[WSJ] The new year brings many a revisiting of the Hillary Clinton email server case, including one at the hands of the Justice Department inspector general (that’s where all those FBI text messages are coming from), though his inquiry likely defines the matter too narrowly to get at the really important issues.
We should also stress that some kind of a revisiting would be bedeviling a Clinton administration now if Hillary Clinton had been elected instead of Donald Trump.
Way back in 2014, had Mrs. Clinton returned her "personal" emails and devices to the State Department instead of destroying them, it would have closed matters for most Americans.
After all, the Obama administration knew of and condoned her private server, amounting to an implicit endorsement of her unorthodox handling of classified materials.
But she didn’t, and the administration was not about to prosecute its heir apparent, especially after she became the sole alternative to Bernie Sanders and then Donald Trump.
President Obama’s public statements on the case could not have been clearer. He essentially directed his Justice Department that Mrs. Clinton did nothing wrong, as arguably a president is entitled to do.
The part that never made sense was why FBI Director James Comey intervened to do the president’s bidding so the Justice Department wouldn’t have to.
It was unnecessary and improper. Whatever its wisdom, no serious person of either party believes the outcome was anything but predetermined. Mr. Comey simply intruded himself as a more plausible vehicle to carry out the administration’s will on the "matter" than Attorney General Loretta Lynch would have been. That much is clear by applying even the minimalist interpretation to the text messages of his lead investigator on the case, Peter Strozk, as well as other evidence surfaced by the Justice Department’s inspector general.
Mr. Comey gave different reasons in public and private for his action. In closed congressional session, he pointed to intercepted Russian intelligence that he said could be used to discredit the Justice Department. That is, he relied on information from one or more U.S. intelligence agencies. It doesn’t tax the imagination to suppose Mr. Comey and fellow intelligence officials were operating on a shared premise that a Clinton presidency was inevitable and needed to be protected from email-related risks.
Since then, Obama intelligence officials have leaked intelligence and planted scurrilous innuendo about Mr. Trump, apparently aimed at giving credibility to the "collusion" narrative and discrediting his victory. But what Mr. Comey did was worse. Again, I’m not saying it was realistic or desirable that Mrs. Clinton be prosecuted, but the choice not to prosecute was a political decision that the Obama administration and Obama Justice Department had a duty to make and to own.
The American people are not idiots. They would have considered the reasons, spoken and unspoken, understood the complexities, and come to their usual, wildly divergent views about the propriety of the Obama decision.
Instead, Mr. Comey lied to the electorate in the middle of a presidential race. He lied when he said the FBI conducted a thorough, apolitical investigation of the candidate of the party in power. He lied when he said the evidence alone exculpated Mrs. Clinton and her aides. He withheld from the public information about Russian intelligence activity that appears to have been a pretext for his intervention.
When the partisan red mist clears, his surviving plausible defense will be that Mrs. Clinton was certain to win and needed to be protected from any attempt to use the controversy over her missing emails to weaken her. But Mr. Comey had no business prejudging the election based on his personal estimate that Mr. Trump was as unacceptable to the American people as he was to Mr. Comey and his Obama administration colleagues.
It almost slips by unnoticed, by the way, that all this was the consequence of the Obama Democratic Party’s hostaging itself to Mrs. Clinton‐the same Mrs. Clinton whose law-firm billing records, under subpoena for two years, magically turned up on a table in the White House in the run-up to the 1996 election, while the world muffled its astonishment and skepticism.
In fact, the reaction was not dissimilar to the one that greeted Friday’s report that Mr. Trump tried to fire Robert Mueller back in June but was stopped by his staff. Consider it another reminder, like the Clinton email case, that law and politics inevitably meld at this level.
Mr. Trump rightly fears that the Mueller investigation is becoming an open-ended inquiry into obstruction and/or his financial past. His best defense is to be a successful president. He needs to win an endorsement from voters this fall and keep the House in GOP hands. If he doesn’t, the hard reality is that Mr. Trump can blame himself for what comes next.
#1
Perjury must have been decriminalized since everyone who has lied to Congress (Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Loretta Lynch, James Clapper, et al) under oath has walked.
[American Thinker] Two years ago, as then-secretary of State John Kerry was boasting in Davos about Obama’s deal with Iran, he acknowledged that some of the $150 billion given to the mullahs in Tehran "will end up in the hands of the IRGC or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented." He was right. We don’t know how much money went to fund Iran’s global terrorist activities. And we know even less about the billions in untraceable cash that was supposedly delivered to the mullahs or the recipients of that cash. How about investigating that? There should be ample evidence to prove Kerry and his boss President Obama have willfully engaged in terrorist financing and money laundering. That is unless the pertinent emails and documents related to the payments to Iran had been lost or destroyed.
After the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was implemented on January 16, 2016, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wished to lift all sanctions on Iran, kept complaining that "On paper the United States allows foreign banks to deal with Iran, but in practice they create Iranophobia so no one does business with Iran." As much as the Obama administration wanted to comply, it needed congressional support to do that. Thus, the Obama administration decided to circumvent U.S. anti-money laundering laws to help Iran’s economy.
#1
...the Obama administration instructed Treasury to find “the mechanism” through which untraceable cash could be delivered to the Iranian terrorist regime.
The logistics of orchestrating financial bribes to rogue nations requires deliberate planning.
#3
Provided he is given a second term, I can see The Donald and Mattis dropping the hammer on selected Iranian sites during the November 2019 to January 2020 timeframe.
#4
That "agreement" with Iran is NOT a treaty. A treaty as to be ratified by congress. Zero and Fred Munster used this crazy crap multi national memo as a binding document to give money and support to Iran...basically because Zero didn't want Israel to win the next big blow up in the middle east.
What everyone has missed ignored is that none of the cash transfers and release of bank accounts should have happened without approval of Congress.
Or was it really a really big fat ransom for those six sailors disguising the real transfer?
[American Thinker] In any criminal investigation where the suspect is not immediately known, the first question usually asked is who would have the most to gain? As we follow the bread crumbs of the text messages of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page and await release of the House Intelligence Committee’s memo regarding the collusion between the DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, the DOJ, and FBI to interfere with the 2016, ensure the election of Hillary, and the defeat or impeachment of Donald Trump, the answer to that question is clear -- one Barack Hussein Obama.
Can it be believed that as key players in the Obama administration like Strzok and Page, as well as FBI Director James Comey, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, number 4 at Justice Bruce Ohr, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and many others were linked in a vast criminal conspiracy to keep Hillary Clinton out of prison and Donald Trump out of the White House, that Barack Obama was blissfully unaware of all this? Rather, it can be plausibly argued that he was orchestrating it.
Perhaps not directly or by explicit orders, but rather by discussing the threat to his legacy Trump represented with his progressive minions and then simply saying, as crime bosses throughout history have done, "You know what needs to be done. Do it."
This scandal did not occur in a vacuum any more than did the weaponizing of the IRS to target the Tea Party and other conservative groups before Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign occured in a vacuum. The agencies under Obama’s control have been politicized before and used to intimidate and destroy his political opponents
Last September, I argued that Comey had the fix in for Hillary and we now know that he began writing his exoneration memo significantly before interviewing Hillary and other key witnesses. The exoneration memo underwent key edits in which Strzok, who interviewed Hillary and those witnesses, some of whom were granted immunity, was involved. But now, as the layers of this rotting onion are peeled away, it has become clearer that Comey did not act on his own initiative. This fish is also rotting from the head.
Back in April, 2016, President Obama gave an interview in which he seemed to have foreknowledge that Hillary Clinton would be exonerated for her "carelessness" and did not "intentionally" mishandle classified emails, words that Comey would use just a few months later:
#1
Perhaps not directly or by explicit orders, but rather by discussing the threat to his legacy Trump represented with his progressive minions and then simply saying, as crime bosses throughout history have done, "You know what needs to be done. Do it."
#1
"Too coincidental to be a coincidence."
~ Yogi Berra
@HousatonicITS
21h21 hours ago
More
(22) #AboutStrzok : So here is the question - Did the Jesuit priest #JamesStrzok (uncle of #PeterStrzok) "discover" #BarackObama in 1988 ? There is only circumstantial evidence, but there are enough clues to warrant asking the question.
@HousatonicITS
20h20 hours ago
More
(23) #AboutStrzok : Think! Years later, #PeterStrzok II , nephew of #JamesStrzok , rockets right up to the top of the #FBI , and becomes the top "get it done" guy for Obama and Hillary Clinton to destroy evidence and impact investigations ... And #McCabe and #Strzok are best buds
@HousatonicITS
20h20 hours ago
More
(24) #AboutStrzok : And General #JamesCartwright , who is essentially a brother-in-law through marriage to #JamesStrzok , becomes Obama's favorite and most trusted person who he worked with - Obama truly likes Cartwright .
[Townhall] Well, when you’re backed into a corner, there really is nowhere to go. That’s where the Democrats are on this tax bill. Even after they shut down the government over illegal aliens, companies continued to signal their intention to dole out bonuses to their workers. In all, over 250 companies have given out bonuses, with over three million workers benefitting from the GOP tax plan. Bonuses have ranged from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on the company. The tax plan has become more popular. So, what to do now? Well, just marginalize $1,000+ bonuses as "crumbs."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has done it, with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) adding that a $1,000 bonus won’t go that far. Yeah, remember when Democrats were appalled that the payroll tax cuts wouldn’t be extended in 2011, which would have added an additional $40 in workers paychecks? This is quite the 180-degree turn. And now shutdown Chuck is getting on the "crumbs" bandwagon (via Free Beacon):
#4
This is just the basic default position of the Democratic Party, that all funds should be given to the government. There's really no other way to read it.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/27/2018 17:18 Comments ||
Top||
#5
There's a losing strategy. We probably don't have to worry about anyone telling them since no one can tell them anything. Let them keep digging.
#8
Well, knowing some of the watering holes and expensive dining spots most of these democrats take lunch and eat dinner, $1000 might cover the tab.
They are so out of touch they don't realize that what they spend on lunch at Sans Souci would buy groceries for a family of four for a month...and gas...and pay the utilities.
[Buzz via Right Scoop] This will definitely be a popcorn event. Crazy Maxine Waters is going to give a response to Trump’s State of the Union speech.
From Buzzfeed:
One of President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics on Capitol Hill will address the country just after next Tuesday’s State of the Union.
Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, will speak at the top of a BET News special after Trump delivers the State of the Union, a BET spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. The program, "Angela Rye’s State of the Union," is part of a broader partnership announced just days ago between the network and the Democratic strategist and political commentator. Rye will executive produce news programs with a sharp focus on issues facing black Americans. The programs will run quarterly, BET said in a release.
The spokesperson said activists and some elected officials will analyze Trump’s first year in office on the program, and will talk about "building black politics and the value of engagement across today’s socio-political landscape."
I can’t wait!!! She’s going to be spitting and sputtering and probably cursing!! It’s gonna be awesome!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2018 8:21 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Thanks to mental giants such as James Brown Maxine Waa-waa and Nancy "Stretch" Pelosi, the GOP might have an easy go next election (with a wee bit of help from Q-Anon).
#14
I hope they show the audience. This is going to be like a Gallager show with everyone in the front row holding up plastic sheets to protect themselves from all the flying spittle coming from the stage.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/27/2018 17:15 Comments ||
Top||
#15
Peanuts, popcorn, get your Cracker Jacks! This is almost too good to be true. A racist Dhimmicrat scam artist mentally hindered by over use of medical leeches.
#16
Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, will speak at the top of a BET News special after Trump delivers the State of the Union
Golly. The Black Entertainment cable channel’s news special following the president’s speech. What percent of the population will be watching that, do you suppose? For information, I mean, not for snark opportunities.
It would be a meaningless gesture if it passed, but it wouldn’t pass even if the Republican leadership in both houses were to put it up for a vote. This is just the opposition acknowledging that impeachment is only a pretty dream, but unable to give up hope that magically Mr. Trump will be driven from the presidency.
[FreeBeacon] The push to impeach President Donald Trump now has some competition from a campaign with unknown financial backers that wants to censure the president instead.
On Wednesday, a group that opposes Trump took out a full-page advertisement in the major news section of the New York Times to publicize a petition listing 34 actions by the president that they believe warrant censure by Congress.
The 34 points range from the firing of former FBI Director James Comey to "encouraging police discrimination," and even "publishing false and inflammatory right-wing British videos"‐a reference to the president retweeting videos on Twitter.
"While some of Trump's actions may be sufficient to support his impeachment, we believe that at a minimum they require his immediate censure by Congress," the group wrote.
Censure is a formal process by which both houses of Congress vote to formally condemn an individual for conduct construed to be unbecoming. Censure is not the same as impeachment, which occurs when legislative bodies vote to bring direct charges of misconduct against an individual. Neither impeachment nor censure results in the immediate removal from office, though individuals who are impeached are eligible to be removed upon conviction of the crimes they are charged with. Individuals who are censured by Congress are not eligible to be removed from office.
The organization behind the petition is shrouded in mystery. The campaign's website does not list an address, information about the group's leadership, or the financiers who paid for the New York Times ad. It is also unclear why the ad was taken out on Wednesday, almost six months after the petition first appeared in August 2017.
The New York Times would not disclose who placed the ad or the exact price that was paid, but, according to the paper's advertising office, a one-day, full page, black and white display in the major news section would run upwards of $83,000. It is likely the money used to pay for the advertisement came from a private source, as the group's website is not set up to accept donations.
According to the American Prospect and HuffPost, the campaign seems to be the "brainchild" of Jules Bernstein, a Washington, D.C.-based labor lawyer. Bernstein has previously served in high-level positions with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Laborers International Union of North America. He was also on the executive committee of the Democratic Socialists of America in the 1980s.
During the 2016 election cycle, Bernstein & Lipsett, the self-described "mom and pop" labor law firm that Bernstein runs with his wife, donated over $100,000 to various Democratic candidates and organizations affiliated with the Democratic Party.
"[The petition] is a simple and easy way for people to be heard and fight back," Bernstein told HuffPost in August. "It would serve to combat Trump's normalization, let Congress know how people feel, and remind the press and public of all the terrible things he's done."
Bernstein was also the first person to post the petition on change.org, where it has lived for the past six months, accumulating more than 58,000 signatures.
Last August, Bernstein, along with Michael Cooper, former president of the New York City Bar Association, wrote an editorial for a local newspaper in Martha's Vineyard, where Bernstein has a second home, in which they argued the merits of censuring Trump.
"Some have said that censure is merely a ’slap on the wrist,' and that impeachment is the only appropriate remedy for the wrongdoing of President Trump," they wrote. "To this we respond that while there may be several additional remedies, at the moment petitioning for censure provides an immediate, constitutionally protected means of public condemnation and reproach of President Trump."
Neither Bernstein nor Cooper responded to interview requests for this story. Continues.
- Lisa Page, who exchanged anti-Trump text messages with Peter Strzok, her FBI agent lover, was seen for the first time since the affair was exposed
- Strzok was dismissed from Robert Mueller's Russia probe over the conversation and was relocated within the FBI over the summer, it was reported Saturday
- Page, a lawyer, was also involved in Mueller's investigation but left the probe before the messages were discovered
- Page, 38, is married to non-profit executive Joseph Burrow who was seen wearing his wedding ring on Wednesday morning
- Strzok was a part of former FBI Director James Comey's Hillary Clinton email probe, and changed the wording in Comey's assessment from 'grossly negligent to 'extremely careless'
- Strzok was also involved in questioning Michael Flynn before he was prosecuted for lying to the Bureau
- The DOJ said they would be handing over the messages to Congress. It is currently going through more than 10,000 messages between the couple that span months
#2
Page, 38, is married to non-profit executive Joseph Burrow
I'm sure this has nothing to do with her anti-Trump stance!
I had a temp job in a Cambridge non-profit back in the early '90's. I remember a combination of 'these people are fucking strange' and 'these people are raging assholes'. I guess it didn't help that I accidentally shut off a server, then a second later heard this loud scram two floors above me. Sorry about that!
This was also the same time period when Nixon died (April 1994). Even stranger than that was incessant talk about parties throughout Cambridge 'celebrating' his death. I guess you could say that was one of the moments the proverbial scales fell off my eyes concerning what a bunch of ghouls these lefties really are.
#5
I guess you could say that was one of the moments the proverbial scales fell off my eyes concerning what a bunch of ghouls these lefties really are. Posted by Raj
I was indoctrinated from birth. My late father would become apoplectic at the mention of FDR.
#7
Strzok is also married. The Georgetown University graduate is married to fellow alum Melissa Hodgman, who was promoted to Associate Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division by Obama in late 2016.The promotion came after the FBI found emails pertaining to the Hillary Clinton email server scandal on her aide Huma Abedin's husband s laptop.
After news broke of her husband's alleged bias in Mueller's investigation, Hodgman scrubbed all evidence of her supporting Hillary Clinton from her social media, according to Gateway Pundit.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2018 7:40 Comments ||
Top||
#8
She does not appear to be exactly basking in the glory of being a "power player..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/27/2018 9:11 Comments ||
Top||
#9
10,000 texts?? WTF do you say in 10k texts??? Maybe adolescents can be excused in this quantity, but so called adults?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2018 12:52 Comments ||
Top||
#10
She's a DC eight or a crack whore three.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
01/27/2018 17:36 Comments ||
Top||
[Gateway Pundit] December 21st is a day that will live in infamy.
Remember that date. The world changed on December 21st and no one noticed. That will soon change.
The great conservative talk host Michael Savage was the first to define liberalism as a "mental illness." But it turns out liberals back then were relatively sane compared to today. Today’s liberals are frothing at the mouth, spitting, howling at the moon and threatening publicly to assassinate President Trump.
One protestor at the Los Angeles women’s march this past weekend carried a sign that said, "Kill Donald Trump, Kill Mike Pence. It’s guillotine time, bitches." When asked by a reporter what she wanted in their place, she replied she wanted a "communist utopia."
Isn’t liberalism sweet?
The timing for this liberal meltdown is perfect. Because liberals are so busy frothing at the mouth, they don’t even notice President Trump is:
A) Erasing Obama like he never existed. Hour by hour, day by day, Trump is erasing everything Obama ever did. TPP. The Paris Climate Accord. Dozens of massive EPA dictates. Coal mining bans. DACA. Obama’s taxes. The Obamacare mandate. More regulations killed in one year than by any president in history. Refugee admissions down 70%. And just announced days ago, the United States will not be re-certifying the Iran Treaty. All gone. In one year. As if Obama never existed.
B) But that is only Part I of Trump’s greatest hits. Part II is the humdinger. Trump promised to "drain the swamp." The mainstream media clearly doesn’t understand what just happened.
Trump just declared war on the Deep State, DC Swamp, Hillary and Obama. Trump signed a new Executive Order on December 21st that got zero publicity. It happens to be the most important Executive Order in the history of America. Signed just in time right before the release of the House Intel Memo. Any particular Foundation in the cross hairs ?
[Daily Caller] Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton allegedly retained a top adviser on her 2008 presidential campaign even after she learned that he was accused of sexual harassment.
Four sources told The New York Times that Burns Strider, who served as Clinton’s faith adviser, was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young staffer.
Clinton’s campaign manager at the time, Patti Solis Doyle, requested that Clinton fire Strider, but instead Clinton insisted that he he undergo counseling and lose several weeks of pay. The young woman was reassigned and forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
The 30-year-old woman accused Strider of rubbing her shoulders in an inappropriate manner, kissing her on the forehead and sending her suggestive emails.
Strider sent Clinton emails with scripture readings every morning for months on the campaign.
Strider went on to lead Correct the Record, an independent group that supported Clinton’s 2016 campaign. He was fired from that group after several months, which three sources partially attributed to his harassment of a young female aide.
Strider did not return the Time’s request for comment.
The law firm that represented Clinton’s campaign in 2008 released the following statement:
"To ensure a safe working environment, the campaign had a process to address complaints of misconduct or harassment," Utrecht, Kleinfeld, Fiori, Partners stated. "When matters arose, they were reviewed in accordance with these policies, and appropriate action was taken. This complaint was no exception." Contrition is for little people. I take it then husband Bill was not the only 'Harasser' ?
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
01/27/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Whatever happened to beating the shit out of people who pulled this crap?
#NotMeToo - I was hitchhiking in the hometown of Manchester NH and was picked up by someone who I sort of recognized. We smoked a joint, had a beer, and he showed me a Playboy or something like that. I was aware something might be going on, then a minute or two later, he puts his hand on my knee. I then put my hand... on my six-inch Buck knife. CLIIICK! It was modified with a brazed-on small metal bead so it almost acted like a switchblade with the quick release. I said 'bring me home, and that'll be the end of it.' And he did just that.
I tell my older brother about it the next day. 'You got picked up by Handy Andy!' I'll go talk to him (most likely it was another threat). I never bothered to follow up in it.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[American Thinker] In any criminal investigation where the suspect is not immediately known, the first question usually asked is who would have the most to gain? As we follow the bread crumbs of the text messages of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page and await release of the House Intelligence Committee’s memo regarding the collusion between the DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, the DOJ, and FBI to interfere with the 2016, ensure the election of Hillary, and the defeat or impeachment of Donald Trump, the answer to that question is clear -- one Barack Hussein Obama.
[Townhall] Well, when you’re backed into a corner, there really is nowhere to go. That’s where the Democrats are on this tax bill. Even after they shut down the government over illegal aliens, companies continued to signal their intention to dole out bonuses to their workers. In all, over 250 companies have given out bonuses, with over three million workers benefitting from the GOP tax plan. Bonuses have ranged from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on the company. The tax plan has become more popular. So, what to do now? Well, just marginalize $1,000+ bonuses as "crumbs."
[Buzz via Right Scoop] This will definitely be a popcorn event. Crazy Maxine Waters is going to give a response to Trump’s State of the Union speech.
[Daily Caller] Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton allegedly retained a top adviser on her 2008 presidential campaign even after she learned that he was accused of sexual harassment.
