This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge.
Editor’s Comment: The saga drags on; it is still obvious that the country dodged a bullet in the openly corrupt candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Now, their remaining organs of influence are trying to get payback against those who contributed to her loss, who stood in Her way, or who didn’t do enough to get the political dinosaur into office despite miles and miles of dirt and baggage.
It isn’t clear if it will matter, but it is clear that information disclosure is now weaponized in many prominent cases, and increasingly the quickest vulnerability for exposing high profile figures.
Justice Department Launches Probe Into The FBI, DOJ Actions During The Presidential Campaign
by Tyler Durden
The Justice Department Inspector General announced it has launched an investigation to examine whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation followed proper procedures in its probe of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. The inspector general’s announcement comes amid outcry from Democrats who say Clinton’s loss to President-elect Donald Trump was in part due to Comey’s bringing Clinton’s emails back into the public spotlight less than two weeks before the 2016 election.
The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General said the probe would focus in part on decisions leading up to public communications by FBI Director James Comey regarding the Clinton investigation, and whether underlying investigative decisions may have been based on “improper considerations.” Although the FBI ultimately decided not to refer Clinton’s case for prosecution, Comey aroused suspicion that may have diminished trust in Clinton among voters.
The FBI’s role in Clinton’s unexpected defeat in November has remained a subject of fierce debate — with Comey himself in the middle of the controversy. Clinton’s campaign has blamed Comey and the FBI for her loss to President-elect Donald Trump. Eleven days before Election Day, Comey sent a letter to lawmakers telling them investigators had uncovered emails that appeared to be pertinent to the bureau’s probe, considered completed at the time, of Clinton’s private email server and her handling of classified material while secretary of State.
The announcement exploded in the final days of the campaign. And with a subsequent letter from Comey, a Republican nominated by Obama to his position, saying the emails had turned up no new evidence did little to quell the storm.
“In the matter of the email investigation, it was our my judgment — my judgment, the rest of the FBI’s judgment — that those were exceptional circumstances where the public needed information,” Comey told the House Judiciary Committee in September.
Critics have called the disclosure an unprecedented break with bureau policy. The FBI typically does not comment publicly on ongoing investigations.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch and other senior department officials told Comey at the time not to send his letter to lawmakers on Oct. 28 announcing that the Clinton investigation was being reopened. They argued that doing so violated long-standing policy to not undertake anything significant with a major investigation so close to an election if, by doing so, it could affect the results.
Comey proceeded anyway, writing to lawmakers about a fresh trove of e-mails possibly tied to Clinton that needed to be reviewed. But handling of the probe had already been assailed by that point, after Lynch met privately with Bill Clinton on an airport tarmac in late June. Lynch said she and the former president discussed only personal issues, such as their grandchildren, but the private meeting quickly became a pivotal, controversial event in the investigation’s timeline.
The Justice Department watchdog also will investigate allegations that the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs improperly disclosed non-public information to the Clinton campaign, and whether he should have been recused from participating in certain matters. It also will review whether the FBI’s decision to release certain Freedom of Information Act documents on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 via a Twitter account was influenced by improper considerations.
* * *
Brian Fallon, Clinton’s spokesman, told MSNBC on Thursday that Comey’s actions “cried out for an independent review.” It is the usual practice of prosecutors and law enforcement, including the FBI, not to disclose information about investigations that do not end in criminal charges.
Still, the internal review will not change the outcome of the FBI’s findings in the probe against Clinton, Justice Department Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz told lawmakers in his announcement of the probe. And as the Hill adds, the probe will also look into allegations made repeatedly by Republicans throughout the FBI’s investigation into Clinton — that officials improperly disclosed nonpublic information to the Clinton campaign; and that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe should have been recused from the case following reports a Clinton ally donated to his wife’s political campaign.
The referrals came various congressional leaders, including House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (Utah), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (Va.) on the Republican side, and Oversight ranking member Elijah Cummings (Md.), Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ranking member Tom Carper (Del.) on the Democratic side.
* * *
Horowitz wrote that he will explore “allegations that Department or FBI policies or procedures were not followed” in connection with both letters, but his probe will extend beyond that. He wrote that he also will explore “allegations that Department and FBI employees improperly disclosed non-public information” — which is perhaps a reference to Giuliani, who seemed to claim at one point he had insider FBI knowledge. And Horowitz wrote that his inquiry will extend back to Comey’s July announcement that he was recommending the Clinton base be closed without charges.
The full details of the probe as announced by Horowitz are below:
In response to requests from numerous Chairmen and Ranking Members of Congressional oversight committees, various organizations, and members of the public, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) will initiate a review of allegations regarding certain actions by the Department of Justice (Department) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in advance of the 2016 election.
Cognizant of the scope of the OIG’s jurisdiction under Section 8E of the Inspector General Act, the review will examine the following issues:
- Allegations that Department or FBI policies or procedures were not followed in connection with, or in actions leading up to or related to, the FBI Director’s public announcement on July 5, 2016, and the Director’s letters to Congress on October 28 and November 6, 201, and that certain underlying investigative decisions were based on improper considerations;
- Allegations the FBI Deputy Director should have been recused from participating in certain investigative matters;
- Allegations that the Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs improperly disclosed non-public information to the Clinton campaign and/or should have been recused from participating in certain matters;
- Allegations that Department and FBI employees improperly disclosed non-public information; and
- Allegations that decisions regarding the timing of the FBI’s release of certain Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents on October 30 and November 1, 2016, and the use of a Twitter account to publicize same, were influenced by improper considerations.
The review will not substitute the OIG’s judgment for the judgments made by the FBI or the Department regarding the substantive merits of investigative or prosecutive decisions.
Finally, if circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider including other issues that may arise during the course of the review.
So is this the final action of a desperate-to-maintain-his-legacy Obama administration to ensure this topic never goes away and that the blame for Hillary’s loss is placed anywhere, except on her and her campaign.
The White House has – obviously – denied any involvement in this 11th hour decision by the Obama administration to further cast blame on someone else but Hillary for losing the election:
“Decisions that are made by inspectors general across the administration are independent,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
“Hopefully they will follow the evidence where it leads.
Finally, for those asking, Horowitz is an Obama appointee who has been a consistent Democratic donor over the years, including donations to Clinton’s Senate bid, as well as longtime Clinton ally Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and current Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge.
“There’s a huge gap between the world as reported by the news media and the world as it really exists,” Newt Gingrich recently said.” No duh.
The real fake news is the lying, lamestream media, a la Pulitzer winner Walter Duranty of the NY Slimes telling us no one was starving in Stalin’s Ukraining Holodomor (2.5 to 7.5 mm died), famed reporter Lincoln Steffens telling us “I have seen the future and it works” in Stalin’s USSR, or more recently fiction writer extraordinaire Jayson Blair of NYT (google him if you have forgotten), Dan “I found a memo on Bush” Rather, the whole media adulation re. outed faked Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu (originally accidentally exposed by a fellow leftist), or my fav, Mikey Mann’s fake global warming hockey stick dealing with the whole BIG GREEN MONEY fraud, which Dr. Richard Lindzen, prof. of atmospheric science at MIT, Dr. William Gray, the #1 hurricane forecaster in the world (and we are at historic hurricane lows not seen since the Civil War) and John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel (go to YouTube and search for JohnColeman+global warming) have all called – and I quote ipsissima verba “a *scam.* (Even Mr. Warmer himself, Kevin Trenberth, wrote back in 2009 – and as outed in the ClimateGate revelations the media also “forgot” to tell you about – “[W]here the heck is global warming? The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment, and it is a travesty that we can’t.”
I will listen to Streep or any of the other Hollywierd Learjet leftists the first time just ONE of them just opens up just ONE room in just ONE of their zillion room mansions to just ONE indigent person or illegal immigrant for just ONE night. Thankfully, with the complete hypocrisy of these limousine liberals, I am safe. Google George Clooney mansions, Michael Moore mansion, or head of SPLC Morris Dees+House Beautiful (his digs are so fantastic he was dumb enough to have them featured in House Beautiful).
The opening up of this investigation by the Inspector General’s Office of DOJ only ONE WEEK prior to TRUMP’S Inauguration is timed to open the door for a review of ALL events and actions by the PTB STATUS QUO around the election; including the actions of Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton.
Bill as an example, may be guilty of “obstruction of justice” among his other many crimes. This is not about Comey as “investigations” take time: meaning weeks and months.
This investigation was initiated INDEPENDENTLY by bureaucrats, insiders, and long time employees within the DOJ. That’s the good news, because they know where all the BODIES are buried in the HOLDER/LYNCH/OBOLA Department of justice.
A have a Franklin that says LYNCH did not authorize this inquiry. Any takers ??? 🙂
Will the DOJ also include a review of the AG meeting with Bill Clinton, and another review of the AG’s decision to let the Director of the FBI decide not to refer Hillary’s actions to a prosecutor, which was instead her decision to make, not his?
Only 8 more days of this charade to go.
Comey will get the blade this time and hopefully Hillary will get a steady diet of poosquet sandwiches in her cell.
poosquet sandwiches?
You’d feed the lying, murdering thief??
I’d sooner grind her exceedingly lard encrusted but otherwise worthless carcass up and throw it into the chum bucket..just saying.
No concern of punishment is what gives
them the nerve to do what they do.
The FBI just releasing more documents proving Hillary had servers in violation of National Security. This new charge, can be via the Justice Dept, which then opens the door for an Obama Full Pardon. They all wash their hands in the matter. We are living in fast times. Keep your eyes wide open. More twists than the OJ Trial. Keep prepping Deep if you can, spend this last week in full security mode at your homes and get your guns locks and cocked. Get all of your Families to the Shooting Range Pronto for some practice. Fugly coming. .
Loretta Lynch and James Comey need to be arrested and prosecuted.
May the year 2017 bring about the arrests of many tyrants and traitors in high places within the federal government.
Chrysanthemum and Hydrangea are more than just pretty, they are medicinal. Chrysanthemum can lower fever. The flower head can be made into tea. Whether you use it for illness such as malaria or just to be more comfortable on a hot day, Chysanthemum is definitely cool; it lowers fever.
Hydrangea root is used to dissolve stones. Use it to pass small kidney stones and support the liver. Tea time is taken seriously in England. Without understanding the medicinal benefits of tea, it is impossible to appreciate why tea is revered by China, India, England, early Americans, Patriots and the Tea Party.
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My comment got deleted because I forgot to fill out the three identifying blocks so that in the future my subversive ideas can be organized in a cohesive batch for the FBI, nsa, pta, or peta; when they come to arrest me on trumped up charges during the final stages of Globalist Armageddon. And all I did was write about pretty flowers. ??????????
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B from CA,
there could be lots of us there, although most of us will not allow that to happen
Apache54, if/when anyone comes for me all they’ll get is hot lead. I’m waiting to see if the new AG will something about the civil rights division at DOJ. They’re the ones responsible for local law enforcement being held back in all of the Black CRIMINAL Lives Matter protests. All that civil rights crap has been getting out of hand and needs to stop.
Ahh, the fall guy. He should unleash with everything he has on the DC Warmongering idiots and expose Arab Spring, 2012 election Fraud, Pizza Gate, Clinton Foundation, Soros, CFR, 911, ISIS, American Citizen Spying, Jihad training Camps, DC infiltration of State enemies in American institutions, McCain being China’s stooge, Bushes, installment of a fake president, the whole works! We all know Comey has the stuff all he has to do is click print.
Just think Comey could beat Assange to the punch. This certainly would expedite the DRAINING the SWAMP!
Of course that would mean another trip to the store for more POPCORN! Just imagine a Total meltdown in DC! MSM heads would POP! Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of lying Mentally Degenerate CREEPS.
Will Comey have the fortitude? Will Comey fall on his sword?
Wow! You guys destroyed this board. Well done. Bring back the up and down thumbs.
BigB
I’m surprised that Obama hasn’t given MSNBC, CNN, and Buzzfeed medals.
Comfey left me totally confused. One moment he seemed to be standing up for what was right and the next moment he seemed to back down. The feeling that I am left with is that Bill and Hillary have gotten away with murder.
So if a politician has piles and piles of evidence against them that they have committed gross criminal acts, the FBI, Justice Department, or anybody else is just suppose to ignore it because the politician is running for an office??????
This desperation is going beyond bounds of even lunacy.
You must read this to fully comprehend what Hillary Clinton has done.
If you read nothing else read paragraph number 7.
Date: January 30, 2016 at 11:41:52 AM EST
Subject: Hillary’s Classified Information Breech
There have been suggestions that all this kerfuffle over Hillary’s security breech has been politically motivated. But it is a fact that what we know already is a punishable offense, and the seriousness of the breach may be even worse than originally reported, despite the desultory mutterings from the White House that there is nothing there to warrant an indictment.
The attached tutorial from a retired U.S. Army officer on the federal government’s classification system will be helpful in understanding
the seriousness of Clinton ’s careless and blatant breaches of it, and what it says about her competence, judgement, and trustworthiness to be the Chief Executive of the Land. Les
WHAT ALL AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON’S ALLEGED SAP COMPROMISE:
My name is Ed Coet. I am a retired US Army Intelligence Officer. In my last job in the army I was the Chief of the Human Intelligence Branch for the US European Command in Stuttgart , Germany . In that capacity I was also the Designated Program Manager for a Special Access Program (SAP) like the SAP that Hillary Clinton is alleged to have compromised in the most recent State Department Inspector General report to congress and which has been widely reported in the news. Here is what I personally know about SAP’s and what I can attest to in an unclassified forum:
1. The names of each SAP are themselves classified Top Secret because the information within the SAP are far and above Top Secret.
2. SAP’s are so sensitive that even people who have security clearances giving them access to Top Secret Sensitive Compartment Information (TS SCI), an enormously high security clearance level, cannot have accesses to a SAP’s unless they receive a special indoctrination into the SAP based on an operational “must know” that exceeds all other “need to know” standards.
3. Being “read on” for a SAP is far more then acknowledging in writing that you have been briefed on the SAP. It is an in-depth “indoctrination” into the given SAP, and each SAP is itself compartmented separately from other SAPS. Having access to one SAP does not give you access to another SAP, and in fact rarely does. Only a tiny handful of people have knowledge of all SAP’s. SAP’s are the most stringently compartmented and protected information in the entire US government.
4. Unlike Top Secret SCI which is maintained in highly secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilitates (SCIF’s) managed by specially trained Special Security Officers (SSO’s) at various levels of command, every single SAP is managed by an individually designated Program Manager for each individual SAP covering an entire theater of operations. In other words, SAP Program Managers are far fewer in number than there is SSO’s. SSO’s are not cleared to even know about SAP’s or to maintain information about them in their already enormously secure SCIF’s. How SAP’s are secured cannot be discussed because of the sensitive beyond Top Secret nature in which it is done.
5. Unlike individuals with the highest Top Secret SCI access security clearances, who must undergo a special background information with periodic “bring-up” background investigation, those tiny few who have access to SAP’s must also endure periodic polygraph tests in addition to the most comprehensive of special background investigations. I used to have to schedule four-star generals and admirals to be polygraphed in order for them to maintain their access to my SAP. Many generals and admirals who obviously have the highest security clearances still did not rate being indoctrinated into my SAP. In fact, they didn’t even know the SAP existed.
6. Compromise of a SAP is the single most dangerous security violation that can ever happen to the USA . Even the enormously damaging revelations of the Ed ward Snowden’s TOP Secret SCI security compromise does not reach the level of a SAP compromise.
7. To put SAP information in to an unsecure sever like Hillary Clinton’s unsecure server is a class one felony that could, in some cases, result in life in prison. That is because such a compromise is so dangerous that it could and likely will result in the death of people protected by and within the scope of the SAP.
As a former SAP Program Manager I believe it is inconceivable that if it is verified that Hillary Clinton’s server actually had SAP information on it that she could possibly escape indictment and criminal prosecution. As hard as it is to imagine, that would even be worse then electing to not prosecute a mass murdering serial killer because even they could not inflict as much damage on our country as the compromise of a SAP. Compromise of a SAP not only could — but without doubt would — cause serious damage to our national security.
If it is true that Hillary Clinton had SAP information on her unsecure server, whether it was marked or not, you can be sure that the FBI will strongly recommend that charges be brought against Hillary Clinton and continue in an exhaustive investigation to trace back to every single person that had even the tiniest role in this unbelievable security compromise.
If the Attorney General, through “prosecutorial discretion,” elected not to prosecute this crime, I believe congress would have no alternative but to impeach her, and the FBI would then have no choice but to conduct a criminal investigation of her for a deliberate cover up –- so grave is this security violation.
If President Obama were to pardon Hillary Clinton for a compromise of this magnitude he would render himself in the historical record as an “enemy of the state,” and could himself face criminal prosecution –- so grave is such a security compromise. Nobody, not even the POTUS could gets away with something like this in our system of government. If anyone could escape persecution for compromising a SAP, we are deep trouble as a nation. No president who loves this country and is true to his oath would ever allow anyone, not even his or her closest and most loved relative, to get away with a SAP compromise. It is simply unimaginable that this could ever happen.
If the ongoing investigation finds that Hillary Clinton compromised a SAP, then we all should know with certainty, regardless of political persuasion, that she is entirely unfit to hold public office of any kind let alone President of the USA — and ALL Americans should never tolerate it. Compromising a SAP is an absolute “disqualifier” for public office and access to our nations most sensitive information – period.
ED COET
Major , US Army (Retired)
P.S. It is my sincere hope that each of you will share this article, to help other Americans understand how grave Hillary Clinton’s alleged SAP compromise is. We can’t allow anyone so careless with this level of information to have access to any classified information ever again for as long as she lives. This would surely render her unqualified and unfit to hold any public office let alone POTUS if this allegation proves to be true.