JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
THE DESTROY TRUMP CROWD ANY WAY POSSIBLE ARE BEING ONION SKINNED. AND THE LAYERS OF CLINTON SUCK HOLING ARE BEING REVEALED. AND HEADS WILL BE ROLLING. THANKS TO THE ADULTEROUS LOVE BIRDS PAGE-STROK E-MAILS. COMEY-SHOULD BE THE NEXT TO TAKE HEAT ON THIS CLINTON-OBAMA-DOJ-FBI DESTROY TRUMP FROM BECOMING PRESIDENT SCAM. AMERICA HAS TO THANK SEAN HANNITY-SARA CARTER-JON SOLOMON FOR KEEPING THIS LIB-DEM SCAM ALIVE-TILL ACTION AND CONVICTIONS ARE NOW FINALLY TAKING PLACE. ITS BEEN A LONG YEAR LONG CRY FOR JUSTICE BY THESE 3.
Sara A. Carter Retweeted-Sean Hannity-Verified account @seanhannity-12h12 hours ago-MAR 16,18 10PM-McCabe Fired, just a start. Hannity REAL NEWS. We have been talking about MCCabe for MONTHS! More coming....Tick Tock....
Sara A. Carter-Verified account @SaraCarterDC-10h10 hours ago-MAR 16,18-Sara A. Carter Retweeted Sara A. Carter-Oops it should say, Deputy Director - never type while running ...Sara A. Carter added,-Former Depury Director Andrew McCabe has been terminated per DOJ-10:00 PM - 16 Mar 2018
Sessions fires McCabe from FBI-By Katie Bo Williams - 03/16/18 10:03 PM EDT-THE HILL
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday fired Andrew McCabe, the No. 2 official at the FBI and a longtime target of President Trump.McCabe's ouster comes just days before he was scheduled to retire on Sunday, after more than 20 years at the bureau. McCabe had already stepped down under pressure in January and has been on a leave of absence since.In a statement Friday evening, Sessions said that the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility and Office of Inspector General (OIG) had found McCabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and "lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.""Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department’s senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," Sessions said.McCabe quickly declared that his termination and Trump's needling against him were an effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, in which he could be a potential witness.“The idea that I was dishonest is just wrong,” McCabe told The New York Times. “This is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness.” McCabe's dismissal came at the recommendation of an internal FBI office that handles disciplinary matters. According to Times, the recommendation was based on a finding from the Justice Department inspector general that McCabe was not forthcoming during the review, which includes an investigation into a decision he made in 2016 to allow FBI officials to speak with reporters about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.The exact details of the allegations against McCabe remain unclear.It is also unclear why the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, chose to act on his findings regarding McCabe before closing the overall investigation into decisions made during the 2016 election. Horowitz has said publicly that he expects to issue his final report this spring.A spokeswoman for the Justice Department told The Hill that the agency couldn't comment on whether the decision would strip McCabe of his FBI pension.The Times reported earlier this week that McCabe's retirement was set to go into effect Sunday and his firing could jeopardize his pension as a 21-year veteran of the FBI.In a lengthy statement, McCabe blasted his firing, which he claimed was an attempt to destroy his reputation and career in the wake of what he witnessed at the Justice Department surrounding former FBI Director James Comey's firing last year."Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," McCabe wrote."The OIG's focus on me and this report became part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn," he wrote.McCabe’s dismissal is another indication of the increasingly bitter politics surrounding the federal investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia. As deputy director, McCabe was integrally involved in both the bureau’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email server and the Russia probe.A longtime target of the right thanks to political donations his wife accepted from a Clinton ally, McCabe has drawn the president’s ire in recent months.Trump goaded Sessions into dismissing McCabe, tweeting in July, “Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation?”Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday insisted that the determination whether to fire McCabe would be left up to Sessions, but called the career civil servant a “bad actor.”“We do think it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts is a bad actor and should have some cause for concern,” she told reporters.As a career agent, McCabe cannot be fired without just cause of wrongdoing, and the president in theory has no direct say in such a dismissal, as he does with a political appointee.But the decision is nevertheless almost certain to be controversial in light of Trump’s longstanding ire against the deputy director.McCabe had been in GOP crosshairs since the 2016 election, over what Republicans have characterized as a conflict of interest in the Clinton probe. His wife, Jill McCabe, accepted almost $500,000 in political donations from a group affiliated with then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), a close Clinton ally, during her run for state Senate.“How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?” Trump tweeted in December.According to documents released by the FBI in November, McCabe recused himself from state corruption cases in Virginia as a result of his wife’s candidacy. He was not warned by bureau officials to step back from the Clinton investigation, however, when it began a few months later.McCabe was then the assistant director in charge of the Washington field office, according to the bureau, and he “provided personnel resources” to the email investigation in its early stages.But he “was not told what the investigation was about” until he was appointed deputy director in 2016 — months after the Virginia election had concluded, the documents state.His abrupt resignation in January was met with glee from conservatives, some of whom said it was long overdue.“The news that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is stepping down is a step forward,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said in a statement at the time. “I will continue fighting on behalf of the American people to expose and eradicate corruption within the FBI and Department of Justice.”Democrats have accused the president of trying to improperly influence law enforcement and say his longstanding aggression towards McCabe and other Justice Department officials could help Mueller build an obstruction of justice case against him.– John Bowden contributed-Updated at 10:30 p.m.
Pressure builds on Sessions for second special counsel-By Katie Bo Williams - 03/17/18 06:14 AM EDT-THE HILL
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is under mounting pressure from the right to appoint a second special counsel to investigate conservative allegations of abuse at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI.Up to now, those calls have gone quietly unanswered, with officials pointing to the existence of a Justice Department inspector general investigation that is expected to wrap up sometime this spring.But Sessions last week revealed that he has tapped a former official outside of the Beltway “with many years in the Department of Justice” to review the need for a special counsel, suggesting the idea is receiving a serious look.Powerful GOP lawmakers are urging Sessions to pull the trigger, arguing the inspector general does not have the prosecutorial authority needed to conduct a full investigation of the FBI’s actions.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday sent a letter to Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein calling for a special counsel to “gather all the facts.”“The FBI and the Department of Justice were corrupt, in my view, when it came to handling the email investigation of [Hillary] Clinton. And the entire FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant application process was abused,” Graham told Fox News’s Bret Baier, referring to a surveillance authority conservatives believe was misused during the 2016 campaign to launch the Russia investigation.Last week, two powerful House GOP chairmen — Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (Va.) and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (S.C.) — made a similar request, demanding a review of any evidence of “bias” by DOJ or FBI employee as well as whether there was any “extraneous influence” on the surveillance process.Critics of the GOP push say the allegations of bias and abuse are a transparent effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.If Sessions’s review does not result in the appointment of a second special counsel, there’s growing speculation that it could be his own head on the chopping block. President Trump has repeatedly criticized his attorney general since Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation last year, and has hammered him for deferring to Inspector General Michael Horowitz."Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse," Trump tweeted after Sessions announced Horowitz would be probing the allegations. "Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on [former FBI Director James] Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!"Sessions late Friday made one move that could help temper conservative criticism, as he fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, long a target on the right, over alleged misconduct. McCabe had been set to retire on Sunday with a full pension.But critics of the FBI's handling of the Clinton investigation are likely to see McCabe's firing — which was made after investigators found he made an unauthorized disclosure to the media and "lacked candor" under oath — as further evidence of the need for a special counsel.Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump’s personal legal team contesting the Russia investigation, has publicly made the case for Sessions to make such an appointment.“The special counsel has a deeper ability to talk to witnesses outside of the existing Department of Justice personnel, which is one of the limitations imposed on an inspector general,” Sekulow told Fox News’s Sean Hannity last week.The crux of the allegations leveled by conservatives is that Justice Department and FBI personnel made decisions during the 2016 election that were improperly influenced by bias against then-candidate Trump — in both the investigation into Clinton’s email server and the Russia probe.GOP lawmakers, citing an investigation conducted by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), say that officials improperly used an unconfirmed dossier of opposition research into Trump to obtain a surveillance warrant for former campaign adviser Carter Page.Officials did not adequately disclose the provenance of the information when they submitted their application to the clandestine court that approves surveillance requests, Republicans say.A countermemo from Intelligence Committee Democrats, also based on the classified warrant application, revealed that officials told the court that the dossier was commissioned by someone who wanted to discredit Trump’s campaign. The information formed only a small part of the application and was corroborated with information from independent sources, the Democratic memo says.For Republicans, those representations to the court were insufficient. The dossier was paid for in part by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and GOP members have questioned why it was used at all.“Bias and animus can lead to criminality,” Gowdy said last week, as well as “making misrepresentations or failure to make adequate representations to a tribunal.”“The manner by which information was secured from nongovernmental sources” could also run afoul of the law, he said.The FBI frequently makes use of intelligence obtained from biased sources. As long as the information is verified and the agenda is disclosed to the court, former officials say, there is nothing improper about using it in a FISA application.The Goodlatte-Gowdy request centers solely on FISA abuse. Goodlatte in the past has made a separate request for a second special counsel to investigate decisionmaking in the Clinton probe.Republicans have long been incensed that Clinton was not charged and have raised questions about former FBI Director James Comey's decision to call her conduct "extremely careless" instead of "grossly negligent," a potentially criminal standard.Horowitz's investigation has since expanded to encompass the allegations of surveillance abuse. Its original mandate was to probe decisionmaking in the Clinton probe, including Comey's public announcement that the former secretary of State would not face charges.The Grassley-Graham request also revolves around the bureau’s use of the so-called Steele dossier in its investigation into Trump and Russia.Under Justice Department regulations, a few preconditions have to be met in order for a special counsel to be appointed. The attorney general must determine that a criminal investigation is warranted and that the Justice Department would have an obvious conflict of interest — and that it would be “in the public interest to appoint an outside special counsel to assume responsibility for the matter.”Although Grassley and Graham have called for a special counsel to investigate decisionmaking only up to the May appointment of Mueller, such an appointment could throw a wrench in the current special counsel’s probe, some national security lawyers note.“Permitting this second Special Counsel, even if it was justified under DOJ regulations (and it is not), would almost certainly disrupt and interfere with Mr. Mueller’s inquiry,” Bradley Moss said in an email to The Hill.Even if the new probe were truly limited to surveillance issues, Moss said, it would encompass investigative work done by Justice Department personnel who would undoubtedly have played a role in the work now being done by Mueller’s team.“This would require Mueller’s lawyers to get involved to protect the integrity of their own investigation. Now, you have two Special Counsels fighting a bureaucratic turf war.”
McCabe just made life tough for Comey and the special counsel-By Jonathan Turley, opinion contributor — 03/17/18 10:00 AM EDT-THE HILL
McCabe just made life tough for Comey and the special counsel-Following his termination late Friday night, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe declared that he was “singled out” after “unrelenting” attacks by President Trump and critics. McCabe’s objections are less than credible, given the virtually unprecedented recommendation of career officials to fire the one-time acting FBI director.However, McCabe may have rectified his “singled out” status with his long statement criticizing his termination: In the middle of it is a line that could be viewed as incriminating fired FBI director James Comey, not just in leaking sensitive information but also in lying to Congress.McCabe is accused of misleading investigators about allegedly giving information to a former Wall Street Journal reporter about the investigation of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton family’s charitable foundation. McCabe asserts in his post-firing statement that he not only had authority to “share” that information to the media but did so with the knowledge of “the director.” The FBI director at the time was Comey.“I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor,” McCabe stated. “As deputy director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter.”If the “interaction” means leaking the information, then McCabe’s statement would seem to directly contradict statements Comey made in a May 2017 congressional hearing. Asked if he had “ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation” or whether he had “ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation,” Comey replied “never” and “no.”The Justice Department’s inspector general clearly saw this “interaction” as problematic in seeking answers from McCabe. If the inspector general considered this to be a leak to the media, any approval by Comey would be highly significant.Comey already faces serious questions over his use of a Columbia University Law School professor to leak information to the media following his own termination as director. In leaving the FBI, Comey improperly removed memos about the Russian investigation that he wrote concerning meetings with Trump. These memos discussed an ongoing FBI investigation and were written on an FBI computer; FBI regulations clearly establish that these were FBI files and not subject to removal without review and approval.Comey could have given the memos to the congressional oversight committees. Instead, he removed at least seven memos and gave at least four to his professor-friend to leak to the media. Four of the seven memos that Comey removed are now believed to be classified; since he reportedly gave four memos to his friend to leak to the media, at least one was likely to be classified.Now, McCabe appears to be suggesting that Comey was consulted with a major leaking of information on the Clinton investigation. Many of us had speculated that it seemed unlikely McCabe would take such a step without consulting with Comey. Yet, Comey repeatedly stated that he had never leaked nor caused anyone to leak information to the media.The timing for Comey could not be worse. He already has started selling tickets, for roughly $100 each, to attend the tour for his forthcoming book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.” If he gave McCabe the green light for his “interaction,” the title could prove embarrassingly ironic.If this was determined to be a leak with his approval, Comey likely would be labeled not just a leaker but a liar. Worse, his second-in-command just lost his pension after more than 20 years with the bureau, while Comey is about to cash in on a book and publicity tour potentially worth millions.Comey also will be releasing his book around the same time as the inspector general’s report is expected to be made public; the inspector general reportedly will detail a number of irregularities under Comey’s watch. So the book could look more like a work of fiction if the inspector general finds that the FBI was a mess under Comey’s “leadership.”McCabe’s termination is likely to only add to Comey’s problems. Four U.S. senators are calling for appointment of a second special counsel to investigate the Justice Department during the Clinton investigation. Moreover, as previously discussed, there could be serious questions raised over the indictment of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn for misleading investigators – the same allegation that McCabe faced before his termination. McCabe’s case could still be referred to prosecutors for possible indictment under the same provision used against Flynn.The McCabe controversy could make life tougher for special counsel Robert Mueller, too. While McCabe lashed out at Trump in his statement, he may have just given Trump the long-sought cover to use his pardon power; if McCabe is not charged, Trump could cite that decision as the basis for pardoning Flynn, as a matter of equity and fairness.More generally, the apparent conduct of both McCabe and Comey have fulfilled the narrative long advanced by Trump of a biased, unprincipled FBI investigation. Given Trump’s ill-advised inclination to fire Mueller in the past, these allegations of leaks and misrepresentations inside the FBI could rekindle Trump’s interest in forcing an end to the investigation that has dogged his administration for a year.President Trump would be unwise to take such action. Instead, McCabe’s firing should reinforce calls for an independent investigation with the maximum level of transparency — and the same is true for the Russia investigation of the Trump campaign. This country is deeply divided over the allegations against Trump and his opponents; we will not overcome this chasm until we are satisfied that we have the full factual record from the Clinton and Russia investigations.This is particularly true for the FBI, which will not be able to regain the trust of many Americans without making a clean break from scandal. That means total transparency, which runs against the Bureau’s culture. Yet, without greater disclosure, the public will be left wondering if a sense of Comey’s “Higher Loyalty” dangerously blurred the lines between “Truth, Lies, and Leadership.”Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
Sara A. Carter Retweeted-Sean Hannity-Verified account @seanhannity-12h12 hours ago-MAR 16,18 10PM-McCabe Fired, just a start. Hannity REAL NEWS. We have been talking about MCCabe for MONTHS! More coming....Tick Tock....
Sara A. Carter-Verified account @SaraCarterDC-10h10 hours ago-MAR 16,18-Sara A. Carter Retweeted Sara A. Carter-Oops it should say, Deputy Director - never type while running ...Sara A. Carter added,-Former Depury Director Andrew McCabe has been terminated per DOJ-10:00 PM - 16 Mar 2018
Sessions fires McCabe from FBI-By Katie Bo Williams - 03/16/18 10:03 PM EDT-THE HILL
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday fired Andrew McCabe, the No. 2 official at the FBI and a longtime target of President Trump.McCabe's ouster comes just days before he was scheduled to retire on Sunday, after more than 20 years at the bureau. McCabe had already stepped down under pressure in January and has been on a leave of absence since.In a statement Friday evening, Sessions said that the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility and Office of Inspector General (OIG) had found McCabe made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and "lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.""Pursuant to Department Order 1202, and based on the report of the Inspector General, the findings of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and the recommendation of the Department’s senior career official, I have terminated the employment of Andrew McCabe effective immediately," Sessions said.McCabe quickly declared that his termination and Trump's needling against him were an effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, in which he could be a potential witness.“The idea that I was dishonest is just wrong,” McCabe told The New York Times. “This is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness.” McCabe's dismissal came at the recommendation of an internal FBI office that handles disciplinary matters. According to Times, the recommendation was based on a finding from the Justice Department inspector general that McCabe was not forthcoming during the review, which includes an investigation into a decision he made in 2016 to allow FBI officials to speak with reporters about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.The exact details of the allegations against McCabe remain unclear.It is also unclear why the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, chose to act on his findings regarding McCabe before closing the overall investigation into decisions made during the 2016 election. Horowitz has said publicly that he expects to issue his final report this spring.A spokeswoman for the Justice Department told The Hill that the agency couldn't comment on whether the decision would strip McCabe of his FBI pension.The Times reported earlier this week that McCabe's retirement was set to go into effect Sunday and his firing could jeopardize his pension as a 21-year veteran of the FBI.In a lengthy statement, McCabe blasted his firing, which he claimed was an attempt to destroy his reputation and career in the wake of what he witnessed at the Justice Department surrounding former FBI Director James Comey's firing last year."Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey," McCabe wrote."The OIG's focus on me and this report became part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn," he wrote.McCabe’s dismissal is another indication of the increasingly bitter politics surrounding the federal investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia. As deputy director, McCabe was integrally involved in both the bureau’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email server and the Russia probe.A longtime target of the right thanks to political donations his wife accepted from a Clinton ally, McCabe has drawn the president’s ire in recent months.Trump goaded Sessions into dismissing McCabe, tweeting in July, “Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation?”Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday insisted that the determination whether to fire McCabe would be left up to Sessions, but called the career civil servant a “bad actor.”“We do think it is well documented that he has had some very troubling behavior and by most accounts is a bad actor and should have some cause for concern,” she told reporters.As a career agent, McCabe cannot be fired without just cause of wrongdoing, and the president in theory has no direct say in such a dismissal, as he does with a political appointee.But the decision is nevertheless almost certain to be controversial in light of Trump’s longstanding ire against the deputy director.McCabe had been in GOP crosshairs since the 2016 election, over what Republicans have characterized as a conflict of interest in the Clinton probe. His wife, Jill McCabe, accepted almost $500,000 in political donations from a group affiliated with then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), a close Clinton ally, during her run for state Senate.“How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?” Trump tweeted in December.According to documents released by the FBI in November, McCabe recused himself from state corruption cases in Virginia as a result of his wife’s candidacy. He was not warned by bureau officials to step back from the Clinton investigation, however, when it began a few months later.McCabe was then the assistant director in charge of the Washington field office, according to the bureau, and he “provided personnel resources” to the email investigation in its early stages.But he “was not told what the investigation was about” until he was appointed deputy director in 2016 — months after the Virginia election had concluded, the documents state.His abrupt resignation in January was met with glee from conservatives, some of whom said it was long overdue.“The news that FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is stepping down is a step forward,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said in a statement at the time. “I will continue fighting on behalf of the American people to expose and eradicate corruption within the FBI and Department of Justice.”Democrats have accused the president of trying to improperly influence law enforcement and say his longstanding aggression towards McCabe and other Justice Department officials could help Mueller build an obstruction of justice case against him.– John Bowden contributed-Updated at 10:30 p.m.
Pressure builds on Sessions for second special counsel-By Katie Bo Williams - 03/17/18 06:14 AM EDT-THE HILL
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is under mounting pressure from the right to appoint a second special counsel to investigate conservative allegations of abuse at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI.Up to now, those calls have gone quietly unanswered, with officials pointing to the existence of a Justice Department inspector general investigation that is expected to wrap up sometime this spring.But Sessions last week revealed that he has tapped a former official outside of the Beltway “with many years in the Department of Justice” to review the need for a special counsel, suggesting the idea is receiving a serious look.Powerful GOP lawmakers are urging Sessions to pull the trigger, arguing the inspector general does not have the prosecutorial authority needed to conduct a full investigation of the FBI’s actions.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday sent a letter to Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein calling for a special counsel to “gather all the facts.”“The FBI and the Department of Justice were corrupt, in my view, when it came to handling the email investigation of [Hillary] Clinton. And the entire FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant application process was abused,” Graham told Fox News’s Bret Baier, referring to a surveillance authority conservatives believe was misused during the 2016 campaign to launch the Russia investigation.Last week, two powerful House GOP chairmen — Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (Va.) and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (S.C.) — made a similar request, demanding a review of any evidence of “bias” by DOJ or FBI employee as well as whether there was any “extraneous influence” on the surveillance process.Critics of the GOP push say the allegations of bias and abuse are a transparent effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.If Sessions’s review does not result in the appointment of a second special counsel, there’s growing speculation that it could be his own head on the chopping block. President Trump has repeatedly criticized his attorney general since Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation last year, and has hammered him for deferring to Inspector General Michael Horowitz."Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse," Trump tweeted after Sessions announced Horowitz would be probing the allegations. "Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on [former FBI Director James] Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!"Sessions late Friday made one move that could help temper conservative criticism, as he fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, long a target on the right, over alleged misconduct. McCabe had been set to retire on Sunday with a full pension.But critics of the FBI's handling of the Clinton investigation are likely to see McCabe's firing — which was made after investigators found he made an unauthorized disclosure to the media and "lacked candor" under oath — as further evidence of the need for a special counsel.Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump’s personal legal team contesting the Russia investigation, has publicly made the case for Sessions to make such an appointment.“The special counsel has a deeper ability to talk to witnesses outside of the existing Department of Justice personnel, which is one of the limitations imposed on an inspector general,” Sekulow told Fox News’s Sean Hannity last week.The crux of the allegations leveled by conservatives is that Justice Department and FBI personnel made decisions during the 2016 election that were improperly influenced by bias against then-candidate Trump — in both the investigation into Clinton’s email server and the Russia probe.GOP lawmakers, citing an investigation conducted by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), say that officials improperly used an unconfirmed dossier of opposition research into Trump to obtain a surveillance warrant for former campaign adviser Carter Page.Officials did not adequately disclose the provenance of the information when they submitted their application to the clandestine court that approves surveillance requests, Republicans say.A countermemo from Intelligence Committee Democrats, also based on the classified warrant application, revealed that officials told the court that the dossier was commissioned by someone who wanted to discredit Trump’s campaign. The information formed only a small part of the application and was corroborated with information from independent sources, the Democratic memo says.For Republicans, those representations to the court were insufficient. The dossier was paid for in part by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and GOP members have questioned why it was used at all.“Bias and animus can lead to criminality,” Gowdy said last week, as well as “making misrepresentations or failure to make adequate representations to a tribunal.”“The manner by which information was secured from nongovernmental sources” could also run afoul of the law, he said.The FBI frequently makes use of intelligence obtained from biased sources. As long as the information is verified and the agenda is disclosed to the court, former officials say, there is nothing improper about using it in a FISA application.The Goodlatte-Gowdy request centers solely on FISA abuse. Goodlatte in the past has made a separate request for a second special counsel to investigate decisionmaking in the Clinton probe.Republicans have long been incensed that Clinton was not charged and have raised questions about former FBI Director James Comey's decision to call her conduct "extremely careless" instead of "grossly negligent," a potentially criminal standard.Horowitz's investigation has since expanded to encompass the allegations of surveillance abuse. Its original mandate was to probe decisionmaking in the Clinton probe, including Comey's public announcement that the former secretary of State would not face charges.The Grassley-Graham request also revolves around the bureau’s use of the so-called Steele dossier in its investigation into Trump and Russia.Under Justice Department regulations, a few preconditions have to be met in order for a special counsel to be appointed. The attorney general must determine that a criminal investigation is warranted and that the Justice Department would have an obvious conflict of interest — and that it would be “in the public interest to appoint an outside special counsel to assume responsibility for the matter.”Although Grassley and Graham have called for a special counsel to investigate decisionmaking only up to the May appointment of Mueller, such an appointment could throw a wrench in the current special counsel’s probe, some national security lawyers note.“Permitting this second Special Counsel, even if it was justified under DOJ regulations (and it is not), would almost certainly disrupt and interfere with Mr. Mueller’s inquiry,” Bradley Moss said in an email to The Hill.Even if the new probe were truly limited to surveillance issues, Moss said, it would encompass investigative work done by Justice Department personnel who would undoubtedly have played a role in the work now being done by Mueller’s team.“This would require Mueller’s lawyers to get involved to protect the integrity of their own investigation. Now, you have two Special Counsels fighting a bureaucratic turf war.”
McCabe just made life tough for Comey and the special counsel-By Jonathan Turley, opinion contributor — 03/17/18 10:00 AM EDT-THE HILL
McCabe just made life tough for Comey and the special counsel-Following his termination late Friday night, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe declared that he was “singled out” after “unrelenting” attacks by President Trump and critics. McCabe’s objections are less than credible, given the virtually unprecedented recommendation of career officials to fire the one-time acting FBI director.However, McCabe may have rectified his “singled out” status with his long statement criticizing his termination: In the middle of it is a line that could be viewed as incriminating fired FBI director James Comey, not just in leaking sensitive information but also in lying to Congress.McCabe is accused of misleading investigators about allegedly giving information to a former Wall Street Journal reporter about the investigation of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton family’s charitable foundation. McCabe asserts in his post-firing statement that he not only had authority to “share” that information to the media but did so with the knowledge of “the director.” The FBI director at the time was Comey.“I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor,” McCabe stated. “As deputy director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter.”If the “interaction” means leaking the information, then McCabe’s statement would seem to directly contradict statements Comey made in a May 2017 congressional hearing. Asked if he had “ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation” or whether he had “ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation,” Comey replied “never” and “no.”The Justice Department’s inspector general clearly saw this “interaction” as problematic in seeking answers from McCabe. If the inspector general considered this to be a leak to the media, any approval by Comey would be highly significant.Comey already faces serious questions over his use of a Columbia University Law School professor to leak information to the media following his own termination as director. In leaving the FBI, Comey improperly removed memos about the Russian investigation that he wrote concerning meetings with Trump. These memos discussed an ongoing FBI investigation and were written on an FBI computer; FBI regulations clearly establish that these were FBI files and not subject to removal without review and approval.Comey could have given the memos to the congressional oversight committees. Instead, he removed at least seven memos and gave at least four to his professor-friend to leak to the media. Four of the seven memos that Comey removed are now believed to be classified; since he reportedly gave four memos to his friend to leak to the media, at least one was likely to be classified.Now, McCabe appears to be suggesting that Comey was consulted with a major leaking of information on the Clinton investigation. Many of us had speculated that it seemed unlikely McCabe would take such a step without consulting with Comey. Yet, Comey repeatedly stated that he had never leaked nor caused anyone to leak information to the media.The timing for Comey could not be worse. He already has started selling tickets, for roughly $100 each, to attend the tour for his forthcoming book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.” If he gave McCabe the green light for his “interaction,” the title could prove embarrassingly ironic.If this was determined to be a leak with his approval, Comey likely would be labeled not just a leaker but a liar. Worse, his second-in-command just lost his pension after more than 20 years with the bureau, while Comey is about to cash in on a book and publicity tour potentially worth millions.Comey also will be releasing his book around the same time as the inspector general’s report is expected to be made public; the inspector general reportedly will detail a number of irregularities under Comey’s watch. So the book could look more like a work of fiction if the inspector general finds that the FBI was a mess under Comey’s “leadership.”McCabe’s termination is likely to only add to Comey’s problems. Four U.S. senators are calling for appointment of a second special counsel to investigate the Justice Department during the Clinton investigation. Moreover, as previously discussed, there could be serious questions raised over the indictment of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn for misleading investigators – the same allegation that McCabe faced before his termination. McCabe’s case could still be referred to prosecutors for possible indictment under the same provision used against Flynn.The McCabe controversy could make life tougher for special counsel Robert Mueller, too. While McCabe lashed out at Trump in his statement, he may have just given Trump the long-sought cover to use his pardon power; if McCabe is not charged, Trump could cite that decision as the basis for pardoning Flynn, as a matter of equity and fairness.More generally, the apparent conduct of both McCabe and Comey have fulfilled the narrative long advanced by Trump of a biased, unprincipled FBI investigation. Given Trump’s ill-advised inclination to fire Mueller in the past, these allegations of leaks and misrepresentations inside the FBI could rekindle Trump’s interest in forcing an end to the investigation that has dogged his administration for a year.President Trump would be unwise to take such action. Instead, McCabe’s firing should reinforce calls for an independent investigation with the maximum level of transparency — and the same is true for the Russia investigation of the Trump campaign. This country is deeply divided over the allegations against Trump and his opponents; we will not overcome this chasm until we are satisfied that we have the full factual record from the Clinton and Russia investigations.This is particularly true for the FBI, which will not be able to regain the trust of many Americans without making a clean break from scandal. That means total transparency, which runs against the Bureau’s culture. Yet, without greater disclosure, the public will be left wondering if a sense of Comey’s “Higher Loyalty” dangerously blurred the lines between “Truth, Lies, and Leadership.”Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
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