The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has discovered that edits made to former FBI Director James Comey's statement exonerating Hillary Clinton for transmitting classified info over an unsecured, private email server went far beyond what was previously known, as detailed in a Thursday letter from committee chairman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok
The letter reveals specific edits made by senior FBI agents when Deputy Director Andrew McCabe exchanged drafts of Comey's statement with senior FBI officials, including Peter Strzok, Strzok's direct supervisor, E.W. "Bill" Priestap, Jonathan Moffa, and an unnamed employee from the Office of General Counsel (identified by Newsweek as DOJ Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson) - in what was a coordinated conspiracy among top FBI brass to decriminalize Clinton's conduct by changing legal terms and phrases, omitting key information, and minimizing the role of the Intelligence Community in the email investigation. Doing so virtually assured that then-candidate Hillary Clinton would not be prosecuted.
Heather Samuelson and Heather Mills
Also mentioned in the letter are the immunity agreements granted by the FBI in June 2016 to top Obama advisor Cheryl Mills and aide Heather Samuelson - who helped decide which Clinton emails were destroyed before turning over the remaining 30,000 records to the State Department. Of note, the FBI agreed to destroy evidence on devices owned by Mills and Samuelson which were turned over in the investigation.
Sen. Johnson's letter reads:
According to documents produced by the FBI, FBI employees exchanged proposed edits to the draft statement. On May 6, Deputy Director McCabe forwarded the draft statement to other senior FBI employees, including Peter Strzok, E.W. Priestap, Jonathan Moffa, and an employee on the Office of General Counsel whose name has been redacted. While the precise dates of the edits and identities of the editors are not apparent from the documents, the edits appear to change the tone and substance of Director Comey's statement in at least three respects.
It was already known that Strzok - who was demoted to the FBI's HR department after anti-Trump text messages to his mistress were uncovered by an internal FBI watchdog - was responsible for downgrading the language regarding Clinton's conduct from the criminal charge of "gross negligence" to "extremely careless."
"Gross negligence" is a legal term of art in criminal law often associated with recklessness. According to Black's Law Dictionary, gross negligence is “A severe degree of negligence taken as reckless disregard," and "Blatant indifference to one's legal duty, other's safety, or their rights.” "Extremely careless," on the other hand, is not a legal term of art.
According to an Attorney briefed on the matter, "extremely careless" is in fact a defense to "gross negligence": "What my client did was 'careless', maybe even 'extremely careless,' but it was not 'gross negligence' your honor." The FBI would have no option but to recommend prosecution if the phrase "gross negligence" had been left in.
18 U.S. Code § 793 "Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information" specifically uses the phrase "gross negligence." Had Comey used the phrase, he would have essentially declared that Hillary had broken the law.
Also removed from Comey's statement were all references to the Intelligence Community's involvement in investigating Clinton's private email server.
Director Comey's original statement acknowledged the FBI had worked with its partners in the Intelligence Community to assess potential damage from Secretary Clinton's use of a private email server. The original statement read:
[W]e have done extensive work with the assistance of our colleagues elsewhere in the Intelligence Community to understand what indications there might be of compromise by hostile actors in connection with the private email operation.
The edited version removed the references to the intelligence community:
[W]e have done extensive work [removed] to understand what indications there might be of compromise by hostile actors in connection with the personal e-mail operation.
Furthermore, the FBI edited Comey's statement to downgrade the probability that Clinton's server was hacked by hostile actors, changing their language from "reasonably likely" to "possible" - an edit which eliminated yet another justification for the phrase "Gross negligence." To put it another way, "reasonably likely" means the probability of a hack due to Clinton's negligence is above 50 percent, whereas the hack simply being "possible" is any probability above zero.
It's also possible that the FBI, which was not allowed to inspect the DNC servers, was uncomfortable standing behind the conclusion of Russian hacking reached by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
The original draft read:
Given the combination of factors, we assess it is reasonably likely that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's private email account."
The edited version from Director Comey's July 5 statement read:
Given that combination of factors, we assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account.
Johnson's letter also questions an "insurance policy" referenced in a text message sent by demoted FBI investigator Peter Strzok to his mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page, which read "I want to believe the path you threw out to consideration in Andy's office -- that there's no way he gets elected -- but I'm afraid we can't take that risk." It's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you're 40...."
One wonders if the "insurance policy" Strzok sent to Page on August 15, 2016 was in reference to the original counterintelligence operation launched against Trump of which Strzok became the lead investigator in "late July" 2016? Of note, Strzok reported directly to Bill Priestap - the director of Counterintelligence, who told James Comey not to inform congress that the FBI had launched a counterintelligence operation against then-candidate Trump, per Comey's March 20th testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. (h/t @TheLastRefuge2)
Transcript, James Comey Testimony to House Intel Committee, March 20, 2016
The letter from the Senate Committee concludes; "the edits to Director Comey's public statement, made months prior to the conclusion of the FBI's investigation of Secretary Clinton's conduct, had a significant impact on the FBI's public evaluation of the implications of her actions. This effort, seen in the light of the personal animus toward then-candidate Trump by senior FBI agents leading the Clinton investigation and their apparent desire to create an "insurance policy" against Mr. Trump's election, raise profound questions about the FBI's role and possible interference in the 2016y presidential election and the role of the same agents in Special Counsel Mueller's investigation of President Trump."
Johnson then asks the FBI to answer six questions:
- Please provide the names of the Department of Justice (DOJ) employees who comprised the "mid-year review team" during the FBI's investigation of Secretary Clinton's use of a private email server.
- Please identify all FBI, DOJ, or other federal employees who edited or reviewed Director Comey's July 5, 2016 statement. Please identify which individual made the marked changes in the documents produced to the Committee.
- Please identify which FBI employee repeatedly changed the language in the final draft statement that described Secretary Clinton's behavior as "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless." What evidence supported these changes?
- Please identify which FBI employee edited the draft statement to remove the reference to the Intelligence Community. On what basis was this change made?
- Please identify which FBI employee edited the draft statement to downgrade the FBI's assessment that it was "reasonably likely" that hostile actors had gained access to Secretary Clinton's private email account to merely that than [sic] intrusion was "possible." What evidence supported these changes?
- Please provide unredacted copies of the drafts of Director Comey's statement, including comment bubbles, and explain the basis for the redactions produced to date.
We are increasingly faced with the fact that the FBI's top ranks have been filled with political ideologues who helped Hillary Clinton while pursuing the Russian influence narrative against Trump (perhaps as the "insurance" Strzok spoke of). Meanwhile, "hands off" recused Attorney General Jeff Sessions and assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein don't seem very excited to explore the issues with a second Special Counsel. As such, we are now almost entirely reliant on the various Committees of congress to pursue justice in this matter. Perhaps when their investigations have concluded, President Trump will feel he has the political and legal ammunition to truly clean house at the nation's swampiest agencies.
What did Obozo know and when did he know it
False Flag time - distraction needed ASAP
We need to look for this as there are a LOT of people who need to be indicted and boobus americanus needs distraction.
My concern is that there are not enough non-corrupts there to handle and process the swamp as Trump did not fire and replace them 10 months ago.
I wonder how high will this little game go...
That obongo of all crooks is involved is a sure fact, but I'd like to see how many remaining defenders of the cause are still motivated to lose everything for this thing...
In other terms, what are the defection rates in the dem party, because now this must be an avalanche.
These people who work at the Fraud Bureau of Investigation should all be shackled and thrown in jail and have the keys thrown. Rampant in America today and only the public gets the shaft for their deceptions.
Mills is one ugly wookie
Deep State / Shadow Govt in full Drag ~
PS... I saw no mention of anything on MSM Thus Far ...
Lets solve this by letting the FBI investigate the FBI!
No, CIA, no, NSA, no, no, no, political hack whitewash by the MSM for public consumption!
walstreetpro2 might have to make a comeback after this.
applied judeo-bolshevism
I am tired of this shit. Aren’t you?
Please, EVERYONE with a Twitter account send this message Every Day (tell your friends on facebook):
Mr. President, the time to purge the Obama-Clinton holdovers has long passed. Please get rid of them at once. Make your base happy. Fire 100+ from DOJ - State - FBI. Hire William K. Black as Special Prosecutor
send it to:
@realDonaldTrump
@PressSec
@KellyannePolls
@WhiteHouse
Does anybody know how to start an online petition?
Let’s make some NOISE!!
What's next? The FBI had Seth Rich killed? Is that why Sessions and everyone else appears paralyzed? How deep does this rabbit hole go?
I'm sure that Chaffets and Gowdy will hand down some very stern reprimands.
I have - it’s was NBC Nightly News - they spent time on the damning emails from Strozk. Maybe 2-3 minutes. Normal news segment time. Surprised the hell out of me.
Very sordid group of anti-Americans.
FBI Edits To Clinton Exoneration Go Far Beyond What Was Previously Known; Comey, McCabe, Strzok Implicated
My response: I have another name for these guys that should be used: "THE THREE STOOGES"
Isn't it funny how anyone associated with the CLINTON CRIME SYNDICATE eventually has their lives ruined.
I am convinced that BILL and HILLARY CLINTON are a CURSE SENT FROM GOD to punish the unrighteous, lying despots with reprobate minds.
The Three Stooges will not criminally inclined. These people are not only criminals but seditious individuals.
LOCK HER UP.
Thank you for doing the job that I haven't got the stomach for doing.
MSM knows this and will report it years from now, Just like weapons to Syria ending up in ISIS hands! Now that regime change isn't an option, the truth can be told. What a f..cking farce!
Leave Wookie's out of this
The FBI is so completely out of control. J Edgar would’ve creamed his panties if he knew what his agency would become.
Can you imagine Comey in high heals and a frilly dress?
Can you imagine Comey in high heals and a frilly dress?
Howsabout red shoes?
https://spidercatweb.blog/2017/04/10/red-shoes-pedo-paedo/
Make that a BLUE dress.
Comey is more of a Howdy-Doody type fella.
Are you really so uninformed and dumb that you don’t realize Mary Hoover was as big a scum bag as these fuckers.
mueller?
...Mueller??
........MUELLER????
Think of what you said. You think someone like Dick Blumenthal will do an about face? I think never as they are not libs. They are cult commies.
He will not but the Democrats from more conservative than blue-collar areas. These guys could change their minds.
It will just be peons, including peons whose earned-only income is insufficient to cover their rent.
Hillary is at the tippy top of the Mom/Grandma Working Mom Protection Racket, which is 100% above criticism in America's workplaces, even for things like grossly brazen absenteeism and brutal non-sexual harassment.
Hillary’s womb is too old, and in addition, she is paid so much for whatever she does that, unlike the moms whose low wages are boosted by monthly welfare that covers their rent and groceries and child tax credits up to $6,444, she does not enjoy the economic type of womb-based favoritism.
That does not mean that Grandma Hillary’s workplace sins are not absolved due to her womb productivity in past decades.....due to her lifetime membership in the Working Mom Protection Racket.
The single, childless, 25-year-old 1099 contractor / temp worker who leaked classified information, Reality Winner, is female, but falls outside of the womb-based protection racket of working moms. Many women in different age and social categories are not covered by the strong arm of the corrupt and verbally brass-knuckled Union of Working Moms (UWM).
Love him or hate him, if this isn’t another example of winning I don’t know what is... Trump is fucking killing these guys and opening the windows on their destruction of the country every day. You’d think they’d learn not to keep poking him but they’re too blind with hatred and resentment. #winning
They have to beat Trump otherwise all the work they have put in over 100 years might be for naught.
Having a true outsider as POTUS is the worst nightmare for the communist apparatchiks seeded all throughout the US government. When the names start getting dropped and the guillotines erected they will all go down.
It's fight or be killed, and they will fight with everything they got.
I doubt this is Trump's doing. It is more likely that patriotic members of the deep state are the ones providing this information. There are plenty of people who are career oriented individuals within the government who must have been sick with disgust over what has happened.
They saw it but could not do anything about it but feed bits of information to WikiLeaks, Alex Jones and others on the fringes.
They probability leaked it to big name reporters in major outlets also, but that just got burried most of the time.
Will a war do?
In 4..3..2..
The humor of your question is: Did/does that TOOL know anything about anything, after proving that without his teleprompter he is a blathering idiot.
Pick any or all.
https://www.opm.gov/about-us/our-people-organization/office-of-the-gener...
https://www.opm.gov/about-us/our-people-organization/senior-staff-bios/
Anyone else ready to meet up with the Rope and Tree?
Indeed, but does our society still have the fortitude to do this?
It looks like the Don doesn't do much but this kind of result shows he's absolutely not the imbecile the media tried to force feed the general idiotic public.
Now, is the "deep story" of the other chick in relation with this?
Why hasn't he locked Hitlery up yet. He is way behind the curve. Now it looks like half the FBI "leadership" needst to be jailed. And WHY hasn't he fired that do-nothing Sessions?
wait a bit more, dont be so impatient little scarabee
No Deplorable ever thought he was anything but smart; we got the joke. All we can conclude is that the MSM is humorless. But we are disappointed in the lack of movement on the main thing we voted for: an end to welfare-boosted illegal immigration and a drastic reduction in welfare-buttressed legal immigration, replacing it with a limited, merit-based system.
All fuses are shorted, or close to every single last one of them
I'd start with anyone who's married to or having an affair with someone in the FBI.
And why would that person's name be redacted in the first place?
Weak links. Probably unhappy and can be cracked. Yes.
Sorry, just re-read and see she has been named as:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/fashion/weddings/trisha-anderson-charl...
who's husband was on the NSC
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:C0rbx2ui4ZcJ:https...
and as the article states, the husband is going to be working again with a guy who just so happened to be:
Prior to assuming his role in the NSD, Mr. Carlin served as Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel to Robert S. Mueller, III, former
https://www.mofo.com/people/john-carlin.html
Wondering if Newmann's name would be found on some unmasking requests or he's gotten some texts from Strok/Page.
Add on other types of un-professionalism, like moms hiring / retaining their fellow moms, based on empathy with their personal lives, things like this woman [needs] a safe, high-paying government job. Because, though her husband is making six figures in a less-safe job in the private sector, they are about to have a baby, whereupon the fellow mom will miss a lot of work, and, if it is anything like other government and private-sector office jobs, the pregnancy leave will be added to mornings, afternoons, days and weeks of excused absenteeism for kids on top of PTO, just like the excused absenteeism overlooked for all of the other moms, including a large number of the highly paid crony-parent managers.
No, he just heard about it on the news like we all did.