to justify a surveillance warrant targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.  Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months probation last January.  But the D.C. Bar did not seek his disbarment, as is customary after lawyers are convicted of serious crimes involving the administration of justice.

FBI lawyer that lied to judge on FISA warrant will be able to practice law again in August after zero jail time.  The Russiagate coverup rolls merrily along, with the agitprop media almost completely ignoring a startling instance of the deep state taking care of its own, even when they are caught red-handed committing grave felonies.  Does the name Kevin Clinesmith ring a bell?  He's the FBI lawyer that lied on a FISA warrant in order to be able to spy on the Trump campaign by falsely implicating Carter Page.  He was caught red-handed in altering an email 180 degrees.  Lying to a judge is a serious offense for anyone.  But for an officer of the court, one who works for the government and has a heightened obligation to serve justice, to lie to a court is a very serious breach.  Failure to punish government officials who perjure themselves in order to spy on innocent citizens and a presidential campaign invites the worst kind of abuse.  It plants the seeds of tyranny.

Kevin Clinesmith has received a Temporary Disciplinary Suspension from the DC Bar.  We have news to report on Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer and member of Team Mueller who altered a CIA email and mislead [sic] FBI officials in seeking the last Carter Page FISA renewal.  As of February 1, 2021, the DC Bar has suspended him "on an interim basis based upon his conviction of a serious crime."  Clinesmith's membership status is listed as "Temporary Disciplinary Suspension" on the DC Bar's member search.  We anticipate that Clinesmith will appeal this suspension, arguing (consistent with his arguments to Judge Boasberg) that he did not "knowingly" lie about Carter Page's status as a source to the CIA.

Judge Boasberg: The Clinesmith Lies Don't Matter.  The sentencing hearing of Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to altering a CIA e-mail to further the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant renewal on Carter Page, took place on the morning of Friday, January 21 before Judge Boasberg in Washington, D.C.  This hearing was the culmination of an investigation by those within the Department of Justice who actually sought to do justice in exposing the FBI's misconduct in opening Crossfire Hurricane, and the FBI's abuse of their power to spy on Carter Page and those associated with the Trump campaign.  While the process continues with Special Counsel John Durham's investigation, this was one loose end that was ready to be tied.  Those demanding Clinesmith to be incarcerated weren't being unreasonable, though they were ultimately disappointed when Judge Boasberg sentenced Clinesmith to 12 months probation and no prison time.  In fact, they have every right to be angry.

The Game is Rigged.  The past week has perhaps been one of the most revealing weeks in modern history.  The extent to which the system was exposed for what it is, on multiple fronts, probably won't be matched again for at least a little while. [...] As RedState reported, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who was working with Robert Mueller, was given probation and a $100 administrative fee for his role in falsifying an email to renew the already illegally obtained FISA warrant on Carter Page. [...] Out of all the nefarious, obviously corrupt figures surrounding this saga, Clinesmith was the only one charged.  Figures like Andrew McCabe and James Comey were named in credible criminal referrals, not by politicians, but by the Inspector General, and the DOJ did nothing. [...] To recap, you can forget a date talking to the FBI and have a special counsel crack your skull, but if you work for the FBI, forge a document, and lie about it in order to try to spy on a political opponent, you get probation and glowing media coverage.

Banana Republic Update:  ObamaGate Operative Clinesmith Given Probation.  Honestly, this is exactly the sort of judicial farce I expected would happen once I saw that Obama appointee Judge James Boasberg had been assigned the case.  Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, the one and only ObamaGate figure to have been indicted for any crime by hoax-prosecutor John Durham and the entirety of the U.S. Department of [No]Justice, was given the softest tap on the wrist possible Friday by the despicable Judge Boasberg. [...] The corrupt news media will claim that Boasberg's absurdly minimalist sentence of 12 months probation, 400 days community service and a $100 fee was due to Clinesmith's decision to plead guilty in the case.  Yeah, tell that to General Mike Flynn.

FBI lawyer who lied to FISA Court to wiretap Carter Page gets a slap on the wrist and sympathy from federal judge handing down sentence.  The message is out to the next rogue federal bureaucrats who contemplate committing crimes in the name of wiretapping (or otherwise abusing the rights of) opponents of the Deep State:  Don't worry!  You won't be doing any jail time and may even get sympathy from the judge — in the unlikely event you ever get caught.  Unleash the fearsome spying apparatus taxpayers provide against political opponents of Democrats.  That's the clear signal sent by FISA Court Judge James Boasberg (an Obama appointee to the federal bench, and a John Roberts appointee to the FISA Court, and reportedly a member of Skull & Bones while an undergraduate at Yale) with his sentence of Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer who lied to the court in order to obtain a FISA warrant on Carter Page.

Ex-FBI Lawyer Receives Probation For Altering Email About Carter Page.  Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was sentenced to probation on Friday for altering an email about former Trump aide Carter Page's relationship with the CIA.  District Court Judge James Boasberg ordered Clinesmith to receive 12 months of probation and perform 400 hours of community service, a sentence far more lenient than the three to six months in prison sought by John Durham, the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.  Clinesmith, who was an assistant general counsel in the FBI's cyber law branch, pleaded guilty on Aug. 19, 2020 to altering a June 2017 email he received from a CIA employee regarding Page.  The CIA employee wrote that Page had been "a source" for the spy agency through 2013.  Clinesmith forwarded the email to FBI colleagues but altered the document to say that Page was "not a source."

Ex-FBI lawyer Clinesmith sentenced to a year of probation for falsifying document in Russia probe.  A former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty last year to falsifying a document to justify the surveillance of a former Trump 2016 campaign adviser was sentenced Friday to one year of probation.  Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted altering an email so the government could continue to wiretap campaign adviser Carter Page, received far less than the prison sentence the government had recommended.  Clinesmith was also sentenced to 400 hours of community service.  The maximum penalty for his crime is five years in prison.

More about Carter Page.

New Evidence Implicates FBI Higher-Ups in Dishonesty of Anti-Trump Lawyer.  For the past year, defenders of the FBI have consistently downplayed the significance of an FBI staff lawyer falsifying evidence in the government's investigation into Donald Trump's relationship with Russia.  They argue Kevin Clinesmith's crime of altering a CIA document to obscure the fact that former Trump campaign aide Carter Page worked for U.S., not Russian, intelligence was a rare lapse in judgment by an overworked bureaucrat.  It was not, his apologists say, part of any broader conspiracy to conceal exculpatory information from surveillance court judges, who never learned of Page's history with the CIA before approving FBI warrants to wiretap him as a suspected Russian agent.

FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who lied on Carter Page FISA warrant, may get a slap on the wrist.  The comparison of the treatment General Flynn received from Special Counsel Mueller and FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith is receiving from Special Counsel Durham is nauseating.  General Flynn was bullied, bankrupted, and threatened with persecution of his son so badly that he signed a false confession to a nonexistent crime.  And until his presidential clemency, Judge Sullivan continued the abuse.  Clinesmith, in contrast, pleaded guilty to altering an email so as to obtain an extension of the FISA warrant illegitimately obtained to electronically monitor not just Carter Page's emails, phone calls and text messages, but those of everyone he communicated with (i.e., the Trump campaign).  One does not alter an email submitted as evidence to court by mistake, it is a willful act of deception.  But now comes news that Durham is asking only for a sentence of a few months, at most, for an officer of the court who knowingly lied to the court.

Durham Seeks Jail Time For Ex-FBI Lawyer Who Altered CIA Email About Carter Page.  U.S. Attorney John Durham is seeking a prison sentence of up to six months for Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to altering an email from the CIA regarding former Trump campaign aide Carter Page's past relationship with the spy agency.  Durham asked a federal judge in a court filing on Thursday [12/3/2020] to sentence Clinesmith to a jail term "between the middle and upper end" of what federal sentencing guidelines recommend for the crime of making false statements in writing.  Clinesmith pleaded guilty to the charge on Aug. 19.  He admitted to adding the phrase "not a 'source'" to a June 2017 email from a CIA employee who had provided information about Page's relationship with the agency.

What Other FISA Cases Was Kevin Clinesmith Involved In?  The DOJ-NatSec Division and FBI reported issues of fraud upon the FISA court in October and November prior to the IG FISA report release.  Specifically the DOJ notified the FISC that OGC Kevin Clinesmith had manipulated and falsified evidence.  On December 5th, Judge Coller responded to that series of notifications with an order.  On December 9th, when the IG FISA report was made public, the FISC was given a declassified version of the report and was able to review for the first time.  It was from that IG review that Collyer was able to establish the full context of the fraud upon the court.  The court was given no advanced notification as to the totality of fraud upon the FISC other than a preliminary 'head's up' on the OGC Clinesmith compromise.

Who Watches the Watchmen?  It was recently reported that FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith altered an email to bolster a suspicious FBI effort to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant authorizing the surveillance of Carter Page, a onetime employee of the Trump campaign.  If true, Clinesmith helped the FBI successfully delude the court into granting what was likely an illegal request to spy on the Trump campaign.  Clinesmith was reportedly expelled from special counsel Robert Mueller's legal team for cheering on opposition to the Trump presidency by writing "Viva la resistance!" in a text message discussion.

Corruption at the FBI, CIA and DOJ.  One symptom of a society in crisis is the unreliability or even corruption of its own auditors.  After all, when the watchmen have lost moral authority to watch, who can be believed or trusted?  Or, as the Roman satirist Juvenal famously put it, "Who will guard the guardians?"  It was recently reported that FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith altered an email to bolster a suspicious FBI effort to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant authorizing the surveillance of Carter Page, a onetime employee of the Trump campaign.  If true, Mr. Clinesmith helped the FBI successfully delude the court into granting what was likely an illegal request to spy on the Trump campaign.  Mr. Clinesmith was reportedly expelled from special counsel Robert Mueller's legal team for cheering on opposition to the Trump presidency by writing "Viva la resistance!" in a text message discussion.

Disturbing Likelihood — FBI Lawyer Manipulated Carter Page's Own Communication With FBI to Target Him.  There is a very strong likelihood the documentary material that FBI Lawyer Kevin Clinesmith falsified was actual communication from Carter Page to the FBI where Page was seeking their help in 2017.  This revelation would explain and reconcile two seemingly contrasting points:
  •   Point one — The media have asserted, based on leaks from the principal reviews, the woods file manipulation by Clinesmith did not impact the validity of the original FISA application on October 21st, 2017.
  •   Point two — The material Kevin Clinesmith did manipulate was so egregious and unethical, it stands as one of the most clear examples of corrupt FBI abuse of power in recent history.

FBI lawyer suspected in Russia probe origin was kicked off Mueller team for anti-Trump texts:  Report.  The FBI lawyer under criminal investigation for allegedly altering a document connected to the surveillance of a Trump adviser was kicked off ex-special counsel Robert Mueller's team for anti-Trump texts, according to a report Friday [11/22/2019].  The New York Times identified Kevin Clinesmith as the former FBI attorney under investigation by U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is probing the origins of the Russia probe.  It was reported Thursday that Mr. Durham is probing whether an FBI lawyer falsified an email that was used to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant to surveil Mr. Page.  Mr. Clinesmith was the primary FBI attorney assigned to the Russia probe in 2017.

New York Times Confirms Peter Strzok Team Underling, Kevin Clinesmith, is FBI Lawyer Who Altered FISA Application.  The New York Times is confirming that Kevin Clinesmith is the "low-level lawyer" within the FBI who doctored evidence within the Carter Page FISA application.  As anticipated, the DOJ and FBI 'small group' leaks are from their individual review of a heavily compartmented IG report; and now they are being selectively shaped by the favorite 'small group' media network:  NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, Politico et al.  Remember, each of the principals only was able to see the draft of the IG report specific to their outline therein.  All principal reviews were very compartmented.  No principal has any idea what the bottom line conclusions are from the totality of the assembled compartments.

House GOPer unmasks identities of anti-Trump FBI agents.  A House Republican Tuesday [6/19/2018] unmasked two of the five FBI investigators cited in the recently released inspector general's report for expressing anti-Trump and pro-Clinton sentiment in work-related instant messages.  The previously unnamed FBI officials — "FBI Attorney 2" and "Agent 5" — are Kevin Clinesmith and Sally Moyer, respectively, according to House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who revealed their identities over the objection of the FBI during a hearing on the IG's findings.  The two were assigned to the bureau's Hillary Clinton email investigation, according to the IG's report, while Clinesmith also later worked as a top lawyer on the Trump-Russia investigation and the special-counsel probe.

Update and correction:
Sally Moyer not 'Agent 5' in IG report on FBI.  [Scroll down]  Meadows then named Kevin Clinesmith and Sally Moyer as two examples, and his staff later confirmed they were among the five unidentified FBI investigators in the IG report.  Dozens of media outlets reported the names, including the [New York] Post.  However, Moyer's lawyer insists she is not one of the biased five and "has not been referred for investigation."  Adding to the confusion is that Moyer, who does work in the general counsel's office, is mentioned throughout the IG report as a senior FBI investigator on the Clinton probe who made key and controversial decisions in the case.  Clinesmith, who in fact was referred by Horowitz for bias review, worked as a second, more junior lawyer on Moyer's team.  Clinesmith is "FBI Attorney 2" in the report, while Moyer is, in fact, "FBI Attorney 1," which is not listed as one of the agents or lawyers cited for bias or referred for investigation.  Meadows' office says it regrets the "misinterpretation."

Washington Awaits John Durham.  We shall have to wait until December 9 to hear from Inspector General Horowitz as to what those "systematic failures" were.  Do these early reports on his work forecast a whitewash?  It would appear so.  But can anyone really take seriously that those "systematic failures" took place in the absence of bias?  Such a claim requires a great deal of contortion.  And the spate of stories last week suggest the form that contortion will take:  blame will fall not on Peter "We Will Stop Him" Strzok, the virulent Trump-hater who orchestrated the spying on the Trump campaign, but on a low-level lawyer named Kevin Clinesmith.


Carter Page


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


Redacted FISA documents released July 21, 2018:


Update:
At long last, here come the declassified FISA warrants.  We've known for almost a month that, according to Joe DiGenova, the process of declassification has been underway for the FISA warrants that enabled spying on the Trump campaign, along with other documents related to the Russiagate fraud. [...] No matter what the documents reveal, the media will pooh-pooh them as insignificant and will want to move along to fresh stories intended to make the POTUS look crazy, or dangerous, or corrupt, or boorish, or whatever new fantasy they can concoct to throw shade on his tremendous accomplishments in triggering an outright economic boom, a restructuring of trade arrangements to our advantage, and a foreign policy that leads from the front.

Tucker Carlson Calls On GOP Lawmakers to Read Entire Unredacted FISA Memo on House Floor.  On Wednesday night [8/1/2018] Tucker Carlson called on Republican lawmakers to go to the floor of the US House of Representatives and read all of the FISA memos in their unredacted form.  The deep state FBI released the FISA documents to Republican lawmakers ten days ago but the pages were highly redacted to protect the identities of corrupt Obama and intelligence officials.  Tucker called on the lawmakers to do what Dianne Feinstein did and read the entire memo on the House floor.

Next step:  House Intel asks Trump to declassify rest of FISA application; tantalizing clues about pages 10-12 and 17-34.  The release of a heavily-redacted version of the FBI's application for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap onetime Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page has spurred calls to remove the redactions, to un-black out the pages blacked out by the FBI before the document was made public.  The long sections of censored material have made it impossible to reach definitive conclusions about the warrant application.  It has also led to the publication of de-contextualized sensational accusations.  For example, page 8 of the original warrant application contains a passage which begins with two blacked-out lines, then includes the words "the FBI believes that the Russian Government's efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with Candidate #1's [Donald Trump's] campaign," and continues with more blacked-out material.  Is there a critical prefatory clause in that sentence fragment?  The answer is unclear.

FISA Applications Confirm:  The FBI Relied on the Unverified Steele Dossier.  [Scroll down]  In each Carter Page FISA warrant application, the FBI represented that it had "reviewed this verified application for accuracy."  But did the bureau truly ensure that the information had been "thoroughly vetted and confirmed"?  Remember, we are talking here about serious, traitorous allegations against an American citizen and, derivatively, an American presidential campaign.  When the FBI averred that it had verified for accuracy the application that posited these allegations, it was, at best, being hyper-technical, and thus misleading.  What the bureau meant was that its application correctly stated the allegations as Steele had related them.  But that is not what "verification" means.  The issue is not whether Steele's allegations were accurately described; it is whether they were accurate, period.

Andrew McCarthy Discusses The Stunningly Scant and Manipulated FISA Application.  Andrew McCarthy appears on Fox weekend to discuss the released FISA Court application used to obtain and conduct Title-1 active surveillance on U.S. Person Carter Page.  McCarthy's response is worth watching because he only recently (May) red-pilled himself and realized how corrupt the DOJ and FBI had actually become.  Prior to May of this year he was defending/reconciling every new detail to the benefit of DOJ/FBI.  [Video clip]

Mark Levin:  Abolish Secret FISA Court If Judges Can't Be Held Accountable.  Appearing on FNC's 'Hannity' Thursday night [7/19/2018], LevinTV host Mark Levin spoke about a letter his organization sent to FISA court judges on alleged abuses from the Nunes memo.  "If you're a judge ... and you don't do something about it?  Congress needs to look into this!" Levin said.  "I damn well expect federal judges serving as FISA court judges to make sure that [misconduct] wasn't committed in front of them."

At Best, The FBI Misled The Court To Wiretap Trump Campaign, FISA Application Shows.  The heavily redacted FISA application the FBI used to obtain a warrant to spy on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page is supposed to vindicate the FBI from charges of political bias.  But there can be no doubt that the FBI withheld pertinent information from the judges who approved a highly intrusive domestic spying operation during a presidential campaign.

The Withered Branches on Mueller's Poisoned Tree.  The civil libertarians of the press — those card-carrying ACLU members who toss and turn at night worrying about the diminution of "privacy" — all rushed to the defense of the FBI after the release of its disgracefully flimsy FISA warrant on Carter Page.  The hypocrisy of it all takes one's breath away, as reporters and commentators, normally so censorious of privacy violations, coldly cheered the government's harassment of Page.  The evidentiary basis for the warrant was nil.  It rested upon nothing more than Hillary's opposition research and partisan articles in the press, some of which were fed to the reporters by Hillary's opposition researcher.

Confirmed: DOJ Used Materially False Information To Secure Wiretaps On Trump Associate.  Newly released documents confirm House and Senate investigators' claims that the Department of Justice and FBI used materially false and misleading information to secure wiretaps on Carter Page, a former volunteer foreign policy advisor to President Trump.  The highly redacted documents released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests show how the FBI was able to convince the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to surveil the Naval Academy graduate and energy consultant for a year of his life.  The wiretap was applied for and granted in October 2016, shortly before the end of the presidential campaign.  Approved applications last for 90 days.  The Department of Justice requested and received three renewals, for a total of one year of surveillance.  Despite claiming to the court in 2016 that "the FBI believes that Page has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian Government," the government has yet to charge Page with breaking any of the serious laws it alleges he knowingly transgressed.

Proven Lies to the FISA Court Should Immediately End Mueller's Investigation.  We now know for a fact that the FISA court was illegally deceived by the Obama Administration.  The fake Russian dossier, paid for by Hillary Clinton's campaign, was used to get warrants in order to spy on Donald Trump's campaign.  The Trump Russian collusion story was a hoax created by the Hillary Clinton campaign.  The Obama Administration used that hoax in order to illegally spy on its political enemies.

2016 Text Uncovered:  Shows That Spy Op On Trump Campaign Leads All The Way Back To Obama White House.  The liberal media has been denying all allegations for more than a year now that the Obama White House had surveilled the Trump presidential campaign back in 2016.  We are now lead to believe that the Obama administration had, in fact, spied on the Trump campaign after a recently leaked admission of one "informant." This individual had been "querying marginal Trump campaign associates for information about supposed connections to Russia on behalf of former President Barack Obama's FBI," according to the Conservative Tribune.

Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte Discusses Fraudulent/Misleading FISA Application.  House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte is deeply connected to the investigation on the specifics of the FISA abuse.  The House Judiciary Committee has primary oversight over the FISA Court and the use therein by the DOJ. [...] Earlier today [7/22/2018] Goodlatte joined Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures to discuss the Carter Page FISA Warrant, all it's redactions, and plans to proceed.  Additionally Chairman Goodlatte discusses John Brennan, James Comey, and Loretta Lynch being sought for questioning on their actions during the 2016 Presidential Election; as well as compliance responses from Peter Strzok, Rod Rosenstein and Lisa Page.  The current DOJ and FBI elements of the intelligence community are only slightly less corrupt internally than they were prior to the Trump inauguration.  Institutionally they are still full of corrupt individuals; and administratively they are managed by people concerned about retaining/protecting the institutions — not eliminating the corruption.  In our ongoing opinion this institutional emphasis is misplaced and misguided at best, and complicit at worst; likely more the latter.

The Associated Press Lies About The FISA Application.  The Associated Press carries on a daily vendetta against the Trump administration, systematically misleading the American people in articles that appear in hundreds or thousands of newspapers.  Thus, it is no surprise that the AP's story on DOJ's FISA application dump is nothing but Democratic Party spin.

Donald Trump:  FISA Warrant to Spy on Campaign 'a Disgrace to America'.  President Donald Trump highlighted Monday the revelation of the FISA warrant used to spy on one of his foreign policy advisers Carter Page.  The heavily redacted set of documents were released to the public on Saturday, revealing that the unverified dossier created by Christopher Steele and paid for by the DNC was used to spy on the Trump campaign.

Even heavily redacted, the FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign is shocking.  450 pages pertaining to the FBI's FISA Warrant to spy on Carter Page have been released.  Heavily redacted.  Even with redactions, wow.  There is NO DOUBT at this point the fake Steele Dossier was used to get this FISA Warrant.  Months of pimping that Papadopoulos fake narrative down the toilet!  Time to remind everybody yet again of what they already know:  after TWO YEARS 'agent of a foreign power' Carter Page has been charged with... what was that?  Take a guess.  NOTHING.

Did the FBI Lie to the FISA Court?  Consider the source.  The FBI did not allow the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to do just that.  Instead, the heavily-redacted application for a warrant to surveil U.S. citizen Carter Page obscures the source.  It never says, at least in the unredacted portions, that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid operatives to dig dirt on Donald Trump.  This allows the warrant to talk of "research" and not "opposition research." The warrant application shields the partisan origins of the "dossier" and talks of a "law firm" hiring the investigators.  In reality, Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC paid the law firm, which paid Fusion GPS, which paid Christopher Steele (and, given the reference to a "U.S. person" in the warrant, perhaps others — unless that "U.S. person" was, in fact, a U.K. person, which complicates the narrative of foreign interference) to conduct opposition research.

The FBI Goes Full Nixon with FISA Report.  Now, forced by a long-standing FOIA, the FBI has released, on a Saturday of course (we're lucky it wasn't Christmas day), 400 plus pages of FISA court material used to justify the surveillance of Carter Page... only three hundred plus pages were redacted, blacked out and completely unreadable.

FISA warrant application supports Nunes memo.  The weekend release of a highly-redacted version of the FBI's application for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap onetime Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page has renewed the argument over the Nunes memo — the brief report produced by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes detailing problems in the application.  From the time of the memo's release in February, Democrats and some in the press have denounced it as a collection of lies and mischaracterizations.  On Saturday night, the denouncing started again.  "The only thing the newly released FISA documents show is that Republicans have been lying for months," the lefty think tank Center for American Progress said in a typical response.  Now, however, we have both the memo and the FISA application, if in a blacked-out state.  We can compare the two.  And doing so shows the Nunes memo was overwhelmingly accurate.  Perhaps some Democrats do not believe it should have been written, or they dispute what it included and left out, or they do not agree with its conclusions, but it was in fact accurate.

A Deep Dive into the Scandalous FISA Warrant Used to Spy on the Trump Campaign.  For those who haven't had the time to review the 412-page FISA application that was used to spy on the Trump campaign, I've culled a few key highlights.  [#1] The application lied about Carter Page.  Carter Page is described as "an agent of a foreign power", which was and is clearly not the case.  Carter Page is walking around free as a bird, giving interviews to anyone who asks, and stating that the FBI lied about him repeatedly. [...] The entire Mueller special counsel was predicated upon a mountain of lies.  It needs to be terminated today.  This is the greatest political scandal in American history.

Justice Dept.  Releases Secret Carter Page Surveillance Documents at Center of Partisan Clash.  The Trump administration has disclosed a previously top-secret set of documents related to the wiretapping of Carter Page, the onetime Trump campaign adviser who was at the center of highly contentious accusations by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee that the F.B.I. had abused its surveillance powers.  Democrats in February rejected the Republican claims that law enforcement officials had improperly obtained the warrant, accusing them of putting out misinformation to defend President Trump and sow doubts about the origin of the Russia investigation.  But even as Republicans and Democrats issued dueling memos characterizing the materials underlying the surveillance of Mr. Page, the public had no access to the records.

Why is Mueller handing off key cases?  Something has been going on with Robert Mueller's investigation of people thought to have played significant roles in the Trump-Russia affair.  The special counsel, assigned to investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Trump," has been farming out seemingly important parts of the investigation to offices outside his own.  In April, Mueller referred an investigation of close Trump associate Michael Cohen to federal prosecutors in New York.  This month, the U.S. attorney in Washington — not Mueller — indicted Maria Butina on charges of being an unregistered Russian agent.  And also this month, when Mueller charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking Democratic Party and Clinton campaign offices, he immediately turned the case over to the Justice Department's National Security Division for prosecution.

Newly Released FISA Docs Contradict Strzok's Sworn Claims He Had Nothing to Do With Carter Page FISA Warrant.  Obama's Deep State FBI and DOJ obtained a FISA warrant on Carter Page in October of 2016 and three subsequent renewals in order to spy on Trump's campaign and transition team.  Comey, Rosenstein, McCabe and Sally Yates all signed the FISA applications even though Hillary's fraudulent Russia dossier was used as a pretext to obtain the warrants.

DOJ releases 412 pages of top-secret FISA documents on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.  The Justice Department released on Saturday more than 400 pages of top-secret documents pertaining to the FISA warrant obtained to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.  The documents were first obtained by the New York Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.  "This application targets Carter Page," the document said.  "The F.B.I. believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government."


Andrew McCabe


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


McCabe and Rosenstein


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


Rod Rosenstein


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


Rod Rosenstein announces an indictment on July 13, 2018
This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


Christopher Wray


Several FBI offices contributed to anti-Catholic memo, refuting Wray's testimony, GOP says.  House Republicans say FBI documents they've obtained prove that several field offices contributed to a memo that targeted traditionalist Catholics as "potential terrorists," conflicting with recent sworn testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray.  Republican leadership on the House Judiciary Committee revealed in a letter sent to Wray on Wednesday that said the document they subpoenaed from the agency details how "both FBI Portland and FBI Los Angeles field offices were involved in or contributed to the creation of FBI's assessment of traditional Catholics as potential domestic terrorists."  "This new information suggests that the FBI's use of its law enforcement capabilities to intrude on American's First Amendment rights is more widespread than initially suspected," Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and co-chair Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote in the letter.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has a habit of lying before Congress.  A month ago Jim Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee grilled FBI Director Wray about the infamous "Richmond" document in which the Field Office there described "opportunities" to surveil Catholic churches and recruit Catholic priests and parishioners to spy on supposed "radical traditional Catholics," or what we like to call "Rad-Trads."  The distinguishing feature of Rad-Trads is their preference for the Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II practices.  Unsurprisingly traditional Catholics are more likely to be conservative, pro-life, and vote Republican.  This, apparently, makes them likely terrorists.  Perhaps the connection to Latin led the Richmond Field Office to mistake them for drug traffickers, but that seems unlikely.  Among the claims Wray to the Committee was a pretty specific one: the Richmond memo was the result of a rogue set of FBI agents who worked alone and didn't represent a larger movement within the FBI to go after political conservatives.  Wray assured us that he was deeply concerned about this and was investigating how it happened. [...] Is it now the case that any time the FBI or any other agency wants to hide information from Congress they can just claim they are "investigating" the matter and will tell Congress nothing?

Each FBI Director is more corrupt than the last.  One example of Trump's almost unerring ability to hire bad people we have the case of Christopher Wray, the current FBI Director.  Trump picked Wray after he fired the execrable James Comey, who could teach a Master's Class in abusing his power.  Apparently, Wray took the class himself and decided to develop new techniques for abusing power.  It seems like every week or two we learn of another case where the FBI either acts as Biden's personal Stasi or abuses its power in other ways. [...] Every single scrap of information from the FBI has to be extracted like an impacted wisdom tooth.  Wray goes before Congress and can't seem to recall a thing — dementia is a common theme in the Biden Administration, it seems — or the matter is under perpetual investigation, so no information can be revealed.

Government Corruption Helps the Bidens and Hurts Trump.  When Trump took office, there was not a deep bench of experienced people ready to serve him.  Many Republicans who worked in the George W. Bush administration were part of the NeverTrump caucus.  Résumés from thousands of outsider applicants, who applied to work for the administration during the transition, were apparently lost and buried.  And, even in the best of times, most appointees are chosen from a list of qualified insiders.  Some are more ideological than others, but very few are loyal, strictly speaking.  Christopher Wray was a former federal prosecutor in private practice when Trump appointed him.  Perhaps he was a registered Republican, but his first loyalty was neither to the President, nor the Congress, but rather to the FBI.  Since his nomination and appointment, he has lied, dissembled, and stonewalled the Republican Congress to protect the FBI from real consequences for its numerous criminal acts over the last six years.

Wray's Empty Suit.  If the American people hear the phrase, "I can't comment on an ongoing investigation," one more time, they'll collectively lose their lunch, and forever abandon what little interest they had left in congressional hearings.  You know it's coming after any serious question.  It's the deep state's version of taking the fifth.  FBI Director Christopher Wray was certainly aware of the battery of questions with which the Republicans intended to barrage his position.  What's stunning is the seeming complete lack of preparation for those questions, or perhaps, more accurately, Wray's complete lack of concern.  It's almost like he feels immune to accountability, sheltered under the wings of the vulture-like Merrick Garland.  They've feathered their nests comfortably, with the Sock-Puppet-In-Chief providing overwatch from the White House.

The FBI isn't in good hands with Christopher Wray at the helm.  In the classic good cop-bad cop scenario, two officers working together take different paths to reach the same goal: to get the suspect to confess.  Americans witnessed a version of that scenario last week, although with crucial distinctions.  Major law-enforcement events showcased the real-world difference between actual good cops and actual bad cops.  The good cops made an arrest in the cold-case murders of three young women on Long Island. [...] Unfortunately, another side of law enforcement was also on display last week.  This one involved FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose tenure increasingly resembles that of his predecessor, James Comey, whose sneering self-righteousness made him the very definition of a bad cop.  Wray, appearing before the House Judiciary Committee, gave every indication he's on a mission to cause as many Americans as possible to distrust his once-storied agency.  Sad to say, he's succeeding wildly.

Trump: Nominating Wray 'Probably Was' a Mistake, Christie Recommended Him.  During a portion of an interview set to air on Sunday's broadcast of the Fox Business Network's "Sunday Morning Futures" that was aired on Friday's broadcast of FBN's "Mornings with Maria," 2024 presidential candidate former President Donald Trump stated that "it probably was" a mistake for him to nominate Christopher Wray to be FBI Director during his term and Wray "was recommended very strongly" by 2024 GOP rival former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.  Host Maria Bartiromo introduced the clip of the interview by stating, "President Trump reacting to this week's Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray.  I spoke with the 45th President... we started our conversation with a look at the upcoming debate and whether he will participate, and I got his reaction to the FBI Director defending [against] the charges of weaponization and [politicization] at the FBI."

FBI boss Christopher Wray's Capitol Hill performance is a masterclass in stonewalling congressional oversight.  His smirk might have dialed down a fraction, but Chris Wray's performance on Capitol Hill Wednesday shows that he is the champion of all stonewallers.  When finally he is kicked out of the FBI Gulfstream, he could have a lucrative new career training other agency heads on how not to comply with congressional oversight.  There were plenty of reasons for him to offer a mea culpa for FBI abuses of power on his watch, but all we got was the usual trademark Wraysims for avoiding answering questions: "Ongoing investigation," "I'm not sure that is a correct characterization," "I can't comment on personnel matters," "We are working on an internal review," "As I sit here right now I don't have an answer," "We will work collaboratively ... consistent with our rules," "I can't speak to pending [fill in the blank]."  When confronted about the FBI's collusion with social-media companies to censor Americans, as laid out in the landmark free-speech case Missouri v Biden, Wray feigned ignorance.

Chris Wray's Claim About FBI and School Boards Smacked Down by Twitter's 'Community Notes'.  I love "Community Notes," Twitter's crowdsourced fact-checking and context-adding feature that has repeatedly busted politicians in their false or misleading claims.  On Thursday, they were at it again, nailing FBI Director Chris Wray, whose agency tweeted Thursday that "The FBI is not and has never been in the business of policing or investigating speech by parents at school board meetings..."  Community Notes begs to differ, and they added a little "context" to Wray's claim:  ["]The FBI's statement is misleading.  On May 18, 2023, former FBI agent Steve Friend testified before the House Judiciary Committee that he and others were directed to surveil and document parents attending school board meetings.["] [Tweet]

Wrinkles of Wray.  FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday.  Republican representatives did not distinguish themselves in their ability to wring the truth from Wray in their allotted five minutes.  Indeed, they were more or less pitiful.  Had they been allotted more time, however, they would still have found themselves up against a hard case.  Wray is incorrigible.  We know that the FBI was instrumental to the suppression of the New York Post's reporting on Hunter Biden and his curious laptop in advance of the 2020 election.  According to Wray, however, the FBI only shared concerns with social media concerning "foreign disinformation."  One wonders how they got it so wrong in that case when they had been sitting on the laptop for a year.

Christopher Wray beclowns himself.  Current corrupt FBI director Christopher Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.  The man is as unscrupulous as his predecessor James Comey, as disingenuous and as willing to dissemble.  He answered no questions in a straightforward manner but, as he has done before, replied evasively with the arrogance only a psychopath might have under duress.  While he most assuredly thinks he laughed his way out of that hearing, he most certainly revealed himself to be afflicted with some kind of mental disorder, the kind that explains how a person can lie, cheat and maybe even steal without blinking as eye and feel proud of himself for fooling "the people."

Rep. Troy Nehls Destroys Chris Wray Over Jan 6 — Catches Him in Lies on Child Pornography Cases.  FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee today.  The hearing, "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," examined the politicization of the nation's preeminent law enforcement agency under the direction of FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland.  Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), a former sheriff, destroyed dirty Chris Wray during his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.  Nehls brought video and photos of Ray Epps encouraging Trump supporters to enter the US Capitol on January 5th and January 6th and then leading the charge through the first ste of barriers to the US Capitol.

FBI Director Wray Doesn't Confirm or Deny if Joe Biden Is Under Investigation for Alleged Burisma Bribes.  FBI Director Christopher Wray did not confirm or deny if President Joe Biden is under investigation for alleged bribes from an executive at Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company that paid Hunter Biden $83,000 per month for a board position.  While testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Tom Tiffany (R-WI) asked Wray if Joe Biden accepted payments from Burisma and whether he is under investigation for the alleged bribe of $5 million.  "Did Joe Biden take payments from Burisma or any other foreign companies as vice president, President, or as a private citizen Biden?" Tiffany asked.

Representative Matt Gaetz Has Fiery Exchange with FBI Director Chris Wray Asking, "Are You Protecting the Bidens?".  Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) expresses a great deal of contempt for FBI Director Chris Wray during questioning today.  From the topic of FBI conduct in the Hunter Biden investigation to the FBI surveillance of American citizens through unauthorized and illegal database searches, Matt Gaetz goes full wolverine on the FBI director.  [Video clip]

FBI Director Wray is torched by his harshest GOP critics.  FBI Director Christopher Wray insisted he is 'absolutely not' working to protect the Biden family as he claimed the agency has not been politicized during a face-off with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee.  GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz displayed a text message allegedly sent by Hunter Biden where the president's son wrote to a Chinese Communist Party official Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017 demanding money for a business deal.  'I'm sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment has not been fulfilled,' Hunter allegedly wrote at the time.  'You will regret not following my direction.  I am waiting for the call with my father.'

FBI Director Wray Denies Agency Protecting Biden Family.  FBI Director Christopher Wray denied that his agency is protecting President Joe Biden or the Biden family on Wednesday [7/12/2023].  Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) pushed the director on the FBI's behavior toward the Bidens during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.  The hearing was the first time Wray testified on the Hill since Republicans took control of the House.  Gaetz began his time for questioning by asking Wray about a WhatsApp message Hunter Biden allegedly sent to CEFC China Energy executive Henry Zhao in 2017.  The message invoked Biden's father, then the former vice president of the U.S., in an apparent attempt to pressure Zhao into making a financial payment.

Here's What The House Judiciary Committee Should Ask FBI Director Wray.  Wednesday will be the first time since the Durham report [was published] in May that Wray will appear before Congress, so some questions should focus on the special counsel's findings.  The most important information the House Judiciary Committee can learn from questioning the FBI director is whether he agrees with the broad conclusions Special Counsel Durham reached.  If not, that alone merits Wray's removal because you can't possibly fix a problem you don't think exists.  The House committee can achieve this goal by walking Wray through a quick litany of the fundamental scandals the special counsel uncovered and asking his view on the findings.

The Federal Bureau of Intimidation.  Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is filing articles of impeachment against the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, for targeting conservative American Catholics.  She wrote:  "Under Wray's watch, the FBI has intimidated, harassed, and entrapped American citizens that have been deemed enemies of the Biden regime.  As such, Director Wray has turned the FBI into Joe Biden and Merrick Garland's personal police force."  This follows Republican House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio calling to withhold funds from the FBI on grounds of political corruption and weaponization.

MTG Introduces Articles Of Impeachment Against FBI Director Christopher Wray.  Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will introduce articles of impeachment against Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray.  The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the articles of impeachment.  "Under Wray's watch, the FBI has intimidated, harassed, and entrapped American citizens that have been deemed enemies of the Biden regime.  As such, Director Wray has turned the FBI into Joe Biden and Merrick Garland's personal police force.  The Soviet-style tactics used by the FBI against normal Americans are unprecedented in this country.  FBI whistleblower Garret O'Boyle told congressional investigators that the FBI created a terrorist threat tag following the Dobbs Supreme Court decision in 2022.  O'Boyle confirmed that the purpose of the tag was to target pro-life individuals.  On September 23, 2022, armed FBI agents in tactical gear raided the family home of Mark Houck, a pro-life Catholic and father of 7 young children, because he obstructed access to an abortion clinic," Greene's office said in a statement.

Christopher Wray and the Politicization of the FBI.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation has shocked many Americans by becoming a politicized law enforcement arm of the Democrat party.  As the target of one of the FBI and Department of Justice political attacks — solely because I had been talking to Ukrainian whistleblowers about Biden family corruption in that country — I want to discuss the problem.  It starts with the most political Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray.  How exactly did Wray become Director?  The saga of who headed the most prestigious and respected (previous to Wray) law enforcement agency under Donald Trump includes political naiveite as well as sophistication, depending on the actor.  The naiveite begins with the Trump transition team.

Director Wray Brags the FBI Broke the Law 84% Fewer Times Last Year.  Drawing attention to the testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray in his responses to Representative Darin LaHood.  Representative LaHood is leading an internal congressional review of the FISA "702" reauthorization.  During the testimony, LaHood waxes philosophically about the importance of FISA-702 targeting as a tool for the FBI while simultaneously outlining how the FBI is weaponizing the tool.  At 06:24 of the video below, LaHood goes on to outline the details of the NSA noncompliance report showing how the FBI intentionally targeted him, likely because he is leading the 702 reauthorization group.  The irony here is thick.  The FBI illegally uses 702 search queries, and in the example of LaHood, it is demonstrable targeting because the search query was only for his name, so there can be no claim of "inadvertent" search result.

Christopher Wray's Failing PR Campaign to Save the FBI's Reputation.  In the last couple of days, I've written about how FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted that his agency concluded "quite some time ago" that the COVID virus escaped from a Wuhan, China virology lab, and how "sources" recently told the Washington Post that FBI agents were against the August 2022 raid on former President's Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.  What's the commonality between the two stories?  They both make the FBI look better, and they both indicate that Wray might be playing a game of CYA and distancing himself from the dictatorial, partisan Attorney General, Merrick Garland.

FBI Director Wray Hints at 'Collaboration' with Private Sector Amid Political Scandals.  Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Christopher Wray alluded to "collaboration between the private sector and the government," delivering remarks Thursday during the World Economic Forum — as the bureau remains mired in scandal following the "Twitter Files" revelations and braces for aggressive congressional investigations.  Wray, speaking to an audience of global elites at the Davos gathering, touched on the federal government's work with ostensibly private technology companies, during a discussion about the potential dangers of new technology.  The FBI chief touted the "significant strides" the FBI in particular has made in efforts to work more closely with the tech industry.

Wray Caught Misleading Grassley on Video, House GOP Now Demanding Answers on His Plane Usage.  I wrote earlier in August about how FBI Director Christopher Wray said he couldn't stay 21 more minutes to answer more questions from the Republican members on the Senate Judiciary Committee because he had a plane to catch.  As I noted at the time, Sen. Chuck Grassley busted him on that by noting that Wray had his private plane, so it wasn't like he was rushing to catch a flight anywhere and would miss it.  Of course, Wray wanted to beat it out of there because the Republicans were asking great questions about the politicization of the FBI.  Wray likely was trying to avoid answering anything more.  But as it turned out, not only was he taking a private plane, he wasn't going to work, he was leaving to go to his vacation home in the Adirondacks in Saranac Lake, New York.  So he truly was just blowing them off and effectively giving them the finger.  The plane was intended for use in counterintelligence operations.

FBI Dir.  Christopher Wray Finally Responds to Raid of Trump Residence.  FBI [Director] Christopher Wray has finally responded to his bureau's raid of Donald Trump's Florida residence, and he wants you to know who the real victims are.  Apparently, despite all the questions surrounding the action, including the fact that it supposedly occurred due to a mundane dispute over the Presidential Records Act, the real bad guys here are those criticizing the FBI. What a completely shocking and unexpected response from the consummate company man.  [Tweet]  I'm trying to think of something I care less about than the FBI citing unnamed "death threats" as a way to deflect from their own maleficence, and I'm coming up blank.  This is what corrupt government officials always do.  They lash out in ways that draw blowback, and then they try to disqualify that blowback by saying "I'm getting death threats."

That 'Flight' Christopher Wray Told Senators He Had to 'Catch' Turns Into a Scandal.  First, Sen. Ted Cruz exposed the entrapment that took place regarding the FBI-led Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot.  Sen. Josh Hawley also exacted his pound of flesh in questioning.  Later, Wray tried to wiggle out of the hearing by claiming to Sen. Chuck Grassley that he had "a plane to catch."  Well, now we know what plane he caught and where it was going, and it sure seems like a scandal.  Far from the picture Wray tried to paint of him rushing through a busy international airport to catch a scheduled flight, he actually jumped on his taxpayer-funded private jet, a state-of-the-art Gulfstream 550.  Worse, though, was where he went.  It doesn't appear he was on FBI business.  Instead, he was taking a vacation.

FBI Director Christopher Wray is guiding the agency the wrong way, fast.  Christopher Wray's disingenuous testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, before he left early on the FBI's private Gulfstream 550 jet, speaks volumes about the need to defund the FBI — or at least dump its unctuous director. [...] Wray refused to classify the flood of illegal migration at the southern border as a "national security threat."  When asked what the FBI was doing to track down 56 suspected terrorists that have crossed the border this year he waffled about "sharing watchlist information" and "investigating any number of individuals."  He refused to admit that the Russia collusion hoax — in which the FBI treated seriously palpably false allegations that then-candidate Donald Trump was a Russian agent — was in fact a "hoax".  He refused to agree with Sen. Blackburn that Hunter Biden's laptop was not "Russian disinformation," and didn't respond to whistleblower allegations of an FBI coverup of derogatory information related to the Bidens in October 2020.  He refused to explain to Sen. Ted Cruz why the FBI had blacklisted patriotic historical American symbols such as the Betsy Ross flag, the Gadsden Flag and the Gonzales battle flag as "militia violent extremism" in training documents.  When Sen. Josh Hawley asked why the FBI was "snooping around the concealed carry permit records" of Missourians, he had nothing.

The Time To Hold Corrupt Bureaucrats Like Christopher Wray Accountable Is Before They Are Even Confirmed.  Several Republicans have signaled they plan to investigate corrupt and partisan bureaucrats such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Wray if they win back Congress in the November midterms.  For now, while Democrats control the White House and the legislative branch, the GOP has resorted to letters and the occasional "oversight hearing" that accomplishes little.  If Republicans' failure to hold bureaucrats accountable via letter-writing campaigns wasn't apparent before, it was after an oversight hearing on Thursday when, instead of taking responsibility for any of his agency's failures including the botched Larry Nassar investigation, a Hunter Biden investigation cover-up, and the slow response to pro-abortion attacks across the nation, Wray repeatedly refused to answer questions about the FBI's track record of lying in ways that affect national election outcomes.  As a matter of fact, he doubled down and refused to condemn the Russia collusion hoax that his agency proudly spun for years.

The Evasive Mr. Wray.  FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time since July 2021, insisted he had to leave the hearing by 1:30 p.m. sharp.  (It began at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday morning.)  Despite leading a scandal-ridden agency quickly losing the trust of the American people and congressional Republicans, Wray somehow believes that setting aside less than four hours to answer questions by lawmakers responsible for checking and balancing his work is sufficient.  "I had a flight that I'm supposed to be high-tailing it to, and I had understood that we were going to be done at 1:30, so that's how we ended up where we are," Wray told Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member who asked why the rush.  If Wray needed to leave on business, Grassley noted, "you've got your own plane," referring to the taxpayer-funded Gulfstream G550 jet used to ferry the head of the FBI around the country privately.  Wray got his way — the committee wrapped shortly after 1:30 p.m. with no chance for Republicans to ask follow-up questions.

Grassley Levels Chris Wray With One Simple Fact After He Claims He Has a Flight to Catch.  FBI Director Christopher Wray was on the hot seat Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on a variety of issues.  As I reported earlier, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilled him over the politicization of the FBI, including questions about normal patriotic symbols that they were categorizing as signs of "militia violent extremism."  That made Wray look bad enough, as though he was ignorant about the problems in his own office and/or lying about them. [...] If you can't even admit to certain basic truths, that shows how compromised he, and therefore the FBI, are at this point.  So, what exactly can he comment on?  All he seems to know how to do is evade questions and turn the FBI into a completely politicized mess.  Then when the senators started to call him out on it, what was his response?  Sorry, guys, I can't stick around, I have to catch a plane.  Yes, he seriously said that to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).  That astonished Grassley, who nailed him with a little reality, saying but you have "your own plane."

Ri-i-i-ight.
Wray says he finds allegations FBI mishandled Hunter Biden info 'deeply troubling'.  FBI director Christopher Wray testified he found it "deeply troubling" when he read recent whistleblower allegations that bureau agents had falsely labeled accurate information about Hunter Biden as disinformation during the FBI's investigation in 2020.  Whistleblower allegations emerged last month that FBI supervisory intelligence agent Brian Auten opened an assessment in August 2020, which was used by FBI headquarters to label accurate information about President Joe Biden's son as false, according to disclosures made public by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), while a whistleblower said Timothy Thibault, the FBI assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office, shut down a line of inquiry into Hunter Biden in October 2020 despite some of the details being known to be true at the time.

FBI official [was] transferred after whistleblower allegations of political bias, senator reveals.  A key senator says a top FBI official has been moved from his leadership perch in Washington after internal whistleblowers complained he was part of an effort to interfere in politically sensitive investigations, allegations Director Chris Wray now calls "deeply troubling."  Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Just the News on Thursday that the FBI alerted him that Assistant Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault had been moved to another unspecified job.  The transfer came after Grassley reported extensive information to the FBI and Justice Department inspector general that Thibault had expressed political bias in social media posts and interfered in politically sensitive investigations, including one into Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings.

Ted Cruz Drops the Boot on FBI Director Christopher Wray During Hearing.  Whistleblowers have come forward on how the FBI has been politicized in everything from the Hunter Biden case to allegedly juicing the statistics about domestic extremism.  FBI Director Christopher Wray was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday and senators asked a variety of questions, including plumbing such things as how the FBI is categorizing things such as "domestic extremism."  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he believed the FBI has been completely politicized, that it began under Barack Obama, metastasized with career officials during the Trump Administration, and is even worse now under Joe Biden.  Cruz told Wray he believed that Wray was unwilling to root out the problems.

FBI Director Sets New Record For Lies, Dodges, And Obfuscations To Avoid Slight Attempts At Congressional Oversight.  FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to answer legislators' questions about his agency's history of corruption and cover-ups and instead doubled down on defending the FBI's actions against U.S. citizens during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Thursday [8/4/2022].  Senators on both sides of the aisle explained their frustrations with the FBI's lack of transparency and response to their various letters inquiring about threats around the country.  "There is the perception that there are two tiers of justice:  one for people that are favored and one for ordinary Americans," Sen. Marsha Blackburn noted during her interrogation.  Instead of addressing concerns about deceit, Wray confirmed Republicans' suspicions that the FBI does engage in politicized investigations such as evaluating so-called threats against school board members at the urging of the Department of Justice following its infamous letter from the National School Boards Association.

FBI director Christopher Wray vows to protect whistleblowers.  FBI Director Christopher Wray promised whistleblowers would be protected under his watch during a Senate hearing on Thursday [8/4/2022].  It comes after Republican lawmakers claimed to have heard from current and former bureau officials and Justice Department employees who accused the FBI of attempting to discredit probes into Hunter Biden in 2020.  Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley, then its chairman, along with then-Senate Oversight Committee Chair Ron Johnson had launched an investigation into President Joe Biden's son after a leaked hard drive from Hunter Biden's laptop appeared to show signs of leveraging his father's position to further foreign business dealings.

FBI, Director Christopher Wray are in for a rude wake-up call over Hunter Biden investigation.  FBI Director Christopher Wray always seems a little too pleased with himself.  But on Thursday the smirk may be wiped off his pretty face when Republican members of the House oversight committee start grilling him on the mounting evidence that something is very rotten inside the agency Wray runs.  Top of the list is the curious question of why the FBI apparently did nothing with Hunter Biden's laptop, which was handed to two agents on Dec. 9, 2019, by John Paul Mac Isaac, the alarmed owner of the computer repair shop near the Biden family homes in Greenville, Del., where Hunter had dropped off his MacBook eight months earlier.  Among other potential crimes to be found on the abandoned laptop, you would expect the FBI to be interested, on national security grounds, in the incriminating evidence of a corrupt foreign influence-peddling scheme run by the Biden family throughout Joe Biden's vice presidency.  Equally curious is why the FBI apparently did nothing with another voluminous trove of corroborating material, given to them in October 2020 by Hunter's former business partner, Navy veteran Tony Bobulinski, including emails and other documents which replicate those on Hunter's laptop.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson accuses FBI of 'tipping the scales of justice' in Hunter Biden probe.  Senator Ron Johnson on Sunday accused the FBI of major bias over whistleblower claims that the bureau suppressed negative information about Hunter Biden.  The Wisconsin Republican told Fox & Friends that he has 'no faith' in FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Donald Trump, to oversee anything related to President Joe Biden's son.  Meanwhile the Justice Department is currently pursuing an unrelated tax investigation into Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings.

FBI boss Christopher Wray denies Capitol riot taken more seriously than 2020 riots.  FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed the FBI is working just as hard to punish participants in the 2020 George Floyd riots as those involved in the Capitol riot, though neither the numbers nor his own boss's words seem to back him up.  Wray made the improbable claim in response to questions during an appearance earlier this week at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. [...] Republicans have raised concerns the Justice Department has not put the same effort into prosecutions tied to the violent, racially charged riots of 2020 as the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  The GOP points to nationwide rioting and attacks on federal courthouses and police in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

FBI director Christopher Wray allegedly made a hard-to-believe promise.  In one of the more unbelievable statements from someone working in the American government, FBI Director Christopher Wray has allegedly sworn that his agency will bring down the bad guys named in Ghislaine Maxwell's little black book.  Those pedophiles are toast, right?  Well, I have my doubts.  To the extent that the FBI has seemed to take it upon itself to be a protector and enforcer for the Democrat party, the only way I see it following up on the evildoers whom Ghislaine knew is if they pose a threat to Democrat party political dominance. [...] And if you'll pardon me for even greater cynicism, given the FBI's conduct vis-à-vis Hillary Clinton (destroying all the evidence of her wrongdoing), the phony Russian hoax (continuing an investigation after they knew it was baseless), and the January 6 protest at the Capitol (which may have been another example of FBI entrapment), the only reason I can see for the FBI to go after people named in Maxwell's book is if doing so will embarrass Republicans.

FBI Director Chris Wray Tells Congress Antifa [was] Not Involved in Capitol Hill Riots, After FBI Arrests Antifa Leader, John Sullivan, for Participating in Capitol Hill Riots.  This is a rather remarkable soundbite all things considered.  Today [3/2/2021], during his congressional testimony FBI Director Chris Wray was asked whether Antifa members participated in the January 6th Capitol Hill riot.  Director Wray says the FBI "has seen no evidence" of Antifa participating.  However, on January 14th the FBI literally arrested Antifa leader John Sullivan for his role in the planning, coordination and participation in the January 6th Capitol Hill riot.  [Video clip]  John Sullivan is a left-wing agent provocateur within the larger Antifa movement.  On the day of the Capitol Hill riots Sullivan embedded himself with the MAGA movement and recorded his activity.  January 14th, John Sullivan was indicted for his action.

FBI Director Chris Wray Testifies There Is No Evidence of "Fake Trump Supporters" at US Capitol During Riot.  FBI Director Chris Wray testified before the US Senate on Tuesday in his first testimony since the US Capitol riot on January 6th.  Wray told the Senate today the riot in the US Capitol was "domestic terrorism."  Chris Wray also said there was NO EVIDENCE of "fake Trump supporters" present at the US Capitol that day.  Antifa-BLM organizer John Sullivan was at the US Capitol and bragged about wearing a MAGA hat during the riots where he broke a window and stormed the US Capitol.

Why Does Barr Let Wray Lie and Flout the Law?  Judicial Watch submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on February 16, 2018, to the FBI.  It sought text messages sent from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015, between FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI attorney Lisa Page, FBI Special Agent Jennifer Leonard, FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, and/or Obama administration Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco.  In response, the FBI denied the request, asserting (incredibly) that text messages are not subject to FOIA.  Judicial Watch challenged the FBI's determination.  It filed an administrative appeal with the Department of Justice arguing that "text messages involving government-related business sent between government officials, whom all of the persons identified in the scope of the request are, do in fact constitute government records that fall within the purview of FOIA."  In response, the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy remanded Judicial Watch's request for "further review," but the FBI ignored the directive and continues to withhold any text messages.  Judicial Watch sued on October 19, 2020, just a few days ago, after the FBI failed to respond (again) to the remanded request.

How corrupt is FBI Director Wray?  Let me count the ways.  If Americans disgusted at the shameless, partisan shenanigans of former FBI head James Comey thought Christopher Wray was going to come in and clean house at the now disgraced agency, they've got another think coming.  To be fair, incoming Director Wray was faced with a multitude of questionable FBI actions — and failures to act — by Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Clinesmith, et al.  There is voluminous evidence, for those with eyes to see, that Comey's crew purposely tanked two separate investigations into Crooked Hillary and the Clinton Foundation.  They followed that up by setting up President Trump's national security advisor, Gen. Mike Flynn, and trying to imprison him for doing nothing wrong, a process that continues to this day thanks to rogue federal judge Emmet Sullivan.  Worse still, the FBI was also busy spying on Donald Trump, his campaign and his administration, based on nonsense they knew was paid for by Hillary Clinton and promoted by John Brennan, the equally repulsive and mendacious head of Obama's CIA.

Is China Now In Control of Our Flow of Information?  This week, the matter came to a head when Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed they will prevent Americans from seeing the New York Post's explosive article about incriminating emails, documents, and pictures stemming from Hunter Biden's laptop.  The emails implicate Joe Biden and the Chinese Communist Party. [...] The laptop was dropped off at a repair shop and not retrieved.  After a 90-day period, the owner of the repair shop contacted the FBI and gave them the hard drive.  He retained one for himself and gave two other copies away lest he be killed.  The FBI sat on that hard drive for a year.  It begs the question whether Christopher Wray, by not conducting an investigation, is covering for the Bidens?  If so, he must be fired immediately!  Is the FBI now censoring information and engaging in political partisanship on behalf of China?

Christopher Wray Must Go.  The FBI did everything it could to influence both the 2016 and 2018 election cycles in favor of the Democrats with largely exaggerated claims about Russian interference, and completely fabricated claims that they made those efforts in coordination with the 2016 Trump Campaign and 2018 Trump Administration.  That is a matter of historical fact.  Given that history, can anyone doubt that Christopher Wray, who led the raging dumpster fire agency's 2018 Russia collusion smear effort, was about to do it all over again yesterday, just 12 days prior to Election Day?  Unfortunately for Wray, though, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe is not on board with the program.  He's what the DC Swamp denizens like to call an outlier, a wholly inconvenient person of power who isn't going along with the program.  When news circulated late Wednesday afternoon [10/21/2020] that the FBI was going to hold an important press event to discuss election interference by foreign enemies, those of us who have followed this stuff for the past four years had a single expectation:  Wray was about to scream Russia collusion all over again.

FBI Director Chris Wray On The Bubble?  If the Senate Intelligence Committee (SSCI) was not so comprehensively corrupt, it's likely FBI Director Christopher Wray would have been replaced a long time ago.  Wray is an abject failure in his position.

FBI Director faces scrutiny over refusal to name Antifa as organization.  Testifying before Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray faced questions from lawmakers on the FBI's flawed understanding of Antifa.  "Antifa is a real thing.  It is a not a fiction," Wray said, "but it is not an organization or a structure, we understand it to be more of a kind of a movement, or maybe you could call it an ideology."  Rep. Daniel Crenshaw was not impressed, and immediately challenged the FBI Director's assertions, "That seems to me to be down-playing it...  This is an ideology that organizes locally, it coordinates regionally and nationally, it wears a standardized uniform, it collects funds to buy high-powered lasers to blind federal officers, build homemade explosive devices, feed their rioters since they clearly aren't working and then bail out those who have been arrested...  This is an ideology that has trained its members, makes shield wall phalanxes to attack federal officers.  It formed an autonomous zone in an American city and besieged a federal courthouse in another, so it just seems to be more than an ideology."

Wray Is Wrong as FBI Director.  In May of 2017, President Trump did the right thing and fired FBI Director James Comey, the individual at the center of the attempt to overturn the 2016 election results.  Comey orchestrated the spying efforts on President Trump and his campaign, which included the FBI improperly applying for four separate Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrants to eavesdrop on campaign aide Carter Page.  He also authorized a politically motivated investigation into Lt. General Michael Flynn and encouraged the entrapment of Flynn by his FBI agents in an infamous White House interview.  Clearly, Comey was a disastrous FBI Director; however, the President made a terrible choice when he replaced him with Christopher Wray, a bureaucrat who has not reformed the agency in any meaningful way.  He also seems to be incapable of identifying the real threats that are facing the country.

As Impeachment Ends, It's Time to Correct These Nine Injustices.  [#3] Fire or demote Christopher Wray.  Wray seems like a nice guy.  But he's not the right person to reform the FBI.  In fact, it's getting worse under his supervision.  As bad as James Comey was, there's a case to be made that Wray is worse.  Since he took office, we've had a fresh new round of serious spying misconduct by the FBI and he's allowed the FBI's informant program to become even more dysfunctional than it was (to name just two examples.)

Devin Nunes Threatens Criminal Referrals for Chris Wray and Dana Boente.  Those who haven't followed the backstory might not catch what Nunes is saying.  However, if you followed closely, and accept that Rosenstein was part of the problem, then you see how FBI Director Christopher Wray came into office; and, more importantly how/why Wray selected former DOJ-NSD head Dana Boente to shift from main justice to be legal counsel for the FBI.  Boente took over for former chief legal counsel James Baker, after the discoveries around Baker and McCabe could no longer be hidden.  After being removed from responsibility eventually Baker resigned and went to work with the Lawfare group.  Boente's job at FBI was/is to bury information, block congressional inquiry, and protect the crew.  Boente, along with Christopher Wray, is still there.

President Trump Calls Out FBI Director Christopher Wray: "the director is protecting the coup gang".  Finally President Trump indicates he is well aware of the intents and motives of FBI Director Christopher Wray covering for the illegal coup effort. [...] President Trump may have been aware of Chris Wray's corrupt disposition prior to today; however, this is the first visible indication he understands the internecine organization of it.  Hopefully we can start the countdown clock to Wray's exit.

FBI Vault Release — FBI Requested Data Forensics on Huma Abedin/Clinton Laptop AFTER the 2016 Election, Not Before.  FBI Director Wray seems like an affable person who is, by all reasonable evaluations, entirely way-over-his-head in dealing with the systemic rot, cancer and corruption.  Sound harsh?  Go back and WATCH the post IG report (Clinton email investigation) press conference; it's not harsh.  It takes a particular kind of corruption manager to stand in front of a national audience and tell the world there was no bias in the Clinton email investigation... yet, he's going to put every employee of the FBI through "bias training"? [...] No bias, but everyone needs bias training.  Gotcha.

FBI Director:  Chinese Espionage 'Most Significant' Spy Threat Facing US.  China, rather than Russia, is the "most significant" long-term threat to the United States, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday [7/18/2018].  During an interview with NBC's Lester Holt at the Aspen Ideas Forum, Wray said that the FBI has economic espionage investigations in all 50 states that trace back to Chinese activity.  "It covers everything from corn seeds in Iowa to wind turbines in Massachusetts and everything in between," said Wray.  Most of the forum focused on the FBI's investigation of Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election and in other arenas.  Wray's appearance comes in the wake of two significant indictments in Russia-related investigations.

Rosenstein and Wray Squirm on the Hill.  Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray went up to Capitol Hill on Thursday to tell the House Intelligence Committee that neither one of them had noticed anything wrong with Robert Mueller's special probe or with the anti-Trump bias of its staff.  No matter what Congress and the public had read in the massive inspector general's report recently, they wanted everyone to know that the deputy attorney general and the FBI director had the Bureau under control now, and that Rosenstein had Wray and Mueller under control, too.  Everything is fine.  Nothing to see here.  Couldn't Congress just leave them alone?

Sara Carter Blasts Rosenstein, Wray.  Investigative reporter Sara Carter blasted the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray on 'Hannity' after their testimony yesterday.  They "undermined the American people," she said.  "They really believe that these guys that think they were better, smarter and they think they are the super patriots and we the people are stupid," Hannity blasted FBI investigators in discussing Thursday's [6/28/2018] contentious hearing in which Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray faced lawmakers demanding answers.  Rosenstein seemed to think the entire event was humorous because he did a lot of smirking.  Wray is arrogant as well.  "They undermined the American people.  They undermined the system that our nation is founded on," Carter said.  "There is nothing more disgusting than thinking that you know everything," Carter continued.

FBI head proves Washington has a vendetta against Trump.  As FBI Director Christopher Wray started giving his response to the blistering report on the Hillary Clinton investigation, I hoped he would accept the findings as proof that the agency lost its way and must be shaken to its foundation.  By the time he finished talking, I felt naive for daring to hope.  Wray's performance was worse than disappointing.  It was infuriating proof that it will take more than one election to change the corrupt culture of Washington.  Wray replaced the ousted James Comey, whose conduct in the Clinton probe was shredded by Inspector General Michael Horowitz.  Investigators demonstrated with new details that the self-righteous Comey was insubordinate and duplicitous, and even used private email for government business while he investigated Clinton over her private, unsecured server.  Talk about arrogance.

How can FBI Director Wray clean out the swamp if he doesn't even see the corruption?  FBI Director Wray has said nothing to reassure Americans that he understands the serious corruption highlighted in the IG report.  The FBI's cover-ups and stonewalling on Wray's watch add to his credibility problems.  Both in is his press conference after the IG report was released, and in his testimony Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Director Wray demonstrated he was more concerned about protecting the reputation of the institution of the FBI than about the astonishing corruption of top FBI officials detailed in the IG report.  During today's hearing we heard about FBI agents who aren't corrupt and how the Clinton email investigation was just one of many thousands of cases pursued by the Bureau.

Impeach Rod Rosenstein.  An impeachment that removed either Mr. Rosenstein or Mr. Wray — or a contempt finding that sent one of them to the congressional pokey for a spell — could send a good message to federal bureaucrats inclined to be dismissive of congressional subpoenas.  Then again, if either man thought he was in real and imminent danger of being impeached or held in contempt, Congress would likely find him instantly cooperative.

Jeff Sessions and Christopher Wray Suffering From Severe Battered Institutional Syndrome.  For about eight months columnist Andrew McCarthy appeared on television and wrote dozens of articles about the slow-drip of information stemming from the Trump-Russia probe and the IG Horowitz investigation.  Almost all of the articles were sympathetic to the institutions being challenged.  However, in mid-May a funny thing happened.  The weekend before May 15th McCarthy actually broke down and read the six-month-old Lisa Page and Peter Strzok text messages he had been delivering opinion on; and guess what happened?  Yup, his perspective changed within a period of 36-hours, and with it — a radical shift in tone and delivery.

The Deep State is Winning.  In a tour de force press conference, current FBI Director Christopher Wray insisted the report was thorough and that, "Nothing in [the IG report] impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole, or the FBI as an institution."  That wasn't the issue, problem, or concern.  Very few people have questioned the mission of the FBI or its "workforce as a whole."  But at least some in the workforce should be questioned, possibly impugned, and maybe even sanctioned.  Unfortunately, Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report makes any such consequences unlikely.  As a result, the destabilization of America's republic at the hands of faceless, partisan bureaucrats will continue apace even as the fight to topple President Trump escalates.

FBI head proves Washington has a vendetta against Trump.  As FBI Director Christopher Wray started giving his response to the blistering report on the Hillary Clinton investigation, I hoped he would accept the findings as proof that the agency lost its way and must be shaken to its foundation.  By the time he finished talking, I felt naive for daring to hope.  Wray's performance was worse than disappointing.  It was infuriating proof that it will take more than one election to change the corrupt culture of Washington.

No Wray of Sunshine.  FBI Director Christopher Wray's explanation of Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report on the handling of Hillary Clinton's emails revealed him to be just another deep-state shill willing to ignore the attempted and ongoing deep-state coup against a duly elected president, Donald J. Trump.  Regarding the organized attempt to by FBI leadership to keep Hillary Clinton out of prison and Donald Trump out of the White House, Wray sees no evil, hears no evil, and will speak no evil.

Christopher Wray Not the Man to 'Proudly' Fix the FBI.  What was going on in Donald Trump's head when he tweeted Friday in response to the inspector general's devastating report on the FBI that "Christopher Wray will bring it proudly back!"?  Perhaps the president thought he had better things to do than face another interminable nomination battle for a new director.  Or perhaps he was trying to co-opt Wray.  But if the FBI is meant to come back, proudly or otherwise, Christopher Wray is not the man.  He is part of the problem.

Sen. Tom Cotton Asks FBI Director Wray if Dossier Author Was Employed by Putin-Linked Oligarch — Wray Won't Answer!  Last week FOX News reported that Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the top senator on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was caught communicating with a lobbyist for Putin-linked Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.  Senator Warner reached out to the lobbyist linked to Deripaska because he wanted to speak with Fusion GPS dossier author Christopher Steele.  Senator Warner communicated with an phone app that deletes all messages.

Here's how FBI Director Christopher Wray's independence protects Trump from Robert Mueller.  While President Trump and FBI Director Christopher Wray aren't happy with one another, Trump's appointment of Wray has never been more personally valuable to the president.  Why?  By showing independence from the White House and resisting Trump's pressure on the FBI, Wray is confirming that Trump made a good and prudent decision in appointing him as director.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
White House worried FBI director could quit over Nunes memo release.  Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN.  Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May, yet his advice on the Nunes memo is being disregarded and cast as part of the purported partisan leadership of the FBI, according to a senior law enforcement official.


Robert Mueller and Tony Podesta


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


Jerome Corsi


Corsi Vows to Make Mueller Pay, Alleging Prosecutorial Misconduct.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller has concluded — finally, after two years — his probe into whether President Donald Trump or any member of his campaign team colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.  Millions of Americans believe the investigation was politically driven, doing great damage to the country itself, and in the process destroyed the lives of innocent Americans in what Trump has called a "witch hunt."  One of those persecuted by Mueller during the seemingly never-ending investigation — Jerome Corsi, a best-selling author and noted political commentator — has opted to continue his legal fight against Mueller and his fellow prosecutors, with a bar complaint and a $350 million lawsuit.  "They have to pay for this," Corsi told the Washington Examiner on Monday [3/25/2019].  During the probe, Mueller's team insisted that Corsi plead guilty to lying to investigators, but he refused.

Mueller's Lawyer and Jerome Corsi Trade Blistering Attacks in Dueling Court Filings.  The federal government is pushing back against efforts by right-wing conspiracy theorist and author Jerome Corsi to have his lawsuit against special counsel Robert Mueller and others assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard Leon.  As Law&Crime previously reported, Corsi is suing Mueller and several other federal government defendants for $350 million over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, leaking confidential grand jury information by way of special counsel press officer Peter Carr — and for "ongoing illegal, unconstitutional surveillance" of Corsi "at the direction of Mueller and his partisan Democrat, leftist, and ethically and legally conflicted prosecutorial staff."

Corsi sues Mueller over alleged grand jury leaks, seeks $350M in damages: report.  Jerome Corsi, the conservative author accused of lying under oath to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators, filed a federal lawsuit late Sunday [12/9/2018] accusing Mueller of leaking grand jury items and various constitutional violations, including illegal surveillance, reports said.  Politico reported that the newly filed suit claims that Mueller tried to get Corsi to give testimony that Corsi said is false.  He is reportedly seeking $100 million in actual damages and $250 million in damages due to injury to his reputation.  The CIA, FBI, and the National Security Agency were also named in the suit.

Jerome Corsi Challenges Robert Mueller.  Misconduct by the once-great Department of Justice is all too common.  The unethical prosecution of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens stole a U.S. Senate election from the Republicans in 2008.  That earned a tongue-lashing from Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on April 7, 2009.  But left-wing embeds within the DoJ took the wrong lessons from the Stevens fiasco.  They took it as a dry run, practice for stealing the presidential election in 2016.  What is the DoJ claiming now?  That Jerry Corsi and Roger Stone must have been the conduit for a Russian conspiracy because they "knew" — after it was widely reported in the news media — that Wikileaks would release stolen documents that Wikileaks told the entire world way in advance it was going to release.

Ted Stevens recap:
Same Plot, Different Actors.  [Scroll down]  In the Stevens case, the government suborned perjury, hid a critical witness for the defense, and suffered no consequences of note for that.  With Stevens out of the Senate, the Democrats rammed through ObamaCare before the serious misconduct of the FBI and DoJ attorneys was known, too late to provide solace to Stevens, who died in a plane crash before the truth was revealed.

Jerome Corsi files ethics complaint against Mueller, claims he was pressured to lie.  Conservative author Jerome Corsi on Monday filed a criminal and ethics complaint against special counsel Robert Mueller alleging prosecutorial misconduct in the Russia investigation.  The 78-page complaint alleges that Mr. Corsi "has been criminally threatened and coerced to tell a lie and call it the truth."

For the crime of forgetting, Jerome Corsi is facing bankruptcy and imprisonment.  Jerome Corsi is 72-years-old.  He has a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard.  He has written two New York Times bestsellers about politics.  He is the kind of person who could, and probably should be happily retired by now.  Instead, he's facing felony charges from Robert Mueller.  How did this happen?

America Take Note - Dr. Jerome Corsi Is NOT Suicidal.  Dr. Corsi is a Harvard educated Ph.D., a well-known investigative journalist and a prolific author.  He has authored 20 books since 2004, including two New York Times bestsellers.  It is interesting to note that the information contained in one book in particular, written by Dr. Corsi and published on May 17, 2011 titled Where's The Birth Certificate? would apparently become relevant to the questioning he was forced to endure by Aaaron Zelinsky, one of Robert Mueller's "angry Democrats" and not coincidentally, a former assistant US attorney under Rod Rosenstein.  Also lacking in coincidence, perhaps, is that Zelinsky is a staunch Democrat and a frequent contributor to the Leftist publication Huffington Post.  In addition to Aaron Zelinsky, Dr. Corsi was subjected to interrogation, ridicule and was even mocked as detailed in a recent hit piece published in The Rolling Stone by Jeannie Rhee, a former Deputy Attorney General under Obama and a die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter.  Even more disturbing and ironic is that Rhee was Hillary Clinton's lawyer just three years ago, representing her in her legal e-mail troubles.

Feds Treated Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano Much Better Than Manafort, Corsi, Flynn.  [Sean] Hannity said special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting a "concerted effort to turn the screws on whoever" is in support of Trump.  He said Flynn's life is "ruined," Papadopoulos will forever have a felony on his record and Manafort and Corsi could spend the rest of their lives in prison because they will not be coerced into "testi-lying."  Hannity said that on the other hand, Gravano, who he said confessed to at least 19 murders, was given little jail time and was put in the witness protection program and was living in Arizona.

The Nixon 'Road Map' Won't Save Mueller's Futile Prosecution.  [Scroll down]  The copycat litigation of the Trump-haters today is of no significance.  But the increasing evidence of the Mueller special counsel's tug-of-war to try to extort perjury against the president by effectively threatening Paul Manafort with decades of solitary confinement, and trying to intimidate Jerome Corsi, George Papadopoulos (a third of the way through his 14-day prison term — it was to such nonsense that Mueller is reduced), is cautionary. [...] At least there was a crime at the Watergate and a few other places.  But both attempts at pseudo-legal putsches are and have been disgusting and profoundly illegal corruptions of the system, and contribute to an understanding of why the American prosecutors win a North Korean level 99 percent of their indictments, 97 percent without a trial, and the sweet land of liberty has six to 12 times as many incarcerated people per capita as comparable large and prosperous democracies:  Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

The word 'Russia' eliminates all rational thought in journalists.  After two long years of the most expensive and wide-ranging independent counsel investigation in a generation, we should be close to nabbing those dastardly secret agents from Russia who supposedly hacked our presidential election.  Are we?  No, we're not.  Robert Mueller's prosecutors are instead threatening elderly men with life in prison for petty crimes.  Crimes that have nothing to do with spying or Russia or anything else that threatens America.  The whole thing is a grotesque joke.  But you'd never know that from watching cable television.

Jerome Corsi Says He Has Defense Agreement With Trump, Received Limited Immunity From Mueller.  Right-wing author Jerome Corsi claims in a forthcoming book that he has a joint defense agreement with President Donald Trump and was provided limited immunity during his testimony before special counsel Robert Mueller's grand jury to discuss a "cover story" he claims he crafted for Trump confidant Roger Stone.  Corsi, who has been interviewed six times in the investigation over the course of more than two months, writes in "Silent No More:  How I Became a Political Prisoner of Mueller's 'Witch Hunt,'" which The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained, that he entered into the defense agreement with Trump after being advised that Trump's lawyer, Jay Sekulow, was interested in the arrangement.


George Papadopoulos


Declassified FBI memos undercut Mueller team claims that Papadopoulos hindered Russia probe.  Newly declassified FBI memos directly conflict with court filings that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team made in asking a federal judge to send former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos to prison, further calling into question the government's conduct in investigating the now-debunked "Russia collusion" narrative.  The memos, released under federal Freedom of Information laws, are likely to focus renewed attention on former Mueller prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky, who played a key role in prosecuting Papadopoulos before working on the case of longtime GOP operative and Trump confidant Roger Stone.

Federal Judge Denies Papadopoulos Delay — Begins 14-Day Federal Prison Sentence Tomorrow.  Federal Judge Randolph Moss denies a sentencing delay for George Papadopoulos and instructs him to report to federal prison in Wisconsin on Monday; Papadopoulos will serve a 14-day sentence for 'lying' to federal investigators.  The Judge rejected Papadopoulos request to delay his sentence while the legitimacy of Mueller's probe is being challenged in a separate legal case.

Could Papadopoulos Blow the Russia Hoax Wide Open?  Dan Bongino recently conducted a fascinating interview with George Papadopoulos.  The most convenient way to digest the interview is at Jeff Carlson's blog, which has a link to the interview on Bongino's radio show as well as a full transcript of the interview.  What emerges from the interview is, in my view, convincing evidence that Papadopoulos was, in Chuck Ross's words, the target of an "FBI sting."  Actually, that characterization doesn't even go far enough.  What seems clear at this point is that the FBI — representing the US Government and as an agency of the Department of Justice — targeted Papadopoulos and attempted to manipulate him into appearing to be a vehicle for Russian influence in the Trump campaign.  The FBI had no reason to believe that Papadopoulos had any connections to Russian officials before they targeted him.  The fact is, Papadopoulos's academic background and previous experience was in what could be broadly termed "Eastern Mediterranean" politics — Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel.  Moreover, in his published writings he actually evinced a degree of hostility to Russian influence in that region.  When the FBI's attempt at framing Papadopoulos in this manner predictably fell flat, Papadopoulos was indicted on trumped up "false statements to the FBI" charges stemming from a harmless misstatement — not a lie.

Claiming He Was 'Framed,' Papadopoulos Says He Might Scrap Plea Deal With Mueller.  Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos said Friday that he is considering withdrawing from a plea agreement he has had for over a year with the special counsel's office.  In an interview with "Fox & Friends," the 31-year-old Papadopoulos asserted he was "framed" by Western intelligence agencies, including those within the U.S. government.  "I believe there was tremendous misconduct on the government's behalf regarding my case," Papadopoulos said in the interview.  "And given certain information I learned yesterday that I can't publicly disclose right now, I'm actually even considering withdrawing my agreement I have come to with the government."

FBI Has Evidence That 'Directly Refutes' Entire Premise Of Trump-Russia Probe, GOP Rep. Says.  Republican lawmakers have hinted for months that the FBI failed to provide federal judges on the surveillance court with information that undercut the government's premise for opening the Trump-Russia probe in 2016.  Republicans have suggested in interviews that the information related to George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser whose conversation with an Australian diplomat prompted the FBI to open its investigation into the Trump campaign.  Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe provided Sunday the clearest picture to date of what the FBI allegedly withheld from the surveillance court.  Ratcliffe suggested that the FBI failed to include evidence regarding former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, in an interview with Fox News.

No end in sight:  Russia dossier investigation enters third year.  FBI agent Peter Strzok, who displayed an intense dislike for Mr. Trump in text messages to his lover, started the investigation based on hearsay from an Australian diplomat who shared a drink in London with Trump campaign volunteer George Papadopoulos.  To date, after wiretaps and multiple interrogations, no Trump person has been charged for the reason the investigation started:  Did the campaign coordinate with Moscow to interfere in the election?  The drink in London may have started the inquiry, but it was the Democratic Party-orchestrated dossier that would fuel it with an unsubstantiated tale of an "extensive conspiracy" between Mr. Trump and the Kremlin.

What really inspired the FBI to spring into action against Trump in 2016?  To hear the Federal Bureau of Investigation tell it, its decision to launch a counterintelligence probe into a major-party presidential campaign comes down to a foreign tip about a 28-year-old fourth-tier Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos.  The FBI's media scribes have dutifully reported the bare facts of that "intel."  We are told the infamous tip came from Alexander Downer, at the time the Australian ambassador to the U.K. Mr. Downer invited Mr. Papadopoulos for a drink in early May 2016, where the aide told the ambassador the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton.  Word of this encounter at some point reached the FBI, inspiring it to launch its counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign on July 31.

The "Crossfire Hurricane" Story Paints An Ugly Picture Of The FBI And Department Of Justice.  A couple of days ago, the New York Times ran a rather stunning piece on FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign. [...] This is the basic outline of the story.  The FBI, based on a semi-drunken conversation between George Papadopoulos and an Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, opened an investigation of the Trump campaign.  What is missing from the story is any mention of the Trump dossier which we know was briefed to the FBI on July 5, nearly a month before the Papadopoulos conversation jumped the Atlantic and the shark.  As the investigation grew, eventually four members of the Trump campaign — Michael T. Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Papadopoulos — were placed under some sort of surveillance.  Eventually, Carter Page was the subject of a FISA warrant.  This surveillance continued even while Flynn and Manafort were on the transition team.

Threatening legal fight, Nunes demands document that kicked off FBI Trump-Russia investigation.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding an uncensored copy of the document the bureau used to formally begin its investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump campaign.  The originating document has been the subject of much controversy.  After some Republicans alleged that the FBI used never-verified parts of the Trump dossier as part of its reason to begin the investigation in July 2016, some "current and former" officials leaked to the New York Times that no, it was the case of George Papadopoulos, reported to U.S. authorities by foreign intelligence agents, that prompted the FBI investigation.

Report: FBI Agent Shared Russia Probe Information With Christopher Steele.  An FBI agent shared the name of former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos with Trump dossier author Christopher Steele during a meeting in early October 2016.  That new bit of information was revealed in a column published Wednesday [1/17/2018] by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.  Ignatius reports that Steele, a former MI6 agent, met with an old FBI contact in Rome around Oct. 1, 2016 to share findings from his investigation into Donald Trump's and the Trump campaign's associations with the Russian government.  "At this meeting, the FBI official asked Steele if he had ever heard of Papadopoulos," reports Ignatius, who cited an official familiar with the meeting as his source.

Ron DeSantis:  NYT Papadopoulos 'Russia Probe' Claim Not What FBI and DOJ Told Congressional Investigators.  Florida Representative and Judicary Committee member Ron DeSantis appears on Sunday Morning Futures and deconstructs the leaked intelligence community propaganda pushed by the New York Times.  Essentially DeSantis states the claims surrounding the origin of the 2016 Russian Probe, made by the leaked intelligence sources, does not align with the sworn congressional testimony given by the FBI and DOJ to the judiciary committee.


James Clapper


Clapper stammers through segment after launch of DOJ criminal probe.  Obama's former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper seemed to struggle with his poker face as he reacted to news of a DOJ criminal inquiry.  The current CNN contributor spoke with Anderson Cooper about reports of the transition of U.S. Attorney John Durham's review into the origins of the Russia probe into a criminal investigation.  And his body language spoke louder than his words.  [Video clip]

Proceed With Caution — Media Reporting ODNI Dan Coats Possibly Being Replaced.  The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI, was created post-9/11 at the recommendation of the 9/11 commission. [...] Due to the structure of the ODNI, the cabinet member filling that position has an important role in:  (a) knowing what each intelligence agency is doing; and (b) sharing intelligence operations and outcomes, beyond the originating agency, to those national security offices who may have an operational need/interest in cross-agency information.  President Obama saw the ODNI structure as a problem.  The ODNI would know what each agency is doing.  The structure of the ODNI means corrupt CIA, State, DoD and/or DOJ and FBI cabinet officials couldn't keep secret intelligence operations hidden from review by alternate officials.  The structure of the ODNI was a risk.  President Obama together with Donilon, Holder, Emmanuel and Jarret, solved this problem early on by placing an abject idiot named James Clapper into the position of ODNI.

Why Are Clapper and Brennan Not in Jail?  Beginning in January 2017, Brennan and Clapper made essentially the same statements on national television.  The only possible excuse — that their allegations were lies — is irrelevant because the essence of the violation is the revelation that U.S intelligence was monitoring the communications of the Russians in America, and those of the Trump campaign as well.  This is true, and that revelation is a textbook violation of the Comint Statute.  The reasons no prosecutions have followed should be plain enough.  The offenders are big people, in the permanent government and in the Democratic Party.  They have a great many friends in the U.S Justice Department.  From the top down, the Trump Administration has been filled by much smaller people.  Loud words aside, the president has kowtowed to the intelligence agencies in every way imaginable.  No prominent Republican has chosen to challenge the de facto privileged relationship between Democrats in the intelligence agencies and the media.

The Adolescent Progressive Mind.  Former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper became a beloved progressive duo to the extent that their names almost became a compound noun.  And no wonder given their recent careers were joined at the hip.  Their past respective lying under oath to Congress, their previous incarnation as Bush-era "conservatives," tough-guy, anti-terrorism fighters, and their dubious employment in the suspect intelligence services were all forgotten.  Then, after leaving the Obama Administration, in which Brennan-Clapper had in deep-state fashion reinvented themselves from erstwhile pro-Bush, enhanced interrogation, anti-terrorism fighters into anti-Bush, pro-Obama multiculturalists and deep thinkers, they reappeared in a third manifestation as CNN and MSNBC bona fide Trump haters.  Daily we heard from the duo (who had once respectively assured us that jihad was essentially a personal growth odyssey and that Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood was largely secular) that Trump was a Russian asset and a veritable traitor.

James Clapper Knew There Was No Evidence of Trump-Russia Collusion In 2016.  Long before the special counsel probe ended in confirming there was no collusion between President Trump and Russia, the U.S. government knew there was no evidence of a vast conspiracy between Trump and a foreign power.  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate "ties between President Trump's campaign and Russian officials" on May 17, 2017.  President Obama's director of national intelligence James Clapper had access and was privy to all the "evidence" the U.S. government collected since the Russia investigation began in July 2016.

Clapper: Mueller couldn't find 'active collusion' but there was 'passive collusion'.  Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Thursday [4/18/2019] said that there was "passive collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia despite Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings that conclude there was no conspiracy.  Clapper began by defending the foundation of the Russia probe, telling CNN anchor Anderson Cooper that there was "good reason" for intelligence agencies and law enforcement "to be concerned about whether or not there was some kind of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russians."

Deliberate Destruction of Our Constitutional Norms:  The Mueller Report.  [Scroll down]  The entire attempt was just a pursuit to derail a Republican president.  The reason this activity was not more pervasive during George W. Bush's presidency is because it was halted by 9/11.  Both presidents are perceived by their political enemies to be illegitimately elected because they won the Electoral College, but not the popular vote.  The opposition has distain for the Constitution.  That we are a Republic and not a Democracy cements their lack of acceptance for either president.  The opposition also hates the politics of both presidents. [...] If you doubt that Obama created this atmosphere, just look at two people during the last two years — James Clapper and John Brennan.  Mr. Clapper was the Director of National Intelligence and Mr. Brennan was the Director of the CIA under President Obama.  These are supposed to be non-political posts, but during this episode these two added more fuel to the flame of the Russia Hoax than anyone else.

Can We Give James Clapper The Roger Stone Treatment Yet?  On March 12, 2013, Gen. James R. Clapper, Jr., President Obama's director of the Office Of National Intelligence, testified under oath before the Senate Intelligence Committee.  Responding to a question from Oregon Sen. Ron Wyder on whether the U.S. government was collecting "any type of data at all" from American citizens, Clapper paused and said, "No, sir. ... Not wittingly."  Three months later, when Edward Snowden dumped millions of stolen government documents into the public domain, it became abundantly clear that Clapper lied.  The U.S. government was, in fact, vacuuming up details about virtually every electronic communication by every American citizen.  When asked directly about his answer to Wyden, Clapper said that his response was "the least untruthful" answer he could give.

The Transparent Positioning of Brennan, Clapper and Comey.  There is a great deal of discussion about the combative and hate-riddled language coming from Comey, Clapper and particularly Brennan.  Be aware their combative posture as an actual risk avoidance strategy.  Each of the three heavily corrupt officials engaged in the most substantive abuse of their intelligence positions for political purposes.  Each of them weaponized their offices against their political opposition.  The scope and severity therein is a story yet to surface; and unlike prior examples of weaponizing the DOJ and IRS, there is no administration in place to protect them from investigative sunlight.  Therefore the Comey, Clapper and Brennan defense strategy is to position themselves politically and lean on their like-minded media allies for support.

All of James Comey's lies, detailed and exposed in 7 minutes.  The takeaway from James Comey's ABC News interview is that he never should have been FBI director because he is completely partisan.  POTUS Trump's mistake was that he waited to fire James Comey.  He should have been fired immediately after Trump's Inauguration Day.  Comey's hero is James Clapper... a man who perjured himself by lying to Congress nearly five years ago.  Comey's family are die hard Hillary fans, with his wife even working for the HRC campaign.

The McCabe Report is Just an Appetizer.  As of this writing, it is unclear exactly what the scope of the inspector general's inquiries will be.  Speaking for myself, I hope the desert course includes a close look at the January 5, 2017 meeting at the White House meeting at which President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, NSA director Susan "By the Book" Rice, and Acting Attorney General Sally "Insubordinate" Yates were briefed by the country's chief spooks — former FBI director James "Higher Loyalty" Comey, NSA chief Michael Rogers, CIA chief John "I Voted for Gus Hall" Brennan, and James Clapper, the former director of National Intelligence who delighted the television audiences everywhere when he instructed Congress that the Muslim Brotherhood was "a largely secular organization" that had "eschewed violence."  The country was in the very best of hands back then!  What was the subject?  Exactly what they were and were not going to tell the incoming administration about the ongoing investigation into possible Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election?

Anatomy of a Political Smear Confirmed — James Comey January Briefing was Scripted by Clapper and Brennan to Create Media Narrative.  Generally I would not refer so strongly to a prior discussion thread if the latest information did not absolutely confirm what was originally suspected.  On January 10th, 2017 we discussed "The Anatomy of a Modern Political Smear", where we connected the dots, as they were happening in-real-time between James Comey, the Obama intelligence community and the media, specifically CNN.  Yesterday [4/19/2018], two events happened which absolutely confirm — with demonstrable certainty — what we immediately saw over 15 months ago.  The first event was the appearance of James Comey on CNN to discuss his book.  In part of the questioning by Jake Tapper, Comey admitted his January 6th briefing of the Steele Dossier content was ONLY about the Russian hookers, pee-tapes, and ridiculous sexual accusations against the President-elect.

Did Obama, Brennan And Clinton Illegally Collude To Take Trump Down?  The release of the FISA application by the FBI to investigate alleged collusion between Russia and President Trump's campaign and recent comments made by top officials are eye opening.  Not only did President Obama know about the investigation, he seems to have pushed it from the very beginning.  But don't take our word for it.  Here's what Obama's Director of National Intelligence, the nation's former spy master, James Clapper, told CNN's Anderson Cooper:  "If it weren't for President Obama we might not have done the intelligence community assessment that we did that set up a whole sequence of event which are still unfolding today, including Special Counsel (Robert) Mueller's investigation.  President Obama is responsible for that.  It was he who tasked us to do that intelligence community assessment in the first place."

McCabe-Page texts reveal high-level intel meeting after 2016 election.  Newly obtained text messages between former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and bureau lawyer Lisa Page reveal a high-level meeting among senior intelligence officials was held weeks before President Trump's inauguration — during a critical period for the Russia probe.  In a Dec. 12, 2016, text reviewed by Fox News, Page wrote to McCabe:  "Btw, [Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper told Pete that he was meeting with [CIA Director John] Brennan and Cohen for dinner tonight.  Just FYSA [for your situational awareness]."

The Democrats' Fanaticism.  The Democrats, the media, and their sympathizers around the world were so sure that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report would quickly end Donald Trump's presidency that they are still in denial that it won't.  Obama's director of national intelligence, James Clapper, coined a new oxymoron by insisting there was "passive collusion" between Trump and the Russians.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff still insists that evidence of collusion is still in plain sight and Rachel Maddow is still in tears.  None of the facts will deter the Democrats from investigating and trying to impeach Trump because their Trump hatred is so deep and so emotional that it has become a fanaticism that wipes everything else off the political slate.

What Everyone Is Missing About the Comey Scandal.  [Scroll down]  However, despite [James] Clapper's earnest worry and woe, the FBI is not a co-equal branch of government able to "check and balance" the executive branch.  Despite James Comey's defense of the FBI's independence at his hearing yesterday, there is no constitutional requirement that the FBI be independent of the presidency.  Comey even admitted as much amid his defense of FBI independence.

More about General Clapper's days with the Obama administration can be found here.


Michael Flynn


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


Bill Priestap


FBI Man's Testimony Points to Wrongdoing Well Beyond Spying.  Attorney General William Barr shocked official Washington Wednesday [4/10/2019] by saying what previously couldn't be said:  That the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016 involved "spying."  The spying, which Barr vowed to investigate, is not the only significant possible violation of investigative rules and ethics committed by agents, lawyers, managers, and officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice.  A catalogue of those abuses can be found in recently released testimony that ex-FBI official Edward William Priestap provided to Congress in a closed-door interview last summer.

FBI Man's Testimony Points to Wrongdoing Well Beyond Spying.  From the end of 2015 to the end of 2018, Bill Priestap was assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, which meant he oversaw the FBI's global counterintelligence efforts.  In that role, he managed both of the bureau's most politically sensitive investigations:  the inquiry into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information and the probe into whether Donald Trump or his campaign conspired with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election.  His testimony provides rare insight into the attitudes and thoughts of officials who launched the Russia probe and the probe of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose final report is expected to be released very soon.  More important, his testimony contains extensive indications of wrongdoing, including that the FBI and DoJ targeted Trump and did so with information it made no effort to verify.  It paints a portrait of the Obama-era bureau as one that was unconcerned with political interference in investigations and was willing to enlist the help of close foreign allies to bring down its target.

The Enigma Man — E.W. "Bill" Priestap.  Bill Priestap is the FBI Asst.  Director in charge of all counterintelligence operations.  Priestap was FBI Agent Peter Strzok's boss; he is also at the epicenter of the story surrounding every action taken by the FBI in the Clinton investigation and the Trump campaign investigation.  Bill Priestap was copied on every email of consequence including the writing of the Clinton exoneration talking points delivered by FBI Director James Comey.  Priestap is the central figure on the FBI side of both Clinton and Trump operations.  "Bill" is mentioned in hundreds of text messages sent by Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.  In short, Bill is everywhere — except where you would most likely expect to find him, in media discussion.

FBI Shadow Figure Surfaces To Protect President Obama Amid Released FBI Text Messages.  W.H. "Bill" Priestap is the FBI Head of Counterintelligence.  Priestap was one of the first FBI officials who caught our attention (spring of 2017) because FBI Director James Comey mysteriously pointed a finger upon him during testimony to congress on March 20th, 2017 [Although Comey didn't use Bill Priestap's name, only his position].  James Comey said last year the reason the FBI did not inform congress of the ongoing eight month counterintelligence investigation (required by congressional intelligence oversight), which began in July 2016 into candidate Donald Trump, was because Bill Priestap specifically told Director Comey not to inform congress or intelligence oversight.

A Counterintelligence Timeline With a Bill Priestap and James Comey Reminder.  In the past few days/weeks, thanks to some revealing information amid the various investigators of the DC swamp, we have been introduced to some previously unknown people.  Names like FBI Agent Peter Strzok; his mistress FBI Attorney Lisa Page; their ideological comrade Asst FBI Director Andrew McCabe; along with DOJ Deputy Bruce Ohr; and his wife, Fusion-GPS contract employee Nellie Ohr.  Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson and his wife Mary Jacoby.  These are a few of the recent names that have hit the headlines as a result of ongoing investigations into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.  But there's one name conspicuously absent, FBI Director of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap.

Another Leaked Transcript:  Bill Priestap "Closed" Testimony Conflicts With James Comey "Open" Testimony.  Another unsourced leak of a congressional hearing transcript to The Epoch Times highlights the testimony of former FBI Director of Counterintelligence, Bill Priestap.  Unfortunately, the transcript is not provided, and there is no explanation as to why the transcript is not provided; however, one quote seems interesting.  The question surrounds why congressional leadership, including the Gang-of-Eight, were not briefed about the opening of a counterintelligence operation into a presidential campaign.  The investigation began on July 31st, 2016.  Congress was not notified until early March 2017.

Strzok-Page affair made them vulnerable to foreign intelligence, a top FBI official told Congress.  A top FBI official told Congress last year that he feared an affair between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page made them vulnerable to foreign intelligence services.  Bill Priestap, the bureau's assistant director for counterintelligence, testified in June 2018 that he had heard rumors about an extramarital affair between Page and Strzok, who directly reported to him, but was later prompted to confront the couple after receiving a tip.

Demoted FBI agent Peter Strzok had larger role in Clinton, Russia probes than previously known.  Peter Strzok, who was pulled off Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team last year, played a more central role than previously known in both the Russia and Hillary Clinton email probes, a lawmaker familiar with the matter told Fox News Tuesday [6/5/2018].  The lawmaker's assessment of Strzok's role in both investigations was based on the most recent records and testimony, including a closed-door interview with FBI espionage chief Bill Priestap.  Priestap was interviewed Tuesday as part of an ongoing joint investigation by the House Judiciary and Oversight committees.  Priestap was Strzok's supervisor and oversaw both the Russia and Clinton investigations.

Devin Nunes Questions Legality of FBI FISA Application to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  This evening House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes sends a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions questioning the protocol and legality of a fraudulent FISA application submitted by the FBI.  This approach sets up AG Sessions to defer the legal framework to OIG Michael Horowitz, and establishes the public basis for parallel prosecutors within the DOJ.  However, keep in mind, it's extremely likely, almost certain, these prosecutors already exist — they are already working with Horowitz.  Evidence of this is found in the memo quotes from Bill Priestap, but those not following the granular details are unaware.


Professor Joseph Mifsud


Curiouser and Curiouser.  According to recent reports U.S. Attorney John Durham and U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr are spending time on a narrowed focus looking carefully at CIA activity in the 2016 presidential election. [...] By now people are familiar with the construct of CIA operations involving Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese professor now generally admitted/identified as a western intelligence operative who was tasked by the CIA (John Brennan) to run an operation against Trump campaign official George Papadopoulos in both Italy (Rome) and London.  In a similar fashion the CIA tasked U.S. intelligence asset Stefan Halper to target another Trump campaign official, Carter Page.  Under the auspices of being a Cambridge Professor Stefan Halper also targeted General Michael Flynn.  Additionally, using assistance from a female FBI agent under the false name Azra Turk, Halper also targeted Papadopoulos.

Durham opens criminal probe, IG report due, Brennan, Clapper lawyer up.  The John Durham investigation into the origins of the Russia Hoax has expanded.  Adding staff and resources, and the investigation is now an official criminal probe. [...] The investigations course change follows new conclusive evidence Durham and Attorney General William Barr found during meetings in Rome on August 15th and September 27th.  They reportedly met with Italian intelligence officials[.]  During the meetings Durham and Horowitz listed to a taped deposition with the mysterious Professor Joseph Mifsud, the CIA and State Department asset who set up George Papadopolous.  Their meeting in March 2016 started the ball rolling in the framing of Donald Trump and the Russia Hoax.

Seeing Some Trees in the Forest of Babble.  [Scroll down]  I think otherwise.  I think it was delayed because of newly acquired information obtained by Attorney General William Barr and Prosecutor John Durham.  Most particularly, the two men recently returned from Italy where they met with the mysterious "Maltese professor" Joseph Mifsud and obtained from him two BlackBerrys.  I believe that Mifsud was working with the coup plotters to set up a pretext for the spy operation and, if so, the BlackBerrys apparently given to him by them should prove the case.  (We learned of their existence and the Justice Department's obtaining them in a motion filed by Lt. General Michael Flynn's attorney, Sidney Powell, demanding the data in them in the discovery process.)

Papadopoulos says game-changing Mifsud phones are about to link his case and Mike Flynn's to treason.  President Donald Trump's former 2016 campaign adviser George Papadopoulos is confident that the latest findings regarding the FBI operation that triggered the whole Russia collusion delusion narrative are surefire proof of "treason."  Unearthed earlier this week, the findings are specifically that Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud wasn't a Russian agent — he was allegedly a "western intelligence" asset who was purposefully used by the Obama administration in 2016 to target both Papadopoulos and then-fellow Trump campaign adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn.  Asked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham late Friday [10/18/2019] to summarize these findings, Papadopoulos immediately spoke of "treason from within."

Papadopoulos On The Big Picture Of The Russia Hoax.  In this conversation with George Papadopoulos [...] Laura Ingraham starts with the news that John Durham returned from his trip to Rome with Bill Barr in possession of Joseph Mifsud's two FBI (or possibly CIA) issued Blackberry phones.  Papadopoulos immediately turns to the big picture, rather than remaining with the investigative details regarding the phone, and Laura follows up on that big picture approach.  Papadopoulos describes how, as soon as he joined the Ben Carson campaign in December, 2015, he found himself being targeted by State Department officials.  He then notes that when he switched to the Trump campaign, just a few months later, he was targeted by intelligence operatives, including Mifsud, who already knew all about him even though his switch to the Trump campaign was not public knowledge.  Obviously, he's telling us that the coordinated targeting of all Republican campaigns by the supposedly non-political branches of the Obama administration (State, DoJ, the FBI and CIA) was well underway — no later than December, 2015, but certainly even earlier.

John Durham obtains key BlackBerrys connected to origins of Russia-Trump probe.  Reading like the greatest spy novel ever written, leaving followers salivating over the next chapter, regardless of allegiance to the players involved, the targeting of then-candidate Donald Trump by the U.S. intelligence apparatus under former President Barack Obama just keeps getting better.  Following special counsel Robert Mueller's findings that allegations of collusion between the president's campaign and Russia were little more than a hoax, Attorney General William Barr tasked John Durham, the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, with investigating the investigators — in effect, to determine how Trump had become a target.  On Thursday [10/17/2019], the Washington Times reported Durham has acquired two BlackBerrys used by Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud, who's intricately linked to the whole story.

Why It Matters That Sidney Powell Wants Data From Joseph Mifsud's Smartphones.  On Tuesday [10/15/2019], attorney Sidney Powell struck again, revealing yet another huge development in the Spygate saga between the lines of her latest motion.  That motion, filed in the still-pending criminal case against Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, demanded exculpatory evidence from federal prosecutors.  But unlike her previously filed motion to compel, here Powell seeks evidence "that has only recently come into its possession."  And the evidence sought?  The data and metadata from two Blackberry devices used by Joseph Mifsud.  While Powell's latest motion barely equaled two pages, the implications are multi-pronged and monumental.  That the U.S. government has only recently obtained possession of a pair of smartphones used by Joseph Mifsud tells us two things:  that Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Dunham's probe into the origins of the Russia-collusion hoax is both serious and successful, and that the Crossfire Hurricane targeting of President Trump and former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation were neither.

Mifsud's Cellphones Mean [the] Barr Investigation [is] Heating Up.  While Democrats and their media friends natter on about impeachment and quid pro quos, trying to deflect from the the obvious corruption of Biden & Son and the imminent — at some point anyway — appearance of the IG report on FISA and the Steele Dossier — the real action, as it often is, is elsewhere.  In this case, it is the surprising news that two cellphones belonging to Joseph Mifsud — the mysterious Maltese professor at the heart of the Russia probe (aka Spygate) — have suddenly materialized.

The Joseph Mifsud Story:  The Great Movie Hollywood Will Never Make.  [Scroll down]  If it turns out the professor was a U.S. agent or one allied to the U.S., planted to suck in the naive Papadopoulos, to make him run back to the mothership and blabber about something that wasn't true in order to hang Trump, it is one of the greatest and most evil stories of our times.  If it can be proven that what we have experienced for the entire Trump era is a put-up job linked to the previous administration, to the Brennans and Clappers of the world, Professor Mifsud is the nerdy Helen of Troy who launched the thousand ships of the Mueller investigation, resulting in impeachment currently being shrieked on every corner and, frankly, mass U.S. hysteria and hatred across our land.

DOJ Has Possession of Joseph Mifsud Cell Phones (Blackberries)?  Inside an otherwise innocuous court filing, General Mike Flynn's attorney, Sidney Powell, files a motion to compel (MTC) in an effort to gain discovery of the content from two cell phones belonging to Joseph Mifsud.  Apparently, according to the information within the filing, the DOJ has somehow gained custody of two cell phones belonging to Mr. Mifsud: [...] The filing notes that "western intelligence" likely tasked Mr. Mifsud against General Flynn as early as 2014 in order to set up "connections with certain Russians" for later use against him.  Essentially, an intelligence entrapment scheme.  Unfortunately the filing only identifies the cell phones along with the request for production of the content therein.  However, the fact the DOJ has two cell phones belonging to Joseph Mifsud opens up a whole bunch of questions.

Why the Mystery of Russiagate Hinges on the Mystery of Joseph Mifsud.  For many, trying to follow Robert Mueller's testimony was like someone whose Italian is limited to grazie and ciao taking in an opera in Venice:  You might grasp the action but sorting out the story through the lyrics is another thing altogether.  The former special counsel was peppered with questions phrased in a shorthand of names — Veselnitskaya, Simpson, Kilimnik — each with a backstory it was assumed viewers, or at least the witness, would know.  One of the most significant and dramatic — but also cryptic — exchanges occurred when Rep. Jim Jordan (R, Ohio) fired off a series of heated questions about a name few viewers are likely to have been familiar with:  a Maltese professor invariably described as "mysterious," Joseph Mifsud.

Rep. Devin Nunes Sends Letter to FBI, DOJ, CIA and NSA Requesting Info on Mysterious Prof. Mifsud.  Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) sent letters to the heads of the CIA, NSA, FBI and DOJ late Friday [5/3/2019] requesting information pertaining to the mysterious Maltese professor who allegedly told Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos that the Russians had thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails.  Nunes told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo that he wants to "get to the bottom of [Joseph] Mifsud," whom the Mueller report paints as a Russian spy, (although he is more likely a Western asset).

AG Barr's trip to Italy on 'official business' may be a key to unmasking deep state entrapment of George Papadopoulos by CIA asset Joseph Mifsud.  Attorney General William Barr quietly flew off to Italy on official business on Wednesday, a move first noticed by ABC correspondent Alex Mallin on Friday, September 27. [...] Once the trip was on the public record, and only 15 minutes later, at 1:09 PM, George Papadopoulos tweeted out his view that the trip was related to Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese professor and CIA asset, who planted the information that the Russians had Hillary's missing emails in hand, information that Papadopoulos later passed along to the Australian High Commissioner (ambassador) to Britain, who then passed this information along to US intelligence authorities as evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

Attorney General Bill Barr Visits Italy on "Official Business"? — Remember That Audio-Tape Deposition by Joseph Mifsud?  According to an interview on August 18th, John Solomon reported the lawyer for Joseph Mifsud admitted his client was a western intelligence asset who was part of a CIA intelligence "operation" against candidate Donald Trump in March 2016.  Not only was the attorney admitting Mifsud was a western asset used by the CIA against Trump, but the lawyer also told Solomon about an audio-taped deposition that Joseph Mifsud gave prior to going into hiding after Trump won the 2016 Presidential election.  From the description it sounds like Mifsud anticipated his assisted suicide and he recorded a deposition as leverage against his unwanted demise.

Assisted Suicide Avoidance — John Brennan Intel Asset Joseph Mifsud "Gave Audio Tape Deposition Before Going Into Hiding".  According to an interview granted by the lawyer for intelligence asset Joseph Mifsud to journalist John Solomon, professor Mifsud admitted to being a western intelligence asset who was part of a CIA intelligence "operation" against candidate Donald Trump in March 2016.  Yes, stop and read that introductory paragraph again.  Solomon notes that an audio-taped deposition exists from Joseph Mifsud prior to going into hiding after the 2016 Presidential election.  From the description it sounds like Mifsud anticipated his assisted suicide and recorded a deposition as leverage against his unwanted demise.

McCabe and Papadopoulos:  Two-Tiered Justice.  The date of a meeting, that's all the lie was about.  George Papadopoulos claimed that a meeting he'd had with the mysterious Maltese professor, Josef Mifsud, happened slightly before the green-as-grass 28-year-old was recruited into the Trump campaign.  In reality, it was slightly after.  It wasn't a very important lie.  It was of no consequence to the FBI or the special counsel's investigation.  Papadopoulos was such an afterthought that the Bureau did not bother to interview him until late January 2017 — about 10 months after he met Mifsud.  By the time Papadopoulos was charged, the Trump-Russia investigation had been ongoing for well over a year — it was already clear that there was no conspiracy.

The mysterious Mister Mifsud and why no one wants to discuss him.  Joseph Mifsud:  The name of the generally unknown character in the Russia investigation came up, over and over, in the long-awaited House committee hearings with former special counsel Robert Mueller.  Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio invoked the name as if it legally required the accompaniment of horror movie theme music; Mueller immediately snapped back that he would not discuss that man.  Yet that did not deter Republicans.

Joe diGenova:  Inspector General Horowitz and US Attorney John Durham Have Both Already interviewed Joseph Mifsud.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress today on the Trump-Russia Collusion witch hunt.  He could not have looked more confused and out of his league if he tried.  It was a slow motion trainwreck.  Mueller looked like a confused, stuttering, mumbling, lost, doddering and nervous old man.  He frequently paged through his notes.

Rep. Jim Jordan Exposes the Targeted Hypocrisy of Mueller's Team — Some Investigative Liars Ignored.  Representative Jim Jordan highlights how the Mueller team avoided targeting the person at the very origin of the CIA, FBI and DOJ-NSD operation against the Trump campaign in 2016.  By outlining the involvement of western intelligence asset Joseph Mifsud, and how the Mueller "small group" ignored his involvement, Jim Jordan exposes the biased agenda behind the entire Mueller scheme.  [Video clip]

Robert Mueller soon may be exposed as the 'magician of omission' on Russia.  While most of the political world focused its attention elsewhere, special prosecutor John Durham's team quietly reached out this summer to a lawyer representing European academic Joseph Mifsud, one of the earliest and most mysterious figures in the now closed Russia-collusion case.  An investigator told Swiss attorney Stephan Roh that Durham's team wanted to interview Mifsud, or at the very least review a recorded deposition the professor gave in summer 2018 about his role in the drama involving Donald Trump, Russia and the 2016 election.

Durham and Graham obtained deposition of Clinton 'dirt' tipster Joseph Mifsud.  U.S. Attorney John Durham and Sen. Lindsey Graham, leading separate inquiries into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, have obtained an audio deposition of Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious Maltese academic who claimed Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton.

Congressional Investigators Looking at "Number of False Statements" Made by Mueller and Lies About Mifsud.  As TGP reported earlier this week the Mueller report, produced by a gang of conflicted Hillary supporters, is full of holes and misrepresentations.  One of the significant questions that comes out of the report was why Mueller and gang did not find it beneficial or important to identify the Steele dossier in its report.  The dossier is barely mentioned in Mueller's report.

Devin Nunes Outlines Three Key Issues Post Mueller Report — Also Confirms Mueller Blocked Key Document Production.  In advance of the Mueller Report release, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, appears with Laura Ingraham to discuss three areas of the 2016 CIA/FBI intelligence operation that deserve answers:  (1) The targeting/framing of Michael Flynn and the positioning of a false narrative around innocuous Russia contacts.  (2) The use of Joseph Mifsud as an asset by the CIA/FBI running a counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign.  (3) The Trump Tower meeting as organized by Fusion-GPS.

If You Inspect The FISA Applications Closely, More Mysteries Arise About Joseph Mifsud.  When CNN reported late Thursday [8/2/2018] that the president's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, intended to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Donald Trump knew in advance of his son's June 2016 meeting with Russians who promised "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, the summer-time Trump Tower confab from two years ago re-entered the limelight.  A quick retweet of the story by Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, pushing what I knew was a false narrative, sent me tumbling down the rabbit hole known presidentially as Spygate.  What began as a deep-dive into the Trump Tower meeting unearthed yet further proof of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation's abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to surveil former Trump advisor Carter Page and revealed additional evidence implicating the State Department in targeting Trump.


Robert Mueller's Russian Election Interference Indictments


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Spoliation of evidence in the Robert Mueller investigation


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Robert Mueller and his lengthy investigation


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Mueller investigation report issued April 18, 2019:


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Attorney General Barr


The Barr Family and Epstein.  When researching the FBI investigation surrounding the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein for the article on Ghislaine Maxwell and child sacrifice, one topic that came up continually was a demand for then-AG Bill Barr to recuse himself from the investigation.  He didn't, and Epstein then died in Bureau of Prisons custody. [...] Bill Barr could well have been doing the right thing when, in 2019, he didn't recuse himself from the Epstein case, and Epstein subsequently died in Bureau of Prisons custody.  But a series of coincidences and connections leading up to 2019 are worth exploring, if only to know about them.

Washington Post Outlines AG Barr As Key Figure Who Blocked Declassification of Spygate Documents.  The Washington Post has a lengthy hit-piece against Kash Patel where they infer unsourced claims the DOJ is investigating the former Nunes aide and Trump administration official for releasing classified information.  Keep in mind that President Trump granted full declassification authority to AG Bill Barr on May 23, 2019.  I would draw your attention to these two paragraphs buried deep in the reporting: [...] It is tradition the NSA and CIA run to the Washington Post when they need a media PR firm to push their position.  So this article makes sense considering the NSA and CIA both had something to hide within the criminal activity behind Spygate.

Barr Fails to Salvage DOJ's Reputation With Statements on Election Fraud.  Attorney General William Barr signaled on Tuesday that he has washed his hands of the president.  He told the media that the Department of Justice has found no evidence of fraud that would change the election results in favor of Donald Trump.  U.S. officials I spoke with do not understand Barr's motivation for speaking to a press corps typically hostile to him as well as Trump.  "There's no evidence that the DOJ spoke with any of the numerous witnesses with first-hand knowledge of election fraud," said one senior official.  "And many people reached out directly to the FBI and got no response back."  The effect of Barr's statement is to derail the Trump campaign's efforts to reverse the vote in battleground states contested by the president's legal team.  It is difficult to imagine state legislatures or courts taking up the campaign's cause when the headlines show that Trump's own attorney general says nothing is wrong.

Are We Witnessing The Coverup Of The Biggest Scandal In American History?  The great puzzle thus far has been the lack of prosecutions, despite ample evidence.  The FBI agents are all guilty of crimes that have been detailed in public documents and the IG reports.  There is now proof that Comey perjured himself many times.  Just from a public relations perspective alone, rounding up these guys and charging them with corruption seems like a no-brainer.  Almost a year into his tenure and Barr has charged no one with a crime.  One obvious explanation is that Barr is running a long con on Trump and the rest of the country, on behalf of the inner party. [...] The sheer number of people involved in just the FBI scandal is phenomenal.  There are at least 20 FBI people named and dozens of bit players in the media and DOJ.  So far, the "contractors" with access to the NSA database have not been revealed, but that could be hundreds of people, given that it seems to have been a free-for-all.

Attorney General Barr Stands athwart History.  [Scroll down]  I'm sure I am also not alone in thinking that Attorney General Barr, with his recent speeches, is using his bully pulpit to lay the groundwork for shaping public understanding and support for drastic action that should result from those reports and that he is employing high-octane, carefully crafted rhetoric to prepare public opinion for the explosive, controversial revelations — i.e., possible judicial proceedings against high-ranking members of the Deep State in the CIA, the FBI, and the Obama administration, including such persons as Brennan, Clapper, Comey, and Rice.  The speeches were one-two punches against the Democrat's (1) attacks on religious freedom that have resulted in cultural disintegration and (2) attacks on the Constitution that have resulted in political chaos.

William Barr is asking questions the media don't want asked.  "I'm amused," Attorney General William Barr told CBS News' Jan Crawford, "by these people who make a living disclosing classified information, including the names of intelligence operatives, wringing their hands about whether I'm going to be responsible in protecting intelligence sources and methods."  He went on after further questions, "Well, the media reaction is strange.  Normally the media would be interested in letting the sunshine in and finding out what the truth is.  And usually the media doesn't care that much about protecting intelligence sources and methods.  But I do and I will."

A Side-by-Side Comparison of Barr's vs.  Mueller's Statements about Special Counsel Report.  This Chart compares Special Counsel Robert Mueller's May 29 public statement with statements made by Attorney General William Barr.  Whether or not Mueller was intentionally trying to correct the record, the differences between what he and Barr said are, in many cases, stark.  Some of the differences involve near complete contradictions — in other words Mueller's statement and Barr's statements cannot both be true.  Other differences are more a matter of emphasis or tone (e.g., references to the threat posed by the Russian operations, descriptions of the qualities of the special counsel staff).

Why Did The Obama Administration Ignore Reports Of Russian Election Meddling?  During her hour-long interview last week of Attorney General William Barr, "CBS This Morning" journalist Jan Crawford focused mainly on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of President Trump.  She also, however, questioned Barr on the Department of Justice's (DOJ) efforts to ensure that Russian attempts to interfere in our elections are not repeated in 2020.  This revealed the attorney general is probing a second scandal of the Obama administration related to the 2016 presidential election.  Or it would be regarded as a second scandal if it garnered more attention:  Why the Obama administration failed to forcefully respond to intelligence of Russian interference in our elections.

Schiff Says AG Barr Will Declassify Information 'In a Selective Way' to Mislead.  Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House intelligence committee, on Sunday discredited the investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe, saying Attorney General William Barr will declassify intelligence "in a selective way designed to mislead the country." [...] Several months ago, Republicans on the House intelligence committee called on Schiff to step down as chairman for misleading people about evidence of "collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia.  "Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming," committee Republicans wrote in their letter to Schiff.

Attorney General Barr's Remarkable CBS News Interview.  In every criminal trial across America, the judge instructs the jury that the burden of proof rests with the prosecution and never, ever shifts to the defendant.  The jury is told in no uncertain terms that the defendant has no burden of proof and no obligation to prove his or her innocence.  It is up to the prosecution to prove each and every element of its case, and, if the prosecution fails to do so, then the jury's verdict must be "not guilty."  These legal principles are not arcane, little-known concepts.  Nevertheless, they seem to have eluded former FBI Director Mueller and his band of angry law school graduates who seem to think that they are in the exoneration business instead of determining whether the evidence meets the burden of proof as to each and every element of the crime of obstruction of justice.

Attorney General Barr Discloses US Attorney Huber Never Even Started His Investigation — US Attorney John Durham Took Over His Work.  Today [5/31/2019] on CBS Attorney General William Barr disclosed that the Huber investigation is over.  Huber was assigned to look at FISA applications and the electronic surveillance during the 2016 election and actions by Hillary Clinton.  Huber did not even start his investigation.

Exploiting the MSM: Barr Uses CBS to Speak to America.  William Barr's interview Thursday [5/30/2019] with Jan Crawford is filled with fascinating details and surprisingly candid responses, but most interesting of all may be that he undertook this dialogue not with friendlies at Fox or the Wall Street Journal but with CBS — the very beating heart of the mainstream media from well before the days of the Dan Rather embarrassment.  The network is the sine qua non of Deep State establishmentarianism.  You would think they would crucify him, but Barr is fearless — and justifiably so.  He knows he is telling the truth and that, as the saying goes, will set you free.  He also clearly wanted his words to be heard by the skeptical or confused more than those who already believe the Russia probe was politically motivated from the beginning.

Sidney Powell Discusses DOJ in The Lawfare Era:  "Guilty Until Proven Innocent".  Not enough people understand the role of the Lawfare group in the corruption and political weaponization of the DOJ, FBI and larger intelligence community.  What Media Matters is to corrupt left-wing media, the Lawfare group is to the corrupt DOJ and FBI.  All of the headline names around the seditious conspiracy against Donald Trump assemble within the network of the Lawfare group.  Three days after the October 21st, 2016, FISA warrant was obtained, Benjamin Wittes outlined the insurance policy approach.

Top 28 Moments From Bombshell Barr Interview.  Attorney General William Barr's nearly hour-long interview with CBS News' Jan Crawford last week was full of fascinating details about the special counsel probe, the debunked Russia collusion theory that roiled Washington for years, and Barr's investigation into how the FBI and Department of Justice used the "bogus" theory to investigate the Trump campaign.  The interview was downplayed by the media, which is implicated in perpetuating the Russia hoax Barr is investigating, and which came in for criticism from Barr for its failure to care about violations of civil liberties.  Here are the top 28 take-aways from the interview. [...]

Lawfare Strategy — Pelosi House Sets Contempt Vote Against AG Barr for June 11th.  Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats are structuring a contempt vote against U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr for next week, June 11th.  As part of the current construct, the Lawfare alliance of legal advisers and staff are writing specific language into the vote that will automatically allow more contempt votes against the Trump administration without hearings.  Their collective goal is to use a legislative vote to open a civil lawsuit against Bill Barr for his failure to deliver the fully unredacted Mueller report to them.  Additionally, the contempt vote will be written so that any other arbitrary Trump administration official can also be held in contempt, without a committee vote, and thereby initiate a civil lawsuit against the executive officer that will have to be defended in court.

William Barr vs.  Eric Holder:  A Tale of Two Attorneys General.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has declared it a "constitutional crisis" that Attorney General William Barr refuses to divulge the small parts of the Mueller report that contain grand-jury material.  By a straight party-line vote, the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Barr in contempt of Congress.  What did Pelosi think when Barr's predecessor, Eric Holder, refused to divulge documents to a congressional committee and was held in contempt?  "Ridiculous!" she said.  What did Holder and Obama say?  That the House subpoena was a violation of "separation of powers."  To partisans, the difference between the cases is obvious.  Barr is defending Trump; Holder was Obama's self-proclaimed "wing man."

Attorney General William Barr mentions spying, and fear roils the Democrats.  The Democrats are fearful, as are some current and former American spymasters, and former FBI chief James Comey, and their handmaidens in journalism who took their leaks and promulgated the story that Trump was a willing and traitorous servant of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.  They hoped so desperately that special counsel Robert Mueller's report would vindicate them, that Mueller would find conspiracy to collude with an adversary, that he would bring a case of obstruction of justice against the president.  But Mueller did not vindicate them.  Mueller was tasked with making a call, to fish or cut bait.  He did not fish.  He did not cut bait.  He made no call that a crime occurred.  He just tossed the mess weakly into Congress' lap, something for both sides to jabber about and use as fundraising leverage.

Liberal Law Professor Clinically Dismantles Democrats' Contempt Case Against Barr.  Left-leaning law professor Jonathan Turley — who has stood out in recent years as a rare legal analyst unwilling to allow his political views to cloud his constitutional judgments — has written an absolutely devastating column addressing House Democrats' efforts to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress.  Anti-Trump partisans have compiled a list of grievances against Barr, many of them specious, but House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler has chosen to focus the contempt charge on the Attorney General's unwillingness to release a tiny redacted fraction of the Mueller report.  Turley says this is "the weakest possible contempt claim," warning that pursuing it will damage the House, not the administration.


Attorney General Barr's analysis of Mueller's report and testimony on May 1, 2019:


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Mueller investigation aftermath and retrospective:


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US Attorney John Durham investigates:


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The Mueller monologue and impeachment infomercial, May 29, 2019:


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Robert Mueller himself


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Mueller testimony, July 24, (originally July 17) 2019:


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Articles written during the Mueller investigation:


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James Wolfe


Senate Intelligence Committee Security Director James Wolfe Sentenced to Two Months Prison time.  The sentencing guideline for the single count of lying to federal investigators was:  0 to 6 months.  After a rather sketchy plea deal, DOJ Prosecutors had requested an upward revision to two-years incarceration based on the severity of the conduct.

James Wolfe:  The Liar No One Is Talking About.  In a recent court filing, the defendant's attorneys begged for mercy.  The offender — once a high-level government official assigned with protecting national security secrets — had pleaded guilty to one charge of making a false statement to the FBI in 2017.  Citing his modest upbringing, community involvement, and decorated military service, the defendant's lawyers asked the judge only to impose a sentence of probation rather than jail time.

Revisiting the Page FISA Applications & James Wolfe Indictment.  In the public version of the Original Page FISA Application there are 37 fully redacted pages (out of 83 total).  Several other pages have redactions for all but the header.  There are only two pages in the entire document that contain no redactions.  Why would Wolfe bother to send 37 pages of complete redactions[?]  There are also strong indications that Grassley, and by extension the SSCI, saw unredacted versions of the Page FISA Applications.  The Grassley Memo discusses the Page FISA Applications at length and nowhere does Grassley mention any redactions.

The Curious Case of James Wolfe Continues.  First, we know from overwhelming circumstantial evidence, conveniently overlooked by media, that one of Wolfe's specific leaks involved sending his concubine Ali Watkins a copy of the 82-page FISA application used to gain a Title-1 surveillance warrant against U.S. person Carter Page.  Some key things about this leak:
  [#1]   It is highly likely there were no redactions in the copy Wolfe leaked to the media.
  [#2]   It is highly likely Wolfe was caught in a leak hunt, and the copy given to him included a specific, and intentionally wrong, internal date using October 19th as the origination date for FISA application approval.  (The actual date was Oct 21st).
  [#3]   The October 19th date then shows up in subsequent media reports which were based on the leak.  The New York Times and Washington Post used the wrong date; the concentric reporting of the NYT and WaPo spread the wrong date like a virus.
  [#4]   However, despite overwhelming and easy to prove evidence against him, Wolfe was never charged with the Carter Page FISA leak.  The DOJ/FBI have him dead-to-rights on that leak, but he was charged with the more disingenuous crime of lying to the FBI.
These explosive details have been largely ignored by media, and two recent legal filings add even more layers of intrigue.

Oh My, This is Either A Sting -OR- The Most Corrupt U.S. Dept of Justice in History.  The indictment of former senior senate intelligence committee staffer James Wolfe is filled with information to highlight a much bigger picture. [...] Based on the James Wolfe indictment we know the DOJ was aware of the leaking of the FISA application since at least mid-December 2017.  On December 15th, 2017 James Wolfe was busted; the FBI had him dead-to-rights.  However, the grand jury proceedings didn't start until May 3rd, 2018; and the indictment was sealed until June 7th, 2018.  That means six months passed between busting Wolfe on Dec. 15th, 2017, and indicting Wolfe on June 7th, 2018.  Let that sink in.  The U.S. Department of Justice has known, with certainty, since December of last year, that the United States Senate Intelligence Committee had leaked the content of a classified FISA application to the media.

New leak indictment spells disaster for McCabe.  The indictment of James Wolfe, 58, former security director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), has sent shockwaves around Washington.  Wolfe faces three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. 1001, for making false statements to criminal investigators, and could easily face serious jail time if convicted.  After a year of leaks cascading down Capitol Hill, Wolfe is a cautionary tale for many members, staffers and journalists.  Yet, one person should be especially discomforted by the indictment:  former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.  The Wolfe indictment shows the Justice Department has been actively pursuing leaks out of Congress.  Given the lack of prior action, members and staffers may have become emboldened over time, but it now appears the Trump administration has been quietly tracking down the source of some news articles.  Wolfe was an obvious concern for any allegations of leaks, given his work at the SSCI for three decades, from 1987 to 2017.

DOJ Inadvertently Highlights SSCI Corruption in Responsive Filing Toward Wolfe Sentencing Memo.  If you have followed the case against SSCI Security Director James Wolfe you will note the original indictment against him outlined, obliquely, how Wolfe took custody of the Carter Page FISA application and then leaked it to his concubine at Buzzfeed Ms. Ali Watkins.  The leak of the FISA application was a rather explosive issue not readily identified when Wolfe's indictment was first presented (June '18).  It was only possible to connect the dots after the FISA application was released (July '18) and a comparison on specific dates, times, contacts and chain-of-custody, was possible.


Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and their conveniently "lost" text messages


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Peter Strzok's public testimony, July 12, 2018
... and the abhorrent behavior of his leftist enablers.


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The FBI seems to avoid any evidence against Hillary Clinton:


Time To Fight Dirty.  [Scroll down]  And when I say we need to fight dirty, let me clarify what I am not saying.  I am not saying that we should persecute innocent people, like the Left does.  I am saying that we need to go full-throttle, no-holds-barred lawfare against those who do break the law and smugly get away with it.  [Advertisement]  After Trump derailed Hillary's 2016 coronation he, in the spirit of naïve bipartisanship, decided not to direct the Justice Department to pursue any charges against her for her gross mishandling of classified materials.  The Deep State returned the favor by raiding his private home and charging him for the same crime that FBI Director James Comey wouldn't charge Hillary with.  Hillary got away with it.

Docs Reveal FBI Questioned Obama DOJ in Hillary Email Probe.  A presidential candidate faces an FBI probe surrounding alleged mishandling of classified information, amid questions about the independence of the Justice Department.  Meanwhile, the candidate's supporters allege political interference and demand that the chief investigator be investigated.  Such was the case in the closing days of the 2016 presidential election.  Democrats and other supporters of Hillary Clinton complained that then-FBI Director James Comey violated the law in notifying Congress that he had restarted an investigation of Clinton's use of a private, unsecure email server while she was secretary of state.  Meanwhile, FBI officials questioned the independence of then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and considered asking for a special counsel to investigate Clinton's private email server, according to a heavily redacted transcript of an interview with a top FBI career official.

The Party That Cried Wolf.  Desperate to take the focus off the FBI's investigation into her use of a private server during her tenure as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton and her sycophants strangled reality beyond all recognition to build the case that then-candidate Donald Trump was an agent of Russia.  Although Clinton lost the 2016 election, their efforts mired Trump's campaign and then his nascent presidency in scandal for three years.  And to this day, no one has been held responsible for what, up until then, had been the dirtiest political trick in modern memory.

Biden's crime family is all of DC.  There is no way Joe will be impeached or Hunter will do any jail time because if they go down, all of Washington will go with them.  Washington protects its own because they fear if one goes to jail, he will bring them all down.  Hillary said she would bring DC down with her.  Guess what?  She never was indicted even though she forwarded state secrets via email to foreign donors to her fake charity when she was secretary of state.  Jim Comey, then FBI director, even admitted publicly that he had the evidence but would not recommend prosecution.  He said, "Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.  Prosecutors necessarily weigh a number of factors before bringing charges.  There are obvious considerations, like the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent.  Responsible decisions also consider the context of a person's actions, and how similar situations have been handled in the past."  Comey made it clear that the fix was in by warning others not to try the same thing.

They are rubbing our noses in their filth.  A day after the 240th anniversary of the birth of America, Jimmy Comey — Obama's FBI director — announced that even though she sent 33,000 emails to a Chinese email account, Missus Clinton would not be prosecuted.  They had her dead to rights — and Comey let her live.  He told the press, "Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. [...]" Shorter Comey:  She did it and we don't care.  The fix was in and they were blatant about it with Bill Clinton openly meeting with Comey's boss — AG Loretta Lynch — on the tarmac at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix in 110-degree heat.  They wanted the world to see that the fix was in.

Latest Trump Indictment Proves Deep State Is Trying To Rig Yet Another Election.  In 2016, despite possessing no evidence of collusion from the beginning, the FBI latched onto a thinly-veiled narrative hatched by Clinton campaign operatives to screw over the ruling class's political opponent.  Instead, top Crossfire Hurricane players capitalized on their "open disdain for Trump," "asserted that they would prevent Trump from becoming President," and leaked information from the discredited Steele dossier to the corrupt corporate media.  It was around that same time that then-FBI Director James Comey declined to charge Hillary Clinton, whose campaign affiliates started and sold the Russiagate lie to willing participants like federal agencies, for knowingly rerouting classified information to her private email server.  Despite the deep state's interference in the 2016 presidential race, Trump won the White House.  His victory was a legitimate one backed by at least half the nation but that didn't stop Democrats from officially objecting to his certification, as they have done to every Republican president this century.

Trump [was] indicted, not Hillary, Hunter or Milley.  The FBI is best at covering up crimes.  Consider Hillary sending state secrets while secretary of state via email to foreign governments and others who paid the troll via donations to her fake charity.  Remember the words of Jimmy the Weasel Comey, who said, "From the group of 30,000 e-mails returned to the State Department, 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received.  Eight of those chains contained information that was Top Secret at the time they were sent; 36 chains contained Secret information at the time; and eight contained Confidential information, which is the lowest level of classification.  Separate from those, about 2,000 additional e-mails were 'up-classified' to make them Confidential; the information in those had not been classified at the time the e-mails were sent."  She committed at least 110 felonies by e-mailing classified information.  Comey admitted it.  And yet as head of the FBI in 2016, he recommended against prosecuting her.

The FBI Didn't Persecute Hillary. It Protected Her.  For the last seven years, conventional wisdom has told us a singular story about the FBI and Hillary Clinton.  That story had a clear headline: the FBI was out to get her. [...] If the Durham report shows anything, it is that the FBI leadership bent over backward to protect Clinton's campaign while launching a full investigation into Trump's campaign on the thinnest of pretexts.  In other words, the FBI was not really the Clinton campaign's persecutor, as so many insisted over the past few years, as much as its protector.  "The speed and manner in which the FBI opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence," the Durham report observes, referring to the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign, "reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign."

FBI dropped 4 probes into Hillary Clinton, family's non-profit ahead of 2016 election: Durham report.  The FBI had at least four open criminal investigations into Hillary and Bill Clinton that were suddenly dropped in the months before the 2016 presidential election, special counsel John Durham's recently released report shows.  The bombshell report released by Durham — which concluded that the bureau's probe into former President Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russia was "seriously flawed" — also shed light on the quashed probes.  The feds had been looking into claims that foreign countries and other individuals were trying to influence the Clintons through donations to their namesake non-profit and Hillary's presidential campaign.  Three of the FBI's four investigations that were launched in early 2016 were looking into allegations that the Clinton Foundation has a hub of "criminal activity."

Durham Report Reveals FBI Shut Down Four Criminal Investigations into the Clintons.  Special Counsel John Durham's highly-anticipated report on the origins of the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016 revealed that top leaders at the Bureau shut down four criminal investigations into Hillary and Bill Clinton.  In 2014, the FBI investigated a "well-placed" confidential source's claims that an unnamed foreign government intended to "contribute to Hillary Clinton's anticipated presidential campaign, as a way to gain influence with Clinton should she win the presidency," the report said.  The field office investigating these claims "almost immediately" sought a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant, but it remained "in limbo" for approximately four months, primarily due to Clinton's then-expected presidential campaign.

'Betrayal': FBI Agents Working On Russia Probe Say Leaders Concealed Intelligence On Hillary's Role.  The FBI's Operation Crossfire Hurricane was tasked with investigating Russian involvement in the 2016 election, yet a major memo sent from the CIA to lead agent Peter Strzok outlining U.S. intelligence that Hillary Clinton may have hatched a plan to frame Donald Trump — which stood to dramatically alter the investigation — simply went missing, according to the blockbuster report from Special Counsel John Durham.  "In late July 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies obtained insight into Russian intelligence analysis alleging that U.S Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump by tying him to Putin and the Russians' hacking of the Democratic National Committee," the report said.

FBI Ignored Alleged Clinton Campaign Election Meddling Plan After CIA Briefed Obama And Biden, Durham Report Says.  The FBI didn't open any inquiry into an alleged Hillary Clinton campaign election interference plan even after the CIA director briefed then-president Barack Obama and other senior administration officials, Special Counsel John Durham's report noted.  The FBI received Russian intelligence analysis in July 2016 alleging that Clinton's campaign cooked up a scheme to divert attention away from "her use of a private email server," the Durham report stated.  The alleged scheme, dubbed the "Clinton Plan," showed that the Clinton campaign "had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal" against Trump "by tying him to Putin and the Russians' hacking of the Democratic National Committee," the Durham report reads.

Government Tyrants Play with Fire.  If Bill and Hillary Clinton had ever been properly charged for their decades-long crime spree involving perjury, rape, investment swindling, real estate scams, stolen White House furniture, Chinese bribery, campaign finance violations, family foundation fraud, mishandling of classified secrets, conspiracy to defraud the United States with the Russia hoax, Epstein-linked prostitution and child-trafficking, or their uncanny proclivity for leaving a trail of dead associates in their wake, their rap sheets would stretch from here to the moon.

It's now very clear FBI leaders went 'crazy' to protect Hillary Clinton, Hunter Biden.  [Quoting Newt Gingrich:]  I don't know what will happen in a jury trial like that, but I think it's very clear from the evidence that's been unearthed that the FBI at the very top had gone crazy.  They were doing things that I mean, how can you go out and actively try to undermine the President of the United States the way they did?  Just as they went out to protect Hillary Clinton and they've gone out to protect Hunter Biden.  This is the most corrupt FBI leadership in American history.  And there's going to have to be a commission or something to look at it, and potentially it's going to have to be broken up into two or three different agencies.  This is really serious stuff because these guys have the power to put you in jail.  So it's not politics.  This is the criminal justice system and it was clearly perverted by the last two FBI directors.

Remember When Hillary Destroyed Subpoenaed Docs and the Feds Gave Her a Pass?  So Do We.  Hillary Clinton and her team of Perkins Coie, Michael Sussman, Robby Mook, current National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Marc Elias, her media hitmen at Fusion GPS, buddies at Brookings, willing reporters, and many others, worked with actual Russians to come up with the Russian collusion hoax against Trump while he was a candidate and sitting president.  The FBI, CIA, and Obama Administration were all in on it.  They lied to the FISA court to get warrants to spy on him.  You know that story.  But now, the same people at the highest reaches of the FBI and DOJ and other bureaucratic insiders are going after Donald Trump again to get copies of documents he says he has every right to possess.  They claim he's obstructing justice because the former president isn't giving up his copies of documents they don't want him to have.  Among the ones they want to get their hands on, insiders say, are Russian collusion operation documents.

When does prosecutorial discretion become a bill of attainder?  [T]he decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her using a private, personal server through which sensitive and official diplomatic and national security correspondence traversed; instead of appointing a special prosecutor as she should have done, Attorney General Loretta Lynch deferred the decision to prosecute to then-FBI director James Comey, which is an unprecedented act.  In 21 years as a special agent, I never had any prosecutor defer a decision to prosecute to me or any other investigator.  That is a responsibility, the biggest responsibility, perhaps, that a prosecutor must exercise.  To make matters even worse, she pushed the responsibility and the decision on prosecution off on Comey, who could have been in the position of recommending prosecution for crimes on Hillary Clinton, who, if she had been elected, would have had Comey at her mercy, job-wise.  Obviously, Comey was not an impartial actor in that process.  Get the picture?  Republicans get prosecuted; Democrats do not.

Think the FBI Deserves the Benefit of the Doubt?  The FBI repeatedly told journalists there was no evidence that a foreign power had reviewed Clinton's emails that she improperly handled on a private server.  According to an inspector general report in 2018, however, texts show they almost certainly did, "at least one of them classified," as Federalist Senior Editor David Harsanyi wrote.  "It is more accurate to say," read a text from Strzok, "that we know foreign actors obtained access to some of her emails (including at least one Secret one) via compromises of the private email accounts of some of her staffers."

The FBI Is Now the Federal Bureau of Intimidation.  Face it, nothing the FBI has said for the last six years since they joined with the Democratic Party to invent the Russia collusion hoax can be taken seriously.  Is there any need to go through the whole laundry list of lies and fabrications that the FBI, with the aid and comfort of the Justice Department, has foisted on the American public?  You can start with the extraordinary 2016 press conference when FBI Director James Comey detailed crimes committed by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton related to her improper use of a private email account to store classified material.  Moments after saying she had broken the law, Comey announced with a straight face that "no reasonable prosecutor" would ever bring a case against her.  Yeah, because she was a Democrat!

The DoJ's Brazen Corruption.  In the lead-up to the 2016 election, everyone thought that [Justice] department prosecutors would decide whether to charge Hillary Clinton based on whether she knowingly violated a criminal statute prohibiting mishandling of classified material.  It turned out that then-FBI Director James Comey would decide on the basis of what he thought was "reasonable."  After letting Clinton off, the tube man flailed right and Comey, breaking procedure against commenting on a pending investigation, announced that the Clinton probe was back on.  From then, the Justice Department only got worse.  Comey told the country that one reason not to charge Clinton was that the department had never before charged someone for conduct similar to hers.  Yet after Comey, the department went on to spend years investigating the then-sitting President not only for conduct never before charged but for crimes no one even knew were crimes — like bad tweeting.

More proof that corrupt special counsel Robert Mueller was working to protect Hillary Clinton.  [A]fter 18 months and tens of millions of dollars — and several indictments of TrumpWorld figures that had nothing to do with Mueller's original mandate of 'find Trump-Russia collusion' — the special counsel, struggling with his own mental health issues like Joe Biden is now, told Congress essentially, "No, we did not find any link."  Just last week, another bombshell from that era dropped:  Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, testified in a trial involving a Clinton campaign lawyer, Michael Sussmann, that Hillary personally signed off on leaking the lie that the Trump Organization was connected to a Kremlin-backed financial institution, Alfa Bank, via a 'secret back channel.'  In other words, Mook testified that not only was the claim a lie, but a lie known by Clinton, who authorized it to be leaked to the media — reports that eventually led to an FBI probe as well (even though James Comey's bureau also knew that the claim was [false]).  But wouldn't Robert Mueller's team, led by attack dog Andrew Wiessman, have found all of this out during their probe?  No, they didn't.  And why?  Because they never interviewed Mook.

'Typo' concealed Clinton lawyer's connection to Trump-Russia allegations, FBI agent testifies.  An FBI agent testified in court Tuesday that a "typo" in an email led investigators in 2016 to believe that false allegations linking former President Trump to Russia's Alfa Bank originated with the Department of Justice, when in fact they came from Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann.  FBI Agent Curtis Heide, who along with agent Allison Sands authored the internal communication, said the inaccuracy, sent out just weeks before the 2016 election, was simply a mistake.  "We may have conflated the Office of the General Counsel and the Justice Department," Mr. Heide said on the witness stand.  "I don't know how that information got in there."

Durham Drops Another Bombshell, Reveals FBI Lied About Hillary Clinton-Supplied Disinformation.  The trial of Michael Sussmann began another week on Monday [5/23/2022], with more witnesses being called as Special Counsel John Durham continues to build his case against the former Hillary Clinton lawyer.  Sussmann is charged with lying to the FBI, something he allegedly did when he hid who he was working for while sharing the now-debunked Alfa-Bank story.  That disinformation campaign, which was meant to falsely assert Donald Trump was colluding with the Russians during the 2016 election, has now been directly tied to Hillary Clinton during the trial after it was revealed that she approved its dissemination.  But apparently, Sussmann and Hillary Clinton by proxy weren't the only ones lying.  According to documents presented by Durham, the FBI lied about the Alfa Bank smear's provenance, telling agents it had come from the DOJ.  In reality, Sussmann had brought it directly to the FBI, with the leadership being aware of its origins as badly done political opposition research.

Professor Turley Says Hillary Will Avoid Responsibility in Durham Probe.  George Washington University law professor and self-proclaimed liberal Jonathan Turley said Friday on Fox News' "Special Report" that Hillary Clinton will probably avoid "direct responsibility" in the Durham probe because of her "Voldemort-like status."  Apropos of nothing, but since we're busy comparing public figures to Harry Potter characters, I would like to point out that our short-lived disinformation czar Nina Jankowicz can be compared to similarly temporary-tenured Hogwarts Headmistress Dolores Umbridge.  Just sayin'.  But back to the story at hand.  Appearing with host Bret Baier on "Special Report," Turley predicted Clinton would escape consequences like she always seems to.

How FBI bigwig aided and abetted Hillary Clinton plot.  Who needs to spend millions on television commercials or Facebook ads if you've got friends in the FBI who can pull off a political dirty trick for you?  Just look how cozy Hillary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann and FBI general counsel James A. Baker are in text messages revealed in Thursday's testimony at Sussmann's trial.  Can you meet tomorrow, Sussmann asks the high-ranking government official.  "OK, I will find a time," Baker answers.  Does he need help getting into the building?  No, Sussmann answers, I have a badge to get into the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  How convenient.  It was during this meeting that Sussmann peddled the false story that Donald Trump was secretly communicating with a Russian bank.

The DOJ is a swamp.  [Thread reader]  Under Obama, the DOJ was fundamentally pushed to the left by Attorney General Eric Holder and then by his successor, Loretta Lynch.  Sally Yates rounded out the Obama appointed DOJ leadership.  Holder came up w/process for doling out settlements from the financial crisis to activist groups.  Holder presided over unlawful investigation of certain members of media.  Under Holder's control, DOJ secretly obtained two months of telephone records of AP reporters & editors.  DOJ also monitored the personal email and phone of Fox News reporter James Rosen.  And it was Holder who refused to prosecute anyone in the IRS targeting of 426 conservative groups during the Obama Administration.  The FBI found Hillary Clinton guilty of essentially every act they investigated.  Despite these findings, Comey cleared Clinton by making a statement that "no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case".  This allowed Loretta Lynch at DOJ to announce the matter closed.

The FBI's Broken Relationship with Us.  All large organizations suffer from the occasional presence of bad actors.  The FBI is no exception.  But it managed to retain a good relationship with the public in spite of its flaws, because it was still solving rather than creating crimes.  But something fundamentally changed in the last five years. [...] The "Midyear Exam," the bureau's name for the Hillary Clinton email investigation, was a farce.  No subpoenas were issued, central figures were given immunity without cooperation, evidence was destroyed by the FBI, and then the attorney general had a clandestine meeting with "Slick Willy" Clinton — the husband of the target.  Surprise:  No charges were filed.  "The Cardinal" Comey held a press conference and announced that even though Hillary had broken numerous laws, she didn't mean it, so he was giving her a pass.  It must have been an accident that an email server, containing classified documents, appeared in her bathroom — with a support staff.

How Did the FBI End Up in This Mess?  [Scroll down]  James Comey was also a product of the prosecutorial side of the DoJ.  Like Mueller before him, he was a U.S. Attorney and Deputy Attorney General.  James Comey is a man of unquestionable integrity — according to James Comey.  In fact, peers and subordinates gave him the nickname "The Cardinal" due to his sanctimonious self-regard.  Director Comey decided to run the Clinton email investigation out of FBI headquarters, rather than a field office so that it could be overseen by such giants of virtue as Peter Strzok and himself.  Under Comey's guidance, it was a unique investigation.  No grand jury was used, no subpoenas were served, key witnesses were given immunity, and the investigators themselves destroyed the evidence.  Comey then went on national television and laid out how all of the elements of a felony had been committed by Madame Secretary "Dirty Tricks."  But then surprise, surprise — no indictment would be sought because Hillary really didn't mean it.  It turns out that "The Cardinal" is not only a paragon of virtue, he's also a mind reader.  With that broadcast, Comey unveiled the partisan FBI for all of the world to see.  Corruption had officially arrived at the FBI, and "The Cardinal" wasn't even hiding it.  But Comey didn't stop with his election interference by simply giving Hillary a pass.  He also began painting an image of criminal behavior by the Trump campaign.

If the FBI Knew Danchenko Was Lying From the Start — And They Did — Why Didn't The Mueller SCO Charge Him?  When you are a federal prosecutor and you are not actually interested in pursuing a particular case, but you want to go through the motions to make it look good, you do things like not seizing computers, allowing defense counsel to decide what documents investigators should receive, allow lawyers who are witnesses to possible criminal activity to serve as defense counsel for targets so they can sit in and listen to interviews, hand out immunity to whoever asks without having a clear view of their culpability ....  Wait — that was the Hillary email investigation.  Danchenko and Crossfire Hurricane are different.  Aren't they?  With the indictment of Igor Danchenko this past week, the answer to that question is becoming less and less clear.  While the two investigations were, technically speaking, separate from one another, a similar coterie of DOJ and FBI officials seemed to want their "Igor Problem" to slip beneath the waves and disappear in the same way the "Hillary's Email" problem was made to slip beneath the waves and disappear.  The tactic is to use decision-making implicitly designed to not produce a prosecutable case, ignore or excuse evidence of criminal culpability, and point to a bright shiny object of supposedly greater significance to be concerned with.

The Sussmann and Danchenko Indictments By John Durham Show The Mueller Investigation Was Always A Charade.  Let's reset the scene in May 2017 when Mueller was appointed.  Both the House and Senate were in control of the GOP, each with subpoena power for purposes of oversight of DOJ and the FBI.  President Trump had fired James Comey as Director of the FBI.  Nothwithstanding the persistent chorus of the media that he did so to stop the Russia investigation, the FACT is that he told Lester Holt of NBC News that he did so because Comey was not going fast enough in conducting the investigation and he had lost faith in Comey.  While their reasons were different, the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General had both recommended Comey's firing as well.  Comey's reputation among the Special Agent workforce cratered after he took it upon himself to exonerate Hillary Clinton in connection with her handling of classified information.  FBI Agents knew that if an agent had handled classified information in the same fashion, he/she would be prosecuted for doing so.  FBI Agents investigate and are involved in prosecutions of other government employees who did less than Hillary Clinton did.  Anyone who tells you that Comey was "popular" inside the FBI after that decision doesn't know what they are talking about.  He was not "of" the Bureau.  He was a career DOJ prosecutor — he was an "outsider" in the Bureau's culture.

What Happens When We Find Justice Isn't Blind?  Premised upon the risible Steele dossier and other bogus documents and government leaks crafted to abet Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Democrats responded to her defeat by concocting a conspiracy that Donald Trump had colluded with Russian authoritarian Vladimir Putin to steal the 2016 election.  Equally inane and insane, this leftist temper tantrum has been going on five years and counting — an unhinged attempt to destroy the legitimacy of the 2016 election and, thus, the presidency of Donald Trump.  In league with and abetted by their co-conspiring leftist media supplicants and sycophants, the Democrats subversively weaponized the police and surveillance powers of the state to promote the Russiagate collusion lie.  Each day, the dinosaur and social media were riven by new "bombshell" allegations, each more outlandish and, ultimately, erroneous than the last.  A special counsel and his Clinton supporting crew were appointed to get to the bottom of a crime that was devised as a campaign smear by ... the Clinton campaign.

Jim Comey Ignored Department Whistleblower on Hillary's Crimes With Classified Material.  One year before Jim Comey was immersed in his plot to overthrow Donald Trump, the duly elected President of the United States, a brave Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State came forward with firsthand information of Hillary Clinton's rampant abuse of Classified material.  The man, a senior State Department diplomat who had served as the acting Ambassador (Chargé d'Affaires) in the Asia Pacific region under President Clinton, also was a veteran of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.  The letter from this whistleblower is stunning and I am going to present it in total.  It is dated 10 January 2016. [...]

The Deep State Wins if Trump Loses.  In his 2017 inauguration speech, President Trump shocked the world by promising to take on the Washington, D.C. establishment — aka "The Swamp" — and thereby return power to the people.  The Swamp denizens seated in the main dais behind Trump that day, Republican and Democrat alike, were not pleased, to put it mildly. [...] We saw Holy James Comey, the disgraced former head of the FBI, totally tank two investigations into Hillary Clinton, one looking into Clinton Foundation money-laundering and the other scrutinizing Hillary's illegal secret server.  All you have to know about Comey, other than he's as dirty as he is tall, is that he penned Crooked Hillary's exoneration letter months before the supposed investigation ended, months before he even interviewed Clinton.

Sidney Powell's Speech From March Is Now Making Waves as New Reports Indicate Clinton Foundation Is Under a Criminal Investigation.  A speech by Sidney Powell back in November is now given more attention with word that the Clinton Foundation is now under a criminal investigation.  In her speech in March, Powell shared the following: ["]The Anthony Weiner laptop, which I don't know if you heard this.  I wrote an article about that too. 675,000 Clinton emails when they got Anthony Weiner's laptop in a search warrant because of all his sex perversion issues.  It was all the Clinton emails, the Clinton Foundation, her Secretary of State emails, Huma Abedin emails, lots of people emailed Huma as a proxy for Hillary, and it included what Comey called... the golden emails, because they were the blackberry backup emails.  That they were supposedly just looking for very diligently, well guess what they did when they found them on the Weiner laptop?  They got a search warrant for things that didn't include the blackberry backup emails.  So when they told us, when he stood there and said that day, oh we've reviewed all the emails now, there is nothing there.  That was a bald face lie."["]

Why should anyone believe James Comey?  [Scroll down]  The portrait is in October Surprise, a new book by Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett.  The book focuses on the period in late October 2016, when the FBI was deep into the Crossfire Hurricane investigation and Comey decided, 11 days before the presidential election, to inform Congress, and thus the world, that the FBI had reopened the Hillary Clinton email investigation.  The reopening, which ultimately came to nothing, outraged Democrats and Comey's colleagues in the Obama Justice Department.  The Clinton email decision, as I describe in my own book, Obsession:  Inside the Washington Establishment's Never-Ending War on Trump, spurred some of President-elect Trump's closest advisers, including Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, and Jeff Sessions, to urge him to fire Comey immediately upon taking office.  The advisers were not offended on behalf of Hillary Clinton.  Instead, they believed the episode showed that Comey was so erratic, headstrong, and self-righteous that he would surely cause trouble in a Trump administration.  Trump did not take their advice, to his regret.

Report: Durham Investigating Main Justice Resistors Blocking FBI Subpoenas in 2016, RE: Clinton Investigation.  Two media reports today [9/24/2020] point toward an aspect CTH had noticed happening in the background of the Durham/Aldenberg investigation.  The Washington Examiner and New York Times are writing about Durham investigating 2016 efforts from Main Justice DOJ to block FBI efforts to investigate the Clinton Foundation.  The interesting part is what the media ignore [...]

FBI Agent Who Discovered Hillary's Emails On Weiner Laptop Claims He Was Told To Erase Computer.  FBI agent John Robertson, the man who found Hillary Clinton's emails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, claims he was advised by bosses to erase his own computer.  Former FBI Director James Comey, you may recall, announced days before the 2016 presidential election that he had "learned of the existence" of the emails on Weiner's laptop.  Weiner is the disgraced husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin.  Robertson alleges that the manner in which his higher-ups in the FBI handled the case was "not ethically or morally right."

Book: FBI Agent on Sex Crimes Unit Found Hillary Clinton Emails.  An FBI agent investigating child pornography on former Rep. Anthony Weiner's computer first stumbled on hundreds of thousands of emails, many of which were to and from Hillary Clinton, ahead of the 2016 election, a new book reveals.  The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett wrote "October Surprise:  How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election," in which he provides an inside look at what happened in the weeks before the 2016 election — and how the discovery of the Clinton emails threw a wrench into the electoral process.  Special Agent John Robertson was investigating allegations that Weiner sent sexually explicit material to a 15-year-old girl when he stumbled on 600,000 emails from an account belonging to Weiner's then-wife Huma Abedin, Clinton's top aide, sitting on Weiner's laptop.  Many of the emails were either to or from the private email address of Clinton, who served as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

New details emerge about FBI delay on Weiner laptop in 2016.  New details have emerged about 2016's "October Surprise," during which the FBI found emails belonging to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on disgraced New York Rep. Anthony Weiner's laptop, with the FBI official who found the emails speaking out for the first time.  FBI agent John Robertson, who worked in its New York office's child sex crimes unit and was later cited (though not named) in Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's 2018 report on the handling of the investigation of Clinton's unauthorized private email server, spoke with the Washington Post's Devlin Barrett for his upcoming book, October Surprise:  How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election.  Robertson unearthed tens of thousands of Clinton emails in late September 2016 on the laptop belonging to Weiner, the husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, in a sex crimes case involving underage girls, but for weeks after being alerted, top FBI leaders [...] took little to no action to investigate.

FBI agent who found Hillary Clinton's emails on Anthony Weiner's laptop calls agency's handling of case 'immoral'.  An FBI agent who found the messages that led to the Hillary Clinton email investigation being reopened days before the 2016 election said the way the bureau handled the case was 'not ethically or morally right'.  John Robertson feared he would be made a 'scapegoat' when he found the new emails less than two months before voting day, in the wake of DailyMail.com's revelation that Anthony Weiner, whose wife Huma Abedin was Clinton's top aide, was sexting an underage girl.  Robertson watched nervously as the bureau did nothing for a month until he went outside the chain of command and spoke with the US Attorney's office overseeing the case.

FBI Agents Pushed For A FISA To Investigate Foreign Government Targeting Hillary Clinton.  FBI agents in 2015 sought authorization to surveil foreign government operatives who sought to influence Hillary Clinton, but ultimately settled for a defensive briefing given to lawyers for the Democratic presidential candidate, according to documents released on Sunday [8/23/2020].  One FBI agent involved in the investigation asked then-FBI Director James Comey in an April 2015 email for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant, according to the documents, published by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham.  A FISA order was not granted in the investigation.  Instead, an FBI special agent provided a defensive briefing to Clinton's personal lawyers in October 2015.  Graham, a Republican, said that the documents are evidence of a double standard in how the FBI conducted investigations of foreign meddling regarding the Clinton and Trump campaigns.

Former top FBI lawyer worried Hillary Clinton would be indicted after winning election.  The FBI's top lawyer was torn over what to do when FBI Director James Comey asked in 2016 whether he should inform Congress that the bureau was reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.  FBI General Counsel James Baker had been told that FBI agents discovered between 600,000 and 1 million emails on disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner's laptop relating to Clinton.  The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee's top aide, Huma Abedin, was married to Weiner, who was being investigated for sending illicit texts to an underage girl.  Baker, who left the FBI in May 2018, told author David Rohde that he felt like the "fates had thrown him a hundred-mile-an-hour fastball."

DOJ Blocks FBI Investigation of Clinton's Swindle of Bill Gates Charity Cash.  When FBI agents working the Clinton Foundation investigation developed intelligence that tech pioneer and philanthropist Bill Gates was beyond angry at Bill and Hillary Clinton for duping his charitable foundation out of as much as $200 million, FBI brass wanted to arrange a sit down with the Microsoft mogul.  Gates, after all, is the second wealthiest man in the United States, running a close second behind Amazon king Jeff Bezos.  That is the kind of fact witness FBI agents dream about.  Would Gates flip on the Clinton's and spill the beans on the millions he forked over to their sham foundation?  Bad blood between Gates and the Clinton's would certainly help fortify a criminal case against the Clinton Foundation.  But as Thomas Paine revealed on his Moore Paine Show on Patreon Tuesday night [2/25/2020] as well as the Thomas Paine Podcast on Wednesday — FBI agents never got the chance to pick Gates' brain.  The Justice Department blocked access to Mr. Gates.

5 Times Barack Obama Protected His Allies from Justice and Democrats Didn't Care.  [#1] Hillary Clinton:  It was not all that long ago that Hillary Clinton was the heir-apparent to Barack Obama, and Obama wasn't going to let her criminal behavior get in the way of her winning the election and keeping his legacy intact.  Thanks to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey, Hillary was never going to be punished for her illegal private server and mishandling of classified and top-secret information that would have seen anyone else indicted.  In fact, FBI Director James Comey had drafted her exoneration letter before Hillary had even been interviewed by the FBI.

Obama Interposed His Opinion in Hillary Clinton Case While Investigation Was Ongoing, But Dems Said Nothing.  For starters, is there anyone that thinks that Roger Stone would have been prosecuted at all but for the vendetta to hang convictions on folks next to Trump?  Did he get a raw deal with the recommendation of 7-9 years for a first offense which was non-violent?  It sure sounds like it, as Trey Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, has noted.  Trump was making a comment on a proposed recommendation, that he thought it was excessive.  He doesn't have power over the ultimate sentence nor does the DOJ.  Let's go back and look at what Barack Obama said and did during the investigation into Hillary Clinton.  He actually interposed himself, basically declaring her innocent while the investigation was still ongoing.

The Democrat Data App.  [Scroll down]  When ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — Democrat presidential candidate in 2016 — violated many laws by mishandling sensitive data, the head of the FBI himself, James Comey, acted more like a pope than an agent of the law, publicly granting her a papal indulgence reserved for high-ranking Democrats.  Her crimes were annulled.  Her little mistake was erased, aborted.  It was just careless, not deliberate, said Pope James.  It did not matter that "she should have known better," because, after all, clearly, she had to know better.  Clinton was an experienced official and an experienced lawyer.  Clinton herself had claimed she was the most experienced candidate running in 2016 and in 2008.  She knew the letter and spirit of the law.  It also did not matter that she and her staff clearly acted with full deliberation, destroying evidence of her guilt — her phones and her email server.  They were given immunity by Comey, America's tallest undertaker, who rubbed his hands unctuously as he buried the case.

FBI Investigators Say McCabe Apologized for Lying about Clinton-Probe Leak.  FBI investigators claim former deputy director Andrew McCabe admitted to misleading them about his involvement in a media leak and subsequently apologized for the lie, according to newly released transcripts of McCabe's interviews with investigators.  The transcripts, released by the Department of Justice Inspector General's office (OIG) — which found McCabe "lacked candor" with investigators in a scathing February 2018 report — detail how McCabe spun a false narrative that he was not responsible for leaking the information cited in a October 2016 Wall Street Journal article that detailed a new probe into Hillary Clinton's email use.

Connection revealed between FBI and lawyer working for Hillary Clinton.  Recently the conservative organization Judicial Watch revealed the contents of several emails from former FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who would have had preferential treatment with the lawyer representing former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's collaborators.  As the conservative BizPac Review website indicates, Beth Wilkinson, Clinton's lawyer met with top FBI officials and even received privileged treatment in which she was warned about media coverage and given the opportunity to participate in "discreet" meetings.

The Madness of Progressive Projection.  Who made the decision to quash the investigation of Hillary Clinton after she destroyed over 30,000 emails under subpoena?  Who excused Obama officials after they knowingly misled federal FISA court justices?  Who leaked information about a surveilled phone call between Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador?  Who decided that it was acceptable for Samantha Power to request over 260 times the unmasking of names of American citizens swept up in government surveillance, many of which were illegally leaked to the press and most of which Power denied requesting and alleged others had used her name to do so?  Somewhere, somehow there was a great deal of obstruction and distortion of justice that so far has prevented the pursuit of these criminal acts.

Trump-Russia and Clinton-Libya:  A Story of 2 Probes and the FBI.  Records recently posted online by the FBI indicate that it did little to investigate allegations from private sources connected to Republicans about a scheme in which associates of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to exploit their connection to her to profit from the turmoil in Libya in 2011.  The FBI received the documents in June 2016, around the same time it launched an exhaustive, three-year investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia based, in part, on information from private sources connected to Democrats that in the main would prove to be false — the Steele dossier.  The bureau's different responses to these documents also came during the same period when FBI Director James B. Comey controversially cleared Clinton, in his first of two exonerations, of criminal wrongdoing in the bureau's probe of her unauthorized and insecure email setup.

Where is Huma Abedin's Laptop?  An August 2018 release from the FBI Vault on the Hillary Clinton email investigation revealed the Anthony Weiner/Huma Abedin laptop containing Clinton emails (350,000) and Blackberry communications (344,000) was never reviewed for intrusion prior to the 2016 election.  Does anyone at the DOJ/FBI even care about this issue any longer?

Trump can change history by declassifying three Obama-era documents.  [Scroll down]  The final Obama-era tranche that requires declassification concerns Hillary Clinton's email controversy — a highly classified set of documents that FBI agents identified as important and necessary in the investigation into whether she violated the law by transmitting classified emails on her unsecured private server.  As I wrote last week, the agents never got to review those documents in 2016 before then-FBI Director James Comey unilaterally decided not to seek criminal charges against Mrs. Clinton.  The Justice Department's internal watchdog in 2018 provided Congress a classified annex explaining how the FBI intended to examine that secret evidence, but never did.  Sources who have seen the annex say it contains explosive revelations about what really happened with Clinton's emails and the national security concerns that her conduct raised.

Comey FBI Willfully Ignored "Highly Classified" Hillary Clinton Emails; Barr Radio Silent.  President Obama's FBI, ran by disgraced former director James Comey, knew about - but purposefully ignored - "highly classified" evidence in the Hillary Clinton email investigation before they downgraded their initial assessment of her crime from a felony to a "grossly negligent" mistake.  As The Hill's John Solomon reports, a Senate staff memo updating an ongoing inquiry by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) reveals that the FBI decided to back off their pursuit of this damning evidence "even though the agents believed access to the sensitive evidence was "necessary" to complete the investigation," writes Solomon.

The road not taken:  Another FBI failure involving the Clintons surfaces.  August in Washington can be the political equivalent of an elephant graveyard:  One good rain can wash away the dirt and expose the bones of scandals past.  And this August did not disappoint.  Thanks to the relentless investigative work of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), we are learning that the Hillary Clinton email case may not really be settled.  A staff memo updating the two senators' long-running probe discloses that the FBI — the version run in 2016 by the now-disgraced and fired James Comey, Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok — failed to pursue access to "highly classified" evidence that could have resolved important questions.

Clinton's Deliberate, Felonious Actions Harmed National Security.  Earlier today, my good friend and colleague, Bonchie, penned an excellent article about the latest twist in the Clinton e-mail saga, one that demonstrated just how dangerous her actions were to National Security.  Please go have a look.  Because of his timely article, I thought I might once again review just how corrupt the FBI was, especially former Director Comey, when he "cleared" Secretary Clinton of any criminal wrongdoing.  Comey's excuse?  Secretary Clinton had no intent to violate the law.  Despite the fact that the applicable statute regarding the handling of classified information doesn't require intent, the explainer below will show that there was indeed such intent and a number of people should be doing hard time.  Let me be clear at the outset; somebody committed a felony, likely several.

New Evidence Unveils Disturbing Facts About Hillary's Email Scandal.  Clinton kept classified emails on a private server in violation of Federal law, and the immunity agreements reveal that both Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson were actively involved in the cover-up of these emails as well as in the destruction of evidence. [...] The agreements issued were with DOJ and the FBI.  They asserted that Mills and Samuelson would turn over the computers to them, but stipulated that they weren't turning over "custody and control".  This critical point is a legal and factual bunch of bunk. [...] Suspects cannot withhold "custody and control" by mere words or lack of consent, as consent is not required.  In other words, these agreements are extremely flawed and whomever signed off on them should be investigated and perhaps prosecuted.

FBI gave immunity to Hillary lawyer responsible for 33k email deletion.  Heather Samuelson testified under oath in a Judicial Watch court-ordered deposition that, contrary to what she told the FBI, she was, in fact, aware that Clinton used a private email account as secretary of state.  That's not all.  The former Secretary of State's White House Liaison at the State Department, and later Clinton's personal lawyer, Heather Samuelson, admitted under oath that she was granted immunity by the U.S. Department of Justice in June 2016.  Samuelson also revealed that, contrary to what she told the FBI in 2016, she was, in fact, aware that Sec. Clinton used a private email account while secretary of state.

Comey Hid 'Clinton Emails' Binder In His Office Safe and Had Hillary's Backup Email Device.  Former FBI director James Comey had a white binder marked "Clinton Emails" in his office on May 16, 2017, a few days after he was fired, as the Department of Justice was trying to get back the items in Comey's office safe.  The State Department and FBI also possessed a "Datto" backup email device for Hillary Clinton's private email server, which a judge ordered released.  Michael Bekesha, who waged the Datto case for Judicial Watch, tells Big League Politics that the State Department is "still processing the FBI investigative file," even though Datto contents were ordered released by last September.

The FBI Just Dropped New Documents On Hillary Clinton And They Are Really Bad.  Late Friday night, we got a document dump from the FBI dealing with the investigation into Hillary Clinton's illegal email server.  While we've already gotten ample evidence that she absolutely should have been charged for her mishandling of classified information, these latest revelations are still pretty mind-blowing.  After you read them, you are left asking yourself how it was possible that she wasn't indicted.  Well, we know why. [...] Starting with Hillary's actions, her criminality isn't even in doubt anymore.  Stripping highly classified materials of their markings and then pushing them out via unapproved means is illegal.  Nowhere in the statute is their a requirement for "intent" nor could any serious person argue she didn't intend to do what she actively chose to do.  While we already knew that, it's pretty amazing to see that even the FBI was admitting it at the time.  Shortly after, the full whitewash would go into effect.

McCabe: Comey's Draft Statement Exonerating Clinton Two Months before Her FBI Interview Was Not Normal Protocol.  "This is the only time I am aware of, sir."  "I have not seen that before, sir."  "I've never seen that."  These are just some of the words utilized by former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe when asked during closed door testimony about an email penned by disgraced ex-FBI chief James Comey circulating a draft statement exonerating Hillary Clinton in the private email server case[,] a full two months before the FBI interviewed Clinton and other witnesses in the criminal probe.

Grassley, Graham Put Bill Barr on Notice:  DOJ Can No Longer Use Mueller Probe as Excuse to Dodge Questions on Hillary's Email Investigation.  Top Senate Republicans are renewing their efforts to get to the bottom of the FBI's [mis]handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private server now that Mueller's investigation has concluded.  Mueller's investigation into whether Trump colluded with the Kremlin during the 2016 election also served as a way to block Congressional oversight into Obama's and Clinton's corruption.  Now that Rosenstein and Mueller can no longer run defense at the Justice Department, Republican Senate chairs of three very powerful committees are demanding Bill Barr look into the FBI's sham 'Midyear investigation.'

Nunes criminal referrals could affect 'two dozen' individuals, as GOP demands answers on apparent FBI stonewalling.  As many as two dozen individuals may be implicated in House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes' criminal referrals to the Justice Department arising out of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's recently concluded Russia probe, sources confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday [4/16/2019].  The sources confirmed that the referrals related in part to the anti-Trump dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, and his work for the Clinton camp and the Democratic National Committee-funded firm Fusion GPS.  Meanwhile, three top Republican Senate committee chairmen said Tuesday that the DOJ has 10 days to explain itself as to why FBI investigators looking into Hillary Clinton's email use in 2016 sought access to "highly classified information" they said was "necessary" to complete their probe, but later withdrew the request and cleared Clinton of wrongdoing.

Devin Nunes: 'Fourth bucket' of classified emails show info withheld from FISA court.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., revealed the existence of a "fourth bucket" of information related to potential misconduct by the FBI that he wants declassified.  On his way out as chairman, as Democrats will take control of the House next year, Nunes said his panel's investigation into the Justice Department and FBI is largely complete.  Still, he said the public release of these "buckets" would help give his efforts a sense of "finality."  Speaking with anchor Maria Bartiromo on her Fox News program "Sunday Morning Futures [11/18/2018]," Nunes said the first of three "buckets" were the Russia-related documents President Trump walked back from declassifying earlier this year.

Mueller's 'Pit Bull' Arranged Meeting With Reporters To Discuss Manafort Investigation.  Justice Department documents released on Friday [7/6/2018] confirm that the DOJ attorney known as Robert Mueller's "pit bull" arranged a meeting with journalists in April 2017 to discuss an investigation into Paul Manafort.  The documents show that Andrew Weissmann arranged a meeting with DOJ and FBI officials and four Associated Press reporters on April 11, 2017, just over a month before Mueller was appointed special counsel.  Manafort's lawyers obtained the documents on June 29 and revealed them in a briefing filed in federal court in Virginia.  The attorneys are pushing for a hearing into what they say are possible leaks of secret grand jury information, false information and potentially classified materials from the meeting.

Nunes calls for House probe of 42 Obama-era anti-Trump activists.  Rep. Devin Nunes is referring 42 Obama administration officials, FBI agents and outside political activists to a House task force for as investigation into how the Obama Justice Department targeted the Donald Trump campaign. [...] The California Republican is asking his fellow GOP legislators to summon for public testimony all 42 — a cast of FBI, Justice Department and State Department officials and outside anti-Trump people with whom they communicated.

Devin Nunes Closes In on Corrupt Obama Officials.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is calling on two of his fellow Republican committee chairman to hold open hearings for 10 former State Department and Obama White House officials regarding alleged surveillance abuses against the Trump campaign. [...] Nunes has investigated the Justice Department, FBI and State Department over the agencies' investigations of Trump campaign associates.  The Republican has mostly focused on the DOJ and FBI's handling of the infamous Steele dossier and their applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.  Nunes and other Republicans have alleged that law enforcement officials improperly used the unverified dossier to obtain the spy warrants while also failing to disclose to federal judges that the document was financed by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Mueller's Kafkaesque Probe.  The chattering class's frenzied discussion of the Mueller probe is like listening to George Carlin's old parody advertisement in which he gushes over a product that he never bothers to identify: [...] Turn on the television at any hour and the gibbering about the Mueller probe takes on that tone:  endless talk about people "flipping" and so on but without any relationship to the mandate of Mueller's probe.  Mueller was supposedly completing a counterintelligence investigation.  But almost everything we hear about it pertains to something else.  His "collusion" probe is looking at everything but collusion.  Historians will look back at this grim farce and wonder how a sitting president could be shafted so badly by his own Justice Department for something he didn't do.  The answer they will probably settle on is that Trump was a reviled outsider whom official Washington decided to subject to a Kafkaesque hazing in the failed hope of inducing his impeachment.

Letter From Devin Nunes: 17 DOJ and FBI Names Named.  Devin Nunes has sent a letter to Chairman Gowdy and Chairman Goodlatte.  In it, Nunes refers 17 highly recognizable names to the joint task force of the Committees on Oversight & Government Reform and the Judiciary for interviews.  Note that the names cut off at a certain political level.  Below Sally Yates at DOJ and below Comey at FBI.  This is almost certainly by intent.  Without the IG Report on FISA Abuse, it's too early to move any higher.  As unsatisfying as this may be to some, I consider this to be a good start.  Most of these individuals — but not all — have left their positions so enforcement will prove interesting.

FBI may have modified witness reports, misled DOJ watchdog with 'false information,' GOP Rep says.  The FBI may have "edited and changed" key witness reports in the Hillary Clinton and Russia investigations, a top House Republican charged in a hearing into FBI and Justice Department misconduct Tuesday [6/26/2018].  Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C, also raised the possibility that the FBI misled the DOJ watchdog in an attempt to hide the identities of FBI employees who were caught sending anti-Trump messages.

Did Comey's Informants Fabricate Russian Collusion Evidence?  In our nation's worst governmental scandal, Watergate, the Federal Bureau of Investigation heroically kept widespread White House corruption from being concealed, eventually reviving important prosecutions.  Sadly, in today's increasingly convoluted moral universe, senior FBI officials, it now appears, have tried to artificially create serious "Russiagate" crimes, thereby becoming implicated in a scandal promising to be nastier than Watergate.  Congress presently awaits DOJ documents which may or may not confirm what presently seem reasonable inferences of such FBI wrongdoing.

House Approves Resolution Demanding DOJ/FBI Docs.  The House Judiciary Committee approved for the first time a resolution Tuesday demanding that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein turn over all requested documents regarding the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation during the presidential election after seven days or face possible impeachment or contempt.  The decision to move forward with the resolution came after a year of battles with the Justice Department and FBI to turn over requested documents.  The committee voted on party lines 15-11 to pass the resolution directing Rosenstein to comply within the next seven days or face the consequences.

Seven Mysterious Preludes of the FBI's Trump-Russia Probe.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation formally opened its Trump investigation after Western intelligence assets and Clinton-affiliated political operatives repeatedly approached the Trump campaign and tried but failed to damage it through associations with Russia, a growing body of evidence suggests.  Before the FBI began investigating the Trump campaign in an operation code-named "Crossfire Hurricane," there were at least seven different instances when campaign advisers were approached with Russia-related offers.

Tyranny Has Finally Arrived in America.  Enough with the endless investigations that lead nowhere and leave the guilty unpunished.  Enough with absurdity of agencies investigating themselves in order to protect the institution they serve rather than the people.  We need to see indictments and trials to restore the foundations of our political order.  The president and his Attorney General need to give more support to the Congressional oversight committees trying to do their jobs of holding accountable the abusers of the public trust.

Did the FBI Frame Flynn?  The criminal case against Gen. Michael Flynn for lying to FBI agents was incredibly weak. [...] Not too many years ago, a claim that the FBI fabricated evidence to facilitate a prosecution would have seemed incredible.  Today, given what we know of the corruption of the Bureau under the Obama administration, such a claim appears entirely plausible.  This is just one more thread in the slowly unraveling story of the misuse of intelligence and law enforcement agencies by the Democrats to try to frustrate the candidacy of Donald Trump, and to destroy his administration after his election.

The FBI Needs to Be Turned on Its Head.  This has nothing to do with the everyday men and women of the FBI.  FBI Director Christopher Wray should stop hiding behind them like his mother's skirt.  This is all about the leadership of the FBI — the seventh floor of the building.  There was a culture created and protected that allowed a definitive bias to exist during the 2016 election and beyond in that group.  That is on Comey's head and there is no evidence Wray has obliterated that culture.  The fact that Peter Strzok and Lisa Page exchanged so many damning text messages on their FBI devices is evidence of that culture.  We, in private industry, learned long ago that all of our emails/texts are subject to review at a further time.  Strzok and Page most likely knew that because they had seen it used against FBI suspects.  They went ahead with their communications anyway.  There is only one rationale for their behavior.  They thought they would never be looked at.  They thought they were above the law because they thought they were the law.

Can the FBI be independent?  When President Donald Trump appointed Atlanta lawyer Christopher Wray to succeed James Comey as the director of the FBI, my initial reaction was not positive.  Wray is a veteran of the Department of Justice and is part of that good-old-boy DOJ network that knows how to protect its own.  Indeed, when then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney, needed a good criminal defense lawyer — whose millions in fees were paid by New Jersey taxpayers — he hired Wray.  Christie was never indicted in the Bridgegate scandal, but defense counsel for those who were sought Christie's cellphone to demonstrate to jurors the governor's involvement in the plot to shut down lanes near the George Washington Bridge for political retaliation.  Christie claimed that he gave his phone to federal prosecutors, but they told the court that they did not have the phone.  Where was it?  In a safe of the Atlanta law firm that employed Wray.

Grassley Outlines 'Double Standard' and 'Credibility Problem' at DOJ.  "There was some shocking news in the Inspector-General's report," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the American people on Monday [6/18/2018].  "We already knew about Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and their anti-Trump text messages.  Now, in this report, we learned at least three others at the FBI did the same thing."  Grassley noted that those five FBI employees accounted for more than 25 percent of the 15-member team assigned to investigate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.  The inspector-general has referred all five of them for violations of the FBI's code of conduct.

What do Republicans suspect really happened in the FBI Trump-Russia investigation?  The struggle to uncover the FBI's conduct in the Trump-Russia probe has made some congressional investigators deeply suspicious of the bureau.  But what do those investigators think the FBI actually did in its investigation of the Trump campaign, Russia, and the 2016 election?  First, they're convinced the FBI has something to hide.  In the last 12 months, the bureau has, at various times, ignored, slow-walked, resisted, and downright stonewalled congressional requests, not to mention subpoenas, for information on the Trump-Russia investigation.  Each time the bureau hunkered down, suspicion grew on Capitol Hill.  The FBI seemed particularly reluctant to reveal to Congress not what Russians did, or what people in the Trump circle did, but what the bureau itself did.

Dirtier by the Minute:  "Alarm Bells Went Off" for Trump Campaign Aide Targeted by FBI.  Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo joined Sean Hannity to discuss the realization that informants were planted to try and set up Caputo and the campaign in a Russia collusion trap.  Caputo describes a call from a man he thinks is Russian or an Israeli who claimed to have dirt on Hillary.  Caputo says when he described the call to Mueller, that Mueller knew all about the FBI informant sent to target him.

What do Republicans suspect really happened in the FBI Trump-Russia investigation?  The struggle to uncover the FBI's conduct in the Trump-Russia probe has made some congressional investigators deeply suspicious of the bureau.  But what do those investigators think the FBI actually did in its investigation of the Trump campaign, Russia, and the 2016 election?  First, they're convinced the FBI has something to hide.  In the last 12 months, the bureau has, at various times, ignored, slow-walked, resisted, and downright stonewalled congressional requests, not to mention subpoenas, for information on the Trump-Russia investigation.  Each time the bureau hunkered down, suspicion grew on Capitol Hill.  The FBI seemed particularly reluctant to reveal to Congress not what Russians did, or what people in the Trump circle did, but what the bureau itself did.

Problems at the Justice Department and FBI Are Serious.  What do you do with an FBI agent, sworn to uphold the law, who flagrantly violates the law in a rogue investigation aimed at making a name for himself by bringing down some high-profile targets?  Why ... you promote him, of course.  At least that is the way the Justice Department answered that question in the case of David Chaves, an FBI agent who serially and lawlessly leaked grand-jury information, wiretap evidence, and other sensitive investigative intelligence to the media in his quest to make an insider-trading case against some celebrities.  And when finally called on it, the Justice Department circled the wagons.

Rosenstein Won't Allow Grassley to Interview Agent Pientka Who Knows DOJ Likely Altered Mike Flynn's Testimony.  [On] Friday May 11, 2018, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein stating Comey testified the FBI didn't think General Flynn lied.  Grassley also revealed Joe Pientka was the second FBI agent who joined Peter Strzok on January 24th, 2017 in an ambush style interview to take down General Flynn.  Rosenstein refused to give the Senate Judiciary Committee the requested documents.  Instead, Rosenstein provided "insufficient" documents prompting Grassley to send a second scathing letter to the Deputy AG.  It appears Senate investigators have finally received the 302 notes or evidence confirming Cernovich's February scoop that the FBI summary on Flynn's interview was altered by McCabe.

Devin Nunes to DOJ: Hand over docs on alleged FBI informant by Tuesday or it's 'obstruction'.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has set a Tuesday deadline for the Justice Department to provide documents related to an alleged FBI informant looking for suspicious ties to the Russians who spoke with members of President Trump's 2016 campaign.  In a letter sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Friday, the California Republican demanded the documents be provided to all committee members "and designated staff," which would go beyond top members of Congress which have been invited to view material related to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

A skeptical chairman Grassley really, really wants to see the Michael Flynn 302.  On Feb. 15, 2017 — that would be 16 months ago — Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked the Justice Department to turn over the transcript of fired national security adviser Michael Flynn's infamous call with the Russian ambassador, plus other documents related to the Flynn case.  The department refused.  Some of Grassley's and Feinstein's questions were answered the next month, on March 15, 2017, when the FBI's then-director, James Comey, briefed the committee on Flynn and other matters in the Trump-Russia investigation.  It was at that briefing that Comey told lawmakers the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe he lied to them.

Secrets Travel Fast in DC.  To paraphrase Napoleon's "secrets travel fast in Paris," secrets travel fast in D.C., as we learned this week with the indictment of James A. Wolfe, a 30-year veteran staffer of the Senate Intelligence Committee indicted for lying to the FBI about leaking to, among others, his former paramour, Ali Watkins, an NYT reporter.

James A. Wolfe, former Senate intel panel security director, indicted for allegedly lying to FBI.  A former security director for the Senate Intelligence Committee — who was in charge of maintaining all classified information from the Executive Office to the panel — was indicted for allegedly giving false statements to FBI agents looking into possible leaks to reporters, the Justice Department announced Thursday night [6/7/2018].  James A. Wolfe, 58, served as the panel's security director for 29 years, according to the feds.  Wolfe lied to the FBI in December 2017 about contacts he had with three reporters, the indictment read.  He also allegedly lied about giving two reporters non-public information about committee matters.

Top Senate staffer arrested in leak probe, after NY Times reporter's records are seized.  A longtime staffer for the Senate Intelligence Committee has been arrested on charges of lying to investigators probing the potential leaking of classified information, the Justice Department announced Thursday night [6/7/2018].  A federal grand jury indicted the staffer, James A. Wolfe, 58, on three counts of making false statements in December about contacts with reporters, including providing sensitive information related to the work of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which he served as security director for 29 years.  He was arrested Thursday and is expected to appear in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Friday.

Adam Schiff Caught in Huge Lie About Carter Page's March 2016 Interview With FBI Officials.  Carter Page says his interview with the FBI in March of 2016, before the Russia dossier was compiled, had nothing to do with Russian collusion or the Trump campaign, rather he was questioned about events that transpired in 2013 in a case where he was a witness in support of the FBI, reports Paul Sperry.  This statement by Page directly contradicts Adam Schiff's 10-page memo wherein he claims the former Trump campaign advisor was grilled by the FBI in March of 2016 about his ties to Russia.

Pandora's Box:  Trump/Russia May Expose Extent of "Five Eyes" Allied Spying.  Over the past month, a number of articles have made reference to the timeline surrounding the Obama administration's counterintelligence operation into President Donald Trump's campaign's alleged ties to Russia.  Investigations conducted by Congressional and Senate committees are entering the second year and what has been pieced together by investigators — battling for documents every step of the way — challenges the information the FBI and former senior Obama administration have revealed about the investigation.  Their evidence is at odds with the DOJ/FBI timeline leaked to various news outlets indicating the investigation began in late summer of 2016.

Report: Obama White House Tried to Intrude on FBI's Russia Investigation.  The Obama administration tried to take over the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign, The Hill's John Solomon reported on Fox News Thursday night.  And according to Solomon, the FBI began spying on members of the Trump campaign to gather the intelligence that ultimately justified the collusion investigation, weeks or even months before the FBI had a formal predicate.  "That's very important.  The rules say you can't use sources until you have a predicated investigation.  The predication is July 31, 2016," Solomon told Fox host Sean Hannity.  The investigative reporter said he had sources and documents backing up his claim that he would be making public in his report in The Hill on Friday.  He stressed that informants were making contacts with the Trump officials and providing information to the FBI "much, much earlier than July 31."

FBI Spy Stefan Halper's Media Contacts Could Pose A Problem, Retired FBI Officials Say.  While working as a spy for the FBI, Stefan Halper interacted on multiple occasions with the media, both on the record and, according to a University of Cambridge researcher, as an anonymous background source.  Those media interactions, which occurred between December 2016 and March 2017, could be cause for concern for the FBI, according to two retired senior bureau officials who worked closely with confidential informants during their careers.  "This is something that is highly irregular and not something that I would have ever tolerated with any of the folks working for me," retired FBI investigator and CNN analyst James Gagliano told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

DOJ Employee Donations Overwhelmingly Favor Democrats.  Political donations from those who work at the Department of Justice (DOJ) overwhelmingly favor Democratic candidates so far this cycle, data shows.  Individuals at the DOJ have contributed a total of $192,534 so far this election cycle, with $159,800 (83 percent) of this amount going to Democrats.  Republicans, on the other hand, have been the recipients of just 14 percent of the total contributions from those at the agency, pulling in $27,129 in donations. [...] DOJ workers handed out nearly $950,000 in total political donations in 2016.  Of this amount, $818,985 went to Democrats, or 87 percent of the total donations.  Republicans garnered $108,882 in donations from those at the agency in 2016, or 12 percent of all the money given.

FBI Had No 'Clear Criminal Predicate' for Trump Campaign Snoops.  Spying on President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for "national security" purposes would not provide the "clear criminal predicate" required to authorize such surveillance, retired FBI Special Agent James Wedick said Wednesday [5/23/2018] on "The Ingraham Angle."  "You need to know that the guidelines say:  If you're going to use an informant to infiltrate a political organization, you need a clear criminal predicate," Wedick told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.  "National security is not a criminal predicate."

The FBI Used Its Secret Spy Program To Protect Killers, Jail Innocents, And Screw Victims.  Following reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used at least one spy to secretly surveil members of the Trump campaign, fired former FBI director James Comey lashed out at critics of his agency's activities during the 2016 election.  "Facts matter.  The FBI's use of Confidential Human Sources (the actual term) is tightly regulated and essential to protecting the country," Comey tweeted on May 23.  "Attacks on the FBI and lying about its work will do lasting damage to our country."  While Comey's record on truth-telling is decidedly mixed, he is correct that facts matter and that the FBI's use of informants is governed by strict guidelines.  How and why many of those guidelines came to be are important facts that the American public deserves to know as it considers revelations that the FBI used wiretaps and spies to surveil Donald Trump's presidential campaign, his transition, and perhaps even his presidential administration.

What Happened During the FBI Interview With Flynn?  FBI Special Agent Joe Pientka, if subpoenaed, will provide testimony regarding the circumstances surrounding his interview with former National Security Advisor Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, sources with knowledge have been telling this reporter for more than a year.  And recent reports scattered across social media and some news outlets claiming that Pientka's testimony will bring down former FBI Director James Comey, are not true.  For nearly a year, I have reported that Pientka, who at the time I addressed as the second agent in the interview with Flynn, would testify if subpoenaed.  But so far Pientka, has not been subpoenaed for his testimony.  Pientka and embattled FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, interviewed Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017 about his conversation with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, as first reported here.

DOJ Agrees To Allow Congress To Review Requested Documents.  The Department of Justice will allow Congress to review highly classified requested documents relating to the FBI's investigation into the Trump 2016 campaign in conjunction with the White House and other agencies, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday [5/21/2018].  "Based on the meeting with the President, the Department of Justice has asked the Inspector General to expand its current investigation to include any irregularities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's or the Department of Justice's tactics concerning the Trump Campaign," Sanders said.

Trump Orders DOJ to Investigate FBI's Campaign Infiltration.  As previously reported by TGP's Kristinn Taylor, President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon he is ordering the Justice Department to investigate whether the Obama administration spied on his 2016 presidential campaign.  The order comes on the heels of leaks to the New York Times and Washington Post that the Obama administration had an "informant" make several approaches to three Trump campaign officials, included one that involved an offer of cash and another an offer to "advise" the campaign.

Donald Trump Orders Justice Department to Investigate Obama Surveillance.  President Donald J. Trump announced his decision to demand an official investigation of former President Barack Obama's administration on Sunday [5/20/2018] for infiltrating or surveilling his presidential campaign for political reasons.  "I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes — and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday afternoon [5/20/2018].

The fight moves up a notch.  The scenario anticipated more than a year ago in King vs.  King has advanced to the semi-finals.  The Russian collusion affair, which began with the incoming president on the defensive, has now become a set of simultaneous offensives with each side trying to jail the other.  "President Trump on Sunday said he would 'demand' a Justice Department investigation into whether the FBI 'infiltrated' his 2016 presidential campaign," USA Today reported.

Watergate II: Collusiongate.  Unlike Watergate, the current crisis in government/spying/politics doesn't have a memorable name.  But for those of us who lived through Watergate it has a certain resonance with that event as well as major differences, imparting a strange sense of familiarity, dislocation, and increasing alarm.  This isn't some burglary to get some dirt on the opposing party, and it isn't a threat (unfulfilled) of using government entities to "get" the opposition.  This is the marshaling of those government entities by one administration in order to "get" the next, and nearly succeeding.

Report:  Inspector General Will Declare FBI, DOJ Broke Law in Clinton Email Probe.  A new report suggests an imminent Inspector General (IG) report may rule that FBI and Justice Department officials broke the law in their handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.  Investigative reporter Paul Sperry said Thursday [5/17/2018] that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has "found 'reasonable grounds' for believing there has been a violation of federal criminal law in the FBI/DOJ's handling of the Clinton investigation/s," adding that the top watchdog official has "referred his findings of potential criminal misconduct to Huber for possible criminal prosecution."

FBI Used Secret Program To Gather Information On Trump Campaign, No Judge Needed, Report Says.  A report released by The New York Times on Wednesday revealed that the FBI, under Director James Comey's leadership, used a secret program that does not require the approval of a judge to gather phone records and "other documents" on Donald Trump's presidential campaign.  The report also revealed that a government informant met several times with Trump campaign officials, which validates a March 8, 2018 report from The Washington Post.

Conspiracy to Frame Trump 'Unraveling,' Ex-Prosecutor Says.  New revelations that FBI agents pressed a Russian oligarch with ties to independent counsel Robert Mueller to help build an election collusion narrative only reinforce the likelihood of a conspiracy to frame President Donald Trump, according to a former federal prosecutor.  Joseph diGenova, who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia under Ronald Reagan, reacted to a report in The Hill that FBI agents met with Oleg Deripaska in September 2016.  They were in search of information that Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort was conspiring with the Russian government to throw the presidential election to the Republican nominee.

Huma Abedin Laptop Emails and The Non-Investigated Issues Therein.  The Department of Justice Inspector General will soon release a report on the government's investigation of Hillary Clinton's mishandling of classified information.  It's taken a long time; and with good reason.  The scale of the misconduct and criminal activity is staggering. [...] The emails along with the fact that they were on Anthony Weiner's laptop was kept secret and not investigated for four weeks (Sept 28th, through Oct 27th) by top officials at the FBI.  Who stalled the investigation and why?

Hunt For FBI Mole Intensifies.  Previously we reported on a disturbing op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Kimberly Strassel suggesting the FBI had a mole within the Trump campaign.  After a battle between House Intel Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over the release of classified information that was so top-secret that the DOJ refused to show Nunes on the grounds that it "could risk lives by potentially exposing the source, a U.S. citizen who has provided intelligence to the CIA and FBI" — the agency finally relented on Wednesday [5/9/2018], allowing Nunes and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) to receive a classified briefing.

Treasongate and the FBI "Source": A Deep Dive on Stefan Halper.  Open-source research points to a man named Stefan Halper as the CIA asset tasked with planting incriminating evidence of Russian "collusion" on the Trump campaign.  In March, @The_War_Economy presciently foresaw this development.  Here's a deep dive into Halper and his involvement with low-level Trump staffers for the sole purpose of advancing the "insurance policy". [...] Americans of every political stripe should stand together to destroy the weaponization of our intelligence assets, hunting every one of these criminals down and prosecuting them.

Mark Warner:  Trump Aides' Contacts With Russians Could Be 'Coincidences,' Not Collusion.  The top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence acknowledged in a recent interview that contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russians could be "a set of coincidences" rather than collusion.  "I'm reserving my final judgement until we've seen all the witnesses we need to see, and we've gotten all the facts.  So I'm going to hold off," Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said in an interview with The New Yorker's David Remnick when asked whether he believes that Trump associates conspired with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 presidential election.  Warner and North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chair of the Senate panel, have since Jan. 2017 led an investigation into Russian interference in the election.

Did the FBI Have a Spy in the Trump Campaign?  Something tells me Glenn Simpson did not make a mistake.  Something tells me the co-founder of Fusion GPS was dead-on accurate when he testified that Christopher Steele told him the FBI had a "human source" — i.e., a spy — inside the Trump campaign as the 2016 presidential race headed into its stretch run.  When he realized how explosive this revelation was, Simpson walked it back:  He had, perhaps, "mischaracterized" what he'd been told by Steele, the former British spy and principal author of the anti-Trump dossier he and Simpson compiled for the Clinton campaign.  Simpson gave his testimony about the FBI's human source at a closed Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on August 22, 2017.  He did not try to retract it until the uproar that followed the publication of his testimony on January 9, 2018.  The latter date is significant for reasons we'll come to.

About That FBI 'Source'.  The Department of Justice lost its latest battle with Congress Thursday [5/10/2018] when it allowed House Intelligence Committee members to view classified documents about a top-secret intelligence source that was part of the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign.  Even without official confirmation of that source's name, the news so far holds some stunning implications.  Among them is that the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation outright hid critical information from a congressional investigation.

Senator Chuck Grassley Drops Atomic Sledgehammer on FBI — Requests FBI Reports and Testimony From Special Agent Joe Pientka.  Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has just dropped a sunlight grenade into the prosecution of Michael Flynn with a jaw-dropping request letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.  Within the letter Chairman Grassley outlines a prior briefing from fired FBI Director James Comey to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and contrasts the false presentations of Comey — regarding Michael Flynn — against recently known evidence.

The Insurance Policy, The "EC", The 2016 FBI Counterintel Operation, and The Mysterious Informant.  In addition to everyone here, Wall Street Journal Author Kimberly Strassel also smells the familiar aroma of a cover-up deployed by administrative state officials inside the DOJ and FBI.  The DOJ is refusing to allow public inquiry into the source John Brennan used to create the "EC".  Additionally, the Deep State media advocates, writ large, are working furiously to attack Chairman Devin Nunes for his inquires.  Methinks they doth protest too much.  Obviously the compliant media, Democrats and second-tier DOJ/FBI officials don't want anyone to discover the source of the 2016 counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign.

Newly Released Unredacted Documents Show DOJ-FBI was Protecting Comey.  On Friday night [5/4/2018] the Department of Justice released the requested unredacted documents to to the House Intelligence Committee on the investigation of Donald Trump and the interview of Michael Flynn by corrupt agents Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok.  The newly unredacted portion of the House Intel Report revealed Comey told lawmakers that the FBI agents who interviewed General Flynn did not detect any deception.  This was a complete opposite to what Comey has been telling reporters these past few weeks while promoting his new book.

This is another example of a Friday night document dump.

The Coup Is Still Underway.  Former U.S. attorney and special counsel Joe DiGenova and ex-Secret Service agent Dan Bongino were both masterfully interviewed by Mark Levin last night.  The result was stunning.  As many of you know, I follow the dual scandals of the DOJ's exoneration of Hillary Clinton and persecution of Donald Trump, eh, rather closely.  This interview revealed new information for me, including how Robert Mueller is protecting certain Russian oligarchs from exposure by redacting or concealing their names.  I simply cannot state this strongly enough:  every American should watch this surgical deconstruction of, for lack of a better term, Obamagate.  Please watch it and please pass it along.  I am not overstating things when I say that this information is vital to saving our Republic.  [Video clip]

God Bless Judge Ellis.  [Scroll down]  I'm caught — as the world is — among three channels.  One is Justice with Jeanine Pirro on FNC.  She's hot as a pistol tonight.  She has Rudy Giuliani and Victoria Toensing — two towering lawyers.  They're talking about a federal district court judge in Virginia who has just dropped a bomb right down Mueller's smokestack and it's blowing him up.  The bomb is the judge, T.S. Ellis, asking a Mueller lawyer what the heck the Manafort prosecution has to do with the alleged Russia/Trump collusion that started the whole Gestapo chase.  The judge asked what Mueller's authority was for the Manafort case.  Incredibly, the DOJ attorney said he was not allowed to say.  It was a secret.  Judge Ellis exploded.  In words to this effect he said, "But I'm the judge.  It can't be a secret from me why you're in my court."  He gave the government two weeks to answer.

Preparing for The Inspector General Report on The FBI Investigation of Hillary Clinton.  As a result of the known OIG investigative findings already the top FBI and DOJ officials in charge of the Clinton investigation have been fired, demoted or removed from responsibility:  Director James Comey (fired), Deputy Director Andrew McCabe (fired), FBI Legal Counsel James Baker (removed — status unknown); FBI investigative Agent Peter Strzok (demoted, reassigned); DOJ special counsel to McCabe, Lisa Page, (removed, reassigned); and DOJ Deputy AAG Bruce Ohr (demoted, twice).  Additionally other officials resigned immediately after the preliminary IG findings were made public:  FBI Communications Director Mike Kortan (quit); Director Comey Chief-of-Staff, Jim Rybicki (quit); DOJ-NSD DAAG Mary McCord (quit); DOJ Deputy AAG David Laufman (quit).  In total, almost no one within the "small group" conducting the Clinton email investigation has survived initial Office of Inspector General scrutiny.

Refresh on How DOJ and FBI "Small Group" Officials Intentionally Worked To Clear Hillary.  The scale of the misconduct is staggering.  John Spiropoulos, a former TV news reporter at WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington, DC, has created a series of video reports as a reminder on the background on the crime, the coverup and the corruption.

Outrageous Redactions to the Russia Report.  Cute how this works:  Kick off the week with some "the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted" bombast from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, by which he rationalizes that his defiance of subpoenas and slow-walking document production to Congress — which is probing investigative irregularities related to the 2016 campaign — is required by DOJ policy and "the rule of law."  Then end the week with the Friday-night bad-news dump: the grudging removal of DOJ and FBI redactions from a House Intelligence Committee report on Russia's election meddling.  Now that we can see what they wanted to conceal, it is clear, yet again, that the Justice Department and the FBI cannot be trusted to decide what the public gets to learn about their decision-making.

In No Apparent Rush, the Grand Inquisitor Plods On.  Should he wish, Mueller can be at this for the rest of his life, with an unlimited budget, and at taxpayer expense.  But this is not justice in any meaningful sense of the term.  Rather, it's the sore-loser Left's latest attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election by orchestrating, via deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and St.  James Comey, a quasi-legal proceeding to demonstrate that Donald Trump is unfit to sit in the Oval Office, and that therefore his presidency must be ended by any means necessary.

The Rape Culture of Politics by Investigation.  While it's tempting to joke about the ridiculousness of federal investigators and lawmakers continuing to sniff out a crime that did not happen, it's no laughing matter.  [Michael] Caputo said he has incurred about $125,000 in legal fees and he's not done yet.

Why All the Secrecy?  Many people believe, as I do, that the president should not be subjected to questioning by a prosecutor on the facts as we presently know them.  From that premise, however, they argue that Mueller may not subpoena the president, or that the president may ignore any subpoena.  Neither of those things is true.  A prosecutor has the power to subpoena virtually anyone.

Mueller probe is a political counter-revolution to overthrow Trump — It must be defeated.  Nearly two years ago, the British people voted for Brexit.  They rejected the arguments of the political, business, academic and media establishment, which were united in their support for the European Union and its elitist agenda that favors the rich.  Instead, voters chose populism, voting for Britain to become a self-governing, independent nation outside the EU.  You can say they were wrong; you can lament their decision.  But you can't deny the facts of what happened.  But guess what?  Denying the facts is exactly what the elitists are trying to do.

Special Counsel To Judge:  You Don't Have The Authority To Review What We're Doing.  Yesterday [5/4/2018], the special counsel had a very tough day in court.  Federal district judge T. S. Ellis was openly skeptical not only of the authority of the special counsel to undertake the prosecution of Paul Manafort on crimes that are over a decade old, but he was blatantly skeptical of the honesty of the special counsel as well.  It probably wasn't lost on the judge that the special counsel had said in court filings that Manafort had been in contact with Russian intelligence operatives in 2016 and then had to admit, via a Brady motion, that it actually had zero evidence that this was true.  Now the transcript has started leaking out and it looks worse than the media reports from yesterday.

FBI Delays Release of Communications With Firm That Examined DNC Servers.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has pushed back the estimated completion date of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents pertaining to its communications with the security firm that examined the Democratic National Committee's hacked servers to October.  The Washington Free Beacon submitted the FOIA request in July 2017 with the FBI seeking all communication between the bureau and CrowdStrike, Inc., the California-based cyber security firm that examined the DNC's servers following the infiltration that led to the release of John Podesta's emails.  The FBI said in December the documents should be available by March.  The FBI, which was never granted access to the DNC's servers for inspection, instead relied on the third-party firm that was brought in by the DNC for information regarding the compromised network who concluded that Russia was behind the hack.

U.S. judge questions special counsel's powers in Manafort case.  A federal judge said Special Counsel Robert Mueller should not have "unfettered power" in probing ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, and accused Mueller of using criminal cases to pressure Trump's allies to turn against him.

Earth to Jeff Sessions....  It is staggering to witness the Justice Department go off the rails and barrel toward a showdown with our president over innuendo and manufactured misdeeds.  From the beginning of the special counsel appointment and despite Jeff Sessions's recusal, I felt confident that Trump and Sessions had a behind-the-scenes plan to navigate this quagmire.  Ridiculous was the notion that Trump's attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was not fully in his camp in light of the glaring double standards of justice demonstrated at every point from before the election to present day.  I expected the A.G. to pursue other completely legitimate avenues that might create leverage and pressure on Rosenstein and by proxy, the special counsel, to gracefully withdraw their aggression against the president.  And yet we sit here dumbfounded as the witch hunt lingers on.

The Process is the Punishment (As Always).  There have been exciting developments in the "Russia investigation".  There always are, because that is the nature of open-ended money-no-object investigations.  But, to me, the most interesting development was the testimony of Michael Caputo, who appeared just before me on Tucker Carlson's show last night.  Mr Caputo was, briefly, a very minor Trump campaign aide — and so his life has been destroyed.

Of the bureaucracy, by the bureaucracy, and for the bureaucracy.  Bullies who abuse their power like Bungling Bob Mueller and Jim Shady Comey co-opted the national press decades ago.  Using leaks to take out critics — indeed President Nixon — the FBI created this illusion that it is an independent agency that is some unelected guardian angel of our republic.  Comey shattered that image when his agents smashed to smithereens the evidence of Hillary's breaches of national security in an effort to get her elected so Comey could continue his job.  The press ignored this story.

The FBI Shouldn't Be Above The Law Either.  [W]hile it might come as a surprise to many, the Justice Department is not an "independent" entity.  Presumably those who work for the DOJ have fealty to law and justice first, yes, but they are subordinates, ultimately, of the president of the United States, who was elected legally and has the identical powers to Barack Obama or George W. Bush.  Or, in other words, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein doesn't work for CNN personalities or Vox explainer writers.  He works for Trump.

Dershowitz: Trump Better Off Challenging a Subpoena Over Sitting Down With Mueller.  Alan Dershowitz said Special Counsel Robert Mueller could force President Trump's hand by playing the "subpoena card."  According to a new report, Mueller told Trump's legal team that he could subpoena the president to appear before a grand jury if Trump refuses an interview with Mueller's team.  It appears to have been the first time Mueller raised the possibility of compelling Trump to testify as part of his investigation into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials ahead of the 2016 election.

FBI Has Not Requested Anti-Trump Agents' Personal Email Records.  The FBI says it has not requested information from the personal email accounts of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, the two bureau officials who exchanged anti-President Donald Trump text messages while working on the investigation into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia.  The disclosure was made in a letter sent May 2 to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Grassley, a Republican, questioned why the bureau has not sought Strzok and Page's personal email records, noting they referred to using private email accounts to conduct government-related business.

FBI's James Baker, Lisa Page resign.  Two FBI officials — both advisers to former FBI Director James Comey — are resigning from their posts at the agency.  James Baker, who served as the bureau's top lawyer until late last year when he was reassigned as an adviser to FBI Director Christopher Wray, is resigning, per the New York Times.  He is also being looked at for possibly disclosing classified information with journalists about the so-called Trump dossier, though he has not been charged.

FBI-DOJ caught using redactions of House Intel Committee Report to protect their posteriors.  The release of a less redacted version of the House Intelligence Committee Report on Russian active measures (AKA "collusion") has exposed abuse of the redaction process to protect the bureaucrats at the FBI and Department of Justice.  In theory, redacting of official documents prior to public release is supposed to be solely to protect confidential sources, or protect ongoing prosecutions, or otherwise serve legitimate government interests.  Redactions to prevent embarrassment or potentially illegal activities on the part of federal officials is not legitimate.  Yet that is clearly what happened when the House Intelligence Committee report was first redacted by the DOJ and FBI.

Here Are Three Scary FBI Scandal Factors You Must Know.  There are three scary but crucial factors underlying the rapidly growing FBI scandal that most people miss, even though these factors are hidden in plain sight.  Recognizing and understanding this trio goes a long way toward explaining what has happened in the scandal — and where it is likely to go next.  First, there's Horowitz's revenge.  Virtually everybody in the nation's capital is waiting either in fear or in eager anticipation for the upcoming investigative report of Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.  Horowitz is among the most respected and effective IGs ever appointed, but former President Barack Obama, who nominated him in 2011, may consider that decision among the most regrettable from his eight years in the White House.

FNC's Baier Grills Comey Over Dossier, E-Mail, Leaks in Epic Interview.  Former FBI Director and new author James Comey has spent the past 12 days on his book tour promoting A Higher Loyalty, the supposed greatness of Comey himself and the lack thereof on the part of President Trump.  However, no prior interview compared to his Thursday [4/26/2018] hit on the Fox News Channel's Special Report as host Bret Baier offered a masterfully tough tour de force akin to interviews of yesteryear by the late Tim Russert.

Comey Confirms:  In Clinton Emails Caper, the Fix Was In.  If Comey had not been the FBI director, he would not have had these discussions with the president of the United States about investigations.  His memos, clearly, were made in the course of and in relation to his official duties.  They were written on FBI-issued equipment.  The standard FBI employment agreement unambiguously states:  ["]All information acquired by me in connection with my official duties with the FBI and all official material to which I have access remain the property of the United States of America.["]  These memos belonged to the government.  The information in them belongs to the government.

FBI Never Investigated Abedin/Clinton Laptop Emails In October 2016.  As many people are aware, CTH has decided to go back through two years of documents, releases, reports, testimony, media interviews; including interviews with fired FBI Director James Comey; question all prior assumptions; re-examine the entire framework within all the known granular DOJ and FBI activity; and finally contrast it all against the full scope of released messaging between FBI Agent Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.  Within this project some breakout discoveries need to be highlighted.  One of those discoveries pertains to the Fox News interview with James Comey and Bret Baier.

Time to End the Resistance of the Swamp.  The ongoing Mueller "investigation" is not a legal matter.  It's a continuation of abuse of power by the Obama administration, which behaved as if Democrats were going to reign forever.  The extent of their abuse started to come to light only after the elections. [...] It's clear now that the Obama administration used the FBI to persecute its political enemies.  The FBI needs to be investigated thoroughly and be purged of the Obama-Hillary loyalists who conducted these crimes.  The first step in such investigation might be to offer FBI agents and officers who observed or participated in such activities to step forward and to tell what they saw or did.  But it is also clear that Mueller does everything in his power to prevent such investigation.  This alone justifies arresting him and charging with obstruction of justice.

James Comey Creates Deeper Legal Jeopardy With CNN Townhall Answer.  FBI Director James Comey appears on CNN tonight and digs himself deeper into legal jeopardy.  Remember as you watch this answer, on March 20th, 2017, while still officially FBI Director, Comey testified to congress a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign began in July 2016.  In an effort to attempt to obfuscate his current legal and professional malfeasance in leaking information, via his leaks to the media, Comey insists he did nothing wrong.  However, Comey also states that it would be a violation to leak "information about an ongoing investigation."  As Comey describes his leaking of his notes from a conversation with President-elect Trump, he conveniently avoids the contradicting fact that President Trump was a person within the investigation the FBI was conducting.  [Video clip]

FBI Scandal:  Deep State Corruption Of FBI, Justice Was There From Very Start Of Hillary Email Probe.  Were the Justice Department and FBI corrupted by their efforts to protect Hillary Clinton and her future chances at the presidency?  Recent revelations suggest the answer is an unqualified yes, and now those who cooperated may soon feel the law's sting for doing so.

Goodlatte, Gowdy say they struck deal with DOJ for Hillary Clinton probe documents.  The Republican chairmen of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced Monday that the Justice Department has agreed to provide them with documents related to the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server.  The deal was struck after Reps.  Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., met this month with the U.S. attorney, John Lausch, who has been selected to respond to Republican demands for documents.

IG Report:  Obama's DOJ Tried To Influence FBI Clinton Foundation Probe.  Missed until the Washinton Times put two and two together, the inspector general's report about the leaking and lying of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was the story of Justice Department big shot calling McCabe with the purpose of interfering with the FBI's investigation into the Clinton Foundation: [...] The DOJ Inspector General is already looking into both the FBI and Department of Justice handling of the Hillary Clinton probes.  As he has mentioned the phone call as part of his McCabe leaking investigation, it is likely he the phone call will also be part of those probes.

FBI Wants to Take 16 Months to Process Only Half of Comey Docs Requested Under FOIA.  President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton was outraged on Thursday [4/19/2018] after the FBI told the watchdog group it will take 16 months to process only half of the Comey docs they requested under FOIA.

New emails bolster GOP claims of FBI, DOJ 'coordination' on Clinton case response.  Emails reviewed by Fox News from February 2016 suggest the FBI and DOJ worked together to craft a response to a key development in the Hillary Clinton email investigation, amid newly raised Republican concerns about a "concerning level of coordination" between the two agencies during the probe.  The emails concern the period after 22 messages with "Top Secret" information were found on the former secretary of state's personal email server.  Republican Rep. Mark Meadows cited them in a letter earlier this week claiming former FBI Director James Comey's testimony to Congress — in which he downplayed FBI-DOJ coordination on the Clinton case — may be at odds with documents suggesting "frequent" coordination.

Lawmakers Make Criminal Referral on Clinton, Comey, Lynch to DOJ on Steele Dossier.  Congressional lawmakers made a criminal referral Wednesday to the Department of Justice Attorney General Jeff Sessions against former senior-level Obama administration officials, including employees of the FBI connected with the unverified dossier alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as those involved in the warrants used to spy on a former Trump campaign volunteer, this reporter has learned.  The lawmakers also made a criminal referral on former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and threats made by her DOJ against the FBI informant, who provided the bureau with information on the Russian nuclear industry and the approval in 2010 to sell roughly 20 percent of American uranium mining assets to Russia.

Justice Department watchdog to report on Clinton-related FBI leaks.  A long-awaited U.S. Justice Department internal watchdog report on former FBI chief James Comey's public disclosures on Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state and whether FBI employees leaked information to try to hurt her 2016 presidential bid is expected to be issued next month.

Congress Pursues Clinton for Hiding Fusion GPS Payments.  As I reported here, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission last year alleging that Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee violated campaign finance laws by not revealing their payments to Fusion GPS.  In an October 25, 2017 filing with the FEC, the watchdog group accused the Hillary for America campaign and DNC of failing to "accurately disclose the purpose and recipient of payments for the dossier... effectively hiding these payments from public scrutiny."  The complaint was filed one day after the Washington Post confirmed that both entities paid Perkins Coie — a politically-connected law firm — to retain Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Donald Trump, which resulted in the infamous dossier.  According to the Center, the Clinton campaign and DNC paid Perkins Coie more than $12 million during the 2016 election cycle; all payments were recorded as "legal services."  No payments to Fusion GPS were itemized on disclosure reports by either group.

Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossier.  The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump's connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said.  Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research.  After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

New emails show Hillary-FBI-DOJ coordination.  Newly uncovered emails containing 22 messages with "Top Secret" information found on former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's personal email server indicate that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) "coordinated" efforts to devise a response to a major development in her email probe.  The recent discovery bolsters Republicans' newly raised allegations that there was a "concerning level of coordination" between the FBI and DOJ during Clinton's private email investigation.  "Republican Rep. Mark Meadows cited [the accusations] in a letter earlier this week claiming former FBI Director James Comey's testimony to Congress — in which he downplayed FBI-DOJ coordination on the Clinton case — may be at odds with documents suggesting 'frequent' coordination," Fox News announced.

Republicans Call For DOJ Investigation Into Comey, Clinton, Lynch, Strzok And Page.  A group of House Republicans are calling for the Department of Justice to investigate a laundry list of former agency heads and people involved in the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server.  The letter is addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, FBI Director Christopher Wray and U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah John Huber.  It asks that each of these men use their respective powers to investigate "potential violation(s) of federal statues" on the part of former FBI Director James Comey, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI counsel Lisa Page.

Obama's Justice Dept. feuded with FBI, agents quit as politics played larger role.  Acrimony between the FBI and Department of Justice was so bad in the waning days of the Obama Administration some agents quit the bureau, a former G-man said.  Feuds over the direction of investigations — and particularly some of the high-profile politically-involved probes — began to build up as the 2016 election approached, and as the FBI felt pressure from its political masters at the department.  Agents in field offices did not trust department lawyers they viewed as Washington bureaucrats, while the department's headquarters, known in the business as Main Justice, felt rank-and-file agents weren't following orders and, at times, strongly disagreeing with superiors.

FBI Ignores Warnings on Boston Bombers — Nikolas Cruz — Omar Mateen, But Executes Pre-Dawn Raid For Trump Tape.  It seems like every time there is a terrorist attack or a mass shooting we hear later the suspects were being monitored by the FBI prior to the attack.  The FBI always has a plethora of excuses as to why they failed to thwart yet another mass shooting or terrorist attack.  Oddly enough, the FBI found it necessary to raid Trump's personal lawyer's home at 6 AM for dirt on Stormy Daniels and Trump's [...] "Hollywood Access" [sic] tape.

Comey: I Announced the Hillary Investigation Because Polls Showed Her Ahead.  In his new book "A Higher Loyalty," former FBI Director James Comey says the reason he announced that the FBI had re-opened its investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server was polling.  Yes.  Seriously.  In late October of 2016, just days before the presidential election, polling was skewing in Clinton's favor.  Comey says this subconsciously influenced him to send a signed letter to Congress announcing that the bureau had re-opened its investigation into the former secretary of state.

Comey hints at damaging material involving ex-AG Lynch 'still unknown to the American public'.  James Comey's cryptic reference in his new book to "a development still unknown to the American public" involving then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Hillary Clinton email probe is sparking furious speculation inside and outside the Beltway.  According to ABC News, Comey writes in "A Higher Loyalty:  Truth, Lies and Leadership," that he became the public face of the investigation partly because of the mysterious development which he felt could cast "serious doubt" on Lynch's independence.

DOJ IG releases explosive report that led to firing of ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.  Andrew McCabe, onetime acting FBI director, leaked a self-serving story to the press and later lied about it to his boss and federal investigators, prompting a stunning fall from grace that ended in his firing last month, says a bombshell report released Friday by the Justice Department's internal watchdog.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz, appointed by President Barack Obama, had been reviewing FBI and DOJ actions leading up to the 2016 presidential election.  The report, handed over to Congress on Friday and obtained by Fox News, looked at a leak to The Wall Street Journal about an FBI probe of the Clinton Foundation.

Time for Mueller to lay it all out.  The violent swings of the leaky pendulum make this an excellent moment to call timeout on the Mueller probe.  What does he have, where is he going and when is he going to get there?  Those are basic questions that need to be answered.  The American people deserve facts instead of waters muddied by partisanship, innuendo and special access to biased big-media companies.  Mueller's team includes some active Democrats, and whether they are behind the anti-Trump leaks is, for the moment, beside the point.  The point is that the leaks are creating a reality all their own about the investigation and the president.

What is the FBI Hiding? [Part 2].  The FBI has responded to the letter from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes that I posted here yesterday.  In a self-advertised act of magnanimity to Congress, the Department of Justice and the FBI will make an "extraordinary accommodation" to the committee by allowing its members access to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications and renewals.  It's very big of them.  However, there are limits.  With respect to Nunes's specific demand for the electronic communication — "EC" in investigative jargon — that officially kicked off the counterintelligence "collusion" investigation, the Department of Justice and the FBI seem to have drawn the line.  The demand for the document, let us recall, dates back to one of the committee's August 2017 subpoenas.

Paul Manafort says FBI illegally searched storage unit containing Ukraine files.  Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Trump's 2016 campaign, has asked a federal judge to throw out all evidence in his criminal trial that was obtained when the FBI searched a storage unit that contained materials related to work by him and Rick Gates in Ukraine.  Manafort's lawyers on Friday issued a motion to suppress evidence, which would disallow special counsel Robert Mueller from using the evidence from the Alexandria, Va.-based storage unit.  "The evidence obtained from the government's search of the storage unit should be suppressed," said the lawyers in the motion.

Victor Davis Hanson Discusses the Downstream Effects of Corruption Within Obama's FBI and DOJ.  Victor Davis Hanson appears on Fox Business with Lou Dobbs for an excellent interview on the topic of DOJ and FBI political corruption.  In the first response from Hanson he instinctively and accurately outlines the scale of the challenge that was/is faced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  Hanson frames the context of the myriad of issues very well, and as such represents himself as one of the few big-picture-brains who really gets it.  [Video clip]

Issa thinks special counsel ultimately will lead FBI-Justice probe.  California Darrell Issa said Sunday that existing probes into the Obama administration's FBI and Justice Department "could and will likely lead" to a special investigator, while fellow Republican and South Carolina Lindsey Graham suggested the time is now for a special counsel to lead such an investigation.  Issa, a member and former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the chamber's top investigative panel, made his comments to Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," after Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last week he would not immediately appoint a new special counsel to investigate Republican concerns involving the FBI and Justice Department.

Russians Bragged About 10 Spies Assigned to Clinton; Mueller, McCabe, and Rosenstein Helped Cover It Up.  The Uranium One scandal is the gift that keeps on giving:  Each new revelation continues to show more and more just how deep the rabbit hole of Clinton corruption goes.  An FBI informant has informed several congressional committees that during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state and leading up to her approval of the deal that handed over control of at least 20 percent of U.S. uranium reserves to Russia, Moscow assigned 10 spies in the United States to cozy up to Clinton to guarantee the deal.  And when it came to the attention of the FBI, Clinton had some big names help keep it under wraps.

Hey, Mueller, Here's Proof of Election-influencing Collusion With Foreign Nationals.  Just so we know our tax money isn't wasted, special counsel Robert Mueller recently handed down vanity indictments against 13 nationals and three entities of the Russian persuasion for, essentially, "trolling" before, during, and after the 2016 election.  But what of the far worse election meddlers?

Judge Nap:  Inspector General Will Find 'Treasure Trove' of Abuses by FBI, DOJ.  The probe stems from allegations of surveillance abuse by the FBI and DOJ in efforts to obtain FISA warrants to examine Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.  "FBI people who knew they couldn't get a warrant from a judge like me, where the standard is probable cause of crime, go to FISA where the standard is probable cause of talking to a foreign person," Napolitano said on "Fox and Friends."

First Investigate, then Dismantle, the FBI.  Some on the right were disappointed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy there would be no special counsel for now in the Hillary Clinton matters (email and Uranium One, one assumes) and the FISA/dossier/surveillance affair.  Not so fast.  Hiding in plain sight in Sessions' letter was information considerably more important than a special counsel, pro or con.  As he mentioned a week ago on Shannon Bream's show but now has made public officially, the attorney general has assigned a senior U.S. attorney to the investigation — John Huber.  Importantly, working in concert with the inspector general, Mr. Huber can actually indict people.

The Democratic Party Collusion Story Gets Worse.  We have barely begun to plumb the depths of the scandal arising out of the 2016 presidential election.  James Comey, John Brennan, Christopher Steele, Fusion GPS, the DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Perkins Coie law firm, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, unknown Russians, Andrew McCabe — the list goes on and on, and it keeps getting longer.

Special counsel investigating the FBI.  The headline and accompanying story in the Hill made it appear as if Attorney General Jeff Sessions is defying the Senate:  "Sessions declines to appoint second special counsel."  The story said, "Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed in a letter to lawmakers Thursday [3/29/2018] that he had declined to name a second special counsel to investigate allegations of surveillance abuse within the Department of Justice, despite pressure from the Republican Party for him to do so."  I read the letter.  Sessions, a veteran prosecutor, said a special prosecutor isn't necessary.  Inspector General Michael Horowitz and his staff of 470 people are handling the investigation in the corruption of the FBI by Barack Obama and company.  Sessions named U.S. Attorney John Huber — an Obama appointee — of Utah to handle any prosecutions that may arise from Horowitz's investigation.

More Anti-Trump Bias Revealed:  Anti-Trump FBI Agents Laughed About Comey Intervening In Election.  Newly-revealed text messages between anti-Trump FBI agents show that the agents talked about former FBI Director James Comey intervening in the 2016 presidential election.  The texts between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two high-level FBI agents, appear to show they were discussing and laughing about Comey getting involved in the election just days after the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation spying on members of the Trump campaign.

What Is John Brennan Hiding?  An Obama-appointed Department of Justice inspector general finds that former FBI Director Andrew McCabe lacked candor while testifying under oath about stories he leaked to the press.  The IG report goes to the FBI-run Office of Professional Responsibility, which recommends McCabe's firing.  Attorney Jeff Sessions fires McCabe.  It's true the president taunted McCabe relentlessly on Twitter, but it's pretty clear he had nothing to do with the firing.

McCabe's Bogus Witch Hunt Of Jeff Sessions Confirms Worst Fears About FBI/DOJ Politicization.  Thousands upon thousands of media reports over the last year and a half have intimated, suggested, or flat-out asserted that President Donald Trump is a traitor who colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton.  What this widely held theory lacks in evidence, its diehard supporters in the media and other anti-Trump bastions make up for with their faith-filled conviction of its truth.  An alternate storyline has been unfolding over that same time.  The basic contour is that claims Trump stole the election by treasonously colluding with Russia are the result of a coordinated campaign that was bought and paid for by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee, weaponized by the federal government, and promulgated by a completely compliant media.

DOJ Admits They Have a Grand Jury Empaneled in FBI and DOJ Investigation.  Today [3/22/2018] chairman Bob Goodlatte sends a formal subpoena to the DOJ (Inspector General Michael Horowitz) for documents regarding the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server, potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility recommendation to fire former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Mark Levin:  Dimwit Republicans Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio Ignoring the Real Election Interference.  During a discussion with Sean Hannity on his show last night, Mark Levin picked up the one critical fact everyone seems to be missing or ignoring about Andrew McCabe and the Russia story.  The lawyer, radio, and television superstar first explained that the person who colluded with the Russians was Barack Obama.  Levin blasted Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio for worrying about "bad cop" Andrew McCabe losing his pension.  He is not losing his pension.  Democrats and these few Republicans are upset about this "bad cop" and his "mob boss" James Comey.  These are bad people, he said.  "The director of the FBI, Comey, and the deputy director, McCabe, these were bad cops," Levin told Hannity's audience.  "They were politicizing the FBI, they were obstructing certain investigations, they were pressing the foot on the gas peddle in other investigations, they are bad cops!"

Bombshell reveal:  A grand jury already is hearing evidence on DOJ and FBI scandals.  We are on the verge of a huge political explosion.  While there have been calls for a special counsel to investigate the DOJ and FBI scandals, and many conservatives have been outraged at the seeming passivity of "Gentleman Jeff" Sessions (aka Sessionzzz in some quarters), it now is clear (as I have already figured) that a grand jury far outside the Beltway already is hearing evidence dug up by DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz, whose report is now believed to be coming in April.  Following release of that report, expect heads to explode all over the media, all over the Deep State, and among NeverTrumps.

Was The Mueller "Investigation" Actually Created By The Russians?  It's Starting To Look That Way.  There's mounting evidence to suggest the near-entirety of the Robert Mueller investigation is actually a perfectly executed Russian government chaos operation that would never have been possible without the help of current leaders in Congress and multiple members of the former Obama administration.

Jim Jordan:  Why did DOJ hide Strzok's link to federal judge?  Newly obtained text messages are showing that Trump-hating FBI agent Peter Strzok, well, he was close friends with U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras.  Now, the messages are also revealing that Strzok and his FBI lover Lisa Page, she wanted to meet Judge Contreras at a cocktail party.  Is that collusion?  Now, this is the same judge the presided over a hearing with the former national security adviser, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI.  Now, Judge Contreras then later mysteriously recused himself from the Flynn case.  [Video clip]

The FBI's Blood Feud:  "This Is Going To Get A Lot Uglier Before It's Over".  For a microcosm of the current madness of American politics, look no further than the weekend meltdown after Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe late Friday.  Mr. Sessions acted on a recommendation by the FBI's own Office of Professional Responsibility, but Democrats and the media ignored that and called the firing part of Donald Trump's plot to undermine the FBI and steal American democracy.  Mr. Trump then seemingly tried to confirm the accusations with a Twitter fusillade hailing Mr. McCabe's firing and escalating without cause to attack special counsel Robert Mueller.  Which triggered another round of claims that Mr. Trump's days in office are numbered, or should be.

Is James Comey A Serial Liar?  When President Trump accused former FBI director James Comey of lying under oath in a tweet on Saturday [3/17/2018], defenders rushed to Comey's aid.  But Comey has been saying a lot of things that are decidedly fact challenged.

Former FBI Director Goes On Record:  "Comey, McCabe, & Brennan All Corrupt & Everything Leads Back To Obama".  James Kallstrom is no joke.  With nearly thirty years in the FBI, several of them as the Assistant Director, Kallstrom knows how the agency functions far more than most.  So when he says there was a plot to protect Hillary Clinton from prosecution and to illegally influence the 2016 Election people should pay attention.  Kallstrom goes on to call the entirety of the FBI investigation against Donald Trump completely phony.  Maria Bartiromo's own take appears very much to compliment Mr. Kallstrom's assertions.  The Deep State shenanigans run very deep and in 2016 are linked to the Obama White House.  Barack Obama wanted a third term.  His support-system within the FBI, DOJ, State Department, CIA, the Establishment Media, etc., wanted the same and they all broke the law in their attempt to do it.  Donald Trump has managed to reveal much of it.  The media continues to ignore it because so many of them are implicated in the illegal manipulations of the public as well.  That means it's up to YOU to bypass the media and help to spread the truth of what is really going on.

Why is the FBI leadership so incompetent?  Think about this — FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had to wait to retire because he had too few years in the FBI.  Yet, he was the Deputy Director.  Many agents with 3 years, or even less, time actually investigating cases, become Supervisors at FBI Headquarters.  Once they get on the management track, they stay there.  Many FBI managers have little investigative experience, which has a catastrophic impact on major cases as these people rise up the ranks.  During FBI Director Mueller's tenure, there was a significant period of time when former police and military personnel were intentionally not hired.  This had a devastating impact on the FBI's culture.

FISA Judge Removed From Flynn Case Had Secret Friendship With Anti-Trump FBI Official Peter Strzok.  The federal judge who recused himself from the Michael Flynn case is personal friends with Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who conducted the White House interview in which the former national security adviser has pleaded guilty to lying.  The friendship between Strzok and Rudolph Contreras, a judge on the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., is discussed in text messages the FBI agent exchanged with his mistress, Lisa Page.  The Justice Department redacted the references to Contreras in 384 pages of text messages provided to Congress.  Congressional investigators read the underlying documents and have filled in some of the gaps.  The unredacted versions of the texts were obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

A second special counsel should be investigating the FBI leaks.  Anyone waiting for final proof that Washington needs a second special counsel got it Friday.  The breathless anticipation over whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions would fire Andrew McCabe before McCabe's FBI retirement began was a ridiculous exercise better suited for a television game show.  The pressure built because if he survived Friday, McCabe could retire with a lifetime pension estimated to be worth $1.8 million.  But if Sessions followed the recommendations of Justice Department lawyers and fired McCabe for wrongdoing before the witching hour, the former deputy director would get no pension and might face a criminal investigation.  The absurdity was not negated when Sessions finally fired him late in the evening.  Either way he ruled, the spectacle was not worthy of the grave issues involved.

Why aren't Mueller, the FBI and DOJ interested in illegal actions that might alter our elections?  In announcing the recent indictments against Russians brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told the American people that "there is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity.  There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election."  That was good news.  The bad news is that the special counsel, the FBI, and the Department of Justice don't seem interested in illegal actions that may actually affect the outcome of U.S. elections.  The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) sued Pennsylvania on Monday for concealing numerous cases of noncitizens registering to vote.  One Pennsylvania election official testified before the state Legislature that an estimated 100,000 noncitizens are registered in the commonwealth.

Obama FBI Officials May Face Charges of Conspiracy, Obstruction of Justice and Contempt of Court.  According to the report, DOJ and FBI officials who abused the FISA process could be subject to charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and contempt of court.  Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of treasonous thugs.

The Case For and Against a Special Counsel Investigation of DOJ and FBI.  A second special counsel might investigate any or all of the following:  possible criminal violations by senior FBI and DOJ officials in obtaining a warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign volunteer, the bureau's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server to send classified information and whether senior Obama administration officials, including the president, were aware of the use of the unverified dossier to open an investigation into the Trump campaign and possible Russian collusion.  The investigations could also be conducted by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who is expected to conclude his much-anticipated report into the FBI's handling of the Clinton server investigation in the next several weeks and who Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked to investigate possible FISA warrant abuse against Carter Page, who briefly volunteered for the Trump campaign in 2016.

FBI, Hillary scandals could have a ripple effect on Wall Street.  Again, if you are investing in US financial markets, keep a close eye on developments regarding the FBI and the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation.  The markets don't like chaos, and that's what we are headed for.  There have been a lot of major developments recently, although most big media organizations are ignoring them.  They will soon regret that.

A few people are leaving the FBI, but they're not going to prison!    Yet.
The Trump, Clinton Scandals Are Claiming A Lot Of Bodies — At FBI And Justice.  [I]f the FBI and Justice are so squeaky clean of political bias, what accounts for the growing pile of top officials deeply involved in those supposedly above-board investigations who've been reassigned, demoted or have suddenly quit their jobs?  There have been nearly half a dozen in just the past few weeks.  Thankfully, reporter Sharyl Attkisson has been keeping a running tally.

Hillary Clinton's Fingerprints Are All Over The FBI's Investigation Into Trump's Russia Ties.  A significant part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's basis for investigating the Trump campaign's Russia ties is looking more and more like a political hit job carried out by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.  Her campaign's fingerprints are on at least three separate pieces of information fed to the FBI, including the Christopher Steele dossier Republicans say formed the basis of a secret warrant obtained to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page.  A former State Department official confirmed on the record Thursday [2/8/2018] that Clinton associates were funneling information to Steele as he was compiling a dossier commissioned and paid for by the Clinton campaign and DNC.  That's on top of the recent revelation that a top Department of Justice official fed the FBI information compiled by his wife, who was working for the firm Clinton and the DNC were paying to dig up dirt on Trump, Fusion GPS.

The rogue FBI may collapse.  The public is now learning of the use of the FBI to destroy evidence of Hillary's exposure of national secrets while helping to fabricate a dossier to justify spying on the Trump campaign.  This is go-to-jail stuff.  The problem is, who prosecutes these bad cops?

The Dirty Dozen Deep State Operatives Who Have been Demoted or Left the DOJ-FBI Since Election.  Ten People Have Been Fired or Demoted from the DOJ and FBI since 2017.

How Obama's Hillary Clinton cover-ups destroyed DOJ and FBI.  [Scroll down]  The announcement states, "There was a problem with Strzok and Page's bureau-issued Samsung Galaxies — that 'firmware upgrades' and other technical issues deleted records of texts sent from not only their phones but many phones across the bureau.  We regretfully report that these text messages were lost."  This occurred during a crucial time in the Russia investigation that included Michael Flynn's resignation due to lies about his Russian ties and FBI Director James Comey's firing.  We now know this statement is not true since the "lost" emails have now magically reappeared.  However, the DOJ has decided to withhold, for personal and other reasons, more than 85% of the text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

Confirmed: Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal helped spread Russia collusion fever before the election.  Earlier this week we wrote about the possible involvement of Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal in feeding information to Christoper Steele, author of the infamous Clinton/DNC funded dossier.  That dossier formed a key part of the FBI's presentation to the FISA court to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page.

"Mike" is Out — Michael P Kortan Quits FBI.  Another longtime FBI official quits today.  According to Fox News Catherine Herridge reporting, FBI Asst.  Director Michael Kortan (aka text message "Mike"), the head of the FBI Public Affairs Office, has announced he is retiring.  Mike Kortan was previously exposed by FBI Agent Peter Strozok as having specific information that the investigation into Hillary Clinton was manipulated by the "small group".  "Mike's" job was to sell the ruse as a valid investigation.

Another longtime Comey aide leaving FBI.  The longtime head of public affairs at the FBI — who was a confidant of former director James Comey — is planning to retire, Fox News has learned.  A notice went out this week for a retirement get-together for Michael Kortan scheduled for Feb. 15.  Since 2009, Kortan has served as assistant director for public affairs, an influential job that controlled media access.  He also served under former director Robert Mueller, now leading the Russia probe.  The FBI confirmed to Fox News that Kortan is retiring.

Tear Down That Wall ... of Silence.  As the Obama wall of silence begins to crumble, the FBI's reputation is befouled by its own rash actions, a politicized Justice Department stands revealed as, well, politicized, and the Democrats furiously spin the facts outlined in the Nunes Memo and subsequent revelations, there's only one overarching question left to ask:  what made them think they could get away with it?  And by "them," I mean the lot of them — the corrupt, partisan officials, the political operatives masquerading as selfless public servants, the intelligence community pooh-bahs who betrayed their trusts, the preening "straight arrows," the talking heads, the Washington bureau chiefs, the White House correspondents, every man jack of whom did his level best to create, run, and disseminate a disinformation operation designed to do one thing:  destroy the unwanted and unwelcome presidency of Donald J. Trump.

Sudden FBI departures indicate that the jig is up.  Choose your metaphor:  rats leaving a sinking ship, cockroaches scurrying away from the light, or maybe just people cutting deals to save their butts.  Yesterday [2/8/2018] saw the FBI fan feculated.  The blandness of this Politico story, titled "Two more officials cited in FBI texts step down," conceals really, really big news.  The jig is up.  Each of the "officials" who is "stepping down" is leaving under duress and likely facing serious legal consequences for acts that have been disclosed — acts that go to the heart of the fraudulent application for the Page FISA warrant and the obstruction of justice in the Hillary email probe.

Russia-Trump Investigation:  How Did Hillary Clinton Get FBI, FISA To Do Her Political Dirty Work?  Recent revelations point to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and a secretive group of supporters and hangers-on both inside and outside of the FBI and Justice Department as having a far deeper personal involvement in the investigation than first thought.  Fears of a politicized and manipulative "deep state" are looking less paranoid by the day.  The involvement of Hillary Clinton campaign aides in both the FBI's and Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia's supposed ties to the Trump campaign in 2016 now seems deeper, and more nefarious, than first thought.

Disgraced FBI Agent Lisa Page Also Trashed Pro-Lifers: 'I Truly Hate These People'.  Disgraced former FBI lawyer Lisa Page not only has a strong distaste for President Trump, but also pro-lifers.  According to LifeNews, on page 13 of the Interim Report by Sen. Ron Johnson titled "The Clinton Email Scandal And The FBI'S Investigation Of It," released yesterday [2/7/2018], there is an "exchange between FBI senior lawyer Peter Strzok, Page's co-adulterer, and her about pro-life Americans."  Simply put, Page not only dislikes the pro-life movement but "truly hate[s] these people," making it personal.

How The Media Buried Two Huge FBI Stories Yesterday.  For more than a year and a half, the media have gone all-in on reporting every possible angle of President Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russia.  No story update has been too small, no encounter with a Russian too inconsequential, and no anonymous source too sketchy to generate outsize coverage and histrionic claims from major media.  But as the Russian collusion story disintegrates, another interesting story ascends.  Investigations by multiple congressional committees as well as an investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Justice have shown irregularities in the handling of the most politically sensitive probes in recent memory:  the investigation into Hillary Clinton's mishandling of classified information while secretary of State and the investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged nefarious ties with Russia to meddle in a U.S. election.

FBI Missed Clinton Emails Openly Marked Classified, Wanted To Conclude Probe Before IG Caught Mistake.  The FBI didn't notice that some emails from Hillary Clinton's private email server were marked classified with a "(C)" when they were sent — something that seemingly would have been one of the first and most obvious checks in an investigation, and one that FBI agents instantly recognized put the facts at odds with Clinton's public statements.  The Intelligence Community Inspector General spotted it after the FBI missed it, texts between FBI agent Peter Strzok and his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, reveal.  "Holy cow," Strzok wrote, "if the FBI missed this, what else was missed?"

Peter Strzok Savages Chelsea Clinton in Newly Released FBI Text Messages.  FBI lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are in hot water after their text messages were blasted out to the public.  The two were caught disparaging Trump, Gowdy, 'hillbilly' Virginians and many other people.  Strzok also savaged Chelsea Clinton leading up to the DNC convention in late July of 2016 and then again during the convention.

Read FBI Texts Of Agents Hating On Trump While Supporting Illegal Immigration.  These are/were high-ranking FBI officials charged with responsibilities like counter-intelligence and yet when you read their communications you are struck by how dumb/immature they are.  They are left-wing, yes, but also oddly adolescent in how they view the world around them.  Spoiled, petulant, and thinking their version of morality is all-important.  They helped orchestrate the sham investigation into the very real crimes of Hillary Clinton and then were deeply involved in the real investigation into the false crimes they have attempted to manufacture against POTUS Trump.

Sr. Congressional Oversight Member:  Everything From Fast & Furious, Benghazi, IRS, & Other Obama Scandals Connected To Corrupt DOJ & FBI.  Congressman Paul Gosar didn't hold back in a recent interview and he's now begging the American people to pay more attention and demand answers from their political leaders.  According to Gosar, the Obama White House micromanaged everything from drone attacks to illegal surveillance on political opponents and was able to do so via very carefully placed DOJ and FBI firewalls that to this day continue to insulate Barack Obama and other Obama-related officials, from justice.

Exclusive — Rep. Paul Gosar:  Obama's Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS Scandals All Connected to DOJ, FBI Corruption in Trump Probe.  Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), a leading conservative member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Breitbart News Daily on Wednesday that he believes that there is an interconnectivity between various high-profile Barack Obama-era scandals and the latest revelations about corruption at the Department of Justice and FBI.

FBI 'needs to clean house,' former agents say.  Former FBI agents say it may take a long time to wash away the stain of political-bias accusations lobbed against the bureau, which has long been viewed as the nation's premier law enforcement agency.  Criticism of the storied bureau has been bipartisan.  Republicans point to accusations that the agency mishandled the justification for spying on a Trump campaign figure, and Democrats are furious at the FBI's investigation of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her email and private server while she headed the State Department.  In between are a slew of embarrassing text messages from an agent involved in both the Trump and Clinton investigations, revelations of top officials' partisan ties, and a wave of demotions and ousters.

Flashback: President Obama Promised 'No Political Influence' in FBI Investigations 'Period.  Full Stop.'  On April 10, 2016, former President Barack Obama vowed that there was no political influence on any investigations in the FBI.  "I guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department, or the FBI, not just in this case, but in any case," Obama said.  "Full stop.  Period."  Obama made his comment in an interview with Fox News reporter Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

Also posted in the catalog of Obama's lies.

Explosion over the Washington Swamp.  The first director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, was at the helm for almost 50 years.  During this time, the FBI turned from a small agency that dealt with federal crimes to one of the leading political forces of Washington.  Hoover transformed the FBI from a criminal investigation agency into a criminal and political investigation agency.  The files he collected over the years (both real and imaginary) made the FBI a powerful lever of political influence.  Probably, Hoover could have become president if he wanted to.  But he played the role of the "Gray Eminence" until the end.

Nunes memo raises question:  Did FBI violate Woods Procedures?  There are strict rules requiring that each and every fact presented in an FBI request to electronically spy on a U.S. citizen be extreme-vetted for accuracy — and presented to the court only if verified.  There's no dispute that at least some, if not a great deal, of information in the anti-Trump "Steele dossier" was unverified or false.  Former FBI director James Comey testified as much himself before a Senate committee in June 2017. [...] Presentation of any such unverified material to the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court to justify a wiretap would appear to violate crucial procedural rules, called "Woods Procedures," designed to protect U.S. citizens.

An open letter to the FBI agent who resigned because of Trump.  Until recently Josh Campbell was an FBI special agent.  He was appointed in 2008 and stationed in the Los Angeles field office.  He also once served as a special assistant to James Comey.  He is now most well known for a New York Times op-ed, "Why I am leaving the FBI."  In the wake of Comey's firing last May, he wrote another piece for USA Today — a glowingly sympathetic tribute to the just-relieved director, "James Comey is no showboat."  What struck me odd at the time — having retired in 2015 after serving for 25 years in the FBI agent and executive management ranks — was this:  Who afforded a GS-13 bureau employee the privilege to have a personal opinion piece published?

Comey's Former Special Assistant Lands Gig at CNN After Resigning From FBI and Trashing Trump.  Josh Campbell quit the FBI last week.  Then he wrote an op-ed for The New York Times where he complained about people exposing the corruption and criminal acts by agency leaders.  "I am reluctantly turning in my badge and leaving an organization I love," Campbell wrote in the NY Times op-ed.  It turns out this precious snowflake was crooked Cop Comey's special assistant.

I am proud of the FBI.  As this case against the misuse of the FBI and the intelligence community develops, I realize that without good, honest agents in the FBI, we would have never known, because Hillary would be president. [...] After Trump's election, Obama and company foolishly tried to use the deep state to bring Trump down.  Instead, they should be sweating things out.  You see, the good guys in the FBI (and elsewhere) are not letting this die.  Comey scorched the bureau's reputation.  Some good people in the bureau are fighting back.

FISA Court Judge James Boasberg Rules Comey Memos Will Remain Secret.  The media are pointing out that a Federal District Court Judge, has ruled against the release of the memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote to himself while acting head of the FBI.  However, one little thing they fail to notice: [...]

Keep calm and Comey on.  CNN, USA Today, the Daily Caller, Judicial Watch and other outlets brought a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI to obtain copies of the memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote to document his conversations with President Trump.  Comey, you may recall, strategically leaked a memo or two to his friend Daniel Richman, a professor at Columbia Law School, under orders to leak the contents to the New York Times.  When President Trump fired Comey, Comey sought the appointment of Special Counsel to remove Trump from office.  And not just any Special Counsel — Comey desired the appointment of his friend Robert Mueller.  Richman followed orders.  He called the Times.  He read parts of one or more of the memos to the Times.  The Times published a page-one story by Michael Schmidt with Comey's account.  The appointment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel ensued.

FBI hired dossier author Steele to investigate Trump, fired him for lying about media leaks.  The FBI officially authorized payments to Christopher Steele, who wrote the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, but then fired the former British spy for lying to agents about his covert leaks to the news media.  The sequence of events is outlined in the declassified memo released Friday by Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  The Nunes memo is the first official confirmation that the FBI hierarchy made a decision to start paying Mr. Steele and why the deal fell through.  Justice Department witnesses in public have declined to confirm such a deal.

Other Secrets of the FBI.  During these last few days, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been the center of attention as perhaps never before.  As this is being written, a memo may be released pertaining to the FBI that may prove to be the most scandalous of all time.  This article seeks not to reveal classified or formerly classified material, but to impart a better understanding of recent events relating to the FBI.  Some of the topics covered are secrets in the sense that many people who should know better have fixed ideas that are wrong about the FBI.  Other topics are simply not known to the general public.  In both cases a better understanding of these topics will allow for a better and more-informed general discussion concerning all matters pertaining to that institution.

Why the FISA memo could lead to perjury convictions of Comey & Co..  The 2018 Groundhog Day release of the Nunes FISA memo was preceded by partisan and establishment objections that its disclosure would somehow jeopardize ... something.  The contents of the memo now show the objections by anti-Trump forces in this historic matter were certainly a case where they "doth protest too much."  J. Marsolo explains why FISA warrant procurers James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, Rod Rosenstein, and Dana Boente have reason to be nervous: [...]

The Center of the Web.  [Scroll down]  The conduct of Lynch, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, and others did not occur in a vacuum.  There was a purpose and direction to it.  The first question is, who benefits?  The answer is, Hillary and Obama.  The second question is, why did Lynch, Comey, Strzok, McCabe and others act to benefit Hillary and Obama?  They did not risk their careers to do things they knew were illegal unless they were motivated to do so by their superiors, and they believed they would get away with it because they expected Hillary to win the Presidency.  Obama set the stage when he announced publicly at the beginning of Comey's investigation that Hillary made a mistake but did not intend to violate the law, and did not endanger national security.  This was Obama's marching order to Lynch and Comey.  Comey's exoneration letter reflected Obama's statement.

Tip of The Iceberg.  For several years the U.S. justice department has maintained an attitude of non-accountability within its ranks.  The Obama years elevated that attitude and provided multiple examples of a DOJ gone rogue.  A complicit media enables that attitude by engineering a false narrative the U.S. Justice Department was/is an independent fourth branch of government; unaccountable to congress and entirely separate from the executive branch.  The House Intelligence Memo is simply using the example of currently known FISA abuse to open the door and show the U.S. electorate how corrupt this unaccountable institution has become.  Behind that door are very uncomfortable realities for all of those who constructed the weaponized agency; and also those who have benefited from it.

FBI to Trump White House:  Please Block The FISA Memo That Could Expose Us For Spying On You.  The four-page memo is seen by some as a document that could offer clarity over whether the FBI used the shoddy Trump dossier compiled by former MI6 operative Christopher Steele, whose was contracted by research firm Fusion GPS — which was given money for this opposition research project by the Hillary campaign.  It wasn't corroborated and on top of that, Steele is said to have given the FBI another dossier compiled by a Clinton political operative, Cody Shearer, which also wasn't verified.  So, did the FBI/DOJ secure FISA warrants on members of the Trump campaign by presenting before the court unverified documents?

Ron Johnson wants communications from 16 new DOJ and FBI employees, including James Comey and Andrew McCabe.  Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson has requested the Department of Justice turn over communications from 16 FBI and DOJ officials, including former Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.  In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein sent Wednesday [1/31/2018], the Wisconsin Republican requested "all documents and communications" — which includes emails, memos, notes, texts, iPhone instant messages, and voicemails — from 16 employees between January 1, 2015, to the present.  The request is part of the committee's broader probe into how the FBI handled its investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

Intelligence Recognizes Presidential Authority — A Case of Too Little, Too Late.  The FBI's top leadership — whose careers, business dealings, politics, marriages and extramarital affairs intertwine — invested itself incompetently and illegally into the 2016 election campaign against Donald Trump.  In part to cover itself, it launched the so-called "Russia probe."  Its members are personally, deeply interested in keeping the public from seeing the documents concerning these activities.  They raised the familiar shield:  release would compromise the sources and methods of national security.  The House of Representatives' Republican majority wanted the documents made public, issued a subpoena for them, and was prepared to jail senior FBI for contempt had they not complied with it.  The House compromised, being satisfied by viewing them and making a summary, which it has voted to make public.

The FBI Has 'Grave Concerns'? So Do I.  I have grave concerns about the politicization of the Department of Justice and the FBI under the Obama administration, which I have been writing about since 2010. [...] If there are "material omissions of fact," the Democrats' responsive memo no doubt will reveal them.  Good: let's lay the cards on the table.  The relevant fact here is that the FBI is no longer claiming that there is a national security problem with releasing the memo, only that it will put the FBI in a bad light.

Second Dossier by 'Creepy Clinton Confidante' Raises Doubts About FBI's Trump Probe.  Reports that the FBI has been utilizing a second dossier in its investigation of unsubstantiated claims of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign raise more questions about the credibility of the federal bureau's already controversial probe.  According to a report in the Guardian citing "multiple sources," the second memo in question was authored by Cody Shearer, a shadowy former tabloid journalist who has long been closely associated with various Clinton scandals.

Former U.S. Attorney Joe DiGenova:  FBI Going Through Worst Period in Its History.  Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Joe DiGenova Monday evening said that the FBI was going through the worst time in its history and predicted that a federal grand jury would be convened that was "not going to be pretty."  DiGenova blamed former FBI director James Comey, outgoing deputy director Andrew McCabe, and everybody else at the senior levels at the FBI for this "disgraceful moment for the bureau."  He added that after working with the bureau for over 30 years, the fall from grace of the people working there "truly saddened" him.  "Make no mistake about it," the former federal prosecutor told Fox News' Laura Ingraham.  "This was a plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton illegally, and then if she lost the election, to frame Donald Trump with an illegal crime."

Major Revelations Coming in FBI Bias/Corruption Scandal.  If you were beginning to buy the media narrative that the GOP was simply chasing a "fake" conspiracy and attempting to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation... don't do it.  There is more to the congressional investigation into the FBI and DoJ than the media is letting on.  How do we know?  Because this is the first time that we aren't seeing any major leaks from the Democrats involved in the investigation.  If there was "nothing" to this investigation, do you have any doubt that the Democrats would have already leaked the evidence that it was a "nothing-burger?"  Of course they would have.

Paul Ryan calls to 'cleanse' the FBI, backs surveillance memo release.  House Speaker Paul Ryan called Tuesday [1/30/2018] to "cleanse" the FBI as he openly backed the release of a controversial memo that purportedly details alleged surveillance abuses by the U.S. government.  "Let it all out, get it all out there.  Cleanse the organization," Ryan, R-Wis., said.

Look Who Turned on the FBI!.  Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has lost his confidence in the FBI.  Fleischer says he used to support Comey on the Hillary investigation, but now thinks it was all a sham.

Does the Washington Post understand the 'rule of law'?  The Washington Post editorialized that Republicans are trying to undermine the rule of law because they dare question the FBI and Justice Department on their motives and methodology used to justify spying on a political opponent.  Evidence now clearly shows the Justice Department did everything they could to elect Hillary and destroy Trump, abusing the FISA Court to weaponize the nation's intelligence and law enforcement apparatus.

House Intelligence Committee opens investigation into DOJ, FBI.  The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, has opened a new investigation into both the Department of Justice and the FBI.  Ranking Member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told reporters the Democratic minority was informed of the apparently new investigations Monday night [1/29/2018] "for the first time."  According to committee rules, the majority has to consult with the minority before opening an investigation.  Schiff said Monday night [1/29/2018] there was no such consultation.

Why Obama pardoned Gen Cartwright on his last day in office.  Obama pardoned Gen Cartwright on his last day in office, for leaking secrets to the NYT about Stuxnet (the US-Israeli cyber attacks on Iran).  Oh — and if this incredible thread is true, he just happens to be the grandfather of Peter Strzok's first cousin, Devin.  Cartwright, 'Obama's favorite General', was a key member of Obama's natsec team and head of the U.S. Strategic Command.  His leak to the media wasn't revealed until 2016.  He later pleaded guilty for lying to FBI agents pursuing an investigation into the leak.  In March 2015, the Washington Post reported that the sensitive leak investigation had "stalled amid concerns that a prosecution in federal court could force the government to confirm" information about the highly classified program.  Who was the investigator?  Rod Rosenstein.

FBI agents' texts reveal Hillary Clinton probe likely fixed.  The FBI is still coming under scrutiny, as some of the newly found text messages between two FBI officials have been released, and they show that the agents were apprehensive about going after Hillary Clinton.  And on Friday [1/26/2018], Republican lawmakers responded to the messages, House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy telling Fox News that it "doesn't appear anyone wanted her charged."  "Now we know the fix was in, and I think the logical thing is, if the fix was in on the Clinton investigation, and if these same people — the top people at the FBI — started and ran the Trump-Russia investigation, might there be some bad things going on there as well," Rep. Jim Jordan asked while on Fox and Friends on Friday.  "And as you look at these text messages, it sure looks like there is."

FBI's Secret, Anti-American Society.  Deep State operatives dominate the FBI.  They have never worried about discovery.  They believe they are too big to indict, and that they are somehow above the law.  Except, now, the FBI is under fire, and under examination, and the liberal left's wagons are circling the agency, not only to hide the corruption, but to keep the public from learning that a secret society of leftism is running rampant through the nation's top bureau of investigation.  They are trying to even blame the Russians for the FBI's crimes, but fall short drastically.

Why aren't the Democrats horrified by the corruption at the FBI and DOJ?  It is becoming clearer by the day, after over a year of investigations, that the Obama administration did indeed weaponize the DOJ, the FBI, the CIA, the ATF, the IRS and the NSA.  Over those eight years, each of the above agencies was transformed into an arm of the Democratic Party tasked with crippling the opposition and abrogating the Constitution.  Since all of the mainstream media already were arms of the DNC, it is well and truly a miracle that Donald Trump prevailed throughout his campaign to win the election, as the entire DC bureaucracy and media were aligned against him.  Most of them still are.  Those law enforcement institutions in which Americans have put their trust and faith for many decades have been thoroughly compromised by a group of bad actors at the top, self-appointed arbiters of electoral politics.

Why Trust the FBI?  Another big tranche of missing communications?  Really?  When the IRS was in trouble for targeting tea-party organizations and other conservative groups in the run-up to the 2012 election, thousands of emails — evidence under subpoena — went missing.  John Koskinen, then acting commissioner of the IRS, lied to Congress about how and why that happened, a fact he was later forced to acknowledge.  As a legal question, the result of all that malfeasance — destroying evidence — was precisely squat.  Lois Lerner walks the streets a free woman with a fat federal pension, and John Koskinen is perfectly comfortable showing his face in the daylight.  And now it is the FBI's turn.

The Sad Decline of the FBI.  The FBI scandals continue to unravel.  Scott has chronicled the saga of the missing Strzok/Page text messages, now apparently on the road to recovery.  The FBI has continued to stonewall Congressional investigations, to the point where Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley says the FBI is playing "a bureaucratic game of hide the ball."  And House Republicans have prepared a four-page memo that apparently summarizes the FBI's malfeasance in connection with the fake Trump dossier.  Some who have read it say it may lead to criminal prosecutions within the Department of Justice.  DOJ is demanding a look at the memo, but so far House Republicans won't turn it over.  Why?  Because they know what Justice bureaucrats will do with it.  They will leak it to their friends at the New York Times and the Washington Post so they can preemptively attack the memo before the public gets to see it.

As walls close in on FBI, the bureau lashes out at its antagonists.  There are two overarching issues.  First, there's the alleged improper use of politically-funded opposition research to justify secret warrants to spy on U.S. citizens for political purposes.  Second, if corruption is ultimately identified at high levels in our intel agencies, it would necessitate a re-examination of every case and issue the officials touched over the past decade — or two — under administrations of both parties.  This is why I think the concerns transcend typical party politics.  It touches everybody.  It's potentially monumental.

Senator Chuck Grassley Sends Letters Requesting Information.  As part of their ongoing oversight efforts to ensure that the FBI's law enforcement activities are free of improper political influence, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) yesterday sent six letters seeking information and documents regarding Christopher Steele's work on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary for America.  The letters seek information and documents relating to those political organizations' knowledge of and involvement in Mr. Steele's work and his reported interactions with the FBI while he was working on behalf of these political organizations.

Forensic Experts Retrieve 'Ghost Texts'.  The Inspector General has recovered the Samsung 5 cellphones of two embattled FBI agents at the center of ongoing Department of Justice and Congressional investigations.  The two agents are under scrutiny for their involvement in the Special Counsel's investigation into President Trump and alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.  The DOJ's Inspector general is now retrieving some of the missing five months of crucial text messages exchanged between the pair of FBI agents using forensic experts to track 'ghost texts,' left behind even after they are deleted from the devices, former and current law enforcement officials told this reporter.

House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte Discusses Justice Department Corruption.  House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte is a key figure in the overall investigation and reform effort needed within the U.S. Justice System because the House Judicial Committee holds primary oversight over the U.S. Department of Justice.  By statutory construct the DOJ and FBI are directly and primarily accountable to Chairman Bob Goodlatte and the House Judicial Committee, on all matters.  This primary oversight structure is why Chairman Goodlatte and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz are working so closely during the ongoing justice department investigation.

The FBI Is Looking Guilty In Russia Probe.  As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's vast and fruitless investigation into supposed ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government drags on, it's the FBI itself that appears to have been engaged in nefarious activities.

Sessions Has No Choice But To Appoint A Special Counsel To Investigate DOJ, FBI.  It is long past time for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a special counsel to investigate the possibility of widespread and systematic corruption, obstruction, leaking, and collusion within America's law enforcement and intelligence agencies.  The leadership of the FBI and Department of Justice have made clear, through their ongoing obstruction of congressional investigations and oversight, that these agencies simply can not be trusted to investigate or police themselves.

The Stench at Obama's DOJ and FBI.  For a brief, shining moment, CNN paused in its nonstop coverage of everything it loathes about President Trump for some actual "breaking news."  One of the network's reporters had noticed that Congress was looking into malfeasance and political corruption at the Obama-era Department of Justice, FBI, and intelligence agencies.  This is still news to most mainstream outlets.  There are now three major congressional investigations, peeling away layers of political bias, unequal application of the law, and, perhaps even felonies by senior officials who may have leaked classified documents, obstructed justice, and violated Fourth Amendment guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure.

FBI Official:  FBI Agents Threatened Physical Harm to President Trump In Missing FBI Texts.  A high-ranking FBI official confirms a number of the missing 50,000 FBI text messages — as well as other text and email messages among FBI brass — reportedly discussed initiating physical harm to President Donald Trump.  The FBI official urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — which oversees the U.S. Secret Service — to launch an investigation of the Justice Department, the FBI and all text messages missing and otherwise that threatened the President.  "This is dangerous territory and all FBI text messages and personal phones should be examined," the official said.  "It would reveal some frightening conversations."

Texts surface; FBI officials worried abt being too tough on Hillary during email investigation.  After reports surfaced earlier this week that five months of text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page disappeared and several difference excuses later as to how it could have occurred, the DOJ's Inspector General reported earlier today that the text messages are in the process of being recovered.  The result, additional text messages from October 2016 revealed that former FBI Director, James Comey thought that Andrew McCabe should recuse himself from the Clinton investigation... for starters.  Talk about a can of worms.  In the meantime, Progressives are becoming more bitter and hateful by the hour, a true sign of their desperation.

On Capitol Hill, growing frustration with FBI secrecy.  Republicans in both the House and Senate are growing increasingly frustrated with the FBI and Justice Department over tight restrictions on classified and other confidential information in the Trump-Russia affair.  The restrictions mean the FBI and Justice Department control what congressional investigators may see; under what conditions they may see it; and what they may make public.  The practical result is that voters remain in the dark about hugely consequential events going on in Washington.

FBI Text Said To "Directly" Link Obama To Illegal 2016 Election Tampering.  By now it is no secret to those paying attention that when POTUS Barack Obama weaponized federal intelligence resources to try and sway the 2016 Election in favor of the Democrat candidate of his choosing — Hillary Clinton.  It is the same kind of illegal use of federal entities to go after political enemies the Obama administration utilized previously with the IRS, the EPA, etc.  This time, though, Mr. Obama might actually have been caught with the evidence to prove it.

What Do We Do About the FBI?  Suppose what many are now suspecting is completely true — that the FBI, or parts of it, exonerated Hillary Clinton and her cohorts with a mock investigation, attempted to swing our presidential election against Donald Trump and then continued to undermine the new administration after they had won with illegitimate claims of Russian collusion orchestrated by sleazy political lowlifes?  While this is not quite Stalinist — no one was tortured in Lubyanka or sent to the Gulag for life — it's not all that distant.  It's tantamount to an internal coup d'état that is still ongoing.

The Problem Isn't Just Corruption at the FBI and Main Justice, It's Also The Media.  Over the past year we have learned that a significant number of people within the DOJ and FBI have been the source of leaks to the media.  Almost all of those leaks built on lies.  Reports have confirmed that FBI Director James Comey, his chief legal counsel, James Baker as well as his chief-of-staff James Rybicki have all been leaking to media outlets.  In addition, FBI Agent Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI Attorney Lisa Page have been identified as leaking stories to Politico, the Washington Post and New York Times.  Adding to that mix, Asst. AG Sally Yates, Asst. AG John Carlin and a host of Main Justice officials were also participating in leaks; all leaks based on self-interest.

Evidence suggests a massive scandal is brewing at the FBI.  During the financial crisis, the federal government bailed out banks it declared "too big to fail."  Fearing their bankruptcy might trigger economic Armageddon, the feds propped them up with taxpayer cash.  Something similar is happening now at the FBI, with the Washington wagons circling the agency to protect it from charges of corruption.  This time, the appropriate tag line is "too big to believe."  Yet each day brings credible reports suggesting there is a massive scandal involving the top ranks of America's premier law enforcement agency.

FBI "Small Group" Key Figure, James Rybicki, Quits — Here Comes The Lois Lerner Manuever.  [James] Rybicki was the key figure in circulating and coordinating the "Clinton Exoneration Statement" read by Director Comey.  For Clinton endeavor Rybicki was the hub collecting and dispatching communication as the 'talking points' were constructed, edited, refined and ultimately finalized.  Additionally, Rybicki was the communication hub surrounding the Clinton-Lynch 'Tarmac Meeting' discussion points that led to public statements therein by the FBI and ultimately Loretta Lynch's public statements about distancing herself from the investigation.

The feds repeatedly manage to lose or intentionally destroy evidence against powerful people the Deep State supports.  A computer glitch supposedly destroyed five months of text messages of anti-Trumpers at the FBI.  Sure it did. [...] Since the government loses and destroys so many records that would hang powerful people, why should we believe they won't destroy documents that would exonerate people they want to hang?  Journalists should stop pretending they believe in equal justice for all since they are so willing to look the other way for people they support.

Former Federal Prosecutor Outlines Scope of FBI and DOJ Corruption.  Former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova outlines the majority of the events behind the unlawful surveillance of Donald Trump and each of the participating members within the FBI and DOJ corruption.  In essence, during this 30 minute discussion, diGenova outlines much of the back-story and how FBI officials Bill Priestap, Peter Strzok, Jim Baker, Andrew McCabe and Jim Comey participated along with Justice Department Loretta Lynch, Sally Yates, John P Carlin, Bruce Ohr and Lisa Page.  Mr. diGenova has a solid grasp on the players and how they are enmeshed within the entire operation.  [Video clip]

Republicans Have Four Easy Ways to #ReleaseTheMemo — and the Evidence for It.  Social media last night and today have been flooded with inflammatory and quite dramatic claims now being made by congressional Republicans about a four-page memo alleging abuses of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act spying processes during the 2016 election.  This memo, which remains secret, was reportedly written under the direction of the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, and has been read by dozens of members of Congress after the committee voted to make the memo available to all members of the House of Representatives to examine in a room specially designated for reviewing classified material.  The rhetoric issuing from GOP members who read the memo is notably extreme.  North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, called the memo "troubling" and "shocking" and said, "Part of me wishes that I didn't read it because I don't want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much."  GOP Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania stated:  "You think about, 'Is this happening in America or is this the KGB?'  That's how alarming it is."  This has led to a ferocious outcry on the right to "release the memo" — and presumably thereby prove that the Obama administration conducted unlawful surveillance on the Trump campaign and transition.

A Bombshell House Intelligence report exposing extensive FISA abuse could lead to the removal of senior government officials.  A review of a classified document outlining what is described as extensive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse was made available to all House members Thursday [1/18/2018] and the revelations could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, several sources with knowledge of the document stated.  These sources say the report is "explosive," stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates.  The House Intelligence Committee passed the motion along party lines Thursday to make the classified report alleging extensive 'FISA Abuse' related to the controversial dossier available to all House members.

The Obama Administration's "Brazen Plot To Exonerate Hillary Clinton" Starting to Leak Out, According to Former Fed Prosecutor.  A former federal prosecutor says the truth is starting to seep out about the Obama Administration's "brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton" and "frame an incoming president with a false Russian conspiracy," according to an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation.  Joe diGenova, a former federal prosecutor, connects the dots on former Obama administration Justice Department and FBI officials who may have "violated the law, perhaps committed crimes" to politicize law enforcement and surveillance against political opponents.

FBI Agents Spoke Of 'Pressure' To Wrap Up Clinton Probe As Trump Surged To GOP Nomination.  One of the FBI agents who oversaw the Clinton email investigation spoke of "pressure" to wrap up the probe after it became clear that Donald Trump would win the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.  And in a text exchange on July 1, 2016, FBI lawyer Lisa Page suggested to her lover, counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, that then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch had foreknowledge that the FBI planned to exonerate Clinton in the investigation over her use of a private email server.  That despite then-FBI Director James Comey saying on July 5, 2016 that the Justice Department had no idea what statement he planned to make that day.

Loretta Lynch Already Knew Comey Would Let Hillary Go Free When Announcing She Would Accept FBI's Conclusion.  According to an exchange between Strzok and Bureau lawyer Lisa Page, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch reportedly knew former FBI Director James Comey would let Hillary Clinton off the hook in her email investigation when she announced the Justice Department would "defer" to the FBI's conclusion.

Ex-Secret Service Agent Warns FISA Memo Leaves Obama With Only Two Options.  On Thursday [1/18/2018], former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino warned the release of the FISA report will destroy the image of his former boss Barack Obama.  "Take it to the bank, the FBI/FISA docs are devastating for the Dems.  The whole image of a benevolent Barack Obama they've disingenuously tried to portray is about to be destroyed.  The real Obama, the vengeful narcissist, is going to be exposed for all to see," tweeted Dan Bongino[.]

This Memo May Expose Obama's Watergate.  The big explosive scandal is the one that hardly anyone talks about.  It's not Russia collusion.  It's not even Uranium One.  It's the eavesdropping on Trump staffers by Obama staffers.  This eavesdropping was partially legitimized by the Steele dossier.  It was accidentally uncovered and since then it's cost multiple people their jobs, not the people responsible, but those who learned about it.  Now the reckoning may finally be here.

Republicans are lining up to view the classified FISA abuse memo, while Democrats choose to stay in the dark.  More than 130 congressional members have viewed the classified four-page memo detailing what senior government officials describe as "disturbing and explosive" surveillance abuse by employees of the FBI and Department of Justice under the Obama administration against President Trump and members of his campaign.  But almost all of them were Republicans.  Since the document was released Thursday to House members "only Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have seen it," a congressional source with knowledge of the memo said.  The classified memo was described by senior government officials as a detailed account of the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into the FBI and apparent FISA abuse associated with the controversial dossier that alleged President Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.  As recently reported, some congressional members who reviewed the memo said the revelations may end in the removal or criminal prosecution of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice.

Ex-Secret Service Agent Warns 'Devastating' FISA Memo Set To 'Expose' Obama.  The House Intel panel's passage of New York Republican Rep. Peter King's motion to release the FISA abuse memo to fellow House members has rocked Washington, D.C.  Lawmakers from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) have called for the classified memo's immediate release.  According to Fox News contributor Sara Carter, the contents of the memo are so "explosive," that it could end special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe once and for all.  Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino warned the release of the FISA report will destroy the image of his former boss Barack Obama.

House Committee Document Could Mean Trouble for Anti-Trump "Deep-Statists".  Sara Carter reports on a classified document that was released to all members of the House today.  The document seems to be a compilation of information, prepared by House intelligence committee staff, relating to the anti-Trump dossier, the FBI, the warrant to conduct surveillance on members of the Trump campaign, and the use of that warrant.  Carter calls the document a bombshell.  Her sources say its revelations might lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, and perhaps even to the criminal prosecution of some.  They also say, less plausibly, that the revelations could lead to the end of Robert Mueller's investigation into President Trump and his associates.  What information does the classified document contain?  We don't know yet.  It's classified.

Secret (for now) memo may blow the lid off FISA warrant and Mueller investigation.  Conservative hearts are aflutter, thanks to a memo that has been made available to members of the House of Representatives (if they go to a secure room and read it).  According to several members, there is finally hope of documenting the cabal that appears to have deceived the FISA Court with the Steele dossier to obtain a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign, and then launched special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the bogus "collusion" charges, morphing into the Lavrentiy Beria strategy of "show me the man, and I'll find you the crime."  According to some members who have seen it, heads may roll, and people may end up in prison.

The Evidence Inside The "House Intel Committee Four Page FISA Memo".  As the year-long story has unfolded, there are two central components at the heart of the political corruption and weaponization of the DOJ and FBI:  First, corruption within the DOJ and FBI that included their use of unlawful use of FISA-702 exploits; and [s]econd, how that intelligence information was extracted, passed along to those outside government, repackaged, and reconstituted into the "Steele Dossier".  The finished, albeit sketchy, intelligence was later returned to the FBI to request lawful FISA court surveillance authority.  It is a circle of "intelligence laundering".  The DOJ (National Security Division), and FBI (Counterintelligence Division), worked together on the enterprise.  This collaboration is where the insider "small group" participants assemble, intersect and ultimately redistribute themselves into the Mueller investigation with the help of Mueller's adviser, FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker.  The evidence of this corrupt DOJ and FBI weaponization of intelligence is what lies inside today's Four Page Intelligence Committee Memo.

House Intelligence Committee Votes To Reveal "The Big Ugly".  The House Intelligence Committee voted today to allow all congressional members to view a summary report of classified documents behind the "Clinton Dossier".  As Byron York writes in the Washington Examiner:  "At the committee's meeting Thursday morning [1/18/2018], Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., offered a motion to allow all House members to review a brief report prepared by the Republican majority summarizing the panel's investigation into what GOP members call 'FISA abuse.'"

This Defense Of FBI's Handling Of The Steele Dossier Is One Of The Weakest Yet.  [Scroll down]  The dossier has been driving news coverage of Russia since it was legitimized via a leak to major media a year ago.  The dossier alleges treasonous collusion between Donald Trump and Russia.  It includes salacious details.  It was written by someone who journalists and intelligence officials said was a credible ex-spy.  And it was allegedly used by the FBI, even though it was a Clinton campaign document.  But more than a year after it became public, none of its significant claims have been verified.  In recent weeks, some journalists and other critics of President Trump have been downplaying its importance as a centerpiece of the FBI's investigation.  Others are trying to rehabilitate it and the shady opposition researchers who have run its messaging campaign.  The most important recent talking point, for some reason, is that it wasn't used to launch an investigation into Trump and his associates.

The FBI and Collusion:  An Inside View.  On May 17, 2017, former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate the supposed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.  Now, over a year and a half later, this has become the equivalent of the Energizer battery that keeps going on and on forever.  Not only is it apparent that there is no prosecutable collusion case, but what the investigation has proven is that the world's finest law enforcement agency, the FBI, has become blemished, stained, and tainted.  The Mueller probe and the FBI leadership have become contaminated by an anti-Trump bias, improper leaks, and text messages between senior FBI officials showing their own form of collusion.  American Thinker interviewed Jim Kallstrom, the former assistant director in charge of the FBI office in New York and a twenty-eight-year veteran of that agency, on his views.

Ohr what?  When NSA Mike Rogers discovered the unauthorized search FISA-702 contractor access queries, he shut it down.  The use of the FBI NSA database had been ongoing for a long period of time.  However, it was the increases in FISA-702(17) "About Queries" responses, from November 2015 through March 2016 that triggered the internal alarm.  When Admiral Rogers effectively shut down FBI contractor access to the FISA search system, the DOJ/FBI "small group" needed a way back in.

Congress Takes 3-Prong Approach To Surround Corrupt Intelligence and Justice Officials.  There is an interesting dynamic unfolding with White Hats and Black Hats amid the story of how political forces within the DOJ and FBI conspired with Clinton allies in the 2016 presidential election, ie.  "The Trump Operation". [...] There are two central components:  First, corruption within the DOJ and FBI that included their use of unlawful use of FISA-702 exploits; and second, how that intelligence information was extracted, passed along to those outside government, repackaged, and reconstituted into the "Steele Dossier".  The finished, albeit sketchy, intelligence was later returned to the FBI to request lawful FISA court surveillance authority.  It is a circle of "intelligence laundering".

Friday Night Document Surprise from Office of Inspector General.  Well, well, well... here's a surprise.  Office of Inspector General has apparently begun giving Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte the 1.2 million pages of evidence from the year-long inspector general investigation into FBI and DOJ politicization.

Why Is the FBI So Afraid of Encryption?  FBI Director Christopher Wray declared the bureau's inability to access encrypted electronic devices a "major public safety issue."

The Obama FBI: They're With Her.  It was the summer of an election year.  The official odds all favored Hillary.  But a failed FISA request had already been made.  And the real insurance was still coming.  Its policies would include a second successful FISA request, the Steele dossier, the mass unmasking of Trump officials and the Mueller witch hunt.  The insurance still hasn't paid off, but the men and women behind the coup are betting that it will.

GOP House investigators want James Comey to testify on Clinton email investigation.  House Republicans are preparing to ask former FBI Director James Comey to testify as part of the Republican-led probe into the FBI and Justice Department handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.  Comey's testimony, if he appeared, would raise the stakes of the joint Judiciary and Oversight Committee investigation into the decision not to charge the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee over classified emails on her private server — and the rare step for Comey to publicly announce Clinton would not be charged — as the probe has become a proxy battle on Capitol Hill between Democrats and Republicans over special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.  Several Republicans told CNN that Comey is a key witness for the investigation, although it's not clear how soon he would be asked to testify.

FBI Text Messages Suggest Senior Agents Were Sources Of Trump Dossier Leaks.  The more we learn, the more the deluge of classified leaks about the totally irrelevant Trump dossier become explicable.  The Hill reports today on an overview of the 300+ text messages between former number two guy in the FBI's counterintelligence operation, Peter Strzok, and his paramour, FBI attorney, and friend of Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page.  Strzok and Page, you'll recall, were assigned to Mueller's investigation.  The were removed when it was revealed they were sending anti-Trump/pro-Hillary text messages to each other on their government smartphones.  Strzok is the guy who made an ominous reference to having an "insurance policy" to keep Trump from being elected.  Strzok is the guy who interviewed Mike Flynn.  These texts aren't conclusive but they strongly suggest that both Strzok and Page were leaking information to the media.

The FBI Takes a Mulligan.  Last week the FBI announced that it was reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private unsecured email system while she was secretary of state and separately reviving the investigation into possibly illegal actions by her and her staff related to donations to the Clinton Foundation in those same years.  It's no wonder that the FBI wants to "take a Mulligan" on both.  The FBI's — meaning then-FBI director James Comey's — bizarre exoneration of Clinton in the former and the Bureau's burial of the latter investigation have done more damage to the FBI's reputation than any other incidents in its history.  A Justice Department Inspector General investigation into the Clinton email mess will soon highlight the ugly facts.  That is probably the reason for the revivals.

The FBI's Dubious Probe of Hillary's Emails.  The FBI did everything but drive Hillary's getaway car.  Former secretary of state Clinton is a free woman largely thanks to the tender loving care that the FBI provided her and her conspirators during its probe of her illegal, unsecure email server and related abuse of government secrets.  GOP lawmakers concluded this after grilling FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe on December 21, behind closed doors, according to John Solomon's molar-grinding exposé in Tuesday's [1/2/2018] The Hill.  "For the first time, investigators say they have secured written evidence that the FBI believed there was evidence that some laws were broken," Solomon reported.  This proof includes what Solomon calls revelations of "irregularities and contradictions" in the FBI's inquiry.

Congressional investigators find irregularities in FBI's handling of Clinton email case.  That evidence includes passages in FBI documents stating the "sheer volume" of classified information that flowed through Clinton's insecure emails was proof of criminality as well as an admission of false statements by one key witness in the case, the investigators said.  The name of the witness is redacted from the FBI documents but lawmakers said he was an employee of a computer firm that helped maintain her personal server after she left office as America's top diplomat and who belatedly admitted he had permanently erased an archive of her messages in 2015 after they had been subpoenaed by Congress.  The investigators also confirmed that the FBI began drafting a statement exonerating Clinton of any crimes while evidence responsive to subpoenas was still outstanding and before agents had interviewed more than a dozen key witnesses.

Walls Close In Around DOJ and FBI "Small Group" Participants.  Several stories broke yesterday [1/4/2018]:  [#1] Senator Ron Johnson gains copies of the manipulated/edited FBI small group "talking points" that exonerated Hillary Clinton despite overwhelming evidence.  Johnson is a Senate Judiciary Committee member and remains focused on those specifics.  [#2] Senator Chuck Grassley has identified that former FBI Director James Comey leaked classified FBI information to the media to gain political leverage.  Additional questions are now raised by the Senate Judiciary Chairman.  [#3] The FBI has begun a new review of the Clinton Foundation pay-to-play network during Hillary Clinton's tenure at the State Dept.  Investigators are questioning the people within the Clinton foundation about actions taken as a result of donations to the foundation.  [#4] A federal judge has ruled that Fusion GPS must turn over it's [sic] bank records to the House Intelligence Committee.  Including records of financial payments to journalists and media outlets to push the Christopher Steele "Dossier" story.

What the Trump dossier criminal referral means.  There's been a lot of confusion about the decision by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and crime subcommittee chairman Lindsey Graham to refer Christopher Steele, author of the Trump dossier, to the Justice Department for a possible criminal investigation.  The two senators sent a brief letter Thursday to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and FBI director Christopher Wray.  The letter, which was unclassified and released to the public Friday [1/5/2018], was a cover letter for what Grassley and Graham called a "classified memorandum related to certain communications between Christopher Steele and multiple U.S. news outlets regarding the so-called 'Trump dossier' that Mr. Steele compiled on behalf of Fusion GPS for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and also provided to the FBI."

Comey Memo Bombshell:  Evidence Hillary Committed A Felony, Deleted Mentions Of Evidence.  A bombshell report released on Thursday reveals that former FBI Director James Comey's memo on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there was "evidence to support a conclusion" that she committed a felony before subordinates removed multiple references of incriminating terms and deleted mentions of evidence that supported felony and misdemeanor criminal acts.  The website of Senate Homeland and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) released the full draft of Comey's memo on Clinton, including the edits to the draft.

Now We Know:  FBI Ignored Lawbreaking To Exonerate Hillary Clinton.  Each new revelation about how the FBI handled — or, more appropriately, mishandled — the Clinton email scandal makes it that much clearer that politics trumped law enforcement, even when it involved matters of national security.  The Hill's John Solomon reported on Wednesday [1/3/2018] that congressional investigators have turned up evidence that the FBI believed laws had been broken when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her top aides exchanged a multitude of classified information via email over Clinton's unsecured, home-brew server.

DOJ prepares new probe of Clinton's email server.  The Trump administration is launching another probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, a new report said Thursday.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions hopes to uncover new details on how Clinton and her aides handled classified material, The Daily Beast reported, citing a source close to the former Alabama senator.  The new probe was prompted by President Trump's repeated calls on Twitter and elsewhere for another FBI investigation into "Crooked Hillary," the source said.

It's time to investigate Fusion GPS's dirt-diggers, possible collusion with feds to derail Trump's campaign.  Late Wednesday [1/3/2018], the Justice Department and FBI stopped their four-month old stonewall of subpoenas from Congress for documents and witnesses related to the Steele dossier, the infamous compilation of unverified and salacious material alleging President Trump had improper dealings with Russia.  All of the material will now apparently be turned over.  The House Intelligence Committee had demanded that the Justice Department and FBI explain how they came to become involved with former British spy Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier after being paid by Fusion GPS.  The company is a notorious Washington opposition research firm that in turn was paid to dig up dirt on Donald Trump by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

FBI launches new Clinton Foundation investigation.  The Justice Department has launched a new inquiry into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in any pay-to-play politics or other illegal activities while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of State, law enforcement officials and a witness tells The Hill.  FBI agents from Little Rock, Ark., where the foundation was started, have taken the lead in the investigation and have interviewed at least one witness in the last month, and law enforcement officials said additional activities are expected in the coming weeks.  The officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the probe is examining whether the Clintons promised or performed any policy favors in return for largesse to their charitable efforts or whether donors made commitments of donations in hopes of securing government outcomes.

Will the media ask questions about an FBI cover-up or become complicit in it?  For over a year the media have breathlessly followed every turn in the probes of Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election, along with any possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.  But now a new story is about to bust open, involving Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.  Nunes sent a letter Thursday [12/28/2017] to the Justice Department demanding compliance by Wednesday with the subpoenas his committee issued for information on how the department and its FBI subsidiary have handled the Russia probe.

Now We Know:  FBI Ignored Lawbreaking To Exonerate Hillary Clinton.  Each new revelation about how the FBI handled — or, more appropriately, mishandled — the Clinton email scandal makes it that much clearer that politics trumped law enforcement, even when it involved matters of national security.

New Evidence Found That FBI Investigators Believed "Laws Were Broken" by Hillary Clinton.  In what could be a major black eye for the deep state and yet another nail in the Clinton legacy coffin, The Hill's John Solomon reports that Republicans on key congressional committees say they have uncovered new irregularities and contradictions inside the FBI's probe of Hillary Clinton's email server.

Former Bush AG On Comey's 2007 Brush With Scandal: 'Jim's Loyalty Was More To Chuck Schumer'.  [Scroll down]  The narrative from the Acela corridor media establishment is that Trump is a known liar and Comey is an honest public servant above reproach, so clearly Comey's word must be believed, the total absence of any other corroborating evidence notwithstanding. [...] In fact, the current episode is not the first time Comey and his associates plotted to oust a sitting Republican official through highly orchestrated political theater and carefully crafted narratives in which Comey is the courageous hero bravely fighting to preserve the rule of law.  To understand how Comey came to be FBI director in the first place, and how he operates in the political arena, it is important to review the last scandal in which Comey had a front-row seat:  the 2007 U.S. attorney firings and the fight over the 2004 reauthorization of Stellar Wind, a mass National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program designed to mitigate terrorist threats in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

FBI Knew The 'Bleach Bit' Computer Guy Lied In Clinton Email Testimony, Gave Him Immunity.  The Hill published a story today based on leaks from a recent House Judiciary Committee meeting where FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe discussed elements of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.  Republicans on the committee say McCabe outlined some irregularities that suggest the outcome of the investigation was rigged in Clinton's favor.  Among the new findings is that an unnamed tech specialist who used Bleach Bit to wipe Clinton's server after a congressional subpoena was issued admitted lying to the FBI.

Fusion GPS Tries, and Fails, To Distance Themselves From FBI FISA Origin.  It's every man and woman for themselves as the collective groups of architects behind the entire FBI Counterintelligence Operation, that brought us the 18-month-long 'vast Russian conspiracy' narrative, now attempt to back-track from all previous assertions.  Two days ago we shared very strong confidence the joint FBI (counterintelligence) and DOJ (National Security Division) scheme was going to come out.  The reason is simple, they left too big a trail of factual and provable evidence of their activity.

The Stunning Truth Proving the FBI and DOJ Corruption Will Come Out.  The Bigger media voices will eventually catch up to the story.  Right now the scale of the story is so large, and the consequences so damaging to the Republic, they are scared to call it out... but that won't last too much longer.  Unless they are genuinely all paid political operatives of the UniParty, by the end of this month the sunlight will be so intense their worries about losing invites to the best cocktail parties will be overcome by the enormity of the truth.

DOJ Blows Past Deadline to Turn Over Documents to Congress on Dossier.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is blasting the Department of Justice and FBI after officials ignored congressional subpoenas and blew threw a deadline to turn over documents related to the infamous Fusion GPS dossier.  In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Nunes points out that not only did DOJ mislead his Committee about the existense of documents, they also unlawfully failed to comply with congressional requests.

The DOJ and FBI rot from the head down.  So who's the head?  After months of investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his army of highly partisan investigators, spending millions of taxpayer dollars, all Mueller has to show for his efforts is a handful of process crimes that have nothing to do with the original allegations that the Trump campaign worked with Putin to influence the 2016 election.  With 90 percent of media coverage negative toward President Trump, you can be certain that if Trump conspired with Russia to hack the election, these same media would have long ago found evidence of collusion.  But they haven't, have they?  Instead, they hyperventilate over nonsense, such as a truck blocking their view of Trump's golf course, now a three-day story for CNN.

The Scale of FBI and DOJ Corruption is Beyond Comprehension.  If you spend time looking at the scale and scope, I mean honestly looking at how deeply enmeshed those ideological entities are within the system, you would also have to admit the problem is not just a matter of eliminating a few dozen DOJ lawyers and FBI agents.  The issue is much bigger.

A Timeline Of Treason:  How the DNC and FBI Leadership Tried to Fix a Presidential Election.  As an aside, this appears to be the biggest political scandal in the history of the country.  Never before has an outgoing administration attempted to fix a presidential election.  It's like something out of a third world country.  But then, Obama always admired dictators like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

Trump is right about the FBI.  The ferocity of President Donald Trump's recent attacks on the integrity of the FBI has sent shock waves through an agency accustomed to public adulation in recent years.  Sadly, much of the presidential criticism of the bureau may be entirely legitimate.  The FBI has traditionally enjoyed a highly favorable reputation among a majority of the nation's citizens.  Despite controversial programs that sometimes employed illegal forms of surveillance and enforcement methods — such as those used on black citizens lawfully protesting racial segregation, individuals in the "red scare" of the 1950s and long-haired students and others protesting the war in Vietnam during the 1960s and '70s — this reputation endured.  And American presidents continued to steadfastly defend the bureau — that is, until now.

Senator Lindsey Graham Just Confirmed The Steele Dossier Was Used For 2016 FISA Warrant.  Senator Lindsey Graham just confirmed the sketchy Steele Dossier was used to get the wiretap and surveillance warrant from the FISA court.  Brian Kilmead understood what he was hearing was serious, but didn't quite catch the specific gravity of it.  [Video clip]  This is critical and important because the specific use of the Steele Dossier underpins the BIG UGLY and exposes the entire top-tier apparatus of the FBI Counterintelligence Division (Peter Strzok, Bill Priestap, James Baker, Andrew McCabe) and the DOJ National Security Division (John Carlin, Stuart Evans, Mary McCord and Sally Yates), as well as DOJ Bruce Ohr and FBI lawyer Lisa Page directly to "conspiracy" charges.

The Dossiad.  The Steele/Trump dossier gave critical support to claims of Russian collusion with the Trump presidential campaign.  It seems to have served as the predicate for the FBI counterintelligence investigation of Trump campaign associates.  Then FBI Director James Comey briefed President Trump on the contents of the dossier before his inauguration in January.  BuzzFeed posted the dossier online.  When President Trump fired Comey, Comey engineered the appointment of his friend Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to continue the counterintelligence investigation, now including everything Trump.  NOTE:  Though he capably plays a straight talking G-Man on television, Comey is one sophisticated operator.

Did the FBI really fall for the Steele dossier's 'dezinformatsiya'?  Senator Lindsey Graham may have spilled the beans in saying the Russian-sourced Steele dossier, with its lascivious tales about a pre-presidential Donald Trump, was used by the leftist leadership at the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a pretext to get a 2016 FISA warrant against the presidential candidate. [...] With the Steele dossier exposed as a load of hooey, it shows that the FBI had political motivations all along, or else they fell for a classic Russian disinformation operation, neither of which makes the agency look good.  Having political motivations should be enough to get some of them fired.  So to defend themselves, they are claiming that the dossier was real.  This makes them look colossally incompetent.

GOP lawmaker:  FBI, DOJ officials 'should be held in contempt' if dossier docs not turned over.  A Republican lawmaker says top officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice "should be held in contempt" of Congress if they don't hand over documents related to an anti-Trump dossier to the House Intelligence Committee.  "I think if they don't produce those documents on the third of January, they should be held in contempt," Florida Rep. Francis Rooney said Saturday on Fox News' "America's News Headquarters."  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has previously said he has instructed committee staff to begin drawing up a contempt of Congress resolution for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray unless the committee's demands for records are met.

Ex-NYPD Boss:  Be 'Scared to Death' of DOJ, FBI Corruption.  The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation might be operating under a cloud of corruption and Americans should be "extremely concerned" — even "scared to death" — by it, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told Newsmax TV on Wednesday [12/27/2017].  "This doesn't come from innuendo or rumor or some nonsense," Kerik told "America Talks Live" host Ric Blackwell.  "This is from ... subpoenas and [reports that there is] some kind of conspiracy within the Bureau and Justice to interfere with the election, and it appears to be the overthrowing of a president."

FBI Chapter of Hillary Clinton Fan Club Probes President Trump.  Recent weeks have revealed the chilling extent to which special counsel Robert Mueller, a former FBI chief, has surrounded himself with pro-Hillary acolytes who scorn Trump and even his voters.  At worst, this is judicial corruption, rooted in bottomless affection for the subject of one inquiry and boundless disdain for the target of a different probe.  At best, this creates the appearance of corruption, whereby Mueller's team and their FBI and DOJ colleagues seem so pro-Hillary and so anti-Trump that even their totally even-handed and perfectly honest conclusions would be attacked as either a phony exoneration of Hillary, a fake prosecution of Trump, or an over-reaction to criticism that prompted the opposite results.  With Drano-like efficiency, these outcomes would corrode confidence in federal law-enforcement agencies and the rule of law.

Nunes blasts DOJ, FBI for 'failure' to produce records relating to anti-Trump dossier.  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is blasting the Department of Justice and the FBI for its "failure to fully produce" documents related to an anti-Trump dossier, saying "at this point it seems the DOJ and FBI need to be investigating themselves."  In a Thursday [12/28/2017] letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein obtained by Fox News, Nunes expressed frustration that information and witnesses subpoenaed by the committee in August related to the so-called Steele dossier had not yet been turned over.  The salacious dossier includes unverified allegations about President Trump's connections with Russia that he has denied.

FBI Still Considers Dossier Credible.  The FBI admits the Left's electoral collusion conspiracy theory is unsubstantiated but still refuses to distance itself from the discredited Russia propaganda dossier Democrats paid Fusion GPS to create to undermine President Trump's candidacy.  Testifying behind closed doors in Congress the week before Christmas, embattled FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe reportedly "declined to criticize the dossier's 35 pages of salacious and criminal charges against Donald Trump and his aides, but he said it remains largely unverified, according to a source familiar with ongoing congressional inquiries."

Investigating the Investigators at DOJ and FBI.  There's been a great deal of news coverage about allegations of collusion between President Trump and Russia; much of the reporting apparently accurate and some of it not.  Less attention has been given to concurrent investigations that seem to be claiming scalps even if indirectly.  The investigations into the investigators include Congressional inquiries and a multi-faceted probe launched by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz surrounding the FBI decision not to prosecute Clinton.

Looking for Mueller's red meat main course.  The conspiracy theorists are hungry, and Robert Mueller owes them dinner.  His pantry is apparently barren of groceries, and he has spent nearly $7 million of the grocery money.  So far he has only served up a cheese plate. [...] Indicting Paul Manafort satisfied growling tummies for a brief season.  So why not indict him again?  But you have to wonder what all those K Street lawyers are doing with their time at $500 an hour.

This is why Hillary needed a pardon before Obama left office.  Late last week, a top FBI lawyer named James Baker was reassigned.  The Washington Post said it was part of FBI Director Christopher Wray's effort to assemble his own team of senior advisers.  But there's probably more to it.  The FBI has been accused — correctly, I believe — of partisanship, especially when it came to handling the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails.  As I explained in an October 2016 column, Baker was one of three people who "unanimously" decided not to prosecute Clinton.  Then-FBI head James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were the other two at the meeting when the decision was made.

Did the FBI Conspire to Stop Trump?  The original question the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign was to answer was a simple one:  Did he do it?  Did Trump, or officials with his knowledge, collude with Vladimir Putin's Russia to hack the emails of John Podesta and the DNC, and leak the contents to damage Hillary Clinton and elect Donald Trump?  A year and a half into the investigation, and, still, no "collusion" has been found.  Yet the investigation goes on, at the demand of the never-Trump media and Beltway establishment.  Hence, and understandably, suspicions have arisen.  Are the investigators after the truth, or are they after Trump?

The Wrong Man.  In the fall of 2001, a nation reeling from the horror of 9/11 was rocked by a series of deadly anthrax attacks.  As the pressure to find a culprit mounted, the FBI, abetted by the media, found one.  The wrong one.  This is the story of how federal authorities blew the biggest anti-terror investigation of the past decade — and nearly destroyed an innocent man.  Here, for the first time, the falsely accused, Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, speaks out about his ordeal.

Embattled FBI admits it can't verify dossier claims of Russia, Trump campaign collusion.  The FBI is declining to repudiate the Russia dossier on which it partially relied to start an investigation into the Trump campaign, but it concedes the document's major core charges of election collusion remain unsubstantiated.  Sources familiar with House and Senate investigations say this is the FBI's dossier talking point 17 months after agents were first briefed in July 2016 as Donald Trump battled Hillary Clinton for the White House.  The most recent FBI witness was Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who spent nearly eight hours last week in a closed session before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  Republicans believe they have unearthed a scandal inside the bureau's top echelons over its determination to target Trump associates based on flimsy evidence and improper Justice Department contacts.

How Trump Dominated Mueller and Tricked Democrats.  Mueller's character was definitively established when, as FBI director, he oversaw the Anthrax Letters investigation to find out who mailed anthrax, weeks after 9/11, to prominent political American figures with letters saying, "Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah is great."  Mueller's FBI quickly exonerated al-Qaeda, stating there was no direct evidence of guilt.  The FBI then persecuted two different American scientists, who had worked for the Army, without any direct evidence.  FBI tactics against their "people of interest" included spying; wiretapping; house raids; leaking identities in public ways with the help of Mueller's colleagues in the Department of Justice; bribing family members; and "bumper-locking," a delightful tactic where the FBI trailed their American suspect so closely that they ran over his foot.  In the swamp, Mueller is one of the King Alligators.  There is no path from his known conduct in the FBI to a point where he follows the Trump investigation wherever it may take him, even if that means taking Democrats down.

Senior FBI Official Is Removed From Duties As He Is Linked To Spreading Trump Dossier.  Another senior FBI official, this one is FBI general counsel James Baker, has been removed from his position and reassigned to make-work activities after he became a prime suspect as the source who leaked FBI reaction to the Trump dossier to the media.

New Report:  Was FBI Chief Legal Counsel James Baker Captured By New DOJ Leak Task Force?  Things are getting increasingly interesting and simultaneously obvious.  Thursday night the Washington Post reported that FBI Director Christopher Wray had relieved FBI Chief Legal Counsel, James Baker, of his responsibilities within the department.  Attorney James Baker accompanied FBI Asst.  Director "Andy" McCabe to the Tuesday congressional hearing with the House Intelligence Community.  Curiously, in addition to other lines of inquiry, during the questioning McCabe was asked about whether James Baker was authorized to speak to the media about the Steele Dossier and the underlying 'counterintelligence' operation.  Asst.  Director McCabe responded that Baker would not be authorized to take such action.

What The Liberal Media Is Not Telling You:  The FBI's Rank and File Love POTUS Trump.  The FBI has been run by Deep State elitists for far too long.  It's rank and file know this.  Donald Trump is working to restore the once-great FBI back to its former glory.  The globalist media knows this as well — and has been burying that truth.  Here is video to counter the media's narrative.  POTUS Trump receives a remarkably enthusiastic standing ovation from new FBI graduates.  They love this man and are hoping he can help to repair what is an institution that has veered off into anti-Americanism for far too long.

Top FBI official linked to reporter who broke Trump dossier story.  House Republicans are investigating contact between the FBI's top lawyer and a Mother Jones reporter in the weeks before the left-leaning outlet broke the first news story about the existence of a disputed dossier alleging ties between President Donald Trump and the Kremlin, according to two congressional GOP sources who described documents linking the two men.  The GOP sources said the documents — made available recently to lawmakers by the Department of Justice — revealed that James Baker, the FBI's general counsel, communicated with Mother Jones reporter David Corn in the weeks leading up to the November 2016 election.  Corn was the first to report the existence of the dossier on Oct. 31 and that it was compiled by a former high-level western spy.

House Republicans quietly investigate perceived corruption at DOJ, FBI.  A group of House Republicans has gathered secretly for weeks in the Capitol in an effort to build a case that senior leaders of the Justice Department and FBI improperly — and perhaps criminally — mishandled the contents of a dossier that describes alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia, according to four people familiar with their plans.  A subset of the Republican members of the House intelligence committee, led by Chairman Devin Nunes of California, has been quietly working parallel to the committee's high-profile inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.  They haven't informed Democrats about their plans, but they have consulted with the House's general counsel.  The people familiar with Nunes' plans said the goal is to highlight what some committee Republicans see as corruption and conspiracy in the upper ranks of federal law enforcement.

What's really happening inside the DOJ and FBI.  Strzok is just going to be the beginning.  Strzok thinks he's now part of a cool team that's going to investigate & expose Trump, maybe even impeach him.  In fact, he's been put in a holding cell where he's kept busy & distracted while he's thoroughly investigated & evidence collected of his political fixing.  For the past 11 months, even before DOJ IG started his investigation, Trump & Co. likely knew who the political fixers in the DOJ/FBI were.  These political fixers needed to be [#1] removed from where they could do real harm and compromise real investigations [#2] given a cover story so they wouldn't realize they themselves are now being investigated.  Strzok was likely thunderstruck to realize the DOJ IG has been digging through his emails/texts/records of the past few years, investigating him quite throughly as Strzok was busy trying to find Trump/Russian collusion.

American Gestapo.  Any government agency with law enforcement and surveillance authority that uses those powers for political purposes is the definition of a secret police, no better than the Nazi Gestapo or the Soviet KGB.  There is indeed probable cause to conclude, meaning indictable offenses, that employees of the Department of Justice and/or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), sympathetic to the Democrat Party, used the power of their offices and with the assistance of foreign nationals to influence the 2016 election in favor of Hillary Clinton, first to exonerate her and then obtain information to prevent the election of Donald Trump or to provide a basis for his impeachment should he win.  It is also abundantly clear from the Congressional investigations involving the Department of Justice and the FBI that those institutions of government are protecting themselves at the expense of transparency and accountability to the American people.  In other words, the government employees involved consider the survival of the Deep State more important than the survival of the Constitution.  That is the definition of tyranny.

Transparent Timing — NBC: FBI Counterintelligence Warned Candidate Trump July 2016.  This would be embarrassingly laughable if the underlying issue was not so serious.  Notice the transparency of the timing here; along with the justification angle.  Today NBC comes out with an "exclusive report" provided by "FBI counterintelligence sources" curiously pushing a story (NOW?) about a "high-level counterintelligence briefing by senior FBI officials" for candidate Donald Trump in July 2016 "soon after the nomination".  Why this narrative now?

Was the FBI weaponized to take down the Trump presidency?  It appears the Obama Administration weaponized the Federal Bureau of Investigation just like they weaponized the Internal Revenue Service.  The Obama administration used government agencies to wage a covert war on their political enemies.  This is an all-out war.  We have a growing mountain of evidence to suggest the FBI was attempting to overthrow a duly elected president.  We have evidence to suggest the FBI was protecting Hillary Clinton so she might be elected president.  There is no smoking gun just yet — but the evidence is staggering — it is simply staggering.

Was the Steele Dossier Used to Obtain a FISA Warrant Against Trump's Campaign?  While urging that we have disclosure (with all due care to protect intelligence methods and sources), I have presumed that the FBI and DOJ would never fraudulently present the FISA court with fanciful claims attributed to anonymous Russian sources as if they were a refined product of U.S. intelligence collection and analysis.  This, after all, is a "dossier" that former FBI director James Comey dismissed as "salacious and unverified" in Senate testimony just six months ago.  When a court is asked for a warrant, the government must provide the judge with a basis to believe the information proffered is credible — by vouching that the source has been reliable in the past, by corroborating the information offered, or both.  If Comey adjudged Steele's information unverified in June 2017, it had to have been unverified ten months earlier.  That's when the FBI and Justice Department obtained a FISA warrant for Carter Page, who had been loosely described as a Trump campaign adviser.

The FBI Has Released New Info About Loretta Lynch's Tarmac Meeting With Bill Clinton.  The FBI released a series of email documents Friday afternoon detailing the Department of Justice response to the fallout of the secret Phoenix tarmac meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton in June 2016.  The dates on the emails range from July 1-3, 2016.  On July 5, 2016, FBI Director James Comey announced former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would not face criminal charges for mishandling classified information.  A series of emails show one FBI official, whose name and email are redacted, fuming over leaks to the media about the meeting and what happened on the tarmac.  The official received an email from a "layman" alleging a local Phoenix police officer who may have talked to a reporter "sounds like a security threat."  Officials went back and forth about finding out if the officer was SWAT or simply worked the motorcade and that "at a minimum" he should never work another detail again.  One asked if local law enforcement assisting the FBI on motorcades should sign non-disclosure agreements in the future.

Growing Evidence Of A Politically Tainted Clinton Investigation.  A series of new revelations about the FBI under James Comey has provided more evidence that partisan agents may have abused their agency positions for political purposes during the Hillary Clinton email investigation and 2016 presidential campaign.  Top FBI agent Peter Strzok, the public now knows, was removed from the Mueller investigation after a Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (IG) investigation revealed damning text messages between Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

How many of Robert Mueller's lawyers gave money to Democrats?  Since June, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been investigating whether the Russian government and the Trump campaign colluded in an effort to swing the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor.  To help with the task, Mueller assembled a team of seventeen accomplished lawyers, although in September, two of the seventeen were terminated.  The credibility of the Mueller team depends on the degree to which the public perceives it as being above politics.  No reasonable person would think Mueller and his team members lack a political position of some sort, but American society is justified in expecting that each of them will at least maintain the appearance of objectivity and that as a team, they will have a rough balance between left- and right-leaning political views.  Mueller's enterprise is "independent" only to the degree that it betrays no sign of favoring one political side over the other.

How Quickly Ye Forget.  Many people are understandably tentative about the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz.  How can this IG, or any IG, really be trusted to root out the rot that lies at the heart of the DC corruption?  Can we trust the IG to target the politicization of the FBI and DOJ, and do so with the righteous indignation necessary to tear out the corruptocrats?  After all, what would motivate Inspector General Horowitz to participate in such a righteous endeavor?

Digging Ugly Holes — Robert Mueller Team Illegally Obtained Trump Transition Team Emails.  According to reports, in August 2017 the Mueller team went around the Trump administration in their quest for documents, by directly demanding documents from the General Services Agency (GSA); the entity that hosted the communication network for the Trump transition team.  According to reports, the content of 12 email accounts was handed over to the Special Counsels' office; consisting of thousands of pages of transition team communication.  Innocuous, ordinary transition stuff, but the method of procurement is jaw-droppingly unethical, possibly illegal.

Comey Memo Edits Warrant Indictments.  Now we know that not only did Hillary Clinton show intent in her handling of classified materials routed through her private server, but that former FBI Director James Comey and his team showed intent in letting her get away with it to the detriment of American national security.  Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, in a Thursday letter to current FBI Director Christopher Wray, reveals how edits to Comey's exoneration memo went beyond changing "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless" but edited out content that shows the FBI knew Hillary was intentionally in violation of the Espionage Act but that, since the decision to exonerate her had already been made, they had to submit to the annals of history a lie they agreed upon: [...]

Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton: 'The FBI's Turned into a KGB-Type Operation'.  Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton argued on Fox News Wednesday evening that the FBI has been turned into a KBG-type operation that might need to be shut down.  Fitton was was on Fox News @Night with Shannon Bream to discuss one of the latest troubling revelations to come out of the Department of Justice amid Special Counsel Mueller's investigation into Russia's influence in the 2016 U.S. election.  According to Fox News, "Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, acknowledged in a court document that his company hired the wife of a Justice Department official to help investigate then-candidate Donald Trump last year."

The Scheme to Exonerate Hillary Clinton Blows Wide Open:  Comey, McCabe and Strzok Implicated.  The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has discovered that edits made to former FBI Director James Comey's statement exonerating Hillary Clinton for transmitting classified info over an unsecured, private email server went far beyond what was previously known, as detailed in a Thursday letter from committee chairman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) to FBI Director Christopher Wray.  The letter reveals specific edits made by senior FBI agents when Deputy Director Andr ew McCabe exchanged drafts of Comey's statement with senior FBI officials, including Peter Strzok, Strzok's direct supervisor, E.W. "Bill" Priestap, Jonathan Moffa, and an unnamed employee from the Office of General Counsel (identified by Newsweek as DOJ Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson) — in what was a coordinated conspiracy among top FBI brass to decriminalize Clinton's conduct by changing legal terms and phrases, omitting key information, and minimizing the role of the Intelligence Community in the email investigation.  Doing so virtually guaranteed one thing:  That then-Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton would not be prosecuted for her criminal actions.

Yes, Investigate the Investigators.  Everything that has happened in the Trump probe stands out against a backdrop of leniency in the Clinton investigation.  While Mueller has prosecuted two Trump associates for lying to the FBI, the Obama Justice Department gave a pass to Mrs. Clinton and her subordinates, who gave the FBI misinformation about such key matters as whether Clinton understood markings in classified documents and whether her aides knew about her homebrew server system during their State Department service.  Mueller's team conducted a predawn raid at gunpoint in executing a search warrant on Paul Manafort's home while Manafort was cooperating with congressional committees.  When it came to the Clinton case, though, the Justice Department not only eschewed search warrants, or even mere subpoenas, but they never even took possession of the DNC server alleged to have been hacked by Russian operatives.  The irregularities in the Clinton-emails investigation are breathtaking:  the failure to use the grand jury to compel the production of key physical evidence; the Justice Department's collaboration with defense lawyers to restrict the FBI's ability to pursue obvious lines of inquiry and examine digital evidence; immunity grants to suspects who should have been charged with crimes and pressured to cooperate; allowing subjects of the investigation to be present for each other's FBI interviews and even to act as lawyers for Clinton, in violation of legal and ethical rules; Comey's preparation of a statement exonerating Clinton months before the investigation was complete and key witnesses — including Clinton herself — were interviewed; and the shameful tarmac meeting between Obama attorney general Loretta Lynch and Mrs. Clinton's husband just days before Mrs. Clinton sat for a perfunctory FBI interview (after which Comey announced the decision not to charge her).

FBI Release Emails On 'Secret' Loretta Lynch-Bill Clinton Meeting Before FBI's Hillary Decision.  Friday afternoon [12/15/2017], the FBI released a 29-page document containing Department of Justice emails regarding the infamous meeting on the tarmac in Phoenix between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton just days before FBI Director James Comey gave his much-criticized announcement that he would not recommend charges against Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her "extreme carelessness" in handling classified material.  The emails, spanning from July 1-3, 2016, contain correspondence among various FBI and DOJ officials involving the leaking of the unscheduled private 30-minute meeting between Lynch and Clinton on June 27th that the AG insisted was merely a personal chat about their grandchildren and recent travels, but what many suspect had something to do with the ongoing investigation of then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.  The press conference in which Comey announced that he would not request that Lynch pursue charges was held just over a week later, on July 5.

More about Friday night document dumps.

Did the FBI and the Justice Department, plot to clear Hillary Clinton, bring down Trump?  There is strong circumstantial evidence that an insidious plot unprecedented in American history was hatched within the FBI and the Obama Justice Department to help elect Hillary Clinton and defeat Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.  And when this apparent effort to improperly influence the election did not succeed, the suspected conspirators appear to have employed a fraudulent investigation of President Trump in an attempt to undo the election results and remove him as president.  Such a Machiavellian scheme would move well beyond what is known as the "deep state," a popular reference to government employees who organize in secret to impose their own political views on government policy in defiance of democratically elected leadership.

Oh, Here We Go.  Democrats just realized the years-long DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation is about to bite them, hard.  We are now entering the political combat zone where congressional democrats will attack the IG, in advance of the pending report.  Ironically, the Inspector General investigation led by Michael Horowitz was originally a lame-duck request (January 12, 2017) by Democrats prior to President Obama leaving office.  That's one of the more brilliant aspects towards its value.  The resulting investigation into the politicization of the FBI and DOJ is revealing details of how both departments were corrupted by political operatives friendly to Democrats.  Consequently, their own demanded investigation now becomes a risk.

Forget Mueller, The Real Question Is "Do We Need To Shut Down The FBI?".  Echoing the thoughts that are undoubtedly running through the minds of many Americans following startling revelations of an "insurance policy" crafted by FBI agents Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok to prevent a Trump presidency at all costs (something we covered here:  FBI Texts Reveal "Insurance Policy" To Prevent Trump Presidency), Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton appeared on Fox News last night to say it's time to move beyond discussing whether or not it's appropriate to shut down Special Counsel Mueller's investigation and move on to consider whether it's now time to consider shutting down the entire FBI after "it was turned into a KGB-type operation by the Obama administration?"

Timeline: How the DNC and FBI Leadership Tried to Fix a Presidential Election.  As an aside, this appears to be the biggest political scandal in the history of the country.  Never before has an outgoing administration attempted to fix a presidential election.

Obama Administration Turned FBI into KGB.  For all the calls of President Trump being a dictator and a Nazi, the Left really tell you what Barack Obama was.  And soon, they will no longer be able to hide from that fact.  The more we learn from the investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller about the inner workings of Obama's Department of Justice, the more we discover the absence of justice.  The FBI undoubtedly helped orchestrate what will soon be called the biggest political scandal in American history.  We now know that the FBI exonerated Hillary Clinton, who was guilty of multiple crimes.  Moreover, the FBI instigated the witch hunt by Mueller that has suddenly turned on the Left.

What is Going On with the DOJ and the FBI?  New documents have come to light indicating that former FBI Director James Comey sought to water down language in his eventual exoneration of Hillary Clinton for her email scandal.  It is now apparent that Peter Strzok, who was involved in the Clinton investigation, was responsible for some of the most significant edits.  The motivation for this lessening of language severity seems to have been directly related to concerns over implicating Clinton for criminal intent.  On Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) expressed his concerns to FBI Director Christopher Wray, writing that the original drafts "could be read as finding of criminality in Secretary Clinton's handling of classified material.  The edited statement deleted the reference to gross negligence — a legal threshold for mishandling classified material — and instead replaced it with an exculpatory sentence."  Johnson's letter continued, "This effort, seen in light of the personal animus toward then-candidate Trump by senior FBI agents leading the Clinton investigation and their apparent desire to create an 'insurance policy' against Mr. Trump's election, raise profound questions about the FBI's role and possible interference in the 2016 presidential election and the role of the same agents in Special Counsel Mueller's investigation by President Trump."  Indeed, there are profound questions about corruption in this investigation, which, at least in part, was started because of a phony dossier paid for by Clinton and the DNC.

The FBI's Ship of Fools.  Of the many astonishing revelations now emerging from the Russia investigation, not enough has been made of the fact that Peter Strzok — that Zelig of the FBI who mysteriously appeared at every controversial moment — was second in command for counterintelligence.  That's right, counterintelligence — that activity "designed to prevent or thwart spying, intelligence gathering, and sabotage by an enemy or other foreign entity."  And yet that same Mr. Strzok was conducting a clandestine extra-marital affair with an FBI colleague over thousands of text messages that could be and likely were intercepted by those same foreign intelligence agencies — or were, at the very least, recklessly exposed to them.

Senator Johnson Outlines Scope of FBI Officials Sculpting Clinton Exoneration Statement for Comey.  Senator Ron Johnson sends a letter to current FBI Director Christopher Wray questioning the surrounding investigative details about how the James Comey (July 5th, 2016) exoneration manuscript was changed and sculpted.  Within the letter Senator Johnson shares the changes that were made to the manuscript, and asks Wray if FBI officials are aware of who made the changes and why.  Prior revelations from within an ongoing IG report showed FBI Counterintelligence Agent Peter Strzok participating in both the investigation of Hillary Clinton, and changing some of the manuscript to shape the narrative away from criminal conduct and toward Clinton's favor.

Comey edits revealed:  Remarks on Clinton probe were watered down, documents show.  Newly released documents obtained by Fox News reveal that then-FBI Director James Comey's draft statement on the Hillary Clinton email probe was edited numerous times before his public announcement, in ways that seemed to water down the bureau's findings considerably.  Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sent a letter to the FBI on Thursday that shows the multiple edits to Comey's highly scrutinized statement.  In an early draft, Comey said it was "reasonably likely" that "hostile actors" gained access to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email account.  That was changed later to say the scenario was merely "possible."  Another edit showed language was changed to describe the actions of Clinton and her colleagues as "extremely careless" as opposed to "grossly negligent."  This is a key legal distinction.

Congressman: There's Proof FBI Conspired Against Trump.  All of America knows the Obama administration colluded with the Clinton campaign to defeat Donald Trump.  Leftists know this is a certainty.  Now they dare us to prove it.  And we will.  As with Watergate, the cover-up is far greater than the crime itself.  And what we will eventually learn from this will make Bill Clinton's mea culpa with Lewinsky look like Disney.

House Judiciary Lawmakers Mull Subpoenas on FBI, DOJ After Text Messages Reveal 'Path' to Stop Trump.  Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday it was time to issue subpoenas to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department, following the release of texts from FBI officials that suggested they wanted to stop Trump's election.  "It's time for subpoenas from our committee, not just from the intelligence committee, but from our committee.  Subpoenas for documents that we rightfully should have an ability to see," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a senior member of the committee.  He also said he wanted to subpoena Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, FBI senior official Peter Strzok, and senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie Ohr.

Analyze This.  This morning Rep. Jim Jordan grilled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on the red flags and anomalies that have turned up in the special counsel investigation under the direction of Robert Mueller.  The investigation is to focus on the mythical Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.  Among the red flags is the Steele Dossier commissioned by the Clinton campaign and involving actual collusion with Russian intelligence.  Also among the red flags is one of the just released text messages of senior FBI agent Peter Strzok, who has emerged as a key player in the fake Clinton investigation and the troubling Trump-related investigation of Russian interference in the campaign.  Having been detailed to Mueller's team earlier this year, Strzok has been returned to the FBI to push paper in the human resources department.

Is Jeff Sessions being blackmailed?  Let's begin with some accusations.  They are well founded and as credible as any against Roy Moore — perhaps more so.  The FBI's first director, J. Edgar Hoover, was reputed to have compiled incriminating dossiers on just about every top office-holder in Washington, D.C., up to and including the presidents, under several of whose tenures Hoover served.  Whenever there was talk of firing him, Hoover reportedly met with the contemporary chief of state and persuaded him to retain him (Hoover) in his post.  Regarding President Kennedy, there was surely a great deal in the dossier, especially as concerned his scandalous relationship with Marilyn Monroe.  Kennedy, who had been rumored to be planning to replace Hoover, quickly changed his mind after one of those meetings.

Yet another top FBI agent involved in Mueller's investigation is being accused of political bias.  Another lead FBI agent in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is being accused of political bias, the Wall Street Journal reported.  According to the Journal's report, FBI agent Andrew Weissmann, who is leading the probe's Paul Manafort and Rick Gates cases, both attended Hillary Clinton's election night party at the Javits Center in New York City and praised Sally Yates' efforts to thwart President Donald Trump.  The revelations are significant because Weissmann is considered to be the most senior agent in the investigation second only to Mueller.

Rep. Jordan Presses FBI Director to Release FISA Application for Trump Surveillance.  Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) drew blood this morning during his pointed questioning of FBI Director Christopher Wray at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.  Jordan's line of questioning concerned Peter Strzok, who was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team last July after he became a political liability to Mueller's investigation.  Jordan was particularly interested in seeing the FBI's application to the FISA court that allowed the Obama administration to surveil the Trump campaign.  As Jordan pointed out, it was Strzok who changed the criminal term "gross negligence" to the legally inconsequential "extreme carelessness" in former FBI Director James Comey's statement of findings on Hillary Clinton's email server.  Strzok also played a key role in Mueller's Russia investigation.

Christopher Wray Refuses to Say if Steele Dossier Was Used to Procure FISA Warrant.    [Video clip]

GOP lawmakers cite new allegations of political bias in FBI.  GOP lawmakers say they have heard new stories about political bias or interference within the FBI on the eve of new testimony Thursday [12/7/2017] by FBI Director Christopher Wray.  Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) said Wednesday [12/6/2017] he interviewed a recently retired FBI supervisor who told him he was instructed by Deputy Director Andrew McCabe not to call the 2012 Benghazi attack an act of terrorism when distributing a report on the FBI findings to the larger intelligence community.  The agent found the instruction concerning because his unit had gathered incontrovertible evidence showing a major al Qaeda figure had directed the attack and the information had already been briefed to President Obama, the lawmaker said.

Did A Corrupt FBI Give Hillary Clinton A Free Pass?  Sure Looks Like It.  Among the many troubling revelations to have emerged regarding the FBI these days, one of the worst is finding out that an avowed Trump-hater softened language in a memo to exonerate Hillary Clinton.

Trump is bringing Mueller down.  Don't feud with Donald Trump.  Too many have and wound up worse for wear. [...] Mueller's unwillingness to back down will cost him everything because he is up against an innocent man who happens to be president.  Over the weekend, the results of Trump's investigation of Team Mueller surfaced.  Mueller had to fire his top investigator because that investigator left a trail of anti-Trump emails, and was caught destroying evidence and altering statements in that Fake Investigation of Hillary's emails.

Rosenstein 'Satisfied' with Mueller Witch Hunt.  Yes, Virginia, this is a witch hunt.  Robert Mueller III was appointed special counsel after his friend, the vindictive former FBI Director James Comey, committed a federal crime by leaking a memo which was a government record to the press.  Mueller has picked staff and prosecutors as if he were stocking Hillary Clinton's Department of Justice.  He has picked a bevy of Clinton donors, an attorney who worked for the Clinton Foundation, a former Watergate assistant prosecutor, and even a senior advisor to Eric Holder.  Objective professionals all.  Thanks to Rosenstein, Mueller is in fact colluding with Comey and Clinton moles to enact revenge on President Trump for Comey's firing, something which even Comey said Trump was constitutionally entitled to do.  There is no evidence of collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice.  It is not obstruction of justice for a President to exercise his legal and constitutional authority.

How an FBI official with a political agenda corrupted both Mueller, Comey investigations.  How is it possible that Hillary Clinton escaped criminal indictment for mishandling classified documents despite incriminating evidence that she violated the Espionage Act?  Why did Donald Trump become the target of a criminal investigation for allegedly conspiring with Russia to influence the presidential election despite no evidence that he ever did so?  The answer, it seems, comes down to one person who played a vital role in both cases:  Peter Strzok, deputy director of counterintelligence at the FBI.

Liberals Have Turned The FBI Into A Disgrace.  Add this infamy to all the other crimes of the liberal establishment — its poisonous influence has converted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the eyes of the American people, from a proud institution dedicated to upholding the law into just another suppurating bureaucratic pustule.  Where once we saw FBI agents as heroes — many of us ancients grew up watching Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., every Sunday night — now we see careerist hacks looking to suck-up to the Democrat elite while bending the law and subverting justice to do it.  Truly, everything liberals touch dies.

Smoking gun of FBI's bias.  The FBI must release the texts.  All of them, between Peter Strzok, the top FBI investigator that special counsel Robert Mueller removed from the Russian investigation in August, and his colleague Lisa Page, so voters can examine for themselves whether the probe is what many, including our president, believe it is ... a partisan witch hunt.

Top Investigator on Mueller's Team Extolled Yates for Defying Trump Travel Ban.  A top lieutenant to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia expressed his opposition to an early policy priority of President Donald Trump's by praising then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to enforce Trump's travel ban.  Andrew Weissmann served as the chief of the Justice Department's Criminal Fraud Section earlier this year and went on to become a top investigator on Mueller's team of prosecutors.  Weissmann sent an email in January, when he was still in his criminal fraud section role, to former acting Attorney General Sally Yates applauding her for her refusal to enforce Trump's temporary travel ban on people entering the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries.

GOP Lawmakers Press for Investigation of FBI's 'Special Treatment' of Hillary Clinton Probe.  Conservatives are calling for an investigation of what they say was the FBI's "special treatment" of Hillary Clinton ahead of the Dec. 7 testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray before the House Judiciary Committee.  "I am proud to be joined by my fellow conservatives in the House to call for an investigation into the FBI's procedures that allowed Hillary Clinton to receive special treatment," Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said at a press conference Wednesday.  "We'll also investigate the unprecedented bias against President [Donald] Trump that exists when we allow people who hate the president to participate in the investigations against him."

Judicial Watch Releases 29 Pages of FBI Clinton-Lynch Tarmac Meeting Documents Previously Withheld by Justice Department.  The new FBI documents show FBI officials were concerned about a leak that Bill Clinton delayed his aircraft taking off in order to "maneuver" a meeting with the attorney general.  The resulting story in the Observer is seemingly confirmed and causes a flurry of emails about the source of the article.  FBI official(s) write "we need to find that guy" and that the Phoenix FBI office was contacted "in an attempt to stem any further damage."  Another FBI official, working on AG Lynch's security detail, suggests instituting non-disclosure agreements.  The names of the emails authors are redacted.  There are no documents showing concern about the meeting itself.  The FBI originally informed Judicial Watch they could not locate any records related to the tarmac meeting.  However, in a related FOIA lawsuit, the Justice Department located emails in which Justice Department officials communicated with the FBI and wrote that they had communicated with the FBI.

Mueller's 'Lieutenant' Applauded Official For Defying Trump.  Andrew Weissmann, an attorney working for special counsel Robert Mueller, praised former acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to enforce President Trump's travel ban, emails released Tuesday [12/5/2017] reveal.  "I am so proud.  And in awe.  Thank you so much.  All my deepest respects," Weissmann wrote to Yates on Jan. 30.  That same day, Yates told the Justice Department not to defend an executive order banning immigration from seven nations, an act that led to her dismissal by President Trump.

Report: FBI Inspector General Pursuing 27 Leakers, with Major Shakeup on the Way.  When I was a kid, the term Federal Bureau of Investigation represented the pinnacle of the American justice system: incorruptible, utterly fair, and ethically... above reproach.  My, how times have changed.  Under the Obama administration, the FBI (and former director Robert Mueller's investigation) appears to have been hopelessly politicized at its uppermost levels.  Consider:  A lead FBI investigator — Peter Strzok — has been removed from Robert Mueller's special counsel team for texting his mistress a series of various anti-Trump tweets (I'm old enough to remember when having a mistress disqualified you from a TOP SECRET clearance, but — hey — I'm an old man).  Furthermore, the upper echelons of the FBI have refused requests from Congress to release said texts.

Tucker Carlson:  FBI is 'out of control'.  Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson commented on his show that the FBI is "out of control," following revelations that FBI agent Peter Strzok was involved in two politicized cases: the Clinton email investigation, and the Russian collusion probe, while he also oversaw interviews with former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.  "There are many examples of this, but the point is clear, the FBI is out of control and not just in the Trump investigation but much more broadly.  An agency charged with enforcing the law clearly considers itself above the law, and that is a threat to you and every American, no matter who you voted for," Carlson said on Monday night.

The connection between Antifa, Muslim terror, and the FBI.  What if I uncovered a major threat from a radical leftwing group to our national security, and documented it in my new book, All Out War:  The Plot to Destroy Trump?  Wouldn't you expect the mainstream media, for all their liberal bias, to check out such an important story?  Well, I did write about the threat — and the mainstream media totally ignored it.  Evidence of collusion comes directly from the FBI, which discovered that Antifa — the leftwing terrorist group that has thrown M-80 explosives at pro-Trump demonstrators and helped make college campuses virtually no-go zones for conservatives — has connections with foreign terrorists.

FBI Increasingly Politicized Under Comey and Mueller.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation, once America's storied crime fighting agency, is under fire for an increasing leftward politicization blamed on recent liberal directors and a bureaucracy operating with nearly unchecked power.  Once a bastion of conservative anti-communism under long-time director J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI has become one of the more liberal political agencies of government, and some critics say appears increasingly to operate outside normal constitutional controls.  The shift is the result of a bureaucratic culture that emerged in the 1990s and was fueled by its two most recent former directors, James Comey and Robert Mueller, who ran the agency for the past 16 years.

GOP lawmakers cite new allegations of political bias in FBI.  GOP lawmakers say they have heard new stories about political bias or interference within the FBI on the eve of new testimony Thursday by FBI Director Christopher Wray.  Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) said Wednesday he interviewed a recently retired FBI supervisor who told him he was instructed by Deputy Director Andrew McCabe not to call the 2012 Benghazi attack an act of terrorism when distributing a report on the FBI findings to the larger intelligence community.  The agent found the instruction concerning because his unit had gathered incontrovertible evidence showing a major al Qaeda figure had directed the attack and the information had already been briefed to President Obama, the lawmaker said.

Obstruction Of Justice Was Coming From Inside The FBI.  "There's always conflicting recollections of facts," FBI Director Comey said.  It was a year ago and Comey was explaining why Hillary's close aide, Cheryl Mills, not only received an immunity agreement in exchange for turning over her laptop, but a pass on lying to the FBI.  The FBI Director claimed that Mills had to receive immunity because the laptop might be protected by attorney-client privilege.  Mills, like Hillary Clinton, had worked as a lawyer.  But they were both government officials working for the State Department.  Hillary wasn't Mills' client.  The government was.  Comey and his people knew the law.  They chose to ignore it to protect a key Hillary aide from rolling over.  Mills was the woman Hillary would send in to clean up her dirty laundry.  Mills had taken point on the email server cover-up.  If anyone knew where the bodies were buried, she did.  Instead not only did she get an immunity agreement, but the FBI also agreed to destroy the computers after the search.

Top Clinton Aides Face No Charges After Making False Statements To FBI.  The FBI agent who was fired from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation team for sending anti-Donald Trump text messages conducted the interviews with two Hillary Clinton aides accused of giving false statements about what they knew of the former secretary of state's private email server.  Neither of the Clinton associates, Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, faced legal consequences for their misleading statements, which they made in interviews last year with former FBI section chief Peter Strzok.

Why Weren't Huma Abedin And Cheryl Mills Charged When They Lied To Peter Strzok And The FBI?  A terrific catch by the Daily Caller's Chuck Ross, whose story you should read in full.  It was widely known that Peter Strzok, the FBI agent dismissed by Mueller from the Russiagate probe due to anti-Trump bias, had had a lead role in the Hillary Emailgate investigation.  But I hadn't realized until now that he was one of the agents who interviewed top Clinton cronies Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills.  Or, more importantly, that they pretty clearly lied to his face about when they found out that Hillary had her own email server.

FBI agent fired from Mueller probe interviewed Mike Flynn before his guilty plea AND Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills before Hillary was cleared.  The FBI agent who was dismissed from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe for sending his lover anti-Trump text messages is turning into a Forrest Gump character who figured in a number of key moments in the Bureau's recent history.  Peter Strzok was reassigned to the FBI's human resources department after the text messages between him and FBI lawyer Lisa Page were uncovered.  He was already known to be the agent who who edited then-Director James Comey's reprimand of Hillary Clinton for using an unsecured private email server for classified messages.

Mueller Credibility Plunges, Trump Probe Imploding.  Special prosecutor Robert Mueller was sold to America as an above-the-fray, non-partisan elder with the gravitas to handle investigating the President of the United States.  As it turns out, Mueller has put together a pack of partisan lawyers, many of whom contributed campaign cash to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats; stonewalled demands from House lawmakers for information; and, most recently, secretly demoted a heavily biased FBI agent who's a hater of President Trump.  The special prosecutor's probe, which has already cost taxpayers some $5 million, hit a massive speed bump last week — the kind that snaps the axles and blows out the transmission.  Reports emerged in both The Washington Post and The New York Times that a lead FBI investigator sent anti-Trump texts to a mistress.  Weirdly, the investigator, Peter Strzok, wasn't fired, just quietly demoted to the Bureau's human resources department.  Then the shoes kept dropping — like Imelda Marcos having a yard sale.  It turns out Strzok was one of former FBI Director James Comey's top lieutenants.  From that perch, he played a key role in the early probe of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Mueller's FBI Will Never Recover Its Good Name.  Robert Mueller just fired a senior FBI agent for openly twittering against POTUS Trump.  But if Mr. Mueller imagines that firing one guy will restore his shredded credibility to the public, fuggedaboudit.  The unprecedented witch-hunt against a newly elected Donald Trump will remain green in the public memory for years to come.  The FBI and DOJ will therefore have to live with a huge loss of public credibility.  The IRS will never recover among Trump voters.  Elected governments only work as long as they enjoy basic public confidence, and when that is gone — as it is in Italy and Greece — it can take many years to restore.  Even if most of our FBI people are honest patriots, a few rotten apples will ruin it for the rest.

A special counsel needs to investigate the FBI and Justice Department.  Now..  The [Washington] Post reported that a former top FBI official, Peter Strzok, who had been assigned to and then removed from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation, had "exchanged politically charged texts disparaging [President] Trump and supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton" and that Strzok was "also a key player in the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server."  This is a blockbuster revelation, carrying the possibility of shattering public confidence in a number of long-held assumptions about the criminal-justice system generally and the FBI and the Justice Department specifically.  The Justice Department should appoint a special counsel to investigate Strzok's actions as soon as possible.  The Strzok report comes on heels of the widely derided Justice Department investigation into IRS discrimination against conservative groups, including the disposition of allegations against IRS senior official Lois Lerner, and after the wildly erratic behavior of then-FBI Director James B. Comey during 2016.  It also follows the vote to hold then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress — the first ever against a sitting member of the Cabinet — with 17 Democrats voting in support.  Mix into this battering of the Justice Department's and FBI's reputations the still-murky charges and counter-charges of abuse of "unmasking" powers during the waning days of the Obama era.

Inspector General Probe Focuses on FBI's McCabe; Findings Could Warrant Criminal Referral to DOJ or Mueller.  The United States Office of the Inspector General's probe of FBI brass is yielding investigative fruits that may warrant a referral for criminal charges related to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according the FBI and DOJ sources.  McCabe, who has been administratively sidelined and stripped of his responsibilities by new FBI Director Christopher Wary, has been the target of an OIG probe for months.  According to FBI sources, OIG investigators are finalizing its probe of the Bureau and McCabe's name keeps surfacing time and time again.  Federal law enforcement sources said the OIG's findings have eclipsed simple administrative breakdowns in the FBI's "front office" of its D.C. headquarters.

Clinton Aides Went Unpunished After Making False Statements To Anti-Trump FBI Supervisor.  The FBI agent who was fired from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation team for sending anti-Donald Trump text messages conducted the interviews with two Hillary Clinton aides accused of giving false statements about what they knew of the former secretary of state's private email server.  Neither of the Clinton associates, Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, faced legal consequences for their misleading statements, which they made in interviews last year with former FBI section chief Peter Strzok.  But another Strzok interview subject was not so lucky.  Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, pleaded guilty last week to lying during an interview he gave on Jan. 24 to Strzok and another FBI agent.  Circa journalist Sara Carter reported on Monday [12/4/2017] that Strzok took part in that interview with the retired lieutenant general.

Nothing About Collusion.  There is a basic lesson here for anyone who enters government service:  do not ever talk to the FBI unless your lawyer is present.  Just ask Scooter Libby, who was punished for making allegedly false statements to FBI investigators.  In the Flynn affair, there was no need for the FBI to ask any questions about the telephone chats, since the transcripts were available from the get-go.  It is said that a skilled prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich, and a special counsel has even greater powers.  Furthermore, prosecutors' motives are not limited to the pursuit of the truth.  The "accomplishments" of aggressive prosecutors often have very little to do with the facts, but rather with the number of scalps they can hang on their war belts.  Rare is the person who can insist on his innocence — of anything — if a special prosecutor is out to get him.  The prosecutor can catch you giving an incorrect or confused answer to questions ... about anything.

Anti-Trump Text Messages Show Pattern Of Bias On Mueller's Team.  For nearly four months, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office, the Justice Department and the FBI have kept secret the fact that the FBI agent who oversaw the Russia investigation exchanged anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton text messages with an FBI attorney who was also his mistress.  Those messages, the existence of which were revealed in bombshell reports published over the weekend, highlight a pattern of the Mueller team.  Many of Mueller's prosecutors — it has been extensively reported — have made campaign contributions to Clinton and other Democratic political candidates.  And a review by The Daily Caller shows that Mueller lawyers involved in the cases against four Trump associates are Democratic donors.

Huma Abedin Lied to the FBI and Got Away With It.  If we had anything faintly resembling an evenhanded justice system, Huma Abedin would be pleading guilty right about now.  But of course we don't.  And so a series of Trump associates are forced to plead guilty to lying to the FBI.  While Hillary continues her Spite Across America tour.  Did close Hillary associates like Cheryl Mills, Hillary's right-hand woman, and Huma Abedin lie to the FBI?  As evidence assembled by Chuck Ross at the Daily Caller suggests, it rather looks like it.

DOJ failed to interview FBI informant before it filed charges in Russian nuclear bribery case.  While he was Maryland's chief federal prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's office failed to interview the undercover informant in the FBI's Russian nuclear bribery case before it filed criminal charges in the case in 2014, officials told The Hill.  And the prosecutors did not let a grand jury hear from the paid informant before it handed up an indictment portraying him as a "victim" of the Russian corruption scheme or fully review his extensive trove of documents until months later, the officials confirmed.  The decisions backfired after prosecutors conducted more extensive debriefings of William Campbell in 2015, learning much more about the extent of his undercover activities and the transactions he engaged in while under the FBI's direction, the officials said.

Trump's Right — the FBI Is in Tatters.  What're we supposed think when it's revealed the man running the Hillary Clinton email server investigation (Peter Strzok) was a married Hillary supporter conducting an adulterous affair with a government lawyer, while dissing Donald Trump in his clandestine billet-doux text messages? [...] As an FBI agent, Strzok's use of text messaging for such an enterprise was nothing short of moronic in this digital age, but nevertheless he was not fired but simply and quietly sent to FBI "Siberia" last summer, his activities only miraculously coming to public attention last week.  Why the secrecy?  Many reasons, probably yet to be determined, but it comes down to this:  the FBI, like the Mafia, practices omertà.

Another Hillary Mole.  How objective can an investigation into Hillary Clinton's email investigation be when the FBI agent who played a lead role was removed from it this summer for texting his pro-Hillary and anti-Trump sympathies?

New documents reveal FBI's Clinton cover-up.  In Washington, the ostensible story is rarely the real story.  We know, for example, that former President Clinton engineered a meeting with President Obama's attorney general, Loretta Lynch, on the tarmac of the Phoenix Airport on June 27, 2016.  That's the official story, replete with the charming and intentionally disarming detail that all they talked about was their grandchildren.  It was just coincidental, don't you know, that at the time the FBI was looking into Hillary Clinton's use of a "personal" email server to send, receive and store classified information.  And it was also simply coincidental that just a few days later, the director of the FBI — who served under Attorney General Lynch — announced that he wouldn't recommend a prosecution of Hillary Clinton.

Tom Fitton:  We're Going to Find Out the FBI and DOJ Were Ruined Trying to Protect Hillary Clinton.  President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton dropped a truth bomb — the FBI and DOJ were ruined trying to protect Hillary Clinton.  The root of this evil is Hillary and Obama.

DOJ And FBI Threatened With Contempt Of Congress For 'Hiding' Info On Anti-Trump FBI Investigator.  The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is threatening to hold the Justice Department and FBI in contempt of Congress for withholding details about why a top FBI investigator was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the presidential campaign.  "I have instructed House Intelligence Committee staff to begin drawing up a contempt of Congress resolution for DOJ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray," California Rep. Devin Nunes, the Republican chair of the committee, said in a statement on Saturday night [12/2/2017].

Nunes blows up, threatens contempt after FBI stonewalls House on Russia investigator demoted for anti-Trump bias.  Stories in both the Washington Post and New York Times on Saturday reported that Peter Strzok, who played a key role in the original FBI investigation into the Trump-Russia matter, and then a key role in Mueller's investigation, and who earlier had played an equally critical role in the FBI's Hillary Clinton email investigation, was reassigned out of the Mueller office because of anti-Trump texts he exchanged with a top FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, with whom Strzok was having an extramarital affair.  Strzok was transferred to the FBI's human resources office — an obvious demotion — in July.  The Post reported that Strzok and Page exchanged text messages that "expressed anti-Trump sentiments and other comments that appeared to favor Clinton."

The FBI's reputation is in sad decline.  The FBI lied to the court and Judicial Watch saying it had no discoverable documents of the June 27, 2016 tarmac meeting between then-attorney general Lynch and Bill Clinton while Hillary Clinton's misuse of classified emails was under investigation.  In a related case, it was disclosed the Bureau, in fact, had 29 such pages and they were turned over to Judicial Watch.  What they revealed was that the FBI's concern was not over the impropriety of the meeting but, rather finding and punishing the whistleblower who revealed the meeting.

Loretta Lynch Meeting With Bill Clinton Sparked FBI Mole Hunt.  A meeting last year between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton triggered a hunt within the FBI for a source who talked to a reporter about the controversial encounter, newly released government emails show.  The emails, released by the watchdog group, Judicial Watch, show that FBI agents in the bureau's security division were miffed about an article that appeared in the New York Observer detailing the logistics of how Lynch and Clinton came to meet on the tarmac at Phoenix's airport on June 27, 2016.  The FBI had initially told Judicial Watch that it did not have documents related to the Lynch-Clinton meeting.

A Story of Shocking FBI Scandal.  [Scroll down]  This is shocking and repulsive on many levels.  First private law firms are barred from directly soliciting victims of a crime like this.  Lawyers can advertise, but they CANNOT directly contact a victim of crime.  They can be disbarred for doing so.  So how can a trusted government law enforcement agency do it for them?  Secondly, how do you feel about a government agency acting as an agent or representative sending clients to a private business?  Third, does the FBI have a contract with these private law firms?  If so, what does the FBI receive for referring clients who will likely each be awarded multi-million dollar settlements?  Fourth, do the officials at the top of the FBI know that their employees are soliciting victims of crime and tragedy to private law firms for class action lawsuits?  Fifth, is this not a massive violation of the trust of crime victims?  Sixth, does this routinely happen for every crime victim in the hands of the FBI?  If so, this could be a billion-dollar scam.  Has the FBI become a telemarketing firm for ambulance chasers?  How many victims of crime in this country have been contacted by the FBI in recent years and solicited to sign contracts with private law firms?

Comey Got Rich Working with Hillary Clinton.  First off, Comey is not a hard-charging "Republican lawman" as many Members of Congress have referred to him.  Comey became an Assistant US Attorney for the Clinton administration in 1996. And get this:  At the time, Comey became good friends with Robert Mueller, the current Special Counsel conducting the Russiagate witch hunt against President Trump.  Comey and Mueller were described as "rising stars" in the Clinton Justice Department when they were both mentored by Eric Holder.  Yes, that Eric Holder.  Here's where things start to look really fishy.

Report:  Time To Investigate Obama's FBI.  President Obama weaponized the federal government to punish his political enemies and further the agendas of his supporters.  This climate of government intimidation and manipulation culminated in the 2016 Election that saw the FBI attacking one presidential nominee, Donald Trump, and favoring another, Hillary Clinton.  Clinton was of course Mr. Obama's former Secretary of State.  Trump was a political outsider who didn't even have the full support of the GOP but did have the support of tens of millions of voters both Republican and Democrat alike.  This popularity made Donald Trump the single greatest threat to the D.C. status-quo and as such, became Barack Obama's #1 target for political and personal destruction.  It is a scenario that has U.S. Congressman Mark Meadows demanding a full and independent investigation be launched into the Obama FBI and its connection to he false "Trump dossier" that was used as the justification for illegal surveillance of private citizens connected to the Trump campaign.  (And likely surveillance of Mr. Trump himself and his family.)

Special counsel needed as questions mount on Clinton, Comey, Russian Dossier and more.  Why in 2016 did FBI Director James Comey call the Clinton Investigation a "matter," not an investigation?  After all, Mr. Comey wasn't Director of the Federal Bureau of Matters.  Why in 2016 did FBI Director Comey begin drafting an exoneration letter for Secretary Clinton, whom he called "grossly negligent" in an early draft of the letter, before completing the investigation?  Before interviewing several witnesses?  And before interviewing Secretary Clinton?  Why in 2016 did James Comey and the Justice Department give Cheryl Mills, Secretary Clinton's Chief of Staff, an immunity agreement for turning over her laptop computer?

Former Asst.  FBI Director:  Clinton Crimes 20 Times Bigger than Watergate.  Former Assistant FBI Director James Kallstrom unloaded on James Comey, Robert Mueller, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama Thursday [11/9/2017], charging that major crimes "20 times bigger than Watergate" are being swept under the rug while Attorney General Jeff Sessions "is in a coma."  Appearing on Fox News' Varney & Co., Kallstrom told the host that it "was obvious to anybody that knows anything" that former President Barack Obama was not going to let James Comey indict Clinton.  "It turns out — unfortunately — he was a political hack," Kallstrom said flatly.  "I think he maybe started out in an honorable way.  His opinion of himself is sky high — just an unbelievable guy with just an arrogance about him...  It got him in trouble because I think he thought he was Superman and he found out that he wasn't."  Kallstrom blamed the Clintons for Comey's descent into hackery.

The Trump Collusion Case Is Not Getting the Clinton Emails Treatment.  [Scroll down]  Lest we forget, President Obama had endorsed Mrs. Clinton, his former secretary of state and his party's nominee, to be president.  Moreover, Obama had knowingly participated in the conduct for which Clinton was under investigation — using a pseudonym in communicating with her about classified government business over an unsecure private communication system.  Obama prejudiced the emails investigation.  Long before it was formally ended, he publicly pronounced Clinton innocent.

Why We Cannot Trust the FBI.  The FBI is discounting ISIS' claim that the Las Vegas attack was jihad.  But is the FBI really trustworthy?  The Islamic State says Steven Paddock converted six months ago.  He filmed himself killing; jihadis do that and post it online.  The attack was meticulously planned, as jihad attacks are, and Paddock likely had an accomplice.  Paddock made numerous trips to the Middle East.  Over 200 of his foreign financial transactions were flagged for possible "covert terrorism financing."  Contrary to the ignorant, misinformed and delusional talking heads in the media, ISIS does not take responsibility for events that are not theirs.  This has led even the New York Times' terrorism expert to give credence to ISIS' claims.

As fight enters second month, FBI still withholding dossier documents.  It has now been more than a month since a House Intelligence Committee subpoena set a September 1 deadline for the FBI and the Justice Department to turn over documents related to the Trump dossier.  Not a single document has been produced.  The first deadline was extended once, then again, then again, and is now on some sort of hold.  But no documents have been handed over.  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein met with committee chairman Devin Nunes last Thursday — the committee can perhaps take comfort in the fact that it is being put off by progressively higher-ranking officials — but it is not clear if the committee is any closer to receiving the documents than when it first issued its subpoena on August 24.

FBI agent indicted, charged with lying about shooting during encounter with Oregon refuge occupier.  A special agent with the elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team has been indicted and accused of trying to cover up the firing of gunshots during an encounter with a member of an armed group who occupied an Oregon wildlife refuge last year.  The indictment — filed last week and made public Wednesday [6/28/2017] — does not accuse Special Agent W. Joseph Astarita of shooting the occupier, but it is a public black eye for the FBI group, which the bureau has described as unparalleled in its law enforcement capabilities.

Obama's FBI Passed Around Classified Information On American Citizens To People Outside Government.  shocking report from Circa.com revealed on Friday [5/26/2017] that the FBI under director James Comey "illegally shared raw intelligence about Americans with unauthorized third parties and violated other constitutional privacy protections, according to newly declassified government documents."

Severed Heads.  The head of the FBI (quite outside his purview as an investigatory official) announced in summer 2016 to the nation that he had decided not to seek an indictment of Hillary Clinton.  Then, again in the role of a presumed federal attorney, he seemed to reverse that judgment by reopening his investigation.  Then he appeared to re-reverse that decision — all at the height of a heated presidential campaign.  Throughout such a bizarre sequence, Comey stuck to a (flawed) exegesis about the nature of federal statutes in question (intent is not a mitigating circumstance in the felonious insecure transmission of classified federal documents).  Comey de facto had assumed yet another new role in addition to his newfound claims to be both an investigator and a prosecuting federal attorney — that of legislator and judge.

No, I Am Not a Moron but Half the Country is Deranged.  Let's consider the truth about the entire Comey affair.  By the time Comey held that press conference which was actually beyond FBI protocol; most voters had already decided whom to vote for so it had no impact on their vote.  Most of us deplorables were incensed that Hillary Clinton was getting a pass after breaking the Espionage Act but Comey testified in Congress that she was not going to be indicted because there was no intent to break the law.  WHAT?  Hillary Clinton's reckless and negligent e-mails included the names of CIA officers serving overseas and foreigners who are on the spy agency's payroll — potentially endangering their lives.  Remember Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, was jailed for allegedly outing Valerie Plame, who was a CIA desk jockey, not a spy in the field?  Hollywood sycophants even made a movie, "Fair Game" about the story that the Washington Post called full of distortions and outright invention.

Judicial Watch President:  Hillary Clinton Still Faces Legal Jeopardy Over Gross Mishandling of Classified Information.  Now that FBI Director James Comey has been fired, partially for his handling of the Clinton email scandal, many are wondering if a newly appointed director will take a second look at the case.  Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, whose attorneys have worked overtime to expose the extent to which Clinton and her aides went in mishandling classified information on an unsecured private server, says it's certainly a possibility.

Acting FBI Director:  Yeah, The Decision Not to Indict Hillary Clinton Caused Controversy Within The Bureau.  When former FBI Director James Comey walked out to television cameras on July 5, 2016, he announced the Bureau would not recommend charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for using an unsecured private email server despite "extremely careless" handling of classified information. [...] The announcement of a non-indictment came just days after former Attorney General Loretta Lynch was caught secretly meeting with former President Bill Clinton on her private plane in Phoenix.  When caught, Lynch claimed the meeting was about grandchildren and golf.  Media reports at the time indicated the decision not to indict Clinton, combined with the secret meeting, was highly disconcerting to many FBI agents.


News and commentary about the FBI after the 2016 presidential election but before Mr. Comey's dismissal:

James Comey gets sneaky again.  James Comey is proving himself to be a real sneak.  According to information in the Grassley-Graham memo, the former FBI director had a meeting with the White House on Jan. 5 about supposed Russian collusion in the 2016 election and then failed to disclose it to Congress, when he was asked about it in testimony.  It turns out that the Obama inner circle, including Susan Rice, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, Comey, and President Obama were all pow-wowing together in the White House, and Susan Rice, who questioned whether incoming President Trump should be told at all about the Russian collusion investigation, wrote a memo to herself describing the encounter.  The fact that Comey showed up comes in direct contradiction with Comey's sworn testimony to Congress, claiming he never met President Obama except on two unimportant occasions, the Daily Caller notes: [...]

Report: FBI director James Comey's testimony on Clinton aide was inaccurate.  FBI Director James Comey's testimony that a top Hillary Clinton aide forwarded "hundreds and thousands" of emails involving her boss was wrong, according to a letter the bureau sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday [5/9/2017].  Last week, Comey testified before a Senate committee that Huma Abedin made a "regular practice" of forwarding messages involving Clinton — some of which contained classified information — to her husband, former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner.  As Comey explained, the top Clinton aide did this so Weiner could print them out.  But FBI officials told ProPublica, which first reported the story, that Comey misstated Abedin's actions.

GOP senator: 'Cloud of doubt' hanging over FBI probes.  Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says that perceptions of potential political interference in FBI investigations are casting a "significant cloud of doubt" over the bureau.  Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Rod Rosenstein, the recently confirmed deputy attorney general, raising concerns that FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe's involvement in key investigations creates an "appearance of political bias."

James Comey just stepped in it big time.  FBI Director James B. Comey said at a hearing last week that it made him "mildly nauseous" to think that he may have influenced the outcome of the 2016 campaign.  New revelations about his apparently botched testimony are liable to make Democrats — and Comey — a little more than mildly nauseous.  And they are going to damage Comey's best defense of his actions.

Jim Comey thinks we're all stupid.  The FBI boss was trying to explain why he told the nation, just before the presidential election, that the bureau had reopened the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private server and mishandling of sensitive government information.  The alt-left believes this, and not Clinton's woeful campaign, lack of a message and endless baggage, is what cost her the election.  Comey explained how a separate probe had turned up emails from Clinton on a computer owned by Anthony Weiner, the pervert married to Clinton aide Huma Abedin. [...] But alas, Comey said, the bureau had no reason to believe Huma Abedin had any criminal intent in mishandling sensitive emails.  Once again, he ignored the fact that the statute does not require intent, but that's another issue.

FBI's James Comey invents a novel defense for crooks.  In case you missed it, FBI Director James "J. Edgar" Comey, in his latest attempt to broom the high crimes and misdemeanors of Crooked Hillary Clinton, told a Senate committee this week that even though Hillary, her top aide Huma Abedin et al.  had undoubtedly committed all sorts of felonies, it was impossible to prosecute them.  "With respect to Ms. Abedin in particular," J. Edgar Comey said, "we didn't have any indication that she had a sense that what she was doing was in violation of the law."  Really?  We always understood that the Clintons were trafficking in huge numbers of classified government emails that were illegally sent or deleted — for example, she destroyed at least 33,000 under federal subpoena, that we know of.

Boom!  FBI Comey confirms Hillary's aide Huma Abedin regularly commit felonies.  FBI James Comey just confirmed Huma Abedin forwarded thousands of classified emails to Anthony Weiner — which is enough felonies to put lock anyone up in jail forever.

Comey: Thousands of Clinton Emails, Including Classified Ones, Were Forwarded to Anthony Weiner.  FBI Director James Comey testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Hillary Clinton emails containing classified information were forwarded to the computer of Anthony Weiner, the former congressman, by his wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin.  Comey also strongly defended himself on Capitol Hill for his Oct. 28 letter notifying Congress of newly discovered emails appearing pertinent to Clinton's private server investigation, arguing it would have been "catastrophic" to conceal such a revelation.  He explained that his investigative team informed him in late October of metadata from Weiner's computer showing thousands of Clinton's emails on that device, including what they thought might be the "missing emails" from her first three months at the State Department.

Comey Didn't Sink Hillary — Hillary Sank Hillary.  Hillary Clinton was back yesterday, taking "absolute personal responsibility" by blaming Russia, James Comey, and misogyny for her second presidential election loss.  If the election had taken place on October 27, Clinton maintained, she'd be president.  Perhaps if we all lived in a vacuum where the electorate ignored everything the Democratic Party's flawed nominee had said and done (and tried to hide), she may well be in the White House — although even that's debatable.  Clinton's counterfactual tale about the infamous "Comey letter" has been a security blanket for many Democrats.  But, as luck would have it, the FBI director was testifying in front of a Senate Judiciary Committee today, and he reminded us of some factors that Clinton ignored.  That's because even if we concede that Comey's letter to Congress helped sink Clinton, Hillary deserved that letter, and the FBI director had no choice but to send it.

FBI Director:  The Laws Don't Apply to Clinton or Clinton Cronies.  According to FBI Director Jim Comey, the reason Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin weren't prosecuted for mishandling classified information is because they didn't think they were breaking the law against mishandling classified information. [...] The question is, could you or I, as ordinary citizens and not members of the Ruling Political Elite avail ourselves of the "I didn't know it was against the law defense?" when under investigation from the FBI?  I don't think so.

New Evidence Bolsters Probability that Hillary Clinton Was Hacked.  We the American people were told repeatedly by Hillary Clinton and her proxies during the endless 2016 presidential election that her brazen use of a personal, unsecure email server to traffic some of the nation's most sensitive secrets was not a problem, because her email system was never hacked.  But was this really the case?  I believe emails divulged by Judicial Watch suggest that her computer may well have been compromised by hostile actors.  FBI Director James Comey told us in his extraordinary July 5, 2016 statement to the media announcing his decision not to seek Mrs. Clinton's prosecution for her email set-up:  "With respect to potential computer intrusion by hostile actors, we did not find direct evidence that Secretary Clinton's personal email domain, in its various configurations since 2009, was successfully hacked."

Comey: Russia Favored Trump Because Putin 'Hated' Hillary Clinton.  During one critical exchange at today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on FBI oversight, FBI Director James B. Comey testified about why the intelligence community purportedly believed that Russia favored Donald Trump for U.S. president over Hillary Clinton.  Comey confirmed that the basis for the intelligence community's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly wanted Trump in office was not because the billionaire was, as Sen. Al Franken claimed without citing any evidence, "ensnared in" Russia's "web of patronage."  Instead, the FBI chief provided two primary reasons for Russia allegedly favoring Trump over Clinton during the 2016 presidential race.

'James Comey Is A Danger To The Country': Former US Atty Slams FBI Director.  Former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Joe DiGenova slammed FBI Director James Comey as "a danger to the country."  DiGenova, who served under President Reagan, said Comey's narcissism led him to take unnecessary and troubling steps during the Hillary Clinton email probe.  He said Comey should have been fired after his 2016 news conference in which he announced he would not recommend Clinton's prosecution.

NYT: Comey went public about Emailgate partly because he didn't trust Loretta Lynch to be impartial.  Lynch's untrustworthiness has always been a key ingredient to the Comey/Emailgate saga.  If not for the tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton last spring, it would have fallen to her as AG to make the final decision on whether to charge Hillary.  Instead, because of the suspicions surrounding her, she declared publicly that she'd follow whatever recommendation the FBI made.  That left Comey as the ultimate decision-maker, so when the investigation concluded, he felt obliged to state his reasons publicly.  And, having done so, he felt further obliged in October after the feds started looking through Anthony Weiner's laptop to notify the public that maybe the investigation wasn't concluded after all.  History will never know what might have happened, or not happened, had Bill Clinton stayed off Lynch's plane and Comey remained in a subordinate role on the Clinton matter.

FBI Says No Need For Top Official To Recuse Himself From Trump-Russia Probe.  A top FBI official whose wife received political donations from an ally of Hillary Clinton's last year does not need to recuse himself from the ongoing Trump-Russia investigation, the bureau said Wednesday [4/19/2017].  The Senate Judiciary Committee inquired last month about FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's role on the Trump probe, which is looking into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government.  Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Judiciary Committee's chairman, had expressed concerns about a potential conflict of interest given that McCabe's wife ran a state campaign in Virginia that received $700,000 from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close friend of Clinton's.

As FBI probe continues, Trump says it's 'not too late' to fire Comey.  In an interview with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo, Donald Trump was asked about "Obama-era staffers" that continue to serve in the executive branch. [...] This was all rather odd.  For example, Bartiromo characterized Comey as an Obama-era "staffer," but that's not quite right.  FBI directors are appointed to serve fixed 10-year terms — in large part to help shield directors from overt political influence and pressures — and in this case, the Democratic president chose a Republican to fill the post.  That didn't mean Comey was part of Obama's "staff."  But even putting that aside, Trump went on to say, after noting that "it's not too late" to oust Comey from his post, "We'll see what happens.  You know, it's going to be interesting."

The Case Against FBI Director Comey Grows.  Throughout the day today liberal media have been trying to make a controversy over House Intel Committee Chairman Devin Nunes visiting the White House on the day prior to his press conference revealing surveillance of Trump transition team members.  The implication of the MSM reporting was that Nunes was in cahoots with the Trump administration. [...] Meanwhile, CNN's insufferable agenda-driven Wolf Blitzer tries to get Chairman Nunes to break the rules and say too much about confidential material.  Blitzer is literally trying to compromise Nunes during his broadcast.  [Video clip]

A Tap Dance by James Comey.  James Comey, the director of the FBI, continues to act like a jerk for every season.  The man who first tried to save Hillary Clinton's campaign, and then tried to wreck it at the eleventh hour, reprised his familiar tap dance Monday [3/20/2017] with Congress.  It's getting stale.  The kindest interpretation anyone could put to his testimony Monday to the House Intelligence Committee, which ran almost six hours, is that the man has trouble with his mouth.  He talks too much, which is usually a fatal flaw in a cop.  This is what got him in trouble with just about everybody during the presidential campaign.

In Trumpworld probe, Comey decision to keep everyone in dark could have far-reaching repercussions.  In the course of questioning, Comey revealed that the investigation began in July 2016.  Then, late in the hearing, Comey admitted he kept the existence of the investigation a secret from the chairman and ranking member of the House and Senate intelligence committees until the past month.  And then, Comey hinted — just a hint, nothing definitive — that he kept Congress in the dark as part of his effort to keep the White House in the dark.

Trump's White House follows Obama's lead telling court not to locate more of Clinton's emails.  President Trump's new administration isn't fighting any harder to have more of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails released.  In fact, based off of court proceedings this week, the Trump Justice Department is following the same playbook as President Obama's, with government lawyers saying they will continue to seek a dismissal of a Judicial Watch case that is trying to force them to locate more of Clinton's emails.  'It's incredible,' said Judicial Watch's head Tom Fitton to the Washington Post.  'They're taking the same position as the Obama administration on Clinton.'

Trump's State Department refuses to look for Hillary Clinton's emails.  Judicial Watch was hoping that "Team Trump" would also mean team transparency.  But the conservative watchdog group was disappointed Monday after State Department lawyers were still insisting — even under their new President Trump-appointed leadership — that they have no intention of trying to find any potential as-yet uncovered Hillary Clinton emails from her time at the department.  Given that Trump once joked that Russia should find Hillary's missing emails, it's an ironic twist for Judicial Watch that it can't get Trump's own State Department to cooperate.

Is THIS the Reason James Comey Let Hillary Off the Hook?  Donald Trump recently accused Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the election.  Evidence soon was unveiled backing up his claim and Congress has begun investigating.  If the FBI was wiretapping Trump Tower, James Comey could be in some major hot water.  How does this relate to Hillary Clinton?  Well, if she knew about the wiretapping, she could use that as blackmail material against him to keep herself out of prison. [...] The first FISA request linked to wiretapping Trump Tower was around June of 2016 — the same time that Bill Clinton met with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.  What was discussed that day is still unknown.  Could it be that the Clintons knew about this all along and were able to hold it over James Comey's head?

The Editor says...
And why would Mr. Comey allow himself to be blackmailed?  Could it be because he fears for his life?

Jim Comey asserting power like no one in history.  Each day, FBI director Jim Comey goes to work in a federal building named for his most famous predecessor.  Yet for all his storied accomplishments and sordid controversies, J. Edgar Hoover never matched the singular feat of Comey.  Only Comey simultaneously investigated the top two presidential candidates during an election.  Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump each battled Comey last year while they battled each other for the Oval Office.  How's that for power?  Neither case led to charges, but that's almost beside the point.  Echoing Hoover's attitude, if not his methods, Comey is adept at using innuendo and leaks to remind the powerful that he cannot be ignored.

FBI Quietly Releases Batch #7 of Clinton Investigation Notes and Interviews.  Internet researcher Katica has again discovered the FBI quietly, and without explanation, just released another batch of documents from the "ongoing" FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's email use and classified information.  This is release #7, and follows the prior release #6 which oddly took place on Superbowl weekend.  This batch includes FBI notes from multiple interviews including Sidney Blumenthal, and contains discussions of guidance and opinion provided to Blumenthal (with the intent to pass along to Clinton) by a retired CIA operative identified in the notes as "TD".  Who is "TD"?

The New DNC Chair Had a Hillary Clinton-Esque Email Scandal.  Democrats and members of the media have seized on a Thursday report that Vice President Mike Pence used a personal email account while serving as Indiana's governor, attempting to brand Pence as a hypocrite for attacking Hillary Clinton's use of an unsecured private email server throughout the campaign.  Longtime Clinton adviser Paul Begala said that he was "sickened" by the "staggering" hypocrisy, and reporters took time to ask whether he has gained any "sympathy" for the way that Clinton dealt with her emails.  Pence said that there was "no comparison whatsoever" between what he did and what Clinton did.  His office has called the attempt to compare his email use to Clinton's as "absurd," noting that it was legal for him to use the account, that he was using a commercial AOL account rather than a private server, and that he was not handling classified information.

More of Hillary Clinton's secrets are kept from the public as judge turns down demand for State Department documents about her secret server.  A federal judge ruled yesterday [2/21/2017] not to hand another 30 documents pertaining to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's secret email server over to a conservative watchdog group.  Judge James E. Boasberg concluded that 'Judicial Watch has not provided a sufficient basis to believe that the information withheld by the State Department would shed light on any government misconduct,' the decision read, according to Politico.  Using the Freedom of Information Act, Judicial Watch, the group that got many of Clinton's emails released, wanted additional correspondence about Clinton's server released to the public.

Former Clinton IT Aide May Face Criminal Charges Over Email Server.  A former State Department IT technician who set up Hillary Clinton's private email server in her home may face criminal charges for avoiding multiple subpoenas to testify on Clinton's email server.  Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter on Thursday [2/16/2017] to Attorney General Jeff Session asking that Bryan Pagliano be charged for ignoring multiple subpoenas requesting that he testify before the Oversight Committee.  Pagliano was responsible for managing Clinton's private server and also served as a senior adviser to the former secretary of state.

Chaffetz seeks to charge ex-Clinton aide in email inquiry.  Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday [2/16/2017] asking him to convene a grand jury or charge Bryan Pagliano, the computer specialist who helped establish Clinton's server while she was secretary of state.  Pagliano did not comply with two subpoenas ordering him to appear before the oversight panel.  The GOP-led committee later voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.

House Oversight Chairman Chaffetz refers Bryan Pagliano to DOJ for charges.  Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions today asking Sessions to consider convening a grand jury or bringing charges against Hillary Clinton's former IT guy, Bryan Pagliano.  Pagliano was subpoenaed to testify before the committee last year but refused to appear on two occasions.  After the second refusal, the Oversight Committee voted to hold Pagliano in contempt. [...] The letter concludes, "In light of Pagliano's contumacious conduct in refusing to testify, the Department should bring the matter before a grand jury for its action or file an information charging Pagliano with violating 2 U.S.C.§192."

Federal Court Hearing on FBI Clinton Records — Agency Wants Up to Two Years to Turn Over 35 Records.  Judicial Watch today [2/8/2017] announced a hearing will be held Tuesday, February 7, 2017, regarding Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking records held by the FBI containing text messages and emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stored on the equipment of Datto Inc., a commercial data management company, as well as FBI records about the device and what materials were recovered on it. [...] At the previous hearing Tuesday, January 24, 2017, Trump administration lawyers for the FBI informed Judicial Watch and the court that it located 35 FBI records that concern the Datto device and that it may take up to two years to release the records.  In addition, the FBI recovered approximately 10,000 messages from the Datto device.

Midnight "Release" Again — 178 Page FBI Clinton Email Document Release With Interesting Content.  Internet researcher Katica has again discovered the FBI quietly, and without explanation, just released another batch of documents from the "ongoing" FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's email use and classified information.  This is release #6, and interestingly this release is titled "part 06 of 06" so there might not be any more.  However, this batch is quite a bit more interesting.  The Super-Bowl weekend release is not a document dump; it surfaces as more of a leak than an official release — this is the same way release #5 surfaced.

State Department Ordered to Turn Over 30 Clinton Emails for Review by Federal Court Judge.  A federal court ordered the State Department to produce to the court 30 Clinton email-related documents that had been blacked out under various privilege claims. [...] "It is significant that federal court will review these Clinton email documents for evidence of government misconduct," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  "This important court victory shows that we are now only in the middle of the Clinton email scandal."

How This CEO Got Caught Up In the Clinton Email Scandal.  Months after the election, we still don't know for sure what happened to all of Hillary Clinton's emails, the ones that passed through her private email server, a question that remains unresolved and continues to infuriate some of President-elect Donald Trump's die-hard supporters.  But one clue to unraveling the mystery may lie with a low-key tech company based in southwestern Connecticut and its 31-year-old freckle-faced CEO, who handed over up to 17,448 deleted Clinton emails to the FBI.  Datto, a data protection company, had been backing up Clinton's messages for years, yet nobody seemed to know about it — not the techie who tended to the Clintons' private email server, not the Clintons, not even Datto's CEO Austin McChord and his employees.

Will the DOJ Reopen the Hillary Clinton Email Case Under Jeff Sessions?  Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano thinks there is a very good chance the Hillary Clinton email investigation will be reopened because the latest FBI document dump made it clear that "the case is stronger than ever."  On Sunday [1/8/2017], while many Americans were focused on football and the Golden Globe Awards, the FBI quietly released 300 pages of emails related to its investigation of Clinton.  According to Fox News, it is "the fifth release of Clinton investigation documents on the FBI Vault website" and is "related to the handling of computer hardware collected from Clinton's lawyers for the investigation."

More Hillary Clinton emails surface — and show how anti-gay Sharia law ruler shunned by celebrities treated Bill 'like part of his family'.  Among the thousand cuts Donald Trump delivered to Hillary Clinton en route to her political death was the accusation that she was cozy with the repressive Sultan of Brunei.  A 2012 email released Thursday by the U.S. State Department seems to back him up.  In the message, Clinton aide Huma Abedin told the then-presidential candidate that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, worth a reported $20 billion, wanted to see her and husband Bill for an intimate 'family style dinner.'  Brunei government officials 'say [the] sultan sees wjc [William Jefferson Clinton] as part of his family and this is treating you in this "informal" way,' she wrote.

FBI Claims DNC 'Inhibited' Its Investigation Of Stolen Emails.  The Democratic National Committee "inhibited" the FBI's investigation of email hacks by refusing to grant investigators access to the party's computer servers, the bureau is claiming.  "The FBI repeatedly stressed to DNC officials the necessity of obtaining direct access to servers and data, only to be rebuffed until well after the initial compromise had been mitigated," an FBI official said Thursday, according to BuzzFeed News.  "This left the FBI no choice but to rely upon a third party for information.  These actions caused significant delays and inhibited the FBI from addressing the intrusion earlier."

Email Headache Returns:  New Clinton messages show passwords, schedules flowed freely.  The election's over — but Hillary Clinton's emails are still coming to light.  And they help illustrate why the FBI declared she was "extremely careless" with the information flowing across her secret server.  A new batch of messages released by the State Department on Tuesday [1/3/2017] shows the former secretary of state and her team routinely shared her upcoming schedules, talking points and sensitive items — such as her iPad password — via the homebrewed system.  Other newly revealed emails, which were posted as the result of litigation, show Clinton's top advisers griping about her during her time as secretary of State; an Asian ruler who later implemented Sharia law saying he considered former President Bill Clinton part of his "family"; and Clinton talking about Justin Cooper, one of the key figures who administered to her private server.

The FBI Never Asked For Access To Hacked Computer Servers.  Six months after the FBI first said it was investigating the hack of the Democratic National Committee's computer network, the bureau has still not requested access to the hacked servers, a DNC spokesman said.  No US government entity has run an independent forensic analysis on the system, one US intelligence official told BuzzFeed News.  "The DNC had several meetings with representatives of the FBI's Cyber Division and its Washington (DC) Field Office, the Department of Justice's National Security Division, and U.S. Attorney's Offices, and it responded to a variety of requests for cooperation, but the FBI never requested access to the DNC's computer servers," Eric Walker, the DNC's deputy communications director, told BuzzFeed News in an email.

DC Court of Appeals re-opens search for deleted Hillary emails — this time with grand juries and subpoenas, if necessary.  Happy New Year, Hillary Clinton.  I hope you enjoy being the subject of a probe by A.G.-designate Jeff Sessions, and whatever grand jury probes and subpoenas he sees fit to use in seeking recovery of all those emails you deleted and BleachBitted in an effort to eradicate any evidence of their contents.  You can now plan out your 2017 calendar with time left for grand jury testimony, thanks to a ruling from D.C. Court of Appeals judge Stephen Williams.  His ruling reversed a lower court decision that halted FOIA lawsuits by Judicial Watch and Cause of Action that had sought Justice Department probes into the possible existence of records of the deleted emails.

U.S. appeals court revives Clinton email suit.  In a new legal development on the controversy over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails, an appeals court on Tuesday [12/27/2016] reversed a lower court ruling and said two U.S. government agencies should have done more to recover the emails.

John Podesta Lies About Role Of EMail Leak.  [Scroll down]  The national intelligence community has said the opposite of what Podesta claimed they said.  Furthermore, as we've discussed before, the CIA is alone in this assessment and lacks the reputation to say such things.  No reputable party is asserting that the emails given to Wikileaks came from anywhere but insider leaks.  John Podesta is a bitter clinger, we must conclude.  But consider for a moment what he wants you to believe.  He wants you to believe that release of his emails, by whatever method at all, caused the American public to reject the Clinton campaign because of its nefarious contents, and therefore that those contents should never have been released.

FBI still hasn't turned over Abedin emails.  The FBI still hasn't turned over to the State Department any of the messages it reportedly obtained from the computer shared by top Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her now-estranged husband Anthony Weiner, the administration told a federal judge Tuesday [11/29/2016].  FBI officials have signaled they will eventually turn over any State Department documents they obtain, lawyers said — but there is no time frame for doing so.  "We haven't recovered anything from the FBI," said Lisa A. Olson, the Justice Department lawyer handling the case.

Judicial Watch Asks Federal Court to Find Government Misconduct in Clinton Email Scandal, Force Release of Documents.  Judicial Watch announced today [11/23/2016] that it has asked a federal court to reject the State Department's secrecy claims over certain Clinton email-related document on the grounds that the documents relate to government misconduct.  Judicial Watch argues the agency should release 30 emails currently being withheld under various "deliberative process," "attorney client," and "attorney work product" privileges.  The lawsuit was originally filed in May 2015, and seeks "all emails sent or received by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in her official capacity as secretary of State, as well as all emails by other State Department employees to Secretary Clinton regarding her non-'state.gov' email address."

Hillary Clinton's email woes persist after election: 'Nothing has been settled'.  They won't now complicate a Hillary Clinton presidency, but the emails from her time in the State Department will still trickle out over the next months as the administration tries to clean up the mess Mrs. Clinton left.  Though President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he would halt any official federal investigations into Mrs. Clinton's activities as secretary of state, groups that have driven the issue say they will continue to press the legal cases that have forced the release of tens of thousands of her emails and could still pry loose thousands more.  "Nothing has been settled," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, one of the groups that has pressed for more transparency from the Obama administration.  He said the issues go much deeper than Mrs. Clinton alone.


James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, June 8, 2017:
This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


News and commentary about James Comey and the FBI after his Senate testimony:
This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


The FBI re-opens the Clinton email investigation on October 28, 2016:
Oh, incidentally, Election Day was November 8.

Editor's note:
The items in this section are listed in the order in which they were discovered on the internet.

FBI is reopening its Clinton email probe.  An October surprise exploded in the presidential race Friday [10/28/2016].  The FBI suddenly announced that it is reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails after learning of new documents "that appear to be pertinent to the investigation."  The bureau's stunning move came less than two weeks before Election Day.

FBI reopens Clinton email investigation.  The FBI has reopened its investigation into Hillary Clinton's secret emails, Director James Comey told Congressin a new letter Friday, heightening the stakes for the Democratic presidential nominee with less than two weeks before Election Day.  Mr. Comey said his agents learned of new emails "pertinent" to their probe while working on an unrelated case.  He said his agents need to review those messages to see whether they contain classified information and whether they affect his previous decision.

Democrats should ask Hillary Clinton to step aside.  It's obvious the American political system is breaking down.  It's been crumbling for some time now, and the establishment elite know it and they're properly frightened.  Donald Trump, the vulgarian at their gates, is a symptom, not a cause.  Hillary Clinton and husband Bill are both cause and effect.  FBI director James Comey's announcement about the renewed Clinton email investigation is the bombshell in the presidential campaign.  That he announced this so close to Election Day should tell every thinking person that what the FBI is looking at is extremely serious.

Will Loretta Lynch Keep Promise To Accept FBI's Recommendation In Clinton Investigation?  On July 1, 2016, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch made a promise: she would accept the FBI's recommendation of whether or not to press charges in the investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state.  Almost four months later, that promise has taken on renewed significance in light of FBI Director James Comey's announcement on Friday that the agency is reviewing newly discovered emails relevant to the Clinton email investigation.  The emails were obtained during an "unrelated investigation," Comey said.

Hillary Clinton's Chutzpah.  The idea that Mrs. Clinton's legal jeopardy can be solved before the Election Day is chimerical.  Election Day has already started.  Hardly a paragraph goes by that the New York Times isn't whinnying about how non-existent is Mr. Trump's route to victory at the electoral college (Pennsylvania "remains out of reach" is the way the Times touted its latest poll).  If Mrs. Clinton is so all-fired eager to protect Election Day, why doesn't she start a movement for people to be able to recall the ballots they've already cast in early voting?

Has the FBI saved Trump?  Comey gave little indication of what exactly prompted the FBI to revisit the investigation on Friday.  However, agents reportedly discovered as many as several thousand "pertinent" emails on devices Abedin had used, raising questions about whether the longtime Clinton confidante had concealed evidence from agents during their first look at the case.  Abedin is the only aide to have used an address on the "clintonemail.com" network.  What's more, she was employed by the Clinton Foundation during her final months at the State Department through a personnel arrangement that allowed potential conflicts of interest to flourish.

Weiner revelation proves Comey dropped the ball on Hillary probe.  [FBI] Agents reportedly found thousands of State Department-related emails ostensibly containing classified information on the electronic devices belonging to Weiner and his wife and top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.  The discovery has prompted FBI Director James Comey to, on the eve of the election, reopen the Clinton case he prematurely closed last July.  How did agents examine the devices?  By seizing them.  It's a common practice in criminal investigations, but one that clearly was not applied in the case of Clinton or her top aide — even though agents assigned to that case knew Abedin hoarded classified emails on her electronic devices.  The two special agents who interviewed Abedin on April 5 noted as much in their 302 summary of their interview, which took place at the FBI's Washington field office and notably was attended by the chief of the FBI's counterespionage section.

America Is at Its Most Perilous Crossroads Since World War II.  Get ready, Mr. and Mrs. America, because we are headed for a "winter of our discontent" unlike any we have ever seen.  And there won't be a son of York or Lancaster to save us.  With a president already known to have lied through his teeth about the email server, we don't know where this is all going but we can be sure it's nowhere good.  At this moment the so-called "liberals" (how does that misnomer seem now?) are in a frenzy, lashing out because they are afraid her gangster-ladyship might actually lose.

No questions:  Reporters barred from getting near Bill Clinton as his wife is rocked by FBI probe.  Reporters covering Bill Clinton today in Pennsylvania were barred from getting too close to the ex-president in the wake of the news that the FBI would again be investigating his wife's emails.  At his second campaign stop of the day, in the Blair County town of Duncansville, the media was stuffed in the back of the room behind an intricate set of metal gates and velvet ropes, with minders escorting reporters if they wanted to step up closer and get a picture of Clinton onstage.

Carlos Danger Reopens EmailGate and Team Clinton Trembles.  Just 11 days before our presidential election, the explosive issue of EmailGate is back in the news, thanks to James Comey, the FBI director who less than four months ago gave Hillary Clinton a pass on her illegal use of email and a personal server when the Democratic nominee was secretary of state.  After weeks of damaging revelations care of Wikileaks about just how much the Clinton camp knew about EmailGate for years, and tried to downplay its significance in the media, Comey today sent a letter to the chairmen of the relevant Congressional committees — including, significantly, the House and Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees — that blows EmailGate wide open all over again.

Computer seized in Weiner probe prompts FBI to take new steps in Clinton email inquiry.  In a letter to lawmakers, Comey said the FBI would take "appropriate investigative steps" to determine whether the newly discovered emails contain classified information and to assess whether they are relevant to the Clinton server probe.  The emails, numbering more than 1,000, were found on a computer used by both Weiner (D-N.Y.) and his wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, according to law enforcement officials with knowledge of the inquiry who spoke on the condition of anonymity.  The correspondence included emails between Abedin and Clinton, according to a law enforcement official.

Comey memo to FBI staffers says election, timing required disclosure of renewed probe.  FBI Director James Comey told his bureau that he broke with custom in alerting lawmakers that the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server was being reopened because of its political sensitivity.  In an internal memo obtained by Fox News, the beleaguered director noted that the FBI typically would not communicate with the public when reopening a case, according to a Department of Justice source.  But Comey said he had to in this case because Clinton is seeking the White House in an election on Nov. 8.

Weiner, Clinton and the FBI's chance at redemption = an election nightmare.  The most wounded man in Washington is James Comey.  Ever since his legally incomprehensible announcement that he would not recommend criminal prosecution of Hillary Clinton, he has been the equivalent of an extra on the set of "The Walking Dead".  His reputation tarnished.  His legacy forever tainted.  His own agents turned against him in disgust.  Those, including lawyers, who had worked exhaustively gathering the incriminating evidence were furious that Comey had publicly laid out their case of how Clinton was grossly negligence under the Espionage Act, yet decided not to prosecute.  Comey had gone from revered to reviled, all in one day.

The full text of FBI letter announcing new Clinton email probe.  Clip and save.

Observations on the FBI's Clinton email "reentry".  The way Comey has misinterpreted the requirements for criminal liability under the Espionage Act and other statutes, it seems almost impossible that newly found documents could change his position that Hillary Clinton committed no crime.  Did the FBI find more classified documents?  Probably, but so what?  It had already discovered plenty that Hillary sent and received.  The sticking point, for purposes of criminal liability, was intent.  What could the FBI have found in Huma Abedin's email that would change Comey's view on Hillary's intent?  It's difficult to say.  It seems more likely that the newly discovered documents raise issues as to possible criminal liability by Abedin.

White House Says Obama Had No 'Advance Warning' Of FBI's Clinton Probe.  As the news keeps trickling in, the latest information is that the FBI's letter to Congressmen came without Obama being previously forewarned.  The White House on Friday said it was not given any prior notice on the FBI's announcement that it was investigating additional emails relating to Hillary Clinton's use of a private email system.  "We did not have advance warning," White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters traveling with President Barack Obama to a campaign event for Clinton in Orlando, Florida.  Schultz said news of the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe has not affected Obama's support for Clinton.

Paul Ryan Says Hillary Shouldn't Be Briefed On Classified Information.  House Speaker Paul Ryan said Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should not be briefed on classified information in the wake of the FBI's announcement it is reopening its investigation into her private email server Friday.  The Wisconsin Republican blasted the former secretary of state for her carelessness when handling the country's top secrets.

The FBI's October Surprise Is Devastating for Hillary Clinton.  On Friday afternoon, the FBI uncorked the mother of all October surprises, announcing in a letter to Congress that it has re-opened its investigation of Hillary Clinton's "personal email server." The reason?  During an "unrelated investigation"* it uncovered e-mails that "appear to be pertinent" to Clinton's case.  It is seeking to determine whether the e-mails contain classified information and can't yet determine their significance.  Stripped of the legalese, it means that Hillary is back in legal jeopardy.  The FBI doesn't investigate and recommend enforcement actions against computer servers.  It holds people accountable, and Hillary is the person most responsible for her own e-mail.

The Hillary-Weiner Connection.  [Scroll down]  That investigation may be "unrelated" but it touches directly on Abedin, who is likely to have had plenty of email and text communication with Weiner covering the entirety of her time working for Clinton at the State Department.  This may suggest that Abedin is currently the most at-risk of the Clinton confidantes.  Given how strict classification rules are when enforced aggressively, and given how much unguarded information Huma may have shared with her husband, Abedin could be in serious jeopardy.

FBI reopens Clinton probe after new emails found in Anthony Weiner case.  [Scroll down]  "The FBI's decision to reopen its investigation into Secretary Clinton reinforces what the House Judiciary Committee has been saying for months: the more we learn about Secretary Clinton's use of a private email server, the clearer it becomes that she and her associates committed wrongdoing and jeopardized national security," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a statement.  Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said the discovery must be "serious" for the bureau to investigate this close to the election.

New Emails in Clinton Case Came From Anthony Weiner's Electronic Devices.  Mr. Comey's letter said that the F.B.I. would review the emails to determine if they improperly contained classified information, which is tightly controlled by the government.  Senior law enforcement officials said that it was unclear if any of the emails were from Mrs. Clinton's private server.  And while Mr. Comey said in his letter that the emails "appear to be pertinent," the F.B.I. had not yet examined them.  By the end of a day that brought stinging criticism of Mr. Comey from both Democrats and Republicans, he appeared on the defensive, saying in an internal email to bureau employees that he had felt obligated to inform Congress, and "we don't know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails."

3 competing theories on why the FBI re-opened the Hillary email server investigation.  The very first thing to note is that Comey made no mention of a grand jury.  The emails whose existence he learned of may have been the result of a subpoena in another investigation.  Update:  It was announced ten days ago that grand jury would be convened to investigate Weiner's sexting "by the end of the month."  The timing of Comey's letter strongly suggests that the devices containing new emails were obtained through a grand jury subpoena, with no immunity deals or evidence destruction needed.  If that is the case, further subpoenas are quite possible, a tool that was left unused in the investigation to date.

Comey memo to FBI staffers says election, timing required disclosure of renewed probe.  FBI Director James Comey told his bureau that he broke with custom in alerting lawmakers that the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server was being reopened because of its political sensitivity.  In an internal memo obtained by Fox News, the beleaguered director noted that the FBI typically would not communicate with the public when reopening a case, according to a Department of Justice source.  But Comey said he had to in this case because Clinton is seeking the White House in an election on Nov. 8.

Weiner, Clinton and the FBI's chance at redemption = an election nightmare.  The most wounded man in Washington is James Comey.  Ever since his legally incomprehensible announcement that he would not recommend criminal prosecution of Hillary Clinton, he has been the equivalent of an extra on the set of "The Walking Dead".  His reputation tarnished.  His legacy forever tainted. [...] Now, his stunning announcement that he is reopening the criminal investigation of Clinton based on newly discovered evidence is, perhaps, the chance at redemption for which he may have been searching.

Looking for an 'Unprecedented' October Surprise?  Nothing Tops Lawrence Walsh's 1992 Dirty Trick.  The press's institutional memory is so weak, and its insistence on burying long-ago inconvenient truths is so strong, that no one I'm aware of has made a comparison to Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh's indictment of former Reagan Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger on October 30, 1992, and Walsh's obviously calculated decision to include a reference to incumbent President George H.W. Bush in his filing.  MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, who one would expect to remember its brutality and dishonesty, failed to do so in a telephone interview Friday afternoon [10/28/2016].  Scarborough's political career began when he ran for Congress as a Republican in 1994, two years after Bill Clinton defeated Bush 41.

What Goes Around Comes Around.  A reader points out the irony of Hillary Clinton complaining about timing of the reopening of the FBI investigation.  In 1992, the reader reminds me, President Bush was gaining on Bill Clinton as Election Day approached.  But just four days before the election, the special counsel, Lawrence Walsh, obtained a new indictment of former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.  Weinberger had been indicted earlier in the year.  But the new indictment cited a Weinberger diary entry that contradicted something President Bush had said.  The Clintons seized on the new indictment, howling about a "culture of corruption" that supposedly pervaded the administration.  Bush's poll numbers declined and Bill Clinton won the election.

Justice officials warned FBI that Comey's decision to update Congress was not consistent with department policy.  Comey decided to inform Congress that he would look again into Hillary Clinton's handling of emails during her time as secretary of state for two main reasons: a sense of obligation to lawmakers and a concern that word of the new email discovery would leak to the media and raise questions of a coverup.  The rationale, described by officials close to Comey's decision-making on the condition of anonymity, prompted the FBI director to release his brief letter to Congress on Friday and upset a presidential race less than two weeks before Election Day.  It placed Comey again at the center of a highly partisan argument over whether the nation's top law enforcement agency was unfairly influencing the campaign.

The Editor says...
Mr. Comey was already at the center of such an argument, no matter what action he took or didn't take.

James Comey Broke with Loretta Lynch and Justice Department Tradition.  On Friday [10/28/2016], James Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, acting independently of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, sent a letter to Congress saying that the F.B.I. had discovered e-mails that were potentially relevant to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private server.  Coming less than two weeks before the Presidential election, Comey's decision to make public new evidence that may raise additional legal questions about Clinton was contrary to the views of the Attorney General, according to a well-informed Administration official.

Huma Abedin Swore Under Oath She Gave Up 'All the Devices' With State Department Emails.  In a normal election year, a normal candidate's close aide who caused even minor embarrassment to a campaign so near to Election Day would be whisked away as quickly as possible to avoid becoming a distraction.  But Huma Abedin is not simply a close aide, she's a critical member of Hillary Clinton's tiny inner circle that protects and — at times — enables the deeply flawed and secretive Democratic nominee.

Official: "Tens of thousands of emails belonging to Ms. Abedin on Mr. Weiners Laptop".  From prior FOIA (Judicial Watch) document releases we already knew Huma Abedin was forwarding emails to her private account from the Clinton server.  However, buried in a New York Times article the following paragraph:  ["]A senior law enforcement official said that tens of thousands of emails belonging to Ms. Abedin were on Mr. Weiner's laptop, which the F.B.I. had obtained as part of its investigation into Mr. Weiner.  About a month ago, a person familiar with the investigation said, F.B.I. agents seized the laptop as well as Mr. Weiner's iPad and cellphone.["]

'Give it a rest': Social media mocks Senator claiming Russia may be behind new Clinton FBI probe.  People on social media shamed US Democratic Senator Tom Ryan, who claimed Russia might actually be behind the reopening of Hillary Clintons' email probe by the FBI over new leaked messages.  On October 28, FBI director James Comey announced that the Bureau has learned of new emails involving Hillary Clinton's private email server during her time as a Secretary of State.  Comey said the agency will "take appropriate investigative steps" and review the new information.

Attorney General told FBI director James Comey NOT to send letter to Congress about bureau reopening the investigation.  [FBI Director James] Comey broke from [Attorney General Loretta] Lynch, who objected to the move along with the Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, and independently sent the letter to Congress on Friday, dropping the bombshell about the restarted investigation based on newly discovered emails, rocking Clinton's campaign.  Comey's supporters argue that he had to break away from Lynch and act independently on the issue due to her compromising herself when she had an impromptu visit with former president Bill Clinton late into the investigation earlier this year.

October Surprise Revives Clinton Email Controversy.  Eleven days before Americans determine the winner of a presidential contest already laden with multiple scandals, the political landscape looked even muddier on Friday with the latest October surprise.  The revelation, immediately greeted by Donald Trump as a political gift, emerged in the form of a letter from FBI Director James Comey to lawmakers.  He advised the legislative branch that "emails that appear to be pertinent" to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's personal email server were uncovered "in connection with an unrelated case," and were under FBI review "to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation."

Just the Facts, Ma'am.  [Scroll down]  This will not bring honor and glory to J. Edgar Hoover's venerable crime-fighting organization.  Comey's announcement, by the way, follows hot on the heels of the revelation that Clinton pal and Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe channeled near $500,000 into the failed state senate campaign of Jill McCabe, who is the wife of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who helped oversee the agency's investigation into Clinton's private email server.  And let it be known that Hillary Clinton helped raise $1 million for McAuliffe's PAC.  Did any of these connections have anything to do with Clinton's getting off scot free from a criminal indictment?  Nah.

Clinton Right Hand Woman Huma Abedin Takes the Stage at Center of Email Scandal.  [Scroll down]  Abedin's influence in these matters, including the revelation in [Paul] Sperry's article that "Abedin possessed much more power" over Clinton's staff, schedule, and security than other former chiefs of staffs, is especially concerning given the links that Abedin has to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to the Muslim World League, a group that Hillary Clinton herself said in 2009 was funding terrorism.

'She is awful': Nigel Farage skewers Hillary Clinton as email probe gives Trump huge boost.  The Clinton campaign was rocked on Friday after FBI director James Comey stated it would examine if the emails being investigated contained sensitive government information.  Donald Trump has lambasted Mrs Clinton, branding her behaviour a "grave miscarriage of justice".  Speaking on LBC Mr Farage, who has appeared on stage with Mr Trump said:  "I think she [Mrs Clinton] is pretty awful.  "I think she is very dishonest, I think the way the Clinton Foundation has raised tens of millions of the back of her still serving in public office makes me feel deeply uneasy.  "I do think, not on everything he say, but I do think in terms of some policy directions Trump has better answers."

Carlos Danger may have opened Pandora's Box for Huma and Hillary.  The criminal investigation underway over Anthony Weiner's alleged child sex infraction has a couple of characteristics that make it especially awkward for Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin, the estranged wife of Weiner and close companion of Hillary.  Ed Timperlake points out to me that in an underage sex investigation, all electronic communications of the investigative target are pursued.  This probably led to the grand jury that was announced 11 days ago issuing a subpoena for all of the devices in the possession of Weiner and his family, including Huma.  As Lucianne Goldberg quipped, they even seize the Speak & Spell toys in these cases.  This grand jury is in New York, possibly less poltiically supervised than the first Hillary email investigation.

Clinton's State Department:  A RICO Enterprise.  The news is still emerging, and there will be many questions — particularly if it turns out that the bureau failed to obtain Ms. Abedin's communications devices earlier in the investigation, a seemingly obvious step.  As we await answers, we can only observe that, whatever the FBI has found, it was significant enough for director James Comey to sense the need to notify Congress, despite knowing what a bombshell this would be just days before the presidential election.  One thing, however, is already clear.  Whatever the relevance of the new e-mails to the probe of Clinton's classified-information transgressions and attempt to destroy thousands of emails, these offenses may pale in comparison with Hillary Clinton's most audacious violations of law:  Crimes that should still be under investigation; crimes that will, in fitting Watergate parlance, be a cancer on the presidency if she manages to win on November 8.

Hillary's Quickie Email Press Conference:  Vote Early Before This Gets Worse!  Please hurry.  Vote as soon as you can!  Before ... before the next shoe drops.

Hillary sent 'marked classified' info to nonsecure Abedin account.  WND's reporting in late August of a marked classified email Hillary Clinton forwarded to aide Huma Abedin could cast light on FBI Director James Comey's dramatic disclosure to members of Congress Friday that the bureau had reopened its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server due to new information apparently discovered in the sexting probe of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, Abedin's estranged husband.  Comey, however, said in his letter to Congress that he was only 'briefed yesterday,' meaning WND readers knew of the potential security breach two months before the director did.

Bernstein: FBI Would Not Reopen Case Unless New Evidence Was "A Real Bombshell".  Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein comments on the FBI's shocking Friday afternoon announcement that they are reopening the investigation into Hilary Clinton's email server because new evidence has come to light.  [Video clip]

Corrupt Loretta Lynch tried to stop Comey from re-opening Clinton case.  Loretta Lynch, aka Eric Holder with a vagina didn't want Comey to re-open the FBI case of Hillary Clinton and her damn e-mails.  The corrupt Lynch who obviously wants to be AG if Hillary Clinton wins warned Comey not to re-open the case.  He did anyway, after e-mail correspondence between Clinton and Huma Weiner Abedin were found on Anthony Weiner's computers and mobile devices.

Comey's review of emails related to Clinton server triggered by NY agents, source says.  FBI Director James Comey's decision to revisit the Hillary Clinton email-private server case was triggered by the discovery of Clinton-related emails in a separate sexting investigation involving ex-New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, a government source told Fox News on Sunday [10/30/2016].  The source said an analysis of the metadata on Weiner's computer has turned up "positive hits for state.gov and HRC emails," which led Comey to revisit the FBI investigation into Clinton using a private email server system while secretary of state.  A second law enforcement source confirmed the account.

Anthony Weiner Said To Be Cooperating With FBI Investigation.  [Scroll down]  It is possible that as a result of the cooperation, the FBI will be able to obtain a clearer assessment of just what is contained in the emails, facilitating the Clinton campaign request for the FBI to "come clean" with what he been uncovered; alternatively it may accelerate the disclosure into any "smoking guns" as some pundits have claimed had been uncovered in the email trove.

Trump Called It Months Ago:  Anthony Weiner threatens national security.  The FBI announced Friday it had uncovered news emails related to its investigation of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information while conducting a separate investigation into the pervy sexting habits of former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner.  Weiner of course is the estranged husband of Hillary's closest aide, Huma Abedin who herself figures prominently in Clinton's email scandals.

The Clinton Degradation.  The prospect of a second Clinton presidency lies before us.  I find it almost unbelievable.  FBI Director Comey's announcement of the investigation of newly discovered emails is a timely reminder of what a Clinton presidency holds in store for us simply in terms of lawlessness and scandal, not to mention the horribly destructive public policies she advocates.

James Comey Stands Tall, and Alone, in a Tight Corner in Clinton Email Mess.  Comey decided that he had to present the results directly to the public.  He did so, insisting that the evidence did not establish the intent he said was necessary to bring criminal charges.  He made clear that he felt Hillary Clinton had been reckless and irresponsible and that she had shown terrible judgment.  "He wasn't going to indict, but he was going to scold," a former federal prosecutor said on Saturday [10/29/2016].  "Scolding in the first degree has never quite made it."  Along with their surprise at Comey's break with protocol, some veteran agents were outraged by the decision itself.  Few of them are Hillary fans.  And all of them had learned from their first days the importance of treating classified materials properly.  They viewed it as the highest arrogance to ignore the strictures to which they adhere.

Joe DiGenova:  FBI agents refused orders to destroy laptops and they still exist.  If this is true, it indicates that a serious rebellion was underway in the FBI, with agents refusing a direct order.  Although I am no lawyer, I suppose they might have regarded the order as illegitimate, part of a conspiracy to destroy evidence.  It is possible that Comey knew of this rebellion, and that this knowledge shaped his decision to write to Congressional leaders on the resumption of the investigation.

DC Attorney:  FBI Never Destroyed Laptops Of Clinton Aides.  Agents within the Federal Bureau of Investigation never destroyed laptops given to them by aides of Hillary Clinton as previously reported, a Washington D.C. lawyer with a source close to the Clinton investigation says.  Washington D.C. attorney Joe DiGenova said on The David Webb Show on SiriusXM Friday night that despite the FBI agreeing to destroy the laptops of Clinton aide Cheryl Mills and ex-campaign staffer Heather Samuelson as part of immunity deals made during the initial investigation of Clinton's email server, agents involved in the case refused to destroy the laptops.

Resignation letters piling up from disaffected FBI agents.  James Comey's decision to revive the investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server and her handling of classified material came after he could no longer resist mounting pressure by mutinous agents in the FBI, including some of his top deputies, according to a source close to the embattled FBI director.

Clinton aide Huma Abedin has told people she doesn't know how her emails wound up on her husband's computer.  Top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has told people she is unsure how her emails could have ended up on a device she viewed as her husband's computer, the seizure of which has reignited the Clinton email investigation, according to a person familiar with the investigation and civil litigation over the matter.  The person, who would not discuss the case unless granted anonymity, said Abedin was not a regular user of the computer, and when she agreed to turn over emails to the State Department for federal records purposes, her lawyers did not search it for materials, not believing any of her messages to be there.

James Comey's opaque Clinton letter risks becoming a fiasco.  James Comey, the Director of the FBI, is this morning under attack from all sides.  And he has no-one to blame but himself.  America's top cop has inserted himself in the most dramatic and unexpected way into the highest-stakes election of our lifetime.  The result is the political equivalent of an unguided missile.  On Friday, Comey wrote a short, opaque letter to Congress.  It was a bombshell:  He was, in effect, reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails as millions of early voters flock to the polls to cast their ballots.

Abedin reportedly pleads ignorance of how emails at center of latest Clinton probe got on computer.  Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin reportedly has said she does not know how tens of thousands of emails related to the FBI investigation of her boss' personal server were found on a laptop she shared with her now-estranged husband, former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner.  The Washington Post reported that Abedin was not a regular user of the laptop in question.  The paper also reported that Abedin's lawyers did not bother to search the device for work-related emails after she agreed to turn over such messages to the State Department.  On Saturday, a senior law enforcement official told Fox News that the laptop contained "five digits," or at least 10,000, emails of interest to investigators.

A Scandal Too Far?  Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton, and a Test of Loyalty.  [Scroll down]  On Friday [10/28/2016], several of Mrs. Clinton's friends and allies suggested she distance herself from Ms. Abedin, a painful prospect given that Mrs. Clinton has described Ms. Abedin as a surrogate daughter and has relied on her more than anyone else during her nearly two-year pursuit of the White House.  The two women's closeness has both intimidated those in the Clinton circle of status-conscious advisers and caused envy.  Even as Mrs. Clinton learned on Friday that the F.B.I.'s interest in her email server, which she thought had ended in July, had reignited, Ms. Abedin was by her side as she prepared to make a statement to the news media in Des Moines.

Abedin-Weiner electronic device was laptop, had tens-of-thousands of emails, source.  Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin reportedly has said she does not know how tens of thousands of emails related to the FBI investigation of her boss' personal server were found on a laptop she shared with her now-estranged husband, former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner.  The Washington Post reported that Abedin was not a regular user of the laptop in question.  The paper also reported that Abedin's lawyers did not bother to search the device for work-related emails after she agreed to turn over such messages to the State Department.

Clinton Campaign's First Instinct Was to Lie About Comey.  I find it revealing that when the Clinton campaign launched its attack on Comey, it led off with a lie.  In her press conference last night, Hillary Clinton accused Comey of partisanship, falsely claiming that he had sent his letter only to Congressional Republicans.  In fact, Comey followed the standard protocol, addressing his letter to the chairmen of the relevant committees and sending copies to the ranking minority members of each committee.

Flashback: Washington Post editorial blasts Republicans for attacking FBI Director Comey.  In the last 36 hours FBI Director James Comey has been slammed by the full force of the progressive left media.  I noted yesterday that, within hours of the letter being released, NY Times columnist Paul Krugman was accusing Comey of trying to swing the election for Republicans or, at a minimum, of trying to preserve their control of congress. [...] With all the accusations flying, I thought it was a good moment to recall a Washington Post editorial from back in July.  That was when Comey announced he would not bring charges against Clinton.

Hannity: FBI Knows They Are About to Be Exposed By WikiLeaks.  Sean Hannity said on his radio show Friday [10/28/2016] that he doesn't believe reports from 'The New York Times' that the FBI's latest investigation into the Clinton Foundation is related to Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner.  Instead, Hannity suspects that the FBI is protecting itself because they know that WikiLeaks is about to drop proof that Hillary Clinton should have been indicted in July.

James Comey Wouldn't Have Updated Congress Unless He Had Real Dirt on Hillary.  Democrats praised James Comey after he decided not to push for indictment.  Liberal mainstream media praised him as an unbiased and solid man.  Then eleven days before the election something popped up.  James Comey felt it was necessary to alert congress and the American people.  Suddenly, the happy and loving Democrats shifted.  Democrats began to trash James Comey after he decided not to wait until after the election.  Liberal mainstream media said it conflicts with the election, calling him a Republican plant.

Hillary Declares War on Comey.  There have been numerous developments today [10/29/2016] in the reopening of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton, most notably the declaration of war by Clinton World on James Comey.  The war started after almost 24 hours of shock and awe resulting from the Friday afternoon announcement left Team Hillary and the rest of Clinton World attempting to hold back the onslaught of news coverage.  Clinton World first tried to buy itself time by arguing over what the meaning of "reopen" was.  It was comical, but arguing over definitions is what the Clintons do to buy themselves time until they can counter attack: [...]

Found emails?  Clinton aide didn't delete old messages.  The longtime Hillary Clinton aide at the center of a renewed FBI email investigation testified under oath four months ago she never deleted old emails, while promising in 2013 not to take sensitive files when she left the State Department.

Report: AG Lynch Pressured Comey Not to Disclose Reactivated Hillary ProbeOf course she did, you might think to yourself — as the whole country seems to have become inured to the breathtaking insanity of this entire election cycle.  But as Rich Lowry says, none of this is normal.  USA Today is reporting that Attorney General Loretta Lynch urged FBI Director James Comey to suppress the fact that the bureau has effectively re-opened its probe into Hillary Clinton's email scandal after new potentially "pertinent" evidence was discovered in the course of a separate investigation into Anthony Weiner's sexting woes.  Weiner is married to Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin.  This politically-motivated pressure gives off a strong whiff of, well, rigging.

Huma Abedin Swore Under Oath She Gave Up 'All the Devices' With State Dept.  Emails.  In a normal election year, a normal candidate's close aide who caused even minor embarrassment to a campaign so near to Election Day would be whisked away as quickly as possible to avoid becoming a distraction.  But Huma Abedin is not simply a close aide, she's a critical member of Hillary Clinton's tiny inner circle that protects and — at times — enables the deeply flawed and secretive Democratic nominee.

Times, Post Seem Rather Upset About FBI Reopening Hillary Server Case.  [Scroll down]  See?  This is mostly the Comey's fault, and suddenly transparency is required.  From the FBI.  Of course, the NYTEB has barely asked for the same from Hillary during this whole time, and, certainly, you can imagine the resulting editorials, including on the reopening of the case, had she been a Republican, and they would have been vastly different.  Not to be outdone, the Washington Post Editorial Board, which had previously only chided Mrs. Clinton over her poor conduct, questions the timing [...]

Clinton Owns It All.  James Comey now tops Vladimir Putin and Julian Assange as the Hillary-harmer-in-chief, but the truth is Hillary Clinton's once strong lead in the presidential race started shrinking before the Friday afternoon massacre, as the former secretary of state's jaw-dropping misdeeds had caught up with her via Assange's stinging WikiLeaks email dumps.  No matter how unorthodox the conduct of FBI Director Comey, should Clinton lose to Donald Trump on Nov. 8, it's her own fault.

Trump campaign chief: 'Comical' to see Clinton demand transparency from FBI.  "We're for transparency, and honesty, and immediacy, and full disclosure, and we think it's comical that Hillary Clinton is now for that in the 11th hour," Kellyanne Conway said during an appearance [10/31/2016] on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." [...] Conway encouraged the agency to "do what it wants to do" in terms of releasing information that may be pertinent to its renewed investigation.  She admonished Clinton for criticizing the FBI and "engendering boos" for the bureau and Comey at her campaign rally on Sunday.  "Are we going to start asking if she's going to accept the results if she loses?" Conway asked.  "Are we going to start asking her if she's inciting violence?"

Hillary: No Commenting on Criminal Investigations — Unless It Helps Me.  How rich of Hillary Clinton to complain now that FBI director James Comey is threatening the democratic process by commenting publicly about a criminal investigation on the eve of an election.  Put aside that Comey did not say a single thing last week that implicates Clinton in a crime.  The biggest coup for Clinton in the waning months of the campaign has been Comey's decision not to prosecute her — a decision outside the responsibilities of the FBI director and publicly announced in a manner that contradicts law-enforcement protocols.  There has been nothing more irregular, nothing that put law enforcement more in the service of politics, than that announcement.  Yet, far from condemning it, Mrs. Clinton has worn it like a badge of honor since July.  Indeed, she has contorted it into a wholesale exoneration, which it most certainly was not.

Federal authorities reportedly battled over direction of Clinton email investigation.  The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Sunday that senior law enforcement officials voiced skepticism several times of the strength of the bureau's investigation into the Clinton Foundation, looked to condense the effort put into the probe and even told agents to limit their pursuit of the case.  The FBI initially started their investigation into the Clinton Foundation to determine whether financial crimes or influence peddling occurred related to the charity.  According to the paper, some investigators grew frustrated with the case and viewed some of the FBI leaders as uninterested.

Inside the FBI's Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe.  Investigators found 650,000 emails on a laptop that they believe was used by former Rep. Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin, a close Clinton aide, and underlying metadata suggests thousands of those messages could have been sent to or from the private server that Mrs. Clinton used while she was secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter.  It will take weeks, at a minimum, to determine whether those messages are work-related from the time Ms. Abedin served with Mrs. Clinton at the State Department; how many are duplicates of emails already reviewed by the FBI; and whether they include either classified information or important new evidence in the Clinton email probe.  Officials had to await a court order to begin reviewing the emails — which they received over the weekend, according to a person familiar with the matter — because they were uncovered in an unrelated probe of Mr. Weiner.

I Have a Theory About Comey.  Did James Comey go public on Friday [10/28/2016] with word of the reinvigoration of his investigation because he believed senior officials at the Justice Department were deliberately slow-walking when it came to gathering crucial information on a highly important matter until Mrs. Clinton was out of electoral danger?  And if so, did he go public because he figured if anything came out of the information in the coming months, he would have been accused of complicity in a cover-up by the Republicans in Congress he had promised to keep apprised of changes in the investigation — and would, therefore, open himself up to impeachment?

The presidential race has changed because The Awful Truth about the Clintons is sinking in.  Shock Number One:  The Clintons actively enriched themselves through the Clinton Foundation empire.  Doug Band admitting that the same marks were targeted for donations, for speaking fees for Bill, and for consulting work for Teneo (which funneled money back to others in the machine, like Huma).  AT readers may have few illusions about the way the Clintons made their fortune, but loyal Democrats always assumed that it was incidental reward for their good work championing the oppressed.  Clinton's body man-turned-bag man Band shattered those illusions.  It was deliberate, and it was shady.  Shock Number Two:  James Comey's letter to Congress re-opening the email inquiry suddenly negated what Dems took as an "all clear" signal from him last July.  They went ahead and nominated Hillary in the knowledge that there was no criminal probe (of the emails — they did not know of the Clinton Foundation probe already underway) — thanks to Comey's July 5 presentation on the evidence and the decision not to recommend prosecution.  The rug has been pulled out from under them.

Now Five FBI Field Offices Are Probing Clinton Charity, Adding Fuel To The Fire.  FBI field offices in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Little Rock, Ark., are investigating the Clinton Foundation concerning allegations of pay-to-play financial and political corruption, according to a Wall Street Journal report Sunday [10/30/2016].  Mirroring information provided by a former senior law enforcement official that "multiple FBI investigations are underway involving potential corruption charges against the Clinton Foundation," the Journal confirms what The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group reported in August.

Report: DOJ Tried Repeatedly To Kill FBI's Clinton Foundation Investigation.  Senior-level Justice Department officials pushed back heavily on an ongoing FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation, according to a bombshell report from The Wall Street Journal.  The newspaper laid out numerous examples, based on law enforcement sources, of senior DOJ officials intervening to quash the probe.

Clinton tanked before Comey's surprise.  Hillary Clinton's campaign was floundering before the FBI announced on Friday that federal agents are back to investigating her for breaking the law as secretary of State.  Readers may recall that on Wednesday I noticed a 4-point drop in Hillary's lead in the ABC tracking poll.  The next day it dropped another two points.  Then it dropped to 4 and now it is at a two-point lead for Hillary.  That is a ten-point drop in four days — before Friday's news.

Hillary's emails matter:  A retired CIA officer explains why.  Apparently while investigating disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner's transmission of sexually explicit images to a fifteen-year-old girl, the FBI discovered more emails relevant to Hillary Clinton's own infamous case.  At the time, Weiner was married to Huma Abedin, Clinton's personal aide, perhaps best known for her alleged family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.  The emails appear to have been found on a computer used by both Abedin and Weiner.

Don't blame Comey for this mess.  James Comey is not primarily responsible for the political mess caused by the recent discovery of more emails that may be relevant to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.  These newly uncovered emails were not written, sent or received by Comey.  He didn't store them on his computer, and it wasn't his fault that they were not reviewed many months ago during the initial investigation.  In fact, Comey never even knew these emails existed until now.

The Editor says...
Mr. Comey didn't start this scandal, but he did decline to pursue the case when it was obvious that Hillary Clinton was guilty of gross negligence in her handling of classified material.

Blockbuster report on internal FBI conflict over investigating Clinton machine.  [Scroll down]  It turns out that the investigation of the Clintons' web of corruption has been bubbling up across the country, involving multiple FBI arms.  This scoop alone is enormously important.  It is very difficult to keep a lid on when so many locations and criminal specialties are involved.  There is a downside to having such a large web of criminal enterprises:  lots of law enforcement agencies take notice in their respective domains.

Just in time for the election: Undiscovered emails in Clinton's festering scandal.  Despite months of parsing and prevarications, we now know that Clinton and staff used an unsecured, private email server for government business, including for handling scores of classified materials.  Comey called it less secure than a standard Gmail account.  So why not use the secure government email system?  Well, those messages are all archived beyond Clinton's control.  They'd be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests and could show, oh, say, conflicts of interest among the secretary of state, the family's money-laundering family foundation and her hubby, the globe-trotting, lucrative-speech-giving ex-president whose personal appearance fees doubled when she took office.  As it happens, government archives are also not subject to the kinds of mass email deletions that occurred on Clinton's private system, even after Congress had ordered that everything be preserved.

FBI agents 'wanted to investigate the Clinton foundation but were barred by their bosses at the Justice Department'.  The FBI has spent the past year investigating the Clinton Foundation over claims they were trading access for donations to the charity, leading to friction between the bureau and the Justice Department.  Agents in New York and Little Rock have been leading the probe, but have been ordered by senior officials in Washington and the Justice Department to scale back the extent of the probe due to a lack of evidence.

FBI Investigation Into Bribery With Clinton Foundation Spans Nation, Multiple Field Offices, Says WSJ.  FBI investigators from across the country have been following leads into reports of bribery involving the Clinton Foundation.  Multiple field offices have been involved in the investigation.  A report in Sunday's [10/30/2016] Wall Street Journal by Devlin Barrett revealed that agents assigned to the New York field office have been carrying the bulk of the work in investigating the Clinton Foundation.  They have received assistance from the FBI field office in Little Rock according to "people familiar with the matter, the WSJ reported.  Other offices, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., have been collecting evidence regarding "financial crimes or influence-peddling."

Big Three Networks Attack Comey Over Clinton by 3 to 1.  Ever since it was announced, on Friday, that the FBI was pursuing new leads into the investigation of Hillary Clinton's e-mail server scandal, the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks have gone into attack mode against James Comey, turning what should be a scandal about Clinton into a smear against the FBI director.  Beginning with the evening (October 28) of the announcement through Monday morning (October 31) MRC analysts reviewed all statements (by reporters, analysts, and partisans) that took a position on Comey and Clinton and found arguments against Comey (88) swamped those against Clinton (31) by a ratio of almost 3 to 1.  There were a handful of statements that praised either Comey (10) or Clinton (4)[.]

John Podesta's Best Friend at the DOJ Will Be In Charge of the DOJ's Probe Into Huma Abedin Emails.  In the letter to Congress, the DOJ writes that it "will continue to work closely with the FBI and together, dedicate all necessary resources and take appropriate steps as expeditiously as possible," assistant attorney General Peter J. Kadzik writes in letters to House and Senate lawmakers. [...] Recall our post from last week, "Clinton Campaign Chair Had Dinner With Top DOJ Official One Day After Hillary's Benghazi Hearing" in which we reported that John Podesta had dinner with one of the highest ranked DOJ officials the very day after Hillary Clinton's Benghazi testimony?  It was Peter Kadzik.

Will Barack Obama Suspend The Election If Hillary Is Forced Out By The New FBI Email Investigation?  If there are thousands of emails, it is going to take quite a while to sift through them all.  And of course Barack Obama has lots of ways that he could influence, delay or even shut down the investigation.  So those that are counting on this to be the miracle that Donald Trump needs should not count their chickens before they hatch.  But if Hillary Clinton were to be forced out of the race by this FBI investigation, the Democrats would have to decide on a new candidate, and that would take time.

I Was a Federal Agent and These Four Things Stink About the Clinton Email Investigation.  [#2] Why agree to forgo prosecuting potential co-conspirators Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin — and destroy the computer evidence they possess — before charging them with a crime?  That's not the way the process works.  In order to build leverage against a criminal conspirator, a federal agent would typically draw up a federal complaint or seek an indictment.  Second, an agent would get an arrest warrant from a judge pursuant to a probable cause ruling and then, after the arrest, he or she would ask if the arrested individual wished to cooperate, potentially using their cooperation against co-conspirators.  Third, if the cooperation is substantive, then a 5k letter is issued to a judge, which indicates the subject's level of cooperation and how that should be considered in sentencing the cooperating defendant.  None of that was done in this case.

Is Huma Abedin Going To Sing?  She And Weiner Are Both Cooperating With FBI.  Huma Abedin has all but vanished from Hillary Clinton's campaign.  After the news broke on Friday that the email treasure trove the FBI wanted to get into had come off of Anthony Weiner's computer, his estranged wife suddenly disappeared from Hillary's side, with the New York Times reporting that Huma is back in New York, working out of the Brooklyn outpost of the campaign.

Huma's email testimony could haunt her as FBI renews probe.  Scrutiny of top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin intensified Monday amid speculation that claims she made in her FBI interview and a separate sworn deposition could come back to haunt her as the bureau gains access to emails on her estranged husband's computer.  Abedin, one of Clinton's most trusted advisers, is married to disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner.

FBI boss called attorney-general's bluff before revealing Weiner breakthrough.  An astonishing confrontation between the attorney-general and the FBI director over Hillary Clinton's emails was revealed Monday [10/31/2016].  Sources told Reuters how James Comey, the FBI boss, challenged Loretta Lynch, the nation's most senior prosecutor, over whether she was directing him to keep the bombshell discovery of new, 'relevant' emails secret from Congress.  The development was revealed by the news agency hours after the White House went out of its way to back Comey as a man of 'integrity' and rubbish Hillary Clinton's attack on him.

President Obama Throws Hillary Clinton Under the Bus, Supports Director Comey.  Now that the President of the United States has declared the FBI is non-partisan to this election, where does Hillary move next?

WSJ: FBI agents told to stand down on Clinton Foundation investigation by higher-ups.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that as the investigation into Anthony Weiner's emails developed into a re-opening of the case against Hillary Clinton, FBI officials told investigators to shut it down.

Uh-oh: Look Who's In Charge Of DOJ's Probe Into Huma Abedin Emails.  On Friday, the FBI reopened its investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email fiasco.  I mentioned that I was rather cynical about it... and sure enough, now it has emerged that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's BFF is going to oversee the investigation at the Department of Justice.  There always seems to be a catch or a way that the system is rigged for the Clinton crime family, and this certainly points in that direction.

Podesta's Good Friend Will Supervise Hillary-Huma Email Probe, I'm Serious.  About 650,000 emails were found on Anthony Weiner's laptop and tens of thousands were Huma Abedin's of which many are guaranteed to be sent by Huma Abedin to Hillary Clinton and the reverse.  The DoJ announced this evening [10/31/2016] that they are joining the probe to come up with answers in a few days.  That doesn't instill confidence.  They want to "speed up" the investigation, Politico reported.  "...Justice officials disclaimed any political motivations in their shift in strategy, the effort to put the investigation on a fast track would be a step toward meeting the demands of top Democrats and the Clinton campaign for more answers in advance of the election."  They want a fast exoneration obviously.

FBI Unexpectedly Releases Documents Related To 2001 Probe Into Clinton Foundation.  In what appears to be an unexpected, and very surprising, disclosure, moments ago the FBI released 129 pages of heavily redacted records from its 15-year-old investigation into the Clinton Foundation and Bill Clinton's 11th hour pardon of financier Marc Rich (less than a week before the election). [...] As the Washington Examiner notes, it was not immediately clear what prompted the FBI to publish the files Tuesday [11/1/2016].  However, the bureau posted the documents on the section of its website dedicated to records released through the Freedom of Information Act.  Is this the FBI engaging in a covert mutiny against the Clintons and the political affiliated Department of Justice?  We hope to find out soon.

FBI releases documents on probe of Marc Rich pardon.  The FBI has released 129 pages of documents from a decade-old investigation into the Clinton Foundation and Bill Clinton's 11th-hour pardon of financier Marc Rich. [...] Rich and his ex-wife were generous donors to the Clintons and gave heavily to the construction of Clinton's presidential library in Arkansas.

FIVE separate FBI cases are probing virtually every one of Clinton's inner circle and their families.  The extent to which Hillary Clinton's key advisers are now the focus of major FBI investigations is becoming clear.  The Clintons' long-term inner-circle — some of whom stretch back in service to the very first days of Bill's White House — are being examined in at least five separate investigations.  The scale of the FBI's interest in some of America's most powerful political fixers — one of them a sitting governor — underlines just how difficult it will be for Clinton to shake off the taint of scandal if she enters the White House.  There are, in fact, not one but five separate FBI investigations which involve members of Clinton's inner circle or their closest relatives — the people at the center of what has come to be known as Clintonworld.

Tom Cotton NUKES Clinton Foundation: 'Largest Money Laundering... Operation In The World'.  Sen. Tom Cotton heavily criticized the Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation during a Tuesday morning [11/1/2016] interview on Hugh Hewitt's radio show.  Hewitt asked Cotton how quickly he believes the FBI could complete its new review of emails related to Clinton's private email server.  "650,000 emails is a lot of emails," the Arkansas senator noted.  "But then again, when you use modern searching techniques, you might be able to winnow it pretty quickly."

Hillary's Watergate?  The FBI has not yet reviewed Abedin's emails, and they could turn out to be duplicates of those the FBI has already seen, benign, or not relevant to the investigation of Clinton.  But it does appear that Abedin misled the FBI when she told them all communications devices containing State Department work product were turned over to State when she departed in 2013.  Clinton, understandably, was stunned and outraged by Comey's letter.  For it casts a cloud of suspicion over her candidacy by raising the possibility that the FBI director could reverse his decision of July, and recommend her prosecution.

DOJ has been trying for months to shut down FBI probe of Clinton Foundation.  This sounds very much like an X-Files episode, except that I doubt the Cigarette Smoking Man, the Well Manicured Man, the Elder or even the aliens themselves are as corrupt as the Clintons.  Whoever our real-life Mulder and Scully might be in this case (and it's surely a lot more than two agents), the task of looking into the Clinton Foundation's dirty dealings is getting [...] a lot of resistance from the Justice Department, which wants the whole thing to stop immediately.

Clinton Owns It All.  No matter how unorthodox the conduct of FBI Director Comey, should Clinton lose to Donald Trump on Nov. 8, it's her own fault.  News that the FBI is re-opening the investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information on an unsecured private server is a potentially fatal blow to her hopes of winning the White House.  Comey's decision to inform Congress of the new chapter in the probe 11 days before the election has made him the target of Democrats furious that the FBI broke protocol by first speaking publicly about an ongoing investigation, and secondly by influencing an election in its final stretch.  It's likely that Democrats will spend the remaining days of the campaign running against Comey instead of Trump, but it's hard to see backlash against the FBI director buoying her.

Desperate Democrats need to stop lashing Comey now.  He had no choice.  What, if you're Mr Comey, do you do?  After all, he told Congress he would alert them to any development which gave him good cause to reopen the original investigation into Clinton's emails.  This, by any yardstick, was surely such a development[.]  Comey therefore had two choices.  He either waited until after the election next Tuesday before saying anything.  Or, he alerted Congress immediately.  Either way, public opprobrium lay.

The Democrats' Comey Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds.  So why are the Democrats so angry?  They don't like that Comey made the announcement just 11 days before the election.  Fair enough.  But they sang a different song in July when Comey closed down the investigation by prematurely declaring he would not bring charges in the case.  It took away a major campaign issue for Clinton, clearing the way for her current lead over Donald Trump in most polls.  The Democrats' anger now is more than just a bit hypocritical.

The Democrats Asked for This.  Before Democrats burn James Comey in effigy, they should think about how the FBI director came to have an outsized influence in the election in the first place.  It's not something Comey sought or welcomed.  A law-enforcement official who prizes his reputation, he didn't relish becoming an object of hate for half the country or more.  No, the only reason that Comey figures in the election at all is that Democrats knowingly nominated someone under FBI investigation.  Once upon a time — namely any presidential election prior to this one — this enormous political and legal vulnerability would have disqualified a candidate.  Not this year, and not in the case of Hillary Clinton.

Clinton camp questions FBI release of Marc Rich pardon files.  Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is raising questions about the timing of the FBI's release Tuesday of records on a 15-year-old investigation into President Bill Clinton's pardon to fugitive financier Marc Rich.  The FBI posted the 129 pages of records in its online Freedom of Information Act reading room in apparent response to a FOIA request seeking information on FBI inquiries into the Clinton Foundation.

12 Facts About the FBI Investigation of Hillary Clinton's Email Server.  [#1] On October 3, FBI agents seized a laptop, an iPhone, and an iPad from disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner, as part of the investigation into a report that he was sexting a 15-year-old girl. [...] [#10] Investigators believe that some of the emails deleted from Hillary Clinton's private server are on this laptop, according to CNN.

Now, or later, the Clintons are toast.  Bernard Sanders imagined he was speaking for everyone when he declared, in debate with Hillary, that "I'm tired of hearing about Hillary's d****d emails."  If Bernie had listened a little closer and paid only a little attention to the issue, and acted accordingly, he would be the Democratic nominee today (unless Joe Biden beat him to it).  Hillary would be in the counting house, her favorite place, nuzzling and cuddling the family gold. [...] Mr. Comey's resurrection of his botched investigation has persuaded some of the famous and fatuous that maybe there's a story here, after all.

Chalk Up Another Obama Legacy:  The Clinton Email Burlesque.  True, it was Hillary Clinton, not Obama, who squirreled away State Department business on a private server, and then brought us the contortionist performance of denials, deletions, evasions and professed ignorance that "(C)" on a State Department document stands for "classified."  It is Clinton's longtime top aide, Huma Abedin, who has some explaining to do about how emails pertinent to the Clinton server saga arrived on the computer of her now-estranged husband, Weiner, who is currently under FBI investigation for allegedly sending sexually suggestive messages to a teenage girl.  But it is Obama who presides over the administration whence came this mudslide of wayward emails, classified information, pay-for-play opportunities and a Justice Department that has itself become part of the scandal.

Top DOJ official involved in Clinton probe represented her campaign chairman.  The Justice Department official in charge of informing Congress about the newly reactivated Hillary Clinton email probe is a political appointee and former private-practice lawyer who kept Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta "out of jail," lobbied for a tax cheat later pardoned by President Bill Clinton and led the effort to confirm Attorney General Loretta Lynch.  Peter Kadzik, who was confirmed as assistant attorney general for legislative affairs in June 2014, represented Podesta in 1998 when independent counsel Kenneth Starr was investigating Podesta for his possible role in helping ex-Bill Clinton intern and mistress Monica Lewinsky land a job at the United Nations.

Confidence-inspiring: Here's the DOJ official helping with Clinton/Weiner investigation.  This morning I saw some Hillary defender on Fox News saying that these Clinton scandals are "all smoke but no fire."  If that's remotely true, it's only because the Clintons are lucky to know plenty of people in high places skilled in the use of fire extinguishers: [...] What a lovely bunch of people we have administering "justice" in the country.  Just imagine the level of corruption if the Clintons are put back into the White House.

State Department Suddenly Finds 323 Clinton E-Mails — Some Classified.  The State Department has suddenly found another 323 e-mails to and from Hillary Clinton.  And some of those e-mails appear to be classifed.  Amazing isn't it?  Considering Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills all claimed they turned over everything they had.  At least one of the e-mails Clinton sent Abedin is classified.  Probably more than one.

Hillary's Final Days.  If you have followed her career with the enthusiasm and care that I have, you have seen the FBI popping up repeatedly in Hillary's scandals.  Back in the 1980s it began in Arkansas, with FBI Special Agent I.C. Smith questioning her role in fundraising for her husband Governor Bill Clinton.  It continued into the 1990s, coming to a boil in 1997 when then-FBI Director Louis Freeh responded to a Congressional query, asking him if he had ever experienced anything like the FBI's trials with the Clintons.  Freeh responded, "Actually, I have," and he likened his experiences with the Clintons to his "16 years doing organized crime cases in New York City."

Huma Abedin handled classified data on computer shared with Anthony Weiner.  Emails released by the State Department over the past 18 months show that Huma Abedin frequently handled classified information — suggesting a major reason why the FBI has been eager to get a full look at the personal computer she shared with her now-estranged husband.  That computer has become the center of a major political flap in the final week before Election Day.  Ms. Abedin's boss, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is trying to fend off concerns that there is a smoking gun still to be found among her top personal aide's messages.

Who Remembers "Francining"? — FBI White Hat Transmission.  I assume everybody here knows it, but Kadzik, the AG who now promises an "expedited review" of the Huma/Weiner/Clinton emails, was Marc Rich's attorney.  (This, obviously, before he joined the Justice Dept. in 2013).  He was lobbying Podesta for help obtaining a pardon for the fugitive Rich, which he got.  And it stunk to high heaven.  It appeared, and was reported, that Kadzik was recruited by the Rich people specifically because of his friendship with Podesta.  For those looking for a subliminal message in the timing of the file release, perhaps it is the FBI's way of telling us what we already suspect — Kadzik's involvement in the current Weiner/Huma/Clinton situation is cause for alarm.

FBI dumps documents from Bill pardon of tax cheat.  Most of the 129 pages released Tuesday [11/1/2016] focused on the FBI's criminal probe into Bill Clinton's controversial 2001 pardon of financier Marc Rich on his final day as president.  The FBI closed the case without ever filing charges.  The newly released documents included interview notes, case updates, subpoena records and grand-jury scheduling.  All were heavily redacted, but there were enough snippets to demonstrate that the FBI had undertaken a sweeping investigation into charges that the pardon was a payoff.

IMAP: Four letters that spell potential doom for Hillary and Huma.  The implications of IMAP on the Abedin-Hillary-Weiner-puter scandal cannot be overstated.  It means, simply, that the hammer of Thor is about to come down on the Clinton RICO syndicate, whether before the election or after.

WikiLeaks: Peter Kadzik Leaked Email Investigation Intel to Hillary Clinton Campaign.  Assistant Attorney General Peter J. Kadzik shared information about the congressional investigation of Hillary Clinton with his friend John Podesta, according to new emails revealed by WikiLeaks.  "There is a HJC oversight hearing today where the head of our Civil Division will testify.  Likely to get questions on State Department emails," he flagged in an email to Podesta on May 19, 2015, with the subject line, "Heads up."  Kadzik also updated Podesta on a FOIA case on Clinton's emails.

FBI deputy director whose wife took Clinton friend's cash is asked why he is still involved in email probe.  Even if Hillary Clinton does not win the presidency on Tuesday, Republicans on Capitol Hill say they are revving up for more investigations involving the former secretary of state.  House Oversight Committee members remain unconvinced that charges of impropriety against Clinton have been fully reviewed.  Chairman Jason Chaffetz also wants to know if the FBI's deputy director, Andrew McCabe, whose wife received $675,000 in political donations from a close friend of the Clintons, is still working on the Clinton email case in light of that disclosure.

DOJ's Peter Kadzik Exposed Colluding With Clinton Campaign.  On Monday [10/31/2016] we were the first to note that Podesta's friend Peter Kadzik was the DOJ representative chosen to head up a "thorough" review of the new Huma Abedin emails as revealed by a letter he wrote to Congress.  Given Kadzik's personal relationship with Podesta, it seemed like a "convenient" choice for the Clinton campaign.

FBI releases docs from 2001 Rich investigation days before election.  The FBI on Tuesday — one week from Election Day — released heavily redacted files from its 2001 investigation of President Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich.  The release — issued by an automated FBI Twitter account — quickly drew complaints from Democrats who have assailed FBI Director James Comey for his decision last week to tell Congress the bureau was reviewing emails potentially related to Hillary Clinton's private server.  The bureau has been accused by some of meddling in the final days of a hard-fought election.

The FBI Seems To Be Leaking Like A Sieve.  Doesn't it seem the least bit bizarre that the FBI, in an investigation about sensitive information, can't seem to help but leak basically all of the relevant details on an investigation?  There are, really, two issues here.  Given how much of this information leaked, almost all of it within hours of the letter being made public, why didn't Comey and the FBI just come out and say all of this in the first place?  The second, is how the hell can the FBI — the very same FBI that frequently refuses to comment about "ongoing investigations" — have any credibility in the future when it refuses to comment on other ongoing investigations.

Peter Kadzik Is A Clinton Stooge (it's disgusting).  This is a serious conflict of interest, but the Clintonista elite are so socially incestuous and inbred by now, the rot so deep, and the Democreep media propaganda arms so dutiful to the cause of protecting [Hillary] from answering for her crimes, that I've no doubt they believe no one will notice or care that a close friend of a Clinton friend is in charge of (mis)handling explosively damaging evidence that would be used against her in a court of law.  To whom does the honest American Joe turn when every institution in which he has placed his trust is compromised at the highest levels by crooks, swindlers, and racketeers corrupting the system from within to line their pockets?  Peter Kadzik must recuse himself from this case, or be forced off of it.

Andrew McCarthy explains exactly how Loretta Lynch is quashing the FBI's Clinton Foundation probe.  First of all, get your mind clear on this one thought:  What really matters is not the illegality of Hillary's schlock, homebrew e-mail server, nor is it the classified information that was jeopardized because it passed through said server.  That matters, but not as much as the thing that really matters.  What really matters is the pay-for-play, bribery corruption of the Clinton Foundation.  The e-mail server was set up to prevent Congress, the media and the public from learning what was really going on with the Clinton Foundation.  The fact that the server was discovered, and that we now know classified information was compromised because of it, is flitting around the edges.

Judge Nap:  Comey Like J. Edgar Hoover By 'Injecting FBI into Political Process'.  Fox News chief judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano criticized the FBI for announcing the reopening of the probe into Hillary Clinton's alleged mishandling of classified information.  He compared the bureau's current director, James Comey, to famous FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, saying that both showed a "willingness...to inject the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the political process."  "There was absolutely no duty, obligation or right for [Comey] to announce that the Clinton investigation had been opened," he said, adding that, "if they found a treasure trove of information on Anthony Weiner's laptop, they are duty bound" to investigate it, but not to publicize the development.

Hillary Clinton's severe flaws make Donald Trump the wiser choice.  When FBI Director James Comey said in July there was nothing in Hillary's behavior that warranted an indictment, liberals claimed she had been exonerated and praised Comey for his professionalism.  Now that possibly new evidence has emerged necessitating another look, Democrats and the left are jumping on Comey as a political hack.  They can't have it both ways, though they often try.

Trump gloats Hillary may be on the brink of a perp walk as he says FBI's Clinton Foundation probe could finally 'yield an indictment'.  Donald Trump brought more devastating news about Hillary Clinton to Florida on Thursday, telling a screaming crowd in Jacksonville — just five days before the election — that his Democratic rival is teetering on the brink of a perp walk[.]  'It was reported last night that the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton's pay-for-play corruption during her tenure as secretary of state,' he said, referring to news that federal investigators have been probing the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation since before the presidential primary season began.

Grassley Asks Justice Department IG to Investigate the Investigators in Clinton Email Probe.  Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is asking the Justice Department's inspector general to examine whether "high-ranking" DOJ and FBI officials "compromised the public trust in the investigation into Hillary Clinton's unauthorized use of a private email server as Secretary of State and potential mishandling of classified material."  Several of those high-ranking officials had previous ties to the Clintons, he said.

FBI Clinton Foundation probe finds 'avalanche' of corruption evidence against her.  An FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation is likely to lead to an indictment unless the Justice Department interferes, two sources familiar with the probe told Fox News.  The Clintons are accused of running a pay-for-play operation out of the State Department that favored donors to their charity — a charge they have denied.  But the feds are 'actively and aggressively pursuing this case,' Fox's Brit Hume said Wednesday [11/2/2016], and they have an 'avalanche' of evidence.

Hillary won't survive another WikiLeaks dump.  I said it a long time ago and I will say it again that I think that Hillary Clinton will be unelectable by Election Day.  And I'll repeat some other things I said.  The Democrats made a big mistake when they picked Clinton as their candidate, because too many people knew too much about her.  FBI Director James Comey did the Democrats — not the Republicans — a big disservice last summer by not coming down harder on Clinton.  If Comey had brought down the hammer, the Dems could have switched candidates.

Obama aides want Comey out after email bombshell.  In a last-minute effort to save Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House, Barack Obama's chief adviser, Valerie Jarrett, has urged the president to fire FBI Director James Comey, according to a source close to Jarrett.  Obama and Jarrett are furious with Comey for reopening the FBI's investigation of Clinton's emails just 11 days before the presidential election.  They blame Comey for Clinton's alarming slide in the polls.  "Valerie argued that Comey was interfering deliberately in the election process and had to be stopped," the source said.  "The president said he was worried about the consequences of taking such an action — the tsunami of outrage that would come his way, and possibly become a major footnote, or worse, in the history of his presidency.

Is the Abedin/Weiner Laptop the Last of It?  [Scroll down]  Put yourself in the shoes of FBI agents who witness things they've never seen before:  subjects of the investigation given immunity from prosecution and then allowed to appear as lawyers for other subjects; Justice Department lawyers more accommodating of defense lawyers than of FBI agents; witnesses who lie to the FBI given immunity rather than being arrested and squeezed for cooperation.  The agents see the handwriting on the wall that their hard work is going to come to nothing.  An agent no doubt asks himself:  "Why should I push to acquire this computer?  If DOJ wanted me to have it, they'd let me subpoena it; if they wanted to make the case, some of these suspects would already be in cuffs."  This is an understandable attitude, but it's not an acceptable one.

Secret Recordings Fueled FBI Feud in Clinton Probe.  Secret recordings of a suspect talking about the Clinton Foundation fueled an internal battle between FBI agents who wanted to pursue the case and corruption prosecutors who viewed the statements as worthless hearsay, people familiar with the matter said.

Recordings Led to FBI, DOJ Battle Over Whether to Investigate Clinton Foundation.  A new report out tonight says that there were some pretty fierce internal tensions between FBI investigators and Justice Department officials over whether they had enough to pursue an "aggressive" investigation into the Clinton Foundation.  The Wall Street Journal put out this new report tonight days after the paper reported that the FBI investigation may have been shut down completely by the DOJ.

EmailGate Has Destroyed Clinton, Inc..  Sidetracked by the news that the FBI is reexamining her emails as secretary of state, the Democratic nominee has decided to attack the Bureau and its director, James Comey.  Herself and through her usual surrogates, Hillary has painted the FBI as a rogue agency that's out to get her.  Top Democrats have accused Comey of siding with Vladimir Putin, while others have alleged that Republicans and the FBI are colluding with the Kremlin to deprive Clinton of victory on November 8.  It all smacks of desperation with more than a whiff of McCarthyism.  This is a risky move, to put it mildly.  The FBI is a storied force, America's secret police, and whatever its mistakes during its long history, it's not viewed by most citizens as more corrupt than, say, our nation's political class.  Rather the contrary.  "I wouldn't attack him," explained Ed Rendell, the former Democratic National Committee chair, commenting on his party's current anti-Comey tirade, and reflecting a common sense that seems to be lacking on Team Clinton right now.

Leaks suggest FBI agents felt DOJ blocked their Clinton investigations.  FBI agents felt as though the Justice Department tried to block them from investigating multiple allegations of wrongdoing and corruption against Hillary Clinton over the past year.  More than a dozen current and former agents have spoken anonymously to multiple media outlets over the past week, including to the Washington Examiner.  FBI field agents have complained of tensions between the bureau and the Justice Department when it came time to consider more aggressive moves, such as issuing subpoenas.  Some investigators felt as though the Justice Department attempted to stymie a year-long probe into the Clinton Foundation, CNN reported Wednesday [11/2/2016].

Report: Clinton Foundation investigation a high priority at FBI.  Fox News reports that the FBI's investigation into the Clinton Foundation, an investigation that's been going on for more than a year, now has a "very high priority."  According to Fox's sources, FBI agents have interviewed and re-interviewed multiple people (some for the third time) in the Foundation case to determine whether there was a "pay to play" interaction between then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.  The FBI's White Collar Crime Division is handling the investigation.  Fox says that FBI agents are "actively and aggressively pursuing this case."  In addition to the interviews and re-interviews, agents are reviewing what Clinton and top aides said in previous interviews to see whether their stories align.

FBI 'Actively And Aggressively' Probing Clinton Foundation Corruption, 'A Lot' Of Evidence.  The FBI has been investigating a possible pay-to-play interaction between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department during Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state for over a year, Fox News host Bret Baier reported Wednesday night [11/2/2016].  "There's an avalanche of new information coming in every day, some of it from WikiLeaks, some from emails," Baier said.  "The agents are actively and aggressively pursuing this case."  Baier said that the investigation is being led by the white collar crime division, the public corruption branch of the criminal investigative division of the FBI.

Senior FBI officials were told of new emails in early October but wanted more information before renewing Clinton probe.  Senior FBI officials were informed about the discovery of new emails potentially relevant to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server at least two weeks before Director James B. Comey notified Congress, according to federal officials familiar with the investigation.

Recordings aggravated FBI, DOJ feud in Clinton Foundation probe.  Secret recordings of a suspect talking about the Clinton Foundation fueled an internal battle between FBI agents who wanted to pursue the case and corruption prosecutors who viewed the statements as worthless hearsay, people familiar with the matter said.  Agents, using informants and recordings from unrelated corruption investigations, thought they had found enough material to merit aggressively pursuing the investigation into the foundation that started in summer 2015 based on claims made in a book by a conservative author called "Clinton Cash:  The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich," these people said.  The account of the case and resulting dispute comes from interviews with officials at multiple agencies.

FBI Sources Tell Fox News:  Clinton Foundation Investigation Much Bigger and Indictments Likely.  Adding to the White Hat intrigue, Fox News host Bret Baier reported tonight that sources have revealed the scope of the FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation and 'Pay-To-Play' is much larger than anyone previously understood.

Texas Early Voting Drops After Bombshell Halloween Weekend.  It seems that Texas Democrat voters have disappeared over the Halloween weekend.  Was it the Great Pumpkin that scared them off or the announcement by FBI Director James Comey about the re-opening of the Clinton email investigation that kept some voters at home?  Voters in Texas' largest county (Harris County — Houston) broke records last week, peaking at a Friday vote total of 81,239, according to records from Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart's office.  Those numbers dropped sharply over the weekend following the announcement of the renewed Clinton email investigation by the FBI.

FBI's Clinton Foundation investigation now 'a very high priority,' sources say.  The FBI's investigation into the Clinton Foundation that has been going on for more than a year has now taken a "very high priority," separate sources with intimate knowledge of the probe tell Fox News.  FBI agents have interviewed and re-interviewed multiple people on the foundation case, which is looking into possible pay for play interaction between then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.  The FBI's White Collar Crime Division is handling the investigation.  Even before the WikiLeaks dumps of alleged emails linked to the Clinton campaign, FBI agents had collected a great deal of evidence, law enforcement sources tell Fox News.  "There is an avalanche of new information coming in every day," one source told Fox News, who added some of the new information is coming from the WikiLeaks documents and new emails.

Levin: Telling Comey to resign for doing his job is 'preposterous'.  On Wednesday's radio program, Conservative Review Editor-in-Chief Mark Levin addressed an unhinged column from the Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens in which Stephens, a special pleader for the Washington Establishment, called for FBI Director James Comey to resign.  Stephens attacked Director Comey's announcement that the investigation into Hillary Clinton and her email server is reopened after the FBI obtained new evidence pertinent to the case as "self-regarding" and motivated by a desire to save his career.

Open Season on James Comey.  Perhaps Comey's letter was ill-advised; it certainly wasn't ill-intentioned.  Any reasonable critic of Comey should concede that — coming unexpectedly into possession of 650,000 more e-mails possibly relevant to an investigation that he had told Congress was closed — he was in a tricky spot.  But most of Comey's detractors aren't interested in his dilemma or in the Department of Justice protocols they claim to hold so dear.  No, Comey's sin was putting at risk Clinton's electoral prospects, and he is consequently the object of a campaign of personal destruction whose motive is nakedly political.

Obstruction Of Justice, Confirmed:  FBI Finds New, Work-Related Hillary Emails on Weiner-puter.  The right-wing Tea Partiers at CBS News have some more, very bad news for Hillary Clinton.  The FBI has discovered new, work-related emails that were never turned over by Secretary Clinton and Huma Abedin on the Weiner-puter.  This discovery appears to, eh, "contradict" Clinton's statement to a federal judge, Abedin's sworn testimony during a court-ordered deposition and a document the aide signed, all of which attested under penalty of perjury that they did not retain official records upon leaving the State Department.

Why Comey Reopened the Hillary Investigation.  James Comey's election-shattering decision to revive the investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server was based not only on what his agents found on Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin's laptop.  His judgment was also influenced by mounting pressure among mutinous agents in the FBI, including many of his top deputies.  "The atmosphere at the FBI has been toxic ever since Jim announced last July that he wouldn't recommend an indictment against Hillary," according to a source close to the embattled FBI director, who has known Comey for nearly two decades, shares family outings with him, and accompanies him to Catholic mass every week.

Why Is the Clinton Foundation Investigation Being Run from Brooklyn?  On Tuesday [11/2/2016], the Wall Street Journal's Devlin Barrett published another eye-opening report about the FBI's Clinton Foundation investigation.  It elaborates on the pitched battle between FBI agents who believe they are building a strong case and Justice Department prosecutors who have thrown cold water on it, erecting roadblocks that have made the agents' work much more difficult.  For reasons worth pausing over, the locus of that battle is the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, which is headquartered in Brooklyn.

Is Comey at war with the Dept. of Justice over Clinton's emails?  FBI Director James Comey has caused consternation with his public actions.  Everyone is trying to understand what's really going on behind the scenes.  One explanation, I believe, is that Comey is at war with the Department of Justice.  The FBI's responsibility is to investigate.  However, they can only do that if they get help from the DOJ.  Lacking such cooperation, the FBI is put in an awkward position where they cannot fully proceed and complete their investigation.

Top Clinton Bundlers Were Major Donors to Wife of FBI's Andrew McCabe.  Bundlers for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign joined Clinton ally and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in donating to the state senate campaign of Jill McCabe.  The Wall Street Journal first reported on donations from Common Good VA, McAuliffe's political action committee, to McCabe's Virginia state senate campaign in 2015.  McCabe is the wife of Andrew McCabe, the FBI deputy director who helped in the investigation into Clinton's email practices.  McAuliffe contributed $467,500 to McCabe's campaign through his PAC, making her the third-largest recipient of contributions from McAuliffe in 2015.  The Virginia Democratic Party provided an additional $207,788 to McCabe in the form of mailers, the Wall Street Journal noted.

Clinton Foundation Probe Continues.  In the days since FBI Director James Comey wrote to congressional leaders revealing new information in the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Clinton defenders have been spinning furiously in an attempt to mitigate the potential political damage.  They have attacked Comey, blamed a rogue band of anti-Clinton FBI officials, suggested the FBI itself has a culture that lends itself to political conservatism, downplayed the Clinton email investigation and denied the existence of a Clinton Foundation investigation.  While there are legitimate concerns about the lack of detail accompanying Comey's letter, some of efforts to downplay the seriousness of the FBI investigations, plural, and the professionalism of those conducting them are deeply political and misleading.  And the reporting on an investigation of the Clinton Foundation is conflicting and somewhat contradictory.

Clinton Foundation Probe Continues.  In the days since FBI Director James Comey wrote to congressional leaders revealing new information in the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Clinton defenders have been spinning furiously in an attempt to mitigate the potential political damage.  They have attacked Comey, blamed a rogue band of anti-Clinton FBI officials, suggested the FBI itself has a culture that lends itself to political conservatism, downplayed the Clinton email investigation and denied the existence of a Clinton Foundation investigation.  While there are legitimate concerns about the lack of detail accompanying Comey's letter, some of efforts to downplay the seriousness of the FBI investigations, plural, and the professionalism of those conducting them are deeply political and misleading.  And the reporting on an investigation of the Clinton Foundation is conflicting and somewhat contradictory.

Bozell & Graham:  Media blackout exposes corrupt media.  While most of America was transfixed by Game 7 of the World Series, Fox News Channel was doggedly pursuing a new story:  The FBI's probe into pay-for-play schemes at the Clinton Foundation and the State Department has been far more expansive than anyone reported so far and has been going on for more than a year.  FBI sources even warned there could be indictments down the road.  Then, The Wall Street Journal broke another new story online, saying, "Secret recordings of a suspect talking about the Clinton Foundation fueled an internal battle between FBI agents who wanted to pursue the case and corruption prosecutors who viewed the statements as worthless hearsay."  Senior officials wanted to tell FBI agents to "stand down" from a Clinton Foundation probe.  That's two nuclear explosions in one night.  What was the reaction from the news media?  Crickets.

What can we do to indict Hillary Clinton, one of the most corrupt politicians in history?  There is little doubt in the minds of the American public that Hillary Clinton probably broke a law.  After all, she seems to have little reason to abide by it.  In fact, she may be the first presidential candidate to be interviewed by the FBI as often as she is by the media.  More recently, the FBI has reopened the investigation into wrongdoing by Hillary and her aides after the FBI stumbled upon thousands of additional State Department emails that may have been improperly shared after investigating a separate incident involving disgraced former congressman (and estranged husband of Hillary's closest aide, Huma Abedin) Anthony Weiner and his involvement with underage women.  Although the FBI has determined (perhaps politically) no wrongdoing by Clinton there either, it's unlikely the illegal activity surrounding Hillary's emails — and the fraudulent nature of the Clinton Foundation — will keep her off the radar of law enforcement.

A Memo for Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  The most urgent matter that Attorney General Sessions will face is that of deciding the fate of FBI director James Comey.  Comey was appointed in 2013 for a statutory term of ten years.  In principle, however, he can be removed by the president at any time.  President Bill Clinton removed FBI director William Sessions about halfway through his term on charges that Sessions had misused official resources.  Although President Clinton discharged Sessions for cause, the statute creating the FBI director does not limit the grounds for termination, and we believe that the president's constitutional authority of removal would allow him to fire Comey for any reason.  Rather than firing the FBI director, however, it is more likely that the president would first request his resignation.  We think that Director Comey should leave office for the good of the FBI and the nation.


FBI Director Comey appears to reverse his course again, November 5, 2016:
Once again, Election Day was November 8.

This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


News and commentary prior to the re-opening of the FBI investigation on October 28, 2016:


This subsection has moved to a page of its own, located here.


The FBI releases embarrassing documents on Friday afternoons

And the Obama administration did the same thing.

A Friday evening document dump:
Cop who shot US Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt cleared after internal probe.  The cop who fatally shot US Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt as she stormed the building was exonerated after an internal police investigation, according to a report Friday [8/20/2021].  "No further action will be taken" in the use-of-force probe of the United States Capitol Police officer, whose name has not been released, NBC reported, citing an internal memo from the department.  The Capitol Police's report clearing him concludes the last remaining law enforcement investigation into the shooting, according to the outlet.  Other details about the findings were not immediately available.  The officer shot the 35-year-old Trump-boosting Air Force veteran in the head as she climbed through a broken door and into the Speaker's Lobby during the siege on Jan. 6.

Following court order, FBI uses classic Friday document dump to release heavily redacted files on the death of Seth Rich.  As I wrote elsewhere today, "As a rule, people who fight public disclosure tend to have something to hide."  I should add that when they conceal material even after being forced by a court order to disclose it, there's even more reason to believe that there is something they are hiding.  The July 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich has drawn our attention for years, and been the subject of litigation and efforts to suppress inquiry.  But finally, after denying it had anything on the case, the FBI has been compelled via an FOIA lawsuit to disclose its records, and did release some in a Friday document dump, after heavily redacting them.  But what made little it through the concealment via redaction still raises more questions.

FBI Finally Releases Records on Murdered DNC Analyst Seth Rich — Via Attorney Ty Clevenger.  The FBI on Friday [4/23/2021] finally released the requested documents on murdered DNC operative Seth Rich.  For years the FBI denied there were any documents on Seth Rich's unsolved murder.  We caught them in this lie.  And now they release the documents but they are highly redacted.  The FBI cannot be trusted.

Mueller Report Fizzles.  Prepare For The Reckoning.  First of all, of course everyone should wait to see the contents of the actual Mueller report before drawing any specific final conclusions about it.  But here are some laws of nature in the modern age:  If that report contained a fraction of the damaging material breathlessly awaited in the media culture for two years, there would be some smoke signal of it.  Instead, we saw an actual finding from the Justice Department that there would be no further indictments from the probe.  No indictment of Trump.  No indictment of anyone associated with the campaign or the administration to support the narrative of Russia collusion.  Also, timing is everything.  Friday's close of business is where stories go to die.  As the Mueller report seized the news late in the day, TV viewership was a fraction of what it would have been on a Monday morning or a Wednesday midday.

Robert Mueller submits full report on Russia probe.  Special counsel Robert Mueller has submitted his report on Russian meddling in the US election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign to Attorney General William Barr, the Justice Department said Friday [3/21/2019].  Justice notified Congress late Friday that it had received Mueller's report but did not disclose any of its conclusions.

Recap and overview:
Clinton the 'Congenital Liar'.  [Scroll down]  So what did we learn last weekend?  From the sketchy FBI report, which was the result of a referral from the U.S. intelligence community inspector general, it's notable that Clinton claimed she "could not recall," "did not recall," "did not remember" and "had no recollection" 41 times during the interview.  It's also apparent that Clinton ordered her emails erased after the first reports became public that she'd been conducting State Department business via an illegal and unsecure email server.  "[Redacted] indicated he believed he had an [embarrassing] moment and sometime between March 25-31, 2015 deleted the Clinton archive mailbox from the [Platte River Networks] server and used BleachBit to delete the exported .PST files he had created on the server system containing Clinton's emails."  Her obfuscating attorneys, Cheryl Mills, David Kendall and Heather Samuelson, claimed they had no knowledge of Clinton's private email server until after she left the State Department, but Clinton insisted in the FBI interview that it was "common knowledge" and that she "could not recall anyone raising concerns with her regarding the sensitivity of the information she received at her email address."  When asked what criteria they used to determine which communications they would destroy, Mills, Kendall and Samuelson exercised "assertion of privilege" and declined to give investigators the email addresses and keywords on which they searched.

Friday on My Mind.  Late this past Friday afternoon [9/23/2016] the FBI conducted its second document dump in the Clinton email case.  To those paying attention it has become clear that the case has compromised the FBI and destroyed the reputation of FBI Director of James Comey.  These Friday afternoon document dumps come straight from the scandal management playbook perfected under the (Bill) Clinton administration.  They remind us, in case any reminder was necessary, of how much we have to look forward to in the event the Clintons return to the White House.  I nevertheless find it shocking that the FBI itself has now adopted the routine, acting as a party with much to be ashamed of.

FBI doc dump on email case reveals role of 'confidential' Clinton aide.  The details were contained in the latest document dump of FBI files on Clinton's personal email use.  The FBI chose late Friday afternoon [9/23/2016] to release nearly 200 highly redacted pages of so-called "302" files from the bureau's investigation, a release that quickly became overshadowed by the impending presidential debate Monday.  But the files included new details of the tech intervention by Clinton aide Huma Abedin and Clinton Foundation official Justin Cooper — and a third individual, a Hillary Clinton aide named Monica Hanley.

12 Biggest Bombshells In FBI's Clinton Investigation Notes.  The FBI released 189 pages of notes late Friday [9/23/2016] from 46 interviews it conducted as part of its Hillary Clinton email investigation.  The documents provide new information about questionable activity on the part of Clinton aides and computer technicians who managed her private email server.  The notes also reveal new details about Clinton's and President Obama's email practices.

27 things we learned from Clinton's FBI files.  A 189-page summary of interviews conducted in the year-long investigation of Hillary Clinton's private server shed new light on the shifting stories Clinton's aides told agents.  The report, which was made public Friday evening [9/23/2016], came on the heels of House Republicans' revelation that three additional witnesses had received immunity agreements from the Justice Department, bringing the total number of witnesses who were shielded from prosecution to five.  Here are 27 new details that emerged from the latest FBI documents.

Hillary Clinton and the FBI.  [Scroll down]  In the strange world of espionage prosecution, this denial of intent is an admission of guilt, as it is profoundly the job of the secretary of state to recognize state secrets and to keep them in their secure government-protected venues, and the grossly negligent failure to do so is criminal.  The FBI notes of the interrogation recount that Clinton professed serious memory lapses 39 times.  She also professed ignorance over what "C" means in the margin of a government document.  "C" in the margin means "confidential," which is one of the three levels of federal state secrets.  The other two levels are "secret" and "top secret."  Under federal law, Clinton was required to keep in secure government venues all documents in those three categories.  The FBI found that she had failed to do so hundreds of times.

Krauthammer on FBI's Clinton Email Report.  Charles Krauthammer reacted to the FBI release of investigative documents on Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, saying he was struck by the "brazenness" of Clinton's lying.  "I think what's striking about what came out today is the brazenness.  I mean, everyone knows she lies.  William Safire wrote 20 years ago that she was a congenital liar.  So we've had 20 years of lies in the interim."

Crooked Hillary' nickname isn't going away.  Donald Trump likes to call his opponent, Hillary Clinton, "Crooked Hillary."  There's even a #CrookedHillary hashtag on Twitter.  Meanwhile, Hillary seems to be doing her best to make that nickname stick.  The latest example came in a Labor Day Weekend document dump by the FBI.  (Federal agencies dump embarrassing material in public on Friday afternoons when they want to ensure it gets as little attention as possible.  That goes double for the Friday before a long-weekend holiday.) But the non-redacted parts of the Bureau's heavily-redacted report were bad enough that they'll still get some traction.

Halperin: FBI Director Acting Like Arm of Clinton's Campaign.  [Scroll down]  "There's so much to say about the FBI's conduct here," Halperin said.  "Those who are skeptical about how he's done this, look at the Friday release.  The guy's not had a press conference.  He talks about transparency.  I've become increasingly critical of him.  I know he's got a sterling reputation."  "Not anymore with me.  This was pathetic," Scarborough said.  "To release this on a Friday as if he's an arm of the Clinton campaign, I'm just stunned, because there's a lot of information in here that's of great public interest," Halperin said.  "And if you really cared about transparency, you would say to yourself, is the best time to release this, to get a full public hearing, on Friday before Labor Day?  No, it's not."

9 Questions Regarding Hillary Clinton, Cheryl Mills, and the FBI's Labor Day Document Dump.  If Hillary gets away with this, blame the FBI, DOJ, the total lack of regard for the rule of law, but most of all, blame American citizens.  If the American people are so asleep at the wheel that they elect a criminal to office, they deserve what they get.

From FBI fragments, a question:  Did Team Clinton destroy evidence under subpoena?  The incomplete records of the Hillary Clinton email investigation released by the FBI raise questions about the conduct not only of Clinton but of her top aides and the staffers working under their direction.  Perhaps the most serious is whether the Clinton team destroyed evidence which they were under legal order to save and produce to congressional investigators.

The 12 juiciest bits from the FBI's Clinton report.  On at least two occasions when Hillary Clinton changed electronic devices as secretary of state, the outgoing mobile devices met a violent end on the other side of a hammer or got broken in half.  At other moments, two of Clinton's top aides recalled that the retiring devices' whereabouts would often be a mystery.  And elsewhere in the FBI's report of its investigation and its interview with Clinton that was released publicly Friday, Clinton demonstrated a willingness to defer to others on matters of classified material, claiming on multiple occasions that she could neither recall receiving training or, in one particular instance, responding that she did not know that "(C)" markings in an email chain denoted confidential material.

FBI Data Dump Shows Clinton is Criminal and Clueless.  Today [9/2/2016], on the Friday afternoon before the long Labor Day weekend, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released documents on its investigation of Hillary Clinton and her mishandling of email while she was secretary of state.  The Friday afternoon data dump is a venerable Washington cliché, a shady way to bury a story that the bureaucracy doesn't want covered in depth, but even by Beltway standards this was a shocker. [...] To be fair, a good amount of today's release has been redacted.  The original documents were classified at the Secret/Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals level, and to make it Unclassified about a third of the text has been cut out.  But what's there is awful enough for Team Clinton.

Hillary's Laptop of Archived Emails Is Missing — Where It Is — Nobody Knows.  Hillary Clinton's staff made sure that FOIA requests for her emails were rejected but they didn't care what happened to her many devices once she was done with them.  The laptop and thumb drive used to archive her emails were mailed and are missing.  Worse yet, Hillary's closest aides said her devices often went missing when she was done with them.  The emails on the laptop were archived by an assistant for her husband according to the FBI in their investigative report released Friday [9/2/2016], during the FBI Labor Day dump.  Someone in the report told the agency that he deleted the emails but didn't wipe the hard drive.  Who knows about the thumb drive.  It has since come out that it is likely a man named Justin Cooper who erased the emails and mailed the devices.  The emails are likely recoverable under these circumstances.  It hasn't been seen since it was mailed.

Hillary Clinton's email archives lost in the mail during back-up:  FBI.  Two archives containing Hillary Clinton's emails from her tenure as secretary of state were misplaced shortly after it was revealed that the Democratic presidential nominee used a personal account for official government business, according to notes from the FBI's investigation into the matter.  The archives were created in spring 2013 by Monica Hanley, a former aide, and were stored on an Apple MacBook laptop and a USB stick for the purpose of having a collection of the emails on file at Mrs. Clinton's residences in both New York and Washington, D.C.

FBI reveal Hillary was sent 'phishing' email with porn links and 'dark web browser' was used to access another account.  An unknown individual used an anonymous web browsing tool often used to access the dark web to get into an email account on the Clinton family server, the FBI revealed on Friday [9/2/2016].  Meanwhile, in another incident, top aide Huma Abedin revealed to an unidentified person that Clinton had fears she had been hacked after she received a phishing email.  The FBI disclosed the incidents, in a report on Clinton's handling of classified information on Friday.

12 things I learned from the FBI report on Hillary Clinton's private email server.  I went through the report, highlighting things I either found interesting or didn't know.  My notes — in the chronological order I made them while going through the report — are below.  I don't pretend that this is a comprehensive recording of all that we didn't (or did) know about Clinton's decision to set up a private email server and exclusively use it for her electronic correspondence while serving as the nation's top diplomat.  This is just one man's observations.

FBI releases Hillary Clinton email investigation documents.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her staffers employed an informal and sometimes haphazard system for exchanging and storing sensitive information and were at times either unaware or unconcerned with State Department policy, documents from an FBI investigation into her private email server system show.  The documents reveal a myriad of new details about the email set-up and show that investigators found multiple attempts by hackers to access Clinton's system — a series of personal devices and servers that the Democratic presidential candidate told investigators she used as a matter of convenience while she was secretary of state.

Hillary Clinton's Mind-Boggling FBI Interview — What Was Cheryl Mills Doing There?  David [French] notes that, at the same time the Democrats' Janus-faced presidential nominee was outwardly taking the position that she "want[ed] the public to see my email," she was having her minions frantically purge her emails behind the scenes.  I'd add that this was five months before she feigned ignorance when Fox News's Ed Henry pressed her on whether she'd "tried to wipe the entire server ... so there could be no email — no personal, no official." [...] But we now know, as the FBI notes recount, she had the server purged with a sophisticated software program, BleachBit, which eventually made it extraordinarily difficult for the FBI to recover her emails, several thousand of which were successfully destroyed.

F.B.I. Papers Offer Closer Look at Hillary Clinton Email Inquiry.  F.B.I. officials questioned Hillary Clinton extensively about her judgment in using her private email system to discuss classified drone strikes and in allowing aides to destroy large numbers of emails, before ultimately deciding she should not face criminal charges, according to investigative documents released Friday [9/2/2016].  The documents provided a number of new details about Mrs. Clinton's private server, including what appeared to be a frantic effort by a computer specialist to delete an archive of her emails even after a congressional committee had requested they be preserved.

FBI: Hillary Clinton Lost Cell Phones with Classified Emails.  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost several mobile telephones carrying e-mails from her private server during her time in office, according to newly-released FBI documents on the investigation into her mishandling of classified information.  "[Huma] Abedin and [former Clinton aide Monica] Hanley indicated the whereabouts of Clinton's [mobile] devices would frequently become unknown once she transitioned to a new device," one report indicates.

FBI holiday weekend document drop is devastating to Hillary.  The decision to wait for late Friday on Labor Day weekend to release the FBI's investigation notes of Hillary Clinton's email practices offers further evidence of the politicization of the agency.  As the United States slides into a banana republic, we now know that a political thumb is on the scale at the two most feared federal agencies:  the IRS and the FBI.  Still, one can understand why the Hillary faction wanted to obscure the documents, for they contain toxic revelations that disqualify Hillary Clinton from the presidency.

FBI Interview Catches Hillary Clinton In Multiple Lies.  The FBI just released notes from its July 2 interview with Hillary Clinton about her use of a private, unsecured email server during her tenure as secretary of State.  Their findings don't look good for Clinton.  Days after the interview, which was not recorded, FBI director James Comey publicly held a press conference urging the Department of Justice not to press any criminal charges against Clinton, despite her "extremely careless" handling of classified information.  In the FBI report, Clinton made statements that appear to either contradict her earlier remarks about the email scandal or to be flat-out lies.

FBI Report Reveals Clinton Didn't Know What 'C' in Emails Meant.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday [9/2/2016] released notes from its 3½ hour interview with Hillary Clinton about her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.  The agency released 58 pages of emails from Clinton, of which 14 were redacted due to their sensitive nature.  Judicial Watch director of investigations Chris Farrell called the timing of the FBI release "classic Washington D.C. style" and is disappointed at the agency's approach.

FBI files show Clinton claimed ignorance on classification.  The document dump also revealed the gaps that remain in the record.  Not only were numerous sections — and entire pages — redacted, but the files showed the FBI could not obtain 13 Clinton mobile devices that may have been used to send emails from her personal email address, in addition to two iPads.  And they showed Clinton claiming she could not recall numerous details.  But perhaps most striking were Clinton's repeated statements regarding her grasp of the classification process.  In response to the release, GOP Chairman Reince Priebus said Clinton's claims suggest she either is "incompetent" or "lied."

FBI files show agents focused Clinton interview questions on 'top secret' emails.  The 11-page FBI summary released Friday [9/2/2016] of Hillary Clinton's July 2 interview in the criminal email investigation shows bureau agents focused their questions to her on the 22 "Top Secret" emails considered too damaging to national security to make public.  These emails contained some of the U.S. government's most closely held secrets, known as Special Access Programs (SAP), as first reported by Fox News.  Though the summary is heavily redacted, it shows FBI agents asked Clinton about an Afghan national identified as "Salehi," who appeared in her emails, which included a discussion of a New York Times report about his alleged ties to the CIA.

FBI Releases Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Files.  On Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its interview with Hillary Clinton regarding the former Secretary of State's handling of classified information. [...] The documents reveal that, during her time in office, Clinton lost several mobile telephones carrying e-mails from her private server.  Clinton's top-aide Huma Abedin and former Clinton aide Monica Hanley indicated, according to the report, that "the whereabouts of Clinton's [mobile] devices would frequently become unknown once she transitioned to a new device."  Abedin also admitted that the former Secretary of State was accustomed to using the 8th floor balcony of the State Department building to check her emails — despite knowing she was not allowed to use her mobile devices in her office, the files reveal.

This Friday Afternoon FBI Clinton Document Dump is [Unfair].  Friday afternoon [9/2/2016] just as everybody was getting ready to leave for the long holiday weekend, why of course, the FBI decided to release the damning files from their Hillary Clinton investigation! [...] Despite the overall inconvenience/bitterness from us journalists, today's document dump ensures that pretty much no one from the public will focus their attention on what the FBI found — including revelations about how Clinton apparently doesn't remembering going through training regarding the handling of classified information or — how she didn't know that "C" meant classified.  By Tuesday, all of that will be old news.  This isn't the first time that the FBI's timing as it relates to the Clinton investigation has drawn scrutiny.

Hillary Clinton Is Even More Dishonest than You Thought.  Today, the Friday before Labor Day, the FBI has released detailed interview notes from its investigation of Hillary Clinton's email practices.  The Washington Post says the notes don't contain any "major revelations," but it's wrong.  Very wrong.  The notes reveal the stunning breadth of Hillary Clinton's dishonesty and deception.  First, and most importantly, it's plain that her team began systematically wiping the server only after news broke of its existence: [...] Second, her own response was extraordinarily cynical.  Three weeks after she tweeted that she wanted the public to see her emails, the purge began.  Publicly, she called for transparency.  Privately, her team is frantically destroying messages.

"Extremely Careless" Hillary Lost Up To A DOZEN Cell Phones With Classified Information On Them.  Mrs. Clinton used nearly a dozen smart phones during her tenure as Secretary of State.  According to now-breaking revelations, some of those phones went missing.  Who might have them?  Nobody knows.  Clinton staffers disposed of some of the phones by merely "smashing them with a hammer" — a direct violation of government security protocols.  When the FBI asked to be given the multiple phone devices, Clinton's office was only able to hand over two phones.

Clinton Email Scandal:  A Catalog Of Lame Excuses From The FBI Report.  The FBI report on its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of emails, which it released publicly on Friday [9/2/2016], might not contain any smoking guns, but it does reveal the lengths to which Clinton will go to deny responsibility or cover up an obvious lie, even if it makes her look like an ignorant fool.  Clinton's attempts to avoid responsibility became particularly strained when the topic turned to classified material she said never showed up on her email server.  The report is replete with so many different attempts to duck blame that we thought it would be helpful to categorize them.

Clinton email investigation:  FBI notes reveal laptop and thumb drive are missing.  A Clinton Foundation laptop and a thumb drive used to archive Hillary Clinton's emails from her time as secretary of state are missing, according to FBI notes released on Friday [9/2/2016].  The phrase "Clinton could not recall" litters the summary of the FBI's investigation, which concluded in July that she should not face charges.  Amid fierce Republican criticism of the Democratic presidential candidate, the party's nominee, Donald Trump released a statement which said "Hillary Clinton's answers to the FBI about her private email server defy belief" and added that he did not "understand how she was able to get away from prosecution".

Hillary Clinton 'couldn't recall' answers to FBI questions about secret server because of concussion — and didn't know what 'classified' markings were, agency reveals.  Hillary Clinton told the FBI she could not recall answers to some of their questions about her secret server scandal because she had been concussed in 2012.  The extraordinary disclosure was made as the FBI published details of its agents' interview with the former secretary of state which was conducted days before the agency's director ruled out any charges against her.  Agents noted that Clinton could not recall being trained to handle classified materials as secretary of state, and had no memory of anyone raising concerns about the sensitive information she received at her private address.  The Democratic presidential nominee also 'did not recall receiving any emails she thought should not be on an unclassified system,' the FBI's report declared.

The Editor says...
Wow, what a relief.  She's not greedy and corrupt after all — just profoundly incompetent and monumentally stupid!

Clinton told FBI she was 'not concerned' about sending classified emails.  Hillary Clinton didn't know how secret information got to be classified, she told the FBI in her interview earlier this summer, according to documents released Friday — showing a striking lack of awareness for someone at the highest reaches of government.  Asked specifically about several emails that were marked classified at the time she handled them, Mrs. Clinton said told investigators she was "not concerned," saying she doubted the information really needed to be kept secret.  As State Department secretary, Mrs. Clinton was one of the small number of officials who hold original classification authority, meaning they can unilaterally deem information secret.  But Mrs. Clinton told FBI investigators she couldn't recall how often she used it, nor whether she was even trained.



Related pages:
Hillary Clinton's cloud of corruption
Barack H. Obama's cloud of corruption
Hillary Clinton's email scandal
Hillary Clinton's Benghazi scandal
Hillary Clinton's other scandals
Loretta Lynch and the politicized Department of Justice
Eric Holder and the politicized Department of Justice
Which party has a "culture of corruption?"



Document location http://akdart.com/fbi.html
Updated July 23, 2024.

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