If some in the general public were outraged, so were some in the FBI.
This week, FBI Director James Comey testified that Hillary Clinton and her aides had compromised classified information in an extremely careless fashion, exposed it to hostile adversaries, violated public records law, destroyed public documents (some permanently, so that they cannot be forensically recovered) and that Clinton made repeated false statements in public about her actions. But, he concluded, no charges should be filed. Clinton apparently told the FBI she didn’t understand classified markings and all the technology at issue, and that she didn’t know she was doing anything wrong. And the FBI takes her at her word.
Comey is well-respected by politicians in both political parties and by many within his own ranks. But there is new dissent after his Clinton decision, which some FBI insiders found baffling and contrary to normal practices.
[quote]”Many people at the FBI are outraged, but cannot speak out,” one insider told me.[/quote]
Here are some of the observations by FBI professionals who wish to remain anonymous because their opinions could affect their job prospects:
- Why wasn’t Clinton’s interview recorded? On May 22, 2014 the Justice Department announced a substantial change in policy “creating a presumption that FBI…agents will electronically record,” expressing a preference for video recordings over audio. “It appears to me they made a deal not to record,” says one observer, which flies in the face of the idea that Clinton was treated like anybody else.
- Typically it’s the U.S. Attorney’s office, not FBI agents, deciding whether charges will be filed. “Director Comey seems to have taken on responsibilities far beyond the FBI’s purview–he assumed the duties of the Agent, US Attorney and Grand Jury.”
- “It appears no Grand Jury was empaneled for this investigation,” says an insider. “This is absurd, Grand Juries are used in nearly all criminal investigations” and that’s where the decision is made as to whether the standard for charges has been met. (Attkisson Note: I have no information on whether or not a Grand Jury was empaneled)
- A two-day turnaround between the interview with the target and a decision not to prosecute is “unheard of.” “Even in the most straightforward of cases, the time span between a target interview and prosecution opinion takes weeks, not days. If a good interview were conducted [with Clinton] on Saturday, there would have been leads or other new pieces of information to verify or investigate prior to any conclusion to the case.”
- During his Congressional testimony, Comey indicated he didn’t look into Clinton’s false statements. He said he needed an additional “referral” or formal request for the FBI to investigate whether she committed perjury under oath to Congress. “This makes no sense,” said a career agent. “It is normal practice that if you came upon evidence of a crime different than the one you were originally investigating, it was fair game.”
- The Director commented that it wouldn’t be fair to charge Clinton for her reckless behavior because no one else had ever been charged by the standard before. “I am not aware of any investigation where a government official went to such extreme measures to comb through the government records,” said a career FBI professional.
Read FBI Director Comey’s statement on Hillary Clinton case
The similarities of corruption regarding this story and the Lance Armstrong case are eerie. Surrounded by surrogates/lawyers to stifle any criticism, plenty of money to hush would-be tattletales, investigations that have all the evidence but go nowhere, hiding behind a foundation (although I am not suggesting Livestrong is itself corrupt), friendly press who just don’t want to admit there is a “there” there, the outright denials that proved to be true.
The only thing missing here is a “Floyd Landis” who has had enough and willing to testify. Brian Pagliano was supposed to be that person. Someone got to him. If you have Netflix, watch “Stop at Nothing” and see how Stephanie McIlvain bowed to the pressure. Also read “Cycle of Lies” by Juliet Macur. ..see the Big Short, etc. If we can believe the corruption happened in those stories, why not this one?
This is a big middle finger to the public. Is the media cover just too great?
Comey is well-respected by politicians in both political parties – Not any more! He just made himself part of problem instead part of solution. When you let a criminal walk then you become a criminal.
“It is better to live one day as a lion than 1000 days as a sheep”. I think that the American public would have had the utmost of respect for Director Comey had the “criminal” investigation of Hillary Clinton been done ethically, completely and in an unbiased fashion. The FBI should have followed the leads and let the investigation go wherever it led. Having had been in law enforcement for 33 years, I will tell you that this investigation did not pass the smell test. Your short analysis (above) provides some of the salient markers of a poor investigation. I do believe that the Director was twisting in the wind. I also truly believe that he is an honorable man, but if he was being forced to sign-off on a bastardized investigation, I would have expected his dignified resignation in lieu of being a part of the dog and pony show. How humiliating; for him and for the citizens of the United States. He will forever be known as the Garo Yeppremian of law enforcement. He tried to pass off a stinker after he muffed the punt. Also, thank you very much for your continued intuitive reporting. Your work is outstanding.
Also – why does everyone ignore the high likelihood there were a lot more things on those servers than just mishandled emails regarding the country.
IE – Follow the Money. The Clinton Crime Syndicate .. the library… the connection between money and those mails…
Or just other deals done which have been in the dubious caterogory spotlight for years.
Whitewater, Rosewater, Vince Foster, The Clinton Library, Tyson Foods, etc. etc.
To assume this was was all created by ‘carelessness’ on the part of Hillary is what is really getting to everyone. she has publicly demonstrated she is anything BUT careless.
Again… we’re standing on a hill in ancient Rome, the Senate is throwing a party for themselves… the food, the girls, the money… and the rest of Rome lives aware of how good it is to be in the Emporer’s good graces…
Will it take the US a thousand years to recover?