Trump’s mistake: he kept Comey

[Note: I have been away from blogging and my various radio broadcasts since last Sunday, due to the fact that I was smacked with the flu. My apologies. I will be attempting to ramp things up as the days go on.]

When I voted for Donald Trump I did so with my eyes wide open. My vote was cast primarily because he was not Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. I also voted for Trump because I sensed he would make more sensible nominations for SCOTUS; first to replace Antonin Scalia then to fill what I suspect will be another two to possibly three additional jurists in the next four years.

I’ll be honest. I can only hope that SCOTUS truly is stacked with moderate or conservative jurists that will keep the court on a common sense track for at least another generation, perhaps two.

As an adult I knew Trump would do things with which I’d disagree. He has done so. From the WashingtonPost.com:

FBI Director James Comey to stay on in Trump administration

by Matt Zapotosky, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller

FBI Director James B. Comey was among the senior U.S. officials who had the unpleasant task of traveling to Trump Tower last month to inform the president-elect that Russia had interfered in the election process to help him win office.

Then Comey asked his colleagues — including the CIA director — to step outside so that he could discuss something even more awkward: a dossier in wide circulation in Washington that alleged that Moscow had gathered compromising financial, political and personal material about the incoming U.S. president.

That Comey was asked after that encounter, described by U.S. officials briefed on its details, to stay on as FBI director speaks to his survival instincts and ability to inspire confidence. But the meeting may also have provided a preview of the perilous position he occupies serving in the Trump administration while his agents pursue investigations that seem to lead to the president’s associates.

That was a poor decision, Donald John Trump, and I believe you’ll regret it. Director Comey allows politics to intervene in critical decisions where politics should be the very last consideration. Case in point: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Make no mistake. James Comey is a country-destroying weasel, first for not recommending the prosecution of Hillary Clinton, and second for not placing Hillary Clinton under oath or recording her in any fashion when interviewed on the July 4th weekend of 2016.  There is, thusly, no transcript of her interview. Though that’s general FBI policy, in this critical case, an exception should have been made.

To me it is quite clear that FBI Director James Comey, about whose probity I wrote quite a number of times on the blog, has dishonored his law enforcement oath, showing that he has no fidelity, no bravery and no integrity with regard to his decision to not recommend prosecution of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But in the July 2016 hearing with Trey Gowdy and Jason Chaffetz as documented at Politico, James Comey revealed his flawed and craven, cowardly political thinking when one is familiar with law enforcement prosecutorial thresholds as I am. First:

Director Comey determined a manner in which to weasel his way out of recommending the prosecution of Clinton.  At one hearing he went out of his way — again, just like the previous day — to make his own case and then fall back on a position/decision that isn’t his to make.

FBI director: Clinton’s statements were not true

by Nick Gass

FBI Director James Comey confirmed on Thursday that some of Hillary Clinton’s statements and explanations about her email server to the House Benghazi Committee last October were not true, as evidenced by the bureau’s investigation into whether she mishandled classified information.

During an extended exchange with Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Comey affirmed that the FBI’s investigation found information marked classified on her server even after Clinton had said that she had neither sent nor received any items marked classified.

“That is not true,” Comey said. “There were a small number of portion markings on, I think, three of the documents.”

Asked whether Clinton’s testimony that she did not email “any classified material to anyone on my email” and “there is no classified material” was true, Comey responded, “No, there was classified material emailed.”

“Secretary Clinton said she used one device. Was that true?” Gowdy asked, to which Comey answered, “She used multiple devices during the four years of her term as secretary of state.”

Comey admits that Clinton lied.  But here is the difference (that we won’t know precisely because there was no oath and no recording).

You can lie publicly all you want, if people are sufficiently stupid to believe it — like much of the electorate and the American Media Maggots are doltish enough.  But you should not lie to the FBI.  My guess is that Hillary Clinton came relatively clean in 3.5 hours.  And that is why I believe she was not placed under oath and the interview was not recorded.  Things like that make it easier to dispute later when politically necessary.  There is no record and it is not completely official.  As the Church Lady would have said, “how con-veee-nient.”

Gowdy asked whether Clintons’ lawyers read every one of her emails as she had said. Comey replied, “No.”

But here, ladies and gentlemen, comes the crux of the proverbial biscuit.  Please read this carefully, though through Gowdy’s bit of humor:

“In interest of time, because I have a plane to catch tomorrow afternoon, I’m not going to go through anymore of the false statements but I am going to ask you put on your old hat. False exculpatory statements, they are used for what?” Gowdy inquired.

Wait for it.

“Exactly. Intent and consciousness of guilt, right? Is that right?” Gowdy asked. “Consciousness of guilt and intent.”

Please read the rest of the article here, because we are going to jump to another Politico article.  Politico purposely does not let you make this link.  You have to be smarter than Politico and make the link as I now display to you.  We continue:

Comey: Clinton did not lie to the FBI

by Nick Gass

Hillary Clinton did not lie to FBI investigators during their probe into her use of a private server as secretary of state, FBI Director James Comey testified Thursday.

“We have no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI,” Comey told House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) during one of the hearing’s opening exchanges.

Chaffetz then asked whether Clinton lied to the public. “That’s a question I’m not qualified to answer. I can speak about what she said to the FBI,” Comey said.

Weasel words.  Mealy-mouthed.  Word pablum.  You cannot determine that Clinton lied to the public?  You just made your best case that she did.  If she didn’t lie to your agents under oath, and you’re unsure if she lied to the public, then why didn’t you simply say so?  Instead, you went out of your way to say the opposite.  Your statements are conflicting and make no sense whatsoever.

But the most insightful part has arrived.  Comey outs himself:

Chaffetz then asked whether it was that he was just not able to prosecute it or that Clinton broke the law.

“Well, I don’t want to give an overly lawyerly answer,” Comey said. “The question I always look at is there evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody engaged in conduct that violated a criminal statute, and my judgment here is there is not. “

And that was how James Comey attempted to rationalize his decision.  He stated he did not believe his case established guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

NEWSFLASH: It is not UP to YOU, Director Comey, to assemble a case that yields a determination of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”  That threshold is up to the DOJ or more pointedly a Grand Jury, not you or your organization.  All you need to compile a case for submission is “probable cause.”  That’s what real cops and real DAs in America do.  Their jobs.  They stay in their lanes and do their jobs.

As I have said time and again, there are two kinds of crimes as written by statute: those of general intent and those of specific intent. Comey stated that HRC had to have possessed a very specific intent to commit her crimes. EXCEPT that the US codes applicable are not those of specific intent because they do not include the phrase “with the intent to.”

That is how a crime of specific intent is crafted. It is stated.

Even more disturbing: Attorney General Lynch did not recuse herself from the final decision on whether to prosecute the case — nor did she give that decision to a career prosecutor at the Department of Justice. She instead prejudged the case by supposedly blindly accepting the FBI’s recommendation. She stepped back and placed the festering pile of shite in the lap of Comey.

FBI Director James Comey figured out how to cover his own ass by revealing some truths about Hillary Clinton whilst simultaneously making nice with those in DC power positions who could hurt him seriously.  This is Comey’s false justification for his decision.  And it is clearly wrong and damaging.  He created his “out.”

Or did he just believe he “took one for the team”?

In my opinion: no.  He dishonored his oath.

Agents were directed to identify exculpatory instead of incriminatory evidence in the Hillary Rodham Clinton illegal server email case “conducted” by the FBI.

And trust me: that grated in the craw of every good line-level FBI agent remotely connected with the investigation.

As it grates with regard to DOJ special agents and some of the attorneys who aren’t yet full Leftist sycophants.

From FoxNews.com:

FBI, DOJ roiled by Comey, Lynch decision to let Clinton slide by on emails, says insider

by Malia Zimmerman and Adam Housley

The decision to let Hillary Clinton off the hook for mishandling classified information has roiled the FBI and Department of Justice, with one person closely involved in the year-long probe telling FoxNews.com that career agents and attorneys on the case unanimously believed the Democratic presidential nominee should have been charged.

The source, who spoke to FoxNews.com on the condition of anonymity, said FBI Director James Comey’s dramatic July 5 announcement that he would not recommend to the Attorney General’s office that the former secretary of state be charged left members of the investigative team dismayed and disgusted. More than 100 FBI agents and analysts worked around the clock with six attorneys from the DOJ’s National Security Division, Counter Espionage Section, to investigate the case.

“No trial level attorney agreed, no agent working the case agreed, with the decision not to prosecute — it was a top-down decision,” said the source, whose identity and role in the case has been verified by FoxNews.com.

Read that again: “No trial level attorney, no agent working the case agree, with the decision not to prosecute — it was a top-down decision.”

Precisely. That decision came directly from the Oval Office via a telephone call to Loretta Lynch and then a call to Director James Comey. It all dovetails and ties up neatly. I wrote about “connecting the dots” of corruption in the Obama administration here. Please take time to read the article — it explains most everything you’ve seen and heard.

Comey can’t stand political or personal heat. From anyone. He instead wants to please everyone, somehow keep his job, and does real justice no service whatsoever. If there ever were an indecisive, cowardly and misdirected man, it is James Brien Comey.

A) Following his July decision to forego a recommendation of either an indictment or a grand jury impaneled regarding Hillary Clinton’s private server and disregard for US security and intelligence protocols (not to mention laws), FBI Director James Comey created a firestorm not just within his own agency but the American public — and it affected his private as well as public or work life. Letters of resignation from good and true FBI line level agents began to pile up on his desk, and even Comey’s wife Pat told him he must make amends.

B) Under mounting pressure, on October 28th Director Comey indicated he was re-opening the investigation into more of Hillary Clinton’s emails — an estimated 650,000 of them, stemming from the examination of a case involving Anthony Wiener, husband of Huma Abedin, close assistant and confidant of HRC. The American Media Maggots and the Clinton campaigners moo’d in unison: “bad decision, Jim, bad decision.”

C) Following his determination to re-open the Clinton email case, the OSC (Office of Special Counsel) received complaints about Director Comey regarding violations of the Hatch Act, which is a “law designed to prevent federal officeholders from abusing their power to influence an election.” This complaint was filed Saturday, October 29th with the OSC by lawyer Richard Painter.

D) Nine short days later, armed with a team of miracle workers, FBI Director James Comey reaffirmed his original July decision: yeppers, nothing to see here. No corruption, no collusion, move along. The American Media Maggots and the Clinton campaigners moo’d again in unison: “great decision, Jim, great decision.”

You cannot convince me that James Comey can take political heat. He has instead bent and broken to whatever prevailing political prairie winds were coursing through DC at any given time. He is still sitting in a dark leather chair in his corner orifice whilst the bulk of his peers have left DC — including former AGs Holder and Lynch, as well as the former president. Comey, by appearing confused and/or conciliatory and utilizing his finest set of pablum-packed weasel words, is still standing.

Comey vacillates, he is a flawed thinker, and has proven that he is untrustworthy. Those are now his best qualities.

You keep Comey, President Trump, at your own peril.

Be forewarned, President Trump.

BZ

 

Comey: I was right the first time; faux umbrage, faux investigation

uncle-sam-weepingSome quick facts: It took the FBI 1.3 years to investigate 55,000 emails. Now, it appears the FBI has combed through 650,000 emails in nine days. This is nothing short of a miracle. The blinding light from heaven must have caused all the newest FBI investigators to wear welding masks. Where was this FBI “A-Team” a year ago, Mr Comey? Newt Gingrich said, “nobody believes that the federal government is capable of taking 650,000 emails and reviewing them in eight days.” Unless, of course, there is Divine Intervention the likes of which Comey claims.

Oddly enough, I should add, the State Department stated it will need five years for their review of 31,000 pages of emails recovered by the FBI involving Hillary Clinton. Apparently the State Department lacks graduates of Evelyn Wood classes as, clearly, the FBI possesses.

From Sunday’s UKDailyMail.com:

Hillary OFF the hook as FBI Director James Comey reveals the department will NOT change its July decision after further email investigation

by Liam Quinn, David Martosko, Geoff Earle, Nikki Schwab and Regina F. Graham

  • FBI announced it will not change the decision it reached in July after investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails

  • Director James Comey announced the potentially election-changing news in an email on Sunday afternoon

  • The latest finding means the Democratic nominee will not be charged with anything from the email scandal 

  • Hillary’s camp addressed Comey’s letter after it was published, saying it is ‘glad that the matter is resolved’

  • Donald Trump was quick to trash the latest decision, saying Clinton is being protected by a ‘rigged system’ 

The FBI has announced it will not make any changes to its July decision on Hillary Clinton’s emails, meaning the Democratic nominee will not be charged.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz fist tweeted out the massive news on Sunday afternoon before FBI Director James Comey released a letter that said the investigation was closed.

‘FBI Dir just informed us ‘Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Sec Clinton’,’ Chaffetz wrote.

Speaking to reporters with Clinton in Cleveland, Ohio, Director of Communications Jennifer Palmieri confirmed the camp had seen Comey’s letter.

‘We have seen Director Comey’s latest letter to the Hill. We are glad to see that he has found, as we were confident that he would, that he has confirmed the conclusion that he reached in July, and we’re glad that this matter is resolved,’ Palmieri said.

The investigation was reopened on October 28 – sparked by a DailyMail.com story that revealed Anthony Weiner was sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl. The emails in question were found on Weiner’s laptop.

james-comey-letter-11-6-2016Good news for Mexico, though. Upon Sunday’s revelation the Mexican peso soared. Gosh. Why do you suppose that might be?

Here is what likely occurred: Comey can’t stand political or personal heat. From anyone. He instead wants to please everyone, somehow keep his job, and does real justice no service whatsoever. If there ever were an indecisive, cowardly and misdirected man, it is James Brien Comey.

A) Following his July decision to forego a recommendation of either an indictment or a grand jury impaneled regarding Hillary Clinton’s private server and disregard for US security and intelligence protocols (not to mention laws), FBI Director James Comey created a firestorm not just within his own agency but the American public — and it affected his private as well as public or work life. Letters of resignation from good and true FBI line level agents began to pile up on his desk, and even Comey’s wife Pat told him he must make amends.

B) Under mounting pressure, on October 28th Director Comey indicated he was re-opening the investigation into more of Hillary Clinton’s emails — an estimated 650,000 of them, stemming from the examination of a case involving Anthony Wiener, husband of Huma Abedin, close assistant and confidant of HRC. The American Media Maggots and the Clinton campaigners moo’d in unison: “bad decision, Jim, bad decision.”

C) Following his determination to re-open the Clinton email case, the OSC (Office of Special Counsel) received complaints about Director Comey regarding violations of the Hatch Act, which is a “law designed to prevent federal officeholders from abusing their power to influence an election.” This complaint was filed Saturday, October 29th with the OSC by lawyer Richard Painter.

D) Nine short days later, armed with a team of miracle workers, FBI Director James Comey reaffirmed his original July decision: yeppers, nothing to see here. No corruption, no collusion, move along. The American Media Maggots and the Clinton campaigners moo’d again in unison: “great decision, Jim, great decision.”

Except that, again, the vile stench of Hillary Rodham Clinton wafts in with this newest report on Sunday, from the NYPost.com:

Clinton directed her maid to print out classified materials

by Paul Sperry

As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton routinely asked her maid to print out sensitive government e-mails and documents — including ones containing classified information — from her house in Washington, DC, e-mails and FBI memos show. But the housekeeper lacked the security clearance to handle such material.

In fact, Marina Santos was called on so frequently to receive e-mails that she may hold the secrets to E-mailgate — if only the FBI and Congress would subpoena her and the equipment she used.

But I’m sure the good ol’ Go-Along-To-Get-Along James Comey wouldn’t see any real serious issue with this, either. I mean, who can’t trust their maid? I trust mine; I’m sure you trust yours. Oh wait, we don’t have maids.  .  .

Clinton would first receive highly sensitive e-mails from top aides at the State Department and then request that they, in turn, forward the messages and any attached documents to Santos to print out for her at the home.

Nope. Still no problem. Right?

“Revisions to the Iran points” was the subject line of a classified April 2012 e-mail to Clinton from Hanley. In it, the text reads, “Marina is trying to print for you.”

Both classified e-mails were marked “confidential,” the tier below “secret” or “top secret.”

You realize, those designators aren’t hard and fast; they’re merely “suggestions” or “guidelines.” Just ask the FBI and James Comey.

Santos also had access to a highly secure room called an SCIF (sensitive compartmented information facility) that diplomatic security agents set up at Whitehaven, according to FBI notes from an interview with Abedin.

Listen, no one likes a dirty SCIF, okay? Just look at all the candy wrappers on the floor.

From within the SCIF, Santos — who had no clearance — “collected documents from the secure facsimile machine for Clinton,” the FBI notes revealed.

Just how sensitive were the papers Santos presumably handled? The FBI noted Clinton periodically received the Presidential Daily Brief — a top-secret document prepared by the CIA and other US intelligence agencies — via the secure fax.

Hey, I wonder: did the FBI demand to look at the iMac that Santos used to print out the documents? How about the printer? The print-outs themselves? Uh. No.

But still, you know the FBI had to have interviewed Marina Santos, right?  Right? Uh. No.

I could go on but, hell, what’s the point?

SAVE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Let’s examine the HRC email/server timeline:

January 13, 2009: Hillary Clinton’s aide Justin Cooper sets up clintonemail.com domain. Huma Abedin signs off on it. Email address is HDR22@ClintonEmail.com (HDR = Hillary Diane Rodham)

February 2, 2009: Clinton is sworn in as Secretary of State

March 18, 2009: Clinton stops using her BlackBerry email account and switches to the newly created hdr22@clintonemail.com account. The domain is hosted on her own private email server, set up by her aide Bryan Pagliano

September 11, 2012: Four Americans are killed in attack on a U.S. base in Benghazi, Libya including Ambassador Chris Stevens

January 23, 2013: Clinton responded forcefully to intense questioning on the September attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in Benghazi, Libya, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

February 1, 2013: Clinton steps down as secretary of state 

October 28, 2014: State Department demands Clinton’s work-related correspondence as part of a congressional investigation into Benghazi

Fall 2014: Clinton’s lawyers deletes 33,000 emails which they claim are ‘personal’ 

December 5, 2014: Clinton’s legal team provide roughly 30,000 emails to the State Department when they are demanded by a congressional investigation into Benghazi. 

March 2, 2015: The New York Times breaks the news that Clinton used a personal email account to conduct government business while secretary of state

July 25, 2015: Clinton says she is confident none of the emails on her private email server were classified at the time of sending and receiving

August 4, 2015: The Washington Post reveals the FBI has begun looking into the security of Clinton’s private email set-up

September 10, 2015: Bryan Pagliano formally asserts his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination rather than answer questions from a Republican-led House committee on her email arrangements

July 6, 2016: The Justice Department closes Clinton email probe and FBI Director James Comey announces the FBI won’t prosecute. The decision was made by Comey because Attorney General Loretta Lynch had to recluse herself after a secret meeting with Bill Clinton

October 7, 2016: WikiLeaks begins release of thousands of emails hacked from the Gmail account of John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chair

October 28, 2016: FBI reopens its investigation into Clinton’s server

And now:

November 6, 2016: FBI announces it will not change its original decision not to charge Clinton.

Let’s next examine a timeline of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private server:

June 2008An Apple Power Mac server, purchased by Bill Clinton’s aide Justin Cooper in 2007, is installed in the basement of the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York. It initially handles traffic for Bill Clinton but soon is used by Clinton and her staff as well

Fall: Computer equipment from Clinton’s presidential campaign is tapped as a replacement – a Dell PowerEdge 2900 Windows Server and Microsoft Exchange and a 1950 running a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Clinton aide Bryan Pagliano starts work on building the system, believing it will be used by Bill Clinton’s staff

January 2009: It is decided that the Apple server must be replaced as it is having problems with the volume of traffic

March 2009: Pagliano installs the server he has built in a rack in the Chappaqua house basement, with the help of Cooper. Pagliano, who is administrator for the new device, transfers the Apple server emails onto the new device. The new server is backed up once a week onto a Seagate external hard drive. The FBI has never obtained the Apple server for examination

January 2013: Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryll Mills, recommends Denver, Colorado-based IT firm Platte River Networks (PRN) to manage the server to help with user limitations and reliability concerns

June 23, 2013: A Platte employee removes the server from the Chappaqua home to a data center in Secaucus, New Jersey, run by Equinix, to migrate it to a new server

June 30, 2013: The Clintons’ email accounts are migrated to the Platte server

July 18, 2013: Platte signs an agreement to manage the new, third server, a Dell PowerEdge R620. Platte subsequently configure a backup device from Datto, Inc, a Connecticut-based company, to take multiple snapshots of the system daily and to store the information for 60 days. The device also takes copies of the Pagliano server between June 24-December 23

December 2013: The Pagliano server is fully decommissioned

December 2014: Clinton and Abedin begin using the domain hrcoffice and stop using clintonemail.com  

October 3, 2015: The Pagliano server is voluntarily handed over to the FBI.

A few teeny-weeny extras I’d care to add (for those of us non-journalistas who still have memories): does anyone remember Bill Clinton’s National Security Advisor Sandy Berger getting caught stuffing classified documents into his pants and socks back in 2003? I do. Berger was let off with a misdemeanor charge, no jail time (he was placed on probation for two years) and a $50,000 fine. Who helped finagle that wonderful deal and helped limit the scope of the investigation as a deputy AG at Justice? Our Jim Comey.

Let us not forget that Loretta Lynch and Comey are buds. They both served as U.S. attorney in New York, Lynch for the Eastern District of New York, and Comey for the Southern District of New York.

Here’s another greasy aside I’ll wager you didn’t know: Sandy Berger, Loretta Lynch and Cheryl Mills all worked as partners in the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson, which prepared tax returns for the Clintons and did patent work for a software firm that — wait for it — played a role in the private email server Hillary Clinton used.

Messages found stored on Clinton’s private email server via Wikileaks show that Sandy Berger, already a convicted thief of classified documents, was advising Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and had access to emails containing classified information. Fox and hen-house, anyone? Bueller?

Are you beginning to see how enmeshed, complicated, self-serving and inexorably-linked this all is? It’s but a fraction.

Director Comey and AG Lynch have also colluded to set a precedent they (and the nation) perhaps will wish they hadn’t. That is, with the staggering amount of evidence collected, the shocking amount of evidence officially destroyed and the unprecedented granting of various immunities papering the landscape, I could make an excellent argument — as a defense attorney — for no charges against persons in similar classified security circumstances.

Let’s call it The Hillary Deal. As in, “I want what Hillary got.” Hell, let’s revisit the cases where persons went to prison for much less.

Now is the time for all good and true FBI agents to rally together, continue to submit resignations, acquire a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the corrupt FBI upper management and start making phone calls to Congress on behalf of the truth. It’s past time for line-level agents to cast aside their management’s “leadership” and demand accountability for the purely self-serving and political decisions that have been made by Comey and Lynch via the jaundiced the prejudicial eye of Barack Hussein Obama. It is also past time for a RICO investigation of all the above persons.

The fix was in. The fix was always in. The FBI and the DOJ are officially out of the law enforcement and justice business, now heavily invested in the immunity and politics business. I guess their name may now change to the Federal Bureau of Immunity.

The umbrage was fake; the investigation was fake. Because here is the bottom line: Barack Hussein Obama sent emails (under an alias) to HRC’s homebrew server. Comey believed he couldn’t recommend an indictment for her because that would reveal Obama’s complicity and exposure to indictment. You recall, of course, that Obama enacted “executive privilege” with regard to those emails. It was a faux investigation from the very beginning.

With one announcement, this is just about tantamount to the hijacking of our entire criminal justice system — and with it — a soft coup on the whole nation.

Goodbye rule of law; we have become just another Banana Republic, ladies and gentlemen, except that the dictators have nicer planes and more heavily-armored cars at their disposal than others.

And, oh yeah, they have every American Taxpayer on the hook.

BZ

hillary-clinton-obama-stop-fbi-from-doing-their-job