Left to Right: Former FBI Director James Comey, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama
There can be no question, at this
point, that certain higher ups in the FBI and the DOJ did not want Hillary to
be indicted and did not want Donald Trump to become President.
Those
efforts were not entirely independent of each other.
Below is a timeline of events –
abbreviated though it is – that makes it rather plain that the FBI and DOJ were
not investigating potential crimes objectively.
Indeed, they were committing crimes
during the process in aid of their preferred outcomes.
1. 2007. Hillary Clinton
wanted to be President.
Hillary’s ambitions to be president started long ago. She ran for
President in the 2008 cycle. In 2009, after losing to Obama, Hillary
became Obama’s Secretary of State. She stayed in that post until 2013.
2. March 2015. The Hillary email scandal breaks. Hillary was using
an unapproved/unsecured server and devices to communicate. She was using
a private email account. Classified information was being sent through
that email, server and devices – including when Hillary was abroad.
All of that is illegal. As
2015 unfolds, it becomes clear to the FBI and the DOJ that President Barack
Obama was communicating with Hillary using her non-state department
email. Obama was using an email and a name that masked who he was.
That had to be known to authorities
long before March of 2015 given that it occurred prior to 2013.
As Andrew McCarthy points out in
his recent article, there was no chance that the DOJ was going
to indict Hillary because that would have required implicating President
Obama. That was never going to happen. From thereafter, DOJ
officials acted with that understanding, however illegal, in mind.
3. June 2015. Donald Trump
announces his Presidential run.
4. March 2016. Trump has enough
delegates to claim the nomination.
5.
April 10, 2016. Obama makes clear he does not want Hillary indicted.
Obama, on TV, indicates Hillary did not intend to harm national security.
However, intent is not an element of the crime she committed. At the time
of that statement – made by a sitting President and in plain view of the Nation
and more importantly his FBI/DOJ appointments - many witnesses had yet to be
interviewed, including Hillary.
6.
April 2016. Hillary campaign and DNC begin funding infamous
Trump dossier. To conceal payments for the dossier, Hillary’s
campaign gives money to attorneys who then pay for the dossier – a clear
campaign law violation. If that campaign payment had been properly
disclosed, the payment for the dossier, and likely the dossier, would have been
exposed in the summer of 2016. That disclosure likely would have hurt Hillary’s
campaign.
7.
May 2, 2016. Ted Cruz drops out of Presidential race. Cruz’
departure confirms Trump will be the Republican nominee.
8.
May 2016. Peter Strzok and Lisa Page make it clear they need to end
the Hillary Investigation.
Peter Strzok is the FBI agent in
charge of the Hillary investigation, which is dubbed Mid-Year Exam. He is
having an affair with FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
In a text exchange, Page informs Strzok that Cruz dropped out.
Strzok responds: “What?!?!?!?!”
Strzok later states: “Now the pressure really starts to finish the MYE.”
In a text exchange, Page informs Strzok that Cruz dropped out.
Strzok responds: “What?!?!?!?!”
Strzok later states: “Now the pressure really starts to finish the MYE.”
That is evidence of and the motive
for much to come.
9.
May 2016. FBI draft memo about Hillary started. Long before
Hillary and other key witnesses are interviewed, James Comey starts drafting a
memo with respect to the proposed conclusion of the Hillary investigation.
The original memo stated:
"There is evidence to support a conclusion that Secretary Clinton, and
others, used the email server in a manner that was grossly negligent with
respect to the handling of classified information."
The grossly negligent language is
sufficient to charge Hillary with a crime.
10. May 2016. Hillary staffers Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin mislead
the FBI on what they know about Hillary’s email practices. In fact, they
knew of the use long before the timeframe they gave the FBI. They are never
charged with lying to the FBI.
Eventually, five Clinton associates,
including Mills, are granted immunity and, incredibly, evidence is destroyed by
the FBI as part of the immunity deals. There is never a good reason for a
law enforcement agency to destroy evidence during an investigation.
11. June 20, 2016. Peter Strzok, who was opposed to
Trump becoming president, as his texts reveal, changes the “grossly negligent”
language in the Comey memo to “extremely careless.” The change all but
ensures Hillary will not be charged with a crime.
12. June 27, 2016. Bill Clinton meets Loretta Lynch on
the tarmac. They claim they were talking about grandchildren.
When information related to the meeting is leaked, the FBI goes on a desperate
search to determine who leaked the information. There is no corresponding
urgent effort to expose the content of the very inappropriate meeting between
the former president/husband of a target who just happened to appoint Lynch to
office years ago.
13. July 1, 2016. It is announced that Attorney
General Loretta Lynch will accept FBI “determination and findings” as to
the Hillary investigation – an abrogation of her duties not authorized by law.
Strzok paramour Lisa Page then sarcastically texts to Strzok that: “It’s a real
profile in courage, since she knows no charges will be brought.”
Obviously, the determination to not
charge Hillary had already been made, even though . . .
14. July 2, 2016. Hillary interviewed by the FBI.
Hillary is finally interviewed by the FBI but she is not put under oath and
there is no transcript (thereby making it all but impossible to charge
her with lying to the FBI). She is interviewed for just over 3 hours –
that is an hour less than Angelina Jolie was interviewed about Brad Pitt’s
treatment of her children on a plane.
Hillary is allowed to have Cheryl
Mills (a witness to the email crimes) in the room during the interview to act
as Clinton’s attorney. Mills, of course, had been granted immunity by
then.
15. July 5, 2016. Comey goes on TV, lays out
case against Hillary, claims no intent therefore no prosecution.
Comey’s presentation makes clear Hillary skirted the law but Comey applies
Obama’s nationally announced, non-existent, “intent” standard and states no
prosecutor would indict her. Of course, it is legally not the job of the
FBI director to decide who gets prosecuted. To the contrary, their job is
fact finding and to report to the DOJ. Comey never should have gone on TV
to announce anything.
16. Summer of 2016. FBI official Andrew McCabe is
aware of more Clinton emails/Delays review of them. Hillary Clinton
emails are recovered from Anthony Weiner’s laptop. Weiner is the husband
of close Clinton staffer Huma Abedin. To have the emails residing on
Weiner’s laptop is a clear violation of law. Huma Abedin is never
prosecuted for the violation nor is Weiner let alone Hillary.
FBI official Andrew McCabe, whose
wife benefitted from campaign help (some say the arrangement netted over
$700,000 for her campaign) from Clinton Ally Terry McAuliffe, delays review of
the new discovered emails into the Fall.
17. July 2016. Carter Page goes to Moscow.
Carter Page is a tangential, volunteer Trump campaign advisor with long-time
ties to Russia. Carter Page had been under surveillance in 2013 (not
clear for how long ) by the FBI. Such surveillance must be based on a
claim that Carter could be an agent for a foreign government. Cater Page
clearly is a Russian sympathizer with a desire to continue doing business in
Russia. The Trump campaign is aware of his Russian trip but not that he
had been under surveillance.
** Now, as the campaigns head to the
Fall, the focus changes away from the exonerated Hillary to Donald Trump’s
campaign.
18. Summer of 2016. Comey’s
first attempt to get FISA Warrant against Trump campaign official is denied. Comey sought a FISA warrant to spy on Carter Page – again,
under the theory that he could be an agent of a foreign government.
19. Late July 2016. FBI starts “counter intelligence”
investigation based on drunk statement by George Papdopoulos that Russia
has dirt on Hillary Clinton. Papdopoulos is another tangential, volunteer,
Trump campaign advisor.
Given Hillary’s unprotected use of
email servers and blackberrys, including on foreign soil, it can be no surprise
Russia could have such information. There is no factual connection
between Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.
20. September of 2016. Carter Page leaves Trump
campaign. Press stories allege contacts between Page and Russian officials
resulting in pressure for Page to leave the campaign – so he leaves.
21. September/October 2016. DOJ Official Bruce Ohr’s
wife goes to work for Fusion GPS (the firm that was the conduit between the
Hillary Campaign and dossier author ex-British spy Christopher Steele).
Ohr later funnels information from his wife to the FBI.
22. October of 2016. Second Comey FISA request relying
on the Steele Dossier – FISA Warrant Issued to spy on Carter Page. Andrew
McCabe, in time, makes it clear that without the dossier, there would have been
no FISA warrant.
The dossier has never been verified
– to this day. Comey told Trump in January of 2017 that the dossier was
“unverified.”
Yet, Comey represented to the FISA
Court that the dossier was credible – in part, by citing a Yahoo news story on
the matter. However, Comey knew that that story was planted by the
dossier author Christopher Steele. In other words, it was not an
independent verification of the dossier.
All in all, Comey swore under oath
that the Court should consider the dossier credible evidence so that the FBI
could spy on Trump campaign official Carter Page – even though Page had already
left the campaign. Given that it was known that Page already left the
campaign, it could well be that Carter Page was the fall guy excuse to begin
domestic spying on others.
Without question, Comey misled the
FISA Court by submitting and vouching for the unverified dossier and pushing
the Yahoo News story. Those were not the only questionable acts,
misrepresentations nor omissions of Comey.
The FBI and DOJ, at the time they
made the original FISA application, also were aware of the following - ALL
OF WHICH WAS HIDDEN FROM THE FISA COURT:
a) Hillary’s campaign and the DNC
paid for the dossier - a fact which, if known, would give rise to
judicial questions of potential evidentiary bias.
b) Christopher Steele tells a DOJ official Bruce Ohr that
Steele was "desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was
passionate about him not being president." Another fact that, if known,
would give rise to judicial questions of potential evidentiary bias.
c) The FBI was willing to pay
Christopher Steele for more research but rescinded its offer when the FBI
found out Steele had briefed reporters on the content of his dossier – a
violation of FBI rules. Any Judge or jury would want to know if someone
offering evidence otherwise was breaking rules. It bears on whether the witness
can be trusted.
d) Carter Page was not considered by the Russians as a
credible businessmen and/or figure. Many believe Carter Page was an
insignificant player. Again, this raises the question of whether surveillance
of him was really an attempt to get at others.
e) A DOJ official’s wife was working for the outfit
commissioning the dossier. Another potentially biased individual.
** Keep in mind, by this time, the
FBI is aware that the Hillary campaign paid lawyers, to give money to Fusion
GPS, who gave money to a foreign agent (Christopher Steele), who got
information from Russian informants.
Yet, the FBI counter intelligence effort was being run on the Trump campaign
not the Clinton campaign.
23. October 2016. Comey announces
the reopening of email review
and then, before the election, clears Hillary again.
24. November 2016. Trump wins
the Presidency.
25. November 2016, Hillary campaign immediately blames
Russian interference and that narrative is maintained for months.
26. December of 2016. Obama Administration begins
process to relax rules on sharing intelligence about Americans. The
rules previously provided that if an American was speaking to a foreigner who
was being surveilled, the American’s name would be masked in the intelligence
documents. Obama made it easier to share the actual names – which so
happened to be Trump transition officials trying to do their job.
27. 90 days renewals. Three times thereafter,
the FBI and the DOJ reapplied for a FISA warrant and never apprised the Court
of their prior misrepresentations and/or omissions. The existing Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who currently oversees the Mueller
investigation, was one of the officials who made a FISA warrant reapplication.
It has also been said that Rosenstein, on January 10, threatened House
Members with legal proceedings if they continue to push oversight of this
matter.
Conclusions:
So what conclusions are to be drawn
in all of this?
1. Obviously, the Obama
Administration DOJ officials were never going to charge Hillary Clinton with a
crime related to the emails. To make that come true, their officials went easy
on Hillary (as the Strzok/Page texts expressly suggest should be done).
They altered procedure, they granted multiple immunity deals, they allowed for
the destruction of evidence, they gave her an easy interview, they delayed the
review of documents, they altered the characterization of Hillary’s offense
from “grossly negligent” to “extremely careless” to exonerate her from
liability, and more. Their conduct amount to obstruction of justice – a crime.
2. The race between Hillary
and Trump pushed the FBI/DOJ to alter the Hillary email investigation timeline
for election purposes. They weren’t following the evidence, they were keeping
to a deadline. They pushed to end the investigation and to exonerate her so
that she would not be burdened with the investigation as the race moved into
the Fall.
Yes, it is true that Comey made a
terrible (if not illegal) decision to publicly announce reopening the email
investigation days before the election. In truth, however, because it
would implicate Obama, no charges were ever going to be brought.
3. It is obvious that the
FBI/DOJ officials hastened the end of the Hillary email investigation and then
immediately began an investigation of Donald Trump. The timing of the July 5,
2016 Comey exoneration speech and the late July counter intelligence
investigation related to a tangential Trump advisor should not be viewed as
just a coincidence. It was, as Strzok said, an insurance policy against
the election of Trump.
4. Does Comey’s original draft
and his announcements related to Hillary not demonstrate he was not biased
against her? Maybe. The fact that Comey made inconsistent and stupid decisions
does not mean the FBI and the DOJ weren’t giving Hillary a free pass.
Also, there is no doubt, that Comey stole documents from the FBI and illegally
leaked such documents. Those are crimes. Beyond that . . .
5. FBI/DOJ officials knowingly
concealed evidence and misled the FISA Court. They, including Comey, knew
the law. They are senior law enforcement officials. They knew they had
been turned down before and therefore had to bring more to the table.
So what did they bring? The
dossier. The unverified dossier. They asserted to the Court,
however, that it was credible.
They also omitted information that
likely would have resulted in the Court denying the application. It was
October of 2016, however, and they wanted information right then and
there. After all, it was less than a month before the election.
6. Based on those lies in the
FISA applications, all the evidence that was gathered as the fruit of that
warrant, unless it can be shown the evidence was clearly not gathered from that
warrant, could be ruled inadmissible in any criminal case. Look for Paul
Manafort to make that argument.
7. Without the FISA warrant,
would there have been an Independent Counsel? We shall never know – but it
appears rather unlikely.
8. Mueller. He had to know of
the facts above. Why hasn’t he blown the whistle on the bad cops?
9. It is right to say that
this episode is the worst abuse of political power in American history related
to elections. Watergate is nothing by comparison. That involved people not
employed by the government. Later it involved a cover-up in which Nixon
participated.
Watergate did not involve the DOJ
and the FBI – two institutions which must be non-partisans for this Republic of
ours.
This case does involve the FBI and
DOJ. It also is foolish not to assume that Loretta Lynch and President
Obama were ignorant of the goings on - if not involved in them.
Finally, the dishonest investigation
of Hillary who committed actual crimes should not be acceptable. Nor should FBI
or DOJ officials be allowed to alter events and Court proceedings for political
purposes.
If we let this go, and people are
not brought to justice, we will have forever damaged our Republic and the
World’s view of us as a nation of laws.
Tom Del Beccaro is the Author of The Divided Era.
