Posted on 12/14/2017 3:23:07 PM PST by gubamyster
Newly released documents obtained by Fox News reveal that then-FBI Director James Comey’s draft statement on the Hillary Clinton email probe was edited numerous times before his public announcement, in ways that seemed to water down the bureau’s findings considerably.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, released copies Thursday of the edits to Comey’s highly scrutinized statement.
The original statement said it was “reasonably likely” that “hostile actors” gained access to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email account. That was changed later to say the scenario was merely “possible.”
Another edit showed language was changed to describe the actions of Clinton and her colleagues as “extremely careless” as opposed to “grossly negligent.” This is a key legal distinction.
Johnson, writing about his concerns in a letter Thursday to FBI Director Christopher Wray, said the original “could be read as a finding of criminality in Secretary Clinton’s handling of classified material.”
He added, “The edited statement deleted the reference to gross negligence – a legal threshold for mishandling classified material – and instead replaced it with an exculpatory sentence.”
The edits also showed that references to specific potential violations of statutes on “gross negligence” of classified information and “misdemeanor handling” were removed.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
First time we’ve heard of reference to statutes...and their removal also...
I have heard the OIG report should be out around mid-Jan to Feb - is this true?
Also, what happens after the report is issued? Will this report just be a referral for further investigations or will indictments be issued immediately?
Will the DOJ then begin an endless investigation or will handcuffs be issued as the report is dropped? Does anyone know what the procedure is?
So Comey talks to the President and runs to his computer.
And he interviews Hillary on a criminal matter...and there is nothing??
Comey had to know those edits were made if he signed off on the final version.
Wow, does this mean the FBI might be dishonest??
Where are the frikking Handcuffs???
Question: Was the original draft intended to be sent to the DOJ as a referral for prosecution? And then later watered down after he was directed by the DOJ to reduce the investigation to a “matter”?
It was previously reported that Comey went public because he was ticked off that AG Lynch ordered him to pull his punches. He was ticked, but he did what she asked regardless. But, he did also go public with this statement - highly unusual.
I am wondering if he took what was going to be a referral to convict and instead, obeying the order to obstruct justice, took his case to the public to “read between the lines”.
I’d be willing to bet that they took Hillary in there and shot the breeze a little while and let her out. If Comey and the rest of the gang had already decided she would not be charged then why question her at all. They had to make it look like they did and if there are no transcripts then there was no interview.
There must have been a lot of discussion about this by those involved - Strzok, McCabe, Page and Comey - to name only those we know about. There's a lot more to come. Yesterday, Rosenstein said the IG had reviewed 1.2 million documents. There are going to be more bombshells in the coming days.
“What difference at this point does it make?”
And the transcript of the Hillary-Comey interview?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Comey was not among the 5 or 6 agents who interviewed Crooked.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/286849-fbi-didnt-record-clinton-interview-no-sworn-oath
July 2 — Strzok and Justice Department lawyer David Laufman interview Hillary Clinton.
google david laufman
Keep in mind the following:
HRC had Special Access Programs in that unsecure server,
SAP is even above the Above Top Secret level of clearance.
HRC out the entire nation at risk by having our very top secrets on a server that anyone could breach.
“Comey had to know those edits were made if he signed off on the final version.”
I agree. He had to know and was agreeable to the changes.
“The original statement said it was “reasonably likely” that “hostile actors” gained access to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email account. That was changed later to say the scenario was merely “possible.”......
While the “Pants Suit Hag” continues to skate free, allowing her to kill, or have killed, those who have dirt on her. She will die an old woman but most likely never see a day in jail which, as we all know, is so way over due.
Why weren’t these witnesses (targets) put under oath before they were interviewed?
Excellent question! I’ve wondered the same thing but no federal procedural experts have come forth that I’ve seen.
But here’s how I THINK it will work, based on the reference to the OIG report made by Rod Rosenstein and others:
The OIG report will be publically released. That we know for sure. Timeframe: by Jan. 15 has been stated but we’ll only know for sure when it happens.
It’s a REPORT of findings and facts, not an indictment or anything of that nature. I *think* what will happen then is either grand jury or other prosecutorial actions will follow, based on what’s in the report as they’ve stated to Congress. No one is tipping their hand a bit (which is as it should be) but it’s going to be like defying gravity if there aren’t come criminal indictments made.
Then of course the usual criminal procedures will ensue.
So first, the report, which will likely contain “recommendations”. Then action on those recommendations by the appropriate organization.
Twitter needs to start reinforcing their servers now ;-) Virtually no one understands what is about to happen, incluging most FReepers, so congrats to you!
By the way, here’s the new sheriff in town:
https://oig.justice.gov/about/meet-ig.htm
This guy is about to become a legend in his own time. Seems to be ideally suited for the job. And his job is: to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by government employees. And he’s been doing it quietly and out of the public eye since Jan. 12, including the review of 1.2 million documents, if you can imagine that...
great post!
It sure sounds like it, but remember it was McCabe who revealed that the investigation was given “special status”:
“Shortly before last year’s election, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe wrote an email on his official government account stating that the Hillary Clinton email probe had been given “special” status, according to documents released Wednesday (11/15/17).
McCabe’s Oct. 23, 2016, email to press officials in the FBI said the probe was under the control of a small group of high-ranking people at the FBI’s headquarters in Washington.
“As I now know the decision was made to investigate it at HQ with a small team,” McCabe wrote in the email. He said he had no input when the Clinton email investigation started in summer 2015, while he was serving as assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington office.
“[The Washington office] provided some personnel for the effort but it was referred to as a ‘special’ and I was not given any details about it,” he wrote.
FBI officials on Wednesday night refused to answer what McCabe meant by calling the Clinton email probe a “special” or why it was restricted to a small team at headquarters when it began.
“We don’t have anything to add to the documents that were released,” bureau spokeswoman Carol Cratty wrote The Hill.
The note was contained in more than 70 pages of emails the FBI released on its public records site known as The Vault.
The emails chronicled McCabe’s efforts to address a separate controversy involving his wife’s 2015 campaign for political office.”
The "separate controversy" involved his wife netting almost $700K in political donations from Clinton stooge Terry McAuliffe and McCabe's involvement with this wife's campaign for the Virginia state Senate. McCabe seemss to be saying that he didn't work on the Clinton email case, but we know now that that's a lie.
Thanks but I’m no expert - just guessing based on the buzz I’m reading.
Check this out, probably the best summary to date:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/941414700960636928?refresh=1513290377
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