Comey Says No Evidence Justifies Conclusion Clinton Violated ANY Statutes With Regard To Classification

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:28pm

This is a mindblower.

I freely admit to being fascinated by the various machinations and interactions going on currently between elected politicians in both the Congress and the Senate in their oversight functions in trying to figure out if the FBI investigation into HRC's email fiasco was conducted in a manner to inspire confidence in its conclusion. This is a big deal, as we have discussed here before. If the people of a nation lose confidence in their judicial systems, it's pretty much the whole ball of wax down the tubes.

Now, I'm no investigative genius or lawyer and I have no experience with government protocols over handling classified information, but thousands among us fall into one of those 3 categories and I'm sure they can answer the question I pose today:

Did the head of the FBI, James Comey tell a Senate Hearing today something concerning HRC's classified email practices that is simply mind-blowingly impossible to believe?

He was asked by Senator Ben Sasse:
"Do you think Secretary Clinton broke any laws related to classified data?"

That seems pretty easy, don't you think? She had large amounts of classified data stored on a number of servers in a number of locations which were accessible to numbers of people without security clearances. Here is Comey's absolutely stunning response:

"We have no evidence to justify the conclusion she violated any statutes with regard to classification"

You can listen to this exchange yourself on today's CSPAN coverage - here is the link:

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

Start listening at 1:36:05 where Senator Sasse asks a similar question about Cheryl Mills.

The actual exchange goes like this:
Q - Do you think any laws were broken by Cheryl Mills?
A-We have no evidence to establish she committed a crime
Q- Do you think Secretary Clinton broke any laws related to classified data?
A- We have no evidence to justify the conclusion she violated and statutes with regard to classification

Something weird happened to the transcript because this is how the exchange between Sasse and Comey shows up in the transcript box:

01:36:05

Unidentified Speaker

>> DO YOU THINK ANY LAWS WERE BROKEN BY CHERYL MILLS.
01:36:12

Unidentified Speaker

>> WE THINK SHE WAS CLASSIFIED AT THAT TIME.
01:36:16

Unidentified Speaker

>> DO YOU HAVE EVIDENCE?
01:36:18

Unidentified Speaker

>> WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE TO CONCLUSION THAT SHE VIOLATED ANY STATUTES WITH REGARD TO CLASSIFICATION.

So Scooby Dooers, what do you think? Did I mishear? Misunderstand? Mistranscribe? Is this the mindblower that I think it is?

Tags:

#Clinton email

Vote

Comments

Submitted by Leu2500 on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:41pm

"Feed the birds. Tuppence a bag"

He found his line & is sticking to it.

It would be nice to have someone other than Mr. McGoo heading up the FBI.

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:46pm

And overhead, her birds fill the skies

I used to love to sing that song along with the Mary Poppins soundtrack as a kid. And you're right, you could get into an endless loop of the lyrics.

The expert commentary that I've read says Comey injected a requirement for intent that does not actually exist in the statute, that gross negligence on its own is enough to violate. I sort of expect that Trey Gowdy might duke it out with him on that issue tomorrow.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:51pm

He danced around that today, I do have a time stamp but

synced computer on CSPAN was 12:20-ish. He agreed that she had likely broken the law there. He refused to say broken the law. When asked about 2 justice systems he went down a rabbit hole that apparently she was so rich and powerful that they made great effort to treat her as anyone else, he lost me. Worth a few people watching the entire hearing to do transcriptions. Especially now that video edited has been demonstrated to the hoi polloi. They think we are stupid.

I must try to watch a replay of the entire mess, bad especially because of multiple Johnsons. Interesting exchange touching on the legality of placing names on 'no fly' with no clear recourse. There is none, three or more agencies involved at different steps. Finger-pointing there.

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Submitted by MrWebster on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 7:21pm

Greenwald made intent point back in July.

For low-level, powerless Nobodies-in-D.C., even the mere mishandling of classified information — without any intent to leak but merely to, say, work from home — has resulted in criminal prosecution, career destruction, and the permanent loss of security clearance.

...

But this case does not exist in isolation. It exists in a political climate where secrecy is regarded as the highest end, where people have their lives destroyed for the most trivial — or, worse, the most well-intentioned — violations of secrecy laws, even in the absence of any evidence of harm or malignant intent. And these are injustices that Hillary Clinton and most of her stalwart Democratic followers have never once opposed — but rather enthusiastically cheered.

https://theintercept.com/2016/07/05/washington-has-been-obsessed-with-pu...

Submitted by solublefish on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 7:48am

The reason for the disconnect is clear

Greenwald and other well meaning people keep expressing surprise over the apparent double standard with respect to "secrecy". There is no double standard; there is only a misunderstanding among us of what secrecy really is.

The purpose of classification is not to keep things "secret", it is to keep the public out of the process of decision making, to prevent and undue meddling or critique of the policies crafted of, by, and for elites. The only time secrecy laws are actually invoked is when the release of classified material engages the public in a frank discussion of policy.

Coney knows this, of course. But for obvious reasons he can hardly say it out loud.

Submitted by on the cusp on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:42pm

They "have no evidence"

just means they didn't gather it.
It does not mean it doesn't exist.
If I am not looking for evidence in the first place, I won't have any, either.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by elmo on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 6:04pm

They don't have the evidence

because Hillary had it deleted.

—

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future

Submitted by on the cusp on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 7:16pm

I don't agree with that.

Obviously, it is true she deleted it.
I had dealings in a case back in maybe 2004 and the prosecutor had an fbi agent as his expert. I had an expert who had actually designed the computer programs for the NASA space modules for moon landings.
My client was accused of having all kinds of illegal crap on his government issued lap top.
And this was before the current metadata grab in place.
They said deletions might protect you from your wife discovering you have affairs, but not the fbi.
I will never, ever believe the government of the United States cannot produce those deleted emails.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by fugwb on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 9:05pm

So the question is,

I will never, ever believe the government of the United States cannot produce those deleted emails.

did they ever want to in the first place? And the answer to that is, NO...

Submitted by lunachickie on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 10:20am

That's really beside the point

The point is, they said they could not. And that's bullshit, in 20-foot-high block letters painted in gold leaf....

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 8:08pm

Exactly!

Also they decided to limit the scope of their investigation so that the damning evidence was either irrelevant or ignored. The bottom line is that Comey ~~decided~~ was directed to ignore the most damning of the evidence about Clinton. Perhaps that is because it leads to the President himself.

The corruption in our government is so pervasive that it touches every one.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by Creosote. on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 9:00am

"Lead to the very top"

As in the scene toward the end of CitizenFour, where sequential bits of information are carefully written in silence on bits of paper as the clear sense emerges of where the lines of power originate.

Submitted by duckpin on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:42pm

The FBI did a better job investigating "Louie, Louie" as

documented by Dave Marsh, than it did delving into the emails, multiple servers, handling of state secrets, etc., of Hillary Clinton, in my opinion.

—

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Submitted by sojourns on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:48pm

Comey is now on the defensive and coming out swinging

In his statement where he said (i paraphrase) that -No reasonable prosecutor would proceed against Clinton-.

And this quote

"To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now."

He has no choice but to defend his decision otherwise he may very well be charged by the congress, with what, I don't know. Obstruction? This is a 14th amendment issue.

—

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Submitted by Iogrey on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 2:58pm

I agree he's just covering his ass now.

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 3:21pm

House Oversight on FBI is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:00am

These are the guys who were blown away on Friday by finding out about all the immunity agreements. The Republicans will be all over Comey and every Democrat will say exactly the same thing: Why can't we move along, this is costing the taxpayers, abuse of power, case closed, etc.

I think tomorrow will be a good indicator if the Repubs are burrowing in for the long haul.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by sojourns on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 3:29pm

The repugs wil hang on

like a pit bull on meth.

—

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:18pm

I certainly hope so.

These are the strangest bedfellows I've ever had.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by sojourns on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:40pm

Well put

—

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 6:17pm

Thanks!

Hillary, the Uniter.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by snoopydawg on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 12:00am

Funny. Hillary the Uniter

And here I was thinking that she would unite with the republicans to privatize social security and other legislation that would be detrimental to the middle and poor classes.

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 6:48pm

A swinging bone would be enough for most pitties.

Fresh-butchered or roadkill,with no-one around, would work with most of our house- cats and -dogs, even if bodies were lying in the house.

Edit in title, shitstorm of my house news today.

—

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Submitted by jwa13 on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 8:37pm

"... look forward, not backward --"

Hmmm ... sounds familiar. Just where have I heard that refrain before?

—

When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said “How well he spoke”.
When Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said “Let us march”.

Submitted by elmo on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 6:05pm

Comey sounds like the Supreme Court

in Bush v. Gore, announcing a one time only special rule for George W. Bush.

One time only special rule for mishandling classified information, good only for Hillary Clinton.

—

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future

Submitted by Late Again on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 12:44am

That blockquote blew my mind when he said it

and it continues to blow my mind - exponentially - every time I read it.

He's literally (literally, literally not figuratively, literally) saying that if it were anybody - anybody! - other than HRH, their lives and careers would be over. He could not have been more clear if he'd tried.

"But that is not what we are deciding now."

Are you serious? Really?! There's no other way to interpret that, unless you're ~~a master of~~ Sarah Palin. (Remember:"I'm so happy to be cleared of all charges." "Governor, the investigation found you guilty of abuse of power." "Yes, thank you and again, so happy to be found innocent.")

When I pointed out what he actually said at that press conference and shared the story of that poor young guy (a Marine?) who was jailed for the exact same thing that very week, I was sneered at and belittled by Hillbullies (friends!) who called it a nothingburger and then did their best Sarah Palin impressions.

What the hell is happening to these people?!

—

"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." - Mark Twain

Submitted by Steven D on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 8:47am

The cognitive dissonace

is strong with those ones.

—

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 3:05pm

Apparently President Obama popping up in the emails

is one reason for the urgency to stuff the genie back in the bottle, since now he has transformed into a participant instead of simply being an observer.

This could get bigger and bigger depending on how far the Republicans want to take it. I never noticed them having the Democrats restraint in these regards.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by sojourns on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 3:21pm

Yeah. Another good reason

n/t

—

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Submitted by Damnit Janet on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:05pm

Laws & Punishment are only meant for us peasants. nt

—

"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:53pm

Pretty much confessed today, DJ

So we are buried in someone else's excrement.

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Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:05pm

Does anyone in congress have the power to override the FBI?

Or any of the agencies who aren't interested in charging Clinton? One article I read was of some FBI agents being upset when they concluded that they weren't trying to find evidence to charge her, but to find it so that they could cover it up.

Just as Warren said, there was plenty of evidence to charge the bank CEOs and it was sent to Holder, he just didn't want to charge them.
That could be called dereliction of duty.

So my question is, is the FBI and the DOJ the only agencies that can bring charges against her?

Submitted by Steven D on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 8:54am

Short answer

Are the FBI and the DOJ the only agencies that can bring charges against her?

Yes. If we are speaking of criminal or civil charges under federal law, they are. None if the laws involved here give any other agency or private party the right to seek charges or make claims against Clinton et alia. And technically speaking, the DOJ is the only agency that can bring charges; the FBI can only investigate and make recommendations.

There are administrative sanctions that the State Department can impose for violations, but those would not matter at this point as all the relevant actors no longer work for the State Department.

—

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:17pm

Here's the article I'm referring to

http://truepundit.com/exclusive-fbi-used-agents-as-pawns-to-insulate-hil...

In mid-summer a wave of panic and despair began to wash over key rank-and-file FBI agents who were doggedly working the Hillary Clinton investigations. Agents reluctantly pondered a potential, brutal reality that was creeping into the fabric of the high-profile case. What if their collective work wasn’t meant to bring this case to a grand jury for indictments and justice? What if they themselves, FBI agents sworn to uphold the law, were being used as intelligence pawns by superiors and higher powers to actually shield Clinton and her inner circle from ever seeing a pair of handcuffs and a jail cell?

“I got a pit in my stomach,” a FBI insider said. “That empty, sinking feeling you get in your gut. I thought we may have unknowingly been parties to this entire mess. It’s a blow to the ego. We’re supposed to see these things coming.”

Agents, along with the country, had just absorbed the troubling optics of Attorney General Loretta Lynch meeting privately with the husband of the investigation’s primary target on a jet tarmac just days earlier. And then hours after that debacle, the FBI announced Hillary would venture to its headquarters, in a matter of hours, to finally answer the bureau’s lingering questions about how she handled classified and top secret emails as secretary of state.

We say Clinton investigations, plural, because there were really two parallel inquiries that unfolded during the year-long FBI probe. There was the public email and home server investigation but agents were also building a pay-for-play criminal case involving Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. And that case was growing serious wings.

I hope that you will read this article. There are so many shenanigans going on to protect Hillary, Huma Abedin and Mills
Huma forwarded classified information to her husband, Weiner. I don't think he still has a security clearance.
I know that Sidney Bluementhal didn't and he stole classified information from the NSA. Why wasn't he charged for that?

Submitted by duckpin on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:20pm

This is the kind of news-plant that the Society of Retired FBI

Special Agents does on behalf of on-the-job agents who see their agency being, in their opinion, misused. I mentioned this yesterday and had not seen this - so thanks a lot. FBI agents usually are very protective of the FBI's image and since they can't carry on as their training and experience has taught them, they have methods of getting the story out. Not saying this is an example because I have no way of knowing, but I would not be surprised if it were. (I have no love for the FBI and its history in service to entrenched powers and merely passing on what I know. )

—

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:02pm

The morale of current agents and all former must be destroyed

all by Comey and presumably orders from Lynch and/or Obama. And the retirees with enough funds cached are the only ones who can blow that whistle. But current administration tends to imprison whistleblowers. It could get down there to a numbers game. (3 P/Oed, 60 afraid to do so, hundreds or more employed there discouraged and job-insecure).

—

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Submitted by tocino8 on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 10:37am

whistleblowers...

...can blow the whistle any time regardless of money saved, etc. I realize it means they will perish, but they can put their lips on the whistle and blow. As Neil Young wrote about his rock and roll friends, "they had the best selection, they were poisoned by protection." Will an agent blow the whistle to the republicans ? Would the DOJ prosecute such a whistleblower ?

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 8:38pm

Jonathan Turley...

has a good piece on all this:

The joint representation of the Clinton aides increased the chance for a uniform account in the controversy. Making this even more concerning is that Mills was allowed by the FBI to sit in on the interviews with Clinton, despite that fact that she was a key witness herself in the investigation. Mills, who is a lawyer, did not hold a legal position at the State Department and should have been excluded from the interviews. Finally, Mills has continuing interests in the election of Hillary Clinton, a development that would place her at the very top of the government.

Of all of the individuals who would warrant immunity, most would view Mills as the very last on any list. If one assumes that there may have been criminal conduct, it is equivalent to immunizing H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman in the investigation of Watergate. Mills appears repeatedly at critical moments as one of the most senior figures making decisions or monitoring events, including being informed as Clinton chief of staff of the search for emails by the State Department in response to a Freedom of Information demand in 2012 (three years before the disclosure of Clinton’s use of a private email server). In such circumstances, immunity can amount to impunity. Immunity does not remove the threat of prosecution, but it certainly reduces that threat, while the value of defending prior benefactors or loyalties can remain. Given the overlapping immunity deals, many will now find it unsurprising that Comey did not find evidence of “intentional misconduct or indications of disloyalty . . . or efforts to obstruct justice.”

Comey removed the greatest threat that could have been used to get two underlings to implicate senior officials, and then gave immunity to the senior official most at risk of a charge. In the land of the immunized, the degree of cooperation can sometimes be as difficult to establish as the truth..

—

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Submitted by Ellen North on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 12:49am

It is indeed a good piece,

It is indeed a good piece, thanks! Appreciated the chance to read it.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by Ellen North on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 12:32am

Thanks, I'd read this when it

Thanks, I'd read this when it was recently posted and am very glad to see it being reposted, as it's an absolute must-read and threads on here vanish so quickly!

I would hope that Weiner wouldn't have a security clearance, but you just don't know anymore, do you? Maybe he had some top security microdots on that little thing he was flashing around? Or acid...

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by dkmich on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:12pm

I hope the GOP hangs her, Comey, Lynch and Obama.

I am so sick and tired of the liars and hypocrites that call themselves Democrats. Obama has done more damage to this country than George W. Bush and Cheney ever did. Yeah, they stole money and lied us into a war. Obama kept us in that war for 8 more fucking years. He looked forward on their war crimes and the banking fraud that devastated million of homeowners. The MF did absolutely nothing to help the mortgage holders and made GD sure not one banker went to jail. While his poor baby has to take a gap year for getting caught smoking a joint, he has given millions of people, mostly minorities, criminal records to keep them out of the jobs that the Democrats offshored. Hillary is the lesser of evil my ass. Yes, Trump is ignorant racist, liar, and opportunist; but he is the lesser of evil by a long shot. Give him 4 years in office and maybe he'll start to catch Hillary and the Democrats.

Bottomline Democrats destroyed this country, not the Republicans. I'm not saying the GOP wouldn't have done the same thing given the chance, but there is no way to alter the factor that it was Democrats in power and they made the mess we are in.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by Damnit Janet on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:15pm

Obama has watched people die and said nothing

More people went to jail over marijuana during his administration. More PATIENTS went to jail because a plant was helping them survive and Obama's minions made sure they died in prison.

Obama said and did nothing during OWS and the ever increase police brutality against any and all protesters... unless they were gun nut activists they got handled with kid gloves. Fucking gun nuts just burned Kate Brown's effigy on Salem's steps here in Oregon and they didn't get sprayed or arrested. Or beaten or shot.

Obamas seem to love GW more than they do the children and parents who are being blown away by the murderous pigs.

I hope his car never stalls in the road...

Biggest fucking hypocrite and backstabber to ever be in office.

—

"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:24pm

Great comments DK and Janet

He ran the biggest con on this country ever and with help from the Clinton when they created the DNC has destroyed what is left of the Democratic Party.
Remember how we used to think that after the Bush administration that the republicans would be down for decades? It only took them one election to win back the house. With a lot of help from DWS who gave Obama a congress that would block any of his progressive legislation and help him pass the treasonous TPP.

Submitted by duckpin on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:30pm

Thanks to Obama, over 900 seats in state legislatures turned

Republican in 2010. Biggest con job is right. Even the Nobel Peace Prize committee got suckered.

—

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:14pm

Ouch, do not like thumbs-up for such statements

but you have only spoken truth, a belief that our POTUS now ignores. I have already seen cartoons about car-stalling. Good thing he and fam will always have 24/7 protection. ...when does kid protection go away, is Amy Carter still getting SS protection? Never seen visibles around her parents, point of fact.

—

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Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 4:20pm

The whole thing looks really interesting when

you pretend there's no such thing as political parties.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:15pm

Only Punch and Judy shows?

Has it changed so little?

—

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Submitted by lizzyh7 on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:03pm

One quibble from me though

On the Repugnants. They set this agenda in place long ago. They drove this country into a ditch with their trickle down economics, hysteria over abortion and gays, hysteria over Terrorism, climate change denial and not only denial but their willful spread of outright lies that it doesn't exist. The Tea Party and it's idiocy over government and regulation, while driven by the Kochs, as been swallowed hole by Repugnants, to all our harm. The constant screaming over the decades about "Communism," "Socialism," "American Exceptionalism," their unmitigated and unreasonable hysteria over illegal immigration, all of it drove that Rump right to where he is today. No, they have no one but themselves to blame for their part in the destruction they've caused. Democrats have betrayed us and in many ways are indeed worse - at least the idiot Baggers are honest that they're ignorant bigots, while the slimy Democrat plays nice. But just because they show their true colors does not let them off the hook, IMHO. NEVER will I let them forget their part in this.

And they'll try to play hero right now with going after the Shill. They'll rail on about her corruption, and Obama's no doubt, but never acknowledge their part in how we got here. They are scum and it should never be forgotten.

—

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 7:01pm

At some point, it may be more helpful to look forward than

spend years and court-time, if we still believe there then, to revisit the past. I personally think (deeply!) that so many instigators were involved earlier, and that we have have no punitive "winner" occupiers, that along look back would not be allowed yet. And it is still going on.

We are not yet granted permission for long views back. Another pisser for me.

—

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Submitted by katchen on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:05pm

WaPo has an article on Mills today

It's worth reading. They note that Monday's debate briefly overshadowed the Mills immunity revelation, "but the week is still young."

The article expresses outrage over the fact that Mills was permitted to act as Clinton's attorney even though she was also a witness in the investigation:

The special treatment accorded Ms. Mills also reeks on a more fundamental level. As a rule, the Justice Department is aggressive about going after lawyers for any perceived conflict of interest. This would include, for example, a lawyer who wanted to represent different parties in a trial.

By giving Ms. Mills a pass to serve as Mrs. Clinton’s attorney in an investigation in which she was a material witness, Justice allowed her to shield her communications with Mrs. Clinton under attorney-client privilege. Indeed, Ms. Mills invoked that privilege during her own FBI interview.

Imagine Tom Hagen, the mob lawyer played by Robert Duvall in “The Godfather,” discussing with Don Corleone who was to get whacked—and then invoking the lawyer-client relationship to hush it up. Think of it this way and you begin to get the picture.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-secrets-of-cheryl-mills-1474932673

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:21pm

Looks like WSJ, not WaPo; WSJ turned the corner a few weeks ago

Not to pro-Trump but way more anti-Hillary. It does all reek. But the bots were so happy last night. Clearly the antibiotic is helping, it you believe that excuse. I do not have recent sick-as-hell vs all better of me, but wow.

—

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Submitted by katchen on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 5:27pm

oops, yes, you're right, it was the WSJ

and yes, she stood on her own two feet for an hour and a half and didn't cough or slurp water. It doesn't take much to make the bots happy.

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 6:28am

Washington Post and NYT seem to have exited the stage on this

story. It's like it doesn't exists anymore.

The people with the most regular news on this topic are all right wing: The National Review, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the Daily Caller. They must have all increased their readership with liberals/Dems who think this story is a big deal!

Aside from them, I look for David Sirotta stories on International Business Times, and the Intercept. Zero Hedge occasionally.

But anyway, this is the best I've found on the FBI Friday News Dump
12 Biggest Bombshells in the FBI's Investigation Notes
I think this guy on Daily Caller has been the best one to dive into the minutia and to call out conflicts and contradictions as they arise.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 7:19am

Hmmm. This one is interesting.

Clinton deleted 1,000 emails with Petraeus? That's a hell of a lot of official emails to disappear. Oh, wait! They're not disappeared, the DOD has a copy of them and told State in August about them. In September State gets a single chain of emails between Clinton and Petraeus from DOD.

So why didn't they get all of them? Who made that decision? Wouldn't they be part of the official record that State was toiling so diligently to put together? You know, why they asked for all official correspondence from all the former Secretaries in the first place? Or so they claimed.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by Ellen North on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 4:11pm

Thanks! Very interestinkt...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by Ellen North on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 1:56pm

Wow, thanks for the link!

If anyone hasn't gone to check katchen's link out yet, here's the bit just before her quote as enticement:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-secrets-of-cheryl-mills-1474932673

The Secrets of Cheryl Mills
If there was no evidence of criminal activity, why all the immunity?

By
William McGurn
Sept. 26, 2016 7:31 p.m. ET

... Now we learn about the multiple immunity deals. Immunity in exchange for information that will help make the case against higher-ups is not unusual. Even so, the Mills deal carries a special stink.

To begin with, Ms. Mills was pretty high up herself. As Mrs. Clinton’s chief of staff, she was in the thick of operations. In 2012, while working at State, she traveled to New York to interview candidates for a top job at the Clinton Foundation.

More disturbing still, not only was Ms. Mills granted immunity for the content on her laptop, she was permitted to act as Mrs. Clinton’s attorney even though she herself was also a witness in the investigation.

This was allowed in part because she told the FBI she knew nothing of Mrs. Clinton’s private server until after she’d left the State Department. But this claim is suspect and contradicted by emails that have since emerged. These include one to Huma Abedin asking, “hrc email coming back—is server ok?” ...

ANOTHER DETAILED MUST-READ IN FULL AT SOURCE: snippets of examples below.

Link in comments regarding above article leading to:

http://www.wnd.com/2016/07/comey-has-long-history-of-clinton-related-cases/

WND EXCLUSIVE
Comey has long history of cases ending favorable to Clintons
In Berger probe said 'we take issues of classified information very seriously'
Published: 07/07/2016

Jerome R. Corsi

...Curiously, Berger, Lynch and Cheryl Mills all worked as partners in the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson, which prepared tax returns for the Clintons and did patent work for a software firm that played a role in the private email server Hillary Clinton used when she was secretary of state.
Lynch and Comey both served as U.S. attorney in New York, Lynch for the Eastern District of New York, and Comey for the Southern District of New York. They crossed paths in the investigation of HSBC bank, which avoided criminal charges in a massive money-laundering scandal for which the bank paid a $1.9 billion fine. ...

... Messages found stored on Clinton’s private email server show that Berger – a convicted thief of classified documents – had been advising Clinton while she served as secretary of state and had access to emails containing classified information. ...

... The staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee focused on Cruz’s allegations that Lynch, acting then in her capacity as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, engaged in a Department of Justice cover-up. Obama’s attorney general nominee allowed HSBC in December 2011 to enter into a “deferred prosecution” settlement in which the bank agreed to pay a $1.9 billion fine and admit “willful criminal conduct” in exchange for dropping criminal investigations and prosecutions of HSBC directors or employees.
Cruz called the $1.92 billion fine the U.S. government imposed on HSBC “a joke” and filed a $10 million lawsuit for “retaliation and wrongful termination.”
From 2002 to 2003, Comey held the position of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the same position held by Lynch.
On March 4, 2013, he joined the HSBC board of directors, agreeing to serve as an independent non-executive director and a member of the bank’s Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee, positions he held until he resigned on Aug. 3, 2013, to become head of the FBI. ...

And comments from this, copied below, point to other potential issues and a link I have yet to follow, (have stuff to do) in case anyone is interested:

Esau's Message • 3 months ago

You never mention throughout the article who was responsible for the leak. It was that fat, anile, old gossip Richard Armitage, deputy to Colin Powell, who acted as Novak's source. Fitzgerald knew this fact before he charged Libby and he continued to pursue Libby even after it became an open secret in Washington. Moreover, Comey knew. Fitzgerald engaged in grossly unethical prosecutorial behavior and should have been fired, not only as special counsel but also as US Attorney. ...

...
Mark Snow • 3 months ago

You didn't go back far enough....

And the guy heading that Whitewater ‘investigation’ into the Clintons… ????

FBI Director James Comey’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private,
unsecured email server does not mark the first time that he has investigated
the presidential candidate for alleged wrongdoing.

Time reports that 20 years ago, Comey was a deputy special
counsel on the Senate Whitewater Committee, looking into the conduct of
then President Bill Clinton and the first lady. The inquiry focused on whether
Bill had used his political position as governor of Arkansas in the 1980s to
push through an illegal loan to benefit the couple’s business partner in the
Whitewater [real estate] Development Corporation.

Several people involved with the Whitewater corporation (including Clinton’s
successor as governor) ultimately went to jail, but the Clintons never faced
criminal prosecution. The issue of their involvement none-the-less lingered as
Bill Clinton ran and was elected president.

http://www.westernjournalism.c...

...

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by edg on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 6:16pm

The key word: classification

classification
noun
1. the act of classifying

Note that the question was about classified data while the wiggle-room answer can be read as referring to the act of classifying itself, not the handling of data after it has been classified.

Sounds very Clintonian.

Submitted by neoconned on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 6:33pm

Comey has been neutered.

There is no hope for him acting for the good of the nation. He wants to live to retire.

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Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.

Submitted by Bollox Ref on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 6:41pm

Nation of men, not of the Law.

Sad.

But then again, there are very few brave enough to have the Law as their only companion.

When he's pondering stuff during retirement in some Chesapeake compound..... hopefully he'll realize that the name Comey means 'mud'.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 09/27/2016 - 7:08pm

I, as a lowly citizen, have many reasons already to doubt

the Law I thought to be for me. Times over 300 million.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 8:20am

Comey hearing on now and fireworks already starting!

Nicey nice send-off to long term employee and then onto Chairman Goodlatte who is really lighting into Comey. Gloves are off! Comey is not getting comity in this go round.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by Phoebe Loosinhouse on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 8:29am

Ok, gameplan is being laid out.

FYI, the FBI Director appears on a regular basis to this Committee, this isn't any special hearing or anything. He's supposed to keep them up to snuff on pressing police and terrorism issues, etc.

Republican Goodlatte opens with long list of obvious security breachs with Clinton's email

Conyers opens with talking about terorism, and Russia and Trumps potential connection to Russia and Russians and how Republicans want to investigate the investigators

We have our two parallel tracks.

—

" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Submitted by katchen on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 9:30am

I'm watching it now,

got started a little late. This should maybe be an essay of its own?

Chairman of the Committee, Goodlatte, immediately began with the fact that the POTUS was communicating on Clinton's private server under a pseudonym.

People can start watching from the beginning here:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?415887-1/fbi-director-james-comey-testifie...

Submitted by TJ on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 8:46am

Comey's probably just following orders.

Submitted by Steven D on Wed, 09/28/2016 - 9:11am

The FBI Director is technically

an independent non-partisan as he or she is appointed for a ten year term and cannot be replaced by any new administration absent evidence of crimes or abuse of office.

But yes, at some point he was reined in in some fashion. How this was accomplished is open to speculation at this point but this "investigation" was clearly set up to fail (assuming the goal was to indict) with those immunity deals.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott