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FBI Director James Comey Sacked
The Washington Post reports that:
FBI Director James B. Comey has been dismissed by the president [...] a startling move that officials said stemmed from a conclusion by Justice Department officials that he had mishandled the probe of Hillary Clinton's emails.
Previously:
Clinton Told FBI She Relied on Others' Judgment on Classified Material
FBI Recommends No Prosecution for Clinton
F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump
President Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey:
President Trump has fired the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, the White House said Tuesday.
[...] Under the F.B.I.'s normal rules of succession, Mr. Comey's deputy, Andrew G. McCabe, a career F.B.I. officer, becomes acting director. The White House said the search for a new director will begin immediately.
I never liked Comey (see this cluster of stories), but I doubt there will ever be an FBI Director I like.
Related:
We're Stuck With Comey
Earlier in the day...
FBI Director Comey Misstated Huma Abedin Evidence at Last Week's Hearing
ProPublica reports that most of FBI Director James Comey's testimony to Congress last Wednesday related to Huma Abedin's mishandling of classified emails was inaccurate, and that FBI officials are privately acknowledging the mistake(s) but are still considering their next move:
FBI director James Comey generated national headlines last week with his dramatic testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining his "incredibly painful" decision to go public about the Hillary Clinton emails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop.
Perhaps Comey's most surprising revelation was that Huma Abedin — Weiner's wife and a top Clinton deputy — had made "a regular practice" of forwarding "hundreds and thousands" of Clinton messages to her husband, "some of which contain classified information." Comey testified that Abedin had done this so that the disgraced former congressman could print them out for her boss. (Weiner's laptop was seized after he came under criminal investigation for sex crimes, following a media report about his online relationship with a teenager.)
The New York Post plastered its story on the front page with a photo of an underwear-clad Weiner and the headline: "HARD COPY: Huma sent Weiner classified Hillary emails to print out." The Daily News went with a similar front-page screamer: "HUMA ERROR: Sent classified emails to sext maniac Weiner."
The problem: Much of what Comey said about this was inaccurate. Now the FBI is trying to figure out what to do about it. FBI officials have privately acknowledged that Comey misstated what Abedin did and what the FBI investigators found. On Monday, the FBI was said to be preparing to correct the record by sending a letter to Congress later this week. But that plan now appears on hold, with the bureau undecided about what to do.
[...] According to two sources familiar with the matter — including one in law enforcement — Abedin forwarded only a handful of Clinton emails to her husband for printing — not the "hundreds and thousands" cited by Comey. It does not appear Abedin made "a regular practice" of doing so. Other officials said it was likely that most of the emails got onto the computer as a result of backups of her Blackberry.
Also at Washington Post (alternate analysis), The Hill, The New York Post, and USA Today.
Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2 Original Submission #3
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:38AM (2 children)
So when HRC was writing emails about State topics, she was too much of a moron to know she was writing classified info? Good thing she lost, we don't need people THAT stupid in government.
Secondly, intent is not an element. Distribution is the element. Intent is only brought up in the context of HRC, who is totally above all laws being the queen of all goodness and light.
https://theintercept.com/2016/07/05/washington-has-been-obsessed-with-punishing-secrecy-violations-until-hillary-clinton/ [theintercept.com]
Thirdly, here's an email that WAS marked classified: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/06/11/despite-clinton-claims-2012-email-had-classified-marking.html [foxnews.com]
Finally, an email server doesn't just appear magically - she intended to set it up and divert work product belonging the US and the American people. They aren't "her" emails -- she intercepted them, stole them, and destroyed them. Thankfully, her paranoid Nixonian subterfuge bit her ass hard.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:55AM
So when HRC was writing emails about State topics, she was too much of a moron to know she was writing classified info?
No, she didn't write it. It was sent to her from civilians. Of course there was no investigation into who gave the information to them.
Secondly, intent is not an element.
The intercept's reporting is misleading. The Kristian Saucier was not prosecuted for mishandling, he was prosecuted for lying and trying to cover up the mistake. Nishimura absolutely had intent, he knew the documents were classified when he copied them off the classified network.
As I said before, I personally know two people who inadvertently distributed classified information. Intent is absolutely, 100%, a requirement for criminal prosecution. And, with millions of people with clearances, it is a frequent occurrence. People fuck up. Nobody wants to fuck up. But shit happens. If everybody who fucked up was prosecuted there would be thousands of examples for the intercept to cite. Instead they could only find two that were only apples to oranges.
Thirdly, here's an email that WAS marked classified:
As I said originally, the marking was in error. The fact that fox links to a copy of the messages is proof that it the message was not classified, the government could never have released it unless it was not classified.
You are way out of depth here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @03:49PM
Having worked with classified material for over thirty years it is obvious you haven't the slightest idea how the classification system works.