Senator Reid asks F.B.I. Director Comey, who came out on Friday to disseminate innuendo about Clinton, why he doesn’t instead share the “explosive information” he has about the role of Russia in the Trump campaign

I wasn’t going to mention the fact that F.B.I. Director James B. Comey sent a letter to members of Congress this past Friday, telling them that new evidence had surfaced pertaining to the agency’s investigation into the private emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This, as multiple news sources have since reported, was in clear violation of established agency protocol, which dictates that active cases not be commented on, a fact which was apparently explained to Comey by representatives of both Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Director Comey, however, chose to send the letter anyway. While Comey informed his employees that the break in protocol was necessary, given that he’d testified recently that the investigation into Clinton’s email had been closed, it would appear that most impartial observers seem to think that he made this announcement when he did, just eleven days prior to the election, in hopes that it might adversely effect the Clinton campaign.

It should be noted that, when Comey sent out this letter to members of Congress, he had not even seen the content of the emails in question, which had apparently surfaced as a result of an unrelated investigation involving former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner. As it was reported shortly after Comey’s letter to Congress was made public, he’d yet to even receive a warrant for the emails in question before making the announcement that the investigation into Clinton’s email was being re-opened.

So, to summarize, Comey was told that new Clinton emails had surfaced in relation to an investigation into Anthony Weiner, the ex-husband of Huma Abedin, vice chairwoman of the Clinton campaign, and, before he even looked at them, and against all established protocol, he went public, saying that the case against Clinton was being re-opened, knowing full well that it would dominate the weekend news cycle and likely impact the outcome of the election… Here for what it’s worth, is what Comey sent to members of his staff, explaining why he’d done this.

“Of course, we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations,” he said, “but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed. I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record. At the same time, however, given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression.”

And now, as you might imagine, people are coming after Comey, accusing him of attempting to sway the election, which is a clear violation of the Hatch Act. And those challenging Comey aren’t just on the left. In today’s New York Times, Richard W. Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, penned an op-ed, explaining why he’d filed an ethics complaint against the F.B.I. Director. Here’s an excerpt.

The F.B.I. is currently investigating the hacking of Americans’ computers by foreign governments. Russia is a prime suspect.

Imagine a possible connection between a candidate for president in the United States and the Russian computer hacking. Imagine the candidate has business dealings in Russia, and has publicly encouraged the Russians to hack the email of his opponent. It would not be surprising for the F.B.I. to include this candidate and his campaign staff in its confidential investigation of Russian computer hacking.

But it would be highly improper, and an abuse of power, for the F.B.I. to conduct such an investigation in the public eye, particularly on the eve of the election. It would be an abuse of power for the director of the F.B.I., absent compelling circumstances, to notify members of Congress that the candidate was under investigation. It would be an abuse of power if F.B.I. agents went so far as to obtain a search warrant and raid the candidate’s office tower, hauling out boxes of documents and computers in front of television cameras.

The F.B.I.’s job is to investigate, not to influence the outcome of an election.

Such acts could also be prohibited under the Hatch Act, which bars the use of an official position to influence an election. That is why the F.B.I. presumably would keep those aspects of an investigation confidential until after the election. The usual penalty for a violation is termination of federal employment.”

That is why, on Saturday, I filed a complaint against the F.B.I. with the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates Hatch Act violations, and with the Office of Government Ethics. I spent much of my career working on government and lawyers’ ethics, including as the chief White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush. I never thought that the F.B.I. could be dragged into a political circus surrounding one of its investigations. Until this week…

Interestingly, Painter wasn’t the one one to frame the issue by drawing a comparison to Trump’s association with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid released a letter today asking Director Comey why he’d come forward to say that the F.B.I. would be looking at new emails from Hillary Clinton, but had remained quiet on the active F.B.I. investigation into the connections between Trump and Putin. After saying, “Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law,” Reid asked about the double standard, and why Comey hadn’t come forward with information he possesses on Trump’s ties to Russia. The full letter can be see below, but here’s a clip.

…In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government – a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity. The public has a right to know the information. I wrote to you months ago calling for this information to be released to the public. There is no danger to American interested from releasing it. And yet, you continue to resist calls to inform the public of this critical information.

By contrast, as soon as you came into possession of the slightest innuendo related to Secretary Clinton, you rushed to publicize it in the most negative light possible.

Moreover, in tarring Secretary Clinton with thin innuendo, you overruled longstanding tradition and the explicit guidance of your own Department. You rushed to take this step eleven days before a presidential election, despite the fact that fora all you know, the information you possess could be entirely duplicative of the information you already examined which exonerated Secretary Clinton…

Like I said at the top, I didn’t plan to write about this most recent revelation of Comey’s. I was pretty sure, right off the bat, that it was going to be nothing more than another instance of politically motivated bullshit, and, given what’s been reported since, that certainly seems to be the case. The subsequent revelation of Reid’s that the F.B.I. is in possession of “explosive information” proving coordination between the Trump campaign and Putin, however, made the story a lot more interesting to me, as I don’t doubt for a minute that Putin has been actively attempting to influence the outcome of this election. More importantly, though, I wanted to share this tonight as I knew it would give me an opportunity to say the following… Whatever we’ve seen and heard thus far, you can bet your ass that it will absolutely pale in comparison to what we’re going to see over the course of this coming week. By the time this week is over, I predict we’ll be looking back on the Access Hollywood “pussy grabber” tape fondly, as a quaint relic of simpler times… Seriously, I think things are going to get very strange this week, as election day approaches and the race tightens. To be honest, at this point, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Jesus came back, or spaceships started landing… Whatever happens, I wish you all luck. I’ll see you on the other side, assuming we all survive it.

reidcomey

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52 Comments

  1. Lynne
    Posted October 30, 2016 at 11:04 pm | Permalink

    This whole campaign has been a nightmare. My hope is that because of absentee and early voting, the campaigns and those with interests will have already dropped their biggest bombs. Maybe not though.

    I guess we will find out.

  2. Posted October 30, 2016 at 11:56 pm | Permalink

    It has made me very depressed, not that it takes a whole lot to get me depressed, but this election has made my shitty life all that more shitty.

    I can’t go anywhere in Kenya without having to answer for Trump’s rise. Brits are usually quieted down by the Brexit vote, but Kenyans are a harder bunch to convince. I have to convince them that not all white Americans are bigots. Not easy since that’s what the internet tells them.

  3. Stephen
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 6:24 am | Permalink

    The worst thing is, it won’t stop with the election. If Clinton wins, it’ll be Birtherism all over again. Four more years of lies. God help us all.

  4. Posted October 31, 2016 at 6:35 am | Permalink

    I have given up all hope on life.

  5. jean henry
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 6:36 am | Permalink

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwCWKZSVIAEsohG.jpg:large

    The Russians hacked into several State voter registration rolls this past summer. Comey made that announcement too. It barely made a ripple. Not sure what they are up to but I fully expect them to create enough chaos at polls to cause the losing side to question the results. I hope I am wrong.

    My preferred scenario is that proof of Trump’s campaign involvement with Russia is revealed. Or a woman or three come forward saying Trump paid for their abortions. I can’t believe it hasn’t happened already.

  6. EOS
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 7:48 am | Permalink

    It was announced today that the DOJ is blocking the FBI from investigating the Clinton foundation. And the best that Hillary supporters can do is hope that people vote before all the details are revealed. Unbelievable. Wonder what dirt Bill has on Loretta Lynch.

    And on another front, immigration has detained a record number of illegal immigrants within our country without allowing reports of the vast number to be reported prior to the election.

    Comey sent a letter to leaders of Congress. Those who reported it to news agencies are the ones responsible for trying to affect the election. Meanwhile, our current President is actively campaigning for Hillary and no one speaks up. Putin is preparing his country for a nuclear war, and if he is serious, will likely occur before Obama leaves office.

    Go ahead, keep spinning, as if it makes a difference which of the two fools is ultimately elected.

  7. Jcp2
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 7:58 am | Permalink

    If it makes no difference to you, and would make a difference to me, then my preference would be better for the aggregate. Thanks for your support in this earthly matter. By Gods’s grace, we’ll celebrate together in the afterlife.

  8. Rat
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 8:59 am | Permalink

    The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass is saying that Clinton should drop out of the race over this.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-hillary-clinton-emails-kass-1030-20161028-column.html

  9. Salman Rushdie by proxy
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 9:05 am | Permalink

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwCWKZSVIAEsohG.jpg:large

  10. Gary McCririe
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 9:30 am | Permalink

    Has he ever solved the mystery about Mitt Romney paying his taxes? It’s amazing how Harry Reid pops up about this time every election cycle and drops “maybe, sorta, coulda, gotcha” politics.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/15/harry-reid-lied-about-mitt-romneys-taxes-hes-still-not-sorry/

  11. Posted October 31, 2016 at 9:42 am | Permalink

    Are you implying that this is limited to Harry Reid?

  12. Eel
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 9:45 am | Permalink

    I wouldn’t count on the aliens intervening. I’m pretty sure they’re watching this with great interest, though. They may even have office pools on the outcome. But I can’t imagine they care about the outcome. Either we fuck up and die off as a species, or we right the ship and eventually earn a seat at the table with all the other intelligent creatures of the universe. Right now, though, I don’t believe they care. We don’t pose any threat to them, as we can’t leave the planet. If Trump starts putting his name on other planets, though, we might see some activity.

  13. Posted October 31, 2016 at 9:47 am | Permalink

    There is no reason to live.

    Life is pointless. Abortion is a good option.

    Free abortions for everyone.

  14. jean henry
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 9:55 am | Permalink

    Commentator with personal experience with FBI director on Diane Rehm just now: ‘he’s a registered republican but I don’t think Comey did this for partisan reasons. Comet is someone who hold his personal ethics in such high regard, that he will ignore legitimate rules and regulations in order to do what he personally deems to be the right thing.”

    Many would see this as a sign of integrity.
    I see it as another idealist with autocratic tendencies.
    The purity police come in all stripes.
    He’s just following his conscience…

    I truly hate the puritanical streak in US politics. It’s everywhere. Righteous armies on both sides. It’s a big country. Thank god we have a functional republic and a wise constitution designed to resist tyranny. Let’s hope it survives this election cycle.

  15. EOS
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 9:58 am | Permalink

    @ DBL,

    Life with Jesus is not pointless. He will give you purpose.

  16. John Galt
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 10:00 am | Permalink

    Clinton plans to have mandatory abortions for all straight white people. That’s what all of her emails were about. That’s why she destroyed them. I have it on good authority that there were thousands and thousands of emails explaining in graphic detail how she intended to kill “every healthy white baby before it escapes the womb.”

  17. Posted October 31, 2016 at 10:01 am | Permalink

    Christianity is a slave religion.

    I am not a slave.

    A weak man who let himself be killed when he should have fought back.

  18. Meta
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 10:10 am | Permalink

    From today’s Washington Post article by Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General from 2009 to 2015.

    I began my career in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section 40 years ago, investigating cases of official corruption. In the years since, I have seen America’s justice system firsthand from nearly every angle — as a prosecutor, judge, attorney in private practice, and attorney general of the United States. I understand the gravity of the work our Justice Department performs every day to defend the security of our nation, protect the American people, uphold the rule of law and be fair.

    That is why I am deeply concerned about FBI Director James B. Comey’s decision to write a vague letter to Congress about emails potentially connected to a matter of public, and political, interest. That decision was incorrect. It violated long-standing Justice Department policies and tradition. And it ran counter to guidance that I put in place four years ago laying out the proper way to conduct investigations during an election season. That guidance, which reinforced established policy, is still in effect and applies to the entire Justice Department — including the FBI.

    The department has a practice of not commenting on ongoing investigations. Indeed, except in exceptional circumstances, the department will not even acknowledge the existence of an investigation. The department also has a policy of not taking unnecessary action close in time to Election Day that might influence an election’s outcome. These rules have been followed during Republican and Democratic administrations. They aren’t designed to help any particular individual or to serve any political interest. Instead, they are intended to ensure that every investigation proceeds fairly and judiciously; to maintain the public trust in the department’s ability to do its job free of political influence; and to prevent investigations from unfairly or unintentionally casting public suspicion on public officials who have done nothing wrong.

    Director Comey broke with these fundamental principles. I fear he has unintentionally and negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI. And he has allowed — again without improper motive — misinformation to be spread by partisans with less pure intentions. Already, we have learned that the importance of the discovery itself may have been overblown. According to the director himself, there is no indication yet that the “newly discovered” emails bear any significance at all. And yet, because of his decision to comment on this development before sufficient facts were known, the public has faced a torrent of conspiracy theories and misrepresentations.

    This controversy has its roots in the director’s July decision to hold a news conference announcing his recommendation that the Justice Department bring no charges against Hillary Clinton. Instead of making a private recommendation to the attorney general — consistent with Justice Department policy — he chose to publicly share his professional recommendation, as well as his personal opinions, about the case. That was a stunning breach of protocol. It may set a dangerous precedent for future investigations. It was wrong.

    The director said in July that he chose to take that extraordinary step in response to intense public interest. During my 12-year service in the Public Integrity Section and as attorney general, I worked on some of the most politically sensitive cases that our country saw. The additional public scrutiny such investigations provoke makes it even more important that we handle those cases consistently and responsibly. That is exactly why guidelines are put in place: so that Justice Department leaders, including FBI directors, will not substitute their own judgments and opinions for reasoned, fair, coherent and time-tested policy.

    I am mindful of the unique facts that surrounded the July decision. The airplane meeting between the attorney general and former President Bill Clinton led to the perception among some that inappropriate communications occurred. Perceptions matter. But the solution was not for the FBI director to announce the department’s decision about whether to proceed. That determination — and how or whether it should have been be publicly revealed — rested with department lawyers, after consultation with FBI counterparts.

    If the attorney general determined that she could not participate in the process, the deputy attorney general, Sally Yates, a respected, apolitical, career prosecutor, should have stood in her place. Any comments should have come from the attorney general or deputy attorney general, the people who always communicate prosecutorial decisions made by the department. And let me be clear: Far less than that which was shared in the July news conference, and afterward, should have been revealed.

    Those of us who have served as stewards of our nation’s justice system — from line prosecutors to attorneys general — are tasked with an awesome responsibility. The idea that all Americans are entitled to the same rights and obligations — to fair treatment and due process — is central to who we are and what we stand for as a nation. Whether that idea endures for future generations depends on the actions we take to keep its promise real.

    I served with Jim Comey and I know him well. 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. It is incumbent upon him — or the leadership of the department — to dispel the uncertainty he has created before Election Day. It is up to the director to correct his mistake — not for the sake of a political candidate or campaign but in order to protect our system of justice and best serve the American people.

    Read more:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eric-holder-james-comey-is-a-good-man-but-he-made-a-serious-mistake/2016/10/30/08e7208e-9f07-11e6-8832-23a007c77bb4_story.html

  19. Posted October 31, 2016 at 10:23 am | Permalink

    Links. How pointless.

    Requiring people to read.

    In the good old days, the only person that could read was the priest.

  20. Anonymous
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 11:00 am | Permalink

    I agree, Dirt Bag. The problem we are dealing with today is that the American people are too literate.

  21. jean henry
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 12:52 pm | Permalink

    Gosh, seems to me that whole educate the people and they’ll do great was the Clintonian neoliberal technocrat ideal has been blamed as flawed and causing the failure of the working class.

    There is nothing about Bernie’s campaign that would suggest the educated left is in anyway immune to misinformation or confirmation bias.

    Mark (aka anonymous– why?) If you want to show empathy for working class whites who vote for Trump as Micheal Moore suggested, maybe stop implying that their issue is that they aren’t as educated as you.

  22. 734
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 1:04 pm | Permalink

    I get all my information from USA Today. “Harry Reid and other Democrats aren’t just accusing FBI Director James Comey of making Hillary Clinton look bad — they are accusing him of covering up information about Donald Trump and Russian hacking.” http://usat.ly/2f4IYys

  23. Mr. X
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 1:28 pm | Permalink

    Well, if Comey’s intention was to tighten the race, it seems to have worked. According to Fivethrityeight.com, Trump now has a 24% chance of winning. That’s up from 15% a week or so ago.

    http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/?ex_cid=rrpromo

  24. Mr. X
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 2:54 pm | Permalink

    It gets better.

    CNBC Reports: “FBI’s Comey opposed naming Russians, citing election timing”

    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 FBI 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 US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations…These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process.”

    Read more:
    http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/31/fbis-comey-opposed-naming-russians-citing-election-timing-source.html

  25. Jennifer Albaum
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 2:57 pm | Permalink

    And this, no one here has said, boo!

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/24/exclusive-investigation-donald-trump-faces-foreign-donor-fundrai/ [The Telegraph: “Exclusive investigation: Donald Trump faces foreign donor fundraising scandal”]

  26. Jcp2
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 5:32 pm | Permalink

    What’s with all the wieners, whiners, and Weiner, throughout this campaign? It truly is the Clinton curse.

  27. Jean Henry
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 5:45 pm | Permalink

    Some day we’ll have a woman in power actually have a chance to behave badly in reality. Then we will have true equality. I want a female senator sex scandal damn it. Fucking old guys with 15 years olds denying a woman power. I mean, come on! When has Hillary had a chance to be truly badly behaved? Or Obama? Or Michelle?

    Double standards suck. I hope she gets into office and hires a hot 25 year old dude as her personal secretary– or better yet, as her bag man. Madame President needs a night cap and a foot massage…

  28. earthlink
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 8:09 pm | Permalink

    I think you’re right that other shoes are going to drop.

    “Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia?”

    “This spring, a group of computer scientists set out to determine whether hackers were interfering with the Trump campaign. They found something they weren’t expecting.”

    http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html

  29. earthlink
    Posted October 31, 2016 at 8:47 pm | Permalink

    There’s more.

    This is from Mother Jones.

    “A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump”

    Mother Jones has reviewed that report and other memos this former spy wrote. The first memo, based on the former intelligence officer’s conversations with Russian sources, noted, “Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance.” It maintained that Trump “and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals.” It claimed that Russian intelligence had “compromised” Trump during his visits to Moscow and could “blackmail him.” It also reported that Russian intelligence had compiled a dossier on Hillary Clinton based on “bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls.”

    The former intelligence officer says the response from the FBI was “shock and horror.” The FBI, after receiving the first memo, did not immediately request additional material, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI asked him for all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos—some of which referred to members of Trump’s inner circle. After that point, he continued to share information with the FBI. “It’s quite clear there was or is a pretty substantial inquiry going on,” he says.

    “This is something of huge significance, way above party politics,” the former intelligence officer comments. “I think [Trump’s] own party should be aware of this stuff as well.”

    The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment regarding the memos. In the past, Trump has declared, “I have nothing to do with Russia.”

    (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/veteran-spy-gave-fbi-info-alleging-russian-operation-cultivate-donald-trump)

  30. Jean Henry
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 8:32 am | Permalink

    It was fun while it lasted: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/fbi-russia-election-donald-trump.html

  31. Posted November 1, 2016 at 8:54 am | Permalink

    Only Bernard Sanders can save us from the plutocrats and the oligarchs.

  32. EOS
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 9:26 am | Permalink

    The fun is really going to start with the next Wikileaks dump.

  33. Jean Henry
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 9:39 am | Permalink

    We keep waiting for that show to drop. The wikileaks dumps just keep getting thinner and more suspicious. If she was the woman the right says she is, one dump of emails not intended for public consumption would have been enough.

    On the other hand, more and more information is coming out about Assange that makes him seem like a lunatic– anti-American at any costs and, tellingly, secretive, duplicitous. and obsessed with privacy. Have you seen the whole bit about non-disclosure agreements for his staff?

  34. EOS
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 9:59 am | Permalink

    ” seem(s) like a lunatic– anti-American at any costs and, tellingly, secretive, duplicitous. and obsessed with privacy”

    I thought you were describing Hillary. lol

    Notice we haven’t seen her personal emails yet. He is saving the best for last. I think he has all the missing 30,000.

  35. Meta
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 10:21 am | Permalink

    The Guardian: “Trump lawyers given court date over lawsuit alleging rape of 13-year-old”

    A federal judge in New York has ordered counsel for Donald Trump and the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to appear in court along with the attorney for a woman referred to only as “Jane Doe” who alleges the Republican presidential nominee raped her when she was 13.

    Judge Ronnie Abrams has slated an initial status conference in the civil lawsuit for 16 December in a New York district court.

    The order raises the extraordinary prospect, were Trump to win the 8 November battle for the White House, of counsel for a US president-elect being called into federal court in proceedings relating to allegations of rape of an underage girl.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/12/donald-trump-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-rape-lawsuit

  36. EOS
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 10:34 am | Permalink

    Anyone can file a civil suit.

    Weiner is looking to cut a deal in his criminal case by providing evidence of Bill Clinton’s involvement with an international group of pedophiles.

  37. Lynne
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 11:08 am | Permalink

    EOS cracks me up. Her arguments against Clinton remind me of this little gem about weighing the candidates based on their ‘sins’

    http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/10/clinton_vs_trump_whose_crimes_are_worse.html

  38. EOS
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 11:19 am | Permalink

    Lynne,

    Wow. If you think Hillary’s handling of emails is her only or biggest offense, you have a serious reality distortion. It’s the crimes she admits to in the emails that is the concern and what will be her downfall.

  39. EOS
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 11:25 am | Permalink

    Hillary deleted her incriminating emails. State covered it up. Asked about using White House executive privilege to hide from Congress.

    · https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/9272#efmBI2BOJ

    · https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/9545

    · https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/34370

    · https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/32007

    · “They do not plan to release anything publicly, so no posting online or anything public-facing, just to the committee.”

    · “That of course includes the emails Sid turned over that HRC didn’t, which will make clear to them that she didn’t have them in the first place, deleted them, or didn’t turn them over. It also includes emails that HRC had that Sid didn’t.”

    · “Think we should hold emails to and from potus? That’s the heart of his exec privilege. We could get them to ask for that. They may not care, but I seems like they will.”

    · “We brought up the existence of emails in reserach this summer but were told that everything was taken care of.”

    · “That of course includes the emails Sid turned over that HRC didn’t, which will make clear to them that she didn’t have them in the first place, deleted them, or didn’t turn them over.”

    · The State Department was:

    o (1) Coordinating with the Clinton political campaign.

    o (2) Colluding with the press to spin it positively.

    o (3) Doing so BEFORE they released it to AN EQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT. The Clinton campaign was always a step ahead of the committee investigating them. Shameful.

    · Nick states “Just spoke to State” He goes on to reveal that State colluded with him about which emails are being revealed to committee and that the State plans to plant a story with AP.

    · Shows intent to withhold emails from the subpoena.

    http://www.mostdamagingwikileaks.com/

  40. earthlink
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 2:10 pm | Permalink

    The Hill is now covering the Mother Jones report.

    http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/303702-spy-tells-fbi-russia-wants-to-cultivate-trump-report

  41. Jean Henry
    Posted November 1, 2016 at 2:36 pm | Permalink

    EOS– HRC has never been an advocate for radical transparency. Assange is. HRC knows that enemies can twist information. Apparently so does Assange. Interestingly.

  42. Jean Henry
    Posted November 2, 2016 at 3:30 pm | Permalink

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/heres-an-open-letter-to-james-comey?utm_term=.cbvg9PgeN#.rsWlDjlN5

  43. Posted November 2, 2016 at 10:10 pm | Permalink

    THERE WERE NO COMMERCIAL PLANES ON 9/11.

  44. Jean Henry
    Posted November 3, 2016 at 9:31 am | Permalink

    My very very distant cousin weighs in. (My middle name is Carville.) He’s a lot nuttier than I am. I honestly don’t know what to make of this Russian thing. I know the GOP and the Russians like to mess with the process and then declare it broken. The implication they are in cahoots is absurd, but not that they share the same agenda in this case– to disrupt the election. To bring it’s legitimacy into question. But the loaded rhetoric of the political season throws everyone off. I think we are only really going to know how effective they are after Nov 8th. You have to give Carville credit though. He never fails to entertain.
    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/10/31/carville_blows_up_on_msnbc_anchor_our_democracy_is_under_assault_by_comey_the_kgb_and_republicans.html

  45. Meta
    Posted November 3, 2016 at 7:36 pm | Permalink

    It would appear that the Clintons don’t have many friends in the FBI.

    The Guardian reports: ‘The FBI is Trumpland’: anti-Clinton atmosphere spurred leaks, sources say

    Deep antipathy to Hillary Clinton exists within the FBI, multiple bureau sources have told the Guardian, spurring a rapid series of leaks damaging to her campaign just days before the election.

    Current and former FBI officials, none of whom were willing or cleared to speak on the record, have described a chaotic internal climate that resulted from outrage over director James Comey’s July decision not to recommend an indictment over Clinton’s maintenance of a private email server on which classified information transited.

    “The FBI is Trumpland,” said one current agent.

    This atmosphere raises major questions about how Comey and the bureau he is slated to run for the next seven years can work with Clinton should she win the White House.

    The currently serving FBI agent said Clinton is “the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel,” and that “the reason why they’re leaking is they’re pro-Trump.”

    The agent called the bureau “Trumplandia”, with some colleagues openly discussing voting for a GOP nominee who has garnered unprecedented condemnation from the party’s national security wing and who has pledged to jail Clinton if elected.

    Read more:
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/03/fbi-leaks-hillary-clinton-james-comey-donald-trump

  46. jean henry
    Posted November 3, 2016 at 10:40 pm | Permalink

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/11/03/republicans-are-now-vowing-total-war-and-the-consequences-could-be-immense/?postshare=8281478199191839&tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.c6c6ed529834

  47. Loser Larson
    Posted November 4, 2016 at 12:35 am | Permalink

    The problem with Clinton is not that we don’t know enough, as batshit conservative America would have us believe, but that we know too much. The amount of data available on Cliton is far more than one could ever reasonably process in a short time.

    I guess Republicans would rather have a Trump, who conceals everything. It makes him look better, I guess.

    http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/2/13496614/clinton-transparent-trump

  48. Meta
    Posted November 6, 2016 at 8:32 pm | Permalink

    Comey says they didn’t find anything in those new emails to warrant reopening the investigation.

    The FBI’s much-trumpeted new scrutiny of emails related to Hillary Clinton has turned up nothing that would cause the bureau to recommend charges against her, the bureau’s director, James B. Comey, has told Congress.

    Nine days after rocking the presidential race with word that a new trove of emails had been discovered, Comey sent a brief letter to Capitol Hill that, in effect, put an end to the renewed controversy.

    Read more:
    http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-comey-clinton-emails-20161106-story.html

  49. M
    Posted January 12, 2017 at 2:11 pm | Permalink

    BREAKING NEWS from the NYT

    The F.B.I. chief James Comey is facing an internal investigation into his pre-election actions on the Clinton email case

    Thursday, January 12, 2017 1:40 PM EST

    The Justice Department inspector general’s office said Thursday it would open an investigation into the decision in October by James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, to inform Congress about a new review in the Hillary Clinton email investigation — a move Mrs. Clinton has said cost her the election.

  50. Lynne
    Posted January 12, 2017 at 2:33 pm | Permalink

    That is going to last about a week.

  51. jean henry
    Posted January 12, 2017 at 3:24 pm | Permalink

    Great news!

  52. anonymous
    Posted January 24, 2017 at 9:11 am | Permalink

    I guess we now know what was in it for Comey.

    BREAKING NEWS
    President Trump plans to keep James B. Comey as director of the F.B.I. The agency is investigating Mr. Trump’s associates.

4 Trackbacks

  1. […] It appears as though things are tightening in Michigan. According to the folks at FiveThrityEight.com, the latest polling data gives Donald Trump a 20% chance of winning Michigan’s 16 electoral votes. And, it would appear that the Clinton 2016 team is concerned. According to the folks at Bloomberg, the Clinton campaign is not only buying more advertising time in the state, but Clinton herself has changed her plans to spend more time here, in hopes of protecting what’s left of her lead, which has dropped considerably since last week’s questionably-timed announcement by F.B.I. Director James B. Comey that he’d …. […]

  2. […] But, then again, in this case, Trump not only lost the popular vote, but we now know that both the FBI and the Russian government interfered with electoral process to deliver a dangerous, authoritarian […]

  3. […] number of you probably just saw it as yet another conspiracy theory. And, this past October, when Senator Harry Reid announced that U.S. security agencies had “explosive information” about the r…, my sense is that a great many just saw it as pre-election posturing – an attempt to shift […]

  4. […] days before the election, FBI Directory Jame Comey made it public that he’d be reopening an investigation into Clinton&#…, essentially stopping any momentum that was building on the Clinton side. And, as if this weren’t […]

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