The Obama DOJ’s Long History Of Politicization

The Department of Justice under former President Barack Obama has been held up by critics of President Donald Trump’s White House as above reproach, untainted by the political bias some allege runs rampant in the current administration.

In light of this revisionist history, it is worth examining the numerous examples of political bias in the Obama Justice Department. Here are five examples:

Funneled Financial Crisis Settlement Money To Liberal Groups And Excluded Conservative Groups

Emails written by Obama DOJ officials, obtained by the House Judiciary Committee in October as part of an ongoing investigation, revealed the agency engaged in a systemic effort to funnel money garnered from settlements with big banks to liberal advocacy organizations.

The agency effectively skirted Congress’s budgetary authority by requiring that major financial institutions donate to a group of affordable housing nonprofits and legal advocacy organizations as part of settlement agreements resulting from predatory mortgage lending practices. The investigation has thus far yielded evidence implicating the Obama DOJ in using mandatory donations to funnel roughly $1 billion in settlement money to activist groups, including The National Council of La Raza, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the National Urban League. The list of third-party organizations were unrelated to the legal settlements, except through general claims that they would use the funds to aid the low-income Americans most severely harmed by predatory lending practices.

Another internal email exchange reveals that DOJ officials made a concerted effort to prevent the allocation of settlement funds to a conservative legal group.

A senior Obama DOJ official confirmed the extensive coordination required to prevent conservative groups from benefiting from the financial settlements in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Officials reworded a mandatory donation provision with the explicit goal of “not allowing Citi to pick a statewide intermediary like the Pacific Legal Foundation [PLF],” according to the official, who explained, “does conservative property-rights free legal services.”

The Community Relations Service (CRS), a unit of DOJ, deployed to Sanford, Fla., in 2012 “to provide technical assistance for the preparation of possible marches and rallies related to the fatal shooting” of Trayvon Martin at the hands of neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman, according to DOJ documents obtained by Judicial Watch.

The rally featured prominent racial provocateur Rev. Al Sharpton as a speaker. The unit “was in Florida as part of their mandated mission,” a CRS spokeswoman told The Daily Caller. The mission is to serve as a “‘peacemaker’ for community conflicts and tensions arising from differences of race, color, and national origin,” according to department’s website.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder was cited for contempt of Congress in 2012 for refusing to turn over documents related to Operation Fast and Furious — a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives effort to track weapons that backfired when authorities lost track of 1,000 firearms they allowed straw buyers to take across the border.

The citation came after Obama asserted executive privilege to avoid turning over the documents, that Congress sought to explain why the DOJ decided to withdraw as inaccurate in a February 2011 letter. The letter claimed top officials were unaware of the operation until long after its conclusion.

Releasing the documents would “inhibit the candor of executive branch deliberations in the future and significantly impair the ability of the executive branch to respond independently and effectively to congressional oversight,” Holder argued at the time.

Holder attributed the criticism surrounding the administration’s handing of the scandal to racism: “This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,” he said. “Both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.”

Former President Bill Clinton met with then Attorney General Loretta Lynch in June 2016 on the tarmac of the Phoenix airport as Lynch was overseeing the investigation into then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s improper handling of classified information.

Former FBI Director James Comey testified in June 2017 that the ethically dubious meeting forced him to hold an independent press conference announcing Clinton’s use of a private email server was “extremely careless,” but decided against recommending charges. He further testified that Lynch asked him to refer to the investigation as a “matter,” so as to downplay its significance — a request Comey admitted made him feel “queasy.”

Both Clintons and Lynch maintain nothing inappropriate was discussed during the meeting. Hillary insisted the pair met because their planes “happened to be next to each other.”

A panel of federal judges rejected the 2011 Texas voter-ID law one year after its passage, concluding it “imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor, and racial minorities.” The Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act significantly in 2013, allowing Texas to move ahead with implementing the law. This prompted the Obama DOJ to issue a legal challenge on a basis the law was intended to disenfranchise racial minorities. Holder’s opposition to the High Court’s ruling drew intense criticism from Republican lawmakers and governors who argued the move represented an affront to the Constitution.

“This end run around the Supreme Court undermines the will of the people of Texas, and casts unfair aspersions on our state’s common-sense efforts to preserve the integrity of our elections process,” former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, said in a statement.

After a series of disparate rulings, the full appeals court took up the case in 2016 and ultimately ruled in July 2016 that the law violated the Voting Rights Act.

THE OBAMA YEARS---UNRELENTING SCANDAL (excerpt)
By Ari Lieberman

<><> Skolkovo Scandal – While serving as Obama's secretary of state, Clinton oversaw a program Obama and Hilary meant to “reset” relations with Moscow and improve ties. The program centered around the Russian city of Skolkovo near Moscow with the stated aim of “identifying areas of cooperation and pursuing joint projects and actions that strengthen strategic stability, international security, economic well-being, and the development of ties between the American and Russian people.”

Obama had Hillary's State Dept program transformed Skolkovo into a technology hub akin to a Silicon Valley. Sensitive American technology was transferred to the Russians, substantially enhancing their military and cyber capabilities. The US Army and the FBI concluded that Russia had exploited the program for military applications. The FBI warned American technology companies doing business in Skolkovo that the Skolkovo project was a means by which the Russians would acquire dual use technologies and apply them for military ends. According to investigative author Peter Schweizer, Russian and American companies and individuals involved in the Skolkovo fiasco “had major financial ties to the Clintons.”

Moreover, during the Russian reset period, those entities provided the Clintons with “tens of millions of dollars” in the form of “contributions to the Clinton Foundation, paid for speeches by Bill Clinton, or investments in small start-up companies with deep Clinton ties.”

<><>Solyndra Scandal – The Obama administration provided ths failing solar company with a $535 million stimulus-funded loan, courtesy of the American taxpayer. Taxpayer money kept pouring in despite the fact that the Office of Management and Budget warned that Solyndra was not a profitable or viable company. But it gets worse. The family foundation of billionaire George Kaiser, an Obama fundraiser, was one of Solyndra's main investors. Can you say quid pro quo?

<><> Veterans Affairs Scandal - Over 40 veterans needlessly died while waiting to be seen by doctors at a Phoenix VA facility. Another 1,700 veterans were forced to wait for months before being seen by medical personnel. An audit of the VA confirmed that VA officials systematically altered records and appointment schedules in a deliberate and methodical VA scheme to manipulate data to meet fabricated goals.

<><> Operation Chokepoint Scandal – The Obama DOJ utilized the power of big government to pressure banks to cease doing business with industries with which the administration had ideological differences. Gun manufacturers and gun stores were prime targets even though they had not violated any laws. Eventually, the FDIC admitted to misconduct, bowed to pressure and significantly curtailed the discriminatory regulations after affected businesses threatened legal action.

<><> Gibson Guitar Scandal – Armed federal agents executed four search warrants on Gibson Guitar Corp. facilities in Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., seizing guitars, electronic files and other inventory including wood that was purchased in India and Madagascar. The DOJ alleged that Gibson’s had violated an obscure law known as the Lacey Act which made it a crime to violate the environmental laws of another country. Gibson produced an affidavit from government officials in Madagascar stating that Gibson had violated none of that nation’s laws. Gibson also alleged that the DOJ was misinterpreting Indian law. Gibson’s CEO was a major donor to the GOP but his competitors, who purchased the same materials and were not GOP donors, were untouched by Obama’s DOJ. As part of a settlement to drop criminal charges, Gibson was required to pay a $250,000 fine and was required to donate $50,000 to an environmental group. Gibson was eventually able to retrieve its inventory from the clutches of the DOJ.

<><> Fast & Furious Scandal – A scheme concocted by the Obama administration that went horribly wrong. The administration lost track of some 1,400 guns that made their way into the stream of criminal enterprises including those of the Mexican drug cartels. Two of the guns were found at the scene of the shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Attorney General Eric Holder was cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to the scandal. It was the first time Congress had taken such an action against a sitting Cabinet official. Seventeen Democrats joined Republicans in voting in favor of the criminal contempt resolution.

<><> Eric Holder's DOJ-James Rosen Scandal – FOX News journalist, James Rosen became the target of Obama’s DOJ in yet another example of extreme government overreaching. Believing that Rosen was responsible for a leak concerning a policy decision on North Korea, AG Eric Holder sought a subpoena for Rosen’s emails claiming that Rosen had broken the law “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator.” The government’s affidavit also accused Rosen of possibly violating the Espionage Act. It appeared that the DOJ was acting like the East German Stasi in chasing fictitious enemies of the state. In a rare instance of bipartisanship, Holder was roundly criticized from all sides of the political spectrum and Holder himself was later forced to acknowledge that he regretted the episode.

<><>Gruber-Obamacare Scandal – To establish Obamacare’s validity, Obama hired economist and academic Jonathan Gruber to give the plan his seal of approval. Gruber was later caught on video and audio making several disparaging remarks about Americans, stating that Obamacare’s passage rested on the “stupidity of the American voter.” Democrats later tried to distance themselves from him and tried to minimize his role in formulating Obamacare but there was no debating that he was one of Obamacare’s chief architects and was paid nearly $400,000 for his services. Gruber confirmed what most of us already knew; that Obamacare passed as a result of a concerted effort by the administration to deceive the American people.

(hat tip frontpagemagazine.com)

lots of dodgy info in here, in case the WaPo article hasn’t been posted on FR as yet. everyone is attempting to cover themselves before the dam breaks:

9 Feb: Breitbart: Former State Dept. Official: I Fed Oppo Research from Sidney Blumenthal to Christopher Steele
by Kristina Wong
Former Obama State Department official Jonathan Winer, in an attempt to come clean and shape the narrative before being exposed, confirmed that he passed on a dossier from Clinton operatives to the author of the infamous Trump dossier.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post on Thursday titled “Devin Nunes is investigating me. Here’s the truth,” Winer publicly confirmed reports that he had passed on a report he received from Clinton operatives to dossier author Christopher Steele in the fall of 2016, right before the election.
He also confirmed that those Clinton operatives were aware of the dossier effort — making Hillary Clinton’s denials of knowing about the dossier even less credible than they were already...

He also made a plea for Americans to turn their attention away from the FBI and his role in the investigation and back to “Russian interference” and whether Trump colluded...
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/02/09/former-state-dept-official-i-fed-oppo-research-from-sidney-blumenthal-to-christopher-steele/

no way, Winer, the focus is on your and the rest of the Obama/Clinton cronies.

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