Trump is in office-- thank God!-- and a lot of the corruption of the Deep State (but still probably less than half) has been exposed. However, this is still very much an ongoing tug 'o war. The fight is not over, it's just starting.

We need somebody heading the DOJ who is strong and committed to American principles of justice. As I see it, that is absolutely critical. Sessions might be a swamp creature, or he might just be-- and this is my opinion-- a timid and weak little man. But, in any case, he is the wrong man for the job, and Trump needs to get his ass out of there asap.

The FBI is beyond repair. (Where are all the "good" rank and file agents lining up to tell what they know about this horror show? Where are the mass resignations?) Burn it down and start over.

Manafort is in jail. Roger Stone and a whole bunch of other Trump supporters are being intimidated and bankrupted. Rosenstein threatens Republican staffers. Mueller continues his witch hunt of Trump. This is all going on right now in the tug 'o war.

Comey goes to Iowa and drops broad hints that he will run for POTUS in 2020. This asshole who should be in an orange jump suit!

It's his way of telling Trump-- and all of us-- that he still thinks his side is going to win this struggle.

quote:

morphed into 'criminal' just due to being investigated?

I think it is even worse than that.

What is being revealed piece by piece is an organized multi-federal agency conspiracy to frame Donald Trump and then attempt to impeach him.

Maybe at the beginning they figured that with a) Donald Trump's 50 year history in NY and world wide real estate, b) his well known romantic adventures, and c) his lack of experience at top level politics, that it would be easy to catch him in lots of things to indict him.

It is pretty impressive that with investigations going on that have spent tens of millions of dollars that he has come up so clean.

I want an honest FBI that we can trust. I am angry at Christopher Wray because he thinks keeping up FBI morale is his top priority. His top priority should be rebuilding the trust between the people of the U.S. and the FBI.

That means holding bad actors accountable.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:


I want an honest FBI that we can trust.

Where did you acquire this taste for luxuries?

Despite the herculean efforts of J. Edgar, Efraim Zimbalist, Jr. and other story tellers, like so many human institutions, the devil is in the details. There are enough stories out there of corruption, infidelity, incompetence and similar to suggest that we have never had “an honest FBI that we can trust.”. We just paid attention to the tv shows, press releases and the tradition of not revealing much about what they are doing unless and until they want to.

In addition to the Boston debacle overseen by Mueller early in his career, look into the antics perpetrsted by FBI/DOJ personnel in the persecution of Senator Ted Stephens of Alaska in 2008, and the conduct of Associate Special Counsel Weissman and his accomplices in the Enron cases. There are many more, I am confident.

There is nothing at all "usual" about what has been uncovered.

As sdy put it: "What is being revealed piece by piece is an organized multi-federal agency conspiracy to frame Donald Trump and then attempt to impeach him."

In other words, a well-organized effort involving powerful federal government agencies to effect a coup d' etat. I don't care how worldly-wise and seen-it-all anyone might be-- that is pretty damn shocking.

You have to go all the way back to 1860 to find a time as life-or-death serious as the crisis we are in the middle of right now.

quote:

Where did you acquire this taste for luxuries?

Probably read too many stories of the founding fathers.

Holding onto our freedoms and keeping our govt agencies honest and fair is a never ending chore.

As justjoe said above, this anti-President Trump movement is of a scale and consequence more sinister than anything I can remember. The end of this story hasn't been written yet.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

switching topic a bit

anybody buying this:

"Strzok told the OIG that he did not take any steps to try to affect the outcome of the presidential election, in either the Midyear investigation or the Russia investigation"

And if he had "actually wanted to prevent Trump from being elected" he would have gone public with the investigation.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
There is nothing at all "usual" about what has been uncovered.

As sdy put it: "What is being revealed piece by piece is an organized multi-federal agency conspiracy to frame Donald Trump and then attempt to impeach him."

In other words, a well-organized effort involving powerful federal government agencies to effect a coup d' etat. I don't care how worldly-wise and seen-it-all anyone might be-- that is pretty damn shocking.

You have to go all the way back to 1860 to find a time as life-or-death serious as the crisis we are in the middle of right now.

Sounds like you are describing a RICO conspiracy.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Washington had better remove its head from its ass and stop playing politics as usual.

When the tail is wagging the dog, it best hope the dog isn't paying attention. The dog can get along without a tail far better than the tail can get along without the dog.

^^^ Nostradamus? Is that you?

Lawyers don’t burn lawyers.

Michael Goodwin: FBI chief proves Washington has a vendetta against Trump

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion...a-against-trump.html

As FBI director Christopher Wray started giving his response to the blistering report on the Hillary Clinton investigation, I hoped he would accept the findings as proof the agency lost its way and must be shaken to its foundation. By the time he finished talking, I felt ­naive for daring to hope.

Wray’s performance was worse than disappointing. It was infuriating proof that it will take more than one election to change the corrupt culture of Washington.

Wray replaced the ousted James Comey, whose conduct in the Clinton probe was shredded by Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Investigators demonstrated with new details that the self-right­eous Comey was insubordinate and duplicitous, and even used private e-mail for government business while he investigated Clinton over her private, ­unsecured server. Talk about arrogance.

The report ends forever the illusion that Comey was a noble public servant. He served only himself and is now so toxic to both parties that it’s unlikely he will ever get another government job. Hallelujah.

But the FBI didn’t stink only from the head. The report paints an agency run amok, with numerous examples of serious misconduct by leaders, agents and ­lawyers.

We learned of more outrageous texts from Peter Strzok, the top agent who worked on both the Clinton and Russia investigations. In one, Strzok promised his lover, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, that “We’ll stop” Donald Trump from becoming president.

Horowitz found another unidentified FBI employee who, in a message to a colleague, echoed Clinton’s “deplorables” slur by calling Trump supporters “all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS that think he will magically grant them jobs for doing ­nothing.”

Yet another one sent “heads up” e-mails to Clinton campaign boss John Podesta and lobbied to get his kid a job on the campaign. The report also found numerous agents having improper media contacts, with some accepting gifts.

The mystery of leaks is a mystery no more. The FBI was a giant faucet.

Except to Christopher Wray, who acted as if the disturbing findings were just another day at the office. While saying the report shows “we’ve got some work to do,” he stressed its limited scope.

“It’s focused on a specific set of events back in 2016, and a small number of FBI employees connected with those events,” he said. “Nothing in the report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole, or the FBI as an institution.”

Right, and otherwise Mrs. Lincoln, did you enjoy the play?

Both Comey and his top deputy, Andrew McCabe, were fired, agents are being investigated for partisan conduct, Congress is in an uproar about FBI stonewalling of documents and public trust is plummeting. But Wray is the consummate company man as he sings the agency’s praises while suggesting the dirty doings are no big deal.

“The report did not find any evidence of political bias or improper consideration actually impacting the investigation under review,” he boasted, then diminished the improper behavior as mere “errors of judgment, violations of or disregard for policy, and decisions that, at the very least, in hindsight, were not the best choices.”

Arrrrgh!

His bias bar is so low it would never pass muster in an ordinary criminal trial. Imagine a case where the defendant is black and all the jurors have identified themselves as white racists. Would it be considered a fair trial if they found the defendant guilty just because they didn’t make racist comments during deliberations?

By circling the wagons, Wray shows he is unprepared to carry out big changes. That makes it three strikes at Justice, as Wray joins Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy AG Rod Rosenstein as Trump’s biggest whiffs.

They are worse than weak links. They simply don’t see themselves as being part of the same administration.

Sessions’ recusal from the Russia probe turned Trump’s fate over to Rosenstein, who is acting much as Comey acted — above accountability.

He and Wray are withholding key documents House Republicans want about the suspect FBI probe of Trump. Rosenstein threatened to subpoena House members and their staff for daring to question his actions, a chilling abuse of power that reveals his disdain for legitimate oversight.

Despite its otherwise good work, the inspector general report becomes part of the problem by refusing to second-guess Comey’s approach to the Clinton case, saying his choices were matters of discretion that fell within guidelines. Yet the approach Comey chose smacks of politics, with Clinton given every benefit of the doubt and remarkable deference.

Moreover, political bias doesn’t need to be confessed to when President Barack Obama said publicly that Clinton did nothing wrong while the probe continued. Similarly, Horowitz faults then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch for meeting with Bill Clinton before the conclusion, but calls it only “an error in judgment.”

Another shortcoming is outside the report’s scope, but can’t be ­ignored. The kid-glove treatment Clinton got stands in sharp contrast to the harsh way Trump and his team are being treated in the Russia probe.

Guilty pleas and indictments, capped by Paul Manafort’s jailing Friday, show special counsel Robert Mueller is playing prosecutor hardball even though he works under the same Justice Department rules Comey used to give Clinton a free pass. Political bias is the only way to explain the ­disparity.

Some 19 months after Trump was elected, the schism his triumph reflected is hardening. Instead of giving all Americans reasons to trust their government, Sessions, Rosenstein, Wray and Mueller act as if they are the law and everybody else should shut up.

Endless conflict will be their ­legacy.

There is no such thing as a "good FBI agent". They simply don't exist. Just look at their leader Wray. A piece of American hating garbage rivaled only by his boss Herr Rosenstein. I keep hearing that it's only the "leadership" that's corrupt. What bull. It wasn't Comey and McCabe sitting in the van with headphones on spying on a political opponent. It was the rank and file trash talking heads say are so "patriotic". My ass. Every single one of them needs to be fired.

We fought wars to eliminate secret police from oppressing citizens, now we have our very own version. I wouldn't spit on an FBI agent if they were on fire.

I don't know who wispered Wray's name into Trump's ear but he needs to be let go. Absolutely bad advide.

A minor point from the IG report, but one that shows how sloppy Comey was

pdf pages 69-70

The Midyear investigation into Clinton emails was opened w an "Unknown Subject(s)" and at no time during the investigation was an individual identified as a subject or target of the investigation

In his OIG interview Comey described Clinton as the subject of the Midyear investigation and stated that he was unaware that the investigation had an Unknown Subject designation.

In his book, Comey referred to Clinton as the subject of the Midyear investigation.

Thinking of the hearings this week just absolutely disgusts me. Useless. It will accomplish absolutely nothing except allowing the congress critters to try to make political points. NO justice or accountability will come from it. A complete waste of time.

Senate Judiciary hearing w Horowitz at 2 pm EDT today.

CSPAN-1

McCabe not attending. claiming 5th amendment
Comey - invited, but not attending
Lynch - invited, but not attending

Grassley ripping Lynch's actions under the email investigation
He is comparing how the Clinton people got kid glove treatment, but the Mueller team is "bare knuckled politics"

Christopher Wray looks like he wishes he was some place else

Grassley: Dir Wray has quite a mess to clean up

Now Grassley ripping Comey. Comey said FBI didn't leak and didn't give a rip about politics

Wray is really uncomfortable

Grassley continuing to rip Comey and McCabe. Pushing for "consequences".

Feinstein: "No evidence of political bias"

Feinstein : Pushing for Mueller investigation. She is saying supportive words for Comey.

Horowitz:
Text messages impacted reputation of FBI. Cast a cloud over the Midyear investigation.

Closing the investigation was consistent with past practices.

Did not see political bias because decisions were made over a large team.

Comey acted w/o coordinating w DoJ

Need to follow policy and practices.

FBI Dir Wray:
FBI response to the report. Accepts the findings. Taking actions to address the recommendations.

We are going to hold accountable any employee who violated policy (missed his full words here)

Training for everybody. We have work to do. Mistakes made by a small number of employees does not reflect on the work of 37,000 FBI employees.

Strong words that FBI has to follow policy and rules.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Grassley asking about IT worker who bleachbit the emails. Lied to FBI. He did not get the "Mueller treatment". He got immunity.

Wray: efforts to obstruct an investigation are serious. (big deal)

Grassley: are you addressing Comey's notes. Horowitz: we will issue a report when we are thru

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

been jumping in and out of listening to the testimony

two big themes:

1. Wray obviously does not have a clue how badly the image of the FBI has been damaged

2. The DEMs have a common attack line: Clinton investigation was made public, Russia/Trump investigation was held quiet during the campaign. So poor Hillary was treated badly.


Lindsey Graham ripped things pretty good by reciting some of the worst Strzok/Page texts. Graham said the email investigation was clearly biased.

Republicans are doing a good job of making the "no bias" claim pretty lame

Horowitz says nothing was redacted from the report


hmmm A REP senator asked about a highly classified report regarding Loretta Lynch and Clinton staffer Amanda Renteria. Horowitz said they are working w intel community to get this issue at a lower classification so it can be addressed and shared. Seems like a very touchy subject.

In general, the REPs are hitting pretty hard, the DEMs really are struggling. DEMs keep attacking Donald Trump for saying the IG report proves there was no collusion. DEMs are also attacking Giuliani for saying something big was coming days before Comey's 28 Oct 2016 announcement.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sdy,

Let's see - a sitting President was successfully impeached because a couple of guys rummaged through a filing cabinet of the opposing political party, after hours in a downtown hotel. I'm trying to think of a comparative magnitude of scale here....

quote:

Originally posted by Doc H.:
Let's see - a sitting President was successfully impeached because a couple of guys rummaged through a filing cabinet of the opposing political party, after hours in a downtown hotel. I'm trying to think of a comparative magnitude of scale here....

Nixon was never impeached.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
Comey - invited, but not attending

This hearing is a complete JOKE. Comey and Lynch should have been subpoenaed not "invited". The only purpose of this farce is to give the left sound bites and talking points.

Lindsey Grahmasty is really giving 'em shit.
Good for him.