Congressional Oversight Committee Asks About Possible Obstruction of Justice

Aha! Part of this is regarding the redacted name(s) of the Platte River Networks tech and the "Oh Shit" moment!

From The Hill

FBI refused to brief Oversight committee on Clinton report

House Oversight Republicans asked officials from the FBI and three other agencies for a classified briefing on Wednesday regarding redactions in the report on Hillary Clinton’s email server -- but were denied. In response to the refusal, the committee has now scheduled a hearing for Monday morning at which the same four agencies -- the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Departments of Justice and State -- will be asked testify.

Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) on Tuesday asked a federal prosecutor to investigate whether Clinton or her aides were involved in the deletion, which occurred a few weeks after The New York Times publicly revealed Clinton’s exclusive use of the server during her time helming the State Department and after the House Benghazi Committee had issued a subpoena for records relating to the attack on the Libyan outpost.

They are objecting to too much information being redacted, including the names of senders and recipients of emails. The specifically reference the PRN tech.

We get more specifics from a previous post in The Hill:

Oversight chairman asks FBI to investigate Clinton role in deleted email archive

In a timeline of events pulled from the FBI report, Chaffetz noted a conference call between Clinton’s lawyers and the engineer who maintained the server. The call took place less than a week prior to the deletion of the email archive, and the engineer refused to answer questions about the contents, according to the FBI.

Here's the Press Release:

CHAIRMAN CHAFFETZ REQUESTS REVIEW FOR OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN CLINTON EMAIL CASE

Links to the full letters at in the press release at the link.

Letters were sent to:
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC)

“In reviewing those files, the Committee identified a sequence of events that may amount to obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence by Secretary Clinton and her employees and contractors, including her attorneys, employees of Platte River Networks, and employees of Clinton Executive Services Corporation.

“In light of this information, the Department should investigate and determine whether Secretary Clinton or her employees and contractors violated statutes that prohibit destruction of records, obstruction of congressional inquiries, and concealment or cover up of evidence material to a congressional investigation.”

Platte River Networks

“In brief, the summaries of the FBI’s interviews with a PRN engineer show that within days of a conference call with Secretary Clinton’s lawyers, the engineer deleted archives of Secretary Clinton’s emails, despite knowing those records were covered by preservation orders and a subpoena from Congress.

“The sequence of events leading up to the destruction of Secretary Clinton’s emails… raises questions about whether Secretary Clinton, acting through her attorneys, instructed PRN to destroy records relevant to the then-ongoing congressional investigations.”

I've been wondering if the redacted name from PRN means that Kendall and Mills are being investigated.
Interesting development. I suspect that we may be experiencing the hottest September on record.

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Hillbilly Dem's picture

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"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey

MsGrin's picture

I am simply pleased at the pushback on the sweeping under the rug of the shortcuts (and what I believe to be actual crimes) of the folks who are parading about as victors. If we're going down, we'll do so swinging...

I have to say that it's been interesting to watch folks I've considered to be enormously partisan being champions of compelling and democracy-saving ideals. Oddly, it's been restoring some of my faith in the world. Not sure that will persist, but it's calming somehow in the wake of all the garbage.

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

jwa13's picture

When we applaud Chaffetz et al. (as I do, BTW) for insisting that transparency, honesty, and justice in government must be upheld, we truly seem to have gone "Through the Looking Glass ..."

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

MsGrin's picture

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

riverlover's picture

contained old SoS records. The other Clinton server(s) holding that time were deleted of emails, and somewhere along the line someone aid that the President's IT staff had said to overwrite. That is Bill? Because, remember the server for Hill as SoS was also the one used by the various Bill Clinton Foundation mess. Something on the FB page, I am getting brain-weary now. I'll see if there has been more speculation about this.

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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.

for posting them here!

Unless intensified denial and obstruction prevents Congress fro exposing those names this exposure of chain-of-command (or is it 'chain-of-agency'?) sure looks like it could be the 'smoking gun.'

Note to self: Buy popcorn before Tuesday.

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WaterLily's picture

But what's Tuesday?

(I may have missed something over the long weekend, as I wasn't online at all).

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WaterLily's picture

Deadline for State in JW suit. Smile

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Corrected not to self: Buy popcorn before Monday, when the new testimony is planned.

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MsGrin's picture

I remember that there were email exchanges there saying someone was concerned about a coverup when they were directed to delete her emails (note to self: go looking for a link). He was clearly being pressured by some high-powered folks. It's always been something of a mystery about why PRN was chosen to begin with (or maybe it's obvious) - they did not have security clearance to be dealing with classified information from what I've seen. And they were a tiny agency, working out of a guy's apartment at first, I think. Seems a non-obvious choice for the service needed. Or maybe it was seen as a shop where they could get all demands met without question.

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

MsGrin's picture

From Politico

Employee at Clinton's email hosting company feared a cover-up

“Any chance you found an old email with their directive to cut the backup back in Oct-Feb,” one Platte River employee asked another, according to excerpts of the emails included in a Monday letter from Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “I know they had you cut it once in Oct-Nov, then again to 30day in Feb-ish.”

Such a record, the employee said, would be “golden," and would clear the company of outside criticism and point back to Clinton Executive Service Corp., which “appears to be a Clinton family company,” according to the Johnson letter.

“Starting to think this whole thing really is covering up some shaddy shit,” the employee continued. “I just think if we have it in writing that they told us to cut the backups, and we can go public saying we have had backups since day one, then we were told to trim to 30 days, it would make us look a WHOLE LOT better.”

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

1) h/t WoTB. Scripps News has been digging into the Clinton Foundation & Health Initiative filings with NY. Seems that their NY filings are not compliant wrt listing foreign contributions.

Scripps is raising the question why the AG hasn't gotten on the foundation' s & health initiatives case. Could it be because he's on Hillary's leadership council?

http://www.newsnet5.com/longform/exclusive-clinton-charities-ignore-law-...

2) seems judicial watch got the previously omitted Benghazi emails today. Frankly, I can't make sense of their statement, but whatever. The emails just keep coming. http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-st...

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MsGrin's picture

I do not understand why they are excited about what got released today...

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

WaterLily's picture

And also could not make heads nor tails of it.

Could it be something to do with the fact that State said they'd found/released all Benghazi-related emails, and then this latest document related to Benghazi?

Thin, but it's the only thing I could even remotely "see."

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MsGrin's picture

...but maybe I'm confusing that with this issue. There are simply too many moving parts all up in the air!

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

Citizen Of Earth's picture

that the new release contains previously redacted metadata (meaning I assume sender, receiver and cc list). So now deniability becomes much harder for anyone testifying about what they knew and when.

PS. Great posting. This could be our Oct surprise just in time to ask Hellery questions at the debates.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

MsGrin's picture

of getting Bernie onto the ballot. My fingers are crossed.

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

gulfgal98's picture

You are doing a great job sifting through all of this information and connecting the dots for us. Thank you!

To be honest, I am totally shocked that not one person has been charged with a crime. Destruction of evidence would be a good start.

Yes, I keep hearing that bringing down the Clintons may bring down the government. If that is the case, then the government should be brought down. A thoroughly corrupted government is no government at all.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

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

MsGrin's picture

Bernie, we need you!

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

We can survive weeding out the Clinton gang too.

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Otherwise we could have a Clinton centered Tammany Hall situation for our remaining years until climate change and economic stratification get the best of us.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

One of the military questioners last night mentioned "your hawkishness" in a question. She looked bad, angry, defensive, and indignant. Trump came across much better, more reasonable and future-focused.

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riverlover's picture

Root them out somewhere and they pop up someplace else.

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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.

Often mistakenly attributed to Jefferson, it was definitely used by abolitionist Wendell Phillips in 1852.

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten. The living sap of today outgrows the dead rind of yesterday. The hand entrusted with power becomes, either form human depravity or esprit de corps, the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continued oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot; only by unintermitted agitation can a people be sufficiently awake to principle not to let liberty be smothered in material prosperity.”

Wow. Talk about relevant today.

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riverlover's picture

The living sap of today outgrows the dead rind of yesterday.

If only we could seal off the rotting inside and grow out.

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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.

Comey sent an email to FBI employees today, addressing the failure to indict & the Friday night news dump.

1) says the decision not to indict wasn't even close.

2) says they released info when it was ready. And there is more info Being processed for release.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/07/politics/james-comey-hillary-clinton-email...

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MsGrin's picture

The interview, especially. Excellent tapdance side-stepping...

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

Bollox Ref's picture

1) says the decision not to indict wasn't even close.

These guys know which side of their bread is buttered.

Not prepared to indict more like........... despite the evidence.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

tapu dali's picture

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There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

he wouldn't have had to write the memo.

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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?