IG blasts Comeyothers at FBI showed willingness to take official action to hurt Trump

[dukkha]

The inspector general found “no evidence that the conclusions by department prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations.” The report acknowledged that certain emails appeared to contain classified information, but investigators determined the FBI’s conclusion that Clinton did not intend to expose classified information was legitimate.

The report is a blistering public rebuke of Comey, who has spent recent months on a book tour promoting his brand of ethical leadership. Inspector general Michael Horowitz accused Comey of insubordination, saying he flouted Justice Department practices when he decided only he had the authority and credibility to make key decisions and speak for the Justice Department.

Comey made a “serious error of judgment” in sending a letter to Congress on Oct. 28 announcing he was reopening the investigation of Clinton’s use of the server while secretary of state, the report found, and called it “extraordinary that Comey assessed that it was best” for him not to speak directly with either the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General about his decision beforehand.

ome senior bureau officials, the report found, exhibited a disturbing “willingness to take official action” to hurt Trump’s chances to become president.

Perhaps the most damaging new revelation in the report is a previously-unreported text message in which Peter Strzok, a key investigator on both the Clinton email case and the investigation of Russia and the Trump campaign, assured an FBI lawyer in August 2016 that “we’ll stop” Trump from making it to the White House.

“[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” the lawyer, Lisa Page, wrote to Strzok.

“No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it,” Strzok responded.
TEXT

In a statement Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the “significant errors” cited in the report had taken place during the Obama administration.

For Trump, the report provides chapter upon chapter of fresh ammunition for his attacks on the FBI, which he has accused of political bias in investigating whether any of his campaign associates may have conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

To Clinton and her supporters, who have long argued that Comey’s decisions robbed her of an election victory, the report will likely be received as bitter vindication of her claims the FBI Director veered far beyond official policy in speaking publicly about her case, and reopening it in the final days before the election.

[dukkha]

he White House scheduled an afternoon press briefing at which the report was certain to be a major topic.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) sought to preempt any claims by Trump that the report would show that bias against him by FBI officials has affected the Russia probe.

“

There is no reason — no reason — to believe that it will provide any basis to call the special counsel’s work into question,” Schumer said. “The IG report concerns an entirely separate investigation from the Russia probe that special counsel Mueller is conducting.”

The inspector general concluded that Strzok’s text, along with others disparaging Trump, “is not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects.”

The messages “potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations,” the inspector general wrote.

The report took particular aim at FBI officials investigating Clinton’s email server for moving slowly after agents in the New York Field office discovered messages on the laptop of disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner that might be relevant to their case.

By no later than September 29, the inspector general alleged, the bureau had learned “virtually every fact” it would cite as justification late the next month to search Weiner’s laptop for messages of Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin.

The inspector general derided the bureau’s reasons for not moving more quickly — that agents were waiting for additional information from New York, that they couldn’t move without a warrant and that investigators were more focused on the Russia case — as “unpersuasive,” “illogical,” and inconsistent with their assertion that they would leave no stone unturned on Clinton.

The report also faulted the bureau for assigning essentially the same personnel to the Russia and Clinton teams, and singled out Strzok, suggesting his anti-Trump views might have played a role in his not acting more expeditiously on the new lead.

“Under these circumstances, we did not have confidence that Strzok’s decision to prioritize the Russia investigation over following up on the Midyear-related investigative lead discovered on the Weiner laptop was free from bias,” the report said.

The report determined that several FBI investigators — including Comey — also broke bureau protocol by using “personal email accounts for official government business.”

The inspector found five instances in which Comey either drafted official messages on or forwarded emails to his personal account, and at least two instances in which Strzok used his personal email for official business — including one “most troubling” instance on October 29, 2016, when he forwarded “an email about the proposed search warrant the midyear team was seeking on the Weiner laptop” from his FBI account to his personal email.

The discovery is ironic, given that the FBI was exploring Clinton’s own use of a personal email for work related business and whether classified information traversed her server.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.e2cbf8c22fe3

[dukkha]

basically it's saying it's impossible to find "documentary evidence" bias effected the probe ( a smoking gun)
But it does say the bias was
“potentially indicated or created the appearance that investigative decisions were impacted by bias or improper considerations,” the inspector general wrote."

[dukkha]

The fact that Strzok was put in charge of the FBI counter-intelligence for a year, also shows the animus agaist Trump
my very well (likely)have effected the course of that investigation ( Strzok hated Trump more then anything)

which is yet 1 more reason we need to see the EC for the FBI intelligence investigation,
and why were spies ( informants) used BEFORE that investigation was formalized

[domer76]

YAWN

[dukkha]

It should be noted there is nothing here about the draft exoneration, or the fact Strzok in the questioning of Clinton
and gave transactional immunity to witnesses that were allowed to sit in on the friendly questioning.
Those are very questionable
I think Horowitz should have mentioned strzoks role further.

It looks like Horowitz wanted to release abase report on PROCEDURES, and ignore the politics -understandable for an IG.
He did mention the political biases- but they can't be documented.. so he just stayed away from conclusions.

[dukkha]

it will be awhile until we see the FBI counterintelligence Trump investigation findings by Horowitz.
at least that one has the power to call hostile witness. we'll get a more clear view of FISA abuse etc.

[dukkha]

he Department of Justice’s internal watchdog released a much-anticipated report on the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.

The report contained several bombshells.

Anti-Trump FBI agent showed “willingness” to impact election

Anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok showed a “willingness to take official action” to impact the presidential election, according to the new report from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

““(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” asked another anti-Trump FBI agent, Lisa Page. “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it,” Strzok replied.

Strzok’s text “is not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects,” the report said.

FBI sat on Weiner emails for no good reason

When further Clinton emails were discovered on a laptop belonging to former congressman Anthony Weiner, who is married to longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin, the FBI took just under a month to take meaningful action, Horowitz’s report found.

Horowitz’s team of investigators “did not identify a consistent or persuasive explanation for the FBI’s failure to act for almost a month after learning of potential [Clinton investigation-related] emails on the Weiner laptop,” the report said.

FBI prioritized Russia investigation over Clinton emails on Weiner’s computer, possibly due to political bias

The FBI prioritized investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia over the discovered emails on Weiner’s laptop, possibly due to political bias, according to the report. Anti-Trump agent Peter Strzok was intimately involved with that decision.

Noting Strzok’s “willingness” to use the FBI to stop Trump, the report said, “we did not have confidence that Strzok’s decision to prioritize the Russia investigation over following up on the Midyear-related investigative lead discovered on the Weiner laptop was free from bias.”

Comey acted like the rules didn’t apply to him

The report portrayed Comey as insubordinate and consistently acting with disregard to DOJ policies.

Both in his decision to publicly announce the results of the Clinton email investigation in July and in his decision to notify Congress when the investigation was reopened, former FBI Director James Comey “engaged in ad hoc decision-making based on his personal views, even if it meant rejecting longstanding Department policy or practice,” the IG report found.

Comey also used a personal email for official government business in violation of DOJ policy, Horowitz’s report found.

FBI riddled with leaks, FBI employees receive benefits from journalists
http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/14/re...investigation/
“We identified numerous FBI employees, at all levels of the organization and with no official reason to be in contact with the media, who were nevertheless in frequent contact with reporters,” the report noted.

“We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review,” the report said.

“In addition, we identified instances where FBI employees improperly received benefits from reporters, including tickets to sporting events, golfing outings, drinks and meals, and admittance to nonpublic social events.”

The IG will file a separate report on those investigations when they are concluded, the report stated.

More anti-Trump bias at the FBI

An FBI attorney who worked on the special counsel’s Russia investigation until earlier this year sent numerous anti-Trump text messages to a colleague, according to the IG report. One of the attorney’s texts exclaimed: “Viva le Resistance.”

[Tranquillus in Exile]

Inspector general Michael Horowitz accused Comey of insubordination ...

So Comey was insubordinate to Lynch - he failed to consult her before announcing that he was reopening the Clinton email investigation.

Er, how does that fit into the conspiracy theory?

[canceled.2021.1]

WE ARE FUCKED!!!!!

FTFY

[domer76]

he Department of Justice’s internal watchdog released a much-anticipated report on the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.

The report contained several bombshells.

Anti-Trump FBI agent showed “willingness” to impact election

Anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok showed a “willingness to take official action” to impact the presidential election, according to the new report from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

““(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” asked another anti-Trump FBI agent, Lisa Page. “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it,” Strzok replied.

Strzok’s text “is not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects,” the report said.

FBI sat on Weiner emails for no good reason

When further Clinton emails were discovered on a laptop belonging to former congressman Anthony Weiner, who is married to longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin, the FBI took just under a month to take meaningful action, Horowitz’s report found.

Horowitz’s team of investigators “did not identify a consistent or persuasive explanation for the FBI’s failure to act for almost a month after learning of potential [Clinton investigation-related] emails on the Weiner laptop,” the report said.

FBI prioritized Russia investigation over Clinton emails on Weiner’s computer, possibly due to political bias

The FBI prioritized investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia over the discovered emails on Weiner’s laptop, possibly due to political bias, according to the report. Anti-Trump agent Peter Strzok was intimately involved with that decision.

Noting Strzok’s “willingness” to use the FBI to stop Trump, the report said, “we did not have confidence that Strzok’s decision to prioritize the Russia investigation over following up on the Midyear-related investigative lead discovered on the Weiner laptop was free from bias.”

Comey acted like the rules didn’t apply to him

The report portrayed Comey as insubordinate and consistently acting with disregard to DOJ policies.

Both in his decision to publicly announce the results of the Clinton email investigation in July and in his decision to notify Congress when the investigation was reopened, former FBI Director James Comey “engaged in ad hoc decision-making based on his personal views, even if it meant rejecting longstanding Department policy or practice,” the IG report found.

Comey also used a personal email for official government business in violation of DOJ policy, Horowitz’s report found.

FBI riddled with leaks, FBI employees receive benefits from journalists
http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/14/re...investigation/
“We identified numerous FBI employees, at all levels of the organization and with no official reason to be in contact with the media, who were nevertheless in frequent contact with reporters,” the report noted.

“We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review,” the report said.

“In addition, we identified instances where FBI employees improperly received benefits from reporters, including tickets to sporting events, golfing outings, drinks and meals, and admittance to nonpublic social events.”

The IG will file a separate report on those investigations when they are concluded, the report stated.

More anti-Trump bias at the FBI

An FBI attorney who worked on the special counsel’s Russia investigation until earlier this year sent numerous anti-Trump text messages to a colleague, according to the IG report. One of the attorney’s texts exclaimed: “Viva le Resistance.”

SCRATCH, SNIFF, FART

[archives]

"We found that the conduct of these five FBI employees brought discredit to themselves, sowed doubt about the FBI’s handling of the Midyear investigation, and impacted the reputation of the FBI. Although our review did not find documentary or testimonial evidence directly connecting the political views these employees expressed in their text messages and instant messages to the specific investigative decisions we reviewed"
http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...clinton-emails

"Despite the "cloud" that the text exchanges between Strzok and Page cast on the investigation, Strzok was not the sole decisionmaker in any of the investigations the inspector general examined. And in some instances prior to the July announcement, the report notes, Strzok and Page "advocated for more aggressive investigative measures in the Midyear investigation, such as the use of grand jury subpoenas and search warrants to obtain evidence."
http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...-clinton-probe

"A long-awaited report by the Justice Department's watchdog Thursday found no indication that political bias affected decisions in the FBI's 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton. The report undercuts Trump's argument that the FBI, acting for political reasons, let Clinton off the hook over her use of a private email server as secretary of state."

"In a response appended to the report, the FBI — led by Trump appointee Christopher Wray — said it accepted the conclusion that political bias played no role in the decision-making by the FBI in the Clinton investigation"
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...mueller-645588

Certainly far from the smoking gun conservatives have been looking forward to for months now, if anything a wash, although I'm sure Trump, Fox, and the right wing demagogues will cherry pick enough to claim the undefinable "deep state" was plotting against them

[USFREEDOM911]

The inspector general found “no evidence that the conclusions by department prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations.” The report acknowledged that certain emails appeared to contain classified information, but investigators determined the FBI’s conclusion that Clinton did not intend to expose classified information was legitimate.

The report is a blistering public rebuke of Comey, who has spent recent months on a book tour promoting his brand of ethical leadership. Inspector general Michael Horowitz accused Comey of insubordination, saying he flouted Justice Department practices when he decided only he had the authority and credibility to make key decisions and speak for the Justice Department.

Comey made a “serious error of judgment” in sending a letter to Congress on Oct. 28 announcing he was reopening the investigation of Clinton’s use of the server while secretary of state, the report found, and called it “extraordinary that Comey assessed that it was best” for him not to speak directly with either the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General about his decision beforehand.

ome senior bureau officials, the report found, exhibited a disturbing “willingness to take official action” to hurt Trump’s chances to become president.

Perhaps the most damaging new revelation in the report is a previously-unreported text message in which Peter Strzok, a key investigator on both the Clinton email case and the investigation of Russia and the Trump campaign, assured an FBI lawyer in August 2016 that “we’ll stop” Trump from making it to the White House.


In a statement Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the “significant errors” cited in the report had taken place during the Obama administration.

For Trump, the report provides chapter upon chapter of fresh ammunition for his attacks on the FBI, which he has accused of political bias in investigating whether any of his campaign associates may have conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

To Clinton and her supporters, who have long argued that Comey’s decisions robbed her of an election victory, the report will likely be received as bitter vindication of her claims the FBI Director veered far beyond official policy in speaking publicly about her case, and reopening it in the final days before the election.

"...Clinton did not intend to expose classified information..."

I wasn't aware that "intended to" was part of the act.

[dukkha]

"...Clinton did not intend to expose classified information..."

I wasn't aware that "intended to" was part of the act.

it's obviously not. and that guy went to prison ( Trump pardoned him) for having 6 pics of a sub for personal use.
Clinton got hacked by a foreign power ( per the report) ....ridiculous

[Darth Omar]

If I’m Paul Manafort’s lawyer I’m very curious how as to how much contact Strzok had with my client.