It’s Crucial to Purge and Prosecute ‘Rogue’ FBI Agents Collaborating with Russia - By Rmuse on Sat, Dec 17th, 2016 at 3:28 pm - PoliticusUSA
It’s Crucial to Purge and Prosecute
‘Rogue’ FBI Agents
Collaborating with Russia
The growing consensus is that Putin's espionage and
FBI-created “October surprise” gave Russia and
FBI rogues what they wanted; a Trump White House.
FBI-created “October surprise” gave Russia and
FBI rogues what they wanted; a Trump White House.
*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*
Assessing election data is a time intensive task during the normal course of events, and if America wasn’t in the midst of a coup d’état conducted by a hostile foreign power and the nation’s top law enforcement agency, it would be acceptable to postpone assessing why a Russian collaborator is heading to the White House. However, acceptable or not, a Russian puppet is heading to the White House and there is overwhelming evidence that his trip to Washington was made possible by both Russian intervention and “rogue alt-right” agents within the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Over the past two days there has been no small number of “reports” on exactly why Trump won an election he had no right being a part of, much less winning. The consensus is clear that the Putin-ordered espionage on behalf of Trump, and the FBI-created “October surprise” courtesy of Director James Comey eroded just enough electoral support for Hillary Clinton to give Russia and FBI rogues what they wanted, Donald Trump in the White House.
Clinton explained why Trump’s friend and ally Putin worked so hard to prevent her from winning the election. Ironically, it was because in 2011 she accused Putin of rigging Russian parliamentary elections to keep himself in power. She said:
“At the same time, citizens of Russia were pouring into the streets to protest. . . . People who were outraged because they thought they were on a trajectory of greater freedom, greater opportunity, and they watched that, and they were appalled. Putin publicly blamed me for the outpouring of outrage by his own people. And that is the direct line between what he said back then and what he did in this election.”
Now, what Putin did in directing the espionage against the United States was well known over at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For dog’s sake the “pro-Trump “alt-right rogue” contingency at the Bureau appears to have given information about the Russian hacking to Rudy Giuliani. Back in July Giuliani boasted, exactly one day after Trump appealed to the Kremlin for campaign aid, that he was certain the Russians were on the job and had already “acquired” the stolen data.
According to an in depth investigative article on Huffington Post, one touted as an “Outline of What Increasingly Exhibits the Hallmarks of a Criminal Conspiracy,” it reports that traitor Giuliani
“Confessed on the Lars Larson radio program that current FBI agents working on the Clinton investigation had illegally leaked information to him about the Abedin emails before it became public and before Director Comey had been told of the emails, and, moreover, were intending to leak this information as a (in Giuliani’s words) pro-Trump ‘October Surprise,’ thereby establishing a political motive among a faction of the FBI.” (Author bold)
To make matters worse, Comey decided to leak the “unknown” information himself to beat those same rogue New York FBI agents who were planning to leak the “new” evidence; irrelevant evidence in the Anthony Weiner sexting case. Comey likely sought to protect the “rogue” agents by preventing them from committing an act that would be “violating numerous federal criminal statutes, and which plan to leak would already be regarded as a criminal conspiracy by law.”
As Hillary Clinton noted, and as the Huffington Post stated categorically; Comey’s “October surprise” was more than enough to put Trump in the White House. This is the conclusion of Nate Silver and many others.
It is all the more damning of an indictment against Comey and the anti-Clinton “rogues” in the FBI that they knew full well that Russia was working against Clinton on behalf of Trump, and then they joined Putin’s efforts to thwart her campaign and put Putin’s man in the Oval Office. As President Obama said, everyone knew the Russians were working for Trump, and in fact it was blatantly apparent because Trump openly called on his Russian spy friends to help him by committing espionage to portray Clinton as untrustworthy; something they did willingly to sate Putin’s thirst for vengeance against Hillary Clinton. As an aside, it is noteworthy that Putin’s puppet, Trump is renowned for being an extremely vindictive piece of work, so Americans have an idea of what kind of leader they just allowed Vladimir Putin and “rogue” FBI agents to install to “govern” them. In any other universe, this kind of installation is what Keith Olbermann and many, many other regard as a bloodless coup.
As Mr. Drum remarked, and any half-wit should comprehend by now, there were two “egregious interventions” in the Clinton campaign; first by Russian spies aiding Trump’s campaign, and then by the director of the FBI. Drum gives Comey unwarranted slack by claiming he “was motivated at least partly by his fear of a rogue group of agents who were dedicated to Clinton’s defeat;” rogue agents that should have been summarily fired and likely would have been if they weren’t aligned with Comey’s “politics.”
Mr. Comey knew his actions were wrong and indeed, the Justice Department had fairly warned him about an “unprecedented act of interference in an election.” Comey cannot claim interfering was not his intent, or that he didn’t know it was interfering in an election or appearing political. Remember, he claimed he didn’t comment on Trump’s Russia connection because it was too close to the election, in July, and he didn’t want to “interfere” or appear politically motivated.
No matter what Mr. Comey’s excuse or justification for aiding the Russians install Putin’s puppet in the White House, “he knew exactly what he was doing… and went ahead in a manner perfectly calculated to do the maximum damage.” If for no other reason than for the sake of national security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation needs to be hastily purged of “rogue” agents and if applicable they must be prosecuted for criminal conspiracy; this includes their partisan director James Comey.
If it is discovered they were complicit in the Trump-Russia conspiracy, and knowingly aided a hostile foreign power’s leader, they must join their Republican cohorts and be charged with treason. They have committed a grave assault on, as Senator John McCain said “the pillar of our democracy;” something the American people likely once believed the FBI existed to defend.
See also:
Abedin-Weiner Emails Affair: Just Another Russia-Trump Set-Up? Or much more?
Trump, a puppet of the Russian KGB,
engages in the crude disinformation campaign, targeting the naïve morons, very much like himself (the only difference is that he has his own, clear ulterior motive: money), the example of which can be this piece, a reminiscence of the best efforts of the Russian Stalinist propaganda.
The clear connection between Trump's campaign and the Russian intelligence, engaging in cyber-thefts, collections of "kompromat", blatant propaganda through Russian government's information channels, such as "Sputnik" and "RT', and possibly the wide range of other activities, that we might not be fully aware of, makes them practically a single information-intelligence entity, created under the guise of the free democratic elections. The failure, on the part of the FBI, to investigate and to address this issue of brazen interference into the American political process and elections fully and head-on might be viewed in itself as a dereliction of duty and the prosecutable criminal omission. And I certainly hope that this grave error of omission, probably much more significant than the clearly orchestrated Mrs. Clinton's "emails crisis", will be prosecuted fully and soon.
"Trump and his campaign have also spread propaganda created as part of the Kremlin's effort, relying on bogus information generated through traditional Russian disinformation techniques. In one instance, a manipulated document was put out onto the internet anonymously by propagandists working with Russia; within hours, Trump was reciting that false information at a campaign rally. The Trump campaign has also spread claims from Sputnik, another news outlet identified by American intelligence as part of the Russian disinformation campaign. For example, almost immediately after the posting of an article by Sputnik attacking this Newsweek reporter, the Trump campaign emailed a link to the piece to American reporters, urging them to pursue the same story...
Western intelligence and law enforcement say tens of thousands of people have been working with Russia on its hacking and disinformation campaign for many years. They include propagandists and cyber-operatives stationed in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk, located in the southwestern part of Siberia. Operations have also been conducted in the United States, primarily out of New York City, Washington D.C. and Miami. Those involved include a large number of Russian emigres, as well as Americans and other foreign nationals. Intelligence operations in Europe and the U.S. have determined that the money these emigres receive for their work is disguised as payments from a Russian pension system. One U.S. official says there is evidence many of these Americans and foreign nationals do not know they are part of Russia’s propaganda operation."
The failure on the part of the FBI to investigate in-depth, fully and without any bias, the connection between the Russian intelligence (and/or in conjunction with other foreign services), despite the clearly present clues, with the terrorist activities on the US soil, apparently, in accordance with the Obama Administration's general ideological guidance, might also imply the potential elements of criminal culpability. "We do not operate on innuendo", unless these "innuendos" are fully investigated and turn out some credible and actionable evidential proves, at least circumstantial, which, in my view, in some cases, are almost easily seen. Otherwise, these "innuendos" will continue to operate on us, with no end in sight.
...
"Resignation letters piling up at FBI"
Let them resign! After this scandal that they have caused. Resign now! It is much better than to split and to destroy the organization (probably for nothing else but their own selfish career goals). The FBI will only be strengthened, cleansed and purified after these resignations.
The FBI has nothing to do with ideology and politics, it has all to do with the honest service. If you have your irreconcilable "ideological or political" differences, then resign and go promote your ideology anywhere you want. The FBI is the paramilitary type of organization, and this "mutiny" is in fact, the insubordination and it is tantamount to blackmail. The question is, was this "mutiny" organized deliberately and on purpose? Who are its leaders? The former retired agents? Mr. Horowitz, the IG for the FBI, please look into this. This issue has to be investigated and resolved. It is too serious to leave it without the attention and without the follow-up. It looks like the FBI is due for a generational rotation.
The "Leakers Should Shut Up", said Podesta. Or to be fired and to be prosecuted. Before taking care of others, the FBI should take care of its own. This behavior raises very poignant questions about the state of morale, discipline, and supervision in the FBI. If the agents allow themselves this type of behavior, how do they handle the other issues and investigations? Is it not one of the very important reasons for the dire state of the domestic security in the country? It looks that the FBI became a runaway train, where the discipline and moral values are not reinforced, and where the agents feel that they can do whatever the heck they want. It also looks that they exploit and misuse Comey's goodness and trust. If Mr. Comey is more of a loving and permissive father rather than a strict disciplinarian, he should hire the one as his deputy (ex-Commissioner Bratton comes to mind as one of the possible candidates, for example), who would not have any problems kicking his agents' nice cute little asses when they deserve it, and even when they do not. This will fix things very fast. The FBI agents should serve the country, not their selfish interests and their psychopathic needs, as they often do.
...
The most important and salient question, which is lost in the emotional waves and the details of this discussion, is: how the 650,000 emails got into the Abedin-Weiner's computer? This is what, I think, the FBI should concentrate and work on. Before we prosecute, which should not be a goal in and by itself, we, first of all, should attempt to understand what really happened.
...
It is the FBI as Trumplandia that is a problem!
The crescendo of the furious criticism of the FBI and Mr. Comey personally, questions about the timing of his letter, and the calls for his resignation in the last few days, with the very few voices in his defense, reached the degree of intensity and rage which was unseen in the recent times. This episode raises again the old, unrelated to the elections issues and questions about what the FBI is and how it functions, and also, of course, the issue of the need for the deep structural and operational reform of the FBI, its institutional culture, functioning, and moda operandi.
Welcome to Trumplandia, where feelings trump facts! "The currently serving FBI agent said Clinton is “the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel,” and that “the reason why they’re leaking is they’re pro-Trump."
The new question, among the others, that is added by the recent events is: how well is Mr. Comey able to control the FBI and his agents, and also about the role and the informal power of the upper echelons of the former FBI agents, many of whom are the irrational and rabid Clintons-haters, most notably James Kallstrom, who is known for his somewhat unusual friendship with Trump, and it is not just Mr. Kallstrom alone. The roots of this disorder remain deep mystery to me, as the completely independent outsider (and intending to stay this way, with the invaluable benefits of the observations from the vantage point of the side of the road), and maybe, to a certain degree, as a critic and a "partial antagonist" (from "in part", otherwise - impartial).
The undue power and influence of the former FBI agents, and their direct role in the war-like anti-Clinton activities are underscored by the fact that R. Giuliani received an advanced notice about the reopening of the emails investigation, which indicates, to a certain degree, that it might have been orchestrated by them, at least in part: “I did nothing to get it out; I had no role in it,” Giuliani said. “Did I hear about it? You’re darn right I heard about it, and I can’t even repeat the language that I heard from the former FBI agents.”
Do they think that they are entitled to run the country from the shadows, from behind the scenes? Do they think that they can meddle with impunity into some of the most important decision makings? Do they think, in their usual, sly, underhanded and grandiose way, that they are uniquely qualified, professionally, intellectually and morally to be the judges and the arbiters, and also the malevolent actors, inserting themselves into the political processes? I very much doubt that they are. I think, humbly, that these questions should become the focus of the intent, deep, and objective Congressional inquiry, the only forum which would be able to answer them.
Were there any cooperation and coordination between the Weiner's "sexting" investigation and the hypothetical Russian, direct, or through the intermediaries, dumping of 650000 emails into the Weiner-Abedin's computer?
That's the question! This cooperation and coordination might have been not necessarily open, verbal and by "official agreement", but implied, through the non-verbal understanding of the situation and the potential significance of this dumping. Was this issue adequately addressed and investigated? If any, at least the circumstantial evidence of such cooperation and coordination is found, in addition to timing, which can be viewed as an evidence in and by itself (!), the implications are enormous. It would imply the nefarious and treacherous act of working together with the hostile foreign power.
FBI's apparent lack of interest in investigating Trump and his ties to the Russian mob and intelligence services is met by the rightful skepticism by many people and in many quarters, and by the outright allegations of wrongful favoritism and practicing "the clear double standards" by such prominent politicians as Sen. Harry Reid.
"Comey knew that the FBI is not only a leaky sieve but there were people within the FBI actively working—actively working—to try to help the Trump campaign," Kaine said in an interview with Fusion. "This just absolutely staggering, and it is a massive blow to the integrity of the FBI."
"We can only guess at the motives of the FBI
agents behind this politicization of law enforcement, but their behavior is sickening."
All this raises questions and concerns, including the far-reaching suspicions and implications. Is there the pro-Trump and the pro-Russian "conspiracy" within the FBI? As the mass, not the elite security organization, FBI would be the easiest to infiltrate, in comparison with the other intelligence services, as its past and more recent history suggests and illustrates. The rate of psychopathology among the FBI agents, because of nature, traditions, and specifics of its work and its workforce might be significantly higher than in the other services. I am not aware of any studies of this issue and any attempts to address it. This is a side issue, but the important one.
"James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, faced a dilemma on Thursday when deputies briefed him about the discovery of a trove of emails that might be linked to the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s private email server that was closed months ago.
Mr. Comey could immediately inform Congress about the emails, which were found in an investigation into former Representative Anthony D. Weiner. That unusual step, months after Mr. Comey had cleared Mrs. Clinton of any criminal wrongdoing in the email case, would risk accusations that he was unfairly harming her presidential campaign less than two weeks before the election.
Or he could delay any announcement and examine the new emails more closely, risking criticism that he had suppressed important new information if it came out after the election, despite his pledges of “transparency” in the investigation."
The questions are: How balanced and adequate were the briefing and advice that Mr. Comey received from his deputies whom apparently, he absolutely trusted and on whom he absolutely relied? Was there the excessive sense of urgency in their report? Was there any covert bias? Were his deputies influenced to a certain degree by Trump's criticism and exhortations? How objective were they? Trump's daughter-in-law claimed that Trump "forced the Comey's hand". Is there any truth in it? Was his hand forced in any way? Were the alternative opinions expressed? What is the degree of tolerance for the alternative opinions in general? How well was he served by their advice? After all, it is not them who became the targets of the present "sound and fury", it is him alone. These interesting questions might matter little: he gave his word to the Congress, and he felt that he had to keep it. Comey would not be Comey, if he did not feel this way. Nevertheless, it is difficult not to entertain these questions, sometimes the nuances and the half-tones do matter.
"Mr. Comey, who must flourish or fail by the respect in which his agents hold him, revived the thrill of their chase when a federal case against the aforementioned ex-congressman developed, and now the F.B.I. was on the hunt again."
"If we’ve learned anything from the last week, it’s that “the FBI” isn’t a single entity trying to do a single thing — it’s rife with internal disagreements and power struggles playing out through leaks to the press. The non-revelation of the Marc Rich documents shows that the FBI’s lack of control and self-discipline is total...
It would have been so easy for the FBI to exercise a little more discipline to keep itself from becoming the story yet again."
Mike Morell: "And I think he did it with the intent of protecting his organization and trying to keep his organization out of politics but the effect has been just the opposite. And now people are now questioning his integrity, they're questioning the integrity of the FBI, they're questioning whether this is an independent organization," he said. "I feel sorry for him but he made the wrong decisions here."
All in all, the issues are the degree of cohesion within the organization, the strength of its truly apolitical stance, all-important institutional culture with the adequate intellectual component, common sense, wisdom, responsibility, and the true sense of loyalty to the leader. It is easy to make these comments post factum. However, in the organization like the FBI, the ability for the foresight and correct prognostication should matter. A lot.
...
The emails might have been stolen by the Russians
and simply dumped into the Abedin-Weiner's computer. The 650,000 of them is a huge (as Trump would say, "really hooooge") amount, and this quantity might have been a part of the taunting hint: "Yes, this is we, who did it!" Just like before, when they, most likely, made the large quantities of these emails available to the Wikileaks. And now as a substitute for them, after Assange was neutralized, they use the new (How "new"? That's the question.) actors, and witting and/or "unwitting" intermediaries, whose involvement would bring the maximum of damage to Clinton's campaign. It looks very unlikely that such a massive amount of emails could be copied by hand and by one or two persons. It was convincingly observed that if Weiner "sent or received 200 emails a day, 365 days a year–a considerable number!–it would take 3,250 days, or just about nine years, to accumulate 650,000 on the laptop’s hard drive. It is not clear–to me, anyway–what would cause such a large number of emails to reside on the laptop, absent some sort of bulk downloads." The nature of this "operation" is consistent with the previous pattern of the Russian involvement, as was strongly hypothesized by the US intelligence community.
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11.14.16
Open Letter To The FBI Director Mr. J. Comey: "Investigate and prosecute them!" - by Michael Novakhov:
Dear Mr. Comey:
I would like to express my full and complete agreement with the recent calls for the investigation of the "political intervention by the police [it is meant "by the FBI" - M.N.] into the election... that was also clearly illegal".
Investigate and prosecute them!
Also investigate how the 650,000 emails got into the Weiner-Abedin's computer, who was behind this, if there is indeed "the right-wing conspiracy within the FBI", and if any foreign powers were behind this. Also: if there was a collusion, in any way, shape, or form, overt or covert, between the FBI's presently on active duty, or former agents (possibly investigating the Weiner affair) and the hostile foreign powers, which, as I wrote before, would imply treason. This connection, hypothetical or not so hypothetical, is underlined by the recent reports (very readily made and somewhat puzzling) of the Russian Ministry of the Foreign Affairs spokesman's statement about the contacts between the Trump's campaign and the Russian officials, possibly including the officials from the Russian intelligence services,despite the subsequent denials of the Trump's allies.
...
Our most beloved FBI will also receive its benefits package of turning this crisis into the much awaited, needed, and inevitable structural and operational reforms. So many turns, so many wise and wised up men, so little time, and so many benefits, almost for everyone, unless offset by the opposite and the most interminable benefits of my most interminable wishful thinking. We live, we learn, but most often we do not.
This is the matter of the utmost importance which is not negated by the outcome of the elections. Mr. Comey, I, personally, still have trust in you as the guardian (or one of them) of the American democracy, and I, personally, still believe that you should stay on your job and to clear this incredible mess. The same moral imperative that forced you to share the fact of the renewal of investigative activities in your letter to Congress of 10.28.16, should force you (and also the current President, and the current AG) to open the full, objective, and in-depth investigation of this matter. This is beyond and above of the post-election shock.
The signs of the great America sliding towards fascism are unmistakable, and you should be aware of this more than anyone else. The shadow of the sickening fear of Tyranny and the political persecutions descendedupon "the land of the free and the home of the brave".
To retain the trust of the American people in its institutions, in the FBI, in the American values and the system of government, it is, it seems to me, as the US citizen and as a firm believer in these values, absolutely imperative, necessary and unavoidable to start and to proceed with this investigation relentlessly and absolutely objectively, without giving in to any political pressures, just like you did with Mrs. Clinton emails investigations. Otherwise this cementing, the all-important trust will be broken, and, I am afraid, Sir, that your own reputation as the person of integrity standing above any and all political frays, might be ruined. The stakes are high, maybe even much higher than at the times of the Watergate, and the time is now.
If the FBI is not able or willing to investigate itself, or if this proposed investigation is not perceived as meaningful or trustworthy, then, I believe, just like the other people who expressed their views, that the outside independent investigators and prosecutors should be appointed, and that they should carry out and accomplish this work in as efficient and speedy manner, as it is possible.
Investigate the false and treacherous "investigators", who, allegedly, got engaged into the criminal actions, and try to surreptitiously control and manipulate the country and its political system in their sick, unlawful, and never ending quest for power! Make them taste their own poisons and their own "medicines". Prosecute the criminals, regardless of their positions or their status to the fullest extent of the law, if they are found guilty.
Wake up from this shock and this nightmare, exercise your own full control, and take your own actions, America! The stakes are high, and the time is now!
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