Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Monday, October 31, 2016

HARRY REID: FBI director should face criminal charges



From Veterans Today:


Breaking/Exclusive: Comey Lied: FBI “Synced” Weiner Laptop Under Misused Terror Warrant – Updated 

Constitutional Crisis: FBI used prohibited FISA domestic terror warrant in Clinton-Weiner email search








"In a surprise announcement, the Department of Justice just admitted that there was no legal authorization in place to access email accounts of Hillary Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, estranged wife of accused sex offender former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Additionally, it has now been learned that the FBI had accessed Huma Abedin’s cloud based email account as early as September 22 and certainly by the beginning of October, according to CNN.

As the revelations are hitting every few minutes, the background and the basic legalities are being obscured, that and some serious questions such as the one just raised, not only why did the FBI director Comey wait but why did the FBI sit on these files for weeks, only releasing them when it is now too late to get the truth out, a truth that most likely will prove Hillary Clinton free of any criminal wrongdoing. What has driven this FBI ploy and what procedures and even laws have they broken leading to this state of affairs that, as Presidential candidate Donald Trump noted, rivals Watergate, though maybe in not in ways he had foreseen."

[skip]

"FBI Director James Comey is under assault for what is being perceived as more than simply partisan behavior. Former presidential advisor, Lanny Davis writes for The Hill: 


 “Comey as FBI director — an investigative agency, not a prosecution agency — (does not) have any authority to send a report to Congress in the middle of an investigation about the past or present subject of an investigation. He appears to be in violation of the limits on his authority as FBI director by disclosing investigation information — or possible investigation information — directly to Congress with obtaining permission from the attorney general or someone else delegated authority by her.  His decision to reveal the results of an ongoing investigation, before a published criminal indictment, violates due process principles and pre-indictment secrecy rules and guidelines of the Justice Department.” 

Adding to the barrage against Comey is the latest from Senator Harry Reid of Utah[sic], who says the FBI director should face criminal charges. From Huffington Post: 


 “Reid argued that Comey’s “partisan actions… may have broken the law,” citing the Hatch Act, which, however, requires someone to act with the intent of interfering with an election. Reid also said Comey’s actions showed “a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information.” He wrote that he believes the FBI possesses “explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government,” although he offered no proof."



Former Attorney General Eric Holder: FBI Director James Comey ‘Violated’ Justice Department Policies 

And the first member of Congress called on the FBI director to resign.


In an op-ed for The Washington Post, former attorney general Eric Holder charged that Comey’s letter had “violated long-standing Justice Department policies and tradition,” and he called on the FBI director to “dispel the uncertainty he has created before Election Day.”


 Prior to resigning as attorney general last year, Holder directly oversaw Comey’s work as FBI director, a relationship Holder referenced in his op-ed. “I served with Jim Comey and I know him well,” he wrote. “This is a very difficult piece for me to write. He is a man of integrity and honor. I respect him. But good men make mistakes. In this instance, he has committed a serious error with potentially severe implications.” 

 Also on Sunday evening, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) became the first member of Congress to call on Comey to step down.

6 comments:

Shaw Kenawe said...

James Fallows of The Atlantic:

Two former deputy attorneys general—Jamie Gorelick, who served under Bill Clinton, and Larry Thompson, who served under George W. Bush—made that point in a new Washington Post essay that lambastes Comey for his self-indulgent decision:


Decades ago, the department decided that in the 60-day period before an election, the balance should be struck against even returning indictments involving individuals running for office, as well as against the disclosure of any investigative steps. The reasoning was that, however important it might be for Justice to do its job, and however important it might be for the public to know what Justice knows, because such allegations could not be adjudicated, such actions or disclosures risked undermining the political process. A memorandum reflecting this choice has been issued every four years by multiple attorneys general for a very long time, including in 2016. ...


They conclude that this move was so selfish on Comey’s part, potentially protecting him at the cost of broader institutional destruction.

Ducky's here said...

I'm sorry I don't have a link but I believe it was on Democracy Now!

During the initial FBI investigation it was disclosed that e-mails existed on Huma Abedin's laptop.
At that time the FBI didn't feel there was any need to investigate. But now with an election at hand we get a sketchy
letter that reveals nothing and implies little more. This is all old news.

But our media go absolutely berserk. What a parcel of rogues and dumbasses.

Andy McDonald said...

Huma Abedin has been by Hillary’s side for a long time. After those emails were found on her husband Anthony Weiner’s computer. Hillary Clinton does not want her around anymore. According to Hillary’s campaign, Abedin is now sitting in a different section of the plane when it was traveling to Florida.
This is really terrible , those Republicans will do anything to win no matter how crooked or ileagal.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Meanwhile, Ducky, few people are aware of the fact that one of the two people seeking the presidency is named in a lawsuit, which will be adjudicated in late November, on CHILD RAPE. And that candidate is NOT Hillary Clinton. Also, Trump is facing charges of fraud in connection with his fake university that cheated the young and the elderly out of money they didn't have. They were encouraged by Trump's thugs to get people to take out loans if they didn't have the money to sign up for the real estate courses.

But look over there! EMAILS! EMAILS! EMAILS! vs. Child Rape and Fraud!

Shaw Kenawe said...

Ducky, there's this from CNBC:

FBI's Comey opposed naming Russians, citing election timing: Source

FBI Director James Comey argued privately that it was too close to Election Day for the United States government to name Russia as meddling in the U.S. election and ultimately ensured that the FBI's name was not on the document that the U.S. government put out, a former bureau official tells CNBC.

The official said some government insiders are perplexed as to why Comey would have election timing concerns with the Russian disclosure but not with the Huma Abedin email discovery disclosure he made Friday.

In the end, the Department of Homeland Security and The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued the statement on Oct. 7, saying: "The U.S. intelligence community is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails from U.S. persons and institutions, including from U.S. political organizations. ... These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process."

Dervish Sanders said...

Was it a "mistake" as Holder suggests, or was it on purpose? Only days to go before the final voting, and he couldn't hold off on this? Sounds like a possible Hatch Act violation to me. I've heard suggestions that, instead of resigning, he should be fired.

BTW, I'm getting an error message that says my comment isn't going through. Pls delete duplicates if there are any.