In The “Truth” Part 1, we examined and explained some of the hoopla in D.C. regarding dissemination of information as fact when it has not been true. This includes alleged collusion by the Trump Campaign with Russians during the 2016 election cycle, and alleged Obstruction of Justice during that same time. Today we will move forward looking deeper into the heretofore mysterious circumstances surrounding the massive negativity that permeates the Nation regarding all things political. We have not seen such negativity in our country since the 1960’s when young people literally revolted against the U.S. Government regarding the Vietnam War. First, we address some more of the “noise” — or as President Trump terms it “Fake News” — to dispel some of the rumors so you can get your brain around facts. Then we will discuss some behind-the-scenes actions being taken.
Obstruction of Justice
In Part I we quoted the segment of the legal definition of Obstruction of Justice in federal law that pertains to Obstruction allegations made against the Trump Campaign and those associated with it that pertain to the Mueller Investigation. But there are other parts to the Obstruction law that do not necessarily apply to the Trump Campaign but do apply to others regarding the 2016 election and matters since.
James Comey
The former FBI Director has pretty much kept himself in the limelight before, during, and after the 2016 Presidential election. We have in previous offerings here documented his professional (and often questionable) background. He has a speckled past, no doubt. However, listening to him in speeches, reading his book, or even listening to his sworn testimony before Congress, one would think he is a ray of sunlight in the total darkness of Washington D.C. And he hates Donald Trump.
Unfortunately for Mr. Comey, he HAS a public past. And unfortunately for James, his past is easily visible to all who care to take a look. James Comey — by federal statute — committed criminal acts while serving as FBI Director and since his removal. He has been and still is relying on his friends in federal law enforcement to protect him from prosecution for his wrongdoing. But if Justice is really “Equal under the law” for all, Lady Justice will soon come calling on Mr. Comey.
What did he do?
- He forwarded FBI confidential memos of his meetings with President Trump to his friend at Columbia University expressly to be disseminated to the Press. Comey’s doing so violates 18 U.S. Code 798 which states “it is a violation to disseminate classified information to any unauthorized person. The term ‘unauthorized person’ means any person who, or agency which, is not authorized to receive information of the categories set forth in subsection (a) of this section, by the President, or by the head of a department or agency of the United States Government which is expressly designated by the President to engage in communication intelligence activities for the United States.” Comey has given two different excuses for his releasing those memos: 1) the memos were NOT the property of the FBI, but his personal notes; and 2) his giving them to his friend was authorized because Comey was no longer an FBI employee. By law, the memos ARE property of the U.S. Government. In addition to the terms of the federal statute regarding his illegal release, The FBI employee agreement which Comey signed clearly states that all such documents belong to the FBI even after employment termination.
- He lied under oath, and in doing so affected an ongoing FBI investigation. 1) Comey stated under oath there was no coordination between the DOJ and the FBI regarding the Clinton email investigation. Recovered text messages between FBI’s Peter Strozk and then DOJ Attorney Lisa Page expose that was not truthful; 2) Either James Comey or fired FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe lied to Congress. Comey stated (under oath) he never personally nor authorized anyone else to release any investigative information to the Press. Andrew McCabe in his sworn Congressional testimony stated HE gave information to the media and Comey knew about it making it authorized dissemination; 3) Comey testified that the decision to not indict Hillary Clinton for illegal use of a private email server to share classified information was made shortly before the press conference in which he announced that FBI decision. It was discovered that he penned the note announcing that decision two months before the FBI even interviewed Clinton or any of her aids.
- There are more examples of Comey obstruction, but for the sake of time, we’ll leave it there.
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch
This is a tough one. It is rare for any Presidential Administration to take legal action against members of their predecessors. Why? Doing so would seem to be taking punitive actions for strictly political purposes of “Payback,” which no one wants to experience when THEY leave office. However, where there’s smoke there’s fire.
What did she do?
- Apparently, that mysterious and “unscheduled” meeting between Ms. Lynch and former President Bill Clinton on the tarmac at Sky Harbour Airport in Phoenix was NOT so “unscheduled.” According to reports, pilots later debunked that story saying the meeting WAS planned and coordinated.
- James Comey testified that the Attorney General had asked Comey to call the FBI “investigation” into the Clinton email issue a “Matter” and not an “Investigation.” If her doing so was to deflect ordinary investigation into criminal matters, her doing so from her position of authority would be Obstruction.
- Additionally, during Russia’s hacking campaign against the United States, intelligence agencies could peer, at times, into Russian networks and see what had been taken. Early last year, F.B.I. agents received a batch of hacked documents, and one caught their attention. The document, which has been described as both a memo and an email, was written by a Democratic operative who expressed confidence that Ms. Lynch would keep the Clinton investigation from going too far, according to several former officials familiar with the document. Hamstringing the investigation by ordering the FBI director to mislead the public by calling it a “matter” instead of an investigation perfectly fits the description of keeping “the Clinton investigation from going too far.” After all, an investigation might “go too far” for those who wanted to protect Clinton, but a “matter” never ran that risk. Lynch’s interference also perfectly fits the description of “obstruction of justice.”
Andrew McCabe
- The Justice Department’s inspector general submitted a criminal referral for former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Inspector General Michael Horowitz referred the matter to the US attorney’s office in Washington, DC, for potential prosecution. McCabe has been harshly criticized for months for alleged anti-Trump bias, he’s been investigated for and may be charged about a different topic entirely — his purported attempts to mislead about his role in a leak at Hillary Clinton’s expense. The gist is that McCabe orchestrated a leak to a Wall Street Journal reporter shortly before the 2016 election, describing private deliberations he’d had with Obama Justice Department officials about an investigation of the Clinton Foundation. McCabe leaked that he had tried to keep this investigation moving forward, over an unnamed Justice Department official’s resistance. His motivation for leaking about this pending investigation, it appeared, was to rebut an earlier Journal article raising questions about his impartiality in the Clinton email probe, and a planned follow-up piece along similar lines. Once the FBI began looking into how the Clinton Foundation leak happened, Horowitz claims that McCabe repeatedly misled officials about his involvement.
- Under McCabe’s watch, Anthony Weiner’s laptop was taken into possession of the FBI field office in New York. It was immediately discovered there were potential illegal pictures stored on Weiner’s laptop of underage girls. McCabe was notified by the Manhatten office of the laptop and its illegal contents, but McCabe slowplayed retrieving that laptop for forensic examination in New York. In doing so (and by not letting then FBI Director Comey know of the laptop and its contents) McCabe apparently was hiding the evidence of Weiner’s wrongdoing until after the November election. Accusations are that he was protecting Hillary Clinton whose chief aid was the wife of Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin. If true, McCabe committed Obstruction.
Hillary Clinton
Where do we begin? Hillary Clinton: Obstruction of Justice “PLUS”
- 18 U.S. Code 798: “(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information, concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; or obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”
- The unsecured email server: based on legal requirements of protecting and keeping confidential documents and classified information, Clinton’s use of a non-certified computer server in an unsecured environment was a gross violation of the law. “Knowingly” is the keyword that exposed Clinton. Think about this: using that email server, then Secretary of State Clinton when traveling in foreign countries exchanged texts and emails with President Obama from an unsecured Blackberry transmitting messages via that server to Obama’s secret Gmail account. Multiple violations of multiple statutes by both Hillary and Barack.
- 46 CFR 503.59 – Safeguarding classified information: “All classified information shall be afforded a level of protection against unauthorized disclosure commensurate with its level of classification. Any person having access to and possession of classified information is responsible for protecting it from persons not authorized access to it, to include securing it in approved equipment or facilities, whenever it is not under the direct supervision of authorized persons.”
- It is safe to say that using an unsecured server and a private (non-.gov) email address, Secretary Clinton grossly violated the law protecting classified documents and information. Notwithstanding her insistence regarding the “marked classified” status of some of those documents and emails, the fact the server was NEVER certified by the State Department and therefore was not an authorized server for use by the Department, can under the law be classified as obstruction of justice. If technically it would NOT be Obstruction, it would definitely have violated 46 CFR 503.59 — and makes it a felony.
Summary
There is no doubt there was Obstruction of Justice in the Mueller probe and also the Clinton email investigation — but apparently not by President Trump or members of his campaign, based on at least what we know now. But the others obviously have “dirty hands.”
Will there be any prosecution in these cases? At this point, it is hard to say. However, a prosecution is definitely warranted. There are numerous cases in which those guilty of far less serious infractions were sent to prison for their wrongdoing. If these escape penalties for their actions, it will prove the point that many Americans feel is applicable today: that political elites receive special treatment under this Justice Department and have for some time. It will be a travesty.
But wait: there’s more! In The “Truth” Part III that will be released tomorrow, read or listen to find out what the “Three Amigos” have been up to. Who are the “Three Amigos?” Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, and James Comey. What have they been up to? I will NOT give it away today. But I assure you it is mind-boggling and exposes the worst elitism to date uncovered in the Justice Department. You will shiver to think that such corruption is alive and well in the very government department charged with protecting the laws of our Nation.
Don’t miss it!
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