Tag Archives: James Comey

James Comey, leaker of classified US information

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Oh, what a tangled web we weave, former FBI Director James Brien Comey, when we practice to deceive and decide to play politics from a position that should, theoretically, be the least political of any in Washington DC.

A web you created, sir, when you opened a political door that you walked through and, now, others appear to be walking through that very same door you opened. It does not bode well for you, Mr Comey.

From TheHill.com:

Comey’s private memos on Trump conversations contained classified material

by John Solomon

More than half of the memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote as personal recollections of his conversations with President Trump about the Russia investigation have been determined to contain classified information, according to interviews with officials familiar with the documents.

Just when the “bombshell news” today is about Donald Trump Jr’s nothing-burger emails (a ridiculous act in itself), the real news goes purposely uncovered. Representative Jason Chaffetz knows what’s happening.

This revelation raises the possibility that Comey broke his own agency’s rules and ignored the same security protocol that he publicly criticized Hillary Clinton over in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election.

Comey testified last month before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he considered the memos to be personal documents and that he shared at least one of them with a friend. He asked that friend, a law professor at Columbia University, to leak information from one memo to the news media in hopes of increasing pressure to get a special prosecutor named in the Russia case after Comey was fired as FBI director.

Comey insisted in his testimony he believed his personal memos were unclassified, though he hinted one or two documents he created might have been contained classified information.

Hinted. I see.

But when the seven memos Comey wrote regarding his nine conversations with Trump about Russia earlier this year were shown to Congress in recent days, the FBI claimed all were, in fact, deemed to be government documents.

While the Comey memos have been previously reported, this is the first time there has been a number connected to the amount of memos the ex-FBI chief wrote.

Except that now there is a problem. Solomon continues to write:

Four of the memos had markings making clear they contained information classified at the secret or confidential level, according to officials directly familiar with the matter.

A spokesman for the FBI on Sunday declined to comment.

Why?

FBI policy forbids any agent from releasing classified information or any information from ongoing investigations or sensitive operations without prior written permission, and it mandates that all records created during official duties are considered to be government property.

I myself had to sign a document which stated in part, “Unauthorized disclosure, misuse, or negligent handling of information contained in the files, electronic or paper, of the FBI or which I may acquire as an employee of the FBI could impair national security, place human life in jeopardy, result in the denial of due process, prevent the FBI from effectively discharging its responsibilities, or violate federal law. and 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.”

The American Media Maggots are primarily avoiding this story like the plague because there is otherwise Trump Russian blood in the water. So sayeth the New York Times and CNN. More Russia Russia Russia. Fox News, however, addressed the issue with Kellyanne Conway.

Solomon finally writes:

In order to make an assessment, congressional investigators will have to tackle key questions, such as where and how the memos were created, including whether they were written on an insecure computer or notepad; where and how the memos were stored, such as inside Comey’s home, in a briefcase or on an insecure laptop; whether any memos were shown to private individuals without a security clearance and whether those memos contained any classified information; and when was it determined by the government that the memos contained classified information — before Comey took them and shared one or after.

Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) indicated Comey may have violated, at minimum, four laws (one a very clear and unequivocal felony) to include:

  • 18 USC 793(E), the espionage act making it a felony for a person with “unauthorized access or possession to convey it to an unauthorized person;”
  • 18 USC 793(G); conspiracy provision under the espionage act;
  • 18 USC 371; generally criminalizes the conspiracy to violate any federal criminal law;
  • Executive Order (EO) 13526 (2009); policies and procedures for identifying and safeguarding classified information.

Okay, another exception: the WashingtonFreeBeacon.com also reported the information about civilian James Comey.

But of course this isn’t an issue because it doesn’t involve Trump and Russia.

I suspect it’s going to be quite the serious issue with James Comey, however.

BZ

 

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Loretta Lynch obstructed justice and must be investigated

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Are those legs or are those pier pilings to which eastern cod trawlers should tie up?

It is clear that the Demorats are working in concert with embedded deep state undermining civilian operators along with GOP EstabliHacks in order to create a cavernous and extensive coalition crossing aisles whose goal is to ultimately impeach and remove President Donald Trump.

You know. The person lawfully elected by the people of the United States of America. The guy with the dead orange cat on his head.

For the GOP, you have to ask yourselves why.

Perhaps Judge Pirro knows why.

Good points, all. Where are they indeed? Hiding, hoarding their gold on the table, their collective arms around it, ensuring their money and — mostly — their inherent power is not disturbed in the slightest. Oval office holders may come and go but Entrenched Power prevails. It must not be disturbed or distressed on either side of the aisle. Verboten.

Where were they in re James Comey? Conspicuously silent?

Former FBI Director James Comey testified just last week, Thursday, June 8th — how far and long ago that now seems — that Loretta Lynch compromised him. And you. And me. And the investigation into Hillary Clinton. Let us refresh.

We know now, because of this testimony, that Loretta Lynch herself in the Barack Obama administration attempted to obstruct justice and deflect or remove the serious status of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Minimization. Further, James Comey went along with it.

Let’s go back, shall we, to a certain tete-a-tete between Loretta Lynch and Jason Chaffetz in which Lorette Lynch decided to

“You refused to answer 74 times.”

“Your refusal to answer.”

Perhaps a wee bit-o-history of refusal and obfuscation? No, nothing like that.

Then let us away with Trey Gowdy.

Warte mal. 

Are you starting to witness something of a trend here?

A trend completely ignored, and purposely so, by the Demorats and the American Media Maggots and, to an extent, the EstabliHacks of the GOP, with a select few exceptions?

I have set my background. Now it is time to reveal more from Circa.com.

Comey got ‘steely silence’ after confronting Loretta Lynch about Clinton’s email probe

by John Solomon and Sara A. Carter

Ex-FBI Director James Comey has privately told members of Congress that he had a frosty exchange with Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch last year when he confronted her about possible political interference in the Hillary Clinton email investigation after showing Lynch a sensitive document she was unaware the FBI possessed, according to sources who were directly briefed on the matter.

During his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee last Thursday, Comey alluded to the exchange after publicly discussing an encounter with Lynch, where she ordered him not to refer to the criminal probe of Clinton’ handling of classified emails not as an “investigation” but rather as a “matter.” He suggested it smacked of political spin rather than the way professional law enforcement officers talk.

Buttery goodness? But wait, there’s more.

In multiple private sessions over the last few months, Comey has told lawmakers about a second, later confrontation with Lynch shortly before the email probe was shut down.

Really? That hadn’t been plastered near and far by the American Media Maggots. Why might that be?

Comey told lawmakers in the closed door session that he raised his concern with the attorney general that she had created a conflict of interest by meeting with Clinton’s husband, the former President Bill Clinton, on an airport tarmac while the investigation was ongoing.

During the conversation, Comey told lawmakers he confronted Lynch with a highly sensitive piece of evidence, a communication between two political figures that suggested Lynch had agreed to put the kibosh on any prosecution of Clinton.

At minimum a conflict of interest — the likes of which, truly, Comey had no interest considering his approval of Assistant FBI Director McCabe’s direct involvement with Demorat partisan politics on behalf of McCabe’s clearly partisan Demorat wife, Jill. Comey ruled the conflict wasn’t just regular cool, but that it was extra crispy cool. Nothing to see here. Move on. Dot org.

Comey said “the attorney general looked at the document then looked up with a steely silence that lasted for some time, then asked him if he had any other business with her and if not that he should leave her office,” said one source who was briefed.

Bing. Done. Gone. Leave. Vacate.

Comey “took that interaction and the fact she had met with Bill Clinton as enough reason to decide he would not allow the Justice Department to decide the fate of the case and instead would go public” with his own assessment that the FBI could not prove Mrs. Clinton intended to violate the law when she transmitted classified information through her private email and therefore should not be criminally charged. Another source said the “tarmac meeting was the public excuse for not going to Lynch when all along there was other evidence that was more concerning to Comey.”

In other words, politics trumped the truth and the need for Comey to insert himself as something of a Knight In Shining Armor. A fantasy that had been brewing in his fetid, knurled, convoluted and twisted mind for years.

Are Senate Republicans are finally starting to get the message?

Senate Republicans Hope to Question Loretta Lynch on Conduct in Clinton Email Case

by Aaron Klein

NEW YORK — Senate Republicans are eying the possibility of seeking testimony from former Attorney General Loretta Lynch over possible wrongdoing with regard to the FBI’s criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

On Wednesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, formally requesting that the committee probe any attempts to influence the FBI’s investigations under the Trump and Obama administrations.

There are three important issues that should logically require the testimony of Lynch.

One is Lynch’s infamous tarmac meeting last June at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in which former President Bill Clinton, the husband of the FBI’s main subject in a criminal probe — Hillary’s email case — boarded the attorney general’s plane and reportedly stayed there for about thirty minutes for a private chat.

The second concern is Lynch’s reported directive for then-FBI Director James Comey to publically refer to the FBI’s criminal investigation into Clinton’s email as a “matter” instead of an investigation or a criminal probe. The language matched the specific rhetoric used at the time by Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, which referred to the criminal investigation as a “matter.”

The third issue relates to testimony and questions surrounding reports claiming that Comey was in possession of a document purportedly indicating that Lynch would ensure the Clinton email probe didn’t go too far.

Even the politically-biased James Comey — ex FBI Director, thank God —  said the “Justice Department leadership could not credibly complete the investigation and declined prosecution without grievous damage to the American people’s confidence in the — in the justice system.”

Judge Andrew Napolitano rightly asks: where are we now?

The Demorats are making these times all about process, as I say, and not about governing. Republicans are buying into it. Republicans appear to willingly be ceding the power they truly possess.

Pendulum..

BZ

 

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BZ’s Berserk Bobcat Saloon, Tuesday, June 13th, 2017

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My thanks to the SHR Media Network for allowing me to broadcast in their studio and over their air twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as appear on the Sack Heads Radio Show™ each Wednesday evening.

For the first time I opened up the phones for calls from listeners. I received three but only two got through. Thanks to Mike and Joe for their calls; there will be more open line shows, of course.

Tonight in the Saloon:

  • Pretty easy to deduce: Sessions and Comey;
  • Sound cuts aplenty;
  • An exquisite announcement about upcoming Thursday shows in the Saloon;

If you care to listen to the show in Spreaker, please click on start.

Listen to “BZ’s Berserk Bobcat Saloon, Tuesday, June 13th, 2017” on Spreaker.

If you care to watch the show on YouTube, please click on start.

New programming note: beginning this Thursday, June 15th, Dan Butcher of High Plains Pundit fame will be featured as a regular guest every Thursday night here in the Saloon. I am pleased to welcome Dan to the show because he himself is such a stellar media individual. You can find him here at High Plains Pundit, here at High Plains Talk Radio, here on Facebook, and here on Twitter.

Please join me, the Bloviating Zeppelin (on Twitter @BZep and on Gab.ai @BZep), every Tuesday and Thursday night on the SHR Media Network from 11 PM to 1 AM Eastern and 8 PM to 10 PM Pacific, at the Berserk Bobcat Saloon — where the speech is free but the drinks are not.

As ever, thank you so kindly for listening, commenting, and interacting in the chat room or listening later via podcast.

BZ

 

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Comey’s Theater of the Absurd

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Because, after all, James Brien Comey is the victim here.

Last Thursday, June 8th, a potentially great day for waterholes all over DC, former FBI Director James Comey appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a little over three hours. As it turns out, air was let out of many a Demorat sail. To ask the Demorats themselves it was nothing more than confirmation of a clear impeachment for President Donald Trump.

Except that there will not be an impeachment from this and there will not be “obstruction” charges from this.

Full transcript and video is here. Initial highlights from Comey are below, as per CBS news.

We’ll be sifting through Comey’s statements, but first, this unemphasized portion of the testimony from Senator Marco Rubio.

Make no mistake. For weeks Leftists and Demorats waited breathlessly for the triumphant return of James Comey, the man they knew would skewer Donald John Trump in public and finally provide damning evidence that he was linked inexorably to Russia and, further, directly into the office of Vladimir Putin. They would find Trump’s monogrammed coffee cup in Putin’s office, no less, along with Trump’s gilt-edged chair adjacent that of ol’ Vlad.

There were countdown clocks. There was baited breath — herring, likely — on the side of the Demorats, Leftists, Never Trumpers and RINOs such as John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Paul Ryan. Bars were packed. Drinks were sold. Chairs were occupied. Lines were formed. This would be spectacular Kabuki Theater in which jaded strumpets would put on their painted political masks fraught with feathers, finery, frippery and foppishness.

But it transitioned from Kabuki Theater to Theater of the Absurd. The Leftists and Demorats were indeed “Waiting For Comey.”

“Let the steamrollering commence!” shouted the Demorats and Leftists from the highest mountaintops to the lowest dungeons in the most marked of dudgeon.

Except that, well, there was a bit of doddering disappointment. One of my favorite hosts, Tucker Carlson, stated on the matter:

The other problem came the very day before Comey was to testify on Wednesday, June 7th, when Mr Comey released a copy of his opening statement which, dammit, punctured the Hope Balloon of Leftists and Demorats everywhere. Comey revealed there was no open investigation of Donald Trump. He also revealed, as Trump stated in a Tweet, that Comey had told Trump three separate times that he was not under investigation.

Dammit, Jim. Shoulders sagged throughout the nation. These two points have been rapidly and not-so-shockingly glossed-over by our loving American Media Maggots. They ended up being a glaring loser following Comey’s testimony.

Well, the Demorats and Leftists emphasized, there’s certainly more buttery goodness yet to come from Comey’s testimony, yes? Collusion? Obstruction? Impeachment? Of course, they cried in unison.

More was in fact to come, however. More that they hadn’t anticipated. More that didn’t place either Comey or former Attorney General Loretta Lynch in a favorable light.

Again, it turns out that James Comey was himself a leaker — to a friend of his named Daniel Richman. Purposely. So that he could force a special investigator — his good friend Robert Mueller — into the Trump/Russia issue. Deed accomplished. Thanks to Comey’s leaking. Precisely the thing he was allegedly fighting whilst FBI director.

But wait. Did James Comey himself violate any laws by leaking? Perhaps so. I might refer one to this United States Code, to begin.

18 USC 641

Whoever embezzles, steals, purloins or knowingly converts to his use or the use of another, or without authority, sells, conveys or disposes of any record, voucher, money or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof, or any property made or being made under contract for the United States or any department or agency thereof shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Newt Gingrich had this to say about Comey’s leaks and their intent.

If James Comey has not yet acquired competent counsel, I recommend he do so quickly.

Rand Paul weighs in on Comey’s leaks.

Leftist attorney Alan Dershowitz also weighed in on the Comey leaking issue. His insight is particularly damning considering the background of Mr Dershowitz.

James Comey leaked his own memos to a third party, who then leaked them to the American Media Maggots. He also carried corrupt water for Lynch and Obama as he specifically stated in the hearing. He said the American Maggots got it “dead wrong” and then acquiesced to Lynch’s insistence that he called Clinton’s investigation a “matter,” what he termed a “euphemism.”

Loretta Lynch may have now, by this, been placed into the gunsights of her own wonderful little investigation, as she well should be.

Another issue recently emerged regarding the probity of James Comey. From Lifezette.com:

Fmr. FBI Supervisor: Comey Likely Behind Three Anonymous Stories

by Brendan Kirby

Self-described defender of fired FBI director says he is ‘struck and troubled’ by leaks

President Donald Trump is not the only one upset that former FBI Director James Comey used a friend to place an anonymously sourced story in The New York Times.

James Gagliano said, “I was struck and troubled last Thursday when I watched the two or three hours that he testified in front of the Senate Intel Committee, and the part that bothered me the most was the admission about the leak and the way that it happened,” he said. “It wasn’t even a situation where the director went to a New York Times reporter. He actually gave it to a surrogate, a memo.”

Further, he stated.

Gagliano said it was the third of three incidents where it appears Comey anonymously placed stories in the press.

The first occurred in March when reports appeared that Comey was enraged that Trump had tweeted a suggestion that wiretaps may have been placed at Trump Tower in New York. The second occurred when news outlets reported that Trump had demanded a pledge of loyalty from Comey.

“I hate to say it, but I think those three stories probably originated from the FBI director,” he said.

Even — gulp — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews admits that shite might be coming apart.

Let us remember that NSA Director Mike Rogers stated he never felt pressured by Trump or his administration.

We all know what I think of James Comey. Last year, as you can see above, I created the graphic to express my thoughts. James Comey lied to Congress, he lied to me, to you, to the American Taxpayer. He became the Political Butt Boy of the Demorats, in particular Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Loretta Lynch. He carried their water when demanded and did so willingly under the false guise of “independence.” Comey was as independent as your average cow. He could easily have referred Hillary Clinton, for example, to the DOJ for prosecution under these statutes:

  • 18 USC 793(f)
    Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information.
  • 44 USC 3101
    Records management by agency heads.
  • 18 USC 1924
    Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials.
  • 18 USC 2071
    Concealment, removal or mutilation generally.
  • 18 USC 1001
    Statements or entries generally (false).

Just to start.

James Brien Comey dishonored his law enforcement oath, lied under oath, portrayed himself and the FBI as helpless in the face of corruption, crimes and obstruction. He was an embarrassment to the FBI itself, to the Department of Justice and to all of law enforcement in general. He made extremely poor decisions based but upon politics and continuously placed himself in the limelight for naught but the embellishment of his own persona. He crafted his decisions in a terribly flawed manner and seemed to consider most everything but the actual laws he himself was tasked to obey. His own agency failed to follow the law in terms of reporting. His own agency destroyed evidence.

President Trump made a number of serious mistakes with regard to James Comey. I wrote back in 2016 that, because of the clearly political decisions Comey made, Donald Trump need to immediately fire James Comey. Comey’s waffling, indecision and poor decisions stemmed from politics and personal aggrandizement. James Comey should have been removed from the FBI Directorship on January 20th.

I believe Trump thought he might be able to work with Comey once he established some kind of working relationship. He provided Comey with a chance. That decision came back to bite Trump in the arse.

James Comey, sadly, was a terrible thorn in the Trump administration which could have been avoided had a different path been chosen.

Trump’s failure to remove Comey immediately provided political fodder for Demorats and Leftists nationally and helped to continue their anti-Trump narrative. It was a serious mistake to have kept James Comey in office.

Decisions, as well as elections, have consequences.

BZ

 

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Feinstein: crossing the Rubicon?

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I suspect many Demorats may believe so today, after she said this on Sunday.

Let us not forget that Senator Feinstein (Leftist central, as Fornicalia’s second senator is none other than the next Demorat nominee for president in 2020, Kamala Harris) is the highest ranking Demorat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

She essentially called, publicly, for an open investigation into the manner in which Obama’s last Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, handled the Hillary Clinton email inquiry in re Lynch’s directive to former FBI Director James Comey.

Comey clearly outs himself that he willingly chose to step “into the tank” with Lynch, Obama and the Demorats.

The NYPost.com wrote:

Top Democrat calls for investigation of Loretta Lynch’s Clinton probe

by Marisa Schultz

WASHINGTON – The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called Sunday for a congressional investigation into former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she’s concerned by former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday that Lynch asked him to downplay his “investigation” into the Democratic presidential nominee as merely a “matter.”

Comey said the political request called into the question the credibility of Lynch’s Department of Justice and made him “queasy.”

“I would have a queasy feeling too,” Feinstein admitted Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think we need to know more about that. And there’s only one way to know about it and that’s to have the Judiciary Committee take a look at that.”

The “queasy” feeling only occurred when Comey realized he’d likely be later called onto the public carpet, which he was.

Lynch, a President Obama nominee, ultimately had to distance herself from the FBI probe after meeting with former President Bill Clinton on a tarmac in Phoenix during the height of the election campaign and email investigation.

Lynch said the meeting was impromptu and they didn’t discuss Clinton’s private email server, but the appearance of impropriety forced her to back off and for Comey to become the public face of the probe.

Asked whether Lynch provided improper political cover for Clinton, Feinstein said: “I can’t answer that,” but a “separate investigation” is worthwhile to find out.

Ultimate Translation from DemSpeak to common English: Feinstein realizes she’d best get out ahead on this one as it’s sufficiently dirty to potentially sully even her skirts.

Ah, nothing like a little political Demorat arse-covering, eh wot?

BZ

 

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