It was reported recently that the FBI refuses to show Congressman Devin Nunes an unredacted copy of the origination document that triggered the probe into the Trump campaign. What is the FBI hiding? Paradoxically, nothing — that is, no classified information showing collusion between Trump and Russia. The FBI is simply trying to hide the embarrassingly partisan origins of its spying on the Trump campaign.
Were the redactions covering material harmful to Trump, that material would have been leaked by now. So the redactions can only be concealing the fingerprints of Hillary’s partisans in the Obama administration. The FBI will eventually have to fess up to the politicization to which it succumbed — that the most virulent Hillary partisan imaginable, John Brennan, had put pressure on FBI officials to start the probe, that a Trump hater, Peter Strzok, formally opened up the probe, that the smears of a paid opposition researcher for Hillary, Christopher Steele, contributed to the probe, that scandalous “intelligence-sharing” between Brennan and foreign intelligence agencies shaped the probe, and that FBI officials suspected the probe was unfounded but pursued it anyways at the insistence of Obama officials.
The FBI says it is redacting “sensitive information.” That’s true in an ironic sense: the FBI is very sensitive about the information, in that it illuminates the agency’s transformation into an opposition research shop for the Hillary campaign. Take her partisans out of the picture and the probe would never have started.
More commentary at Powerline.
The FBI needs to be either disestablished or broken up. Trying to become a modern Praetorian Guard is completely unacceptable.
Maybe the answer is making it a dozen equal regional investigative units based on geography. And make sure the Washington DC regional unit is not a permanent establishment. Rotate in people from the other regions on a temporary basis, maybe for two to five years, and never to return. Make sure that they never develop enough power in the capital city. Split up the centralized labs and support divisions into at least three independent and competitive organizations.
Make every regional head equal, and they all report to the DOJ AG independently and as equals. The leader assigned to the Washington DC region should be on his/her terminal stint before retiring, and for only a few years too.
The idea is to break up the power base that J. Edgar Hoover created; that Mark Felt used to destroy Richard Nixon; and James Comey tried to use to destroy President Donald Trump. Based on their performance in the Branch Davidian, Atlanta Olympic Bombing, 2001 Anthrax, Boston Marathon Bombing, Parkland HS, and many other cases, they have not done a very good job in fighting real crime and terrorism.
They struck at the King, and failed. It is time for the king to strike back. The Horowitz OIG report should just be the beginning. Prosecute the guilty, and break up their old boy power cliques, using retirements and reassignments. Lots of positions in African and Central Asian Embassies, and even more in remote Indian Reservations too.
Reorganize the FBI, break its power permanently.
(To the FBI people, look at the bright side, a dozen more chances of being the HMFWIC, as the regional HMFWIC. And the cost of living is lower outside of Washington DC too.)
two years and counting and the only people responsible, Hillary and the DNC, are still skating.
I wonder why Jeff sessions doesn’t simply order the FBI to present the information to Congress? It’s that simple. People may have to resign or be fired for non-compliance but so be it.
As slow as this process is,and I have seen glaciers move faster, I suspect that the slowness of the process is a sign of the thoroughness of the process. If great care is not taken in dotting all the ‘i’s and crossing all the ‘t’s the whole case may well fall apart and the bad guys remain in power stronger than ever. This is not simply a legal case it is also a political case and the politics is against the good guys should they make one tiny slip up.
Agree, the salient facts in all this are likely in the redactions – how did Brennan actually “kickstart” the FBI “investigation?”
Was it through Comey, Strozk, Lisa Page, or all three? Is that what Strozk meant by his “insurance policy?”
If connected to kingpin Brennan, the Demo-rats will spend the mid-terms playing defense; not just in the court of public opinion.
“Andy,” already in deep jeopardy, may sing to a special prosecutor, expected after the upcoming and damning DOJ IG report.
It’s easy to say in retrospect, but Trump should have fired and removed every Obama era executive on his first day in office.
Over at the CTH … the sage (Sundance) advises that Sessions is holding and protecting the FULL unredacted transcripts for the ultimate case against the leaders of this coup attempt. That Nunes is actually working at cross purposes to the Sessions-led investigation.
ah yes. the cross-dressing bug eyed power boy who opened a dossier on anyone winning the dog catcher job.
for ‘future reference’.
asleep at the wheel whilst his agents showed up time and again, unarmed in the early days of capone violence and shootouts,
but didnt miss a single step lining up huge cooperation and support for THIS kind of ‘mission’:
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/09/15/archives/fbi-admits-planting-a-rumor-to-discredit-jean-seberg-in-1970-former.html
corruption corruption corruption at the HIGHEST levels of law ‘enfarcement’ (note the spelling).
which is why no one could pry the sicko basturd from such a vital and very powerful position.
fbi . . . . jeepers, same letters as FIB . . . . .
police corruption? what about the HUGE $100,000,000 class action lawsuit against our ‘exalted’ farce see ’em pee, brought on by, (drum roll)
about a THOUSAND *female* officers and civvy employees. whallll shucksamighty, does this mean NO ONE can trust cops?
*even other cops*. hmmm???? a THOUSAND of them signing on the suit, over abuses and harassment TOLERATED and IGNORED by very high level (male!!) brass for 2 DECADES.
whatever could it all mean?
In the real world-which you’re welcome to visit-the feds are raiding the office of one of Trump’s lawyers. This action was signed off by people at all layers of the government.
https://reason.com/archives/2018/04/09/what-we-know-about-the-search-trump-lawy#comment
“According to Cohen’s own lawyer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (widely regarded within itself as being the most important and prestigious U.S. Attorney’s Office in the country) secured the search warrants for the FBI, based on a referral from Robert Mueller’s office””
The sleaze coming from that NYC district includes ALL the slime.. The Trump wiretapping, Loretta Lynch, Hillary Clinton, and past (not so distant) connections to organised crime syndicates….Do a search on the DOJ US attorney Rudy Giuliani and his prosecutions in NYC
They are vassals of Organized Crime